Tugging back on the reins, her horse gladly slowed to a trot while Reiss glared at the glittering swirls. It could be any number of things, bugs caught by the setting sun, her own dying vision as pain racked her brain, or an apostate hiding in the woods. Glaring at the path to the west, Reiss couldn't see anything down that way but more forest ready to suck her away.
"Maker take me," she cursed to herself while tugging the horse up the northern path. If this wasn't it then she not only killed Alistair, she may have doomed herself as well.
The horse jangled back and forth, the motion rocking Reiss the way a cradle would an infant. Long days on the road and short nights barely spent sleeping merged with the pain coursing through her veins, all of it doing its best to lull her to sleep. She kept starting awake, once even pinched her cheeks to focus, but nothing was working. Andraste, how long will this take?
Fear that she'd chosen wrong and wasted precious time stung Reiss as she ducked under a low branch. She was about to yank the horse back around and head to the western path, when lights burst through the woods. More smoke, this of the regular variety tumbled apart the clouds, and she could swear she heard a bit of laughter in the air. Please let this be right.
Spurring her horse into a gallop, Reiss rose up off her haunches and drove towards the only hope she had left in this world. White walls rose through the forest greens, an archway towering above the open gate. She barely ducked under it while yanking back on her horse to come to a slow standstill in the middle of the courtyard. There were no signs saying what this place was, no one ran out to greet her, only the smell of bread and voices speaking behind doors admitted that anyone lived here.
"Hello," Reiss shouted, hoping someone would come out.
"Ah," a man's voice rumbled above the stomping of her exhausted horse's hooves.
She turned it around to find the source and felt the blood drain from her cheeks as the Commander of the Inquisition stepped out of a side room and glanced up at her. "Picking up or dropping off?" he asked so assuredly, Reiss had to run back through what she needed.
"Commander," Reiss bowed her head to him.
He frowned in response and paused in wiping flour off his hands, "Most call me Cullen here."
"Right, I need help," Reiss sputtered, her own brain running on fumes barely able to sputter out anything coherent. His eyes wandered up to her arm tucked in a sling. "No, not that. I...I need a mage."
That snapped his spine straight. Reiss didn't realize he'd been warm and welcoming until it all drained away. "You're mistaken, there are no mages here."
"Please," she begged. Maker it felt strange to be above the Commander, but she feared getting off her horse. It seemed to intimidate the man a bit as he folded his arms but made no direct move to throw her out. "There's been an injury and..." Could she trust him? Would Alistair? But he trusted the man who stabbed him. "I heard that there was a mage here who could help."
"You were misinformed," he growled, the smoldering anger silencing Reiss' tongue. She'd never run afoul of the Commander but Maker save her soul if she ever did. He was more terrifying than having to face down Andraste's wrath. "If that is all..." he extended a hand to the door and began to turn away.
No! This isn't about you! Blighted save him!
"The Hero of Ferelden!" Reiss gasped out.
Cullen froze in his turn, the muscles in his shoulders popping into rage as he whipped his head back to her. "What?!"
"I need her, I know she's here. Please, it's for..."
"Get out." Not caring that she was on a horse that could easily trample him, the Commander grabbed the reins out of her hand and yanked the horse towards the gate.
"Stop," Reiss begged, wishing she could explain, "I know her, she's here because she..."
"You know nothing and it would be in your best interest to forget anything you think you know," he growled, marching her away from her only hope.
Reiss fumbled forward, trying to snatch the reins away, but her broken arm smashed into the saddle horn. Her scream of agony shattered the quiet air of the abbey. Even Cullen paused in dragging her away, his eyes hunting over to make certain she wasn't about to split apart into a demon.
"What in Andraste's name was that?" a voice called out from behind her. "Reiss?"
She spun in the saddle, fighting through the pain wracking her spine to find the Hero standing at the top of the stairs.
"Cullen, stop!" Lana dashed forward, waving her hand to him.
He did as commanded, but sneered up at Reiss while turning to his wife. "She..."
"Is the bodyguard who...you know," Lana was quick to intervene, a smile on her lips while the Commander cooled down in an instant. But Lana whipped her head up to Reiss, fear marring her features. "What are you doing here without him?"
"Please, I need you," she begged, tears of pain and relief streaking down her cheeks, "Alistair's been injured."
"How bad?" Lana asked, her back snapping to attention.
"Gravely, he was stabbed in the..."
Reiss didn't even have time to finish her answer before Lana whistled for a stablehand to come rushing over. "Prepare a horse," her eyes glanced over Reiss' sweating, staggering nag, "two horses."
"Yes, ma'am," the stablehand wandered off.
"Make it three," Cullen added, dropping Reiss' reins and marching over to his wife who was already hobbling towards a back room.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lana asked, barely pausing to talk to her quickly catching up husband.
"I'm not letting you go alone, and the two of us riding together would slow the horse down."
She gripped onto his arm, eyeing him up a moment before nodding. With that blessing Cullen dashed off to help saddle up the three horses in the stable. The Hero vanished into a room she had to unlock with a key while someone was kind enough to help Reiss off her horse and onto the first prepped one.
"Here," Cullen passed her a bottle much like the ones the bandage boy gave her. "It'll help for now," he tipped his head at her arm but made no mention to almost running her off.
Reiss drank it all in one go and felt a surge of energy burning through her veins. This must have been far more concentrated than whatever the hunting lodge had available as the throb in her arm died down to a dull ache. She felt so free from the pain, she glanced down to make certain the bone was still there saying hello to the world.
Slightly aware she was getting loopy from the pain medication, Reiss wrapped the reins around her hand so they wouldn't fall off just as Lana hobbled out of the room. She had a pouch knotted tight against her back which her husband cast a concerned glance over but said nothing too. After being helped onto her horse, Lana didn't wait for the others. She spurred it into a gallop, churning quickly to the hunting lodge. Barely rolling his eyes, Cullen lopped his horse and mounted onto it while running beside.
Reiss shook off the long fingers of sleep trying to burrow into her mind. She had to be there or they wouldn't let Lana in to see him, to save him. A flash of Alistair laying lifeless on the ground, his blood pooling upon the floor snapped her fully awake. Yanking her horse around, Reiss followed after the mad cavalcade. Please, Andraste, Maker, even the damn Creators if you care, keep him alive.
Let this work.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The Sun
Lana was the first to hit the ground, her cane rattling quickly against the steps as, sure enough, the people Reiss ordered to guard the King came out to stop her. The Hero wasn't about to be pushed around by anyone, and raised her fist, magic sparkling around when Reiss shouted from outside the gate, "She's with me!"
Nodding her thanks, Lana hurried up towards Alistair's room, almost as if she knew right where he was without having to ask. It was the Commander who helped Reiss off her horse, his eyes darting over her a minute to see if she needed help standing, but once she got her legs under her, she bolted for the stairs. He kept close on her heels until they stumbled upon the thrown open door.
"Pl
ease tell me he's alive," Reiss gasped. Lana froze a moment with her hand hovering above his dangerously still chest, her eyes in shock. She found her courage and with the certainty of a healer laid it upon his sternum.
Time froze, Reiss clinging tight to her wounded shoulder while feeling her life split in two. One path had hope, no matter how brief it may be while the other was an eternal darkness she may never climb out of.
Lana gasped, and nodded her head, "He's still with us."
Thank the Maker! Reiss sobbed to herself, freezing up in the doorway. Luckily the healer now assured that her patient lived was on the job. Lana yanked the pouch she got special off her back and placed it on the chair.
"Cullen," she turned to her husband filling up the door, "take his shirt off."
What should have been awkward for all was nothing as the Commander tugged out a small hunting knife and split apart the King's blood soaked tunic. It fell open revealing the bloody wound and burned flesh. Lana hissed at the sight, her fingers dancing over it as her eyes closed.
"I get why, probably saved his life, but..." she chuckled mirthlessly to herself, "Sorry Ali, this is going to hurt." Twisting her fingers around, white light poured out of her hand aimed at the wound. Below her fingers, Reiss could see the charred flesh rising away to a rubbed raw pink as if it healed quickly, but the blood returned, gurgling out the wound.
Lana yanked off the light, a panic in her eyes. She didn't seem concerned about the bleeding, her hand waving across it and stitching the torn flesh together in an instant. "He didn't scream, he should have screamed," she mouthed, her eyes darting back to Reiss a moment before folding her hands together and slowly drawing them down Alistair's exposed chest. Cullen stood beside the bed, his fingers rolling back and forth the knife while he watched his wife closely.
At that exact moment, the servants came bustling into the room. "What are you doing?" the bandage boy called out, angry at her messing with his work. Or perhaps trying to defend his King. Patrice's eyes widened to just the whites as she clung tightly to her elbows, one of which was now crimson.
Lana snarled, "Cullen, get them out of here."
He nodded at his wife, and swooped his arms out to block the servant's view. "Let's go, she needs time to work."
Reiss turned to leave, when Lana called out, "You stay, I might need your help."
Maker's sake, what could she do? Nodding at the order, Reiss tried to move to the Hero's side when the Commander having finished shoving the servants out and was about to close the door leaned to her. "Make certain she doesn't kill herself."
Was that a possibility? Reiss bobbed her head, terrified of what he'd do if she failed. His eyes darted back to his wife once before Cullen shut the door, no doubt standing in the way so no one would interrupt.
"Come here, I need you to dig into that satchel and pull out a bottle."
It wasn't the easiest to unknot the tie with only one hand, but Reiss didn't slow down while Lana kept kneading her fingers an inch above Alistair. "Will he make it?" she pleaded.
"I..." Lana opened her eyes a moment and sighed, "I'm not sure yet. Do you have the vial?"
Reaching into the pouch, her hand skimmed over strangely warm glass and Reiss yanked out a blue cylinder that almost pulsed with power. Staring too hard at it made her teeth hurt. Reiss shoved it toward's Lana, but the healer shook her head.
"No, just open the cap and Maker's sake don't touch it," Lana ordered.
With her thumb and forefinger, Reiss slowly unscrewed the lid and watched it bounce off the ground. Something happened, the air in the room thickening and Reiss felt her fingers reaching around and around the vial as she tried to hold it steady. But all she could see was the blue liquid dissipate out of the vial as if by magic. When the final drop vanished into the air, Lana parted her hands across Alistair's chest and he tossed his head back, his lungs pulling in a deep breath.
"Is he...?" Reiss ran to the other side of the bed, hoping he'd open his eyes.
"Not yet, but...that's a good sign. This is going to take some time," she groaned, exhaustion evident. Oh Maker, what if the Commander was right and she had to sacrifice herself to save him. Was that how magic worked? Reiss had never been near it before beyond the small spells.
"Don't..." Reiss began, but the woman waved her concerns away as she prodded at Alistair's ribs. "What should I do?"
Lana's eyes darted over to her standing awkwardly beside him before returning to her patient. "Hold his hand, talk to him. Give him a reason to stay here."
"That..." tears bit in her eyes, but she shook them off. This wasn't the time. Fumbling down his forearm, Reiss' fingers wrapped around his slack ones. Maker, they were so cold. It felt as if he stumbled in from a day of building snowmen. Was that something he enjoyed doing? She didn't even know because she hadn't known him long enough to see their first winter together.
"I'm here," she whispered, falling to a knee. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."
Lana worked her magic above her while Reiss kept mumbling the same two words over and over. She was so exhausted she couldn't think of anything else to say, but she prayed that it would be enough. His fingers dangled limply in her grip, Reiss trying to impart her useless life force through him, as if that could work. Don't die. Please. Just. Don't. I can't lose you after I...
After I already lost you.
Reiss started at the thought infecting her brain, surprised that her heavy eyelids slid open. Did she fall asleep on her knees? Struggling in a breath, the pain reared awake in her arm -- the draught's power having ebbed out of her system. She glanced up at Lana and the woman didn't look as if she'd moved a step, her fingers spread over Alistair's midsection. Both eyes closed, she breathed softly through her parted lips, the scent of lightning brash in the room.
Alistair didn't look any better, but he didn't look worse either. Please be okay. Please come through this. So many people care for you. Need you.
Love you.
"You should head out to the hall to sit with Cullen," Lana's voice boomed through the still room. Reiss drew away from staring a plea into Alistair's closed eyes. The mage hadn't opened her eyes but she looked strained.
"It's all right," Reiss coughed out, "I'm fine, I can stay."
"It wasn't a suggestion," the depths of the power of the Hero washed over Reiss and she staggered up to her legs. For a moment her knee tried to buckle, the muscle falling asleep when she did, but she managed to stagger around without bumping into the bed.
"Will he...?"
"I need to concentrate," she hissed, her fingers parting through that veil the mage's used. Blue light sparked from one hand to the next, undulating as she honed in on his chest.
Reiss didn't want to leave but she had no logical standing to remain. She made that choice to exit his life, it only made sense that his closest friends would try to protect him now. Staggering to the door, Reiss turned on the handle and left the healer alone to try and save the dying man.
The servants must have scattered after realizing there was no crossing the Commander. He wasn't standing guard the way Reiss would but was sitting on a bench beside the wall. Hands clasped together, his eyes were shut tight as soft prayers moved through his lips. The words were so quiet Reiss could only catch the barest breath of the consonants, but she knew it. Atisha wasn't a fan of the darker parts of the chants as she put it, she liked the lighter stories -- like Andraste toppling an empire. That was good bedtime reading.
But this canticle Reiss knew well, hearing it often reverberating in the refugee camps, in filthy work houses, bandied about by bleeding lips while survivors huddled together during the Blight.
"When I have lost all else, when my eyes fail me and the taste of blood fills my mouth, then in the pounding of my heart, I hear the glory of creation."
Bending her legs, Reiss collapsed onto the bench doing her best to keep her shattered arm from hitting anything. The pain threatened to knock her stomach about, but it was empty -- everything long
since voided in her mad dash to save Alistair. And it could all be for nothing. So close and she could still... Silly rabbit, you already lost him.
Maybe, but that doesn't mean the world should too.
"Do not grieve for me, Maker of All. Though all others may forget You, Your name is etched into my every step."
"I will not forsake You, even if I forget myself."
Reiss didn't realize she spoke the prayer aloud with him until the Commander parted his hands and glanced over at her. She moved to apologize for interrupting him, but exhaustion and guilt stamped out her ability to play nice. Every thing in her life dangled upon the knife's edge, and no matter the outcome it would never be the same. She'd never be the same.
"I'm sorry," the Commander spoke to her, his voice soft. It's lightness surprised the ex-soldier who only ever heard it bellowed with a raw rasp across battlefields and crowded halls. "For trying to send you away. For not listening."
She swallowed hard, uncertain what to say. In the list of offenses against her, his fell so far down it wasn't even in her mind. Closing her eyes against the stinging light, Reiss sighed, "You were protecting her."
He snickered at that. The Commander sat with his legs wide, both elbows pushing into the thighs while his hands dangled limply in the middle. He felt useless, as useless as Reiss did. Right now there was a man dying, a King dying, and only one person who could help.
"It's not easy, loving someone like that."
Reiss' eyes flew open and she whipped her head over at the man who as far as she knew never opened up to anyone. Little was known about the Commander's private life, which he seemed to prefer, and also inspired the rumor mill. Somehow no one ever got that he was enraptured with the Hero of Ferelden right.
Aware of her scrutiny, he leaned up, the back of his head brushing against the wall. "Like trying to protect the sun itself. All your worry, all your fears mean nothing because it shines bright enough to both attract constant danger but also ferret away darkness."
"I..." Reiss couldn't shake her own awe at the real Solona Amell being only a room away. She was a legend, saved her and her family.
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