Chapter 5. Asunder

Zevran automatically reached for his dagger when he heard the light knock on his door at the Gnarled Oak Tavern.

"Zevran, are you there?" he heard Leliana's voice.

Zevran kept the dagger ready and carefully opened the door to peer out. Then he saw Leliana standing alone outside. He opened the door to welcome her, but his smile faded when he saw her face.

"Oh Zevran. I've made a mess of everything," Leliana wailed.

"Well, don't just stand there. Come inside and tell me. You look terrible."

Leliana stumbled inside, slumped on the couch and buried her face in her hands.

"It can't be that bad. It's not like Ferelden is going to be cast into civil war because the Queen found you in bed with Michael is it?"

"Not quite, but not too far away either," Leliana said miserably.

"Well, that would indeed explain the tears then," Zevran said softly. "What happened?"

Zevran sat down beside her, as Leliana retold everything that had happened earlier in the evening.

"And he loves the Queen. I thought it was just politics, but he loves her," Leliana sobbed.

"I see. I am truly sorry Leliana," Zevran said sadly. He softly stroked her hair.

"I am afraid that Fereldan is a country full of brambles and thorns. A foreign flower like you or me can easily get lost here," Zevran said.

"I thought the Empress said that Anora was the flower of Ferelden, not some vicious thorn," Leliana said wiping a tear.

"Far from me to question an Empress," Zevran said seriously, "but personally I think the Queen and our Prince are both the same sort of flower. They are very pretty to look at, but you can easily get hurt if you get too close."

Leliana curled up with her head in his lap.

"Now the Queen hates Michael and I guess he hates me, and it's all my fault. I have to do something," she whimpered.

"Your thoughts do you credit, but they aren't very practical. Just what do you think you could say to the Queen that she would believe, coming from you?" Zevran asked her. "Assuming that you survive entering the Palace to begin with."

"I don't know. I don't know what to do."

"Well, if had been me, this would be the time I just left town as fast as possible," Zevran said. "He broke your heart and you may have caused a crack in his, so technically you could call it even. But I guess you don't want to do that."

Leliana shook her head.

"Hmm... and I suppose a night of wild debauchery with me at the Pearl to forget your sorrows is also out of the question."

"Yes, Zevran" Leliana smiled beneath her tears.

"Then how about this. I order a couple of bottles of the least offensive wine I can find here and then we drink it together while we trade stories of how dreadful these Fereldans are. Later I, being a man of healthy appetites, will no doubt try to take advantage of your weakened state. But by the time you are too drunk to resist my charms, I will be too drunk to force my way past that leather bodice of yours anyway. So nothing will happen, and tomorrow it will all be forgotten so we won't even be embarrassed about it"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Zev!" Leliana giggled.

Anora lie awake alone in her bed, fighting her tears. She was angry with her foolish husband and that slutty little redhead Leliana, but most of all she was angry with herself. She really had made herself believe that Michael somehow was different than Cailan and other men. She had been so stupid.

She wanted to scream and rage at everything, but once Michael was out of sight and she was alone, then all she could feel was this horrible constricting weight in her chest that threatened to crush her.

Why did he have to do that? Why now? when she was finally beginning to feel good about being with him.

Maybe it was all her fault. Maybe all men were like that. It didn't matter how hard she struggled to be the Queen she had been raised to be. Maybe it was natural for any man to prefer some little strumpet that could batt her eye lashes prettily, over someone like her.

But why had he gone to such lengths to try and make her imagine that he was different then? Why couldn't he just have been honest about it from the beginning. She could have dealt with that. It would have been no more than she would have expected. It would have been infinitely better than this horrid sense of betrayal and pain.

The worst part was that he had the nerve to deny things. That it somehow wasn't at all what she thought. That had made her so angry with him that she had slapped him. He had even pretended to become angry himself and claimed that she didn't listen.

Why did he have do such a stupid thing. Why did he have to make her care like this? she wondered sobbing to herself.

The next morning Leliana woke up with a dull headache and a mouth like grinding stone. For a short moment she hoped that yesterday's events had just been a bad dream, but then she realized it was all horribly true. She pried her eyes open and realized it was long past daybreak.

She was back in her own room. Zevran must have manage to get her there somehow in the early hours. She got up arduously and saw Zevran beginning to show signs of life on her couch.

"Good morning Zevran," she said.

"Mhmm..." he groaned and opened his eyes too.

"So... I'm sleeping on your couch and with all my clothes on. I can only assume that you managed to defend your virtue then, such as it is," he said and smiled weakly.

"You don't have to pretend Zev. You were a perfect gentleman all evening and you know it," Leliana replied and smiled fondly at him.

"Yes.. well, that may be, but I would appreciate it if you didn't mention it to anyone. I have a reputation to uphold after all."

Leliana slapped him playfully, when a knock on the door made them freeze. Instantly alert they both reached for the nearest weapon.

"ello, is anyone there?" an unknown female voice with an Orlesian accent spoke.

Leliana motioned Zevran to hide behind the couch as she carefully approached the door. There was another knock on the door.

"Who's there?" Leliana said carefully.

"Please hurry. You must let me in. I can't remain here long," the voice said on the other side of the door.

Leliana carefully opened the door and saw a pretty elf woman stand outside. She looked vaguely familiar.

"Please let me in. It is me, Erlina, Queen Anora's chamber maid," the woman said.

Leliana looked at Erlina dazed and let her slip past her into the room.

"Please, can we... speak privatly?" Erlina asked.

Leliana coughed nervously and Zevran rose smiling from behind the couch. Erlina looked at him surprised.

"It's not what it seems," Zevran said winked at her.

"This... this is another of Michael's companions, no?" Erlina asked her.

"Yeas, and whatever message you have, you can say it now. I trust Zevran with my life," Leliana answered her.

Erlina sat down on the edge of the couch, as far away from the grinning Zevran as she could.

"Before I say anything else I must ask you something Leliana. Are... are you and the Prince... lovers?"

"That's none of your business!" Leliana retorted angrily. "I don't have to explain anything to you."

"Please, I must know. this is very important," Erlina implored her.

"No," Leliana finally admitted. "He has no such feelings for me. I give you my word."

Erlina looked carefully at Leliana and saw her discomfort. She was very aware of exactly how Leliana had worded her answer. Then she nodded.

"Good, because if you really are Michael's friends, then he, and the Queen, needs your help."

"Not to question your judgment, my Lady, but right now I sincerely doubt either of them would be very interested in our help, at least not Leliana's," Zevran said. "Unless perhaps the Queen knows I was with the Antivan Crows, in which case I must respectfully decline. I won't kill Michael for her, nor Leliana."

Erlina looked distastefully at Zevran.

"It's not like that." Erlina said impatiently. "I think they both really need your help, but they don't know it yet."