The spires of the university gleamed white and gold in the afternoon sunlight, the building as ostentatious as the students that filed out of it.
Tai, Evie, and Hirik watched from their table where they were sharing a pot of tea at the cafe across the way. Only Evie and Hirik were drinking it. Tai didn't have much of a taste for it, opting for something sweeter. The establishments striped awning provided welcome shade and, more importantly, a bit of obscurity.
"There," Tai's voice was low as he gestured with his chin toward a cluster of students filtering out from the grand arched doorway. "The one with the blue sash. That's the fifth Kingsguard I've spotted."
Evie's gaze followed Tai's direction. The man was good—dressed as a student, but his posture was too rigid, his eyes too watchful. Not good enough to fool someone who had grown up surrounded by the royal guard.
"They've been looking for us," she murmured.
"Of course they have," Hirik muttered, sipping his tea with deceptive casualness. The dwarf's feet dangled well above the ground from the delicate Orlesian chair. "Your father loves you. He's probably beside himself with worry."
Evie's shoulders slumped slightly. "I know. And that makes this so much harder."
"I wonder if the Kingsguard have already spoken to Kieran," Hirik said, stroking the still growing beard on his chin. "If they've been searching the university for days..."
"They would have," Evie agreed, her expression troubled. "Father would have told them to check on him, to make sure he's safe. To ask if he knows where I might have gone, and likely convince me to go home if I show up."
"Will that change things?" Tai asked quietly.
Evie shook her head. "Kieran hates this place. His mother sent him here against his wishes—father didn't even get a say. Morrigan made that decision alone." She sighed. "According to his letters, he visits the university gardens after astronomy to clear his head."
Tai leaned forward, his youthful face serious beneath his hood. "The gardens have multiple entrances, and too much foliage for the guards to watch everything. But he'll be under closer surveillance."
Evie reached around the back of her neck, undoing the catch of her pendant, near identical to Kierans own bearing the Theirin crest, though hers had a musical notes worked into it along with the rampant mabaris. Kierans had a hawk.
"I need charcoal," she said suddenly. "And parchment."
"You're the artist," Tai said. "Those are your tools."
"I don't carry them everywhere," she protested.
"Lucky you two brought me along," Hirik said, reaching into his pack and producing what she needed.
Evie scrawled on the piece of parchment, a message only Kieran would understand on the off chance it was intercepted or discovered by someone else.
"Perfect," she murmured, folding the paper carefully. "Now we need a messenger."
Tai glanced around the café, his eyes settling on a young human girl selling flowers nearby, not much younger than Evie herself. "I think I found one."
Ten minutes and several silver coins later, the plan was in motion. The flower girl, eager to earn more coin than she'd see in a week, had clear instructions. She would approach students leaving the observatory with her usual sales pitch but would offer Kieran—described in detail—a specific white lily with the rolled up paper and her pendant hidden inside.
"Now we wait," Hirik said, ordering another round of tea to justify their continued presence. "And hope your brother isn't too upset by your disappearance to think clearly."
It was nearly an hour later more students streamed out into the fading daylight, and Evie's heart raced as she spotted her half-brother among them—taller than most of the others, his dark hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, his shoulders slightly hunched under the weight of books he carried. He looked tired, she thought. Worried. The Kingsguard posing as students subtly converged, maintaining a respectful distance but clearly tracking his movements.
The flower girl approached, her rehearsed movements natural as she offered her wares to passing students. When she reached Kieran, she held out the white lily with a small curtsy.
Kieran paused, confusion crossing his features for only a moment before recognition blazed in his eyes. He accepted the flower with a polite nod, his fingers carefully examining the flower as he continued walking toward the gardens. But Evie noticed how his posture changed instantly—the tiredness replaced by alertness, his eyes scanning the courtyard with purpose.
"He's found it," Tai whispered. "And I think he's been waiting for a sign from you."
They watched as Kieran unfolded the paper while pretending to admire the flower. His steps quickened slightly, and though he didn't look up or around, his path directly led toward the eastern entrance of the gardens—the one furthest from the main building and least visible from the main hall of the university.
"That's our cue," Evie said, leaving a generous pile of coins as they rose from their table. "Hirik, create our diversion near the main garden entrance. Nothing too dramatic—just enough to draw the guards' attention."
"Leave it to me," the dwarf replied with a grin that displayed a chipped front tooth from a childhood scuffle.
"Tai, circle around and make sure we aren't followed. I'm meeting Kieran at the old olive tree."
He had told her it was one of his favourite places in the university, secluded and rarely visited by other students and staff.
They moved with practiced coordination, separating as they left the café. Evie took a circuitous route through side streets, eventually approaching the eastern garden entrance just as distant shouts indicated Hirik's diversion had begun—something involving an apparently intoxicated dwarf loudly proclaiming the architectural superiority of Orzammar over the "flimsy human stonework" of the university building.
The garden was a maze of sculpted hedges and fragrant blooms, designed in the Orlesian style with secluded alcoves and hidden benches. Evie navigated it easily, finding the ancient olive tree standing in a quiet corner.
Kieran was already there, pacing anxiously, the white lily still clutched in his hand. When he spotted her, relief flooded his features, and without hesitation, he crossed the distance between them and pulled her into a fierce embrace.
"Thank the Maker," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "You're safe. The Royal Guard came nearly a week ago—said you'd disappeared. It sounds as if father was frantic."
Evie returned the hug with equal intensity, realizing how much she'd missed her older brother. "I'm sorry for worrying you both," she said as they finally separated. "I couldn't marry him, Kieran. And father was... he would have called it off and the court would have hated him for it, they would have called him weak."
"So you fled," he said.
She nodded. "And hopefully brought all the blame with me."
"And Tai and Hirik, I heard."
She nodded. "We're thinking of heading north, across the sea." She met his gaze directly. "And we want you to come with us. If you want to."
"Mother would be furious," Kieran whispered, but a mix of hope and eagerness flickered across his face.
"But you hate it here."
"Every tedious minute," he agreed.
A bird call - three short whistles - sounded from nearby.
"That's Tai," Evie said urgently. "Guards are moving this way. Are you coming with us? I know it's asking alot."
Kieran looked at the amulet in his hand a moment before securing it around Evie's neck, where it belonged. "He loves us," he said softly. "More than the crown, more than Ferelden sometimes. But he'd want us to be happy." He met her gaze, determined. "I need twenty minutes to grab my essentials. Nothing that would draw attention."
She nodded, relieved he had agreed to come with them. She had already left pieces of her heart behind, she couldn't fathom leaving another.
"Western gate, merchant entrance," she told him quickly.
Kieran squeezed her hand. "Twenty minutes. And Evie..." he hesitated, his expression softening. "We'll write to him. When we're safe. Let him know we're together and well."
"Of course," she whispered, tears threatening but she blinked them back. "We're not abandoning him, just... heading down a different path."
She slipped away, leaving Kieran to return to his quarters by a different path. She felt the crushing weight of her guilt, but underneath it, the lightness of impending freedom.
They might be young, they might be foolish, but by the Maker they would be free, and they would be together.