Completely inspired by Taylor Swift's "Long Live." Just heard the song and it reminded me exactly of how Loghain and Maric might have been with each other. Hope you like! Warning: Fluffy and Sweet!
Loghain remembered the day they'd first met, the dirty, blonde boy crashing through the shrubbery, staring up at him with large blue eyes.
He thinks that the rest of their lives were a lot like that first day, Maric crashing through everything, wide-eyed and brazen while Loghain quickly picked up the pieces and smoothed over the ruffled feathers.
The first time Maric killed out of anger for himself, Loghain had been there to hold up the rebel-King, cursing Katriel. And when Loghain convinced Rowan to take up the mantle of Queen, he convinced himself his jealousy was temporary.
"Remember this feeling," Maric had whispered on the eve of his wedding, tracing calloused hands over the rippled muscles of the darker man. Loghain had closed his eyes and tilted his head back, wanting to remember the moment as just them.
The first time Maric had to rally the troops as a monarch, Loghain stood behind him, calmly listening to him bolster the morale, hundreds of shoulders visibly straightening under their King's confidence. He briefly wondered at Maric's ability to speak so strongly, hold his head like a hero even as he trembled and cursed the night previous, balling up failed speech after failed speech.
They fought side by side and even when Rowan and Celia became pregnant, both had always found reasons to seek the other's company. If anyone suspected, they put it down to two old friends reliving their glory days.
"Please tell them my name," Maric had asked one night as they lay under the stars, referring to the child Loghain was expecting. Loghain had scoffed, but understood that he wanted the child to know of Maric the man, not the king.
When Rowan died, Maric and Loghain had been camped somewhere in the wilds. Maric had been inconsolable, grasping to his friend. When Celia passed, Loghain had been on his way to Denerim, the ever faithful right-hand man to the king. While standing at the funeral pyre, watching his wife disappear to ash, Loghain felt Maric's hand on his shoulder.
The day before Maric was set to sail, they spent one last night together. Neither were young men and they lay in the darkness together, feeling fate stepping in, something heavy in their moment. "I had the time of my life with you," Maric said, turning to the silent man beside him. Loghain nodded, unwilling to say anything to ruin the moment.
Loghain stood on the battlefield, watching the golden head of Maric's son as the darkspawn engulfed the pitiful army. He almost believed the hope shining in the golden hair and armour, but the boy tried to be his father with none of the fire. Giving the signal, he listened to Cauthrien move the troops, marching away from the slaughter. He watched the troll grasp the powerful body in a large hand, blood spurting as the golden armor and flesh and bone were crushed together.
"Promise me this," Maric had begged before he'd stepped onto the ship. "That you'll stand by my family forever." Loghain had nodded, his hand squeezing the pauldron covering his friend's shoulder.
Now, Loghain kneels on the cold stone floor, bloodied and defeated, staring defiantly up into the eyes of his dead lover, set into a face younger than Maric's had ever been. Beside him is Anora, her beautiful head held high even as tears stream down her face.
Just before the blade came down, Loghain heard a soft voice, long dead but not forgotten, ghostly words spoken the night before they'd finally pushed the Orlesians out of Fereldan.
"We will be remembered."
Long Live lyrics
I said remember this moment, in the back of my mind
The time we stood with our shaking hands
The crowds and stands went wild
We were the Kings and the Queens
And they read off our names
The night you danced like you knew our lives
Would never be the same
You held your head like a hero
On a history book page
It was the end of a decade
But the start of an age
Long live the walls we crashed through
How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered
I said remember this feeling
I passed the pictures around
Of all the years that we stood there
On the side-lines wishing for right now
We are the Kings and the Queen
You trade your basevall cap for a crown
When they gave us our trophies
And we help them up for our town
And the cynics were outraged
Screaming this is absurd
Cause for a moment a band of theives
In ripped up jeans got to rule the world
Long live the walls we crashed through
How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live the look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered
Hold on to spinning around
Confetti falls to the ground
May these memories break our fall
Will you take a moment, promise me this
That you'll stand by my forever
But if god forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye
If you have children some day
When they point to the pictures
Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild
Tell them how our hope it shined
Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life with you
Long, long live the walls we crashed through
How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live the look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered