Her arms and legs were bound, her limbs in cramp from being tied in position for so long. She was on the ground, arms tied to a post behind her so that she could sit upright. She had been conscious for the last hour or two, and the hood from her head removed, but no one had spoken to her, and she had been left alone in the tent.
"What is she doing here?" Another familiar voice said outside of the tent, "We can't let Arana find out that Laisa is in custody, or she might do something stupid." Arana? Laisa thought of her old friend with sadness. She was so afraid all of a sudden. Bridget hadn't seemed herself, she had seemed so furious. And Laisa was now at her mercy, at the mercy of the mighty Inquisition, who could do with her as they pleased. "Bridget darling, this is Laisa we're talking about. She's not the type of person to betray us."
The flap of the tent opened and a familiar man stepped inside next to Bridget. "Hello, Eagan." She said to her old friend.
"Why?" He asked her, he looked so tired. "All of this time, why didn't you let us know that you were alive?"
"It seemed better that way." She sighed. "I'm sorry." She glanced between them. "I'm glad you found each other at any rate." They jerked in surprise. "You called her darling, it doesn't take a genius to work it out."
"Who sent you to kill Baroness Mercier?" Eagan asked. "Tell us, and we can sort this, we can get you out of this, and take care of you. You could come back to Skyhold."
"You know I can't tell you that." Laisa closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. Do what you have to do." Eagan paled.
"I can't do this." He said, backing out of the tent. Laisa felt a pang not dissimilar to grief as he left her.
Bridget knelt down in front of her, anger bubbling over. "You know, when they first assigned me to you, I thought they must be losing it. They acted like you could be this threat to the Inquisition, through your link to the mysterious Solas, that you had some ulterior motive. And there you were, the sweet little elven stable girl, bullied and assaulted. I felt sorry for you. I thought of you as a friend in the end. So when you and Nanin left, I lied for you."
"We were very grateful for that." Laisa told her.
"Or were you laughing at my stupidity, for letting two spies wander out freely back to their masters?" Bridget snapped. "I should have realized the moment you confessed that you knew I was a spy all along. You shouldn't have known that. But I let you leave. The pair of you drop off the face of Thedas, and then I discover that you're an assassin. That wasn't your first kill either. You did it too easily. And the way you fought me shows you've had training." Laisa said nothing. "Maker's breath! Who are you?"
"I'm Laisa." She shrugged. "I never lied about that. I never lied at all. I had no need to use my skills at Skyhold, and no reason to dredge up my past. I'm not a spy!" She shifted uncomfortably in the ropes, "Please believe me Bridget! No matter where I've been, I'm still your friend. I mean the Inquisition no harm." Tears filled her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Bridget looked away, "But I don't believe you." She took a deep breath, steeling herself, "It's my job to get information from you before we move on." Her face was carefully blank. "And I have to do that, no matter who you are. If you tell me now, who you work for, who sent you to kill the Baroness, then this ends now, without violence."
Laisa took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to summon her courage. "I can't do that."
Bridget slapped her. The blow came so suddenly that she didn't see it until her head cracked to one side. A fist struck her face again, and a boot smashed into her ribs, robbing her of breath. The pain was acute. Neither of them spoke as Bridget beat her mercilessly, hands and feet striking her until Laisa's face swelled, wet with her own blood and she fell close to unconsciousness. "You can make this end." Bridget said softly, leaning in close. "Just talk to me."
"Ar tu na'din, shem." Laisa hissed, unable to hold her head up.
Bridget slapped her one last time, "Stupid knife-ear." Her lips were trembling and she rose, wiping her bloody hands on a cloth. "I'll be back."
They just left her then, for a long time. They gave her no food, no water, and time passed and she slept fitfully, bleeding and in pain, soiling her clothing since she was unable to move. Agonized, eventually she fell into a deep sleep.
Even in her dreams, she was in pain, bloody and broken, her stomach twisting with hunger, her throat scraped. She slumped in the middle of a forest, shivering. This was the Fade. It was strange: before Solas, she had never remembered dreams. Now her experiences with the Fade were incredibly vivid. It had been a long time since she had prayed, she realized. Among her own people, she had always bowed her head to the carvings of the gods. But she had found herself turning to them less and less. They never helped her: they were gone. In her distress she discovered herself calling out, "Elgar'nan, father of all, please, give me vengeance." Tears ran down her swollen cheeks. "Solas..." She whispered. "I will die rather than betray you."
There was a wolf in the distance of her dream, watching her. It had intelligent eyes, compassionate. It padded towards her. A spirit, she knew. Perhaps it had heard her suffering. Perhaps it was one of Solas's friends. It nudged her gently, as if to ask how it could help.
"Please," Laisa asked it, "Find a man named Solas. Tell him that the Inquisition have taken me and how someone can find me." It wouldn't work. At least if she died, he might find out one day.
Bridget shook her awake with more questions that Laisa could not answer. There was no nourishment provided again. And so the pattern went pain, and thirst and starvation, with no sense of time. Eagan never came back to see her.
One day, the tent flap opened to a new figure. A beautiful elven woman let out a soft cry and dropped to her knees before her. "Laisa? Laisa? Can you hear me?"
"Arana?" She couldn't believe it, "How?"
"They said the prisoner was Dalish but I never believed..." She broke off. She hadn't changed at all, black hair bound up tightly behind her head. Arana began to cry. "What in the name of all the gods have they done to you?" Arana whispered, appalled. "Mythal have mercy...this is wrong. Here..." She gently poured water into Laisa's dry mouth. At first she choked on it, but gladly drank greedily eventually.
"I've been praying." Laisa told her in a cracked voice, "For the first time in a while actually. I prayed to Elgar'nan, and wished for vengeance. I would never have hurt them, if our situations were reversed. They call me 'knife-ear' and torture me." She sounded as if she was raving.
"You need to eat." Arana insisted. "I brought some broth. I didn't know it was you, but even if it was some other lethallan, I felt I needed to help." She spooned the broth into Laisa's mouth.
"How can you be here?" Laisa asked. "It feels like a miracle."
"I wanted some field experience, wanted to feel nature again. Fate led us back together." Arana laughed once, "I have missed you da'len. I'm so sorry." She hung her head, "For my jealousy, my betrayal, my harsh words, ir abelas. I have had so many hours to regret them. I prayed that the gods would bring us together once more; but not like this."
"I am sorry too. I forgive you." Laisa whispered, "You are lethallan, and my sister in all things." She chuckled and the action sent ripples of pain through her body, "I am surprised Bridget did not send you in to siphon information from me."
"I always knew you were an assassin." Arana smiled, "I was the Keeper's First. I knew what Harith was and therefore what he must be training you to do, all of those years ago. I also know that you're a good person who wouldn't kill someone who didn't deserve it." She paused, "I won't ask for specifics, but are Lem and Nanin alright?"
"Yes. They're both safe and well, as far as I know."
"Thank god." She ducked her head. "Did you know that I loved him? Nanin, I mean. We used to wind each other up, and then at Skyhold, we grew so close. I really loved him, but I never said anything. When you both decided to leave, without me, I felt like he had chosen you over me, and that crushed me."
"Nanin and I have never...he's like my big brother."
"I know." She burst into tears again. "I was an idiot. I should have come with you."
"I thought you were happy there!" Laisa shook her head.
"I was! But that was when you were there, and he was there." She paused, "I only want to know: did you find what you were looking for, when you left?"
Laisa smiled. It was a grotesque parody of her normal smile, twisted by her injuries. "Yes. We did." She sighed.
"Someone is coming." Arana breathed, "I have to disappear or they'll know I was in here. Stay strong da'len."
"They'll kill me Arana." Laisa told her, but her friend was already fleeing out of one side as Eagan and Bridget entered through the other.
"Bridget what have you done!" Eagan had frozen in the doorway at the sight of Laisa. "Maker preserve us!"
"I did my job." Bridget closed her eyes for a moment. "We've been waiting on a raven for orders regarding you, prisoner. You have a choice now: give up the information we want and we are permitted to bring you back to Skyhold for trial. If you refuse, we are forced to execute you and return your body to the authorities in Halamshiral."
"She wouldn't survive a journey to Skyhold at the moment." Eagan folded his arms.
"The whole point was to break her." Bridget pointed out. "She's just not breaking." Laisa said nothing, just turned her face away. Bridget nudged her with a foot. "I never wanted this, but she's leaving me no choice." Eagan's face had turned the color of curdled milk. "We have to obey orders." Laisa feigned passing out, letting her head slump back against the post. It pulled at the cuts the ropes had given her, but in all her pain, wasn't too hard to fake.
"She's terrified." Eagan told her quietly. "And she's supposed to be our friend."
"We have jobs. You think I enjoyed this?" Bridget almost shrieked, "I could have done so much worse to her, but I couldn't bring myself to." She seemed to sag, "I'll give her until tonight to change her mind, and if not, I'll do it quietly."
Time passed in a blur, a hazy mess of distress and pain. Arana didn't return, clearly unaware of the clock ticking on Laisa's life. I have to escape now, Laisa thought, or I'm dead. It would be a risk but either way she was dead, so why not try. The ropes on her wrists were slick with blood, and with some maneuvering, she pulled one hand free. With that hand she spent long hours picking at the knots binding her ankles until they came loose.
That was when Bridget came in. There was a dagger in her belt, Laisa noticed. She said nothing at all, but completely missed in the darkness of the tent that Laisa was virtually free. As she grew close, Laisa swung out with her legs, wiping out Bridget's legs. Taken by surprise, the spy toppled over, and Laisa dragged her down, swinging her free hand out in a fist to punch her in the temples. Bridget crumpled. She stole the dagger from the woman's belt and slashed the final rope.
Every movement was agonizing, and her legs collapsed when she attempted to stand. Instead she found herself crawling from the tent, dragging herself into the night, just as a panicked Arana approached. Her friend took one look inside at Bridget's unconscious form, and then pulled Laisa onto her feet. With one flick of her staff, every tent in the camp was ablaze. "Time to go." Laisa stared at her in astonishment. "I made my choice."
Sorry for this chapter being late! I've been moving house and had no internet until today to put this chapter online.