"Good morning to you, Lady Cousland," Vaughan, the son of Denirem's Arl Urien, rode up alongside Elissa's bay gelding. His mount was a spirited grey stallion that he clearly wasn't up to controlling. The horse danced and mouthed the oversized bit in its mouth.

"My lord," Elissa nodded politely, pointedly reaching down to pat her horse's neck. The bay bobbed its head, but otherwise continued to stand serenely under her.

"I'm delighted to see you joining us for the hunt, my lady," Vaughan's eyes were as bright as his smile. He wore light hunting leathers in honor of the day's activities. To Elissa's practiced eye they looked unworn, likely commissioned specifically for this event, and just as likely would be discarded once it was over.

For her part Elissa wore a fine set of leather armor dyed blue and embossed with the Cousland family laurel wreath. The armor was well-worn enough to be quite comfortable. It was well cared for though, and did not show wear.

"It's an adequate diversion," Elissa shrugged and leaned down to adjust a long dagger belted to her right boot.

"Is your visit to our fair capital so unexciting for you, Lady Elissa? Perhaps you might do me the honor of hosting you during your visit," Vaughan offered genially before biting off a curse as his stallion chose that moment to give a halfhearted attempt to buck him off. He pulled savagely on the reins until the animal grudgingly quieted.

Elissa eyed the Arl of Denirem's son and nodded slowly, "I'm honored, my Lord. I'll speak with my Lord father."

"Splendid! There's a great deal of our city I'd love to show you," Vaughan's grin was unseemly wide, and Elissa escaped as hastily as propriety allowed. Thankfully she was saved from further harassment when the Master of the Hunt blew his horn, signaling the start of the day's entertainment. Hunting dogs belled enthusiastically and there were several deeper barks from the mabari scattered among the nobles. Elissa felt a pang of envy watching the hounds as they danced below their master's feet. Her father had a respected mabari kennel and had promised his daughter one day one of the fiercely intelligent beasts would imprint on her. She only had to be patient.

Elissa sighed and loosened the reins as the crush of nobles and their servants began to stretch out into the orchards outside of Ferelden's capital. She'd heard from her father that in Orlais they had an entire "forest" artfully manicured just for hunts like this. Her bay stretched out his neck and eagerly pranced for a moment before she released him. He darted forward and snaked around two stately mares ridden by two of her mother's lady friends.

Distantly Elissa could just make out the royal party at the head of the hunt. King Maric was unmistakable in his golden armor and atop a great black charger. The horse had been a gift from Arl Howe of Amaranthine, a fact the Arl let few forget.

"Good morn to you, Lady Elissa," a voice called out from among the riders. Elissa spotted another young noble's son pushing his mount through the crowd to greet her.

"Maker's breath," Elissa hissed under her breath, "Will I get no peace?"


Elissa urged her gelding into a gallop, moving easily with each flex of the beast's muscles. She held her bow and two arrows with one hand while the other guided her mount around obstacles as she paced the buck fleeing the hunting party. The dogs ran as a pack and then broke into groups at a sharp command from the hunt master. Nobles streamed along behind, some with more enthusiasm than others. Elissa spotted the buck as it dodged around a cluster of birch trees and anticipated a quick course correction that sent it perpendicular to the hunting packs. She pulled hard on the reins of her horse and pressed her heels into his flanks. She leaned into the turn as the bay smoothly followed the buck's path.

She was nearly close enough for a good shot and brought her hunting bow up. In one smooth motion she lifted one of the arrows from her holding hand and notched it against the string. She took a single deep breath, exhaled, and sighted. She was a heartbeat from loosing the arrow when a shadow bounded into view. Vaughan and several other young nobles crashed through her line of sight, spoiling the shot. Vaughan's face was bright red and his teeth were barred in a snarl. Elissa bit off a startled curse and glared at their backs as her horse pulled up short. There was no way they hadn't seen her ready to take the shot. She felt her lip curl at their appalling breach of hunting etiquette.

Her shot lost, Elissa lowered her bow and urged her gelding into a trot. Moments later the hunt master's horn trumpeted brightly across the fields. The second pack had flushed something. She sighed heavily and turned her horse, trotting in the direction of the new prey. She hadn't gone far when another group of riders moved up on her flank, this time without rudely cutting off her path.

"There you are, pup!" Bryce Cousland called out to his daughter and Elissa smiled, reining her horse in to join her father and King Maric. The two rode side by side, with Maric's royal guard spread out a respectful distance away.

"Your Majesty; Father," Elissa bowed over her horse's neck to greet both men, "How goes the hunt?"

"Oh, the usual," Maric shrugged his wide shoulders, "Bryce and I sit back and watch the nobles make fools of themselves fighting over tiny pelts and antlers to put on their walls."

"That sounds far more entertaining than being part of the chase, my lord," Elissa gave the king a small smile.

"Oh certainly!" Maric grinned widely, his beard framing a flash of white teeth, "The first of the horns spooked Urien's boy's horse. Tossed him on his ass. He went tearing off into the woods back that way."

Elissa thought back on her encounter with Vaughan and her grin matched the King's. Another horn blew, announcing that someone had taken one of the animal's down. Elissa let her horse have his head when the King and her father both kicked their mounts into a run. The trio bounded out of the sparse vegetation of the birch forest and out onto an open field where some of the nobles had gathered to admire the kill.

At some point their order had shifted and Elissa rode to Maric's right while her father rode to his left. They slowed to a walk until a squire ran up to accept the king's reins so he could climb down and give his congratulations. Elissa barely kept her expression under control when her lip tried to curl up in a rude sneer. Vaughan Kendells stood proudly next to the buck. The animal's neck was twisted at a sickening angle and the only arrow she could see was embedded low and wide on the buck's back leg. Hardly a killing shot. More likely the animal tripped and twisted its neck in a frantic bid to escape the hunters.

Elissa and her father sat quietly on their mounts until the king returned, accepting the reins of his horse back from the squire as he remounted.

"A fine looking buck," Bryce said, his lip twitching into a smile.

"A blind Orlesian fop could have made a better shot than that," the king muttered once they were moving again.

"Speaking of Lord Vaughan," Elissa twisted in her saddle to ensure they had privacy, discounting the king's guard, "He's extended an invitation to his estate so he can show me around Denerim, Father."

"You need to be shown around Denerim?" Bryce raised an eyebrow, leaning forward to look at his daughter around Maric's bulk.

"I do not," she replied primly, "And I would very much appreciate it if my Lord Father found a reason to decline the invitation."

"Of course, my dear," Bryce replied sagely, "I wouldn't want my sweet daughter's constitution to suffer from exposure to Denerim's more unseemly sights. You've been terribly isolated up in Highever."

"How did you say that with a straight face?" Maric inquired curiously.

"Practice, my king," the teyrn answered, "A great deal of practice."