There and Back Again Ch. 049-050

Alistair dragged me off to help him bathe, and then we spent close to an hour soaking, relaxing, and making love in the tub. We were late for dinner, ate quickly, and raced back to our room to pick up where we had left off in the bath, much to everyone's amusement. The next morning we didn't come up for air until noon, when Alistair's Grey Warden appetite finally wouldn't allow us to wait any longer.

We spent the afternoon playing cards and relaxing with our friends. I taught them hearts and poker, and they tried to teach me wicked grace, though I remained terrible at it. Alistair was quite good, to my surprise; we played for coppers, and I was soon out but his pile was quite large. Who knew? The boy can bluff.

The one who really surprised me, though, was Aedan; contrary to the first evening we had spent in Denerim, it seemed he was a card shark. I had expected Zevran to be good, but Aedan was much, much better. I narrowed my eyes as I watched him win hand after hand - how had he been doing so poorly against Isabela? Did he lose on purpose? I shook my head, not sure I wanted to know. It was sort of like his lock-picking ability; it never occurred to me that a noble's son from Highever should know how to pick locks or play cards, but he made Zev look like an amateur. And he refused to say how he had learned.

By supper, everyone refused to play any more wicked grace with him, and after our meal we scattered to our own rooms to enjoy one last evening in a bed. The next day we would stop in the market for supplies, and then head out of town to meet up with Morrigan, Sten, Shale, and Dariel. I realised I was out of time, and snagged Aedan and Alistair, dragging them into the room Alistair and I shared to talk about Morrigan. The boys both looked at me curiously as I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to think of how to begin.

"You know how, when we met, I told you that many of our party had secrets and that I would not share them with the group if they weren't mine to tell?" They both nodded, so I continued. "I am going to violate that rule, but you both need to promise not to freak out about what I'm going to tell you."

They both chuckled over my Earth terminology, and I grinned weakly. "Yeah, yeah. Do you promise?" They nodded again.

"Alright, so Tomas told you...why it takes a Grey Warden to end the blight, right? And the cost of that?"

Their smiles fell as they thought about one of them dying to end the Blight. "In the performance, there are only three Grey Wardens. When Riordan warned you about a Grey Warden dying, Morrigan... offered you a solution. A ritual, done on the eve of battle. Blood magic, requiring one of you to have sex with her. She would conceive a child, and when the Archdemon was killed, the untainted soul of the Old God would instead inhabit the unborn child, saving the Warden's life. Giving Morrigan a baby with the soul - and presumably the power - of an untainted Old God."

Alistair and Aedan exchanged glances, both sets of eyebrows furrowed. I couldn't read their expressions, but they weren't shouting, so I took it as a good sign. "It's why Flemeth sent her with us. She wanted the child; I can only guess she wanted to possess it and become more powerful. In the performance, Morrigan took the baby and left Thedas, somehow, through an ancient relic from Arlathan. And Flemeth gets reconstituted, somewhere in the Free Marches, in a year or so."

Aedan finally spoke. "And this ritual...worked? We both survived?"

I nodded. "Alistair became King and you became the Warden Commander of Ferelden. Although, you could choose, in the performance, whether to do the ritual, and if you decided not to, one of you had to die."

They were both quiet as they processed. I watched their faces, trying not to fidget. Finally Alistair cleared his throat.

"Why didn't you tell us this before? And what made you tell us now?"

"Before...well, it's still not really my secret to tell, nor is it my decision to make whether you go through the ritual or not. It seemed best to let Morrigan present it to you in her own time. But now...I don't know if you guys noticed the way Dariel looked at Morrigan?" They both nodded. "If you recruit him to the Grey Wardens, Morrigan may be able to convince him to perform the ritual with her, and you won't have any say in the decision. You won't get to choose."

Aedan spoke again. "I don't even know what I'd choose. Maker, that's a horrible decision - die horribly, or spawn some sort of...creature, which will have who knows what sort of consequences for Thedas."

I nodded. "Exactly. Now, the fact that we will have a few more Wardens around helps, especially since if I were Riordan or Tomas, I'd rather die fighting the Archdemon than have to go on my Calling right after."

Aedan shook his head, then stood. "Well, we will keep it in mind as we get closer to a decision with Dariel. If they seem too close... And I think we should talk about it with Tomas, too. We won't mention it to Morrigan, for now." Alistair and I nodded. "On that note, I'm going to find myself a soft bed and make good use of it for our last night."

Alistair blushed and I laughed; Aedan winked and disappeared into his room. When we made it to our room, we also made excellent use of the bed, but purposefully went to sleep early, for once.