Dragon Age: Origins belongs to Bioware and EA. They're kind enough to let me barrow their world, to let my imagination run away with me.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to pick it apart, just be gentle, my ego bruises easily. * heart *
A/N: These will be in order, and flow over the course of DA:O/DA:OA/DA2. Guest Starring my mage F!Hawke and Fenris, as well as other cast members of the series! This is totally not a procrastination to updating my F!hawke/fen story... really... *shifty eyes, innocent smile*
"What is the matter, my dear Warden?"
The Antivan's accent rolled through her, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Asyla Tabris wasn't at all the type of girl that would fall head over heals, for anyone, let alone for a man like Zevran Arainai. In fact, she'd done her sodding best to ignore the Assassin after sparing his life. His heavy handed flirting irritated her. As did his complete transparency. Yet, one more time, she found herself being pulled out of a lurid daydream. A lurid daydream that involved him.
She rubbed at the back of her neck, thankful that the glow of the fire hid her blush. Her emerald green eyes slid towards the direction of the accented voice, and she managed to slap on her best impression of an indifferent smile.
"I do have a name, you know."
"Do you, now? And here I was under the impression that your name was simply Warden. Perhaps would you grant the humble request of presenting it to me, so that I may roll it over my tongue and give it the proper treatment required for such a beautiful woman?"
She rolled her eyes. This was why she'd been ignoring him for the most part. Every time she'd tried to hold a conversation with him, he took it somewhere sexual. Asyla didn't do "sexual". Sure, she could do wild. She could do crazy. She was hardly virginal. Growing up in the Denerim alienage wasn't exactly built for the life of chaste and virtuous ladies. That didn't mean she was some kind of whore, either. She'd sooner break a man's hand then let him touch her with out her permission.
She'd done it too, on several occasions. One of her cousin Soris' favorite stories was of the time that a few drunken humans had wandered into the Alienage after dark. She, Shianni, and Soris had been heading home after helping to shelve the stock in Alarith's store.
"Hellooo? Thedas' to Warden. Come back to me, lovely woman, before I find myself forced to fondle you." That sodding accent..
She blinked, pulling her eyes from the fire. "Sorry, day dreaming. My father says it runs in the family, but I don't remember him ever doing it. What was it you asked me?"
"You're name, dear girl, that I might call you by something other then your given profession."
"Right..." Why was it suddenly so hard to remember what her name was? "...Tabris, Asyla Tabris." There, She'd managed it. Now maybe he'd leave her alone to wallow in her sorrow.
"Asyla, such a beautiful name. I am sure that it means something in elvish. Alas, I only speak three languages. One being the language of love, of course." The Assassin flashed a toothy grin at her, waggling his eyebrows at her. She scoffed. As if she should be impressed.
"Now, Asyla, my dear.. tell me, why is such a beautiful face marred with such sorrow? When I emerged from my tent, you were staring so intensely at the fire, as if you were intending to eat it. Yet now you look as if you will burst into tears. Come, talk to me. Perhaps I can take your mind off of what ever is bothering you." He smirked, and she resisted the urge to hit him.
She sighed. There was no way of getting out of this conversation. It was her watch. She had another 5 hours before sunrise and they would be moving on towards Denerim. Besides, it really was the issue at hand. She hadn't been back to Denerim since her entirely-not-swift-enough departure with Duncan. That had been six months ago. It felt like a lifetime, with all that she'd been through since then.
It wasn't as if she could wake Alistair, either, even if she did long to see his smile. They'd just left Redcliff, and the lad was taking the situation hard. Not that she blamed him. Even if Isolde was, for lack of a better description, a spoiled, stuck up Orleasian bitch. The whole thing had horrified her. She was an elf, but even she'd had loving parents.
The whole camp had elected to let Alistair have the night off. Sten had taken the first watch with Leliana. Voluntarily. It spoke volumes about how much the Quinari could tolerate. Asyla was silently glad that she'd been able to find the Giant's sword. It had sent him over the moon in happiness. Which meant, he'd actually smiled and payed her a compliment. At least, she was only partially sure that it was a compliment.
"Asyla?"
She sighed. Might as well, he's not going to leave me alone, "If you must know... we're headed to Denerim in the morning."
"Ah, so then you are dreading a.. shopping trip with Leli, then, yes?"
"Ha ha, very funny." She threw a rock in his general direction, "No. I'm from Denerim. My family is there. I.. uhrm.. I didn't exactly leave the city in the best of terms."
"No? I find it hard to believe that there is a soul out in the world that would find reason to dislike you... Darkspawn and Loghain's men excluded, of course."
She felt the blush creep up her neck, and she forced herself to stare at the flames of the camp fire instead of those sparkling brown eyes of his. Wait, sparkling? What the hell was her problem tonight? A chuckle floated over from Zevran's log, and she forced herself to keep talking.
"Yes well. If Duncan, I'm sure you've heard Alistair and I speak of him before, hadn't come to visit our Hahren when he had, I probably would have been swinging from the gallows." She sighed, pulling her eyes from the fire to look at him.
"Really? Do tell me what happened, dear girl." His voice was filled with its usual light humor, but his brown eyes told of an understanding of the seriousness of the situation.
She smiled sadly, glad for once to be in the company of someone who understood exactly what it was like to be an elf. "It was my wedding day, actually."
"Your wedding day? My dear Asyla, I didn't know you were married!" It almost sounded as if he was ashamed for all his flirting. It was her turn to smirk, and she was tempted to let him believe it. If only for a moment.
"I'm not."
"Oh? Well, what happened?"
"The Arl's son interrupted the ceremony. The drunken shem had sodding decided that since it was a party, he'd have some fun with his toys." Her words dripped with the bitter aftertaste of hatred that she held for Bann Vaughan.
Zevran clicked his tongue, but didn't otherwise speak, letting her continue. "He started rounding up all of the women present, including Shianni, my cousin. When he went to add me to the pile, I punched him. One of his worthless lackeys hit me over the back of the head with something. The next thing I remember is waking up inside a locked room full of my friends … watching helplessly as one of my bridesmaids was cut down simply for praying."
She took a few, unsteady breaths, trying not to fall into the anger that was trying to swallow her whole. "Not all humans are bad, you know. Alistair, Wynne, Leli.. even Morrigan's not bad. You know?" She was babbling, but she needed to in order to tell this story. "They're not all Shems."
"Mmh, yes my dear. Of this, I am aware. Humans can be just as good or bad as elves can be. But please, do continue on with your story, should you be so inclined. I must admit, I am most intrigued". Some how, with out her noticing, he'd managed to move from his log, and was now sitting next to her, albeit with out touching her. A wise move on his part.
She chose to ignore his sudden closeness. "Nelaros, my betrothed, and Soris, another cousin, came to rescue us. While we were standing there, all huddled in a group and me at the front trying to protect them all since I was the only one who knew anything about fighting.. and the guards were all laughing, leering because they were so much tougher, taller, stronger, and better armed.."
"They started leading the other girls out. They wouldn't even let me go in place of Shianni.. I'm stronger, I could have handled it. She's so delicate and .. and.." She took a few gulping breaths, "but they wouldn't. Vaughan had decided he wanted me for last, since I had the most.. spunk." She spat the last word, as if it tasted terrible.
"And I'm standing there, by myself, trying to look meek so they won't see it coming, because like void am I going to let them touch me. My mother taught me how to fight, and even with out daggers I'm fast and I know all the right places to hit to kill someone. Then suddenly there's this voice, and the guards spin around, and its SORIS, and he's got a longsword in his hand. They make fun of him, because Soris isn't very tough, especially for an elf. But, it doesn't matter.. because the sword isn't for him."
She ran her tongue over her teeth, giving the fire a grin that was completely predatory. Her eyes glazed over as she spoke, getting lost in the memory, the camp receding from her view completely. "He slides the sword between the feet of the guards, and I catch it. 'Oh sod', one of them says. To late. They react, but much to slowly. I pounce, the longsword sliding into the the thick neck of one as I kick the other in the groin. I pull my sword out and plunge it into the others ugly face. That'll teach those Shems not to mess with me."
"It takes him a bit, but eventually I here Soris' pleas that we need to get to Nelaros and help the others. I don't really hear him at all until he mentions Shianni. The silence of the room roars in my ears and I kick the door open with my feet, the blood of those sodding shems on my wedding dress. I didn't even want to be married, but I am going to make them pay for ruining it."
"We're in the kitchen. There's another shem, and he's yelling at us, because I'm covered in blood, and where did we dirty knife-ears get weapons? I'll show him dirty-knife ear! But I can't, because he's already sliding to the floor. There's another elf in the room, and he's hit him over the head with a rolling pin. He tells us where we can find Shianni and the others, points the way. Then he runs. No one wants to be here when the cook wakes up."
Zevran moved closer, watching the pretty red-head as she spoke. It was clear that what ever those green eyes were seeing, it wasn't the fire. He knew better then to touch her, but he was going to have to stop her soon. Maybe not quite yet though. She needed to talk about this. If she didn't it was going to eat away at her until there was nothing left of the beautiful woman sitting in front of him. Yes, he would interrupt her... but not quite yet.
She was still talking. Her chest was heaving, sweat pouring down her brow as she spoke. " We go through the door, into the mess. There are some more shems sitting there, eating. One yells when he sees the longsword in my hand. I cut off his sodding head. He deserves it. His friend tries to take my sword from me. I cut off his hands. Then I stick it in his chest. No one takes my sword from me."
"We go through the next door, and into the hallway. I kill three more dirty shemlen guards. There is so much blood. I think Soris is in shock, but I don't have time to stop and see if he's okay. It's mostly on me anyway, and it just drives me forward. They're going to rape Shianni. Sweet, innocent Shianni who hasn't even had her first kiss yet. They're going to take away everything good and pure about her, like those drunken dock workers did to me when I was her age.."
Zevran's ears went red, and he silently wished he had stopped her already. That tidbit of information wasn't meant for his ears. As she continued to talk he swore silently to himself never, ever, to let her know she'd told him that. It was a story for another time.
"... the shem captain is having an argument. There's two more guards and their looming over someone smaller then them. I can tell, their shoulders are curled forward. Shems do that when they're trying to make themselves look bigger and trying to make you feel small and helpless. It's Nelaros. He's trying to keep them distracted so Soris and I can escape. I've never been so glad to see him before, and I only just met him today. He really is handsome. I think I can handle being married to him, after all. I smile at him to let him know we're here with out giving away our position."
"Something's wrong. He's not smiling back. The guard-captain suddenly swings his sword. I'm yelling, the guards are swarming us, and Nelaros is on the ground. He's bleeding! Nelaros! Soris we have to do something we have to stop the bleeding he's going to die I didn't want him to die please don't die don'tdiedon'tdie.."
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and a sob tore itself out of her throat. Then a second ripped violently through her, causing her shoulders to shake. A third came after she drew a breath, and suddenly she was aware of a soothing voice and strong arms around her shoulders. She leaned into the warm chest, letting the pain wash over her. She felt fingers in her hair, and absently she wondered how it was no longer in its ponytail.
"It's all right, my dear Asyla. You are not in some arl's home any longer. You are sitting here by the fire with me. You have my word that no harm will come to you, here, dear girl."
After a few moments, she sat up, wiping away the remaining wetness on her cheeks. She stood, digging into her hip-pouch. She pulled her handkerchief free from the clutter of odds and ends stuffed into it. She blew her nose, and then looked sheepishly in the direction of the Antivan assassin.
"I.. I'm sorry. I, haven't spoken to anyone about what happened. Duncan knew, but then he was there. I haven't even told Alistair. All he knows is that Duncan rescued me."
"Think nothing of it, my dear. Tears are not a sign of weakness. In fact, I would dare say a woman who knows her own feelings is stronger then any man wishes to believe himself. Come now, tell me what happened." Zevran patted the log, gesturing her to rejoin him. "I promise not to bite, at least this night."
And, she wanted to punch him again. At least this time, the urge to hit him was less about hurting him and more about her inability to flirt. Instead, she opted to just sit back down. With a sigh and a light smile, she continued her story.
"Once the guards were dead we headed down the hall and found the Bann and his lackeys attacking Shianni. She was sixteen years old, Zev..." She sighed, shaking her head, "Sixteen, and up until then she hadn't even been kissed! Soris and I always tried our best to keep her away from slime balls and humans with elf fetishes. They had group-raped her.. and then had the sodding nerve to offer me gold to leave her there, turn my head, and WALK THE SOD AWAY."
"The worst part? It was a lot of money. 50 Sov's. Do you know what that could have bought for my father? For Shianni and Soris? Void, 50 sov's could pay the rent of everyone in the Alienage for a year! But all I could do was stand there and stare at Shianni, all broken and bloody. All I could do was think that these dirty sodding shemlen had forced their filth on to her and destroyed any semblance of innocence she might have still had left."
"A conundrum, to be sure. Tell me, what did you do?"
"I put my sodding sword through his stomach and told him shove his gold. No amount of money is, or will ever be worth what they took from her."
"Then I am proud to know you, dear warden." He reached down, scooping her clenched right fist into his hands. "There are many things in life that are worth doing for the gold. I am glad, then, to know that you can clearly see when the line has been drawn.. so to speak."
She shifted her weight, her eyes lingering on his smile. Maybe he wasn't quite as bad as she'd imagined. Sure, he was an assassin and professed whore... but were those things really so very terrible? He was technically a slave, after all. You did what you had to to survive...
"What happened afterward?"
"We took Shianni home, but the city guard was waiting for us. I.. I couldn't let Soris be punished for what I had done. I took the blame, and the city guard let him take her home. Duncan conscripted me, rather then let me hang.. and, here I am."
She was looking into those eyes of his again, and the heat had risen to her cheeks. Her head was still stuffy from crying, and she wondered if she was sitting to close to the fire. It was suddenly very hot. He was smiling at her, and not in the usual over-the-top lurid way he usually did. Her hand was still in his, and she felt him squeeze lightly.
"Yes, here you are. With me. Alone." He purred his words at her, causing a chill to run down her spine.
She laughed. Anything, to distract her mind from where it was rapidly headed. Didn't she dislike this man? Wasn't he brash and irritating? Didn't he remind her of every drunken lush that had tried to get her into bed over the years?
His face seemed to be closer, and she was having a hard time looking away from those eyes. Her pulse was in her ears. Things were rapidly deteriorating, and she hated losing control of a situation. But maybe this situation was worth losing control of. Maybe she worked herself to hard, and she deserved this. He was so handsome, and why shouldn't she?
He kept getting closer and her heart was trying to claw its way out of her chest one thump at a time. His hands were around her hips now. Yes. She definitely deserved a little bit of fun. Obviously she didn't love him. Then again, she didn't do love, and she knew he didn't do love either. That was alright. She could handle that.
Just a little bit of fun. That was all she really wanted. Someone to work out stress with. Sod, she was stressed out, too. The weight of the blight was on her shoulders. Alistair wasn't a leader, not yet at least, and she'd have to be strong for him. She'd have to be strong for all of Ferelden.
She'd made up her mind. If Zevran wanted to see what she could do, she'd show him. So she moved to close the gap, to press her lips against his and show him that she was more then just a pair of daggers. She was a woman, one who knew herself and what she wanted.
He pulled away, his lips dancing just out of her reach. He grinned that Zevran brand grin. The one that usually made her want to hit him. Instead, he leaned forward again. His lips brushed against hers, his voice as silky as it had ever been, "Are sure this is what you want, Asyla?"
Her wild streak burned, and she closed the gap, sliding her arms around his shoulders as she claimed the kiss. Fire laced through her limbs, and she felt the flick of his tongue. She parted her mouth, meeting his tongue with her own. Tasting him. His fingers were in her hair, and she pressed her fingertips against the soft flesh of his neck.
For a few, precious moments, there was nothing else in her world but Zevran Arainai and his lips. It was like that until they both needed to come up for air. He pressed his forehead against hers, breathing in time with this fiery haired vixen that was practically sitting in his lap. He'd definitely underestimated her.
She smirked, sliding her lips across his cheek, and whispered, "..Call me La-la."