A/N Last week for the poll for Darien's romance! :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!


Fluttering as fast as I can I dive and roll in and out of the trees to finally break out onto the open water of Lake Calenhad. Remembering the map I turn to fly along the coastline in a southern direction, hoping I can get to the Circle before the hour is up.


"Now I know the suspense is killing you Seeker to know whether he makes it to the Circle or not, but I have to fill you in on the Champion's story at this point." Varric explains calmly.

Cassandra raises an eyebrow in question but doesn't argue as he continues.

"The Witch kept her promise-"

"You mean Flemeth? Did she send someone with the Champion?"

Varric frowns, "In a manner of speaking."

"So it's true. Continue, but if you tell me they all flew to Kirkwall on a Dragon..."

Varric leans forward, "Nothing so fanciful, I assure you, now don't interrupt. Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds, kept her promise and got them to Gwaren through sheer force of will alone, clearing a swath straight through the darkspawn and keeping the Champion's family safe the whole way without trouble. Things were almost looking up... until they saw the state Gwaren was really in...


"I can't believe we just walked through the horde to get to this smelly, rubbish-filled, rat-infested, stink hole!" Bethany exclaims while pinching her nose to avoid breathing in the horrid stench of Gwaren.

"Bethany!"

"Leave her be Mother, she's been through a lot, let her vent." Garrett explains from the front of the group. "What I can't believe is that we made it at all! I half-expected Flemeth to eat us alive after we made that deal!"

"Yes, she kept her promise, now lets get a boat and be done with it." Aveline pushes ahead, her mood still sour from witnessing her husband dying in front of her.

Bethany fingers the spine of the arcane book she'd been reading on the way and reluctantly places it back in her pack.

So many secrets hidden within those pages, so many note-worthy spells... Darien has given me so much, I have to find a way to repay him the next time I see him.

She smiles at the thought of seeing him again but then frowns sadly knowing it won't be for a long while.

They follow the road down to the docks, wading through a see of refugees all desperate and on the verge of storming the first escape they see. Bethany cringes at the terrible fishy smell that seems to infest the air.

"What?! What do you mean there isn't any more room?!" Garrett exclaims as the captain dismisses them once again.

"I'm sorry lads but unless you can match my price there's no more room on board. It's a safety issue you understand." The conniving merchant explains with a toothily grin.

"But you only charged the last family one sovereign a head! I heard you!" Aveline argues angrily.

"That was before we ran out of room! Now pay up! Five sovereigns a head! No more, no less to escape the Blight!"

Carver grabs the pommel of his greatsword, "We are getting onto this ship, mate, or you'll have a rough time counting coins with only one arm."

The sailor laughs, "Lad, if ya harm me you'll be cut down faster than a shiner in a sea tavern! HAHA!"

Bethany growls as she pushes forwards to shake off her anger and bat her eye lashes at the poor sailor who immediately stops laughing, "Wouldn't it be best if we came to an agreement? I'd be awfully sad if we had to choose a different ship to escape the Blight..."

"Uh..."

"Bethany!" Leandra exclaims in shock at her youngest child's promiscuity.

She ignores her mother and leans in to whisper into the sailor's ear, "I could make it worth your while if you let us pass for the regular price?"

The sailor shivers at the hot breath on his neck and melts in her hands. "S-Sure little lady, I-I'll just... free up some room and we can get underway." He backs up and Bethany winks at him as he turns to dash aboard his ship.

"Hahahahahaha! Oh that was absolutely-" Bethany doubles over in hilarity as everyone else stares in shock that the quietest little girl of the group just seduced a sailing Captain.

"Beth?" Garrett asks with uncertainty after a moment, "How did you learn how to do that?"

She stops chuckling and straightens out her expression to a sly smirk, "Oh whatever do you mean brother? I simply asked him to let us on his ship." She says innocently.

"Maker..." Carver breathes in shock. "What did that Darien do you you?"

Bethany smiles and winks at them slyly, "I'll never tell." Garrett swallows nervously and everyone goes back to sulking as they realize the sailor was pulling the family before them off to make room.


"Are these going to happen often?" Cassandra asks curiously.

Varric nods, "Yes and no, I'm going to update you on where the Champion is periodically until the Warden's story is done. Then the Guardian will meet up with the Champion and I'll tell their story at that time."

Cassandra nods, "Very well, just advise me when you're switching between the two."

"Of course Seeker..."


There! Finally!

I flutter down to the ground just outside the Tower and flash out of my raven form. I pant at the exertion before pushing the door open and stepping inside to be immediately greeted by Irving, "Welcome! Darien is it? I was wondering when you'd return."

"No time, I need a master alchemy set now, a member of our group was bit and needs a special potion to recover." I state frantically.

Irving nods at my urgency and orders for a set to be recovered before sitting me down, "You don't look well son."

I smile as I continue to pant, "Yeah, flying to leagues within an hour will do that to you." He simply nods and we sit in silence while I recover.

"So, how's the Tower been?" I ask once I've caught my breath.

He smiles, "It has been cleansed of any lingering demons, though you were very thorough in your hunt, we only found two trapped inside statues on the third and fourth floors, but they seemed much older than even the circle itself. Perhaps the Tower is older than even them, it was after-all used by the Imperium before the Chantry existed."

"Huh... interesting." I comment while noticing the Fade was now strong inside, not as shockingly on the verge of tearing as it had been before.

"Here you are first Enchanter, one Master Alchemy set." The Templar states as he hands the large bound case to Irving who hands it to me.

"I hope this helps." He says kindly.

"Very much so, here's some sovereigns for-"

Irving waves his hand dismissively, "That is not necessary, allies work together in times of crisis. I''m sure the Wardens have done beyond enough to warrant this as a part of our payment for securing our home."

I nod in understanding and place the case in my pack before departing.

As the door slams behind me I flash into raven form once again and fly across the lake to land at the inn and step inside. "Welcome to the Spoiled Princess! Pick your poison!"

I step up to the counter and order the herbs I require before sitting down to rest up as much as I can before the long flight back. I close my eyes for just a moment...


"You look like death warmed over, can't say I expected any different. All you adventurous types always end up at the tavern."

I look to my left and sigh as I see it's Felsi, Oghren's old flame. "Not now, not ever, not staying." I mumble out in my tired state.

She shakes her head and scoffs, "Whatever, just don't throw up on the counter, takes forever to clean up."

The bartender/owner hands me the bundle of herbs and I pay him double before rushing out and immediately jumping up and flying off back along the coastline back towards camp.


I flutter down to the ground and squawk in annoyance that the camp isn't here. I flutter around a bit until I find evidence of a quick departure and flash into my wolf form to start tracking... again.

Damn it Erianne! What the hell did you do to make them think running off was a GOOD idea?!

I howl out in frustrated exhaustion and charge down the clear path they left going south down the trail.

Maybe they were going to meet up with me at the Circle? No, no, Morrigan would have told them it would be best to stay put, but Erianne was pretty pissed... Damn it where the hell did they go? Especially when Leliana can't fight!


I take a rest a few miles down the road to eat a squirrel and drink from a stream before moving back onto the path and noticing something odd... there were more scents.

Maybe some merchants? No, no, they're too numerous, and I can smell-

I whimper as I stop in my tracks and smell the ground again.

Oh, by the Creators... I smell leather... musty leather... oh no, I have to move!

I double my pace and bolt down the road. When my legs get tired I fly until my wings tire. Then I end up running again.

Have to get there in time! Erianna isn't experienced enough to lead them to victory! Not withou-

*CRASH!*

I skid to a stop and perk my ears up to listen to the direction the tree fell.

South-East!

I bolt off in that direction and after a few minutes I come across the fallen tree.

"Ataash Qunari!"

Sten!

Ignoring my absolute exhaustion I jump into a raven and fly over to survey the battlefield.

Sten is surrounded and taking care of five crows, Alistair is no-where to be seen, Erianne is sniping from a ledge where five dead archers lay, Wynne is healing up- ok there's Alistair, Alistair is knocked unconscious and pinned under the fallen tree, and lastly-

Holy Creators!

I barely dodge the fireball a mage throws at me and dive down to form out of the raven and into my wolf to crush an elevated archer with my landing. I bite down and rip out the little elf's throat before rushing up to the other panicking archer and kill him while he's stunned from just witnessing a massive wolf literally drop out of the sky and crush his buddy. I rip his throat out as well before howling as an arrow pins my left hind leg to the ground. I claw at it and manage to snap it off to dodge another arrow that nicks my right ear.

"Hold them back!" Erianne shouts over the battlefield.

I look over and quickly leap off the ledge to come in-between Zevran and Morrigan. Zevran jumps back as the huge wolf nearly tramples him before jumping up to stab it in the heart only to have his blades blocked by two daggers as the wolf transforms into an elven rogue-mage. I can see the confusion fly across his face before I kick out his knee and slam the hilt of my dagger into the side of his head, knocking him out. I fall to my own knees before I can relish the victory, my energy reserves are gone.

I... need...

I try and move anything, but it's no use, I'm beyond exhausted, almost no energy to even keep my heart beating. But before the darkness of my consciousness can fully take over, I feel a cool pressure on my chest and open my eyes to see Wynne over me. "He needs Lyrium, and quickly, his body is shutting down!" I hear her voice, but it's muffled and grainy.

"Here, take this." Morrigan comes into view, worry and concern brimming in her furious, golden eyes as she hands Wynne a potion. She looks down at me, "You will not leave me here with these buffoons!" I nearly chuckle at her before Wynne presses a glowing blue hand over my forehead while forcing the Lyrium down my throat.

Oh, it's... ah! It tastes like thick mineral water!

I'm about to complain before Morrigan extends her arm and a muffled flash of light and heat brushes the corners of my vision. I hear a death-scream as well. "Ah!"

"I'll hold them back! Save him!" Morrigan demands before grabbing her staff and rushing off back into battle.

"Hold on dear, it'll only be a few more seconds." I blink at Wynne in acknowledgement and she stands to throw up an arcane barrier just in-time for a rockfist to shatter against it, spraying me with small bits of rock and dust. I use the las bit of energy to cough and hope the potion kicks in soon. I close my eyes and in a moment of weakness... I pray to the Creators...

Creators, if I die... tell Bethany to burn my possessions... they are too powerful to fall into anyone else's hands...

I struggle to breath in and end up roughly coughing up what tastes like blood.

Oh... I-

A rush of breath overtakes me as every nerve and cell in my body regains all energy and control. I blink at the rush of energy before sitting up like nothing happened and chuckling madly at the feeling of being alive.

*BOOM!*

"AH!" I hold my hands up and instinctively flash an arcane bubble to halt the flames that blasted outwards from the fireball that landed next to me.

Son of a whore!

I get up and hold my staff defensively to see the only one left is the mage whose successfully holding off Erianne, Sten, Wynne, and Morrigan with an array of fire and ice that keeps them back. I take in a deep breath and wince as I cut my palm deep, nearly slicing a tendon. The wound burns as I fall forth the Fade itself to destroy this enemy, "Pareal Heriol Berok..." The tendrils of fade energy swirl around me as I form the ritual of stone, the only one I know, to force the mage to be encased in pure rock. A spell akin to Petrify, but a thousand times more powerful in that it compresses the victim until the stone statue is nothing more than dust and gore. "Severon Ectus Victus!" The dust forms around the screaming mage and infiltrates her lungs, clinging to her robes, slowing her movements until she's entirely encased inside the first layer of the statue. "Terial Oriless Worilor... Joricut!" The second layer cracks apart her flesh and compresses her until blood seeps from the first layer and her screaming form solidifies in the silence of the second. "Serio-Loriak!" I throw my arms wide as the last phase is complete and the statue shatters apart into dust and gore, splattering the last bits of the mage across the landscape in a very artistic fashion. I pull the last bits of fade energy into my cut to heal it and sigh at the relieving feeling of actually being in control again.

Such a nice feeling...

"Holy Maker! You- You stay back Demon!" Wynne shouts at me.

I look at her watching me in shock and horror. "What? Magic is magic! Tis simply a tool to be used!" I shout back in anger.

Morrigan agrees, "Erianne tell this preachy school-nurse to stop threatening my brother, tis quite unwise to anger him so."

Erianne skids down the side of the embankment and lands next to me with a calculating look. "I see you found us... again."

I step up so our noses are nearly touching, "I see your inexperience has injured a party member... again."

Her scowl deepens, "Do you have the supplies?"

I narrow my eyes into slits, "Yes, do you know who just attacked you?"

Her eyes narrow to match my own before she backs off and sighs tiredly, "No... do you?"

I nod as I let my scowl fall back into neutrality, "Antivan Crows, a guild of assassins. Though I'm not sure why they are here, I have just heard of them."

Erianne watches me for a moment, "Wynne, go help Alistair. Sten, get the tree off of Alistair. Morrigan search the assassins for useful supplies."

She scoffs, "I am not your servant girl to do your bidding at the snap of your fingers."

Erianne sighs, "Please will you loot the corpses for us?"

Morrigan huffs in distaste and starts picking coins out of a Qunari mercenary's pockets.

Always fighting everyone and everything... it's still strange being the only one she trusts...

"And as for you." I frown at Erianne as she points a finger in my face, "We were sick of waiting for you and had to leave with Leliana in the cart! Where the sod have you been?!"

I slap her hand away, "It's been barely three hours!"

"Look around! It's light out! It's been more than three hours!" She retorts.

I wince, I thought my internal clock had been off. "I've been trying to find you for almost two!"

"We left three hours ago! Two hours after you left!" She shouts.

"Alright, I'll take blame for that, but what the hell happened?!"

She growls with barred teeth, "We were ambushed. They took us by surprise, this girl told us her cart was attacked by bandits-"

"And you trusted her?!" I gawk at her.

She scowls at me, "Oh course! There's no reason to think a group of assassins were going to try and kill us!"

I scoff, "How about the leader of this entire nation having a personal vendetta with you? You ever stop to consider he might not just leave his mortal enemies alone to build an army in his own country?"

She cringes, "Ok, not my best call... but what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You just murdered that mage with so much over-kill that her body is now splattered across the landscape!" She points a finger at the huge bloodstain on the rocks and I swallow as I see how much over-kill I actually did.

Damn... There's not even a shard of bone left...

"Alright, I'll give you that. My ritual was seriously overpowered."

She folds her arms, "You think?"

We stand in silence for a while, just watching Sten and Wynne try to get Alistair unstuck. I shuffle my feet and sigh as I look over at unconscious Zevran, "Lets tie up the survivor, interrogate him for information when he wakes up."

"Alright, but only because I was going to do it too." Erianne comments as we lift him up and tie him to a tree with a triple-braid templar knot mixed with a Rivaini Sailor's choker. "You overdid it I think." I glare at her. "What? It's the truth. You have five knots there!"

"Yes, and this guy knows enough about knots to hog-tie both of us up to our necks and hang us from a tree in under ten seconds flat. He's a crow, he knows everything about assassination."

She nods, "Alright alright, fine. I guess overdoing it is a bonus when it comes to safety."

I fold my arms and turn to her, "Oh so NOW you're concerned with other people's safety?"

She looks at the ground sadly, "Yeah, after Leliana I should have just... I don't know, but leaving without looking for you was the wrong move. Maybe Alistair wouldn't be hurt if-" She starts to tear up, "If I hadn't-"

I place my gloved right hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "Calm down, calm down, you couldn't have predicted any of this."

She sniffles, "Sure."

"And you did good, most people can't survive a few seconds of a crow's ambush, you were BEATING them when I showed up. You're a good leader, if a bit inexperienced." I smile at her as she looks up at me with her big tearful eyes.

Her lips twitch upwards into a smile, "Thanks, we really shouldn't do this anymore. The fighting. It's tearing our group apart."

"Yeah, lets regroup after Alistair is safe and this guy is properly interrogated, then we can all vote on what to do next. I saw you were trying to head south?"

She composes herself and looks over to see Sten and Wynne's progress, "We were going to Ostagar, that survivor gave us instructions to retrieve the King's Royal Arms Chest that's filled with important documents. As well as the King's armor and possibly even body if we come across it."

I look at her, "That's a week's journey away from any of your possible allies." She looks at me curiously, "I read those treaties, and I've hear Alistair talking about Redcliff. Maybe we can drop by there on the way? Save time?"

Her brow creases in deep thought, her eyes fixated on the tree pinning Alistair to the ground. "Maybe, I'll have to run it by Alistair when he recovers, but it's a plan, something we've been lacking thus-far."

"Oh..."

We look at each-other then at the waking assassin beside us and quickly compose ourselves for the interrogation.

Zevran blinks multiple times and winces before looking at both of us, "Mmm... What? I... Oh." He shifts his bound hands and sighs as they don't budge a bit, "I rather thought I would wake up dead. Or not wake up at all, as the case may be." I internally chuckle at Zevran being Zevran, but have to keep the guard up on the exterior so I just listen, "But I see you haven't killed me yet."

Erianne speaks first, with a bit more anger than I expected, "That can easily be rectified."

Zevran smiles at her and tugs at his restrains a bit more frantically as I step in for the good-cop of this pairing, "Excuse my... friend's rudeness, though we do have some questions for you."

Zevran smiles uncharacteristically as an assassin, "Ah! So I'm to be interrogated? Let me save you some time. My name is Zevran. Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here for the sole purpose of slaying any surviving Grey Wardens." Erianne frowns. "Which I have failed at, sadly."

"I'm rather happy you failed, Assassin." Erianne bites out.

"So would I be, in your shoes." He responds quickly, "For me, however, it sets a rather poor precedent, doesn't it? Getting captured by a target seems a tad detrimental to one's budding assassin career."

Erianne goes to retort but I beat her to it, "Who hired you to kill Erianne and Alistair?" I ask directly.

Zevran frowns in distaste, "A rather taciturn fellow in the capital. Loghain I think his name was? Yes, that was it."

Erianne sighs, "How much were you paid?"

"I wasn't paid anything. The Crows, however, were paid quite handsomely, or so I understand." He answers. "Which makes me about as poor as a Chantry mouse, come to think of it. Being an Antivan Crow isn't for the ambitious, to be perfectly honest."

Erianne raises an eyebrow in what I think curiosity and asks, "Are you loyal to Loghain or not."

Zevran looks directly at her, unblinking, "I have no idea what his issues are with you. The usual, I imagine. You threaten his power, yes? Beyond that, no, I'm not loyal to him. I was contracted to perform a service."

I sigh to show I'm still here, just in-case anyone forgot.

"And now that you've failed that service?" Erianne asks angrily.

Zev simply smiles, "Well, that's between Loghain and the Crows. And between the Crows and myself."

"And between you and I?" She asks with her finger tapping the hilt of her back-up dagger.

She's always quick to anger now, must be due to whatever happened to her after I was kidnapped.

He just grins, "Isn't that what we're establishing now?"

I cut off Erianne's deadly response, "Why are you telling us all this?"

He laughs, "Why not? I wasn't paid for silence." His grin drops, "Not that I offered it for sale, precisely."

"There's no reason for us to believe anything you say." She declares bluntly.

"Oh, very true. Thus there's no reason for me to tell you everything, is there?" He struggles against his bindings again and I can see he's getting annoyed, "As it is, if you're done with the interrogation. I've a proposal for you. If you're of a mind."

We look at each-other and I let through my trusting of his words, which surprises Erianne slightly. "Alright, we're listening."

"Well, here's the thing. I failed to kill you, so my life is forfeit. That's the rule, If you don't kill me the Crows will. Thing is, I like living." I snort a laugh. "And you obviously are the sort to give the Crows pause."

Oh that reminds me, I have to talk to Pause about Erianne soon.

Zevran blinks at me and continues, "So let me join you instead."

Eri scoffs, "And what's stopping you from finishing the job later?"

He pauses for a moment, "To be completely honest, I was never given much choice regarding joining the Crows." Eri watches him intently. "They bought me on the slave market when I was a child." At this point Alistair's free and Morrigan, Wynne, and Sten are walking over to see what's happening. "I think I've pain my worth back to them, plus tenfold. The only way out, however, is to sign up with someone they can't touch. Even if I did kill you now, they might kill me just on principle for failing the first time."

"Ugh... this is why I hate slavery." I shake my head in disgust.

"Quite right. Honestly, I'd rather take my chances with you."

I turn to look at Erianne hopefully, "Well? What do you think?" I raise an eyebrow.

She blinks at me in surprise, "Uh..." She turns and sees everyone else watching. "What do the rest of you think? Can we trust him?"

Sten's first, "Do what you wish, as long as we fight the Blight I care not what happens to him."

Wynne speaks up next, "I believe he deserves a second chance."

"T'would be best if we examine our food and drink more closely from now on." Is all Morrigan has to say and I nod in agreement to that.

"That's excellent advice for anyone." Zevran charmingly comments.

Erianne turns to me next. "I personally trust him. The creators know I've been forced into some difficult situations myself and ended up on the side of evil. I'd definitely be dead if someone wasn't generous with their forgiveness towards me."

She turns to give the unanimous answer to Zev, "Alright, we accept your offer."

"Alistair's going to freak..." I mutter as she goes to cut him loose.

"Oh... Maker."

Oh, well speak of the devil...

Everyone pauses and turns to see Alistair getting up and staggering over from where Wynne and Sten left him to rest. He gets closer and opens his eyes to stare at Zevran, unbound, standing next to Erianne. "Wait... What?! We're- we're taking the Assassin with us now?" Erianne nods as he has his freak-out. "Does that really seem-" He winces and grabs his cracked plate armored side. "-like a good idea?" He says out of breath.

Erianne sighs, "You owe me one for Darien remember?"

He sighs, "Alright, alright. I see your point." He says weakly, "Still, if there was a sign we- we- were d-desperate." He starts swaying and Erianne steps up to catch him if he falls. "I think it just knocked on the door and said- and said-" He collapses in a plated heap at her feet.

"Alistair!"

Wynne sighs as she kneels down to check on him, "I'll treat him, poor boy exhausted himself trying to escape from that fallen tree."

"Put him up in a tent with Leliana. I'll be by to brew a curative for both in a bit." I look over to Eri and Zev as he bows to us.

"I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you, until such a time as you choose to release me from it. I am your man, without reservation... this I swear."

Well, we have Zevran now. That's just perfect.

I shake his hand, "Oooh, firm grip. You must be ripped under those robes!" And blush violently from his advances. I quickly let go of his hand and fidget nervously.

Ok, maybe I didn't think this through properly...


After spending the rest of the day preparing, administering, and brewing specialty potions for the wounded, I tiredly pull the flap of my tent open and look up to see Erianne struggling to read one of my books in the back. She huffs in annoyance and turns the book around in confusion, "How can you read this?" I notice she's trying to read the only book I have in Qunlat and smile, "The handwriting is so bad it's like it's in a different language!"

I laugh at her lack of knowledge, "That's because it IS Erianne. That's Qunlat, the language of the Qunari."

She blinks, "Oh, right I knew that." She puts the book back on my two foot wide, three foot tall shelf I bought off of Bodahn to store my books at the back of my tent. "how you can understand that I have no idea."

I sigh as I'm reminded how tired I am, "I was taught Qunlat, Ancient Tevinter, Orlesian, Antivan, Traders Common, Pieces of Elvish, and bits of Nevarran by Flemeth over two and a half brutal years of intense studying of culture and magic." I sit down onto my bedroll and groan as my knees pop from over-use. "Now, what are you doing here Erianne?"

She watches me for a moment as she fidgets nervously, "Oh, um... I wanted to apologize for what I... did earlier."

I fold my hands in my lap, "You mean blindfolding and tying me, unarmed, to a tree in the middle of the forest during not only a Blight, but a Civil War?"

She cringes, "Sod... that makes it sound like I tried to kill you."

"You did try to kill me."

She swallows heavily, "Yeah, sorry. I talked with Morrigan and she told me how bad living with Flemeth was." I look at her to see her horrified expression, "I didn't think anyone could live worse than the elves in Ferelden.

I shrug it off, "It was fine, I've had worse."

Unfortunately that isn't a lie... Harbinger's an asshole.

She gawks at me in disbelief, "Worse?! You ATE live crickets!"

"At least I survived. And you still haven't told me what you've been up to since I... 'left'."

She bites her lower lip, "I... waited for a few weeks, waiting to see if you'd return. When you didn't I hitched a ride with a merchant caravan to Denerim." She sits down on a stool next to my bookcase. "I tried to get another merchant to take me to Highever, that's where my parents lived if you recall, but I was robbed." She shakes her head, "They took everything, all my gold, all my valuables, everything I didn't have on me when I went to the tavern for a drink, which thankfully didn't include my weapons and armor."

"I'm sorry."

She looks up, "It wasn't your fault, even though I blamed you for everything. I know it wasn't your fault."

I raise an eyebrow, "Really?"

She smiles sadly, "Yeah, sorry again for tying you to a tree, that was uncalled for."

I smile, "No problem... Warden."

She cringes, "Yeah, I should probably tell you about that." She shifts into a more comfortable position and starts her story. "After I was robbed I had to live in the Alienage since I knew the authorities wouldn't believe me, or even cared that I was robbed." She sits forwards, horror in her eyes, "It was just as horrible as I imagined from my childhood. Luckily I found my cousins, Shianni and Kallian living with my uncle. They took me in, and we got by. Two years of struggling to survive passed and I was actually starting to enjoy myself." I watch her intently, seeing the brimming emotions in her face barely stay contained. "Then came the wedding."

"Wedding?"

"An arranged marriage between 'bought' brides and their grooms, or the other way around, I can't really remember." She shrugs indifferently, "Kallian and her friend, Soris, were arranged to marry on the same day, a duel wedding." I nod to show I'm listening as she smiles, "Kallian was so happy, her husband would be Nelaros, an extremely handsome man, a prize for the dowry her father paid." She laughs, "Shianni was so jealous, she was absolutely cooing over him..." She stares off, lost in her own thoughts for a moment so I clear my throat. She blinks and looks at me, "Oh! Sorry, um... what was I saying?"

"You were talking about a wedding? And how attractive-"

"Oh! Yes, Kallian's groom was very attractive while Soris' was a bit... mousy."

I snicker, "Mousy?"

"Yeah, squeaky voice, annoying, quiet..."

"Yeah sure." I shake my head in amusement.

"Anyways, I followed them around for a while until these humans grabbed an elven woman behind Shianni." She frowns. "She called for them to let her go and I instantly readied my back-up dagger just-in-case." She folds her legs and sighs angrily, "I can still remember the flamboyant mocking in Vaughan's up-tight and cocky voice. He tells his friends with him to 'grab a whore and have a good time.'" I snarl in disgust. "I didn't want to kill him since he was the Arl's boy."

I stare at her like I'm in shock.

"So I naturally chucked a rock at his head and ended up knocking him unconscious."

I whistle approvingly and smile, "You are insane."

"Hey he had it coming!"

I laugh at her and shake my head in hilarity.

And I thought she was normal! HAHA! I can just imagine the look on Vaughan's face! HA!

"And what did you do when he woke up?" I ask properly.

She shrugs with a smirk, "Probably swore at the huge welt on his forehead. I don't really know since his buddies carted him back to the Arl's estate pretty quickly."

I stare at her in surprise, "So he left you alone?"

"No."

"He crashed the wedding and kidnapped the entire brides maid's party. He even got a luck swing in and knocked me out." She swallows fearfully and continues quietly, "I wake up naked and tied to his bed. He..." She looks away.

"Oh..." I breath as I realize what the bastard did.

"Yeah, he raped me. But I got the last laugh when I slipped out of my bindings and sliced his throat with a piece of ceramic pottery." She smirks darkly, "I even raided his room and got a few valuables and about twenty Sovereigns before I realized I just KILLED the ARL'S SON. I escaped after slaughtering my way through the castle to free Kallian and Shianni as well as the other girls. Thankfully none of them died, Vaughan was too focused on me to care about the rest."

"Good, that bastard deserves what he got." I growl out in fury.

He broke every one of my moral rules... let his soul be tortured in whatever type of hell they believe in here, forever.

"It didn't take long for the city guard to find us, they just had to follow the trail of blood I left between the Arl's estate and the Alienage. I took the fall for everything and they were just ordering my execution when I was knocked out." She shrugs.

"Wow... I never knew..."

She smiles, "That's not the best part. Duncan, the former Grey Warden Commander here in Ferelden, was watching my execution and called the rite of conscription as I flipped off the crowd in a last bout of defiance." She bursts out laughing and I join her. "He said to me, 'Women as... strong-hearted as you shouldn't die young!' HAHA! I thought he was-" Her smile drops as she remembers Ostagar. "He died at Ostagar, along with every other Grey Warden besides me and Alistair."

"I'm sorry." I say truthfully.

She shakes her head, "Not your fault. But... thanks, I appreciate your concern."

I snort out a laugh, "You really have changed from that fearful, enraged merchant's wife who showed up crying at my doorstep all those years ago."

She smiles, "Yeah, I think what happened between us was for the best. You went on to... do, whatever you did. And I ended up being one of the two Grey Wardens left able to defeat the Blight in Ferelden."

I scoff, "Talk about irony." I drop my smile, "I'm sorry for abandoning you Erianne, I truly am."

"I know." She pauses to look at her feet for a moment. "Darien?" She looks at me, "Do you think we can still be at least friends? I-I need someone to talk to besides Alistair around here."

I smile as I stand up with her and hug her as a friend, "I'd like that Erianne, thanks for stopping by."

She sighs in my arms and I feel a tear drop onto my shoulder as I rub her back comfortingly.

"Thank you..." She lets go and kisses my cheek before leaving without saying another word.


A/N College is still taking up my time, but rest assured I'll at least post on the weekends if I have time. Even in the worst situations I'll find some way to get these chapters to you all. :) Have a wonderful day everyone.

Yeah! I'm so glad we finally got Zevran on the team! He's so fun.