His name was Sehun, and he was the third- or fourth-born son of a Ferelden lord. Beyond that Luhan couldn’t get them to say anymore, and that was definitely the most suspicious thing, second only to transporting a noble boy of barely twenty years age across the wilds in drag.

“Why’d you dress him as a girl!?” was Luhan’s first implosive question. He wasn’t anybody Luhan recognized by name, and being so far down the list of sons to possibly inherit an arling, there was something else going on here. 

“Look,” Chanyeol tried to explain. “It’s just… safer for us this way. You know, throws people off if they’re looking for a boy out on these roads.”

“So, there are people looking for him? What!? Why?” Luhan cried. He just knew he and Xiumin picked the wrong party to caravan up with. Now they were in danger, and Xiumin would never get to see the insides of that nice, cozy Circle Tower.

“We don’t know somebody is looking for him,” said Chanyeol again. Jongin still looked pretty put-out with the whole situation.

“You can’t tell me that,” Luhan argued. “If nobody is after him, whoever he is, then why has Baekhyun been dropping back to check the road so suspiciously — and by the way, great going putting a man in a dress and putting him up on a horse. Because that isn’t a target at all if some bandit decides he’d like a nice, pretty skirt to hole up with for a fortnight.”

At this, the boy was starting to pale, but at least he didn’t look so snarky anymore. He was more upset than anything else, now that Luhan was starting to poke holes in the entire reason he’d been dressed like a dame. 

“W-Well… well…” Chanyeol stuttered. “At least they wouldn’t know he was a boy?” He looked uncertain though.

“I knew he was a boy right away,” said Xiumin matter-of-factly. He tipped his head and stared at them all smugly. 

“Uhh, uhm…” Chanyeol continued to stumble over his words. “It was… Baekhyun’s idea?”

The elf huffed and threw his hands up into the air. “Oh, blame me now. You thought it was a good idea too, don’t lie.”

“So who is he then?” Luhan demanded. 

“What? Why do you need to know?” asked Chanyeol, once again on the defensive.

“I just need to know how dangerous it is for me, being out here with people like you, and if I need to depart sooner rather than later.”

“How do we know you aren’t here to harm him then?” Chanyeol demanded.

“Because I don’t even know who he is?” cried Luhan in shock.

“Yeah, but you could just be saying that…”

“Hey…” said the boy, but nobody paid him any mind.

The usually silent warrior strode forward to intervene. “Look, Luhan. It is Luhan, right?” Jongin inquired, and the templar nodded, happy finally to be talking with someone who looked like he had a bit of sense. “Alright then. It’s just precautionary. N-nobody is after him, we just like to be safe.”

“Okay then,” Xiumin interjected. “So tell us what it is that’s been following us?”

“What?” 

“What!” Jongin and Chanyeol both cried.

“Uhmmmm,” said Sehun.

Luhan was paying the mage plenty of attention now, but then so was Baekhyun. The scout bounded towards Xiumin with his finger pointing outstretched behind them. “You. You feel it too? Something is definitely out there, right? Right? I’m not the only crazy person here?!” 

“Your last statement is questionable, but… I do feel… something… Perhaps. I can almost sense it. I don’t know what, but something is following us. And I didn’t feel its presence until after we met. Which means it’s following you.”

“I know. I’ve sensed something for well over a week, and we only left Denerim three weeks ago,” Baekhyun confirmed it.

“It’s been that long, and you’re only now telling us?” Jongin was upset. 

“I… mentioned it.”

Jongin furrowed his nose, well on his way to becoming furious. “You just said you were checking for tails.”

“Guys,” said Sehun again, still to no response.

“This is crazy,” said Luhan, more to himself now because everybody else in their party was now arguing with one another. Everyone except Alistair who was now resting on his haunches by Luhan’s feet. He pet the animal while Jongin and Baekhyun argued about the chain of command and when was the proper time for Baekhyun to be sharing important information with the rest of the . 

“I just can’t figure out what it is,” Baekhyun spoke again to Xiumin, cutting short the rest of the communication. This question seemed to bother him a whole lot more.

“How do you know it’s an it?” asked Chanyeol in an almost whining, scared tone. “Why an it, and not a who? We’ve run across a lot of who’s recently. Aren’t you exaggerating something here?”

“Guys?” said the boy.

“Hush, I’m trying to think,” Baekhyun silenced them both. He placed his fingers to his head, as if that would clear his mind faster. It was no good, however. “Bleeding thorns! Luhan, can’t you untie the mage and give him a stick. We need someone like him on our side.”

“I still don’t know what side we’re talking about, and no!” said the templar self-righteously. 

“It’s not a stick. It’s called a staff, and yes I would like one actually.” Xiumin rolled his eyes.

“Well, you’re not getting one!” Luhan would put his foot down for this one. 

“Why not?”

“Guys, can I…”

“Because we are not getting involved with this, with them, and because I said so!” cried the templar.

“What? Oh come on, Luhan,” Xiumin whined. 

“No! No, no, and no. We are leaving this party as soon as possible, and that’s final. Besides, we don’t know what’s out there, and we don’t even know who this kid is, really, so no.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“And, I’ll keep saying it.” Luhan turned to the rest of the party then and pointed an accusatory finger. “If you aren’t going to share anything with us, then fine, but I’m not joining into this like a blind man.”

“Oh, so you’ll stay if they give you some answers? Is that it?” inquired Xiumin.

“Yes! I mean, no!”

“Can I say something?” said Sehun, sounding more exasperated. 

“Look,” said Jongin again. “We really don’t have time for this. Can we please at least get back on the road, you and your mage can happily take the next fork away and we’ll all be happy—“

“Oh, Can I PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!?”

Everybody stopped to stare at the boy whose life may or may not be in danger, but whom nobody had given even a moment’s glance since the moment his wig dropped to the ground. Luhan noted now that his hair was a sandy brownish color, and he looked very handsome for a boy. He already had the regal haughtiness of minor nobility too, and Luhan recognized it only because he had it himself. Before anyone could interject though, the young lord started to speak, enunciating everything in clipped upper class accent, one that bespoke volumes of a legacy of ordering about servants, peasants, peons, and the like. 

“My name is Sehun, and I’m the fourth son and bastard! to the Arl* of West Hills. I’ve lived with my mother east of Denerim all my life, and now my father is fetching me home for whatever ridiculous reason. Chanyeol soldiered for my mother’s family, Baekhyun is hired out of the Denerim alienage, and Jongin is my father’s 'trusty' sword and shield. So there now, are you happy? Now can we get a move on? Because just sitting here is getting us nowhere, and oh— can I please, take off this infernal dress. Finally? Thank. You.” 

It took a while for Luhan to process it all, and for Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun to realize their super secret was now really a sham. Xiumin nodded happily, however, and for some reason Luhan seemed to like his confidence, and he shared in it. Luhan had asked for answers after all. 

“Fine. We’ll travel with you a little farther,” he agreed at long last. “Just as far as the road to the Circle Tower.”

“That’s… that’s fine,” Jongin agreed. 

Even Baekhyun relaxed a bit. “Sounds good to me. Anyways, Chanyeol? Don’t you... have some clothes for the lordling? Male clothes? We wouldn’t want him running around after all. Now that would definitely make us a noticeable target. Look at all that pale skin on his arms. Boy probably shines like a beacon in the middle of the night.”

Everybody rolled their eyes for that one, but at least the confrontation part was over. 

Now they just had to solve what it was that was tailing a party containing only the fourth born son of minor nobility, and Luhan didn’t think that particular mystery would be any easier to figure out. He almost considered letting Xiumin become part of a proper defense circuit, but then… they weren’t that desperate yet. Were they? 

"You know, there's definitely something else they're not telling us," Xiumin whispered to Luhan later that day. The young lord was once again on horseback ahead of them, riding astride finally as was his custom. Baekhyun was making his hourly fall-back, and Jongin and Chanyeol were actually conversing nicely together at the front of the line. 

"What is it?" asked Luhan. He wasn't sure when he and his prisoner had fallen into cahoots together over the mystery of their traveling buddies, but it had happened regardless. The mage was also more than unusually observant too, and that helped Luhan to want to hear his theories.

"They said they came from Denerim," stated Xiumin plainly.

"Yes, east of Denerim."

"But Denerim is in the northeast part of Ferelden. If they were making their way directly to West Hills arling, there's a much straighter path along the West Road from Denerim to Redcliffe, from which West Hills isn't far. What I'm curious about is why are they this far south? They're halfway to Ostagar which means they've been taking an offbeaten southernly route, but there's no reason they should be in these parts, unless they went somewhere else first..."

"Or, unless they're avoiding the main roads for the same reason they were trying to hide the kid's identity."

"Why risk the forests though? The wilds?" Xiumin wondered out loud. "Why not send him with a bigger and just travel in haste?"

They were all good questions, but Luhan thought it unlikely anyone would answer them if he were to ask. Perhaps Sehun, if he was irritated correctly, but then the templar wasn't typically in the habit of harrassing lords, or their sons, bastard or otherwise. And definitely not if their fathers seemed to have important plans for them. He decided to let the matter sit, and advised Xiumin to the same.

"It's none of our business," he restated again, trying to fortify himself.

The mage shrugged, but Luhan knew he would continue to dwell on it anyways, and he couldn't really blame Xiumin. He himself was still vaguely curious what the party was about. The sooner they went their separate ways, however, the better it would be. For Luhan's piece of mind, most importantly. 

In any case, nothing was revealed for the rest of that day, and that night when they stopped to rest the most pressing matter they had to discuss was where everyone would sleep. They set up camp between two ruined pillars and lit a fire, swapped meat and dried food, and Luhan definitely didn't allow Xiumin a knife to help skin the ram Chanyeol and Baekhyun managed to hunt down.

"Perhaps we should set up a nightly watch?" Luhan suggested before everyone went to sleep. Both warriors and the elf agreed and Sehun didn't look at anybody. Luhan volunteered to go first. "Stay up with me?" he told the mage.

Xiumin squinted at him questioningly. "Are you asking me? I thought you were the one who liked being in control around here. If you want me to keep watch with you, you just have to say it," he teased calmly. Luhan almost flushed but he controlled it.

"I just don't know what we're even looking out for..." he admitted a little while later. Xiumin had taken his hint without further say on matter and stayed awake.

"What we're looking out for...? Who knows. Isn't that why we're still awake though? Perhaps it's a mage like me? Are you scared?" Xiumin wiggled his eyebrows. 

It only made Luhan look away and not want to answer. It's not like any of them had real answers anyways and also, none were provided that night. The mage was already listing towards sleep when Luhan woke up Chanyeol for second watch. Just to make sure nothing happened from within their group, however, Luhan kept Xiumin between him and Chanyeol, again with a tie linked to his wrist. On the other side of the fire slept Sehun, then Baekhyun and Jongin, and when they woke up the next morning Sehun had rolled away a few feet and Baekhyun was completely snuggling the silent warrior. Jongin shook him off in an aggravated manner while Luhan reaffixed Xiumin's wrist ties, and they wasted very little time before getting back on the road. 

The next day was duller than the previous, although they did pass by a few south-bound travelers including several families returning home from Redcliffe, a small contingency of soldiers headed for Ostagar, and one heavily guarded merchant caravan lead by a particularly grumpy squad of dwarves.* 

"Keep yoor eyes open ahead," one of them warned Jongin as he passed by, his dwarven accent thick even after years of surface-dwelling. "Seems the Carta* have gotten even less lawful up here since the Blight. Think they're so important for the trade back in Orzammar that they no longer leave even us surfacers alone to work in peace. Paragons have mercy! But I hope someone reigns them in one day."

They were gone before Jongin could even thank them for the warning, but they saw no more dwarves that day, either law-abiding merchants or smugglers from the notorious crime syndicate from the last great dwarven thaig, Orzammar, deep beneath the Frostback Mountains. Not even the recent transition of kingly authority down there had put a stop to the Carta's activities completely. 

"I heard they've been getting more brazen these days," Chanyeol mentioned during a brief rest stop. "More on the surface now. Rumors even that they've been infiltrating the city of Kirkwall."

"That's far from us," said Jongin solemnly. "No need to worry about politics. Let's just do as the dwarf said and keep our eyes open."

Before dusk the party received a minor scare in the form of dual riders coming up from the south. They quickly pushed off the path to prepare for the worst, but it was only a couple royal messengers on horseback. They didn't bother acknowledging the slower travelers, and soon their horses' hoofbeats were long passed, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Out here, only bandits and messengers rode horses so fast, and you could never be sure which ones you'd meet. 

They met another one, however, later that evening while they all sat around the campfire. Alistair barked once in warning as a horse and rider approached their party, but when the solo man in a messenger's uniform halted nearby, the dog wagged his tail and Jongin and Chanyeol went to begin the interrogation.

"Are you traveling to Redcliffe?" said the exhausted messenger. His horse, as they realized up close, was halfway lame. An arrow injury to one of its hind legs and it was already limping badly. 

"Depends on who's asking," Jongin replied gravely.

"Jongdae. King's messenger Jongdae. As you see, I've had an accident on the road. Bandits from a day or so ago. I tried to mend the wound but now it's festering. I fear she won't make it farther."

"It's kindest to put her down," said Chanyeol sadly, inspecting the animal.

Jongdae slid off and retrieved his pouch. He patted the beast apologetically. "So I've realized just this evening. However, I saw light up ahead and hoped you'd be friendly. If I could just get this far... No man wants to travel these woods alone and afoot. Have you eaten supper yet? I have some victuals to share."

He seemed friendly enough, and since Alistair didn't immediately attack him, Jongin let him stay. "You're welcome to travel with us for a while. We'll reach Redcliffe in under a week. Try anything funny, however, and Baekhyun over there will put an arrow in your neck." 

The archer chirped happily, looking anything but menacing, and yet Luhan wouldn't put it past him place an arrow wherever he damn well pleased, if somebody deserved it enough. 

"Hello, hello," said the messenger cheerfully when he was introduced to everyone else. Sehun showed no interest in him whatsoever and so it turned to Luhan and Xiumin to entertain their new guest. "Oh, you've got a mage there!" Jongdae observed then Xiumin's bound hands. "A mage who is... oh, I see... an apostate perhaps?" 

"Apparently so," Xiumin piped in. He was doing his usual thing in the dirt, legs sprawled out before him as he sat up, bound hands gripping a piece of charred meat for his dinner. Luhan wished he wouldn't make himself so cute, because everybody was surely getting the wrong impression of him. No one would believe Luhan now if he tried to explain that the mage was actually skilled alchemist who had affectively drugged and bound a templar. A templar! The nerve of it all. And he hadn't even seen what the mage might be capable of given a proper mage's staff. It was too much to contemplate, that thought. He hoped he'd never be tested. 

"A templar and an apostate, and... seems the rest of you are an ?" Jongdae inquired, eyeing Sehun again with some interest.

Luhan took satisfaction that nobody would answer him properly, even if the boy was now without his girl's disguise. 

"Well, anyways, we are well-met, whatever the situation," said the messenger with a spark in his eye. "Happy traveling?"

They made him sleep by himself a few feet from the fire, and Jongin kept an eye on him regardless. Before sleeping, however, Xiumin turned to Luhan and whispered something into his ear. "Heads up. There's something off with that man too."

Luhan's brow furrowed, even in his near sleepy state. "You always think something's off. Is all of Thedas off, or aren't you always a little too paranoid?"

The mage huffed and refused to reply, however, he did turn over under his blanket so that his back was to Luhan, and since Luhan still hadn't given up tying himself to Xiumin during the night, that meant pulling Luhan's left hand forward. It rested on Xiumin's shoulder and Luhan was too tired to do anything about it. He'd be happy once they returned to the Tower, and he could finally sleep on a real bed with real blankets and a real pillow, and if he went to sleep that night dreaming about a warm body to share it with him, it definitely wasn't his fault. It was cold in the night, and the mage was warm. 

3,250 words

This may well like a filler-chapter, but believe me things are going to get crazy very, very soon... I should know because, I've already written it. Ahaha... sorry for the wait. Anyways, we have a revealed identity, a newly discovered something... and a new character. Thoughts? Xiuhan are just getting warmed up too. 

My sister says I'm like a dragon sitting on its gold and I refuse to dole out any more chapters until my own perfect time. Really though I'm saving you guys from eventual heartache where I update something crazy and then don't even Write a chapter for another month (like my other poor neglected fics) so... you should be thanking me. Consistency. I have failed everywhere else. On that note, byebye for now. 

♡ Rosie

P.S. I'm currently writing an old men!Xiuhan au. Cry with me. Cry with me nowwwww. (he he he) 

P.P.S I wrote some Xiukai... because... I could... Here, try it: A Man of Distinction.