**A/N**: I do not own Dragon Age, its universe, nor its characters. I only own the members of the Megalos family. All other credit goes to the wonderful creators of Dragon Age and Bioware. I hope you enjoy and look forward to reading your review!
Sweet Vengeance
Chapter 6:
Isla froze as she took in the scene. Her flushed cheeks that the wine had gifted her drained instantly. There, before her very eyes, were the only two people that she had ever felt genuine love for. Dorian and Cassius were atop the bed, joined together in their love-making. The young mage stared with wide eyes in half-disbelief, unaware of the tears that had already begun to fall. She just couldn't believe it. How—why—would her betrothed and most cherished brother betray her in such a way?!
To make matters worse, the pair were unaware of her abrupt entrance, and so, the two continued in a very audible fashion. Mhira attempted to lead Isla away; however, the mage only swatted the elf away. Every ounce of drunkenness had left her in an instant. In fact, she hadn't been so completely sober in her entire life as she was at this exact moment.
She shook her head as if to wake herself from the nightmare before her. When that didn't work, she felt both the anger and hurt explode. Isla instinctively grabbed the first thing within reach, Dorian's staff. In a burst of anger, she sent a single bolt of lightning in their direction. When the bolt made direct contact with Dorian's arse, the pair immediately broke apart.
As her betrothed and her brother stared at her with a mix of shock and horror, there was a million things that she wished to say to them. However, all she could manage to do was stand there, chest heaving, with hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Mistress, please-," Mhira entered the room, attempting once more to coax the mage outside. Isla simply held up a hand, both silencing the elf and stopping her in her tracks. Then with a single tear in her eye, Mhira shook her head and took her leave. The blue-eyed mage looked almost delirious as she managed to point the staff at the two lovers, but still, she said not a word. It wasn't until Cassius attempted to speak that Isla made another move.
"Isla-," Cassius began, standing from the bed. He raised his hands pleadingly, attempting to get close to his sister, "Please, Isla, just let us explain…" Isla sent another bolt, this time right above Cassius's head. The bolt hit the wall with a solid 'crack' before vanishing, knocking both a wall hanging and her brother to the floor.
"Ex—plain?! You think you can explain this, brother? This," she burst. She stepped toward her brother. He shot a quick, panicked glance in Dorian's direction before hanging his head. As if crazed, Isla laughed out as he did so. Then, she took the staff and tilted his head upwards to look her in the eye, "Well?!" Cassisus searched her eyes for a moment before trying, "W-we l-love each other…"
She laughed out again. "Love?! I loved you, brother—both of you! And you both betrayed me," she exclaimed, first anger, then sadness in her voice. Isla looked between the two of them before stepping backwards, trying her best to fight the tears that threatened to spill once more.
I should kill them both, she thought, eyeing the staff in her hands. In truth, Isla had never wanted to do anything as much as she wanted to end them both that very instant. However, she simply closed her eyes for a brief moment in a poor attempt to gather herself and swallowed hard. Then, she looked to Dorian, "And what of you?!"
Dorian hadn't moved or spoken. Up until now, he simply lay where he had landed, rubbing his ass where the lightning bolt had struck him. Isla now looked at him directly, ignoring her brother's futile attempts of apology. Dorian returned the favor, though his eyes looked at her with cool indifference, rather than the seething rage that Isla bore. After a long moment of silence, Dorian sighed heavily and stood.
He walked around the bed and stood before her in all of his naked glory, no shame to be found. Isla's betrothed looked her up and down one last time before speaking, "To be quite honest, dear lady, I've been attracted to men for quite some time." Dorian sighed again, then stretched his arms out, "And, if you are looking for any sort of apology from me—or some form of shame regarding the matter, I fear you might as well blast me now and send me to the Maker, because—well, it's not going to happen."
Isla watched as he stood there, arms outstretched, almost daring her to do so. The raven-haired mage definitely toyed with the idea. However, she made no movements to go through with it. After a few moments of nothing, Dorian dropped his arms. "That's what I thought," he said, walking over to an armchair, grabbing his robes, and putting them on.
"Now, I'm afraid that I must go," he continued. Dorian walked over to an emotional Cassius. With his back turned to Isla, he offered his lover a hand. Isla wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt that he held their betrothal—and her feelings—in such low regard. It felt as if her heart was ripping itself to pieces. Tears inadvertently filled her eyes.
Once Cassius was back on his feet, Dorian spoke to Isla once more, "But, I must admit, I'm pleased to see that magic doesn't disgust you as much as you claim. After all, you seemed to rather enjoy threatening us with it." He turned and gave her a slight smirk. It wasn't until this statement that Isla realized that she was, in fact, using magic. This both angered and frightened her, she realized, as she threw the staff down as if it were burning her hands.
At that, Dorian chuckled. Then, he returned his full attention to Cassius. "I truly hate that our last night together ended on such a sour note. I can only hope that our separation will be brief," Dorian said to Isla's brother, running his thumb along Cassius's cheek. Cassius smiled at him, shooting short, nervous glances at his sister as he did.
When Dorian leaned in and kissed her brother, fully aware that she was watching, Isla could have sworn she literally heard her heart shatter within her chest. "I'll write as soon as we reach Redcliffe," Dorian promised Cassius as he collected his things, now completely ignoring Isla's presence. Then, he began to walk out of the room without so much as another glance in her direction.
It was the final straw for her. "Damn you," she said to Dorian's back through gritted teeth. "Damn you both," Isla practically screamed, tears falling freely for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Then, she pushed past her betrothed and ran as fast as she could to her own bedchamber. "Isla—wait," Cassius called after her, tears in his own eyes, but it was too late. She had already shut the door.
Once inside, the heartbroken mage hit her knees. She began sobbing so hard that she could scarcely breathe. What have I ever done to deserve such an abysmal life, she screamed internally to the Maker. Over and over she screamed it inside of her head. Eventually, she caught her breath and embraced the next spurt of anger.
Isla stood shakily and began ripping off the dress she was wearing. She wanted nothing that would ever remind her of this night, though she was fully aware that she would never forget it no matter how she tried. Nonetheless, she ripped and tore it until there was nothing but a heap of shreds remaining.
After tossing the remnants into her fireplace, Isla finally felt herself calming down. Unfortunately, it was to be short-lived. Once she saw the amulet around her neck, it began all over. The mage threw the amulet and circlet simultaneously across the room. Only when she heard the items hit the wall did she release the breath that she had been holding in.
Suddenly exhausted, Isla plopped onto her bed. How could things go so wrong, so quickly, she pondered sadly. She just didn't understand. Isla sat there for a long time, replaying the day over and over in her mind: Dorian, Cassius, Calpurnius, her father, Danarius, magic—it was too much. Eventually, she laid back, though her thoughts still waged war with exhaustion. Fortunately, exhaustion won in the end, and Isla drifted off into an uneasy sleep.