Bioware owns all but my character's and her dog's names. : )
So here we are in Denerim, before the big ceremony making Anora queen.
For those of you who love Wynn, she is back.
I will just say thanks for keeping up with the story, for putting it on your favorites, for all your feedback. I love the encouragement from reviews and the traffic I have on the story. Thank you! So on with the show.
Blessings!
Kai was trying hard not to fidget as she stood with her arms straight out from her body while a servant fitted her dress for the coronation ceremony this afternoon. They'd made it to Denerim in the pouring rain and been unpacked and put in a wing of the castle as far away from Anora as she could manage. All the rain that followed them from Highever had blown off into the Waking Sea, and the sun was shining hot, drying out puddles as if the skies had never been anything but blue and bright.
"Please stand up straight, my lady!" The voice of the exasperated seamstress who was directing the servants pinning the nightmare they were fitting her into made her jump. In fact Kai wished this were a nightmare, and she could wake up, the fittings spanned almost a week now, all for a dress she'd only wear once. She was hot, sweating, uncomfortable and very, very, bored. She kept trying to ignore what was going on by doing some mental exercises that Sten had taught her, the ones he used when he was locked in the cage in Lothering. One of them was a sort of 'I Spy' game. There were a lot of things in the room that started with the letter 'C.'
"Nug Humper!" Kai yelped when one of the pins scraped the skin along her ribs, the seamstress looked scandalized. Her assistants just hid their mouths behind their hands and tried not to laugh. Leli who was sitting on a chair nearby, with a pair of dainty shoes to go with the monstrosity they were currently adjusting to fit Kai, giggled at her.
"I am so sorry, my lady!" a plain looking young woman cried, her eyes wide. She was a new girl who had been brought in when one of the other assistants had gotten ill suddenly. Kai was surprised they didn't rotate servants more, as this dress thing was taking hours.
"Don't worry about it," Kai shifted from foot to foot, "I have had worse." Why was it she thought, that small shallow cuts often stung so badly?
"If her ladyship would just stand still, I am sure we could get this done in less time and with less bleeding," the seamstress said with a wry twist of her lips and a pointed look at Kai.
"Obnoxious old bat," Kai murmured under her breath, which caused the elven servant on her other side to giggle into her hand.
"All right, let's have a look at you." The 'obnoxious old bat' pulled Kai off the stool she'd been standing on and pushed her in front of a full length mirror.
Maker, I look like a meringue! The bodice was tight pushing her, well her assets, almost up under her chin. Then it all seemed to explode in layers of silk and ribbons. She looked as if her legs had been stuck in a tiered and iced cake. Ugh, she huffed in mental disgust, this is ridiculous. Alistair's voice laughing in her ear, "'The Hero of Ferelden' dressed like this, the darkspawn would have been able to kill you instantly in that get up, if they didn't fall down laughing first."
"And now finally we can get to the hair," the seamstress was speaking again. The way she said the hair you would think a dead animal was on Kai's head, not sleek curling black locks. "If she doesn't like my hair now, she would have really loved it when it had darkspawn blood in it," Kai grumbled under her breath.
No, I cannot do this, she thought. I am not going to the coronation dressed like a doll. Kai started reaching for the buttons running down her back, "Nope, sorry, I am not going to the coronation in this dress. I can't and won't do it!" Alistair's voice just laughed inside her ear as if he was rolling around unable to control himself. "Glad you find this so funny," she thought into her own head, "You're not helping" which only made his voice laugh harder.
What ensued next, she would later be told by Leli from an outside observer's point of view, was a comedy fit for any stage in Thedas. The seamstress grew red in the face and sputtered as she followed Kai around the room while Kai kept trying to reach the long line of buttons at the back of the dress while arguing with the seamstress. Their arguing and bickering back and forth while they circled the room had caused the servants to simply stand against the wall, covering their mouths and giggling. Leli too was giggling and of no help at all.
Finally, it was Zev who had come to her rescue by pulling a dagger and running the blade down the buttons of the dress thereby releasing Kai from her silken prison. When had he snuck in? Kai wondered.
As each button came off with a popping sound, the seamstress's face turned redder and redder until Kai thought the woman was going to have aneurysm and her head would simply pop like a cork. If it pops like a cork, Shale will be sorry she missed it, Kai giggled to herself. The seamstress had glared at Zev in the same way that one would look at something nasty one had gotten on one's shoe after stepping in it. Then, she simply waved her hands to the two servants and left the room sputtering something about giving up.
Kai stepped out of the piles of silk and toile as they puddled around her feet. She looked at Zev, commenting, "You have had a lot of practice at that, haven't you?"
"Si," Zev responded, as he leaned on the bedpost with his ankles crossed and a catlike smile on his face. He began cleaning under his fingernails with the point of the dagger he'd used to rescue her.
Kai laughed, she was still in her small clothes, and she couldn't very well go to the coronation in those. With a sudden insight, she knew what would be appropriate. She walked over to the chest which held the armor she had worn to Fort Drakon. She'd forgotten about it and found it again before they left Highever. It hadn't been cleaned or repaired. It still had every sword cut, arrow hole, scratch and burn. And it was still stained with darkspawn blood, her blood, the archdemon's blood, Alistair's blood... Kai felt the room tilt, and her vision got narrow, she thought she might fall over. Andraste's flaming sword, it was even hotter in here, sweat was beading up along her skin.
Zev crossed the room to steady her, thank the Maker for his quick reflexes. Wouldn't it be dandy to have a broken nose and two black eyes for the coronation? Kai felt really light headed, and it took a moment to focus on the fact that Zev was speaking to her. Was he asking her if she was all right? Her hearing came back into focus, Kai thought even Leliana looked concerned. She shook her head, "No, I'm fine, really, just a little warm in here. That stupid dress and standing for hours, what a waste." Kai smiled at them. "Help me buckle on my armor, please?" Kai threw on a simple cotton shirt, wincing as it caught at the scratch on her side as she started to put on the armor. Leli and Zev helped her get all strapped in.
"I like it, my dear Gray Warden. You wear the armor that will remind people why you are 'The Hero of Ferelden,' and you rub Anora's nose in it as well. I follow your thinking, my friend." He laughed, and Kai smiled at him.
"I thought it might make a point, besides it is better than that awful waste of cloth Anora wanted me in," Kai snorted.
"Aw, I thought you looked beautiful, and now you don't even get to wear the pretty shoes," Leli pouted.
"You wear them, Leli, and enjoy." Kai waved a hand at the offensive footwear.
"Zev, did you find Wynne, did you give her my message?" Kai asked as she sat on the bed and buckled on her boots. Once they had reached Denerim, Kai had written Wynne a note. When she saw the mage at the funeral, Kai knew that not only had she forgiven Wynne, but that it was really she herself who needed to ask for Wynne's forgiveness. She lost Alistair and Morrigan; she would not lose another of her 'family' if she could help it, especially not to her own pride.
"I did, and she received it, she read it and agreed to meet with you." Kai felt Zev's warm hand on her shoulder, "I am glad you are making amends." Kai smiled up at him.
"Well, I am going to try; she will have to decide if I deserve her forgiveness. I hope I do." Kai looked down again so Zev wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.
Leliana just stood watching them, "I am sure she will, Wynne is a kind and generous person."
Ah, Leli always thinks the best of everyone, Kai thought, even after being betrayed by her mentor. "Well, why don't we go find out?" Kai strapped on her daggers, took Leliana's and Zev's arms, and walked out of the bedroom.
"You are a little warm, my dear Gray Warden, are sure you are all right?" Zev asked as he brushed a hand over her forehead.
"I am fine Zev, just nerves I think." She smiled at him to reassure him, but truth be told she wasn't feeling well at all. She felt as if she had a fever, and the sweat was making that scratch burn like it was on fire, her head was starting to throb too.
They made their way to a side room off the Landsmeet hall. Kai felt her heart start to beat faster, and her hands were clammy. When she saw Wynne standing there, her mouth went dry. She didn't know what Wynne was going to do, slap her? Kai felt she deserved knees started to buckle, but she pushed herself forward. Wynne's face was impassive when she turned and saw Kai.
"My father always said you should look someone in the eye if you were going to apologize. He said it was important for the other person to know you meant it, he was right." Kai felt her eyes begin to tear up. "Oh Wynne, I am so, so sorry!" And with that, Kai found herself sitting on a bench next to the elder mage hugging her around the waist the way a small child does its mother.
"No, no, Kaidana, you have nothing to be sorry for." Wynne's cool hands stroked her hair and hugged her close. She gently removed Kai's arms from around her waist so she could look Kai in the eye. "I am so sorry. Alistair knew you meant to take the blow yourself. He asked me to restrain you, then as King he ordered me to do it. He said he couldn't bear to lose you." Kai barked out a laugh at this, but Wynne continued, "He said you were the stronger one and you would be all right. He finally begged me, Kai." Wynne openly wept at this point, and her words seemed to be tumbling out like water over stones.
Kai just held Wynne while they both cried. Then, she had a thought and grasped Wynne's face in her hands, looking her in the eye. "Wynne, I am talking to your spirit friend in you, you keep her alive and healthy as long as you can you hear me, I need her." Kai looked into Wynne's eyes and tried to look through them as if she could see the spirit in there.
Wynn just smiled, hugged her tightly, and kissed her forehead with cool lips. "You are warm my dear, are you running a fever?" Wynne hands started to glow with healing magic, but Kai stopped her.
"I don't think I have a fever. It's just nerves." Kai smiled at her trying to wipe away the remnants of tears and her snotty nose. Wynne produced two handkerchiefs out of her sleeves, one for each of them. Kai laughed, "Always prepared, Wynne? And I thought you weren't the typical old woman." She was very happy when Wynne laughed and it sounded genuine.
"Only in having handkerchiefs on hand, still no socks with pom poms, sorry." Wynne smiled at her, besides the handkerchief, Wynne pulled out a little pouch and handed it to Kai. "Alistair gave this to me right before...before the gates. He made me promise to give it to you." Kai's hands shook as she opened it and tilted it upside down. Alistair's mother's pendant, the one she'd found at Redcliffe, fell out onto her open palm. She remembered the pure joy on his face as she'd given it to him, her hand closed over it reflexively. There was a small piece of paper in the pouch as well, a note in Alistair's handwriting:
My Beloved,
I love you so much, more than my duty, more than Ferelden, more than my own life. If you have my mother's amulet, then my little trick with Wynne worked.
I couldn't let you die. I couldn't go on in a world without you in it. You are my compass, my light in the dark, my strength when I thought all was lost. You are so much stronger than I am, and you know it. You have the others to draw from, but for me, you were, are, the only source I needed or wanted.
I hope you will forgive me too. I haven't had a very happy life, but I would do it all again if it meant I could be with you. You made up for all the bad things a thousand times over. Being loved by you has been my greatest joy, and my greatest treasure.
I love you, always,
Alistair
Kai couldn't stop the sob rising in her throat, "You sodding bastard!" His voice didn't make a comment in her ear, probably sensing now was not a good time. She just cried into the already wet handkerchief.
She felt Wynne's hand stroking her head. Leli had come and hugged her from behind, and Zev just put a hand on her knee, gently rubbing it with his thumb. They all sat like that for a moment, letting her cry. Then, one of Anora's guards poked his head in from the doorway leading to the Landsmeet hall, "I am sorry to interrupt, but the coronation is about to begin, if you could all take your places?" He nodded in particular to Kai, "Especially you my lady, the people are very anxious to see you." And then he closed the door again.
"Kai, we need to talk about something else when the ceremony is over. I have something important to tell you, dear." Wynne helped her dry her eyes and wiped her face with the other handkerchief.
"Is it bad or about Alistair, because if it is, I think I have reached my quota for today," Kai tried to joke.
"No, it isn't bad, though it does have to do with Alistair in a way. But we can talk about it when we are done with this whole coronation business, it'is too important, and you'll have questions. We need more time than we have now." Wynne simply brushed a cool hand over her forehead.
"Okay, after this farce is over then," Kai smiled at her. "I love you, Wynne, thanks."
"I love you too, child." Wynne smiled back at her, "And maybe you want to wear that?" She looked pointedly at the amulet in Kai's palm.
Zev lifted it gently out of her hand and clasped it around her neck, the metal felt almost icy on her hot skin.
Kai lifted it and brushed it with her lips, "Let's go watch a viper get crowned."