There and Back Again Ch. 087-088

Alistair laughed, and I held out my hand, sparkly ring flashing; she squealed and hugged me, then with a nudge and a wink informed us there was a snack waiting for us in our room. She headed to bed. We went to our own room, and I opened the door to find a bit of a shock. We had a small table set up with two chairs, a platter of food just waiting, an open bottle of wine with two glasses, and the bed was covered in rose petals. The smell in the room was heavenly. The only light came from the hearth, which was lit and crackling merrily; the chairs that normally sat in front had been moved, and a thick blanket was laid out on the stone floor looking inviting.

I gasped, and Alistair shot me an impish grin. "Like it?"

"You...really? You did all this?"

"Well, technically, Mistress Leta did all this, with Leliana's help or advice at least, but yes, it was my idea."

"So sure I was going to say yes, were you?" I teased, and he flushed slightly.

He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding making eye contact. "Well, not really, no, but Leliana was pretty sure, and I definitely hoped..."

I threw myself into his arms, pulling his head down for a kiss. "If there was any doubt in your mind that I'd say yes, you're in so much trouble..."

He kissed me back, and then took advantage when my mouth opened, pressing his tongue in to stroke against my own, drawing a low moan. He pulled away after a moment, taking off his doublet and hanging it carefully before turning to pour wine and gesture to the blanket by the fire.

"Have a seat?" He reached out to hand me a glass of wine.

I shook my head. "I'd like to change first. You go ahead, and I'll be right there."

I managed to work my way out of the dress without help – Leliana had informed me that she ordered the dress specially so that was possible, since normally a formal gown would require a lady's maid to get out of, and I was unlikely to have one of those on the road. I'm unlikely to have one of those ever, honestly. I hung the dress and then pulled one of Alistair's cotton tunics out of the armoire and slipped it over my head.

I walked over to settle on the blanket beside a very smug-looking Alistair, who handed me a glass of wine after giving me a lascivious look. I felt a bit awkward about being mostly undressed, when he was still fully clothed in essentially a tuxedo; his eyes seemed drawn to my bare legs as if by magnetism. I was vaguely embarrassed, for no reason I could explain given our relationship, but

it was also sort of sexy, though, and I resolved to tease the poor man for a while as we sat.

I sat leaning back on one hand, legs crossed in front of me, and sipped my wine. One shoulder and the slope of my breast peeked through the wide neck of the tunic. "So what do you think? Will Sereda work out?"

"Hmm?" He looked distracted, staring at my legs like that. He dragged his gaze up to my face. "Oh, yes. She'll do fine. Certainly better than that Bhelen. I was worried for a moment that Duncan was going to recruit him into the Grey Wardens. Being technically dead will be perfect for him. And Sereda seems to have a good handle on how to manage her people, as well as some brilliant ideas. She's a better monarch than Cailan, for sure."

The bitterness in his voice surprised me, and I realised that we hadn't really talked much about Cailan, or rather, Theron, since he had extended the olive branch in Redcliffe. "Do you hate him so much?"

He sighed. "I don't, not really. It's just...he had everything. Everything I didn't. Parents who loved him. Education, training, advisors, a wife...and he still messed it all up. How could he have been so blind? Such a glory hound? I'll never understand. I had nothing, before the Wardens, and even I could see how vain, how easily manipulated he was."

"He was also sheltered, though, Alistair. Something neither of us can claim, and from the outside, it seems like it would be a good thing...but it's often not. He never saw danger. Never fought anyone who would actually fight back. Never knew that life isn't idyllic and easy for most people. He has never wanted for anything, which means he values nothing. If it takes you a year to save up to buy something, you treasure it once it's finally yours. If you can just wave your hand and have it handed to you, you never understand what it's worth.

"It's not his fault that he trusted Loghain. Who wouldn't? He wasn't smart, I agree, but the fault lies with your father, with Loghain, and with Anora, who sheltered him from life and never gave him a chance to learn anything. I bet at some point he was at least vaguely interested in actually ruling Ferelden, but instead of encouraging that, I imagine Loghain and Anora brushed him off and sent him outside to play, like a child. Why would he see the world in any way other than as a child after living like that for twenty, thirty years?"

"I suppose. It's just so..."

"Disappointingly human?"

He grinned at me. "Yes, that."

"Don't tell him that." We shared a grin. "Do you think you'll be able to put your resentment for your father aside and try to get know your brother?"

He sighed. "I'm going to try. It's hard though. I keep thinking...how could he not know? Why didn't anyone care? I know you say my mother and Maric both loved me...but that's hard to really accept. And it makes me resent Cailan for having what I didn't."

"I truly don't believe he knew, though. Honestly. When I accidentally spilled the beans...he was shocked. Apparently he went around harassing the castle staff to figure out who I was talking about. I guess he never looks in a mirror, because honestly, how anyone could miss the resemblance is beyond me."

He shifted closer to me on the blanket. "Oh, I see how it is," he teased. "You only love me because I look like the King."

I giggled. "Yes, that's right. Actually, I'm mostly hoping to cash in on it - we could go around the country doing impersonations for coin. Much more lucrative than this Grey Warden business - how much do we get paid anyway?"

He laughed. "Not much. Though the way Aedan does it we don't need a salary - we'll be rich just from the rewards claimed for doing everyone's dirty work." He shifted even closer, so his long leg laid on the blanket alongside mine; I could feel the warmth of his body through the fabric of his pants. "But, you know, I don't really want to talk about either of our brothers right now, do you?"

I leaned against his side, resting my head on his shoulder. "Not even a little bit."

"Were you truly surprised about this?" I glanced up to see him looking insecure, biting his lip and avoiding my gaze.

"I had absolutely no idea. But it isn't because I didn't want to, I just figured that we'd wait until after the Blight to get ourselves sorted out. I just haven't let myself think that far ahead, yet. But I am incredibly," I got onto my knees facing him, reaching out to cup his cheek with my hand, forcing his eyes to meet mine, "incredibly glad you did. You're perfect, you know that? And all mine. It's official, even. Too late to back out now!"

He reached for me, and I went to him, straddling his lap, the soft fabric of his pants rubbing against my inner thighs, his arms around me, big warm hands splayed on my hip and back. "Never. I told you. I've seen what it's like to imagine a future without you in it, and I don't want to live that way. This," he took my hand and held it up so my ring caught the firelight, briefly showering rainbows around the room, "is me making sure I never have to. I love you, Sierra."

I kissed him then, carding my hands into his thick hair, tracing his lip with my tongue. His hands roamed my body, kneading and pulling me closer to him, skimming near my breasts and gripping my ass, and I could feel the evidence that he was as desperate as I to get more intimate. I leaned back and smiled at him.

"You, love, are wearing entirely too many clothes." I began unbuttoning his shirt, and he just watched me with dark eyes, distracting me every now and then by stroking my bare thigh or ass. I struggled to get all the buttons undone, and then began kissing my way down his neck to his golden chest as it was bared for me. He gasped as I began licking and sucking one of his nipples, and finally managed to shrug the shirt all the way off.

When I gently bit into the aroused little bump with my teeth, he groaned and pushed me away, grabbing the end of the tunic barely covering me and pulling it up over my head, leaving me nude in the firelight. His gaze raked over me, his breath fast, his pupils blown with desire, and I surrendered to him as he pulled me to him for a savage kiss. Then he mimicked my actions and began tracing down my neck with his lips and teeth, making me twitch and grind against the bulge in his trousers nestled between my thighs.

When he reached my breast, instead of attacking just the nipple, he sucked as much of the flesh as he could fit into his mouth, while his tongue lashed the erect nub on the end, and I cried out, writhing in his lap while he held me relentlessly and switched sides, repeating the process. I ground against him harder, reaching for my orgasm, when he suddenly stopped, lifting me and laying me down on the blanket in front of him. I growled.

"You're right, I am wearing too many clothes." He grinned at my frustrated moan, climbing to his feet to unlace his trousers and toss them onto a chair. Standing naked in the firelight, his skin glowing gold, his perfect chiselled body on display, he was erect and slightly tousled and completely gorgeous. I whispered a brief prayer of thanks to whatever deity created him and then allowed me to be near him.

I had the urge to taste him, to apply my lips and tongue to the parts of his body I hadn't yet, but when I sat up, he shook his head, dropping to his knees at my feet and pressing me back down. "As much as I love your mouth, not today."

He leaned forward to crawl up my body, stopping only briefly to run his tongue into my wet slit, making me gasp and buck, before crawling even further. Still on hands and knees, he kissed me, and I wrapped my legs around his hips and dug my fingers into his shoulders trying to pull him closer.

He resisted, breaking the kiss to chuckle at me. "Not yet. First, I want you to come for me."

I moaned as I felt pressure against my slit, and then the warm, hard length of him parted my lips and slipped through my wetness without entering. I tilted my hips, trying to capture him, but he resisted and I felt the head of his cock nudge against my clit. I shuddered, unmet need now too desperate for release, and he chuckled darkly and did it again, and then again, grinding himself against my sensitive pearl.

"Come for me, Sierra. I want to see you come apart." And then he leaned down and bit my nipple, rubbing himself against me again, and I did. I cried out his name and spasmed, fire racing from my clit and abused nipple through my body until I couldn't breathe or think or do anything but feel and thrash. I came down from my high to find him beside me, stroking me gently, whispering sweet words of love and desire in my ear.

I took a shaky, ragged breath. "Andraste's tits, Alistair, you're going to be the death of me, one of these days."

"Not today," he whispered, and kissed me gently. "You are so incredibly beautiful, Sierra. So gorgeous and sexy, I don't even know what to do with myself. I just want you all the time."

"And now you have me. Permanently." I waved my ring, and he caught my hand, pressing his lips to my palm.

"Permanently," he agreed.

"Now please, no more talking, and just...I need you. Please?"

He kissed my lips, shuffling on top of me, and I gladly wrapped my legs around him as he pressed close. His tongue slipped into my mouth and he swallowed my gasp as he slowly worked his way inside me. And then we were moving together, each thrust and squeeze driving us higher, but he kept the pace slow so we approached our peaks gradually, hovering on the brink for long, torturous moments, before we tumbled over the edge together, our cries muffled by our entwined mouths.

Finally, when the shuddering stopped, he reluctantly withdrew and flopped beside me on the floor; I rolled into his side, my head on his shoulder, and admired my ring in the firelight. I'm really engaged. I'm engaged to Alistair. I chuckled softly.

"What?"

"I just realised. Aedan's been pushing me to embrace being a Cousland – but, I suppose, now I'll actually be a Therein."

"I don't expect you to change your name, Sierra."

"And that's why I'm going to, love."

We finally relocated to the bed, ate the meal laid out by Mistress Leta, then made love again; we laid in bed, entwined together, and talked about our future. We decided we both wanted children, but not for a while after the Blight - we wanted some time to settle in to our lives together outside of travelling and fighting.

"Where do you think we'll live?" he asked.

"Amaranthine," I replied absentmindedly.

"You sound pretty sure of that."

I considered. "Actually, I guess I'm not that sure. With neither you nor Anora in charge, I don't know what will happen. But in the game, the Wardens are granted the Arling of Amaranthine, which is where the problems with the Architect and his crazy creations will happen."

"Huh. But Wardens aren't supposed to be political. How did that work?"

"Well, honestly, the Wardens are as political as anyone else, they just aren't supposed to start civil wars and things. It's an illusion that the Wardens aren't political. The First Warden practically rules the Anderfels." I grimaced, and then smoothed out my expression before Alistair could notice. I don't want to argue about the Wardens, not tonight. "Anyway, I guess things are just a bit...different, in Ferelden."

He chuckled. "We are a different lot, I'll give you that. Wonder what Cailan will do?"

"Guess we will have to wait and see. I'm not super thrilled at the idea of living at the Vigil, I admit."

"The Vigil?"

"The name of the fortress where the Arling of Amaranthine is ruled from. Vigil's Keep. Big, ugly, and poorly maintained. And there's a Deep Roads entrance in the basement, which I'm hoping we can seal up before the darkspawn attack...yet another thing to talk to Sereda about. Because I haven't any idea how to get hold of the dwarf that sealed it after the attack in game. Can't even remember his name - though his brother's name is Dworkin."

Alistair choked. "Dworkin? Really?"

"Hey, I didn't pick it. He's an explosives expert, actually. Sort of crazy, but fun all the same. His brother's a stone mason, and a good one...but if we can't find them, we need to see if some of Sereda's people can give us a hand. After we oust Rendon Howe, of course."

Alistair sighed. "One more thing to add to the to-do list."

He sounded so tired, I considered letting him sleep...but then I thought of a better idea.

"Is it still today? Or is it tomorrow yet?"

"That doesn't even make sense. I'm pretty sure it's after midnight, if that's what you're asking."

"Good."

"Why?"

I disentangled myself and settled on my knees between his thighs. I licked my lips. "Because you said 'not today,' but it isn't anymore."