Eriana's footsteps echo through the halls of a deathly quiet Redcliff Castle. Time seems to have slowed as she moves through the castle in search of the boy. All she can hear are her own footsteps and the sound of her heart drumming in her ear. A fury of emotions threaten to paralyze her, guilt, doubt, fear, compassion, but with all the resolve she can muster, she forces herself forward. The decision has been made, and there is no time for second guessing herself. The daggers in her hands feel like they are made of lead, so she grips them tightly, afraid that if she loosens her hold even for a moment, the daggers will fall and with them her resolve.

Then, suddenly, the boy is standing before her, looking up at her with fear in his eyes. His voice shakes as he softly speaks, "Go away. She won't like you being here. The scary lady who speaks to me in my dreams, she'll just try to hurt you. Please go away." He is concerned for her, for her safety. Her breath catches in her throat, and she tries hard to swallow. "She's quiet now, but she's never very far away. She promised me that she would help father. I didn't think she would hurt everyone. This isn't what I wanted."

"I know, Connor; I'm sorry," she managed to say, "but I'm afraid this needs to end, now."

"Is that why you're here? Are you going to kill me? She said you would," Connor answered, his sad eyes looking terrified. Eriana's heart sank looking into those innocent eyes; fighting back tears, she nodded. "What's going to happen to me, when I'm dead?"

She knelt in front of him, "Your soul returns to the Maker."

"He always sounds so scary; will he be angry with me?"

"No, he will understand and give you peace."

"Will it hurt much?"

Sweet Maker it was too much. "No, Connor. I promise I will make it quick." She barely got the words out.

"Good, at least no one else will be hurt, and maybe Father will get better. That's all I really wanted," Connor said, trying desperately to sound brave, but the quiver in his voice nearly tore Eriana apart.

"Close your eyes, child," she whispered. Behind her, she could hear Isolde crying, struggling to get free of Alistair's arms, begging for the life of her son, begging Eriana to take her life instead. "Please forgive me. Go in peace to the Maker."

Isolde's wailed mournfully behind her as Connor fell to the ground, but Eriana barely heard it. She sank back on her knees and put her head in her arms, letting her tears flow freely. She kept telling herself it was the right decision, the only decision, but it didn't make it any easier. When she looked up, everyone was gone, and she was alone.

Eriana's eyes flew open as she sat straight up on her bed roll. Outside, the night was quiet except for the occasional rustling of leaves as the wind moved through the trees. Three times that night, she had returned to Redcliff Castle just as she had every night since they had left. Each dream was a bit different. Sometimes she fought with the demon; sometimes it was Conner who fought her. There were times that Connor's face was replaced by her brother with her mother screaming behind her, but the dreams always ended the same. She was always alone in the end, crying over Connor's broken body. She reached up and found that yet again her cheeks were wet from the tears she cried in her sleep, and Eriana found herself wishing the darkspawn dreams would return. The four nights since they left Redcliff for Denerim had been among the worst nights of her life, her dreams a constant reminder of the most difficult decision that she ever had to make.

To make matters worse, the days had been nearly as painful as the nights. Morrigan and Leliana remained supportive of Eriana, assuring her that she had made the right decision, but Alistair refused to speak to her. In fact, he had only spoken to her once since they left Redcliff, and that was to yell at her. Lying back down, she replayed that first night over in her head.

"How could you do that? How could you kill a child? I had no idea you were so heartless," he had screamed at her. "What will Eamon say when he wakes up to find that we killed his son? His son, Eriana," as if she hadn't been there; as if she hadn't been the one to do it. "I owe him more than that." And with that he stormed away, refusing to listen to anything else she had to say.

Eriana refused to go after him, though she felt like crying and begging him to listen, to forgive her. More than anything, she needed him to understand. Killing Conner was hard enough, but Alistair's cruel rejection of her was almost too much. But she refused to be weak. She would not beg for his forgiveness. If he wanted to pout and ignore her, then that was his prerogative. So the party walked in relative silence toward Denerim, but it was starting to wear on her. Eriana sighed. There was no way she was going to go back to sleep and force herself to relive that night again. Judging by the moon, she still had about three hours until the sun came up. She was about to go outside and sit by the fire when she remembered that Alistair had third watch. Great, that's all she needed. She could either lie here and suffer alone, or go outside and have Alistair glare at her till sunrise. Curling up in a ball, fighting tears, Eriana tried to bury herself in her bed roll. It was a long three hours.

Eriana was tired of walking in the front of the party, so she proclaimed that the men should walk in front while she, Morrigan, and Leliana brought up the rear. In truth, she was tired of feeling Alistair's angry stare on her back. At least now, he had to turn around to glare at her, and that was far too odious for someone who was making it very clear he was ignoring her.

Leliana leaned over and whispered into her ear, "You know, this is all becoming a bit ridiculous. You two have to make up eventually."

Eriana looked back at her, "I'm more than willing if he would grow up and start acting like an adult."

Leliana was about to reply when a woman came running up to them. "Oh, thank the Maker, we need help. They've attacked our wagons, please help us." She seemed genuinely distressed, but something didn't seem right to Eriana.

She shot a quick look over at Morrigan who whispered, "Mage."

Leliana quietly added, "Trap."

Notching an arrow from her quiver, Eriana softly said, "Well let's spring it then." She quickly nodded Leliana who took off toward the tree line so she could attack from cover, and after a quick hand signal, the dog took off after her. Together Eriana and Morrigan, took off after the distressed traveler and the men. "Take her out fast, Morrigan, before she can do too much damage," she whispered as they approached an over-turned wagon and smirking blond elf.

It was a perfect place for an ambush, Eriana realized as they walked up to the elf. The road was flanked on both sides with cliffs that would be ideal for positioning archers, and they could easily cut off our only exit from behind. Sure enough, as soon as they stopped, archers appeared on the bluff, swordsmen stepped out from behind the disabled wagons, and a tree crashed behind them, sealing off their only exit.

"The Grey Wardens die here," the elf shouted as he unsheathed a pair of daggers from his back, but before he had even finished talking, Morrigan hit the mage with a freeze spell that was quickly followed by pinning blow from Eriana's bow that shattered the frozen woman. One down.

"Sten, archers to the left; Morrigan take out as many as you can," shouted Eriana, unsheathing her own weapons. "I'll take care of the elf."

For a moment, the two elves circled each other, each one attempting to assess the weakness of the other, and then they danced. The assassin launched himself toward Eriana, his daggers moving more quickly than she believed possible. Deftly, Eriana blocked the attack with her dagger as she spun out of his way. She brought her sword down across her body, trying to land a blow on the assassin's shoulder, but he too was able to easily dodge her attack. As advisories fell around her, Eriana continued to engage the assassin, neither able to get a true upper hand on the other. He was obviously a more skilled swordsman, but she was younger and more flexible. Finally, after a grueling fight, Eriana was able to land a hit on his leg, leaving a deep cut on his thigh. He faltered, dropping his defenses as Eriana spun past him, and she brought the pummel of her sword down hard on the back of his head, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"And that, pretty boy, is why we wear helmets," she snapped at him.

"He's still alive, you know," Morrigan said walking up behind her.

"I know, and once I get him tied up, I want you to heal him for me. I have some questions for this one."

Sten and Alistair walked up as she finished binding his arms. "Are we clear, Sten?" The giant only nodded. As Eriana whistled to Leliana, signaling her that the coast was clear, the blond elf at her feet began to stir.

"What? I, oh no. I had rather hoped that I would wake up dead, or not wake up at all. So you haven't killed me yet?"

"Well, aren't you the master of the obvious. I have a few questions for you first," Eriana said, her left hand resting on the dagger at her hip.

"Ah, so I'm to be interrogated? Well, let me save you some time because you are clearly not in the mood for dalliance. My name is Zevran, Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows sent here with the sole purpose of slaying any surviving Grey Wardens, which I have failed at, sadly."

Eriana's eyes narrowed. "Can't say that I'm too sad about that."

"Nor would I be in your shoes. But getting captured by a target puts a bit of a damper on a career as an assassin, don't you think."

"Especially for an Antivan Crow," said Leliana as she and he dog walked up to Eriana. "They are not known for their mercy. They are known for always getting the job done, so to speak. Someone went to great expense to hire this man."

" So, Zevran," she said, clearly emphasizing his name, making it clear she was not his friend, "you are a hired killer. Then I suppose the only real information I need from you is the name of the person who hired you to kill me."

"A woman of business, I see. I was hired by a rather taciturn fellow in the capital, Loghain, I believe was his name."

"Fantastic, more of Loghain's supporters," Eriana muttered to herself. "That's all I need."

"Oh, I am not a supporter of Loghain. I have no idea what his issues are with you; I assume you threaten his power in some way, no? I was contracted to perform a service, without prejudice, that is all."

"So, you're not loyal to Loghain?"

"No, however, if you have no other questions, we can discuss loyalty a bit further. Here's the thing; I failed to kill you, so my life is forfeit. If you don't kill me, the Crows will." Eriana glanced over at Leliana upon hearing this, and she nodded in agreement. Zevran continued. "The thing is, I rather like living, and you are formidable enough to give the Crows some pause. So, let me serve you instead."

"Right, you want me to take you along. What would stop you from just finishing the job later?"

"Well, for one, I would be ridiculously foolish to try to kill you after you so efficiently handled my party. I am but one man, and it would be very had to kill you and escape without your friends killing me. And as I said, I like living."

"You must think I am royally stupid." Eriana said, twisting the silver ring on her left hand and looking down at him. There was no way she was buying this. He just tried to kill her, and now he is offering to join them. Just how stupid did he think she was? She wasn't sure why she was even listening to this anyway; she had the information she needed, just kill him and be done with it.

"No, I think you're royally tough to kill, not to mention royally beautiful." Eriana really bristled at that, glaring down at him. "Not that I think flattery will get me anywhere."

Eriana was tired of listening to this. It had been a long day already, and she really didn't have time to deal with this any longer. She was reaching for her dagger to kill the elf, when she caught a glimpse of her from the corner of her eye that struck her as far too familiar. Her stomach tightened compulsively as she was flooded with memories from her childhood, memories of Skylar, and all of a sudden, she couldn't do it. She simply couldn't bring herself to kill him.

"Fine, Zevran, I accept your offer."

"What!" Alistair's voice exploded behind her. "You're taking the assassin with us, now?" They were the first words he had spoken to her in four days, and of course, they were critical. She almost lost it. Spinning around she slammed her dagger against his breastplate.

"If you want to kill him, Alistair, you do it." Alistair stammered for a bit before turning and walking away. "Of course not," she muttered under her breath, "because that would mean you had to make a decision yourself." Eriana reached down and cut the ropes from the Antivan's wrists; offering him her hand, she pulled him to her feet.

Grinning smugly, Zevran stood before her, "I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you until such a time you choose to release me from it. I am your man, without reservation. This I swear."

Eriana simply nodded before handing him his weapons. Maker, she hoped her nostalgia hadn't swayed her into making a very bad decision.

That evening, Eriana stalked off to the edge of camp with Ramoth, too annoyed to sit by the fire and endure Alistair's silence any longer. She didn't seriously think it was possible for him to become any more surly, but Zevran's arrival seemed to exasperate the situation even more. She just needed to be alone so she could try to figure out how to fix the rift between her and Alistair. While she sat there, thinking, absentmindedly tossing a stick for Ramoth to fetch, Eriana heard the sound of unfamiliar footsteps. Zevran. Discretely, Eriana gave the dog the signal to move into cover, and watched as Ramoth disappeared into the bush, moving into a position where he would be ready to attack if necessary.

"Good evening, Zevran," she said, turning toward the assassin as he walked up.

Zevran smiled, "Warden, or should I call you by your name?"

"Warden is fine, for now. Is there something you needed?"

"No, no, no," said Zevran, taking a seat beside her. "I've just been amused by the stir my arrival seems to have caused. A rift between you and lover boy, no?" he asked with a smug smile on his face.

Eriana was too startled to keep an expressionless mask on her face; sweet Andraste how did he know? Zevran simply laughed at her shocked expression. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said, trying unsuccessfully to cover up her slip.

"Oh, I think you do," dang that smooth accent. "It seems quite clear that there is something between you two. Only people with some kind of relationship would go to such lengths to avoid each other."

Eriana raised an eyebrow at him, trying hard not to grin, "It's that obvious then? Well before you get it into your head that you are important enough to have caused this, just stop. You may have been the final blow, but this has been brewing for quite some time."

Zevran smiled, "Ah, so my arrival was not the cause of his pouting. Too bad, I suppose I'll have to try harder then, no? But just look at him now." Eriana turned and glanced back at the fire. There Alistair sat, still staring into the fire, his hands clinched in fists in front of him. "He is sitting, pretending to stare intently into the fire, but he is really discreetly watching us, well, watching you, rather. He is probably debating whether he should come over her and protect you from the dangerous assassin. But in order to do that would be to admit that he was watching or that he cares, and since he is far too angry to admit that, he must keep pretending to care while I get to talk to his captivating woman."

"So you've come just to annoy Alistair then?"

"No, but it is a pleasant side effect. I must say, the pleasure of your company is a far better reason. After all, a lovely lady such as yourself should not be alone on such a night as this," he sighed. "However, I must not linger long. The longer I stay, the more likely it is that he becomes concerned enough that his duty gets the better of his pride, and he comes to your rescue, no?"

"So, I need rescuing from you then?" she said, a slight smile crossing her face.

"Your life is in no danger from me, I assure you. I am true to my oath. I am your man in whatever capacity you need."

Eriana rolled her eyes. "I think I'll be just fine, thank you."

Zevran shrugged, "Until later then, perhaps? As it is now, the longer he sits and sulks, the longer I have your full attention, no?"

"His loss."

"Indeed, so what was it, if I may ask, that has driven our Alistair to his oath of silence?"

Eriana glanced over at Alistair and sighed. "Just a difference in opinion, I guess."

"Too soon for specifics, then? Well that's understood; I did try to kill you this morning. And on that note, I will take my leave, lest your knight feels obliged to rescue you. Good night, Warden." And with that, Zevran stood up and walked back to the camp. Eriana watched him go, but as she turned away, she locked eyes briefly with Alistair who simply glared and turned away.

Stupid, stubborn human.

Sorry about all the in-game dialogue. I found it a bit hard to get around using some of the dialogue. More original material to come. Thanks for the reviews.