The gates of Orzammar seemed taller, somehow. They were so much more imposing than she remembered, the monstrous metal surfaces covered with geometric runes standing so tall that she wondered how the dwarves had managed to install them in the first place. Admit it to yourself, at least. You're not afraid to go in there because of the doors.

Alistair and Alfstanna, with their entourage, had gone up to the guard first and were already past the doors. They had decided to more or less part ways once they had reached the city, since the royal couple had been invited to stay in the palace and they had their own functions to attend. Elissa would have thought that she would feel less uncomfortable now that they was back to the smaller group again. It should have made it easier now that she didn't have Alistair giving her wounded looks when he thought nobody was looking. It should have been less uncomfortable since she didn't have to see Alfstanna's disapproval of Alistair's obvious regret and subsequent discomfort with Elissa. It should have been more relaxed now that Nathaniel wouldn't feel that he had to demonstrate that he was now the one who Elissa had chosen. However, consequences and memories were waiting at their destination and she wasn't sure she was ready for them.

"Shouldn't we be going?" Anders' teeth were chattering, even with the heavy woolen cloak he wore over his robes. Elissa roused herself from her musings and looked at the others. Each of them had an expectant look about them. They were obviously waiting for her to approach the guard and gain entrance to the city. And they all looked quite chilly.

"Yes. Yes, of course." And yet, she stood there, her feet unresponsive.

Suddenly, a sheathed greatsword was thrust into her hands. "Hold on to this." She blinked and focused on Oghren's face. He was looking about the same as she felt, full of trepidation. He grabbed his flagon and took a hefty pull from it, then wiped off his mouth and offered it to her. She shook her head and strapped Oghren's sword onto her back, adjusting it so that she could wear both the sword and her bow. That's right. He's not allowed to carry weapons in the city. She looked at Oghren as he turned back to face the doors, noting his now-slumped posture and his air of defeat. He looked like he had been, well, emasculated. She supposed that for a warrior caste dwarf, losing the right to bear arms would be akin to losing one's most valued body parts.

She nodded and put a hand on his shoulder, hoping that it would reassure him a little. I'm sorry. "I can ask them to lift the restriction." She tried to keep the sympathy from her voice, since he would have been uncomfortable with that.

He looked surprised for a moment, then shook his head. "Nah." He squared his shoulders, though, and stood up a little straighter. He muttered, "Let's get this sodding over with," before starting off toward the door guard. Elissa looked behind her one last time at the others. Ser Bryant was getting ready to unstrap his sword and the others were looking at her curiously. She shook her head to tell Bryant to keep his sword and to let the rest know that they would talk about it much later and started walking after Oghren. The others fell in behind her.

Elissa introduced herself to the guard, who immediately ordered that the doors be opened for the group. He waved them in impatiently, and as soon as they got inside the doors were shut behind them with a heavy clang. Why does that sound so … final? She took a deep breath, then started forward. Yes, let's get this over with.

-0-0-0-

King Bhelen seemed impressed with the silks that the Wardens had brought him as a gift. "We don't see many surface materials in Orzammar," he said, fingering the expensive cloth. "This will make excellent formal clothing. Thank you."

Elissa bowed low to Bhelen. "You are very welcome, your majesty. I'm glad that you like the silks. Our nobles use these same fabrics to make their best outfits." She straightened as Bhelen gestured to one of his men to take the bolts of cloth away.

Bhelen nodded. "Now that trade with the surface is improving, I may just have to ask some of the merchants to acquire more of these sorts of things." He changed the subject. "So, you're the guests of honor at the Kal'Hirol ceremony that the Shapers are hosting?" At Elissa's nod, he continued. "The ceremony is to be held the day after tomorrow, so you're just in time. And you must attend the proving that's being held tomorrow in honor of the ceremony and King Alistair's visit. There's plenty of room for all of you to sit in my balcony."

"Thank you," Elissa replied. "We would be honored." Politics. Politics where we get to spend time with Alistair and Alfstanna staring at me. Maker, I hope this goes quickly. Elissa kept her face serene while she sighed inwardly. "Except for Oghren, none of us has seen a proving before. I understand a proving is quite the event." She made the effort to keep her voice light.

At this, Bhelen smiled. "They are. And this one's going to be especially exciting, as I've decided to invite some casteless to participate in tomorrow's proving. It should be a good show." He waved another guard over and addressed him. "Please see the Grey Wardens to their rooms." He turned back to Elissa. "Make yourselves comfortable. There will be a banquet in the throne room this evening. I will see you then." He turned his back, dismissing them.

I guess we'll be staying in the palace as well. Elissa decided she wouldn't be surprised if she acquired a headache.

Bhelen's guard showed them to a suite of rooms on the far end of the palace. This is the suite we stayed in during the Blight. Elissa waited until the guard left them, closing the door, before sighing and rubbing her forehead. The rooms looked exactly the same as they had a year and some odd months before, down to the smallest detail. It took but a moment to close her eyes and see, in her mind, all of her old companions in various states of repose in the common room of the suite. An unexpected wave of nostalgia washed over her, nearly knocking her over in its intensity. She opened her eyes to regain focus as she reminded herself that this was the present and it was different and that she needed to worry about the now rather than dwell on the then. And right now they needed to decide who was sleeping in which room.

Anders was improving around Ser Bryant, Elissa decided. He still got jumpy and nervous when he saw the templar unexpectedly, but he was gradually relaxing. Elissa had to applaud his courage when he was the one to suggest that he and Ser Bryant share one of the four bedrooms in the suite and allow Eleanor and Oghren to each have their own room. "Oghren snores something fierce," he had said, "and you and Nathaniel are too used to sharing a room to change now. We'll be all right to share for a few days." Elissa really did want to spend her private time with Nathaniel, and Bryant had not objected, so the arrangements were set.

After everyone had cleaned up, they set out to see the city. Oghren took the rest of the group on a tour of the city while Elissa scouted around to see the state of affairs. She found that in general, the nobles and warriors of the city were dissatisfied for one reason or another, although she most commonly overheard that they were upset that King Bhelen was allowing the casteless to do anything other than beg or steal, the biggest insult apparently being that he allowed them to join the proving. She saw a lot of looks of unrest among the nobles and heard many whisperings of malcontent. The number of royal guards positioned around the Diamond Quarter made her think that she didn't need to warn Bhelen of the unhappiness of the upper castes.

The situation was completely different in the commons. The merchants were numerous and busy and the stream of chatter never seemed to slow. Elissa noted that there were maybe half the guards in the commons than there had been in the Diamond Quarter, despite the much larger number of dwarves gathered there. There were some elves and humans shopping there and even the occasional qunari made an appearance, looking comically tall next to the dwarven people. The merchants' faces were open and relaxed as they enticed their customers with their goods and haggled over prices. Business was obviously good.

It seems like King Bhelen is a fan of the common man. Even though he personally made me feel slimy putting him on the throne, I think he's done some good here. Elissa found the thought reassuring. She hoped that his idea of progress would continue to help the dwarves.

Elissa shopped for a bit, finding some clothing that she thought might fit Eleanor. The woman had only Elissa's clothing on her person, and Elissa thought maybe she would want something different to wear. She was surprised to find a decent dress that not only fit around, but was actually long enough for a human to wear, so she bought it. She also found some breeches and tunics that, if they didn't fit Eleanor, would certainly fit her, so she purchased those as well. Packages in hand, she decided to make her way back to the palace and meet up with the others.

When she got back to their suite, she was surprised to see a man with dark hair, wearing a set of deep red dragonbone armor, standing in the center of their common quarters. He was facing away from her, and Anders, Oghren and Eleanor were all looking at him with various levels of admiration.

"That fits really well, Eric!" Anders nodded in approval. "You should definitely wear that from now on." Oghren grunted in agreement before getting up and going to his room. Eleanor didn't say anything, but she definitely blushed when she looked over the armor.

Who is Eric?

Just then, Anders noticed Elissa coming in with her packages and waved. "Hey, you're back!" 'Eric' turned around then. It was Ser Bryant.

"What did I miss? And, Eric?" Elissa blinked.

Ser Bryant laughed. "I'm sorry, my lady. I asked everyone to call my by my first name. I thought it would make everyone more comfortable."

"Ah, I see. All right then, Eric. Nice armor, by the way." The armor did fit him really well, and the red color worked well with his swarthy complexion and dark hair.

"Thank you, my lady. We found this at the armorer's and I thought it might work better to wear this than to constantly draw attention with the templar plate. It's not as heavy either."

Elissa nodded to show she understood. "That makes sense to me. And, please, if we're to use first names you should use mine as well." Bryant (er, Eric) smiled and nodded. "Oh, and Eleanor? I found some clothing that I hope fits you. Please, try these on and see how they are." Elissa handed over the packages to Eleanor, whose eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates.

"All of this? For me?" Eleanor looked really surprised. "First, the nice room, and now this?" She looked like she might be ready to cry.

Elissa just smiled. "I thought you might like a change of clothing. Go, try them on." Eleanor clutched the clothes to herself and practically ran to her room. A few minutes later, she emerged wearing the dress. Elissa went to her, looking at her with a critical eye. "It's not bad," she decided. "We can tie in the sash for now, and it's got some room for you to grow into." Eleanor ducked her head, embarrassed but pleased, and sped back into her room.

How does a mercenary make any money by being painfully shy? Elissa shook her head and sighed. Maybe she doesn't. She turned to everyone else. "Are we ready to go to this dinner?"