Chapter 92

He kicked the door shut behind him whilst kissing her passionately. "Maker, I've been waiting all night to get you out of that dress." His lips found hers again as his fingers started undoing the tiny buttons at the back. When he'd finished he slid the sleeves off her shoulders, then, with a tug at the corset ribbons, the dress slipped the rest of the way down her body to pool at her feet.

Aedan groaned as he looked upon his wife; a white lacy bra pushed her breasts into a tempting cleavage, but what truly drew his attention was the lace garter belt and the suspenders that held up sheer stockings which covered her long legs all the way down to her cream high-heeled shoes. "Turn around," he whispered huskily. He groaned hungrily at the sight of the slim suspenders framing her ass perfectly. Picking her up, he carried her to the four-poster bed where he laid her down. He smiled, stepped back and slowly started undressing, teasing her with each inch of toned, tanned flesh that he uncovered.

He climbed onto the bed fully naked and proceeded to remove the rest of Emma's clothes, apart from the suspenders, stockings and shoes. "Hello, Lady Cousland."
She chuckled. "That title's going to take a bit of getting used to, Lord Cousland."
He pulled a face. "Maybe we should just stick with Mr and Mrs?"
"That works for me." She smiled and kissed him hard, their tongues twining with passion as did their bodies soon enough.

Later on, as they lay dozing on and off, Aedan asked, "So, what's next for us, Angel?"
She rolled over, half-lying on top of him. "We've got a few months to help Alistair settle in, then we'll be travelling to Amaranthine. You're going to meet some interesting people there."

17th Justinian 9:31 – Vigil's Keep, Amaranthine

They spent a couple of weeks at Highever, visiting with Fergus, and then they received the request to travel to Amaranthine and help establish Vigil's Keep. As they walked up the road leading to the Arling, they were met by a young female warrior, hoping to be recruited into the Grey Wardens. She apologised for not meeting them earlier and explained that she'd become a bit lost in the storm.
"Ah, a poor sense of direction; my wife suffers from the same problem."
Emma tried to look dignified but her eyes glimmered with laughter. "That only happened a few times." The rain continued to pelt them, and flashes of lightning lit the sky from time to time as they walked up the road. "Bloody hell, are we near the Storm Coast or something?" Emma complained. Revek and Frostie barked happily and bounced around in a few puddles. "Well, at least they're enjoying the weather," Aedan said with a chuckle.
Mhairi looked over to him and blushed. "It's an honour to meet you, Ser. I've heard so much about you." Emma rolled her eyes; one of the problems of being married to the Hero of Ferelden was the groupies who kept throwing themselves at him. Thankfully, he always politely but firmly put them in their place and usually followed it up by passionately kissing Emma, just to drive home the point. Also, considering Mhairi's fairly short lifespan, she couldn't begrudge the poor woman her obvious crush.

The familiar scratching started at the back of her skull and she looked over to Aedan who met her gaze. "Here we go again," he said as he pulled his blades free. First, they had to calm down the panicked merchant who came sprinting down the road, shouting about darkspawn. Aedan told him to wait at the gatehouse and look out for any more survivors. Emma reached for her staff, which had been a wedding gift from Aedan, as she'd been lacking one since she'd returned Wynne's staff.
"This is like old times," Aedan said as he cut down one darkspawn after another. Emma chuckled. "We'll even get to see an ogre or two." She froze a Hurlock, and Mhairi promptly shattered it with a blow from her shield. They worked tirelessly, sending any surviving soldiers to the gatehouse, finding the medical supplies, and finally entering the massive building. After taking down a few shrieks, they worked their way through the rooms and came across Anders.

Emma tried not to glare at him, but it was difficult when she knew what he would do in the future. However, in all likelihood, the mage rebellion would have started sooner or later, but that didn't change the fact that he would be responsible for a lot of innocent deaths in Kirkwall. She pushed down the anger; he hadn't done anything yet, so for now, she would treat him the same as she would anyone else.
"Hey, aren't you the Hero of Ferelden?" Anders exclaimed excitedly.
Aedan nodded. "But I prefer Aedan, it's a lot quicker to say."
Anders laughed, and his eyes moved to Emma. "And who is this little beauty?"
"My wife," Aedan stated, the warning clear in his voice.
"His wife," Emma said firmly. They both stopped when they realised they'd spoken at the same time. Anders held up his hands. "I get it. I'll behave myself." His easy grin relaxed the atmosphere, and Emma found herself liking the mage, regardless of his possible prospective actions.

They were in the process of getting survivors to safety, when a familiar voice shouted, "It's about sodding time you got here."
Emma sighed. Damn it, she'd really hoped he'd try to work things out with Felsi. But there was no time to think about that as more darkspawn attacked. After the fight was over, they continued searching the Keep for more survivors and subsequently came across a mortally wounded Grey Warden. Mhairi ran forward, his name falling from her lips. "Rowland!"
Emma bent down and checked the wound, while Rowland told them of the talking darkspawn he'd encountered. She looked up and shook her head. "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do." Aedan gave a nod that he'd heard her while he asked Rowland a couple of questions, and then, with a final gasp, the man's head rolled forward.

Eventually, they reached the rooftop in time to see a soldier being thrown off the roof, and Seneschal Varel kneeling on the wet ground with a very large sword at his throat. "Others will come creature! They will stop you!"
At the sound of footsteps, the darkspawn turned towards them. "It seems your words be true, more than you are guessing."
"It is talking!" Anders said in surprise.
"Well, let's shut it up already!" Oghren growled.
With a nod from Aedan, the party attacked. Emma kept her focus on The Withered knowing him to be a fairly tough opponent. When the creature was almost dead, she released a wave of Force magic and pushed it over the edge. Its screams were abruptly cut off when it smashed into the ground. Aedan raised an eyebrow, and Emma explained, "It seemed only fair after he threw that poor soldier off the roof."

The clatter of armour and heavy footsteps drew everyone to the wall to see who was approaching. Aedan grinned. "It seems Alistair has come to visit us in our new home." They quickly made their way downstairs to greet their friend and King. As Alistair entered the courtyard, Aedan and Emma dropped to one knee, and Varel and Mhairi swiftly followed suit when they realised who their guest was. "I didn't expect such a welcome," Aedan joked. "I would have been happy with a few drinks, maybe a cake."
Alistair laughed and gave him a quick one-armed hug, and then Emma, too. Aedan and Varel then took turns getting the King up to speed with their current situation. When they'd finished, Alistair frowned. "I didn't realise you'd be thrown in at the deep end like this. But, if anyone can do this, it's you. Find out what's going on with these warring factions, get Vigil's Keep up to full strength, and recruit a few new Wardens."
Aedan grinned. "Oh, is that all? We'll be home in a week."