While Neria and the others are off investigating the quarantine, I help Shianni make supper for tonight. It takes a couple of hours to cook, which I spend mostly telling her about everything that's happened since the templars took me away.

"Will you be going with them, to this Landsmeet thing?" She asks.

"I think so, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is, do you want to stay here, with me and Soris, and Uncle Cyrion? Like before?"

I want to, I really want to. But templars come to the alienage every once in a while, and if they find out I'm not dead after all…

"I want to, Shianni. But I don't think I can."

She nods, stirring thoughtfully. "I understand. Will you keep travelling with Neria, then? The life of a Grey Warden must be dangerous…"

"I will, for now."

"And if they succeed, if they can end the Blight? What then?"

"I don't know."

Shianni stops stirring and wipes her palms on her apron. "I'm sorry, da'len, I don't mean to worry you; I'm sure something will be figured out. But you can always come home, if you want."

Home… Without Neria, without our friends, without Jowan… This Alienage was my home, definitely, but that was before. I don't want to leave them behind, but I also don't want to leave my family behind again…

"Ah, you're back! Come in, come in! By Andraste, what happened?" Shianni's rambling takes me from my thoughts, and I watch our friends file in one by one, looking haggard.

"Blasted slavers, that's what," Alistair snaps angrily. "As if he hadn't done enough already, Loghain made a deal with Tevinter slavers; they've been using the sickness as a cover, smuggling elves out of the Alienage to send into slavery in the Imperium!"

"Maker…"

"Where's Uncle Cyrion?"

"In the hospice with a few others, actually recovering now," Neria reassures me.

"And Hahren Valendrian?"

She shakes her head sadly. "He was already gone. We found the documents; the deal, signed by Loghain, lists of the Tevinters' requests, lists of the people they took."

"Everything we need to expose Loghain for yet another terrible crime against Denerim's people at the Landsmeet," Alistair concludes.

"Faellathi tells me you've already killed the bastard responsible for the purge, Neria."

"Yes, but Arl Howe would have only been able to carry it out with the blessing of the regent."

"Loghain?"

"Loghain."

"Bastard."

"We also passed a templar on our way back here," Leliana adds.

"A templar?!" I squeaked.

"Don't worry, Fae, he was almost completely blind, he wouldn't have been able to recognise you even if he would have otherwise."

"Why was he here, then?"

"He was sent here to investigate reports of maleficarum, but he found none; but he does sense something deeply wrong in the Alienage he can't put his finger on, and he's asked us to keep an eye out."

"Something deeply wrong in an alienage? Where would you even begin?" Zevran raises an eyebrow.

"He's right, though, I feel it too," Neria admits. "We should have a look around, tomorrow. That is, if you don't mind us staying here, Shianni?"

"Of course, you must! It might be a tight fit, but we can make it work," Shianni agrees.

The next morning, we set out to explore the Alienage. While Neria and the others are asking other people in the alienage about the latest events, which may be causing the feeling that Neria and the templar have been sensing, I'm doing my own investigation. If Neria and the templar can both feel it, it must be related to magic, which means if I concentrate, I should be able to sense the wrongness too. I stop near the Vhenadahl tree and close my eyes.

I can feel the atmosphere of distress around me, but that's how everyone in the alienage is feeling, or it could be my own worries affecting me. If I could figure out where exactly the feeling is coming from, maybe I can distinguish it from my own feelings. Eyes still closed, I take a few steps forward, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I change direction, taking another few steps. I start to feel worried. Is it working? I keep walking with my eyes closed, keeping my hands out to warn me if I'm about to walk into someone or something. I'm starting to feel a little nauseous. I can't be hungry already, we've just had breakfast less than an hour ago. I open my eyes. Sitting on the ground, next to the orphanage, is a friend of mine, Hanna. She doesn't notice me, in fact I don't think she's really noticing anything. She rocks back and forth, mumbling to herself.

"Hanna? Hanna, it's me, Faellathi. Are you alright?" I wave my hand in front of her face, and she briefly looks directly at me, before looking away. "No, no, Faellathi is gone, templars took Faellathi away," she mumbles.

"I know, but I'm here now. What's wrong with you, are you sick?" I ask, kneeling down in front of her.

"No, not sick, bad men are bad, not sick," she answers, shivering.

"The bad men? The Tevinter mages? They're gone, now," I try to reassure her, but she shakes her head.

"Not mages, just bad men. In the orphanage."

In the orphanage? Does she mean the orphanage is being run by bad men? The orphanage is usually run by women, and they've always been really nice, I used to play there sometimes when the grown-ups were busy.

"Don't worry, I'll go see. If there's bad men there, I'll tell the other grown-ups, they'll sort it out," I say, patting Hanna's knee and going to open the orphanage door. Hanna just goes back to mumbling, so I take that as approval.

I open the door and go in. Everything hits me all at once; the blood on the floor, charred clothing, bones. I can hear people screaming, babies crying, metal clanging, angry shouts, but there's no one here.

"Can you hear me, Sir Wilhelm, Sir Wilhem?"

"1, 2, Maric's run through. 3, 4…"

"Please, kill me, but leave the children…!"

"Andraste, I don't wanna go yet, please… it's so cold…"

"The children, they're after the children, hurry!"

Someone nearby screams, and I scream too, crouching down and covering my ears. Behind me, the orphanage door bursts open.

"Get her out of here, quickly!" I hear Neria shout, and a pair of armour-clad arms wraps around my middle and carries me out the door, as I continue to scream.

"Maker, what's going on? Is someone hurt?"

"No one's hurt, just give her some space, please."

"What happened?"

"She went into the orphanage."

"No…"

"By Andraste…"

"Please, everyone, your concern is appreciated but we must insist you go back to whatever you were doing."

"Zevran…"

"Yes, chiquita?"

"They… they killed them… in the purge, they killed… in the orphanage…" I pause for breath, feeling ill.

"I know, chiquita, I know, come, we should go away from here," he says, giving Alistair a pointed look.

Alistair looks like he's going to be sick, too. I have to tell them, though. "The bad feeling, that's where it's coming from," I blurt desperately through my tears.

"We know, Neria has gone in there with Leliana and the templar to resolve whatever is still happening in there. It's possible the… recent events that took place have weakened the Fade in there, allowed a demon to get through," Alistair explains, expression dark.

"I didn't even know that was possible…"

"Come, chiquita, let's get you back to your sister and your cousin, uh, Soris, was it?"

"Yeah…"

When we return to the house, uncle Cyrion is also there to greet us, looking tired but pleased to see us, until he sees the looks on our faces.

"Did something else happen while I was gone? Shianni told me how you came to be visiting the alienage, but it seems something else is the matter?" he asks, concerned, holding his arms out for me to embrace him.

"Faellathi went into the orphanage. We didn't know… Maker knows I would have done something to stop anything like that happening if I'd known, but I am so, so, sorry," Alistair's voice cracks.

Uncle Cyrion shakes his head, smiling sadly. "My Neria wouldn't be travelling with you if she thought you were the kind of shem who would stand for this, this…"

"Barbarism," Shianni says vehemently.

Neria and Leliana return about an hour later, more than a little shaken, without the templar. It had been as we suspected; a demon had taken up residence in the orphanage. Although they managed to take it down, the demon had killed the templar. I plead with Neria to let us stay another night, but the Landsmeet is now only a couple of days away, so we need to head back to Arl Eamon's estate to finalise our plans.

Our other companions would also have had enough time by now to pass on word to the relevant nobles about the imprisoned relatives they'd found in Arl Howe's dungeons, as well as spread word about Loghain's other misdeeds. As much as I wanted to stay a little longer, it was time to go.

"Take care of her, or so help me my wrath will make the darkspawn look tame," Shianni threatens, giving Neria one last hug.

"I'd expect nothing less," Neria replies, a twinkle in her eye.

"And you, little miss," Shianni cups my face in her hands. "Do as your cousin tells you, and stay out of trouble. Well, any more trouble. Understood?"

Then, with a final hug and kiss goodbye from Soris and Uncle Cyrion, we're on our way back to Arl Eamon's estate.