She didn't know why there were templars in Amaranthine. There are three of them, off duty, drinking ale at the corner table. Even without their armor, Rose knew what they were. Why were they here, so far from the Circle?

"Because there are mages," supplied her spirit. "Templars are wary of Grey Wardens; they think of them as harborers of maleifcar. Sometimes they are, actually."

"Why do you know this?" Rose asked.

"Just watching. Listening. You know, general observation."

"Sure, says the one who doesn't understand the basics of time," she scoffed.

"Time doesn't exist like mortals think it does. It loops and twists like a ball of yarn made of more than one strand. It's not that difficult."

"Maybe in the Fade it looks like that, but I still don't buy it," she murmured. "Are the templars the new people you were talking about before?"

"Well, not really. There will be—"

"Oi!" one of the Crown's patrons called Rose over to the bar with a sloppy wave of his meaty hand. Her spirit retreated to the back of her head. "What you muttering about, elf? It's off-putting, you should know."

"Oh?"

"You're bad for business, even without the talking bit—"

Rose promised herself that she wouldn't get snippy if people pointed out the fact she was an elf, but this she was tired, it was late, and she was only a quarter finished with her shift. Day three on the job and she already lost count of the number of people who commented on her race. Yes, ser, I know I'm an elf. No, ser, I didn't cheat anyone out of job. Yes, I know not many elves have jobs like this. No, I didn't get kicked out of my alienage. Rose was at her wit's end. It was only a matter of time before she talked back.

"And you know all about how business goes, is that it?" Rose propped her hands on her hips.

"You have a big mouth, elf."

"That's what they tell me."

"Back off," the spirit in Rose's head warns.

It was at this time that the other barmaid Sorcha arrived, a goddess among women. "Refill, ser?"

Rose slipped away, out from under the glowering looks of other patrons. She sequestered herself in the back storage room, and waited for her shift to end. "What am I going to do with myself?"