There and Back Again Ch. 193

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three: And puppies made...more than three

Our period of calm couldn't last, of course; it never seemed to in Thedas. Blessing and a curse, I suppose. The next thing to disrupt our orderly lives couldn't be just one thing, though; it would have to be two, happening at exactly the same moment.

It started with barking. I was sitting in my office working on the never-ending stacks of paperwork Levi kept finding me -- half the time I wondered if he was just trying to keep me busy rather than actually giving me anything useful to do -- when a furry, brown, nearly flying object came careening into the room, barking twice.

"Prince?" I stared down at the mabari in confusion as he sat in front of my desk, barking again.

When I made no move to get up or otherwise react, he raised his head and howled, loud enough to make me cover my ears with a curse.

Before he'd even finished, there was a crash and someone else came falling through my doorway. After a moment of scrambling, one of my soldiers -- one of the two who'd been guarding the door to our quarters when I'd left in the morning, whose name I could not remember -- stood before me, fidgeting ruefully even as he tried to hush the dog beside him.

"I'm sorry, your Highness!" he gasped. "Little bugger ran out of the room like his tail was on fire and I couldn't catch him. But Jaro asked me to come get you. He said it's time."

"Time?" I quirked one eyebrow in confusion. "Wait, time? Lady?" I leaped out of my seat and rushed towards the door. "Time! What are we waiting for? Let's go. Oh, soldier, please find the Commander and Warden Donal and send them to my quarters right away."

I didn't stop to hear the man confirm my orders, instead bolting through the door and following Prince down the hallway to the stairs. Another soldier approached me as I jogged, trying to get my attention, but I gestured in the direction I was going and slowed only slightly.

"Walk and talk," I offered, too worried about Lady to stop for anyone.

"Your Highness, please, I have news." When I didn't stop, he waited a few moments and then rushed to catch up. "There are visitors in the tunnels," he continued, his voice rather higher pitched than it had been a moment before.

I frowned even as I kept walking. "Well, they're going to have to wait. Show them to the sitting room near the main hall and I'll get to them when I've got time."

The outright panic in his voice finally shook me out of my worried thoughts. "I can't!"

I stopped, facing the young soldier directly, trying to muster my patience. "Why not?"

"It's the King, your Highness! You can't just leave him waiting like that!"

I dropped my face into my hand, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Of course it sodding is," I muttered, trying not to roll my eyes at the horrified gasp of the man standing in front of me. "That man has the worst bloody timing." I didn't usually swear, but the conflicting duties tore at me and I couldn't seem to help it.

Thinking frantically, I finally made a decision. "Look, bring him up to my quarters when he gets here. I don't have time to meet him downstairs, but I'm sure he'll understand. Just tell him we have an emergency, and I'll explain it when he arrives."

The soldier didn't look happy -- terrified was probably closer to the truth -- but he saluted and turned to head back downstairs while I angled up. By the time I reached the little room where Lady stayed, Donal and Jaro were there attending to my dog while Alistair watched from a little distance. I heard Donal swear, and then the turquoise glow of his healing magic lit up the room.

"What happened?" I gasped breathlessly. "Is she okay? The puppies?"

Donal turned and stood, the glower he had been giving Lady still clear on his face. "She bit me!" He was clearly incensed, holding one hand with the other though the only sign of injury I could see was a tiny trickle of blood on his wrist.

"Barely a nip," Jaro muttered, and Prince barked once.

I blinked. "So...they're okay?"

Jaro chuckled, and Donal grumbled incoherently and brushed past me to get to the wash basin in the corner. I edged closer to Jaro and Lady, happy to see Prince pacing by her side. My new dog looked exhausted, lying on her side, her legs twitching in discomfort, her breaths fast and shallow. She spared me a quick glance as I knelt beside her, but then put her head down and whined, a piteous sound I never wanted to hear again. I could see her belly moving -- a contraction, I realised -- and suddenly a pool of fluid spread across the floor from somewhere underneath her. I jumped, worried, but a glance at Jaro had me relaxing again -- he smiled broadly and stroked Lady's head, murmuring encouraging words.

I sat with her for a while, watching as contraction after contraction wracked her body. I stayed near her head, worried about getting in Jaro's way, knowing I had nothing helpful to offer at the other end. Donal had stuck around -- despite his wound, which was likely to his pride more than his hand -- but found himself a chair and a book, leaving Alistair, Jaro and I to watch Lady labour. At least, until I heard a commotion in the corridor outside.

"Oh," I whispered to Alistair, embarrassed to have forgotten, "your brother is here."

He jerked upright from where he'd been slouching against the wall. "My what?" His gaze went from me to the door, which was propped only slightly open.

I flushed. "I was told Cailan was arriving right as I was called to come up here. I meant to tell you, but I got...distracted." I rubbed Lady's ears with my fingers, feeling guilty. She whined pitifully, and my guilt abated somewhat.

Wide-eyed, Alistair looked at the door again and then back at me.

"Go," I reassured him. "Tell Cailan what's happening and give him my apologies. You can come back later if you want, or just hang out with your brother."

Alistair mouthed the words 'hang out' with a quirky grin, and I chuckled. He winked at me and then left, closing the door behind him, leaving me with Donal, Jaro and the two unhappy dogs.

Watching my dog suffer through the labour was difficult, though Jaro's calm confidence helped. Alistair returned sometime before the first puppy was born, Cailan at his side, and all of us watched in awe as one after another, six adorable, wet, furry puppies emerged. Lady licked them enthusiastically as each one was born, then Jaro tied off their cords and dried them carefully with a blanket, before placing them against Lady's belly once the last one had arrived. I barely even noticed him dealing with the afterbirth, too busy staring at the babies as they tussled with each other to reach one of their mother's teats and latch on.

I'd never seen newborn puppies, though I'd understood they were usually tiny, hairless, and blind; this was not at all the case with the puppies in front of me. Their fur ranged from nearly black to blond, and bushy tails on three of them were the only indications that they weren't full-blooded mabari. They were stumbling around like drunks, but they could actually -- sort of -- walk, and their eyes were open. They were a little bigger than one of my hands, maybe six or seven inches long, and a couple of pounds each.

All except one, that was. "What's wrong with that one?" I asked, pointing at one dark brown puppy that was nearly half the size of the others, and wasn't walking -- it was barely moving. While the other puppies were squirming all over each other to suckle, it was crying sadly by itself. Prince began licking it gently, nosing it towards Lady's stomach with each swipe of his tongue.

"Runt," Jaro replied, his tone odd. I glanced at his face to see a sad expression that looked completely out of place on the normally cheerful teen. He took pity on the little thing and lifted it to where it needed to be, holding the other puppies back so it could feed.

"What does that mean?" I felt sick at the worry I could see on his face.

"Sometimes this happens -- less to mabari than other dogs," he told me. "The other pups steal all the food from one as they're forming, and it doesn't grow as well as the others. This little girl isn't as developed as her brothers and sisters."

"But...that's okay, right? Now she's out, she can just eat and she'll be fine?"

His expression didn't change. "Maybe. We can try." He looked up at me sadly. "Most runts are abandoned by their mothers. Don't get your hopes up."

*****

Once the puppies were fed, and Lady and Prince were settled with the sleeping pups, we all crept out of the room to collapse in our sitting room. Jaro and Donal excused themselves, leaving Alistair and I with Cailan.

"Well this is a surprise!" I grinned at my brother-in-law after accepting a warm hug. "Couldn't have sent a warning or something?"

He chuckled. "What would be the fun in that? Besides, I told you I'd be coming."

"You just didn't say when. Not that you're aren't welcome, of course." Alistair wrapped an arm over my shoulders with a sigh, and we all relaxed in front of the hearth for a quiet moment.

"Where's Blake, anyway? I thought he'd be with you." I looked around as though he might be hiding somewhere waiting to startle me.

"I left him in Denerim," Cailan sighed. "I didn't want to put him in danger. But I miss the little scamp! He's probably rearranged the entire Palace while I was gone. He's got the entire staff eating out of his hands, that one."

"So...Kirkwall?" I finally asked.

Cailan rolled his eyes. "Ridiculous." He stared into the fire morosely for a while before continuing, "I am glad I went. I'm sure you think I shouldn't have, but..." He sighed. "People were dying. And all because everyone was so afraid of the Knight Commander that they couldn't take care of themselves without her. Kirkwall's guard is embarrassingly small and holds no real power, the Viscount was a puppet, and the Grand Cleric liked to pray for wisdom while refusing to do anything to help. If we hadn't been there when the riots started..."

I reached over and patted his hand. "I know exactly how messed up Kirkwall is, believe me. I wasn't happy you were at risk, but I am glad you were able to help."

Cailan looked from me to Alistair with one raised eyebrow. "I thought she was going to yell at me."

"Me too," Alistair agreed. "Not that you wouldn't have deserved it. But I'm sure she's just glad you returned safe."

"She is sitting right here," I complained, and they both laughed. "No, but seriously. If you'd gotten yourself killed, I would not have been pleased with you. But I can't argue with your results."

"It was a near thing." Cailan's smile turned wry. "A mob nearly overwhelmed us when we tried to help the Viscount. It seems the Wardens end up rescuing me far more often than is reasonable."

"So we heard. And it wasn't just the Wardens, from what I was told?"

"Ah, so the Hawke family did arrive, then?" he asked. I nodded, gesturing impatiently, so he continued, "Your Anders has some remarkable friends."

I grinned. "Remarkable friends who were horrified to be meeting the King, I'd wager."

He laughed. "Less than you'd think. Not that Varric and I will end up as close friends, I don't expect, but they were all very polite." He sighed. "Are they alright? I know Ma—uh, that is, Serah Hawke won't be happy if her family came to harm on the way here."

"They're fine. You can see them tomorrow if you like -- I suspect Leandra would be ecstatic that the king was thinking of her." I looked at him suspiciously. "And her family."

He nodded. "I assume they told you the details about the Knight Commander's death and the aftermath?" Cailan looked relieved when Alistair nodded. "Good. Enough about Kirkwall. Tell me about your trip -- Fergus didn't say much. You came back with some new scars, brother."

Alistair and I took turns telling Cailan about our trip to Lhanbyrde -- the Crow attack, Llomerryn, and what we learned on Lhanbyrde. We left Larius and Arathea out of the story, minimizing Alistair's injuries, not wanting Cailan to feel stuck between us and the Chantry.

"Fergus didn't tell you any of this?" I asked, puzzled.

"No. He seemed...I don't know, grumpy? He wasn't very talkative. All he said was that they confirmed that you probably truly are a Cousland."

An unexpected warmth spread through me at that, and my eyes welled with stupid tears. Maybe one day we really can be siblings.

Alistair squeezed me silently and distracted Cailan while I pulled myself together. "Where is our good Teyrn now, then? I wondered if he might come here with you."

Cailan looked at me warily. "I, um. He's in...Nevarra."

I blinked. "Nevarra?"

"Yes, well, you know I was supposed to go there myself at some point -- try to make amends with Duke Anaxas, after Anora..." He trailed off, before awkwardly clearing his throat and continuing, "Well, after Kirkwall, I couldn't justify staying away from Ferelden any longer, so I asked Fergus if he would go instead." He gave me a too-innocent look, all big eyes and fluttering eyelashes.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, yes, good boy. Thank you for coming back to Ferelden like a responsible king."

Alistair snorted and choked, and we all laughed.

"Besides," Cailan added, "I suspect the good Duke had plans for his eldest daughter to become the next Queen of Ferelden. And as much as I'm sure she's lovely, I'm not going to agree to any more arranged marriages, no matter how much Eamon complains."

"So you thought you'd throw Fergus to the wolves?" I asked wryly.

Cailan smirked and started to respond, but we were interrupted from further discussion by Prince barking at me from the doorway; I followed him in to find him nudging the little runt towards Lady, and I settled in to lift the little thing to help it feed. The puppies were rambunctious little balls of fur, yipping and tussling with each other when they weren't feeding, and I knew we were going to have our hands full for the foreseeable future. It's a good thing they're cute.

*****

Jaro relieved me of puppy-holding duties in the middle of the night so I could get some sleep; the other pups were really quite self-reliant, even starting to explore the room a little between feeds, but the runt was nearly helpless and couldn't feed unless someone held her to the nipple. And while Lady allowed this, she had no apparent interest in helping the little one herself. Prince would spend time giving the little one tongue baths -- like Lady did the other pups -- and would always make sure she was tucked in somewhere warm to sleep, but I could see why Jaro had been concerned that she wouldn't survive.

I didn't blame Lady -- not really; she was trying to reserve her strength for the puppies with the best chance of survival. I just had to hope that, between Prince, Jaro, and I, we could give the littlest puppy a fighting chance. Jaro remained cautiously optimistic.

And the rest of the puppies were surviving admirably; over the course of a week, they nearly doubled in size, and were starting to show interest in the food we brought up for Lady and Prince, pouncing on the feet of anyone who visited them, as well as trying to escape out the door every time it was opened. They were little balls of fur and personality, and they kept us laughing. I still didn't know what we would do with so many dogs at the Peak, but for the moment they made adorable distractions.

The days passed in a blur. Cailan met with the Hawkes -- Leandra was suitably impressed, though Carver just got even sulkier -- and toured the Keep, greeting soldiers and meeting with my captains to discuss training and staffing. And Alistair and I spent as much time with Cailan as we could spare, knowing time was a luxury we weren't likely to have with him anytime in the near future.

Meal time was my favourite; we tried to eat most of our meals in the great hall with whichever Wardens and soldiers weren't working at the time, and it was almost always enjoyable. Cailan fit right in, after some initial awkwardness. I missed my brother and my friends, but this was the next best thing.

Though the teasing Carver got was possibly the funniest part, not that I encouraged it.

"What's the deal with the crabby nuglet today, anyway?" Oghren asked me one day at breakfast, after the young man in question had stormed away from the table like his butt was on fire. "He's even worse than usual."

I laughed at the inappropriate nickname, after checking he wasn't within hearing range. "Oghren!" I scolded, unable to keep the mirth from my tone. "I'm not sure."

Cailan leaned over. "My fault, probably."

I eyed him speculatively. "What did you do?"

The King sighed. "Honestly, nothing someone shouldn't have a long time ago. I told him that if he kept acting like the petulant little brother, that everyone would keep treating him that way. I told him Marian's not here, and he's not stuck in her shadow anymore. No one here knows him, so if he'd stop acting like an arse he might actually be able to find a place for himself."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

Cailan flushed and snorted. "Yeah, well, I did say I was speaking from personal experience."

I couldn't help the laugh that burst from me, and Cailan scowled at me. That only made me laugh harder until finally he joined me with a self-deprecating chuckle.

It seemed like nearly everyone in the Keep came to visit the puppies at some point; Lady tolerated the attention with ill-tempered grace, but let very few of the people approach her. The puppies had no qualms, however, about attacking ankles and demanding pats, and they were so adorable that no one could resist them. And Prince puffed his chest up like the proud papa he was, watching over his offspring imperiously and accepting accolades. It got so that the traffic through our hallway was overwhelming, and eventually Avanna put a stop to it for security reasons. We promised that once the puppies were a little more independent, we'd bring them out so that everyone could see them without invading our space.

A few days later, early enough in the morning that the sky was still dark, Alistair woke me with a squawk that was not in the least manly -- and would have been funny had I not been up late in the night, convincing my dog to feed her tiniest puppy.

"Wh-what is it?" I grumbled, still half-asleep.

"I don't—Augh!" Alistair cried. "Something bit me!"

I struggled up, leaning over to thumb on one of the arcane lamps that Soldier's Peak was thankfully full of -- to find my husband trapped on his back, a small brown fur-ball draped over his neck and chewing enthusiastically on his chin.

Finally awake, I did the only thing I could -- I cracked up laughing.

Alistair sputtered and tried to dislodge the puppy with little success; his frustrated cursing only made me laugh harder. I wish I had my iPhone close at hand -- there's nothing cuter than men with puppies. Finally pulling myself together, I walked around the bed and picked up the wriggling fluffball by the scruff of its neck, freeing my husband to sit up and wipe the slobber off his chin. He had a couple of tiny puncture wounds, but was otherwise unharmed; the puppy I held squirmed hard enough to free itself from my grip, landing back in Alistair's lap and barking happily before grabbing the edge of one of the blankets covering him and chewing enthusiastically.

"So...I guess their teeth are working?" I giggled.

Alistair growled at me, and the puppy in his lap mimicked him immediately, trying to get itself into position to pounce and growling at me low in its throat. Alistair and I both looked down at it in surprise, just as the little thing lost its balance on Alistair's thigh and tumbled off onto the mattress.