Everyone survived.
Duncan gave me an appraising look, smiling softly, "You were right. They belong as our brother and sisters."
I nodded, preoccupied, "There's more. There's going to be more."
He bowed his head in thought, finally saying, "If you come after this, I will try to prepare. If you happen to come before…You will have to explain again."
I glanced up at him, "It'll be after, or you would have already understood."
He blinked at me, taken aback, "I…. Your eyes."
"What about them?" said eyes narrowed as I frowned.
"They are," he crouched, putting his face extremely close to mine, "silver. A glowing silver."
I ran through my old memories as fast as I could, not finding anything that would explain it away.
"I have no idea why…." My words died at the expression on his face.
Incredulous.
"They've changed back." He leaned away, thoughtful.
My eyelids were suddenly heavy, almost too heavy for me to keep my eyes open. I was just so…
"…tired…. Need sleep…." Mush mouth assaulted me, syllables running together.
He put a hand on my shoulder, steadying me, "Do you need to rest?"
"They…can't be here for the…battle." I yawned, tears of exhaustion falling down my cheeks.
A mumbled "bye" left my lips right before I succumbed, slipping in to oblivion.
...
"Anastasia!" someone cried out close by.
"I swear on all that is holy, the next person who wakes me up by shouting my name….!" I flew off the bed, glaring around me.
Zevran stood, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. Silent. My cheeks pinked as I swayed on my feet again. He lunged across the room, sweeping me up in his arms, eyes tight with concern.
"Have you actually slept at all?" he asked quietly as he laid me down on the mattress.
"I-" I paused, cutting myself off, "I'm not sure. I went back, and I saved some dwarves and made them and two mages Wardens."
"You…will have to explain that later, my dear." He frowned, feeling my forehead, "You've a fever."
"If I fall asleep again, I might not be asleep. Not really. I don't know how it works." I moaned, blurting, "But this is miserable. Why am I so whiny?"
"Because, my dear, you are…" he went and soaked a cloth in a water basin on the armoire, "for all intents and purposes, still a mere child. No matter the lives you lived previously. You have the temperament of a human child."
"Anyone else, and I would argue." I pouted, my bottom lip jutting out slightly which only added to my distress, "How long was I out for, this time?"
He gently pushed me on to my back, placing the cloth on my forehead, then sat on the edge of the bed, "Only a few hours. I hadn't intended to wake you, but when I peeked in to the room, you were shaking and your hands were fisted in the sheets."
I closed my eyes, taking that in.
"If the fever started while you were sleeping, you might have had…." He trailed off.
"I might have had what?" my head tilted in his direction.
"Strange dreams." He finished haltingly, "And you feeling exhausted, even after a nap, could possibly be explained by it, as well."
He was right. It could all have been just one huge, weird dream.
Except-
I sat up without warning, the sudden movement surprising Zevran, and he inhaled sharply as the cloth landed on his lap.
"What-"
"Wait. I'm wearing my boots." I looked down at myself, "And all the rest of my armor. When I laid down, I was still wearing the pretty dress Leliana had picked out for me. And, here. I got an injury. It circles almost all the way around my ankle. I didn't even tell the other," I paused, "Wardens, now, I suppose."
I peeled off one of the boots, pulling the sock off with it, and there it was.
The elf whistled, reaching out and touching the angry pink semicircle gently.
"If Wynne or Morrigan are around, I might ask one of them to see if they can do something about it."
"Does it hurt?"
"Nope. Well, not right now. And I didn't notice it earlier. It's weird. It comes and goes. Truthfully, I'd forgotten it, until just now." I shook my head.
A knock on the door made me jump. I was more out of it than I realized; I hadn't heard anyone approach.
Zevran winked at me, whispering, "I believe it is only Alistair," right as the warrior's voice came through it, "Ana, are you up?"
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, gathering myself, before replying, "Yeah. You can come in."
He opened the door, his head poking in to the room, "Hey. You look like you haven't slept in years."
I made a sour face, "Gee, thanks."
"That is not the way to a girl's heart." Zev threw in, "A lady is always the most beautiful you've ever seen."
"Yeah, yeah." Ali rolled his eyes, then straightened and came over to the bedside, "What happened to your ankle?"
"She and I were sparring, and I might have gotten a bit overzealous." A smooth lie from the other man.
I nodded, "I thought it would be fun to duel for, well, fun. Instead of trying to kill each other. And I want a rematch. This doesn't count."
"You nearly took her foot off!"
"It's not that serious. I swear." I defended.
"I was just about to fetch Wynne or Morrigan, to see what they can do for her." The assassin leveled a cool gaze at the warrior, "Will you stay with her until one of them comes?"
Alistair's head bobbed rapidly, "Yes. Of course."
He called out after Zevran, "I'm sorry."
"It is fine, mi amigo." Was the reply as the door shut, leaving the two of us alone.
I groaned internally, trying to stay awake.
"Did you… fight in the room?" Alistair asked awkwardly, staring hard at my ankle.
"Uh. No. That wouldn't have worked; there's not enough space in here. We snuck out through the window and left the city." It took everything in me to not wince at the lie. It was so bad.
He raised an eyebrow, "Is this where I accuse you of lying? And we have a huge fight?"
My eyes were slits. Tread carefully, I thought.
"I was joking!" he waved his hands through the air, chuckling nervously.
"Why are you…. Are you sweating?" I blinked, frowning.
A heavy sigh as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other and back, "I don't handle conflict well."
"Neither do I, as you remember." I said pointedly.
He cringed, "Yeah. Sorry about bringing that up."
"Alistair." He raised his head grudgingly, finally looking at me again, "What do you want?"
Heaving another sigh, he ran a hand through his hair, "I feel…. I don't know. Something told me you weren't okay, but you clearly are? I don't understand it."
"Could it be because we're Grey Wardens? I mean, I haven't had anyone sit down with me and explain what being us means." I got quieter as I talked, until it was barely a whisper.
He tilted his head from side to side, "Maybe. When I asked Duncan, he said 'you'll see,' but that didn't really answer anything."
"Are there other Wardens? Because between the two of us, we know next to nothing about the Order, and-"
"There are probably Wardens still in Weisshaupt, in the Anderfells, but they won't be coming to Ferelden any time soon."
"Why not? There's a Blight. Isn't it our job to stop it?"
He nodded, stepping closer and glanced around, "There are posters hanging about. I'm surprised you didn't see any while you were with Leliana. The Grey Wardens have been labeled as traitors to the crown." His knuckles turned white as he fisted his hands, "Loghain has told everyone that the Wardens are responsible for King Cailan's death. So, the entire order has been banned from Ferelden."
I stared without seeing. We were alone in this. Truly alone. Even if we somehow managed to meet with the other Wardens, the ones Duncan helped me with, there were only six Grey Wardens in all of Ferelden? How were we to defeat so many enemies?
I felt the bed dip, causing me to look around. Alistair had sat on the edge of the bed, watching me worriedly.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm just thinking. This is big, for two Wardens, isn't it?"
He picked up the cloth, now dry, and tossed it across the room. I'm sure he was aiming to get it in the basin, but only a corner made it. My eyes widened as the bowl wobbled and tipped over, the water jumping ship.
Instinctively, I flung my hands out. Then, I closed my eyes, waiting for the explosion.
The basin hung in midair, the water frozen in a perfect arc. It resembled an art piece, really.
The silence dragged on for what felt like an eternity, until….
"Ana…. Anastasia…. What…. What did you just…." Every time he started, words fled.
This was not how I pictured him finding out. I had thought I would gather the courage to have a conversation with him. He had handled the vision thing well enough.
The door swung open, revealing the scene to Morrigan and Zevran.
Oh, f-
Zevran ushered Morrigan in to the room and shut the door, eyeing the display of magic.
"It is kind of… flashy, my dear." He shook his head in mock distaste.
A hysterical giggle escaped me, and I clapped a hand over my mouth, tears threatening to fall. Only he could make jokes at a time like this.
"I…. You told me you were a normal girl." Alistair's words came out sounding strangled.
"I did."
"Why?" his gaze never left the basin, "Why didn't you just tell me? After everything I've told you, you, what? Didn't trust me enough to tell me? Didn't trust me enough to know it wouldn't freak me out?"
"You're not exactly the picture of calm now, princeling." Morrigan observed dryly.
"I'm not talking to you." He snarled at her, causing her to blink and take a step back, then he rounded on me again, "I'm talking to my fellow Grey Warden." He spat, sarcasm dripping from the title.
The assassin was between us in an instant, shoving Alistair off the bed and through the door, "Out."
"This is why apostates do not admit to having magic." The mage's golden eyes studied me with the barest hint of concern.
An arm wrapped around my shoulders. I glanced beside me, seeing Zevran had somehow sat next to me and was pulling me close to him.
I buried my face in his shoulder and cried.
I had made things so much worse than they would have been if I had just told him from the start. I had done so with Duncan, so why not Alistair? It wasn't as if mages were frowned upon in the Wardens. We took all sorts.
"Let me have a look at your ankle, little Warden." She murmured before brushing her fingertips across the skin.
A shiver ran through me, making me shake uncontrollably. It had more to do with my sorrow and pain, than her touch, but she apologized quietly all the same.
All too soon, the door was shutting behind her, too.
The elf sat with me until I fell asleep that night, trying to keep me occupied by recounting several of his missions for the Crows.
It was a long time before my eyelids grew heavy.