(Okey dokey, one of my first stories. I have an idea where the story will go, but for the most part I go where the story takes me! I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!)
Ah, Lothering.
It was a nice little village set right in the middle of Fereldon. Just far enough away from the city to retain its independence and country feel but close enough that the village's inhabitants weren't living in poverty. It was set down in a small valley surrounded by hills and trees, and in the autumn it looked just like something out of a painting.
Marian Hawke had wandered into town to buy a few special things for her family. Marian, her mother Leandra, her sister Bethany, and her brother Carver lived in a small house hidden in the forest to the east of Lothering. It was about half a day's walk away, so her and her family generally lived off of the land. They would hunt for their meat and they would grow the fruit and vegetables that they needed. But, occasionally, they would need something they couldn't scrounge up, so one of them would trek to Lothering. They were very careful when they did, however, for they had to remain unnoticed; Bethany and Marian were both mages and apostates. Their father had been a mage as well and had escaped from the Circle of Magi in Kirkwall so that he could raise his family away from the templar's influence. There weren't many templars in Lothering, but they had to be careful not to draw their attention just the same.
Their father had died quite a few years back, so Marian had stepped up to try and take care of her mother and younger siblings. She was only fifteen, but that made her the oldest and she felt it was her duty. Carver had always been slightly jealous of Marian since he was the man of the house, but he was still in the mindset of a child and Marian was better capable at taking care of things. Her and her sister Bethany were very close, although they were complete opposites. Bethany was so proud of her gift of magic and had cultivated it and let it grow. She felt that she had to honor her father in that respect and she had grown into a very powerful healer.
Marian was more ashamed of her gift and did not use it often. She knew quite a few powerful destructive spells and her gift was more powerful than Bethany's, but the fact that they had to hide because of it made her think of it as a curse. Carver's attitude to her and magic also didn't help.
On this particular day Marian was trying to find a special fabric for her mother. It was her birthday in two days and Marian wanted to do something special, and a new fabric for a pretty dress would make her mother very pleased. It was a nice, sunny day and Marian was feeling pleased with herself. Seeing a cart carrying dresses and fabrics, she wandered over to see what they had.
Ah, that one right there, she thought to herself. It was a deep blue fabric with gold stars scattered across it. Touching it, it was the softest silk she had felt in a long time.
"How much for this?" Marian asked the woman behind the cart. The woman smiled at her and stepped over; she had dark grey hair and had wrinkles around her mouth that showed how often she smiled.
"Ah, one of my finest! Y'know, I once saw the Queen herself wearing a fabric just like this," the woman boasted, smiling proudly. "Now I couldn't let it go for less than a gold piece."
"Wooh...that's quite a price. But...ah, all right my lady, you have a deal," Marian responded, digging the solitary gold piece from her pocket. She dropped it into the woman's hand and the woman smiled and thanked her, handing the fabric over. Marian rubbed a hand over the fabric before stuffing it softly into her back and slinging it over her shoulder. She sighed and turned to head out but froze as she noticed that she was surrounded by men in armor; she counted four of them.
Shit! Shit shit shit, templars! her mind screamed, and she froze, one hand on her backpack. One of the templars took a step closer to her, and she saw that the other three had their swords and shields out and had taken defensive stances.
"Apostate! By the order of the Chantry of the Divine and the Templar Order, I demand you submit and come with us. We must escort you to the Circle of Magi, and we would prefer to do this without incident. We will not be afraid to use force if we must," the templar said loudly. Out of the corner of Marian's eye should could see the villagers and merchants edging away from the small crowd. She tensed and crouched a little lower.
All Marian could think of was her family and how they needed her to survive. She couldn't allow these templars to take her, or she would never see them again. She couldn't stand the thought of being locked away in some prison of a tower. Marian began to pull her mana from deep within and let it grow powerful in her chest.
"I am sorry, dear man, but no templar will be taking me anywhere today," she said clearly, and she let out a blast of force, hoping to knock them off their feet. One went down and two were knocked to their knees, but the one that addressed her sprinted forward, swinging his shield. Marian ducked and summoned a blast of cold, spraying it over the templar. It caused his armor to freeze up momentarily, but he summoned his own magic that threw Marian backwards. The other templars came running and Marian began to panic; this time she took a deep breath and threw a ball of flame that made two of the templars dive sideways, and one hid behind his shield. Just as Marian tried to summon more mana, she felt a sickening feeling wash through her and found that she could not summon anything. The main templar marched towards her, his armor glowing blew, and she knew that this was her last chance.
Crying out in fear and panic she jumped to her feet and ran for it; her mana was gone, and what little she could do the templars would easily counter. A hand grasped her thick, auburn hair and jerked her backwards. She let out a shout of pain and tried to kick herself backwards but a hand wrapped around her waist.
"Help me!" one shouted.
"I'm trying!" another grunted.
Marian looked up into a pair of grey eyes as she struggled, and she was stunned to see that instead of hatred, they were filled with sadness and determination. She felt something hard and cold crack across her face and a wave of pain and nausea swept through her.
I'm sorry..I'm so sorry...
Her last thoughts were of her family as the darkness reared up and pulled her under.
It was cold, and she was laying on something very hard. Marian groaned as she rolled onto her side, holding her head in her hands. She opened her eyes a crack and all she could see was darkness. Slowly sitting up, Marian felt another wave of nausea sweep through her. The memory of what had happened to her, the battle with the templars, crashed through her mind with such force that she gasped and tears came to her eyes. Forcing them away, Marian tried to summon a small amount of magic, a small flame so she could see. It felt like there was a brick wall between her and her mana, and no matter how hard she battered against it she couldn't breech it.
Standing up slowly, leaning a hand against the cold wall to steady herself, she held her other hand in front of her, searching. Her fingers came in contact with bars, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found that she was in a small cell. There was barely enough light coming from way down the hallway the she could see the other cells that lined the halls.
Oh god, I'm in the dungeons...at the Circle tower... Marian began to shake and she backed up to the far wall, sliding down onto and wrapping her arms around her knees. Her breathing became erratic as she gasped for breath, the walls seeming to press in around her. She dropped her head onto her arms and tried to slow her breathing.
After quite a few minutes of just Marian's breathing, she heard the scraping sound a door being opened. She saw a ray of light coming from down the hall and it bobbed closer and closer. She looked up and immediately looked away, shielding her eyes from the light.
"Aww...poor magey. All alone down here, aren't you?" a man's voice cackled, and as her eye's adjusted, Marian looked up to see a man in templar armor. He had greasy blonde hair and when he grinned she could see yellow, cracked teeth. Marian felt a wave of anger and panic, and she tensed as she sat and looked at him. There was another templar behind him but this one had his helmet on.
"Mm-hm...we could have some fun with this one, eh?" The ugly one laughed, nudging his buddy. The 2nd templar nodded, and ugly pulled a key out of his pocket to unlock her cell. Marian sat very still and watched warily as the ugly one edged into the cell, kneeling down in front of her.
"Now, here's the deal. We're gonna have some fun before they come for you...you don't give us no trouble, we won't give you too much trouble in return," ugly said, smiling lecherously as he looked her up and down. "Understand?"
Marian looked from him to the 2nd templar and nodded innocently. Just as the ugly one reached a hand out to her Marian jumped up, bringing her knee into the ugly templar's face. He cried out in agony and Marian leaped around him. She slammed heavily into the 2nd templar but he was heavier than she thought, and he simply grabbed her arms and spun her around. Marian let out the loudest scream she could muster, tears springing to her eyes.
"Please, please no! Please don't do this," she whimpered as the tears of fear and humiliation spilled across her cheeks.
"Stupid bitch! Now this isn't going to be pleasant for you!" the ugly templar spun on her, one hand wiping the blood that had been pouring from his nose. He slapped her hard across the face, and the templar holding her threw her face first down into the cell. Marian struggled mightily but felt a heavy body press down upon her. A fist grabbed her hair and slammed her head hard into the ground, and Marian's vision swam. She tried to shake her head sluggishly and cried out as she felt her pants being jerked down. She heaved one last time to try and shake the brute off of her and her head slammed once again into the ground. Marian could only be thankful as the darkness once again swallowed her, so she would not have to witness what brutal acts her body would be forced to endure.
Marian wasn't sure how long it was after that horrible night when they came for her. One of her eyes was swollen shut and she had bled for quite a while afterwards, both from her face and from her lower regions. She was sore all over and had rocked back and forth in a stupor the entire time.
When her cage finally opened again, she skittered back against the back wall, whimpering and hyperventilating. The light blinded her once again as a figure leaned down in front of her. An armored hand slowly reached out to her but she shied away from it, and the hand dropped.
"Can you hear me, miss? My name is Cullen," a deep, strong voice spoke softly. Marian looked up into the same grey eyes she remembered seeing when she got captured in the first place. She nodded slowly and the templar reached out again to hesitantly touch her face. Marian couldn't imagine how horrible she looked.
"I...I'm sorry for what happened to you," she heard him breathe softly, and she looked up in time to see genuine pain in his eyes. Tears welled up in Marian's eyes but she refused to let them flow over. Cullen stood and held out a hand to her to help her stand. Marian looked at it for a moment before taking it and pulling herself up. She wobbled and Cullen steadied her, helping her step out of the cellar.
"I've been instructed to retrieve you and get you cleaned up before being presented to the First Enchanter and Knight Commander," Cullen explained, looking sideways at her. Marian nodded, refusing to say a word.
He might be a nice templar, but he is still one of my jailors...she thought to herself. She hung her head as she followed the templar down numerous hallways and up flights of stairs. Marian was weak from lack of food and water and from the physical ordeal she had been through, and Cullen practically had to carry her the entire way. When Marian looked up again they were walking down a more lighted hallway that had carpets and pictures hanging on the walls. They entered a large room where Marian saw a short woman with cropped, white hair and a large tub filled with water. In the light, Marian finally got a look at the strangely kind templar; he had short, dirty blonde hair that was curly on his head. He had some stubble but for the most part was clean shaven.
"I will wait outside until you are ready," Cullen said, bowing slightly towards the woman, before he stepped outside and shut the door behind him.
Marian wavered on her feet and looked to the woman. She was shocked to see the sunburst symbol on the woman's forehead, but her attention was immediately diverted to the tray next to the tub; it had bread, cheese, a bowl of soup, and a large tub of water. Marian's mouth watered and she looked back at the woman.
"My name is Sereda; I am to help get you wash and get clean, and I have food and water here for you when we are done," the woman said in a calm, monotone voice that sent a chill up Marian's spine.
Marian couldn't help thinking that it was one of the finest baths she had ever had, but then again she hadn't ever been this dirty and filthy. At first it stung every wound she had, but it felt good to scrub all the dried blood off to reveal her normal skin underneath. The woman helped her scrub all the dirt off of her body and helped her wash her hair, getting the knots and tangles out of it.
"Your hair has a very unique color to it," the woman said calmly.
"Uh..t-thank you," she replied hesitantly. It was quite for a moment as the woman was combing through Marian's hair before she finally got up the gall to say something. "So...you're tranquil?"
"Yes I am," Sereda replied.
It was quite again as Sereda helped Marian out of the tub of water and helped her dry off with towels, and she even braided Marian's hair for her. When her skin was dry, Sereda unfolded a dark brown and gold colored robe which Marian slipped on over her head. It fit her quite comfortably and Sereda directed her towards the back of the room.
"I thought you might like to see yourself after your bath," the tranquil woman said, leaving Marian at the mirror and cleaning up the water off of the floor. Marian sucked in a breath as she looked herself up and down in the mirror. Her left eye was black and blue and very swollen; her iris was circled in blood and her eye was extremely bloodshot. She had a fat and split lip and her left cheek was a strange mixture of black, blue, and yellow. Overall she looked like she took quite a beating but Marian knew that she was healing up fairly well. Her mind tried to drift back to how she received the bruises and instantly shied away from the memory, attempting to shut it out. Her deep auburn braid hung to her waist and her olive eyes had a slight fog over them.
"Would you like to eat now?" Sereda asked, waving her hand towards the food. Marian nodded vigorously and it took all of her self control to not scarf the good down as fast as possible. The soup was somewhat bland and the bread was stale, but after not having eaten for three days it tasted like heaven to Marian. She almost choked on the water and stood for a minute with her eyes closed, savoring her somewhat full belly.
After a moment of silence, Marian opened her eyes to look at Sereda.
"Am...am I going to be made tranquil too?" Marian asked quietly.
The woman looked at her with empty eyes before responding. "I do not know. I was told only that I needed to help you get presentable for a meeting with the First Enchanter and Knight Commander. It is quite possible that you will be since you are an apostate."
Marian started to shake softly as she nodded, looking away. There was a knock on the door and a templar called through asking if she was ready, and the tranquil responded. The templar Cullen entered along with another templar that had a helmet on to escort her. Cullen nodded at Marian and she dropped her eyes, following quickly. She turned to get one last look at the woman, and Sereda met her eyes.
"It does not hurt," the woman said.
Marian stood quietly for a moment before she muttered "Thank you." The templar behind her prodded her forward and she followed Cullen out the door.