Iron Chains

(( Thank you for all your ratings and comments! Darkwolves there is more Josephine banter here, but no naughtiness. More to come, I promise. ))

The soiree was hadn't been as bad as Lexara had thought. Okay, sure, there had been murderous harlequins, whispering secrets, and a crazy noblewoman bent of being the right hand of a risen deity. But the food hadn't been half bad.

The balcony overlooked the inner courtyard, night-blooming flowers decorated painted latices. The scent of their blooms permeated the air. Lex took a long moment to enjoy the peace. She got so few peaceful moments. She had a glass of wine in one hand. It wasn't bad. The Orlesians may be strange but Lex couldn't fault the way they handled grapes.

“Inquisitor?”

Lexara smirked and stood up straighter. She turned around and found Josephine standing there. The Ambassador continued to look characteristically resplendent in the Inquisition uniform.

“Shouldn't you be flirting outrageously with a Warden?”

“Shouldn't you be dragging a Qunari into a private alcove?” Josephine shot back.

“Ugh. Haven't I faced enough terrifying things in one night?”

Josephine smirked and came to the edge of the balcony, placing her dark hands against the pale marble. “You make a valid point, Inquisitor. I'll let it be for now.”

Lexara gave a nod, “Good, good. I wont. You are seriously supposed to be flirting with a bearded Warden man who cleans up fairly nice.” Lexara thrust her chin towards the party still alive with excited chatter and dancing within. She could just see the dark haired Orlesian man standing with a glass in one hand while an old woman in a fine down chatted amiably with him.

“He does.” Jo nodded still keeping her gaze on the distance.

Lexara sighed and shook her head, “I let you play with my hair.”

“Pardon me?”

Lexara took a long sip of her drink letting the tingling of the wine trickle over her tongue. It was another pleasant moment that gave her time to think. Her head buzzed nicely from the effect. “So, it's like this Princess. If you don't go over there and talk to him, I will.”

“You'll...what?” Josephine's eyes narrowed, unamused.

“You have great ears.”

“You aren't making any sense, Inquisitor.”

“You have great ears, your hearing is perfect. So I know you heard me.” Lexara set her drink down and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “But for the sake of your understanding I'll repeat myself. You see that tall, dark, and handsome Warden over there? The one all dressed in red. He's a cutie. In fact, aside from a rather imposing Qunari out there I'd say he's the nicest of the bunch. So if you don't get that very lovely backside of yours in there and finagle a dance out of him, I will.”

“Why?”

“Because it would rile you and I am just drunk enough to do it.”

Josephine squared her shoulders. “You would do it, wouldn't you?”

“I'm the Herald of Andraste. I'll do whatever I want.”

“This is very unladylike.”

“It's a damn good thing I'm a mercenary then, huh?”

“You're impossible.”

“I'm that too.” Lexara said with an agreeable nod, “But you're wasting time, Princess.”

Josephine rolled her eyes and stomped off towards the party, “I'm not a Princess.” she repeated.

Lexara smiled and picked her glass up again, watching the wide hips of the Antivan woman sway as she sauntered up to Blackwall, who looked pleased to see Josephine there.

“You'll always be a Princess to me, Josephine.” Lexara said softly picking up her glass again.

She got the feeling that she wouldn't have the diplomat in her bed again. She felt a small tug at the loss but knew that she wouldn't be loosing Josephine completely. They'd shared something and being apart couldn't take that away.

Lexara watched as Josephine added a dash of charm to her body language and her speech. There was something so wonderfully regal about the woman. She made it look easy, heck she made everything look easy. It was one of the things that made her so easy to love.

It took a few moments but a very bewildered Blackwall was slowly making his way out to the dance floor with his arm linked with the diplomats. The music started up and soon the two were a mesh of red cloth and dark hair.

“That your doing, Boss?”

“People keep sneaking up on me tonight.” Lexara said finding Bull hovering in her shadow.

“It's all that wine they pushed into your glass. Made you loopy.”

Lexara nodded and took another appreciative drink. “It's damn fine wine.”

For a moment they were both quiet, watching as a charmed Blackwall danced a besotted Josephine across the floor. They made a striking pair. Were it not for the uniforms marking them as Inquisition they would have looked like another noble couple taking a moment to dance and flirt.

“Yeah, I did that.” she finally says.

“Good work.”

She found a hundred snarky comments jumping to her tongue but they all died before she breathed them to life Instead she found herself leaning against the balconies entryway. “Well, you know. All in a days work.”

“I asked for more of that cheese dip, asked for more. They gave me this look, the assholes.” Bull leaned over the edge of the balcony casually. His single eye watching the ongoing festivities in the gardens below. “So, how ya doin'?”

“Well, we achieved all of our goals. I'm enjoying a moment of peace.”

Bull nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan, you'll get kicked in the teeth soon enough.” he turned his gaze on her, “Hang on to the good stuff.” he shifted towards her, and though he kept that easy going grin fixed in place she could see that he was coming to a decision. “Come on, the musics' finally got a enough beat to dance to.”

He held his arm out in a parody of gentlemanly courtship. She found herself eying it. She loved his arms, the heavy strength of them, the way they radiated warmth. She remembered that night in the snow, when she'd woken with his naked body pressed to her backside. His breath on her neck. But he had told her 'no', firmly and in no uncertain terms. She wondered if she ought to do the same. Would he respond as she had?

She glanced up at him, standing there, patiently waiting her answer.

No, probably not. So she was honest, “I'd love to.” But she didn't bother to take his arm. It would have looked ridiculous. He smirked and wrapped that arm around her back and guided her in.

“Good, they're out of food.”