#jayrose252

Haha, I’m glad you’re excited :D

“Leliana ...”

“Mmm?”

“Come here a minute, would you?”

Divine Victoria rolled over in bed, raising her head to seek out the location of her elven lover, the famed Hero of Ferelden. Dem was standing by the wide window, half-hidden behind the gauzy blind, wearing nothing but a sheet as she gazed out over the gardens. She was, in a word, beautiful. Leliana was certain nothing would ever be allowed to part them again.

She rolled from the bed, gathering another sheet about herself as she padded to the window, looping an arm about Demelza’s waist from behind to look out over the moonlit garden.

“What am I looking at, darling?”

The elven Warden raised her hand, pointing down through the open window to the flowerbed below. “Is that my shirt?”

Leliana craned over her shoulder, not even attempting to stifle her quiet giggle as she pressed her lips to her lover’s throat. “Yes, it is.”

Dem snorted with laughter. “Your aim is getting worse.”

“I was a little distracted,” the Orlesian woman murmured, tracing her lips up to the point of her lover’s ear, just to hear Dem gasp and sigh, to feel her tremble in answer.

“You’re such a naughty girl, Most Holy ...”

The girl sat alone, apart from her companions, gazing out across the Marches drenched in the blood-red light of the setting sun. Nothing about her invited company, and the Wardens could respect that, to a point. But some things could not be ignored forever.

“Ashiren ...”

Ashiren Mahariel, Hero of Ferelden, former Warden-Commander of Ferelden, tore her gaze from the lonely figure sitting away from the group that had just emerged from the Deep Roads. Alistair had already tried to talk to the girl, but had simply been rebuffed; if even he couldn’t convince her to talk, it was doubtful anyone else could. But it seemed that Stroud thought otherwise. He handed a loaded plate to the Dalish Warden, nodding to the lone figure.

“Feed her,” he said in a short tone. “She might listen to you.”

Ashiren’s expression darkened. She knew what he meant by that. The circumstances of her own Joining had not been so very different to the newcomer’s. it was not a time she liked to return to, even to help another. But this other needed help, and it seemed she was the only one likely to give it. She took the plate, moving to leave the merry little camp and walk over to the seated human.

“Here,” she said, not unkindly. “I brought food.”

She sat down beside the girl, laying the plate on the stone between them. Dark eyes glanced down at the offering and back to the darkening horizon.

“I’m not hungry.”

Ashiren nodded, her own eyes fixed on the horizon. Somewhere over there, near Kirkwall, she realized. Her clan - her former clan - was so near. Yet Marethari would never take her back. That had been made perfectly clear when she had left. She wondered how they were - Merrill, Ilen, Pol, Fenarel. The family that had forsaken her to save her life too many years ago. 

“You’re her, aren’t you?” the girl at her side said suddenly. “The Hero of Ferelden.”

“One of the heroes,” Ashiren answered in a level tone, taking a hunk of meat from the plate to stuff it in her own mouth. Waste not. “You told the other one to go stuff himself about an hour ago.”

“Oh.”

She felt the girl twist to look back to the camp, knowing she was likely to see Alistair halfway through picking the last pieces of a grouse. It wasn’t the most attractive sight in the world, but it definitely marked him out as nothing more than mortal. Mortal with a ridiculous appetite, but still mortal.

“He likes being a Warden, doesn’t he?” the human girl commented bitterly. “Pulled away from family and friends, away from everything that’s familiar -”

“The Wardens are the only true family he has ever known,” Ashiren told her sharply. “You should not judge others before you know them.” She glanced at the pale profile beside her. “Yes, Alistair likes being a Warden. He has reason to.”

“But you don’t?”

Ashiren’s brow rose, surprised by this little shemlen’s insight. She didn’t see any point in lying.

“I had a family,” she said quietly. “I had a clan. They cast me out and gave me to the Wardens when I contracted the Taint. And they did it to save my life.”

There was silence for a long moment, broken only by the sound of chatter from behind them, and the quiet crunch as the girl reached down to take a tuber from the plate and chew on it.

“It doesn’t feel like I’ve been saved.”

Ashiren sighed, straightening her shoulders. “You haven’t,” she said simply. “The Joining is not a cure; it’s a life sentence.”

She rose to her feet, looking down at the human girl who had not been given any more choice in her fate than her own clan had given her.

“It never stops hurting,” she added in a low tone. “But there’s one thing that holds true. From this day, until your last day, Bethany Hawke ... you will never be alone in the darkness.”

Velen: I must have been about three, I don’t remember that!

Doshiel: I must concur. Clan Lavellan is not rife with foolish modesty or shame about our forms. We tend to bathe together in mixed groups without trouble.

Rory: I am ashamed to say that I giggled. It did not do anything for my partner’s confidence in attempting to make our first time enjoyable. But, let’s face it, an aroused naked man is a slightly comedic sight.

Rumor: Aye, I’d agree with that. O’course, mine was a dwarf, so I can safely say I was a wee bit intimidated. I was drunk, too, or it’d never have happened!

Callum: (fidgets in embarrassment) I, uh … all right, so I blushed. A lot. And I couldn’t stop staring. (catches Rumor’s grin) I was sixteen! And she … well, she knew exactly what she was doing, that’s all I’m saying.

Rumor: You’re going to have to tell me about this sometime, you know.

Callum: (groans)

Rory: Well, princess?

Fabs: (is utterly unfazed by the entire conversation) Oh, I was ten years old. He was a model for my anatomy in art lessons - a professional model, if you can believe such a thing. And, of course, there were the sexual arts lessons when I was sixteen and older. I do remember wondering how a man is supposed to attend to anything when so much of his blood seems to be devoted to making that part of his body stand up and wiggle about, but it did not take long to realize that it only dances under certain conditions. (realizes everyone is staring at her) Is this not normal?

Rory: I … don’t think so, princess.

Fabs: (shrugs) It is in Antiva.

(The room goes very quiet)

Fabs: Unstoppable war.

Doshiel: Corypheus returning.

Velen: Solas succeeding.

Rory: Being sent back to Earth.

Callum & Rumor: (look at each other) Losing you.

(long pause)

Velen: That was depressing. Next!

Rory: (beams delightedly) I could talk about Alys forever. Milestones, let’s see ... her first real smile was for Cole. Cullen was rather put out about that, but then he discovered that she’s just as ticklish as he is, so her first real laugh was his to enjoy. (chuckles fondly) I missed her first steps, too! She was tottering around holding onto things for ages, but the first time she walked without holding anything was in the War Room with Cullen. He picked her up and pretty much ran her all the way to the infirmary to demonstrate it for me - he was so proud of her. I was a bit jealous, though. I did the birthing bit all by myself, and I wasn’t getting any of her milestones at all! (laughs) And then her first word was Mama. And she said it straight to me and meant it exactly right, and I swear, I think my heart melted. She must know she’s got us both wrapped around her little finger, I’m sure.

Callum: (his face lights up at the memory of his siblings) Favorite memory of them? Together? That should be interesting ... let’s see. (thinks for a long moment) Oh, I know. Father used to spend a lot of time with Bethany, teaching her how to control and use her magic, and I’m pretty sure Carver always felt left out of those lessons. I mean, I tried to buck him up, but I was no replacement for Father. But there was one time, when they were about thirteen, I think ... Bethany asked Father to teach her how to defend herself properly, without magic, and Father so obviously didn’t know how to answer her. He wasn’t particularly proficient at fighting without magic, you see. But then he turns to Carver, who was getting pretty good with a sword, and says, “Why don’t you teach us how to fight, Carver?” I swear, I never saw Carver look so proud of honored in my life. And Bethany loved those lessons. She was a sweet little thing, but give her a heavy stick and something to hit with it, and she was a fury in flight. (laughs) You know ... I think that was one of the few times I ever saw both of them happy doing something together. Father really did know us better than I ever gave him credit for.