By the time they arrived at the camp by the base of the entrance to Valammar, it was dark and all of Varric's aches and pains from the rather long trip to Skyhold had reignited. Unfortunately, that was only about half his problems, because he was relatively certain Dorian and Iron Bull were placing bets on his predicament, and he'd found himself between Maria and Bianca the entire trip.
Bianca had taken the opportunity to, for lack of a better word, interrogate Maria on her entire life story. Unfortunately, Varric knew enough about Bianca to know she was just verifying information she'd already received. Regardless, Maria answered cooly and politely, her face relatively impassive. Josephine would have been proud.
It was worse when they passed through the crossroads, because the people camped there were ecstatic to see their Inquisitor. The refugees the Inquisition had saved from the war crowded them as soon as they caught sight of Maria.
"My lady herald!" A child called shyly, beaming as Maria looked and raised her hand.
"Andraste keep you, Inquisitor!" An old woman croaked.
"She saved my arse when I got caught between the templars and mages down near Redcliffe's gates. That big Qunari with her knocked down two templars in full armor!" A young man murmured to his companion.
"Lady Cadash, thank you for the herbs the inquisition sent. You've saved many lives." The elven healer said as Maria passed.
"Nobody's called you knife-ear, have they?" Maria asked, looking the woman in the eye.
"Not a one, your ladyship, at least not where I can hear 'em." The woman grinned. "If they do, I've instructions to tell one of your soldiers."
"Good." Maria nodded, "Send requisitions for anything you need to Corporal Vale, he'll see you get it."
"So, is this your day to day, Varric?" Bianca asked quietly, eying the gangly teenager pressing pink wildflowers at Iron Bull. "Stumble into human wars, fight demons, watch her preen for the adoring crowds?"
"This is hardly preening." Dorian stated with a wry smile in between waving to the refugees. "When she needs to preen, we send her on the big horse."
"Tethras!" Someone shouted, then Scout Ritts was beside him in all her, combing her fingers through her hair and looking delightfully flushed. "I'm sorry… I… Nightingale didn't send word to expect the Inquisitor."
Varric chuckled at the woman. "Don't worry, Ritts. You haven't gotten caught with your pants down, this time at any rate. This isn't quite an official visit."
"Oh thank the Maker." Ritts breathed in relief, shoulders slumping. "I was working, I swear it."
"I'm sure you were." Varric smiled, but not unkindly. "Do us a favor, and see if you can't send a raven to the camp up by the waterfall. We may have to sleep there tonight."
"Of course, Messere. I'll see to it right away." Ritts nodded, vanishing back into the crowd, leaving a little girl in her place pushing a blooming sunflower into his hand with a shy smile.
"To match our lady Herald." She said, braids bouncing as she took off towards Bull and Dorian.
"I remember you!" Bull boomed as he took the child's flower. "The brave little dragon who was going to chase off the demons all by herself, isn't it?"
Bianca had a yellow sunflower in her hand too and she was examining it silently, but Maria was laughing at something a soldier was telling her ahead of them, flower tucked jauntily in her leather bodice.
"Let us enjoy it, you should have seen what a disaster this place was when we first came." Varric said smoothly, popping the green stem through his buttonhole. Bianca said nothing, eyes narrowing as the people applauded and Maria, flushed pink, gave a playful bow from her pony.
So, it didn't exactly shock Varric when Bianca studiously ignored Maria's offer to get a tent set up for her. With an easy shrug, Maria helped one of the Inquisition soldiers set it up anyway, then perched beside the fire with her reports while Bull cooked something that smelled delicious.
"Shit…" Maria muttered, rubbing her head. "Something's gone wrong at Weisshaupt."
"What do you mean wrong?" Dorian asked, looking up from his book. "They only had one task, how wrong could it go?"
"Let me guess, Hawke was in charge?" Bianca asked from where she balanced on a log, fiddling with some spare pieces of metal in her hands, gears from the looks of it. "That sounds typical."
This did cause Maria to glare rather pointedly at Bianca as she handed the paper to Varric. "Leliana's agents on the border got reports of some sort of altercation which led to two mages destroying the bridge to Weisshaupt. The two mages were women, accompanied by a dog, a dwarf, two tattooed elves, and a golem. The whole group seems to have vanished into the wilderness near the Tevinter border. Leliana suspects the other mage was…"
"Chantal." Varric laughed in relief. "Whatever trouble they found, between her and Hawke I think they'll slip it."
"Well, Leliana is asking to dedicate some resources toward finding the Hero of Ferelden, since this is the first hint we've gotten of where she might be. Do you think Hawke will still be with them?" Maria asked, already scribbling out an answer.
"I'm not sure." Varric answered honestly. "I know… Hawke thought they might try to find Blondie. If they're that close to Tevinter…"
"I'll see if we can spare someone to scour the imperial highway in Tevinter, too." Maria said reasonably.
"Your homicidal elf friend should certainly not return to Tevinter." Dorian sputtered, shutting the book with an audible clap. "He's… infamous. Don't get me wrong, nobody particularly mourns that ass Danarius, but he can't expect to dance around the imperium like everyone has forgotten! The slaves have made songs about him, for the Maker's sake."
Varric nearly spit out the ale he was drinking in shock. "Broody? Songs inspired by Broody . Am I dreaming?"
"Must be a nightmare." Bianca grumbled.
"You have to tell me." Varric was already pulling his journal from his pocket. "Are they odes to his scowl?
"Odes to his penchant for capturing the hearts of his enemies." Dorian couldn't help but smirk. "And then, there are of course the romances where he captures the heart of a foreign noblewoman in a much less literal way."
"Bullshit!" Varric called, but he was already scribbling, delighted, and Maria was laughing. "I won't believe it until you tell me one."
"Please do!" Maria implored, setting the reports down.
"Well, in Minrathous, I was at a tavern near the docks when this old woman started telling the story for coppers." Dorian started, stretching his arms above his head. "She spun a tale of your lady Hawke reduced to living penniless on the streets due to the machinations of her wicked uncle who stole the family estate from his beloved and dutiful sister. And they certainly play up Hawke's beauty, her skin pale as moonlight, eyes blue as the Seheron sea on a sunny day, hair black as night…"
"Well, she'd love that." Bianca rolled her eyes. "Hawke always loves an admirer."
"Hush!" Maria scolded, leaning forward towards Dorian. "Keep going."
"So the escaped slave, fresh from throttling a hundred slavers…" Varric laughed, continued to write. "Finds the stunning beauty working for a disgusting mercenary captain who is threatening her virtue. The mercenary captain summarily loses his heart in rather short order and the stunning fallen noble lady pleads for help from the handsome stranger to restore her family to their rightful place."
"Ah, is this a dirty story?" Bull asked. "I certainly hope it is."
"The hero of the story would never take advantage like that! Haven't you ever read one of these awful romances?" Maria teased.
"But of course, Fenris helps his lady because not only is she beautiful, but insufferably kind and good as well. The story certainly doesn't mention her rather inappropriate and awful sense of humor." Dorian grinned. "And the Lady Hawke falls on her knees in gratitude, asking the hero to name his price. He of course protests that he is no hero, merely an escaped slave. And the lady Hawke, quite dramatically, declares that there are no slaves in the Free Marches and offers him a perfect kiss."
"Oh, Hawke will love this." Varric continued to scribble rapidly. "Eyes blue as the Seheron sea? And they don't mention that Fenris hated mages, and Hawke is a mage?"
"Of course they know she's a mage. To be a mage and a noble is the same thing in Tevinter, they assume it must be so everywhere. But, yes, the beginning of their courtship is much less romantic in your book." Dorian agreed with a careless shrug. "But then, Hawke is the hero of your book, and Fenris is the hero of the masses in Tevinter."
"I'm going to bed." Bianca declared. "Hopefully I'll be up before the lot of you and can scope the entrance out."
"Sweet dreams!" Maria said as sweetly as possible, causing Dorian to snort quietly. Bianca didn't even acknowledge it, ducking into the tent that Maria had set up.
"She's not a hard one to read, boss." Bull began quietly.
"No, I see it too." Maria agreed.
"Jealous as a spinster." Dorian shook his head. "Not just in love, but in everything."
"Well, this conversation seems delightful, but…" Varric began.
"Oh don't worry. We won't start talking about you until you go to bed too." Dorian said innocently. And with that, Varric remained at Maria's side until she vanished into her ten, yawning. Varric retreated to his and waited. Ten minutes, twenty, until finally he slipped past the scout patrolling and slipped past the silk to Maria's bedroll.
She was still awake, a lantern beside her casting a dim glow on the map she was examining. She looked up, confused, when Varric entered. "How long were you planning on waiting before coming over tonight?" He asked, doing back up the tent's fasteners behind him.
"I wasn't. I wasn't coming." Maria said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts as he met her eyes with a questioning eyebrow raised. "Shit, Varric, I didn't want to flaunt you. It's hard enough not being childish as it is."
"Do you think I leave all these buttons undone for no reason? Princess, I am a dwarf that was made to be flaunted." He grinned as she smiled despite herself. "Besides, I've gotten used to your elbow digging into my ribs all night."
She tossed a piece of scrap paper at him, hitting him square in the nose and laughing as it bounced off to the ground. He pushed the papers and maps away, pulling her warm curves to his side and pressing his lips to the line of her jaw. She laughed breathlessly, lifting her chin to give him access down the line of her neck. Varric obligingly trailed kisses downward to the soft slope of her shoulder. "She'll be angry." Maria warned.
"It doesn't matter." Varric promised. "Nothing else matters, but you."
The scout woke them in the morning, nervously coughing outside until Maria sharply instructed the man to come in. "In… Inquisitor…" The man gulped, trying not to stare at Varric laying in Maria's bedroll, eyes closed and pretending to be asleep. "I didn't… I'm sorry to interrupt."
"Calm down." Maria instructed the poor kid, and he could hear he smiling. "What's wrong?"
"Mistress Davri was looking for Master Tethras, but when she couldn't find him she said she'd head to Vallamar, alone, and wait for him to catch up." The man stuttered.
"I'm sure Mistress Davri knew exactly where Varric was, don't worry." Maria said with a sigh. "Can you see if Bull or Dorian are awake? And...don't go into either of their tents, just wait outside."
"Yes ma'am." The lad said, ducking out quickly.
"Varric, I know this may be a bit paranoid, but Bull's a bit worried this is all some elaborate trap from a jealous ex. Bianca wouldn't actually try to kill me, would she?" Maria asked, and when Varric opened his eyes, he saw all she was wearing was a long cotton tunic, legs bare to mid thigh, and she was pulling a brush through her red hair. His eyes trace up the lines of her legs hungrily.
"Varric. Varric!" Maria snapped her fingers, eyes sparkling. "Important question up here."
"Is it a set up? I don't know, maybe. But she seemed awfully rattled, and she's too much a researcher to feed us bad information by mistake."
"That's not quite reassuring." Maria scowled, tapping the brush against her thigh thoughtfully. Then Varric heard a commotion and someone crying out an oath to the Maker.
"Damnit, I told that kid not to go into their tents." Maria swore, picking up her breeches and leaning over him, her fingers smoothing his blonde hair back and rubbing against the stubble on his chin. "Get dressed. The sooner your former lover is out of my hair, the better."
She grinned at his attempt to make the same noise Cassandra made when she was disgusted with them, kissing him briefly before tugging her pants on and striding out into the brightness of the new day, whistling.
Right, he thought. Almost done.
Bianca was waiting inside Vallamar. "Finally!" She scoffed. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."
"Nobody said you had to wait inside the creepy cave by yourself." Varric muttered sarcastically.
"Well, I did wait." Bianca said, tossing her head back. "So let's make this quick. These idiots are carrying the red lyrium out in unprotected containers. We don't want to stick around long enough for it to start talking to us."
"Oh, shit." Maria said, "How has it not exploded yet?"
"Wait, exploded? Boss, you didn't say anything about exploding." Iron Bull interrupted.
"Of course, a lyrium smuggler would know how dangerous raw lyrium is." Bianca rolled her eyes.
"Well, it's not like we're slinging it into buckets." Maria countered. "But, yeah, it's been known to poison dwarves and just randomly explode. That's not even the red shit."
"And Varric asked you to help contain it? That's how you know so much about the red lyrium?" Dorian questioned.
"I've used this entrance myself to get to the thaig. I was...shocked to find it crawling with humans." Bianca admitted.
"I do hope you can handle yourself in a fight." Maria said cheerfully to Bianca.
"I thought I'd cower helplessly while you did all the work. Isn't that what one hires Carta muscle for?" Bianca snipped.
"She's a decent shot." Varric said.
"Decent?" Bianca questioned. "Better than you. Don't want to admit that in front of the Inquisitor?" She asked snidely.
"Ah, five silvers for you, Bull." Dorian huffed. "I thought we'd at least make it across the bridge before they started."
Maria stiffled a laugh. "Let's just get started, shall we?" Bianca asked icily. Maria gestured to her to lead the way.
Of course, the first thing they did was stumble headfirst into darkspawn, damn near literally. Bianca was in such a rush, she didn't check before rounding the corner and Maria pulled her back from a hurlock's axe blade, leaving both of them off balance and on the floor and Iron Bull neatly stepped over them and decapitated the growling creature.
"Have I mentioned I hate caves?" Varric asked.
"Will you fucking get off of me!" Maria swore, shoving Bianca away and sitting up quickly.
"You pushed me!" Bianca accused.
"I should have pushed you into the damn blade instead of…" Maria began.
"Ladies." Dorian said easily. "You're both astonishingly pretty. For dwarves."
It would have been comical, if it wasn't so terrifying, that both women's eyes glinted murderously towards Dorian before Maria took the lead, grumbling about idiotic deshyrs ruining simple jobs.
"Think she counts you in that?" Bianca asked.
"Well, I've yet to nearly walk into a hurlock, so…" Varric trailed off, shrugging. "What's got you so spooked, anyhow? Not like you to be so careless."
"I just want to get this over with. I have things to do." Bianca said coldly. Varric shrugged.
When they arrived at a large door, Maria stopped, puzzled and Bianca pushed past. "I built this to keep rivals from following me down here and arranging a little accident. They must have sealed it from the other side when they heard the ruckus with the darkspawn."
"I can't imagine who would be tempted to do that, you're so very charming." Maria quipped.
"See, now you sound just like Hawke. There!" The door swung open soundlessly on it's hinges. "Ta-da!"
"Heard you were a clever smith, your husband's trying to get them to name you a paragon, isn't he?" Maria asked innocently. Varric winced.
"It'll never happen, as you well know. Even if I am ten times the smith Branka was. A surfacer paragon? Orzammar would choke on it." Bianca said. "Muscle first."
"Gladly." Maria sniffed, gliding past.
"I suppose asking the two of you to stop would be hopeless?" Varric sighed. Neither woman responded, both ignoring him. "Right, maybe I'll get lucky and someone will shoot me."
"Don't ask for that." Dorian advised. "They both have bows and I'm too pretty to die defending you."
Luckily, the next room was full of a mob of smugglers, and they were too busy not dying to continue their argument. When the last corpse fell, Bianca rushed forward, grabbing a key off the table. "There you are!" She sighed, relieved, kneeling beside the open door and slamming it shut, locking it. "They won't be using this entrance again."
"Bianca…" Varric started, staring at the key in her hand. Iron Bull grunted, shaking his head, and Maria crossed her arms over her chest. "Andraste's ass, Bianca. You leaked the location."
"When you told me about the thaig I… I came down here myself and had a look." Bianca admitted. "And… well I started to study the red lyrium."
"You know what it does to people!" Varric shouted. "Bianca, it drove Bartrand mad and he nearly killed me! You knew that! And then Meredith, for the love of…"
"I was doing you a favor!" Bianca defended herself. "You wanted to figure out why it affected Bartrand so strongly. I just wanted to figure it out."
"That seems stupid." Maria said dryly. "The kind of stupid decision I'm coming to expect from you, honestly."
"I did figure it out! Red lyrium - it has the blight! Do you know what that means, Varric?" Bianca reached out, grabbing his arm. Varric wrenched it out of her grip so suddenly her eyes went wide.
"Two awful things combine to make an even worse thing?" He asked.
"It means lyrium is alive , the blight doesn't affect minerals, only plants and animals. I couldn't get any farther on my own, so I sought out a Grey Warden mage." Bianca continued.
"Oh, shit, this is going nowhere great." Iron Bull commented.
"I found someone named Larius, he seemed really interested and helpful so I gave him a key. I didn't realize until I heard about the red lyrium at the temple, but then I couldn't get near this place on my own. So I came to you."
"You put this on us, to fix your mistake." Maria added. "Lovely."
"I know I screwed up, but we fixed it. It's as right as I can make it." Bianca pleaded.
"This isn't one of your damn machines! You can't just fix a part and make everything better!" Varric fought the urge to shake her.
"Varric…" Bianca said softly.
"Of course." A new voice broke in behind them. "That's not the only reason you gave out your key."
It was Maria's turn to swear, turning to look at Beatrix's figure in the doorway, leaning against the wall. She looked...exhausted, circles under her eyes and hair a frazzled mess. "For fuck's sake, Bea, can I not be tasked with handling my own life?" Maria asked.
"Honestly, you're doing quite fine. But I'm not going to let her lie to you." Beatrix said. "Nanna sent me to figure out why she'd shown up, and I thought it was ridiculous, but I went." She uncrossed her arms, pulling some papers from her pack. "Glad I did, though. Nanna has a nose for conspiracy."
"Where did you get those you thieving…" Bianca had stepped forward, but was stopped by Maria's arm thrown out in front of her.
"I'd be careful about the next word you call my baby sister." Maria said mildly.
"She sold the key to that Warden because her husband's got her in debt up to her ears." Beatrix sighed, shrugging. "Sorry he's an ass, but people have died. People have almost died. Including me and my sister and Varric."
"And what else?" Bianca hissed. "What else did you find in your snooping?"
"Nothing relevant." Beatrix said, pushing the papers not into Maria's hands, but Varric's. She nodded as he took them, then pulled Maria away. "Let him do this." She said gently. "I'll tell you about the one armed whore I found in Nevarra."
Maria looked doubtfully between Varric and Bianca, but when Varric nodded, she pulled away, allowed Beatrix to lead her out. Bianca swayed, furious and pale, staring at their retreating backs.
"I'll send Dorian with them and wait for you upstairs, Varric." Bull offered, following the women out. Dorian smiled wanly, and then there was silence.
"You sold me out. Never thought I'd see the day." Varric said, unrolling the papers he'd been given. Accounts, littered with Bianca's neat handwriting and smudges of tears where she'd crossed through lines of ink. "Gambling, huh? Why didn't you come to me?"
"And ask you and your precious Hawke for money?" Bianca spat. "I'd rather die."
"You were going to lose your forge, your whole operation." Varric said shrewdly. "And you'd have rather died than ask me to send you money?"
"It's your fault!" Bianca shrieked, and Varric took a startled step back. "But of course you get your happily ever after and I have to deal with the consequences!"
"What in the Maker's name are you rambling on about?" Varric asked reproachfully.
"He doesn't love me, he's never loved me! Didn't even want to try after I stood him up at that first wedding. But he loves money, and Maker can I make it. I can make everything, except…" And with that, tears slid down Bianca's cheeks and she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "The only thing he wants from me, a child, and I can't make one. I've tried, I've got a string of dead babies a mile long. For all I know, some of them are yours, but I can't make a live one. So I'm alone, and he gambles away my fortune and I can't do anything about it because he's my husband! And he doesn't even love me because of you! I have nothing and it is your fault. I wish I'd never have met you, you ruined my life."
The poison burned, crawling into his ears, sending sharp shocks across his heart. He rolled the parchment back up, placed them on the ground in front of him. Bianca's eyes were closed, hands curled into trembling fists. "You should have come with me when we had a chance, but you didn't want to…"
"Leave my whole world behind for you." Bianca finished. "And you've never stopped blaming me, but I kept you alive, and you should be grateful."
"You should have told me. About the babies, about the lyrium, all of it." Varric said.
"What good would it have done?" And when she opened her eyes, they were cold as ice. "You get the Inquisitor, and she'll kill you as surely as she killed her last lover. Guess that's what you wanted all along."