Chapter 2

Alistair's small traveling party entered through the gates unannounced and with no fan-fair. As he dismounted his horse a guard ran up to him. "Excuse me, but the Keep is closed! All visitors must leave until we have a chance to evaluate the situation here."

Alistair raised an eye brow. "I am here to help you evaluate the situation." Alistair replied.

"I don't see how you could possibly help," the guard retorted.

'Maker, give me patience,' Alistair thought.

"Your Majesty!" Seneschal Varel exclaimed as he bowed before Alistair. "Please forgive my guard for not recognizing you." Alistair remembered from one of Ella's reports that Varel was the seneschal that helped Ella with the day-to-day matters at the Keep.

Alistair laughed, "No worries. They really need to show my picture around Ferelden a little more."

Varel chuckled, "For such a new king, that would probably be most helpful."

"Yy-y-our Majesty, I am so sorry!" The guard cried out.

"It's alright. No harm done," Alistair replied.

"Your Majesty, we weren't expecting a visit from you; order at the Keep has only recently been reestablished." Varel explained.

"I know. Six days ago I received a message from Ella that briefly explained what was happening here and in the City of Amaranthine. I left immediately to bring aid and supplies. Wynne is the court's mage and we brought with us three other mages to help those who have been injured. About a half a day behind us are two supply carts that have brought food, fresh water, clothes, blankets and more medical supplies. I am here to help out in whatever capacity I am needed."

"Well, your Majesty.."

"Please call me Alistair."

"Oh, okay, Alistair. Your reputation is well deserved." Varel replied.

"What reputation would that be? I hope it's a good one. If not then it's all lies and hearsay."

Varel chuckled again, "They say that you are a fair and good King and that you have a hands-on approach with your people. I believe they are correct."

"Well, that is very nice of them whoever they are." Alistair's cheeks blushed as he acknowledged the compliment. "Hmm, well," Alistair stammered on, "Ella's note also said that she was headed to Drake's Fall. Has she returned yet?"

For the first time since being in the King's presence Varel felt uncomfortable. He had heard rumors that Commander Gabriella had been intimately involved with King Alistair during their travels together, but he wasn't sure if those rumors were true. He hated to give an ex-lover let alone the King of Ferelden bad news, but Varel drew in a deep breath and began, "Well, your Majesty… hmm, I mean Alistair, none of the Grey Wardens have returned yet from Drake's Fall. The darkspawn have retreated so they were obviously victorious, but the Commander and her party have yet to return and there have been no reports from travelers on the roads, of seeing them."

Alistair felt his heart begin to race and his mind start to cloud with panic. It had been six days since she had headed out to face The Mother and The Architect. She should be back by now. He pushed down his rising fear and refused to let his thoughts go down that dark path. She will be fine, he thought. She has faced and defeated much worse.

He regrouped his thoughts and pushed forward. "Who did she take with her and who did she leave behind?"

"She didn't want a large party going to Drake's Fall because she wanted to move quickly and have her movements go undetected. She took with her Oghren, Sigrun, Anders, and Nathaniel Howe. She left Velanna and Justice behind with Zevran in charge."

Alistair pondered her party choice. Oghren was a dwarf from Orzammar who had been a part of their party during the blight. He was an excellent warrior. Sigrun was also a dwarf and a member of the Legion of the Dead, a casteless group of dwarven warriors. Alistair had never met Sigrun, but Ella had good things to say about the rogue in her reports. Alistair had met Anders, the apostate mage, on his first trip to the Keep. Ella had conscripted him into the Wardens to avoid the Templars from taking him back to the Circle of Magi. When Alistair received Ella's report that she had also conscripted Nathaniel Howe, the son of Arl Rendon Howe Alistair nearly fell out of his chair and he ruined a perfectly good shirt from the red wine that he had coughed out, after he had read that little tidbit.

Rendon Howe was the man that betrayed Ella's family and slaughtered them in their own home. Alistair had thought the taint had finally gone to her brain and she had lost her mind, but as it turned out Nathaniel had superior archery skills and was a huge asset to the Wardens. So she had taken with her a warrior, a mage, a distance fighter, and two rogues. That was an excellent group to go into battle with and that made him feel a little better about their overall success.

Ella had mentioned Velanna and Justice, but only briefly. Her reports the past several months were short and written in haste due to the amount of traveling she was doing while she investigated The Mother and The Architect. The last bit of information rocked Alistair to the core. Zevran, that son-of-a-whore was here. His shock must have been visible at least to Wynne because she placed a steadying hand on his back. In all of her letters she never once mentioned that Zevran was here. He had disappeared the same night that Ella had. Alistair should have made the connection, but he had assumed that because his 'Bella Tesoro' was gone that the assassin had left for his beloved Antiva. But the dirty slimy bastard had been here with her the whole time.

"Zevran is here. I didn't realize that." Alistair managed to reply, trying to keep his voice calm and level.

"Yes, he arrived with the Commander. He has been training the new recruits. He is an excellent rogue fighter. Not as good as the Commander; her skills are unmatched by anyone I've seen. She incorporates several different techniques into her fighting style, that keep her opponents from being able to anticipate her next move. She is amazing to watch in the sparring ring."

"Yes, I know. I have sparred against her and it's not an easy task if you like to remain on your feet while you're fighting."

Varel laughed. "Yes, I would assume that being on one's feet would lead to a more successful outcome."

"So why is Zevran training the new recruits and not Ella?"

"Well, with her duties to the Grey Wardens and her duties as Arlessa she doesn't get to spend as much time as she would like training with the Wardens. However, the Commander does always welcome a batch of new recruits, and spars with each of them individually. She can evaluate their weaknesses so the trainers can help the recruit master those skills. Zevran has turned out to be an excellent teacher and he has even incorporated some of his assassin skills into the lessons. It's very interesting to watch."

"Lovely, that's just lovely. Nothing like having a trained assassin teach the new Grey Ward…."

"Your timing is excellent, your Majesty, once again you managed to miss the bloodletting." Zevran said as he strolled up to Alistair and Wynne. "I'm beginning to think you don't take this whole killing darkspawn thing too seriously."

Alistair flushed with anger, but before he could reply Wynne said, "We left as soon as Alistair received Bella's note. We are here to help. Zevran, can you take me to the injured?"

"And what is he going to do?" Zevran said as he pointed at Alistair. "Stand around and look kingly, that will be a big help, no?"

Alistair glared at Zevran. "I see you have made yourself useful here being Ella's lap dog." Alistair retorted.

"Oooo, I see the king has expanded his witty repartee."

Zevran leaned in and whispered just so Alistair could hear, "I would rather be her lap dog than not be around her at all. You are an even bigger fool than I thought." Zevran hissed. "The best thing that ever happened to you, and you let her walk out of your life without even putting up a fight. You don't deserve her, but I am more than willing to help her pick up the pieces of her shattered heart, and if that requires me keeping her bed warm at night then so be it."

Alistair's face was a deep red, but he growled quietly back, "She is the one that left me. I wrote her and begged her to come back."

"Begged! Begged! No, no, I think not!" Zevran replied louder now. "There was no begging in that sham of a love letter. You condemned her for not having enough faith in the two of you and for leaving. You droned on about YOUR broken heart and never once did you acknowledge her pain. Do you have any idea the amount of courage it took her to leave you? Of course you don't because you only care about your pain. The whole reason she left was to save you from the wrath of the nobility if she couldn't conceive a child. It was to keep you from being forced to put her aside. Being a noble herself she knew they would eventually demand this. If you truly had faith in your "epic love" the moment you read her letter you would have jumped on a horse and raced full speed to catch up to her. But you knew deep down she was right, and once again she was the one that had the courage to act upon it." Zevran spat at him.

Alistair had his head bowed in defeat. On some level he knew some of things that Zevran had said were true. If he didn't truly believe that Ella was right he would have gone after her and made her come back. Instead he ridiculed her and made her feel guilty for leaving. The only thing Alistair could say in reply was, "You read my letter."

"Call it an assassin's curiosity. The day she received your letter I heard her in her room crying most of the night. I went to check on her later that evening. She had fallen asleep in her chair with your letter still in her lap. After I carried her to bed I had to read what you could have said that upset her so. Your stupidity knows no…"

Just then the guard in the battlements rang the bell and began to yell, "Five horses coming up fast to the main gate. I believe it's the Commander's horse."

Alistair spun to face the gate as the horses came stampeding into the courtyard. The lead horse was ridden by a tall man with long, black hair. The man had one hand on his reins and in his lap laying across the horse and cradled in his other arm was Ella. Her head was lulling from side to side with blood dripping down her face and into her dark chestnut hair. Her eyes were closed, but Alistair could see her chest rising with each shallow breath she took.

Alistair and Zevran ran up to the horse, "Nathaniel, what the bloody hell happened?" Zev demanded. Nathaniel eased Ella off of his lap and down into Zevran's arms and then he quickly dismounted his horse.

Nathaniel began to explain as Zevran carried Ella towards the main doors of the Keep. "Zev, it was a long and fierce battle to reach The Mother. The fight with her was even longer and bloodier, but the Commander had finally won the upper hand and had climbed up side of The Mother to deliver the final blow to The Mother's throat. The Commander was so exhausted and she didn't see that The Mother held a dagger in her right hand. The Commander had her sword raised high above her head about to deliver the final blow when Oghren saw the glint of a blade as The Mother was about to slice into the Commander's side. Oghren yelled a warning to her and as the Commander brought her sword down into broodmother's throat she managed to twist away just in time so that The Mother's cut in her side was only a shallow one. The wound wasn't fatal, but the poison on the blade is."

They passed through the giant doors and headed up the stairs. Anders opened the door in front of them and said, "It took me two days just to get her stable enough to move her here, but the poison is now progressing more quickly. Her health has declined rapidly in the past hour."

Alistair followed the group into a large bedroom that was beautifully decorated with items that he recognized as gifts or items that Ella had collected during their travels. Zevran laid Ella down on a large four poster bed. Her body was shivering; her breathing was raspy and shallow.

"Did you bring the dagger?" Zevran asked.

"Of course! I knew you would want to see it." Anders replied and handed it to Zevran. Alistair could see a clear gel at the end of the dagger where the blade met the handle. Zevran brought the dagger up to his nose. He then touched the gel with his pinky finger and tasted it. Zevran let out a long sigh. "It's Crow's Poison. Sigrun there is an antidote in my room in a case I keep under my bed. It's a blue liquid in a small vial."

Sigrun ran out of the room as Zev continued, "The antidote usually works if given right after the victim has been poisoned, but it's been three days since she has been stabbed. I just don't know if it will work. Our only hope is that since it's a shallow wound that it has taken the poison longer to fully enter into her blood stream and reach her vital organs."

Seconds later Sigrun ran back into the room. Zevran took the vial from her and slid his arm under Ella's neck. He tilted her head back and pulled the stopper out of the vial using his teeth. "Nathaniel, open her mouth, I will pour this in a little in at a time. Each time I stop pouring, close her mouth and hold her nose so that she will swallow. Capisce?"

Nathaniel nodded and gently pulled Ella's lips apart. Then Zev slowly poured a small amount of the liquid in her mouth and Nathaniel gently closed her mouth again. They did this several times until she had swallowed all of the antidote. Zevran leaned over and whispered "My Bella Tesoro you rest now" and kissed her on the forehead. He laid her head back on her pillow and then stood up. "And now my friends we wait. Wynne and Anders you may want to check her vital organs and see if they need healing. Varel please bring all the health poultices we have in stock."

"How long?" Alistair asked barely above a whisper, "How long before we know if it worked?"

Zevran was no fan of the King, but it was clear to see the pain etched on his face. "A day, a week, a month? I do not know. We have to wait and see. She is in the Maker's hands now."