After four days without sleep and two without lyrium, Brienne's strength was beginning to waver. She hasn't said a word in response to any of Anders' jabs and spent most of her time glaring silently. The blighted Mage seemed rather pleased with himself and it really tweaked a nerve.
"So, Brienne." He began, "do Templars have to take vows of celibacy?"
Brienne ground her teeth, "I would request that you refer to me by my title, Mage."
"Oooh, it speaks!" Anders said with a grin, "A different question, then? Can you tell me, Knight-Lieutenant, if Templars wear anything below their skirts? I've always wondered."
The Templar's lips turned down in a scowl, "I don't know, Anders. Can you tell me if mages wear anything under their robes?"
The question was purely rhetorical, so her cheeks turned crimson when he answered.
"I wouldn't know about all mages, but I certainly don't and neither does Karl." He winked, "I also have a sneaking suspicion about Solona Amell, but you'd have to ask Ser Cullen about that."
Brienne visibly bristled, "Relationships between Templars and Mages are forbidden. Ser Cullen wouldn't break his vows."
Anders chuckled, "I know, I know. But seeing that sweet devoted look on his face makes it very hard not to poke fun. You're very defensive aren't you?"
"I take pride in my role as a Templar. I don't like hearing distasteful rumours regarding my underlings."
They walked in silence for some time and Brienne was glad for it. Anders was always trying to get a rise out of her and with her lack of sleep it was becoming hard not to snap at him, which would have been very inappropriate. The Mage drove her crazy, but it was still her job to ensure his safety and treat him in a reasonable manner. Her blue eyes hovered on his face for a moment and her insides twisted, he was a handsome man and that made her uncomfortable. Experience had taught her that the longer you spend with a handsome man, the harder it is to resist him. She'd had several lovers before joining the Templars, having joined by choice instead of being recruited from the chantry, and each one had begun as a co-worker, a friend, a man she had spent substantial time with. Anders and she had spent lots of time together, mostly because she was always bringing him back to the tower which took a week at best and because he liked to hang around her while she was on patrol. She knew a remarkable amount about him, this was because he loved to talk and when she refused to add to the conversation he was left talking about himself. The Templar shuddered as she looked at him, mere seconds ago she had been citing the Orders rules and here she was, thinking about what it would be like if she broke them. Despicable.
"You never answered my question." Anders piped up from beside her, "do Templars have to take vows of celibacy?"
Brienne frowned, "no."
The Mage shot her a painfully charming smirk, "does this mean you've ravished a few Templars in the darkest corners of the tower?" He paused, "waaaait, you have your own room don't you? You could just do it in there...much less exciting in my opinion."
"I have not ravished any other Templars. We cannot have a relationship amongst our fellows."
Anders looked at her with wide eyes, "really? You can't be with Mages or Templars? That's honestly rather sad, how do you not just wither away?"
"It's part of my duty."
"If you can't be with anyone in the tower, and you seem to love your rules so very much, does that mean that you've never...?"
Brienne turned pink and grimaced, "I have."
"You have?" Anders said with an excited grin, "Mage or Templar?"
She scoffed, "farmboy. His name was Garrett. I did have a life before I joined the order you must realize."
Anders grinned, "How old were you when you joined the Order, anyway?"
"I began training at sixteen and took my vows at eighteen, as is common practice. However I wasn't transferred to the Circle until twenty."
"How old are you now?"
"twenty-nine."
The mage snickered, "That's funny, I thought you were at least forty."
A low growl escaped Brienne's lips and all thoughts of his being even somewhat charming disappeared, "Could you cease your infernal questioning?"
"Okay, sure. Just one more. Where did you live before you moved to the tower?"
"Lothering. My family is still there, I receive letters on occasion."
"Is that where your farmboy was from?"
"Yes. He was my neighbour."
They descended into another bought of silence, Anders' curiosity sated for a time, but Brienne knew that was likely to change. She shouldn't have answered any of his questions but her head was beginning to throb from lyrium withdrawal and anything to distract her from that was welcome. The longest she had ever gone without lyrium was four days, but that was a long time ago and her addiction would have become much stronger since then. She honestly wondered how much longer she could last, there weren't many Chantries around that she could ask to provide her with more of the blighted substance so it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to insanity. She looked over at Anders and wondered what he would do if she did totally lose it, would he make a break for it? Would he try and help? Brienne's head was causing her much pain and she tried not to let it show, she couldn't have Anders knowing she was becoming weak. What she really needed was sleep, perhaps the pain would subside if she wasn't so tired, but she didn't feel comfortable sleeping when Anders could simply leave. It was a dangerous situation, the one she was in. With a deep sigh she looked up at the sky and noticed the sun beginning to disappear below the horizon, the orange of the sunset was playing very nicely in Anders' hair and that thought made her frown. She grit her teeth and chalked it up to exhaustion.
"We'll set up camp here." She said quickly as they found a large clearing in the trees. Anders nodded and she started emptying their supplies from her pack. The grass below was soft and the weather seemed good, she sorely wished she could sleep, but knew she couldn't. Brienne rubbed her forehead and winced.
"Are you alright, Brienne?" Anders asked, his voice veiled with what seemed to be legitimate concern.
"I'm fine. Just sit down while I put up the tent."
The Mage did as asked but kept his eyes focussed on her. This made her uncomfortable and meant she had to try much harder to keep any pain from slipping onto her face, the tent didn't take very long to set up and she unceremoniously chucked the pack inside, along with a bedroll for Anders and began readying a fire pit. She motioned for the Mage to sit inside the tent and after a few seconds he held an apple out to her. Her eyes widened.
"Where did you find that?"
Anders shrugged, "Inside your pack. You don't look so good, Brienne. Eat something."
She growled, "You cannot go through my things."
"You're worried I'm looking for my phylactery aren't you?" Anders asked with a smirk, "Believe me, if I knew where it was, I would have been gone long ago. Now eat."
The Templar took the apple from his hand and winced at the way her fingertips tingled at the contact, even through her gauntlets, "Thank you. It would be wise for you to get some sleep, we're not even halfway back, yet."
"It would be wise for you to get some sleep." He said, "I'm not going to run away. It's not like I could escape easily anyhow." He jingled his manacles for emphasis.
Brienne knew he was right and scowled before taking a big bite from the apple, "I will sleep outside at the foot of the tent, if you try to run I will hear you"
"Why do you always insist on giving me the bed?" Anders asked, "I mean, first you sleep on the floor at the Inn, then you don't sleep at all and now you're going to sleep outside?"
Brienne scowled and started undoing some of the buckles on her armour, "Mages deserve as much comfort as any other person. I am a Templar and at this moment, your guard, I don't require such privileges."
"This is why I like you." Anders said with a smile, "You're not like the other Templars."
Brienne shrugged her pauldrons off and shoved the rest of her armour in the tent with Anders before lying down on the grass, finishing the rest of the apple and tossing the core over her shoulder, "Get some sleep, Anders, we'll be up at dawn tomorrow."
The mage nodded and closed the front of the tent, his shadow barely visible, "Goodnight, Brienne."
"Knight-Lieutenant." The Templar corrected.
Anders laughed, "Oooooh, did I offend you? My apologies. Goodnight, Knight-Lieutenant."
Brienne couldn't help the smile that slipped onto her face as her eyes slipped closed. He was an idiot. But her exhaustion addled brain found it oddly adorable.