As soon as they were out of the bustling city, Evelyn helped Sirena mount her horse the same way Cassandra did the day before. After helping the different girl, the Herald then moved to the side of her own horse and lifted her leg up to put her boot in the stirrup then swung her other leg over to sit astride on the saddle. Trevelyan had pulled out the paper she was holding earlier that day which came with the red package and flipped the parchment over in her hands, noticing a map on the back that she didn’t see before.

“It looks like we don’t have to go too far. We are going to be heading to another part of Orlais, where more nobles reside.” She informed everyone while remembering where the location was by looking at the map.

“We will follow you, Herald.” Varric said as Evelyn rolled her eyes not liking the title. She didn’t earn it. It was thrust upon her after she helped with the breach the first time when everyone thought she was guilty for people dying in the conclave. Still having the picture of the map in her hippocampus, she gently kicked her horse to a walk, heading in the direction they needed to go.

“Does anyone know who this “Red Jenny” is?” Cassandra asked, a little suspicious thinking the situation could be a trap. Solas looked towards Sirena getting a hunch like she had the answer to the seeker’s question. Feeling the elf’s eyes on her yet again, the American girl looked back and was not at all surprised to find him looking her way. With irritation, she confronted him in her own way that sounded like she was annoyed and impatient.

“You have something to say Solas?”

“No, I do not.” He said with a lot of calm as the look of disappointment was written all over his face. The elf was not expecting that outburst from her and in a way it surprised him.

“Then why are you looking at me like I know the answer?” Everyone looked at her in surprise wondering where the defensive attitude came from. The anger bubbling out of nowhere was rather shocking to them all. They then looked over towards the apostate wanting to see what he would say next to the girl who was obviously new to this life and had no control over her tongue. Some found this rather refreshing at the same time it was dangerous to show one’s emotions in the world where they lived in.

“Do you know who the Red Jenny is?” He asked with wisdom while wondering what she would say. Would the girl become angrier after his question? Solas, though, he didn’t really care for the young woman; he was strangely enthralled by her. She was fresh in his eyes. The elf was still looking at her when he heard the girl’s response.

“No, I don’t.” The American said while trying to keep a straight since she didn’t want to get caught lying to them. They have been so nice to her that she would end up feeling guilty for doing so. There was always one big sign that would tell everyone that she fibbed which was smiling during a serious moment. To her relief, it looked like he bought it. She really didn’t want to become a liar; it wasn’t like her at all. Sadly, she had to do what she needed to in order to not screw things up.

“Why were you so defensive?” Solas asked curiously with a raised brow wondering what excuse she could come up with.

“Heat exhaustion does that to me.” She explained with honesty. When Sirena was out in the heat for a long period of time the poor girl would start having attitude problems which she has been working to control. Her anger was also the first sign of dehydration. As they continued to ride on in the heat, Sirena’s vision began to get spotty. She was seeing white spots even after blinking her eyes which did not help her at all instead it might have made things worse for her. Eventually, she removed her left hand from the horse’s reigns and raised it to her forehead. The American girl began to feel light headed and leaned a bit forward on the saddle. Varric who was keeping an eye on her after her outburst, watched her lean forward and knew she needed help. He then called out to Trevelyan.

“Herald, we should camp for the rest of the day.”

“Why…?” Evelyn looked back towards her dwarven friend. She noticed him looking over in the American’s direction and her own eyes flicked over to see her slumped as well. Trevelyan then nodded her head in agreement. It looked like something was terribly wrong in her eyes and she could see why Varric was concerned. “Alright, everyone we are camping here for the night!” She said wanting give the girl the help she needed. Evelyn had never in her past seen anyone react that way to the heat like Sirena was. Before helping the poor girl, the Herald looked over the group to make sure everyone else was okay. When she was satisfied, she dismounted off her horse and looked over to notice Varric was standing next to the girl’s horse. She then felt her own feet move towards their direction.

Sirena carefully dismounted the bay horse that she was riding on so she wouldn’t fall backwards on her back. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she swayed slightly as both Varric and Evelyn reached out to help steady her. The American scanned the area with her eyes and noticed a spot that was shaded under a tree. Finally looking at the two helping her, she gave them a soft smile to get rid of the concern look off their faces.

“Sorry about this.”

“Sorry about what?” Evelyn asked out of curiosity.

“I know why you decided to camp here, it was because of me. I will be okay if I sit in the shade for a while.”

“You also need to drink water.” Varric added while still eyeing her, making sure she was okay.

“We are also going to camp here for your sake.” The Herald said taking care of the one from the modern world so she was able to get better.

“Really; I’ll be okay after I sit in the shade.”

“Sirena, you could have passed out on your horse. Go sit in the shade and I will put your tent up under the tree’s branches. Varric, go through my bag and get out a canteen full of water.”

“I’ll be right on it.” The rogue dwarf said before running off towards the Herald’s chestnut horse.

“Will you be okay to walk on your own?” Evelyn asked wanting to make sure Sirena was going to be fine on her own for a bit so she could get the girl’s tent from her carry on and set it up.

“Yes, I’ll be okay.” Said the girl knowing she could make it that far without anyone knowing there was something wrong with her at the moment.

“Alright then” Trevelyan said giving the American woman a little smile. She grabbed Sirena’s bag off the saddle and glanced towards the tree, seeing the young woman walking towards the shaded area. Evelyn then looked over at Varric who was struggling to reach her own bag on the saddle. She placed Sirena’s on the ground and made her way over to her horse to help the dwarf. “Sorry I had forgotten for a minute there that you’re too short to reach up to the saddle.” The Herald said while smiling in amusement.

“Yes, I should probably get a pony instead.” He commented back as she gave him her decent sized bag. After he took her things, Evelyn came up with a comeback for him.

“Yes, you should. It would match your size.” She said which left a lot of room for thinking what she meant by “size” whether if it was about his height or other things.

“Did you learn the comeback from Sirena?” Varric asked while raising a brow and amused smirk.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“No, why do you ask?” Evelyn asked finally getting serious again.

“Because, that would be her response” she let out a little laugh from what the dwarf told her.

“She does have wit; I’ll give her that.” The Herald walked back over to the bay horse and picked up Sirena’s stuff then looked back over at Varric. “I’m going to go pitch up her tent.” Trevelyan said as the dwarf nodded his head. Both people made their way over to the shaded tree where the young woman was sitting.

The American looked over to see what the others were doing as her head settled back down. Her vision went back to normal after a while as she stayed out of the sun’s rays which she knew could be dangerous anyway due to all the skin cancers that there were. As she was watching Cassandra and Solas, her thoughts went over to Cullen. Sirena knew the Commander should be off limits to her and she tried to keep her own feelings in check, but it turned out she couldn’t. She wondered if he was going to write back to her or if he kept her own letter close to him. As she continued to think about him, her eyes closed and began to lean back against the tree when she heard two pairs of feet walking towards her. Her eyes slowly opened and immediately saw Varric and Evelyn. The dwarf walked closer to her and sat down on the ground facing the young woman. Her eyes glanced over towards her “cousin” and watched her set up the red Inquisition tent with a white eye on it.

“You really don’t need to do that; I can do it myself.” Sirena said as she tried to get up before Varric pushed her gently back down. Who would have thought that someone so short could push her down so easily?

“No, you sit back and nurse yourself back to health.” The Herald said sternly while glancing quickly at the outsider before going back to her task. With a sigh and a slight glare towards the dwarf, Sirena let herself relax against the tree again. Her ears could pick up the sound of someone rummaging through someone’s belongings. Realizing her special sword was still attached to her; the American untied the straps and set it beside herself.

Noticing a hand motion, her eyes glanced up from looking at the mother of pearl cherry blossoms on the scabbard of her katana and saw Varric holding out a leather flask to her. She took the object in her hand and heard water slosh around on the inside of it.

“You need to drink water. You are clearly dehydrated.” Varric said gently to her so she wouldn’t get a migraine. He saw her head bob up and down in a nod agreeing to his statement. She pulled the cork out and raised the flask to her lips taking a swig of refreshing water. That was the moment she realized how thirsty she was. The girl continued to drink until she felt like she was satisfied then passed it back to her friend so he could also take a few swigs.

“Thanks.” Sirena said with gratitude before looking over at Trevelyan and smiled while the dwarf drank some of the water himself. “And thank you Evelyn for also helping.” She also said pretty much grateful for all that she has done for her. With surprise from not expecting her “cousin” to speak so soon, her eyes blinked before she, too, gave a smile of her own.

“It is no problem at all.” The Herald said before making a few final adjustments to finish putting up the tent. “Your tent is now ready to be occupied.” The American smiled in amusement, noticing her talking pattern was becoming similar to her own which she found funny.

As the young woman was moving into the tent, a raven flew past her face causing her to let out a little shriek and jump. When she got a good look at the black feathered bird, her ears picked up the sound of laughter outside the tent which caused her face to turn red out of embarrassment. Staying near the flap of the tent, she sat down and went back to relaxing while also trying to forget that she got scared from the bird flying out of nowhere. Her eyes looked down at the smart creature and noticed it was looking at her expectantly which made her look down at its leg to see a rolled up message attached to it. Sirena moved forward slowly so she didn’t startle the pretty black bird and removed the parchment from its leg.

Varric peered into the tent out of curiosity as to why a raven would be going to the new girl, though; her surprise did bring entertainment to those who heard her little scream. When he was at a good angle, he watched the girl who looked like a teenager, take something off the raven’s leg. At that point he knew he had to tease her since she was the only one at camp to receive any message. He didn’t even know where it came from, though he did remember she sent a message out herself to someone before they went to Val Royeaux.

“Is that a letter from a lover of yours?” The dwarf asked behind her which caused the girl to jump slightly in her spot. He noticed a soft blush rising to her face. ‘I wonder who the person is that she is interested in…I have seen the looks she gives Curly…’ Varric thought, his protective side coming out since she felt like family to him.

“No, I have no lover.” Sirena said truthfully while she tried to keep her face hidden from him since she felt the heat in her face.

“Do you wish he was?”

“Even if I did, I’m sure he would not notice me in the slightest.” Varric could tell immediately that she was talking about Cullen. He saw the looks they shared when they thought no one was looking. It was rather cute. At that point, he decided it was best to stay out of it and leave it to the two. The dwarf did have a talk with the Commander about his feelings for her… Sort of and he was happy to find out the man was finally taking actions of his feelings for the girl. Or at least he thought he was. However it was obvious that she didn’t know. He grinned softly as he watched her looking at the letter that was indeed in Cullen’s handwriting which he was very familiar with due to his days in Kirkwall.

“I will leave you be.” Varric said before leaving her tent to go off and do his own thing while she read his letter in privacy.

Sirena waited to open the letter till her friend was gone. Though, she was sure he saw the writing where her name was written. She glanced back to make sure that she was indeed alone because the girl wanted to be by herself without anyone reading over her shoulder. Plus, in her mind, reading a letter was rather personal and she didn’t think it was anyone’s business. She slowly unrolled the letter and read it while biting her lower lip feeling excitement to read the words Cullen had written to her.

Dear Sirena,

I hope nothing too terrible happens in Val Royeaux. As for the elf mage who you were asking about; I’m sure he doesn’t try to be in your words “creepy”. He just comes off like that. Solas did join the Inquisition at his own volition. I’m sure once you get to know him, you’ll end up liking him in the end. To answer your other statement, I too, enjoy having a good companion to talk to as well. It is quite nice to have received a letter from you.

Sincerely,

Cullen Rutherford

PostScript: Your writing wasn’t bad at all.

As Sirena read the Commander’s letter, she felt her heart plummet when she got to the part about the elf. She didn’t know why her heart was so affected by his words; maybe it was time for her to come to terms with herself. ‘I think I really like Cullen. We share glances like Varric has said and I do think he’s attractive for his age, but I didn’t know I could actually like him. For fuck sake, Evelyn should be with him. She is from here after all.’ The American woman thought before reading the rest of the letter now chewing on her lip. As she was reading the rest of his words, her heart began to accelerate in her chest. After she was done reading his letter, the young woman quickly looked around the tent for her bag that had her stuff in it. When she spotted her carry on, her arm quickly reached out to grab it then dragged it over towards herself carefully. She felt eager to write back to him as her hands reached down into the bag; getting the dark wooden object out. Her strength was failing her due to her heat exhaustion from earlier which made her grow irritated at herself for feeling so weak. With stubbornness, she pulled the box out using a lot of energy that she didn’t really have. She took out all the things she needed to write with and began to carefully write so her handwriting would go back to how it usually looked when she wrote with a pen or pencil.

Dear Cullen,

It looks like there will be trouble after all. The Chantry Mother had slandered the Herald before getting punched in the face by a Templar. It was horrible to watch yet oddly amusing. In my eyes, she got what she deserved. As for the situation with Solas; I do not think he likes me. He thought I was a spirit! So I ended up laughing in his face. I couldn’t help it. The thought of me being a spirit was funny and preposterous. I must ask you, were you the one who put the writing utensils in my bag? If so, I want to thank you. Also, if it was you, you’ll be hearing a thank you in person as well. I am also happy to know that my writing skills are not that bad. I hope you tell me how you’re everyone is fairing in Haven.

Sincerely,

Sirena Laurelet

She wrote back to him with a smile on her face. Her fingers rolled up the letter tightly after the black ink dried up and tied it to the raven’s leg like Cullen did then told the bird to go back to the Commander. The American didn’t know how the intelligent creature found her nor did she really care, she was happy he replied to her period. Though, the young woman also kept herself from getting her hopes up in case she gets hurt later on. With a soft sigh, she put the stuff away and set it off to the side in a corner. The American girl pulled out her sleeping roll and laid it on the floor of the tent then made herself lie down in it while preparing for a cold night. Her eyes slowly began to close in drowsiness.