I wasn't sure how long Teagan and Isolde had been standing there, too wrapped up in the heat of the moment to sense their arrival. It was only the pointed clearing of a throat that alerted us to the fact that we were no longer alone. We broke apart so suddenly that I lost my balance and fell backwards over the low, wooden bench and landed with an unladylike grunt on my tailbone on the hard, stone floor. Alistair gracefully vaulted over the table to help me and I scowled up at him, embarrassed, but the look on his face softened me and I accepted his hand, allowing him to pull me to my feet.

"Apologies, Alistair. We didn't mean to interrupt...breakfast." Teagan said, with an amused glint in his eye.

"Bann Teagan! Lady Isolde." Alistair exclaimed, as if he had only just noticed them. "How long have you...been standing there?"

"Long enough." Isolde wrinkled her nose with what could only be described as disgust, and Alistair's face glowed scarlett.

"My lady, we...apologise for our indiscretion." He said, gruffly, and I threw him a disapproving look.

"Don't speak for me." I said, shortly, before turning back to our audience, mustering up all the authority I possessed. "We kissed. You walked in. It happens. If anybody else hears about this, we'll know who's been talking. Since we're about to risk our lives to save your husband and your brother, I'd say we overlook this little awkward moment. Yes?"

There was a general murmur of agreement from all three of them and I nodded, feeling my confidence grow as the blush in my cheeks faded.

"Excellent. Now that that's behind us; Bann Teagan, I would like to speak with you, privately, if you wouldn't mind." I said, deciding to take this opportunity to change the subject, break the tension and start my enquiries into the location of Haven.

"Of course." He replied, studying me curiously. "Perhaps we could speak upstairs, in my brother's study."

Alistair nudged me gently, looking a little concerned. I wasn't sure what exactly he thought I was going to talk about but given the tension in his jaw I was pretty sure it was the fate of a certain blood mage.

"Don't worry about it. Urn business." I said, softly, in answer to his silent question, and he visibly relaxed. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"If it's anything like breakfast, you can count on it." He replied, with a mischievous smirk, lowering his voice so that only I could hear. I suppressed a laugh and flashed an amused smile over my shoulder at him as I followed Teagan from the room, inclining my head towards Lady Isolde in acknowledgement as I passed. She shot me a superior look, which I promptly ignored. I had known plenty of women like her in my life: judgemental and holier-than-thou, regardless of the skeletons in their own closets. I found the best way to deal with it was to pay them as little attention as possible, and made a silent vow to myself that that's exactly what I would do.

I followed Teagan up to the first floor, through the main hall that we had gathered in the day before, and into the arl's study. It was larger than I remembered it being in the game, but then again so was the rest of the castle. The room had high ceilings, a desk in the centre, a large window with views of the lake, and several low, comfortable-looking seats arranged in an L-shape on the right hand side of the room, presumably for small meetings. It was towards these chairs that Teagan directed me, and I took a seat, straightening my back and facing him with what I hoped was a confident smile.

"So...how can I help you, Lady Duval?" Teagan asked, smiling pleasantly.

"I need information, if you have it. I've heard...whispers, from a credible source, about the Urn of Sacred Ashes. About where it might be, only I've never heard of the place before, and I was wondering if anyone in Redcliffe was familiar with it, through trade or word of mouth. Haven?"

"Haven?" He repeated, looking thoughtful. He stroked his chin, closing his eyes and muttering under his breath. After a few moments, he shook his head, apologetically. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I've ever heard of it."

I sighed, but it was no less than I expected.

"I don't suppose...I know you had your best scholars looking into cures for the arl. Could we have them look into this? See if they can come up with a lead on Haven before we leave for Denerim tomorrow? If I'm right, which I'm sure I am, it may save us a lot of time and get the Arl back on his feet sooner rather than later."

He stood up with an air of urgency.

"I will send for them at once. Anything, anything that you think may help Eamon." He said, with the fierce determination of a man who loved his brother. I thought of the lengths I would go to if I thought I could bring Emily back, and felt a strong wave of compassion towards the Bann. I rose to my feet, placing a hand on his arm.

"We will save him." I promised, wishing, not for the first time, that I could tell someone else what I knew. He nodded, gratefully, and I gave him a small smile of encouragement. "Have faith."

"Thank you, Lady Duval."

"Please. Lauren. And if I could ask that you keep this just between us and your scholars, for now. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up if it turns out to be a dead end."

"Of course. I will not speak of it to anyone else." He agreed, nodding, and guiding me towards the door. "I will send for you the moment I hear anything."

I followed him almost to the door before casting a look back at the writing desk, suddenly remembering I had a letter to send back with the Templars when they returned to Kinloch Hold, and I didn't suppose a page from my diary written in biro would be very easy to explain.

"Great. I won't go far. Do you mind if I use some parchment and wax to write a letter to someone? It's time-sensitive." I said, gesturing to the desk. He nodded, distractedly.

"Yes, yes, of course. Use whatever you need. If you'll excuse me." He replied, striding from the room with a renewed sense of purpose. I nodded in his wake, satisfied that I had done all I could on the Haven front for now, and made my way over to the desk, fishing Cullen's letter from my pocket as I went. I read it over again, to refresh my memory, and set about rifling through the drawers to find some parchment and ink. I'd never written with a quill before, but how hard could it be?

It turns out, way harder than I had anticipated. The ink kept running and blotting and I went through a few sheets of parchment just getting the hang of writing. I figured out the trick was to write quickly, so I had to plan out what I was going to write before I started. After a while, I had a legible letter in front of me. It wasn't pretty, and the writing was a little serial-killer-esque, but I figured it was about as good as I was going to get. I re-read it a couple of times, checking for mistakes.

Cullen

Thank you for your letter. Your concern for my well-being is touching. I would ask that you try not to worry for my safety, as none of us are truly safe while the blight continues, but the thought is appreciated, nonetheless.

I will write to you as often as I can, if it will ease your concerns. There will be times when you will not hear from me for several months, although I will try to pre-empt these stretches by giving you some notice, so that you do not worry unduly.

I would only ask that you keep me up to date with your own progress, in return.

Yours sincerely

Lauren

"So that you do not worry unduly. Very fancy-pants, Miss Duval." I commended myself, aloud. I was passing myself off as a high-born, after all. And there's just something about writing with a quill that brings out the fancy pants in a girl. Satisfied, I started to blow on the parchment, frowning when I realised the ink was still running, making the letters appear frayed.

"What are you doing?" A small voice asked from the open door. I looked up to see a young boy watching me, curiously. I hesitated, startled to see Connor out of bed and walking around so soon after the events of yesterday. I hadn't thought of demonic possession as having the lasting effects of a twenty-four hour stomach bug.

"I'm writing a letter. I just can't figure out how to stop the ink from running." I replied, honestly. He walked towards me, coming around the desk to see for himself.

"Hmm. You haven't used sand to soak the ink up." He declared, reaching across the desk for a small jar of sand which I had assumed was decorative, and sprinkled it across the parchment. "Now you leave it for one, two, three…" He counted to thirty on his fingers and I joined him, playing along. "Okay, and now you just shake it back into the jar."

I did as he said and was pleasantly surprised to see that the ink was now dry.

"Hey! It worked. You're my hero." I grinned, rolling the parchment into a tight scroll. "Now...I need something to seal this with…" I rifled through the drawers some more until I found a stick of red wax and a tinderbox. With further instruction from my pint-sized assistant, I had the scroll sealed and ready to go. "There. Not bad for a first attempt, is it?" I beamed, holding it up for his inspection. He nodded in agreement, and I set about returning the supplies that I had used.

I was just about to close the drawer when something blue and shiny caught my eye, and I frowned, reaching in and fishing out what could only be the amulet Alistair thought he had smashed. "Of course. I had forgotten this was here." I muttered to myself, flashing my helper a confident smile and shoving both the scroll and the amulet into my pocket. I wondered if he would question my taking it, but he didn't seem interested. Kids are great.

"Who are you?" He asked, suddenly, as if the question had just occurred to him.

"I'm Lauren." I held out a hand in greeting, and he grasped my forearm, nodding. It was adorable, to say the least, to see a child be so formal.

"I'm Connor." He replied. I nodded.

"I know."

"Are you one of the ones who is going to make father better?" He asked, hopefully.

"Yes. I have to go away for a little while but when I come back, your father will be good as new." I assured him. He studied me for a moment, as if trying to discern if I was being honest, before smiling. I studied him in return, and was struck by how old he looked. There was something in his eyes. Something sad and absolute, and it pained me to think of how much he had been through over the last few weeks.

"I think I have to go away too. I heard mother talking with uncle. They thought I was asleep." He said, frowning down at his feet. "I don't want to go away."

"I know." I said, softly. I felt miserable for him, I wished there was something I could say to comfort him. I wondered if the Templars would take him back to Kinloch Hold with them when they left. It was in no fit state for a child. The blood was barely dry. On instinct, I reached out and hugged him. He pulled away, only briefly, before surprising me by climbing onto my knee and burying his head into my shoulder. I held him for a few moments, rocking back and forth, telling him that everything was going to be okay. In the game, I hadn't given Connor a second thought after leaving Redcliffe. In reality, my heart ached for him.

Isolde's frantic call jolted me out of my reverie and I sniffed, wiping my eyes. She called for him again, and I called back in response to let her know he was with me. She barged into the room and threw me a thunderous look, and Connor leapt down from my knee and ran to her, throwing himself at her hip, and the thunder in her face immediately broke, replaced with a brilliant smile of pure adoration as she hugged her son to her, cooing and fussing.

"Go and wash up Connor. Your uncle is waiting for us downstairs." She instructed, and he left without protest. She turned back to me and her smile dissolved. "What did you say to him?" She demanded, clearly thinking I was to blame for her son's miserable demeanour.

"He heard you and Teagan talking. He knows he's going to the Circle." I said, quietly, ignoring the accusation in her words. She closed her eyes and whispered something to herself in Orlesian, before glaring at me again.

"Teagan told me what you said last night, about Connor." She hissed. I hesitated, feeling ashamed at my words from the night before.

"I was making a point. Still, I can see why you would be upset. I apologise." I said, slowly.

"Keep my son's name out of your mouth, and don't speak to him again." She snapped. "If it wasn't for Teagan I'd have you thrown out."

"And if it wasn't for me and my friends, your entire family would be dead." I responded, coolly. "Try to bear that in mind, before your next outburst." I stood up, closing the distance between us and she flinched slightly as I approached her, but I didn't stop walking until I was at the door. "You should be with your son. Make the most of this time with him." I said, softly, over my shoulder, before leaving her alone with her thoughts.

AN: Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has subbed and reviewed so far. Thanks, as always, to my wonderful beta, Kira Tamarion.

Chimera Spyke: Yep, I've definitely been in situations where my heart knew what I wanted before my head did. As for the triangle...I'm definitely planning on having some fun with that a little later.

shermanagd: I'm impressed you read the whole thing in one sitting! I think we're almost up to 100,000 words. I'm glad you're enjoying it and thank you so much for leaving a review. I really appreciate it!

Guest: I don't want to call you Guest, so formal, so I'm just going to call you Angel Face McMermaid. Thank you so much for your lovely words, I did get batted around a bit by the large angry cat that is life but I'm back and raring to go. And yeah...Isolde really is a bitch. In every single way.

Everyone: For anyone who's reading but doesn't have an account, I'm going to uploading on Fridays from now on.

Thanks again guys and, as always, please subscribe and review. I'll love you forever.