A/N: I keep forgetting to update this version. Please remember that this story is also available on AO3 at: /works/11494443/chapters/25785045

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and subscribed so far. I really appreciate it!

Chapter 17: A Matter of Time

The twin moons were completely visible in the cloudless night, casting a pale glow on everything their light could reach. There was no need for torches.

The scenery blurred together as we walked, and we didn't stop until we were well past the gates of Redcliffe Village. Finally, Dorian let out a shuddering breath and stopped walking. He let go of my hand and sat down on top of a boulder, running a hand down his face. "I can't believe we just did that."

I didn't sit as much as fall down, my legs turning to jelly beneath me.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Dorian repeated, groaning. "What am I saying? This whole thing is unbelievable."

Distantly, I wondered if I was in shock.

"Are you in shock?" Dorian asked, like he'd just read my mind.

I blinked at him without a word.

"I thought so," he muttered, scratching his jaw. "You're much chattier usually…. Well, don't feel bad. It's completely natural. I'm only still standing here because of—" he paused. "No, I'm drawing a blank on a witty remark. I think I might be in a little bit of shock as well."

"You're not standing," I muttered. "You're sitting down."

Dorian looked down at his legs. "Oh, look at that. So I am."

We sat there for a moment, until Dorian shuffled back on his feet and started digging through his pockets. "Do you have any rejuvenation potions left?" he asked. "I'm out."

I stared at my hands. "I can't remember."

Dorian sighed, and went through my pockets as well. "Aha, here we go," he said, handing me a tiny vial. "Drink it. We can't spend all night here, or someone will see us."

Speaking of seeing things… My jaw clenched up as the memory floated to the surface, prodding for my immediate attention whether I wanted it or not. "I— I saw—"

"For Maker's sake," Dorian muttered. He uncorked the vial, pinched my nose and poured the contents into my mouth.

My head, which had previously felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton, suddenly felt almost normal. There was a weird taste in my mouth, and I grimaced. My hand, the one with the Mark, was hurting like a bitch.

"— get a grip," Dorian was saying, crouching before me. His hand was on my face. "Everything we saw, none of it has happened yet. They're all still alive, and they need your help."

I blinked up at him. "Dorian?" I asked, and glanced around. "Where are we?"

Dorian sighed in relief and leaned back, drawing his hand away from my face. "You've had a shock," he explained, his tone softening. "We're back in time, just outside the gates of Redcliffe."

"Oh," I said, shaking my head. "I don't remember walking here."

"Yes," Dorian repeated slowly, "That would be the shock."

If we were outside of Redcliffe, that meant…

"Did it work?" I asked.

Dorian straightened up, and touched his chin in thought. "I think so, I haven't been able to make sure, with us sneaking out of the castle and everything. There was a noticeable lack of Venatori agents at the castle, however," he said. "We should be able to confirm our theory and acquire some equipment at the Crossroads."

I nodded. "Right. Best stick to the plan."

Dorian offered me his hand, and pulled me to my feet. "We've got a long night ahead of us yet," he said. "We better get moving."

Under the twin moons, we walked and walked. The rejuvenation potion had slightly refreshed my stamina and practically smacked me in the face with the present moment, but it wasn't a miracle worker. This became evident when I realized that my hands were still trembling, and I was sweating even in the cold night air.

Dawn was breaking by the time we made it to the Crossroads. As soon as the vendors were awake, Dorian managed to haggle us some equipment with whatever coin he was carrying, while I tried to hide my horns, or at least my face, beneath my cloak. If someone recognised me as the Herald of Andraste, our whole plan would fall apart.

"I'm positive our plan worked," Dorian said, walking back to where I had been sitting hunched up against a large tree. He set down two bags of equipment next to me.

"We are back in time before our meeting with Alexius," Dorian said, looking thoughtful. "Today is the 14th of Bloomingtide. If your plan holds up, we need to travel back to Haven before our past selves leave. That gives us… Ten days at most."

I looked up at him, probably looking as tired as I felt, because he paused.

"How are you feeling?" Dorian asked softly.

"Like shit," I said, and attempted to grin. My face felt like clay, and my arm was numb up to my elbow. "But we don't have time to worry about that now." I did a quick count in my head. The trip to Haven was about 4 nights if you were on horseback, that meant…. "You said we have about ten days? Do you think we make it on foot?"

Dorian looked taken aback by my quick change of topic. "I think so," he said. "We might be able to hitch a ride on the Imperial Highway, if there's any traffic, but we can't count on it."

I sighed and stood up, brushing off dirt from my clothes. "Well," I said, "the Hero of Ferelden did it on foot," I said dryly, "and I've walked this journey once as well. It's not impossible. As long as we keep travelling towards the right direction we should eventually reach our destination."

"The Hero of Ferelden?" Dorian asked, confused by my sudden change of topic.

"Lots of walking during the Blight," I continued and grabbed one of the equipment bags, the one which looked heavier. "You know, it really is too bad we didn't get to meet Zevran and Alistair in the future…"

"King Alistair, you mean," Dorian said in an amused tone, taking the other bag and following me.

"Yeah yeah," I said, waving a hand, "King Alistair, whatever. I really would've loved to meet Zevran, that guy is hilarious, and you didn't hear this from me, but…" I paused. "He's ridiculously attractive."

I heard a thud, and turned to see that Dorian had fallen flat on his face.

"Shit, are you okay?" I asked, rushing to help him up. Once he was back on his feet, I checked him for cuts, but he didn't seem injured. But Dorian's face was quickly turning red. "What happened?"

"Stupid tree root," he muttered, avoiding eye contact. "I'm fine."

"Oh yeah, those can be super tricky sometimes," I said. "We better watch our step."

We had been walking for a couple of hours, when I heard Dorian groaning in annoyance. "I can't believe I let him kiss me," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I smiled to myself, but noticing Dorian's glare, I ducked my head to hide my amusement. "I can't believe it either."

The kiss itself wasn't what surprised me, since I had known all along that the two of them could become a thing. It was the timing. I didn't entirely understand Bull's logic, but, hey… Whatever works.

"How was it?" I asked curiously.

Dorian cheeks darkened. "It was… surprisingly adequate."

I was pretty sure that was Dorian for "amazing". We exchanged a meaningful glance.

Dorian sighed. "Don't tell him I said that, or I'll never hear the end of it."

"He won't hear it from me," I said, biting my lip to stop myself from laughing. "I swear."

"Should I take the first watch?" I asked, when we were finally settling down to sleep.

Dorian shook his head. "No need," he said. "I've set up a basic perimeter ward, it will wake me up if anyone or anything approaches the camp."

"Huh," I said. "That's very useful."

"And a pain in the ass," Dorian said. "Which is why it isn't used more often. But there's only two of us, so the ward is a much better idea than both of us staying up half the night. We need all the sleep we can get."

Speaking of sleep...

Here's the thing. We did have a tent. But it was really basic, just a tiny bit of fabric hanging on top of our heads. It wasn't anything like the tents I had grown used to when camping with the Inquisition. Those actually kept the cold out.

Summer was well on its way, but the nights were still cold. And they would only get colder the closer we got to the mountainous area surrounding Haven.

And can you guess what else?

Yeah, I was having trouble sleeping again. I'm sure you didn't see that one coming.

My Qunari body heat had apparently decided to quit on me, because I was freezing. That first night I basically spent awake and shivering, staring at the ceiling of our tent. Occasionally I changed position and stared at the side of the tent, or at Dorian's back. I couldn't exactly stay up writing in my journal or reading, since I didn't want to wake him. So instead I just… Stayed there, and tried to fall asleep, and tried not to think about the deaths I had witnessed.

It didn't work.

By the time Dorian woke up and rolled over to look at me, I had closed my eyes but hadn't slept a wink. I didn't want to worry him, so I was just going to pretend like I had slept at least a little.

I could feel him gazing at me intently. And then he sighed, and touched my shoulder. "We have to get moving," he said.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked at him. "Okay."

We had breakfast in silence. Like before, when I had travelled with the others, I had become accustomed to hours of silence. When undertaking such a long journey on foot, it was inevitable to fall quiet at times. With the battle just a day before, and being sleep deprived to boot, I was too exhausted to do anything but focus on walking.

I thought I had gotten away with not sleeping, until an hour later when Dorian suddenly broke the silence.

"Next time you can't sleep," he said, "just wake me up."

I froze. "Uhh, I…"

Dorian shook his head. "I should have realized it earlier. The Iron Bull mentioned that you have had trouble sleeping in the past. You should've told me last night."

"I'm fine," I said. "It's happened before. I can deal with it."

Dorian gave me an unimpressed look. "Right. So instead of asking for help, you will just suffer from sleep deprivation and start hallucinating."

"It's never gotten that bad," I insisted.

"Good. But how about this: don't even risk letting it get that bad!" Dorian burst out. "Sleep deprivation affects your memory and your reaction time and Maker knows what else. We need you in the best shape right now, when it's only the two of us."

I blinked. "I didn't know you've studied medicine."

Dorian glanced at me with a confused frown.

"Uh, healing," I corrected. "Or like, how the body works… and such… I'm assuming that the effects of sleep deprivation aren't exactly common knowledge."

Dorian's face cleared up. "Oh, that. I've studied the basics of healing and anatomy, they were all requirements for... " he trailed off, and paled slightly, like he'd almost said something he wasn't meant to say.

I tilted my head. "Requirements for what?" I asked, but he wouldn't continue, so I shrugged. "I was just surprised. I'm not exactly familiar with the academic circles in Tevinter, and I thought you specialized in necromancy."

Dorian stopped walking so suddenly that I walked several steps past him. I turned around to look at him questioningly, only to find him looking at me with his mouth open.

He looked horrified, and maybe a little relieved.

"How… you…. knew that all along?" he asked hoarsely.

I frowned. "Knew what?"

Dorian swallowed thickly. "My specialization."

"Oh. That."

Dorian's laugh had a manic edge to it. "Yes, that."

It was my turn to give him a look. I pointed to my forehead. "Seer, remember?"

Dorian let out a shuddering breath, and closed his eyes. "Of course."

I crossed my arms. "Right," I said. "Do you want me to shut up about this when other people are around? How big of a deal is it?"

"How big of a deal….!" Dorian said, opening his eyes. "Are you joking?"

"I don't remember if I've explained this to you or not, but I'll say it again. Some things are super obvious to me, like the fact that you've studied necromancy. But if you ask me about most cultural traditions or etiquette, I'll probably draw a total blank."

We started walking again, because we couldn't afford to lose daylight.

"Even Fereldran culture?" Dorian asked, confused. "But.. I thought you're from Ferelden."

I laughed awkwardly and avoided his eyes, "I kinda hit my head during the Conclave. Stuff got shaken loose, especially the mundane everyday stuff."

"Interesting," Dorian said, stroking his chin. "But now I'm even more curious about you. As you mentioned, the effects of sleep deprivation aren't exactly common knowledge. But when I told you about them, you weren't surprised." He gave me a thoughtful look. "Do you have knowledge about this subject because you've studied it, or because you're a seer?"

I shrugged, avoiding his eye. "Who knows."

Couldn't exactly say that I had been a curious person with access to Google.

"But I digress…" Dorian looked at me. "To answer your earlier question: my specialisation is not something one should mention in civilised company, if you know what I mean."

I nodded. "Got it," I said. "Don't mention it to templars or non-mages."

Dorian snorted. "Yes, well.. Perhaps it's safer not to mention it at all. As far as I know it is rather frowned upon here in the South."

"Hm," I said. "People have issues about dead bodies, I guess. I've never understood that personally. Once someone is gone, they're gone."

"The things you say will never cease to surprise me."

That night after dinner, I was laying on my bedroll, wondering if I would get any sleep. I was also trying, and failing, to get a particularly catchy song out of my head.

Dorian was tending to the last of the campfire outside. After a while, he ducked into the tent and saw me gazing at the ceiling of the tent, now quietly singing the song in question.

"Toss a coin to your Witcher, o valley of plenty, o valley of plenty, oh…"

Dorian sighed, crawled onto his own bedroll, and sat down. "New song?"

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. "Something today reminded me of it, and now it's stuck in my head," I said. "Once you hear this song, you'll be humming it for days if not weeks."

"Oh, how fun. Despite its unfortunate side effects, I wouldn't mind hearing the whole thing some day."

I nodded, my gaze returning to the ceiling of the tent. "Maybe, once I have my guitar again," I said. "Despite its annoying catchy melody, I want to do it justice. It's a good song."

Dorian hummed in response. He was quiet for a while, then broke the silence again. "So, how would you like to do this?"

I startled and turned to him. "Do what?"

"Cuddling," Dorian said, crossing his arms. "Don't think I forgot about our previous conversation so quickly."

I really shouldn't have been so surprised. He had offered to help me.

Dorian raised an eyebrow. "I remember The Iron Bull saying that physical contact helps you sleep."

"You would do that for me?" I asked. "You barely know me."

"And how much longer have you known the Iron Bull exactly?" At my chastised expression, he raised an eyebrow. "Really, it's not the hardship you think it is, sleeping next to you in this blasted southern weather. I was freezing all of last night," he moaned, grabbing his thin travel blanket as if to make a point, wrapping it over his shoulders. "I thought the weather was supposed to get warmer towards the summer."

I grimaced in agreement, unconsciously rubbing my hand. I had noticed a tendency for it to hurt more when it was cold outside. "The nights are still a bit cold."

"Hmm," Dorian said. "So, what's your preference? Big spoon or little spoon?"

My face felt hot all of a sudden. "Uh, I don't really mind either way."

Dorian nodded, and gestured for me to rise. He moved our two sleeping rolls so that they were almost overlapping, then fell on top of the other one with a deep sigh. "I'm so tired I could fall asleep this second," he murmured, turning to lie on his back.

I gingerly lay down next to him, on my left side, so that I was facing him. "Hmm," I said absently. I had been feeling tired too, but the added presence of Dorian right next to me made my skin all tingly and warm, while my mind seemed to have caught a miraculous second wind. It made me feel the opposite of tired.

"Oh, Maker." Dorian turned to his side, and looked at me with a deep frown. "You look so tense you could snap in half," he said. "Calm down. I'm not going to bite you."

"Sorry," I said reflexively, trying to relax.

"Give me your right hand."

I held my hand out. Dorian grabbed hold of it with both of his. "See, nothing to be nervous about," he said softly. "Now, take a couple of deep breaths."

The deep breaths helped a little. I already felt calmer.

"Now scoot a little closer," Dorian said. He turned onto his other side with his back to me, holding my entire arm up and curling it around his hip. I did as he told me, and Dorian inched backwards towards me, until we were resting chest-to-back against each other.

"How's that?" he murmured.

"You smell nice," I said, trying to resist pushing my nose deeper into his hair, or god forbid, into the curve of his neck. The scent reminded me of old library books, oiled leather, and teak wood. My mind started to wander, and my eyelids felt heavy.

Dorian snorted. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself," he admitted and took hold of my hand again, drawing it a bit tighter around himself.

I smiled against his hair, my eyes falling shut. "Thanks."

"Now, try to go to sleep," Dorian muttered after a while. "You might be barely functional after staying awake all night, but I need my beauty sleep. Not to mention we'll be able to walk at a much faster pace tomorrow, after we've both had a full night of rest, don't you think?"

Dorian never received an answer, because I was already asleep.

I woke up slowly from sweet slumber, lying on my back. I had slept exceptionally well considering the circumstances, without waking up even once during the night.

There was a weight pressing down on me, stopping me from moving, and when I finally opened my eyes, I realised it was Dorian. He had curled up around me like an octopus, half lying on top of me, with his face pushed into the space beneath my chin. He was breathing slowly and deeply, fast asleep, and my right arm was curled around his back, holding him tight.

I blinked at the ceiling of the tent and inhaled deeply. This was certainly… an interesting position to wake up in.

I stayed like that for a while, not wanting to wake up Dorian, but my left arm was aching like a bitch and I was starting to lose feeling from below the elbow. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I raised the arm and tried wiggling my fingers in order to get some of the feeling back. Dorian must have felt my shoulders tensing up, because he hummed softly into the crook of my neck and curled up tighter around me.

But he didn't wake up.

Judging by the singing of the birds around us, and the sunlight streaming through the edges of our tent, it was already past sunrise. I regretted it already, but we really had to get going if we wanted to reach Haven in time.

Raising my hand, I softly stroked the top of his head. "Dorian, wake up."

Dorian shifted in his sleep.

"Wake up," I said again, and dropped my hand.

"Hmm," Dorian answered, his face burrowing deeper into my neck. Then he seemed to realise where he was, because he tensed like he was mentally going through his options, and then rolled off from top of me. He glanced at me and said, "Good morning."

Ignoring the blush on his cheeks, I replied, "Good morning. Did you sleep well? Because I did."

"It was…" he said, stealing a glance at me, "surprisingly pleasant."

"Good," I said with a small grin, and sat up to massage my left hand. "It's about time for us to go."

Dorian's gaze focused on my hand. "Something wrong with your hand?"

"It's been hurting lately," I said with a shrug. "And it's starting to go numb."

Dorian grimaced. "That's not good."

"No, it's not."

"Has this happened before?"

I nodded. "Solas has been healing me. It goes away for a while but it always comes back."

Cursing underneath his breath, Dorian sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "You should have told me sooner. How long has it been feeling numb?"

"Uh," I said, thinking back, "Since we came back?"

Dorian groaned. "Do you have a death wish?"

"No…" I grimaced, and thought about how this arm had been doomed from the beginning, "I just know it's not something that can be fixed right now."

"That doesn't mean you have to suffer through it," Dorian said. "Here, give me your arm. I'll do a standard healing spell on it, and once we stop for lunch I'll see if my spell book has anything more specific that might help."

Oh.

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling like there was something stuck in my throat. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Dorian said. "Instead, next time come straight to me when it starts bothering you."

When Haven was finally within our sights, we realised we had arrived before our past selves. They would be arriving the following morning, which left us with a dilemma. Should we camp further outside the walls and hope nobody noticed us, or should we just sneak inside and ask for Leliana's help?

"I vote for informing the spymaster," Dorian said. "Sneaking around too much could end really badly for us, if someone notices us."

"I know that," I said, scratching my stubbly chin. "But it's also important that nobody knows we're here, right?"

I didn't want to mention that Leliana was kind of scary. What if she didn't believe it was really us and threw us into the dungeon to rot?

"Technically, we were always here," Dorian admitted. "We just need to make sure nothing changes. Do you remember meeting your future self?" he asked dryly.

I shook my head.

"No? In that case, we need to keep hidden from ourselves, but I'm sure the spy master can keep a secret. That's her job, after all."

Huffing out a sigh, I agreed. "Alright, but how are we going to sneak in?"

"The security isn't that tight around the main compound," Dorian mused. "We just need to avoid being recognised. Nobody here knows my face yet, so if it comes to that, I should do the talking."

I considered it, and him. "Alright," I said. "It's not like it's common knowledge yet that Tevinter mage helped Corypheus. Although, Leliana's men might know enough to be suspicious." I grinned. "You sure you don't want me to try faking an accent? I could give it a try."

Dorian snorted. "Please, spare me. Besides, we don't want to draw any attention to you."

"So, what, you're a Tevinter merchant and I'm your bodyguard? What a classic set up for a story," I commented, but then glanced down at myself skeptically. "Am I even buff enough to be a believable bodyguard?"

"You're taller than me," Dorian pointed out. "And you're a strong warrior. I know what you're thinking, but not all bodyguards the size of the Iron Bull. That sort of thing just draws unnecessary attention and provokes fights."

"Makes sense, I guess."

Dorian dug into his pack and handed me a small roll of bandages. "Here, hide your face with this," he said. "If anyone asks, we'll say you were gouged by a bear on our way over here. It will also keep anyone from recognising your voice. Just answer in an annoyed grunt if anyone talks to you."

"Now that's more believable," I muttered. "The Hinterlands is full of bears."

Dorian helped me arrange the bandages, and then took a step back, his hands on his hips as he appraised my appearance. "Lower your hood for a bit," he said, "and lean down."

I leaned down, and Dorian re-entered my personal bubble. He reached up and grabbed the bun on top of my head, pocketing the leather tie. Then he ruffled my hair so that it fell down on both sides of my horns, hiding the shape of my face.

"That's better," Dorian said with a grin. "With the bandage and the hair, nobody will recognise you."

"Not even with the horns?" I asked, my voice muffled a little.

"Nope. Now you're just another Qunari mercenary."

I nodded. "People rarely look past the horns, anyway."

Getting past the gates wasn't hard, but attracting Leliana's attention without trouble proved to be the real problem. Her tent was guarded by two agents, who eyed us suspiciously as we made our way towards the entrance.

"I have important information for your spymaster," Dorian said, projecting a nonchalant attitude in the face of the two unflinching stares.

The taller of the two agents glanced at the other one, who nodded in response. Then the shorter one spoke.

"She is very busy," he said. "But perhaps if you can elaborate on the importance of your information, she will agree to see you."

"I have information about the rebel templars and their leader, Lord Seeker Lucius," Dorian said, just as I had told him to. He crossed his arms, as if annoyed by their questions. "I'm sure she'll be interested."

The agent who had spoken before eyed Dorian from head to toe, then glanced at me. "And him?"

"My friend here was always a man of few words," Dorian answered, making a show of patting me on my chest, "but he was injured during our travel through the Hinterlands. A bear managed to swipe at his face, and now he's a man of even fewer words."

I grunted in my best impression of Geralt of Rivia.

"I see," the agent said, taking a more detailed look at the bandages around my jaw. He turned to his companion, who nodded and quickly slipped inside the tent. It didn't take long for her to return. The two of them seemed to communicate without words, because the shorter agent spoke again. "She wants to see you. Your friend can enter as well," he said, then crossed his arms, "but be aware that if either of you tries anything, your heads will fall before you hit your target."

"Terrifying," Dorian remarked dryly, "But yes, I understand. I'm just here to talk."

The taller agent opened the flap of the tent for us, and ushered us inside. Leliana was pouring over a map with a thoughtful look on her face, and as the canvas flap slammed down behind us, she didn't even look up.

Dorian glanced at me questioningly, and I shrugged.

"Ahem," Dorian said, clearing his throat.

Leliana's jaw tensed. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you both right now," she said in a quiet voice, still not looking up. "You came here under false pretences and lied to my men."

I shivered, and Dorian paled beside me. Instinctively, I took a step forward so that I was partially shielding him from Leliana. Dorian grabbed my elbow and tilted his head meaningfully, raising an eyebrow.

Oh. Right. Leliana didn't actually know it was me yet.

"Uh, because that would be a bad idea?" I said, starting to unwind the bandages around my face.

Leliana jerked upright and stared at me. "You!" she said, walking around the small table to look at my face. "When did you get back? Where is Cassandra?" She looked at Dorian, and then at my disguise. "What is going on?"

"Yeah, it's me, " I said. "And the answer to that question is extremely complicated."

Leliana crossed her arms.

"Soooo, basically, I'm from the future."

She looked unimpressed. "If you're going to insist on a lie, you need a better one than that."

"It's true," Dorian said. "I could bore you with the technicalities, since I've studied it for some time in my younger years, but to keep it short, we were able to come back because of a lucky piece of magic performed by yours truly…" he reached for the amulet hanging on his neck, showing it to her, "and because we had this."

Leliana looked at the amulet with narrowed eyes, then looked back at me. "Time magic?"

"Time magic," I repeated.

She crossed her arms again, looking thoughtful. "How do I know you're really the Herald, and this isn't some clever bit of illusion made by the enemy?"

"First of all, I have a name," I said. Leliana's lips twitched just a little. "Second of all, how's this for proof?" I asked, and took off the glove covering my left hand. The Mark pulsated with green energy.

Leliana stepped closer, looking at the Mark, and then nodded and stepped back. "Fine. I believe you."

I sighed in relief, and looked at Dorian, who was still standing very tense beside me. "Oh, remember how I told you that we have an ally waiting for us in Redcliffe?" I asked, pointing to Dorian. "Well, this is him. Dorian Pavus."

"Of course, officially you'll be meeting me tomorrow," Dorian said with a small grin, his shoulder relaxing a little.

Leliana nodded at him, then pinched the bridge of her nose. "Time magic, really?" She asked again, a tone of exhaustion in her voice.

I nodded. "Unfortunately, that means we should really try to keep this under wraps. We can't risk altering the timeline too much, which means we need to hide until our past selves arrive in Haven. But at the same time, we need to make a plan for when they leave again."

"I believe that can be arranged," Leliana said, leaning forward. "First, tell me everything you know."

Leliana gave me a purple hair-tie, to be tied around my horn so that she and everyone else who was in on the plan would be able to tell me apart from my past self. Dorian seemed amused at such a simple trick.

"Help me tie it?" I asked, stooping down a little, so that my horns were at a suitable height for Dorian.

Dorian took the tie from my hands and wrapped it once around my right horn, tying it in a little bow. "There you go," he said, stepping back. His face looked flushed.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

Leliana looked at us curiously, but didn't comment. "Head straight to the Chantry," she told us. "One of the rooms we keep for visiting ambassadors is currently empty. I'll have a servant bring you food and drinks to the door." She paused. "That is, of course, if you won't mind sharing the room…?"

"I don't mind," I said quickly.

"Suppose it can't be helped," Dorian said, feigning disinterest.

Leliana glanced at Dorian, then back at me, and smiled faintly. "If you do get outside your room, try to avoid attracting too much attention."

I scratched my chin. "Could you have some clothes brought to Dorian?" I asked. "My armor is just basic scout stuff, but Dorian's style is… rather distinct. I don't want anyone recognising him and getting confused when the other Dorian gets here."

"Distinct?" Dorian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"By that I mean that your dress sense is impeccable," I corrected myself with a grin, "And anyone who meets you will remember your outfits for years to come. Which could make it difficult to blend in."

Dorian grinned back. "I do try."

Leliana cleared her throat. "I think we should have something that fits him," she said. "I'll have a couple of pairs of outfits sent to your room, and you can take your pick. Is that all?"

"I'd like a bath as well, if you would be so kind," I said with a grimace. "I feel like I've been dragged through Kirkwall's Darktown. Twice."

By the time we had sneaked our way into our designated quarters, there was already a large wooden bathtub full of hot water waiting for us in the middle of the room.

"Seriously, is she magic?" I asked, dropping my bag next to the double bed, which was set against one of the stone walls. "How did she arrange this so quickly?"

"I'm sure she has her ways," Dorian muttered, likewise wandering over to the bed and dropping his bag on the floor. He sat down and stretched his arms over his head.

"Tired?" I asked, already taking off my cloak.

"Hmm, yes."

I paused. "Do you want to take a bath before me?"

"No, don't mind me," Dorian said, waving a hand. "I don't think I could get up now that I've sat down."

"If you're sure," I grinned and started working on my armor.

It took a few minutes, but finally I was left standing there in my trousers, shirt, and boots. I had to sit down on the edge of the bed to take off my boots, but once that was done, I unfastened the shirt, shrugged it off, and hung it upon a nearby chair. The trousers and underclothes were the last to come off, and I tiptoed across the cold floor towards the bathtub.

I tried the temperature with my hand, and deeming it appropriate, I crossed over the edge of the tub and sat down. The water moved a little but didn't splash too much, and I sunk all the way to the bottom, my arms resting on the sides and my head hanging back. "Damn, that hits the spot."

"Indeed," Dorian muttered from the bed.

Slowly opening my eyes, I turned to look at him. Dorian had turned onto his stomach on the bed, and was leaning his chin against his palm while watching me with half-lidded eyes.

"Enjoying the show?" I asked, feeling amused and surprisingly brave despite my nudity. Finnish sauna and bathing culture was finally coming in handy. "Hope you weren't too disappointed."

"Not at all," Dorian retorted with a soft smile, the movement drawing my gaze to his lips.

My face heated up at his response, but that could've just been the temperature of the hot water. Yeah, that was probably it. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back again. Better not to think about lips and kisses right now. We still had things to do before all of this was over. And besides, kissing reminded me of when Bull—

Without realizing it, my heart beat had sped up and the edge of the wooden bathtub was creaking under the pressure of my hand. I was squeezing it so hard that the worn edge was almost splintering under the pressure.

Fuck.

"Adaar," Dorian said. He was kneeling next to the bathtub, with his hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

I forced a shaky breath in and out through my nose. "Yeah," I said. "What happened?"

"You stopped responding," Dorian said, his eyebrows low and his worried eyes gazing straight at me. "And your breathing went all ragged."

"Fuck," I said. "That's… bad." I think I lost time, because I couldn't remember him standing up and walking over at all.

"Maybe you should try to sleep," Dorian said, softly caressing my shoulder.

"No, I'm fine," I said, taking in a couple of deep breaths to get my heartbeat under control. "It's fine. I still need to wash my hair, I don't want to ask for another bath tomorrow."

"If you're sure…" Dorian trailed off and stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Well, since I'm here, let me help you."

I blinked at him. "Help me?"

Dorian raised an eyebrow. "To wash your hair."

"Oh," I said. "Okay."

Dorian dragged a stool from the corner of the room and positioned it behind me, grabbed a bar of soap and a small bucket, and sat down on the stool. "Wet your hair a bit, first."

I moved away from the edge of the tub and let my head fall back enough to wet most of the hair. The hair clung to the sides of my face, and when I sat back up and moved back towards Dorian, I couldn't help but glance at him. He looked determined.

I sat back down, leaning against the edge of the tub. Dorian lathered the soap and started slowly working on my scalp with soft, round movements.

My eyelids were starting to feel heavy, and I was starting to relax again. "You know you don't have to do this," I said slowly.

"But I want to," Dorian quipped.

I huffed out a breath, half in laugh, half in exasperation. "You're the best, you know?"

"I know."

I could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and that made me chuckle. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… thank you."

Dorian stopped, and let his left hand drop down to my shoulder in a gesture of comfort. "You're welcome."

After a few more minutes, Dorian told me to tilt my head back, while he poured water with the ladle to rinse off the suds. Once he was done, he sat up from the stool and put his hands up on his hips, looking at me with a critical expression on his face. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I don't think that soap did your hair any favours," Dorian explained with a grimace. "But I should have some hair oil in my bag. That should do the trick." He grabbed one of the neatly folded towels from the little table in the corner and practically threw it at me. "Here, dry yourself up while I look for it."

I did as I was told, rising out from the bathtub and drying off my hair, arms and legs and then tying the towel around my waist. By the time I was going through my bag to look for clean clothes, Dorian called out in triumph, "Found it!"

He held up a little glass vial. I quickly put on my underclothes, pants and a shirt, and sat next to him on the bed.

Dorian handed me the vial. "Rub some on your hands and then go through the ends of your hair. Just a couple drops should do it."

"I have used hair oil before, you know," I muttered.

Dorian blinked in surprise. "You have?" he asked.

"It's pretty basic stuff," I said, "why are you surprised?"

Dorian raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know it was common in the South," he explained. "From the state of most people's hair over here, I'd guess these people have never even heard of hair oil, not to mention used it."

Oops.

"Well…." I trailed off. I wanted to make a joke about being gay, but I didn't think it would land quite right, so I didn't. "I'm not your usual Southerner, I guess."

"You're really not," Dorian said with a grin.

I applied the hair oil just like Dorian had instructed. When I finished, he looked at me with approval and took back the vial. I yawned, settling down on the large bed with my arms behind my head.

"You look tired," Dorian observed. "I'm not feeling up to a bath quite yet, but I think I'll read for a while." He tilted his head at the small book shelf in the corner of the room. "I doubt they'll have anything too exciting here, but I might as well try to entertain myself."

"I might take a nap," I said, struggling to keep my eyes open at this point. "Don't mind me. Don't let me sleep for too long though…. I don't want to… ruin my… sleep schedule….."

I dozed off, and only woke up when Dorian shook me awake. He was wearing new clothes, and informed that not only had Leliana delivered on the clothes, but Dorian had already taken a bath. And once he was done, the servants had carried the bathtub out of the room.

I rubbed my eyes while listening to him talk, still sitting on the bed. "Did you read anything interesting?"

Dorian sighed dramatically. "As I thought, the chantry mostly has Andrastian texts. There was one particular book that was focused on the Black Divine, that one was interesting, if only for the comedic value." He grinned mischievously. "It was all very scandalous."

I chuckled. "Glad you had some fun."

"Leliana sent us some dinner," Dorian said, gesturing at the table behind him. Two trays of food were sitting there, waiting for us. "That's actually why I woke you."

"Oh," I said. "It's that late already?"

"You only slept for a couple of hours, but I'm guessing Leliana knew we would want an early dinner," he said, walking over to the table and pulling out one of the two chairs. "And I'm glad she did, because I think I'm going to sleep like a log tonight."

I followed suit and sat down in the second chair. "This looks like a feast after all that travelling," I muttered, pulling a trays towards me. There was actual fresh bread with butter and cheese, potatoes with more butter and herbs, some kind of root vegetables, and fish. Plus a pint of ale on top of it all. "Amazing."

While we ate, Dorian told me more about the book he had read, and I listened attentively, interested to hear his comments on a book about the Black Divine. It had obviously been written from the point of view of an Orlesian author, who only had bad things to say about the Black Divine.

Upon finishing the food, I put a few more logs into the fireplace since it was getting chilly, and then made my way back towards the bed. Dorian was lying down on the other side of the large double bed. I hesitated for a moment, and Dorian must have noticed because he patted the space beside him invitingly.

"Big day tomorrow," Dorian commented once I settled down. He turned to lie on his side so that we were both facing each other. "As you so aptly put it earlier, you don't want to ruin your sleep schedule, so we are not changing the arrangement just because we're no longer huddling for warmth."

"Hmm."

"Don't you hmm at me. You're impossible. Once this is all over, I'll tell Bull what a pain in the ass you've been."

"Maybe change the wording slightly, or he'll get the wrong impression."

"What— You—!"

I hid my grin into my pillow as Dorian spluttered at my joke.

"Impossible," Dorian repeated with a dramatic sigh. "Now come over here, it's your turn to be the little spoon."

The following day, we spent the whole morning waiting. There was a mix of anticipation and anxiety in the air. Dorian cracked open a couple more books and busied himself with those, and I just sat on the bed, writing in my journal, trying to distract myself and to refrain from overthinking.

Just before noon, one of Leliana's agents knocked on our door. Since Leliana had instructed Dorian to do all the talking with the servants and whoever we happened to meet during our stay, he answered the door.

Dorian traded just a couple of words with the agent, not opening the door fully or letting them inside. Then he closed the door and turned to face the room again.

"Is it time?" I asked, sitting up on the bed.

"The Inquisitor and his party just returned to Haven," Dorian said with a grin.

"So, not quite yet," I said, pouting and leaning my chin against my palm. "We'll have to wait a while longer before making our move."

"I'm still not sure this is such a good idea," Dorian said, sitting down on one of the chairs and shifting around nervously. "What if something goes wrong?"

"Do you have a better idea?" I asked.

Dorian sighed. "Not really."

"Then we'll go with mine."

Few hours later, Leliana herself knocked on our door. By that time, we were both prepared to leave. This time I wasn't wearing a disguise, but both Dorian and I were wearing cloaks that covered most of our clothes, and in Dorian's case, most of his head too.

"We'll go in through one of the side doors," Leliana explained, leading us through a corridor I hadn't seen before. "Mostly servants use this passage, and I asked everyone to clear out for the time being. However, we must still be cautious, since we'll have to go outside and walk to the other side of the building in order to access the main hall and the War Room."

I nodded. "Got it. Be sneaky like a spy."

Leliana rolled her eyes, but led us forward without further comments. Once we stepped outside, I looked around with interest. I had no idea there was a door there.

Leliana led us around the Chantry building, and nobody really approached us even though we saw people mingling in the distance. At one point, I thought I saw Krem talking with one of the Chantry sisters near the main doors, but honestly that could've been anyone.

The distance was covered in minutes, and we quickly arrived at the other side door Leliana had mentioned.

We went through a narrow corridor similar to the first one, until finally we arrived at the main hall. Leliana made sure the route was clear, and then ushered us into the War Room.

Cullen was there, leaning against the desk and browsing through papers. He looked up, and upon noticing me, gave me a bemused smile.

"Oh, it's you. Did you forget something?" Cullen asked.

I grinned at him. "Yeah," I said, "We're here to save the day! We're going to save both the mages and the templars!"

Cullen blinked in confusion. "What…?"

Dorian lowered his hood, and Leliana closed the door behind us. Cullen stared at the three of us with a raised eyebrow.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"Just like he said," Dorian said and gestured to me with a flourish, "We're here to save the day."

Cullen rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "Perhaps you should start at the beginning."

"Shortly? Dorian and I came from the future," I said with a grin. "It was always my plan to rescue both the mages and the templars, I just couldn't tell you before it was actually happening, since I wasn't sure if it was doable."

"From the… future…?" Cullen trailed off and turned to Leliana. "Leliana…"

"It's true," Leliana said. "There's two of them."

Cullen started to protest. "Perhaps—"

"I'm not a demon—"

"He's not a demon—"

Leliana coughed loudly to silence us. "I already thought of that," she said to Cullen. "He's not a demon, he has the mark. There's no way a demon could replicate something like that. Solas told me the mark is unique magic… and it feels the same." She furrowed her brow. "I can't explain it, it just feels the same."

I took off my gloves and waved my marked hand at Cullen, wiggling my fingers.

"Alright, I believe you," Cullen said, slumping further against the table. "But still… time travel? That's a little…"

"Ridiculous?" I asked with a grin. "I know."

Cullen stared down at his papers, let out an extremely long sigh, and then looked up at us with renewed determination. "You said you want to rescue the templars? Tell me everything."