North north east

Zevran had been busy, ever since the fifth blight had ended he'd been busy with a few friends slowly dismantling the eighth talon. In the course of his escapades his path took him across the path of one Maeve Valathrian back when she was still doing the bardy things. Ever since then Zevran did his best to keep up with her, though he'd fallen sadly short the last year, and felt bad when he heard that she'd had to resort to the Crows in order to take care of her problem. He should have been there for her, but his duties had kept him busy elsewhere and unable to go to her aid. 

As soon as he was able, and heard that Maeve was back home in Val Royeaux, he bought a baby gift and headed to her home. He figured the least he could do was to bring her a baby gift and if his maths were correct, he still had a bit to go before Maeve would give birth, but then he wasn't an expert on pregnancy so there was always the chance his maths were off. Either way he was sure the gift would be acceptable. It wasn't much, just a rattle he made himself along with a nice little baby blanket he'd picked up on his travels.

He stood outside Maeve and Lucien's home and knocked on the door. The wrapped gift in hand out in front of him. He was excited to see his friend again, it had been far too long, in fact he couldn't remember off the top of his head when they'd seen each other last, having only spoken in secret messages for awhile now.

Maeve was combing her hair when someone from the staff announced her that there was a man asking for her at the door. She left the brush on the table and moved towards the door, dashing the last meters when she saw a familiar face, pulling into a side hug.

“Darling!! How life has treated you??” she said gesturing him to enter “Let me serve you a drink! Since I can’t do it you can enjoy a good one for both of us” she said with a wink “I can’t wait for the baby to pop to at the least not waddle like a goose” she said as she moved towards the bar. “Anything you fancy?” asked the brunette.

Zevran smiled warmly as Maeve greeted him, he was glad that she had managed to get out of the life, but it wasn't something he ever saw himself doing. Sure things were a bit different now that they'd managed to take down the eighth talon, but there was still so much more to do and the fact that Zevran didn't really know who else to be besides an assassin, it was what he'd been raised for quite literally. 

Well you know, my little group is still bent on making things miserable for the Crows and I've been busy helping the Red Jennies, but other than that life is about as good as it can be for a man like myself. I would love a drink, honestly anything you have is fine, but if you happened to have a nice Antivan Red, I wouldn't object. He said as he looked around and followed her to the bar. He set the gift on top of it. I brought you a little something, one thing I made myself and one thing I picked up in this little fishing village in Rivain.

“Since we returned recently from Antiva we do still have some red wine left” she said as she looked from a bottle “Let me tell you, I told Lucien that I would murder him if he opened this bottle before I could drink it too since I wanted to try it after the baby was born but I can’t deny you a thing darling” it was of course a joke, the agreement was that Lucien would take her to drink wine after she was clear to have alcohol again but she did like to be dramatic.
She sat down an opened the gift after passing him the glass of win “I love it Zev, it’s also turquoise which you know that it’s my favourite colour” there was a soft smile in her features “I have to say that if you told me ten years ago that you’d give me this gift I’d have laughed a lot”.

“What plans do you have next darling, is retiring anywhere close in the horizon?” likely not, she could not see Zevran leaving that life, not yet anyways.

Yes well I do pride myself for remembering the little details. He said in regards to the colour, sure they had occasionally been rivals on jobs, but they’d never been hostile and he’d come to think of her quite fondly over the years.

I imagine I will die in my pursuit to take down the crows, but I plan to have fun doing it. Not to sound dramatic, but I just don’t see myself retiring while the Crows still plague Antiva and beyond. We’re trying to coordinate with the Rivain rebellion but so far it’s been slow going. There had been the mysterious weather and fires that had spread across Rivain, Antiva and the Free Marches a couple of months earlier, it definitely hurt the Crows, but it also hurt everyone else evenly, so hardly an advantage.

“You were always the best, if I wasn’t absolutely and impossible in love with my partner I would be swooning hard right now” she said with a smile. They both knew it was a joke, they had plenty of chances to be more in the past but they had always seen each other as friends.

“Don’t be dramatic you can’t die because we made a bet to see who would look hotter with grey hair and I don’t intend to lose my beautiful auburn hair anytime soon” she said dismissing his words with a playful hand wave “What does the Rivaini have to do with the crows, if you don’t mind me asking?” perhaps she was missing an important bit of info but admittedly lately she had been focused in other stuff. "It's because they want the Crows down too?" asked the brunette

Well, you know how the Crows are the ones really pulling the strings, them and the merchant princes of course. The crown is really just for show in Antiva. So when Antiva took control of Rivain, it was basically a direct result of the Crows wishing it so. He paused, they didn’t want to stop with Rivain, but now with Elgar’nan on the scene, things would be considerably more complicated for their plans to take over the Free Marches.

They don’t wish to stop there of course. Their ambitions and greed know no boundary. Though they have run into a hiccough with this silly ancient elf on the scene. He’s been causing quite the stir in Antiva these days. Rumour is he’s even to blame for King Frankie’s murder. He said with a shrug, his intel on the latest happenings around Elgar’nan, King Frankie and Queen Eularia were sketchy at best, he’d yet to confirm with any of his more reliable sources.

Maeve rose an eyebrow as she heard Zevran’s explanation “This sounds like a little too much dear. I know better than to ask you to retire” she started before sipping from her glass of water “but I am afraid of something happening to you in that ordeal. Have you considered teaming up with someone? To have someone watching your back.”

“I can’t be your only old friend, you have helped many people along the years haven’t you?” asked the woman “Someone must owe you a favor or two” She knew that Zevran tended to work alone, like she had but she had done her best after teaming up with Lucien, maybe there could be someone like that for Zev?

Well there’s the Vultures of course, and the Red Jennies. I mean we all mainly work along within the groups, only that we have common goals of course, but I fell confident that if I needed favours, it wouldn’t be an issue. So far I’m steering clear of the Elgar’nan situation and keeping my focus on the Crows. I’m not trusting enough to consider the age old saying of, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, not until I learn more about this elf. He may be an enemy of the Crows, but if he did play a part in the King’s murder, I’m not sure he’s someone I would want as an ally. There were always machinations afoot in Antiva, but lately it felt like they were on a whole new level of crazy.

“What it’s the current state of the Elgar’nan situation. Since I got pregnant I have been a bit out of the loop but a part of me is worried about being too unaware of danger” she said with a frown “I trust that if things got very bad, as in a general matter, you’d give me a heads up I think that I have lost most of my sources from the old good days and from those you are the person I trust the most” because if Zevran told her to ran she would, grabbing Lucien on the way. She’d trust Zevran with her unborn child’s fate if necessary.

He has become quite the pain in Antiva’s arse, especially the Crows. Though if rumours are true he had a hand in King Frankie’s death. Sad affair really, I did not know the man personally, but I respected the fuck out of him. Zevran paused, there were so many rumours surrounding Elgar’nan and The Eth, to the point Zevran wasn’t sure who to believe. So for right now he aired on the side of caution and decided he wouldn’t trust anything to do with them until he learned more. Of course my dear, I’d say whatever this Elgar’nan has planned, he seems to be focused on Antiva. If anything changes, or I learn more in general, believe me you’ll be the first to hear. Well perhaps the second, I’d probably check in with Kershaw first, one of the other Vultures.

I only heard great things about him too, Frankie was really a model of a king” said the brunette with a nod. “Well that’s a bit of a respite of Orlais; while I am not blind to this country numerous flaws is still home and it hurts to see how lately it has been so shaken by disgraces” she said with a serious expression “Althought the same could be said about all Thedas. I think that I will die before I can see this land without a problem or another going on” at this point Maeve would settle for normal wars as long as undeads and old gods stayed out of the fucking picture.

Well, you know, if there was nothing going wrong anywhere in Thedas, I think I would be rather afraid, or perhaps wonder if I’d died and gone to some sort of afterlife. Zevran wasn’t exactly a devout Andrastian, nor was he a devout follower of the Elvhen gods. He was more pragmatic than that, why worry about an afterlife when living required so much attention.

I’m afraid if the stories I’ve heard about the old Elvhen ‘gods’. He did air quotes at the word gods, since he didn’t really believe them to be gods, especially after he’d met Bajie, an ancient elf that had woken up ten years earlier. They won’t be satisfied at just Antiva. He couldn’t imagine the world going back to the way it was when Bajie had walked the world hundreds upon hundreds of years earlier, surely there would be enough people to stand up and fight against that outcome.

“I would definitively wonder the same” she said laughing. She wished her child would live a more peaceful time but apparently that was not something that could be achieved, so she would focus in giving her child the best life she could despite of the problems.

“Then we will give them hell. I am retired but not above fighting to keep safe what’s mine” she said seriously. Her family and friends would be safe, she had not survived Dubois to lose them now. There was a fire in her eyes that spoke of her past, when instead of parading with noble dresses she had paraded with hidden daggers.

Zevran chuckled as Maeve responded in agreement with his statement about Thedas. It was sad really, that one expected so much disaster and chaos that peace would make one paranoid. At least one couldn’t say that Thedas was a dull place to live, if that was any consolation. Zevran would sometimes think about what he might do if he retired to some little corner of Thedas away from all the chaos and just ignored the world, but he knew deep down he’d never be the sort of person that could walk away from trouble, or from people in need.

He nodded as she said they would give them what they had coming. He knew all too well what a worthy opponent that Maeve could be, one reason he was always glad to have ended up on her good side, even if they had been occasionally in competition. It made him think about his family, out there somewhere. Were they safe? He had no idea, but he’d gotten them away from the Crows and never heard about them resurfacing with the Crows, so at least they appeared to be safe from them and from all the enemies he had made along the way.

I’ll keep you posted. Sadly right now there’s not yet been anything major organised against The Eth. I’m sure Arlathan will stand against them, beyond that I just can’t be sure right now. Too many conflicting stories. He’d heard that Ferelden had just caved without even the suggestion of a fight, he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, or if other kingdoms would follow suit, but it wasn’t something worth mentioning until he was sure about the accuracy of the information.