Ashlyn sat on the large, overstuffed sofa in the sitting room, gazing at the fire without really seeing it. Her mind was far away, frustration and depression making her listless. There was only a couple of days left until the Landsmeet, and a matter that she and Alistair had been purposely avoiding speaking of was now weighing heavily on her mind.

They'd decided he was going to be king after all, even if he didn't entirely like the idea. Ferelden was going to need help rebuilding after the Blight, and while Anora was a decent queen, neither Ashlyn nor Eamon thought she would be what the people needed. Power corrupted, and though she may not be driven mad by it as her father clearly was, she still had the desperation that came with it, and in times of need, that could only cause more trouble.

The problem Ashlyn and Alistair in particular had, was where their relationship was going to go after this.

Assuming they won, what would happen? Alistair would be king and she…well, even if she didn't die in this war, he couldn't keep a secret relationship with her, if he even wanted to do something like that. In the chaos after the Blight all eyes would be on him, and he had to prove himself a good leader. There would be plenty of people all to ready to tear him down, and Ashlyn wouldn't allow that to happen. Her eyes closed as a horrible truth began to dawn on her. Not only would there relationship have to end, but with the icon she had quickly become to the people, she would more than likely be required at court to help with the rebuilding of Ferelden. And even if she couldn't be with Alistair, she would keep him protected.

She opened her eyes again as she heard footsteps approach, and turned to see Cara, an elven servant walk into the room. She held a steaming mug and handed it to Ashlyn wordlessly, a kind smile on her face.

Ashlyn returned the smile, giving her a soft "thank you." The woman left the room as Ashlyn sipped at the tea, grateful to the elf. She'd been quite helpful to their entire party since they had arrived, and didn't have the scowl a lot of servants did here. Not that she particularly blamed them; as far as she could see they weren't treated very well. Still, if she were queen, she would probably ask Cara to be her lady in –

Ashlyn sat straight up, her tea sloshing over the edge of the mug. Once again her eyes stared straight into the fires without seeing anything, but with a shell-shocked expression now. Somehow, she had never considered this option before. It wasn't until she had thought about it like this, the words put together in a sentence, that she realized there was another path in front of her.

She was from a noble family. They were second to no one but royalty for the love of the Maker. She….she could be Queen.

Sure, if they weren't in the middle of a Blight, if Alistair were already King, things would be done differently. They'd have had a proper courtship, with chaperones and specified meetings…but things weren't exactly perfect, were they?

A small, snorting laugh escaped as she remembered she and Alistair's conversation about the perfect time and place. He'd been right. If things were perfect they'd never have even met…She needed to take this chance.

Moments later she was rushing down the corridor, zipping into the ex-templar's room. "Alistair, I…" she began, but he wasn't in the room. With a huff of annoyance she turned around to go searching for him only to run right into his chest.

"Whoa!" he said, grabbing her arms to steady her. She rubbed her nose where she'd hit it and he gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Looking for you!" she exclaimed, and gripped his hands with her own. "There's something I need to talk to you about. It's…kind of big. Really big. And maybe not something you'd want, I don't know, and I know its super fast, but its really the only way this can keep going on, and with enough support we could pull it off, and I don't think -"

"Slow down, slow down!" he said with a nervous laugh. He then pulled her over to a chair. "Here, sit down. Now…what's going on?"

She took a steadying breath, and he held her hand to comfort her. "Okay, I…Look, we've both been avoiding talking about us. About what happens after the Landsmeet." He looked down and away, confirming her statement wordlessly. "I know it's uncomfortable to think about, and I know you still don't like the idea of being king, but I think I have a solution." He glanced back up now, with that hopeful puppy dog face that always gave the urge to squeeze him tight. He'd scowled when she told him that, proclaiming that he did not make a puppy dog face, and she'd pinched his cheek just to annoy him.

Ashlyn shook the thought away, aware she was attempting to distract herself from the stressful conversation. "You know about my family, the Couslands. We...they were of a very high class…" she sighed. "I'm not wording this well, I know."

He squeezed her hand. "It's alright, my dear. Go on."

She gave him a brief smile. "A long time ago my parents took me on a trip, introducing me into the nobility officially. Part of that was having me meet young boys my age, in the hopes that I would get on well with one of them and they could…arrange a betrothal." She grimaced at the memory a bit, even though she knew they had been doing what they thought was best. "The last place we visited was Denerim, where I met Cailan. Now, he pulled on my curls and I bruised his shin, but if things had gone well I…might have been queen." She took a deep breath, unable to look at him now. "If you and I were to marry, I still could be. Like I said, I know this is fast, but it's the only way we can stay together, and we both know we want a future together, and I think we would both make good – mmph!"

Ashlyn was cut off by Alistiar grasping the back of her neck and pulling her forward into a kiss. She was too stunned to respond to the brief touch of his lips, and stared at him for a moment when he leaned away with a wide smile.

She blinked once and then said with a little grin "So should I take that as a yes?"

He chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, this isn't the way I planned on us getting married but…I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I would have asked you eventually."

Her smile brightened. "Really?"

He pulled her in close for a hug. "Absolutely." They sat embracing in comfortable silence for a few minutes before he continued. "You know…this actually really helps."

Ashlyn pulled back slightly to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Knowing you're going to be in this with me makes it a lot less frightening somehow," he said, seeming a little embarrassed. "Plus you're more experienced with nobility than I am, and it will be nice to have someone around who's not leaving everything up to me."

She smiled again and reached up to stroke his cheek. "I'll always be right here to help you. And I know you'll make a great king."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead before leaning his own against it. "There is one problem."

"Oh?" she asked. "What's that?"

"Should we tell Arl Eamon?"

This made her frown. It was a good question. In all likelihood, he wouldn't approve. There was a chance that they announcing their engagement at the Landsmeet could hurt their chances, and that Loghain would be left with the power. On the other hand, Ashlyn and various members of their group had been running around Denerim winning the support of many nobles and their families, and now there was this business with the alienage. Depending on how that went – and what exactly was even happening – they could possibly have more dirt on Loghain. Of course, Anora didn't exactly like Ashlyn, based on their conversation about her feelings for Alistair, so they might be being thrown to the wolves.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, a headache coming on. "If you ask me, we should tell him. It will be better to go in there knowing as much as we can, even if that means we know he doesn't approve. I'd rather he knows ahead of time, rather than getting a shock in the middle of the Landsmeet."

Alistair took her hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Well then…we'd best get it over with. Time to face the music."

A/N: There will be a part two of this here soon. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this posted. I know this isn't the best chapter, and it is kind of rushed, but hopefully you guys like it anyway. Very sorry, again.

Special thanks to Cel for her review! You're amazing!

Happy reading!