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Chapter 14 - A Glimpse into the Past
The things I thought you'd never know about me
Were the things I guess you always understood
So how could I have been so blind for all these years?
Guess I only see the truth through all this fear,
And living without you…
And everything I have in this world
And all that I'll ever be
It could all fall down around me.
Just as long as I have you,
Right here by me.
Here by me - 3 Doors Down
The moment Fiona had set eyes on Alistair, and heard his name, she had felt her lungs constrict, to a point of her breathing hitching and a small gasp for air making its way to her lips, which had been unnoticeable to the wardens standing before her.
She supposed she really shouldn't have been surprised. After all, she had heard stories of how the Blight had been stopped and how the two wardens who had stopped it, one a dwarf, the other a human man had survived. She therefore knew that one of the surviving wardens was Alistair. The wardens at Weisshaupt had tried to find answers to their survival, particularly for the dwarf's survival, as he had been the one to deal the killing blow, but they could not find any.
She was surprised at the fact that this young man was the Commander of Ferelden, though he looked so much like Maric that she really wasn't that surprised. What had really surprised her when she finally discovered who Alistair was, was the fact that he was a Grey Warden. Of all the things she had wished for him, it wasn't this. No. She knew the heavy price to be paid when becoming a warden. She had paid it already. Even though there were no traces of the Taint in her anymore, and she would never experience her Calling, she had already paid the price of becoming a warden, and that had come back to bite her in the arse.
For she had had to give up her son, when he was a baby, whom she loved above all else. She had had to give him up because the wardens had asked her to give him up. You simply could not be a grey warden and a mother at the same time.
And yet...after all these years. Here she was. And there he was, standing not two feet away from where she was sitting.
Alistair Theirin, Warden Commander of Ferelden.
Her son.
Her eyes settled on Alistair as he embraced and kissed the elven rogue. She could tell she was Dalish, and marveled at what she was seeing.
She herself, was an elf, and Maric, the King of Ferelden had been her lover. And then Alistair was born.
Yes. History felt like it was repeating. With the only difference that Alistair was not king. And she preferred it this way. One of the things she had stressed to Maric was that she wanted a normal life for him. Away from court. And she didn't want him in line for the throne. Ever.
Alistair sat down next to her, and smiled.
"Commander, how is it that you are not the King of Ferelden, if I may ask?" She had to know.
He flushed a bit and his eyes clouded briefly. Then he smiled. "Well, if you must know, I was a candidate for the throne after Cailan died. I was put forward by Eamon Guerrin, who was my foster father and the Arl of Redcliffe. He wanted to preserve the Theirin bloodline. But my good friend, Duran, who was travelling with me at the time convinced the Landsmeet to support Anora, thank the Maker! I never wanted the throne, the very idea of it terrified me. But it all worked out and now I'm happy doing what I really wanted to do all along."
She nodded. "And how did you become a Grey Warden? You don't have to answer, but I am curious," she smiled at him.
He laughed after blushing, something she found charming and sweet.
"I was conscripted into the order, by Duncan," he said, pausing as the memory of his conscription came back to him. "I was lucky. If Duncan hadn't conscripted me, I would have become a Templar. And I hope I'm not frightening you or anything. I know you are a mage."
It was she who laughed this time. "Oh, don't worry. I did know you must have had some Templar training, after you drained the emissaries' mana like that. It was a good idea, and you did very well."
He blushed again at her compliment and his eyes fixed on the ground before him.
"So is Chantalle Dalish? She wears Dalish armor and has a tattoo on her forehead. I guess it's a pretty stupid question," she chuckled.
He laughed along with her. "Yes, she is Dalish. Her clan was completely slaughtered by darkspawn and they dragged her below into the tunnels." He paused and his whole face contorted with rage. Fiona blinked. Maker's mercy, had the boy inherited her temper? It seemed that way. "The darkspawn, they...they raped her. I think they wanted to turn her into a broodmother and thank the Maker we managed to save her. She went through the Joining immediately after that. I had the supplies for it in my pack."
"You make it a habit to carry around preserved Archdemon blood and darkspawn blood in your pack?" The disbelief in her voice apparent.
"Oh, yes. You'll be surprised at how many grey wardens I've recruited from doing just that," he nodded as he laughed again.
She laughed also. They fell into comfortable silence after that, and then Chantalle joined them. He happily put an arm around her and pulled her close.
Fiona smiled to herself. She inwardly thanked the Maker for what she had just experienced. Not only was her son free from court and other nasty noble traits, he was good and kind and in love with an elf.
Life just couldn't get better than that.
...
They arrived at the compound and were met by Leonie in the main hall. Alistair quickly told her of their meeting with the talking darkspawn. Leonie burst into a series of expletives and curses in Orlesian that would have had him blushing if he had known what she was saying. But Fiona understood and she knew, and that was enough as far as she was concerned. Fiona gazed upon the whole scene with an unperturbed look and eyed Leonie for a few minutes, before interrupting her rant.
"Warden Commander," she spoke quietly to her, placing herself beside Alistair and before the rest. "I do think that you have to control yourself. This man before you is the Warden Commander of Ferelden, not some warden recruit. He has come from Ferelden, to aid you against the darkspawn. He did not think about Orlais being a different country than his own. He simply came to assist. He has risked his life and the lives of those who travel with him. So far you have done nothing but make him feel uncomfortable and have tried to even deny making things easy for him. You have denied him help in getting rid of the threat that is destroying Orlais, not Ferelden. Surely you can make an effort and stop trying to hamper his aid?" She ended up angry herself, and looked directly into Leonie's eyes.
Leonie took one look into Fiona's eyes, and shut up immediately. This tiny elderly woman commanded respect and had managed to make her feel ashamed at the treatment she had given Alistair so far. She then turned to Alistair, and mumbled an apology.
"It's all right, no offense taken," he replied cheerfully. Behind him, Anders cleared his throat.
"A missive has arrived from Weisshaupt, Fiona," Leonie said. "They wish you to assist here or wherever the threat is worse. They are directly placing you in charge of the operation. They express their willingness to help you in any way possible, but cannot spare men. They are fighting a horde of darkspawn at the moment."
"Still fighting them? That is disturbing news," said Fiona, her brow furrowed. "We were told there would be no more fighting until we had spoken to their leader."
"Maybe it meant fighting us, specifically?" Alistair suggested hopefully.
"I do not know. But we will find out. How long before we can set out for Orzammar, Commander?" She asked him.
"Please. Call me Alistair. It seems you will be leading us on our mission this time and I'm glad," he smiled at her, his eyes shining.
"Your men have arrived from Ferelden, Alistair. They await your orders," Leonie also added.
"Excellent, thank you Commander," he nodded, then turned to Fiona. "So, what should we do? Take my wardens along to Orzammar? Or tell them to wait here?"
Before Fiona had a chance to reply, a gruff voice was heard coming from the front doors.
"I travel all the way from Orzammar, and now I discover that I have to go back? Sodding nughumper, you'll pay for this!"
A dwarf strode to the middle of the room, looking at Alistair with a twinkle in his eyes. Alistair smiled and ran to embrace him, which was comical, for the dwarf reached his stomach.
"Don't get teary-eyed on me, Alistair! By the Stone! I hope you have at least had the decency to get laid? No? Ah, well, it seems my coming here will serve a purpose after all!"
Anders burst out laughing. "Ah, Duran, you will always be on the top of my list for making our Commander blush in different colors. Thank the Maker you are here! It was getting very dull."
"I suggest we head off to the mess hall to eat and further discuss our plans, gentlemen," Leonie smiled.
"Food? Well now, there's a clever lass!" Duran chirped happily and followed her to the direction of the dining area a broad smile on his lips with Alistair and the rest in tow.
...
"But we do need men when we travel to Orzammar. We nearly died in those tunnels, and I, for one, do not trust the talking darkspawn. I refuse to believe what he said." Anders interjected, and the rest readily agreed.
"Very well then, we'll take ten of our men, leave ten here, to assist you all if the darkspawn attacks surface again, will that do, Leonie?" Alistair said, taking a sip of wine. He was flushed, and it seemed that the wine had begun to make him a little tipsy, for he laughed more and coddled Chantalle also, who was fairly amused at the whole thing.
"That is perfect, Alistair." Leonie dimpled at him. She glanced at Fiona who nodded her approval. "I suggest we make preparations to leave in two days, then. All in favor?"
All hands shot up into the air, and Alistair raised both his hands and giggled.
"I think you have had enough to drink, Alistair," Chantalle bit back a laugh and took his wine glass away.
"But, Duran is here! I want to drink with him!" He gave her a puppy-eyed look and she surrendered and gave his glass back.
"Fine, fine. But do not come complaining to me tomorrow when your head explodes!"
"I can think of a lot of times when my head is close to exploding, and they all involve you," Alistair purred at her, and she blushed deeply.
"Ha! Look at him go! That's my boy," Duran clapped him on the back, and Alistair spilled some of the wine.
"Well, I'll be heading to bed. Have fun!" Chantalle called and danced out of Alistair's arms who pouted.
"I have a good remedy for hangovers. Something tells me I'll be using them very soon," Fiona joined Chantalle and Leliana and the three of them head off towards their rooms.
...
A hurlock was pressing its hands on his head, and was trying to screw it off at the same time.
Alistair groaned.
He opened his bleary, bloodshot eyes and the brightness in the room seared his head open. Pain made his eyes water and he literally saw stars. The whole room started to spin madly. His stomach lurched and he groped blindly for the end of the bed and vomited noisily onto the floor.
Oh! I'm dying.
"Alistair?" A voice boomed at him from the doorway. He held his head in his hands, his cool fingers at his temples.
"Go away," he mumbled.
"I'll bring a servant with a pot and some cleaning supplies." The female voice replied. "And I'll bring Fiona."
"Whatever."
He was sinking back into oblivion when the door opened and shut again, his head reacted violently and the throbbing felt worse, if possible.
A servant was noisily cleaning the floor right beside him. He groaned again.
"All right, young man. Time to get you back to normal." A voice said loudly and he opened his eyes in time to see Fiona applying healing magic to his head and body.
He gave a sigh of relief as the pain left him and he managed to sit up, and give her a weak smile. Behind her stood Chantalle, who was smiling at him.
"You will still be in a delicate state. My healing does not work miracles. I suggest you eat sparingly today, and get some rest, but I know you will not heed my advice. I have experienced the Grey Warden appetite myself. I have to go. Your friend, Anders, also has a hangover," she chuckled and left the room, after giving Chantalle a grin.
Chantalle moved over to his bed, placing a pot beside the now clean floor and sat beside him. He took her hand in his as she chuckled at his bleary, embarrassed expression.
"This is why I never drink," she mused, as she ran a hand over his unkempt hair.
"I'll want a hot bath now," Alistair told the servant who turned to Chantalle for a translation. The servant nodded at what Chantalle said and left the room.
"I'm so sorry, my love. Was I a rude and terrible person last night?"
Chantalle laughed. "Of course not! You giggled nearly all the time I was there, and you were very...er...suggestive."
"Oh!" He blushed and closed his eyes.
The servant returned with another servant and they filled the tub which was behind a screen with hot water. They informed Chantalle the bath was ready and left.
"I'll take that bath now. Do you want me to meet you somewhere?" He asked.
"Actually, I'd like to sit here and wait until you finish," she replied, tilting her head coyly.
More blushing on his part, and she matched his blush but before he could make a move, there was a knock on the door and Duran strode inside.
"By the stone! I hope I'm not interrupting you or anything!" He interjected honestly.
"No, no. It's fine. I'm about to take a hot bath anyway. Is there something you want to talk about?"
"Just wanted to see how you were doing," Duran replied. "A hot bath, eh? Well, I'll leave you two alone! Have a good one, then! I'll go see how Anders is doing." He burst out laughing and before Alistair had a chance to protest or utter a word, left the room.
"Well, I might as well take that bath!" Alistair grinned bashfully and left Chantalle on the bed, as he went behind the screen and undressed, finally climbing into the tub where he tried to relax.
...
A/N: Yes, this chapter ends here! *evil laugh* I guess you'll have to read the next to see what happens!