Zevran's messenger found them three days after they had left Orzammar. The horse came galloping toward them at full speed, slowing only when it got close. The man dismounted after looking Elissa and the rest of the group over, then handed Elissa a note. She turned it over to note the seal, and smiled when she saw the black wax. The seal depicted a wolf's head with a pair of daggers crossed in the background. Very nice, Zev. "From Ser Wolfe?" The messenger nodded and she broke the seal.

My lovely Warden,

I have good news and bad news. (It is always thus, is it not? Ah, well, this should be no surprise.) First, the good news. Denerim is lovely this time of year and so is the Bannorn, or so my friends say. They also say that Highever is recovering quite well, and the castle has been fully renovated. Should you so desire, there are many lovely spots to choose from when you next take some time for yourself. Take some time to decide your next vacation, however. You may want to consult with me before making travel plans of that nature.

Also, there is good news from Amaranthine. Our friend's sister has given birth, and it is a boy. She has chosen to name him Samuel. Everyone is doing splendidly and nobody could be happier or safer. My only regret is that I will not be there when you celebrate this news, as I would gladly join in the festivities. Perhaps you could delay them so that I may participate?

No?

Such is life. Perhaps another time.

The bad news can no longer wait, it seems. We have received word that our good friend Bann Loren has unexpectedly passed away. It is a shame, as he seemed to be in the greatest of health. Too many men are taken from this world in their prime. My friends do not know what caused the Bann to fall ill, alas. I am sure they would have told me if they had known. The other lords have said nothing on the matter, so we do not know if this is a singular case or the beginning of an epidemic.

My friends have been strangely silent on the happenings in other places. It is too bad. Good gossip is hard to come by these days. I will write to you when I have more news.

Z.

Elissa folded the note back up and thanked the messenger, giving him a sovereign. "I have no response. Thank you for delivering this so quickly." The messenger nodded and mounted his horse, then turned back around and galloped off.

"It's getting late. Let's make camp once we find a good spot." The others agreed, especially Eleanor who had suddenly started showing the day before and looked very tired. It didn't take long to set up camp and start a fire.

This night was Elissa's night off from chores – it was Eleanor's turn to cook (much to everyone's dismay – how an apostate who had been living alone most of her life could manage to avoid ever learning how to cook was a complete mystery), Nathaniel was taking care of hunting for food and had taken Ragnar with him, Anders and Erna had gotten firewood, and Oghren was keeping first watch. Eric also had the evening free. Once the tents were set up, she was free to sit and watch the others.

Eleanor had gotten quieter, Elissa realized. Instead of relaxing and opening up over time, it seemed that Eleanor was keeping more to herself. Elissa supposed it could have been because of the baby. She watched Eleanor rub her suddenly-round belly and wondered at Eleanor's painful shyness for what was probably the hundredth time. She seemed like a nice woman, for what little Elissa knew of her, and not at all what Elissa would have expected from a mercenary. Speaking of which …

Elissa walked over to Eleanor and crouched by where the quiet mage was sitting. "When are you supposed to report in to your contact?" she asked quietly. "It's been a while since you were with us, and you haven't sent word yet, right?"

Eleanor kept her head down, although Elissa could make out that she was blushing since her ears were turning red. "Well … I … there's not a set time for me to report. I'm just … I'm just supposed to send word when something interesting happens."

Elissa raised an eyebrow at this. "All right," she finally said. "As long as you're not raising suspicion for your contact, unless that's what you want."

Eleanor looked up at Elissa, startled. Her expression was conflicted. "All," she swallowed audibly, "all right … then." She looked back down. Elissa sat with her another moment before deciding that she wasn't going to get any more information from Eleanor and returned to her place by the fire. She resisted shaking her head. What an odd girl.

She was drawn from her musings by Nathaniel and Ragnar's return. Between the two of them, they carried several rabbits. She smiled at them. "It looks like we'll be eating well tonight," she observed.

Nathaniel knelt as he piled the rabbits near the fire and started cleaning the first one. "Hunting was good," he agreed. "Ragnar helped flush them out." He looked up at Ragnar, who was still standing, and smiled at him. The dwarf shifted from one foot to the other and looked down at the ground, choosing to stay silent.

"Good job." Elissa smiled at Ragnar, who looked up at her and shrugged, although he looked pleased.

"I've hunted nugs before," he said by way of explanation, then fell silent as he sat down and watched Nathaniel skin the rabbit. After watching Nathaniel prepare the first animal, he picked up one to work on. Nathaniel shifted over so that he could show Ragnar what he was doing better. The two worked in silence, broken only occasionally by Nathaniel pointing to something he was working on and showing Ragnar how to do the same. In no time, the rabbits were all cleaned and ready to cook. Eleanor started tending to them over the fire.

Since everyone was assembled around the fire, save Oghren, Elissa pulled out the letter from Zevran. "While Eleanor is cooking, I have some Warden business to discuss." She got up, as did Nathaniel and Anders. "Eric, please feel free to join us. You were part of our last discussion." Eric nodded and rose to his feet. "And Ragnar, you can join us too, if you'd like." Ragnar again looked pleased and stood up, trotting over to where the rest of them stood. She addressed the two women still by the fire. "We'll be right back," she said apologetically. Erna waved her off, smiling at her, and Eleanor nodded once before watching the fire some more.

Elissa walked over to where Oghren was keeping watch and the men followed her. Once she reached Oghren, she turned and spoke in a low voice. "I got word from Zev today."

"Who's Zev?" Ragnar looked at Elissa curiously.

"Zevran is one of my best friends from during the blight," Elissa answered. She put a hand on Oghren's shoulder as she continued. "He and Oghren were part of the group that helped Alistair and me gather allies for the battle against the Archdemon and they have both been with us ever since." Ragnar nodded, but his expression went still when he saw Elissa put her hand on Oghren. Oghren, who was still facing away from the fire, muttered something under his breath about "that damn elf" and Elissa smiled. "Anyway, Zev has been doing some scouting work for us on some issues we've been having on the surface."

"What has he found out so far?" Eric leaned forward, his expression intense. "Has he heard any word about who Eleanor's contact is?"

Elissa shook her head. "Nothing yet," she said, "but it looks like he has contacts placed and is trying to collect information." She opened the note and translated Zevran's basic coding for the rest of the group. "He has contacts stationed in Denerim, Highever, and in the Bannorn. It looks like he managed to get people into Cousland Castle as well. I'm assuming that's to keep an eye out in case Fergus is directly attacked. He doesn't seem to think there's any immediate threat, but he may have heard some rumors about plans. He wants to talk about them in person.

"Bann Loren was killed. I think, from what Zev wrote, it was poison, but nobody's sure." At this, Anders' eyes went wide and Eric gasped. "It was not one of Zev's people though."

Nathaniel nodded grimly. "Someone was covering up their tracks, perhaps. They probably didn't want Bann Loren to tell what he knew."

"That's my guess, but I'm sure we'll hear more eventually. So far none of the other nobles have indicated they were involved, and we don't know if there will be other assassinations." Elissa sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "He hasn't heard anything else yet, but he's paying attention. He'll contact me when he learns something new."

Ragnar had been quietly watching her talk. "Who are these people?"

Oghren turned around. "Stand watch with me, kid. I'll fill you in while we wait for food." Ragnar bristled at Oghren's use of the word kid but held his tongue and nodded at the older dwarf.

"That's it for now. I'm sure we'll hear something new soon. Thanks, everyone." The men dispersed, Anders and Eric going back to the fire, and Oghren and Ragnar standing watch. Oghren was talking quietly to the younger dwarf already, and every so often Ragnar would nod his head. That left Elissa and Nathaniel standing together. She smiled at him. "Walk with me a moment."

Nathaniel smiled back and linked his fingers with hers. "Certainly, my lady." They walked together, neither saying anything, simply enjoying the silence. When they knew they were not likely to be overheard, he stopped and turned to face her again. He waited for her to speak.

Elissa didn't wait any longer. "Congratulations," she said. "You're an uncle. It's a boy." She watched his face break out into a huge smile. "Everyone is doing really well, and Delilah named the baby Samuel."

"After our groundskeeper," Nathaniel mused. "It's a good name. Samuel was a good man, and he would have been honored. He took good care of us." He squeezed Elissa's hand. "I'll have to thank Zevran for looking into that."

Elissa nodded. "I think Zev might have a couple of his men posted to guard Delilah and her family. I wish I'd thought of it myself." She sighed. "Hopefully he's being overly cautious. Still, it's better to be safe." She noted Nathaniel's frown and then remembered the last bit from Zev's note. "Oh, and Zev tried to invite himself to our tent to help us celebrate your nephew's birth. He said something about 'joining in the festivities' when he comes back to us."

Nathaniel's frown disappeared and he shook his head, chuckling quietly. "I suppose he figures it doesn't hurt to try," he said, his voice growing deeper. He rested his forehead against hers. "But I'm not willing to share." Elissa smiled even as she tilted her head up to kiss him.

They spent several pleasant minutes together away from the camp, then Elissa's stomach growled, signaling that it was time to eat. When they returned to camp, they saw everyone but Oghren sitting around the fire. Eleanor handed out roasted meat that formerly could have been called rabbit, but somehow was charred on one end and underdone on the other. Elissa sighed. At least it wouldn't be Eleanor's turn to cook again for a while.

-0-0-0-

"So," Anders began, a smile on his face as he looked over at Elissa. "I was wondering about something."

They were all sitting around the fire, their bellies filled with as much char-rabbit as they could stand, talking before it was time to go to sleep. Ragnar had taken watch, so Oghren was sitting with them and eating his share of the questionably prepared meal.

"What about?" Elissa didn't trust the look of mischief in Anders' eyes.

"Well, it's about Lady Alfstanna."

"Yes?" Elissa raised an eyebrow.

Anders ignored Elissa's expression and continued. "So, she was raised as a noble, right?"

Elissa nodded. "Of course."

"And she's a master archer?"

Elissa nodded again.

"She's used to being in charge?"

Another nod. Elissa started to see where Anders was going with this. The others started listening more closely.

Anders grinned widely now. "And she's got those gorgeous green eyes, a long slender neck, and long legs that won't quit?"

Elissa blinked. She didn't quite know how to respond to that. "Uh ..."

"And a great rack!" Oghren supplied helpfully as he washed down the terrible food with something from his flagon. Elissa put her head in her hands and groaned. Oghren apparently misinterpreted what she was groaning about. "Don't you worry about that, Elissa. You have a much nicer ass."

Erna put a hand to her mouth, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a laugh. Eric just stared for a moment, before shaking his head and chuckling to himself. Nathaniel put an arm around Elissa. She could feel him shaking. She looked up to see his eyes full of mirth and his mouth fighting to not smile. She looked over at Eleanor, whose eyes were as wide as saucers.

"I guess we know what King Alistair's 'type' is!" Anders openly snickered.

Elissa made a mental note to murder Anders. Painfully. And slowly.