"Where is Wynne going?" Alistair suddenly loomed in front of where Solona was sitting by the fire. "And why are you crying?"

She looked up at his earnest, beautiful face. Careful now. You have to sell this.

"She's…dying, Alistair," she replied. "She hid it from us since the Circle, but she's been fading for awhile."

"Oh Maker…That's awful." Alistair sat down next to her. "But…you sounded like you were arguing. You both sounded upset."

Remember, the trick to lying is to mix the truth in...

"I screwed up." Solona glanced sideways at Alistair's face. "I…got mad. That she'd hid it from us for so long. I know it was horrible of me, but I got angry with her. I told her to go away. I'm sorry…"

Alistair put his arm around her and sighed. "It's not your fault. I know you're under a lot of pressure, having to lead us. It can't be easy to be the one making the tough decisions all the time."

She didn't answer for a long moment. She remembered that moment when Kolgrim stood before her exhausted and battered party. She'd been so tired, and in so much pain. It seemed obvious what she should do. She'd been so grateful then that the others had stayed behind in Denerim to keep an eye on Loghain.

She'd never really even believed in the ashes. She'd only gone because she'd felt so guilty about her deal with the…

"Hey there," Alistair whispered into her ear and reached out for her chin. He turned her face to his. "Don't beat yourself up about it. You're too hard on yourself. I know you're just doing the best you can."

She smiled gratefully at him, and the devastatingly handsome grin he gave her in return made her stomach flip. She knew her feelings for him were real. But how much of what he felt about her was a product of the deal she'd made in the Fade?

"Thank you, Alistair." She said quietly, and leaned in for a kiss. At that moment, she didn't care about anything else in the world. Not a pious dead woman's ashes, nor a pious, nearly dead woman's opinion of her. She did what she had to do to survive. And this love, whether real or manufactured, was her reward.