Here's part 2. Read, enjoy, and review!
******************************************************Chapter One***********************************************************************************
Aedan and Leliana arrived in the dining hall about an hour after she had told him the good news. They'd stood on the ramparts for another moment, holding one another. Aedan had forced himself to shove thoughts about the apostate aside and allow himself to be happy about what was arguably the most important piece of news he'd ever received. It was one thing to receive news from the front, intelligence regarding enemy troop movements and other military affairs. It was quite another to learn that after ten years of assumed infertility on his part, the woman he loved was carrying his child. It was notoriously hard for a Grey Warden to conceive, and though the couple had been trying for the duration of the marriage, Aedan long ago resigned himself to failure in this matter. While they'd been happy for Alistair and Anora, Aedan had always harbored a bit of jealousy of Alistair and his young son.
Once he'd forced away thoughts of his liaison with Morrigan, Aedan had begun to feel deliriously happy. After everything he and Leliana had weathered together, finally having a child together was a wonderful proposition. The guards arrived for their shift and the couple returned to their bedroom and made love. The timing was unusual for them; Aedan was a traditional kind of man in most respects, and usually preferred to save such things for later in the day. But the swirl of emotions, of mutual love and elation, compelled them to the bedroom early.
"I'd given up hope long ago," Aedan remarked afterwards as he strapped on his armor, an ancient set he'd unearthed piece by piece in the Brecilian He always wore it when he worked; it gave the right sort of image to the people of Amaranthine. He wasn't some minor noble who had ascended to arldom. He was the Commander of the Grey, the son of Bryce Cousland, and he was damned well going to strike an impressive figure when he was seeing to the tedious business of sorting through the various complaints, requests, and petitions of his subjects.
Leliana was sitting up on the bed, sheet wrapped about her. She looked incredibly beautiful, her face lit by the early morning sun peeking through their window. She almost looked like she was glowing. She smiled softly. "I never did," she said, Orlesian accent coloring her words. "Everything happens for a reason. The Maker brought you to me, and now He has seen fit to give us this gift."
Aedan opened his weapon cabinet and looked thoughtfully at the impressive collection of weapons therein. "You've always been more faithful than I have. It was one of the things that drew me to you. Your unceasing hope that everything will turn out as it should. Sword and shield today, or two swords?"
She stood, holding the sheet about her and moving to kiss him. "How could I lack for faith, when the Maker has given me such a devilishly romantic husband? Talking about weapons while we're discussing our child. Really!" she said in mock indignity.
"I thought you liked weapons," Aedan replied with a devilish smirk.
Leliana shook her head at his immaturity. "And that is one of the things that drew me to you. Your uncanny knack for double entendre. And your weapon, of course," she said with a laugh.
"Oh, I do love you," he chuckled. "Though you never answered my question," Aedan said testing the weight of Starfang in his hand. It was the finest sword he owned in terms of utility, but he rarely wore it unless he expected a fight. The metal had a strange sheen to it that disrupted the cohesion of the image he was trying to maintain. He placed it back in the cabinet and strapped Topsider's Honor into his belt scabbard. He'd recovered the blade in the Deep Roads during his quest to find the mad dwarven Paragon, Branka. This blade, perfectly straight and thin, rarely left his side, and he would be wearing it today regardless of whatever else he decided to bring along.
"Why don't you wear Duncan's sword as well?" said Leliana. It was a fine idea. He took the blade down from its place in the cabinet and strapped it on his left hip scabbard. Tomorrow he would be sure to wear the Cousland family sword.
"I'm thinking about giving it to Alistair's boy the next time we're in Denerim. Duncan was the closest thing to a father Alistair had. It's only right that the boy inherit his namesake's blade. It's only through poor timing that the blade didn't go to Alistair in the first place." Aedan had found the sword, along with its matching dagger, buried in the chest of an ogre in Ostagar, where he and his companions had returned to claim the late King Cailan's equipment, along with his father Maric's sword, after receiving a tip from a dying member of his honor guard. At the time, Cousland and Alistair had not been on speaking terms. Aedan had spared Loghain Mac Tir's life at the Landsmeet, and Alistair had not been pleased. Fortunately for Alistair and indeed for all of Ferelden, Aedan had been able to convince Anora and Alistair to wed, but for a while, his relationship with the new king had suffered.
"I think that's a wonderful idea," Leliana replied, finally deciding to get dressed. She let the sheet fall and went to her closet, retrieving a simple yet beautiful dress and a pair of shoes Aedan had purchased for her when they'd gone to Val Roueaux. They hadn't been cheap, but Cousland was financially well off and knew how much his wife loved shoes. She strapped a pair of daggers to her thighs and put the dress on over them. Old habits died hard.
They left their chambers together and headed down to the dining hall to have breakfast. Oghren sat at the long table, already in his cups. He looked up at the couple as they entered the room and narrowed his eyes. "Heheh," he snorted lewdly. "And so early in the day! Didn't think you had it in you, Cousland."
Aedan shook his head in wonder. "You're a terror, old friend. A bloody terror." Leliana shrugged and sat down. An elven maid rushed out with two plates of food, followed by a colleague carrying glasses of water.
"Hmph," Oghren grunted. "I been livin' vicariously through your sex life for years." Leliana coughed, choking a bit on the sip of water she'd been taking.
Aedan sighed. "What's on the itinerary for today?" he asked Varel, his seneschal, who was sitting across from Oghren eating a plate of eggs.
"Not much, my lord. Ser Gramlen is involved in a trade dispute with a travelling merchant who apparently sold his wares on Gramlen's property. Our good Ser Gramlen demands tribute for goods sold on his land, and is willing to take it either in monetary form or in capital punishment. Both parties will be speaking before you before noon. And there's been report of a band of thieves to the southwest. They ransacked a caravan of merchants. Killed most of them. A few survivors made their way to the city." Varel was looking very old these days. He hadn't been a young man even when they'd met, but the years had made their mark on him.
Cousland scowled as he dug into his eggs. "The new Warden, Elendel, from the Dalish? Inform her of the highwaymen. Tell her to take a few men and go talk to the survivors, and then deal with the highwaymen. As for Gramlen? I've been in charge here long enough that he should know how this dispute will turn out for him."
Varel nodded his understanding. "Shall I cancel their audience my lord? Or do you wish to inform Gramlen personally?"
Aedan sighed at the mundanity of his day to day work. "No, keep the audience. I'd like to set good Ser Gramlen on the path to altruism personally. And remind him that his lands belong to him because I allow it. Though I haven't yet decided what would be a fitting tribute for him to make to the merchant for inconveniencing him so."
Varel chuckled. "That will go over well, I'm sure."
"You know me," Aedan said with a wry smile. "Always looking out for the little people. My nanny taught me well."
"Poor Nan," Leliana said, having heard Aedan's many stories about the woman and the tragedy of her death, along with everyone else at Castle Cousland.
Then Leliana accidentally knocked her plate of eggs off the table as she turned to vomit on the floor. Aedan rose quickly, rushing to her side and supporting her with his strong arms as she finished. He dabbed at her mouth with the fine cloth napkin and handed her glass of water to her. Her pregnancy truly hadn't crystallized in his mind until this moment. She was really going to have a baby. He grinned like a fool.
"Why are you smiling?" she asked quizzically. "There's nothing funny about that!"
"No," he agreed. "But it's really going to happen. It's wonderful." Though she still looked rather sick, her wide smile told him that she felt the same way.
The elven maids rushed to clean up the mess as Oghren's eyes narrowed again. "So that explains it," he said gruffly. "Right up front, Cousland, I'm letting you know right now that I'm volunteering my services as a midwife." The dwarf giggled lecherously and took a swig of ale.
Cousland groaned and helped his wife from her seat.
