Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age and I am just writing for fun.

Author: So I've actually had this story in my Google Drive for a while. I am not sure if I will continue it, I guess it'll depend on if its worth writing. So there, you have been warned. Also, this was originally going to be a try at a one shot smut, but I just couldn't write it, so no smut here! That could be good or bad, depending on your taste.

Well, read and review! Enjoy!

Once more Leliana felt like she was being watched. Her mission in Antivia had been a success, without incident. It was eerie. She retired back to the inn. A fair faced servant that she hadn't seen before served her food. The servant kept her eyes cast down the entire time. She noticed purple bruises near the servants collarbone.

"Are you alright?" Leliana couldn't help but ask the servant. The girl kept her head down.

"I'm fine." the servant whispered as she placed the plates of steaming food down. The servant was most likely a newly bought slave. Leliana hated this part about Antiva. Slavery was legal. It was everywhere. Parents sold their children in times of hardship. Captured soldiers were either ransomed or sold into slavery.

"Are you hungry?" The girl was thin. She had sharp angular jawlines. She shook her head.

"No." she answered.

"It won't get better." Leliana told the girl. The girl remained silent. "Sit." Leliana commanded her. The girl slightly tilted her head up. There was fear in her grey eyes.

"I… I shouldn't." the girl whispered.

"Sit." she commanded again. The girl hesitantly sat down on the chair opposite of her. Leliana pushed the bowl of steaming soup over to her. "Eat."

"I really shouldn't." the girl responded.

"You will need your strength in the time ahead." Leliana responded. The girl hesitantly picked up the spoon and carefully ate the soup while eyeing the open doorway. Something about the girl reminded her of young Cousland when she had just met her. Shy but holding an aura of strength; endurance. Footsteps approached them. The girl quickly jumped up from the seat, knocking the soup over. She scramble to stop the flow of the painfully hot soup with her hands.

"I'm so sorry, my lady." she said as she cleaned up the rest of the soup with a towel.

"Stop." Leliana commanded as she approached the girl. The girl continued cleaning. She reached to halt the servant's hand. But the girl flinched at the contact and withdrew. "You need to put ice on that burn."

"It's nothing." the girl whispered. Leliana grabbed the ice water bucket for the wine and a salve from her sachet. This time she gently took hold of the servant's hand. For a brief moment, grey eyes stared up at her. She cleaned the angry red burns that were starting to swell with the towel and applied a thin layer of the healing salve. "Thank you." the girl mumbled. "I should get you more soup." She hurried off with the tray of food. Another servant girl came back with another tray of food, which remained untouched into the night.

-o-O-o-

Leliana sat by her desk, rereading her note to the Divine. The candle light dwindled. She felt like she was being watched once more. She reached towards her dagger on the table.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." a light feminine voice said. A cold blade pricked her neck. She stared down at the hand and noticed the pink burnt area. "If it makes a difference, I am sorry." the voice spoke. The hand tightened. The moment felt drawn out. One move and everything would be over. The girl's hand trembled and then withdrew. Her assassin stepped back. Leliana immediately took the chance to grab her dagger and face her attacker. The girl held the dagger to her own throat now. Head held high, the girl's grey eyes pierced hers.

"Stop." Leliana commanded.

"One must die." the girl responded in a chilling, confident tone. "Take care, there are eyes and assassins in every corner of Antiva." Leliana took this chance to tackle the girl to the floor, right before she ended herself. The girl didn't resist, when she grabbed the knife away.

She had the girl tied to a chair in her underclothes. The girl carried an assortment of small knives and poison. She searched through her clothing for letters and orders. The girl didn't speak since the assassination attempt. She now had her eyes cast down to the floor. The girl was thin but not frail. Leliana should've allowed her to kill herself, but something stopped her. Perhaps it was the youthful age of the girl. The girl could barely be of age yet, sixteen or seventeen.

"What is your name?" Leliana questioned the girl. The girl looked up. Her grey eyes held no hope.

"I don't have one." she replied.

"They must call you something."

"Thirteen." she responded.

"My name is Leliana."

"I know." she said.

"You must have had a name once." Leliana stated. The girl didn't respond.

"Who sent you?" Leliana asked. The girl looked back down. Jaws tight. Leliana grabbed the knife off of the table. Despite the kindness she had shown the girl before, the girl was an assassin and was sent to kill her. "Tell me who sent you!" Leliana ordered with the knife pointed at Thirteen's neck.

"Go ahead." the girl responded. She dug the knife into the girl's skin so that blood dripped down. The girl hissed in pain, but remained silent.

"Why remain loyal to your slaver?" Leliana questioned angrily. Her brows furrowed. The girl was clearly capable of fighting. She was near silent and could've completed the assassination, going unnoticed till the morning.

"Because I must." she whispered.

"What, do they have your family ransom?" she asked. It was a very likely situation that the assassin would have a loved one they would die to protect. The girl tilted her head up to meet Leliana's. Her grey eyes dimmed.

"family." she repeated. "I don't really have one anymore." It sounded as if it it held a double meaning that Leliana couldn't decipher. Leliana wiped the blood off the girl's neck. It was distracting.

Leliana sat down on the bedside, staring at her tied up prisoner. Unsure of what to do with the young assassin. She didn't have the heart to hurt her more. She had thought that she had been hardened when she was betrayed once more by the Hero of Ferelden at the Temple of the Sacred Ashes. The ashes of Andraste had been tainted by the blood of the dragon. The girl had a look of innocence, well as innocent as an assassin could be. She was like a younger reflection of herself.

"Have you ever killed?" Leliana asked her.

"Yes. Many." the girl replied without any remorse in her voice. It was stated as a fact.

"Then why didn't you kill me?" Leliana asked with interest.

"You did not seem like the others." the girl replied back.

"You have been watching me." Leliana stated.

"Yes." she affirmed. This explained why she had gone without incident. Any other assassin would've noticed a second presence.

"Why?" Leliana asked.

"The way you act. The way you talk. The way you treat others is different than that of my previous targets." she responded.

"How many winters have you survived?" Leliana asked. The girl took a while to think.

"Seventeen bitter winters." she responded. She casted a glance at the woman sitting on the bed. "What of you?"

"Twenty-seven winters." Leliana replied back, surprised that the girl had started talking back. The girl seemed to realize it as well so her jaws tightened again. Leliana needed the girl to talk, so she switched her strategy."Have you ever fallen in love?" Leliana asked the girl, the girl didn't look up this time. She stepped closer to the girl from behind, her footsteps alerting the girl of her presence.

"Love?", the girl scoffed. "In my line of work. It leads to quick deaths." Her line of work. Perhaps she wasn't a slave. This was good to know.

"You've never fallen for anyone?" Leliana whispered close to the girl's ear. She saw a light blush form on the girl's cheeks. She traced the bruise on the girl's collarbone. "What happened?" The girl remained quiet. "You shouldn't let your pretty form be damaged." Leliana teased.

"A little too late." the girl responded. Leliana noticed the light faded scar that ran across the girl's shoulder. It was old. She traced it with her fingers. "Who did this to you?" she asked with anger tight in her voice.

"It was all part of the training." she responded.

"And did you seek vengeance once the training was over?" Leliana asked.

"No." the girl responded. But there was a slight shift in her demeanor as if she had wanted to or still desired to. Talking to the girl gradually gave Leliana small insights into her assassin's life. But never once did she reveal her employer. The moon gradually dipped into the horizon. They had talked for most the night.

Good? Bad? Worthy of continuation?