Author's Note: I don't know how you guys found my story, but I'm happy that even more people have joined even when I was on break! :) I'm still not sure I'll be able to post every Sunday, but I'll try! Hope you enjoy :)

~Far from Harmony~

"So tell me," she started out in a soft voice as she brought herself right up to the bars of the cell, "Can a caged bird sing?"

As the guards silently exchanged glances behind Drea's back, Ashlyn calmly sat on the shoddy, make-shift bed. Keeping her hands folded in her lap as she eyed the lute Drea held, Ashlyn quietly replied, "I have considered myself caged for years now, my Lady. I sing to stay sane."

Nodding as though she expected that answer, she reached her hand towards the nearest guard, gesturing for the keys. The man hesitantly started reaching for his belt until he finally paused. Nervously, the man replied, "I…wouldn't recommend that, Commander."

With an impatient sigh, she looked back at the prisoner, "And how about them?" she asked, "Have they fed you? Treated you well?"

Although the exhaustion was deeply settled into her features, Ashlyn forced a weary smile to show her sincerity, "Yes. All my meals were provided and although they wouldn't talk with me much, they were courteous."

"Excellent," Drea replied before turning towards the guards. "King Alistair sent you here to watch her until I arrived so, being that I am back, you are both free to return when you are ready. I only ask that you see me before you leave so I can send you with a letter of recommendation. Not only did you treat her well, as asked, I understand you took some incredibly long shifts to make sure she remained under the King's eye." Realizing they had been politely dismissed, the guard hastily removed the keys from his belt to hand over. Crossing their arms over their chests and bowing to the Warden Commander, the guards quickly left the room, leaving the women alone.

With the disapproving stare of the King's men no longer burning into her back, Drea opened the cell door and stepped inside. Ashlyn remained still on the cot and silently watched Drea approach. Wordlessly, Drea handed the bard her lute, forcing her into finally moving to accept her instrument. Showing no hint of concern, Drea turned her back on the prisoner as she left the cell. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Ashlyn finally asked as she awkwardly held the lute, dumbfounded by the gesture.

Turning on her heel to face Ashlyn as she closed the cell door, Drea replied, "You've given me plenty of reasons not to trust you," turning her key in the lock, the hollow clicking of the latch emphasized her point before she added, "But no reason not to like you."

Drea took a moment to truly look at Ashlyn as she stared down at her lute. It was a loving reunion as Ashlyn gently ran her hand over the curve of the instrument, pulling it close to her. As she looked up, Drea turned away to hide the conflict in her eyes. Her boots clicked loudly on the stone floor as she sauntered over to the guard's small table. Settling into one of the chairs, she rocked it back so she could rest her feet on the table. Casually crossing her ankles, she folded her hands across her stomach and slowly closed her eyes in anticipation of hearing music. Without looking at her, Drea knew Ashlyn was watching her…likely wondering what the catch was. After several long moments of relaxing at the table, Ashlyn finally strummed her first chord. A small smile crossed Drea's lips at the sound. As Ashlyn worked herself from warming up into an actual song, Drea silently reflected on her last couple of days.

The group of Wardens had arrived late into the evening but Drea insisted on meeting with her advisors the next morning. To her deep relief, they had nothing but good news. Seneschal Varel was quick to explain he had made great strides in finding a replacement for Bann Esmerelle and was waiting only for her approval. Esmerelle had no husband or children and he had given up on the idea of keeping the title within Esmerelle's family. Her closest relatives proved to think far too much like her and he wasn't willing to risk the city's future on petty greed. It wasn't until he started looking through prominent people of the city when he came across Fendrich, one of the leading members of the Amaranthine's Merchant's Guild. After some digging, Varel realized Fendrich was a nephew of Esmerelle's, a fact that he worked to ignore. Fendrich disagreed with most everything Esmerelle stood for, particularly the inflated taxes on port trade. Although it was against the law, he worked out an arrangement with the port merchants to pay a portion of the taxes on any goods they sold to him. It cut deeply into his profits but he saw the value in port trade and didn't know how else to keep those merchants from abandoning Amaranthine altogether. During the crisis of Pilgrim's Path being closed, other merchants followed his example and if the city guard noticed they turned a blind eye since Esmerelle was receiving her money in the end. It meant he was technically a criminal, but this impressive display of principles spoke volumes to the seneschal. Mistress Woolsey also approved of Fendrich as the next Bann.

As the City of Amaranthine recovered from the devastation of the darkspawn attack and loss of its Bann, Mistress Woolsey stepped in to temporarily handle the finances. Even under the limited influence as a Merchant's Guild leader she could see the effect Fendrich had on the economy. She was pleased to report that while there was still a lot of ground to make up for financially, both the city and the Vigil were making surprising progress.

Also impressed with progress was Captain Garevel. Since her inspiring speech, a stunning number of arling guard hopefuls starting showing up at the Vigil. There were many more survivors of the attack than they had first thought. As the Arlessa, Warden Commander, and Hero of Ferelden, her words carried a great deal of weight. Not wanting to turn anyone away, the captain and his highest ranking officers were almost running themselves ragged to keep up with the sudden influx of recruits to train.

It was almost eerie how abruptly the arling's situation turned, but the advisors were practically giddy. Not wanting to take their moment away from them, Drea sat back and watched as the three ecstatically chattered. Even with her new view of life, she found herself greatly distanced from the others. She appreciated the sudden change of fortune but the threat of Flemeth loomed over her head, leaving her quiet and reserved. Passing her gaze over the excited faces of those surrounding the table, she didn't have the heart to tell them of the dark yet abstract threat that was Flemeth's unknown plan. Blaming her lack of enthusiasm on exhaustion, she thanked the advisors for all their hard work and brought the meeting to a quick close.

Drea's mind was brought back to the present as Ashlyn's song died away. Before she could start on another, Drea sighed loudly as she kicked her feet down and let the chair fall forward. "I don't know what to do with you, you know," she commented loudly. "You knew I would find out that you were not a bodyguard send by the King and yet you stayed?"

Ashlyn laid the lute across her lap, keeping it close to her. After a moment of silence as Drea watched her, Ashlyn finally replied, "Aside from the fact that my employer would likely kill me for abandoning my post I guess…I guess it was a little too easy to pretend this really was my life."

It was surprising how little confidence Ashlyn seemed to have, but after seeing how capable she was with blades, Drea knew it could be an act. "Anders," Drea supplied. "I understand he has come to see you already."

Halfheartedly, Ashlyn shrugged her shoulders as she answered, "It's everything, not only him…But yes he came to see me. There was very little said; I love him and he can't trust me. That doesn't leave us with much." Her voice stayed even but the bard's eyes grew distant as she seemed to stare past Drea.

Leaning forward in her chair, Drea sighed again, "Anders is a good man and for what it's worth, he has never been in a position to love before. Between the Circle and being on the run, he couldn't risk feelings clouding his judgment. I think he was hoping, as much as I was, that you would have escaped while we were gone. I really don't know what to do with you. You saved my life, so I can't just have you killed. But you're a spy with an unknown master, so I can't leave you be either."

"The thought of running had crossed my mind," Ashlyn reluctantly admitted. Absently, she started to trace her fingers along the wavy designs etched into her lute as she added, "But I just can't."

Abruptly, Drea stood from her chair and crossed the room to stand at the cell door again. Resting her hands on the bars, she stared at the prisoner until Ashlyn finally looked up into her eyes. Having her attention, Drea spoke, "You may be surprised to hear that I understand." Ashlyn's eyebrows creased together at her statement, but before she could think of a response, Drea continued, "During the Blight, I survived many things, one of which being an ambush by an Antivan Crow. To my surprise, at the end of my blade, the Crow asked for either a swift blow or asylum as returning to the Crows meant a torturous death for his failure. His boldness intrigued me, his logic was sound and there was no denying what an asset he could be in battle. Plus, being that he was a Crow, he would be extremely helpful in getting us through future attacks. Everyone thought I was insane for agreeing to his proposal, but he was upfront with everything and…it just felt right. In the end, Zevran saved my life more times than I care to recall. With the Crows still after him, I wasn't sure living by a port was a good idea, but if he had really wanted to, he'd still be with me…" Her voice took on a slight wistful quality as she remembered their last conversation. He was someone else whose fate she didn't know. She felt a faint pang in her chest as she wondered if he was still alive, especially if he brought the fight to the Crows' doorstep as he hinted. Her questions dissipated as she focused on the woman behind bars and finished, "If it felt right, I would be willing to do that again, Ashlyn. But the first move is yours. You'd have to tell me what I'd be up against."

Ashlyn clenched her hands into tight balls as she broke eye contact with the Warden. It was obvious Drea's offer tempted the bard, but she kept her mouth clamped shut. "Fine," Drea said quickly as she dropped her hand down to grab the keys she hooked onto her belt. Unlocking the door again, she coolly added as she reached out for the lute, "I have other people to meet with, so I'm going to have to cut this short." Obediently, Ashlyn held the lute out towards Drea, when the Warden suddenly shook her head and took a step back out of the cell. "On second thought, what harm would it do to let you keep that?"

Hooking the keys back onto her belt, Drea turned away and started for the door. Throwing back over her shoulder, she implored, "At least give it some thought Ashlyn. Keeping you locked up indefinitely isn't a solution either."

As Drea walked away, Ashlyn realized she hadn't locked her cell door. It sat slightly ajar in an enticing chance for freedom. "You forgot to lock this," she called out. Not responding, Drea reached for the door to leave. Quickly realizing it was left open on purpose, Ashlyn added, "I'm not going to escape you know."

"Indeed," Drea replied softly as she stepped from the room.

After handing over the keys to the usual dungeon guards and informing them the King's men were gone, she made her way to her study. The only thing that could break Drea from her long, purposeful strides was Nate who met her in the hallway. "Quite the look of determination," he commented, "Where are you off to?"

Gesturing to the door beside them, Drea replied, "I'm meeting with Cera. She just got back from the Circle last night." Pausing, Drea noticed Nate was in his full gear. Losing her train of thought, she finally asked, "But where are you off to?"

"To practice with some of Garevel's new recruits. They have more than they know what to do with so I'd like to see if any strike me as Grey Warden material. It couldn't hurt to try and bolster our numbers somewhat too," he responded with a casual shrug.

Drea couldn't help but smile at his constant need to think ahead. Lowering her voice considerably, she replied, "Very well, carry on then…as long as you return to stay with me tonight." His look of surprise quickly melted into a smile and she hastily added, "It's just that I sleep better. I mean the past…it seems to stay there when you're with me."

Leaning in towards her, he answered, "Of course I'll stay with you. I'm just disappointed that's all you want to use me for…"

Before he could continue, they were interrupted by a guard rushing towards them, shouting for the Warden Commander. Slowly, they both turned towards the approaching man, struggling to keep neutral expressions at the intrusion. Reaching them, he stomped to a halt as he noisily breathed, "Commander, I'm so glad I found you."

"Yes, what is it?" Drea asked, managing to keep the irritation from her voice.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to regain some composure before answering, "Commander, there is someone looking for you in Amaranthine. A woman." Taking in another deep breath, he was prompted to continue as Drea cocked her head. "She was at the Crown and Lion. I didn't see her come in or even see her around the tavern, but suddenly she was right there, right beside me. She started asking about, you wanting to know where you were. She seemed…" the man paused as he fidgeted and finally shrugged, "…I don't know. But I told her you weren't in the arling and that Seneschal Varel was at the Vigil. She didn't seem to care though; she just said she'd wait. And then…she was just gone…"

After exchanging a quick glance with Nate, Drea turned to the guard, "And what did she look like?"

Her simple question seemed to make the man uneasy as he shifted his weight between his feet. "I didn't really get a look at her…"

Frowning, Drea clarified, "You had a conversation with someone and don't know what she looks like? Not even the colour of her eyes or hair?"

Awkwardly, he replied, "Well she was wearing a hood. And she…it was dark and…and I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was on days off!"

Realizing what his sudden defensiveness meant, she guessed, "You were too drunk." The guard's expression froze, but before he could stutter an answer, Drea waved him to be still, "You're entitled on your days off. I should just be impressed you remember this much. Thank you, you're dismissed," she finished curtly. Surprised by her display of understanding the guard bowed and hurried away.

Their former levity gone with the guard's news, Drea rubbed her fingers against her temple as she turned to Nate, "Naturally I want to travel to the city and find out what is going on but….should I really care if someone is asking about me? Lots of people must ask about me…"

"True," Nate replied carefully, "But…a hood isn't able to obscure anyone's face to the point that you can't make out any features at all. He had to have been well into the drink in my opinion. And if he was too intoxicated to see straight, something must have really stood out for him to remember it at all. He seemed unnerved…more than just having to admit to his drunkenness."

Nodding, she agreed, "I noticed that too. Not that she would ever have to stoop to asking for leads in a tavern, but Morrigan can leave anyone feeling inexplicably unnerved."

"That would be a little too convenient," Nate argued with a soft chuckle.

"Can't I dream?" Drea sighed, knowing it was too far-fetched. "But even so, I'm not sure I want someone like that hanging around the city. And besides, I'm sure Delilah could use another visit from her big brother."

Drea paused as she heard shuffling behind them. Before she could turn, someone spoke, "Well? Say hello to the nice lady, boy."

A shy-sounding, dull voice hesitantly spoke, "…Hello…"