Pathways

Aren crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back on the wall, bowing her head slightly, causing her hair to form a protective curtain. "You couldn't have. You never contacted me after that initial visit, Alistair. I don't know why and frankly, I don't care. You made your choice not to associate yourself with anything going on at that time, so don't go yelling at me when I have to make the hard decisions for everyone else."

Alistair scowled. "Aren, you have to understand-"

"No," she snapped, green eyes flashing up at him, "you have to understand. You gave me an ultimatum: if I made you king, you would resign from Warden duties. You were a child and I allowed it, and I was foolish for doing so. You aren't hardened enough to be a ruler, Alistair. You chose the easy way out, only picking one instead handling both duties. I didn't have that pretty little choice."

She slowly lifted her head, eyes unmoving. Alistair felt pinned in place, like he just got a tongue lashing from a Chantry mother.

Anders snorted. "I don't think he has anything else to say to you, Commander. We should probably leave."

Aren straightened herself. "I agree. If you truly need me, Alistair, you'll find me."

"How?" Alistair sputtered, watching as she walked past him in disbelief. "I couldn't track you before."

"Because," she said, pausing in the doorway to look back at him over her shoulder, "you would truly search for me instead of sending your little messenger boys. The Alistair I knew would have hunted." With that, she turned on her heel and followed Anders out of the Keep.

Anders hastened his pace so he could keep up with her. She was faster than she looked. "I was not expecting to see you here, Commander," he stated, desperate to get rid of the remaining tension.

"I wasn't expecting to have to come here after finding Zevran again," she sighed, following Anders down the stairway. "But nothing ever goes as planned, does it?"

"I guess not."

Aren studied her surroundings as they walked. "Where are we going?"

"To a bar in Lowtown. It's horrible and smells worse than a mabari's arse, but it's where we all meet. Speaking of which, where's Butler? I almost miss his slobber."

Aren laughed. "He's around here somewhere. He'll find me when he wants to."

The two made small talk about their lives in the years since they had last met until they reached the bar, where Aren was greeted with an assault of stench and an extremely excited mabari.

"Butler!" she exclaimed, scratching his neck as his front paws were on her shoulders. The giant dog whined happily. "I knew you'd find me, now get down so I can move." He barked, obliging happily and following her and Anders up the stairs to a private room. The door opened after he knocked three times.

"Anders! Great, I can get money from you as well now!" a woman's voice called out as they entered. Aren thought she recognized her as the dark-skinned woman looked at her like she was putting a puzzle together. "Ohhh, you're the Warden I met in Ferelden! The one that punched me!"

The beardless dwarf across from her barked out laughter. "The Hero of Ferelden punched our dear pirate? This is a story I have to hear."

Isabela grinned as Aren sat down next to Eldrun and the elf he was with earlier, Butler laying down at her feet. "Oh, I hit on Zevran. She punched me good, nearly knocked a damn tooth out."

Confusion crossed the expression of the other elf sitting next to Isabela. "Isn't that the Antivan we heard about earlier?" Aren's gaze shot straight over to her.

"Merril-" Isabela started, but was cut off by the Warden.

"You," Aren commanded, looking the other elf girl in the eye, "what are you talking about? Heard about? Who contacted you?"

Merril fidgeted under the scrutiny. "I was with Hawke getting supplies when an Antivan caught our attention. He said he and his men were from the Crows and that they were hunting for a murderer."

Aren's blood boiled. She should have expected this.. "Where are they? Did they say where he was?"

Anders put his hand on her shoulder; she was annoyed with herself for not noticing him there before. "Commander, I'm not about to let you rush an entire Crow's nest alone." She glared at him, ears tilting back ever so slightly. "Yeah, that doesn't scare me."

Eldrun slammed his hands down on the table, causing Merril to squeak in surprise and Isabela to swear as her drink sloshed. "Will everyone wait a Maker-damned minute and expolain what's going on?" he said, annoyance evident in his voice. "Andraste's knickers. Varric needs to finish his information gathering before we do anything. They don't plan on attacking him. They asked me to find him for them." He looked at Aren, annoyance on his face. "Now explain exactly why you're here."

She didn't back down from the look he was giving her. "I am here to find my husband before someone else does. That 'someone else' happens to be the Antivan Crows and they're a particularly nasty bunch who have tried to kill me a collective three times. I have every idea of what they will do to Zevran if they get their hands on him, and I have not sacrificed so much to let your righteous little arse get in my way."

The room fell quiet before Isabela spoke up, eyebrows raised. "Husband? He actually got married?"

Aren shrugged. "More or less. It is more than what I ever expected to have and it is more than enough."

Varric sighed. "Hawke, why is nothing ever easy for us?"

"I don't know, Varric," the auburn-haired man sighed, scratching his beard. "Maybe because we willingly chase down high dragons and Arishoks?"

"It could be worse," Aren noted. "You could have to kill another Archdemon."

Eldrun winced. "I...would never want that."

"You don't," she said dryly. "It is a pain you can never imagine."

He looked shocked. "But...I thought Logahain killed-"

"No. He did not. He was killed moments before delivering the final blow. I drove the sword through that monster's skull. You cannot imagine the pain of an Old God trying to kill you from your very core."

Silence descended on the room once again until Varric ordered everyone out and to get ready to find Zevran in the morning, blast finding more information.