I hope you'll still writing this! :)

Wow, what a chilling scene. Nicely done - not a word wasted. I feel so scared for Anders. This makes me feel more sympathetic to DA2!Anders, poor thing. I wish there were a way to separate the two, while keeping Anders alive. :(

Well we all know that Hawke isn't lost... just BUSY :D I quite liked your strategy of using Avenline to go visit our key characters, and Aveline, being so... Aveline- so virtuous, even innocent.

and he sleeps with Bianca... how... typical ! LOL.

Yes, the Egyptian Queen is great, but apparently so are you! Love the story so far so please, please continue. The Malcolm mystery is a nice twist and cannot wait to see Fenris' reaction. Thanks for sharing your story!

I very much do (like it, I mean)! :)

I loved Carver's POV, and he was so completely Carverish—it made me grin hugely. I adored his process of elimination—well, here I am frustrated and angry. Do I want to get drunk? Nope, need to hit things. To the docks! Hee!

I can see him doing exactly that—he sees a girl get assaulted, and wades right in regardless of the odds. The resultant misinterpretation with Faith was funny and adorable once the confusion was straightened out.

Aaand now I have a shirtless Carver front and center in my brain. Not a bad thing at all, just a bit distracting. :D

My one problem with this story (and it's no problem at all) is you have such rich and detailed chapters that I always have to reread when a new chapter comes out to follow everything that's going on.

This chapter is no different. Stepping away from the Malcolm mystery (and my, what a mystery that's becoming- How badly is Fenris going to freak when he finds that Hawke is the daughter of a magister?) you've turned to everyone's favorite problem child-Carver and given him a storyline of his own.

Now, I've got to be honest here, I usually don't play a mage (not my combat style) and so, I've never spent a whole lot of time with Carver. I was somewhat surprised the one time I did play a mage to find he was so different (and more hostile) compared to Bethany. It's actually been another set of fanfiction stories (the Templar Canticles, by wargoddess on AO3) that let me develop any Carver love. But now, I do feel like I understand and appreciate the troubled one much better.

I love how you have touched on Carver's need to be recognized and appreciated, as well as how much his life's been effected by having a family full of mages. It's a big burden he never asked for, but it's life, and he has to come to terms with it.

I do wonder, thinking out loud for a moment, how Carver's going to feel about knowing that he could have been raised in Teventer and how different his life would have been there. Interesting mind game.

I really enjoyed Carver's action sequence. He's a good man at heart, even if he's a bit immature, and loved seeing him jump to the rescue. I have a soft-spot for men with big swords, what can I say?

And what is the story behind miss Faith. Because, frankly, I'm having trouble believing almost anything she's said. I don't htink that's actually her name, I don't think she was just an innocent victom of those sailors, maybe her father was in the army, but eh, that's about it. I'm looking forward to learning more about her.

Thanks so much for this. It's such a well writen mystery! I'm really enjoying it.

I'm pretty much falling in love with this fic and I'm only on the second chapter lol simply outstanding _ it's so refreshing to have a good writer who can actually keep everyone *in* character and keep the plot of the story rolling. I am envious! Keep up the good work!

I like how this chapter shows that Carver has a nice side to him. Love it

I really like that this is written from Carver's point of view...you are right, it worked really well. Plus anytime Carver ends up with his shirt ripped off I'm a happy woman. Yummm...I can't wait to read more.

Varric is such a good soul. I like the time you spent showing his inner spirit.

Oooh! A MageF Hawke and a Fenris pairing }}kermit flails{{

And this thought of a family secret involving Malcolm Hawke... oooh!

looking forward to reading on!

*rubs hands together in glee*

Oh, this is going to be GOOD!

OK, now that's a chapter end that packs some serious punch. The very first thing that popped into my head was "oh, Marian, you going to have some 'splainin' to do to Fenris if he ever finds out". O_o I can see that maybe going over well ... not.

Poor Marian, keeping all of that to herself all of this time. Hopefully she'll be able to start to heal, now that the bitterness isn't just hers to keep silent on anymore. And that was a neat little foreshadow on Leandra's part (the hundred leagues and a lifetime ago); I almost missed it.

Can't wait for the rest of the explanation on Malcolm—what a great cliffhanger!

When Leandra was reminiscing about how Marian's father lived up to his name, for some reason I was thinking of his first name. I go to google the meaning of 'Malcolm', and it's "Devotee of St Columba". I'm all 'Wha—oh, right..." *blush* It's only the name of your story, after all. I plead sluggish brain from the extreme cold weather.

I really liked that maneuver with Carver—that peek of true affection, quickly covered by/subsumed into his feelings of resentment toward Marian. Perfect.

I also really enjoyed the much richer background and flavor that you've given to Leandra and Malcolm's meeting and falling-in-love tale. The ball and Malcolm's costume are nicely romantic, and it really adds depth to Leandra to imagine her swept away in that way.