A/N: Happy soon to be New Year, lovely readers!

I'm writing to you all from Japan, where I'm on a 28-day extended holiday vacation. I don't have my laptop with me, so this will most likely be the last update of 2018. I was going to take part in NaNoWriMo, but I ended being too busy with classes.

Hope y'all enjoy this chapter, I had lots of fun writing it. Don't forget to review!

This chapter's song on youtube is:

RADWIMPS - 前前前世 (Matt Cab cover)
/Kq1R6Ur9cq4

Chapter 14: Traveled for miles to see your smile

"Good, you're finally here," Dorian said. "Now, help me close this thing, would you?"

Meeting Dorian Pavus in real life was like staring straight at the Sun; it almost hurt to look at him. I don't know if you've ever been in that situation, but sometimes a person is so beautiful that you can't help but be in slight denial about their existence. Well, Dorian is one of those people. Hundred percent pure perfection.

"Oh no, he's hot."

Everyone turned to look at me, including Dorian. "Excuse me?" he asked.

My face heated up and I prayed for the ground to swallow me whole. "Uh—" I started to say. Some gods must have been on my side that day, because the rift behind Dorian cracked open. Everyone was too busy fighting demons to react to my blunder.

I beat myself up during the entire fight. Oh my god. What did I do? I fucked up, and now Dorian thinks I'm a total creep.

The rift closed with a bang, and Dorian turned to me. "Fascinating. How does that work exactly?" he asked, and then chuckled. "You don't even know, do you? You just wiggle your fingers and boom, rift closes."

He chose to ignore my comment, bless him. Thankful for the small mercy, I grinned and wiggled my fingers at him. "You could almost say it's... magic."

Dorian laughed at my pathetic joke. "Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself again," he said, and bowed. "Dorian of House Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do?"

Wait, what's my name again? My brain short-circuited at his dazzling laugh.

"Watch yourself," Bull muttered, "the pretty ones are always the worst."

Bull's comment shook me out of my stupor. "Kaaras Adaar," I said, bowing with a flourish. "Nice to meet you, Dorian."

"Suspicious friends you have here," Dorian said with a cautious glance at Bull. He turned back to me. "Alexius was once my mentor, so my assistance should be valuable, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"Oh, I can," I said with a grin.

Cassandra groaned in the background, and I heard Varric mutter something to himself.

Dorian raised his eyebrow, but chose to let it go. "You should know there's danger, that should be obvious even without the note," he continued. "Let's start with Alexius claiming the allegiance of the mage rebels from under you." He paused for dramatic effect. "As if with magic, yes?"

I nodded in agreement.

"Which is exactly right!" Dorian revealed triumphantly. "To reach Redcliffe before the Inquisition, Alexius distorted time itself."

There was a brief silence, during which nobody reacted.

"Are you just going to let the poor man talk?" Varric asked.

"Well..." I trailed off, scratching my horn. Dorian did have a lovely voice.

"Herald..." Cassandra growled out in warning.

"All right. What is going on here?" Dorian asked, crossing his arms. "I just told you that time magic exists. Truth to be told, I was expecting a bigger reaction than this. Something more along the lines of 'that's impossible', or 'Andraste's flaming underthings!'."

"I'm afraid our Herald here is bit of a Seer," Varric said, spreading out his hands in surrender. "He knew what you were going to say before you said it. We've been making plans to defeat the Venatori for weeks now."

"I'm sorry," I said with an awkward smile. "I wanted to hear you explain it."

"I—" Dorian started, his cheeks reddening slightly. "What?"

Cassandra crossed her arms. "Are you sure it's a wise decision to share this information with a Tevinter Magister?" she asked.

"Altus," Dorian and I corrected at the same time. He glanced at me with wide eyes.

I shrugged apologetically at Dorian, and turned to Cassandra. "First of all, he's an altus, not a magister," I said. "Secondly, yes. We shall be sharing this information with Dorian, because he's incredibly important to this mission and deserves to know." I glanced at the others. "Any further questions?"

They shook their heads.

I turned back to Dorian. "So okay, we're aware of the delicate situation over here. Alexius is using time magic, which is really unstable, and might spread everywhere and destroy the world. You can help us because you were his apprentice and know the theory behind it. Is that about the gist of it?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Dorian said, blinking in surprise. "I still don't understand why Alexius is doing all of this," he said, stroking his chin. "Ripping time to shreds just to gain a few hundred lackeys?"

"He didn't do it for them," Felix said, appearing from the shadows behind us.

Dorian looked relieved. "Took you long enough," he said. "Is he getting suspicious?"

"No, but I shouldn't have played the illness card," Felix said. "I thought he'd be fussing over me all day." He glanced up at me. "My father's joined a cult. Tevinter supremacists. They call themselves the Venatori."

"He knows," Dorian said with a breathless laugh. "Apparently, the Herald of Andraste is a Seer."

Felix's eyes widened. "So it's true?" he asked. "There have been so many ridiculous rumours about you, I didn't think any of them could be true."

I waved my hand. "Yeah, yeah," I said. "I'm very much aware your dad's cult is after me."

"They're obsessed with you," Felix corrected me. "But I don't know why. Maybe because you survived at the Temple of the Sacred Ashes."

"You can close the rifts," Dorian said thoughtfully. "Perhaps there is a connection? Or they see you as a threat?"

"If the Venatori are behind the Breach in the sky, then they're even worse than I thought," Felix said gravely.

"All of this for me?" I said with a grin. I couldn't not say it. "And here I didn't get Alexius anything."

Dorian chuckled. "Get him a fruit basket, everyone loves those."

I giggled. It was one of my favourite lines.

Dorian sobered quickly. "You know you're his target. Expecting the trap is the first step in turning it to your advantage," Dorian said. He turned to Felix. "Alexius doesn't know that I'm here, and I want to keep it that way for now," he said and turned to me. "But whenever you're ready to deal with him, I want to be there."

Dorian turned to leave, and I panicked.

"Wait!" I called out, taking a step after him. "Dorian!"

He stopped and turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

I froze, not even knowing why I had stopped him. And put on the spot, I couldn't help myself. "I don't know if you're busy or anything but maybe you'd like to come with us to Haven maybe it's a bad idea I just thought it mightbenicetotalkalittlebitmore—" I blurted out until my lungs were out of oxygen.

"You... want me to come with you?" Dorian asked slowly.

I took a deep breath, and nodded. "Will you?"

"Well, I suppose..." Dorian trailed off, thinking. "I don't have much else to do." He nodded to himself. "Yes, why not. I'll tie up a couple of loose ends here, and meet with you at the Crossroads tonight, once it's safer for me to sneak out."

I nodded, grateful I didn't need to try convince him, because my higher brain functions were offline. "We'll probably be camped just next to Lake Luthias, at the edge of town."

"I'll find you." Dorian swapped a final glance with Felix. "Don't get killed."

"There are worse fates than dying, Dorian," Felix murmured. He and Dorian disappeared through different doors.

Having managed to keep quiet so far, I silently turned to face the others.

Cassandra cleared her throat. "Why—" she started to say, but I cut her off by exploding into a victory dance. I topped it with little jumps and hops, not caring how ridiculous it might have looked. "Yes!" I squealed, pumping my fist. "He said yes! Dorian is coming with us! Can you believe it?"

My joy was cut short, because the impromptu victory dance caused a sudden ache at my side. My hand was immediately drawn to the magical wound I had sustained only two nights ago. "Ouch." Guess it wasn't completely healed, yet.

"For Maker's sake!" Cassandra said with a long suffering sigh. "Don't injure yourself any further!"

Solas rushed to my side with a disapproving look. As soon as his hands reached me, the pain subsided. "I understand you're excited by this Tevinter mage, but please, have more regard for your own well being."

"Sorry," I said, slightly embarrassed. "And thanks."

Solas nodded and backed off.

"Take it easy, Feathers," Varric said, bemused. "It seems you're forgetting that you're the only one in this party who knows him," he added.

That, along with the wound, put a bit of a damper on my mood. "Oh," I said blankly. "Right. Guess I'm the only one who's excited, then."

"He is pretty though," Bull said grudgingly.

"Right?" I asked, beaming at him. "He's like a work of art."

Varric groaned and put his face in his hands. "Oh god. You're worse than Hawke."

My grin widened. "You know I'm gonna take that as a compliment, right?"

Before leaving Redcliffe Village, we crossed a couple of things off my literal To Do list. First, with Varric's help, we hired that one chantry woman/slash smuggler to work for the Inquisition. Then we spoke with the old man who wanted to leave flowers at his wife's grave and assured him we'd get it done. The last thing on my list was the the shed full of tranquil skulls by the lake.

I tried the door. It was locked.

"Varric," I said, my voice low. "Think you could get this open for me?"

"Sure thing, Feathers," he quipped and got to work.

"What do you think we'll find inside?" Cassandra asked me while we waited.

I grimaced. "Something not good," I said, and glanced at everyone's curious faces. "You remember how I recruited Clement and the other tranquil to work for the Inquisition?"

They nodded.

"I didn't do it just because they're useful," I said. "They won't be safe here as long as the Venatori mages occupy this place."

"You mean, someone's after them," Bull concluded, crossing his arms.

Just as he said that, the door clicked open. We were greeted with a sight that made the little hairs at my neck stand up in disgust. Several shelves of Tranquil skulls, wooden bases with blue runes on them, and a large leather bound book sat on top of a writing desk.

"What the...?" Varric trailed off.

I took a step inside, my shoulders hunching up in anger. "You remember those Occularium we've been finding all over the place? Those creepy skulls aren't just decor, they've got an actual magical properties," I hissed from between clenched teeth, and turned to face the others. "This is what they've been doing with the Tranquil."

"So every Occularium is made from the skull of a Tranquil?" Solas asked, his voice low, and dangerous. "I had wondered what happened to them when the circles fell. What a tragic waste."

I looked at Solas. His jaw was working like he wanted to continue, but couldn't. I wanted to place my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. So I did. When he finally looked back at me, there was fire in his eyes.

"I know," I said, although I knew my words couldn't heal this hurt. "I'm sorry."

Varric cursed. "I'd figured they'd fled with the rebel mages. Poor bastards."

"I had wondered where they had gone," Cassandra said, her face falling. "I should've looked harder."

I sighed. "No use beating ourselves up. Let's just make sure no more Tranquil fall prey to these monsters."

She nodded. "We should put out orders to help and recruit any Tranquil our scouts happen to come across. I'm sure Commander Cullen will agree wholeheartedly."

Next was the healer.

"Can I help you?" the elven woman asked, her gaze going up to my horns for a moment before settling on my face.

"There are refugees at the Crossroads who need a healer," I said.

"Of course they would," she said and scoffed. "These attacks by the templars have endangered countless innocent lives." She shook her head. "But if I go to the crossroads to help, I might end up in danger myself. I doubt those refugees would risk their lives for a knife-ear." She looked me in the eye. "Why should I risk mine for them?"

"The Inquisition welcomes anyone willing to help: human, elf or otherwise," I said pointedly. "If you help those refugees, we'll make sure you're protected."

She thought about it for a moment. "All right," she said. "If the Inquisition soldiers are there, I might be safer, regardless. I'll head to the crossroads today. Just give me time to gather my things."

"Thank you," I said. "By the way, are you running low on herbs, by any chance?"

"Yes, we have had many injured from attacks by those cursed templars. I need herbs to treat people's wounds."

I grinned, and reached for the large pouch of herbs on my waist, having taken it with me just in case we ran into her. "Here," I said. "These should do for a while."

She took the offered pouch, her eyes widening. "This will be truly helpful. Thank you."

We left the healer's little shack and I heard Varric chuckling to himself.

"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"So that's why you've been collecting weeds more than usual lately," Varric said with a grin. "I swear, it's like we stopped every couple minutes for the last couple of days," he said and did a humorous imitation of my voice. "'Ooh, wait up guys, there's elf root here!' We thought you had turned into a hoarder of resources."

Solas coughed, suspiciously laugh-like.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and looked at the others. Solas and Cassandra seemed to be fighting a smile, and Bull was openly grinning at my embarrassment.

"Hey," I protested feebly. "It's good to be prepared. You never know when you might need elf root!"

"Or iron," Varric said.

"Or drakestone," Cassandra added, her face perfectly straight.

"Cass?!" I moaned out, clutching my chest dramatically. "Not you too! The betrayal, the horror..."

Bull rolled his eyes and patted my head. "Come on, boss," he said, comfortingly. "Forget about them. We should get going, there are things to do and elf root to pick."

I glared at him, and he laughed at my face.

This time I definitely heard Solas chuckle.

"We should go to Witchwood next," I said, glancing down at the map in my grip. We were standing just outside the gates of Redcliffe Village, trying to decide on our next move.

"For the apostate stronghold?" Cassandra asked thoughtfully.

I nodded. "For that, and the one remaining rift in the woods nearby."

Varric crossed his arms. "Are you sure you're up to it right now?" he asked. "That wound seemed to bother you back in the Chantry."

I frowned. "I'm fine." It didn't even hurt that much.

"Boss..." Bull trailed off, frowning down at me.

I glanced at him. "Geez, alright," I caved in. "I'll keep out of the fight as much as I can. Does that satisfy you?"

He smiled. "It does."

My face heating up at his sincere tone, I looked away, focusing my attention back on the map. "So first we should go through here," I said and pointed at a path which separated from the Redcliffe Road. "According to our sources the rift is little bit farther inside the woods. If I remember correctly, the apostate stronghold should be just beyond this point..."

"Why don't they ever just surrender?" I murmured from behind my hand, stepping over a body of a young mage. The battle was over, and I had managed to stay in the sidelines of the fight. Without the adrenaline running through my body, I just felt vaguely sad at all the violence. Somehow it was always worse when they were mages, because I knew how shitty they were treated in Thedas. It was no wonder so many of them went insane or turned to demons.

"It is what it is," Bull said, patting me on the back, and leaving his hand there to linger. The weight of it was comforting.

"But how do you do it?" I asked. "How do you justify this over and over again?"

Bull shook his head. "You don't," he said. "There's no point in trying. The only thing you can do is to think about the people your actions will save in the future. The King's road will be slightly safer now that these guys aren't roaming free anymore."

I sighed. "I guess..." I trailed off, still feeling morose, but slightly better knowing that Bull was trying to cheer me up a little. I coughed. "I mean, of course, I knew that. It's not like I'm completely new to all of this..." I trailed off, scratching my horn awkwardly.

Bull gave me an amused look. "Right..." he trailed off. "That amnesia still affecting you?"

I shrugged, scratching my horn gain. "I guess," I said, and my hand paused. "Speaking of which, my horns have been really itchy lately. You wouldn't happen to have any tips to fix it?"

"Are you serious?" Bull asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded, and my hand moved to scratch again, but Bull moved faster than me and caught my wrist in his grip.

"First of all, stop that," he growled. "You're making me itch just looking at you." He peered closer at my horns. "When did you last use your horn balm?"

I gave him a blank look. "Uh..."

Bull groaned. "You're hopeless," he said. "No wonder you're itchy."

Giving him my best puppy dog eyes, I said, "I don't have any horn balm with me."

He shook his head. "I'll give you some of mine when we're back at camp," Bull said. "I can't believe you haven't been using any for who knows how long..."

I shrugged. "I'm a disaster of a person, what did you expect?"

The rift was relatively easy to take care of.

With Bull, Cass and Blackwall acting as my bodyguards through the fight, I didn't have to do much except wait for the rift to be ready for closing. Demons always seemed to be drawn to me during these fights, so if Cass hadn't suggested for the warriors to work as my body guard brigade, I probably would have been forced to fight at least one of them. As it was, the others took care of the three first terror demons, and the two subsequent ones as well, while I just stood there and looked pretty.

After closing the rift we headed back to our camp and met with the others, who had already started packing up. A smaller group of Inquisition soldiers stayed there to keep an eye on the area in case the bandits decided to return. In the meanwhile, we headed back to the camp overlooking the Crossroads Village. The rest of the day went by quickly, seeing as we had to deal with quite bit of admin. While we'd been away, the Inquisition had build those watch towers for Redcliffe farms. According to Corporal Vale's reports, the situation there was much more stable, and now that the apostate stronghold had been dealt with, things should be looking up for everyone.

I took it upon myself to introduce the elvhen healer to Corporal Vale himself, and told her to go straight to him in case she needed anything. She threw me a bewildered look, but agreed to do so, and once again thanked me for the herbs.

I was coming back from a visit to nature's lavatory, when I realised that there was bit more hustle and bustle in the camp than usual. Curious about what was going on, I glanced around to get a better picture of what was going on. Conveniently for me, Corporal Vale happened to walk past me at that exact moment.

"Corporal Vale. What's all this commotion?" I asked, hiding a yawn behind my palm. It was getting rather late, and Dorian still hadn't shown up.

The Inquisition agent immediately straightened his spine and saluted at me. "I was just about to head over there to find out myself, ser," he said and glanced around, lowering his voice. "Someone told me they caught a spy."

I raised my eyebrow. "A spy?"

"Someone trying to sneak into the camp unnoticed," Corporal Vale explained. "Someone from Tevinter, apparently. But he's been apprehended, so it should all be under control."

The stupidity of the situation was so tangible, that I could almost feel my spirit vacating my body. "Hey," I said slowly, giving him a thin smile, "You do know that we've all been sat here, waiting for our Te-vin-terally for like three hours now?"

The Corporal visibly paled. "Oh." His eyes widened. "Oh, those idiots!" he repeated with a groan.

"Please tell me you haven't been detaining our guest for three hours," I begged.

"No, no, I think he just arrived!" Vale said.

I sighed in relief. "Take me to him."

The scout, who kept quietly apologizing to me as we walked, led me to the corner of the camp where a large tent had been erected, presumably for occasions just like this. Raised voices floated through the closed canvas doorway.

"Just tell us who you're working for, 'Vint."

"I already told you, I'm not a spy. I was invited!"

Not wanting for things to escalate any further, I threw aside the tent flap and entered to find two scouts interrogating Dorian. He was sitting on a large crate with his arms and legs crossed, looking bored to hell. A quick look told me that his staff and belongings had been confiscated, leaving him only wearing his armor and a small spell book hanging from a strap on his waist.

"Dorian! Are you okay?" At the sound of my voice, the scouts looked at me and immediately saluted. I waved my hand at them and they relaxed.

"Oh," Dorian said and threw a pointed glare at the two scouts. "I'm just peachy."

The two scouts exchanged hesitant glances.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Herald," the man who'd been speaking earlier spoke up, "We caught this 'Vint spy sneaking into the camp-"

"Actually," Corporal Vale coughed and spoke in a low voice. "The Herald was expecting him."

The two scouts turned to look at me, their eyes wide.

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. "All of you, get out of here. Corporal Vale and I will deal with you later."

The two scouts scrambled to get out of the tent like their lives depended on it, Corporal Vale fast on their heels.

"I'm so sorry, Dorian. This shouldn't have happened," I said, turning to face him.

"Oh, it's not necessary," Dorian said, waving his hand. "Despite their eagerness to catch a handsome Tevinter spy, there was no real harm done. Although, I must thank you for rescuing me," he said, putting his hand on his chest, "I'm afraid the discussion was starting to go around in an endless circle."

I chuckled at Dorian's description of himself. "Still, I can't let this kind of stuff keep happening," I said, thinking of Blackwall. "Seems like I need to have a talk with someone about how to spread information around effectively so that everyone knows what's going on."

Dorian smiled. "Evidently."

I looked down at Dorian who was still sitting down, and offered him my hand. He clasped it tightly.

"Despite your less than welcoming entrance," I said with a grin, pulling Dorian up and shaking his hand slowly, "I wholeheartedly welcome you to the Inquisition."

Dorian smiled. "Thank you. Glad to be here, despite the awkward misunderstanding."

My hand might have lingered a little bit longer than necessary before I let go.

There was a large travelling rucksack next to the tent's entrance, and a mage staff. Since they were closer to me than to Dorian, I lifted them up. "These yours?" I asked, offering them to him.

"Yes, thank you," Dorian said, grabbing his staff first and putting it on his back before grabbing the bag and lowering it on the ground next to him.

A thought occurred to me. Dorian was a mage. "They took your staff," I mused out loud, "but you could've easily beaten them even without it."

"True," Dorian said with a raised an eyebrow. "But that would've been a rather violent start for an alliance."

My hand reached for my neck in embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it," I said. "Just thinking out loud."

"I see."

I coughed. "Did everything go well in Redcliffe?" I asked. "No trouble?"

Dorian shook his head. "Everything went smoothly."

We stood there for a moment in silence. I felt both giddy and anxious at the same time, somehow unable to figure out how I should act around Dorian. I knew so much about him but he knew essentially nothing about me. I desperately wanted to act naturally, but what was natural for me would probably freak him out at this point. Seer or no seer.

"Um," I broke the silence, scratching the base of my itching horn. "We should get back to the others so I can introduce you to everyone properly."

Dorian made an elegant gesture with his hand. "Lead the way."

I nodded and walked past him. Outside the tent, some curious onlookers watched us go, but nobody approached us, not until we reached the corner of the camp where my party was set up in. Varric was the first to notice us, and he grinned at me.

"Finally found your mage?" he asked, not bothering to get up. He was cozied up by the fire with his usual notebook in his lap.

I grinned back. "I did," I said and looked around, raising my voice a little, "Hey guys, I'm glad to finally officially introduce you all to Dorian Pavus." I waved my hand at Dorian. "Dorian, meet everyone." I paused. "Well, everyone who's here, that is."

Dorian handled it like his usual self, although I could swear I sensed slight hesitation from him as he looked around. Then he offered a raised eyebrow with a smile. "Charmed, I'm sure."

I chuckled and scratched my horn. "Let's make rounds to help you put names to the faces. They're really not as scary as they look."

Varric was the closest, so we started with him.

"This is Varric Tethras," I said. "I'm sure his works are known even in Tevinter."

Dorian's eyes widened slightly at the name, and Varric offered him a roguish grin in response. "I charge extra for autographed copies."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You never offered to sign my copy," I pointed out. "Taking up new business ventures, are we?"

"I would never ask for money from the Herald of Andraste," Varric said in mock horror, "Who do you take me for?"

"Sure," I said with a snort.

Dorian was watching our banter with clear amusement.

"Uh, right, I'll carry on," I continued and walked past Varric towards Solas. "This is Solas, our resident grumpy apostate and secret nerd."

"Nerd?" Solas asked, looking up from a book he was reading. It looked old and heavy, which made me wonder why on earth he was carrying it around.

I looked pointedly at the book and raised my eyebrow. "Someone who wants to know everything about everything."

Solas tilted his head. "Fair," he said to me and then looked at Dorian. "Welcome," he offered shortly, and went back to his reading. Dorian nodded at him in return.

Once we were out of Solas's immediate earshot, Dorian inched closer to me. "You already have a mage," he murmured. "Why did you ask me to join?"

I snorted. "What, is there a limit to the number of mages I'm allowed to bring with me on adventures?"

"Well, no," Dorian said, raising an eyebrow at my tone. "I was just wondering."

"Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you," I said with a sigh. I then smiled secretively. "Technically you're the third mage to join our efforts," I said, and at his inquiring look, added: "You'll meet her later."

Next was Cassandra, who was sitting next to Blackwall little further away from the fire. They were talking in a low voice, and when we approached, they both immediately looked up at me with their full attention. Ugh. They were too good to me.

"This is Seeker Cassandra Penthaghast, and Warden-Constable Blackwall," I said with a wave of my hand. The two exchanged curt greetings with Dorian, but similar to Solas, didn't seem overly welcoming.

We made our way towards the last member of our party.

"And of course," I said with a growing grin, "The Iron Bull, Captain of a mercenary group called the Bull's Chargers and my personal bodyguard."

Bull was sitting in front of the fire on the opposite side from Varric. When our gazes met, I realised that he'd probably been watching me and Dorian going around the fire to gauge everyone's reactions and shit. Of course he had.

"Now, I know the Qunari and Tevinter have some bad history behind them…" I started.

"That's an understatement," Dorian muttered, eyeing Bull up and down. Bull just smirked up at him from where he was sat on a bench crafter from a large log of wood.

"Despite that," I said pointedly, hands at my hips, "I'm trusting that you both can act professional and won't let such petty conflicts affect your friendship."

"Friendship?" Dorian asked weakly.

"I'm a seer, remember?" I said smugly. "You are going to be friends, believe it or not."

"Whatever you say, boss," Bull said, clearly enjoying Dorian's shocked expression. He smiled at me, and then gave Dorian his complete attention for a moment. "Nice to meet you, Dorian."

Dorian stiffened just slightly under Bull's gaze, but nodded. "Likewise."

I glanced between them for a moment, trying to read the atmosphere but unable to decipher anything more than vague tension between them, then ended up looking at Dorian. "Right then," I said, slapping my hands together. "Do you need help setting up your tent?"

Dorian's expression softened slightly. "I'm sure I'll manage. But thank you for the offer."

I shrugged. "Okay," I said. "I'll be bunking in that big tent over there, if you need anything or have questions."

Dorian nodded and made his way to a free spot of land. I watched him go, and turned to Bull, who was watching me watching Dorian.

"You really like that he took up your offer to come along," Bull mused out loud. "You really like him."

"Yeah," I said, then realised what I was admitting to, and narrowed my eyes. "Hey," I protested weakly.

Bull snorted. "There was a nervous sort of energy around you the whole time you were standing next to him," he said thoughtfully. "It kind of reminded me of when we first met..." he trailed off and smirked. "You like me too, boss?" He asked innocently, lifting his arm and offering me the place next to him on the log.

I took the cue and sat down next to him, cuddling up to his side. "Yes," I said with a roll of my eyes. "I like you as well, as if you didn't already know that."

"Aww, you like me," Bull repeated with a grin, making me swat his shoulder lightly.

"Anyone with a pair of eyes and half a brain knows that," I said and yawned, "so let it go already." I settled down next to him and leaned slightly to my right, putting some of my weight against Bull's shoulder. It was kinda cold, and he was soft and practically radiating heat.

"Tired?" Bull asked, absently rubbing his ankle.

"It's been a long day," I sighed and glanced down at his hands.

"Yeah, it has," Bull agreed with a slight grimace.

"Your ankle bothering you?" I asked and then smirked, and hid my grin against Bull's shoulder. "You know, I'm sure Dorian knows plenty of useful healing spells that might help relieve the tension…"

"Ugh," Bull grunted with disgust. "That'll be the day. Letting a 'Vint mage mess with my leg."

I just hummed knowingly. "You'll never know," I said. "People can surprise you... and anyway, you did admit he's pretty."

Bull just sighed in response.

The fabled Herald of Andraste wasn't quite anything like Dorian had expected him to be.

First, Dorian was completely blindsided by the offer to join the Inquisition forces in Haven while the negotiations with his mentor Alexius continued.

Then, he kept being surprised by the man's friendly attitude. Everyone else was overly cautious of him, like the hulking beast of a Qunari who kept glancing at Dorian from the corner of his eye, and the Seeker, who openly frowned at him whenever she thought he wasn't looking.

But the Herald's attitude was the complete opposite. His smiles and lingering friendly touches came easy and seemed absolutely genuine, and Dorian didn't know what to think of it. He couldn't help but be suspicious at first, until he realised the man was like that with everyone.

The next morning, when they were all still gathered at the camp side for breakfast, Dorian did his best to figure him out. He didn't have much luck.

"How long have you known the Herald?" Dorian asked the infamous author Varric Tethras. He fully expected the answer to be something akin to a year, since everyone seemed to get along with him so well.

"Oh, for about six weeks," Varric said.

Dorian blinked. "What?"

The dwarf smirked, and pointed behind Dorian. "Tiny over there has only been with us less than three."

Dorian looked over his shoulder, and saw the massive Qunari in question effectively snuggled up with the Herald in front of the campfire. The Herald was sat between the mercenary's legs while the latter applied some sort of balm to his horns in large, gentle movements. The Herald laughed at something that was said, and the ensuing smile lit up his whole face.

Vishante Kaffas, if that wasn't attractive. Those two shouldn't be allowed within ten feet of each other.

Slightly embarrassed by his own thoughts, Dorian couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. Instead he looked back to the dwarf. "You're pulling my leg," he said with a sniff. There was no way those two had only known each other for a couple of weeks.

"I know exactly what you mean," Varric said, sipping his drink. "The Herald just has that effect on people."

Thoughtful, Dorian looked back at the two Qunari, and quickly realised he'd been caught. The Herald stared back at him with wide eyes. Wait, was that a blush?

Dorian looked away, feeling his own face heat up in response.

The morning after Dorian joined our party, Bull fulfilled his promise to help me and my itchy horns. In fact, as soon as we woke up that morning, he took it upon himself to sit me down in front of the fire. I was situated between Bull's open legs, his chest warm and welcoming against my back in the chilly morning air. I might have leaned back a little more than was strictly necessary.

Bull took a large dollop of the horn balm and started applying it onto my horns in gentle movements.

"Mmmm," I said, closing my eyes, a slow smile creeping to my face. It felt nice. I hadn't known it would feel nice.

Bull chuckled. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah." Damn, that already felt better. The itching was gone.

He continued in silence for a moment. "So..." Bull trailed off. "You're in a good mood. Still happy about the mage joining us?"

I opened my eyes slowly. "I am," I said looking to my side, trying to catch a glimpse of his expression, to no avail. He was just behind my field of vision. "I know you don't like mages. Or 'Vints. But like I said, you should give him a chance, please. He's a good guy."

Bull huffed and his breath warmed up my neck, tingling. "Alright," he said. "Anything for you, boss."

This time I turned my head to look at him. His hands paused, letting me turn. "I mean it," I said seriously.

Bull looked back at me. "So do I."

I sighed and faced forwards. "You're impossible," I said, leaning my back against his chest and letting the remaining tension to flow out of my body.

"Sure, I'm the impossible one," Bull retorted with a snort. "I'm not the seer who's called the Herald of Andraste."

I grinned and closed my eyes again. "Shouldn't you listen to your seer of a boss, then?"

Bull chuckled. "Now we're just going around in circles."

"Mmm," I admitted, starting to lose focus again.

"Your mage has been watching you," Bull whispered.

I opened my eyes, and glanced towards where I'd seen Varric chatting with Dorian earlier. And true enough, Dorian was looking towards us. Or more precisely, at me.

I couldn't help it, I blushed.

Bull chuckled. "You were right, boss," he said. "I am starting to enjoy having him around."

On the third day of our journey back to Haven, Varric sat down next to me in front of the dwindling camp fire. We were done with breakfast and starting to pack up for the day.

"What's that song you were humming just now?" Varric asked, and added, "Is it the same one you were playing yesterday?"

I glanced up from my notebook. "Sorry, I didn't even realise I was humming," I said, slightly abashed. "It's... a good song."

"Are there lyrics to go with it?" Varric asked, his curious gaze flickering to my writing.

My hand went to my neck in embarrassment. "Yeah..." I trailed off. "I wrote them down in my notebook some time ago. Why?"

"Why, he asks," Varric rolled his eyes. "Because I'd like to hear the whole thing."

Bull stopped in the middle of what he was doing. "The one you were playing yesterday...?" he asked, his brows furrowing. "Oh, that one!" Bull said, and smirked knowingly. "He's been humming that since Redcliffe."

"It's just been on my mind, that's all," I protested. "It's very catchy."

Dorian looked at the exchange between us, curiously. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

I glanced at him, and felt my cheek blush. "Umm..."

For some reason, I hadn't sung in front of Dorian yet, and the thought made me weirdly nervous.

"Don't tell me you're being shy now," Varric said incredulously. "I heard you even performed in front of a crowd at Madam De Fer's salon. Sure this isn't any different?"

"Madame De Fer's..." Dorian trailed off, his eyebrows rising towards his hairline. "Really?"

"It's not... well," I muttered, voiding his gaze. "I'm not that good."

Cassandra, who had been listening to the bunch of us talking, snorted and walked past me. I followed her movements with wide eyes. She walked to the horse drawn carriage, returned with my guitar in tow. She pushed it into my hands with a long suffering expression. "Just do it."

I sighed and nodded, my bemusement winning over my anxiety. "If you insist."

Bull, who'd been in the middle of packing up, very pointedly stopped what he was doing. He sat down on a wooden box, and turned his body so that he was facing me fully. I threw him a faint grin, and he returned it.

Dorian stayed standing with his arms crosses. His eyes flickered between me and the others, as if gauging everyone reactions to the situation. Even Solas had stopped what he was doing in order to pay full attention to the new song, which I appreciated.

The melody started out simple, but I looked down at the guitar's neck while playing it. I hadn't tried played it though often enough on this new guitar, so I wasn't quite I wouldn't make any mistakes. Once I was done strumming the intro, I looked up and directed my gaze towards Bull.

Yeah I've been searching for you my whole life,
And all the lives we've lived before
Been traveling for miles to see your smiles,
I can't believe that finally I'm yours
And even if we blew into the wind,
And had to go back to the start,
You know I'd keep searching
Cause baby it's worth it,
To see your face again
Get time to reverse,
And start at the beginning
So I could find you again

Dorian shifted in the corner of my eye, and I glanced at him. His arms had dropped down. Upon realising that he was now unabashedly staring, I couldn't help but grin at his reaction. But the song continued, and my grin faded.

Finally, you've opened your eyes
We've been waiting for this moment,
Darling you don't gotta hide
Where have you been?
You say to me
Baby, I swear that I've been running,
Looking for you constantly
Cause my heart was always here,
I just needed something to believe

I pointedly looked towards Bull, my gaze softening.

There's something about the way
That you look at me baby,
I just can't explain
Breathing in this very moment
Here with you
I don't want it to slip away
Hear a voice that's so familiar,
I've known from long, long ago,
Try to find the words to say to you
For the first time

I closed my eyes, and continued into the final part of the song.

And all the lives we've lived before,
Been travelling for miles to see your smiles
I can't believe that finally I'm yours

I opened my eyes, intentionally letting my gaze travel from Dorian to Bull, as if making a point.

And even if we blew into the wind,
And had to go back to the start,
You know I'd keep searching,
Cause baby it's worth it,
To see your face again
Get time to reverse,
Start at the beginning,
So I could find you again

I briefly closed my eyes again as the last notes faded away, trying to compose myself before chancing a glance at my audience. And as I finally looked up, Bull met my gaze with a grin and started clapping. The others joined in.

"Another catchy one, Feathers," Varric said as I walked past him. He grabbed my sleeve and added, "So many love songs lately. Don't think I haven't noticed."

I grimaced and nodded, making my way towards Dorian and Bull, the latter smiling at me. I smiled back and glanced at Dorian. "So... what did you think?"

"I've never heard anything quite like it before," Dorian admitted, his eyes slightly wide and his jaw slack. "It sounded so lively yet... beautiful."

I scratched my neck awkwardly. "Aww, thanks. I'm happy you enjoyed it."

"Did you compose it yourself?" Dorian asked curiously.

"No, no," I said hurriedly, "I don't compose. I just repeat what I've heard."

Bull rolled his eyes. "That's what he keeps saying, but I've never heard any of these songs before," he said, giving me a bemused look. "And I spend a lot of time in taverns."

Dorian raised an eyebrow and glanced between the two of us, puzzled. "You won't reveal your sources, then?" he asked me.

I shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "Oh, you've never heard of any of them anyways, so there's no point." Quick to change the subject, I offered my guitar to Dorian. "Do you play?"

"Ah," Dorian said with a slightly panicked look to his eyes, "Sadly, I do not. So I'll leave the entertainment to you."

I shrugged. "Okay. But you like music?"

"I enjoy it," Dorian confessed, "And if your future pieces are anything like that one, I'll certainly look forward to more. I can't stand hearing the same, stuffy old songs over and over again."

"Good." I grinned. "And I look forward to introducing you to more of them."

As we ate lunch, Dorian sat next to me and started up a conversation. "So you're a seer," he pointed out. "How does that work?"

I shrugged, not exactly comfortable with the lie. "I can tell the future to some degree. Mostly bigger details that affect lots of people," I said, hoping to god that there wasn't some Handbook to Seers and Prophets that Dorian had read and thus knew how to bust me. "Things to come, and some things which have already passed."

Dorian nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting. And if I asked you what's for lunch tomorrow?"

"It doesn't work like that," I said, "The details come to me. I don't pick them, and it doesn't tell me something as trivial as lunch." I recalled telling Bull I'd known the color of his trousers before we met. "Usually."

"Ah, see," Dorian said, waving a spoon. "Even I could tell you what's for lunch tomorrow."

I blinked. "You could?"

"It's stew," Dorian said, eyeing his bowl of stew distastefully. "It's always stew."

I laughed so hard I spilled half of my lunch on the ground.

Time passes quickly in good company.

The last morning of our journey found Bull and me eating breakfast inside our tent. I was yet too tired to face the others, and Bull wanted to work on something private. While I ate, he continued writing something which looked to be a letter. I watched him scribble away and couldn't help but think that he looked incredibly cute with his face slightly crunched up in concentration.

I swallowed the last bit of my food. "Are you writing in Qunlat?" I asked.

Bull looked up at me. "Yeah, why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can I see?" I asked. At his hesitant expression, I added: "I don't know how the language."

Bull thought about it. He turned fully to gaze at my face, as if to gauge if I was telling the truth. Then he shrugged, and handed over the unfinished letter. "Feel free. It's not like I'm writing about anything you're not already aware of."

I took the offered piece of paper and glanced down at it. "Huh," I said in surprise.

Bull raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"The writing system is familiar," I said, tilting my head. "I can read it and make out sounds, but since I don't know the language itself, it's rather useless information."

Qunlat looked like Cyrillic script, which is something I'd studied briefly couple of years ago while taking some beginner Russian language classes. It was a good language to know when living in my home country.

I handed the letter back to him, and he took it.

"Didn't expect that," Bull said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Tal-Vashot don't usually bother teaching their young to read Qunlat, since Trade is hundred times more useful. You're just full of mysteries, aren't you?"

I gave him a bashful smile, but inwardly I was wincing. "Yeah."

Bull paused. "You don't want me to ask where you learnt it, do you."

It wasn't a question, but I nodded, avoiding his gaze. To my shame, I was afraid to start this conversation because I was still unsure of how much information I should divulge to Bull before his personal quest. It wasn't like I distrusted him... I just didn't fully trust him. Not with this. Not yet.

"I won't ask, then," Bull said easily, looked down, and continued writing the letter.

I whipped my head up to look at him, but he didn't react at all, just kept writing like he didn't realise what he'd just done. Ugh. Why did he have to be so sweet?

For the remaining day, my thoughts kept shifting to his easy acceptance, while I silently cursed my stupid heart.

After four days we arrived back in Haven, and only briefly settled in before being summoned to the War Room. Alexius had sent me an invitation to Redcliffe to officially continue our talks concerning the mages. Luckily, we knew it was coming so we were prepared. Everyone else was already inside by the time I met up with Dorian by the doors.

"Are you sure I'm invited?" Dorian asked. "Seems like official Inquisition business."

"Would that stop you?" I asked.

Dorian grinned. "Fair point."

I waved my hand dismissively. "I kinda know the gist of what Alexius wants, but in case there are surprises, you're the one who knows him best."

We entered the room and I politely introduced everyone to Dorian.

"Now that your ally is here," Cullen said, giving me a dubious look, "Can we finally discuss this futile plan? We don't have the manpower to take the castle. Either find another way in, or give up this nonsense and go to the templars."

"I told you, we've got to be careful with this." I looked at him. "That reminds me, any news on that front?"

"Yes," Cullen said with a sigh. "We received a letter from Ser Barris. He's offering to smuggle us to Therinfal Redoubt, and asking for our help, even though he isn't sure of our identities since our correspondence has been anonymous. So far we think it's genuine…"

"But it could be a trap," Leliana offered.

"Just like Redcliffe," Cullen pointed out.

I sighed. "Alright," I said. "I told you before, I already have a plan regarding the templars."

Dorian, who had been oddly quiet so far, raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

Everyone turned to look at me, and I shook my head. "I'm going to handle handle one thing at a time."

Cullen nodded, looking slightly impatient.

Cassandra agreed with me. "Redcliffe is in the hands of a magister. This cannot be allowed to stand."

Josephine looked at me. "The letter asks for the Herald of Andraste by name. Like Commander Cullen said, it's obviously a trap."

"How welcoming," I muttered. "What does he say about me?"

Leliana smiled. "He's so complimentary that we're certain he wants to kill you."

Dorian snorted. "Yes, that does sound like Alexius."

Cullen sighed, obviously frustrated. "Redcliffe Castle is one of the most defensible fortresses in Ferelden. It has repelled thousands of assaults. If you're going there, you're going to die."

Everyone simultaneously turned to look at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You have a plan already, don't you?" Cassandra asked.

"You wouldn't have asked us to gather and ready a small force to depart by tomorrow if you didn't," Leliana pointed out.

Dorian looked at me, disbelievingly. "Tomorrow?"

"Alright, I'll explain," I said. "Of course it's a trap. Was there ever any doubt?" I shook my head. "Alexius wants me dead for his little cult leader," I said and threw an apologetic look at Dorian. "Not that he has that much of a choice, to be honest. Corypheus promised to cure Felix."

Dorian cursed. "Of course," he muttered. "Felix was always his only weak point."

"The question remains, what should we do about the invitation?" Josephine asked.

I grinned. "Leliana, you know those tunnels beneath the castle?"

"Yes, that's not a bad idea. Get a small force in through the tunnels and attack when their guard is down…" Leliana trailed off, nodding. "But we would need a distraction. Someone to keep everyone's attention on them."

Cassandra groaned. "Oh, of course."

"It's what I do best," I said with a grin. "Charge in and talk the enemy's ear off."

"It could work," Dorian murmured thoughtfully.

Leliana was the one with the most information about the castle defences, having been there during the last Blight with the Hero of Ferelden. She and Cullen, together with Dorian, hashed up a plan of attack, while I made sure things sounded familiar. Leliana recommended me to bring a small team with me, so I divided up our party and eventually decided on Dorian, Bull, Solas and Vivienne. Of course, we still needed to ask them to join us, especially Vivienne who I hadn't seen since Val Royeaux, but I didn't think there would be any trouble.

"You want me to stay here with Varric?" Cassandra asked, her nose crunching up in irritation.

"Yep," I said.

She sighed. "You're not going to explain yourself, are you."

"Nope."

It took a couple of hours, but eventually everyone filed out of the door, ready to start preparing for the mission ahead. All except Cullen, who stayed by the table, still deep in thought about strategy and finalizing his personal notes. I nodded my goodbyes to him, being the last to leave.

"Don't worry, it will go well," I said by the door.

"Are you reassuring me, or yourself?" Cullen asked dryly, then sighed and gave me a tired smile. "Nevermind me. I hope so too."

Once I was out of the room, he visibly slumped, leaning on the table, and sighed. He got back to his notes, but only managed work for a couple of minutes until the door opened again.

Cullen looked up and a bemused smile made its way onto his face.

"Oh, it's you. Did you forget something?"