The Dalish Commander (The Daughters of Thedas Book 2)

20: Taking Care of Business

Soundtrack:

Legendary ~ Audiograve (Vigil's Keep Theme)

Once we stepped outside of the city, I turned to my Wardens. "Before we return to the Keep, I must tell you something. At the fealty ceremony, I was given warning that several of the nobles wanted to oust me. The man I've been meeting here I hired to discover which nobles wanted me dead. He couldn't discover who they were, but he did discover where they were meeting."

"Ooo, Party crashing," Anders said.

Oghren laughed. "I like the way you think."

"That is exactly what we are going to do," I said. "It's not just a Warden Commander or an Arlessa they are trying to kill, but they conspire against the crown as well."

Nathaniel looked at me quizzically before his eyebrows shot up in surprise, realizing what I was referring to.

"High treason deserves swift justice," Justice said.

"Yes, it does."

~~~

We lucked out and some of the conspirators were meeting. I recognized quite a few of the nobles.

"She must be stopped," Lady Liza was saying to a lightly armored man. "Everything we've worked for will be for naught if she continues to live."

"The knife ear got away with murdering Rendon Howe in his own house," Lord Guy, a noble who'd been all smiles and civility at the ceremony, said. "We know she won't honor what Rendon promised us."

"Hopefully the third time shall be the charm," the man they were speaking to said, his accent undeniably Antivan. "We were hired during the war to kill her and another Grey Warden. Our assassin defected. When we sent more Crows to kill him and finish the job, she succeeded again. This will be an expensive job, for she is an adversary worth fighting." Which meant the Crows knew Zevran was still alive.

"Consider it done. I will give you half now and the rest when the deed is done." Figures they would hire Antivan Crows to kill me. I was actually surprised the Crows were going to try a third time. None of them noticed me leaning against the farmhouse. The others were out of their line of sight, hidden by the house.

"Now why wasn't I invited to the party?" I said suddenly. "You hurt my feelings."

Liza and Guy turned around, their jaws dropping.

"And hiring the Crows isn't such a smart idea. They've already failed to kill me twice." It was obvious who I was. Not only did I wear the silver and blue uniform, the Grey Warden double Griffin was emblazed on the front of it, the heraldry of the Commander of the Grey.

Guy drew his sword. "We've been found out!" He rushed at me and I drew my own swords.

The area turned into a free for all with Wardens, Crows, and nobles fighting each other. In all, four nobles had joined the uprising. I suspected that there were more, but after this, I was sure they'd be more careful. It would be quite obvious that I knew about their plans now.

"Let's head back to the Keep."

~~~

The gates were a welcome sight as we approached them. Mostly. The Keep meant rest, but it also meant more humans vying for my attention to solve their problems and Varel nudging me into my Arlessa duties.