"Don't do this, please." She begged. His brown eyes began to glow blue as the spirit grinned malevolently. He touched Elthina's forehead and she exploded like the chantry. Kierrai cried out. "No, Anders stop!" she cried. He laughed and moved on to Ziri, the little girl whose life she thought she had saved. The demon repeated his action and Ziri was gone. She was sobbing now, not knowing how to stop him. She saw him begin to approach another person, Sebastian. Her sadness was replaced by fury.
"Anders I swear if you lay a hand on him I will kill you!" she shouted, charging at the mage. Anders chuckled darkly and raised a hand, rooting her to the spot.
"I won't stop." He said, his voice evil and warped. She wailed as he laid his forefinger in between her husband's eyes. Sebastian's blue eyes opened right before he was incinerated.
"Kierrai! Love, it's just a nightmare!" Sebastian said, voice thick with worry. She could feel him shaking her gently before her brown eyes snapped open. Even in the dim lighting she could his eyes were filled with concern. She threw her arms around him and cried softly against his chest. She was still trembling by the time she finished her cry, but she felt comfort at his strong arms around her. She pulled away from him and smiled weakly. He returned her soft smile.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly. She took a deep breath and nodded.
"It was the same dream that I've had since…" she trailed off. The explosion at the Chantry that had occurred a little over two weeks ago was still fresh in her mind, and a wave of grief crashed over her. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop the tears that threatened to spill over before continuing. "But this time you were there. And I was completely helpless to stop him from destroying you." She whispered. Sebastian pulled her to his chest and held her tightly.
"I'm still here, love. That bastard didn't get me, and I'm never going to leave you." He murmured. She nodded against his chest.
"I know. I know you're still here." She agreed. She pulled back again, and this time the smile she gave was much warmer. She looked around the interior of the tent, noticing the increasing amount of light that filtered in through the flap. "Shall we get going, then?" she asked. Sebastian nodded, and both of them began to strap on their armor and weapons as quickly as possible. When they emerged from the tent, the group of soldiers that traveled with them nodded to them in greeting. Kierrai shot a smile at Fenris and was rewarded with a slight twitch of the elf's lips.
"Pack up, men. We leave as soon as everyone is ready." Sebastian ordered. Everyone scrambled to do as he said, and Kierrai grinned fondly at her husband. The soldiers had come from Aveline, the new Viscountess of Kirkwall.
"Aveline, thank you, but we don't need any guards." Kierrai insisted. The red-haired woman shook her head before the sentence was finished.
"Kierrai, you and Sebastian are trying to retake a kingdom. Even I know that no one will take either of you seriously unless you have some sort of honor guard to escort you. Nobles never travel alone." She pointed out.
In the end, they had wound up with a complement of Kirkwall's fifty finest soldiers, each one having sworn allegiance to Sebastian and herself. She was surprised at the high amount of loyalty that had already been shown from the men and women, and she told herself that they would have high positions once Starkhaven was theirs. One of those soldiers, a young elven woman named Aranys, eagerly approached her with a large, graceful horse.
"Your Highness, I have your horse saddled for you." She said enthusiastically. Kierrai bit the inside of her cheek.
"Aranys, I have told you, you are close enough to me that you may call me Kierrai." She replied in exasperation. The woman's pale skin colored slightly. She was quite pretty when she blushed. Kierrai blinked at the thought.
"Pregnancy is making me lose my mind…" she thought.
"My lady, it isn't proper for a woman of my station to address you so personally." The elf explained. Kierrai groaned. She would get through to the woman eventually.
"I suppose I can drop the matter. For now. Thank you for taking care of Tempest." She said. Aranys bowed her blonde head before handing her the reins of her horse and walking away. Kierrai glanced into the large green-grey eyes of her storm colored horse. "You wouldn't call me all these silly titles if you could speak, would you Tempest?" she asked. The horse whickered softly and nudged her face with his nose, eliciting a giggle from Kierrai. "I didn't think so." She replied, scratching behind his ears. She grabbed the pommel of her saddle and started to lift herself up when she felt hands on her waist, assisting her. She glanced down to see Fenris, who pulled his hands away as soon as she was situated. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I don't want you to hurt yourself, Kierrai." He said in his low, gravelly voice. She chuckled.
"Thank you, Fenris, but I'm pregnant, not an invalid." She answered. The stoic elf raised a white eyebrow.
"From my experience, there is not much of a difference." He said, deadpanned. Kierrai blinked.
"Fenris. Was that a joke?" she asked in shock. There was no doubting the smile that crossed his features this time.
"Spending time with you hooligans must be rubbing off on me." He answered before turning on his heel and leaving. Kierrai stared after him in surprise before crowing with laughter. She laughed until tears leaked from her eyes, holding onto Tempest's saddle so as to not fall. She gently wiped the tears away when her laughter turned to a light chuckle.
"Maker, I have missed that sound." A thick brogue said from behind her. She turned with a smile to see her husband riding up beside her. He looked regal on his tall black gelding, even though he was weary from travel.
"What sound?" she asked, knowing the answer. He grinned at her.
"That beautiful, musical laugh of yours. May I ask what finally caused you to laugh again?" he requested. She smiled widely, bringing a small wrinkle to her freckled nose.
"Fenris." She said cryptically. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Fenris?" he pushed. She giggled again.
"My wicked ways are rubbing off on him, love. He made a joke." She explained. The very thought of such a thing made Sebastian laugh as well. She smiled fondly. He hadn't laughed very much in the last two weeks either. She rubbed the swell of her stomach absently. She was nearly five months into her pregnancy, and she couldn't help but think of the man who had told her of her child's continued existence after the chantry explosion.
The bowstring was drawn taut, just past her ear. She took a deep breath to clear her head as she prepared to loose the arrow into the head of her former friend. She was slightly startled when his brown eyes snapped up to meet hers.
"Your child lives, Kierrai. I thought you'd want to know that it is alive and well inside of you." He said in a low whisper. She blinked, hoping she hadn't flinched. Fear gripped her, realizing that the only way he could have known that was by using magic on her, but she calmed when she realized that he hadn't done anything malevolent. She gave Anders a sharp nod.
"Thank you. I will give you this merciful death because I once called you friend, but know that it is more than you deserve. I hope you rot in the void." She said calmly. Anders closed his eyes before she released the string with a twang. The arrow drove itself between his eyes and he fell to the ground. She drew one of her onyx daggers and drew it across his throat for good measure.
She shuddered. She hadn't meant it when she said she wanted him to rot in the void. That disturbed her. Even after everything he had done to her, to her friends, she still cared for him as a friend.
"I didn't mean it." She said softly. Sebastian tilted his head in confusion.
"You didn't mean what, love?" he questioned. She looked at him, realizing that she had spoken aloud.
"When I told him to rot in the void, I didn't mean it. I…I wanted him punished, but I don't want that to happen to him." She rambled. Sebastian reached over and took her hand, understanding filling his blue eyes.
"I know, Kierrai. He knew as well, I'm sure." He assured her. She wiped a tear from her eye before nodding. He was right. "Shall we head out then?" he asked. She nodded again, smiling at her husband. He called for the party to move, and she took a deep breath, eager for the first stop on their campaign that they would reach later that evening, the keep of Lord Kerr.