Elspeth winced slightly as the morning sunlight pierced the cloth of her tent to strike her closed eyes. She'd only gotten a few hours sleep, and she knew more about the personal lives of Antivan nobility than any one person really ought to, but at least her brief slumber had been untroubled by dreams or darkspawn. Smiling around her yawns, she followed her nose to the large pot steaming invitingly beside the fire. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching the pot, she stuck a finger into the thick porridge for a taste.

"You're quite taken with each other aren't you?"

Elspeth whirled around, her finger still in her mouth, to see Wynne watching her. There was a faint, disapproving line between the old mage's eyes. Elspeth hastily removed her finger from her mouth and wiped it surreptitiously on the edge of her tunic, while searching for an answer to the vague question. The best she could find at the moment was, "Huh?"

Wynne made a small, irritated noise in the back of her throat. "There's no point in either of us pretending we don't know what's going on between you two. Half the camp isn't getting any sleep the way you carry on all night."

All night…"Oh, you mean Zev and… wait… what do you mean 'carry on'? We don't 'carry on'; we talk, he tells stories, we laugh—we don't do… whatever it is you think… what did you think we were doing?"

Wynne shook her head. "I've noticed your blossoming relationship and wanted to ask where you thought it was going," she explained primly. "It seems he only ever has one thing on his mind. I question the wisdom of a Grey Warden being involved in such an affair."

Perhaps it was just her own tiredness, but Elspeth got the distinct impression that one of them wasn't making much sense. She also got the impression that Wynne thought she had done something wrong and wasn't telling her what. Frustrated, she snapped, "What affair? I happen to likeZevran; I enjoy spending time with him. How does that have anything to do with me being a Grey Warden?"

But Wynne was now in full lecture mode and seemed oblivious to Elspeth's burst of temper. "Love," she explained, "is ultimately selfish. It demands that one be devoted to a single person, who may fully occupy one's mind and heart, to the exclusion of all else. A Grey Warden cannot afford to be selfish. You may be forced to make a choice between saving your love and saving everyone else, and then what would you do?"

Elspeth stared, wide-eyed at the old mage for a moment, and when she spoke, her tone was dangerously quiet. "Is that what this is about?" her previous air of sleepy unconcern dropped away as she straightened her back, every inch the daughter of a Teyrn of Fereldan. "You're afraid I would choose Zevran's life over yours?"

Wynne took an involuntary step back. "I merely—" she began, but Elspeth cut her off.

"I consider everyone in this camp a valued companion and a friend," one dark eyebrow arched wryly. "Even you. I will do anything in my power to protect allyour lives. More than that, since you have all chosen to follow my command, your lives are my responsibility. As your leader, my blade must be the first into battle, my place is between you and the foe, and my head, if it comes to that, is the first on the block. If anyone's life is going to be sacrificed for anything, it had sodding well better be mine. That is what it means to lead and to serve. That is what my father taught me. And no sermon you could possibly dream up is ever going to change that."

Elspeth did not wait for a response, but turned on her heel and strode away, her hands clenched into fists so that Wynne would not see them trembling with fury.

In the shadows near the fire, Zevran drew back further into the cover of the trees, more troubled than he cared to admit by what he had heard. The words, my head… on the block, echoed over and over in his mind and made his blood run cold. He didn't really want to think about why.

Note: I know I don't usually use in-game dialogue in this fic, but there was so much that bugged me about this conversation- none of the possible responses were what I wanted to say at all. So this is Els and me blowing off a little steam; hope you don't mind.