Chapter Seven

The girls met Evelyn at her estate. Shopping was the first item on the agenda. Truth be known, the Viscountess hated shopping, especially for clothes. But, between the four of them, they managed to make it a fairly enjoyable experience. Isabella would, of course, constantly suggest something way too revealing, while Aveline would call Isabella a whore and suggest something Evelyn thought was a bit matronly. Merrill managed to balance their comments and then Evelyn used her best judgment. By the time they were done with that task, Evelyn was very pleased with her purchases. Even though she was still getting comfortable with her new role, at least she would finally look the part.

The rest of the day was completely left up to the whim of the girls. Evelyn was far too busy being involved in planning for the city; she decided she'd leave the planning for today's activities up to them. She'd figured between the personalities involved, plans would work themselves out.

"Where to next, girls?"

Isabella gave a coy little grin, "That depends. I thought relieving a bit of tension at the Rose would do you some good, but Man Hands here thinks that getting out to the coast for a walk would be better. So, it's your call, I'm afraid."

Evelyn rolled her eyes, "Izzy, if I can't go to the Hanged Man, I highly doubt the Rose is any more acceptable."

Aveline puffed up a bit, "See, that's exactly what I said.

"You don't have to partake of all their delights. I just thought a massage, then a nice long bath would do you some good."

"I do appreciate it, but I'm going to have to agree with Aveline on this one. Let's go to the estate on our way out of town. I may not be able to carry my staff constantly anymore, but on my own time at the coast, it shouldn't be a problem." Evelyn secretly hoped they would be attacked by bandits, the Carta, slavers, a dragon, she'd even settle for a few angry spiders...anything. She thought about how good it would feel to be able to flex her mage muscles again. She also took the opportunity to change into her armor. For the first time in weeks she finally felt like herself again.

When she went back downstairs, Isabella was first to comment, "So, our Champion has returned, I see."

Evelyn chuckled, "She never really left. She's just gotten buried in paperwork and politics for awhile."

"Do you miss it?," Isabella asked as they walked out of the estate and made their way out of town.

"Constantly," Evelyn sighed, "but, being Viscountess is more important right now...besides, I think this will release far more tension for me that anything the Rose can provide."

"You obviously haven't sampled everything they have to offer," Isabella smirked, "Speaking of, it's been almost a month since you've assumed your new role. Don't you think it's about time you...get back on the horse, so to speak?"

Aveline gave Evelyn a sly grin, "From what I saw, she doesn't need any encouragement in that department."

Evelyn winced as Isabella and Merrill stopped dead in their tracks and turned to stare at her. Seeing her reaction, Isabella regained her composure, shook her finger accusingly, smiled and said, "You've been holding out when I have to hear it from her," as she cocked her head to Aveline.

Merrill chimed in just then, "Who is it, do we know him? That didn't take you very long, did it?"

Evelyn gave them an annoyed look, pushed past them and started walking again, "It's not like that. Aveline just happened to walk into my office at an unfortunate time, that's all."

The Guard-Captain continued to tease as the girls caught up to the Champion, "It didn't look unfortunate for you. The way you two were staring at each other...with your hand in his, I might add...I'm surprised that I haven't seen him at the Keep more often."

"He was only holding my hand because he was giving me...something," she didn't want to go into the details of the meeting.

"Looked like a phylactery to me," Aveline grinned.

Merrill's eyes got wide, "Oooohhh...is that how you managed to get Ander's phylactery? Then we must talking about a Templar?," she humphed, "Well, imagine that."

Isabella had a pretty good idea about whom they were speaking, but Aveline piped in first, "Not just any Templar, the Knight-Captain." And there was that damned annoying grin again.

Isabella continued her train of thought out loud, "Well, it's about damn time!"

Aveline nodded, "I'll say it is! Finally, something we can agree on."

Evelyn stopped again, "What do you mean, 'About time', what are you talking about."

Merrill looked at them curiously as well, "Yes, apparently I've missed something...again."

Isabella and Aveline gaped at Evelyn and Merrill. Isabella shook her head, "I can understand Merrill being clueless, but really Hawke, are you serious?"

Aveline smiled broadly, "Do you mean you've been so wrapped up with being Champion that you never noticed before?"

Evelyn was getting more frustrated by the minute, where were those damn spiders when she wanted target practice, anyway, "Noticed, what?!"

"The Knight-Captain has had a crush on you for awhile. I'm really surprised you didn't know before now."

Evelyn was a little surprised at the news, "He never said, and I hadn't realized. Are you sure? I mean, we've been friends for so long..."

"Well, he wouldn't have, would he? Cullen follows the code of chivalry. He wouldn't have said anything as long as you were someone else's. And especially if you were living with them. I guess he figures you're available now and he's waited long enough."

Isabella put her hands on Evelyn's shoulders, staring directly at her, "You want proof, think about this...who was the first person to stand between you and Meredith?"

Evelyn thought back to the events of that day. She bit her lip a little as realization dawned, "It was Cullen."

Isabella cocked an eyebrow and grinned, "He was willing to take on an entire regiment of Templars for you, and I doubt he even thought twice about it. If that doesn't prove anything, I don't know what does."

Just to drive home the point, Aveline asked, "And where was Anders during that time?"

Evelyn sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Behind me feeling sorry for himself," she muttered.

Aveline smiled, "Exactly. I don't know about you, but I know who the better man is right there."

Evelyn sighed and started walking again, "Well, that explains what happened in his office, then."

The other three girls looked at each other and hurried to catch up. Isabella was the first to speak, "What did he do? Since you were still in the dark, it couldn't have been something that obvious...or did he kiss you and you thought he was just being friendly?" The three girls laughed.

Evelyn looked at Isabella and winced, "Well..."

Isabella's eyes got wide, "By the Maker, that's it, isn't it? Are you really that daft? And he kissed you and you didn't think to say anything?"

Merrill clapped, clearly excited at the thought, "Ooohhh...what was it like, did it make your stomach do flip-flops?"

Evelyn grimaced, "No, again, not like that!...He didn't kiss me, exactly, he kissed my hand. That's all."

The other three slumped, clearly disappointed, then Merrill spoke up, "Well, that's something, isn't it?"

Isabella sighed, "Tell us exactly what happened, don't leave out any details. Maybe there's more to it than that."

Evelyn told them the entire story. Aveline smiled, "Well, it's obvious to me he's making his intentions known."

Evelyn regarded Aveline curiously, "Since when did you start giving out relationship advice?"

Aveline grinned at her, "Since when did you become so clueless? Not so easy when you're on that side of the fence, is it?"

Evelyn considered that, "Point taken." She thought about her and Cullen and shook her head, "It won't work, not right now, anyway. I'm going to have to keep my distance from him or else people will talk."

Isabella rolled her eyes, "Since when do you care what people think about you?"

Evelyn thought about the letter she'd sent to the Divine, "It's not that simple anymore. It could get very complicated very quickly."

"What's complicated? He's obviously attracted to you. If you're attracted to him, it seems simple enough to me," she stopped and thought about that, "How do you feel about him, anyway?"

"Honestly, I hadn't considered him that way before," she shrugged. She replayed the scene in his office in her head. She'd thought about him standing up to Meredith for her. She thought about his touch. Her stomach did a nervous back-flip.

"You're thinking about him that way now, though, aren't you?" Isabella commented when she saw Evelyn smile and her cheeks blush slightly.

Evelyn cleared her throat, "Whatever will come will have to wait. I need the support of the Templars right now and I don't want people to say I garnered it by sleeping with the Knight-Captain." Then, she thought about actually sleeping with the Knight-Captain. She briefly wondered what his body was like underneath his armor. She thought about being pressed up next to him. She blushed even more deeply.

Isabella gave her a knowing grin, "Well, that didn't take long."

Evelyn rolled her eyes, "Oh, hush. Crap! Now I won't be able to look at him without feeling like an idiot," she sighed and shook her head.

Aveline smiled at her, "If it makes you feel any better, we've all been there."

Evelyn smiled, it did make her feel a little better to know that no matter what, she could count on her friends to be there and to understand.

"Come on, let's go find some caves to explore. I'm itching to take out my frustrations on a few unsuspecting spiders."

The four of them laughed and made their way around the Coast.