A/N: I thought it only right to give the unnamed Disciples who fight against the Lost a name, so I called them the Faithful. As always, reviews are much loved!

)O(

"Tradition is an excuse to act without thinking."

Reluctantly, Jenji had found herself at Court.

As ruler of these lands, she had the right to high justice, so all cases that couldn't be handled by the authorities had to be brought before her for judgment.

She hated this part. It felt so strange to be sitting here, deciding the fates of people who once would have spat on her just for being what she was because it was their right, and now were begging the elf for mercy.

The first was a nervous man in chains, accused of theft. Alec was a shepherd who had stolen two bushels of grain from the Crown for his starving family. A daring task indeed. It seemed the old paradox really was true; a man would steal a loaf of bread to feed his family.

She knew that, traditionally, he should be executed for his crime. But Jenji had her own principles to think about...and she couldn't help thinking how easily it could have been her begging for her life right now.

But letting him go would make her appear too soft. There had to be a balance between the power she had now and the sympathy she felt for the peasants.

"What are your orders, Commander?"

"Can you fight, Alec?" she asked.

"Well I-I...um..."

"No matter, you will learn." Jenji then turned to Varel and said, "I hereby conscript this man into the army."

"Commander, he stole from the Crown and you are rewarding him?"

"He will be well paid for his service, thus his family will be well fed and he won't need to steal from anyone. I'm giving him a chance, Seneschal, not a reward."

"Thank you," the shepherd said, tears of gratitude welling up in his eyes.

Then there was the case of a soldier called Danella who had abandoned her post in order to protect her family from the darkspawn. Again the paraodx was evident: breaking the law for good reason. But now Jenji was on the other end of it.

Not punishing Danella could lead to further desertions if people began to think it was okay to forget their duties.

But, at the same time, she was reminded of the prisoner at Ostagar. He was a deserter, and yet he hadn't asked for her to release him; all the man had wanted was one last meal before the guard came and sentenced him to death. And she had been more than happy to steal some food and water for him back then...but this was different. This was now. This was a soldier in her army who had willfully abandoned the post she had been assigned to.

"Seneschal, what do you propose I do?"

"Well, Commander...traditionally the punishment for desertion has been death, but the choice is ultimately yours."

Tradition...

Tradition cared nothing for circumstance. Tradition cared nothing for the young woman kneeling in front of her now. Tradition was a word invoked whenever one needed an exucse to do barbaric things for no real reason at all.

She was torn between the just thing to do, and the 'right' thing to do.

"No," Jenji said quietly. "Please, Varel...you decide."

And she barely even heard as he sentenced Danella to execution. Guards moved in and dragged her to the dungeon kicking and screaming. Soldiers...maybe they were her friends.

"Andraste have mercy..." someone uttered.

Somehow it was harder condemning someone to death than it was to kill them herself.

Jenji stood up suddenly, which proved to be a grave error. "I...h-have to go. Excuse me."

She hurried from the room and ducked into the closest corridor, but the weakness made her legs give out and she clung to the wall for support. Then, her back to the stone wall, she sank down to the floor. The world would not stop spinning.

"Commander...!" the sound was distant. At first she could not even tell who the voice belonged to.

"I'm...fine." Lies...But she had to remain conscious. There were still more cases to be presented, more verdicts to be made...

...She couldn't do it anymore.

"You are certainly not fine." Nathaniel insisted.

"Doesn't that make you happy?" she asked absently.

"I...no. Of course not. But you're not fine, you're..." He trailed off, searching for the right words.

"Weak?" she suggested.

"No, not at all. Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true." the elf replied, trying to catch her breath. "You look so much like him, you know; your father I mean..."

"You need to rest." he stated, a twinge of anger to his tone.

"I'm fine...or...I will be."

And sure enough, eventually she was. Everything came back into focus once more and she felt as though she could breathe again.

"Nathaniel? What are you doing here?" Jenji questioned, a confused expression on her face. "And what am I doing here?"

And she didn't remember a thing.

Jenji returned to Court even more reluctantly than before, apologizing for her absence.

The next case was regarding Ser Temmerly, a noble who was suspected of murdering the knight who had warned Jenji about the possible conspiracy against her. She had a feeling Esmerelle was at the center of all this, but she wasn't the one on trial here today, so this man would have to do.

"That bitch deserved what she got!"

"Please, settle down, Ser Temmerly." Varel said wearily.

"What are you going to do? You can't prove I had a part in any of this. You drag me in here and accuse me of knowing something about a conspiracy that may or may not even exist-"

"-And the woman who warned me about said conspiracy just happens to wind up dead just as you are seen running through the streets with blood on your clothes? Seems rather suspicious to me."

"Things aren't always what they seem, knife-ears."

Several people gasped, but mostly there was a fearful silence. It was Jenji who spoke first, her voice calm and quiet with the subtle undertone of homicidal rage.

"Tell me what you know about the conspiracy, or you may just have to spend some time in the dungeon until you change your mind."

Temmerly snorted. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"One person has already died today. Ask yourself if this is really worth losing your life over."

"I'll tell you this," he began. "There are certain people who resent what you've done. You killed our Arl and was rewarded with his lands. So these people seek to grab hold of a rare opportunity. If an elf could do it, why not them?" His mouth formed into a mischievous sneer. "Why not, say, me?"

He knew more than he was letting on, but it was unlikely he'd give up any further information unless tortured. Besides, there were other was of procuring information.

"Guards!" she called. "Take Ser Temmerly to the dungeon to await execution, please."

The words sounded hollow.

And he did not put up a fight.

He knew precisely what to expect.

The last case of the day was a simple one. Apparently Arl Howe had neglected to make good on a promise to Lady Liza Packton. She was probably one of his mistresses, and he had sworn to give her land that was already inhabited by another noble. Jenji didn't even have to think about this one.

"But Arl Howe-" Lady Liza argued.

"-Isn't here anymore. You swore an oath of fealty, just like everyone here. You swore that oath to me, not him. He's dead. We have to move on." Jenji interrupted. "Whatever Howe promised you is not in my power to give." Yes it is... "And so, the land shall remain the property of Ser Derren."

Of course, she didn't want to be seen as a hypocrite, nor did she want it to look like the only reason she was doing this was because Derren had fought against Loghain during the Blight. The land had been Howe's at the time to do with it what he wished, but because it already had an owner there was no reason to change that now. And of course there would be rumor going around in a week saying that either side had bribed her anyway, so what was the difference?

She was just glad to be done with politics for now.

Amie ran up to her, barking happily.

"Did you have fun?" Anders asked, grinning.

"What do you think?"

Before they left for Amaranthine, Nathaniel managed to seize a moment alone with her.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, careful to keep his voice low enough so they would not be overheard.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Even Amie knew he didn't believe it.

)O(

The story went that two hunters had stumbled across a cave crawling with darkspawn. Luckily they had managed to remain undetected by the creatures and lived to tell the tale. But this matter would require further investigation.

"The darkspawn completely ignored us. It was like they had some place to be. Can you imagine? The Blight's over, isn't it? What could have them so...organized?" It was exactly the question on her mind as well.

The chasm the men had spotted was not a chasm at all, as it turned out, but an entrance to the Deep Roads. Jenji wasn't sure if they were prepared for this. A few of the beasts wandering about the forest they could handle easily enough, but walking right into the heart of the darkspawn lair? It gave her chills.

And they weren't alone either.

A dwarf seemed to have gotten there first and was already battling the creatures. Jenji decided to help, and when the last of them were slain, she realized what she had done.

Jenji had only seen fighting like that once before.

This dwarf was a member of the Legion of the Dead.

"You lost, stranger?" she asked breathlessly.

"Not really." Jenji replied. "Though I can't say I'm completely sure where I am either."

The dwarf, who she now noticed had one of the brands that marked her as casteless, smirked. "Then let me be the first to welcome you to Kal'Hirol, or what's left of it, that is."

Just look at what tradition has done to her.

"What happened here?"

"Same thing that's happened to the rest of the dwarven cities. But that's not important now." she said. "I'm Sigrun; I was part of a unit of Legionaries sent to clear out this area."

When Sigrun didn't continue, Nathaniel asked, "Where is the rest of your comrades?"

"We're not the Legion of the Living, you know."

Oh...

"I'm sorry."

The dwarf let out a bark of laughter. "Why? The darkspawn did this, not you. And even so, they knew what to expect when they joined the Legion, we all did. But..." she looked down. "But we didn't expect there to be so many. We didn't expect them to be so..."

"Organized?" Jenji offered.

Sigrun nodded. "The darkspawn have changed, they're smart now, and they're building an army."

"Then we'll have to do something about that." Anders decided.

"Yes...Sigrun, maybe you should-"

"-I'm not leaving until this is finished. If I die...then so be it."

Jenji sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to change her mind. Sigrun walked towards the entrance to Kal'Hirol before turning around to face her new companions. "Shall we?"

The fortress was huge, difficult to navigate, and populated only by darkspawn...and ghosts. The spirits were forced to go through the circumstances of their deaths over and over and over again. A terrible fate, but it could have been much worse.

Kal'Hirol was being used by the darkspawn to breed an army, that was for certain. The enormous nest was filled with eggs that were larger than Jenji herself, and each one hatched before their very eyes.

"I really didn't need to see what a newborn darkspawn looked like..." Anders remarked.

But something about this just didn't seem...normal.

These weren't darkspawn, at least not exactly; they were something...else.

Sigrun led them down a seemingly endless corridor, only to encounter even more talking darkspawn. But the creatures weren't here to kill the Wardens...they were here to kill each other.

"We will not allow this to continue." one of the beasts was saying. "You have squandered the gift you have been given! He seeks to liberate us, to free us from the cursed song, and yet you fight it!"

But that was all the darkspawn was able to say, because at that moment what appeared to be a giant flaming golem ripped him in half with one swift motion. The ones who followed him backed away a few paces.

"The Faithful will die!" Another one shouted towards what remained of the dead darkspawn's allies. "The Grey Wardens will die! All who oppose her will die!"

This thing will die, she thought.

The fiery golem attacked.

That's when she realized the so-called 'Faithful' were on her side. Or perhaps she was on their side, she didn't know. When had all this happened? This war was most certainly not hers to fight.

But she had a feeling all of this had something to do with The Architect.

There was at least ten broodmothers. Memories of the one she had fought in the Dead Trenches came rushing back to her like it was yesterday. She looked over at Oghren to see if he was thinking the same thing. He was.

Laryn...Hespith...these ones must have had names at one point as well...and Sigrun probably knew what they were.

Ninth day, she grins...and devours her kin...

After the fight, a relieved silence overcame them all. Kal'Hirol was now free of darkspawn, at least for now, and not even the murmur of the spirits could be heard any longer.

"What will you do now, Sigrun?"

"Well...I guess I could always...die later." the dwarf decided. "I mean, it sounds like these darkspawn need to be dealt with so..."

"How would you like to come to the surface?" Anders offered. "We have a sky and some trees up there that are just out of this world."

"I think I'd like that."

"Great..." Velanna muttered, quite displeased with the new company.

)O(

Sigrun was just happy to be alive. The surface would take some getting used to obviously, but it could be a lot worse.

Jenji wondered if she had any family somewhere that might miss her. Legion of the Dead, remember?

"You're a hero where I come from, you know." Sigrun remarked, cheerful as always.

"You mean Orzammar?"

"Specifically Dust Town." she said. "Everyone knows how you took down Jarvia and her lackeys. You were the talk of the town for quite some time after that. But soon enough the carta had a new leader, even though he had to rebuild from virtually nothing. Not only had most of the members of the carta been killed, but its reputation along with them. It took a while for the new boss to establish connections and fear. I forget his name...Leske or...something like that."

"What happened then?"

"Then I joined the Legion. We don't get much news. But I assume business is the same as it's ever been."

"Oh." Jenji paused, considering how to phrase the question. "I don't mean to pry but...why exactly did you join the Legion anyway?"

"Not for the reason you think." Sigrun replied. "We don't all have a death wish or something. Don't get me wrong, some do, but they usually don't last too long. I...I was a coward. Given the choice between execution and joining the Legion, I chose the option that might give me a chance to escape."

"It did. And hey, we all have a past, don't we?" Jenji smiled warmly.

"Even you, Commander?"

"What, you think I was born as the Hero of Ferelden? Life in the Alienage isn't easy, Sigrun. It's easier than Dust Town, sure, but...yes, I had to do certain things in order to survive, too." The look in her eyes was distant. "And I didn't realize it until now, but I was also given a choice. Execution or joining the Grey Wardens. Take it from me, you're not a coward for wanting to live. Survival is not a weakness." Now I'm starting to sound like Morrigan...

"I guess not." she agreed. "We're not so different, are we?"

"I think you'd be surprised."

When they arrived at the Vigil an appalling scene awaited them. A mob of angry peasants was gathered, demanding food. She didn't understand it. She'd sent the soldiers to protect the trade routes because that's what Mistress Woolsey had said was best and now...

This was her fault.

"Uh, Commander..."

"I know," Jenji said quietly. "I see it, too."