"Commander."

Risa looked up from her desk, where she was working her way through the day's paperwork, to see Anders standing in her doorway. He stood there with his hands behind his back, leaning on the doorframe.

"Anders."

She considered the mage for a moment, her eyes assessing him as they assessed everything around her. Tall. Lean. From what she could see of his bared upper arms, courtesy of the Tevinter-styled robes, well-toned. He was easy on the eyes as well – dirty blonde hair, lovingly styled into a rakish tail, a bit of stubble along his jaw and chin, amber eyes. His voice was smooth and dark like melted chocolate. An earring winked in his right ear.

If she were at all inclined to seek out company ever again, he might actually do. Given how disastrously her first two love affairs had ended, though, she was not inclined – not even if she were not his superior officer.

"What can I do for you, Anders?" she asked, folding her hands before her.

"It's more what I can do for you," he rumbled, a sexy purr, as he pushed himself upright from the doorframe and stepped forward. "Voilà!" His hands swung to the front, and in his right he held a bottle of wine and two glasses, held by neck and stems. The left had a plate, covered with a burgundy napkin.

She watched him approach, her expression never changing, as he set the glasses and bottle down on a bare corner of her desk. Then, with a flourish, he yanked the burgundy cloth off the plate to reveal a platter with a variety of cubed cheeses, thinly sliced toasted bread, and fresh fruit – grapes, strawberries, apple slices and pear slices.

Her stomach growled. Damned Warden appetites.

Anders grinned, setting the plate down as well. "It appears I am just in time."

"Thank you," she said. She still hadn't moved, nor did she seem particularly inclined to conversation.

"So… why did you become a Grey Warden?"

She shrugged, as if the question were utterly unimportant. "Why did you?"

He looked at her oddly. "I had to," he said. She'd been there – and had conscripted him.

"Much the same story," she said.

If he took any note of her rather terse answers, he didn't show it. "Shall I pour?"

Risa set aside her paperwork carefully, and nodded. Best to see what approach the mage took rather than assume anything.

He poured a rich red wine into both glasses, and handed one to her, swirling his around in the glass before setting it down untouched. Risa followed suit.

"So… you and Loghain have been through a lot together."

"We have." Risa picked up a cube of cheese, frowned at it briefly before popping it in her mouth. "That would be why I chose him as my second."

"Defeated the Archdemon together."

"He was present, yes."

"Travelled together during the Blight."

"Only a few weeks. My other companions, for nearly two years."

"Still, you two seem…."

Risa took a sip of her wine, then picked up at bit the tip off a strawberry. "Why don't you just come out and ask if we're fucking?"

The mage looked as if he'd been hit with a lightning bolt. "Well, I… uh…."

"No, not that it's any of your business." She watched him carefully. "Any other questions?" She took another deliberate bite from her strawberry.

He smiled and shifted gears. "I have heard some amazing ballads about your adventures."

"The curse and blessing of travelling with a bard, I suppose." Her eyes softened a little. "At least most of them are… flattering."

There was a quick knock at the door, and Garahel was there. "Commander… what with the darkspawn and all, things have been rather unsettled. We have… a situation in the dungeon."

She stood, popping the rest of the strawberry into her mouth and washing it down with a gulp of wine. "Report. Anders, with me."

The guard captain was surprised to see that his dwarven commander kept up with him easily. "Just before the attack, we arrested a man – a thief, we think. He's been locked in a cell this whole time."

Risa nodded. "Well, let's go see this man."

"Aren't you supposed to be ten feet tall and shooting lightning bolts from your eyes?"

Risa looked at the man. Bitter as hell, and oddly familiar, though she knew she'd never met him before. "I see my reputation precedes me," she said dryly.

"Funny, I expected my father's murderer to be more imposing. Certainly taller. You DO remember my father, don't you?"

She heard Loghain come up behind her. "Nathaniel Howe," he rumbled. "When last I heard, you were still squiring in the Free Marches."

"Mac Tir." The young Howe scowled. "Thrown in with the traitors, I see."

"Have a care, young pup," Loghain said mildly.

Howe. That explained a lot. The father had murdered the Couslands almost to the last one, and had sent assassins to kill the last two Grey Wardens in Ferelden. His spite had been a thorn in their side until the moment he died, gurgling, on the end of her longswords. Risa considered the young man in the cell. "Why are you here?"

"At first, I thought I'd slit your throat," he growled, "but that would restore neither my father's life nor my family honor." He paced. "I simply want to gather some family mementoes and go."

She raised an eyebrow. "And that's all?"

"Yes." The look in his eyes, however, added the words for now.

She turned to Garahel. "Escort him. Let him take his personal belongings and mementos, and then show him out." She heard a strangled gasp from Anders, a snort from Loghain. "If he's seen back on these grounds without permission after that, we'll try him." She gave him an impenetrable look. "It would be a shame to hang you, Howe."

Then she turned on her heel and walked out.

"You play a dangerous game," Loghain observed, once they were alone. "The Howes are an implacable and sly bunch."

"Counting on it," she said inscrutably.

He looked at her searchingly. "You expect him to return."

"Of course. I returned to avenge my father and brother, did I not?" She looked up at Loghain. "I've been merciful, giving him the opportunity to take his mementoes and go. No one would blame me for hanging him if he returns…."

He sensed the pregnant pause, and smiled humorlessly. "Nor for conscripting him."

She nodded. "He snuck in and it took four Wardens to arrest him. That bespeaks great skill in thieving and assassination. I should know."

"That also bespeaks a reason to be cautious, lest you wake with a slit throat one day."

"Or not wake, as the case may be." She shrugged. "But that's why I have the finest second in Thedas."

"Flatterer."

"It's not flattery if it happens to be true." She looked up at Loghain as they reached the courtyard. "In truth, you'd probably run this arling as well or better than I, given you understand the nuances of human government. We both know why that'll never be allowed to happen, though."

"Maric's-"

"When we're in public," she cut him off, "I'll remind you to refer to him with the courtesy due his position." Her look softened, slightly. "And in private, I would ask you to do the same."

Loghain shook his head slightly. "Your… feelings for the King are not going to embarrass my daughter, are they?"

Risa met his cold blue glare without flinching. "You may have noticed that I am in Amaranthine, far from the King, the Queen, and the court. We cannot show disrespect to the crown, Loghain. That's all."

"Do you still care for him?"

Risa didn't answer for a long time, and couldn't meet his eyes. Then she looked up, lips compressed to a tight line. "Does it matter?"

He examined her minutely. Yes. It was obvious she still cared. But as she said, she was in Amaranthine, and he in Denerim. In her dealings with her former lover she had been painfully correct and distant, often using Loghain or another Warden as a buffer. And she had never been alone with him since the Landsmeet. No, it looked as if Risa Aeducan were being very careful about NOT embarrassing Anora.

She was an honorable Dwarf, after all.

Risa sat on top of the battlements, the remains of the bottle of wine Anders had brought her beside her. As she sat watching the sunset, she ate another piece of cheese, then put the bottle to her lips and took a deep swig.