A Chance Meeting

"Who calls?" The guard questioned, his hand placed at the hilt of his sword.
"Lady Imenia Cousland, sir. I was called by his Highness." The title bit at her lips when she spoke it. As the King said, the guard had word of her arrival and sent her into the tent to hold an audience with King Cailan Theirin. After being recruited into the Grey Wardens, the King was the last person she thought she would meet. Apparently, the battle at Ostagar was more important than she had thought.

Timidly, she stepped through the cloth door to the dark, candle lit tent. A sweat was forming on her forehead and hands, nerves taking over her entire body as she spoke.
"Your Highness?" The tent appeared empty at first glance. She debated turning around and fleeing, but was caught… off guard, to say the least.

He came from out of nowhere. With a gentle roughness, his hands grasped at her arms, pulling her towards him. His lips were fire against hers, his touch feverish. A strong hand slid around her neck, tangling its fingers in her hair as he held her to him. A familiar shiver ran down her back, and it took all the willpower she had to break the kiss.

"Your Majesty!" She began to speak. To her surprise, he laughed. He actually laughed.

"Mia my dear, aren't we past all of these courtly formalities?" Smiling, he ran his fingers through her dark hair, not letting her out of his arms. The closeness was comforting and tense at the same time. She could have fallen into his chest and never left, but her morals guided her before her heart.

"Your Majesty," She repeated. "I do not think this is a position we should find ourselves in." He sensed her unrest, and sadness crossed his face as he released his grip on her.

"Imenia, I understand you are upset at me. I should expect nothing less from a strong woman such as yourself. I do not expect you to accept or agree with the decisions I have made but-"

"On the contrary, my king. I understand completely the decisions you have made. You were looking out for the safety and morale of your country. Loghain is a fine leader for Ferelden's army, and your alliance with Anora has insured your people the ease and protection they need." A smile never crossed her face, nor did a frown. She was completely emotionless as he stared at her with sad grey eyes.

"Mia… I… It was not what I wanted. We had plans, we… we had a pact. I promised you that-"

"You were 9, your majesty. I can hardly expect to hold a King to a promise he made when he was 9, now could I?" She wanted to leave, to run, with every inch of her body. Something held her feet to the ground, not allowing her to move a single muscle.

"I don't know what would be worse. This… unwavering acceptance… or if you had been screaming and yelling. I think I was better equipped to deal with the yelling." He chuckled, stepping to her. She didn't protest when he took her hands in his; simply looked down and away from the tender touch.

"Your Majesty…" She began, but he cut her off with a gentle shushing noise.

"It has been too long, my friend." Slowly, he kissed her on the cheek, lingering in the moment. Her heart ached with love and desire, the need to simply hold onto him growing inside of her.

"How is dear Anora?" She questioned, breaking the contact between the two of them and taking a seat on a small wooden bench near the door of the tent.

"She is well… we both miss you. We speak often of the times we shared as children. Myself of different times, of course." He smiled in remembrance of times that Anora knew nothing about. "Do you remember that summer gala, the one that fell on your seventeenth birthday?" The brief, pained smile that crossed her face said that she did indeed remember it.
"It was the first time any woman had made me feel such things." He laughed, then smiled at her. "A first for both of us, if I recall. Father's horses got quite the show that night. To this day, I cannot approach the stable master without nearly dying of embarrassment." He laughed, remembering the moment fondly.

"And now, you are married, my king. What would your wife think of these nostalgic moments?" Mia spoke politely, respectfully, with nobility.

" She misses her friend, Mia." Imenia forced a smile, memories tugging at her heart. King Cailan sat himself across from her, on the foot of his elaborate cot bed, fit for a king.

"Imenia… I feel like I need to make amends for the way things went. I need to-" She was getting rather good at cutting him off. Had she been anyone but Lady Imenia Cousland, he would have had them executed by this point in time.

"Your Majesty, you have no need to explain anything-"

"Please, Imenia. I must speak now." He leaned forward and took her small hand in his two large ones. She marveled at how they seemed to dwarf hers in comparison. "Things did not turn out how we'd hoped, in the least. Almost as soon as Loghain was named 'The Hero of River Dane', my father had decided that Anora would be my match. Nevermind that she wasn't even a noble… but it wasn't important. It was a marriage of convenience for the people of Ferelden- not for myself. My father was simply doing what he thought necessary for the future of the nation. Loghain knew we had been dear friends, and proposed the idea as… well… almost as payment for the idea of him running the army. A double win situation for him… a horrible loss for me. Granted, father never really knew of us… he had assumed but… After his death everyone was so quick to throw the crown at me that none of them stopped to care what I wanted. I know that none of this changes anything. I just… well I couldn't go on without you knowing what happened. It should be you. You should be queen, it was always supposed to be your spot. The people love you, my father loved you… I love you..." He stared at her, his eyes unwavering. Her eyes were at her feet as she spoke.

"My king, I must assure you that I understand and comply with all of the-"

"Maker be damned, Mia! For once, please, simply tell me how you feel! Here I am, bearing my heart, and you're still playing the loyal noble!" Never had he cursed at her… not in the many years they'd know one another. The room filled with a deafening silence that neither of them ever could have anticipated. The king stood up and walked to the other side of the small tent, unrest brewing in his heart.

"You really want to know how I feel, Cailan?" His name crossed her lips, almost scornfully. "Do you want to know what is on my mind, Your Majesty?" The words were ice from her lips. For the first time, she looked directly at him as she stood. His form turned to face her, desperation in his eyes.

"I feel cold. I feel charred and dead, all the way through to my soul. Not simply at your decisions, but at the fact that you could not even inform me of them yourself. Imagine my surprise, the day I expected your arrival at my estate, to instead find a beautiful invitation to your wedding. A wedding I had expected to be mine." He simply stared at her, pain in his eyes. "I neglected to attend such a joyous event- the thought of doing so made me want to be sick. As if she could not understand why I would not attend my dear friends union, I received a rather angry letter from your dear queen, shortly after the wedding occurred. I never heard from you. Time passes, and I lose everything I ever held dear in my life… just as I think things cannot possibly get any worse, who should I be forced to remember than the man who ripped out my heart and destroyed my soul?" She stepped towards him, an icy gaze piercing into him. "You ask me how I feel, and yet you do not see that I cannot feel anything. I am a hollow shell of a woman. You stole my heart, and did not even have the courtesy to give it back after you were done." An eternity passed between them before he moved towards her.

"This pain I have put you through was not intentional. I never felt anything but love for you. I was a coward and a demon… and I did not deserve even the civility you have shown me today. As far as your heart is concerned…" His eyes gazed into hers as he brought his hand up to caress her cheek softly. "I could not bear to part with it. I have never been done with it. Maybe it was selfish of me… but I could not let it go." Softly and silently, he reached out his hand to wipe away the tears that began running down her face.

"You know this isn't fair, right? You're not supposed to still make me feel this way." Mia laughed through her tears as she said this. Smiling, he leaned in and gently captured her lips with his own. This time, she did not resist. After everything that happened, she was weak, and simply did not want this moment to end. Her hands came to his face, holding it in place as she rained kisses down on his lips.