A/N: Here's a little piece of lightheartedness before the civil war with Loghain goes down in Denerim. The treaties may be completed, but some Wardens enjoy engaging in side questing, for more than just the monetary benefits. Enjoy!

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Fifty-Two. Alixire: Questholic.

"Um, excuse me, Miss, but are you, uh, a mage?"

Alixire closes her eyes and takes a slow and measured breath before turning around. She's had just about enough of Orzammar and the dwarves' blatant mistrust of her magic, which is almost twice as worse as what she endures on the surface, even from the Circle Templars. The dwarves aren't afraid of the corrupt potentials of magic like the humans, but their disgust for what they do not and cannot understand is so pointed and sharp that they are more brutal in their glares and remarks to her than what she is used to from those who see blood magic in the heart of every mage. She's endured the verbal slings politely for Britomart and Arlindria's sakes, but she thinks if she hears one more word against her abilities, she'll be compelled to give the dwarves a real reason to dislike mages other than their own ignorance.

Alixire opens her eyes again, meeting the gaze of young dwarf with a decidedly cute and eager face and two ginger pigtails tied with Orlesian ribbons. She is still not thankful for the interruption— they had just been on their way out of Orzammar to head away from the confines of the stone kingdom— but her heart melts just enough at the sight of such an adorable and most likely benevolent child that she is willing to forget her annoyance to humor the girl for a few minutes.

"Yes, I'm a mage," Alixire answers, kneeling so that she is eye-to-eye with the girl. "As are two of my companions. Do you have a question for me, child?"

The girl looks as if she will swoon with delight. "I've never met an actual mage before! Are you from the Circle? Is it true you can manipulate natural forces with your mind, even stone and fire?"

"Yes, on both accounts. And that doesn't bother you? I thought dwarves weren't appreciative of anything that has to do with the Fade."

"That's just the traditionalists among us. They won't do anything that isn't purely dwarven, not even to expand their knowledge of the world." The girl snorts derisively, which makes Alixire like her all the more. "I'm Dagna, by the way. Has your First Enchanter ever spoken to you of me? Maybe my letter never reached him."

"The Chantry censors our mail, so I wouldn't be surprised. What did you want with First Enchanter Irving?"

"I want to be accepted by the Circle for study. I know that dwarves can't do magic, but I would at least like to see it firsthand and get to research it alongside the people who practice it. It's been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl."

"So you want me to go the Circle and bring up this matter with the First Enchanter on your behalf?" Alixire clarifies.

"If it isn't too much trouble! I know that as a free mage you might not want to go back, but..."

"We'll go," Alixire says, rising to her feet.

"Now, now, Alixire, it's good to see that you're so eager to help out someone interested in magic, but shouldn't we question this young lady further?" Wynne asks. "You know better than anyone how difficult life in the Circle is."

"And this child will lose her caste if she goes to the surface," Arlindria reminds her. "You can't just accept her request without paying any respect to that."

"Aren't we supposed to be heading to Redcliffe to prepare to go to the capital with Arl Eamon?" Alain points out quietly. "Perhaps it wouldn't be best to delay something so important."

"The Circle is close enough to Redcliffe, and there is still time yet," Alixire says dismissively.

"But we'll have to go all the way back to Orzammar to give the girl the Circle's answer, since the Chantry clearly has issues delivering mail."

"I'll do it myself if I have to. I will meet the rest of you in Denerim when I'm finished."

"You know, I've been meaning to bring this up for awhile now," Alistair interrupts. "But haven't we been making a lot of trips to the Circle Tower recently? It seems that whenever we're in between treaties, some side job or another always leads us back to Lake Calenhad."

"Like that time Alixire made us go there because some important client wanted to mark his symbol in the upper levels of the Tower," Dulcia recalls.

"Or that time Alixire accepted someone's request to deliver lyrium to the Templars," add Leliana.

"Or when lethallin remembered there were ancient scrolls there that a client from Denerim was asking about," Hannon concludes.

"For someone who goes on and on about how happy she was to not be chained to the Circle anymore, this is all very suspicious," Zevran notes with a grin. "I think she has a few reasons to go back. A few dirty reasons."

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten," Morrigan says drily. "The Templar boyfriend."

"Wait, Little Miss Magey here has a lover?" Oghren says in disbelief. "That can't be right. My purity senses say that she's the only good girl left in the group."

"Are purity senses really this common?" Alain wonders. "I've noticed that you, Zevran, and Isabela all have that power."

"It's just something about the way virgins smell, elf, as opposed to everyone else. By the way, I've noticed that you smell a lot in the other direction. For such a goody goody, you sodding reek of impurity."

"That's my doing," Zevran brags.

"By the beards of my ancestors, do us all a favor and spare the details. But since my purity senses are never wrong, I guess Little Miss Magey's paramour isn't man enough to seal the deal."

"If you're talking about Cullen, he took a vow of chastity," Alixire mutters under her breath, looking somewhat embarrassed. "And besides, he's not my 'paramour' anymore. He's still under the impression that he can't be in love with me."

"So you have to go back as often as you can to change his mind," Leliana sighs. "How romanctic."

"How foolish," Sten grumbles. "The darkspawn aren't going to wait patiently for you Wardens to resolve their love lives before attacking."

"Forget the darkspawn!" Zevran cries, smacking his fist into the palm of his hands. "Something must be done about the vow of chastity. If we work together as a team, our Alixire will still have a chance to get lucky before the final battle!"

"Aren't we confusing our priorities a little bit?" Wynne says, her voice switching into lecture mode. "I would hate to think the fate of Ferelden is being pushed aside by hormonal young adults."

"That's what it may look like, but it's more important than that to Alixire, right?" Dulcia says, placing a hand on Alixire's shoulder. "None of us have any idea whether we're going to survive this conflict or not. This may be one of her last chances to resolve things with Cullen, or at least to tell him that she loves him before she sets off for battle. Is it so wrong for her to want to conclude this without any regrets hanging over her head in case the worst happens?"

Wynne sighs, but doesn't say anything further. Dagna looks up at Alixire hopefully, having finished pretending to ignore the earlier discussion of Cullen and Alixire's virginity. "So you'll do it?" she asks, her voice rising in hopefulness.

"Of course. I'm going back there no matter what."

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No seems surprised to see Alixire back in the Tower. The first time she had returned after dealing with Uldred and the abominations, First Enchanter Irving and Knight Commander had arranged a feast for her in what remained of the dining hall, and she spent the night surrounded by the surviving mages, who delighted in bombarding her with questions on her life in the outside world with an unrelenting eagerness that reminded her of Hannon. The second time, there had been a lesser celebration, and she and her companions had been given a tour of the wings that were being repaired in the Tower. The third time, the First Enchanter had smiled knowingly and let Alixire get on with her pretend business while making sure Cullen was given duties by the Knight Commander for whatever floor she occupied herself on.

But as for Cullen, he had seemed equally alarmed and nervous each time she crossed the threshold into her old home, today being no exception. As the First Enchanter and Knight Commander pause briefly to give the company of Grey Wardens a kind yet harried greeting, he shuffles from foot to foot like a shy child, gazing at Alixire as much as he can through his downcast eyes. ("The power of love," Leliana sighs with a whisper to the rest of the group. "He was half-mad in a temper with her the first time we saw him, but even he can't stay angry when she's around").

When the others scatter off to give her space to speak privately with her former lover, Alixire turns back to Cullen and gives him the kind of wink that had always unnerved him back when they were together, back when their greatest concern was that what they were doing was forbidden. He doesn't blush and fluster as much as he used to, but he also does not grimace as if he hates it, or if he still hates her for what she is.

"Hello, Cullen," she says softly, so as not to attract the attention of the other Templars milling around the area. "How have you been?"

"Not well," he replies, looking anywhere but in her eyes. "I can't bear being here anymore."

"I know how that feels all too well."

"Not in the way I do."

"I suppose not. Because I at least had one thing that made me want to stay." She smiles at him, even though she knows he can't see her. "You could always consider going somewhere else, you know. The other Circles in Thedas could use someone like you. When I'm finished with my business here, I could find you again."

"You don't have to," he grumbles.

"But I want to. I did promise, after all." She laughs lightly and shakes her head. "I told you, I'm not waiting for your forgiveness. The things you blame me for aren't my fault; I can't change my blood, not even for you. And I have nothing to forgive you for either. Your pain was at the hands of others, and your reaction to it was only natural given what you suffered. As long as we're on equal ground, I don't feel the need to hide anything from you or wait for passively for you like a wilting flower. I love you, Cullen. Still. And always."

"Don't... don't."

"Is it not okay? Even if it isn't, I can't make it go away."

"You can't be trusted."

"Are you saying that because I'm a mage? Or because I am me?"

He finally looks at her, surprised by her question. "What's the difference? You are a mage. It's a part of you."

"But not everything. You could say 'I mistrust you' to every mage just as easily as I could say 'I mistrust you' to every Templar, and for the most part, it would be true. But I don't mistrust you, Cullen, even though you are a Templar. I trust you because you're you. That's how it is for me, at least." She sighs and lowers her head. "But you may not feel the same. You really might not love me anymore, and that might be something I will one day have to accept. But it's fine. I know my own heart. I can't stop loving you, and if that's the way it's going to be for me, that's fine, too. I'll continue to wish for your happiness. I'll continue to be at your side, even if it's not in the way I want. That's something I wanted to tell you before I leave this time, before the battle begins."

"Before the battle begins," Cullen repeats slowly. "Is it... beginning?"

"Well, we have a civil war to fight first, but yeah. It's coming. This will be the last time I'll be able to come here before things resolve with the Blight one way or the other."

"I... didn't know."

"Perhaps it's better if you don't think of it. What will come will come. Not a single one of us can predict what will happen."

"But you... you will be fighting."

"Yes, naturally."

"Are you sure you're strong enough?"

"Cullen. I am a Grey Warden. I was strong enough to survive that, and everything else that has happened since."

"I'm sorry. But you've always been so small. I..." He trails off, clenching his fist over his heart. "Perhaps I'm still a little worried about you."

"And that's good to hear," Alixire says softly, her lips unfolding into a wide smile. "I'll try to take care, okay? And you, too. But I have to go now. We have a message to deliver in Orzammar, and it's straight on to Redcliffe from there. We have little time to waste anymore, even for the things that matter most." She takes his hand for a moment and squeezes it before returning to find her companions with a bittersweet parting wave.

"Come back," he whispers, after she has left his side and walked away for what seems to him to be the millionth time. "Come back for me again, just one more time."

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Coming Up: Dulcia returns to Denerim to face down Loghain, but finds her bigger target at the steward's side, waiting to be swept up in the fire of her revenge