-chapter 4-

Enjoy the Frilly Cake

A hand shot out to cover her mouth, muffling her shocked scream as she awakened. Being pulled back into the physical world so quickly left her struggling to orient herself. She thrashed, prepared to start fighting for her life, when she realized the intruder wasn't making any further moves.

"Maker, what was that, Evie?" Max said in a harsh whisper, hand still clamped over her mouth. Dim moonlight filtered through gaps in the drapes, illuminating his annoyed features as her eyes adjusted. "You're going to get us caught!"

She swatted his hand away and pressed her head to her knees for a moment, still dazed. There was no telling how late it was. She stifled a yawn, trying to shake the cobwebs out of her brain. It had been months since her brother had woken her at night, though they used to have these adventures weekly. She hadn't been expecting it.

He wiped the hand on his night shirt, grinning his lopsided grin. Grimacing, she pushed him. He fell off the bed with a thump, laughter rising up after him. Slowly, she hauled herself out of the soft embrace of her bed.

Sinking onto her feet sent an ache radiating through her ankles, and she let out a hiss of breath between her teeth. The pain had started before she could remember, all through her body, but with no obvious illness or injury it was... not encouraged for a Trevelyan to show such weakness. Evelyn had quickly learned to endure it in silence, or as close as she could manage. She was only a child, and even compared to other children, hiding her feelings had never been easy for her. All more reasons to look forward to sleeping.

Now, however, she was glad to be awake. She scrambled in the dark, searching the floor for her slippers. As she did this, Max produced a candlestick and a long match from the table beside her bed. Where he had nicked that from, she couldn't imagine; the servants were extra careful about keeping fire out of his reach, after a particular incident involving a dinner party and an expensive Orlesian tablecloth. He scurried across the room, and began attempting to strike the match against the rough stone of the windowsill.

"Please try not to set my drapes on fire," She hissed, burying a smile as he fumbled the match at the wall. "Assuming you can light that at all."

He lifted his head, mocking retort at the ready, when his hand slipped against the stone one more time and the stick between his fingers burst into flame. She heard the whoosh as it lit, and watched as he flailed with the fire for a moment before steadying himself. A triumphant smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth, and he wrinkled his nose back at her.

"It's lit, isn't it? No harm done." Max cupped his hand around the flame to keep it from going out as he lifted it to the candle wick. "Now, are you coming with, or am I going to raid the larder by myself? Milya made that chocolate cake today, and I think it's lonely."

Evie's smile turned sharp, coloring her cherubic face devious as she danced up behind her brother.

"Just let me know if you want me to carry that."

They crept out of her room and slowly down the hall, their footsteps muffled by slippers and the crimson runners that spanned the passage. The children didn't speak again until they were out of the family wing, not wanting to chance waking their parents or alerting one of the guards they knew were stationed in the corridors that branched to their chambers.

The lonely light from their candle cast baleful shadows over the walls, concentrating the darkness into all the corners and hidden places. Evelyn watched their shifting silhouettes, thoughts of her wolf rising back to the surface of her mind. She wondered, not for the first time, where he went when she woke up, or if he simply ceased to be.

"Where are all the guards?" She asked, tentatively. Max was always the one who knew the patrol schedule; he had a way of sneaking into the guard quarters that no one had yet figured out, and he stole copies of their timetables whenever he had a chance. He snorted, almost blowing out their candle by accident.

"That's right, I didn't get to tell you," He whispered, ushering her left towards the servants' hall. "Every guard near the kitchens is playing a secret game of wicked grace tonight. The nobheads wrote it down in their weekly calendar!"

"Isn't that dangerous?" Evie questioned. "For them to all be gone at once, I mean."

He must have heard the slight quaver in her voice, because he laughed and playfully jabbed her with his elbow.

"You worry too much," He said, linking her arm with his as they entered the dark, narrow corridor. "Do you think there's some bad guys who want to steal Milya's cake? I wouldn't blame them, but they will have to fight me for it."

Evie chuckled, feeling silly for her anxiety, and they continued forward. Compared to the main passages, the servants' hall was cramped and musty. The lamps were extinguished for the night, the only light coming from them and their flickering candle. She hoped fiercely that it wouldn't go out. They went around turn after turn, past a dozen branching passages, but Max seemed to have the maze memorized.

Just as it was becoming impossible to ignore the aching in her legs, they emerged into a larger room. She leaned against the wall, catching her breath, while Max lifted the candle in an arc around the space. The light glinted off pots and pans, cutting boards, a stack of fresh dishes beside a water basin. Herbs hung in bundles from racks on the walls, and huge wheels of cheese and loaves of bread rested on countertops.

"Score," He murmured, making a beeline across the small room. Evelyn huffed, her shoulder protesting as she pushed off it to stand straight again.

"Could you please slow down," She chuffed, running after him. "A little? For a moment?"

In answer he only laughed, shaking his head as he jiggled the handle of a wooden door in the far wall. She moved up beside him, craning her neck to see what he was doing.

"Crap," He muttered, crossing his arms. "They must have locked it up after the last time."

"You come down here without me a lot?" She asked, incredulous. He ignored her.

"Don't worry, I thought this might happen," He shot her a sly smile and reached into a pocket of his nightshirt, producing a tiny metal pick. Gripping it between his thumb and forefinger, he worked it into the lock. After a few minutes of brow furrowed concentration, coupled with metal-on-metal scraping, the door popped open with a click.

"You can pick locks now?" She gaped, visibly impressed. He gave her a strange look, arching one eyebrow as he slipped the pick back into his pocket.

"Evie, how did you think I'd been getting around the castle all this time?" He pushed through into the larder without waiting for a response.

As soon as they were through the door, her mouth started to water. The tiny room was covered wall to wall in delicious treats; the light caught on the honey glaze of a thick sliced ham, the jars of sweets and cookies. The shelves were also supplied with sugar and flour and salt, and the floor was piled with bags of potatoes and turnips waiting to be cooked for supper. Max snagged a shiny red apple and slipped it into his pocket.

The real reason they were there, however, sat under a protective dome of glass, waiting to be the centerpiece to tomorrow's supper. Milya's chocolate cake was untouched and perfect, covered smoothly in thick brown frosting, decorated with ruffles along the edges. The top was dotted with ripe strawberries that gleamed in the candlelight.

"Should we do this?" Evelyn whispered; voice pitched high with anxiety. "Milya worked awfully hard on it, and Mother will be so cross."

"We are appreciating Milya's hard work," He stated confidently, setting the candle holder on the floor. In one swift motion, he lifted the glass dome and swiped the cake plate out from under it. "And Mother will never know it was us. The guards will get caught away from their post, she'll think they did it. You worry too much. Grab that, will you?"

He gestured to the candle and she lifted it off the floor, following him out of the room and easing the door shut behind them. She stayed close to him, scurrying after as he gathered a few items. He set the cake on the counter and collected two plates, two forks, a knife, and a napkin. Stacking those and scooping them into one arm, he lifted up the cake again with the other.

For a moment she worried they were going back into that stone maze; her feet were beginning to throb underneath her, and she wanted a moment to sit down. Max did not go back the way they'd come, however. Instead, he turned and strode to the other side of the kitchen, opening a door to another short hallway. This hall only had two other corridors off of it, but Max didn't take them. They moved straight through the far doorway, and were suddenly in the main dining hall.

Evie marveled to see it at night. Moonlight streamed through the massive windows that faced out to the city. Ostwick castle overlooked everything from its high vantage point, and in the blueish glow she could see the great walls that bordered them, and the sea beyond it. The Circle tower, though she had no name for it, loomed menacing on the horizon. Its black silhouette blotted out the massive moon behind it.

Max quickly trotted over to the great table that took up the length of the room. It was heavy carved wood, made from a single fallen tree, and lined with chairs to match. He set two places at the table with plates and forks, then spread out the napkin between them. He took the knife carefully in his hand and began slicing the cake into huge and uneven pieces, scooping them onto the plates.

Scooting out a chair and climbing into it, Evie waited for her brother to push one of the plates towards her before digging in. She lifted a huge bite to her mouth, stuffing her face indelicately; Mother would have been appalled. By the grace of Andraste, though, if this wasn't the best cake she'd ever tasted. Maybe Milya was becoming a better baker, or maybe stealing just made things better. She rolled her eyes back, mouth full, letting out an appreciative "Mmmmnnnnff"

They ate in companionable silence, content to keep their mouths full of chocolate. The candle lit their impromptu picnic enough to be comfortable, the flame flickering as they scraped one helping after another onto their plates. By the time the cake itself began to dwindle, Evelyn's stomach was full to bursting. Max was still going strong, though, shoveling down a fifth piece with no signs of stopping.

"Have you got a hollow leg?" She chided, bumping into him with her shoulder so he missed his mouth and smeared frosting across his face. He stuck his tongue out at her, before popping the bite into his mouth and wiping it on his sleeve. They were both sticky and smeared with frosting, marked by their illegal escapade. It was time to wash up and get back to bed before anyone realized they were missing.

"Shut up," Max laughed. "You'd be hungry too, if you had to spend all day training with swords instead of reading."

His words had an edge to them, and Evelyn glanced at him through the corner of her eye. He was staring into the candle flame, watching it ripple with his breaths. His expression was unreadable, but she knew he had something on his mind that he hadn't shared with her. She was deeply curious, having rarely seen her lighthearted brother look so troubled.

"Do you...not like your lessons?"

"No, it's not that. I like them fine."

He sighed heavily, resting his head in his hand. He was silent for a long time, so long that Evelyn began to worry she shouldn't have asked at all. Finally, he spoke again.

"When I was sneaking around earlier this week, grabbing the guard schedule," He huffed, hugging his arms around himself. He looked small. "I over heard Guard Captain Greer talking with some of his men. Talking about the orders from our parents to have me sent away for Templar training. This week."

Evelyn gasped, the sound carrying sharply through the huge room. They had both always known that Max would eventually be sent for training, and Evelyn to the Chantry, but she'd assumed that would be when they were older. She'd assumed they would have warning. Evidently, she had assumed wrong.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, throat tight.

"What do you mean?" He responded. "What can we do? We can't run away."

"But-"

"Tonight, we eat cake." He said firmly, portioning out another slice and dropping it on the plate in front of her.

Evie's anxiety was clearly showing again, and Max rolled his eyes and let out a snort. It barely even sounded forced. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then wrinkled his brow and closed it again.

"Max-"

"Shhhhh!" He cut her off with a harsh whisper, cocking his head to listen for something. She didn't have a moment for hurt feelings, however, because she could hear it too. Voices, drunken laughter, and footsteps- coming right towards them.

"Shit." Max whispered, eyes wide. "Shit, shit, shit."