The Winter's Queen [Magus AU]

[Isabela]

She shakes her head. "He's not holding up well. I want to get him out of this city, and you should go too."

[Tethras Clan]

~Sleep, sure, he needs to... process. But if you try and smuggle him out, once he wakes up, he'll just come right back. And this time, he won't trust anyone so he'll try to do it alone,~ Varric says firmly.

[Carver Amell]

"Do you want some alone time?" asks Carver, nervously. "I can go keep him company if you two want to..."

[Tethras Clan]

~Can't, I just tried that, remember? You're the only one I can... 'seek refuge within' according to Mileen.~  He pauses. ~Well, maybe your uncle, if that's close enough. But given he's a, in jail, and b, a drunken wastrel, you're the better bet.~

[Carver Amell]

Carver pulls a face. "You popped out to talk before, I don't see why you're skittish now."

[Isabela]

Isabela sighs. "We don't have time for your squabbling, Carver. What did he say."

[Carver Amell]

Carver sighs. "Says if you smuggle him out, he'll just come right back."

[Tethras Clan]

~Yeah, I did. And it felt like bathing in raw corruption. Pleasant, even pleasurable corruption, so I'm loathe to do it anymore than I absolutely have to, thanks.~

[Isabela]

Isabela scowls. "He'll try. Why did you have to go and tell him-- what you said?" she says, loathe to even murmur Hawke's name within a hundred yards of Zevran right now. 

[Tethras Clan]

~Why did I tell him his lovers were murdered, their bodies being used as meat-puppets while their souls are twisting in painful limbo? Grins and giggles,~ he says flatly. ~Because he deserves to know.~ And I don't have a body so I need help. Zevran's the one I can trust the most to stay the course, do what needs doing. Everyone else is dead or worse.

[Carver Amell]

Carver winces. Have some care. She's my sister, you know. "Because he deserved to know, he says." 

[Isabela]

"So you think he deserves to suffer like this. Good to know where you stand," she mutters. 

[Tethras Clan]

~And my daughter,~ Varric replies, detached tone slipping to let some of the anguish he's in show through. ~...sorry. Wait, what is she even on about? He knew that... that she was dead well before we met up.~

[Carver Amell]

"You both knew she was dead," Carver says, frowning. 

[Isabela]

Isabela scowls. "Yes. But dead is one thing. You made him believe he could save her. Damn him, he thinks he owes her everything. As if he was--" She breaks off. "He doesn't know when to quit."