They had only been travelling for about a week, and all three were tired and dishevelled. Hirik said it would take little over a month to get to Val Royeaux on horseback. Much longer on foot. So they had stolen horses. Another crime to add to the list.
They had been keeping off the main roads, and when they needed to resupply they only visited the smallest of villages, remote enough they may not have heard about the runaway bastard. If he was even looking. She had asked him not to. Would he have listened? Maybe after reading her letter he never intended to find her anyway. Maybe her absence was a welcome relief.
She shook the thought away. She was doing him a disservice. He would never look at her absence like that. He loved her, and he had shown it time and time again. She did hope he would come to appreciate the peace she was bringing to his life by leaving it though.
"We should rest soon," Tai said. "I think I see a clearing up ahead."
His eyes peered through the trees intently, his golden spun hair was pulled back into a simple knot, but like the rest of them, he was grubby and exhausted. They had come to quickly realise how ill-prepared they truly were for this journey. They hadn't even known which way to go initially, not until they'd stolen a map.
They reached the clearing he'd seen; it would make a decent site for a camp. Enough space for a fire and their bedrolls, grass enough for their horses, and a shallow stream gurgled nearby, offering water to drink and wash away some of the road dust clinging to their skin.
They dismounted in silence, falling into the routine they'd established over the past week. Evie tended to the horses, Hirik gathered wood for the fire, and Tai sorted their dwindling supplies and prepared what they had to make dinner.
"We're making decent time, I think," Tai said when the others returned from their respective tasks.
Hirik started setting up the campfire while Tai spread their stolen map out on the ground. Evie came to sit beside him, getting a look as well. "We should reach the base of the Frostbacks in another week. We'll have to travel the main road; there aren't any other safe passages from the look of it. That will be our most likely time to be caught. It will take a few days to cross them."
None of them fancied the idea of camping in the cold. They didn't have a tent.
"We could go to Skyhold, spend one of our nights there," Hirik suggested.
Evie had met the Inquisitor before, a few years ago when the woman had come to Denerim to speak with her father. Though the Inquisition had been leashed since the ruling years back, Skyhold was still its base of operations and doubled as a trading hub and a safe place to sleep. They welcomed travellers, merchants, and recruits alike.
"Hopefully Inquisitor Lavellan isn't there when we are," Evie said.
"You think she'd remember you?"
Evie shrugged a shoulder. "Not a risk I'd want to take."
Hirik grunted his agreement. "There is something of a shanty town outside the gates of Orzammar," he suggested. "Before we get to the Frostbacks, we are going to need better supplies. We'll freeze."
The other two nodded.
"Once we're over the mountains, it's another two weeks to Val Royeaux if we maintain this pace."
"Do you think Kieran will come with us?" Evie asked.
"Why wouldn't he?" Tai asked. "He's been trying to get you to run away for some time now. And he hates the university."
Which they had always found a little strange. He loved reading and learning and discussions with like-minded people. But then, only nobles and the children of the extremely wealthy were let in. For many, the university was more about status than education.
"That last letter where he described his professor as a 'soul-sucking demon in robes' was particularly vivid," Evie mused.
"He will definitely come," Tai insisted.
"Assuming we aren't caught first," Hirik muttered, his expression turning serious. With practised movements, he struck flint against steel, shooting sparks into the kindling. "That merchant we passed this morning, he looked at us too long. I'm telling you, he recognised Evie."
"He did not," she said, though doubt nagged at her. She had been keeping her hood up to obscure her features. Maybe it wasn't enough.
"Bastard or not, Alistair's searching for you as if you were his only child," Hirik said, adding larger sticks to nurture the flames. "Word at every inn and crossroad is that King Alistair himself is leading the search parties along the western roads."
"He must know we're likely to go to Kieran," Tai said.
"Father is personally searching? Are you certain?" Evie asked.
"That's what they're saying," Hirik confirmed. "One of the farmers I bought these apples from said he'd seen the king's personal standard flying near Redcliffe. Not the royal banner – his personal one."
"He wouldn't send proxies," Tai agreed softly, watching Evie's face. "Not for you."
Evie felt her throat tighten. His personal standard – he only used it when he travelled on personal matters, not affairs of state. If he was flying that banner, he wasn't searching as a king for a political asset, but a father for his beloved daughter.
It was almost enough to make her give up this idea, to scurry home with her tail between her legs and throw herself at his feet while begging forgiveness.
But if she did, how long would it be before the queen started in again on her machinations? Another marriage? And the disappointment she would bring to her father when she couldn't make the sacrifices required of her...
"Do you think Queen Anora told him what we did?" She asked Tai softly.
Hirik chuckled under his breath. When they had come clean about that particular part of their story, the dwarf had been genuinely gobsmacked. They'd never seen such an expression on him. He doesn't come to the castle for a couple of weeks and misses some momentous events.
"No doubt," Tai said. "Anything to paint you in a bad light."
Evie shot him a look. She didn't think Queen Anora was quite that bad. Pragmatic and manipulative, definitely, but it seemed more about ambition and the kingdom than any real malice.
"That farmer," Hirik said. "He told me – apparently Alistair has been enquiring about your well-being specifically – whether you seemed ill or injured, whether you had proper provisions. Not the sort of questions a furious monarch asks about rebellious runaways."
If he did know, it was possible his anger hadn't overridden his love for her.
"What is the plan once we get Kieran?" Hirik asked, changing the subject in an attempt to evaporate the tension in the air.
"We'll discuss it when we get him."
"It'll be good to see him again," Evie added.
He didn't complain often, but it was obvious he wasn't happy there while his mother gallivanted off who knew where, only returning to check on him periodically.
Though they were both the king's bastards, their experiences had been vastly different. While Evie had been raised at court under her father's love and protection, Kieran had been raised by his mother in a very different court. When they finally met properly at ten and twelve, they had formed an immediate bond – two royal bastards against the world.
Hirik and Tai prepared their dinner in silence after that; Evie was exempt from cooking duties. In all her attempts, she had failed to produce anything edible, let alone palatable. They decided it was better they not let her waste their resources trying. She had never cooked before and had spent barely any time in a kitchen. But the rabbits they cooked, she had hunted and skinned. So at least she was contributing.
As night fell around them, Evie found herself staring into the fire, thoughts of her father returning unbidden. Not angry or betrayed, as she had feared, but worried and searching—not to force her return, but to ensure her safety. The image of him riding personally through the provinces, knowing she could put him out of his misery... that was painful.