The view was breath taking. Only the king's view could be better than this one, she thought. Lava spewed from the walls and fell down into specially designed pools where it was then swept away and fell into a gorge chiselled with the forms of their ancestors. Her horizon wobbled as a maid attending her tugged at her dress to arrange it appropriately. She looked down to the maid to her left who glanced up apologetically. She returned her gaze out to the majestic cavern below her bedroom's balcony, polished floors and carved walls lined with noble houses and the palace sitting at the head of it all. Even as a little girl she had felt proud to be living so close to the royal palace and dreamed of marrying the king's youngest son. She knew that was no longer to be her fate, the prince was rumoured to be betrothed already, either way she herself was betrothed now.
"Rika, you look beautiful" She turned to greet the person addressing her with a smile as her maids backed away and sunk into a bow.
"Thank you, mother" She said placing her hands in the older woman's.
"I can't wait for your father to see you, he'll be so proud" The old dwarf smiled tenderly "Come now, show me how it fits"
Rika giggled and gave a small spin to show off her deep blue velvet and gold jewelled dress. The skirt and over-sized drooping sleeves quivered and bellowed with the movement. Her mother lowered herself on to the caved stool in front of the vanity and watched.
"You must be the most gorgeous girl in all Orzammar," She twisted around to take jewellery out of a gem encrusted box on the table behind her "Lord Akelar is a lucky man to have you" Her mother said summoning her over.
Rika walked over and sat beside her mother who slung a gold half moon suspended with gold chain from either point around her throat and attached it with the clasp.
"I'm eager to meet him" Rika admitted, most of her friends had already been married off and spoke often of their happiness.
Two thick aqua hoops of jade stone found their way into her earlobes. Her mother rubbed a soft hand down her cheek.
"I will miss you when you leave to live with him, but you will give me beautiful grandchildren and he will take good care of you, he's a good match for you"
"I trust your and father's judgment, I'm sure he will be" Rika smiled
"Well, the feast is ready; shall we go meet your future husband?"
Rika smiled and nodded excitedly, linking arms with her mother and accompanying her down to the dining hall.
.
The servants pulled open the feast hall's doors and announced the two noble women's arrival causing the men seated at the table to stand. Rika sent a small smile to her father at the head of the table but kept her poise and grace about her as she looked down the right side of the table where her fiancé's family sat and looked over the men and wondered which one was Lord Akelar. She was disappointed when none of them looked to be her age or even close to it, but she resolved not to judge them on such a trivial thing. She took her place beside her mother near the head of the table and smiled nervously at the family opposite her. Her gesture was returned by a woman she guessed was her mother's age as they all retook their seats. The head of the other family sitting beside her father cleared his throat and the conversation built up again between the dwarves. Servants quickly filled the new members to the table's plates and goblets and Rika thanked them as they scurried away into the background. The older dwarf woman caught her eye.
"Your mother's no liar; you have become an incredibly beautiful woman, Rika"
"Thank you, Milady" Rika replied with a small bow of her head, used to hearing the words.
"Oh please, call me Mourde after all, we'll soon be family"
"This is Lord Akelar's mother" Rika's mother informed her
"A pleasure to meet you" Rika smiled
"We've met before, you know?" Lady Mourde said "But you were only a small girl, I'm not surprised you don't remember me"
"Our family has had quarrels in the past, but that is behind us now, your marriage is a guarantee of that"
Rika sipped at her wine but stopped and returned her goblet to the table at the words.
"Our families were once enemies?" She asked her mother
"Our men are too stubborn" Lady Mourde answered her in an amused whisper "But that's all in the past" she said and picked up her goblet
Rika looked down at the food in front of her and straightened her fork anxiously.
"So, um, My Lady Mourde, Which one is your son?" Rika asked
She was answered by Mourde's husband in a scoff as he wiped foam from his beard, placed there in the first place by his mug of ale.
"That boy will be late to his own funeral" His deep voice rumbled like falling stone
Rika felt a drop in her chest but also a small bubble of happiness that none of the old men seated at the table were to be her husband. She picked up the slender golden fork and took delicate bites of her food as the elders discussed politics and family related business. The day stretched on until some were even up to their tenth plate of food and Rika wished for nothing more than to leave for her room and forget all her lessons on proper poster. Even some of the most patient elders were starting to grumble and the most talkative running out of things to say. Finally the doors were swung open and Lord Akelar was announced. His father pulled himself onto his stubby legs; Rika turned and felt a sudden drop like her stomach was hollow. Upon seeing him, marrying one of the old men didn't seem so bad.
"Where have you been, boy?" His father bellowed
He swaggered up to the table and pulled one of his house elder's plates of food to the opposite head of the table and seated himself, swinging his legs up to rest his muddy boots on the polished marble and stuffing a roasted pig leg into his mouth.
"Where ever I felt like being" He snorted through a mouthful of meat.
"We've been waiting for hours" Lady Mourde scolded
"And now here I am" He answered holding his hands out to represent himself
"Nevermind, this is Rika," Lady Mourde gestured and Rika's mother nudged her frozen form to stand "your future bride"
"Ah, yes" He said and went over to greet her.
She held out her hand to him, the smell of alcohol thick on his breath as he pressed him meat greased lips to her skin.
"Well, you're not as pretty as they said, a bit baby faced really," He said looking her over "but with my blood I'm sure you'll give me strong sons to strengthen my house" He said raising a mug of ale he swiped from the table and the house's elders agreed.
Rika placed her hands together calmly and swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Might I be excused, My Lords and Ladies? I've had a long day and I feel I must rest for the ceremony tomorrow" She said gently
The heads of the houses exchanged words before her father looked up to her.
"Of course, my girl, we should get to talking about the next expedition into the deep roads in any case" He said
Rika smiled and gave a small curtsy before turning and gliding from the room. She walked the corridors and looked out the open carved windows to the diamond quarter below. She passed servants and tilted her head when she passed her superiors but finally only the sound of her footsteps filled the hall and she slowed to look around to affirm no one was watching before she sprinted for her chambers. Even when she was behind the solid door and collapsed to the ground her breath raced through her lungs. She placed her fingers over her heart and tried to calm her breathing. She swallowed hard and finally managed to breathe through her nose. She picked herself up shakily and went over to her bed and sat on the edge. She heard a tap at her door but remained silent even when her name was called. Her mother let herself in and joined her on the thick sheets.
"Is that really the best you could do?" Rika asked
Her mother sighed.
"I didn't like your father much when I first met him either, but he's a good match"
"A good match?" Rika gasped "Mother, he's a pig!"
"Don't say that" Lady Blackvien snapped "He comes from an honourable family and your marriage to him will only make our house stronger"
"He couldn't even turn up on time!" Rika stressed
"He's the first born lord of his house, he has many important tasks to attend too"
"Like getting drunk?"
"Rika, that is enough! You must learn your place and it is not is his affairs, I admit he was rude to not arrive at the agreed time but that is not enough for you to slander him so"
Rika went silent and looked out at her balcony.
"You are right; I'm just hurt that he could not keep his appointment to meet me. I thought he'd be as excited to see me and I was him"
Lady Blackvien's eyes softened.
"Sometimes men do not always keep their promises, but it's your duty as a wife to trust his judgement, do you understand?" She said gently brushing her fingers through her daughter's thick blonde hair.
Rika smiled and nodded.
"Good, shall I send the maids up to dress you for bed?"
"No, I'd like to do it myself tonight"
"Alright," She said standing and walking to the door "I'll see you tomorrow, my little girl"
As soon as the door shut behind her Rika's understanding smile turned to a scowl.
Why did her friends all get to boast about their loving, protective husbands and she was stuck with a man who didn't even appreciate her beauty? He was handsome to look upon, yes, but it was completely ruined by his manner; his very presence made her uneasy. Rika strode out onto the balcony and gripped the rail tightly. This is what she'd trained for her whole life? All the hours of practice of writing and the correct way a noble lady must sit and eat and speak and behave, all boiled down to her being voiceless and blindly obedient? Tears of rage built up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She stormed back to her room and stood in front of her elegant, long mirror. She pulled the dress up and over her head and threw it down in a crumpled heap on her floor and headed over to her closest. She got down on all fours and pulled a box out from behind it carefully. She sat in her under garments in the middle of her floor and placed the box in front of her. She gave her door a cautious glance before opening it and smiling at its contents. She put on the common clothes covered in dirt and tears and opened the small jar of dirt and rubbed it through her long golden hair until it was almost the colour of dust. She took out the pot of watery black paint and with a steady hand painted the castles symbol upon her cheek. She placed everything back in the small chest and slid it under her bed before walking over to the vanity and reaching underneath to grab the small dagger she hid stuck to the bottom of the table. She strapped it to her leg and used a strip of leather to pull her hair back into a low ponytail. She walked over to her door and slid it open a crack and listened intensely for the slightest sound before opening the door and slipping out and running down the hall towards the servants quarters her bare feet slapping against the stone. She finally came to a familiar servant door and slipped down it quickly. She no longer brought light with her down the passage as she knew almost every groove of the stone now and it gave passing servants less chance to recognise her. She finally came out in the commons where she kept her head low and made a beeline for another tiny square door made by the carta leading down another tunnel until she was spat out in dust town. She relaxed her guard but still kept to the shadows and she made her way down an alley and tapped anxiously at the door to the one roomed house she knew so well. Her knocks were answered and the door was hardly open when she flung herself into the owner's arms.
"Rika, what's wrong, are you alright, what's happened?" He asked clutching at her and shutting the makeshift door behind her "Are you in trouble?"
"He's a monster" She said muffled by his baggy shirt
"Rika" The dwarf sighed
"Let me stay here with you" She said looking up with pleading eyes
"Rika," He said more sternly "you know there's no way-"
The scruffy dwarf held her at arms' length.
"Is he really that bad?"
Rika pulled away and sat on a lump of stone that served as a chair.
"Well…Ugh, yes no"
The male chuckled and took a seat on his make shift bed.
"Yes no?" He teased
Rika looked at him sternly.
"He's not you, He'll never be you. Plus he turned up hours late to the ceremony and he was drunk! I had to sit around listening to the elders dribble their rubbish for hours" She groaned "Then-Then he had the nerve to insult me! He said I had the face of a baby or something like that, I hate him"
The male laughed at her dramatics and drank from the flagon beside his bed.
"You do have a baby's face, look at you, all big eyed and smooth skinned. You're almost human the way you look"
"Take that back, Sandstorm!" She hissed
"I will not withdraw a true statement, Milady" He chuckled
"And then my mother came in and told me I was the one at fault, it's a curse to be born a noble" She spat
"Only a woman" Sandstorm said into his drink
"What?" Rika snapped leaning forward
"I said," He paused to wipe his mouth "only a woman, it's only a curse to be born a noble woman, or any woman really. You really do get the short straw in life most often"
"I'll say, all I'm good for is having children" She sneered holding a hand out for the flagon
Sandstorm passed it to her and smiled weakly.
"I'm sure you'll have beautiful children" He said softly
"Oh, don't you start, that's all I ever hear" She took a few deep gulps "Oh Rika, you're so delicate and sweet, how charming your babes will be" She mimicked her mother's voice and elicited a laugh from her companion.
She took a few more mouthfuls before cradling the flagon in her hands.
"Let me stay here" She whispered
"They'd kill me and you'd still have to marry him"
Rika brought her knees up to her chest.
"Sandstorm?"
"Hm?" He answered
"You know you're my oldest friend"
"No, whatever it is I wo-"
"I want to have your children instead"
The room was silent and they sat looking at each other with very different expressions.
"No" He finally said turning away
She got down from her perch and went over to sit beside him and rest her head on his shoulder.
"Tomorrow night I will have to consummate my marriage to Lord Akelar so I fall pregnant with his child, the timing is perfect" She watched his face before continuing "I don't know what sort of husband he will be. Will he keep me constantly guarded? Will I be able to find my way out un-noticed to even see you anymore? I may never see you again after tonight"
"What if someone finds out?" Sandstorm said in a hushed voice
"How? Only way they'll know is if our son is born too handsome, then they'll defiantly know it's not his"
Sandstorm gave her a weak smile.
"It's not a good idea"
"Neither is me sneaking out to see you for the past five years" She said casting her sapphire eyes into his muddy gold pair "I thought about this for a long time"
"Rika" He whispered before their lips met.
.
For once she had deeper worries than getting caught as she snuck back down the halls towards her room. Sandstorm had told her a group of lower nobles had raided dust town that day and she feared for him. No noble dared set foot in dust town for fear of soiling their reputation and where was the honour in harassing beggars? She slipped into her chamber and went to her bathroom where she rinsed out her hair and scrubbed the dirt and fake tattoo from her. She replaced the dagger in its hiding place and changed into her night robes after replacing her tattered attire. She lay on her bed and looked out at the second best view in the city. She didn't even notice when her eyes betrayed her into sleep and sped her towards her fate.