Freely We Serve (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Happily

Around Judith and Daniel, the party was in full swing, people celebrating with everything they had. Oghren and Teagan were downing barrels of pickle juice, with a large audience gathered round them placing bets. Teagan and Oghren glared at each other, neither willing to concede, despite their faces now being as green as the juice they were drinking.

Zev and Riordan had made it almost to the door before falling into each other's arms, and were now up against the wall, kissing passionately. Wynne had retired already, as had Fergus Cousland. The King and Queen were long gone. Judith realized as she looked around the room that she was still trying to count heads ... and that the count would never be complete again. She wondered briefly where Morrigan had gone, but since the answer could be anywhere, decided not to go farther down that road. Suddenly she felt inexpressibly weary. Turning to Daniel, she said, "I don't know about you, but I think I've done enough celebrating for one day. I'd rather go back to bed."

He grinned. "Well, that wish is certainly my command. Lead on, Arlessa."

She narrowed her eyes. "You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

"No, definitely not. You didn't have anything to do with him making me the Arl of Denerim, did you?"

Judith shook her head. "It's an inspired decision, though." She kissed him quickly. "You'll be the best Arl Denerim ever had."

"But what about you?" he asked. "With you in Amaranthine ..." His voice trailed off, and he grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go somewhere out of this crowd."

"By all means," she said, grinning, as he led her through the room and toward the hallway leading to their room.

He closed the door behind them, leaning back against it. Judith walked toward him, her eyes half-closed as she murmured, "And now that you've dragged me in here, ser, are you going to have your wicked way with me?"

Instead of reaching for her, as she'd expected, he cleared his throat. "An excellent idea," he said, slipping around her. "But later."

"If you insist," she said, turning to look at him curiously. "What's on your mind?"

He pulled his hand out of his pocket. "Would you sit down, please?" he asked.

"Of course." Staring at him in confusion and concern, Judith took a seat on the edge of the bed.

Daniel let his breath out slowly, trying to decide where to start. "It seems impossible to believe," he said, "that when all this began, I was just a Sergeant in the Guards."

"I was just a mage of the Tower," she said. "And now look at us."

"Right." He chuckled nervously. "A couple of fancy nobles."

Judith grinned. "Thanks to the former stable boy ex-Templar turned King."

"Hard to make up a story like that," he said, smiling back at her. "But it leaves the question open—what's the ending?"

She leaned back on her hands, crossing her legs. "I thought the whole point of this celebration was that there isn't an ending. The story goes on."

"Yes." His brown eyes lit up. "So I guess it's up to us to decide what the newly minted nobles will do now, isn't it?"

"Run Denerim and Amaranthine?" Judith raised an eyebrow. If he was going somewhere with this, she hoped he would get there soon.