Chapter 29

"I've never heard of there being a village up around here before," Alistair said as he held out his palms towards the fire. "Have you?"

Leliana shook her head. "Everything feels a bit... off, I think. It isn't normal." She paused as the firewood cackled. "Or maybe it's just the weather."

It was bitterly cold. Winter was already upon them, and to attempt to make their way up to a village, that may or may not be nestled into the Frostbacks, was as close to lunacy as they'd come on their campaign. It had Alistair worried.

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one. Morrigan and Sten had both independently voiced their doubts. While Morrigan had been passive-aggressive with her usual scorn and sarcasm, Sten had been much more direct. He'd asked what all this was in aid of. And honestly, Alistair had to accept his logic. No matter what Loghain said, it was a Blight. To have the two remaining Grey Wardens – three now, he thought – be off on a wild goose chase to 'freeze to death while digging for the bones of a madwoman,' according to Morrigan, which, according to legend, had magical healing properties at a time when they were needed most to combat the Darkspawn... it all seemed ridiculous.

Aedan had been able to assuage both of their doubts for the time being. He'd told Sten to consider this as training for what was to come ahead, which the Qunari had been willing to accept. Morrigan, he'd talked to in private.

"D'you think we're on a wild goose chase across the country, Leli? That this is all pretty useless?"

"You mean trying to find the Urn of Sacred Ashes?"

Alistair nodded. "These... cultists. They killed the real Weynon and installed a false one to lead anyone who came looking for Brother Genitivi to Lake Calenhad Docks. There, more cultists make sure that whoever arrives looking for Genitivi stays dead. I mean, it makes no sense. What if this thing about Haven was also a plant? What if we have a village full of lunatics ready to cut us up as soon as we reach it?"

Leliana laughed, a quiet sound like a bell tinkling. He found it so adorable that he almost missed her words.

"Would that be so different from everywhere else we've been?"

"Well... no. Actually now that I think of it, we've spent an unhealthy amount of time killing people who've wanted to kill us."

"Regretting your life choices, oh brave Grey Warden mine?"

He chuckled. "You wish."

The conversation reached a natural lull and Alistair gazed outwards, watching the powdery snow fall relentlessly. They'd set up their camp in a large cave to escape the elements. It had been a lucky find and Aedan had called for camp early in the afternoon. Wise decision on his part, otherwise they'd have been dead from exposure by then.

Most of the party had crawled into their tents and succumbed to sleep. The tents had all been pitched around a central fire, with Morrigan actually joining them for once. Alistair looked back over his shoulder at Solona's tent, found no movement from within and looked at the mouth of the cave again.

Their newest addition to the Warden ranks had taken the news pretty well. Heroically, given the circumstances. Alistair didn't wish it on her – on anyone, really – but if they survived the Blight, he was sure Solona would make a great Warden.

Of course, if she wanted to return to the Circle, he doubted anybody would stop her. He certainly wouldn't.

A loud giggle from Oghren's tent broke Alistair's train of thought completely. He shook his head.

"What's that reprobate doing up at this hour?" he muttered.

"Do you really want to know?"

"No."

Smiling, Leliana sidled up closer against him and threw her cloak around the both of them. Then she laid her head on his shoulder and hummed. "You looked like you were cold."

If I was, I'm certainly very hot now my goodness Orlesians are bold what–

"Th-thanks," he muttered, pulling it tighter against him. It was warm. "It's gotten pretty cold, huh?"

She chuckled at that. "You're such a typical Fereldan."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"When in doubt, talk about the weather. You all do it."

"No we don't!"

"You know, I did a stint in a brothel once, serving tea. The customers never knew whether I was up for selling my services, so they always started by asking me what I thought of the weather." She chuckled and snuggled closer. Just kill me already. "Fun times."

He cleared his throat. "Tea? In a brothel?"

She shrugged. "It was complementary."

It was a ridiculous thought. Ridiculous enough to make him smile and shake his head. "Y'know, I'm really jealous of you sometimes."

"Jealous of me?"

"Mhmm, yeah. You've been everywhere and done everything. And I'm here stuck freezing my butt off looking for something that, even if it exists, may not even help." He sighed. It was cold enough for him to see his breath. "Sometimes, I wish I had your confidence."

"What you think of as my confidence is mostly faith, Alistair."

"Faith? In the Maker, you mean?"

She nodded. "'Within my Creation, none are alone,' He told Andraste. That gives me some sense of solace. I do not think having faith in the Maker is a crutch. It isn't something I say with pride. It means that I stumbled in my way and He was there to guide me. Having that feeling... I suppose that gives one confidence to endure."

Alistair said nothing for a beat. "I don't know about all that. I can only talk about what I see." He turned to find her looking at him. "And all I see is a strong and capable woman who does the best she can despite everything going tits up around her. That's someone I can have faith in. And I guess that's good enough for me."

As he watched her, Alistair noticed a change in her. Like her eyes were somehow darker than usual. Like her lips trembled subtly. Or perhaps that was the fire casting shadows on her face and his mind playing tricks on him.

Then Leliana leant up and kissed his cheek and Alistair knew that his mind wasn't tricking him. It was a gentle, lingering touch, warm and moist at the same time. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear when she pulled away.

Before he could say anything, Leliana quickly got up and, hugging herself, went into her tent. Alistair sat there sat there looking at her tent flaps for a long while, but she didn't come back to collect her cloak. So he wrapped it tightly around him and willed his body to stop shivering. He cursed the cold but knew that had nothing to do with it.

Alistair had only one thought jumping around in his mind when sleep eventually took him.

Was it something I said?