Eriana was actually starting to allow herself to believe that they may make it back to the Vigil without being attacked. Initially, she had believed that the conspirators would discover the bloody trap immediately, and they would be forced to defend themselves. But they managed to put a few miles between them and Stark Farm before the wolves began howling. Eriana sighed and looked down at Nathaniel whose head was resting in her lap. "They've found the trap, and they're coming for us." She closed her eyes and listened again to the call of the wolves. "There are about thirty armed men following about two miles behind us. We'll outnumbered three to one, and there's no way we can outrun them."

Nathaniel nodded and pushed himself up into a sitting position, glancing around at their surroundings. "There's a clearing about half a mile from here. It backs up against a sheer rock wall, so it would pretty easy to defend. We could make it look like a few of us have set up camp there, trick them into trying to ambush us."

Eriana grinned, "Then ambush them. I like it." She eased out from behind him and leapt from the cart, running up to Garevel to explain their plan. The three rogues would set up a make-shift camp while the knights, along with Oghren and Keenan hid along the sides, waiting to attack. Anders and Velanna would hide out at the back of the camp, attacking and healing while concealed behind the wagons. As they were working out the particulars of their plan, the white alpha wolf came running up to her, followed closely by several other members of the pack. She had summoned wild animals many times in the past, but she had never really bonded with any of them before the way she seemed to bond with this wolf. The entire pack had followed her down from Highever two months earlier and had stayed in the woods around the Keep. In a way, it reminded her of the bond she shared with Ramoth; she could feel whenever he was near and could communicate with him in a deeper way. In the past, her connection with the animals she summoned was only rudimentary, allowing her to direct them toward certain targets. With this wolf, though, she could actually sense his emotions and give him more complex commands, much like she could with her mabari; it was helpful, especially in situations like this.

"Do you think they would be able to help?" Garevel asked looking down at the animals.

Eriana shrugged, "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea. We could get them to hide along the sides, too. The probably wouldn't know what to do with a pack of wolves; the shock of dealing with them might be enough to give us an edge." She turned and glanced at the alpha and whispered to it in Dalish. It gave a quick bark and darted back into the woods to round up the rest of the pack.

It didn't take them long to reach the clearing that Nathaniel had described, and Eriana quickly arranged the ambush, setting up a small camp. Sigrun would stay around the fire in the middle of the camp, pretending to tend the fire, drawing the attackers in. Nathaniel and Eriana would stay at the cart and attack from there, Eriana staying close to defend the injured Nathaniel. The plan was simple; as soon as the conspirators showed up, Sigrun would retreat toward the other two rogues, luring them deeper into the camp so that the warriors could flank them. A few wolves would hide under the wagon, attacking alongside Sigrun once the conspirators were out in the open. It was a good plan, but there was an element of risk for the three rogues, at least until the rest of their party was in position to surprise their pursuers.

"I'm not sure I like this," Nathaniel said, cradling a crossbow against his chest as they waited in the darkness.

Eriana glanced over at him, "It's only because you're injured and can't use your bow. You'll be fine; you're a good enough shot, you can shoot with anything."

Nathaniel shook his head, "No, it's not that. I don't like you putting yourself at risk to protect me. I mean, we're doing this to protect you from the people who are trying to kill you. Isn't that the whole purpose of this raid? And now, you are putting yourself right out there in the thick of things."

"So what do you suggest, that I just leave you here, broken leg and all, to defend yourself while I go and hide?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what I'm suggesting. Once they realize you're here, they'll target you. It's just too big of a risk, putting you out in the open like this."

Eriana knelt down next to him, "Nathaniel, you've known me now for two months. In that time, have I ever backed down from a fight because there was a little danger involved?"

"No, and that's why I'm not insisting that you run and hide. I'm just pointing out the fact that I'm not happy with it." He smiled up at her, "I know you're far too stubborn, or is it selfless, to back down and let others stand up for you. I just don't want to see you get hurt on account of me."

"I'm not going to get hurt, Nate; I've fought against greater odds than this. We've got a good plan in place, and with the wolves helping us, those dumb guards will be so confused, they won't even know what hit them." She heard one of the wolves give a sharp whine from the bushes. "Now, hush up and look injured. They're here."

Across the clearing, a handful of armed figures stepped out of the bushes, weapons unsheathed, eyes focused menacingly on the small camp site before them. Lady Packton was at point, smiling grimly at scene before her. Sigrun gave a sudden, very convincing, cry of alarm and sprung to her feet, grabbing her weapons and backing toward the cart. If Eriana didn't know any better, she would have sworn the legionnaire was truly surprised to see the attackers.

Eriana stood up in the cart, her nocked arrow fixed on Packton. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Oh, commander, I think you know," the noble said with a sneer in her voice. "You have something that belongs to us, and I have come to collect." She chuckled lightly, "Funny, and here I thought the legendary Commander of the Grey, Hero of Ferelden, would be difficult to kill, but it seems that all one needs to do is find you alone. I guess I have wasted my money. No matter, perhaps I can convince Esmerelle to refund it once I take care of this little problem for all of us."

Eriana shifted, keeping her arrow trained on the noble, not wanting to start the fight until they had drawn them deeper into the camp. Sigrun's hands tightened around her daggers as she backed up against the cart. "And what makes you think you will get away with this. Don't you know rising up against your liege lord is treason; you could be hanged at the next Landsmeet for this."

"Only if you lived to testify. As it stands now, it looks like you were simply ambushed by some bandits as you were returning to your Keep. There are only three of you; do you really expect to be able to stand up to us. Such a shame, really, your career as a noble had only just begun." She laughed again, "It's a pity you didn't make it; it was quite a novelty to see a knife-ear like you in a role other than servant or whore. It is, after all, all your kind is good for."

Eriana's hands tightened on her bow. "So what are you going to do, kill me? Brilliant plan, but tell me this, then, who exactly is going to stop the darkspawn, once the Grey Wardens are gone?"

"Oh, I don't plan on killing all the Grey Wardens; just you three. The rest will be free to kill all the darkspawn that they want, under proper supervision, of course."

"You'll never get away with this," Eriana hissed.

"You fool," the human woman snapped back, "I already have." She raised her sword and let out a massive war cry, ordering her forces to attack, but before they could close in on the rogues, two massive fire spells slammed into them, knocking most of the armed men to the ground as they writhed in pain.

The air was sudden filled with the sounds of metal on metal and war cries as Eriana's knights and Wardens immerged from the camp's perimeter, attacking the fallen soldiers before they could get back on their feet. Eriana began carefully firing arrow after arrow into the fray, picking off the soldiers who were approaching from the rear, keeping a careful eye on her own company, making sure none of them were surprised by an unseen attack. She could hear Oghren's angry voice bellowing out through the clearing as he charged at the largest of the soldiers, swinging his massive ax over his head. Behind her, Anders and Velanna were summoning a myriad of spells, bombarding the stunned attackers with lightning, stone fists, and crushing prisons. It was obvious that these men had never fought against mages before as they were totally unsure how to deal with the magical attacks. It didn't take long for it become clear that despite their smaller numbers, the Wardens definitely had the upper hand in the fight, and their enemies were dropping quickly.

Eriana stayed perched in the cart, standing over a seated Nathaniel as he leveled shot after shot with the crossbow. She was so focused on the fighting in front of her, that she completely forgot to watch her own flank, so she was completely unaware of the fact that a cloaked figure was sneaking up behind her.

"Anders, Velanna, move in and make sure no one is injured," she shouted without looking over her shoulder, "but stay close to the wolves." The two mages nodded and moved forward toward the dying action in the clearing, taking three of the wolves with them. Eriana raised her bow, about to fire again when Nathaniel suddenly grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down to the ground beside him and rolling over on top of her like he was trying to shield her from something. A second later, she heard him groan in pain and felt as his warm blood began to soak her armor. Wasting no time, she pulled out her dagger and lashed out at the man kneeling over them, sinking her dagger deep into the side of his neck. The man reeled, holding the gushing wound with one hand as he staggered backward, falling off the cart and making a sickening thud as he hit the ground.

Eriana didn't care; the whole of her attention was now focused on the man slowly bleeding to death beside her. Frantically, her hands moved over him. "Anders," she shouted, looking toward the fight, her hands wet with the blood from the deep wound on Nathaniel's side. "Please, Nate, stay with me," she whispered, desperately trying to staunch the blood pouring from his side. She pulled out a health potion, holding it to his lips, begging him to drink. Eriana watched as he struggled to swallow the drink, sputtering and coughing for a moment before his eyes locked for a moment with hers. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could talk, his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground beside her. "No, no, Nathaniel, please," she shrieked, her hands going back to the wound on his side which was still gushing blood. "Don't you do this to me Nate, please hang in there," she hissed at him, putting pressure on the wound. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of the darkness beside them, and Eriana spun around, crouching over Nathaniel's unconscious body, daggers out, ready to attack. A part of her brain registered the fact that she was hissing like some feral wildcat, but she couldn't bring herself to care. No one was touching Nathaniel, not while she still drew breath.

"Easy, commander," Anders said, softly, appearing out of the darkness, moving toward them cautiously. "It's just me."

Eriana nodded and shifted back, giving Anders access to the rogue, but never lowering her weapons. "Save him, Anders. Please…you have to…I can't…"

Anders put a hand on her, taking the daggers from her hands, "I've got him, Eriana; he'll be okay." Eriana sat down, clutching one of Nathaniel's hands tightly in hers as the mage went to work, his hands glowing as they moved quickly over the wound. Nathaniel's breathing seemed to stabilize as the healing spells began to take effect, but he still looked deathly pale. Anders was concentrating hard, sweat pouring down his face as he downed a couple of lyrium potions, his hands never leaving the rogue's side. After what seemed like an eternity, he sighed and sat back, whipping the moisture off his forehead.

"Well, I've done what I can without completely addling myself. The bleeding's stopped, but he's lost a good deal of blood. He'll likely be out for the next few hours, but he'll make a full recovery."

Eriana released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and threw her arms around the mage's neck. "Thank you Anders; I don't know where we'd be without you."

He grinned down at her, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Who knows where you'd be, but you'd be a lot less stylish, that's for sure." He patted her lightly on the back. "You go and check up on everyone else, okay; I'll stay here and keep an eye on Howe."

Eriana pulled away, sparing Nathaniel another look before hopping up and moving into the clearing to search for Garevel. She found the commander of her knights kneeling over the body of Lady Packton. "So, Garevel," she said, taking a knee beside him, "how did we do?"

"No casualties and only a few minor injuries. Velanna is seeing to them now." He glanced up over his shoulder. "How's Nathaniel?"

Eriana winced, "He's lost a lot of blood, but Anders says he'll be okay."

Garevel smiled, "That's good to hear." He stood up, whipping off his hands as he did. "So what's the plan; where do we go from here?"

Eriana reached down and pulled the signet ring from the dead noble's hand before she got to her feet. "I need you to go around and check the bodies, see if you can identify any more members of my nobility," she said, handing him the ring. "If you find someone else, collect their ring; we need proof of who attacked us. Plus, we should probably collect something that has the heraldry of all the houses that attacked us, so have the men look for markings on weapons and armor." She ran her fingers through her hair and looked around the clearing. "We should probably collect the bodies so that we can set fire to them before we leave. Once that's done, have everyone get some rest; we'll leave for the keep in the morning."

Garevel nodded and began moving among the uninjured, giving them directions before he started inspecting the bodies. Eriana made her way over to where Velanna was tending to the wounded, helping out as much as she could, applying health poultices and bandaging injuries. Slowly the noise around the camp began to die down as everyone tried to get in a little sleep. After a short argument with the dwarf, she finally convinced Oghren to get some rest, assuring him that she simply wasn't tired. As everyone was beginning to doze off, Garevel approached her, handing her a chin with four rings on it.

"Smyth, Brytenland, Harrion, and Packton," she said, comparing the names to the papers they had retrieved from the farmhouse. "So we got four of the six conspirators."

"It seems that way. Now we're only missing Esmerelle and Temmerly, but we have enough evidence here to convict them on charges of treason."

Eriana closed her eyes and held the rings to her chest, "It's over, then. Esmerelle would be a fool to try to attack me now, now that her allies are nearly all dead."

"I hope so, Commander, but I wouldn't count on it. A wounded animal is a dangerous one. She may lash out in spite."

"But Esmerelle is no animal; surely she's smarter than that." Eriana patted the guard on the arm. "You did well tonight, Captain, you and your men. Why don't you get some rest; there's at least four more hours until sunup."

Garevel shook his head. "With all due respect, Commander, I think you need more rest than I do. You look dead on your feet."

"I'll be fine; I'm used to operating on very little sleep. Besides, I can keep an eye on things through the pack, and if need be, I'll sleep on the way back." Garevel tried a bit longer to protest, but eventually, as everyone always did with Eriana, he relented and bid her goodnight.

Eriana stood by herself in the middle of the silent, sleeping camp, allowing the feeling of relief to wash over her. They had the evidence they needed to finally put an end to all this. Finally, she could focus on the darkspawn, now that most of her enemies, her human enemies, were dead, and she hadn't lost a single man. She glanced over to the cart where Anders was still sitting beside Nathaniel. It had come as a bit of a shock to her, how frantic she had been when Nathaniel had collapsed on top of her. She hadn't really realized just how much she had come to rely on the human rogue, how much she trusted and depended on him. The thought of losing him…the very idea was nearly unbearable. He had somehow worked his way into heart, filling a bit of the void left behind by Zevran. After reaching down briefly to pet the alpha wolf who had wandered over to her, Eriana made her way over to the cart, sending Anders to his tent while she kept an eye on the unconscious man.

Sitting beside him in the dark, Eriana tried to sort out her feelings for him. She didn't love him, didn't have any romantic feelings toward him at all, so why was she so scared of losing him? Maybe it was because she needed him. He was so like Zevran in so many ways, yet he was different enough that it didn't hurt to be around him. Perhaps that was the key. He was familiar enough to be comforting, but not so familiar that it hurt to be near him. Who would have ever guessed that a human noble man, a Howe no less, would come to mean so much to her, would come to be so essential to her survival? In their short time together, he had become everything to her, all of her closest friends from the blight rolled into one. He was Leliana, someone she could go to for advice about anything and everything. He was Alistair, a fierce and strong protector, someone who would stand between her and all those who would try to hurt her. And, in a way, he was Zevran, the one person in the world who could make her feel special and secure amid all the uncertainty in the world. Breathing a quiet prayer of thanks to the Maker, Eriana settled down to keep watch, Nathaniel's head securely resting on her lap.

-0-

Pacing and waiting. Soris was pretty sure those two things would likely make up a majority of his life now that he was living at Vigil's keep with his cousin. When he and Eriana decided that he would be moving into the keep with her, she had decided that he first needed to return to Denerim. He had been hesitant at first, not really eager to return to the city, but Eriana had been insistent. Her reasoning made sense; he had to pack up the rest of his things since he would be staying long term. And there was the matter of her father, Cyrion would need to talk to Soris face-to-face if he was going to convince her father that she was doing fine.

"Besides," she said, "I have a ton of things I need you to take care of in the city. There are some weapons that I need you to sell to Gorim, the dwarf who runs the stall in the marketplace, and I need you to arrange to have some materials shipped up here too." She glanced around a bit, making sure there was no one around. "There's one more thing, and this is really important. I need you to take this letter to Braxton at the Gnawed Noble tavern, and I need you to do this as soon as you get there. You will also need to stop by on the way out to get a reply from him."

Soris looked down at the letter. "Is this business or personal?"

"A little bit of both, but it is very important, too important to trust it to regular post, okay."

So he agreed to travel back to the city to pack his belongings and run her errands, and, much to his dismay, he didn't get to travel alone. Eriana sent a small detail of knights along with him. He had been resistant to the idea at first, arguing that he had made it to the keep safely without help, but when Eriana decided to do something, there was no changing her mind. So rather than push the issue, Soris just relented and agreed to travel with the human guards. Just before he left, Eriana gave him a coin pouch filled with sovereigns and silver pieces along with a set of instructions and a list of supplies she needed from the capital. Taking care of all that business for her had ended up taking much more time than he realized. All told, he spent three entire days moving through the marketplace, doing business on behalf of his cousin. By the end of the week, he was very grateful for his armed escort because he was carrying more gold than he had ever seen, let alone held, in his life.

Soris may have been happy for the company of guards, but that didn't make him instantly comfortable being surrounded by human men all day. Having spent his entire life in the alienage, he had never gotten to spend time with humans, and the few times he had come into contact with humans had been less than pleasant. He should have realized that by moving into the Keep with his cousin he would be forced to be around humans a lot more, but he had been so focused on getting to Eriana, he hadn't taken time to really consider the ramifications of his move. In a way, he appreciated the fact that Eriana threw him right into the thick of things, showing everyone that she trusted him and forcing him to associate with the humans. Still, it didn't make him instantly comfortable around the men. They were decent enough, he guessed, but he was definitely eager to get back to the Keep, eager to be back around another elf again.

It was unsettling to him, then, arrive back at the Vigil, only to be greeted not by his cousin, but by her seneschal who informed him that Eriana was out on a dangerous mission, trying to root out those who were trying to kill her.

"They left a few hours ago, and I don't expect her back until well into the day tomorrow," Varel said, motioning for servants to come up and begin unloading the cart. "Until then, we can get you settled into your room; Eriana indicated that you should have the one across the hall from hers."

Soris nodded and thanked Varel before heading up to his room to wash up and unpack. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough to really keep him busy for long, so he found himself back in the main hall, pacing alongside Varel, waiting for Eriana and the Wardens to return.

It was well past mid morning before the keep's scouts reported activity on the road. Following Varel into the courtyard, Soris scanned the group, looking for his cousin's familiar form. Instead, Garevel, the Captain of her guard was at head of the group, walking beside Keenan and Oghren. Eriana was nowhere to be seen. Soris didn't wait for the company to get to them, instead, he raced forward to meet them. Before he even got there, Oghren held up his hands, "She's okay, kid; she's just sleeping in the cart."

"Sleeping," Soris said, stopping a bit short of them. "Is she hurt?"

"No, just exhausted," Oghren said. "She stayed on watch all night, and before you fuss at us, she refused our offers to help. You know how she can be. So this morning when we started back, I made Anders here cast a sleep spell on her to knock her out for a few hours. She was dead on her feet."

Soris nodded and rushed past the dwarf, hopping up into the cart to check on his cousin. He wasn't exactly ready for what the sight before him. There was Eriana, curled up next to Nathaniel, her head resting on his shoulder, her arm draped across his chest. Nathaniel's arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand resting on her hip. Soris cleared his throat loudly, and the human opened his eyes and glanced up at him for a second before he gave the blond elf in his arms a slight nudge. "Ana," he whispered down at her, "Ana, wake up."

Eriana's eyes shot open and she sat up, looking frantically around. "How did we get back here?" she asked looking down at Nathaniel. "Did I fall asleep?"

Nathaniel grinned and nodded up at her. "In a manner of speaking, I think Anders knocked you out before we started out." Eriana growled, eliciting a weak laugh from her fellow rogue. "It was for you own good."

"I love how everyone thinks they know what's best for me."

"Well, cousin, in this case, I'd have to agree with them. You still look like shit." He grinned and extended her a hand. "Come on, I'll get you up to your room."

Eriana shook her head but used his arm to pull herself to her feet. "No, I need to meet with Varel before I get any sleep; we need to discuss the information that I've found."

"What ever it is, I'm sure it can wait until you've gotten some sleep."

Eriana glared at her cousin. "Apparently, I just got some sleep. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change and wash off. Tell Varel and Garevel that I'll meet them in my office in an hour."

Soris rolled his eyes and helped her out of the cart. "Fine, but at the very least, you're going to eat something while you meet with them."

"Fine," she said, making her way toward the keep. "Oh, and Anders, once you get a chance, check up on Nate, would you." The mage nodded at her and made his way over to the cart where some of the knights were helping the archer down.

Soris went to the larder to get her some food, and then spent the rest of the morning waiting outside her office while she and her two advisors met. By the time she left the room, she looked absolutely exhausted. "Bed, now."

Eriana smiled and let him lead her back up toward her quarters. He talked to her about his trip to Denerim as they walked, passing along greetings from Cyrion and Shianni.

"Oh," he said, pulling a letter out of his breast pocket, "this is from Braxton. He wanted me to pass along a message, too, something he didn't want written down. He said, 'Ignacio is an important man in Antiva, but Vito is the man to see in Ferelden.' Whatever that means."

Eriana nodded. "It makes sense to me; thanks Soris," she said as they opened to door to her quarters and made their way back into her sleeping chambers.

The moment they entered her room, she crawled into bed without protest, pausing only to remove her boots. She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Smiling down at his cousin, Soris closed the drapes to the window, then moved into her sitting room to read.

-0-

Eriana woke up to hushed voices arguing in her sitting room. She sighed and glanced around her sleeping chambers. Judging by the light coming through the drapes, it was nearing nightfall; she had been asleep for most of the afternoon. Feeling slightly refreshed, Eriana pulled a Grey Warden tunic on over her rumpled clothes and made her way into the sitting room to figure out what the argument was about.

"Keenan, I don't care how important you think this is," Soris was hissing. "My cousin needs her sleep, and that's that."

"If my sleep was that important Sor, you should have taken the fight outside," Eriana said, coming into the room. She glanced up at Keenan, "So what was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"

"There's someone you need to meet, Commander," he said, moving back to the door and sticking his head into the hall. "Aura, would you come in here please." When he stepped back into the room, he was followed by a small, nervous looking blond woman. "Commander Tabris, this is Aura, her husband Kirstoff was part of my company."

Eriana nodded, "I'm so sorry for you loss, but I'm not sure what I can do for you."

Aura cast Keenan a nervous glance. "It's not quite that simple. You see, Kristoff was sent out on a scouting mission the day the keep was attacked. He was supposed to scout out the entire arling, looking for pockets of darkspawn. He left in the morning before the attack."

Eriana's eyes widened, "Are you telling me there's another Warden alive out there?" She turned to Keenan. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"I didn't know about Kristoff's mission. I was the most junior Warden in the company; they didn't exactly come to me with their plans. Until she showed up today, I thought Kristoff had died along with the rest of the Wardens."

"But he didn't," Eriana said, turning to the woman, "so where is he?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Aura said. "He sent me letters telling me where all he had been, but he didn't exactly tell me where he was going next. Apparently he wasn't telling people he was a Warden because it seemed like he hadn't heard about what happened here. Then a few weeks ago, his letters just stopped."

"Was there any indication as to where he might have been headed?"

"I think his last letter said something about the Blackmarsh being the last place he needed to check. If I was to guess, I'd say he was headed there."

"And how long has it been since you heard from him?"

"His last letter came three weeks ago. Please, do you think there's any chance?"

"I hope so, Aura, and I'll do whatever I can to find him." Eriana glanced up at Keenan, "Find Sigrun and Anders and let them know that we'll be leaving in the morning for the Blackmarsh."

Keenan nodded and turned toward a now tearful Aura, "Thank you, Commander."

Eriana placed a hand on the human woman's arm, "Why don't you stay here until we know something more certain?" The woman nodded and excused herself. Keenan thanked her and followed the woman out.

"Are you sure you're up to another adventure? I mean you haven't exactly recovered from the last one."

"Soris," Eriana said, trying hard to keep the frustration out of her voice. "There is a fellow Warden out there. I have to try to find him, or at the very least, find out what happened to him. I will not leave a brother in arms to suffer at the hands of the darkspawn a day longer just because I need a bit more sleep."

"Hey, don't get snippy. You brought me here to look out for you, and that's what I'm doing whether you like it or not."

"I know, but that doesn't mean you get to dictate Warden business. Now, let's go grab some dinner; I'm starving."

Soris smiled. "That's what I like to hear," he said, possessing himself of her arm and leading her toward the dining hall. Most of the other Grey Wardens, except for Keenan, were there already, looking reasonably well rested. They all shouted greetings at the two elves as they walked in.

Eriana sat down between her cousin and Nathaniel, who was looking much better. Between bites, she explained what Keenan had told her about the missing Warden, and they all agreed with her that he needed to be found as quickly as possible.

"Good, so, I'll be taking Keenan, Sigrun, and Anders with me tomorrow. Oghren, you're in command till I get back."

Nathaniel's head shot up and he glanced over at her. "I'm not going?"

Eriana shook her head, "No, you're staying here until that leg is mended. I can take over the archery until you're better."

"But…I'm fine, it's just a little sore. I'll be fine, I swear. Besides, I know more about the Blackmarsh than anyone else here."

"What, did your dad let you play there when you were a kid or something?"

"No, but he did tell me stories about it. Come on, Eriana…"

Oghren snorted, "What's the matter Howe? Sore about being left behind."

Eriana was about to respond when there was a sudden clank beside her; she glanced over to find Soris staring at her, his face red with fury. "Howe," he hissed, glaring past her at Nathaniel. "That is Nathaniel Howe?"

Eriana took a deep breath and reached out for her cousin. "Soris…"

"No," he cut her off, getting to his feet and glaring down at her. All around her, the Wardens, Nathaniel included, were giving her confused looks. "Please tell me that you didn't recruit Nathaniel Howe."

"Soris, this isn't what you think…"

"Andraste's tits, you did; you recruited a Howe," he shouted at her. "By the Black City, Eriana, what were you thinking? Do you even remember what his family is like? I mean after everything…"

"Soris," Eriana said, leaping to her feet and grabbing her cousin by the arm. "Shut your mouth. This is not the place for this," she said, pulling him quickly by the arm, out of the dining hall and away from the other Wardens.

As soon as they were in private, Soris grabbed her, pinning her to the wall. "Are you insane, Ana? Nathaniel Howe. I hope you haven't forgotten what his brother did to you because I sure haven't."

Eriana growled up at him. "Of course I haven't forgotten about Thomas; how could I? But Nathaniel is not Thomas, okay Soris, and he's not his father either."

"Sweet Maker, Eriana, why are you so stupid when it comes to the damn human noblemen. I mean, really, how long have you been fucking this one, huh? Is it a recent development, or did it start the moment you recruited him."

Eriana's hand stung as she slapped him across the face. "How dare you? I'm not screwing Nathaniel."

"Well that must be a record then, around him a whole week and you've yet to drop your pants for him."

She reached for him again, but he moved too quickly for her this time. "Soris, you ass, you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really, because I seem to remember you putting out for every nobleman in Denrim some time ago, so what changed, huh? Get tired of human men?"

"You think that's what I wanted? You think I was some kind of slut that just put out for these human assholes?"

"I don't know, you seemed to enjoy Thomas enough."

"Because Thomas was nice to me!" she shouted, her eyes filling with tears. "He didn't force me the way everyone else did. He was kind, at least at first, and he made me feel special."

"Yeah, real special, he dumped you, knocked up, knocked around, and bleeding at the gate of the alienage. And then you trust his brother. You really are a stupid slut, aren't you?"

"His brother is different; Nathaniel is different. Trust me, he's a good man."

"Well, forgive me if I don't believe you, but the last man you said that about took off for Antiva without so much as a word. So forgive me if I don't trust your judgment in men."

Eriana drew back like she had been slapped. "You know what, Soris, if you think so little of me, maybe you should just go back to Denerim and leave me the hell alone," she screamed, storming past him and running blindly through the keep. She didn't know where she was going; she just needed to get away. Somehow, she found herself at Nathaniel's door. Without bothering to knock, the ducked inside, latching the door behind her before collapsing to the ground, yielding herself to her tears. She wasn't there for more than a few seconds when a pair of strong arms encircled her, lifting her up and carrying her across the room and laying her on the bed. Clinging to the tunic in front of her, she buried her head in his broad, comfortable chest. He never asked why she was there, never asked her what was bothering her, never asked what he could do to help; he just knew. He simply held her in his arms, whispering to her that he was there for her and that he would take care of her, and that, for the moment, was all she really needed.

-0-

Okay, so another long one, but I really needed to get the confrontation with Soris in this chapter. I know he's being a bit of a jerk, but he's just protective and very anti-human (and for good reason).

A huge thanks to my reviewers, Jen4306, Danyal, Judy, and Gidget…thanks so much you guys! I appreciate the reviews more than I can express. And to those of you who added alerts and faves, welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy. And finally, a huge thanks to those of you who are still reading. I appreciate it a ton. Hope you enjoy!