FANFIC: For the Good of Ferelden
Damn you guys for giving me Loghain feels...
While I wouldn't say I like Loghain as a person, but he is a fascinating character with a beautifully complex set of motivations which I wanted to explore. Plus another exercise in brevity (499 words).
***
It should feel familiar, inspecting his forces before battle, but knowing he does not intend these particular forces to join the fight makes his stomach churn.
The thought of leaving loyal Fereldans to die at the hands of the darkspawn, waiting for reinforcements which will never come, chills him but he forces the feeling away, focusing of the rightness of his decision. He will not fall for this Orlesian plot.
How Cailan can so blithely trust the treacherous Grey Wardens, when they have been responsible for so much harm to Ferelden, is just another reminder of the ways Maric's son has failed them. How could he trust the Orlesian thief with his stories of this false Blight - so clearly an excuse for the Orlesians to send forces into Fereldan once more.
He has seen through their back-up plan too. He wonders which of them spread her skirts for Maric in the Deep Roads, to give the Wardens his bastard as a bargaining chip? Still, the Tower of Ishal is not as safe as they think. Even if the bastard and his elven spitfire make it to the beacon they will not return.
He can hear the sounds of battle now. The roar of ogres, the screeches of genlocks, shrieks living up to their names and he is angry. How dare the Wardens do this? How little did their vows mean to them to have herded an army of the creatures together to advance their own agenda rather than destroyed them.
And his scouts agree there is an army of the creatures coming. If he leads his forces away the army here will die. Cailan will die. If he stays will they all die? Surely not, that would hardly serve the Orlesian's purpose. They'll be delighted when the traitor Cailan willingly hands over what his grandmother died to see free.
"He will betray you, each time worse than the last." He remembers the witch's words and still they burn him. He had never betrayed Maric but his king had betrayed him time and time again - with Rowan, with the Wardens, by betraying Rowan's memory with his elven whores. And Cailan was no better: he had given his own daughter to him in marriage and yet the king mocked his marriage vows again and again.
It's too late for regrets: Howe must have killed the Couslands, filthy Orlesian sympathisers, and the maleficar will have seen Arl Eamon dead, the hypocrite with his Orlesian shrew of a wife and her mageling son. Certainly neither of their forces have arrived. The mages who stand here will support him: Senior Enchanter Uldred very open to negotiations and why should he believe more Orlesian lies? Blood magic is just another tool and he will use every tool at his disposal to keep Ferelden free.
This is for Ferelden. For his daughter, who he will not see cast aside. For Maric and Rowan's memory.
Loghain gives the order. Maker, forgive me... Maric, forgive me.
While I wouldn't say I like Loghain as a person, but he is a fascinating character with a beautifully complex set of motivations which I wanted to explore. Plus another exercise in brevity (499 words).
***
It should feel familiar, inspecting his forces before battle, but knowing he does not intend these particular forces to join the fight makes his stomach churn.
The thought of leaving loyal Fereldans to die at the hands of the darkspawn, waiting for reinforcements which will never come, chills him but he forces the feeling away, focusing of the rightness of his decision. He will not fall for this Orlesian plot.
How Cailan can so blithely trust the treacherous Grey Wardens, when they have been responsible for so much harm to Ferelden, is just another reminder of the ways Maric's son has failed them. How could he trust the Orlesian thief with his stories of this false Blight - so clearly an excuse for the Orlesians to send forces into Fereldan once more.
He has seen through their back-up plan too. He wonders which of them spread her skirts for Maric in the Deep Roads, to give the Wardens his bastard as a bargaining chip? Still, the Tower of Ishal is not as safe as they think. Even if the bastard and his elven spitfire make it to the beacon they will not return.
He can hear the sounds of battle now. The roar of ogres, the screeches of genlocks, shrieks living up to their names and he is angry. How dare the Wardens do this? How little did their vows mean to them to have herded an army of the creatures together to advance their own agenda rather than destroyed them.
And his scouts agree there is an army of the creatures coming. If he leads his forces away the army here will die. Cailan will die. If he stays will they all die? Surely not, that would hardly serve the Orlesian's purpose. They'll be delighted when the traitor Cailan willingly hands over what his grandmother died to see free.
"He will betray you, each time worse than the last." He remembers the witch's words and still they burn him. He had never betrayed Maric but his king had betrayed him time and time again - with Rowan, with the Wardens, by betraying Rowan's memory with his elven whores. And Cailan was no better: he had given his own daughter to him in marriage and yet the king mocked his marriage vows again and again.
It's too late for regrets: Howe must have killed the Couslands, filthy Orlesian sympathisers, and the maleficar will have seen Arl Eamon dead, the hypocrite with his Orlesian shrew of a wife and her mageling son. Certainly neither of their forces have arrived. The mages who stand here will support him: Senior Enchanter Uldred very open to negotiations and why should he believe more Orlesian lies? Blood magic is just another tool and he will use every tool at his disposal to keep Ferelden free.
This is for Ferelden. For his daughter, who he will not see cast aside. For Maric and Rowan's memory.
Loghain gives the order. Maker, forgive me... Maric, forgive me.