More Introductions.

Olivia slipped her arm through Neri's. "I'll show you the grounds first."

Lenny walked at Olivia's side as they headed across the yard.

"So, how did you both join the Wardens?" Neri asked to fill the silence.

Olivia swallowed thickly. "I ended a criminal's life, a murderer," she said quietly.

Lenny locked his hand with Olivia's and gave it a gentle squeeze, and Neri arched her eyebrows at the intimate gesture.

"Turned out he had murdered and raped a Warden; when the Wardens heard what I had done, they recruited me," Olivia finished, smiling slightly. "And Lenny here grew up in Val Royeaux's alienage, until he left to try to find his own way." She turned to the elf, smiling broadly. "How long did you say you followed Stroud for, love?" she said in an amused tone, which was not lost on the elf.

He blushed. "A- a few hours," he said with a slight stutter.

Neri never would have pegged these two to be a couple, but they were. She was certain Maxime and Rafael had something going on too, and for some reason Maxime was hiding it, or at least trying to.

Olivia chuckled. "It was an entire day, and then Stroud was attacked by some thugs, and Lenny saved his life," she said warmly. "Stroud recruited him out of thanks."

Neri smiled. "What wonderful stories."

"What about you?" Olivia asked a little apprehensively. "There are so many…rumours. I don't know which are true and which are false."

Neri let out a bark of laughter. "Well, I was conscripted into the Wardens after I accidentally helped a blood mage escape the Circle," she admitted sheepishly.

Olivia was clearly relieved, her sigh long and loud. "I'm so glad you didn't summon an army of demons like so many of the rumours said you did!"

Neri snorted derisively. "I wasn't a fan of the Tower, but I would never do that."

Olivia showed her the East Wing – the armoury, guest hall, kennels and so on – telling her she would be fitted for some new armour soon. Neri had explained how that wasn't necessary, showing them her Archdemon armour, eliciting gasps of awe from both of them.

They bypassed the main hall, wanting to give Maxime time to gather everyone; she was shown her room, and office, the library and the dining hall. Finally, they worked their way back to the main hall, and Neri was greeted by a massive crowd of cheering Wardens; she could feel the taint of each of them, her skin tickling wildly. She had to take a deep calming breath to try to block it all out.

Maxime stood in the centre of the room, grinning wildly. "Okay, Neri, time for introductions! I'll try to make it quick!"

Every single person in the hall groaned.

"We'll be here all sodding day!" a dwarf growled.

"First impressions are important, Durak!" Maxime scolded light-heartedly. Neri moved over to the start of the long line of Wardens, and Maxime took a deep breath. "Okay, here we go! This is Edd and Angus, they're from the Free Marches, and they will drink you under the table. You have been warned!"

"Aye, 'specially a wee thing like you, lass," Edd bellowed; his grip was tight and her whole body shook up and down as he pumped her hand enthusiastically.

"Har! What do you drink then, girl? One shot, and then you're gone?" Angus teased, chuckling throatily.

She grinned wickedly at them both. "That sounds like a challenge."

Edd and Angus clapped her on the back, laughing. "I think we'll get along well, lass!" Edd said with a toothy grin.

Maxime continued to introduce her to the rest of the Wardens, including a prissy Nevarran noblewoman, a couple of grouchy dwarves, two beautiful elves with mischievous glints in their eyes, a young female healer, and a handful of older cynical-looking Wardens from Orlais and Nevarra. Neri greeted them each with a smile and a joke, which seemed to ease the tension with some and irritate others. And at the end of the line she saw the Warden who had taken care of Barkspawn earlier.

She smiled at him, and Esteban kissed both her cheeks.

"I trust my dog is safe?" she said lightly.

He flashed her a brilliant white grin. "Very. He is with the other hounds; I hope that is okay? He was snoring soundly when I left him."

She rubbed her neck. "Yes, that fine, neither of us has slept for a few days, so I'm not surprised he's–"

"Why ever not!?" Esteban asked with a gasp.

She cleared her throat; she could feel the tips of her ears turning pink. "Well, being alone on the road… I guess I couldn't really," she lied, shrugging slightly.

He nodded grimly.

"That concludes the Wardens for the most part, Keenan is around somewhere, probably with the recruits: Rowland, Elis, and Tabs, and as I said, Mhairi is in Denerim. There was a dwarf who said he knew you…" Maxime looked around. "Has anybody seen Oghren?"

Neri gasped, her eyes bulging. "Oghren?"

Maxime smirked, his blue eyes shimmering mischievously. "Yes. He wants to join the Wardens; I think he might be using that as a cover to drink all of our ale though."

Neri snorted. "Or more likely, he just couldn't stay away from me," she joked, making Maxime laugh.

"He's probably in the cellar," Maxime said with a sigh. He turned to look at two older men and a woman. "This is Seneschal Varel, Lieutenant Gable and Sergeant Maverlies."

"It's an honour to meet you, Warden," Varel said kindly.

She shook his hand. He had a long face and a prominent chin; his hair and stubble was grey, as were his eyes, but he had a kind face.

"And you, Serah," she said with a wide smile.

Gable smiled a greeting and she shook his hand. He had blonde hair and thick stubble around his mouth, but seemed nice enough. Maverlies gave her a polite nod, as she pushed her brown hair away from her face.

"Time to eat!" Edd roared impatiently.

"Last one at the table has to clean up!" Angus called out as he raced Edd for the doors.

Most of the Wardens groaned, but they all rushed out of the hall anyway.

Neri remained.

"Not joining them?" Varel asked, craning his head slightly.

"I should find Oghren," she explained.

Varel nodded. "The cellar is this way." She followed him. "I trust your travels were safe? There have been a lot of darkspawn as of late."

"I didn't encounter any." She smiled slightly.

He nodded. "That's good. And the Commander, umm, Her Majesty, will be joining us shortly?"

Neri chuckled. "In a few days, I think she said, and just stick with Commander; it'll be easier. While she's at the Keep, she is a Warden first and foremost."

He smiled and nodded his head.

They climbed down some stairs and heard a glass smash. Varel pushed the door open, and sure enough Oghren was rummaging through some crates.

"I do hope you haven't drunk all of the Keep's alcohol, Oghren," Neri scolded, folding her arms.

"NERI!" He grinned, and then let out a massive belch.

She arched an eyebrow. "Charming as ever, I see."

"Heh! Admit it, you missed me." He chuckled gruffly.

"Oh yes, I was heartbroken when you went back to Felsi instead of staying with me!" she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Knew it," he grunted, looking around the room for something.

"I'll leave you both to catch up." Varel nodded and left.

"So, you want to be a Warden?" she asked, leaning against a pillar.

"Aye! I want to split some heads again!" He grinned toothily as he tossed an empty bottle over his shoulder.

She sighed, squeezing the bridge of her nose. "What about Felsi?"

"Eh, oh, I left her," he mumbled, his head far inside a crate.

"Oghren…"

He looked back up and scowled. "Don't Oghren me, woman!" he grumbled. "Make yourself useful and reach that bottle up there." He pointed to the top of a tall shelf.

"I can't reach that."

"Ugh, use your magic," he impatiently barked.

She rolled her eyes, and knocked over the bottle with a blast of magic; Oghren caught it with a grin. He bit into the cork, tugged it off, and took a long swig of the dark liquid. "Ah, that hits the spot!"

She chuckled. "Come on, grubs up, and you better share that," she said, taking it from him and having a long drink herself.

They reached the dining hall, and Maxime called her over, having saved her a seat. She slid in next to him, with the young female healer, Ella, to her left, and Olivia and Lenny opposite. She couldn't help but gawk at the spread in front of her; there were dishes of roasted vegetables glazed in honey, boats of thick gravy, and a massive boar at the end of the table which – now returned from his hunt – Rafael was carving.

Neri hadn't realised how hungry she was until she had cleared three plates, and moved on to her fourth.

"Damn girl, where do you put it all? Maxime joked, looking over her entire body for the 'spot' she put it all.

Neri stuck her tongue out and knocked her shoulder into his.

"You're on!" Oghren yelled eagerly from the end of the table that all of the dwarves, and Marchers were sitting at.

She realised they were discussing a drinking competition and couldn't help but chuckle. This is what she had been missing; during the Blight things were so… bleak. But this; she could get used to this.

"I think they're going to be fast friends," Neri mused.

Ella smiled and bobbed her head in agreement. "They get so loud when they drink, and Edd has a habit of breaking things," she said quietly.

Neri chuckled. "Clumsy drunks are the worst!"

Ella shook her head, her big brown eyes suddenly sad. "No, abusive ones are."

Neri was about to reply when the prissy Nevarran screamed. "You vile dwarf!"

"Oh come on, don't you ever fantasize about me, baby?" Durak, one of the dwarves replied to her.

She slapped him hard across the face. "I have plenty of fantasies, dwarf, and none of them are about you!" she spat.

Olivia chuckled from across the table, her blonde hair shimmering in the evening sun streaming in through the high windows. "It wouldn't be a Warden dinner without several drunken Wardens and someone storming out."

"Y-you forgot the gossip, complaints about the food, weather or location, and Ma-Maxime s-saying something's fabulous," Lenny joked to Olivia.

Neri laughed out loud, and Lenny blushed furiously and recoiled back into himself, returning to stare down at his food. Neri hadn't realised how bad his social anxiety was; he was so very shy, she felt bad for him, but hoped he would soon relax around her.

"If something is fabulous, it needs to be pointed out!" Maxime argued, laughing merrily.

One of the cynical-looking Wardens, Jaque, leant over the table from Lenny's right. "Alright, Neri, can you clear something up? We're all wondering about it," he said.

She quirked and eyebrow and nodded, a half-smile pushing her freckled cheek up.

"Did you slay the Archdemon? Or was it Riordan, or perhaps Loghain?" he asked seriously, his tone flat.

Both her eyebrows arched and her eyes widened slightly.

The entire table seemed to quieten to listen to her reply, even the drunks were silent.

She swallowed hard. "Riordan jumped onto the Archdemon's back, buried his sword in its neck and crippled its wing–"

"I knew it!" Jaque interrupted.

She lifted her hand to shut him up. "He fell from the dragon and perished."

Jaque narrowed his eyes. "You're saying he didn't take the final blow?"

"Bit hard to when he was a lovely stain on the cobblestone ground," she replied darkly.

He frowned at her. "What of Loghain then?"

"He was fighting the dragon on the roof of Fort Drakon with me. One minute he was stabbing with his sword, the next he was in the Archdemon's mouth, sharp teeth crushing him, and then he was tossed aside, dead," she gravely recalled.

Jaque was shaking his head, looking extremely confused.

"I took the final blow, I killed the Archdemon," she said firmly.

Every Warden spoke at once, but the most obvious question was 'how did you survive?'

Arietta and Neri had discussed the answer to this question many times in the past six months; they'd ended up agreeing not to lie, but not to tell the whole truth either.

She stood and glanced at everyone then closed her fingers together for silence. She looked around the table; Coline, Rafael and a few others were all eyeing her suspiciously, the rest just looked curious.

She clenched her jaw and leant her hands on the table. "There are many types of magic in this world, some good," she glanced down at Ella and smiled, "some bad," she looked down at one of the cynical Wardens, evidently a mage-hater, "and some neutral."

She took a deep breath. "I don't know where on the spectrum the magic I used falls."

The Wardens all started to talk again, and again she silenced them. "It saved my life, and the lives of our king and queen, which is good. But there are consequences too; some I am starting to realise now, and others I'm sure I'll realise much later." She sighed. "There's really nothing more to say on the matter. What's done is done. The Blight is over, and you lazy bastards didn't have to raise a finger to stop it," she said light-heartedly, grinning cheerfully.

She lifted her flagon. "To sacrifice!"

"And the raging headaches we'll have tomorrow!" Angus bellowed.

They all drank.

A/N: My love and thanks to all of those reviewing and following this, you bring smiles to my face and joy to my heart. (Could that be any cheesier? Where are my crackers...) This story would be a mess without her, so thank you ElyssaCousland.

I can't decide whether to update twice a week or just once... opinions, my lovelies? Either way, Maxime gets his own chapter next time, so be prepare for different artwork - and I really do apologise for just how awful he looks, I redrew him about 20 times, still not happy but I'm done with him, he can staying looking like poop! xD. And to everyone very excited for Neri and Anders' reunion it's a few chapters away yet but it will be delicious, I promise.