The rotted corpse heaved its axe at my skull, its teeth rattling against one another when I ducked the blow, thrusting into its chest. A mortal blow on a... well, mortal, didn't do much to inconvenience the zombie.

Its just rasped and heaved its axe up and over its head, bringing it down like my skull was a log it aimed to chop.

I danced aside, spinning, getting my sword into a two handed grip. My own swing went straight through its bulging neck, the decapitated body finally collapsing onto the dirt as it ought to have.

"Fucking Thedas!" It wasn't my best war cry, but it had the benefit of being viscerally honest. "Why can't things fucking stay dead!?"

The mixed force of Templars and Elves around me shouted their own invectives, universally agreeing with me as they cut their way through the corpses defending the cavern entrance. A group of mages were having their own brawl there; apparently not all of them had been on board with this brand of necromancy.

One was already dead, his throat slit by the apparent leader of the other faction, his blood super-charging the small army of the dead. Another two were retreating as quickly as they could, barriers sheltering them from the flames and lightning being tossed at them.

"Recruits!" Cullen shoved a corpse back with his shield, retreating enough to give orders. "Secure those two! Alive! Captain! I need archers on those mages, now!"

It took me a beat to realize that he meant me. "Zatris! You heard him!"

"Archers, back!" He called, waving for the trio he'd brought with us to follow him. "Aim for the mages!"

Four of us leaving the line stopped me from being able to pay attention to anything else. Another corpse came at me with a spear, my sword vibrating in my hands as I parried the thrust. Having learned my lesson, I didn't bother with a riposte, instead getting in close and going for its head again.

The spear-corpse, it was too rotten for me to tell its original gender, smacked its spear into my side, trying to shove me away. Grunting at the impact, I shoved off with my right foot, getting close enough to try a thrust into its gaping eye socket. Bone cracked, but it didn't go down. Just pushed at me harder.

"Dammit!"

Isabella appeared on my left, her own sword neatly beheading the thing. "Head removal only!"

"I noticed!" I shouted back, barely turning in time to block a rusting sword that had been thrust towards my guts. "Fuck!"

A spear on our side promptly batted the thing upside the head, staggering it long enough for me to dent my brand new sword by cutting through another neck. "Thanks Merrill!"

"You're welcome! Elowen! Right!" Merrill shouted her own warning, the taller woman absently blocking an attack from that side, calling her thanks back.

I saw the first arrows snap by over head, though I couldn't hear them over the chaos. Said chaos continued for... I had no idea how long. At least a dozen more corpses fell on our side of the fighting before Cullen's troops finally broke through, Templars rushing the exhausted mages.

Another pair of the spellcasters were dead with arrows sticking out of them, while the leader used his knife to gut his last remaining ally while her back was turned. Her scream came with her blood trailing out in gleaming red light, forming up into some kind of seriously nasty invocation.

Well, it was, until a Templar fell to a knee, aiming carefully, her bow twanging once, and the last mage fell with an arrow protruding from his throat.

The last corpses still upright abruptly pitched over with their necromancer dead. That was a relief because I was beyond fucking exhausted.

"Treasure, you said." I said between pants for breath. "A nice bath in the river, you said. A lazy day, you said."

Isabella groaned, "This is not my fault, sweet thing."

"That first zombie broke my bottle of brandy, Isabella. My good brandy."

"You mean Varric's brandy?" She asked.

"Tomayto, tomahto." I forced myself to turn, looking around. "Everyone alive?"

Everyone turned out to be. Elowen, Shina, and two other members of the Shield-Wall looked as tired as we were, and Elowen had a nasty cut on her cheek, but otherwise seemed fine. Zatris and his archers had more than a few bruises but were otherwise all right as well.

"New armor held up well, lady." Shina patted the mix of leather and chainmail covering her chest and arms, "Your money was well spent."

"Glad to hear it." I said, meaning it.

A good look over the Templars proved that they were in much the same situation. There was far more of them, but their full plate had clearly weathered the zombies' attacks just fine. A few were taking off their armor, poking at bruises, but otherwise it didn't seem like any of them had been seriously hurt.

Mostly, I thought, because the mages had been too busy fighting among themselves to actually direct their minions. Or support them with a few fireballs.

"Captain Maeve." Speaking of, Cullen was near the pair who'd been captured, waving me over. "If you could join us."

Polite or not, it was clearly a summons rather than a question. Sighing, I motioned for Merrill to stay when she made to follow me. One of us close to Templars without draining our mana was dangerous enough, two was asking for trouble.

She bit her lip, getting it, and stayed close to Isabella.

Not that I was alone for long. Shina promptly fell in right behind me, sheathing my old sword.

"Captains need bodyguards, my lady." She said before I could say anything.

I forced myself not to say that I didn't need any such thing. Not because I didn't believe it, I did, but because arguing in front of the Templars would be a bad look.

Said Templars watched as we walked past. For once none of the Humans looked hostile, disgusted, or like they were trying to undress us with their eyes. Instead they were mostly... curious. A few even gave us nods of respect. Really the only negative ones were a pair who looked more amused than anything else.

"Knight-Captain." I drew up well short of Cullen, and brought a fist to my heart in salute rather than offer a hand.

He didn't seem offended. Instead he gave me a smile that would have made most women swoon, his gauntlet clanging gently on his breastplate as he returned the gesture. "Auxiliary Captain. I can't say I expected to see you out here, but I'm glad of your timely intervention all the same. Your forces made a long battle far shorter."

I huffed, "Thanks, and I could say the same to you. One minute I'm taking my senior members out for a relaxing swim in the Blue River, the next we're being attacked by shambling corpses. Not the most pleasant surprise."

"I can well imagine." Cullen waved for me to come a bit closer, nodding to the prisoners. Their staves had been taken, and five other Templars surrounded them, blades drawn. "I hope the pair of you can explain just how a routine transfer of mages turned into what we just witnessed?"

The two mages, a tanned skinned young man and a woman with facial tattoos, exchanged a long look.

Apparently that was enough for them to decide that the girl should handle the talking.

"My name is Grace, this is Alain. Recently of the Starkhaven Circle." She paused, then said in a harder voice, "This is what happens when the Templars lie to and betray us."

The Templars around them made low, angry sounds, but a gesture from Cullen had them stay in place.

"Quite the accusation." He noted. "Lie and betray you how?"

In response she carefully reached down, moving slowly, and pulled a piece of parchment out of her robes. Templars watching, she unrolled it, and held it up like it someone brandishing a badge back home. Or, considering Mage-Templar relations, like someone holding up a crucifix to ward off a vampire.

"This," She growled, "Is a signed and stamped transfer request to the Circle in Cumberland, to the College of Magi. Approved by the Grand Cleric of Starkhaven herself. So tell me, Knight-Captain, what we were supposed to think when our Templars suddenly directed us to Kirkwall instead?"

Cullen flinched, hesitantly reaching out to take the parchment from her. He read it, winced again, then turned to offer it to me.

I really, really didn't want to get that close to him. Thankfully Shina was apparently a mind-reader. My bodyguard quickly stepped up, taking it from him. She retreated, holding it up for me to read, as if I was simply too important to hold a piece of paper.

"...regarding the unfortunate fire in the Starkhaven Circle, and acknowledging the overcrowding of the Gallows Circle of Kirkwall, the following mages are to be transferred to the College of Magi in Cumberland." I read aloud, reciting the names and ranks of the mages in question before going on, "Approved by Grand Cleric Fransesca of the Northern Free Marches in Starkhaven. There's even a fancy wax stamp on it."

The anger quickly drained out of the other Templars, replaced with a lot of awkward shifting of their weight.

I shook my head, glancing to Cullen. "Well, Knight-Captain. She's got a point. What the hell are they doing near Kirkwall? We're nowhere near the Minanter River, or the Imperial Highway, and it's straight run down those to get from Starkhaven to Cumberland."

"I..." It wasn't until he hesitated that I remembered that Cullen was far too young for his actual rank at this point in the story. That was probably why Meredith had promoted him to be her second; she'd wanted someone she could control, to mold as she wished.

He'd grow up in time to be what the Inquisition needed, but right now he was an inexperienced twenty something with a rank that should have been given to someone closer to twice his age.

Not that I could judge. I was faking being a Captain just as much as he was.

"...do not know." Cullen admitted. To his credit, he realized that was the wrong thing to say at once. Probably thanks to the increasingly awkward shifting among his troops, and the triumphant look that Grace got in her eyes. "That does not excuse killing their escort."

The other mage, Alain, quickly spoke, "We didn't want to fight them! Or use blood magic! That was Deciumus! Our plan was just to put a light sleeping spell on them, then make a run for the College. We don't want to be apostates, we just wanted to go to the Circle we are actually assigned to."

"Decimus called us weak." Grace shook her head, "Said the only thing the Templars understood was blood and violence, so that's what we should give them. Half the party sided with me, half with him. We argued, and... well. You saw the result."

"I... see."

When he didn't go on, I tried to give him a gentle prod. "Well, Knight-Captain. Seems pretty clear cut to me. The blood mages responsible are dead thanks your valiant troops, and these two are perfectly willing to go to their assigned Circle in Nevarra. They just need a new escort. Maybe one that will actually take them in the right direction this time."

"I... yes, you're quite right." He nodded, looking grateful that I'd given him an easy out. "Lieutenant Everard? Pick out three volunteers, and find out how many supplies from their group are still intact. You'll take these mages by the coastal road the College, and return to Kirkwall once you've completed that task. I want a signed receipt for their arrival from the Grand Enchanter when you return as well."

A man whose brown hair was threaded with gray thumped his fist on his chest in salute, "Yes, Knight-Captain. Well lads? You heard him! Who wants to get out of the city for a while?"

I got the feeling that this patrol was mostly made up of people who weren't fans of either Kirkwall or Meredith. There were a hell of a lot more than three volunteers eager to walk the entire way to Cumberland and back, and they had to resort to drawing lots.

Shina passed the documentation back to Cullen, the pair of us trying to take the moment to slip away. Sadly Cullen was apparently content to leave things to his Lieutenant; he walked with us, motioning for us to follow him a bit away from his troops.

"Makers breath, this is a mess." He murmured once were far enough away to not be overheard. "The Knight-Commander said those mages were being transferred to the Gallows, but that seal was real. They really were supposed to go to the College."

I crossed my arms, head shaking. "Sounds like she told their escort to ignore those orders."

Cullen frowned. "The Knight-Commander would never overrule a Grand Cleric's decree."

"Either she did, or whichever low-ranked idiot was leading that escort decided to take them to a completely different Circle of his own accord." I countered. "Which is more likely?"

He clenched his jaw, then clenched it harder when Shina spoke up behind me, "That, lady, or the Grand Cleric of Starkhaven lied to the mages. Or the Knight-Commander there went against the Cleric to redirect them."

"...you're not a very trusting group, are you?" Cullen asked.

"No." Shina replied flatly. "You shems rarely give us a reason to be."

"Shina." I said, as gently as I could. "Not the time."

There was a quiet sound in her throat, but she settled down.

Cullen looked away for a moment, then turned back to us, apparently ready to ignore the comment for now. "I will be sure to inform the Knight-Commander of your aid against the maleficar today, Lady Maeve. I'm sure it will please her to know that her faith in arming your people was not misplaced."

Just what we needed. Meredith happy with us. Well, no, that was a good thing. The fact that it would probably become public knowledge was a lot less so. If the Elves of Kirkwall were already on thin ice with the Mages, then today would probably see several more cracks opening up under our feet.

That we'd stumbled into it, and that I'd sent a pair of Mages to live in luxury in Cumberland instead of in cells in the Gallows... yeah. I doubted the Underground would care. They'd hear that we'd fought beside the Templars against Mages, in open battle, and sent two mages to live in a Circle. The rest of the details would be irrelevant.

"Thanks." It was the only thing I could say, despite the fact that I really wasn't all that grateful. And I was more than a little impatient to get away before one of the Templars realized the magic in the air wasn't just coming from the mages now helping rifle through a broken wagon. "If it's all the same to you, I think I need a relaxing bath more than ever now."

Cullen managed another smile, "Of course, Lady Maeve. Do you prefer that title, or that of Auxiliary Captain?"

"Neither."

The speed of my reply clearly startled him, Shina speaking up with a quiet chuckle. "She hates them both, but she's more used to Lady. Rarely glares at us when we use that one anymore."

"I... see." He shook his head again, an almost bashful grin appearing. "Until next time, Lady Maeve. The Templar Order remains in your debt."

"Don't worry about it." I turned away before he could offer a hand or anything, waving at him over my shoulder, "See you around, Knight-Captain."

Our little party was more than ready to go by the time we got pack. We plunged back into the wilderness of the Broken Coast, moving along old trails. By some unspoken consent we moved quick and quiet, doing our level best to get as far away from our 'allies' as fast as we could.

Long story short, by the time we reached the sheltered stream that Merrill and I usually swam in after magical practice, everyone was more than a little sweaty and eager to dive in.

We bathed in small groups, alternating who kept watch for bandits or monsters while the others plunged into the cool waters. Most of the people with us hadn't seen a real river in their lives, and those others hadn't since they'd been part of Alienage marriage swaps when they were teens. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy splashing around, getting fully clean for the first time in months or years.

Isabella pouted a lot though. I made damned sure she bathed with Shina and Elowen so that she couldn't tease Merrill or I.

Once we were done playing in the water it was time for our little feast. A large fire was put together on the rocky shore, everyone huddling around it to dry off while fish I'd bought were skewered and began cooking. The brandy I'd intended to share with everyone may have died a brutal death during the fight, but Merrill's lethal puppy-eyes saw Isabella admit to having brought some whiskey in her own bag.

The bottle made its rounds as we worked on dinner. A few potatoes were cut up, cooked quickly in pans. A fresh lemon from Rivain drew nearly as much excitement as the whiskey had, everyone eagerly getting few drops of its juice on their fish when it was done.

We ate and drank in reasonably good cheer. The conversation stayed simple. About the meal, about the river, about finally feeling clean.

It was only after the food was gone, the fire was low, and the sun just passing noon, that Zatris moved us toward the real talk for the day.

"You think those mages will make Cumberland, lady?" He asked.

I sighed, "Fifty-fifty odds, at best. Maybe they'll try to escape again, maybe that Lieutenant will just knock them over the head as soon as Cullen's gone and take them to the Gallows anyway. Or maybe, just maybe, they'll make it to that golden cage."

My second in command shook his head, "And those are the people we're relying on to keep us safe."

"We're not relying on them for anything." I countered, noting how everyone else had fallen silent. "We just need their blessing to stay openly armed in the city. So long as Meredith backs us, the nobles aren't going to try and do anything about it."

He nodded tiredly, "Yeah. I just wish that blessing didn't come with a Chantry in the Alienage."

Elowen shook her head from her place across from him, "Zatris, you and Merrill are the only ones at this fire who believe in the Evanuris still. Most of the Watch is Andrastian, so is most of the Alienage."

"Yeah, but it was easier to pretend otherwise before." He held a hand up, "It's stupid, I know. But knowing most of the People don't follow the Creators is one thing. Seeing that Chantry packed with our people every day is going to be something else."

"Then think about the food that Sister Petrice will be giving away from there." She replied. "About the lessons in medicines, healing, and potion making she'll be giving every day. She is going to be assigned there, isn't she?"

I nodded, "It's unofficial still, but yeah. She's going to be promoted to Revered Mother and put in charge of it. She'll get to pick out three Sisters to help, and she'll make sure none of them have problems with Elves."

To Zatris' right, Nethon brushed back his salt-and-pepper hair. "They're right, Zatris. A Chantry means charity, means our children and grandchildren learning to read. And we're getting a barracks, armory, and a new guard tower at the gate along with it. Plus the apartments that the Lady's paying to build in place of those shacks on the West side."

"I know, I know. It's a good bribe." Zatris admitted. "I'm not exactly thrilled, but I can't really speak against it either. A lot of the Elders, though, they're talking among themselves. They're not happy about it."

Shina huffed, "A minority. Not even a third of them voted against it when Hahren Leras let them voice their opinions."

The man to her left, Etherial, Elowen's designated second and her cousin or something, shook his head. "An angry minority, Shina. They were already on edge for Lady Maeve refusing to use Elven titles for the Watch, and the way the younger warriors are copying her hair and attitude."

"Don't look at me." I said when plenty of eyes swung my way. "Not like I go out of my way to recruit people."

Isabella snorted, lowering her mostly empty bottle. "You don't recruit, sweet thing. You just yell at them for being idiots, and then they start obeying your orders. Then you vanish on a suicidal expedition, and come back richer than any Elf south of Antiva."

I gave her a flat look, "Your point?"

"You really should have expected people to copy you." She drawled, "I'm surprised you're not being propositioned daily as it is."

Elowen grinned, "There's too many bets on that. No one in the Watch is going to risk losing money."

I went very still, then turned to glare at her. "What."

"Cousin?"

The other man grinned, reaching into a pouch on his waist and pulling gout a little scrap of paper. "As of two days ago, Merrill still has the most money on her being the Lady's first conquest."

Merrill promptly reddened sputtering. "What!?"

Everyone but her and I laughed at that, my hands coming up to massage my temples when he went on. "The pirate is a distant second, but still ahead of the Sister. Most of the money that was on Serrah Fenris went to Petrice over the past couple of weeks. There's a few others, but not many people have money on them."

"...I want to say I can't believe you lot are betting on that, but somehow I can." I sighed. "Did you start this?"

Isabella lifted her eyebrows. "Start it? Of course not. I do have a very large wager on myself though. With a side bet on Merrill and I both."

The ache in my skull only got worse, while Merrill covered her face before anyone could see just how bright she was turning.

"...not touching that. Nope. We're getting back on track, and we're doing it right the hell now." I said firmly. "Tonight's discussion is on the fact that I need the entire Night's Watch to stay united on the construction plans. I don't want anyone doing something stupid just because an Elder, or Hahren, or whatever you call them, said to do it."

Grins and laughs faded, everyone sobering up at my words.

"Is that understood? I will not see the few Humans we've got on our side being abused just because their ears are round. Eventually the Alienage will be able to stand alone. Be able to negotiate with the city, but right now we don't have that kind of respect or power. If so much as a hair one of the Sisters or Templars is touched by one of the People without provocation, they don't get a chance to to touch a second one. Understood?"

My sharp tones had all of the other elves nodding.

"Good." I put my hands on my knees. "This is going to take a couple of months for it all to finish, but we should be better off once its done. Now, my second thing. When that Chantry's done, and we've got a nice place for everyone in the Night's Watch to sleep if they don't want to live at home, I want to use the ceremony opening the Chantry to name someone else in command."

The protests came at once, Elowen leading. "You can't, lady. You're the only one who can lead us."

Zatris nodded, "You're the one who did all of the work. Who saw a way to fight back, to protect ourselves. You're the reason we stopped tolerating the abuse and organized ourselves. No more one or two more poor fools running off to avenge a their families and getting hanged for it, while the rest of us just stayed quiet in shame."

"Well you're going to have to learn on how to do it without me." I shot back. "Look. I didn't mean to start this, you all know that. I'm doing the best I can for now, but I'm not staying in Kirkwall forever. I want to go home."

Everyone looked uncomfortable at that, save for Isabella and Merrill, who seemed to have expected it.

"Now," I went on into the awkward silence, going with the closest thing to the truth that I could give them. "Whether that happens when Merrill finishes her Eluvian, or whether I buy a ship with the fortune Varric's sitting on for me, I don't know. My point is that I might only be around for a couple more years, maybe five or six at the outside, and someone else is going to have to lead the Night's Watch when I leave. I'd rather someone else did it right now."

Silence. A few of them glanced to Merrill, who colored a little, speaking up. "Do not look at me. If Maeve leaves by ship, then I'll be fixing my Eluvian aboard it with her."

Zatris bowed his head, "Couldn't you fix it here, lady? Then take all of the Alienage with you?"

"If we can." Merrill replied, speaking her old hopes that had my heart clench in pain. "There may be materials I need that I haven't thought of yet. My... my old clan may have them, but they'll move on eventually. We may need to leave to find another, or to search for something else. I really don't know yet, I've only just gotten started."

I pointed to her, forcing myself to not otherwise react to her continuing confidence that her Eluvian could take me home. Take us all to a safe land. One thing at a time, and that one thing right now was finding someone else to do this job.

"And she's going to need help. I can't keep splitting my time between my magical projects, her Eluvian, Varric's odd jobs, keeping Petrice on track, and trying to be the Captain of our Watch. I'm barely getting anything done in any of those at this point."

Elowen grimaced, nodding once. "You are overworked since you got back, lady. But... I don't know if any of us can talk to the Elders like you. Talk back to the shem leaders like you."

"Not without inspiring them to hate us further." Nethon added. "I certainly couldn't."

"Well either you or Shina is going to have to get over it." I told him firmly. "You're my finalists."

Both twitched in surprise, and looked about as happy as I had when Elder Leras had pointed out that I was basically running a small police force whether I liked it or not.

"Lady?" Shina shook her head, "I know I said I was yours, but that's not what I meant. Why not Elowen or Zatris?"

"They're too damned good at their jobs." I replied. "Whichever one of you two takes over is going to need good people working for you, backing you up. Elowen's got the shield wall well in hand, and Zatris has done the same with the archers."

Their subordinates all nodded in quiet agreement, save for the two people I'd picked out as my potential replacements.

"Look," I tried to lessen the blow a little." I'm not picking right now. I'm just warning you both that I'm going to start delegating more of what I've been doing to you two over the next couple of months."

Nethon gave me a sly look, "So we have three months to talk you out of it, my lady?"

"You won't."

"I shall certainly try." He replied. "Shina?"

"Assuredly." She said.

Merrill giggled, "Good luck. You know how stubborn Maeve is."

Everyone grinned, nodded, or otherwise indicated that they did. I could only shake my head, unable to deny that particular facet of my personality.

We sat around for another hour, letting the alcohol work its way out of our systems. For a little while we talked about the start of the construction projects in the Alienage, and the city in general, but that had been our only topic for more than a week now.

No one complained when Isabella got bored and started talking about one of her more exciting adventures; a raid on the city of Val Shevin where she escaped with an entire cargo of silk... and a very besotted Lord's son.

Despite the fact that she was Human, no one seemed to mind her presence or stories. Either out of fear for insulting me, because Isabella was drop-dead gorgeous, or the simple fact that she was fun to have around.

True, no one was quite willing to call her out for lying like I was, or pester her for details quite like Merrill, but everyone enjoyed her tall tales all the same.

"All right." I groaned when she finished, stretching my arms out, "We've got an errand to run. I think the rest of you should get home while it's still daylight. Shina? Guess what?"

My 'bodyguard' let out a groaning sigh. "I'm leading on the walk home?"

"Yup. And telling Elder Leras I'll won't be back to the Alienage until tomorrow." I grinned at her expression. "Try not to let anyone burn it down on your first night."

The older woman closed her eyes, muttering loudly enough for everyone to hear. "The Lady got you justice for your niece. Remember that every time you want to smack her smug little face."

One of the archers gasped, Nethon's eyebrows rose, but my bark of laughter made a few smiles appear.

"There you go." I told her, "Now you're fitting in with the lunatics I keep finding around me."

"Oy!" Isabella said at once, "Don't include me in that."

Merrill pouted as well, "Maeve!"

"You're both crazy in the best possible ways." I assured them, which only made the respective glares and pouts worsen. "Come on. Let's go find some buried treasure. And it had better not turn out to be a moldy boot, Isabella. I'm throwing it at your head if it is."

The pirate rolled her eyes, pushing herself to her feet. "It'll be more than a boot. And even if it is, you'd never hit me with it."

"Let's go find out, shall we?"