Chapter 63

Aedan glanced up at her. "What does it say? I've never seen this language before."
Being able to read the books in Thedas, it hadn't occurred to her that he wouldn't be able to read the writing from her world. Apparently, translation only came after you'd visited the alternate world. She let out a shaky breath and answered Aedan. "It's a brand mark to show who 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 had become transparent, and when I held you, it felt as though you were fading away."
She swallowed and rubbed her hands over the goosebumps on her arms. "A 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 had some effect on the things in my world and managed 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, could you 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 weak and emaciated her body had looked, perhaps more so than was normal for someone in a coma. "I don't think there's 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 began pacing again, then stopped by a chair and curled his fingers over the back of it, causing the wood to creak as his knuckles turned 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 his blue eyes held a sheen of moisture. "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 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 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. Spacious, warm, a comfortable bed, but lacking one vital thing – Aedan. She snarled at the memory and gave herself a strict talking to; he dumped you, now get over it! Resolutely, she ignored the warm trickle that slid down her cheeks and busied herself with getting out her toiletries. When someone knocked at the door, she shot off the bed and pulled it open, her heart fluttering, but the happiness drained away when she saw the servant, carrying a bucket of water.
After the bath had been filled, she climbed in 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 focus on the mission and nothing else. Emma wearily 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 the other 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. After settling herself in the middle of the bed, she closed her eyes, determined to get some sleep. After two hours of tossing and turning, Emma concluded that sleep would be a stranger no matter her determination.

-x-

Aedan climbed into bed and reached for Emma's warm body, flinching when he touched the 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 space. He then proceeded to toss and turn for the remainder of the night.