This is my first attempt to write a fic. Honestly, there's a load of ideas swirling in my mind for this story. It will be AU for the most part and will introduce some original characters that are the product of my wacky imagination. I'm trying to take a different approach, so it's not a retelling of the game. I don't know if you like this idea or not, but please let me know because your feedback means a lot to me! Feel free to share your thoughts and criticize everything you see fit.

Thank you for reading :)

Prologue

Outskirts of Lothering

9:27 Dragon

A faint sunlight slashed through the tall, giant trees of the woods. The breeze was warm and the air was filled with the scent of herbs, earth and exotic, venomous plants.

A familiar, hot breath upon Fayne's cheek made her skin tingle just a little and the soft, husky voice of Aaron Coste resonated in her ear.

"You're beautiful, Fay. Just... beautiful." He planted soft kisses across her flushed, warm cheeks then moved to the corner of her lips, lusciously finishing his trip in her opened mouth waiting to be filled with the silky, wet touch of his lips.

Fayne - or Fay, as Aaron liked to call her - was a thin, petite and agile rogue - a deadly assassin. She was trained to become an assassin in the exotic and full of intrigue nation of Antiva - where she lived there for a year. She had a long, blond, pale hair, matching her fair skin. Her eyes were a vivid, iridescent pale green. She was dressed in beige leggings and a white, thin chemise, making it possible to see her shaped curves.

Aaron was a tall, slender fereldan young man with blue eyes so dark that they almost looked purple. He had black hair and a mysterious, handsome countenance. His voice was husky and recondite, making him fearful. He was a warrior - fearless and ruthless in his battles. He was a truly dangerous man and Fay knew that. Fayne was sure that there was some underlying darkness in him. But in truth, he was without a doubt deviously alluring. His mother's whereabouts were unknown, as well as her identity. His father, however, was a guardsman, always encouraging his son to become a templar.

And the thought of Aaron become a templar filled Fayne with a sharp, bone-freezing fear. He didn't know that she had mages in her family and in truth she didn't even knew how to tell him that. They've met a year and half ago, during a festival in Lothering. He asked her to dance and her heart almost stopped when she saw this arresting, handsome warrior stretching his hand for her. The attraction was immediate.

"We need to go back to the village," Fayne remembered between kisses. She could hardly keep her voice steady and her heartbeat was accelerating with every graze of his lips along her fair, sensitive skin.

Aaron let out a low groan of disapproval. "Why? We're just fine in here," he countered when he drew back from her mouth.

His glare pierced deep into her soul, shaking the very foundations of her body. If it wasn't for his probing eyes that were inevitably paralyzing her, she would have thanked the Maker from being lying on a blanket, for if she was on her feet she would quickly swoon at his feet.

"Why do have to be such a teaser?" Fayne asked with an eye-roll, realizing too lately he wouldn't give up on her that easily. His hand was gently stroking her sides. This was not the first time he had the pleasure to explore her body as if it was a sacred place, but his touch always made her spineless.

"You're the one teasing me. You're the one with a beautiful... firm... toned body," he muttered between soft kisses, while his hand caressed her sides. When he pulled back from her lips, he stared back at her and saw her almost white hair unkempt under her head as if it was a pillow, while her eyes glimmer with anticipation. Maker, she definitely had to be the most enticing woman in the world - and she was his.

"Aaron," she breathed, tilting her head to the side in what he recognized to be a weak attempt to escape from his grasp. "We really need to -"

Fear gripped her heart in a beat - there was someone in the woods. Her eyes saw not too far away from where they were a shadow cloaked figure.

"There's someone else here." Fayne glanced quickly at Aaron.

His amused expression was lost. "What do you mean?"

"We're not alone." Again she tilted her head to her left side, silently pointing to where she saw the stranger.

Indeed there was a third person in the woods. Aaron was sure that he or she didn't spot them and decided to turn that into their favor. Making as less noise as possible, he rolled off her and crouched strategically behind a set of branches. Instinctively, his right hand went for his sword.

Fayne did likewise and in a blink she was too hiding behind the trees. Aaron was a skilled warrior, while she was a trained assassin, making them a dangerous combination for anyone who ever tried to cross them.

"Who do you think it is?" Aaron whispered his question, keeping his eyes fixed on the stranger. He was a male.

"I don't know. Maybe a mercenary?"

Aaron shook his head. "It doesn't look like it."

The petite rogue gave him a sideways look, toying with the hilt of her daggers. "Do you want to pay him a surprise?"

He raised his brows and there was an unintentional grin playing across his lips. He knew exactly what was swirling in her mind. In truth, she wanted to disappear into the trees, making herself invisible to him. Aaron would move through the trees and then surprise the man. At that same moment, Fayne would leap into his sight, and before the man had time to breathe, he would be trapped between them.

Aaron licked his lips when he finished playing the scene in his mind. This woman was wicked, but in a good way.

"Okay," he nodded.

Fayne clenched the hilt of her daggers, smiled playfully and disappeared into the foliage. Aaron moved swiftly through the trees, clutching his sword's pommel with his hands. The stranger came into view - he was dressed in robes. Aaron immediately recognized him as mage from the Circle He was sitting on a small boulder, chewing a piece of breath. His staff was lying on the floor next to him. He is a fugitive, he thought.

"Hey, you! Aaron called to him.

The mage's eyes went wide as soon as he spotted Aaron. He immediately hoisted up in an attempt to reach for his staff.

"Not so fast," rang out Fayne's sharp voice as she revealed herself from the trees, drawing forth her blades defensively.

The mage swallowed dry, noticing he was cornered by what seemed to be two agile opponents. He didn't actually knew if there were friends of foes, but being him a mage, there was only room for the latter.

Fayne kicked the staff, making it impossible for him to reach it and circled him, studying him pointedly. His warm, hazel eyes followed Fayne to where she moved and in a heartbeat she found herself looking at him curiously. He was tall, well-built and had blond hair. An earring hung from his left ear and a special twinkle danced in his eyes, intriguing the rogue.

"What's your name?" Fayne asked, warily.

"I won't give you mine until you give me yours," he snapped with what seemed to be a whisper of a grin. His sly, witty bearing just raised Fayne's interest in him.

But this only enraged Aaron, whose tone grew exasperated. "You're not in position to make jokes, mage.

For a moment, Fayne was sure there was a flash of scorn in his voice that she didn't fully comprehend. She looked briefly at her lover, but his expression was very tight and close, making it impossible to be read.

Tell me your name, please." There seemed to be an underlying softness in her words.

The mage's eyes roamed over the lithe rogue. "You may call me Anders, my dear lady," he replied at last.

Fayne continued to eye him curiously, while Aaron muttered something under his breath. A voice inside her head told her to trust Anders and in the absence of any better alternatives, she did it.

"And I am Fayne," she allowed.

"It's nice to meet you, my dear lady," Anders heard himself say. Indeed, he was feeling a bit fascinated by the rogue. When she lowered her daggers her posture lost all its sharpness. Beauty surrounded her, making her too dangerous, too powerful and too damned exquisite. He considered her exotic features, but only for a moment, having Aaron's harsh bearing dragged him back from the flood of erotic thoughts. A growl came out at the top of Aaron's lungs who charged against Anders, biting his neck with his sword. Anders looked down pointedly at the sword and gulped, seeing that the feeling of the cold metal against his throat was not a pleasant one. In a blink, he could meet death. He realized now he wasn't as nearly ready to die as he thought he was.

"Don't take us for fools, mage! What are you doing in here?"

"Traveling," the mage replied warily.

"Traveling to where?"

He shrugged. "To where my feet take me."

"Don't lie to me," he warns, coldly. "You ran from the Circle. You're a fugitive."

"You escaped the Circle?" Fayne asked, unable to bite back the words. There was an underlying admiration in her question.

He smiles a little. "By my counting, this would be my sixth attempt." His hazel eyes gleamed with delight, reflecting his need to be free. Fayne couldn't help but to admire his courage.

But in contrast with her admiration, Aaron's face grew very tight. "Escaping the circle is a crime."

Fayne hovered next to her warrior. "We're letting him go. We're not templars and he's not a threat to us." Her voice was calm, even soothing in Anders' opinion, but it wasn't enough to dissuade Aaron.

"If he is a mage, then he is a threat," Aaron countered coldly. "His place is in the Circle."

Fayne undertook a tremendous effort to hold steady at his words. The statement crushed her hard and painfully and she stood perplexed unable to retaliate. Silence descended upon on her, since this was so unlike Aaron.

Anders' voice broke the silence. "You would take me as a treat just because I'm a mage?" There seemed to be as much anger in his tone as shock.

"You're putting things very lightly, mage. You are a disease among us."

Anders' jaw hung open and it wouldn't close any time soon. Fayne's eyes widened with utter horror. This was beyond her imagination, since she never pictured Aaron as mage hater, even if his father was always trying to persuade him to become a templar.

"You corrupt everything with your touch. You make your deals with your demons, bringing only death and chaos to our world. Why would you deserve freedom?" He protested bitterly.

The unfamiliar enmity in Aaron's tone was such that Fayne was sure her heart stopped beating for a long while. There was a helpless rage boiling inside her. She didn't know this man anymore. This was not the Aaron she had fallen in love - no, this was a man whose heart was tainted with an unexplainable rancor.

Then, something in Aaron's mind snapped telling him that Fayne had been strangely quiet. He turned to catch her eyes, without lowering his sword from Anders' neck. His stare made her whole limbs freeze, rooted in both fear and anger.

"Why are you so quiet? And why do you trust him? He is dangerous." His eyes were probing, demanding his answer.

Fayne did not respond in words, but being Aaron a very perspicacious man, he quickly felt her consternation.

"You disagree with me?" He intrigued, affronted.

She gulped, staring back into his almost purple eyes. "I think you're being a little too harsh," she replied in a voice that was hard to find.

"Harsh?! This man is an apostate! He needs to be punished!" In a blink, he hit Anders' face with the hilt of his sword, bringing him to his knees. He cried out in pain and Fayne's eyes flew wide when she saw a line of blood flowing down from his nose. He just struck an unarmed man!

Anders tasted the metallic tang of blood, casting Aaron a sideways glance. Aaron's inexplicable hate filled him with a suffocating grief and anger. He didn't understand why anyone would hate mages so much to the point of denying them freedom - a freedom that everyone deserves.

Fayne immediately gripped Aaron's arm. "What are you doing? That was completely unnecessary!"

"We will bring him with us and we will hand him over to the templars." Aaron pulled back his arm abruptly and moved behind Anders to tie his wrists with a piece of fabric he just ripped from his robes, clearly not waiting for Fayne's approval on this.

"Why do you care if he goes to the Circle or not?" The rogue insisted.

"I've told you already - they're a disease among us. I don't like them," he replied without looking.

When he finished tying Anders' wrists, he kicked his back, telling him to get up. And so he did, and very much to his surprise, Fayne quickly moved so that she was standing between Aaron and him.

"This is madness, Aaron." Her voice resonated with intimidation, but that was far from making him change his mind. He looked at her, curious, offended even, that she decided to defend a mage. But furious, too, that she was affronting him. This was his decision, it was his call, and he wouldn't be dissuaded by a woman. His mouth pressed into a hard line.

"You affront me?"

"No, I reason with you. Who are you to decide over someone's fate?"

"He is a mage and mages are dangerous. I don't like them. I think that's quite simple to understand, Fayne," his voice was incredibly calm, giving the amount of anger he kept inside him.

Fayne heaved a sigh and stepped aside. Anders was intently watching them. He had nearly expected her to defend him, but no actions would be seen from Fayne, since the look on her face as she stared deeply into the trees told him she wasn't going to argue with this man no more. She was angry, yes, but not strong enough to fight with him. He was doomed to the Circle, like all the previous times he escaped. No matter how many times he ran away, trouble appears always to find him. His luck had run out and he scolded himself from stopping in these woods. If he only knew what lurked in the corners of this place...

"Come," Aaron said, shoving Anders to move, while he followed behind, brandishing his sword if the mage tried anything stupid.

Fayne followed behind shortly after, her gaze lingered on the path. Her thoughts inevitably strayed to Aaron's cold, hate filled words. Who was this man?

xxXxx

Fayne was biting her lower lip, while her stomach twisted in knots as she watched the templars fixed the chains on Anders' wrists. To know she did nothing to stop this madness repulsed her. Aaron, however, was watching the scene with quiet amusement. Everyone in the small village of Lothering was trading whispers and looks of contempt as they saw the mage being taken away. The words apostate, dangerous and evil echoed faintly in her ear.

Anders glanced over his shoulder and his eyes caught Fayne's. His stare brought an inevitable deep sadness to her beautiful face.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed, on the brink of tears. It crushed her heart seeing a mage being taken to the prison that was the Circle, even more because she had mages in her family.

Anders gave her an almost imperceptible nod and to her surprise, there seemed to be a whisper of a smile in his face as he trailed off with the templars.

Wanting to go back to her house, she stepped back, but immediately found her arm being gripped by Aaron, holding her in place. She looked down at his grip pointedly, then back at him. His expression was too authoritative for her liking.

"We're not over," he admonished, giving her a sideways glare.

The rogue flinched. "I don't know what you're talking - "

He leaned just a little, so that he could whisper against her ear. His voice was low, but there was fury in his tone. "Don't make me angry, Fayne."

When she turned to look at him, his eyes were fervent and stormy. Their brief conversation had just ended abruptly and she knew this man did not play games. The slender rogue knew that he was referring to Anders and her urge to defend him. He clenched her teeth, ordering her to follow him.

Maker, why did this subject put him so off balance?

He dug his fingers hard on her arm and he led her to his house, careful not do draw undesired attention over them. Giving his wildness, Fayne was sure she had red marks on her arm. When they arrived at his house, he practically shoved her inside the place. Fayne gazed him in horror, dreading what was on his mind. Yes, because everything about Aaron was unpredictable and she knew very well he was not a man she wanted to cross. But nothing inspired more fear than the look he wore as he walked in measured footsteps towards her. The rogue immediately realized she had crossed the line - she crossed him.

"What was that back in the woods?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

She looked down at her arm and counted four red marks.

"Look at me!" He urged, growling like a beast when she ignored his question.

She winced in utter dread and immediately complied. "What do you want me to say?" Her voice was hard to find.

"The truth," he was quick to counter. "I didn't like your tone. You affronted me and because of a bloody apostate. Why?"

"He is not an apostate. He is a human being just like us and he deserves free - "

He launched himself against her, pinning her against the wall. Now dread has really come over as she found herself caged. There was no escape. The rogue still had her pair of daggers with her, but at the moment she completely forgot about them. The discrepancy of sizes was clearly visible - he was so much taller than she. Silence descended upon her, as she digested his heartless gaze. This wasn't her Aaron anymore.

"Don't tell me that mages are like us! They are abominations!"

"Abominations? What harm have they done to you?!"

Her voice was too loud and her tone too bold for his liking. Immediately, he lifted his right hand with such ferocity that Fayne was sure he was going to hit her, but to her surprise, he hesitated. He heaved a deep sigh and clenched his fist.

"One more word about that and I promise I won't be so generous next time." He stepped back and poked his finger against her chest. "I hope this is a lesson I won't have to teach you again. I don't like fighting with you."

And neither did Fayne. In truth, he still loved her, but he was so off-balance he couldn't show love anymore, only hate. She was breathing too hard to respond, but the anger she felt towards Aaron hadn't all dissipated - it had just risen. Her gaze lingered down to her arm, then back at him. Who was he to teach her a lesson?

"Do you really want to know why I defended him?" She asked under her breath.

He stared flummoxed at her and it took all her backbone to move closer to Aaron's face. Her step resonated with intimidation. He gazed her intently and she did the same in response. The air crinkled with a concentrated, transparent rage.

"I've kept this a secret from you far too long," she head herself say.

Aaron swallowed dry, being her tone relentless, sharp and bone-freezing. He knew that within such graceful beauty there was a lithe, deadly woman. But a voice inside his head remembered him he would not be affronted by a woman and he immediately squared his shoulders.

"I am a mage's daughter. My father is an apostate, if you prefer that term," she hissed. But Maker knew she was not even aware of the implications of her words.

Her confession hit him so hard, he stepped back. He blinked many times and ran his hands through his dark, thick hair, shaking his head as if in denial. Fayne stood in her place, watching him and now she was sure that she crossed him. She couldn't read his expression, but she could hear his ragged breath as her words spun madly in his mind.

When he turned, he cast a sharp gaze over her. Before she even realized, he slapped her so hard she tumbled sidelong to the ground. She looked up at him, palming her cheek, having realize it was throbbing and blazing. Fear gripped her heart in a blink. His eyes were stormy, fervent and he was holding his breath. He crouched next to her, roughly grabbing her jaw and tugging her closer to him. His touch burned on her skin and made her feel immobilized, chained to his wrath. Maker, this man was exuding rage!

Anger flashed in his eyes blue eyes. "You lied to me." It took a long while for her to realize that there was a question in his tone.

"Fuck you." She would've continued speaking, for her hate towards him knew no limits at the moment, but the words caught her in her throat as he tugged her jaw more fiercely. His fingers were slowly descending to her fragile neck.

"You shouldn't have lied to me, Fayne. It makes me feel like a fool." He circled his long fingers around her neck and clasped her throat tight. "And I don't like the feeling of it."

Fayne could hardly draw breath. Was he going to kill her? Choke her to death? Maybe, but she wouldn't die without fighting back, even if her weapons turned out to be her words. She gave him a sideways glare. "You claim to hate mages, yet you sleep with a mage's daughter." Her voice strained and hoarse. "I'm sure that's much more painful for someone who hates mages than being played by a fool."

To Aaron's surprise he spotted a hint of impish twinkle dancing in her pale, green eyes. He clenched his teeth at these words and tugged her even closer to him.

"I will make you pay for this," he muttered.

Her body flinched, but only a little, having him pinioned her.

"I will not kill you today because that would be too easy. But someday, I will. I will join the Templar's Order - just like my father always wanted - and I will spend the rest of my life making sure you pay the price for lying to me." His voice was incredibly steady and within his words loomed an infectious, intense hate. "I'll wait for the day that you think you're happy and I will dissipate that happiness in a blink." He leaned against her ear and whispered, "I will haunt and hunt you for the rest of your life, no matter how far you run. I will make sure you regret the day you crossed me."

When he finished, Fayne couldn't speak or move. His threat made her limbs froze and her heart stopped. After a cold glare, his hand left her neck. Inherently, the rogue brought her hands to her throat and swallowed dry. Fayne knew he would keep his promise even if it would take a century to find her. He always got what he wanted and she was the very proof of it. He wanted her and he got her. She tried to fight back a cold flutter of shame - she couldn't believe she gave her innocence to this man.

"Tomorrow, you will not find me here." His voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "But I will be in your life forever. The next time you try to defend a mage, you will remember this day."

With those words, he pushed the door open and left in a swift movement.

Fayne's thoughts wrapped around themselves, leading to nowhere - her mind was utterly numb about what do. Slowly her shame turned into rage and she hit the floor in frustration.

"Fuck!"