The Dragon's Den

by Katy Katz

  "Stop it." Haley shoved at her.

  "My lips to your ears, but it is true. Even Aveline noticed, so it's not just me." No one wants to do anything to hurt or up set the might Haley.

  "So I guess everyone is a mind reader then, because half the time I don't know what I want. Why would I care if screwed Fenris?" Haley said half laughing, but knowing she wasn't going to be able to play it off.

  " You are kidding me right?" Isabela breathed in her ear. "Oh we might have a right fun time together, but ever since I came back, everyone has made damn good and well sure I knew where to toe the line, and that meant not treading on your precious heart. As if I hadn't known I had fucked things up."

  "Isabela." Haley started.

  "No wait." Isabela stopped her. "It's true. Every word of it. From Varric to Merrill. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them planned this if they knew it was possible or something if they thought you wanted it."

  "What? Now you're not making any sense." Haley said.

  "I turn a blind eye, because I benefit from it most of the time, but Kirkwall has been rough on you, yeah, but every since Flemmeth showed back up and talked about fate and all, haven't you noticed how everything seems to be church of Haley or something?" Isabela was really surprised Haley had never noticed.

  "Please excuse me while I go get my, What the fuck are you talking about slippers, I seem to have left those at the estate." Haley said.

  "It's not just one thing, it's a bunch of tiny things, and it's all the time. Even this. Do you want this?" Isabela asked. "Have you ever told anyone you ever wanted this? Anyone ever?"

  "You mean you and me together?" Haley asked.

  Maker, Haley could be dense sometimes when she really tried. What were they feeding her at the estate. Maybe Sandal was in on it too. Maybe Isabela should spend the night away for a few nights and clear her head. Maybe she was too tied up in everything.

  "No. Did you ever say anything to anyone about wanting a child, even in passing. Ever?" Isabela asked.

  "That's crazy." Haley said.

  "There's plenty of crazy to go around in Kirkwall. You have to admit that."

  "I don't know. What about this? What about us? It's not that I never said, no I'd never have your child, it's just that I'd never thought it would come up, because it shouldn't have." Isabela said.

  "I agree. It's beyond strange; however…" Haley started.

  "I love you, Haley. More than anything or anyone. I hadn't planned on becoming a mother." Isabela took a few steps back. "There are some berries I need to gather on Sundermount. I need time to clear my head. I need time to think. They're safe this early on, before a woman starts to show…"

  "I know what you're talking about…" Haley looked away. "Maybe we could talk about this. "I don't think we'd ever get the chance to have another opportunity to, you know."

  "I know." Isabela said as Haley started to turn her head and pull away. "I said I needed time to think, I didn't necessarily mean I was going to do anything without talking to you and giving it…dammit…we don't have to decide now. We've got at least a couple of weeks."

  Isabela grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. If was one of her most intimate gestures, and she only shared it with Haley. "Listen to me. If it was anyone else…there wouldn't be a conversation. It's only because it's yours and mine. That's the only reason. I would never want to be a mother what do I have to teach a child? What do we have to offer it?"

  Haley cocked her head for a moment as if thinking.

  "What if it was a boy?"Isabela asked.

  "We could teach him to kill things." Haley said simply.

  Isabela cocked her head.

  "What if it was a girl?" Isabela asked, again.

  "We could teach her to kill things. Bad people, demons, and such." Haley said simply, laughing this time.

  "Let's hope it's a boy I'd be a lousy mother. What, I could teach her how to be a good lay, or how to hold her liquor?" Isabela scoffed.

  "I think her Aunt Bethany must have a use."

  "Right she never has…what does she do with her free time. She really never has had sex?" Isabela asked incredulous.

  "I know. I can hardly believe we're related. She could teach her to be a prude who kills things. She did well that year we were in the Red Iron paying off our debt for coming to Kirkwall, or whatever else Gamlin had accumulated into that."

  "Look, Ill be back tomorrow." Isabela said. "I just need sometime." Isabela turned to go. But remembered her revelation earlier. "Haley?"

  "Yes, 'Bela." Haley was waiting for whatever her pirate queen was going to hit her with.

  "A family. Is that what you want?" Isabela asked watching her carefully.

  "I don't understand." Haley said, not daring to move. She hoped Isabela got to the point quickly, because she was pretty sure she was holding her breath and she would pass out pretty quickly.

  "With me? Do you want a family with me?" Isabela asked.

  Haley didn't actually mean to answer the question. She heard herself say, "Yes." And heard the word form. She didn't want Isabela to run. It was more than she thought Isabela could take in one conversation. She hadn't expected her to ask or ever have the question put to her, she more or less assumed that it would happen if they took it day by day and never planned it. One day Isabela would look up and it would be 40 years later, if they were both quick enough with a blade and lucky enough to live to long. She never thought she would have to answer the question, plus she thought she would always sidestep it.

  She did want it.

  She heard a metal hinge swing in the background. Suddenly Haley's hands were very cold and she was more scared than she ever was when she faced down things in battle.

  Isabela gave away no trace of emotion one way or another.

  "I'll come with you." Haley started to stammer. "We could use a night out of the city under the stars." Haley offered.

  "We could, but I need to do this alone." Haley was a fizzled mess of emotions she never dealt with and always pushed down. She really wasn't equipped to deal with any of this. There was probably never a time she was more vulnerable. Isabela wasn't the only one watching.

  Isabela tried to console Haley and pull her toward her. Haley pushed her away. "I'll be fine. I don't need to be babied. Take the time you need."

  "I'm not going to do anything foolish. I promise to come back in the same condition I leave in. I just need a little time Haley." Haley looked up at her, her emotions were raw. Isabela could see she was hurt, but Isabela needed a day or two to take care of herself and think things out for herself first. She wouldn't make any decisions independent of Haley, even if Haley didn't understand that now, or wasn't capable of understanding that now, how much harm could Haley do to herself in a day or two?

  "Leaving from Dark Town is better this way." Isabela said.

  "You're right." Haley said quietly.

  "Well that's a first." Isabela said sitting next to her. "Right about what."

  "I had one of those odd conversations you have with people sometimes. It was a what-if conversation with Merrill. I wondered what it would be like if I could have a baby, but not just to have a child, but to have a child in general, but with a woman. Perhaps with the woman I loved."

  Haley sat down heavily on a stump of a root.

  "In other words, have a child with you. It was like you said. It was a weird "what if" conversation with Merrill" Six months later, here we are. It does seem a bit too convenient. I just remembered." Haley said.

  "Dammit." Haley said. "You're right. Something has been off with Merrill for a while now, and Maren has never seemed right. When I'm around her, all of us, we get weird. I can't explain it." Haley shook her head. "We can talk about it when you get back.

  Isabela sighed. "Merrill has been messing around with stuff for a long time. Stuff she shouldn't have been. You ask for things, sometimes strange things, and later they appear, it's not just you, sometimes it's Varric, sometimes it's Aveline, or e
ven me."

  "You?" Haley asked.

  "Last year, I thought all the boys who had forced relations with the women at the Hanged Man should be marked by skid marks outside their skivvies."

  "I remember that." Haley howled at the memory.

  "Yeah, was a bit of fun. Only I didn't do it." Isabela said.

  "Oh." Haley said.

  "Yeah. You slept with her while I was away, Merrill that is." Haley nodded. "She wanted more. I didn't have more to give. She left right after. I was happy when she got together with Maren. I thought having a lover might help."

  "I need a day or two, then I'll be back straight away." Isabela said.

  "Yes." Haley snapped. "I get it. You might not want to keep it."

  "Wait are you thinking that's the only reason to go to Sundermount?" Isabela stopped Haley with her body. "Haley, no. It's not just that. Those things exist there, yes, but…"

  "What?" Haley was much shorter than she meant to be.

  "There are other berries to help with the morning sickness, roots to help the baby be stronger, my mother may not have been a very good seer but she knew her plants and roots. I know what to gather. There are things that I would need if we decided, if we decided to go a different route.

  I don't know what we would do with a child, but I could at least bring it into this world healthy."

  Isabela took Haley by her soft angular jaw and pressed her lips against the warriors. Haley had never considered Isabela might go to Sundermount for more than one reason.

  "I need a few days to wrap my head around things. You do too. Take some time off." Isabela said. Haley pulled Isabela to her and the pirate pulled away from the quick goodbye kiss. Haley needed something more meaningful, something to remember her by should her memory suddenly shorten and Isabela feel the need to run off to Tevinter.

  Haley did have kissing Isabela down to a science. The slightly damp small clothes would be enough to remember Haley by for the first night. Isabela smiled when she pulled away.

  "I know I don't exactly inspire confidence, but I will be back at your side a few days hence. Trust me in this Haley. Trust me to come back to you. Trust me to do the right thing. I'll make it right for you."

  "I love you, Bela." Haley said.

  "I'll see you soon." Isabela walked out of Dark Town.

  Merrill showed up unannounced and was waiting and Haley's Estate when Haley arrived.

  Merrill had sent Bodan and Sandel off for the night.

  This was not the night Haley felt like entertaining.

  Merrill quirky enough behavior gave way to pure desire soon enough. It was hard to say no.

  Something about Merrill seemed off. Very different. Haley was tired. Bone tired. Asking Merrill to leave wasn't going quite as easily as one might have suspected.

  "Merrill, I've had a very full and trying day. I need to take a break."

  "Isabela isn't here." Merrill said simply.

  "Yes, I know. It's one of the reasons I need a break. Some things came up today."

  "I know." I was in Dark Town on my way to see Anders. I know she was going to Sundermount. She didn't want to have your child.

  "That's not true Merrill. That is not what was said. If you were there why didn't you say anything? What the hell are you talking about?"

  "It's not the words she said with her mouth, but the words she said with her mind." Merrill said. The thin elf moved in closer to Haley. Merrill had been attracted to Haley for years, but Haley had never recropcated except for once and Haley was pretty sure that had been a mistake.

  It was when Isabela had been gone for three years and Merrill and wanted more than Haley could give her.

  Merrill slipped prettied loose fitted rope over the bed post and Haley's wrist wrenching it tightly as Haley stood near it.

  Haley rolled her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me. Merrill, this isn't going anywhere."

  "Are you certain about that?" There was a confidence underlying Merrill that simply shouldn't have been there. It just wasn't like Merrill. She ran her finger down Haley's open shirt semi gaping to the waist and Haley felt her entire body shudder with desire.

  Haley felt an urgency rise up from her core and she wanted to touch Merrill and be touched by her. A thousand fantasies played out in her head. Haley felt groggy. She liked Merrill as a friend, but had never really felt anything for her as a sexually other than one time.

  She really didn't consider herself on the market. Technically, she and Isabela weren't exclusive. It wasn't that she couldn't, technically, it's just that she…What was wrong with her? What was going on?

  "Merrill, no. This isn't right."

  "Why? Doesn't it feel right?" Merrill reached down and stroked Haley past her small clothes. The stroke went straight to her core and she let out a moan of pleasure, but it wasn't what she wanted. Where the hell was her other hand. There was a flash of something.

  Merrill somewhere, not here. Chained up. A pedestal. Stone.

  Her other hand was held up against the wall by a frost spell of some sort. The tingling sensation was amazing, but it wasn't what Merrill had in mind. But she just saw Merrill somewhere else. This wasn't Merrill. Was it?

  I brought you your favorite toy, I think you remember how this works don't you?

  Haley's mind might have been screwy, but it wasn't this screwy. Whatever this was, wasn't right. And she wasn't 100 percent sure it was Merrill. Haley kicked at the basin she kept nearest her side of the bed, and sent it flying across the room having missed Merrill and almost hitting Isabela and Maren?

  Okay, this was officially getting weird.

  The Merrilish creature had a black glow about her and now had a tail. She also seemed to have had staff glowing and directing a spell at Isabela and Maren.

  Aveline appeared crawling through the window. Haley felt pretty doped up, but did not recall having sent out party invitations. She hated to break her own bed but damn it, her friends would bust up her estate worse.

  With one hand free she could wrench the other one off the wall.

  Was she sure that was not Merrill? It was coming at her with a 12" erect strap on cock. Definitely not Meriill and rude. She snapped it's head, before her friends could tear up her bedroom anymore. She sat on the ground waiting for her brain fog to clear. Luckily Anders was the next one in. One counter spell and she could clearly see the dead desire demon one the floor.

  "Kind of squishy for a Desire Demon." Haley said.

  "I'm not sure it was a true one." Maren said. "It was trying to replace Merrill a bit at a time. Trying to convince her to let it do this or that. It would weigh you down with this incredible fog, but tonight was the first night it tried to replace her. I have no idea where she really is."

  Haley started to get dressed in armor out of habit. Can you tell us where to start looking. Maren looked frightened and upset. "No. The only reason it went after her today, is because it's been impersonating me. It's kept me locked up for the last 6 weeks. When I free it went after Merrill. It's a demon, but not like the ones most mages deal with. They are weaker, but more of them.

  They want to get to the Champion, but they want to use Merrill to do it. I don't know how it works. I'm scared."

  "What are you doing here?" Haley asked Isabela.

  "Good to see you too." Isabela retorted. "I ran into Maren when I entered the forrest. It's when she told me about Merrill. Aveline and Anders, no idea.

  "I was following up a lead." Aveline started.

  "I was being nosey." Anders said. "Well, I was. I wanted to know how the hell you got Isabela pregnant."

  Aveline stopped. "You got Isabela pregnant?"

  "Stop it, Aveline. Whatever you're thinking. Stop it before you say it."

  "As if that's possible." Isabela snorted.

  "I don't know whether to congradulate you or tell you to run for the hills." Aveline said sheathing her sword.

  " Nice. Lovely. Shouldn't we be waiting on our put down Isabela day and trying to find Merrill
?" Isabela asked.

  Anders sighed. "Not as much fun, but she does have a point."

  "Let's go talk to Varric. He'll know whatever there is to know about he real Daisey."

  Haley recanted what she could:

  Merrill told Haley how much she admired her. How much she had always loved her, but Haley always knew that. They could have a child together they way Haley and Isabela had. Merrill had tied her to the bedpost. It was seductive…her body dripped with desire and Merrill dripped it from every essence of her body…okay she left that part out.

  It was wrong. She didn't want it. She wanted to be with Isabela.

  Then the droopy eyes the desperation the need for her touch. It wasn't Merrill it was something else. It a Desire Demon, it had taken her form. That meant it had to have her alive somewhere.

  They decided to regroup at the Hanged Man. Haley said she would follow choosing to dispose of the body of the desire demon before leaving rather than leaving it for Bodan to clean up.

  Isabela had stayed behind, but Haley hadn't noticed during her clean up activities.

  Isabela pressed her body up against Haley's from behind. Haley smiled at the familiarity.

  Haley reached around behind her and pulled boot in front of her before spinning inside.

  "So I guess I didn't get that night away after all."

  "I guess not. Sorry about that. After we find Merrill." Haley said.

  "The only light in the bedroom was coming from the fireplace. The time was late and they needed to meet the others to see if there was a lead, or they they were going to start tomorrow with Maretheri.

  I don't think I needed the whole night anyway. Isabela reached up and gripped Haley by her neck. "Tell me what you want."

  "I don't want us to change, but I know having a child will mean that us will change, by the same time token…I never would never want to give up the chance to have a child with you. Yours and mine, for better or for worse."

  "That sounds dangerously like marriage. My last one ended rather abruptly you'll remember. Doesn't that sound like marriage?"

  "Does it?" Haley asked.

  "Yes." Isabela purred. "It does."

  "I don't think I could buy you for a few goats and some coins, do you think love will suffice? We could spend coin on the baby. Get it a nanny, so it could grow up, but we don't have to."