Prologue

It was just after lunch in late Harvestmere, 9:44 Dragon, and Marnie and Alistair were moving to their new home, a horse farm in the Arling of Redcliffe. Moving meant opening crates, long-stored away that were now stacked at the far end of the bedroom.

Marnie had a hand on her hip looking out over a small sea of crates. She was wearing an old tunic and britches with her black hair held back in a ponytail. "Well, it's time to decide what to keep, what to give away, and what to burn."

Alistair came up from behind and put his arms around her waist, laying his chin on her shoulder. "Ah, but who knows what treasures may be hidden inside?"

Marnie grinned. "Anything is possible. I barely remember packing them. It is amazing though how much stuff we had at the estate. Let's start with the ones closest to the desk and work towards the window. These first crates were the last boxes to come out of storage, so they were probably among the first to go in. Lily is in school for the afternoon so, let's get to it."

Alistair lightly kissed her shoulder. "I'm ready when you are, my love."

Marnie labeled three empty crates "Keep", "Give away", and "Burn".

From the first crate Marnie pulled out a shawl that was a particularly horrid shade of orange. She held it like it was a dead rat. "Maker, where did this come from? I never wore that." She looked at Alistair. "Did I?"

"No, Love. In fact, I doubt you've ever seen it before. That was the Shawl of Shame, worn by the first person at my groomsman party to throw up. He had to wear it for the rest of the night, and at the wedding."

"I don't remember seeing …wait…didn't I mention how bulky Sebastian's doublet looked?"

Alistair nodded, laughing. "He wore it under his doublet. When Varric protested, Seb said that we never specified that it had to be worn over our clothes. Sebastian had it cleaned and gave it to me as a keepsake."

Smiling, she carefully refolded it and put it in the Keep crate.

It was mid-afternoon when Marnie held up a packet of parchment. "Oh! Ali look!"

"Our journals? From when?"

She leafed through them. "These are from first few years after we married."

"Are there more?"

Marnie grinned and nodded. "Yes, all of our Kirkwall journals, and it looks like a few later ones."

Alistair got up and sat behind his wife, who leaned back against him. He put his arms around her. "Lily won't be back for another hour. Let's have a read."

"Ali, I love that you like reading these to each other."

"And I love you. So, where do we start?"

"How about our first anniversary?"

Alistair grinned. "Unless you are more graphic in your journaling than I am, they will be rather short entries. But a good place to start."

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AN: And here too, is the official start to 13 years. Many thanks to ElyssaCousland for her Beta skills. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.