Chapter 6

The battle had been brutal. Despite the strength of the gate, it had been broken during the battle, and Davyd had had to fight them inside the keep with his poorly trained militia. It had been a blood bath, but the defenders on the wall had winnowed their numbers down enough that they just barely held the darkspawn back.

It had been a bloody affair, but finally, the darkspawn army had broke against the defiant walls of the Vigil. The Vigil and her defenders stood victorious.

Unfortunately, the fact that darkspawn had made it all the way inside the Keep could only mean one thing. The defenders of the outer wall had been overwhelmed.

Davyd looked frantically around the courtyard among the corpses of soldiers and darkspawn, looking for her. He called her name, hoping against hope to find her.

"Maker, no," he wept. "Not again."

"MacDougal!"

Davyd turned towards the voice. It was Anders, the mage. "We found her," Anders said.

Davyd's heart leapt. "Is she alright?"

"No," Anders said. "She's gravely injured."

Tendrils of cold fear snaked into Davyd's mind. "Can you save her?"

"I don't know," Anders said. The mage clearly wished he could've given a better answer, but he couldn't. "I'm going to try. I have to go to her now as she's in bad shape. I will let you know."

Davyd made his way to the Vigil's chapel. He was far from the only person praying for a loved one's recovery.

It was a scene of fear, loss, and hope all at the same time. Soldiers would occasionally come by to deliver news, both good and bad. The good news would elicit cries of joy and thanks to the Maker. Bad news elicited sobs of bitter loss. Davyd knew his news would come soon enough, and he dreaded to hear it.

After an eternity of worry, the door to the chapel opened to reveal Anders. His face was grim and haggard. Altogether not a good sign, as far as Davyd was concerned.

Anders stopped next to the pew Davyd sat in. "Her injuries were grave. I did the best I could."

Davyd's soul began to die.

"She yet lives," Anders said.

A long held breathe escaped Davyd. "Will she...be ok?" he asked.

"I don't know. Healing is more than just repairing the physical damage, which I have done. If she lives the night, she will make it," Anders said.

"I understand. May I see her?" Davyd asked.

Anders nodded. "I had my assistant take her back to her personal quarters. She's unconscious, and will be until she either wakes up or..." Anders didn't finish that sentence.

"Thank you," Davyd said.

With that, Davyd went to her room, settled down, and began his vigil.

Davyd didn't sleep. He spent the entire night watching Velanna, making sure she was breathing well at all times, watching for any sign of trouble that would require Anders's attention.

Around five AM, Lady Cousland came by.

"She still lives," Lady Cousland said. "She's strong, Davyd. She's going to make it. Maybe you should get some rest."

"Can't," he said. "I can't leave her here, by herself."

Lady Cousland smiled a tired, but good humored, smile. "You really got it bad this time, don't you?"

"I guess you could say that," Davyd replied.

"How bad?" she asked.

"I told her I loved her. Then we kissed and made love," he said.

"Oh my," she purred. "Well, it's about time you two admitted it to each other."

"What?" Davyd asked, bemused.

"Oh, come on. We had a pool on how long it would take for the two of you get over yourselves and admit how you two felt about each other. Looks like Oghren owes me two sovereigns," she said.

Davyd laughed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm glad you two found each other," Lady Cousland said. "After what you've both been through, it's nice to see something good come from this catastrophe."

"Thank you," Davyd said.

"I need to go," Lady Cousland said briskly. "When she wakes and is well enough, there is some business we need to take care of. It's not extremely urgent, but it is important, so as soon as she is able I want you two to meet me in my study."

Davyd's heart sank. This was almost certainly about Velanna's past crimes. Now that the darkspawn threat was ended, there was likely to be a judgment rendered against her.

"Of course, my lady," Davyd said mechanically.

Davyd drifted back into consciousness. His bleary eyes looked over at the bed to see Velanna. Awake, and sitting up.

He flew fully awake. "Velanna!" he said. "Thank Andraste for Her mercy!"

Davyd came out of his chair and embraced her fiercely, not even trying to hide the tears of relief and joy.

She was a mess. Her hair was matted and unkempt. She stank, her breath smelled like something had died in her throat, and she still had several blood stains on her from the battle.

Davyd didn't give one sodding damn about any of that. He kissed her fiercely.

She pushed him back just a bit, catching her breath. "Please, I'm a wreck," she said.

"How do you feel?" Davyd asked.

She groaned. "Weak. I don't hurt though. It would seem Anders did his usual great job of patching me back together."

"Let's get you cleaned up," Davyd said.

"I promised you I would come back to you," she said.

"I never doubted it," he said.

She smiled. "You're such a terrible liar." Her eyes softened. "I love you."

"I love you too," Davyd whispered.