Four weeks

Orzammar

Rica and Elissa had formed a fond friendship, and mentorship over the weeks of getting the nobles to agree to work with her for the fight against the Blight. Harrowmont's supporters had suggested sitting the fighting out since the humans never came down to help them fight the Darkspawn between Blights. Elissa had been proud to remind them that the Grey Wardens of all lands did indeed fight Darkspawn regularly, and ever since the return of the Ferelden Wardens twenty years ago they had been regular patrols of Wardens coming and going from Orzammar's Deep Roads. That had been a great day for the Bhelen supporters and had caused several families to defect to Bhelen camp. Elissa had said that the goal after the Blight was to have a full contingent of Wardens who would patrol the Deep Roads under Ferelden, and into the Free Marches. That announcement had even more support shift to Bhelen.

Bhelen himself had even allowed Rica to start attending meeting with Elissa. His advisors had not been pleased at first but Elissa's tutoring in The Game had begun to show. Rica had played the part of the mistress, and guest advisor to Elissa perfectly. While in private they were much closer to friends than they appeared in public, only Bhelen knew that.

They were now waiting for Zevran who had gone to fetch Dagna, the daughter of a local armor and weapon's merchant from the Commons. It was time for them to move onto the second phase of Elissa's plans; gaining the co-operation of the merchants. That was why they were sending for Dagna. She knew the merchants and was still considered a child by some, meaning they didn't watch their opinions if she was nearby. They also liked the idea of trying their successful partnership out on the next level. Rica would be practicing her skills on Dagna because they already knew what Dagna would want in return for her help. She wanted to study at the Circle, and Elissa had every intention of taking her when she left the city since that was her first planned stop. If the Circle wasn't will to take her, Elissa had a back-up plan, She'd arrange for her to learn from Sandal. The boy could use someone as interested in Enchantment as he was to help him. She wasn't worried Irving was pretty reasonable and Dagna would be free to come and go as she pleased since she wasn't a mage.

"I'll warn you now, Dagna is a little excitable." Elissa explained to Rica.

Rica laughed. "I know. She is one of the few in the commons area that will speak to dusters."She said fondly. "And she is only that excitable if you talk about anything magically with her. Otherwise was she is fine and very easy to talk to. Just very cheerful."

"I hope so, she is such a little whirlwind whenever I have spoken to her." Elissa said cheerfully. "She stops me to see if I still intend to take her to the Circle once I leave."

Suddenly they could hear Dagna's voice chattering away at Zevran as she walked down the hallway. Zevran had an expression on his face that Elissa never thought she'd see. He looked frightened; like a man who had just been handed a newborn frightened. Dagna had his enchanted dagger in her hands and from the sound of the words she was explaining to him the intricate work that went into creating runes. Zevran had one hand on his empty dagger sheath and the other was inching towards the dagger slowly as they walked. When Dagna looked up at Elissa Zevran took the chance and snatched his dagger back and placed it back into his sheath once he quickly checked to make sure she hadn't damaged the rune.

Elissa didn't need to fake her smile as she held out her hand. "Hello again Dagna."

"Oh hi, Your Highness, I mean, Your Grace. Is that the right address, cause you know you're going to be Queen and I'm not sure which one I am suppose to use. Humans have so many different titles, and means of address, dwarves don't, I mean we have kings and stuff, but we just use Lord for everybody else regardless of rank." Dagna was talking so fast Elissa only understood about half of what she was saying.

"Slow down Dagna." Rica cut in. "Elissa is fine with just being called Elissa in private like this, in public call her, Your Grace."

Elissa waved her off. "Or Elissa since I plan for the three of us to be friends." She said smiling.

"Really?" Dagna asked in awe. "I'd be friends with you? Really?"

Elissa laughed. "Yes, really."

Rica got Dagna settled down with a tea cup in her hand. "We wanted to ask you for some help actually Dagna." Rica said pleasantly.

"Oh! What can I do for you?" She asked, still very bubbly.

"I'm sure you've heard about the alliances I have been making with the houses that have allied themselves with Prince Bhelen." Elissa explained.

Dagna nodded her head quickly. It seemed the girl only had certain levels of energy, but all of them on enthusiastic. "Yes, it's been quite the scandal in the Commons. An outsider getting involved in our politics."

Rica and Elissa shared a smile. This was the kind of information they could only rely on Zevran for and even as good as the assassin was being an elf in a city of dwarves had its disadvantage. They were aware of the rumors but getting someone who lived in the area and knew the people they would need to influence was something they needed so they could begin planning for the future beyond the political side of things.

"Is there any way we can ease their concerns?" Elissa asked as she sipped her tea. "I don't want there to be hard feelings between the Crown of Ferelden and the People of Orzammar."

Dagna smiled. "Well the merchants are worried about being bypassed when the trading with the surface begins. Not all of them have surface contacts, or networks they can use to move their goods."

Rica smiled. "So they want promises to not being left out." She said to Elissa. "Money and promises to be included in the profits that will come in from increased trade. That is a reasonable concern, and one we can address easily, right?"

Elissa nodded at Rica. "That is the next step we had planned to take."

Dagna drank some of her tea and sighed with happiness at the flavor. "That will work with some of them." She explained with a bright smile she always seemed to have. "The rest are happy with the tariffs on buying and selling to the surface and such because they get a cut of the kick-backs and bribes for smuggling. They are the ones starting most of the unrest in the Commons Quarter recently."

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Elissa sighed.

Rica bit her lip. "Isn't this why we made friends with Guard Captain Dencorn?"

Dagna sat up straight."Wait, what?" She looked surprised, as if the idea of talking about possible criminal activity, gossip really, would be reported to the Guard Captain.

Elissa shook her head as she could clearly see Dagna's distress. "No, we don't want to start breaking criminal organizations. It's bad enough rumors exist that the Grey Wardens killed the Carta Leader." Dagna and Rica both looked much more relaxed at this statement. Zevran had given her a secret smile at the mention of the rumors. "All we want is to make deals with the Merchants that will to want to make a lot of money honestly," She leaned forward and smiled at Dagna," and that is where you come in my dear." He took Dagna's hand and gave it a squeeze of support.

Dagna's eye widened and her breathing stopped. "Me?" She squeaked. "Really? Seriously? You're not joking are you I mean you actually asked me her to help you, because you know I mean you are so powerful, what do you need with a kid like me, I mean I'm not a kid anymore, but everybody thinks I am because well I'm not that old, but I am..."

"Dagna!" Elissa called out loudly while trying not to laugh. "Take a deep breath." When the girl did, Elissa smiled. "And another." Dagna took one more. "Now to answer your questions, yes I would like your advice on who is trustworthy and who is not. You know these people and I do not." She said encouraging her to speak her mind and relax.

Dagna gave her a wide open innocent look. "Yeah... I can do that." She breathed. "You trust me to do that?"

"Absolutely." Elissa laughed. "Absolutely." She said with a meaningful glance at Zevran. He nodded his understanding. Anyone Dagna said wasn't trustworthy was going to be added to a list to be given to the Captain of the Guard as a person to watch. After all Rica was right, then had become friendly over the past month with the Steward, Shaper and Guard Captain. It was the least she could do, as a friend.

And over the course of the next several weeks only six merchants were invited to the Palace to speak to group of women. Between the six merchants she had; two armor smiths, three weapons merchants, three potioneers and two other merchants who specialized in other more fancy necessities, such as silks and cottons for under armor padding, and gems for enchanting. What she still didn't have was a merchant willing to move lyrium powder. While house Ivo was willing to supply it they were not willing to move it and violate their contracts with the Chantry.

While most of the merchants left out had no idea why, everyone could assume it was because they seemed to support Lord Harrowmont. The only merchant that seemed to be left out of most of the negotiations who was both honest and a supporter of Bhelen was Dagna's father Janar. When asked why Dagna had shook her head and said, "He'll just back-out later when I leave the city with you." Elissa had accepted that and had Zevran omit Janar's name from the suspected criminal reports to Dencorn. The official reason he wasn't getting as much of the trade as others was the already had an armor smith on the surface producing Warden gear for them, which was hopefully true. It was always better to stretch the truth than to lie.

The Deep Trenches

The tombs had been crawling with Darkspawn, So much so that Wynne had a close call with the taint. Solona had made Wynne purge for an hour and cast every healing spell she knew on the woman and even tried a barrier spell within Wynne's mouth to keep the darkspawn blood from touching her mouth on the way back up, if she had indeed swallowed any. From the looks of the purging, it looked like the specks of blood on her lips had been the extent of the exposure. She had been very lucky in Rory's opinion.

Rory could honestly say he could feel the taint all around him. Even the walls in the Thaig were tainted. The fleshy bulbs were the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen. They were even worse than the blood magic ones in the tower. Wynne had taken to wearing a scarf that covered her whole face, except a small slit for her eyes so she could see.

For the past few days they had been more and more on edge. Halfway through the Legion of the Dead Thaig things had gone from bloody and slightly creepy to evil and feeling it in your bones sinister. That's when the chanting could be heard.

First day they come and catch everyone

Second day they beat us and take some of us for meat.

Third day the men are gnawed on again.

Fourth day we wait and fear for our fate.

Firth day they return and it's another girl's turn.

Sixth day her scream we hear in our dreams.

Seventh day she grew as in her mouth they spew.

Eighth day we hated as she was violated.

Ninth day she grins and devours her kin, now she feasts as she has become the beast.

Solona looked fearfully to Rory and Alistair. "What does that sound like to you?"

Alistair looked so completely appalled that his face lost all color, Rory wasn't much better. "It sounds like they took prisoners and ate the men but changed the woman into some kind of darkspawn." Rory finally managed to say.

"But there aren't any female Darkspawn." Shale says quietly, she too is disturbed by the creepy chanting.

"None that have been seen above ground." Wynne says sagely. "Not much is known about Darkspawn."

"At least to non-Wardens and Dwarves." Oghren says gruffly. "I know we shoot any females being dragged off during patrols. Never asked why."

"Right new plan." Rory said quickly. "Alistair stay in the back of the group with Oghren." He orders. "Shale up front with me." Shale nods. "And Wynne and Sole stay in the middle. I want no one able to sneak up and take either of them while we are fighting."

"I suppose being made of rock means I have nothing to fear. While it is still in need of extra protection." Shale says to Sole. Her concern is as close as Shale comes to being affectionate.

"I know I can trust you to do your best Shale." Solona says with a weak smile. She feels the urge to throw up, repeatedly. Suddenly the sexual stamina no longer seems like a cruel joke to her; it felt like a death sentence. The riddle that has been repeated twice now is leaving no doubts in her mind that the Darkspawn turn then rape the women they capture alive.

Two rooms over they come across a Darkspawn ghoul. The ghoul named Hespith told them what became of the House of Branka. She told them everything that Branka did to get this far, and how she made a deal with the Darkspawn. Branka had traded all their lives to make a breeding Darkspawn from the living body of the Noble Laryn. Since that day Branka had been using the darkspawn to thrown against the traps the Paragon Caridin used to protect the Anvil of the Void.

She confirmed Solona's worse fear, that the Broodmothers were the captured, turned and raped victims of the Darkspawn. Broodmothers were also immobile, which is why only those on their callings would likely ever get far enough underground to find one. Once she was finished telling her tale she ran off. Solona held the others back.

"Let her go." She whispered harshly, trying desperately to keep her tears from falling and stopping herself from screaming in rage and horror.

Alistair was staring at her in just as much horror. Rory grabbed her roughly into a hug and held her tightly against his chest. "You are never going on your Calling." He promised her austerely. "I promise I will kill you myself if you ask, but you are not coming down here to die and possibly..."

Solona began to cry and Alistair threw himself into the hug with the other two. They made room for him. "If I don't go then neither do either of you." She cried.

Alistair blew an hard breath out. "That was the one thing about being a Warden I dreaded most, living long enough to come down here forever."

Rory put his fist out. "Then we make a pact, when our time comes we die together, on the surface." He pledged.

Solona quickly placed her hand over his and Alistair added his afterward. "Together." Alistair answered.

Solona nodded slowly through her tears. "Yes, together. And thank you."

Alistair pulled her closer and kissed her temple. "I'd never be able to live with myself knowing that could happen to you."

Rory pulled them both closer. "One of us will always be with you if you ever have to come down here again, you hear me?" He ordered.

Solona gave him a watery giggle. "Yes, Sir."

Wynne and Shale looked on concerned while Oghren just looked defeated. "Knew she moved on." He muttered as he took a swig of his skin. "Knew she was nug-humper crazy too, wanting to find that damned Anvil."

Solona turned back towards the group with one last swipe of her eyes. "Looks like we know why they were losing the battle here now."

"Yeah, Branka making sure no one stopped her from reaching prize, or risk them taking out her little Darkspawn factory." Oghren growled.

Solona winced but nodded. "Yeah... Let's go get her." She sighed. If Branka was as bat-shit crazy as Solona thought, this whole trip would be a huge waste of time.

Nothing could have prepared them for the creature that awaited them. The creature was a huge bloated thing with multiple breasts, and it had eight tentacles that sprang from the ground trying to crush them. Wynne and Solona stood well back on the stone while the others rushed the tentacles and the broodmother herself. Partway through the battle several Hurlocks approached them from behind. Sole screamed in rage and fried one and froze the other with fury fueled spells. Alistair was distracted by her scream and was knocked off his feet for a moment before they finally managed to defeat the thing.

Hespith showed herself and confirmed that the Darkspawn needed women to become broodmothers. She repeated her assertion that Branka had made the deal to sacrifice the whole family in return for unlimited darkspawn before she jumped off the edge to her death.

Solona pushed them to move along the passageway some distance before she allowed them to stop for the night. No one spoke. The horror of the broodmother was just too much.

In the morning they pushed on towards the Anvil. The trail was easy to follow there were dead dwarves and dead darkspawn to lead the way like a decaying trail of breadcrumbs. In a lighted chamber up ahead they could see a heavily armored dwarven woman, which since she seemed to be unblighted Solona assume was this Branka they were searching for.

Oghren seemed overjoyed to see her. Branka wasn't so happy. She had a god-complex and believed herself to be above everyone else. She had set traps that sprung up walls behind them forcing them to move forward through the gauntlet of Caridin's traps in order to escape the caverns. To say they were unimpressed was a sever understatement.

"Just once I want someone to say 'you need help with the blight, sure let me get my sword'. Is that too much to ask?" Alistair snarked.

"Apparently you were wrong." Solona snorted.

"About what prey tell?" Alistair asked.

"The Blight doesn't bring everyone together." She moaned.

Rory laughed. "But it brought the best of us together at least." He punched Alistair's shoulder playfully.

Alistair chuckled, then whined, "Oww, Commander he hit me." Giving Solona a pout.

"If it whines again, it will get something to serious whine about." Shale deadpanned.

Wynne chuckled. "They are just joking Shale."

Shale turned to stare at her. "As was I, could it not tell?"

Solona chuckled. "Let's move on then." She said leading them toward the maze.

Branka tried to justify her choices, whining about her house wanting to turn back rather than throw their lives away against the traps, for her 'glory' in finding the Anvil of the Void. There were several darkspawn that were currently in the gauntlet that they cleared out before heading into the traps themselves.

The traps were engineering marvels that seemed to blend science and magic which was amazing as the dwarven people had no magic of their own. Their bodies were not capable of conducting magic properly.

First was the gas chamber with golems that attacked the group, luring them out so the group could fight them in the clean air took a while but was much safer, it only allowed for the golems to attack one at a time. After they were dead Shale moved in and released the gas from the room.

The second trap was another Golem gauntlet. That was a hard fought battle. Wynne spent much of her mana casting healing. Afterwards the party took several minutes to recover and Wynne used two lyrium potions to keep her mana up.

The third room impressed Solona. The rotating pedestal turned and released spirit warriors and the four faces shot spells at them. Working one facet at a time the party was able to quickly overcome the magic and the spirits. They were hit with one last wave of magic. Once more the group took time to stop, heal and bind their wounds.

The final room was impressive. Inside were four huge stone golems and one metal one. The Metal one introduced itself as Caridin the Paragon who built the anvil.

"The Smith Paragon Caridin... Alive?" Shale questioned.

The Paragon recognized Shale and called her Shale of house Cadash. "Step forward."

The rest of the party stepped back to allow Shale to learn everything she could about herself. It turned out she had volunteered to undergo a transformation from Dwarf into Golem. Her soul was transferred to the new body, which had been much bigger once upon a time. She had also been the only woman to become one willingly. Originally only volunteers where allowed to become part of the Golem Army used to beat back the Darkspawn. King Valtor needed more Golems than volunteers, knowing he needed souls to be cast into the bodies he began sentencing criminals, casteless and political enemies to be made Golems. When it became too much the Paragon Caridin refused to make more he was forced to undergo the transformation, but unlike Caridin his apprentices did not know how to create a control rod and he awoke in a much more powerful body. He admitted he sealed the Anvil away here in the Deep Roads so it could never be used again.

Branka came running in like the deluded sociopath she was. She began screaming about the Anvil being hers and how no one even the man who made it was going to take it away from her. While everyone was shouting a trying to get Shale to agree with them, Solona stepped forward.

"Considering we know you are willing to work with the Darkspawn, I'm not inclined to agree with you Branka." She snarled as she brought her mana to the surface. Her body began to glow with a white-blue light. She didn't take her eyes off the now raging Branka. "I need the support of a Paragon for the new king to be crowned. He wants to fight the darkspawn and improve the plight of the casteless. Do I have your support Caridin?"

"Yes." He said with relief. "If you agree to destroy the Anvil."

"NO! I won't allow that!" Branka was literally foaming at the mouth with rage.

Oghren stood up to Branka. "Look around at everything you lost, you stupid, worthless, nug-humping bitch. Was it worth everything you threw away to get here? Do you honestly think any of it is worth this?" He growled at her.

"Our empire is what is worthless, crumbling tunnels filled with the stench of darkspawn!" She yelled back at him. "With the Anvil was can take back our homes, pride and our glory!"

Solona shook her head, if she hadn't thought it impossible she'd think Branka was inhabited by a pride demon. "The Anvil is a slaving tool. I will not allow it to be used as such, even if it is to battle darkspawn, when does it end Branka when every dwarf is a Golem? What then, the elves? Humans?" She snarled at her. "What you want is too close to blood magic."

"You can never understand. You live your lives worrying about blights every several ages. We live our lives as if it is always a blight." She ranted at Solona.

"I won't become a slaver!" Solona yelled back.

"So it fights with Caridin. Good, that seems right." Shale said convinced.

Caridin sighed with relief. "Thank you stranger your compassion shames me."

"Bah!" Branka spat. "You are not the only master-smith here Caridin." She raised her arm holding a control rod. "Golem's obey me!"

Caridin fells to his knees. "Please you must help me."

Solona and the rest of the party fell into their well practiced battle positions. Solona concentrated all her magical spells on Branka, while the others concentrated on the Golems and Wynne waited back healing them as needed and casting arcane bolts. Branka went down to a blow from Alistair as she tried to rush at Solona. It was more difficult and Rory had need of some serious healing once the battle was over, a golem had managed to break his shield arm from a blow.

Once she was sure Wynne had everyone else in hand she went to Caridin. The metal golem was back up and sighed. "Another life lost because of this accursed Anvil. I wish no one remembered it's existence."

"Ah Branka was an obsessive pain-in-the-ass, I always thought this fascination of hers would kill her." Oghren said sadly.

"How is that the woman was unable to disable me as she did you Caridin?" Shale asked.

"I do not know." He admitted. "You always were a strong woman Shale." He said fondly. "I am glad you see you have survived the years so well. And now it ends here."

"How can we help with that?" Solona asked." I am assuming if you could you would have destroyed the Anvil long before now."

Caridin nodded approvingly at Solona. "Yes, one of the commands I cannot overcome is the one to do no harm to the Anvil."

Alistair smiled. "I'm good at breaking things, not on purpose usually, but there is a first time for everything." He said joyfully.

"Thank you human." Caridin said. "Is there a boon I can perform for you. You asked about the favor of a Paragon for your king."

Solona nodded. "Yes we seek the favor of a Paragon to help elect a new king for Orzammar."

Caridin nodded. "I can craft you a crown on the Anvil before you destroy it. That along with rubbings of the Golem registry and my own personal mark, I can grant you this." He said solemnly. "And once done I can seek my final peace."

"Thank you Caridin." Solona said.

He turned away and began to gather the metals needed and made his way to the Anvil. The party made camp. Solona and Alistair helped Oghren prepare Branka's body and waited until he said a few words before they slid her body into the lava flows nearby. Once Rory was comfortable and in a healing sleep she and Shale began doing the rubbings of the registry.

It took the Master-smith a full day to create the masterwork of a crown. It was very heavy. Alistair made a crack about Elissa needing something much lighter for her own crown otherwise her neck would break. Along the inside of the crown were dwarven runes. Solona read them;

May he who is presented with this crown know the Paragon Caridin's favor, and may he be blessed by the stone.

"It's beautiful Caridin, thank you." Solona said sadly.

"Do not be sad Warden. I have full-filled my purpose and am now going to my final rest which has been too long denied to me." He said carefully laying his hand on her arm.

She nodded and turned to Alistair. "Please destroy the Anvil as we promised."

Alistair nodded and walked up to the anvil. He placed the breaking wedge into a slot on the side of the Anvil as Caridin showed him. The hammer was huge and it took great effort for Alistair to lift it over his head and slam it down on the wedge. The lyrium infused Anvil cracked along the fissures. It was then that Solona realized the wedge had lyrium sand, not dust along the edge. She started to back up taking the others with her.

"Wynne prepare a barrier around Alistair!" She yelled as she encased him in one herself.

Wynne quickly encased him as he dropped the heavy hammer down again. The Anvil sparkled and began to glow. Wynne's eyes widened as she realized what Solona had noticed. The Anvil had been made to take blows so a simple wedge and hammer strike shouldn't be doing any damage to it. Caridin had created a slot for a explosive mixture that with enough pressure and a spark would cause the Anvil to explode. Alistair's next strike was all it took for the pressure and spark to ignite the lyrium sand within the wedge causing the whole thing to explode and break apart. The blow back from the explosion caused Alistair to fly back. The barriers took most of the damage but he still cracked his head on the stone, knocking him out. Solona ran to him casting healing spells as fast as she could.

Caridin looked back, "I'm sorry I didn't realize he could have been hurt. It's been so long since I was made of flesh... I had forgotten."

Solona finished and sighed with relief. "He'll be fine." She assured him. "When he wakes he'll have a huge headache but that's about it.

Caridin nodded. "Thank you." He turned and without another word allowed himself to fall forward into the lava flow.

Solona turned to everyone else. "I think we've earned another day of rest before heading back, what do you say?"

"I say yes!" Rory sighed thankfully. "I refuse to carry Alistair more than a few feet. That boy is heavy."

Shale sighed dramatically. "We all know that when one of you fleshy-ones needs carrying I am the one to do it." She looked indigent. "I am the strongest one here, even if I am a woman."

Solona couldn't help it she burst out laughing at the looks on everyone's faces.

It took Alistair a full day before he woke with the expected headache. It took them only a another full day to get back to the Dwarven outpost on the other side of the Dead Trenches. The leader of the Legion of the dead was there waiting for them.

"Commander! Well met!" The Leader called out heading towards Alistair. Alistair grabbed Solona and presented her in front of himself like a shield. The Dwarven leader looked a little surprised but chuckled and held out his arm.

"Solona." She said formally, taking his arm. "Well met."

The Dwarf laughed again. "Bardtrone, Legion of the Dead Commander. How are the tunnels?" He asked.

"Cleared, there was a broodmother back there. She's dead now, as is every other Darkspawn we could find." Solona told him calmly. Over the past few days she's managed to bury her fear of being one of those creatures for now, mostly thanks to the pact she'd made with Alistair and Rory.

The Dwarf choked. "All of them, and a broodmother?" He stared in surprise.

Solona smiled. "I have three taint immune warriors, a dwarven berserker and two battle mage healers." She said as an explanation.

The dwarf grumbled wistfully. "Healers..."

Solona kept her face passive. It was nice to be envied for her abilities for once. "We have found a few things that might be of interest to you as well as an offer in exchange for any information you can give us on the Horde."

He waved her off. "We'll talk what you have later. We'll give you the information on the Horde for free, you being Wardens and all."

Solona thanked him. He took her and the others over to a pile of documents nearby. "As much as we can guess the number of Darkspawn raged from four hundred and fifty to five hundred thousand total." The Dwarf didn't look all that concerned but Solona was about to have a panic attack. "Of those only about twenty-five thousand are Ogres or Emissaries. Within those numbers are about sixteen generals with two very intelligent ones we've never seen before, and of course the Archdemon."

Solona pulled herself together. "That's more than I was hoping for."

"Bah! They've been breeding for this for half a age." The Dwarf said gruffly, he'd noticed the paleness and youth of the Commander, but she'd proven her worth clearing out their old Thaig.

"I see." She said thoughtfully. Elissa had said something about Maric knowing about a coming Blight and her father preparing for it. "How are your men holding up?"

He sighed. "Be better if we had Warden support, but the First Warden re-called everyone to Weisshaupt for their march on the Horde aboveground."

Solona smiled. "I have enough supplies that I can make up to two of your numbers Wardens if you like, but they would have to report into the Ferelden Warden Commander at least once every six months after the Blight is over."

He looked at her with respect. "You ain't been a Warden long, have ya?"

"Two months, and our Commander was killed the night I joined along with all of the other Senior Wardens." She admitted. She pointed to Alistair. "He'd been a Warden six months and Rory joined after me."

The Dwarf looked flabbergasted. "Well let me tell you now. No Warden but you would make a deal like that."

"Warden secrets." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "As long as the two we choose don't spill Warden secrets, I won't ask them to spill Legion Secrets."

"Wardens secrets, ha!" He laughed. "We know more than some they send down here at their Calling. Lucky are the blighters that meet up with us. We kill them before they turn, or make sure their dead before they get taken alive.' He said meaningfully to her.

Solona closed her eyes and shivered. "Thank you for that mercy."

His eyes saddened as he knew she understood. "I'll take your offer, and I know as long as you're in charge they'll never be asked to report in elsewhere."

She nodded. "If ever asked they can say they report directly to the Ferelden Commander."

He laughed. "You know how to play rank... Good, I wasn't sure." He gave her a look of approval. "You'll need it with the Orlisian Wardens, nug-humping pricks the lot of them."

"It'll take a few months before they can sense darkspawn far away, about six or so." she told him.

"Tell the secrets to the ones who survive your Joining." He told her calmly. "I don't need to know."

Solona nodded and pulled out the documents they'd found in the Thaig. "We found these. Shale thinks they might get the Legion itself Noble status in Orzammar. Would you like us to present it to Prince Bhelen to get recognized."

He looked over the documents in amazement. "Aye Commander. That would be very nice of you." He looked at her sharply. "You're too young to be down here, and much too good to be a Warden." He grabbed her arm and shook her lightly. "Never let them take it from you girl." He said roughly. He looked up at the others and glared at them. "None of yea. The Order has too many in it that were given second chances that didn't deserve them. Don't let them take your honor. All that 'at any cost shite' is just that... shite, that should be ignored. Seen too much what happens when they ignore what is right for what is expedient at the moment."

Alistair who had met the others was a little offended. The men he knew were good men. But then again he hadn't spent much time with them as he was always with Duncan more than anyone else. Solona just nodded and gave the gruff dwarf a hug. That seemed to make the tension in the air lessen as he forcefully and carefully pulled himself away with a scowl that didn't reach his eyes. "Way too damn young."

Two Dwarves were brought forward. Solona wished she had more of the flowers but had left them with Cara to experiment with and to help her look for more and cultivate them. The two drafts were given to them and Alistair provided the words while Rory caught them when they fell. She didn't know if it was dwarven constitution or not but both survived. Alistair, Rory and Solona explained everything they knew about being a warden. They were told until further notice to send all messages through Bhelen for now as he would be kept aware of where they would be or at least where the army would be gathering.

Bradtrone was going to be sending a runner back to Orzammar to tell them about the retaking of the Legion's Thaig and offered to take letters back for them. Solona and Alistair both jumped at the chance. With that taken care of, they retraced their steps back towards Orzammar.

On the way back they came to the passageway leading to the unknown location. As Shale approached it she breathed in deeply. "This leads to Cadash Thaig."

Oghren grunted. "Cadash Thaig has been lost for ages."

"This is the way to my home Thaig. I am sure of it." Shale say softly. "I remember."

Solona nods. "I promised if you wanted to look, we'd look if you want."

"I think I would." She said softly.

The party didn't have to travel far. The Thaig itself was only a day's journey. The passageway had been relatively clear, only a minor spider lair on the way. Solona was starting to feel nauseated and Alistair had confirmed that she was now sensing the Darkspawn as they were getting fairly close.

The Thaig itself looked to be in much better condition than the Deep Trenches Thaig had been and certainly more than the ones closer to Orzammar. Shale seemed disturbed by her lack of memories and more so by the amount of darkspawn inhabiting the roads. There were a larger than normal amount of shrieks making up the number of darkspawn, mixed with the Elvin ruins it made Cadash Thaig interesting and unique.

Near the far side of the Thaig was a large statue monument to the volunteers that became golems. Solona was surprised by the sheer size if the tablet with its small writing that listed every dwarf and the dates they enlisted. Looking around she wasn't surprised the Thaig had been sealed, it looked like almost every male in the Thaig had to have volunteered. The numbers increase dramatically from the time Shale became a golem compared to the end.

Shale's memory was sparked by seeing her name engraved on the stone. She even remembered the day it was done, she had been there to see it. Her family looking on proudly. It troubled her to remember being 'squishy'.

Near the monument was a large number of the augmentation crystals that hadn't been disturbed in ages. Shale was beyond thrilled when Solona harvested several different types of perfect crystals, Depending on what they were going to face Shale would have both protection and weapons for different situations.

They also took a tracing of the Cadash monument, along with the surprisingly large amount of gold they'd found in the Thaig. Now that they had finished looking around it was time to camp because in the morning they'd be going straight back to Orzammar, no more side trips.

It was nearing the end of the second month now and while Elissa was proud of what she and her little team had managed to accomplished since she had last seen the rest of the party off to the Deep Roads, Elissa was sorely missing Alistair.

Her time alone had also allowed her time to work through her grief, something she had been half avoiding and half just not had time to deal with until now. Zevran had been quite good at arranging sparing matches with the guards when she needed to let off steam, and partnering up with her himself when she need to train, or exercise to keep in shape. Their guards had been helpful with that also.

Her time alone had also made her realize her feelings for Alistair was very much real, not that she'd ever doubted that. Unlike when she had first started to feel something for him, she now knew her feelings were not the product of any other intense feelings she had been dealing her. She still worried about how he'd fair at court with the nobles once his secret was out. Despite his declarations before he left, she did worry he would withdraw from their relationship once he was subjected to the actual reality. Being Prince-Consort to a Queen would be intolerable to most men. Thankfully Alistair was not like that at all. He'd also have duties to take him away from court if he ever needed to take a break.

That left her thinking about Solona, making her Warden-Commander had been a gamble, but with Alistair's recommendation it was a done thing. As senior Warden it was up to him to decide who would lead. She planned to make sure that any politics outside of Ferelden didn't interfere with Ferelden's ability to field Wardens ever again. Warden Commanders of Ferelden would have to be Ferelden by birth or adoption. She'd make it a law, especially if she could arrange for the Wardens to never have to worry about Tithes again. Their own Arldom without a Right to Succession to the Crown would give them an income, a base of operations that wasn't hidden in the mountains, and a voice at the Landsmeet without being a noble themselves. The Warden-Commander could be the voice, as an acting Arl or Arlessa, granting whoever they wished to be at the Landsmeet as a proxy. She really hoped to swing this with Howe's estate once he was convicted as a traitor. Seemed fitting to give it to the Wardens rather than the rest of the Howe children. It also was convenient that Soldier's Peak was also within the Arldom's borders.

There was a second reason to avoid Tithes if she could. When the Blight was over no one was going to have extra money to pay a tax that hadn't been needed in Ferelden in over two hundred years. The fact that Maric hadn't re-instated it before the Blight would be used against implementing it after. There would also be blow back because the Wardens had supported her by any Loghain supporters, and there would be some. They would use it was an excuse to hold up meaningful reconstruction efforts for their own purposes. She sighed knowing that she'd have to be very lucky for Loghain so somehow die before she was crowned. She almost envied Bhelen, he knew he would either die, or Harrowmont would, once the fight for the crown was over.

Dwarven politics had been both harder and easier to deal with that she'd ever imagined. It helped immensely that she had gotten Rica on-board right from the start. The girl knew EVERYTHING about the nobles. She had access to her old Carta bosses records from when she was a Noble-hunter. Her brother had liberated them before he'd been executed for fighting in the Provings under another fighters name. She knew what every family was into and she'd shown Elissa the files on the families she recommended she use. With those files she had blackmail on everyone, and they had only needed to use it once. Everyone else had seen the potential of the trade agreements with Ferelden.

Another benefit of the friendship style mentorship she'd developed with Rica was she could act as a go between with Bhelen and herself, unofficially, and it cut a lot of the guesswork and red tape of negotiations because Elissa had been open about her dealings. For once she had no concerns about being cheated because there was nothing in for Bhelen to need to cheat her for. She had originally intended to take on as many of the casteless as she could on as possible Grey Wardens, however Bhelen had asked her not to because he was planning to add them to his army that would first march on the Blight and then joining in patrolling trying to push the Darkspawn back enough that they could retake a few Thaigs. Elissa had agree but asked that any prisoners that he could not conscript for political reasons be reviewed by the Wardens to see if they could be conscripted there, he'd agreed as long as it wasn't Harrowmont himself. All that had taken two days of going back and forth with Rica. In actual negotiations that could have taken months.

Elissa had gone one step further, she knew as mistress to the King Rica's life would at some point be in danger, She recommended that Bhelen name her ambassador to Denerim when the time came so she's always to able to come to Denerim for extended periods of time if needed. Bhelen had been downright cheerful since she'd made that suggestion. He'd been getting blowback from his advisors due to the relationship Elissa had formed with Rica, now at Elissa's request that Rica be a welcome member of her future court they'd backed off quietly.

Dagna had also made the process easier. They now had the infrastructure in place to get the goods and information from Orzammar to her troops. In fact the Dwarves had contacts to every City-state and country in Thedas. Getting anything through the Dwarves might be expensive on occasion, but no one could be guaranteed to deliver better than the Dwarves.

All in all her time in Orzammar had been very productive, both emotionally and politically. She knew her temper would never be as calm as it had been before Highever, but it no longer blazed out -of-control making her mouth run off on its own. She still couldn't believe she had blurted out her noble status and her Warden-ally position to the entire party. While the Warden-Ally thing had not been her fault she still could have limited the exposure by dismissing the non-wardens from talking to Avernus. She had been too angry to think straight, but that wouldn't be happening again. At least Alistair still had his secret.

She looked down at the three message in her hand and smiled tracing the letters with her fingers. They were three weeks old. The first one was from the Legion-commander, it said the Warden-Commander of Ferelden had consented to make two Legion of the Dead into Grey Wardens to help them track the Horde better and that they were on their way back to Orzammar, but they had one little side trip to make first.

The second letter was from Solona, it was short but to the point.

Elissa,

Found two Paragons! Sided with the one that's not bat-shit crazy! I'll explain when we see you. Found out about Shale, she's asked us to check out a side passage on the way home. Might be worth it politically and monetarily so we're going.

Love Sole.

ps. I'm going to kick your ass for making me Commander.

Elissa had laughed over that.

The third letter was from Alistair and it was a little longer.

Hello My Love,

I am really glad you haven't been here to see this. The things we learned that the Grey Wardens haven't told us is frightening. Sole didn't deal with the discovery very well. Turns out the Taint eventually turns Wardens into Darkspawn, and the woman, it's bad, bad enough that I promised Sole she's never going on her Calling, and neither are Rory and I.

Sole is also beginning to suffer the effects of the stamina increase. Poor Wynne had to be carried by Shale one day because she couldn't keep up anymore. Sole's temper is getting the better of her too. She nearly took Oghren's head off when he suggested she just work off her tension. Of course he said it much cruder.

We are all still in good shape, just very tired of travel rations and sleeping in shifts. And I miss you very much. I wish we hadn't had to go so far and for so long. I hope you have missed me as much as I have you. You can't imagine how much it meant to hear you say I love you. I really can't remember anyone ever saying that to me before. I love you so much, and I can't wait to see you again. I'm out of parchments so I'll just say good-bye for now.

Love Alistair Therein

Elissa smiled fondly at the messy scrawl. The outer scouts had sent back messages saying they were back from their side-trip already and heading back to Orzammar, all of them in good spirits. He'd estimated they should be back later that day, around dinner time.

Elissa had been pacing in her room and driving Zevran insane with her constant sighing and shuffling of documents. He'd even sparred with her until she'd nearly took his head off when someone had entered the room unexpectedly and she spun to see who.

He sighed. "Would you rather wait down by the entrance, darling?"

Elissa's head snapped up. "No, I..." She looked away. "It wouldn't be proper." Her face flushed both with aggravation and shame for wanting to be there and knowing it would be seen as weakness by the nobles.

Zevran laughed. "You've become a good friend to the future King's Mistress, Cuccioa. That ship has sailed, yes?" He said laying back on her bed in a suggestive pose. "And have kept me in your rooms alone for hours." He pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Inside the palace doesn't matter."

Zevran laughed again. He sat up and gave her a condescending stare. "You know Palace maids are the worst gossips there are, mi Cuccioa." She scowled, she was going to hit Rory for telling Zevran her nickname, his version of pup in Antivan had raised some eyebrows among the Nobles. "They have already labeled us lovers, non?"

Elissa glared at him. "And you encourage it." She growled.

He laughed. "It is amusing. We all have our hobbies."

Elissa sighed and threw a pillow at him before sitting down. "Do you really think it won't matter to my reputation if I go wait for them?" If it was the human court watching her she would never do that. Watching from the walk of the battlements would be considered alright, but not going down to the gates. Cailan could get away with that, but she wasn't Cailan.

Zevran gave her one of his rare serious looks. "No, it will not. Especially if you wear the Warden Cloak Dagna gave you."

Elissa smile widely. "You are going to be a good Warden Zevran." She said before she turned and sprinted to her closet to take out the cloak and placing it around her shoulders in an expert twirl of fabric and clasping the throat closed on one motion.

Zevran was smiling with a look of contentment. While he'd never show it, her approval of him, and the trust he'd earned from her over the past two months had meant more to him. He'd never had the opportunity to have a true friend before. Sure he'd made friends with his fellow Crows, but one always had to watch ones back to make sure that friends wasn't trying to place a dagger in your back. With Elissa he knew that she would never do such a thing. Arrest and try him if forced to, yes. Kill him to get ahead, never.

He quickly followed her down towards the Commons area to were the Deep Roads entrance lay. The guards saw them coming, and one held his hands out to the other for payment. Zevran winked to the guard collecting his money. He knew Elissa would not be able to stay away all day and had told the guard this when he asked.

Elissa stopped at the edge of the Walkway of the Commons. Zevran gave her a quick nod. "I'll go see if there is any news Your Grace." He said with a bow for anyone watching. Elissa gave him a short nod but kept her eyes focused on the tunnel.

She was second-guessing herself. A watched pot and all that, but she didn't want to wait a second longer than necessary to see her beloved or her cousin and best friend. She continued to stare at the opening until Zevran came back.

"Sorry, no word yet, but they aren't expecting anyone else today except the Wardens." He told her.

She just nodded and stared again. He was coming she knew it.

Solona was trying not to laugh. She didn't think it was possible for a fully grown, heavily armored man to look like a child, but Alistair was seriously making a great impression of one. The man was charging ahead and then she'd call him back, and he'd reluctantly wait for them to catch-up, he'd stay for a bit then again charge forward. Wynne was doing her best but she was so tired that keeping up with Alistair's punishing pace had winded her. She needed to use her staff as a walking stick and had been using her mana to help her keep up until now.

"Damn it Alistair enough." She yelled. He instantly stopped and looked back at her with a heartbreaking look.

"But it's only two more miles." He complained.

Solona sighed, looking back at Wynne who has really starting to fail. "Go, but if a hot bath isn't waiting for me when I get back I will castrate you!"

Alistair's face lit up. "You bet Commander!" He yelled as he broke into a full out run.

Rory chuckled. "There is no way our bathes will be ready, you know that right?"

Solona groaned. "I can dream damn it."

Rory laughed and walked over to Wynne. "Let me carry you Wynne." He said gallantly. "It is rare I get to act like the knight I was trained to be."

Wynne gratefully took his hand. "Thank you. I tried..."

Solona waved her off. "Without Alistair driving the pace we can take our time, it's only two miles and then we'll be taken care of."

Wynne groaned with sudden pain as she was lifted off her feet. The blood had been pounded out of the bottom of her feet and now that she was off of them she could feel the blood and swelling rush into her abused feet. Solona gave her a sympathetic smile and poured some healing magic into her legs, making them feel better but she still needed rest to fully recover.

Elissa was so obsessively watching the entrance she didn't notice that others had joined her until Rica touched her arm. "Elissa? Are you alright?" She asked.

Elissa jumped and turned to her. "Oh Rica!" She then noticed Dagna and several of the other people she had met over the past several weeks standing nearby. "I'm fine." She said, suddenly feeling foolish for being caught waiting like a little girl to see her first crush.

Rica just smiled fondly. "I'd be jumping up and down in excitement were I in your shoes." She admitted.

"I'd be running down the tunnel." Dagna chirped. "How you can still be standing here waiting I have no idea."

Rica chuckled. "It's called decorum Dagna."

Elissa laughed along with Zevran and Dagna. "We all know I don't have a clue how to act with that... or how to be calm when it comes to something I want as much as she does her fiancé." Dagna said giving Elissa a little playful nudge.

The chuckles of the other people gathered who overheard Dagna's comments from around her had Elissa blushing a faint pink. "Dagna!"

"There's a light coming from the tunnel." Zevran warned her.

Elissa turned in time to see Alistair burst through the entrance of the tunnel, only to stop suddenly in surprise to see so many people waiting for them. Elissa took a deep breath and began to walk forward. Alistair saw her and didn't wait for anything. Despite being dirty and sweaty from the tunnels he ran forward and pulled her tightly to him, taking in the sight of her like a man long denied his hearts fondest desire.

They couldn't see Elissa's face from where they were standing but Alistair's expression of pure happiness and adoration was making Rica and Dagna melt from the romanticism of the moment.

Alistair pulled back and stared at her for just half a second before he felt an overwhelming need, pulled her head forward and kissed her. Dagna and Rica began to playfully cheer, which in turn had the crowd began to cheer along with them.

Zevran chuckled. "Perhaps I should go and warn the Palace staff to have their baths prepared."

Rica shook her head. "No, stay and welcome your friends home Zevran. I'll go and get their accommodations prepared. They'll want real food too."

"Remember what Elissa said about their appetites. Huge portions even for the women." Dagna reminded her.

Rica laughed and waved. She couldn't help a little squeal of delight to see Elissa and Alistair were only just breaking their kiss. Elissa's face was turned towards her now held a look of joy that was making her friend look more beautiful then she'd ever seen her. She turned and began to run for the Palace with a smile.

It took Elissa several minutes to realize Alistair was alone. "Where are the others?" She asked, suddenly concern that she couldn't see them.

Alistair gave her a bashful look. "I was driving them insane, trying to hurry. Sole told me to go about two miles back."

Elissa began to laugh. All the emotions bubbling to the surface made the comment so much funnier than it truly was, and she couldn't stop laughing. Alistair couldn't help joining her and it took them several minutes to gather themselves enough to stop.

Zevran walked up to them. "It is good to see you again Alistair." He chuckled.

Alistair nodded to him. "Good to be back."

"We should get off the street, Your Grace." Zevran reminded her. When it had been only friendly people and friends Zevran had been fine with watching, but the cheering had gathered a larger crowd and now he could see less friendly faces in the crowd.

Alistair looked down at Elissa. "Trouble?"

Elissa smiled. "Nothing I can't handle." She said showing her armor and sword under her cloak.

Alistair nodded and stepped forward to stand protective. "Shall we get back to the Palace?"

Elissa looked back. "We should wait..."

Zevran shook his head. "Go with the guards and Alistair, Your Grace. I will wait for the others and escort them back."

Elissa looked torn but nodded before turning to look at Alistair once more and her expression melted into a warm smile once more. She fell into step beside him and they began the walk back to the Palace together.

The crowds had mostly began to disappear once Elissa had left, but there was still a small crowd when the others came out. Zevran cried out, "COMMANDER!" And ran forward. Playfully since it had gotten the crowd going for Elissa and Alistair he threw himself into her arms. Solona was too surprised to not catch him.

The crowd seemed to find the spectacle more funny than the one earlier and there was more laughter than cheering although there was some of that. When he went in for a kiss Solona placed her dirty gauntlet in the way, causing more laughter.

"I'm guessing Alistair made it then." She asked dryly.

Zevran pouted at her. "I throw myself at you and you ask after another man. I am hurt Commander."

Solona snorted. "Zevran, I am tried, hungry and not in the best of moods right now. If I don't get a very hot bath and some real food in the next hour I will be extremely cross."

"And no offence but I would like to put Wynne down at some point." Rory stated from behind them.

"Are you saying I'm getting heavy young man?" Wynne asked with an arched brow.

Rory chuckled and bounced her, making she gasp and grab his shoulders. "Not at all Wynne, just that it's been a long day and I want to same things, unless you are offering to join me in my bath?" He teased back.

"With a bosom like that I would like to join you too." Zevran said lecherously to the pair.

"I guess... I'll be at Tapsters if you need me." Oghren said gruffly as he began to walk away. Solona reach out and grabbed him to the shoulder.

"Oh no you don't. You're with us, you go where we go." She ordered in her best Commander voice. She began to walk forward again dragging the protesting Dwarf behind her.

"Just like a damn woman, ordering me around." He grumbled.

"I'm sure the palace has better ale than Tapsters." She giggled. Suddenly Oghren stopped protesting.

"Well you'd be right there." He said and began walking faster towards the Diamond District.

"I would like to get this nasty Darkspawn dust off me to. How it can stand to smell itself is beyond me." Shale said disdainfully.

Solona shared a smile with Rory and Wynne before leading the way back.

Elissa had to lead Alistair through the palace to their rooms. As they approached her room she saw Rica leaving.

"I've prepared the largest baths we have for you, Elissa." She winked and laughed. "Have fun, I'll delay dinner by two hours for you."

Alistair blushed but Elissa chuckled. "I love you, Rica." She said as she pulled a gaping Alistair into the room.

"Did she just say she was giving us time to-"

"Fuck each other senseless?" She asked suggestively. "Yes." She breathed into his ear.

Alistair turned and pressed her against the door, but Rica had seen them coming and hadn't latched the door closed. They stumbled into the room as the door flew open, twisting them until they were sprawled across the floor with himself underneath her.

Elissa was laughing so hard she couldn't stay on top of him and fell to his side. "Alistair, as much as I want to keep kissing you, you need that bath!"

Alistair smiled widely, "I can't believe I'm here, finally."

She helped him up and walked over to close and lock the door. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

He looked down. "I've been very glad my armor hides everything because I would have been very embarrassed by how often..."

Elissa laughed. "I've been lucky that I have private rooms to... ease my tension."

Alistair growled playfully, "Evil woman."

Elissa just laughed again, she felt so much lighter this time. Last time had been more than a little awkward because they both had very limited or no experience beyond self-indulgent touching. Alistair had been very patient with her. She knew most virgin men's first times, at least those she knew were with 'experienced' woman so they could learn properly. Alistair didn't have that experience, but he'd obviously listened intently to the other men while they talked, because he'd known enough to be very close to the right spots and knew enough to not move forward into straight sex right away.

"Let me help, Alistair." She said breathlessly; she been imagining this moment since the first night after he'd left.

He gave her a loving smile. "As my Queen commands." He stood and placed his hand out gallantly to help her up.

She stood and then slowly moved behind him to place her hands on the straps of his breast plate. She took her time removing each piece. He'd pulled his own gauntlets off before she could chastise him with a gentle, "Let me, please."

He'd looked behind him and gave her a slow nod and then looked forward, closing his eyes and sighing contently with each caress of her hands as they moved his armor out of the way and placed them on a nearby armor stand.

His body was a perfect work of art, Elissa was still in awe after all this time. She slide her fingertips along his cloth covered spine as she moved to remove the belts and other straps holding the chainmail and hip guards from his waist. She knew she was driving him crazy when his breathing would hitch, or he'd clench his fists tightly or open and close them quickly.

She slid down his legs to remove the last few pieces she could. When she began to move her fingers down to his boot he lifted his right foot without needing to be told. Once he was out of the metal she stood back. The amount of darken patches on the under armor could be darkspawn blood that had seeped through during combat, and she knew he'd be worried if she touch it so she stepped even further back.

She brought a basket forward and placed it in front of him. "Take off everything and place it in here. The servants will burn them later." She said softly.

Alistair was surprised at first, until he looked down and realized just how ruined the padding was. He grimaced. "Oh yes, you shouldn't touch any of this." He said as he began to tug his shirt over his head.

Elissa's gasp as his sweat covered torso was uncovered made him pause. He knew that sound, he'd dreamed of making her create it over and over; it was the sound that escaped her each time he touched a new part of her sensitive skin. He smiled to himself as he slowed his movements, teasing her a little. Fair was fair, she knew he loved it when she touched his back, she'd done that last time and he'd nearly fell catatonic with pleasure.

Once his shirt was removed he dropped it slowly into the basket and watched her. He found it amusing that her eyes followed his hands as they traveled down towards the lacing on the front of his pants. The way her chest was heaving had him desperate to distract himself, otherwise he wasn't sure he'd make it out of the bath before needing to come at least once.

Elissa wasn't doing much better, herself. Inwardly, she could feel the tightening of the muscles inside her, each flutter of them made her want to rub her thighs together, but she didn't want anything to encourage him to stop doing this! She gasped once more as he moved to lower the leather pants down his legs. Since leather had to be pulled down and would not just fall on its own, Elissa was subjected to watching as he leaned over at the waist to pull them down past his knees and then lifted each foot, pulling them through and placing his feet back on the floor, removing his socks as well, leaving his feet bare. As he lifted himself back to standing, Elissa finally noticed that he'd removed his small clothes, too. Her eyes widened as she quickly and unconsciously licked her lips.

Under any other circumstances, being stared at while completely naked would have Alistair reaching for the nearest piece of cloth, instead he felt powerful. Until now he'd never felt as wanted and desired as he did in this exact moment. Fighting his instinct to grab and kiss her senseless, he turned his body so his hip obscured her view and began walking slowly to the bath.

Breaking Elissa's stare woke her up and she growled at him, "Get in the bath now Alistair." She stalked forward, red faced with knowing how she'd gawked at him so openly. Placing the basket by the door, she double-checked the latch so they would be safe from unexpected visitors. Quickly, she removed her own armor and placed it on the stand, leaving her only in leathers, under armor and a shirt, she rolled her sleeves up so they wouldn't get wet while she helped.

Alistair was surprised at the size of the tub. At six foot two he was often scrunched up when he had baths; most tubs were just not big enough for his legs to stretch out. He actually was able to lay his legs flat along the bottom and still sit back with the water reaching mid -chest. The water was still hot enough to sting to the touch, but after months of being cold he reveled in it. His desire cooled slightly as he let the warmth soak into his muscles and bones. "Oh Maker that feels so good." he moaned contently, letting his eyes flutter closed. "It was so cold down there, and dark."

Elissa blushed at the sounds he had made and picked up the small bucket with sandalwood soap and a washing cloth. Rica knew she loved the scent of sandalwood and that she would want to bathe him herself. She really was a good friend, making sure Elissa had everything she'd need for today and tonight.

She lathered up the cloth and sat on the stool so she could reach him easily. "I'm sorry you had to go." she whispered as she picked up his arm and began to rub at the dirt so deeply embedded into his skin. After two month of the Deep Roads and not being able to do more than wipe the dirt off with his hands, the dirt was putting up a bit of a fight.

He looked at her lovingly. "I hated being away from you." he said, looking deep into her eyes. He loved the golden centers of her eyes, rimmed by vibrant green; they were very unique and drew him in every time he had the chance to be this close.

"I hated being away from you too." she admitted shyly. She blushed from his gaze and concentrated on moving the cloth over his skin, first his upper arm, then lower, moving down to his hands. He watched her with awe as she moved so carefully, yet firm; his skin would be raw if he'd been doing the scrubbing. He was perfectly content to let her do this for him.

She moved to his back and he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his knees. He could feel her hands trembling slightly as she moved to his lower back under the water, and how her hands grew more firm and confident as she moved up his sides to his other arm. She repeated the ritual she'd started on the other side but when she reached to his chest he took the cloth from her.

"Will you wash my hair first?" He asked softly.

She nodded. Still not saying a word she took a bucket of clean water and had him tilt his head back as she gently poured it over his head. As she sat up she gently lathered the soap into his hair, using her long nails to scrub his scalp, scouring away the dirt and blood. He hissed with pleasure as she worked; there was something about this woman and her touches that made even a simple thing like washing his hair almost sinfully delightful.

She took her time and added more soap several times, once she was satisfied, she had him tilt his head back once more and rinsed it clean. Wet and clean his hair had a distinct reddish-gold color that, while darker than his normal color, made him look even more ravishing. She took the cloth from his hand and leaned forward over his shoulder to start on his chest, kissing the newly cleaned area behind his ear. "Now you're starting to resemble the man I remember so well." She purred in his ear as she deeply inhaled along his throat.

Alistair groaned wantonly. "Keep that up love and I won't finish this bath."

Elissa giggled but pulled back enough to lick his the shell of his ear. "Then we best hurry before the water gets cold."

Alistair groaned and yanked the cloth from her fingers rubbing it harshly down his chest and abdomen and then tearing at his legs. Elissa couldn't stop giggling at how quickly he was rubbing himself down. The water was now a dirty cloudy mess.

"When you're done, Rica arranged a rinse tub as well." She told him indicating a standing bath tub in the corner by the fireplace where a few more kettles of water where strategically placed around the open flame; obviously long trips to the Deep Roads were common and the need for a good rinse after the scrubbing was anticipated.

Alistair only nodded and stood, Elissa's eyes once more were draw downward as the water flowed along the plains of his well sculpted chest and abs, down pass the V of his hips and down his legs... not that she followed the trail that far down.

"Elissa, stop looking at me like that, at least until we get the rinsing done." he rasped out, his own desire rekindled at her longing gaze.

Elissa's eyes snapped up to his almost painful expression, his desire for her at war with the need to be clean before he took her to bed. He didn't want to smudge anymore of the filth from the roads on her than he already had when they had kissed earlier.

Elissa quickly walked past him and went to get the warm kettles of water. She poured them carefully over him, trying not to waste water by spilling too much on the floor. Once two of the three kettles had been emptied Alistair stepped out and pulled her body against his.

"You, my love, are wearing entirely too much clothing for this reunion." He said huskily.

Elissa shivered with deep desire. As she lifted her hands to pull the ties of her shirt open at the sleeves, his hands coved hers and took over. "I want to do this." He moaned, "I've dreamed of removing each layer, one... by... one." With each drawn out word he pulled at the ties holding her shirt closed, sliding his hands up her torso to push the shirt up and over her creamy smooth shoulders.

Her breathing was becoming harsher with each moment, "Alistair please, I've wanted this for too long." she begged.

He took her mouth in a desire fueled kiss while his hand moved to the front of her breeches, untying them and pulling her pants over the her hips. Moaning deeply he pushed both hands down her sides and under the edges of her small clothes and pants before slowly moving his kisses down her throat to her breasts as he pushed the pants down her thighs. Being so much taller had its advantages as he allowed himself to slowly fall to his knees and was able to keep his lips attached to the nipple of her right breast.

Elissa's head fell back as he nibbled and suckled softly. He was a quick study, he had bitten too hard last time, and his every move was like a perfectly choreographed dance. His hands slid down to her ankles and he pulled free each foot; sliding his hands back up her body, he switched nipples. Needing a little friction himself he let his cock graze her leg. Her next groan made him move his hips slightly forward, letting the smooth skin on her leg glide along his cock. He released his own groan. "Alistair please." She moaned deeply.

He released her breast and looked up at her. The look of pure want and need had him surging to his feet, lifting her as he rose. Cradled in his arms she felt the rough calluses on his hands on her thigh and back, and the heat radiating from his body made her feel hot in all the right places. "Tell me what you want Elissa, I need to hear it." He asked her, his voice so deep and husky that she felt it vibrate from his chest right through her whole body, traveling along every nerve.

"Please, Alistair..." She panted, she felt like she'd been the one running for miles, "I want you... I love you." She told him as he crossed the room. He laid her gently on the bed and crawled over her.

"You are so beautiful. The only one I truly treasure." he whispered. Staring into her eyes he let his body come in full contact with hers and it felt like soft silk against him. He groaned and pressed his body down on hers giving in to the need to kiss her.

Elissa weaved her fingers in his hair, which was longer than normal, and pulled him more deeply into their kiss, thrusting her tongue in his mouth. It surprised him and for a moment her froze before he swept hers with his own, tasting her sweetened breath and suckling ever so lightly on it. He could almost taste the rush of desire, but there was no doubt she was turned on enough for more daring caresses, he could now feel the dampness seeping from the bared curls against his thigh.

Elissa shifted slightly, getting uncomfortable as Alistair's cock jutted against her hip. She was still astounded that he could get so hard so fast and for so long, and knew he was ready for more when his cock started to dripped onto her skin. She wished she knew how to pleasure him at this point, but he'd asked her not to last time; instead she could feel him bracing to move down her body to kiss every sensitive spot that suddenly seemed to need attention from his seeking tongue and mouth all the way down to her hip. He licked along her hipbone, his stalling was driving Elissa insane with desire.

"Alistair enough, I can't... I want..." She moaned.

He smirked, instantly complying. Positioning his face between her legs, he gazed for a few moments at her swollen clit, just barely visible. He flicked her with his tongue before taking a deep breath and moving in closer to suckle and alternatively lick her from bottom to top.

Elissa instantly gripped the sheets with both fists. Alistair had a grip on both of her hips; with the intense pleasure racing through her limbs and centering in her stomach, there was no way she could arch her back. With each pass of his tongue Elissa felt more and more pressure and pleasure building. Every moan he pulled from her made Alistair feel more confident that he could make her come more than once this time, he wanted her to feel as good as he had last time, and he was ready to pull out all the tricks he'd be told to try.

When her moans became slightly higher pitched he took one hand off her hips and laid it across her abdomen to hold her down, he stroked her entrance softly with the tips of his fingers before pushing two in slowly. She tried to arch up, crying out even louder, so wet that he easily slide his fingers in all the way.

"Alis... Al... Oh!" She moaned so loud Alistair felt proud of himself. He slowly started to withdrawal his fingers and pushed forward again, concentrating hard on matching the rhythm of the lapping of his tongue. He could feel her tightening around his fingers, and Elissa was dripping so much that the palm of his hand was beginning to feel wet. A few thrust later she cried out her release and he drew back to see her face as she rode out the rest of her orgasm.

When she stopped shivering he slowly removed his fingers and then licked and sucked them clean. He'd never get tired of the taste, it was something he never bothered to name... it was just Elissa and he loved it. His groan as he licked the last of it off his fingers had her lifting her head from where she'd let it fall back. She had a look of complete bliss on her face as she beckoned him to climb up beside her on the bed.

With a confidence he'd not felt before Alistair climbed up her body, dragging his tongue and teeth over her very sensitive body, allowing his cock to rub against her leg as he slowly slid along her lithe frame. He stopped briefly to nip at her breasts which caused her to shiver deviously as he proceeded and kissed up her neck to her ear.

"You beckoned, my Queen?" He whispered, his tone heavy with lust.

His voice was warm honey running all over her. Her vision was still clouded with little sparks as she tried to catch her breath. "Roll on your back love." she ordered breathlessly.

Alistair chuckled in her ear, sending shivers down her back. "As you wish."

It took Elissa a moment to gather her wits enough to move but when she did she could see just how hard he was, knowing he had to be hurting slightly at this point. Not wanting to tease him after what he had already done for her, she reached down to run her fingers over her sex quickly to get her hand wet before she wrapped it around his cock. Still amazed by the soft skin over the hard muscles inside, Alistair cried out harshly as she slide her fingers around his cock, soft and wet, but firm. Her fingers and thumb didn't quite reach each other, but he really didn't care as she began to move her hand up and down over him.

"Is this right?" She asked shyly. She hadn't had a chance to touch him much last time.

Alistair groaned and panted. "Oh yes... not.. going.. to.." He was far too gone to hold out much at this point. He let his hand guide over hers and showed her how fast and hard to grip. The thrill of having her hand inside his while it glided over him was a wicked pleasure that added a level of lust. He was caught by surprise by how quickly he came, and how hard, and how far it traveled, covering Elissa's chest.

Elissa yelped and jerked back in surprise, and he threw his head back and laughed quietly, euphorically. "Sorry, I should have warned you."

Elissa looked down at the pearly substance on her chest. Rica had told her some things to try with her mouth and what to expect if she did, but that was for a later time. Being curious as to what it would taste like, she let her fingers trail through the sticky, thick streams and then brought the semen to her lips. Her tongue darted out to lick as Alistair watched in fascination, as her tongue touched it he felt his cock start to stir again. Elissa wasn't sure what to make of the taste, it wasn't what she'd been told to expect. Deciding it didn't matter, she let her hand fall down as she turned her eyes towards his face, but not before she noticed his cock once more rising.

"Already?" She asked, surprised at his recovery time.

Alistair blushed, the blood flushing his skin down to his chest. Elissa bit her lip and moaned. She always wondered how far down his blush could go. "Sometimes it doesn't soften, but it still takes nearly half an hour for me to come again." He whispered.

"Half an hour?" she echoed. Thoughts of how he'd know that played with her imagination, making her gasp. "Really?"

He nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can wear out your Kitten in the amount of time it will take to be satisfied with you on a bad day." He said boldly.

Elissa burst out laughing. "My what?"

Alistair blushed a deeper red but mumbled "What else am I suppose to call it?" He asked her. "Some of the things the other Trainees or Wardens used were really vulgar." He told her.

"Where did you come up with Kitten?" She giggled.

He scrunched up his nose with distaste. "I thought it sounded much better than..." He stopped before sighing and pulled her down so she was laying down beside him. "I can't say some of this while looking at you. Not yet." He explained.

Elissa giggled harder. "It's ok Alistair, I'm sure I've heard the terms from men in the barracks." She reminded him.

"Yeah, but you haven't been subjected to Oghren for two months either. Maker, that dwarf is vile." Alistair shuddered.

"So tell me these terms of yours that are too vile for my delicate ears." She teased.

He chuckled. "Maker! I can't believe we are talking about this, but ok. There is... pussy which is where I got the idea for kitten." he whispered, his tone betraying how embarrassed he was.

"That one I kinda figured." She said, encouraging him to continue.

"I really don't want to do this..." Alistair pleaded.

Something in his tone suggested she was pushing him a little far for the night so she stopped teasing him this way. "So don't." She whispered back, "Never do anything you don't want to do with me Alistair. I won't fault you for it." She leaned up on her elbow so she could see his face.

The relief that washed over his face made her feel a little guilty. "Thank you my love." He said tenderly as he lifted her hand and gave it a kiss, then he licked between her fingers. There was a flash of lust that rushed from her fingers through her torso straight to her 'Kitten' as Alistair had dubbed it.

Her moan caught them both by surprise by Alistair quickly move to the next joint and licked, causing another moan. "Damn it Alistair... how am I suppose to concentrate when you do that?"

"You don't." He answered. He placed his hands on her hips and lifted her over his waist.

She moaned as he rubbed his fingers against her clit once more. "It's my turn." she moaned louder.

He lowered her down so that his cock was rubbing along her folds. "I'm not arguing that my love." He said with a smirk. "I'm just helping you."

Elissa moaned and slid herself along his length, getting him wet and stimulating herself; she wasn't as sensitive as she had been a few minutes before so the sensation was good, but not too good. Alistair was moaning louder than earlier as he anticipated sliding deep within her. She'd insisted on this position last time because she could control how deep he could go and how fast, at least in theory. That had been blown when he'd instinctively had raised his hips up while pulling hers down... this time he placed his hands on her thighs ready to help her if she needed it.

She reached down and grabbed him firmly as she guided the head of his cock inside of her. Just like last time, she could feel herself stretching to accommodate him, only this time it was painless. She reveled in the feeling of raw emotional connection and lusty desire of having him inside and let her head fall back, her long unbound hair touching Alistair's thighs. She took a long moment, slowly lowering herself until their bodies met.

They were both panting hard but staring at each other. "No pain?" He asked her desperate to move, but needing that reassurance.

"No." She moaned. That was all Alistair needed to hear, He grabbed her hips and flipped her over onto her back.

"Then let me make love to you, my Queen." He whispered intensely. She could only moan as he began to move with long slow thrusts. He kept his hands on the bed near her sides at first, but the need to touch her, move deeper had him lifting her legs around his waist and then moving one arm under her back. The angle was just right for him to slide even deeper within her.

No fantasy could have compared to this moment, loving her like this with no concern for fear of hurting her. It was even better than the first time. Each thrust was more intense, more emotional, and perfect.

He closed his eyes to just let the pleasure roam through his body as he moved a little faster and a little harder. Her moans and cries were growing louder, making it hard for him to concentrate on her needs.

Elissa was losing herself to the sensations and the feeling of Alistair's weight on her body which was adding to her experience. She felt surrounded by him, inside and out, everything narrowed down to this moment... only them and what they were doing together.

Elissa's first orgasm wasn't a surprise to Alistair, he had felt the tightening of her walls around his cock the same way they had tightened around his fingers earlier, but instead of stopping like he had earlier he couldn't stop now, his own need and lust prompting him to thrust even harder. Elissa was almost purring with delight as she could feel the pleasure start to rise again.

Alistair could hear her mumbling not to stop, that it felt so good, and he was thankful for it. He didn't want to stop... ever... but he could feel his own pleasure about to peak. He was trying to make sure she finished again first. Lifting his arm out from under her back, he moved his hand to her clit, allowing his eager thrusts to dictate the pressure, so he wouldn't press to hard. Elissa began to squirm beneath him, her fingers grabbing his shoulders to pull him closer.

Her second orgasm caught him by surprise, suddenly and without warning, he had been holding back for so long, he wasn't ready; it took an extra few minutes before he released inside her.

As he collapsed on top of her, Elissa pulled him tighter to herself, loving the feel of his motionless weight upon her. The last few moments had been intense and she was basking in the feeling of his cock going soft inside her.

When he caught his breath he lifted himself up onto his hands. "That was a wonderful reunion, my love."

She sighed contently. "It was certainly better than I imagined." She said smiling up at him.

"I love you so much Elissa." He told her with a beautiful smile on his face.

"And I you, forever." She promised.

It was nearly three hours before the Grey Warden party had fully cleaned up and eaten enough to be full. Bhelen and his advisors along with Elissa, Zevran and Rica were waiting to hear their story.

"I'll cut to the chase." Solona yawned. "I'll give you the short version tonight so you can plan and the details tomorrow. Is that all right with all of you?"

Bhelen could see how tired they were and agreed. "You've more than earned it Warden-Commander."

She rubbed her eyes trying to focus, Maker she was tired! "Ok so we finally did find Branka. She had made a deal with the Darkspawn and gave them her house in return for unlimited amounts of darkspawn to throw against the traps protecting the Anvil of the Void."

"It still exists?" Bhelen's astonished but calculating face was all the assurance Solona needed that they had done the right thing.

"No." She stated flatly. Bhelen deflated but still he waved for her to continue. "She trapped us in the gauntlet and we had to run it. We got through and came face-to-face with the Paragon Caridin."

One of the advisors scoffed. "That's impossible Caridin has been dead since Ancient times."

Solona sighed. "I didn't say he was flesh and blood, he was in the body of a metal golem. That's how the Anvil worked, it took the soul of a dwarf and placed it into the stone or metal body."

They all turned to look at Shale. "Yes, I was once a Dwarf. Shale of house Cadash."

Solona smirked at their dumbfounded expressions. "And the only woman volunteer."

"Yes... we mustn't forget that part." Shale said.

"Caridin made us a deal, we destroy the Anvil and he'd support our choice of King. Branka made us a counter-offer, she' support us but she also wanted the golem army, which meant feeding her as many dwarves as she could create bodies and control rods for. We of course backed Caridin."

"What? Why?" Were the cries from the advisors, Bhelen for his part kept silent but his eyes never left Solona. She in return stared him down, completely convinced she'd done the right thing.

"Because he wasn't bat-shit crazy enough to turn his house into a darkspawn factory for power she wasn't going to share." Solona said emphatically.

She pulled out the crown made by Caridin and placed it down on the table. The helmet shaped crown was encrusted with huge rubies and was a masterfully crafted work of art. The work was obviously Dwarven in design with the shape of the gems and the style of the crown. "We will present this to you at the Assembly your highness." She said. "Inside the words should help to prove our assertions it was made by Caridin. We also have the tracings of the monuments of the Golems he made and the monument from Cadash Thaig."

The Advisors nearly fell over each other to inspect the inscription. After only a few moments they nodded their assessment. "It is his mark and this is consistent with the times and designs of his work."

"Is that enough for tonight?" Solona asked, yawning once more.

"Yes." Bhelen said softly. "Thank you Wardens." He paused and smiled at them all. "By the way, Happy Satinalia Wardens."

The group looked at each other in surprise. They hadn't realized so much time had gone by while they were in the Deep Roads. "Thank you Your Highness." He gave them a final nod, knowing they were exhausted.

Solona took that as a dismissal and left the room heading for her bed. The others followed quickly, just as eager to sleep in a real bed as she was.

It was very late the next morning before Solona managed to drag herself out of the bed. After laying on bedrolls and stone for two months she had felt like she was sleeping on a cloud. She had a list of things she wanted to get done before the Assembly met that afternoon. She'd noticed a Warden Cloak in her room as she was dressing. The heraldry on the back was the same as the one Duncan had given to Elissa. She sadly took the cloak and placed it around her shoulders.

While she had official been the Warden Commander in the Deep Roads it hadn't felt like a big deal until they had seen the Archdemon. The size of the Horde, the Dragon in real life instead of dreams, and of course coming face-to-face with a broodmother had brought home just how big a deal this whole Commander thing was. She knew Alistair, Rory and Elissa would all stand behind her, making sure she didn't fall the same way everyone was behind Elissa, making sure she didn't fall.

She also knew she could depend on the others to a lesser degree. it wasn't that they were any less committed. Wynne especially had risked her life to come along on their errand to the end of the Deep Roads. Cara was tied to her fate too, but the others were not. Knowing what becomes of Grey Wardens she was going to give Zevran a pass on becoming one of them. She would never recruit someone against their will, she decided. She couldn't accept the thought of sentencing someone to becoming one of them. As long as the person choose to become a Warden she would accept them, but she wouldn't take someone like Sophia Dryden, someone sentenced to be one by a judgment of someone else, even Elissa. She would allow them to be given a choice, but the choice had to be theirs. That she could live with.

She picked up the tracings of the Golem monuments and went in search of Shale to go to the Shaperite to drop off the tracings. She imagined the Shaper would want to talk at length with Shale about what she remembered since they were at Cadash Thaig.

The Shaper had been very happy and upset to learn that so much had been lost or not recorded in the memories. The large pile of sovereigns made the time to take the tracings very lucrative. It had been decided to hold onto the loot they found in the Deep Roads until they were on the surface after what had happened to Bodahn.

She got back to the palace in time to meet with Elissa and Alistair. The three of them presented the crown to thunderous applause. Bhelen gladly accepted and the Assembly finally crowned him King. As expected his first motion was to have Harrowmont executed. His second was to back the Grey Wardens and the Teyrnessa and Heir to the Crown of Ferelden in their fight against the Blight. The Third was to pledge his support of the Ancient treaty for military support against the Blight. The first troops would be sent out shortly to help train the humans and elves when they joined them.

The party was glad to breath fresh air once more as they passed through the doors to the surface, except for Oghren and Dagna, they were a little afraid of falling into the sky.