When I Look at You (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Trap

As they emerged from the basement dungeons, doors opened along the hall and what seemed like an entire regiment of guards poured out, shouting "You don't belong here." They had mabari, too, which were always difficult to deal with. Not only did Una hate having to kill one of those fine creatures, mabari had a tendency to leap on a person and knock them to the ground and then worry at their throats and arms until death seemed like the merciful option. Una's instructions were always to take out the mabari first.

During the fray, Una kept glancing nervously over her shoulder, expecting reinforcements at any moment. If the rest of the castle were put on alert, they would never get back to Anora, much less get the queen to safety. She felt tremendous pressure to finish the current fight as fast as they could. Fortunately, Oghren was in screaming berserk form, taking out two men at a time with mighty sweeps of his hammer, and Zev was feeling unsettled from the interview with Vaughan and taking it out on his opponents, his daggers flashing from the shadows faster than Una would have imagined possible.

A mabari tried to drag Oghren down, but the dwarf's bulk and proximity to the ground made him less vulnerable than most to that tactic, and he all but threw the dog into a guard who was about to attack Wynne.

At last, they had taken them all out. Una spared a glance at the pile of bodies, wishing it hadn't come to this—wishing even more that she wasn't forced to leave them here. It was doubtful anyone was coming to clean up in here for a long time. She made a mental note to have someone come back to do the clean-up, adding it to the stack of other mental notes she had. It had been an exhausting day already, and she hadn't even gotten the queen to safety yet.

The door to the room where the queen was being held was ajar, and Una knocked softly at it. "Your Highness?"

"I'm here. I didn't want to chance an escape on my own." Anora appeared behind the door dressed in a full guard's uniform, minus the helmet, which she held under her arm. "Is it safe?"

"Safer than it was," Una said cautiously. 'Safe' was a word she rarely felt comfortable tossing around. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Let's put it this way—there are two types of people in this house, people who are loyal to my father and people who are loyal to me. If Howe's—and therefore my father's—people see me, I'm likely to be killed. If my people see me, they'll want to escort me to the palace for my own safety, and then my father is likely to have me killed."

It sounded a bit paranoid and self-important to Una, but then, that was Anora to a T. "If you say so, Your Majesty. Whatever you're dressed in, I'd like to get out of here as quickly as possible."

"On that, we are in complete agreement." Anora looked nervous, and Una tried to tell herself that the queen had every reason to be, and not to see a treacherous pitfall around every corner.

She had just about convinced herself that they were safe when they came into the main hall and found Cauthrien there, with about two dozen soldiers arrayed behind her, as well as, Una noticed, a couple of Circle mages and their Templars. This was a well-planned ambush, then, guaranteed to take out anything short of an army.

Instinctively, she moved half a step to her left to cover what she knew would be Zev's first move—to fade into the shadows. If Cauthrien and her people hadn't noticed him, he could use Una's greater height to cover a retreat back into the rest of the castle and get out the way they had come, to get help.

"Wardens!" Cauthrien announced, then caught herself, looking foolish as she frowned at the assembled company.

"Warden, singular, I think you mean," Una said.

Cauthrien glared at her. "In the name of the Regent, I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Rendon Howe and his men at arms. Surrender, and you may be shown mercy."

It was on the tip of Una's tongue to issue a defiance, but she stopped herself. Her little group here could never take on Cauthrien's entire force, and there was Queen Anora to consider. Thus far she had kept silence—if there was collusion between her and Cauthrien, Una couldn't see it. Additionally, while Howe's end was nothing more than what he'd had coming, and administered by the only person with the right to his life, as far as Una was concerned, his men were another story. Perhaps she had an obligation to their families to surrender and to stand trial. Here, in front of witnesses, Cauthrien could hardly kill her. What would happen later was something Una would worry about once she was sure the queen was safe. "I will stand down," she said, to the evident consternation of everyone she could see.

"By the sodding Stone, girl, what are you thinkin'?" Oghren roared. "We got your back!"

She shook her head. "Killing them would only endanger us, and reinforce all Loghain's lies about me. I have no shame for what I've done today—Rendon Howe's crimes against this country have been avenged. I am prepared to stand trial."

Cauthrien raised her eyebrows. "You show a surprising amount of restraint, Warden." That Una's restraint was also a disappointment was fairly evident. "I am glad this ended peacefully." She barked at a group of soldiers to her right, "Take the Warden; Loghain doesn't care about the rest."

Una tried not to let her relief show. She had hoped Cauthrien would see it that way, but wouldn't have dared mention it, lest she imperil her friends unnecessarily. She allowed herself a quick glance backward to see that Anora had never raised her helm; that Wynne was watching her with patient understanding; that Oghren had his blade raised in fruitless frustration; and that Zev, bless him, was nowhere to be found. Now, if he could only keep Alistair from doing something they would all regret later, perhaps she could find a way out of this.

It was her last thought before something struck the back of her head, and blackness closed around her.