This one took a little while longer... life got in the way :p as always, thanks where thanks are due (:


"Call me Erline."

I grasped the girl's hand and gave her a reassuring smile, letting her know that she was now safe, among friends. She was still trembling, her grip still slightly unsure as she timidly looked into my eyes.

"Zevran, go and warn Oghren. We can't go just yet." I turned once more to the girl sitting in front of me and moved a few tendrils of dark hair that clung to her forehead. She didn't flinch, allowing me to feel that she trusted me.

"You're safe, Erline. Now, let's take a look at those wounds."

**

An hour must've passed by as I tended to Erline's injuries, trying to clean the deep gash in her hip as well as I could. She had probably been wounded while trying to escape, but aside from wincing from time to time, she didn't speak a word. After cleaning both her leg and her hands, I stood up to let Zevran stitch her up. My only knowledge of tending to wounds was limited to what I had just done so I left the more meticulous work for him.

I stood next to her, kneeling, not wanting to break the trust that the elven girl seemingly had deposited in me. Not a sound came from her mouth, but I felt her grip on my hand tighten as Zevran stuck the needle in her flesh. She covered her face with her free hand and frowned at the pain I knew she was surely feeling. We all stayed silently for what seemed like an eternity, until finally Zevran pulled out his dagger and cut off the thread.

"There. I recommend using a poultice now... it wouldn't do much good if this were to become infected."

Zevran never betrayed his emotions nor let them get the best of him. It was who he was trained to be, who he ultimately was. But after spending so much time with him, I could tell that he wasn't very comfortable around the young girl. My overactive imagination immediately created mysterious assassin affairs through which Zevran might've met the girl, bizarre events, something to explain his uneasiness. But as he stood up, his mask fell once more into place and with it, my thoughts crumbled away.

Oghren was leaning against a tree and looked impatient, from time to time, trying to take a sip from a now obviously empty bottle, only increasing his frustration. I could hear him muttering under his breath but ignored it as I got up as well and helped Erline onto her feet. Once again I noticed the strange scars on her arms, quickly covered by a cloak, before I could inspect them further. While I was tending to her injuries, Erline kept her arms crossed, almost as if hiding them, even the arm from whose hand I was holding, shielded away against her breast. Even so, the frailty in her eyes and the way she stood helplessly against those men did the trick of dissipating my suspicions, if only for a few moments.

"Are we gonna stand here and look pretty or are we going to get going?" Oghren kicked impatiently at a rock nearby, looking more than annoyed.

"The Circle isn't going anywhere, Oghren." With these words, Zevran turned his gaze to Erline by my side, the word Circle eliciting quite the response from her, as she once more cowered in fear, gripping at the cloak around her body and her eyes widening in horror.

"C-circle...?"

"Is there something wrong? Yes, we are heading to the Circle."

Erline started to backtrack, her head frantically looking about, panic surging through her when she bumped her back into a tree and felt suddenly trapped.

"I... I can't go, I... Thank you, but I have to-"

"Erline..." I carefully took a step forward, trying not to make her feel anymore trapped than she already did. "I am the Commander of the Grey Wardens... you have been conscripted... whatever it is you're running from-"

"No! I can't go!"

Her blues eyes became iridescent and glowing, small flickers planting themselves on her eyelashes, slowly forming the same flames I had seen before. She was not only a young mage, she was an emotional wreck and completely out of control. Whatever it was that she was afraid of, it seemed to lie in the Circle.

Apostate.

"You're running from the Circle, aren't you?" I could see from the corner of my eye, Oghren with one fist clenched and the other around his axe, ready in case something... anything should happen. "You're one of us now, Erline. Noble or criminal, anyone can be drafted into our ranks and no one, nor the Chantry nor Andraste herself can do anything against it. We have Al... the King on our side in this."

The flames receded but a few speckles of fiery blue light remained dancing on her lashes, her eyebrows raised in desperation while her messy hair covered half of her face. The young elf was still in shock and I was surprised when I heard her voice, seemingly calmer.

"I ran away... from Nevarra. They were going to make me into one of those!" Her voice raised into a squeal and, realizing this, she drew a deep breath and looked down, her words barely a whisper. "A Tranquil. They were going to make me a Tranquil."

I recalled the Tranquil mage I had met at the Circle. Cold, emotionless, void of feeling. Nothing more than an empty shell, a living and moving piece of meat. A fate worse than death, some say. And now, all of the elf's fear and panic seemed to be more than justified.

"Erline... I need you to trust me. I have to go to the Circle..." Her eyes gave me a silent plea and I knew that if I were to brew conflict within the tower, despite my desire to help the girl, it would do nothing but hinder our progress.

"I will go to the Circle," Her face contorted in a pained expression, terrified of the prospect of being turned to the justice of the mages. "but you will remain on the shore. With Oghren."

"What?" The dwarf's expression went rapidly from annoyance to sheer surprise. I knew he probably wouldn't be too keen on the idea, so I pulled him aside and tried to speak in a whisper so that Erline wouldn't hear us.

"I need you to do this, Oghren. I can't take her with me but I can't leave her either. Please. We won't take long."

"Listen Warden, I'm all about killing things for you, going griffon hunting, that kind of thing. But being a nanny? With a deranged elf mage?"

"Please. Take her to the The Spoiled Princess, let her be with Felsi, something. I just can't take her to the Circle, not in the state she's in. I promise I'll shell out on some good wine. Your choice."

He looked at me, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He was less than happy about the thought but if he backed out, I didn't know what else I could do. I couldn't leave Erline by herself, the young girl was much too fragile at the moment and by invoking the Right of Conscription, making her join our ranks... in such a short time, I couldn't help but feel responsible for her... I was responsible for her.

"Fine. But if she goes berserk, I won't give a nug's ass about it. And I'm not forgetting about that wine promise."

"Deal." I gave Oghren the biggest smile I had in me and turned to Erline, looking into her blue eyes and carefully holding her hand as she took a deep breath and unsurely met my gaze.

"Don't worry. You'll be safe. I promise."

**

It was well past midday and into the afternoon when we began to see the Tower, standing tall in the middle of the darkened lake, it's presence domineering against the faraway horizon. Despite the sight of our goal, we were still a few hours of travelling from it, the panorama almost being hypnotic, reminding me of why I was taking such an excruciating voyage, once again.

Erline travelled back, mounted on one of the horses, while Zevran had decided to once more travel by foot, walking beside me. The addition of the girl to our group seemed to do the trick of getting Zevran back into his old persona, babbling with Oghren about both tales of the Crows and of one of the many taverns in Orzammar. Erline shrunk into herself, staring into the horse beneath her, clearly less than comfortable with the type of conversation I had since long grown accustomed to.

"Don't worry. They're all talk, harmless little boys they are. You'll get used to the mindless chatter. I know I did, as hard as it was." I tried to reassure Erline, turning back to her.

I smiled at the young girl, lightly kicking Zevran as discreetly as I could, trying to stop his snickering at my words. However, I achieved a smile from her, nervous as it was. I could not help but be reminded of myself, of what wasn't all that long ago and already seemed like a lifetime. Of how easily one's manners can shift and adapt to those around you and how perceived notions of propriety really do mean nothing at all when they are forgotten in the midst of friendship.

"At the risk of being passed off as mindless chatter, like our leader put it, I cannot help but wonder... you're a mage, aren't you?"

Zevran's voice caught both me and Erline off guard, leaving me looking at him quizzically and Erline bewildered and taken aback, mouth slightly agape as she looked at the elf beside me.

"...yes."

"Then I simply must ask, since it puzzles me and my curiosity... well..." the man's smile had a hint of friendliness and a touch of venom to it. "My curiosity really can take control of me, at times... How couldn't a mage rid herself of a small band of clumsy soldiers? Surely it would be no hard task for one with the elements at her disposal."

"Zevran!" I widened my eyes and hoped that the tone of my voice would be enough to reprimand him, to make him stop, knowing that in truth, it would be impossible to do so.

The elven girl clenched her jaw and looked away for a moment, her brow furrowing slightly before meeting Zevran's gaze with seeming confidence, betrayed by her trembling hands against her cloak.

"No... it's fine, Warden Commander. Your friend has a point. I never went through my Harrowing... I wasn't ready, they said." She swallowed drily, wiping away a tendril of hair from her face. "I needed to develop concentration in determined occasions, hardships... to abstract myself from the physical world. Until then, I could not go through the Harrowing. And to achieve concentration isn't an easy thing to do when you're being manhandled."

She averted her eyes from mine and went back at clutching her cloak while Zevran's face remained unreadable, his lips curving into a meaningless smile as he broke his attention from her and resumed his previous manner. I wasn't all that happy with the assassin's little questioning, not wanting to break the girl's trust and ease, so I leaned slightly towards Zevran, speaking as quietly as I could.

"By Andraste's sake, what was that all about?"

"One can't help but appreciate your kindness, my dear, but you can't pick up every stray you meet nor can you save everyone."

"I saved you, didn't I?"

He immediately looked at me and smiled at my comeback, turning his gaze forward once more as the sun made his hair and skin shine like gold.

"True. Yet... not that I'm demeaning our new friend's beauty, it would be a crime to do so... but not every stray is a handsome and charming assassin as myself, now are they?"

"Maybe... but, as you can see from our friend, most strays seem to keep quiet more often that you do."

"I thought you liked my chattering self. We can always change places and I can make you be quite noisy... if you will."

I rolled my eyes and couldn't stifle a silly smile, despite still being annoyed at his little question before, not wanting the playful banter to detract me from my own question.

"You still didn't answer me."

"There is nothing to answer."

"Elusiveness doesn't become you."

The elf chuckled and looked at me beneath his blonde lashes, raising a brow before looking away and running his hand through his hair.

"I hope your trust in her is justified. At any rate, I'll be here."

"Ever since leaving my home, I've learned that I could find betrayal in those I most trusted... trust and loyalty I found in those chance told me would be the unlikeliest to give it. So yes, I hope it is justified as well."

Zevran stared right into my eyes and my words seemed to finally reach him. He only nodded and looked towards the road, to the tower in the far distance. He had seemingly understood my meaning and said nothing more, leaving me to hope that his understanding would make him refrain from expressing any further distrust towards Erline. I could only hope to be right about this.

**

The journey went for a couple of hours without any further interruptions nor mishaps, until we finally stood at the top of the hill that overlooked Lake Calenhad. My back ached from riding for too long and my legs felt eager to get down and feel the dirt beneath my feet. We had finally arrived and the sun was beginning to fall, announcing the upcoming nightfall that would take no more than a few hours to settle. The darkened tower stood against the cloudy sky, its shadow dimly reflected on the waters beneath it. My heart was clenching within me and all of a sudden, I wasn't so sure anymore if I really wanted to go there, to find what I was looking for.

I dismounted from my horse, stretching myself lazily at the feeling of once more standing up straight, on the floor. I leaned against my horse and inhaled deeply, the coastal air filling my lungs. Oghren has dismounted as well and stumbled my way, walking awkwardly and putting a hand over his eyes, looking over to the tower as well. His head turned towards me and he scratched his chin over his beard, before strapping his axe to his back.

"Well, let's get down to it."

Nodding, I grabbed the horse's reins and began to walk, despite the discomfort I felt in my weathered legs, towards the slope in front of us, and the imposing construction that seemed to beckon to us.