Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or any of its related characters. This is just for my own enjoyment and the potential enjoyment of other fans like me, and no monetary gain was expected or received.

Rating: T

Spoilers: May contain spoilers for Origins, Origins DLC, Awakening, and Dragon Age II, Dragon Age II DLC, Dragon Age Inquisition as well as the novels The Stolen Throne and The Calling.

Chapter Two

It was a quiet journey to Kinloch Hold, the Warden's choice for their first destination. No one wanted to speak to anyone else, lest they break the brittle peace of the silence. Clear lines of loyalty were drawn, with the Warden's people on Alistair's side and Loghain's people on his, and the Warden herself caught in the middle, trying to bring them all together. Only Morrigan, perhaps predictably, seemed unaffected by the chaos, quite interested in Loghain himself, and refused to take a side at all.

They were still roughly two days out from Lake Calenhad when they were joined by a rider. Half-panicked and angry, obviously he had been riding hard for quite some time. It was Carver, sober now, and he had words for his sisters.

"How dare you leave without me?" he said, shouting at the both of them. "Do you know it felt to wake up and not know where you were?"

"It's not our fault you drank yourself into four days of oblivion, Carver," Hawke said. "We tried to say goodbye to you before we left. We would've even given you the chance to come with us, but you were seeing nothing but purple butterflies in fields of clover."

"You left mother all alone in that big house to come shout at us?" Bethany said, angry in her own right.

"Hey, you're the ones who left her," Carver said.

"Because of course it's our duty to stay at home and take care of her. Forever," Hawke said. "While you go out and chase glory as a soldier and get shit-faced drunk at public revels we can't go to because of our magic." Carver bridled, but clearly didn't have a snappy comeback prepared for that. "As long as you're here, Brother, you might as well make yourself useful. Come along with us. I'm sure the Warden could always use another sword-arm."

"I didn't come here to work for the Teyrn," Carver said.

"But you rode one of his horses half to death to get here," Hawke said. "So why don't you tell us, then, why did you come here, Carver?"

"I've come to take you home, where you belong."

"Home," Hawke said, nodding. "Don't you mean, 'to the Teyrn's home?' The home he so kindly allows us to share with him, at no cost to us?"

"That's how he drags you in to feeling like you owe him something," Carver said heatedly.

"Carver, you will never understand, will you?" Hawke said. "You are 'normal,' in the eyes of the rest of the world. You have every opportunity you are given or can create for yourself to distinguish yourself amongst your peers. Bethany and I are apostates. We're typically not allowed to distinguish ourselves. This is our one big chance to prove that we're worth something, so if you don't want to be here, I suggest that you find a fresh horse and leave. You shouldn't have come in the first place."

Petulantly, Carver tethered his exhausted horse with the others and began to set up his tent and bedding. "Hey," Loghain said. "Do you think we brought a stablehand with us? See to your horse, first. He needs a rubdown, grooming, a hoof-check, and he needs food and water most of all."

"And I suppose you look after your own horse?" Carver said.

"Every night and every morning," the Warden said. "And since all these horses are his, we should all be nice enough to do the same, shouldn't we?"

Carver grumbled, but he begrudgingly saw to his horse's welfare before setting up his own space at the campsite. "Hey," he said, greeting Leliana with a wave and an unintentionally creepy grin. Leliana gave him a sickly smile and a nod in return, then looked away quickly and shifted uncomfortably in place.

In due time they reached the shores of Lake Calenhad, and made camp. "We're too large a group to hit them up like this," the Warden said. "I propose myself, Warden Alistair, Teyrn Loghain, and Leliana take the boat across to the tower, and the rest of you stay here. It shouldn't take us too very long to negotiate the treaty, and then we'll head down to Arl Eamon's and find out what's going on there and wrangle a promise of his men out of him, or whomever is dealing with the situation there."

"Why the Bard?" Loghain asked. "Why not take someone else?"

"Why, because of course, you need to keep an eye on her at all times," the Warden said, with a winning smile. "She's Orlesian, correct?"

"Hmph. You're learning."

"Besides, there may be locks that need picking. Leliana is good at that. You can keep a completely unnecessary eye on her, and she can pick locks for me. Win-win."

"I brought lock-pickers along, too, you know."

"Yes, but I'm allowing for your paranoia. We really don't need more than one rogue for this particular operation."

"Have I said one word against your Orlesian Bard this whole way?"

"No, but I've seen you giving her the narrow eye, this whole way. And now you're calling her 'the Orlesian Bard.' Her name is Leliana."

"Perhaps, Warden, but I typically call people by their occupation, if it suits them better than their name."

Elilia waved her hands in front of her in negation of the entire conversation. "All right, enough, enough. You, me, Alistair, and Leliana will go to the tower. Everyone else, stay here and stay chilly. Literally, it's kind of chilly today. Maybe you can stay in the tavern today to keep warm, but it doesn't look like there's much room in there for all of you. Settled? Great, let's get moving."