Amaranthine reminded Eriana of her own life at the moment, falling apart, over run with darkness, and full of unfamiliar people, but in a way it was exactly what she needed. At least when she was killing darkspawn, she wasn't thinking about the sudden void that threatened to consume her life since she woke up in that bed alone. The last three days had passed in an absolute blur, punctuated only by the insistent chatter of the woman traveling with her. On some level, Eriana realized that she had been a bit unfair in her treatment of Mhairi. She really should encourage the enthusiastic young recruit, but everything she said and did just aggravated Eriana's already frayed nerves. By the time they reached Amaranthine, it was all Eriana could do to keep from yelling at the young soldier. In fact, when Eriana felt the familiar pull of darkspawn in her blood, she almost welcomed the sensation because it seemed to numb all other feelings in her. This was familiar; this was the kind of distraction she needed. Sweat and blood were a welcome but momentary relief for her, so she fought her way ceaselessly through the keep. The mage had also been a welcome distraction because he acted as a kind of buffer between her and the annoying recruit, but it wasn't enough. Sooner or later, Eriana realized, the keep would be cleared, the fighting would be done, and she would be there, surrounded by strangers, and the emptiness that had been gnawing at her for days would be back.

But until then, there were darkspawn to kill. Working together, Eriana, Anders, and Mhairi managed to clear the first few rooms of the keep, sending any survivors that they encountered out to the guards in the courtyard. As they approached the door that seemed to lead into the heart of the keep, Eriana held up a hand. "There's a small group of darkspawn just beyond this door," she said quietly. "We need to…"

She was interrupted by the sound of a battle cry accompanied by the sounds of metal clashing against metal. Eriana quickly opened the door and made her way into the room, expecting to find another guard or recruit that she would need to rescue, but was pleasantly surprised to see a dwarf who was actually holding his own against the darkspawn. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't get a clear look at him as he was blocked by a railing that ran through the center of the two level room. As she readied her arrow, the dwarf spun around, driving his ax deep into the skull of the hurlock behind him and giving Eriana a clear look at him. "Oghren!" she shouted, releasing the arrow into the neck of the genlock that was charging toward her. The dwarf looked up and waved happily before turning his attention back to the crowd around him. Eriana felt as if a huge weight was lifted from her as she charged into the fray, happy to see a familiar face.

Once they had cleared the room of the monsters, Oghren strolled forward, leaning on the railing. "Ah, ha, there you are," Oghren said, his gruff voice was like music to Eriana's ears. "When these darkspawn showed, up, I thought, 'just wait until the commander gets here and you'll all be spitting teeth through out of your arses.' I just followed the screaming, and sure enough here you are. Good on you, kiddo."

"Hey you ole nug humper, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I came here thinkin that I might try my hand at becoming a bona fide Grey Warden."

Eriana was about to respond when Mhairi spoke up behind her. "Ugh, he was here when I left. I can't believe the Wardens didn't kick him out," she said with an obvious sneer in her voice. "I suppose, though in these dire times, any are welcome.

Eriana felt the fury rise in her as she spun around and glared at the recruit; out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anders take a wary step back. "Where do you get off passing judgment on him?" she shouted angrily. "Do you even know who this is? This is Oghren, a member of the Orzammar Warrior caste, which means that from the time he was old enough to hold an ax, he has been trained to fight Orzammar's main enemy which is, oh yeah, darkspawn. Not only that, but this man has killed more darkspawn than you will likely ever see in your entire life. He fought beside me while I was out fighting the Blight, and he was at my side when we took out the archdemon. He is among the most loyal and dedicated soldiers I have ever met, and he happens to be one of my closest friends in this world. I trust this man with my life, and since we met, there has not been a fight I have not walked into without him at my side. So, yes," she said looking Mhairi up and down, "I suppose I'm desperate enough to take just about anyone at this time, even those who insult my friends." She heard Oghren laughing when she turned back to him.

"Gee, kiddo, you're gonna make me blush if you keep that up," he said, strolling forward and clasping her arm before pulling her into a hug. She saw him glance behind her for a second. "So, where is he? Did something happen?"

Eriana shrugged, "In Antiva, I guess, or on the way there; we didn't really discuss it before hand." She sighed and looked down at him, "I'll tell you all about it once we clean all this up. You still have your private stash right?"

"You know it, Kid," he said, patting her on the back. "Now let's go, there are some darkspawn around in need of a beheading. The sooner we get to that, the sooner we can get sloggerd."

Eriana smiled and turned to introduce Oghren to Anders and Mhiari, who seemed to be hiding behind the mage. She knew that she should feel guilty about snapping at the woman, but after the way she had treated Oghren, she simply couldn't bring herself to care.

With Oghren back by her side, Eriana began to feel almost normal again.

Anders was drained; there was no two ways about it. After working for several hours clearing the keep of the darkspawn, he was physically and emotionally spent. Never before, even through all his escape attempts, had he relied so heavily on his magic as he had today. He doubted if he had the will power remaining to so much as light a candle. If he had known what fighting alongside the Grey Warden would entail, he might have just taken his chances with the templars, maybe. But there were definite perks to this choice, namely the Grey Warden herself. True, there was something about her that struck her as sad, but man, was she gorgeous. And if she could get the chantry off his back, even better.

He was leaning against the wall of the keep, trying to catch his breath as Eriana spoke with the man that they had just rescued. Apparently, the man was her seneschal, and he was giving her the bad news, all the Orlesian Wardens were either dead or captured. Oghren was standing beside her, a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Now this was a relationship he couldn't quite figure out. The elf and dwarf were obviously old comrades, judging by how well they fought beside each other, and it seemed like they were close friends. But from what he could tell, they seemed like complete opposites. She was the epitome of grace and beauty, and he smelled like a combination of old cheese and a brewery. Plus, didn't dwarfs like caves and holes in the ground while elves preferred forests and wide open spaces? How on earth did he earn her respect? Not that he'd say anything bad about him though, not after the way she blew up at the recruit when she criticized the dwarf.

"Come on, Anders," he heard Eriana say, her hand on his arm pulling him from his thoughts. "We've got company," she said nodding down toward the line of soldiers making their way up to the gates. Groaning to himself, he pushed off the wall to follow the elf. "Here," she said, handing him a vial of lyrium, "I know you must be worn out; you can't be used to using your magic quite this much."

Anders thanked her and downed the potion, feeling the familiar sensation of will surging through his veins. "I wanted to thank you, Anders," she said, hanging back to wait for him and Mhairi and Varel walked on ahead of them. "I don't think we would have made it through this without you. I really wish people could see just how invaluable strong mages are when it comes to fighting, epically ones like you who can both heal and attack. I know you didn't have to stay and help; that was really noble of you. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it, and I promise that I'll do whatever I can to keep you out of templar hands."

Anders was a bit surprised by her thanks and muttered something in reply. Most people looked down on mages or at least treated them as if they should be servants. He supposed most people took the whole, "Magic exists to serve man" thing very seriously.

The entered the courtyard in time to see the line of soldiers bearing the royal banner of Ferelden march into the courtyard. "Maker's breath," he thought to himself, "it's the King himself." Immediately he doubted it; after all, why would the king be visiting here? Then Mhairi and Varel both dropped to a knee, and Ander's heart skipped a beat. He turned to say something to Eriana, but she wasn't there. She had stopped dead the moment the King stepped into view. "Commander, are you okay?"

She didn't have a chance to respond because before he realized what was happening, Anders was being pushed aside by the King himself who had broken away from his guard and had run to Eriana, pulling her into a huge hug. "Maker's Breath, Ana, what happened? Where did all this blood come from?"

"The whole keep was overrun by darkspawn when I got here. All the Orlesian Wardens were either killed or gone."

"Gone, as in taken? Do darkspawn even do that?" he asked turning toward Varel (but never taking his hands off Eriana's shoulders, Anders noticed).

"I'm afraid so, your Majesty. We were completely taken by surprise; the keep was absolutely decimated," Varel said, stepping forward.

The King shook his head, "But they were Wardens, how is that even possible?"

Eriana shrugged and looked up at him, "I have no idea, Alistair; things were falling apart when I got here. What are you doing here anyway? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but I'm surprised Eamon would let you out."

He laughed, "I had hoped to greet the new Wardens. We're on our way to the Bannorn to deal with some issues with the nobility there, and I insisted that we stop here on the way. I am the King, you know, there are some perks to that."

A sad look crossed her face. "So that means you won't be staying?"

The King shook his head, "As much as I'd like to stay here and behead some darkspawn with you, I'm afraid I can't. Like I said, someone made me the king, so I have a lot of kingly things that need to be done. Perks and responsibilities." He looked around for a second, a look of concern suddenly crossing his face. "Ana, did something happen to Zevran, where is he?"

Anders saw the commander's face fall. "Antiva, I guess. We didn't exactly discuss it."

"Well, that's interesting," Anders thought to himself, "both of the people who know her are surprised to see her alone. Who in Thedas would leave her willingly?" he wondered.

"Wait, he left? Just like that?" For a moment, the King paused, "Are you okay?"

"No, but it looks like I have enough here to keep me busy and somewhat distracted for the time being at least."

The King ran his hand across the back of his neck. "Ugh, I hate to leave you alone like this."

"Hey, what am I, chopped nug livers?" Oghren said, stepping forward and slapping the King on his arm.

Eriana smiled weakly, "I won't be alone, Alistair, and the Ferelden Wardens will be along in several months. Do you think you could stay the night though? We can't exactly offer the hospitality you deserve, but we can put a roof over your head for the night."

"Of course. I assume you'll be doing a Joining in the morning, then?" Eriana nodded. "I'll stay for that too; we'll leave in the morning after that." The King said as he pulled her into another hug.

"Your Majesty," a woman said stepping forward. Anders took a deep breath when he recognized Ser Rylock, one of the templars who had captured him on his last escape attempt. "Beware, this man is a dangerous criminal."

"Ah, the dwarf is a bit of an ass, but he's harmless," Alistair said as he shot Anders a cautious look. Anders bit his lip, trying to stay quiet.

"That mage there is a dangerous apostate who we were in the process of taking back to the tower for justice."

Anders sighed, "The things you people know about justice would fit in a thimble. It doesn't matter, I'd just escape again anyway."

"Never," Rylock growled, "Murder, I'll see you hanged for the crimes you committed here."

Eriana stepped forward, "Ser Templar, allow me to say something if I may. This man has proven himself invaluable to me today. We would not have been able to clear the keep without him. I understand that the circle is a bit loath to allow mages out, but I find myself in dire need of a hearler, so I propose a compromise. Allow this mage to stay here under the supervision and protection of the Wardens. I'm sure that he would be willing to stay here so long as he doesn't have to return to the tower, but he won't be roaming around freely. It's a win win situation."

"No," Rylock said, "and I don't care if you are the Hero of Ferelden; you don't have the training necessary to control a rogue mage."

"Look, this man saved my life; he stayed and helped when he could have run away after the darkspawn killed the templars, and yes, I checked, they were killed by the darkspawn. I will not allow him to be taken and executed for doing the right thing."

"Absolutely not."

Anders' heart sank as the commander turned to look at him. "I'm so sorry, Anders." He was about to respond when she turned back around. "I hereby evoke the right of conscription on this mage. He will undergo the joining and become a Grey Warden."

"What, no, you can't do that," Rylock shouted.

The King smiled, "I do believe that the Wardens still have the right to conscript anyone, so I'll allow it." Rylock grumbled, but returned to the group of soldiers behind the King.

"A Grey Warden? Me? Well, I suppose that would work," Anders muttered, not quite sure what had just happened. The King and Commander were talking about lodging for the night as the entire party began following Varel toward Virgil's Keep, so Anders just followed numbly.

Once they were in the living quarters, Eriana turned to them. "We will do the Joining in the morning, so try to get some sleep tonight. Oghren, Alistair, would you two mind stopping by my room later tonight? I just really need to talk." The two men nodded and left to go to their rooms. Anders turned to leave too, but Eriana caught his arm. "Could I talk to you for a minute?" Anders nodded and led her into the room Varel had indicated would be his.

"Look, Anders, I'm sorry about having to do that. It wasn't my original intent to conscript you, but that templar left me no choice. It was either conscript you or allow her to take you, and I just couldn't do that, knowing that she intended to kill you." She motioned for him to sit down as she continued. "I won't lie to you, a Warden's life isn't the easiest life, and there are risks that come with joining the order."

"I know, Commander. I've studied the Wardens enough to know that many don't survive the Joining ritual, and that the ritual in and of itself changes you, though I haven't yet found out what the Joining entails."

"Well, that is one of our most closely guarded secrets. No one outside the order knows how it works. Mhairi and Ogren both volunteered for this, so they accept the risks. I just feel bad about forcing this on you, but there are benefits that come with being a Warden."

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, the chantry can't touch you for one. Once you're a Warden, you are free of the chantry's control. You will never be forced to return to the circle again, and if they try to force you, your fellow Wardens will stand up for you and defend you. Just remember that templar powers don't work on us. To us, they are just big guys in skirts with big swords."

"Ohh, no templars, I like that. So what? Are you giving me an out?"

"I'm afraid not. Once you are conscripted, you're conscripted; there's no getting out of it. I just wanted to apologize. After all you'd done for me, I should have done more to protect you. But I'll tell you the same thing my commander told me when I was conscripted…"

"Wait, you were conscripted?"

Eriana smiled and nodded, "In much the same manner that you were, actually. I was being arrested for murder, and Duncan, he was the commander before me, evoked the right of conscription and saved me."

"Whoa, you, the Hero of Ferelden were about to be arrested for murder when you were forced to join the order? That kinda shattered all illusions about you, you know."

"I know; it does for most people, that's why few people know about it. But if it makes you feel any better, most people think that the murder I was being arrested for was totally justifiable. Come to think about it, it was way more justifiable that the murder Duncan committed that got him conscripted."

"So do you have to be a murder to be a Grey Warden?"

Eriana actually laughed, "No, but there are a lot of us who enter the Wardens that way. We take anyone who has the skills that would make them a good Warden, and once you join, in the eyes of the Wardens, you past is erased. You're just a Grey Warden." She sighed for a second and looked back up at him. "But what I was going to tell you before I got sidetracked was this. I didn't conscript you just to save you. I would have invited you to join the Wardens anyway because I feel like you have the skills we need. I conscripted you because I thought you would make a fantastic Warden; saving you was just a pleasant side effect."

Anders smiled, "You really thing I'd make a good Warden."

"Absolutely."

"Alright, I'm in, and not just because you're forcing me to be in," he said with a smile. Ever since he was taken from his family and dumped in the tower, he had felt like he had been a nuisance to everyone, someone to be tolerated or controlled, but here was a woman asking him to join her order because she saw value in him. And not just any woman; it was the sodding Hero of Ferelden herself. Heck yeah, he'll join.

She smiled and patted him on the knee and turned to leave, "Commander?"

"Eriana, we're a band of brothers and sisters. Titles are just for those outside the order. Just call me Eriana."

"Right. I just wanted to know, are you okay? Something seems to be troubling you."

She sighed and shook her head, "Yes, I mean, no I'm not alright, and yes something is troubling me. I appreciate you asking, but there's nothing you or anyone for that matter can really do about it. Just get some sleep, and I'll see you in the morning."

Anders bid her goodnight and watched as she left, hoping that her two friends could do something for her because it had to be a crime against the maker for such a pretty face to carry such a sad expression.

I don't know what was up with this chapter, but I rewrote it about three times. I think I'm better with dialogue and the things that happen outside the action of the game, and I had to actually cover in-game stuff this chapter. I dunno. A few of you asked for Zev's letter, and that will show up in the next chapter.

As always thank you so much for reading and reviewing. You have no idea how happy your comments make me. As always, thank you to my awesome reviewers: Kainen, Envinie, Arsineo de Blassenville, CyderJenn, and Jen4306. Also to Danyal, welcome, thanks for the add, and I hope you enjoy.