This IS going to span all three games, and will not be in any order. Ever. You just got lucky with these first three chapters lol. And this one is in Leliana's POV.

I cannot help grinning. The adrenaline coursing through my veins, the grin on my friend's face, it's all too much for me. I let the smile break through as I backstep and duck, her sword flying overhead harmlessly. Elissa steps back inside my reach, using her free hand to reach for my wrist. I feel the cool metal of her gauntlet close over my arm and she pulls it to the side, leaving us both with one hand and one weapon. I have a dagger and she has her sword. It is a rather plain weapon, or it would be, if not for the color of the blade. It is a cross between bronze and gold with the hilt and crossguard being a dark wood with lyrium veins streaking through. But there are no adornments, only the blade and the handle.

"That's cheating," I say.

"Nah, it's not," she says, twisting on my wrist so she and my are are behind me. "It's not like you fight fair. Why should I?"

"I was fighting fair. I don't have to if you don't want me to."

"That's a thought," she says, laughing as she releases me. I spin and swing the pommel of my sword towards her unprotected head, but she rolls away, springing up surprisingly easily for someone wearing a hundred pounds of silverite armor. "Aww, come on, Leliana! Actually try to hit me. And do it like you mean it."

I raise an eyebrow. "Like I mean it?" The blond woman nods, settling into a defensive crouch with a strangely eager look on her face. "I'm not sure I'll ever understand Fereldans."

"Well, aren't you a Fereldan?" Elissa asks.

I give her a look, but she only seems amused by it. "My mother was from Denerim. I consider myself as such although many would argue that I'm not."

"If you start swinging at me like you mean it, I'll jump to your defense every time."

I huff before leaping at her, driving my dagger up and swinging my sword at her side. She throws up her left arm to catch my left wrist, but I divert where my sword is going, and with her stance, she has no way to block as the flat of my blade collides with her upper arm. She yelps and jumps back while her hand opens reflexively. Despite how easily I disarmed her, Elissa still grins, favoring her right.

"Damn! When was the last time you used those things?"

"Fighting the Archdemon," I say.

"Didn't last long though, now did it? I mean the last time you actually used those for more than three minutes."

I shrug. "Does that matter?"

"If I knew you didn't need practice I never would've suggested it!"

A playful smirk tugs at my lips. "You are just like Aedan. You never turn down a challenge. All I would have had to do was suggest you were getting lazy."

"Hey! I am not lazy!"

I laugh, shaking my head. "See?"

She scowls. "Sometimes I really regret letting you tag along."

"Oh, but then you'd be stuck with the boys," I say. "And bored."

"I'd also have feeling in my arm."

"Quit your whining." She glares at me, but stands up straight, squaring her shoulders. "You in or you out?"

"Without my sword?" Elissa's glare quickly switches to another grin. "Ha! Let's do this."

I take a step back, holding my hands at my sides, while she watches with a concentrated stare on her face, eyes narrowed. She takes a few minutes before deciding on what she is going to do. Then she lunges, allowing me to swing my dagger. She slaps it aside with the palm of her hand and hits the inside of my elbow. I scowl as a hiss of pain escapes me. It's not so much the hitting that hurt, but the metal and the way it pinches my exposed skin. She has Warden armor on whereas I'm wearing the leathers Aedan bought and forced me to take.

"Fight like you mean it!" Elissa says. "Try to kill me, dammit!"

"You're insane!"

"So I've been told!" She hits my side with her hand and uses the buckle there as support. She holds onto the clasp as she latches her foot around my ankle. Elissa pushes on my shoulder and pulls with her foot, sending me sprawling in a matter of seconds. She crosses her arms while I scramble to my feet. "Not so cocky now, huh?"

I frown at her. "You're arrogant, you know that?"

"Not technically," Elissa says. "I don't exaggerate or think I'll do better than what I actually will. I know I can beat you."

"Is that a dare?"

"Don't like challenges?"

"Quite the contrary."

"Great!" Before I can so much as see what she's doing, she tackles me and wrestles both weapons from my grasp, using her elbows to pin my shoulders. I manage to get my foot between us and use it to push her off me. I roll onto my knees as she does the same. We both make a run for my weapons, as they're closer than her sword, but I make it first. I barely have the chance to scoop up my sword and swing it in an arc before she skids to a stop in the dirt and rolls around. Her boot catches my ankle and she trips me again while reaching for the dagger lying close by. The training field is nothing more than a cloud of dirt and dust, but that doesn't bother her, and it sure as hell doesn't bother me.

Elissa gets her hand on my dagger's hilt just as I get back up. She's on her feet not a moment later, and when I bring my sword full-circle, the dagger is up. She throws all of her strength into pushing me and the sword off, going as far as to feign kicking at me so I retreat to avoid the force that metal boot could bring. As she brings her arm back, I grab her shoulder and push her down to flip over her back. I use my free hand to pull her upright in the same motion. I pin her in place by grabbing her right wrist and holding the blade of my sword to her throat.

And despite her back to me, I can see the look on her face. She's not giving up yet.

With a well-placed elbow, she has me forced back and gasping for air as she takes my sword. The blond places the dagger behind my neck and points the sword at my throat, breathing heavily through her nose.

"Done yet?" Elissa asks, her breathlessness as obvious as my own.

I debate about it for a minute before nodding. "For the day, yes."

She nods and lowers her arms, returning the weapons to me before retrieving her own. "That was a good fight though. I had fun."

"I let you win."

The Warden laughs, shaking her head, as she straightens. "Of course you did." I shove my daggers in their crossed scabbards at the small of my back. Elissa returns to my side, eyebrow raised. "Hungry?"

"No, not particularly."

"Excellent," she says. "To the larder!" Just as she starts to lead me into the keep, a clamor rises at the gates. "Or not." She jerks her head. "Come on. Let's go see what Fergus blew up this time."

"I don't see any smoke," I say, following her lead. "Or smell any fire."

Elissa laughs. "Highever is made of stone. It doesn't catch."

I raise an eyebrow. "Aedan told me how you found out you are a mage. Set that larder on fire, huh?"

"That's different!"

"Oh really? How?"

She shoots me a glare and I laugh, shaking my head. I push my bangs out of my face, wishing my hair would grow out faster so I could pull it back. The Archdemon has been dead for a fortnight. It can't grow just a few inches? Now I have hair that sticks to everything if I get into a good fight. I hate sweating.

"Oh great," Elissa says. I pull myself out of my thoughts to follow her gaze. "I think this is just for me." A man in silverite armor marches up to us, removing his helmet. By the way he walks, I can tell he has training as a Chevalier, if not actually being one before joining the Wardens. The sight of his white stallion confirms my thoughts. One of the Orlesian Wardens sent by their Warden-Commander and the First Warden to help Elissa, Aedan, Cyrus, and Alistair kick the rest of the darkspawn back to the Deep Roads.

"Commander," he says, inclining his head in greeting. "You're needed in the Hinterlands. The darkspawn are massing there."

She exchanges a glance with me before nodding. "Fine. We'll leave in the morning. Go...go find a bed at the inn. I'll meet you there after breakfast."

He nods. "Of course." He inclines his head in my direction, saying, "Ma'am." Then he puts his helmet back on and returns to his horse, pulling himself into the saddle effortlessly. I still don't quite understand how Wardens manage to mount a horse in a hundred-some odd pounds of armor. They all seem unfazed by it, like the weight isn't even there. I'll have to ask someone.

Once the Orlesian Warden is gone, Elissa looks back to me, forcing a smile. "So much for sticking around."

"The Blight is hardly over," I say. "Just because the Archdemon is dead doesn't mean the darkspawn are going to leave peacefully. I understand. I need to leave for Orlais anyway."

"I'd hoped I'd be able to spend some time with Fergus and my mother, though," Elissa says, sighing. "And you and Alistair. It's not like we've talked much outside of the Blight."

"That's what writing is for," I say, shrugging. Not that I'm opposed to actually getting to know my best friend outside of being a mage and a Warden. But I understand she's busy, and she's going to be busy for quite a while. We might have killed all the darkspawn we could find, but with the massive hordes of people fleeing Denerim once the army pushed the monsters back to Fort Drakon, plenty of the darkspawn got out of the gates. They scattered, leaving the four Wardens a break. A small break. Last week, Elissa spent her time running around Denerim's outskirts, killing more darkspawn with a group of elves. Now Aedan, Alistair, and Cyrus are helping the dwarves chase a party of them off Highever's lands. A busy two weeks. I'm the only one of our party that has stuck around. Wynne returned to the Circle immediately, Zevran disappeared after saying something about the Crows still hunting him, Sten returned to Par Vollen, Oghren is...somewhere doing...something, and Morrigan wasn't even around to see Anora's coronation. She was gone the instant the Archdemon died. He didn't let it show, but it bothered Talith, and he went back to the Circle after making sure the Wardens didn't need him any longer. I sort of feel bad for the Templar. He was a nice man once you got through his shell of emotionlessness, and Morrigan just left. She didn't even say goodbye to anyone. Not even Elissa, and she claimed to be friends with her.

Now we have Orlesian Wardens and thousands of darkspawn roaming the countryside.

"Yes, well, I'm not much of a writer," Elissa says. "I'm more of a...shoot darkspawn in the face person." I smile, nodding as I look down at my feet. "It's what I excel at. Usually."

"Usually?" I ask, head snapping up to raise an eyebrow. "I have yet to see you miss what you aim at."

She grins, slapping my shoulder in the way the guys do. "The last time I missed a hurlock almost took my head off. Wasn't even a Warden yet." She nods back the way we came. "And it's not like I've seen you miss a shot."

I laugh as I follow her to the front courtyard of the keep. "You were missing for four months, my friend. You missed quite a lot."

"Not as much as you might think," Elissa says.

"Is that so?" She pauses, crossing her arms. I watch her for a moment, follow her gaze, and look back to her. "What's wrong?"

She shrugs. "It's not everyday you walk through your home as an outsider. I was just...thinking." The Warden sighs and shakes her head. "I suppose it's not healthy to wish I could've made Howe's death far more painful than it was." I shake my head in agreement. "Or to say I wish that I could've inflicted the same pain on him as he did to the people here." She swallows deeply. "I'm not a perfect person, you know. I think about as many dark things as you and everyone else. Those four months I was gone? They were the worst four months of my life."

"Why? What happened?"

Elissa laughs bitterly. "Too much for life to be the same for me." She beckons me after her, so I follow, running a hand across the back of my neck. "For Thedas, too. The Blight...it's not even the worst thing to happen this age. There will be so much more dying and suffering. You know the Maker wants us to suffer? He wants us to hurt because mankind still needs punished for what the magisters did all that time ago. The Blight isn't enough. The next two, when they end, we'll still be punished for that sin." She looks back at me, smiling in a sad sort of way. "I learned that while I was away. I learned that the Maker wants to fuck us over as many times as He can."

"Did He tell you that? Or is this your own belief?"

"I don't know, actually. A little of both, I think," she says. "My point is, I shouldn't be so upset about having to leave and neither should you."

"When did I say I was upset?"

"I know you well enough to be able to tell, Leliana," Elissa says. "But hey, when Thedas is about to be fucked, the four of us will be at the center of it. Literally."

"So...we'll all be fucked over together?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"For lack of better words, yes," Elissa agrees, laughing. "When Thedas falls to hell, it'll be my fault. When the Conclave explodes, it'll be my fault. When that stupid magister nearly kills the Inquisitor, it'll be my fault. And because you're my friend, Thedas will blame you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I say.

"You don't need to," she says. "You will. Eventually. You'll remember this conversation long after it's too late to reverse the consequences and you'll hate me. Aedan and Alistair will have vanished and it'll only be us and you'll hate me. When that time comes, you remember this. I didn't do anything because I wanted to. I never get to do what I want anymore. That sparring match? Hope urged me into it. Accepting the rank of Warden-Commander last month? Hope. Spending four months of my life hunting the Witch of the Wilds? That was the Maker. I don't even exist sometimes. Sometimes I'm only them."

"That's not true," I say flatly. "You're still my best friend."

"I hope so," Elissa says. "I hope so. If I lose my family, living won't really be worth it, right?"

"You fought through the Blight thinking Fergus and your mother were dead."

"I had Aedan," she says. "He's the only family I ever truly had. He didn't hate me for being a mage. Fergus always looked at me funny; my parents never trusted me to go anywhere alone." She looks up at the sky, frowning. "Then the Blight happened. I found a family in that mess of armed lunatics. Did you know the first thing Alistair said to me at Ostagar was about how the darkspawn were bringing people together? Is it weird he ended up being right? I found him." She looks over at me, stopping to grin. "I found a sister, too."

"You sound like you're going to die."

"I will. Probably before my Calling, too. I was born to die, you see. That's why I..." She shakes her head. "Never mind." Elissa offers her hand. "I'm not going to end up dead anytime soon, but I wanted to make sure I told you that. Long after I'm dead, people will think of me like a legend, good or bad depends on how I make the Agent of the Maker thing work, but I wanted someone to know I'm still just a human being."

Something about this entire conversation put my mood south. So, swallowing back whatever emotion is rising in my throat, I take her hand in mine. "I'm finding it hard to believe I'll ever hate you."

She smiles. "I still find it hard to believe my best friend is an Orlesian bard."

"You think I expected to be friends with a Fereldan noblewoman?"

"Uh-uh. Not noble anymore. Now I'm just a Grey Warden," Elissa says. "And to be honest, I think I like this life more than the one I had as a noblewoman. This family is real. My other...not so much."

"Even if you die?"

"Dying isn't an 'if'. It's a 'when'. And when I die, I'll be happy to say my family consisted of a Qunari, a dwarf, a hormone-driven elf, a Nevarran Warden, an Orlesian, a Templar elf, the daughter of the Witch of the Wilds, another Templar, and a mage." Her smile returns, much wider. "A nice, large family. Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"Usually," I say, nodding.

Elissa nods, inhaling deeply, before saying, "Enough of the depressing talk. We're going to the larder. Now. I'm starving."

"Wardens," I say, laughing. She laughs too, but it sounds like she actually means it unlike the way she did a few moments ago. That's all I want. She's been back for a little over a month, and all she's seen is death and hatred for her. It has to be horrible. The 'Hero of Ferelden' doesn't seem to feel like a hero. "I owe you, you know."

"Really? Why's that?" she asks.

"For saving my life," I say. "I only ever did get to thank you for running through the Brecilian Forest."

"Thanks is enough. It's what friends do for each other."

"Nonsense. I owe you something."

Elissa raises an eyebrow. "Have you ever had a real friend, Leliana?"

I open my mouth to answer, but I snap my jaw shut almost the same instant. Have I? I think back to my time in Orlais and my time with Marjolaine. None of those people would ever do something like what Elissa and Alistair did. And just like I did when I compared Aedan and Marjolaine, I compare the two Wardens with everyone I ever called 'friend'. None of those people measure up to them. Alistair was always a little awkward and sympathetic because I acted so strangely when we left Lothering. He was an easy friend to make. Elissa expressed her hatred of me early on. She was raised to dislike Orlesians, yet she risked her life to run through a werewolf-infested forest to find an elven healer. They might not have known about the werewolves until it was too late, but they made sure they got back to us so I didn't die.

I don't expect anyone else would have done the same.

"No, I don't think I have, actually," I say.

"Aedan wasn't a bad first friend, was he?" Elissa asks. She pauses before laughing and continuing. "Oh, who am I kidding? He's a horrible friend to have."

"You should know," I say, laughing with her.

"It's a good thing you're more than friends, then."

"If there's only one thing Aedan's good at, it's-"

She slaps her hands over her ears. "Not listening. Lalalalala!"

I shake my head, rolling my eyes. "You and Alistair are perfect for each other."

"Hey, my sex jokes are shared with him and him only!"

"Probably because he's the only person you've slept with."

"Ack! Shut up! Stop talking! Blah blah blah!"

"You Fereldans are so fickle," I say, giggling.

"I have virgin ears!" Elissa says defensively.

"Not after spending five seconds around Zevran."

"He's easier to tune out. Accent isn't as annoying." I push her shoulder hard enough to send her into the wall. She hits with a metallic clang, laughing her ass off. "Ha! I win!"

"The only thing your brother is good for is sex."

"Maker, I hate you." She scowls at me as she opens the door to the kitchen. "And here I got you a surprise, though now I'm seeing it's just because you want sex."

"What about sex?" Aedan asks.

My jaw drops. "And I'm the bad friend?!"

"Yeah, obviously. You make me look like an idiot in front of everybody in the castle, I make you look like an idiot in front of the person you love. It's an even trade-off."

"What's going on?" Aedan asks.

"Leliana only likes you for the sex," Elissa says.

Aedan laughs. "Maybe I only like her for the same reason. Isn't that fair?"

"Hmm..." She looks between the two of us before nodding. "So, I should probably leave so I don't have to watch?" Aedan whips an apple across the room at her, but she ducks, laughing. "It's for Leliana's benefit, not yours, you jackass!"

He hops the table and runs at the two of us, grabbing his sister in a headlock before she can so much as blink. He's a lot faster than I thought. "You're an evil sister, you know that? I hate you with all my heart, servant of the Maker or not."

She laughs. "I'm the older sibling. It's my job to torture you." The two struggle against the other, but Elissa manages to free herself rather quickly, dancing backwards in a show of her training as a rogue. "I'm not as evil as you may think. You two are only in it for the sex? Well..." Aedan grabs the same apple he threw and throws it again. This time it clips her shoulder as she bolts for the higher levels of the castle. "Keep it down, will you?"

"How about you try that with Alistair?" I shout after her. I finally found the brainpower to think of something to say.

"I don't like being quiet! It's not my style!" Elissa retorts.

"Damn, her mind works fast," Aedan says.

"Oh obviously! That explains everything!" I say.

"You...you shut up!" Elissa shouts.

Aedan and I laugh. "What did that mean?" Aedan asks.

I shrug. "Who knows? It meant something to her, so that's what counts."

"You cheated."

"I'm a bard. Did you expect me to not?" I shrug.

"No, not really," Aedan says, chuckling. "You never play it fair. Sneaking up on me like that at Lothering. Not fair. Not fair at all." He walks up to me, arms crossed. I raise an eyebrow and do the same. "You cheated. You had me wrapped around your little finger before I knew what was happening."

"I thought it was harder than that," I say.

"No, I was pretty much gone from the moment I laid eyes on you."

"Is that so bad?"

Aedan grins, resting his hands on my hips. "I could think of worse things to happen now that you mention it..."

He leans in to kiss me, but I whisper, "Like what?"

Aedan doesn't try to hide his amusement. He laughs softly, resting his forehead on my own. "You really are a sneaky little lady."

"Lot sneakier than you," I say, briefly pressing my lips to his in the briefest of kisses. "You and your big, clanky armor. You could be heard coming from a mile away."

"Yeah, but that's what I have you for," he says. "I run up and distract them with my clanky loudness and you sneak up behind them. No one will ever know!" I laugh once, leaning on his shoulder. The metal guard protecting it is cool to the touch, a feeling I welcome. I'm still sweating. Aedan does not seem to mind. "I love you, you know that?"

I smile even though he cannot see it. "I love you too, Aedan."

"I'm glad to be so lucky for however long it'll last," he says.

I pull back and knit my eyebrows together in confusion. "What makes you think I'll stop loving you?" He swallows and looks away from me. "What's wrong? Aedan?"

"I...I need to tell you something," he says, stepping back. "It's important. And it can't wait any longer." He extends his hand, so I take it. He winces, but says nothing other than, "Come on. Upstairs we go." I allow him to lead me into his old room, to shut the door behind us. He drops my hand almost instantly, flopping on his bed with a heavy sigh.

I sit beside him. "What is it?"

"Um..." He seems at a loss for words. "Uh...well, the Warden that kills the Archdemon is...is supposed to die."

"Elissa doesn't look dead to me."

He groans. "I know she's not, and that's great, don't get me wrong, but she's supposed to be dead. Every Warden that kills the Archdemon dies in the process. Its soul...it tries to jump into the Warden that struck the blow so it can reform, but it doesn't work because the Warden already has a soul. Both are killed. And I did something I'm not proud of to...to prevent it."

"And this is such a bad thing?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow. "Elissa killed the Archdemon and lived. You all lived, except Riordan, but...he fell off it."

"Leliana, you don't understand how bad it is," Aedan says. "I need to tell you, but I can't at the same time."

"Just tell me. It can't be as bad as you say."

He doesn't look like he believes me. "You'll take that back, I swear it."

"Then just tell me, Aedan!"

"I don't know how!" he says, bolting upright. "What I did...Leliana, I can't forgive myself for it. If I can't forgive myself, how can I expect you to? I hate myself for what I did, but at the same time, I don't, because if I didn't do it, my sister would be dead right now."

Sighing, I put one of my hands on his. "It cannot be as horrible as you make it out to be, Aedan." I pause before adding, "I love you. If anyone can forgive you for something, it would be me."

He runs a hand through his hair. "You want to know what I did?"

"Obviously."

"I...I slept with Morrigan. Okay? That's what I did. I slept with her because she said it would produce a child, and that child would absorb the soul of the Archdemon instead of the Warden. The Warden and the child would both survive and the Archdemon would stay dead."

"You did what?!"

He refuses to look at me. "You heard."

I pull my hand back and get to my feet, clenching and unclenching my fists repeatedly to keep from punching him or something else. I don't even know what to say. How could he do that?! He slept with Morrigan?! How could he?! I was afraid to let myself near him like this so I could avoid being betrayed! I even told him that, and he goes and does that?! He...it...how? How could he manage to do something like that? Did I ever make him think that I don't love him? Did he get curious? Did he lie about the dying with the Archdemon? Is this some sort of elaborate excuse to get away with it?

"How could you?"

"I-"

"If you'd come to me and explained, I would've understood! You know I would have! Aedan, how could you think I wouldn't?! I would rather have you do that if it means I wouldn't lose you! But you said nothing! You didn't trust me enough to tell me!"

"Leliana, I-"

"No! Don't talk to me. I'm done." I march over to the door, yank it open, and slam it shut behind me. I start back down to the guestrooms, but I hear him come after me, so I run.

"Leliana, please, listen to me!"

"I don't want anything to do with you!" I snap. "Leave me alone!" I sprint for the room I was using and slam into the door, throwing my weight into it to open it. Before he can reach me, I shut the door and lock it, sliding to the floor.

I...I can't believe him. It's not even so much that he had sex with Morrigan. It's that he didn't tell me what was going on. I would have understood, I know I would have! Anything is better than losing him, Elissa, Alistair, or Cyrus. Anything! I...I...I don't even know if I can look at him again.

I pull my knees up to my chest, wrap my arms around my legs, and lean forward, biting my tongue hard enough to draw blood so I don't cry. He...he slept with Morrigan. The thought of it breaks my heart. But he lied to me about it, too, and that's what kills me. I trusted him. I told him everything about me, but he still goes and keeps secrets. I trusted him to be better than Marjolaine. Even she would've had the decency to tell me! She didn't even care, but she would have said something!

Maybe that's why Aedan didn't tell me...? Because he does care?

I slam a fist into the door and choke on a sob. It doesn't matter what his motives were. He lied to me. I can forgive him for sleeping with Morrigan, but Aedan lied to me. I'm not sure if I can forgive him for that.