So the PC version works on my laptop and I am over the moon.

Chapter 17

Aria stared up into the less than pleased expression of Sten in silence. Aria held out a bowl of whatever it was that had been made that night with an extra piece of hard bread. Sten was sitting, his arms crossed as he refused to let up the more than intimidating stare he was giving the young woman, who, strangely enough had yet to back down after the five minutes since it had started.

"Ste—"

"No."

"But Sten—"

"No."

"But I'm—"

"Concerned? No need, I am fit enough to fight." Sten growled in annoyance. The mage flinched at the harsh tone but furrowed her brows before stubbornly facing the man again.

"No." she challenged. "You were in that cage for weeks and no one was feeding you. Humans become very ill if not given water in three days!" She argued back with an edge to her voice the other humans in the camp had not heard before. If there was one thing that they had learned about the Warden, was that she hardly seemed to be willing to raise her voice.

Alistair raised a brow and caught Leliana's gaze as they ate their share, the woman giggled as they watch the elf shove the bowl into Stens hands before standing up.

"I couldn't care less about your ability to decapitate darkspawn as long as you start looking not so…pale." She stated.

"I'm supposed to be pale." He pointed out as he spooned a mouthful of stew into his mouth. Aria perked up, feeling accomplished before sitting back in her own spot, Uthnehn curled up at her feet as he gnawed on a deer bone.

Leliana snorted in amusement.

There was something distinctly untrustworthy about a man stuck in a less traveled part of Ferelden after his mule runs off and you are given a magic stick for no other reason than the guy thought it controlled a weapon of mass destruction.

Bohdan had mentioned a pass that was less traveled than the Kings Road that would have shaved off a few hours from their journey to Redcliff. She trusted the Dwarf well enough to not get them lost and frankly, she had been relying on Alistair for map reading because she couldn't make heads or tail of which way was west and which way was east. Bodan looked like he knew what he was doing.

Until they ran into the guy who had the fancy stick who was just off the beaten road. He looked more worn and ragged than any of them with an old wagon with a thick cloth spread over whatever wares were on it.

Aria's first and foremost thought as she watched the average looking man and his elven assistant-she was more than sure he was a slave, but the fact that it had been a female elf leading the caravan of mostly humans must have intimidated the man into not speaking the 's' word—leave them after the mules retrieval was mostly how in the world did they come across a relatively harmless metal stick and think:

'Control Rod of Doom'

She looked at the offending device skeptically before turning back to watch the road as the merchant and his slave disappeared in the distance. She couldn't deny the latent spark of something locked deep within the rod, it didn't feel exactly like magic. She was curious enough to pack it away to study later, but not interested enough to drop what they were doing to look for the village the man had mentioned.

"That man was obviously lying to you elf, why did you not kill him? That human has insulted whatever intelligence you should claim you have." Sten crossed his arms in a now familiar way she was starting to file under 'Unamused with your life choices' expression. Because Sten did not particularly emote more than give her facial expressions and glares.

She was fine with it though. It was cute in a way a giant man eating bear looks at you and thinks about mauling you before he actually goes about the mauling. Alistair, of course, didn't appreciate Sten-speak as much as she. And Morrigan has just opted to give him her own snarky expressions while Leliana didn't quite seem to get the memo and still tried to start the occasional after lunch or dinner conversation.

"Er, I don't think he was as much insulting my intelligence as he was throwing a stick he more than likely stole from that village he mentioned coming from." Aria pursed her lips.

"I don't think the man entirely lied, either that, or he has just as little idea what this rod is than any of us, or he really believes it goes to some crazy weapon."

"It does have a strange energy about it, none I've ever felt at least." Morrigan eyed the elf's bag where she had stuffed the stick.

"Great, we're just going to decide it's ok to keep the possibly magical item none of us understand?" Alistair groaned.

The road to Redcliff was a surprisingly peaceful one. Next to no Darkspawn or even bandits escaping the lower regions of Fereldan had been encountered.

Aria rubbed the back of her neck, the muscles sore. Their small caravan of Dwarves, humans, and one elf and qunari had been traveling down the dusty road for hours today still. Around them the land had changed the third day of travel. Instead of the occasional tree and dying yellow grass with flatter lands from the local farmers, the land opened up into familiar open fields with low rolling hills and hawks flying in the distance. She'd noticed the sky was not as grey as was so common in Fereldan. Today, thick clouds were broken up in places and allowed warm sunlight to tickle their faces as Bohdan asked for a short break to give their old stead pulling their cart some water.

Stopping right off the road, the group took this time to gulp down whatever was still in their waterskins as Aria stretched her back to let it pop. She grunted, pleased at the relief of pressure on her bones before looking ahead. Her eyes scanned the faint silhouettes in the distance, it was far, but Aria was sure even now, so close to Lake Callenhads shores she could see the top of the Circle from the middle of the body of water.

A sour taste was on her tongue as she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. They would have to go there too eventually. Swallowing thickly she thought of the one man who used to make the Circle bearable. More startled than anything, she shook her head to rid herself of the image of that…person. She had no time to feel that sickening betrayal since Duncan had taken her away before her possible execution. Yes, she would certainly have to go back to confront what she had left at the tower, but for now their first stop was Redcliff. And Aria was perfectly comfortable with that.

From behind her, Alistair's heavy footsteps joined her in scoping out the distance to their destination. He shuffled about and Aria waited for him to speak since he certainly looked to be in the need to say something.

"So uh…We'll probably arrive in Redcliff by early evening if we keep up the pace we're going." He started. The mage gave him a look as if to ask him to continue. The man slumped his shoulders.

"We might have a small problem meeting with the Arl." He confessed. Aria turned her head warily to catch him in time to see him rub the back of his neck.

"Exactly what kind of trouble Alistair?" she almost regrets asking by the time the blond man rambled off on a tangent. Morrigan and Leliana both looked to them with varying expressions. Sten, however, was too interested in his waterskin to care.

"The Arl of Redcliff was ill from what Donell told me while we were at the Lothering Chantry."

"And you didn't think to tell us this before we set out?" Morrigan wrinkled her nose in annoyance. Aria, honestly had to agree with her on that one and she was she the look she gave the muttering warrior was as good a sign as any when he shrunk back.

"Look I…I know Arl Eamon ok, he's always been a pretty sturdy old man so I didn't think too much of it at first. He's had the sniffles before, sure, but it never lasted more than a few days." Alistair shrugged before he became nervous again.

"If that's so, you still should have mentioned this Alistair. We need to know if he is even in a condition to supply us with soldiers. Is there anything else?" The elf fretted.

"Sadly…yeah." He nodded. "What had me so conflicted on saying anything about it in the first place was the topic brought up while Donell and I were talking. Apparently the Arlesa believes the ailment so bad she's sent many of their guard out in search of some ancient relic of magical healing properties."

"…Wait—what?" Aria held up a hand with a dubious look as the others watch the conversation unfold.

"Err…yeeeah, about that. Apparently they think seeking out the Sacred Ashes of Andraste will get the Arl back up and running the place." The warrior shrunk back as he rubbed the back of his neck. It was a strange sight. A man of Alistair's stature, slumping his shoulders in defeat as the elf that didn't even reach his chin stared at him with such a torn expression.

Aria pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned childishly at these turn of events.

"What in the world are the Ashes of Andraste…I know the name of your Maker's bride—but ashes?" she felt like whatever the answer, they would be doomed.

"The Ashes…" Leliana gasped as she brought a hand to her parted lips. A far off look in her pale eyes as she lost herself in her thoughts. The majority of the groups stared at the rogue as if wanting her to continue her trailed off thoughts. It took a moment, mostly because Sten got impatient with her. The woman cleared her throat in embarrassment before looking up from her thoughts.

"Right…I have to remember, not everyone here is as…ah versed in the lore or history of the bride."

"Does this bride have any connection to this dead woman's ashes the blond one mentioned." Sten grunted.

"Hey—this 'blond one' has a name!"

Aria groaned, the group surprisingly quick to get off topic.

"Leliana, these ashes, what are they about?" she asked.

"It was said that after Andraste was burned at the stake her ashes were then smuggled out of the Tevinter Imperium and brought to Ferelden by one of her Disciples. It had been speculated that the holy ashes of the bride herself held powerful healing properties. Certainly, if the Arlesa believed her husband's illness so great, if the ashes were to be used he would recover." Leliana pointed out.

"…Wouldn't inhaling the ashes of the dead be disrespectful?" Sten turned to the elf, Aria glanced up at him.

"You would think…I don't understand the Andrastean beliefs. But usually, yes, sniffing the ashes of the dead is considered quite rude."

"Uh…I don't think the 'healing properties' of the ashes involve, uh, sniffing them." Alistair sighed.

"We don't even know if these ashes exist. They very well might need to be inhaled." Aria shrugged and turned away. Bohdan was just starting to buckle his horse back to his wagon. He looked up and gave her the go ahead to start moving again.

"Ok, anymore life altering knowledge we need to know about, Alistair?" the mage asked.

"…Well…"

There was a collective set of groans between the rest of the party.

Warmth from the sun, that was just starting to hide behind the tall pine trees in the distance, started leaving their leathers and metals as the group started to travel along the border of Lake Callenhad. Tall, stiff grass barely bent in the cool breeze coming from the lake as they walked down the path on either side of the caravan. Underfoot, the earth was soft and fertile as Alistair and Sten assisted Bohdan's wagon and horse so they did not get stuck. He was thanking the two men profusely. However, Aria was once more, too distracted to pay much mind to them as she kept her gaze out towards the body of water. That familiar feeling of dread she had gotten before most anything bad had happened hadn't left her since they arrived at the final stretch of their journey.

Inside, she knew it wasn't the Tower they were heading to, but the fact it could be seen around the whole perimeter of the lake was not lost to the mage.

A hand grasped at her shoulder and she jumped before turning to see Morrigan giving her a less than content expression. Her eyes flickered from her to the silhouette in the distance. It wasn't sympathy, the elf wasn't too sure what it was behind the witch's eyes. Indifference? Exasperation, annoyance?

"It was only ever you and your mother, right Morrigan? Living in the Korcari Wilds, I mean." she suddenly asked as the older woman snorted.

"Why ask me such a question? I do not probe you for pointless information do I?" she shot back, hand suddenly gone from Aria's shoulder as the dark haired woman crossed her arms. The elf held up a hand in a placating manner to the snarky comment.

"Well, I mean, you can if you want to. I'm not stopping you from asking me questions either."

Morrigan looked as if she had just about stumbled over her own feet, yet she seemed to save face easy enough so Aria simply raised a brow. The dark haired human looked down at the elf with a furrowed brow, looking for all the world off put that she was willing to share if Morrigan was willing. After what seemed like a terse silence between them, Morrigan frowned unsurely before nodding.

"Yes I…for as long as I know it had only been my mother and I. For a time though, I had often wandered off into the nearby villages, just to see what the 'outside' world was like. T'was a long time ago though, and I no longer feel the need or want to understand human customs." She answered.

"Human customs? But aren't you human yourself?" she tugged the tip of one of her own pointed ears for emphasis. Though Morrigan still seemed less than pleased, she huffed.

"It's the touching, why all the touching for simple greetings?!" The two turned back to eye both Leliana and Alistair as he scrubbed off dirt from his nose. Leliana looked up from checking the tips of her arrows to give them a curious smile. The two mages glanced at each other and Aria shrugged.

"I never thought of that…In…in the Circle Mage's aren't allowed much, uh, physical contact between each other. Even simple hugs are well, supervised? I guess would be one way to put it."

A light clicking of their heels and clack of the wooden wheels of the wagon informed the group they were back on the main road towards Redcliff now. They still passed mostly unhindered by other travelers for a time. But there were more of the occasional merchant or group of what looked to be soldiers that crossed their paths. Some stared.

Aria kept her head down self-consciously and turned away in the direction of the lake once more when those types passed.

"You make it worse by shying away like a child." Morrigan spoke up. The elf looked over to her as she hummed.

"It's become a horrible habit. 'Make yourself as small as possible, as quiet as you can so you don't bring attention to yourself'" she sighed.

"You should break it then, if the likes of Loghain's soldiers see they are up against nothing but a scared mouse they will laugh themselves to oblivion."

Aria's humorless laugh was empty.

"You don't sugar coat your words ever, do you?"

"There would be no point to baby you Warden. This is war and you are going to need to grow up fast." she lectured as she stared straight ahead, while Aria still had her attention focused in the distance. Morrigan was right, of course. But growing up now so late in the game was going to be far harder, she thinks, than said.

"Ah, well there's the road that leads up to Redcliffs entrance!" Bodhan spoke up loudly as he pointed up to a branching road winding up a hill. Smoke could be seen slightly through the parted clouds as well as the tips of what Alistair said would be the Arl's manor.

There was a clear air of relief amongst them all. Tired limbs and an eagerness to meet with the Arl and accomplish their first step into concurring the Blight and Loghain's treachery. As the party headed up the road to their destination, Alistair pulled Aria to the back of the group, that familiar 'I have to tell you something' expression clear as day on his face. Yet, his pursed lips and almost painful grip on her unscared arm told her he struggled with the right words. The elf gave him a tired nod.

"Tell me when you're ready." She sighed, patting his hand and walking with him to catch up to the others.