A/N: Hi there! I'll admit I'm not that great at titling stories and chapters. I'll also admit that this chapter is a bit basic, with a lot of dialogue from the game (or at least as much as I can remember :D). I promise it'll get better... Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or related characters. Maybe Aetheria and Soren, but that's it. Reviews greatly appreciated! :)

Chapter 1: Duty And Desire

"I am justice. I am vengeance. Blood can only be repaid in blood."
- Lady Vasilia

~o~O~o~

"I accept your surrender," Aetheria said, lowering her bloodied weapons.

Alistair felt outraged. "I did not just hear you say that," he fumed. "After all he's done? Kill him, already!"

"Wait!" interjected a rough voice. Alistair turned to see Riordan walk into the Landsmeet chamber. "There is another way." Alistair raised an eyebrow suspiciously. He didn't like the sound of it already.

"The general is a hero of great renown," the senior Warden said. "Let him be of use to us. Let him join the Grey Wardens."

Alistair's mouth fell open in shock. Aetheria furrowed her brow. "Would that even work?" she asked. "He isn't exactly loyal to us."

"We are what we are," Riordan replied. "The Joining binds us to the darkspawn, you know this. If you were to forswear your oath and flee today, you'd find yourself in the Deep Roads, given time." He glanced around before continuing. "Either you'd seek them out, or they'd seek you."

"The Joining itself is often fatal, is it not?" Anora added. "If he survives, you gain a general. If not, you have your revenge. Doesn't that satisfy you?"

Alistair couldn't hold his rage in any longer. "Absolutely not!" he shouted angrily. "Riordan, this man abandoned our brothers, then blamed us for the deed. He hunted us down like animals. He tortured you! How can we let him join us?"

"Riordan has a point, though," said Aetheria after a short pause. "We should let him go through the Joining."

"What?" Alistair scoffed angrily. "Joining the Wardens is an honor, not a punishment. I will not stand next to him as a brother, I won't!"

"And if I do let him join us?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

"Then I can't do it," he said firmly. "I'm leaving."

"No!" she suddenly yelled, her furious voice breaking the quiet atmosphere. "No, Alistair. Don't you dare walk away."

Alistair tried his best angry face. "I can't fight beside the one who got Duncan and all the Grey Wardens killed."

"Yes, you can, and you will," she retorted firmly. "You have a duty. You cannot abandon it now." It was as if Duncan's voice had joined with hers. He saw the truth in her words, clear as daylight, wise as experience. He could not run away. But he still wouldn't back down. He couldn't.

"What are we going to accomplish by agreeing to this?" he argued angrily.

"Alistair, we need all the help we can get."

That excuse again. She'd first used it to convince him that bringing Morrigan along was a good idea, and had used it for other recruitment opportunities for questionable companions. But this time he resisted. "That won't work here, Aetheria," he snapped. "Look at all we've done. Look at all you've done. You think we really need another, after everything you've accomplished yourself?"

"I didn't do it alone," she hissed back, stepping forward with one foot so she was angled sideways but still looking at him. "I didn't do it with just skill, luck, and fate. I did it with help. And we aren't leaving the Blight in the hands of the only three Grey Wardens in Ferelden. You said it yourself. We need to rebuild."

The words echoed in his mind, bringing back the memory of when they'd first spoke of Duncan after Ostagar. He did say that, didn't he? His mind scrambled. He couldn't think of more arguments against it.

"Alistair," she said firmly, slicing through his cloud of thoughts. "We must gain all the allies we can possibly have. And I know it feels wrong, but if there is a chance that he'll help us, then I'll take it." She stepped closer and looked him in the eyes. "This is our duty as Grey Wardens. We must stop the Blight, no matter the cost."

The Grey Warden motto bounced into his head as he attempted to hold her fierce gaze, forcing himself to keep looking into her shining green eyes.

In war, victory.
In peace, vigilance.
In death, sacrifice...

He couldn't hold it for long. He sighed and looked away. "All right," he relented. "Fine."

He half expected her to smile, but she didn't. She turned to Loghain. "You will be inducted into the Grey Wardens, then."

"Thank you, Warden," Anora said gratefully. But even she flinched slightly when Aetheria turned her acidic gaze on her.

"There is still the matter of who will rule Ferelden," interjected Arl Eamon. "Has it been decided that Alistair will rule on his father's throne?"

"No one's decided that," said Alistair quickly. "Have they...?"

"He refuses the throne!" Anora exclaimed eagerly. "Everyone here has heard him. He abdicates the throne in favor of me."

"You are hardly the right person to mitigate this, Anora," said Eamon, turning to Aetheria. "Warden, will you assist us in this decision?"

Aetheria's face was hardened and tough. Alistair had never seen her so intense out of battle. Usually if she was angry, she got over it quickly enough. But there was unmistakable ferocity in her eyes, and in all honesty it scared him. "Yes," she said, "but first I need to speak to Alistair."

She asked him a couple questions, then asked Anora in turn. Without sparing a glance at Loghain, she stated, "I am ready to choose."

"Then who shall lead Ferelden, Warden?" Eamon asked as she walked to the front of the group. "Who will lead us through this Blight?"

She took a breath. "Alistair will be king," she announced.

Alistair felt his stomach flop. So he wasn't just going to be forced to fight alongside Loghain, he was also going to have to be king afterwards. Things were not going as he had hoped.

"And," she added suddenly, before Eamon could speak, "I will rule beside him."

Alistair nearly choked hearing her words. It ended up sounding like a strange cough. Once he'd steadied himself, he asked incredulously, "Really? You will?" He closed his eyes for a moment. "This is where I wake up, usually," he muttered. "Or everyone points and laughs because I have no clothes on."

This time she smiled – a tight, wry smile that twisted his heart. She wasn't enjoying this much, either, he guessed. Not only had she united Ferelden, she was faced with the burden of choosing its fate, as well. But the smile did say one thing for certain.

Yes.

~o~O~o~

Loghain was in the study with Riordan. Aetheria lay on the bed in her room, lazily stroking her mabari's head. No one had dared come in, and other than the hound, she was alone, thinking to herself. The decision hadn't been easy, that was for sure. She knew Alistair might have to be restrained the next time they set up camp, and she desperately hoped that he'd be able to handle his emotions, though he never seemed very adept at it.

She closed her eyes, letting her mind drift like a paper boat in a pond. Was it wrong to deprive Alistair of his revenge? After all, she got to kill Arl Howe. Then again, she remembered, Howe wasn't very much liked anyway. And he was a lot sicker in the mind than Loghain. Loghain was just... paranoid, really. I suppose I can't blame him, she thought. He was born when the Orlesians still controlled Ferelden... but so was my father, she remembered suddenly. It seemed so strange that nearly one year after the attack on Highever, her parents already seemed so distant to her. Only now she realized that that was one thing her father could have understood about Loghain, if he was here to help her.

But now she was facing this without them.

She sighed and lay sprawled on the bed, ready to let sleep consume her.

A sudden knock on the door jolted her awake. She didn't even know if she'd fallen asleep.

She stood up and stretched a little before opening the door. Riordan stood there, a faint smile playing about his face. This must be about Loghain, she realized. Instantly the thought of his dying in the Joining became a hope, which she quickly blotted out of her mind. "Riordan?" she greeted.

He nodded in reply. "Loghain has survived the Joining. He is now a part of the Grey Wardens."

Aetheria tried her best to hide her disappointment. Alistair would not be happy with this at all. And she didn't need untrusting companions, not when they were so close to finishing this.

"Thank you for telling me," she answered simply. "What are you going to do now?"

Riordan outlined his plan to go down south to locate the archdemon. "It appears that the horde is poised to attack Redcliffe," he stated. "I'll head there too, to investigate."

"Luck be with you, then," she said. Riordan thanked her and walked away. As he did, she couldn't help but think of Alistair. Where did he go, exactly? He never said he was leaving, and if he had then surely he'd tell her first. He had stopped by after the Landsmeet when she told her companions what happened, and he spoke to her about kingship and their engagement and heirs. They didn't speak once of Loghain, but his hard eyes clearly showed that he greatly disapproved.

He couldn't leave now. But if that was true, then where was he?

She gathered her belongings and hoisted the backpack onto her shoulders, then moved from room to room signaling her companions to prepare to leave. She purposely left Anora's old room for last, because she knew he'd be there.

She stepped inside gingerly and forced herself to speak. "Loghain?" she said, her voice sounding weaker than usual. "Time to pack up. We're heading out."

He turned and fixed his gaze on her. She suppressed a shudder. His eyes were icy blue, but an aura of darkness radiated from them. Was he even happy with his chance to live, she wondered? Was he hoping to die somehow?

"Thank you, Warden," he answered, turning back to the bookshelf. Aetheria was tempted to ask "what for?" but quickly decided against it. She wanted to seem an able leader, for what it was worth. With her other friends, it hadn't been much of a problem. But with the end of the Blight approaching, it would be decidedly more difficult.

She walked slowly down the stone ramps and stairs that reminded her so much of Highever. Had Alistair been there, she would have gone on and on about it. But even now she was in no mood to talk. Arriving at the front door, she spotted all her companions standing around, talking to each other. Her heart sank in her chest as she realized Alistair wasn't among them.

She went up to Wynne. "Do you know where Alistair is?"

"I believe he went to camp," the healer answered. "Where we set up last time."

Aetheria was about to reply when she saw Wynne's face turn sour. She turned around.

Loghain walked up to the group as their chatter faded away. He nodded to her.

Aetheria adjusted the pack on her shoulders. "Let's get moving," she said, and opened the door.