Suspicious
"I assure you, Sister Leliana, the girl has no magic." Solas reclined in his chair, considering the spymaster. "You can ask any of the mages. She shows no signs and has no symptoms of mana buildup."
The redhead began to pace in front of his desk. "Then how did she get here?"
"We know magic must be involved. The specifics, however, are not clear."
"It can't have been a rift… could it? Surely we would know if one had opened so close to Skyhold. And Evelyn would have needed to close it."
"That is correct."
Leliana sighed. "Thank you, Solas."
§
Metal clanged against wood. Cassandra paused in her attack, catching her breath long enough to speak. "We've been over this. I have sensed no lyrium in the girl's veins."
"Yes, but how often are you around Cherry?"
"Not that often, I'll admit." The Seeker struck out with her sword again, catching the dummy on its neck. A sneer curled her lip as she glanced at Leliana. "And stop using the dwarf's ridiculous nickname."
"As soon as you stop referring to Varric as 'the dwarf', I will." Blue eyes danced with mirth. "You can't stay angry with him forever, you know."
§
"Cherry? Well… I don't know. She don't talk much."
"Kinda keeps to herself, yeah? Quiet."
"She talks funny. I think she's strange. I heard tell they found her out in the snow, raving like a lunatic."
"Cabot likes her. Maybe because she doesn't throw herself at every man that walks through the door, Katherine!"
From a room in the back, muffled: "I heard that!"
"He does let her run the bar when he takes a night off. Not often, mind. She knows her way around back there, though."
Sister Nightingale thanked the tavern serving girls before sending them all away.
§
Master Dennet was tending to Scout Harding's mount when she found him in the barn. He greeted her with a nod of his bald head.
"You are familiar with Cherry?"
The question gave him pause. "Who?"
"Brown eyes, freckles, and speaks with an accent. She is… fond… of alcohol and works under Cabot at the tavern."
"Oh, her," the old horsemaster said. "I should've known you would be around. Well, I'm afraid I have nothing to tell you, Sister. The girl visits the horses once in a while. Takes comfort in them, I think. We don't exactly talk."
"I see."
§
"What do you have for me?" Leliana was straight to the point as the qunari mercenary strode up the stairs to the rookery.
Bull came prepared. He let a written report fall to the spymaster's desk as he said, "She's still a liar. Tried to tell me she knew a tal-vashoth family once, picked up some words and phrases from them."
"Did you determine her fluency?"
"Yeah, she at least told the truth about that." He shrugged. "Basic shit. Can't speak in complete sentences. It's almost like she spent time around the antaam. She knows a lot of military terms."
to be continued...
2016.09.25: IMPORTANT: There are currently five reviews on this story, but I am unable to read them. Hopefully FFN corrects the issue soon. I just didn't want anyone to think I was ignoring them or that I don't appreciate you guys taking the time to leave reviews. Nothing could be further from the truth! Receiving a review, even if it's just a simple message, always makes my day. :)
I probably won't be able to post a new chapter tomorrow. Expect another in roughly two days.