That You May Always Remember Me

Chapter 10

"a bit too personal"

AN: Sorry for the lack of updates! Having a full time job is great for my bank account but very bad for my fanfiction. Thank you for continuing to read!

Alistair waited patiently at gates of Skyhold, looking through his bag repeatedly while Elissa prepared herself for their journey. "Do you have everything you need?" came the silky voice of the Inquisitor.

He looked up and frowned. Their last conversation hadn't left him particularly pleased with the elf, but he couldn't deny that she had been instrumental in finding Elissa and the tentative noble in him forced him to be polite. "We should be fine."

"Hopefully you'll write when you arrive?"

Alistair stood, looking anywhere but in those innocent violet eyes. "I'll try." An irritated huff came from the Inquisitor, forcing him to confront her. "Why do you care at all?"

"I thought we were friends!" she said, loudly enough that the soldiers training on the nearby grounds stopped and watched the pair.

He took in a deep breath and stood to meet her gaze. "And we still are… if you agree to stop questioning how Elissa is still here."

His stare was determined and unwavering, summoning every bit of kingly might he had learned over the past decade, but Viola, never counting herself among those under the influence of human authority, saw straight through this. However, she still felt a connection to Alistair. He had come to her a desperate, broken man and was leaving with his greatest wish come true. She wanted nothing more than for him to know she was on his side, and so she replied steadily, "If that's what you want."

Alistair failed to hide his surprise at her swift agreement, but it was soon replaced by excitement as Elissa finally arrived, dressed in new clothes provided by the Inquisition quartermaster and with a leather pack slung across her back. "Are you ready to go?"

"I was just waiting for you," Alistair said, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

Viola turned to the Hero, a warm smile crossing her pale face. "Take good care of him," she commanded, and left to climb the stone steps of Skyhold.

"I'll write," Alistair called out to her. She glanced back with a smirk and continued on her way.

"Where are the horses?" Elissa asked as the two were left alone at the gates.

"I thought we'd walk," he explained. "It shouldn't take too long, and I figured you'd enjoy it more." She beamed in response to this and motioned for Alistair to lead the way, which he did happily as the two left the fortress and the Frostbacks behind them.

Upon entering the Main Hall Viola summoned an Inquisition member to her side. "Get me everything we have on the Wardens. I need to know what happened at the end of the Fifth Blight."

OOOOOOOOOO

Once they descended far enough down the Frostbacks the Inquisition scouts who kept constant eyes on the area around the fortress faded from view and soon they were within the legal territory of Fereldan. Alistair breathed the air in deeply, as though it tasted differently than any other. He never wanted to rule this country, but he had been devoted to it his entire life. "This is where I'm from?" Elissa asked quietly, causing Alistair to realize for the first time that she had stopped and fallen behind him.

"Born and raised," he responded and smiled handsomely, convincing her to continue walking at his side.

Her voice grew quieter as she asked, "You said my family died in the Blight?"

He swallowed hard. "Your parents were betrayed by a man named Rendon Howe. You… already killed him." He was hoping that last part would serve as comfort, but Elissa's frown persisted.

"Then why don't I feel better?"

"Your brother survived." This statement served to perk her up as her blue eyes stared at him expectantly. "His name is Fergus. He's currently the Teryn of Highever, like your father was. I've sent word to him and I'm sure he'll be very eager to meet with you."

Elissa walked with a lighter spring in her step after this. Alistair took note and a thought crossed his mind, a dangerous one that he couldn't stop from escaping his lips. "So… we're friends?"

Elissa raised an eyebrow in his direction as they continued journeying forward. "That's what you tell me."

"I'm just asking," he repeated her own words back to her, "because you kissed me."

Elissa's expression settled on that familiar mischievousness Alistair had seen many times before. "You kissed me first."

"But then you punched me!"

"Are you asking for an apology?"

"No…" Alistair thought over his next sentence. He understood that she had been startled and didn't require an apology of any sort, but an exchange could certainly be arranged. "But I should be allowed an equivalent response."

"So you want to punch me in the face?" The look she sent him almost had him bursting out in laughter.

"Not necessarily; a kiss for a kiss seems fair enough." He couldn't bring himself to face her after this bold remark and instead watched the Fereldan horizon.

After a few moments of embarrassed silence Elissa responded, "But then you would owe me another punch."

"Or you could give me another kiss…"

"And when exactly would this exchange end?" Their eyes finally met across the dirt road they walked upon and Alistair found himself without words.

"I… Well…"

Elissa's laugh was light and golden. "Then I'll be expecting that punch any moment."

OOOOOOOOOO

Eventually they reached a town Alistair recognized and he realized they hadn't covered the ground he'd predicted. Then again, it had been a while since they both crossed the country in a day to quickly solve one problem or another. His stomach audibly grumbled as his eyes caught sight of a well lit tavern against the setting sun. "Fancy some dinner?" he asked, and Elissa nodded eagerly.

It was a warm room, with a roaring fireplace and a few empty tables. Alistair and Elissa found seats quickly and a frazzled waitress soon arrived to take their order. "Druffalo steak," Alistair announced decisively as he glanced at the menu. "With your best bottle of red wine."

"And for you?" the waitress asked, looking at Elissa who was still reading the second menu item.

"Grilled Bronto," Alistair answered for her. "With a side salad."

The waitress took the menus and left to place the order as Elissa stared at her companion curiously. "So I like Bronto then?"

He blushed slightly at the realization that he had taken such control of the situation but grinned at her charmingly. "You love it."

"And red wine?"

"You prefer whiskey. Sorry about that." She smiled widely and Alistair relaxed. "I suppose you didn't spend much time in taverns while you were living with the wolves?"

"I've been in quite a few," she corrected, gazing about the room. "They're a good source of information about local jobs." She grinned. "And sometimes a girl just wants to sleep in a real bed."

"So then you've already discovered your love of whiskey?" Alistair joked, not expecting Elissa to nod in response. He felt a wave of unease cross his body as his thoughts passed over the type of patron a woman as beautiful as Elissa would attract. "And you've… talked to a lot of people there?"

It was a thinly veiled question that Elissa saw right through. "I've met plenty of men in this setting." She laughed quietly at Alistair's evident gulp. "But none were like you."

"That impressive, am I?" he asked, taking a swig of the newly poured wine.

"Well, you are the only one to tell me what my name is, but I'm afraid you're not the first to ask me to follow you home."

Alistair almost choked on his drink at this statement. "And you… you…?" He failed to form the words that Elissa knew he was thinking.

"That's a bit too personal," she answered, narrowing her eyes and lifting the corner of her lips. "For friends."

Alistair could have spent hours subtly working a more definitive response out of her but decided it would be easier for him to push down the nauseous assumptions he was making in his head and move on; at least for tonight. "So, besides trolling the bars for men, what did you do for fun out there in the wilderness?"

"Survival isn't exactly fun… There wasn't much time for anything else." She sniffed her drink and crinkled her nose slightly. "What about you?"

Alistair leaned back in his chair. "I like to read. Historical books, mostly."

Elissa sipped the wine cautiously and seemed to find it more pleasing than expected. "Reading, working, hunting, fletching… When did we both get so boring?"

He smiled and rolled his eyes. "Well, for me, it was around the time I got married." A crash was heard as a waitress dropped a plate in the back and the entire room seemed to hold their breath with Alistair as he realized what he had thoughtlessly let slip out. Elissa was frozen, staring at the candle on the table intently. It felt like years were passing between heartbeats before she finally shifted in her seat slightly, looked up, and asked politely, "So you're married?"

"I… It was…" The excuses were plentiful but just not enough. "Yes." He slumped in his chair, feeling mere inches tall. "I was going to tell you, I just…"

"We had a lot to catch up on first," she finished reasonably. Alistair couldn't help but remember his own reaction not minutes before at the mere idea that she had been with another man in the decade they were apart, and here she was calmly accepting the fact that he had actually promised the rest of his life to someone else. Maybe she didn't remember as much of the feelings she once had for him than he had fooled himself into believing. The waitress came with their meals and Alistair was glad to have something new to focus on.

"I look forward to meeting your wife," Elissa said, concluding the conversation. Alistair still didn't like the even tone in which she spoke, but when he glanced up from his steak the sight of her white knuckles gripping her knife with the intensity she would a blade made him grin. She couldn't hide every sign of the emotions twisting inside her. Whether this was anger at the mysterious other woman for existing or at him for lying, he didn't really care. She felt something. The evening became more pleasant as they moved on to lighter subjects, and when the food and wine were gone they requested a pair of rooms to retire for the night. As Alistair closed the door to his room he sighed deeply. Tomorrow they would reach Denerim and Elissa actually would meet Anora. The rest of his life would come crashing down on the tenuous relationship he and Elissa had managed to form in these past few days, and he prayed they would survive it.