Across Worlds

Ch 21 - Sunrises

The following morning in the predawn light she made her way to the stables to start work. She slipped Cisco and Xander bits of the apple she had eaten part of for breakfast before heading up to the hayloft to throw down some bales. She slid down the ladder after dropping the second one only to be startled by the feel of large, masculine hands wrapping around her waist. She spun around and Evan's lips were on hers before she could get a word out. Her gasp of surprise turned into a little moan of pleasure, as they hadn't had a moment together like this since the morning they had woken up together in Sahrnia.

"Good morning," she said, smiling up at him and resting her hands on his shoulders. "Why are you up so early?"

"To see you. Do you think you can sneak away for a bit?" he asked, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Lanissa?" she whispered to one of the other stable hands. "Can you cover for me?"

The girl grinned, "Get gone already!"

Evan took her hand and led her to one of the watch towers on the ramparts on the eastern side of the walls. He climbed a ladder into a lofted space above the main watch room that the guards would patrol. Wren followed and found a blanket laid out in the middle of the space with breakfast on two plates, including coffee. The roof was in the process of repairs and the hole left an unobstructed view of the mountains to the east where the sun would soon be rising.

"I thought breakfast and a sunrise would be nice," he said, taking her hand and tugging her gently to sit next to him on the blanket.

"It's perfect," she replied, accepting the plate he handed her. They ate in silence and set the empty plates aside. Evan moved to sit behind her, letting her lean back into the circle of his arms as they watched the sun start to crest the peaks.

He sighed and she knew right away that he was trying to get up the nerve to tell her something.

"You have to leave again, don't you?" she guessed.

"Yes," he admitted, running his hand absently up and down her arm.

"What's going on?"

"Varric's friend found where the Red Templars are bringing red lyrium up from the Deep Roads. We're going to go stop them. I should only be gone a few days. Then we'll have a day or two before we have to leave for the peace talks at the Winter Palace at Halamshiral."

He sighed again and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

"What else is bothering you?" she asked.

He hesitated a moment before continuing. "Solas is going to the Storm Coast. He thinks he might have better luck looking for a way back to Earth for you in the place where you first arrived."

A way back. She wasn't sure how that made her feel. A few months ago, she would have been excited and relieved about it, but now there was sadness clouding it.

"I know I promised we would find a way back for you, Wren. But if we don't, I have to ask, would you stay here? Could you be happy...staying with me?"

"Evan, of course I would be happy staying with you," she assured him, twisting in his arms so that he could see the truth of the words in her eyes.

A look of relief crossed his face and he leaned his forehead against hers. "Then does it make me a horrible person to hope that Solas doesn't find a way back for you?"

"You are the least horrible person ever, Evan," she replied, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

A pained expression creased his brows as he said, "I know I said I wanted to have whatever time we could together, but Maker help me, I don't think I'll be satisfied with anything less than the rest of my life with you, Wren. I don't want to let you go...I don't know if I'll be able to."

Me neither, she thought, not able to keep herself from smiling at the thought of spending the rest of her life with him, but at the same time recognizing that it was a pipe dream. I don't belong in this world. And even if I did, I don't belong in his world. I'm a commoner and he's the son of the leading family of Ostwick.

She silenced the thoughts in her head and tried to have enough strength for the both of them. "We have a saying on Earth," she told him. "Carpe diem. It means seize the day. So, I say we seize each day, until we run out of them...whether that's when Solas finds me a way home or when one of us dies."

His gaze became more resolute as he nodded agreement. She leaned forward to kiss him again and wound up moving with enough force to push him back onto the blanket. She followed him down, laying on top of him, her hands framing his face as her lips glided against his. He slid his hands down her back to briefly cup her ass before moving them back to her waist and rolling her off him. This time he followed her, pinning her body to the floor with his and deepening the kiss. She wound her hand in his hair at the nape of his neck and arched back as his mouth wandered down her neck and his hands slipped under her tunic and pushed her breast-band up to run teasingly over her chest, making her gasp.

"Oh, Evan?" Varric's sing-song voice came up from below them.

Evan let out a frustrated groan and removed his hands from under her shirt. "What, Varric?" he ground out.

"We're due to leave and seem to be missing our fearless leader."

"Your fearless leader is trying to enjoy breakfast and some peace and quiet."

"Uh-huh. And does Wren know she's on the menu?"

She stifled her giggle by burying her face in Evan's shoulder.

"So help me, Varric, I will kill you," he swore, stifling his own laugh to sound more threatening.

"You can try, Inquisitor," the dwarf replied smugly. "I'll give you five minutes."

Evan pressed his lips back to hers desperately. "Ugh...I don't want to leave. You're soft...and warm...and perfect," he said between kisses.

She smiled up at him. "And I'll still be soft and warm and perfect when you get back," she teased. "Plus, I'll have a surprise for you." The night of his return would be a perfect time for the declaration of love, she thought.

His grin turned sinful, "Please tell me it involves you in this position with less clothing?" He kissed her again, tongue tangling with hers.

She indulged him a little while longer before pushing him off as she sat up, "Go. Before you get in trouble."

"Fine," he grumbled, pressing another kiss to her lips before finally climbing down the ladder and going to join Varric and the others.

Wren followed and looked out over the battlements, watching them ride away, deep in thought. I love Evan and he loves me. If Solas does find a way back to Earth, will I be able to leave? To walk away from this? She put her head in her hands in frustration because the only answer she had for herself was I don't know.