Chapter 31

The dwarf hefted a large hammer onto his broad shoulder and an unpleasant grin spread across his face. "I'm gonna crush you like a bug," he bragged as he swung his weapon and charged at Aedan. Rit circled, holding his shield and sword in readiness. Aedan looked calm, relaxed even, but Emma noted the flex of his muscles as he prepared to move. There was a flash, followed by a thick cloud of smoke and suddenly Aedan stood behind Klack. His blades sunk deep into the dwarf's thick neck, then twisted before being quickly ripped free. With a harsh, gurgling sound the first of the criminals dropped to the ground, eyes glassy with death.

A flash of fear crossed Rit's face and he tightened the grip on his shield as he looked for an opening. Warrior and rogue circled each other warily, their eyes tracking, watching for the slightest movement. Aedan spun his dagger and droplets of blood sprayed across the ground. In the split second that the warrior's eyes flickered to the blood splatter, Aedan closed the distance and slashed at the man's shield arm. The warrior stumbled back a few steps from the impact, his face a mottled red, as anger and fear warred together.

He lifted his shield high and dashed forward, his narrowed eyes flashing silver from the moonlight. Aedan ducked to the right, but at the last second, the warrior shifted his direction and caught the rogue hard on the shoulder with a sickening crunch. Aedan grunted with pain as he hit the floor, the dagger falling from his nerveless fingers. The warrior grinned triumphantly as he moved in for the kill. A stone projectile flew through the air and cracked the back of the man's skull. "Ow, what the fuck?"
Emma took a step forward, her lips thinned in anger. "I owed you that for the lump on my head, you miserable piece of shit!"
The man snarled and took a step towards her. "You dumb bitch, we're fighting a duel, or don't you understand the meaning of honour?"
She snorted. "Honour?! Do you even know the meaning of that word? You, who made a living from kidnap and murder. You don't deserve an honourable death." Flashes of lightning flickered around her body as she called upon her magic.
"Emma, stop! I made a deal with him. If you kill him, I'll have broken my word, which is something I don't take lightly." She met Aedan's gaze, saw the truth in his eyes and stepped back, her teeth clenched tight to hold back her anger.

Aedan's attention returned to the duel, and Emma saw him flinch as he tried to clench his left hand. The telltale sign disappeared in the blink of an eye, but Rit smirked. With freedom so close at hand, the man wasted no time in getting the fight back underway. A battle cry left his lips as he charged, aiming directly for Aedan's left side. He saw the twitch of Aedan's lips and the light of victory in his eyes just a fraction too late. Rit's momentum carried him forward as Aedan rolled beneath the shield, coming up under the warrior's sword arm which was raised in readiness to strike. The rogue's sharp blade slid between the warrior's ribs, dropping him to his knees, and he gasped for air as blood filled his punctured lung. Rit's head was sharply yanked back and his eyes met Aedan's. In them he saw his death a moment before the dagger sliced across his throat, spilling his life's blood onto the uncaring ground.

Aedan released him and walked away before the body had finished falling. "Let's go. We'll spend the night at the tavern."
Wynne was at his side, ready to heal his arm. "It's fine." He started walking off and the mage grabbed his wrist, causing him to grit his teeth as pain tore through his shoulder. "Yes, of course, it is," she answered calmly as she placed her hands on the injured area and let the healing magic flow through his muscles, knitting together flesh and bone. "There, all done." Wynne proclaimed. He muttered a word of thanks then walked off, his face grim.

Emma felt as though she'd been slapped. She'd expected him to pull her into his arms and kiss her; what she hadn't expected was for him to ignore her. She noticed a couple of sidelong glances exchanged between the other companions, and quickly changed the subject. She still had a lot of questions, the main one being, "Where are we exactly?"
There was no answer from Aedan and after a short uncomfortable silence, Alistair answered, "We're at the outskirts of Denerim, it's a down-and-out area where the criminals tend to reside. Leliana followed the tracks from the alley where they attacked you."

Leliana took over telling the story. "When we got closer to the slums, there were a lot of other tracks, making it difficult to follow your trail. Thankfully, it was at that point you set fire to the place and we headed in the direction of the smoke."
Zevran continued the tale of her rescue. "When we arrived, we found those two scoundrels fighting to get out the front door." His handsome face hardened. "They were just going to leave you to die."

Emma blinked and she felt the blood drain from her face as the consequences of her actions sunk in. "I thought they would come and put out the fire," she explained.
Aedan stopped and turned to her, harsh lines bracketing his mouth. "What, in the Maker's name, made you think they would do something like that?"
She felt sick to the stomach at the anger directed her way. "It... it always seemed to work in the books," she stuttered.
He ground his teeth together, his jaw clenching with barely restrained fury. "This isn't a bloody book, Emma! Do you even realise just how close you came to dying today? All because of your stupidity."

A painful lump formed in her throat as she watched everything she'd ever wanted get washed away in a torrent of angry words. She barely heard Wynne's soft voice pleading with Aedan to stop. She did, however, hear every one of his harsh words.
"Why did you wander away from the shop? And why would you follow someone without even letting one of us know where you were going? Then to cap it all off, you go and set fire to the bloody building that you're being held in."
He roughly scraped his hand through his hair as he paced back and forth in an effort to work off his agitation. Emma felt a numbness in her heart that spread throughout her body, and she embraced it willingly, not wanting to feel the pain that waited in the shadows to pounce on her.

His hands wrapped around her upper arms in a bruising hold. "Answer me!"
She lifted her head and stared into blue eyes that once looked on her with love yet now burned with anger, and at that moment, something died inside of Emma. "I'm sorry. There's no excuse for what I did. It won't happen again." She pulled away, unable to bear being so close to him.
Emma looked around blindly, not seeing the squalid shacks lining the dirt road. "Which way is it back to Denerim?" She was surprised that her voice came out so evenly, she even managed to plaster a smile on her face as she looked at the others.
Leliana took her arm and started leading her in the right direction. "He's not really angry at you, he just needs to work through the fear he felt when he thought he'd lost you."

The roaring in Emma's ears made it hard to hear the bard's words, but she nodded anyway, too numb to do anything else. No one spoke for the rest of the journey and eventually, they reached the tavern. The innkeeper confirmed he had three double rooms available and handed out the keys. Leliana and Wynne took one, hugged Emma and went to their bedroom. She got a light slap on the back from Alistair and a smile from Zevran before they too drifted off to find their room.

In her head, images replayed from when she'd last been here with Aedan. She could feel his hands on her, his breath whispering words of love against her flushed skin. She didn't want to ruin that memory by spending the night with Aedan while he was still angry at her, and she didn't want him to witness her imminent breakdown, so she approached the innkeeper. "Do you have any other rooms available?"
She heard the swift intake of breath behind her. "Well, Miss, I've only got one other room, but it ain't fit for you."
"Does it have a bed?" The innkeeper nodded. "But it's-"
Emma tried for a smile as she interrupted him. "That's fine." She held her hand out for the key, and the innkeeper shrugged as he passed it to her, pointing her in the direction of the room.

"Emma..."
She closed her eyes as Aedan's deep voice washed over her. She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms, but she couldn't risk rejection, not when she was already so close to breaking. She glanced over her shoulder, the frozen smile still in place. "It's okay, Aedan." Her throat ached as she spoke his name. "I just need some sleep, I'm sure you do too."