Eriana sighed as she flipped through the stack of papers that Nathaniel had left for her to look over. Thanks to Petra, she had been stuck in her bedroom for a week now, and she was seriously about to go crazy. Alistair and her family had left two days after the funeral, once they were sure Eriana was on the path to healing. Alistair had been a constant fixture at her side, and that, more than anything, had given her the strength to get her life back on track. Eriana missed him immensely, but she knew that he had other things to take care of. Besides, being around those she loved had really been good for her. She was eating again, and, despite Petra's objections, she was starting to move around to build up her strength again. Her face has started to lose that hollow, shrunken look, and Nathaniel had stopped looking at her like she was about to fall apart at any moment. He had actually started bringing her paperwork to look over while she was still bed ridden.

"Petra, I don't understand why I have to say in here," Eriana said, not even bothering to keep the whine out of her voice. "I mean, I wouldn't be moving around much in my office. I promise to behave."

Petra laughed and shook her head. "Bed rest for at least another week, and don't think I don't realize that you are getting up and exercising when I'm not here," she said, shaking her finger at the elf. "I'm tempted to tack another week on for that."

Eriana threw her head back against the pillows with a groan. "You know, there's this thing called Grey Warden stamina, maybe you've heard of it. I'm sure going to my office to work won't set me back."

"Commander, the moment I let you out of this room, you'll be down in the practice yards, trying to oversee training, or running around, inspecting the repairs to the keep, and before you know it, you're right back in bed because you've overexerted yourself." Petra sighed and patted her on the arm. "I know this is frustrating for your, Eriana, but you've been through something very traumatic. Your body needs to rest and heal. Grey Warden or no."

"But I'm going crazy in here!"

"I know, but it's only another week. You'll survive; I promise."

"Why did I ever recruit you?" Eriana grumbled picking up the papers from her nightstand and flipping through them again.

Petra laughed, "Because you needed a healer, and you know how good I am."

Eriana shrugged, "You've got me there, and I guess I'd be wise to listen to you. You did save my life after all." Petra nodded, a smile still on her face. "I do appreciate everything you did, for me Petra; really I do. It's just…"

"Sitting in here day after day makes you want to tear you hair out, right?" Eriana nodded and gave a weak laugh. "You'll be alright, I swear. It might be good for you to learn how to relax, a bit, you know. You've been going nonstop for two years now; a few weeks off will do you some good. I'll check on you later. If, and that's a big if, if you behave, you might get out of here in a few days. Then I'll let Nathaniel tell you where he's hidden your bow and armor. I'm not letting you near those daggers, though, for at least two weeks."

"Okay, I'll behave. I just want to put all this behind me and move on," Eriana said with a sigh, being careful not to let her eyes dart over to the wardrobe where Nathaniel had stashed the small wooden box that held her daughter's remains. Turning her attention back to the papers in front of her, Eriana began to read the reports coming in from all over the arling. The taint had receded from the lands almost immediately, which was a bit of unexpected but very good news. Planting time was still four months away, so the land would be in great shape once it came time to begin sowing next year's crops. Luckily, the worst of the attacks came after the harvest, so the arling had plenty of food to last through the winter. Nathaniel and Brendan were making arrangements for housing for families whose homes were destroyed, but Eriana still needed to make decisions about the redistribution of land. She had lost several banns both to the failed conspiracy against her and to the darkspawn attacks. Some of the farm lands could be managed by those who had proven their loyalty to her and the freeholders until the next time the council convened in the spring, but the Wardens had been forced to take over stewardship of the main part of Esmerelle's lands which included the city of Amaranthine. That meant that the Wardens were now responsible for overseeing and paying for the repairs to the city as well as those needed at the Keep. Funds were tight already, and Eriana had no idea how they were going to pay for both.

"Winter is a bad time to levy a new tax," she muttered to Nathaniel who had just walked, a new stack of papers in his hands.

"What's that?"

"We need money to repair the city and the keep, and we're close to being broke as it is. I hate to impose a tax on people, but we need the money. It's just…winter is hard enough as it is, and these people have been through so much here lately, I'm afraid a tax might just be too much for them. But I can't see another option. Can you?"

"A tax is the logical way to go, that's true, but we don't have to tax the people. We can tax imports, set up a toll in the ports or the roads, things like that."

"I would be afraid that tariffs like that would simply encourage sailors and traders to bypass us for Highever or Denerim. We need their business to keep us going, especially through the winter." She sighed and threw the papers down to the bottom of her bed and cradled her head in her hands. "What am I doing, Nathaniel? I have no idea how to run an arling."

Nathaniel laughed, "And I do?"

"You should, didn't you get training in this sort of thing?"

"Not in running an arling the way you would want to," he said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "If my father was in this situation, he wouldn't hesitate to tax his people. He would bleed them dry then demand more. It's what made him who he was." He pushed her hair back off her face as he smiled down at her. "The fact that you would even consider the effect your decisions would have on your people makes you more of a leader than he ever was. We'll figure something out."

"I hope so." She glanced out the window and took a deep breath. "You know, we could send some people down into Kal' Hirol; there was a lot of lyrium down there. We could make some kind of deal with Orzammar, help them clear out the deeproads around there for a cut of the lyrium trade that comes out of there." Nathaniel started chuckling. "What?"

"I'm sure there's not an arl in Ferelden who would consider that," he said, putting an arm around her. "And that's what makes you special. Now, why don't you let me look over those papers? You have some mail to read."

Eriana flipped through the envelopes, inspecting the seals on the front before opening them. Only one of the seals seemed familiar. "Nate, isn't this the seal of Rainesfere?" she asked, holding up the letter. Nathaniel nodded. "Huh, I wonder what Teagan wants," she muttered to herself, breaking the seal and skimming the letter's contents.

My Warden and Dear Friend,

I just arrived in Denerim to help with the preparations for the one year anniversary celebration, and Alistair informed me about your plight. I was so sorry to hear of your loss as well as the difficulties you and your order faced. You deserve so much more than what fate has doled out for you, but have faith. I'm sure things will get better.

Though I am unable to assist you with your personal tragedy, I may be of some assistance with the troubles facing you and your arling. Rainesere did not suffer a great deal of damage during the blight, so most of our workers have completed the necessary repairs on my estate and cities. You need their services far more than I do, so I will be sending about thirty strong workers your way within the week. I realize that your funds are likely tight with the large amounts of repairs you are doubtlessly facing, so I will be providing for their food and lodging. Consider it my long overdue thanks for the great service you did for my family and me during the blight.

Enclosed is a letter for my foreman as well as some funds that should cover their first three months' lodging. I will be sending more back with you after the celebration. Please let me know if there is any more that I can do for you. I can't wait to see you when you return to Denerim in a few months.

Sincerely Yours,

Teagan Guerrin

Eriana's eyes were full of tears by the time she reached the end of the letter. "What, what's wrong," Nathaniel said, rushing to her side. "Is it Alistair, your father?" Shaking her head, Eriana handed him the letter, watching as he read it. "See," he said once he finished, "didn't I tell you things would work out. Thirty workers, wow, that will cut the time we need to complete the city nearly in half."

"And he's paying for their lodging, which means we can pay our citizens to house the workers. We'll make arrangements for them to eat together in the chantry to cut the cost of food. Oh, Nathaniel, this is just what we needed."

And it didn't stop there. Over the next week, arls and banns from all over Ferelden began sending aid to Amaranthine. The keep was flooded with workers, supplies, and gold from all over the nation. Even King Bhelen sent some support along with the promise of workers from Orzammar.

I've implemented a program that will help clean up Dust Town as well as make use of those undiscovered talents who were unlucky enough to be born there. We've started training some of the casteless in masonry and metalsmithing to prepare them for a life on the surface. I hope that giving some of the Dusters an occupation will help clear out Dust Town a bit and cut down on carta activity; it will also help with surface relations. These are good people; they were just unfortunate to be born of the wrong caste. I think they can do some good on the surface, and this will be a good chance for them to get started. I'll be sending along two masons and two smiths along sit thirty or so Dusters in the next few weeks.

Send word next time you are out recruiting, and we will commission a proving for you. I hope to see you soon, my friend.

Bhelen Aeducan

Eriana had been quick in her reply to the dwarven king, thanking him for the assistance, and telling him about the thaig they had discovered.

The assistance didn't stop with the nobility either, commoners and freeholders also sent letters what little they could spare, all expressing their gratitude toward the Wardens for shielding them yet again from another darkspawn threat. It seemed that the memories from the blight were still fresh on the minds of every Ferelden. The outpouring of love and gratitude was a bit overwhelming for the emotionally drained elf, who, as a result of the constant support, was constantly on the verge of tears.

"By the stone, kid, you've got to get a hold of yourself," Oghren groaned when her big blue eyes began to tear up upon reading the letter from Bann Alfstanna who had apparently written a very personal, heart wrenching letter. "I've got something I'd like to ask you before Petra lets you out and you get all busy again."

"Sorry," she said, wiping her tears, "I just can't believe this many people cared about us. It's just a bit overwhelming."

"Maker's Breath, you'll be inconsolable at the one year anniversary. You do realize that it is a party that will be entirely focused on you and celebrating you, right?"

"Hopefully I'll be a little less emotional by then," Eriana said. "It's just been a trying last few weeks, and all this has been a bit much to process, you know. I'm not usually this emotional anyway. So, you have something you wanted to ask me."

"Yeah, it's about Felsi. I was hoping that, since things have settled down a bit, that I could move her out here with me."

"Of course," Eriana said immediately. "Oghren, I would be thrilled to have her here. In all honesty, I was surprised you left her in the first place. You two seemed so happy together."

"We were happy, and we still are. It just felt wrong, staying away. We talked about it before I came; she agreed that I belonged here. I mean, working in Alistair's army was all well and good, but I never really fit in. They were all too tall for my tastes. Besides, I missed you; you're a lot more fun than those army types." Eriana smiled, rolling her eyes at the dwarf. "Now, there's that smile, I was wondering when I'd see it again."

"Yeah, it's hard to smile when you spend all your time on the verge of tears, you know." She patted the dwarf on the arm. "Oghren, despite the fact I would never have asked this of you, you know, taking on this burden; I'm so thankful that you are here; I don't know where I would be without you. And I would love it if Felsi joined us here."

Oghren smiled at her and covered her smaller hand with his. "Great, and, um, there's one more thing," Oghren said, and for some reason, he seemed uncharacteristically nervous all of a sudden. "You see Felsi is expectin' and the healers say it's going to be a girl."

"Oh, Oghren, that's wonderful news," Eriana said, trying to be genuine in her congratulations despite the sudden pain that surged through her chest.

"Yeah, I can't believe it myself, me a dad. Heh, what am I supposed to do with a girl? But we were thinkin, since you played a big part in us getting together and all, and seein as how I wouldn't really be anyone worth anything if it weren't for you. Well, we were thinking of naming her Anna, after you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we want to call her Anna. We would call her Eriana, but, four syllables, by the stone, your name is a mouth full. There's not a dwarf in Orzammar that could pronounce it properly," he said with a laugh. "You don't mind, do ya?"

Eriana's eyes filled with tears, "Of course not, Oghren…I'm touched."

"And there go the waterworks again. Look, you're one of my closest friends in the world, and I owe you more than I could ever express. I'd still be a washed up drunk if it wasn't for you. The least I can do is name my kid after ya, and if she grows up to be half the woman that you are, then she'll be better off than most people I know."

"Oghren, you always think too much of me."

"No, I'm one of the few people who really sees you." He smiled and patted her leg, "Now, let's go get you something to eat; you're finally starting to look like your old self again."

"You know, there are times when I actually feel like my old self, if only for a little while," she said with a sigh. She said it with as much sincerity as she could muster, hoping that one day it would be completely true.

-0-

Soris was perched on the fence surrounding the archery yard in the training yard of Vigil's Keep, watching as Eriana went through a series of exercises with Nathaniel. It was the first day that Petra had allowed her to return to a regular training regimen, and the weeks of inactivity had definitely taken a toll on his cousin. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead and a few drops that rolled down her back as she focused intently on the targets in front of her. Her accuracy with the bow was still spot on, but her speed and endurance were definitely not what they used to be. Nathaniel stood beside her, encouraging her and offering advice when appropriate, but it was going to take time for her to get back to her old form, a fact that the young elf found extremely frustrating. Soris could see it on her face.

He had been standing there for a while, keeping a close eye on her, making sure that she didn't push herself too hard, when Oghren strolled up beside him. "So, how's she doing?" Oghren asked, taking a long swig from his hip flask.

"She looks good," Soris responded, turning to look down at the dwarf. "It'll take her a little while to completely recover, but she's well on her way."

"I wasn't talkin about her shootin', kid, I can see that," he said, spitting on the ground beside him. "I mean, really how's she doing?"

Soris shrugged, "I'm not completely sure, to tell you the truth. She doesn't really talk too much about her feelings. She's dealing with them, better than she did before, and this time I think she's got it in her mind that she wants to get better. And you know how she is when she gets it in her mind to do something."

"Yeah I know," Oghren replied, shooting a critical look back at the two rogues. "I was wondering something, how long's it been since you've seen her smile?"

Soris sighed, "Since Alistair and Cyrion left. You?"

"Yeah, about the same," Oghren grumbled. "And that's not really like her, you know. She usually smiles more than any person I had ever met before."

"Give it some time, Oghren. I'm sure the old Eriana will be back soon enough. She's a tough one, my cousin."

"And she can hear you," Eriana said. The two men turned to find a very annoyed elf staring at them, her hip cocked and arms folded across her chest. Nathaniel stood beside her, and equally annoyed look on his face

"Yeah, I know you can. Why do you think I chose to have this conversation down here in the first place?"

"So you wanted to annoy me on purpose? Great," Eriana said as she rolled her eyes. "Look, I know you guys are worried, but I'm doing the best I can. I'm eating more, I'm getting my old strength back, I'm even sleeping at night, so don't push me." She turned and grabbed the arrows that one of the squires had collected for her and turned back to the archery range. "And for your information, I'll smile when something makes me happy."

"Fair enough," Oghren said, leaning on the fence beside Soris to watch the rest of the practice session. Eriana and Nathaniel continued to work on her archery, as Petra had expressly forbidden any work with daggers or swords. As he watched the two rogues work, Soris noticed something he found very interesting. Back when they lived in the Alienage and even when they spent time together after the blight, Eriana had always been extremely uncomfortable around human men, with the exception of Alistair, of course. Of course she had good reason to be uncomfortable around them, though; they hadn't exactly made her youth easy, by any means. But now, Soris could see a distinct difference in her behavior. Instead of pulling away from contact with Nathaniel, she seemed to almost seek it out, leaning into his touch instead of shying away from it. He was wondering what had caused the change when Eriana suddenly stopped in the middle of a drill, a strange look crossing her face. For a moment she looked confused, closing her eyes as if she were trying to concentrate on a distant sound or something. Then a huge smile crossed her face. Slinging her bow across her back, Eriana suddenly took off, darting through the training yard and into the main courtyard of the keep. The three men just stood there for a moment before Nathaniel grabbed his bow and took off after her.

Soris and Oghren were quick to follow; although, Soris wasn't sure what he could do if they were being attacked by something. It wasn't like he was armed or anything. "Do you sense anything," he hissed down to the dwarf.

Oghren shook his head. "No, but she's a lot better as feeling that stuff than I am. I don't think it's darkspawn, though. That wasn't her let's go kill some darkspawn smile," he said as they entered the courtyard.

There they found Eriana being pinned to the ground as a massive but familiar russet mass of fur took great pleasure in licking every inch of her face. From the ground, Eriana giggled as she managed to wrestle the huge dog off of her, pushing it to the ground beside her. Once she had gotten herself into a sitting position, she threw her arms around the massive beast and buried her head into the fur on his neck, a huge smile on her face. "Oh, I have missed you boy, yes I have," she said, speaking in a voice Soris was quite sure he had never heard before.

"Does she always talk like that around him?" he asked, shooting Oghren a questioning look. Oghren rolled his eyes and nodded.

Ramoth, who had just finished thoroughly sniffing Eriana, sat down in front of her and cocked his head, giving her a soft, questioning whine.

"Yeah, boy, he's not here," she whispered down to the dog, scratching him behind the ear. Ramoth nudged her abdomen with his nose, whining up at her again. "Yeah, she's not here either." Ramoth jumped up on his hind legs, putting his massive paws on the small elf's shoulders, knocking her down and licking her face again. Eriana laughed, "I know boy, I know."

Soris was so fascinated by the exchange between his cousin and her dog that he missed the sound of approaching horses. It wasn't until Oghren nudged him that he noticed the company on horseback that had just entered the gates of the keep. "I'm surprised I was able to keep Ramoth with me as long as I did," the leader of the company said, once he brought his horse to a stop beside Eriana. "I'm sure he realized we were coming to see you because he's been a ball of energy since we left Highever. Once we crossed your scent, it was all I could do to keep him from running off. When we got close enough for him to actually sense you, it was all over. He took off like a dog possessed."

"What can I say," Eriana said, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping mabari slobber off her face. "I guess he really missed me."

"Well, he wasn't the only one," the young man said, hopping off the horse and gathering his cousin into a huge hug. Soris was shocked when Eriana didn't flinch at the man's contact; quite the opposite, in fact, just as she had done with Nathaniel, she leaned into it like she enjoyed it. He looked at the unknown human holding his cousin. He was obviously a nobleman, judging by the expensive riding leathers he wore and the small party of guards that accompanied him. The nobleman was handsome and young, with bright green eyes and dirty blonde hair and the type of build that used to send Eriana running the other way.

"Who is that," Soris asked the dwarf beside him. Oghren shrugged.

"Aedan Cousland," Nathaniel supplied, appearing beside them. "Fergus Cousland's younger brother and the only survivor of my father's attack on Highever." Soris and Oghren both turned and looked at him. "Yeah, I'm wondering if I should be here, too."

Eriana's voice drew their attention back to the reunion. She had pulled away from him, but hadn't removed herself completely from Aedan's embrace. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, and don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you for another month and a half at least."

"Ah, now that's the good part. When Fergus and I got word about what happened, we decided that you could use all the help you can get, so he sent me ahead to help you get things reorganized here. I know you lost Varel in the attack, and you probably lost most of your household staff as well." Eriana nodded. "Well, we figured that you would have the rebuilding pretty well in hand, what with all the supplies and workers provided by the rest of Ferelden, so we decided to help you get the keep back in order since we figured that would be the last of your priorities."

Eriana smiled up at the nobleman. "That's true. Losing Varel has been hard. Garevel has been doing a good job in his stead, but he's a military man. We've been making due here, but we need to hire almost an entirely new staff."

"Now you see, that's where I come in. Fergus sent me ahead with the staff for our Denerim estate. They're going to stay here the rest of the month and help you get a new staff trained and organized before they head into Denerim to get things set up for us." As he spoke, a huge caravan of wagons and carriages rolled into the keep. "Ah, perfect timing," Aedan said, taking Eriana by the arm and leading her to the first carriage. "Here is someone I want you to meet. Eriana, this is Miranda, the head of our Denerim estate."

All of a sudden, Soris' world seemed to shift and he missed everything Aedan Cousland was saying to his cousin. Out of the carriage stepped the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Long dark hair cascaded down her back in tight ringlets. Pale blue eyes shone out from alabaster skin. It didn't even matter that she was human and probably way out of his league; Soris couldn't look at anything else. Then his heart nearly stopped when her eyes locked momentarily on his, giving him a small smile before demurely looking away.

"Soris, Soris. Hey Soris!" Eriana shouted. "Come over here for a minute." Soris blinked and shook his head. He had been so caught up in looking at this raven-haired beauty that he had completely lost track of the conversation between his cousin and the Cousland boy. Shaking his head, he strolled over to his cousin. "Soris has been taking care of a lot of the household stuff, so, Miranda, you two should work together to get things organized." His cousin gave him an odd look. "Would that be okay?"

Soris wasn't sure what he said in response. He had meant to say, "Of course, that sounds like an excellent plan. I'd be happy to show Miranda the ropes." But it came out more like "Um, yea, so, okay, sounds good." Eriana glanced at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and turning back to the human.

"So Soris and Miranda will get your people settled in, and I will show you and your men to your quarters," Eriana said. "Soris, could you have someone bring up Aedan's things to the guest room?"

Soris nodded and watched as his cousin disappeared into the castle before turning back to Miranda who was waiting for him, a demure smile still on her face, and for the first time in months, he didn't feel worried about his cousin. Suddenly there were more pressing matters on his mind.

-0-

Aedan didn't really say anything to Eriana until they had reached his rooms, a fact for which she was eternally grateful. Once they were inside, Aedan grabbed her again and pulled her into another hug. "Aedan, I just want to warn you, I'm covered in mabari slobber."

"And I'm covered in road grime; I'd say that makes us even," he said, looking down at her, his bright green eyes full of concern. "So, honestly, how are you doing?"

"I've been better," she said, giving her standard reply, "but I've been worse too."

Aedan smiled down at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, allowing his finger to brush lightly against it as he pulled away. Eriana involuntarily shivered at his touch. "Have you heard anything from him?"

Eriana shook her head. "No, not a word. It's like he dropped off the face of the world."

"I find that so hard to believe. Why hasn't he contacted you?" Eriana shrugged. "How about the Crows, have they been a problem since he left?"

Eriana laughed, "Yes and no. I've been attacked twice since he disappeared," Eriana smiled as Aedan gave a frustrated growl, "but I don't think either of the attacks were sanctioned by the guild."

"How can you tell?"

"I know how the Crows operate, and one of them told me as much." She pulled out of his embrace and made her way over to the couch. Aedan followed and sat down beside her. "Honestly, so many other people and things have been trying to kill me here lately, the Crows are the least of my concerns." She sighed as he sat down beside her. "Though I don't think that the nobility is going to be a problem anymore, I can't help but be concerned. Our defenses are down at the moment what with all the repairs that are going on here. If someone was going to attack, now would be the time to do it, though I don't think I need to worry about the Crows specifically."

"Well, I'm here now, and I can keep them off of you if you like. In fact, I'd personally be willing to provide full-time surveillance should the need arise," Aedan said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Eriana glanced up at him and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you would be more than willing, but I should be fine. Nathaniel and Oghren keep a pretty close eye on me." She glanced over at the nobleman the instant she said Nathaniel's name. He flinched slightly, but didn't say anything. "Is that going to be a problem, him being here?"

Aedan shook his head. "No, like I said in my letter, Nathaniel and I were friends when we were younger; it's just weird seeing him again. I look at him, and I see his father staring back at me. That's why I couldn't bring myself to talk to him down in the courtyard."

"I understand, I could have him stay in Amaranthine if it would make things easier."

"No, no, his place is here. It'll take some getting used to; that's all. And if it's the price I have to pay to spend time with you, then so be it." Eriana smiled, feeling her face redden slightly as a blush crept up her neck. "Now, I'm going to go wash the road grime off of me. Then we can get together and start getting this place back in order, okay."

"Sounds like a plan," Eriana said, getting to her feet and heading toward the door. "And Aedan," she said, turning back around. "I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too, Eriana; me too."

-0-

Jen, this is for you; I know you've been eager to see Aedan again. I changed Oghren's family story around a bit – him running out on Felsi didn't quite fit the Oghren I created, so I changed it up a bit.

On another note, I just started a Hawke/Cullen story called "Broken Vows, Broken Promises." If you're interested, check out the link on my profile! I'll try not to let it pull me away from Ferelden too much. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your support really keeps me going.