I curled up next to him as he recovered, and he grinned when he'd caught his breath. He slid off the bed, pushing his trousers down and stepping out of them, then grabbing my legs and pulling me to the edge of the bed. He lifted my dress, knelt, put my legs over his shoulders, and returned the favour. Once I'd come on his tongue, he allowed me to strip out of my dress and made me peak again with him sheathed inside me, filling me.
Part way through the night I had my first darkspawn nightmare in a few nights; he held me, kissed away my tears, and then made love to me again. It was the perfect distraction.
In the morning, he gave me back the rose pendant he'd bought for me in Denerim. I was only too glad to have that little delicate piece of silver back, tucked underneath my clothes beside Leliana's amulet. I kissed him passionately, and he dragged me back into the bed for an enjoyable few minutes before letting me go to redress and straighten my hair for the second time.
The day was spent getting supplies. I 'borrowed' another set of spare armour from Redcliffe's armoury, just in case the group ever split up, and then spent much of the rest of the time shopping for spices, dried vegetables, porridge, cheese, jerky, and some sort of hard, dried, heavy, bread-like substance they called a biscuit - you dipped it in soup. Alistair bought some extra canvas for tents for the new Grey Wardens, though since he and I would be sharing our enchanted tent again, we already had a bit extra; he also bought bedrolls, extra blankets, and packs. Aedan and Zev ran a crash course on extended camping for Solona and Jowan, who had apparently been useless on their mission; Anders had some skill, but Aedan was determined each of us would be self-sufficient.
I wandered into the kitchen to chat with the cook, and with her permission and help, spent some time trying to learn how to make crackers. I was sick of dry bread and the nasty biscuit, and figured crackers would travel well but also taste better. I managed to make a few passable batches, though the cook grumbled at how much salt they used. Table salt was so easy to come by, on Earth, that it never occurred to me that it would be expensive or difficult to find.
We all met in the library to distribute and pack gear in the afternoon. With all the food, the tents, the bedrolls, plus our clothes and gear, everyone had full packs, but given the expected three weeks of walking to get to Orzammar, we knew that wouldn't last. I was relieved to see Anders seemed able to keep up with everything; I'd worried his malnourished, weakened state would be a problem. Though it occurred to me that maybe he was just running on rejuvenation spells. I resolved to ask Wynne later.
Jowan was a bit irritatingly anxious about everything, but Solona managed him remarkably well. It was clear they'd been friends for a long time, and she was used to him being fussy. I wondered how he'd manage in the Deep Roads without her. Anders just sighed every time she was kind to Jowan, and it became quite comical. She'd speak, Anders would sigh, she'd roll her eyes, Jowan would clear his throat nervously, and then it would all start again. I met Aedan's eyes and had to look away before we both burst out laughing.
Once our shares of the group's gear was distributed, Alistair and I took off to shower together. We didn't have sex, but just played and splashed and laughed, freezing ourselves under the water and huddling together to warm back up. It was nice to know we could be naked together without it being so serious. Not that I had a problem with the sex, of course, but just plain fun was all too rare, and I cherished it.
Supper was awkward, again, with Isolde glaring, Eamon ignoring, and everyone else trying not to laugh at my irritation. After, I hugged Teagan, who I refrained from teasing about Kaitlyn, and Theron, who then wandered over to have an awkward, if endearing conversation with Alistair. I turned to Blake.
"You be good while I'm gone, okay?"
He sniffed and nodded. "How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know, Blake. At least a couple of months. More, probably; it'll be six weeks just getting there and back, never mind however long it takes us actually in Orzammar."
"I wish you could stay."
"I know. But hey, you'll be alright with Theron. He'll protect you. And if the Arlessa gives you any trouble, you just run straight to Theron. Okay?"
He rubbed irritably at his eyes, and I drew him into a protective hug. He wrapped his skinny arms around my waist and buried his face. I caught Theron's eye and gave him a look, before pointedly glancing at Blake; he nodded, and I knew he got the message to take care of the sweet child while I was gone.
We all went to bed early, knowing we needed the rest before our long journey. Alistair and I made love, and then spent half the night talking and kissing, despite our early wake-up call. The morning came too soon, and I glared balefully at the weak morning light coming through the window before crawling reluctantly out of bed.
There were fourteen of us when we left, including a golem and a mabari. Dariel chose to stay behind, hoping to meet with the Dalish Ambassadors and gain acceptance with them. Wynne also chose to stay, to help see to Connor's education, and work with the Circle Mages to develop group fighting tactics. I had spoken with her about seeing if they could find ways to extend their range with spells that could help bring down the Archdemon - particularly anything with ice, or paralysis - something to foul its wings.
As usual, Morrigan flew overhead to scout. I carried my own packs - they were heavy, but I was stronger since becoming a Warden - so that Alistair, Aedan, Sten, and Shale could help the three new Grey Wardens, as well as Morrigan, carry their gear. None of the mages were used to carrying heavy packs, and I felt slightly less bad about myself when I had to slow down to accommodate their pace. Months of walking and sparring had forged me into someone far more capable than the scared, useless little girl I'd been when I arrived. I smiled, took Alistair's hand, and headed off down the road.
The trip to Orzammar was really quite uneventful. No bandits wanted to cross the path of fourteen well-armed travellers, so they left us alone. We did run across a few groups of darkspawn, but the largest group was maybe twenty, and between seven Grey Wardens, four mages, and two of us able to disable Emissaries, none of them posed a serious threat. I even got to fight a couple of times, openly walking past darkspawn who ignored me entirely, only to stab my daggers into their flanks or reach around to cut their throats.
Sometimes, in the evenings, Alistair would pull out his roll of parchment and some pencils; he'd never let me see until whatever he drew was finished, but each drawing was almost a masterpiece. And I managed to convince him to draw things other than me, at least sometimes.
I gathered elfroot, trying to be surreptitious, while we walked, and joined Morrigan to use her mortar and pestle to make little healing potions for myself.
Leliana often walked with me, peppering me with questions about Earth and its customs. There were a lot more diverse cultures on Earth than were known on Thedas; not for the first time, I wondered what was past the limits of the maps of Thedas I'd seen. Was it a planet, round like Earth? Or some sort of magical land that was flat? No one knew, it seemed.
After much discussion about diversity, Leliana narrowed in to asking questions about my culture, about how I'd grown up. We talked about women's rights, work, military, art, music...she found it fascinating. And the fact that there were no 'nobility', only rich and poor, and that with luck and skill (or lack thereof) someone's fortunes could change dramatically definitely interested her. Aedan was impressed with the absence of arranged marriages, since as a noble, before the Blight, he'd have been expected to marry and provide heirs; the whole group was dumbstruck by the fact that power passed to those elected to hold it, not passed through blood lines. Who someone's father was didn't define who they could be. Though said father's money could help, of course, if someone wanted to go to school or into a business that took money to start...
We had a whole morning's worth of conversations about weddings and betrothals. Leliana thought the whole 'white gown signifying purity' thing was hilarious, and everyone was surprised by the concept of wedding rings. In Ferelden, couples exchanged gifts, but the idea of marking someone as being taken, with identifiable jewelry, was new to them. It made sense, though - within the nobility, everyone would know who was unmarried, and the common people wouldn't have the means to either buy jewelry, or move much beyond the borders of where they were born, so likely knew who in their town was still single.
One night, when I was on watch, Solona came stumbling out of her tent, retching; knowing the likely cause, and having been through the same thing, I sat with her while she trembled.
