Disclaimer: Bioware owns all, except what I most humbly imagine. While, at times, I will take verbatim from the game, I mostly use the events of the Dragon Age games, expansions and universe as a loose structure around which to construct my re-imagined tale. If you are looking for a strict canon piece, I have no desire to offend, and so I warn you upfront!

When reading this tale, I hope you can easily imagine it being told by the very best of storytellers in Varric Tethras (from DA:2). In my version of events, Varric meets "The Hero" (Elissa Cousland) in Kirkwall during the time period of DA:2. I mention this only so that readers can understand his connection along the way, and so I don't have to mention and rehash it again and again as I make my way through the tale.

A/N: Will be curious to see how many of you predicted what is coming :D

Muse Music: What About Now? by Daughtry

Thanks to my readers, followers and reviewers - and to my lovely betas artemiskat and Snarkoleptic who have been extra busy this week handling my chatty muse!

Happy Reading!

-Frayed One

Chapter Forty-Six: Truth and Consequences

The closer to the Royal Quarter she rode, the less Elissa wanted to be there – though she knew she had no choice. Her return to this place was as inevitable as a sunset. If she hadn't been summoned to deal with Anora's latest transgression, she'd have had to come back to acknowledge whatever was or wasn't left between herself and Alistair. With The Mother dead and trapped in her pyre beneath the earth and the restorations to Vigil's Keep and Amaranthine under way there were few dire concerns left to be dealt with – and now that the person funding her would-be assassins had been revealed – there was nowhere left for Elissa to hide. She would have to deal with Alistair, one way or another.

There were few words spoken as the guards escorted the Warden-Commander and her escorts through the palace halls. Elissa had been known for her temper when she was a regular fixture at Alistair's side, and the rumors of her accelerated madness had spread through the kingdom like wildfire once she was no longer around to quell them. She had little doubt from where such rumors had stemmed. Eamon had never been a fan.

"Teagan!" The smile of relief that crossed Elissa's face when it was he who greeted them in the briefing room and not his much less agreeable brother was genuine. "I had braced myself to deal with Eamon."

"Yes, well… Alistair felt it best that we keep you and my brother at opposite ends of the castle unless it was necessary to change those plans." Teagan cleared his throat after hugging her briefly, his eyes full of concern as he noted the obvious physical changes in her before darting over to find Nathaniel Howe in her company.

"Meaning Alistair has told you about my temperament when last we saw one another and now you're all afraid to set me off. There were extenuating circumstances, Teagan. Alistair brought that down on himself. You have nothing to fear."

"You have never been known for being even-keeled, Elissa." Teagan chuckled as he backed away, pouring a crystal glass half full of some sort of sweet smelling liquor and handing it over to Elissa. "But I'm here, so obviously I'm not too concerned personally. However, I might have suggested choosing your company for this trip with a bit more decorum."

"I can hear," Nathaniel grumbled, folding his arms across his chest as this – the first of what he assumed would be many shots – was lobbed in his direction.

"I never suspected you couldn't." Teagan smiled into his own decanter before pausing to take another drink. "Your father also had very good hearing. Used it to steal any number of secrets from people before stabbing them in the back."

"That's right. Bring up the disgraced father and see if that prods my temper enough. It won't work, Teagan. And it wouldn't matter anyway. Elissa isn't interested; she never was, even when you were a lecherous older man lusting after a girl ten years your junior!" He had taken two steps forward before he even realized it, temper rapidly spiraling as Elissa struggled to get control of the situation by planting herself in between them.

"Arrogant and entitled right to the very end. You are exactly like Rendon," Teagan snorted.

"Stop it! Now! Both of you!" Elissa shoved them apart forcefully, turning her attention on Nathaniel who she knew from experience was the far bigger threat at the moment, until he relaxed and stalked back over to the corner. "I didn't expect that you'd be happy to see one another, but I certainly expected a great deal more from your behavior. Nathaniel has every right to be here. The Wardens were requested to deal with this… mess, and as Warden-Commander I can bring whomever I choose to escort me. As my lieutenant, Nathaniel should—"

"So he's your second now?" Alistair's sad laughter silenced the conversation, and drew Elissa's attention to where he leaned against the doorframe. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You seemed intent on your own destruction when last I saw you. It was wishful thinking to believe that would have changed."

"Alistair… I didn't come here to fight about this. I came here because you asked me to." She had almost forgotten how good he could look, the handsome lines of his face and warrior's grace with which he carried himself had made his transition into this life much easier than he would have imagined.

"Eamon wanted you involved. I simply wrote the letter. He suspected you wouldn't come otherwise." Alistair shrugged, brushing past her with little more than a half glance. "And I'm sorry, Elissa. I have to agree with my uncle. If you didn't want a fight, you should have chosen your company more carefully – though… you did come to extract information and dole out punishment – I suppose you would want those most experienced at torture and murder along for the ride. No offense, Zevran."

"None taken," Zevran assured him, smiling through the discomfort that hung heavy in the air.

"Can we just get this over with?" Elissa sighed, attempting to maintain an air of detachment though she knew it was faltering. "If you want to take a few more shots at me, we can do it privately after we have put the current issue to rest."

"Fine." Alistair turned back to the door, saying nothing, simply expecting that they would follow and doing little to alter his pace when Elissa was forced to scramble for a moment to keep up with him. "We moved her to the inner cells because too much freedom is what created this problem. You can speak to her there."

"When did you know it was Anora?"

"I suspected she was sending messages through that crazy elf of hers from the beginning, but could never find any proof of it. Then one day she dropped a scrap of parchment in the hall and a guard grabbed it before she could conceal it again. Just a few words, poorly coded – not enough to give us the who, but enough to condemn them both. We spared her life in exchange for enough proof to infallibly convict Anora, and then sent for you." Alistair had practiced speaking with Elissa again many times before sending the letter that would bring her back to his side – words even, voice neutral – but the actual execution was far more difficult than he could have imagined and he felt it when the light shaking in his body began to show itself in the tremor of his voice.

"Thank you, Alistair. I suspect you didn't really have a lot of incentive to do this considering…" Elissa stopped him just outside the inner prison with a hand on his arm.

"I have no desire to see you dead, Elissa. Everything else aside I could never…" He sighed and tousled his hair, bringing a sad smile to Elissa's face as she recognized the gesture and remembered other times when it had been so endearing. "Consider it a parting gift."

"A parting…" Her smile faded as quickly as it had come.

"Maybe. I guess we will have to discuss that after this is done." Alistair cleared his throat, moving over to Teagan's side as they prepared to leave Elissa and the others to their task. "Anything you decide to do, you do as the hand of the king. She has signed her death warrant on this one. I have no regrets."

"As you wish." Elissa bowed lightly and watched him turn and walk away before opening the door and stepping inside.

Elissa spoke softly to the guardsmen who had been stationed outside the bars of Anora's cell, sending them out of the room and instructing Zevran to lock the door once they were gone. Anora's laughter began shortly after, though she did not turn from where she stood staring out her tiny window into the grey light of day.

"I knew it would be you they sent to silence me. Alistair never did have the balls to do anything on his own. He is a weak man and a weak king. When Ferelden falls, it will be on your head for putting him on the throne, Elissa."

"Alistair has wanted you dead for years, Anora. If it were up to him, you'd be long cold in the ground. I am here to keep his hands clean of it, just as I did with your father." Anora's head snapped forward with those words, just as Elissa had expected – but the fury carved into her face remained for only a moment before she shoved it back down beneath her well-practiced smile – her eyes finding Nathaniel for the first time.

"Then it's true! You've done it again!" Anora cackled, wrapping her fingers around the bars and leaning closer to Elissa's face as she looked over her shoulder at Nathaniel. "Turned down a king and a throne for Nathaniel bloody Howe! I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes. I can't believe you could be so stupid twice!"

"You are living on borrowed time, Anora – and this is what you wish to use your last breath discussing?" Elissa sighed and turned away from the bars, pacing over to pick the keys to the cell up off a nearby table.

"I'm just astounded. I mean, I suppose he is attractive in a dangerous sort of way, but surely a pretty face isn't enough to turn down two kings! Whatever it is he does for you, he must be very, very good at it." She trailed her eyes down Nathaniel's body as Elissa turned back to her, chuckling when it forced him to clear his throat and shift uncomfortably.

"Yes, Anora. Nathaniel's equipment is legendary and he's bloody fantastic in bed. Honestly, you won't talk or walk for weeks and you'll thank him for it when he's done – several hours later. Or, you would, if I were to let you anywhere near him." Elissa slid open the cell with a smile, tossing the keys over to a chuckling Zevran and attempting to ignore the stunned look on Nathaniel's face. "Are we done with that subject now? Can we discuss the price you put on my head and end this once and for all?"

"Ah, yes. Straight to business as always." Anora settled herself in a chair, watching as Elissa sat down on the cot across from her. "I'm honestly surprised it took you this long to figure it out – of course, when you have someone as thick as Alistair doing your detective work – I guess that's what you're going to get."

"Get on with it. Your disdain for Alistair is well known to me, and your insults are tedious as usual." Elissa yawned, leaning back against the wall and casually crossing her legs at the ankles.

"You're an arrogant bitch, Elissa Cousland. It's no wonder half of Ferelden wants you dead." Anora leaned forward, eyes narrowed, and watched her barb hit home.

"I'm only concerned about one of those people at the moment. Why now? Have you forgotten it was my voice that spared you at the Landsmeet when Eamon wanted your blood? It's been my hand holding them back for years – and still you would hire out assassins to kill me?"

"Spared me? Yes – spared me to live a life trapped in stone walls. I didn't even have a window in the last one! And after you slaughtered my father on the floor of the Landsmeet while I stood there and watched! What did you expect? That I would thank you? Did you thank Rendon Howe for what he did to you and your family?" Anora smiled when Elissa flinched, happy to get in one more shot even if her life was forfeit in the end. "You took everything from me, you self-entitled bitch. I suspect even Cailan would have left if you'd asked him to."

"I would never have—"

"Don't play the innocent with me, dear. Neither one of us can wear that mask." Anora snorted, brushing at the tip of her nose. "I know you never wanted Cailan, but you tugged at his leash every now again just to show me that you could. You know it, and I know it. So yes, I paid people to kill you – but I was merely one of the bankers. Someone else sought me out after their previous benefactor was silenced, one would imagine at your hand."

"Who contacted you?" Tension had crept back into Nathaniel's voice and body as he realized that this could be far from over. To trace this back to yet another dead end was more than his patience could tolerate.

"Someone hidden in plain sight. You are so oblivious, Elissa. It's a wonder you've survived this long." Anora's haughty laughter silenced in a pained hiss of breath as Nathaniel pressed a dagger against the skin of her throat. Elissa was surprised, but did nothing to dissuade him.

"No more riddles. Give us a name." Nathaniel was certain Elissa could feel the rise in his temper, and made no effort to conceal it – if she wanted to stop him, she would.

"My but you are a brute!" Anora giggled, though Elissa could see the concern in her eyes. "Call off your dog, Cousland – or I will give you nothing."

"Nathaniel." Elissa nodded her head, and he stepped away – sheathing his blade and relaxing slightly with the knowledge that his job had been done.

"Have the bastard look into his uncle's recent missives. I think you'll be quite surprised at what he finds there."

"Eamon? No, I don't believe it. There is no love lost between us, that much is true – but Eamon is too careful to be caught and far too smart to involve you." Elissa snorted, pushing up to her feet and digging the very vial she had used in Amaranthine free of her belt pouch once again.

"Stay blind if you want, but I have given you a name." Anora folded her arms, attempting to appear unphased as she watched Elissa mixing what could only be a poison into a glass of water near the cell door.

"Indeed you have. And for that, I offer you a much less painful death than my compatriots would have given you." Elissa held out the glass, watching Anora contemplate even taking it.

"Poison? That seems out of character for you. Last I saw your idea of justice, it involved bathing in the blood of your enemies."

"Normally, yes – but one pretty girl to another – take the glass, go to sleep, keep your head." Elissa waited for her to take it, but still Anora hesitated, until Elissa started to reach for her sword.

"Alright, alright!" Anora snatched the glass out of her hand, staring into it for a moment with a distant smile. "Do you remember that ball at Archer Brylands?"

"The one where Ox set the barn on fire trying to do Maker only knows what to that cow? How could I forget?" Elissa snorted, leaning against the cell door and half smiling at the memory.

"I went through three dress makers getting ready for that ball; spent hours on hours sitting in a chair having my hair twisted into submission and tincture stained into my skin. I was so certain I would be the envy of every girl there, and the object of every boy's eye." Anora chewed at her bottom lip, raising her eyes back up to Elissa's again. "And then you come bumbling in the side door tugging grass out of your hair and swearing at your brother, wearing some filthy, awful olive colored thing – Nathaniel and Thomas Howe trailing behind you like puppies – and I knew my moment was over. I hated you then, and I hate you now."

"The feeling is mutual." Elissa sneered, leaning in so close her nose very nearly brushed against her rival's. "Now be a good girl and drink your fucking poison."

Anora tossed the glass full of liquid back in one long swallow, sitting it down on the table with the decorum of a queen, and pacing back over to the window where she had stood on Elissa's entry to the room.

"You have what you came for. Now leave me to die in peace."

Elissa turned, sliding the cell door shut behind her and guiding the others out the door. No one was left to hear the former queen's parting words.

"You'll never see it coming."

"So it's done?" Alistair seemed shocked to see Elissa so calm in the aftermath of taking a life, even one belonging to an enemy as old as Anora.

"She wasn't dead when I left her, but it won't take long." Elissa watched Alistair's eyebrow rise in confusion, and offered further explanation. "I poisoned her. It seemed unseemly to behead her when I didn't have to, though I can go back and lop it off if that's what you'd prefer."

"No, that won't be… it's just hard to believe that it's over." Alistair breathed out a sigh of relief.

"It isn't over. Anora gave us—"

"Nathaniel," Elissa hissed, her eyes warning him to be silent until she could address this issue.

"Anora gave you what?" Alistair was up on his feet then, watching the tension pass between the pair in front of him.

"Anora gave us the impression that she was merely funding these attempts, that someone else was giving the orders. She says that Eamon is behind them." Elissa listened to Alistair's snort of laughter. "That's what I said. Eamon is too smart to be involved in anything Anora was plotting. Regardless of how he felt about me, he has never trusted Anora."

"That doesn't matter. These accusations must be investigated, Elissa. I don't care who it is she accused. This threat isn't over until we know who it was she offered her financial support to." Nathaniel refused to back down, though Alistair was not likely to listen to anything he had to say.

"If it will end this discussion, I will speak to my uncle and have Swiftrunner look into the activities of all of his messengers over the past few months," Alistair said, and Elissa accepted that with a nod hoping it would calm the tempers in the room for a moment. "Elissa, may we speak?"

"We will, you have my word I will not leave until it is done – but could we do it tomorrow? I'll come at the time and place of your choosing, but it has been a very long day in a very long week. I just want to not think for a little while." Elissa watched his face shift from rigid inflexibility to acceptance, and he nodded his approval of the idea sending her out the door and off toward the Warden Enclave for the night.

The Pearl was full of the usual rowdy group, none of them concerned with a lone shadow lingering over the newest mug in a back corner table, which was exactly what Elissa wanted. She was finally beginning to relax when Nathaniel came in the front door and sent her tension rising immediately back up to its normal levels.

"Sneaking out alone, Elissa? We still don't know if this is over. Anora was right. You are careless."

"Sit down and drink if you want, but don't lecture me and don't talk about Anora." Elissa shoved a mug across the table at him, waving the barmaid over once again.

Nathaniel shoved the mug away, irritation preventing him from even attempting to enjoy anything, and Elissa saw that any chance she'd had at getting a moment's peace had walked out the door the moment he stepped through it.

"Fine. Then escort me back to the castle because I'm not going to sit here while you glower at me." Elissa stood, a bit unsteady on her feet though she'd had far more than this to drink in the past and been fine.

"How much have you had?" Nathaniel asked, catching her mid stumble and holding on until she swatted him away.

"Not that much. I just haven't really drank in awhile. I guess my tolerance is lower than I imagined." She shook her head, clearing the fog enough to step out the door and into the night, feeling the heat radiate off Nathaniel's body as he fell in step beside her.

He was so focused on her increasingly erratic movement; he never saw the figure step out of the shadows behind him. He only felt the prick of the dagger press into the skin at his neck, pushing whatever coated the blade into his bloodstream and dropping him to the ground useless and fading into darkness.

"Nathaniel, what?" Elissa spun to see him fall, but found herself staggering forward when the movement did nothing more than make her head spin.

Her eyes were far too cloudy to make out any of the details of his face, but the voice – the voice was all too familiar. It was the whisper of a ghost, of someone who couldn't have been.

"I've got her. Go ahead and get my brother back to the estate. You'll get your money when we get there." Elissa felt herself being scooped up in someone's arms, dangling like a dizzy bride as the last of her consciousness drifted away. "I've waited so long for this night."