Ahhh... I'm sorry, this story has been in my mind for .. well, since I first played the "Alone" quest. the line, "I would have given you everything", as well as manage to turn me into a puddle on the floor, sprang an idea in to my cluttered brain. What if there was more to Varania than, oh i wanted to be a magister so i sold you out. and what if Hawke managed to convince fenris to actually listen, begrudgingly i have to admit on his part. hey its fenris, who would he be with out a bit of brood. so this story popped into my mind. I just think Bioware were a bit vague/mean on Varania. Because i doubt that she would have just gone "Screw my brother, yeah i loved him, he did everything to protect me. gave up everything so i would be free. Ima be a bitch and sell him out when he finally learns about me again." i dunno, the impression i get is she's just a tad bit too mean. anyway, enough of my chit chat. read :) oh.. and review ;)
Varania stared at the letter, at the untidy scrawl that twisted and swirled to make simple words. It almost broke her heart to read it. Her brother had found her, had finally remembered who she was. She couldn't remember the countless times she would pass him with master Ahriman and he would blank her, not even recognise his own sister. Didn't even want to remember the time when she had almost tripped Master Denarius over and to be pinned up against the nearest wall, his striking blue marking glowing. Ready to kill her in an instant. That moment almost destroyed all the happy memories of playing in the courtyards as their mother worked. The way he would protect her without a seconds thought, carrying her to tend to her wound's whenever she fell.
But only almost.
And now Denarius had lost him. And so had she in turn. Leto had run away from him in Seheron, angering the magister into such a fury she had endured hours of torture "to just make sure he hasn't told you anything." Though he knew full well he had no clue who she was anymore.
"Mama, why are you crying?" her youngest, Fay, questioned, her black wavy hair falling into her eyes, making the six year old blow at it in frustration. Varania smiled, a silent tear rolling down her cheek. She was the spitting image of her father and Leto crossed. Her father's waves yet Leto's colour and both her and her brother's eyes. A deep moss green exactly like their mothers.
"Mama has had some very good news. Go get Papa, I need to speak to him." one good thing to come from Letos sacrifice was her family. And she would not give them up for the world.
"Master Ahriman took him this morning mama, me and Fergus haven't seen him; Lara said another Magister was here, to see him. Mama what's wrong?" Variana's fingers gripped the paper until her knuckles were almost white. He knew. He had to; Denarius knew that she'd had the letter. And Ahriman was in on it. She was never free, never had been. Denarius had freed her yes, but had placed her directly in other pocket. Placed her with Ahriman so she could be in his grasp whenever he found need of her.
And now they had Logan, the only happiness she found after mother had died.
They would not have him.
Looking down at her daughter her heart beat faster. They would use her family against her. They were that cruel.
"Fay, Get your brother and hide. Go to lady Arianna. You know Lady Arianna don't you darling?" she tried so hard to keep the desperation out of her voice, but the way her daughters green eyes grew she wasn't doing that good a job. Fay Nodded, and Varania could sense her daughter's panic. "Good grab your brother and tell him I'm ordering him, to just run, do not look back. Do you understand Fay? What did I just say?"
The young elf gulped, her round face growing pink. "To just run and not look back. But Mama-"
"No fay, go now. Mama loves you, so so much." With that Varania gave a quick kiss to her forehead and was running across the courtyard, her feet slamming against the cobblestone. She had to find him. She just had to.
She slipped in through the slave's entrance, blending in perfectly with the other elves. If he wasn't in here. She had no idea what she would do.
Her eyes scanned the room, over and over. Random slaves gave her a wide berth has she frantically searched the room, pushing past people who were too thick to move out of her way. Blood was pumping in her ears. Her life was crumbling down around her; it was all spinning wildly out of control.
She ran through the kitchens, a blur of pale skin and red hair. There was no one there, odd considering it was past mid-day and master Ahriman had guest's visiting from Marothius. A possible new apprentice. A poor sod who knew no better than to feed of power and use it against others.
A terrible thought hit her, as if she had ran full into a brick wall. She shivered, cold sweat running down her spine.
It was often the Magisters rite to take one of the slaves and destroy them, either through a blood sacrifice or just to show how powerful they really were. It was like an initiation to them.
Her feet flew faster across the floor; she had to get to him. She had to save him. He was her life, without him, she wouldn't know how to go on.
A sharp pain emitted from her chest, pure and raw. She crumpled to a heap of arms and legs on the floor, her head bouncing off the tiles. She could already feel the heat of blood trickling down the side of her temple. Her vision was blurred, a small ringing in her ears. Dazed and confused, she scrambled to get up, her palms slipping on the tiles. A sudden pain, like a knee to the back pushed her down.
The low throaty chuckle from beside her ear stopped her heart completely.
She would know that vicious laugh anywhere. She turned her head, painfully to her right only to face the person she dreaded most.
Denarius grinned at her. His rotten yellow teeth glaring into her face. This couldn't be happening, she had to get to Logan. She had to. She couldn't lose him. she couldn't lose more people she loved.
"Dearest Varania, do you like hiding things from me?" he stroked his long feminine fingers down her face; she had to stop the automatic cringe the touch brought her. She knew, better than most what defying your rightful lord would get you.
"Master I do not know what you mean." The sharp slap to the side of her face sold her lie out. Denarius sneered in her face, cupping her chin like a lover.
"Now now Varania, your brother may have freed you but you still belong to me. I have something of yours, you know. A certain elf, Logan? Loghain?" she gasped, making his grin even bigger. "Oh, so you know of whom I speak. In exchange for your brother I will give you back your family as it were."
"No Varania! You can't he's your brother!" a sudden bone chilling crack and the urgent voice was gone, replaced by painful whimpering. Varania looked up, only to see two guards and Ahriman clutching the arms of her love. Ahrimans staff protruding from Logan's abdomen.
"Quiet you!" her master hissed.
"So what do you say, dear sweet Varania? You wouldn't want to see this elf die, just from your stubbornness would you?" He was using that tone he had always used when she was younger. A sweet condescending tone that would puzzle you if it meant friendship, or had hints of cruel torture waiting after it.
Varania looked to Logan. He was barely alive as it was, his breath's coming in raspy shakes. She couldn't lose him; she had her children, her life to think of. Her brother had abandoned her when she needed her most. Had left her when mother was ill. He had never loved her, he deserved to pay. To be dragged back to his home and punished for the crimes he had committed against Master Denarius…
"Stop please. I'll show you the letter." She groaned as she reached into her apron, the small concealed pocket over flowing with small pins and sewing things. She clutched the letter, she'd read it so many times, she could probably read it word for word to him without a single glance. Denarius smiled, over sweet, plucking the letter from her fingers and straightened. His face turning from sweet to uninterested almost instantly.
"Kill the spare." Varania gasped. He had promised.
"With pleasure." Ahrimans sick reply was before a blood curdling scream and a soft thud sounded from beside her. She couldn't look, couldn't dare look into her lover's cold lifeless blue eyes.
"You promised you'd let him go…" She whispered angrily, more to herself than anyone else.
"Now dear, I did not promise anything. If you had given in sooner, I'm sure the elf would be alive right now. You have only yourself to blame dear." He clicked his fingers and the two guards rushed over "ready her and her uh, sprogs. We can use them as leverage if she tries to send him word." One guard twisted her arm, forcing her to step over Logans body. sobs wreaked havoc on her body and soul as her eyes fell on him. he was cold, pale lifeless. Just a corpse in the eyes of the cruel bastard's before her. She had lost him, just like she had lost her brother.
And she would lose him again to Denarius, and to the Imperium.