Date: Thu, 14 May 2015 23:48:27 +0000 (UTC)
From: Rainy Day <rainingsparrows@yahoo.com>
Subject: Becomings of Wardens Part 5

If you are new to this story, this is a Dragon Age fan-fiction, featuring
original characters set in the world of Thedas. There will be characters
from the games and literature mentioned in this story though, but they are
not the main focus of my story. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: This Fan Fiction is based on the Dragon Age video game series
trademarkedby BioWare. I do not claim ownership of the characters or the
world of Dragon Age. I've tried not to mess with the "official" story, so
names and dates should be correct for the time period this story takes
place.

This story contains sexual relations between minors and adults, and if this
offends you in any way, please do not read any further. Any comments are
welcome at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com

Please consider donating to Nifty!!!!!! We'd all be without this site if
people don't donate!

Previously: "What about you Simon? You're... covered in blood!" Duncan said
in horror as he looked over at Simon. Daniel looked over as well, and felt
a pit in his stomach when he saw the wound in Simon's side.

"I'm... bleeding." Simon said, looking shocked as he placed his hand on the
wound and saw the blood covering his hands. Daniel noticed a shift in
Simon's balance and ran towards him as Simon started to fall. Daniel barely
managed to catch his friend before he hit the ground, holding him securely
in his arms.

"Katarina!" Daniel shouted as many more came rushing to them to help,
"Katarina, help!"

First now Daniel noticed how pale Simon was. He must have been bleeding for
a while.

"Simon! Simon, wake up!"

Part V

Simon felt his blood pumping. The excitement from what they had just done
and what they had seen, rushed through his young body. He still held his
longsword and dagger in his hands. As he looked down at them, he saw the
blood dripping from them. He looked behind him, where the bodies of the
three archers lay on the ground, two of his doing. The realization from
what they had just done hit him, like if he'd hit a wall. He had actually
killed someone! Fine, they had actually tried to kill him and Daniel, but
still... As a pickpocket, he had never actually killed a person. The Shriek
attack felt like it happened years ago, and what he did back then didn't
feel as real as this!

"Simon, are you alright?" Daniel said and put a hand on his shoulder. The
touch from Daniel sent Simon back to reality.

"Yeah. I'm just... overwhelmed." Simon finally said.

The two boys walked over to the camp again, where the Wardens had gathered
to see who was injured and if anyone had been killed in the attack. Simon
didn't really pay attention as Duncan started to look Daniel over and tend
to his shoulder. Suddenly Simon started to feel dizzy. He stumbled a little
as his vision started to blur. His body started to feel cold, like from the
core of his body and out!

He thought he knew what had happened to him, and with that in mind, he
looked down. Something had slashed straight through his leather armor,
leaving a long lash to his left side. The blood from the archers had hidden
it quite well, as most of his armor was covered in blood, but now he
noticed the fresh blood pumping out from his wound. He let his blades fall
to the ground as he tried to cover the wound with his hands.

"Daniel..." Simon managed to say, and he noticed that his voice was
shaking. "I'm bleeding..." He felt light headed and the world started to
spin. A voice called out his name, but it was so far away, almost like an
echo. Then as the darkness crept in on his vision, he felt the sensation of
falling... and falling.

When Simon came to it, his eyelids felt unusually heavy as he opened
them. From the little he could see, he was in a dimly lit chamber. He lay
in a bed, covered in several thick blankets. He turned his head to get a
better look at the room he was in. Next to his bed burned a wax candle,
about the only light source in the room. Next to the table, in a flimsy
looking chair, sat Daniel, sleeping. Simon almost didn't recognize him
without his armor on! He wore a dark green cotton shirt and wool
pants. Daniel had dark rings under his eyes and Simon could only guess
why. He also noticed Daniel's bandaged shoulder. From the looks of it, he
seemed to be fine. Thank Andraste for that!

Simon tried to speak, but his throat felt like it was filled with sand, and
only a hoarse sound escaped his lips. That was enough though! Daniel opened
his eyes and looked confused around for a second, before he noticed that
Simon was looking straight at him. He almost jumped out from his chair as
he rushed over to Simon, hugging him tightly! Simon had to moan as jolts of
pain shot through his body.

"You're finally awake!" Daniel said, as he looked him over. Simon felt a
little guilty when he saw Daniel's eyes filling with tears. "I was afraid
you were never going to wake up!" he said, hugging him once again. This
time, the pain didn't just come from his sides, but from the corner of his
own eyes as tears formed there. Daniel had been worried about him, and that
made Simon feel horrible. It wasn't like he had meant to worry him or
anything like that, but it still hurt inside of him, thinking about it.

"I'll run and get Katarina, hang on!" and with that, Daniel ran out from
the little room. Simon tried to sit up straight, but as soon as he tried to
move, he felt a new jolt of pain to his side. After a few minutes, Simon
heard rushed footsteps outside, before four people entered the room. Daniel
and Katarina was the only ones he could recognize, but the other two was
unknown to Simon. One was an elderly man with a long, grey beard and the
other was a dwarf woman with short, brown hair.

"Ahh, you're awake. Good!" Katarina said as she walked over and sat on the
edge of his bed. "We were afraid you weren't going to wake up, Simon." She
said, smiling warmly at him. Simon tried to speak again, only resulting in
unrecognizable sounds. He settled down on a smile of his own.

"You lost a lot of blood in the battle and fell unconscious after. Do you
remember?" she asked, studying him. Simon tried to remember, but he
couldn't make out any images from the battle. The things he did remember
was the blood dripping from his sword and dagger. He nodded slowly, not
feeling that well at the moment.

"Good." she said before getting back up again. "This is Cassius Markett,
the healer who saved your life." Katarina stepped back and let the elderly
man step forward. Now Simon saw just how old the man really was! He had
deep wrinkles, covering his entire face. His grey hair and beard looked
like they were made from cobwebs and the man had very thin limbs. If Simon
didn't know any better, he would have thought that this man was a walking
skeleton!

"I could only hold you stable until we came here. He is the reason you are
still alive, Simon." Katarina said, and the old man bowed before looking
Simon over. Without warning, he lifted the covers and looked at Simon's
body underneath. As Simon followed his gaze, and noticed the bandages
covering his abdomen and lower ribs. They were a little bloody, but
considering how much he had been bleeding from the little he could
remember, this looked a lot better!

The man didn't say anything as started to examine the bandages, looking for
more bleeding. Seemingly happy with the bandages, he gave Simon a quick
smile before giving Katarina a nod. Then the old man and the young dwarf
woman left the room.

"You should rest some more, Simon. Try to get something to eat and drink,
if you can. I'll send Daniel to get you some soup and water, to start
with." Katarina said, and before she even finished the sentence, Daniel
made his way out of the room again, seemingly to get Simon something to
eat. Katarina looked after him, before turning to Simon again.

"He was really worried about you." She said, still looking a little
concerned, "You should try to reassure him when he comes back with your
food and drink." Katarina gave Simon one last smile before leaving the room
as well.

Simon once again, felt guilty for being injured! He never meant to hurt
Daniel or any of the others. With a lot of effort and more jolts of pain,
he managed to sit up straight in the bed, just in time as well. Daniel soon
came into the room again, with a bowl of hot soup and a mug of water,
smiling from ear to ear.

"Here you go." Daniel said as he put down the bowl and water on the small
table, before sitting back in his chair, visibly cheerful.

Daniel told Simon about the time after Simon fell. Katarina, Duncan and
Daniel had gone ahead with Simon to Montsimmard while the rest of the
Wardens moved the bodies of the highwaymen and buried their dead. They had
taken him to the Grey Warden fortress and quickly found the healer,
Cassius. Two day before Simon woke up, Duncan, Tanyl and Saunders Ivo had
left Montsimmard with the Orlesian Warden Commander and around 15 other
wardens, heading for Weisshaupt Fortress. Katarina had stayed behind;
wanting to make sure that Simon was all right. Duncan and the others were
expected to be back within a couple of months.

Simon lay in bed for two more days before he managed to start walking. His
body felt beaten up, but he made progress every day. He had to use crutches
to help him stand up at first, even though Daniel followed him everywhere
and made sure Simon did all right. Whenever Simon felt some pain, Daniel
quickly grabbed hold of his shoulders, making sure Simon didn't fall over
or something. It was very sweet just how much Daniel took care of him.

Simon and Daniel spent every single day together, exploring the Orlesian
Warden Headquarters. It was a lot bigger and a lot freer than the
underground facility in Jader. This one was a small estate, fully equipped
with own walls and towers within the city. Simon had managed to make his
way to the battlements to look out on the city around them. The city of
Montsimmard was bigger than anything Simon has seen before. It was
definitely much bigger than Denerim, only judging by the size of the
buildings around them! Much like the other cities of Orlais, the buildings
stood out from what Simon was used to, by using vivid colors and towering
spires.

Even though Simon wasn't able to start his training, Daniel's shoulder soon
healed, and he could finally start his Grey Warden training. Simon often
accompanied Daniel to his training sessions, which was mostly sparring
sessions with the master at arms and his apprentices.

"Keep your shield higher, Daniel!" The master of arms, Kahul, very big for
being a dwarf, shouted at Daniel.

"I'm raising it as high as I can!" Daniel shouted back, frustrated. This
session had lasted over an hour, and Daniel was exhausted. The wonderful
weather didn't help either. It was blazing hot outside in the courtyard
where they were training. Simon sat by the edge, close to the walls,
watching carefully as the sparring continued.

Daniel's sparring partner today was a quick and ruthless dalish woman,
Salessa, who more or less smashed Daniel into the ground again and again
with her powerful greatsword. Even though they were sparring weapons, dull
blades and designed to not cut anyone, the greatsword hurt a bit as she hit
Daniel. Her greatsword was crafted out of heavy wood, making a loud `smack'
sound as it hit him. It was strange to see such a small woman as Salessa,
swing around the huge sword as easily, slashing out in broad strokes, one
going under Daniel's shield and knocking him off his feet.  "Remember to
not block your vision for too long at a time, Daniel." Kahul sighed as
Daniel got back up on his feet.

"I'm exhausted... " Daniel said tryingly, not meeting Kahul's eyes.

"That's no excuse!" Kahul shouted and walked closer to Daniel, shoving a
thick finger into his chest, "A battle with Darkspawn can last hours,
especially under a Blight, when it's thousands of them on the surface. You
need to build up your stamina, Daniel! Go again." He said and without
warning, Salessa moved towards Daniel again, that had his sword and shield
lowered after talking to Kahul. In under ten seconds, Daniel was on the
ground again, as he'd been several times during this training session.

"Damn it!" Daniel cursed as he sat back up again. Kahul sighed deeply and
walked out on the field.

"Never lower your guard in a fight." He said, his voice stern, but his face
looked slightly worried as he helped Daniel get back up on his
feet. "AGAIN!" Kahul shouted as he walked off the field.

The session lasted another 15 minutes before Kahul finally let Daniel off,
not very impressed with him though.

"I'm sore all over..." Daniel said to Simon as they slowly made their way
to Daniel's chamber.

"You took quite a lot of hits today, so it's not really that surprising."
Simon said, trying his best to keep a straight face. It had been a little
fun to watch Daniel getting knocked to the ground by a woman shorter than
him, but with a sword much bigger than him!

"I should have been better." Daniel said his voice a little darker than
usual, as they entered Daniel's chambers.

It wasn't a single chamber, like the one Simon had at the moment, but a
chamber with four bunk beds. Daniel had capped a bed ready for Simon when
he could change chambers as well, over his own bed.

"It's not supposed to be easy!" Simon said, trying his best to comfort his
friend, as Daniel sat down in his bed. "We knew that training to become a
Grey Warden, to become as great as Tanyl, Duncan or Saunders Ivo or even
Katarina, would be hard work." Simon said, sitting down next to Daniel and
put his arm around his shoulder. This seemed to lighten Daniel's mood
slightly, as he gave Simon a warm smile.

"Thanks, Simon. I guess you're right. I can't give up. This is what I
wanted, at least to some degree." Daniel said as he started to take off his
training armor.

The armor was pretty much just his usual armor, but with wooden plates
covering his chest, arms and chins. This was to at least give him some
protection against the blows he would receive during training. Simon felt
the heat on his own face as Daniel started to remove the different parts of
his armor, and soon he stood there bare chested in front of him. Simon
remembered the last time he'd seen Daniel take off his armor in front of
him, back in Jader. Determined to not look away this time, he held his
breath as Daniel loosened the belt around his waist. Daniel didn't seem to
care if Simon was looking or not, and dropped his training armor to the
ground, standing in front of Daniel as naked as the day he'd been
born. Simon couldn't help but to gasp from the sight. Daniel's body was
pale, but flawless. Like his chest, Daniel's legs looked well defined for
his young age. Simon could see the blonde hairs, barely visible on his
slender legs. As Simon was sitting in the bed, and Daniel was standing up,
Simon got a very good look at what made him almost shiver from
excitement. In the middle of his slender legs and firm chest, was Daniel's
privates, and Simon couldn't remember seeing one so beautiful! It was
flaccid, maybe around 3 inches and with a nice little bush around the
base. A small trail of hair lead up to his belly button, something Simon
couldn't remember seeing last time.

Far too soon, Daniel reached for a pair of wool trousers and stepped into
them, still with Simon watching him. As soon as Daniel had finished
dressing, now in the wool pants and a nice cotton shirt, he looked back on
Simon, and smiled for a second, before his face turned worried.

"Simon, are you alright? You don't look so good!" Daniel said and took a
step closer to Simon. Now Simon actually remembered that he'd held his
breath for almost the entire time that Daniel took his clothes off. He
probably looked a little blue from holding his breath. Finally letting
himself breathe again, he placed his hand on the bandage, before pretending
to be in pain. Everything was better than letting Daniel know of the
feelings that made Simon's body feel like it was boiling and his own
privates was as hard as his dwarven longsword.

After another four days, Simon started to feel like his old self again. His
bandages finally came off, only leaving a scar.

"But you have to take it slow, alright? No hard training for you yet. You
should start by just walking around the place." Katarina said firmly as she
removed his bandages, looking sternly at Simon.

Simon and Daniel were together almost every single hour of the day now,
especially now that Simon shared chambers with Daniel. The others in their
chamber were all warden recruits, but they were going to join before both
Simon and Daniel. For now, it was six other recruits. Two of them were the
twins Darien and Aiden, both from Lydes. Since they were twins, Simon hard
a hard time seeing the difference between the two, but as soon as he got to
know them better, he learned that they were very different. They may have
the same bright blue eyes and golden curls, but Darien was very quiet and
rarely said anything, while Aiden almost never shut up. They both spoke
with the strange Orlesian accent, which Simon had come to love now,
surrounded by people speaking it.

Most of the Wardens and recruits of Montsimmard was from Orlais. Even the
elven Wardens came from here. Simon never expected there to be many Dwarves
in the Wardens here though, so far away from the Frostback Mountains, but
there was quite a few! The head chef, a very strict woman was a
dwarf. Simon never dared say to her that her food wasn't the best in the
world, as he'd seen her handle a butcher's knife. Then it was the master of
arms, Kahul and one of the recruits was a dwarf.

The weeks flew by quickly as Simon started his own weapon training. Like
Daniel, Kahul oversaw Simon's training, but to his surprise, he got another
sparring partner his first time.

"Simon, this is Riordan, your sparring partner." Kahul said and a tall and
lean man stepped onto the training grounds. He had dark hair, braided on
the sides and Simon got the feeling that this man wasn't one to mess with!
Like Simon, he had a sword and a dagger. Dual wielding seemed to be very
popular with the Wardens! Riordan bowed quickly to Simon, not saying a word
before readying his two blades. These were blunt sparring blades, so it was
impossible to cut someone. Simon drew his own blades giving Riordan a nod.

"Ready yourself..." Kahul said and both Riordan and Simon tensed up. Simon
was determined not to mess up as hard as Daniel did in his first training
session, not even lasting ten seconds before he was knocked to the ground.

"And go!" Kahul shouted at the end of the field. Simon quickly stepped
forward, but was shocked when he saw Riordan running toward him, his blades
down his sides! Simon stopped and held his blades ready to deflect a blow
from Riordan, but it didn't seem like Riordan had any plans of hitting him
yet. Riordan slid right between Simon's open legs and around to his back,
and before Simon could do anything he had Riordan's blade against his neck.

"Never stand still." Riordan whispered in Simon's ear before taking his
blade away and walking around to Simon's front again. Simon heard Kahul
sigh from the other side of the field. This was a lot worse than what
Daniel had done! Simon had barely lasted five seconds! Simon looked to his
left, where Daniel sat gawking at him, not really sure if he should laugh
or not. Riordan was incredibly fast, much faster than Simon had anticipated
him to be.

"Go again!" Kahul shouted and Riordan started moving straight away. This
time, Simon made sure his legs wasn't far enough apart for Riordan to slide
through them. He shouldn't even have bothered, as Riordan went straight for
Simon's front. Swinging both blades at the same time, he quickly delivered
three blows with both blades at the same time that hit Simon hard in the
chest and sides, making him stumble backwards. Riordan didn't even give
Simon time to recover before he made his next move and delivered a swiping
low kick, knocking Simon's feet off balance even more, resulting in Simon
falling straight on his backside.

The rest of the hour-long sparring session didn't go much better. Riordan
never used the same tactic twice, making him very hard to predict. Once, he
even threw what looked like smoke on the ground, before vanishing into thin
air and suddenly stand behind Simon, with his blade on Simon's neck. At
this stage, more people had come to see the Simon and Riordan sparring, but
most of the Wardens only laughed as Riordan took Simon out again and again.

"Don't feel too bad. Riordan is a Senior Warden." Aiden said comforting to
Simon after the sparring session. Simon and Daniel followed Darien and
Aiden to the main hall to eat. Simon felt like his body had been beaten to
a plump, as Riordan also had hit him multiple times with the dull blades,
mostly around his back.

"All recruits take on a good trained Warden during their first sparring
sessions, so that you see what's expected of you." Aiden continued as they
sat down to eat.

"Aiden and I took on Riordan too, but together. It didn't help much!"
Darien laughed, "He took us both out at the same time!"

"He was so fast!" Simon said, cursing to himself. Simon had gotten in only
one blow on Riordan, but only to his sides and wouldn't have been fatal to
him.

"You'll do better..." Daniel said, patting Simon on the back, "I'm doing
much better now and you will too!"

"I hope so..." Simon said, feeling warm again. It happened every single
time that Daniel touched him and it only got worse.

"No need to blush." Darien said comfortably, giving Simon a bright
smile. Using this opportunity as a cover for the growing hardness in his
trousers, Simon just nodded, trying to ignore Daniel's hand still resting
on his back.

And the twins were right. Even though Simon didn't spar against Riordan
next time, he did a lot better. This time it was against Salessa, who had a
hard time connecting her blows. Simon figured that the heavy sword would
tire her out if she continued striking into thin air for much longer. After
a long swipe, Simon noticed a slight hesitation, and made his move. Like
Riordan did on him, he slid right between her wide stance, before quickly
getting up behind her, resting his blade against her neck.

Daniel made huge improvements as well, mastering the shield techniques that
Kahul taught him. As the seasons changed, Simon and Daniel had gotten
pretty good with their weapon classes.

"As usual with our recruits, we'll let them have it against each other as
part of their training." Kahul announced to the packed training ground,
where Daniel and Simon stood face to face. It was a lovely day and most of
the Wardens had drifted outside to watch the sparring.

"Good luck." Simon said confident and Daniel smiled back, before holding
his shield ready.

"You too!" Daniel said, raising his shield.

"You boys ready?" Kahul said, seemingly pleased. Now both Simon and Daniel
had the blunt steel weapons that was more like the ones they would use in a
real battle situation. Daniel now had a steel kite shield as well, with the
Grey Warden emblem on the front. Simon could barely see Daniel's face, as
his upper body and face was behind the cover of his shield. The only thing
that Simon could see was the blue eyes staring over the shield. Simon could
see the intensity in them and it brought a shiver down Simon's spine. He
couldn't think of Daniel as an ally at the moment, but as the target he was
going to take down. And from the looks of it, it seemed like Daniel had the
same thoughts.

"Aaaand... GO!"

Simon leaped forward, determined to get the first strike. Simon's much
lighter armor have him increased agility compared to Daniel, something
Simon was going to use to his advantage. As long as Daniel never hit him
with his sword, Simon should be fine.

Simon closed the distance, and just as Daniel lunged forward with his
sword, Simon slid down on his knees, sliding under Daniel's slash and
behind his right side. Simon was sure that the fight was over when he got
back up on his feet and whirled around with his sword. To his surprise,
Daniel's shield blocked him and Simon's sword literally bounced off the
shield. Simon watched in horror as Daniel bashed his shield at him,
especially since his footing wasn't great to start with. Simon felt the
cold steel from the shield hit him in the face and knock him to the ground.

Barely able to look straight, Simon saw Daniel's looming body stand over
him, holding his sword ready to strike. Acting on impulse, Simon grabbed a
handful of sand and threw it against Daniel. He knew he was fighting dirty,
but it gave Simon enough time to get back on his feet and take a few steps
away from Daniel.  As soon as he managed to see straight again, Simon
noticed Daniel's red eyes. He had probably gotten some of the sand in them,
which was perfect for Simon! Using the extra few seconds to steady himself
and plan out his next move. While Daniel seemed to shake it off, Simon
changed the grip of his dual blades. Simon had a plan!

Daniel seemed to be all right again, which was part of Simon's plan after
all. Simon needed Daniel to make the first move and get out of his
defensive position. Therefore, Simon started to circle around Daniel,
staying just outside his range, but threatening enough for Daniel to have
to have his shield ready. Simon took a quick step forward, taunting
Daniel. He flinched for a second, but didn't go out to attack. Maybe Simon
had to make the first move after all. Reaching a decision, Simon lunged
forward with his longsword, hitting on Daniel's shield side. As planned,
Daniel tried to counter it, striking at Simon while deflecting Simon's
blade with his shield. Using the new grip on his dagger, Simon pushed
Daniel's blade up and away, while pushing forward into the opening that had
occurred in the middle of Daniel's arms.

Then the world was turned up-side-down for Simon. In the middle of his
riposte, he noticed the change in balance in Daniel. Looking to his right,
he watched in horror as the edge of Daniel's shield came rushing towards
him, before finally hitting Simon straight in the face, again! Simon stood
there, dazzled for a moment before Daniel once again bashed his shield at
Simon, knocking him off his feet.

The surrounding crowd suddenly cheered as they realized that the battle was
over at this point. Simon was laying on the ground, bleeding from his
broken nose and with Daniel's sword against his neck.

"And the winner of this recruit showdown is Daniel!" Kahul announced to the
cheering Wardens around them. Simon had barely noticed their shouts and
cheers as they fought.

"You alright?" Daniel grinned down at him.

"Yeah, I think you just broke my nose though!" Simon said, getting back on
his feet with some help from Daniel.

"Ohh, my apologies! I just wanted to knock you down." Daniel said, still
with the grin on his face. Simon couldn't help but to smile back. He'd just
got his ass kicked by Daniel, and he somehow didn't really mind it
either. He knew how much work Daniel had put into his training.

"Good work, you two!" Kahul said, stepping closer to the two of them,
patting each of them on the back. "Simon, you made a few mistakes, but that
last move could have gone either way for you."

"I agree. Well done you two." A familiar voice suddenly said behind
them. Looking very pleased and smiling, stood Duncan. Behind him stood both
Tanyl and Saunders Ivo, the two of them smiling as well. "Well done
indeed."

"Duncan!" both Daniel and Simon shouted in unison and ran over to
them. Duncan looked tired, but happy to see them.

"I can't believe that you're back already!" Daniel said, obviously
surprised to see Duncan and the other two.

"Me either. The journey went a lot smoother than we thought it
would. Now... Simon," Duncan said, turning his attention to Simon, "I'm
glad to see you up and running again. Are you feeling any pain still?"

"No. Cassius fixed me up good." Simon said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Good. I wasn't feeling very good about leaving you here hurt, but we had
to push on, so we would be back before winter. It seems like we might just
make it back to Ferelden again before the worst sets in." Duncan said
thoughtful.

"What? You're not staying?!" Daniel almost shouted when he heard
this. Duncan gave him a faint smile.

"No, I have to get back to Ferelden. I am the commander in Ferelden after
all." He said with a chuckle, "but you two, need to stay here." He said,
looking at Daniel and Simon in turn.

"No, we can't! We want to go back to Ferelden with you guys, and girl."
Simon added when Katarina joined their little group.

"The two of you need to complete your training. Your full training,
including your joining." Duncan added when Simon started to protest. "And
as of now, the two of you are too young to join. I don't think the First
Warden would like to have two fifteen year olds join his ranks. Maybe in a
year. And when you're ready, you can join me and the others back in
Ferelden, if you chose to." Duncan said firmly, his voice not giving room
for any discussion on the matter.

Simon and Daniel said their goodbyes to Duncan, Tanyl, Sanders Ivo and
Katarina as the four of them left for Ferelden, leaving Simon and Daniel in
Orlais.

"I think we'll be alright here." Daniel said, patting Simon's back, which
immediately made Simon's body shiver.

"Yeah... It's just one year, right?" Simon said, trying to ignore the heat
on his face. Daniel was right though. They were going to be alright here in
Montsimmard. At least for a year.