A/N – This story is a sequel to my first story "Just Follow My Lead," which followed my city elf, Eriana Tabris, through the Origins story line. This story will follow that Awakening time line and beyond. In the first story, Eriana romanced Zevran and recruited Loghain, who killed the archdemon.

With a Blight defeated and a King crowned, Ferelden began the slow process of rebuilding. Money, supplies, and aid poured in from surrounding nations, all grateful to Ferelden for stopping the Blight before it managed to spread throughout Thedas. Stories of Ferelden's new warrior king and the elven woman turned hero spread throughout the lands. Ballads and epic songs touted the exploits of the Hero of Ferelden and her band of companions as well as the redemptive sacrifice of Loghain Mac Tar, the Hero of River Dane. Families across the war-torn nation began returning home to rebuild ruined homes and farms, while Denerim itself bustled with the activity of rebuilding.

In the midst of all the commotion and admiration, the Hero of Fereleden herself tried desperately to remain inconspicuous, quietly overseeing repairs to the Grey Warden compound and recruiting new Wardens into the Order. Recruiting was proving to be quite easy for Eriana Tabris, Commander of the Grey, Hero of Ferelden. Many people were quite eager to join the ranks of the Heroes. Ser Brenden, the Redcliff knight who had fought against the archdemon with her and had carried her back from Fort Drakon after the battle, had quickly become her second in command. She had also recruited several Dalish archers, a handful of dwarven warriors, and a pair of circle mages. Brenden and Zevran had taken over the task of evaluating new recruits and running training sessions for the new Wardens while Eriana was overwhelmed with the administrative details that came with her new position as Arlessa and Warden Commander. She was trying to ensure that the Denerim complex was in order before they made the move to Amaranthine.

In the four months following the fall of the archdemon, the Ferelden Wardens had successfully added ten new Wardens, not exactly a massive force, but five times larger than the force that stopped the Blight, Eriana often reminded herself. Life was busy for the young elf, but she had never been happier. She and Zevran had fallen into a comfortable, almost domestic routine while living in the palace, but she never once broached to subject of putting him through the Joining. Truth be told, she was too afraid of losing him in the ritual and too afraid that he would say yes to ever mention it to him. So he stayed by her side in an unofficial role, assisting with the training sessions during the day for the Warden and spending the evenings with her.

The early days of Cloudreach found Eriana in the training yard, perched on the fence, watching as Zevran put her newest recruit, Garen, through his paces. The young rogue obviously lacked formal training, but he had a good deal of natural skill. He was a fast, agile mover and quick to improvise. She was impressed with what she was seeing, but she needed a second opinion. Calling Brenden over, she asked his opinion of the rogue.

Brenden frowned and shook his head. "Gotta say, Commander, I don't particularly like this one. I don't know; he just seems shifty to me."

Eriana grinned as she nudged him with her foot. "Oh, you're just saying that because he tried to seal from you."

"He did steal from me! He would have gotten away with it if you two weren't there to catch him."

Eriana rolled her eyes, "Look, it's not our fault that you're completely oblivious to your surroundings. Besides, we had to see if he was any good."

"So you two set me up?"

"Nah, but we noticed him tailing us as soon as we entered the market place, thief's intuition. But putting all that aside, what do you think of the man's skills?"

Brenden sighed. "Well, he's quick as a whip, but we already knew that, didn't we?" he added with slight grin. "His skill with the blades is really raw, but he seems to be learning really quickly. Either that or Zevran's losing his touch." (That comment received an insulted "Hey" from the otherwise occupied elf). "I think, given some time and some training, he'd probably turn into a descent fighter. And," he added after a brief pause, "he's not tried to steal from me since he's gotten here, so maybe he's willing to change."

Eriana nodded, "I talked to him about that; he was definitely excited for a chance to get off the streets. Crime seemed more like a necessity for survival rather than a chosen lifestyle for him."

"Maybe, I guess he could be a good kid, but I'm not too thrilled about working with someone with a shady background."

Eriana started giggling so much that she almost fell off the fence. "What? What did I say?"

"I've never told you how I came to be a Warden, have I?" Brended shook his head. "Well, I'll have to tell you sometime. Sufficeth to say, if you don't like him because he's a common thief, you definitely wouldn't like me. And you'd loath Zevran!"

"Ohhh, I'm intrigued."

"Like I said, a story for another day, my friend," Eriana said as she turned her attention back to the training session. She and Brenden were watching them, discussing possible techniques to teach him when a nervous looking elf, one of Alistair's personal attendants, approached them.

"Excuse me Ser…I mean Commander…I mean My Lady, but his Majesty requests your attendance…your presence…"

Eriana sighed and hopped down off the fence. "Maker's Breath Kaiden, we went to Chantry school together. You poured a whole tankard of ale on me when we were twelve; just call me Eriana."

"Right, yes, my Lady, but that was before…well you know."

"Before you became the most adored person in the nation, mi amora," Zevran shouted from across the training yard. "You make everyone nervous now, I'm afraid."

Eriana shook her head and turned back to the other elf, "Tell Alistair I'll be up in a moment."

"Well, what about him?" Brenden gestured toward Garen and Zevran after the attendant left. "Are we going to be doing a joining tomorrow?"

"Nah, I'd like to get a chance to fight him first. Not that I don't trust Zevran's assessment completely," she added over her shoulder, "but you don't really know someone till you fight them. I better go; don't want to keep His Highness waiting," she said with a grin. "See you at lunch, Zev."

Eriana turned to make her way out of the training yard when she heard a grunt and the sound of someone hitting the ground. She turned to see Zevran standing over the human rogue who was lying on his back, looking up at him, dazed. "Now, now my friend, if you are going to gawk at our lovely commander as she walks away, you need to make sure I am equally distracted, no?"

"So I'm not distracting to you anymore," Eriana shouted back. "I must be losing my touch, then."

"No, mi amora, but if I allowed myself to be that distracted by you, I would have been dead long ago, beheaded by some darkspawn. It's a skill, knowing how to watch you and still remain aware of my surroundings. A skill I mastered long ago."

Eriana laughed and blew him a kiss as she made her inside way to find Alistair. She found him in his study sitting at his massive desk in the overly pretentious chair that neither Anora nor Eamon would let him get rid of. He smiled at her as she entered and gestured to the fruit tray in the corner.

"Thanks, Alistair," she said as she grabbed an apple. "I'm starving. I know I can always count on you to have food." She plopped down in one of the seats in front of his desk and watched as he finished the letter he was writing. "So, how are you enjoying married life; Anora treating you okay?"

Alistair chuckled for a second. "It's alright I guess. We're still getting to know each other. The first night was…um.."

"Awkward?"

"Yeeeaaaah, let's go with awkward because sleeping with a cold unresponsive ice queen is simply too harsh. If it hadn't been for Zevran's advice…"

"Ha, so you did listen to what he was saying. Here I thought you just stuck your fingers in your ears and hummed to yourself," Eriana said with a giggle. "You know, he can give you some more advice that would make her, you know, more responsive. Who knows, you both may actually begin to enjoy married life."

"Ugh, I'm almost afraid to ask. I always thought that when I actually, you know, did it, it would be with someone I loved. What is it that Zevran always says, 'Fate is a tricky whore?' It would figure that my first time would be with someone that I didn't even like." He glanced up at Eriana, who had a sly grin on her face. "Yeah, I know, I know, it's my own fault, but never mind. I didn't bring you up here to talk about my personal life. You have some correspondence from the First Warden and the Orlesian Commander."

Eriana read the letter from Weisshaupt first, laughing to herself once she finished. "Now this is probably the first time a First Warden has ever written a letter like this. First, it welcomes me to the Order, the congratulates me on a successful defeat of the Blight, and officially declares me Warden Commander of Ferelden all in one letter. He also informs me that he expects me to be in Amaranthine by the beginning of Bloomingtide and that I will be getting additional Wardens from Orlais."

"How many?"

Eriana scanned the letter from Orlais, "Twelve. If Garen makes it through the joining, that will give us twelve too, if you include me. Twenty-four, that's not so bad."

"And they'll meet you in Amaranthine in two months then?" Eriana nodded. "I wish we could get them here sooner. I've gotten several reports this week about some darkspawn attacks in the south." He gestured toward the map on the desk in front of him as he got up and moved beside her. "See, the attacks spread out all across Southern Ferelden; small bands, but still enough to make the Banns nervous."

Eriana got up and looked at the map and sighed. "It will take months to investigate all of those. I mean they stretch from the Hinderlands all the way to Gwaren; plus, we'd need to make sure the Wilds are cleared out as much as possible." She turned and started pacing across his office, muttering to herself. "We can't wait two months to react to this; not without angering all the Banns to the south. And there is no way I can do a good job and make it to Amaranthine in time."

There was only one option, really. The Ferelden Wardens were strong enough in number to deal with the situation in the South, and thanks to the new Wardens coming in from Orlais, there would be enough to deal with any other issues that might arise in other parts of the nation. Eriana moved to the door and called for Kaiden. "Could you go get Zevran, Ser Brenden, and Ser Perth for me, please?" Alistair raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'm not going to recruit the captain of your guard, but he needs to know that we'll be leaving in a few days."

Alistair sighed, "I was afraid of that. When do you plan to leave?"

"In three days, four at the most. The way I see it, we need to get into the southern lands as quickly as possible. We need to respond to this fast to keep the trust of the people. What?"

Alistair shook his head, "It's nothing, not really…it's just…well you've been with me for over a year now, and I'm not quite ready to see you off. It's weird, you know, the thought of not having you close by." He walked over to Eriana and pulled her into a big hug. "You're the closest thing I have to family, and after all we've been through, I really can't imagine what things will be like once you're gone."

Eriana grinned as she looked up at the handsome King, her best friend, her brother in arms. "I know how you feel, but I wasn't the one who went and gave me an entire Arling to run. Surely you realized that would mean I'd have to actually live there, right?"

"Yeah, I guess to, but it still doesn't make it any easier," he said.

"Well, well, married only three weeks, and already fleeing into the arms of another woman," Zevran said, as he waltzed into the office. "I am afraid, however, that you have chosen someone who is already otherwise claimed." Eriana grinned and patted Alistair on the arm before stepping out of his embrace. Zevran wrapped his arms around her from behind and placed a quick kiss on her jaw line, just beneath her ear.

"Here," she said, handing the letters to him as she and Alistiar turned back to study the map. Zevran made his way around the desk, and flopped down in Alistair's chair, draping one leg across one arm and leaning back against the other arm. Eriana chuckled and nudged Alistair. "It's a good thing we're not in the throne room."

Zevran looked up, "What? This is the most comfortable chair here, is it not, and you are not using it." He chuckled and continued reading over the Wardens' letters as Brenden and Ser Perth can into the room.

"Alright," Eriana said, after explaining the situation to Brenden, "we will be leaving for Lothering in three days. I'll stay with you all for a few weeks while we get started, but Brenden, I will be leaving you in charge of things. You will need to investigate the locations where there have been reported darkspawn attacks and work to clear out any groups that you happen to encounter while you are down there. I expect that this whole thing will take several months, five at the very least, so we'll set up a base at Lothering. The Banns in the area will supply you with what you need.

"While you are down there, Zevran and I will travel to Highever then to Amaranthine. I have to swear fealty to Fergus Coulsland before I get settled in at Virgil's Keep. I've been corresponding with Varel, my seneschal in Amaranthine, and he informed me that I need to visit Highever before I assume control of the Arling. Zev and I will then meet up with the Orlesian Wardens in Amaranthine in two months, so we'll have a group of Wardens in the north and the south of the country.

"Ser Perth, since we are leaving, the defense of the city will fall to you. We've not encountered any darkspawn in months, so it should be a problem. Alistair will sense them if there are any in the area, and should something happen, Amaranthine is a three-day ride from here. I'll also need you to assess any recruits who come while we're gone. You've practiced with us enough; you know what I look for. If someone seems like they'd be a good recruit, send them to Amaranthine, and I'll deal with them from there. Any questions?"

Brenden cleared his throat. "Are you sure that I'm ready for this? After all, I've only been a Grey Warden for four months."

Eriana and Alistair glanced at each other and smiled. "I was a Warden for less than a week when I started leading us against the Blight. You were with me during the battle of Denerim; trust me, you're ready."

Brenden thanked her and assured her that he would get the other Wardens ready to leave. After the two knights left, Eriana moved around the desk to sit with Zevran in Alistair's chair as the King stood in front of them, leaning back against his desk. For a while the three talked, working out the specifics of her plans. "I'm going to really miss you two," Alistair said, looking down at the elven couple. "The castle just isn't going to be the same without you, both of you."

Eriana smiled, leaning back into Zevran's arms, "Well, I can think of a few people who probably don't share your feelings. Namely…"

"Alistair, I need to talk to you about…Oh," Eamon said as he barged in the office, only to stop short at the sight of the two elves in the King's chair while the King stood in front of them. He huffed and glared at Eriana for a moment before turning to Alistair. "Really, Alistair, do you think this is appropriate? I know these elves are your friends, but really, do they need to sit in your chair? Don't you realize how this could be interpreted? It was Maric's chair afterall."

"Speak of the archdemon," Zevran whispered in her ear. Eriana's grinned, but never took her eyes off Eamon. Their relationship had never really been a strong one, but since the fall of the archdemon and Eriana's subsequent appointment as an arlessa, Eamon had grown down-right hostile toward her.

Alistair waved it off, "We were just talking, Eamon, don't get your smalls in a wad. Besides, the Wardens are heading south in a few days, and I wanted to spend time with them before they go."

"Fine, fine," Eamon said, behaving as though Eriana and Zevran weren't even there, "just please remember who you are and what they are."

"Oh, I think he knows exactly what I am," Eriana said, standing up. "I'm the Warden Commander of the Ferelden Grey, and Alistair is one of my Grey Wardens. And if you remember, the Wardens are under the control of no King, so I suppose that makes him my subordinate."

Eamon turned and glared at her. "You are also an arlessa," he said, not even bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice, "and as such, he is your liege lord."

"Then you would do well to remember that yourself, Arl Eamon. He is not a young boy you can send to the stables anymore," she spat at him. "He is your King, and by his grace you serve as his chancellor. That gives you the right to advise, not to lord over him, despite your best attempts to the contrary, Your Grace." Eriana glanced at Alistair who was trying desperately to stifle a laugh. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Zevran's hand. "Your Majesty, as we will be leaving soon, we have much to do to prepare."

Alistair smiled, "I'll swing by later tonight after I've taken care of this."

Eriana nodded to the King and grabbed her letters before heading back to her room with Zevran. "I absolutely hate that man," she growled once they were safely enclosed in their room. "He has treated me like bronto droppings ever since we met, and it kills him that we are of the same social standing now."

Zevran wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead gently. "Ah, mi amora, don't let his ignorance upset you. It just frustrates him that Alistair holds your advice in the same esteem as his. Unlike our golden King, Eamon is unable to see beyond your race to appreciate what a rare and beautiful thing you are. I'm afraid he is far too steeped in his ways to see you or me as anything more than an elf, and it kills him that you have become far more to everyone in this nation. Alistair sees him for what he is, yes? So don't let it distress you; we have far more important thing to do than worry about the racism of fools."

Eriana glanced up at him, "Like the fact that we will soon find ourselves on the road, sleeping in tents again, without the benefit of stone walls that separate us from our neighbors and without the comforts of a full sized bed."

"Ah, how right you are, my beautiful Warden. Perhaps," he said, placing a kiss on her neck, "we need to take advantage of our privacy while we can, yes." Without another word, he swept her off her feet and carried her to their bed.

"I love you so much, Zevran."

"And I love you too, mi amora."