Hello everyone. Just wanted to say that I am very excited to finally be starting this story. It first started out as a Role-play between myself and my girlfriend (Echoes of Fantasy here on Fanfiction), and I always wanted to turn it into a story. As I am working on a lot of projects at the same time, updates might be slow, but they will come! I absolutely love criticism and reviews so please tell me what you think!

This story is happily dedicated to Echoes of Fantasy for always being there for me, inspiring me and telling me straight when I am doing something wrong. None of this could have been accomplished without you.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Party to End Them All

It was darker than normal in the streets of Val Royeaux as Blaed continued to make his rounds for the night. Val Royeaux was the capital city of Orlais, and also one of the largest cities in all of Thedas. It was home to not only the University of Orlais, but was also the seat of the Chantry, whose refuge was the Grand Cathedral.

The White Spire, which was not only the home of the Orlesian Circle of Magi, but also the main headquarters of the Templar Order here in Orlais, could be seen from anywhere in even a city as large as this; even more so at night as it was lit up with magic like a beacon for lost souls. Blaed couldn't help but get an uneasy calm from looking towards it. He was currently walking through one of several residential districts sectioned off for the nobility of the city. Many of the Orlesian Lords and Ladies called the capital their home.

The buildings in the district were all large and built from the finest polished off-white stone and almost all of them had crests of nobility mounted over the doors. The streets were empty, not because of how late it was, but around this time of night a lot of the nobility would be at parties thrown by other nobles. It was almost expected for there to be a gathering, party or ball every other night. You could say it was a part of the political structure itself. Blaed didn't care for the parties himself, but with his own father being one of the nobles, he felt it was his duty to attend every one that his father threw.

It didn't take him long to finish these patrols; all his really had to do was make sure that the area surrounding his father's mansion was safe for the evening. Even in a city as secure as this, the nobles were always out for each other's influence and esteem.

Blaed held the prestigious title of Chevalier; a renowned knightly order that many of the Orlesian nobles belong. It took a lot more than simply being a noble to become a Chevalier; you had to go through rigorous martial training, instilling in them a fierce discipline and code of honor that takes precedence over the very value of their own lives. They are considered by many in Thedas the best of all soldiers.

Unlike most of the nobility in Orlais, Blaed cared more about comfort and agility in the clothes and armor he wore instead of what was the highest fashion of the season. Tonight, he wore a simple leather outfit with bits of metal armoring on his shoulders and legs. It was light and allowed him almost complete flexibility, which he liked. His shoulder length red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that draped gracefully down the top of his back. The only thing he bore that identified him as nobility, was the simple silver chain necklace he wore around his neck which bore his family's crest; a sword and a flute crossed together in front of a falcon with spread wings. His steel saber was sheathed and bound to his leather belt at his left side.

"Finally… Done with tonight's ever so boring patrol…" He commented with a subtle sigh, voice thick with that elegant Orlesian accent. "Father will probably want me at his little Ball now…"

His father's mansion wasn't that far from where he was; his patrol only went as far as half of the district surrounding his father's place. He sighed once more, gave one last look around the immediate area and then made his way back home.

There were some subtle differences to the various mansions in this district, and every noble normally tried to outwit the others in class and style. Banners hung from some while others had almost full gardens of flowers surrounding them. Blaed father had thought it would be interesting to have vines and various other flowers decorate the front walls of his mansion. It looked decorative, but was almost close to looking like he had just allowed the pants to overtake the place.

Blaed drew close to the large polished wood double doors of the entrance and paused in mid-step. He could hear the music playing from beyond the door; the Ball was already in full swing. He looked over himself and knew that if he showed up dressed as he was, like it or not, it would probably embarrass his father. Though part of him enjoyed that thought, he didn't want to upset his father any more than he already was; he seemed to be very on edge lately.

He looked up to the nearby window on the top floor and a sly grin spread across his lips. This wasn't the first time he had to do something like this. Part of him loved sneaking in; it reminded him of his childhood fantasies of becoming a bard.

Orlesian bards were a little different from your normal everyday bards; they were more spies for the nobles than anything else. Here in Orlais, Bards are not only trained in the musical arts, but in intrigue and espionage as well. They exploit their almost unlimited access to powerful nobility to glean secrets for paying employers, some of which are even nameless to the bards themselves. Even though all the nobles know of them, they are always welcome to these kinds of parties. It was all part of the game to them; another way to gain prestige. Be it through stealing secrets or even assassination.

Blaed gripped at the wooden grate that helped the vines climb the walls and started to climb up, reaching the nearest window on the top floor in no time. He jumped through the open window and landed on his feet in his room. It was rather handy having his room there like that; made it rather easy to sneak in and out whenever he wanted to.

His room was rather quaint compared to most with his family's status. A fireplace already crackling with bright flames was positioned at the far wall. A simple wardrobe sat against the wall left of the fireplace; filled with Blaed's various outfits, both for use as a Chevalier as well as others for special occasions. His bed seemed out of place in his otherwise simple room; it was large, able to fit up to four people comfortably, adorned with the finest red silk sheets embroidered with the seal of his family on it. Elegant hand-stitched pillows decorated the head of the bed. The wood the bed frame was carved from was made out of dragon bone. It was very expensive to say the least, but according to his father, it was worth it.

"Blaed?" A voice spoke from beyond the door; it was unmistakably Jathaniel, his father. "Blaed, my boy, are you in here?" His father opened the door without even knocking.

Blaed's father was shorter than him by at least a foot. He looked as if he might have had muscle at some point in his life, but becoming a noble had taken its toll on his body. His short black hair was cut close to his scalp with the start of a receding hairline. He was wearing his normal garb for parties like this; something with a lot of bright colored silks and ridiculous frills that seemed ridiculous to Blaed, but apparently it was the highest fashion currently. Even growing up around the nobility of Orlais, Blaed never fully grasped the idea of fashion like most.

"Ah! There you are my boy!" Jathaniel finished, resting his hands on his son's shoulders, looking him over. "What are you wearing?" He questioned, almost as if he were degusted.

"It's something more comfortable and fitting than what you are wearing, father." Blaed replied with narrow eyes. He could already smell the alcohol on his father's breath. "Or have you forgotten my duties?"

Jathaniel laughed and it was genuine. Blaed couldn't help but smile as well. His father may be odd at times, but he was bound to be one of the nicest and friendliest nobles you would ever meet in Orlais.

"Well then change, and come down stairs. I have some people I want you to meet." Jathaniel commented, patting Blaed on the back and laughing before leaving the room; shutting the door behind him.

Blaed sighed, he loved his father, but these kinds of parties didn't really excite him. At the least, he thought, there would be some good food and wine. That was a given.

It didn't take long for him to change into something more fitting a noble; it was tight fitting and highly uncomfortable and cumbersome for him. He rolled his shoulders and tried his best to get comfortable in the garb, and soon enough he found himself in the rather large ballroom of his father's mansion. The room was almost completely filled with some of his father's friends and even enemies. It wasn't uncommon for enemies among nobility to invite each other to their parties; it gave them a chance to show off or size the other up. Blaed understood the idea behind it, but as one of his father's Chevaliers, it was also his job to protect his father. These parties could almost be as dangerous as any other battlefield.

The minstrels were playing for some gathered peoples in one corner of the large room. There were tables scattered about filled with all kinds of food you could think of, and some Blaed had never even seen before. Blaed made his way through the groups of nobles gossiping about the latest fashion or news and found his father, who was talking with a tall, lanky man with shoulder length silver hair, whom he recognized as Marron, one of his father's best friends and a fellow noble. Next to Marron, was a woman that Blaed had seen before in passing once or twice talking with his father, but he never got to know who she was.

The woman with them was strikingly beautiful, and Blaed found himself staring; admiring her. She was fare of skin and had long flowing red hair that was tied in a long, loose ponytail down her back. Her red-tinted lips were curled in a soft smile as she turned emerald green eyes on him. The eye contact sent a shiver up Blaed's spine. He had always had a weakness for women, but this felt… different, somehow. The dress she wore was elegant, unlike some of the nobles here who seemed to be drastic with fashion, but this dress was simple, fit her curves and actually had taste to it. Blaed subconsciously licked his lower lip, suddenly finding them dry.

"Ah, Blaed, my boy, there you are!" Jathaniel commented, gesturing for his son to come join them. Blaed moved to stand next to his father, who had a drink in one hand and a bright smile painted on his face. "You remember Marron." He stated.

Blaed nodded with the best smile he could put on, bowing his head lightly in respect, "Of course, Lord Marron." Marron just laughed and patted his hand on Blaed's shoulder.

"Oh come now, boy, no need for that. We are like family, after all." Marron commented with a smirk. Lord Marron was originally born in Ferelden; his father had been an Orlesian Chevalier like Blaed, and had fallen in love with a Ferelden woman close to the end of the last war, thus he had their strange accent. Even his unique heritage hadn't stopped him from ascending to the esteemed title of Lord here in Orlais.

The three of them shared a laugh, with the woman seeming a bit confused as to what was going on. Jathaniel clapped his hands together.

"Oh yes! Before I forget, Blaed, this is Valerie." Jathaniel stated, gesturing to the woman standing with them. She smiled once more at Blaed and he stood there, meeting her gaze, almost frozen in place.

"I… I am Blaed, Chevalier to my father, Lord Jathaniel." Blaed replied, almost nervously.

Jathaniel broke out in gleeful laughter and smacked Blaed on the back.

"Come now, my son, you sound like you're nervous. She's not going to bite…" he paused and looked to her. "At least, not till she gets to know you." He teased with a loud and happy laugh.

Valerie chuckled and it was both sweet yet had the hint of something darker, almost mysterious hidden within. Blaed swallowed hard, eyes focusing on the woman before him. She smiled yet again and moved closer.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Blaed." She commented with a voice that was filled with both elegance and sex all at once. "Your father has told me so much about you." She smirked and something just seemed dark about it. "Is it true that you used to be a Templar?" she asked in a tone that seemed more sarcastic than anything else.

"Oh come now, Valerie. This is a party. No need to bring up the past." Jathaniel interrupted before Blaed could even reply.

Blaed and Valerie's eyes met and there as a heat between them, though, it wasn't like before where it felt nice and different, this one Blaed was all too familiar with. Valerie seemed to have a problem with him. But why, he wondered.

"Jathaniel, there is some business that I wish to discuss." Marron said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Of course, Let us go to my office."Jathaniel replied, finishing off his drink before leading Marron away, leaving Blaed and Valerie alone.

"So, how do you know my father?" Blaed asked, grabbing the both of them a flask of wine.

"Thank you…" she replied as she took her flask and sipped from it. "Jathaniel, you could say, is my benefactor. He has been looking out for me, since my parents died."

Blaed's eyes softened for a moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask what happened?"

"No…" she commented with narrow eyes. "You may not." And with that, the tension and awkward silence was there again.

They finished their drinks in silence, the party still going on around them. Nearly an hour passed before Valerie finally spoke up.

"So…" she started, clearing her throat. "You used to be a Templar?" she asked again, but with less heat this time.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Blaed retorted in a near grumble.

"What happened?"

"I just wasn't cut out for it." He started. "And my father needed me. How was I to say no to my own blood?"

"Your father is a good man, but that doesn't make you any friends in the nobility here."

"Don't I know that…" Blaed commented. "… I wonder what is taking father so long."

"I'm sure he is just busy drinking with Lord Marron and talking about the good old days." Valerie jested.

"How long have you known my father, exactly?" Blaed asked with narrow eyes and a cocked eyebrow.

Valerie cleared her throat and looked around, placing her empty flask on the nearby table and then looked back to Blaed.

"Forgive me, but I have somewhere that I must be. It was good to meet you." She stated with a nervous looking smile. "If you will excuse me…"

Before Blaed could say anything at all, she was gone, walking away pretty quickly. Blaed just sighed and rolled his shoulders, the uncomfortable garb feeling heavy on him. The party was almost over now; a lot of the nobility had already left and the minstrels were beginning to pack up their things. Some of the house servants were already out and about cleaning up some of the tables and messes made by the guests.

Blaed slowly made his way back to his room, saying farewell to some of the last guests in his father's stead. For some reason, his father had not come back to the party. It didn't worry him greatly as this would sometimes happen. He quickly got out of the so-called fashionable outfit and placed it aside on one of the wooden chairs in the room. He slipped on a simple white tunic with matching black fabric pants, deciding to settle in for the night with a good book by the fireplace.

All of a sudden, there was a piercing scream ringing through the halls of the mansion. Blaed instinctively grabbed for his saber, pulled it from the sheath in a steely hiss of metal and burst out of his room and sprinted in the direction of the scream.

He found himself standing in front of the open doorway into his father's office. There was blood everywhere; decorating the walls and floor, staining the otherwise elegant rug. Lying on the floor face down in front of his desk was his father, Lord Jathaniel, surrounded by that pool of warm, wet blood. Blaed stormed into the office, kneeling over his father and grabbing at him, pulling the body onto his lap.

"Father… FATHER!" he shouted, shaking his father's limp body.

Hot tears streamed down Blaed's cheeks and his breath as caught in his throat; heart pounding so hard that it was almost deafening in his ears. One of the servants was at the door; she looked terrified and wide eyed. When he turned to look at her, he noticed that Marron was there as well, leaning against the far wall, unconscious, but there was no blood on him at all.

"Someone jumped out of the window…" the servant said hastily.

Blaed wasted no time and got back to his feet, rushing to the window just in time to see a shadowy figure turn the corner of the road into an alleyway. He looked down to the street and grabbed onto one of the wooden beams with his gloved hand, sliding down safely to the street below and gave chase.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he followed the shadowy figure into the alleyway and onto a back road. Then, out of nowhere, the figure just stopped. Blaed, already running at full speed, decided not to even attempt to slow down and tackled the figure to the ground. He turned the figure around and his eyes went wide.

"Valerie!?"