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As one would expect, Eluriel had known her twin brother her entire life. They had grown up together, never straying very far from one another; two Dalish orphans raised within the safety of clan Lavellen’s aravels. She had been right beside him when he had discovered his magic at six, then again when he started his training to be a hunter at ten, and once more when they decided to start him on the path to become First at thirteen. She had been there to hold his hand and offer her silent support when he received his Vallaslin two years earlier than normal at sixteen. El had seen her brother struggle with his faith and his heart the older he became, his desire to live up to his clan’s expectations of him and his want to spend time with the shepherd boy often causing conflict between him and their Keeper. Eventually, she had even seen her brother leave the clan when he and the Keeper could not settle the differences between them.
Though he was no longer an official member of clan Lavellen and kept a mindful distance from their aravels, he had stuck close enough to watch her take the step from Second to First. He helped their people from the edge of their territory, protecting the clan with his ability to fight, while also supporting El in her new role. He couldn’t be there like she was for him when she received her Vallaslin, but he was the one to hold her in the aftermath of the pain. Even from outside their clan he was never too far or too hard for his sister to reach.
And yet, the elvehn man who returns from Redcliffe Castle is different – something had changed for Marikoth that had El seeing her twin brother for what felt like the first time. His appearance had not changed; he was still taller and broader in the shoulders than most elves. He still had the same long brown hair that was shaved on one side and the same teal-blue eyes that matched her own reflection.
Whatever had happened at Redcliffe had not altered his physical form, but something much, much deeper.
When El hears what happened with Magister Alexius’ magical time-meddling during their war table briefing in Haven’s chantry, she feels sick to her stomach about the ‘potential future’ her brother spent time in. Their advisors – still just acquaintances really – are all in a state of paranoia in the wake of his story. The question of how to prevent their world from falling into the hands of this ‘Elder One’ and stop the spread of red lyrium is unhelpfully still unanswerable.
“And what about our friend from Tevinter? Where was he in all this?” Cullen’s query brings other conversations at the table to a halt, and all eyes look to the male half of the twin Heralds for an answer.
“Dorian is the only reason I made it back here in one piece to tell you any of this.” Moth’s response is firm and leaves very little room for an argument. Even if the rest of their advisors have any lingering doubts about the motives of the Tevene mage, he is sure of the man’s loyalty to their cause. “If it was not for him, we would be living in that red-tinted future I just told you about.”
El trusts her brother, so if he is sure about adding the Tevinter to their ranks, she’s not inclined to question the idea further. What does make her curious, however, is how quickly her brother seems ready to defend the human mage. She had known he was intrigued by the other man before they left for Redcliffe; his lingering around where the Tevene mage had set himself up in Haven had been her first clue that Moth was at least interested in the human. At first El had assumed that like he had with all of their other companions, her brother had simply wanted to spend some time getting to know the newest addition to their ranks.
She had seen them chatting under the eaves of the potion shop several times over the last few days that Dorian had been in their company. Solas had even said something to El during one of their own conversations about them being quite the pair to observe; a Tevinter mage and a Dalish elf speaking to one another so casually was an incredibly rare occurrence.
El also knew that her twin was attracted to Dorian. The very same evening he had come back to Haven from Redcliffe, it had been easy to tell that Moth was charmed by the Tevene man’s quick wit and good looks. He had even admitted to his interest in the mage, in his own non-committal way of talking around the subject. Her brother had always been quick to fall for pretty human men, but he usually moved on quickly when he realized they were not as interested in him – Cullen was a great example of that.
Dorain stood apart from the other men Moth had become infatuated with, however. It was not hard to tell that the Tevinter man was singular amongst his peers; after all, the altus boasted about the differences between him and his countrymen quite loudly to anyone who would listen. What had made the Tevene mage stand out to her brother was easy to guess when one considered how Dorian spoke to him alone.
The Tevinter magus was flirty with seemingly everyone, and he was extra flirty with men. Cullen and Solas had both remarked about his advances separately about it to El and she had even experienced that personality quirk of his herself whenever they spoke for more than a minute. He was quick-witted and sharp-tongued, often speaking fast as though he had better things to do than chatter. Unlike the rest of them, though, Dorian held a softer, more reverent tone for Moth and Moth alone. They could and had spoken at length about Tevinter, politics, Fereldan beer, the Dales, Orlesian wine; in fact, it would be almost easier to name topics the two had not broached over the couple of days they had been getting to know one another. The pair were practically inseparable already – if Moth was not out conducting business as a Herald of Andraste or with his twin sister, he could be found chattering the time away with the Tevene man.
It finally hits El what has changed in her brother when she comes back to the present from her observations to hear Cullen and Moth still bickering about Dorian’s trustworthiness. Moth has never been one for arguing; he was a listener first and then a force of action if the quarrel persisted for longer than he deemed necessary. The only other person El had seen him defend with so much fervor was her.
Somewhere within the blighted halls of Redcliffe Castle, a year from then, in an alternate timeline they had worked together to revert, Eluriel’s twin brother had fallen in love with Dorian Pavus.