When I Look at You (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Marjolaine

After a long, frustrated night for both Alistair and Una, the morning dawned cool and rainy. They were following the track of a small creek going north when suddenly they were ambushed from the trees, and found themselves in the midst of a fight. They battled their way through a few mercenaries, a wolf, and a mage of some kind. The last fighter was almost down when suddenly Leliana held up her hand. "Stop! Don't kill him!"

Una had her maul poised above her head, ready to smash down on the man. The effort of halting in mid-blow unbalanced her and she nearly fell over. "What?! Why?"

"These are no ordinary mercenaries," Leliana said, and for the first time Una could see the dangerous look of the spy and assassin in the eyes of her friend, the Chantry sister. "Their weapons and armor are of good quality." She looked at the fallen man. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Why are you here?"

The man got to his feet with some difficulty. "All I know is they told me to kill the little red-haired girl," he said, coughing.

"The little—" Leliana broke off. "Are you here to kill me?"

Una crossed her arms over her chest, standing to her full height, towering over the rather short assassin. Occasionally she really enjoyed her height—times like now, when the man cringed away from her. "Look, if I tell you what little I know ..." He looked up wheedlingly.

"Your information for your life," Una said. "And be glad for it."

He handed her a piece of paper. "This is the address of the place in Denerim where I was supposed to go for my pay. It's all I know."

Una looked at Leliana. "I think we should just kill him."

"No," said her friend firmly. "He's told us what he knows." She looked at the assassin. "Never come near me again."

"I don't take kindly to people who try to kill my friends," Una said. "Next time, I won't stay my hand."

He bowed and nodded and then scuttled off into the forest as fast as his wounds would let him.

"Let's keep moving," Una signaled the others. She and Leliana fell into step at the back of the group. "What do you think?" she asked.

"It's Marjolaine. It has to be."

"But why now? Why would she suddenly come after you after leaving you alone for so long?"

"I don't know. When we're in Denerim, I'd like to go to this address and see what there is to see."

Una nodded. "We will. I won't have this hanging over your head if we can possibly put a stop to it."

Eventually they arrived in Denerim proper. It brought back a lot of memories for Una. The last time she'd been in the Market District she'd been with her father. She remembered the way he'd slung his arm over her shoulders as they strolled the stalls, skipping over all the fripperies and going straight to the armorers. "Your mother would be disappointed in us," he'd murmured. "I'm supposed to be encouraging you to be more feminine."

"Consider me encouraged," she'd grinned at him. "Do you see that chainmail?"

He had thrown back his head and laughed, and they had gone on to buy a whole new set of mail.

Una sniffed a bit. Wynne, who was walking closest to her, stopped and turned around. "Are you all right, my dear?"

"Just thinking about being here with my father," Una said. "I miss him."