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chal·lenge. An act or statement of defiance; to demand explanations
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"What I'm saying is that, you can't exactly blame a child for being born with the blood its parents gave it. It's like blaming the earth for receiving sunlight."
Walking was better, Kate had decided. It made you stronger, tougher, able to manage much more than in the beginning of the journey. It also made some people too out of breath to argue, something which didn't happen when in the back of a truck. In this situation, sandwiched between Ogrhen and Sam, she was forced to hear and participate in fanciful chitchat. But, worse of it all, was what her own companion was subjecting her to for the past three hours and forty two minutes. Twenty seven seconds. He and Cullen, who was getting along with the elf frighteningly well. At least on a more rational level.
Maker keep her from mages engaging philosophical debates. The Chant of Light should carry warnings against such a thing. In between the warnings about how one shouldn't let mages live as normal living beings, of course.
"Is he always like that?"
Oghren looked faintly like a kid forced into a convention of advanced mathematics and almost as interested. Kate's features displayed a boredom only showed when stuck in caverns for weeks to no end with nothing to do bar gathering food. All in all, they were presenting the exact same feeling. "If he was," she mumbled into a closed fist. "I would have released him into the wild before it contaminated me. Yours?"
"I throw him food when he tries. Warden Instincts kick in while I flee."
"Warden Instincts?" Kate parroted. "Fight or flight?"
"Eat while food's on the table," he clarified.
Both mages gave their respective partners looks which were all of disappointed parents facing unruly children.
Four hours had closely gone by since they had been loaded into the truck. Four hours in which the small group had been crammed into a space even smaller, forced into an uncomfortable silence and more contact than it should be necessary. At least, that was Kate's opinion. There had to be a reason for Maric's little smirk before he left to the front seats with the Commander. Not that he needed reasons. The man was permanently amused, the world itself a giant circus in his eyes.
"It would do you good to participate," Sam attempted, probably knowing it was as useless as the many times he had attempted to speak these things with her. It wasn't that the subject was boring, not completely. It was just extremely useless to force a convert to hear the same things over and over and over again.
"Surana, I've heard your arguments close to seven hundred times. I can recite them on my deathbed. I can sing them to a child and have it pass out from sheer tedium. Besides, you two agree with each other." Hence, why were they arguing? It was like a priest speaking to another about the merits of the Chant of Light and receiving solely yes, you are completely right as a response.
"Got the point. And you?"
"I keep my masochism to half the population and you lack the equipment for it. Come on, runt. We can leave them to it."
Come on? To go where? Kate raised an eyebrow as the man stood up and walked on the uneven floor till the very back of the open space. Anything would be better than sitting between the two mages again. With the same agility he had displayed the day she first met him, Oghren jumped on the door, holding himself to the side of the truck before gripping the ceiling and hoisting himself upwards. A small lump on the fabric ceiling indicated that he was sitting on it, apparently uncaring of the fact that it was the ceiling of a moving vehicle. She hesitated a little but the sight of the land they left behind and the strong sunlight quickly decided her. More slowly than the man, definitely more carefully, she wiggled her way forward and then up.
It was a whole new level of different for her. The sun was shining like summer was still in full strength, warm and inviting on her skin.
"First time I've seen you smile. Well, when there's no one else in pain around, that is." The human patted a place nearby, looking to all the world as comfortable as a Lord in its throne room. "Sit down. Boss'd have my hide if you just floated away." A nearby branch underlined his suggestion and soon enough elf and human were sitting side by side, silent as trees seemed to fly by right above their heads. It was more comfortable than the inside of the truck, that was a certainty. Not even because of the discussion. Amell and Sam were easy to stand, their voices more like mantras for a child to sleep than anything else. Oghren, in this mist of his annoying self, wasn't impossible to stand.
Vaughan was another matter completely. While the human girl who had come with them was mostly silent, his type of quiet made her wish to draw into herself and unsheathe a blade. Narrowed eyes, closed fists, whenever their glances meet, it was like a silent threat. And Kate wasn't keen on having to share her space with a poisonous snake ready to strike.
"It won't go away that way."
Oghren wasn't looking at her but frankly, to whom would he be speaking? No one else was with them after all. He pointed to her hand, resting against her neck as she steadily scratched it at random intervals. She hadn't even noticed she was doing it which lead to the suspicious question of why he was interested in something as stupid.
He had a talent for unsaid questions, it seemed. "Some people shiver, some get migraines, others feel like they're on fire. It varies." Moving slowly across the space, his hand encompassed a small area through the branches, a little lake, she managed to see, a set of rocks which piled until they disappeared into the green shade. "I'd say it's a small group, round twenty, maybe less. We got a group in the area otherwise we'd have to stop and clean up the tracks."
Kate scratched her neck again, attempting to connect the dots. It was like the weather was suddenly colder, nevermind the rays of sunlight pouring down on her.
"Don't get it."
"Remember when we found you? The creatures." Snarling, biting, dragging her away until someone crossed her path and blood fell on the floor like some ghastly kind of rain. "There you go. Memorize, get used to it. It might save your life when you're stuck with patrol." Kate briefly wondered if all the people who called themselves Wardens were chosen by their ability to either keep secrets or make no sense whatsoever when they did choose to talk. Her nails stopped digging into her skin as she closed her eyes. There it was, laying right beneath her fingers. It was half an itch, half a shiver, running underneath skin like the feeling was liquid and flowing freely in her blood.
"Look," he interrupted, taking her thoughts from his odd words. "If I tell you my sad sob story will you stop acting like an alley cat the boss brought home?"
"Depends," she retorted absently. "Do you even have a sad sob story?"
His mouth opened, closed then opened again with an almost sheepish grin. "Not really."
"Then no."
She was pretty damn sure he had mumbled something like stubborn bitch but let it pass. The truck was still moving steadily and this peculiar sort of teasing they had going was the direct opposite of Sam's conversation downstairs. At least it was entertaining. Smiling to herself, Kate crouched to the floor and made her way forwards, just above the cabin where the driver shared its space with both Loghain and Maric. She could even see a little of the blond hair outside the window, whispering in the wind as the man leaned outside like some overgrown dog.
Weird thoughts were running rampant that morning. Galloping even.
Her smile evolved into a small grin as she gripped the several strips of rubber keeping the ceiling in its place, securing herself properly in her new place. In front of her, the road continued until what seemed to be the horizon, serpent like forms weaving in and out of the forest. It widened a little before dividing itself. A small house rested to the side. All in all, a simple image, a nature like image thoroughly at odds with most of the memories Kate still kept from her own city home. It was different and that wasn't so bad. None of her situation seemed like so in that moment, not with the warm air and light filling her lungs.
"Oghren?"
Leaves beat against her face as she straightened, the man's presence heavy at her back while he simply lay down. Like they were resting on the floor after a picnic. Crazy man.
"What?" He grunted.
"Tell me about the Compound. Tell me about the Wardens. And I'll try."
There was a long pause after her words, broken only by the rustling of leaves, the noisy engine beneath them and the lull of the voices which still persisted from the open truck. And that same pause made her wonder why the human seemed more hesitant to speak of the Order than he had seemed about speaking of his own life. But the promise was there, unsaid, a simple suggestion of leaving her own prejudice – or her fear, if she wanted to be honest – aside and focus on something else. Something like a connection between two beings and not the fact that he was the member of a race which hated the very skin covering her bones.
Ogrhen shifted a little, a sound which was just like a sigh; exasperated, she dared to guess. Then he began to speak as she made herself as comfortable as the present situation allowed and lost herself in words about dragons and a sin as old as time.
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The night was coming on steady intervals. On their perch, Kate could see as the sun sank behind the mountains, the orange glow lighting the horizon before it started to darken in an almost poetic fashion. The truck's lights were turned on, the speed of the vehicle decreased and the air itself began to grow colder and lighter. Oghren had gone silent a long time before, snoring loudly behind her, tied carefully by his own volition to the same rubber belts that she had been using to steady herself. It was a normal event for him to do to so, she had concluded.
"Tabris. Little attention here. But please, don't fall, car cleaning services don't include elf remains." Of course, to ask for peace next to these people would be just ridiculous. Added note to Maric's personality. He was an asshole. "You sure we should leave Oghren to mess up with the new ones?" She opened her mouth to ask what in the world did he mean but it downed that there was little way those words for her. Her assumption was proven right barely a moment after. "Right. Sure. Whatever you say, boss."
Kate stretched her legs slowly, trying to get rid of the pricks and needles which were flooding her numb muscles before, carefully, making her way even more forward, leaning against the portion where the rubber ceiling met the cabin. The lieutenant had his head out, looking straight up while waiting for her to reply.
"What?" She asked simply. The blood rushed to her head as she leaned even further, probably a silly move. But she was on an uncommonly good mood and thoughtless things could happen for once.
"While you're playing bird, try to look forward and right. I think there's something but." A small pause as he tried to cover his eyes from the last touches of sunlight. "Can't see from here. We shouldn't be close enough for. Huh? Wait a second, Tabris."
She could definitely just hang on while he decided.
"There you go." A hand reached outside, passing her a pair of binoculars as the truck slowed down to an almost crawl, possibly to allow her a better balance. It was like standing on a boat tied to shore. "Boss says, describe what you're seeing and don't pay attention to me as I'm in one of my womanly moods. Womanly? Really?"
Not paying attention to him was strangely easy. Fiddling a little with the object – not something she had been privy to use – she glued her eyes to the lenses, trying to see whatever they were expecting. Two trucks, black, no descriptive signs, unmoving in the middle of the road, just where it touched a small river. With a little effort she managed to identify two men walking nearby, gesturing wildly like they were in a frighteningly animated conversation.
"And they're carrying weapons," Kate eventually finished, relaying the last details she could discern. "Guns. Can't see blades but then again, they are rather far. Silver and green. Green." Ah, Fade damnit.
"Templars," Loghain's voice concluded from beneath her. Oddly, not that pleased. "Get inside, both of you. This means a search. And Tabris, don't run. It's unnecessary."
She had already turned faintly to the side, eyes widened as she prepared to jump, lips about to open in a shout for Sam. Little over a week would never be enough to make her forget years fearing those same uniforms. But the Commander had probably known. Kate struggled to calm down, breathing deeply for a moment, fingers closing and opening in a repetitive motion. Simple but it kept her focus on something other than irrational instincts. But it was Oghren who did the rest, snoring loud enough to wake the dead, never mind her from her destructive patter of thought.
Fine. That'd be her test to the Wardens. More dangerous to herself than them – not unlike her little stunt with the dragon – but a test nevertheless. If they kept her and Sam safe, if they managed to keep them free, then she would start to believe. Mind made up, Kate turned aside, shaking Oghren's shoulder to wake him up before lowering herself back into the stuffy compartment.
"We heard," was Sam's sole comment, already close to the back as if containing himself not to jump out and away. They were officially wild cats. The others didn't seem to be that concerned. Sure, Vaughan had little to fear from the Templars but he seemed amused, maybe even pleased. Amell was relaxed as always and Kate could really read nothing in the female human's face, still set in silence on her corner. Kate mimicked her, falling right by the elf's side, the binoculars resting on her lap as the car kept eating their path away.
It was probably over half an hour until they reached the barricade but it seemed far more time. The truck stopped, the front doors opened as the occupants left. Kate found herself covering her ears in somewhat nervous movements, her hair tangling uncomfortably between her fingers. She needed to cut it, she thought rather stupidly, maybe take to get it up so it'd stay out of her way. "Ouch." Her hands rushed to one of her pointed ears instead as the skin suddenly began to hurt.
Sam had flicked it, his hand still in the air, the most deadpan expression taking over his face.
"That hurts," she informed bluntly, trying not to whine and keep the rest of her dignity somewhat intact.
"So does ripping your hair out."
Oghren raised a hand.
"I will smite you where you stand." And lowered it as soon as Cullen wrapped his around his staff's handle, fingers trailing ever so lightly on the leather.
Quite frankly, Kate couldn't see how anyone could take this group seriously. The members themselves didn't. Trying to stifle her amusement – which could probably be identified as hysteria if she allowed herself to acknowledge it – the elf settled back against Sam, watching as he also kept a hand close to his weapon, identifying himself more clearly than his ears could have done for him. A few more minutes rolled by lazily, their silence broken solely by the forest around them, the lull of the lake water and Loghain's voice above it all. It interchanged with another one, higher sounding, younger and vaguely less pleasing.
She didn't need to know the Commander well to know he wasn't pleased. It was obvious in the short tones, the clipped answers, a fool would be able to understand it. But it didn't become as clear as when the panel covering the back of the truck was pushed aside, showing the two persons she had been spying before. They weren't what she would deem old, dark skinned and with no wrinkles that she could see. Both males dressed in the same manner, silver grey slacks and shirt, a dark green vest covering the top and boots which were basic military issue. On the right side of the vest, a small symbol had been stitched, a silver sword surrounded by dark red flames. Yes, the Sword of Mercy in all its glory. A good symbol, perfect to keep people silent and the herd controlled. The comment was swallowed before it could be said and placed the entire group in worse situation than it already was.
And considering the Commander was currently carrying two elves and two mages, one of which overlapped nicely, Kate could only wonder just how bad things were.
"As I've said, soldier." If that wasn't underlining the difference in rank between Commander and Templar, she didn't know what it was. "A group of Wardens bound for the South. All passed through the Joining, all are legal. As you should know since the last time I went through here, you also saw fit to stop us in the exact same manner."
That would explain the annoyance. Loghain was treating this as a minor setback, something as simple as a fly in his soup and just as easily reparable. It didn't mean that it didn't feel like pure lack of respect. As little as she knew about the Wardens, they seemed to have high rank and the questioning this man was demanding of them? It sounded demeaning.
"You carry two new ones," the Templar attempted, apparently using them as an excuse when he had yet to see them until that moment. "Two elves." His gaze leveled with hers and then behind where Sam was sure to be looking, halting at some point to stare at their ears. "Have they been catalogued and if so, where and when? And what of companions? Maker knows these always travel in packs. Usually, where you find one, you find half a dozen in the shadows."
Sam's hand gripped her wrist with a strength that was almost enough to break her bones. He didn't notice and she said nothing. This was the kind of people she hated, they hated more than anything. Catalogued like meat on a store, packs because they were nothing more than ruminants in the fields. A small part of her almost propelled her forward. With some luck she would manage to hit the bastard with something heavy.
"Are you, by any chance, just curious really, implicating that the Commander of the Grey doesn't follow royal orders?" Maric wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders in what seemed to be a completely innocent gesture. If his face was that close to hers, Kate was sure it wouldn't be just for mere random affection to a stranger. There had to be a dagger involved somewhere. "Or the Chantry's? Because hiding escapees of the crown, well, that'd be just downright that alley. Hey, Commander? How come you didn't tell me you were playing rebel?"
"Because you would be too excited and attempt to take over a small country," Cullen supplied from his end.
"True that. I'm partial to Antiva."
"Or because the idea is ludicrous," the Commander intervened before the conversation degenerated further. "I am a Warden. My task is to gather as many able men and women to our task. You would agree with me on this, Ser?" That didn't feel like a question. And yet, he waited patiently until the Templar stopped looking at the group and faced him instead. There was something in his expression; it scared and kept others listening even when they felt like walking away slowly. His head lowered the faintest trace, almost as if he was honoring the other man and yet, his lips were turned just barely; she could see it from her vantage point. That small gesture implied anything but respect.
Like a wolf playing around with his food.
"Unfortunately, it means that I cannot follow the edicts as well as one would expect," he continued, almost blandly. "It also means I will make use of any tool the Maker places in my path. Now, if they are able or not, you are free to test them. I am sure either will be most obliging."
There was a quick exchange between elves and mage. Cullen smiled. Sam, she was sure he wasn't far; she could hear his small snicker right by her ear. Almost as if each of them was saying pick me, pick me, while mentally waving like madmen, herself included. The Templar didn't pale nor shown any sign of discomfort. If she was in his place, she surely would have. Which lead to two obvious conclusions; he was either stupid or oblivious.
"Perhaps that won't be necessary," the man finally said once it seemed Cullen was just about to jump out. Logic or self-preservation instinct, one of them had reared its head. Luckily for the man. Kate was sure she wouldn't be able to harm him but the human mage was too assured to have that compulsion. She could almost believe he would and could take that life without worry. First time he wasn't welcoming or bashful after his confrontation with Vaughan. It was true. Mages and elves cultivated their hatred of Templars as steadily as they breathed. "I still need their identification though."
No, he didn't.
Her mouth opened to say just how that wouldn't happen when Sam's hand slipped over her lips with little to no care. But he knew. Names weren't said. With names, they could get to families and families of a fugitive weren't going to rise in status, that was a certainty. Kate searched for his eyes in her awkward position but the elf wasn't looking at her. His gaze was unwavering on the Commander's form. Someone who seemed to lose what little patience he had left right then. In the time she had been silenced, he took a hold of the man's sleeve, pushing him away from Maric and just a little away. Not enough to keep his words private.
"Who sent you here?" Wait, what did that…? "I got the patrol roster for the week from Ser Matthew. None of them was scheduled here, especially not one above a dozen people. I want to know what's going on here."
The man released himself forcibly, blushing deeply like a young boy caught knee deep in a cookie jar.
"Busted," Maric whispered, leaning against the side of the truck, arms crossed over his chest as if he had no concern in the world.
"I am not at liberty to say," were the only words spoken by the silver clad man.
The Commander leaned in just barely and all play vanished into thin air. Their faces were close, their breaths mingling and hands were free to go for weapons if required. It seemed to be required. What sort of game were these people playing? "If I say I don't care?"
Templar or not, it was complicated to face a dangerous man with cool demeanor. The Templar paled and took a step back. "I cannot say, Warden-Commander." A small swallow, a bead of sweat dripped on his face slowly, measuring the time it took for him to ignore the pressure of the Commander's gaze. "I don't know. I swear I don't!"
That gaze was kept on him for one more long excruciating moment. And then another for good measure. "Not high enough in the food chain." Loghain rested his forehead against his hand for a moment, finishing the movement with pressure against his temple, as if the simple gesture would give the situation the slightest piece of logic. Kate didn't understand what was happening but one thing was for sure. The Templar hadn't known there would be mages in the truck, much less elves. He had been there to catch the Wardens, not fugitives. If this was clear to her who understood little of what was going on, it had to be completely transparent for the Commander.
The man stepped back from the other's personal space, looking every inch like a sensible person. "Alright, I will compromise," he started calmly. "I believe it would be best for all to continue to our previous objectives. When you reach the city, you are sure to find all the information you desire about my Wardens. And to your mystery employee, I have a couple of words than can be said. That way, you won't get in trouble. Would this suffice?"
Loghain, in all his serene manner, was offering the solution better to himself while posing it as a gift to the other. Even his expression, just short of being paternal, reflected this. Maker, the guy had some nerve.
"Misinformation. I like." Again, the lieutenant, blue eyes crinkling into an amused expression.
"Finally, Ser," Loghain continued softly. "You will tell the Mother I tire of her little games. The next time you step in my path, I will conscript you. And whoever you bring with you. I am not her dog to keep track of." Ah, there was the Commander who had conscripted her, down to the bland expression and sheer lack of emotion behind each word. Just pure and undiluted certainty.
"And you top it off with a nice little threat. Guy was made for this."
"Don't narrate me, Maric."
The lieutenant slapped his back in a sympathetic gesture before virtually taking the burden from his friend's shoulders – because they did act like friends instead of subordinate and Commander. Again he placed his arm around the Templar and began dragging him away, presumable to force-feed him whatever foolishness that passed through his lips.
"Spoilsport."
"Idiot."
The insults carried no weight.
"This is already past ridiculous." Loghain allowed himself a small sigh, hand ruffling long hair in an absent movement as he watched the two men. He spoke to all of them and none in special, probably knowing they needed to know something about the situation just in case. "Last two times was about Amell, the one before over Mahariel. If this isn't stopped soon, I will have to get the First Warden to cover up the tracks."
He didn't seem pleased with that perspective for whatever he didn't see fit to share.
Kate only noticed Vaughan had moved until he was right above her, so focused she had been in the little scene. Involuntarily, she pulled herself backwards even further against Sam. He paid no attention to her but it wasn't needed, she thought, nose wrinkling in distaste. It was weird but she just couldn't help but to distrust him; not even granting him the smallest piece she gave to Oghren or Amell. Even her body agreed, moving without her attention just to avoid him. The large human jumped out and began working at the latches that held the door upwards. Night had come and the camp had to be set up.
"This will continue to happen if you persist in adding these people to our ranks. Commander," he commented briefly, not meeting Loghain's chilled glance at the end of his words.
Tension filled the clearing again, one of a different kind. It sounded like a challenge. The five still inside the truck held their breath at the same time, alternating between looking at Loghain and their would-be companion. But Kate was the closest, sitting right by the door and it was Kate who heard it. She raised her eyes to the Commander's, noticing how his expression barely changed, hard eyes, hard features, a tense hand gripping the metal door with a strength that would rivaled Sam's against her bones. He seemed burdened. Deeply so. Not visibly but the worry was there, in the tense way in which he frowned. Their eyes met by pure chance and her head tilted to the side.
Just why was he bothered because of this man? She had reasons to be, he was repulsive. But him? The Commander was far stronger.
Idiot.
The pressure against the metal lightened.
"I wonder if you don't want to rise in ranks," Loghain commented blandly. "Because it will persist in not happening if you keep challenging my decisions."
And the tension vanished into thin air.
Kate wondered briefly why in the world she smothered a smug smile.
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"See?"
Wardens didn't have to sleep under the clouds, not per se. Though, in that moment, Kate was ruing that little fact since the stupid tent refused to stay up, no matter how much time and effort she lost on it. She was also contemplating calling either Sam or Cullen to cast a nice fireball somewhere in its vicinity and sleep solely on the blankets she carried. Or the truck, which would be a nice replacement to the cursed thing. Loghain, quite wisely, waited until she had finished struggling with yet another rope before interrupting. His uniform had been replaced by casual clothing, a simple brown shirt and black pants, stained with the same water which dripped from his black hair.
The girl raised an eyebrow, taking the presence as a perfect excuse for a small break.
"I fulfilled my promise," the Commander elaborated, trying in vain to dry his soaked hair with an already painfully drenched towel.
He looked a little like a drowned rat, not at all his usual self.
"For now," Kate couldn't help adding.
"For now," he agreed agreeably. "Is it good enough?"
The Templars had come and gone and she had no shackles on her wrists. She had been right in front of them, she had tried facing them even, something she wasn't supposed to do and still, she had been protected. Never mind the fact that the Wardens weren't a completely impregnable refuge, they had been enough to keep her safe. To keep Sam safe. Human or not, Loghain had kept his word.
"For now. Yes."
Kate knelt on the floor, reaching for the next set of supports in order to restart her previous activity. For a long moment, all she heard was the forest around her, the soft sounds of her work and Oghren's loud laughter as Cullen spoke. It was so quiet that she almost thought the man had left her to the task.
"Maybe I should review the idea of making you a Warden." The towel continued its painstaking slow process. "You seem to be losing to a piece of camping equipment."
No such luck.
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"You haven't told them yet."
The remaining female of the group tended to keep apart. She barely spoke and didn't like mingling, never mind how many times Oghren pulled and Cullen attempted to speak. Tabris reacted like an alley cat thrown into water but this woman… Loghain's eyes narrowed faintly, barely directing her a look as the woman sat by his side, awkwardly, as if the uniform didn't fit quite right. Her attitude, however, her words, those carried certainty and even defiance.
No rest was allowed to him that night, Maker help him. From the Templars to Vaughan and now this.
"What do you mean?" The words left him slowly, against his will. Truly, the Commander couldn't really care what she wanted and his patience to deal with her was steadily decreasing, just as his ability to keep the touches of flu at bay. But. One didn't throw away allies those days.
She moved just barely, crossing her legs only to rest her arms on them. Carefully, like they weren't in the middle of a forest, possibly loaded with enemies. "The new ones. I saw the Joining, Loghain. Neither of them knows what a Warden is supposed to do. The restrictions they have. Their time limit."
The hardest part of being a Commander, she meant. No other took that task from him, he didn't allow it. But watching as the two elves slowly understood he wasn't just using them but actually giving something in return. Safety. A life which wasn't spent on the run but chasing. Loghain wanted that relative peace a while longer, if only for a couple more days. To tell someone that he had all but killed them to their face…
"Do not meddle where you're not supposed to, Guerrin." He liked her. Sometimes. Not when she left her own turf and meddled in his. And the Wardens were his, no doubt there. "You're not their Harhen."
"But I am a Harhen," the woman stated confidently, touching his arm so he would face her, not the camp where the Wardens dined. "And any elf in Ferelden is taken to my care or Theirin's. If you don't take up the mantle, I will. And I'll keep them both in Haven if necessary."
It was an empty threat. Not even she had the authority to break a conscription, especially when it had been carried out. Still, the woman held his gaze in silence, stone against stone. She was right; not that he would tell her so.
"Huh. Loghain? Fiona?" Maric walked closer, right timing as always. In his open manner, Loghain could sense some worry. "You guys not killing each other and everything?"
He didn't need to look at Fiona to know her expression was exactly like his. Polite blankness and not a tone of anger. Their conversation didn't need to be shared.
"No, Maric," she said for him. "We're just fine."
Just to be pondered upon.
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AN - Okay! Slightly more light-hearted at some points but I had a lot of fun writing it. Tell me what you think, yes? :)
Thank you ever so much to all who reviewed: Josie Lange, Shakespira, Roxfox1962, Enaid Aderyn, ChampionTheWonderSnail and Judy. Helps a lot to defeat the little b**** I call writer's block.