Together Or Not At All

by RogueHunter06

"What in the Maker's name were you supposed to do when you liked a woman?" It's a question Alistair has asked himself far too many times since unexpectedly meeting her in the Wilds. And though he knows he should be focusing on the Blight, he can't seem to help himself around her - from falling deeper into his attraction for her. *OC, Cousland Warden with Morrigan, M for lemons*

14. Meeting With A Crow

A/N: Next chapter is here! We finally get to meet Zevran, hope everyone enjoys! As always, thanks to all those who are lurking, following, and those who have favorited. It's great that you're enjoying the story!

Special thanks go to PheonixTears589 for her very nice review, and to Arialla MacAllister for kindly reviewing the last few chapters for me. Please R&R, everyone, feedback makes my muse happy!

Disclaimer: Bioware owns Dragon Age, I own the rest.

Chapter 14: Meeting With A Crow

Alistair was relieved to be back on the road again. Going to the tower had been even worse than he'd thought it would be; he'd gotten a very terrifying vision of what his future might have held if he'd stayed with the Templars. It was something he never wanted to see again if he could help it. Not to mention, the whole ordeal had been exhausting, with the constant fighting and lack of sleep or food.

It had been a relief to spend the night at the inn and get as much food and sleep as they wanted. After discovering they'd been in the tower for well over a day, Aedan had not set any time to leave for Redcliffe, merely saying that when everyone was finished sleeping, they could leave. Given that the mages were on their way back and could perform the ceremony without them, Aedan had said there was no reason they should have to push themselves into the ground to return faster. It would take at least four days circling around the lake on foot for them to get back.

Aedan and Ayla had both slept a few hours longer than anyone else. The others hadn't bothered trying to wake them, knowing that they'd been more exhausted than any of them, having fought their way through the Fade while the others were still trapped in their illusions. They had all left once they were both awake, and continued on their way back to Redcliffe.

He knew that both of them assumed that he'd only been trapped in the illusion they'd found him in. Glancing over at Ayla as she walked beside him now, he wasn't sure whether he would tell her or anybody about the one before that.

Duncan had been alive in his first illusion, and they'd been at the Grey Warden headquarters in Denerim with other Wardens, none of whom he'd ever seen before that illusion besides Aedan, although at the time he hadn't realized that. It had been a day of celebration, because he had been getting married to Ayla. It hadn't been the false Duncan that had alarmed him. No, he'd readily believed the explanation that Duncan, grievously wounded, had survived at a Chasind hut in the Wilds and found them later after he'd recovered. After all, they'd never actually seen Duncan's body.

No, it had been the false Ayla that had led him to the conclusion that nothing he saw was real. It had been little things nagging at him to start with; her saying that they no longer needed to help anyone, that they could go live a quiet life alone together. He hadn't thought that Ayla would ever say those things, but he hadn't been sure until the kiss.

It wasn't that the kiss had been horrible, which was really embarrassing for him to think about, but it hadn't been the same. He hadn't felt that blazing lust, that sweet heady taste, or the overwhelming desire to have her. He'd pulled back in shock, accused her of being an impostor. The demon had protested at first, of course, but seeing his persistent doubt, it had attacked. Unfortunately, he'd hesitated for a second, not quite able to bring himself to attack something that still looked just like her, and that had been all it took. After that, he'd become trapped in that other illusion.

The other illusion had been much more successful. He'd never actually met his sister Goldanna; he'd only just learned about her shortly before the Blight began. He'd been meaning to mention her to Aedan and Ayla, and ask about possibly visiting his sister if they were ever in Denerim. Never having met her, he hadn't been able to identify a fake. And the demon hadn't bothered with anything more elaborate he might catch onto, like trying again with Ayla. He had missed her, though, feeling like she should be there and wondering why she wasn't.

He'd been relieved when she and Aedan had finally arrived, although everything had still been so hazy that he hadn't been able to accept at first what they were saying about the illusion. It wasn't until the real Ayla had kissed him that everything had flashed back; he'd remembered the first illusion, and realized that it really was her. That second kiss was everything he'd remembered the first to be, and more. It was also what had made him realize that she was the only one who could make him feel that way; even if he thought it was her, it wouldn't be the same.

Which was both amazing and terrifying for him to realize. He'd already been worried about losing her; how much worse would it be if he lost her now, knowing that he might never feel that way again? He knew it was far too late to try to reason with himself now and pull away from her, though. He'd become addicted to her touch, to the feel of her in his arms, to her kiss, her smile and her sparkling eyes. He was fairly certain he was falling in love with her; he just wasn't sure what to do about it.

He knew that she desired him; that much was obvious, though he had no idea why. What could a beautiful, experienced woman want with him? Was it simply a lack of other available options? But if it was, why did it seem like she'd been worried about him back in the Fade? Did that mean she cared? Would she ever feel the same way about him as he did about her?

Well, there was no point in worrying about now, he decided as they continued walking. The only thing he could do was keep moving forward, and hope that he could protect her so he could find out if she ever would feel the same way. He glanced over at her again as they walked; as always, he felt that urge to touch her that was only becoming stronger now that they'd kissed. He wanted to know how it would feel to be able to touch more of her, to not have any armor in the way when she was in his arms, to run his hands over her lush curves when they were bare. Just imagining it sent jolts of lust through him. But now was hardly the time, he reminded himself sternly. They weren't alone, and they needed to get back to Redcliffe as soon as possible.

He looked around as they continued, trying to keep his mind off of her. The sky was a glorious blue, and the late afternoon sun was warm and bright; both were welcome changes from the oppressive stone of the Circle tower. The area they were currently moving through had a lot of hills and cliffs, and often the path they took led them through enclosed valleys surrounded by said cliffs. It occurred to him as he looked around that this would be a good place to set up an ambush; he remembered Duncan mentioning that he should be extra cautious in places like this. Just as he thought this, he saw a figure running towards them in the distance. Aedan held up a hand to halt the group from his position in the lead; they all stopped and waited as the person ran towards them.

It was a woman, Alistair saw as she got closer, a young woman in a plain homespun dress, her blond hair flying around her face as she ran frantically up to them. "Oh, thank the Maker! We need help! They attacked the wagon; please help us! Follow me, I'll take you to them!"

Before Aedan could even respond, she'd turned around and begun running back in the direction she'd come. Right towards one of those enclosed valleys, Alistair noted. He'd also noticed that she had an aura of magic about her. Nothing so powerful as Wynne's, but she still could pose trouble. He didn't have the greatest feeling about this.

"She is leading us into a trap," Ayla announced in a low voice, glancing after the woman.

Aedan looked in the direction in which the woman had gone as well, then back to Ayla. "What makes you say that?"

Ayla shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Just a gut instinct, I suppose."

Alistair nodded. "I agree. The woman is a mage, and she's leading us to an area where it would be easy to ambush someone."

Aedan looked at him with surprise. "A mage, is she? That does make it curious that she would be so easily overtaken and running for help. And you are right that someone would have the advantage of high ground on us if we went through there." He paused, glancing at the valley and the surrounding area. "However, I do not see any easy way for us to go around that valley. Also, I would not like to leave this trap for anyone else passing this way. I'd prefer to spring it, if everyone is willing."

Aedan looked to each of them in turn, and they all nodded in response. "Excellent. Let's go before she gets suspicious."

They started after the woman, Aedan at point again, with Alistair and Ayla right behind him. Wynne and Leliana brought up the rear. They hurried to catch up to the woman, and the closer they got, the more tense Alistair became, though he tried to control his reaction. They were right behind the woman now, and it wouldn't do if she noticed him already wanting to draw his sword.

Finally, they came through the opening to the valley, and saw a ruin of wagons and slaughtered oxen ahead of them, spread throughout the area. The woman kept running toward a heavily armed elf with blond hair that skimmed his shoulders, and a large black tattoo running along the left side of his face. She slowed as she approached him, and stopped next to him. He stepped slowly forward, staring fixedly at them before gesturing with his hand.

Warriors appeared from behind the wagons, and archers from the rocks on the cliffs alongside the valley. Alistair, who had stopped alongside the others at the entrance to the valley, heard the sound of creaking timber and looked up at the same time Ayla and Aedan did, seeing a large tree trunk falling towards them. The party all leapt out of the way, which only brought them further into the valley. They all drew their weapons and faced the elf and the woman.

"The Grey Wardens die here!" the elf shouted as he drew the two blades he wore and started forward. The mage was readying a lightning spell at the same time.

"Alistair!" Aedan yelled, nodding towards the mage as he charged forwards as well.

"Leave the elf to me!" Ayla's eyes were dancing with excitement as she raced forward to meet the elf. Aedan nodded briefly, skirting around the clash of blades towards the other warriors who'd come out from the wagons.

Alistair had readied his smite, and neutralized the mage woman just as she was about to shoot a bolt of lightning at him. He'd moved toward her as he did so, dodging arrows that were raining down from the cliffs, and ran the woman through as he reached her. She stared up at him in mute shock for a moment, the look of triumph she'd worn when the trap sprung completely gone now. He finished her with another stroke and moved on to one of the warriors, meeting an axe blade with his shield.

Behind him, Leliana and Wynne were aiming arrows and spells at the archers along the cliffs; a few had already fallen to them. Wynne also cast defensive spells and healing magic at Alistair and the others between her offensive spells. Aedan had already dispatched the first warrior he'd come across, and was moving to a second. Alistair did his best to ignore the rapid clang of swords behind him that came from Ayla and the elf, and was able after a brief battle to defeat the axe-wielder.

Between himself, Aedan, Leliana and Wynne, the supporting fighters and archers were fairly quickly defeated. Once the initial ones on the ground had been taken care of, Leliana had led them up onto the cliffs, disarming traps along the way, to take care of the remaining archers they'd failed to reach. Once all the other fighters had been defeated, they returned to the valley floor, where Ayla and the elf were still fighting.

Alistair started forward to help her, but Aedan stuck out an arm and held him back. "What are you doing?" Alistair demanded in shock, turning to look at him.

Aedan met his gaze calmly, then nodded toward the battle. "Does it look like she's in distress or needs your help? Or that you would be able to get in there to offer it?"

Alistair looked back at the fight. Now that he looked more closely, he noticed that Ayla didn't look concerned at all; in fact, she looked like she was enjoying herself. She was smiling as she spun and danced and wove her way through complicated maneuvers which the elf had no trouble matching. As he glanced at the elf, he saw to his surprise that he wore a matching smile across his face. And Aedan was right; both of them were moving with incredible speed as they fought. Alistair would likely only be a hindrance if he tried to step in now.

He sighed, letting his sword drop, though he didn't put it away. "Fine. But if it starts to look like she's in trouble . . ."

Aedan grinned and shook his head. "Not to worry, Alistair. I would not stop you if I was actually concerned that she would lose."

Shortly after he said that, the elf made a mistake, overreaching with one of his swords. Ayla spun out of the way, and kicking his leg out from under him, clocked the elf on the back of the head with a sword pommel. He crumpled to the ground with a groan.

Leliana reached the two of them before anyone else, even Alistair, and promptly proceeded to tie up the unconscious elf with rope she'd produced from her pack.

Alistair, after glancing at Ayla to reassure himself she was okay, stopped by Leliana along with everyone else. "Um, do you mind if I ask what you think you're doing with him, Leliana? Why aren't we killing him?"

Leliana finished securing the ropes and efficiently stripped the elf of weapons, including removing daggers from places Alistair would never have thought to look, before straightening up. "Why, we must interrogate him, of course. It is obvious he knows who you and Aedan are, and was here specifically to assassinate the two of you. We should find out who hired him and what his plans were."

"Well, it's fairly obvious who most likely hired him," Aedan said dryly, "but I agree it would be a good idea to question him further."

As Ayla came up next to him, sheathing her swords, Alistair studied her more closely. She didn't appear to be at all wounded, to his relief; in fact, her eyes were still gleaming with excitement and her whole face was glowing. "Are you all right?" he asked her softly, feeling the flash of heat in his body when she turned the full force of her eyes on him.

She grinned widely, making the heat flare hotter as she stopped mere inches away. "Never better. It's been a long time since I've had such an enjoyable fight."

The elf groaned and stirred at that moment, likely due to the water Leliana had just splashed on his face. They all turned to look at him as he stirred and lifted his head. "Mmm . . . what? I . . . oh. I rather thought I would wake up dead. Or not wake up at all, as the case may be. But I see you haven't killed me yet." He spoke with a pronounced accent that Alistair didn't recognize, but then, he'd never really met anyone from outside of Ferelden until recently.

Aedan stood above the elf, arms crossed, staring down at him impassively. "That could easily be changed, but I have some questions. Starting with who you are and why you are after us."

The elf smiled and nodded from his uncomfortable position on the ground, hands tied behind his back and feet tied together. His eyes quickly scanned over the entire group, lingering longest on Ayla, to Alistair's discomfort, before landing back on Aedan. "Ah! So I'm to be interrogated? Let me save you some time. My name is Zevran. Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here for the sole purpose of slaying any surviving Grey Wardens. Which I have failed at, sadly."

Aedan's lips twitched. Alistair was disappointed to see growing amusement in his eyes; it didn't bode well for his hope that they would get rid of the elf. "Well, not so sadly for us. Who hired you to kill us?"

The elf tilted his head, as though trying to remember. "A rather taciturn fellow in the capital. Loghain, I think his name was? Yes, that's it."

Alistair sighed. He hadn't really expected otherwise; Loghain seemed to be behind everything bad in his life as of late. He'd even go so far as to hire an Antivan Crow, of all things! He exchanged glances with Aedan, noticing the complete lack of surprise on his face as well. "Of course it was him." Aedan looked at the elf with consideration. "Does that mean you're loyal to Loghain?"

Zevran shrugged as best he could with both hands tied. "I have no idea what his issues are with you. The usual, I imagine. You threaten his power, yes? Beyond that, no, I'm not loyal to him. I was contracted to perform a service."

Ayla took a step forward from Alistair's side. He looked over at her in alarm. No, no, what is she doing? She was looking at the elf with both interest and amusement, sending sharp pangs of jealousy through him. "What do you plan to do now that you've failed that service? Because it would really be a shame to kill such a challenging opponent – at least while you're unable to fight back."

Zevran grinned widely in reply, his eyes sweeping over Ayla again in a way that Alistair did not like. "I could not agree more!"

Alistair snorted, scowling down at him. "Of course you agree. It means you won't die right away." There was a part of him – a rapidly growing part – that really wanted the elf to die, and wasn't interested in being merciful.

"Oh no," Zevran protested, shaking his head. "It is not just that. Of course I would like to live, but were our situations reversed, I would be equally loath to bring our fight to such an . . . unsatisfying ending. Or to rid the world of the beauty and talents of such a deadly sex goddess." He winked at Ayla as he finished the last statement.

Alistair actually felt a growl escape him, which was a little shocking to him as he didn't think he'd ever been that mad before, but he hadn't been able to help it when he'd seen that Ayla wasn't offended, but smiling. When she heard the growl, though, she touched his arm gently and shook her head at him. Though he wasn't sure why, the gesture succeeded in calming him down.

"If we could get back on topic now," Aedan said dryly, "might you answer the question as to what you plan to do about this 'service' of yours now?"

Zevran shrugged again, transferring his attention back to Aedan. "Well, that's between Loghain and the Crows. And between the Crows and myself. As for us, well, that remains to be seen, does it not?"

Aedan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Why exactly are you telling us all this so easily?"

"Why not? I wasn't paid for silence." Zevran laughed. "Not that I offered it for sale, precisely."

Aedan paced back and forth for a minute, as though trying to come to a decision. Alistair watched him, growing more concerned about what he would do by the minute. Aedan stopped in front of Zevran again. "Aren't you at least loyal to your employers?"

The elf smiled slowly. "Loyalty is an interesting concept. If you wish, and you're done interrogating me, we can discuss it further."

Aedan frowned before nodding once, abruptly. "I'm listening. Make it quick."

"Well, here's the thing. I failed to kill you, so my life is forfeit. That's how it works. If you don't kill me, the Crows will. Thing is, I like living. And you obviously are the sort to give the Crows pause." No, he really didn't like where this was going, Alistair thought, before Zevran finished, "So let me serve you, instead."

What was even worse that Aedan actually looked to be considering Zevran's offer when he asked, "And what's to stop you from finishing the job later?"

Zevran was watching Aedan closely now, as though knowing his freedom was close at hand, as he explained, "To be completely honest, I was never given much of a choice regarding joining the Crows. They bought me on the slave market when I was a child. I think I've paid my worth back to them, plus tenfold. The only way out, however, is to sign up with someone they can't touch. Even if I did kill you now, they might kill me just on principle for failing the first time. Honestly, I'd rather take my chances with you."

"Won't they come after you?" Aedan demanded, arms crossed as he seemed to weigh everything. He was looking as though he'd actually believed what the elf had said, and Alistair noticed a brief glance between him and Ayla, with her nodding before his attention returned to the elf.

Zevran shrugged again, seemingly unconcerned. "Possibly. I happen to know their wily ways, however. I can protect myself, as well as you. Not that you seem to need much help." He cast an admiring look at Ayla which almost caused Alistair to growl again. The only reason he did not was that Ayla had looped her arm through his, which was making him feel more than a little smug. "Besides your own obvious skills, it appears that you have skilled friends, as well. And if not . . . well, it's not as if I had many alternatives to start with, is it?"

"All right," Aedan said slowly. "So if you were to offer me your services, why precisely would I want them? As you have pointed out, we are quite skilled ourselves."

"Why? Because I am skilled at many things, from fighting to stealth and picking locks. I could also warn you should the Antivan Crows attempt something more . . . sophisticated . . . now that my attempts have failed. I could also stand around and look pretty, if you prefer. Warm your bed?" With this last offer, he leered at Ayla, and Alistair took a step forward, fury blazing through his veins, causing Ayla to pull him back. And once again, she didn't look offended! "Fend off unwanted suitors?" he continued, now looking Alistair specifically in the eye. Unable to think of an adequate response, Alistair merely glared his hatred at him, causing the elf to smirk and finish, "No?"

Aedan shook his head, back to looking amused again. "While I don't believe you really helped your case with those last few, I believe I will accept your offer."

"What?!" Alistair squawked, finding his tongue at last. Bad enough they weren't killing him, now they were inviting him along?! "You're taking the assassin with us now? Does that really seem like a good idea?"

"Don't worry about it," Aedan waved off Alistair's concerns. "We need as much help as we can get, and you saw him fight. We could use him."

"But –" Alistair began, but Ayla squeezed his arm, interrupting him. "I think we can trust him. We should at least give him a chance to prove himself. If he betrays us, then we can kill him." She cast a dazzling smile at him, which caused his brain to go a little mushy.

Alistair sighed wearily. As much he didn't like it, he did trust Aedan and Ayla to make the right decision. "Hmmm. All right, all right, I see your point. Still," he added, determined to get the last word in, "if there was a sign we were desperate, I think it just knocked on the door and said hello."

Leliana used one of her daggers to cut Zevran's ropes, and helped him to his feet, beaming at him. "Welcome, Zevran. Having an Antivan Crow join us sounds like a fine plan."

"Oh?" Standing face-to-face with her, Zevran gave her a longer once-over then he had previously. "You are another companion-to-be, then? I wasn't aware so much loveliness existed amongst adventurers, surely."

Leliana frowned, seeming not to find his flirtations as amusing as Ayla had. "Or maybe not," she said curtly, moving away.

Zevran shrugged and stepped over to Aedan, placing his hand over his heart and bowing low. "I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you, until such a time as you choose to release me from it. I am your man, without reservation . . . this I swear."

"Let's hope you can keep your word." Aedan turned to Leliana. "Why don't you give him back his weapons? If he is to travel with us the rest of the way, he won't be of any use if he can't help us in a fight."

Leliana raised her eyebrows doubtfully, but she nodded before returning Zevran his collection of daggers and the two longswords he'd wielded in his fight against Ayla. The elf quickly re-armed himself.

"I'll have you take point, as well," Aedan gestured to the opposite side of the valley, which was the only way they had to leave now. "I'd rather have you where I can see you, in case you start trouble." He glared sternly at Zevran. "Make no mistake, just because I did not kill you this time, does not mean I will hesitate if you give me a reason to doubt you. This is your one and only chance."

"Indeed, I would expect nothing else!" the elf exclaimed as he headed to the front of the group. "Though I don't suppose your lovely mage friend might consider healing my wounds?"

"I will not," Wynne sniffed, crossing her arms. "You have at most a headache, I'm sure, and maybe you'll learn your lesson if you have to suffer through it."

"Ah, so harsh! But you are right, of course." Zevran swept her a bow before making his way to the front of the group. He began to lead them out of the valley, Aedan shaking his head as he fell in a few steps behind the elf.

Alistair followed, Ayla close by his side again, and Wynne and Leliana took up the rear. "I still don't think this is a good idea," Alistair murmured when he was sure there was enough distance between the elf and the two of them.

Ayla turned to look up at him, smiling slyly. "Are you sure it's not just because you're jealous?"

"What?! I am not!" Alistair spluttered. When she merely raised her eyebrows at him, he conceded, "All right, maybe I am a little. But that's not the point. The point is, he's an assassin who tried to kill us. How can we possibly trust him?"

She shook her head as she smiled reassuringly at him. "Let me start off by saying you don't need to be jealous. Just because I find his attempts at flirtation more amusing than offensive, does not mean I am attracted to him. But also, I don't believe he was really trying to kill us."

Alistair looked down at her in shock. "What do you mean? He ambushed and attacked us!"

She nodded. "Yes, but any skilled assassin would make use of any weapon to get the job done, including poison. He didn't." She pulled up the bottom of her skirted armor to show a gash across her thigh. "If he had, I would have been dead already."

Alistair stopped dead, worry spilling through him at the sight of the blood on her thigh, even as logic told him the wound wasn't bad. "Why didn't you have Wynne heal that? How could you let him hit you if you thought his swords were poisoned?"

Ayla rolled her eyes as she let the skirt drop before tugging on his arm to get him moving again, waving away Wynne who had started forward to heal her. "As flattered as I am by your estimation of my skills, I didn't let him do anything. He got a blow in, fair and square. But he has a matching wound on his leg, so we're even. It's nothing but a scratch, not even worth bothering Wynne with. The point is, though, that even a scratch would have been enough if he'd poisoned his blade."

Alistair sighed, trying to calm himself down. As if he didn't have enough reason to worry about her fighting, now he was imagining what would happen if she was hit with a poisoned blade. "So maybe he just forgot, or maybe he's not that good of an assassin. It doesn't mean he wasn't trying to kill us."

Ayla shook her head. "I don't know for sure, of course, but I imagine by the way he spoke of those Crows that they're a fairly well-known assassin order, are they not?"

"Well, yes," Alistair admitted. "They're famous throughout Thedas as being the best assassin's guild. There's even talk that they run all of Antiva."

"So it's unlikely he'd be such a poor assassin that he'd forget to use poison. Besides that, you saw how skilled he was when he was fighting me, right?" When he nodded reluctantly, she continued, "But he made a very simple and obvious mistake that allowed me to knock him out. Otherwise, I cannot say for sure who would have won that battle."

Alistair frowned doubtfully. "So what are you saying? That he attacked us without any intention of killing us? How would he know that we would let him live? Even I didn't think we would have."

Ayla shrugged, watching Zevran as he walked at the head of the group. "I don't think he did know. It's possible he wanted to escape the Crows so badly that he didn't much care how it happened."

He didn't want to feel sympathy for the elf, but it seemed to be happening anyway. He wanted to feel nothing but dislike for Zevran, who had dared to flirt with Ayla – his Ayla. But unfortunately, he was starting to feel twinges of sympathy as he realized what she meant. "You think he would rather have been killed by us than stay with the Crows?"

"There are some things that are more frightening to a person than their own death," Ayla said quietly, her normally bright eyes shadowed.

He knew exactly what she meant. He would rather have died at Ostagar than lost Duncan, and the thought of losing her was becoming far more frightening than the thought of himself dying on the battlefield. With that thought in mind, he pulled her a little tighter to his side. If Zevran really was going to fight with them, that meant one more pair of swords that might keep Ayla from danger. "All right, I'll give him a chance. But if he betrays us . . ."

"Then he's dead," Ayla said simply. Casting a quick glance backwards and forwards to make sure that none of the others were nearby, she whispered to him, "Tonight at camp, you should come find me. I'll give you that reward."

Alistair went hard almost instantly, at the same time as he blushed. Did she mean what he thought she meant? He wasn't sure how far he was ready to go, but surely it wouldn't hurt to find out what she meant. "A-as you wish, my lady," he blurted out, just barely managing to keep his voice low.

She smiled at him and winked, and Alistair wished fervently that it was night time already. He looked away from her, trying to focus on the road ahead, and noticed Zevran glancing back at the two of them and winking. He scowled. He might be willing to give Zevran a chance, but he didn't think he could bring himself to trust or like the elf anytime soon. He wasn't quite sure whether he was more worried about the fact that the elf was an assassin, or that he clearly desired Ayla. But if he had anything to say about it, Zevran was not getting anywhere near her. He would make sure that the elf knew that if he ever tried flirting with Ayla again.