The Dalish Warden (The Daughters of Thedas Book 1)

56: Unrest in the Alienage

Soundtrack:

Hope Has a Place ~ Enya (The Alienage)

The Elven Alienage wasn't much cleaner than the city itself. In fact, I think it was dirtier. How could anyone willingly live like this? This is what our lost kinsmen were forced into after the fall of the Dales? I pitied them. Not because of the way they were forced to live, but because they would never know the freedom of wandering the forest. Of hunting. They would never know the sound of the wind rustling the trees or the quietness of being one with the forest or the rush of pursuing a buck through the trees. These thoughts made me miss my clan. Perhaps I would take Alistair's advice when we defeated the Archdemon and ended the Blight. I couldn't lose what made me Dalish.

We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last Elvhenan. Never again shall we submit.

The Oath of the Dales. I hadn't thought of it in months. I was Dalish. I would die Dalish, but I would also die a Warden. My old life and new life come together. I pushed those thoughts away and focused on the task at hand. The time would come for me to face myself.

"Keep a tight hold on your purses," Zevran said.

~~~

We needed to find out what was going on. We went to a random house and knocked.

The Elf that we had freed from Howe's dungeon opened the door. "It's you!" he cried. "Come in!" He led us into the small house. The Elven woman we'd freed as well was there. She was sitting in a chair staring at the tiny fire in the fireplace. "I didn't thank you before, did I? I-I wish I could give you something."

She looked up when we entered and stood.

"Everything I owned was lost to looters after the purge. Not that I had anything valuable to begin with. Oh, dear. I'm being so rude. I'm Soris." He motioned to the other woman. "This is my cousin, Kyrie."

Kyrie nodded her greeting.

"Realin," I introduced myself. "What's going on here?"

"It's a plague. Or so they say. I've seen a few sick people since we've been back but I don't know how bad it really is. There are Mages from Tevinter here helping to treat it. But there's something odd going on, though." I had the same thought. Something didn't feel right. "Our cousin, Shianni, could tell you more. You can't miss her. Just look for the angriest woman in the Alienage."

"The second angriest woman in the Alienage," Kyrie said, bitterly.

"That's probably true. Vaughan murdered her betrothed on their wedding day before we ended up in that dungeon."

Kyrie glared at Soris. "Are you going to tell them everything?"

I was pretty sure angry didn't quite describe Kyrie.

"The Chantry allowed foreign magic here?" Alistair asked, changing the subject.

"I guess so," Soris said. "I'd expect Templars here otherwise."

"If there's a plague, why hasn't the Alienage been closed off?" I asked. In my experience since coming into the human world, they would cut off the Elves from Denerim and abandon them if it meant the humans wouldn't get sick.

"Between the civil war and Ostagar, the city doesn't have enough soldiers left to seal the Alienage. And only Elves and refugees have gotten sick." Convenient. "I'm sure that if anyone important gets the plague, the Alienage will burn. I guess the plague's been pretty bad. I've seen a few sick people myself but by the time we got here, it seemed to be under control. I... I know you've already done a lot for us but... I have to ask... Could you talk to Shianni? Please. I... I don't know what's going on here but I know she's in over her head. She has a knack for getting in trouble."