-RECKONING-

Chapter Eight

9:30 Dragon

I sit down and take out the creaks in my neck, sighing in relief as the tension goes away. I slouch against the chair I was sitting on and let the heat of the fireplace warm me. By the doorway, my companions nod at each other before they split up. Leliana hums a tune as she walks to the next room. Alistair smiles at me as if saying, 'crazy day, huh' then climbs up the stairs.

Morrigan follows but not before sending me a look. Her eyes travel slowly, gazing at my body. I squirm in my seat and her seductive smile becomes wider. She winks at me before finally climbing the stairs. Waiting for me in my room. In my room. All sorts of imagery flow through my mind before I catch myself. The little minx. I shake my head and smile at the fireplace.

The estate is quiet, save for the sound of crickets. The fireplace lights and heats up most of the hall but a few torches by the corners provide additional brightness. Cozy. The heat is making me drowsy. I can probably fall asleep here. I close my eyes. I'm sure Morrigan can wait for a little while. Relaxation is a little hard to come by right now and we both deserve it after this horribly stressful day.

Ugh. I don't want to go near Fort Drakon ever again. I've had enough nights spent on a cold floor and beatings from bored guards to last a lifetime. Thank the Maker we made it back to the estate without a hassle. This nice, quiet and cozy estate.

The sound of footsteps on the staircase snap me out of my idle reverie. Morrigan must be wondering what took me so long. I smile, planning of …ways to reduce her irritation. I stand up.

And the smirk on my face fades as I see the person walking towards me. It's not Morrigan.

"I am pleased to see that you are unharmed, Warden," Anora says, stopping a few feet away from me. Her face a polite and careful mask, betraying nothing.

I hide my slight disappointment and confusion in a respectful nod. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that she's still here, there is a throne at risk, after all.

"Thank you for not betraying my presence to Ser Cauthrien when we were at Howe's estate," She says after noting my silence. "I appreciate it."

"Of course." I cross my arms in front of me.

She frowns, apparently not pleased with this rather one-sided conversation. If only she would get to her point…

"It wouldn't have been much of a rescue if we had delivered you back to your father." I answer back but then a thought comes back to me. "If of course, everything you said was true and is to be believed."

She blinks in confusion and I stare impassively back at her. "What are you talking about?" She asks and takes a step forward. "You think I would ask to be locked up in a magically reinforced cell? With little food, even less freedom, and no power?"

"Please." I scoff. Anora always had a flair for dramatics. "Your father was Howe's overlord, he would have made sure you had an ample amount to eat. And you never had much freedom ever since your father came back from Ostagar. As for power, well…" I shrug. "It is also hard to believe that you would turn your back on your own father."

Anora rubs the bridge of her nose and sighs exasperatedly. "You have been travelling all over Ferelden for a year, Aed- Warden. You are not in a position to claim knowledge over what has happened in Denerim."

Oh is that so, your Majesty? I roll my eyes, letting her know what I think about what she said. She frowns at me again like an annoyed mother, like my annoyed mother. I would have been in the mood for a good argument with Anora at another time, at any other time. But not now. I really don't want to ruin the peaceful mood that I had earlier.

"Then perhaps you can enlighten me, but…" I raise my hands up in a warding gesture. "Maybe another time for I am not in the mood to argue right now. The day has been too eventful. Goodnight, your Majesty." I nod, turn around and head for the stairs.

"Wait! Look I'm sorry." She grabs my arm before I reach the stairs and turns me around. She looks up at me with troubled eyes, very unlike the cool and composed Queen of Ferelden.

Then I realize that we are barely a foot apart and I stiffen. Immediately, I take a step back and lean against a wall by the staircase. "What is it that you're so intent on discussing?" I cough and look away as Anora lowers the hand that was on my arm.

She crosses her arms. "You're not exactly making this easy for me. I just… I just want to thank you. Thank you for saving me."

I frown. "First, you apologize. Now you say thank you?" I give her a wry smile. "Has someone taken the real Anora and stuffed a fake nicer one in her place, or has your stay in Howe's estate changed you so?"

"See what I mean? Yes, I just want to apologize and say thank you. Is that really so hard to believe?" She huffs. I don't reply and she sighs. "Look, it has been a long time. People change. Circumstances change."

Her words ring true. But they don't have the intended effect on me. Instead, they snap me out of my somewhat humorous mood, leaving only logic and suspicion. "Exactly." I nod and she looks at me in confusion once more, my tone not the one she was probably aiming for. "People change, you are correct. Circumstances change, also correct. However, our circumstances find us at opposing sides. 'Tis only right that I do not trust you."

"Do not trust me?" She repeats, incredulous. "Me? Is this about my confinement in Howe's estate? I told you already-"

"Yes you did. And I find a lot of things to be quite suspicious. Ser Cauthrien arriving just in time to arrest the Grey Wardens among other things." I look at her coolly. "Come to think of it, there was only one correct answer to that stalemate and you knew it. Had I told Cauthrien that you were with us, you could have sworn that we were the ones abducting you."

Anora shakes her head. "But they would have taken me back to my father if you told them who I was!"

"And is that a bad thing?" I glower at her. "Because honestly? I find it quite hard to believe that your own father, who adores you greatly, would kill you." I scoff. "Did you somehow forget that we practically grew up together for a time?"

"No. No I didn't forget." She sighs and rubs her nose again. "He… won't kill me. I might have exaggerated on that part."

You think?

"But he might as well lock me up to prevent any more 'rebellions'. Besides, he possibly knew where I was and he didn't even try to break me out." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I didn't have much choice, Aedan. What was I supposed to do? Wait for Howe to throw me into his dungeons?"

A good explanation given everything. Although she could be lying… something she has always been far too good at. Knowing how manipulative she is, trusting her is a bad idea.

"I don't even know why I'm trying to explain myself to you when you won't believe anything I say." She must have seen the expression on my face. "Since you're so inclined to believe the worst when it comes to me."

I frown a bit, trying to see if she means something else by that statement. "I can't trust you." I walk a few steps towards her. "What you say might be true, that you really are here with… good intentions. But you can also be lying, which, let's face it, is more likely than otherwise."

"Why- What do you even want me to say?" She hisses at me. "In fact, all of this sounds like you're just trying to spite me."

I pinch my nose and purse my lips. I don't even know what I want. I'm just rambling and tired and angry.

"Why can't you trust me?" Anora asks. I know that she's not asking for conjecture or circumstantial evidence. She's asking for the root of my distrust.

"Because I don't know who you are."

She stares at me, hurt and confused. She probably thinks that I should know her quite well with everything that we'd been through together. But that was a long time ago. "I don't know an Anora who would stand by and do nothing while her country burns. I don't know an Anora who would hide in her comfy palace while her father sends armies against people who dare rebel against his totalitarian rule. I don't know an Anora who ignores justice and rewards criminals." I grit my teeth. "I don't know you."

Her eyes narrow. "Is this about your family?"

"Yes. No. It's about everything." I run my hands through my hair quickly. I open and close my mouth a few times, too frustrated to say anything. Anora glares at me with her arms crossed. "My father died in front of me, do you know that?" I start to pace. "My mother chose to stay behind to protect him because he was stabbed in the back. He was unarmed when the bastards killed him, do you know that?" I force out a few breaths and bite my lower lip harshly.

I close my eyes as the images come back to haunt me as they do every night. Owen and Oriana surrounded by their own blood, people screaming as Howe's soldiers bashed them to death with their shields, Ser Gilmore valiantly staying behind to defend the Hall with his last breath…

"Aedan?"

"Did you even care?" I refuse to look at her. "You let Howe get away with everything! My parents are dead because of him. Oriana and Owen were gutted in their room by his men. Fergus is missing, most likely dead, and has no home to get to even if he's still alive. And all those people, even the servants and visiting nobles... dead because of him."

"Of course I cared!" She hisses back with clenched fists. "Once I found out, Howe was already the second most powerful man in Ferelden! With my father in command of Ferelden's remaining armies, I couldn't…" She sighed. "Without an army at my back or a noble with an army to help me, I couldn't do anything."

I draw myself to my full height. "Or maybe you really didn't do anything because you knew your father planned to kill the only other Teryn in Ferelden. Then after that, goading the King into leading the vanguard, which would definitely get him killed. Not to mention poisoning the person with the next largest armies le-"

The smack of her hand against my cheek makes me stumble. "How dare you?!"

She raises her hand again but I catch it before she hits me. "Don't even think about it."

"Let me go!" She tries to wrench her arm free. "My father knew nothing about- about Howe's treachery. He would have gained nothing from your family's deaths! You have no right to accuse my father of such things!"

"Then why-"

"Enough!" Anora tries to yank her arm free from my grasp again but I tighten my hold. "I have had enough of your accusations, Aedan. Now unhand me!"

A crash makes us both look quickly to the side. Alistair and Zevran are standing awkwardly by the door. Zevran is holding two bottles of wine and a broken bottle of ale lies shattered on the floor. What are they doing here? Anora uses the distraction to her advantage and finally wrenches her arm free. She glares at me for a moment before climbing the stairs in a huff. I glare at her retreating back then I sigh and rub my face with my hands.

"Ah the sight of a beautiful woman's posterior storming away... truly sad." Zevran puts the bottles of wine on the table. "We didn't mean to intrude… although you probably guessed that already."

I remove my hands from my face and look at them.

"Is everything uh, okay?" Alistair asks as he stands by the table, rubbing the back of his neck.

I take a deep breath and rub my eyes. I shouldn't have told her I didn't trust her. I don't. But I shouldn't have said that. And blaming her and attacking her like that was very detrimental. Now she's going to see us as the enemy. Great job, o brave Warden. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"That was a stupid question. It is quite obvious that everything is not alright, yes?" Zevran says. Alistair glares at him and I stare at him blankly. The Crow shrugs and turns back to me. "Although, since you are here with us... do you want to drink?" He raises a bottle of wine. "Could help you keep your mind off the lovely Queen, eh?"

I scoff. Lovely Queen? Right. I walk over and take a swig from the bottle Zevran offered. It tastes good, hinting toward sweetness and cedar-wood with an abundance of smoke. Far too good. "Is this Arl Eamon's?"

"I probably figured he won't mind… We can uh, tell him tomorrow." Alistair looks down.

Yeah. Probably tomorrow. I smirk and I can feel the cloudiness thanks to the wine. I say goodnight and I climb up the stairs. Such a shame that Morrigan's probably asleep by now.

Author's Note: A horribly talky chapter we've got here. What do you guys think?

P.S: I read that wine description somewhere on . It sounded like a good description for wine, so I wrote it here too.