BioWare owns all but my character's and her dog's names. : )
So little miss ray of sunshine, or as Alistair called her the boogity boo, cloaky, scary spirit person has revealed herself. I know you clever readers probably figured it out, so no real surprise, I know. If you didn't, then maybe I am not doing so bad at the story telling. But I enjoy springing things on my characters who don't know what we know, yes?
I hope you continue to enjoy. Please do let me know what you think. :)
Blessings!
The room just fell silent as everyone stared at Andraste, or at least the spirit calling itself "Andraste," as they had at Kai just a moment before. Kai just snorted, "Figures." She tilted her head, "Again, why would Lady Isolde do this?"
"Why do you keep asking her that?" Alistair asked her.
Kai felt herself flushing, "Maybe because I slapped her when she insulted you, twice." Kai looked up through her lashes at Alistair, not exactly ready to see what his expression was going to be. He could be so sensitive about these kinds of things. He always forgave and moved on. It was one of his most enduring and annoying qualities.
He just sat down next to her and took her face in his hands. "You slapped her for me?"
"Twice," Kai looked him in the eye. "It was before the funeral." Kai struggled not to squirm. "I told Eamon about the amulet. He kind of got upset in a cared-for-you, not an upset-I-gave-it-to-you, sort of way. It put her knickers in a twist, and she was talking badly about you, even after all we did for her, and I just snapped. I was under a lot of emotional distress!" Kai could hear the defensiveness in her voice.
Alastair just smiled, laughed and kissed her, "Twice. Well, at least you made her cheeks match. You did, right? It wasn't all on one side?"
Kai just smiled, "No, I made her match." And she sank her head onto his shoulder.
"I always did find her to be self-centered and a bit stupid." Kai heard her mother retort.
"Mother," Kai just laughed. "My question remains unanswered, spir...Andraste. Why would she help me?"
"Let us just say that Lady Isolde may not be the brightest lantern in the dark." Kai snorted back a laugh, "But, you removed the scales from her eyes, so to speak. You showed her who she was and it came up wanting, she has a need to make amends. She really is a pious woman, in her way." Andraste smiled down at Kai.
"Great, so how do we get me back to there, myself, my body? This is so strange," Kai grumbled. She felt so solid, so real here, and the more she was here, wherever "here" was in the Fade, the more the "real" world felt like a dream.
"Perhaps I should speak to her as she prays then, and soon, no?" Andraste seemed to read Kai's thoughts yet again.
"Yes, because the longer I am here, the less I want to go. Let's do this. Do I just sit here on the couch or what?" Kai found herself gripping Alistair's hand so tightly, her knuckles were white.
"The Ashes are already being brought out. You need only to go back the way you came," Andraste smiled at her.
"Great, I have to go for a swim again?" Kai forced herself to stand. "Then, I need to go now." She held Alistair's hand as if it were a lifeline as they walked out of Highever back to the lake. Part of her was screaming that she was insane, going back, leaving them all again, but she ignored it.
"Good bye, darling, I love you so much. But do try and watch your language," her mother jokingly nagged at her before hugging her.
"No father could be prouder. You are my fierce girl." Her father pulled one of her braids and kissed her cheek.
"Help Fergus find love again, sister dear. Life is too empty without someone. Tell him we will be waiting for him." Oriana hugged her tight.
Cailan just brushed her knuckles with his lips, "Dear lady."
"I knew I chose well with you, Kai. You are the best of us. And if I may, like your father I too am proud and honored to have known you, dear girl." Duncan's deep voice became slightly choked toward the end. Kai found her own eyes filled with unshed tears.
"I am only as good as the man who chose me," she told him as she hugged him tightly and he hugged her back.
Maric simply held her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "Remember, there is no 'perfect,' and that most of the time we do what we have to, and some of the time we get to do what we want." He smiled at her. "I know you will do very well. Do you know how I know that?" he asked her as he held her chin looking her in the eyes. Kai shook her head, "Because it isn't just the quality of one's enemies that defines a person. It is also the quality of their friends. And you have many good friends. I only hope I am still counted among them." He looked at her hopefully.
"Of that, ser, let there never be any doubt." And she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.
She turned to Alistair. Her throat constricted, and her heart hurt. She didn't have any words. She was going back into a plane of existence where she would not be able to touch him or see him smile. He smiled his lopsided smile at her and simply wrapped her in his arms and kissed her the way he had on top of Fort Drakon, their souls mingling together. It was she who stepped back this time, running her fingers down his face. She didn't even bother to try to stop the tears.
"Do not worry. While time will be normal for you and time will seem to drag on at certain points in your life, it will not be an eternity until you get to see them again. For them, no time will really have passed. They will not have long to miss you. Only Alistair will have a sense of time for both places," Andraste whispered in her ear as she hugged her close and released her. "I, too, am proud of you, my spirit daughter." Andraste smiled at her with genuine affection.
Kai began walking backwards into the water keeping her eyes on Alistair's face, her anchor. As the water splashed around her thighs and her waist, she looked at all their beloved faces. "Tell Oren his Auntie will be back in no time, Okay?" They all nodded, tears running down many pairs of cheeks. The water got up to her chest and her shoulders and then her neck. Before she dunked her head under, she wanted one last look, even if her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a giant hand.
And then, she plunged under. The water was so dark, and it was thick, and she had a momentary sense of panic. Could you die again in the Fade, and if you did where, you go then? Her lungs felt as if they were going to burst and then she hit the "surface" gasping and choking on air. Leaving the Fade was not so pleasant as going to it.
Her eyes flew open to find a roomful of anxious faces, all in various degrees of exhaustion, tears, or stoicism, depending on who you were looking at.
"Hullo, everyone," or at least that is what she thought she said before she found herself unceremoniously plucked from the bed and crushed in her brother's arms.