The men stared at me in confused silence, as I muttered furiously to myself.

"If we can just reach them before they make it to Haven...they could probably deal with the villagers, so that might buy us some time...but no, I can't risk-"

"Lauren." Alistair grabbed my shoulders, bending down to look in my eyes. When I continued to mutter, he shook me, gently, and I snapped my eyes up to meet his. "You're not making any sense. Just...calm down...slow down...tell us what's going on."

"There's no time." I protested, shrugging out of his grasp. "They're already a day's march ahead of us. Even if we leave right now, there's no guarantee we'll catch up to them in time."

"What are you talking about?" Grayson asked, his confusion only making him angrier. "In time for what? What are you not telling us?"

"Lower your voice." Alistair snapped, protectively, and I flashed Grayson an apologetic look. He was right, and we both knew it, even if Alistair didn't.

"What was that you said about dragons?" Teagan asked, and I whipped my head round to look at him when he spoke. I had almost forgotten he was still there.

"Dragons?" I squeaked, realising at that moment that I really hadn't gone about this in the most sensible way.

"Yes. What do you mean, "they're all going to die"? How could you possibly know that?" He asked, and Grayson folded his arms, nodding in approval of the question.

"I…" I felt cornered.

"Lauren sees things. Before they happen." Alistair spoke, and I looked round at him, slowly. "At Ostagar, she...I would never have believed it, but she gave us irrefutable proof. Duncan and I."

"For all the good it did us." I muttered, more to myself than anyone, but I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder.

"That sounds like magic." Teagan said, in an understandably wary voice, given the role magic had recently played in threatening everything that he held dear.

"It's...I'm not a mage." I assured him. "But he's right. I do...see things." I said, slowly, glancing at Alistair. This was the first time he had brought up what happened that night, at The Joining. Even during all of our long talks. I kept expecting him to mention it, to ask questions, but he hadn't. A testament, I believed, to the trust he had placed in me. I didn't have time to unpack how wretched that made me feel.

That night, before the battle at Ostagar, was the first time I had tried and failed to use my knowledge to change things, but I was starting to think that it might be the key to convincing Grayson to help me undo the damage I had caused by meddling again.

"You know this, Grayson. That's how I knew where Asala was. It's how I knew that The Crows had set up an ambush for us. And it's how I know, without a doubt, that if those men reach Haven, they will be slaughtered."

"These are seasoned warriors we're talking about." Teagan said, stepping towards me. "What is it that you have seen?"

His tone was formal, but I could tell by the way he posed the question that he wasn't convinced by Alistair's explanation. I bit my lip, hesitantly. I had already said too much, but I needed Teagan and Grayson to cooperate with me if I hoped to bring the men back safely, so I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound.

"A High Dragon guards the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I haven't seen your men being killed, because they were never supposed to be anywhere near it in the first place...but I can predict as well as you how that encounter might go."

"Look...even if that is the case, they're already a day ahead of us. Even on horseback, we'll never make that time up." Grayson said, still annoyed but pragmatic as ever, but I wasn't ready to give up. Not yet.

"Teagan, you said you had copies of the map drawn up?"

"Yes. Ser Perth has one, and there is another in Eamon's study."

"I need to see it."

"I thought you saw everything." Grayson muttered, and I knew he was baiting me, trying to get a rise out of me. He was angry, that much was clear. I'd have to deal with that later. I wasn't so sure he'd be open to the "you have to trust me" speech this time round.

"Not everything." I replied, quietly, following Teagan as he led us out of the banquet hall and up to the Arl's study on the first floor.

We passed through the main hall, where Morrigan, Sten and Zevran were congregated. It looked different than it had the last time I was there. There was a fire roaring in the hearth and my friends were draped across comfortable-looking armchairs, conversing in low voices. If my need wasn't so urgent, I might have stopped to wonder what the Qunari, the witch and the assassin had to say to one another.

Morrigan watched us as we swept through the hall, her curious, yellow eyes glinting in the firelight.

"Grey Wardens." Zevran said, in acknowledgement. "What news?"

"Nothing good." I muttered, darkly, and all three of them rose from their seats at my words, falling into step behind us as we walked.

The study was cloaked in darkness when we entered, and before Teagan could light a candle, Morrigan raised her arms and flames sprang to life and danced in the torches around the room. I strode to the desk, only stopping myself from rifling through the papers when I remembered that Teagan was there and probably wouldn't appreciate anyone, let alone a foreigner, leafing through potentially sensitive documents - Grey Warden or no.

I watched, impatiently, as he pulled a scroll from one of the drawers and unfurled it onto the desk, and I hunched over, studying it with such intensity I wouldn't have been surprised if I burned a hole through the parchment. I traced my finger across the wonderfully detailed map, from Redcliffe, to Rainesfere, to Sulcher's Pass and, finally, to Haven.

"How long would you say the journey to Haven is from here?" I asked, to nobody in particular.

"A week, roughly." Teagan answered, hunching over the map to mirror my own stance.

"One week?" I asked, looking to him for confirmation.

He nodded.

"As the raven flies."

"But Lauren, I've already explained. If we're riding across that sort of distance, there's no way the horses could keep up a pace anywhere close to what we would need to catch up to them." Grayson said, in a far gentler voice than he'd been using thus far.

"Who are we catching?" Zevran asked, curiously.

"Well, Lauren has it in her head that-" Grayson started to explain, in mocking tones, and I shushed him, fiercely.

"Quiet." I hissed. "I need to think."

I frowned down at the map, my mind racing. One week, as the raven flies. I blinked, surprising even myself when a passing feeling became a thought, which became a plan.

"You're right, Grayson." I said, suddenly, straightening up and looking at him.

"I usually am." He muttered. "It's a bad habit of mine."

I nodded.

"Yes. You're quite right that the horses wouldn't be fast enough to catch up to them."

I looked past him, and my gaze landed on Morrigan, who was watching us with detached interest. At the look in my eyes, she stiffened, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"But a raven would be." I said, with a barely concealed smirk.

"But...forgive me, we don't have ravens who would fly to Haven." Teagan said, in a slightly exasperated voice.

"We have one." I corrected. Grayson looked from me to Morrigan and back again, realisation dawning on his face. "Morrigan, I wouldn't ask you this if there were any other way. We need your help. I need your help."

"You wish me to fly to Haven?" She asked, hiding her confusion behind her trademark sneer.

"No. I need you to take a message to Ser Perth and the knights of Redcliffe. They're on their way to Haven and we need them not to be. They're a little over a day's march from here. On the wing, I shouldn't imagine it will take you very long to catch them."

"You wish me to act as your messenger raven?" She asked, indignantly. "And why should I do such a thing?"

"Because." I stepped past Grayson and walked over to stand directly in front of her, lowering my voice so that it was barely more than a whisper. "Because one day, very soon, you will come to me and ask me for a favour. And on that day, I will remember that you helped me today...or you didn't. The choice is yours."

"What do you mean? What favour?" She asked, her scoff barely masking the genuine curiosity in her eyes.

"You know I'm not going to tell you that." I replied, sternly. "But if I were you, I'd spend less time sitting around in armchairs and more time studying that grimoire."

She opened her mouth to reply, but something in my eyes must have stopped her. She held my gaze for an impossibly long time, and I arched an eyebrow in a question which she answered, silently, lowering her chin and nodding, infinitesimally.

"Bann Teagan." I turned to look at him. "Write a letter to your men. Tell them to return to Redcliffe at once. Tell them...tell them there is nothing for them in Haven. Tell them we were wrong."

"You would have me lie to them?" He asked, a little righteously, I thought.

"To save them? If you must."

"Perhaps the truth would…"

"You know your men better than I do, Bann Teagan." I interrupted, deliberately invoking his title. "They are knights. Brave warriors. Loyal men. If you tell them to abandon their efforts for their own safety, knowing that the one thing that will save their Arl is, in fact, in Haven...what do you think they will do?"

Teagan didn't respond, but he lowered his eyes, pursing his lips thoughtfully.

"Lie to them. And save their lives." I said, turning back to Morrigan. "Study the map. Memorise it. And then get something to eat, before you leave."

She bristled at my commanding tone, but brushed past me to the desk, glancing reluctantly at the map. She wasn't happy with me, but I reminded myself that she was probably only a few days away from asking me to kill Flemeth. I was quite sure that would smooth out any of the resentment she still held for me. I turned to Grayson, finally, expecting to be met with anger, but he just looked baffled. I glanced around the room and saw similar expressions of surprise and concern on the rest of the men's faces, and realised that I had taken charge quite uncharacteristically.

"What?" I demanded, defensively.

"You are the perfect woman." Zevran sounded sincere, at least. I shrugged, allowing my tense shoulders to relax a little.

"I've often thought so." I agreed, turning back to Grayson. "I know you have questions."

"Several." He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I would be shocked if you didn't. I'm going to check on Wynne, but I won't stay long. She needs to rest. If you'd like, we can meet in my chambers?"

"I'll be waiting for you." He muttered, his expression unreadable.

I nodded, before swiftly leaving the room, but I had only made it a few steps into the corridor when Alistair caught up to me. I glanced over at him to see a thoughtful expression on his face, and braced myself for more questions. I still hadn't figured out what I was going to say to him or to Grayson. He waited until we were out of earshot, on the stairs leading to our chambers, before he finally spoke.

"Well...that was…"

"I don't want to hear it." I snapped, testily. "I did what I had to do. Sometimes, manners only get you so far."

"No, no, I get that. What I was trying to say was that...seeing you take charge the way you did...you may have turned your back on a life of titles and nobility, but nobody can deny that you were born to be a leader."

I stopped in my tracks, looking up at him.

"I'm not." I said, defensively. "Grayson's a leader. You're a leader. I just did what needed to be done."

"Isn't that all any good leader really does? What needs to be done?" He asked, and I waited for the joke, but his face was serious. "It wasn't Grayson who took control back there. It certainly wasn't me. It wasn't even Teagan, and he's actually in charge. Those men will return safely to their homes, Maker-willing, because you stepped up."

"All I did was scramble to undo my own stupid mistake." I scowled at him. "And if it wasn't for some Morrigan Ex Machina, I don't know what I would have done. Nobody else could have taken charge, because nobody else has seen what I have. It was nothing more than that. Don't read into it."

"Why are you being so defensive?" He asked, with a small frown. "I'm telling you I'm proud of you. And, just between you and me, it was devastatingly attractive."

A boyish grin broke through the serious expression on his face, and I couldn't help but to return it.

"Well, when I'm done talking to Grayson, maybe you could stop by my room and tell me more about that." I said, flirtatiously.

We stopped outside of Wynne's room, and he suddenly pulled me close, kissing me briefly but deeply enough that I could feel his need for me. I needed him too, but I had other things to focus on. Like just what the Hell I was going to say to Grayson, for example.

"Don't take too much time with Grayson." He whispered, breathily. "I'm not a patient man."

I grinned up at him, thinking to myself that he was the most patient man I'd ever met. He kissed me again, pulling back with a reluctant sigh.

"I'll see you soon." I promised, grinning in anticipation, reaching behind me for the doorknob and backing into Wynne's room, not taking my eyes off him as he turned to head to his chambers. The sight of him walking away wasn't something I wanted to miss.

I closed the door gently behind me, quickly forcing the giddy smile from my face before I spun around. Leliana had pulled up a chair and was sitting by Wynne's bedside, her face grave but calm. Wynne was sleeping soundly, and I approached quietly, dropping to my haunches beside Leliana.

"Has the healer been?" I whispered. The bard nodded, sighing quietly.

"He said she appears to be exhausted. Her heart is strong, but her breathing is ragged. He gave her a poultice, and has promised to come back in the morning to check on her." She said, a trace of bitterness in her voice. She saw me frowning at her tone and shook her head. "Sorry. It's just...he was a young man. Not a mage, of course. Wynne would do more. She would do better. She deserves the same quality of treatment that she gives, over and over again."

I nodded in agreement.

"That's the problem with being the best at something. Nobody else quite measures up." I said, quietly. We sat in silence, and my mind returned to Grayson. I chewed my lip as I ran through different scenarios in my head, each less likely to provoke a positive reaction than the last.

Grayson was a loyal friend. He trusted me, fundamentally. That much, I knew. But his reaction earlier told me his patience for vague half-truths and secrets was wearing thin. I couldn't tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...but I thought perhaps I could give him something. Something that would placate him for a little while longer. I just didn't know what that something was.

"Something on your mind?" Leliana asked, softly.

I nodded, rising to my feet and moving to sit on the ottoman at the foot of Wynne's bed.

"I'm a good listener." She prompted, gently.

"You were a bard." I said. "How did you manage to conceal who you truly were from the people around you?"

"It's amazing what one can accomplish when their life is on the line." She said.

"What if everyone's lives were on the line? What then?" I muttered to myself.

"What is this about?" She asked, leaning forward in her chair, eyeing me curiously.

"Secrets." I whispered. "Is it possible that they're not always a bad thing?"

"Of course. Most people hate secrets. They only see the world in black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. For those of us who operate in the grey areas of the world...we know that secrets have their place." She said. To her credit, she didn't ask any more questions, and we sat in companionable silence until I knew that I had already stayed too long. The longer I let Grayson wait for me, the more annoyed he would be.

"Will you stay with her?" I asked. "You have to sleep too, you know."

"I can sleep here. I'd like to be here, in case she needs me through the night." Leliana said, reaching out to take my hand as I rose to leave. "Be careful, with those secrets. They can have their place, or they can be a poison for the mind. You're an honest girl, Lauren. You were not made for secrets and lies."

"I…" Standing there, with her hand squeezing mine, her kind eyes holding my gaze, I found it impossible to lie. Whether she was charming me as a bard, or whether it was just that she had become one of my closest friends in Thedas, I couldn't have said, but I was moved to honesty. "What if I don't have a choice?" I whispered, hoarsely. She rose to her feet, raising her free hand to cup my chin, a fierce expression on her beautiful face.

"We always have a choice. Always." She promised. "Never forget that."

I smiled at her, gratefully, but shook my head.

"Not all of us." I said, sadly. "But I thank you for your counsel, and for your friendship."

"Of course." She said. "If you wish to discuss this further, you know where I am."

I squeezed her hand a final time before turning to leave, the weight of dread growing heavier in the pit of my stomach with every step.

Grayson was sitting on my bed when I entered, and I hesitated in the doorway, trying to gauge his mood. His face was a carefully constructed mask, betraying nothing. I sighed, closing the door behind me and rolling my shoulders back, taking a deep, shaky breath and trying to gather my wits.

"Morrigan has left." He said, in an even tone. I nodded in acknowledgment but said nothing, still trying to figure out what I was walking into.

I made my way over to him, slowly, taking a seat beside him. Without looking at me, he held out a scroll of parchment and I glanced down at it, then back at him, taking it from him and turning it over in my hands, noting the Templar seal.

"After you left, Teagan remembered that this came for you last week." He explained, in a low voice. "A letter from the Templars. You do have your fingers in a great many pies, don't you, Lauren DuVal?"

"It's nothing covert, Grayson. It's a letter from a friend. I know you're angry with me, but that doesn't mean you have to see conspiracies wherever you look. Don't act like you don't know me. I'm still me. I'm still your friend, in case you had forgotten." I snapped, immediately abandoning my plan of staying calm.

"Open it, then. Read it. Out loud." He replied, and I stared at him, dumbfounded. I almost threw him out of my room right then and there, but I swallowed my anger and cracked the seal, unfurling the scroll and clearing my throat.

"Lauren." I read, in a loud voice, shaking with barely checked rage. "I was pleased to receive your letter. I will not pretend that I did not worry for your safety these last few weeks. I understand the need to keep things vague in our correspondence, as interception cannot be ruled out.

This may be bold of me to say, but reading between the lines, I fear you have been through your fair share of hardship in your travels. If this is the case, I am sorry for your troubles, for however much that is worth.

"I would be pleased to write you the occasional letter to keep you informed of my own progress. That you would even ask such a thing of me, with every other burden that you, as a Grey Warden, willfully shoulder, speaks volumes to your character. I knew I was not wrong about you when we first met."

I hesitated, frowning down at the words. Why did every man here give me way more credit than I deserved? Was it really just because I was pretty? I glanced over at Grayson, holding the letter up, pointedly.

"Have you heard enough, or would you like me to keep going?" I asked, tossing the parchment to the side. His hard gaze faltered, slightly, and I shook my head, standing up. I paced back and forth for a few moments, before turning to him. "I said I would do my best to answer your questions, Grayson. But this? Coming to me, demanding I read my personal correspondence, casting suspicion on me when you know all I've ever done has been to help our cause? Yeah. I have secrets. But that doesn't mean I can't be trusted."

"Doesn't it?" He asked, looking up at me with sad eyes. "I don't know what to think anymore, Lauren. You haven't explained anything. You've told me you're not from Thedas, but you won't tell me where you are from. You've told me you see things before they happen, but you withhold that information unless you see fit, even if it might benefit us to know these things in advance. A High Dragon, Lauren? A fucking High Dragon? Were you ever going to warn us if Teagan hadn't sent his knights ahead of us?"

"No. I wasn't." I admitted. "And for good reason. Grayson, the future is...fragile. Knowing what's to come...it only tempts people to try to change it. And that's too dangerous. Look what almost happened to those knights! And all because I asked Teagan if he knew where Haven was before we went to Denerim. I thought I could save us some time, cut out a few weeks of travel, get the Arl back on his feet sooner rather than later. Instead, I almost cost the lives of twenty men.

"Look...I tried to change things at Ostagar, and I couldn't. The next day, Flemeth came to me. She told me that it was a good thing that I had failed. She said even if I had saved the life of one man who was meant to die, I might be causing catastrophic problems in the future. I was furious. I told her as much. I said, "Cailan was a good man. A good king. How could his survival possibly have been a bad thing?" And do you know what she said to me?"

He shook his head, though curiosity seemed to have replaced his anger, for now.

"She said it didn't matter. He died, because he was supposed to die. If he had lived, he might sire an heir to the throne of Ferelden who was the worst tyrant Thedas had seen in an age."

He processed this, frowning up at me with the same look of realisation I'm certain was on my face when Flemeth had first spoken those words to me. I nodded, pointedly.

"That's why we don't fuck with the future, Grayson. Flemeth may seem crazy, but she's a lot more than she lets on...but that's not for me to say, or even to know. I wish I didn't know these things. These things that I know are a burden, not a gift. I keep them from you not to spite you, not to harm you, but to save the future that's meant to be. I haven't been able to resist meddling, here and there, even though I knew the risks. I can't put that on someone else. I won't.

"Now...you already know about the High Dragon. Hopefully knowing that in advance doesn't fuck us in some way...I can't see how it would, but as evidenced by the events of tonight, I've been wrong before. But please, Grayson. Don't ask me again. Don't ask me about the things I know, don't ask me what I'm not telling you because there's enough to fill several books. You're not supposed to know. I'm not even supposed to know.

"I'm here, I'm fighting alongside you. I've killed darkspawn, demons...men. I've endured torture, failure and loss. And I'm still here, trying to do the right thing. My one goal right now is ending the blight. And I'll be fucked if I'm going to go through all this shit trying to save the world just to doom it by saying the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time."

He didn't say anything for a long time, and I resumed my pacing, outwardly furious, but riddled with anxiety over how he would react. I cared about him. He was my best friend here. I knew I may have just ended that friendship, and that thought troubled me more than any High Dragon ever could.

Eventually, he stood up, raising his eyes to meet mine, and I stopped pacing, taken-aback by the gentleness in his expression. He closed the distance between us and embraced me in a tight hug. I was so shocked that it took me several moments to return his embrace.

"I'm sorry." He muttered into my hair. "You're right. You're my friend, and a Grey Warden, and you have earned my trust a thousand times over. I don't think I was wrong to question you...this whole seeing the future thing hurts my brain. And when I don't understand something, I fear it. I let that fear become anger and I brought it down on you.

"I wasn't wrong to question you, but I should have come to you as a friend, not questioned you in front of everyone. I remember you saying that if you told me the truth, you would be risking the world. I don't think I ever really understood it, or believed it. Thank you for explaining it to me. You could have told me to sod off. Honestly, I'm surprised that you didn't."

"If you were anyone else, I would have done worse than that." I assured him. "But you've earned my trust a thousand times over too. I can't be honest with you about everything. But I can be honest with you about being dishonest...and really, isn't that about the same thing?"

"Well...no. But it's a start." He pulled away, smiling. "Do you forgive me for being a rotten friend?"

"Only if you forgive me for the High Dragon."

"I'll get over it."

"I don't know. They're very big. You'd have to jump pretty high."

"I meant-"

"I know. I'm joking. You remember? That thing we used to do before everything got all messed up and serious?"

"Ah, yes. I think I remember." He grinned. "I'm obviously rusty. I shall have to practice."

"We're good? You and I?"

"I hope so. You mean a lot to me. Despite some recent evidence to the contrary. I forgot myself. And you. I'll try not to let it happen again."

"Please do. There are worse things than High Dragons ahead of us. I would hate to have to have this same conversation with you at every turn."

"Worse things? Like what?" He asked, frowning.

"Even you know the answer to that one, kid." I raised my eyebrows. "Archdemon? Tainted Old God, hellbent on destroying the known world?"

"Oh. Right. That." He sighed. "Yes, we can't really blame lack of foresight for that one, can we? Not when it's roaring in our faces every night in our dreams."

"Well, quite." I grinned, returning to sit on my bed. "Speaking of dreams, it's getting late."

"Ah, yes. I'm quite sure there's a certain almost-Templar pacing the halls as we speak, waiting for me to take my leave." He said, with a knowing grin, before bending down and planting a light kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight, kitten."

"Sweet dreams." I replied. "Don't let the Archdemon bite."

Grayson closed the door behind him, but it was only closed for a matter of seconds.

"Finally." Alistair breathed, closing the distance between us in a few strides, gathering me up in his arms and kissing me, fiercely. "I thought he'd never leave."

"My fault, I'm afraid. I did quite a bit of monologuing." I grinned up at him. "I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"Oh, I've been waiting. The last two weeks have been sweet torture."

"Careful with the T-word." I grimaced, before smiling to let him know I wasn't entirely serious.

"I didn't mean…"

"Hush." I commanded. "No more talking. Not tonight."

He complied, without hesitance, and we kept each other awake until the early hours of the morning without saying another word.

Thank you to my beta-reader, Kira Tamarion, for being as thorough and efficient as always.

Thank you guys for the reviews, it's always a pleasant surprise when I open my emails to find that you've taken the time to share your thoughts with me.

Let me know what you think about this chapter. I hope the Morrigan Ex Machina didn't feel like a cop out. I always planned for Teagan to find the map and send Ser Perth to Haven, but initially I had planned for Lauren and the Wardens to discover that he and his men had been killed, and for Lauren to feel the full weight of how her actions can impact the people around her. I felt that it would be an important character moment for Lauren, but after what she went through in Denerim, I felt that she didn't really need to be broken down too much more at this point. She still has trials to face, but I decided to spare poor Ser Perth, while still (hopefully) achieving more-or-less the same result. Lauren was close to revealing everything to Alistair, and she's just been forcibly reminded why she can't.

Anyway, this AN is about the length of a chapter, I just wanted to be candid with you because I appreciate your feedback. Do you think Lauren sending Morrigan after the men showed brains and gumption, or did it just feel convenient to the plot?

I know we have some Cullen stans who might not love how unceremoniously the letter was tossed to the side. The next chapter's probably going to make you feel a bit better about that, so don't worry ;)

Please review :)