We adjusted our speed a little once we drew nearer to the crossroads inn sometime near sunset. The carriages pulled off to the side, letting us race past to draw attention. They'd follow once the sun was down, moving past in the dark, hopefully unnoticed.

Sadly we'd have no idea if that worked or not for weeks, if not months, but I was at least positive that the inn's current residents noticed us going past. Watched us reach the coastal road and turn east, back toward Kirkwall, risking the darkening road to keep moving.

For once we were a bit lucky in terms of the weather; the night skies were clear, and we had a full moon. It let us ride fairly comfortably for a few more hours before we finally stopped beside a small stream in order to make camp.

As much as we wall wanted to read the book, to find out the exact details of what would be waiting for us, we simply didn't have the time or the energy. Taking care of our exhausted mounts was our first priority, getting their burdens off, getting them hydrated, and then fed. Doing the same for ourselves after, we set a quick watch rotation and then tried to settle in to sleep.

I drew the short straw, staying up for the first shift. Tending to a low fire, but mostly sitting on a fallen tree, my eyes on the road, sea, and the shadowed mountains.

I didn't like keeping watch, at night. Not because I thought it was creepy or anything, Elven night vision was a hell of a thing, but because being awake and alone gave me too much time to dwell on things.

Things like what the fuck was I actually going to do with the book we now had. Despite my words to Varric, I was pretty sure that we'd be giving all of the names in Kirkwall to Meredith once we got back. Mostly because I trusted Brennan, and she'd really be the one responsible for most of the arresting and interrogations.

She wouldn't let things go too far when it came to punishing family members for the actions of idiots. Plus, if anyone did start pushing for that, I had enough clout with the Viscount and Templars both to squash that.

No. The problem was having met Queen Anora twice, I had no problems believing she was ruthless enough to make examples in Ferelden. Sure, Allistair might try and tone down her response a little, but she wore the pants in that relationship. Maybe I could give the Ferelden list to Hawke, have her handle that kingdom's spies. It would certainly make her look good to the other Arl's and Banns. Which she already did, but more popularity wouldn't hurt.

So that was a city-state and a kingdom down, but there was the rest of the Marches and Orlais to consider. I also needed to read the whole thing and see if Bull was listed. If he was, I absolutely needed to tear that page out and burn it.

I mean, yes. He was still loyal at this point, and his story if you allied with the Qun was fucking horrifying on so many levels, but I honestly couldn't see anyone sacrificing the Chargers just to make the Qunari happy. Not even that bastard Greg.

Of course that might not be up to me, if Prosper triumphed in real life where he couldn't in a mere video game.

As if summoned by very thoughts, I saw a bit of light flare up on a distant mountain. Then another, and then another.

Motion to my left had me turn away from the sight to see Trevalyan sitting up from where she'd been sleeping, watching the same lights.

"Mages fighting." She said, very quietly.

"Mmm." I agreed, waving for her to lay back down. "That's the Chateau for sure. Go back to sleep. We'll think about it tomorrow, little one."

She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and got up as quietly as she could. I watched her pad over, then sit down beside me on the old tree trunk.

"I can't sleep." She admitted with a whisper. "This is... I'm too anxious. We're just... we just stole something so valuable Kingdoms would murder for it."

I smiled faintly. "I'd say it gets easier, but it doesn't."

The teenager, and God she looked young out of her armor, with her silly mohawk haircut, brought her legs up against her chest with her arms wrapped around them. "I... you're anxious too? Was it... was it like this, when you went into that Thaig?"

"Yes." I said, answering both questions. "I'm thinking of everything I did today. If it was right, or wrong. Smart, stupid. Wondering if that's Hawke's little sister getting killed up there because of me. What I'm going to do with that list of names when we get back. How we'll handle any pursuit, when that pursuit comes for us."

Teeth appeared, biting her lip. She shuffled a little closer, clearly wishing I was taller so that she could lean into me for support. I leaned into her anyway, sliding an arm around her shoulders, which the little one seemed to appreciate.

"You don't look anxious." She murmured, leaning over to rest her cheek on my shoulder. "You never look anxious. Tired, or snappy-"

"Bitchy." I corrected.

A tiny little noise came out of her nose. "-or angry, but never anxious, or afraid."

I hummed softly, feeling my fingers absently rubbing her arm as I held her. "Honestly, I do get afraid before things happen. After they're done with. But during? I'm too busy to be afraid while things are actually going on."

"...oh." She kept breathing quietly, the pair of us watching as something red briefly flared into the night sky, heralding the last of the distance colors. "Were you a soldier, in your lands?"

A faint smile tugged at my lips. "No. I repaired things at a school. I was... I was no one to my people, Evelyn. A barely surviving girl fleeing from a failed family. I learned dueling to impress a girl I was seeing, and kept practicing after she left me for being rude and obnoxious."

There was the quietest of giggles. "I could believe that second part, but not the first. Truly? A school?"

"Is it that hard to believe?" I asked. "You know me, little one. I hate half of the crap I'm dragged into. Guilt and friendship is all that makes me do any of this, or else I'd be quietly building lilttle trinkets off on my own."

"I suppose." Evelyn murmured. "I don't think I've seen you happier than those times when you were helping build things."

God she was right. God I missed that. The simplicity of it. Just being able to build things, little things. To make things with my own hands, to see people happy at having a new chair, or a new table. See Anders face lighting up when I gave him a Dream-Catcher. See Hawke's baffled tilt to her head when I fixed her favorite chair.

"Is that what you're going to do, when you go home?"

"Yes." I whispered softly, my heart aching with a longing for my old life. My quiet life. I loved my friends here, each and every one of them... but I still wanted to go back. I still wanted to never have to pick up a sword again. To never know that I had to act, to cut throats, because countless people were relying on me to do it.

Evelyn was quiet for a long few moments before she went on. "If... if you can't go home, I'll do whatever it takes to let you have that peace here, Maeve."

I inhaled slowly, turning to gently kiss the stubble on the side of her scalp. "Stop trying to be my mother, little one. You're fifteen, and a Templar. You have your own life to plan for."

"No." She whispered as firmly as someone could when whispering. "You give everything for your friends. Someone has to do the same for you."

Jesus. This girl. She was just... fuck. I blinked away water from my eyes, gently kissing her head again. A silent promise that I would do whatever it took to keep her alive, when the Conclave came. No matter what mess I made of canon in the process.

She didn't deserve the curse of the mark. Didn't deserve to suffer just becaus Solas couldn't accept the world as it was.

"No." I said back. "I'm here to take care of you, and Fiolya, and everyone else. Not the other way around. You're fifteen years too young to try and steal my job, so stop it or I'm going to tell Meredith you tried to get me drunk."

Another little giggle came with a poke to my side, both of us huffing out little breaths before settling down once more.

We sat quietly, my hand drifting to play with her silly haircut. Gently stroking her scalp, making her relax to the point where I had to lean into her to avoid being tipped over. The only sound the smoldering of the fire behind us, and the distant crashing of the Waking Sea.

I'd just begun to think that she had fallen asleep when I heard her ask, "...what is it like?"

It didn't take a genius to guess what she was asking about.

"Magic?" I asked. When she twitched her chin, I let out a tired breath. "I'm not the best to ask. I didn't have it until I was brought here, and I don't sense it like other mages do."

Trevalyan gave another micro-nod. "Ser Thrask said something like that. You can really see spells?"

"Mine are wrapped in blue sparks, and glyphs or wards are really painful to look at." I told her. "But it's more than that. I see it, but I also hear it, smell it, taste it, and feel it on my skin. All at the same time. It's incredibly distracting, and a lot of the time it's not exactly pleasant. Like the Darkspawn Emissary we ran into near the Thaig."

"Oh." She murmured. "Is... that why you don't use it much?"

"I don't use it because I'm not that good with it." I replied. "I've got all of four spells I can honeslty say I've mastered, plus one nifty enchantment. Apart from that I'm really not all that good with it, and according to Merrill my mana pool is that of a preteen apprentice's."

Her weight shifted a little. I felt her start and stop to say something once, then twice.

I sighed, and went on. "You want to ask about demons, don't you?"

The word was a hesitant whisper. "...yes."

In response I reached down with my left hand, tugging my Dream-catcher off of my belt. Bringing it around, I held it in front of her. "Feel this."

Fingers slowly reached out, the tips trailing over the strings, the hoop. "It's... enchanted?"

"My Dream-Catcher. My own personal ward, my own tiny version of the Veil." I said, letting her poke at it some more. "I pour my mana into it every day or so to keep it fully powered. So long as I have it nearby, only the oldest demons can even whisper to me, and I can barely hear them even when they try it."

A quiet gasp. "By Andraste... you... you can't hear them at all?"

I exhaled, slowly returning it to my belt. "I still hear a few. The Nightmare likes to stalk me, from time to time, but he's the only one who can talk to me through it clearly. It's why I always have this on me, and why I'm always tinkering with it. Trying to improve it."

"...that's why Ser Thrask trusts you. Why Ser Emeric lied to the Knight-Commander, that night." She said quietly, sounding almost awed. "Because you can stop them from tempting you."

That was one reason, though there was a lot more to it than that.

"Can any mage use them?" She asked.

"My personal one? Only if they're close, but they can't charge it. Only I can." I shook my head. "How I sense magic means that how I cast spells is different too. It took a while to figure it out, but Merrill eventually came up with a way to make others. It's a slow process though, and we've been very careful about how many we create."

Trevalyan nodded, "Maker's breath, any Circle would give anything for you to teach them to make those."

They certainly would. At least until they realized that blood magic had been the only way to hack them into working for anyone besides me. Maybe we'd be able to use our method of creating a keystone to let Merrill make one without needing me to lay down the base spells my way, but we wouldn't know that for sure until we had some quiet moments to try it.

"Why haven't you? Oh. Because you'd be caught?"

I shrugged my unoccupied shoulder. "That's one reason. Another is that I honestly never intended to stay in Thedas this long, little one. My best case scenario had me back home years ago, and even when that didn't work out, I haven't been in a place to risk making more."

Trevelyan curled up some more, leaning a bit further into my side. When she spoke again her voice was quieter, "I know you miss your home, lady, but... I'm glad you're still here. I'm glad to have met you."

I took a slow breath, letting it out between my lips. "...go back to sleep, little one."

The young Templar closed her eyes, not moving from her place beside me. I felt her breathing slowing, steadying, her body slowly going limp. It wasn't comfortable to have to hold onto the teen. To support her weight as she truly fell into a deep sleep.

But... I didn't really care. I held her regardless of how awkward it was.

We stayed that way through the rest of my watch. Even when it was time to wake up Thrask I merely used a foot to kick rocks at his bag until he noticed, waking up. It took him a few moments to gather himself, a hand rising to hide his smile when he got a good look at us.

I glowered at him in warning, which only saw his smile widen as he got up. A few gentle nudges on my end had Trevelyan wake just enough to contribute to the process of getting her back to her sleeping roll, even if I wouldn't have put money on her remembering the trip.

Once I was sure she was settled I went over to my own blanket, using my worn pack as a pillow. Not in the mood to be awake any longer, even in the Fade, I sent a mental call telling Longing to leave me be tonight. Her accepting thrum came just as I began to drift away, a whisper that she would make sure my night was dreamless.

Dawn came far too soon for any of us save Brennan, who had the last watch. With a lot of yawning and shuffling, we took turns eating travel rations that weren't nearly as good as breakfast at the Chateau. Those who weren't choking them down spent their time getting our mounts ready, to the horses' displeasure. Trevelyan handled getting my own pony set, actually shooing me away when I tried to do it myself.

That had led to Thrask telling the others how he'd found us last night, drawing blushes to both of our faces, and laughter to theirs.

Ignoring the chortling, Varric's was especially obnoxious, I called for everyone to mount up and get moving as soon as we were ready. Consdering that it couldn't have even been seven in the morning, we were pushing the animals hard, even I knew that. Sadly we didn't have much of a choice if we wanted to stay ahead of any pursuit from behind.

Not that we tore off at a gallop or anything. I was pretty confident the lights I'd seen last night had been Bethany cutting loose in a battle with Prosper, something everyone else thought likely when I told them what I'd seen. Considering how late that had been, it wasn't likely that they'd been able to recover from any battle before dawn.

They'd have taken wounds, been exhausted, maybe had to flee from surviving guards. From the other nobles and their host of servants, guards, and aides.

Sure, Greg had been willing to help Tallis, and probably willing to kill Prosper. But, as much as it pained me to admit it, I didn't think he'd be on board with eliminating the visiting nobles for no real reason.

Heading west, I rode beside Brennan, the leader of the Guard reading off names from our new trove of information. To my relief Iron Bull wasn't in the Orlesian section, which made sense when I had time to think rationally about what I was holding in my hands.

This was a list of Viddathari, not a list of Ben-Hassarath agents. It was still vital, still invaluable, but it wouldn't be perfect.

"Three Guards and two Templars." Brennan growled when I confirmed what Varric had read to her yesterday evening. "And Alexis is a damned Lieutenant. I have him supervising the docks! Maker knows how many Qunari agents he's let slip into the city!"

I probably should have been comforting, but I had to be honest. "Probably far too many. We might have to arrange stings on some of these people, see if they're sheltering other spies who aren't in here."

She glanced at me. "Sting?"

"Oh, sorry." I shook my head. "Uh, it's when you watch a target than storm in when you catch them doing something illegal."

A nod. "You sure you weren't in your people's guard? Or did you learn on that on the other side of the laws?"

I colored a little. "Blame my family."

Brennan snorted, not looking bothered. Or surprised. "I won't ask. Anyway, that's going to be a problem for the Guard to handle. How many from the Alienage do you see on that list?"

Mostly letting the pony trot forward on his own, content to move with the other animals around him, I shifted my grip on the book to turn through the pages.

The book was laid out pretty logically, as I might have guessed from a Qunari creation. It was divided into sections; kingdoms or marches, then regions within those broader nations. Each smaller section had a name for the convert in question, their species, a rough location or an actual address depending, and then a note indicating if they were available to harbor other followers in an emergency.

Unfortunately everything but the names was in Qunlat, and my ability to both read and understand that language was pretty minimal. If Varric hadn't already found and marked Kirkwall's section, I'd have had to gone page by page to even have a guess.

Flicking back through it, I turned over pages until I found the start of the Elven names on the list.

"Josdor." I read the first one, frowning. "Don't know him. You?"

She shook her head, but Thrask raisd his voice from behind us. "He works as a cleaner for the Broken Mast Tavern, down by the docks. Joined the Alienage's militia after you departed."

The docks again. Ominous. My finger slid down to the next name, one that I actually knew. "Deyvin. Fuck. He's one of the original members of the Watch. One of my first volunteers. No real talent for fighting, but he's earnest and determined. A good soldier."

Brennan shook her head. "A bitter one, maybe. He ever get a promotion?"

"No. No talent, like I said." I shrugged. "The kind of guy you want next you in a brawl, but not the kind you'd ever put in a leadership spot."

"Sure." She allowed, "And that might be the wise thing to do, but it's also the kind of thing that might make a man bitter. "

My lips twisted, unable to refute the idea. "Yeah... yeah. I could see that. Dammit."

"Now you know how I feel. Who's the next one?" Brennan asked.

Next were two more men that none of us knew, followed by a woman that I did. Lanamaya, besides having an awkward name to have to say quickly, had been one of the original militia, then promoted up to the Watch after the devestation of the attack on the Alienage. She'd been quiet, and competant, and unlike Deyvin I had actually marked her out for a future leadership position.

She'd joined the Templars after I'd left, and was still a squire according to Thrask.

"She'll be a problem." He predicted, having moved up to ride on my left. "She will know you're a mage, and may attempt to make that claim if we merely arrest her."

Trevelyan turned from where she was riding ahead of us. "The Knight-Commander would never believe it."

"Maybe not." I replied, "But that will be the second Elf claiming that in the last three years. Even if she doesn't want to believe it, it might put a bit of doubt in her mind. Might make her grab my hand when I'm not totally drained of mana."

Brennan nodded, voice dark. "She'll have to be on the kill list."

I glanced at her, wishing I was more perturbed than I was. "You're making one?"

"Three of my people are traitors to their city, to their faith." She replied with a scowl. "I'm not about to let them survive to make more reports, let more enemies into our city. We've got enough of those as it is."

We certainly did.

"All right." I said quietly. "But let's keep the list as small as we can. Maybe a few examples will be enough for us to intimidaate the others .Create a double-agent or two we can use, or at least let us get some information out of the others."

Brennan waved a hand. "Of course, that's wise enough on it's own. But we can't let anyone in a position of power survive, Maeve. They can do too much damage. Have probably already done too much damage."

That was probably true, but it didn't leave me feeling much better. I wasn't weeping for fools stupid enough to think that converting to the Qun was a good idea. For men and women betraying their city, their neighbors, to an expanionstic group of totalitarian assholes.

I was just... tired of it, like I'd told Evelyn.

"Right." I straightened my back, not arguing. "Next up is Vena, but she's got a little marker next to her name. Varric?"

It was his turn to glance back from where he was riding beside Evelyn. "Is it a circular squiggle, or a whole bunch of lines crossing?"

"Second one." I reproted.

"She's backed out." He replied at once. "Must have had a change of heart. I'm guessing they keep those people listed just in case they need to blackmail them later."

I nodded, Thrask asking. "Do you know her, my lady?"

"One of Petrice's first recruits, back when she was trying to train healers. I think." I frowned for a moment, then had to shrug. "I recognize the name, but I don't think I've ever actually met her. Next is Hudis, and I've got nothing on him."

Neither did anyone else. Nor did anyone recognize Jadis, though Thrask thought he might have been one of the new militia. The same vaguness held true for the next four names, until we got to the last one, which made me swear quietly.

"Armael "

Thrask immediately groaned. "No. Not him, my lady."

I sighed. "Yeah. I recognize his address."

The normally stoic man swore, and not quietly. That drew everyone's attention, Brennan asking the obvious question. "Who's Armael?"

"You remember Elder Leras? Armael is his grandson." I told her.

She grimaced, Varric offering his own cursing. "Maker's balls. Didn't that kid just get married, Thrask?"

"He did." The Templar confirmed. "Some months before the lady returned. His wife is pregnant with their first child, and helps bring water or tea to the Templars on duty with several others. What foolishness led him to the Qun? It cannot be anger over the Baroness Elowne's position. He would never have been named leader of the Alienage."

That was certainly true. He'd been a middling teen, back when his grandfather had died in the assault by mages and mercenaries. No one with any power, in other words. Not in the political system that the Alieange had once run on.

I mulled on it for a moment, closing the book, not wanting to start on the other Humans or Dwarves. "Bitterness over losing his home, his grandfather... maybe that did it. Maybe he blames me, and knows how much I hate the Qunari."

"Perhaps." Thrask allowed. "I know he does not have a high opinion of you. Was his father not also trying to arrange a marriage between you?"

"Maybe? There were dozens of those." I thought on it for a few moments, trying to recall. "I can't go higher than maybe. Leras wouldn't have done it, but his father's not a fan of me either. Never was. Could be anger at me never paying attention to him, never letting him roll around in the vast treasure rooms they think I've got at Varric's place."

Varric shook his head without looking back. "Lot of young men in the Alienage who could be angry about that. If it was really that big of a thing, there'd be a lot more names in that book."

"True. You think he's a true convert?"

"Just saying he could be." He replied. "They got to the Viscount's son after all. They could get to a young man who grew up thinking he was in line to rule the Alienage, but now is pretty much nobody."

I arched an eyebrow. "And he thinks the Qun, were you get a number and a title instead of a name, would be an improvement?"

Brennan snorted. "Most people don't know that, Maeve. You've warned me, more than once, about how the Qunari love to speak literally yet still manage to lie about what they are and what they're doing. An angry young man is exactly the kind of fool who'd fall for that kind of trick."

"True." A finger tapped the book, "Put him on the arrest list in your head. His wife wasn't listed, and she deserves more than to see his head get chopped off."

Everyone seemed to be in agreement on that.

While I was done reading, Thrask wordlessly stretched out an arm, clearly asking for the book. I passed it over, then got my shaggy pony moving a bit faster. I didn't want to listen to another round of names I might recognize. Didn't want to think too closely about what was going to happen once we got back to the city.

Instead I rode to the front of our little column, Varric slowing down to take my place, leaving Trevelyan to ride beside me.

The girl glanced at me, and seemed to read my mood perfectly. She gave her horse a gentle kick, both of us riding ahead of the others. Not so far as to be truly seperated, but enough that we wouldn't be able to hear them talking about what they found.

And after that we rode in a quiet, peaceful silence that I needed more than I would have ever admitted.