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Tainted Dreams	By : wyldehart Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 3478 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: All characters and Dragon Age are property of Bioware/EA. I made no money, sadly.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
(More brutality. There is lightness and humor but you are warned that this chapter is very sad and fairly violent.)
Two days after Elissa's nightmare, they were at last descending toward the Orlesian side of the Pass. Elissa's male companions, having awoken awkwardly the morning before, were avoiding speaking, touching or even looking at one-another. She had laughed at first but now it was getting very old. She had expected it to last only a few hours at most. Then it lasted for a day. Through this morning it continued still and she found herself grating her teeth with irritation. Finally, when Alistair told Elissa to ask Ambrose where the next inhabited village was, she planted her feet in the knee-deep snow and stopped. "Okay. That is enough. I have had it with both of you!"
Alistair blinked his eyes innocently at her and Ambrose sighed audibly. "Elissa, he was naked, pressed against me. And he seemed to be, you know, enjoying it!"
Ambrose bristled and pointed his finger at the blond king. "Enjoying it? Not on your life! I prefer women, thank you very much, and I'd have preferred to have Elissa to press against (no offense, Mon Ce'aire), but I was ordered to put you, Alistair, in the middle instead! You almost died, you know."
Alistair stood before Ambrose, eyes wide and he was practically snarling. "I'd rather have faced death than awakened with, well, the way you were yesterday morning. Your sword, as such, was unsheathed and-and pressed against my thigh. My upper thigh. Near my as-"
"It is a male-thing! Men wake up that way sometimes in the morning and it is a thing you cannot help. Doubtless you awoke with your 'sword' drawn…"
Alistair drew himself up and hauled Elissa's shoulders under his arm. She glared up at him, balking at his possessiveness. "I was up against this beautiful woman so of course I was ready to 'do battle' as it were but then I felt you. Totally ruined it for me. See, it would have been far easier to accept if you had had that problem and been where I was instead."
"If I had been pressed up against her…" Ambrose started to say.
"…you'd have been dead but I completely would have understood why. But against me… That's just… That's just not right. That is so not the way I expected to wake up." Alistair shuddered and wrung his hands in quivering disgust and Elissa sighed.
She shrugged out of Alistair's embrace and pulled her light-weight furred cloak up over her head then moved on ahead of them. New snow quickly dusted her footprints as she pushed on. "Both of you need to just grow up and thank me for saving both your tails. Oh and get over yourselves while you're at it. I refuse to be drawn into the middle of this. Not unless you each plan to give me some pleasure out of it," she muttered at them crossly.
The two men stopped and stared at each other as it dawned on them what she meant. Alistair knew she was only teasing but Ambrose blushed brightly under his tan and short whiskers. Her husband narrowed his eyes as he watched Ambrose closely. The way the man was acting around her plus the pet name had him concerned. Was it possible the Orlesian was starting to fall for her? Alistair tried to be sympathetic. He understood why, since he had fallen for her himself while her companion. She was the complete package, after all; smarts, beauty, a sense of humor and she was kick-ass with a sword. He hoped the fool wouldn't try anything. He was just starting to like him and he would hate to have to hurt him.
The snow was falling heavily but in spite of the cold, they could see the outline of several structures in the distance. Elissa hurried her footsteps. A warm bed and a fire beckoned to her with the appeal of a man drawn to the seductive power of a desire demon. Ambrose grabbed her arm. "What? It's a village! It's been almost 3 days since we left Orzammar and I want to get out of the snow."
"It's a mining settlement, not a village, city or town. There is no pub and no Inn. It's run by a woman who eats nails for breakfast and spits lava at anyone who pisses her off."
Alistair chuckled as Ambrose spoke. His accent caused "pisses" to sound more like "peeces". Something about it was highly amusing to Ferelden's youthful king. He took Elissa's gauntleted hand cheerfully and the pair pushed forward. "Sounds like my kind of woman-er-I mean place! Let's go. I'm sure they'll have a fire we can curl up in front of. I'll even offer to cook!"
Elissa looked up at him with mock horror. "Please not the Lothering Legume Surprise… Ugh."
Ambrose looked confused. "What is wrong with it?"
"The surprise…" Elissa murmured darkly.
"…is that there are no Legumes," Alistair finished for her cheerfully.
"Uhh…"
"Whatever you do, do not let this man near a cook-pot. If you boys actually like seeing the contents of my stomach, fine, let him cook. Otherwise…" As Elissa started to add to what she was saying, someone staggered from the haze of falling snow and fell at her feet. He grabbed her ankle, sobbing. She dropped to her knees and touched him but the moment she did, the Taint within her tingled with recognition. "He's covered in Darkspawn blood along with his own. He may have been infected. What's happening?" she asked the man in a gentle voice.
He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "They came from the mountains, practically a horde of them! Magic-users and Alphas like we've never seen before. Help us fight them off! I beg you!"
Elissa nodded and started patching the man's wounds with the contents of her medical kit. "We'll help you. I swear it. Is your vil-ah-settlement safe?"
"I don't know. Parts of it, maybe. Ronni-er-Veronica put the girls and, ah, the boys in a cellar along with the aged. That would be the safest place."
Ambrose nodded. "Ronni is the woman I mentioned. She also runs the brothel. That would be the only Inn or Tavern to speak of. Buy a night with a partner and keep the room. Buy a beer for one of the employees, get one for yourself. It's a bartering system of sorts."
Elissa frowned and looked back down at the man. He was extremely dirty. "Why didn't you just go into the cellar with the other non-fighters?"
The miner looked sheepish as he gazed up at the other two men. "I, ah, didn't want to seem like a, you know, a coward."
"So you…ran. Right. Great way to not look like a coward," Alistair said dryly.
Ambrose helped the man to his feet and looked off in the direction of the settlement. "Ronni fed me when I came through here on my way to Ferelden. It would be bad manners not to help them. Especially since the Orlesian border is so near. It's just past the settlement in fact." He turned to the miner. "Ser, you have two choices. Stay out here and freeze, or follow us back to the settlement. Either way, we are going in to help as you have asked." Elissa nodded and Alistair stepped in behind Ambrose. The three of them started to walk away and miner jumped, ran after them and did his best to keep up.
When they arrived, the snow was awash in blood and gore. Miner's tools like shovels and pick-axes of varying types could be brutal instruments of death when used in that manner. The miners, many of them humans and dwarves, swung their make-shift weapons with strength and courage, if lacking in grace. Elissa and Alistair leapt into the fray without hesitation while Ambrose escorted the injured miner to the only real building in the settlement. Others, mostly elves, soft women and elderly servants were going inside as well. Then, he withdrew his swords and danced through the twisted bodies that lunged and reached for him. Swords clashed and bit into unprotected flesh, parting it and spraying blood onto the fresh snow. These Darkspawn were wicked, intelligent beings whose skill was greater than most. It was frightening how good they were.
At one point, Ambrose was knocked off his feet by a determined foe. Alistair ran it through with his glowing sword and helped the Orlesian to his feet. "You all right?" he asked. Ambrose smiled and nodded. The two men shared a moment of appreciation for one another before turning back to the bloody scene before them.
It was horrific. The mining camp had lost many. The dead and wounded littered the snow, many torn asunder. The unusual slurry machine near its heart had been damaged, perhaps beyond repair and the few fighters that remained standing were blood-soaked and exhausted. Elissa finished off a magic user who had begun to cast a spell. It had been affecting her in a bad way, and almost made her pass out. Strangely, the Darkspawn seemed to leave her alone, targeting others instead. That meant she was able to kill many of them, which was fine by her.
Eventually, the battle was over. The three of them gathered together, panting and then began the arduous and heartbreaking task of forming a triage of sorts so that those who could be saved were and those who would die regardless were sent to the Maker's side as swiftly and painlessly as possible. Alistair wept as he ended one life after another. One in particular was a young man, perhaps fourteen or so. He was an elf and had wielded his pick-axe with a fury Alistair was proud of. If the lad's entrails had, in fact, been inside his body, Ferelden's King might have tried to save him but it was too late. "S-ser? Did-did I do well? Did I kill 'em?" the boy asked softly. Alistair covered his hands with his as he wept and nodded. "I lied, you know. They was going to put me inna orphanage cuz my parents were kilt by those thet made 'em work. They ain't want me, see. So's I lied and tol'em I was sixteen so's I could head out and do some real work. I been doin' this since I was thirteen! I'm almost sixteen this year. I'as t'only elf on the pick-line, inside the mines. Guess they'll hafta find a replacement… An' tell Elianne tha' I'da made 'er a respectable lady if I'd lived. Teller… Teller I loved 'er an all that. One las thing… Ser, kin you make sure… Make sure they honor me proper? I worked hard an'… 'twold be a shame if they… If they…"
Alistair nodded, choked back a sob and held the boy closely. This child had been loved once and reminded him of the son he would someday have. His heart was shattered even as he swore that the boy's name would be remembered. "Carrin," the boy said softly. "I beg ye, end it swift. Else…"
Alistair withdrew his dagger and said a prayer, one of the few he could recall saying during his life, as drew it across the artery in the child's neck. He held the boy tightly as his life-blood spread across Alistair's armor and the ground beneath him. Carrin was dead within moments and died with a thankful exhalation of breath.
Alistair felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Ambrose's emotion-shadowed eyes. "The young ones… They're the hardest to let go of. I've done this a time or two before and it never gets easy. Come on. Scavengers and wolves will lay claim to these corpses if we don't burn 'em first. We saved a great many today, Alistair. Keep that in mind."
Alistair nodded and slowly rose to his feet, leaving boy where he'd found him. "His name was Carrin. We have to remember him. Send him off with his name. He fought strong and hard."
"Aye. That we will, Alistair. I swear it. Let's finish the hard stuff first and then we can remember…"
Those miners that could walk or even just stand rose quickly to help the Grey Wardens with the painful task of naming and sorting the dead. The ladies and young men from the brothel were best at naming them because they had seen them clean more than the other miners. It was obvious from some of the workers' expressions that emotional bonds that had been forged were now coming back to haunt them. One young lady broke down in shrieking sobs as she beheld Carrin's mutilated body. Alistair walked up to her.
"Elianne? I'm… Alistair. Carrin died in my arms. I'm sorry for your loss. I guess he meant to propose marriage to you…"
"Marriage? I think not. Carrin was my brother, Ser. Brother by half, perhaps, but we were close as blood could make us. We had a dream of leaving this place. We could have left at any time but money was tight and this was reliable work. Thank you for looking out for him. You do Ferelden's throne proud, King Alistair."
He stared after her as she laid her brother's body on the funeral pyre they had created in the center of the settlement. How had she known? Wasn't Alistair a common enough name? She looked human too. Was she half-human? Was that possible?
Elissa touched his arm as he watched flames tear through the bodies piled high upon the pyre. The stench of burning flesh was pervasive and burned his nose and throat as watched the flames reach into the cloudy sky. Ash hung thick and heavy in the grey smoke rising from the deadly tongues of golden light. Tears formed damp trails of sorrow down his fire-lit cheeks. "We've been summoned by the mistress of this place. Are you going to be okay?"
"It's times like these when I'm glad my most difficult job is sorting out issues within the Bannorn. Let's go. I can't watch this any longer." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, as tightly as he could, considering the armor separating them. "I love you…" he breathed into her hair. "When this is over, I'm taking you off to someplace wonderful and quiet where we can just escape from all this death." Elissa kissed him in return and sank happily into his embrace. They walked silently into the big house and gazed warily at the woman who ran the settlement.
She was short, plump and middle-aged. Her eyes were green, like new leaves and her skin was a bright pale shade. "This is Ronni, the woman who runs the mining operation here. We have been invited to stay overnight as her guests and then we are charged to take a message to Lydes, which is the next township," Ambrose was saying as they entered. He rose from the couch he was sitting on and gestured for Elissa and Alistair to sit. "Mon Ce'aire?" Thankfully, the two sat quietly and looked up at the woman. She gestured to a young man and he disappeared.
"You have my thanks, Grey Wardens. We are accustomed to periodic attacks by these beasts. Our location up here in the mountains makes us targets, almost as tantalizing as the Dwarves in their underground realm. But this… This is unprecedented." She rose from her perch on the arm of a chair and didn't as much walk but rather seemed to drift in their direction. "This is by far the worst attack I have yet seen in my many years here, running this operation. It seems to have something to do with you, dear lady."
Elissa paled as she looked up at the portly Orlesian woman. Her bejeweled hands were clasped before her, a smile tugging at the corners of her perfect mouth. Really, Ronni was quite beautiful, even with added pounds and her age. "It's not that I am blaming you for the attack but do forgive me if I listen to my reports. The Darkspawn evidently had little desire to harm you, Madam. I suppose this is not a terrible thing. You compensated well for their hesitation. However, I think that if they are drawn to you, your stay here should be as brief as possible. That leads me to a most unprecedented offer. I shall grant you a full day to recover. That is to say that you will have the night, the whole of tomorrow and some hours the day after to rest and recover. You may leave before then, of course, but you will have at least that long. Also, I shall grant you unfettered access to my hosts and hostesses for whatever your desire may be. We owe you that much for saving this operation."
One young man wearing a simple kilt in colorful silk and little else on his tan skin approached them with a smile. He bowed deeply. "I am T'herau and I have been trained in Antiva in the fine arts of the masseuse. Perhaps my Lady and my Lord might wish to allow my hands to relax them as they have never been?"
Elissa brightened considerably and Alistair blanched. "I can do that! I can massage people!" he stammered. Elissa tossed back her head and laughed before kissing his cheek. She took the young man's hand and allowed him to guide her to the stair. "My love, Zevran taught you those skills and they were for the purpose of his being allowed to touch you by way of teaching you how to pleasure me. Don't look at me like that. You enjoyed it and you know it. This man likely is much better skilled than he was. Well? Coming?"
He sighed. Yes, my love. Whatever you desire, my love. Alistair looked at Ambrose and noted the distant look on the other Grey Warden's thin face. He looked drawn and sad. "Uh… Yeah. Go on ahead without me. I'll be up shortly." Elissa followed the masseuse up the stair with a cheerful wave behind her as Alistair rose to his feet.
He walked over where Ambrose leaned up against the wall. "You okay?" he asked.
The Orlesian shrugged and looked at Alistair ruefully with a partial smile. "I have been better. There is much going on that I cannot begin to explain to you so… Inside it lives and threatens to drive me mad."
"Like your feelings for Elissa?" Alistair said softly.
Ambrose looked startled as he stared at Alistair with wide eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Actually, you do and so do I. You are in love with my wife, Ambrose. It's obvious to me though Elissa, thankfully, is blind to it because she views you with as much affection as she views anyone she considers 'just' a friend. But me… I know better. I know what 'Mon Ce'aire' means, the Fereldan translation of it, anyway."
Ambrose turned away from him angrily. He waved his hand dismissively and hugged the wall with his body. "It is a term of endearment or affection. Nothing more. If it displeases you, I shall quit."
Alistair shook his head. "No. You will continue using it because she likes it. She thinks it's nice. Personally, I should be mad at you for having feelings for her but, actually, it's kind of a relief. You indicated that we will have to part company at some point. I will have to see Empress Celene and you and Elissa will travel- wherever you need to travel. With you in love with her, I am assured that you won't allow anything bad to befall my wife. I also know that you're not crazy enough to try anything stupid with her. You won't like what she'll do to you if you get too bold."
Ambrose sagged against the wall, his back to Alistair and his body showing his defeat. "My feelings are my own, Alistair. You cannot use them against me to force me to promise her safety. Where we go, I cannotpromise what I am unsure of, regardless of how I feel. I do…care for her more than I thought possible and that bothers me a great deal. It puts me in a terribly awkward situation. You see, I may have to make…decisions that could complicate matters. I wish I didn't feel for her, Mon ve'erte."
Alistair came around to stand before him so that their eyes could meet. He placed his hands on Ambrose's shoulders and smiled up at the taller man. "You see? You called me 'my friend'. That's a big step, you know. I trust you. I trust that you will keep her safe, that your love for her will ensure her survival. I have faith in you."
Ambrose pushed him aside gently and headed for the door. "You may come to rue that trust, Mon ve'erte. I need some time alone to collect my thoughts. Forgive me, my friend." He opened the heavy wooden door and headed out into the thick snow. Alistair grunted and shook his head. At least they understood one other. Sort of, anyway. Ambrose was still an enigma to him.
He ran a hand through his short, golden hair and, smiling nervously, his eyes went up the stairs to the door that waited for him and the woman he'd left alone with another man entirely. She would be naked, lying on a bed and the young "professional companion" or "whore" was likely touching her… His imagination exploded with ideas about just where the young man would be touching her. He bolted up the stairs as fast as he could and swiftly joined her.
He later found that he need not have been so worried. It was far more than he'd bargained for and far more pleasurable than he ever imagined…
To be continued
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Tainted Dreams