It had been terrible acting. But the blood on her face and swollen eye had nearly been enough to convince even me. For two days Finn hadn't spoken to me and with that 'wounded' woman appearing in front of him he wasna looking to me to add mah two cents worth. Instead with Alistair at his side he trudged off after the woman. I however was much more prudent. I nodded to Leiliana, who I think had already seen through this ruse. She picked up pace to move with our two Warden tanks. Morrigan had seen the look and had taken to bush as a wolf, dog or maybe was one of the dark crows disappearing into the tree line. Sten had already drawn his sword, though I wasn't sure whether he saw it as a giant lie or was just ready to kill anyone at a moments notice.

"Kill them all. Don't let the Wardens get hurt."

He nodded and I swear that I could see a little shine of glee on his dark face. Maybe I was getting better at understanding him. My bow had slid into my hand as soon as I had seen that woman, an arrow to the string held by the fingers on my left, another in my right. My instincts were pushing me not to follow directly the others, my feet leading me up a slight ridge to the road's left. There were bushes and trees aplenty. As I got closer I could smell blood, but heavy bovine blood, not that of elves or humans. I slunk lower, my ears felt like they were trembling with the effort of listening, trying to place my own people and his. I do have to say though, that I'm pretty excited to meet Zev; I mean my first elf so to speak. And he was pretty much my fav. But reality had a way of kicking me in the arse, so I let the weariness of this real life situation colour my excitement and remind myself that I would be doing my best not to kill zombies or demons, but real people. I had not confronted this type of position before and I was afraid. But I think I was more afraid of one of mine getting hurt more. Or killed. I froze when I encountered whispering. My legs went dead and it was with utter frustration fuelling me I managed to take a few steps forward. The first of Zevran's archers. Male. Getting ready to sight upon… Wolf? You son of a bitch. I drew, felt the tension of the string just touching my lips. He shuddered like it was a bolt of electricity that had struck him, not an arrow. I leapt down that short bank entering what had been his hide. Stricken eyes turned to me from a face that was covered in the blood from his neck wound. I touched his forehead quickly, mouthing my words not daring to even whisper them, abelas. I flicked my eyes up; let the fright hit me later, later, later. I breathed slowly, placed another arrow to the string unsure to wait for the tree to fall before taking out more archers or to start now? Wolf made up my mind. At his low rumbling growl I straightened my back and let the Maharial Me do what needed to be done. I had been impressed by the skills of the dalish in the game, been impressed already here by Maharial earlier at Redcliffe. But here, immersed in the forest with a bow, okay not dalish of make but still the Wilds Bow, in my hands and targets that couldn't hide from hunter's gaze… whoa. In a word, sublime. I knew when I released each arrow where it would strike and I could just focus on the next. These were assassins, assassins! Sure I only knew superficially what that meant here I guess, but I was taking them down. I heard from below the strike of weapons, the fizzle of magic and the savage barks of Wolf. I guess the tree had come down sometime before; I had neither heard it nor seen it happen. I ignored what may or may not have happened and just focussed on now and how I couldn't reach the others from where I was; there was really only one way and that was down. A reasonably far way down. Down a dirt bank and ah yes, over the tree that the assassins had cut down precisely for this ambush. I frowned but slid the bow around my shoulder letting the string sit against my shoulder and chest (for the record didn't really like doing that, it could snag on my armour and buckles giving the string a weakness that could snap it when I really needed it to not snap). I did thank Leiliana in a breath as I felt for the hilt of the knife she had attached to my hip butt area. I felt it and drew it free as I started to slide down the bank to the ground before me that was quite literally a battle field. Managed to avoid becoming a splat stain on the tree and instead climb up and sort of roll over to crouch on the other side of it. Oh yes, battlefield indeed.

Ok I think I receded a little, even for my accepting Maharial as my real self. It hadn't occurred to me that someone really needed that tendon that stretched from ankle to knee area. And what an Orlesian bard sharpened knife would do to it. Utter carnage, especially when it belonged to someone who has facing a very angry Qunari Sten. I spun away leaving my knife buried in the kidney area of another before sliding my bow free and once more finding that cool focus of dalish hunter. I let my eyes flicker towards Finn and his opponent. He was a brown blur, laughter falling from his mouth. Surprising enough for me, I could see bewilderment on Finn's face as he spun to keep the elf in his sights. An arrow stabbed into the ground near my foot, instantly making me angry,

"Morrigan!"

She appeared at my side, her own slightly mad grin on her lips.

"Oh, I thought you'd want those ones."

Why? I wanted to ask, it was forgotten as I was reacquainted with what a bolt of mage lightning striking a body then ricocheting to a few others could do. Skin turned black in a second, prior to black it rippled like it was trying to boil. Eyes can flash poach too, if you wanted to know. And wonder of wonders, at that I felt cold but dispassionate. Fright hit me later, later, later. I instead turned, arrow to string, string to lips, aiming for him. Finn let a sword strike clash on a shoulder plate before with a very violent move he chopped down upon some part of his attacker. Zevran just fell like he had no legs and Finn whirled to take on another. I however resighted and sent my arrow into the side of the woman who had performed so poorly as an actress earlier. Alistair finished it; I turned my head aside before his sword fell. Finn was facing me; I managed a grin to him.

"More useful?"

I offered my voice actually up beat.

"Better."

Hell, it was better than a no. Now we needed rope.

He was bloody taking his time to wake up. I grinned though; right now he resembled a rope worm rather than an Antivan elven assassin. His skin was much darker than my own, but in the patches of skin not wound up tight in rough rope I could see the drape of tattoo. Not my vallaslin but a few swooping lines of red brown, others of blue and even a purple swirl. His hair was the blonde I remembered but was longer, ripped loose by an uncaring Alistair and a buckle on his gauntlet.

I was nervous, not moved to pace like Finn, but nervous. Sten had shifted the bodies demolished by him, Alistair and Finn away from this small clearing. Though the bodies of the slaughtered oxen remained. Wynne was sitting on a tail board, cleaning her nails with a KNIFE. Damn witch was bad ass. I grinned, she saw and returned it. She was totally not fussed at all by what had happened. Even at the moves of Alistair ex-templar versus the assassin's pet mage, though she had been trying to kill us.

"Ana! You were amazing."

I had been wondering where Leiliana had disappeared too. She was brandishing my knife, gesticulating wildly with an equally wild grin on her face.

"You were all invisible, arrows speeding as if from the forest itself. Truly that is what it means to be a dalish."

She really was awesome. I smiled, taking the offered knife.

"You weren't too bad yourself Lei. Any tid bits of information you feel like sharing?"

Leiliana shook her head, looking annoyed at herself and the fruitless rifling through dead bodies she had undertaken.

"Apart from poultices, a few coins and this -."

She said pulling out a smooth round incised stone,

"Nothing. No physical clue of where they come from. They didn't speak, bar her and him, so no clues that way."

"So bar the fact that they are assassins, nothing?"

"Non."

"It is a good thing then that we had rope to spare."

Wynne said rising from her throne as it were. The knife gone, FYI.

"Any ideas on how to make him talk?"

I snorted,

"You mean a trio of pissed off Wardens, an Orleisian songstress, a Qunari Sten and two Mages one an apostate, not to mention a mabari war hound not enough to make his tongue loosen? All of whom he tried to kill and failed miserably at."

"When you put it that way, it is just timing."

Finn said, literally stalking over to our little group. Alistair appeared at his side, though his gaze was still on the interesting rope bundle just over there. I looked at Finn, wondering why now he would capture the guy and not kill him, I can't remember why in the game; simply perhaps the fact they had laid an ambush for us and they so obviously not being bandits.

"So why the rope and bondage?"

Alistair guffawed. Seriously this kid was awesome. Leiliana giggled and Finn frowned harder. I of course try to make it better.

"In all seriousness though, an ambush? It's just so gauche."

God I hoped that I used that in the right way.

"I think it is actually the opposite. But the nature of such an ambush does beg the obvious question."

Wynne said, a grandmotherly smile on her fact. Which was kind of growing of me, the whole using a knife thing helping too.

"It was a Warden trap."

Alistair said. I grinned impressed and I was a little memorised as he ran a hand through is hair. Not appropriate for the situation but damn! My eyes refocussed when Finn spoke,

"Hence the rope."

Crap! Finn just totally henced me. I recovered and rubbed my nose.

"Alright boss, I'll give you that one. So we use the good cop, bad cop charade?"

"I thought I would threaten to cut off his fingers one by one until he spoke."

I just looked at Finn's face. I mean I hadn't looked away from his previous words nose rub notwithstanding, but whoa that was cold. And it was not really the Finn I knew. Well I didn't really know him, but surely he wouldn't be so hard as that. Even after everything. Even after… My need to move away from the hardness continued though.

"We'll see if it comes to that shall we."

I had volunteered first prisoner watch as it were. Wolf gamboled around me, so not worried about the blood stains on the ground around us or the wires from Leiliana's 'fixed' traps, or even the elvish rope worm. The others were sprinkled around; some nursing a fire, others were sharpening weapons (Sten), others butchering the ox carcasses that Wynne had pronounced perfectly fine for a meal. Crossing my legs I just simply sat and waited, trying to come up with something to say when he woke up.

"Ah, I thought such beauty a figment of a dream."

My mind rolled its eyes. I froze and just looked into golden coloured almond shaped eyes. He was leering. Which I commended him on, easy going even in his current predicament. I rubbed an eyebrow, recognised the gesture and let my hand fall to my lap.

"You're going for flattery when previous you thought a team of assassins a better introduction?"

He gave a breathless laugh; the man is sexy without trying, Creators.

"Well, is it working?"

I shrugged,

"Perhaps I should ask my fellow Wardens?"

"Warden?"

This was fun. I smiled,

"Going on flawed information? Doesn't seem like a thing a smart Crow would do."

Eyes narrowed and I so know that I should have bit my tongue. His mouth closed and his face just went blank. I attempted to recover by waiting. I'm good at that now. The smell of roasting beef rose and I must admit I was moved to swallow several times. Creators he looked uncomfortable but he also seemed willing to wait it out. Whatever the end would be.

"Not impressed by our cooks?"

"Ha, if it is not burnt to a crisp you Fereldens would not eat it."

"It is no fish chowder, but when you have an Orleisian chef and a mage or two, the meals turn out okay."

Wolf strode to my side, little eyes not moving from the as yet unintroduced Zevran, lips lifted in a silent snarl.

"If it comes to the worst we have a mabari to chew on the remains. Or we could always ask the Qunari Sten for cooking tips mind. Perhaps the Warden Templar has some ideas or the surly Commander has tips… Or maybe the dalish Warden might have a recipe for something more exotic?"

"Dalish… explains so much."

He sniffed. Maybe I won. Though it was marked heavily in mah favour. I touched Wolf's head,

"Perhaps the others would like to know he is awake."

Wolf harrumphed; yes it is a word, but he moved off.

"If you are open to taking some advice, the quick speaking of honest words would go far."

I think Finn, Alistair or Sten rose from behind me… or all of them did, because Zev's eyes swapped me for something behind. His eyebrows angled down and I'm not sure he even tried for the pretence of cool calmness of before.

"Those would be a start, but first pray tell me, where shall I start?"

Finn. With a large knife, gesturing to Zevran's visible skin. Sheesh, sure was going to be a long afternoon.