After a few days of travelling and avoiding the larger groups of darkspawn, Azariah Cousland, the warden, arrived back at Ostagar with Leliana, Alistair, and her mabari, Tucker. As soon as they got there, Tucker whined sadly, remembering the horrific battle there as Azariah looked around slowly, everything now covered with snow.

"It's so strange to be back here." Alistair said, practically whispering.

"I know." Azariah replied, quietly. She suddenly sensed darkspawn nearby and headed towards them with her sword drawn, and the others followed suit. They took down the group of darkspawn with little effort, but afterwards, Tucker went over to one and looked at it closely before barking at Azariah who walked over to take a closer look. She then realized that the hurlock was wearing shiny golden boots, which she immediately recognized and got off it.

Tucker barked again, and Alistair also recognized them. "Those are Cailan's… aren't they?"

"Yeah…" Azariah sighed, sadly. She had a sudden flashback as she held those boots…

Duncan and Azariah had just gotten to Ostagar and left their horses outside the gate before heading in, and as they walked, Duncan explained more in detail to Azariah what was going on there. As they walked further in, they were suddenly greeted by a blonde-haired man wearing a golden suit of armor and being followed by two people in matching silver armor, "Ho there, Duncan!" The man said and shook his hand.

"King Cailan! I didn't expect a…"

"A royal welcome?" Cailan chuckled. "I was starting to think you'd miss all the fun!"

"Not if I could help it, Your Majesty."

"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan by my side in battle after all! Glorious! The other wardens tell me you found a promising recruit." He looked over at her.

"Allow me to introduce you, Your Majesty…"

"No need, Duncan. We've met before." Cailan said as he walked over to her. "It's great to see you again, Azariah!"

"You too, Cailan!" She said back with a smile, but then stopped and bowed her head, correcting herself, "I mean, Your Majesty."

Cailan laughed. "Please, Azariah, we're friends! No need to stand on formality!" He then pulled her into a hug, which she returned happily. Afterwards, he looked at her and added, "I'm surprised to see you here, though. Fergus has already arrived with Highever's men and told me that you were staying back at the castle."

Azariah frowned, her eyes turning sad. "You mean… you don't know what's happened?"

"News from the north has been unreliable. What's happened?" He asked, now sounding worried.

Azariah didn't say anything, so Duncan explained, "Teyrn Cousland and his wife are dead, Your Majesty. Arl Howe has shown himself a traitor and taken over Highever Castle. Had we not escaped, he would've killed us, and told you any story he wished."

Azariah bowed her head as a tear fell from her eyes, and Tucker whined sadly, nudging her hand, and she pet him on the head.

"I cannot believe…" Cailan growled angrily, shaking his head. "How could he think he'd get away with such treachery?!" He then looked at Azariah regrettably. "Azariah… I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Cailan." She replied.

"Still, I'm going to make it up to you! Once we deal with the darkspawn menace here, I will turn my army north and bring Howe to justice, you have my word!"

"Thank you."

He nodded. "No doubt you wish to see your brother… unfortunately, he and his men are scouting in the wilds and can't be contacted until they return."

"I'm not really in a rush to tell him…"

"Of that, I have no doubt. They will return soon, I'm sure." He placed his hand on her shoulder lightly. "I apologize, but there's nothing more I can do. All I can suggest is that you vent your grief at the darkspawn for the time being."

Azariah hugged him again. "I know you'll keep your promise."

Cailan smiled and hugged her back. He then moved back and said, "Well, I should probably go before Loghain loses his head and sends out a search party. Farewell, Grey Wardens." He said. Duncan and Azariah both bowed their heads before he turned around and left.

"Azariah!" Leliana yelled, breaking Azariah out of her trance and back to reality. "Are you okay? Thought we lost you there."

"I'm fine." She insisted. "It's just…" Sighing, she stood up, "It's nothing. She carefully took a cloth out of her bag and wrapped up the boots and placing them in there gently. "Let's just keep moving." She walked further into Ostagar with Tucker right beside her. Leliana and Alistair exchanged worried looks before following them.

The four of them continued the pattern of finding darkspawn and killing them. They found the key that Cailan's guard had mentioned, right where he said it would be, then found the chest by the remains of Cailan's tent. Azariah used the key and opened it with no issue. Inside was a beautifully crafted longsword that looked to be made of a bluish-grey metal with a golden hilt and glowing gold markings all along the sides. "Wow!" Azariah breathed out in awe. "This must be Maric's sword!" She carefully picked it up and looked at it closely. "It's beautiful! I've never seen anything like it," She carefully ran two fingers along the length. "It's still has a razor-sharp edge!" She stood up and held the sword out to Alistair, who simply looked down at it, then up at her face.

"What?"

"You should have it."

"No thank you." Alistair said. "I already have a sword, and it suits me just fine."

Azariah sighed before strapping the sword to her own back, "Fine then, but we're not going to leave it here." She then kneeled back down and looked at what else was in the chest, and it turned out to be a bunch of letters between Empress Celene and King Cailan.

Alistair looked through the correspondence as well and shook his head angrily. "So, Cailan and Empress Celene were planning to work together to drive out the darkspawn, yet he couldn't even trust his own father-in-law!"

"Don't worry, Alistair. Loghain is going to get what's coming to him." Azariah assured him. She took some other letters she found in the chest with a note and placed them in her pack and stood back up. "Come on. We still need to get rid of the rest of the darkspawn and find Cailan's body." They then headed towards the bridge and across it to the Tower of Ishal, but halfway across, Azariah stopped dead in her tracks and looked up with tears in her eyes at Cailan who was stripped and hung up like a trophy.

Azariah arrived at the war meeting area after the talks had already begun and walked to the other side of the table with Duncan.

"Loghain, my decision is final! I will stand with the Grey Wardens in this assault!" Cailan argued.

"You risk too much, Cailan! The darkspawn are too dangerous for you to be out there and risking your life on the front lines!" Loghain said harshly back.

"If that's the case, perhaps we should wait for the Orlesian forces to join us after all!"

"I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves!"

"It is not a "fool notion"!" Cailan growled angrily, shaking his head. "Our arguments with the Orlesians are a thing of the past! And you will remember who is King!"

"How fortunate Maric did not live to see his only son willing to hand our country over to those who enslaved us for a century!" Loghain rubbed his temple, frustrated.

"Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they?" Cailan turned towards Duncan, "Duncan, are your men ready for battle?"

"They are, Your Majesty."

"And Azariah," Cailan smiled at her. "I hear congratulations are in order to the newest Grey Warden!"

"Thank you." Azariah bowed her head respectfully.

"Azariah Cousland?" Loghain asked, then looked at her. "My condolences about your family."

"Thanks." She said, but couldn't help but feel like he wasn't genuine about that; something about him just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Every Grey Warden is needed now, you should be honored to join their ranks!"

"Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan! We must attend to reality!"

"Fine! Speak your strategy!" Cailan leaned over the war table and looked down at the map. "The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging our lines, and then…?"

"You will send the signal to light the beacon at the tower, signaling my men to charge from cover-"

"To flank the darkspawn! I remember! This is the Tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes? Well, who shall light this beacon?"

"I have a few men stationed there. It's not a dangerous role, but it is vital!"

"Then we should send our best! Have Alistair and Azariah be the ones to light the signal!"

"Me?" Azariah asked. "But that would mean I won't be in the battle…"

"We need the beacon!" Duncan said to her. "Without it, Loghain's men won't know when to charge."

"See? Glory for everyone!" Cailan smiled.

"You rely on these Grey Wardens too much." Loghain said. "Is that truly wise?"

"Enough of your conspiracy theories, Loghain! Grey Wardens battle the blight no matter where they're from!"

"Your Majesty," Duncan spoke up. "You should consider the possibility of the archdemon appearing."

"There have been no signs of any dragons in the wilds." Loghain pointed out.

"Isn't that what your men are here for, Duncan?"

"I… yes, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty," A bald man said as he walked over. "The tower and its beacon are unnecessary. The Circle of Magi-"

A Chantry mother suddenly cut him off. "We will trust no lives to your spells, mage! Save it for the darkspawn!"

"Enough!" Loghain barked. "This plan will suffice! The Grey Wardens will light the beacon!"

"Thank you, Loghain! I cannot wait for that glorious moment! The Grey Wardens battling alongside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!"

"Yes, Cailan, a glorious moment for us all…" Loghain said.

A few minutes later, Azariah was just about to leave with Duncan to go find Alistair and give him the news when she felt a hand grab her wrist, and she turned to see Cailan. He didn't say anything, just motioned her towards an area with no one else around, and once there, he spoke up. "Listen, you and Alistair are going to the Tower of Ishal together now."

"Yes?" Azariah asked, wondering where he was going with this.

"Make sure nothing bad happens to him, okay? There should be no danger there, but still… just keep him safe."

Azariah nodded, "Okay."

"Azariah…" Leliana shook her shoulder lightly. "You zoned out again."

"Sorry, just… memories." She shook her head with a sigh. She then felt the presence of more darkspawn and turned her head, seeing a genlock materialize out of thin air, and it waved a staff around a bit, causing two corpses near it to reanimate before it took off for the Tower of Ishal. Azariah growled and drew her sword, "We're going to finish dealing with these darkspawn before tending to Cailan."

"I'm with you." Alistair agreed as he drew his sword also.

The four of them fought through the rest of Ostagar and finally took down the darkspawn necromancer and the ogre that had killed Cailan before heading back up to the bridge where Cailan was still hanging.

Leliana got down on her knees and began praying while Tucker simply sat next to her, his head bowed, and Alistair and Azariah just stood in silence until Alistair spoke up. "They just left him here to rot… we need to do something."

"He deserves a proper funeral pyre."

Alistair nodded. "He was a good man who hoped too much… and died too young. He deserves what little honor we can afford to grant him."

Leliana finished her prayer and stood up, Tucker letting out a mournful howl as they got Cailan's body down and brought him to a proper place. Once there, they pilled up a bunch of sticks and logs before placing his body on top of the pile. Azariah took a torch and lit the top of it and was just about to light the wood pile when Alistair gripped her hand and said, "Let me." Azariah nodded and handed him the torch, and he took a deep breath, sighed, and lit the wood pile, and before long, the flames were engulfing the entire pile and Cailan's body. They all simply stood there and watched in silence…

"And hey, take care of yourself, too. Don't do anything extreme." Cailan said to Azariah with a smile. "I'll see you on the other side!"

Azariah bowed her head sadly and slowly turned, simply walking away.

A few hours later, the four of them had gotten back to camp with Cailan's armor, Maric's sword, and even Cailan's ashes in an urn. After unloading their gear and getting comfortable for the night, Azariah started poking around in her pack and pulled out a leather flask. As she opened it and took a sip, Alistair came over and sat next to her, "What's that?"

"Whiskey." Azariah answered simply. "After the day we just had, I could use a stiff drink." She took another big sip and swallowed it in one gulp. "Ooo, that's the stuff!"

"Could I have some?"

Azariah handed him the flask and watched as he took a sip before she asked him, "So, was today hard for you? I mean, I know you and Cailan weren't really close, but… he was still your brother."

"Mmm…" Alistair moaned in thought, then just shrugged. "I mean, it's not like he ever cared, even if he did know who I was."

"Why do you always think the worst of what people think of you?"

"What are you talking about? I don't do that."

"Yes, you do! You're always saying how Maric never cared about you, how Cailan never cared about you! You even suggested that Eamon never cared about you! You even told me that Duncan was the only one who ever cared about you, but that's not true! I don't understand how you can say no one cares about you when you don't know that!"

"What do you want from me, Azariah?" Alistair growled. "To fool myself into thinking that Maric and Cailan gave a damn about me?"

"They did!" Azariah protested, then reached into her pack again and pulled out the letter addressed to Alistair that she'd found in the chest earlier, and practically shoved it in Alistair's face. "Cailan left this for you! I suggest you read it!"

Alistair looked surprised. "He left me a letter?"

"Yes, and you need to read it!"

Alistair looked hesitant and wasn't sure if he wanted to read it, but after thinking it through for a moment, he took the letter and read it.

Dear Alistair,

If you're reading this, then I am dead. I have a feeling I'm not going to survive this assault, which is why I'm writing this to you. I know that you and I have never really had the chance to get to know one another, and honestly, that's something I've always regretted. Despite whatever you may think of me, I want you to know that I love you, little brother. I know that might seem strange coming from the half-brother you hardly knew, but it's true.

I want you to take father's sword from this chest and wield it with the honor I never could.

Your brother,

King Cailan

A drop suddenly fell onto the letter, and for a split second, Alistair thought it was starting to rain, but he then realized that it had come from him; he was crying. Alistair quickly put the letter down and rubbed his eyes to try and keep Azariah from seeing his tears, but she already had. Alistair felt Azariah wrap her arms around him to give him a gentle hug, and he hugged her back, letting a few more tears out. "Thank you." He finally said.

"For what?" Azariah asked as she pulled away from the hug and looked into Alistair's beautiful golden eyes.

"For showing this to me. I guess I do sometimes tend to think the worst of what people think of me."

"Well, you shouldn't, because despite what you think, there are people who love you. Maric loved you, Cailan loved you, Duncan loved you, and I love you." She said that last part before she even realized it, and didn't realize until Alistair looked at her, shocked.

"You…You love me?" Alistair asked.

Azariah was somewhat embarrassed that she had just told him how she really felt about him, but then just smiled and decided to go with it. "Well, yes. I love you. That's why I can't stand to see you think that no one cares about you, and I can't stand to see you upset. I want you to be happy and-" Azariah was suddenly cut off when Alistair placed a finger to her lips and smiled at her warmly, his eyes full of affection.

"You talk too much." He said right before kissing her on the lips passionately.

After the kiss ended, Azariah laughed and teased, "I talk too much?"

"Yes, but I forgive you." Alistair said, and they both laughed, holding each other gently.

"Well, it's about damn time!" Leliana laughed, and only then did they realize that everyone was looking at them.

Alistair blushed a bit in embarrassment while Azariah just laughed and buried her nose into Alistair's neck, cuddling into him happily. Almost immediately, Alistair tuned everyone else out and focused all his attention on Azariah again, kissing her forehead, his arms wrapped around her waist. "I love you, too, Azariah." He whispered to her.

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Well, there it is, another Alistair/Warden story. If you couldn't tell by now, they are my favorite pair to ship, because I f*cking love Alistair sooo much! Anyway, I know I promised a Cullen/Inquisitor one-shot, but I got stuck on that one, and been focusing on this one and my latest Fenris/Hawke story, too!