Curious how having a goal, even a short term one, helped me get my shit together for a little while.

I slept soundly for once, not entering the Fade, and woke up just around dawn. While I had no intention of joining the Wyvern Hunt, I still went through a light morning stretch, then carefully got my armor pulled back on. My sword and Dream-Catcher both went onto the belt, just to be safe, and I emerged from my room at the same time as Thrask.

My old friend was just as armed and armored as I was, and we both made our way down to the first floor together.

True to Ella's word, there was a young serving lad, thirteen or fourteen at the oldest, who rushed to start preparing tea and biscuits for us. I thanked him, slipped him a silver that had him swoon nearly as badly as Ella had, then told him to find the waitress for me.

He ran off, leaving the two of us to sip our drinks in front of a simmering fire.

"A good blend." Thrask murmured, settling back in his padded chair. "I hope it means today will go equally as well."

"We can only hope." I replied, sipping my own from the chair across from him, setting aside my empty plate. The bread had been damned good, and I was feeling comfortably full. "How did you sleep?"

A faint smile. "As well as I have since we left Kirkwall. Varric is a good friend, but his snoring is... difficult."

I snorted quietly, remembering far too many times I'd had to try and sleep through that particular noise. "Just a bit."

We both chuckled softly, then resumed drinking tea. It was a comfortable silence between us. Of my friends, I'd probably grown the farthest apart from Thrask over the years. I still trusted him with my life, but we'd written one another only rarely during my time away. Apart from a visit or two to have dinner with his wife, we hadn't talked much since my return either.

"Sorry for not writing as much." I said, feeling as though I should apologize. "And for kind of... drifting away."

His smile returned, just visible through his red beard. "It's all right, Maeve. I'm hardly the chatty type to begin with, and our friendship was never really about that. I am glad that you seem to be better this morning, for the first time in a while."

I shrugged, leaning back just as he was. "We've got a mission, a goal. I work better when I have something to focus on. I'm sure I'm going to fall apart again when this is over with, and I realize I still have no idea what's going on with my own brain."

"...yes, there is that." Thrask glanced from me to the stairwell, then lowered his voice. "What of your magic, my lady? Is it any different than usual?"

I mimicked his check, murmuring as well. "No, thankfully. My spells all feel the same, mana's the same. Dream-Catcher is still working just fine."

He nodded soberly, "Good. That is something, at least. I had feared another surge of your mana."

"Yeah." I murmured. "Still no answers on that one either, which isn't improving my mood at all."

The Templar winced. "I know, my lady. I am sorry that I cannot help further. It is not something I have ever heard of, and makes me dread to think of what spells brought you here."

I bit my lip, exhaled, then took a long pull of my tea. "Yeah. Me too. Honestly I'm not comfortable even thinking about it, but my options are all rocks and hard places right now. And shit's getting even worse."

"Worse? In what way?"

Part of me wanted to tell him about Solas, but this wasn't the time or place. We had enough immediate problems without going into that mess.

So instead I just waved my cup around us, "Not my magic, or my brain. I mean all of this shit. Greg is here, and a guest. And I really, really want to kill that fucker, but I don't want to kill his wife, and she's made it clear that we would throw down if I do anything to the bastard."

"Ah." Thrask sighed. "Yes, there is that, isn't there? I truly do not know what she sees in him."

"Me either, but I think I'm going to go find out if I can." I told him. "You mind playing backup?"

"Of course not. Are we waiting on your companion from last night to return?"

I glowered at him. "Don't you start with that."

His smile was guileless innocence. "I would never, my lady."

"...fuck. You're nearly as good as Merrill is at that expression. How the hell do you two pull that off?" I demanded.

A laugh was his only reply, drawing a chuckle of me as well. We were still chortling when the front door opened, letting in the waitress from last night. She looked both tired yet excited, quickly walking over to us.

"Dame. Messere." She bowed her head.

I waved her closer, "Don't bother with that. You find anything?"

She moved over a few more steps, beaming at me. "The servants who have to clean the Master of the Hunt's room report that he is very unhappy. The Duke has forbade him from hunting on the mountain, or even the base of it. The girl he prefers to take to bed says much the same."

Hoping that said girl was willing and not being coerced, or forced, I felt myself smiling. "Good. Very good. Thank you. There's a bag of coins on the nightstand in my room. That's yours, and if you could wake the others for me?"

Eyes widened at the mention of more coin, but she nodded and trotted off as ordered.

Thrask watched her go, then turned back to me. "I see that we have a destination today. When do we depart?"

"During the hunt, I think." I replied. "If I remember Prosper's bragging last night, the hunt is supposed to be off to the east. We pretend to participate but cut south, then loop around to the base of the Chateau to find these Qunari. I think that will be for Varric, Evelyn, and I. You and Brennan will stay here, check on the horses."

"Saddle them, you mean." He said.

"I mean saddle them." I agreed. "If we're leaving in a hurry, we won't be able to use the carriage. It's too slow, and too obvious. If all of the servants are Elves and approve of me, maybe we can bribe them to stay quiet about the missing horses for a while."

Another smile. "I hardly think a further bribe necessary... although..." His smile faded. "There is a concern, my lady."

"The servants once we leave?" I guessed.

"Yes." He agreed. "The Duke will know they aided us. Especially after that young lady's behavior during the dinner last night. That he knows they refer to you in such glowing terms means they have been obvious in that, even before we arrived."

I chewed on my lip, thinking it other. "Yeah. Even if we didn't use them, he'd think we did. I don't think we can take them with us, but maybe... maybe we can work with that regardless. How many people do you think you'd need to tie up every horse in the stables? To lead them out of the Chateau?"

Thrask blinked once, then an almost vicious grin appeared through his red hair. "Let us hope that the Lady Ella can convince a dozen or more to depart with her. I take it we shall have them take the carriages, and perhaps head to Cumberland and Nevarra while we take an obvious path to Kirkwall?"

Snapping my fingers, I pointed one at him. "I like it. We discourage pursuit, get them out of here, and anyone coming after us would know we're heading to Kirkwall. So long as they keep a good pace, they should be able to make it that far. We'll give them coin as well, enough to pay for a ship to Amaranthine. And if we have to abort and stick around, they can help us cover everything up and pretend nothing happened today."

He chuckled. "At the rate you spend coin it is a wonder you have any left."

"The expedition set me up for five lifetimes, and Varric makes me look poor. Anyway, we've got our plan." I paused, throwing back the rest of my tea before setting the cup aside. Then I stood up and did a little more stretching, moving around to ease things.

The armor wasn't as uncomfortable as you'd think, but it was still awkward to get used to sitting in.

I was working on my arms when Ella came down the stairs, her face utterly crimson, both hands clutching a small bag to her chest. Behind her was Varric whose smirk betrayed the reason for her blush, while a tired looking Trevelyan came down after them.

Getting them all up to speed didn't take long, and no one complained about the plan. Ella seemed completely understanding of our concerns for her, and admitted to starting to fear the same after having a night to think about what was going on.

Convincing her to convince everyone else who might want to leave wasn't difficult. Especially when I had her go back and get another three sovereign from my luggage with which to pay for passage to Hawke's estate. We spent another hour hammering out the details while the others at their breakfasts, then we broke apart.

Everyone else made to get ready, Ella ran off to prepare her part, and Thrask and I headed out to interrogate our fellow guests, following another of the serving Elves who was all too happy to guide us to where Bethany Hawke was staying.

While I was a bitch, I wasn't so much of one to go up and pound on her door. Not when I was wearing Templar armor, and had another Templar with me. She'd probably had more than a few nightmares about that exact scenario, and it seemed the kind of thing that might make her start throwing fireballs around on pure reflex.

So instead I sent the young man off to ask her to speak with me in a nearby garden, finding a dead-end alcove with a bench to lounge on. I promptly did just that, Thrask chuckling before moving away to stand guard.

Bethany must have had a bath drawn because she arrived with sopping wet hair hastily tied back, a towel over her shoulders to stop it from soaking through her shirt. While she did narrow her eyes on seeing Thrask, at his gracious wave she slipped past him, approaching me.

"Really." She said, eyes narrowed. "Why is he with?"

"Make sure your husband and your assassin don't bother us." I replied. "Also to stop me from trying to kill said husband if he comes running. That way you don't have to try and murder me first."

Her lips pursed, but eventually she had to huff. "Smart, I guess. Though I could do without your constant references to how much you want to attack him."

I heaved myself up to a proper seated position, giving her a flat look. "If one of my plans got your brother or sister killed, would you be any more rational?"

Bethany winced.

"Didn't think so." I said, tartly.

My fellow mage brought a hand up, rubbing tiredly at her face for a moment before sighing. Taking a couple of steps over to one side, she leaned against the stone wall, bringing her other hand up to start drying her hair as best she could.

She spoke through the cloth, muffled though it was. "What's this about, Maeve?"

"Getting answers." I replied, resting my elbows on my knees. "What do you see in him, Bethany? Why did you leave Amaranthine to be with someone who's not exactly a local?"

Her hands slowed, then went still, towel obscuring her features. "...that's really want you want to know? Can't we talk about what's going on here instead?"

"I'm not getting involved here." I lied, even if I did feel a little bad about it. "So tell me just what you saw in that asshole."

The towel didn't cover up the frustrated noise she made. "Enough with the insults. Why do you want to know that, of all things?"

I glowered at her, though she couldn't see it. "Because your sister still can't wrap her mind around it either, and I owe Marian Hawke. You owe her an answer too for running off like you did, and you sure as hell know it."

There was a tiny shake of her head, what might have been a muffled sigh. Fingers slowly got back to work, moving the towel up and over, drying her dark hair. I watched in silence as she worked. Watched her chew on her lip, frown, shake her head once or twice, clearly trying to find the words.

Eventually she did, saying. "At first it was just a crush. A man who I saved with my magic who didn't act revolted by it. Who thanked me, who thought my curse was a wonderful gift. He hadn't really seen magic, then. He was... like a little child seeing something incredible. Were you any different?"

I tried to be patient. "...yes, but my circumstances weren't the same, remember?"

"Oh, yes." Bethany shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything."

When I shrugged, waving for her to go on, she did. "After that, well, we stayed close. He saved my life, my mother's life, getting us out of Lothering. He was... so confident then. Bold, determined to save everyone we ran across. To help everyone. Not always in the best way, I'll admit that, but his intentions were always for good. He was so... happy whenever we saved people's lives. Made things better for them. I envied that, I think. Wanted to feel that way too."

I grunted, "He was your knight in shining armor."

A mild blush appeared, "More or less. I just... wanted to stop having to be afraid all the time. Stop being the one always in my sister's shadow, having to hide. I wanted to help, like he did. I wanted to be accepted for helping, without people being even more scared of me than they were the Darkspawn. And he... he truly thought my magic was wonderful. Everything after that, well, it's been more of the same. He's not perfect, I don't pretend that he is, but he does always try to do the right thing where he can. You have no idea how horrified he was when he heard about-"

"Save it." I cut her off, looking away, hands clenching. "That's between me and him."

I heard her sigh. "Maeve, please. There's not many people from your homeland left now. I'm not asking you to forgive him, but maybe you can coexist somehow? You're all from another place, you have something in common than even I can never have."

Chewing on the inside of my lip for a moment, I exhaled through my nose and asked a question I'd wanted an answer to for a while now. "How many others are actually still around? Any other Elves?"

Bethany shook her head. "Just you as far as Elves go. There's five Dwarves and six Humans alive that we know of. None of those who came over as Dwarves leave Orzammar though. They're focusing on helping their new people, making sure King Bhelen doesn't go too far. That kind of thing."

I mulled on that, supposing that I couldn't blame them. Well, I didn't understand why everyone else seemed content to stay instead of wanting to go home, but I supposed everyone was different. They weren't really doing anything that I hadn't done in the Alienage, they were just in a much safer place to work.

...hell, that was probably a big part of why they were fine here. Being in Orzammar, if they truly had contacts with the King, they were probably living as well as any noble on the surface. Sure, there'd still be Earthly amenities they'd miss, but they wouldn't exactly be suffering. They'd also be more powerful, more influential, more renowned than any of them could have dreamed of being on Earth.

Fuck. If I'd come over as a Dwarf, and ended up there... I might have been really tempted to stay too.

A quick shake of my head dispelled that thought. There wasn't any point to that kind of what if. Not right now.

"The rest of you all working together?" I asked, focusing.

"We did through the Blight, and the others still pass on information from time to time." She wrapped the towel around her neck again, apparently done with it. "Right now I think everyone's kind of... just waiting, to see what happens now. With Kirkwall, and then the mages, and then... everything else that's supposed to come after."

"Yeah. Lot of that going around." I muttered, reaching up to run a hand through my short hair. "I'd be doing the same if not for everyone in Kirkwall who expects me to stay involved."

That got me a sympathetic look. "I know. I'm sorry. Um, but that's pretty much it on our end. Rebuilding the Wardens, listening for rumors on the Elder One, that kind of thing. Oh, speaking of, I guess there might be a few others from your homeland with the Venatori. I have a letter for you from Carlos about that, his response to your warning."

She must have grabbed it when she was told I wanted to talk, because she pulled it out of her pocket. Walking over, she offered the envelope and I took it, sliding it under my armor to read later.

"How many were there to start with?" I asked. "You think they were taken early, or did we get a second wave of arrivals?"

"We don't really know either way." She admitted. "But our best guess on the first set of people was several dozen Dwarves, and maybe a similar number of Humans. No idea on if there were other Elves, but if there were, we've never found them. Everyone but you showed up in or around Ferelden... I think one person who woke up in the Dales was the farthest other outlier."

I grunted softly. "What happened to the others?"

"It was a Blight." She said with a tired, weary sigh. "Darkspawn, bandits, deserters. We don't think many of them knew anything about this world, and... well, you can guess what happened to them."

I could indeed. "But no one new lately?"

"No, thank the Maker."

We both stayed quiet a for a moment, equally glad to not be dealing with even more people from Earth showing up, then I went on to ask. "Losses to your crew?"

A mournful look appeared, her nod tired. "Several in the Blight, and one recently. He was murdered in Jader, that's where I was before here. We're not sure if it's related to the Venatori or not. It's in the letter, but Greg and I were going to head north once we'd helped Tallis. See if we could find Dorian, start working the Venatori from that angle. Try and find anyone who stands out in Tevinter, maybe cut that knot before they can give the Venatori too much influence."

I exhaled, focusing on that. "That's... probably not a bad idea. And it gets the prick far away from me. Bonus."

A Bethany who'd just begun to relax promptly tightened up again, scowling a little. "Maeve. Drop the insults about my husband, or we're going to have a problem between us right here, right now."

"...fine." I growled, pushing myself to my feet. "Did you have a letter for your family?"

"I will write one." She replied. "And give it you before we depart."

We wouldn't be here for that, but if I told her that she'd try to stop us. Or, at a minimum, she'd warn Tallis. That would amount to same thing really.

"Fine." I said again, stepping around her.

"Maeve." Her tone staying low and angry had me pause, turning to look over my shoulder. Bethany's expression was tight, her eyes narrow. "You promise not to interfere with this quest?"

I regarded her for a long moment, then I said. "What happens to Prosper is of no concern to me. If you want to fight him for the list, be my guest. Like I said at the inn; we won't be getting involved in that mess."

Bethany stared me down for several more seconds, then seemed to slowly relax, nodding gratefully. "Thank you."

It was enough to make my guilty soul squirm a little. While I had no qualms about fucking over Tallis, or messing with Greg, Bethany was... well, she was Bethany Hawke. While Carver had proven to be a far better person in reality than he'd ever seemed to be in the games, Bethany had always been my favorite of the younger siblings.

To find out that she'd shacked up with a man I'd come to loathe wasn't pleasant, but... fuck. I still liked her. She was still the baby Hawke sister. I hadn't liked crossing swords with her the one time we'd had to do it, and I wasn't looking forward to having to do it again.

Something that was almost certainly going to happen. I knew for a fact that she was not going to take today very well, and that if Tallis and Greg came after me for the list, I would not react well to seeing that asshole on a battlefield.

There was a very real chance these might be the last civil words we ever exchanged.

...there was a very real chance that, in the next day or two, one of us was going to kill the other. If it came to a fight I was going to pull my punches, and have everyone else do the same, but... well, that was a lot easier said than done when you were fighting for your life.

And all because I was not about to let Tallis and the Qunari have a victory. Because I was not going to let the Qun keep infiltrating the south and getting away with it.

"Yeah, sure." I turned away, striding away. "Have that letter the next time you see me."

Ser Thrask fell in beside me as I stalked off, saying nothing until we were well away from the gardens and approaching our guest building once again.

"They're here for a vision, I am guessing?" He asked, thankfully having been far enough away to not hear anything. Thrask was polite, and wise, like that. He knew I was up to shit he was better off not knowing about, and planned his positioning accordingly.

"Sounds it." I said. "She thinks we're going to stay out of their way. Probably going to take it personally when we don't."

He grimaced. "How skilled is she?"

"Better than me, and more versatile than Merrill." I said at once. "Maybe doesn't have Merrill's raw power though. And we're not killing Hawke's sister, so draining her and running is our only real play if they come after us."

"If?" He asked quietly.

I pursed my lips, reaching out to push our door open. "Yeah, fair. When they come after us. Come on. Let's get back to the others, and see if our new friends are right about where everything's going down today."

The Templar nodded, the two of us quickly heading back to our own building. Inside the others proved to have finished their own breakfasts, and were armed and prepared for the day. Ella was gone, but another young serving lad, Elven of course, was waiting as if for orders near the fireplace.

I motioned for him to come forward, and instructed him to help Brennan and Thrask at the stables while Ella gathered everyone else who might want to leave. To cover for them if anyone asked what was going on, and to have all of our horses ready. He nodded, promising it would be done, and swooned nearly as much as Ella had when I had Varric toss him a couple of silvers to split with the stable-hands.

Sure, I was apparently popular in the Elven-serving-crowd, but nothing like giving away money made sure I was really popular. Hopefully enough so that none of them decided to run off and tell Prosper about what we were up to.

Little Trevelyan and Varric followed me out once we all had the plan firmed up, the three of us following the serving boy's instructions to where everyone was supposed to gather for the hunt. Sure enough it seemed that more nobles had arrived during the night, or else early this morning, because a respectable crowd was already gathering around Prosper.

Even as we approached another two carriages came racing up the road, the Duke rushing forward to embrace more guests. Literally, in one case. His... son, I thought, from the close resemblance.

Bethany and her less pleasant companions were already there as well, though I refused to look in their direction after initially spotting them. That I left for Varric to handle.

"The Qunari looks irritated." He reported quietly, "The visionary's trying to calm her down... oof. Little Hawke just said something that made them both shut up."

"You catch it?" I asked.

A chuckle. "I think the Little One doesn't need to know what those words mean."

"Deshyr..." Said squire groaned. "Please don't encourage that nickname. Or at least come up with a better one, I beg you, messere."

"Sorry." He said, not sounding it at all. "But it's kind of growing on me."

I smirked, which made the girl whine some more, but Prosper climbed up onto a box before she could vent any further frustration.

"Welcome, one and all!" He beamed, arms spread. "To my old friends, it wonderful to see you all again. To those I have not seen before, welcome to my Chateau! Now, before we bore ourselves with talk of politics and kingdoms, let us instead glory in the wonders of the hunt!"

Of the three dozen or so men and women present, nearly all of them let out cheers, and I lazily clapped my hands so as not to be entirely left out.

"To the slayer of the greatest wyvern, they shall have pride of place at every table, and be welcome in my Chateau whenever they desire it!" Prosper went on, surprising me a little at how good he was at working the crowd. Then again, he'd been more or less born into the role, and probably knew virtually everyone here by first name.

"Master of the Hunt!" He cried, "Sound the horn! Return your with trophies by sunset, and we shall see who among us is the greatest hunter!"

A deep-throated roar came from somewhere up on the walls; a massive horn blaring hard enough to make my ears ring. I winced, then glared when a nearby Orlesian smirked at my response.

Fortunately everyone else moved off, spreading out as they choose various paths into the woods and mountains around the Chateau. Soon enough the only people lingering were ourselves, along with the Duke and his Chasind bodyguard.

"Dame Maeve." He greeted, moving over to join us. "I had thought you weren't participating."

I shrugged, "I doubt I'll try all that hard, but thought it might be fun."

His smile was genial, but something about his expression made me think he approved of me being out here. Not in a 'good she's having fun way', but more a 'this makes killing her easier' kind of way.

"Then I bid you good hunting." Prosper tipped his head, already turning to head off into the woods as well. His enormous guard glared at us for a long moment, especially at Varric for some reason, then moved to follow his boss.

"...yeah." I drawled, turning the other way, heading south. "I don't think I'm supposed to survive this little stay."

Varric hummed, easily keeping pace with me, Trevelyan taking up her own guard position behind us. "Maybe not. Could also just be thinking it'll be an easy way to cut you down socially though. When you show up tonight with no wyvern kill to your name, I mean."

"Could be." I admitted. "But Prosper didn't seem thrilled that his servants were more enamored with me than they were obedient to him."

"I noticed that too." He replied. "Good thing we're not staying. Let's hope those poor kids don't get into too much trouble over this."

I grunted. "That's why I'm telling as many of them to bolt with us as we can convince. Just hope most of them take us up on the idea. I don't think he'll be all that forgiving, and Elven lives are cheap in Orlais."

Behind me, I heard Trevelyan let out a soft gasp. "You surely don't mean he'd kill them?"

"I do mean that." I glanced back at her just as we entered the trees. "Little One, the initiation right for Orlesian Chevaliers is to go into an Alienage, and not come out until you've murdered at least one Elf. Preferably more, and if you rape a few along the way, you get bonus points."

Her jaw worked. "That's disgusting! They... they... Deshyr, they truly do that?"

"They don't talk about it." Varric slowed his pace, just enough so he could easily pull Bianca off his back, my own hand falling to the hilt of my sword. A tiny shake of his head told me he hadn't spotted anyone, he was just making sure one of his had their arms out.

"But after Buzz told me that once I did some checking, and it sure sounds like that's what happens." He confirmed. "Orlais isn't a safe place to be if you're an Elf. Not many safe places for them in all of Thedas, but you're a lot less likely to be randomly murdered in Nevarra. Or the Free Maraches."

That wasn't exactly high praise. Before I'd instituted the Night Watch, Kirkwall's Alienage had seen far too many murders, abductions, and rapes to be called anything close to 'safe'. But even that was a step up from what Alienages were like in a lot of Orlesian cities, at least according to what I remembered, and what I'd heard from other Elves. There was a reason a lot of Orlesian Elves put up with being treated like crap as servants in Chateau's like this; it was infinitely safer to be a noble's plaything than it was to live in an Orlesian Alienage.

"Let's focus on the now." I said firmly, speaking before the girl could. "We've got Qunari or Vashoth to find, and we don't know how happy they'll be to have guests."

We all quieted down, carefully picking our way down a clear game trail, following its winding path down the side of the small mountain the Chateau was perched upon.

In the distance I heard a haunting screech, giving me a hint as to what a Wyvern must have sounded like, but thankfully we didn't run into any of the beasts along our way. There were, however, plenty of deer visible for moments before they bounded away from our noisy approach. More than enough of them to make the servant's claim about the Hunt Master's annoyance ring true to me.

Any hunter would be annoyed at so much game, being so close, and being ordered not to go after it without a good reason given.

I found the second hint that we were on the right path a couple miles into the walk, looking down to regard clear bootprints framed in the dirt. They were blatant enough that I'd noticed them right away, and considering how shitty I was at nature-related things, I was pretty sure they'd been left deliberately.

Varric took one look at my expression, then shifted to cover my right side, Bianca up and aimed into the forest. Trevelyan took the hint a second later, drawing her sword and moving to put her back to his, and to mine.

"You're good." I called out, drawing my own blade. "Didn't notice anyone following us at all."

There wasn't any particular warning. Just a soft rustle, and then a figure rose into view from behind I bush I'd have sworn too small to hide someone his size. Wait, sorry, her size.

"The Duke swore none would come." The Qunari was painted up for battle, just enough cloth over her breasts for decency, though she had plenty of armor on below the waist. "Why should I allow you to live?"

I saw more rustling to my left, a man with a spear taller than I, poised to hurl it at me. Varric tensed up on my right, betraying that someone was out there as well, while Trevalyan's weight began shifting nervously.

"If you're Qunari, then I'm your mortal enemy." I called back, mentally preparing my shield spell just in case. "If you're Vashoth, then you are not, and I would like to speak with your leader."

The spokeswoman frowned, a significant expression on someone her size. "Who do you claim to be?"

"Maeve of Kirkwall." I replied.

Her eyes narrowed further. "That name is known. You are an enemy of the Qun."

Someone said something in Qunlat, sounding dismissive. She immediately snapped something back in reply, then stepped through the foliage she'd been hiding behind. Her own spear settled into an at-ease position, her chin lifting.

"I do not agree with Salit's plan to speak with this Orlesian." She announced, clearly speaking just as much to the other Vashoth as to us. "Perhaps this enemy of the Qun will have greater understanding of what we offer, and give us something of equal value in return."

I lowered my sword, though I did not sheathe it. "It will depend on what you offer, but if you have something that will hurt the Qun, I can promise that I am interested. So long as we do it quickly, that is. I don't think the Duke will be happy to find us talking."

"He would not." She agreed, turning, waving her free hand. "Come. Salit awaits."

I gave her a slight bow, nudged my companions... and then we set off to buy a list of spies from the highest rank deserter I could remember hearing about.