It was the eve after the Landsmeet in Denerim had been called together. As the Warden gazed at the fire on the hearth in her room at Arl Eamon's estate, her head reeled. It wasn't fair for her to have been suddenly thrust into being the deciding factor for human politics – something which she knew little to nothing about, aside for what her intuition told her.

The Landsmeet had been an awful mess. As Loghain stood there and berated the Wardens and their party, the nobles screamed a mixture of racial slurs amongst other hateful things. The woman wanted to meet them with her blade and teach them all a lesson in respect, but she stood there, head held high, and took all of the verbal jabs without a flinch – until Anora made her treachery known. That was when the stoic pride that Kathalla knew was shattered and the blades came out.

She sighed and closed her eyes while still facing the hearth. At the start of this, she had been so controlled and careful, so patient and calm. There was something about Denerim that changed all of that: the filth, the greed, and the lack of regard for their elven citizens. Heck, she had almost emptied all of her pockets to the alienage beggars while there, simply out of sympathy for her flat-eared kin.

But deep in her heart she knew that not all humans were treacherous and scum-sucking. If Alistair didn't prove that, then Wynn certainly did. Kathalla had grown quite fond of the elder mage and her knowledge, often looking to her advice for decisions at times.

"Well, that wasn't exactly fun, but it could have been worse." Leliana offered as she entered the bedroom and took a seat on one of the plush chairs by the hearth to join her fellow Warden and friend.

Leliana, she had also been a true friend throughout all of this. Despite the mixed signals early on, the two became very close and the epitome of "gal pals"; although Kathalla could not understand the other woman's obsession with footwear.

"I have a massive headache," Kathalla lowly admitted as she finally looked towards her friend. "I don't understand why every race that has political upheaval asks me to decide their fate."

"You're a Grey Warden. It's part of your responsibility and they look up to you."

"I'm Dalish! I lived in the woods and spent most of my life trying to avoid interaction with other races, especially humans."

Leliana frowned for a short moment before her features brightened once more, ever the hopeful one. "If it makes you feel any better, I would have chosen the same thing. Alistair would be a great king, you know. He's charming, has seen plenty of battles – especially against darkspawn, and if there's royal blood in him, then he deserves the seat more than Anora. You saw how she turned on us! In Orlais, that isn't really frowned upon, but there was no subtlety, no tact. She dug her own pit by being so obstinate."

The Warden remained silent. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling wood from the flames on the hearth. Leliana reached out to take her friend's hand. "Kath, it'll be okay. You did the right thing," she assured. Still, it didn't feel right to Kathalla, but she squeezed Leliana's hand in thankful return.

The door to the bedroom suddenly swung open, with no knock, or warning. Alistair entered the room, dressed in his half-brother's golden armor. There was a hard-lined look to his face as he addressed Kathalla with a stern, "We need to talk."

Already, the Warden felt her stomach drop down to her knees just from that one sentence. She didn't let go of Leliana's hand, but instead held onto it as she prepared to brace herself for impact. The woman knew that this wasn't going to be good.

"I'm not exactly happy with what happened earlier," Alistair started, his gaze sharp and almost stabbing. But then his features softened and he sighed heavily. "But, I won't question it. Anora shouldn't be allowed anywhere near that throne, and – hey, royal bastard here..."

"Alistair, I only did what I thought—"

"I'm not done," he interjected with a raised hand. Tone softening, he added, "Please, Kathalla, just listen to me..." There was a long pause afterwards, as though he were trying to gather his thoughts or seek out the correct words to use to lessen the pain. "I'm going to be king now, maybe. There are certain responsibilities with that, with royal blood... You understand that I'm going to be required to have an heir."

Kathalla remained silent as she listened, but a brow arched upwards in a curious gesture to his words.

"Wardens don't live long because of the taint, but you knew that already. And two tainted Wardens trying to conceive is frowned upon – and near impossible." Again, Alistair paused as he glanced away for just a short moment. "And... You know I love you, right? Because I do."

"I love you too," Kathalla murmured in return. She had a bad feeling with where this was going, but didn't – couldn't – say much else aside for simply listening to him speak and beat around the bush as he always did when the news was bad.

Finally, Alistair inhaled sharply, bracing for the impact as well. In a hasty tone, he let it all out at once. "We need to end this. I'm going to be king and you're..."

"Dalish..."

He frowned. "Well, a Warden with the taint, but yes, that too." He watched her face shift as she tried to hold her composure and appear strong against the blow, yet he desperately wanted to do nothing more than hold her, even kiss her for one last time, but he made no motion. Alistair knew that if he did, he'd never be able to leave her. The pain was too much, even for him. "I don' want to end it. I love you so much, Kathalla..."

"Then don't!" She suddenly barked at him as her grip tightened around Leliana's hand and she felt the wave of emotion creeping up on her. "What is this? 'Thanks for taking my virginity and keeping me company while we thought the world was about to end, but now I have to leave'?" Quickly, she winced and looked away, trying to stem the flow of the tears that were threatening to escape. "You can't really just abandon everything we have. You know for a fact that if we didn't have each other, watching each other's back the way we did, we wouldn't be standing here right now!"

Alistair frowned as he watched his lover in pain. A fist balled up angrily, at himself more than anyone else. Yet, his voice remained strong, by some miracle of composure. "I know," he whispered. "This isn't exactly what I hoped for, but I have duties to fulfill now, Kathalla, and they're more than just Grey Warden matters."

"Don't do this, Alistair. Please," she whispered to him, still unable to find the strength to say the words any louder. "We can make it work, I know we can find a way... Two Grey Wardens fended off a Blight. Creators Grace, we could work on this if we accomplished that!"

He sighed, averting his gaze down to the stone flooring beneath his feat. "I can't, Kathalla..."

She grew silent for a moment before placing her hand over her heart. "I need you, Alistair. You're my link to understanding this world... I-I trust you. I opened up to you... I-I love you."

But there was no response for her in turn... Alistair still didn't look directly at her. The pain was too much for even him to bear.

Now Kathalla turned to look at him. The tears had not escaped and her features hinted at a mixture of pain and anger as she tried to hide them away as best as she could. While all of this was going on, Leliana remained seated, watching the two silently, with her hand in Kathalla's for support. "So, this is it? You're just walking away?" Kathalla asked him in a low voice, unable to find the strength to make it be heard any louder. With a sigh, she gave in and closed her eyes, secretly wishing this was all a dream. "I'm sorry it had to end this way then."

Never let them see you hurt. She was as stoic and stubborn as a mule. Yet, she was a good person and didn't deserve this. Alistair didn't believe so, at least. Quietly, he spoke – something personal and in elven, "I'm sorry." Reverting back to the human language, he returned to the matter at hand and added, "Arl Eamon's already preparing at Redcliffe for the fight against the arch-demon. I'm... I'm going to camp. Please, don't follow me. I need to be on my own for a while. I need to – collect myself. You can hate me all you want, Kathalla, but please, make it after the fight tomorrow. We have to be strong to end the Blight. Together."

There were no other words from either of them. Alistair felt his heart was heavy as he turned around to leave the two women be, closing the door behind him. He then stood there and released a shuddered gasp as tears made their way to his eyes. His strength had left him and he suddenly felt empty inside. He'd no longer have his lover by his side and wished this never came to be. But for now, he inhaled sharply and put on a strong face of his own as he proceeded to walk down the hallway and leave the estate without looking back. He had to be strong: For himself, his friends, the people of Ferelden, and all of Thedas.

"Kath, I'm so sorry..." Leliana offered as she stood up, saddened by what just happened. She had seen how the two had come to love each other and even teased her friend frequently about Alistair in light-hearted amusement. But now? Now she was feeling sick herself.

Kathalla stood there, stunned. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and just fall to her knees, giving up – but couldn't. He was right about the arch-demon. There was no time for their emotions right now. That would be selfish of them... So, she stood there visibly shaken as every nerve within her was bitten raw. She then suddenly felt something and flinched out of her stupor as she found herself being hugged by Leliana in a comforting manner. All that the Warden could do was lean into her friend's embrace and pray – to shield herself from the pain and for her to have the strength to carry her into the coming battle the next day which would decide all of their fates.