Flashes of the inside of the Denerim prison flashed before her eyes, and Kallian immediately felt disgust well up in her. She would never go back alive, far more preferring death than winding up in that horrid place again. She was about to say as much to the invading party, her hands already reaching for her long knives when a dagger spun out of nowhere.

The Dalish elf flinched backward out of the way, instead sighting Sticker who had been brave enough to distract their attackers from Kallian. A scuffle ensued immediately, both the puppy-faced shield bearing human and the Qunari warrior rushed forward to form the front lines. Aedan spared no time in meeting the charge, ducking under a broad swing from the giant Quinari and thrusting his shield forward in a move that caught most men off guard and smashed their faces in. The Quinari warrior was unfazed by the move, catching the blow with the flat of his sword and shoved Aedan backward and off balance with a great show of strength.

Keran followed up immediately, snarling as he barreled into the ox of a man, giving Aedan enough time to recover and press the offensive. Kallian barely managed to avoid a similar tactic employed by the blonde human who came straight for her. She backed off and twisted away from the flourishing strikes that followed, meeting his stronger blows once with a parry, ducked down and threw a handful of sawdust and dirt into his eyes that she managed to pull off the floor. Oen was at her side immediately, and though they put the man on the defensive, they couldn't manage to wound him.

Sticker fell back with an arrow in his throwing arm, Noris using the instantaneous chaos to sneak around behind the action and tried to sink a knife into the Dalish elf's back with little success. He was rewarded by being clobbered in the head with the elf's bow, and in one fluid moment, the Dalish had the sword buckled on his back out of his sheathed and swiped it across Noris's legs, felling the elf in one clean blow, crimson blood spattering on his armor. In back, the mage was casting supportive spells, the Quinari and shield-bearing human glowing with power and they quickly started beating back Aedan, Oen and Kallian with very little effort on their part.

"STOP!" The command was enforced with a heavy spell of sleep, the magic striking the invading opponents like a blow to the head. Solona glowed with power, her staff held high over her watching with narrow eyes as the Quinari and the human fighting at his side staggered and fell promptly to sleep, though the human was more resistant to the force. The elf buckled at the knees, hitting the floor hard, which left only the mage standing by herself to defend her fallen comrades. When the Knifers went to finish the job now that the majority of their opponents had been immobilized, Solona cracked her staff on the floor. "I said stop!" She yelled, and all eyes turned to her.

Walking forward briskly, she paused just in front of were Aedan stood, still ready to do battle with a wary look on his face. "Wynne? Is that really you?"

The elderly mage and Solona looked at each other for a long moment, then recognition finally replaced the look of determination that had creased the matronly woman's face. "Solona?"

With a wide grin, Solona nodded then set her concentration on Noris, who was moaning on the floor, blood seeping from his legs at an alarming rate. Blue magic engulfed the elf, and the bleeding stopped, the wound dealt to his legs sealing up quickly. The three that she'd sent to sleep were stirring as the effects of the spell wore off, and Solona pinned Wynne with a long look. "Please, we don't need to fight Wynne. Call them off. Let us talk."

The shield-bearing human was the first to rouse, sitting up and rubbing his jaw, looking thoroughly confused when he realized that nobody was attacking him. "Alright, what just happened?" He asked, getting to his feet. The other two were in similar states of confusion when they stood as well, though the Quinari was much more passive about it, his poker face practically unreadable.

"You ain't the only one that wants to know, shem." Kallian mumbled, stepping in front of Noris protectively when the younger elf scrambled to rejoin their lines, the boy's eyes not wavering from the angry mask that the Dalish elf seemed to constantly wear.

Unconcerned by the scrutiny he was under, the Dalish elf looked first from Solona then to the mage standing behind him addressed as Wynne. The elderly woman was staring at Solona with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "So Wynne, is this another one of your students that fled in your younger days?"

Wynne frowned slightly at the elf and walked forward so that she stood even with him, her eyes resting on Solona. "A student, yes, but a far more recent one…"

Ignoring the elf, Solona let her gaze travel to the shield-bearing one for a moment before meeting Wynne's eyes again. "By the Maker, Wynne! I never thought I'd see anyone from the Circle again, least of all you!" There was relief in her voice, and a smile broke out over her face, her staff now held unthreateningly by her side.

"Hey, I hate to interrupt this little… reunion." Kallian piped up, her stance having relaxed not at all despite the apparent cease-fire. "But should we make ourselves scarce, or are ya gonna put yer weapons away?"

The Dalish elf and Wynne shared a look for a moment before he tucked his arrow back away in its quiver. "Alistair, Sten, put your weapons away. We'll let Wynne have her chat." The two warriors did as the elf asked, though Kallian noted that the puppy-faced one addressed as Alistair looked very reluctant to do so.

"Damn…" Theron drawled, assuming a bored expression and looking up at the ceiling. "…And I was really hoping to get some real fighting in today." Whether he was blood thirsty, bored, or being sarcastic, nobody could rightly tell.

Solona looked over her shoulder and gave Aedan an encouraging nod, to which he also put his weapon away, though kept his shield mounted on his arm. As soon as she saw his sword sheathed, Solona rushed forward, closing the space between herself and Wynne and threw a hug around the elder woman's shoulders. "You've no idea how good it is to see a familiar face."

Wynne indulged Solona's display of affection for a few moments, a smile turning up her lips before disengaging and holding her at arm's length. "It seems that you've grown since you left the tower, I hardly recognized you." She gave Solona a long searching look and let her hands drop to her sides. "You caused quite a stir when you left. Do you know what became of Jowan?"

Wynne had used her teaching tone, indicating that she already knew the answer and was waiting to see if Solona could guess it right. She suddenly felt a little bit worried, wondering what the man had gotten himself into. She suspected that the Templars must have captured him and had him executed for Wynne to be so grim around the mouth. "No. Once we left the tower, we went our separate ways. I knew the Templars would be after me shortly since they had my phylactery still, so I gave him the better chance at escaping."

"She's the one that let that- that blood mage out?" She was surprised to hear the blonde human speak, especially with so much venom in his voice and giving her such a hate-filled stare. She'd thought that the elf was the dangerous one of the group, seeing as he was obviously the leader, but she was now seriously reconsidering her evaluation of things. He gave her the same prickly feeling that Templars did.

"Peace, lethallin." The elf held up his hand to stave off Alistair doing something dangerous like drawing his sword, though he didn't look like he meant it very much, his sudden anger at hearing that Solona and Jowan were connected just as visible though less verbal. The elf's dark eyes were locked onto Solona, a muscle tightening slightly in his jaw. "Explain yourself quickly shemlen. Friend of Wynne or no, that mage has cost us a great deal of troubles on our venture."

Behind her she knew that Aedan was probably getting ready to fight again, knowing that he had her back. However, she was more bewildered than frightened, turning her wide eyes on Wynne. "What happened to Jowan?" She asked a little breathlessly. "What did he do?"

Wynne appraised her reaction silently, every line in her wrinkled face showing, the news obviously heavy on her conscience. "Jowan was… in Redcliffe castle, as I have come to understand it." She glanced once back at Alistair, the young man's face set in a grimace, all hard lines and his normally cheery demeanor gone. "He had been hired as a tutor for Arl Eamon's son when the boy started showing signs of being a mage. However, he was contacted first by Teyrn Loghain and sent to-"

"To poison Eamon!" Alistair exploded suddenly; unhappy with how gently Wynne was breaking the news. "And he would have succeeded too if-"

"Alistair." Theron's voice cut the man off as quickly as he'd cut off Wynne, leveling a long quelling look at the warrior. "We can't trust this friend of Wynne's with everything we know. Remember, the Arl's reputation is at stake, and we need him as our ally." Alistair backed off, looking no less angry but much less willing to bite somebody's head off. "Thanks to this Jowan, the Arl still lies bed ridden, and we are on an insane quest to try and cure him."

"Wait, Teyrn Loghain used a blood mage to poison Arl Eamon?" Aedan asked, looking quite surprised to hear the news, his gaze flicking between Wynne, Alistair and Theron in turns to catch a hint of lies. "Teyrn Loghain, as in the Hero of River Dane?"

"How many Teyrn Loghain's are there among you shemlen?" Theron shot back quickly, his brow raising and a humorless grin on his face.

"Yes, Teyrn Loghain." Alistair spat the man's name like a curse. "The same one that left King Cailan to die at Ostagar when he abandoned us and has been framing the Grey Wardens ever since."

Aedan shook his head. "No, Loghain is a man of principle. He would never do anything if it weren't best for this country. His skills as a general are solid and renown, no charge of darkspawn would make him quit the field without taking the King with him. The Grey Wardens had to have betrayed the King, there's no other explanation for it."

If his goal was to rile up everyone in the room, then he succeeded handily.

Both Alistair and Theron immediately drew their weapons in response, which made Kallian and all of those standing with her draw their arms as well. Solona quickly interceded, jumping in front of Aedan and throwing her arms wide. "Stop it! All of you!" She yelled, the head of her staff glowing with power. "I will send you to sleep again if we can't agree to get along!"

"So it's true, then?" Kallian asked, eyeing Alistair and Theron warily. "I'd heard rumors that a few Grey Wardens were fortunate 'nough to escape Ostagar. Word on the street was that it was yer group. I didn't believe it. Neither of you looked like Wardens ter me." At the side of the group Sten made a noise that sounded almost like a chuckle, and Theron shot him a glare that could curdle milk.

"You're the Grey Wardens?" Aedan breathed, about to disregard the fact that Solona could cast the sleeping spell on him just as well as she could the others and charge the two. "How dare you slander Teyrn Loghain's name! He is a hero!"

"Ar tu na'din!" Theron yelled, about to disregard Solona's warning as well, his face going pale with rage with an arrow already on the string, though he hadn't drawn it yet. "Do all of you shemlen swallow the lies that you are fed so easily? I'm sure that you would dance happily to any tune that backstabbing viper sung for you. See how you dance even now! Stop and think a moment! Why would the Wardens want to see your arrogant man-child King dead? There is a Blight to be fought! Something that your great shemlen hero has decided to ignore and is even now ripping the country that you claim he holds so dear apart with this war that rages all across the land. At this rate, there will be no country left for the darkspawn to claim because you are letting that rot-headed son of a moldy stump pretend himself your leader!"

Dead silence claimed everyone once Theron's blast of rage had tempered itself out, the elf meeting Aedan's icy stare without flinching in the slightest.

"Aedan…" Solona murmured, letting her arms drop as he gaze moved between the two standing off to each other. "I don't think he's lying."

"What?" Aedan broke eye contact with Theron, settling his intense stare on her instead.

"It is true." Wynne chimed in, taking a cautious step forward. "I too was at Ostagar. The Grey Wardens stood on the lines with the King. When the signal was given for the beacon to be lit, Alistair and Theron did so without fail. However, no supporting troops came to our aid. The darkspawn overwhelmed our forces and broke the lines of defenses. We were abandoned by Loghain."

Another heavy silence descended on the gathered parties, broken only when Kallian sighed, rolling her eyes up toward the roof and muttering something to herself about another sanctified body part of Andraste. "Then we ain't yer enemies, Wardens. I'm inclined to believe you, s'pecially with Denerim in the state that it's in. The city's only been gettin' worse since Loghain moved in 'an appointed that damned Howe as the Arl. With allies like that, you gotta wonder at the character of the man keepin' slimy rats for friends."

Aedan did his best to hide a flinch, remembering all too well how his father had once counted Howe among his allies, but that had been before he'd shown his true colors. "If this was indeed true…" He hedged, reserving any doubt he had on the matter for later, "Then it would certainly explain some other misfortunes that have been plaguing Ferelden as of late."

"Unfortunately, Loghain has had his hand in more than you could ever realize." Theron replied with a shrug, looking once to Wynne.

"It's true. Have you heard any rumors about the Circle?" She addressed her question directly to Solona, who shook her head slowly in response.

"None that are reliable. I'd heard that the Templars were being unusually quiet about goings-on in the Circle, but that is hardly a surprise." She replied, the all too familiar sensation of worry tickling her innards.

Wynne sighed, her expression falling and looking years older, her eyes very sad when she met Solona's gaze again. "The Templars nearly invoked the right of Annulment on the Circle." Predictably, Solona gasped, covering her open mouth with her hand and eyes flying wide. "You remember Uldred? First Enchanter Irving had trusted him to find apprentices that might easily succumb to the practices of blood magic and demons, and he proved to be a valuable asset in stopping the blood mages before they became a danger. However, it was all a ruse. Loghain had made Uldred promises, and had been trying to convince the Circle to support him in his bid to be made Regent. However, after Ostagar and word of the King's demise got out, Uldred lost the tentative support that he had managed to acquire. He tried to get it back, but things went… wrong."

"She's giving you the easy version." Theron mumbled, seeing the stricken look on Solona's face and noticing how the mage trembled, looking on the verge of collapse. "The place was crawling with blood mages, abominations and demons. We saved who we could, but I wouldn't want to be returning there any time soon if I were you." He let the warning hang in the air briefly before continuing, allowing just enough time for everyone to feel uncomfortable. "But enough of that, there is the matter of Loghain to deal with, and deciding what to do with you lot."

"What're ya talkin' 'bout?" Kallian asked, narrowing her eyes and striking a defiant pose.

Theron rolled his eyes, but chose not to antagonize the redheaded elf. "We need allies if we're going to be stopping this Blight without Loghain's help and half of Ferelden's army rotting in Ostagar. We'll have to confront him sooner or later, but in the meantime we can't have him hounding our every step. He's already sent some assassins after us with little success. It's dangerous being in Denerim, but it's more dangerous not knowing what he's planning."

Aedan sniffed, quickly grasping what Theron was getting at. "You want us to be spies for you."

Kallian laughed at the revelation, finding honest humor in it. "Oi! That's rich. The legendary Grey Wardens askin' fer a pack of street thugs to play political games fer 'em. Desperate times, eh?"

Despite Kallian's mocking tone, Theron seemed unruffled. "Or we could kill you."

That sobered Kallian up right quick. She gave Theron an appraising once-over, judging how serious he was about it before concluding that he would indeed start firing that bow at them if prompted. "Fine." She finally conceded, stepping forward and sticking out her hand. "We'll help out the Grey Warden's as best we're able. I like my head attached to my shoulders well enough, and don't fancy bein' a pincushion."

Stowing the arrow he'd pulled out once more, Theron reached forward and grasped her hand with a solid shake. "Good to see that there's sense left in the world."

* lethallin = friend (male)

*Ar tu na'din! = I will kill you!

A/N: If Theron weren't a rogue, he would make an excellent candidate for the Berserker specialization, no? So much rage in one little body~! But I feel the need to explain myself for the reason of this confrontation at all.

Like Cailan, Aedan would have been raised on the tales of how King Maric wrestled the throne of Ferelden away from the clutches of the Orlesians. Loghain, whatever his faults in DA:O is widely respected around Ferelden at this time. Furthermore, I seriously doubt that Bryce would have very much bad to say about Loghain. After all, the man was more or less instrumental in winning back Ferelden from the Orlesians. Aedan would have grown up knowing that Loghain was a great general, a just man and someone who held the safety of Ferelden high on his list of priorities, despite being a commoner. Furthermore, Loghain is one of the only men in the entire country that would hold as much power and respect as Bryce Cousland, aside from the King.

From the Landsmeet sequence, we also know that even if you bring up the argument that Loghain abandoned Cailan to the darkspawn it will win you no votes amongst the gathered banns. Either they are unable or unwilling to believe that Loghain would be able to do such a thing, and they react negatively to your argument even though its true. Aedan is not a Grey Warden, wasn't at Ostagar, and with his pre-existing notions of Loghain would be disinclined to believe that the Grey Wardens were innocent in Cailan's death.

It wasn't until after I had completed the game a few times before I found out that Loghain actually was a good man at some point. In hind-sight, I'm extremely disappointed that there is never a way to find out via word-of-mouth what other people think of Loghain other than Alistair, his opinion of course being completely negative. It seems like a gaping hole that should have been filled previously. So, this is my logic for the chapter. Suspend your disbelief with renewed confidence, and watch the social drama unfold.

P.S. I just played through Ostagar again, and I think I saw Uldred. When you're with Cailan and Loghain and that random mage walks over and offers to light the beacon instead of wasting forces, is that him? I don't know how many pale bald mages there are wandering Ostagar, and I was surprised at the similar appearance.