Anders paced outside of Elissa's room, trying to summon up the courage to knock on the door. He had discovered something about her when they were at Nathaniel's farm. He knew that it was life changing but he had to tell her.

As he was pacing, the door opened and Elissa was about to stepped out until she saw Anders. "Anders, are you ok?" She asked in surprise.

"Can we talk?" He asked quickly.

"Sure, come in?" Elissa let him in and waited at the door. "I'll be back soon. I'm craving some tea."

"Bring me a cup." Anders took a seat in an armchair in front of the fireplace while he waited for Elissa to return. He picked up a book from a small table browsing through it to see if it was worth asking Elissa if he could borrow it. After a few minutes, Elissa returned carrying a tray. "Let me take that." Anders stood up and took the tray from her, setting it down on the table so he could pour the tea.

"This was my mother's favorite." Elissa said sadly as she picked up a cup and cradled it in both hands. "I needed something to remind of home."

"How's the leg?" He asked as he settled into the chair. "You can move better on it."

"It's still sore sometimes but it's getting better."

"That's good."

"What is it, Anders?" Elissa had started to worry as she had never seen Anders look so nervous; he just wasn't the type. "I can tell something's on your mind."

"Liss, this might not be the kind of news you want to know." He said nervously. "When I was healing your leg back at the farm, I discovered something. I couldn't tell you until I had the other mages confirm it."

"What is it?"

"Elissa, you're pregnant."

The cup that Elissa had been holding fell from her hand; fortunately, the cup was mostly empty. Her whole body shook as she tried to comprehend what Anders was telling her. "How can I be pregnant? The words just stumbled out of mouth in disbelief. "I'm a warden, and Alistair was a warden. I also haven't seen him in 3 months."

"It's not impossible to get pregnant. Just harder to get pregnant."

Elissa stood up quickly and began to pace. "How far? Is it ok? Was I pregnant at Denerim?"

"You're around 5 months now and the baby seems completely fine."

Elissa lent over the back of the chair, burying her face in her hands. "How can I be pregnant." She cried. "I can't be a Commander with a baby."

"We can worry about that when you have the baby." Anders stood up and moved next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and quickly pulled her to him. "The most important thing right now is to make sure you remain healthy during this pregnancy."

"I want Fergus here." She cried.

"I've already sent him a letter to come, but I didn't tell him why."

"Thanks." She muttered into his chest. "Will you stay until I fall asleep."

"Of course, I will." He laughed gently.

Anders stayed true to his word and stayed with her. She had fallen asleep quickly, and not long after, he fell asleep in one of the armchairs as he didn't want to leave her alone.

The sunlight had peaked through a gap in the curtains, casting a ray of light across half of Anders' face. He woke quickly slightly confused about where he was, until he remembered that he stayed in Elissa's room. Ser-pounce-a lot had curled up in his lap at some point in the night. He gave the cat a scratch behind the ears before lifting him up and putting him in the chair opposite.

He stood up and stretched, looking over to Elissa who was still asleep in her bed. She looked exhausted and sad, and it hurt him. He would do whatever he could to help her as she got through the pregnancy. He knew how hurt she was when she left Alistair and now, she was expecting his child.

Elissa deserved better than what the Maker had dealt her.

Elissa had shut herself away for days, just to have some space to decide the best course of action relating to the baby. She knew it would be unfair of her to try and raise the baby herself. Warden life wouldn't allow for parenthood. She refused to consider giving her baby to Alistair for fear that he would reject the baby. Her only option was to give the baby to Fergus to raise. She could trust him to raise the baby the right way and he would love it like it was his own child.

Every time she thought she felt the baby kick tears streamed from her eyes. She already felt love and protectiveness for her baby, and it hurt knowing she would have to give it up, but it was only way to ensure that her baby would have a good life. It felt cruel, the Makers punishment for some unknown crime to give her a child that she would dearly love, fathered by a man that she adored, only to have to give it all up.

She would have no choice but to hide her child as she knew how the world treated Royal bastards. It was always with a sense of shame and distrust. She wouldn't allow her baby to be shunned, shamed or treated like a political tool.

A knock on the door to her room pulled her from the emotional stupor she had been in since finding out. "Come in." She called out as she got up from the bed.

"Come in." She called out as she got from the bed.

Nathaniel stepped just inside the room, holding onto the door. "Can I come in?"

"Just get in here, Nate." Elissa threw herself into a chair. "Is it concern that brings you here?"

Nathaniel sat down. He could see that she had been crying; the emotional exhaustion was written all over her face. There was something weighing her down. "Are you ok?"

"I'm pregnant. So no, not right now." She sighed.

"Is there anything you need me to do to help?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Take over the training exercises, hold court for the locals, work the assistance requests. Anything."

"Jenson can take over training. You can try with the locals." She sighed heavily, still weighed down by the situation. "Nate, how do I tell the baby I cant raise that its father is the King of Ferelden?"

"Why cant you raise it?"

"How do you think being a Warden-Commander and a mother would go, Nate?" She tried desperately to hold in the tears as she felt a small movement from her baby. Her hand instinctively went to her slightly swollen stomach, a strong need to protect her baby overwhelmed her. "I can feel he or she moving and I just wonder what their future is going to look like as a royal bastard."

Nathaniel turned towards her, a suggestion of marriage on his lips. "We could still get married."

"What?" Elissa said quickly as she turned to look at him.

"We could get married, then I could claim the child as my own." Nathaniel wasn't sure how Elissa would take his proposal considering everything that had happened, but he had spent his teenage years fully expecting to marry her that he couldn't let it go.

"Nate, I could never take the Howe name. It would be a huge betrayal of people your father killed."

"I could take the Cousland name." He suggested. "It would be penance for what my father did."

Elissa didn't want to admit that it was a tempting prospect. She knew her marriage prospects as a Warden would be little, and add in the bastard child of the King and they were non existence. She knew that Nathaniel would be a good husband to her, but there was still that lingering hope that she could work things out with Alistair.

"Nate, I wont say no, but I cant say yes right now."

Nathaniel reached out and squeezed her hand. He understood her reasoning without needing her to explain it. He knew that she had some decisions to make about her future, and he wanted to give her an option. "I understand. I'm still here for you and the baby."

"Thanks, Nate."