Eriana and her party stayed in Orzammar for nearly a week after Bhelen was crowned King. She hadn't truly planed on staying that long and was honestly eager to leave the dwarven city, but the trip into the deep roads had proven a more grueling than she realized. Morrigan and Leliana had made it quite clear that she needed more time to recover her strength before they continued on their journey. Eriana soon discovered, however, that Orzammar wasn't so bad after all. Once the King had been crowned, the city had calmed down considerably, making their final week there almost pleasant. It was nice to be able to walk through the commons or the Diamond Quarter without being on the lookout for angry Harrowmont supporters who wanted to pick a fight with therm. Eriana spent time each day doing some light sparring with Zevran or Leliana in the private training room Bhelen had given them in the Proving arena. Bhelen had also commissioned a special Proving to honor the Grey Wardens and celebrate his victory over Harrowmont. Zevran had used the competition as a training exercise. Sitting behind Eriana, he spend most of the matches pointing out the vulnerabilities of each of the fighters and giving her suggestions as to how she might counter each one. Eriana wasn't sure how helpful it was; she was too distracted by the feel of his breath on her ear to really listen to what he was saying.

As they were beginning to make their final preparations for leaving the city, Ogren ambled up to Eriana with a request.

"Hey Warden, I got a proposition for ya. I'm all but washed up down here; the whole of the warrior class thinks I'm some kind of joke, by the stone, I'm not even allowed to carry a weapon in the commons if I'm not with you. But you know sodding well I can handle a blade with the best of them. The way I figure, you could use another fighter in your quest against the Blight. Now that Branka's been found and all, I don't have much purpose down here anymore, and I think there are better ways to spend my considerable talents. What ya say?"

"I thought that once dwarfs left Orzamar, they weren't allowed to return, that they became surface dwarfs forever. Are you willing to do that?"

"He he he, if the ale's as easy to find up there as it is down here, I'll be right at home there, missy. There's not much else down here that I could do without."

Eriana smiled and clapped the dwarf on the back, "Then I say welcome aboard, Oghren. I'd love to have you join us."

"Now don't get all mushy on me, there, girly girl; it ain't a proposal"

Eriana laughed, "I'm heartbroken, truly. Well, we're leaving tomorrow, so you might want to stock up on the booze. We may not be in civilization for a while."

"Sounds good, Warden," Oghren said as he ambled off. "See ya in the morning."

All of their affairs were in order, supplies restocked, health restored. There was only one thing Eriana needed to take care of before they left, but she really wasn't looking forward to it. She needed to resolve things with Alistair, something that she had been dreading and putting off since Redcliff. She found him sitting in the Commons, watching lava fall into the pools beneath the Proving arena.

"Hey, Alistair," she said, walking up to him. "Do you have a minute? I think we need to talk."

"Yeah, I figured as much," he said with a sigh. "I can't say that I'm surprised. So you and Zevran, huh?"

Eriana sighed and nodded, "How'd you know?"

"Well, he's been more cocky than usually, and he's been strutting around here like he owns the place. I figured you had made up your mind. Lucky him," he said, not looking away from the lava streams.

"I am so sorry, Alistair. I didn't mean for this to happen," she tried to move in front of him, to get him to look at her, but he just stared straight ahead. "I mean, I didn't set out to fall for him. It just kind of happened."

After a long silence, Alistair finally looked at her. The obvious pain and disappointment in his face almost crumbled her will completely. "Why then; why him? What does he have that I don't; can you at least tell me that?"

"It's not so much what he has, it's what he is."

"An elf?" Alistair asked, bitterly.

Eriana sighed, "That's part of it, yes; I won't deny that. Being with Zevran is much less confusing; there's no apprehension when I'm with him. I don't feel like I'm being pulled in two different directions. You know about my past; you knew this would always be a problem with me."

"No apprehension?" Alistair almost shouted, "Maker's Breath, he tried to kill you. Have you already forgotten that? I haven't; in fact, I remember your first meeting perfectly well. He tried to give you two daggers by placing them in your heart, and you're not apprehensive around him?"

"No, I'm not. Look, Alistair, if Zevran still wanted to kill me, he would have; Andraste knows he's had ample opportunity to since then. But he hasn't."

"So now you trust him, then."

Eriana sighed, "Yes I do; I truly do. Deep down, he's a good man. He didn't want to kill us; he was just hired to."

Alistair gave a sharp angry bark of laughter, "Oh, yeah, well that makes me feel so much better."

"Please don't be bitter, Alistair," she put a hand on his armored arm, "I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. Please don't hate me."

Alistair started put an arm around her, but stopped and just turned away, unable to look at her, "I don't hate you, Eriana; I just wish that you had given us a chance, that's all. I could make you happy too."

Eriana looked down, "We are too different, Alistair; I think you would have realized that. We would have never been together at all if the circumstances had been any different; we're from two different worlds. If we weren't the only two Wardens left in Fereldan, you would have never given me a second look."

Alistair shook his head, "You're wrong. I have liked you since the moment I met you. The fact that you and I are together now was the luckiest thing that could have happened to me. Even if we had won at Ostagar and all this hadn't happened, I would have still been drawn to you."

Eriana shook her head, "We wouldn't have worked out even then. We're just too different."

"And you and Zevran aren't? He's a murder, Eriana, remember? He kills people for money. You're a better person than that."

"Am I, Alistair, really? The people who get transformed into golems may not think so, the former Arl of Denerim probably didn't think so, you didn't think so back at Redcliff, remember? Don't you remember how I became a Grey Warden? Duncan saved me from being hanged for murder." Eriana sighed.

"That's different," Alistair said, "You didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, Alistair, and I chose what was best for me. Good is a relative term, you know, and I think Zevran is a good man."

"Well I hope for all our sakes that you are right about him and I am wrong." Alistair was quiet for a moment. "Is this really what you want?" Eriana nodded. "Fine then, go to him," Alistair said bitterly as he got up to walk away. He stopped for a moment, then turned back, "Just know, I'll be watching him because if he hurts you in any way…"

"Alistair."

"Fine, fine, just know I'll be there." Alistair sighed for a moment, looking at her, the sadness clearly showing on his handsome face, "he's a lucky man; I hope he realizes that," and with that, Alistair turned and walked away.

Eriana sat there, staring at the lava flow, unable to watch him walk away. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, but it was better that he knew the truth. Part of here still cared deeply for the templar who defended her at Ostagar, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then; the world became much more complicated.

"If it's any consolation, I know just how lucky I am," Eriana heard a voice say, and looked up to see Zevran step out of the shadows. She should have known he would be there.

"How much of that did you hear?"

Zevran shrugged and came to stand behind her, gently rubbing her shoulders, "Only the very end, something about me being a good man, relatively speaking, of course."

"Of course."

They sat in silence for a moment, Zevran massaging her shoulders, Eriana watching the lava. "My Warden, how well versed are you in poetry, Antivan poetry to be precise?"

Eriana turned to look up at him, "Um, I guess I know a good poem when I hear one, why?"

Zevran laughed, "Well, you won't be hearing one now. It was recited to me, as I recall, by a rather wealthy target of mine. Let's see…"The symphony I see in thee; it whispers songs to me. Songs of hot breath on my neck; songs of grunts by my head; songs of hands on muscled back; songs of thee come to my bed."

Eriana looked up at him for a moment before she started laughing. "I take it you still killed her; I sure would have, for the poem if nothing else."

"Well of course I killed her," he said with a laugh, "but I slept with her first of course."

"Of course," she said, looking back at him. "And why exactly are you telling it to me?"

"Here I thought you might be cheered up by some naughty poetry. You look so…unhappy. Such an unflattering expression for such a lovely face."

"And dirty Antivan poetry was the best idea you had? Surely there is something else you could do to cheer me up."

"You know, my dear, it has occurred to me that I was never able to give you that Antivan massage I offered you when we first arrived here, no?" Eriana smiled and shook her head. "No, well, if you are up for it, I would be glad to demonstrate my techniques for you tonight. You will not be disappointed, I assure you; such skills one learns growing up in an Antivan whorehouse, you will find yourself quite relaxed and, shall I say, satisfied."

Eriana leaned back against Zevran's legs. "Now you see, that sounds better," she paused for a moment, "but since tonight seems to be the night for confessions, I have one for you." She turned to look up to him, suddenly a bit nervous. "I've, um, well, I've never actually…"

"Oh, ho, ho," Zevran laughed for a moment, "Am I to believe that my beautiful Warden has never been with a man."

Eriana shook her head, "Oh no, it's not that; believe me, there have been plenty. Probably not as many as, well, you, but I have experience." She took a deep breath, "The thing is all of my experience happened outside the ailenage if you catch my drift."

"I see, so you have never been with another elf. Is that what you're telling me?" Eriana nodded. Zevran tilted his head to the side for a moment, "Have any of your relationships been consensual, my dear?"

Eriana looked down, "A few. You have to understand; I worked around humans, drunk humans, for most of my adolescence. I learned early on that if I fought, I would get beaten or taken to the guards. Most of the men didn't want to hurt me; I guess they just found me attractive and just wanted to be with me. So I learned not to fight it; I would just end up getting hurt or even killed. And who would care, I was just an elf. I even ended up having a kind of relationship or two with some of the younger nobles when I got older, but no one in the ailenage knew about it." She turned around and looked up at Zevran, "I should have told you sooner, I know, and if that changes how you feel, I completely understand."

Before she could say anything else, Zevran caught her up in his arms and kissed her so passionately, her knees almost buckled beneath her. "Bellissima, who am I to judge one's past? You did what you had to in order to survive, no? However, I for one plan to show you what you have been missing by limiting yourself to human lovers; I'm afraid they simply don't know how to satisfy our wilder elven natures. Come, we may as well take advantage of these beds before we return to sleeping on the cold, hard ground, yes?"

Eriana grinned up at him, "I think I'm inclined to agree with you."

Eriana was surprised by how quickly the pair navigated the market district and made their way back to her quarters in the palace. As soon as Eriana closed the door behind her, Zevran's lips were on her, his hands moving up her side as he pressed her against the door. She felt him reach behind her, and a moment later, she heard the lock on the door click true and felt Zevran pull her across the room. His breath was hot on her ear as he skillfully undid the shoulder buckles of her breastplate, letting it fall unceremoniously to the floor followed quickly by the leather skirt of her armor. Eriana's hands moved over Zevran's chest, feeling the strong muscles of his abdomen beneath her fingertips. This was the first time she had ever been this close to him without the barrier of their armor between them. She grabbed at the end of his tunic, trying to pull it over his head, but he slipped out of her grasp. Kissing her lightly on the nose, he shook his head. "No, no, my dear, massage first," he said as he lowered her to the bed.

She looked up at him, her head cocked to the side, "Fine, but I hardly think it's fair that you have on so much more clothing than I do," she laughed. Then she pulled him to the bed with her and began untying the laces at the top of his tunic. When Zevran pulled the shirt over his head, Eriana made a surprised sound. "I had no idea you had more tattoos, Zev," she said as she began tracing them lightly with her fingers. "Andraste's sword, they're beautiful," she whispered as Zevran moaned beneath her touch. She traced the intricate design across his chest with her fingers then her lips, following the pattern to where it disappeared beneath his britches. "Oh, and I hoped to see the rest of it," she said, looking up with a wicked look in her eyes.

Zevran growled as he pushed her back onto the bed, lowering himself on top of her. "I think your massage will have to wait my dear," he managed to say before claiming her mouth in passionate kiss. He ran his hand over her forehead, pushing her hair out of her face, "I must say, we have come very far from those early days when I tried to kill you and you decided not to kill me," he said with a laugh. "Fate is such a tricky whore, isn't she?"

Eriana wrapped her arms around her Antivan lover. "And thank the Maker for that," she said as she ran her hands up his back and pulled his lips back to hers.