Antivan Sailors

I’m peacefully dreaming that Kyle is kissing and licking me in a very sensual way, when I realize it is Nelson, the mabari puppy Ryan and Mary Sue gave us as a Wedding Anniversary gift’s tongue which is soaking my face in the morning. I’m about to shout something, angry, but the tickles make me laugh, and the dog takes it as a good sign and starts waving his tail. Unable to get rid of him, I yell at Kyle. "Take that filthy thing away from the bed!"

Nelson looks at me with beggar eyes, and I continue laughing. I can't be mad at the poor thing. Mabaris are maybe the ugliest dogs ever breed, but I must admit as a puppy the little beast is adorable… and his eyes already hint that legendary intelligence of the mabaris. And of course, as all dogs do, he adores me. I wonder if it is something in my scent? Sigh. Well, I have lost track of Stripes back at the tavern, so it is kind of healthy having something similar to a baby to care for again. Helps us to heal the wounds of Emma’s lose.

But when I’m already resigned to my fate, I feel another tongue licking my ear and I turn my head surprised, to find my own husband licking me like the puppy, and making a puppy face at me. The situation is so hilarious I can’t resist.

"Oh you two are crazy!!", I say shaking my head and making a bubbling noise, and wipe the drool from my face with the sheets

He blinks "But Nelson is not filthy". Yeah. Because I bath him once a week, I think, but I have no time to say it.

The puppy scratches his ear and pants, looks at me again and licks my fingers, while Kyle bites my earlobe

"Hey, hey". I laugh again. "If you do that I won't be able to know who's the puppy, and I may end up kissing the wrong one"

Kyle laughs at the idea, while Nelson makes a whine sound, so I scratch him behind the ears as an excuse to release my hand from his tongue.

I smirk. "You laugh, but what if he's better kisser than you?" I tease him. Nelson barks happy and leans on the side where I scratched him, so I sigh resigned and scratch his tummy

"So now I have two puppies" I tease again. As a reply, Nelson shows his stomach and startles the left leg that way silly dogs do. Kyle grunts and sucks my cheek. I continue scratching the greedy puppy while I turn my head to smooch Kyle, making him smirk proud. Nelson is already on heaven.

I’m starting to feel excited, so I grab Kyle's nape with my free hand, and feel delighted how he pulls my lower lip and release it.

I notice Nelson turning around so I can scratch his other side, but I’m too busy invading my man’s mouth with my tongue, and I soon ignore completely the dog to hug Kyle. Nelson whines, but finally he jumps out of the bed and goes away. An angry shriek from the kitchen announces us he has decided to go to pester Tim, so now we can focus in ourselves.

A furtive thought reminds me I have left in the kitchen the buns I baked yesterday night for breakfast, but I get crushed by Kyle’s body when he decides to pay attention to mine and I soon decide I don’t give a damn for those buns after all.

His passionate embrace becomes so tight I can hardly breath, so before I choke I steal breath from his mouth, until he realizes it and releases me a bit. Then I catch him between my naked legs and I move a hand between them to grab his crotch.

"Fufufu. What is going on I wonder?" he winks.

"You tell me, but I'd swear your baby demands attention". He shakes his head, disagreeing, and then rubs it on my neck, making me purr of delight. While I mess his hair with the hand that is not busy, he sucks, and I know that when I get up I’ll find another mark in my neck. As if I cared, I think, and tease the back of his legs with my feet while finding his earlobe to bite. I’m rewarded by a faint meow and a smile, and his hands caressing my body shape.

I’m busy nuzzling his ear and playing with my hand between his legs, feeling his desire teasing my belly button, when we hear a crumble sound from the kitchen with makes me startle and lose all my concentration.

"What was that?" I complain, more upset by the interruption than by what it may mean.

"Maybe they made the tray fall" he mumbles, and then pouts at my expression. "Meh, they’re having fun”, he says, meaning the puppy and Tim. “We should have it too. Now come back to me".

His enthusiasm makes me smirk. "But you arrange whatever they broke", I purr in his ear, and retake my work where I had left it.

But after some minutes and when we are at the most embarrassing heat of the moment, someone knocks on the door.

I curse beneath my teeth, my senses returning to reality, and look at my sweaty husband, still moving over me. "Do you wait for someone?"

"Uh huh?”, he groans, not stopping. “I don’t know… who can be… at this time?"

I bite my lips. His movement makes it hard to concentrate. "So if we wait for nobody, we ignore them?"

His sweat makes a bead on his temple. "Unless it is..."

I blink, stare at him. Damn it, let’s sort this out and finish what we were doing!

"Who?"

"The Cousland", he finishes, grabbing my breast. I close my eyes, and moan, happy to be reminded of what the priorities are.

"Fuck the Cousland, we're busy", I say, keeping his hands there.

He bites the pointy tip of my ear with an evil smirk. "What are you saying?”

As a reflex, my hips move faster. "Nothing".

He laughs. Outside the knock stops for now, so we can focus on our task, forgetting soon that there was a world around us trying to take us away from our morning sex.

After everything is over, Kyle looks at me with a tender smile, which somehow becomes a smirk.

“So our daily need was more important than a meeting, eh?”

I snort. “Hey. You were the one who ignored it. If you had shown the least interest on receiving whoever was knocking, we’d have stopped… But since you seemed to think it wasn’t important, I decided to continue too”. Then I remember the first noise and sigh. “Anyway, I should check what that pair did in the kitchen”, and I get up, put a dressing robe over my naked body, and go to the kitchen to see what the dog did. As I expected, the buns are on the floor and the puppy and the mabari are feeding on them, while Tim looks at them from…

…wait…

The puppy and the mabari?

I look up at the kitchen table.

Of course the Cousland is drinking our tea.

“Don't tell me he picked the lock and is waiting for us in the kitchen” I think, feeling all the blood concentrating in my cheeks. Here I am, naked under a simple robe, and that son of a… Cousland is eating our buns and drinking our tea as if nothing had happened.

"What are you doing there?”, I say cold.

"Eh… I just wanted to have some breakfast time", Ryan says, crouching to feed his adult mabari, Nero, a piece of one of MY buns.

I glance around to make sure the puppy didn't make a mess. At least, Ryan has put back the tray in its place, but the floor is full of scattered pieces of bun. Then I look back at Ryan, narrowed eyes. "Didn't they teach you to respect the privacy of people?" and then I add... "...milord?". No courtesy intended of course.

"And… that’s why I stayed silent!". Ryan smirks teasing, and now I’m sure my cheeks are redder than my hair. Of course! He has heard me scream. I want to punch his smiling face, but Kyle now just steps out, wearing only the trouser, and saves his friend’s ugly face with a yawn and greeting.

“Come back to the bedroom” he whispers in my ear, aware of my embarrassment. But I am too furious to shut up.

"Doesn't your friend want a cup of coffee? I must be a good host" I snort.

Kyle quirks a brow. “What about you ?"

I shrug. "What about me?" I move into the kitchen and put water to boil for the coffee. Then I check the buns on the tray to see if they're bitten or something, but not trusting it, finally I sigh and throw them to the dogs. "All right, at least someone appreciates my buns". Teg’s comment about Adri’s mother’s cooking still hurts, and that’s not helping in this situation.

Kyle comes behind me and takes me by the shoulders. “Go and dress up, love” he whispers again. I shake my head.

“What for?” I whisper back. “Ryan has already seen me in the robe and even worse, he has heard us having sex”. Anyway, I make sure the belt of my robe is properly fastened. I still want the intruder to have to imagine what’s under it.

Finally I am rewarded by noticing how Ryan stirs in his chair and scratches his nape. He can see he came in a bad moment. While the water boils, I look for a jar with cookies, and put them in a dish, then I put it in front of Ryan, on the table. "Here you have. I'm sorry I can't offer you the buns I baked"

I see by the corner of my hand how Kyle rolls his eyes and shakes his head, while Ryan waves a hand "Your buns are good enough".

I see the crumbles over the table. Oh, so he already ate some with Nero? All right, better for me. I start serving him some boiling coffee, as hot as I can, but he sneaks past me to lend Kyle a small note. As if I wouldn’t notice it.

"Glad you like them", I finally say, meaning the ruined buns, and then turn to go to the bedroom to get properly dressed. I know he’s not that stupid as to drink the coffee instantly, but the fact that he has to wait until it is colder makes me feel better, I don’t know why.

While I dress in my simple, daily housewife clothes, I raise my ear to listen to the conversation they are probably having, but they’re whispering and I can’t get any of the words, so I try to come back as soon as possible and stare at them. They put what they think is an innocent smile, as if nothing happened and they were just enjoying the breakfast, while the dogs are cleaning the floor.

And it is exactly because of that that I know Ryan is planning trouble.

I sit by their side and serve coffee for myself too, take a dry cookie and soak it in the coffee. "So what did bring you here, milord?" I say then, sarcasm not concealed.

"Because of a promise " Ryan glances Kyle. "And it seems the host forgot the day!"

I glare at Kyle. "Care to explain me, love?"

He turns to me, all sweet smiles. "Ah, just something about the future!"

I smirk. "Do I leave you alone? I'm sure I can find something to do. Like..." I look at the dogs... "more buns". The dogs stare back at me, licking their snout. They’re not for you, little beasts, I think to myself. I plan to replace the ones you spoiled.

Ryan laughs. “Ah, no, you can stay. It isn’t such a big secret”

“And it may lead to a new adventure” Kyle says with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. He’s happy to be with his partner in crime again, and who am I to spoil their fun? As long as I’m invited, of course.

I sit in front of them and smile too. “All right. I’m all ears”. And I shake them to add emphasis to my words.

I’ve been listening carefully, while eating my cookies, and trying to get something which makes any sense from the fragments both Kyle and the Cousland are telling sparsely to me. After our adventure with the Dalish, Ryan has become interested about the past of the Cousland family and the reasons they have that treaty with them and certain witch they call “Asha'bellanar”. And there’s a relic somewhere he needs to retrieve, for what he has taken passage in a ship to take us there… The day and the time of the departure is in the note he has slipped in Kyle’s hand.

When they say a ship I blink

“So we’re travelling by boat?”

“Sure.” Ryan smirks. “You’ll love it, Kyle. I rented the Reina de los mares”

Kyle suddenly gets pale. “What?”

“The what?” I ask. “That sounds Antivan”

Ryan nods. “Because we’re going to Rialto, my friends”. Then he turns at Kyle and chuckles. “Oh, come on, don’t make that face”. Ryan seems about to spill the coffee laughing. “The captain was delighted to know we were going to travel with him again, Kyle”

Kyle’s face says “nopppeeeenopeepeenoeneonepenpenpepe”, and I start to put two and two together.

“The… captain? You mean that captain?”. Ryan’s smile answers my question, and I have to bite my lips not to laugh with him too. “You did it on purpose!!” I finally manage to say.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kyle says, red of anger. “We better get a very high value loot, because nothing can pay meeting him again”.

I grab Kyle’s arm and try to calm him. “Leave him to me” I just say. Oooh, I think I’m going to enjoy this!

So the Reina de los Mares is waiting for us at Amaranthine’s docks. It is a beautiful ship, and I can see a handsome blond man, maybe only a couple of years older than Kyle, moving on the board giving instructions to the crew. He looks /too/ handsome for a man and I understand Ryan’s explanation that his crew didn’t take him seriously. If he had a female crew, though, maybe things would have been different, I ponder.

I glance at him and whisper to Kyle "So that's the captain who thought Ryan and you were a couple?”

“Yeah. I hope he doesn’t toss us to feed the sharks when he finds out the truth”. Kyle pouts and tries to move ahead to hide in a corner. I grab him by the hand and drag him on board.

“Let’s go to greet that Ferdinand”, I say, delighted.

As soon as we get into the boat, the man comes to greet us with a wide smile.

“Welcome to La Reina!” he says. “Ooh, it is my favourite couple! Ryan and Kyle! How have you been doing lately?”

Kyle blushes that shade of red he used to blush when I harassed him, a year ago, and doesn’t return the greeting to the captain, while Ryan laughs wicked.

"Hello ser! I take this is your ship?", I interrupt, making clear I am there too, even if I’m female and an elf. Then I lend him my hand. "Thanks for helping MY husband and me reach the island".

The captain looks at me raising an eyebrow, then I return to him what I hope it is a wicked smile and tiptoe to kiss Kyle on the lips, making it clear "he's mine, bitch".

"Your husband?" he stammers.

Then I wink and add "But Ryan is still free", and then I drag Kyle to where I hope the cabins are, not letting the poor man time to react. While I go I can imagine Ferdinand looking at Ryan, tilting his head, like saying “But you told me…?”, and Ryan shrugging a bit embarrassed, then feeling relieved because he’s not Ferdinand type after all, and finally laughing to ease a bit the situation and search another person to troll.

A nice sailor points us our cabin, and I push my husband over the bed, trying to erase that blush from his face by kissing him. “If you don’t want to see that man, I’m okay to stay in this cabin during the entire trip and only get out to eat”, I tease.

He finally chuckles. “And in the ship they will wonder where all the howl sounds come from?”

“Oh yeah”, I laugh. “But admit it is a good way to prevent being getting seasick”

“I didn’t know you had seasickness,” he says nuzzling my ear. I purr as only answer.

Of course we exaggerate, and we go out from time to time, to watch the stars, or to feel the sea breeze.

Or to feel the whisper in the air around… and something like a song…

I blink.

We have just had dinner and we went out to breath some fresh air. It is already night… but the air looks darker… it seems we’re crossing a fog bank. Maybe that’s what makes the things sound weird, I think. Fog always gives that impression. It looks as if we’re sailing over an enchanted place. I brace myself.

"This is weird,” I whisper. I could even say the fog has a purple hue.

“We never said this was going to be a normal trip” Kyle tries to comfort me, but I think he feels the same. I look around.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?".

Kyle makes that weird attempt to move his ears he usually does.

"I don’t know?"

I smirk, trying to ease the mood. "Care to ask the captain?"

I know nothing about sailing, but I’m good at orientation, thanks the Maker (since poor Kyle can get lost in his own kitchen), and for a while I’ve had the feeling we’re not going the correct way. I mean, the sun is not where it should be if we were travelling to the North, and though we should have been following the coast of the Free Marches and Antive, we seem to be sailing in open sea. Damn it, why didn’t I care about it later? It seems I was too busy in the cabin. I’m starting to get really worried.

I hear steps near. Ryan is coming to us, scratching his head and not hiding a yawn. He probably was asleep, and this strange fog woke him up. He walks and stops by our side, trying to see into the cloudy weather too.

“The crew is acting weird,” he mumbles.

“What?”

“They’re acting as if their minds were foggy. Like this weather”. He points around. “Even the captain seemed confused, though that’s nothing new” he smirks. “Well. The ones that are awaken. Seems most of them went to sleep early”.

Kyle yawns. “I feel sleepy too”

I look around and smell the fog. “I don’t like this…”

“It’s as the fog were enchanted,” Ryan finishes my thought.

“Enchanted? What the fuck?” curses Kyle, when we hear a loud “Thud” on the other side of the ship. We run there, only the sailors fighting amongst themselves. One of them sees us and soon a group is charging towards us. They seem Antivan Crows, for the tattoos I can see in their faces.

"Oh great" I swear, drawing my daggers.

“Fuh”, Kyle snorts, holding his dagger too.

The assassins come closer playing with us like cats with mice. Ryan uses his magic powers to freeze the feet of the closer one, immobilizing him, and then he hits his ribs with his elbow. I spin around myself slashing whoever is near, but my foe dodges and grabs my neck, almost choking me. I try to kick his groin, at the same time than Kyle kicks his knee, and that makes him release me so I can move closer to my husband so we watch each one's back. But before I give my first two steps, I see three of those thugs taking him down. I jump over them, reckless. How do they dare to touch my man? Suddenly, a couple of them go out from nowhere and grab my arms and my neck, and I only can kick defenceless while I see how the other three tie Kyle and hold him in place. I struggle like crazy! If I just could move my arm…. And cut their throat… But there are like a dozen of them, and we’re only three…

Ryan whacks the head of his three rivals with a magical hammer made of water, and runs to try to help us, but before he can reach us one of them kicks my stomach and makes me bend over myself. The last thing I remember before everything turns black, is my head falling to the ground, and Kyle’s concerned look.

When I wake up again, the first thing my eyes look for are Kyle’s. I finally see him sighing of relief, standing by Ryan’s side and watched over by a couple of assassins. I see the rest of the crew around, and I’m not sure if being scared or relieved, because it seems the assassins didn’t mean to kill any of us, and I’m not sure if that means they need us alive or they just want to have their fun killing us later.

A young elven man, blond hair and the dark skin of the Antivan people, walks towards me and takes my chin up.

“Look what we have here” he says with a very strong Antivan accent. “Who’s say this little kitty would be more difficult to reduce than a full grown warrior and his mage friend?”

And while he talks he looks into my eyes as if he was looking for something special. I try to move my face away, but his grip is stronger than I can stand. Suddenly he releases me and laughs.

“She’s clean too, Taliesin. Bring him with the others”

A human nods and drags me by Kyle and Ryan’s side. They’re tied like me, but they don’t seem harmed either. The elf continues examining the rest of the crew, but he shakes his head and keeps them in the other side of the board. Finally he arrives to the captain. The poor man is shaking, but his eyes look confused and even tied and hold by a couple of strong crows, he struggles and tries to bite the elf’s hand when he approaches it to his face.

“This man is the most affected” the elf says. “Keep him under vigilance; one doesn’t know what he may try”. Then he turns to us.

“Please forgive us, my friends. It seems this has been a terrible mistake”

“A mistake to attack our crew?” I scowl. “What did you expect? A party?”

The elf shakes his head, moving his long blond hair in a funny way. Though I think he believe he’s trying to be seductive.

“And she has a sense of humour! What a pity we don’t have time to know each other better... Just know we’re on your side. We just had to fight for our lives when the possessed crew attacked”

“Possessed?” I ask again

“The fog”, says Ryan. “It was an enchantment, wasn’t it?”

The elf nods. “Yes. And it seems it was aimed specially to our brave handsome captain, wasn’t it, my dear Ferdinand?”

But Ferdinand is looking around as if he was hearing strange voices, and doesn’t seem to notice the elf. Which, by the way, makes the assassin looks a bit disappointed. As if they had had an affair before. Damn it, are all these Antivans gay?

“So suddenly the crew turned against us. Against all of you too”, he points at us, “But fortunately their minds were not clear. They were following orders, from whom, I don’t know. But they were changing our route”

“That I noticed” I mumble. “That’s why the ship is going nowhere”

“I wouldn’t say it is going nowhere” the elf’s friend, the one he called Taliesin, interrupts. “I’d say we’re heading to Llomeryn”

Llomeryn? That would explain why we are in open sea, I think, but I don’t say it aloud.

“So we have to un-possess the captain” says Ryan, using very technical magic words.

"Hope he doesn't need a kiss from his true love" I tease.

“Ah yeah he needs”, says the Assassin distractedly. “A pity he’s not there, is he?”

Ryan and me turn our heads to look at Kyle. He has that “What the fuck are you looking at me” face, green with anger, and starts hitting the ground with his foot where he’s standing, like a grumpy kid. I can’t help but giggle.

Even with his hands tied, Ryan pushes him as if were an accident, and poor Kyle stumbles and falls into Ferdinand’s open arms, unable to avoid it.

I look at Ryan “What?” he says. “That way the horror will be lesser”.

Ferdinand catches him and gives him a French kiss, and I have the feeling he continues doing it delighted even after the possession is over, while poor Kyle struggles, his face greener as if he was about to puke, absolutely freaking out, while the captain releases him with a face which is screaming “It was awesome!” Pfft, as if I didn’t know it. Those lips are mine, captain, and will continue being so.

After the Assassins’ laughter, the elf approaches to us and cuts our ropes, and I have the feeling he takes a bit longer to cut mine... touching my butt more than necessary, but I say nothing because Kyle would skin him. With my hands released, I cover my mouth not to laugh too hard, and pat Kyle’s back

"Ok, ok... calm down...” I say. "Your sacrifice saved us"

Ryan is busy biting his hand, not to laugh too loud, while Kyle’s face say “The Void with sacrifice”, and moves away looking for water to wash his mouth. So I walk towards him, grab the collar of his shirt and kiss him, deep and hungrily, the way he likes it, to make him feel better, while both the Assassins and the sailors whistle and shout as us, encouraging me to make it deeper. Which I do willingly.

But he shakes his head, not much better.

“Please”, he whispers, pushing me away. “I need water. I need to clean my mouth”

I see him go, and then I notice that poor Ferdinand, who was looking at him with dreamy eyes, walks away depressed.

Ryan’s laugh sounds like the howl of a wolf, because he cannot unsee that kiss scene repeating in his mind. Poor Kyle, he’ll remind it to him again and again.

“But what about the crows?”, I ask to Ryan. Now that I think about it, I recognize the faces. They were amongst the crew, or maybe like passengers too, from the beginning.

“We should ask them” Ryan shrugs.

Some time later, we’re all sitting at the captain’s table, drinking ale and Antivan wine, all cheerful except for Ferdinand’s heartbroken face and Kyle disgusted grimace, which doesn’t seem to soften with my cuddling. The elf, Zevran was his name, explains to us that they were hired by someone to protect the cargo and make sure it arrived safe to Rialto.

“Then, why attacking us?”, Kyle asks.

“We didn’t mean to attack you” ,Zevran says. “Well, at least not until the sailors attacked first. We couldn’t know who were possessed and who wasn’t, though it is clear the spell was directed only to the crew. Specially the captain, who was the one who commanded them to attack”. Ferdinand lowers his head, ashamed.

“So now we’re going to meet our contact in...where?” I say, confused.

“Antiva city”, Ryan says, drinking a sip of his wine. “But it seems someone wasn’t interested on us to arrive”

“Who?” I ask.

“A blood mage”, Kyle says, grim.

Ryan nods. “Yes. Hence the enchantment... the fog... the possession over the captain and his crew... But the mage isn’t on board. We would have already noticed him... or her... so... It must be something in the cargo”. He turns to Ferdinand.

“Most of them are goodies a respectable widow from Rialto made us bring to her under contract” the captain says, getting out of his melancholy. “Except the ones you hired me to carry, of course”, he turns to Ryan

“Maybe not so respectable”, Kyle mumbles.

“Whatever it is, it may be dangerous”

“So we should pay a visit to her, before we meet our contact”, Ryan smiles. “Hope she is young and pretty”

Kyle and me facepalm at the same time.

The way to meet the mysterious widow is easy. Zevran is more than happy to let us join his group of mercenaries when we deliver her goodies, something his partner Taliesin doesn’t seem to like much. But strangely the elf is in charge, and more strange even, he seems to like us, so we follow him.

The goodies include several boxes, and one in particular draws my attention… to long and big enough to keep inside a corpse. I shiver. The widow’s house, though, has nothing special.

A servant greets us and leads us to the back door to deliver the boxes, but Ryan steps ahead and demands to see the Lady. His charm barely works, but when he says his real name the servant raises a brow and allows him to accompany him to the widow’s room. Kyle and I exchange a look. Ryan takes his time and we’re already considering to fight our way to rescue him when the servant comes back.

“Milady called for her guest’s friend” he says, harsh as a dry tree. I’m about to scowl but Kyle pushes me ahead. We start following the servant and I realize Zevran comes too. Kyle doesn’t seem to mind so I shrug. He has saved our lives… sort of, so if that doesn’t include him in the “Friend” category, at least it doesn’t put him in the “Foe” one.

We finally meet in a highly decorated and not very well lit room and I wonder if that woman has Orlesian ancestors. Ryan stands up to greet us, by his side a woman stays sitting on a chair. She has her legs covered by a blanket even in the hot Antivan weather, and I guess she’s the Lady. Seems she doesn’t feel she should get up to greet us.

Even if the dark ambiance of the room has been studied to hide that she’s not young, as Ryan wished, she definitely keeps a serene beauty. Her hair is black, except for grey streaks in her temples, and her eyes pierce us with a golden look. She nods slightly, with a faint smile which is, though, warm and welcoming. Even so, her presence is imposing and I don’t feel at ease.

She looks at us and smiles at Zevran, silently approving that he’s there too. Of course, she hired him, so I guess she trusts him after all.

“Please my friends, take a seat”, she says, pointing at the remaining chairs with her hands. We do so, and stare at her. At least me, I’m not sure about what to say or what not, so better stay silent. “I am Dorella Montoya. Ser Cousland, right here, and me”, she starts, slight head movement at Ryan, “have had a very interesting conversation… and it seems our interests are similar. Because, you know… That Asha'bellanar he’s trying to research about… she was my ancestor” she smiles in an “isn’t is fascinating?” way. I tilt my head.

“Such a coincidence” I can’t help but say. “Does that mean you both are going to join your forces, or you’re going to fight over... those interests?”

The woman chuckles. “Clever observation, my elf friend. Both ser Ryan and me want to get some… items connected to my great-great grandmother… But” she points at her legs “look at me. I have the knowledge… but I don’t have the means to try to retrieve them. And as much as I trust my good friends Crows here”, she points at Zevran and I’m starting to think this woman likes to point too much, maybe she was a teacher when she was younger, “I can’t forget they’re mercenaries and, no offense meant, my handsome friend” Zevran shakes his head and mutters “no offense taken”, but the woman continues as if he had not spoken, “I can’t send them alone in such a task… no without someone with legit interest in that relic, to prevent a better buyer offering a price higher than mine, if you understand what I mean…”

“And if we find that relic, what?” Kyle frowns, direct as always.

Ryan tries to keep the peace. “We have a deal, Kyle. None of us wants the relic because of its value, but because of what we can learn of it… and the use we can make of it. We both want the same, so I’ve agreed to provide the working hands while she’ll provide the knowledge to reach our goal”

“If it works for you…” Kyle replies. He doesn’t trust the woman much, but he trusts his friend. I’m reluctant myself, so I continue asking

“What do you need that relic for, anyway? For what Ryan says, it is a Cousland heritage”

Dorella nods. “Indeed. The relic is the Medal of the Champion of Highever, and it is actually what Sarim Cousland used to defeat my ancestor in the Tower Age. And just because of that, I want to study it to protect myself from her”

I blink. “From her? But… the Tower Age… she must have been dead for ages?”

The woman chuckles as if I had said something very funny. “Flemeth? Dead? Oh, no, my friend. She found a way to escape that fate… or maybe she always was truly immortal, since there are tales which say she never was completely human… She feds on her daughters and she has had many of them during the years, to recover her strength or to come back from the Fade if someone kills her…”

Suddenly something makes “click” in my head. Of course. Flemeth was the author of that grimoire my father was so interested about when he was in the Circle tower, and the one from whom, it seems, he learnt the possession spell he used on poor Farinellaros to use his body. I get pale, and despite the faint light, Dorella notices it.

“My grand-grand mother managed to escape that fate”, she is saying, “and she could build a family which eventually led to myself. But others haven’t been so fortunate… And for the look in your eyes, my sweet girl, I’d say you know something about it, am I wrong?”

Kyle looks at me and squeezes my hand, trying to comfort me. Ryan smiles.

“Tell her, Mari. I trust her, and maybe she can help you…”

I swallow, and finally I tell Dorella about my father, Flemeth’s grimoire and all the harm he has caused us… or at least part of it. Dorella’s eyes are understanding and sweet, and now I get why Ryan trusts her.

“Do you have that grimoire, sweetheart?” she asks. I shake my head.

“No. It is at the Circle Tower in Ferelden”. Dorella frowns. A place she probably doesn’t want to visit, since it is quite clear now she’s an apostate. “But… I have my father’s diary…”. Dorella blinks.

“Oh, I would love to read it… will you mind to lend it to me next time we meet?”

I nod, and turn to my backpack. I always carry it with me, that and my own diary. I don’t want both of them to fall in dangerous hands. “I have it here” I say, lending it to her. She takes it with reverence. “Edanhor Blank… I’ve heard rumours…” she looks at me, and something has changed in the way she looks at me. “So… you’re his daughter?”

I nod. “So he told me, even if I grew up thinking my father was a good man at the alienage. But I think he only wants me as a vessel to give birth a male heir he can possess”

Dorella surprises me moving her hand over the table to squeeze mine. “So you understand why I need to protect my family from Flemeth” she says. “Now the urge to find that relic becomes greater”

“You said you don’t trust someone would pay a higher fee to the Crows to make them change sides… do you think that’s related to the attack at the ship?”, says Ryan suddenly. I guess there’s no time for sentimentalism.

“Do you think Edanhor sent the attack?” I ask, concerned. He has been quite true to his promise of not messing with us again, but I still don’t trust him. “But they were trying to kill us…”

Zevran, who has been silent all this time, shakes his head. “No, the attack was addressed to the crew. Someone wanted the cargo in Rivain… and no witnesses. That’s why they tried to kill us all”

Dorella nods. “And if they wanted the ship in Rivain… I have my own suspect”. Ryan, Kyle and me stare at her, while Zevran nods slightly – I guess he knows a bit more than us. “Nada”, she finally says. “We were lucky he didn’t know there were other people apart from the crew in the ship…”

“Nada?” Ryan blinks. “What’s that?”

“It’s nothing”, Kyle protests. “Nada means “nothing” in Antivan”.

“It’s not something”, Dorella replies. “It is somebody. Nada is the name of a disciple I took when I established myself in Antiva… when I married Domingo. He was an elven slave in Tevinter. I’m not sure if he escaped or was released when his magic abilities appeared, but by then he was already insane because of the things he had to endure”

I shiver. Same of Haakan seems to fear the Circle more than anything in this life, I’m afraid of slavism and what it means, specially after the stories I’ve heard from Tevinter. “In any case”, Dorella continues, “he ran away and managed to arrive to Antiva. A friend found him, almost starving, delirious. “Nada” was the only word he muttered, and finally he took it as a name. It was clear he had magic power so my friend sent him to me, and I tried to help him to channel it, try to heal him from his insanity. Then… he learnt about Flemeth, and became obsessed”.

“I see a trend there” I mutter. Dorella sighs.

“Flemeth’s legend is too powerful, Marilyn. It has infatuated many people. But there was something wrong in Nada’s mind, even before knowing about her. And unfortunately his magic power was too strong too”. She looks at me. “You elves seem to have a natural affinity to magic, did you know it?”

I shrug. “I have the magic affinity of a potato, so don’t look at me”.

“Ah but you have the potential in you, I can feel it… as probably your father does”, she says. “Anyway, Nada finally tried to steal my secrets. He… managed to blow up my laboratory…”, she looks at her legs, sad, and now I understand why she didn’t get up to greet us…. “Domingo tried to stop him… but… well, he… failed… Finally Nada ran away… and for what I’ve heard, he’s in Rivain, where he has managed to make a living from the weak presence of the Chantry there…”

“And you really think he was able to know what your cargo was and prepare an attack?” Ryan says, a bit confused.

“I said he was insane, not that he was stupid. Actually he’s very clever, and I’m sure he has quite an information network right now”. Dorella shakes her head. “But now, my friends, I think I’ve taken enough of your time. Maybe you’ll want to be present tomorrow at the ritual I plan to perform to know where the Medal of the Champion of Highever is?”

The next morning finds us following Dorella, who is carried by the arms of a tall, horned woman whom I wouldn’t like to challenge in fair combat. Later Kyle would explain me that she is a Kossith, the race most Qunaris belong to, but that she probably isn’t a Qunari, but a “Tal Vashoth”, that is, a person who left their religion, the Qun. That doesn’t make her less impressive, and I’m amazed that Dorella trusts her enough to allow her carry her defenceless body like a doll. But, as the widow told us, that woman is not only a servant, but also her nurse, personal assistant and bodyguard. I whistled surprised.

The impressive servant leads us downstairs, to the dark room where the goodies we brought with us in the ship were stored. She gently leaves Dorella on a chair and looks at her like asking for permission to leave, which the widow grants with a slight movement of her head. I look around. The big, wooden box which looked like a coffin is now open and discarded against a wall, but in front of the chair there’s a long table where a body, covered by a sheet up to the shoulders, lays silently. I narrow my eyes. It’s not a body. It is a mummy.

Dorella turns to her right and starts messing with some items she has in a small table by her side. I notice not even Zevran is here. Seems this small show is for our eyes only. What is the witch up to? I’m confused. Suddenly the widow tries to reach some incense bars away from her and almost makes fall a bottle, and Kyle rushes to help her. He stops in middle way, frozen by her glare. Then she shakes her head, and starts lighting the bars, which burn slowly, filling the room with smoke and a scent which reminds me of the Chantry.

“I’m sorry… I don’t usually have people around. These rituals are too fragile, to delicate… one wrong movement, and all will be spoiled”

“Maybe you should allow your assistant…?” Ryan suggests, while I walk towards Kyle and try to reassure his hurt pride. But Dorella dismisses it.

“No. I already committed that mistake before… and she tried to use my secrets in her behalf… dragging the attention of the Chantry over us. That’s why I had to leave Nevarra”.

“But you trust us” I say, arms crossed over my chest. I’m always angry when someone is rude to my husband.

She looks at us. “Most of the ritual is done, don’t be fooled. And since you’re from Highever, I need you to see whatever this spirit is willing to show us”. I don’t correct her mistake, but something in my face must reveal my disgust because she adds. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to invoke any angry ghost… Despite what rumours say, not even the most skilled necromancers can make come back the souls of those who have already trespassed the last threshold”.

I sigh of relief, but still don’t understand. “Then… why do you need that mummy?”

She smiles. “Let’s start by the beginning. This woman, here, is my venerable grand-grandmother. Remember? That Flemeth’s daughter I told you about. She managed to escape from her mother’s influence thanks to the Medal of the Champion of Highever”. She looks at Ryan. “How did she manage to get it, I don’t know, but she was the last person who saw it, and her memories can tell us where did she hide it. Her spirit is gone long ago… but her empty carcass is still attached to her memories. That’s why we preserve our dead ones in Nevarra… Now… let’s see if we can find anything in her…”

She takes a jewel; some kind of precious stone carved and mounted in the shape of an eye, and puts it on the forehead of the mummy. Then she channels her magic, while reciting some kind of litany, and soon some images, at first blurry, then a bit more clear, start to be visible in the smoke curtain the incense bars have created. So the smoke was for that, I suppose. Well, for that, and maybe to drug us and make us see strange things. One never knows with mages.

The feeling is weird. We see images, as if we were there, but we’re not there, and that makes me feel a bit dizzy. I see a woman running. A fight. Darkness. Maybe a cave. Dwarves. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea where the place is.

But Ryan’s smile says otherwise, and the glance he exchanges with Kyle just confirms it.

They know.

Two days after the ritual, we’re sailing back to Highever. Ryan was sensible enough not to hire the Reina de los Mares again, and after an meeting with his contact in Rialto, a dwarf who didn’t have much more information, but confirmed Ryan and Kyle’s suspects, we allowed Dorella to take passage for all of us in the ship of a friend of her belated husband.

And when I say all of us, that included Dorella and her Kossith “legs”, Willow.

“So the entrance is between Highever and Amaranthine?” Dorella is asking, examining a map with Ryan and Kyle.

“It’s an abandoned cave west of Kal’Hirol, probably a hall, or a smaller thaig”. Ryan explains. I frown. I still remember the last time we got into the Deep Roads and I’m not very interested on repeating the experience. Ryan tries to reassure me. “It’s completely harmless, Mari. It probably got isolated from the main Thaig by a collapse ages ago, and now there are only some old passages and caves. It’s not too deep. Kyle and me used to hide there when we were children, and look at us! Still here!”

I continue frowning. Ryan’s charm doesn’t have effect on me anymore. “I still don’t like it. Specially if she’s coming”. I point at Dorella. I don’t want to offend her, but… well, even with the horned lady carrying her, her useless legs will put her, and us, in more danger than anything. Ryan finally gives up.

“All right. I’ll send a note to the inn, and see if our friends can join us. If not, we can always find some adventurers’ help. Is that okay?”

No. It isn’t. But it is better than nothing.