Loghain told himself that he wasn't going to care what happens to her, no matter what. Yet, despite his attempts to return to his quarters, he found himself heading back to the fortress' highest tower. The entire night he spent sitting on a bench just outside the blood mage's laboratory and waited. For what? Maker knows. All he knew was that he wasn't getting any sleep in his quarters tonight until his Commander stepped out of the room and regarded him with a snarky remark or two.

His mind wandered as he leaned against wall. How in the bloody Maker's name did I end up like this? It had only been a year ago when he and Elisa were on opposite sides. Fate truly has a twisted sense of humor. He remembered the first time they talked in camp when both decided to take the first watch; the worsening dreams of the Archdemon and darkspawn made it too difficult for either of them to get a good night's rest. She had spoken to him before at Eamon's estate after his Joining but one would not consider a brief order of, "We will leave for Redcliffe tomorrow," followed by his curt nod as an actual conversation.

"You're a necessary evil, you know that?"

Loghain paused from cleaning his sword before he looked over to the auburn-haired woman who continued to restring her bow casually across the campfire. He snorted. "Is that all the insult you can throw at me? Come now Warden, you can do better than that. I could even teach you a few more."

She didn't look at him and just went on with restringing her bow. Her response was calm – almost cold – and blunt. "It wasn't an insult; only a statement. But if it did hit a sore spot, I will not apologize for stating the truth."

He scoffed as he placed down his sword. "So, you think of me as a monster then; more so since I survived that ritual."

It was her turn to set her weapon aside. Sapphire eyes looked at him coolly as she replied, "I don't think you're a monster. I'd be a hypocrite if I thought so."

That time he thought she was merely offering some poor lie. He never really expected her to be literal about it. Not that he saw her as one now. They did what they thought was for the best interest of Ferelden, even if it would mean they would have to become what people define as monsters.

At some point during the night, he fell asleep on the bench with those thoughts in mind. When he woke up hours later, he bolted up as his head immediately turned towards the door. He could still sense his Commander inside and although it was a slight relief, it also bothered him that she hadn't left yet. Standing up, he moved towards the door; however, his pride made him hesitate. Closing his eyes, he placed a hand on the door and tried to sense if she was more than just barely living. The taint within her was strong though docile, which indicated that she was most likely asleep. That gave him some form of comfort at least, though not enough put his mind at ease.

For now, he needed something to distract himself. Exiting the tower, he walked along the ramparts as he headed down to her quarters. She had tasked him with meeting up with Levi during dinner last night both about her proposal for the merchants to ply their trade in Amaranthine, and to trade information as well. He was not a people-person to begin with but whatever news the merchant might have picked up along the road would be vital for the investigation, and thus, he was left with little choice but to do it. After retrieving some documents from her pack, he moved towards the door to exit. However, as he swung the door open, he was greeted by their party's archer.

Nathaniel's eyes widened for a moment at the sight of the former teryn before they narrowed and stared at him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

"It does not concern you, boy," was all Loghain retorted with as he moved past the archer and began to walk down the hallway.

Nathaniel hesitated to look inside for fear of the possibility that he might find her naked form on the bed. Nonetheless, he made a quick peek and found it curious that the bed looked untouched. Hurrying over to the older Warden, he asked, "Where is Elisa?"

"The Commander," Loghain began with emphasis on Elisa's title to remind Howe's boy of his place, "is currently occupied with a meeting. She is not to be disturbed."

This early? Nathaniel raised a brow. "Where? For how long?"

Loghain sighed in exasperation. He paused and turned to the archer who halted as well. "For the entire day. Now if you are done with questioning your superior, I suggest you find someone else to pester."

Nathaniel scowled as his narrowed eyes watched the former teryn return to his quarters. That voice in the back of his mind told him that he or Elisa or even both were hiding something. Fine, then I'll just look for her myself. And with that, he made his way down the lower levels of Soldier's Peak.

"The Commander?" Sigrun paused from reading the Nevarran romance she took from one of the bookshelves and looked up at the dark-haired archer. "Nope, haven't seen her." She glanced towards the blonde mage who stopped browsing the bookshelves and looked over to them.

Anders shrugged. "Haven't seen her either. Maybe she's still asleep."

Nathaniel sighed deeply. When he passed by the fortress' library, he had hoped the taint he had sensed belonged to the Warden-Commander. "I went to her room. Loghain was the only one there." The two other Wardens shared knowing glances and amused grins – an expression Nathaniel knew as the two already having a story written inside their heads. "And no, it's not what you think." Despite the possibility of what they were thinking to be true, he refused to believe it. "I saw her bed. It looked like she didn't even used it last night."

"Well, what did Loghain say?" Anders asked.

"He said she's in a meeting," Nathaniel replied, making the two other Wardens wave him off as they return to what they had previously been doing. He couldn't help but scowl at their indifference. "You both are horrible."

"Relax," Sigrun said as she flipped another page, "she'll show up when she's done."

"Oh, this looks interesting." Anders grinned at a book he found, completely ignoring whatever distress the archer was having. As the dwarf went over to him to look at the book the mage held, he continued, "It says here there are rumored secret passages around Soldier's Peak."

Shaking his head, Nathaniel left the library when the two looked far disinterested about their Commander's whereabouts. It had been past noon when he gave up searching. Wherever Elisa went, no doubt she didn't want anyone, with her Second as an exception, to find out. As he passed by the hallway, he noticed the blonde mage pressed against the wall with his brows knitted together. "What in Andraste's name are you doing mage?"

Anders held up a hand to silence the archer before he tapped around the wall. Nothing happened, and after another minute, he sighed heavily and moved away. "Guess it's not here."

Nathaniel raised a brow. "What is not here?"

Anders turned to him and replied, "Secret passages." When the archer gave him an incredulous look, he added, "What? I'm bored. The saucy novels in the library are already centuries old. It feels like reading… old people at it." His entire body shuddered to emphasize the mortifying mental image – an image that also made Nathaniel cringe.

As the two Wardens made their way along the ramparts, the mage paused and stared at the highest tower of the fortress. The ramparts leading to it were across where they stood at the moment. It gave a faint tingling sensation – not like when detecting darkspawn but more like some sort of magical energy. That piqued his curiosity.

"Hey." His hand tapped the archer's shoulder before pointing up at the tower. "Do you know what's up there?"

Nathaniel followed where the mage was pointing and frowned. With the tower so far off from the main hall, he didn't realize its existence until now. "Haven't been there yet," he muttered as he considered it was Elisa up there. From where they stood, the tower looked abandoned. At most, the merchants might have used it as a storage room.

"The Veil's probably thin there," Anders muttered before he turned to leave.

"The Veil?" Nathaniel's brow arched up. He wasn't quite all familiar with everything related to magic; only the ones taught by the Chantry which usually just goes around Tevinter mages, Black City, and demons.

"The Veil is what separates this world from the Fade," Anders explained. "It's usually thin or tears open when a place had experienced either extensive death or use of magic." He glanced back at the tower. "This fortress is centuries old, and a lot of people might have died here; though I don't get it why it's only concentrated on that area."

Nathaniel remained still for a moment while staring up at the tower. Elisa could be there, though, he couldn't think of a reason as to why other than that was the only place he hadn't searched yet. If she's not there, then I'll stop looking, he told himself before he began to walk back to where they entered.

"The main hall's this way," Anders called out as he pointed at the other door. When the archer didn't respond, he jogged towards him.

"I don't plan on going down just yet," Nathaniel replied when he heard the mage's footsteps behind him.

As they crossed the other rampart, Anders quickly realized where they were heading. "Did I forget to mention that demons could come out if the Veil is torn?" He grabbed the archer's arm when he ignored his statement. "I'm no promoter of the Chantry's teachings, but didn't they teach you non-mages that demons are evil?"

"I just need to see something." Nathaniel pulled his arm away. "If you don't want to come, I won't force you." Not waiting for any response from the blonde, he made his way inside the tower.

For a moment, Anders debated whether to return to the main hall and leave the archer to be skewered by demons, if there were any, or go with him and end up getting skewered by demons as well. "Maker, I hate my conscience," he muttered to himself before following the brooding man.

So far, as they climbed up the tower's winding stairs, the two Wardens had not encountered any form of demons yet. Anders, though, was feeling a bit edgy as the magical energy he sensed grew stronger with each step. Why couldn't he have the Commander as company instead? He could at least have an excuse to cling onto her. He sighed. Life is terribly cruel to me sometimes…

Once they reached the top, a door barred them from moving to the next room. Nathaniel picked the lock but despite that, the door refused to open. "It's magically sealed," he heard the mage state as the latter placed a hand on the door. "A very powerful ward, and probably a sign that we should just head down., like, right now."

The archer considered returning to the main hall, but there was that faint tingling sensation in his blood he knew too well as either a darkspawn or another Warden nearby. "No," he muttered as he stared at the sealed door, "Anders, can you remove whatever is keeping the door shut?"

"I might." Anders nodded was he looked at Nathaniel warily. "But it'll take a lot of my mana, and Maker knows what's inside that room. Magically sealed door also means 'do not enter' you know, and they usually – which is always – have a good reason for it."

Nathaniel ignored the mage's rant as he ordered, "Just do it!"

"Are you crazy!?" Anders brows knitted together. "No!" Grey eyes narrowed as they glared at him. It was as intimidating as Loghain's, and he swore that if he didn't know the two, he might have thought that they were related in some way. Finally, he agreed. "Fine, but if this releases a pack of demons, I'm telling the Commander that this is your fault." He had the archer stand back before his hand began to wave up in the air while he recited a chant. With his hand glowing bright green, he stretched his arms towards the door and dispelled the magical seal.

Nathaniel quickly caught the mage who stumbled back from exhaustion. He led him to the bench nearby before glancing towards the door. Carefully, he approached it, but, as he was about to touch the knob, the door swung opened with the Commander in front of him. Her skin was pale and her eyes had dark circles around them. Only in a white tunic that looked too loose to be hers and leather trousers, she had to grab onto the door just keep herself steady.

"Nathaniel?" Elisa blinked for a moment as she stared at him before her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" Closing the door behind her, she glanced over to the mage who looked as weary as her. Piecing everything together, she added, "It is very rude to open sealed doors without expressed permission, you know."

Anders pointed a finger at the archer accusingly. "He made me do it."

Sapphire eyes glanced back to Nathaniel who glared at the mage before shifting his gaze back to his Commander. "Breakfast had been ready for over an hour, yet you, who had always been an early bird, didn't show up in the dining hall. I went to your room but only found Loghain inside and your bed looked untouched. Tell me, what else was I supposed to think of that?"

Elisa remained silent as she mentally cursed herself. She should have considered the possibility of one of the Wardens to come to her room. She could have told Loghain to cover up for her. Then again, with how things ended up between them last night, that was the last thing on his list, no doubt. Hopefully, the other matters she assigned were taken care of. "I was feeling unwell last night."

Nathaniel crossed his arms. "So you decided to go to an abandoned tower rather than a healer?

"It's not that simple. This case is… different" Elisa sighed while her free hand massaged the bridge of his nose. "Could you please get Loghain and Sigrun? I'll explain everything thereafter."

"Oh, and can you bring a flask or two of lyrium?" Anders added, earning him a brief but sharp glare from the archer. "Hey, I did you a favor earlier, didn't I?"

"Fine." Nathaniel grumbled before he made his way down the stairs.

Once the archer's footsteps could no longer be heard, Elisa leaned against the wall for support as she made her way to the mage who remained seated on the bench. "How did you two end up here?"

"The tower was giving me bad vibes which usually turns on when the Veil is thin. Howe wanted to come though despite my warning. I couldn't leave him to be skewered by demons if there were any." Anders shrugged, appearing nonchalant in front of his Commander.

"Even dispelling the door's seal?" Elisa raised a brow as she eyed him dubiously.

"Especially that," Anders replied with a finger pointing for emphasis. "He even gave me the same glare as Loghain does." He tried to mimic the expression but failed miserably. It made his Commander laugh lightly at least. He chuckled a bit before he added, "Are you sure they're not related? They're so alike, even the brooding, that I wonder sometimes if they're father and son."

"Alike? Those two?" Elisa snorted.

"Sigrun thought so too. She asked me that a while ago," Anders argued, "and so does Oghren – well, maybe we shouldn't consider his opinion since he said that after five bottles of wine."

Tapping her chin with a forefinger, Elisa mused. "Nathaniel and Loghain are quite opposite in my opinion..." She paused as she thought of the most appropriate representation. "Like… a cat and mabari."

Anders couldn't help but laugh loudly. "Oh, I see the resemblance, Commander! Though, I think Ser Pounce-a-lot would be offended for the comparison of his kind to Howe."

Footsteps echoed as their owners made their way up the tower. Elisa and Anders stopped laughing for a moment when the first two figures of humans emerged from the winding stairs. There was a definite silent tension between them, though as to why, neither Anders nor Elisa knew. Still, the similar expression on their faces made the mage cover his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his laughter while the corners their Commander's lips twitched up. Sigrun was not far behind, looking curious as to why she was called here.

Loghain raised a brow but brushed off whatever private joke those two were having. His gaze just focused on his Commander. The fact that she was alive and breathing had put him at ease, though he would not admit it openly. "I see that you are not dead," he muttered dryly, icy blue eyes staring blankly at her.

To others, his statement might appear indifferent, but Elisa knew better. "Good day to you too, Loghain." She smiled weakly as she stretched out an arm to him. He took it and pulled her up from the chair. Leaning against his side, she steadied herself before leading them inside the next room. Nathaniel eyed the two with a deep scowl but remained silent as he handed the mage his flasks of lyrium before following behind the two senior Wardens.

Inside, Avernus busied himself on his alchemy table, taking a few notes on his parchment before returning to the vial on top of the table. Anders watched warily. There was something definitely creepy about the elderly man. It didn't help either that the cot where Elisa sat down had blood stains on it.

When everyone had settled in, Elisa began with a deep sigh. "I had hoped not to bring up this matter to all of you considering that you have to focus on your duties as Wardens, but chances are my condition might worsen while we travel."

Nathaniel brows furrowed. "What sort of condition?" He watched her gaze shift towards Loghain for a moment and wondered how long her Second knew about this. Was it during the Blight?

"The kind of condition a Grey Warden will only experience after thirty years," Elisa replied vaguely.

"Wait, why so soon?" Anders asked.

Everyone watched their Commander as her features became grim. She was silent for a moment, closing her eyes to contemplate. "It is perhaps because I took my Joining during the Blight. According to the tomes at Weisshaupt, the frequency of a Warden's interaction with darkspawn could hasten the taint in their blood. And as such, Grey Wardens during the Blight have shorter lifespans."

"No need to fret further about such trivialities," Avernus muttered after he corked some vials and motioned to where they conversed with a vial and parchments held by his hand. "I will not allow the Commander to be wasted by such illness so easily."

Elisa knew his statement held more selfish motives than for the sake of her well being. She was his roaming guinea pig after all, and losing her would mean his research has failed which would be a painful jab to his pride. "Thank you, Avernus." She nodded to him as she took the vials and parchments before handing the latter to the archer. "This is a recipe for a tonic that will delay the corruption from spreading. The merchants have supplies of these ingredients. Order enough for our trip back to Vigil's Keep on the morrow."

Nathaniel wanted to ask more, but his Warden-Commander had already rested her back on the cot while her hand waved. "You are all dismissed except you, Second." When he turned to leave, she added, "Also, Nathaniel, after purchasing the ingredients, please do teach Anders and Sigrun how to ride a horse." He scowled at her rather cold demeanor, but nodded nonetheless before leaving the tower with the mage and the dwarf.

When the room had only Avernus, Elisa and Loghain inside, the latter snorted as he crossed his arms. "Quite a lie, Commander – enough bullshit to fertilize all the farms of Thedas and then some."

"I didn't lie, Loghain," she replied, half-lidded up glancing up at his standing form which loomed over hers. "I just didn't tell them everything. It is possible that my interaction with the darkspawn had hastened the taint within me, but it wouldn't be this quick to spread."

He crossed his arms. "And how can I be certain that what you told me isn't a lie as well?"

She laughed derisively. "What good would that do me? Lie or not, I'll die either way." She paused and grinned. "Besides, should I die, you'd be next in line as Warden-Commander; that is if the First Warden does not ship you to Orlais. And I doubt any of the nobles, plus Alistair, would protest to that. The very least I could do is give you a warning or try to keep myself alive for your sake."

He rolled his eyes. "How thoughtful of you, Commander." Grabbing a nearby chair, he sat down and stirred the subject to something more important. "In any case, I have spoken to Levi just before Howe came."

The news made Elisa immediately sit up as her expression became serious. "And? What did he say?"

"About plying their trade? He is considering, especially when Amarathine often exports goods to the Free Marches," Loghain replied, "about recent purchases of weapons and armor…" The scowl she saw meant that there was either no information about it or worse than what they thought. After a few seconds of gathering all the information Levi gave, he continued, "Weapons and armor are continuously bought from the dwarves with their stalls stationed in the Frostback Mountain. They were not sold in large quantities that anyone would immediately take notice; however, there wasn't a single day where no one bought at least a crate or two."

"Were they the same buyers each time?" she asked as her brows furrowed.

He shook his head. "No, however, Levi observed that the men buying those crates were either bearing heraldry of a bear or a wyvern."

Her eyes widened. "The standards of Amaranthine and Gwaren!?" She would not be surprised if the merchant had seen the Amaranthine heraldry but for Gwaren to be included as well… No wonder her Second wasn't happy the least. "Who is the current Teryn of Gwaren?"

"No one at the moment," Loghain replied as his scowl deepened.

And, here's another dead end. Elisa mentally cursed. "Surely, there's someone pulling the strings? An influential noble in your former terynir, perhaps?"

He snorted. "Those fools would not make a move unless someone had paid them a great deal of coin."

Rubbing her chin, she pondered who could have that much coin. These are more matters I have to discuss with Varel. She sighed heavily. Maker, I hope he made much more progress in this investigation. "We shall speak more of this once were back at the Vigil," she told her Second before resting back down on the cot. "Avernus needs to run a few more experiments, so I shall see you tomorrow morning."

Loghain hesitated to leave but did so nonetheless after giving his Commander a quick nod.

End of Chapter 13