A Rogue's Sparkle
Note:
First of all, thank you for the story alert to Sam25-2003 and my thanks for the favorite add Brittney89. I'm glad my first chapter made you want to keep an eye on the rest of my story! For all others, feel free to do the same and also leave reviews ;-)
Second, I do not use a beta at this moment so please let me know if I make any mistakes in sentences/words etc. I do not wish for a beta unless he/she has the time to respond to me within a reasonable timeframe. Not that I think anyone will ask, but just so you know if you do wish to ask ;-)
Third, the rating for this chapter would be M just for the safe side.
Last but not least, I do not own anything of Dragon Age. It all belongs to Bioware. I only gave it a little twist of my own which I hope you'll like.
Chapter 2
Filling the pot of Chaos
=Catherine=
On my way to Fergus his room, I saw mother standing with Lady Landra, her lady in waiting and her son Dairren. They've been meaning to marry me off to Dairren for quite some time now and today I would hear that again at least once. The last time I saw Lady Landra was at her salon. She was getting drunk really fast and had the time of her life. When I and my family arrived she looked like she'd been drinking all day, which honestly made me chuckle a little. The moment she saw me stepping in the room she dragged her son with her and planted him right in front of me, demanding we'd talk, hoping more would blossom between us that day.
I had to admit that Dairren had something about him that made him quite attractive and something did blossom between us.
"Ah, there is my beautiful daughter. I see you got the dog away from the larder? I do hope Nan was not too upset."
"Not anymore. He removed all the rats from the larder."
"Oh that's just lovely dear, just as we're having guests this has to happen."
I started chuckling. Mother raised an eyebrow and continued with what she wanted to say.
"You remember Lady Landra, don't you dear?"
"Of course I do. I'm pleased to see you again, my Lady."
"You're too kind dear girl. I brought my son with me so you two could catch up. I'm still hoping my work at the salon will pay off." She said with a wink. I gave her a smile and nodded.
"It's good to see you again, Dairren."
"And you my Lady. You look more beautiful than ever."
"Flatterer." I softly said as I felt a blush coming up. After Lady Landra introduced her lady in waiting as well, Dairren and the young Elven lady moved to the study as Lady Landra decided to take a quick nap before dinner.
"You should say goodbye to your brother." Mother said when we were alone.
"Yes. Is he up in his room?"
"He is."
"Did you know there's a Grey Warden in the Castle?" I asked her.
"You haven't gotten it in your head to get recruited do you?" she asked, worry crossing her face.
"No, of course not."
"Good. The last thing I need is my daughter running off fighting like her brother and father. The castle can keep you occupied good enough. Your brother will do that as well, but that's not my point."
"I should go." I said. Dairren was in the study and I really wanted to talk to him before I would go see Fergus off.
"I love you. You know that right?"
"What brought this on?" I asked, surprised that my mother suddenly went a whole other direction with her emotions.
"Nothing dear. Time just goes by so fast. You're now a fine young woman in your own right. I'm proud of you." Without responding I gave her a hug.
"Now I will be gone tomorrow to visit Lady Landra her estate. This way people will not question you and your brother." I nodded and said my goodbyes when I turned around to head for the study.
When I arrived my tutor was teaching two young children while I noticed Dairren was in the next room. I slowly walked to that room and already felt the butterflies twirling around in my stomach. I softly knocked on the door to get his attention.
"Catherine." He whispered while he put his book away. I closed the door and walked towards the tall man. Ignoring the Elven girl on the other side of this room, I stood close to his body. He softly stroked through my hair and smiled.
"I missed you." He softly said.
"I missed you too."
"We don't have much time as dinner will be ready soon." He said with regret in his eyes. "and I'm to ride off with your father afterwards."
"Yes I have heard that. Can't you try to come to my room before dinner?" I slyly said.
"Makers breath woman. You are too hard to resist." He laughed. "I can come tonight after everyone is asleep. How about that?" He said as his face was coming closer to mine. "Your father is not to ride off until tomorrow due to the delay of Howe's men."
"I will hold you to that." I whispered as I finally touched his lips with my own. The kiss was soft, gentle, tender and exploring. My mouth parted and I was thrilled to find he did the same. Our tongues met and the butterflies only got worse. I put my arms around his hips and drew myself closer to him. Close enough to feel he barely could wait until tonight.
Too soon he broke off the kiss and smiled at me. I let go of him and gave him a small wink before I walked to the door. "I will see you at dinner." I softly said and I moved out of the study. I still had to go to Fergus and hoped they wouldn't notice my delay.
When I arrived I saw Aedan standing next to Fergus while Fergus himself said goodbye to his wife and son. His wife looked worried while their son calmly stood next to her.
"Ah, there's my dear sister to see me off. You did take your time! Aedan arrived long before you did." He said with a grin.
"Yes, yes, I know. I'm here now aren't I?" I said while I hit his arm with my fist. "I'm going to miss you brother."
"And I you. Take care of everyone all right? Especially your brother here." He said as he motioned towards Aedan who reacted surprised and feigned to be hurt. I laughed and nodded.
"Do you think the Warden would be interested in us, Fergus?" Aedan said.
"If I were a Warden, I know I would be. You're both talented enough to join that order!"
"See, Cath? I'm sure I can talk the Warden into recruiting us once the battle is over!" You can sure try, were my only thoughts to that. I walked to Fergus and gave him a hug which he returned. Suddenly someone was tugging on my armor. When I looked down, Oren was standing next to me.
"Auntie! Auntie! Are you going to teach me how to use a sward?"
"It's sword, Oren!" Fergus calmly said.
"You can, can't you Auntie?"
"Well I use daggers myself, Oren. I can teach you how to use those if you want?"
"Yes, can I? Oren asked to his mother. She sighed and looked at Fergus.
"Sometimes your family causes me great pain, husband."
"Father will not ride off with you, Fergus. Howe's men seem to be delayed so they're going to wait."
"What? You'd think they're riding backwards! A bit of rain can't have stopped them so much?" he said to himself. At that moment our parents walked in the room.
"Oh, why did I even bother bringing it up when you're here yourself? I said to father. He chuckled.
"And miss having all my children in the same room at the same time? We came to wish you a well journey Fergus. I will join you tomorrow with Howe and his men as you've heard." Fergus nodded and father told us to go to bed early after dinner. Fergus seemed to find it all very funny.
"Getting send to bed early, are you little sister?"
"Have fun sleeping outside in the cold. At least I've got someone to warm me up!" I started grinning. Mother eyed me surprised while Oriana seemed to be worried about my response as she warned me not to spread the word if what I was saying was true. I waved her off and Aedan and I walked out the room after saying Fergus goodbye one last time.
"Is it true? It's Dairren isn't it! I knew it! Haha." Aedan said as he started poking my side.
"Just shut up and do something useful will you? Like… helping Nan with setting up dinner plates." I walked to my room and chose a beautiful low cut green dress with white lace to put on. When I had it on mother walked in the room to get me for dinner. She saw me struggling to close the dress properly and helped me with it.
"You look beautiful darling." She proudly said. "You really fancy Dairren don't you?" I couldn't stop the smile and nodded my head. With a last tug she finished closing the dress and I made sure everything was in place. The dress was cut low enough to seduce someone just the way I wanted. No matter how I liked my armor, dressed made me feel more beautiful. I kept my hair down, but brushed it a bit to make it look a bit fancier again.
When I arrived at the dining hall It turned out that everything was already finished. Duncan already taken his seat next to father while Lady Landra and Dairren walked in right behind me. The places were set up perfectly so I could talk to Dairren who would sit right across me. I took my place and noticed the eye Aedan was giving me. I decided to ignore him and father praised me for wearing a dress again. It was something I didn't do too often in my parents eyes. Mother sat close to Lady Landra and started talking the second she sat down. Dairren took my hand before he sat down.
"You look even more beautiful than you did this afternoon, my Lady." He said as he gave my hand a soft kiss. I slightly bowed my head and he sat down in across the table. During dinner I barely had eyes for anyone but him. We smiled to each other and blushed just enough for the other one to see. When I did look at the others I noticed Aedan was talking to Duncan passionately. I shook my head remembering his 'we can be Grey Wardens too' remark. Mother was smiling at me as she noticed me looking at her and continued her conversation with Dairren his mother.
My eyes fell back on my plate and I finished what was left. It was the last course and when my father invited the men for a drink, mother took Lady Landra and me for a chat as well. I looked back to Dairren as he followed my father and mouthed "see you soon".
"Dairren seems to appreciate the dress you picked out for him." Mother started.
"Oh I see a wonderful relationship and union in the near future." Lady Landra said while dreaming away at the thought.
"Need we discuss this now?"
"We're just curious how much is going on dear. It is obvious you fancy him and Lady Landra is certain that Dairren fancies you as well. You know we will not do anything without asking you first, but your father and I would like to arrange you getting married to him."
This went on all evening and even though other subjects didn't escape their attention as well, they were just too interested in an union. I was glad when they decided to get some rest and as father requested I would go to bed early as well, mother sent me on my way too. When I arrived in my room nobody but Dantos was there. I sat down next to him on the stone floor and scratched behind his ears. He then moved to the corner of the room and curled up to sleep.
An hour later while I was still glancing at the first page of a book I opened someone knocked softly on the door. My heart jumped and I quickly closed the book and checked how my dress looked. It was dark outside and the only light in the room was the one candle I had lit on the desk. Carefully I opened the door, hoping it wouldn't make too much sound. Dairren sneaked in my room and I closed the door.
As I looked at him I stood with my back against the door, simply observing him. He turned around and quickly walked towards me to kiss me deeply. This kiss was filled with passion and desire and I happily returned it. When he grabbed my hips with one hand and pushed me against him I softly moaned. I felt his hardened length through the cloth, which was in between us both, against me and I felt the desire built up.
Eager to feel his body I took off his shirt in between the kisses as he unbuckled his pants. Before dropping them he started on my dress. He moved behind me and carefully undid the lace. The dress came off rather easily and part of me wondered if he had ever done this before. When the dress dropped on the floor he grabbed both my breasts with both his hands and softly squeezed them. His fingers started playing with my nipples and I let out yet another moan. He stood so close against me that his length was now pulsing in my back. He started kissing my neck and I shivered all over my body. He turned me around roughly and kissed me again. I pushed his pants down so they fell on the floor.
Dantos didn't seem to approve as he started barking. When I looked at him, annoyed that he interrupted us and cursing myself that I kept him in here, I noticed that he was barking at the door. Dairren turned around and listened.
"It sounds like swords?" he said. At that moment the door got kicked in, knocking against Dairren his head. He barely had time to react as the sword was driven through his chest immediately. I ran to my armor and picked up my daggers while melting to the shadows.
"Well, Well." The knight said when he shot a look at Dairren. "Look at him!" he said to his fellow knight. "We interrupted them during a wild night!" he laughed.
"Come out girl! And we'll give you a fast death!" I held my daggers strongly and moved behind the knights who had walked in the room. It was enough to attack them from behind and so I did. With their dead bodies at my feet I quickly put on my armor and glanced at Dairren. He had died fast, but pain was written all over his face. His eyes were still open. Holding back my tears as good as I could, I sat down next to him and closed them.
"May the Maker watch over you." I softly whispered. I stood up and checked if there were more knights nearby. There were two knocking on my parent's door with force. They wanted to come in no matter what and they were shouting for my mother to come out.
I looked at the shield of the dead knight next to me and noticed the emblem was Howe's. Why would he attack us? I quietly walked towards the two knights and felt another presence nearby. Aedan! We both lunged out to a different knight and slit their throats. When their heavy weight dropped on the ground the door opened and mother came out.
"Oh Catherine! Aedan! Are you both all right?" Aedan just nodded.
"They killed Dairren." I said.
"Landra's son? Why would they do that?" she wondered. "Have you seen them? These are Howe's men!" I couldn't help the single tear that escaped from my eyes to fall down. I quickly wiped it away.
"We have to fight them." Mother seemed to think briefly about my comment and then looked at me.
"Where's your father? I haven't seen him all night."
"Maybe he's with Howe." Aedan said while he grimaced. Without another word I ran towards Lady Landra's room. She and her lady in waiting would spend the night there. The door was wide open and it pained me to see my mother's friend lied dead on the cold stone floor. Blood surrounded the two mother fell on her knees at the sight of her friend.
"Howe will pay for this." Aedan whispered.
"Yes." She silently replied. We moved on and on the corner, just before we would leave the area where all the bedrooms mother stopped us.
"Do you hear all that fighting? They must be everywhere."
"We must try to get father and move out." I suggested. Mother nodded and when I tried to run to fight she stopped me again.
"Wait. We should go by the treasure room and get at least the family sword out. This cannot be allowed to fall in Howe's hands." Mother showed the key while she said this and I nodded. The three of us moved down a man came running towards us.
"Ru…!" His eyes grew big when he looked down and saw the arrow sticking through his chest. He fell on the floor and anger quickly took over my tears. I rushed down with Aedan and we surrounded them in the shadows while mother ran straight towards the group of archers.
Aedan and I lunged out to the back archers and quickly ran to mother. There was another guard who could use our help as well so we ran towards him only to find out Howe's men killed him before we got there. Dantos was barking and he ran to us to help as well. I was glad to see my Mabari. When Dairren was killed all I focused on was how I could let that happen. Now I wanted all the help I could get to see these men dead.
Inside the dining room two other guards were holding Howe's men off quite effectively. They were tired from the fights however, and were glad when our little group stepped in. When the knights lied dead the guards quickly thanked us. They rushed out and Dantos started barking. I sat down in front of him, adrenaline still flowing through my veins, and gave him a quick hug.
"I'm glad to see you're safe, Dantos." I whispered. "Let's go to find father." I stood up and looked at the open door. Mother and Aedan weren't here anymore. It confused me as a minute ago they were still next to me. A bit annoyed I grabbed my daggers and carefully moved around the corner. Suddenly my heart had dropped to my knees. A large man with two guards was standing in the path that would be the only way out. Next to me Dantos started growling and the guards lifted their weapons a bit. Where did mother and Aedan go! I could only hope they made it to the treasure room and to father. The middle man walked towards me. The fire lit up his face and my eyes widened when I saw who it was exactly. Arl Howe. My father's supposedly best friend.
He started laughing softly while he cornered me and I stepped back into the dining hall. I shook my head and frowned when he came in after me. He closed the door when his two guards had entered as well and sheated his sword.
"What a lovely night tonight, isn't it?" he mockingly said.
