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Chapter 52 - A Brush With Death
The city of Amaranthine had been saved because Alyssa had fought alongside the people, and thanks to the new Warden Commander, so had Vigil's Keep. This outcome had, in turn, warmed the rest of the wardens to him, and he was grateful to Alyssa for having placed her trust in him so completely, for it was this that had helped him even more in the end.
The Mother had been slain, as had the Architect. They both had fought the final battles together. No loose ends had been left. Even Velanna seemed to like the way things had ended, and that, in itself, was a mystery.
They celebrated in the throne room. After having been away for nearly three months, Alyssa felt elated to know that she would be setting out to return to Denerim the following morning. She felt she had much to celebrate so she stayed up later that night with her companions, and enjoyed every moment of it.
Anders approached her before she retired for the night. She gave him a genuine smile and he returned it. They had become good friends, though she didn't know that Anders kept wishing to himself that she wasn't married.
"Ah, dear former Warden Commander. How do you feel about leaving tomorrow?"
"Excited at the prospect of seeing my husband again, thank you," she giggled at his expression of mock pain as he clutched his heart exaggeratedly.
"You wound me, dear lady," he murmured dramatically.
She grinned back at him, her violet eyes twinkling merrily.
"Ah, Anders, there you are," the Warden Commander said as he stood beside them, giving them a brief smile. "Have you told the arlessa yet?"
Alyssa gave him a confused look.
"I see you have not yet told her," Mataeu said stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I gather I have messed it up, no? How do you say?" He squeezed his dark eyes shut for a moment as he concentrated. After a few seconds, he opened them and they were twinkling.
"Oops!" He exclaimed triumphantly.
"What?" Alyssa asked, completely baffled.
"No, no, no! That is the expression! OOPS!" He grinned as Anders burst out laughing.
"You can use 'uh oh' also. It means the same thing," he told Mataeu.
"Honestly, you two!" Alyssa said and rolled her eyes.
They grinned back at her.
"Well, what is it that you need to tell me, Anders?"
"Oh, the Warden Commander has ordered me to...ah...go on an important mission," Anders retorted, looking innocent as Mataeu's eyes widened at him in disbelief.
"I did no such thing!" he protested vehemently.
"You gave me permission to leave the Keep, didn't you?"
"Yes, but..."
"Ah, then you told me that our former Warden Commander would need a skilled mage to accompany her on her way back to Denerim, just in case she needed a healer, right?"
"I may have suggested that, yes, but..."
"Then it's settled," Anders finished off, his eyes twinkling. "What say you, my lady? Would you be willing to let this rogue mage accompany you to Denerim?"
Mataeu sighed as he gave up and walked towards Nathaniel, leaving the two of them to talk alone.
"Well, we are in need of a mage at the palace, actually. Our mage, who is a dear friend of ours, has left on another mission to Tevinter with one of our companions who fought with us during the Blight, you see."
Anders said nothing to this, merely smiled and nodded. "Well, I'd be more than happy to assist, but you know my aversion to balls and chains."
"Oh, you would have the liberty of coming and going as you please, so long as you tell us beforehand and also let us know how long you would be gone."
"Hmmm...it's still a kind of ball and chain..." he rubbed his chin.
"Well, could you at least stay until we find another mage willing to take up the position, then?" Alyssa asked, knowing full well that he would not say no to that.
"I would be happy to take the post, and even train the young mage who replaces me," he twinkled.
"Train? If the replacement is already a mage, what would you train them in?"
Anders' eyes danced.
"Never mind, I really don't want to know," Alyssa told him hastily as she blushed.
He burst out laughing.
...
Oghren went with them which did not surprise Alyssa. He told her he wanted to go to Lake Calenhad to visit Felsi anyhow. He probably wanted to say hello to Alistair as well.
They met no one along the road. Denerim was only a day away, but Alyssa was in such a hurry to get back home that she made them walk faster than usual. They did not stop to rest, and ate as they walked.
They were only an hour away from the city of Denerim when it happened. A group of darkspawn ambushed them and they found themselves completely surrounded.
There were two emissaries, but Alyssa killed one immediately after they were attacked which left one that aimed a crushing prison spell directly at Anders. She moved in to kill it, while Oghren dispatched a genlock and hurlock at the same time with his massive battle axe.
Her attack on the emissary succeeded in releasing Anders from the spell, but his mana had been drained and he could not fight.
They managed to kill the remaining darkspawn and Alyssa rushed to Anders, who was kneeling, unable to stand.
Then it happened. A rogue appeared out of nowhere and he thrust his dagger brutally into her chest.
Both Anders and Oghren froze for a moment and then Oghren let out a cry and killed the rogue, while Anders caught Alyssa in his arms before she fell to the ground.
"Well! Don't just stand there! Heal her!" Oghren shouted gruffly at the mage.
"I- I can't. I have no mana left. I need lyrium..."
He frantically went through the packs they had and found health poultices, while Oghren undid the buckles to her leather armor, which had stuck to her skin because of the blood that was pouring out. He peeled it off, and Anders applied the concoction to the wound and pressed his hand to it.
He asked Oghren to look for lyrium in the packs, but Oghren could not find any.
They looked at Alyssa with a sinking feeling in their stomach and fear clutched at their hearts.
"Damn pike twirler is going to kill us," Oghren said sadly.
...
Teagan ran through the palace wildly and burst into Alistair's study, breathing heavily.
Alistair looked up from the boring paperwork he was pouring over, and saw the fear in his eyes, as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Teagan? What - "
"Alistair, Alyssa was hurt coming home, the darkspawn attacked them..."
Alistair was up at the mention of her name, and interrupted his flow of words.
"Where is she?"
"In the great hall, they managed to stop the bleeding, but the blade was poisoned," Teagan broke into a run to follow Alistair who was sprinting towards the great hall, "There is a mage with them, but he was hit by a crushing prison spell, and has no mana left to heal -"
"Get a soldier, anyone, find a healer! Go!" Alistair roared as he entered the great hall.
He stopped for a few moments looking in shock at the scene before him. Teagan had already left, dragging two guards with him.
Alyssa was lying on the stone floor. Blood was slowly trickling from her chest, and the blond mage she had conscripted when he had arrived at the Keep was by her side, pressing his bloodied hand to the wound, while Oghren was standing beside them both, a worried scowl on his face.
He ran up to her, and took her in his arms, pushing the mage aside rather roughly, but Anders did not protest. He was too worried to do so.
"Maker's breath! My love! Oh!" Alistair managed to say as he held her close, one hand now pressed against the wound to stop the steady trickle of blood and the other arm holding her closely as he rocked her against his chest.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, the emissary drained my mana, and we were not carrying any lyrium with us..."
He practically snarled at Anders. "You're the mage! You should have been carrying the lyrium! How could you be so stupid!" His voice rose to a bellow at the end.
Anders flushed and bowed his head, but he did not say anything.
"It's not his fault that yer wife here wanted to leave so fast, or he would've checked to see if there was any lyrium in his pack. She didn't want to stop, she was so sodding anxious to get back. We had to practically run to keep up with her." Oghren belched to give more strength to his words.
Alistair cursed again under his breath. Alyssa's maid came in and held another poultice in her hands, which Alistair took and applied to the wound. He attempted to cover up her chest, when he realized that she didn't have anything under her armor at all.
The minutes dragged on. Alyssa was very pale, and her breathing became very difficult.
Alistair's breath hitched as he tried to control the tears that were threatening to fall.
He started praying out loud.
At that moment, the doors opened and Teagan rushed in, a mage trailing behind him. He had found the mage by chance at the Wonders of Thedas and thanked the Maker for his luck before rapidly explaining the situation to him and running back to the palace.
The mage quickly made his way to Alyssa's side, assessed the wound, ran his hands over her and started to heal her. Her flesh knitted together instantly and he proceeded with the healing, trying to stop the flow of the poison in her body.
After a few minutes, she started breathing more evenly, and a bit of color returned to her cheeks.
Alistair let out a sob, and thanked the Maker.
"Your Majesty, she should be taken to her bed, it will be some time before she is fully conscious and recovers," the mage said.
"Yes, of course," he stood up and carried her. "Teagan, please pay the mage for his services generously." He stressed on the word and Teagan nodded. Alistair turned to the mage.
"You cannot imagine how grateful I am, ser mage. I value her life above my own," he said softly.
Before Alistair left, he turned to Anders, who was now visibly relieved at Alyssa's recovery.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, please accept my apology," he said earnestly.
Anders then understood why Alyssa had fallen in love with this man. He nodded and gave Alistair a brief smile. "I am a good healer, when I have all my mana and it isn't so painfully taken from me, that is..." he attempted to joke, testing the waters.
Alistair grinned at him and left, carrying his love tightly in his arms.
A/N: I thought it would be interesting to put Alistair and Anders together, especially because of what is to come...hehehe
Hope you enjoyed this. Please read and review. It means a lot to me! :)
