Cullen stood, watching the Warden speak with the quartermaster. When the elven man started to walk back away, he fell into step beside him. "You said they."

Jerath looked up at Cullen. "Pardon?"

"When you came to help against the darkspawn." Cullen folded his arms. "It wasn't just Ruya facing Corypheus. You sent Morrigan to her side."

"Cullen, how much luck do you have ordering the Inquisitor anywhere?"

He laughed. "I see your point. It just suddenly occurred to me that in that valley, you were in the same situation I was. The woman you loved locked into battle with a monster, and you could not be at her side."

"She fell." Jerath's voice was quiet. "Had she not landed near Dorian, I would have lost her."

"Maker." Cullen looked up at where Ruya was talking to Cassandra. "At Haven, Ruya walked out to face that same dragon. I almost lost her then, and I was just barely beginning to understand what..." He folded his arms. "And it doesn't slow either of them down, does it?"

"Not even a heartbeat." Jerath shrugged. "Though I'd wager if you asked, they would say the same about us."

"Yes but..." Cullen sighed. "We're soldiers." The words came out of him weakly.

"I tried that argument once. Had to sleep outside for a week."

He folded his arms and shook his head. "I doubt it would work much better for me. She can seal rifts with a wave of her hand. And yours apparently can turn into a dragon."

"Yeah." Jerath leaned on the wall next to him. "We're pretty much doomed, aren't we?"

Cullen looked at him, and they both started to laugh.

#

Strong hands worked at the kinks in her shoulders, and she let out a contented sigh. "I think I will miss this most."

"I do know all the secret passages in the Grand Cathedral." Brehan kissed the side of her neck. "It will be fine, ma sa'lath. We'll be able to meet. Nice, public, approved meetings between the Divine and a visiting diplomat." He nibbled at her ear. "And both of us knowing you aren't actually wearing anything under your robes."

Leliana laughed. "Vhenan, you are a scandal waiting to happen."

"And have been since the day I met you, Your Perfection."

She turned, and wrapped her legs around him. "I leave in the morning."

"Then tonight matters." His lips found hers.

#

After the initial introduction, Jerath had sent most of his people, including Anders and Morrigan, back to their base. Ruya had then argued the point, and the rest of them were now stationed in the south tower. Dagna had moved her things there, but was still a fixture in the undercroft.

Leliana had gone to Val Royeaux. The rookery felt empty without her, but the transition was otherwise seamless. Brehan knew the job and people as well as Leliana did. Iron Bull was making a point of occasionally dragging the man to the tavern, for which Ruya was grateful. Though for a man whose world had been turned entirely upside down, Brehan appeared to be handling it well.

"News has traveled fast." Josephine waved her pen. "We've managed to keep the reemergence of Anders and the nature of some of the Warden's companions secret, but his return to life has ravens coming in from all over." She glanced over Ruya's shoulder to look at Jerath. "Empress Celene wants to meet you."

"Tell her she already has."

Ruya raised an eyebrow at him. "What does that mean?"

"Empress Celene's preferred tea is a rather heavy blend out of Rivain, and she takes it very lightly sweetened." He shrugged.

"You've served Celene tea?"

"Servants are invisible, especially when their ears are pointed. I stopped in to visit my wife and son regularly."

"I'm not sure telling her you sent Morrigan to her court as a spy would go over well. We have also received several ravens from the First Warden demanding you and your associates be sent to Weisshaupt immediately." Josephine looked down at a piece of parchment. "Sedated and under guard if necessary."

"Tell him to send an envoy and we'll arrange a meeting." Ruya gestured casually with one hand.

"I did. He said the last envoy he sent to speak with Jerath never returned."

She turned to stare at Jerath, who shrugged. "The last envoy was a man named Habren. I refuse to take responsibility for the man's inability to swim in full armor."

Brehan rubbed his forehead, then glanced at Ruya. "The last information we have on Senior Warden Habren said he got on a ship in Amaranthine. He was not on the ship when it arrived in Tallo." He sighed. "One mystery solved. Jerath, as spymaster of the Inquisition, I must ask that in the future, you inform me when you kill people."

"As leader of the Inquisition, I must ask that you both stop killing people." Ruya leaned on the table. "At least without the approval of myself or Commander Cullen." She took a deep breath. "And now I want an honest answer. Why have you chosen to join the Inquisition?"

"Mythal asked me to."

"Maker, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I would have preferred a different answer." Ruya closed her eyes, then reopened them. "Did she at least give a hint as to why?"

"Corypheus is not all that stirred the void." He shrugged. "In her defense, portents do have a tendency to be vague. And there are other reasons."

"Other reasons?" Ruya raised an eyebrow at him.

"I like the work you are doing here."

#

"We have a few reports of remaining pockets of red templars, and some lingering fade rifts." Brehan pointed at the map. "And the Dalish have issued a formal request to study the ruins of the Temple of Mythal."

"Our Orlesian and Ferelden allies have returned to their homes, but the Inquisition's forces remain available. Griffin Wing Keep has reported a few sporadic sightings of darkspawn stragglers." Cullen set a piece of parchment on the war table. "The majority of the mages are reforming into the College of Enchanters, per Lel... Divine Victoria's edict. However, the mages that have been joining our fighting forces most often have elected to stay, along with their templar cohorts. We will be able to keep those units intact. There are some promotions and other acknowledgments that will need to be handed out."

"I'm glad to hear that. Perhaps Josephine would be so kind as to arrange some sort of celebration. In the meantime, Cullen, you should arrange for more permanent accommodations in the valley for the soldiers." Ruya rolled her neck from side to side. "Brehan, work with Josephine on setting up some kind of joint study group with Dalish and the Orlesian scholars."

"Well, that should be fun."

#

Loghain examined the item Dagna handed him. "It's a jar. Full of bees."

"Yep. They are dormant until the jar gets broken, then the chemical inside wakes them and makes them mad. The other chemical gets all over whoever you threw it at, and makes the bees attack them."

"Dagna."

"Yes?"

"Under absolutely no circumstances is Warden Commander Jerath to be informed of the existence of this particular item."

"Oh, Sera already discussed 'put a bunch of them into a trebuchet' idea. With a bigger jar the bees don't stay dormant, and with a lot of little jars you don't get enough splash for a really big swarm. So we are working on making the bees fire-resistant so we can have them be on fire." Dagna smiled dreamily. "Sera has so many wonderful ideas."

#

Ruya walked up to the tavern, and heard laughter inside. She came in to find a card game going. The recently arrived Sigrun was apparently telling a story. "...and compensation for his eaten horse, and then it's like he just takes a look around and suddenly realizes that he's in Ferelden, in the middle of Vigil's Keep, and he's trying to use his Orlesian rank to intimidate Loghain Mac Tir."

Sera cackled. "Bet that didn't go well."

"King Alistair had made some noise about diplomacy, so we are trying to be nice. The Warden grabs Loghain, Nathaniel, and I and we go to check on the information. We come around to where he said the army of ogres was, and find a two qunari."

Iron Bull raised an eyebrow. "Qunari?"

"Yep. It looked like it was going to get really awkward for a minute, and then the Warden introduced himself. They called him a besalted."

"Basalit'an."

"And said they were looking for some talbishops..."

"Tal'Vashoth."

"Who killed a rasinfrans."

"Tamassran."

"And her karyims."

"Imekari."

"And since killing kids is so very not okay, we helped with the whole 'hunt down and make dead' thing. We get to talking on the way back, and decided hey, if you are viewing from a distance and are very Orlesian, ogres, qunari, yeah, understandable mistake. So we figure we'll set the guy up with a boat ride back, if for no reason than to get him the hell out of Ferelden. Then we spot the cave."

Nathaniel put his head on the table and groaned. "Can we skip this part?"

"And Nathaniel unslings his bow and tells us to go on ahead, he'll take care of the bear. Loghain asks if he's sure, and Nathaniel just rolls his eyes and says 'I think I can handle one little bear.' So he goes sauntering in all 'look at me I'm a badass', and we start walking. And then we hear him shout, and he comes tearing out of the cave." Sigrun took a drink. "And throws himself behind a rock just as there is this great gout of fire."

"You're shitting me."

"Loghain and Jerath just look at each other, and Jerath says 'I think he's got this', and Loghain nods and says 'it's just one little bear,' and they started walking away." Sigrun took another drink as laughter greeted her words. "Nathaniel is just staring after them with his jaw around his knees as this dragon starts coming out of the cave. He starts yelling his head off and trying to dodge more fire. And Jerath comes back in from the side, jumps up on the dragon, and sticks a sword in its brain. It starts spasming, and he rolls clear. It keels over, and he looks at Nathaniel and says 'seriously, you couldn't handle one bear?'"

"No." Iron Bull shook his head. "No way that happened."

Sigrun held up her hand. "Heart to Stone, I was there. Nathaniel starts yelling about it not being bear, and Loghain comes over, looks at it, and says 'maybe it had mange.'"

"And Sigrun says 'you wouldn't be impugning the word of a baron now, would you?'" Nathaniel's voice was slightly muffled by his arms.

"He didn't talk to any of us the whole rest of the way back. We get to the Vigil and discover that Baron Poncypants is still having tantrums, whining about knife-ears and doglords. Jerath waves it over to Loghain, who just sighs and says, 'in the interest of diplomacy, we are willing to give you a new horse. And a half hour head start.' The Baron lights out of there like his ass was on fire. Keenan just sighed, and says 'I think sending him back may be the worst thing you could do to my country.' And Loghain smiles and says, 'that was rather the point.'" Sigrun finished her drink. "I wonder if Arlange ever did make it back."

Varric chocked. "Wait, that was Baron Arlange?"

"You know him?"

"Do I have a story for you..."

#

Dagna and Sera were giggling together. Jerath smiled. "Whatever you two are planning, I'm not sure the world is ready."

"Dragon-chariots," Sera announced. "On fire."

"I'm going to need you to get me some baby dragons." Dagna waved a piece of parchment. "Just girls, they are going to need to be able to grow wings."

"Clear it with the Inquisitor first."

Both of them immediately looked crestfallen. Dagna actually batted her eyes. "But I need a prototype before I can fully present the idea." She held out the sketch. "See, they drop pies and..." She sighed. "You were more fun when you were the one in charge." She stalked back to her workbench.

"Sera?"

Sera blinked, and turned back towards him. "What?"

"Just a friendly warning. Dagna is part of my family. If you aren't serious, make sure she understands that."

"I..." Sera glanced back at Dagna, then at Jerath. "I don't know yet."

"Good answer." He inclined his head to her, and left the undercroft.

#

He made it about four steps before Iron Bull snaked out an arm and yanked him back. "Where do you think you're going?"

Dorian laughed, and then stood up on tip toe to kiss him. "I was thinking of getting a drink."

Iron Bull held up a bottle. "Got one."

"I was..."

"Worrying." Iron Bull pulled him into the room. "About Tevinter."

"Yes." Dorian sighed, and sat on the bed. "I am going to have to go back. Not forever..." He shook his head. "At least I hope not."

"I could go with you."

His heart beat faster. "As much as that is appreciated..." He swallowed. "You really couldn't. But it won't be tonight."

"Nah." Iron Bull grinned. "You're not going anywhere tonight."

#

"I hope I'm interrupting something."

Ruya turned and glared. "Varric." She felt the tips of her ears turning red, and saw Cullen's cheeks doing the same thing. "I trust you've heard of knocking."

"Oh, I've heard of it." He grinned. "I was just coming by to let you know I'm leaving in a couple days to head back to Kirkwall."

"We are going to miss you, Varric."

"We'll have time for some more Wicked Grace before I go. Joining us, Curly?"

"No, thank you."

#

"The Dalish have provided a map noting some rifts in out of the way locations in the Exalted Plains."

Ruya nodded to Brehan. "I'll assemble a team and head out. What else?"

"Several more requests for your presence at various functions. Dorian sent word ahead, he should be back within the week."

"I'll leave Iron Bull here then." Ruya smiled, and then turned to Cullen. "How are our soldiers?"

"We've dealt with the bandits preying on the shipments out of Emprise du Lion." He set a stack of papers. "Warden Commander Jerath has also sent a report on his Deep Roads activities." He sighed.

"And?"

"It was four words. 'Found darkspawn, killed them'." Cullen sighed. "At least the maps from the..." He glanced down at a collection of scrolls. "Messenger are useful. If they keep this up, we may end up with a complete map of the complex beneath Orlais. There are several warrens marked, two near mining complexes. Jerath has requested a resupply before he deals with them."

"Get him what he needs, and ask him if he's sure he doesn't need more soldiers."

"I did. I got a message back telling me I could send him as many 'immune to the taint as the Inquisition has available, assuming Brehan isn't otherwise occupied and still remembers how to Warden.'" Cullen glanced across the table and smiled. "I took the liberty of responding on your behalf. I believe I spelled 'emma shem'nan' correctly."

"Appreciate it."

"On another note, Ferelden is..." Josephine sighed. "There are some issues regarding Inquisition forces remaining on Ferelden soil. Eamon in particular has been agitating regarding 'foreign forces'. Warden-Commander Saitada has also pointed out that since Corypheus is dead, there is no need to continue stationing Inquisition soldiers at Vigil's Keep."

"Brehan?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much help I can provide on the matter, Inquisitor. As I have officially joined the Inquisition and taken the role of spymaster, I am no longer considered a member of the Grey Wardens. And while Alistair and Cathiel remain personal friends, politically I am considered foreign."

"What about Jerath? He's from Denerim."

"And very much not in Cathiel's good graces at the moment. Saitada is also still angry with him. The fact that he chose to trust Loghain and not the two of them is..." Brehan sighed.

"He's not back in your good graces yet either?"

"No. He is not." Brehan shook his head.

Ruya sighed. "Do we have any staunch allies in Ferelden?"

Josephine nodded. "Surprisingly, we do. Bann Shianni, Keeper Lanaya, and Teyrna Anora remain our allies, though as the Teyrna herself pointed out, their support may be part of what is inspiring Eamon to agitate against us. The Teyrna has assured us she will continue to offer us aid and we are welcome in her lands, but she worries her voice on our behalf would do more harm than good."

"And she has enough trouble due to being an ally of the elves," Brehan added.

"What about our people in the Free Marches?"

"Most are occupied with assisting Varric now that the Venatori are no longer a threat. Kirkwall is having a problem with slavers. Our people have been doing what they can."

"There are still a lot of messes to clean up. That's all any of us can do." Ruya took a breath. "Let's get to work."