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Leto was good with a blade, but even with Varric and his crossbow he’d have trouble taking out this many people.The Alienage was filled with men and woman staring at the abandoned house they had come from and he reached for his sword, gripped the hilt to reassure himself that he wasn’t defenceless. Finally the leader spoke.“That’s not her,” she said. Her? They were looking for someone else? Maybe they’d actually get out of this alive.“Doesn’t matter,” a man said. “Anyone who came out of the house, he said.”“Right,” the woman said with a nod. “Attack!”It was chaotic. He was vaguely aware of Varric trying to get far enough away to make good use of Bianca but was too busy fending off the men attacking him. Their armour was leather and thus not much of a problem to him, and the reach of his blade allowed him to hit more than one at a time, but there were so many.He was only aware another combatant had entered the fray when one of the men dropped dead beside him with a dagger in his throat.When it was finally over he turned to see first if Varric was alright and then to find this mystery dagger-thrower. Varric was, it turned out, alright even if he was chugging a health potion- he gave him a thumbs up when he started towards him in concern- so he looked for their helper.She was looting the bodies, tucking their coins in her pack, and wore armour that was clearly made for her. Her gauntlets were fingerless and went to her elbow but he could see winding white tattoos going up her arm that probably continued down under them. Her armour exposed her midriff, where the trunk of a stylised tree started, branches extending up under her armour as part of what was clearly a larger design. They continued up her face, vines curling onto her cheeks and ending tucked behind her ears. She perched on the balls of her feet and he had the impression she was ready to move at any given time. She had a dagger on each hip and a pouch that was clearly meant to carry throwing daggers that was now empty. Lock picking tools were on the other side of her belt, a fine set.She coughed lightly and he coloured when he realised that she was watching him stare at her.“They’re something, aren’t they?” she asked and her accent was strange; he could hear the soldiers they had slain in it but also by-now-familiar Ferelden tones. She rose gracefully, hand clenched into a half-fist. Despite the lightness of her tone her lips were tight and her brow was drawn in.“Uh,” he said, “I’m sorry for staring.” She waved him off.“The armour was designed for that.” There was a slightly bitter note in her voice. “I’m sorry about the deception. My name is Meavem and these fine gentlemen,” she gestured to the bodies surrounding them, “were trying to recover a magister’s lost property.” She gestured rather unnecessarily at herself. Varric was counting the corpses.“A lot of effort for one slave,” he said, eyeing her curiously. Her smile was humourless.“Yes it is,” she agreed.“Does this have something to do with your markings?” Leto asked. She glanced down at them again.“It does, in fact. They’re not something I chose to have burned into my flesh forevermore but they have their uses, I admit.” She paused. “I didn’t expect there to be so many hunters when I asked Anso for assistance.” The corner of her lip lifted a little. “Or rather, paid him- and I apologise for putting you in such danger. You seemed to handle yourself well, though.” She looked at him and his sword with interest. “A fine weapon.”“Thank you,” he said. “I try to keep it in good shape.” She nodded approvingly but they were interrupted before anything else could be said.“There’s the slave!” a man said. “Men, to me!”“Dammit,” she cursed. “Knew I missed someone.” She stepped forward and so did he, matching her step for step. “They’re not coming. Tuck your tail between your legs and run home.”“You’re going nowhere, slave.” The man’s hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder and she reacted faster than Leto believed possible. She whirled around, the markings flared up and she reached forward- into his chest-“I am no slave,” she hissed and when she withdrew her hand a gaping hole was left behind in his chest and his heart was in her hand. Both Leto and Varric stared at her and she dropped it, wiped the blood off on her armour.“I said they had their uses,” she said as she bent to search the man’s pockets. “Ah! He’s still here.” Her eyes gleamed in a thoroughly disturbing way. “I must ask a favour, if I may. The man who gave me these is in the city right now. I will pay you properly later, I promise. Please- come with me.” There was uncertainty in her eyes, though not her tone, which was as steady as ever.“I assume you mean to tear his heart out with that weird thing you just did rather than talk,” Varric said. She gave him a hard smile.“That is precisely what I mean.”Varania was caught by the Templars when she had agreed to heal the neighbour’s daughter. Leto really should stop getting involved in other people’s business.“Alright,” he said. “We’ll help.”XXThe mansion she led them to did not fit alongside its grand neighbours. It clearly had seen no love in a few years at least and Leto amused himself for a moment by imagining how the other nobles must feel about it.“So who is this man?” he asked when they were outside the door.“Danarius. A magister of the Tevinter Imperium,” she said and he blanched.“Oh,” Varric said, “Nothing big then.” Her smile was frightening.“I can’t touch him there,” she said, “I’d be hauled back in a heartbeat if I so much as set foot in Minrathous again with him living, but here…”“Well,” Leto said with a deep breath, “Nothing for it but to go inside I guess.”It was less amusing when it proved to be filled with demons but no magister. He was nearly hit a few times watching Meavem fight, light up with an otherworldly glow and in the next moment be on the other side of the battlefield. It was incredible.“Pick your jaw up and stop staring at her,” Varric yelled at him the second time he took out a shade that was coming too close to him and he went pink. He focused on the fight after that.When they had scoured the mansion thoroughly with no signs of this magister Meavem let loose a truly scathing series of what were clearly curses by her tone. Varric whistled, impressed.“Two years,” she spat, “Two years and I miss him by this much… please rob him blind, I won’t stop you.” And then she stormed out.Varric took her up on the offer but Leto followed her out. She was leaning against the wall breathing heavily, eyes closed. Without looking up she held out her hand, a number of coins in it- mostly silver, some bronze and a single sovereign.“All the coin I have,” she said and finally opened her eyes. “I understand if you don’t want to hang around with me but I’m staying, at least for the moment. Catch my breath. I will not forget that I owe you. If you want my help, come and ask. I’ll be… cleaning the place up.” She made a face.“Actually, I’m going on an expedition to the Deep Roads,” Leto said. “Could use an extra blade.” He glanced at her daggers. “Or two,” he amended and she chuckled.“Alright then,” she said. “Just give me a few days to at least get rid of the bodies, yeah? Or maybe a hand would be better.” He laughed at that and the door opened behind them; Varric came out with a chest tucked under his arm, presumably his plunder. “Find anything good in there, dwarf?”“Yep,” he said, tossing her a couple of sovereigns. She caught them one handed. The silver and copper he placed in her open hand. “Your master’s place, your money.”“Ex master,” she corrected him. “Come on over tomorrow or something, if you want,” she told Leto. “Should have the bodies gone by then. Thank you for the help,” she said again, handing the sovereigns to Leto; he gave them back. “I’ve kept you long enough.”“You play Wicked Grace?” Varric asked.“Bluffing wasn’t exactly what Danarius used me for, you know,” she said dryly. Varric’s grin widened.“Excellent. Come down to the Hanged Man.”“Goodnight,” she said with a laugh as she walked back into the mansion and shut the door behind her.“Maybe she’s worse than you, kid,” Varric told Leto as they headed back to Lowtown.XXThe next day Leto knocked on the door of the mansion and, when that produced no answer, opened it. It wasn’t locked and he had an invitation after all.The bodies were in fact gone, and that made the place look immediately better. He ran through the mental map he’d made of the place and then headed for what had seemed to be Danarius’s study.It was standing open and she was staring into the fire, hands clasped behind her back. He cleared his throat and she turned to him.“Oh! Leto.” She stepped away from the fire. “Please, come in. Thank you again, for your help. I wasn’t actually expecting you to come by. Please, sit.” A bottle of wine was on the low table.“I’m short on friends,” he admitted as he sat. “Spent most of my time protecting my sister, and now…” Meavem frowned at him.“What happened?”“The Templars took her,” he explained. “A few months ago. It’s why I’m on this expedition. Something to do. It was just me and Varania and without her…” the house was so empty now. It had always been crowded with the three of them, and after Mother died it was no better. The alienage houses were tiny. He’d often cursed Varania and her belongings getting in the way. He wanted nothing more than her back now.“Once your reason for living is gone, what do you do?” There was understanding in Meavem voice.“Exactly.” They sat in silence for a time and she poured them both wine without asking if he wanted it. It was rich and he drank it slowly.“Danarius had me serve this at his table,” she said, contemplating the bottle. “Said my appearance intimidated his guests.” She snorted. “He wasn’t wrong either. Nothing the elite like less than a slave with the power to crush them.” She shook her head.“I can’t imagine why they’d be intimidated,” Leto said totally honestly. She laughed.“You can’t?” she asked. “I guess they’re pretty enough.” She held up her arm and without her armour on he could see the pattern did continue all the way to her wrist and back of her hand. She gave him a sideways look. “But I assume you think they’re more than pretty enough.” Leto nearly choked on his wine and hurriedly put the glass down as he hurried to look anywhere but at her.“So, you said you were staying,” he said in a desperate attempt to change the subject and she suddenly looked so tired.“I’ve been on the run for three years, Leto,” she said. “No matter how far I get, where I go, he always finds me. This is the first time I’ve given him pause.” She shook her head. “I can’t promise to always be here but until he finds me again, I will be.” Leto held her gaze, smiled.“I’m glad to hear it,” he said and she smiled back at him.“Maybe I’ll find a reason to stay,” she said and he felt his blush deepen.XXShe did come down to the Hanged Man two nights later, to Varric’s delight. But it turned out that she was, in fact, an excellent bluffer. They had to teach her the rules to Wicked Grace and she lost a fair amount of coin while learning them but once she picked it up she wiped the floor with them with a spectacular bluff.“I thought you said you were bad at this!” Varric said, mournfully watching her collect two sovereigns and a number of silver pieces from him. Her grin was wolfish.“I said he never used me to bluff,” she corrected him. “What he did use me for was to intimidate his rivals and enemies. Nothing is more intimidating than showing absolutely no emotion, even as you kill someone.”Leto laughed. She had beaten him thoroughly too, but he was used to that- he was awful at Wicked Grace. It was worth it to see Varric taken down a peg.“I’m kicking you out of the expedition if you don’t stop laughing at me kid,” Varric threatened him.“You won’t,” Meavem scoffed. “Just like you won’t be able to stop yourself from putting your last silvers on this in a desperate attempt to reclaim your dignity.”With a huff Varric did indeed deal the cards again and put his last coins in the pot.XXIt was custom for Leto to go to Varric in the morning and see if he had any new jobs, but now he went to Meavem after. It was a long walk to Hightown but he enjoyed seeing her and she was handy in a fight. She could pick locks better than even Varric, not that Varric would admit it.“It’s cheating to use the lyrium,” he grumbled at her when she picked a lock he couldn’t. She laughed.“Keep telling yourself that’s what I’m doing, dwarf,” she said. “Just keep lying to yourself.”“How would you feel if I just called you ‘human’?” Varric asked.“If you called every human ‘human’ I’d have no idea who you were talking about,” Leto said dryly.“Exactly,” she said cheerfully. “Why don’t I have a nickname, anyway?” She looked vaguely affronted. Varric narrowed his eyes at her.“I’m pretty sure you’d stick your hand through me if I gave you one you didn’t like,” he said dryly.“Only to scare you, dwarf,” she said. “Only to scare you.”XX“Varric says we need maps of the Deep Roads to find an entrance,” Leto said. Meavem turned to the dwarf with some incredulity.“You’re planning an expedition and you don’t have maps?” she asked. “Maker, dwarf.” Varric crossed his arms over his chest in mock-hurt.“We did have an entrance,” he said. “Turns out it’s collapsed, and now we’ve got a whole expedition with nowhere to go.” She snorted.“Right then,” she said. “So any ideas where to find maps? I don’t have any Deep Roads maps lying around and I’m not sure even you could just pluck them out of the air.”“Ye of little faith,” Varric sighed. “I could pluck anything out of the air. Including a Grey Warden, who will hopefully have maps.”“There’s no Blight you know, not anymore,” she said dryly. “And those aren’t casually handed out amongst even the Wardens.”“There’s a place in Lowtown,” Leto said, cutting the both of them off. “A woman called Lirene knows where he is.”“You’re no fun,” she complained to Leto. “Alright, just let me get my armour on. Come on in if you want.” They followed her in and she disappeared ahead of them. Varric looked around as they waited.“Huh. The place looks kind of respectable without the corpses,” he said. “And she’s even straightened the paintings! Will you look at that.”“The corpses went the first night,” Leto told him. “I didn’t ask where.”“So you did visit then.” Varric winked and Leto punched him in the arm.“Jealous, dwarf?” Meavem asked as she bumped her hip against Leto’s. Varric laughed as Leto went pink.“I’m already spoken for,” he informed her.“Ah yes, the crossbow.” Tucking her daggers in their sheaths she added, “I bet she tops.” Leto couldn’t help his laugh.XXThough her Tevene accent was more dominant than her Ferelden one, surrounded by Fereldens in Lirene’s shop it was clear that Meavem had at least spent a lot of time in Ferelden once. It took some convincing to get Lirene to tell them where the Warden- Anders, who was a healer and an apostate apparently- was, and when they exited the shop they were confronted by Ferelden refugees.“We know what happens to apostates in this city,” the man in the lead said. “We won’t let you turn him into the blighted Templars.”“Put him in a Circle where mages belong? Maker forbid,” Meavem said, voice hard, and they attacked. After they were dead and relieved of their coin they continued, looking furtively around for guards, to Darktown.“We aren’t turning him in until we get those maps,” Varric said. “Right?”“Of course not,” she said. “But we will turn him in after we do, right?”They were interrupted by a guard. The orange of her uniform clashed horribly with her red hair and she crossed her arms over her chest. Curiously for a guard she wielded a Templar shield.“Running away from the scene?” she asked. She was clearly Ferelden- another unusual thing for a city guard.“They attacked us,” Leto said quickly. “We were defending ourselves.” Meavem’s head was up proudly and her arms were also crossed. The woman met her gaze and blinked twice, frowned.“I see,” she said. “And you had to kill them all?”“We let the ones who run away go,” Meavem said and Varric sighed.“Guardswoman,” he said. “This was all a misunderstanding.” She stepped closer to them, eyes on Varric now.“Stop it,” Leto hissed to Meavem. “We swear, they attacked us without cause. Meavem, stop.” Finally Meavem stepped back and let her arms fall to her side, though her eyes were hard and the guard sighed, rubbed a hand over her face. Her gaze returned to Meavem again but this time it was searching.“Are you Ferelden?” she asked. Meavem narrowed her eyes at her.“Why?” she asked shortly. The guard shook her head.“I must be mistaken,” she said. “Fine. Go about your business but I’ll be watching you.”Varric was looking between the guard and Meavem.“What was that about?” he asked and Leto, also looking between them for a moment, shrugged.“Not a clue. Did you know her?” he asked and Meavem shook her head.“No,” she said and looked back uneasily. There was a pause.“So, are you Ferelden?” Varric asked.“That’s what he told me,” she said.“Told you,” Varric repeated curiously. Meavem’s eyes went hard and her fist clenched.“He liked to mock me with things that he thought I should know. One day out of the blue he said ‘you’re Ferelden, you know’. I think he was hoping to shock me into breaking the rules and asking questions but I was too well trained for that.” Her lip curled. “I stood behind him and said ‘yes, Master’ and offered to refill his wine and he laughed.” Varric sucked in a breath.“He sounds horrible,” Leto murmured and her gaze turned bleak.“I didn’t know anything else,” she said. “I certainly don’t remember Ferelden, if indeed I do come from there.” Varric frowned and Leto opened his mouth. “The ritual that gave me these wiped everything I was,” she explained. “Whoever I was before, she’s dead. My first memory is pain. My second memory is of him soothing it and telling me he was my master. Of gratitude.” She spits the word. “And no matter how hard I try anything before that is gone. Stolen from me.” She glanced back at the guard with a frown. “Whoever I might have known before are strangers to me.”“Well, shit,” Varric said.“I’m sorry?” Leto offered. It seemed like such a small thing, inadequate, but she let out a breath. A weight seemed to have been taken off her shoulders.“…thank you,” she said finally, quietly.Behind them, the guard finally moved on.XXDarktown was, true to its name, dark. It also stank.“Ugh, I never like coming down here,” Varric said. “Let’s just find this Warden and be done with it.” Meavem skirted a pile of shit and made a face.“I should have known. As soon as I heard the name Darktown…” She wrinkled her nose. “I swear, if I never spend another second in a slum I’ll die happy.”“Darktown isn’t that bad,” Varric protested. “You can’t judge all slums based on it.” Leto gave a sympathetic look to the Fereldens watching them, and touched his sword hilt in warning.“I’m not. You don’t think you stay on the run by living in Hightown mansions everywhere you go? Unless you’re a worse writer than I’ve heard…”“Excuse me, madam!” Varric protested, chest puffing up and she laughed.“The lit lantern,” Leto said, moving forwards. “Come on.”They had to fend of attacks from desperate Fereldens twice, but eventually found themselves outside a boarded up room. It was surprisingly large for Darktown, with two doors, and there was a lantern above one of them- also a rarity for Darktown.“I’d say this is it,” Meavem said. A nearby refugee looked suspiciously at them. “Come on.” She entered without bothering to knock; Varric knocked on the open door hastily before following her.It didn’t matter. The Warden Anders didn’t notice them, focused entirely on the boy he was healing, magic streaming from his hands. His assistant tensed on seeing them but kept his focus on Anders. The boy gasped all of a sudden, colour returning to his cheeks, and his grateful mother held him close as Anders stumbled. His assistant steadied him. Meavem kept her eyes away from the magic, looking distinctly uncomfortable, hands gripping her daggers tightly.That was when the mage noticed them. Blue fire blazed to life under his skin.“How dare you threaten this place?” he boomed. “I have made this a sanctuary for healing!”Leto could see Meavem was about to do something very foolish and stepped forward.“We aren’t threatening you!” he said to both Meavem and Anders. “Please, we just want to talk.”XXIt took a long time to get Meavem to agree to rescue Karl, and even longer for her to agree to work with Anders.“He’s an abomination!” she cried. “You saw him.” Leto scowled a little. Mages like that were the reason Varania had to hide all her life.“I did,” he said. “We need his maps, though. After that we never have to speak to him again.” Meavem paced restlessly across the clinic.“Fine by me,” Anders said and Leto glared at him.“You, shut up,” Meavem growled but she wasn’t attacking him, which was an improvement. “Fine. I’ll help for his blighted maps.”Anders spoke then, causing Leto to give him an exasperated look- did he want trouble? He snorted at his own question; of course he did. Why else would he be stealing a mage away from the Gallows?“Much obliged,” he drawled and Meavem stormed out.XX“Meavem,” Leto said as they waited for night to fall. She didn’t look at him. “Meavem.”“Leto,” she said, voice clipped, “I promise not to stab him in the back. Ask no more of me.” Leto moved forward and lay a hand gently on her arm; she jerked away but not before he felt how tense she was.“You couldn’t look at the magic,” he said. “The healing magic.” She said nothing. “Does it have something to do with your markings? Your ex-master?” She stiffened. “What happens in Tevinter?”He didn’t think she was going to answer, but finally she spoke.“If you lived there, you would not doubt that the Chant’s tales of the Black City are no allegory,” she said and turned to face him. “You would be a slave, Leto- like all elves.” His lips parted. “And now I assist a mage of my own free will.”He didn’t try to talk to her again, but he stayed when she poured wine and accepted the glass she offered.XXThe Chantry was different at night.All of Kirkwall was; besides the gangs that plagued the streets the shadows seemed more sinister, the dark corners foreboding. Leto had lived in Kirkwall all his life and never ceased to be unnerved by the dark.Meavem navigated it with ease, and he had the distinct feeling that much of her freedom was spent in the dark. Her shoulders were still knotted with tension but there was nothing Leto could do to help her.“You’d think someone who glows would be easier to find in the dark,” Varric complained when she vanished on them and reappeared suddenly at his side. Leto could barely see her strained smile.“So would Danarius,” she said. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”Anders was waiting by the door, staff in hand. Meavem’s eyes slid over it (and him).“I saw him go inside,” Anders said to Leto, voice low. “No one followed him.”“Then let’s go.”Anders led the way, closely followed by Leto. Meavem and Varric followed Leto.XXThe man was clearly a mage. His robes marked him as such, even from behind.“Anders,” he said, voice flat and Anders visibly frowned at it. “I knew you would come.”“Karl, what…” Karl turned around and a sunburst was branded upon his forehead. “No,” he cried. “How could they?” Leto could have sworn he was looking at his sister for a moment- he had feared all his life that they’d make her Tranquil. Meavem stared between Anders and Leto, and Leto wondered what expression he was making for her to have such concern in her eyes.“I was troublesome,” Karl said, voice just as flat as before. “They had to discipline me. You will understand, Anders.” His voice rose. “This is the apostate.”Footsteps emerged from the shadows; Templars. Meavem’s daggers leapt into her hands and she dropped into a crouch. Leto gripped his sword. There was no way to explain this, he thought.It only got worse when Anders entire body lit up with an otherworldly blue glow and he charged at the Templars. Despite her distaste for him Meavem quickly followed him into the fray, intercepting a blade that would have left a nasty cut on his back as the lyrium in her veins lit up and Leto had no more time to think just how bad a situation this was.XXThe Templars were dead.The four of them stared at the carnage- blood on the walls and over the books. Leto grimaced. He had struggles with the Chantry but that didn’t mean he wanted to fight in it. They were silent until a deep rasping breath interrupted them and a voice asked “Anders?”It was the mage Karl, but he sounded different- horrified and relieved.“Anders, what did you do?” he asked, staring wide-eyed at the still-glowing Anders.“Good question,” Varric muttered. The ethereal glow instantly vanished as Anders ran over to his friend.“Karl!” he cried out. “I’m so sorry…”“I can feel the Fade again,” Karl said, “Anders, it’s so horrible, they- you can’t feel-” his eyes went wide with panic and Leto turned to see Meavem looking aghast.“Meavem?” he asked quietly and she shook her head.“It’s fading!” Karl cried in panic. “Anders, you have to… please!”“Karl, no!” Anders cried. “There has to be a way!” Meavem’s veins lit up and she was in front of Karl, daggers in his chest, in an instant. Leto caught a glimpse of the stark relief in his eyes.“Die free,” she murmured as she lowered him gently to the ground and pulled her daggers out.“Thank you,” Karl said before his chest stilled. Meavem closed his eyes and rose to meet a furious Anders’ gaze.“Why did you do that? You killed him!” he cried, staff in hand. She kept her back straight and her chin high.“You have never been a slave,” was all she said and stalked away. Leto stared at her and she shook her head as she passed him. Varric looked warily between them.“Varania said she would rather die than be made Tranquil,” Leto finally said.“What do you know?” Anders snapped, tears brimming in his eyes, and Leto turned to follow Meavem.XXA bitter Anders threw the maps at him when they got back to the clinic after a silent, tense walk and ordered him out; Leto was quick to obey. It was dark but he had to find Meavem. He almost started for Hightown before he passed the Hanged Man and ducked inside.She was sitting at a table in the back staring at the wall, an untouched drink before her. Leto sat beside her.“Meavem?” She turned to him bitterly.“He was a mage,” she said. “But I couldn’t let him die like that.”“I know,” Leto said. “We got the maps.” He showed them to her. “We can show Varric in the morning. It’s been a long night.”“Stay with me,” Meavem said and Leto touched her arm. She was just as tense as she’d been before but didn’t reject his touch. “Please.”“Of course,” he said.XXNeither of them drank much and the walk to the Alienage was a quick one, the Doglords having learned to stay away from them. Leto unlocked his door and when Meavem made for the corner shook his head, gestured towards the bed. She changed course mutely and he lay next to her, held her hand after a brief hesitation. She permitted the touch, threaded her fingers though his.He could barely hear her “thank you” as he went to sleep.XXThe next morning things seemed better. Meavem woke with less tension in her muscles and her smile on seeing Leto was genuine. He couldn’t help the flush that came over his cheeks at the sight of it and averted his eyes. Her smile turned teasing.Someone knocked on the door and he hurried to get it, stopping dead when he saw Anders standing on the other side. The mage cleared his throat awkwardly.“I asked around. People told me you lived here. So, those maps,” he said. “You said you were on an expedition.” He shifted from foot to foot. “I’d really rather not go back down there but I owe you…” he caught sight of Meavem and broke off. She was glaring at him. “You’re not a mage.” His eyes were searching. Meavem bared her teeth but said nothing. Leto was about to interject when Anders continued. “Being Tranquil is terrible. I’d… rather he be spared living like that.” Meavem’s face shifted from anger to shock for a bare instant before it smoothed out but both men noticed it. Anders turned his attention back to Leto.“If you need my help, well, I’m available.”“Thanks,” Leto said and closed the door. He turned back to Meavem. “Did you want to… rest for the day, or…”“I need to do something,” she said. She held his gaze. “I’m fine, Leto.” He didn’t believe her- the tension in her shoulders said otherwise- but he nodded.“Then we find Varric.” Meavem knelt to check her boot dagger was still in place and looked up at Leto, an expression he couldn’t decipher in her eyes. Uncertainty, fear perhaps, curiosity? He waited for her to speak.“We should go,” she finally said. He remembered her plea for him to stay with her, her very, very soft ‘thank you’ and wondered how much they had cost her.“You’re welcome to come by whenever you need to,” he said and the corner of her lips turned up in a very slight smile.
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Varric’s room in the Hanged Man wasn’t the quietest place in the city, but it was better than Leto’s tiny house to discuss business in. It had a table for one, and a decent table at that.“How much do we have?” Varric asked from the head of it. Beside him, Leto glanced at the gold neatly stacked between them- Varric had kept it, it was safer here than in the Alienage- and counted it again. He was sure, but he just had to check…“We’ve got enough,” he said, his smile wide. It’d been months of odd jobs, staying up at all hours and running all over Kirkwall to get this much. Varric sighed in relief.“Good,” he said. “Bartrand’s been tearing his beard out over this, and we’re almost out of time. The Deep Roads won’t be empty forever.” He toyed with a few sovereigns, tossing them from one hand to the other before putting them neatly back on the stack. “Well, we’d best get to Bartrand and tell him the good news. Where’s Meavem?” Leto grimaced.“Aveline took her in for pickpocketing,” he said. “I don’t know why she…”“Rivaini’s influence,” Varric said. Meavem had met the woman who claimed to be a pirate the month before while drinking and they’d gotten on instantly. Leto’s life had gotten markedly harder after, but the woman was handy in a fight and did pick up Meavem’s spirits, which she sorely needed. He could hardly rue her the friendship, except when Meavem ended up in Guard-Captain Aveline’s care because of it. “You know how they like to compete. You going to pick her up?” Leto nodded.“Aveline won’t let her go if someone’s not there,” he said. “You know how she is. At least it’s not Isabela this time.” Varric snorted.“Rivaini loves it,” he said.“I don’t,” Leto muttered. “I’ll pick her up in the morning. It’s late anyway, we’d have to go to Bartrand tomorrow as it is.” Varric glanced out the window to see the sun setting.“You’re right,” he said. “Tomorrow it is, after we pick up your heart’s desire.”“Varric!” Leto spluttered, going pink, and Varric laughed.XXThe guard’s barracks were a place Leto was getting very well acquainted with.“I don’t know how you end up with all these delinquents,” Aveline said as she led him to the cells. “You’ve never given me any trouble.” Leto smiled, a little uncomfortably. He was lucky that the Templars hadn’t dragged him in for protecting Varania. He had too much at stake to risk breaking any smaller laws than that one.“At least it’s not Isabela this time,” he said. Aveline scowled.“That good for nothing whore,” she muttered. “She puts her up to this, I just know it. I never had this trouble with her until she met-” she sighed. “Come on then.” She hunted through the ring of keys for the right one and Leto could see Meavem lounging by the bars.“Come to rescue me from the dragon?” she called with a grin and Aveline’s scowl deepened.“I don’t have to let you out,” she told her. “I don’t want to see you behind my bars again.” Lazily Meavem saluted.“Yes ma’am,” she said smartly. Aveline gave Leto an exasperated look but unlocked the cell anyway. With all the grace of a cat, Meavem leapt out, hand phasing through the open door as if to prove a point.“Meavem!” Leto snapped and she sighed.“Spoilsport,” she said. “Nice to see you again Aveline.” She grinned at her as she led the way out- and stopped dead.“What is it?” Leto asked, moving to her side. She was frowning, staring at the door and he followed her gaze- to find a girl who could have been her twin if it wasn’t for the obvious years between them. She was humming lightly as she looked around the barracks, and her gaze passed over Meavem. Then she did a double take, head snapping back. Her mouth worked silently and the colour bleached from her cheeks.Aveline looked between them with some satisfaction.“I knew it,” she said.XX“Your sister,” Leto said.“My sister,” Meavem said, voice soft, tinged with disbelief. “I gave up on having family years ago, and…” she sat hard on the bed and he sat beside her, didn’t touch her, offered her a hand if she wanted to take it. She didn’t.“You should meet them.” She looked away. “Meavem, this is a miracle. Your family- your family- is here, in Kirkwall. What are the chances of that?” She didn’t say anything. “Don’t let him define your future, Meav.”“Did I ever tell you about Seheron?” she asked abruptly. He thought back.“No,” he said. “Why?” She finally looked at him.“It’s a Qunari island,” she said. “Constantly fought over by Tevinter, who hate the Qunari more than anything else except the Southern Chantry. Danarius needed to go, and I never questioned my master.” Her lip curled. “I should have let him die there.” He offered her his hand again, she didn’t take it. He could tell she’d have gotten up and paced if there was room for it by the way she was tapping her foot.“What happened?” he asked.“There was an attack by the Qunari, I damn near killed myself getting him out. Finally we got to the ship, but they didn’t take slaves. His face…” she shivered. “I was lost without him. I’d never had anything but him. I guess they didn’t care about one slave as I wandered aimlessly, I was an easy target.” Self-loathing was thick in her tone. “I found a group of natives, Fog Warriors they called themselves, and they took me in. Taught me to grind flour by hand. To weave. I played with their children, Leto.” Leto knew by the way her hands clenched into her fists, by the way she didn’t meet his eyes.“He found you,” he said.“He came back for me. They stood around me, the children in front of me. They said they’d not let him take me.” Her voice was dead. “He told me to kill them. I butchered them all.” Leto was silent, unsure what to say to that. She still didn’t look at him. “My family is here. It’s too good to be true. He has to know, Leto. It’s a trap. And the last time I saw him…” her voice cracked. “The Fog Warriors showed me what I could be. He showed me what I am.”“Was,” Leto said fiercely. “You broke free of him. You left him, you’ve killed his hunters. You are not his.”“He made me, Leto. He knows who I was, who I’ve become, what I can do better than I do. He made me. The last time I thought I could be more, he proved me wrong. What if he’s there? What if he orders me to return to him and I do?”“I won’t let you,” Leto said instantly. She looked him squarely in the eye.“What if he tells me to kill you?”Leto had no answer to that.XX“We need to get into the Deep Roads,” Varric said, looking uneasily at Meavem. “Personal crises aside.” Meavem nodded instantly.“We do,” she said readily. Leto knew what she was avoiding, but Varric was right- they were running out of time. And they were her family- she had the right to not see them if she really wanted to.“We do,” he agreed reluctantly. Varric patted his shoulder.“Cheer up kid, they’ll still be there when we get back rich,” he said. He glanced at Meavem and his tone was soberer when he spoke again. “They’re your family. Bartrand sometimes drives me mad, but I don’t know what I’d do without him.” She looked down.“Right!” he said cheerfully. “To Bartrand.”XXBartrand took some convincing, but Varric and the money persuaded him quickly enough that Leto was serious. That didn’t mean he was happy to take them on.“I don’t like him,” Meavem said. “He’s going to cheat us.” She was frowning at Bartrand’s back.“No he won’t,” Varric said. “My brother is many things, but not a fool. We’ll get equal share of the spoils.” Meavem hadn’t stopped frowning, but didn’t argue further. Leto sighed a tiny sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was an inter-party fight right now.“I’m pretty sure the feeling’s mutual,” he said. “Come on, we didn’t deny ourselves a decent sleep for months to give up now. We only have room for one more.”“Isabela,” Meavem said instantly.“She’d rob the Darkspawn blind,” Leto said. “We need a healer and you know it. Besides, he was a Warden.” She scowled. “I know how you feel about him, but you know we need him.”“Fine,” she said. “You’re right. But you ask.”“I always intended to,” Leto said dryly.XX“The Deep Roads,” Anders said.“Yes,” Leto said. “We need a healer down there. There’s only so much potions and poultices can do.” Anders snorted dryly.“You need a Warden, you mean,” he said. “I did promise you a favour.” He sighed deeply. “I hope you realise how big a sacrifice this is.”“I appreciate it,” Leto said, unable to keep his exasperation from his voice.XXLeto did not like the Deep Roads.He’d never much been a fan of small spaces to start with, and while he’d known the Deep Roads were entirely caves he hadn’t comprehended quite how immense they were. It’d been morning when they’d entered them, Varric walking with his brother and Meavem staying as far from Anders as she could, but you’d never know it now and he’d lost track of the time. The constant darkness grated on him, lit only by glowing lyrium and their torches, and he shifted uncomfortably. Meavem touched his hand and he jumped.“You need to breathe,” she said, not letting him apologise. “Panic won’t help you.” There was a weight behind her words that told Leto they had come from Danarius but he didn’t ask.“I can’t see,” he said, “If the Darkspawn come…”“I’ll sense them,” Anders said. “That’s why you dragged me down here, after all. And you have a living torch.” He smirked at Meavem, whose lips tightened but she ignored him.“Don’t rely on your eyes,” she told Leto. “Use your ears.” She tapped the point of the nearest ear and he squirmed a little- that was ticklish. She ignored his discomfort. “You’ll hear them before they set upon you. Their footsteps, their breath, the stones they displace.”“The smell,” Anders said and Meavem and Leto made identical faces.“That too,” Meavem conceded, not without grace, and her hand disappeared from Leto’s. Gravel rustled underfoot as she moved away, unusually loudly. She stepped very quietly, even down here. “Listen.”He could hear the spin of her heel, the crunch of stone beneath her boot. Her breath, pitched deep intentionally. Leto turned to the left to follow the sound and all of a sudden she was on his right. He had a second’s notice as a large stone was displaced and raised his hand to block just as she brought her arm down to strike him.She smiled at him.“They do not know stealth,” she said. “Do not follow tactics. They had no minds, without an Archdemon directing them. Use the reach of your sword.” She stepped back to mimic the distance his greatsword would reach before they reached him. “You have plenty of room in this place.”It didn’t feel like it, but he knew it was true. Her hand lit up with lyrium and a hireling stirred uneasily.“You always know where I am in a fight,” she said wryly. “They will too. They will be drawn to me. Use that to your advantage, and take them from behind.”“Am I allowed to do the same?” Varric asked. “Or is that right reserved for your beloved?” He threw a wink at Leto, who went pink.“As long as you don’t hit me,” Meavem deadpanned. Varric looked offended.“Madam!” he cried, hand clutching his heart. “You wound me! I never miss.” He nudged Leto with his shoulder gently. “How you going, kid?”“I’m fine,” Leto said shortly and Anders snorted. They both ignored him.“I’m not a fan of the Deep Roads either. I know, I know, all dwarves love caves- but I was born on the surface. I spend as little time as possible down here.”“Same,” Anders said, “When I have any choice in the matter.” He threw a pointed look at Leto.“You could have said no,” Leto said mildly.“And risked being labelled a shirker of debts?” Anders asked with mock offence.“No worse than anything else you are,” Meavem said. Anders scowled.“Meavem,” Leto said sharply. “Anders.” Both opened their mouths and closed them again. Meavem’s head bobbed in a tight nod and Anders stalked in front of them. Varric clapped Leto on the shoulder.“Good luck, kid,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to my dear brother. Try not to kill him,” he said to Meavem. “Not until we get back to the surface, okay?”XXThe group suddenly stopped.“What’s going on?” Leto asked a hireling, who shrugged. He looked at the hirelings grouped nearby, who shrugged as well, then at Varric. The dwarf beckoned him forward and he pushed through the hirelings, Meavem at his heels. Bartrand was staring at a collapsed passage- their only way through.“Blasted thing,” he grumbled. “We’re going to have to backtrack for days, and we don’t have that kind of time.”“What about the maps?” Leto asked. “Isn’t there another way?”“The maps are old,” Varric said. “There are tunnels down everywhere.” Bartrand kicked a loose stone.“I am not leaving here without finding something,” he muttered. Meavem gave him a suspicious look.“We’ll scout ahead,” she said. “Find a way past.” None of her mistrust was in her voice and Leto wasn’t sure anyone who didn’t know her could read it in her face. Bartrand looked up at them, distaste clear on his face.“Fine,” he said. “Just try not to die out there, the hirelings are useless.”“We’ll be fine, Bartrand,” Varric said in a voice was dry as the stone around them. Bartrand grunted and walked off. Meavem was looking between them, clearly thinking of her own family, and Leto touched her elbow. She jerked it away.XXThere were scattered darkspawn here and there and they were mostly drawn to Meavem. Daggers whirling as she slipped into the lyrium and appeared behind them, she left plenty of openings for him, Varric and Anders to cut them down. Anders even healed her and she didn’t quite thank him but didn’t not either.She didn’t like Anders but she was very adept at fighting with a group and putting her feelings aside, Leto knew.The Deep Roads seemed endless. One tunnel led to a collapsed end, or a false one. The steps were treacherous and some tunnels they passed seemed like they’d go next. They hurried through those.Some passages were so narrow they had to go in single file, and some so narrow even Meav and her daggers would be useless if they were attacked. Meav was muttering under her breath and Anders was complaining.“If I never come back to this place, it will be too soon.”For once, Meav agreed with him with a fervent nod.But finally they did find a cavern large enough and sturdy enough for the expedition that Varric said was a thaig and Meav and Varric went back to tell them. Anders and Leto scouted the area. There was a passage to the side which led into another large cavern they did not enter, and finally settled near the entrance to wait for the others.“I don’t care what I owe you, I’m never doing this again,” Anders said.XXIt took time for the expedition to settle in, some looking at the walls, tracing the symbols, and Bartrand seemed fascinated.“I didn’t know this thaig existed,” he said. “Look at it!”Leto did. He saw rocks.“Lets see what’s next door,” he said and the others followed him. Varric shrugged at him when he glanced at Bartrand and raised a brow in question.“I was born on the surface,” he said. “I don’t do rocks. He was born down here. Don’t ask me to understand my brother.”XXThey had come to expect darkspawn. What they found in the next room were not darkspawn. They glowed, for one thing, like Meav did when calling on the lyrium embedded in her markings and her eyes were wide with surprise.“What are they?” Anders breathed. She only shook her head. Leto frowned at the things.“I don’t imagine they’ll let us through quietly,” he said. Varric hefted Bianca and notched a bolt in reply.XXThey passed the fallen things. Anders crouched by one of their sides, poking them in fascination, until Leto cleared his throat.“Right. Yes.” The mage stood and followed but looked back at the fallen creatures still.A door was in front of them and Varric stepped forward to gaze at it. He started to reach forward to open it.“What do you think is back there?” Anders asked.“More darkspawn,” Leto said.“More of those… things, more like,” Meav said. They all looked back at them.“Only one way to find out,” Varric said, and opened the door.XXThe room was long and right at the end Leto saw a pedestal with something red on it. He glanced at Meav, who nodded at him.“I’ll see if its safe,” she said and went ahead. Varric hefted Bianca to his shoulder just in case. But she didn’t trigger any traps and gestured for them to follow her. She was the first at the pedestal, staring.Leto could best describe it as an idol, glowing red and eerily familiar.“What is that?” he asked. Anders was about to move forward to investigate when Meavem answered, holding up her hand, glowing in response to whatever this thing was.“It’s lyrium,” she breathed.“It can’t be,” Anders objected. She turned to the mage.“I know I am no mage, but if there is one thing I do know, it is lyrium.” Anders opened his mouth and closed it again. There really was no arguing with the glowing lyrium in Meav’s skin.“We should get Bartrand,” Varric said, staring at the idol.“You go. He won’t trust us if we say we found something,” Meav said. Leto nodded in agreement and Varric headed back the way they came. The other three remained a safe distance from the glowing thing, even Anders wary.They were still standing where they had been when Bartrand came to the door and whistled long.“Will you look at that?” he said. Varric headed over to the other three and the idol. “Give it here.” Meavem gave him a warning look which he ignored and took the thing gingerly. No abominations sprung up around them and he breathed a sigh of relief as he headed back to the door. “That thing must be worth-” Bartrand broke off. Varric tossed it to his brother. Meavem and Anders eyes went wide with alarm and both their hands instinctively found their weapons.Bartrand looked at it with a shine in his eyes and then shut the door.“Bartrand- wait-” Varric called.“I’m sorry, brother,” came from the other side of the door as Meavem cursed. “Can’t share something like this.” His footsteps receded and Varric could not open the door no matter how hard he tugged.“That motherfucker- sorry mother-” he turned to the rest of them, shock and hurt in his eyes. Leto glanced at Meavem, who did not say anything, to his relief. He cleared his throat.“Well, if we can’t get out that way, there has to be another way.”“Not necessarily,” Anders said uneasily, but the alternative was dying in this thaig, and that wasn’t acceptable.“There’s another door,” Meavem said. It was set behind the pedestal which had previously held their attention.“Better than nothing,” Leto said. Varric still hadn’t said anything, but he held Bianca close. “Let’s go.” They fell in behind him.XXThey had not prepared for the piles of rock they passed to form themselves into things with glowing eyes, hissing and launching themselves at them. They had not prepared for the dragon. They certainly hadn’t prepared for the enormous thing which was feeding on the hunger of what he called the Profane and offered to let them pass if they just let them go.“It’s a demon,” Anders said, staring up at it. That was enough for Meavem and Leto and Varric wasn’t going to argue. They were already struggling and very nearly did not manage, but a lucky bolt from Anders staff finally severed its head from its body. They sat hard and tended to their wounds, groaning.“Bloody whirlwind of rocks-”“Not allowed to be that fast.”Anders healed their wounds but at this point nothing could fix their exhaustion except a solid night’s sleep, and they couldn’t afford that now. They pressed on.XXThe door the thing had been guarding opened, and all their mouths dropped open at what was on the other side. Chests, piles of gold, gems, ornately decorated weapons- just how much was here? How many lost souls had their possessions dragged here after they had fallen?“Well,” Varric said weakly.Meavem watched the doors carefully for more Profane while Leto, Varric and Anders dug through the pile. Varric tried to count the coins and collected the gems carefully in a pile. Leto pulled the items like armour and weapons to one side. Anders found a handful of staffs and potions, books protected from the air by the chests that held them.“There’s- it’s all worth-” Leto finally said, voice low with shock. He’d never seen this much gold in his life. You could buy all the Alienage houses with this and have as much left over.Meavem seemed to be thinking like he was, but she had aimed higher.“You could buy a mansion in Hightown with this, and the title to go with it,” she said. She glanced at the others. “We should take what we can. Track the way we came, come back with those who can take the rest.”Leto looked at Anders, who held up his hands.“You don’t need me to come back for that,” he said immediately, and then, grudgingly, “It’s a good idea.” A muscle pulled at the side of her mouth that might have been trying to smile.They loaded up their pockets and bags and looked at the door that led out of here, and hopefully, to fresh air. None of them moved. Finally Leto made the call.“We rest here,” he said. “It was guarded, so it should be avoided long enough for us to get a good night’s rest.” The others agreed immediately and set about rolling out their bedrolls.Meavem was the last to sleep.XXThe rest of the journey was, at least, boring. It was long but the ground under their feet was sloping inexorably up, and that cheered them all. When they burst into the open air they had no idea where they were, but it was welcome all the same.The nearest town had men with carts who were reluctant until the gold was shown to them to assist them in bringing the rest up. They provisioned for them all, and then went back down. Even Anders returned, sighing as he did. The men would not go without a Warden, once they found out that was what he was.Driving the cart, Anders informed Leto with vehemence “Never again.”Return to Kirkwall took longer with the cart and the need to protect its contents, but none of them had anything waiting for them. Anders had his clinic and Varric his room at the Hanged Man, but Leto had lost Varania and Meavem only had Leto keeping her in Kirkwall.Leto, and her family.She still refused to talk about it. Varric had brought it up once and she had shut the subject down flatly, and he hadn’t tried again.When they finally spied Kirkwall on the horizon they were all relieved.Varric took charge of the cart and selling the relics they had found, promising to get the other’s share to them once he’d found suitable buyers. The gold they split immediately, an eye-watering amount already. It made Leto anxious to have, especially in the Alienage.“Hold onto it for me,” he insisted to Varric. Meavem took a small amount of her share for her pocket and insisted the same. They split up when they reached the city, Anders returning to his clinic and Meavem and Leto accompanying Varric to the Hanged Man with the rest before they returned to the Alienage.Finally, they saw Leto’s front door. Relief crashed on him as he pushed it open. The air was stale, more-so than usual, but it was untouched.They fell into the bed without any grace, and he was asleep before he felt the pillow under his head.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They stood outside the small house in Lowtown, Meavem barely breathing, stock still. Leto touched her hand."They're your family," he murmured. "Meav, you'll regret it if you don't." It had been two years, and only now had she come around to the idea, terrified. She'd thrown herself into their work with fervour and nothing anyone said could make her budge on her stance. No, she would not see them. They deserved better than a sister like her. She didn't need a family, she was fine on her own. She would only bring them problems.Her excuses were running dry, and she'd only agreed to come after Leto had promised to come with her.“I know.” Meavem didn’t move and Leto curled his fingers through hers. She let out a breath and tightened her grip on him. “Okay. Let’s do this.” With her free hand she knocked on the door but no one answered. She frowned and knocked again. The door swung a little as she did.No one moved inside.“Meav, if they’re out…”“No,” she said, “No one leaves their doors unlocked. This isn’t right.” She pushed the door open and there was a harsh intake of breath from inside as a man called “My dear, is that you?” The colour fled her cheeks.“Who is it?” Leto asked."Danarius," she whispered, letting go of his hand and pushing the door the rest of the way open, daggers in her hand so quickly he'd not seen her take them from the sheaths. He followed her in and froze. An old man- Danarius he presumed- was standing in front of three people who were bound behind him, shades guarding them, and held a struggling Bethany in his arms, knife to her throat."Ah, Meavem," Danarius said with a genial smile on seeing her. "Oh, and you found a new master to follow!" Leto's hand clenched into a fist. Danarius laughed. "An elf? And I thought you favoured your own, pet." Leto looked sharply between her and Danarius with dawning horror. Her face was set. In his arms, Bethany drew a shuddering breath."Marian," she whispered and the woman behind them sobbed. Meavem opened her mouth but nothing came out, her eyes fixed on her sister."Come back with me," Danarius said. "Come back with me my little bird and I'll let them all go. Your family will be safe. I'll leave darling Bethany alone." The tip of the knife traced over the girl's throat."Bethany," Meavem whispered. Leto couldn't place her tone; fear to be certain but something more as well, an almost reverent note. He took a closer look at the people bound behind Danarius. A boy Bethany's age, clearly her brother, and a man and woman old enough to be her parents. He could see her gaze flickering across them as well, doing the same mental calculations and couldn't even imagine how she must be feeling. He touched her arm to assure her he was here still. She felt like she was about to flee or launch herself at Danarius."Your sister," Danarius said with a wide smile. "Do you remember what happened when you asked if you had a sister, little bird?" Leto felt her flinch and her shoulders stiffen. Her voice shook when she spoke.“You can’t hurt me anymore,” she whispered. “You can’t hurt me.” His laugh was loud this time and the knife angled down and he pressed just a little; blood tricked from Bethany’s neck. “No!” she cried. Leto had never seen anyone look as smug as Danarius did at that moment.“Come back with me and they’ll all be safe. I promise.” Leto could see her wavering, the points of her daggers falling. She couldn’t just give up, she couldn’t just- he opened his mouth.“I…” her voice faltered.“No! Marian, don’t!” Bethany cried, beating him to it. Meavem’s shoulders abruptly straightened and she turned to Leto, met his gaze. Her grip on her daggers strengthened and she slipped into a fighting pose.“I am not yours,” she snarled and launched at him. At the same time fire sprayed from Bethany’s hands and Danarius threw her away from him with a snarled curse. The shades snapped to his side. The house was larger than Leto’s sword but only by a little; it wasn’t the best place for a greatsword. The boy, free from the shades, grabbed a greatsword lying against the wall and planted himself before the man and woman but faced the same problem.Bethany’s fireballs were well aimed, Meavem’s daggers taking down one shade after another before she finally got at Danarius, launched herself at him and pinned him to the floor. Leto was quite useless, really, unable to swing his weapon without hitting an ally.“My Meavem,” Danarius said, “Please don’t do this.” Her eyes were cold as she raised her hand.“I am not yours.” Lyrium glowing, Meavem reached into his chest and yanked his heart out. He fell limply to the floor, blood dripping from the gaping hole in his chest and she stared at the heart in her hand. Her shoulders shook and no one said a word. Her family stared at her, Bethany reaching out hesitantly.“Marian…”She dropped the heart and threw up all over the floor, sobbing. Leto moved to her side and she violently threw him off.“Great,” the man muttered. “You can clean that up, she’s your daughter.”“Gamlen!” The woman snapped as she stared at Meavem, half reaching for her, half hesitating. “Marian? Is it really you?” Her voice cracked.“No!” The word was ripped from Meavem’s throat. “I’m not- I’m not…”“Meav,” Leto said. “Come on.” He helped her to her feet and out the door and no one followed them.XX“Marian,” she whispered, sitting heavily in his doorway. His house being closest he’d taken her to the Alienage. She was still crying. “They called me Marian.”“I heard.” Leto didn’t move to touch her. “Are you alright?” It only occurred to him after he’d asked how stupid a question it was. She stared at her hands.“I killed him.” He could barely hear her. “I held his heart in my hand and I…” her tears redoubled as she trembled. Leto moved cautiously towards her and she leaned into his touch, buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, comforting her as he had once comforted Varania after their mother died. They sat like that for a long time, her sobs slowing as her shaking became worse, and finally she looked up at him.“I thought it would make me happy,” she said. “After this long I thought…”Leto opened his mouth to comfort her but realised he had no idea what to say. Much like comforting Varania when she raged about the Circle had been foreign to him, he had no common ground with Meavem either. What did he know of slavery?“I’m here for you,” he finally said. It hadn't been that long since he'd met her but in that instant it felt like a lifetime. A lifetime of cautious flirtation on both sides and watching the other’s back crashed together as she kissed him hard. It wasn’t how he’d planned to do this, they weren’t the circumstances he’d envisioned but he knew she needed him now and Maker but he wanted her. His grip tightened as the memory of Danarius’s mocking smile came to him, what he’d implied…“He can never hurt you again,” he growled. She kissed him again.“Fuck me,” she gasped. “Please, fuck me until I forget… Leto, please.” She twisted herself around him as much as possible, one knee pushing between his legs.“Meav,” he said, “Are you sure? I don’t want to…” She bit his lip and he gasped as her eyes burned into him, pupils blown.“Fuck me,” she repeated, voice utterly certain. Who was he to resist an order like that? He pulled them both up and managed to get them on the bed; her hands were busy and her armour dropping as he moved them. Finally she was down to her smallclothes and he stared. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t imagined this but seeing her without her armour, having her on his bed…She interrupted him by yanking at his shirt and he wasted no time in shedding it. Her own smallclothes followed and he stared.He’d seen some of her markings but to see all of them… in addition to the vines curling around her arms and up her cheeks there was a tree sprawling across her stomach. He’d seen only the trunk before, in her armour; the whole thing was breathtaking. The branches, he realised, turned into the vines and around her thighs were the roots, reaching all the way down to her ankles and curling onto her feet.“No,” she said, a hysterical note to her voice and his eyes snapped to her face. “No, please just…” he rested a hand on her cheek, careful to avoid the marking and kissed her.“I’m here,” he promised. “Anything you need.”She surged up against him and yanked his pants down impatiently, twisted so she was atop him. Pausing only to ensure he was hard enough to take her (and oh Maker was he) she thrust down onto him.He gasped at her warm heat and the unforgiving pace, his hands gripping her hips to steady them both. His hips thrust up to meet her and she moaned, head tipped back. He’d never needed anyone as much as he needed her.He never meant to say it. Wasn’t sure until that moment it was true.“I love you,” he gasped and she slowed for a moment, breath flagging.“I…” she couldn’t seem to find the words and he was terrified that he’d screwed it up, he’d spoken too soon and she’d get up and leave and he couldn’t let her go, he wanted her, he needed her he loved her… “I am yours.”The words took his breath away. She was stripped bare at this moment, voice raw, eyes unguarded and he could see so much… they weren’t the words he’d expected to hear but he never wanted to hear anything else.He flipped her and she let him, his hands tracing over her markings and muscles as he kissed her hungrily, fucking her deeply and her eyes fluttered closed. He kissed her throat and her cheek and her lips as she clenched around him, making him gasp and his rhythm stutter.She was getting close, he could feel it; heat burned down his spine and he wasn’t sure who would come first. She suddenly cried out, back arching, clenching down hard on him and spilled; he was close enough that it didn’t take long for him to follow. He rolled onto his back as he pulled out and lay beside her.“Fuck, Meav,” he murmured, “I…” she shook her head and kissed him.“No talking,” she whispered. “Please, Leto. Just be with me.” He could do that. He rolled in to cuddle her and she went stiff. “No. Not…” she reached for his hand and he squeezed it.“Whatever you need,” he said, lethargy stealing through him. She turned her back to him but curled close enough that he could feel the curve of her spine. He turned on his back, pressed against her. “Is this alright?” Her voice was thick and sleepy when she replied.“Thank you.” He could hear her deep breathing and by the time he realised she’d gone to sleep he was just about asleep himself.XXShe was gone when he woke.He tried to suppress his disappointment on finding that out without much success, but he could remember her under him, the words she’d gasped, the feeling in them and he knew that it wasn’t anything he’d done. He couldn’t blame her for being skittish. Maybe he’d find her in the Hanged Man. He couldn’t see her returning to the mansion so soon.Dressing, he put his sword on his back just in case- he wasn’t planning on trouble but in this city you could never tell- and locked the door behind him, pausing before the vhendal for a moment. Mother had told him that every alienage had one, that they had to remember what they were but what was there to remember?He had more important things to remember. He had Varania to write to and he had to find Meavem.Passing through Lowtown’s housing district he paused. Maybe… it was worth checking in any case, even just to see if they were alright. They hadn’t been any more prepared for a magister to hold them hostage than he and Meavem were.The door to Gamlen’s house was ajar when he arrived and he could hear Meavem’s voice inside, choked with tears. He peered in to see her tightly in her mother’s arms and left without saying a word.XXTime passed quietly.Few jobs came up- they went to the Wounded Coast one day to take out a bandit group and hunted the Doglords down to the last man to stop them from plaguing Lowtown- but that was all. That might have been a worry before the expedition, and Leto knew he couldn’t rely on the money forever, but he was glad for the quiet.Meavem spent some time with her family and went to the garrison one day to speak to Aveline. He didn’t go with her; this was hers and hers alone. When she came back she told him that Flemeth had saved her family and Aveline from the darkspawn.He looked disbelievingly at her.“Flemeth?”“Would you accuse Aveline of lying?”As unbelievable as it sounded, he’d was inclined to agree with her. Aveline had always been fair in her dealings with him and he didn’t see her lying about a thing like that.He went with her twice to see the Hawkes, on her request. Leandra was overbearing, hovering over Meavem and always calling her Marian, saying the name over and over even though she flinched every time.“She’s not Marian, Mother,” Carver snapped at Leandra once before storming out. “You know that as well as I do.” Bethany looked between her brother and her mother helplessly.“I’m sorry,” she said. “Mar- Mea…” she broke off. “This is… we didn’t ever think we’d see you again and…” she clutched her staff tightly for comfort and Meavem looked away from it. Bethany looked terribly sad as she left.“Don’t you dare blame her for her magic,” Carver said outside. “If you hurt her I’m going to kill you, sister or not.” Meavem met his eyes.“I’m trying,” she said. “It’d be nice if you would.”She returned to the mansion only once, to gather her things, and moved in without asking Leto. He hadn’t realised how lonely the place had been on his own.“You can stay for as long as you want,” he told her. “Forever, if that’s what you want.”“Hadriana will come. His apprentice,” she said. “To see what’s happened to him.” He could hear the question in her voice, though she didn’t ask it.“I’ll stand with you when she does,” he said. “I promise.” She relaxed into his arms. “Come on, let’s get to bed.”She woke with nightmares that she could never remember, or at least refused to tell him about, and all he could offer her was companionship. It seemed to be enough for her, and he was glad.XXWhen he woke up he could tell she’d had another nightmare by the way Meavem was curled into herself.“Leto,” she said, her voice flat in the way that meant she was being overwhelmed by emotion but desperately trying not to show it.“Did you dream again?” he asked.“I’m sterile,” she said. He frowned. “The ritual, the markings… he stole my life from me and then he…” He wanted to hold her but knew she wouldn’t welcome it. He’d never thought he’d have a family of his own but it was an option. To be deprived even of the possibility… “And it’s stupid, because I wouldn’t subject any child to living with an ex-slave being hunted, but still!” He moved to sit beside her as her shoulders shook with suppressed tears. “I remembered. Last night. I know I did. I saw Bethany’s face and she was so young… I remembered it and then it was all… gone.” His eyes widened.“I’m sorry,” he murmured. It wasn’t the first time she’d woken with a nightmare but he hadn’t realised what they were. Maybe she didn’t either he thought.“What is it like to have a sister?” she asked, voice quiet and small. “You remember playing with her when you were both children, remember being a child, watching her grow up… they’re right there and I can’t even… I don’t know them, I don’t remember them, no matter how much I try to be one of them…” He did wrap his arms around her then and she leaned into his touch. He didn’t answer her question; she wasn’t truly asking him.“Bethany told me that I fought for these, won the right to have them,” bitterness laced her voice, “That I wanted them. She… she’s a mage, Leto. And once I must have loved her enough that it didn’t matter but now… I want to look past it Leto, I want to so much but I can’t.”Leto knew what it was to have a sibling with magic, even if he couldn’t empathise with being a slave.“I protected Varania for years,” he said. “But seeing all the blood mages around Kirkwall I’m not sure if I did the right thing, if she’s not better off in the Circle. At least she can learn to protect herself. You have every reason to be wary of magic- more than most. I don’t blame you.”“Carver does.” She sounded miserable. “I just wanted to get to know my family again, myself and I find out that I chose these? That I fought for them? They ruined my life and I…” she was sobbing then, into his shoulder and he rubbed her back and let her cry.XXThe day was high when he went to Gamlen’s house. Both Gamlen and Leandra were out when he arrived.“Leto,” Bethany said. “Is she coming?” she almost looked relieved when he shook his head.“No,” he said. “But I am here on her behalf. Not that she actually knows I’m here.” He coughed a little awkwardly. “I wanted to know what she was like, before.” Carver scowled at him.“Right, so you can make her feel worse about forgetting?” he asked. He was an odd one, protective of Bethany to a fault but just as possessive in his own way of Marian, even if that meant he’d never accept Meavem.“Carver,” Bethany scolded him. “He wouldn’t hurt her. She loves him more than…” her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, that’s not fair. It’s hardly her fault.”“Yes it is,” Carver snapped. “We would have been fine if she hadn’t fought for those stupid markings and you know it.”“We were slaves!” Bethany had rarely raised her voice in the short time Leto had known her and Carver looked down. He didn’t reply and the silence stretched on. “We were lucky to stay together as long as we did and you know it. I would have been sold to warm some senator’s bed if I was lucky and you would have been set for a life of hard labour with your attitude. She knew what she was giving up for us and you know that she’d have thought it was worth it.”It hurt to hear them talk about her as if she was dead, but he supposed she was; she’d told him herself that Marian was gone, even before she knew the name she’d once claimed as her own. Bethany turned back to him.“I’m sorry,” she said. “Please understand, this is a hard topic for us. But she deserves to know.” She glanced at her staff, propped up in the corner, and looked away from it. “She used to be so encouraging of my magic,” she whispered. “Told me that it would get me further in the Imperium than any of us, that I could be more. And now the way she looks at me…” she sat heavily in front of the fire.“It’s hardly her fault,” Leto said. “You know what magic did to her.”“I know.” Bethany sighed. “Is she ever going to be happy again?”Leto chose his words very carefully.“What happened will always haunt her,” he said finally, “And every time she looks in the mirror she sees it. I doubt her memories will ever come back where she can hold them. She remembers, in her dreams, but-” his voice trailed off. “That hurts her the most. That her life with you is still somewhere in there.”Bethany’s eyes glistened with tears and he heard Carver’s breathing by the doorway abruptly catch.“She… remembers?” he asked. “Maker, I thought…”“Oh, Marian,” Bethany breathed.“She taught me the sword.” Carver’s voice was softer than usual. “I was only… she told me that we were lucky to have a master who allowed us to learn weapons and not to squander the opportunity, looked over me and said I wasn’t a rogue. Took a practise sword and put it in my hand. I kept going after because she told me that I had to protect them now she couldn’t. I begged her not to, I begged her to come with us and she told me she couldn’t. That at least we’d be safe.”“I remember Father looking her in the eye and telling her he wished that we’d never left Ferelden,” Bethany said. “And her laughing- she was so bitter- and saying that it was too late for that. ‘Just keep her out of the damn Circle’ she said. ‘Let all this be for something’. I’d never heard of southern Circles really. Father didn’t speak of them. He hated himself for leaving her there but he had no choice. The magister who owned her then- Danarius,” she spat the name much like Meavem did, “Had already taken her to his estate. She was gone. Father was never the same after that and Mother never really forgave him.”Leto only became aware that someone else was in the house when he heard the sharp intake of breath and turned to see Meavem staring at them, frozen mid-step, trembling before she fled.“Marian!” Bethany called but it was too late.XXShe wasn’t in the Alienage, and she wasn’t in the Hanged Man. When Leto asked if Varric had seen her the dwarf shook his head with a worried crease in his brow, and Isabela stopped drinking and made a beeline for him when she saw Leto enter.“Where is she?” she demanded. “I haven’t seen her in days, and she doesn’t usually leave me hanging this long.” He shook his head, shoulders tight.“I’m trying to find her,” he said.“Fine,” the pirate said. “Where are we looking next?”It was a relief to have company at least as they made their way to Hightown. She hadn’t returned to the mansion since removing her few belongings from it, but neither of them had any other idea about where to look.It was unlocked, as always, and Isabela gave the place a look both appreciative and disgusted as she assessed it for valuables that weren’t to be found. But neither was Meavem.“She won’t mind if you take something,” Leto said, sitting heavily against a wall. Where else could he look? Maybe Aveline would know, or would have someone who had seen- “It’s not like its her stuff.”Isabela put down the statue.“Oh,” she said. “Well, maybe Aveline-” he nodded.“Worth a try.”Unfortunately Aveline had not seen her, but promised to have her men keep an eye out for her. Even without her criminal record she was striking enough in appearance that only a brief description would do. That still, however, left them without Meavem.There was only one other person he knew she knew, and she’d never visit Anders. Not willingly. Still-They hurried through Darktown, not wanting to be caught by those desperate enough to rob them, and to the clinic. The lantern was dark, but they could hear his voice inside.“I can’t,” he said, and he sounded gentle. “The magic that did this to you is beyond me.”“Your- passenger-” Meavem’s voice twisted a little on the word. “Can’t he-”“I’m sorry, Meavem.” He sounded like he meant it too. “I cannot undo what was done to you. I would if I could.” Isabela burst through the door.“There you are. I’ve been looking for you for days.” Meavem sat on one of the beds, shoulders slumped, head down. Leto went to her side. Anders stepped back to give him space.“I wish I could help,” he said. “All I can offer is a tonic to help you sleep without the dreams.”“No.” The word ripped from Meavem’s throat. “That’s the only place I know them.”“Come on,” Leto murmured. “Meav, come home.” She let him pull her to her feet and Anders slipped him a bottle on the way out.“Just in case,” he mouthed.XX“I just wanted to-” she curled on the bed.“I know.” Leto turned to get her something to drink.“They were important to me once.” She was staring at her arms when he turned back to hand it to her. “Important enough I threw my life away for them.”“Drink,” he urged her. She took it numbly.“I’ve tried to understand. But I can’t. These things…” her fist clenched. “The things I’ve done for him. And I chose it.”“I’m sure you didn’t know.” She didn’t say anything. “I’m sure you didn’t know what he would do. You didn’t want them to grow up in slavery. That’s noble, Meav.”“And he repaid that nobility by taking everything from me.” She cursed in Tevene. “He can’t hurt anyone else now. But there are a hundred others who will do as bad or worse, if given the opportunity.” Leto lay a hand over hers.“You saved them from your suffering,” he said. “At least take solace in that. Drink.” She lifted the cup to her lips.“In my dreams I love them. That’s the worst part. If I didn’t remember at all-” she set the cup down and lay down, staring at the ceiling. “I thought that it would be easier than this, Leto.” He didn’t know what she was talking about, and didn’t ask. He merely lay beside her. She gripped his hand.“I thought it would be done.”XXShe did not return to the Hawke home. She did go to the Hanged Man and play cards with Isabela and Varric. Isabela scolded her for ditching her without so much as a word and Varric said nothing, just smiled at her as he dealt her in. The jobs picked up slowly as another cult sprang up in the bowels of Kirkwall and yet more bandit groups with terrible names formed to terrorise travellers on the Wounded Coast.She even got herself arrested for pickpocketing, alongside Isabela.“It wasn’t anything important,” Isabela said as Aveline sighed deeply when Leto came to pick them up.“See you later,” Meavem said with a grin.“I better not,” Aveline grumbled, but there was distinct fondness in it. “Get out of here.”Later he saw her and Bethany coming out of a dress shop, a dress over Bethany’s arm and a ridiculous hat on Meavem’s head, and slipped off before they noticed him. He wasn’t going to interrupt that.