Author's Note: Having a bit of trouble getting back into the swing of things after my vacation! But it came together :)

~Low Profile~

Dusk had settled over the city by the time Drea and Anders stepped out of the Wonders of Thedas. To Drea's dismay, Alistair was too busy with back to back appointments to meet with them once they arrived in Denerim. Greeting them instead was Eamon, who assured her he would be able to see her the following evening and immediately set the Wardens up with rooms in the Royal Palace. Having time to spare, the group decided to visit the market and meet at the Gnawed Noble Tavern. They had only been on the road for a few days, but it was enough to make them appreciate the comforts the city could offer. Velanna, however, was not thrilled with being in the city and chose to remain in her room.

As the shop door closed behind them, Anders idly asked, "So how upset are you that the King decided to travel around Ferelden?"

"The King is free to do as he pleases," she replied curtly as she started leading him towards one of the warehouses in the market. In truth, the news that Alistair went on to travel after stopping at the Vigil had infuriated her but she didn't want to admit it. "He wanted to see the status of his kingdom first hand; I think that interest is good in a leader. But I will admit that I'm a bit frustrated that his long absence has left him too busy to meet with me. Seeing as how he only returned last week after all those months, I suppose I should be grateful he is here to meet with us at all."

"You know that's not what I meant," Anders sighed. "Those talking darkspawn posed a great threat to Wardens in particular and after you warned him, he decided to take a tour instead of getting back to safety. It must bother you. I mean it can't be that easy to stop caring can it?"

Drea would have been annoyed had the invasive questions come from anyone else, but after all his dedicated healing he had an advantage over the others. Unruffled, she answered, "I wouldn't say I've stopped caring. As tragic as it is that Eamon no longer has family to return to in Redcliff, I'm glad for Alistair's sake that he will remain as an advisor." Pausing briefly, she shrugged and added, "There are many different types of love Anders. Some types are just easier to be practical about, that's all."

"Practical…" he quietly echoed and fell silent.

For several moments, the only sound was the crunching of their boots on the gravel as they reached the door of the warehouse. Fluidly pulling a set of keys from her coin purse, she snuck in a sidelong glance at the mage. He was watching her hands, but she could see the dull light in his eyes. It had been less than a week since the discovery that Ashlyn was a bard and he was still struggling with it all. Turning her attention to the locked door, she continued, "Some loves, however, are impossible to be practical about. They happen suddenly and even if you know it can only end in tragedy, they change you." Her voice had grown noticeably softer as she finished, "And it doesn't matter if you find the strength to walk away because it will continue to be the source of every heartbeat and in the back of every thought. You can't beat yourself up for that…"

The door clicked loudly as the lock unlatched and Drea pushed the door open. Anders glanced around the random supplies in the large warehouse room, but didn't comment on what Drea had to say. Realizing that Drea was ignoring the room and making her way to the back, he quietly followed. Changing the topic, Anders spoke up, "So…you said that Arl Eamon has no family to return to...when I was still at the Circle, they brought a boy in - Connor. They kept the exact details quiet, but it did cause quite the uproar. The templars wanted him dead, saying he had been an abomination and while First Enchanter Irving demanded he live so his mother's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. In the end, they kept the boy under very close observation and the First Enchanter got his way. But…that was Eamon's boy, wasn't it?"

There was a slight hesitation in Drea's confident stride as the memories from her time at Redcliff flooded back. It was all too easy to picture Lady Isolde writhing in pain; blood flowing from her open veins as the blood mage fell into a deep trance. Giving a nod, she kept walking. "And you were there?" Anders guessed. Again, Drea nodded. "So you saw the sacrifice to the blood mage?" Before she could even answer, Anders continued, "I've heard that's more horrific than I could imagine…and you saw it. I have a feeling I couldn't fathom a lot of the things you've been through."

Reaching the back of the warehouse, Drea turned to Anders and answered seriously, "You wouldn't want to."

"How do you do it?" he asked. "How do you witness something like that and keep going?"

Turning away, Drea stepped over to a bookcase that was against the back wall, and positioned herself on one side of it before replying, "Carrying on is easy. It's when you stop that these things catch up to you." Gesturing to the other side of the bookcase, she added, "But right now I need you to help me move this."

Obeying, Anders moved to the other side of the bookcase and helped her move it out of the way, revealing a door. After fiddling with the locked door using another set keys of on her ring, the door clicked open. "The Grey Warden's have a weapon cache here and Eamon told me that the King restocked it," she explained.

When they stepped inside, Drea couldn't help but gasp. The room was densely packed with new weapons and armour, all shining as brightly as they day they were made. In awe, Drea carefully reached out to run her fingers over the various objects hanging from the walls. Zeroing in on an intricately decorated short sword, she gently took it in her hands. Even though none of the items were things Anders could use, he too was drawn in by the sight of the pristine equipment that was clearly made by a master craftsman. "It seems the King hasn't stopped caring," he breathed, going back to his original topic.

Glancing up at him, she replied, "It makes sense, he is a Grey Warden. The order meant everything to him."

"Are you sure it's the order?" Anders asked.

Drea never acknowledged his final comment, and returned her attention back to the weapons. After several minutes of admiring the works of art, she finally tore herself away knowing it was time to meet the others. Wisely, Anders let the conversation die.

After securing the warehouse again, the pair headed over to the tavern which was a very short distance away. "Oghren drinking in public…this ought to be fun," Drea chuckled as she reached for the door. But before her hand made contact, the door flew open and almost knocked her back. Angrily, Nate came shoving through the doorway but noticed Drea and came to a forceful stop before running into her. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"I'm not welcome," he shot back, "It's just like I said it would be. I don't even know how I let you talk me into this." Side stepping Drea, he started storming past when she grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.

Appearing in the doorway, Sigrun explained to Drea in a quiet voice, "The bartender kicked him out…for being a Howe."

Instantly, the anger flared on Drea's face as she turned to Nate, tugging his arm harder and forcing him to face her, "You get back in there!" Nate glowered at her, but remained silent. "You want to clear your name? Well like it or not, that can't happen through good deeds alone. If you don't come with me back in there, you may as well give up on redeeming your family."

"I don't need you to jump in and save the day," Nate replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, I didn't need you as a Grey Warden, but that's worked out pretty well so far," she countered as she guided him ahead of her. Nate's jaw was clenched tightly as he let her shove him through the doorway. As they passed Sigrun, she exchanged a look of concern with Anders before they followed the two back into the tavern.

Seeing Nate return, the large, ruddy bartender called in a booming voice, "Are you hard of hearing, or just stupid? I told you to leave!"

Stepping out from behind Nate, Drea steadily walked towards the bar as she replied in an authoritative voice, "He is neither. I just couldn't believe anyone would have the audacity to throw this man out. I had to hear it with my own ears."

Many of the patrons in the tavern had turned to see who the bartender was yelling at. Seeing Drea enter the room, one of the servers started rushing towards the bar from the back of the room. Before she could make it there, the bartender growled, "Of course I did! That man's a Howe."

Reaching the bar, Drea loudly pounded her fist onto the counter next to a plate of food waiting to be picked up. As it loudly clattered, she pointed back to Nate and shouted, "That man is a hero!"

Unimpressed, the bartender replied, "Is that so? And who in the Maker's name are you?"

Finally breaking into a sprint, the server reached the bar, upsetting the glass mugs on her tray and sending them crashing onto the floor. "Shut up Tubs," she hissed to the man, "That's the Warden Commander!"

Tubs' face blanched slightly as he turned back to Drea who returned his look with a calm, even stare. "I…I…I'm so sorry," the man stuttered.

"You certainly are that," Drea agreed loudly. Looking down at the plate of food on the counter, she nudged it with a disgusted look on her face. "While you all have been down here enjoying your…fine dining…the Arling of Amaranthine has been under steady darkspawn attack ever since the end of the Blight. Coming up from the cellars, they even overtook the entire City of Amaranthine. Had it not been for Nathaniel Howe and the other small handful of Grey Wardens in this room, the city would have been lost."

Even the patrons who had been trying to ignore the commotion had turned to watch when they realized Grey Wardens were involved. Taking a step back to give herself room to furiously pace, Drea continued, "Do you have any idea how hard we had to work, how much we had to sacrifice to end the Blight? And it didn't stop there - the constant siege up north cost many Orlesian Warden lives! And now this…this is the thanks we get? You try to ban one of our own from this place? Nathaniel was ready to lay down his life to save Amaranthine…but he's not good enough to eat here?" Finally Drea stopped pacing, and glared at Tubs with a dark expression on her face, "Forget it; I don't want to talk to you. Where's the owner?"

Nervously, the waitress wrung her hands on her apron as she watched Tubs. Again, he stuttered an answer, "I…I am the owner…"

"Unbelievable," she muttered. "That's it, we're leaving."

With surprising speed for a man of his size, Tubs rounded the end of the bar to block the Commander as she turned towards the door. Shooting him a dangerous look, she stopped moving to hear his reply, "No, please stay. I…We had no idea about the troubles in Amaranthine here…Please, I'll to anything to make it up to you."

Taking a deep breath, Drea took a moment to size up the large man before speaking. "You want to make this up to us? Then you'll make sure everyone who steps foot in this establishment knows what I've told you. I expect this whole city to know what Nate and the other Wardens are still dealing with up north. They don't deserve this kind of treatment here or anywhere else."

Nodding vigorously, Tubs assured her, "I will…I swear by the grace of Andraste." Looking over at Nate, he added, "I'm sorry."

Nodding, Nate followed Drea as Tubs guided her to a large table in the tavern. The other Wardens joined them as Tubs backed away slowly, apologizing several times on the way. Before the whole group had fully settled, one of the waitresses was already unloading a tray full of ale. Grabbing one of the mugs, Drea brought it to her lips before pausing thoughtfully. Suddenly she slammed it back down to the table and shoved it away, "Now, just hold on a second…"

Already behind the bar again, Tubs nervously looked over at the Warden as she abruptly stood up. "Do you mean to tell me," she started, incredulously, "That you are so fantastically ignorant that you have condemned an entire family based on the actions of one man?"

Tubs' eyes widened as he struggled to come up with an answer. Not giving him time to reply, Drea pushed, "A family, which for thirteen generations faithfully served the throne? A family, which has a history of honorable men such as Nathaniel here? They're all scum to you because they happen to be related to Rendon? Like you're so high and mighty that there's not a single person in your family that you're ashamed of? Or maybe in your case…are ashamed of you…" "

"I am just so sorry. Please tell me what I can do to fix this." Tubs pleaded, not trying to argue or defend himself.

Turning to the others at the table she demanded, "Put your drinks down, we're leaving. I think at the Pearl they'll at least know how to treat people with proper respect."

Distraught at the idea of losing the Wardens to the Pearl and completely disgracing himself, he rushed out from behind the bar again and hurried over to the table, "Whoa…there's no need for that now. If you'll stay, everything is on the house - food, drink - everything. All of you will always be welcome here and your money no good…Please, just sit and let me make this up to you all."

Watching the bartender suspiciously, Drea slowly sat back down in her chair as the others shot unsure looks to each other. Satisfied that he convinced the Wardens to stay, Tubs left to talk to the cook about preparing food for the table.

Slowly, Drea could hear the excited whispers of those in the tavern as they tried to pretend they weren't staring. Leaning over, Nate quietly tried to break the tension with joke, "Honourable men? So we're not counting when I came to kill you?" Drea shot him a dirty glare, and he quickly added, "I mean, thank you?"

Scowling, Drea hissed, "Shut up Nate. We have to keep looking disgruntled for a while longer so they take it seriously. And sit up straight. You have to be confident and start projecting that you belong. Treat it like practice for the festivities tomorrow night."

Nate blinked in confusion before he started to understand that she was not nearly as upset as she acted. It was a rouse to spread the story and start clearing his name. Slowly he sat back in his chair and pushed his shoulders back, raising his chin at the same time. Sitting tall, he whispered back to her, "Are you really are going to make us all go tomorrow night?"

"Yes. If I have to suffer, so do you. Now…shut up and be disgruntled," she sighed.

Before he could reply, they both heard Oghren start talking loudly behind them and realized he was no longer at the table. Casually sitting on one of the stools, Oghren started talking with Tubs who had returned from the back and was apprehensively tending to his duties, "By the tits of my ancestors Tubs, you're one lucky man!"

"Yeah. I'm lucky she stayed," he agreed quietly.

"Your what? Oh, yeah her too," Oghren snorted, "But I meant 'ol Nate. You're lucky he was in a sodding patient mood today! But you're really lucky he didn't have his mabari with him."

Tubs froze as he looked at the dwarf. "Mabari?" he asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah! And it's a vicious one too. But you don't have to worry, its staying at the King's kennels right now," Oghren answered before taking a deep drink from his mug, clearly enjoying toying with the man.

Swallowing hard, Tubs repeated, "The King's kennels?"

"Yep, King Alistair," Oghren confirmed. Looking from his mug up to the bartender, Oghren added thoughtfully, "You know…come to think of it…you should probably keep sending lots of drinks their way, at least until they stop looking so angry. I don't think those two are the sort you want to go making enemies with."

Numbly the man nodded in agreement, and exchanged a worried look with the server that shushed him while Drea had to work to keep the smirk from her lips.