The atmosphere inside of Arl Eamon's palace was tense at best, hostile at worst. The entire party remained hopelessly deadlocked on how to proceed recovering Aedan from the clutches of his captors at Fort Drakon. Queen Anora had flatly refused to use her power to free Aedan from the prison, stating her father would in turn have her imprisoned for treason. Sten, Morrigan and Wynne were opting for a "wait and see" approach, while the rest of the party were ready to storm the fortress right then and there. None of them however had offered any ideas on how to actually go about pulling of such a feat, so the idea had thus far remained nothing more than that- an idea.

The lack of action had sent Alistair into a rage that none of them had ever seen from him before. Their normally composed and gentle-natured companion had seemingly snapped when Arl Eamon had cautioned patience. He and the Arl had engaged in a verbal altercation that had prompted the gathered party members to place themselves between the two men. Alistair had stormed from the Arl's study in a blind rage, putting a sizable dent in the massive wooden door on his way out.

Nobody had the heart or the gall to verbalize that his anger might stem from his own guilt and frustration. Aedan had insisted that Alistair remain behind when they had infiltrated Arl Howe's estate to rescue the queen. Alistair had protested of course, but had finally given in when Aedan stopped acting as their leader and approached Alistair as a friend. It soon became obvious that Aedan knew this would not be a simple rescue mission, and should things go wrong Alistair would need to remain to ensure the Grey Wardens would not be wiped out for good. Aedan had left Alistair behind to protect him, to keep him from facing the same horrors that he was no doubt facing.

Alistair was ready to storm to keep to recuse his friend and Leliana found herself in one of the rare situations where she found herself agreeing with the young Warden. Leliana had also been left behind, and like Alistair she had not let the issue go peacefully.

"Leliana-"

"No!" Aedan was slightly taken aback by the ferocity coming from his lover. He had never seen her angry before, and he made a mental note that once was more than enough for him.

"Aedan Maxwell Cousland, I have stood by you through every decision you've made, no matter how much I may have disagreed with them. And believe me when I say that stunt in Haven with the cultists had me questioning your sanity. But leaving me behind to run off and play the hero-"

"It has nothing to do with that!"

Aedan ran his fingers through his short straw colored hair in the same way he always did when he was flustered. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She stiffened slightly but made no effort to pull away.

"Leliana," he began, gently brushing away a strand of hair from her eyes. "Howe has killed everyone I have ever loved. When Duncan dragged me from Highever I swore I would never get close to anyone again, because if I didn't have anyone to love then there would be nobody to hurt."

He placed his hand gently on her face. "But then you happened." She felt her anger ebbing away in spite of herself. "You came out of nowhere, and somewhere between my lust for vengeance, and fighting a war I did not start, I fell in love with you. You took my pain, all of my anger, and you turned it into something I never thought I could feel. You are my light in a dark world. I can't let him get near you, I can't lose you too. It would break me worse than any torture. Please, I promise that you can yell at me when I return."

She sighed and leaned into his touch, feeling her resolve weaken. At the moment she was not sure if she was angrier at Aedan for suggesting the ludicrous idea, or at herself for allowing him to go through with it.

One week later however, the answer to that question was abundantly clear. She was furious with herself for allowing him to go without her. She had been trained to be just as deadly with her words as with her bow, how could she allow him to disarm her so easily?

The sun was beginning to set on the sixth day, but to Leliana it all seemed to blend into one excruciatingly long day. Every second that Aedan was imprisoned seemed like an eternity, and she was in agony. She was angry at him for leaving her behind, she was angry at herself for allowing him to leave, she was angry at the Queen and Arl Eamon for their lack of action. She paced in her quarters in the darkening shadows, biting what was left of her fingernails. She had already barked at the servants who had come to light the fire, allowing herself only a second to feel guilty before returning to her brooding.

She had not eaten and barley slept since the rest of the party had returned without Aedan. Oghren, Morrigan and Zevran had returned to the palace covered in blood, each wearing the same defeated look. Alistair and Leliana had met them at the front gates and Leliana felt the color drain from her face.

"Aedan?" Alistair said in a voice higher than usual.

Oghren shook his head. "The boy was captured."

Leliana's knees buckled, she felt herself falling forward but was caught by Alistair before she could fully collapse. She clung to him tightly, desperate for something solid to hold onto.

"He was not 'captured',the fool turned himself in." Morrigan said in her usual harsh tone. "He refused to engage a group half-trained half-wits and willingly let himself be led away."

"We were outnumbered five to one." Replied Zevran. "It was not a fight we could win and he knew that."

"So he chooses instead to be led away like a cow to slaughter? Excellent plan."

Leliana did not hear the rest of the conversation. A ringing arose in her ears, and she realized that she had forgotten to breathe. She buried her face in Alistair's chest, vaguely aware of his arms wrapping around her and leading her back into the palace.

There had been an immediate debate over the next course of action and the last few days had been nothing more than an exercise in futility. Aedan had been held prisoner in one of the most infamous prisons in Ferelden, one that was notorious for its brutality and lethality. He was undoubtedly being subjected to unimaginable torture, while the rest of them talked in circles about what to do. And if Aedan had already served his purpose...

No. She would not even entertain the idea. He was alive, he had to be. And that was the assumption she was going to operate on. It was the only one she could operate on. He was alive, and he was in unimaginable pain. And he faced it willingly. Leliana knew after hearing what had happened at the estate that Aedan had surrendered to keep his companions from facing the horrors that he was currently facing. Had they been as outnumbered as Zevan had said, then there was no doubt the lot of them would have been hauled off to Fort Drakon and subjected to the same torture that Aedan was now facing. He had gone willingly to protect them.

To protect her.

She had flashbacks to her own imprisonment and subsequent torture. Her heart sank as she thought of the man she loved being so far from her. She loved him more than she had ever thought it was possible to love someone, and he made her feel more loved than she had ever felt before. He had sworn that he would protect her from anything, and he had held true to his word.

A small knock on her door interrupted her thoughts and she stared at the door in annoyance, assuming it to be one of the servants returning to offer her one more asinine service or another. She flung the door open with more ferocity than she intended and stared angrily at the offending visitor.

"I have told you already that I-" she stopped short upon seeing Alistair staring back at her.

"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has taken to shouting at the help. I frightened the cook so much she nearly burnt the water."

Leliana was in no mood for Alistair's lackluster humor, however she stepped aside and allowed him to enter.

"How are you? Stupid question, I know, but well...how are you?"

"You don't really expect me to answer that do you?"

"No. But I needed to check on you because, well...that's what you do in situations like this, right?"

Leliana sighed. "What is it you want Alistair?"

"I can't stay here anymore." Alistair responded seriously. "It's been nearly a week and we have done nothing more than frighten a bunch of servants. The Queen refuses to take any action and hides behind her fear of Loghain. Arl Eamon is more concerned about the landsmeet being postponed, and the cooking staff ran out of mince meat pies."

Leliana stared at him.

"Okay, that last bit was a joke. It's true, but irrelevant to our predicament. I can't sit here any longer while Aedan is trapped inside of that prison. I need to do...something. Anything. But I can't do it alone. I need your help."

Leliana's heart began to race. "You want us to infiltrate Fort Drakon? Just the two of us?"

"Well...yes."

"Thank the Maker."

"I know, I know but-wait, what?"

"Well one person attempting an escape is just foolish. Two people however is...still foolish. But perhaps less suicidal."

"How about three?" Oghren entered the room heaving his massive battle axe over his shoulder. "At least I think it's three, could very well be six. Which is the numbers of ales it took to convince myself this was a great idea."

The last part needed no clarification as Oghren's breath was strong enough to leave Leliana with the urge to dance provocatively on the nearest table.

"Well, the three of us against a few hundred guards. I like those odds!" Alistair exclaimed. "But how do we go about doing that? Infiltrating the prison I mean. Not the three hundred guards, unless of course they are female guards then, well, I won't complain."

"Do you even like girls?" Oghren asked before belting loudly.

"Of course I like girls! Well most girls. Morrigan scares the mortal piss out of me."

"As charming as this conversation is," Leliana interjected. "Could we kindly get back to the matter at hand?"

"Er, right. So the plan. We should make one."

A small smile spread across Leliana's face for the first time in days. "Oh, don't worry. I think I may have a thought or two on that." She stared pointedly at Oghren.

"Bronto piss. I'm gonna need another ale."