Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age or any of its characters.

Thanatos

"On thee, the portion of our time depends, whose absence lengthens life, whose presence ends."

Kallian found Alistair and Adair in the throne room of the Keep. Nobody paid her much mind as she'd walked through the grounds since no one had really recognized her; or if they did, they didn't say anything to her. Alistair was busy talking to a slightly older shem with salt and pepper hair. He stood at attention, listening intently to everything the king was saying. Adair was busily playing on the floor with a tabby cat. Obviously, she'd found the mage's pet…or the mage had taken it upon himself to introduce her to the feline. Either way her daughter was occupied. Because the throne room was virtually empty, (and the king had informed her that this was where the Wardens commonly hung out) Kallian could only deduce that Howe and the mage had heeded her orders and that her charges were busily preparing themselves for a gruelling practice session. Kallian wandered up to Alistair and the grey haired shem and dumped her heavy bag of armour and weaponry on the floor.

"Ahoy, shems. Where am I bunking? I need to change into my armour for my practice bout with the other Wardens," Kallian announced without preamble.

Alistair chuckled and motioned to Kallian. "This is Warden-Commander Kallian, if you hadn't guessed." He said to the grizzled shem in heavy chainmail armour. "This, Commander, is Varel, the Keep's Seneschal. He takes care of day to day affairs."

Varel bowed to Kallian and eyed her with undisguised awe. "It is an honour to meet you, Commander. To have the Hero of-"

Kallian held up her hands in an attempt to stave off Varel's words. "Ack! Please don't do that, I was just doing my job, for the Creators' sake! That we all survived was just a happy coincidence." She sighed, shaking her head. "I do appreciate the sentiment, though. Now, as I was saying, I need a place to sleep. My daughter will be sharing the room with me, so it'd be great if there were quarters that were large enough for two beds."

"It's all been taken care of," Varel replied. "His Majesty had sent word of your arrival ahead of time, and his instructions included shared quarters with your daughter."

Kallian's brow furrowed. "But how did he know that I'd say yes…" she turned to the king, her lips quirked into a smirk. "Presumptuous bastard, aren't you, your Majesty?"

Alistair shrugged a shoulder, "what can I say? I'm an eternal optimist." He winked at her playfully. "Now that everything seems to be in order, I'll be taking my leave. A caravan should be arriving in two days time with the rest of your things, Commander. Maker only knows how you managed to carry all of that armour and weaponry around."

"I'm stronger than I look," she replied huffily.

"Without a doubt," Alistair grinned and reached out, squeezing her shoulder affectionately. "I'll return in a few months to see how things are going. In the meantime, I expect regular updates on the state of affairs." His voice had taken on an official tone.

"Of course," Kallian responded. "Now get out of here, you silly blond shem. You have a country to run!" The pair embraced one last time before the king departed. Kallian turned her attention back to the Seneschal. "Alright, can you show me where I'll be sleeping? I need to get ready for the practice session with the other Wardens. I don't want to keep 'em waiting too long."

"Right this way Commander," Varel motioned for her to follow. Kallian cast a glance at her daughter, who was still busying herself with the mage's cat. She decided to leave her be and followed the Seneschal to her new quarters.

The practice field was slick with mud from a recent downpour. As Kallian approached, she took note of each Warden standing in line on the field. She recognized Oghren immediately and smiled internally. She also recognized the rogue shem and the mage, which left the female dwarf, Sigrun, and the…walking corpse. She arched an eyebrow at his decaying flesh, and was surprised that she didn't find him as off-putting as she'd originally thought she would. He held himself with a fierce dignity, one that couldn't be ignored. As Kallian drew closer, she saw Oghren's eyes light up.

"Well I'll be a nug-humper's uncle! If it ain't the Hero herself!" He exclaimed. His whooping joy sent a blush crawling up her neck.

"Far as I heard, Og, you're not unfamiliar withnug-humping either. Must run in the family," she teased. She stopped just ten feet away from them, ready to address them for the first time as their Commander. The entire situation seemed incredibly surreal, and she was anxious to get to the fighting part of their practice session. "Alright everyone, I'm your new Commander, Kallian Tabris. Some of you I've met already, and some I haven't. What's important now is that I need to find out your strengths and weaknesses. I'll pair you up into teams. You'll fight 'til someone yields. The winners of each fight will go on to battle each other until only one person remains, and that person will have to fight me." Kallian folded her arms over her chest, the familiar clink of her medium weight dragonbone armour resonated through the silence. She wrinkled her nose as she often did when contemplating an action, and came to a decision. "The first bout will be between Sigrun and Nathaniel."

The dwarf moved to the weapon stand and chose a blunted broadsword and dagger. Nathaniel followed soon after and opted for a simple ironbark bow and a quiver of arrows (again, with blunted heads). They made their way to the fighting area. Nathaniel nocked an arrow and Sigrun held her blades at the ready, twirling them idly. They circled each other slowly, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually, Nathaniel let his arrow fly, making direct contact with Sigrun's left shoulder. The dwarf grunted and moved forward with surprising speed. She lashed out with her dagger, taking Nathaniel in the right hamstring, causing him to stumble slightly. He righted himself and twirled away from her, nocking yet another arrow. He let it loose almost immediately, connecting with the dwarf's throat. Her eyes widened and a hand flew to her neck as she choked. Nathaniel inhaled sharply. "I-I'm so sorry, I should have been more careful!" He said worriedly. He dropped his bow and knelt next to her, trying to assess the damage he'd caused.

Kallian watched the display, arms still folded about her chest. She was not a stupid woman, and she could plainly see what the problem was. "Both of you, get up!"

The pair glanced up at her. Nathaniel's expression was filled with anger. "She's obviously hurt, Commander."

"Are you deaf? I said get up!" Kallian snarled. Sigrun looped an arm around Nathaniel and he hefted her up to her feet. Sigrun still held a hand to her throat. Kallian took a step toward the dwarf. "Let me see," she demanded. Sigrun let her hand fall away, and Kallian saw the beginnings of a very nasty bruise. "Mage!" she called out.

"Yeeeeees?" Anders fell in beside the Commander.

"Make sure that she's alright. Heal her, or whatever."

"Yes ser!" He grinned and turned to Sigrun. He gingerly ran his fingertips along her neck, making sure that there was no damage to the windpipe. Once he'd ascertained that there weren't any serious problems, he cast a simple healing spell over the area with the most amount of bruising. Kallian watched as the white light flowed from his fingers. She was accustomed to seeing Wynne perform these spells…to see a man use the same delicate movements that the old woman had…it had a strange effect on the elf. The mage glanced up and caught her staring. He winked at her, and Kallian scowled. Shems…

"Thank you," Sigrun said gratefully.

Anders flashed another one of his dazzling smiles. "Any time." He turned to Kallian, a knowing smirk gracing his features. "Is there anything else I can do for you, Commander?"

"No," she replied a bit too sharply. She turned her cold gaze onto Sigrun and Nathaniel. "How long?"

They both glanced at each other. "It happened two years ago," Nathaniel replied. "We're no longer…romantically involved though."

Kallian pursed her lips together. This could be a very big problem…if they couldn't remain objective in a simple practice session, what would they be like during a real fight? "Have you fought alongside each other since? In serious battle?"

"Yes," came Sigrun's reply.

Kallian turned to Oghren. "Has this issue ever affected their ability to make rational decisions in the heat of battle?"

Oghren shook his head. "Nope. Not as far as I can tell."

Kallian sighed. "Well, if it doesn't have a negative effect… If I notice anything out of the ordinary, I'll ship one of you to the Denerim compound. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Commander," both replied immediately.

A sudden cry was heard throughout the field. "Commander!"

Each of them turned to see one of the Keep's guards dashing toward them, waving his arms about wildly. "Commander!" he continued shouting. "We need Anders right away! Someone's been hurt badly! They're in the throne room!"

Kallian frowned and nodded. "Of course," she said. "Actually, we should all go. We'll resume this practice at a later date." They all followed the guard back to the throne room. When they entered, the scene spread out before them was grisly indeed. "What happened?" Kallian demanded.

A woman, obviously another guard, lay on the throne room floor. Her legs were bent in disturbing angles, and her chest appeared to be crushed. There was a long streak of blood from where she'd been dragged into the chambers. Varel and another male guard were kneeling over her. "Oh, Maker…Please…don't take her from me," the guard moaned. "Please…"

Varel looked up at Kallian. "There was still some repair work that needed to be done to the Keep since the darkspawn attack. Nothing major…just some reinforcements to the walls. Emily was keeping watch of the progress when suddenly a portion of wall fell onto her…she was crushed. We were only barely able to dig her out."

"Move aside," Anders shouldered his way to the woman lying on the floor. He grimaced as he did a quick assessment of her. "There's nothing I can do for her," he said grimly. "She's…gone."

"No, please! Try anything! Oh, Emily please don't go!" the guard wailed.

Varel placed a soothing hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

"She's not gone," came a small voice from behind the group. Everyone turned to see Adair standing and watching them. Her head was tilted to one side and she seemed confused.

Kallian moved toward her daughter. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't be seeing this-" she made to pick the girl up, but Adair skipped away and wandered over to the dead woman on the ground.

Adair crouched next to Anders and took Emily's hand into her own. Varel gasped as the girl's eyes changed from violet, to white. It was almost as though the girl was undergoing the Joining. "She doesn't want to leave," Adair explained. "She's stuck though…" the little girl wrinkled her nose. She turned her alabaster gaze onto the crying guard. "Would you like me to get her for you?" The guard's eyes were wide. He simply nodded. "Okay," Adair smiled and stared at seemingly nothing. She reached out into thin air with her free hand. "Take my hand, Emily. We'll get you home." Adair's eyelids fell shut, and a shudder ran through her. Suddenly a great gasp erupted from Emily's lips. Anders' eyes widened like saucers. Adair's own eyes opened, and they'd returned to their usual violet shade. She glanced up at Anders. "Can you heal her now?"

Anders nodded dumbly and set to work. Three hours and several bottles of lyrium later, and the woman was resting comfortably in the barracks. She still had several minor injuries, but considering her previous state, Anders was pretty sure that she would be alright.

The guard that had been so distraught over the possible loss of Emily wandered over to the Commander, his eyes still gleaming with tears. "I don't know what your daughter did…but she saved Emily's life…she's…she's someone very special."

Kallian frowned. "I appreciate your words, ser. But if you could keep this entire episode to yourself, I'd be grateful."

The guard nodded emphatically. "Yes, of course Commander. Whatever you say." He turned and left, no doubt to check in on Emily. Kallian stood stiffly in the middle of the throne room. She wasn't quite sure what to make of what had happened. Her daughter had never done anything like that before. She'd cast minor healing spells, of course…but…to bring someone back from the dead?

"Are you alright, Mr. Anders?"

Kallian was shaken out of her reverie. She glanced over to where Anders was slouched against a wall, obviously spent from the amount of healing he'd had to do. Adair was standing over him, a worried expression played across her features. Anders smiled up at her weakly. "I'm fine, sweetheart. Just a bit drained."

"Oh," Adair tilted her head to one side. "Why didn't you just say so?" She shook her head as though Anders was the silliest thing she'd ever encountered. She knelt down and placed a hand on either side of his face. A faint purple glow emanated from the palms of her hands. After several seconds she let her hands fall away. Then she stood and skipped over to Ser Pounce-A-Lot. Anders' colour had returned, and his back straightened. He stared after the girl, the bewilderment in his eyes quite apparent. He stood, and Kallian knew right away he intended to speak with her.

"Commander…" Anders began. "Your daughter-"

"Not now, mage," Kallian replied brusquely. "I'll discuss it with you later. You did an amazing job with Emily."

Anders shook his head. "If it hadn't been for Adair, that woman wouldn't be alive." He placed a hand on Kallian's shoulder. "I really think we need to ask her what she did."

Kallian shrugged his hand away. "I told you - later. You're dismissed, mage." Without another word, Kallian strode over to her daughter, gathered her into her arms, and took her to their chambers.

Anders watched her go. His new Commander was an enigma, indeed. As was her gifted daughter. Anders let out a small chuckle. He'd always enjoyed a good puzzle.