Mocking Bird
D-chan: So I was listening to my new favorite song (Mockingbird by Rob Thomas) and the most beautiful plot bunny I had ever seen found it's way into my thoughts. I caught it for my collection. It does not help that every time I see the word mockingbird I imagine the little song that plays on the Sims when you get pregnant... I had to write it, I know there are other stories I should be working on right now, but this story has been itching at my finger tips for days...
Here we stand
Somewhere between this moment and the end
Will we bend?
Or will we open up and take this whole thing in?
"There must be an heir of noble blood!" One man yells out impatiently. More voices join in and after a moment Bann Teagan quiets them with a voice of reason "Now Gentlemen, they've only been married for four months. And her majesty the Queen was away for two of them fighting a war against the darkspawn." After several more minutes of this I finally have enough. My hands ball up into fists and I stand, storming from the room. An angry Alistair quickly follows.
Everybody else is smiling
Man, their smiles don't fade
and you don't even wonder why
You just don't think that way
I watch as yet another young lady my age passes by, her two children running circles around her as she laughs at their antics. Alistair's hand tightens it's grip around mine and his jaw clenches as he watches me. The rest of our journey to Highever is much the same. Even my brother has a new wife, a little girl no more than a few weeks old bundled in blankets in her arms. I smile and act the part of doting Aunt and happily married sister. But I'm sure even Fergus can tell that Alistair and I are run ragged. And on the inside we're tearing ourselves apart as we fight over every little thing.
Maybe you and me got lost somewhere
We can't move on and we can't stay here
Maybe we've just had enough
Well, maybe we ain't meant for this love
I glare crossly at Alistair and he glares right back. I can hear the guards outside our bed chambers shuffle uncomfortably, but that doesn't stop me "This is hardly my fault Alistair!" He doesn't say a word as he begins to pace. I pick up one of my slippers from the trunk at the end of the bed and throw it at him. It hits him square in the back of the head, and he turns back to glare and I sneer in triumph. Even though I'm not a fragile little flower, he would never hit me or throw something back, Fergus would wring his neck, and besides, Alistair could never do such a thing.
"Don't throw things at me Elissa. I'm already in a sour enough mood." Some nobles had followed us here from Denerim. And all they wanted to do was foist their young virile daughters off on the king, hoping for bastard sons, who could one day take over the throne.
You and me tried everything
But still that mockingbird won't sing
Man this life seems hard enough
Well, maybe we ain't meant for this love
I shake my head, after so many failed attempts at producing an heir, you think we would try harder, but instead we find ourselves being driven apart by idiotic nobles and politics. Just like they wanted. I drop down onto the bed and put my head in my hands. After a moment I can't suppress the sob that wells up, or hold back the tears. I'm like that for a good few minutes, just sobbing, and I can still hear the guards shifting uncomfortably at their post. Then I feel the bed dip and then Alistair has me wrapped up in his arms, pressed against his chest as I cry into the hollow of his neck and shoulder.
He cards his fingers through my hair and rubs my back soothingly as he whispers "Sssshhh Elissa. Everything is going to be alright. I promise. Please stop crying. I'm sorry, I love you. Ssshhh." My tears quickly soak through the soft cotton fabric of his tunic. Soon enough I have no more tears to shed and settle for soft hiccups and whimpers. And he just sits with me for close to an hour as I break down.
Take my hand
And I will lead you through the broken promise land
Yes I can, oh yes I can
I can be there when you need it
I'll give it all 'till you can't feel it anymore
When I finally pull away I swipe at my hot cheeks with the sleeve of my gown and almost revel in the pain it causes. He gets up slowly and brings me a went towel to wipe my face with. Instead of handing it to me, he carefully sits back down and gently swipes the towel over my cheeks and any part of my face that is raw and red with tears. Following each swipe of the small towel he plants a soft kiss. He discards the towel after a moment and then stands offering my his hand.
I take it slowly and he pulls me up from the bed and leads me out onto the balcony. My room at Highever, after being rebuilt, now contains a balcony, overlooking fields upon fields upon fields. Tree's litter the properties as does a stream. It's much more beautiful then I remember it. Alistair picks me up swiftly and deposits me so I'm sitting on the railing, facing him. We share a long kiss and then just watch as the sunsets over the properties. I'm looking over my shoulder, my hands on the railing. His hands are on either side of my own as he leans against me. I'm not sure if he's watching the sunset or me.
He runs his thumb over my knuckles and I glance at him. He's watching me, not the sunset. I offer him a weak smile, and he grins back. The grin I had fallen in love with, I hadn't seen it in a while. And I wonder when he stopped smiling. My smile widens a tad at his grin, but my chin is still quivering with silent tears that I'm not crying. He kisses me again, and I can practically see the emotion he's pouring into the kiss. We spent several minutes exchanging kisses, staring into each others eyes and whispering sweet nothings. Before we know it, the sun has sunk below the lofty hills, and the stars have come out to play.
I don't wanna love you now
If you'll just leave someday
I don't wanna turn around
If you'll just walk away
We move our large display of affection onto the sofa in the sitting room that's attached to my bedroom. He just leans back against the arm of the sofa, me laying across his chest as we stare into the amber colors of the fire that remind me of his bright golden eyes. I snuggle close to his chest "Alistair...?" He just lets out a questioning "Hhmmm?" I can feel his chest rumble "Your not going to change your mind are you? Are we going to be fighting again about this time next week?" He holds me closer if that's even possible and mutter "Only on Tuesdays love." And I laugh at the weak joke.
Maybe you and me got lost somewhere
We can't move on and we can't stay here
Maybe we've just had enough
Well, maybe we ain't meant for this love
I wake up the next morning in a rather awkward position. My head is cradled on his collar bone at an odd angle, his arm is wrapped tightly around my waist and one of my arms in trapped between us, it's dead asleep. I attempt to maneuver myself from the situation, I fail miserably the first time. But the second I succeed in standing, I stock the fire and start a new one. And the make myself a bath, I stay in the water for what feels like hours with a warm towel over my face, hoping to relieve it of it's redness.
I can feel Alistair standing in the doorway(a separate bathroom has also been added to my quarters) just watching me. I smile, knowing he can't see it "Alistair, are you just going to stand there, or come over here?" He snorts good naturedly "I think I'll stay over here, you make quite a lovely vision in that lighting." I pull the towel from my face and glance over at him, he's gazing at me adoringly and I wonder how we had ever let this go. His eyes rove over my body, memorizing each flaw and imperfection, and every perfect little tilt and curve that he loves.
I watch him as he watches me, and after a few moments I stand and grab a fresh dry towel from the stool next to the basin and step out of the water. Alistair gently takes the towel from me and lovingly(not sexual, all you perverts! It just makes a lovely moment of intimacy) dries each drop from my skin. It's a slow process, seeing as he even takes the time to dry my hair for me. If I'm not careful my hair curls if I let it dry naturally, but he says he loves it. I'd even let it grow to shoulder length instead of chin length because he said he liked it. He looks me over and utters "You are the beautifulest creature I have ever seen. Prettier than any statue or porcelain doll. Any painting or any heroine in any story."
I blush at the prospect and murmur "Your not so bad looking yourself." He chuckles quietly and then helps me into the clothes I had picked out. A beautiful but simple blue dress. He tells me that it brings out my eyes makes them look even more like the sky. He runs his fingers through my black hair to give off some semblance of being brushed without destroying the curls. And I sit on the lip of the bath as he himself bathes. We just chat about anything and everything, sadly no time for more intimacy because a maid knocks at the door to tell us breakfast is ready. He quickly dries off and changes into a tunic that matches my dress, with golden trim. His best pair of deerskin boots included. I'd bought him them and they looked awfully comfortable too.
We go to breakfast holding hands and smiling while making small talk. The nobles look surprised, we had been at each others throats at dinner the night before, like cats and dogs. Now we were two peas in a pod. Thick as thieves. Two leaves of the same tree.
You and me tried everything
But still that mockingbird won't sing
Man this life seems hard enough
Well, maybe we ain't meant for this love
We don't fight once the whole meal and at the end my brother raises an eyebrow "Sleep well?" I shake my head and roll my eyes "God no. Darkspawn and a pain in the neck. Turns out Alistair isn't as comfortable as my pillow." Fergus sputters "Elissa! I didn't need to know that!" I blink owlishly at him before it dawns on me, my nose wrinkles at the thought "Ew No! We didn't... well... and even if we did I wouldn't tell you about it of all people!" Alistair raises an eyebrow "Ew?" Laughter is heard around the table.
I snicker as well "Yes Ew. Now imagine Fergus were Teagan. Or Eamon." Alistair's face contorts and he confirms "Ew. Enough of my sex like is already on the table as it is. Not going to discuss it over breakfast with the family present." Under the table he reaches over to place his hand on my, intertwining our fingers.
Maybe you and me got lost somewhere
We can't move on and we can't stay here
Maybe we've just had enough
Well, maybe we ain't meant for this love
You and me tried everything
But still that mockingbird won't sing
Man this life seems hard enough
Well, maybe we ain't meant for this love
The trip back to Denerim is spent cuddling in the carriage. I'm sure news of our reunited love has already reaches the rest of the landsmeet. The ride is mostly uneventful. We do encounter bandits but Alistair and I take them out before the royal guard really has time to react to the situation. We celebrate our victory with more cuddling, and wine. We sleep the rest of the way to Denerim. Alistair clambers from the carriage and then offers me his hand to help me step down. As I step down I look up into the smiling face of Teagan and I smile brightly back. The first smile anyone in Denerim has seen since I came back from Amaranthine.
Atleast until a sickness kicks in. I spend the rest of the day over a chamber pot, luckily it's on and off, and only seems to react to cooked meats, I can keep food down as long as I don't smell cooked meat. I'm fine the next day, and the rest of the week even. We figure it was just a twenty-four hour flu and didn't bother with it. But at the end of the month a healer stopped by just to make sure I was alright. That it wasn't going to crop up again anytime soon.
Maybe we ain't meant for this love
Maybe we ain't meant for this love
I glance at Alistair as I enter the throne room. He smiles and beckons me over, I sit in my throne, next to his and turn to look at the nobleman whose trying to settle a dispute over lands as I lean heavily on Alistair arm. The nobleman smiles "I heard you were ill a small while ago, is everything alright your majesty?" I smile back "I'm as healthy as a horse. And so is the baby, thank you for asking." It takes a moment for the news to sink in and then there are cheers ringing throughout the room. Alistair has pulled me up from my chair and is hugging me. I smile over his shoulder at Teagan and Eamon who look pleasantly surprised. In front of everyone Alistair kisses me.
In case you were wondering, it's a boy. We named him Duncan Bryce. He has my hair, and his fathers eyes.