"What is wrong with you?" Leliana asked him. They were in camp, having spent their daylight traveling to the Circle. They probably could have made it within a few more hours, but Lance didn't want to arrive back at Redcliffe too late tomorrow.

Leliana had apparently not been happy with what she saw, and she demanded an explanation from Lance.

"I gave you a free pass to be with Morrigan, without me," she said, visibly hurt. "And you… you act like an animal?"

"I'm sorry, but it seems we were both wrong," he said. "She would not have me."

Leliana's eyes widened. "But that isn't possible. I've seen you two, I've seen her."

"I thought the same," said Lance. "But no. She refused me."

"Oh, I am sorry. This must be painful for you."

"You've no idea."

Lance sat down on a tree stump near the fire. He looked over his shoulder, at Morrigan's tent. She was sitting there, reading that stupid gods damn grimoire. Leliana looked genuinely saddened.

"Did she say why? I don't understand."

"She… said enough. She's heartless. She's a beast. I should never have let her come along."

"Don't say that!" said Leliana. "You don't mean it. I can tell. You are so hurt by her."

"Sod her," said Lance. "I don't need her. I never needed anyone."

He didn't mean it. Even now he cursed himself. Why? What had he done? They've flirted so much, he was sure he saw signs. How could he have been this wrong?

"Do you want me to speak with her?" asked Leliana. He shook his head.

"No. It wouldn't do either of us any good."

"I am just so, so sorry," said Leliana. "I wish there was something I could do."

"There's nothing to do," said Lance. "She doesn't want me."

"It isn't fair," said Leliana. She reached out, touching his shoulder. She was crying a little. Gods, she was such a woman.

Leliana cleared her throat and glanced up, signaling to the Warden. He looked back behind him.

"Grey Warden," Morrigan said. "May I have a word with you?"

"Go ahead."

"In private?"

He stood, followed her to her tent. She was deadly serious.

"You are acting like a child," she said. "I am very sorry for refusing you, but you cannot treat me like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, as if you did not know."

"I'm sorry? Did I offend you? I'm sorry, I didn't know. Huh. Wow. How did that happen? Did you spill your guts to me and I didn't care? Did you admit to wanting to be with me, and I told you to screw off?"

"I… I told you," she said. "I do not want a relationship with you. I want nothing from you."

"What about you? What do you want for yourself? I thought we were…"

"What?"

"I thought we were connecting," said Lance. "I thought we were… Never mind."

He turned to leave. But she stopped him.

"Warden. I said something that I shouldn't have. I said something in the hopes that you would not seek me for intimacy. I am sorry. I realize now that was a mistake. I… do not want you to leave me."

"I don't understand you."

"I wish that, in time, you will. Please, seek solace with the girl. She will provide what you seek in me."

"Andraste, don't you understand? I don't want her. I don't! I want you. Morrigan, I want to be with you."

"I cannot," she said. "You ask for commitment. It is not yours to take. You ask for emotion, for love, and it simply is not real."

"What do you want from me?"

"I… want you."

"And I want you."

"Then come to me," she said, extending her hand. "Come and share what I can give."

"I don't want one night with you."

"What then? What is it that you could ever possibly want? There is nothing else to have."

"I want…" he hesitated. Why bother? "Never mind. I'll leave you alone."

"No, wait!"

He turned, shoulders slumped. He couldn't bring himself to care much more about her.

"What?"

She too hesitated. She was shaking a bit, and he didn't want her to know that he saw. She would be so embarrassed.

"When I was a little girl," she said. "I was curious about your people. I crept to the edge of the Wilds and I saw a noblewoman in her carriage. It was beautiful, magnificent. I snuck up behind her and stole a golden mirror. It was so beautiful. Encrusted with gems and carvings, I was so happy to have it."

"And Flemeth?"

"She was furious," she said. Lance could see the distant, sad look Morrigan didn't realize she had. "You must understand, I risked everything to take this… bauble. I risked us. She smashed it before me, to teach me the lesson."

"Maker, that's awful."

"It was not. It was an important lesson for me to learn. Had I been caught, they would have put me to the torch. They would have killed my mother. I had risked us for a shiny toy. I had to learn that it was not acceptable."

"How does this relate at all to-"

"I learned, from then on, that the only thing in this world that has meaning is power. Power and survival. That mirror was just a fleeting fancy. It would never have lasted. You are just a fleeting fancy, and you too will fade in time."

"That's a hard thing to teach a child," said Lance. "But it isn't the way you have to live anymore."

"It isn't? Have I somehow ceased being an apostate, a witch? Have I become an acceptable human being to your society?"

"I mean… You don't have to live like that anymore because I…"

"Shut up," she said. "You cannot say that."

Lance slumped, hurt by Morrigan. And by Flemeth.

"Have you ever wondered?"

Morrigan looked at him, expectant. He hesitated. She was beautiful and she was smart and they wanted each other but she just wouldn't let herself feel.

"About the little girl with the mirror. You ever wonder what would have happened to her."

"Every day," she replied.

And Lance left her to return to his own tent, alone. To sit in the dark while he removed his broken armor, alone. To lay back on his bedroll, wincing at the stinging sensation in his back, alone. To fall asleep, alone. And to dream of being alone.