Yeah, so, I'll admit that I AM childish enough to hold the chapters hostage until I get reviews. But I won't. However, my speed of writing would greatly increase if I got some reviews… hint hint. Again, PheonRen is awesome. Thanks for the reviews. Also, noobish question, I saw on another fic that you can see how many views you have on your story, but I can't work out how! If you know, please tell me in a review or PM.

"Redcliffe it is, then." Asleena announced to the group of adventurers looking at her expectantly. Sten gave a nonchalant grunt and returned to his pack, Morrigan sneered and moved back toward her little shelter thing, but everyone else stayed in front of her, waiting for instructions. Asleena asked them to continue packing for the road. The group in front of her thinned, and she left to continue her own packing. Soon, Alistair, Leliana and Sten were marching down the trail to Redcliffe.

He put it off till the very last moment. Redcliffe Castle itself was in view when he finally stopped her. "Look, can we talk for a moment? I need to tell you something I, uh, should probably have told you earlier."
She eyed him suspiciously, icy blue eyes narrowing. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"I don't know. I doubt it. I've never liked it, that's for sure." He took a deep breath, and said it as quickly as he could, to get it all out as fast as possible. "I told you before that Arl Eamon raised me, right? That my mother was a serving girl at the palace and he took me in? The reason he did that was because…well, because my father was King Maric. Which made Cailan…my half-brother, I suppose."
She looked at him in stunned silence, eyes now wide, mouth hanging open. He raked a hand through his hair nervously. "I-just say something, all right?"
"So…" she said cautiously. "You're not just a bastard but a royal bastard?"
He laughed in relief. "Ha! I guess I am at that. I should use that line more often." "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She queried, a regretful smile on her face.

"Everyone who knew either resented me for it or coddled me," he said softly. "Even Duncan kept me out of the fighting because of it. I didn't want you to know, as long as possible. I'm sorry."
She didn't smile again or accept his apology. "Does Loghain know?"
"Why wouldn't he? He was King Maric's best friend. I don't know if that means anything, though. I certainly never considered the idea that it might be important." Alistair shook his head. "At any rate, that's it. That's what I had to tell you. I thought you should know about it."
"It's important, Alistair," she said seriously. "You're the heir to the throne."
"Let's hope not. I'm the son of a commoner, and Grey Warden to boot. It was made very clear to me early on that there was no room for me to be raising rebellions or any such nonsense."
"Raising a rebellion is exactly what we are doing." She pointed out.
He sighed. "Can we just move on? And we can pretend you still think I'm some…nobody who was too lucky to die with the rest of the Grey Wardens."

"So, you're a prince…" she said thoughtfully. "Somehow, I find that very… thrilling…" Her eyes flashed dangerously and he blushed.

"You know, I like the way you think."

The group arrived in Redcliffe to find it beleaguered by nightly attacks from the undead. They were harried into the Chantry to speak with Bann Teagan. Asleena saw countless wounded men and women, taking refuge inside the Chantry. She bit her lip and forced herself to keep walking as she heard a small girl whimpering for her mother. Without much discussion, Asleena agreed to do all she could to help the village. She went to a crying young woman near the door of the Chantry and recovered her little brother. She also gained a sword from their house, and she paid them handsomely for it. She collected Holy Symbols of Andraste for the knights and secured the blessing from the revered mother, boosting morale. She convinced Dwyn and his mercenaries to fight in the coming battle with most of their hard earned coin; she was happy to part with even more if it would save more lives. She promised Owain to find his daughter in Redcliffe castle and so the blacksmith was back in action, pumping out equipment for the meagre force prepared for nightfall. Finally, she suggested the use of the lamp oil barrels to set the monsters alight, hoping that it would kill them and not make them more powerful, flaming undead.

"Are you ready to make your stand, my Lady? There is still a while before nightfall." Murdock informed her anxiously.

"Not only are we ready," Asleena said with a confident smile, "We are going to win!"

The townspeople cheered encouragingly, and then all that was left to do was wait.

Night came quickly. A strange green fog hung over the town cliffs and there was a rumble of hammering feet on earth. The group at the front consisted of Asleena and her party, Berwick the spy, Ser Perth and his knights and Dwyn and his mercenaries. They cut through the horde of undead slowly, it took longer than expected because, even when killed, one of its allies would reanimate it. Therefore, the only sure way of stopping them was to hack their bodies into pieces. For the first time, Asleena was glad that she wielded a staff and not a blade. Soon, they were alerted to an ambush from the lake, and they hurried to the battle ground. Again, they fought in the same style as earlier. Asleena and Alistair complimented each other in battle, together they would tear down the corpses' health and then he would cut them into pieces. After what seemed hours of fighting, it was over as quickly as it had began. She saw with some disgust that her robes, staff and flesh were coated in oily blood.

"The dawn has come and we still stand! We are victorious!" Murdock cried from the Chantry. The cheers of the men could be heard for miles around. Only a few men had died, but still, there was more to be done.

Asleena and her party helped to collect bodies, Alistair and Sten doing the heavy lifting. Alistair watched as Asleena held a widow in her arms, making soothing noises and rocking back and forth. The woman in black was clinging to Asleena, sobs wracking her body, but somehow, Asleena managed to make her smile. He loved the way she could do that. She comforted all of the grieving widows in the Chantry and sat on a pew beside him.

"You are amazing, you know that?" He asked her, before he could stop himself. She smiled and leant into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Even when she fell asleep in that position and he had to carry her back to camp, he didn't complain.