BioWare owns all the goodies.
The sun was climbing in the sky; the morning mists already chased off. The courtyard was much busier than when Alistair arrived the day before. The Dryden family only had the two oxen-pulled wagons, which had already been loaded, Alesander stuffing the bags into the back of one. Half of the yard was filled with the Silvers as they were going through drills. Calitae was able to stand to the side as Alistair and Alesander helped with the last few items.
"Warden." Merta had come to stand next to her.
"Healer."
"Does he know?"
Calitae gave the woman a questioning look, "Does who know what?"
Merta chuckled and adjusted her shawl, "I assume you told the king, already. Does the boy know who the king really is?"
"I don't know what you're - ," She stopped as Merta held up hand.
"Don't insult my intelligence, girl. Look at them together: they could be mirror images, if the mirror was warped and dirty." The old woman chuckled again as Calitae looked around, worried. "Don't fret, your secret is safe with me. You should tell him though; all it will take is a noble who really looks at them and does the math. It doesn't help that the songs of you and your companions are still quite popular, even now."
Calitae's shoulders slumped and she looked away as her two men started boxing with each other. "This is all going so fast, Merta. This time yesterday, only two people knew."
"So you would like to think. Unlike Harl, that Commander of the Grey you have is smarter than most realize. Just thank the Maker the foreign Wardens aren't here."
Alistair glanced over at Calitae talking to the healer and could see her face grow ashen, her tattoo becoming starkly visible. He was about to walk over when she turned suddenly and walked quickly towards the Keep. Frowning, he excused himself from his son and walked up to Merta, "What did you say to her?"
Merta gave him a somber look, "I was pointing out that your secret isn't as secret as she thought. I would suggest that you take the boy with you and let him in on it before he learns the wrong way. But I am only a simple healer, not one to tell our king of Fereldan how to go about his business." She unhooked a cloth bundle that had been hanging from her wrist, "For your travels."
Alistair took it from her and tried to peek inside, "What is it?"
She had already started walking away, "Something every young man needs when he travels."
Alesander came up next to him, and glanced at Alistair's face then at the bundle he was turning over in his hands, "What's that?" Carefully untying it, the covering revealed socks and poultices. Alder looked confused as Alistair started laughing. "Why would Merta give you socks?"
Alistair clapped his son on the shoulder and looked at the young man for a moment, "I haven't asked your, your aunt, but how would you like to come with us? At least part of the way?"
Alesander looked incredulous, "Really? You mean it? I can be ready in ten minutes, don't leave without me!" He took off running as Alistair went to beg the further indulgence of the Drydens.
Calitae was almost running by the time she got to Ventris' office, thankful he was alone when she knocked on the door. The large man sat back in his chair, the wood creaking in protest, "Tabris, I thought you would be gone by now."
She slipped into the room, closing the door behind her, "I won't take up too much of your time - the merchants have already waited long enough. Merta just brought something to my attention that I thought was important."
"Oh?"
She fidgeted a moment, unsure of where to begin, "Osred, what do you know of my nephew?"
He leaned forward and pursed his lips at her use of his given name, an uncommon occurrence between the two of them, "What I know, or what I suspect?" She seemed at a loss for words, so he continued, "As I told our king, I don't care for politics, and his business is his business. That goes for you as well: your business is your business, so long as it doesn't interfere with Gray Warden business. But that also means that your business is none of those Orleasian's business, neither. So while I can't keep them from seeing what they see, they will never hear what I suspect to be the truth." He could see her visibly relax and take a breath, he wondered if she even realized she had been holding it, "If I might make a suggestion; the less time others see the two of them together, the easier it will be to keep your secret as just that. Now get out of here and leave me to my work."
She smiled with relief and at his gruffness, "Thank you, Commander, I hope you know that your being here brings me peace of mind." He only grunted as he turned back to his papers, as if he had used up all of his words for the day.
Back in the courtyard she found the wagons had already started rolling out, but they were slow and would be easy to catch up with. Alistair was to one side watching the Silvers, and surprisingly Alesander was still there - normally they said their goodbyes the night before and that was that. When she stepped outside, Alistair thanked the drill captain and the two men fell in step with her; her son was practically beaming.
"You walking us to the outer road?" She realized he was back in his hybrid of robe and chain mail along with the one-handed short staff and the lightweight Antivan sword with the long narrow blade she had found him on one of her trips.
"Nope! I'm coming to Soldier's Peak with you – Alistair asked me to!"
She caught herself and blinked, "You're...a grown man and so is he, and I am not the only one that makes decisions around here." She leveled her gaze on Alistair, who mouthed 'Merta' at her and shrugged. Not in a position to inquire, she smiled at Alesander, "I'm sorry I didn't ask you myself, I thought you had plans."
"I did, but there's no way I'm going to pass up traveling with the king!"
She laughed, "I can't say I blame you." Her words won her a tender smile from Alistair and her heart skipped a beat.
Soon, Alder and Fifth were running ahead and off the path with boundless energy. Alistair watched them go, "We have a lot to talk about."
She nodded, "We do, but let's just enjoy this for now. It won't always be this easy, but...I'm glad you're here." She gave him a wide smile as she blushed slightly.
"I know, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
They walked on a while in comfortable silence, gaining on the wagon train. Alistair could hardly pull his eyes off of her as she expertly picked through the foliage on the side of the road for potential ingredients.
"So...tell me about these almost marriages." He was looking at her with an innocent expression.
"You pledged to spend the rest of your days with me and that's what you want to start with?"
He carefully side-stepped to put more distance between them, "I suddenly get the feeling I should be happy we're in the middle of a field."
She didn't look at him but smirked as she nodded at the distant peaks they were headed for, "Keep walking, warden."
Note: I hope you all have enjoyed my story. Definitely much nicer than what my game gave me, even if it did take 20 years to get there.
Again, feedback/corrections are welcome.
PS: I suck at ending anything. I have actually finished speeches with "like, yeah." And I'm happy to leave this here, but some encouraging feedback has caused a little bit more to percolate. When fully brewed, be sure to check back!