Spymasters and Inquisition

Valdyr sighed. "That's good, I think. It's better. When you get too attached to your home mountain, it's hard to leave it. Thanks for the help," he told him as he started to walk outside, in the chill night air.

"Hey, I can respect a man that is attached to his homeland. Deep roots add to the charm of a person, you know", the dwarf completed, leaning against the door frame. He made a salute gesture with two fingers. "No probs. See ya."

Valdyr nodded then headed back to the inn. And, actually, since he felt safer there, that's where he intended on spending the night. So he did, then headed back to the Inquisitor's place early in the morning, trying to find Horknath.

Horknath had awoken early, and he had sat out of what was supposed to be Valdyr's bedroom for a while. He had then tried to knock, to look inside, but there was no one. He was now slumping in the main hall, unsure of what to do.

"Horknath," Valdyr called him as he walked to him, carrying his two bags. "Morning. Sorry, I didn't wake at dawn like I expected," he said while holding back a slight yawn.

Horknath grunted, finishing off his breakfast. Well, people in the kitchen had seen him standing there and so they had filled him with stuff to eat. "Where've you been?", he asked. "You weren't in your room."

"Actually, I slept at the inn. I was too tired to come back." Granted, he was lying a bit, but he didn't want Horknath to worry too much about it. "Are you ready to hit the road?"

"Ah, sure. I'll just, leave a note to Yvan I guess", Horknath said, getting up from her chair. "I mean, it's better not to risk him getting terrified because he can't find us and Ash going on a killing spree."

Valdyr arched a brow. "... No offense, but... you can write ?" He couldn't help but smile at the idea of the orc using a delicate quill to write a letter.

Horknath all but blushed, embarrassed. "Well, I... a bit", he said. "I am better at reading, writing is a tad bit difficult... quills always break", he muttered. "Well, you do it then!", he added a bit defensively.

Valdyr chuckled kindly, and nodded. "Aye." He took out a sheet of paper and an old quill, quickly wrote a word for Yvan, which he handed over to Horknath. "Alright. Put this under his door and let's go."

"Yeah, yeah, alright", Horknath muttered, grabbing the sheet of paper. He went up the stairs and kneeled before the door of Yvan's room, gently slipping the note under it. Then he got up, and went back to Valdyr. "There, done", he said.

Valdyr nodded. "Did you have time to warn any of the staff here that we're leaving then coming back, or are we going away like fugitives? Not that it'll change something for me, of course," he added with humor.

"Oh, I told the dwarf", Horknath said casually, picking up his back. "Varric. He's cool, I think. He told me he'd warn the Inquisitor", he added then.

Valdyr shrugged. "Whatever. Let them hope we'll both come back alive," he said with a smile, as he took the road with Horknath, holding back another yawn.

"We will. I'm pretty sure", Horknath said, following him outside.

(Do you wanna skip to someplace specific? uvu)

Let's skip to the moment they reached Valdyr's mountain ! for at that moment, Valdyr slowed down, his legs weak under him. "... Horknath, from that moment on, of anyone sees any of us I'm as good as dead. Do you understand me?" he whispered, worry in his voice.

"Understood", Horknath whispered back, slowing down with him. "Tell me how do you want to proceed. Do you want to hide in a bag or something? Or want me to deliver the stuff myself? What's your plan."

Valdyr kept back a nervous laugh. "Horknath, I haven't crossed the whole damn continent just to get off without seeing my niece's face at least one last time. I need to get in." He took a deep breath. "There's a secret entrance known only to the royal family. We'll get through that. But once inside, we'll need to sneak our way to my sister-in-law's house. Needless to say, they're not used to seeing one of your kind around. You'll have to lay low on this."

Horknath snorted loudly, keeping a very loud laughter from erupting out his throat. "You just told an half orc to lay low. I can't believe I heard that", he wheezed. Then he took a deep breath. "Ok. I'll follow you, while trying not to make you regret not choosing an elf. Let's go."

Valdyr held back a smile. "At least, contrary to an elf, you'll prove yourself useful if we get caught." He took him on the foot of the mountain, where he touched the stone for a while before finding just where to press for a door to silently open. He signed for him to follow him, leading the way. "You might want to crouch. It's narrow," he whispered.

"Right", Horknath muttered, crouching a bit - but not enough to avoid bumping his head against the wall at least once. He cursed silently, following Valdyr.

Valdyr led him through a succession of small corridors that would have looked like a maze to anyone not knowing the place. They then entered the city, and he stopped for a moment, gazing at the low lights, the beauty of the halls. Then pressed his lips together. "Get out, I'll need to close behind us."

Horknath would have probably gotten lost all by himself, that was for damn sure. He gaped at the magnificence of the stone halls and the city unraveling before his eyes, getting out of the way as he had been asked.

Valdyr closed the hidden gate behind them, and gazed once more at the city. "It's beautiful, isn't it," he whispered to him. He was clearly being struck by his home sickness right now.