The ceremony was finally over. Elissa smiled and shook hands with the Shapers, thanking them for inviting her and the other Wardens to their celebration of their people, then turned to collect the rest of their group. It was time to see if Ragnar and his sister had joined them and then leave. Elissa was more than ready.

Nathaniel was already scanning the crowd. "Do you see them yet?" she asked him as she waved over Eleanor and Eric, who had not been at the podium for the ceremony like the four Wardens had been and instead had been part of the crowd.

"Not yet. Should we wait?"

Elissa thought a moment. "Let's allow the crowd to disperse, so we don't miss them if they're here. They can certainly see us, even if we don't see them, so we'll give them the chance to find us." With that, Nathaniel nodded and they both began gathering their belongings that they had already packed. The others followed suit.

"Elissa, do you have a moment?" Elissa blinked at the familiar yet unexpected voice. She turned her head to see Alistair standing behind her, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"Certainly, Alistair. I'll be right there." She turned to Nathaniel, who was looking at her with a carefully neutral expression on his face. He straightened as she walked up to him and put her hand on his arm, sliding her hand from his elbow down to his hand. He squeezed her fingers as she said, "I'll be just a minute," and smiled at him.

He took the opportunity to lift her fingers to his lips. The gesture may have been chivalrous, but the intention in his eyes overrode any sense of propriety. "I will wait here for you," he murmured, his breath tickling her knuckles and making her breath catch. She felt her face warm and he smiled wickedly, knowing the effect he was having on her. Suddenly she really, really wanted to get out of Orzammar and back on the road.

She let go of Nathaniel's hand reluctantly and turned to Alistair. "What can I do for you?" He indicated a quiet spot a few feet away and they both walked there, then he turned to face her. He looked at her for a moment before saying anything.

"I … I understand you're leaving Orzammar now," he said. She couldn't tell if he sounded disappointed or relieved. Maybe it was both. "I just wanted to … say goodbye." Elissa nodded, waiting for him to continue. He ran a nervous hand through his hair and looked at the ground. "I have to admit, I'm jealous. It probably sounds stupid, but I didn't expect you to move on so soon."

Elissa raised an eyebrow. "Alistair." She made sure to make her voice sound firm. "You left me over a year ago. It's not like it happened last week." He flinched at this and his face reddened.

"I know." He sounded miserable. "I do, really. It's just … well, a part of me thought ..." He sighed. "It doesn't matter, does it?"

Elissa rubbed her forehead. "No, it really doesn't." She watched Alistair flinch again. "I'm not trying to be difficult, but you couldn't honestly expect me to sit by, knowing you were going to marry someone else, and wait for you. I'd like to think that you respect me more than that." She sighed, then. "For what it's worth, it took a lot for me to move on." She shrugged.

After a long minute, Alistair finally looked up at her. "I just have one question," he began hesitantly. "Do you think, if things had been different, that we would still … ?"

Elissa closed her eyes. Don't do this to yourself, Alistair. She tried to think of a way to say what she needed to say without being too harsh, then opened her eyes and looked directly at him. "I … I don't think so," she tried to say as gently as she could. Alistair's eyes went wide with surprise. "You're a good man, Alistair. And in a lot of ways we were good together. But ..."

"But?"

Elissa sighed. "But we both did a lot of growing up. And if I'm being completely honest with myself, I was never who you thought I was. I tried really hard to be what you wanted, but ..." she shrugged again. "That particular pedestal was getting to be very lonely."

"What?" Alistair looked at her in disbelief. "I didn't … I would never!"

"You did. You didn't realize it, of course. And I don't blame you. But there were decisions that I would have made differently if I wasn't trying to do what you wanted."

Alistair raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

Elissa debated internally for a moment. She decided she might as well say it. "Loghain."

His eyes got wide. He gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing. Elissa thought he did a rather impressive imitation of a fish out of water. "What?"

She shrugged. "Granted, a lot of what I thought was going on was confirmed later. But even at the time, I suspected that a lot of things that were attached to his name were actually Rendon's doing." Alistair looked really angry and started to speak, but she continued on. "Rendon was framing Loghain for most of those awful things, Alistair. Loghain was, in a way, too stubborn and honorable to shift the blame placed on him. He made terrible judgment calls and trusted the wrong people, so he wasn't innocent, but ..." She looked down. "Hindsight is always easier, of course, but I was tempted even then to spare him and give him a chance to redeem himself." She continued to study the floor.

It took a little while before she heard Alistair's voice again. "I … you … really?" She watched his feet shuffle. "I guess I didn't really know you, if you were even willing to consider that." He sounded hurt and more than a little angry.

Elissa looked up at him then. The condemnation in his eyes spoke volumes. She felt the corners of her mouth turning down even as she nodded in resignation. "That's what I thought." She turned to go. "Not that it means much, but I am sorry that I turned out to be a disappointment to you." She walked away, not bothering to look back. She already knew what she would see.

Nathaniel watched her return to him, handing over her pack and staying silent until she had fastened the straps. "Normally I would thank you for taking attention away from me," he said gently, "but in this case, I'm not sure if the alternative is a good thing." His eyes searched hers. "Do we need to leave Ferelden?"

At this, she half-laughed. "I don't think so. I haven't angered the Dalish yet." He smiled a little at that as she changed the subject. "Did Ragnar and his sister show up?"

Nathaniel nodded his head toward where the rest of their group was standing. Ragnar was indeed there and seemed to be watching the others as they chatted. Standing beside him was a very pretty dwarf, who looked a little younger than Elissa, with medium brown hair pulled into a single braid down her back. Ragnar looked toward Elissa and acknowledged her with a nod. She nodded back, and he said something to the other dwarf and they walked over to where Elissa and Nathaniel were standing.

Elissa composed herself as they walked over and spoke first. "I'm glad you decided to come with us." She turned to the pretty dwarf. "You must be Erna. I'm Elissa." She put out a hand for Erna to shake. Erna looked up at her with surprise, gingerly taking Elissa's hand and greeting her in kind.

"Yes." Her voice was much stronger than Elissa would have imagined, based on her delicate appearance. "Thank you for this. It means a lot to me and my brother." Ragnar just grunted and shifted his feet.

Elissa smiled at Erna. "The pleasure is mine. Are you ready to go?" She looked over both dwarves. Ragnar was wearing his armor, such as it was, and had his sword and shield slung over his back. He was carrying a small satchel. Erna was wearing a threadbare dress that was patched in several places and looked like it might fall apart at the seams. She had nothing to carry.

Erna spoke again. "Yes." Out of the corner of her eye, Elissa saw Nathaniel draw in a surprised breath. At that, Erna looked down a little as if shamed, and Ragnar looked up at Nathaniel, challenge written on his face. "We don't have anything else we can bring." Erna said it as if she was apologizing for being poor.

Elissa nodded. "That's not a problem. I was planning on getting you what you needed." Erna relaxed a bit, and Ragnar looked at Elissa in surprise. "The first thing we need to do, then, is get you two some cloaks. It's cold in the mountains and you wouldn't have needed cloaks in the city. We'll need tents and bedrolls too, but I think we can get those from the surface merchants. Nathaniel, would you mind taking Oghren with you to help Ragnar find some new armor?" Nathaniel nodded even as Ragnar started to protest. Elissa held up a hand. "It's all right. This is not charity. You're going to be a Grey Warden, and as such, it's my job to equip you. Right?" Ragnar shuffled his feet and mumbled something that sounded like reluctant agreement. "Erna needs cold weather clothing also, so she and I will see to that." She didn't wait for an answer, instead choosing to stride over to the rest of their companions. She let them know of their shopping plans and everyone split off into groups to get their newest additions equipped for travel.