A/N I am still laughing at my naive-two-months-younger self. She had no idea. Now she is a junior slave whose master is very lucky she doesn't have lyrium brands.

Dear readers, I am truly sorry for the delay. These chapters are critical, and it'd be great to hear from you for guidance and a bit encouragement (hard days I tell you). Also, I realized that promising is dooming the writing process and causing universe to make fun of you. Therefore, I won't promise anything.

Bethany

They cannot take you away from me.

That's what Fenris said to calm her.

Wrong choice of words.

After that, all she could hear was her accelerating heartbeats. The genuine concern in his eyes were also not helping.

You are a mage, she reminded herself. As if she would ever forget that. He agreed to help you because of your brother. He wouldn't hide a mage willingly. Stop being silly.

She must give credit to her brain for rational thinking, yet his continuing hold on her was nothing near rational.

"Sweetness, pull yourself together. We need to get you out of here," she heard Isabela saying.

Well, at least she got her hearing back.

Isabela dragged Alfredo downstairs, "We will keep them occupied, use the roof to escape."

Roof?

How? She was going to ask that before Fenris gripped her arm and dragged her to his room. There was a balcony she had never seen before. It must be hidden under thick red curtains. Fenris approached to the open door cautiously and peeked outside.

"More than ten," he whispered, his grip on her tightening.

Then they heard loud footsteps coming from the hall. Bethany swallowed her whimper. Fenris turned to her then;

"Bethany, I'll climb first," he said, "When they are out of site, you'll come up on that banister and then I'll pull you up."

Bethany nodded obediently.

"And a final thing," Fenris said, "Don't look down."

Easy said than done.

That was what she was thinking when her feet were hanging in the air freely. Fenris didn't give her enough time to look down, though. He pulled her up in a swift move and let Bethany to catch her breath for a moment.

"We don't have much time," he said after holding her hand, "Don't let it go."

Then the walking began.

The mansion's rooftop was relatively flat, but she found herself stumbling anyway. Only thing that helping her to balance was his hand. His grip was strong while the lyrium brands was giving her a peculiar feeling. When they came to edge of the roof, he turned to her, "Now, the jumping part."

"Jumping part?"

He smirked, "I'll climb down by using this column, and you'll hang yourself down from here," he was pointing the edge. "Then, you'll jump."

He can't be serious.

"And then what? A horrible death maybe?"

Fenris chuckled at that, "Then, I'll catch you."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'll catch you," he repeated, his voice was strangely reassuring.

Bethany couldn't object him, "Okay, but I will hunt you if you don't."

He was smiling before he went out of sight.

She approached to the edge and bent down. Using her arms to carry herself, she hanged her legs. And came the point when she had to jump...Maker.

She slowly let go one of her arms and prayed he would be ready. One last look she sent his way. He seemed ready. She closed her eyes to gather enough courage, and she let go.

Bethany felt air flowing around her, and she felt ground coming close.

Then she felt his arms around her and his breath on her skin.

When she opened her eyes, she figured how close their faces was breathing heavily, and his eyes were causing her blood to rise. Fenris finally put her down, tips of his ears reddened. It must be because she was heavy for him. It must be.

"Where do we go now?" she asked.

He was answering before he heard loud footsteps coming towards them. He pulled her with him into an alcove hidden between columns.

"Have you found anyone?" a deep voice asked. She noticed it was Knight-Captain Cullen.

"We haven't, Knight-Captain."

"Did you search the mansion entirely?"

Templar hesitated to answer first, "We couldn't."

"What do you mean you couldn't?"

"There were voices, Captain."

"Voices?"

"A couple, Sir… Fornicating."

Isabela.

Bethany tried to suppress her laugh. It was hard as Fenris seemed to suffer from the same trouble.

There was a long pause before Knight Captain talked again, "O-one of them can be a mage. We can't take chances." He said, his voice wasn't that deep anymore, "Maker preserve us all."

Two templars left with reluctance at their steps, and Fenris was even more reluctant to let her go.

Would he…

He wouldn't, she told herself.

And she couldn't either. That's the first thing her father had taught her.

You must not desire the impossible, Bethany, she remembered her father saying. It was the demons she should be aware of. She could not let this kind of thoughts get into her. She would be vulnerable to any seduction then. For a lifetime.

And he was the impossible. Fenris may protect her. He may even be friend with her. Yet he would never-

"The Black Emporium," Fenris said suddenly.

"What?"

"Only the worthy know there. It can be a good hiding place for both of us."

"That's…actually a great idea," she said as she failed to hide her amusement. That caused a grin. A permanent insufferable grin.

They were almost there when she noticed somebody following them. Still carrying that stupid grin of his, Fenris seemed to be in another world. Bethany slowly turned her head to have a look. It was nothing but a girl who looked scared. She called out to the girl, which resulted her running away.

"Who was she?" Fenris asked, finally returning to Thedas.

"I don't know, but she seemed scared and I don't like it."

He cursed under his breath and hastened his steps. She had to run to keep it up with him.

When they finally entered Black Emporium, she let out her breath, "I wish we were in the mansion again."

"After all we've been through to get out of there, you wish to turn back?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"I don't know. It feels safe there…like home."

He turned to her, then. His expression unreadable. He was going to say something before they heard a familiar voice, "Ah, finally…customers. Wait a minute. Not just customers. Bethany!...and the broody elf," Xenon said with his usual rumbling voice, "It's been a long time. You know the rules; don't manhandle Urchin. He is not for sale. And don't fondle Andraste. That's all I could remember at this particular moment… I'm tired of these plebeian items. Take what you like. No charge."

"Just how did you find this place again?"

Bethany smiled at the question. She looked to the boy who is defined as Urchin, remembering how he was bullied by the Carta thugs and how she managed to freeze them all. Garrett's face was priceless then, seeing the power of her spell which surprised even herself. The boy, on the other hand, was carrying a grin as if he had found something he was looking for.

"By making a friend," she finally answered.

"Naturally," Fenris mumbled, seemed more interested in the artifacts. Not much else to do, she did the same. It didn't matter how many times she came to the Black Emporium. There was always a new item that could pique her interest.

After a little while, however, she found out that Fenris' reactions to the items were more interesting than any other object could ever be. He looked like a boy surrounded by toys, which was amusing for her to see. Therefore, at the end, she found herself watching him instead.

Bethany realized she enjoyed seeing this side of him. His frown after closing the box of screaming. His left eyebrow raised for the honor of King Cailan's glorious portrait. His confused expression formed after looking to the chest of lost socks. His careless or delighted -she could never tell the difference- face eating the pickled apple of Arlathan. He was adorable, and she couldn't look anywhere else.

At that moment, though, she realized something else.

She was falling for him.

Well done, Bethany. Now, you may enjoy your demons.

Fenris was looking to the Mirror of Transformation when Xenon broke the silence, "Do not stare too intently at that... on the other hand, please do!"

Bethany came near the mirror and start to explain, "this mirror can alter one's appearance. Hair, eyes, nose. You may even create a new person out of yourself." She looked to her reflection in the mirror, "Sometimes I wonder how I would look like having the same blue eyes as Carver."

"You have very limited knowledge, my dear," Xenon interrupted, "This mirror is not something one can play with. When you alter your appearance with this device, it doesn't just change who you are, but it changes who you were and will be in the future. It selects from one of the infinite possible universes where you were brought up with a different lineage and twists that thread of history into the currently experienced reality. The ripples of this action affect your family and other people's memory of your appearance as well."

Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was on the other side of the store, dragged by a very furious elf.

Fenris was still frowning when he turned to her, "Bethany, don't ever change anything."

He sounded serious. She was just thinking out loud. She wouldn't have courage to do something like that even she wanted to. She tried to explain it to him:

"I know, I just-"

"No, you don't understand. I don't want to forget anything about-"

The next word never had the chance to escape from him as they both winced at a loud laughing voice.

"Well, well. Look what we have here," said the man who was known as Danzig.