The Pearl

The Pearl was quite busy when Faren and Zevran arrived. Zevran looked absolutely delighted the moment they set foot inside, and Faren couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"We finally found the whorehouse in Denerim." Zevran grinned.

"Did you think it was going to be in the main market?" Faren teased.

"It was perhaps wishful thinking."

"Faren, my dear, you've grown so much!" Sanga, the owner, waved him down, smiling brightly as she rushed over.

"Hello, Sanga," Faren greeted warmly, letting the woman pull him into a hug.

"I'm glad your hair is still nice and long, and in a braid too. It is lovely on you," Sanga complimented. "Just like how your mother used to wear it back in the good old days."

"It wasn't that long ago," Aunt Alyndra complained from her seat in front of the bar.

"You say that, but us humans tend to age faster than you elves do," Sanga giggled. "But one day it will catch up to you, then you'll be sorry."

"I hope someone had a good time finding Brother Genitivi," Epona said, as Faren spotted their table. "We've had quite the time trying not to call attention on us."

"I guess it's a good thing Sten and Shale stayed in the tunnels then," Faren mused, approaching their table.

Zevran paused, his eyes on the other side of the room, but Faren didn't pay him much mind since his expression brightened.

"Isabella!" Zevran greeted warmly.

"Zevran!" a woman cheered him.

"Great, just invite people over," Epona groaned. "That's one way to not get us noticed."

"Cobian has already failed at that," Morrigan complained. "He decided to peak at the palace and get caught by the Queen's handmaiden."

"I might have caused some damage to someone's crates..." Narascha muttered. "The guards weren't too impressed..."

Torph patted her arm. "It's understandable."

"Well thankfully Zevran and I found out where Brother Genitivi lives, and it was weird," Faren sighed.

Aunt Alyndra looked bemused. "Have all of you been spotted or caused some form of trouble?"

Faren grinned sheepishly. "I had to leave a note for Kylon about two dead bodies in Brother Genitivi's house and wrote a brief explanation."

Aunt Alyndra groaned.

.:.

Ciara and Alistair walked to The Pearl in silence. Alistair was deep in thought, and Ciara didn't want to disturb him. She kept an eye out on their surroundings instead, and grimaced. This part of Denerim wasn't being patrolled very well anymore was it? There were all manner of thugs lingering in the streets, but thankfully none bothered them so far.

"Ciara? Can we talk?" Alistair asked softly, surprising her.

"Of course." She nodded.

"Back when we left Goldana's house, you told me that I needed to look out for myself more. I'm beginning to think you're right," Alistair said. "I need to stop letting everyone else making my decisions for me. I need to take a stand and think about myself for a change, or I'm never going to be happy."

"You don't have to let me influence you too much, Alistair," Ciara said softly.

"I don't have to do it, but I want to," Alistair insisted. "What you said made sense. I should have done this a long time ago, and I know you were trying to get me to as well. So thank you, Ciara. I... out of everything that has happened when I became a Grey Warden, meeting you has been the biggest highlight of them all."

Ciara couldn't help but smile at that. "Thank you, Alistair, that is very kind of you to say. And I... meeting you has also been my big highlight since I joined the Grey Wardens. I wouldn't change any of that."

"I..." Alistair was blushing, but he looked delighted, and Ciara couldn't help but soften at the sight of his smile. It made her heart flutter.

"I can't believe you kidnapped my friends, Uncle Damion!" They heard Lawrien from the shadows of an alleyway, startling them both.

"Well it wasn't just me-" Damion began.

"Jeez, I barely remember you, yet you somehow managed to cause me so much trouble," Lawrien huffed, but she sounded amused, much to Ciara's curiosity.

"Oh cut me some slack, kiddo, I'm doing my best."

"I know, I know," Lawrien said, just as Ciara peered into the shadows.

A blonde man was leaning against the wall, one leg up, while his arms were crossed. Lawrien sat on top of the crates across from him, swinging her legs, but she was watching Damion closely, but Lawrien's eyes met hers and she waved Ciara and Alistair over.

"Well here are some more Grey Wardens, who I am happy to introduce you too, as long as you don't kidnapped them," Lawrien teased.

"I mean Alistair is even more tempting considering how big that bounty is-"

Lawrien laughed, and that eased some of the tension out of Ciara's shoulders. She seemed to like this 'Uncle Damion' quite a fair bit, which was surprising considering he had just kidnapped Faren and Cobian.

"Well you know Alistair, but this is Ciara, my sister. I adopted her into the family at the Circle." Lawrien grinned, tugging Ciara closer to throw an arm around her shoulders. "Myra and I both did. We also got two extra brothers too now. Anders and Jowan. Jowan is a bit of an idiot, and Anders keeps running away all the time, but they are amazing."

Damion laughed. "You're adopting people into our family now?"

"Yep!"

"I am glad you're doing well, Revka would have been delighted to see how you've grown." Damion's face fell. "I... I am sorry, Lawrien..."

Lawrien's smile fell too. "I am too. Losing so much at once... it really did break her, didn't it?"

"Yeah..." Damion whispered. "After I got locked away for smuggling and father died, Revka lost her husband, and just... I guess she couldn't take anymore loss."

Ciara frowned when Lawrien leaned heavier against her.

"It turns out mother... she threw herself off the peer and drowned herself..." Lawrien said softly.

Alistair's face fell, while Ciara pulled Lawrien into a tight hug.

"I am so sorry," Ciara said mournfully as Lawrien hugged her back, just as tightly.

Lawrien had always wanted to go back and find Revka Amell one day, so had Myra. To hear this, despite all this time, it must be hard. They had both loved their mother a lot, and from the sounds of it, their mother had loved them all dearly too.

"Yeah... I am too..." Lawrien sighed heavily, shaking her head as she stepped away. "I really wish I could have shown her who I grew up to be, Myra too, but I know that won't happen now." She grimaced. "I'll need to tell Myra, and the others, if I ever see them again... but right now I won't linger on what happened to my mother. I can't afford too, just like Cobian has refused to for the Couslands. We've got to conqueror this Blight after all."

"She would be proud of how strong and determined you are," Damion said. "Also that you stick by your friends and companions. Revka loved her family dearly, and treasured her friends just as much. I mean, you definitely have that trait, you ventured across Ferelden to rescue two of your friends from my company, which I should apologise for I suppose, but if I hadn't done that, then I wouldn't have met you, so I think it's a fair trade."

Ciara almost snorted at that grin he had on his face. That was a Lawrien worthy grin.

It looked like it was definitely a family trait then.

.:.

"Did we manage to find anything else out about the Alienage?" Faren asked, crossing his arms.

Torph saw Alyndra shake her head. "Unfortunately not. It is concerning though. The rooftops have all been under guard, we both know how rare that is for the Alienage."

Faren grimaced. "By regular guards?"

Alyndra scowled. "In a way. Kylon has been begging for more guards for ages now, but these new lot Howe has thrown at him are either lord so and so's bastards, all spoiled rotten and drooling morons, or vicious, murderous thugs who deserve to rot in Hell. In fact, some of them have been arrested by Kylon. It's gotten bad in Denerim ever since the King's death. People are terrified, and it means outsiders have been moving in."

"Outsiders?" Faren frowned.

"Mere irritations. Let the guild worry over that for now," Alyndra insisted. "You need to leave tonight. Lord Cousland being spotted put you all in a difficult position. The guards know you are here, or at the very least, he is, and we know the Queen and Teryn would love to get a hold of Lord Cousland and lock him up before anything drastic happens. They are already searching the streets, and the main gate is under heavier guard now."

Well, Torph was very thankful they weren't going through the main gate then.

"I know they are very concerned for me," Cobian sighed. "But I know Oren is safe with them for now, as well as Nan, and that the Cousland name lives on. I will continue to face off against the Blight, not only because it was my father's last wish, but because it is the right thing to do. I am a Grey Warden after all. It's our duty."

Epona nodded. "Everyone is in danger from the Blight, even the Dalish, it must be ended, here and now, before it devastates the world."

"Although getting rid of Orlais would be nice," Faren joked.

"Rude!" Leliana pouted.

"We're still missing a few of us, and Zevran seems to be having a reunion with an old friend," Epona said, staring at the table in the corner.

Everyone else looked that way too.

"She's surprisingly pleasant for someone whose husband Zevran murdered," Faren said.

Torph chuckled. "She even got a ship out of it. Some would call that lucky."

"I still can't believe you are travelling with a bunch of Grey Wardens with very fine bounties on their heads," Isabela said, eyeing each of them. "They could make a person rich if you caught all of them."

Torph tilted his head. "Hey, you think if I handed all of you in, they'd give me the coin?"

"You'd probably be arrested too," Narascha said quietly, sipping slowly at her tankard.

Fuck, he hated seeing her so sad. It fucking sucked.

Fuck that asshole warrior dwarf.

Gorim was a shit head.

They all paused when the front door opened up, the owner of the whorehouse seemed to be keeping guard at it, and Torph grinned when he spotted Lawrien, Ciara and Alistair walking in. Lawrien had disappeared earlier, but it looked like she was fine.

"That's all of you then." Alyndra stood up. "Thank you for the hospitality, Sanga. I'll be leading this lot out of Denerim now. As always-"

"I know, my silence is yours, my dear." Sanga smiled warmly.

Alyndra tossed a bag of coin to Isabela, who grinned.

"There is a reason I love coming to Denerim," Isabela chuckled warmly. "You Thieves do pay well for silence."

Alyndra nodded. "Hoods up, all of you. We're going now."

"We got everything we need?" Ciara asked.

"Yeah, we've got Genitivi's location," Faren said. "Now let's get out of here before anything crazy happens."

"I agree with the kid," Torph said. "We keep getting balls deep in shit every time we go somewhere."

Torph hoped Orzammar and Genitivi would go a lot better, but he knew better. Orzammar was going to be fucked up, although Torph would enjoy making those assholes squirm with his hole 'Grey Warden' title. He was no longer someone they could just cast aside.

He was more than that.