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This was certainly not how Eddi had envisioned her Dock Town excursion. She'd pictured fresh-cut blooms and fish galore, fine company and perhaps a good bit of flirtation. She hadn't expected to lay alone in an alleyway, bloodied and broken, with the last dregs of life slipping through her armor.
The only reason she was still alive was that the damnable Venatori were toying with her, or perhaps Respite, the spirit within her, had decided that her death would not come that day. Regardless, it did little to ease the burn of their foul magics and the sting of her own foolishness. She had been overconfident, too eager to prove herself to the parents who already came to accept and support her decision to join the Wardens, and now, because of it, she was as good as dead.
"Let. Me. Go," she rasped through gritted teeth, fighting against the blood magic bindings that held her in place.
"Oh, no, no. You've already caused enough trouble," one of them said from behind his mask, his voice deep and guttural. He knelt down to grab her by her chin and it took all her remaining decorum and strength to not spit in his face. "It's time you were taken care of."
She wanted to scream, but even that would take more energy than she had left, so she stared him down hard, that withering look she'd seen Anders give countless times when he'd had just about enough of something. The mage, however, seemed hardly phased by her baby-faced ire. Instead, he looked around for the rest of his comrades and nodded toward the entrance of the alley.
"Bring the Warden back to the camp. And make sure you gag her this time. I don't want to hear another word from her, not a sound."
"Die in a pit," she croaked and was silenced by a sharp kick to her chest plate, sending her clattering against the wall. A cry was swallowed up in her throat as the air fled from her lungs quicker than she could catch it.
This was bad. Worse than bad. She was outnumbered, she was bleeding, and she was alone. There was no one to help her, and she'd be a fool to believe that her parents were coming for her. She was on her own.
But, the Wardens and her fathers had both taught her to think on her feet, even when her options were sparse. She couldn't break the bindings with her own strength, that was a certainty, and continuing to struggle would only sap her of what little remained. If there was anyone that could...
Though she knew she may well be giving into the haze that was slowly stealing vision from the corners of her eyes, Eddi took a breath and tried to calm her nerves, letting herself drift a bit. It wasn't easy. Everything was throbbing and she was beginning to see spots behind her eyelids, but she knew, or at least hoped, that if she could just find that calm again Respite would respond.
The alleyway faded into a blurry nothingness until it all reformed into a quieter version of itself. The sound of her own blood pumping in her ears had subsided, as had the ringing, there was only the soft, soothing hum of the Fade.
"Uncle Anders," she called, then amended, "Respite. Come to me. I'm— It's happening again. I'm in trouble."
For a moment, she feared it would not come, that it would take the peace she'd found to reach it as a goal fulfilled with no need for further action, but her worries were quickly proven unfounded. She could feel it loom over her, that raw power and ancient will, the warmth like a summer's day, and the chill of an unquiet grave.
"We are here."
"Thank you," she breathed, relief flooding through her veins like a heady balm. "You must help me. They're taking me somewhere and—"
"They will not. They cannot. We have not given them the right."
"The right?" she asked.
"Open your eyes, child. See the way they stumbled."
She blinked and the alley came into focus once more. The mages were strewn about like broken toys, lifeless and smoldering.
"Did... did I...?" There was no time to ponder and no one to answer her question. Though their magic was severed, she was still bleeding like a stuck pig, and with her adrenaline fading fast, the pain was creeping back in.
Neve was waiting for her at the Cobbled Swan, just a stone's throw away. If she could make it there, her lover would see her fixed.
Eddi struggled to her feet, but her legs gave out beneath her and she was sent sprawling onto her stomach, face-down in the dirt. Her arms were free now, though, and she could move them. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
"Please be there, Neve. Please be there," she muttered to herself as she forced herself forward, one painful movement after the next, inch by inch. She was losing blood fast and her thoughts were growing hazy. All she could do was keep moving and pray for a miracle.
"I'm going to die."
It wasn't a revelation. Eddi had always known that her fate would likely be a short and brutal one, that was the nature of the Wardens. But this? Dying alone in an alleyway after being captured and toyed with by cultists? All while her love waited, oblivious, just around the corner? That was cruel. It was wrong. It was a tragedy and a waste, and if she had any more strength, she'd have wept.
But there was no crying, not now, so she continued to drag herself toward the tavern, toward Neve, praying the entire way.
"Maker, please don't take me, not yet. Not before I see her again." It felt selfish, this indulgence above the fate of Minrathous. But she knew the Threads were plenty capable. They could liberate Tevinter without her. But Neve? She had lost much and had only just begun to smile again, to trust in a world that had never given her reason to. Losing Eddi, especially like this, would break her. She refused to be another thing the Venatori had stolen from Neve's world.
The sound of hoofbeats and the creak of carriage wheels startled her back to her senses. It sounded far off, but the noise was growing closer, and quick. She didn't like it one bit. The Swan was in sight now, if she could just make it a few more paces, maybe the patrons would hear her shouting before the racing wagon did.
"Neve!" She cried out from the pit of her stomach, every last fiber of her being poured into a desperate plea for her beloved. To her relief, patrons peeked around the corner, some of them gasping, some rushing toward her.
"Hold on, lassie, we've got ye," an older woman with a heavy brogue told her as they gathered around her. "We'll get ye patched up."
"No. No no, get to safety," she coughed, "Venatori... I need... tell Neve that Eddi is..."
Her mind was fading fast. The last thing she saw was the look of horror on the faces of the crowd.
When her senses began to return, Eddi felt warm and heavy, her head filled with a thick, cotton-like fuzz that seemed to block out almost all else. Only the faintest of sounds could break through the veil: the crackle of magic as it split the air, the shrieks of the wounded, and the clatter of staves as they hit the pavement.
And then, among it all, the pleasant warmth of a healing spell, just a trickle but enough to rouse her. Eddi blinked a few times before her eyes managed to stay open and the blurriness of the world around her began to fade. It took a few moments longer before she could make sense of the destruction that surrounded her.
Frost had formed on the stones and the cobbled streets had been ripped to pieces by spells of such intensity that they'd cracked the stone. The cart and all of its Venatori had been frozen to the bone, some of them reduced to little more than shattered statues that littered the ground and seeped red slurry through the snow.
There, at the heart of the chaos, was Neve. She was hunched heavy on her staff and panting, fingers and lips blotched blue and her lashes and the tips of her hair frosted with ice. Any cultist who dared approach her swiftly knew her wrath, taken out in a haze of graceless, visceral violence until there was nothing left of them, giving her the briefest of moments to channel the lightest of healing spells in Eddi’s direction. But this time, the moment their eyes met, that wild look of rage that had possessed her melted away, replaced by an expression of entwined tenderness and fear.
"Trouble," she murmured, the word barely passing her lips before she collapsed at her side, staff clattering to the ground.
"H-hey," she managed in return, struggling to reach for Neve's hand.
"Trouble, I'm so... sorry," her lover breathed, and her hand was cold against her cheek. "Those damn Venatori bastards. You're never late so I should have... should have known. Should have come sooner."
"You came for me," Eddi whispered, "I'm okay now."
"Yeah," Neve replied, slouching over her form to drip the last of her mana into a healing spell.
"Neve, don't. You're spent. Save your energy."
"I'm fine," Neve protested, but her voice was thin and her breathing was ragged.
"We need a healer. Both of us," she weakly insisted, trying and failing to sit up.
"Stop. Don't try to move, not yet."
"But—"
"Trouble, I'm begging you. Just rest. Rest, and I'll fix this."
With great effort, she managed to lift a hand, thumb grazing the snowflakes that had gathered on her lashes, causing them to melt and drip down from the corners.
"No. No, let me," Eddi insisted, letting her trembling hand drift down her jaw, infusing her fingertips with a healing spell to restore some of the life to her skin.
"What are you—"
"I'm supposed to just lay here while you're suffering? How does that sound fair?"
"It's not about fairness. I need to keep you alive."
"And you did. I'm still breathing."
"But—"
"Respite won't let me go, not without a good reason. I'll be alright. But you—"
"I'll be fine. I'm always fine. You know that," she insisted, her cheeks regaining a bit of color from the warmth of her spell.
Eddi herself could feel her own wounds beginning to heal, the life flowing back into her limbs, and the pain fading to a dull ache.
"You don't have to always be fine," she said softly, her fingers drifting further to the center of her chest. "I knew you wouldn't be. That's why I was so afraid to go."
"Eddi," Neve murmured, leaning in closer, their breath mingling. "I don't know what I'd do if they took you away from me."
"They won't. But don't let them take you from me either."
Neve shook her head and rested it in the crook of her neck. Eddi let her arms circle around her shoulders, giving her all the warmth she had to give.
"I love you," Eddi whispered into her hair.
"I don't have the words for how much I love you," Neve murmured in reply, the weight of her body lifting slightly. "We need to get you inside. Neither of us can take another fight. Not like this."
"I think I can stand now. Probably. Maybe."
"Lean on me. I've got you," Neve assured her, wrapping an arm around her waist and slowly, painstakingly hoisting her up, leaving herself winded and trembling.
"Are you sure you've got me? Maybe I need to have you, too," Eddi offered, lightening up the weight she'd placed upon her shoulder by using the wall for leverage.
"Let's just... get to the Swan."
"Have they brewed the cider yet? Or the wassail? Because that would really make my day. Or rather, my year."
"You and your sweet tooth," Neve laughed, though her voice shook around the words, the terror still evident in the tightness of her throat.
"No wonder you drew me in," she teased as they breached the doorway, met by the familiar scent of pipe smoke, ale, and freshly baked bread.
"Neve!"
The bartender rushed toward them and took the brunt of Eddi's weight off of Neve, which was enough to let her finally catch her breath. "Okay, someone unlock the rooms. And bring the poor girls something to drink."
"A healer. A healer would be good," Eddi said through a coughing fit, "and something warm."
"Alright, dear. Let's get you upstairs."
"Thank you," she managed to say before the man swept her off her feet to carry her up to their room, Neve in tow. Off the ground like that, without a need to focus on her legs and with Neve now safe in good hands, the room seemed to spin and the cotton fog returned, sapping away the strength that she'd fought to regain.
The last thing she remembered before drifting off was the feeling of a soft mattress and the warmth of Neve's body as she joined her beneath the covers.
"Trouble."
Eddi groaned, burying her face in her pillow. "Five more minutes."
"Trouble," the voice insisted, and she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake. "Medicine time."
She opened one eye, and then the other, blinking away the blur until the world came back into focus. Neve was kneeling at her bedside with a vial of something amber and viscous, and she looked tired but happy, a soft smile on her lips.
"Medicine?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Did the healer come?"
"Hours ago. They did what they could, but they said you'd need to take this three times a day. You've already had your morning dose, but you slept through the whole afternoon."
"What is it?" she asked, sitting up in bed and reaching for the vial.
"Beats me. They put it in honey so it would go down easier."
"Aww, that was thoughtful," she said, taking the vial from Neve's palm, pulling the cork and tossing it back. As soon as it hit her tongue she gagged, the taste of honey doing nothing to mask the bitterness of the herbs that had been ground up into the mixture. "Maker, that's awful. Ugh, so bad," she sputtered.
"See why 5hey added the honey?" She gave her a crooked little smile and placed a glass of water in her hands. She didn't let go though, helping her bring it to her lips. After a few swigs, the taste of honey was replaced by the crispness of water, and she was able to relax.
"What about you?" She asked, handing the glass back. "Did they look you over too?"
"I was able to sleep off most of it. You were the one they were worried about."
"Well, now that you're sure I'm okay..."
"Now you have to worry about me. I know," Neve sighed, a slight roll of her eyes. "I'm fine. Nothing a rest and some cider won't cure. We can share."
"Oh, they did brew it?" She asked, perking up.
"It's a special order. No alcohol in it so the kitchen staff said they could whip it up in a few hours."
"Have I ever told you you're a blessing?" Eddi patted the empty space beside her.
"Plenty of times," she said, crawling in beside her and resting her head upon her bare chest, tucking her face against her shoulder. "About as many as I've told you you're a menace."
"So plenty of times," Eddi said, running a hand through her hair. It had lost its chill and had softened to a silky mess of loose waves. "I'm glad you're alright. This was all... a bit too close for comfort."
Neve hummed in agreement, the vibrations of it thrumming against her skin.
"You're a hero, you know. That was a whole caravan of them. And, I have to say, you were a bit frightening. In a good way. Had me feeling like a damsel in distress and you were the big bad ice witch, coming to save me from a terrible fate."
"Oh, you're delirious again," Neve teased.
"Deliriously in love, that's true."
"Alright already, I get it," she said, moving to press her lips to Eddi's, no doubt just to shut her up. It didn't quite work, though, not when she pulled away with a smile still on her lips.
"There's my girl," Eddi whispered, stroking her cheek. "That's the smile that I live to see."
"Whatever keeps you going," Neve murmured against her lips. "Just as long as you're here to see it."
"Always, love. Always."
"I would love to grab you that cider, but I'm afraid I don't want to move," she admitted with a soft laugh. "I never met someone so damn warm."
"Hey, I had to survive the Fereldan winters somehow."
"And yet you're the one who loves to drink something that warms from within while you're roasting in full body armor under the Minrathous sun."
"Ah, but that's why I have you, to cool me off."
"Is that why I'm here, Trouble?" She asked, nipping at the lobe of her ear, "just to keep you from overheating?"
"Hmmm... no. Not just that. You're also here to make sure I don't get captured by the Venatori again. And to cuddle me and make me smile."
"And to bring you cider?"
"Hey, I wasn't the one who said it," Eddi teased.
"I know you Trouble, that sweet face doesn't hide a thing."
"Guilty as charged, Detective Gallus," she said, nuzzling her nose against hers. "But, I could use a little more cuddling, if you wouldn't mind. I'm not ready to let you go yet."
"Wouldn't you know it, Trouble? I'm not ready to go." She curled herself around her and let her eyes flutter closed, and for a while, they stayed that way, listening to the music wafting up from the bar below, the crackle of the hearth fire, and the steady beating of each other's hearts.