For those of you reading now... I apologise, for this means you have ultimately stumbled onto this page in hope of a glorious scope of wonder and fantasy fiction, incorporating your favourite dragon age characters (disclaimer: that heartbreakingly yet completely do not belong to me in any way, shape or form... whatsoever...) in a wonderful and exciting way. I would hope to achieve that. Unfortunately however, I have the attention span of a goldfish and even less motivation to get up and do anything; even if that means thinking. Thus, updates will most likely be relatively slow. For those of you who wish to continue, please do so – it is possible you may even enjoy it. If you don't however... you have been warned.
Chapter One: Bewitchment
Shadows flickered against the cold stone walls of the circle tower and little noise travelled through its halls, sleep descending on the majority of those they confined. For Natalia Amell however, the rise of the moon was simply an invitation to cause trouble... for her friend Kallian Surana, it was an opportunity to be dragged into such mayhem. Despite her objections, Kallian would have preferred to be nowhere else, quietly following her human accomplice into maker knew what next with a small albeit annoyed smile on her face.
"Where exactly are we going?" Kallian whispered, her enquiry only to be met by a frustrating silence; frustrating, as it usually meant Natalia was definitely up to something. Grumbling exasperatedly, Kallian fell back into silence as she continued to creep along behind the incorrigible mage, stopping only when they reached First Enchanter Irving's office.
"There." announced the older woman, pushing a lock of dark hair from her face to glance back at her elven companion. Kallian looked on perplexed. Peering round the corner, she had a clear view of what Natalia was directing her towards… absolutely nothing. Irving had retired for the night hours before, leaving the room completely devoid of anything interesting. She turned back to the brunette, now decidedly irritated.
"Have you finally lost that tiny little mind of yours? This is what you dragged me all the way-" She was cut off from what was about to become a rather annoyed tirade by Natalia's hand pressing against her mouth.
"Shh! He's coming!"
The silence that ensued was only broken by the sound of footsteps reverberating through the halls; it was a sound was distinctly akin to the hard slap of metal against the stone floors. From the other side of the room, Cullen came into view, scrolls grasped tightly in his hands, atop an old tome he gripped with equal intensity.
Natalia watched eagerly as he stopped, evaluating the troubled look that burdened his handsome features. She was only brought from her reverie when a vibration shot through the muscles in her hands, accompanied by a quiet mumble. Furrowing her brow, she looked to the source of the problem.
"Oh sorry… you were saying?" She said sheepishly, removing her hand from the aggravated elf's mouth. Kallian sucked in a deep breath, narrowing her eyes at her friend.
"You mean after 'get your damn hand off my mouth?'" She sniped, only half angry in reality. It seemed to be their own ever present pretence. Natalia would do something ridiculous and foolish; all the while Kallian would become somehow tangled up in it, pretending to be angry. She found however, it was incredibly difficult to be mad at her friend, despite the trouble she brought her. In truth, she enjoyed it far more than she would ever let on.
"Yes, yes after that part." Natalia smirked, bright blue eyes twinkling in the firelight, and all was forgiven.
Kallian sighed, unable to keep herself from returning her friends mischievous grin.
"What are you getting me into this time Talia?" She whispered, only to have the brunette scoff at her, as if it were not such a regular occurrence and Kallian was simply being paranoid.
"Don't be silly. When do I ever get us in trouble?"
"Well there was that time that you decided to see how many tranquil you could zap before one became remotely distressed and made me record the results. How about the time you decided to steal that staff from the stock room and hid it under my bed? Oh, and let's not forget all the times you got caught having sex in-" She was cut off once again by a now familiar hand on her lips.
"Oh shut up, it was a rhetorical question." Natalia hissed, rolling her eyes once again.
"Seriously though… the library Talia? And I can't believe you told them about me and Anders."
"Please stop talking." Natalia interrupted, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from herself and her misconducts.
"Just so that you got off easier." Kallian continued, clearly enjoying being in control of the situation.
That was of course until Natalia managed to turn the tables on her quicker than she could think to regret the words that were already too late to retract.
"I was getting off too much Kallian; that was problem." The human smirked, her eyes twinkling again with a familiar mirth that oft danced upon her features. Kallian could only sigh and admit defeat.
"Now, I saw Irving and Graegoir talking earlier. They called for Cullen and gave him those papers – orders of some sort – and 'an ancient tome vitally important to his training' or something else equally as dull and boring. Anyway, something is happening, I just want to know what."
Kallian sighed. She knew this was going to get her in trouble.
"All right, what's the plan?" She'd learned long ago that arguing with Natalia was pointless; the end result was always the same and it usually involved them both receiving a punishment of some sort.
"You're going to read the orders. Simple." She grinned, as if it really was that obvious. The elf however continued to stare at her blankly. It was times like these that Kallian truly questioned the sanity of her animated companion, raising her brow with a sigh.
"Did you somehow manage to forget the hulking steel plated watchman allocated specifically to crush the hopes of teeny, tiny and insignificant mages like say… I don't know. Us?" The elf criticised sarcastically. If she was honest with herself, she was partially intrigued as to what kind of plan Natalia could have possibly devised this time.
Her curiosity was very quickly sated.
"I suggest you find somewhere to hide." Natalia whispered. Such a short warning was all Kallian was given before Natalia stood to her full height and proceeded to strut straight into Irving's room, a familiar yet annoying smirk gracing her features the entire time.
Eyes wide in disbelief, Kallian crouched open mouthed at the doorway as she watched her friend confidently walk over to the seat Cullen was occupying , standing with her arms crossed in an obvious attempt to enhance her already generous curves. Cullen looked up with a start, his face probably mirroring the stunned expression Kallian was wearing.
"What… what are you…?" Cullen audibly gulped, his eyes unquestionably focusing lower than her face for a brief second. Steeling himself visibly, he took a deep breath and tried again.
"You're not supposed to be here. I should… I have to tell-" He was stopped when she pressed a hand to his chest; much gentler than the way she had quieted Kallian; it was a fact the elf noted with annoyance.
"I was looking for you." She said in what Kallian recognized as her 'sultry' tone. She would have laughed, if she didn't know that it always seemed to work. Cullen shivered, still caught somewhere between turned on and incredulous.
"You, you can't… I mean, we… you're supposed to be in the dorms!" He tried desperately, clawing for any kind hold on the reality he knew he should impose. Kallian could practically see him praying in his head.
"Well, why don't you escort me there now? You can give me a good dressing-down and I'll just have to enlighten you as to why I was here." Kallian had to admit, she was impressed. The innuendo encompassed within Natalia's words was both intolerable and enough to make the tips of her ears to flush, especially with the way Natalia was batting her lashes at a now quivering wreck that used to be the Templar Cullen.
"D-Dr-Dressing-down?" He whimpered, an image clearly embedding itself in his mind.
Natalia smiled warmly, knowing she had won before she'd even started.
"An admonishment of course. Still, I'll explain when we get there."
"Get where?"
"You'll see. Follow me." She purred, turning on her heel and heading towards the door. Kallian panicked, realising quickly that she probably should have followed her friend's advice and found a place to hide. Thankfully, her lithe elven form was an advantage as she moved quickly and quietly from her position to the nearest door, slinking through it unseen. She opened the door a little, leaving just enough room to peer out into the hall way, and see Cullen 'escorting' Natalia back to the mage's quarters.
Kallian almost felt bad for Cullen, knowing all too well what was about to happen.
Once they reached the mage's quarters, Natalia would lead him to one of her favourite locations, disappearing behind an alcove to the left of the dorm. Cullen would stare for a moment, before bidding her goodnight – forgetting all about the admonishment he was supposed to give – in a desperate attempt to escape before his desires got the better of him; after all, it was a well-known fact that he had been infatuated with Natalia Amell for a very long period of time.
Eventually however, with her hand on his arm, her lips pursed and her suggestive tone constantly surrounding him with new thoughts and images, he would flounder helplessly a final time before succumbing to what all had been known to call the "bewitchment". That, or the "whore's gaze", depending on how much said person liked Natalia.
Kallian shook her head with a sigh, wondering how she'd managed to find such a best friend.
Pulling the door open again, she crept back towards Irving's room, hesitating only slightly before tip toeing inside. She approached the desk cautiously, thumbing through the pages of parchment that were spread out across its surface. One thing that particularly caught her eye was the title of the tome, the word's blood magic inscribed with purpose on its cover.
Looking through the first of the papers, she saw ordinary documents formatting Templar shifts and a handwritten letter talking about the necessity for vigilance against the evils of mages, no doubt written by Graegoir himself. Towards the bottom of the pile however, was something all the more sinister.
Kallian gasped outright at the horror of what she was seeing. There, in her hands were orders for the apprentice Jowan to be made tranquil on the basis of suspected blood magic.
She knew Jowan. Both she and Natalia had been friends with him upon joining the circle and it disgusted her to think that they would do such a thing to a good man. However, it was not the true source of her anguish, for below his name was another.
There, for suspicion of the use and exploitation of blood magic, was an order for the mage Natalia Amell to be made tranquil upon dawn two days from then.
Following the next two night falls, her best friend was to be executed.