Dragon Age: Origins | The story behind Cousland

Chapter 5- Wending Wood

Chapter 5- Wending Wood

My eyes slowly open as I hear the low growl coming from the door to my room. I reach for the dagger under my pillow and jump out of my bed, rushing towards the darkspawn. "Stop!" the darkspawn shouts and I start screaming, rushing with my dagger towards it. The room is now lit up, and Zevran, Anders and Nathaniel are in the room, all with weapons and ready to fight.

With a swift move, I knock the helmet off its head and prepare to cut his head off. I stop mid track and my dagger falls on the ground, the metal scratching the floor. "You're so stupid!" I shout at Alistair, rushing in his arms. His hands go down my back, towards my waist and clutch me tight. "I could've killed you!"

He chuckles and kisses my cheek. "No, you couldn't have."

My eyes light up. "You're coming with us?" I ask with hope.

Alistair shakes his head. "I'm sorry, love. I have a lot of things to do, and I was just passing by. But," he says and looks at the guys behind me, "I see that you have loyal companions. Zevran," he says through his gritted teeth.

I chuckle. "Alistair, he's with Leliana."

"Oh. Well, then, Zevran!" he shouts and they both hug. I laugh and lean on the wall, next to Anders and Nathaniel. "Let's drink some ale! It's on me!" Alistair shouts and he and Zevran head out to the tavern.

I look at Anders and Nathaniel. "Could you please let me change?" I ask them and I see how Anders blushes. They both get out of my room and I put on a pair of pants and another shirt. Baby gets out from under my bed and starts growling. I kiss his head. "Go back to sleep."

When I get out of my room, I flinch as Anders startles me. "Sorry! I just wanted to wait for you."

I laugh. "It's okay, Anders, just warn me next time."

"How did you and King Alistair meet?" he asks me, while we walk towards the tavern, the night silent as usual.

I sigh and smile. "Before my Joining. He was another Grey Warden that was supposed to help with my Joining. Our Joining," I correct myself. "I was the only one that survived. And he helped me. He helped me go through everything, he was there when no one else was. Okay, except for Zevran."

Anders makes a slight pause. "That's... that's really cute."

My smile widens. "It is. Do you have any special lady?" I ask.

He throws his head back and laughs. "No," he says. "Not at the Circle, at least," he lowly mutters.

"What?" I ask, pretending that I didn't hear.

"Oh, nothing," he says. Silence falls between us as we get into the almost empty tavern. And there they are: Nathaniel, Sigrun, Oghren, Alistair and Zevran. I laugh and rush towards Alistair, taking a seat next to him. All of us get some ale and the chatter goes crazy. I lay my head on Alistair's shoulder, chatting with Sigrun. "Let's play strip wicked grace!" Oghren shouts and everybody shuts up.

I smirk. "Yeah!" Somehow the cards appear on the table and they are being shuffled and cut, shared with each of the players. "Be ready to get naked," I whisper into Alistair's ear, his skin color changing to a pinkish shade. Halfway into the game, Nathaniel is almost completely naked, Alistair is still in his armor, and I lost my pants. Oghren takes off his shirt, without needing to, complaining about how hot it is in here.