Birthday Month Fic - #14
Aug. 31st, 2020 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galadriel1010Prompt: Ambiguous/Open Ending
Fandom: Dragon Age
Pairing: f!Mahariel/Alistair
The Hero of Ferelden sets off on her adventure to find the cure for the Calling, and Alistair stays behind to look after his people.
Alistair picked up one of the letters from Alarya’s desk and skimmed over it again, like he hadn’t done that a thousand times already. It wasn’t a lot to go on and they both knew it, but it was more than they’d had before it arrived. The crown weighed heavier on his heart than it had in all the years he’d worn it. “Are you sure…”
“You know I am, Vhenan.” She paused her packing and left it strewn across the floor to come and stand in front of him. Her soft brown eyes were sad, but he knew there was no persuading her. He didn’t even know if he wanted to. “Ferelden needs you even more than I do.”
He smiled back weakly. With the tip of his finger he traced the line of her Vallaslin over her forehead and pushed a stray curl of hair back behind her ear. “I worry about you, you know that. Even if I do worry more about the people who try to get in your way,” he teased her gently. “I could leave Anora…”
Alarya’s eyebrows raised and he was reminded of her other name. The one she’d chosen for herself when she took on the role of Warden Commander. Ajua’Banal, Forged in the Blight. He loved her and respected her, and occasionally, when she stared down an ogre with a smirk, she scared the crap out of him. She knew it, too, and though she mostly used it from behind him, she was quite good at doing it from right in front of him as well. When he blushed and looked away she reached up to cup his cheek, and her smile had turned triumphant and fond. “I’ll be fine,” she promised him. “I have Nathaniel and Oghren watching my back, after all.”
“That,” he told her firmly, “is half reassuring, half terrifying.”
She laughed. “Which half is which?”
“I’m not sure yet.” He rested his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. “You’ll be careful?”
“Always.” Her arms wound round his neck, and she pushed herself up on her toes, as tall as she could. He still had to bend to kiss her. “And you will be the king Ferelden needs and deserves, you will see them through this trouble, you will raise up the vulnerable and stand up to the powerful, you will be glorious, and your people will love you for it… almost as much as I do.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her and melted under her touch. When he eventually pulled back, she was smiling up at him, eyes bright; he wasn’t sure how he was still standing. “Maker, you are beautiful,” he told her once more, and promised himself it was the last time until she was back with him. Which she would be, before he knew it. “Be safe, my love.”
“And you, ma Vhenan. Don’t get into too much trouble without me around to protect you.” She stroked the backs of her fingers down his cheek. “Be glorious.”
She left on the morning’s tide, with Nathaniel by her side at the rail. Alistair watched the ship from the harbour until it passed the walls, and then from the palace roof until the ship became a spec on the horizon. Then he turned away and finally returned to his patient queen and his country, and a world tearing itself apart.
Fandom: Dragon Age
Pairing: f!Mahariel/Alistair
The Hero of Ferelden sets off on her adventure to find the cure for the Calling, and Alistair stays behind to look after his people.
Alistair picked up one of the letters from Alarya’s desk and skimmed over it again, like he hadn’t done that a thousand times already. It wasn’t a lot to go on and they both knew it, but it was more than they’d had before it arrived. The crown weighed heavier on his heart than it had in all the years he’d worn it. “Are you sure…”
“You know I am, Vhenan.” She paused her packing and left it strewn across the floor to come and stand in front of him. Her soft brown eyes were sad, but he knew there was no persuading her. He didn’t even know if he wanted to. “Ferelden needs you even more than I do.”
He smiled back weakly. With the tip of his finger he traced the line of her Vallaslin over her forehead and pushed a stray curl of hair back behind her ear. “I worry about you, you know that. Even if I do worry more about the people who try to get in your way,” he teased her gently. “I could leave Anora…”
Alarya’s eyebrows raised and he was reminded of her other name. The one she’d chosen for herself when she took on the role of Warden Commander. Ajua’Banal, Forged in the Blight. He loved her and respected her, and occasionally, when she stared down an ogre with a smirk, she scared the crap out of him. She knew it, too, and though she mostly used it from behind him, she was quite good at doing it from right in front of him as well. When he blushed and looked away she reached up to cup his cheek, and her smile had turned triumphant and fond. “I’ll be fine,” she promised him. “I have Nathaniel and Oghren watching my back, after all.”
“That,” he told her firmly, “is half reassuring, half terrifying.”
She laughed. “Which half is which?”
“I’m not sure yet.” He rested his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. “You’ll be careful?”
“Always.” Her arms wound round his neck, and she pushed herself up on her toes, as tall as she could. He still had to bend to kiss her. “And you will be the king Ferelden needs and deserves, you will see them through this trouble, you will raise up the vulnerable and stand up to the powerful, you will be glorious, and your people will love you for it… almost as much as I do.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her and melted under her touch. When he eventually pulled back, she was smiling up at him, eyes bright; he wasn’t sure how he was still standing. “Maker, you are beautiful,” he told her once more, and promised himself it was the last time until she was back with him. Which she would be, before he knew it. “Be safe, my love.”
“And you, ma Vhenan. Don’t get into too much trouble without me around to protect you.” She stroked the backs of her fingers down his cheek. “Be glorious.”
She left on the morning’s tide, with Nathaniel by her side at the rail. Alistair watched the ship from the harbour until it passed the walls, and then from the palace roof until the ship became a spec on the horizon. Then he turned away and finally returned to his patient queen and his country, and a world tearing itself apart.
