Katrina stood a few yards shy of the hold's southern wall, beside a tawny elf as she inspected a rather peculiar object that she'd tripped over a few moments prior, head tilted to the side. When she spoke, it was in tevene. It was refreshing to fall back on one of the other languages she knew.

"What is this though?"

"They call them 'brindleseeds'. They're much like pinecones," the elf offered, reaching out and lightly tapping the object Katrina was inspecting. He had strange tattoos that ran the length of his entire body, the color a match to his stark white hair. "They have these in Ferelden and southern Orlais."

"Well, I've seen pinecones. These are so much pointier and angrier… We don't have them in Starkhaven," Katrina offered, lightly holding the oddity by a single, wickedly curved spoke-like protrusion. Most of the curls turned inward, making it unlikely for someone to accidentally stab themselves, but the thought of one breaking off and getting imbedded in a foot was nightmarish. "Everything down south seems so much more dangerous."

"Mmmm," the elf, Fenris, nodded. "Not as bad as Tevinter, in my opinion."

"Perhaps it's the far north and far south trying to outdo each other?" Katrina jested.

Even as Fenris grinned at that and started to say something that seemed like it would have confirmed her joke, Garrett's voice interrupted their conversation.

"I'm glad that the two of you are from the same part of the Lowlands, really—"

"We're not," Fenris and Katrina replied in unison.

"—but do you remember when I told you to go get help about fifteen minutes ago?"

Both of them turned their gazes up to the tree where Garrett was seated on the thick, middle branches. While Katrina was a bit concerned, Fenris bore a look of utter apathy at the Avvar's predicament. As Garrett returned their stares, exasperation clear on his face, one of his boots slipped on the branch he was on and dangled down for a second.

In response, a low rumbling growl sounded, and a mountain lion lunged up, claws just narrowly missing Garrett's foot.

Katrina and Fenris let their gazes wander down to the Red Lions' hold-beast, who sat at the foot of the tree, gaze locked on Garrett. They tilted their heads in unison. "I don't think Asmund likes you much."

It had been the damnedest thing, truly. Garrett and Katrina had been on their way to go find Branson so that she could demand answers as to why Cullen had to avoid her. They'd just scaled the wall, when they'd turned and found a mountain lion directly in front of where they'd climbed over, as though the beast had known they would be leaving ahead of time.

Katrina had recognized the painted symbols on the creature's fur and had frozen for a moment, remembering the multiple warnings she'd received that hold-beasts were not pets. Even as she'd stilled, eyeing the creature and waiting for it to pounce and drag one of them off into the woods for a snack—to think, all this time she'd worried about bears—Garrett had landed beside her, turned, and said a single word.

"Shit."

The lion, Asmund, had sat where he was, watching the two of them, tail curled around his feet. They had stood there, waiting, breaths held, wondering what would happen, if the beast would be friendly. When it seemed content to stay where it was, Garrett had taken a slow step to the side, and Asmund had been on his feet, growling.

As Garrett stilled, Asmund sat back down, tail twitching, honey gaze quite reminiscent of Cullen's glued to the Avvar man. He seemed quite disinterested in Katrina.

And then Fenris had shown up. He'd walked out of the woods, commenting something that sounded a lot like a surprise in lack of defense to the south of the hold, only to stop as he saw the hold-beast. His green eyes had widened as he'd taken in the scene: Garrett and Katrina still with their backs to the wall, Asmund ready to eat them if they moved.

Then, rather abruptly, his face had deadpanned, and he'd said sharply, to Garrett, "I hope it eats you."

That had given the lion pause to glance over its shoulder, and Garrett had tried to make a run for it.

Asmund had let him have a bit of a head start before beginning its pursuit.

Fenris had chased the beast, and Katrina had stood there by the hold's wall, not sure what to do. Was this a sign she should just go back? Why was Asmund mad at Garrett? Had he not offered tribute to the hold-beast or something?

Treatment of the lion was still one of the many Avvar customs that remained foreign to her.

However, even as she'd considered climbing the wall for help, she'd remembered that Branson was supposed to be out here somewhere. Perhaps Garrett was running to him.

Not really knowing how she'd go about getting help for this situation anyway, Katrina had tentatively followed after the rest of them, still not sure what was going on. Aside from everything with the hold-beast, she was more than a little surprised to see an elf all the way out here, though the tone of his muscles, size of the sword strapped to his back, and way that he moved so easily through the woods implied that he was well acquainted with this terrain.

He obviously survived just fine out here.

And he did seem to know Garrett.

When she'd caught up, Fenris had been torn between unsheathing that wicked looking sword or just letting things play out. Garrett had been in the tree, and Asmund had been pacing slowly at its base.

When it had become clear that Asmund wasn't going to kill Garrett unless he tried to come down, tensions had eased a little.

Introductions had even been made. Fenris was Garrett's husband of five years. It struck Katrina as odd that Cullen had never mentioned another Lowlander living in his hold, though. He'd always acted like she was the first one that he'd ever met.

While it was still a little awkward and more than a little bizarre to be standing there talking whilst a wild-yet-not-quite-wild animal cornered someone, Katrina had taken lead from her fellow Lowlander, figuring that if anyone would have reason to be concerned, it would be the man in danger's husband.

Fenris seemed merely agitated—and with Garrett, not Asmund—and so Katrina couldn't find herself to be too worried.

She did, however, glance up at Garrett. "You mentioned Branson was nearby? Should we get him?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Garrett seemed relieved to finally have one of their attention. "If you go around the damned mangy cat and head…that way," he twisted a little where he was, pointing off into the woods, "he should be there, fletching his arrows."

"He already headed back to the hold," Fenris called up. When Garrett scowled, Fenris shrugged. "Why do you think I came to check on you?"

Katrina felt a bubble of disappointment press against her insides. So this whole thing was for nothing. Garrett was trapped in a tree for no reason.

Garrett seemed to share in her train of thought, drumming his fingers against his knees and then swearing quietly when Asmund growled, as though to remind him he was a prisoner.

"Would one or both of you just go get help?" Garrett hissed.

"And what exactly would you have me tell the Lions?" Fenris crossed his arms, scoffing at the notion. "Sorry to bother you, but my husband decided to steal a wife and got caught? Care to call off your hold-beast?"

Blinking, Katrina turned toward Fenris again, a hand on her hip, the other still holding the brindleseed, head cocked. "I'm sorry?" When Fenris arched an eyebrow, Katrina shook her head. "You thought…? Oh, no. Garrett was helping me find Branson."

"Is that what he told you to get you out of the hold?" Fenris replied, one of his ears twitching. When Katrina didn't respond with some sort of 'aha' moment, Fenris pointed up toward his partner. "We're Hawks, not Lions."

Katrina stared at him a moment longer, the gears in her head moving a bit slower than usual. When things finally clicked into place, she frowned. "Well, he couldn't have stolen me anyway. I'm not a Lion, either."

Despite his situation, Garrett let out a sharp laugh.

Both Lowlanders turned to glare up at Garrett, and Fenris abruptly walked back to a nearby tree and leaned against it, picking up another brindleseed to inspect. "I think I'll wait for a patrol to get here."

Garrett attempted to appeal to Fenris' and then Katrina's sense of compassion, but Katrina turned her back on him—after giving Asmund a final glance to see that the lion was still quite content to sit on the ground, guarding—and then walked over to Fenris, a glimmer of hope stirring in her as she followed her fellow Lowlander. When she spoke, it was in tevene again. "Do you understand the whole 'stealing a bride' thing?"

Fenris blinked, looking up at her somewhat surprised. "No one's explained it to you?"

"They did, but…then they're weird about it." She motioned back toward Garrett. "I mean, I'm not a Lion, so how can I be stolen from the Lions' hold?"

"Honestly, I don't completely understand it myself," Fenris admitted, leveling a stern look at Garrett as he spoke, as though to make the Avvar think they were talking about him. "It has to do with proving oneself capable of claiming a family, some rite of passage. There's not really anything I can equate it to in the Lowlands."

"But…it is stealing a person."

Fenris made a face, thinking. "It is…complicated. Calling it stealing does imply some sort of ownership, but… A man goes to another clan to ask permission. Women in the clan may request he steal her. A man may be denied the right to go after others, such as a skald or thane. Those interested are made aware of who is available and who is not. The permission part is more like a matchmaking endeavor from what I've seen."

"Doesn't sound much like theft at all," Katrina muttered.

"No, it really doesn't." Fenris shrugged. "I think it was labeled stealing a long, long time ago, through some misinterpretation of some sort when translating customs into another language."

Katrina paced back and forth slowly, considering what he was saying. "So…but they still have to sneak the person out, don't they?"

"Ah, yes. At the same time, though, it's still not…stealing like you and I would think of it." Fenris crossed his arms and then lifted one, cracking his knuckles slowly with his thumb as he watched Asmund. The lion was pacing a little at the base of the tree again. "The woman can assist in being taken, to help increase the chances of her husband's success. There are a great many nuances that go with it that I still don't quite fathom. The point is that they can sneak away together. It's more like eloping, in my opinion."

"I told someone they couldn't have stolen me…" When Fenris smirked, she glanced toward Garrett. "Aside from him, I mean. I'd explained all this to him, actually."

"Ah. I'm guessing it hit a nerve?" Fenris asked. When she nodded, his lips twisted into a frown. "Like I said, it's some sort of rite of passage. To be told that is sort of like telling a noble they haven't the money to support their family. Like telling a magister he's not powerful enough to earn the archon's attention." He spat after the second comparison. "It might not mean much to us, but it's quite insulting to them."

Katrina glanced toward the ground. "Because saying that is like saying they're a failure."

"It is."

The look on Cullen's face in response to her words bubbled back up into her mind. It had been bothering her the last two days, the way he'd seemed so stricken at her words, even as she tried to clarify them. For a moment, she felt lost. Then, angry. "But they still require some sort of permission, do they not? Permission cannot be received to steal me or take me or whatever it is. That was all that I meant."

With a dry laugh, Fenris nodded. "Did you tell them that?"

"Yes!"

"Perhaps you just need to try again. Perhaps explain it so they can see it from your view?" Fenris mused. "The thing with cultural gaps is that they go both ways, after all. Garrett and I had more than a few misunderstandings early on. We still do, from time to time."

When Katrina looked back toward the Avvar in question, she saw that he was glaring at them pointedly, looking somewhat akin to a cat that had been dunked in water. She had to bite back a laugh. Glancing back at Fenris, she motioned back toward the hold. "I really don't think he was trying to take me as a wife. After all, I'd already ranted to him about how I can't be stolen from any Avvar holds, as I'm not Avvar."

"I doubt it, too. Whatever he was trying to do, though, was stupid, at best." Fenris shook his head. "We're moving our clan into the Shadow Wolves' old territory, and I'd rather we not start things off with poor relations with the Lions."

"Couldn't you just have Garrett explain whatever he was doing to both thanes and have them work it out?" Katrina tilted her head.

"Garrett…didn't tell you?" The elf rolled his eyes. "Of course he didn't."

Katrina's gaze snapped up toward Garrett as another thought struck her, one that had been delayed thanks to the proposition of explanations she'd been so craving the last few days.

These men weren't Lions.

Granted, Fenris had made the clarification already, but it hadn't really sunk in until now, as he mentioned that there might be trouble between the two clans.

Garrett wasn't a Lion.

He wasn't one of Cullen's people, and yet he'd been in their hold, idly lying beside her, taking in the entire layout of the place.

Her eyes widened, and she abruptly took her brindleseed and threw it at him. It glanced off his shoulder before spinning off into the woods. As he cried out, she cursed at him. "You bastard! You were scouting the fucking hold!"

Asmund growled.

Garrett climbed a branch higher and then held his hands out. "Look, it's not…" Abruptly, he scowled down at them. "You know what? I brought you out here to help you, and you're not even going to return the favor. I don't have to explain anything to you."

"Perhaps not," Cullen's voice interrupted Katrina as she started to tell him he'd better, "but you do owe me one."

At the sound of the voice, all of them, Asmund included, turned to see Cullen swinging off of Gunvor—she hadn't even heard the horses coming—and stepping through the brush, a most dour expression in place.

Katrina had to say that in that moment, he looked something akin to a legend of some sort, one she'd dearly like to hear the tale of. His hair glittered as he passed through the sun shafts piercing the canopy overhead, and the light shone off his muscles as well, accenting an underlying fluidity that whispered power. His leathers were lighter, with the weather warming up as it was, and a light sweat made them cling to his legs. The warmth in his amber eyes was gone, replaced with a harsh coldness, though it did ease for the briefest of instants when he saw her. As soon as he was looking at Garrett, though, any semblance of gentleness fled him.

Branson and Cole followed shortly behind him. While the latter seemed quite angry as well, Cole simply waved when he saw Katrina, a simple smile on his lips.

She couldn't help but wave back.

…-…

Cullen had to say, he hadn't been sure what he'd expected to find when he caught up to Thane Everburning and Katrina, but it hadn't been for them to be…like this. He'd expected maybe an unconscious Katrina slung over a shoulder or perhaps her attempting to fight off his fellow thane as he stole her away.

However, to find Thane Everburning trapped in a tree by Asmund as Katrina threw brindleseeds at him…

He would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it, were his heart not still hammering against his ribs.

"Thane Magicsbane," an elf—Fenris, if memory served—standing near Katrina said, stooped into a quick bow before motioning toward Asmund. "I don't suppose you could call off your hold-beast? I realize Garrett has no doubt played the fool, but I assure you we were about to leave."

"With Katrina?" Cullen asked, head cocking sharply, brow raised.

Fenris glanced at Katrina and sighed. "We had no intent of leaving the hold with any of your people or guests."

"And yet, we do not stand in my hold having this conversation." Cullen crossed his arms.

Garrett scoffed from up in the branches he'd taken shelter in. When Cullen looked back up at him, he was pointing toward the hold wall, just barely visible between the trees. "It's right there!"

"There is not here."

"Would you at least let me defend my actions from the ground?" Thane Everburning called down, exasperated.

"Why exactly are you up there to begin with?" When the bearded fool pointed toward Asmund, Cullen pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before replying. "You realize mountain lions can climb trees, yes?"

"Of course I know they can climb!" Thane Everburning retorted. He started toward the next lowest branch and jerked back up as Asmund growled and lifted up on his hind legs. He pointed accusingly down at the hold-beast. "Yours doesn't want me coming down."

"Then you'd best stay up there until he changes his mind." Cullen couldn't help the grin that tugged on his lips for a split second. He managed to hide it fairly quickly. His fellow thane had a way of assuming things were forgiven if he caught someone enjoying the absurd situations he somehow always managed to stumble into.

Fenris took a careful step forward. Cullen noted offhandedly that the elf didn't seem concerned for the hold-beast turning on him, but rather the newcomers doing so. "Is there some offering we can make to expedite forgiveness? I would rather not stand here a week waiting on your hold-beast to grow weary of whatever this game is."

"Explain why you decided to steal Katrina," Cullen said, directing his gaze back toward Thane Everburning. Even as the man sulked on his roost overhead, Cullen turned toward Katrina, stepping over to her and inspecting her to make certain that she wasn't harmed. When he saw she was fine—not even a scrape that he could see—he tilted his head. "How did he get you out of the hold?"

Katrina fidgeted, expression hard to read. At length, she shrugged. "He said he knew a place where Branson liked to think. That he'd take me there so I could talk to him."

Brow drawing together, Cullen glanced toward Branson who simply shrugged back. "Why would you be looking for Branson?"

"Because you were all avoiding me!" Katrina snapped abruptly, crossing her arms with a bit of extra force and glaring up at him, a familiar flicker in her eyes.

Cullen shook his head. "No one was avoiding you—"

"So all of you just disappearing at the same time was a coincidence?" She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not stupid, Thane Magicsbane."

"I thought he let you call him Cullen," Thane Everburning called down.

Cullen stiffened, turning slowly to stare up at the man, eyes narrowed. His head was starting to hurt, and he really hadn't gotten enough sleep for this nonsense. Even as he tried to keep any weariness from his stance, it occurred to him that Thane Everburning's comment meant the two of them had been talking at least for a while.

Katrina had moved away from the rest of them upon his fellow thane's comments, though when she came back, she had several brindleseeds in her arms. She chucked one at him as she yelled back, "You stay out of this!"

As Thane Everburning cackled despite his unfortunate situation, Cullen stepped over to Katrina and caught her arm before she could throw another one. "Do you not remember what I warned you about fighting thanes?"

Katrina stilled, staring up at him, eyes wide. Then that angry flicker burst to life in her eyes as she snapped her attention back toward Thane Everburning. "You're a fucking thane?"

More laughter.

Dropping most of the brindleseeds, Katrina chucked the last one she had with her free arm, just narrowly missing Thane Everburning as he slumped down against his tree branch, laughing maniacally against the bark.

Katrina switched into a language Cullen wasn't familiar with as she kept cursing, looking damn near ready to climb the tree herself. When she stooped to pick up another seed to throw, Cullen caught her around the waist and dragged her back a few steps so that they were out of her reach. "Katrina."

She kept swearing.

"Katrina!"

Her gaze snapped toward him. At first there was just anger. Then, slowly, it shifted to something else…

Hurt.

Cullen loosened his hold on her instantly, despite being quite sure that he hadn't gripped her too tightly. Even as he glanced down to make sure a broken piece of one of those damned seeds hadn't caught in her foot or something of the like, she stood a bit taller, shifting away from him.

Katrina let her gaze wander, crossing her arms again. "I should get back to translating."

As she moved to leave the group, Cullen reached out and caught her arm, gently. "You can ride back with me in just a moment." When she didn't bother to respond, he tugged her closer, stepping in front of her. "I wasn't avoiding you." He leaned his head down to peer at her, searching her face. When she finally dared to glance up and meet his gaze, he nodded his head back toward the tree. "I was dealing with him. I don't know if you can tell, but things have a way of going awry rather quickly when he's around." As silence settled over them, he finally added, "If anyone gets to throw things at him, it's me."

"He was spying on the hold," Katrina murmured, looking down. "I didn't know he wasn't a Lion, or I would have done something about it."

"We Avvar have a tendency to do that to each other," Cullen replied, giving her a faint smile, hoping to coax one from her in return. When it didn't work, he sighed. "Did he see much?"

"You can see everything from that ledge. I knew he was inspecting the roads, but I just thought he was taking in his home." Katrina cursed herself softly. "He was up near that cave, too."

Cullen paused. There were but two caves in the hold, the one that housed the throne room, and the one that they used for their armory and stocks. Spies sneaking into the hold and getting that far had happened before, but most raiders found it nearly impossible to get anything out of the hold, especially when the Lions rallied back to block them.

It was one of the reasons that Cullen hadn't been overly worried about sending so many of his people out to watch for Lowlanders. They knew how to deal with Avvar raids. It was Lowlands ones that would be foreign to them.

"If his people try to raid us, we'll raid them back. It is not that grave a matter," Cullen replied, still watching her. He hesitated. "I was more concerned for your safety. Cole said he was going to steal you."

At that, her anger bubbled back up. "He can't steal me, Cullen!" She jerked back a step, throwing her hands up defensively, fingers splayed as her voice rose. "I am a fucking Free Marcher! We cannot be stolen! We did not spend age after age resisting rule from outside forces, resisting falling to Blights, and the qunari, and magic, and all manner of madness just so that we could have Orlesian bastards or woodlands heroes claim ownership of us! I am my own person, and the only way anyone is stealing me is if they steal me from me! So good luck with that."

She crossed her arms again with extra vigor, shoulders tense, a glare strong enough to wither budding leaves directed away from anything in particular.

Cullen stood before her for a moment, unsure what to say to that, unsure what to do. Asmund let out a soft growl, and Cullen turned to see if the beast was still protesting any attempts for Thane Everburning to slip back to the earth. As he moved, however, he felt thin fingers slide against his palm and lace themselves with his. He looked back to see Katrina step up closer to him.

"I don't think you're a failure. I just…can't be stolen."

Her voice had been softer, worried. He lifted his hand, bringing hers to his lips. He smiled against her skin when he saw a rosy hue settle onto her cheeks. "Thank you."

When he finally turned back to the others, he frowned when he realized that Asmund had left his spot at the base of the tree. Even as his gaze raised to see Thane Everburning grinning like an idiot where he sat in the mid branches, he stopped.

Asmund had climbed the back of the tree and now sat on the branch just behind Thane Everburning, tail swishing as it watched him. "Thane Everburning—Garrett," Cullen said, sighing when the man in question seemed to perk up at the familiarity. "Can we agree to a truce? You do not attack my hold so long as there is a threat of Lowlander assault, and I will not attack yours while your people lay claim to the land?"

"Sounds like a deal, Cul." Garrett hopped down from his place, oblivious as Asmund silently leapt forward to take his place, peering down at him with a curious glint in its eyes.

Cullen twitched at the nickname. He should have known better than to give the man an inch.

However, what was done was done.

"You still haven't answered my question," Cullen called, before the thane could reach Fenris.

Even as Cullen waited for an answer, Thane Everburning went over to Fenris and whispered something in the elf's ear. Fenris held his head in his hands a second before Thane Everburning nudged him. With a pronounced eye roll, the elf turned toward them and said something in a strange language Cullen had never heard before.

Katrina went rigid a moment and then snapped something back. When she noticed Cullen had arched an eyebrow, she scowled. "He said he did this to 'encourage a discussion' about the whole stealing thing…"

Cullen had to fight the urge to pick up in Katrina's endeavors to hit Thane Everburning with something hard. When the thane turned to mouth, 'You're welcome,' he almost did.

Katrina glared at the receding forms of the thane and his husband—mostly Thane Everburning, as when Fenris offered her a wave in farewell, she returned it without hesitation. "So does Branson really come out to some place near here? Or was that a lie to 'help'?"

Before Cullen could answer, Branson cursed under his breath.

"How in the void do they know that?" Branson asked, wary. He'd had his bow drawn and an arrow notched the entire time, and even now looked like he might just shoot the retreating figures.

The three of them watched the Hawks head off in silence. How long had that bastard been snooping around their hold, and why hadn't anyone noticed? They were questions for another day, though, one he would be asking his hunters and scouts, for sure.

As he turned back toward Gunvor, carefully leading Katrina toward the steed, Branson abruptly swung his bow into place and then stepped up on her other side, nudging her with the back of his hand. "How was I avoiding you? I barely talk to you anyway."

"Your whole family is avoiding me," Katrina muttered, eyes narrowing. Her temper was still dancing between fickle resignation and simmering rage. She started to cross her arms, but stopped when it would require letting go of Cullen's hand. He squeezed hers.

"We weren't. Bran and I have been busy, and Rosie's out of the hold on a mission."

Katrina shook her head. "And you couldn't have said something? Anything?"

Nodding toward Branson, he hesitated beside Gunvor, needing his hand to get back onto the steed, but not wanting to let hers go just yet. It had been a miserable two days and he wanted to savor her touch, even if she was angry with him.

As he glanced back toward the way Thane Everburning and Fenris had gone, he caught sight of Asmund lounging in the tree still, with Cole sitting next to him. As Cullen looked up, he had the distinct feeling that Cole was the reason the hold-beast had even been nearby.

He looked back at Katrina, gently running his fingers against her cheek before finally freeing his hand. "I should have told you. I meant to, though that probably isn't much of a consolation." He smiled when she grumbled something about him being right about that. "And I have a lot more that I need to tell you. Walk with me?"

...-...

A/N: Thank you to creepypasta-queen- from tumblr for beta reading!