"And then it was over." Duncan was sitting by my bed, and I was slowly coming in to consciousness, "With the archdemon dead, the darkspawn horde quickly crumbled. Most fled back in to the Deep Roads. They'll probably remain a threat in the years to come, small pockets of them are still being flushed out, but the Blight ended before it had truly begun."

Something shifted. I assumed it was him, trying to get comfortable.

"Ferelden's been saved, and the entire kingdom rose up to joyously greet its new king. Alistair waved like a fool, of course." He chuckled quietly.

Another voice, this one closer and velvet soft, "King Alistair even had a ceremony, during which he named you... 'the Hero of Ferelden,' Ana. Your vision came true." A light touch on my forehead, and I drifted off again.

Some time passed before I was able to fully wake up, where I could finally stop succumbing to exhaustion.

What woke me was feeling that touch against my skin again, for the thirteenth time. My eyes slowly fluttered open, and there was a gasp. Followed by a cacophony of them. I flinched.

"Anastasia, can you hear me?" a familiar voice. Motherly tone.

My eyes focused, and I could make out the elderly mage. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I settled for blinking deliberately.

"Thank the Maker."

"Maker be praised!"

"Maker's breath."

"Andraste's arse, kid."

"Maker..." That last word made me try to sit up.

"You shouldn't move-"

A scream bubbled up, and my eyes rolled back at the sudden lash of pain that raced across my chest, from shoulder to shoulder. Someone's hand covered my mouth, while someone else guided me back to laying down.

"Ana..." Alistair came in to view, a concerned yet relieved expression on his face.

Clearing my throat, even though it was beyond painful, I forced myself to turn my thoughts in to spoken word, "The date with the big dragon didn't end well."

He laughed, "For the dragon, you mean. You look... well, you could look better, not going to lie, but you're here."

"True. What... I missed things. I could hear..." I trailed off, thinking hard, "You're king now."

"I am."

"How long have I... have I been here?"

The king closed his eyes and didn't respond.

It was Zevran who answered, "Almost a month, my dear. This is the first time you've woken up and been coherent."

"My forehead...? Something touched my forehead."

"Ah. That." He chuckled and leaned down, pressing a kiss to my skin.

"Oh. I'm sorry I worried you all." Everyone seemed to be here, now that I was awake. Everyone except Morrigan. It was to be expected, though. She had said I would never see her again.

"Oh, and I named you Hero of-"

"Ferelden. I remember hearing that." I made a face, confused, "Why, though? Everyone helped."

"But you were our leader." Alistair gave me a stern look, "Be glad I didn't wait until you were well, to bestow the title on you. You would have hated all those nobles coming up and trying to win favors from you."

"Yeah. That's true."

"You should rest your voice." Leliana cautioned. I gave her a look, to which she raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me what happened afterward."

"Well, the darkspawn fled, and I was crowned king." That was extremely detailed. I wasn't even sure if I had followed the whole thing. Understood it all.

"Fine." my voice was steadily getting weaker, becoming more of a whisper, "What happened to me?"

The king's eyes tightened, and the room went silent. It must have been bad, then.

"It must have been bad, then." I closed my eyes briefly, then looked up at the ceiling, "I mean, I did just wake up, so I knew it had to have been."

Sten moved through the group to reach my bedside and placed a finger on his left shoulder, slowly dragging it across his chest under the collar bone to the other shoulder.

I felt myself pale and lifted the blanket enough to see the bandages.

"It's not as bad as-"

"Don't lie to the girl!" Oghren chastised the king. I snorted and had to swallow another scream.

As it was, a whimper escaped me, and my eyes teared up.

"It was sodding bad, girly." He regarded me sagely. It was bemusing, seeing the warrior stone-cold sober.

"When was the last time you had a drink?" I asked curiously.

"Since they said you were still alive. It was sketchy, for a while. They kept losing you, but you're a stubborn nug."

I smiled at that, "That I am."

"The healers won't say whether you'll regain full health or not." Kallian murmured solemnly. Lyna put a hand on her shoulder.

Closing my eyes again, I forced myself to settle. I called the magic and pulled it toward me, wrapped myself in it.

"Hello."

My breathing stopped, as did my heart. I wasn't alone in my head.

"How...?"

"You called me to you."

This felt different from the archdemon. More... refined, almost. Yet wild, at the same time.

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I am Urthemiel. Or, rather, a piece of him." The archdemon had been... a male? But then why...? "He was the one who attacked you. I asked for your aid. I thank you for granting it to me, no matter the reason."

"Am I an abomination, now?"

"No, dear child. Your thoughts will remain your own, fear not. Your actions will remain your own, as well. But we can discuss this more in depth at a later time. For now, I am tired and must sleep."

"All right. Good night."

What a strange conversation. Oh. There it was, what I was looking for: there was something wrong with the wound. Almost resembling a curse.

"It's not going to get better with magic. Only time will touch it." I sighed, opening my eyes and speaking aloud. "But I should be up within the week."

"Don't push yourself." Wynne had a serious look on her face, and I shook my head.

"No pushing, ma'am."

"Good."

Slowly, one by one, everyone filed out of the room, until it was just Zevran.

"When do we leave for Antiva?" I asked offhandedly.

He was staring out the window silently, and I thought he hadn't heard me, but then he smiled. A real, genuine smile. "As soon as you wish."

"I wish right now, but I think I'm to be bedridden for a while."

"Can you stand?"

"Alistair is going to hate me." but I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. "I can bind it with magic to hold me over until we have the situation under control."

"Have you done it before?"

"Nope."

"First time for everything."

"Isn't that how most people learn?"

"Wise words."

"I just need my gear. Or, well, new gear. Since my armor probably got shredded."

He knelt and dug around under the bed, moving the bed-skirt out of his way.

"It is all here, my Warden."

Those were the sweetest words I'd heard in a very long time. "What are we waiting for then? We can't afford for someone to come back before we're gone. Or, at the very least, unable to be seen by the naked eye."

With a lot of effort and a few curse words, I managed to get my new armor on. I had been pleasantly surprised when I saw it. A beautiful black, with silver etchings and deep red accents. I don't think I could do it justice by trying to describe it, so you'll just have to trust me. It was perfect for me.

Once that had been dealt with, and the elf had helped me buckle the, well, buckles that I couldn't reach, due to the stiffness of laying in a bed for almost a month, we exchanged grins. We disappeared from sight, invisible, and darted through the door as a healer came in to do a check. The shouts sounded up and down the corridor: The Hero of Ferelden was missing.

Alistair would understand, though. I was good at running off.