Lorelai stirred in her bed. The fires that burned dimly hours before were nothing more than fading embers now. The room was cold as she looked towards the window in her chamber. The rain was falling hard and the tree that stood off center of the pane violently shook in the wind. She heard a noise outside her door and rose to see what it was.

The heavy wooden door slid open scraping the hard stone tile. The noise repeated harsher and louder this time. She looked down the hall towards the other rooms and saw no one coming to investigate. Someone was rapping at the door violently and with such force she thought whoever was on the other side was going to force the door off of its hinges. She ran over and unlatched the door.

"Carver. What are you doing here?" she asked the man standing on the step shivering and sopping wet. She stepped to the side and hurried her brother in and took him to the study. He plopped into the chair without a word. Lorelai ran from the room and rounded up every blanket she could find to cover her younger brother. She piled logs into the gaping hole of the fireplace and cast a small fire spell illuminating the whole room in an orange glow. "Are you alright? What's going on?" She pressed as she kneeled beside the chair and looked up at him. His black hair clung to his face and he had started to grow the makings of a beard. He looked so much older since she'd seen him last.

He looked down at her with a frown. He shifted slightly in his seat and his hand slid from between the downy comforters she'd heaped on top of him and he exposed a letter. It was bone dry and the seal was unbroken. She looked at it careful and saw the markings of Danarius's emblem cast on the wax. She snatched it violently from his grasp. More violently than she expected to. She shuttered at the thought of communicating with Danarius. What did he want with her?

"There was a messenger outside," Carver stuttered out through chattering teeth. "I told him to go and that I would handle the delivery of the letter." She ran her finger across the stamp and sighed. "Aren't you going to open it?" He asked.

"Huh?" Lorelai asked. She flinched at the question and smiled. "Not right now," she answered walking over to the desk and placing it in a drawer. She looked back at Carver with concern and stood over him again. "The real question is, why are you here and how did you find me?"

Carver chuckled softly as Lorelai took her place in the chair next to him. She leaned into him, her elbows burrowing into her knees. "Business, Sister. You know I can't talk to you about that sort of thing." He coughed violently as cold started to take over him. Lorelai jumped up and ran from the room. She knew exactly what to do to take care of that cough before it became virulent in him. She walked into her makeshift lab and grabbed a small vial of blue liquid and darted back to Carver.

"Here," she said as she presented the liquid to him. "This should take care of that." Carver looked at her in disgust. "Please, Carver. Trust me," she pleaded. She slipped the tiny glass tube into his hand and waited for him to imbibe it. He glanced at it briefly and shivered. He threw his head back and let the bitter liquid slide to the back of his throat. He tried to fight the taste and when he forced himself to swallow he gagged and nearly vomited the medicinal drink back up. Lorelai patted his back and Carver waved her off. Her maternal instincts were destroyed at his action.

"Is everything alright?" Anders asked as he appeared in the doorway, sleepily yawning. He looked at Carver and blinked with shock. "How did you find us?" His tone was dark and hollow as he approached the pair of siblings.

"It's alright," Lorelai interjected. "He came to see me." Carver turned to her; his eyes were blank as if he was in shock of her still coming to his defense. She leaned on the back of the chair and crossed her arms. "He's ill."

Anders walked around and examined Carver briefly. He could sense it in him. He was ill and growing worse with each passing minute. "Did you give him that potion?" He asked as he looked up at Lorelai. She nodded and let the tension that she had come to a stop before sitting in the chair again. "He needs to be in bed for the potion to take full effect." He ordered. Carver shot glances between the two mages and scowled.

"I'm fine." Carver snapped. He stood up and the biting cold returned. His head swam and felt vertigo slowly take over.

"No, Carver," Lorelai purred with concern. She threw Carver's arm over her shoulder and Anders took the other one. "You heard the man, you are going to bed."

Carver groaned in discontent but was too weak to make an argument about his welfare again.

"Where are we going to put him?" Anders asked as they started towards the door of the study.

"We'll put him in my room for now," Lorelai answered. She looked between them and saw Carver's head fall forward. His body became heavy, almost too heavy for her to carry. She smiled at Anders who was snickering at the sight of Carver's unconsciousness. She nudged the door open with her foot and the pair made their way to the side of the bed. It was a concerted effort to pull him on it. "We need to get him out of that armor, or all the healing and potions in all of Thedas aren't going to save him."

She grabbed Carver's greave and unbuckled it. She tossed it to the floor. The metal hitting stone didn't agree with its treatment and made its audible complaint as it clanged to the floor. Her fingers deftly unfastened each buckle and chucked them to the side with little care for their condition. She watched as Anders left the room and returned with the down comforter in hand. He placed it over him as Lorelai piled logs into the fireplace and lit them. She turned back to Carver and saw the droplets of sweat form on his head.

"He'll be alright." Anders tried to assure her as he extended his hand to her. "He just needs his rest." Lorelai frowned and started for the door with Anders. She looked back at her baby brother one last time, heartbroken and alone and closed the door behind her.

"Thank you, Anders," she said. She smiled faintly and started back toward the study and the letter that awaited her.

Anders, of course, followed and saw Lorelai searching her desk. She became frantic and tossed parchment to the floor as she scoured the desk all the way to the back. She pulled the drawer out and dropped it to the floor. Anders watched in amusement at Lorelai's panic from the door he'd so haughtily propped himself up against. Lorelai looked at Anders with cold and accusing eyes. "Where is it?" She snapped. Her voice was dark and threatening.

Anders pulled the smaller folded paper from his belt and sat in the chair. Lorelai followed never taking her eyes off of the apostate. She forcefully held out her hand and glared. "Give it," she ordered. Anders snorted disapprovingly and placed the letter delicately in her hand.

"Is this the message you were waiting for?" he asked as he propped his feet up on the ottoman.

"I don't know." She answered. She examined the stamp again and her blood ran cold. "It's from Danarius." Her voice became so hushed that Anders sat up just enough to hear her shudder.

"Danarius?" he scoffed. "Isn't that Fenris's master?" His question came out in a snide tone. He liked the idea of the elf being handed back to whomever he belonged to; but knew that Lorelai could never forgive herself for her actions.

Lorelai nodded slowly. She broke the seal and a torrent of fear and dread overcame her. Her heart raced and rang in her ears. She tried to calm herself as she looked at the intricately scrawled text. The ink was a deep black that seemed almost fresh in the firelight. Her eyes grew wide as she read and her heart sank like a stone in a placid lake. The ripples were like shockwaves that penetrated her core and shook the very center of her being.

"Well?" Anders asked with more than his usual amount of enthusiasm. She read the words over and over again and they still didn't make sense. "Lorelai?" He said, breaking her concentration. She looked at him and a single tear fell.

"Um." She started clearing her throat to find a way for the verbal thoughts to come through. "It says I'm to meet him at his mansion tomorrow evening." She crumpled the fine paper up in her small hand and sank deeper into the chair. The distant sound of thunder rumbled outside as if it was protesting the idea of going to that place. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Do you know what this means?"

"Fenris?" Anders said, not amused by the dread that Lorelai felt. "You have to let him go, Lorelai. It's just going to hurt you in the end." He warned her as he slid from the chair onto his knees in front of her. His blue eyes met hers and he was sad. Genuinely sad at her predicament.

Yes, Fenris was a jerk. More than a jerk to the plight of the mages, but Lorelai saw past that. Saw some of the goodness that he guarded. Anders took her hand in his and gently pressed his lips to her soft fingers. His hot moist breath felt good to her. The comfort she needed was kneeled right there in front of her, but she would not chance it. She couldn't. They were too close of friends to let the intricacies of physical romanticism destroy what they had already built, destroyed and reestablished.

"I know." She uttered. "Maker, I know." Inside she argued. She couldn't stop. She had to hope that somewhere in Fenris's mind, locked away were the memories of her. She didn't care about the negatives and positives of his former life and what she meant to them, just that they were there.

"I'm sorry." Anders said as he stood up. "I haven't been able to tell you that. And you deserve it. The Fenris thing was a disaster. I should have stayed out of it." He sulked. He looked out the window and sighed. "I have some things to do before everyone gets up." He stated. "I will be back in a little while." He quickly retreated before Lorelai could question him. The answer to her unasked question was the door slamming shut.


The day was fraught with dread for Lorelai. The subtle glances she got from Varric as she passed weren't ones of disappointment, but of confusion. Merrill was intrigued by her choice in career and wanted to hear all about it, but Lorelai felt like such a hypocrite with the way she'd treated her about blood magic. Merrill could care less. She was glad that they were going to have a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. She didn't want to go back to Kirkwall; she found this place much more "serene"-an odd word for the stoic and bleak conditions of the Imperium.

She had only recently seen Anders return from whatever destination he'd decided to send himself off to. She didn't ask and he didn't tell. His look when they did see each other was of despair and frustration. When she did approach him to ask what was wrong he frowned and walked to his room locking the door behind him.

Isabela shrugged when she told her; she was too distracted with making eyes at Carver to take notice of the obvious frown that Lorelai harbored.

"Would you stop looking at him like that?" Lorelai snapped in annoyance.

"Oh, am I not paying enough attention to you?" Isabela cooed. She stood and hugged Lorelai. "You do what you have to do. Right or wrong, you'll make it work. Just like the rest of us have to with our decisions." She squeezed her tightly and sighed.

"Profound," Lorelai eked out with a smirk.

"Pardon?" Isabela questioned. Her eyebrow crooked gently at the comment.

"That was profound, even for you, Isabela," Lorelai jabbed playfully as she nodded in agreement and started out of the study.

"I have my moments, you know. I'm not just a pretty face," Isabela laughed loudly at the compliment. "Have you told the others yet? What about that delicious brother of yours?"

Lorelai abruptly stopped. Her shoulders slumped slightly and she turned back to Isabela who was eyeing her suspiciously. "I did and they all seem to have come to the same conclusion as you did." She paused and looked at Carver who was catching up with Varric, "I haven't said anything to Carver about it. How do I tell him that I'm taking on the role of something he's feared that both Bethany and I would resort to?"

"You tell him like you told the rest of us," Isabela said. She placed her hand on her hip in a seductive fashion. "Or I could tell him." Her eyes lit up and she started for the door and Lorelai stepped in her path.

"No, I'll do it," Lorelai muttered. She'd painted herself into a corner and one she couldn't escape from without the messy consequences.

As calmly and gracefully as she could; she walked up to the pair of laughing men. Each one laughing at the reminiscing and mix and match tales they were sharing. "Carver? Can I talk to you for a minute, in private?"

The smile faded from his face as he stood. "What is it?"

"Not here," Lorelai urged as she started towards her bedroom. "I have to tell you something."

Carver followed without a word and marched into the room and placed himself on the foot of her bed.

She didn't know where to begin. All she knew was that time was running out and that she was going to have to leave shortly for her dinner engagement. She stepped behind the dressing screen in the corner and slowly unhooked the clasps of her gown. It slipped from her small frame and fell to the floor. The fabric crumpled around her feet, lifelessly.

"Where's Fenris?" Carver asked. It wasn't the start of the conversation she was looking for, but it was a start. "I thought he'd have been here with you."

Her head fell and she shook. "He's back with his master." She stated coldly. She turned to the black robe with intricately embroidered silvery thread that Danarius's messenger had brought earlier in the day with a message to wear it. The stocking were a gift of the finest silken thread. An heirloom from a distant relative and that the matching set was to be adorned by her.

"His master?" Carver asked. "You gave him back?"

"I did," Lorelai said softly as she sat in the chair and pulled the lacy leggings on. They stuck firmly to her thighs as she stood again, looked at the black lace and groaned. It looked more along the lines of something that Isabela would wear if she was 'role-playing.' "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

She pulled the heavy velvet robe over her head. The smell was exquisite. The hints of fine tea and magic exuded from it and embraced her as she started to fasten the tiny hooks into place. The low cut front hung loosely as she clasped as much of the silvery hardware as she could. She stepped around the screen to show Carver what she was wearing and was expecting his disapproval.

"It's nice," he stated. He stood up and gave Lorelai a hug. It was so out of character for him that Lorelai pushed him away to see if there was a knife in his hand. Carver frowned and took a step back. The corseted top that was untied was atrociously loose. He spun Lorelai around started pulling the fine threads through the eyelets with ease.

"You are okay with this?" Lorelai asked as she rubbed her eyes. She gasped when Carver jerked the final piece of cord and began to tie it.

"Sister, I know," Carver said when he was finished tying the ribbon. "Varric already told me."

Lorelai turned around and sighed. "Varric." Her voice came off with a groan as she smoothed out the fabric gently.

"I don't like it, but I have to let that go." Carver said as he took a step back and examined her again. "I knew a girl in the Wardens that wore something like that."

Lorelai smiled with amusement. "And?" She wanted to know every detail. "What was she like?"

"She was great. Not like you, but she dabbled in the dark things as well," Carver explained.

"That's where you learned to tie people in to these torturous things, I take it?" Lorelai grumbled as the boning dug into her ribs.

"More like I learned how to get her out of it, but yeah." Carver blushed with the statement. He cleared his throat as his face became red with embarrassment.

"Carver, you're grown man now. I could care less about your exploits," Lorelai said as she stood at her vanity. She slid her black slippers onto her feet and wriggled her toes in them. "What I do care about is how you found me and why you are here."

"I came to find you. You are all I have left," Carver snapped as he leaned against the bed in a defensive posture. "The Wardens sent me here with Stroud for work, but when I found out you were here I had to see you."

"Why would the Wardens be in the land of blood magic?" Lorelai said as she looked into the mirror. Her pale complexion was glaringly obvious in the dark gown. She picked up a small tube and placed it to her lips. The dark shade outlined her lips as she bit them gently.

"It's hard to say. We were following a lead on something and now it seems like we've hit a dead end," Carver said as he watched Lorelai apply her make-up and stare at him. "I will be leaving once we've found what we are looking."

"Oh," Lorelai said softly. "Well, I will miss you then." She pulled her soft black tendrils up and clipped her hair back in a jewel encrusted clip. She sighed and sniffled. "You seem to have been doing well for yourself in any case." She stood up and grabbed her cloak from off the hook and started out of the room. Carver followed her and watched as she made her way to the foyer. She looked at Carver with fear. It was the first time he'd ever seen such a lack of confidence that he didn't know what to do or say. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, hopefully. I'll be at the mansion at the top of the hill if you need me."

"Take care of yourself, Sister." Carver said. His face was worried but his posture was one of complete and utter trust for his smaller much demurer older sister.