Notes: This tale continues from "A Southern Californian in King Cailan's Court", picking up with Lucy going to Amaranthine. Welcome back, and fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Introduction

Around Ferelden three impossibly unlikely children came into the world at very nearly the same time. All three of them would have at least one Grey Warden for a parent. One would be the heir to the throne of Ferelden, one would have the soul of an archdemon, and one would be a perfectly normal child with no particular claim to fame. All three were conceived not long before the archdemon was slain. One of the babies would have a questionable paternity as three different men had plowed the same unexpectedly fertile field.

One child had a mother of unexpected origin. She came to possess the body of a Ferelden noblewoman, Elissa Cousland, by the meddling of an ancient and powerful mage called Flemeth. This woman from earth, Lucy Woodridge, was getting on in years when she was surprised to wake up in the body of the young noblewoman. This strange twist of her fate was compounded when she also found she was in the midst of a terrible Blight in this land where disgusting and vile creatures swarmed from the bowels of the earth to corrupt the lands and kill all life.

Past Blights had taken decades, even centuries, to resolve and all but destroyed the afflicted lands. This Blight was resolved in a mere year, an accomplishment all the more surprising given the political instability of the country when the hereditary ruler, King Cailan, died early on. It was through Lucy's unconventional views and methods that they formed alliances with the Dalish, dwarves, Circle mages, and even Teyrn Loghain, averting a civil war in the midst of the Blight.

The mage, Flemeth, laid the responsibility for resolving this Blight directly on the shoulders of this clueless, middle-aged woman from the planet Earth who now possessed Elissa Cousland. Lucy, thinking herself caught in a dream, or perhaps insane, cheerfully took up the challenge, expecting to wake up one day laced into a straight-jacket in an insane asylum. However, as time passed, she did not wake up from the dream or delusion. Eventually she came to realize she was, truly, exactly where she was - caught in a thirteenth century facsimile of earth, where there were no flush toilets or toilet paper.

Lucy also came to realize she had some unique talents in her new life: She was a mage. Although her magic was similar to the other mages of the land, there were some differences. Lyrium affected her oddly; it made her magic grow in power rather than simply replenish her mana. It also made her magic difficult to control and gave her delusions. This combination of effects was potentially devastating. If she should lose her mind to the lyrium, she could be a devastatingly destructive force. If the Chantry should learn of her strangeness, particularly her reaction to lyrium, she might be judged too dangerous to live.

Fortunately, Lucy had two mentors during the Blight, Morrigan and Wynne. Morrigan was an unabashed apostate who urged Lucy to explore the depths of her power and taught her old and forbidden magic. The other, Wynne, was a Circle-trained mage who coached her in techniques to control and restrain her power. Between the pair, she learned much about magic and a little about healing. A grateful spirit, trapped for centuries in a crystal, taught her how to call upon arcane powers to enhance her fighting and protect herself when she released it from its prison. Other talents had come spontaneously to her, like her ability to Fade-walk, which can only be powered by access to lyrium.

After the Blight was resolved, with Lucy delivering the killing blow to the archdemon and somehow surviving it, she took a sabbatical from the Grey Wardens and lived in Denerim with her lover, Zevran Arainai. There, she worked on inventing some of the modern necessities she most missed; namely toilets.

As the sorrow of losing one of her lovers, Riordan, was beginning to fade, Lucy and Zevran picked up the threads of a new life; looking forward to the birth of her child and making plans for the future.

But it seemed destiny had another plan in store for Lucy. Zevran returned to Antiva when the Crows came to Denerim and threatened Lucy and the baby she carried. He promised her that he would return, if he should survive, but he had to make certain that she would be free of danger from the Crows.

After losing Riordan, losing Zevran nearly broke her spirit. Pregnant and alone, an imposter pretending to be Elissa Cousland, was nearly more than she could bear all by herself. She threw herself into her toilet-making enterprise and hoped that her love would return to her.

Fate, however, was not done messing up her plans.

In her eighth month of pregnancy, the Wardens in Weisshaupt canceled her four year sabbatical mere months after it had begun, and ordered her to take over the arling of Amaranthine, replacing the deceased commander. So it was that she became Arlessa of Amaranthine and Commander of the Grey. It was a burden she did not want, but the Grey Wardens would never let her out of her obligation to them. Elissa Cousland had under gone the Joining ceremony and sworn an oath that Lucy was now obligated to uphold. For the Wardens, it was the taint in her blood that decided the matter. Once tainted, you were a Grey Warden forever.

Loghain

He took the folded paper off the salver and recognized the toilet-shaped seal as being the one Lucy used. He mentally counted the months and realized their baby was due soon and he felt guilty he hadn't been to see her recently. It had hurt too much to see her living in the Warden compound with that elf... Zevran – she hated it when he called him "that elf" – the lover she wouldn't give up to be with him.

"Living well is the best revenge," she had told him once and he had put her philosophy to work. He was seeing the widow of one of his captains who had died in the siege of Denerim. Rumors of the Grey Wardens' sexual prowess abounded and he had a lot of possibilities for dalliances. The rumors were not entirely untrue either. It seemed when he had drunk Avernus' improved Joining formula he had gained a vigor surpassing that of even much younger men. Yet, even with the sometimes annoyingly frequent urgings from his loins, he was discreet. He certainly didn't need to father any more bastards or be forced to wed someone he didn't love.

Zevran had left her a couple months back. Lucy was closed-mouthed about the reasons behind his leaving. She said she expected him to return someday. Her silence on the subject hurt. There had been a time when Lucy had told him everything, when they had worked together closely to unite Ferelden. Now their lives were forking into two different paths.

He had offered to marry her when he learned of her pregnancy, but she would have to give up the... Zevran. She had refused, saying that Zevran was her link to Riordan. Loghain shook his head thinking about their strange affair. Even when she had told him she was sleeping with two other men, at the same time – Loghain snorted with irritation, almost wishing he could have seen what that was all about – he had still slept with her. It's the taint. That was his rationalization. It was her, too, a beautiful young woman with the maturity of a woman his own age. She was like a drug. Even now he could visualize her young, supple body laid out before him, the wild abandonment she brought to his bed, the things she had taught him, the emotions she had inspired. A man my age... He snorted again and frowned as he felt himself stir at the thought of her.

He unfolded the parchment and pushed the deliciously erotic thoughts of her out of his head. He cursed softly as he read.

She had left for Amaranthine this morning. Was she insane? She was going to give birth at any time. Travel was always risky, but for her, in her condition, it was mad. The First Warden had ordered her to go and she felt she had no option but to obey. There had been veiled threats that the Chantry might find out about her strange circumstances if she attempted to leave the order. It was strange that the Grey Wardens made no attempt to attempt to press him into service, or Alistair for that matter, but they were both of a much higher station than Lucy.

Loghain crumpled up the paper and threw it in the roaring fire. She had left early this morning on horseback. He swore again thinking how terrible the weather was. She was going to be miserable in this cold, splattering rain. He couldn't go after her today; it was already too late to start out. He would assemble some of the royal guard and follow her tomorrow. Perhaps if they pushed hard enough, they could catch her on the road before... He shook his head, trying to dislodge the notion that something would happen to her and what might be his child.

Strange how much this child mattered to him and how little he cared about the one in the witch's womb. It was a deed done at the prompting of that elf. He'd shown up with a vial of the potion used for the Joining and a plan on how make certain that Lucy wouldn't die killing the archdemon. She never knew he had fucked the witch that night he drank Avernus' potion. He went through the sex and blood magic ritual and conceived a child with Morrigan to save Lucy. He owed it to her after everything she had done, after all she meant to him. Even so, he was determined to make the final blow, just in case the witch's magic didn't work. When Alistair stopped him from killing the archdemon, Lucy had done it. She very nearly did die, even then.

Lucy was never any the wiser about what he had done. She thought she had survived making the killing blow because she was not from this world, but Loghain knew it was because he had accepted the witch's dark bargain and had slept with her. It was a detail Lucy didn't need to know.

He strode out of his rooms and began making plans to leave for Amaranthine before dawn in the morning.

Zevran

Having his shoulders dislocated on the rack had been painful, yes, but it was a type of pain he had been trained to bear. This though, knowing that the woman he loved was going to have his child at any moment, perhaps already had, and he couldn't be there with her... this was a pain he didn't know how to tolerate.

Zevran pulled a roll of cloth strips out of his backpack and wound them around the deep cut on his leg. He kept his goal in mind: Kill del capo and everyone protecting him, and take over the Crow cell. That was the only way he could return to Lucy and his bambino. Maybe not of his seed, but it would be his in every way that mattered. Privately he hoped the baby would be Riordan's. He could always make another child with Lucy, but this baby might be their only link to their fallen lover.

He turned to the corpse lying next to him and pulled free the dagger he'd left in his chest. "Sorry, paesano. Nothing personal," Zevran apologized to the corpse, not really feeling sorry at all. His old associate would have killed him on sight, given the chance.

The shadows swallowed Zevran and he limped back to the room he was renting in the slums. He would have to move again soon. It was unwise to stay more than a few days in the same place. He pulled the drapes over the windows and lit a lamp. It was barely enough light but he sat down to write a letter to Lucy.

Amore, I miss you more than I can describe. I still live. I cannot say more in case this letter is intercepted. I wonder each day if you are well and safe and if our bambino is in your arms yet. I look for your beautiful face each morning when I awaken and each day my heart breaks when I remember we are apart. Be...

A minute crunch disturbed his thoughts. A boot on gravel. Sloppy. He waded up the letter and threw it into the fireplace. He was foolish to write. It wouldn't serve either of them if the Crows intercepted his letter and were reminded that the best way to get to him was through her and their child. As long as he was in Antiva, on their soil, he prayed they wouldn't try to capture her again. He got ready for the attack. He had so much to live for but better he die here than put her life in danger by staying in Ferelden.

When three of his former colleagues burst through the window, he was ready.

Anders

The templars guarding him refused to let him out of his cell when the screaming started.

"Come on, guys, I can help. Just unlock the door. I promise I won't run away."

They ignored him and looked around nervously. Someone, somewhere, was using a tremendous amount of magic. Even Anders could feel the thrill of powerful magic lift the little hairs on his arms. He hadn't ever felt anything like it. Not even that time all the third year apprentices ganged together to carve a mustache on the statue of Andraste in the main hall.

"Guys! You can't just leave me in this cell while everyone around us dies. We could be helping them." It sounded reasonable to Anders but templars tended to be single-minded and they really, really didn't like him.

Biff, not his real name, just the name Anders had given him, drew his weapon and looked at his colleague. "Maker! Did you feel that Ian?"

The other templar shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Yeah, what is it? A darkspawn mage?"

Biff opened his mouth to answer when the door crashed open and a half dozen darkspawn ran into the room. The templars blasted the darkspawn with their magic but barely slowed them down. A hurlock buried its teeth into Biff's neck and he made a weird gurgling sound. A pair of darkspawn was hacking at Ian. The templars fell in short order and the darkspawn ran on, ignoring Anders locked in the cell.

"Huh!" Anders said, puzzled by the darkspawn. "Yeah, that's right. I'd keep running if I were you!" he called after the darkspawn. If he didn't know any better, it almost seemed like the monsters were running from something. As if in answer of what they might be running from, he felt another surge of that tremendous magical energy. Whatever was the source of that was drawing nearer. He needed to get out of this damned cell now!

Biff had fallen conveniently close to the bars of his cell. He reached out and caught hold of the templar's foot and pulled him closer. He'd seen where Biff had kept the key to his cell. He had to worm his hand down the neck of Biff's armor, past the wound still streaming blood, and find the key. "Uh. Guh. Gross!" Anders withdrew his hand, now dripping blood, and had the key on a length of leather. A burst of fire out of his hand parted the leather and he pulled the key free and unlocked his cell door.

He opened the door and was picking his way over the fallen templars and the couple of darkspawn they'd killed when another darkspawn ran into the room from the same direction as the others.

"Whoa!" Anders yelled as it made a beeline toward him. He blasted the darkspawn with an impressive gout of fire and was gratified to see the darkspawn drop to the ground screaming in pain. He kept up the fire until the darkspawn stopped moving. The flame shooting out of his hands flickered out and he turned around to see two women staring at him.

"Uh, I didn't do it." He hid his still steaming hand behind his back. "I mean, I'm not broken up about them dying to be perfectly honest. Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down. I guess having a darkspawn rip out your throat does that."

Anders took in the two women. One was clad in heavy armor and the other was... vastly pregnant. She staggered and clutched at the warrior's arm and her face scrunched up with pain.

"Who...nnngh... are you?" she asked.

She panted heavily and a nimbus of magical energy pulsed around her. It was a bracing sort of magic. It seemed to boost his magic, too, and his fatigue faded. Whatever mana he'd used to kill the darkspawn was quickly replaced.

The intensely strong magic was coming from her!

"Maker... you're the one I felt." She didn't look particularly dangerous. She was so very pregnant and looked rather young and pretty, and had obviously been outside in the rain. Her hair was escaping from a braid and stuck to her face and neck in slashes of very dark red. She had dark eyes, it was too dark to see exactly what color they were, but they stood out in her pale face.

"You may call me Anders, my dear lady. I am a mage and, sadly, a wanted apostate." He moved over to her side. "You're... in pain? May I examine you?"

"An apostate?" Mhairi said, the scorn obvious in her voice.

"In other circumstances, I would be too, Mhairi." She turned to Anders and nodded. "I think I'm in labor." She laughed but it was a bitter sounding laugh. "Not the best timing."

Anders put a hand on her shoulder and another on her stomach, touching the magical aura that seemed to surround her. It sent a thrill through his body that was better than lyrium. "Maker... how are you doing that?"

She shrugged. "I'm not, at least, I don't think I am. Is the baby all right?"

He concentrated a moment and pulled his hands away as if he'd been shocked. "Andraste's knickers! What are you?"

"I'm... Oh geez! It's a long story. I'm not a demon. I'm a Grey Warden. I just... I'm different but I'm not from the Fade."

Anders was surprised by the vehement protests as if she'd been asked this a lot. Of course, if she'd been around mages much she probably had been asked this a lot. There was just something very off about her.

"She is the Commander of the Grey," the soldier told him, "the hero of Ferelden. She's not a what!" She looked very put out with Anders.

Anders looked at her in surprise. "Well yes. Er, I... you're Elissa Cousland? No one mentioned you were a mage."

She waved a hand. "Not many people know. I try to... nnnnngh! Ow! Dammit... can you stop this?"

"Your labor? No, you wouldn't want me to. It'll harm the baby. Look, you've got to get to a bed. I can deliver the baby for you."

She shook her head. "Can't," she said through clenched teeth, "this place is crawling with darkspawn."

Anders shook his head. "Well, if you insist. Look, you'd better let me tag along. You might need my help along the way."

Elissa nodded. "Thank you." She relaxed suddenly as though the contraction had passed. "Is the baby all right?"

Anders nodded. "It's fine. You're early in your labor. You'll have time between contractions. It might be hours yet before they get more frequent and stronger."

"Good, we might need hours to get these darkspawn out of here." She gestured to Mhairi. "Lead on, Mhairi. I assume you know your way around here."

Mhairi nodded curtly. "Yes, Commander. This way."

They encountered groups of darkspawn all over the keep. There were people hiding in rooms and they encouraged them to run. Eventually they came upon a room full of darkspawn and a very short person... a dwarf? In the tower one doesn't see dwarves very often.

"Hey, Lucy!" the dwarf waved at her. "Glad you could make it!" He spared her a glance and momentarily boggled at her very large midsection. A hurlock's axe came hurtling toward the dwarf's head but an enormous lightning bolt struck the darkspawn and forked into what looked like a half dozen branches. The hurlock was partially vaporized and six other darkspawn were jittering and spasming.

"Andraste's tits!" Anders stared at Elissa. "How do you do that?"

She shrugged. "I'm a mage. It's just one of things I learned to do." There was something furtive in her eyes, a little moment of concern that passed over her face, but she commented no further.

"I don't remember you from the tower." Anders saw the dwarf was bleeding from numerous small wounds so he healed them.

"I never went to the tower," she replied. "I came... rather late to my talents." Another lightning bolt flew from her hand and a pair of darkspawn fell.

"Hey, thanks, Luce!" the dwarf waved at her.

The soldier woman, Mhairi, charged to one of the few remaining darkspawn but Elissa zapped it before she could even swipe at it with her sword. Anders heard Mhairi swear softly. Her sword was remarkably clean.

Anders glanced at the commander again. She seemed barely taxed even with all these enormous lightning bolts she was casting. She turned and looked at him suddenly and caught him staring. She smiled, rather grimly, but it did light up her face a little.

"What? Do I have darkspawn stuff on me?" She rubbed at her face. "Be careful of their ick. It isn't good for you."

"Uh, no. I was just admiring your very large... lightning bolts."

The commander laughed, and for the first time it sounded like honest amusement. This time her face really lit up and there was a flash of a mischievous twinkle in her eye like they'd just shared a dirty joke. Anders felt his own lips turn up in response. She was the weirdest thing he'd ever encountered, but he liked her already.

They quickly cleaned up the rest of the room and the dwarf, Oghren, joined them as they continued to the next room.

They went from room to room cleaning the darkspawn out. The commander – the dwarf called her Lucy – told Anders she could sense where they were. He also sensed she was holding back so that Mhairi and Oghren could get some licks in.

"So, what have you got?" Lucy asked him.

"Me?" A broad smile spread across his lips. "Why, commander, we've just met!"

She chuckled. "Magic-wise. What are you good at?"

Anders sighed heavily. "Oh that! I thought you meant... Well, magic-wise I'm a rather good healer and I've made a study of enhancing and battle magic." He looked at her sideways with a sly look. "There are other, less well-known types of magic I've studied. Forbidden magic, but stuff that gets passed around at the Circle informally. I have been told I excel at it."

The commander snorted. "Ha! You're either talking about blood magic or..."

Anders frowned in mock disgust. "Blood magic? Never, touch the stuff. It's icky and never comes out of clothes."

Suddenly Oghren let out a big bellowing shout. Anders turned to look at him. He'd just taken a nasty cut to the arm. He cast a healing spell and the dwarf's wound knitted. I'd better pay better attention to the fight. He and the commander were chatting while the warriors were getting beat on badly.

"Nice," the commander said.

Anders couldn't keep himself from preening a bit. He cast another spell that froze several of the darkspawn around them.

The darkspawn were nearly dead when the commander was gripped with contractions again. She grabbed his arm and squeezed it tightly.

"Ow! Dammit!"

Her face furrowed with pain.

"Okay," Anders said calmly. "Just breathe deeply and slowly. It'll pass soon." He put his hand on the small of her back to help support her. "Breathe."

The commander drew in some slow, deep breaths and after a few minutes the contractions stopped. "I think I can go on now." She stopped and her eyes glazed over for a moment. "I feel a few more darkspawn above us. Is there a staircase nearby, Mhairi?"

Mhairi nodded. "Yes, right this way." She led their team of darkspawn hunters up some stairs onto the battlements.

Anders hoped that they came to the end of the darkspawn soon. Elissa's contractions were coming closer together. The baby was getting impatient. He also wanted to get away, but he wouldn't go just yet, not until after the baby was delivered and... he wanted to unravel the mystery of this woman. Who was she really and where was the man who was responsible for her condition?

Oh Maker, not again, Anders! This was how he was caught before. He would get wrapped up in some woman and stay in one place too long. The templars would come and he'd be back in the tower. Still, if anyone could keep the templars away, he had a feeling this woman could.

Lucy

It was a stroke of luck we ran into a healer mage shortly after my labor started. I instantly liked him. He had an irreverent sense of humor like my own. I was also relieved I was able to deflect him from the question of my origin. I didn't want to explain all that in front of Mhairi. She seemed like the sort who wasn't likely to take too well to excessive amounts of strangeness. She hadn't started chanting yet or anything, but I sensed it wouldn't take much more to push her into religiosity. I could just see her running off to the nearest chantry to report that the Warden-Commander was an abomination.

My contractions were starting to get closer together. I'd always heard that first children took a really long time to come, but I seemed to be bucking the norm. This one was going to come and soon!

We found a talking darkspawn on the battlements. He pushed a soldier off and there was another rather dignified man he looked about to kill.

"Capture the Grey Warden," he said. "These others may be killed."

I shivered as his gravelly voice. Capture me? For what purpose? I knew what purpose women were used by the darkspawn. "Fat chance, asshole!" I let go with the biggest lightning bolt yet and killed the darkspawn holding the gray haired man.

Anders gave me another glance. I knew I was freaking him out with the displays of my wild magic, but it couldn't be helped. I was about to cast another bolt when I was seized by a really hard contraction. I gasped and stumbled against the wall.

Oghren and Mhairi charged in to battle the talking darkspawn freak. Anders came over to me with a concerned look on his face.

"Help them. I'm all right," I lied. I felt like my uterus was trying to crawl out of my bellybutton. This was normal labor... I hoped so anyway. I wasn't sure that the freaky talking darkspawn was going to die quite so easily as the others.

The fight raged on about me and I tried to pay attention and do what I could to help. My spells were getting weaker as the contractions got stronger. God! I needed to lie down and work on getting this baby out of me. I slid down the wall and sat on the cold stone floor and panted; all my attention was now focused on my uterus and the pain.

"Let's get her to a bedroom," I heard Anders say.

"I know the way. Can you walk, commander?" Mhairi stood over me and I looked up.

"Maybe." I was gripped by another contraction and suddenly wasn't quite so certain, but Anders extended a hand and he pulled me to my feet.

Oghren watched us; I could see a wise-ass comment burning on his face. "So which one did that to you, Luce? I'd put money on the general..."

"Shut it, Oghren!" I huffed at him between contractions. The last thing I needed was for him to expose my sordid sex life during the Blight to everyone.

Anders shot an interested look to Oghren who looked very much like he had a secret he was just dying to tell. I bet the very next person to get drunk with Oghren was going to get an earful about me.

I walked with my arm thrown over Anders to hold myself up and his arm wrapped around me to support me. Every now and then we had to stop as a particularly strong contraction gripped me, but eventually we came to a small room with a bed and they got me into it.

"I'll find a clean nightgown for her to wear." Mhairi rushed off looking like she didn't want to be anywhere near a laboring woman. Okay, so she wasn't the maternal type. Not all of us are. I wasn't certain I was either.

"You've got to get out of those wet things, Lucy." Anders took off my cloak and started to work on taking my boots off.

"Oghren, go get drunk or something," I said when I saw he was standing there looking curious.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Oghren scurried out of the door and I heard him opening and closing doors looking for booze.

Anders helped me out of the clothes I was wearing. It was a dress since my belly was too big to wear armor. I was a little embarrassed to be baring myself to someone who was nearly a complete stranger but one did what one must. While we waited for Mhairi to return with the nightgown he wrapped a blanket around me.

"What? Uh, you seem to be lacking hair... there." He scratched at the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.

I felt myself flush. "I remove it with a bit of strategic fire spell usage."

"Well, that must have taken some rather extraordinary control, which is extremely impressive, but it does raise the question as to why."

I flushed even more wishing for a very strong contraction to derail this conversation; sadly my uterus wasn't cooperating. "It's just a... convenience."

"For?" He pushed for more.

"Use your imagination!" I snapped.

"Oh, I am. Believe me, I am!" A big grin spread across his face. "But, you missed some, you know?"

I faked a contraction to get off the subject.

Mhairi came back and helped me into the nightgown while Anders started a fire in the fireplace. Then he sent Mhairi to go fetch water and clean linens. She looked relieved to be going again.

Anders piled up the pillows on the bed so that I would be somewhat upright and he positioned me how he wanted me.

"You've done this before?" I asked him.

"A few times. Every so often someone in the tower would give birth. We're usually pretty careful of such things... knowing how children of mages are usually taken away." He spread apart my legs and peered at me, but kept chattering. I think to keep me calm. "Most likely the very people abusing the mages are sometimes their sons or daughters. I also delivered a few children on my escape attempts."

"Escape? Nnngh!"

"Keep breathing, Lucy. The baby is perhaps an hour off." He changed back to the question I had asked abruptly. "Yes, escapes, plural. I tried to get away seven times. Well, officially this is my seventh time and I had been recaptured again."

He chattered on, telling his life story and encouraging me to push and breathe. Every now and then he cast a rejuvenation spell on me to keep the exhaustion at bay. I was pretty insensible to everything but the sound of his voice and my labor so I was surprised when the door crashed open and Loghain walked in.

"Lucy? Maker's breath, woman. What were you thinking going off to Amaranthine in your condition?" He crossed the room and pulled a chair up to the bed.

Anders glared at Loghain for a moment then turned to me. "I take it you know him? Want me to throw him out?"

Loghain glared back. "I'd like to see you try."

I groaned, holding my stomach in my hands. "Please, Loghain... just take a seat. Save the tongue-lashing for later, I'm trying to push out a baby here and it's just a bit uncomfortable. Anders seems to know what he's doing."

Anders looked at Loghain again, this time a bit startled. "Ah... General... Teyrn Loghain?" I could see he was starting to piece together the possibility that the baby's father was here from the bit Oghren had let drop. "All right then. Back to it, Lucy. Breathe... that's right." Then I was gripped again by another contraction. "Push! Push! Push! Push!" he encouraged me.

I was straining hard, probably turning purple, trying to expel that thing out of me. I had stopped thinking of the baby as a baby, a cute little thing I was going to love and cherish; now it had become 'the thing I want out of me now!'

The contraction stopped and I leaned back panting, gasping for air and sweating profusely. Anders wiped off my face with a clean cloth and talked softly to me. I had just caught my breath when another contraction hit.

I was pushing like crazy, Anders was talking me through it, and Loghain was looking on rather pale-faced, when the door crashed open again.

"Teyrn Loghain!" A woman dressed in a templar's uniform and several men crashed into the bedroom. "Beware, this man is a dangerous criminal."

Loghain looked up at her. "Templar, this is hardly the time for that. My... This woman is giving birth." He got up from where he was sitting and crossed over to her.

"Oh, great." Anders said sadly. "Back to the tower, I suppose."

"This is an apostate who we were in the process of bringing back to the Circle to face justice!"

"Oh, please. The things you people know about justice would fit into a thimble. I'll just escape again anyway."

I was floundering in the contraction. Should I be breathing deeply or pushing? I couldn't remember. I wanted the baby out but I also wanted that annoying woman to leave too. "Get her out of here, Loghain!" I yelled.

Loghain stood nose-to-nose to the templar. "You heard the Warden-Commander. Get out."

The woman slashed the air with her hand. "I'm not leaving without the maleficar. He's going to hang for the murders he has committed.

"Murders? But those templar were – oh, what's the use? You won't believe me anyhow." Anders sighed; he sounded defeated.

I gritted my teeth. "Those templars were killed by darkspawn," I snarled. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. I assume mages have other ways of killing than using their teeth on someone's neck..." I really, really hoped I wasn't going to leak magic again in front of all these templars. I tried to shut the door on the Fade as much as possible, but the contractions made it hard to concentrate.

"Nonetheless, the man is a maleficar and he must be punished," she insisted stubbornly.

Loghain turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "Grey Wardens are beyond the purview of the Chantry, Commander, if you catch my drift."

"Nnngharrrrgh! Oh! You mean... Nnnngh... Crap! Okay, I am invoking the Grey Warden..." I stopped to catch my breath and push, "Nnnnnargh! Right of Conscription on this mage." I gave a small scream as I felt things shift inside me and get very, very painful. "Now get the hell out of here and let me have my damn baby!" I shouted.

"What? Never!" she shouted nearly as loud as I just did.

Loghain drew his sword. "Templar... the Grey Wardens still retain the Right of Conscription. You have no place here." He slid the tip of the sword toward her. "Now leave!" he bellowed.

The woman stiffened and briefly tipped her head. "If Your Grace feels it is best..." The templar turned and she and her companions strode out of the room.

"Me? A Grey Warden? I guess that will work..." Anders wore a smug smile on his face. "Good job, Lucy... Er, I guess I should call you Commander Lucy. Now, let's see about that baby."

His head disappeared between my legs and then his face popped up again. "We're making progress! I want you to really push on the next one."

Oh, I did. I pushed like I was trying to move Mount Sunder with my pelvic muscles. Everything got really painful then. Loghain sat on the other side of the bed and held my hand while Anders coached me to breathe, push, inhale, exhale and so forth. In the worst of it, I totally lost control of my magic and everyone's hair was standing on end from the electricity I was generating. Anders kept up the frequent application of a rejuvenation spell.

I was strong, very strong, in this youthful body with all the training I had done. The baby was properly positioned, my hips were wide enough... it was a text book delivery. I was fortunate because so many women did die during childbirth in this era.

I gave one last push and the baby was freed from his solitary confinement and I fell back on the pillows feeling rather freed myself. I shortly heard a healthy cry and Anders and Loghain looked at one another and smiled.

"Congratulations, Lucy. You have a healthy baby boy!" Anders caught a glimpse of Loghain's expression and I think he decided to risk a guess. "I suppose I should extend congratulations to you as well?"

Loghain ignored him.

"My god," I whispered. "Who would have thought I could have a child at my age?" I smiled up at Loghain and Anders wrapped a little blanket around the baby and put him in my arms. He had a sprinkling of black hair on his head and his eyes under his heavy, sleepy lids, were a steel grey, but who know what color they'd end up being?

"Your age?" Anders chuckled. "Right. What are you? Twenty?"

I knew I was going to tell Anders my secret. I'd tell all the Wardens, should I find any more. I was sick of hiding it from the people who were around me the most. Besides, I had the protection of the most powerful people in the country. I might not flaunt the truth, but I wasn't going to try to hide from people close to me. I smiled at him enigmatically. "I'm older than I look."

Loghain chuckled and leaned over to kiss me. "He's beautiful, Lucy."

I beamed at the baby. "Maybe it's just me, but you're right. Babies are usually all scrunchy looking aren't they? This one is just... perfect. Anders you've been around babies a bit, what do you think? Exceptionally perfect child or am I being a typical mother?"

Anders smiled at me indulgently. "He is a very handsome lad." He grabbed a toe and tickled it gently. "But I delivered him so I might be biased as well."

~o~o~o~

Loghain and his men found the remaining survivors and started to put the fortress back into some semblance of order while I recuperated. I spent two days in bed, but between Anders' healing skills and the speed at which my body healed, I was out of bed quickly.

The baby was an angel. He rarely fussed and loved being held and nursed. He seemed to watch me a lot, though his eyes never looked entirely focused. I wondered just how the world looked to him and what he was thinking about, or even if he was thinking. Maybe it was all just a big impressionistic painting to him; all he saw were blurs of color and movement.

I wondered over his paternity too. Loghain was convinced he was the father, but I secretly saw Danny's features on his face. I supposed it was still possible that it could be Zevran's child. Who is to say one of his parents didn't have dark hair or dark eyes? I didn't know whether anyone in Elissa's family had black hair, it could have been from her family.

"What are you going to name him?" Loghain asked me.

I'd been mulling it over for a long time. I didn't want to name him after one of his potential fathers, but I thought I could get away with a name similar to Riordan's. "I was thinking of Daniel." I looked down into my boy's peaceful face. "What do you think?"

Loghain picked up the baby's tiny fist. "Daniel. Dan." He looked at him speculatively. "It's a good name. Masculine. I like it."

So my child was named Daniel. Daniel Woodridge Cousland. It irritated me I couldn't give him my true last name, so I gave it to him as a middle name and hoped no one would ever call him "Woody".

Morrigan

Morrigan held the child she'd given birth to the night before. It had a few strands of black hair dusting its skull, pale blue eyes and a nose that looked remarkably like Loghain's. She saw nothing of herself in it.

It. That's how she thought of it... her. It was difficult to believe that within this tiny, frail, ugly, as all babies are, creature there was the soul of an old god. This was all a grand experiment; not even Flemeth had known what the results of this would be.

What will a babe born with the soul of an old god exhibit? Flemeth had written in her grimoire. Will she be born with the knowledge of her prior life? Or will she be a blank slate upon which a mother can write whatever she wishes? I only lament that I am not young enough to do this myself. Morrigan can only be trusted so far. Had I more time to prepare, had Morrigan fully mastered her abilities, it would be me doing this. Unluckily, I cannot see how this will turn out, no matter how hard I scry. The future is strangely murky. There is only one thing I can see clearly now. I must bring that woman from Earth. The key to everything lies within her.

I will soon go to Earth and find her. Then I must unbind her soul from her body, tether it before it floats off into the ether. To the girl, Elissa, I must do the same. Finding her is a much easier task, fortunately. Once the exchange is done, Lucy must do all that is required or I will fail. I shall bind Morrigan's will to the task.

Once the babe is born can I possess the child and gain the old god's power? An interesting question... one I am not certain I wish to risk.

Morrigan threw Flemeth's grimoire aside. So many unanswered questions! And now she was saddled with what to all appearances appeared to be just a typical newborn brat.

The baby squirmed and cried yet again and Morrigan unhappily pulled aside her blouse to feed it.

"I suppose I should name you," she finally spoke to the child. "I know nothing of naming babies. Perhaps I should name you for my mother, she would have liked that." She laughed bitterly at that. She hated Flemeth especially now that she knew Flemeth had intended to possess her someday. She thought of all the names she knew. Women from stories that Flemeth had told her, from the few books her mother had owned... and then there were the very few women she had known. Wynne, Lucy and Leliana were the sum of it, other than a few Chasind she'd met.

Lucy... she mused. Now there was an unusual name and an unusual woman. They'd become friends although toward the end they'd had a large disagreement. Fortunately that Antivan was besotted with Lucy and arranged for Morrigan what she had wanted. The General was just as infatuated and agreed to impregnate her to save his dear Lucy's life. Morrigan laughed sourly. If there was one thing Lucy knew how to do it was how to lure men to her. It was an admirable skill although she doubted Lucy thought of it as a skill. It was an ability the newly reincarnated old god, the god of beauty, would certainly possess. It was with a certain sense of perversity and a bit of a homage to Lucy that Morrigan decided what she would name it.

"Your name is Lucine, child. Live up to my expectations." She watched the babe nurse for a moment and then in a rare gesture ran her hand tenderly along the child's skull, through the fine black hair.

"Don't disappoint me, Lucy."

~o~o~o~

Note: You might notice I change perspective from third to first and change POV's too. It's an experiment. I always felt too locked into Lucy's head in the last story. This way I get to show glimpses of what is going on in other people's heads. This way you, the reader, get to know things that Lucy doesn't know.

I love your reviews! They are my muse. Please review. :)

My thanks to Biff who is heroically still beta-reading for me and smoothing things out. And my thanks always to Zevgirl for her feedback!