Thank you for the kind words - I'm glad the pacing seems to be right, and I'm blown away at how naturally Morgana and Alistair have developed in my head; I'd PM you all individually, but this is a 2:30 AM update for me, and even fanfic writers must sleep.

Some girlie friendship time in this chapter, I think, since these Morgana and Leliana haven't really been discussed much recently - continuation, partly, of chapter 93, "Fear" and references "Exit Strategy", too.

Teachings

Leliana

They shiver at the temperature of the water; though it is warm down here - they are not yet on the mountain leading to Soldier's Peak - Fereldan water is never pleasant.

Unusually, Morgana wades to shore, drying off as best she can and finding smallclothes, and sits there, watching her reflection, a small frown crinkling her brow. Not vanity, then.

It takes her a long time to find the courage to do the same and sit next to Morgana, the mage looking up at the noise.

Leliana hesitates a moment before saying quietly, "The Chant teaches us that we must recognise our sins and our flaws." There is a puzzled silence beside her, and she continues, "I... was wrong, I think now. I apologise. I didn't think, I hadn't... I am not a mage. I could not have known."

The mage gazes at her a moment longer, in silence, and then replies, "I'm sorry. I was sharp with you. We just... I grew up in a Tower where that treatment was the norm. You think everyone knows..." Morgana sighs. "I still don't understand it, all this." She makes a sweeping gesture to their surroundings.

"This?" Leliana asks softly. A sensitive subject, she senses, and she must tread carefully here.

"Ferelden. People outside the Tower. A... " Morgana stops abruptly, swallowing. "It's only been a few months, and it's all so... new. It frightens me, if I'm honest." She gives a nervous little laugh.

"I have lived in this world all my life, and I will never understand it." Leliana smiles, kicking gently at the water and watching the ripples spread.

"Perhaps you're right." Morgana lies back on the grass, basking in the sun, and Leliana joins her, the two of them utterly unselfconscious. They have been travelling together for months, seen all there is to see.

There is a pleasant silence, broken only by Morgana eventually asking, "What was it like, when you were with Marjolaine? Before it all went wrong?"

Leliana is surprised by the question, and has to think for a moment; the memories come flooding back, and she has to fight them, but a smile spreads on her face as she watches a sky, the memories of her bardmaster's kiss, her scent irresistible. "It was... It was the sweetest kind of torture." She sighs. "What they write of in tales. To be so utterly reliant on one person, who can shatter you into pieces; to want to be with them always, to seek them out in a room; and their eyes... Oh, you know, that first, sweet haze of new love." She watches the clouds dreamily, lost in the better times.

"I... I don't, actually," Morgana admits, voice small, and Leliana turns her head to look at her in surprise.

"Don't tell me you have never been in love..."

Morgana can't look at her, face reddening slightly. "No. I... I don't think so."

Leliana looks at her in sympathy. "I wouldn't worry. You will find someone, and you will know who they are when you do. They will make you happy. You feel as if you've known them forever..." Another sigh.

She hears Morgana swallow beside her, and the mage says nothing; at first she looks... well, afraid is all she can call it, but then she smiles, eyes still on the sky - but her eyes are alight, far away, for a moment.

Leliana frowns, but Morgana changes the subject, clearing her throat. "The, er, the swimming... It'll be too cold on the mountain, and I don't suppose...?"

"Of course," she says, standing. "Would you like to start now?"

Morgana looks at her in horror for a moment, but manages to nod mutely.