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It’s not that they’re avoiding telling anyone—or at least, she isn’t, but she hasn't told anyone either, and Emmrich doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to say anything. Neither of them has been asked directly. She just doesn’t know what one is supposed to say. ‘The other night when Emmrich and I went to the Memorial Gardens, we kissed, and intend to do more so in the future’ seems an odd thing to declare unprompted, let alone saying anything about what they did in her room two evenings after that. ‘Seeing each other’ doesn’t seem a helpful descriptor, since they all see one another almost every day (see also: ‘going with,’ ‘stepping out’), and ‘courting’ seems a very strong way to put something so new, although she supposes she has met his parents.
But since they already spent a great deal of time together, and their rooms are right next to one another’s, it’s not immediately obvious to anyone, as far as she knows, that their relationship has… transitioned to a new state. Changed conditions. Intensified, perhaps. (That evening in her room was particularly intense, for one.)
There’s an evening after dinner that Bellara comes by to ask about a book and finds them together, but Beryl is in the middle of showing Manfred how to darn a knitted sock (he’s very good with sewing stitches, but knitting still perplexes him) and Emmrich is only standing with his hand on her shoulder while he observes—naturally he removes it to greet a visitor. Or there’s an afternoon when they’re cleaning up together after lunch and get somewhat distracted in the pantry before being interrupted by Davrin, but since they’re only just getting distracted and Davrin is scolding Assan while approaching, they step apart before he enters. A moment on a street in Minrathous while Neve questions a bartender inside, when she finds herself simply looking at Emmrich, and him simply looking back at her—something so simple she hadn’t realized could be so lovely—which is broken up when several people in the bar start shouting, and they have to help Neve, who's been jumped by Venatori again.
It won’t last forever, of course—the secret, that is. Very, very few things do. But it’s nice to have a little time to themselves, before the questions and the teasing (mostly the teasing, really) start.
A week after that night in the Memorial Gardens, they’re in Lavendel. Antoine and Evka ask them to stay for dinner before they return, and while the Wardens’ cooks focus more on quantity than quality, good company can do a great deal to improve a meal. Antoine tells the story of how he and Evka fought a werewolf in a cursed village, shortly after they met one another, with some rather dry contributions from his wife (and a number of fascinated questions from Emmrich regarding the hunger-spirit which created the creature). The wine is awful, but the singing its consumption seems to inspire in more than a few Wardens is heartening (as distinct from, say, harmonious). Beryl only has a little; perhaps that's why she feels inspired to go look at the moon from the steps outside the old fortress, but perhaps not.
After a while, she hears a voice calling softly. “Rook, darling?”
“Emmrich.” She looks back to the earth to find him coming down the steps, and realizes she feels a sort of pang of fondness at just the sight of him. He’s looking up; the light of the moon makes the streaks of black in his hair look silver, and the grey look white. “The moon always looks enormous here. You can barely make out any stars.”
“The astronomers’ loss is our gain,” he says. “I once spent two months in the Treasury of the Night, taking observations of the Veil’s etheric resonances there. After a few weeks it seemed I could make out stars in the depths of the earth.” Beryl has heard of the Treasury of the Night, but never seen it herself. It’s said to be beautiful, but treacherous. “When I returned to the surface levels, I was startled by the sheer size of the sky.”
“Absence changes our perspectives, I suppose. I’ve always liked that first night back after an assignment below.” It's far better than emerging into full sun, certainly. “I’d like to see the Treasury someday.”
He looks to her. “I'm sure that can be arranged.”
Emmrich seems to study her face for a moment, which she notes involves glancing at her lips. They’re standing on the second level of steps, with a stone wall behind them; Beryl had originally come for some distance from the singing. Now she notes its privacy as well, despite being out under open sky. Someone looking up from the village might see them, or someone looking down from directly above, but it seems unlikely.
So she kisses him. Not for long, and not very hard, and as soon as she starts, she knows at once she wants more. “Come to my room tonight?”
And isn’t it satisfying to see that suggestion strike him, how his eyes widen for an instant and then focus fully on her, how his breath deepens.
“Gladly, my dear.” He takes her hand and kisses her again (briefly, lightly), then gestures to the stairs, back to the others, and the eluvian. “Shall we?”
After a few steps up, they drop each other’s hands. Harding has joined in the singing now, and Taash is providing rather dubious percussion.
When she spots them, Evka waves and moves their way to warn, “You’ll want to get out of here before the wrestling starts.” Beryl feels her eyebrows climb. Evka shrugs and intones matter-of-factly: “In war, victory; in death, sacrifice; in the morning, hangover.”
It takes a little doing to extract the others, and while she’s helping Taash up, she spots Mila, the blacksmith’s daughter, with a very knowing expression. Mila glances significantly between Beryl and Emmrich.
Well. It was bound to happen sometime, she supposes. Still—she raises one finger in front of her lips, just for a moment, her expression plaintive. Mila makes a show of considering this, then nods decisively. She's elected to be merciful. They’ve a little more time, at least.
Then Beryl has her arm around Taash (more for encouragement than of necessity, it being hard to get a 6’8” Qunari truly drunk) and Emmrich is steadying Harding. Antoine bids them farewell in Trade and Orlesian. The journey through the Crossroads seems quicker than normal somehow, and the Lighthouse is warm and inviting for all its strangeness. Emmrich comes to her room.
Which is to say: she has a very good night.