Kirkwall's great walls looked exactly as I remembered them. So did the spires of the Grand Chantry, and the Viscount's Keep beyond them. From the outside it seemed as if the city hadn't changed in the slightest during our absence. Our casual bypassing of the line of people waiting to enter through Hightown's gate was much the same as well; we got the old familiar glares from the people stuck waiting, while the Gate Warden tipped his helmet to Varric when we rode past.

The lack of attention did make thing one thing happen; Varric promptly pouted once we were inside, all of us dismounting to take the leads of our mounts rather than riding them through the city. Apparently that was gauche or something.

"Don't think they recognized you." He complained. "Here I was looking forward to seeing how embarrassed you'd get when the adoring looks got started."

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt the looks will be anything close to adoring."

His grin was dangerous in a way that I didn't like. "I am."

Since that seemed dangerous, and annoying, I moved the conversation along. "Are we breaking up here as usual?"

Anders nodded, "I'm not being actively hunted, at least right now, but it's wiser to avoid attention. "I'll take the horses to the usual stable. Cards at your estate, Varric? Or the Hanged Man?"

"Definitely the Hanged Man." He replied. "Let's give Buzz and Daisy a day to get settled in. Tomorrow night, usual time. I'll get a proper feast ordered."

"Wonderful." Anders said, turning to me. "I will see you then."

"See you then." brought a fist up, the two of us rapping our knuckles. "It was good to see you again, Blondie."

"You too, Buzz." He gave Merrill her own farewell, then took the reins of the horse Fenris had been riding along with his own. He led them both off toward the stable nearest the gate, presumably to board them there before returning to his clinic. I watched him go, turning back to find Fenris offering his own fist up.

Our rap was a harder crack of bone meeting bone, and my wince had him smirk.

"Ass." I growled, shaking out the painful sting. "You off to your estate?"

He nodded, "Yes, but I'll head to the Keep and tell Brennan we're back before I retire. I'm sure she'll want to see you both tomorrow, if not tonight."

"Thanks." Varric and I both said, not quite in chorus.

Fenris turned, paused, then visibly forced himself to give Merrill the world's smallest nod. Then he fled before she could do anything but nod back to him.

"Aww, poor Fenris." My lethallan sighed. "It really does hurt him to be nice, doesn't it?"

"It really does." I chuckled, shifting my attention to Varric. "Does the Enclave still have its own stable?"

He nodded, "It does. Come on, we'll get the ponies and the donkeys settled, and I'll have someone offload the loot. After that I've got to run over to the Guild though. Probably twenty letters and an assassin from the other Deshyrs waiting for me."

"Only one assassin?" I teased, recovering my good humor as the three of us got started, casually walking down the street, leading our steeds at a slow pace. Men and women glanced at us, mostly looking to Varric, though I thought a few of the rich and noble of Kirkwall recognized the rest of us. Me more than Merrill.

Few of them looked happy to see that we were back in their city.

"If I'm lucky." He grumbled, not looking as if he was joking. At my arched eyebrow, he shrugged modestly. "Lot of of them aren't happy that I'm refusing to marry their daughters. Or that I'm not even pretending to let them court me."

"Ah." I nodded. "I figured you were skipping out on all of the meetings again."

His silence was telling.

"You're doing that too, aren't you?" I asked.

When he spoke again it was to change the subject. "I don't think you're going to find many nobles happy to have you back. I'm pretty sure most of them were convinced you were never going to return."

Snorting at the blatant shift, I rolled with it. "I'm really broken up about it. So is Merrill."

My lethallan blinked, skipping to walk beside me. "Am I? I don't feel all that broken. Oh, that woman over there has a lovely glare though."

I followed her gaze to find a noblewoman in an Orlesian mask scowling up a storm beneath the opal studded eye covering.

"Gaudy." I noted. Loudly. "And blatant. You'd think they'd have learned subtlety in the last couple of years."

That got the scowl transformed into a sneer, the woman swishing her expensive dress around her as she turned away, stalking into the cafe she'd been standing in front of. There, sure enough, I heard a woman speaking with a thick Orlesian accent, "That disgusting, horse-maned rabbit is back."

I rolled my eyes, and raised my own voice even further. "If you're going to insult me, do it properly! I don't have that haircut anymore!"

Someone else in the cafe let out a startled laugh, several men and women all glancing over. The only other direct response, besides Merrill titters, was the same woman swearing in her native tongue. I still hadn't picked up any of the honestly-not-French language, but thanks to Isabella's crew I knew enough of the curses to figure out what she was calling me.

"Hope you get fucked with a broomstick too, bitch." I muttered, stretching my arms out ahead of me. "Anyone coming out to challenge us?"

"No." Merrill reported at once. "It's a bit sad. Watching you fight a duel or two would really make it feel like Kirkwall, I think."

Varric scoffed. "There wasn't that much dueling in the streets, Daisy. You're thinking of Antiva."

She hummed. "No, I'm pretty sure it was here. Maeve certainly got into fights all the time."

"Fights, not duels." He countered. "She only fought one of those outside of the tourney."

"Oh, true." She seemed to think about it, then said. "I think she'll fight at least six before we leave."

"A sovereign?" He asked.

"For? Oh! A bet? Yes." She beamed. "Six at least."

"Oy!" I growled.

"What?" She blinked innocently. "Oh don't look at me like that, lethallan. We both know you're going to get into a few. You're too competitive not to. That and you'll want to brag to Hawke about it to make her jealous. You always said she was more attractive when was jealous about things you've done."

A bit of heat rose to my cheeks. "Just because I teased her about how many challenges she got into in Denerim doesn't mean I actually want to duel puffed nobles in the street. That's the kind of thing that might actually get me killed."

Varric chuckled. "Maybe, but you've got a reputation after the Tourney, Buzz. You've also got the temper of someone five times your size."

I couldn't argue the bit about my temper considering I'd just sniped at a noblewoman right in public. It was certainly something that would get me into trouble. It had gotten me into plenty in the past, so I didn't see any particular reason for that change moving into the future.

So instead I simply shrugged, our pacing slowing further as we approached the Grand Chantry and its massive plaza. It was rather busy given the late morning hour; plenty of people were out getting lunch, or simply enjoying the unusually warm weather. Winter may have been turning slowly to spring, but it was closer to a summer's gentle heat at the moment. It wouldn't last and everyone clearly knew it.

That greater crowd led us to being seen by more people, and being recognized by more than I expected. Well, I was, at least. Merrill had never quite been the public figure that I'd been turned into against my will.

Maybe I was exaggerating. Longer looks made me think that most of them didn't actually recognize me. Or us. They were just baffled by the sight of two armed Elves wandering around in broad daylight, neither of us walking with our heads bowed. Especially since we weren't lightly armed either; I had sword on my hip, a bow over my shoulder, and two knives on my belt. Merrill had the same knives, and her spear was anything but subtle.

While a few seemed ready to chalk it up as Varric keeping strange company, plenty seemed more curious, looking harder. It was those ones that remembered my face, my long ears. The recognition was quick to draw scowls and glares.

Including from a rather vile person I'd completely forgotten about.

"You!" A woman in a Revered Mother's robes stormed into our path as we made to cut across the Grand Chantry's courtyard, aiming for the nearby street that would lead to the Enclave. She would have been rather cute, with lovely freckles, if not for the absolutely vile expression on her face. "You dare show your face in this city!?"

I frowned at her, trying to dredge her name up. "You're... fuck. Varric?"

"Leona." He supplied, his voice flat and not at all quiet. "Scowls' old rival back when they were both just Sisters."

My fingers snapped. "The bitchy one who yanked at my ears that one time. Right, I remember now. Thanks."

"No prob-"

The snarling priestess cut him off with more shrieking. "You are not welcome in this devout land! Be gone, charlatan! We will not allow your witchcraft to corrupt more of the Faithful, just as you corrupted Petrice!"

Varric and Merrill grabbed either of my shoulders before I could take more than a step forward, my pony stamping when I let go of his reigns.

"Don't!" Varric snapped, "Bitch wants you to do it!"

"I know." I growled, more than aware of the light crowd that had begun to gather at her shouting. All of them clearly observing. "I just don't care."

"We need to-"

"See!?" Leona shrieked, pointing a finger at me. "Look at how they must hold the vicious little beast back! She reveals herself as a dangerous animal, as all her-"

I'd missed the Templars in the crowd, at least until one of them stormed forward and smacked the woman's arm down. Another of the Order mimicked my companions, grabbing Leona by her other arm, and not at all gently from the way she yelped.

The burly Knight didn't say anything. He just dragged her back towards the cathedral, the crowd parting before him. I was pretty sure that the Revered Mother was squawking at him, demanding he release her, but I was a little distracted by the second Templar turning around and rushing straight at me.

"Wait!" It was my turn to yelp, trying to get loose from my friends' grip in order to dodge.

The Templar ran into me before either of them could let go, or before they could block them off, two arms wrapping around my chest. I yelped again as I was lifted off of my feet, Kirkwall twirling as was I spun around in a circle, a young woman letting out a noise of pure delight through the faceless helmet.

"You're back! You're back!"

I finally recognized the voice, croaking as best I could through bruised ribs. "Evelyn! Put me down!"

Evelyn Trevelyan, potential Herald and Inquisitor, let me drop down to my feet. I had enough time to gasp for breath before she reached up, yanking her helmet off, letting me see her pale face split into a broad grin.

That was all the warning I had before she grabbed me again, this time so that she could kiss me on either cheek, laugh, then sweep me up into another hug that left me desperately standing on my toes.

"Hey!" I struggled, getting a hand between us, shoving hard at her breastplate. "Off! Still not a touchy person!"

She obeyed after too long of an embrace, finally letting me go for good, and giving me a chance to stagger back to get a better look at her.

The armor wasn't any different, but the girl herself wasn't thirteen anymore. She also wasn't within an inch or so of my height anymore, which annoyed me on an irrational level. Looking up at her face let me see her soft brown eyes, teeth that were charmingly crooked in front, and...

"...your hair." I groaned in defeat, staring at the short-cropped mohawk she was sporting. "Evelyn. You didn't."

"It's in style among the squires and recruits." She beamed, "Deshyr Tethras! Lady Merrill!"

"Hey kid." Varric gave her a lazy wave, Merrill giggling at my expression before giving the girl a little bow. All around us the crowd finally starting to scatter now that the entertainment was apparently done with for the afternoon.

"The Knight-Commander is going to be ecstatic." Meredith's Squire said, planting her hands on her hips. "You should have written ahead to say that you were coming! Are you staying long?"

Sighing, I did my best to straighten the gear her enthusiasm had disheveled. "It was an emergency thing. Varric found a lead on his brother, so we rode in from the coast to help him deal with that."

Her expression sobered up quickly, glancing to Varric "Deshyr Bartrand? Did you find him?"

"What was left of him." Varric replied grimly.

The younger teen winced. "Oh. Is everyone all right?"

"As well as he can be." He said. "It helps that these two are back for a few more weeks, at least through Summerday. I'll make sure they make time for you while they're here."

"Then you're leaving again?" She asked, shoulders slumping when she turned back to me. "Summerday's hardly more than a month away!"

I nodded. "That's the plan. Speaking of, we need to get over to the Enclave, hopefully without being harassed again. Care to escort us?"

She perked up again immediately, falling into step with us once we'd gotten our ponies ready to follow. Then she blushed, darted back to grab her helmet from where she'd dropped it, somewhat sheepishly tucking it under an arm as she raced to catch back up.

I fought down the urge to laugh, even if Merrill giggled. After all of the crap I'd been through, the crap I knew that Trevelyan might end up going through, it was good to see that she was still an awkward kid. True, she was also a member of an Order devoted to hunting people like me, but still a young girl at heart.

...a young girl that had just hugged me, and kissed my cheeks. Shit. There was every chance she'd felt the feel of my magic on my skin somewhere in there, if she'd had training in detecting it. She hadn't gotten that far when we'd left, but it was more than possible that she'd gone through those drills by now.

I'd just have to hope that she hadn't, or that her obvious fondness for me saw her keep her suspicions to herself. Otherwise we wouldn't be staying in Kirkwall for very long, and our exit might be rather violent.

"How are you?" I asked once we'd reached the plaza's exit, our pace slow as we led the ponies onward. "Been a few months since we wrote."

"I'm doing very well, my lady." She said, still beaming at me. The honest smile made me relax a little as she went on. "So is the Knight-Commander. Knight-Captain Rutherford and I convinced her to start spending every other weekend outside of the city, at the Templar's Estate. We're sure it's helping her recover, and helping her keep her temper when she has to deal with, well, everything else."

I nodded, "That's good. Do you go with her?"

She shook her head, hesitated, then waggled a hand. "Sometimes? Usually I get to shadow Cul-I mean, the Knight-Captain. That or I end up on guard duty for the Viscount."

"Uh-huh. Still crushing on Curly, then?" I asked teasingly.

"N-no!" She stammered, her blush worsening when Varric chortled behind us. "I greatly respect him! That's it!"

"You totally are." I shook my head, "Really, Evelyn? He's so... blonde. And manly."

"...yes?" The teen replied, looking confused. "That's why he's so handsome."

Merrill giggled, "Maeve doesn't like blondes, or really manly men."

Trevalyan blinked a couple of times, then shook her head. "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot that you're a, um, lady's kind of lady."

"Oh no." Merrill said. "She likes men too. She turned the brightest shade of red when Maharial and Zevran flirted with her."

"Oy!" I threw a dirty glare over my shoulder, which only had her beam at me. "You said you wouldn't tell that story!"

Her blink conveyed pure innocence to anyone who didn't know her. "Did I? I don't remember that. Are you sure? I thought I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that Dalish hunter you said had a nice-"

I went to grab her, only for my lethallan to skip behind Varric with a merry laugh. Trevalyan covered up her giggles with a hand, while Varric didn't bother hiding his deeper laugh. That made it my turn to blush, muttering complaints to my pony as we resumed our short trek.

Not that the little horse seemed sympathetic to my plight. He just shook his head, tried to bite my bag, and then huffed in victory when I kept him at arms length after that.

Trevelyan filled the silence with excited chatter about how things were going with the Templars, and how well the new Elven members were fitting in. Mostly that seemed to be rather well, all things considered. The Night Watch's saving of Meredith during the Warden attack was still paying dividends. Both groups were doing routine training with one another, and there was a minimal amount of racism.

"There's still some." Trevelyan admitted as we neared the Enclave's outer walls. "Mostly from the older members of the Order, but the Knight-Captain is being very good about rotating out anyone who can't work with Elves."

"Good to hear." I said, and I meant it. Just because I didn't want to be involved in that political mess anymore didn't mean I wanted it to go badly.

Our Templar escort bid us farewell at the Enclave's entrance, promising that she'd tell Cullen and Meredith that I was back. While that promised to create future headaches, it was also inevitable, so I thanked her and promised we'd talk later.

And then she was gone, and we were walking into the old world splendor of Kirkwall's Dwarven Enclave.

Its almost European comfort left me feeling my usual longing for Earth, and made my tether to Longing vibrate in approval at the emotion. Tuning her out, I focused on bringing our mounts to the little stable just inside, Varric paying a couple of young Dwarven men to get them taken into stalls, and to get the donkeys and their loot sold off.

Grabbing our personal effects, Merrill and I trotted after him down the familiar streets to the Tethras estate.

"Deshyr!" His old butler opened the door upon our arrival, his wrinkled face lighting up in delight. "And the Ladies Maeve and Merrill! How good to see you both again!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Good to see you too."

He beamed. "I'll alert the kitchens. We'll get an appropriate welcoming feast prepared at once, messere. It is good to have you all home."

It was good to...

...my eyes half closed as I realized what I'd nearly thought. What I'd n early admitted to.

Letting Merrill and Varric get just ahead of me, I followed along quietly in their wake, doing my best not to ruin their cheer with my encroaching depression.