A/N: There's a het sex scene towards the end of the chapter. This is not a 'warning', though. I'm just remarking upon it with some surprise that somehow some of my male characters have survived up to this point of the story. Good for them!

Chapter 51

Caer Bronach, Ferelden

The thick oak-wood gate of the keep groaned under the impact of powerful magic that struck it, Vivienne's roaring fire magic, Dorian's flamboyant electrical energy barrage and Solas' carefully controlled projectiles of ice, in short order reducing the fort's entrance to a heap of sad splinters. Maxime and Cassandra then quickly led the charge into Caer Bronach, hoping to catch the highwaymen napping, but two large and angry armored mabari leapt from the empty stables and rushed towards the invaders barking like mad. Maxime managed to bury his sword in the skull of one of the angry mabari and then dodged the other, the dog charging past him and tackling a slightly surprised Cassandra behind the Inquisitor, knocking the Seeker down to the ground. However, before the mabari had the chance to tear out the Nevarran's throat, Varric managed to put Bianca's bolt through the mabari's eye and the dead animal slumped on top of the Seeker, pinning her down under its great weight.

The guards inside the fort might have been snoozing, but the barking of the dogs had alerted them to the attack, and now they were starting to react, bandits charging at them from a small guard post by the gate, more running down the stairs from the keep itself, and two archers appeared atop of the stables, taking potshots at the Inquisition agents by the gate. While Harding and Dorian were busy trying to drag away the mabari corpse and free Cassandra, the Inquisitor was forced to fend off the attacking force all on his own, and the archers constantly trying to shoot him were not helping, one arrow whizzing dangerously close to Maxime's shoulder. The supporting mages reacted immediately, Vivienne setting one of the archers on fire, Solas then dropping the man with a blast of ice that also put out the fires, threatening to set the stables ablaze.

"Careful, Vivienne," Maxime warned the former enchanter to the Imperial Court. "We might have some use for those stables still."

"I apologize most profusely, darling," Vivienne replied haughtily, spreading her arms as a wall of fire appeared in front of the Inquisitor, pushing two of the attacking highwaymen back as they wisely decided not to step through the roaring flames. "Is that better, dear?"

"That's perfect," Maxime winked, unhooking a throwing knife from his belt and releasing it through the wall of fire, striking one of the bandits directly in the throat. The injured man screamed and began to flail with his arms in panic, not sure whether he should attempt to remove the dagger impaled in his throat or not, turning towards his equally puzzled fellow, who after a moment of deliberation reached out to pull the knife out, but then Dorian reappeared on the battlefield and rendered their indecision moot, blasting both fools with chain lightning and putting them out of their misery. In the meantime, Harding and Varric had successfully brought down the other archer on the roof of the stables, effectively clearing the courtyard.

"Is that all of them?" Harding wondered when no more reinforcements arrived.

"That was probably only the men on guard duty, Scout Harding," Cassandra replied. "I am sure we will encounter many more inside the keep itself."

"This fort really looks very tidy, well-maintained and supplied," Maxime remarked as they climbed up the wide stone steps towards the next gate leading into the inner courtyard. "I guess this old gamekeeper the mayor mentioned had been doing a good job until those highwaymen bastards slit his throat and took over."

"And now we get to do the same to them," Varric chuckled before reloading Bianca in anticipation of soon meeting more highwaymen to feed with sharp metal-tipped projectiles.

They did not have to wait long for the next battle as slightly confused groups of bandits began pouring into the inner courtyard, some still rubbing sleep from their eyes, some looking a little unsteady on their feet, probably because of too much consumed wine that they had undoubtedly plundered from yet another unlucky caravan raided on the King's Road. The ensuing battle was nothing else than pure slaughter, the bandits utterly unprepared for the invading Inquisition agents, working together in unison and packing magic that the highwayman had no tools to counter with. Most of them fell to the fire and ice mines placed strategically by Vivienne and Solas, so that they obliterated reinforcements arriving to join the battle, while Dorian struck the others with his lightning spells, debilitating them and allowing Maxime and his comrades to score quick kills and swiftly decimate their enemies, more than a dozen corpses littering the inner courtyard when the Inquisitor and his group were ready to move onwards.

"How many more of them could there be?" Harding wondered again. "From what the mayor told you, it seemed as if they were only a small group of bandits?"

"Well, I doubt he came here to count them, to be honest," Maxime chuckled, then raising his hand to silence the others as he overheard frantic shouts coming from the battlements above, bandit voices calling for their chief to come out and take care of these daring intruders. Not feeling at all concerned about meeting the chief of some backwater bandits, but still unwilling to give the highwaymen time to prepare, the Inquisitor shut off any further banter and charged up the next stairway leading to the floor above to confront the remaining bandits and their leader.

The bandits atop the battlements appeared unpleasantly surprised when Maxime and his friends showed up before their precious leader had announced his presence. Outnumbered and demoralized from watching their fellows being slaughtered down to the last in the inner courtyard, the highwaymen failed to put up any notable resistance, falling one by one, until the door to the keep's tower opened with a loud war cry and a massive horned beast emerged, the Tal-Vashoth leader of the bandits wielding a huge maul as he was about to charge down the stairs to attack the Inquisition agents. The whole intimidating entrance was rather ruined by the fact that his pants were still at half-mast and the large ox-man was forced to abandon his charge and pull them back up. A blonde woman with a bow on her back followed the Tal-Vashoth out of the tower, still busy buttoning up her leather jerkin, making it quite clear as to the nature of their distraction during the attack.

While the Tal-Vashoth leader certainly cut a more imposing figure than all the other bandits put together, one man was simply incapable of changing the course of the slaughter. With barely any other highwaymen left to support him, their leader was badly outnumbered and Cassandra's skill and discipline honed over two decades allowed the Seeker to easily stand her ground against the ox-man's wild, enraged swings, the others slowly whittling the bandit leader down with either ranged weapons or magic. Meanwhile, Maxime occupied himself by harassing the leader's paramour, forcing her to drop the bow and draw her blade to defend herself from the Inquisitor's attacks.

With multiple arrows and bolts already impaled in his torso, the weakened Tal-Vashoth finally stumbled and Cassandra made good use of the long awaited opportunity, lunging forward and running the highwaymen leader through the gut with her sword. Upon seeing her lover fall with a gargling croak, the female bandit decided to make her getaway, throwing a handful of bitter powder in Maxime's face that made him cough and stumble backwards, then running up to the edge of the battlements to look for a safe landing spot for her leap. Unfortunately for the female bandit, as she made her jump, the arrow from Harding's bow struck her between the shoulder blades and made her somersault in the air, and to add insult to the injury, the already badly wounded woman then cleanly snapped her neck upon landing on the stone floor below. With that, the battle for Caer Bronach was over, with clear victory for the Inquisition.

"I really do like the looks of this keep, I have to say," Maxime remarked, looking around the bloody site of their victory atop the battlements. "I think we should make this our base of operations for the duration of our stay in Crestwood... and perhaps beyond that."

"Is that truly wise?" Cassandra frowned. "This land belongs to the throne of Ferelden. To claim a keep here... I shudder to think what Queen Maythre would think of it."

"She did not care when the highwaymen took it," Vivienne opined. "Darling, I don't know about you, but I would rather sleep in comfortable rooms of the keep than in tents somewhere in the countryside."

"We don't have to announce our presence loud and clear, Cassandra," Maxime told the Seeker. "For one thing, we aren't going to raise the banner of the Inquisition. Let's keep this very quiet. Perhaps we can speak with the mayor again and see if we can cut some kind of a deal with him."

"He would only be happy about the security that the presence of the Inquisition would bring," Varric remarked. "It's not as if the queen seems very interested in coming to help his sorry village."

"Exactly," Maxime nodded. "We'll fly the banner of Ferelden and of Crestwood if they even have one, and we'll make sure not to attract any attention. With no Inquisition regalia for our soldiers they could pretend that they're mercenaries hired by Mayor Dedrick, how does that sound?"

"You have convinced me, Maxime," Cassandra admitted, nodding with a smile, and so did the others, the Inquisitor looking very pleased with himself, having successfully persuaded his comrades.

"Excellent," Maxime chuckled, rubbing his hands. "In that case, we have plenty to do. Scout Harding," he looked at the dwarven woman. "Run back to the base camp and organize everything to be moved to the keep, take down the tents, gather supplies and all your agents and bring them to Caer Bronach. Our new horses in particular will enjoy these comfortable stables."

"Understood, Inquisitor," Harding replied, snapping off a crisp salute and then disappearing like a flash of lightning.

"Now... if we want to use this keep, then we'll have to do something about these corpses before they stink up the place," Maxime mused, casually kicking the dead bandit leader lying at his feet. "No glory in this job, but someone has to do it."

"I hope you are not looking at me, darling," Vivienne shot the Herald a challenging stare.

"I wasn't, honestly," Maxime raised his hands in an apologetic gesture. "The rest of you, however," he looked at Cassandra, Dorian, Solas and Varric. "You will become the unsung heroes of the day by tackling this unpleasant task while Lady Vivienne and myself seek out the dam controls."

"That's just fabulous," Dorian muttered with a sour look on his face while the others simply shrugged and accepted their fate.

"I saw gallows to the left from the main gate of the fort," Solas spoke up. "People would have been buried nearby after the hanging. Perhaps we should bury these bandits there."

"That is a good idea, Solas," Cassandra nodded. "We have our orders, let's get to work," she added as the Inquisitor gallantly offered his hand to Lady Vivienne, a gesture that she accepted after a moment of deliberation, and following that the pair climbed down the stairs from battlements, heading over to a locked door on the floor below, a plaque next to the entrance reading 'Dam Controls'.

Maxime retrieved the key ring given to him by Mayor Dedrick and unlocked the doors, the first to enter an old wine cellar, Vivienne following him, wincing at the coat of dust that rose from the floor and then settled on her knee-high boots. There was a single door leading out of the wine cellar, Maxime opening it with the same key, together with Vivienne emerging outside of the keep and on a narrow gravel path weaving among the cliffs and leading away from Caer Bronach.

They hadn't even walked for as much as twenty yards when the path suddenly veered to the left and led them out in the open to face the two reservoirs of water, split apart by a massive dam in the middle. It became abundantly clear that the floodgates had become stuck in a raised position, because there was barely any trickle of water from the upper basin into the lower, about thirty to forty yard difference in water levels between the two reservoirs. The view at the lake to their right almost made Maxime a little queasy just from looking at it, the waves of the dark, menacing waters crashing violently against the dam, the wispy green trails of the Fade rift under the water appearing particularly disconcerting and spooky.

"That building on the dam must be where we can open the floodgates," he eventually remarked, tearing his eyes away from the disturbing lake and pointing at the dam.

"Then let us not hesitate, darling," Vivienne smiled as they both started to walk towards the dam, bypassing a sign saying 'Old Crestwood' that pointed away from the dam and directly into the dark waters that had swallowed the village a decade ago.

The dam itself was solid and sturdy, with a comfortable passageway wide enough even for most carriages and shielded by a high stone wall, implying that the dam was also serving as a bridge to connect both sides of the lake. Maxime did not stop even once to peer over the stone wall and at the waters below, and Vivienne also appeared interested solely in reaching the dam controls as quickly as possible, neither of them stopping until they arrived at the building in the middle of the dam.

"Well, what do you know," Maxime chuckled, looking at the building and noticing a large musical instrument affixed to the wall just above the entrance and a plaque next to it. "'The Rusted Horn.' It's actually a tavern? What an ingenious idea to build it on top of the dam. The views alone would have made it an extremely popular stop."

"It would have to be the views, darling, because surely nobody would visit a Fereldan tavern for its food," Vivienne remarked, making Maxime laugh aloud.

"That was the perfect comment, my Lady Vivienne," he smiled at the dark-skinned mage before placing his hand on the door handle and tugging sharply. "I just hope that the dam controls are actually inside... a tavern seems like a strange place for such an important mechanism."

As they entered the long abandoned tavern, they were surprised to discover that someone had lit the torches at the walls. That was not even the most surprising aspect, however, as soon enough Maxime and Vivienne became aware of very... interesting noises drifting towards them, harsh manly grunting and softer, mewling oh's and ah's, coming from the room directly ahead of them. Chuckling quietly, Maxime did not hesitate for a moment before walking into the common room of the tavern to discover a young couple in the middle of a heated encounter of the most intimate kind, the lad pressing his girlfriend against the wall and rapidly thrusting into her as her legs were wrapped around her lover's midriff, face buried in the young man's shoulder.

"Ahem," Maxime coughed aloud, interrupting the young lovers and then having to laugh at the shocked expression on their faces as the lad moved to quickly pull up his pants that had slid down to his ankles, while the girl lowered her simple dress to preserve her dignity. "Well, you didn't have to stop," he added with a smug smirk on his face. "Lady Vivienne was rather enjoying the sight of your twitching buttocks, lad."

"How could I possibly not enjoy the sight of crude coupling in an abandoned tavern, my dear?" Vivienne rolled her eyes at the Inquisitor.

"Shit! Who are you?" the lad demanded, bold and angry at the interruption of their fun and games.

"I'm the Inquisitor," Maxime grinned, watching the boy shrink down to size from the realization. "Who are you?"

"I... uh, I'm Milton," the boy replied, suddenly fearful. "That's Lonnie," he pointed at the young girl.

"Please, Ser Inquisitor, don't tell anyone about us," the blushing lass begged. "Especially our parents."

"I don't even know who your parents are, Lonnie," Maxime laughed. "Nor would I care enough to tell them even if I knew who they are. You're just a couple of kids looking for some thrills, what's wrong with that?"

"I'm more interested in how these two got here," Vivienne remarked coolly. "How did you sneak past the keep?"

"Umm... there are caves running underneath most of Crestwood," Milton shrugged. "All the locals know about them, but the highwaymen don't. It's really safe, my Lady... honest!"

"Except for the spiders," Lonnie shuddered.

"Yes, except for that, but we distracted the spiders by throwing them some freshly killed nugs," Milton smiled.

"Caves that all the locals know about, eh?" Maxime frowned. "Would Mayor Dedrick know about these caves, too?"

"Oh, for sure!" Lonnie nodded happily. "He must have crawled them countless times as a young lad, I'm certain of it."

"So we could have ignored the bandits altogether," Maxime remarked, giving Vivienne a dark stare. "He really wanted us to take care of them."

"Or die trying," Vivienne replied. "But honestly, darling, I don't mind that we dealt with the bandits. Now we have the keep all to ourselves, and isn't that wonderful?"

"I just hate being lied to," Maxime grumbled before turning back to the two confused youths, looking at him, uncertain of what was happening. "You two, do you know where the dam controls are?"

"Err... well, there's a locked room at the back there," Milton nodded at the far end of the main hall. "That's the only place where they could be, Ser Inquisitor."

"Excellent," Maxime grinned. "You kids should probably get out of here," he told the two youths. "And you don't have to sneak through the caves again. Bandits no longer rule the keep, the Inquisition has liberated it, so you can go through Caer Bronach."

"Oh... thank you, Ser, and thank you for keeping our secret!" Lonnie tearfully thanked the Inquisitor, and moments later the young lovers left the tavern, leaving Maxime and Vivienne all alone in the abandoned building.

"Ah, to be young and in love," Maxime chuckled, smiling at the attractive mage. "That brings back so many memories. It must do the same for you, Lady Vivienne."

"Can't say that it does, darling," Madame de Fer shrugged.

"I don't believe that for a moment, Vivienne," Maxime smiled at her. "Deep down, every woman longs for a handsome, strong and confident man to rip off their dress, push them against a stone wall and take them wildly and without restraint. I'm sure you are no different no matter how well you hide it."

"You are free to continue harboring your delusions, Inquisitor," Vivienne returned emotionlessly. "Aren't we here to complete a certain task... that we should really get to?"

"If you insist," Maxime sighed, walking over to the locked door and starting to search for a matching key on the ring that the mayor had given him. "Still, I refuse to believe that you never let down that guard of yours," he added with an undeterred grin.

"Perhaps I do, but the choice when to do so is mine, and mine alone," Vivienne replied, crossing her arms on her chest. "Right now, I simply choose not to."

"We'll work on that, I'm sure," Maxime chuckled, finally finding the key that fit the hole, and moments later the door to the dam controls opened with a loud creak. "What the..." he commented, having stepped into the room, moving a little to the side so that Vivienne could enter as well. "Darkspawn damaged the dam controls, my ass. There's nothing wrong with the controls, not that I can see."

"This is not the first lie in which we have caught the mayor," Vivienne remarked. "Can you operate the mechanism, darling?" she asked a moment later.

"Probably..." Maxime shrugged, eyeing the large turning wheel that was used to raise and lower the floodgates. "Let's see if there are any instructions as to which is the correct setting. I wouldn't want to flood the keep and the new village as well."

"Try not to do that, darling," Vivienne smiled at him enchantingly.

"Right, let's see," Maxime mused, bending down and starting to examine the mechanism. Nobody had bothered to leave any kind of instructions behind, but this proved unnecessary when after a bit of searching the Inquisitor managed to find a worn out groove that was an indication as to the regular position of the wheel. "Well, this should work... I think," he chuckled uneasily, then puffing his cheeks and grunting with effort as he began to turn the angrily screeching wheel until it reached the worn out groove and settled into place with a perfect fit. "So, that seemed right..." Maxime mused, then feeling cold sweat run down his back as the dam shook a little and there was a violent roar of rushing water when the floodgates opened and the body of water hiding the flooded village started to drain rapidly.

"The dam has not collapsed, so I must commend you on your success, darling," Vivienne remarked, looking just a tiny bit shaken, but she brushed it off quickly. "Shall we go and see what your actions have caused?"

"Might as well," Maxime nodded, together with the dark-skinned mage leaving the Rusted Horn. "Careful!" he exclaimed as a massive shadow flew directly above their heads just as they left the tavern, Maxime wrapping his arm around Vivienne's waist and pulling her backwards, making sure that the dragon flying above would not notice them, the great beast probably having been disturbed by the sudden draining of the lake.

"You can let go now, my dear," Vivienne hissed coldly when Maxime's arm lingered around her waist too long for her liking. "The dragon is gone now, and it won't be swooping in on us, I can assure you."

"Of course," Maxime smiled politely, removing his arm. They began to walk down the dam back to Caer Bronach, stopping on their way to examine the view below as they looked down from the dam. The lake had drained significantly, the coastline receding and leaving the new docks some hundred yards away from the edge of water. In the scant moonlight, they could just about make out the revealed buildings of Old Crestwood, raised from their watery grave. "That is quite the disturbing view. And it looks like the rift is still under water, so we might need to drain the lake even more. Although... I suppose the mayor could be right, and it's actually in the caves under Old Crestwood. As long as we can access the cave entrance, we should be fine, but we won't know that until we investigate."

"Can I make a suggestion, darling?" Vivienne spoke up sweetly, briefly touching Maxime's hand. "The bottom of that drained lake is undoubtedly covered in mud at least several feet thick. Why don't we give it a day or two to dry up in the sun, while we occupy ourselves with other matters? I would very much appreciate not having to trudge around in the mud, my dear. I would consider it a personal favor," she added with a blinding smile.

"Well... of course, my Lady," Maxime bowed exquisitely. "After all, we have the elusive Grey Warden to track down. Not to mention that a riveting conversation with the mayor awaits us. But for now," he continued, looking upwards at the darkened skies. "The hour is late. We should return to the keep and retire for the night. How does that sound, Lady Vivienne?"

"Very acceptable," the mage nodded approvingly. "I knew we could find an agreement in this matter, darling."


Skyhold

Alistair grumbled into his mug of wine before raising it to his lips and feeling the potent drink slide down his throat, leaving a pleasant fruity aftertaste. Unfortunately, the wine did not prove very effective in regards to the purpose with which he consumed it, to dull the persistent melody of the Calling at the back of his mind. An hour after midnight, he found himself sitting all alone in the kitchens of the main keep, these particular rooms cleared from rubble only two days ago, but already the kitchen crew had been staffed and they were performing admirably in trying to serve the many people under the Inquisition banner.

Lamenting Adan's unfortunate and horrible death in Haven, Alistair poured himself more wine, wishing that there had been something stronger to find amongst the kitchen supplies, but alas, their supplies were still limited. With his stash of sleeping draughts gone, falling asleep was proving next to impossible, and this was shaping up to become the third night in a row without any shuteye at all. It was slowly turning too difficult to endure and Alistair felt that he was becoming incapable to function in his capacity as the commander of the Inquisition's forces. At least they had arranged for a new apothecary, but according to Bethany this elven woman would not arrive in Skyhold for at least ten days yet, and Alistair was not entirely certain just how he was supposed to function until then.

The Grey Warden let out a quiet sigh, then freezing when the kitchen doors opened and another figure entered, the slim waist and wider hips identifying the new arrival as a female. Alistair was about to announce his presence, when the woman suddenly bent a little forward and began to rummage for something on the lower shelves of the kitchen pantry, the Grey Warden momentarily distracted by the woman's shapely backside swaying tantalizingly while she searched, eventually giving up with a rather unladylike Orlesian curse, doing so in a very familiar voice that made Alistair's cheeks flush with heat, realizing that he had just been ogling the backside of Knight-Lieutenant Evangeline de Brassard.

"Ahem..." he spoke up, making the woman gasp in shock and swivel around to face him. "Were you looking for this, perhaps?" he smiled, raising the half-full bottle of wine. "I'm afraid it was the last one, but there is some wine left that you are welcome to."

"Alistair?" Evangeline blinked in surprise. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same," Alistair replied, picking up a clean mug and offering it to Evangeline, the Orlesian nodding without much deliberation as Alistair poured her the wine.

"I'm sure you can guess," Evangeline sat down and accepted the proffered mug. "Today was... particularly bad, for some reason. I thought that it would gradually become easier, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I still get some very bad days when I feel utterly debilitated. This..." she raised the mug and took a large gulp, "helps to take the edge off a little, but not completely. I doubt I will be sleeping a wink tonight." She gave Alistair a searching stare at that. "And you?"

"I'm sure you have heard about the problems the Grey Wardens are facing..." Alistair sighed.

"I have, yes," Evangeline nodded. "And I wish I had heard about these issues from you, instead of having to piece them together from what Lysette, Cassandra and some others told me."

"Yes... sorry about that," Alistair winced. "I just... didn't want to burden your thoughts, I suppose. You already have plenty on your mind concerning the lyrium withdrawal. I guess... I just thought that if I told you I was dealing with something similar, it would have felt as if I was competing with you about which one of us has it harder."

"That... that has to be the most preposterous reasoning I have ever heard..." Evangeline groaned in dismay, burying her face in her hands. "How could you even imagine I would think that?"

"I, uh... truth be told, it does seem a little silly now that I think about it," Alistair admitted. "I'm sorry, Evangeline. The Calling must be influencing my ability to think rationally."

"Does the wine help?" Evangeline asked in a much more sympathetic voice.

"Not really," Alistair shrugged. "I probably won't be able to sleep at all until that elven apothecary arrives from Halamshiral."

"So... what is it like? If you can even explain?" the attractive Orlesian inquired.

"It's hard to put into words, to be honest," Alistair replied. "It's... like music, but at the same time only a voice, and yet it speaks in no language I can recognize. It just scratches at my thoughts constantly, and it's never completely gone from my mind. The worst part is that it's somehow... also beautiful, but it shouldn't be! It causes so much suffering, and yet at the same time it disturbs me when I catch myself thinking that I would miss it if it were gone..."

"That does sound horrible... different than what I'm going through, but just as unpleasant," Evangeline gave the Warden a compassionate stare. "And there is absolutely nothing that can stop you from hearing it? Well, aside from the sleeping draughts, I mean."

"Actually... talking with you right now is taking my mind of it," Alistair smiled at the charming woman on the opposite side of the kitchen table. "But I also know that I could never fall asleep while talking with you, Evangeline."

"That is a very sweet thing to say, Alistair," the templar lady smiled back at him. "One thing that sometimes helps me is physical exertion. I don't know whether it would do the same for you, but sometimes pushing myself to the point of collapsing from exhaustion lets me fall asleep. But I did not want to start beating up the practice dummies during the middle of the night and wake up everyone in Skyhold."

"Good point," Alistair chuckled. "Hmm… that gives me an idea, though. I think this method could help me as well, and I know just the perfect spot where we can spar without disturbing anyone else." Evangeline gave the Grey Warden a curious glance, prompting him to explain. "The section of battlements next to the gatehouse tower is devoid of any life, patrolling guards or otherwise."

"And it offers the best views of the mountains, as well," Evangeline smiled. "Very well, I accept your challenge, Ser Alistair!"

Not even five minutes later, the pair stood atop the battlements, facing each other with practice swords, both clad similarly in leather leggings and soft woolen tunics. The next half an hour saw them relentlessly trying to outduel each other with the dulled swords, Alistair winning at the approximate rate of two matches out of three, not taking it easy with his admittedly skilled opponent, Evangeline being very clear in her demand that Alistair gave his all, insisting that otherwise she would not learn anything from their sparring.

"Tired?" Alistair asked with a smile, extending his hand to help Evangeline up from the ground after a particularly long and exhausting bout in which he barely managed to prevail.

"Oh yes, but I can go on," Evangeline replied, accepting his hand.

"Still not sleepy, though," the Grey Warden chuckled, helping the templar lady rise. Somehow, she ended up standing particularly close to him, and Alistair simply could not look away from the enchanting look in her eyes as moonlight illuminated her pale face, cheeks slightly flushed as beads of perspiration traced her brow.

"No… not sleepy," Evangeline replied as if entranced, also unable to take her eyes off him, reluctant to pull away. "Perhaps we should..." she muttered, but fell silent before she could finish the sentence.

"Exhaust ourselves through different means..." Alistair finished boldly, briefly shocked with himself for his daring words, suspecting that the consumed wine was at fault. Evangeline did not reply, but her reaction spoke volumes, the pretty Orlesian closing her eyes and parting her lips, Alistair pouncing upon the unspoken invitation. His hands moved onto her back and pulled her forward, capturing her lips in a searing kiss and feeling her sigh contently into his mouth as she returned her kisses in full, sensual measure. As the heat of their kisses intensified, Alistair felt Evangeline embracing him even more tightly, wrapping her legs around his waist as he moved his hands lower to support her weight.

Slightly dazed from the magnificence of kissing the beautiful woman in his arms, Alistair began to slowly move step by step towards his spacious quarters in the gatehouse tower, taking extreme care not to drop his incredibly valuable cargo, or even worse, end up falling from the battlements together with Evangeline. As he pushed against the doors to open them with his back, Alistair felt Evangeline's tongue slipping into his mouth, the woman moaning softly as he began to suckle on her tongue while carrying the beautiful Orlesian to his bed and lowering her down on top of the sheets, Evangeline immediately pulling him down with her, as if she could not stand the very thought of breaking their contact.

As they continued to kiss, Alistair began to feel Evangeline's clever hands starting to tug at his tunic, eventually succeeding at pulling it over his head, the woman's hands then running across his muscular chest as she sighed contently. Evangeline pulled her legs upward and hooked her toes around the waistband of Alistair's pants, pushing them down to his ankles and leaving him naked, and it was only then that his conscience finally triggered and made him pause.

"Are you sure about this?" he whispered in her ear, silently praying to the Maker that this beautiful creature in his arms would not reconsider.

"Are you kidding?" she hissed, kicking off his pants completely and then slipping her hand between their bodies to seize his almost painfully hard arousal, making him groan with a sharp spike of pleasure. "I want you, Alistair. I've wanted you for a long time. Please... make love to me."

That was all the invitation Alistair needed, her sweet words stoking his arousal to such heights that it clouded almost all rational thought. Within moments, he had divested her leggings as well as her tunic, cupping her small breasts in his hands and tweaking her nipples until she cried out in pleasure, Evangeline trying to retaliate by seizing his hard length in her hand and starting to stroke him with growing intensity. Fighting the groans threatening to escape his lips, Alistair slipped his left hand between Evangeline's legs, his fingers coming away coated with warm wetness, evidence of her arousal. For a while, the pair continued to torment each other with the sweetest of agonies, until the forcefulness of the Orlesian's soft hand became too much for Alistair, and he let out a pitiful whimper, begging her to stop.

Evangeline was unable to savor her small victory for very long as Alistair quickly lined up his aching arousal with her entrance and pushed inside her pliant warmth with frustrating slowness, making the lady templar cry out in pleasure. Her fingernails dug into his back as she pulled him close, eager to feel Alistair's bare skin against hers, Evangeline's legs wrapped around her lover's midriff as she aligned her hips to meet his increasingly harsh and maddeningly pleasurable thrusts.

Alistair buried his face in his lover's damp, dark hair, struggling with restraint as he kept up his steady rhythm until he felt Evangeline clenching hard around him, almost painfully beautiful as she surrendered herself in the throes of her pleasure, sobbing out her release into his shoulder. He slowed down the rhythm of his thrusts to allow her to recover, but the sheer strength of her aftershocks caught him by surprise and pushed him over the edge, Alistair moaning into his lover's mouth as their blissful shared release bled from them both, leaving them boneless from exhaustion in each other's arms.

Within a few minutes, the couple were already enjoying something else that they had not tasted in a long while... sweet and undisturbed rest until the first rays of the morning sun.