"A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves."

Between the usual nightmares and the occasional cry of one or more of the babies, sleep did not come easy.

Sometime before sunrise, Jenji slipped out of their room to get some air. Not expecting anyone to be awake for at least another hour, she was surprised to see Alistair also skulking about the house. And she was even more surprised to see what he was wearing.

Alistair decided now was the best time to go looking for his clothes, as surely no one would be up yet. He'd get them back for hiding them. Oh, who was he kidding, no he wouldn't.

What he didn't expect was to see Jenji, her face all painted in various shades and colors of Leliana's make-up, and her hair pinned up like a regular Orlesian noblewoman. It was quite the sight to behold really.

They exchanged a look that said quite frankly, 'if you don't ask, I won't.' and went on their way.

Sure enough, an hour later Ms. Kay popped her head in the room and announced that breakfast would be ready in ten minutes whether they were there or not. "Oh, and Jen, wash that stuff off your face and come help set the table." She added and shut the door behind her.

Leliana giggled. "She treats you like a child!"

"She's very set in her ways." Jenji explained. "She looks at me and still sees the frightened little girl who showed up on her doorstep. She means well."

They joined everyone else at the breakfast table. Alistair had found his clothes, she noted, and if she didn't know any better she might think that Daveth and Zevran were trying to sit as far away from one another as possible. What had she missed last night?

Trying to put that thought out of her mind, Jenji concentrated on the task at hand. Her companions were about to get an important lesson: breakfast, or any meal really, at Ms. Kay's was tricky. Above all you had to be quick, efficient, and aggressive if you wanted to eat at all.

Jenji even managed to sneak a few scraps to Harvey.

The plates were piled high with breads, meats, and dried fruits. A young girl said grace and then it was everyone for oneself.

It wasn't that everyone didn't get a fair portion of food, because somehow they did. There simply wasn't enough to go around; and you really had to want it.

Halfway through the meal, a boy who was maybe eleven walked into the kitchen. Ms. Kay looked up from her plate at the dark haired boy and smiled.

"You got something for me, dear?" She asked, holding out her hand. He gave her a silver bracelet, encrusted with diamonds and rubies. She nodded and smiled even wider.

"Well done. Now sit, eat, you've earned it." Kay said, examining the trinket closely. Then she asked, "Elthin, where's Meri?"

He thought for a moment. "I dunno, ma'am. I saw her leave the tavern with some boy."

"Not Vildar I hope." Ms. Kay frowned.

"No ma'am. Was someone I never seen before."

"Hmm…" she pursed her lips. "Well as long as it ain't that Vildar. I said it before, an' I'll say it again: that boy don't come from good stalk; I don't want my girls hangin' around with him." Elthin nodded in agreement. Ms. Kay spent the rest of the meal idly lifting the jewels from the bracelet with a sharp metal tool.

After the breakfast things had been all cleared away, Jenji decided they really must be getting on the road to Haven as soon as possible. The children were sad to see Wynne go.

Ms. Kay hugged Jenji and said goodbye. "And you really would be wise not to get yourself eaten by no dragons, you hear? You got to stop that blasted archdemon before it comes up here and ruins my shingles."

"I will."

"I'm just sayin', I've worked too long and too hard to have some dragon tear my roof off."

And with that, they left the city, thankfully undetected by any of Loghain's men.

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They'd all underestimated just how long it would actually take to get to Haven. And oh, how she hoped the village would live up to its name.

As they headed east and the weather got colder, everyone was a little more uneasy. There was just something about being here so far away from anything that made Jenji's skin crawl.

One of these nights, she found herself on watch with Leliana. And miraculously, the bard was awake.

"I've been thinking about what you said; about how you don't believe in the Maker…"

"If you're going to try and convince me otherwise, now is not the best time." Jenji warned.

"Oh no, that's not it at all! I just want to understand…why?" Damn those eyes of hers. Jenji sighed.

"I did believe once, but when you're young and society is telling you one thing while your own mother tells you another...what are you supposed to think?"

"She was Dalish, was she not?"

"She was; and I'm glad she shared so much of her culture with me. But when she died...well I just couldn't worship a god who would take a child's mother just because she didn't believe in Him."

"Oh."

Jenji looked away. "I do remember one verse from the Chant though:

At Shartan's word, the sky
Grew black with arrows.
At Our Lady's, ten thousand swords
Rang from their scabbards,
A great hymn rose over Valarian Fields gladly proclaiming:
Those who had been slaves were now free."

"Ohh, that's one of those—"

"—I know; it's not officially part of the Chant anymore, but it doesn't matter. Andraste may not have been a prophet, but She was a brilliant war leader. She made a promise to the elves, and just because Her faithful have forgotten that, doesn't make it any less true."

Leliana knew she was right, and she figured it didn't make a difference why the Warden was questing the Ashes. If not for faith, then at least there was something. After a while, she got the courage to ask her next question.

"Tell me about the Alienage. Was it very terrible there? Did you have family or friends?" she blurted out, the string of words hovering in the air beside the solemn echo of the Chant. The elf looked at her strangely.

"We faced many hardships, yes. But there was joy there, too. We all knew it could be a lot worse, that it was dangerous for us 'out there'. And we'd all heard stories about the 'savage' Dalish elves...and the Alienage in Orlais." Jenji met her eyes, and Leliana flinched.

She'd been about to say that, in her country, elves were taken in by wealthy nobles and treated well in exchange for various services. It was a preferable existence to life in the an Alienage, where thousands of elves were forced to live in a space no bigger than Denerim's market district and the thick stone walls were so high...

It seemed a stupid thing to mention now.

"I-I didn't mean to offend you…" And Jenji knew she didn't. Leliana may have been racist, but it was brought on by ignorance, not prejudice. It wasn't like Vaughan, who almost made you feel stupid for not agreeing with him. In fact, she almost pitied the bard.

"I know," she said simply.

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"This is pointless."

Jenji whirled around to face Sten. "What did you say?"

"I held my tongue while we toiled away valuable time in the old woman's sitting room, but no more. The archdemon is our goal, and we are avoiding it. We are headed in the opposite direction of Orzammar which is where we need to go to build an army."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd been the first to say this was a pointless errand, and now he had the nerve to question her competence as a leader.

"What do you want from me, Sten?" She hoped that sounded as good as it did in her head.

Apparently, it didn't. "I want you to stop running away." the qunari said.

Running away? How dare he accuse her of such a thing? "I am not running away."

That was the truth; wasn't it?

"Then prove it: turn around and face your enemy with dignity."

"…I can't do that." she said quietly, the words bringing a forced realization. Sten's hand went for his sword.

"Then face me in battle and prove your strength, or I am taking command."

Jenji blinked. "You would fight a woman? Doesn't that go against your Qun?" she asked, honestly wanting to know though it was also meant to intimidate.

"That depends only on whether or not you can fight." He stated. Well, that was good enough for her. Jenji drew her daggers and charged…

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She couldn't see a thing.

Barely aware, she thought she could feel her body being plunged into refreshingly cold water. She shivered as warm hands wrapped her up in a dry linen. Voices; she could hear voices…

…Her heart pounded in her ears.

Jenji came awake slowly, blinking a few times to make sure this was real. She stared up at the canvas of her tent, knowing it was hers because of the small tear in the fabric from the first night she had attempted to put it up; she hadn't exactly been the most experienced woodsman back then.

Looking slightly off to her right, she saw a low burning candle. Next to it was Wynne, slumped in a chair, sleeping maybe.

"Wynne…?" the Warden rasped, subsiding to a fit of coughing. Her eyes widened when she saw blood.

The mage bolted up like a sylvan brought to life. She sprung to her feet and was suddenly at Jenji's side, placing a cool hand on her forehead.

"Shhh, it's all right…" she soothed. It took Jenji a moment to realize what the healer meant. Finally she noticed how quickly she was breathing and tried to calm herself. "That's it, deep breaths…I know it's painful..."

That's when she became aware that everything hurt.

When she was able the Warden asked, "what happened? A-after I fell unconscious I mean."

Wynne frowned. "You're not ready to hear about that yet. Just concentrate on getting well. There will be time to discuss that later." she said.

You toil away valuable time…

"Please…t-tell me. I-I need to know." Jenji pleaded. "W-where is Sten?"

Wynne sighed. "After Sten rendered you unconscious, the rest of us all moved to defend you. He would have killed you otherwise. But he was weakened from your duel, and eventually yielded. He's gone now." the mage told her.

"…dead?" Wynne shook her head.

"He disappeared in all the confusion. We were trying to keep you alive, and he must have suspected he would be killed if he stayed. His wounds weren't severe however, so it is likely he still lives."

'If I were indeed hostile you would be bleeding.'

Well, so much for that.

Jenji was silent for a time. "You all saved my life." she said, not entirely speaking to Wynne. "Even though I couldn't beat him; even though I couldn't p-prove myself strong enough to be your leader."

The healer took her hand and smiled. "But you are strong enough, Jenji. You survived."

And she always would.