Chapter Sixteen
The Work Begins
Cullen laughed as he ruffled my hair, "You just told the King that you love him… Sweet Maker, what I wouldn't give to see his face right now!"
Varric chuckled, "Hawke told everyone in the Crew that he loved them at least once – usually after they gave him some of their food or something… the man could eat."
I shrugged, "Habit – I tell everyone I love them when they get close to me. I don't see the point in saying 'I love you' only to my spouse. I love you all – even if it is strictly platonic and only means we're good friends. I guess Alistair doesn't know that – but no one tell him. I want to see the look on his face when he hears me tell Leli that I love her sometime; or better yet… when I tell Varric or someone equally unexpected. You know Bela actually joined the Inquisition – she always did love a rebellion. She works under Leliana on a special contract; she only participates in raids and we see that her ship is in top condition no matter what. If a Qunari Dreadnaught sinks this one, we replace it with the latest model; that kind of thing. I told Leli to contact her about that especially. Otherwise, Bela is free to do whatever she wants – she's not the kind to be tied down after all."
"Alistair likely is still staring at the Sending…" Cullen began as the white stone lit up once more. I gave a laugh and answered it, "Did we forget something?"
"Did you… really say that you love me?" he sounded so uncertain… I softened, "I did… I mean, I'm pretty free with my love; I love Varric, Isabela, Fenris, Hawke, Cassandra, Maxwell, Ellana and basically all the people that traveled with you or Hawke over the past 10 years. I feel a bit sorry for Loghain; he truly thought the Wardens had abandoned Cailan or lit the beacon late on purpose. You weren't at that final war meeting with Cailan – he tried to get Cailan off the vanguard… Cailan didn't want to; he wanted a battle like in the legends. Well, I guess he got one. But there are things he did that I really can't condone and say good on you for killing him."
"… Tell me…" Alistairs' voice was soft; he was giving me the benefit of doubt.
"While he really thought Cailan was betrayed… he still sold elves into slavery and hired an assassin before going through the motion of capture and interrogate; he should have tried to see what happened. He supported Uldred; a blood mage… and while I feel that power is power and it depends how you use it, Uldred was an abomination long before Ostagar. He could have redeemed himself over the following years, cumulating in his death to save the lives of me and several others, but he drained so many resources from Fereldens looking for Maric in all the wrong places and did so much that… it could go either way on if he should be reviled or revered. He did do good things. Did you know – when he learned who Maric was after meeting him and saving his life – he beat the shit out of him for causing his fathers' death?"
"You're joking… but Maric and Loghain were friends…" Varric pointed out.
I snorted, "Loghains' father actually sacrificed himself, telling Loghain to save the rightful king. Loghain was going to abandon Maric in the Korcari Wilds at first… anyway; as I said – I love all my friends, family and such. I do love you, Alistair – and perhaps it can be romantic love at some point; though for now it's more friendship than anything. Now – you were up all night and you had better get some damn sleep. Eat something salty to soak up the alcohol, get some sleep and if you're a good boy, I'll introduce you to a new type of cheese dish that you've never tried before."
"… You win; I get the feeling you'll always win…"
"I doubt it – but I like making sure my people are well taken care of; and you're my betrothed, right?"
"Well… that's fair, at least. Maker, but I wish I'd known you during the Blight – at least then, I wouldn't have trusted Eamon so damn much…"
"If it's any consolation, Teagan is still a good man. Speaking of, is he married to Kaitlyn or no? some things that I know were choice dependent and I have no idea for sure and I don't want to say something wrong confidently…"
"He… didn't – though if you're talking about the young woman whose brother we saved during the siege of Redcliffe village, she is a prominent woman here in Denerim. She owns a foundry and her brother, Bevin, has just been knighted – just before the conclave."
"Tell Teagan that he's supposed to marry her – they're a love match so just have him court her for now. The fact that she opened that foundry is the whole reason she can marry him. I take it this means that Lis paid 5 sovereigns for the sword… and then returned it? Because Bevin only becomes an adventurer if the sword is returned…"
"Right you are – Lis only took the sword for the battle as an excuse to pass the woman coin. And when she returned the sword after the battle, she did it while Kaitlyn was asleep with Bevin so Kaitlyn couldn't argue it… just left it right there beside them. I'll let Teagan know that Andraste blesses their union to get him to at least go look at her; he's all in a tizzy because of something to do with Redcliffe, but he can't recall what – he's sure it will come to him."
"Right… work to do… I'm not telling just yet – he'll remember when it's time. Eat and sleep, Alistair; you're taking today off – and if anyone tries to get you to do work, tell them that you're working on ways to get me to say yes to having two husbands because I'm a traditional girl or some other bullshit; you're good at excuses – I'm not."
"I don't know – that sounds like a good one to me. Right – I'll order eggs with extra salt from the kitchens… why salty?"
"Salt will soak up the alcohol in your gut – make sure to also have a large glass of water because salt dehydrates. It soaks up all moisture. Dried and salted jerky would be better if you have any n the kitchens, but salt is the main thing. Meat is good for restoring strength and filling you up… orange juice over water would also be good after a night of drinking – the vitamins in the juice will help negate the hangover. It's not a cure-all, but it'll help. salt, lots of water, plenty of sleep, a hearty meal when you wake up, and maybe tie something around your eyes while you sleep. That will keep the light out and minimize the hangover. Don't drink too much water though."
"Here I was told that having a single drink after sleep would help…" Cullen snorted.
"That's actually not much help at all. It only delays the Hangover. And avoid herbal teas – herbal teas make your body process alcohol more slowly, so your hangover lasts longer. If I call you later and you sound really bad, I'll give you more advice… I do have one question for you though."
"Ask it," Alistair said without hesitation.
"What is the Theirin family blessing? We know the Cousland one stops toxins…"
"Ah – We're more dragon-like; extra strength, faster, better night-vision, more flexible, and our other senses are enhanced too. Our blessing came when Calenhad drank the Great-Dragon blood. The Cousland family got their blessing Teyrna Elethea stood against Calenhad and lost. The Cousland family is the only one with a Family Mark that passes down through the mother and the father rather than just the father. Meaning that our child could have both or none if they cancel out. As it's never been done, we don't really know."
Cullen nodded, "Whereas my family has no mark, so they would receive the Cousland mark since your family passes down through both sides."
"… Okay cool; sleep well, Alistair… and thank you for kicking Eamons' ass for me."
"My pleasure. Stay safe, Celeste; and you Cullen."
Cullen gave me one last kiss before departing and I turned to the group, "I'm thinking the most dangerous mission first; Bandits of Valamar."
"We'd need to go south first – to get the key from that fortress, right?" Cassandra asked.
I inclined my head, "That's right."
"Is there anything to do between here and there?"
"One of those skull locator things – the uh… Damn it, I can never pronounce them…"
"Ocularum?" Solas looked amused.
"I keep wanting to call them Oricularum for some reason so… yeah… logically, I know Ocular means of or connected with the eyes or vision, but my mind just… yeah… and after that, there's an Astrarium. Past that is another camp we can mark and occupy; a rift; a body that was killed by great bears and wrote out a letter to be returned to the farm next to the rift; and in the fort is another Ocularum and the Key… past the fort is that place we need to return this amulet that we found by the bridge to. And east of the fort is another rift. That will clear that area for the moment; once we recruit Blackwall, there will be another quest down there near the camp but I'm not going to risk fighting too many bears since we'll also be going there to place flowers on a grave for a Dalish in Redcliffe. That should take us two days to complete with all the fighting and walking to do around that area, but we'll collect a lot of herbs and ores that we desperately need too. After that, we'll double back to the broken bridge and head east-south-east to hit that camp. We'll play it by ear from there."
We all began walking south.
Varric spoke, "So… I thought you weren't going to tell Snowflake about the whole love thing?"
"He sounded like a lost puppy Varric – what was I supposed to do… it pulled at my heartstrings and I couldn't just leave him hanging. Gods' Blood – I think I might fall for him just based on how well he can play me like a fiddle and Cullen doesn't seem to mind. I just want them to be the only ones that I end up with… knock on wood," I muttered, knocking on a tree as we passed it.
"Knock on wood? What is that?" Solas looked fascinated. Ellana hummed, "It sounded like a superstition to me…"
"It is – Knock on wood is said after a confident or positive statement, to express a hope for one's good luck to continue. It's a superstition to avoid tempting fate. I don't follow superstitions much… but Murphy's Law is another thing."
"What is Murphy's Law – is that the knock-on-wood thing?" Maxwell asked.
"No; Murphy's Law states that 'what can go wrong, will go wrong'… so if you say something stupid – it can't get worse – then something's going to happen. In example, you are stranded on a boat in the middle of a lake without an ore – there are man-eating fish so you can't just swim back; you say something like… well, it can't get worse… and then it starts to rain and you don't have a bucket to ladle the water out so your ass is going to sink."
"… Uh-huh; I can see that. What do you think might happen that you'd have to take a third husband or something?"
"Fucking hell, I don't even want to speculate that; for all I know, Blake will make a diplomatic slip to Prince Sebastian of Starkhaven and poof… I'm married again. How about no? Sebastian was a little too… pious for me; I really am a heathen that doesn't actually believe in religion much. Not technically. I'm agnostic – as I told Solas, this means that I do believe in a higher power, but I don't know what it is and I won't speculate. For all I know, the universe is god, or we are all part of god, or god does exist; who really knows for certain? So, while you all made me the leader of a religious movement… I'm not religious…"
"Masterful way of changing the subject," Maxwell smirked. I shot him a glare.
Varric laughed, "It would have worked too – if Blake hadn't warned us you do that."
"… 2-6-10; he's going to get a 2-6-10 the next time I see him."
Cassandra tilted her head, "Cullen was muttering about that yesterday – what is it?"
"Was Jackson doing something stupid?" I asked.
"I think it was actually Captain Rylen." She shook her head.
"2-6-10 means that it will take 2 healers, 6 hours, to remove ten inches of my boot from his ass. And Blake will take it too – as he says, it's better to take your lumps when it comes to me; because if I have to hunt someone down, it's going to be worse."
"Still dodging – what do you really think might happen to make you take a third or more husband?"
"No – I don't want one and I refuse to speculate. Now… oh – the Astrarium is up there. It will be easier to go around, but…" I started climbing.
I reached the top easily – I was a free-climber; Blake was a free-diver. I had – at one point – thought us polar opposites because of how our interests were. I knew piano, he knew trumpet; I was Guitar, he was drums; he was Anthropology, I was Medical; he was swords and I was polearms; I was drawing, he was gunpowder creation. There were few things where we lined up; our interest in the Navy being one.
Ellana, Solas and Cassandra followed me easily; Varric and Maxwell… I snorted and had them stand on a boulder before 'summoning' the boulder to me. Maxwell was panting – he had tried to climb, "Maker – how do you do it?"
"I took an interest in free climbing – Blake went the literal opposite direction; he's a free-diver. We made an excellent team due to the fact that we are complete opposites, actually. I speak Tevene and Orlesian; he speaks Antivan and Russian – naturally they're different dialects than what you're used to, but they're similar enough. Cats and dogs – that's us; yet we mesh well."
"How in the void are you the same person when you're so dissimilar?" Varric asked.
"Personality-wise, we are the same. It's just our interests that don't align; which proves nature over nurture, actually. My interests were mostly things that I could use here; his were more geared toward Earth. He was interested in study of bones – hence how he can tell elf from human bones – where I was more medically geared because this world lacks medicine due to magic. He likes banging on drums but there are only pianos and lutes here for the most part – you don't have drums or trumpets. So yeah – most of our interests were based more on where we were born than where we were raised."
I fiddled with the Astrarium – we were in Hafters' Woods so this one was Draconis. Good news; the outline of the 'finished product' was on the outside… bad news, I only had one shot. I had to look at the stars inside and click when I looked at one – it was one shot per person because it took a bit of blood when my finger found the trigger.
I cursed. Varric asked, "What happened?"
"They're DNA locked… sort of. I get one chance so if I don't remember the exact way to do it in one try, it locks me out. It pricked me – took a drop of blood. Thankfully, the ones here in the Hinterlands are the easiest, but I should start mapping them out before going in and starting them in the future. In the games, I had unlimited chances – but if you want to hide things, it makes sense to make it limited… got it."
Two beams of blue-white light shot out toward the other two Astrariums in the north and the East. I turned and began heading off – but I saw a paper and picked up. I smirked when I read it, "More of a reason to stay until we finish this – you not only get one chance per device; you have to complete the puzzle within a month or it resets. It's so nice of the Carta to leave this paper here for us – we should really pay them a visit to say thanks, don't you think?"
"Bianca thinks so too, Waves," Varric nodded solemnly. I chuckled and passed the note to Solas, "It has some Elvhen on it that I don't quite know. I can vaguely make out some of it but not all."
"Hmm… Oh; they must have found an inscription somewhere – I doubt anyone thought to write an ancient poem on this parchment for fun. Perhaps they were looking to get it translated. It says 'I tell her I am sun; my song is our heart…' it's incomplete. This part – from my knowledge – goes in the middle of the poem, not the beginning or end."
I hummed, "I knew about two words out of that – Vhenan and Elgara. I vaguely know that Var means 'our' and Ir means 'I am'… Ar is a first-person pronoun… but then, the ancient Elvhen is written out more like a cipher so it could have meant any number of things since those words are used for many things. Vhenan doesn't change; it means heart… Elgara is sun – but Elgar is spirit. Then there is Arla – when used in Elgar'arla it means spirit trap – but Arlathan means city of love or 'this place of love' more directly. Elvhen is harder than learning English – which, by the way, I have no clue how I know Common or Rune-Script since they are not my native language."
Cassandra jerked in shock, "They aren't? Then how do you write on Earth?"
"The Alphabet – 26 letters that can be formed into any word in the English language which is 90% words that used to have no meaning at all. We call this one fruit a pine-apple but in almost literally every other language it's called Ananas. A single author about 500 years ago – closer to 600, actually – made up hundreds of words for his plays and they are all still in use today; like if I hit you with my elbow, I elbowed you. Dauntless means fearlessness and determination; Green-eyed to describe jealousy; and many more words – all because the words he had at his disposal weren't enough. So yeah – English… how was it described? Ah – they said that English beats up other languages in dark allies then rifles through their pockets for loose grammar and spare vocabulary…"
Varric snorted, "So… can we learn this language?"
"… Hmm… the closest Thedasian language would be Common – so it wouldn't be impossible; actually it might be rather easy since Common is close… I suppose I can teach the inner circle as a way of ciphering information. The writing is what will take the longest – gong from Rune-Script to a 26-letter system and phonetic alphabet might be too difficult. Solas might pick up on it easily though since he's learned several languages already."
Solas gave me an amused look – he had told me in the Fade last night that the amulet I now wore had once been his; hence the connection to wolves rather than other animals.
We made it to the camp area before stopping for the night… of course we took care of the near-by rift and grabbed the letter from the dead hunter in the alcove before settling for dinner.
I did begin a teaching lesson, too. As expected Solas took to it easily but he didn't like it at all, "There's no rhythm to it… how do you learn this as a second language on earth?"
I snorted, "With like… 4 years of training? Or more. English is difficult – it's the bastard of languages where almost everything else is based off of a form of Ancient Tevene called Latin. So – due to me learning Latin – I can partially understand most other languages on earth; French was easy for me to learn because I learned Latin first. And still, some people need to slip into their native tongue. A lot of things don't translate to English or back; because we have so many made-up and bastardized words – like the Pineapple and Ananas. It makes no sense in English because the ananas is neither from the Pine tree nor is it part of the apple family. If there was a reason to call it a pineapple, I never learned it. And I think there is a rhythm to it if you grow up speaking it. Okay – next lesson; syllables. How many times does your jaw drop while saying a word? Place your hand under your chin and say a word – the amount of times your chin pushes your hand down is how many syllables are in the word."
"Why teach us that?" Varric asked.
"To show that there is a sort of rhythm. Rhythm – 2 syllables. See?"
"I can admit that makes it a little easier to remember a few things on which word I need…" Maxwell grinned.
"What is a pineapple? You keep mentioning it," Ellana asked.
"A fruit – yellow and green, it grows in tropical weather and it 'burns' a little when you eat it… that's because while you eat it, it eats you. But hey – the second it hits stomach acid, it loses. Back to the alphabet."
The lessons went decently. I only taught them the basics that night – I had simply displayed a poem in English; hence why Solas was annoyed by it.
The next morning, we discovered I was allergic to something more; Varric had used Deep Mushroom in breakfast and I almost died. My throat closed up and I wanted to cry – I liked mushrooms!
They didn't have epi-pens here so I pulled one out of my special bag and took a deep breath after it began to work. Solas was wide-eyed, "I must ask how you were able to stop the reaction so swiftly…"
"Epi-pen; it works by injecting Epinephrine into the body – constricts blood vessels leading to increased blood pressure and decreased swelling. This allows the muscles around the airways to relax, causing the lungs to open. Epinephrine also prevents the release of more allergic chemicals, which stops the progression of the allergic response. Using epinephrine if not medically necessary will not hurt you because it's something that the body already has. When your blood starts pumping – an adrenaline rush… that's epinephrine… we're not going anywhere for the next 2 hours though; unless you'd like to go without me. Your choice."
I was shaking and reached for some of the jerky we had. Solas sighed, "So… Embrium, Deep Mushroom, and Bees… it makes me wonder what else you might be allergic to. But you did not react this badly to the Embrium…"
"It just means that Embrium wasn't as bad of an allergy. Deep Mushroom is lethal – good to know. I'll add it to the list for Cullen and I'll need to tell Alistair too," I sighed, "Do you think he's still in bed or should I try calling his majesty?"
"Snowflake doesn't sleep much from what I recall…" Varric shrugged.
I gave it a shot – and regretted it; he sounded like he woke up just to answer my call, "Lest?"
"I'm sorry – you should go back to sleep…" I flushed, shooting Varric a glare since he was smirking.
"No-no; I needed to get up anyway – I have a cabinet meeting in two hours…" he yawned.
"I just… I thought I should let you know of some allergies – one of which almost killed me 10 minutes ago…"
"What? Are you okay? What happened?" he sounded panicked and I was surprised.
"Relax, hon; my homelands had something to deal with anaphylactic shock – I'm fine. We didn't know I was allergic to Deep Mushrooms and Varric cooked breakfast. Other mushrooms are fine – just not deep mushrooms. I'm also mildly allergic to Embrium and Bees. So far that's all; but there might be more that I'm not aware of yet. I'm fine – just coming down from a reaction so we're just sitting at camp for now."
"Makers' Breath – that's something to inform the kitchen of, certainly. Elissa has a fondness for Deep Mushrooms so with you looking like her, they'll assume food preferences are the same. I don't like them – at all. I always hate taking Stamina Draughts because it's all I taste."
"Not like you need those things, Warden; I'm sure you can sprint cross-country in without stopping and leap buildings in a single bound," I quipped.
He laughed, "That last one is questionable, but the first… it's been done; I hardly slept during the Blight. But I've always been a light sleeper – the slightest thing can wake me if I'm not used to it. Elissas' snoring no longer effects me."
"Good news – I don't snore; I cling. Though sometimes, I apparently talk in my sleep… Blake once had a full conversation with me thinking I was awake."
The others around me all looked amused. Alistair snorted, "I can almost bet that you're not as bad as Zevran was – that crow would recite poems or such in his sleep."
"I really am sorry about waking you – Varric said you might be awake and I foolishly believed a pathological liar."
"No, don't be – I'm glad you did. I forgot to tell the maid to wake me half an hour ago, so I already overslept."
"… does this mean that you're currently getting dressed?" I asked in a teasing voice.
"… Maybe it does," he laughed.
"Hmm – oh, to be a fly on the wall."
"You'd get caught by the spider – I named him George." Alistair teased.
"Cute – I bet you even decorated his corner."
"Makers' Breath – I think I'm already in love! Elissa would have demanded that I kill the spider; even if I said it was a harmless house spider."
"I've lived in worse conditions – I actually owned a pet tarantula named Fifi once. It was impossible to find a pet sitter for her so I had to get rid of her."
"… well – if you hadn't already agreed, I'd say Marry Me. It's so hard to find a woman that can put up with my particular brand of humor."
"Not on Earth, it wouldn't be. You're just witty to us. Our kind of humor is rather… dark anyway."
"Tell me a joke then."
"Even people who are good for nothing have the capacity to bring a smile to your face. For instance, when you push them down the stairs."
Varric gave a surprised bark of laughter and Alistair sniggered, "Oooh – another one! I like that."
"My elderly relatives liked to tease me at weddings, saying, 'You'll be next!' They soon stopped though, once I started doing the same to them at funerals."
Cassandra sputtered this time, "That is horrible… but I think I will use that one when my uncle passes…"
Solas' eyes were glinting with humor – he liked dark jokes.
Alistair snorted, "That's beautiful – I love humor like that."
"It's called dark humor. And that is the best kind in my opinion."
"I have to agree, Waves!" Varric saluted me with his cup.
Alistair chuckled, "Well, I'm certainly glad I'll be marrying you then; makes life a lot more fun when your partner shares the same humor. Truth be told, I didn't want to marry Elissa – because she was with Leliana; and I… well… back then, I was still a bit naive. And then she had me sleep with Morrigan of all people. You know I killed Morrigans' sister?"
"Yavana – yeah. The Antivan witch of the wilds. Got to say, I though Morrigan was sexy – I'm mostly into men, but there are a few women I'd go for. Morrigan was certainly one of them. She's a complete and utter bitch, but yeah."
"I agree that she's a bitch – but I wouldn't sleep with her again for almost anything in the world. Almost. I suppose I could be persuaded – but it better be damn good."
I snorted, "Not necessary… though if you want to meet your son, after the Winter Ball, he will be in Skyhold. I think I told you that earlier…"
"Well… I'm a bit torn on the matter… on one hand, he's my son. I didn't know anything about him before you showed up – not that he was a he or anything. But on the other… I'm still worried what's going to come from that ritual."
"Not much that I know of. He'll actually lose the Old God soul when Flemeth takes it from him. You know she's still alive – after the whole thing with Hawke… Kieran is a bright child, Alistair; I think you would be proud of him. But, of course, that is your choice. Marrying you, I'll still think of him as my step-son; just saying."
"I… I think I would like to meet him in that case. Do you think he'll like me?"
"Morrigan told Kieran that his father was 'a good man'… she thought you deserved that much."
"Makers' Breath – he's changed her!"
I laughed, "Motherhood, I'm told, changes every woman. She refuses to be like her mother, Alistair."
"… So it seems." He sighed longingly.
I shook my head, "Would you be terribly surprised that I actually had an adopted son back on earth? Earth… wasn't kind to me, actually. He was killed – typical school shooting. America had a lot of those, I'm sad to say. He was defending another child – the intended target of the shooting. I was still state-side, so I was able already outside the school when I got the news that… well…"
The group was quiet. It wasn't often that I spoke of what I experienced on Earth – and seemingly every time I did, it was something bad.
Alistair said, "I… can't imagine."
"I wouldn't want you to," I replied.
"Well – hopefully, Thedas is kinder to you than Earth was," Cassandra said softly.
I shrugged, and leaned back against a log, "It might be; it has been so far with Cullen and Alistair – though, as I once said… I had planned on only getting married once."
"Yes – well, I'm glad you're willing to forego that plan for me…" Alistair quipped.
"Indeed – now… you have a meeting to get to and I have bandits to clear out. I'm thinking about putting my sniper training to good use and taking them out from a distance – but I'd need high ground for that."
"Well – if possible, I'd say distance between you and attackers is preferable. Why did you decline guards? I'd be so much more relaxed if my betrothed was protected…"
"Honey – I already feel bed for most of my enemies; my group is overkill. We're beating a dead horse just having so many capable people. Solas keeps wards up at night and I had the tents enchanted to repel arrows. Ellana has the ears of a cat and then Varric – he sleeps with hi fingers on Biancas' trigger… yes, it's as bad as it sounds."
"Still – I think I'd feel better if you allowed even one personal guard?" damnit – he pulled the kicked puppy voice…
"I'll allow a trained Mabari? I always did want one…" I knew I had a resigned look on my face – Varric was far too amused for it to be otherwise. Solas bit his lip to keep from smiling. Everyone knew I would cave if Alistair pushed the issue.
"A Mabari and a trained body guard; please? I want you safe – and I'm sure our favorite commander agrees…"
I groaned, "Fine – fine; but I want a female guard that is trained in Spirit Warrior specialization and she needs to be equipped with nothing less than silverite tier armor. Remember – I have to fight 11 dragons and the only thing I won't have is a spirit warrior… and I want strawberries and chocolate syrup."
I could hear the amused smile in his voice, "You have a deal – I know a Spirit Warrior woman and equipping her with silverite won't be an issue. As to the other things… why?"
"I hear they're Aphrodisiacs." I dead-panned. I really just hadn't found any in haven and had a sweet tooth. He laughed, "No, really."
"Well, they are – but the truth is that I have one hell of a sweet tooth and found no chocolate in Haven. Chocolate-covered strawberries are a favorite sweet snack."
"Right, then – I'll contact Anna; she's from Rivain and a good friend of Isabela from what I could understand…"
"So she tried to bed you then?" I smirked.
"Er… well, yes… but she failed where Bela succeeded."
"Bela did? When was this?" I asked.
"… 2 years ago while I was looking for my father," Alistair admitted.
"Huh – well, Bela is also on my list of women I'd bed in less time than it took for panties to drop; so there's that. As to Anna, I doubt she'll succeed with me either since I'm married and betrothed. Now, off to work you go – you're already running behind."
Varric sniggered as the stone went dark, "You talk to him more often than Curly."
"Not true – I talk to Cullen every night without fail. So I'd say I talk to Alistair about the same amount. Cullen and I simply talk more training and mushy stuff than what Alistair and I talk about. And of course – phone sex."
Cassandra grunted in disgust and we were off to take care of bandits.
