"Lookie here at the little elf we got us'selves." A man spoke into his mug at his drinking partner.
"Knife-eared wench; she should be off serving drinks at the Pearl not drinken' 'em here."
"Ha! Yeah and servin' drinks shouldn't be the only thing she oughta be doin' over there." The two men in the Gnawed Noble tavern shared a hearty laugh and Alistair practically burned with anger.
"Ignore them, Alistair." Ariadne spoke calmly, though her pointed ears were tinged with embarrassment beneath her red hair. She was a Dalish elf and it was her first time in a large city such as Denerim. She knew very well how humans saw her and expected treatment such as this, but it didn't make the situation any better.
"How can I? You don't deserve to be spoken about like that." Alistair clenched his fists tightly. He wasn't normally someone to resort to violence and Ariadne felt almost flattered that he wanted to in her defense, but Denerim was the last place a pair of Grey Wardens needed to draw attention to themselves and she certainly didn't need him to defend her.
"They're not worth it." She replied. It didn't matter how much she agreed with him, even she knew that starting a bar fight would do no one any good. "We're here to find information on Genetivi and Andraste's Ashes, not attack mindless commoners."
It was clear Alistair didn't want to leave it at that, but he hunkered down in his seat and remained quiet. There was a moment of silence as they sipped their drinks until the two previous offenders got up to leave. As they passed by the two Wardens' table, one gave a low whistle and the other snickered. Alistair stood up abruptly.
"Excuse you!" He growled and the man turned around and smirked, looking from Alistair to Ariadne still in her chair desperately hoping Alistair would sit back down.
"You and your little knife-eared whore got a problem?"
"Why don't you come and say that to my face?"
"Why? Can't make the distance between us?" He jeered, but before his sentence was complete, Alistair had taken two long strides towards him and threw a hard punch that landed into the man's nose with a sickening crack. Blood spurted and his hand flew up to try and stanch the flow as it dripped down his face.
"You-you'll pay for that!" He rushed forward with his fists clenched and Alistair stepped back to avoid a swing but the gash left in his shirt and skin made him instantly realize this man had a knife and the gall enough to use it. He sidestepped another swing then stopped the next one, catching the man's wrist in motion. They held the stance for a moment, but Alistair was clearly stronger than the average commoner. He shoved the man forward then ducked down for a low kick to knock him off his feet. Once he was downed, Alistair pressed his foot to the man's chest and put his weight into him.
"You wanna repeat what you said about my friend?" He snarled, but before the man could respond, the second one gave a yell and tackled Alistair from behind. He shoved him off but not before the man had buried a knife into his side.
A shallow cut was one thing, but as Alistair doubled over, Ariadne had had enough. She stood up, promptly drawing her bow and landing an arrow into the man's back in the blink of an eye. It was not the first time she had killed a shem and would not be the last. He let out a startled gurgle as blood poured from his mouth and nose and he collapsed. She notched another arrow and aimed it at the man lying on the floor and his eyes widened with fear as he scrambled to his feet and ran away. She let him go.
Within a second, she had shouldered her weapon and was at Alistair's side. "Alistair, that was very stupid of you." She scolded, but worry was filling her eyes as his blood poured from the hole in his side.
He smiled, "I… couldn't just let them talk about you like that."
She helped him to his feet and they limped out, "We'll talk about this later. C'mon, we're going to get you patched up and then we're getting the hell out of Denerim."
She managed to sneak him over to the inn they were staying at and into their room. He had lost quite a bit of blood and was starting to drift, his skin growing paler. Sitting him down in a chair, Ariadne tore off his bloody shirt and pressed it to his side roughly, causing him to wince. She didn't like to hurt him, but he had to stay awake.
"Keep your eyes open, Alistair." She commanded, her voice hard and stern like the leader she was expected to be. As she stemmed the tide of blood from his side, she continued to speak. "You shouldn't have done that. I don't need you to defend me."
"I know you don't, but I couldn't just stand by and watch them say those things about you."
"You could have." She said softly. She knew Alistair could handle himself, but he had been weaponless at the tavern. Anything could have happened and the thought of him getting stabbed somewhere else; if the man had hit him higher into the lungs or managed to strike his heart. Just the thought filled her with a burning anxiety and she tried to keep the hot tears out of her eyes.
Alistair looked down at Ariadne and cradled her face in a weak hand, wiping away a single droplet as it spilled from her eye. "Hey, it's alright. Everything's going to be okay. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? You got into a fight for me, Alistair! You could have been hurt much worse! You could have died!" Tears spilled freely now as her concerns were voiced and her emotions loose. "What could I have done without you? I can't do this job on my own…"
"Hey now," He soothed, "I'm fine, see? Nothing's going to happen to me."
"I wish I could believe that." Her voice was filled with sorrow and tinged with guilt, as if his reckless behavior was her fault. Once she had finished tightly strapping on his bandages, she leaned her head against his leg from her kneeling position next to him. He carefully stroked her long hair until they both fell asleep, their simple touch speaking much more than either of them could ever say out loud.