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Onwards and upwards, and then eventually downwards into Orzammar. Thank you all for sticking with me and reading! : )

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Blessings!

Kai and her group made their way at first light. As Shale and Sten did not ride; and Oghren only rode when seated in front of someone else, the trip took longer than it would have had Kai chosen other companions. To her mind, the delay was worth the time spent, and it gave Anders a chance to learn to ride. Not necessarily well, but he did manage to stay on the ceffyl provided for him...after a fashion.

After weighing the dangers of recognition, (less likely now that Leliana's talents as a bard, had provided Kai with a thick powder to cover the tattoos on her face while at the Dalish camp. Leliana being Keiron's back up had returned to Denerim with the promise that once she saw to Keiron, she would meet up with them in Orzammar) and being able to travel more quickly by way of the Imperial Highway, Kai opted for the road. Their story, should they need one, would be that of a group of strangers traveling together for safety to various places in Ferelden.

Sten and the scath were a group of soldiers for hire so they remained in their armor with their weapons visible at all times. The rest were in civilian clothes with weapons hidden about their persons, or in the case of the mages their usual robes. Oghren wore his ugly hat, Kai suspected the dwarf of really loving the ostentatious straw monstrosity. The control rod for his "pet" golem clutched in one hand, the beard flask in the other. Shale played her part well, if not with a bit of sighing, or punching one stone fist into a stone hand upon occasion when Oghren would "order" her to do something under the pretense of "practicing."

Kai and Zevran were kitted out as a farmholder and her servant making their way to Rainesfere to trade for apple tree saplings to start an orchard at the farmstead, with Argus the family pet in tow. Wynne and Anders were mages on their way to Orzammar to negotiate more lyrium shipments on behalf of the Tower.

Before entering Gherlen's pass heading towards Orzammar, they made a brief stop in Rainesfere at Watersedge. Kai and Zevran would changes disguises and leave the farmholder and servant there. They would also be leaving the Ceffyls boarded at the stable there until Kai's scath, on their way back to Highever picked them up to return them to her childhood home and until such time as Kai sent word by procul globe that their mission (whatever that was going to be) was complete.

They separated into their groups, staggering their leaving from Watersedge with the agreement to meet in the pass at the first dwarven statue along the route.

Oghren and Shale left first, Oghren's legs being shorter and all. Sten and the scath left hours later. Kai, Zevran, Anders, and Wynne all stayed overnight at the Hunter's Horn, leaving the next day.

Wynne and Anders left at dawn, with much grumbling by Anders, and many acerbic comments by Wynne at his expense. They sat together at breakfast acting very much like companions who had met on the road. With the meal finished Wynne and Anders departed leaving Kai, Zevran, and Argus sitting at the table sipping breakfast tea before they made their way to the bedroom and gather their things.

Kai had, along with her companions, spent the night before listening in to conversations around the common room during the inn's evening meal. While many conversations revolved around farming or fishing issues, it was the dwarven and human merchant conversations that had borne the most fruit. The whispers of something being amiss echoed around the room according to her companions who had sat at various tables around the room. Rumors of foreign "cloud heads" walking in Orzammar and the topside marketplace, even the very palace itself. And the king, who, after his crowning walked amongst them as a "man of the people", had taken to sequestering himself in the palace, accepting no visitors except those strange foreigners. Then there was the group of dwarven engineers who had gone into the Deep Roads with these sun-touched interlopers and they hadn't been seen since. The dark and sordid thread to all the murmurings which caught Kai's attention even more...many of the strangers appeared to be mages.

It wasn't so much the fact that mages were involved (which was disturbing enough) but that the magic immune, and normally stoic (or drunken), dwarves's demeanors and voices held something Kai had never heard before, not even during the Blight...fear. They had been fighting darkspawn for centuries, but this was something they did not know how to fight as they didn't know what they were supposed to be fighting. And neither did she but she intended to find out.

She and Zev grabbed their packs, giving the room a look over before slipping out and securing the door. Kai found herself absent-mindedly rubbing the scar on her wrist that made its way partly up the forearm where the glass shard she had used, oh so long ago in this very room, sliced the flesh creating the scar in her grief after the fall of Highever. Zevran caught her motion and gently took the marred wrist, putting it to his lips before giving her a loving smile and moving those lips to cover hers. "Shall we, mi amada?" Kai nodded and they walked down the hallway, Argus following behind them.

Walking back, they made their way to the common room and the bar, where Basil, owner of the Horn (well part owner, his wife Prunella being the not so silent partner) stood in his usual place behind the thick, scarred, oaken counter. Even after three years, going on four, he was still a thin, tall bean pole of a man. His thin brunette hair had receded more, like the tide going out on the ocean; but he looked the same, including the harried expression he always seemed to wear.

"BAS-SIL!" A sharp female voice screeched from behind the bar coming from the direction of the kitchen. The grating sound of the vocalizations only made his beset upon look understandable. He flashed an apologetic simpering smile at Kai and Zev before ducking into the kitchen. There was the sound of raised voices, one like fingernails on slate.

"She is quite the...prize, no?" Zev grinned, cocking his head in the direction of the doorway Basil had walked through.

"Oh yes, and she has only improved with age. Though I am sure that the barkeep would be happy to let you have her, prize as you call her, that she is." Kai smiled sweetly, while raising an eyebrow.

Louder shouting came from the kitchen before a thin, frizzy brown haired woman sailed out from behind the bar and started making her way around the tables where guests were seated chatting with them. Zevran's amber eyes followed the innkeeper for a moment before turning back to Kai. He started to say something but was interrupted by a horrid, loud, and repetitive noise that made everyone in the common room wince. Kai barely kept herself from covering her ears with her hands. "Ah, my lovely wife with a laugh like a bull seal in the rutting season." Basil stood behind them, once again in position at the bar. "I do apologize. Are you ready to turn in the key?"

Kai suppressed a chuckle as Zevran slapped the key down on the counter with lightening fast speed as Prunella's guffaw behind him turned into a languid, "Oh, I kno-ow!" The end of her words going up a decibel.

"And I have to live with that." the barkeep intoned dryly out of the corner of his mouth while rolling his eyes.

"Yes, well, good luck my friend." Zevran cast one more look behind him at Prunella.

"Hah! Luck, if I had any luck at all, I would have stayed single." When his wife turned her gorgon's gaze their way, he plastered on his simpering smile, while waving one hand at his wife, "Hello, dearest!" His voice deceptively chipper. Kai, with her fingers, covered her curving lips to seal in the laugh threatening to bubble out of her throat.

Staying true to their cover story, Kai asked for directions to the Appleford Family Orchards in Rainesfere, before leaving the inn and making their way back to the Imperial Highway. Walking along the raised white granite stone road reminded Kai of her travels with not only her companions during the Blight, but with Duncan as they had traveled on their way to Orzammar at the time.

It struck her as their footsteps echoed on the stones of the road, that pretending to be apple merchants and setting up a a stall outside Orzammar might be a good way to test the waters before entering the city itself. It would hold up their meeting with the others, but she felt it worth the minor delay it would cause.

After a brief discussion with Zev and Argus on the matter, she relayed her intentions via the procul globe that Rajed carried. She knew that between Rajed and Gnat the others would be informed. And they continued on their way to the apple farm.

As it turned out, the Appleford orchard could be reached using Gherlen's pass. A few miles in the pass had a stone bridge over a river that flowed into Lake Calenhad. Leaving the pass and following the river lead to a beautiful plot of land nestled in a valley at the foothills of the Frostback Mountains. The view was breath taking with the green grass dotted with wildflowers, like jeweled beads on a silken blanket. A sturdy wooden and stone house nestled in its verdant lawn, while rows upon rows of rustling apple trees stretched out behind it. There were various small wooden huts interspersed amongst the trees. And one large stone and wooden barn sat a little to the left and behind the house. With the Frostback Mountains as a backdrop and the crystal clear waters of the river running through it... "Appleford, pretty as a painting?" Ali's voice teased in her ear. Like Lothering? Ha, very ha! But also very true, mi gra. Kai gave him a mental smile.

The track they followed from the pass forked off to the orchard, while the other leg led right the to the doorway of the home. Smoked came from the chimney and a long haired, sharp nosed dog lay sleeping in the dirt by the door. The dog, some mix of unknown parentage, raised its head at their approach and immediately rose to stand by the door barking. As it didn't growl, snarl, or raise its hackles, Kai (and Argus) took it as sounding the alert that someone approached rather than open aggression.

The heavy wooden door opened and a woman in her thirties, opened the door. Her long blond hair was pulled back from her face leaving the rest to fall in cascading waves down to her rounded pregnant belly. She wiped her flour covered hands on her apron while keeping an eye on them and speaking to the dog out of the side of her mouth.

The dog immediately ceased its barking, looking at its mistress and with wag of a fluffy tail it lay back down next to the door. The woman gave the dog praise before turning her smiling face towards them and walking forward. "Hail, and welcome to Appleford orchards! I am Ciere Appleford and I would offer to shake hands, but as you can see I have them in a bit of a mess at the moment. How may I assist? We have apple bread, apple pies, spiced apple cakes, and apple scones which I and my mother make. Then we have hard and soft ciders, Apple Jack, and apple mead which my husband and our children make. And of course we have apples for sale."

Kai smiled back, "Hail, I am Rhedyn. I am here with my servant..."

"Taliesin, or Tal for short, and this is her dog Rabbit." Zev waved a hand at Argus. "I promise Rabbit will behave with your dog."

Ciere nodded and smiled at both Zev and Argus, "He is a handsome mabari. May I offer you some refreshment? Cider perhaps?" She motioned them to a wooden table set by the river near the first row of trees. "Please, have a seat and I will be right back."

They walked across the soft grass and sat down on the dark wooden benches in the dappled light of the apple trees, while Argus lay down in the grass with a grunt of expelled air. "Taliesin for your cover name Zev? Really?" Kai cocked an eyebrow at him.

Zevran grinned, "Well, I figured he could serve a purpose in death, no? And you did ask me to create a name at the last moment without warning, mi cielo. Oh excuse me, Rhedyn."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I thought it might be best if we don't reveal our true names. Not at least until we get a feel for how they feel about what is going on with Anora. I'm hoping we may hear from them more about the dwarves since they live closer to Orzammar."

"A very cunning idea." He grinned at her, his hand reaching across the table to cover hers briefly as Ciere exited the house with a tray laden with a pitcher, mugs, and a plate of what looked like slices of pie, with steam rising from them.

When she set the tray down, Kai noticed a smaller pitcher of cream, the contents of which, Ciere applied to the slices of pie before she set them before Kai and Zev. She handed them forks made of wood and set the mugs down, pouring what looked like cider into their depths. "There we are. Now, are you here to harvest apples? We charge five silvers a peck, or twenty silver for four pecks which equals a bushel. You pay less if you gather more."

"We do wish to pick apples." Kai opened the money pouch and placed forty-two silver on the table, two for the pie and ciders, and the rest for two bushels.

Ciere took the money with a smile and a nod, "Well then, when you have finished your pie I will take you out to the orchards where my husband the workers and our children are."

They sat in companionable silence while Kai and Zev finished up the pie washing it down with the cider. Ciere, when they were finished, walked them to the barn where she grabbed empty burlap sacks piling them into a wooden wheelbarrow, motioning them to follow her. She led them down a thin dirt track made by wagon wheels that went between the trees. She stopped when they reached a section of the orchard with a wooden wagon harnessed to two big Bay colored work horses who stood dozing in the shade. They could hear the cheerful calls and conversation of people as they stood on ladders or used hooks on long sticks to reach apples. Children, both elven and human grabbed the fruit as it fell to the ground gathering it into baskets which they placed into the back of the wagon when full, grabbing an empty basket on the way back.

Ciere called to one man on a ladder, who quickly climbed down to greet her with a sound kiss and a hand on her rounded belly. "I hope that is her husband, or her spouse is going to be sorely surprised." Zev's voice teased.

Kai grinned at him as Ciere turned towards them and blushing, introduced her husband, Branan. Kai felt like a fist had hit her in the guts. She recognized that name, "Branan?" The man smiled and nodded. "You wouldn't happen to be named for a relative, say a grandfather, by any chance?"

Kai watched both Ciere's and his faces adopt a confused look. "My husband was named for his grandfather, who stood up to the Orlesians when they first came to take over Ferelden. Why do you ask?" Ciere wrapped her arm around her husband's waist.

"I found a note, from a Branan who hailed from Rainesfere. He grew apples. It said he refused to swear fealty and so they burned the trees and his home." Kai waved an hand to encompass the trees and the house and barn no longer visible from their vantage point.

"Aye, my grandfather refused and those dogs burned our trees and our ancestral home." Branan hugged his wife to his side, "When they came again, still he refused. They clapped him in irons and took him away, never to be seen again. But not all of the trees that were burned died. Those that didn't, well my grandmother, heavily pregnant with my da at the time, grafted those that lived and rebuilt. The Orlesians must have thought they destroyed this place as they never returned. We have a tombstone for him, just over there at the edge of the orchard, my grandmother and father are buried there as well." Branan raised his eyebrows at Kai, "May I ask, where did you find his note?"

Kai gave an apologetic smile, "I found the note in the basement of the castle of Redcliffe. The note also said that I should go to Rainesfere and say his name, tell his family even if you were all gone from this place, that he had died and you would hear. I like to think that he knows from the Fade that you all prosper now."

Branan looked to his wife and smiled at her before turning that grin on Kai. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. If you can call what we are doing is prospering, it would seem that we are suffering under a similar, if not worse circumstance with our current Queen."

"Husband!" Ciere's face took on a look of panic. "My husband doesn't mean that."

"I certainly do! If my grandfather was willing to die for Ferelden, then can I do less? Even if it is one of our own who is the enemy now?" Branan shook his head at his wife. "If these people are spies for that crazed regent who sits on a throne she should not have been given, well then, so be it. But I will speak my mind, Anora is insane and she would be the ruin of our country if not for the Silver Griffin."

Ciere's face paled, "You speak of this Griffin fellow, but I am frightened husband. People who speak against Anora, or in praise of this Griffin, disappear the way your grandfather did never to be seen again. I have no wish to re-enact family history."

"Now my beloved, you have not traveled with me since the babe has grown larger. I hear what you do not about the Silver Griffin. From Finian at The Spoiled Princess, to Basil at the Hunter's Horn; all of them speak of the work being done to save our country while that petty little tyrant continues to ignore and punish the people of Ferelden. And now the dwarves are beset with mysterious troubles." Branan ran a hand through his hair. "We must all do what we can, the Griffin should not do it alone, not even the Hero of Ferelden saved us by herself. We can do no less for our latest hero."

"Well, mi quierda, I think you have some of the answers you sought, no?" Zevran cocked an eyebrow at Kai.

"So it would seem." Kai grinned at him before taking a pewter medallion out of her pouch and flipping it to Branan who reached out and caught it mid-air. She watched his eyes get wide as he looked at one side then the other of the embossed metal disc.

He handed it to Ciere who ran her fingers on one side then the other before handing it back to him. He held it up with the griffin side facing Kai and Zev. "You know the Griffin then? You work for him?"

"You could say that." Kai smiled.

"And this, what does this mean?" Branan flipped the medallion over to show the three crescent moons of the Scath.

"That is the symbol for a special group of people who help the Griffin in a more, 'official' capacity, shall we say?" Zevran winked at Branan.

Branan grinned. "I have heard whispers of a group of people, like a flock of ravens that took out a group of Tevinter sneak thieves who came to cut down the forest and disappeared into the mist. Or when I was delivering to Cyril at The Gnawed Noble there was talk of a group of shades that made a whole contingent of the city guard to vanish as if they never existed. Monies show up in towns for repairs, or aid. Trade routes have been re-established, rebuilding of towns, like Lothering, have been aided. And it has all been done by this Griffin and his shadows that accomplish what Anora should and is not."

"Their reputation precedes them. They gather information, and protect, when needed. And my friend and I are here because of that information. A dying dwarf gave information that something was going on in Orzammar. Unfortunately, he was delirious and the information was sketchy. We are hoping to pose as merchants and sell apples in the market outside of Orzammar before venturing into the city itself." Kai wave a hand at the apples that sat red and bright in their wooden baskets.

"Well, your timing is impeccable my friend. I believe we can help you with your mission. We were filling the wagon to do just that, and we have a stall there." Branan grinned, "My grandmother always said be careful what you ask the Maker for, you might just get it. Well, I have been wanting to help the Griffin and my country, and it looks as though the Maker has answered my prayers."