We returned to Eamon's estate to find that Riordan had made it back safely and was currently being diagnosed by a physician. Eamon said that he had been told the poison Howe used was too weak to overcome the taint in Riordan's blood and the outcome looked good.

"Damn Howe and his treachery." Eamon said, angry.

"He is dead now and will bother us no more. And my family is avenged." I said, somber.

Eamon was silent for a moment, knowing that meant much to me.

"It is at least some good news to have gained another Warden out of all of this." Eamon said.

I nodded, still in the grasp of Howe's depraved words.

"There is news of the meeting. It has been postponed until tomorrow though I am unsure as to why."

There was a collective sigh of relief from our group. At least we had some more time to ourselves and to rest. The endless fighting and the slow chipping away of our enemies was enervating our spirits.

We just wanted it done.

I was quiet now and I just wanted to go to my room and change out of my bloody clothes. I never wanted to see blood again.

If only that were possible.

"I'm going to go change and bathe if that's all right." I said quietly.

Eamon looked at me and I could tell he knew what was wrong but he just nodded.

"I will see you when you return, Detra. I shall have a meal prepared and there is still much to talk about."

I nodded to Eamon and turned to leave.

I was tired of talking. I wanted the fight done.

Alistair caught me as I passed him and pulled me into a bear hug, pushing some of the air out of my lungs. He knew what I was going through but he had always known, since my Joining. Duncan had spoken of the murder of my family and Alistair, even not knowing me, had been very caring towards me.

Leliana smiled slightly as she watched Alistair hug me but her heart ached for what she knew I must be feeling.

There was nothing she could say to make any of this right.

"Easy, Alistair. I'm very fragile." I said, smiling slightly.

Alistair smiled.

"I won't break you, don't worry. We'll be here when you're done, Detra."

I made my way out of the room, not catching the look Leliana gave me.

Back in my own room, I peeled my bloody armor off and servants were there instantly to remove it from my sight, no doubt taking it to be cleaned and polished. It seemed they would need to do that endlessly; the fighting would never stop. If it wasn't Loghain, it was Howe. If not either of them, it would always be someone...

Someone would always hunger for control.

I apologized to my elven helpers for requesting they fetch bathwater again for me and they just smiled, not minding waiting on me as I was never cruel to them.

"It is no trouble at all, my Lady." Deric said.

Deric had been the first elf to ever wait on me and had seen me at my worst already...specifically the night I'd had to be dragged to my bedroom as I was so drunk. He had found me strange at first but over the past few days, he was intrigued by things he heard around the estate from the other elves, about the great Grey Wardens and such. He also liked the fact that I never barked orders at him or just assumed he would do something. I also spoke with him as if he mattered.

In his experience, this behavior from a human was rare.

The other elves arrived with the bathwater and I could not get out of my clothes quick enough, the blood bothering me.

"Will you need anything else, my lady?"

"No, thank you so much, Deric."

Deric smiled and bade me goodnight, closing the door behind him.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I was now able to disrobe and slip into the calming bathwater. I tried relaxing for a few moments but I felt as if the room was closing in on me.

It seems being alone was not as soothing as it once was.

The washcloth removed the blood from my skin but it could not remove the stains from my soul or what had transpired today. I needed to stop the thoughts. Maybe fighting wasn't so bad...

My bath fleeting, I wasted no time dressing in my plain clothes and hurrying to rejoin the others, echoes of the day not relinquishing their hold on me.

"Detra, look! This is Duncan's dagger! Can you believe that Riordan found it in Ostagar? Out of all the weapons that were there, can you believe he picked up Duncan's?"

Alistair had rushed me as soon as I reentered the dining hall and thrust a weapon at me excitedly.

I took the newly cleaned weapon into my hands.

"And you're sure this is Duncan's?"

"Yes! He always wore it in his belt and I saw him use it many, many times against Darkspawn. I can't believe it!"

"Did he tell you where he found it? Was it just lying about?"

"Would you believe that he took it out of an ogre? Duncan took down an ogre himself! Riordan said that if the dagger had killed an ogre, he was taking it with him, thinking maybe it was enchanted."

Alistair was clearly thrilled with his prize and I was happy for him. Finally he was able to feel as if he had a piece of Duncan with him and not just his memories.

"Some of the elves polished it up and now it looks as if it's brand new. Just the way Duncan liked to keep it."

Alistair stared at the dagger, his eyes glistening.

"I'm glad you found something of Duncan's, Alistair. I'm sure he'll appreciate it when you use it to kill every Darkspawn you see."

Alistair shook his head.

"Oh I'm not going to use it, Detra. I'm going to have it retired and maybe make some memorial to Duncan with it, once I'm King."

It seems that all of the perks that would be available to Alistair once he was King were diluting the responsibilities he would soon have to accept in his mind and he complained of assuming his role less and less each day.

"That's a wonderful idea, Alistair. Duncan would like that."

Alistair pouted.

"I would of course rather he was here but...No, Duncan is gone and I have to accept that. But he won't be forgotten."

Eamon came down the hallway with an entourage of elves and moved in our direction when he noticed us.

"Are you feeling better, Detra?" Eamon asked politely.

"Yes, I am. Thank you, Eamon. Did you want to speak with us now?

"Yes. I need you to pick the team that you will be bringing to the Gnawed Noble tavern tomorrow. For the meeting."

"Oh? I hadn't given it much thought yet."

"Well I want to go." Alistair said.

"Then we'll need to have you outfitted, Alistair." Eamon said.

"Outfitted? What does that...Oh, you mean dress up." Alistair grumbled.

Eamon sighed and looked at Alistair.

"We have already gone through this, Alistair. Now please if you would, follow the elves and they will see about getting you some of my clothing. We simply don't have time to shop around."

Alistair sighed but resigned himself to the group of elves standing beside us.

"Yes, Eamon. Detra, I'll see you later."

I waved and I could hear him speaking with the elves as they walked away down the hall.

"Don't you guys go putting me in something pink now."

I laughed and Eamon brought me back to the present with his serious gaze.

"So now I need you to plan who else will be going with you so that we can set about getting them dressed for the event as well."

I thought about my teammates and decided on Wynne and Leliana; four of us would be sufficient. Oghren could not be trusted to not simply wander off seeing as how we would be in a tavern and also his social skills were incredibly lacking, those who were not used to his charm anyhow.

Zevran was about the same though his skills might be too good and he might try to seduce one of the nobles. We couldn't have that.

Sten would simply have no interest in going. There would be no fighting or life or death odds. Just talking and he would hate it.

And...well, that was everyone.

Besides Mabs that is. He now spent most of his days following the servants around in the kitchen, getting as many scraps as he possibly could and I hardly saw him until he came to sleep in my room at night. But of course I would not bring my war hound to a meeting of nobles. Somehow I don't think that would bode well on the outcome.

"I think Leliana and Wynne will be good choices for the others." I said.

"Yes, I agree. Now I believe that Wynne is in the library still so I will send for her, but if you could locate Leliana, that would be helpful." Eamon said, directing the elves to the library.

"All right but where should I send her?"

"Just have her speak with any of my servants. They'll get her to the fitting room upstairs. Or just return here if you cannot find any. We should be in this area."

Eamon walked away with his elves in tow and I set out trying to locate Leliana.

Where would she be?

Common sense told me she would most likely be in her room but she was not there or was not answering her door. I walked down the hallway and spotted a guard. It couldn't hurt to ask if he had seen Leliana.

"Excuse me, have you seen the redhead that..."

The soldier smiled and stood at attention.

"Yes ma'am. Do you mean Leliana?"

I was a bit surprised he knew her by name but I nodded.

"Yes, that's her. Might you know where she is now?"

"Why yes- I just saw her not too long ago. I believe she said she would be out in the courtyard, training."

The solider had a mighty big smile on his face as he spoke of Leliana and I eyed him carefully.

"Thank you."

Strange that he knows her by name and just the fact that I said 'redhead'.

And why the big smile?

Hmmm.

I continued past the solider and down the many sets of steps before entering the courtyard. There were several soldiers out here but I could easily pick out Leliana, practicing at the end of the line of them.

I watched her as I made my way down the steps and could hear the little noises she made as she connected with the practice dummy and then she stopped to laugh with the soldier nearest her and they exchanged words I could not hear.

Sounds like she was certainly charming her way through the estate.

I made my way over to her as she began hitting the dummy again and I had to raise my voice a bit to get her attention.

"Oh... yes, Detra? Do you need me for something?" Leliana turned to me, breathing a bit hard.

I couldn't remember what I had come here for just this minute and had to think quickly.

"I thought you favored your bow?"

Leliana smiled at me.

"I favor whatever weapon gets the job done."

I stood there for a moment and then remembered why I was there.

"Yes, I was looking for you and... I ran into a soldier who knew you by name so... It was easy to find you."

"Which soldier?" Leliana asked, sheathing her weapons.

'Which' soldier?

"Well, the one stationed near your room, I guess."

Leliana smiled again.

"Oh yes, that's Kahrl. I've spoken to him many times. He's really a darling."

I looked at Leliana and the way she smiled about him. As strange as it was, I could not help but wonder if there was something going on between them or giving voice to it.

"Are you two...Well,..."

Leliana looked confused and then a bit offended.

"Are we? Are we what? Oh...no. I do not think his wife would approve of that."

I shrugged.

"Oh. He just seemed really happy about you... or something."

Leliana eyed me.

"We have a lot in common I found one night speaking with him. It was easy to become friends, which is what we are."

I felt foolish having even brought the subject up.

"Oh, you don't have to explain anything to me. I just... I'm actually here to bring you to Eamon. We need to prepare for the meeting with the nobles, if you're still willing to go."

Leliana nodded and said goodbye to the solider beside her, smiling.

"All right then. Let's go."

Leliana smiled to herself as we walked back towards the stairs leading into the estate.

So you do pay attention.

"Ah, here you are." Eamon said, opening his arms towards us.

"Did you find Wynne, Eamon?" I asked.

"Yes but she has already suggested that she wear her own clothing and that she has the perfect outfit for the occasion."

I nodded. Wynne did own some lavish mage robes and any one of those would be perfectly fine.

Now I wondered what kind of dress I would be given as we were led upstairs by the servants and we entered what looked like the fitting room where we found Alistair.

"Oh my..." I said, unable to stop looking at Alistair.

"Alistair! How handsome you look!" Leliana said, covering her mouth a bit.

He was still being fitted properly but Alistair stood before us, arms up in midair for the elves, rolling his eyes.

"Can you believe this? I look like... like a bruise or something!" Alistair whined.

"What? Why a bruise?" I said, laughing.

"Because I'm all black and blue, that's why!"

I laughed hard into my hand. It was hard to take Alistair seriously when he complained like this.

"Oh sure, laugh it up, Detra. You'll get some pretty dress while I have to wear these...these bruise clothes."

Leliana was laughing too.

"Alistair, I'm sure they can arrange a dress for you if you'd prefer that."

I giggled at Leliana's suggestion but Alistair looked serious.

"You know, that may just work out better. Can you see me now, on the throne in a beautiful white gown? 'He who rules with a strong fist but with a light step'?"

Leliana and I doubled over in laughter and eventually Alistair could not keep a straight face either.

Wiping tears of laughter from my eyes, I approached Alistair.

"You are something else, Alistair." I said, still giggling.

Alistair just smiled at me and I smoothed the collar on this outfit, careful of the elves working around us.

"You know, you really do look very handsome in this outfit. Despite what you think."

Alistair rolled his eyes as he still could not move as the elves were not finished working on the outfit.

"I know, I know. But I can't stop doing what I do best- complaining."

I giggled.

"You're crazy, Alistair."

Alistair touched my arm.

"It's good to see you smile, Detra."

The elves begged pardons to interrupt our conversation and led Leliana and I both off to separate rooms to be subjected to the same that Alistair had been through.

"Good luck." Alistair giggled as we were led from the room.