I decided to redo this story and make it into a chaptered one. After working on my story "The Wedding" I realized that I needed to delve more into the relationship between Arianna and Zevran, especially because he will be reappearing in a future story. So I redid this story and hopefully it is much better now.

Special thanks to everyone that has been a faithful follower of my stories... and a special thanks to Integra Hawke for directing my attention to a few things that I missed during editing(all fixed now Integra!).

And as always... thanks to BioWare and the DA writing team

Chapter One

With a loud clang and a clash of steal, the blades of the two warriors met. Arianna struck out again with her long sword, but her opponent deftly blocked the thrust of her blade with his heavy shield. Once again Arianna thrust her blade forward, but she could not get through his defenses; his heavy shield quickly knocked her sword aside. She looked at him and cursed in sheer frustration. He simply raised his eyebrows at her and said nothing.

Arianna's breathing was becoming extremely labored and her eyes were stinging from the steady stream of sweat that was running into them. Her face was flushed red from the heat of her exertion and from the warmth of the sun's rays that beat down upon her.

Andraste's holy fire! Is he ever going to tire? Arianna was more than a little frustrated that she had been unable to unarm or best the warrior before her. She shot the man a look of irritation as she circled around him, trying to find a chink in his defenses that her blade could exploit.

They had been trading blows for over two hours now and Arianna was getting near the end of her stamina. Her arms were beginning to tire and cramp. The left arm carrying her shield was only a little less sore than the right arm that held her sword, and that was due to the fact that she was less skilled with a shield then he, therefore she tended to use her sword more than her shield in defense. Her long legs were starting to tremble from exertion and she feared that they might buckle at any time. Yet her pride urged her on, and she refused to back down or yield, despite her great weariness.

Back and forth, the evenly matched warrior's parried, each trying to find an opening; a weakness in the other's defenses, in order to make that last final blow that would bring an end to their skirmish. For the past two hours they had been fighting, each unwilling to surrender, each unwilling to call a draw.

Arianna was getting angry and she was losing her patience. She was tired and hungry, and she was covered in sweat and grime. She caught her own scent on a stray breeze and wrinkled her nose in distaste- she really, really, needed to bathe.

She sighed in irritation and swore at the man again. She'd had enough.

Without warning Arianna took her shield and threw it with all her might, aiming directly at the other warrior's head. The man raised his shield and ducked for cover. Arianna quickly switched her sword to her other hand, and thrust the tip of her blade into his left side, right under his raised, shield arm.

Her warrior opponent yelled out in pain. Arianna quickly switched her sword back to the first hand, and fell to one knee as the other warrior thrust his own blade forward in response. She dodged his blow and hit him in the side of his knee with the broad side of her sword, and then rolled away.

The warrior's leg buckled and he fell to his knees hard. Arianna rapidly regained her feet and proceeded to plant her booted foot into the center of his back and kicked hard. He fell forward and landed face first in the dirt, his breath almost knocked out of him. He hastily rolled to his back and there he found Arianna looking down upon him with the point of her blade aimed at his neck, just under his chin.

"Do you yield the day?" Arianna asked him. She looked down into Alistair's dirt and sweat-stained handsome face and waited for his reply.

Alistair did not answer, but instead he started to laugh at her good-naturedly.

"I said yield, you insufferably lout!" Arianna pressed her blade to his throat hard and a small trickle a blood started flowing as the tip of the steel pierced his skin. She glared down at him.

"Ouch!" he yelped. "By the Maker, that hurts, woman," Alistair said in an injured tone.

Arianna looked at him in an apologetic way and relaxed her stance. Alistair immediately hit her sword to the side with his forearm, kicked his leg up and out, connecting with one of her knees. Arianna lost her balance and fell to the ground, landing on her very lovely shaped rear quarters.

Alistair quickly stood up and looked down at Arianna as she lay sprawled on the hard ground, rubbing her bruised nether regions.

"Do you yield the day, my lady?" he asked her with a mischievous grin. He began laughing at her again when she let loose a string of curses that were aimed at him and his somewhat questionable parentage.

"You are… you… you are insufferable, Alistair! I had you beaten- admit it!" Arianna glared up at him. Alistair grinned and just laughed at her again.

"Maker's breath, woman. There's no need to get your knickers in a bunch. If it makes you feel better, I'll just let everyone think you won the match… including you." Alistair chuckled loudly, quite pleased with himself.

Arianna was too tired and too sore to argue with him anymore. She sighed in exasperation and raised a gauntleted hand to him. "Help me up, Alistair."

Alistair reached down and helped his disgruntled companion regain her feet. They both collected their shields and swords and started walking back to the campsite. The two Grey Wardens continued on down the dusty path, walking together side-by-side in a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

After several moments had passed by, Alistair gave Arianna an inquiring look. "Why did you let your guard down like that? You've never worried about hurting any of your opponents before."

"It's not the same, Alistair. You're not my enemy. And I thought I might have really hurt you," she replied in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry if I did. Hurt you."

Alistair gave her a quizzical glance. Arianna kept looking straight ahead and would not meet his gaze. He wondered what was going on with her. Her behavior towards him over the last few months had been erratic at best. One moment she was carefree and easy-going with him and the next…she turned into, well…Morrigan- a witch with a capital "B".

At that very moment, Arianna was trying to figure out just what was wrong with her, as well. Things had become so much more complicated for her, ever since she had accepted that rose from Alistair.

When she had looked down at Alistair and saw the blood trickling down his neck, and realized that he had been wounded by her hand… her heart had almost stopped beating in her chest. Arianna knew that she had not seriously hurt him for she had not applied that much pressure to her blade…and yet… Arianna was afraid to examine her feelings any further, for she wasn't quite ready to face the truth yet.

The two Grey Wardens continued walking together in silence, but it no longer was a comfortable one.

Upon entering the camp, Arianna gave a cursory look around to make sure that all was well. She observed that Zevran was nowhere to be seen, but she also noticed that his bow was missing from the spot where he usually kept it. That could only mean that he had decided to go hunting for fresh meat. The elf was an excellent archer and often supplied their small group with rabbits, fowl, and small deer to eat.

Arianna saw that Morrigan was sitting by her tent reading, one of her tomes to do with magic, know doubt. Sten was sitting by the fire, cleaning his long sword. Oghren and Leliana were sitting in front of her tent trading stories.

Oghren looked like he was already deep into his cups. Arianna never understood how the red-haired dwarf could drink so much and still function. And by the disapproving looks that Wynne was giving Oghren, from where she was sitting, Arianna thought that that the older mage was probably thinking the same thing as she.

Arianna heard her Mabari hound barking and looked around to locate him. He was sitting in front of Shale, trying to get her attention, but the golem was pretending not to notice him. Arianna noticed a small pile of dead birds near the mighty golem. Shale really had a thing against birds. She sighed in resignation and decided not to say anything to Shale about the dead birds for the moment. Arianna passed by the golem with a friendly nod of her head and avoided looking at the pile of bird carcasses.

Oghren noticed the Wardens' arrival and shouted out to them, "By the Ancestors! We all thought you two had gotten lost, you've been gone so long." He looked at Alistair and Arianna through bloodshot eyes that seemed to be having trouble focusing. "By the Stone, you two look like nug droppings! Who won the match, by the way?"

"I did," replied both the Wardens in unison.

Alistair looked at Arianna and raised his eyebrows at her. "You won the match? I don't think so. If anything it was a draw."

Why did he always have to be so bloody difficult? "Okay. Let's say it was a draw and be done with it." She shot him an irritated look and then walked away towards her tent.

Alistair watched Arianna go, and thought to himself that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Even though she was covered in sweat and grime, and her disposition seemed out of sorts at the moment, he still thought her beautiful, both inside and out.

"Well I'll be a casteless nug-wrangler! The Grey Warden is in love!" exclaimed Oghren after belching quite loudly.

"Oghren, where have you been?" inquired Leliana, as she tried in vain to avoid the alcoholic fumes that the inebriated dwarf had just sent her way. "She and Zevran have been together for months now." Leliana looked at the dwarf strangely. He must be drunker than usual, she thought.

"Not that Warden- the other one. Alistair. He's in love with her," replied Oghren. "I may be drunk, but I'm not too drunk to see that." He belched again to make more room, and then took another long swill of his ale.

Leliana looked at Alistair closely and then glanced at Oghren. "You may be right. I wonder if she knows that he's in love with her."

"I don't know. But by the Stone, things are going to get mighty interesting around here," Oghren replied with a loud boisterous laugh. He raised a bushy red eyebrow and asked Leliana, "Shall we make a wager on which one she'll end up with?"

The auburn-haired Bard just gave him a disapproving look.

Oghren chuckled when a wayward thought came to him. "Hey- maybe she'll keep both of them. They could have a… whatcha call it? That thing that means having sex with three people- always did wonder why Branka didn't decide to just do that instead of running of with her girlfriend…" Oghren's voice trailed off as images filled his mind. He looked at Leliana and asked, "You have any of that salve left? The one that is sort of…slippery? I think I'll just head to my tent for some alone time."

Leliana just turned with a small shudder of distaste and pointed to her pack. She suddenly had the strong urge to drink herself into a drunken stupor. There were just some things about Oghren that she really, really didn't ever need –or want- to know.

Leliana sighed and then turned back around to watch thoughtfully as Arianna ducked under the flap and entered her tent. There was one thing that Oghren had right, she thought, things were certainly going to get interesting.

Arianna rummaged around in her tent, trying to locate her pack. Once she found it she placed a bar of soap, her comb and one of her blankets into the pack. She had decided that she was going to go to the river to bathe, before it got too dark. The sun was just starting to set, and it would only be light for another hour or two.

She exited her tent with her pack and her sword, and whistled to her Mabari. He ran up to her and gave her a happy bark. The hound always loved it when Arianna took him anywhere with her.

"Come on Ser Dog. You're coming with me. You and I are going to take a bath." The Mabari barked twice in understanding and trotted off ahead of her, towards the river.

Once at the river, Arianna looked around carefully to make sure she was alone. Once satisfied, she removed her armor and boots, but left on her smallclothes. She reached into her pack and removed the bar of soap.

"Come on, boy. Let's go get wet." Arianna and the Mabari both waded into the river until the water level rose past her waist. She ducked under the water to wet herself completely and then stood back up. The water was cold, but not unbearably so. The dog began to bark and splash about in the water near her. She laughed and pushed him away. "Go swim over there, boy". Arianna pointed to a spot in the water a little ways to her left. The Mabari barked and then moved away from her.

Arianna began to lather herself with the soap. She started with her hair and then worked her way downward. Once she had lathered herself enough, she ducked under the water again, to rinse off. She then decided to go for a swim. She threw the bar of soap onto the river bank, and then started to swim away from the river's edge.

The water was cool and refreshing as it caressed her skin. Her sore and tired muscles soon relaxed. Arianna swam further away from the embankment. The current began to get stronger as she got closer to the middle part of the river. There was an undertow that she hadn't noticed before when she had been closer to the river's edge. Arianna decided that it would probably be a good thing to turn around and start swimming back towards land.

As Arianna started swimming back in the direction she had come from, she noticed a curious ripple in the water to her left. The ripple seemed to be getting closer to her. Uneasy now, she began to swim slightly faster towards the river bank.

All of a sudden she felt something large wrap itself around her leg, and then she was pulled under. Arianna kicked her legs against the pull and managed to get her head above the water. She cried out in alarm as she was pulled under a second time. Arianna opened her eyes as she was under the water and she saw that an enormous snake had wrapped itself around one of her legs, and was now trying to pull her away from the river bank. She struggled and kicked frantically with both legs. Arianna tried to swim upwards towards the water's surface, but the large serpent was heavy and it would not let her go.

Maker, help me! She hit the snake with her fist, but it just tightened its body further around her leg. Her lungs felt like they were ready to burst. Her body was crying out for air. Arianna fought the urge to expel the remaining air in her lungs and take a breath.

When it was to be her time to die, it would be upon some battlefield, and not drowning in some blighted river, she thought angrily. Arianna started to struggle against the snake's vise-like grip on her, trying somehow to loosen herself from its grasp.

Arianna suddenly sensed something else was in the water with her. It was her hound! The dog snapped at the snake and tried to bite down on its head, but he missed. The snake struck out with its fangs, but it too missed. The serpent tightened its grip further around Arianna's leg. The dog swam upwards to take a breath of air. He quickly swam back to where Arianna was and attacked the snake again. This time the Mabari managed to clamp down his teeth into the snake behind its head. Within moments the snake was dead. But the snake was still wrapped tightly around her, weighting her down. Arianna struggled against its heavy pull but she only sank farther down under the water.

Arianna felt herself starting to panic. Her lungs were burning and her heart was beating uncontrollably. She frantically grabbed onto her dog's collar as he started to swim towards the surface. Just as his head broke though the water, Arianna lost consciousness.

She abruptly came to and immediately began to spew out the water from her lungs. She gagged and choked, and then retched again. Arianna realized that she was now lying on the ground by the edge of the river.

"Thank the Maker! I thought I had lost you." Alistair pulled her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest.

He had come down to the river to wash and had heard her cry of panic. He had searched the water and did not see her, but he had spotted the Mabari swimming out to a spot towards the middle of the river. By the time he had removed his chain mail and boots, and dived into the river, Arianna's Mabari had started to pull her back in towards land. Alistair had never been so scared in all his life! He thought she had drowned. But the Maker must have heard his fervent pleas to spare her life- she was alive.

"Alistair? What…? How…? "She was finding it difficult to think straight. Arianna looked up into Alistair's face and their eyes met. He was gazing at her so intently, and there was a strange look in his eyes- one that she had never seen before. Her eyes widened and her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest. "Alistair?" she said his name softly, her eyes widening in wonder.

His eyes narrowed and his expression hardened. "Have you lost all your Maker-given senses? What were you thinking, woman! You should never have been out here alone. You could have…you could have died! And then what would I- we have done? Our duty to end this cursed Blight is much too important for you to behave so foolishly!" Alistair all but snarled at her.

Arianna quickly removed herself from Alistair's arms, pulled her arm back and punched him squarely right in his nose. Alistair yelled as blood spurted from his injured nose.

"Don't you ever tell me about my duty," she yelled back at Alistair. "I have never turned my back on my duties as a Grey Warden. You have no right to lecture me about duty… you who refuse to take the throne as Ferelden's rightful king!"

Angry tears were running freely down her face. Arianna wiped them away violently with the back of her hand. She pushed him hard in his chest, almost knocking him backwards, to move him away from her, and then she stood up. She stood looking down at him with a hurt and angry expression.

"I left my parents to die at the hands of Howe and his men, because I promised my father that I would do my duty! I am a Cousland and a Grey Warden, and I have done nothing but my duty!"

Alistair stared speechless at her. Water was still dripping from her and he noticed for the first time that she was wearing nothing but her smallclothes. The wet, light- weighted material was clinging to her body and it revealed to him all her glorious female curves.

He couldn't breath- and it wasn't because his nose was now horribly swollen and still dripping with his blood. He just sat there bleeding, and continued to look at her with one of his idiotic expressions on his face.

Arianna swore at him and strode away in anger. She went over to her pack and pulled out the dry blanket that had been within, and then wrapped it around her. She stuffed her boots in the pack and then called to her Mabari. She hung the pack around his neck and told him to carry it back to the camp for her. Arianna picked up her armor and sword and then walked away without a further glance at the injured and still bleeding Alistair.

Zevran looked up from the task he was doing, and saw that his lover had returned to the camp. He finished cleaning the carcasses of the three rabbits he had killed and gave them to Morrigan to make into a stew for the night's dinner.

Alistair then entered the camp and Zevran, noticing his bruised and bloody nose, gave him a questioning look. Alistair quickly looked away from Zevran's gaze and ducked into his tent.

Zevran shook his head and laughed to himself. He'd give odds that his beloved Warden had something to do with the condition of Alistair's nose. The elf decided to go to the source and see if his assumption had been correct.

He found Arianna sitting in her tent lost in thought. Her smallclothes were still damp and there were quite a few spots of blood splattered down the front.

"Are you alright, mi amore? You are not hurt are you?" Zevran glanced at the blood again as he sat down next to her. She followed the direction of his gaze and noticed the blood on her. A strange expression came into her eyes.

"No, Zev. I'm not hurt. It's Alistair's blood, not mine," she explained. He raised his eyebrows at her but did not speak, waiting for further explanation.

"I hit him in the nose." She did not add any further explanation then that. Arianna looked into Zevran's attractive face and smiled. "I missed you."

"But of course, you did. There are so many things to miss about me, no?" He laughed softly and looked into her green eyes, as if searching for something. Zevran smiled at her again suggestively and said," Shall I show you just what you have been missing?"

He leaned over and kissed her gently, caressingly. He pulled her closer to him as their kiss deepened. Her body began to tremble as she responded to Zevran's desire for her. Zevran pulled away from her, his breath coming in small gasps.

"Do you desire me, my lovely Warden? Do you truly want me?" he asked almost angrily. He looked into her green eyes with his piercing gaze.

"Yes, Zevran," she replied in almost a whisper.

"Do you really, my beautiful one? Nothing has changed then?" he asked as he searched her eyes again.

She gazed back at him and answered, "I want you Zevran. I will always want you."

But Zevran wondered. He had seen something else lurking deep in her eyes, behind the love and passion for him. It was doubt and uncertainty.

Arianna pushed Zevran down onto his back and began to slowly kiss his chest… his neck… his lips. She gave in to their passion and pushed away all thoughts of the day's events from her mind. All except for one- the look in Alistair's eyes when he had held her in his arms by the bank of the river.