Authors Note: In my mind Aedan looks like Jake Gyllenhaal when he played Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time but with better armor I've always wondered why there was no option in the Mage origin to be able to go find out more information about Grey Warden's before you leave for Ostagar so I added that in there. I hope it doesn't feel rushed the interaction between Aedan and Amara… I just want to make sure that there is a bond there before the battle of Ostagar.

-O-

Chapter 3 – Tying up loose ends…

Amara

Ever since Duncan conscripted her, Amara's world was turned upside down. Duncan announced that they would be leaving for Ostagar in tomorrow morning. This only gave Amara one night to pack and settle her affairs at the tower. Irving suggested she go see Senior Enchanter Leorah and get supplies for her journey. Amara rushed to the second floor to where the Senior Enchanter worked. Leorah had been very helpful. She provide Amara with a few new travel robes, a pair of soft leather boots, a new thick wool cloak and several bags and pouches to carry items in.

"I have something that a healer like you would get the most use out of," she said. She disappeared into the storage room for several minutes and came back with a large leather bag that was dyed green. She laid it out counter and opened it. Inside it was several pockets and folds and all different types of vials and bottles. "It's an apothecary bag, you can use it to store herbs and make potions and it's been enchanted with a weight rune here," she pointed to a pattern that looked like it was burned into the leather on the side of the bag. "It will always be as light as a feather no matter how much you have in it."

"Oh wow! Thank you very much Leorah! I will visit the gardens and drying room and pack it full of herbs to make potions while we are on the way to Ostagar." Amara happily gathered her new belongings and headed to her room. She really didn't have many belongings to pack. There was only one thing that truly belonged to her; it was a necklace that she wore when she arrived at the tower twelve years ago. She didn't remember anything before the Templars found her in the woods but she has always assumed that the necklace had been her mothers. It was a beautiful green stone that had been carved into the shape of a tree with a circle around it. There were runes carved into it as well but no one knew what they were for. Irving had several scholars look at it and no one could decipher it. She put it around her neck and tucked it in her robe. She started packing other articles of clothing when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in," she called as she added some of her potion recipe books into one of the bags on the bed. Irving stepped into the room; he was carrying a staff that Amara had never seen. It looks like it was made of Ironbark.

"I have something for you my dear. The First Enchanter before me had been a Dalish elf. This was her staff." He handed it to her, it suited her well. It was light weight and Amara could feel the runes that were imbued into it. "I'm sure it will serve you well in your upcoming battles." Amara leaned the staff against the wall and threw her arms around Irving and started to cry. Irving patted her on the back, "There… there, you are going to be fine. You are free of the Chantry now, you are free to explore your magic and have a life."

"I know… it's just I'm scared. I'm leaving everyone I've ever known. Nothing will be the same ever again." Amara wiped her tears away. "I'm also afraid of the darkspawn, what if I make a mistake and get myself or someone else killed?"

"You can't think like that Amara, you have to stay positive about this," Irving said. "You need to believe in yourself. I know that during your stay here in the tower you have been denied a lot, told not to use your powers or told to do it differently. I want you to try and forget all of that." Amara just stared at him incredulously. "I know it will be hard but I want you to go with your instincts. Your magic is unlike any magic I've ever seen. So you need to trust in yourself, not the Circle teachings, not the Chantry but in that power inside of you." Irving reached a finger up to touch her forehead. "In here lies your truth, nowhere else."

"I will try, it's all so confusing now," she sighed. Irving chuckled.

"You my dear have always been confusing. I need to get back to my office and you need to pack. I will see you again before you leave." Irving gave her a kiss on the forehead and took his leave. Amara sat on her bed and put her head in her hands. She was more scared and confused now than before.

"Trust my instincts…" she muttered. She reached into the neckline of her robe and pulled out the necklace of her mothers. She focused on the necklace and closed her eyes trying to remember what her mother looked like. She could not remember her mother or father or why she had been in the woods. The only thing she remembered when the Templars questioned her was her name… Everything before that was an empty void. She signed and returned the necklace to its spot under her robe. She resumed packing her belongings when the door to her room flew open. She immediately went into a defensive posture as she turned to see who had burst in. Cullen was standing there like a man possessed.

"Cullen? What…" before she could say another word Cullen crossed the room and kissed her feverishly on the lips. She tried to push him away but he was too strong. She had always liked Cullen, she knew he had feelings for her but she never knew they ran this deep. She stopped fighting him and brought her hands up to his chest. Cullen's passion was overwhelming, he kissed her deep and hard, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist pulling her to him. Her knees started to grow weak; no one had ever kissed her like this before. Amara remembered a time when she had wondered and wished for this moment. It felt amazing but then reality hit her hard and the moment was lost. Everything had changed now; she was leaving in the morning… leaving Cullen and the others behind. She pulled away and reached her hand up to stroke the side of his face. In another life she would have been so happy with a man like Cullen.

"You're leaving… you're leaving me," Cullen's voice broke. Tears came to Amara's eyes, she nodded.

"I'm sorry Cullen, I have to." She looked away, "you know this could never be, even if I stayed." He cupped her chin and turned her head to face him.

"Amara, I… "He paused as if searching for the right words, he leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers. "Stay with me tonight," he whispered. "Please." The full repercussions of what he was asking raced through her mind. She took a step away from him; her eyes were wide with shock.

"Cullen I can't… we can't. I care for you but I can't!" She saw the pain of rejection in his eyes. "Please understand," she pleaded with him. Cullen looked away and let his arms drop from her waist. There was a knock on the half opened door.

"Amara I was wondering… oh sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt!" an uncomfortable Aedan started to turn and leave. Amara pushed her self away from Cullen. She knew how bad that must have looked. Oh what he must think of me, she thought.

"Wait Aedan! Did you need something," ask Amara. Cullen abruptly turned and stomped out of the room, shoving past Aedan as he left.

"Maker's sake! What is his problem?" muttered Aedan as he rubbed his shoulder that Cullen had shoved.

"We didn't see eye to eye on something," Amara said softly. "Did you need help with something?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the library and look up Grey Warden and Blight stuff. Duncan's not exactly forthcoming on a lot of things. I thought we could at least get enough information to ask him the right questions." Aedan smiled at her, "besides, it's pretty boring just sitting in my room sharpening my blades for the tenth time." Amara looked at her mostly packed bags; she could finish it up later she thought. It would be best if she wasn't alone incase Cullen came back. She felt bad enough about the situation; she did not want him to come back and have to go through it again.

"Sure, I have a good idea who to ask about Blight documents, Senior Enchanter Sweeney is practically old enough to remember the last one," she joked. The two left for the Library.

-O-

Senior Enchanter Sweeney did not let them down. Within a half an hour they had a stack of books two feet tall stacked on the table in front of them.

"Well… there has to be something in these," commented Aedan. "That's a lot of books; it's too bad they don't have just one small book with all the important stuff in it." Aedan was looking at one of the larger books. "I don't think the secrets of being a Grey Warden is in a book noting equipment assignments." Amara smiled as he flipped through the rest and tossed it onto a nearby table. "I think we are in for a long night."

"That's ok, I'm too nervous to sleep anyway," replied Amara. She started going through a small leather bound book on the First Blight. She took a moment to look at the man sitting beside her. He was handsome; she had noticed him outside the door when Greagoir broke up the Wicked Grace game earlier. His shoulder length dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes had caught her eye. It was the haunted sadness she saw in those eyes that held her attention. She noticed he hid it well but there was a lot of pain in those eyes. He didn't seem like the average mercenary or soldier, even with swords strapped to his back and chain and leather armor on, he handled books like a scholar.

"Hrm, this is odd. Why is it only a Grey Warden that kills the Archdemon? Why not someone else like some soldier named Cain with a pike? And I noticed this; no account of the blight ever mentions the person surviving. Listen to this, 'Dumat was slain by the Grey Wardens in 992 TE upon the Silent Fields. A third of the human armies were destroyed and none of the original Grey Wardens survived.'" Aedan flipped through some more pages. "And here with the second blight, 'Grey Warden Corin defeated the darkspawn. His mage lover and fellow Warden Neriah sacrificed herself, using her own body to shield Corin. She was slain in an instant, but Corin cut through many darkspawn to plunge his blade into the Archdemon. He too was killed.'" Aedan sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. "It's the same for the other two blights, Garahel dies killing the Archdemon of the fourth blight. If Duncan is right, this will be the fifth blight…"

"We will have to ask Duncan about it tomorrow," said Amara. "It's pretty unsettling though, I don't want to think I'm leaving just to be killed a different way. We should also asking about this ritual I keep seeing mentioned called 'the Joining', this book here says that every Grey Warden recruit has to go through it."

The two researched and talked as the evening wore on. She felt quite at ease in Aedan's presence. He was quite charming and very intelligent. Occasionally he would joke and flash her a quick smile and she could feel herself blush. She was also painfully aware of how close he was sitting to her, the smell of sandalwood and leather was intoxicating. As each hour passed, she found it harder to focus on the research and found that she just wanting to know more about Aedan.

"So how did you get conscripted by Duncan?" Amara asked it seemed like a simple enough question. She immediately noticed the change in his demeanor. A myriad of emotions flashed in his eyes, sadness, despair and anger were the most noticeable. He returned the quill he was using for notes to the inkwell and leaned back in his chair. He seemed to be debating on what to say. Amara didn't mean to upset him and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry it's really none of my business, I don't mean to pry."

"No it's alright; if we are going to be traveling together you might as well know." He hesitated for a moment before proceeding." I am Aedan Cousland, son of Bryce Cousland Teyrn of Highever. My family has ruled Highever since the Black Age." Amara just stared at him in shock. "Earlier this week, a family friend Rendon Howe ambushed the castle after my brother Fergus left with the majority of our soldiers to Ostagar. He murdered my family, even my little nephew Oren." Amara gasped and reached out and took his had in hers. Aedan just stared their joined hands for a moment before proceeding. "If it wasn't for Duncan conscripting me and my father ordering me to leave I would have stayed, fought and died there."

"Oh Aedan I am so sorry. I had no idea." Impulsively she leaned over and wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. She felt him tense up at first then after a moment she felt him wrap his arms around her and return the hug. It was just a simple gesture on her part; she did not know it would have such an impact on him. She felt dampness on her shoulder and realized it was his tears. She just hugged him tighter and rubbed his back as he let out the pain that he had been bottling up for the past week.

Amara did know how long they just sat there like that. The grief ran deep in Aedan, Amara would have sat there all night if she needed to. She hated to see anyone suffer, it tore at her heart. In the short time she has known Aedan; she knows that he is a good man. She hoped Rendon Howe would pay deeply for his crimes against Aedan's family.

Aedan pulled away from Amara, his eyes were red rimmed but in the whole time they embraced, he never made a sound.

"I'm sorry," Aedan said in a quiet voice. He seemed ashamed for showing his grief.

"There is no reason to be sorry Aedan. You just suffered so much loss; you can't keep something like that inside of you." She took ahold of his hands and smiled at him. "We will be brother and sister Warden's soon, if you ever need anything from me don't be afraid to ask. We're in this together and as soon as this darkspawn uprising is taken care of; if you need me to help you avenge your family I will." Aedan looked at her amazed.

"You would help me? You barely know me and you didn't know my family," he stated. Amara just shook her head.

"That doesn't matter; I'm a firm believer in justice. Evil cannot be allowed to flourish anywhere. I think that's why Irving has such faith that I will never turn. I can sense evil, it's part of my magic that makes me different from other mages I suppose," she shrugged. "I've even helped the Templars locate blood mages."

"Well that is… different. Normally mages and Templars are at odds," Aedan commented. "Nan was always terrified the Templars would eventually catch up to her."

"Well, blood magic and demons are something we can agree on. I've faced and dealt with many demons. It is something a mage has to live with due to our magic and connection to the Fade. It is hard enough fighting them off every time we enter the Fade… why practice a form of magic that is a beacon to them?" Amara just shook her head as she reached for another book.

"I think it might be arrogance, thinking they can control it or some people are just driven to power by any means." Aedan commented. "I couldn't imagine being put in a situation like that all the time where you are constantly tempted by them. Do you ever get a good night's sleep?" he asked curiously. Amara laughed as she flipped through the pages of the book.

"Well, after a while it just gets silly. You just know it's a demon. When what you desire shows up in your dream you should always be suspicious. For the most part they leave me alone now, I've killed enough to make them leery of me; but occasionally one will try something and I will have to take action." Amara paused for a moment then reached for her quill.

"Find something else worth asking Duncan about?" Aedan inquired? He had gone through several books but they just seemed to repeat the same information.

"Yes… a recipe of sorts. There is no real explanation of what it's for. The writing is in old Tevinter but it is faded to where I can no longer read it." She copied down the recipe. Aedan leaned closer to read what she was writing. His eyes widened at the last ingredient she wrote down.

"Darkspawn blood! Well that's one potion I'm going to stay away from. Was there anything else in the book?" asked Aedan.

"No there are several missing pages and the ink didn't hold up in a lot of spots. Some of it discussed the first Blight but it's so fragmented it doesn't make sense. I hope Duncan has some answers," she said.

The two continued to go through the remaining books. Several hours later when the candles were nearly out; Amara felt herself dosing off. She tried to fight it as much as she could but after a few minutes she put her head down and the world of the Fade opened up to her. She vaguely could hear someone saying her name before she felt a pair of strong arms pick her up. Then she was floating, encircled in warmth that smelled of sandalwood and leather. She snuggled closer to the warmth, feeling protected as she wandered the Fade.

-O-