Judy & Oscar(?) thanks for the comments. I am glad you are finding it interesting.

"Thank you for allowing me to come and stay in your home. I appreciate especially it since you do not know me."

"It was not my choice. Hawke suggested you would have difficulty finding somewhere your hound is accepted. He said that since I was 'squatting' as he put it, I could share with you and your escorts."

"Very well. Alton and I shall find other accommodations. Inns don't like Mabari but with enough coin Teyrn will be accepted. We didn't mean to impose."

"That is…" Fenris paused. "I have been alone for several years before coming to Kirkwall and have not practiced general niceties. I sometimes forget polite behaviors. You are not imposing, and your team is right Lowtown is no place for a noble woman. Warrior or not."

Standing there in the library with a small cot and a lute being the only evidence of his living here, I understood. Those few months after slaying the Archdemon, I was like a ghost. Then on my travel to and back from Weishaupt, I wasn't much better.

I spent a month traveling with a Warden and we didn't speak two words. And when we returned, it was all snarls and ranting tirades. I was surprised six months later, that Stroud was still talking to me and even considered me a friend.

"I have been there myself. At first, the quiet gets to you. Then suddenly you come to a town and you can't get your business done and get out of there fast enough because it's too noisy."

Fenris chuckled in either agreement or understanding.

Several minutes passed as we both just stood there. I didn't want to be rude and just assume he was one man and all the other rooms were available.

I was feeling awkward in the silence. Was I supposed to keep up the act of the helpless maiden? How much could I trust this man and what did Darragh see in him that suggested I would be better off here than by myself? "Well then…"

"Yes?"

"Is there a particular place I'm supposed to put my stuff?"

"Oh. Yes, just take a bedroom or one of the other rooms. They are pretty much in the same rundown condition."

"As long as there is a bath, roof and a bed I am happy. Teyrn and I need very little space."

Fenris followed me out of the library and down the hall, keeping a safe distance from Teyrn and said, "A bath, then a roof and then a bed? Your priorities seem a little skewed."

We had come to the first bedroom on the same floor as the library. The room was a decent size with a large bed in the center. I looked down at the hound and asked, "Well? What do you think?"

While Teyrn sniffed the room and jumped on the bed. I studied the man…elf in front of me. I was curious about him. That was the other reason I agreed to this arrangement. The only exposure I had with elves outside of the Tower were Zevran, the few in the alienage and the Dalish.

"What can I say? He's the fussy one. I just want a place I can get clean. And sleep, where water doesn't drip on my head."

Fenris scoffed and shook his head. "You're letting your dog pick where you sleep? You Ferelden's and your dogs. Do you know how peculiar you are?"

I grinned at Teyrn's antics of rolling on his back and twisting back and forth in the bedding. "Actually, we do. It's funny how the rest of Thedas calls us dog lords as if it's a curse. To be like the Mabari is something we aspire to be. Our hound's loyalty is to the death. And to earn the trust of our Mabari is a mark of honor even for the poorest Ferelden."

"I had not thought of that. Do you know that it's said Tevinter Magisters bread them? And they defected during the Imperium's invasion of Ferelden."

Teyrn was busy still rooting in the bed when I placed the pack on the floor next to the small chest. I would need a few things at the bazar. Namely, bedding and something to wear that wouldn't call attention to the fact I was a grey warden. "Yes. I had heard that legend. One of my previous traveling companions was a Qunari."

Teyrn barked happily, wagging his grey stump of a tail.

Fenris smiled and said, "Exactly so. I rather like the idea they found the barbarians more… palatable than the mages."

I frowned at the way he said 'mages.' It caused me to shiver. There was no love lost there. I wondered if it was an annoyance or an outright dislike. "I take it from your tone, you don't like mages."

"And I imagine by your question you do."

A slight grin tugged at my corner of my lip at the turn of the question. "I have known a few that weren't that bad. And few that were stupid. They are like all other people. Some good, some bad. Mages are not the only beings who are stupid, week or ambitious. They are just the only ones singled out for it."

"There is a point to that."

I picked up my bag. I had a feeling this wasn't the place I should be staying. He clearly had a problem with magic, and I could not keep that quiet with someone I lived with. "Come, Teyrn. Let's find Alton. Thank you again for the generous offer to stay. But I think it might be better if I stay... a little closer to my team."

I had taken the elf by surprise. I am not sure if he expected me to argue the point. He stood up straighter, confusion etched into the lines around his eyes.

"You don't have to leave because we disagree about magic. Unless you're a mage."

I bowed slightly and said, "I hope whoever harmed you have paid for their mistake. I wish you a good life."

"Wait! I.. I did not intend to insult you or mages you may know. I was a slave in the Tevinter imperium. As a slave to a magister, I watched the suffering and evil they cause daily. My former master branded me with lyrium."

I wasn't sure what to say to him that didn't sound self-serving or a useless platitude. Sometimes I thought the same of Templars. Especially after the Circle.

But I had met good ones, too. Ser Otto was a good example. So was Cullen before the abominations and annulment. Maybe by my actions I could show him not all mages were terrible, just his perceptions. "I extremely sorry for what you must have endured. No living being, not mage, king, or thief has the right to do that to another person. Cruelty is cruelty no matter who gives it or receives it."

"Does this..."

"Mean I will stay? Yes. I am sure Hawke wants you to find out more about me. And if I leave, you must take to stalking me to get your answers. And while I can't say that having a charming elf be that attentive wouldn't be good for my ego, it wouldn't help our relationship. This room is fine. Teyrn and I appreciate it. We shall see you in the morning."

Fenris cleared his throat uncomfortably. She differed from any woman he could remember meeting. "Then I will leave you to sleep. Your man, Alton, said he would be here when he finished his tasks."

I watched him walk away, wondering what lesson I was to learn from him being inserted into my life. I promised myself I would think about it tomorrow as I blew out the flame and undressed for bed.