"Maker, Alistair, where are we going?" Elissa held onto his wrists as his hands covered her eyes, steering her through the grounds of Redcliffe. "I told you, I want to show you something!" Alistair deftly prevented her stumble with his elbow, keeping her eyes covered. "Ta da!" he uncovered her eyes, revealing an unremarkable wooden ladder. "Andraste's knickers, Alistair, you brought me here to show me a ladder...? Wait – is this...?"
"This was my bedroom!" he grinned at her. "Well not here, this was the horse's bedroom. But up there, in the hayloft. I wonder if the ladder will still hold my weight?" He tested the bottom rung gingerly, then put his full weight on it. "Well it holds me, I dunno about you though!" He was rewarded with a slap on the backside for his cheek, and wiggled it before climbing the rest of the way up.
Elissa followed her husband up the ladder into the tiny loft. "This was where you slept?" She looked around the tiny space, and her heart broke a little for the way he had been treated in those early days, although out loud she said "it's very cute. Cosy..." Alistair was rummaging around underneath a bale of hay with a threadbare horse blanket draped over it – his bed, she supposed. "Has anyone been up here since you?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out," he replied. "When I was sent to the chantry, somebody collected my things for me – I didn't get a chance to come and collect everything. I've told you before that I didn't really get on with the other kids, and this isn't the most secure of places, so I didn't leave my stuff on show. I had a secret hiding place... ah ha!" He pulled something out triumphantly from under the hay bale and handed it to her. Elissa giggled "you look like Dog when he brings back some mangled old ball of wool!" but she took the figure that he handed to her and looked at it. It was a golem figurine, quite a well made one, if a bit worn and battered. "It used to move and it's eyes used to flash, I think it was enchanted. It's probably worn off by now though. I wonder if Sandal could fix it for me?," Alistair mused, absently playing with another small item. "I had this too – it's one of those miniature paintings of King Maric and Queen Rowan that they do for Royal weddings. I stole it from one of the cooks in the kitchens. I used to stare at it for hours, wondering if I looked anything like him, wondering if we had anything in common. Silly really,".
"Not silly at all," She said, settling by him on the hay. "It's only natural to want to know where you came from. Did nobody ever tell you that you looked like him? You're identical!" Elissa took the painting from him, studying it for a moment. She had met Maric many years ago, and Cailan, at Ostagar of course but also when they had come to Highever when she was much younger. They had been very alike, all blond hair and blue eyes and confidence, and although Alistair had slighter darker hair and hazel eyes, facially he was probably more similar to Maric than Cailan had been.
"Well, that'll come in handy when it comes to hiding my identity in Orlais won't it?," He chuckled, and Elissa recognised his usual method of deflecting the awkward questions with humour. "Oh hello, aren't you King Alistair? No not at all, I'm the long lost King Maric! Oh that's alright then! I don't know who we'll pass you off as though, you don't look much like Cailan... Are you looking forward to it?"
"Our little honeymoon? Of course! If I'm honest, I'm almost looking forward to being anonymous again. To not being the queen, to not being Warden-Commander... I mean, I know I'm only in charge of you at the moment, but that's difficult enough!" She squirmed away laughing as he tackled her to the hay.
After the wedding, they had decided to leave Ferelden for a short time to take a honeymoon. Alistair was worried that after her long recovery from the archdemon attack, followed in quick succession by her new responsibilities as Queen of Ferelden and of planning a strategy to rebuild the Grey Wardens she was burnt out, and she knew that his first few months as king hadn't exactly been easy on him either. They had decided to combine a short honeymoon with a trip to see the Grey Wardens in Orlais, as well as a diplomatic visit to Empress Celene in Val Royeaux. Leliana and Zevran were to join them, as they had decided to spend their honeymoon not in fancy hotels and resorts, but travelling incognito around the smaller towns and cities in Orlais.
Through Bodahn, they had commissioned new armour – Elissa's dragon armour was bad enough, but Alistair could hardly wear his golden suit of plate and pretend to be a travelling adventurer – and ordered bedrolls, tents and supplies. She smiled as she thought about what else might transpire on their little trip, for she had heard on the grapevine that a certain head of security had been spotted coming out of a jewellers shop with a small parcel...
