Chapter 42

The last time she'd been to Denerim was with Alistair, to see his sister. This time, she would hopefully be witnessing the turning of the tide against Loghain and his minions. Arl Eamon had called the Landsmeet, and they were a day away from Ferelden's capital. Eamon had spoken about how if they defeated Loghain there, the rest of Ferelden would follow. She wanted that to be the case, wanted no more nasty surprises, but, given their track record, Leliana wasn't hopeful.

The camp was silent, with mostly everyone asleep. Eamon and his entourage had set up a grand tent for themselves, and with a few guards patrolling it. Other than that, only Shale was awake and alert. The eastern sky was alight, though the sun had yet to rise, and the birds were slowly waking up, doing their best to wake everyone else up too.

Sat on a rock, Leliana sipped her tea and stared out at the walls of Denerim, tiny in the distance. It wasn't a good start to a day without tea, and besides, she would need it to steady her nerves for what lay ahead.

As the sun rose, so did Alistair, followed by Sten and Faren. Aedan always took last watch these days, allowing the others to sleep. Leliana sometimes wondered just how long Aedan could deprive himself of sleep before collapsing. He'd been too hard on himself as of late, and, though she didn't know why, she felt she would have to speak to him about it soon.

"You're up early," Alistair said as he came up to her. He looked fresh and ready, after having done his stretches in his tent. He was very diligent about that. "Sleep well?"

Leliana nodded. "And you? Stay up late writing in your journal?"

"I mean... ahem." He rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his feet. "Not... not a whole lot, no."

Humming, Leliana finished her tea and stood up. "Alistair, may I have a word?"

"Uh, sure. What about?"

"Come with me, please."

She led him away from the camp. There was a greater risk of someone inadvertently catching her words and Leliana wanted nothing of the sort to happen. Still in the clearing but sufficiently far away from the tents, Leliana took a deep breath and hugged herself.

Here goes.

"Alistair," she began, rehearsed words flowing fast, mercilessly, "do you remember when we were in Honnleath?"

His face coloured and he chuckled shyly. "Of course I do."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, but Leliana forced herself to remain focused. "Do you remember the assassins that were sent after me?"

"Oh. Right, right. By your old friend. Marjolaine, right?"

"Mhmm." A pause. "She is in Denerim."

Alistair's face hardened. He saw what it was about now.

"And you want to settle the score once and for all."

"Yes. When we are in, I shall break away when nothing else is going on and..." She shrugged. "Take care of business."

"Alone?"

His tone was accusatory, and Leliana smiled despite herself. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek and shook her head.

"Of course not."

"You sure? You won't pull some sort of 'It's better if I go alone' stunt later? I feel like that's always happening in books and plays."

"Be sensible, Alistair. There is strength in numbers. Why would I handicap myself? Marjolaine is not to be taken lightly."

At that, Alistair finally sighed and leaned into her touch. He sighed, placing his hand over hers.

"Just us, then?"

"Maybe Zevran will join us. I would not ask the others."

"Too personal?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. I get it."

"You know for sure she's in Denerim, though?"

"Yes, Alistair."

"How?"

"The mercenary I let live?" Alistair nodded. "He told me."

"What makes you think you can believe a word he-"

"I had a knife against his knackers, Alistair."

Alistair stared at her a while. Then he coughed and turned away, scratching his cheek.

"Then, yeah... I guess he was telling the truth."

Chuckling, Leliana tugged on his cheek. She hadn't even asked him to tag along. Leaning forward, she kissed his chin gently.

"Thank you, Alistair."

To his credit, Alistair played the bashful blushing bride very well. After all, she'd given him much practice.

"Thank me after we've done it, Leli."

She smirked at him and when he realised what he'd said, Alistair covered his face and groaned.

"Leave me alone," he said as he speedwalked back to his tent. "For the love of Andraste, leave me alone."

Still smiling to herself, Leliana turned her gaze once more towards Denerim, where all the solutions lay waiting. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips. Maker willing, this was the beginning of the end of their quest.

Only time would tell.