Chapter 21

Alistair sat himself on the stone railings of the bridge and wiped the sweat from his brow. After a whole day of lying in bed and snacking on cheese, Wynne had declared him fit for travel. He'd wanted to test that, and thus had snuck out of the castle early in the morning for a stroll by the lake.

The crisp early morning air had been cool and refreshing, but had also brought with it the stench of fish. While he was used to it, Alistair did not want to expose himself to it more than necessary. He'd decided to ditch the lake in favour of the hills, but the uphill struggle had sapped his stamina.

Deep breaths, Ali-bear. Inhale through your nose, count to ten and exhale through your mouth. Like that. It's just a hill. You've lived through worse. Remember how the Arlessa hugged you, cried on your shoulder and kissed your cheek last night? You're a survivor. The hill's got nothing on you. Nope. Anyway, better a hill than a bloody staircase, eh?

"Bloody hell," he muttered under his breath and resumed his trek. He went up to the secret tunnel entrance at the base of the windmill through which they'd entered the castle. Alistair shook his head. Grew up here, never knew about a secret entrance. Way to instil trust, Eamon. Ah well. To work!

He soon found what he was looking for and smiled to himself as he knelt. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

Now to just sneak back into the castle and act innocent.

"What're you doing?"

That plan shattered into thousands of bits and Alistair shot up to his feet.

"Are you following me?" he turned and levelled an accusatory gaze at Leliana all the while carefully keeping his hands behind his back as he sat himself on a crate. The redhead only smirked. "One moment of peace is all I want, woman."

"You'll have plenty of peace on the boat ride back to the Circle," she replied easily and walked up to him. "You didn't answer my question."

"And you didn't answer mine."

"I asked first."

"I'm the victim here. I'm also sick. You should be nice and humour me."

"You should be in bed if you feel sick. Shall I drag you back by the ear and tuck you in myself?"

Alistair frowned. "I just wanted to stretch my legs. All I've been doing is sitting and sleeping for four days."

She nodded, accepting his logic. "And I was following you. I saw you go out of the castle and got curious."

"That's a bogus explanation."

"Should I have gotten Wynne instead?"

A cold shiver ran down Alistair's spine. The old healer, though grandmotherly, could be very strict. He had no doubt that Wynne would have force-fed him castor oil for a week if she came to know about his little adventure.

"...you didn't, right?"

Leliana smiled triumphantly. "No, but I always could."

"Yeah, she doesn't need to know about this. She has enough on her plate already. You wouldn't want to burden her with more, would you? Her health might fail."

"I suppose you're right." She grinned and looked up at the windmill. "I once took a ride on the sails of a windmill. Didn't turn out well."

Alistair was not surprised. "What kind of crazy nun were you?"

She didn't look at him. "I sometimes wonder that myself," she said quietly before shaking her head and offering him a smile. "Breakfast will be served soon. Shall we go?"

"In a moment. My feet hurt." He coughed. "I have something for you."

Evidently, that had caught her by surprise since both her brows shot up. "Oh?"

"This is the main reason I came up here. This is where I always found them before, so I thought there'd still a few around." You can do it, Ali-bear! He brought his hands forward and held them out to her. "For you."

He'd found a clump of the things, but only picked out a handful.

Leliana looked at the flowers for a long moment, then at him. "That's... you..."

"Andraste's Grace, yes." He smiled. "Go ahead."

The redhead took them. Alistair watched her smile spread as she sniffed them and closed her eyes. "They smell like Mother used to," she whispered. "These were... her favourite. I haven't seen these in such a long time..."

"Something to remember her by," Alistair said as he got to his feet. "Do you... like them?"

She opened her eyes at his question and Alistair saw in them a softness and warmth he'd hitherto never encountered before. Her eyes were like two wells of azure, deeper even than the waters of Lake Calenhad and they arrested him for a moment.

"They're beautiful, Alistair," she said and stepped closer to him with the swiftness of a pouncing wolf, and kissed him on the cheek before he could back away. "Thank you. Thank you so much... for remembering."

"I – well – you – ah, ha ha ha ha." Now he did back away, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. Alistair couldn't even bring himself to look at her, much less form words. His eyes darted everywhere except for her face and he cursed himself for ruining the moment. His only refuge lay in humour and that's where he went. "I mean, I was hoping for something steamier, but hey, this works, ahaha."

Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshu-

"Sounds good. Off with the tunic, then."

Excuse me hello what the fuck.

His gaze snapped to her face directly and he swore he saw a predatory smirk flit across her features.

Alistair laughed, not knowing what to do. "Bluff called! Damn, you saw right through me."

Leliana took a few steps towards him. "Why must it be a bluff, Alistair? You're a good person, a great listener, a reputable warrior, you often show signs of intelligence and are fairly good looking–most of your facial features are in the right place. You are most desirable."

He took a few steps away from her. She's playing with you, Ali-bear! Take it and hit back! "It doesn't have to be a bluff." He managed a smirk somehow. "Maybe when we're back at camp some night? In a tent?"

Her smirk readily grew at his words. He did not like that. Not one bit. "Who needs a tent?"

"But what if some monster comes along while we're canoodling? How embarrassing!" Walking backwards around the windmill while she came at him with her predatory grace was not an activity Alistair enjoyed. Anymore, and he'd turn it into a science. Strategic retreat! "Or maybe I'm just a big coward. Who, umm, needs a tent. For stuff."

Leliana only giggled. "I've been trying to fight it, but you just said all the right things."

"Uh, I-I did?"

"Mais oui. I've been waiting so long to get on that body, so don't keep me waiting any longer, big boy."

Alistair blinked and looked down at himself. Then he looked back at her and placed his hand on his chest. "This body?" he chirped.

"Oh you know it, Chéri."

The ship is slowly sinking, the ship is slowly sinking. Alistair pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "I'll just be, uh, standing over there. Till the blushing stops. Just to be safe. You know how it is."

Somehow, they way her grin widened when she looked over his shoulder made him uneasy. When his back hit a tree, he understood why.

Shit.

"Come on, Ali-bear. Sex me up!"

His mouth hung open at that. "That's the butcher's wife's line from chapter seven of The Lusty Antivan Maid!"

Instead of replying to that, Leliana only smirked and stepped closer. Now that he had nowhere left to go, Alistair flattened himself against the tree.

Maker have mercy on my poor cheese-loving heart.

"Come now, let me help you get those clothes off," the redhead said breathlessly as she pressed up against him, a palm flat atop his chest. "It would've been better if you'd brought a helmet though, because you're in for a rough ride!"

Wrapping his arms around the tree behind him and trying very hard to sink into it, Alistair croaked with much difficulty, "I don't want to I'm scared."

He heard a snicker, but was too afraid to look. When she stepped away from him, Alistair felt like his knees would collapse.

"Your feet don't still hurt, do they? You were mighty sprightly just now."

"I hate you," he returned hotly. "Taking advantage of a poor defenceless young man like that? It wasn't funny, you know."

"I think it was," she insisted and turned to walk away. "Follow me, my prince. I shall accompany you to your banquet."

Alistair noticed a bounce in her step as she skipped down the path to the bridge, stopping and turning around to make sure he was following.

With a sigh, the blond man separated from the tree and started trekking down the path.

"I'm going to regret telling you about my father, aren't I?"