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All Dorian wanted to do was to spend the rest of the evening with a glass of wine and perhaps a good book. His head was hurting from dealing with the magisters of Tevinter all day and their backwards ideas. It always felt like at every turn they were doing everything they could to prevent progress from happening. Why did it have to be this difficult to get those fools to change their views on slavery?
Well, if Dorian really thought about it, he could guess the reasons why, the biggest reason being an unwillingness to change but Tevinter needed to change with the times!
Stepping into his villa, he was greeted by Vel, one of the many servants in his employment. “A parcel arrived for you.” He held out the package to Dorian.
Dorian immediately recognized the handwriting on the parcel and the drawing of a creature that looked halfway between a nug and a horse. Well, guess his evening plans would be on hold for a bit. He thanked Vel and took the package up to his room.
He sat in his favorite chair by the balcony as he unwrapped the twine holding everything together. The first thing he pulled out was a letter. “Maker, what in the world are you doing?” he said with a chuckle as he saw writing on the front and back of the paper. He put it to the side for the moment and took out the other item from the parcel. It was a friendship bracelet woven from many colored threads.
He checked the one on his wrist. The threads of the one he wore were starting to fray. It would be fine for a while longer but clearly it was reaching the end of its lifespan. It took barely a moment to switch out the one he was wearing for the new one. His old one was more neutral in tones but this one was a bit brighter and would probably catch the eye more often. Ah well, Dorian already stood out in both his personality and how he was as a magister. This was just another little quirk for him.
He reached for the sending crystal he wore around his neck. “I got your package Tasi,” he said.
Tasi responded almost immediately. “Really? I’m surprised it got there so soon. Charter wasn’t lying about her network being able to get it to you as soon as possible.”
“At least they gave it to my servants instead of trying to break into my room.” Dorian did have spells of protection around his room but Charter was trained under Leilana and if anyone could figure out a way to break into Dorian’s space it would be her. “It’s perfect by the way, the bracelet. I’m surprised you got it done so fast.”
“Well you did say the one you have is fraying so I wanted you to have another one before it broke completely. I’m glad you like it.”
“What’s with the letter though?” Dorian glanced at the sheet of paper and his attention caught on a few lines of Tasi writing about how great nugs were. “We talk almost every day. I doubt there’s really anything you need to catch me up on through a letter.”
“It felt weird to just send you just the bracelet though so I thought I would have fun and write you a letter to go with it.”
“Dear Dorian, I hope everything is going well for you, it has been for me. I’ve spent the last few days visiting my Clan and spending time with my friends there. Kian and I went out into the woods to see if we could find any nugs—”
“You really don’t have to read it out loud!” protested Tasi.
Dorian couldn’t help but chuckle. He could picture her slightly pouting when saying that. “It’s a week or two late at this point but it’ll be a fun read. Would you like me to send a letter back?”
“That would be fun!” Tasi paused. “Although the letters would all be really delayed like you said. It would be more of a memory of the past.”
“That could be fun in a way,” said Dorian. “Alas it would be for the best for me to not write down any grievances regarding the other magisters in case that falls into the wrong hands.”
“Oh, right that’s true. Maybe it would be better to just stick with the sending crystals then.”
“Probably.”
“Wait, based on the time, you just got home didn’t you? You should probably eat something.”
Dorian’s stomach took that moment to also make it clear it would like food as well. The cook was probably finishing up with dinner at this very moment. “I’ll do that. Talk to you later tonight?”
“Of course!”
Letting go of the sending crystal, Dorian got to his feet and walked over to his bedside table where he kept a small keepsake box. He carefully folded up the letter and put it in the box along with his old friendship bracelet. When he had asked Tasi what Clan Lavellan did with old friendship bracelets, she said they would just throw them into a fire as they were unneeded. Dorian couldn’t do that. The old bracelet had seen far too much, he wore it throughout his time in the Inquisition. There were just so many memories attached to it and maybe he was too sentimental for his own good.
Either way, he wasn’t going to let it burn.
After making sure everything was secure in the box, he shut it and went downstairs to have dinner and a glass of wine.