Neria's arms crept around Zevran and he held her tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder. They were murmuring things to each other in Antivan and Alistair found himself looking away, smiling down at Darisa. He caught her hand and smiled wider for how her eyes were going soft.

There was a knocking sensation at his knee. The source of it turned out to be the banging hand of a baby, standing on wobbly legs with hair like a red-gold dandelion clock. "Mmmamabaaa," he said, then leaned forward to taste Alistair's greave.

Darisa plucked him up at once, smiling and touching his little pointed ear. "You must be Shartan," she said to the baby, who shrieked and reached for Alistair. Alistair felt flattered by this, then felt foolish about feeling flattered. "Take off your gauntlets, love."

"Only these two would choose such a name," Alistair said fondly. Gauntlets discarded, he took the baby, who immediately began banging away at his pauldron. "With that name and your parents, you are destined to become a hero or a heretic, aren't you?" He tried to sound jolly but only managed to sound awkward, trying to hold the boy securely against him without letting his soft little legs get too cold on his breastplate.

He was rescued by Zevran, who plucked his son away. Shartan gave another shriek and tried to fling himself back at Alistair, which made Alistair grin. "Yes, yes, I know that Alistair is much shinier, cucciolo, but your papa is much prettier. Look at you! You are half grown again while I went on your mamma's errand!" He tickled Shartan's neck, which made the boy giggle instead. The whole scene was bordering on the surreal in Alistair's mind.

"You convinced Alistair to come!" said Neria, hand on Zevran's back and looking up at Alistair. She spoke now with a very faint Antivan accent, the cadence of her Fereldan words mimicking that of her adopted home.

"Yes, I am a ridiculously awesome husband, am I not? Deliciously handsome, swift blade, provider of fancy homes, fetcher of reluctant companions…" He pinned his eyes on Darisa and winked. "I must tell her this for she would never think to say it herself."

Darisa smirked and Neria looked curiously at her. "Ah," said Alistair. "May I present to you the Warden Darisa, formerly of Highever? And Darisa." He couldn't help himself. He started grinning. "It is my honor to introduce you to Neria Surana, the Hero of Ferelden herself."

Darisa crossed her arms and bowed deeply to Neria, who flushed beneath her freckles and backed away. "Neria Arainai," said the Hero when she seemed to have caught her breath, as the baby and its father babbled at each other behind her. "I am Neria Arainai now."

"He's just such a charming little boy!" said Darisa as Neria set bread on the table. Zevran tore off a piece at once and gave it to Shartan, who was seated on his father's knee.

"And you're so lucky to have him," added Alistair, watching as Shartan tried to fit the hunk in the wrong way and covered half of his face with crumbs. "I've never really met another Grey Warden who is a parent." Here Alistair and Neria shared a glance for the space of two heartbeats.

"It is true, what you are wondering, my good friend Alistair," purred Zevran. "I am so excessively virile that I am even able to get a child on a Warden."

They were in the middle of supper when Neria spoke of Morrigan's visit. Alistair went pale and dropped his knife onto the plate. Zevran started speaking quickly and Darisa was silent, watching all of them with pale, measuring eyes. Neria stood.

"This is what we are going to do: nothing."

"What are you talking about?" Zevran demanded, jiggling the baby on his knee while looking with fiery eyes up at her. "We will kill Morrigan, take the child, take it for our own! Brasca! She thinks that she can get away with this? She thinks that she can touch our son?" His voice grew louder. "We are not what we once were, when we lived in Antiva City, but she cannot think that she will succeed in this! Come, we will blackmail the Circle again. She hunts you in the Fade, yes? Then we will hunt her!"

Neria shook her head. "No, we will not, Zev. I could raise a mage-child," she said, and Darisa followed her gaze to where it rested on Shartan. "But I know this child of Morrigan's. It is too strong for me. I would fail to teach whatever is needed, and we could all be destroyed. Our son would die anyway, if this were to happen."

"You… you met this child?" Alistair asked, his voice hushed.

Neria gave a half-smile and looked down. "Only on the day that I failed to kill it. I survived because it did not take notice of me as it passed through me, I think. If I tried to stop this child, it would be like trying to stop a mountain falling down by holding up a shield. I can do many things, but…" she stopped. She ran the edges of her fingers down Zevran's cheek until he covered her hand with his, and in her eyes…

Darisa liked Alistair quite a lot. He had saved her from the alienage and had worked so patiently to win her trust. He was kind and funny and she smiled every time she saw him. She had fought with everything in her to be brought here, to protect Alistair, until Zevran had given in out of impatience. She thought that perhaps she even loved Alistair, but she did not look at him like how Neria was looking at Zevran. Alistair told her of the assassin who had stolen the mage, but Darisa now thought that he had been too young or too blinded by his own feelings to see the truth: Neria would throw herself on the assassin's blade, so long as Zevran held it.