Hazelnuts and plaid

[Marian Hawke]

Marian's arms tighten a little around her Papa, defensively. "You need to sleep," she agrees. "Even I haven't been that bad about sleep."

[Varric]

"I know," he whispers, dozens of excuses springing to his lips only to break against the quiver in Marian's voice. "I know. I will. I'm home now. I can rest here."

[Marian Hawke]

"Promise me. Even if I go to prison, you'll rest and let Clan help you. Okay?"

[Varric]

(Even I can't break into The Rock by myself.) "Promise," he whispers back. "As soon as I can, I'll get real sleep."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian holds him then for a while, rubbing his back gently, trying to impart what peace she can before the Lord Hand returns to fetch them. Only then does she let him go, pulling back to wipe the tears from her face. 

"Alright," she says quietly. "I'm ready."

The circle they've created in the ritual space is perfect; nevertheless, both Hawke and her Papa inspect it again, looking for errors or misshapen runes, just to check. Then she kneels on the placed cushion, preparing to cast before she pauses. 

"What exactly am I asking? Did we write down the questions?"

[NPCs]

Panis, Varric and Victoria all pause. Glance at each other. Stay silent. Aveline starts snickering.

[Marian Hawke]

Marian chuckles, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes. "Alright. You said there's a problem with Merrill? Am I asking... what? Where her soul now resides? What we can do to get her back? What problem we encountered while raising her?"

[Panis zi’Ulthlis]

"That last, I think," Panis offers, the other two defaulting to him despite his lesser role in the endeavor. "Finding out what the problem was is most vital, as we have resources enough available to solve most issues, provided we have something to work towards. Obviously, getting more information if possible would be beneficial."

[Varric]

"If we have the chance," Varric says quickly, before Hawke can agree and get started, "if we get enough of an answer to help Merrill, then I want to ask-- to have asked-- if the Bitch is behind the attacks on our Clan." A beat. "Any or all of the attacks that involved or resulted in the death of Merrill or the recent harming of Anders or Zevran."

[Marian Hawke]

Hawke blinks. "... but it was an accident?" she offers, hesitantly. "I can ask, but, unless She did something to me..."

[Varric]

"Was it?" Varric asks leadingly. "Given you don't even remember the night in question..."

[Marian Hawke]

"You think maybe She did something to Merrill to make her....? It's worth asking, I suppose."

[Varric]

"Or maybe just arranged for you to get the toxin in the first place, then nudged you to keep it or..." He shrugs a little. 

[Marian Hawke]

"Should I ask if She was behind it or should I ask who was behind it?"

[Varric]

Varric studies the ground for a long moment, pondering the merits of both questions. "Bright Victoria?" he finally asks. "Thoughts on that?"