“They’re coming.” he warned his partner in crime that it was time to retreat to the safety of the hallway’s shadows. A few swift, noiseless steps and they both disappeared in a dark corner. The castle was dimly lit, and so far all the guards they had seen were humans. They didn’t expect it to be otherwise, but running into an elven servant could still cause serious problems. The two elves were waiting in the shadows for the guard patrol to pass by, and quickly lowered their eyes when they walked past them. As soon as they had their opportunity, they leapt out of the darkness, and silently raced through the hallway where the guards came from. When they reached the next corner, the blond man stopped and carefully checked if the passages were clear, then signed to the other elf to let her know it was safe. They took a single step, and then heard a door opening with a large creak. Warm light lit up the hallway behind them, they had to get out of the junction immediately. There was no time to think about which of the two directions they should chose, so the short, black haired woman took the lead and dashed to the passage to their right. Her partner was right behind her as they hurried through the hallway. They could hear talking from behind, they needed to hide somewhere, escape them, they knew that they mustn’t be discovered. Not now, that they have come so far. Suddenly they reached a larger room with more torches, and no places to hide. They could hear people laughing across the room, possibly more guards, they were most likely trapped between two patrols. “Stairs.” the woman gave the instruction in hushed voice, and the two rogues ran to the stairway, but as soon as they took the first couple of steps, two servant girls walked around the corner and made their way downstairs. The man briefly looked up at the ceiling, rolled his eyes, and with that motion began to chat merrily with his partner: “Your fighting skills must have really impressed the king.” rang the playful Antivan accent in the hall. “Is it true that he invited you to the celebrations personally?” “Are you implying that I would lie about something this serious?” the woman demanded in a slightly insulted tone. “I don’t know. Perhaps you intend to charm me into your bed with your thrilling stories… If that is case, I happily inform you that you are on the right path.” “Are you forgetting who you’re talking to? Maybe I should demonstrate my skills and punch you in the face.” “Oh, how could such cruel words come from such a marvelous creature like yourself?”The confident and quite loud banter seemed to fool the servants. They gave a quick glance to the two rogues, but they didn’t look like they suspected that anything was amiss. “Well, my dear…” Zevran sighed when they reach the top of the stairs. “I have never in my life infiltrated a castle so loudly!” “We both know that’s not true.” the elven woman chuckled. “Alright, but I would say it’s a close second. Now it is time to use that excellent memory of yours and find the right chamber.” It didn’t take much time to accomplish that and they also picked the lock of the old wooden door pretty quickly. Once they were inside, Aduri started to study the room and look for a convenient place to hide, while Zevran wandered around, examining the most interesting objects he could find. “What do you say? Shall I take all my clothes off to display my ridiculously attractive body?” he proposed after he soothed his curiousity. “Later, darling, later.” the woman jested.Zevran removed his shirt and wrapped some fancy blanket around himself that he had found in one of the chests. Then he jumped on the bed and started to make ridiculous postures which made Aduri giggle helplessly in her hiding place. The man continued to entertain his lover with smart little jokes, and the other elf kept hushing him without any significant success, until all of sudden they both went quiet. They could hear footsteps approaching, and a few moments later the door opened and a man entered the bedroom. He was deeply distracted by a letter or a report, he didn’t even look up from his reading as he closed the door behind him. “Reading something interesting?” “MAKER’S BREATH!!” the king shouted out in his surprise. “I hope it’s something nasty at least…” Zevran added with a mischievous grin on his face. “Am I… dreaming this?” the man took a deep sigh. “It really feels like I’m dreaming this…”Aduri chuckled softly at the two of them, then gave a big hug to her old friend. “I missed you so much!” she told him. “You know you could have just told me that you were coming, right?” “And where is the fun that, my friend?” Zevran remarked as he got up from the bed. “I am happy to see you both.” the man assured them as he gave a brief hug to the other elf. “So if I understood you correctly…” Zevran said. “the King of Ferelden has been dreaming about me?”With a sudden movement Alistair turned to Aduri and asked her in a friendly voice: “Riight, so when are you going back to Antiva?”
