CHAPTER 19

The need to be as far away from the tea as possible propelled Nathaniel to push Elissa up against the far wall. As he tried very hard not to panic, he held her face in his hands while he examined her eyes and checked her temperature. As he was looking for poison symptoms, he started asking her questions. "How much did you drink? Did you eat anything? How long ago did you start drinking?"

The urgency in his voice caused Elissa to pale, her tattoos and eyes standing out further as she asked, "Poison?" His nod caused her to gasp, but she collected herself almost immediately and spoke quickly, her voice low. "I didn't drink or eat anything yet – the tea was too hot. It arrived about fifteen minutes ago. I didn't recognize the person who brought it to the door. She said she was filling in for Sorcha and that she was new. She had short brown hair and was average height. Blue eyes. She was wearing the same type of outfit that Sorcha wears when she's here." She searched Nathaniel's face. "She's probably long gone."

Nathaniel nodded, his mind going so fast he couldn't keep up with it. "Probably, but I'm going to look anyway." He kissed her then, fiercely tasting her as if he wanted to gather her very soul into himself. "Lock the door behind me. Don't let anyone else in. I'll be right back." He then strode out of the room, trying not to run. He stood at the upper balcony, his knuckles white on the rail as he scanned the crowd. He tried to project an outward aura of calm but his insides were screaming.

Nobody there. Not that fits that description. He turned to check the hardly-known entrance to the smuggler's docks from the storage room. Locked. Looks like it's not been used recently. He swore vehemently under his breath and returned to Elissa's room, and knocked on the door. "It's me."

After a moment, the door unlocked and Nathaniel opened it. He turned and locked the door behind him and managed to walk three steps into the room before he started shaking.

Somebody tried to kill Elissa.

Somebody tried to kill her, and it nearly worked. If I hadn't come when I did, or if we hadn't been in the habit of sharing meals... Maker, Anders is across town! The cowards knew they couldn't beat her in a fair fight so they tried to- And I never told her-

Elissa's face filled his vision. She was holding HIS face, now, and rubbing her thumbs on his cheeks, and murmuring something to him. It took him a few moments to be able to focus on what she was saying, to figure out the words.

"Nathaniel, it's all right. The worst is over. We're all right. It's all right." She kept murmuring softly to him, her touch easing his uncontrolled trembling, her voice keeping him there with her instead of inside where the darkest thoughts threatened to take over. As his awareness increased, he realized his hands had a death grip on Elissa's hips and that her lips were swollen. He forced himself to relax and brought a hand up to touch her mouth.

"I've bruised you," he said, his voice sounding strange in his own ears. "I'm sorry."

Elissa laughed, a low chuckle that did very interesting things to his insides. "Welcome back." She sounded amused. "And there's no need to be sorry. It was worth it." She looked serious again. "Are you all right? I thought for a moment maybe you had been poisoned instead of me." She continued to study his face.

"Me? No. I just … I," Nathaniel swallowed hard, "If you had," he closed his eyes, trying not to think of it too much, "If you had been -" Elissa put a finger on his mouth to silence him, but he had to tell her, it wouldn't stay inside, "If I had lost you, it would have been unbearable." He went completely still then, eyes still closed. Not how I planned to tell her.

"Nathaniel, look at me." His eyes opened against his will at the softly spoken command. Elissa was still looking at him, her observant eyes seeing everything in his soul, before she spoke next. "I love you too."

Suddenly their arms were around each other, her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer, his hands in her hair, so soft, their lips and tongues battling, tastes so sweet, and they fit together so well, it was so right... He tilted her head back and devoured her neck as she moaned, a low, throaty sound that went straight to his loins, yes...

It took a heroic effort, but with a disappointed groan he somehow managed to disentangle himself from her hair and eyes and lips and hold her at arms' length to talk to her. Her breathing was as uneven as his, her face flushed, and her eyes unfocused as she made a frustrated sound in her throat.

"I want to make love with you," he said, his voice rough. Her eyes went half-lidded and she murmured something that sounded like oh yes. "But now is not a good time. We could be … interrupted." He stroked her cheek, willing her to understand. "As soon as the timing is better ..." he let the sentence hang.

Elissa laughed breathlessly. "I'm going to hold you to that," she replied, her voice husky. The sound was like liquid fire in his veins, but he pulled up his last ounce of willpower and forced himself to let go of her so they could both calm down and remember how to think.

Seeing the teapot sitting innocuously on the sofa table helped tremendously to remind him why they had stopped. He sat down heavily on the sofa and opened the lid to the teapot to smell it again. Elissa sat next to him, suddenly sober as well. "Can you tell what it is?" she asked.

Nathaniel thought for a moment, trying to single out the poison smell from the tea. Finally he had placed it. "It's a Crow poison," he said, "but whoever did this did it wrong. It's supposed to be put on a blade, not slipped into a drink. Just as fatal," and he swallowed heavily, "but whoever did this is an amateur."

Elissa nodded. "So, not a Crow then, but someone else." She thought for a bit. "If they're amateurs, they might try to come back."

They decided to wait quietly in her room, taking turns keeping watch while the other slept. Elissa insisted that Nathaniel sleep first. He didn't think he would be able to, but he didn't remember anything between when his head hit the pillow and when a soft kiss and long hair tickled him awake. He opened his eyes to see Elissa smiling at him, her mouth just above his. He took advantage of her proximity, and after a few breathless moments, he let her up. I can definitely handle waking up this way. "My turn?"

Elissa nodded. "Nothing has happened yet," she whispered. "Although I heard the others stumbling in a couple of hours ago. I'm surprised they didn't wake you."

"I'm surprised too. Oghren isn't exactly quiet when he's drunk." He grinned and sat up, moving so she could lie down and pulling the covers over her to make her more comfortable. He sat back on the edge of the bed, stroking her hair until she fell asleep. Then he moved silently to the side of the door and waited while the lanterns in the room finally burned low.

He was leaning against the wall, letting his mind wander, when he heard quiet footsteps in the hall. They were almost silent but with the entire tavern asleep it was easy to pick them out. I think this is it. There's no reason to sneak around here otherwise. He loosened up, ready for anything, as the steps paused outside Elissa's door. The quiet jingle of metal and the slight clicking of the door lock being picked confirmed his suspicion.

The door swung open hesitantly, and a cloaked figure entered the room. Short. A woman perhaps? He waited until she had carefully closed the door and started to cross the room, seemingly focused on Elissa sleeping in her bed. Then, he struck. He snuck up behind the intruder, grabbing the edge of her cloak and pulling it over her head before tripping her with his foot. He wrapped his arms around her, knocking her to the floor. The intruder's head made a heavy thud against the floor and then her whole body went still.

He wasn't taking any chances, however; he shifted his weight so he could reach some rope he had gotten ready for such a purpose and began to tie the intruder's hands. Elissa got out of bed; apparently cracking a would-be assassin's head on the floor served to wake her up. She knelt next to where Nathaniel was now securing the intruder's feet. "We have a visitor, I see," she murmured.

"Yes." Nathaniel finished tying up their 'guest' and relieved the prone form of all weapons he could find. This one certainly carries a lot of daggers. "Now, let's see who it is."

He turned the intruder over and Elissa removed the cloak. Pointy ears and blonde hair surfaced, connected to a masculine face. Elissa's eyes widened, her face a look of total shock as she whispered, "Zevran?"