Duty - Chapter 8

Guess Who Made it to Dinner

"… the Darkspawn just kept pouring through the gates. Sten put himself between me and Wynne and just started swinging his axe. They fell like so much dead wood, which gave us enough time to recover and start picking off the ones that got by him." Leliana paused for breath.

"All two of them." Wynne added. "He was very efficient."

"And where was I in all this?" Alistair put a hand to his forehead. "Oh, right. Standing there like an idiot because a certain Warden and a certain mage decided that I couldn't get my hair mussed."

Elinora and Wynne exchanged guilty smiles. Elinora looked to Alistair, "I'm sorry, but it had to be done. I mean, what would people say if I let the future king of Ferelden wander about with mussed hair?"

Everyone but Sten, because he was Sten, laughed, and Elinora mussed Alistair's hair for good measure. He caught her hand from the top of his head and kissed it. Their eyes held for a moment before she slowly pulled her hand away and picked up a goblet.

Eamon sat on Alistair's other side and did not look pleased at the display of affection. He excused himself, whispering something in Alistair's ear as he departed. Alistair's expression clouded for a moment, but he retuned with a smile to the friends and food to be had.

And found his friends looking between him and Elinora with great confusion. Leliana looked downright crushed. "Is there something we should know?" she asked delicately

Elinora tried for casual, smoothing the fine fabric of the dress they had put her in for dinner. "No, I don't think so." She retuned to her plate and took a bite. "This boar is delicious."

"Do not try to change the subject." Zevran gave the two a look more piecing than his daggers. "We went through some effort to get you two past all that nonsense of propriety and nerves. I would hate for our efforts to come to naught."

Elinora scanned the small dining room, filled only with those she had shared so much adventure, pain and joy. They were all paying attention, even behind their own shields. Sten was glowering and Oghren was eyeing them behind a mug of ale. Wynne simply waited, her expression as neutral as she could make it. Leliana looked as if her own heart was breaking, and Zevran still had them pinned to the metaphorical wall.

With a heavy sigh, Elinora spoke the undeniable truth. "I cannot have children. The Darkspawn taint that we Grey Wardens take on to do what we do makes it impossible to carry a child."

"So?" grunted Oghren even as Leliana wailed. Zevran pounded the table with an oath and Wynne looked like someone had died. Oghren's furry brows knit as he worked it out. "Oh…"

"Nothing has been decided yet." Alistair motioned for everyone to calm down. "We made no choices before the battle." The glance Elinora gave him said otherwise, but it was there and gone in a moment.

"But the affairs of camp are not the same as the affairs of state." Elinora kept her voice even and eyes away from her friends.

Wynne's mouth twitched a small, rueful smile. "Spoken like a noblewoman's daughter."

"Mother was always very verbose on the expectations of the marriage of a Teryn's daughter."

Alistair turned to her and asked what he was terrified to ask. "So, why did you… let us…" His loss for words was achingly adorable.

"Because I didn't care about all that anymore. I thought I'd left it all behind in the rubble of Highever. Besides, a king would have been good enough, even for Eleanor Cousland." Elinora looked to her plate. "But I'm not good enough for a king, not if I'm barren. Excuse me." She rose suddenly and rushed out of the room before anyone could catch her.

No one moved or spoke as the slam of the door echoed in the room.

"Idiot," muttered Sten.