Later I'd learn that I spent the rest of the day drifting in and out of consciousness, meaning I missed both the planning session and the day's conference.

Fortunately Varric had anticipated that Meredith might send someone to try and drag me there, or at least someone to check if I'd decided to bolt for Ferelden after all. He sent one of his runners down to grab one of our own Templars, and they'd hauled Thrask out of a training session. He'd made it a bare half hour before Trevelyan had come to collect me, hitting me with a double-Drain to make sure that no lingering magic remained on my body.

Later on they would tell me I woke up to scream like a banshee when that had happened, Merrill having to pin me down as blood flowed from my tear ducts, and that I'd passed out again without saying a word. I'd believed them, but I couldn't remember it happening.

Trevelyan's resulting report on my condition had been alarming enough that Cullen had come over within the hour, apparently having run the entire way from the Keep with Trevelyan in tow once more, the pair of them showing up unannounced while Anders had been checking on me.

I did remember the two men having a row next to my head. I'd woken up enough to snarl at them both to shut up, then I'd leaned over the side of my bed and heaved up a mess of broth, bile, and blood. I certainly remembered Trevelyan's horrified scream at realizing how much of said blood I'd just thrown up, but everything after that turned into a blur again. I thought I heard Cullen swearing, felt Anders magic frantically working on me. Merrill cleaning my chin and cheeks. Could have been real, or it could have been Longing trying to soothe me from her end.

Either way it wasn't until well after sunset that I actually woke up to find the ex-Gray Warden's power gently running up and down my body, the healing magic pooling around my temples, neck, and belly.

"Are you back?" He asked quietly, eyes distant with focus, flicking to mine as I tried to blink them clear.

"...ow." I rasped in reply.

"How do you feel?"

I inhaled, glad that I could manage that without demonic assistance, managing to find my voice. "...like a Qunari used me as a punching bag."

He grunted softly, letting his spells fade. He looked exhausted when he eased himself back into a chair, sitting with a long groan. "I'm going to have to take your word for it."

That didn't sound good. "...why?"

Anders regarded me, then shook his head. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have said there was more of that red lyrium in here. You had similar symptoms. Screaming uncontrollably, bloody tears, that kind of thing. This time you also added blood in your stomach, blood bruises all over your throat, and from what you looked like this morning, I'd have said you suffered some kind of seizure before I arrived."

All right. That all sounded terrible, but... "...but?"

"But I barely had to do anything." A hand rose, rubbing tiredly at his face. "All of your damage seemed to... not heal so much as fade, a lot faster than it should have. I accelerated it further. You've clearly suffered from blood loss, but there aren't any other physical symptoms left, and that is nearly as worrying as whatever happened to begin with."

"...yeah. Doesn't sound good." I said it aloud that time.

"We're in agreement there." He let his hand fall with a sigh. "Merrill said you were trying to tell her something when it happened. Something about how you got here."

"Yeah, I was trying to tell her-" My throat began to tighten at once.

That time I took the hint and shut up, closing my eyes, keeping my lungs doing what they were supposed to do.

The pressure eased away a minute or so later, even if the fear in my belly only grew. As my mind had to accept the fact that there was something badly wrong with me.

"Maker's breath, it almost happened again, didn't it?" He asked quietly, having gone still when I'd frozen in place.

I twitched my chin.

He swore a second time, then asked, "I have a theory. Don't say anything, just nod or shake your head, all right?"

A nod.

"I'm going to guess that you remembered something about how you arrived in Thedas. Either on your own, or through your... connections on the other side. That you wanted to tell Merrill while it was still fresh, because it was important. Am I close?"

That was as good an explanation as any considering that I wasn't planning on giving anyone besides Merrill the truth.

I nodded.

"Good." Anders said softly. 'I'm going to then guess that, given your similar reaction, that it had to do with red lyrium. That your remembering whatever ritual was used triggered your memories of what happened to you, whatever granted you magic, and that your mind couldn't cope with it. That there is some connection between that lyrium, and your strange approach to magic."

I blinked slowly, taking a moment to seriously consider the theory.

To consider it against what we'd found with Bartrand's corpse and the Carta. Was it possible?

It... seemed plausible, if I tweaked one of the random theories I'd come up with after we'd found the letter in English.

If I accepted that Greg and I, and maybe any others with him, were the outliers, that the transplant had been caused by some kind of Tevinter cult... the power of red lyrium might have let them pull off a spell without needing crap-tons of blood sacrifices. The stuff basically was a blood sacrifice. If that had been what they'd used to power the... summoning, pulling people from other worlds to experiment on... maybe Anders was right. Maybe the after-effects were still with me, years later.

But then why would Greg be able to tell Bethany the truth, where I couldn't?

...because, you idiot, Greg doesn't have magic. Whatever mark it had left on me, what power I had, maybe it was maintaining some kind of connection. Something that let it protect itself?

...no. That didn't track. Stopping me from telling my origins was too on point. Too specific. Red lyrium was dangerous, and partially aware, but that level of mind-reading meant there had to be some kind of very specific connection between me and it. A connection that someone, especially Longing, would have noticed. So if I tossed that out, what in the actual hell was going on with me?

I bit my lip, still trying to think of something, when Anders spoke again. "Maeve? Am I close?"

He might have been. Might not have been. Either way it was a better half-truth of bullshit explanation than I could offer.

I nodded.

He exhaled, nodding as well. "Then, as your healer, and as your friend, please don't try to tell anyone again. Don't even think about it, if you can manage it. Whatever that vile crystal does to you, and to you alone, it isn't good. Merrill said you nearly bit through your tongue this time."

I winced.

"Yeah. That would be rather difficult for me to heal." Anders slumped back once more, arms resting in his lap. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving." I rasped. "And I'm about to explode below the waist."

He chuckled, placing his hands on the armrests to push himself up. "I'll get Merrill to help you with that, and meet you in the dining room."

With that he left, leaving me to slowly try and get myself upright on my own. To my surprise it was easier than I thought it would be. I was sore all over, the feeling not dissimilar to when Merrill had boiled my blood to save my life. It was unpleasant as hell, true, but I had full control over my limbs.

"Longing?" I whispered. "Were you listening?"

She replied through our tether at once. "Of course. I've been guarding you on this side since it happened."

"You think his theory has any merit?"

"...potentially." The spirit allowed. "I had not considered the use of that Corruption in the bridge between worlds, but it could explain a few things. Your extreme reaction to it for one. I'm less certain it had anything to do with last night, however."

I grimaced, swinging my legs over the side, slowly pushing myself out and onto my feet. "You have a better explanation? Because the only one I have right now is that you're lying, and you used the tether to do that to me."

"I swear that I did not."

I bit my lip, staring at the floor. "...yeah. I believe you."

There was a sensation of her relaxing on the other side of the tether. A relieved little note, "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem. Do you have any theories? Anything that might contradict his?"

She hummed, clearly thinking about it, "Not at the moment, but to use your parlance, the Warden's concept doesn't feel right to me. I think it more likely it is related to your unexplained magical expansion and archery talent. That there is some form of blocker in your soul that was placed there when you arrived, by whomever or whatever brought you across."

"Except Greg could tell Bethany just fine." I noted. "And I could tell Greg exactly where I was from too."

"...that is a problem with my theory." She admitted. "But I have no others at the moment."

I grunted, shifting to lean against the side of the bed. "Me either. What about Wisdom's theory on my power expansion? Can you tell me that, so I can figure out if it's related?"

"...Not yet. I will investigate all the options and tell you it by the end of this year, or as soon as I believe I have an answer. You have my word."

I exhaled, nodding to nothing. "Thanks. And... thanks for last night. And for not staying in my head."

Phantom fingers brushed along my cheek, then the sensation faded along with the feeling of her presence. A moment later the door swung open, Merrill rushing in. She kicked the door shut behind her, racing over to embrace me with gentle tenderness.

I hugged her back with far less care, desperately holding onto her, breathing in her scent.

"I was so worried." She whispered, gently squeezing me.

"Me too." I admitted quietly, "Um. As much as I'd love to keep hugging you, I'm about to wet myself."

A startled little noise came out, my lethallan quickly pulling me along. She insisted on helping me walk even if I didn't think I needed it, and she came into the bathroom with me just in case I collapsed again.

Thankfully she didn't feel the need to directly supervise the rest of it, and I wasn't quite so pained as to need help cleaning up after.

With my bladder empty, and some cold water splashed on my face, Merrill helped me pad down dark hallways, eventually reaching the estate's main dining room. True to his word, Anders was already there, a small plate of bread, thin sliced meat, and a few vegetables already set before my usual chair.

A gesture from him had me sit down and start eating. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed as my ravenous belly demanded more.

I wolfed down the entire meal inside of a few minutes, leaving Merrill to head back and ask whichever poor cook was still around to make me a proper dinner.

"Thanks." I said, surprised to find myself still hungry. "So... how badly did things go today?"

Anders grumbled something, leaving Merrill to explain as she sat down on my right. "Um, well, he got here just before Ser Thrask did. He was trying to inspect you when Trevelyan also got here, and then Ser Thrask had to drain you, which made it all a lot worse and made you start screaming. It, um, kind of did make the squire realize you weren't faking though. She came running when she heard you, then ran out just as fast to tell everyone when she saw you bleeding in your tears."

Well, that was certainly a thing.

"After that, well..." She squirmed a little, glancing at Anders. "Cullen came over with Trevelyan again, and he saw Anders. They were having a bit of an argument, and it woke you up. Sort of."

"I kind of remember that." I frowned. "I really threw up blood?"

Anders grimaced. "Quite a bit of it, all over the girl's boots. It shut them both up and let me work, even if it made Cullen convinced that another assassin had made a play at you. Poisoned you, maybe at the conference, and he sent word to Meredith just in case anyone else showed similar symptoms. Then he posted a guard outside the estate until I could tell him you were going to survive."

I blinked, huffed, and shook my head. "We using that excuse? The assassin one, I mean."

"Thought about it, but Varric went with the red lyrium explanation instead." Anders shrugged. "It has the benefit of being more accurate. As far as anyone knows, a survivor from the group that killed Bartrand slipped some into a letter directed to you. You opened it, thinking it was from Hawke, and, well, reacted as plenty of people witnessed."

Merrill cleared her throat, "That's where Varric is now. With the Viscount, I mean. Explaining just what we found with Bartrand, and how the red lyrium likes to try and eat you. And anyone else, I guess, but especially you."

"He's explaining that," Anders supplied, "By telling them your people's legends about it. Saying your people are a lot more vulnerable than others, and that elves in general are probably more at risk than anyone else. That it's your land's version of Darkspawn. Not as directly dangerous, but just as lethal."

I chewed on my lips for a moment, thinking about it. "...might work as an excuse."

"Is working." Anders corrected me. "Trevelyan came by an hour before you woke to check on you, and to tell us that Meredith and Brennan have already given orders that anyone caught with red lyrium is to be executed on the spot. Notices are going to be put up all over the city, calling it a kind of lyrium tainted by Tevinter for the purpose of poisoning Templars and mages alike."

"...might not be the best move." I noted, "Plenty of people who aren't fans of either group these days. Better to just call it poisoned or something."

He nodded. "True, and I thought that as well, but she hardly asked my opinion."

That reminded me. "Cullen going to tell her that you're here?"

"He said not." Though his voice made it clear he didn't trust that. "But I'm going to be laying very low again for quite a while just to be safe, so you may not see me again until Isabella arrives."

"Don't blame you." I said. "I'm sorry I brought you to their attention again."

Anders was waving away the words before I finished. "You had no control over it. I can hardly blame you. Let's just not make a habit of it, if you can."

"Do my best." I said, more quietly. A silence that deepened when Merrill reached out, wrapping her fingers around mine.

Fuck.

What... what could I do now? With Merrill? I needed to tell her the truth before anything happened between us. But how could I tell her that when I would break down in a bleeding, seizing wreck when I tried?

I supposed I could write it all out onto paper. I'd have to, if I didn't want to have Longing tell her in a dream or something. Of course that was assuming I could write it down at all. Maybe whatever was wrong with me was good enough to recognize intent...

...but then how had I told Longing? Wait, no. I'd never actually told the spirit anything. She'd worked it out on her own from my dreams, then my memories, and we'd only really spoken about Earth and my origins after that point. It was possible that whatever was wrong with me only stopped me from telling someone who didn't already know. Or it just didn't effect me telling spirits.

Either way, I supposed I knew my next experiment; trying to write down my entire life's story, in Trade, to see if I could. And being ready to bonfire it the moment I was done having Merrill read it.

I was considering asking for a pencil and paper, give it a try while Anders and Merrill were next to me to supervise, when the sound of armored boots hurriedly approaching drew our attention. We all looked to the entrance to see a tired, sweating Thrask enter, his helm tucked under an arm.

"You're awake, thank the Maker." Armored fingers rose, running through his red hair as he quickly walked over. "I have to drain you again. Now."

Anders scowled, "No, we don't know-"

"Meredith is coming!" Thrask snapped, interrupting him. "She cannot have a trace of magic on her! You both need to move to a secure room as well."

Merrill's fingers tightened enough that I had to fight down a wince.

"It's all right, lethallan." I whispered. "Go to my rooms. I'll be there as soon as she sees me and leaves."

She pouted, but didn't argue. She also didn't leave until Thrask had, very carefully, used his own strange talent to wipe away any mana I might have accumulated during the day. When I didn't break down screaming, or do more than shrug and say I felt fine, he hit me with a much stronger one.

That was unpleasant, as always, but nothing worse than usual.

"Good." Our friend in the Order visibly relaxed when I told him as much. "I'll go to the door to direct the Knight-Commander."

He left, Anders vanishing nearly as quickly. Merrill lingered a little longer, a hand cupping my cheek.

"Be safe." She murmured. "Please, lethallan."

"I will." I promised quietly.

Merrill leaned in, kissing my other cheek very softly, then she went off as well, leaving me to remain in my chair, trying to relax while I waited.

In the end my second dinner arrived before Meredith did; a thick cut lamb chop, steaming potatoes with butter, two slices of cheese covered turnips, and a small bowl of cranberries. One of my favorite meals on Thedas, and proof that Varric's people both knew me, and cared about my well being.

I was thoroughly enjoying the hot food when more footsteps, and muted conversation began to drift down the hall.

"...doing better now." Thrask was saying, "She was waiting for food when I left her. She is still pale and weak, however."

"I understand." Meredith's brusque reply grew in volume as they drew closer. "Return to the door and calm my squire. I will return with the Viscount once we are finished."

The Viscount?

I'd just begun to look up when Meredith strode in, closely followed by Dumar and Varric both.

Hurriedly swallowing the bit of lamb I'd just popped into my mouth, I pushed my chair back and rose as quickly as my aching body would allow. A bit too fast, if I was being honest, because I winced partway through the process, a hand going to what felt like a cramp in my neck.

"Fuck! Sorry, I mean," I tried to salute her as I always did, but a second tight pull of the muscle had my hand snapping back to try to ease the pressure.

Meredith stormed forward, batted my hand aside with hers, and before I could do a damned thing, gently took my shoulder in one hand and my head in the other. I locked up, horrified that she was touching me, and stayed that way when she very gently pushed my head to one side, forcing the muscle to slowly ease.

"Better?" She asked, her voice oddly gruff. Behind her I could see Dumar settling into a chair, clearly smothering a smile, while Varric was lingering the in back.

He, at least, looked just as horrified as I was.

"...yes, messere." I rasped, my heart hammering somewhere near my stomach. "Um, thank you. I-"

Her hands finally let go, dropping.

Dropping to wrap around my chest.

To pull me against her.

I locked up once again, my face somewhere between Meredith's breasts and her neck. The Knight-Commander...

...she...

...Meredith fucking Stannard, final villain of Dragon Age Two, Kirkwall's would-be-dictator...

...hugged me just as tenderly as Merrill had.

My brain stopped working somewhere in there, my body running on auto-pilot. I awkwardly got an arm around her broader frame, sort of patting her on the back, too stunned to do anything else. I felt her sigh into my short hair, then finally separate.

"I apologize." Meredith said, still sounding gruff. Almost choked up. "Sit. You remain pale, and clearly need meat to replenish the blood you have lost."

I sat, still waiting for her to frown. To realize that something about my aura wasn't quite right. That I had been concealing something from her this entire time.

The moment never came. She strode around the table, taking the seat across from me, leaving Varric free to cautiously approach, taking the spot that Merrill had vacated on my right. After that Meredith watched me like a hawk, making sure that I ate everything on my plate, and only seemed ready to speak once I pushed the empty platter and bowl away.

"Her skin is still stained." She turned to Varric, "Truly blood from her eyes?"

"Yeah." Varric said. "Saw that before, like I said. Vomiting it up was new though. So were the bruises around her throat. She could barely breath for a while."

Meredith's nostrils flared, her attention back to me. "The Deshyr has informed me of your people's... encounters with this new form of lyrium. That it is, perhaps, a version of the Darkspawn Blight suffered in your lands."

I owed Varric for that excuse. It was actually a damned good one.

"Yes." I said quietly, "I apologize for not writing a report on it or anything. It's... not something I like thinking about. My people don't like talking about it either."

Her chin lifted. "You are forgiven, in light of its effect on you. That being said, I expect such a report as soon as you are well enough to compose it. Understood?"

"Yes, messere." I replied.

A quick nod, then another glance back to Varric. "The shard that caused this. You are certain you destroyed it?"

Varric nodded at once. "I don't mess around with red lyrium, Commander. I told you what it did to my brother. Soon as I saw it in her room, I threw it in the fire, melted it, and had a runner take the ashes to be buried outside the city."

And knowing Varric, he'd actually had one of his people go and do just that. Just to make sure no one could call him out on the bullshit.

"Good." Meredith said, voice firm. "You are unaffected?"

"So far. I washed that hand in near boiling water, went through all the usual routines to clear off Lyrium powder." He replied. "Kept everyone else away during the process. Maeve thinks it's close enough to regular lyrium that Dwarves have a bit of resistance to it. Not enough to stay close, my brother proved that, but enough that I can destroy it."

Dumar cleared his throat, finally speaking. "That is good to know, Deshyr Tethras. If whatever unfortunate event brought the Lady to us also brought this... poisoned lyrium, we may need to train Dwarves in its destruction."

Meredith grunted. "Agreed, Viscount. I will create such a formation at once. Have them prepared with hammer and standard lyrium charges to detonate any concentrations found, and to smash whatever may be left."

...holy fuck, they were taking this seriously. Like, seriously enough that it might actually effect Inquisition's events, if the training and orders remained in place that long. Which might turn out to be a good thing in the end.

Huh. Maybe something good had come from this after all.

My slight cheer lasted until Meredith went on, "Her healer. You are certain this... Gray Warden is trustworthy?"

I glanced to Varric to see him sighing.

"He might be the only Warden I do trust, Commander." He folded his hands together. "Warden Cousland conscripted him against his will, and then betrayed him after the Blight ended. I can assure you that he hates her, and hated Brosca, just as much as anyone at this table. He's the same person who patched up Buzz here after she got run through that one time."

The Knight-Commander glanced to me, "He was?"

I nodded hesitantly. "He was. Like Varric said, he's really the only Warden I fully trust."

"Then..." It clearly pained her, but she forced the words out. "...I shall overlook his presence in light of his service to the city. But I will expect him to alert this city should any other Wardens attempt to enter our gates. And if I hear even a rumor that he is not acting with the neutrality expected of his Order, I shall respond at once."

That was... a lot more than I could have expected from her. Then again, Anders wasn't an abomination these days. Nor was he, technically, a rogue Warden anymore. Well, he considered himself one, even if Maharial had sent off paperwork claiming that Anders hadn't 'deserted', he'd simply been 'reassigned' to watch for Darkspawn around Kirkwall.

Heh. Irony of ironies, Meredith probably cared less that Anders was a mage, and was a whole lot more irritated that he was a Warden. Well, no, she'd hate him either way, but still. Reality was turning out to be weird.

"Are you all right, girl?"

I blinked to find Meredith giving me a worried look. Or as worried a look as she could manage.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

Varric chuckled, "You were doing your stare at nothing thing, Buzz."

"Oh." I cleared my throat, shaking my head. "No, I'm all right."

Dumar slowly settled his arms on the table, regarding me politely. "If you're sure, I believe we have a few things to discuss. Things I had hoped to speak with you about once the conference had ended."

I flicked my eyes between him and Meredith, cautiously asking, "About?"

"While the Knight-Commander has the utmost faith in you," Dumar nodded her way, "I am aware of your lack of proper military training, or experience. I had hoped to provide an alternative means for you to contribute to this city. After today, I believe it will do you more good than the stress of preparing for a battle. That will come, but you need not participate until you are healthier."

Across from me, Meredith exhaled, fingers drumming once on the table. "I will acknowledge that the Knight should be kept on light duties for some time, but the travel required for your proposal would not be."

Dumar politely disagreed. "I would dispatch her in my personal coach. I assure you it would be a comfortable ride."

"Um," I spoke up, "What exactly are you talking about?"

A broad hand patted my wrist, Varric answering. "The Viscount thinks you could do with something a little less stressful for a bit. He wants to send you as his representative to some kind of diplomatic event out in the western part of the March. Get you out into the sunshine for a little while."

I blinked slowly. "You want me to go to a diplomatic event?"

There was a faint smile on his lips. "Yes."

"In God's name why?" I demanded. "Viscount, messere, you know exactly what kind of person I am."

"Yes." His lips curled a bit more. "That is precisely why I wish for you to be the one to attend."

More blinking on my end didn't make the situation any clearer. "Explain. Please."

He actually chuckled, "I would assume it is obvious, but you are clearly still recovering. Allow me to explain, my lady. This is a traditional event that takes place every few years at the Chateau Haine, the week after Summerday. It is a gathering of the rural nobility, along with several from other kingdoms. Orlais and Nevarra in particular. Normally I or my heir would go, but in this case I believe you would serve as the city's direct representative."

I repeated myself. "All right, but you want me there? And think it won't be stressful for me?"

"You will go with my aegis and protection." He assured me. "Guard-Captain Evighan has already volunteered to personally lead your escort, and I am inclined to allow it. Her second is more than able to commanding the Guard in the interim. As for the stress, I do not expect you to... behave, Lady."

It slowly began to seep into my brain what I wanted. "You want me to go there, and be a thug."

Meredith let out a low chuckle. "That is exactly what we expect, Maeve. For too long Kirkwall has appeared meek before the other kingdoms, before our very own vassals. We have allowed our rural nobles a great deal of autonomy that they have abused. The Viscount would send you to demonstrate that Kirkwall will no longer tolerate such behavior, and to serve notice of the coalition we have formed within our armed forces."

Another slow blink. "So... you want me to go to a fancy Orlesian style party, with full permission to be an absolute bitch to everyone there? Make them all realize just how heavily armed the city is becoming?"

"I," Dumar said, "Would not phrase it quite like that. Say, instead, that you are to remind the nobles that the city's power is expanding. That we are well prepared should the Empress look to reclaim lands in the marches, now that Ferelden has proven itself outside of her grasp."

It amounted to the same thing. They wanted me to go there and throw my weight around as if I had an entire army ready to come and smash them. Which, I supposed, I kind of would. It wouldn't be a very big army, even with all of the expansion I didn't think Kirkwall had even two thousand men under arms, but it would still be an army. Trained and well equipped and ready to back me up.

"I..." I stammered, trying to figure out what to say.

Varric's foot gently nudged mine, having me turn to see his tiny nod, and I realized that he must have been involved in this as well. Trying to live up to our prior ideas about getting me out of the city for a while, to stall for time until Isabella arrived. And this... this might do it. A couple weeks of light travel, a week or so of an event, and by the time I got back the Siren might have arrived. I would have far more options to work with. Even better, I'd be far away from Templar Commanders who might realize that the girl she'd just hugged hadn't quite felt right. That maybe there'd been a bit of magic on her skin that wasn't from her healer.

"...that might be fun." I admitted. "A lot better than battle planning. No offense, messere."

"None taken, girl." Meredith replied. "You made me fully aware of your distaste for your duties yesterday. This... seemed an able compromise. A way to do your duty by this city that you might... enjoy."

Hell. Fucking Hell. Meredith was doting on me.

She honestly, genuinely thought I'd have fun doing this. To the point where she'd let me go off and do it instead of doing what she thought I should be doing.

"Thanks." I said quietly.

The Knight-Commander's voice took on that almost gruff tone again, her eyes looking away from mine, as if she would lose her rigid control if she met my gaze. "It is quite all right, girl. You will handle this light duty for the city, and recover from your recent events. I will allow you to pick out any escort you wish from the Order, Guard, or either Watch as well."

My lips twitched. "Now you're just spoiling me. I won't say a thing, I know you have a reputation to keep."

A little huff came out, but her smile ruined the noise. "You had best not, or else I will expect you to participate in the wyvern hunt while you are there."

...wyvern hunt?

Wyvern.

Hunt.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no.

I knew that quest. That was...

Meredith's beaming smile told me that I'd already agreed. That there was no way I could suddenly back out now.

...well, shit.

It was time to go be involved in an international incident, I supposed.

Time... to go meet Tallis.