Chapter 67
Aedan glanced up at her. "What does it say? I've never seen this language before." She nearly passed out with relief and quickly told him that it was a brand mark to show who had made it. He gave a nod of understanding. "A lot of armourers mark their goods for the same reason." He put the t-shirt to one side and started pacing. There was so much pacing going on in the room that there would soon be a permanent groove in the floor if they carried on. He stopped and looked at her. "Look, I've always known there was something different about you, though I have to admit, the whole character in a book thing is a bit strange…" He shook his head to dismiss the thoughts that whirled through his brain. "My point is, I believe you."
He scrubbed a hand through his hair and did a bit more pacing. "I feel like I should have loads of questions for you, but honestly, I only have one." He halted directly in front of Emma and looked her square in the eyes. "What does this mean for us? When you passed out in the Deep Roads, your skin was almost transparent, and when I held you, it felt as if you were fading away." She swallowed and rubbed her hands over the goosebumps on her arms. "The doctor in my world was injecting something into my body. I think they were trying to pull me out of the coma."
"So, you were back in your world during that time?"
"It certainly seemed that way. I was able to have some effect on the things in my world and was able to stop the injection."
Aedan started pacing again, his fists clenched tight at his side. "And if this… what did you call it… doctor? If this doctor should try to cure you again, you could be pulled back to your world? Or is there a possibility that you could just wake up in your world?" Emma thought back to how her body had looked - thin and emaciated – maybe more so than was normal for someone in a coma. "I don't think there is a chance of me waking up naturally, and hopefully, I'll be able to stop any further attempts to revive me."
Aedan's shoulders slumped, and a bone-deep iciness swept through Emma; it felt like he'd just made a decision, and she had a feeling it wasn't going to be one she liked. With a start, she suddenly remembered a vital piece of information that Aedan needed to know about. She quickly ran to her bag. God, she was an idiot sometimes! She'd forgotten to tell him about the potion. She pulled out the vial and triumphantly showed it to Aedan. He cocked his head to one side. "What's that?"
"This is from Flemeth; she knows I'm not from this world and she gave me this to drink right before…" Emma coughed to cover her near slip of the tongue. "Well, I have to drink it before a certain event happens and once I've done that then I'll be in this world permanently." He looked closely at the shimmering liquid. "And you think Flemeth can be trusted?" Emma pondered the question as she went over what she knew about the Witch of the Wilds and came to only one conclusion. "I do. Well, I have to. It's the only hope I have of staying here." Aedan looked away from her. "But you're not a hundred per cent sure it will work, are you?"
Emma frowned. "Of course not. I can't exactly do a test run, you know."
He'd began pacing again, then stopped by a chair and curled his fingers over the back of it, causing his knuckles to turn white with the force of his grip. A tremor crept through Emma as the chill returned. No. Don't say it, Aedan! Please don't do what I think you're going to do. "I think we need to end this." He kept his head bent, his eyes glued to the wood in front of him.
Fuck! He said it! "Why? Because I'm not from Thedas? You already knew I was different." She rubbed a hand over her eyes, forcing back the tears that threatened to spill. She would not cry in front of him! He pushed away from the chair and faced her and she noticed the sheen of moisture in his own eyes. "No, Emma. It has nothing to do with where you're from." He kneaded the back of his neck. "Well, not in the way you mean. Look, you could wake up in your world at any moment. It would be best for both of us if we started to put some distance between ourselves from now on." Emma stared at him in shock. "That's your reason? You're scared?!"
His face went red. "With good cause, damn it! How the fuck am I going to sleep if I'm wondering whether you'll still be next to me in the morning? How can I focus on this bloody Blight if I'm constantly worrying that you'll be dragged back to your own world?"
"I've been worried about that from the moment I arrived in Thedas." She shook her head. "No, that's not true. I've been worried about it from the moment I fell in love with you. Every fucking day I wake up and thank God that I'm still here. It's a constant thorn in my side, but I've been fighting to stay in this world because of you!" She grabbed her bag and walked past him. "I guess I shouldn't have bothered." She stopped at the door, wrenched his mother's ring from her finger and placed it on a table before leaving.
She found a dwarven servant and asked if she could be shown to a spare room. The woman nodded and led her down a corridor. As they reached the room, the dwarf looked up. "Are you feeling all right? You're very pale." Emma dredged up a smile from somewhere. "I'm fine, thanks. I just need some sleep." And a bath. Damn it! "I know it's late, but would it be possible to get the bath filled up? If you can just tell me where to get the water from, I'll do it."
The woman smiled. "I'm sure I can manage that for you."
Emma stepped inside the room and dropped her bag on a table as she looked around; it was a nice room, but it was missing one vital thing – Aedan. She snarled at the memory and gave herself a strict talking to; he dumped you, now just get over it! She resolutely ignored the warm trickle that slid down her cheeks and busied herself with getting her toiletries ready. There was a knock at the door, and she shot off the bed and pulled it open, her heart fluttering, but the happiness drained away when she found only the servant, carrying a bucket a water. She climbed in the bath and washed, her brain running on automatic as she purposely kept her mind blank.
She wouldn't think of what had happened - she wouldn't think of him. She would keep her mind on the mission and nothing else. She climbed out and dried herself before slipping between the sheets. The soft bed didn't even register as something pleasurable any more. She shifted around, trying to get comfortable and then realised she was staying on one side to leave room for Aedan. In a rush of temper, she grabbed the second pillow and threw it across the room. But it wasn't enough to assuage her mood and she grabbed her own pillow and started hitting at everything around her. "Fuck it! Fuck it! FUCK IT!" She screamed her anger to the heavens, uncaring of who heard her, only needing an outlet for her pain.
At some point, the pillow split and feathers floated in the air and she realised she was just holding a tattered pillowcase. Her shoulders slumped and she climbed out of bed to grab the pillow she'd thrown across the room. She settled herself in the middle of the bed and closed her eyes, determined to get some sleep. Two hours later and she'd come to the conclusion that no matter how determined she was, sleep was going to be impossible.
Aedan climbed into bed and reached for Emma's warm body, flinching when he only touched cold sheets. You're the one who ended it, so you only have yourself to blame. He growled at the annoying voice in his head and adamantly turned his back on the empty space. He then proceeded to toss and turn for the remainder of the night.
