Joining

A/N: Thanks so much for the feedback guys! I’m glad to know that people are reading my story, and enjoying it.

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JOINING

Chapter 4

Elissa made sure that her eyes remained shut when she awoke. She sighed in frustration as her dreams of darkspawn pulled her out of her deep sleep. She felt warm and comfortable, and didn’t want to move at all. She was snuggled against something soft and equally warm and smiled slightly. However, when the thing she was snuggled against moved, she froze. She allowed her eyes to slowly open.

The smooth and muscled back of Alistair greeted her, making Elissa curious. When had she snuggled up to him? Her hands were squished between her body and his, and she moved away slightly to free them. Gently, without realizing what she was doing, she allowed one of her hands to slowly slid up the skin in front of her.

She was so entranced by the feel of Alistair’s skin, she didn’t notice him shiver at her touch. Slowly, she traced the muscles of his back, carefully ghosting her hand over the bruises and scratches. He was hot to the touch, but Elissa didn’t mind. As her hand slid over a particularly dark bruise, Alistair jerked away slightly. Elissa hadn’t even realized he was awake.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, her lips slightly brushing his back. She pulled away further.

“It’s okay,” Alistair said just as softly. He didn’t move away like she had. He remained very still, as if he was almost afraid to move.

“Does it hurt?” Elissa asked, her slender fingers carefully examining the bruise again, and the cut that accompanied it.

“A little,” Alistair responded. “But you’re actually tickling me.”

Elissa chuckled softly. “Sorry,” she said. Her hand resumed its path up and down his back, gentle and steady. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in awhile,” said Alistair. Then, he moved. He slowly pulled away from Elissa and turned to face her. She was surprised to see that his eyes were clear of sleep, meaning he had been awake for quite sometime. Elissa’s hand lay between them, and she let it slide across the blankets until it was resting on Alistair’s chest. She didn’t know what was possessing her at the moment, but she liked what was happening.

Alistair looked down at her hand. “You’re touching me,” he said.

Elissa smirked. “Yes, I am,” she said. “Does it bother you?”

Alistair took a shaky breath. “No,” he said. “I’m just wondering why.”

Elissa shrugged. “I want to,” she said.

Alistair rolled his eyes. “Well that clears everything up,” he said sarcastically. “Thank you very much for your full explanation. I really appreciate it.”

Elissa grinned. “It’s what I do,” she said.

Alistair paused for a moment, before he lifted his hand and moved a piece of hair out of Elissa’s face, as he had done the night before. He looked like he was going to say something, but suddenly there was a loud bark and something heavy jumped on the bed. Alistair let out a yell and fell off the edge as he tried to roll away from a hyper Hermes, who had decided it was his turn to snuggle with Elissa.

The noble woman couldn’t help it and was sent into a laughing fit as Hermes stood by the edge of the bed and growled at Alistair.

“Call your psychotic dog off!” he exclaimed, his hands up in surrender.

Elissa tried to talk through her laughter but couldn’t for a few moments. Eventually, she tugged Hermes’s collar. “Down, boy! No! Bad dog!” she said through giggles, as she pulled him off the bed. “Go lay down!” Hermes shot Elissa a look before letting out a huff and going to sit by the door. As Alistair stood, Hermes’s eyes were fully trained on him, watching his every move.

“He’s worse than a big brother, that dog,” Alistair said, watching Hermes. “Because he can bite your face off.”

“He’s not going to bite your face off,” Elissa said sitting up. “Promise.”

“We should probably get ready to leave,” Alistair said, looking everywhere in the room except at Elissa.

“You’re right,” Elissa said, stretching luxuriously.

“Didn’t you put pillows in between us?” Alistair asked with a slight frown.

Elissa nodded and looked around. She found the extra pillows scattered around the bed and on the floor. “I guess we both move a lot in our sleep,” she said, easing herself out of bed and stooping to pick up them up.

“Comes with the dreams of darkspawn I suppose,” Alistair said, helping her before he turned to the armor he had abandoned the night before.

They got ready for the day in silence, but both were thinking about what had happened between them. Once they had made sure all their things were gathered, they headed to the door. Elissa paused for a moment and placed a hand on Alistair’s arm to stop him.

“Alistair,” she said. “I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

“I think it might be a little late for that,” Alistair said.

Elissa smirked. “True,” she said. “But again, I don’t want it to be. We just snuggled, nothing more. It was nice and something we needed.”

Alistair sighed but nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “Now let’s go. We have a lot of work to do.”

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“HERE THEY COME!” Alistair yelled as he, Elissa, Leliana and Wynne stood at attention. There was a faint glow in the distance, and after a few seconds, Elissa could make out the creatures the people of Redcliffe had been telling them about. As they got closer, she realized they were skeletal warriors and she groaned in frustration. She was sick of undead things.

“Why can’t things just stay dead?” she mumbled, unsheathing her daggers.

“My thoughts exactly,” Alistair agreed, adjusting his sword and shield.

“How about we make a little wager?” Elissa asked with a playful grin.

“What do you propose?” Alistair responded, his interest piqued.

“If I kill more undead than you, you buy me a drink at the tavern and reveal your most embarrassing moment,” Elissa said, her grin widening. The skeletons were moving closer, but Alistair’s attention was completely unfocused on them.

“And if I kill more?” he asked, grinning as well.

“I buy you a drink and tell you my embarrassing moment,” Elissa smirked. “And believe me…it’s a good one.”

“Does it involve nudity?” Alistair joked, his excitement for the battle suddenly renewed.

Elissa tossed him a grin over her shoulder as she marched out to meet the undead. “Oh yeah,” she said.

Alistair followed her. “Excellent,” he said.

All talking ceased as the skeletal warriors reached their barrier. Elissa had been smart and had set up a trap earlier, causing the area to catch fire the second the wire was tripped. The first couple of rows of undead didn’t make it further than the line of fire. When they finally were able to break free, they were met with arrows, daggers and swords. Nothing could be heard but the yells of the undead, the clanking of weapons and the occasional number shout outs from Alistair and Elissa.

Soon even some of the guards joined in and the fight became not only a way to defend Redcliffe, but an entertaining game. The elf Elissa had recruited to fight and Dwyn the dwarf more than held their own. They managed to defend the village square as Elissa and her companions defended the path to the castle. Eventually, when the path was secure, Elissa and her friends joined the battle in the square.

The undead began to come from the waters behind the village, swarming the small group of warriors. Elissa and Alistair moved to defend the doors of the Chantry, which were being attacked by several warriors. The two cut them down easily, but there was no time to relax as more took their place. Elissa found herself fighting two skeletons at once, while Alistair was taking on at least three or four.

“STAY DEAD!” Elissa screamed as she stabbed one of the skeletons in the skull and kicked the other one in the ribs. The bones fell off, but the skeleton kept moving. “Son of a bitch!”

“DUCK!” Alistair called.

Elissa turned to him, only to see him turn in a sharp circle, his blade outstretched. She dropped with a yell just in the nick of time. Alistair cut the heads off the skeletons around him and Elissa with one fluid motion. “68,” he said proudly.

“One of those was mine!” Elissa snapped. She noticed a warrior raising his sword on the unsuspecting Alistair. “Down!”

He followed her command without question and she rolled over his back, throwing her dagger. It severed the skeleton’s neck, causing the warrior to fall into a pile of bones. “67!”

The fighting continued for several more minutes, until, finally, the light of the rising sun peeked out from behind the mountains and the skeletal warriors stopped coming. Piles of bones lay scattered everywhere, but not a single solider or townsmen was lying among them. The village defenders cheered at their victory and the women and children in the Chantry emerged, sighing with relief as they were reunited with loved ones.

Alistair turned to Elissa and grinned as she groaned heavily. “I believe you owe me a drink, and a story,” he said.

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It seemed everyone in the village was celebrating. The tavern was packed to the walls with people and there were many drinks going around. Elissa struggled through the crowd, trying to get back to the small table she was sharing in the corner, with Alistair. Leliana was having a grand time talking to some of the village woman and sharing stories of Orlais. Hermes was barking happily and chasing small children through the tavern. Wynne was deep in concentration with some of the villagers as she healed their wounds.

Eventually Elissa was able to break through the crowd. Clutching the two flagons of ale in her hands, she sat down next to Alistair with a small laugh. “Seeing these people when we first arrived, I would have never guessed they could be so carefree,” she said, smiling.

“Winning the battle definitely helped their moral,” Alistair said.

“So, after all this time traveling, you decide to wait until now to inform me that you are a prince,” Elissa asked, her eyes narrowed. He wasn’t getting off that easy.

Alistair groaned at her expression and buried his face in his hands. “Please, don’t be mad at me,” he said. “Honestly, it was never a big deal to me. I never knew my father that well, and I was never treated as his son. Can we talk about this some other time?” His pleading look made Elissa sigh.

“Fine,” she said, taking a gulp from her flagon. “Alright, a deal is a deal. You want my most embarrassing story?” Her cheeks were turning red just thinking about it, but a deal was a deal.

Alistair smiled. “Actually,” he said. “I have something to say first.”

Elissa looked on with interest as Alistair reached into his pack and pulled something out. She was curious when he removed a deep red, rose. She had seen him with it a couple of times in camp, but hadn’t really paid any mind to it.

“Here, look at this,” Alistair said, putting the rose on the table between them. “Do you know what this is?”

“Is this a trick question?” Elissa asked, her eyebrow raised.

Alistair snorted. “Yes, absolutely, I’m trying to trick you. Is it working?” he asked. “Man, I just about had you, didn’t I?”

Elissa smirked and punched him playfully in the arm before growing slightly serious. “You’ve been thumbing that flower for awhile now,” she said.

Alistair nodded. “I picked it in Lothering,” he explained. “I remembered thinking, ‘how could something so beautiful exist in a place with so much despair and ugliness?’” His eyes caught Elissa and she suddenly had the feeling he wasn’t speaking about the flower anymore. “I probably should have left it alone, but I couldn’t. The darkspawn would come and their taint would just destroy it. So I’ve had it ever since.”

A small crossed Elissa’s face. “That’s a nice sentiment,” she said softly.

Alistair grew quiet for a second as he picked up the rose once more. “I thought that I might give it to you actually,” he said, extending the rose towards her. “In a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you.”

Not expecting such a response, Elissa’s breath caught in her throat and her hand shook a little as she reached out to take the rose from him. “Thank you Alistair,” she said with genuine thanks. “That’s a lovely thought.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Alistair said, relaxing a bit. “I was just thinking, here I am doing all this complaining and you haven’t exactly been having a good time of it yourself. You’ve had none of the good experience of being a Grey Warden since your joining. Not a word of thanks or congratulations. It’s been all death and fighting and tragedy. I thought maybe I could say something. Tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are to find amidst all this darkness.”

Elissa’s heart swelled and fluttered in her chest. She had never been spoken to in such a way, and she wasn’t quite sure how to react. Alistair seemed just as nervous as she felt, so she turned to humor. “So are we married now?”

Alistair laughed loudly, shaking his head. “You won’t land me that easily woman!” he said, shaking his finger at her. “I know I’m quite the prize after all. No need to start crying on me or anything. I guess it was just a stupid impulse. I dunno, was it the wrong one?” His eyes were wide and Elissa found herself falling into them.

“No it wasn’t,” she said, holding the rose to her chest. “Thank you, Alistair.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Alistair said. “Now if we could move right on pass this awkward embarrassing stage and get right to the steamy bits, I’d appreciate it.”

It was Elissa’s turn to laugh loudly. “Sounds good,” she said, grinning. “Off with the armor then!”

Alistair’s laugh was nervous this time. “Bluff called!” he exclaimed. “Damn, she saw right through me!”

“You’re so cute when you’re bashful,” Elissa couldn’t help saying. She loved how her harmless flirting always brought redness to Alistair’s cheeks. This time was no different. He knelt his head, trying to hide it as he grabbed his flagon of ale and stood.

“I’ll be…I’ll be standing over here until the blushing stops,” he said, motioning to the other side of the tavern.  “Just to be safe. You know how it is.”

With a glance over his shoulder, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Elissa with a rose and a longing smile on her face.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update! I was in my final months of college and things just got very hectic, very quickly. I am graduating on Sunday and it’s just so surreal! Please review!