#but adaline kane or laura donnelly

[daughterofhighever-blog]

Camp, Outside Denerim - 9:31 Dragon

{ Starter for @royalbstrd. Muse: “Alistair” }

 The journey back from Ostagar had been blessedly uneventful, though that may not have been as good a sign as Elissa would have liked. Fewer and fewer isolated bands of darkspawn were being found around the countryside. It served the Wardens’ cause in the eyes of the common people, who attributed this lull to their efforts. In truth, it was because they were certainly pulling back into a single massive horde in preparation for the first emergence of the Archdemon from beneath the ground.

  Her hands gripped the saddle pommel tightly, eyes squeezed shut, and her expression twisted into one of nauseous discomfort. Leaning back against Loghain’s chest, with one of his arms wrapped around her waist - the other holding the reigns - was one of the only reasons why she wasn’t completely panicking herself into losing consciousness or vomiting. The intense and irrational fear she struggled with every time she climbed into the saddle of a horse was typically more manageable, but Elissa already had reason to be incredibly anxious in anticipation of a painful, but necessary... conversation... with Alistair upon their return.  Wynne turned her head slightly to the side as she passed the two of them to head further into camp, catching Elissa’s gaze. The look on her face was pensive, but otherwise largely unreadable; though there was a glimmer of sympathy in her eyes. Loghain stopped their horse where they were - far enough from the fire in the center of camp to be somewhat obscured, but not so far that they could not still be seen. Once he had dismounted, he reached for Elissa’s waist to hoist her down from the saddle. Her legs buckled just a bit once she put her full weight on them, and she braced her hands against him, pressing her cheek to his chest.  Loghain pressed his lips to the top of her head, murmuring something to her that no one else but the two of them could hear. Rough, calloused hands reached up to cup her tearful face and tilted it up to look at him. After several more moments, and more exchanged words, he bent his head down as Elissa lifted up on her toes to lay a kiss upon her lips.

  Eventually, she unstrapped a long bundle wrapped in leather from the back of the horse. It was a little bit unwieldy for one of her short stature, being nearly as long as she was tall. Two distinctively styled silverite pommels and handles, partially visible, marked it as a brace bundle of blades - one long, one short. Elissa carried it diagonally, close to her chest as she forced herself to walk towards the campfire. Alistair sat there, staring into the flames and giving no acknowledgement of her approach. Hakkon galloped ahead of her with a few eager yips, as Barkspawn rose from his place by Alistair’s side and woofed loudly in return. The two tackled one another at a halfway point, wrestling and nipping at one another in happy reunion.  She stopped perhaps a a few feet away and swallowed thickly before speaking in a voice that cracked halfway through... “Alistair?”