Chapter One.
Serena had not killed anyone that day and so considered it to be a success. Circulating the room full of nobles, the urge to do so had risen more than once. Only within the aristocracy could a party be thrown in which half of the attendees despised the other. And only a coronation could bring all of them together.
Still, Serena had smiled and laughed and agreed in all the right places. She had been raised to play this game. Every person in the room had. And as the sun sank low in the sky, she had quietly slipped away, her absence going unnoticed through the haze of wine and celebration. The steady beat of hooves against the ground now soothed her nerves. The rush of the wind and the flashing images of the forest passing by washed away any weariness. She felt free.
Her fingers pulled her blonde hair loose, releasing it from the tight knots that had constrained it all day. She gave her mare a quick squeeze of encouragement, then held on for dear life as they whipped between the trees together, delighting at the speed. An exhilarated laugh burst from her.
Serena leaned down and patted the horse, easing off until they slowed to a gentle trot as the trees around her thickened. She had reached the walls of the Denerim chantry and now listened carefully, hoping to hear the sounds of the Templar's training. Everyone spoke of them with hushed tones and great mystery and Serena's curiosity was piqued. It seemed, however, that they were finished for the day. She sighed in disappointment.
A low whine from broke her from her thoughts. She looked down at her white mare. "Hana, what's wro—"
Her question was broken off in a scream as the mare reared back suddenly, throwing Serena from her saddle. There was a startling moment of weightlessness as she flew, fingers scrabbling for anything to hold on to and legs kicking wildly for purchase, before the earth rushed up to meet her. She landed heavily, the wind knocked out of her. Her head cracked against the floor, cushioned only by a few scattered pine needles. Darkness swirled at the edges of her vision and she blinked furiously to keep it at bay. Through hazy eyes she made out the shape of Hana, streaking off into the evening darkness.
"Wait." Serena croaked, feeling suddenly alone. She groaned as she rolled onto her side and drove herself to her knees through a fresh flare of pain. She forced herself to focus through the dizziness threatening to overwhelm her. Danger. She realised. Something scared her. What was it? Pain flared and she groaned as she rolled onto her side, then stood on shaky legs.
Serena scanned her surroundings, listening intently. She turned and dread washed over her like a bucket of iced water as she found the source of Hana's dear. A long, thick arrow protruded from the tree behind her, embedded deep in the wood. She heaved it free and examined it. This was not the sort of weapon one used to hunt animals in the woods beyond the city. It was designed to maim. To incapacitate. Serena dropped the horrible thing and stumbled back a few steps, trying to process the information. This was a weapon designed for use on another person.
"Somebody tried to…shoot me." She murmured, disbelieving. But why would…
Voices. There would voices coming. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. Why had she come here? It was so foolish to come out here alone. And she was so fucking helpless. Not even a dagger to defend herself, although Maker knows she wouldn't have known what to do with it. Shit, she was going to die.
No. She told herself. I will not die here. I refuse to die for something so stupid as an evening ride. She allowed herself one deep breath. I do not consent to die.
Focused, she ran as quietly as possible to the nearest tree and tested the branches. Good. Strong. Without allowing herself to think, she took a firm grip of the branch nearest her a began to heave herself up. Arm over arm, one foothold to the next. She hadn't climbed trees this way since she was a young girl, but her muscles remembered what her mind could not.
"Thank the Maker for Allana." Serena whispered a silent prayer, remembering how her lady's maid had helped her to steal some boy's clothes for tonight. She didn't think she could have made the climb in the fantastic ball gown she had been wearing mere hours earlier.
The sound of twigs crunching below had her head snapping back towards the ground. Her limbs ached and her breathing was heavy, but Serena tried to stay as silent as possible, willing even her heart into silence. Two men jogged into the clearing. One was tall and Serena could make out a head of greying hair. The other was wide as a house, with dark hair and a piggy face, and much closer to Serena's 17 years. He held the bow.
"There." The older man said. Serena didn't know why she was surprised when he sounded remarkably normal. "There's your arrow, boy."
He picked it up and walked over to the tree Serena had pulled it from, inspecting the hole. "Somebody pulled it out. She can't have gone far."
"We'll never be able to find her." The younger man said, turning on the spot as though she would suddenly jump out from behind the trees shouting surprise. "Can't we just tell him we did it? Her horse is gone, she'll never make it in the woods at night."
This wasn't a random attack, Serena realised, heart suddenly picking up to a gallop. They wanted to kill me. Why would somebody want to kill me?
"No, you fucking idiot, we can't." The thin man hissed, slapping his counterpart over the back of the head. "You want to get strung up by your balls if she turns up?"
"Well…no. But, I just thought maybe we want to head home before it gets dark and…" He trailed off. Serena noted that he wasn't the sharpest sword in the armoury.
"Get looking." Was the reply he got.
They hadn't looked up, Serena noted with relief. If she could just stay here for a while longer, they would have to move on and then she could make her way home. Shit, she could stay up here until morning if she had to and then wait for the inevitable search party tomorrow. She relaxed. All she had to do was stay still and stay quiet. That was the easiest thing in the world.
A deafening crack broke the silence as her branch broke.
With a gasp of surprise, she slipped down the tree before landing several feet below on another, thick branch. She clung to the trunk before she could fall any further, suppressing the urge to cry as she looked down to find the two men below staring directly at her.
"Well, hello up there, my lady." The older man said.
"Fuck." Serena whispered, not daring to look at his. She wished her golden blonde hair was the same ruddy brown as the tree she clung to. She wished she had not chosen a white tunic to wear. She wished she could turn invisible or fly away. But wishing couldn't help her now.
"I'll kill you if you touch me, you bastards." She shouted, trying to make herself sound like somebody who meant it.
Pain exploded in her thigh. Serena gasped, instinctually collapsing towards the source of the pain. Too late, she realised the mistake as she lost her grip on the tree.
She was falling. Again.
She hit the ground and the world went dark. For how long, she couldn't say. As she came to, Serena heard her own pitiful moan as though from far away. It felt as though she should be shattered, flung in pieces across the clearing. Slowly, sensation returned to her and she instantly wished it hadn't. She cried at the pain. Blood trickled down her face, hot and wet, mixing with her tears.
As the pain surfaced, so too did the feeling of hands upon her. They touched her body, her arms, her breasts. They were searching, violating. Suddenly, they flipped her onto her front. She screamed in agony as the source of the pain in her thigh became apparent. They had shot her. The arrow, now broken in half, protruded from her thigh.
"Shut her up, Bron." The voice of the older man, a few feet away. "This wasn't part of the plan." He didn't sound angry, so much as exasperated.
A fat hand reached around to smother her mouth. The feeling of another starting to pull at her trousers broke Serena from her pain-induced haze. Acting on instinct, she bit down on the hand covering her mouth, hard.
"Little bitch!" The young man spat, rearing back. "She bit me, Mikail!"
Serena wasted no time, wriggling free as adrenaline overcame pain. She lurched to her feet, half-running and half-limping away, not caring about the futility of her escape-attempt.
"No you don't." The big one, Bron, growled. He grabbed her injured leg and sent her tumbling onto her back. He leaned over her once again, pressing all his weight onto her until she was entirely pinned.
"Shut her up, Bron." Mikail rolled his eyes, before placing his bow against a nearby tree and walking over with no urgency. "For fuck's sake, do what you want with her but be quick. We'll need to give the wolves a bit of time at the body before they come looking for her."
Bron turned to her with a smile and Serena's mind went into panic. He ran a hand slowly up her thigh. She shook her head and writhed, trying to kick her legs and loosen her arms. She tried with all her might, but could get nowhere. The fear began to overwhelm her. Serena opened her mouth and screamed.
Alistair stared up at the orange sky, watching the sun set through the canopy of trees overhead and shamelessly hiding from the other recruits. He did not desire another fight tonight. The bruised ribs from last week were still a good enough deterrent. The woods beyond the chantry were his escape and his haven.
His moment of relaxation was broken when he heard a shout. It came and went so quickly that he wasn't sure if he had even heard it at all. He remained perfectly still, waiting. Were there voices speaking, or was he imagining that? Suddenly, a woman's screams tore through the evening air. That wasn't so far away. Alistair panicked, looking back in the direction of the chantry. Perhaps he should run for help.
The screams were cut off as suddenly as they had started.
"Shit." He muttered and set off running without a second thought. It wasn't hard to follow the sounds of a struggle to a gruesome scene.
Two men stood in the clearing, one staring off into the forest with a disinterested expression, whilst the other was wrestling with something on the ground. A woman, Alistair realised with horror. A young woman with golden hair and brown eyes that were wide with terror. The man pinning her down was fumbling with something. Trying to undo his belt, Alistair realised with disgust. Neither man had seen him yet.
Cursing himself for not bringing a weapon, Alistair desperately searched for something, anything, that he might use. A large stone lay on the ground near the men and Alistair leapt for it. The tall, older man finally noticed him, but far too late. The look of surprise on his face vanished as Alistair's makeshift weapon struck with jarring force against his head. He crumpled to the ground. The dent on the side of his skull was enough to tell Alistair that he wouldn't be hurting anyone else.
Alistair rounded on the next attacker, who seemed to be in a sudden state of shock. Anger rose in him, but before Alistair could strike again, the young woman let out a feral scream and ripped an arrow from her own leg. She plunged her makeshift dagger into the man's neck once, twice, three times. Blood sprayed everywhere, hot and thick, as the man fell to the side, his eyes still full of surprise.
The girl scrambled back from his body until her back hit a tree, dropping the dagger with shaking hands. Tears painted clear paths through the blood soaking her face and her breathing was erratic. Alistair dropped to his knees besides her, holding his hands out, but she flinched away.
"Hey, it's okay." He soothed, shuffling closer. "I'm not going to hurt you."
When she said nothing, he moved slowly until he was sat beside her. She didn't flinch from him again, but she still shook uncontrollably. Carefully, Alistair reached out, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted, and placing his hands on her shoulders in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.
"Are you alright?" Alistair almost cringed at the stupidity of his own question. "Where are you hurt?" he amended.
Her eyes were wide and panicked as she pointed wordlessly at her leg with shaking hands. The wound on her thigh was slowly leaking blood. A small mercy then that an artery had not been pierced.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Serena." Her voice was steadier than he had expected. He had half-expected her not to answer at all.
"Alright, Serena, I'm Alistair." He smiled. "I'm going to pick you up now, Serena. Is that alright?"
She stared at him with sudden panic, trying to scramble away a causing a sudden gush of blood from her leg that made Alistair wince. "Why?"
"There's a stream nearby. We can get you cleaned off. Wash out that wound"
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded her head ever so slightly and Alistair slowly scooped her up. Trying to jostle her as little as possible, he carried her from the clearing. At the last minute, she looked back.
"I've never killed anyone before." She barely breathed.
She looked up at him with a curious expression on her face. "Neither have I." He admitted, trying not to look at the bodies they left behind them.
The water was freezing, despite the summer evening. Alistair tried to stop his teeth chattering as he spoke. "What were you doing out here?" He asked.
"Trying to live a little." She replied with a humourless laugh. "Obviously, I won't be trying that again."
As Serena washed the blood from herself, Alistair could finally see her face. Warm brown eyes and full lips emerged against lightly tanned skin, her long blonde hair now clinging to her face and arms as she rinsed it clean. Her face was set in concentration as she meticulously scrubbed her skin and rinsed her dress until no traces of gore remained.
"How are you feeling?" He asked as he helped her from the water from the water, shivering slightly in the breeze. She still flinched every time he came near. Alistair was quickly learning to approach her like a startled deer. He made sure to avoid looking at the tunic which was now soaked into transparency, quickly taking off his own shirt and offering it to her.
"Strange." She said, swallowing hard and taking his offered shirt with a smile. "If you hadn't been there. I can't even- They would have..." She trailed off, clearly unable to say the words. "Thank you. I can never thank you enough for what you did tonight. I owe you my life."
"You don't owe me anything, Serena." Alistair smiled as warmly as he could with the chill in the air. She turned away to put his shirt on and he caught a glimpse of a huge, angry bruise developing on her back, the deep purple spreading from her shoulders to the base of her spine.
"Maker, Serena, are you alright?" He asked, horrified.
"I…fell from a tree." Her tone told him that she didn't want to elaborate.
"May I have a look?" He asked. Her back was still to him, but after a moment's hesitation, she nodded once.
He pushing her hair back and gently inspected the area.
She hissed as his fingers brushed the injury. "It's fine, I'm used to it." Before Alistair could question that, she stepped away and began to change the shirt. Alistair quickly averted his eyes. "I really need to be getting home before somebody misses me."
"Where is home?" He asked, letting it go. It was none of his business.
Serena took slightly longer than he would have expected to reply. "In Denerim." She began slowly. "I would be immeasurably grateful if you could take me to the West Barracks."
"You're staying in the barracks?" Alistair repeated, sceptically.
"No, silly." She smiled, surprising him. He found himself unable to suppress one in return. "I have a friend there that will help me."
"The West Barracks it is then." Alistair grinned, hoping to coax another one out of her. She had been through something unimaginably awful tonight, the least he could do was try to help her smile.
Alistair cracked yet another joke as they neared the walls of Denerim. Serena could almost feel herself beginning to laugh this time. She knew what he was doing, but it warmed her heart to know that he was trying to help her forget what had happened.
She hissed through her teeth as Alistair was forced to manoeuvre over a fallen tree.
"Maker, I'm sorry." He murmured gently. Her leg throbbed with pain, no matter how gently he held her and despite the careful bandage Alistair had made from her old tunic, blood still seeped from her wound.
"It's okay, I'm okay." Serena hurriedly assured him. Nobody could have been kinder to her tonight. She wished she could hide her pain from him.
"Are you?" Alistair asked, tentatively, and Serena knew that he was talking about more than just her leg. She looked up at his face, which he kept firmly fixed on the forest floor, looking for anything that might jostle her. He had a slight permanent smile to his lips and a long, straight nose. But more than that, he had kind eyes.
"No." She answered truthfully.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Talking. Trying to explain why those men had wanted her when she didn't fully know herself would be difficult. It would also mean telling him who she was. Somebody had ordered, or paid, those men to kill her for Maker only knew what reason. Alistair may have told her that he was a Templar recruit, but even the 'incorruptible' Templars could be bought for the right price. It was safer for both of them if he didn't know. And, perhaps even more than that, she wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about it just yet.
The truth was, she was so terribly tired. She felt every aching bone and every missing drop of blood. The journey on foot was long and arduous compared to horseback. After trying to walk for the first hour, she had finally given in and allowed Alistair to carry her. Now, as the sun began to rise in the sky, she could feel exhaustion beginning to overwhelm her. Her mind felt worn thin from all that had happened. She would want to talk about it soon, but for now she wanted a sweet Templar boy to try to distract her.
"I want you to keep telling me those terrible jokes." She smiled as best she could and he finally met her gaze. The warmth she saw in his hazel eyes made her wonder how she could ever believe he would sell her secrets.
"Be careful what you wish for." He chuckled and Serena finally felt herself laugh.
"You went out there alone?" The man named Lucas practically yelled. Alistair had to suppress the urge to jump up in Serena's defence. This is not your business, he reminded himself as he stood in the corner of the small room and tried to blend into the grimy walls. The housing in the barracks was almost enough to make him appreciate the chantry.
"I am aware now that it was a bad idea, Lucas." Serena stuck both hands on her hips in defiance, but Alistair noticed the slight wobble where she stood. She needed rest.
"But how could you be so reckless, my…Serena?" He didn't miss the sudden amendment Lucas made as his eyes met Alistair's. Still none of your business.
"I am sorry, Luc, but I couldn't– argh!" Serena yelled in pain as she tried to step on her injured leg and fell to the ground. Alistair and Lucas both sprang forwards to help.
"I'm fine!" She gasped, brushing off their hands. Alistair could see the pain shining on her face, even as she tried to push them away.
"Serena, it's okay." He murmured, not touching her but not leaving either. She looked up at him, her expression bold at first, but then softening.
"I didn't fall. I was attacking the floor." She looked so serious that Alistair couldn't contain his laugh.
"That was a truly terrible joke." He chuckled. "I see that I'm rubbing off on you."
"Maker help us all." She finally smiled and allowed him to pick her up off the floor. Alistair was bone-tired and was almost certainly going to be late for morning training, but it was worth it. Whatever punishment he received, it was worth it.
He looked up to find Lucas staring at him with an odd expression. Clearing his throat, he gently passed Serena over to her friend. "I should be going." He said and started to back away.
"Wait." Serena called, from her position in Lucas' arms. She held out her hand and, after a moment of hesitation, Alistair took it, trying to ignore the warning expression on Lucas' face.
"I know you don't want my thanks, but you have it. Now and always, you have a friend in me, Alistair." She smiled again and despite the bruising and the dark circles under her eyes, it was the most beautiful thing Alistair had ever seen.
"And you in me. Whatever you may need."
AN. This is a story I started writing a couple of chapters for on another account a few years back. I found it the other day and decided to rewrite the story from scratch. If anyone likes it, I'll keep going (or maybe I'll just keep going even if everyone hates it haha)! :) Feedback would be great (good or bad!) but more than that I hope you enjoy!