More Fenris/Elyria soon.

And the beginning of my POV changes. :)

Sara Hartman - Monster Lead Me Home

Serena Ryder - Got Your Number

lovelytheband - Maybe I'm Afraid

OneRepublic - Rescue Me

Taylor Swift - ...Ready For It?

Lorde - Team

Chapter 10:

Krem is so goddamn adorable. I wanted to pinch his cheeks and tell him he was the cutest person ever. I'm getting ahead of myself, but seriously. Krem is like Alistair level adorable, and a moderate level of badass combined with puppy dog eyes. Just. Ugh.

But again, getting ahead of myself.

Josephine sent a letter with one of Leliana's scouts that reached us about two days before we returned to Haven. With Krem in tow. And there may have been a letter from the King of Orzammar.

Good news first.

The city elves came in droves, volunteering to fight or learn to fight on behalf of the Inquisition. Shianni came through with flying colors. Cullen had his men training most of them, while Leliana had taken a select few for her ranks.

The Dalish were fewer in number, around seven volunteers. Leliana brought them into her ranks of spies and scouts before Cullen even took a look at the volunteers.

Behlen's letter was mostly pomp and circumstance that boiled down to a few main points. Yes he was aware of the rifts. No, he didn't have men to spare as he needed them to patrol. He asked for volunteers among the houses and people. The Legion sent who they could spare and a few houses sent some of their available - read disposable - sons. If we closed the rift permanently, he would send more troops. I respected he was being a decent king. I didn't respect using fratricide and patricide to get there. He would never be a trustworthy ally.

The bad news was several scouts had gone missing, and a patrol following a lead. Christ I missed cell phones. All twelve pages of writing could have come down to a single twenty minute phone call.

I settled for one page of directives. Pull the scouts back. Patrols go in larger groups and stick closer to the borders of Haven. More torches. Light up the night. Don't put our men and women at risk. Period.

In game, later when Corypheus attacks, we're supposed to lose half our forces because we're unprepared. Well I say fuck that sideways with a chainsaw. I'll be damned if I get caught unaware. I know what's coming, I know how to fight it. We're going to fight it even if I have to lead the goddamn charge!

I handed the twelve page letter from Josie to Cassandra after I finished with my response. "Any words of wisdom?"

"Josephine," Cassandra grumbled as her dark eyes went over page by page. I left her to it and handed the runner my response. No doubt she would write back as well.

Now then, Krem. Alistair was in the middle of handing Krem a bowl of whatever it was he was cooking. Kind of smelled like stew. God I hope it isn't gray. Nettie had been trying to break him of cooking everything until it was a uniform gray color and when I'd left Thedas, her influence had been working.

One of the soldiers brought down a ram earlier and there were potatoes available from a nearby farm. I forgot how resourceful you had to be on the road, but our soldiers were proving their worth with flying colors. Alistair handed me a bowl.

"Thank you," The stone bowl was hot to the touch, but not uncomfortably so with the cold air of mid-fall Ferelden pressing in around us. Winter would be hitting us hard in a few weeks. "Where's Em?"

"Sleeping." Solas said as he too approached the fire. "She is not used to this much travel. Emmaline has a great many pains and blisters. I've given her some of your sleeping draught Alistair. If that is alright?" The nurse let the mage go healer on her. Interesting.

Alistair shrugged. "We'll be back in Haven in a few days. I can always ask Adan for more."

Mental note, get more royal elfroot and elfroot in general. The basic ingredient to any good potion, elfroot or spindleweed. "Let's make sure there's enough stew left for her."

Krem, looking a bit out of place in all that heavy armor, held his bowl awkwardly. Like I said, he's that level of Alistair adorable with big brown eyes and clipped hair. He's younger than me, than most of us here. I'm almost thirty - Jesus - and Alistiar I'm fairly sure is over thirty if only a year or two. Cassandra is around my age and well, Solas is the dread wolf so who knows how old he is.

"You're Krem?" I nodded my head at a sideways log being used as a bench.

He took my nod as an indication to sit and we both sat down, him turned a little toward me so we could talk face to face. I'm so very, very glad Fenris didn't come with us. The minute this poor kid opened his mouth his Tevinter accent came pouring out. There would have been blood and a small riot if Fenris were here. Thankfully, he wasn't.

Krem wiped a bit of stew from the corner of his mouth, swallowing before, "Cremisius Aclassi, with the Bull's Chargers Mercenary Company, ma'am."

Ouch. He called me ma'am. "You can call me Elyria. The human eating machine over there is Alistair, the grumpy bald elf is Solas, the snarky short one is Varric, the pretty feisty one that went to bed is Emma and the one that can beat us both into the ground over there is Cassandra."

Nods all around.

"Good to meet you Krem." Alistair managed to say around a mouth full of bread and stew.

"Chew and swallow your food Cheesy, or I'm telling Leandra on you next time I write her." Varric grumped at him.

Alistair, if at all possible, chewed more obnoxiously.

The corners of Krem's eyes crinkled. "Good to meet you all."

"So Josie sent you on to meet us."

He nodded, "She said it was best before someone named," his brow creased for a moment, deep furrows formed, "I believe it started with an F? She said he wasn't partial to the people of Tevinter and asked me to join the scout to meet you."

"Fenris." Alistair's eyes met mine in the firelight.

See, right there is why I love Josephine. Always on her toes that one. "We're happy to have you with us. We are heading back to Haven though. I have to drop some people off and pick some people up." And Sera was supposedly only a day behind us. Vivenne would be a day or two later no doubt.

"Right." Krem took on a much more business like tone. "The Chargers mostly work out of Orlais and Nevarra. We got word of some Tevinter Mercenaries gathering out on the Storm Coast. My company commander, Iron Bull, offers the information free of charge."

Varric whistled. "I hate to see what his other information might cost us."

I shot him a dirty look. "Quiet you. I distinctly remember you hustling Hawke the first time you two met."

The dwarf pointed his spoon at me, dripping gravy into the grass. "After I saved his coin purse."

"And cheating me out of how much gold at Wicked Grace?" Alistair added.

"That's your own fault Cheesy. You're just too gullible. Never, ever believe a dwarf when playing for money. You still owe me twenty silver by the way."

Krem laughed a little covering his mouth with the back of his hand so not to show everyone the food in his mouth. Well someone taught him manners.

"If you think they're funny now," I told him in a low murmur, "just wait until you guys join up. You'll be laughing your small clothes off inside a week."

Krem turned dark eyes on me, full of mirth. "They're always like that?"

"Like my two younger brothers I didn't want and didn't ask for." I grabbed a stone off the ground and chucked it between the two effectively quieting their snarking. "Shut it, both of you. I'm making a deal with the man." My attention back on Krem, "You should stay the night and head out in the morning. We should be back in Haven by day after tomorrow then on the Storm Coast by the start of next week."

"Thank you ma-" He must have caught my wince. "Sorry, Elyria."

I patted his shoulder. "I hate formalities. Ellie, Elyria or when you're mad at me bitch what the shit."

He laughed again. "Bull's going to enjoy getting to know you."

I winked at him. "Most people do."

Most of the soldiers were getting used to how I did things. Like going to bed with a certain oversized teddy bear of a man. Alistair, stripped down to his heavier clothing - because it was really damn cold in Ferelden at this time of year - and stretched out on the bedroll next to mine. He hadn't taken the sleeping draught yet, instead stared up at the burlap tent's maroon ceiling.

"Do you think you should be taking on the Chargers?" He asked quietly.

I, in the middle of folding some of my armor down to set aside, paused. "Do you think I shouldn't be?"

The fingers of one hand drummed on his stomach. "I'm not sure. Krem seems an alright person. But mercenaries."

I nudged him with the heel of one foot. "We were mercs once too."

"And bakers," he caught my leg in his hand around my ankle and pressed on that ever present knot between my calf and my knee. "Ellie, that's not what I mean. We had loyalty to Hawke, to doing the right thing."

Man I forgot how good he was at getting rid of the sore muscles in my legs. I let him have at it. I could never get the soreness from trekking and fighting to go down the way he could. "We'll steer them in the right direction even if Josephine has to pay them an arm and a leg. At least they'll be our allies."

Alistair hmmed to himself thinking about it as he let my leg go. "There are other things I worry about too."

"Like?" I held out the draught to him which he took.

"Like the rumor amongst the soldiers is that we're lovers."

I rolled my eyes heavenward. "The sleeping together throws everyone off. Everyone." Varric thinks I don't know about that bet he had going with Isabella about when Alistair and I would actually make the beast with two backs. "Besides, if you and I were playing hide the sausage, they'd know. I'm loud."

He turned his attention to me. "No you aren't."

"Oh yes I am." I gave him one raised eyebrow. "How would you know? We've never fooled around."

Alistair blushed in the dark averting his eyes. "Ellie."

"We haven't. So how would you know?"

Flustered he waved his hands around a bit at me. "You know, back then, back when you were, you know, with him."

Ah, the him that we shall not name. I sighed, stretching out next to him, propping my head up on one hand. "He used to cover my mouth, or ask me to be quiet before we got started." I should have known then he was a major asshole. "You liked making the barmaid moan, right?"

Even more blushing. "Mayhap. This isn't about me." A thought crossed his face, "Is that why you would always fight? Every month I remember a fight."

Ah. That. I picked at a balding spot on my bed roll. "He wanted to get me pregnant. Keep his family line in tact or some shit like that. I refused to share his bed when I was around the time of month that I could have gotten pregnant and Morrigan made me this thing she called moontea for the weeks between. Just in case."

Alistair rolled over to face me. "That's why you fought? Because he wouldn't pull out of you?"

I blinked at him. For someone who full on blushed when I talked about loud sex, that was a pont blank question. Completely without blinking or shying away. "Yes."

"You should have broken more than his nose." Alistair said in disgust. "That bastard." He slammed one fist down on the bedroll between us. "If I ever, ever see him again-"

I reached over and took his hand, soothing the fist until our fingers were laced. "You'll do nothing. He's consort to the Queen and the Warden commander of Ferelden."

"I'll slam my shield into his face and break his teeth." Alistair said hotly, "Damn his titles."

"Hey," I squeezed his hand in mine, " There's no baby on board okay? Never was. Never even missed a period. We're good and I've moved on."

He let go of a breath. "I cannot believe I ever respected him. Ever."

"What was her name, the barmaid?" Smooth change of subject there El.

"Ana." Alistair said after a moment, "her name was Ana."

I wanted to make a terrible joke about Frozen but I didn't. He looked both sad and serious at the same time. And a little embarrassed. I reached over and flicked the tip of his nose. "Hey, you're one of the good ones, you know that right?"

Hazel eyes met mine sadly. "Am I?"

"I'd put ten crowns on you writing Ana a few months after to ask if she might be pregnant."

He turned red again, averting his eyes in favor of looking upward again. "Mayhap."

Uh huh. "And you offered to come back if she was."

He glowered in the dark. "Of course I did. I'm a bastard by birth not by nature."

I went to flick his nose again, getting batted away. "Like I said, you're one of the good ones. You probably had this long speech for Hawke about how you had to leave. You had this long speech for Ana about how you two could make a go of it. Promised to be there for everything, right?"

This time he reached over and tapped my nose. "And this is why you're my best friend. I like Fenris, I do. He's a good man when he's not being a complete moron. But he'll never be you."

I shrugged finally lying back on my own bedroll and sighed. "Yeah. I'm original like that." I was halfway to dreamland when he said something else my brain couldn't fully understand.

Due to another bloody snow squall we were held up another half day. By the time we reached Haven early morning three days later, I was already telling Alistair and Solas to be ready to go by mid-morning. "Take a nap, take a bath and be out here by half past twelve bells. We'll eat on the road." I was gambling on Sera getting there by then. One of the scouts said there was a blonde woman on a horse about a half day behind us when he reported to me that morning before we set out. If she didn't Varric was going to give me shit for not letting him get his beauty sleep.

We needed to haul ass to the Storm Coast. Recruiting Bull and the Chargers needed to happen as soon as possible. The Inquisition needed the troops and I needed Bull for my plans to screw Corypheus sideways.

"What about me?" Emma yawned from atop Bilbo.

"You're staying here."

"Mmm, kay." Poor girl. She yawned again and shook herself.

I had them all get up at the ass crack of dawn to reach Haven with time enough for us to leave. Cassandra was the only one who didn't grumble or grump at me that morning.

"Ellie," Alistair whined. "Can't we leave tomorrow?"

"Ellie," I parroted, "can't we leave tomorrow and add another day to our travels?"

He scowled in return. "I hate you."

"Lies."

I needed a bath, and food and a nap. In that order. Not that it happened that way. Inside of the handful of minutes after handing Boggie off to a moderately terrified looking stable hand - I mean, I get it, Boggie is scary, but she's actually a very well behaved horse - I was assaulted by both Leliana and Josie talking very quickly and loudly at me. "Ladies, ladies," I told them, dragging off my gloves, "one at a time. I only have two ears and a crappy attention span." I pointed at Leliana. "You first, I've known you longer."

"Your recommendation to pull the scouts back," Leliana began, sounding very irritated with me.

"Not a recommendation," I told her as we headed past the troops, "pull the scouts back. Today. If you think for one second what we're hunting isn't looking to hunt us in return, you're out of your pretty head. You're not going to lose more men and women."

"Elyria, the loss of a few scouts-"

"Our people are not cannon fodder!" My voice may have been too loud. Some of the soldiers nearby paused in their training. Sigh. "Listen, I understand, you want to cover our ass. I get it. I want our people alive. The more we stack the deck in our defense, the better off we'll be. Pull. Them. Back."

"You lot," the familiar voice of a white haired, tattooed elf cut clear across the training field to my ears. My heart gave a painful pang of regret and sadness at the same time that it squeezed. "Did someone tell you to stop?"

"Uh, no, sir." One of the men shifted and shot me and the ladies a look. "We just…um."

Fenris crossed his arms over his chest. "In battle, um will get you killed. Back to drills." Green eyes crossed the distance, and for a second I thought, just for a second, I thought I saw him look relieved. It was gone the second he turned away and headed toward Cullen's tent. "These-" he began and his words were cut off by the flap of the tent dropping behind him.

He stayed. He told me he was going to leave and he didn't. He stayed.

"He has been working with Cullen training the troops." Josie told me, following my gaze. "Fenris is quite...intense."

I tried not to smile sadly, "You don't know the half of it." I did. And I loved being on the receiving end of his extraordinarily profound heart. When I knew he loved me, I felt like I could face anything with him.

Leliana too looked on to where Cullen's tent was. "He is also fond of wine."

Eyeing her suspiciously. "Did you get my ex boyfriend drunk?"

She gave me that knowing look. "Drunk, no. Loosened his tongue and temper, yes." Leliana shrugged a little. "You wrote that he enjoyed fine wine in questionable quantities. I may have had Josie procure a few bottles of the 9:28 Nevarran Syrah and approached him after he'd been in the tavern for a couple of hours."

Josie, looking quite proud of herself, "An excellent vintage. A pity it took nearly four full bottles. His stomach is either indestructible or well marinated."

"Cullen spoke to him, offered him a position within the Inquisition's ranks." Leliana continued looking a little smug about it.

My friends. Got my ex boyfriend drunk. To talk him into staying.

"You two," I turned heading through the gates of Haven, "really scare me. Like a lot."

The POV changes will be from a variety of characters.

Fenris may be the first one...maybe?