The Dalish Commander (The Daughters of Thedas Book 2)

19: Sisters and Brawls

Soundtrack:

Haven Theme ~ Jason Graves (Amaranthine)

"You know, Nathaniel," Anders apparently had gotten bored with attempting to annoy Justice. The spirit mostly ignored him now. "You're just like me." We were in the middle of the countryside on our way to Amaranthine. We had business there. At least three of us did. I could imagine Nathaniel rolling his eyes as he sighed.

"Am I, now?"

"Everyone hates your family for something terrible they did, even though you weren't involved!"

"I hope you have a point, Anders." The archer sounded like he was trying his hardest not to throttle the Mage.

"It's like you're a Mage! If there were more Howes, they'd lock all of you up in a tower to protect everyone else!"

"A thrilling analogy."

I only shook my head. I never knew what random bullshit was going to spout out of Anders' mouth. And it did seem his favorite pastime was annoying the hell out of Nathaniel. By the time we reached Amaranthine, Nathaniel and Justice were having their own conversation while Anders and Oghren played their favorite game of who could insult the other the most. We passed through the market district on the way to my meeting with the Dark Wolf.

Nathaniel suddenly stopped. "Delilah?"

A young woman with hair just as dark as Nathaniel's turned around. Behind her, a woman with black curly hair and heavy with child turned away and quickly headed inside the shop they were standing in front of with a bowl. Nathaniel and the young woman had the same grey eyes and features and I knew this had to be his sister.

"Is that really you?" he asked.

Her face brightened. "Nathaniel!" she cried, joy and relief in her voice. "I had feared the worst!" Delilah jumped into his arms and gave him a tight hug. It reminded me of Braylyn and I after I returned to my Clan and our reunion after over a year apart.

They separated and Nathaniel looked his little sister over. "Times must have been hard, Delilah," he said. "But you can do better than this. Come back to the estate until we can find somewhere else."

"What?" Then she suddenly laughed. "Oh, Nathaniel! I didn't marry Albert out of desperation. I adore him! I was so glad to get away from Father's evil."

I glanced at Nathaniel. Even his sister hated their father. And maybe hearing Delilah refer to the elder Howe like that would help convince Nathaniel that his father wasn't a hero.

"This life is so much better."

"Father's evil?" Or not. "Isn't that overstating things a little? He got caught up in politics —"

Delilah cut him off. "You weren't here. You didn't see what he did to Fergus and Fiona's family, Nathaniel. You want the culprit who destroyed our family. It was him, without question. The Hero of Ferelden just did what others were too afraid to."

Nathaniel glanced over at me. "I... had no idea."

"Of course, you did. But you always worshipped Father, right from when you were a little boy." Which explained why it was so damn hard to convince him of his father's crimes. "Come, Brother. Let us sit and catch up a bit, shall we?"

Nathaniel looked over at me.

"Go on. We'll meet you at the Crown and Lion."

The two siblings disappeared into Delilah's house.