Megan Cousland and her small patrol returned while they were at dinner. Dorian and Alec were sitting at a long trestle table in the Keep's large, noisy hall with Nate Howe and the Antivan, and they were deep in conversation when a commotion at the door made them look up.

The Commander was standing in the doorway, surveying her assembled Wardens with a proud, happy smile. The Hero of Ferelden. She was not at all what Dorian had imagined. A lot shorter, for a start, slim and slightly built, with a head full of tousled reddish hair and a freckled face that was far too cute to be called beautiful. She also looked really young, and surely, she had to be at least thirty? Her face lit up further when she saw them sitting there with Nate, and she quickly made her way toward them. But her path led her past another table, where Carver was sitting with the mage, Anders, and a couple of dwarves.

"Megan! You're back." Blocking her way with his muscular arm, Carver pulled her into his lap for an enthusiastic welcome, and she happily complied, kissing him long and deep, moulding her trim body against him. Nate smiled indulgently at the display.

When she came up for air, Anders playfully slapped her back. "That looks nice. Do I get a kiss as well?"

"If you insist." Grinning widely, Megan leaned over to kiss him sweetly on the lips, lingering a little longer than seemed strictly appropriate among friends.

Nate sighed in mock despair. "Anders! Stop distracting Megan, or I'll come and get her myself." There was no trace of anger in his voice, though, and it was clear there would be no hard feelings.

"Indeed." Next to him, Zevran was grinning as well. "The Commander has enough on her plate, caro. Come up with me, if you're feeling frisky, and I'll gladly help you out."

A low murmur of laughter rose from the assembled Wardens. Dorian felt his eyebrow shoot up. Megan Cousland laughed with them as she got to her feet, with a quick, obscene gesture in Zevran's direction. Briefly, Dorian entertained himself by imagining Cassandra's reaction to such a behaviour. The Warden Commander of Ferelden clearly wasn't overly worried about discipline, nor did she care what people thought of her love life. Well, good for her.

And here she was, embracing Nate tightly, gazing deep into his eyes for a moment before turning to face her guests. "Inquisitor. How lovely to finally meet you." Her smile as she set eyes on Alec was like a bright ray of sunshine.

"Lady Megan." Alec jumped to his feet and inclined his head in a graceful bow, far more deferential than Dorian had ever seen him. Of course. She's a teyrn's daughter, and the Arlessa of Amaranthine as well. Dorian hadn't really thought of it in those terms, but Megan Cousland indeed far outranked the son of plain Bann Trevelyan. "It's an honour to meet the Hero of Ferelden." Alec smiled shyly at her.

"Pish!" Megan laughed merrily, shaking her unruly mop of hair. "None of that lady business. Call me Megan. And I am just as honoured." Was that a suggestive wink at Alec? "And delighted to make your acquaintance. You know, for some reason, Nate completely failed to mention how handsome you are. And your companion, too. Altus Pavus, it's my pleasure." She aimed another one of those smiles at Dorian. "Why don't the two of you join me and the guys in our suite for a glass of wine later? I'd love to get to know you better."

Me and the guys. A vision of Carver's muscular arms flashed before Dorian's inner eye and he swallowed involuntarily before mumbling a reply. We'd better be careful or we'll end up doing something we'll regret later. That woman is far too relaxed for her own good.

Zevran seemed to have read his thoughts. While Megan turned her attention back to Alec and began questioning him about Skyhold and the Inquisition, he chuckled softly in Dorian's ear. "Ah, Megan. May she never change, Maker bless her."

"You were with her during the Blight, weren't you?" Clearing his throat, Dorian turned to face the assassin, who was regarding him with barely disguised amusement.

"Yes. I was her friend and lover back then." Zevran's grin had become even wider and looked a bit feral. "Wardens have big appetites, you know."

"Oh." Dorian couldn't deny that he was a little taken aback by the assassin's candour. "But nowadays…"

"I'm with Anders." Zevran smiled over at the mage who appeared to be engaged in a friendly spell casting contest with a tall Dalish woman with blonde hair and cool, green eyes. "But Megan will always be a very good friend."

Dorian nodded, feeling slightly dizzy at the amount of innuendo whirling over his head. "Is it true that you are an Antivan Crow?"

"Was," Zevran corrected him with a cheerful grin. "Yes. My original task was to kill the Warden and her companions. Well, you can see how that has worked out for me."

Dorian was lost for an answer. But fortunately, Zevran didn't seem to expect one, just went on chatting, while casually cleaning his nails with the tip of his vicious dagger. "So… if the rumours are to be believed, several of Megan's old friends have joined the Inquisition, yes? I have to confess that I am intrigued by the thought."

"If you're referring to Leliana, yes, she is our spymaster." Dorian had a sneaking suspicion that he sounded stiff and pompous, but he found Zevran more than a little unnerving. What did the assassin want? Was this all part of a secret plan of his?

"Dearest Leliana. Always full of secrets." Zevran grinned without a trace of humour. "And Morrigan also joined your ranks for a while, yes? Ah, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when those two met again. You weren't present, by any chance?"

Ah, gossip. Dorian relaxed a little. This he could do. He was fairly certain he could give Zevran a run for his money when it came to trading juicy anecdotes. Besides, he was actually curious to learn more. "Unfortunately not. But it seems as if there's a story behind your question, my Antivan friend," he said aloud. "Please, tell me more."

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Cullen looked from one face to the other, trying to gauge the mood of the ladies assembled around the war table. They had kept up their daily meetings in Alec's absence. It was a good opportunity to discuss any small problems that came up and, besides, they all enjoyed a good chat.

When he'd arrived with Cassandra, a little late for the meeting, Josephine and Leliana had been in the middle of an animated conversation, conducted in rapid, fluent Orlesian. They had quickly fallen silent at the sight of him, and his command of the language was less than perfect. But if he had correctly interpreted the few snatches he'd caught, they had been gossiping about his qualities as a lover, based on how happy Cassandra had been looking lately.

Cullen wasn't sure how to feel about that, actually. A bit annoyed, certainly, but also kind of flattered. Either way, it was probably best to pretend that he had no clue.

"Josephine. Leliana." He nodded at both of them with a friendly, innocuous smile. "Any news?"

Leliana returned his glance, looking slightly suspicious. Maybe I need to tone down the innocent look. None of them were likely to be fooled by him in the long run, after all.

The spymaster pointed at the map. "One of our agents claims to have spotted Morrigan and her son heading for the Brecilian Forest. I'm not sure he's to be trusted, though. I doubt she'd be travelling so openly."

Cassandra's eyes narrowed. She hadn't been happy about Morrigan's disappearance. It had to be an uncomfortable reminder of her own unsuccessful attempts to locate Hawke and the Warden. "We should still keep track of that rumour."

"Of course." Leliana's tone made it more than clear that she didn't appreciate being told how to do her job. "I will keep you all informed."

Cullen nodded. "What about Solas? Any sightings?"

"Nothing." Leliana shook her head. "No one has seen him, no one has heard from him. It's as if he's disappeared from Thedas altogether."

"How curious." Josephine shook her head. "Would you like me to write to some of my contacts, to see if they can help us out?"

"I don't think so." Leliana sounded thoughtful. "I appreciate the offer, Josie, but if he doesn't wish to be found, there's probably not a lot we can do. And I'd rather not draw attention to his absence, if it can be avoided."

"True." Cullen was glad to let the matter rest for now. And yet, he had an odd feeling that they hadn't seen the last of Solas yet.

Megan's suite was cosy and warm, and the Nevarran red Nate had liberally poured into their glasses was excellent. Almost three hours had passed when Alec first glanced at the clock on the mantel, and he couldn't believe it. Time had simply flown by, with all the tales there were to tell. Megan had given a full account of the final battle against the Archdemon, and in return, he'd described Corypheus' dragon in vivid detail. Apparently Megan was just as curious about Alec's exploits as he himself had always been about the tales of the Blight, and that thought was more than a little flattering.

Carver was very quiet, mostly listening, as Megan and Alec talked of their adventures, occasionally interrupted by a wry comment from Nate Howe.

But when Alec came to the end of his tale, he grew too agitated to keep silent any longer. "Flemeth! The Witch of the Wilds? Are you sure it was her?"

"Positive. She introduced herself." Alec couldn't quite keep a patronizing tone from creeping into his voice. "You know about her?"

Carver shivered. "There were… tales about her, when I grew up. And my brother and I ran into her after Ostagar, when we were on our way to Kirkwall."

"Really?" Alec hadn't expected this, and he was curious now, leaning forward in his seat. "What happened?"

"Well, we didn't know it was her, at first." Carver's laugh sounded a little forced and his hands were shaking even at the memory. "Might be because she had turned into a dragon before showing up."

Dorian cut in with an impatient huff. "A dragon! That's impossible."

"I wouldn't know about that." Carver was clearly uncomfortable with being the centre of attention. "She saved us from the darkspawn, actually. Well, almost all of us." A brief flash of pain crossed his face. "From one moment to the other, there was this huge lizard breathing down fire on our enemies, just as we were about to be defeated. And then she landed and turned into a lady. Scared the crap out of me."

"But how-" Dorian shook his head, but Alec motioned for him to be quiet.

"Go on, Carver. What did she want from you?" He did his best to sound warm and soothing.

Carver shrugged. "Not much. She asked Revon to take an amulet to Sundermount for her and deliver it to the Dalish Keeper there. I've no idea whether Revon went through with it. We… weren't on speaking terms anymore by the time he found the elves."

"But you've met Flemeth, too, haven't you, Meg?" Nate chimed in.

"Yes. Right after Ostagar. She and Morrigan saved us when the battle was lost. And later, Morrigan asked me to-" Megan broke off. "Those are old stories. If Morrigan had wanted you to know about them, no doubt she would have told you herself."

Alec cleared his throat. "Yeah, well… She wasn't exactly forthcoming with information. Anyway, when we met Flemeth, she seemed mostly interested in Morrigan's son, Kieran."

"Oh Maker, yes, the child." Megan's face had taken on a curious expression. "He must be nine or ten years old, right? Did he… is he okay?"

Alec nodded. "Yes. He's a bright little lad. Do you-" He hesitated, but then decided to be blunt. "Do you know who his father is?"

"I do, yes." This time, Megan seemed distinctly amused, as she exchanged a quick look with Nathaniel. "But I'm not telling you. What did Flemeth want from the boy?"

"I'm not sure. It was all very confusing." Alec shuddered. "If what Morrigan said is true, Flemeth is in fact Mythal."

"The elven goddess! Maker!" There was no longer even the faintest trace of amusement in Megan's expression. "So she's been toying with all of us, all this time? She's manipulated all of us?"

"That's what she does, apparently." Alec laughed, though it wasn't really funny. "She straight up told us. I nudge history, when it's required."

Nate had grown pale as well. "But how is that even possible? How can she be alive after all this time?"

"She said something about having carried Mythal through the ages. Yeah, I don't claim to understand it either, Nate." Alec sighed wearily. "Anyway, she… She took something from Kieran. Something old, she said. It was a kind of spark, some sort of-"

"I know what it was." Megan shuddered all over. "Did she… Did she harm the boy?"

"No." Alec shook his head, confused by the violence of her reaction. "We went back home, and that was that. Even Morrigan was surprised by what had happened. She was furious, but there wasn't a thing she could do to stop her mother. As for myself… I've no idea what happened there, to be honest."

"You're not the only one, amatus." Dorian valiantly came to his defence. "I still can't make sense of it either."

Megan's eyes were wary. "Well, maybe that's for the best. It's never wise to meddle in the affairs of immortals."

Alec laughed ruefully. "True. I, for one, have had enough of elven gods to last me a lifetime."

"And I don't blame you. Anyway, you survived and you closed the Breach, and that's all that counts, right?" Megan flashed him a radiant smile and got to her feet. "That's a lovely scarf you have there, by the way." Suddenly she was right before Alec, running her hand over the smooth velvet of his moss green scarf.

That close, he could breathe in her scent, and it made him dizzy. Staring into her eyes, he mumbled something incomprehensible, thrown by the sudden change of topic. Behind him, Dorian audibly cleared his throat, shaking him out of his trance.

Megan took a step back, stretching lasciviously. "It's late. I'd better show you two to your room. Unless…" A sudden mischievous grin flitted over her freckled face. "Unless you would like to stay a little longer? Get even cosier?"

Alec almost laughed out loud at the scandalized expression on Dorian's face. He was staring at Megan as if she'd suddenly conjured a rabbit from thin air.

Megan exchanged a quick glance with Alec. "Ah, probably not. I thought as much, to be honest. Such a pity."

She took them to a pleasant, airy room just down the hallway. A fire was burning in the hearth and the big four-poster in the corner looked quite inviting.

"Good night, Alec. Dorian. Let me know if you ever change your mind." Megan left with another cheeky wink. "And sleep well."

All the hugs to my wonderful beta suilven. :)