The Inquisitor and Alistair found Blackwall working on his wooden griffon carving and the sight of it caused Alistair's face to light up. Blackwall looked up in surprize, and his smile slipped a little when he realized who was with the Inquisitor. She wondered if he felt guilty that he was not going to Weisshaupt as well.
"Inquisitor," he greeted her. "Warden Alistair," he added.
"Just call me Alistair," Alistair said. "Any friend of Duncan's is a friend of mine."
Blackwall looked even less happy at this, but Alistair did not appear to notice the change in his expression. Blackwall changed the subject, gesturing to the griffon, "You like it?"
"Where did you learn to carve so well?" Alistair asked.
"I learned before I joined the Wardens," Blackwall said.
Alistair shook his head. "It's funny; I could have sworn I remembered Duncan saying you were Orlesian when he told me about you. It's been so long...the details begin to slip away. He must have just said you served in Orlais."
"Yes," Blackwall said, nodding. "Must have."
After Blackwall, the two of them ran into Varric. With Hawke gone, he had been rather distant. He took one look at her with Alistair and began walking in the other direction.
"Varric, wait!" Trevelyan called.
He stopped. Alistair looked unbearably sad. "She told me about you, all the time when we were together. I don't know that she knew we had traveled together. I meant to tell her, but... Anyway, you were all she talked about when she talked of home. And you were the person she spoke of with her last words. I just wanted you to know."
Varric glanced back at Alistair and his eyes were shining with tears. He nodded before he walked away.
"Was Hawke in love with Varric?" Trevelyan asked. She had barely known the woman. Had never gotten the chance to know her.
"I think she was, but I don't think she knew until we were in the Fade. That fear demon had a way of showing you your priorities," Alistair said softly. She wondered if he had been taunted with Rhea, as she had been with Cullen. For Hawke...apparently it had been Varric.
They found Josephine in her office; at this point Alistair seemed to have resigned himself to following Trevelyan around Skyhold. He had a little smirk on his face like he found it amusing. She found herself thinking of what he had said about her behaving the same as Surana had during the Blight. Maybe she was making him nostalgic.
"Inquisitor! Warden Alistair! I thought you would be gone by now, though I still wish you would agree to stay. I would love to throw that banquet to celebrate the Grey Wardens being allies of the Inquisition..."
"Lady Montilyet, thank you but-"
"We have to do it!" Trevelyan announced.
Alistair stared at her. "Inquisitor, I appreciate the gesture but I really don't have the time-"
"I'll call the decorators! And the chef! And the invites will be sent, once I decide who should be invited..."
"What if the banquet was just for the Inquisition? A small thing as a send-off to Alistair before he leaves for Weisshaupt," Trevelyan suggested.
Josephine mulled this over, tapping her fingers on her desk absently. "Yes...yes, we could do that. Tonight! No... Not tonight, tomorrow! Yes! Tomorrow. I'll discuss it with Leliana and Cullen, Inquisitor."
"Do I get any say in this, at all?" Alistair asked.
"No," both women said.
Alistair sighed. "Don't know why I asked, really."
Alistair followed Trevelyan out into the training yard, near the tavern next. "Should I ask why you are so determined for me to stay, Inquisitor?" She smiled at him. "I'll take that as a no, then."
Cassandra and Iron Bull were sparring, and Bull made an enthusiastic grunt as Cassandra knocked him on his ass. "Inquisitor!" Cassandra called.
"Oh, hey boss," Bull added from where he lay sprawled at her feet. Cassandra pulled him up.
"Warden Alistair," Cassandra said, "I thought you would have left by now."
"As did I," Alistair agreed with a shake of his head.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
"We're throwing a banquet tomorrow night to send him off," Trevelyan explained.
"A banquet?" Bull echoed. "Does that mean I have to get dressed up in one of those tight outfits like at the ball?" Cassandra made a face at this as well.
"No, it's not formal, just for the members of the Inquisition."
"Oh! A party, then!" Bull explained. "I'll break out the casks!" Cassandra shot him a glare.
A concerned look crossed Cassandra's features. "Does Varric know you are planning this party?"
"Oh…" Trevelyan mumbled, "...shit."
Bull looked from her to Alistair thoughtfully. "Hey, I heard you travelled with our Arishok. Feel like sparring?"
Alistair smiled. "Sure, but I warn you, I bested him."
Bull rumbled out a laugh. "Now you've made it interesting."
Varric was not in his usual spot near the hearth in the great hall. Trevelyan had to ask around. Solas had not seen him, neither had Josephine. Vivienne remembered seeing him leave Skyhold an hour earlier, but did not know where he was headed.
"Leliana, have you heard anything about Varric?" Trevelyan asked.
Leliana's face softened. "He wished to be alone, Inquisitor."
"You asked me to keep Alistair here!" Trevelyan nearly shouted. "Now we're throwing him a party! How could I be so stupid? This is all my fault...I was so obsessed with meeting her…"
"Meeting Rhea?" Leliana asked. "That is what you were so excited about?"
"It doesn't matter now! Where did Varric go? If he left the Inquisition because of me…"
Leliana sighed. "I believe he said he was meeting someone not far from here, but did not want them to enter Skyhold...or to meet you. He did not say more than that. A scout in the mountains sent a bird with the location. You could find them; they're only a half-hours ride from here."
"Thank you!" Trevelyan shouted, vaulting over the railing and once more making a mess of Solas' papers.
Trevelyan rode hard through the path the pilgrims used to reach Skyhold, until one of Leliana's scouts stopped her. "Inquisitor! Nightingale sent a bird, Master Tethras went that way!"
There was a thin road between the mountains and the Inquisitor guided her horse carefully down it. She did not have to go far before she spotted quite a few horses tied to a tree, and saw smoke from a fire. Who in Andraste's name is he meeting?
She heard a raised voice before she saw them. "That's bullshit, Varric, and you know it!" a woman with a Fereldan accent yelled. "Hawke's dead and we can't even talk to the woman who left her to die?"
"I explained in the letter…" Varric said, sounding tired.
"Oh, yes, a letter!" an angry man countered. "Thank you so much for that, dwarf. 'Dear Elf, Hawke was left to die in the fade, sincerely Varric'."
"He didn't really address it 'Dear Elf', did he?" a small, curious female voice asked. "I mean that's rather rude, isn't it? You didn't, did you, Varric?"
"No, Daisy…." Varric replied.
"Oh, well good, then, I mean, not good, because...because….Hawke…." the woman started to cry.
"Oh, shhh, kitten," another woman with a sultry voice comforted her.
"I want to meet her," another Fereldan woman said. "I want to meet the woman who left my sister to die." A dog growled at this.
"I agree," the first woman said. "We're owed that much. We're owed more than just your letter, Varric."
"I'm sure The Herald of Andraste meant well in her actions," another man said, he sounded like he came from the Free Marches.
"Will you shut it!" most of them snapped in unison.
Trevelyan had heard enough, she began to approach the bend so she could see them, when she slipped on some loose snow and fell, cursing, hitting her head on a nearby tree and startling all of the horses.
"What in the bloody hell was that?"
There was a lot of stomping and barking as the group ran around to find Trevelyan lying in the snow at the base of the tree, and she got her first look at Hawke's friends. Having read Tale of the Champion, Trevelyan could guess who was who.
The large, upset looking red-headed woman with the heavy armour whose expression was eerily similar to Cassandra had to be Guard-Captain Aveline.
The equally angry-looking white-haired elf with the intimidating, yet strangely attractive tattoos and massive sword was Fenris.
The beautiful Rivaini with the massive hat and not nearly enough clothing for the mountains had to be Captain Isabela-or Admiral now?
The sad and confused looking cute Dalish elf with the mage staff was Merrill, the blood mage.
The handsome man in the shiny white armor with the bow was Prince Sebastian Vael.
And the girl in the middle with a mage staff who looked the saddest of all of them was Hawke's sister, Bethany; she had a restraining hand on Hawke's mabari, Chase.
Trevelyan looked at Varric, who stood just behind the group, dragging a hand down his face and shaking his head. "Um... hi?" Trevelyan said.
Varric walked up and offered her a hand before anyone could say anything. "Meet Inquisitor Trevelyan, Inquisitor Trevelyan, meet my friends."
"This is her?" Fenris demanded, looking at her with a mix of disdain and disbelief.
"She is mostly famous for falling out of things and surviving," Varric pointed out.
"That's true. Though sometimes things fall on me too…." Trevelyan said quietly.
"Was it a dragon?" Merrill asked. "I heard it was a dragon."
"A mountain, actually."
"Oh, well, that's not so different. Colder, I guess. Unless it was an ice dragon. Then that would be cold too!" She looked around and noticed Fenris' glare and Aveline and Bethany's sighs. "I should be quiet now…."
Trevelyan smiled a little. At least one of Hawke's friends didn't completely hate her. "I heard what you were saying before I got here," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't write to all of you as well, but I didn't feel like I knew Hawke well enough…."
"Is that why you left her to die?" Fenris spat.
Trevelyan swallowed. "No, I left her to die because she asked me to." Chase whined.
Varric looked down. Bethany said, "Can you tell us what happened? Varric said he wasn't there, that he had already left."
"Of course," Trevelyan agreed, nodding. "Why don't you all come to Skyhold? We're having a banquet tomorrow. You should all stay."
"Is it warmer in Skyhold?" Merrill asked. "It's cold in these mountains, much colder than Sundermount."
"Yes, Daisy, it's warmer in Skyhold," Varric said.
"Can we go there then?" Merrill asked the rest of them. "We don't have to stay long. Just for a little. My feet are freezing!"
"I told you to wear boots, kitten," Isabela said.
"I told you, my feet would get lost in them!"
"Is that your reason as well, Fenris?" Aveline asked dryly.
Fenris glared at her. Trevelyan could not help but laugh, and Varric looked at her with a small smile, like his mind was a million miles away.
