9058 réponses à ce sujet

[LupusYondergirl]

I'll just assume he fixed my sister's internet. Been out all day because of the storm, just started working recently. (and I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't gotten a text and seen my cell switched back to wifi).

Somehow I lucked into a flight home for tomorrow, amazing since most people aren't getting one until Friday. Fantastic since I won't have to cancel my NYE plans and I have an awesome dress to wear.

Right now I'm feeling like I should applaud Sarah, who is completely caught up on AOA... just as I'm finishing up the next chapter. (today or tomorrow, depending on how late I'm up. My sister has cable, though, and I admit having more than three channels is distracting.

Modifié par LupusYondergirl, 28 décembre 2010 - 04:28 .

[Miri1984]

That is indeed an awesome dress. I shall probably be going to bed at 8pm on NYE considering the fireworks will almost certainly have both kids up screaming after they've gone to bed and I'll need the extra sleep.



Speaking of awesomeness that isn't Anders. THIS is what my husband built out of lego to go under our Christmas tree. Since we can't put the presents under it any more or little miss toddler will open them. The train is also made out of lego and it goes. He is so in love with having kids .



Also, I did another Neria pic because I could.

[LupusYondergirl]

@Miri: I love the expression on Neria's face there.
I always wanted a train under the christmas tree but it wouldn't have worked when I was a kid, unless we wanted a train mangled by a curious cat. Just keeping her out of the tree was difficult enough...


Finished my prompt reply... Innuendo, no outright filth.


I Never Take it Off

“Did… did I do something wrong there?” Anders asked, looking over at Maggie.

“Huh?” she rolled to her side, pushing sweat-damp hair back and propping herself up on one elbow. “What are you talking about, of course not. Why would you think so?”

He pulled the blankets up. “You looked, um… annoyed for a bit.”

“I did?” she raised an eyebrow. “Hm… annoyed isn’t how I felt. When did I look annoyed?”

Anders pushed his hair back, wishing he’d never even brought the question up. He’d apparently been imagining the entire thing. But now she would demand details, since that was what she did, and while Anders wasn’t normally one to shy away from discussing sex, that didn’t extend to discussing what he may or may not have done wrong.

A poke in the shoulder. “Come on, Anders… tell me. I feel bad now, I didn’t mean to look annoyed. I wasn’t feeling annoyed.” That statement was accompanied by a lascivious grin and a hand trailing across his bare chest. As her hand slipped further down he pulled Maggie closer. She giggled, whispering “tellllll meeeeee” as he kissed her throat.

“You’re wicked.”

“So I’ve been told,” she said. “After you tell me we can figure out how true that is.” Another crooked grin and she sat up. The blankets pooled around her waist. Faced with that much bare skin his brain clouded over.

“Huh?” Anders mumbled, reaching out.

“When did I look annoyed?” she giggled as his hand reached across the bed.

“Huh? Oh… when I was on top,” he muttered absentmindedly, hand brushing against her skin.

“Ohhhh, right….” she muttered, looking thoughtful.

Anders shook his head, brushing off the nudity-induced idiocy that had briefly consumed him. “Oh right?” he said, sitting up. “Oh right?! So you were annoyed? Why? What did I do?”

“Well, a little,” she admitted. “It wasn’t anything you did, really. More what you didn’t do.”

“Didn’t… What do you mean?!” he said. “I was down there for—”

She giggled, cutting him off. “Maker’s breath, not that. That was fine. That was fantastic.”

“Good,” he said, clearly relieved. “What didn’t I do?”

Maggie reached out, grabbing the cord around his neck. “You didn’t take your amulet off. It was hitting me in the face!”

Anders sighed with relief. “Is that all?”

“Yep.”

“I never take that off.”

“I know,” she said. “And it always hits me in the face.”

“Sorry,” Anders said.

She shook her head, grinning. “I notice you didn’t say you would next time… or move to take it off since next time is, um, right about now.”

“I never take this off,” Anders said again, hand wrapped protectively around the amulet as though he was worried she would lunge across the bed and yank it from his neck. Not that he was worried about her actually doing that… well he wasn’t too worried.

“Why not?” she asked. “Who gave it to you?” Her eyes narrowed. “Was it some woman?”

“Andraste’s sword,” he sighed. “No, it wasn’t a woman. Really? You think I’d be wearing onto some gift from an old flame?”

“Well what is it then?”

“Bann Ferrenly gave it to me,” Anders said.

“You know Bann Ferrenly?” she said. “I barely even know him; he’s only been to one landsmeet in the last five years. Alistair says he’s a recluse.”

“He is,” Anders agreed. She gestured for him to go on. “Well,” Anders said, “this would be maybe… hm… fifteen years ago, just after my Harrowing. I’d escaped…”

She giggled at that. “And the sky was up, the ground was down, and water was wet?”

“Pretty much,” Anders chuckled. “Anyways. I’d escaped and was making my way to Denerim. Hoped to catch a ship to Tevinter.” He paused, thinking back. It had been in Highever, or not far from there, along the north road. “There was a coach under attack by bandits and the guard was already dead. I heard someone shouting in pain and ran at them. Managed to take out the bandits- really, they weren’t a very big group. If the coach had more than one mounted guard they wouldn’t have even needed me. Once they were down I ripped the door open. Inside was an old man bleeding from a sword wound. He came at me with a dagger.” Anders chuckled, shaking his head. “I knocked it from his hand and told him not to be a fool. Looking back, he probably still thought I was one of the bandits, but he went still enough I could heal him.”

“Bann Ferrenly?” she said.

“Bann Ferrenly,” he confirmed. “So, once he realized I was just passing by and stopped to help he calmed down. Seeing I was in a pretty sorry state- I don’t think I’d even eaten for a couple days, he gave me some coin and his guard’s horse. Even had the coach driver give me a basic riding lesson right there on the road near all the dead bandits.”

“And the amulet?”

Anders nodded. “He said it had been in his family for generations, since before the occupation. The Fox’s Pendant, he called it.”

“Why’s it called that?” she asked, reaching out. Anders let her touch the silver-colored disk. There was a single sapphire embedded in the middle, and a few scratches from age on it, but nothing that would indicate any fox-like design motifs now worn off.

He shrugged. “No idea. Ferrenly said something about the original owner making it to remind himself that he had to be clever above all other things, since someone would always be plotting against him.”

Maggie made a face at that. “What a horrible way to live,” she said. “No wonder he almost never leaves his estate.”

“Oh, I agree,” Anders said.

“So why wear it?”

“Two reasons,” Anders said. “The first is so I don’t become like that. Since that attitude had him attack me with a dagger. If he’d been faster, or I’d been slower, Bann Ferrenly would have stabbed me to death and bled out alone on the North Road, when all I wanted was to help.”

“And the other?”

Anders smiled at that, fingering the silver charm. “Because he trusted me.”

“He tried to stab you!”

“After that. I mean once I healed him he trusted me. He knew I was a mage and… and he didn’t care. Didn’t ask if I was Circle or apostate, didn’t even say the word ‘mage’ once. It mattered about as much to him as the color of my eyes.” He leaned back against the headboard, smiling. “He was the first person I’d ever met, save my own mother, who didn’t care that I was a mage. It made me think maybe I wasn’t destined to be universally loathed. That there was more to it than what the Circle told us about how everyone hated mages, about how they protect us from ignorant people who would kill us in fear. Even my mother told me no one would ever accept or understand it. But Bann Ferrenly accepted it without a moment’s hesitation.”

“Have you talked to him since then?”

“I wrote, once,” Anders said, “maybe two weeks after I became a Warden. Told him about that and let him know I still remembered all he’d done for me. I tried to explain why it meant so much.”

“Did he reply?”

“No,” Anders said. “I was a bit hurt at first. It had been such an important moment in my life, and he’d forgotten me completely. But now… knowing more about him…” he shrugged slightly. “He’s got problems. He’s trapped in his own paranoia. I can’t blame him.”

She smiled at him, this time it was her normal smile, almost disturbingly innocent given how much he knew about her. “That’s still a sweet story.”

“Isn’t it?” he smirked at her, folding his arms casually. “Women just love it. Completely makes up for the amulet hitting them in the face.”

“Ha!” she laughed, elbowing him. “Very cute. You know, you could just shorten the cord.”

Anders paused, considering that. Without a word he reached up, spinning the cord and tying a new knot in the leather, shortening it by several inches. “Happy?” she nodded. “For years this was the only thing I never took off. I’ve got a ring I leave on now, too, but you wouldn’t want to hear about that. A woman gave it to me.”

She laughed at that, grabbing his left hand and kissing the palm. “Charming as always,” Maggie said, giving him another smile, this one lacking even a hint of innocence. “Now let’s do that again without a chunk of silver hitting me in the face this time, hmmm?”

Modifié par LupusYondergirl, 28 décembre 2010 - 06:41 .

[Miri1984]

I asked Lupus this already on FF.net - but is there any information about Bann Ferrenly at all apart from the little snippet about the locket? I don't want to go against canon in my prompt. And thanks for posting, Lupus, I'd actually forgotten I was supposed to be doing a prompt response as well!



BTW, loved it. Nudity induced fogginess FTW.

[Miri1984]

My prompt response:

Family Heirloom

Freedom tasted good, air that wasn't tainted with books and lyrium and fear smelled better even in the middle of winter than the Tower did when it was sunny outside. But the best taste was that first sip of ale in the tavern he'd decided it was safe to stop for the first time - when he knew that at least for a night he'd be free to act like a normal person - before the Templars caught up with him - before people started rumours that he was an apostate - before he slipped up as he suspected he was always going to do, because someone was hurt or someone was a fool or because he just got a little bit bored with pretending to be something he wasn't...

She looked particularly tasty, he had to admit, with her long golden locks and delicate features. Obviously well off - rich clothing like that wasn't easy to come by - but not someone tied down by a husband or protective males, not with that dagger stashed at her side and those callouses on her fingers - archery he guessed. She was glowing with health, too, something that most of the people around him weren't. Well nourished, well dressed, well armed - he guessed a knight from the nearby estate.

She was alone, as well, but sitting at a table that had ample room for another. Anders collected his ale and approached, carefully arranging his most charming grin. This was the first girl he'd seen outside of the Tower for nearly six years and he wanted to make a good impression.

She looked up and caught his eye and her own lips curled in a smirk to match his. Oh lovely. It was always refreshing when they flirted right back.

"Looking for company?"

"With you? Absolutely."

A few hours later he was lying tangled in blankets, panting and sweaty. "Where do you get all that stamina?"  she asked.

He traced a finger down the slope of her breast and casually flicked at a nipple, making her gasp. "Trade secret," he said, dipping his head to lick a bead of sweat from her collarbone. She closed her eyes and arched her neck, humming in pleasure and he leaned forward, intending to see if her stamina could be stretched any further, when the door burst open. Her eyes were suddenly wide and she pushed him off the bed, quite rudely he thought, especially given the men who had burst in were aiming crossbows and there'd been no hint of a smite so they clearly weren't after him.

Without thinking he flung up a hand and encased the men in a forcefield before they could do any more harm. Then he realised what he'd done and groaned.

"Don't just sit there, you idiot," she was flinging his clothes at him. "Get dressed. Let's get out of here."

He blinked, but the need to run was too instinctive and he threw his clothes on - managing to be fully dressed well before she was. Still, he waited for her, re-casting his forcefield to give them the best head start possible before the two of them raced down the stairs of the tavern.

"Can you ride?" she said as they moved.

"In a manner of speaking," he said. 

"Good," she led him to the stables, where a large roan mare was tethered, and threw a saddle over its back, doing up straps with a familiarity and skill that made Anders doubly certain she had something to do with the nobility. No heraldry, though, on her gear. That was puzzling.

"Um... you want me to come with you?"

"Well, yes. They've seen you. They'll be after you too. And... well.. you saved my life back there. I can offer you a reward if you come with me."

"I wouldn't mind knowing why they wanted to kill you in the first place before I agree to getting... " he swallowed nervously as he looked at the horse, "on that."

She kicked open the door of the stall and swung up to the horse's back, leaning down to offer him a hand. "Put it this way," she said. "You can come with me or risk exposing yourself to everyone in this tavern when you defend yourself against them." She jerked her head towards the two men with crossbows who were just that moment rushing out of the tavern doors. 

He grasped her hand and swung up behind her. "Point taken," he muttered. She kicked her heels to the horse and he hung on for dear life.

Three hours later he was sore and rattled and a long, long way from the Tower. All things he had rarely been before. But he was also ever so slightly enraged. As they rode through the double gates to the massive estate he spluttered at her.

"You're the bann? Last I heard Bann Ferrenly was an old man!"

"My father," she said tersely. "And he died five years ago."

He swallowed. "I'm sorry," he said. "We don't get much news, in the circle."

"I'll forgive you then," she said, swinging down from horseback. It was dark - Anders guessed it was three or four hours past midnight, but a groom emerged holding a lantern, greeting the woman with a hearty "My Lady!" that was unreasonably cheerful considering the hour and the temperature.

"Why were they trying to kill the bann?" he said as he hit the ground on unsteady feet.

She grinned at him, handing the reins of the beast he had come to hate more than any other to the groom and pulling him by the arm towards the estate. "They want something of mine," she said. "And I've just thought of the most perfect way to stop them from ever getting it."

"Truly?" he asked weakly. "What could that possibly be?"

Servants were stirring as she dragged him through the halls and they acknowledged her with cheerful greetings that said a lot about what sort of lord she was. When she pushed him into what was obviously her chamber, however, he hesitated.

"Hang on, hang on - won't people be a little bit..."

"Oh shut up, Anders," she said. "I trust my people." She shut the door behind her and started to unbutton her shirt. 

"Look, I've got a lot of stamina but we've just been on a horse for hours..."

She laughed. "Not that I don't have every intention of continuing our earlier activities as soon as possible, that's not what I'm doing right now." Her fingers rested on a pendant he'd noticed earlier. "See this?" she said. He nodded. "This is called the Fox's Pendant. It's a family heirloom."

He raised an eyebrow. "The Fox's Pendant?"

"Heard of the Black Fox?"

"Every child has," he said. "Stuck it to the Orlesians, fought for the poor, blah blah - it's all a legend!"

"He was my great, great, great, great grandfather," she said. "This belonged to him. It's proof - for those who know how to look for it - of the Fox's existence. Worth more money than this entire estate and everything in it."

Anders whistled and stepped forward, lifting the pendant from her skin (and taking the opportunity to lightly brush her collarbone with his finger as he did so) and examining it.

"I want you to have it," she said. 

He dropped it back onto her chest as though it burned. "What?"

She reached behind her and unclasped the chain, dangling it in front of her. "I don't want it. We don't need it, it's a stupid reminder of something that's become a legend. If you enchant it you can hide its true form and no one will ever be able to find it again. I'll proclaim it stolen and those bastards will stop attacking me every time I try to go out and have fun."

Before he could stop her she had clasped the chain around his neck. Her arms stayed around him and her blue eyes fixed on his. He breathed in her scent and smiled a small smile. "I'll take it on loan," he said. She grinned.

He stayed with her for two weeks, before he caught wind of Templars searching the area for a known apostate. When he left the amulet nestled in the hollow of his throat, newly enchanted to boost his power and help his healing.

On his third escape attempt he heard of her wedding and smiled to himself in the tavern he'd made it to, eyeing the dark haired girl who'd given him the news and fingering the amulet as he did so, remembering golden hair and merry eyes and a breakneck ride through darkness.

Freedom always tasted good. 

Modifié par Miri1984, 28 décembre 2010 - 10:58 .

[LupusYondergirl]

Miri, that was such fun! I love how we both managed to work sex into a seemingly innocent prompt. Such is the magic of Anders, I suppose.

I like that you went with the black fox hints, I wasn't sure how to work those in. You did it wonderfully, though.

[Galagraphia]

@Lupus, glorious smut! I love it! lol, it reminded me something of my own experience funny that Anders didn't think of making the rope shorter before )))

@Miri, I find it somehow very romantic like those old Zorro movies! I love that you made the bann a pretty young lady In distress XD



Ah, your prompt responses made my day!

[Galagraphia]

My prompt responce, sort of:

Anders is captured after he had helped bann Ferrenly. He looks at the pendant and thinks: "What's the use of a noble friend if he can't protect me from being captured again?" But soon he realizes that friendship is not something that always must be useful, sometimes it's just brings you comfort to know someone has a good opinion about you.
 

[LupusYondergirl]

Gala, I love the sullen look on his face, and the position he's in. That's fantastic!

And thank you! I had fun writing that, I wanted to see how much innuendo I could add without anything explicit.

[Miri1984]

@Gala, that's a lovely sentiment. And you got young!Anders spot on again - your teenage/early twenties Anders is the best out there, I love him.



And I've been struck by the apostrophe demon. So embarrassed. My post has been edited now for those of you who (like me) wince at the misuse of the little buggers.

[Galagraphia]

@Lupus, Miri, thanks!



Oooooh, this just made my day, because it's dr. A and after my recent adventures in the hospital it's just so hilarious:



(That's why my wardens don't go for Zev, btw, except Rhia, who's just a who... men-hunter)))))

[Estral27]

@ Lupus: Really neat characterization of the poor paranoid Bann. I also enjoyed the lesson Anders took from the whole series of events involving the pendant. Also, nude Anders for the win -- always!

@ Miri: I wondered if the Bann might be a female. Seems just like Anders to end up entangled with a well-armored damsel in distress! Beautiful story

@ Gala: I really enjoy his expression! So angst-y. Nice work!!

I am in a serious cookie-coma and as always really enjoy reading/viewing what you all come up with

Modifié par Estral27, 29 décembre 2010 - 04:13 .

[LupusYondergirl]

@Estral27: Thank you!

@Gala: I suspect Maggie and Rhia would get along famously. Or the presence of both of them in the same room would cause an atomic explosion of some kind.



I wrote a little something for the holiday prompt on people of thedas here. Linking instead of posting since, while Anders is in it, it's really mostly Maggie and BFF Alistair.

[Miri1984]

 @Lupus - as I already said: 

[LupusYondergirl]

I know... that's easily one of the saddest things I'd ever written. I'd spent the entire day in the NICU intensive care ward, though... that's bound to make anyone a bit morose. (My nephew may be moved into the regular NICU soon, though!)

[Galagraphia]

@Lupus, awwwww :'-[

I hope you won't be writing AoA till the Calling, it's too sad. I can't even watch the 'Grey Warden's Calling' DAO trailer without misty eyes, and it's about some random warden I don't know.



Oh, and thinking about Rhia and Maggie in one room... In one room with Zevran, Leliana and Isabela... And Oghren, it's no fun without Oghren's comments. Well, it would definitely open a portal into the Black City because it would be too hilarious for this world to bear. ))))

[Miri1984]

That's great news! Sounds like he's doing really, really well. And we're hearing how severe the weather is over there - I hope you manage to get a flight home soon. It seems the gods are taking vengeance upon us - most of Queensland and NSW are under water and the whole of southern central Queensland has been declared a disaster zone. After something like fifteen years of drought too.

[LupusYondergirl]

@tgail: Thank you! I hate thinking about any of them dying, but it's the unfortunate fact of their situation. I would like to think that, by the time it comes around, they're basically ready for it.

@Gala: No, I don't think I could manage that. AOA is going to end about five years from where they are in their current timeline, so maybe eleven years after the blight ended. (I am in total agreement, Oghren's comments at the Isabella scene are the best. And when he faints? Priceless!)

@Miri: I'm actually home now- I got SO lucky. I just kept calling and calling until they found me something before Friday. I was on an 8:20 flight this evening, which turned into a 9:40 flight... but I got home at around eleven thirty. Thankfully my roommate works second shift so he was still able to pick me up.
I've heard about the flooding there... it sounds awful.  The weather seems to be completely haywire all over the place lately.  I don't want to be all Al Gore, but really, something just isn't right about this. 
And he's doing fantastic.  They usually say preemies go home on the day they were supposed to be born, but everyon seems convinced he'll be getting home early.  When I was there my sister was holding him and he had his eyes open and looking around the room. With the amount he's moving now I'm sure he'll be a real terror when he's older.

Modifié par LupusYondergirl, 29 décembre 2010 - 08:11 .

[Galagraphia]

@Lupus, great news! Both about your nephew and your flight. We're having difficulties in our airports too, luckily I'm not going anywhere this year thanks to hubby's new job. And I can enjoy the snow from the safe distance




@Miri, this is bad, I thought it was summer in Australia I hope it's happening not near your home at least.

Modifié par Galagraphia, 29 décembre 2010 - 09:45 .

[Estral27]

@ Lupus: beautiful story. There must be dust in my eyes or something.... Imagining Alistair or Anders heading off to their calling gives me such a lump in my throat.



@Miri : just heard about all the water there on the news. Hope you are all safe!

[Miri1984]

@Gala, Estral We're all on high ground here - it's the rural areas that are getting the brunt of it because, funnily enough, they're all on flood plains. Thanks though .



All wibbly because I've only got one or two more Fractures chapters to write...

[Sarah1281]

Sorry I haven't gotten a chance to read the other prompts yet. I'll do that tonight as soon as I have time.

The blonde boy looked up at him. “Well, that was embarrassing.”
 
Anders wrung the water out of his hair. “Yes, I imagine it was. I don’t even know what you thought you were doing and already I’m a little embarrassed on your behalf.”
 
“I was attempting to teach myself to swim,” the boy said, not quite able to meet Anders’ eyes.
 
“You were barely conscious at the bottom of a lake when I happened upon you,” Anders pointed out.
 
“I-I wasn’t quite sure how one went about learning how to swim and so I thought that I could try to practice holding my breath first,” the boy explained. “Only I had to be under water otherwise I’d just end up cheating. I guess I should have known my limit better.” He sheepishly pushed his went bangs out of his face.
 
“Why didn’t you ask someone to teach you how to swim?” Anders demanded. “Or had someone watch you while you practiced so this kind of thing didn’t happen. Or even just ask for some advice on how to start!”
 
“I couldn’t do that,” the boy protested immediately.
 
“And why not?” Anders asked, crossing his arms and staring down at the shorter boy.
 
“Because if I had then one of my guards would have insisted on going with me,” the boy explained. “Well, they’re probably all tearing out their hair because they don’t know where I am right now but had I asked they would have had a much better idea of what I was doing and thus where to search for me.”
 
Anders started. This boy was clearly far more important than he had thought. “Your what? Who are you, anyway?”
 
“Oh, my apologies,” the boy told him. “I am Bann Ferrenly. My mother died in childbirth but you can tell she hated me as she gave me this name.”
 
Anders wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that and he had far more pressing concerns anyway. “You’re a member of the nobility.”
 
Ferrenly nodded. “And you’re a mage.”
 
Anders froze. “I…what?” He forced a laugh. “What a thing to say!”
 
“It’s true,” Ferrenly insisted.
 
“What makes you think that?” Anders asked, hoping his nervousness didn’t show.
 
“My leg was bleeding and now you can’t even tell I had hurt it,” Ferrenly said matter-of-factly.
 
Anders winced. Damn his healer’s impulse to fix all wounds he came across! He would have to remember this and be more careful on his next escape. “I do? Huh.”
 
“Oh, I’m not going to turn you in if that’s what you’re worried about,” Ferrenly assured him.
 
Anders’s eyes widened and he stared suspiciously at the bann. “You’re not?”
 
“Of course not. Mage or not, you saved my life and it would be awfully ungrateful for me to turn you in to the Chantry for that. Maker knows that that might just encourage you to leave the next sorry bastard you find sitting at the bottom of a lake down there to drown,” Ferrenly replied.
 
Andes knew that he shouldn’t question his unexpected good fortune. Well, that would be another lesson for his next escape. “But…it’s the law.”
 
Ferrenly shrugged. “Yes, well Father used to say that the Chantry was a very Orlesian institution and my family suffered greatly under the occupation they endorsed. Truthfully, I’m not very fond of them although I know better than to spread that around.”
 
Anders raised an eyebrow. “And yet you’ll tell me?”
 
Ferrenly smirked. “Yes, wanted apostate, I do think that somehow telling you will not really negatively impact me. You know, it’s convenient that I don’t like the Chantry because I’m not even sure that I like the Maker.”
 
Anders blinked. That wasn’t the sort of thing he heard every day. “What do you mean?”
 
“You would think that the Chantry would be the Maker’s greatest advocate, yes?” Ferrenly asked rhetorically. “And that they would try to present the Maker in the greatest light?”
 
“That does stand to reason, yes,” Anders confirmed.
 
“Well, if the Maker’s own devoted honestly believe that he cursed all of Thedas with the darkspawn centuries ago because a handful of mages dared to visit his Golden City, that he wrote off all of Thedas until Andraste caught his attention, and then decided to write us all off again because a handful of people killed her, etcetera then I’m not sure that I’m a fan,” Ferrenly said bluntly.
 
“Well, when you put it that way…” Anders trailed off.
 
“Oh, it’s not me that’s putting it that way,” Ferrenly corrected. “That’s the Chantry’s own position.”
 
“So…now what?” Anders asked uncertainly. “Should I just leave?”
 
“And go where?” Ferrenly asked, amused. “You’re a wanted apostate, remember?”
 
“I certainly can’t stay here,” Anders objected.
 
“And why not?” Ferrenly inquired. “Come and stay at my estate for a few days. I daresay it’s been some time since you’ve had a proper meal.”
 
“The Circle wouldn’t know a ‘proper meal’ if it bit them on the ass,” Anders agreed.
 
“There’s just one catch,” Ferrenly said, looking serious.
 
Anders frowned. “Catch?” He didn’t like the sound of that.
 
“I can’t very well have a guest under my roof whose name I don’t know!” Ferrenly exclaimed. “In fact, I don’t even care if you give me your real name or not, I just need something to call you and obviously ‘wanted apostate’ will be out unless I want to cause a commotion.”
 
As it happened, Anders had not been intending to give his real name but he changed his mind at the last second. “Anders. My name is Anders.”
 
“Well, Anders, something tells me that you’re going to make my life interesting for the next few days,” Ferrenly declared, pleased. He reached up and removed a chain from around his neck and held it out. “Here, have an amulet.”
 
Anders blinked. “…Just like that you’re giving me an amulet?”
 
Ferrenly shrugged. “Eh, why not? Are you going to take it? It would be most inconsiderate of you to refuse a gift.”
 
Reluctantly, Anders took the amulet in his hand. “This just seems a little spontaneous and I wouldn’t want to…is this enchanted?”
 
“It is,” Ferrenly confirmed. “I don’t remember what the enchantments mean, however.
 
“This will help with my healing and mental fortitude,” Anders explained.
 
“Does this mean that you’ll accept it?” Ferrenly pressed.
 
Anders smiled. “Yes, I’ll accept it. Although that is such an odd way to give a gift.”
 
Ferrenly shrugged again. “I’m a noble. A little eccentricity is almost expected.”

[LupusYondergirl]

Sarah, that was a lot of fun. I like eccentric young nobles. and he made a very good point about the Chantry and Orlais. (I really wish they had done more about that in-game... it does make Loghain look like a madman but really, he had every reason to distrust them)