A/N: I'm switching to a different POV for Thalia. It will be in third person from now on.
Chapter 8: The True Order of Things
Anger! Injustice!
These were the thoughts that filled Thalia's mind as she paced restlessly back and forth in her cell.
Just as she had been getting used to the apprentice's quarters, she had been shoved back into her cell for no reason!
How? How can the Templars be allowed to do this? Abuses of power and physique alike were making the Order corrupt. She wondered if Cullen was aware of what happened to her.
The moment she finished her thought she heard heavy footsteps down the hall. Cullen? She thought.
She waited with baited breath, hoping it was someone to get her out of here.
Through the darkness a man in plated armor appeared before her and unlocked her cell without word. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
Thalia's heart pounded in fear at the mystery of the man. It was clear he was a templar, but which one? Why hadn't he said anything?
Her questions were answered as the Templar removed his helm and silently placed it on the floor.
"Cullen," Thalia let out a breathy whisper.
He motioned to remain silent. When Thalia began to protest by asking more questions, he placed a gentle finger upon her lips. He gazed into her eyes with a suppressed longing.
Thalia was afraid and confused. This didn't seem like something Cullen would do… Suddenly she was reminded of her previous quarrel with the Order, she opened her mouth to speak her concerns...but his sweet lips fell upon hers in a haste.
She had been taken by such surprise that she forgot all thoughts and issues, they had been forced out by Cullen's overwhelming desire.
Thalia's eyes widened at first. He was a Templar and she a mage! They could both die because of this! But the way that he held her against him made her shiver. She got the feeling that he didn't care about the consequences.
Thalia fell into his arms, embracing him. She was hesitant, but he cleared that from her mind and made her brave.
They were entangled in each other until dawn, bliss and pure pleasure filled their night with happiness.
"Cullen…" She had whispered to him after they had reached ecstasy, "I think I love you."
Thalia had never loved someone before, not like this. He responded to her by taking her again under him.
Cullen was not what she had expected...He was so much more!
Happy and content thoughts drifted her to sleep. She even forgot, just for a moment, that Templars and mages existed.
~X~
"By the Maker…" a voice awoke Thalia. The voice was filled with disbelief and betrayal and...it was female.
MEREDITH! Thalia shot upwards and looked around her.
Cullen's form lay beside her, sleeping unaware of the seething woman before them. She then turned her heavy gaze to look upon death itself. "Knight-Commander." Thalia meant to have a strong voice, but it failed her and filled up with fear.
Why didn't Cullen leave? How could he have been so careless as to stay the night? My love…
"You…" Meredith pointed at Thalia with a trembling hand, "You have corrupted him! Spread demons into his mind! Whore, you will die I promise you that!" Meredith grabbed Thalia and threw her to the ground, "Get out of my way!"
Cullen had been awoken by this time, "Meredith, I promise you, this is not what it looks like. I swear I don't know how I got here. I swear by the Maker!" He looked so helpless and weak without his authoritative armor.
"Don't speak the Maker's name! You will suffer too, you have broken your sacred Oath to Him and will pay the price." Meredith called the guards to take him away without the dignity of clothing.
Cullen looked to Thalia for an answer, he seemed clueless...Thalia didn't understand. Did he not know what they did last night? Did he not remember?
Oh Maker. Thalia suddenly felt so guilty, did she cause this? Did she cause his impending death?
She remembered he had been so forward last night. He could have been drunk but she didn't remember smelling alcohol.
"We will be back for you later, whore." Meredith spat at her and slammed the door.
Thalia became crushed under an inexplicable weight, the weight of loving a dead man and being dead.
~X~
One day later Thalia was escorted into the courtyard. A swarm of faces, mages and templars, surrounded her. Some pitied and some judged. But none of it mattered when she saw him. Cullen.
She cried, there in front of everyone. She screamed and yelled and bellowed.
Cullen looked up at her in indifference. He didn't recognize her through the blood running down his face. He looked...so different. Thalia was sure he had been tortured all night. Bruises and whip marks suffered across his body, his eyes were sunken as though the life of him had been sucked out.
"THIS!" Meredith shouted across to the audience, "IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BREAK YOUR SWORN VOW!"
Cullen was strapped to wooden post. A lasher man came up to him and beat him naked.
Thalia tried to help him, to get away. But the Templars restrained her, forced to watch with the rest of the mages.
This display was a warning to everyone of when you disobey the Knight-Commander.
Why is nobody standing up to this horror? Thalia looked wretched and wished she could kill Meredith for this crime. Conveniently, Orsino was nowhere in sight. The only man, elf, that could possibly say something against her and not be killed.
Finally, the nightmare ended. The beating stopped. And just as she had once been dragged into the cells of the Gallows, Cullen slid across the stone with his blood trailing behind him.
~X~
"Let the two spend their last night together before the Maker's judgment falls upon them. Let it be known that I showed them mercy."
Meredith's decree had them chained together in a windowless cell, waiting for death and unaware of how time was passing them by.
Cullen was silent for a long time, he fell unconscious, but finally his hoarse and dry throat echoed against the walls, "Why is the Maker punishing me? For what in my life have I deserved this hell once again just to die at the hands of another evil."
"What did they do to you?" Thalia face was filled with tears, but Cullen could not see her through the darkness.
"...they took me to a Harrowing...and they...I don't know how they knew the mage would fail but he did...he turned into...Maker," he sobbed, "It was cruel...Meredith's knew why it was torture see that thing again. She knew...to remind me of what mages become. Abominations."
"Cullen, I'm so sorry…" Thalia didn't think about the consequences before, and now she was regretting it dearly. It would cost her life.
"How did I get there Thalia? Why were we...was I...I mean…d-did we?" Cullen stuttered.
"You don't remember anything?" Thalia couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
"No, not at all. The last thing I remember was being invited by some of the knights to...have a toast? Then, waking up next to you... And suddenly Meredith…" Cullen caught his breath, "My life. The Order. Everything that I've gone through. It surmounts to this: execution by those I once trusted."
Thalia refused to believe that this was their ultimate fate. She wasn't going to die here, among enemies as a whore. She had a future awaiting her.
"Cullen, I'm going to get us out of here." Thalia stated in a strong voice despite her earlier tears.
A shocked silence filled the space between them then Cullen answered, "Okay."
He didn't question her, or doubt her. At that point he was willing to do anything.
Thalia thought for a long she before coming up with a risky plan, "When they come in here to take us to the..block...I'm going to kick upwards and knock the sword out of his hands. You're going to catch it, hopefully, and we'll charge at the other one. You know the weak points of the armor right?"
"All too well," Cullen answered grimly. Her plan would only work if everything happened the way they thought it would.
Their arms were chained to each other, and they were back to back. They would have to attack as an extension of each other, as one.
"We can do this." Thalia said.
"How can you be so sure?" Cullen asked.
"Because we weren't meant for this. This is our test of our will to survive." Thalia resolved to leave the Circle alive no matter what.
"I've already been tested, but I trust you," Cullen steeled himself for the worst.
Thalia caught her breath, last minute nerves entered her system, "Here they come."
The knights were unsuspecting and lackadaisical in their attitude. They casually walked towards the two, and suddenly the first one's sword was in the air threatening to spear him.
The two prisoners attempted to catch it but it fell clattering to the stone floor.
"Shit!" the woman shouted.
The second guard drew his sword to intimidate the two.
It did not work.
With grace and swiftness, the two moved together, reaching the fallen sword before the first guard.
They popped up, Thalia raised her arms to give Cullen the extra length he needed. The sword fell upon the knight in one sweeping move. The first guards body lay dead on the floor before the second guard could react.
"They're trying to escape!" He shouted desperately out. He tried to run, but the duo caught him before he could warn anyone else. The sword pierced the back of his neck smoothly.
"How…?" Cullen was out of breath. He found it disgusting yet...exciting...that he had killed knights of his Order...the pigs of his Order.
"Have a little faith in me," Thalia winked at him. She was panting heavily, blood had been sprayed across her front.
"I will never doubt you again."
~X~
They wouldn't have much time before Meredith realized their absence.
Fortunately, Cullen knew another way out of the quarantine cells, one that didn't go right through the Gallows courtyard.
"This way, it shouldn't have anyone patrolling it right now." Cullen lead her through the winding halls, lamps barely lit guided her to Cullen.
An open window staring out across the sea stared back at her with malicious thought, "So we swim then?" Thalia asked, already aware of the answer.
"Only option," Cullen dived head first into the open sea.
Brave. Thalia silently commented before jumping in after him.
The waves were strong, the current harsh, but Thalia's will was made of steel. She pushed her legs out even when they screamed back at her. Her arms were becoming floppy, and with each movement water splashed upon her face choking her.
She struggled to find Cullen through the chaos of the sea, but his unmistakable golden hair was a beacon to her tired eyes.
Some time later they ended up ashore on a beach near the Kirkwall docks. Thalia didn't know how much time had passed, but the sun was setting, streaks of fire lit up the sky in a panic to recede into darkness.
"Mmm..uuhn?" Thalia wiped salt and sweat from her brow to find Cullen hovering above her.
"Oh thank the Maker!" He exclaimed, he swept her into his arms pulling her into a relieved embrace, "I thought I was alone, but you're alive."
"I almost died?" Thalia asked, she didn't remember drowning.
"You passed out, I had to pull you along with the current…" Cullen helped her stand up, although the shifting sand made it hard.
"You saved my life, thank you," Thalia gave him a grateful smile.
"We saved each other back there," He looked back at the sea and laughed, "We make a pretty good team."
"Ha, yeah we do don't we?" Thalia said.
Cullen's countenance changed from relaxed to panicked, "Where do we go now? Meredith is sure to search up and down the city for us."
"I have friends that know how to make a person disappear." She remembered her family and friends back in Darktown, and how much she missed them, and her old way of life. Anders…
"And who might those people be?" Cullen asked hesitantly. He didn't want to go from one evil to another.
"A mage. A good mage at that," Thalia noticed how he still stiffened at the word, "He's a healer. And he won't harm us...but before we go anywhere…" Thalia looked at him up and down in his still very bare form.
Cullen frozen and looked down slowly. He instantaneously moved to cover himself, while he blushed profusely, "Y-yes...some clothes would be nice."
Thalia's smile reached her eyes before her laugh broke through, "You're so cute!"
Cullen whimpered in protest, turning away from her. Thalia almost made a comment regarding how she had already seen him much more intimately, but she remembered that he didn't remember anything from that night. She didn't want to make him even more uncomfortable, but she couldn't help but wonder if Cullen felt that way about her still. If it had been him that had made love to her so intensely.
"Let's go," Thalia said, washing away her thoughts like the tide had almost washed her away, "Darktown awaits us. And so do your new clothes."
