Note: The story follows the storyline of the game and is set after the events of the dwarf noble origin, so some knowledge of what happened there is required. Main characters are (naturally) Lady Kaehlyn Aeducan and Gorim.

All the characters from the game belong to Bioware and all the original characters belong to me. Although I'm willing to swap all my original characters (save Kaehlyn) for Gorim, in case Bioware is interested in making a deal.

…

Chapter One – The endless sky

Gorim

At first Gorim felt like falling up. Up into the vast, no, endless, sky. It stretched above him and around him, bright blue thing that was nothing like he had imagined. He stood there, alone, outside the gates of the place he had once called home, the people gathered in the square staring at him. They couldn't be mistaken of the reason why he was standing there; Bhelen had sent six guards to make sure he was kicked out as publicly as possible. The prince sought to humiliate him, but he didn't care. No matter what Bhelen did, the prince couldn't hurt him any more. He had a purpose on the surface.

The King had sent for him. He had already had packed his things, had been ready to leave, when Harrowmont had appeared and told him that the King wished to speak. Part of him wished he hadn't gone. Seeing the man like that… It was as if Endrin was already dead, his every word like a dying whisper. But there still had been something in the King's eyes. Determination. Harrowmont had given him the Shield of Aeducan and a letter from the King, and Endrin had told him to find his daughter. No matter what, he had to find Lady Aeducan. He had sworn to his King that he would find her. Of course it hadn't been necessary. He had sworn to find her already when they had said their goodbyes in the prison.

He had so wanted to stay at her side, to face the horrors of the Deep Roads with her. If he couldn't serve her, what was his purpose? He couldn't imagine his life in any other way but in her service. And to think he had at first resented the idea.

His father had served King Endrin all his life. It had been expected that he would in turn serve Trian, but it had turned out that the eldest prince wished to choose his own second-in-command. Everyone had expected that Endrin would have recommended him to prince Bhelen, but instead the King had told him Lady Aeducan would require a skilful companion, who could also improve her skills as a fighter.

The idea had seemed strange to him. Of course he knew that Lady Aeducan was training as a warrior instead of following the more traditional path of diplomacy and gentle backstabbing, but he couldn't imagine himself in her service. The Queen had recently died, and the princess, who had been close to her mother, had taken it hard and withdrawn from the court for quite some time. Weak nerves, some said, unsuitable for power. As soon as the princess would let go of the silly notions of trying to be a warrior and had aged a couple more years, she could be married off to some nice young noble. But the King had different plans, and suddenly Gorim had found himself in the middle of those plans.

He had never spoken to her. He had seen her many times, a woman some years younger than him, her long blond hair plaited, wearing at first the colourful dresses of the nobility, then the more toned-down colours of a grieving daughter. But apart from her looks and some rumours, he knew next to nothing about her, and had gone to meet her for the first time with some doubts.

"Ser Gorim," she had said, giving him a little nod, followed by a nervous smile. He had bowed and then, in awkward silence, they had both turned to look at Harrowmont, who had been sent by the King to make sure everything went well. The noble lord had looked like he too had doubts about the situation, but had managed to almost cover it.

"I believe I should thank you for agreeing to be my…" Lady Aeducan hesitated and glanced at Harrowmont, "what is it exactly that my father wishes Ser Gorim to do?"

"Well, you need some more weapons training, and Ser Gorim comes from the top of the Warrior Caste," Lord Harrowmont had started to explain.

"So a weapons trainer?" Lady Aeducan had said.

"And… Well, he can take care of other things for you as well, things that you, as a noble, shouldn't spend your time on. Or can't spend your time on," Harrowmont had said, dropping all the pretences. Gorim had always respected the man because he seemed a lot more honest and direct than many other nobles, but at that moment he hadn't appreciated the deshyr's frankness.

"I see," Lady Aeducan had said, a little smile playing on her lips. "Then I suppose you can leave us, Lord Harrowmont, now that both Ser Gorim and I know what is required of him. Tell my father that I appreciate his concern for my weapons training and… other things."

"As you wish, my lady." Harrowmont had left the room, leaving Gorim standing in front of the princess, who was fiddling with a bracelet made of silver. When the door had closed after the deshyr, she had looked at him with an apologetic smile.

"With me, you will always have the permission to speak freely," she had said, stepping closer. "I know you are here because my father wished so and because your family has a history with mine. Do you… Do you think you will be at least a little bit comfortable in this position? You are a warrior, and I know you expected to be Trian's second-in-command. I don't know yet whether I'll need a second-in-command, I hope I will, but… I hope you will not think your talents are wasted in my service." She had stopped, drawing a breath and then shaking her head. "I'm nervous, I'm sorry." There they were, "nervous" and "sorry" two words that he had never expected to hear from a noble's mouth. They had made him feel uncomfortable.

"My Lady Aeducan," he had started, thinking his words carefully. "I am pledged to serve your family. To serve you. That is all that matters."

"It really isn't," she had replied with a sad shake of her head. "But I guess it will do for now. At what time tomorrow would you like to meet me for weapons training?" Before he had managed to open his mouth to reply, she had continued: "I've grieved my mother enough, now it's time to continue doing what she hoped I would. Following in the footsteps of the Paragon Aeducan. Afternoon, perhaps?"

He had agreed, and had left feeling like something he couldn't quite understand had happened. And the next day he had met her for practice, and he had seen that whatever the rumours said, her nerves were certainly not weak and her skills in battle were more than some of the young noblemen desperately seeking to show their worth in the Provings.

"Any weaknesses in my technique, please correct them. You may not wish to speak freely about any other things, but you need to speak freely about any of my weaknesses in battle," she had said, and he had realized that perhaps being in her service wasn't going to be babysitting a future nobleman's wife.

…

"Hey, you're leaving or what?" a voice pulled him from his memories, back into the stones outside Orzammar. He glanced at a surface dwarf, shoddily dressed. "You might want to sell some stuff, you know, if you're not staying. Easier to travel. Why have two shields? I could buy the other one."

"No," had been his only reply, but he had sold a dagger he no longer needed, and purchased some healing poultices as well as a slightly torn map. Human settlements, he needed to travel to those places. The Deep Roads had not defeated her, she had found the Grey Wardens, and they would take her with them somewhere where there were other humans. He would find her. Bring her the message and gift from the King, and then take his place at her side. He had not wanted it at first, but he was her man. Whether in Orzammar or on the surface.

After trading with the annoying merchant he had set off down the mountain. He travelled a full day, managing to avoid a small group of darkspawn that were roaming the mountain. Finding a safe and relatively comfortable place between tall rocks, he settled down with his head on pack, and looked up. The endless sky was now dark, but splattered with… yes, stars, that glittered like diamonds. It was strange, but not really frightening. There was comfort in those glittering things that – he had heard – were very far away and still shone their light onto the world. With his eyes on the stars, and his thoughts in the task before him, he drifted to his first sleep under the sky.

…

Kaehlyn

No matter how hard Kaehlyn tried, she couldn't sleep. They had travelled fast through the caverns and had arrived to the surface at nightfall, so she should've been tired, but she was under the sky that stretched everywhere, with no end in sight, and she couldn't turn her eyes away from it. She had been told about and she had read about the sky, but nothing had prepared her for it. During daytime it was light blue, she had been told, with sun and white or grey clouds, but she saw it for the first time during night, and it was dark. Yet the sky wasn't dark like a ceiling of a cavern. It was filled with bright stars that sparkled like diamonds, and from their camp, the moon could be seen through tree branches. With so much light around her, in such a strange place, how could she get any sleep?

"Can't sleep?" Duncan walked to her and leaned on the cliff near her. She shook her head and looked up.

"It's beautiful," She said and glanced at the Grey Warden, who had almost a sad smile on his lips. "Although I knew that there is a sky and stars and moon, I had never imagined that they would be so… Unbelievable."

"I imagine this needs getting used to," Duncan said. "But I suppose if a surface dweller was suddenly taken to Orzammar and had to live there, they would need time to get used to not seeing the sky." The Grey Warden stopped and looked at her apologetically. "I shouldn't have mentioned your home, I imagine you still…"

"I don't want to forget Orzammar," she said, turning her eyes back to the sky. "And although thinking about it is painful and makes me wish I could forget, I shouldn't. Tell me," she continued after a small pause, "are there any particular places where the surface dwarves live?"

"On the surface the dwarves are quite close to one another, since castes don't really matter here. I believe there is a dwarven community in Denerim, at least" Duncan replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you remember Gorim, my second-in-command? My friend? He was exiled as well, but allowed to come to the surface instead of being sent to the Dark Roads," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "He's a skilful warrior, but I… I would like to find out that he's safe."

"I'm not sure what the best place to begin searching for him would be," Duncan said after thinking a while. "I'm sorry that we do not have time to look for him now. We must hurry to Ostagar, but once our duties there are over, I would gladly help you track Gorim."

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him. "I feel like I've lost everything of my old life and I just need to know that at least my friend is safe."

"Perhaps he will try to find you," Duncan said, and she shook her head.

"I don't know. I hope that he… He's a good friend and deserves to live a good life, and he was caught in the political games that my brother plays. It's my fault that he's on the surface, because I underestimated Bhelen and his lust for power. And what I've heard about you Grey Wardens, well, you don't exactly lead lives filled with happiness and safety. I want Gorim to be safe."

"Although your concern for your friend's safety is commendable, Lady Aeducan," Duncan said, stressing the title, "I believe he makes his own choices and takes care of his own safety."

"You're right," she said after a while. "Maybe I do think like a noble who knows what's best for everyone else. And I shouldn't, since I'm no longer a noble. Gorim's life is his own, and if I find him, or he finds me, and he wishes to join the Wardens… Could he?"

"I think we need to think about that if the situation arises," Duncan said, and she was certain that there was something more he wished to say, but didn't. "Becoming a Grey Warden isn't simple, nor is being one."

"I understand. Thank you anyway," she said. "And please, no more Lady Aeducan, even if you wish to make a point."

"Of course. It's Kaehlyn, isn't it?" Duncan said and she nodded. "Then I bid you good night, Kaehlyn. Try to get some sleep, no matter how many thoughts try to keep you awake. We still have a long way to travel before we reach Ostagar."

After the Grey Warden had left, Kaehlyn settled against the stone, which made her feel a bit better, and looked up. The moon had disappeared behind some trees, but she could still see the stars. Looking at them comforted her, although she couldn't really say why, and she finally fell asleep.

…

Rant from the writer (explaining how the fic got started): The hearts of both me and my dwarven noble female were torn out of our chests, shattered and the pieces trampled on the ground when we walked up to Gorim in Denerim and found out he was married. My dwarf handled the situation quite well, noble upbringing and all, but I didn't. I think my thought process went along these lines: Excuse me? Married? My character rushed from Korcari Wilds to Lothering, barely stopping to pick up Sten and Leliana, then hurried straight to Denerim and you're married already? Didn't take that long to get over her, did it? And if you thought you'd never see her again, why still have the shield and the letter? Liar! You bastard! And so on, I think you get the idea. So in order to make Kaehlyn (and me) happy, I have to rewrite the whole darn thing. There may not be a truly happy ending in sight, I have to see where the story takes me, but there will certainly be more than "I'll think of you fondly whenever I change the nappies of the baby I'm going to have with another woman, would you like a discount now?". Thank you for reading this rant, I promise I won't go insane anymore. At least not much.