A/N: So, this one is inspired by Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. It took me a while to decide on a setting for this, but I think it turned out rather well. This is a DA:A F!Marhariel/Nathanial non-romance. There is an implied romance mentioned at the end with an Origins character. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer:BioWareownsthenouns,Disneyownsthesong,Ijustplayaround.
She watched as he turned away from her and stepped away from the bars of his cell. This human with his brooding demeanor and angry scowl rubbed her the wrong way. This was exactly what she expected of a shem, or, more accurately, this is what she would have expected before she met Alistair and Liliana.
And that, more than anything, is what bothered her. She missed her friends; she missed being around people she trusted. When she found Oghren in the keep, she was thrilled to see someone she trusted to be at her back. Without them, she had to rely on her upbringing.
"What were you doing at Vigil's Keep, shem?"
He turned to look at her over his shoulder and did nothing to hide the contempt behind hid eyes. "Thievery, like the guard told you, or are those ears just for show?"
"I know what I was told. But you're no petty thief. I've met enough of those, I can tell. I want to know why you're really here."
He came quickly to the bars and bore his teeth as he sneered, "I wanted to get a look at my father's murderer before I killed you." When she didn't respond, he began to pace restlessly. "But then, when I got here… seeing all my family's things… I just wanted to save something."
"You're Rendon Howe's son."
"Nathanial. Not that you care."
"Nathanial Howe. Do you still wish to kill me?" She asked.
"You murdered my father! Dragged my family name through the mud, have taken residence in my childhood home, and been proclaimed a hero, while those of us left with the name Howe have lost everything."
"Your father committed atrocities I thought even too vial for a shem to bring about. He deserved a death much worse than the one I granted him."
Silence stretched as both of them tried to calm their emotions. She succeeded first and sighed, "If your belongings are here, I will arrange for them to be returned."
He scoffed again and muttered, "Your ignorance is astounding."
"Excuse me?"
"You know nothing of how the world works."
"You think I'm an ignorant savage?" Anger flared within her again. How dare he—a shem!—accuse her of being ignorant! She picked the lock of his cell and flung open the door. "I know how the world works better than you."
He did as she suspected he would, taking the advantage of the open door to attack her. She was ready for him and had him on his stomach, her knee between his shoulders, his wrists held firmly in her hands and pressed painfully against his back, within a matter of moments.
"And you call me the savage?" She hissed in his ear. "I am Warden Commander and Hero of Ferelden, but before I was given any of those shemlen titles, I was Mythalina Mahariel, Dalish hunter of the Sabrae clan, named for Mythal, the Great Protector.
"I know how to heal you or kill you using the plants at my feet, I know how to sustain a village or starve an army using the game and rivers nearby, I know how high and wild the sylvan trees grow, I have heard wolves cry and seen bobcats grin and known why, I have sung with voices of the mountains and painted with the colors of the wind; I know how the world works!
"You shems think you own whatever land you land on, but it is not some dead thing you can claim. Every rock, tree, and creature has a life, a spirit, and name. I know how the world works! If you think your society is the world, then it is you, shem, who is the ignorant savage."
She let him go and stood, eyeing him cautiously. She was not sure what he would do next, but it would decide his fate.
Nathanial stood slowly and brushed himself off. "You are as skilled as I was led to believe."
"You're not bad, for a shem."
"You keep using the derogatory, why?"
"Very few shemlen I've come across have been worthy of anything else. You certainly haven't." She smiled to herself when she saw him bristle with offense. "You want to prove me wrong?"
"In many areas."
The Seneschal picked that moment to walk in and Mythalina grinned openly this time. "Here's your chance. I hereby invoke the Right of Conscription, Seneschal. Nathanial Howe will be a Grey Warden."
"What?" Nathanial demanded angrily.
"Are you certain?" The Seneschal asked.
"I am." She smiled.
"You like having Grey Wardens who want you dead?" Nathanial asked.
"Some of my best friends have wanted me dead." Mythanlina said, reaching up to finger the gold earring in her lobe as she walked out.