Chapter Text
“Excuse me, My Lady Inquisitor,” Ser Morris stood in the doorway of Josephine’s office, causing both of the women to look up from their notes. Josephine was coaching Evelyn how to write a proper correspondence with other nobles, and frankly Evelyn was thankful for the interruption.
“Yes?” Evelyn stretched her cramped muscles, quill still in hand.
“You have some visitors and well, they wouldn’t say their names. Just wanted me to give you a message,” Ser Morris cleared his throat, his face turning red. “That they never got their invitations or summons to join the Inquisition, they all feel personally insulted and slighted that the only correspondence they received was to be told of your well being, and called you a terrible Princess.” The poor man looks so mortified to deliver such a message that his entire face resembled a tomato.
Evelyn’s face wasn’t that far behind, but embarrassment was not the cause of it. “I will kill them. I will bloody kill all of them.” She stood abruptly and marched out the room, her normally delicate and sweetly bemused face took on an expression that could only be described as murderous.
People literally moved aside from the furious mage that had magic seeping off of her in angry little tendrils.
She stopped at the top of the stairs to the courtyard, her worst fears confirmed right in front of her. Surrounded by several bulks of sacks and trunks stood the Brothers Trevelyan, terrors of the Free Marches.
The moment they saw her, all the brothers erupted in cheers, completely ignoring the anger that made the air around her colder.
“EVIE!” Her younger brother Seamus rushed right at her and had scooped her up in a hug, which she was too angry to reciprocate despite how much she had missed them.
Seamus was easily the handsomest of her brothers, with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair tied back with a bit of leather and the same sparkling dove grey eyes as her own. The brothers all had a rule to never leave their girls alone with him, as they tended not to stay their girls. He was funny and charming, and for a moment she was distracted from her anger by how much taller and older he looked since she last saw him. Taking his role as a dashing rogue a little too seriously since he started university, he became the grifter of the group, able to infiltrate and feel at home in just about any situation thrown at him. Unfortunately, that made him an excellent liar as well.
Evelyn struggled in his grasp, pushing him away. “No, no, do not touch me! What do you all think you’re doing here?! I told you specifically to stay home and take care of Mama and Papa and the estate.”
“Oh okay, sure, we’ll leave our baby sister to fight demons and nearly die on us without ever knowing. Yea, sounds like a perfect plan,” Thomas crossed his arms, annoyance and exasperation etched on his face. “What did you expect us to do when we found out you almost died in Haven? This is the shit that happens when we’re not there.”
Thomas was the oldest Trevelyan brother, who’s entire life was essentially dedicated to keeping his brothers and sisters out of trouble. Anyone who knew the Trevelyans would recognize Thomas as the ringleader of Lord Redgrave Trevelyan’s children. He spent the first half of his life getting into trouble with his siblings and the other half getting his siblings out of trouble. It was a shame in some ways, as he was a very talented artist and could have actually made a name for himself if he ever used the time to dedicate himself to his work as he did to getting his siblings out of hot messes. That being said, there was no one Evelyn had ever met that was a more talented duelist than her older brother.The Trevelyans may be nobles now, but there is a long line of thieves, pirates, and criminals in their bloodline, and Thomas’s natural ability as a duelist was proof of that. He was tall, with steely green-grey eyes that pierced right into a person’s soul and the famous ‘Trevelyan Red’ curly hair.
“I expected you to stay home and take care of the family! If I had needed you, I would have let you know. You have no right to just invade my fortress like this!”
“Your fortress? Oh we’re so sorry Princess, we came here to join the Inquisition, we were told this was Inquisition headquarters, but obviously we’re mistaken.” Thomas threw his hands in the air in an exaggerated motion.
“In case you missed it in all the news you seem to have about me, I am the Inquisitor. I get the final say on who we can, and can’t bring into the Inquisition. Go. Home. All of you!”
“Last I heard, the Inquisition is in no position to turn away recruits. Can you look us all in the eye and tell us we wouldn’t bring something useful, something you probably desperately need, to the Inquisition?” Eddie, her third oldest brother pointed out, a rare frown on his rugged features. The large hunting hound by his side seemed to huff in agreement with his owner.
Edward, or Eddie as his friends and family called him, was the most unique looking out of all the Trevelyan boys. His hair was such a dark shade of red that unless anyone saw him in the sun, they would say he had black hair. He inherited their mother’s sparkling hazel eyes and easy smile. He was their resident “Wild Child”, so to speak. He spent more time outside than inside and had a true gift when it came to animals, as demonstrated by the hundreds of animals he would bring home to the Trevelyan estate. He was stockier than the rest of his brothers, with longer hair in thick dreads that stayed tied away from his face.
“You brought your dog- dogs?! No. Eddie, I will not have all your dogs and- is that a wolf?!” Evelyn was convinced they wanted her to have a heart attack. Her brothers would do the job for Corypheus, and then the world would end and by the Maker she hoped the Archdemon would eat them first.
“Hey, they’re trained! It’s not like their going to run around and attack every noble that comes through. Unless I tell them to,” Eddie couldn’t keep his lips from cracking a grin at his baby sister, who was so furious the air around her started to form little snowflakes.
“You’re avoiding Eddie’s question. You know what we can do, and you know we can help,” Kenneth pointed out, brushing his curls out of his face and glaring at his little sister.
Kenneth was only a year older than Evelyn, though you would never know by the way he acted. He was a hopeless gambler, his losses outnumbered his wins by such an astronomical amount that it was a wonder why he even counted his meager wins. He would bet to his last coin, and then move on to his clothes, his horse, and the family daggers. Kenneth had always lost the family daggers, and always had to steal them back. The only benefit of any of that was that it turned him into a master Shadow rogue. He had softer features than the rest of the brothers, with gentle light brown eyes and a mop of dark red curls.
“What I know, is that you can’t be here!” It was the loudest anyone had ever heard the normally soft spoken Inquisitor speak since her and Cullen argued in Haven over the mage allies, and it was starting to attract attention.
“Um, Inquisitor, perhaps we can move this to the war room where you have a bit more privacy to settle any disputes,” Josephine said from behind Evelyn, using her soothing diplomatic voice to diffuse the situation.
“Yea Evie, let’s do what the lovely lady says,” Seamus had his most charming smile on, eyes focused on Josephine with a familiar glimmer reflecting in them.
“Oh for Andraste’s sake. No.” She did a wonderful imitation of Poppy, their childhood nanny, when she shook her finger at Seamus. “Leave her alone. No. And we don’t need privacy, because they’re leaving. Have enough food packed for them to get back to Ostwick.”
“Like the void we’re leaving. You’re our damn sister, and we’re not going anywhere.” Thomas crossed his arms over his chest, furious gaze locked with his equally infuriated sister.
A tense silence fell over the small group, the brothers looking back and forth between their sister and the eldest brother. Josephine was probably worried that they would have an all out screaming match at any second and Evelyn saw her shooing people away in the corner of her eye.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down when she felt a bit of snow land on her face. “War room. Now. Leave your things.” She turned on her heel and marched up the stairs, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
Cullen and Leliana were already in the war room, coordinating scout and troop movements most likely, when Evelyn stormed through the door.
“Sorry to interrupt, we’ll be out of your way soon. This should be a fairly quick conversation,” Evelyn shot a glare at Thomas, who only rolled his eyes at her.
Her poor advisors had no idea what they were about to witness. The moment the doors shut, the room erupted in yelling.
“You nearly died! Twice! You think we’re gonna let that happen a third time?!” Thomas’s voice echoed in war room.
“There is nothing you could have done! The first time was a fluke, the second time I had no choice!”
“Oh fuck that-”
“Seriously Evie you could have sent for us-”
“Oh sure, I should have just asked all the Red Templars and Corypheus politely to stop massacring us for about two weeks while I sent for my brothers. Maker, why didn’t I think of that?”
“For fucks sake Evie, that’s not what we meant and you know it.”
“No choice?! There is always a choice! These people let you go to your death! You think any of us will let you stay here by yourself with people who are clearly willing to throw you on the front lines to save their own hide?!”
“Oh, that is such a big pile of bullshit. If I hadn’t gone out there, we would have all been dead. That means not just me, all of the people at Haven would have lost their lives. I did what had to be done. And I don’t regret any of it.”
“Yea? Well that’s fan-fucking-tastic. How do you think the rest of us felt?” Eddie was getting as angry as his older brother. “Our sister, who we worked our ass off to keep safe from those fucking templar animals for years, nearly died. Haven fell, and for a whole month we thought you were dead. You know what that did to us?”
Evelyn’s shoulders drooped from their defensive stance. “Look, I’m sorry. If I had a way to get you news sooner, I would have used it. As you see, I’m fine. I’m surrounded by highly skilled people that won’t let me fail.”
Thomas slammed his hand on the table. “They already did! What part of ‘left for dead’ and ‘sacrificed’ do you not get? Did anyone else offer to be the one to distract this darkspawn magister? Did anyone else offer to stay behind in case there was a chance you would make it? Don’t bother telling me otherwise, I know the details. Five fucking days and no one sent out a search party or nothing. They’re fucking using you. You’re expendable to them, and you want us to leave you here with them watching your back? Ain’t gonna happen.” He glared at her advisers, daring them to speak.
Evelyn saw the guilty look cross Cullen’s face, her mind flashing back to the way he looked at her when she had walked out of the Chantry Hall to face Corypheus.
“Any one of us would have gone to confront Corypheus if it meant saving the people under our care. He came for Evelyn, to him the rest was collateral damage. We never asked her to go out there,” Leliana said coolly, keeping her stance nonchalant despite being in a room of clearly angry men.
“We weren’t well prepared in Haven. The attack caught us all by surprise, and the last thing any of us expected was an archdemon. If Evelyn hadn’t done what she did, we would all be dead.” Cullen’s voice was steady, but she heard the heavy layer of regret and guilt laced in his commanding tone.
“Yea? You always leave the people who gave their life for you behind?” Eddie’s biting tone was joined in by the hunting hound on his side letting out a low growl.
Evelyn, for her part, finally calmed down. She knew her brothers to be foolishly overprotective and involved in her life, but she never considered the how the weight of all the events would affect her family. With all that had been going on, she didn’t consider that for a good month, her family thought her dead.
She had been lucky growing up, at least compared to most mages. Her father used his pull with the Chantry to arrange it so she could see her family quite often. Evelyn was allowed home on weekends, birthdays, holidays, and special occasions with minimal fuss from the Knight Commander. She realized it was not a privilege that came cheap.
Her brothers and sisters had always kept close relationships. The eldest looked after the youngest, and no sibling, either youngest or weakest, is ever left behind. When she had been taken to the Circle, her older brother Frankie enlisted in the Templers so he could watch over her. He went through years of grueling training just so he could watch over her and keep her safe in a place that many called a ‘fancy prison’.
Evelyn should have known how hard her brothers would have taken news that she may have died. Now that she had a chance to see past the red cloud of anger, she saw how weary all of them looked. Thomas looked like he had aged considerably since last year. His handsome, kind face looked exhausted and jaded, and his eyes held a fierce determination as they bored into her own.
“Thomas, boys, listen to me.” Her voice was gentle again, dove grey eyes softening. “I chose to go out there. I watched people die to protect me. I saw our workers, people with no battle experience whatsoever, pick up swords and rush into the front lines. They were so proud of our cause, of what we were doing to fix the mess in Thedas. The Red Templars and Corypheus wiped them out without remorse. I watched small children in the Chantry crying because they couldn’t find their parents. I was angry.” Evelyn blinked back the tears that formed in her eyes, recounting that terrible day.
“Seeing so much death, all because this Elder One wanted to get to me, no one would have had a chance to stop me if they tried. I had no idea what would happen to me when I went out there. All I knew was that I would not let him take anymore of my people. They gave up their lives to help with the Inquisition, because they believed in what we’re doing, in what I was doing. Even if you had been there, I would have gone to face him alone.”
She watched her all her brothers taking in her words, the atmosphere in the room turning less hostile and more somber.
“Evie, we’re not leaving you.” Kenneth said from his place leaning against the wall. “Remember what the Trevelyan Crest says? ‘Family Binds Never See Defeat.’ You’re not facing that monster without us.”
The rest of her brothers nodded in agreement, eyes never leaving her.
Evelyn let out a deep breath, and looked over to her advisers. “Could you give us a moment alone? I promise we won’t keep you from your work too long.”
“Of course,” Josephine said, moving over to open the door. She looked relieved now that the yelling had stopped.
When Cullen moved to go past her, he reached over to squeeze her hand in comfort, earning a small smile from Evelyn.
Unfortunately, it also earned him a suspicious glare from every one of her brothers.
She just sighed, giving them an exasperated look that clearly meant ‘Not now.”
Once Cullen closed the door, Evelyn began talking. “There are some things you need to know, and I doubt it’s something you would have heard in your reports. What I tell you cannot leave this room.”
And so she told them everything. She told them about the time magic, the things she had seen in the future, and the biggest thing of all she told them about the nightmares she had since the incident.
The nightmares were difficult to talk about, but she had to tell them. She had dreamed of their deaths several times now, and would wake up in such a fit she actually ended up accidentally punching Dorian in the eye one time. She told them how she watched Corypheus use his demons to specifically slaughter her family. In her nightmares, she had watched her brothers fight fiercely, only to be overcome and ripped apart in the most violent ways.
“That’s why I can’t have you guys stay here. I don’t know if I can defeat this demon army as it is, if I have to worry about you guys as it is, I may be too distracted. I worry enough about you when you’re at home. With all of you here, how can I not second guess my every move, wonder if it will be the reason you meet your end.” She wrung her hands together, all her anger gone and in its place the fresh fear of those nightmares coming true.
“We’re not idiots Evie. We didn’t come here thinking it would be easy or safe,” Seamus said, slight smile. “Remember, we actually look for trouble.”
“Mother and Father are so proud of you, you know,” Kenneth added, moving to lean next to her on the table. “Father keeps telling everyone how his little mage takes after great-great grandmother Captain Talia Trevelyan, Pirate Queen of the Nine Seas. They were worried too, and couldn’t be happier that we came to join.”
“You had to have known we would show up soon. We would never abandon each other,” Eddie pointed out, the anger gone and his more calm and easygoing nature back in place.
“There’s one more thing,” Evelyn swallowed hard and looked at the faces of the men she loved so much. The faces that had been her source of safety all these years, and telling them the next thing might change everything for them. “I don’t know if I will get out of this alive. I have every intention to stop Corypheus, but we don’t know enough about him yet to know what it would take to defeat him. If me dying is what it takes, then that is what will happen. And I will need to ask you to let it happen if it means he is destroyed.”
A heavy silence fell upon the room, the brothers all taking in this piece of news as Evelyn wrung her hands anxiously. It was a lot of information for them to process, and the possibility of being alright with a death was a heavy request.
Thomas had been quiet ever since Evelyn started talking, thoughtful look on his face as he reflected on everything he had just learned. He was the worrier, the one who looked out for all of them and always came up with a plan to get them out of trouble. The trouble they faced now was not something Thomas could really help with.
“Evie,” He began slowly, considering his words. “This creature hurt you. Tried to kill you twice, and killed many others. He needs to be destroyed, and if you’re the one that has to do it, you will succeed.”
Thomas straightened his back, his gentle eyes steely in determination. “We’re going to help you succeed. You need all the help you can get, and you can trust us to do everything we can to kill that piece of shit. You’re a Trevelyan, and Trevelyan’s always come out on top. You’ll defeat him and you’ll live.” He said it so fiercely that Evelyn found herself believing him.
“Okay,” she said quietly, her lips quirking in a small smile.
Thomas nodded his head in satisfaction. “Alright then. We’re good then yea? No more arguments about us leaving right?”
Evelyn nodded, her lips formed in the same soft smile that was familiar to all of them.
“Good. Now come here, kiddo.”
Thomas reached for her and pulled her right into a warm hug, arms wrapped around her tight and her face pressed into his chest. The familiar embrace felt so safe that for one precious moment, Evelyn felt like she was still nine and her brothers could keep her safe from anything. Thomas always smelled like fresh dirt and smoke, and every time she would get a whiff of either, it made her homesick.
She clung to him, letting him play protective older brother and smiling. No matter how much she feared for their safety, she couldn’t deny that having them there made her feel much better.
“By the way, where is Frankie?”
She felt Thomas stiffen in her arms, and moved her head far enough to catch the uneasy look that settled on his face.
A sinking feeling fell in her stomach. “Where’s Frankie?” Her voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper, heavy with fear.
Frankie was six years older than Evelyn, and she absolutely adored him. She started showing signs of magic when she was eight years old, and her parents were only able to keep her out of the Circle for another year. The moment they found out she would have to leave them, Frankie signed up for Templar training. Her parents and relatives, were of course thrilled. House Trevelyan was heavily involved with the Chantry, though not as much for their devout beliefs as the Chantry liked to believe. They liked having the significant amount of pull over an Institution as powerful as the Chantry, so most of her cousins and even a few of her siblings were encouraged to serve the Chantry one way or another. It gave her family heavy sway within it, and it allowed her parents to pull strings to make sure that Evelyn would be placed in the Ostwick Circle and that her brother would be stationed there with her. Frankie was rash and outgoing, absolutely fearless. The shortest of her older brothers, he never quite grew correctly after a childhood accident left him with a bum knee, but you would never know it by the way he moved. He was at the top of his training class in his sword and dagger training, and used his bad knee to his advantage. His fighting style was just like his personality: brash and forceful, as fierce as a spring storm. Frankie had pale blue eyes that always glinted dangerously, and he kept his strawberry blonde sheared close to the scalp.
Evelyn owed everything to him. He was her solace in the circle, her protector. He kept her safe from the more deranged Templars, and when he found out what they were doing to Elle, he orchestrated her whole escape, with the help of the rest of their siblings. Frankie even took the time to give Elle an opportunity of payback to the deranged templars that abused her before he smuggled her out. He would, and had, killed to protect Evelyn from the corruption and abuse in the Circle. Even after the Circles disbanded, Frankie took the time to make sure she was safe with the Rebels before he went back home to throw any templars off her trail.
The thought that anything could happen to him caused her insides to freeze.
“Get that look off your face Evie, he’s not dead,” Kenneth said quickly. Evelyn’s skin had paled in fright, and her delicate features and seemingly fragile outlook tended to bring out the worry in her brothers.
“He’s fine,” Thomas gave his brother a look. “He’s-”
The doors to the War Room banged open, a smirking Frankie standing right in the center. “Right fucking here.”
Evelyn let out a loud shriek of joy and launched herself right into his arms. Frankie was only an inch taller than her, but he lifted her right up and spun her around, holding her tight. He never complained about his bum knee, and with his attitude and nonstop movement, you would never know he even had one.
She buried her face right in his neck, hugging him so tight that she was surprised he could even breath.
“There’s my Princess. Maker did I miss you Evie.” Frankie muttered into her neck.setting her down on her feet. He grabbed her shoulders and held her back to get a good look at her.
“Damn, still pretty as ever. Guess I’m back to beating horny templars and soldiers off with my sword,” Frankie's infamous smirk was plastered on his face. There was nothing gentle about him; he was as dangerous as the volcanic arcium sword that he carried on his back.
“Don’t you dare. I’m the Inquisitor now, I can’t have my brother stabbing anyone that looks at me.” Evelyn beamed at the sight of him, yet a part of her couldn’t help but note the drastic changes in him.
The malignant glint in his pale blue eyes dulled, replaced with a sort of crazed desperation . His skin took on an ashen color, as if he had not been eating enough. His once shiny strawberry blonde hair had grown shaggy and lackluster. Evelyn could feel that he lost weight.
Frankie may have been alive, but he certainly wasn’t fine.
“What happened to you?” She smoothed his tangled hair out of his face, worried eyes scanning his face.
He of course, brushed off her concern in his usual nonchalant manner. “What, you trying to be Mother now? This is what happens when you make your family worry. It’s all your fault.” Frankie used his fist to give her a gently cuff on on the cheek.
In the corner of her eye, she saw Thomas shoot a venomous glare at Frankie. Kenneth was looking down at the shoes, and Seamus had his arms crossed. Eddie caught her glance and shook his head subtly, pushing back any questions Evelyn was ready to ask.
They were keeping something from her, and not for the first time Evelyn found herself wishing that her brothers would stop trying to protect her so much from the ongoings in the family.
She moved her arm around Frankie’s waist, grinning at the rest of her brothers. “Being that you’re staying here, I suppose I should get you settled and introduce you to everyone you’ll be working with.” Evelyn paused, remembering the disaster of an introduction that occurred earlier that day with Zevran and Archer.
Her eyes landed accusingly on Seamus. “You. Any recent scorned women I should know about?”
Seamus threw his hands up in defense, causing a wave of snickering from her brothers.