Chapter Text
Finding Isabela's ship was easier than expected; she wasn't really hiding, having docked in the middle of Antiva City's docks, but then again, she didn't need to hide, did she? Thus they were off the next day, Raven and Crow, holding hands, with a happy mabari trotting a few steps ahead of them.
Expecting at least some action, Sheylla had forced herself to leave the fancy dresses at home, rather picking some fancy pants instead. Zevran still described her as femme fatale, despite wearing only tight-fitting leather pants, boots to her ankles, both enchanted for a possible combat scenario, a pooffy-sleeved off-shoulder blouse that was tightened to her by a black corset and a cloak slung over her shoulder, mainly to hide the plain view of Spellweaver at her hip; she didn't want to seem suspicious, despite generating a lot of looks. She was a woman in her prime, flaunting her shape, occasionally giving sultry looks to the starers, flipping her burgundy curls to the side. The cloak also strategically hid the direct view of her gloved arm; stares at it made her mildly uncomfortable still.
Zevran was amused by her saucy behavior. She was much more timid when he met her, but even then she seemed to have a wildly mischievous side, hidden under layers of uncertainty and self-doubt. The best part? She was his. This absolute goddess of a woman, who singlehandedly, no pun intended, saved the world, was all his. Not only that, she helped him clean himself of guilt and self-doubt as well... he learned to be worthy of love, that reminder still hanging on her neck; his earring, that never left her chest, always proudly displayed, no matter the layers, or lack of, she wore.
While Zevran drank the sight of his lover, the ex-Warden's thoughts spun about what she would find aboard Isabela's ship. Trouble? Had to be. But what kind of trouble? She was scared for her cousin, Leliana wouldn't send her here on a whim... her guts were twisting in knots... something was wrong and every fiber of her being told her that. That's what made her really lose her mind; she trusted her gut, it had yet to lead her astray and it was giving her red flags the size of Oghren's drinking spree. Maker knows that dwarf has not been sober in years.
As they stopped on the deck leading to the Siren, Sheylla was anxiously nipping at her bottom lip. This got Zev a bit concerned, as he hadn't seen her fret this much since the night before Denerim. Compared to that battle, this was children's play, yet in her mind, it was just as scary as facing an Archdemon, or so it seemed. He nudged her a bit. "Calm, amor... it'll be okay. Whatever it is, you can fix." he comforted her.
"mm... I'm a fixer, that's true..." his lover gave him a soft, but anxious smile. Taking a deep breath she nodded a bit. He was right. It'll be fine... now. It was going to be fine now. She was here and she'd fix it. She always fixed everything. "Let's go..." she finally uttered
Zev smiled a bit, glad he could ease at least some of her nerves as they walked up the walkway, the crew already scurrying around to notify their captain before they even did and once they set foot onto the ship, the Rivaini woman was already waiting, wide grin on her face.
"Look at you, all fancy. Seeing you in silks is nothing new, Amell, but Zevran? Hah!" Isabela poked fun
"We cannot be all as openly inviting as you are, dear Isabela." the elf shot back, amused and gave a mock bow, making sure to wave his cape around as he did
"It's not Amell anymore, Isabela..." Shey said, rolling her eyes a bit and then let go of Zevran's hand, coming closer and hugging the pirate queen. "It's good to see you again."
"Aw, love, I'm glad to see you're doing well too." Isabela gave a one-armed hug back and then winked at Zev, who merely smirked back
"So... what is this about? Hawke? Leliana's message was pretty vague..." the magess went straight to the point
"Not here, sweetums, come." Isabela shushed Shey and then lead her to the captain's cabin, Reaper already sitting at the door as if he knew they were going in before anyone else, but he went quite unnoticed by his magess owner.
That made Sheylla nibble on her lip again. Was it that bad? Or was it just because it was Ri and she was supposed to be hiding? The suspense was slowly getting to her and she followed Isabela, hot on her heels, quietly hoping that her gut was wrong, for once in her lifetime. She slipped inside, Zev after and Isabela closed the door, locked it, which made Shey look back a bit incredulous, especially when she heard Reaper's happy barking and a hushed whisper of 'down boy'.
"Sorry, love, can't have you running away." Isa said.
It was a stupid notion, seeing as the magess still could break the door open if she wanted to, but that wasn't her concern now. Her head whipped back inside the cabin to find out what in the Maker's name was going on here... and her blood froze in her veins for a while. In that moment, all she could feel was gut-wrenching guilt.
"Maker's breath... you're alive..." a painfully familiar voice spoke out.
"Told you she was." She heard Varric respond, but he didn't concern her, for now.
"You'd know if I was dead, Alistair..." Shey whispered quietly, feeling Zev's hand take hers. He knew how she felt... how much guilt and disappoint he felt towards her, at least in her mind.
"Sheylla... I..." Alistair began, seemingly just as gobsmacked as his fellow Warden was, taking a while before he stepped forward, not caring that the magess tried to step back and hugged her tightly. "Everyone assured you were okay, but Maker, seeing you okay is something else entirely." he said.
Shey blinked. The gears in her head were visibly turning, confused by everything, him being here, the message that now made no sense, his reaction... this wasn't how she pictured everything...
"I...are you not mad at me?" she whispered, quietly
"Mad? Well, a bit hurt you never wrote me..." Alistair pulled away and pouted with his usual playfulness and then frowned. "Why? Was I supposed to be?" he asked
"...I'd... imagined you would be... I made you king and then ran away from my own responsibilities..." she looked away, admitting her shame.
"...I can't say I blame you. I probably would have done the same thing, but being King isn't so bad. After the whole shenanigans you went through... I am sorry... I could have been there for you... all of us should have." he said
"Yeah... it wasn't fun... I lost a lot of friends in Amaranthine... all for some stupid talking Darkspawn..." she muttered and sighed. Scars were slow to heal. "But wait, why are you here? Why am I here?" she then asked
"To be fair, I wasn't informed you were coming." Alistair scratched his head with a goofy grin.
"A birdie told me you were here and honestly? The prince is gonna need help with it." Varric said
"Well, that and we're gonna go into the Crow Archives. Zevran can guide us!" Isabela said cheerfully
"Pardon?" Zev blinked.
"...the archives? Why?" Sheylla asked curiously
"Stupidity..." Isabela muttered.
"Unfortunately I would not be much of a guide, my friends. I have not been there much myself; archives are not really where mere assassins hung out." Zevran said
"Why are we even breaking into there?" Sheylla asked, then sitting down on the desk.
"I... well..." Alistair began and sighed. "It sounds crazy..."
"Hasn't stopped us before, go on." The magess pressed
"There are rumors that the Crows have King Maric... I... I just want to know if it's real." Alistair said.
"Kin-- your father? Here?" Shey's eyebrows rose. "Love?" she looked at Zev who shrugged.
"I cannot say for certain, my love. Such rumors circulate a lot and I cannot know if they had much merit. Many people claim they have a lot of people... naturally, some of it is true, but... I have little to no knowledge of higher Crow secrets, especially after what I did." Zevran said. "Breaking into the archives will be no small feat, amor... it's guarded and trapped."
"Now you see why I figured we needed help." Varric said, while Sheylla hummed and kept bobbing her head.
"Will you help? Please? Reaper will, right boy? Of course you will!" Alistair then turned his attention to the mabari who barked happily in response and gave his mistress a begging look.
"I'm no longer much of a front-row soldier..." the magess sighed.
"You don't need to be! Last I checked, you wielded some impressive fireballs!" Alistair said
"Most of them aimed at us as well." Zevran added.
"Oh bugger off, I warded you people beforehand!" Shey said and pouted. Then sighed. "Fine. We'll help. Only if Isabela gives us a lift towards Nevarra after." Shey raised a finger.
"Sweetums, I'd done that without your help."
"Hey!" Alistair said
"There was never anything wrong with Zariah, was there?" Shey asked.
"No, she and Broody are rather happily living in their little hut." Varric said. "I guess someone knew you wouldn't come otherwise."
"...No, I wouldn't have." the magess agreed and sighed
"See, Amor? You worry to much." Zevran stroked her cheek a bit.
Shey couldn't help but burst into laughter. The stress and anxiety now leaving her, the pure relief that washed over; all she could do is laugh. "It'll be fun. For old times' sake." she said and looked at Alistair. "Wouldn't be me if I didn't fix your problems, now would it?"
"Ha. Ha." The king rolled her eyes at her and smiled. "Just like old times." he agreed