"Oh Alistair, stop it! I'm barely even showing!"
Elsie Theirin laughed as her husband Alistair rested his head on her stomach. The healers had predicted, roughly, that she was three or four months along in her pregnancy. No one but the two of them had known, and Alistair only thought of names twice.
"If it was a girl, how would you feel about Gwendolyn?" He asked, eyes shining.
"Gwendolyn Theirin? I like the sound of that. But what if it's a boy?" Elsie asked, trying to ignore to massive weight of Alistair's head on her stomach.
"Hm, right…what about naming him after me?"
"What about naming him Duncan? Or Eamon?"
"Not Eamon, he's still alive so that will confuse matters. As for Duncan—"
Their intimate moment was suddenly interrupted with a hasty knocking on the door. Before Alistair could even lift his head, the servant had already burst through the door, hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath.
"I am truly sorry Your Majesty, but the nobles in the hall, they will not wait any—"
"Oh, the nobles, right." Alistair said with a wince, lifting himself from the bed. He adjusted his clothes and kissed his queen on the top of the head and left the room.
"Emma?" Elsie called out for her servant. "Emma, could you come in here please?"
The small elf poked her head through the door. "Yes My Queen?"
"Could you please fetch some hot water? I think it's time to take a bath." She replied, untying the ribbons that held her hair perfectly in place.
The elf was gone in an instant. If Elsie knew her, she probably had water heating over the fire as they spoke. She went to the dresser and combed her long, beautiful chestnut hair. Alistair used to tease her about spending fifty silvers on Orlesian soaps and perfumes, but once he saw what it had done for her hair, he quickly stopped. Emma dashed in and out of the room, filling the tub and leaving to fetch more water.
"My Queen, your bath is ready and there is a towel behind the door. Is there anything else you need?"
"No Emma, that will be enough. Thank you." She replied and quietly shut the door.
Elsie dipped her toes in the water and noted how scalding hot it was. Perfect, she thought as she slowly dipped herself in. She gently patted her ever-bulging stomach and smiled.
"I really like the name Gwendolyn, do you?" She whispered. When she felt nothing, she began to laugh. "Right, too soon to tell I guess."
She leaned back and watched the steam roll of her skin and started to relax. As a Cousland, she was born into nobility, always used to being coddled and getting the best that Fereldan had to offer, but somehow it just wasn't the life she wanted. She was a warrior, how did she get sucked into this? She rubbed her toes on the pure marble tub and then ran her fingers on the gold rim. The only bit of luxury she ever wanted were Orlesian soaps and perfumes. She dipped her hair into the water, then rubbed the fragrant oils into her hair. She dipped her head below and the water and closed her eyes, waiting for the oils to rinse themselves out.
"Old Gods…"
Elsie opened her eyes and rose out of the water like she was drowning. She quickly jumped out and covered herself with a towel, searching the room high and low for intruders.
"Who the hell is there?" She demanded, looking through the window.
The King's personal guards threw the door open, blades ready to protect their Queen from whatever had her fretting.
"My Queen? Is something wrong?" One of them asked.
"Search this room and the next. I heard whispers, someone must be in here or nearby." She panted and darted into the next room to get changed.
"I'm sorry my Queen, but there's no one here. Perhaps you need some sleep—"
"No, I know I heard something. I have to see Alistair…"
Elsie quickly left the room and hurried down the stairs to see her husband as quickly as possible. When she found him, Teagan was whispering something in his ear and Alistair simply sat on the throne, his head resting on his fist. When he saw her and how pale she looked, he quickly jumped up.
"Elsie? What's wrong? Why are you so pale?"
"Please Alistair," she begged. "Meet me upstairs when you're finished."
"If it's that important, I'll go with you now."
Alistair nodded to Teagan to continue hearing plights from the poor and complaints from the nobles. He and Elsie hurried up the stairs and back into their bedroom where Elsie plopped herself on the bed and buried her head in her hands.
"Love, please, what's the matter?" Alistair asked, unsure of how to comfort her.
"I was taking a bath, and I heard a whisper."
"Did the guards check the room?"
"Yes, but let me finish." Elsie said, exasperated. "It wasn't an outside whisper; my head was in the water…it was more like it was in my head. I could have sworn it said Old Gods, but I was so scared I can't remember."
Alistair's eyes grew soft for a moment. "Do you think it's the taint?" He asked softly.
"Oh, Maker forbid!" She hissed. "What would we do?"
Alistair held her close and stroked her hair. "Shh, let's leave it to the healers to figure that out. I'll get Wynne right now."
Alistair left the room and Elsie went to the windowsill and sat down, opening the glass window to view the garden from above. Her lilies were in full bloom now, and the roses were climbing up the side of the castle, also in full bloom. One of the servants was in the vegetable garden, picking tomatoes and carrots, waving to her from the ground. She smiled weakly and waved back and watched him get on with his work.
"Elsie?" She heard a voice call for her.
She turned her head and smiled at the old mage walking into the room, leaning slightly on her staff. Elsie stepped down from the windowsill and watched as the mage's hand turned blue and she waved a bright light over Elsie's stomach.
"The baby seems to be doing fine…what is your concern?" She asked.
"I heard a whisper while I was in the bath. Something whispered Old Gods, but it sounded like it was in my head."
Wynne frowned for a moment. "While I think it is a bad idea for two Wardens to have a child together, you should be alright. I cannot guarantee the life of the baby however—"
"Wait, wait, what are you saying?" Alistair interjected.
"I think you know what I am saying Alistair. No one in recorded history knows of two Wardens having a child together. The result could be a perfectly healthy baby boy or girl, or the result could be…disastrous, to say the least. All I am saying is that you need to prepare yourselves for the worst."
Wynne left the room and Alistair went to the window, leaning heavily against the frame. Elsie moved silently to her lover and wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back.
"Come on big guy," She whispered. "We defeated an Archdemon together, this is nothing."
"This is my child and the love of my heart and life. Don't tell me it's nothing." He replied bitterly.
She hugged him tighter and stood on her tippy toes to kiss the back of his neck. "Did you ever go back to Ostagar with Zevran, Oghren and Fergus?" She asked, though she knew the answer. "Because I'd like to go there sometime and see where we first met."
Alistair softened his stance slightly, remembering that she begged him to let her go, but he wouldn't let her near darkspawn in her condition.
"Did you want to put a memorial for Duncan and Cailan?" Alistair asked.
"Maybe for Cailan, but I thought you wanted to put a memorial for Duncan in Highever?"
"We could do that as well, if you're comfortable with going back there."
She smiled and stood next to her husband and held his tightly. Alistair kissed her forehead and sat her down on the windowsill and closed his eyes when a warm breeze blew across his face.
"We'll go back as soon as we can, okay?" He said to his wife.
She smiled in return. "Fair enough."