"So, Keenan," Eriana said as she took a seat beside the dark-haired Warden's bedside. She had been so busy since their return to the keep; she hadn't had much time to talk to their injured comrade. "Anders just told me that you are almost back to full health. He said that you might even be ready for a trip to Amaranthine in a few days."

Keenan smiled up at her, "That's what he's been telling me. I have to say, I really thought I was a goner down there for sure, but that mage of yours is something else. I'll be back to killing darkspawn in no time, thanks to him."

"Well, he's just a mage, not my mage really; Anders is a Grey Warden too, remember."

"Yeah, that's right; I keep forgetting that part. Not that I'm not used to mages in the Wardens, don't get me wrong, but there was something I've been meaning to ask you about that, actually. How long have those others been in the order because I can't get a clear sense of the taint in any of them? You're the only one that I really get any vibes off of at all."

"They all joined less than three weeks ago."

Keenan shook his head, "I thought you guys were doing well here. According to our Commander, the ranks were growing, and we were just coming to supplement things."

Eriana sighed, "We have eleven Wardens in the southern part of the country dealing with our darkspawn problems down there. I was counting on you all to carry most of the weight here until they arrive. I'm not expecting them to arrive here for another four months or so, and since there's no real easy way of contacting them, I'm forced to do what I can with who I've got."

"I guess it's a good thing you found me when you did; I had resolved myself to the fact that I was going to die down there. If it hadn't been for you…well, I'm just glad you found me, that's all. I never thought I'd see Nida again."

Eriana patted his arm, "I'm very glad we were there, and I'm sure Nida will be happy to see you. Just out of curiosity, though, why is she in Amaranthine and not here at the Keep? I'm mean, it's a good thing she wasn't here, I was just wondering why that was."

Keenan shrugged, "Well, she wasn't exactly thrilled about my joining the Wardens; she was happy with our life as it was when I was just a normal guard. I'm not sure she is quite cut out for the life of a military wife; she hated the stodgy feel of family housing that the Wardens provided. So we came to an agreement of sorts; she stayed in the city while I was doing my duty as a Warden."

"Sounds reasonable enough, but why did you join the Wardens, then, if your wife was so against it?"

"It wasn't exactly by choice."

Eriana raised an eyebrow, "Conscription?"

Keenan shook his head, "Necessity. I was on patrol just south of Jader when my company encountered a group of darkspawn. Most of my unit was whipped out in the attack; in fact, all of us probably would have been killed if some Grey Wardens hadn't showed up when they did. They managed to kill all the darkspawn and save several of us, but I was infected with the taint during the course of the fight. They told me I had two choices, die of the Blight disease or join the Grey Wardens."

"Wait, we can put infected people through the Joining to save them? I didn't know that."

"If you catch it early enough, the Joining essentially slows down the progression of the disease. The fact that I was exposed to the taint before my Joining will probably speed up my calling by a few years, but I consider it a small price to pay for another twenty five years or so of life."

Eriana smiled, "I know the feeling. I was conscripted away from a certain death sentence, so those thirty years looked like a gift. I can imagine that things looked different from your wife's point of view; it probably seemed like she was being robbed."

"Yeah, it's been a real adjustment for her; that's why I volunteered to move here. I thought a change of scenery might be good for her. I had also hoped that you might be a bit more...um…lenient when it came to relationships," he said with a smile.

Eriana was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the Orlesian Commander was okay with relationships within the Wardens, but he had issues when Wardens had companions who weren't in the order. He was afraid that if we were too close to people outside the order, we might accidently let some Warden secrets slip. That's why he would move us away from our home as soon as we joined. The fewer connections to the outside, the better."

"So what made you think I would be any different?"

Keenan grinned, "We heard that you were getting married to a non-Warden, so several of us who had spouses asked to be transferred here."

"What? Are you saying that people in another country know about my personal life?" Eriana said as a blush began to creep up her cheeks.

Keenan laughed, "Are you kidding? You are one of the most famous people in all of Thedas; of course we know about your personal life! The bards have been singing of your victories for months, and you know how bards enjoy a good love story. The story of you and Zevran is my wife's favorite story."

"Oh, Maker's Breath," she muttered.

"What, don't you want to be famous?"

She huffed in response. "What I want is a drink," Eriana said, shaking her head as she got up. "A really big one. But as it's the middle of the day and I still have a pile of paper work stacked up as tall as Oghren waiting for me on my desk, I guess it'll have to wait. Tonight…tonight I'll get completely smashed." Keenan chuckled. "We'll head into Amaranthine in two days, so get some rest."

"You got it, Commander. Thanks, and not just for stopping by, thanks for everything."

Eriana said goodbye and made her way down to her office where Varel and Garevel were waiting for her, talking to a human and elf who she didn't recognize. It turned out the two visitors were hunters who had stumbled on a major hub of darkspawn activity when one of them fell into a cave. A sickening feeling began to form in the pit of Eriana's stomach as the men continued to describe their discovery.

"And you say the darkspawn simply ignored you, even though you were screaming right there beside them?"

"Yeah, it was weird, right? They seemed busy, focused on something else. I didn't know darkspawn could focus on anything."

Eriana sighed. "Varel, could you go find Oghren for me," she asked as she pulled out a few maps and spread them out across her desk. "Now," she said, looking up at the hunters and gesturing to a detailed map of the arling, "could you show me exactly where you were when you discovered this cavern?" The human stepped up and pointed to an area labeled Knotwood Hills.

"What's up, Commander?" Oghren asked as he came into the office.

She pulled out a detailed map of the deeproads that Bhelen had sent her in his last correspondence from Orzammar and motioned Oghren over. "Do you know if we close to any openings to the deeproads?"

Oghren looked over the map, "There are several older openings around here, but a lot of those have collapsed over the years. I believe there used to be an old fortress in this area, Kal' Hirol I think it was called, but access to it has been cut off for generations. We're not even completely sure exactly where it is anymore." He pointed to a section of the map, "See, the road through here collapsed a long time ago. Why do you ask?"

"I think these guys just found an entrance to the deeproads, a big one from the sound of it."

Oghren glanced over at the two men who described again what they saw. "So you say the cave had high ceilings, paved walkways, and was crawling with darkspawn? Yeah, you were in the deeproads alright." He compared the two maps, "And from the look of it, you were close to where the shaperate believes Kal' Hirol was located." He glanced up at Eriana, "It looks like we're headed back into the deeproads."

Eriana groaned and sank into her seat, the sick feeling returning to her stomach, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Commander," Garevel said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just really hate the deeproads, that's all, baaaad experiences down there." She ran a hand through her hair. "Gentlemen, thank you for your information," she said nodding toward the two hunters. "Varel, could you see that they are compensated for their troubles." Varel nodded and he and Garevel escorted to two men out.

"So, Oghren," she said once they were alone, "what do you think they're up to."

He sighed and sat down on the other side of her desk. "Honestly, there's only one thing darkspawn do when they set up shop in an abandoned dwarven structure."

"Reproduce," she muttered and Oghren nodded in agreement. "Sodding darkspawn, I really don't want to go back into the deeproads, not for a while anyway, but I guess we have no choice."

"Do you want me to take 'em? I know how hard it was for you last time we were down there."

Eriana smiled, "No, it's nice of you to offer, but this is something I have to do. I can't just send my Wardens off to do the dirty work I'm unwilling to do. What kind of leader would I be if I did that? You guys can't even sense darkspawn yet." She sighed, "I guess I'll just have to suck it up and do it."

"So are we headed down tomorrow or what?"

"No, I'd like to head into Amaranthine first. Keenan needs to spend some time with his wife, and we need to deal with the smugglers before we head off to the far end of the arling." She rolled up the maps and put them away. "We'll head into the city in two days then head toward Knotwood Hills from there."

"Anders!" Eriana barked in a frustrated tone. The mage's head shot up from the book he had been reading, wondering what he had done to earn her anger.

"Um, I didn't do it. I bet it was Howe or Oghren…"

She waved him off hastily, "No, nothing's wrong; I was just wondering if you had seen Velanna. I've been looking everywhere for her." She cocked her head to the side, "Though you seen quite defensive; are you sure you didn't do anything I should be angry about?'

Anders gave a sigh of relief and grinned, "Nope, innocent as a dove, but denying everything is my default reaction when someone shows up shouting my name like that." Eriana smiled briefly at that before rolling her eyes. "So, Velanna, yeah, I saw her. She was in here just a little while ago, asking me questions about herbal mixtures and potion recipes. Then, out of nowhere and with no prompting on my behalf, mind you, she stormed out of here, mumbling something about needing air and trees. I don't think she's quite used to spending so much time indoors. It's making her irritable, and I mean more irritable than usual."

Eriana huffed, "Well that's saying something."

"You know it," Anders said as put his book down. "Would you like me to help you find her? Mages can sense one another, you know. It's something about our connection to the veil."

"Great, that would be a big help, Anders, thanks. It's not a bad time, is it? I mean, I'm not disturbing anything important, am I?"

"Nah, I'm just doing some light reading. Howe had a pretty impressive library here, lots of sappy old fiction. Anyway, I bet you anything Velanna went up to the battlements," he said as he strolled across the room to join her. "We should probably head up there."

Eriana nodded and he followed her out of the room. Something about her seemed different, and it took him a second to realize what it was. She was out of her armor. Anders tried to remember if he had ever seen her when she wasn't clad in the supple leathers she always wore. The only time he could remember was when the Architect had returned her after he had finished with whatever sick experiments he was performing on her. The elf was always armored, from the moment she stepped out in the morning until she disappeared back into her chambers in the evening. In fact, he had often wondered if she actually slept in her armor. But tonight, she was wearing a tunic and a simple pair of trousers, looking slightly off with her twin daggers strangely absent from her back. It made her seem softer, seeing her standing there without the heavy equipment, and so much smaller. On some level, he knew she was an elf, and a small one by their standards, but imposing nature of her armor and weapons coupled with her larger than life nature had always made her seem bigger somehow. Tonight though, she didn't really fit the role of Warden Commander, Anders realized as he followed her through the castle and up to the battlements. Tonight, she could be anyone, just another elven woman whose hair was cascading down her back in a waterfall of golden locks that shimmered and danced in the moonlight with every step she made.

Anders swallowed the lump that had somehow worked its way up into his throat as he watched her hair dance in that enticing way across her back as she walked in front of him. Yeah, her hair, he was definitely watching her hair, not letting his eyes stray just a little lower to the alluring way her hips swayed as she moved, not to the shapely way legs looked through the light fabric of her trousers. Nope, keep looking up at that mesmerizing curtain of gold that just begged to be touched. He remembered the way those silky locks of hers had flowed through her fingers as he cradled her head in is lap. Anders shook his head, trying to shake away such thoughts. "Pull it together man; you're not in the tower anymore, Anders. She's you commanding officer, not some apprentice that you've pulled into a secluded corner of the library to steal away a private moment of pleasure, far away from the prying eyes of the templars." Suddenly the image of Eriana in apprentice robes, peeking out from behind a bookcase, her eyes shining with a mischievous grin on her face as she beckoned him toward her, flashed across his mind's eye, and Anders shuddered, thankful for the lose and heavy nature of his enchanted robes. Desperately, he tried to force his mind in another direction. "Think about the Revered Mother, Cullen, darkspawn…Oghren in his smalls; anything!"

"Anders?'

"Huh?" Anders managed to squeak.

"Are you okay?" Eriana asked, a look of concern crossing her face. "You're looking a bit flushed," she said, reaching out to touch his cheek with the back of her hand.

"Ah, I'm okay," he said stumbling backward, just out of her reach. "The cool air, you know, it just gave me a bit of a head rush, that's all." He laughed, "Whoo! Better than Oghren's brew!" he said, hoping she believed him.

The elven woman looked up at him for a second, then shrugged. "Okay, if you say so," she said before turning around and leaning on the low wall of the battlements, looking out into the darkness.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" he said, leaning on the wall beside her, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah," she said in a soft melancholy voice. "Nights like this were my favorite when we were traveling around during the Blight. When it was warm and bright like this, we would all sit around the fire and spend the whole evening talking, telling stories…" She sighed and rested her chin on her hand. "It was nice, you know, not having to huddle in the tents trying to keep warm and dry."

"It sounds like you miss it."

"In a funny way, I do. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the fighting, sleeping in the cold, living in constant fear of death, and the almost starving to death, but I do miss spending time with my friends. I mean, when you spend every day with a group of people for nearly a year, you get close. We were all each other had. I had been exiled from my home, separated from my family for the first time in my life, so, in a way, they became my family. I guess I didn't really realize how much I'd come to rely on them until we all started going our separate ways." She closed her eyes and turned away from Anders, refusing to meet his eye, her voice shaking slightly. "Then, after spending so much time with them, all of a sudden, I found myself alone, and I wasn't ready to be alone."

Anders reached out with one arm and pulled her to his side, knowing she wasn't just thinking about her friends. Her mind was on her former fiancé. He expected her to tense up and shy away from physical contact, remembering how she scrambled away from him the moment she woke up in his arms in the Architect's lair, but, much to his surprise, she turned into the hug, resting her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist. His heart leapt slightly when he felt her arms wrap around him. Instantly, Anders realized that her leathers wasn't the only armor missing that night. For some reason, she had allowed him to see her pain, the vulnerability that churned just beneath the surface of the thick layer of armor she usually wore over her heart, hiding her pain and keeping everyone but Oghren out.

"I know that we will never be able to replace the ones you lost, but you're not alone anymore, Eriana. We are here for you, I hope you know that. And if you ever need anything, all you need to do is ask."

Eriana looked up at him, blue eyes shimmering with tears. Anders reached down and gently brushed away the single tear that had escaped to her cheek, suddenly very aware of how warm and inviting her body felt pulled up against him, how right it felt to hold her in his arms. It was wrong, harboring feelings like these, she was weak, and it would be wrong to exploit her weakness, but that realization was fleeting as he looked into those beautiful blue eyes, sparkling like sapphires in the moonlight.

"Anders," she said, looking up at him in a breathy whisper. His hands moved up her back, drawing her closer. "I…"

"The Antivan Crows send their regards," a voice suddenly growled out of the darkness.

"Ah, bloody hell," Anders muttered as he spun Eriana behind him and summoned a shield around them. A split second later, a crossbow bolt clattered to the ground.

"Don't kill, just paralyze," Eriana hissed from behind him. Anders grumbled as the air around him simmered with his magic. A crushing prison would definitely paralyze him and inflict a bit of pain while he was at it. Once the mysterious figure was incapacitated, Anders turned to check on Eriana, who was standing over the lifeless body of a second attacker, casually cleaning his blood off her daggers. She grinned when she saw him staring at her. "What? Crows rarely work alone. Is he still alive?" She asked nodding toward the first attacker.

Anders nodded and crossed his arms as he watched her as she finished cleaning her weapons. "I'm more interested in where the daggers came from," he said as the shouts of the Vigil's guards began to reach his ears.

"Oh, come on, Anders, I never go anywhere unarmed," she said as she slid the daggers back into her boots.

"Commander, are you alright?" one of the guards asked breathlessly as he ran up. "Warden Velanna said she sensed offensive magic, so we came to see if you needed aid." He looked at the two attackers. "Obviously you had the situation well in hand."

Anders looked back at the Dalish mage who merely shrugged, "You wouldn't be much help in finding my sister if you were dead."

"Ah, Velanna, your kindness and concern are overwhelming," Anders said.

"We're fine," Eriana said to the guard. "We were attacked by these two a moment ago. Secure that one as soon as Anders's spell wears off and take him to my office for questioning." She turned to Anders. "Stay with them and make sure he doesn't get away. I need to speak with Velanna; then I'll get Nathaniel and we'll meet you there."

"Nathaniel?"

"Yeah, he needs to be here for this questioning," she said as she turned back to the Dalish mage, and it was clear to Anders that she had her emotional armor securely back in place.

Anders turned and dispelled the spell with a sigh, releasing the unknown man from the prison so that the guards could secure him and get him into her office. Once they were inside, Anders was able to get a better look at the man and was surprised by what he saw. He was young, barely more than a kid. He had short dark hair that fell just over his dark eyes. His skin was pale, making the dark tattoos on his face stand out in contrast. The kid looked terrified, refusing to make eye contact with the men who were standing around him, glaring at him suspiciously.

Eriana and Nathaniel came into the office a short time later, followed closely by Varel and Garevel. Man, if looks could kill, Anders was pretty sure the would-be assassin would have been a pile of ashes. There is no way Anders wanted to be on the receiving end of the lethal glare Nathaniel was shooting the young man. Eriana approached him and knelt down in front of the terrified young man as Nathaniel stood silently behind her.

"Okay," Eriana said, looking up at the man. "We will just start with the basics. Now, we can do this the easy way where you are civil and answer my questions politely, or we can do this the hard way and these men behind me get to start asking the questions."

"Starting with me," Nathaniel growled. The man nodded, never taking his eyes off the elf.

"Good, we understand each other. Now, what is your name?"

"S-S-S-Simon, my Lady."

"Simon, good. Now, would you care to tell me how you came to be in my Keep this evening?"

"We were looking for him," he said, pointing to the corner where Anders was standing. "We wasn't after you, I swear; we was just trying to collect the bounty on him."

Eriana glanced briefly back at Anders who shrugged. "What did you want with my mage?"

"Well, we didn't rightly know he was a mage; we just heard the other men in the order talkin about how high the price on him had gotten. We was just looking to make a name for ourselves in the Crows, that's all."

"Why would the Crows have a bounty out on Anders; the Chantry doesn't hire assassins to do their dirty work, do they?" Nathaniel asked, looking at Eriana for the briefest of moments before turning his powerful glare back on the cowering assassin.

"Who is Anders?" the Crow asked, looking up at them.

Eriana glanced at him, "Anders is the man you just tried to kill."

The young man's eyes widened in genuine shock, "So that wasn't Zevran that we attacked?" Eriana shook her head. "Oh, man I'm such an idiot! We heard the guys talking about him and decided to try to go after him. They said that he would be here with the blonde Warden Commander. When we saw the two of you together, we just assumed."

Nathaniel turned and looked at Eriana, who rolled her eyes and waved him off in a way that said "Later." Anders made sure he was looking away when Nathaniel turned the questioning glare his way. "Did you even bother to find out anything else about him; you know, like the fact that he's an elf and he's not even in Amaranthine," she snapped at him as she got to her feet. Simon looked down, ashamed. "You mean to tell me you took off to kill a mark without even doing any research? Why on earth would you try something like that?"

"Look, you don't know what it's like in the Crows; if you don't do something to get noticed by those higher up, you're dead. They'll send you in as fodder to distract guards while the more experienced assassins head for the target; it's a death sentence. I had to do something; I was desperate. I thought taking out someone with such a big price on his head would get me noticed."

"Did you ever wonder why the price was so big?" Simon shrugged. "He's a former Crow, and I am the hero of Ferelden. We've managed to survive two different attacks by the Crows not to mention a civil war and a Bligh. The price is so big because he's damn hard to kill, especially when I'm with him, so you made a serious error in judgment."

The color drained from the young man's face, and he began to stammer. "How old are you?" Eriana asked, looking down at him.

"Eighteen," he stammered.

"Let me see your arm." Simon looked up, surprised for a moment before extending his arm. "The whole thing, please." Simon sighed and pulled up his sleeve and showed her the underside of his arm. "One solo kill and you thought to come after one of the biggest contracts in Ferelden; you're either crazy or stupid or both."

"Commander," Garevel said, stepping up beside her. "You need to make a decision about what you intend to do with this man. Is he to be executed tomorrow?"

Eriana sighed, and Anders knew what she was about to say before she even said it. "Let him go."

Nathaniel grabbed her arm and turned her toward him, "Please tell me you aren't serious about this. You do realize he tried to kill you; he broke into your home and tried to kill you. He knew you were the Warden Commander and Arlessa; ergo, the man deserves to die."

"You're one to talk, Nathaniel," she said with a slight grin. "Weren't you planning to do the exact same thing?"

"That's different; he actually attempted it."

Eriana smiled, "And you would have too if you hadn't been caught." She took Nathaniel's arm, and pulled him over to where Anders was standing. "Just look at him. he's just a kid. Regardless of what I do to him, he's a dead man. The Crows will kill him on principle for either trying to or failing to kill me. He's already sealed his fate, and he doesn't need me to condemn him as well." The men were silent for a moment. "Look, what he was saying about the Crows was absolutely true; it's how they operate. I know. I can't fault him for wanting to improve his standing the only way he knew how."

Garevel shook his head, "This sets a bad precedent, letting him go."

"Yeah," Anders added, "If this gets out, you'll be fending off assassination attempts left and right."

"And that's different from my life how exactly? Dodging assassination attempts is all I've done for the past two years." She shook her head. "My mind's made up." She walked over to Simon and cut his bonds. "You are free to go, but let me give you some advice." Simon looked up at her, his eyes wide with surprise. "Run, don't return to your master because, believe me, you won't receive a warm reception; in fact, you'll most likely be killed instantly. Your only hope is to either disappear or to align yourself with someone with some real power. Your best bet would be to return to Antiva and ally yourself with Zevran."

"Join Zevran in doing what exactly?"

"I'm not sure, and I'm not sure if he would even take you; he may just kill you on principle. But it's likely the only chance you've got." She turned to walk away. "And next time you have the element of surprise, don't blow it, by announcing yourself; it kind of gives up whatever edge you might have had on your victim."

Simon stumbled to his feet, "I don't know how I can ever thank you; really, you won't regret this, I promise."

Anders watched the assassin for a moment before turning and following Eriana and Nathaniel out of the office while the guards went about making sure their guest was escorted quickly from the premises. Just as he caught up to the two rogues, Garevel came running up to them. "Commander, wait for a moment," Garevel said when he finally caught up. Eriana stopped and waited for him. "Commander, I'd like to speak with you for a moment." He gave Nathaniel a pointed glance. "Alone."

"What's this about?"

Garevel looked over at Nathaniel again. "Varel and I have come across some information that we believe, in light of recent developments, you really need to know."

Wow, this is a bit longer than usual. Sorry about the delay in the update; I just got Fable 3 and it's been dominating my life (my free time at least).

As always, I want to send out some love to my reviewers: Jen, Judy, Eva, Fairy, you all rock. Thank you to those who added faves and alerts: Serenasgurl, northernbreeze, and whennightmareswalked.