"—must understand that here you do not have the authority—"

Ellana pressed her face into her pillows, nearly groaning at the sound of Josephine's voice coming from beyond her door. Was her ambassador shouting?

What time was it?

The last thing she wanted to do was to focus on anything going on in the world around her. Not only did she only get back an hour or so before dawn—and it was probably only a few hours past that now—but everything was sore no matter how she moved. Then again, that's what happened when she took Bull out to hunt a dragon. This time she did groan.

Couldn't there be one day where someone in Thedas didn't need her assistance?

That thought was the last before her exhausted mind and body slipped off to sleep again.

For only just a moment.

"I must insist that you wait—"

A mumbled reply cut Josephine off before the door shut and Ellana heard steps coming from the stairs. Her very death could be coming and she would not bother to move. She simply was too tired to care.

That and surely Josephine wouldn't allow an assassin into her room, no matter how polite she was trying to be.

A dip at the side of the bed was enough to alert her that this intruder was bold enough to touch her bed. If this was going to end in a bucket of ice water, Sera had better start running.

"Good morning."

That wasn't Sera.

Turning her head and blinking blearily for a few seconds, Ellana found herself confused. "Alistair?"

The bright smile that crossed his face was a bit too much when she was on so little sleep—far too happy for this early—but she was unable to fall back to sleep so easily. At least not without a few answers first.

"What are you doing here?" Too tired to care that her voice croaked as she questioned him, she was half tempted to bury herself under the pillows and blankets and make him wait until she was ready to see him. Shouldn't he be sleeping back at his castle? Which, of course, was nowhere near Skyhold.

"Teagan was going to come for a meeting with your advisors and other nobles to discuss something or other, I wasn't paying attention, but he might be delayed, so I decided to come in case if he is. I arrived two days ago."

Slowly blinking, she tried to process what was said as fast as her brain would allow. "You...came for a meeting you didn't pay attention to the details about? And they let you run a country?"

"I pay attention to the really important things, I promise," he chuckled. "I was mostly hoping to catch you here, if I am to be honest. I must say it was worth it. When else would I see you waking up?"

"You could have waited a few hours," she mumbled while closing her eyes. Maybe if she was more awake she would think the gesture rather sweet.

"I might have missed it, though," he added. "Should I allow you more rest?"

"Mmm...that would be nice, yes."

She expected a reply in return, but instead she heard some fumbling, forcing her to crack open and eye and watch him remove his boots before joining her under her blankets.

"You uh...don't mind if I stay here, do you? I wouldn't mind a bit more rest myself."

It was certainly an unfamiliar situation she found herself in, but she would not turn him away. Not if he was going to allow her more rest, and it certainly was something they've never experienced before. Having the time to simply rest together was never a luxury they could have before. Everything was quick and over before anyone else could walk in. Ellana couldn't think of any excuse to turn him away now.

"As long as I can sleep, I don't mind."

Thankful that he didn't continue the conversation, she found herself rather content when he wrapped an arm around her and held her as she drifted off once more.

There was a hand slowly rubbing up and down her back, and it was comforting. Nuzzling her face against something she realized was a tunic—as her pillows felt distinctly different—Ellana's brows furrowed before she pulled back slightly and opened her eyes.

Oh.

That was right, Alistair was there.

"Did I wake you?"

Returning to where she was before, finding the situation too good to pass up, she closed her eyes and hummed a wordless reply.

"Is that a yes?" he questioned, amusement being obvious in his tone.

"It's a far more pleasant wake up than earlier," she muttered into his chest.

He laughed, but it was true. Probably because now she had a few more hours of sleep helping her mood—even if she was feeling rather lazy—but she also knew better than to get used to waking up like this. In fact it was probably the only time it would happen.

"Of that, I am glad to hear."

Alistair's hand continued to gently rub against her back, and it almost lulled her back to sleep. Unfortunately, Ellana knew she couldn't sleep the day away, no matter how much she wanted to. She had been away for weeks and surely there was something that came up that she needed to hear about since she was last at Skyhold. With a groan she sat up, frowning at the fact she had to move from such a comfortable spot. Glancing at Alistair, she found him watching her, causing her furrow her brows in confusion.

"You're staring."

"You're beautiful."

That had been unexpected. Staring back at him, Ellana was certain that she looked like a mess. Her hair was likely tousled and her eyes tired, not to mention she was busy frowning when he was staring at her before his comment. That hardly seemed like the picture of beauty to her.

"I think you need some more sleep, Alistair. You must be imagining things," she said while running a hand through her hair and scrunching her nose as her fingers caught on the knots that needed worked out.

He sat up and moved closer to her, removing her hand from picking at the knot, and shook his head.

"I mean it."

"Alistair—"

Pressing a gentle kiss against her lips, she blinked as he pressed his forehead against hers and looked at her. That look made her feel like her heart was breaking even though she was certain he hadn't meant to cause such an emotion. Why was he looking at her like that?

"Ellana, I want you to know I—"

"Don't. Alistair, don't," she begged. She had an idea of what he wanted to say, but to hear the words would make things far more complicated than either could deal with at the moment. "Not now."

He sighed and smiled sadly at her, but made no attempt to continue his sentence. She felt guilty that she put that expression on his face, but she was doing the both of them a favor. Neither could afford to admit feelings to each other. Taking physical pleasure from each other when given the chance was one thing, but anything more...that was dangerous.

Squeezing his hand, Ellana pulled back and pressed a kiss to his forehead before untangling herself from the sheets to get dressed. She needed a moment to compose herself, so she would use the time to push away emotions bubbling up under the surface.

They both were bound by duty for lives that did not include the other.

But oh how she secretly wished otherwise.