Elyse approached Alistair as if he were a frightened animal, ready to bolt at any moment. He was kneeling down along the riverbed, no doubt covering his trousers with mud, but with the mood he was in, she doubted he cared. When she stepped on a twig, the snapping sound was immediately followed with his back stiffening, but she was thankful he didn't run.

"Can we talk?" she asked quietly, sitting beside him without waiting for an answer. "Or I could talk, and you could maybe listen?"

"That's what you do best, isn't it?" his angered reply came. "Convince us we are an unstoppable force, ready to take down an Archdemon? Coerce an assassin sent to kill you into loving you? Somehow manipulate a man who knows nothing of leadership to become a king?"

"You give me too much credit. The assassin did that all on his own," Elyse joked, hoping to lighten the mood. When she saw it did not have the desired effect, she tried a different approach. "I had hoped all of my convincing, coercing, manipulating as you call it, would be seen for what it truly was: someone who cares about all of you, and who would do anything to see you all happy."

Alistair shook his head. "I get it, the king thing, really I do. It took me awhile, but I even get that marrying Anora is for the best. I don't know what I'm doing, and she's had years of experience beside Cailan. But there is no good, no happiness, to be found at Ostagar. And that traitor and I will never see eye to eye, no matter what you say."

Elyse brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs. The night air was certainly chilly, or maybe it was the company. "I want to go back to Highever," she told him. "When this is all over, I need to go back, face what was done to my family. Do you think that will be easy for me? I know what I'm asking of you."

"You aren't returning to your family's estate with Rendon Howe," Alistair said coldly. "Nor are you being asked to get along with him while you do it."

His words stung with truth, but she tried not to show just how much. "You're right," Elyse acknowledged. "But Howe isn't here trying to make amends for his actions. And while Loghain still believes what he did was right, I know he also carries a lot of guilt for what he's done. Allowing his best friend's son to perish, along with countless others including Duncan, that has to be taking a toll on his heart."

"Good," Alistair spat. "He should be dead for his crimes, not be allowed to go and witness his handy work. And he never should've been allowed to go through the Joining. That man is a disgrace to the Wardens."

Elyse struggled to maintain her composure at his stubbornness. "What do you care? You claim to be leaving the Wardens, remember? Which leaves Riordan and I to take that final blow, when the time comes. I have a fifty-fifty chance of dying very soon Alistair, so forgive me if I'm okay with the odds bending a little in my favor. Even before I decided to save Loghain, you were never going to get near the Archdemon, Riordan and I had already agreed to it."

Alistair turned to face her, his expression dark and full of anger. "Just like Duncan, deciding my fate without any concern for my feelings."

"Duncan saved you at Ostagar. Saved me. Whether you can say the words aloud or not, he gave his life so that you could live. I agreed to do the same, so he did not die in vain."

"Why do you care?" Alistair asked. "Why is this so important to you? I can't understand why you defend Loghain over me, someone who has travelled with you these past few months, known you to be a friend. I don't get it."

"Because I'm scared," Elyse admitted before realizing the words had left her. "Loghain...his actions...I could've done the same thing."

Alistair shook his head. "Are you crazy? There's no way you would leave innocents to die, you are nothing like that monster."

"I very well could be," Elyse said, continuing to stare straight ahead over the lake. "When you and I went to Lothering, and were attacked by those farmers, did you know that they were the first humans I had ever killed? They were innocent, only seeking a way to make some coin to save their families, and we killed them."

"We had no choice," Alistair said, softening the tone of his voice. "They attacked us, what were we supposed to do, let them kill us?"

Elyse shrugged. "No. I don't know. It's just…seeing them lay in the grass, bleeding, lifeless eyes staring up at me…I dreamt about them often after that. I hadn't killed a thing before leaving Highever, not even a chicken. Now here I was killing darkspawn to defend us, which I understood, but those farmers were no real threat, where they? And then the bandits on the road. And the cultists protecting what they thought was Andraste. And the dwarves, standing up for the king they believed in that just happened to disagree with our choice of king. How high is our body count Alistair? Who were we to make that decision to end their lives?"

"We did what we had to," Alistair tried to reassure her. "No, it wasn't ideal, but to gather the armies we needed against this Blight, we had to."

"Kill a handful then to save the country now?" Elyse asked.

Alistair nodded. "It would appear so."

She turned to meet his gaze. "So then I ask you this: how are our actions any different than Loghain's? He felt in his heart that there would be no winning that battle. He fled, sacrificing a handful to keep his army for the larger battle."

"It's not the same…" Alistair began.

"But it is," Elyse interrupted. "It only feels different because you lost people you care about. Would those farmers families understand our actions? The dwarves' families? Would they understand we did what we had to do for the greater good? Or would they be just as upset as you are?"

"It's not the same," Alistair said again, though he was starting to see her point.

"I need you with us in Ostagar," Elyse continued, seeing resolve in his eyes. "I know you say you are leaving the Wardens, but it's just us until this war is over. I don't completely trust Loghain either, but I trust you. There's no doubt that place is still crawling with darkspawn, and we stand a better chance with the three of us. We need to find out what was in that chest… Riordan and Eamon would not have agreed to this side trip before the battle if they didn't think it was important as well. Forget about doing it with Loghain. I'm asking you to do it for me."

Alistair watched as she stood, and remained silent as Elyse walked away toward camp. The very thought of fighting alongside Loghain disgusted him, but he couldn't help the realization that her words were true. Loghain did abandon all those at Ostagar, but they too had made some questionable choices, and had yet to discover the outcome. Facing Ostagar would be a way for Loghain to see the consequences of his actions. And as King, Alistair knew that one day, he would have to face the consequences of his own.