Duty's Choice: The Bastards of Ferelden - Chapter 26
Love the One You're With
Weisshaupt – 9:35 Dragon, Winter 1, 22nd day
Except from a report from Commander Burion of Amaranthine to First Warden Rainer of Weisshaupt
Well, she has gone and done it. Our darling El is with child by Ferelden's bastard king. I could only be happier if they were married and she was queen like she should be. Bloody Chantry. I assume you've gotten word of their edict, forbidding Grey Wardens to marry and wishing them away from sacred sites and artifacts? Ridiculous if you ask me, and I'm proud of our girl for defying them.
We have encountered a new footnote to Wardens and babies. It seems her symptoms project across the bond. The Wardens have left her with her brother in Highever, as her healer has forbidden further travel. The king has returned to Denerim. There is a rumor that they've ended their amore. Aldo assures me that this is untrue and a ploy to keep the Chantry off her doorstep.
El has also given me command of Ferelden – temporarily. We are to keep it quiet, as the locals will not like an Orlesian being in charge of a pig sty, much less a military force. As I have almost everyone here, I plan on doing heavy combat training through the winter, which is starting off some very serious weather.
We've got a full dozen new Wardens to train up…
Rainer threw aside Burion's report and rubbed his eyes. El was pregnant by her bastard king, who had left her for his duties. A small flame of anger kindled deep in his heart. He came up with a dozen more thing he could have left her for, but in his heart he knew that the rumor was, as Aldo said, untrue.
"Its late," a woman's voice said from the doorway. "You should come to bed."
Rainer looked up. That voice, one he'd heard in countless dreams, was Elinora's. he saw her at the door, dressed as she had been during her time in Weisshaupt; short-cropped hair, the ugly long vest thing and a well-worn boots.
He blinked and she was gone. Morrigan stood in her place with an arched eyebrow. He must not be getting enough sleep. He muttered some sort of agreement toward the witch, looking back to the papers on his desk.
She sauntered over and leaned against it. "Anything interesting?" Her hand drifted among the various papers scattered on the surface, her fingers plucking up the report from Ferelden.
Rainer caught her wrist. "That's Warden business."
Morrigan dropped the parchment but did not pull away from Rainer's grip. A sultry smile curved her lips. "Of course."
Rainer released her wrist and sat back in his chair, brooding. "Elinora Cousland is pregnant."
"Oh?" Morrigan responded casually. "'Tis not a condition I envy her."
"Really? Good to know you're not sleeping with me to produce another god."
Morrigan recoiled in mock offensive. "You wound me, great warrior, to think that I would have such ulterior motives for sharing your company!"
Rainer stood with a bitter snort of laughter. "Right, your motives are pure." Rounding the desk he pulled Morrigan roughly to his armored body. "Safety for you and your child. Very pure."
She smiled, trailing a finger along his earlobe. "Just so. But it doesn't mean we can't enjoy it." She leaned up and flicked her tongue to lightly touch his lips.
Rainer kissed her possessively, like he had many nights before. Tonight he cared less about why she came to his bed than any night before.
Tonight he needed to feel wanted.
A single candle glowed on the mantelpiece of Rainer's private quarters, the fire in the hearth burnt down to embers. Her body writhed above his, soft moans following her gyrations. Rainer's eyes drifted open and closed as the pleasure built, catching flickering glances of the woman who rode him.
Her.
Elinora.
His fingers drifted lightly over her back, his thumbs massaging the bumps of her hipbones. He wanted to please her. More. He wanted to possess her. With a growl, he rolled, putting her body beneath him, driving deep within her, release taking him, even as a low laugh emerged from below him.
Rainer opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd shut. Morrigan coyly smiled up at him, playing with his ear. "Magnificent."
He pulled himself from the bed quickly, striding across the room to a cup of wine waiting on a table. He drank it down.
Morrigan languidly stretched, breathing in deep. With a sigh, she slid out of bed and started hunting up her clothes.
Rainer leaned against the mantelpiece and watched her. "Why do you never stay?"
She cocked her head and looked to him. "Do you wish me to stay?"
He looked away. "No."
"As I thought. Ashling needs me in the morning." Morrigan slipped her flimsy excuse for a shirt over her head. "Speaking of which, what are you going to do about your pregnant commander?"
"Do?" he asked as he leaned over the washbasin.
"She alone in Highever with no one to protect her. Her Wardens have abandoned her for upset tummies, with the Chantry turning a hostile eye on her."
Rainer considered as he splashed water on his face. "I'll send orders for Burion…"
Morrigan made a dismissive noise and busied herself with her boots.
Rainer studied her with more than a little suspicion. "Exactly what is your concern with El?"
She stood and crossed her arms, looking truly offended. "I know you may find this hard to believe, but I consider Elinora Cousland a friend. We fought side by side in the Blight, she stood by me when others did not trust me." She shrugged off her offense and found a bracelet that had wandered off. "Besides, I do not trust the Chantry to leave this child alone. I fear they may try to take it, or worse."
Rainer kept a cynical gaze on her. "Motherly concern?"
Morrigan fussed with her armband. "I know a bit of what she is going through, and it is not pleasant, even without all the duties she has to bear."
"I see."
"Do you?" Morrigan looked up at the First Warden, her amber eyes locking on to his. "I do not think you see the significance of this. The first Warden child in a century and a half and you do not see it as anything more than an old lover moving on. Jealously…"
"What do you suggest?" Rainer interrupted.
Morrigan looked away, thinking. "Go to her, take fifty Wardens and keep her safe." Morrigan crossed the dim room to Rainer, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Be the hero she needs."
Rainer turned away. "I'll think about it."
"Good." Morrigan opened the door. "Sleep well." She slipped into the corridor without another word and headed for her own quarters.
Rainer did not sleep well that night; he was too busy planning a trip to Ferelden.