DISCLAIMER: I base my stories on Intellectual Property (IP) owned by BioWare™ and EA™. I pretend to live in their world.

SPOILERS: I refer to information from the games, the novels and the comics. If you have not played or read, please beware.

A SONG IN THE STILLNESS

Chapter 23: Rings and Writings

9:34 Dragon, Cloudreach === Markham

His hair still wet from a bath and reapplication of the brown dye, Zevran sauntered into their rooms to find Alistair, returned early from the scriptorium, packing. Through the open bedroom door, he saw clothes lying tumbled on the bed next to a pack, while two open coffers lay on the floor. The books and figurines had disappeared from the shelf in the common room, where a letter, wax seal broken, lay open on the table, and Alistair sat, legs stretched out, sipping at a steaming mug of something and eating from a plate of bread and cheese.

"We're traveling?"

"I am." Alistair nodded towards the letter. "Varric writes that the attacks on Hawke have gotten worse, more frequent, and…he's troubled. He's trying to find the Carta hideout and the source of the attacks. He asked me to join Rory, Fenris, and him to destroy the hideout."

"But he does not yet know where this hideout is located?"

"No, but he's Varric. He will. I want to be there, ready to go when he does."

"Master Olivia should return soon, yes? You did agree to stay until then."

"I did, but these are my friends, Zev. I'd do the same for you."

Zev picked up the letter and, eyebrows raised, looked at Alistair who nodded permission. His expression grew more puzzled as he read through the pages. Nothing in the letter requested Alistair's return or suggested the imminent departure of his friends, Hawke's companions, to find the Carta base. Varric, it seemed, merely wrote to bring Alistair up to date on his search, which Zevran inferred, Varric had mentioned in previous letters. He looked up at Alistair, as he lay the letter on the table and sat down.

"Varric implies no imminent departures, caro. In fact, he says there's no need for you to return early. Master Olivia will return within a week. Surely your trip can wait until after Summerday?"

Alistair leaned forward, staring at Zev's hand, resting on the table by the letter. Ignoring Zev's question, he said, "You're wearing your ring?" Alistair lifted Zev's hand and inspected the carving on the ironwood band.

"I try it on every month or so, you know that. I've been lax, however, or distracted these past months," he grinned at Alistair, deciding whether to go along with the attempt at distraction. "I thought it time I tried again."

"But it's still on." Alistair watched Zev struggle to find an answer, realizing he would say it felt warm. "Zev, we talked about this. If Kai is here, you need to go to her. It won't end our friendship."

"Sometimes you surprise me, caro. Yes, that is what we agreed, and…" he sighed, "I would choose Kai, although…" he smiled, "my preference would be both. And you will choose Lys, yes? Better if she is here too, but if not, Kai can take you to this Areth."

Alistair, ignoring Zev's mention of Areth, said, "Kai's not fond of human men, even elf-blooded ones."

Zevran had been surprised at the sensitivity of Alistair's ears, which had led to Alistair admitting his half-elven heritage. Zevran had begun to feel that getting to know Alistair was like peeling back the layers of an onion. Each time you thought you understood him, another layer appeared. No wonder his youth had been so fraught, with an elven mage for a mother, ten years under Eamon's thumb, then the templar training, his father's death, Loghain's abrupt departure, and, finally, the wardens, destroying all hopes that he would one day be acknowledged. Zevran understood, even if Alistair did not, that his father had tried to protect him until he died, however poor a job Maric had done. Despite that, and the efforts, over the years, of the Couslands, Anora, and Loghain, Alistair ended up alone and a warden. He wondered if Kai, Loghain or the Couslands knew of Alistair's heritage. Lys must, he thought, deciding not to pursue the thoughts that had run so quickly through his mind.

"No, she is not," he finally replied. He reached out to take Alistair's hand. "And she is far away. I will wait and see if she approaches Markham before I go searching."

Alistair touched the ring hanging around his own neck. "I wonder… but she doesn't know I'm alive. No reason to wear mine. I think she's with Kai, though, and I suspect they're coming here."

Zevran sat up straight. "Here? How can you know? Is that why you're leaving? You are running away?"

Alistair opened the pouch hanging from the back of his chair and handed Zevran a sheaf of parchment. "The notes from Master Olivia's assistant, whose name I do not know. They're signed with just the initial: M."

Zev looked up after studying the notes. "You think M is Melysande?"

"It's very like her writing."

"How can you tell?" he chuckled, holding the parchment closer. "The script is cramped and tiny, I suppose to fit all this information onto a single line, but I can hardly read it." He squinted, trying to decipher the words. "It is an organized form: date, location, type of item, whether it's metal, pottery or whatever, its weight, the decoration, any paint or glaze…that sounds like Lys, but how can you recognize the script? And how can she act as Master Olivia's assistant? How would she even know her?"

"I read and reread all Lys' letters for years. Even in this form, it reminds me of her writing. I'm a scrivener and accomplished forger. I know writing. Besides, she's had training - not here, but in Areth."

"But how would that recommend her to Master Olivia?" Zev frowned. "Unless you think the Master is from this other world?"

"I think Master Olivia is her aunt, Teyrna Eleanor's sister. You know, the one who protected Queen Elin during the Blight? If so, her name is Olivia Burke. I'd forgotten, but her Aunt Olivia, all the Burkes, are also what Lys calls Travelers."

"Master Olivia, she would not know you?"

Alistair shook his head. "She never met me. Lys might have what she calls photos, you remember the device you used in Redcliffe? But I'd either be a child or in armor, no beard, short hair…if she thinks I'm dead why would she see a resemblance?"

"Which brings me back to, why leave? You don't want to see Lys? Go to Areth and meet your child?"

"My life is here and in Kirkwall. Her life is there."

"And apparently here, as well." Zev crossed her arms. "What are you afraid of, caro?"

"Nothing," Alistair answered, too quickly. He sighed. "I simply like my life as it is. Even if you go with Kai, I prefer this life."

"Without Lys? And your child? Spending months all alone here?" Zevran stood up, strode over to the window and stared out into the courtyard for a long time. Suddenly he whirled around. "Have you always feared this other place…this Areth?"

"I don't fear it," Alistair snapped. "I just have no interest in it."

"No curiosity about another world? About a place Lys seems to value?"

"Why? Its science," he spat the word, "didn't save her father, Oriana or Oren, did it? They didn't flee through the portal and escape Howe, did they? All the fancy gambesons and magical toys that aren't magic…pictures, music…what value are they?" He frowned.

"But?" Zev asked.

"The Blight pills, the ones she made you all take, and the ones that cured me of the warden taint, they had value. But she couldn't save everyone. She had to pick. What's good about that?"

"I will certainly thank her."

"I didn't mean-"

"-I never thought you a selfish person, Alistair. My opinion has changed." He went to his room and threw his few belongings into his satchel while continuing to speak. "You want to live here alone, feeling nothing, playing with ink and parchment or practicing with your blades, with no friends…." He turned and glared at his friend, who had walked to the doorway. "Even in Kirkwall you hold yourself back. I wonder if you only stay with them to ensure they do not betray you to the wardens. Or do you miss commanding? Will you again lead the group when they search for the Carta? If Hawke allows it?"

"Zev."

"I like your friends in Kirkwall, Alistair, and I understand your support of them, but this is Lys you're abandoning. Lys and your child. This, I do not understand. But run. I will not tell her you live. Hide with your friends in Kirkwall; keep your secrets from Master Olivia. I will stay with Kai and go to this Areth with Lys if I can. I will meet your child, even if you will not. Perhaps I will bring you a…what you called a photo." He continued tossing his belonging into the satchel. "I need to find my own lodgings. We can meet, I will not abandon you, but I cannot stay here."

"Zev!"

The elf made his way across the room and opened the door, pausing at Alistair's desperate tone.

"Why would she want me?" Alistair said softly. "She's done without me for most of her life. She would have married an Orlesian nobleman if Howe hadn't attacked Highever. I've been dead to her for three years. She'll have found someone else in this other place."

Zev sighed, standing at the door for a long time. Finally, he took the satchel off his shoulder, laying it on the floor by the door, and turned around. "Sometimes, my friend, you are a fool. Think about what's happened in the last three years. You think she would forget you and fall into another man's arms so quickly?" Zev crossed his arms. "Or so easily? She was forced into marriage with the son of Rendon Howe and held a prisoner. Rendon Howe held Queen Anora for a barely a week, and you saw how she avoided any physical contact after Fergus rescued her. Thomas held Lys for months. How long do you think it would take her to recover? If she's had the child, your child, how could she forget you? Her attention is on her child, the child who reminds her of you."

"You think she'll be happy to see me? Or want me to touch her? She'll find out you told me she was alive three months ago and be furious I didn't reveal myself to Pippa or her mother."

"Listen to yourself, Alistair. You make no sense. She won't want to see you, she'll have forgotten you, or she'll be angry because you didn't find her? Which is it?"

Alistair stood, his face red with anger. "Go. Just go. You don't need to come with me to Kirkwall. Just be gone when I get back." He stalked out and down the stairs.

Zevran sighed. He had not meant to push Alistair to the point where he stormed out. The assassin sat down in front of the brazier and thought. He had to convince his friend to meet with Lys. How could he not want to meet his own child? He sighed. Because none of this is real to him, he decided. Working in the scriptorium is real. Making love to me is real. His friends in Kirkwall and their problems are real. Even Liam is real. So is what will happen if Weisshaupt finds him, or some Orlesian. But imagining what might be, hoping, terrifies him as it once did me. The good fantasies never came true, only the bad. He believes the worst, as life has taught him to do. And now he believes I'm abandoning him as everyone else has done.

Zev got up, hoping Alistair had gone no farther than the pub. He needed a friend. He needed to learn that not everyone would desert him. He needed to stay and see Lys, to listen to her. Walking apprehensively down the stairs, he found that Alistair had, indeed, not gone beyond the common room. He sat, alone, in a corner with a large stein of ale. Zev bought his own stein and sat down next to his friend. A bard played in the far corner and they listened, silence between them, until Zev ordered another round.

"You stayed."

"I do not abandon my friends."

Alistair ignored the gibe. "You'll go to Kirkwall with me?"

"If that is what you want."

"But?"

"Don't do something you may regret for the rest of your life. What's the worst that can happen?"

"She'll make me go to Areth?"

Zev snorted softly. "Truly? That's the worst? Even if she would force you, how could she?"

"Use some sciency trick?" Alistair smiled at his own foolishness. "I suppose it's not the worst. Unless I can't come back."

"And she would do that to you?"

"No."

The elf shrugged. "What are you afraid of? That she'll welcome you, that she'll be angry with you, or that she'll reject you?"

Alistair laughed softly. "All of them. I don't know, Zev. I just know I feel I have a place, a role, a value, for the first time in my life. I'm not the bastard to be hidden away, the warden whose life is worthwhile only if I die, or…" He stared at the floor, and then took a deep breath. "…whatever I was to Lys. A boy she had to fix. A lover to prove she hadn't died with her family or one not chosen by her father. I don't need Lys to live my life and live it well."

Zev took a long draught of his ale. "No, you don't. You can stand on your own without Lys, or Loghain, or your father, or…me. That's not the question Alistair."

The young man across from him looked up, puzzled.

"Do you love her?"

"I thought so." He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Zev had to listen carefully to hear him, his voice muffled. "Do you remember when I was angry with her after Haven?"

Zev snorted. "When she saved your life?"

He looked up. "Yeah - using one the many packets of ashes that she took. That's when I realized how different we are, because of this other place and the ideas she got there. Mostly, I wasn't sure I even knew her, much less loved her."

"And yet, you reconciled."

"Yeah, but I just buried my doubts. Areth didn't matter in the middle of a Blight. Now…it's where she lives with her…our child."

"Alistair, she may have reasons for staying there."

"As in, 'Alistair, you should listen to what she has to say before you leap to a conclusion.'"

Zevran smirked and nodded. "Exactly, caro."

"If I leave now it won't hurt," he whispered. "If I stay…."

"Won't it? Won't you always wonder, what if…? Can regrets hurt? If you stay, you have a chance at love and a child. She's here, not in this Areth."

"That's what scares me," Alistair said, but he smiled. "I have a child. I'd at least like to know if it's a girl or a boy. That they're safe and well cared for."

"That they won't grow up the way you did."

"Or you."

"I think we can be safe in assuming Lys would never allow either to happen."

Alistair smiled again. "Yeah. They'll be a little noble with all the benefits and privileges." He sat back and emptied the stein. "All right, I'll stay and see her. No promises beyond that."

Zev opened his mouth, then closed it and took a sip of his ale. Was that too easy? Or am I just that persuasive?

9:34 Dragon, Cloudreach === Markham

Kai twisted the ring, the reins slack in her hands, as she rode at a walk ahead of the carts and pack animals. Trying to enjoy their last days on the road, they had not ridden ahead, as they usually did. By this time on the morrow, when they would ride ahead to alert Olivia's colleagues of her arrival, they would be in Markham. After a few days there, to collect the vids, photos, and artifacts they would take back to Areth, they would pass through the portal to the Institute in Hiever. While anxious to see Will and Maric, they had some regrets leaving Thedas. Kai twisted the ring again.

"How warm is it?" Lys asked.

"I shouldn't play with it."

"Doesn't answer my question, Kai."

"Warmer, much warmer."

"Then we must search in Markham."

Kai looked at her friend. "No, I will look. You will go to Hiever and Will, as planned."

"Yeah, I'd probably just be in the way anyway," Lys grinned.

Kai rolled her eyes.

"It's fine Kai, I'm looking forward to seeing Zev again and showing him Areth…and Will."

"Don't you ever wonder what if, what it would be like if Alistair lived?"

"Try not to, but sometimes…. You know, one evening on the way to Denerim, when she was recovering, Morrigan said something about what if the Warden who killed the Archdemon didn't die, that it was all a Weisshaupt myth. Then she laughed and did that dismissive flip of her hand thing adding that who could tell, when they might have died of their injuries anyway."

"You like what ifs, but Morrigan is not a what kind of person. Did she know something?"

"I think her mind wandered for those few days after those bandits shot her raven form."

"Morrigan's mind never wandered."

Lys laughed. "Well, she never mentioned it again and I never asked. I doubt even her mother could raise someone from the dead." She saw Kai's eyebrows raise. "Reanimate maybe, but not bring someone back." She shivered. "I've no desire to meet a reanimated Alistair."

The next morning, Lys and Kai entered the city of Markham just after dawn bells, to prepare the staff at the University's History College to receive the artifacts from Master Olivia's expedition. A storeroom would hold the containers, while a tent, set up in the courtyard close to the College's workshop would provide an area, complete with tables, stools, writing materials, and lanterns, where the researchers could sort the items for further study. Once the caravan arrived later in the day, Lys and Kai would help unload the carts through the night and work on sorting the following day. Once they had alerted the staff that the carts and pack mules would arrive by Vespers, they went to Olivia's flat inside the College to freshen up, eat, and rest.

As the carts rolled into the courtyard, shadowed by the sun setting behind the College buildings, the staff unloaded crates, chests, and coffers, and removed packs from the mules. Everything went into the storeroom where, the next day, all the containers would be opened, checked against Lys' inventory, and prioritized for cleaning and inspection. Early the next morning, the carters and drovers led the animals and carts away, while the members of the expedition drifted off to return to homes and families. Under the shade of the tent, the College staff began the work of sorting, tagging and organizing the newly arrived artifacts, before storing them for further study. The work would take a few days to complete. After supervising her staff and ensuring the work would proceed, Liv went to her studio, but sent Kai and Lys to the inn, telling them to have a warm bath, dinner, and a good night's sleep. Leaving the university grounds, they headed to the now familiar hostelry, where they had secured a spacious apartment. The Scholar's Rest had good food, good ale, clean rooms, and a bath house fed by hot springs.

At the rear of the Rest, a half-timbered two-story addition rose above the original stone walled ground floor creating an L shaped building around a paved court yard. The baths stood against the courtyard's third side, while a tall stone wall completed the rectangle and separated the space from adjacent buildings. From the rear courtyard, stairs climbed the addition, past the porch of the first-floor rooms Kai and Lys had come to consider home in Markham, to the deck of the second floor flat. To get to the Pub and Common rooms, they could use the outside stairs to the courtyard entrance or enter the main building from their porch and descend the interior stairs to the large common room. The covered access provided a welcome option in Markham's cold winter, but cold was not a problem in Cloudreach.

The two women, packs slung over their shoulders, purchased a bottle of wine, borrowed a couple of cups, and took the key to their temporary home from the innkeeper. A promised pot of stew would be brought by the barmaid once she heated it. Once in the room, Kai opened the windows, pulling curtains over the two facing the porch, and collapsed into a wooden arm chair, legs stretched out.

"Might be more comfortable with boots removed," Lys said, as she followed her own advice.

"No, too tired. I love riding, but not sitting on a moving saddle is a relief in this heat."

"Cooler here than it was on the plains."

"I know, I just have to get my body to believe it." She glanced up at the ceiling. "Oh, what I'd do for a fan."

"A hot-"

"-don't. I know you believe a hot bath will cool me off, but that doesn't work for me. I'll sponge off with cool water." She sat up. "Unless…I'll go along and take a cool bath, just don't push me in the hot pool."

Lys grinned. "Promise. No dunking."

The next morning, Lys was gone when Kai awoke to thumping from above. It stopped soon after but by then she had gotten up, grinning at the pot of steaming water on the brazier ready to pour into a cup for her morning tea. As she sipped the brew, she heard someone come down the stairs, the heavy footfalls suggesting a male tenant in the apartment above. She knew Lys would be immersed in cataloging inventory all morning and considered going back to sleep, but as the room brightened with the sunrise, she decided to unpack and go visit the market. She had seen some wooden toys on their earlier visit, and she had promised Will a gift when she returned.

Returning to her bedroom to dress, she put on her ring and its warmth shocked her. How close must Zevran be? She looked at the ceiling where she heard an occasional soft creak as she dressed. Above us? Before she could decide what to do, she heard the suite door open – a door she knew Lys would have locked. Grabbing her blades, Kai stood to one side of the open door to her own room, waiting. A board creaked. The intruder did not try to cover his steps. She sensed a presence, standing still, just outside her door.

"Kai? It is you, yes?"

Kai stepped through the doorway, her blades at her sides. "Zevran?"

He held up the hand wearing the ring. "Who else, cara?"

She set the blades down carefully on the floor by the door and stood up, eyeing him skeptically. "You wanted to find me?"

"Cara, I've been searching for a year! All over Ferelden and beyond."

"Pippa said you had, but…well, we also heard about the Black Shadow in Antiva. I assumed that was you, taking your revenge on those who wronged you."

Zev stood quietly for a moment, thinking. "Yes, it was me, but the Crows came after me at Soldier's Peak. I had to leave to keep everyone at the warden fortress safe and," he shrugged, "once they found me-"

"-they would never stop," Kai finished for him.

"I will admit, some of it was revenge, but most of it was self-preservation, with some collateral damage. Sadly, with Crows, there is always collateral damage.'

"You're safe now?" She eyed the brown hair and missing facial tattoo."

He shrugged again. "Eh…mostly, but a disguise never hurt." He took a few steps, but did not reach out. "You feared I had become a Crow again."

"It occurred to me, yes. If you thought me dead…if I mattered to you…then you might have been tempted to return to the Crows. Take your anger out on them."

"If you mattered to me? Cara! I've been to see your cousin, Shianni, the Rasiae, and every other person I could think of trying to find a trace of you."

Kai smiled. "Well, you've found me. Now what?"

He laughed. "I thought kissing might come first, then…" he shrugged, "…perhaps, a bath? Have you seen the bath house? And then a nap. Maybe some food. Another nap and the story of where we've both been for the past three years. I have some ideas, heard some rumors, but I would like to hear it from you and later, much later, from Lys. She is with you, yes?"

Laughing, Kai said, "All that will take up most of the day and night. I doubt we'll finish before she returns."

"Is that a problem?"

She moved across the space between them and threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her. "Not a problem, at least until Lys comes back."

He leaned down slightly to reach her lips with his. They opened to him and his arms tightened around her. Breathless, they finally separated.

"Ah, we can hope she does not return tonight."

"What?"

"One story before I take you to the baths. Alistair lives. He is here. Perhaps you heard him earlier?" He pointed at the ceiling.

Kai stared, shocked and unsure what to say.

Holding up the ring, he said, "We knew you would arrive soon and assumed Lys accompanied you. He's left a message for her to seek him out at the College."

"How could he know about Lys? Or that she'll be at the college? She doesn't wear her ring."

He chuckled at her puzzled look. "He's Alun, the scrivener and illuminator who works for Master Olivia. He's been reading Lys' notes and he remembered the aunt who guarded Queen Elin. He is not stupid."

"No, but she has no idea he lives...How-"

He kissed her before she could continue. "I will explain."

x—x

In response to a message from the scribe her Aunt Liv employed Lys stood outside the scriptorium door, immobile, listening. A voice, that could not be as familiar as it seemed, had just responded to a question from another person in the room. She recognized the voice of the other person, Luis, one of the university scholars who had accompanied the expedition. Her breathing quickened. It's not my hearing, I recognize Luis, but it can't be. I saw him kill the Archdemon. Denis saw him kill the archdemon. He can't be alive. Wouldn't Denis know? She leaned against the door frame trying to calm the beating of her heart, trying to take a deep breath. Pushing away, she started down the hall, stumbling a little, thinking that some movement would make it better. She glanced into the next studio and spied a cup and pitcher on the table in the empty room. She poured out the liquid and drank, relieved that it was only water. She sank down onto the stool in front of the table. Finally, her heartbeat slowed, and she could catch her breath.

I saw him die, kept running through her mind. It can't be. Taking several deep breaths, she squared her shoulders, stood, leaning on the table for support, and peeked out the door. She kept breathing care, deep breathes waiting for Luis to leave before going in herself, just in case. She laughed. Just in case what? In case Alun is a ghost? She clasped the ring around her neck and pulled the thong over her head. Fumbling with the knot, she finally pulled out a small knife and sliced the leather. She put the ring on and took another deep breath, closing her eyes. It's cold and you're an idiot. A small voice contradicted her. He won't be wearing his if he thinks you're dead. She heard Luis speaking from the scriptorium's doorway saying he would look for Lys and remind her that Alun had questions about her notes. Maybe he's just Alun, the scribe who does just want to talk about your notes. What if he's not. What if Alistair lived? What happens when he sees it's me? What do I say? The soft sound of Luis' leather shoes scuffling against the wooden floor receded. She poked her head out again to find an empty hallway. Forcing herself to step back into the passage, she slowly walked towards the scriptorium. She stopped in front of the door, took another deep breath, and knocked. The voice that she thought she would never hear again said, "Come."

Lys pushed the heavy, carved wooden door open. It swung silently on well-oiled hinges. A man who must be Alun faced her, silhouetted against the bright light coming in through the tall leaded glass windows which formed a large bay behind him. A coif covered his hair and his features lay in shadow. She forced herself to move forward, but the words she wanted to say, the questions she wanted to ask lodged in her throat. Her breath quickened, coming in gasps. Was this a dream? Some remnant of the blood mage's art that could only surface in Thedas? A trick of form and shadow?

Alun stood beside the slanted scrivener's stand. She stopped an arm's length away. Swaying slightly, she put a hand on the stand to steady herself. She stared at the man standing before her.

"Ali?" she managed to croak. "But you can't be."

His mouth quirked, suppressing a smile. "It seems we're both alive, despite all rumors to the contrary," he said.

"You're not surprised?"

He shrugged. "Zev's here. He's believed for some time that you and Kai lived. He spent the last year searching for her. I deduced that you went to Areth and somehow took Kai with you." He cocked his head to one side.

"I saw you kill the Archdemon," was all she could think to say.

"You did," he confirmed. "I just didn't die as I should have. Came close. Anders almost lost me due to my other injuries. I've been hiding from Weisshaupt ever since."

He rested an arm on the slanted writing surface, stepping closer to the stand, using it as a shield when she took another step forward. She dropped the hand she had extended towards him, uncertain what to say or do next.

Finally, she simply replied, "They would wonder. Try to study you as they did Fiona."

"And lock me away. My transgression - surviving and losing my taint - would be far greater than hers." He saw her confusion and decided to answer the question she had not asked. "Liam and Morrigan performed an ancient ritual before the battle. It ensured whoever slayed the beast would live."

"An ancient ritual? Liam?"

"Makes it all right, yes? Can't be too dangerous if Liam went along."

She frowned remembering Morrigan's remarks. She planned this from the start. "What did Morrigan get out of it?"

He smiled then, that familiar grin that a short beard, a scar, and long hair, tied back in a queue and mostly covered by a coif, couldn't hide. She wanted to reach out, to hug him, to feel his lips on hers and his arms holding her, but he clearly did not want that. Tears prickled, but she blinked them away. He had asked to see her, knowing, it seemed, who she was. She would take that as a good sign.

"To the crux of the matter, as always," he said. "Morrigan got a child." He watched her try to figure out how a child fit into an ancient ritual. Finally, he added, "A child with the untainted soul of Urthemiel, an old God."

"What?! Liam agreed to that?"

"He did. You'll have to visit them for a more detailed explanation. Anders says Kieran was a normal baby and Liam says the same. Just has an extra passenger."

Lys shivered and put thoughts of Liam, Morrigan, and their child aside. Ali lived, he stood before her, but this was not the reunion she had sometimes imagined. She moved a step closer and placed her hand over the hand lying on the polished wood of the stand. He did not pull away; nor did he grasp hers.

"We have a son too," she whispered. She felt his arm stiffen as he took a deep breath.

"Zevran said there was a child." His voice remained flat, no hint of excitement or curiosity.

That he and Zev had been together, explained a lot. How he knew she lived and where she was, if they assumed she and Kai were together. She decided to ask about Zev rather than talk about Will, at least for the moment. "Zev's here with you?"

He nodded.

"Kai's been wearing her ring, so we knew he was near. When you left the message asking that Olivia's assistant meet with you, you knew it was me?"

"I assumed so. We guessed you were with Kai and I recognized your writing in the notes you sent ahead."

"My writing."

"I got familiar with your script from all your letters. You wrote lengthy ones."

She bit her lip and swallowed. "And you, short ones."

He nodded. "Zev will be looking for Kai now. His ring went cold last night, but he's hoping she'll put it back on this morning. The colleague who gave you the message said you and Kai would be at the Scholar's Rest which, as it happens, is where Zev and I stay." He continued, "Master Olivia, she's your aunt?"

"You didn't know that before you came here?"

"No, a friend connected us. I thought…last I heard she lived in Areth and visited Cumberland, not Markham, so I didn't suspect. There's a…portal there, yes?"

He had always excelled at using distraction, deflection, and diversion to steer conversation away from unwelcome topics, but rarely with her. At least she knew his gambits. She would not let them work. To avoid another tangent she simply said, "Alistair," and waited for him to look at her. "You have a son. He's two and a half and looks just like you. Even if you don't care about me any longer, don't you want to meet him?"

His mouth opened and shut, but no words came.

"I know you dislike the idea of Areth," Lys said, speaking softly. "I'm sure you don't want to go there, but I can't bring Will here. It's not safe for him and no one here, except my family, Pippa, and Nate, knows I have a son. I want to be able to travel in both worlds; I don't want the questions or attention that knowing I have a son, your son, would attract."

"Lys…" He pulled his hand from beneath hers and rubbed along his scarred cheek.

She stood straight. He had forgotten how tall she was - taller than Zevran. Her hands clenched at her side, but she waited for him to speak. Instead he leaned back against the work table, resting his hips against it.

"You won't even discuss meeting him?" she hissed. "Your son? You want him to grow up without a father, too?"

Lys didn't yell; she spoke through clenched teeth, her expression a mixture of anger and disbelief. Alistair crossed his arms.

"You're not Isolde. He has family. You just said so. You, your mother, Loghain, Fergus, Pippa, your aunt Olivia, and I assume, Anora and Nate…and cousins, too. At least Zevran believes they all travel - that's the term isn't it? There's no comparison."

"You forgot Fiona. And Kai."

"Fiona! Fiona travels to Areth?"

"Will's her grandson. It matters to her. Zevran can travel as well, as Kai's bond mate - at least Areth considers him a bond mate, as they do you."

He blew out, his breath puffing out his cheeks, and then surprised her when he laughed. "Well, that's quite a collection. Next thing you'll tell me is that you found my father, or you conjured up his ghost."

Lys stared at him, not sure how to respond.

"You…that can't be done there, can it?" he said, a hint of emotion, of curiosity in his tone.

"I didn't have to." Her brow furrowed as she chose her words carefully. "If Zev's here, he told you about Howe's Orphanage, right? The elves he imprisoned to breed elven slaves? The women he kept there to entertain his guards? The Tevinter mage who served him?"

Alistair nodded. "And where Thomas kept you and Kai."

"And a healing mage, Reina, who kept me and Will alive, and an older male prisoner who escaped with us on a ship."

Alistair's hands gripped the table's edge as he stared at Lys.

"The male prisoner - he…Rendon Howe captured him in 9:25 Dragon, held him in a dungeon, and took a vial of blood from him every month for seven years. A Tevinter Magister, Aurelian Titus, paid Howe a princely fee for each vial - he wanted the Blood of Calenhad."

"Rendon Howe captured King Maric?" Alistair whispered. "He was in Ferelden the whole time?"

"And if he was still here this Magister would hunt him down for his blood. He'd want Will too. Fergus and Anora go to great lengths to protect Elin, but don't explain exactly why. You're in danger from him, as well as from Weisshaupt and Orlais."

Alistair's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Lys stepped closer and reached out, running a finger along the scar. He shivered, his arms at his side, his hands still grasping the table's edge. She knew he needed time to digest all she had told him and think it through, so she changed the subject.

"How did you convince Anders to leave the scar?"

Alistair snorted. "Not easily. Curing me took most of his mana each day for several days. He left the scars for last figuring there'd be no reason to make me a pretty dead man."

Lys winced.

"Morrigan and Liam both helped him by sharing their mana, but he still took too much lyrium." He saw a worried look on Lys' face. "He's fine. He's in Kirkwall helping refugees and watching for darkspawn. Anyway, when he got to curing scars, he was too tired to argue when I told him to leave this one as part of my disguise. Liam agreed, so he left it." As he spoke, she continued to trace the scar and, pushing his coif back, follow the curve of his ear. His breath became shallower and sped up. His grip on the edge of the table tightened as she pushed the head covering off completely and undid the thong holding his queue.

"Lyssie," he whispered.

"Kiss me," she ordered softly.

He sighed as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his. Almost involuntarily his hands moved to her waist, gripping gently and pulling her towards him. His lips parted as she ran her hands through his now loosened hair.

Breathless, Lys finally pulled away. His eyes remained closed, but he did not release his hold on her. Finally, he spoke.

"I thought…Lyssie…I don't know if I can do this again.'

"Do what again?"

"Be with you and then lose you. How many times have we said goodbye or just been torn apart?"

"You won't lose me again. That's the point of having a place in Areth. It's a safe haven, but we can see our family or come back here for a time."

"Thedas is my home."

"And mine. It's why I'm here now. I miss it. I don't stay in Areth because I prefer it, I do it to keep Will and Maric safe."

"Ferelden…Thedas, won't be the boy's home."

"Will. The boy, your son, is called William Alistair Cousland Theirin. William for my grandfather. And no, he won't grow up here, as we did, but he'll visit one day. Gwaren may be safe enough, or Cumberland, or here."

"It's a long trip to Gwaren or here from Highever."

"Gwaren and Markham have special portals for researchers to use. I can get special permission. Mum and Loghain use the Gwaren portal now."

"There's a portal here?"

Mmmm huh," she nodded. "You'll need to go to Orientation before we go to Hiever to see Will, but we could go tomorrow."

"Whew." He blew out another breath.

"That we can go, begs the question…."

He looked puzzled.

"…of who we are to each other."

"Right." He reached out and cupped her cheek. "I don't think I can walk away now that you're standing in front of me." Still leaning against the table, he pulled her closer, spreading his legs to press her against his chest. He spoke into her hair. "Zev advised I should see what this place is like before I run away."

"Zev's a wise man," Lys whispered. "Were you going to run away before I got here?"

"I considered it. Zev persuaded me to stay." He chuckled. "I get a little intimidated by an angry Zevran."

He felt Lys smile against his neck, where she had buried her head. "Did he have his blades out?"

"No, just threatened to leave me and join you and Kai." He kissed her hair. She leaned back to look up at him. "Lyssie, while we're being honest…I never expected to see you again. Zev and I…we've been lovers."

A smile crept across Lys' lips as her eyes widened. "Wasn't he looking for Kai?"

"He believed she lived, but he'd found nothing. We agreed that if he found her, he and I would go back to being friends. Kai's not exactly fond of humans, even half-elven ones."

"No, she's not."

"Anyway, he still put on his ring every so often, which is how we knew Kai, and I assumed you, were coming."

"You didn't say you'd be with me?"

"I did, but I didn't add that I didn't want to go to Areth or that I doubted you would come back here if you hadn't already. When it seemed like you would be here…I've never trusted the influence Areth has on you, you know that. We agreed to ignore it after Haven, but my doubts didn't go away. Anyway, he found me packing to leave and that's when we had our fight. He wanted me to hear you out.

"I should have known better, that you'd have a reason to stay away. I'm sorry. I'm listening, Lyssie."

"And?"

"I love you."

Her eyes closed and tear slipped down one cheek. "I lost a piece of my heart that day when I thought I saw you die. I feel like it may grow back. Ali, I never stopped loving you."

He sighed. "Lys. After all that time as Thomas' prisoner…I mean, you're standing her and letting me hold you, but-"

Her finger pressed against his lips. "It's taken time, but I'm mostly fine. I've had help. Mum, Liv, Maric, and a healer in Areth." She took a deep breath. "And since we're being honest, Denis."

"Denis!"

He didn't pull away as she explained the interlude in Ansburg. "I doubt I'd be standing her quite this calmly if I hadn't been with him, but he's not you. He's a friend, but not my love."

Alistair continued to hold her, but said nothing for some time. Finally, he leaned down, and she shivered as his breath touched her ear. "Maybe we should see if his cure worked?"

"Are you inviting me to your rooms?"

"No. We don't have to leave here at all," he said and nodded towards a door in the paneling she hadn't noticed. "Wait." He crossed to the hallway door and locked it. Returning he took her hand. "There's a bed back there." He waited. "Lyssie?"

"Just one more question-"

"-I'll come to Areth, whenever you arrange it. I'll keep listening. Even to my father."

"Well then, we better find out if the cure worked."

He grinned and scooped her up into his arms. Squealing, she put her arms around his neck. The bedroom door popped open when he leaned against it. As he set her down on her feet by the single bed, she looked around the very small room.

"Not a large bed."

"It's long, my feet don't hang over. It doesn't need to be wide."

"And there's food?" she noted, seeing a tray, covered by a linen cloth, and two pitchers on a small table.

"They stock it every morning with bread, fruit, cheese, and pitchers of ale and water. I'm known to prefer working through dinner. Sometimes, one of my colleagues will bring me some soup or stew. I get focused."

"I think I recall liking it when you're focused." Lys reached up under her gown and pulled off the garters holding up her hose. "You always said you loved the scriptorium at Dragon's Peak." She pulled off her hose. The sleeveless over gown, with its side slits, came off next.

He leaned against the door jamb and watched. "I can focus on other things."

"I hope so." She turned and offered the lacing of her gown for him to undo.

As he untied the knot and loosened the lacing, he leaned down and kissed the nape of her neck. Loosening the gown, he pushed it off her shoulders and let it slip down her arms to pool at her waist. His hands slid around her torso and down to the upper edge of her smalls. He found the laces on either side and undid them. He heard her breathing quicken as he untied the tape holding her breast band and pulled it off. She turned towards him, pushing her gown to the floor; her loosened smalls fell on their own. He cupped a breast, seeing stretch marks.

"They're a little flabbier," she whispered.

"They're beautiful." She caught his gaze. His eyes had darkened. "You're beautiful."

He leaned down, as he stroked her breast, and nuzzled her neck. She pulled the lacing on his tunic and then reached up to capture first one wrist and then the other and loosened the ties. He caught her lips in a deep kiss. Pulling away, Lys reached under the long tunic scriveners wore, to untie the points holding his hose to his smalls. He pulled the tunic over his head. She grinned and crouched as she pushed his smalls and hose down.

Standing, she began to trace the scars that had not been erased. "I think I remember where you got most of these," she whispered. He shivered as she continued her exploration of his torso. "Maybe we should get under a blanket."

He chuckled. "I don't think it's a chill." He sucked in a breath as she began to lick and kiss her way across his collarbone and up his neck. Leaning back against the jamb, his eyes closed, he let her explore, his breath coming more quickly. She remembered all his sensitive places: his ears, his neck just below the ear lobe, the place where his collarbone met his neck; he groaned when she reached that line from his breastbone to his navel and below. He arched as one hand wove through his curls and cupped him. Her lips followed her fingers, tasting the salty tip and using lips, tongue, and teeth, bringing him to the brink. He pushed her away, raising her to her full height, and nodded at the bed. Scooping her up again he deposited her on the mattress and kneeled on the floor to begin his own explorations.

As she had, he began at her neck, but spent far more time massaging, licking, and sucking her breasts. One hand traced down her center to find her nub and began massaging. So wet, he thought, as she arched against his palm and whimpered.

He climbed onto the bed, straddling her hips, and staring down at her face. Eyes closed, she clutched the blanket and arched, seeking him and finding only air. She whispered his name. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to be inside her, to lay skin to skin, to hold her and love her. He leaned down to kiss her, as he guided himself into her. It was all so familiar, so comforting and sensual at the same time. She clenched as he entered, sending a thrill through his core. They began to thrust and arch in rhythm, until she almost reached climax; he pulled out, letting her settle, as he kissed her and fondled her breasts. When her breathing slowed, he thrust again until she begged him to finish. He kissed her as he came, burying her scream with a kiss.

He lay on top of her, his hands in hers, until he grew cold. He rolled to the side, and pulled the blanket folded at the bottom of the bed over them. He lay on his back, left arm under his head and right arm around Lys' shoulders. She curled against him, head resting on the pillow above his shoulder, and slept.

She awoke to afternoon light and Alistair's grumbling stomach. She rubbed it and he chuckled.

"I'll get-"

"No, I need to get up anyway. Is there-"

"Through that door," and he pointed to a narrow door hidden in the wainscoting on the opposite wall.

When she returned, he was up and had plates filled and cups of ale already poured. He disappeared into the privy briefly, and when he found her wrapped in one of the blankets, leaning back against the headboard, with the plates and cups on a table within reach. He put a few more coals in the brazier and then climbed over her to lean against pillows he propped in the corner between the headboard and the wall. He wrapped the other blanket around his waist. Lys snuggled next to him, beneath the arm he wrapped around her shoulders.

"A sovereign," she whispered.

"Am I still worth so much?"

Kissing his cheek, she whispered, "Always."

He sighed. "…just that this seems so familiar, so normal, so…I didn't think I could feel this way again, even with you. You said you lost a piece of your heart; I think I lost mine completely. Zev helped, a little, but not like this." He cupped her cheek and leaned down to gently kiss her temple.

"I was thinking," she said, frowning a little at his deep chuckle.

"You've had time to think?" He stopped her protest with a kiss and then asked, "What's your thought?"

"I could ask Mum and Loghain to come see Will, so they'll be there when you meet him. We can all stay at the townhouse in Revona while we go to Orientation. Maric can stay in Hiever and see you later or on another visit. He'll…understand."

"But he won't be happy."

"Happy wouldn't be the point, Ali. I know you don't believe it, but he loves you. And he knows how badly he failed you. So does Loghain."

"And I don't…didn't cut him out of my life." He clenched his jaw. "Then again, he wasn't my father."

"But Maric is Will's grandfather and he's been a good one."

"I need time-"

"-which not seeing Maric right away will give you."

He traced a finger down her cheek. "It would be good to see Loghain and your Mum; yes, I like that idea. Not too much at once. You know me too well." He took a draught of ale. "We go to Orientation?"

"You don't have to go alone. I went with Kai, and if Zev agrees to visit, then you and he can be in Orientation together."

"I like that too." He laughed. "I was about to say we needed to work out this visit, but you've already thought it-" His head snapped up at the sound of fumbling at the door.

"Does someone have a key?"

"No, but Zev still has his lock picks. He's probably wondering if I'm in here with you or alone and drunk."

"You get drunk now?"

"No," he laughed. "I wish I did sometimes, but no, still drinking in moderation."

Light slanted across the floor as the hallway door opened. They heard whispering, and then Zev said, "Over here." Two elves appeared in the doorway of the bed chamber.

"Well, we worried for no reason," Zevran said. "It seems we've all been found."

"Hello, Zev," Lys said. "I'd get up but-"

"-no, no. No need to provide more excitement. Kai has taken care of me quite admirably. You and I will welcome each other more warmly when you're clothed, Lys, but it's good to see you, cara."

"You too."

"Kai," Alistair said, "it's good to see you too."

She smiled at him and then looked at Lys and nodded, saying only, "All set."

"It seems we have matching rooms at the Rest," Zev said. "Kai and I have moved into her rooms, and moved Lys' things into yours, Alistair."

"What if this hadn't-"

"-ah, caro, you know I'm always the optimist. Glasses half full, yes?"

"For once, completely full, Zev. Thank you."

Zevran winked at him. "Wisdom develops with age, my young friend. Now, get dressed and come with us. We have much to catch up on over dinner."

A/N: Thanks to my wonderful betas Kira Tamarion and Elyssa Cousland, whose efforts make this a better story. Any errors are mine. Appreciate all who favorited, followed, and gave kudos. I hope you continue to read and enjoy.