Author Note: Please be aware there are several scenes some readers may find distressing.

xXx

Vaughan walked slowly down the line of the Night Elves his men had dragged from their homes, a handful picked who did not have families and were deemed to be easier targets. It was a loud and violent beginning to the day, after the respectful silence that had fallen over the city just the day before as the Queen's body was taken to the Chantry. "I warned you all what would happen should you continue to carry weapons." He gestured to the small pile of weapons on the platform.

"Those are not ours; you took all of our weapons!" Krin gasped, pain bursting through his jaw as the soldier nearest hit him.

"We have all the evidence we need." Vaughan stated coldly, glancing to the elves dragged out to watch the spectacle, huddled together and watching fearfully. "Let me be clear, our beloved Queen was murdered by one of your filth. That you are still carrying weapons proves to us that you cannot be trusted and there are still traitors among you. The punishment is death."

Soris had slipped to the edge of the crowd trying to pull his parents away, but he froze as the Night Elves were forced to their feet and dragged to the Vhenadahl. A whimper left his lips as one by one they were hung from its branches, beaten brutally first as they attempted to escape. He stared around him desperate for someone to go to their aid, but everyone was like him, too terrified to move and he hated himself and them for it. He felt his knees go weak, only his father grabbing him keeping him on his feet.

Mayan gripped his son tightly, forcing him to focus. "Find Darrian and Shianni and tell them what happened here and tell them to hide, the soldiers will come for all of the Night Elves, I guarantee it."

"But …"

"Go son, before it's too late."

Trembling fiercely Soris glanced at his mother who had gently taken hold of his hands. "Soris you need to be brave, you need to warn your cousins. We need to be strong for our family."

Gulping Soris nodded, turning startled as Vaughan directed soldiers to the orphanage, watching in horror as they stepped inside.

Vaughan smirked as some of the elves realised what was going to happen and began begging and pleading for mercy for the children, fury and grief burning in them all as the screams started, pained cries and sobs of terrified children banging against the windows. He nodded to the soldiers he had brought for crowd control, smirking as they unsheathed their weapons. He had expected perhaps one or two to go to the aid of the children, yet no-one moved, clearly hanging the Night Elves from the Vhenadahl was a strong enough deterrent. Finally, the orphanage fell silent and Vaughan watched his guards file out, their armour blood splattered.

"How could you, they were just children!" Mayan gasped.

"The less of your kind in the world the better." He turned to his guards. "I want the rest of the Night Elves in my dungeon by days end."

xXx

Hurling himself at the guard who had grabbed Shianni, Zef sent all three to the ground, a swift knee to the groin releasing Shianni from his grip, the other soldier who had accompanied him rolling on the floor in agony. "Run!" He yelled.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Shianni move, now!"

Tears blurring her vision, Shianni fled their home, racing down the steps and hurtling across the main square, slamming hard into Darrian and Soris who were running towards her.

"Maker, Shianni I feared …"

"We have to help Zef!" Her eyes widened as she looked back to the building, seeing an unconscious Zef being carried between the two who had attacked them, several guards quickly flanking them. "No! Maker, no!"

Darrian's eyes narrowed. "Damn it all. We will get him back, I promise." He gently held his weeping cousin as they hurried into an alleyway, leaving Zef for the moment to an unknown fate. "Shianni, we have to move, we aren't safe here."

"I won't leave Zef!"

"I swear we will come back for him, but we need help."

"How?" Soris demanded. "The gates are guarded and they destroyed our only other way out when they destroyed the warehouse."

Darrian glanced around wildly, no-where was safe.

"Come to my parents." Soris stated urgently. "They have searched that area already. They will probably come back, but we will have time." They hurried through the Alienage careful to remain unseen, moving to the door as Soris held it open for them. "Get in!" He urged having to push them, freezing when he saw why they hadn't moved. "No!" He gasped, sinking to his knees by his parents, both covered in blood, a sword wound in their chests. "No." He whimpered, rocking on his knees, lost to the horror and helplessness.

Vision blurred with tears, Shianni turned at the sound of running, quickly closing the door, rubbing her eyes and peeking out of the window seeing two of Vaughan's men run past swords drawn. "They are going to kill us all." She whispered, staring at the bodies of her aunt and uncle.

Darrian was on his knees beside Soris, clutching his hands to stop them trembling.

"I should have been with them." Soris whimpered.

"Then you would be dead too." Darrian stated gently.

"Shianni's right they are going to kill us all anyway, at least I would have been with them." He rose shakily to his feet and turned away from his cousins, before turning to them accusingly. "You couldn't leave it well alone could you. You had to get the Night Elves formed here, you and that bloody guardsman. Now we are all going to die and what was it all for? All they needed was an excuse and we gave it to them on a platter. Elves with weapons." He stared at them shaking his head. "You have killed us all." He sank back to his knees sobbing painfully.

Darrian turned as Shianni gripped his arm. "Soris is right about one thing, if I'm going to die I want to be with Zef."

"Shianni no!" He grabbed her, preventing her from reaching the door. "We will find a way to help him, but you are not going to give yourself up to them. You don't know if you would be taken to the same place and we all know what they would do to you first."

Shuddering, Shianni let her hand drop to her side and leaned against him letting her tears fall.

xXx

Spitting out blood Zef lay in the cell he had been thrown into, clutching his waist and trying not to be sick. He felt hands on his arms and tensed for a fight startled to see Salrin and Orial, two of his fellow Night Elves.

"Easy Zef." Orial soothed helping him to sit up. "Maker, they messed you up good." He bit his lip glancing at the two guards outside of the cells, who were paying them no attention.

Zef swallowed painfully. "Shianni isn't here so she must have got away, right?" He glanced at them in desperation.

Salrin hunkered down and nodded. "She isn't here and they have brought us all here."

Blinking rapidly, Zef realised there were several other cells in the room. "Maker, they have all of the Night Elves that were left!"

"Apart from Darrian and Shianni and if I know them, they are trying to get help as we speak."

"They will never get out of the Alienage. The only way we had was in the warehouse and now that passage has a ton of debris over it." Orial muttered.

"Where are we?" Zef gasped, groaning in pain as his likely fractured ribs protested as he moved.

"Arl Vaughan's dungeon." Salrin whispered fearfully.

Zef paled. "Can't anyone pick the locks?"

"No-one has managed it so far, never seen locks like these and so many of them."

Swallowing painfully, Zef shuddered. "Maker, save us." Easing himself to his feet he moved to the door, peering through the bars to try and get a better look at who was there. He stepped back as guards headed to the cell next to theirs, startled as they dragged out a human who had clearly been beaten. He stumbled back as the prisoner raised his head briefly, recognising him immediately. "Gawain." He gasped.

Oriel frowned. "You know him?"

"I've known him my whole life, he's a guardsman from Gwaren in service to Teyrn Loghain."

"Maker, what is he doing here?"

"I don't know. Have you seen anyone else?"

Oriel shook his head. "We have been too busy trying to be invisible ourselves to notice any human prisoners."

Sinking slowly back to the ground, Zef silently prayed his wife would get them the help they desperately needed.

xXx

Pacing the room Vaughan gave the impression he was deep in thought, before turning his attention to his prisoner. "Perhaps you will be more inclined to cooperate if it is another who is experiencing pain."

Jayden paled as Gawain was dragged into the room in chains.

"Now let us see how long you can hold your tongue."

Gawain quickly glanced over Jayden, feeling rage at the harm that had been done to him. He met his gaze seeing the young Lord's horror and panic, Jayden had given up his opportunity of freedom to stop him from being hurt, he would not let him betray the Cousland's because of him as well. "It doesn't matter what he does to me, don't tell him or any of them a thing!"

Vaughan smiled. "You say that now."

Gawain struggled as he was chained so he couldn't move, heart pounding violently he glared at Vaughan.

"I think we will start with the fingernails." He smirked at Jayden. "I am sure you remember how that feels."

Swallowing back the rising nausea Jayden glared. "Do what you want to me, but let him go!"

"I think this will be more fun." Vaughan chuckled.

Sweat dripping from his face Gawain gritted his teeth refusing to give the Arl the satisfaction of having him scream. His fingertips felt as though they were on fire, nausea rising from his gut to claw at his throat.

"Vaughan stop this!" Jayden snarled.

"You have the power here." Vaughan stated smiling. "You can stop this at any time."

Jayden met Gawain's gaze in panic, he couldn't betray the Cousland's, but his silence meant betraying Gawain.

"Don't tell this bastard anything!" Gawain gasped out, his breathing becoming rapid as Vaughan gripped the little finger on his right hand.

"No!" Jayden snarled, struggling against his bonds, shuddering as Gawain screamed as his finger was broken.

Through the haze of pain Gawain managed to meet Jayden's gaze and shook his head. He tried to steady his breathing before he howled in pain as Vaughan broke the next finger.

"Vaughan!" Jayden roared, furious when the Arl simply laughed. Breathing hard, his body screaming in tension, Jayden forced himself to meet Gawain's gaze, seeing the courage and loyalty that had drawn him to the soldier as a boy. 'Gawain please forgive me.' Jayden forced himself to close down as Warin had taught him, to push his emotions so deep he couldn't feel them. He locked away his compassion, his guilt, his grief and even his anger, until he was watching what was happening feeling numb to it.

"I can keep going." At the silence Vaughan shrugged. "Very well." He picked up one of his favourite instruments of torture and smiled.

"Remember well what you are doing." Jayden stated coldly. "Because whatever you do to him, I'm going to do to you."

Vaughan hesitated for a moment before he smirked to hide his discomfort. "When this is done you won't know that I did this."

"You should pray that is the case, because I will show you no mercy." He heard Gawain's screams, watched as Vaughan broke each bone in his hands. He remained silent even as Vaughan demanded answers and with his silence Gawain was forced to suffer more, until he realised Vaughan was looking at him, frustration and anger radiating from his glare.

Vaughan moved to the door and yelled for two of the guards, gesturing for them to remove Gawain. "I admit I thought you would have spilled your guts with his first scream. I would have kept going anyway of course, I enjoy it too much, but you held out. Maybe I misjudged you, I think you are more like me than either of us imagined."

Guilt tore at Jayden, no amount of training could keep it buried for long. Gawain had been brutalised because of his silence, he had just watched and done nothing to help him. He felt broken, as though his very soul had been fragmented and he knew he would never be the same. He let the rage course through his body, impotent in his inability to take action almost choking on it. "Maybe we are." Jayden heard himself say. "Because I am going to enjoy hurting you."

Vaughan smiled. "You know we carried out a purge of the Alienage given the Queen's death. That elven bitch who killed her gave me leave to deal with the vermin in any way I see fit." His smile broadened. "You helped to put weapons in their hands. I fought you on it, but I should be grateful, if you hadn't done that, well things might have been very different."

"Where does your hatred of the elven people come from?"

The smirk slowly left his face. "You think I must have had some traumatic experience with one of them? I hate them because they are vermin, they are beneath me. They are nothing." He leaned closer. "I have the Night Elves in my dungeon, well those we didn't hang and when I am not with you, I have been having my fun with them. My men slaughtered every child in the orphanage, their screaming was pathetic." His frown deepened when he didn't respond. "But I'm missing two of your favourite pets I believe, Shianni and Darrian. Oh the things I am going to do to Shianni when I find her." He smirked. "I might bring her here and make you watch." He screamed in pain as Jayden's head slammed into his face, stumbling back and clutching his broken nose, staring at him in shock.

Jayden slowly raised his head, Vaughan's blood sliding down his forehead.

For just a moment Vaughan saw a wild look in his eyes, having the unsettling notion that it wasn't a man he was looking at but a wolf. It was fleeting, but what remained was something that spoke of murder more acutely than words ever could. He stumbled out of the cell, slamming and locking the door behind him breathing heavily.

xXx

Laying where he had been thrown, Gawain curled in on himself, staring at his ruined hands and finally letting the tears fall. He took gulping breaths trying to calm, but the pain was too much, and he lost consciousness moments later, not hearing his name softly whispered.

Slumping against the wall Zef fell silent, horror swamping him at the image burned into his mind of the guardsman's hands.

"If he's lucky he's unconscious." Orial whispered. "Maker, help us if that is what they do to the humans here."

xXx

Stifling a yawn, Rendon frowned when Vaughan returned, he was pale and his nose had clearly been broken, given the swelling and bruising despite having been treated. "What happened?"

"William happened." Vaughan muttered.

"Do you at least have the information?"

"No and I am not going to get it." Vaughan shivered, pouring himself a brandy. He drank the glass pouring another. "I removed every finger nail, broke that guard's fingers, every single one! William was angry, threatened me but wouldn't give me the information. I broke the bones in the guardsman's hands and he just watched." He met Rendon's shocked gaze. "I thought telling him we had his precious Night Elves would break him, but he did this to me! Maker, he would have killed me if he had the chance. I am done with this! I … I thought this Champion business was bullshit, now … now I am not sure. He is not the same as he was before Haven. I do not know what happened there, but he is different. I do not want any part of this!"

Rendon tutted softly, inwardly alarmed that the sadistic young man had been so shaken and that Jayden, a boy who had taken a beating for an elf of all things, would let his childhood guardsman be so brutally tortured.

"Maybe … maybe you should stop pushing this."

Raising an eyebrow at the tremble of his voice Rendon leaned forward. "You have nothing to fear from the boy."

"He is not a boy." Vaughan snapped, pouring himself a third drink and downing it. He jumped as Rendon's hand rested on his shoulder.

"Really Vaughan, this is a little dramatic for you."

"I am not squeamish Rendon, I enjoy causing pain, I always have. I know how to make people suffer, how to make them break and I am damn good at it, but maybe he has Andraste's protection."

Rendon stared at him for a long time. "Has Andraste freed him from the dungeon? Has she stopped you from inflicting pain?"

"No, but …"

"It was a story created by the Chantry nothing more." Rendon shook his head. "I did not think you were so gullible."

"Think what you like." Vaughan snapped, grabbing the bottle and heading for the door. "I am never going near him again!"

"Very well I will have Eloen begin work on him."

Hesitating, Vaughan turned back to him. "Is whatever this is really worth it?"

"You will understand in time."

Vaughan turned away and headed to his room trying to ignore the tremble of his hands.

xXx

Laying on the cell floor where he had been dragged and dumped shortly after Vaughan had left, Jayden shuddered as he heard cries of pain from other prisoners. Gawain's screams were burned into his memory so he knew whoever was being tortured, it wasn't him. He curled into the foetal position, pressing his fist to his mouth to stop any noise from the choked sobs of grief and guilt. He tried to stay awake, to somehow devise a means of escape for them, but exhaustion and physical pain were catching up to him and finally he was unable to keep his eyes open.

Jayden found himself running through the woods outside of Denerim, Airyl just up ahead, the wolf joyous in the freedom racing through the woods brought her. He was losing sight of her and felt a moment of panic before he felt a shudder move down his spine and he dropped to all fours, his body changing. There was no pain, only a sense of freedom and release. He trotted over to a pool of water and gazed at his reflection, a black furred wolf staring back at him with storm grey eyes. His head lifted as he heard Airyl howl, a call for him to join her. He took off again, heart racing in delight at the new perspective, the rush of adrenaline as he ran after her. This body was strong and fast and he gave himself up to it leaving behind his human self and becoming the wolf. He leapt over a fallen tree, his paws landing on the ground soundlessly, no break in his stride as he ran on. He caught up to Airyl, the pair running side by side until they reached the edge of the woods, both stopping, staring out at the blighted land. Smells of death and decay assaulted his nostrils, hearing the cry of the Archdemon as it soared above them, hundreds of ogres moving across the barren land. A low growl rumbled in his throat, lips curling back into a snarl. He glanced at Airyl as her head brushed against his. He looked out once more, lurching back seeing the ground covered in dead soldiers and Darkspawn. The ogres were moving among them, tearing apart any human, dwarf or elf that still breathed. The Archdemon landed, roaring out its victory. Rage swelled within him, a howl of grief and challenge tore from his throat, loud enough to hurt his own ears before he leapt out of their cover and down the gentle slope, dodging ogres, huge hands reaching out to grab him. He leapt at the Archdemons throat, tearing at scales with teeth and claws, blood filling his mouth before a claw wrapped around him and tore him away, pinning him to the ground. He lay panting, unable to move, hearing Airyl howl from where she had remained within the cover of the trees, seeing the rest of their pack had joined her. He thought he saw the shadow of a large eagle passing over them and he found himself in the Wilds, no sign of the Archdemon or any of its horde. The air shimmered around him and Flemeth took her human form, easing down onto a log watching him.

"You have responsibilities, lad." She raised an eyebrow at his growl, easing off the log and settling beside him, frowning at his deep growl as she rested a hand on his back. "This is not my doing; I did all I could to try and prevent this blight."

Jayden whined softly as the life and vibrancy of the Wilds was replaced with the blight.

"Do not get lost in these dreams." Flemeth stated softly. "You cannot afford to lose yourself to the wolf, no matter how tempting."

He gave a soft huff, growling slightly at her chuckle.

"You think there are not times when I think about staying as an eagle or dragon." She smiled slightly. "I have a fondness for the wolf form myself lad, but our destiny requires us to be something else." She reached out to him again, smiling slightly when he remained silent. "You must endure, it is all we can ever do."

He glanced around realising he was alone, the Wilds shrinking around him, howling as he was left on a tiny patch of land the rest a void around him. He howled for his pack, a desperate haunting cry, hearing Airyl's howl in return, distant but there. He howled again needing to hear her, pacing the tiny patch of earth in agitation when there was only silence.

Jayden woke with a start, his body pulsing with pain, feeling awkward and wrong in human form. Shuddering he closed his eyes, not for the first time wishing he was a mage with the ability to change his shape, but only in dreams were such things possible for him. He heard steps moving towards the cell, but they stopped before they reached him and he heard the whimpers of another poor unfortunate. He closed his eyes simply waiting for those boots to stop as his cell. Whatever else happened, the message of the dream was right, he had to endure.

xXx

Iilas took the seat glancing at Krul who had taken his place once more at the door, the tension making him feel suffocated. He turned and met Kara's worried gaze.

"I am sorry we had to take this risk, but given the circumstances …"

"I understand. Events have unfolded that you will want to know about, that may or may not be linked with the original reason you requested my presence." Sighing softly, Ilias ran his fingers through his hair. "Information you are not going to like regarding the Night Elves."

Staring at him startled Kara glanced at Krul who had tensed. "What about the Night Elves?"

"They are currently in Vaughan's dungeon, the ones who were left after those he hung from the Vhenadahl." He watched her face drain of colour, before he explained what he had overheard from two guards who had been there and who hadn't realised he could hear them, sickened by how far Vaughan would go.

Kara listened in silence as Ilias told her everything he had heard. "This is madness." She whispered when he had finished. "I … Maker I am so stupid, I thought if he did anything to them it would be public. That I would have a chance to stop him."

"They are being careful to not make it public knowledge, likely for that reason."

"We have to get them out before he kills them all and we have to find a way to get to those still in the Alienage."

"I can't help you with the Alienage, but I can help you with Vaughan's dungeon, but we will only get one chance to get them out and I won't be able to return Kara so think carefully."

"There is nothing to think about, all this time and we are still no closer to the mage. We get the Night Elves out of there now." She forced herself to take a calming breath. "What of Captain William and Guardsman Gawain? We know he has them too."

"He does. Harris brought them in, on the night of the Queen's murder."

"And their condition?"

"Vaughan, once he had had his fun, turned in earnest to getting information from William though I do not know what it is and apparently William is so far holding his tongue. It is strange though, Vaughan has barely scratched the surface of what I know him to be capable of, it was as though he was deliberately holding back."

"Was?"

Ilias hesitated for a moment. "Gawain was used as leverage to try and get William to talk. He has been badly beaten and the bones of his fingers and hands broken. Even with magical healing he will never wield a sword again."

"Andraste have mercy." Kara whispered, her hand pressing over her heart. "How do we get in?"

Ilias produced a map of the sewer system, pointing to a section beneath the Arl's estate.

Kara frowned. "That's just a solid wall."

"Not quite. You can't open it from the outside, but there is a door, it's how the bodies are disposed of. I can get you in that way, but we won't have much time and you need a way to disable the guards so they can't raise the alarm, preferably without killing them unless you want the noose. Some of the prisoners won't be able to walk out by themselves."

Kara looked at Krul. "Better get Brom, we will need his help."

"What are you going to do?" Krul asked anxiously as Kara grabbed her coat.

"I am going to get Zevran and then we are going to speak to Caladrius. I want to know how the slavers got people out of the Alienage, because we are going to have to get everyone out of there at the same time as we break into Vaughan's dungeon, or he will slaughter them all."

xXx

Caladrius began sweating profusely the moment Zevran and Kara entered the room, eyeing them fearfully.

"I have a wonder." Zevran purred. "How did you manage to get those from the Alienage out of the city unseen?"

"The warehouse has a basement with a tunnel that leads out to a section of the River Drakon just underneath the bridge coming into the Alienage. Created by smugglers we believe and we simply took advantage. We got them onto rowboats and headed east along the river, hugging the coast line until we reached shore far enough away from the city to cross by land to ships waiting further north. All done under the cover of darkness of course and with a little misdirection hex, not that it was needed, no-one comes near the Alienage."

"How did you even know about it?"

"Apparently an elf volunteered the information hoping to end whatever brutality he was experiencing. I believe Vaughan silenced him permanently after that, when he swore no-one else knew."

"So, we could get into the Alienage through that entrance."

"I am afraid not. There is a door leading out to the water which we ensured could not be opened from the outside. There are plates of metal over the locks and a spell in place, to prevent anyone attempting to return that way. To use that door, you would need to use it from the inside and alas, I do not think they are just going to let you walk in there."

Kara frowned slightly. "And getting to this door from within the Alienage, are there traps, spells in place?" She scowled at his raised eyebrow.

"My dear, I had no reason to do that, I had permission to be there and go about my business. Not to mention a maimed or dead elf would have been no use to me. I had no need for such things."

Zevran gestured to Kara to follow him outside of the room seeing Krul waiting for them. "We cannot enter the Alienage as ourselves, but perhaps a few could enter as slavers and lead those of the Alienage out the way they would have taken them. We still have the key to get to the warehouse."

Kara stared at him startled. "You want us to pretend to be slavers?"

"Indeed. In my experience if something looks similar, people tend not to bother looking too closely, particularly guards at the end of a shift perhaps, who just want to get to the Pearl for drink and company."

"Even if we could look like slavers, which is unlikely, our faces are too well known, none of us speak the language."

Zevran smiled. "I am well accustomed to adapting appearances, with the right people, in the right robes, it will be enough to fool and only one person would be doing the talking, Caladrius."

"You can't seriously think he will help us."

"Of course not, but I believe a member of the Mages Collective bears more than a passing resemblance to him and he is of Tevinter origin."

Kara sighed realising who he was talking about.

"He is insufferable." Karl growled. "How do you know about him?"

"I make it my business to know."

"He won't do it." Krul muttered.

Zevran gave a slight smile. "Surely I should be allowed the opportunity to attempt to persuade him."

"You are not threatening anyone from the Mages Collective." Kara snapped.

"Persuasion comes in many forms." Zevran purred. "And I am proficient in all of them."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "You think you are going to flirt him into saying yes to this?"

Zevran gave a lascivious grin. "I am sure we can come to some arrangement."

"Maker." Kara muttered, glancing at Krul who shrugged.

"If it will ease your mind, Alamadah and I have met before."

Kara glanced at him cautiously. "Is he going to be happy to see you again?"

"That I cannot say, but we did not part on difficult terms."

"Alright, I will ask him to meet with you."

"I will go where he suggests, we want him to feel comfortable, no."

xXx

Laying back on the bed with a contented sigh, Alamadah smiled slightly. "Maker, you are even more talented than I remember. I can barely feel that old injury. Remind me where you learned to massage like that."

"A whore house, where I learnt many of my other talents." Zevran purred.

"Have those other talents also improved with time?"

"Of course."

Propping himself up on his elbows he became serious. "It seems I am quite in demand at the moment, but a colleague is still working on her part of my other … task so I had the time to see you. However, this job of yours, you are serious, you want me to pose as this slaver to get the elves out of the Alienage."

"Indeed."

"It sounds dangerous, but worst of all it will require that I shave my head."

"Bald men have such an interesting look and it will grow back."

Sighing Alamadah met his gaze. "I will need some time with him to get the appearance and accent right and perhaps any mannerisms that are strikingly obvious."

"We have limited time."

"Fine, but I require one more thing if I am to agree to do this."

"And that is?"

"A kiss, call it for old times' sake."

"Just a kiss?"

"Just a kiss." Alamadah swallowed nervously as Zevran moved slowly across the bed, every movement sending shivers through his body.

"And where would you like this kiss?"

Alamadah stared at him startled before he burst out laughing, then those lips that had teased him in his dreams were pressed against his, the whisper of a tongue provoking a moan of pleasure as his fingers sank into Zevran's hair coaxing him closer. When they broke apart both were flushed, his heart pounding. "Better than I remembered." Sighing reluctantly, he swung his legs off the bed and stood, stretching. "We had better get to work."