"...Is he going to be okay?" Theron finally asked, after everything went quiet. The rogue and warrior were standing side by side, staring at the door that Amell and Jowan had disappeared behind nearly twenty minutes ago. At first there had been a lot of yelling, and Theron had sensed a lot of magic. The elf and ex-Templar were afraid they were going to have to break up a fight. But apparently they talked it out, and things had calmed down, because everything grown more and more silent after a while.

Alistair shrugged in response, "I don't know. Was it really wise to let them talk alone like that?"

"Shit, probably not. I mean, she melted the flesh off of Uldred. I shudder to think what she could do to Jowan." Theron replied.

"You two gossip like old fish wives, did you know that?" Leliana said as she joined them.

Theron grinned, "At least it's in a good way. I mean, we're over here talking about how amazing and skilled she is. It's not like we're saying she's a shitty person."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "You're implying she may have killed Jowan."

Theron opened his mouth to argue but couldn't come up with anything, so ended saying, "Yeah, well, you... were eavesdropping." She looked at him funny, "That's rude." He continued

"Ooh, great counter." She teased

"Wardens..." Irving said behind them, and all three of them turned time greet him, "We have almost prepared everything necessary for one of you companions to enter the Fade to face the Demon... Do you know who you are going to send?"

Theron knit his eyebrows, "Not yet, but I promise to have it all sorted out before you're ready."

Irving nodded, "Very good. I suspect you have about an hour. I would choose someone you trust."

Theron gave a nod, "Thank you, sir, I appreciate your counsel."

Irving smiled, "I will speak with you soon, Warden."

Theron returned the smile, "Until then." He replied as Irving walked away.

"Hey, Theron." Alistair said, and the elf looked up at him with a slight humming noise to show he was listening, "You got a bit of brown there on your nose."

"Oh-" Theron began, but he stopped short when the Amell open the door and stepped through. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but otherwise, she was in tact, and to Theron's surprise, she didn't have any blood stains on her. Jowan was after her, completely in tact as well, though his cheek had a clear hand print on it where she must have smacked him.

The mage looked between the three who were standing outside the door, "What... are you guys doing? Having a party?"

Theron grinned, "Oh, for sure. We were just about to invite you."

Theron found himself in the Arl's study, admiring the hundreds of books that lined the walls. While he knew he should be sorting out who was going into the Beyond, he couldn't help but stop in this room. He had never seen so much information in one place before.

The Dalish were constantly on the move, and didn't have the resources to carry around all these books. Humans were lucky to be able to live in one place and just gather stuff like this. Theron had no doubt that if he ever own a house he'd hoard everything. Simply because he could. But that would never happen, he was Dalish, and he was proud to be so. However, seeing so many books in one place made him wonder if there was such a place just for books in cities. If so, he wanted to stop when they visited Denerim. He made a mental note to ask Alistair about it later.

While it was true the Circle had thousands of books, he wasn't in a position to stop and admire them. If he ever got a second chance, however...

He traced his fingers along the edge of the desk that sat in the middle of the room. It was beautifully crafted, and Theron could see the skill that went into it. It occurred to him that that was somebody life. It was somebody's job to make tables and desks and chairs. He didn't know why, but that fascinated him. Maybe because it was so different from his that he could barely imagine it. His life was filled with death, blood, death, poison, death and more death. It was a bit tedious, and drove more than a few insane.

Creators, he was toeing the line of sanity after... becoming a Grey Warden...

He slid open one of the drawers of the desks, then hesitated. Was this rude? Alistair had explained that it was polite to knock before entering, and to shake a person's hand to greet them. Perhaps going through their desk was also frowned upon...

"Eh, fuck it." Theron muttered as he began to shuffle through papers in the desks. Everyone was concerned with the ritual thing anyways, and wouldn't come this way. If they did, he could always play the "cultural difference" card, and just play dumb.

It was just boring paperwork stuff. Official seals here, mind numbing documents there. Being a noble looked really boring, he was starting to see why Alistair didn't want to be king. He closed that drawer, careful to arrange the papers back the way they were, and opened the next. His eyebrows knitted together, as he reach in and pulled out a necklace. It was leather bound, and the amulet looked as if it had been shattered before.

The elf instantly recalled the warrior talking him about about such a necklace. He thought about for a moment, and came to the conclusion that it was possible that the Arl could've repaired the amulet for him. Theron examined the marking on it, and sighed. There was no way he was going to know whether or not it was the mark of Andrastdre.

He sighed again, pocketed the necklace, then stood up. Casting one last look at all the books that he longed to read, and left the room.

He reentered the main chamber, and glanced around, only to find Alistair was nowhere to be seen. Instead he walked up to Amell, "Hey." She greeted lightly

"Hello, Amell, have you seen Alistair?" He asked

She nodded, "Yes, he went down time village to talk to Wynne."

"I see. Thank you." He said, as he began to walk towards the door,

"Hey, wait." She called, "Can I talk to you about a couple of things?"

Theron walked back up to her, "Of course, what do you need?"

"Okay, first: why do you call me 'Amell'?"

His eyebrows knit together, "It's your name...?"

"Yes, but it's my last name. You know that."

"Yeah, but it's easier to say than your first." He replied

She stared at him, "Wha- really? That's your reason?"

He looked awkwardly off to the side, "Yeah. Think about it. Your name, A-les-si-a" he counted the syllables on his fingers, "That's four whole syllables I'd have to yell during combat. No one has time for that." He said, with a slight smile.

"What about Alistair? His name is three syllables." She teased

"Yeah, but his last name is Theirin! That's just confusing!"

She playfully rolled her eyes, "Fine, I see what you mean."

He smiled, "If it bothers you, I can call you whatever you like."

"Ooh, don't tempt a girl like that." She teased "No, Amell is fine."

He chuckled, "What's the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

"I was wondering if you had picked someone to go into the Fade to fight off the demon yet."

Theron shook his head, "No, not yet. I was going to talk it over with everyone first."

She pursed her lips, "Well... I was wondering if you'd consider sending Jowan."

The elf's eyebrows nearly crawled into his hairline. "Jowan? Why?"

She bit her lip, "Because... because he's in danger of being executed... or being made Tranquil... I think if the Circle can see that he can do this, then they'll be more lenient about his punishment later." She explained

Theron rubbed his jaw, "Okay. But... do you think he can do it?"

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and he was staring right back at her. If he can't, it's not just his own life he's going to ruin, his eyes were saying.

She nodded, "He can do it. I believe in him."

Theron examined her for another moment, "All right. Jowan's going into the Beyond then. Make sure he knows."

She beamed, "Thank you, Theron! You won't regret it!"

I certainly hope not. He didn't say, instead he said "I know, I trust you." Then he turned towards the door, "Anyways, I need to go find Alistair. I'll talk to you soon, okay, Amell?"

She smiled brightly as she watched him go, "Okay! Thank you, again!" She put her hands on her hips. She really was lucky to meet such good people like him.