AN: I know I semi-promised Morrigan in this chapter. It just didn't work out. The scene I have planned with her doesn't quite fit in yet. It will soon though, I hope. I also apologize for another late update but I do want everyone to know that I most definitely plan on continuing this story. Thank you for reading, following, and reviewing! Please enjoy chappie 9! Hope the OCs impress.

Chapter 9: Dazed and Confused

Right away, Lemari gathered her manners and said, "I'm sorry!" as she bowed to King Alistair. "I am Lady Cousland's handmaiden. Lemari."

"Someone who can give us some answers," Wynne took it upon herself to notify everyone. "It is by her invitation that I am here."

"Have you seen her?!" Alistair exclaimed to Lemari, jumping at the chance for answers. "Elissa? Is she all right?"

Lemari tightened her face, avoiding a blunt sulk in front of King Alistair. "I have been with her for the latter part of this day, your majesty."

She glimpsed at Wynne to see if the old woman understood that whatever was wrong with Elissa was not supposed to be revealed to more than Wynne, herself. The unexpected company made it more difficult to say anything of Elissa. Wynne understood and offered an apologetic frown in return.

"As for her state, I cannot say," Lemari then offered King Alistair as her eyes darted to the floor. "Lady Elissa refuses to see anyone."

King Alistair opened his mouth to probably start shouting again, but the red-armored elf stepped forward and spoke in his place. "Shouting is not going to help, Warden," he said to the king in a justly but composed demeanor. His Orlesian accent hinted to Lemari that he was one of the Orlesian Grey Wardens that were due in Denerim—evidently, now arrived. "Your impatience is only costly of Elissa's time," the Orlesian Warden upheld.

This seemed to shut King Alistair up, quite well, and he now stood in anguished silence. Lemari was impressed, though unsure as to whether she should now be cautious of this Orlesian Warden. In the back of her mind she knew anyone that could silence a king must be dangerous. And for the moment she did not think herself on the same side as this Orlesian Warden.

Was she supposed to choose sides, she suddenly wondered?

"Lemari," he then addressed her with an unexpected frankness. "Since it is unlikely she will grant an immediate audience to us, can you relay a message to your Lady Elissa?"

"I can certainly try," she was just as upfront as him in replying, impressed again because this noticeably authoritative elf was not making a more difficult demand of her. "Who are you?" she was suddenly aware she did not know anything about this elf other than that he was Orlesian and probably Warden.

"I am Orlesian Warden-Constable Raz," he immediately denoted before moving on to, "Inform Lady Cousland that I am eager to meet her."

King Alistair broke his anguished silence to express, "That's it?"

"That's it," the Warden-Constable returned as he gave the King a blank stare. "At least in the message," he then clarified. Then he told Lemari, "I will go with you as you deliver this message. At least to our Hero of Ferelden's door. The rest of us, I suggest, wait here or down the hall from her room. But not too close until I further assess the situation. Is this request reasonable?" he unexpectedly asked of everyone.

"I don't like it," Alistair asserted.

Wynne added to the Warden-Constable's suggestion with a sharp gaze on Alistair that, no doubt, meant she agreed with the Constable. "Alistair, the less people crowding Elissa the more we will be able to help her," she encouraged.

"I think they are right," a human male next to Alistair finally spoke-up. He was wearing the Cousland crest on his armor, so Lemari could only assume it was Elissa's older brother Fergus. "I'm just as worried about her as you are," Fergus assured his future brother-in-law. "But I also know my sister is too stubborn to forfeit her secrets under the pressure of all of us."

"Allow me to assess the situation, Alistair," the Constable offered, "before we barge in and make demands or accusations."

King Alistair was outnumbered and by the look on his face, he knew it. It seemed, unlike Elissa, Alistair did falter under the pressure of everyone. And with a sigh he whined, "Fine… I'll just be down the hall then. But expect me to come barging in at any given time when I feel like I've waited long enough."

"I haven't agreed to this," Lemari said, letting her own assertiveness take control. She decided that she was choosing a side—Elissa's side. Because in that moment Lemari was the only one able to speak up for the Hero of Ferelden. Lemari was given a job to take care of Elissa's needs, and she was going to do that job, even if it meant going against other Grey Wardens.

Inviting Wynne was one thing that seemed right in order to fulfill her duty as Elissa's handmaiden, but allowing a group of Warden's to invade Elissa's… secrets… did not seem right.

"We await your decision," the Warden-Constable responded, regarding Lemari with a patient gaze. It was almost intimidating to see no emotion from this mysterious, tattooed, and red-armored elf.

Everyone was staring at Lemari again, and she could feel the pressure like a cloud directly over her head. It was going to rain down hard on her if she didn't agree to the Constable's suggestion. "Just the Warden-Constable will follow me to the door, then?" she critically asked.

"Just the Constable," King Alistair answered her with quite a bit of bitterness in his voice.

Lemari regarded everyone again with a serious glare, glaring at Warden-Constable Raz the longest before she said, "Follow me."

She turned to lead him toward Elissa's room, but he first said, "A moment." Then he turned to the two armored and weapon wielding individuals who stood inert at the back of the group—undoubtedly more Orlesian Wardens. He said something to them in Orlesian and they nodded before heading toward the entrance of the estate and exiting.

"Constable?" King Alistair prompted when Warden-Constable Raz turned back to the others.

"A precaution," the Warden-Constable explained little before telling Lemari, "When you are ready, we will follow. But only I will accompany you to Lady Elissa's room," he established again, eyeing King Alistair as if he thought the anxious man needed a reminder.

Lemari visibly sighed, taking in her new responsibility, and then began leading the party through the estate toward Elissa's room. She felt rigid and awkward leading such an unusual group of people through a house that she barely knew herself. Elissa's brother Fergus would be more qualified to lead these people through his own estate, Lemari thought. Yet, somehow, the responsibility had been handed to her.

She could feel eyes on her as she tried to be proper and confident in leading them.

Forget being privileged. She was leading a group of very important people and all she felt was frustrated. Being the Hero of Ferelden's handmaiden had definitely, already become more than what Lemari had expected. And she had expected a lot—actually, she did not know what she had expected. She had taken the job, because it got her farther away from the Alienage.

Away from bondage and into another form of bondage was how she saw it. She was now a servant, but servitude was more tolerable than having to live in a place where so many horrors took place. Denerim's Alienage was plagued with problems long before the Darkspawn overran the city.

This elf-girl had jumped at the chance to work at the Palace. It wasn't until Arl Eamon had somehow taken notice of her skills as a healer and her way of working with the other servants, that he gave her the job as Lady Cousland's handmaiden. The Arl told her that she had a certain authority, caution, and determination that would be useful in, "Handling Lady Elissa's needs. Not only has Elissa proven herself to be a warrior, she's a natural politician. She is a Cousland, after all. Meaning, at times, she'll also be difficult. But my intuition tells me that you have the qualities required to counter her stubbornness when necessary."

Lemari did not know what "when necessary" meant. She hadn't needed to oppose Lady Cousland on anything. Or maybe she had. Wasn't Lemari opposing Lady Cousland now by allowing their guests to follow her to her room?

She was going to have to warn Elissa; give her a chance to escape, if she hadn't already.

Wait! In that instant, Lemari realized that the Warden-Constable had sent his two Wardens out of the estate for that very reason. They were to catch Elissa if she tried to escape. They wouldn't kill her, would they?

As promised, when they were at the end of the hall where Elissa's room was, the rest of the party stood back and watched as only Lemari and Warden-Constable Raz approached the door. It was vaguely amusing to see King Alistair peeking around the corner every other second as they drew closer. When they finally arrived at the door, Lemari noticed Wynne grab Alistair and hold him back.

Slowly, Lemari knocked once. Then twice. She was about to knock a third time, but the Constable halted her hand.

"Two knocks should be sufficient," he said.

She looked at the Constable with unbelieving eyes, but he ignored her as he held her wrist—gently, but still without permission—as he kept his ear close to the door. Lemari could hear nothing, and she loudly and angrily expressed, in spite of the Constable, "Lady Cousland, it's Lemari. May I please come in?"

Now she could hear a faint but quick movement, and the door clicked, presumably unlocking. Lemari forcefully pushed the Warden-Constable out of the way without a thought saying, "I will relay your message, Warden-Constable Raz. Wait here." And she opened the door which was indeed now unlocked. Quickly she went inside and shut the door behind her in just as much of a hurry.

The room was completely dark and quiet, startling Lemari. Elissa had apparently taken the opportunity of Lemari leaving the room to put out the fire. "My lady, are you… in here?" she hesitantly asked. She shivered. The room also felt like it dropped in temperature in the short amount of time Lemari had been downstairs.

"Yes," Lemari heard Elissa answer from across the room. Elissa's voice was perfectly even and unconcerned as she then said, "I thought to try the window to make a run for it, but the sun hasn't quite gone down yet. I don't understand how the darkspawn can handle sunlight when a majority of their existence is in light-less caves and caverns. You would think most of them would be blind when they come up to the surface. Even Oghren had trouble with the sunlight when he first came up to the surface."

"My lady?" Lemari felt helpless in the dark, listening to Elissa speak nonsense. It was well dark enough outside now that sunlight should not be a problem. "There is… someone here to see you," she relayed to change the subject. "Several, actually."

"Yes, I can sense them," Elissa said with a grumble. "Wardens right? I guess it's unavoidable. I want… " she stopped. "Is Alistair with them?"

"He is," Lemari told her. "And Spirit Healer Wynne. Wynne is actually here… by my invitation."

"Is she really here by your invitation?"

Lemari jumped when she heard Elissa ask this. Elissa had come closer and Lemari had not even noticed.

"I'm not too surprised you sought her help," Elissa went on. Lemari could hear her voice move to another part of the room. "I'm beyond medicinal healing." She was now next to where the hearth would be. "But I think I'm beyond healing magic, too."

"I'm sorry," Lemari apologized, suddenly feeling guilty for not telling Elissa before that she had summoned Wynne. She heard Elissa chuckle in response.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Arl Eamon knew what he was doing when he chose you to be my handmaiden. You have far better judgment than I do. Which is also why I have not made a run for it yet."

"Lady Cousland, I'm afraid I don't understand—"

"You've had every right, Lemari, to abandon me. To leave me to deal with my problems on my own. But you haven't. You're proud, and strong, and not willing to except failure. This may not be something you want to hear right now… Nevertheless… my life is in your hands, Lemari. The next few minutes will decide my fate, and you're the one to make the decisions in these minutes."

Lemari could not believe what she was hearing. "That is absurd!" she spoke out. "How can you put your life in my hands? I don't even know you."

Elissa chuckled again, but it sounded weak and breathless. "So hand me over to the Wardens. I deserve nothing but a harsh ending."

"You're giving up?" Lemari openly accused her. "You're giving up and forcing me to take the fall?"

"I can't give up… " she heard Elissa whisper. "Not yet. I just need more time. How can I get more time?"

Lemari took several steps into the room until she was sure she was in its center. She shivered a couple of times; it had become so cold. "I'm not going to hand you over to the Wardens," she declared. "You're going to hand yourself over to them. And then you're going to buy yourself more time by cooperating with the Orlesian Wardens. Answer their questions. Fascinate them with your stories of how you became the Hero of Ferelden. They can't take you away and lock you up just for having Blight Sickness; not when you have so much you can tell them."

Of course, there was silence in return. A good minute-and-half long worth of silence.

"That's not a bad idea," Elissa was considering. "The problem is avoiding Alistair."

"You can't avoid him forever," Lemari fixedly pointed out. "He already knows something is wrong with you."

"What?" It sounded as if Elissa stumbled in the dark. "No… No, he can't… Lemari, he can't know that I'm... Does he know I'm—"

"No, he doesn't know that," Lemari immediately told her. "He just knows there's something wrong."

"Please, Lemari," she heard Elissa softly beg through what was probably her own hands. And it also sounded as if Elissa was now sitting on the floor. Was she crying? "Please, you have to make sure they don't kill me because I'm with child."

"They want to help you. I don't think they would kill your unborn—"

Lemari was interrupted by a knock on the door. It had to be Warden-Constable Raz, who had probably felt he'd waited long enough for Lemari to deliver his so-called message. She hesitated, but turned to answer it. She was stopped by an icy hand on her arm. "Let me get it," Elissa whispered directly next to her. The cold hand then disappeared and Lemari felt Elissa move past her.

The door squeaked open and Lemari could see Elissa's figure cringe to the light before she weakly said, "You may come in… Warden-Constable wasn't it, if I heard Lemari correctly?" As the clink of the Warden-Constable's armor moved into the dark room and Elissa reclosed the door, the woman pretentiously expressed, "Forgive the darkness, Constable. I wasn't thinking clearly when I put it out. Allow me to rekindle it."

Lemari felt Elissa move past her again toward the fireplace. While Elissa moved around in the dark, rekindling the fire she had pointlessly doused before Lemari's reentrance, Warden Constable Raz simply asked, "Are you unharmed," from his stationary position in the dark.

There was a pause before Elissa said with slight hostility, "Lemari, his question was for you."

Lemari spun around to where she knew the Constable was standing. "Of course I'm unharmed. Why would I not be?"

A fire appeared in the hearth and Elissa's figure stood up. Her head turned toward the Warden-Constable, her glassy eyes reflecting something ominous and wild. There was a vexed scowl across her face. Her silver hair and ghoulish eyes made her look as if she was some sort of vengeful spirit. "Are you here to kill me, Constable Raz?" she crisply asked of him.

Feeling imperiled for the first time since being in the same room as Elissa, Lemari instinctively took a step back toward the door and the Constable. In response, the Warden-Constable stepped forward and put himself between Elissa and Lemari. "Are you truly Elissa Cousland?" he inquired with a composed but stern tone of voice. "Or are you the Archdemon possessing Elissa Cousland's body?"

Elissa looked as if she tried to keep her menacing scowl, but it disappeared as she closed her eyes and let out an unsteady breath. She tottered backward and then forward before she caught herself against the mantle of the fireplace, also trying to catch her breath.

Warden-Constable Raz approached the now unmistakably frail woman, but his advance was not welcome and Elissa made movement to get away, only to fall backwards. The Constable was able to catch her. "Help me move her to the bed," he quickly told Lemari.

In no way needing to be told twice, Lemari came forward and helped the Warden-Constable move the rasping Elissa toward the bed. As they moved her, Lemari now noticed that all living color was drained from Elissa's body and the veins in Elissa's face were turning purple. She was as cold as stone, but not nearly as heavy—but heavy enough that Lemari still struggled getting Elissa's legs onto the bed.

"So hungry," Elissa mumbled. She looked delirious as her lifeless eyes appeared to stare at the Warden-Constable who stared back, concentrating—perhaps observing.

"I can get you something to eat, my lady," Lemari sympathetically replied.

"No," Elissa moaned as she closed her eyes. "What my body craves is not something I would dare, ever again, ingest. I refuse to give in."

"My lady?" Lemari did not understand and glanced at the Constable to see if he was just as confused as she was.

"She means the Taint," the Warden-Constable finally commented. "Her body hungers, but not for food. Those who take in the Taint, seek out the Taint. If they survive to begin with," he trailed off, thoughtful again.

Lemari couldn't believe it. Elissa was practically dying in front of them, and the Warden-Constable wanted to stand back and watch as if Elissa's suffering was something to study, rather than help or soothe the sick woman. "Constable!" she verbally lashed out at him. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

His shrewd, iris-lacking eyes hardened as his face concentrated.

"Lock the door," he softly said when he stopped concentrating.

Lemari hesitated, but the Warden-Constable ignored her as he started removing his gauntlets and gloves. He didn't look as if he was about to kill Elissa, so Lemari went to the bedroom door before looking back to see if he was doing anything harmful. It appeared he was only checking Elissa for fever. She locked the door.

Yet when she turned around, Lemari took note of something in the room that she could use to knock the Warden-Constable out, if she needed to. She decided on the fire iron now leaning against the firewood she had brought in earlier.

Was she really considering knocking out a Grey Warden?

She was, she realized, as she tried to casually move toward the fireplace. What did it matter that she would fail and the Warden-Constable would likely knock her out first. At this point, Lemari felt she was Elissa's only defense if the Constable turned out to be hostile.

Her carefulness to retrieve the pointy but blunt object didn't seem to matter because the Warden-Constable continued to ignore her as he leaned over Elissa with his eyes closed as if he was resting, his hand kept on Elissa's forehead. Elissa stared at the Warden-Constable as if she was entranced. If Lemari wasn't able to see Elissa breathing, she may have believed Elissa to be dead.

With the fire iron held behind her back with one hand, Lemari settled to standing at the foot of the bed, watching what seemed to be nothing happening between Elissa and the Warden-Constable. It was silent for a long moment, Lemari debating on saying something, before the Constable's brow deeply furrowed.

"You can hear the song, too," Elissa suddenly whispered to the Warden-Constable.

"Yes," the Constable said. "I have never heard it this strongly before. It is as if it lives inside you." He then immediately took his hand from Elissa's forehead and took a step back from Elissa and the bed. His expression was puzzlement and something else that Lemari did not understand. "You are with child," it was realization, and it came out strongly in this accusation.

"Yes," Elissa replied, but she did not move. Lemari tightened her grip on the fire iron, mentally preparing to attack the Warden-Constable if he made one wrong move toward Elissa.

The Constable's eyes flickered to Lemari and back to Elissa, but he was careful not to make a drastic movement. He seemed to understand what he had gotten himself into and how much of threat he actually seemed to be toward Elissa, and therefore Lemari who was charged with protecting Elissa. He quickly turned away toward the door as if judging the distance between it and him, but then he started looking all around the room. He was thinking, and thinking fast.

"I can help you," he spoke, now focused and concentrating on Elissa. "I can help you save the child. If that is what you want."

"I don't know," Elissa weakly responded, closing her eyes. "Should it, and even myself be saved? A part of me yearns to believe the child should be saved. I do not understand. Any of it. I know I am full of corruption, that I am tainted. I know what the child is… "

The Warden-Constable knelt where he stood. "I know how to help you," he said, bowing his head. "Please," he was almost begging, but the inflection was more direct than desperate. "Allow me to help you, Elissa Cousland. The child must be protected."

There was silence. Lemari was stunned, forgetting her aggression. This strange and mysterious elf in front of her and Elissa, one of authority and representing the Grey Wardens, whom Elissa believed would want to kill her unborn child, was nearly begging Elissa to allow him to save her child.

Elissa's tone was measured and heedful as she asked, "What do you need to do?"

"I must put you into a deep slumber," the Constable answered as if she had commanded him to speak. "This will slow the Taint in your blood—slow the process of the change to your body. It will provide enough time to gather the proper components and prepare the spells I will need."

"Magic?" Elissa all but laughed. "Are you a mage, Warden-Constable?"

"I am, Lady Cousland," he said respectfully.

"I see." Elissa resigned and shut her eyes again. "How very… remarkable."

More silence ensued as Lemari watched the Warden-Constable. He interestingly shared the stare as he looked up from bowing his head. She could feel he was planning something—something to do with her, but she had no time to interrupt his thought process to ask what he wanted, because Elissa finally said, "Do whatever it is you need to do, Constable Raz. Do whatever you need to do to save my unborn child."

"You're a what?" Lemari needed to ask Warden-Constable Raz minutes later after he did a lot of talking, supposedly explaining, and also asking her to assist him to break some magic seal.

She had been holding on to the fire iron the entire time he spoke, but she had forgotten to keep it hidden. At one point, the Constable blankly stared at it in her hands, and thus she suddenly realized it was still in her hands. Embarrassed, she hid it behind her back again as if he hadn't seen it at all, and when he turned away, she promptly put it on the floor and kicked it underneath the bed.

"I am a Tranquil," he said again. "Not in the normal sense, if you are familiar with the Circle's methods. I did not undergo the Rite of Tranquility. However, there is a seal on my magic and I am cut off from the Fade. For the most part."

"You are explaining to the wrong person," Lemari told him. "I know nothing of magic, nor do I care."

Elissa chuckled from her spot on the bed, interrupting her own humming that she had started up again. "Good," she said curling up under the covers and turning away from the fire as if she was being bothered during a nap. "Probably better that you don't know the details, Lemari. Otherwise your moral compass might get in the way."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lemari tossed back at her.

"Magic, demons," Elissa grumbled. "They tend to go hand in hand. At least in my experience." She went back to her humming daze, seemingly ignoring the two elves. Lemari was beginning to understand that Elissa probably did not know that she was humming aloud.

"I will not ask you to do anything you are unwilling to do," the Constable offered Lemari.

"What is it exactly you need me to do?" she irritably asked because she was getting frustrated with being confused.

"I will need you to kiss me," he said with such a straight face that Lemari was not sure if she heard him correctly.

"Aw, how sweet," Elissa deliriously expressed. "An act of passion in order to break a magic seal. Just like a fairy tale," she added, quickly falling back into her humming.

"No," Lemari pronounced, now glaring at the Warden-Constable. She had not even thought about her answer. Her mind was simply refusing to approach the idea of kissing the Warden-Constable. Or anyone for that matter. And she could not fathom why or why not it would be a good or bad idea. She was so upset with everything befalling on her to do.

"Very well," Constable Raz turned away from her as if he did not care one way or another. He walked toward the fireplace. "There is another way." He drew his sword from his scabbard and buried its tip in the hot embers.

"What are you doing," Lemari was quick to inquire, following the Warden-Constable to the fireplace. She had a feeling that "the other way" involved something not as simple as "an act of passion".

"We have little time. The seal on my power can be quickly broken if I am forced to feel," Constable Raz said quietly as his eyes stayed on his sword kept in the fire. "Something traumatic needs to happen." The tip of his sword was glowing red now and he pulled it out of the fire. Thoughtful for a moment, he expressed, "Before I sealed my own magic, I was deeply afraid of fire."

"No!" Lemari screamed and lunged after the Warden-Constable just before he managed to place the scorching end of his sword into the palm of his free hand. She managed to knock the sword from his grasp by yanking with all her strength on the arm holding the sword; the sword clanging to the floor. She then kicked the piece of metal—a lot heavier than the fire iron—across the room, as far away from the Warden-Constable as she could.

The Warden-Constable stared at her, expressionless.

"You want to feel something?!" she angrily exclaimed. Then she slapped him. Hard, across the face.

She knew he felt the sting of the slap, because he brought a hand up to cover where she hit him, but he looked more confused than anything.

Scowling, and very much confused herself, Lemari closed her eyes, willing it to all go away. The Warden-Constable. Elissa. The Cousland Estate. The Royal Palace. The job she took at the Royal Palace. The Blight. The death of everyone she loved. Everything. She wanted everything to go away.

Instead, there was a knock at the door. She opened her eyes in realization that none of it mattered, only the now would make it better or worse. And a decision had to be made now.

The Warden-Constable was patiently staring in the direction of bedroom door. He looked calm as he kept his hand on his face where she had hit him. He wasn't entirely frustrating, she thought, as she tried to grasp at his "Tranquil" existence. Nor was he unattractive, despite his strange manner and mysterious tattoos.

He just needed more emotion, Lemari instantly decided. "You better be worth this," she said, throwing herself into the Warden-Constable, grabbing his head, and leaning in with a kiss.