Chapter 29 – Birds and Darkspawn

The group spent one last night in Redcliffe castle. Lyla allowed them one last night of comfort before leaving for the road again but decided that as much as she liked sleeping a bed, it just felt wrong. She camped out in a tent in the courtyard with Revas for company.

Morning sunlight broke through the gap in her tent flap and stirred her from her sleep but she did not truly wake until her hound's great tongue brushed across her face. She hugged the hound and rose from her bedroll, allowing herself a moment's prayer for the day before setting off inside the castle. After a long argument the night before, Teagan finally got his way and Lyla was to leave her tent to be collapsed by a servant. "a great honour to serve the Wardens" he had called it but Lyla was quick to notice he did no serving himself, only made his elves and poorer human peasants to do it for him.

It made her sick, how her people were treated by humans. However, it was alleviated slightly when she told herself that the flat-ears had chosen this life for themselves, and that the nobility treated other shemlen just as bad. It didn't make her feel any better about the luxurious life the Bann and Arl must live but it helped her understand it a little.

Reaching the dining hall, she was sickened to find she was secretly glad that there were servants. As horrible as their life may have been, they knew how to cook. Up until she joined the Wardens, all Lyla had really eaten was food cooked from campfires but the cooks at the castle were experts. When Isolde had left Orlais to marry the Arl, she had taken her personal chef with her and he was magnificent. Leliana had made Lyla try all different types of food the night before, showing her more than one rare Orlesian signature dish and as it turned out, Lyla's taste in food was similar to the bards, as she adored it.

The chef had seemingly worked through the night as now there was a broad selection of food for the party to break their fast with and despite her early rise, Leliana, Neria and Alistair were sitting at the table waiting for her.

"Lyla," Leliana rose from the table as the elf approached. "I know exactly what you'd love to eat, sit next to Alistair and I'll be right back." With a smile, Leliana dashed off towards the kitchen. Leaving a bemused Lyla to sit at the table.

"I was expected you to be last up, Felas, I was ready to send the dog in to wake you." Lyla smirked as she sat, "But it turns out that you woke up before me, I'm losing my touch."

Alistair groaned and looked up from his meal. "Teagan woke me to discuss more politics. I fear they are gonna to ask me to become king." He shuddered and looked down at his meal.

"Is that not a good thing?" Neria asked quietly. The night before had been harrowing for her. After the group left her bedroom, she had heard a fight outside her room. The Templars had demanded her but her keeper had refused. However, the Templar Knight Cullen was watching her like a hawk now. She had not left his sight since last night and even now, he was standing across the hall, staring holes into her.

"Me? King? Maker's breath, of course it wouldn't! I can barely decide what to eat in the morning, how would I run a kingdom?" Lyla snorted as Alistair stammered, the man was right. If his family wish to place Alistair on the throne, they will be sorely disappointed. He was too cowardly to lead the Wardens, not that Lyla would have listened to him anyway, how would he lead a country?

"Don't sell yourself short, Alistair." Leliana had swiftly returned with plates full of various pastries. Taking a seat next to their commander, she pointed at an odd-looking bread before looking back up at Alistair. "You are Maric's son. It is your birthright to lead the country."

Alistair continued to counter the points but Lyla was no longer listening, she had tried the pastry that Leliana had chosen for her, and it was heavenly. She had never really appreciated food before; the practicality of nomadic life didn't allow time for it. However now she could understand how people cared for it.

Alistair suddenly burst into laughter, as did Neria whilst Leliana smiled at the elf and moved closer to whisper in her ear. "You are moaning rather loudly, Lyla. I take it you are enjoying your meal?" A blush spread across the elf's face, reaching her ears before she managed to look up at the bard and nod.

"We're leaving as soon as everyone is up." Lyla managed to command after regaining some composure, "Neria, can you coordinate with Morrigan and Wynne to gather supplies for the journey, we will need elfroot and lyrium as well as food. We are going to Denerim but we will be stopping at Honnleath to get my golem. Alistair, see if you can get one of the shemlen to give us a horse and cart. We are carrying a lot of supplies now and I don't think the durgen'len will be following us to Honnleath." She paused for breath and dismissed her companions, leaving her alone with her hound and the bard.

"A golem then?" Leliana asked, "When we learnt of it, I didn't believe you would truly want to find it."

"Are you kidding?" Lyla giggled, "As a child, Merrill and I would make up stories about meeting fanciful creatures. Hers always seemed to include either a griffon or a dragon but mine; mine always had a golem in it. They are so powerful yet fight for their leader. Like the hunters of a clan but stronger."

Leliana smiled at her friend, enjoying the look of serenity that appeared across her face before telling her a story she had heard about golems. They sat in the hall, swapping stories and singing softly with each other to while away the hours until the party was ready.

-FTDTD-

It would take two days to travel to Honnleath following a dirt path through the dense forest that spanned south of Redcliffe; Lyla was delighted to be between trees again but the rest of the party where not so glad. The dwarven merchant, Bodahn, and his son had declined to join them on their travel to the small village but promised to wait for them in Denerim, saying that he liked the protection that a full group of hardened warriors brought.

It was mid-afternoon on their first days traveling and Lyla was once again chatting with Leliana at the front of the party. She suddenly felt a throbbing at the back of her head she had never felt before. It felt like a spider was tap dancing on her brain and with one look towards Alistair she knew what it meant.

Darkspawn. Lyla shot to attention, grabbing the sword and axe at her waist and raising her voice, calling to her companions. "Darkspawn! Everyone go for ranged attacks, let Alistair and I fight close for now. We can't risk you being infected. Sten, if you stay in your full armour you should be ok. Morrigan, bear, now." She turned to the bard by her side and in a quieter voice, "Can you sing and fight at the same time, Lethallan? ' Suledin' seems appropriate, don't you think?" With that comment, she was off. Rushing to the front of the group, Alistair hot on her tail.

The feeling was stronger here and it was disgusting. She could feel the darkspawn, feel their pure hatred, and feel their love of killing. It was a sick imitation of herself and it infuriated her. She stood her ground bracing herself for the monsters to appear before them and let out a growl; her dog copied her and snarled beside her.

Alistair stood strong alongside his commander as a group of hurlock burst through the treeline, snarling and spitting as they charged them. Lyla screamed in anger and charged back, raising her axe to swing at the first darkspawn she reached, chopping an arm as she went, she left the crippled monster for the rest of the group and head onwards. An alpha was standing back from the group seemingly laughing as Lyla approached it. She charged and so did it, they clashed and both fell back, the lighter elf falling away from the darkspawn and scrambling to her feet.

Alistair charged, as in all things he was less aggressive than his commander was but he was no less direct. Reaching the first hurlock, he dropped to one knee and brought his shield up, using the monsters momentum against itself to flip it over him, leaving it for one of his companions to finish. He saw Lyla fighting the big alpha and decided to keep the rest of its minions busy. Banging his sword on his shield, he roared, bringing the attention of the frontline of creatures. "Shit." And it was all he had time to say before they were upon him.

Zevran had seen a lot of fighting, it was an unfortunate side effect of being both a womaniser and an assassin, whether it was a target gone wrong or a husband wronged, and he had fought all of his adult life and liked to think himself an expert. This was more than he ever expected. He had seen both Lyla and Alistair fighting as well. A multitude of training fights and the attack on Redcliffe castle had served as taste of their ability but, again, this was more than he expected.

Watching the Wardens fighting their enemy was beautiful in a way. Lyla moved with such purpose, she forced her way through the line, as a wave forced its way through the ocean. Alistair was just as fantastic but if Lyla was a wave, Alistair was a rock. Where Lyla would slice through the lines, Alistair broke them completely. His shield became an extension of himself and he was dominating the darkspawn.

Despite the screams and grunts, the ringing of sword upon sword, the roars of bear and hound alike, despite all of this Leliana kept singing. It started slowly at first but as the song reached its crescendo so did her fighting. She took careful aim of each creature before firing an arrow, trying to ensure that she didn't distract herself by watching the Wardens fight. Lyla had taken on four of the creatures herself whilst Alistair took six on with Morrigan, leaving just four of the fourteen to the rest of the group, and they were dispatched quickly.

Morrigan fought alongside the male Warden, his shield, and her jaws making a frightful opponent for any monster coming at them, but it didn't stop them. Alistair would knock one to the ground and turn to another, confident that the witch would kill anything he left her, and she did. Her jaws bloody she stood tall, on her hind legs, and let loose an almighty roar, almost shaking the very trees surrounding them. Revas replied in kind.

Neria and Wynne had committed themselves to ensuring the Wardens and the rest of the group wasn't injured, or at least wasn't stay injured very long. Wynne had commanded the younger mage to keep her magic directed only on Lyla, leaving the rest of the group for the elder. This turned out to be a very wise decision as Lyla's tactic of forcing herself into the fray was a dangerous one and one that without her berserker rage and without the magic of her first would have killed her.

Despite all of the young mages, power after the fight Lyla was in pain. She was covered in cuts and bruises from her fight with the darkspawn and for the first time, questioning her own logic of jumping directly into the battle. She had a whole group of people to help her and she should have used them. She had found herself one on one with a much stronger enemy and she used her anger to her advantage. Using all the rage inside her blood she moved quicker than the darkspawn alpha could ever have imagined, yes her attacks may have lacked the strength they usually held but the speed at which she moved more than made up for it. It quickly tired her out though, and this was her downfall. After killing the alpha, she found herself cut off from her group by three hurlocks, three Hurlocks that she had to kill by herself. A problem that wouldn't have occurred if she hadn't been an idiot.

It was time, Lyla thought to herself, to learn all I can of tactics and leading a fight. She had been going on pure instinct so far and whilst it had mostly worked out, she knew that she should be better. A better commander would have utilised their troops on the battlefield not leave them at the back. She knew that Wynne read most nights and that Leliana knew tales of great leaders, both women could be of a great help to her and even though Lyla would have to suffer many of Wynne's lectures, she knew it would be worth it.

The rest of her companions had reached her at this point and Lyla was surprised to find herself on her knees. The pain was unbearable as she stood but Lyla gritted her teeth and smiled at her group. Leliana looked worried and no doubt saw through the façade but the rest of her clan did not, and that was all that mattered right now, she could drink an elfroot potion later.

"Well done." She grunted through the pain; they were standing before her now, waiting for orders no doubt. "I don't want to risk anyone being tainted so Alistair and I will burn the bodies. The rest of you continue on a way and make camp. Once you have made one send someone to fetch us. Ma serannas."

The party silently dispersed. They were all tired from battle and unnerved from the darkspawn. It had been different fighting the demons at Redcliffe, they could pretend they were not facing the end of days there but here, fighting the blight was different. Not one of them would deny being scared.

To Lyla's pleasant surprise however, Leliana and Neria remained behind a moment, motioning for her to approach them. "You're hurt." Leliana's stern gaze broke through the mask of pain that Lyla was wearing and exposed it. Her voice was ice cold and it matched her face. "Were you not going to tell anyone? Were you going to be the strong, brave, hunter and carry on? You are a fool, Lyla Mahariel." The bard's voice softened and a small smile broke upon her face, "Let Neria heal your wounds, Da'mi. You are too important to leave injured."

"Ma nuvenin, Leli." The elf smiled fondly up at the human before waving her hands away. "Now, go. I don't want you getting lost from the group. You can come back and get us once a campsite has been found."

The bard smiled warmly at the elf and gently stroked the Warden's arm but just as quickly, she pulled away and was gone, leaving the two elves to deal with Lyla's injuries. Neria led the hunter to a fallen tree at the side of the battlefield, giggling softly to herself when she heard Alistair complaining about working alone. "Quiet down, Alistair. We will help you in a moment, unless you want me to set Lyla upon you?" The Warden shut up then and shook his head in protest. "Lyla, how bad is it?" There were visible cuts and wounds on her body and the elven armour that Lyla had been wearing since the start of the blight was nearly ruined. The once perfectly formed ironbark was now cut and deformed in most places, the hole from the elf's stomach wound a few days ago had been haphazardly fixed, and now the armour was more holes and mends than armour. She would need to get it fixed, or get different armour, now.

"Nothing too serious, lethallan. It is painful though, I feel like a herd of halla have been stomping all over my body." She looked down upon her body and inspected herself. Her voice hitched and she gasped as she saw the damage on her armour. "It's ruined isn't it? This was my father's armour and it's all I have left of him. June, I should have kept better care of it."

"June?" Neria was still learning about her heritage and she didn't recognise the name. She had lost so much and reminders like this just made her hate the Templars and the circle system that much more. "Who is June, keeper?"

"The god of crafts." Neria's magic had begun working through the Warden now and it was revitalising her. She smiled fondly at the young elf; she was so much like her sister at times that it was scary. Both her sister and Neria were so curious about every little thing they saw and both seemed to want to learn everything. "It is said that he taught the people how to build bows, knives, and camps. He is one of the few gods to create themselves. I'll admit though, I don't remember his story, unlike Mythal and Elgar'nan. I was always useless at craftwork. Ask me to hunt a deer across the whole forest and I'll do it with ease, ask me to build a bow or create a knife? Creators, I am useless. Fletching an arrow is about as far as my skill goes."

The magic had run its course and any pain that lingered in Lyla's body would soon dissipate, with a nod of the head Lyla walked past the mage, moving to help her fellow Warden stack the bodies. With the two of them, they made quick work of it, piling the fourteen corpses into the centre of the site.

"Neria, cast a fireball on them." Lyla ordered, standing back as he bodies were engulfed in flames. "Go back to banalhan." She cursed at the pyre.

The scent of burning flesh soon became too much for the threesome and they moved downwind of the flames, waiting in the middle of the pathway for Leliana to return. Lyla thought on the strange tapping in her skull that predicted the monsters and turned to the more experience Warden. "Does it always feel like that? Pressure and tapping in your skull, I mean."

"Yes." Alistair turned to the small elf, a grimace on his face. "As you get more experience with the feeling you should be able to get a rough guess of their numbers. It's always as unpleasant as that though. You can feel how wrong they are, how much hatred there is in their bones. Killing them is the only way to rid ourselves of the feeling." He spat on the ground and looked ahead, searching for any sign of red hair before them and sure enough, Leliana was in the distance.

"Time to go then, follow me." Lyla commanded.

The campsite was not too far away but by the time they had reached it, the group had already set up everyone's tents, including one for Lyla and Leliana. The bard took it upon herself to entertain the group, telling stories of wondrous shrinking knights and their damsels in distress. As much as Lyla would usually have enjoyed listening to the bard's voice, the stories were just not for her. The idea of spending an evening hearing about shemlen knights and their shemlen women, who seemed to be more useless than even Isolde, was excruciatingly painful. She slipped away as soon as she could, bringing her bow and a quiver of arrows; it would be an excellent time to practice her marksmanship.

She had barely started when an Antivan accent burst through the trees. "Slinking away from your dear bard? Oh what will she think?" Zevran smirked as he walked into view. Lyla had drawn a small target on a distant tree and then started shooting, Zevran had walked right past the target, and if Lyla had been shooting when he did, chances were he would be up one arrow. "I thought you and she had grown close? Or did I not catch you about to kiss?"

Lyla flushed, her face growing as red as Zevran had ever seen it. When he broached the subject with the bard, she had warned him this would happen but he had promised Neria to help. Neria had been trying to get the pair to admit their feelings to one another since before the assault on Redcliffe and it was after the battle that she approached Zevran. She pleaded with him to help her, claiming, rightfully, that he was much better with courting women and that he could help them much better than she ever could.

"You didn't see anything, flat-ear." The Warden growled as she stormed past the assassin, pulling an arrow out of the tree beside him she shot him a glance and caught his smirk. "Stop that."

"Stop what? My smile? But, my beautiful elf, I am just very happy you aren't interested in the bard. She is extremely attractive, is she not? If you don't want her then perhaps I shall." Zevran turned his back on the elf and started to walk back to camp. If he knew one thing about women, it was that jealously was a powerful tool. He counted down from five as he walked away and as he expected, the elf shouted to him.

"Stop." There was shame in the Warden's voice now and Zevran felt rather bad for the woman. He had been brought up in a brothel and to him any sexuality or race was fair game but he knew it was completely different for the Dalish. For Lyla to admit that she felt for the human bard would be tantamount to denouncing her gods and turning her back on her people but he knew that it would be worth it for her. "You said that you spent time with true elves, Zevran. Surely you must have learnt the rules about love."

"But of course, I learnt that the hard way. I tried to court the keepers first, a lovely roguish looking man but alas, your people do not swing in such a way." He smirked at the Warden's gasp and wide-open mouth. "Or at least they do not in the open. I also found out how hypocritical your people are. That same elf who rejected me publically did not mind when I crept into his aravel that night, or the next. You need to embrace your feelings, Lyla, not hide them."

"I don't know what to do." The hunter quietly admitted. "Neria, and now you, have both told me this but it doesn't make betraying everything I have been taught any easier. Regardless, I need to address the problem, don't I?" She sighed and looked at the floor for a moment before looking up to meet Zevran's gaze, the fire in her eyes burning brightly. "Leave me; I need to think on this."

Zevran gladly left the Warden; laughing to himself at the situation, he had found himself in and not for the first wondered at his place in the world. Somehow, he had managed to fail his first contract but make new friends that meant more to him than most had in his whole life. Neria, for all of her naivety and lack of experience with the world, was a lot of fun to be around and Zevran would easily admit an attraction the elf but that could wait, for now he was content to be part of the group's gossip circle.

-FTDTD-

The Raven was pissed off. She had fought hard to get to be the top bard in Marjolaine's employ but she was still not the bloody Nightingale. No matter how many men she seduced, no matter how strong she was, she was still not Leliana. The Raven was the best, she knew it, but Marjolaine wouldn't admit it. There was always one final test to be better, one final job before she was allowed to share the master bard's bed, and her heart.

This 'final' test was to kill the Nightingale, a job that the Raven had wanted for what seemed to be a lifetime. She had left Orlais with one other man, a fool who was meant to be nearly as skilled as she was. However, he had proven useless, dying almost immediately once they attacked the Nightingale's new master. The Raven had killed that bitch though, or so she had thought until today.

After she stabbed the elf and fled, she left for Redcliffe. She had known all along that she could find the bard there but she wanted to punish her first, punish the bitch for betraying their master. So, she murdered her new master, the elven Warden. The Raven was going to rub it in the bitch's face, which was one of the reasons she tried to cut off the elf's ear. The last thing that Leliana was supposed to see was that bitch's ear.

However, by the time she reached Redcliffe the bard was awake and surrounded by more soldiers than Raven dared engage. Given time, she could have seduced her way into the castle and then worked her way up to finding a way into the bard's room. Then it was a quick journey to slip her some poison, or a knife but there were whispers that the party was going to leave soon and the Raven had no time to fuck her way through the castle.

She was wrong, though. The bloody elf wasn't dead and neither was her bleeding companion, the mage that had destroyed the Raven's partner. The Warden came back to the castle shortly after the Raven arrived and then as soon as she arrived, the group left.

Raven once again heard whispers of their journey; the dwarf that had accompanied the group was very talkative after a few drinks and a promise of a kiss or two. He had told her that the group was first going to a little village south of the castle before turning around and following the kingsroad to the capital.

Plans started forming in her mind and Raven knew that to follow the Warden and the bitch to the village was suicide, she was only one woman and they were a group of powerful people. She needed help and she knew exactly where to find it. Denerim.

She could travel quicker than a group of people and she knew that by herself she could travel to the capital, send a message to her master to meet her there and travel back down the road to set up an ambush. After hiring a band of mercenaries, of course.

The ease of the plan did not make her any happier, the elf had survived and the Raven was reluctant to admit it, but the Warden terrified her. There was fire in her eyes that she had never seen before and the promises she made were enough to turn a lesser man's bones to jelly but the Raven was going to kill the Warden and her new pet and that was a fact.

-FTDTD-

Night came quickly on the Warden's camp and Lyla elected herself and her bard friend to take the first watch. She had had time to think now and whilst the situation with Leliana was something she wished she had not spoken about to Zevran there was no point in regretting it.

They sat just outside the ring of tents, sitting on a fallen tree that Sten had cut down. Sitting side by side, the pair chatted into the night before the bard eventually succumbed to sleep, resting her head on the elf's shoulder.

Lyla's breath hitched as she looked down at the bard, in the moonlight the beauty of the woman was plain to see and the soft snores that she was making was enough to make Lyla's heart melt. However, before too long the bard stirred and her blue eye's opened to see Lyla's emerald gaze back at her.

"I fell asleep again, didn't I?" Lyla grumbled, her voice slurred slightly from the slumber.

"Yes, lethallan, on me this time. If you are tired, I don't mind if you get some more rest." Lyla put her arm around the woman and softly hugged her, bringing a smile to both of their faces.

"I love nights like this. Especially when it is just us on watch. It always seems so peaceful, so safe." Leliana moved into the hug, delighting in the warmth of the little elf beside her. "But of course, the night is just as dangerous, the darkspawn never sleep and we must be on constant vigilance. You must think me silly."

"Well, perhaps a little, lethallan, but we are allowed to be silly every now and then." Lyla's heart was racing, she hoped beyond hope that she knew where this conversation would lead but deep down she still felt sick with herself. There was no denying her feelings for the human and every bone in her body was screaming at her, telling her it was wrong.

"Those nights we spend just singing or telling each other stories. Well, I tell you stories but the matter stands. I always feel safe around you, Lyla." Leliana sat up, pulling herself from the quiet embrace the pair had held. She turned to look at her companion and her heart stopped for a moment when their eyes met.

"It's my job as keeper to keep us all safe, Leli. I'd be worried if you didn't feel that way." Lyla's brow scrunched together in confusion.

"What I'm trying to say." The bard sighed, why was it so difficult to share her feelings all of a sudden. "I'm trying to say I feel comfortable around you. You are our leader, one of my dearest friends and sometimes." Leliana swallowed, hoping that the flush she felt on her face was not visible in the moonlight and after a deep breath, she spoke in a hushed voice, "Sometimes I think that we could be more than that."

The pair sat in silence for a moment as both women flushed wildly. Lyla's mind was racing, she had been told by her fellow elves that the bard had feelings for her but she had not really dared to believe it, she hoped of course but she didn't truly believe. Then there was her people's law's but that argument had been easy to hide behind when she wasn't face to face with Leliana, and especially when the bard was baring her soul to her.

"Maker. Look at me. I'm stumbling over my words like an ill-educated peasant girl. Some bard I am…" Leliana's nerves were shot, she had hoped that Lyla felt similarly but after the silence and stares from the hunter, she was just too embarrassed to continue, her face flushed wildly once more and Leliana had to look at her lap to hide it.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed." Lyla whispered but Leliana scarcely heard it over the beating of her own heart.

"I'm not embarrassed." It was Lyla's turn to blush once again; she had not expected the bard to hear her comment. "I'm just flushed from the… the… the heat!" The pair sat in silence once more. Lyla's mouth widened into a smile that she was not quite containing and she looked towards the blushing bard.

"You being interested in me is very flattering." She began, reluctantly. As much as she wanted to say anything more, the bard interrupted her.

"What, are you saying I have bad taste?" Leliana sputtered, reaching her hand across the small gap between them to hold the elf's. "Why wouldn't I like you? You are a fantastic warrior; you are a good listener and a great person." Leliana let out a small laugh before looking across the moonlight to the elf, whose ears were red from the embarrassment of Leliana's sincerity. "You sometimes show signs of intelligence and you're fairly good-looking. Well, all of your facial features are in the right place at any rate." She smirked.

"Oh thank you very much." Lyla scoffed, slapping the bards hand lightly.

"There isn't anything else to say, Lyla. You are very special to me."

"I feel the same way, Leliana. I'm glad you do too." Lyla started before being interrupted once more.

"You… You do? Neria and Zevran each told me that you did but I daren't believe them. Y-you made me say all those things!" She slapped the elf's hand, as lightly as Lyla had done to her. "Why couldn't you have said them first?"

"Because it's wrong." Lyla admitted in a quiet voice, tears beckoned at her eyes to be released and she let them. Her voice broke and she looked across at the bard through her teary vision. "You're human. You're a woman! It's against everything I've ever been taught."

Leliana found herself lost for words. Zevran had once warned her of the Dalish dislike of same-sex relations but she had not expected this, she found herself moving towards the elf and wrapping her in her arms to hold her gently as she cried.

"You're kinder to me than most of my people were." Lyla muttered quietly between sobs, "And you have shown you care about me more than them as well. You're human, though, how can I continue my peoples legacy if I'm courting a human, and a woman at that." Lyla slapped her leg, hard, and swore in elven. "I'm sterile, Alistair told me so himself. I couldn't have a child even if I wanted to." Leliana was still silent but she knew that the best thing she could do for the elf right now was to be strong, so she just kept a hold of the elf and allowed her to work through this alone. "Lyla, stop being so silly. You've known you weren't attracted to men since you were a child." Lyla swore at herself again and then looked up at the bard holding her.

"Leli, I care for you. I really do and if you can put up with my stupidity I would love to see where this goes." Lyla stared into the woman's eyes, heart aflame from the devotion she saw there and she had to blink. She began to talk again but was stopped, this time not by the bards word but by her mouth and as they kissed Lyla realised this was what she wanted. Her people's teaching had been wrong about many things and this was the biggest so far, how something that felt so perfect could be wrong was beyond Lyla and she let it all go as she revelled in the human's lips.

"I think it is time to wake our other elven companions for their watch, Lyla." Leliana spoke after she reluctantly broke the kiss. "I am growing tired and I've had a nap, you must be exhausted."

Authors note.

Well it's been just over 130,000 words and they finally kissed woohoo! That scene in game was one of the most adorable moments with Leliana so I tried to keep it as close to canon as possible, obviously I had to change some of it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, especially 'Lord Zant' who has reviewed nearly every chapter.