Coming To Blows.
Anders had not watched her sleep since their time in the Tower, and even then he had only seen it a few times when he snuck out of the boy's dormitory and into hers. She was snoring softly, curled up against his side. He had lifted his arm to wrap it around her and was now stroking her soft golden hair. She looked so at peace, so happy when she was asleep; all of her worry lines disappeared, and there was even a slight smile on her lips. He wondered what she was dreaming about; for once, it appeared it wasn't darkspawn, and he was glad for that.
Neri awoke to someone stroking her hair and sighed happily, remembering who she had fallen asleep next to. She opened her eyes and found him staring down at her; the amber was more orange than brown in the early morning light filtering in through her window. She smiled up at him and stretched slightly as a yawn took her.
"How are you feeling?" she asked sleepily.
His lips parted into an affectionate smile and her heart skipped a beat. "Oh fine, being roasted alive isn't painful at all."
She ran her hands over his bared chest, over the still-slightly-red skin; his other hand came to twine with hers over his heart. Her breath hitched slightly at the contact – his hot skin, his gentle touch, his steady heartbeat. She looked up at him and smiled.
"And here I was, about to lather you up again, but I guess you don't need-"
"Ooh! Ahh. It hurts something awful, won't you please lather me up?" he asked, batting his lashes at her.
"Anything for you," she said in a low whisper; she felt his heart beat faster below her fingers and her smile turned into a roguish grin.
His eyes darkened to the colour of cinnamon, and he smiled lopsidedly at her. "I could get used to this," he replied in a low sensual rasp.
She planted soft kisses along his ribs and across his chest. "You know, I wasn't the only one rubbing the balm in last night…" Her lips quirked into a smirk against his skin. "Rafael and Maxime did too," she luridly informed him.
He moaned. "And I missed it?" he groused with a sigh.
She grinned. "I'm sure they'll come back again today…"
He chuckled, that throaty, warm sound she had fallen in love with all of those years ago. They were quiet for a moment, just staring at each other, their fingers intertwined.
"Maker, I've missed you," he breathed as his hand came to cup her face.
A fragile whimper passed over her lips. There was so much weight to his words; she knew he didn't mean he just missed her because he had left the Keep for a day. It was everything; he had spent so much time fleeing the Circle, and so much subsequent time in solitary, and then she had left for the Wardens. And even when together, here at the Keep, she had been so off with him. It was impossible for her to resist him a moment more, she realised. She wanted him, needed him.
"I love you," she whispered, leaning up to take his lips with hers.
His hand pressed at the nape of her neck, pulling her closer, deepening their kiss. It was soft and sensual, and so, so sweet. Her heart felt like it was swelling, ready to burst out of her chest; it felt like it had been so long since anyone had touched her like this. In reality it had been a few short weeks since Zev had left for Antiva, left for her. She missed him. Maker she missed him. And it didn't help that Anders was actually quite similar to Zev… Both knew how to kiss her in ways that drove her wild, both knew which spot on her ear made her panties drop, both could be gentle while teasing her mercilessly. Where Anders had magic at his disposal, Zevran had extremely dexterous fingers. And she loved them both, and could deny neither of them. She was in so much trouble.
His fingers slid up the shell of her ear and she moaned. She ran her fingers up his jaw, letting the stubble scratch her long fingers, then she tucked a blond strand of hair behind his ear.
"Never leave me again," she said breathlessly down to him.
"I won't," he swore, his amber eyes burning with fervour. He yelped suddenly and glared down at his foot to the cat nibbling on his toe. "Ah, I won't leave you either, Pounce," he said with a laugh; Neri scooped the kitten up and dropped him down on the bed; he snuggled up between them with a small mew.
She grinned, petting the cat fondly, and then pulled away to get the soothing aloe balm. She scooped some into her palm and he pulled back the covers, giving her access to his entire, very naked, very hard body.
She groaned.
The sunlight glistened off of his moisturised skin, shining off of the smattering of golden hair on his chest and navel, and illuminated every muscle on his lean, tall frame. The right side of his body was still red and angry, but it looked much better than it had in the night.
Neri got to work, and Anders couldn't pull his eyes away from her. She was only wearing a thin little night gown of dark blue silk with a laced back that barely covered her nimble form. As she knelt next to him, gently massaging the cool balm into his hot skin, the fabric slid up her thighs, revealing her ivory skin. He had to bite his lip to stop from touching her while she worked. She looked so cute, frowning in concentration as she bit down on her soft lips. His mind was racing… she was finally willing to let him in to her life, to be with him, or at least that's what he assumed the kisses had meant.
She rubbed the balm into his arms, shoulders, down the side of his ribs and across his hip. Her touch was gentle and caring, but as she got lower it became more teasing. Her caresses ghosted his inner thigh, and he shivered. He stared up at her dark eyes; the desire in them sent a fire hotter than the golem's flames coursing through his veins, straight to his cock. Neri smirked at his arousal but continued to lather the balms into his skin, down his legs, all the way to his feet.
There was a knock at the door and Neri turned sharply pulling the covers over Anders, as she called out for them to enter. The door opened, and she smiled warmly as her favourite ginger mage walked in smiling ear to ear.
"Good, you're up! How do you feel?" Maxime asked, and Neri snickered at his choice of words; Anders poked her in the ribs, giving her a mock-scowl.
Anders turned his attention back to the other mage and smiled lazily. "About as well as you might expect," he said softly, his voice still a little husky from her touches.
Maxime smiled knowingly. "I thought I'd come to heal you some more. If at all possible, Arietta wants everyone in the main hall in twenty minutes for a meeting."
Neri craned her head to the side. "This is about your kidnap?" she said to Maxime, and then turning to Anders, "And whatever you discovered at the chasm?"
Maxime nodded. "I believe so, yes."
Neri moved off of the bed to give Maxime better access to her burnt mage.
"Kidnap?" Anders choked out.
Maxime chuckled softly as his hands started to glow. "I'll fill everyone in at the meeting. But suffice it to say, while you were being burned to a crisp, I was as well, in the sun."
Neri snorted. "You did look like a tomato for a while there, but I think Anders wins."
Maxime grinned at her, and then set about properly healing the blond mage. His hands glowed for some time as he healed the blisters and the redness still left; most of it peeled off, revealing new alabaster skin beneath.
"There, it might be a bit sore for a while, but your skin is fully healed."
"Thank you," Anders said earnestly, his eyes shining up at the mage fondly.
Maxime nodded, his lips turned up as he spoke, "I'll leave you both to finish up," he said with a sly smile. "See you downstairs," he said with a wave as he exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Once Maxime left, Neri wiggled her eyebrows at Anders and he burst out laughing.
"Want me to dress you?" she asked with a smirk.
"You lay your hands on me again and we won't leave this room for half the morning."
She laughed. "Oh, you haven't had a chance to test out your new Grey Warden stamina, yet. I assure you, it would be more than half the morning, love," she murmured, brown eyes darkening.
He pouted. "Well, that's just cruel. I want to try it out now," he whined.
Neri flashed him a wicked grin. "It will be worth the wait, pet." She winked at him, and then threw him a loose shirt. "Dress," she bade him.
"Yes, mother," he retorted, sticking his tongue out at her. She let out a small moan at the sight of his talented tongue and he chuckled darkly. "So horny; you sure you don't want to fix that?" he asked suggestively.
"You're still naked; of course I'm horny, you fiend, but no, we can't. I know Arietta; she'll drag us down to the main hall naked and by our ears if she has to."
"Ooh! Tempting."
She laughed and threw him his trousers.
They finally dressed and made it to the main hall, where everyone else was already gathered. They both blushed furiously as they entered holding each other's hands.
Arietta looked at their intertwined hands and smiled broadly. "I was just about to come get you myself," she said teasingly. "How do you feel, Anders?"
"Oh you know, about as good as roasted mage sounds!" he laughed.
"Well, you certainly look better than you did," she said with a slight smirk. She looked to everyone. "To business, then." She took a deep breath. "Maxime was, as most of you know by now, kidnapped yesterday. We don't know by whom, but he was taken to a cave in the cliffs, and left to make his own way back to the Keep. We do know what the kidnapper wanted: information, specifically regarding Neri's survival of the Archdemon final blow. I think it's only fair you all hear it from Neri."
"Bah, fine," Neri said with a roll of her eyes.
Neri explained in great detail their travels with the witch, and the eventual ritual Morrigan offered her. "The ritual worked, mostly. I'm alive, at least," she finished bitterly. Arietta made a note to ask her in private what that was all about; did she regret the ritual?
"It's just one thing after another with you, isn't it?" Olivia spat. "First the blood magic, now this twisted blood ritual. What will come next? Are you going to start using mind control on all of us or something?"
"Oh sod off," Neri growled. "You don't know me."
"I don't want to, but I've seen enough to know the type of person you are. You'll do whatever it takes to survive; you've proven that multiple times already. You have unleashed this Old God child into the world. The consequences of such a thing could be disastrous. And you don't even care because you and your friends are all alive."
Neri took a step toward the warrior. "We're Grey Wardens; we do whatever it takes to stop the darkspawn. That is what I did, and I stand by my decision."
"No, Grey Wardens sacrifice their lives, their futures, their hopes and dreams to fight the darkness, to hold back the tide of evil, to fight the darkspawn and stop Blights." Olivia also took a step forward. "You weren't willing to do that, so you used a loophole, and now you have endangered us all because of your selfishness!"
"It wasn't selfishness," Neri snarled, her hands clenching at her sides.
"Neri, Olivia, why don't we cool it for a bit?" Arietta suggested stepping between the two angry women.
"No. She's been glaring at me ever since I refused to drop my barrier so I want to hear it, all of it," Neri said, scowling at the blonde warrior.
Olivia laughed bitterly. "You want to hear it all, do you? Fine. I don't like you; I don't trust you and I think you're dangerous. The blood magic was bad enough – you smiled when you killed that ogre, we all saw it. You enjoyed it. It would not surprise me to learn that you were addicted to it. Power corrupts absolutely. One day – maybe it will be the next time you use it, or the time after or ten years from now – but one day you'll go too far, do something unforgiveable with it. Blood magic can never be harmless or good; it is twisted and evil and it will corrupt you." Olivia took a deep breath and Neri stood there, glaring at her. "As for this ritual… You should have been willing to sacrifice yourself; you should never have trusted a witch. The Old Gods were powerful, dangerous beings; they were locked a way for a reason! And you've just let one go free. Did you even consider the consequences of such an action? I'm guessing not, you saw a way for you to live and you took it," her lip curled in disgust. "You are nothing but a power hungry coward."
"Oh good, you're done?" Neri said snidely as she glared at the warrior. "We were five Wardens against a Blight. Alistair wasn't even technically a Warden anymore, and Arietta was to be his queen, so three Wardens in reality were able to take that final blow. Riordan and Loghain both died, as I feared they might, which only left me. Was I afraid to die? Yes, of course I was. I admit that quite freely. Death terrifies me and I don't deny that my fears may have played a part in my decision but they are not the only reasons."
Neri took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders slightly; feeling Anders at her side gave her strength. "Ferelden needed Alistair and Arietta, not one of them, it needed both. If I died reaching the Archdemon one of them would have had to take the final blow – one of them would have died. If one of them had died, the other would not have been fit to rule for a number of reasons. Ferelden would have been plummeted back into civil war. I could not allow them to die, not after they found one another through all of the darkness, not after they worked so hard to save Ferelden, to put her back together again. I also trusted Morrigan; she saved my life once, and I considered her a friend. I questioned her thoroughly about the child that would be created from the ritual and I deemed her trustworthy to care for such a child and to not use them to harm the world in the future. My decision to accept the ritual was not done lightly, and I am living with the consequences of it to this day – but they are my consequences, nobody else's."
"You don't know that!" Olivia cried. "This child could be used to destroy the world; you don't know how powerful such a creature could be, or the reasons why the witch even wanted it to begin with."
"You did not do your duty," Justice said. "It is your job as a Warden to defeat the Archdemon; instead you have simply shifted it to another body."
Neri shook her head, frowning. "That's not true. The child won't be tainted or twisted – they'll be a normal kid!"
"With a witch for a mother," Olivia scoffed.
"She did what she thought was right at the time," Rafael said, defending Neri. "That's all we can ask."
"And Neri's right about Morrigan; she's not evil," Arietta said. "I trust her not to use her child for evil; she would know it would only result in the child's death. She would not risk such a thing."
"And what if the child is out of her control? If this Old God too powerful for her to stop, to train or teach? Every Blight ended with the death of a Warden. Every single one. It's the natural way of things – it is why Grey Wardens are needed, it is our duty," Olivia argued. "But you ignored that and took matters into your own hands. This is why people don't trust our Order!"
"Vhenan," Lenny said softly, his elven thick; Olivia turned to look at him, her anger dispelling. "Neri e-ended the Blight, she s-saved our lives, her methods may be… unconventional but that is how our Order was f-founded. Centuries ago, a group of men and women decided that they would drink darkspawn blood to s-see if that would help them fight the monsters ravaging their lands, and it worked."
"It isn't the same, Len."
"You are not thinking of how b-beneficial this child could be, of how much we could learn from this child." He cupped her cheek, smiling sympathetically at her. "If you only ever look for the darkness in this world, you will never see the light."
She swallowed thickly then sighed and nodded at her husband before stepping back to his side.
"It's just like the Legion; we used to squabble all of the time," Sigrun chirped. "Except there are less deep stalkers and spiders up here."
"Getting back on track, then…" Arietta sighed.
"Do we know who would want such information?" Maxime asked, looking at them all for ideas.
Neri shook her head as she stepped back to stand with Anders.
"No," Rafael said with a sigh. "At first I believed it was the First Warden, because, well, it made sense. But the second letter states it isn't him, and kidnapping is not something he would stoop to for answers," Rafael answered.
"It wouldn't be Morrigan or Flemeth either, obviously," Neri said, running her hands through her hair. "It has to be someone who knows that I was supposed to die, which can't be many people," she muttered.
"Well, everyone have a think." Arietta sighed, rubbing her forehead. "We should discuss the warring factions of darkspawn at Kal'Hirol; I've never seen anything like it."
"Specifically, who are the Mother and Architect?" Sigrun added.
"This Mother could be a Broodmother." Nathaniel pointed out.
Arietta shuddered. "A sentient one."
"I wonder what she makes of all those jiggling tits," Oghren chuckled, before he looked over his shoulder nervously; Neri smirked as she knew Anders 'schleet' conversation was affecting the gullible dwarf.
"It was her darkspawn responsible for us entering the Fade too. She didn't want us interfering," Rafael remarked.
"And Architects are planners, thinkers, designers… I doubt the name is a coincidence," Coline pointed out.
"So, what is he planning?" Arietta asked quietly.
Silence and lots of worried looks was her answer.
"Okay, let's just focus on what we can do. Mistress Woolsey has informed me her trading routes are still in disarray. We need those routes safe once more. I went to the chasm, Rafael to the Marsh; Neri, do you want to lead this next one?"
Neri was still brooding. "If you like," she said snippily.
"It shouldn't be difficult to find out whatever is attacking the caravans; try to recover as much as you can." Neri nodded at her. "I think I will hold the party for the nobles soon, as well. So I will need Coline, Rafael and Nathaniel here. Apart from that, you can take whomever you like with you."
"I'll take Max, Sigrun and Lenny. That leaves you with enough warriors and Anders for healing in case you need it too."
"No!" Olivia almost yelled. "You are not going anywhere with my husband without me present."
Neri smiled at her. "It's my job; it's my call."
"Salope!–"
"Olivia," Lenny sighed. "I will be fine. Please, don't fuss."
She frowned at him and sighed heavily.
"You're not bringing me?" Anders whined.
"You're still healing, love," she gently explained, cupping his face.
"What happened to don't leave again?"
She smirked. "I told you not to leave me… this is different."
He snorted. "That hardly seems fair."
"I'll be fine," she reassured him.
"That's what I said, and now I have no eyebrows."
Neri chuckled. "They'll grow back, eventually."
Arietta smiled and nodded her head. "Then set out as soon as you are ready. The rest of us have much to do: I want soldiers trained, Varel mentioned angry common folk; to sate them I am sending soldiers and Wardens out on regular patrols around the countryside. And I want more of this place upgraded. I will get the list to you all within the hour; I will not have my Keep fall to darkspawn again," she sternly stated. She looked at all eleven of her Wardens and nodded. "If that is everything, you are dismissed."
…
"It is as I predicted, then?" he rasped at her. "I told you she would be useful, that her survival would be key to this."
She rolled her eyes. "You also told me she would be a threat. You had met Wardens like her before, ones that wouldn't understand what you wanted to do, that would only ever see you as a threat. Well, I tried to take care of her for the both of us and we both know how well that turned out. How was I supposed to know she might be the answer we both seek?"
"You acted too rashly," he scolded, sounding more exasperated than ever. "Even now, we do not know if she is what we need. I need—"
"Her blood. Yes. I am aware, dear. She is coming here. Coming straight to us." She smiled predatorily. "Try not to mess this up. She's a tricky one to deal with."
"Your mistake was underestimating her," the Architect said breathily. "She will not be a problem for my brethren or I."
A/N: Guys, guys, guys! We have a Zevran chapter next week! Fuck yeah.
Thank you so much to those who left reviews this week - you have no idea how down I've been feeling about this fic and well just about everything, so thank you! I'll try to be happier going forward. Also. At some point soon I will be changing the title of this fic to include a 'Part 1' in it... DA2 needs a whole new fic when I finally start posting that beast. And I have made Neri in Inquisition's CC so I shall update the cover art for this soon as well!
Thank you to my darling friend, ElyssaCousland for the beta work and support, could not do this without you! And please leave a comment guys, let me know what you think of anything and everything; I miss talking to you all!