As one more, exhausted shout echoed around the keep's walls, Leliana closed her eyes and prayed quietly for the man who had uttered it to feel some peace again. It had been a long few days, with each messenger to arrive at Denerim's gates bringing yet worse news. Red wine ran in rivulets around grey stone, and Alistair had apparently gone long past caring. A pageboy appeared with a new goblet for the King, and Leliana shook her head gently and ushered the lad out, still burdened. Enough wine had been spilled today.

Mustering her own calm, the bard approached where Alistair sat, head in his hands, behind a desk that was covered with papers, letters, notices. The first blows of any war had always been struck with paper and ink; long before any swords were swung. Against the wall, Bann Teagan stood grimly, watching the spectacle with a look of sadness, sympathy and self-facing anger. The walls of Denerim felt cold and lifeless. With Alistair as he was, the place had lost its warmth, somehow. And surely it couldn't be long before that cold reached out to the rest of Ferelden.

Their golden King had lost his splendour.

"Alistair, come." Leliana's made her voice as soothing and as gentle as she could as she let a hand rest on the slumped King's shoulder. Tense. Hard. It carried so much more than they'd planned. "We need you."

"I can't possibly imagine why." Where the same words may well have come from her friend years before in a childish tone, they were said now with hard truth. The difference chilled her. "I've not done such a good job so far, have I?"

"Cullen is in place as Knight Commander in Kirkwall. He is able and loyal. We must focus on…"

"And what is left for him to command over, exactly? Why don't you remind me again?" Her hand was thrown off as the rage bubbled painfully up again. Alistair stood, his height imposing in the small stone-walled chamber, gesturing passionately toward the letter than he'd just received from their newest playing piece. "He was meant to be in place because Meredith was transferred; not because she was dead! He says he has had to restore his ranks with force. And what the hell is he supposed to keep order over now? A tribe of renegade mages stumbling blindly through Kirkwall's ashes? It's over, Leliana! We failed. I failed. My judgement failed us all. It sure as hell failed Kirkwall. I…"

Another shout and papers flew and fluttered around the desk. Teagan's eyes closed as if he could pretend this wasn't happening, and Leliana fought to keep what was left in the room from breaking. "Alistair! Stop! No one's pretending things didn't get out of hand. I understand more than most how painful what happened in Kirkwall is! We…we were all betrayed. But you are our King. Darkness is coming and without you, we're lost."

The anger faded a little as Alistair drew a breath and glanced at Leliana over his shoulder. Oh, how much she wanted to soothe him, but the damage done to him couldn't be soothed by her. She knew that. He offered her a thin smile - the smallest sign of hope, but a sign none-the-less. "You always had a silver tongue, Leliana. And you were always such a good liar." He sighed, deep and heavy, but he seemed to be taking in the carnage around the room with new eyes, at least. He rubbed a stubbled chin and turned, leaning heavily against the wine-stained wall. Is there any better news in that lot?"

Leliana reached for the letter she'd been bringing to him. "Aveline Vallen pledges her loyalty and her restored guard to you. She awaits word from 'her King'"

"Aveline. I remember her. She does me an honour. Have Cullen report to her for now. She knows more about Kirkwall's streets than Cullen will have seen behind a templar shield, I'm sure. They'll work well together. What news from Sebastian?"

Teagen was the one to sift through the papers now, crouching and retrieving a sheet adorned with the seal of Starkhaven. "He met with no resistance, it seems. He invites your majesty to attend his coronation three days from now."

Another smile tugged at Alistair's lips. "I'm not surprised. He'll do well. Starkhaven needed him more than he could have realised." A dark frown reclaimed his expression as he swept his gaze over papers and wine stains. "Hell, I wouldn't mind taking some orders myself right about now. Either of you fancy taking charge?"

"Not for the world." Teagan smiled as he handed a neatly stacked set of papers to his nephew, and Leliana felt something in the room lift in the wake of Alistair's attempted humour. It was a step forward. "You've mourned enough. We all have. Now we need to turn our attention forward. We must strengthen our allegiances."

The King took the bundle of papers, his hands shaking less now as he scanned their contents. Leliana nodded, glad of the momentum as she stepped forward. "The divine is ready to act, Alistair. The events in Kirkwall have brought her firmly to your side. Where our previous plans may have left her neutral, now she's…"

"Out for revenge?" Alistair's expression was dour, and Leliana wondered that they'd all once questioned the man's intelligence and insight. "Hardly the motive I'd have hoped for. I want allies by my side because they believe in me, not because they want to get the boot in with my enemies."

His face soured at the word 'enemies', as if he was remembering again the people who had suddenly adopted the mantle. Leliana balked, but smiled. "The divine is not one for revenge. But she will cleanse where it is needed. And she knows the path of the righteous. She is on your side, Alistair, do not question why."

His nod was small, his jaw set. Alistair's own relationship with the chantry was a turbulent one. The Divine may not be an ally he would have sought out, but Leliana was glad in her heart that he had such a force on his side. He was a better man that he believed himself to be in this moment, and the Divine knew people's hearts better than any.

Alistair continued to sift through the papers. "Any news from Zevran?"

"Your welcoming fanfare could use some work. That is the news from Zevran." The air in the room changed, and Leliana span, along with Teagan, to see the owner of the unmistakeable accent that had spoken those words. He looked travel-weary, perhaps more than she'd ever seen him before, but Zevran wore his almost unshakeable smile and walked with the same swagger as ever as he entered the chamber. "And you seem to have wasted a good deal of wine in my absence, oh King."

"Zevran." Alistair's expression was caught between the seriousness of the moment and the joy of seeing a friend returned as he moved from the desk to clap the elf on the shoulders. "If I'd known you were so close already I'd have spared the walls. It's good to see you back."

There was a slip in Zevran's smile then. A momentary lapse that had Leliana's brows knitting. She watched the pair; watched Zevran return the King's embrace, and then watched as the assassin stepped back out of it again. If Alistair had noticed the change, he ignored it, instead walking back to his desk and sitting on the edge of it with a feigned humour that had been missing for days. "Well?"

"Well." Zevran didn't approach the desk, but he smiled at Leliana and then at Teagan before he nodded in a shallow bow to the man in front of him. "The apostate is alive."

Silence hung, stale, until Alistair's eyes narrowed. Was a small part of him relieved? Leliana was finding it hard to read the muddle of emotions in front of her any more. "He has Oghren's luck. How did he escape you?"

Zevran's silence answered for them all. And Leliana felt her heart sink a little on the King's behalf. There was no bubbling anger here, however. Just a strange, sad quiet as Alistair understood. "Zev…"

"I came to you because you have been a good friend." Zevran bowed, lower this time, as if the friend in front of him deserved more reverence than the King. "I could not walk away without showing you this much respect."

"But." Alistair's expression was grim; the question rhetorical.

"But, I didn't try to kill him, no. I watched, as you instructed. I watched it all. And I followed when he and the Champion-"

"Hawke."

"When he and Hawke left Kirkwall." Now Zevran took a step forward. And Leliana found her eyes watching his blades, she knew what they could do. They all did. She didn't like the feeling that she may ever have to cross them. "And Alistair, I saw something I could not have dreamed. The world will change. It will really, honestly change. What he brings is a new order. And I have been a disappointed slave to old hierarchies for too long."

Leliana could stay silent no more. With a tight throat she stepped closer. "You would turn your back on our history? On our heritage? And what of the stability we need right now? Are you forgetting what he did? How many died?"

"Your history, your heritage. Not mine. And as to those who died: I was a crow. You think I keep track of every death I see? I've seen so many…and most have been pointless."

"Those in Kirkwall were equally pointless." Teagan's voice this time. Stern, hard. "You know how hard we have worked, Zevran. You know how hard Alistair has fought to make a better world. A ready world. One that wouldn't be built on the deaths of…"

Alistair's hand silenced the Bann. For a moment Leliana feared they would lose him again, but his eyes looked at Zevran with an infinite sadness, not anger. Not despair. There was strength there still. "You've made your choice, haven't you."

Zevran mirrored the sadness, and Leliana wanted to shake them both. She wanted to be back at the campfire years ago; when they had all first joined together to fight the blight. What a team they had been. She wished Elissa were here and not at the Warden's keep. But they all had their part to play, the Hero of Ferelden was no exception.

"I have."

"Then nothing we can say will change your mind."

"No. But I had hoped, that maybe…you might…" It was the closest to faltering that Leliana had ever seen the smiling rogue. His lips sealed firmly again as Alistair shook his head.

"You know me, Zevran. I don't see death as the sport that you see it to be. It should be no more than an occasional necessity. Whatever the warped noble intentions, the mass murder of innocents is not a strong foundation for this new world that you see coming. I don't believe that change requires our history to be torn down. I didn't ask to be King, you know that, but I do believe that a good ruler can bring peace. We all saw the stability that Dumar brought to Kirkwall, and the damage done when we lost him. And as long as I draw breath I will fight to see that any new world we build is one born from past lessons learned. From trust and justice. Hope. Not terrorism. Not fear."

"And I hope that works for you. But, we will all stand where we believe we belong." Zevran's smile was a slow and sad one and Leliana's heart was breaking. Teagan looked on in stunned silence as the assassin made once last, low, bow and turned towards the door. "I have appreciated your friendship. More than I can say. All of you. I pray we do not meet in battle."

"Battle?" Teagan sneered, his emotions frayed. "You know nothing of battle. Your battles are fought in shadows. We would never know, would we?"

"As you say. Well then."

The heavy door closed behind blond hair, and Leliana let her eyes move to where Alistair still stood. Hard. Solid. Unbroken. "Alistair?"

"My allies will come to me because they believe in me, Leliana. Not because we force them. Let him go. Maker willing, he'll return when we prove ourselves worthy of him."

Leliana nodded in wonder as her King turned back to his papers. Alistair Theirin would ever be a surprise to her. At his lowest points he could find some strength out of nothing. Where Leliana herself felt Zevran's departure like a stab in her chest, Alistair seemed to have used it somehow. He looked as though he had more purpose now, more fire. She hoped it was enough.

He reached for Cullen's letter again, jabbing a finger at the thing with a new determination. "Summon Cullen's new Knight Captain. I want to speak with him."

"His name?" Teagan moved unquestioningly to the door, apparently glad to have an order to follow.

"Hawke. Carver Hawke."