The Blood that Binds

The Trouble With Redcliffe

What they were supposed to be doing was apparently walking for miles upon miles per day. Solona was so grateful for her comfortable fur lined boots that Duncan had given her. Her mage slippers would have given her no end of grief. As they trundled along, Solona finally had a chance to indulge Leliana in the conversation she had been dying to have since the night before. They simply talked casually for a bit, Leliana sharing short stories and heading off on a tangent about shoes that Solona allowed her to indulge before getting to what she was interested in talking about. "So, about this vision of yours..."

Leliana's graceful steps faltered and her smile faded. "I knew this would come up eventually..." she sighed and plucked a leaf from a bush along the side of the road. "I don't know how to explain," she said, breaking the leaf into tiny bits and then allowing them to float off on the breeze. "I had a dream... in it, was an impenetrable darkness. It was so dense, so real, and there was a noise... a terrible un-godly noise. I stood on a peak and watched as the darkness consumed everything. And when the storm swallowed the last of the sun's light, I fell... and the darkness drew me in." She spoke with a passion that heralded a deep belief in what she had seen. "When I awoke, I went to the Chantry's gardens as I always do. But that day, the rosebush in the corner had flowered. Everyone knew that bush was dead. It was gray and twisted and gnarled. The ugliest thing you ever saw. But there it was, a single, beautiful rose. It was as though the Maker stretched out his hand to say, 'even in the midst of this darkness, there is hope and beauty. Have faith'. He spoke directly to my soul in a language no human tongue can express. There are so may good things in the Maker's world. How can I sit by while the Blight devours everything?"

Solona shrugged. "I suppose I couldn't just sit by either."

A smile tugged at her lips. "That is why you are a Grey Warden, no? I hear Him in the wind and the waves. I feel Him in the sunlight that warms my skin." She held out her arm, allowing the sun to kiss along her freckled skin. "I know what the Chantry says about the Maker, and what should I believe? What I feel in my heart, or what others tell me?"

Leliana spoke with such unbridled faith that Solona could not help being pulled into her words. "I actually prefer your beliefs to those of the Chantry."

"They said my ideas were blasphemy," she said with mild irritation, giving Solona some insight into why she had been in the tavern in Lothering instead of with the other sisters in the Chantry. "But is it so bad if what I believe gives me comfort? If it could give someone else comfort? I know what I know and no one will ever make that untrue." With that, the conversation was over. Leliana picked up her pace to walk ahead with Sten.

Solona sighed and drew her staff from it's holster to use as a walking stick. A short chuckle came from behind her and she turned to see Alistair. "You know, sometimes the mage's clothing isn't the only better thing they get."

"Maybe you should see if Bodhan would sell you a walking stick. I'm sure he has one in that cart." She nodded her head toward the back of their little group where the dwarf and his son had taken up residence. She had decided to ignore it for the time being. Their presence made no difference to her.

"No. I have my dignity... well, some at least. Waltzing into Redcliffe leaning on a staff would just confuse the villagers into thinking they were dealing with more than two mages. Chaos and embarrassment would ensue..." He shook his head and let the sentence fall.

She slowed her pace to walk beside him. "So, you said Arl Eamon raised you?"

"Did I say that? I meant dogs raised me. Giant slobbering dogs from the Anderfels. A whole pack of them, in fact," Alistair said nervously.

Her first instinct to make a joke had so far been the best idea when it came to Alistair. It had led her to some very telling insights. The comment rolled off her tongue as she sniffed the air. "That would explain the smell," she agreed with a smirk, not looking at him.