Sweet nothings
Camp 10 miles north of Lothering, 9:30, Justinian 10th evening
Finally all tents were put up. Leliana helped Iona with the meal, Alistair and Mikhail circling the two beauties eager to help. Iona had mixed feelings this evening. On one side she really enjoyed Leliana's company. The chantry sister was friendly, laughed often, and had seemed very balanced. What a contrary to boiling volcano Natasha or knife-tongue Morrigan.
On the downside nobody could oversee the interest Mikhail and Alistair showed. Since Leliana changed her chantry clothes to a set of red leather which protected her surely but also accentuated her feminine figure, the two wardens behaved like little boys. Iona was jealous. And it did nothing to enhance her mood, that she wasn't able to hide that feeling.
A score meters away Morrigan sat in front of her tent, apart from the others as always. "Aren't they cute? Little boys with a new toy puppet. What do you think, who will win?" Natasha snorted. "Who cares? As long as they don't stare on her ass in the fights they can do acrobatic threesomes in their tent as long as they want."
Morrigan chuckled." And you, what's with you? Which one would you prefer? The stony Mikhail or the naïve Alistair? Experienced man or trainable puppy? Or perhaps more the lovely Leliana? Women are not my own taste but I heard some dirty talk about the life of circle apprentices. "
Natasha frowned deeply. "Neither." Staring in the fire she remained silent for a while, lastly explaining. "Sure, both men are sweet to look at. But that's not enough. Two times in my life I had a lover. Or to be correct: I wanted them to be my lover. And both times they valued duty more than me. Alistair and Mikhail are the same type of men: Duty, honor and glory. Surely I don't seek the one eternal love, but likewise I have no desire to be cast aside someday because some principle demands it."
Morrigan nodded. "Love is a weakness, but a woman must have some self-esteem. " With a sly grin she continued. "Two non-lovers, you say. Does that mean you never … I thought Alistair to be the only virgin here in camp."
Hoping for a little amusement and a blushing Natasha, Morrigan was set aback by the fiery glare in Natasha's eyes. "I'm not. Once there was a man, but you hardly could call him my lover." Slightly trembling Natasha sat there, memories flickering in her head.
Morrigan didn't know what to do. Say sorry? Embrace her? The mage was clearly unnerved from this theme, but the witch was unused to comfort someone. "Enough of that. It's over. I killed that man. Spit on his grave. Let us speak above other things. Please tell me from the wilderness …"
Morrigan was relieved about the change. With stars glittering above the two women she told from her youth, the life in the wilds, and the time as a shapeshifter …
Natasha long asleep, Morrigan also prepared for bed. Shortly before sleep overwhelmed her, she mused about Natasha exclude the question of Leliana and femme relationships.
On the street Lothering - Redcliffe, 9:30, Justinian 12th noon
Mikhail was irritated. The whole morning Iona evaded him even going so far as ignoring his helping hand climbing obstacles. He had no idea why she behaved in this way. "Women", he sighed. Now, while they took a short rest, he wanted to get an explanation. First Iona tried to evade him anew, but lastly he gripped her arm. "Iona, please, stand still. What is it about? Why are you so … evasive? What have I done? If I have done something stupid, please excuse me."
Iona frowned, broke her arm away from his grip, snarled: "If you don't know, you surely won't understand." Taking a few deep breaths she continued. "And by the way: you should have stopped that fight between Tamara and Sten. You freed this murderer, you are responsible for him. What if he had killed her?"
Slowly Mikhail felt angry himself. "I'm not responsible for everything. Not for Sten's actions and surely not for Natasha's family. Sten and Natasha are both grown up and don't need a nurse to solve their problems. If you think yourself childish and in need of a nanny I may look around if anyone … "
The slap was sharp and loud, Iona casting angry glares before walking away without a word, leaving a stunned Mikhail. He felt so stupid. Moving to follow her, Morrigan's voice stopped him cold.
"I wouldn't follow her yet. Believe me; it's better to let her alone a while. Excuses aren't welcome in the moment."
Mikhail grumbled: "I don't think you to be that great as a relationship counselor."
"You're right. But from her reaction I could say the same about you. But: it's your funeral." With a last unnerved "Women" Mikhail stomped away.
On the street Lothering - Redcliffe, 9:30, Justinian 12th afternoon
The next hours had been unusual silent. With Iona and Mikhail evading each other and Sten and Natasha hissing and glaring, not even Leliana's charm could break the mood. So it came that all were relieved when shouting erupted from the street ahead, followed by the noises of some people running fast in their direction. Two dwarves came in sight closely followed by some darkspawn. They crushed in an invisible barrier, knocking the first darkspawn down and gaining time for the dwarves to close the gap to Sten, who had token the vantage point because of his mix of strength and ability to read tracks.
Spotting their new enemies, the darkspawn immediately retreated, followed swiftly by Sten and Natasha. "Wait; there are more of them behind the corner." Mikhail cursed silently as Sten and Natasha rushed ahead. The rest of the group cantered along. Rounding the next corner they detected Sten and Natasha in full combat, him yelling battle cries and her singing her chasind songs, against a large group of darkspawn, mostly melees. While Alistair and Mikhail rushed forward to help, Leliana took her bow and tried to occupy a handful of Grenlock archers.
In wild arches Sten swung the chasind greatblade he got from Mikhail and cut down any darkspawn dumb enough to get near him. On the other side Natasha slashed and pierced with her staff, knocking down her enemies with waves of force. They were such a terrible pair to behold that Alistair nearly stopped. A last archer went down gurgling with Leliana's arrow in his throat and suddenly the fight was over, Sten panting, Natasha wildly grinning, both covered in blood of their enemies and their own.
"So you really can fight, little one. Not only peasants. But you should eat more and do your exercises. The days in the cage softened you a bit as it seemed."
Sten replied coldly: "You're correct with both. I'll train to bestow you honor in our coming battle."
Natasha grinned: "I'll train too. It shall be a great battle."
Alistair went on, shaking his head in confusion. "Crazy. I'm surrounded by nuts."