So, turns out my brain has decided to completely ignore the step by step plan I made and veer off and do it's own thing. Sick.

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I live for that shit.

Oliver arrived at his sister's door early in the morning, when the cold light of the sun was just beginning to creep over the peaks of the mountains. The religious in the castle were already in the garden, kneeling in the damp grass for morning rites before starting their day. There was something to be admired in those that kept their devotion even though it demanded being awake before the sun had fully risen. On a day off like today Oliver usually wouldn't been seen for hours yet, but today was a special occasion.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dorian had asked him, lazily watching from the bed as he'd pulled some clothes on.

"She wanted to be trained." He'd replied, smirking as he'd watched Dorian stretch like a cat in the sun and bury himself in the pillows. "This is what life is like when you're being trained."

"I believe she asked for some tips to, and I quote, 'brush up her skills'." The muffled voice from the bed had said.

Oliver had snorted. "She's trying to get off lightly, Aurelia's not had a day of training in her life. But, she wants to learn? She'll learn the same way as any recruit."

"You're a sadistic brute." Dorian replied. "You won't let her come out travelling with us but you'll drag her to the ring for what is essentially a beating up, in the name of training?"

"Bull's been promising to train her for weeks, I'd rather it be done by me than someone who wants to fuck her brains out." He'd grumbled as he walked out, Dorian's laughter following as he shut the door behind him.

Which had led him here. Not bothering to knock, he banged the door open with his elbow and stepped inside. Perhaps he was making a little more noise than usual but making his sister's life as miserable as hell was arguably one of his most important duties.

"Good morning!" He said, throwing the shuttered windows open. There wasn't much of a view from her window, her bedroom was so low down in the castle's layout that all that could be seen was mountainside. Still, anything was better than the view from her room at home.

There was a grunt from the bed. With the grey light of dawn slowly filtering in, he could just about make out the shape of Aurelia's body under the blankets, a few strands of red hair visible on the pillow.

"Stand to attention recruit!" Oliver said, planting his feet in front of the bed. "Training starts in ten minutes and I want you bright and eager in the ring, by order of the Inquisitor."

The blanket moved slightly, and a hand appeared, giving him a very rude gesture. He tutted. "If you were a real recruit that would be grounds for dismissal, at the very least. Luckily you get special treatment."

"Not really feeling that treatment right now." She replied and Oliver sighed.

"Oh I'm so sorry, let me try harder." Grasping the edges of blanket, he heaved. With a yelp that sounded like a wounded Mabari, Aurelia fell arse first onto the stone floor.

"Andraste's ass, Olly! What the fuck do you want?!" She glared up at him from the floor. She looked like a mess, hair like a wildfire and eyes bloodshot and narrowed. She was still in her day clothes, shirt half undone and slipping off one freckled shoulder, trousers rumpled and one boot still on.

"Were you drinking with Bull and the Chargers again last night?" Oliver rolled his eyes and grasped her forearm, basically dragging her up into a standing position. "One would assume hope that you'd have learned by now."

He turned away, missing the face Aurelia pulled at him, to grab her jacket from the table. "Come on."

She struggled to her feet, fixing him with a scowl that would have made the gargoyles on the Trevelyan estate wall jealous. "You were serious? You want to do this now Olly the sun isn't even up properly yet!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you're used to lazy mornings and lie ins in your fancy estate but I assure you, here we do things very differently."

"Shut up, you arsehole."

"You wanted to be trained, this is the best time to do it without a crowd gathering to watch."

"UGH." She groaned, slamming her bedroom door behind them loud enough to draw attention from the still kneeling worshippers. "I've told you a million times Olly, I don't need training I just need to brush up! The skills are there, they exist, they've arrived!"

Oliver snorted. "Like Mother would have ever let you train with any kind of weapon Auri."

She let out a heavy sigh. "Alright Oliver. I'll play along. But," She stepped in his path and held a hand up to stop him. "If I beat you, in one on one combat, you let me come out in the field with you. I'm going mad in this castle Olly, you've gotta let me join you."

"Auri, we've been through this a thousand times…"

"And we'll go through it a thousand more if we have to! All of your mages can cast basic shields at the very least, if I fall they can keep me protected until I'm back on my feet, just like they do if one of you gets injured. Plus, if I have an episode I'm back on my feet far quicker than I would be if say, Dorian broke his leg, but you have no problem letting him go out with you."

"Alright, alright, alright!" Oliver held up his hands, to stop her talking as much as anything. "If you beat me, and we both know that's a big IF, Auri, then I will consider letting you come with me. But, if I beat you, then we stop talking about this, agreed?"

He got a bright smile and a punch in the arm as thanks. "Agreed. Thank you brother!"

"Don't thank me yet. You've got to beat me first."

As it turned out, they did have an audience waiting for them at the ring. Bull and Krem were sitting on the edge of the ring, yawning and scratching heads and arses. Next to them, Varric was far more awake and holding…was that a sheaf of paper? Oliver narrowed his eyes at him as they approached, and Varric shot him a wicked grin and looked not in the least guilty at being caught at making notes for his next book. Sera was swinging herself around the wooden beams of the ring, trying to send the dwarf's papers flying with every swing. Cole was across the ring from them, head tilted under the unnecessarily large hat. Dorian was next to him, leaning on the fence in a dramatic and thoroughly distracting way. Oliver could see a shape of a love bite appearing just under his collar and inwardly smirked. As they approached from the main entrance, Cullen also appeared into view, standing next to Cassandra a few feet away from the ring. Neither of them had their armour on this early, and they looked much smaller in plain shirts and trousers. Blackwall was nowhere to be found, he was more than likely up in his hayloft, snoring loud enough to wake the horses.

"Good to see you still standing after last night 'Rel." Bull called as his sister swung her legs over the fence. Oliver frowned. 'Rel? Since when did people call Aurelia, 'Rel? She didn't seem remotely bothered by it though, and threw the two of them a wink. Krem turned a little pink. Oliver narrowed his eyes. Excellent, now two of the Chargers wanted to fraternise with his sister. Still, he'd rather Krem than Bull. He had nothing at all against the mercenary, he'd even flirted with him a little before meeting Dorian, but the guy was so big. It had been intriguing when it had been him, but when it's his baby sister, the images were terrifying. Plus, the Quinari wasn't exactly discreet with his affairs and if Oliver had to hear him bragging about bedding Aurelia to Blackwall or Sera the next time they went out, a part of his soul might actually wither and die.

"Did you actually get all of your group out here to watch us?" Aurelia muttered to him as he bent to pick up some of the blunted weapons they used for practice. A greatsword for him and two daggers for her.

"I may have mentioned it to a couple of them." He shrugged, handing her the pointed knives. Even blunted, they were still wicked looking instruments. "I think they're hoping it will be good morning entertainment."

She swung the daggers around a few times, testing the weight. Oliver really didn't know what to expect. She had never been trained like her brothers had been, but he wouldn't be surprised to find out that she had stolen some from the small armoury on their estate and practiced on her own. That would hardly help her though, their old trainer had drummed it into them (sometimes physically, with the back of his knuckles) that to train alone while still learning was pointless, as it only cemented mistakes. Either way, he'd easily best her, and then she could get this stupid desire to put herself in danger with him out of her head.

Sera let out a piercing wolf whistle as the two of them shed their jackets, the early morning sun sending goosepimples up Oliver's arms. He heard the clinking of coins. Of course Varric would be taking bets on this.

They faced each other in the centre of the ring, a few feet apart and Oliver raised his sword just above his right shoulder, settling into the familiar stance with ease. Aurelia was less professional, and stuck her tongue out at him. "First to give?" She grinned.

"You're very confident for someone who's about to get her arse handed to her." Oliver smirked. She reminded him of Ellis when the two of them used to train together. He had always been loudly confident.

"If you look to your right you'll see a couple of others that also have designs on my arse," She said, quiet enough for his ears. "And I bet that doesn't half grate on you."

"Shut up."

"You could start fighting me you know, instead of throwing weak insults my way."

"Come on!" Sera shouted. "While Varric's still got hair on his chest!"

Oliver closed his eyes, breathed in and out once, opened them again. The mood had changed. She was not his sister, he was a soldier, a fighter, a warrior and she was his opponent.

Avoid below the waist, she has strong legs and her feet are positioned well.

The posture is terrible, if it can be exploited one of the daggers can be knocked out of her hand. Perhaps as she's turning? Knock into her side with my shoulder, get her off balance, then bring the sword down, force her on the defensive.

Aurelia wasn't moving, wasn't in an offensive or defensive position, was simply standing there, watching him. Oliver took one more breath, and charged.

Then pulled himself to a screeching halt. Aurelia had disappeared.

He spun around, momentarily disorientated. She was standing directly behind him, wearing the biggest shit eating grin he'd ever seen.

"Want to try again brother?"

Beginners luck. He must have blinked. Oliver frowned, and charged again. She disappeared and popped up behind him. Again. He turned back while charging, she appeared at his side. He faked his run, and she didn't move. She was anticipating his every move before he'd even thought of it. The whole area was silent, save for his increasingly loud grunts of frustration, the eyes of their audience darting from sibling to sibling with a fascination that was almost obscene. She didn't press any advantage, didn't even touch him, just let him wear himself out chasing her around the ring, and get more and more angry. And anger leads to sloppy mistakes.

She had been trained, he realised, and trained very, very well. That knowledge was infuriating. When? By who? It had certainly been happening longer than she had been at Skyhold, her technique was flawless, which ruled out any of the rogues in his acquaintance. There was no way any of them would have been able to train her without it getting back to him. Someone at the estate must have trained her, but Oliver and the rest of their family were warriors, and they had been trained by warriors. So unless one of their servants was more talented than he had let on, or their mother had agreed to send for a master (which she would never have done) then Oliver was at a loss. But even more infuriating was the knowledge that she was playing him against himself, making his strengths weaknesses. If he'd been calm, Oliver would have been impressed. But he was sweating, angry and undoubtedly losing. Behind him, Bull let out a low, long whistle, and Oliver adjusted his grip on his weapon. If he could bring it down quickly enough to make her think he was actually going to strike her, it would make her pause and he could press the advantage.

She had lost the grin, and was now focused and concentrated in a way that he had only ever seen over a book. Her brow was furrowed, cheeks flushed and face shining with sweat. Her eyes were flicking over him, taking in every inch of his form, his posture, undoubtedly making notes in her head for how to proceed. She was a master. It was pissing him off.

He ran again, and this time she broke into a sprint to meet him. He brought his sword down, waiting for her to move but she kept coming. The heavy weapon was blunted but if it was brought into her shoulder with the amount of force he was currently wielding it with it would dislocate, potentially break her collarbone. Swearing loudly, he pulled it away at the last second, feeling his muscles scream in process. But she kept coming and he felt the sole of one shoe on his chest, seconds before her other leg wrapped itself around his neck, dragging them both into the dirt. She put a lot of weight into the fall and Oliver was winded. Only for a second, but it was enough time for her to somehow untangle herself from him and straddle his back. Nails dug into his hair and his head was pulled back, exposing his throat to the open air. Knees pushed down on his upper arms, keeping him painfully stuck in place, and the edge of one dagger was pushed against his throat, hard enough for a seed of panic in his gut to bloom. He was trussed up like a pig for slaughter, sword kicked away and out of reach, unable to move his arms without severe pain and breathing through his nose like an angry bull. It had taken less than twenty seconds and she had trumped him.

"I yield, I yield!" He shouted, almost roared, and instantly the pain lessened as she rolled off him and landed on her back next to him. She was breathing almost as hard as him, chest and stomach harshly rising and falling.

Bull had started clapping, and Sera was cackling so hard she almost fell off the fence. Oliver was equal parts proud and embarrassed. He had officially had his ass handed to him by his younger sister, in front of a group of people he was supposed to be the leader of. And yet…for anyone to have that skill was impressive at the very least. She had proved her point, she was more then capable of handling herself. Which put him in an awkward position, as he had been depending on her being a bad fighter as a way of stopping her coming out with them. Now, he had no excuse.

There was the clink of coins being exchanged, but the Trevelyan siblings said not a word, catching their breath and (in Oliver's case) attempting to regain some dignity. A minute or so had passed before he finally raised his head and stared at her. Her arm was thrown over her eyes, but her lips were twitching upwards in what looked like a proud smirk.

"Aurelia, where the fuck did you learnt that?"

She huffed a chuckle as he dragged himself to his feet and looked down at her.

"Do you remember Gavrin, the old gardener?"

An old man, almost too frail to do his job, but he'd been there since their grandparents were young, so it was their duty to look after him in his dotage.

"Please don't tell me I got beat by an apprentice of someone who was already almost dead when the Fifth Blight took place."

She rolled her eyes, but grabbed the hand he offered her, hoisting herself to her feet. "Don't be a dick Olly. But no. He had a nephew that used to visit him. No one else would have seen him, he kept out of sight in their cottage most of the time, and none of the rest of you ever ventured that far down the garden. But I used to see him practicing, and convinced him to teach me."

He raised an eyebrow. "You convinced him?"

She flushed a little. "I may…have told Gavrin and his wife that Mother wanted me to learn. They wouldn't have said anything to her about it and it's not like she would have found out any other way!" She said indignantly to his reproachful stare. "Besides, he was the first person who didn't treat me differently because of whatever my body decides to do. And while we're on the subject…"

It was his turn to roll his eyes, turning away to throw their weapons back on the pile as the two of them exited the ring. Cassandra was there, one eyebrow raised, and she nodded at Aurelia. "Impressive."

Not even the Seeker could remain stone faced at Aurelia's ear splitting grin in response. "Do you need any more proof Olly, really? Cassandra, would you be happy riding out with me somewhere?"

The warrior tilted her head to the side slightly, then sighed in a way that sounded like she had just accepted the inevitable. "There would be a lot to take into consideration, but yes, I think it could work. It would also be nice to have a rogue in the party that isn't constantly grating on my nerves."

She glared at Varric and Sera.

"That is high praise, Seeker." Oliver said. Aurelia was staring at him, eyes wide.

Andraste's ass.

He threw his hands into the air in defeat. "Fine. At the next war council meeting I will look over what we still have to do and pick something for you. You're not coming to the Emerald Graves, or Emprise de Lion, but there might be a couple of things left to do in the Hinterlands that you can help with. And only if Solas is free, he's the most talented at healing and barriers."

The hug she gave him could have crushed a bear. "Olly, thank you! You won't regret this I swear."

He groaned, half exasperation and half genuine discomfort. "We're meeting tomorrow morning. Meet me afterwards and in the meantime go and get Harritt to fit you with some proper gear. There's no time to make you your own armor but he's got some stock in he can alter for you. And there should be plenty of daggers for you to choose from."

"But not," A voice interjected, and Bull appeared at his elbow. "Before she joins the Chargers for morning practices. I wanna see those moves again."

Oh, I bet you do, Oliver thought a little sourly, but moved aside regardless and let the Quinari lead his sister back to the ring.

"Well, I certainly enjoyed the show." Dorian drawled, falling into step beside him and sliding their hands together.

Oliver chuckled. "I was sweating and held down on the ground. You'd enjoy that whatever the context was."

"Hush, when you say it aloud it spoils the illusion. Although now that you mention it, it does remind me of that time in the tent in the Fallow Mire."

"Only you would have thought of doing something like that when we were camping in the middle of a bog."

"You have to admit, it made the trip much more fun. And Vivienne stopped glaring eventually."

"Speak for yourself, she's definitely still bitter I dragged her to a swamp."

"Well," Dorian said, as they reached the door to the rotunda. "So was I, but you were present, so the insult was lessened considerably."

"The things you say." Oliver said and Dorian chuckled, eyes bright as the morning sun shone into the main hall. The mage pressed his lips to his cheek, then waved him off in an impressively decadent way.

"Go on, go and beat up some dummies or whatever it is you spend your days doing. I'll be in the library if you need me."

"Like you're ever anywhere else." Oliver replied in farewell, and watched Dorian leave.

In his room, the fire was still crackling merrily away, doing its best to fight the chill of the morning. All hopes of catching in another hour or so of sleep before his daily training with his assassin mentor was dashed when he saw the letters on his desk. Josephine must have had someone deliver the latest pile while he was at the ring.

He approached his desk warily. The familiar cursive script, the green wax with the symbol…what he wouldn't give for these to just be another social climber claiming close friendship with him. He sighed, picking one up and swiping his finger under the Trevelyan seal.

Oliver,

I know you must be busy, my son, but I must beg a few moments of your time-

He rubbed the crease in his forehead and put the letter to the side. The rest were in a similar vein, some pleading and whiny, others malicious. Carefully, he gathered them all together and placed them on the fire. Watching the sheafs of paper curl away into nothing, the room felt slightly colder than it had before.

"I mean, the way you just played with him, made him look like a lumbering halfwit in his first training session! I've been out with the boss before and he's a damn good fighter but you made him look like a whelp! Shit, 'Rel that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

Aurelia snorted, walking with Bull to the war room the following morning. "Be careful who you say that to, Bull. He took getting his ass kicked well but I doubt your raving would sit well with him."

The quinary ignored her. "That armour's looking pretty good, you excited to get out there and kick some ass?"

She grinned. "More than I can say. That is, provided Oliver doesn't find another reason to keep me here where it's 'safe'."

"What'll you do if he does?"

"Kick his ass again. And again, if needed." She replied, scowling. "Because then he'll be acting ridiculously."

"Well, I look forward to following you around Thedas soon enough." Bull said, and winked at her before sauntering towards the door to Dagna's smithy, most likely looking for something new to cause mayhem with.

Aurelia grinned to herself as she walked past Josephine's empty desk. She wasn't particularly attracted to Bull on a purely physical level (although she had to admit, the concept was intriguing) and she didn't think he ran so much on hormones that sleeping with the boss's sister seemed like a good idea, but flirting with a Quinari and having him flirt outrageously back was a bit of a novelty. But no, Aurelia was under no delusions about where she stood with Bull.

The doors to the war room were closed as she approached, so she dithered about in the corridor for a minute or two before voices floated through the thick wood to her ears. She considered not listening in, but there wasn't much else to do in the corridor other than stare at the bit of sky she could see through the massive hole in the wall that apparently, no one had though to fix?

"I see no reason why she cannot go. People have travelled further, for longer, in far worse condition than her."

"Just because you travelled with a elderly mage that was only kept alive by the help of a spirit, Leliana, does not mean that everyone should be held to the same standard. But I will admit, the image of the Inquisitor trekking across Thedas with his sister, righting wrongs where they find it, will certainly go down well with our allies."

Well at least Leliana, terrifying as she is, was on her side. And Josephine was always such a peacemaker, Aurelia would have to bring her some flowers.

"Do we have anything simple that needs taking care of?" That was Oliver's voice and she silently thanked Andraste that he wasn't searching for a loophole, even if he was still playing the role of mother hen and trying to keep her wrapped up in cotton for most of her life.

"There was a case of a lost Druffalo on the farms at Redcliffe…"

"Are we babysitting farmers now?" That was the Commander, and he sounded irritable. "Inquisitor, are you certain you wish to bring your sister with you?"

"Not particularly, but she would kill me if I backed out now."

"Damn right I would." Aurelia muttered.

"Do you have some concerns, Commander?" Josephine asked in her lovely, lilting voice.

There was a pause, and Aurelia frowned. She and the Commander had never had a proper conversation, the most they had spoken was that evening on the balcony, but he had always been polite and courteous whenever they passed each other. Did he not like her all of a sudden?

"Please Cullen," Oliver said. "Say what's on your mind."

"Inquisitor, I…" He sighed, sounding a lot like her brother. "I saw you two in the ring, I have no doubt that she's a capable warrior. But should she fall in battle, potentially two of your group are compromised, if one expends energy trying to keep her protected. If you're faced with a rift or a Red Templar then you may not be able to afford a loss like that. And there are appearances to think of. A companion of the Inquisitor that can't control when she becomes a liability could reflect badly on our soldiers and capability."

Another pause. "Careful there Commander, you're starting to sound like my mother." There was a forced lightness to Oliver's voice that made it very clear the Commander was on thin ice.

"I speak only as the leader of your army, Inquisitor, and give my opinion as such." Cullen said formally.

"Red, hot, embarrassed. I'm a burden, like Mama always said. Weighing down others, always having to think of me, make sure I'm safe and taken care of, even when I'm fine. Eyes like a lion, why did it have to be him? Am I more what I have than what I am? Why would she think that?"

Aurelia jerked back from the door, biting the inside of her cheek. Josephine let out a small scream.

"Cole? You really have to stop appearing on tables like this."

"But the hurt is old, aching, it made her who she is. Can't untangle it without everything else crumbling."

"What are you talking about?"

"She didn't mean to listen. Surprised the Nightingale cared, hurt that you didn't. Covered in metal you shined, but always just a man. Beloved by soldiers, believing in everyone, why not her?"

Aurelia didn't wait to hear the rest. She turned and ran, through the main hall, down the stairs and across the drawbridge. Oliver would have had a fit if he'd seen her, but she didn't care. She followed the path as it turned, slowing her pace only when Skyhold was hidden by rock. Then, she slowed to a walk, trying to even her breathing as a wagon of supplies trundled past her. There was a stabbing pain in her side, and she embraced the discomfort, focusing on it.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" She cried, slamming her fist into the side of the mountain. Nothing happened except her hand hurt as much as her side now. One hot tear slid down her cheek.

She should be used to this by now. The realisation that as much as Oliver and the twins had tried to reassure that she wasn't, she was a liability. Maker knows Mother had told her it enough times. Yet here she was, running away, crying and hitting a rock because a man she barely knew thought people would respect her less if they saw her have a fit. She pushed the heels of her hands into her eyes hard enough that sparks of colour popped into her vision when she blinked.

"Get it together Aurelia, get it together. If Oliver sees you like this you'll be lucky to be going anywhere before your 90th birthday."

Damn them, damn them all. Damn anyone who thought she wasn't good enough, who defined her by her condition. She proved herself over and over again, getting to Skyhold from Ostwick alone, beating the leader of the Inquisition in a fight, and it still wasn't good enough. She'd show them.

But it was still another hour or so before she slunk back in over the drawbridge, and even then she regretted it when she saw Oliver waiting for her, arms folded and face like thunder.

"Looks like you've fucked up, Frizz." Varric said, as he passed her. Aurelia didn't want to inflate his ego any further, but it really looked like the dwarf was right.

If anyone is interested in being my beta, please drop me a message! I'd love a second pair of eyes to go over my stuff but no one I know is a big Dragon Age fan, unfortunately. I really need new friends.