The celebrations from the coronation lasted for several days, the general population of Ferelden enjoyed the country wide holiday; but as the jubilant time drew to a close the same people were thankful to return to the toils of their work, happy to be drawing in coin and returning to their own ways of life. As the business of life took over Denerim, Zindrafel found herself at a loss, the change that the blight had brought to her life was something that she couldn't alter now. Now that the crisis had been averted, the citizens of Ferelden could settle once more; yet she felt little peace for her warped ways of life. Zindrafel was of Dalish heritage, now living in the vast castle of the royals and felt swamped with her role as advisor to the King, just as Alistair was uncertain with his role on the throne.
Zindrafel let her thoughts carry her away as she made her way to the stable yard. There was a last matter of Grey Warden business that Alistair and she had to take care of before the King could give up his role among the Wardens and take up the crown permanently. She had made the arrangements for their shared trip to Highever; Queen Anora was to stay behind and manage the estate while the two of them said their last goodbyes to their departed friend. The trip wasn't designed to be a complete get away from their duties however as they would be escorted by Bann Teagan who would keep the pair on the straight and narrow. Zindrafel made her way over to the stables, picking a tackle kit and saddle so she could prepare her horse.
The stead was black, with the exception of his hooves which were white; just like the rest of the thickly built war horses. They were a gift for the new king from Orlais and made perfectly for carrying heavily armoured knights on their strong backs. Zindrafel led the large beast from it's stable into the courtyard, a fixing the saddle to it's back and ensuring the straps were tight enough to keep the leather in place, bridal came next, then the dual heraldry. Over the horses head; fixed to the bridal and the forelegs were the vibrant and clear markings of the King, to the flank the blue and crest of the Grey Wardens. The presentation of her stead was clear, even the leather of it's bridle was understated with little embossed detail to it, simple; just the way that Zindrafel preferred it. Once the horse was dressed she took a brush and ran it thoughtfully through the beasts mane until the sounds of horses hooves on the cobbled stones of the courtyard captured her wandering attention.
The mount that had been walked into the courtyard was unmistakeably Alistairs, and she found herself staring at the majesty of it. The armour covering the blaze on the horses face was ornate and expertly polished, proudly displaying the crest of Ferelden. The fine metalwork continued down the horses neck and legs and down it's flank. Following closely beside the horse was a stable hand, and fussing next to him the crafter of the metalwork. A man local to Denerim well known for his fine craftsmanship, perfectionism and infuriatingly high-pitched voice. The sound of it cut right through Zindrafel as she heard the mans continued moaning about ho a certain part of the armour didn't look as good as the rest; he was begging for a chance to fix it.
"There's no time for that." Zindrafel called to the man as she made her way over. "The armour looks wonderful." She added as a compliment as she continued to admire the metalwork.
"But this part-" Wade tried to object.
"If the lady is happy, then it's fine." Came the voice that always followed Wades; Herren, his lover.
Zindrafel shook her head to the banter and couldn't help but smile, some things never changed; she was glad of that.
"I will see to it that you are paid accordingly for your word Master Smith." Zindrafel said with a bow to the craftsman before taking her leave. She motioned for the stable hand to follow her to the courtyard. A black carriage was already present with two more large war horses pulling, and a cart with a black sheet covering the contents behind it with another two. The entourage was larger than Zindrafel had originally hoped for; her dreams of a private send of for Duncan dashed due to protocol.
Zindrafel waited patiently in front of the castle gates, the horse next to her gave her a nudge with it's nose which had her unbalanced due to it's sheer size; the power behind the beast of burden had her rather unsettled, but image was paramount to the royal family and for her to use a smaller, faster horse would not only be an insult to the royal family; it would be an insult to the nation of Orlais also. She was flattening the leather skirt of her dalish armour when Alistair managed to set foot out of the front door. Queen Anora followed closely behind him; telling him heatedly her opinion of the journey that Grey Wardens had planned.
"Your duty is to your Kingdom." Anora insisted one last time to try and keep the King from leaving.
"My duty is to my friends." Alistair snapped back at her, and made his way over to where Zindrafel stood waiting, taking the reins of his own stead from the stable hand; who backed away from his silent task as soon as Alistair took the leather strapping from him.
Anora threw up her hands as Alistair turned his back on her and re-entered the castle.
"She makes this so much harder than it should be." Alistair complained about the Queen. "She just doesn't seem to understand the fact that I am not Cailan." He spoke as he mounted the horse that he'd just commandeered.
Zindrafel put her hand on the saddle and tried to pull herself up onto the large horse; she failed as the horse moved uncomfortably. She looked over her shoulder as she answered; "Anora is just trying to do what she thinks is right for Ferelden." Her words were not ones that she liked the sounds of herself; between herself and Alistair it was known that the elf shared in Alistairs distaste for the Queen, yet she was also Alistairs advisor and at times her head needed to rule over her heart.
Zindrafel jumped as someone came up behind her, taking hold of her waist and lifting her up as she attempted to get on top of the horse a second time. "The Warden Commander is right." Zindrafel gave the man a scowl, but her face softened as soon as she recognised the voice; Teagan. She nodded her head to him in thanks once she'd settled; feeling rather foolish on such a large mount.
She dared to glance towards Alistair while Teagan made his way to the carriage; after hearing the door shutting closed Zindrafel lent as close as she could to Alistair and with the briefest kiss to his cheek she whispered; "This doesn't mean you get to sulk at me all the way to Highever."
Alistair laughed at her words, the simple statement from his secret lover stopped any foul mood before it truly developed. He kicked the horse into motion as he spoke, "It's just hard to believe that she is right when she spends thousands of Sovereigns on fancy armour while our citizens starve in their homes." Despite the weighty topic he managed to show an upbeat smile towards some children that were waving towards the entourage enthusiastically.
Zindrafel waved in return; getting used to her title as the Hero of Ferelden had come with relative ease. "Alistair, affairs of estate can wait until we return." She told him light-heartedly. "I know this trip isn't all going to be sunshine and lollipops, but can we at least try and have fun?"
"A request like that milady? How can I deny?" He replied affectionately; she smiled back to him.
"Lets just try and forget the nasty business of Anora." Zindrafel said sticking her tongue out in mock disgust; which they both laughed to.
As the crowds diminished past the gates of Denerim the pace of the two lead horses increased, giving them distance between themselves and the rest of the caravan so they could speak more conspiratorially.
"How much does your uncle know?" Zindrafel asked.
"He's an intelligent man, he knows a lot of things. He was telling me the other day about this rare type of insect that can do this really strange thing with it's legs..."
"That's not what I meant." Zindrafel chastised, though it was when Alistair was being daft that she adored him most. "I meant about us."
"Oh. Well. He knows." Alistair answered more seriously. "Everything." He added. "I think he figured it out when we took the Urn of sacred ashes to Eamon." He mused as an after thought.
Zindrafel smiled warmly. "Intelligent indeed, we didn't even know back then."
Alistair laughed once again, but in his usual characteristic way managed to switch the mood of the conversation. "I think he'd prefer it if you were on the throne with me instead of Anora, but, tradition says an elf can't become royalty."
"You know what I think of your crazy Shemlen traditions." She dismissed.
"I can't say that I am happy with the arrangement either, but there is little I can do to change it."
"And I am not asking you." Zindrafel answered once more. "You know how I feel about you, those feelings will never go away and neither will I. This is just another trial that life has cast our way."
"Anora is pressuring for an heir." Alistair thrust into the conversation with just a fraction of hesitation wavering into his voice.
"Already?"Zindrafel asked, only partially shocked. "Cailans corpse is barely cold." She shook her head. She knew that Anora would be demanding a child from Alistair, and as the words slowly sank in she fell into silence.
"I shouldn't have brought it up, we've enough to be sad about with burying Duncan."
"I let Morrigan have you to save our lives, I just thought that would be the only time you'd be with another." Zindrafel stated with some measure of anger to her voice. "I curse your shemlen traditions; but more so I curse these damned knife ears. I serve the Royal Court better as a servant than I do your lover." She let out a soft sigh. "I just fear that one day these stolen momthents won't be enough."
"That's not true!" Alistair protested quickly against Zindrafels fears. "It's those moments that make what we have so special."
Zindrafel gave him a loving glance and smiled warmly.
"I heard that Oghren finally made it back to Orzimmar?" Zindrafel asked, changing the subject away from the trails of their relationship.
"Yes, and not a moment too soon according to Cook; he spent more time hassling her at all hours for drink than he spent drinking it!" Alistair commented about the dwarf.
"I can well imagine. He was good fun to have around though." Zindrafel said in Oghrens defense.
"More so than Zevran." Alistair interjected almost bitterly.
"You just didn't know how to take Zev."
"He was just far more interested in trying to take you, Leliana, Morrigan. Me! Than he was in trying to help against the blight." Alistair stated about Zindrafels fellow elf. "And he tried to kill us."
"I know." She commented as the countryside rolled along besides them, the further they got away from the business of Denerim the more comforatble she felt. "But he looked so good in a skirt! He was to pretty to kill for vengeance." She laughed.
Alistair raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"What?" She asked. "He is very pretty. It's just too bad that he knows he is and lets it go to his head." She turned away from him and watched the fields pass her by. They would spend the night in an inn near Amaranthine, the tavern had been forewarned that the royal party would be attending during the night then in the morning they would be travelling onward to Highever so they could finally lay their dear friend to rest. Zindrafel knew very little about the Shemlen settlement of Highever aside it was the home of Duncan and another minor noble family who had been hit hard by the threat of the civil war. Arl Howe had besieged the home of the Couslands before the battle of Ostagar for some petty reason or other that Zindrafel couldn't understand; she had little interest in the pasts of the human world, a world that she hadn't been a part of until she'd been thrust into it as the Hero of Ferelden. She couldn't dwell on the complex past of humans who didn't care for it when the past of her own people had been lost to time.
Zindrafel took a moment to think of her own people while conversation between herself and her human companion remained light and fun. It reminded her of the time before the threat of the blight had come to the fore; when travel was just herself, Alistair and the witch; Morrigan. Elven maiden looked skyward a moment, wondering where the mage had vanished after she'd spent the night with Alistair. He couldn't have been all that bad that she'd have to have ran off so soon afterwards! The thought alone made her laugh softly and Alistairs voice brought her back to the less wistful real world.
"Something the matter my dear?" He asked.
"Nothing at all." Zindrafel replied not sharing her secret thoughts, just pressing onward to Amarantine in light humour.
