Chronicles of an Elven Bed-warmer

Chapter the Fifth

Kiss

I do not own Dragon age, not even a little bit.

They found the alleged pervert chatting amiably over tea with Cyrion, Soris and Valora. Shianni supposed he was sort of good looking for a shem, he lacked the cruel smirk that she thought was mandatory for the upper classes. She supposed if one had to be a sex slave there were worse alternatives.

She caught herself. What was she thinking, reasoning such things about this obvious enemy of all women?

"Aedan, this is my cousin Shianni." introduced Kallian. The redhead noted the use of the pervert's fist name. "Shianni, this is Lord Aedan Cousland. He saved me from prison." 'So don't be a bitch' was silently implied.

"Pleased to meet you, m'lord." She lied and curtsied politely.

"It's good to finally meet you. Kallian's told me a lot about you." he started personably, oblivious to the redhead's ire.

"Oh really." she replied flatly.

Aedan chuckled. "Did you really knock out Vaughn with a bottle?"

"Yes, m'lord." she replied dangerously. She would do it to any noble, if it were necessary. Him included.

Aedan missed her implication. He chuckled again. "Vaughn knocked on his ass by a little elf girl, I think I would have payed to see that."

Shianni narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't notice, but Kallian did and shot her a look.

A bit protective are we? Shianni thought.

This exchange went entirely unnoticed by the young lord, who now turned to Kallian. "Did you tell her yet?" He asked his bodyguard.

"Oh, I nearly forgot." She faced her cousin. "The Queen wants you to testify before the Landsmeet."

Shianni's eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped open. She sputtered inarticulately, all thoughts of pervert human lords forgotten. "WHAT! Why me?"

"They want to talk about what happened with Vaughn." Kallian answered cautiously.

"But… Why?"

"Queen Anora wants to put the alienages under royal control. She thinks that Vaughn's...indiscretions -" Aedan started to explain.

Shianni interrupted. "You mean the fact that he was a serial rapist?"

Aedan shifted uncomfortably. "Err...yes." He cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, she thinks she can make the case that the alienages are being mismanaged." All the elves rolled their eyes and made a sort of 'like, Duh.' noise.

"So what happens after the Landsmeet then?" asked Soris.

"The Queen has asked Aedan to take over." Kallian said proudly.

Shianni was about to make a cutting remark about Aedan making all the elves wear skimpy outfits when Valora interrupted her. "Oh thank the Maker!" All eyes turned to the normally quiet girl.

Aedan was the first to break the odd silence. "Um...Hello...?"

"Valora, m'lord. Formerly of Highever alienage." She stood up and curtsied nervously, then turned to her fellow elves. "I didn't want to say anything but this place is awful. Lord Aedan helped make Highever a place for elves to be proud of! And he can do the same here!" She turned to him with pleading eyes. "Right m'lord?"

"Um, er..." he was a bit flustered at being complimented so openly. "Well I'll try my best, but it really depends on how the Landsmeet goes."

Everyone looked at Shianni, who gulped nervously.

Aedan looked out the window and noticed it was starting to get dark. "Oh, it's getting a bit late, we should probably get moving."

"Um, yeah." Kallian agreed reluctantly. It wasn't a good idea for humans to be out in the alienage after dark. She said her goodbyes to her family and they headed back toward the coach.

"Why aren't there any lights?" Aedan asked when they were alone.

"Elves have better night vision than humans." she explained. "Also oil is expensive."

They continued along for a while until they heard a menacing click from a nearby shadow. "Stand and deliver, shem."

"What?" asked Aedan, who had never been robbed before.

"Hand over all your valuables and maybe the girl too." the voice elaborated.

Kallian, on the other hand, thought she recognized the voice. "Finn? Is that you?"

"Kallian?" the elf came out of the shadows to get a better look at her. "What are you wearing? You look like a stripper."

"It's a disguise!" she answered hotly. Seriously, what was with everyone!

The elf cocked his head. "Why are you disguised as a stripper?"

"I'm NOT a stripper!" she protested.

He shrugged, unconvinced. "If you say so." he paused. "I thought I heard you was dead?"

"Almost." she gestured towards Aedan. "He saved me."

"Why, some kind of elf fetishist? That would explain the outfit." Finn grinned.

Even in the dark Aedan could see her blush.

"Would you please drop it?" She, of course, referred to his obsession with her outfit.

Finn leered, deliberately misunderstanding her. "Only if you go first, love."

"Finn!"

"Only joking, well, it's nice catching up and all but I've still got work to do. People aren't going to rob themselves." He nodded at Aedan "Have a nice evening sir."

They walked along in silence for awhile.

"Aedan?" Kallian finally found her voice.

He read her mind. "We'll find you some less embarrassing armor in the morning."

0-0

When they returned to the estate Elle was waiting for them.

"Take off those muddy boots before you come in. Dinner will be ready in about a half an hour so go clean yourselves up."

Aedan turned to Kallian. "I'll see you in a bit then."

"Okay." she responded. As she began to walk towards her room Elle grabbed her by the arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Um...to my room?" Kallian deadpanned, wondering what was up with the maid now.

"No, that room is Lady Elissa's, you were staying there as a guest." Elle rolled her eyes. "Now you're Aedan's bodyguard and therefore an employee."

"Oh." Kallian nodded her understanding. "So where's my room now?"

"Just follow me." Elle led her off in the same direction that Aedan had gone. There was a very good reason for that.

"Um...isn't this Aedan's room?" Kallian asked hesitantly once they arrived at their destination.

"Yep, as his bodyguard you are to be with him at all times, awake or asleep." The maid grinned at her.

Kallian blushed at the thought of sleeping with Aedan. "S-sleep?" She stuttered.

"Yep!" Elle grinned suggestively. "It's your duty."

"Um, er..." She was unable to form coherent sentences.

The maid watched her face twitch for awhile before deciding to let the girl off the hook. "Not in the same room of course, that would be improper."

Kallian signed with relief and ignored the small part of her that was disappointed.

Elle opened the door revealing a sort of sitting room, with some comfortable looking chairs surrounding a low table. At the back of the room were two large double doors she assumed led to the main bed chamber. In the left wall opposite a medium sized fireplace was a much less ornate door. Elle went to that door and opened it.

"You'll sleep in here."

Kallian walked through the door into a small but comfortable bedroom, it was about half the size of her room at home but much better furnished. She noticed a pile of clothes laying on the bed.

"Um, are those...dresses?" She turned to the maid apprehensively.

Elle nodded in a familiar but disturbing way.

Kallian gulped. She recognized that look. The maid wanted to play with her life sized elven barbie again. "Er..." was all she managed to say before the woman pounced.

0-0

Aedan straightened his jacket as he walked out of his room. It was a bit silly but he enjoyed dressing up for dinner, even it was just him and Kallian. From the noises he had heard while he was getting ready Elle had decided to help her dress. He smiled fondly at his maid's antics, she had always wanted a daughter. Kallian stumbling out of her room interrupted him from his thoughts. He caught her just before she fell over.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes M'lord just-" She tried to take a step and nearly fell over again. Aedan grabbed her shoulder to hold her steady and was hit by a wave of her perfume, a kind of smokey, exotic scent that sent distressing signals to his animal hind-brain.

"Oh, these damned shoes!" she grumbled. "Thank you m'lord."

"Not used to heels?" he remarked.

"Bloody useless things. They pinch my toes too." Aedan wondered why she was wearing them at all. Then he glimpsed Elle lingering in Kallian's doorway. Ah, he thought, his maid could be surprisingly scary when she wanted to.

Kallian had continued complaining but he had stopped paying attention. She looked especially lovely in that dress, Elle had chosen well. It was emerald green to match her eyes and set off her pale complexion wonderfully. It clung to her in all the right places and was rather low cut, exposing her generous cleavage.

"I don't think I'll be able to walk on my own." she reluctantly admitted. "Um... could you...?"

He held out the crook of his arm for her to hold on to.

"Thank you." She smiled gratefully.

Aedan was surprised how warm she felt so close to him. "W-well then, shall we?"

Kallian wobbled a bit before nodding her head in agreement. "Yes, lets."

They slowly made their way to the dining room

0-0

Aedan had been unusually quiet during dinner, Kallian wondered if something was bothering him as they walked back to their rooms.

"Aedan," she asked, once again hanging off his arm in an attempt to keep her balance in the horrible shoes. "Are you okay? You seem...distracted."

"What?" He looked up quickly from where his eyes had been lingering. She suspected he was looking down her cleavage. Much to her surprise this didn't bother her as much as it did when other people did it. After all it was a very 'hey, look at my boobs' kind of dress.

"I asked if you were feeling okay. You were awfully quiet during dinner."

"I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind with the Queen and the alienages and everything."

"Oh, okay." She lowered her hear demurely and felt a bit silly that she assumed he was distracted by her.

"Here we are." he announced suddenly. They were standing in front of her door.

"Er, yes." She reluctantly disengaged herself from Aedan's side, suddenly feeling a bit colder. After a while she noticed he was still looking at her. She looked back into his eyes and they simultaneously moved closer together. It was like their bodies were being controlled by some outside force. Her eyes opened wide as he moved his face down towards her only to close them and purse her lips in anticipation. He kissed her softly and gently on the lips. Kallian felt like she never had before, sort of light and heavy at the same time, why was she letting him do this? Why wasn't she shoving him away like the pushy customers at the Pearl? Did she actually want this? Overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar feelings she barely noticed the quiet whimper she let loose as the kiss ended.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I'll just..." Before she could say anything he was gone and she was standing there alone.

0-0

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Aedan thought. Why had he done that? They were just starting to trust one another and he had thrown it all away for a cheap thrill. She's going to think that this was his plan the whole time. It was a disaster. Aedan sat on his bed with his head in his hands. Not that he hadn't enjoyed at the time. Kissing Kallian had definitely been the highlight of his day but once he had stopped thinking with his groin he realized what a huge mistake it was.

There was a knock on the door. "Aedan?" It was her. "I know you're in there."

He remained silent.

"Look," she continued. "It's okay, I'm not mad or anything." she paused. "It was...nice." Then there was a longer pause. "Well, um, I'm gonna go to bed now so I'll be in my room if you wanna, y'know, talk or anything, Okay?"

Her waited for several minutes for her to leave before releasing the breath he'd been holding. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't so bad after all.

That didn't take as long as I thought it would.

Also, does anyone know how many...um, arlings? There are in Ferelden? I know they say when they do the vote at the lands-meet but I kind of, um, sold my copy of the game so I can't go back and check. I already tried Dragon wiki and didn't see anything relevant, so if someone could get back to me on that I would greatly appreciate it.