Leraen sighed as she packed the remainder of her belongings into her bag. Her visit with Fergus had sadly drawn to a close since the royal palace in Denerim had been deemed safe to live in again. She, Leliana, and Wynne were planning on leaving for the city that very afternoon.

Even though she knew that she was going to have to leave sooner or later, Leraen didn't want to depart for Denerim. She not only felt like she had more catching up to do with her brother, but leaving to reside at the place where she would be ruling carried a string of finality with it. She didn't feel ready to live among the scrutinizing nobles and courtiers who she knew would be watching her every move. She had grown accustomed to being free, of being her own person, and she wasn't looking forward to having to live under the watchful eyes that filled the court in Denerim. Some changes were heading her way- that she was sure of.

But she was also afraid to leave the security of being at home. Being here with Fergus and her friends gave her the comfort and security of being with people that supported and loved her. But she also knew that once she left through the door and entered the palace, there would be no going back to her former life. She would be fully committed to and reserved for the future she chose: marrying Teagan and becoming queen. There at Highever, Leraen did her best to forget about her fate and concerned herself with less pressing subjects, but there in Denerim, she would have to face what future she had created for herself instead of hiding from it like she did in her castle.

Leraen's nerves had already started to fray at the seams. Her former life with her comrades was coming to a close, and the departure of her friends earlier that morning was not helping her to accept that fact. Sten and Oghren had left once the sun had risen; Sten to his homeland, and Oghren to return to settle down with Felsi, respectively. It had been a very bittersweet morning. She was very happy to see them leave to finish what they had left behind, but she was very sad to see them go because of what it signified. The travels that had begun before the Blight were now officially over; her party had disbanded, and their adventures had come to a close. There would no longer be any cold nights spent before a fire, with stories told, songs sung, and laughs exchanged. She really missed those good times that they had together and the company that they had shared.

A large part of her longed to begin traveling again. There was something about being in that camp that she loved and missed, even though she was glad to be rid of the sometimes miserable weather, the hard ground as her only bed, and the constant threat of darkspawn ambushes in the middle of the night. What she truly longed to see was to watch Alistair play with Rover again, to listen to Leliana attempt to convince Morrigan to expand her wardrobe and stop wearing her scanty robes, to smell the scent that was created when Wynne would make her wonderful mint tea by the fire, to feel the chill of the cold nights that Alistair would spend in her tent in order to "stay warm," to share the kisses that Alistair and she would have once everyone had retired for the night... She blinked and pushed the memories of their travels out of her mind. This was no time to start blubbering about Alistair again.

Maybe one day she would have the opportunity to adventure again after the baby was born. After all, she was a Grey Warden and carried a duty to protect her country from all dangers, and Ferelden never seemed to have too few of those. She smiled when she realized that there was a possibility of being able to travel again, and she knew that Alistair would be happy to see her go in his memory.

But she was very grateful the previous night to find that both Wynne and Leliana had decided to accompany her to Denerim. Leraen had asked Wynne if she would become her court mage, and the elder lady had gladly accepted. Leliana decided that she would stay with Leraen to support her, at the very least until after the child was born, and the Warden happily allowed her to do so. After the sad goodbye that she had given Sten and Oghren that morning, she was very glad that she didn't have to say farewell to her companions all at once.

Once Leraen had rechecked that her armor was properly donned and all of her belongings were safely packed away, she toted her bags down the corridors to the main hall to be put into the carriage by the servants. Both the carriage and saddled horses were waiting outside once she had arrived.

It wasn't long until both Wynne and Leliana walked down the corridor with their own bags. Other servants arrived and swiftly ensured that their things were securely stuffed into the carriage. The horses were brushed, watered, and fed one last time so that they wouldn't have to stop so soon after they left to tend to them. The small party walked out and helped the servants in any way they could in the preparations for their departure.

"Wynne," Leraen grabbed the mage's attention once she was sure that there was enough help with the packing of the carriage. "I'm going to sneak away for a bit."

Wynne nodded, subtly smiling, and seemed to know where she was going even though she hadn't voiced it. "Take your time, dear. We are in no hurry to leave."

Leraen thanked her and walked around the castle to the garden where Alistair had been laid. She just wanted to say goodbye to Alistair one more time, since she probably wouldn't be able to come back to Highever for a while. She went around the side of the castle and through a gate, which led her to the memorial. As she had made into a habit, she picked off two flowers from the nearby rose bushes and first laid one of the red flowers on Duncan's grave. She, just as she had done nearly every day that she had been at Highever since the Templar's burial, sat down on the stone bench in front of Alistair's tombstone.

"Hey there," she nearly whispered as she placed the rose upon his grave.

The three weeks since Alistair's death had seemed to last so long; it seemed forever since she had actually seen his face. She could still see the event occur just as vividly and accurately as it had happened on the final day that she saw him. She rubbed the stray tears away from her eyes, hoping that they weren't reddening. She wasn't ready to leave him, and she shuddered as she considered the fact that she wouldn't be near where he laid.

The dread of leaving Highever that Leraen had felt earlier that morning filled her again. Leaving the Castle Cousland not only made her nervous because of the changes that would inevitably happen in her life, but made her feel like she was leaving her husband behind. She enjoyed talking to him and voicing her worries, even if Alistair couldn't respond to her one-sided conversations. She always felt like he was listening to her even if he wasn't physically sitting next to her, and she could almost swear that he was doing so spiritually.

"I'm going to miss you," she said as she cleared the colored leaves off of the labeled stone on the ground. She definitely would, indeed. "I'll love you, always, my darling." She reminisced of the times that he had told her that himself: the times spent by themselves when it seemed that little mattered except for Leraen and Alistair, when it seemed that they had all the time together then they could ever want. Maker, did she miss those times.

"Leraen!" She heard a man's voice call from the castle courtyard. She sighed. It seemed that her goodbye was being cut off sooner than she had hoped. She took one last long look at her husband's grave, rubbed the remaining evidence of her tears from her eyes, and walked back to the courtyard.

"There you are," Eamon said once the Warden drew closer. The Guerrins stood ahead of her, in front of the carriage with their horses' reins in their gloved hands with handsome, gentlemanly smiles pasted onto their faces. The sight of them made her uneasy and filled her with resentment. She was hoping to have some time away from the two of them to think and reflect on what had recently happened while she and her friends were on their journey, but it seemed that she just couldn't shake the Guerrins away. Were they wishing to go back with her to Denerim? She forced herself to smile at them in an effort to hide her true feelings about their unexpected appearance.

"Good day, my lady," Teagan said as he pulled off a regal bow in greeting. Eamon followed suit as his brother did so.

"Good day, my lords." Leraen curtsied in return. "I trust that you both slept well?"

"We have, thank you," His blue eyes seemed to sparkle as he caught her gaze. Leraen faintly blushed when she noticed his expression and turned her attention to Eamon, hoping that the younger of the two men hadn't noticed the flush of color at her cheeks.

"We were wondering if we could travel with you, my lady," Eamon quickly asked. Leraen swallowed once she heard this; it was as she feared. "We are afraid that we have resided at your lovely estate for too long, and thought that we would leave before we wore out our welcome. It is time for us to return to our own home, but since we would be traveling on the same path, we thought it would be a good idea for us to ride together."

Leraen looked back at Teagan. He still had the same formal smile on his face, which seemed to grow brighter and larger when he had noticed that she was looking at him. Leraen wasn't stupid; she knew what was really going on. The Guerrins really wanted her and Teagan to know each other so that they could seal the deal and make sure that the marriage between the two of them would really happen by having the two of them fall in love before the ceremony actually took place. She had to admit that it wasn't too much of a bad thing. After all, she would prefer to marry someone that she actually knew something about as opposed to a complete stranger.

Leraen smiled again in an attempt to appear as if she was keeping her composure and nodded an answer to Eamon's question. "Of course, it would be my pleasure to have you both travel with us." She hoped that the men wouldn't be able to realize that Leraen was lying about her true feelings. Although she was rather frustrated that the two would be joining their party, she still realized that the new arrangement would be the best for everyone. Or at least that was what she kept telling herself.

Leliana looked at Leraen and smirked at her playfully. The Warden could tell that she could see right through her; the fellow bard knew her far too well. Leraen tried her best to ignore her and continued to smile.

"Fantastic!" Eamon exclaimed, with far too much enthusiasm for the early hour, in Leraen's opinion. "We are already all packed and ready to go."

"Let us make sure that we are fully prepared, then," Wynne said cheerfully as she checked her horse's saddlebag for all of her supplies for what must have been the twentieth time. The two men nodded as they waited for their traveling companions to finish readying themselves.

Leraen began to turn to her horse, quickly brushed her down again, and checked the tightness of the saddle girth and bridle before Teagan and caught her eye. He courteously bowed his head slightly as he approached her and her horse. "My lady," he said in greeting as the two stepped away from the group. He looked at her and lightly smiled before leading his horse over to where they stood. He gently rubbed the gelding on the muzzle once he had come. "You know you don't have to have us travel with you. I just think that Eamon is just very excited to have us acquainted."

Leraen looked over her shoulder at Eamon, who was nosily staring at the two of them. When he saw that she was looking back at him, he quickly turned his attention back to his horse. She sighed and shook her head; her new betrothal was going to gather more attention than she had hoped it would.

"As he should be," Leraen said, trying her best to sound optimistic and excited about their upcoming journey. "Don't worry about it. We are getting married, aren't we? We'll have to learn to live with each other sooner or later." She slightly giggled at her own comment.

The man chuckled merrily. "Indeed, we shall. I would prefer that our coexistence would become a peaceful one." He tightened his horse's girth and mounted once he was content with the placement of the beast's tackle.

"As would I," Leraen said sincerely without a hint of sarcasm. Teagan's composure and attitude had put the lady at ease. Perhaps this trip wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I look forward to traveling with you, Leraen."

"And I with you, Teagan," she answered.

With a tip of his hat, Teagan spurred the horse into a trot and settled where the rest of their company was standing. The Warden was shocked at the feeling that he filled her with as she began to realize that she was actually beginning to enjoy his company.

Leraen then walked to her own horse, a gray dappled mare named Grace, and lightly stroked her neck. She was a kind and gentle middle-aged horse that had been given to Leraen as a thank you gift after the Archdemon was killed. Leraen had always had a soft spot for the gentle beasts, and connected to the horse very quickly.

"How are you doing today, lady?" she quietly asked as she moved her hand to scratch under the horse's forelock. The carriage had been filled to the brim with the company's belongings, so she had decided to take the trip on horseback. She preferred the view from the saddle to the one from the carriage, anyway, since everything, to her, seemed lovelier from the back of her horse.

Eamon, when he saw the Warden attempting to mount, came and grabbed the horse by the reins and helped Leraen into the saddle. She thanked him as he began to move back to his gelding.

"Are you sure that you sure be mounted today, my lady? I worry for your safety. If you should take a tumble off of your horse..."

"Oh, don't be concerned with me, Eamon. The carriage is stuffed to the brim with our belongings. Wynne has also assured me that we will be traveling slowly, so there will not be many opportunities for there to be any slips or missteps on the horse's account."

"If you say so, Leraen," he said, obviously not convinced that she had picked the safest choice. "In any case, I will keep an extra eye out for you."

"Thank you, Eamon," she said sincerely as the man mounted his steed.

"Are we ready to go?" Wynne finally asked once everyone had mounted their steeds. After a few nods and "yeses" that were voiced from the party, she led the party out the gate and onto the trail that led away from Highever.

With a last look at her past home, Leraen nudged her horse along and followed along with her company.