Into the Woods (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Something to Talk About

Leliana stood in the midst of the deserted camp, her arms crossed over her chest. "I knew I should have attacked them immediately. I cannot believe I gave them time to get away."

"Why did you?" Bethany was as disappointed as the bard; she had hoped to capture her sister quickly, with the help of the Chantry's operatives.

The other woman glanced at her, blue eyes narrowed, but didn't bother to respond. Turning to Thrand, she said impatiently, "Where have they gone?"

"It isn't difficult to tell. They left a trail the densest shemlen could follow." He didn't move to point it out, and Leliana smiled.

"Yes. I know."

"You were testing me?" The tone made it clear the Dalish didn't like that idea.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I felt the giant blazed trail was too obvious and wanted a second opinion. One I did not get, may I add."

"Hmph." Thrand bestirred himself, though, and began slowly circling the clearing, studying the ground. At last he straightened, turning to look at Leliana. A frown creased his fine features. "That is the only trail. They know you're following them, don't they?"

"Yes." Leliana frowned, too. "Perhaps they have set traps."

"None that I could detect."

"Maybe," Bethany said, tired of the two rogues and their superior attitudes, "they just didn't care. Maybe they're so sure of themselves that they don't think of you as a threat."

They both looked her way briefly, but clearly didn't give much thought to her suggestion.

Leliana said, "Did they place traps in the trees?"

"No." He shook his head, trying to get rid of the cloud of bugs that buzzed around it. "The jungle itself may well be trap enough."

"Pardon me for the interruption, but once you reach them, what are you planning to do? They killed most of my team of very well-trained Wardens, may I remind you," Bethany said.

"I know how to handle my team." Leliana glanced at the set of Chantry operatives who waited, impassive, behind her. "We are more than a match for a ragtag group of civilians."

"These aren't just civilians. Anders and Oghren are Wardens, my sister and the Teyrn were in the army in Ferelden, and Zevran is an ex-Crow, or so you've said. Fenris was personal bodyguard to a Tevinter magister, and Isabela is used to keeping hundreds of men under control ... without using any of the obvious female weaponry. Not to mention what the Warden Commander and his woman are capable of, if even half of the stories I've heard about the Blight are to be believed. Well, I don't have to tell you about that, do I?" Bethany said, watching Leliana's face. The bard didn't speak. "So you see what I'm getting at—to think you can best such a team with a few Chantry zealots seems over-confident, at best."

"You do not know everything," Leliana said in a furious whisper, her Orlesian accent thickened. "You think you know, but you are as lost as all the others. The Chantry has power, great power, even here in the Wilderness."

"What kind of power? Are you a mage?" Bethany asked, filled with confusion.

"She's not a mage," Thrand said in a tone of derision. His eyes still rested on Leliana, his expression unreadable. "She knows something she hasn't shared with us, something that gives her an advantage over the Commander and his party."