"I can't believe you."

"I've only known him about two months, and I believe it." Caleb snickered.

Duncan stared at Loghain. "What if we had decided to fight it out?"

"Well, then I improved your odds by taking one of them out of the battle." Loghain shrugged.

"Explain yourself." Salla folded her arms.

"I saw an opportunity to further my education by gaining the benefit of experience." Loghain grinned. "And you wouldn't believe what I -"

She held up a hand. "I changed my mind." Salla shook her head. "Stop talking."

"You remember the part where you are married?" Duncan glared.

"Well, yes. Your sister is rather unforgettable."

"Asshole."

Caleb frowned. "Duncan, if you have a problem with him, why not say something to your sister?"

Loghain laughed. Duncan rubbed his forehead. Next to him, Jerath actually smiled. "He did."

"Yes, and that was the day you utterly failed me as a bodyguard."

Jerath shook his head. "I handle demons, dragons, Orlesians, and assassins. When it comes to your little sister..." Jerath shrugged. "You're on your own."

Salla glanced over at where Loghain was making no effort to conceal his amusement. "Someone want to let the rest of us in on the joke?"

His smile only widened. "Let's just go with 'Duncan was not the one that inherited the Therin boots of ass-kicking'."

She shook her head, and glanced over at where Melavan was having about as much luck admonishing Alai. Noamin spoke up from where he was quietly observing. "What kind of woman did you marry?"

"Fereldan." Loghain smiled.

#

Leandra moved through the form Delaon showed her, switching out her normal sword for a spear with a slightly curved blade. The form was designed to be defensive, to hold an attacker at bay until they wore down and provided an opportunity to perform a counter strike. "This is designed for a staff?"

He nodded. "For a mage to defend themselves in a situation in which magic is in appropriate, or for when their magic is spent." He moved over to Gavren, correcting his footwork.

"Seems like it would work well enough for an axe." She shifted, switching to one of the more aggressive forms her father had taught.

Delaon gave her a surprised look. "You have already studied the rushing waters?"

She blinked, and stepped out of the form. "No, that's something my father..." She nodded. "My father is Carver Hawke. He trained with The Warden."

"I've heard of the man." Delaon gave her a respectful nod. "Your mother is Mythal's high priestess, yes?"

"Well..." Leandra furrowed her brow. "I'm not sure they'd put it that way. Apprentice and friend, maybe."

"Still, an impressive lineage." He raised an eyebrow. "But you do not have magic?"

"No. I take after my father." Leandra shrugged. "Right down to being human."

"The past few years have shown me that we may have judged the shemlen too harshly. Another lesson learned too late." Delaon gestured with his own spear, and began demonstrating another form.

#

Agatha gave Jerath an appraising look. "You look good in elven style armor, but why wear it for drills?"

He shrugged. "It moves a bit different than I am used to. Need to settle it in, get used to it. Ideal is to avoid a hit, but that's not always an option. So I need to know where I can take one without it bogging me down."

She moved in to assist as he began removing the armor. His tunic came up slightly, and she saw a scar on his side. She touched it lightly. "What's this one from?"

"Qunari spear. First time fighting them, didn't realize how long a reach they had." He set the breastplate on the stand.

"And this one?" She touched one on his bicep.

"Arrow, during a skirmish on the Orlesian border."

Her fingers went up to the one on his shoulder. "And this one?"

"Fork, during a state dinner."

"What?" She couldn't quite stop herself from smiling.

"Assassins attacked. Lady Goswina Trevalyan tried to..." He shook his head ruefully. "Help."

"And she helped by stabbing you with a fork?"

"I think she was aiming for the assassin." He put the last piece of the armor back on the stand. "But she is Antivan, so one never knows."

"Actual jokes from you." Agatha smiled. "And I thought running into ancient elves was the weirdest thing going to happen in Starkhaven." He smiled back at her, and she felt her knees go a little bit weak. "Who'd be dumb enough to leave you?" The smile vanished, and Jerath drew back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"It stopped mattering a long time ago." He shrugged. "We should find the others, figure out our next moves."

"Right."

#

"Your wife really doesn't have an issue with your behavior?"

Loghain sat back in his chair. "Should she?" He shook his head at Caleb. "As fond as Wynne and I are of each other, we married for political reasons. Her lover and I are friends, and the three of us often enjoy each other's company."

"I..." Caleb nodded. "Oh. She's got someone. Who is he?"

"She..." Loghain corrected the pronoun with a low chuckle. "Is a lovely young vashoth, who serves as her maid. Duncan tries very hard to pretend the situation does not exist."

"I'll bet. Isn't Ferelden currently at war with the Qunari?" Caleb frowned.

"Pela is vashoth, not Qunari." Loghain frowned. "Which is one reason Wynne has chosen to make her home in Gwaren, rather than remaining in Denerim."

"What about the other boys? The twins?" Caleb waved a hand. "What do they think of all this?"

"Bryce is Lenore's apprentice, will likely be replacing her as court mage sometime in the next few years. Maric and Teagan's son Xander are squiring for Ser Kylon, Duncan's guard captain."

"I thought Jerath was Duncan's guard captain." Caleb glanced over at where the red haired man was talking quietly with Agatha.

"Technically, Jerath's rank is general, but his primary duty is keeping the king out of trouble." Loghain chuckled. "A full time job, as you might have noticed. He also acts as a military adviser, and Ser Kylon reports to him rather than the other way around." He shrugged. "So does Ser Alec, the leader of my order."

Caleb nodded. "I never asked..." He sighed. "Where am I, in the future?"

"You are the Seneschal of Kirkwall. The consensus is that when Varric steps down, it will be in your favor."

"And Salla?"

"That, I don't know." Loghain furrowed his brow. "I know she's a healer of some repute, but other than she was part of relief efforts for a plague that hit the Avvar a few years back, but that's it."

#

Salla and Kieran looked over the information Melavan had provided. Considering how long they'd been watching the cult, she'd expected a bit more. "I think our advantage is that they are hunting us as much as we are hunting them."

Melavan instantly shook his head. "I will veto any plan that involves using one of you as bait."

"Nowhere in our negotiations did we give you veto power over our plans." Salla leaned on the table and stared up at him. "Using one of us as bait might be our only option."

"I'm curious as to who put you in charge." Melavan narrowed his eyes.

She pointed at Kieran. "He did."

The sentinel started to object, and instead merely growled in frustration. "Using brute force to bypass the wards would require considerable power. Such would leave a mark, one we..." Melavan frowned. "Or for that matter, Fen'Harel, could detect. And they would likely not be successful anyway."

"It sounds like Kieran is the only one that could bypass the wards." Salla chewed her lip. "This staff..." She glanced at Kieran. "It's from before he was actually Urthemiel?"

"What staff?" Kieran gave her a perplexed look.

"Just trust me. I'll explain it in a bit."

Kieran nodded to her.

"No and yes. He was already known as Urthemiel, but he had not yet fallen to become the 'Old God'." Melavan shook his head.

"What makes this staff powerful?"

"I..." Melavan sighed. "I have absolutely no idea. It was crafted by his first high priest, a man named Othalias."

"A melody woven around soft beats on a steel drum. He saw the notes before they were played." Kieran tilted his head, his eyes half closed. "Deceptively simple in harmony."

"But why is the staff powerful?"

"What staff?"

Salla sighed. "The Formless One knew about the staff, but clearly, not enough to bypass the wards."

"It is likely he knew nothing of it save that it was powerful and located in the temple." Melavan frowned. "That would be enough to interest him, especially if his intention is to lure you in." He went silent a moment, and then sighed. "As for why it is so powerful..." He met her eyes. "That I do not know. The staff your father uses once had another purpose, and it can absorb other energies to empower itself. This may be similar, and considering who it was once used by, the energies it may have absorbed would be powerful indeed."

#

"I'm not overly comfortable with us being in Starkhaven." Fenris frowned. "Doesn't Sebastian still have a bounty on you?"

Hawke shrugged. "Two hundred gold to bring me in alive."

"Out of curiosity, have any been stupid enough to try?" Alistair raised an eyebrow.

"A few. Last was what..." Hawke shrugged and glanced at Fenris. "Two years ago?"

"I have a hard time fathoming it."

"He actually put a bounty on The Warden as well." Hawke shrugged.

Cullen laughed. "Believe it or not, there was even a group stupid enough to try for that one."

Alistair put a hand over his heart and closed his eyes in an expression of mock grief. "Those poor bastards." He let his hand fall to his side. "What are the odds the kids are actually here?"

"Surprisingly good." Brehan spoke from the doorway. "There are scattered reports of odd elves, and a group of mercenaries that recently arrived that fits the description of the kids."

"Loghain's tattoo?" Cullen looked up.

"Two members wore Orlesian masks. A blond and a red head." Brehan folded his arms. "No mention of spells, so the kids may have learned to be subtle. Impressive, for a group containing three Hawkes and an Amell. We could be on the wrong trail, but..."

"Something tells you we're not?" Cullen nodded. "Tell me about these odd elves."

"Just a few sightings, and not of more than two at a time." Brehan looked around the room. "As hard as it is for this particular group, we do need to keep our own heads down." He frowned. "Last thing we need is the Prince of Starkhaven arresting the King of Ferelden."

#

Gavren raised an eyebrow at Salla. "Did you get enough from Melavan?"

"He doesn't know as much as I'd hoped." She leaned back. "We may need to stay longer, let them drop their guard a little bit more."

"I'm hurt by their lack of trust." Caleb stuck out his lower lip.

"You are planning to take their gold, gear, and information." Kels shook his head. "Then run."

"The real question is do we tell the Inquisitor about them or not?" Salla looked around the room. "Gavren?"

"Mother will be annoyed at Lord Hendry, certainly. But I don't think she'd go as far as to be angry at him over hiding the sentinels." He frowned. "His heart was certainly in the right place. I think she'd be more disappointed they didn't come to the Inquisition. And I don't think she'll trust them."

"Do we trust them?" Agatha asked.

"No." Duncan said.

"Yes." Kieran said at the same time.

Duncan turned towards him. "They are kind of keeping us prisoner."

"They have no wish to harm us, or to allow anyone else to harm us. And they will keep their word as they have given it."

"You sure about that?" Duncan gave him a disbelieving look.

"They have spent thousands of years keeping their word. Not a habit one can easily break." Kieran tilted his head a moment. "Melavan in particular will also not take chances with the safety of Lord Hendry. He knows well the value of friendship and loyalty, and honors that pact."

"So we can trust them..." Salla nodded. "And we can't. But at least we know where the line is going to be." She chewed her lower lip. "Loghain, I don't suppose you could -"

"No." Loghain's voice was flat.

She turned to stare at him. "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"You were going to ask me to use pillow talk to see about further swaying Alai."

Salla sighed. "Well, yes."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I do, deep down, have a modicum of self-respect, and I do not manipulate my bedmates."

"Alright." She nodded. "Fair enough. Just make sure she'd not manipulating you -" When he grinned, she groaned. "And I didn't mean it like that." She shook her head. "Asshole."

#

Agatha padded lightly after Ionai, and felt a rush of satisfaction when she received an approving nod. Both were dressed in servant's clothing, the better to remain unnoticed in the brief times they did have to walk where they could be seen.

From their vantage point, they could see the house the cult was using. Now and then, people arrived. Few stayed more than an hour before leaving again. Baradies occasionally met people on the porch, accompanied by Siofra. She counted almost two dozen visible guards, six of them qunari. She pitched her voice low so as not to carry. "I see several ways in, but I'd bet they are all warded and trapped. A couple are too obvious."

"Invitations." Ionai nodded. "We could bypass them, but not quickly."

"Maybe with a distraction?" Agatha glanced down at the other woman.

"Perhaps. Let us return to the others."

#

"What have we learned?"

"The Formless One, in his guise as Baradies, is playing the role of local lord." Kels nodded to Salla. "His estate is well guarded. It could just be by hired guards and mercenaries, but Agatha and Ionai saw enough to lead us to the conclusion that all the staff of the estate are cultists. They are meeting with some of the other nobles, but we don't yet know for which purpose." He glanced at Delaon.

Delaon took over the report. "It would appear some of the Inquisition managed to follow you here. We have identified them as Spymaster Brehan, Commander Cullen, King Alistair and his court mage, and Kirkwall's Champions." Gavren winced. Loghain quietly began banging his head on the wall. Delaon gave them an amused look.

"Unfortunately, we have also discovered that we are not the only sentinels in Starkhaven." Melavan folded his arms.

Salla turned towards Kieran. "Your mother's people?"

He shook his head. "If they were, they would have come to the door."

"You mean she knows where you are right now?" Leandra's head came up.

"Mother and Father are quite capable of tracking me through the Fade."

"Ah." Salla sent a look at Melavan. "So at least two gods clearly think we are capable of handling this on our own."

"Or they know you have accepted our protection," Melavan immediately countered. Salla opened her mouth to argue with him again.

"Or they are occupied with another matter." Tisallan's voice was cold, and stopped them both. "A notion that should be concerning all of us." He glanced at Kieran, who nodded.

Melavan took a deep breath, and continued. "No, it is not the sentinels who remained loyal. The group that has come here is led by Abelas."

"Which means Fen'Harel has decided to get involved." Leandra shifted slightly, moving in front of Gavren in a protective manner. Salla doubted the woman was even consciously aware she had done so. "And that just complicates the shit out of everything."

"We could use Fen'Harel's forces as a distraction. Get in and get the staff while they are dealing with each other?" Caleb looked around.

"Oh, yes. Brilliant. Let's trick the god of tricking." Trian rolled his eyes. "After that, we'll go pick a fight with the god of ass-kicking."

"Isn't that Kieran's father?"

#

Gavren waited for Leandra's nod before he began gathering his magic to him. One distraction, coming right up. At least he knew this building was unoccupied, and there were few in the streets this early in the morning. He unleashed the spell, and the building exploded. Leandra immediately grabbed his collar and dragged him back under cover as shrapnel went flying.

They followed Noamin back through the sewer tunnels. The plan was to position themselves in case the others needed backup.

#

Duncan followed Agatha and Ionai. Jerath and Delaon were only a few steps behind. As expected, the other sentinels had immediately gone to investigate the explosion. He wasn't sure how Ionai and Delaon felt about going up against their one-time comrades. Those doubts were quickly dashed when Ionai punched the sentinel left on guard in the face. As the sentinel staggered backwards, Agatha hit him in the face with a handful of gray powder.

Jerath and Delaon quickly dumped the unconscious man rather unceremoniously into a nearby barrel. Duncan assisted the women in gathering everything in the small building that even remotely looked interesting, shoving it all into sacks.

They walked back through the city as if they hadn't a care in the world.

#

"Well?"

"The Dread Wolf isn't exactly foolish enough to commit his entire plan to paper." Melavan gave them a disapproving look.

"And yet, this so was not a waste of our time." Salla grinned. "We have all their information on the cult, including locations of cult hideouts."

"Now, as you promised, it will be turned over to the Inquisition." Melavan folded his arms, resuming his usual stern posture.

"Oh, we did that already." Salla nodded to him, and grinned.

"I..." He blinked, and then started to glare. He waved one hand at Kels. "Handing it to the Lieutenant does not count."

"Well, then you should have clarified that beforehand." Salla met his glare with one of her own.

"Da'len..."

"Melavan, I understand your feelings on this matter." Salla imitated his stern posture. "I get where you are coming from. I do, after all, have two fathers of my own." She narrowed her eyes. "We all have parents. I don't know why you thought we'd give you any less shit than we give them."

Behind Melavan, Tisallan casually held his hand out to Lord Hendry. Lord Hendry sighed, and set a small coinpurse in it. Tisallan tucked the coinpurse away and went back to watching quietly.

#

"A building exploded."

Brehan nodded at Alistair.

"And it wasn't them?" Alistair gestured at Hawke and Lenore, both of whom opened their mouths to object to the insinuation before exchanging a look and giving matching shrugs. Considering how little alike they looked, the family resemblance often amazed him. He nodded. "Gavren then?"

"We can't be certain," Cullen said. He sighed. "But it is not unlikely. The odd part is the building appeared to be unoccupied, and it blew up while there were few nearby to be injured."

"The kids needed a distraction." Alistair frowned.

"That was my guess as well." Brehan leaned on the table, looking down at their map of Starkhaven. "We just don't know why, and this doesn't help us determine where they are hiding." He shook his head. "I've spoken with the Inquisition's agents in the area, though there admittedly are few. We do have a couple other contacts in the area that might be able to help us contact the prince quietly."

Alistair grimaced. "Ferelden and Starkhaven aren't exactly allies."

"Nor are Kirkwall and Starkhaven." Fenris shook his head.

"Or the Inquisition and Starkhaven." Cullen nodded to Fenris.

"Or Cullen and I personally and Starkhaven," Hawke added.

"Can we just set fire to the city now and get it over with?" Lenore frowned. "What about calling in our magister friends again? Starkhaven is close to the Tevinter border. He might welcome them in."

"Who are these contacts you mentioned?" Cullen asked Brehan.

"Lord Iain Hendry and his wife, Aileen Kenric."

"Kenric?" Cullen nodded in recognition of the name. "Related to Bram?"

"Older sister."

"Kels would know of both." Cullen rested his hands on his sword hilt. "Might be worth checking out."

#

"Think he'll show us a bit more respect now?" Agatha looked over at where Melavan was putting a sparing sword back in its rack.

Jerath rolled his shoulder, wincing slightly as he did so. "I sincerely doubt it."

"You put him down two matches out of three. That's got to count for something." She sighed. "Though it would help if you didn't agree with him about us staying out of trouble."

"I think that ship sailed." Jerath leaned his shield next to the armor stand.

"Then hit a storm, caught fire, ran aground on a reef, exploded, and sank." She offered him a glass of water. "I thought about what you said."

He took the water from her. "About what?" He took a drink.

"You being someone else." She sighed. "And I realized, if time resets..." She looked up at him. "I will be too. None of this will have happened." She laid her hand on his chest. "Which means that all we really have are these moments."

His eyes went to her hand. "And what does that mean?"

"I really have to say it out loud?" Agatha shook her head. "Again?" She bit her lip. "What if we don't win? That we can't change things and this is the new future? Am I supposed to just pretend nothing in the now matters?"

"I saved you from a dragon." Jerath set the glass down. "Now, what? You want me to sprinkle rose petals on a bed and carry you away on a white horse?"

"Maybe." She sighed. "But I think I'd settle for you just tearing my clothes off." Agatha laughed softly. "And I wanted that a few days before there was even a hint of dragon, so -" She was cut off by him kissing her.

Agatha wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back. She jumped to wrap her legs around his waist, and he caught her easily. Immediately, she started unbuttoning his shirt. He used one hand to support her, and fumbled for the door handle with the other. Her last coherent thought for a while was that they'd somehow ended up in a storeroom.

Oh well.

At least it was private.

#

Salla sat upright. The dream began to fade immediately, and she frantically tried to call it back. A dragon in the sky, and rocks falling all around. Blood in the water, and fire in the sky. She was halfway to the door before realizing she wasn't in her room at the estate. Fenris wouldn't be there, with a cup of tea and the safety of his presence. For a moment, she leaned her forehead against the door frame, and sighed.

Two kings and a god were following her lead, and she'd spent most of the day arguing with a man who predated the oldest human nation in existence. The followers of a god that wanted to destroy the world were hunting them, and another cult that wanted to rule the world was in possession of an artifact that might enable them to do just that. It was stupid to think a cup of tea with her father would make any of this easier. She missed him terribly. Quietly, she slipped out the door and went looking for the kitchen. Tea wouldn't help, but it couldn't hurt.

The kettle was just starting to boil when she felt another presence enter the room. She turned to see Kieran giving her a concerned look. "You are not sleeping?"

"A dream woke me." She removed the kettle, and poured the tea, filling a cup for him as well before putting the kettle where it would stay warm.

"You are a dreamer. That is not surprising." He sat down next to her.

"I'm not sure I am. I can't do the same things Feynriel can do."

"You cannot?" Kieran raised an eyebrow. "Or you do not wish to?"

"What do you mean?" She turned towards him.

"Gavren is more powerful than I am, but he keeps his magic leashed because he fears what he could do if he did not." Kieran added a small amount of sugar to his own tea before offering it to her.

"Gavren..." Salla stared down at her tea before looking back at him. "Is stronger than you?"

"Here and now?" Kieran nodded. "Yes. I know more than he does, but in raw offensive strength, he has the advantage."

She shook her head. "I feel like a duckling trying to lead a couple lions into battle."

"Not a duck." He smiled at her. "A hawk." He tilted his head at her. "The lions may be strong, but the hawk can fly."

"Suppose it's not surprising that the god of beauty has a way with words." She smiled down into her teacup before taking a drink. She set the cup back down, and turned again to face him. "A hawk." She gave a slight nod. "Alright. I can be that. A Hawke is all I've wanted to be since..." She squared her shoulders. "I am a Hawke. And kicking ass is what Hawkes do."

"I do not believe there are any who would argue with that particular statement." Kieran nodded.

She moved to brush back the hair that fell into his face when he did so, and hesitated. He reached his hand up to catch hers, and then leaned forward. She met the kiss, half closing her eyes. A small part of her brain registered that he tasted faintly of ripe strawberries fresh from the garden. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and then she pulled back. He gave her a surprised look. "This..." She tried to get more words out, and failed.

He frowned, and shifted awkwardly. "Did I do it wrong?"

"I..." She shook her head. A thought came to her. "Have you ever kissed anyone before?"

"No." Kieran tilted his head. "At least, not that kind of kiss." Red crept into his cheeks. "I hoped you would like it."

Starkhaven. Leading kings to save the world. Ancient elves. Forbidden Ones. And she'd just been a god's first kiss. Laughter began to bubble out of her. He gave her a dumbfounded look, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I did like it. I just..." She swallowed another laugh. "I have no idea what is even happening anymore." She smiled. "I liked it."

"I..." Kieran tilted his head. "You are confusing me."

"I suppose it's only fair." She took his hand. "You've been confusing me since you arrived in Kirkwall." She hesitated, and then pulled him to her for another kiss.

The tea cooled in the cups, forgotten. Neither noticed the figure move away from the door.