Summary: What if there had been no Blight when Lilith Cousland joined the ranks of the Grey Wardens. How would she have coped with her new role and what relationships would she have forged when free of the pressure of saving the entire country.

A/N: It feels like forever since I updated this story and I don't even know why it has taken me so long… probably because I finally got my own computer for Christmas, which is a bit of a distraction! However, it also means that I can finally play DA again, so, I'm feeling a bit more inspired than usual. Although I have been waiting for this chapter, I'm starting to worry that it might not actually work very well, but we'll see how it goes. Okay, I really hope you enjoy it and please, please, please leave a review at the end to tell me what you think. As always, constructive criticism is the only way I'll ever get better!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age: Origins or any of its characters (just my Lilith Cousland) and receive no profit from this story.

A soft breeze disturbed the quiet surroundings, rustling through the highest branches of the trees and brushing past the softly swaying blades of grass that comprised the verdant lawns. Alistair and Lilith sat apart on the soft grass within the walled garden, a pregnant silence stretching between them as Lilith gently stroked her Mabari's great head, the beast itself issuing forlorn whines at intervals, as if empathetic of his master's suffering.

Alistair was still reeling from his companion's revelation; He hadn't imagined that she would so easily open up to him and he certainly hadn't expected the morbid tale of death and betrayal that she had divulged. Upon first learning of her noble lineage, he had decided that the most likely reason behind her mysterious appearance was that she had ran away from home. In the past, the Wardens had been notorious for taking in court-weary nobles and as he had become better acquainted with her and her boisterous personality, his theory had seemed all the more prudent. However, now that he thought back on all of the brief mentions that she had made about her life at Highever, she had never seemed bitter or unsatisfied with it.

Since the moment he laid eyes on her, she had been a mystery. But now, she was uncloaked, laid bare in front of him, and having heard her tale of woe, he felt about as shaken as she looked.

His silent contemplation of how such an atrocity could even arise, never mind go unnoticed, continued for some time until her small voice spoke up from next to him.

"So, what about you?"

He looked at her quizzically, searching her face for any signs of continued distress and though her eyes remained red and puffy from her tears, he could see genuine curiosity embedded somewhere deep within them.

"What about me?" he asked stupidly, not grasping the meaning of her question.

A small smile graced her delicate features at how slow her fellow Grey Warden could sometimes be, "What about you?" she repeated emphatically, "As in, how did Duncan recruit you?"

"Oh," he started, feeling slightly uncomfortable, as he always did when the subject of his past was broached, "There was a tournament for those of us who would be taking our vows soon." He couldn't help noting how her eyes lit up upon hearing the word 'vows' and realised he'd probably have to delve further than he cared into his past.

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't win or anything." He added as an afterthought, "In fact, I didn't even come particularly close to winning. But, Duncan said he 'saw something' in me, so, here I am."

'Maker, please let that be the end of it,' he thought desperately.

"Vows?" she asked inquisitively, instantly dousing his last flicker of hope.

"Yes, I was nearing the end of training to become a Templar when Duncan recruited me."

Instead of alleviating her curiosity, his answer seemed only to confuse her more. "If you had trained for so long to join the Order, why leave?" she asked quizzically.

Alistair sighed inaudibly, contemplating exactly how much it was safe to reveal. By now, the other Wardens had learnt not to ask about his past and it was not something he had had to discuss for a long time. However, when asked, Lilith had told him every detail that he could possibly want to know about her life, and a great deal that he would rather not have heard, and he thought it only fair to show her the same level of trust that she had placed in him. 'Though it's not as if I can tell her everything,' he thought, a slight amount of guilt creeping into the pit of his stomach.

"Well, truthfully, I hated it in the Monastery," he answered, "because the decision to go was made for me. You see, my mother was a serving girl at Redcliffe Castle and she died giving birth to me, so instead of sending me to an orphanage, the Arl took me in."

Lilith's arched eyebrows raised, her eyes widening in surprise, "You were raised by Arl Eamon?" she asked, taken aback.

"Well, not personally," he answered, chuckling softly at her astounded expression, "He left me to the care of the other servants mostly, but he came to see me often, despite his busy schedule.

"If he took you in so readily, why did he send you away?"

Alistair couldn't help smiling at how genuinely interested she seemed; sitting there, leaning slightly towards him, with innocent curiosity etched into her features, she seemed to him to resemble a child listening to a bedtime story, one that was perhaps a touch too stimulating to be conducive to a good night's sleep.

"Arl Eamon married a young Orlesian woman, Lady Isolde." He explained, spitting the name out distastefully, "She resented the rumours that pegged me as the Arl's son; they were completely unfounded, of course, but they were there all the same. When Isolde became pregnant, she finally succeeded in convincing the Arl to send me away and so off I was packed to the nearest Monastery, aged ten."

"And you were with the Chantry for all those years?"

"Pretty much. The others were allowed to return to their parents from time to time, the few that had them anyway, but most of us had nowhere else to go."

"I can't imagine…" she trailed off; clearly pondering what life locked up inside a Monastery would be like.

"It wasn't all bad," he added enthusiastically, trying to ignore the hint of pity that seeped into her words, "I rather enjoyed the training and what's more, I was actually pretty good at it." He finished with a half-smile.

"Besides, I don't think I'd be here if I'd never been sent to the Chantry. Duncan said my talents would come in handy if we're ever faced with Darkspawn magic." He added as an afterthought.

Lilith couldn't stop the chill that crept up her spine at the though of facing such a foe; she had never seen a mage, nor had she seen a Darkspawn, but even she knew that the two combined would not constitute a force to be trifled with. However, her mind was quickly diverted by something else that occurred to her.

"Can anybody be taught these talents?" she asked enquiringly.

"Anyone who can summon sufficient concentration, yes." He answered, seeing the cogs turning in her mind, "But, no, I won't teach you." He stated bluntly.

The blonde couldn't help but laugh at the sheepish look his friend took on as she realised that she was so easily found out. "Don't worry, you're not the first one to ask." He assured her with a good-natured smile.

Her expression changed to one of mischief before she spoke next, he clear blue eyes sparkling with impish delight and her rosy lips stretching into a playful smirk.

"I'll just have to get you drunk and wheedle it out of you."

xXx

Many hours later, it seemed that the young noble's cunning plan had backfired completely as she was all but dragged up to her room by a rather disgruntled-looking Alistair.

By the time she sat down to dinner, Lilith had been exhausted. With the stress of the day, combined with a more rigorous training regime than she had ever received at Highever, knotted tightly into every muscle of her body, she had thrown caution to the wind and decided that, now more than ever, she truly needed a drink. And although the murky swill in her cup was not exactly what she would have asked for, she found the pleasant buzz that she received after emptying her first round was exactly what she needed to take some of the tension out of her body.

And so it was, that a relatively sober Alistair decided it was time for Lilith, having ingested almost as much ale as the most seasoned among the Order, to call it a night.

Alistair sighed heavily when, as he struggled to open the door to his companion's room while still managing to keep her upright, Lilith started to ramble again.

"Where's Max?" she practically shouted in her drunken slur.

"I've no idea," he said, thanking the Maker when the latch to the door finally clicked open and he could get a proper hold of the girl leaning all over him again, "Perhaps he was having too much fun downstairs."

She seemed to contemplate this idea for a moment as she stopped shortly past the entrance to her room, refusing to be moved any further. "I think he has the right idea," she whispered conspiratorially, "Let's go back downstairs!" she finished with a flourish, raising her fist into the air and nearly toppling backwards in the process.

"I think you've had enough fun for tonight" he said, laughing at her strange behaviour, "What you need is a good night's sleep to get all of this alcohol out of your system." He explained, trying to be as logical as possible so that he might convince her addled mind to comply. However, try as he might, she remained rooted to the spot, staring intently at his face.

"Oh, come on, Lil'", he moaned, "I promise that you'll feel better once you've slept. I'll even go downstairs and find Max for you, if you'll just-"

His words were cut off abruptly when his head was pulled down to her level and her soft lips crashed into his. He stood frozen for a moment, his eyes wide with shock and though he knew he shouldn't, though he knew that this was simply the alcohol blurring her judgement, he couldn't help but reciprocate as her hands snaked around his neck, delving into his short hair and pulling his mouth closer to hers.

His own arms, already wrapped around her from supporting her weight, unconsciously tightened their grip on her slender form and when her tongue slipped sheepishly into his mouth, he swore he was going to lose his mind. Her kiss was inexperienced, as he was sure his own was, but made passionate and almost desperate by the alcohol that coursed through her body and he responded in turn, suffering from a totally different type of inebriation.

When she finally broke away and disentangled her vice-like grip from his hair, she turned her azure eyes to his own amber orbs and the ex-Templar was sure he saw some sort of recognition dancing in the clear blue depths that had not previously been.

However, the spell was broken as she tore her gaze away from his and fell limply against his chest, quietly muttering that perhaps she should sleep. And, as Alistair soon realised, she intended to do so right there.

She whined pitifully when he tried to direct her towards her bed and so resorted to carrying her, bridal-style, further into the room. After successfully pulling back the duvet while resting most of her weight in one arm, and realising just how little his fellow Warden was, he placed her softly onto the hard mattress, pulling the coverlet up to her chin and watching as she snuggled into the pillow below her head.

"Alistair," she called out to him softly as he reached for the door, though her voice was still strongly slurred from the evening's activities, "thank you." She finished with a yawn, quickly falling into a deep slumber.

The blonde smiled as he shut the door behind him, feeling absolutely exhausted and hoping, for her sake and his own, that she wouldn't remember a thing when she woke up in the morning.

A/N: I don't know why I had so much trouble writing this. Every time I sat down to do it I just couldn't think of anything even though I'd planned to do this chapter ages ago. I swear, the only time I can write is when I'm home on Thursday mornings and should be studying! But, anyway, it's done now! Hurrah! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I know I say it about five times every chapter, but please leave a review! I really want to know what you guys think!

p.s. I've no idea when to expect the next chapter, but hopefully it'll be quicker than this one. Okay, thanks for reading!