Sisters of Tevinter

Fresh Snow

     Salvation. Sweet salvation. 

      Boredom was such a curse and Kaisen finally escaped it. She'd made up her mind to have a drink in the tavern, and she found The Iron Bull and his little lieutenant Krem. Kaisen very much enjoyed the company of the mercenaries, they reminded her of her first few years on the road out of the house. 

      And Krem was rather sweet. 

     He didn't know it of course, which was what made it so funny, but Kaisen was thrilled when he and Bull caught sight of her and called for her to join them. The lieutenant kicked out a seat for her with the side of his boot. 

      Kaisen plopped down happily. "Hey! You've both saved me from a lifetime of purgatory."

     "Hm?" Bull looked up from his mead. 

     "Bored, were you?" Krem laughed and slid the Crow an extra mug of ale. 

     "Oh, so bored." Kaisen smiled and took the gift gratefully, taking a long sip. 

      Bull shifted in his seat with a smile. "Don't you have important work to do somewhere, red? Kings to slaughter, throats to slit?" 

       "Is it Thursday already? Maker, I need a calendar." 

       Krem chuckled. "Thursday is throat slitting day?" 

       "No, Thursday is king slaughtering day. Honestly, Krem, try to keep up." Kaisen grinned around her ale. 

        Bull laughed softly and shook his head. "You know the mages have started coming in." 

         "Really? Good. I hope they drive the commander crazy. Better yet- to an early grave." 

         Krem snorted. "The Lion? Blonde bloke, about yay high, face of a god?" He lifted his hand about a head taller than his own. "Why'd you want him dead, he's the one thing I look forward to looking at every morning."

        The Iron Bull grinned. "He passes the tents on his way to spar. I hear Krem leak every time."

        Krem turned a solid pink around the ears and scoffed. "Chief." 

        Kaisen blushed and laughed over her mug, elbowing the Charger beside her. "Beware the pretty men. That's how they get you." 

        "Oh, I guess I'm safe around the chief then." Krem leaned back in his chair with folded arms, holding glittering eye contact with the qunari. 

        "You wound me. Don't make me fire you." But Bull was smiling as he tipped back his mead. 

        Krem laughed softly and shook his head. "About the mages though. It's an interesting choice isn't it? Wouldn't soldiers be more reliable? Predictable?" 

       "Yeah but its unlikely soldiers know how to seal a magic hole in the sky." Kaisen grinned. "Unless you two know something I don't." 

        "Can't confirm that. Won't deny it either," Bull said good-naturedly. He closed his eye in what would have been a wink if he didn't only have one. 

       Krem shrugged, crossing his armored legs. "Never understood magic. It makes trees move and talk, it births fire from thin air, but honestly it seems a little flashier and a little less effective than good old fashioned steel." 

    "Hey, no argument from me," Kaisen expressed, grimacing as she waved a freckled hand. "It's Jor who's been all starry eyed for magic tricks. Pull a rabbit from a hat and you've got her hooked until she figures out how you've done it." The Crow shook her head with another slow sip of ale. "Smoke and mirrors." 

     "How cynical." Someone pulled up a chair and plopped themselves down beside Kaisen, a grin in their silky voice. "I like that." 

      "Mage boy, glad you could join us." Bull smirked as Dorian folded his hands on the table daintily. 

        "Glad to be here," the spellbinder said cheerfully. "How is everyone on this fine, bitterly cold evening?" 

        "Better now that civilized company's arrived," Kaisen ribbed, grinning. "How are you, Sir Pavus?" 

        "Ecstatic. And Dorian, please. Sir Pavus was my grandfather." The mage's lips twitched upwards. 

         "No title? Slumming it with the rest of us?" Bull shifted his massive shoulders with a grin. 

         "I suppose Lord Pavus would be equally appropriate, but in truth it makes me feel terribly old. Like a dusty book no one's bothered to open in a century or so." 

          Kaisen laughed. "I'm sure someone could help you with that."

          "Oh yeah, some people'd love to open you up." Bull smirked over his stein. 

         A bronze flush crossed the mage's cheeks as he ducked his head, snickering. "Crude. Horribly crude. Has anyone seen our Herald recently? I thought I'd give her the good news. The mages have been received and accommodated- though I believe your dear Cassandra's head is close to exploding." 

      "Yeah..." Bull's gaze slid to the window. "I haven't seen her. She hasn't left the forge in days."

      "Don't worry." Kaisen took a long pull from her ale. "That's just Jor. She throws herself into her work, even if it's... hot... sweaty, gritty work." The Crow shuddered.

       A slow grin spread along the qunari's lips as he opened his mouth.

      "I'm going to stop you right there," Kaisen said with a smirk. "Don't."

       Bull closed his mouth, his eye dancing with laughter. Krem snickered and Dorian rubbed his temples, smiling ruefully. "She is rather dedicated isn't she." 

       "Oh yeah. When she commits, she commits. To work, to study, to grudges." Kaisen scowled. 

       "Oh dear, am I sensing hostility?" Dorian frowned playfully. 

       The Crow shrugged. "Not yet." 

        "And after that touching display at Redcliffe too. What's between you and the Herald, Crow? You'll find I have a horrible addiction to gossip." 

         "Oh yeah," Bull mumbled, as if he suddenly remembered. "They're sisters." 

         Dorian blinked. "Pardon?" 

         "Kaisen Trevelyan. Nice to meet you." The Crow smiled ruefully and took another heavy pull from her ale. She was reaching the end of her stein. 

         The mage studied her face for a long moment. "At first glance, I'd have said you don't look very much alike- but I see it now. It's the eyes." 

          Kaisen dipped her head. "Yep. My sister is trying the save the goddamn world." 

          "Isn't family just the greatest joy?" Dorian smiled bitterly and gently slid Kaisen's mug over to his side of the table, taking a sip with a grimace. 

          "Oh, I'm sorry, are you going to pay for that?" Kaisen quirked a dark scarlet brow, but an amused grin tugged at her mouth. 

          "Just warmth for the road." The mage rose. "I'm going to go find Lady Trevelyan, before she decides to abandon our cause and run off to become a blacksmith." 

          This earned a round of chuckles from the table as Dorian slipped out of the tavern and into the fresh, wind driven snow.