Honnleath

Forcing himself up, Aedan walked over to the King. "Should… I should be getting my gear together, right?"

"It's a bit late in the day" Cailan said, glancing at the sky. "Plus, Wynne seems worn out after whatever she did earlier. We may as well camp here and strike out fresh tomorrow." Pointing over at the Golem as it creakily paced around, he continued "Sounds like Shale needs a while to limber up, as well."

"Shale? It doesn't look very shale-ish…"

"It says it remembers being called that. Maybe it'll get more memories back, in time."

"Fair enough, I guess. So… where should I set up my tent?"

"Hey, we've got a town to ourselves – borrow one of the beds inside. That way, we don't have to check every inch of dirt for Taint from all the Darkspawn that were here."

"Good point. Hopefully the villagers won't have minded."

Looking at Kallian step out of a house, carrying a small bucket of items, Cailan shrugged. "I think they'd be more concerned about whatever she just scavenged…"

Following his gaze, Aedan turned to see Kallian and Wynne discuss something before the Elf marched away with a scowl. "What was that about?"

"Who knows? I think Alistair said something stupid to her as well, before… maybe you should go check."

"Why me?"

"You think she'd talk to me? I may be a King, but I'm not exactly diplomatic."

Sighing, Aedan nodded. "I should argue with that…"

"But you can't, because it's true" Cailan ended with a satisfied smirk. "This way, you can also finish playing peace-maker from earlier."

Before Aedan could say anything, he had a bucket thrust into his hands. "Good timing" Kallian said, before pouring two bottles into the bucket.

"Vinegar?"

"Vinegar" she nodded. "How's your balance?"

"… Pretty good."

Guiding him a few paces to the right, she turned to Shale. "Alright, we're ready. Get me a lift up and we'll get started."

Remaining still as the Golem placed her in a sitting position on his shoulders, he frowned in confusion. "So… what are we doing?"

"I'm waiting for you to pass me the bucket" she replied. "Shale, could you steady me a little?"

"It seems confused" Shale muttered, looking down at Aedan.

"Oh, it's very confused" he said, turning his head away as Kallian began pouring vinegar over the Golem.

"It insists this will somehow help" Shale rumbled as the young Elf began spreading the liquid around with a rag.

"Easiest way to get this moss off you – when was the last time you were cleaned?"

"I cannot remember… will it also remove the stains?"

"Which stains?"

"Those damned villagers thought it amusing to see birds perched on me, so they would scatter seed around... the fiends would defecate upon me and… I don't want to talk about it."

"I'll see what I can do… help me down."

Once she was on the ground, Kallian sat down. "We'll let that sit for a few minutes, and then give it a good scrub."

Kneeling down, Aedan pushed another vinegar bottle out of the way. "How much of this stuff did you find?"

"Three bottles – hopefully that's enough to get everywhere. The brush, bucket… and this." Handing over a large red dagger, she pointed to a house. "I found it in a chest, over there. Seemed a shame to leave it for the Darkspawn to scavenge."

"The Darkspawn scavenge things?"

"They've got to get their weapons from somewhere" she shrugged. "It's been centuries, so they would have picked the lost Dwarven armouries clean a long time ago."

Glancing at the inscription, Aedan grinned. "Apparently, this is a cheese knife…"

"Of course it is… try not to break this one."

"So… scrubbing moss sounds fun?"

Sighing, she drew her legs to her chest. "Old Alienage tradition… it's a good way to boil out frustration while looking too busy for anyone to disturb you."

"Naturally, I come blundering over like an idiot and bother you anyway?"

"No… you're the only one who isn't a moron. I must be the biggest one of all, too."

"Hardly likely – either of those."

"… I thought they all liked me, but I'm just another untrustworthy Elf to them."

Frowning, he moved next to her. "What happened?"

"Wynne gave me a speech about 'leading Alistair on and distracting him from his duty'. She doesn't want me to hurt him… I challenged her about not giving a damn about the opposite happening and she gave some feeble backtrack about being worried for both of us. She had already made it pretty clear that was not the case! If she were as smart as she thinks, she would have noticed…"

"Noticed what?"

Leaning her head on her knees, she paused. "He accused me of… he thinks you and I have been together, and I was apparently just stringing him along for a joke. He said Leliana agrees with him… so I'm just another Elven whore, to them." Snapping his jaw shut in anger, he lightly pulled her into a hug as she began sobbing. "They all think so little of me… both of us… I understood with Elva, but why does everybody hate me?"

"Because they don't appreciate who you actually are."

"What's to appreciate..."

"For starters, you're amazing. I spent almost three years studying alongside the finest society heirs in Kirkwall - you're smarter than all but two. We've been travelling with the King of Ferelden for months, and not once have you backed away from remaining honest. Maker, after everything you've gone through - not just this year, either... you can still have faith in people. Even some idiot who blurts out something incredibly stupid while dreaming."

Wiping at her eyes, she shook her head. "I've been faking the whole thing..."

"Improvising, perhaps - you can't fake who you are."

After they sat in silence for a while, Aedan helped her stand. "Shale, stand lower on the slope so she can reach."

"You… aren't going to help me finish?"

"I'll come back and scrub the lower part for you" he replied softly, before looking across the square. "There's something else I promised to do, and I should take care of that." Slowly walking over to Cailan, he took a calming breathe. "Did you still want me to show you some of what I learnt in Kirkwall?"

Hearing a commotion, Leliana stepped out of a building to see the three men gathered. "If they strike like this" Aedan motioned, before Alistair mimicked the movement, "do this" he added while shoving the Warden's arm away with one hand and demonstrating a quick punch to the ribs. "Should drop most attackers, if you hit hard enough."

Moving next to Wynne, she watched for a moment as they continued. "Sparring practice?"

"I believe he's teaching the King some unarmed tactics" the Mage replied, keeping her gaze on the others. "I felt it prudent to be here, should an errant strike connect."

"... Why are they shirtless?"

"I wasn't sure how long they intend to go, and they might have trouble breathing later."

"Well, yes. But does it make a difference now?"

With a satisfied smile, Wynne kept watching. "It does to me."

"Oh… I believe you're right" Leliana murmured. "It's better they aren't constricting their muscles, no?"

"Just so, my dear. Just so."

"So you strike down hard here, with a fist or the bottom of your hilt" Aedan explained, holding Alistair's two middle knuckles while his other arm snaked around to lock the Templar's wrist in place.. "Get the angle right, you cripple their grip."

Glancing up to where the onlookers stood, Cailan smirked when he looked back. "I knew it… 'proper airflow' my foot."

"Go see if Leliana will show you some Orlesian moves… I've exhausted what I remember of their tricks" Aedan said, letting Alistair back away. Mid-step, Aedan darted in and sucker-punched the other man in the gut. Watching his brother drop, Cailan nodded in confusion. "I think everyone knows that one… doesn't really work in a swordfight."

"I know…" Aedan shrugged, kneeling down to Alistair. "Just remember: you'll most likely have to use these methods on people who fight dirty, so it's better to know cheap shots yourself." Once the King walked away, he leaned in to whisper. "After all… nothing's more painful than letting your guard down, just to be struck hard and low. She told me what you said, and you're an utter bastard."

Struggling for air, Alistair glared back. "Me?"

"After everything that happened to her, she somehow let you past her barriers… you're quite lucky, actually. Right until you repaid her faith in you by throwing it in her face, that is. Get up, grow up, and go apologise. Maybe she'll forgive you…" After helping Alistair to sit on the fence, Aedan grabbed his shirt and turned to leave as Wynne marched over. 'Scowl all you want, I'll do it again if need be' he thought as the Mage shot a look at him, before checking on the Warden.

Crossing the square again, he found Kallian and Shale in discussion about a small pile of crystals. "Let's try the blue ones, for now" Shale rumbled.

"Alright, hold still and I'll swap them around." Once finished, she turned around to explain. "I went back downstairs and grabbed some of those crystals we saw. Turns out they were designed to boost Shale's… what did you call it?"

"Augmentation – they allow Golems to feed off and alter ambient magic fields. Wilhelm found some old notes on the practise and thought he could improve upon it. Typical arrogance… anyway, what does it think? They don't make me look any wider, do they? I find I am already too wide as it is."

Giving a quick glance, she shook her head. "No, no, they're quite slimming"

"They are, aren't they? I so adore them! I think it should find some more as soon as possible. I want to glitter from ear to ear... so to speak!"

With a bemused smirk, Aedan grabbed the bucket. "Absolutely – and once I finish the scrubbing… trust me, you'll be the prettiest Golem at the dance!"

"Surely it realises I would not dance?"

"From what I understand, nobody really dances at a dance. They split into groups and insult the others" he shrugged, splashing some vinegar on a leg while Kallian quietly slipped away.

"How bizarre… I think I would be in a corner, deciding whose head I wanted to crush first."

"Hmm… you'll fit in at the noble gatherings, then. Loghain does the exact same thing, just with more scowling."

"This is another Golem you speak of?"

"Knowing him, he probably wishes he could be a Golem…"

"Well, naturally. Does it not want to improve itself in the same way?"

"Becoming a Golem? Even if there were a way, I'm not sure I deserve the honour. That's for finer beings, like you… lift your foot."

Watching as he inspected the stone sole, Shale paused. "It is …odd. Not like the other Humans I've had to listen to, with their misplaced confidence."

"I get that a lot… you can put your foot down."

"Is it from an Alienage, too? That seems to be why the Elf is superior."

"No, I came from an important family so I spent a lot of time with the finest teachers they could hire."

"Hmmph – Mages, no doubt."

"No… well, unless you count Wynne. She's apparently become our teacher."

"It refers to the elder Mage? Yes, it does seem overly sure of its opinions… it, however, seems the superior of the two."

"The superior it would be me?"

"Correct - I would appreciate it if it didn't spread around that I said anything. Humans might start to get the wrong idea. They might start thinking their race is not completely hopeless."

"Maker forbid… don't worry, that'll stay between the two of us."

A/N - apologies for the delay, and a 'nothing' chapter. Had a death in the family, so I needed a break.

Thanks to everyone reading, and a welcome to Grey Jackett. I'm still kind of amazed at my traffic figures, especially for a first effort... hopefully I can get back to a decent update routine. You all deserve better for sticking with it.