Nevarra, 9:40. One month later.

"Let me see the map, before it gets dark" Carver sighed, looking over his shoulder as the sun began sinking below the distant mountains.

Groaning, Marian leaned back in the wagon. "You watch the road, I'll keep the map."

"We passed that town the woman mentioned" Merrill said, glancing around as the path weaved through the woods. "But that feels like it was hours ago, now."

"It was…" Carver frowned.

"Don't blame me" Marian shrugged. "Dwarf-made maps always have skewed distances… and I'm not sure she was right in the head."

Supressing his sarcastic response, Carver turned his attention back to guiding the horse. "Yes, well, you better be right about this…"

"Trust me, brother – these little farms always need workers when the season changes. The old ones get bored and leave… it's like crop rotating, only with farmhands. It's how I had the money to get this far north."

"When you weren't drinking it away…"

Marian rolled her eyes. "Winter's a dead period, the further north you get. Plus I had to let you catch up."

"Oh, of course. How generous you are."

"Mutter, mutter, mutter…" Marian waved dismissively at his back. "Tell me, Merrill; was he this moody during your Hawke Hunt?"

"No. Well, during the day, but that was after spending hours asking around."

"What about night? Wasn't he dealing with all the drunks by then?"

"Some nights, but we'd forget about it pretty fast, once we… well, you probably don't want to hear about that" Merrill blushed.

"No, she doesn't" Carver coughed from his seat.

Looking back and forward, Marian gave a sly grin. "Yeah, let's skip the details… its weird enough knowing that the Dance Of Awkward is over. I guess Varric and I both owe Isabela 10 silver…"

Making an annoyed grunt, Carver looked back again. "Anyway… I've a question – what's Merrill going to do on this farm?"

"Botany and the like" Hawke replied.

"Botany?"

Merrill nodded. "Hawke used to have me check seeds and crops, for Hubert's friends. I think it was to get me out of the house, and so I'd have some money. It's not so different from herbalism, actually. Oh, and my fake name is Lyna."

"Come up with your name yet, Carver?"

"What's the surname you picked, again?" he asked.

"Hall. Leann Hall."

"… I'll be Maurie Hall, then" he replied. "Maurevar sounds a little… posh, I guess."

Sitting in silence for a few minutes, Merrill let out a bored whistle. "Should we sing a song?"

"Great idea!" Marian smirked, remembering a song she and Bethany used to repeat constantly, to annoy Carver as children. "I know a great song, for wandering the road!" Noticing his shoulders tense up at the mere suggestion, she turned to face Merrill. "It's called Mabari in the Meadow… how about we sing it together?"

"How about a game, instead?" Carver said, giving his sister a warning glare. "I know a really fun game… Give Carver The Bloody Map. Let's play that, shall we?"

"Have it your way… here, Merrill. You get to hold the map for a while, then you pass it to someone… but if you pass it to Carver, the game ends. It's best to stretch it out for a few rounds."

Glancing at the map, Merrill nodded and began whistling again. "How do we decide the winner?"

"The winner is the one who gives me the map" Carver said, holding his hand out. Once she cautiously handed it over, he smiled and then stuck his tongue out at his sister. "Congratulations, Merrill – you beat her!"

"Thank you" she beamed. "I almost never win."

Rolling her eyes, Marian watched Carver study the map. "We're looking for Korin's Rest, remember…"

"I'm pretty sure that's the river we passed earlier, so we turn right at this next crossroad… and we're there." He shook his head in frustration, before giving his sister a foul look. "You could have just told me that, instead of being an idiot."

Raising an eyebrow at the insult, Marian straightened up and flicked her hair back.

"Where, where can he be?

Oh, please find for me

Our poor sweet Mabari

Find him, Maker, we beg thee"

Hissing, Carver handed the map back to Merrill. "You better take this… she's busy being an idiot."

"Would you like to apologise, Carver?" Marian asked, in a phony sweet voice.

"No."

"Hey hey hark nonny no

Oh, where did my Mabari go?

Wait … what do you know?

Look, look, in the meadow!"

"It doesn't quite match" Merrill thought out loud.

"I'm probably remembering it wrong" Marian shrugged. "I forget the third verse… we were eventually banned from singing it – led to too many fights."

"So they'd whisper it at night instead" Carver added.

"No, that was why it got banned – Beth sung one stanza too many, one night, remember?"

"Right, right… I waited for her to doze off, and then I pinned her hair to the headboard with a fence-peg. A little too well, that time, as it turned out…"

"Why, what happened?" Merrill asked.

"She tried to climb out of bed before she realised, and tore out a clump from her braid" Marian answered.

"She starts screaming, waking everyone up..."

"Our father dragged Carver outside, after getting the truth-"

"I got a thrashing; she got a biscuit and hugs."

"I got frowned at for egging the situation on" Marian said as they turned down the farm's road, under the freshly painted Korin's Rest sign.

"Pretty much how everything ended, back then" Carver sighed, before slowing the horse. "… Who did you say this woman was?"

"A Dwarf woman – said she was exiled from Orzammar. Had bought this farm recently, and needed workers."

"She had those odd Dwarven tattoos" Merrill added.

Marian nodded. "Oh yeah, she was Branded. So she probably stole the money for this place… which means she's avoiding attention as well. Why?"

"There's at least two Wardens up ahead… feels like they're in the main house."

"Wardens?"

Nodding, Carver stopped the horse as the door on the building ahead of them flung open. A hooded man stepped out, followed by the Dwarven woman Hawke had spoken with the previous week. Weapons drawn, they approached cautiously. "Just the big one, feels like" the Dwarf assessed, motioning the newcomers to get off the wagon.

Nodding, the man glanced into the distance. "The other two, they'd be the workers you spoke with?"

"The manager" she gestured at Hawke, before turning to Merrill. "And the botanist… so their Warden friend must be the farm-brute."

"Ex-Warden" Carver said as the man circled him, while throwing a questioning glare at his sister.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice" Marian shrugged, "I said you were the dumb muscle – I never said farm-brute."

"Thank you, sister."

"Ex-Warden, huh? Okay, Brutus, you and I are gonna get your wagon into the carriage-house, and your Mage friends can go with her" the man interrupted, tugging his hood further over his face.

"Inside we go" the Dwarf ordered, spinning a dagger. "Seems you lot neglected to mention a few things, in the first interview…"

"Just stick your horse in any of the stalls" the hooded man said, standing back as Carver unloaded the wagon. "So… your accent's a tricky one. Somewhere in the Marches, I'd guess. One of Stroud's?"

"I was…" Carver nodded, not wanting to give much information in case the man would figure out who Marian was. "Our family travelled a lot, so our accent's from all over."

The man seemed to stare more intently, before speaking up. "You're clearly full of shit… yet I can't imagine Stroud sending you to find me. So what's your actual story?"

"Find you? I was at Ansburg for 9 years, I'd remember your voice if you had been there. So either you left a decade ago, and he would have given up by now… or you're full of shit."

Snorting, he started pulling back his hood. "Enough of this… " Staring at the oddly familiar face and now visible ears, Carver frowned as he remembered a portrait that had hung in Ansburg's main hall. "Now you're getting it… aren't you?" the Elf asked.

"…. You're the Wa-"

"That's right."

"… Well, shit."

Drumming her fingers on the table, Sigrun looked back and forward between the two women. "Nothing, huh?"

"Not until we see that Maurevar is safe" Marian replied icily.

"How about you, then?" Sigrun muttered, looking at Merrill. "Anything you'd like to say?"

"… I like your tattoos?" Merrill offered.

"Well, that's … a start. Thank you, I suppose. Your vallaslin isn't bad, either."

"Oh, you know about vallaslin?" Merrill asked in surprise, while Marian groaned.

"Yeah, we served with a Dalish mage. I had to learn the proper words pretty quick, Velanna was pretty touchy about her culture… and everything else."

"That figures – I never liked her, whenever our Clans met. Always thought she was better than the other Firsts."

"Yeah, that sounds like Vel."

"Does she still show off her burrowing trick?" Merrill asked. "I studied for years, just so I could do it too and make she stop bragging about it."

Shaking her head, Hawke tapped her on the shoulder. "Lyna…"

"What? … Oh, right – we're not talking to you until we see Maurie."

"Suit yourself" Sigrun replied, blowing some hair out of her face.

"Wait… if you know Velanna, does that mean you're a Fereldan Warden?" Merrill asked, after a moment.

Blinking, Sigrun looked back over. "Oh, you're good. I can see why they sent you – nice trick with the babyface routine."

"Nobody sent us" Marian spat. "I don't know who you are, and I don't really care."

"I think you will" Carver said, entering the room with Darrian close behind. "Because guess who?"

"… Another Fereldan Warden?" Merrill offered.

Grimacing as recognition struck, Marian dropped her hands onto the table. "Not just any Warden…"

"Don't start with that" Darrian groaned, tossing over her staff. "Because I can totally gush over you, if Brutus was telling the truth."

"Figured out who they are?"

"Sig, this is none over than the Champion of Kirkwall."

Glancing up and down, Sigrun remained unimpressed. "Who we kept hearing about on the road? …. I don't see the big deal, looking at her."

"And your friend hardly looks capable of ripping off the Archdemon's wings with his teeth" Marian shot back.

"I always hated that version" Darrian smirked, holding out Merrill's staff for her to take. "Right then, supper! Then we can get all this straightened out..."

Staggering out into the main room, Carver wiped his eyes. 'I almost forgot what a decent bed feels like…' Yawning, he sat next to Merrill. "Morning…"

"Good morning! I decided to let you sleep, since they're just boasting."

Glancing at the other table, he finally noticed Marian sitting across from the erstwhile Hero. Both were slouched confidently, as they spoke back and forward.

"Crazy son of a nobleman, whose influence allowed him to get away with abducting and butchering Elven woman" Darrian offered. "Killed him."

Marian nodded. "We killed a Magistrate's son for the exact same thing. My turn – Wyvern… acid-spitting Dragon. Killed it."

"The Harvester… creepy secret Dwarven thing gone wrong – like bodies stitched together. Killed it."

"Never heard of it, doesn't count" Marian said dismissively.

"Sig! Harvester?"

Sticking her head around a corner, Sigrun nodded. "Golem made from corpses, and locked away for centuries."

"Fine… alright then. Rock Wraith. Monstrous things, far beneath most of the Deep Roads. Killed it."

Darrian frowned, before call ing out"… Sig? Rock Wraith?"

"I heard some of the older Legionaries mention them… so it's possible?" she yelled back from the other room.

"Hmm… Werewolves. Had to kill a few, before we found out how to break their curse" Darrian said.

Marian thought for a moment, before saying "Varterral. Giant-"

"Giant spider thing made by the Dalish. Yeah, I killed one too. How about Revenants?"

"Yep…and High Dragons – killed them."

Darrian paused in surprise. "A High Dragon fuelled by a Blood Cult – plus a nutty out bat, and Witch of the Wilds, who turned into a High Dragon. Killed them."

"Ha! No you didn't."

He looked at Marian in confusion. "… I did so! Had armour made from their skin and everything."

"Sounds like you mean Flemeth, and she's not dead. We met her after the Blight. Merrill?"

"Up on Sundermount – she told us some odd warnings, and flew away" Merrill said when Darrian looked over at her.

"See? Also, you can't really kill a Varterral either" Marian grinned.

"Fine then… a talking Darkspawn Mage who wanted to use my blood to create more of his kind. Killed him, and his enemy."

"A talking Darkspawn Mage who wanted to use my blood to escape and… do Darkspawn things. He also claimed to be one of the Magisters who breached the Golden City. Killed him"

"… What?" Puzzled, Darrian looked across the room at Carver and Merrill, who both nodded.

"Corypheus" Carver added. "I later found out that watching his Tomb, up in the mountains, was a direct order from the First Warden to Ansburg. That's why none of the Marcher Wardens went to investigate Ferelden… they were ordered to make sure the possible Blight didn't wake him up."

"I always wondered about what was so important that they didn't come help…" Darrian muttered, scratching his chin.

"While we're on the topic…" Marian began. "Carver, was his Tomb why you guys couldn't help with the Qunari? That would actually qualify as 'more important', like Stroud said."

"No… we were tracking down some tainted Elf woman. Stroud never said how he knew about her but we eventually caught up with her, after she tried to unleash Blight sickness on a small village. Thankfully, only a few people died… we cornered her underground, babbling about 'I need to understand his research. I need to fulfil his research' while we killed her. I still have no idea what any of it was about…"

Giving Darrian a quick glance of understanding, Sigrun carried out a tray of bowls from the kitchen. "Sounds like you two were even… so have breakfast, instead."

Taking a bowl, Merrill looked over at Darrian. "Wait... you didn't say the Archdemon – that would make you win." Yelping as Marian kicked her shin under the table, she began eating.

"Don't get them going again" Sigrun sighed. "Besides, Loghain was the one did the killing."

"Turncoat fucking bastard" Carver muttered, taking a bite. "Whatever made you recruit that guy?"

Sighing, Darrian picked up a fork before answering. "Riordan said we needed him, and invoked Conscription when the only other Warden threw a fit over the idea."

"Someone had to speak against it…" Carver said under his breath.

"Don't mind my brother – he was at Ostagar, so he-"

Shrugging, Darrian looked up. "Fair enough… I usually get that response, or people saying 'the knife-ears should have died instead'."

"At least he's dead" Carver finally offered, in between mouthfuls. "That's something."

"Is Conscription what they did to you, Carver?" Merrill asked.

"Maybe… I was unconscious and incapable of saying yes or no, so I suppose it counts as Conscription. You ever do that to someone?" he asked, looking across the table.

"I only ever Conscripted one person… and we all know how well that turned out" Darrian shuddered.

Looking between each other, they all finished eating in silence. Dropping her fork, Sigrun stood. "I'll take Merrill to the seed-bins, and then Brutus and I will start on the fence repairs."

Kissing her lightly before she left, Darrian nodded. "We'll go over the inventory notes, then." Watching the three file out, as Carver complained about his nickname, Darrian lifted a box onto the table. "These are all the old bills and such from the previous owners… you were telling the truth about handling these for other farms?"

"Hurts too much to do a lot else on a farm" Marian said, motioning at her leg. "Not as light or nimble as I once was, thanks to the shards I had in my leg after that damned sword broke."

Taking a politely short glance at her scars, he resisted a wince. "Yes, Nate told me about the Gallows. An odd type of Red Lyrium, he said… I asked the Glavonaks, and Dagna, but they couldn't find anyone who knew about it."

"Good… I hope nobody ever finds the stuff again".

"We can only hope not… did you have trouble, getting hired at first?"

"Maybe a little…, and by the time I thought about using farm-work to hide, my lack of speed had made me… let's say plump. I dropped some of it, though I'll probably never be as slim as the Champion was, which does help stop people from knowing me." Stopping, she sighed. "But luckily I knew the basics from our farm back in Lothering anyway, so I bluffed the first few farmers into hiring me…"

"Good enough for me… and if this season works out, you're all welcome to stay as long as you want" Darrian offered, taking a handful of paper. "… Actually, if it works out… I may just leave the deed to you."

"Well, that was a quick decision…"

"I know… look, maybe it's just from being able to talk to someone who's gone through things similar to me, but… I don't know, kindred spirits? Maker only knows how long I actually have left before my Calling, so maybe I just want to know someone can handle this place… and that you'll not be thrown onto the road in a few years time."

"… 'How long you actually have left?' Is there something I should know, about Carver?"

"… Your brother never told you. Whoops… being a Warden, it shortens your life. I was told we got 30 years, after the Joining, but the man who told me that was a dimwit and not actually clued in on much Warden information. I've no idea if Joining during a Blight makes a difference, either… so I'm not sure?" he threw up his hands in a questioning motion. "I guess you can't save the world without a cost…"

'Bloody Carver… I bet he would have brought it up on his death-bed. Didn't want to worry anyone, because I'm a tough guy! He better have told Merrill, I don't want her being lied to about something like this…' Abandoning her thoughts, Marian nodded. "It's near-impossible to even save a city without bartering pieces of yourself… so this is why you're up here, in the middle of nowhere."

"I was warned the Seekers want me to fix their mess… maybe I'm selfish, but I've fucking done enough!" Calming down, he sighed. "I know who they would have sent to coerce me… and I gave her everything I had, once. She wants my soul as well, it would seem. All because the Divine asked her too… well, fuck the Divine!"

"If only someone would… she might ease up on the damnations" Marian joked, watching him uneasily.

"The way I hear it, she didn't mind the odd earthly indulgence, when she was a Revered Mother" he smirked darkly. "As for the Chantry itself… am I supposed to have some guilty sense of gratitude for the Sisters who stood by and did nothing when drunken rapists invaded a wedding and stole the bridal party, bragging about what they would do to them… that's what the Chantry gives my people. You probably know the feeling, right?" Darrian asked, motioning toward her staff.

"Nothing like that, but I've screamed my share of frustration, in the middle of the night… three unholy Mages in the family, and my mother still wanted us to be good little Andrastians."

"Spread the Chant, Sister… just don't sing the Verses about Shartan, because then we might have to apologise to the Elves! I never understood how Wynne could believe their garbage… I guess they just drum it into the Circle from a young age, you're a horrible crime against the Maker… so be sure to praise his deadbeat arse for abandoning the world." Taking another piece of paper, he continued. "Let the bloody Chantry fall… some idiots will just refound it eventually. Maybe they'll get it right next time."

"You can't save people who don't want to be saved… I ran around, propping up Kirkwall for years before I finally realised that. I'm with you… if the Chantry falls, it'll be from its own doing."

"So true… and thanks for listening to all that. Not many people seem able to understand the kind of things we've had to do, the weight of it, I suppose." After a moment, Darrian began reading the sheet in his hand. "Invitation to the 9:26 Nevarra City cattle auction…"

"If you hurry, you might make it" Marian laughed.

"Funny… we'll have some cattle soon. I sent a friend to buy some."

"You've got another friend hiding here?" she asked.

"I think you've met, actually…"

"Bodahn?"

"No… wait, how do you know Bodahn?"

"He was my valet for 6 years."

"Huh…" Smirking, he glanced at another sheet. "Did your little group have a sex-fiend who lacked focus if they spotted someone they wanted?"

"Had one…" Smiling at a memory of Isabela, Marian continued. "Speaking of… did your group have a dangerous, armed alcoholic?"

"Had one. A Dwarf who loved the sound of his own voice?"

"Had one. Someone who was obsessed with stories, and inventing ones about the group?"

"Had one…" Darrian trailed off, thinking about Leliana. "Someone… who claimed to love you, but was more devoted to the Chantry so it never stood a chance of lasting?"

"Oddly specific…" she sighed. "I'm afraid to say I definitely had one of those. Someone who claimed loyalty, but abandoned the group for not killing a defeated, unarmed man?"

"Had one… that's who I mentioned at breakfast. An unwanted son of nobility, who couldn't crying about whether to take up their banner since he was the only one left?"

"Had one. Maker, did we have one. I know you had a ranty Mage who knew best, couldn't shut up, and did whatever they wanted, regardless of consequences…"

"He wasn't like that, mostly, at the time – but with Morrigan, Wynne and Vel, I still had three of those, not counting Anders."

"Okay – an exiled Dalish First who would have been better off, had she just listened to the Keeper?" Marian asked.

"Had one. A moody giant, who had a big sword and no social skills… and was unusually paranoid about Mages, even by most people's standards?"

"Had one. An escaped slave, who wouldn't just shut up and enjoy his freedom?"

"… That sounds like the Anders I knew. Guess I had one."

"Oh, mine would kill you for comparing the two of them…" Marian smirked.

"… A moody companion, with father issues, who joined because they had no other choice… but ended up being the most loyal?"

"Had one. I'm pretty sure I can win with this one" she proclaimed, putting a note aside after a brief look. "Since they merged after he ran away, you didn't have one… a Mage with a Spirit in them?"

"Had one, with a Spirit of Hope, and they were both incredibly pompous" Darrian said with a grin. "Someone had didn't realise the Fade was obviously the Fade, and wouldn't listen to you?"

"Had a couple… you were in the Fade?"

"A couple of times – the first time, we had a Sloth Demon trying to trick us. Myself and one of our Mages knew it wasn't real, though."

"Sounds familiar. Did the others turn on you, at the Demon's command?"

"No. But Wynne wouldn't listen to me when I pointed out it was the Fade… despite being one of those ranty, superior Mages I mentioned...and she had the Spirit already, by this point. Still wouldn't have realised it was the Fade, even if a Desire Demon had chosen that moment to pinch her on the arse."

"Was it a strong Demon? Since she couldn't realise…" Marian shrugged.

"Not overly strong… I'm pretty sure it actually got my intended dream mixed up with one of the others. Dumped me in what was meant to be Weisshaupt, with the man who Conscripted me. Where the Darkspawn were all dead forever, so we would sit about knitting clothes and talking about great it was to be a Warden… that would have worked on the other Warden. Me? I walked up to Fake-Duncan when he said we'd be story-keepers, or whatever, looked him in his eye and said 'You do that… this place is too bloody cold, and since you don't need any more fighters, I'm going home to Denerim'. The illusion fell apart while the minor Demon was trying to think what to do… so I gutted it while it was distracted."

"The other Warden… the King? He got your fantasy?"

"I think so… I walked into a house to find him, and the sister he had never mentioned, or even met." Wincing at the memory of Goldana, he continued. "She turned out to be a bitch, in reality, but I actually knew and missed my family in Denerim… so I'm thinking our fantasies got swapped somehow. Sloth Demons are lazy themselves, right?"

"That's been my experience. Aveline fit your last two descriptions… overly self-assured Warrior who couldn't ever admit they were wrong?"

"Had one, at the end for a while… I think I mentioned Sten already, but… a Qunari?"

"Had a Tallis, briefly." Bethany's face flickered in her mind, as she read a receipt for a tailor. "An incredible, brilliant woman, who was taken away far too young?" she asked sadly.

"Mhairi… yeah, she deserved so much better, from the little we got to speak." Shaking slightly, he looked up and out the window. Watching Carver struggle with a large armful of wooden planks, he smiled softly as Sigrun stood by the cutting stump, making a show of tapping her foot impatiently. "… A funny, gorgeous, lovable Dwarf?"

Following his gaze, Marian turned in time to see Carver standing on one foot with a pained expression, as he pointed at his other foot. 'I bet he tried to carry far too much wood again… clumsy oaf.' Sigrun simply shook her head and pointed authoritatively at an axe between them on the ground. "Had one, if I count Varric… but I didn't love my Dwarf the way you seem to" she said, watching him daydream.

"Hmm? Oh, ignore me – it took us years to admit it, so we're still in the 'new love' phase."

"Have two like that" Marian joked, pointing out another window.

He stood and leant over to look, noticing Merrill seated on the ground outside the barn as she occasionally glanced up to watch Carver chopping wood, in between holding seeds up to the sun to inspect them. "So I see…"

"My turn… umm." She turned back to watch Carver. "Someone you were torn between keeping, and strangling because they moaned every step of the way?"

"That could be a few people… do they also make stupid jokes?" Darrian asked.

"They've been known to."

"Then I'll go with Finn. Had one. An amazing, loyal, smart Mabari?"

"… You stole my Mabari?" she quipped.

"No – but everyone's Mabari counts for that one. Okay, a proper one – did your group have a Golem?"

"At one point. Had one."

"But was it a depressed, talking Golem obsessed with killing birds?"

"… Now you're just making shit up!" Marian declared.

Grinning, Darrian replied "Her name was Shale, thank you."

"Shale? … You know, at least that's not as bad a Golem name as Thaddeus Crumbum the Third."

"… What?!" Seeing his dumbstruck face, Marian dropped her paper and burst out laughing.

"It was the stupidest thing I ever heard!" she snorted. "But the owner was so… earnest about it!" Laughing as well, Darrian shook his head. "No, no, wait… it was Thaddeus Gigantus Crumbum the Third! I've no idea what happened to the first two! He was so creepy and dangerous we had to leave his shop before we joked about it!"

Wiping his eyes, Darrian leaned back in his seat. "Shall we call it a draw?"

"You didn't make me laugh like that… but okay."

"Get Sig to tell you about the time Oghren convinced Velanna that Dwarves hatch from rocks… She'll tell it better than I can. I wasn't the funny one – that would have been…" he trailed off as a horse rode up to the house.

"Zevran?" she said in confusion, seeing him dismount.

"Yeah, it was probably Zev" Darrian said, before looking out the window. "Oh, that's why you said Zevran. Right. He's back early."

"Indeed I am" Zev boasted from outside the door. "They agreed to deliver the cattle themselves, since we know nothing about leading a herd across the countryside. Next week, perhaps."

Going over to greet him, Darrian nodded. "Good, good – our new farmhands should have things ready."

"I noticed two out there... I'll introduce myself later" Zev said, hanging up his cloak.

"Carver... call him Brutus, he'll love it, is the one chopping wood, and Merrill's sorting seeds."

Pausing in surprise, Zevran looked at his old friend. "… Merrill, you say?"

"Recognise the name?" Darrian asked, before motioning over his shoulder. "And someone you should definitely know…"

"Zev... good to see you again." Marian waved.

Surprised, the former Crow gave a slight chuckle. "The Seekers would no doubt pay a small fortune to find either of you… and here we all are! What are the odds, I wonder?"

"The odds? About the same as anything we did, back in the day" Darrian replied, going back to the table. "If you want to relax a while, help her sort the paperwork. Grab a handful of sheets and see what's what."

"Ah, you've finally braved the Box of Confusion! Very well" he sat down next to Marian, offering a warm smile. "I'm always willing to help a beautiful woman get on top of troublesome sheets… not to mention under them."

Rolling his eyes, Darrian took note of her pleased blush before scooping up the bowls from the other table. "I better get these done" he coughed, leaving the room.

"I think that's the guy who showed up at the Gallows" Carver said, cautiously eying Zevran through the window as he sided up to Marian. "What do you know about him?"

"Zevran? We met him a few times… I guess you'd say he's like Isabela, only with different… parts. I think Hawke liked him – but she was still trying to make things work with Sebastian."

"A male Isabela… Maker save us." Scratching his head, Carver gave them another look. 'Down, boy – she can decide for herself… and he can't be worse than any of those drunken bastards on the road. She must have been getting so stinking drunk just to stand touching them… just to endure the people willing to ignore her leg, just for comfort.' "Huh… I suppose if you and Mar trust him, that's enough for me."

Walking past with a wheelbarrow full of wood and tools, Sigrun whistled softly. "You're a brave man, Brutus… Ancestors know I wouldn't let him near my sister."

"So I'm the laughing stock already… why does it always happen?"

"Because you're too easy to get" Sigrun replied. "Now come on, we've got the western fence to repair. You alright there, Merrill?"

Nodding, she pointed at one of the seed boxes. "This container would be… rapeseeds, I think."

"… Well, I'm not letting those near my imaginary sister either" Sigrun joked, glancing up at Carver and pointing at the wheelbarrow. "You tall folk sure come up with the strangest names for things."

"Yeah, I know" Carver agreed, grabbing the wheelbarrow.

Listening to their conversation as they passed under a nearby window, Darrian turned his attention back to the bucket full of dishes. 'It might get dull… but I get the feeling life's going to be far from boring.'

A/N: So ends my head-canon for these two play-throughs... barring any sudden urge down the track to write another chapter, or big plot-points from Inquisition, I suppose. For now, this is where they vanished to.

Thanks for reading - a big thanks to Melysande, AlbinoWings, 'Guest' Lord Hydra and Bert.