A/N: Thank you ElyssaCousland for doing such a wonderful beta job.
Trouble.
"I will be leaving to check in on the horde; we need to know where it is heading," Riordan said to them, as he finished packing his bag.
"Are you sure it is safe for you to go alone?" Arietta asked, her hands restless at her sides.
Riordan nodded. "I will move faster on my own, and we cannot afford to send more of us just to observe the darkspawn. Stay here and prepare the city as best you can in case the horde moves on Denerim. I will meet you at Redcliffe in a few days."
With that he left, leaving Arietta, Alistair, and Eamon standing in the Arl's study in an awkward silence.
Alistair was in a silent fury with everyone. He had rallied the nobles of court with her, and still wanted to marry her, but there was anger, not warmth in his eyes now. It was fortunate then, that he had barely looked at her at all this past hour or two, otherwise she might have burst into tears at the sight of such an emotion on his beautiful face.
"I will be heading back to Redcliffe to rally the armies," Eamon said. "Do what you can here, and finish whatever business you may have in the city. Once Riordan returns join me at Redcliffe, and we will discuss how to handle the horde with his new information."
Arietta nodded her agreement. "Stay safe, my lord."
He smiled warmly at her. "And you, Warden."
Eamon took his leave to gather his things, leaving Arietta with Alistair.
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Will you be joining us at Redcliffe?"
His eyes found hers and she flinched away from the bitterness there. "No; I'm not going anywhere with that bastard."
She nodded her head meekly. "I'll miss you."
He sighed, and stepped toward her, his hazel eyes suddenly less severe. "I'll miss you too, love." He leant down and kissed her tenderly. "Please, stay safe."
"You too."
He smiled slightly. "You're the one going off to fight a dragon. I'll be fine here; being king apparently means I have an entire garrison of guards to watch over me," he teased.
"Well, they better be damn good at their jobs," she said as tears wet her eyes.
"We still have a few days before you leave, how are you planning to prepare?" he asked her, in a business-like tone that she wasn't used to hearing from his lips.
"I will speak with the nobles again; get them to rally their men at Redcliffe. I will put Loghain's men and the Chantry's Templars to use guarding Denerim, with patrols on the outskirts of the city, just in case."
He nodded. "And I'll make sure there are archers on the walls and check the heavy artillery is all in working order. And should the darkspawn come here before your army arrives, I will open up Howe's estate for civilians to take refuge in."
"And lock yourself in the safest room of the palace, you hear me?" He reluctantly nodded his head. "I don't think it will come to that though; the horde was still south of Redcliffe last time we checked. Theoretically that's where they will strike next, and my army will be ready to crush them," Arietta said confidently.
"If anyone can do this, it is you, love," he said with confidence, his hands wrapped around hers, holding them to his fast beating heart.
She took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry I sided with Neri over you."
He cupped her face. "I won't pretend I'm not angry – I'm furious. But most of my anger is directed at Neri and Riordan; whatever their reasoning, it better be worth it. And if these are the last few days we have together for a while, I won't spend them mad at you, dear."
She smiled tearfully at him. "I love you," she whispered.
…
Things were a little tense between all of the Wardens, so Neri decided to drag Loghain out with her – hooded of course, so as not to be recognised. There was after all a crowd of angry men and women screaming for Neri and Loghain's heads. The common folk were none too happy that Neri had chosen to spare the old general's life. Neri didn't fancy being ripped a part by angry crowds so they snuck out the back door, and quietly made their way through an alley.
"You kept saying you needed me; I'm curious as to why you think that is," Loghain said, as they walked down the dusty cobbled street.
Neri smiled slightly. "I need you to fulfil a fantasy of mine," she purred.
Loghain frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Neri giggled girlishly. "I want to fuck you, and pull on those braids of yours while screaming 'faster boy, faster!'"
His eyes bulged. "You are joking?"
She snorted. "Of course I'm fucking joking!" She chuckled. "You're too easy."
He let out a huffed laugh. "You are very strange, Warden."
"And you're so damn serious all the time. Do you ever crack a smile?"
"If something is funny, then yes."
"Oh, you wound me so!" Neri snickered.
They entered the armourer's shop that Arietta had told her about; Neri needed to pick up her new armour set, and she couldn't wait to see what the dragon scales looked like in all their glory. Arietta said it was a belated birthday present, which had made Neri feel giddy inside; she'd never received anything but birthday sex as a present before. Arietta would have picked it up herself, but she was busy organising Denerim, and trying to pull Alistair out of his mood.
"Hey, Herren, Wade, I'm here to pick up the dragon armour." Neri beamed at them.
Wade's face broke into a grin and he lifted a sheet off of an armour stand. Neri gasped as she took in the beautiful armour. It was a silver set, but there was a purple and red shine to it in the candle light.
"That is dragon scale?" Loghain said, slightly shocked.
"Killed her myself." Neri smirked at him.
"That is… impressive."
The armour fit perfectly, and she paid Wade a little extra and thanked him, before leaving.
"I suppose we should head back to the estate now…" Neri sighed. "Hoods up," she reminded him.
They walked across the market with their heads lowered. "I imagine things are difficult between you, and the new king and queen now?" Loghain said inquisitively. "Especially with Alistair; that boy is far too much like Cailan."
"Yeah, saving your stupid life has been a royal pain in my ass," she mumbled.
"You could have just killed me."
"And miss out on all the fun we're having now? Never," she retorted sarcastically.
"You'd be the only person to think that." He sighed.
She laughed. "True enough."
"You know, I had expected Arietta to be the smart one; she had led you thus far, but you secured Anora's support in exchange for sparing my life. That was very well played."
"I would have spared your life even if Anora sided against us." Neri manoeuvred through a large group of people.
"And you still haven't said why that is."
Someone pushed Neri, and she landed in the dirt with a thud, her hood falling off her head.
A man leant to help her up, and then gasped. "You're the Warden that spared that traitor!"
She glanced nervously up at Loghain.
The soldier gasped as he followed her eyes, and Neri cursed.
Within minutes a crowd had surrounded them. Neri was back on her feet but there was no way through.
"Murderer!", "Traitor!", "You should have killed him!" they cried.
"Please clear the way," Neri said firmly, for the third time.
"No way! He needs to die," a blonde-haired and bearded man said; he looked like a knight.
"Ser, please stand back," Neri growled.
"I defended you!" the knight shouted at Loghain. "You were a hero; how could you kill the king?"
Loghain held up his hands. "What's done is done; I am a Grey Warden now, Ser."
The knight scoffed. "That's not a punishment. I challenge you to a duel; I will have your head!" he said proudly, his chin high.
Neri rolled her eyes. "You will do no such thing. Back off," she snarled.
The man turned a scathing look at her. "Are you in cahoots with him then? They say you were charged with protecting the king; did you let him die deliberately?" the knight hissed at her.
"I did everything in my power to save Cailan," she said stubbornly.
"And yet you let his murderer live." The knight drew his sword as did various other members of the crowd.
Shit.
She grabbed Loghain, and threw him to the floor as she let out a shockwave of force magic. It knocked over all of the soldiers; she grabbed Loghain, and they sprinted through the toppled soldiers.
They were both panting heavily by the time they reached the estate's gates.
"Thank you, Warden," Loghain said as he wiped his brow.
She snorted. "Two days ago they were cheering my name, now I'm a traitor." She shook her head. "Funny how quickly opinions change, eh?"
Loghain sighed and nodded his head.
They entered the Keep once more. "Avoid Alistair and Arietta; I'll call on you when we are leaving," she said to their newest brother. Zevran appeared in the doorway to the library and she smiled at him before approaching him.
"Mmm, and what fine armour you are wearing," he said silkily, as his eyes roamed over her lithe frame.
She grinned, twirling for him. "You like?"
"I do, although I think it would look better on the floor, no?"
She laughed. "Not into bondage then?" she teased.
His eyes sparkled mischievously. "For you? Anything, my dear." His eyes grew harder. "I did not think you would be interested in such things, with your past experiences…"
She craned her head to the side. "A fair point. In truth though, I quite like pain sometimes," she admitted quietly.
He narrowed his eyes. "You don't self-harm?"
"No. Well not really; I used to. It helped anchor me, I suppose. I felt like I deserved it." She frowned at the floor. "I don't feel that way anymore."
He stepped closer to her, his hand stroking her hair gently. "If you ever feel like you need pain again, you will tell me, cara mia?" She nodded, and he smiled softly. "Whatever you need, whatever you want, Io sono tua."
"I am yours?" He smiled and nodded. He had been teaching her a little Antivan, but she was pretty terrible most of the time. "What did you say to me after our encounter with Albert?"
His smile broadened. "Perhaps I will tell you some other time, yes?" he hedged.
"Bah, no fair!"
He kissed her suddenly, and her hands instinctively found his hair as she moaned into his mouth.
He pulled back with a playful smile. "I am curious, my dear. What would you have done if Arietta ordered Loghain to die, even after your impressive speech?"
She chuckled. "I would have knocked her and Alistair out."
His eyebrows arched. "Loghain is that important?"
Neri's ears drooped. "Yes."
He scowled slightly. "Why?"
"It is another Warden secret; I will explain it to you when you give me the translation," she teased.
He scoffed.
"Ah, there you are," Arietta tersely said from the doorway.
"Give us a minute, Zev?" Neri said to the Crow. He nodded and slipped out of the door. "Everything okay?" Neri asked the noble.
Arietta snorted and fixed an icy blue stare on her. "Alistair refuses to go anywhere with Loghain, so he's going to stay here." She sighed.
Neri chewed on her lip. "I am sorry things are difficult between you two now," she said miserably.
Arietta nodded sadly. "I trust you, Neri, but you better have a damn good reason for sparing Loghain," she said with barely contained fury.
Neri ran a hand through her short curls. "I do, but I'll let Riordan explain once we're at Redcliffe."
Arietta frowned but nodded. "Then we might as well get going; staying here is clearly risky with the crowds calling for Loghain's head."
"And mine, they think me a traitor," she muttered.
"Things will be better once we end this Blight," Arietta said softly, but Neri wasn't sure Arietta even believed that; they had to actually stop the Blight first.
Neri smiled up at her. "Alright, I'll go pack up my things."
"That armour looks good on you by the way," Arietta commented with a small smile.
Neri grinned at her. "Thank you for it, truly. I love it." She dipped her head at the noble and headed for the door.
"We never got to discuss Albert," Arietta said as she reached the doorway.
Neri turned to face her once more. "There's not much to discuss; he kidnapped me, blamed me for his life going to shit, I gave him a verbal beat down, and he started to cry."
Arietta's eyebrows hopped up her forehead. "He cried?"
"Yeah, it was weird." She smiled lopsidedly.
"Maker. He could have hurt you, Neri," Arietta said uneasily.
"I know." Neri sighed.
Arietta craned her head to the side. "I'm surprised you didn't kill him."
"Whenever I imagined meeting him again, I always did. Sometimes I crushed him, other times I slit his throat. But seeing him again… he lost everything; he was a mess, a broken man. If anything it would have been a mercy to kill him. And perhaps alive he may do some good."
Arietta folded her arms. "Are you trying to convince me letting Loghain live was the right thing to do?"
Neri smiled. "You got me."