A/N - Sorry it's taken so long for an update. been working the late night oils on original works and blog posts. Plus having actual work to do at work! OMG! GASP! lol!
Serene rolled her eyes and pushed the door open to Dane's Refuge. She was close to drawing her weapon and killing everyone but the children, spare them from being killed by darkspawn. This included the wonderful people she was travelling with. Morrigan kept bitching about Serene's undying need to help everyone, apparently Brandon exchanged words with Alistair while she was passed out in Flemeth's hut and Alistair wasn't too keen on pissing him off, and the damn dog wouldn't leave her alone. Serene was in dire need of something strong to make her forget why she hadn't gone nuts already.
"Hey, isn't that the girl the regent was talking about?" Serene heard a man said. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the bar, hoping not to be disturbed.
"I think so, hey woman. What's your name?" Another man said as he grabbed Serene's shoulder and turned her around to face him. The first man joined him standing in front of Serene.
"Yeah, that's the girl that one warden was getting all red faced over. Heard the king beat him to it though."
"It would be smart of you just to drop it and leave well alone. I've had a really bad day and I don't think you want to see how bad." Serene snapped.
"Aw, I'm sure I can make it better for you." Serene was about to draw her dagger when a red haired woman walked over to them.
"Perhaps you two are mistaken. She reminds me of a sister from Highever." The woman said, interrupting the man. The other scoffed.
"Pretty things like you two shouldn't be stuck in the chantry. Besides, I know for a fact this woman is a grey warden. Them grey wardens are the reason the king is dead."
"Excuse me?" Serene asked.
"The grey wardens let the king die."
"According to who?" Serene asked as she slowly put her hand on the hilt of her dagger.
"According to Loghain."
"And what, they just decided to wipe themselves out along with him? Sound pretty stupid to me, the idea anyway." Serene snapped. Both men stood up.
"Are you implying that Loghain is lying?"
"I'm telling you, he is." Serene answered and drew her weapons as the two men, followed by four others drew theirs. She hadn't quite thought this through all the way. Luckily for her, the red head drew her weapons and was siding with Serene.
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Alistair decided to go and look for Serene after she had screamed at all of them. He could completely understand her yelling at Morrigan. The woman was a complete and utter bitch that needed to be slapped around. Alistair was disappointed Serene didn't slap her one. It had been slightly humorous to him when she slapped Brandon. He even found it more humorous now since Brandon had made it quite clear that a woman like Serene would never pick him over Brandon, not that he thought of Serene that way.
Alistair shook his head to clear the current thought process out of his head and decided to check out the tavern. The tavern was deathly quiet as Alistair walked in, and didn't have to wonder why for too long. Standing over six dead bodies was a chantry sister and Serene, covered in blood. Alistair raised an eyebrow when Serene saw him at the door.
"They started it. Called me Cailan's hussy." Serene said. The sister giggled slightly and Alistair shook his head.
"Is that all they called you?" Alistair asked as he joined the two of them and investigated the bodies.
"Well, no. They said that Loghain is telling everyone that the grey wardens lead Cailan to his death. He's lying!" Serene said and angrily kicked one of the dead bodies.
"What did he do to you?" Alistair said with a slight chuckle to his voice. He noticed she got a little angry towards people that had wronged her somehow.
"He offered her a good time, but he wasn't expecting her to end it so quickly." The sister said. The woman chuckled and Serene rolled her eyes.
"Alistair, this is Leliana. She's a cloister sister here in Lothering. Apparently the Maker told her to find me and help me." Serene said. Leliana smiled at Alistair and he gave her an odd look.
"Riiiiiight." Alistair said reluctantly. Both women laughed as the door opened again and Brandon, Morrigan and Fawkes entered the tavern.
"Twould seem like we missed something." Morrigan said as they walked in. Fawkes let out a growl and jumped up to lick Serene's face.
"Ugh, now I really need a bath." Serene complained. The bartender cleared his throat.
"They had paid for their room till the morning. Would be a shame to let it go to waste." The bartender said. Serene frowned and turned her attention to the bartender.
"You would let us stay here in their room?" Serene asked.
"They weren't doing much but disrupting my tavern, and you lot are grey wardens. Don't care what the Teryn says. You are alright in my book. Now, I can have a bath sent up to the room and have someone clean off your armor if you like."
"Yes, thank you." Serene said with a slight smile.
"Why don't the rest of you all have a seat and have a bite to eat." The bartender offered and then headed to the kitchen. Serene and the others sat down at a table as a waitress came over with ale and some bread. Soon some cheese and fruit were brought to the table and the group ate their meal in silence.
"Pardon me, warden, but your bath is ready." The innkeeper announced. Serene nodded and sighed. This was going to be the first bath she had since arriving here. There was only so much cleaning to do with just a basin of water and a cloth. Serene got up and quickly went upstairs to the room they had been given. It was a bit small for five people and one dog. The bed was maybe big enough for three people, if they didn't mind being extremely close together. There was enough floor space for everyone else to sleep.
Serene stripped off her armor and under clothes and climbed into the tub of steaming hot water. She could feel her muscles relaxing as she closed her eyes for a moment. As her body started to relax, her mind started to race. On top of everything that was happening now, Loghain had turned his own betrayal into the grey wardens' doing. All of Ferelden was going to be against them, how were they going to unite everyone against the blight? What about this chantry sister that now just joined them. Leilana was an odd sort of woman, but seemed to be a happy person compared to everyone else that she was traveling with.
As Serene started to wash the blood out of her long hair, she realized that she had nothing to change into. All she had was her armor and under clothes. The innkeeper had already had someone sent up to clean her armor and clothes. She remembered she had a spare pair of underwear, but with the fact that she would be sharing the room with Alistair and Brandon, she was going to need something else.
Serene wrapped herself in a towel and glanced about the room for anything she might be able to use for the night. She cursed herself for not seeing about getting a modest nightgown or something before jumping into the tub. She decided maybe she could borrow something from someone else, just for the night. Now to think through who it might be best to borrow something from. Morrigan probably didn't have anything Serene would dare wear in front of people, let alone two men that she didn't know all that well. She didn't know Leliana that well to borrow something without asking. That left Brandon and Alistair. She didn't want Brandon to get the wrong idea, so she dug through Alistair pack for his spare tunic and pulled it on. She took in the sense and giggled slightly. It smelled of manly musk, but in a clean way, and cheese. Alistair obsession with cheese made her laugh a bit louder.
After she arranged Alistair's tunic to sit on her body without showing too much of her body, she sat down and pulled out the journal Cailan had given her. He may have been a bit too bold in his advances towards her, she wasn't about to forget the man that died at Ostager. She wrote down all the names of the Wardens she could remember and anyone else she had met before that night. She jotted down a few things about each person, how Michael seemed to tease everyone including her and Alistair. She spent a few pages writing her feelings about Duncan and one Cailan. She also made a short shopping list of things she would need in the future, something to sleep in and a change of clothes was among them. Serene's eyes started to feel heavy and she fell asleep in the chair next to the window.
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Alistair got bored of Brandon's rambling as the man got to know their new companion. Personally, Alistair though she was off her rocker. The maker showed her a vision to join them fight the blight. He was pretty sure that Leliana wasn't mad enough to try and kill them, so he wasn't too worried about her. He did notice that Serene had been gone for awhile and excused himself for the night. Brandon didn't really seem to notice Alistair since he was busy chatting up two lovely women. There was an even lovelier woman Alistair wished to check up on.
Alistair knew he cared about Serene, there was no mistake in that. How could anyone not feel anything towards the woman. She was beautiful, strong and a great leader. He greatly admired her for taking charge when he couldn't bring himself to do so, and the way she slapped Brandon and put Morrigan in her place. There was nothing Serene couldn't do wrong, including sleep in a chair in Alistair's spare tunic.
Alistair's face burst into flames as he opened the door and found Serene asleep in his tunic. He didn't mind that she had taken it, she probably didn't have anything else to wear, but just seeing her like that made Alistair swallow hard. Her legs were exposed up to her upper thigh and Alistair knew he was melting snow as he noticed how low it sat on her. He grabbed one of the extra blankets and placed it on her shoulders, covering her whole body. His face started to recover now that she was properly covered up. He would apologize to her in the morning and hoped she wouldn't be too mad at him. He looked over at the table and noticed her journal was open. It appeared that she had been writing about what happened in Ostager before she fell asleep. Being the gentleman he thought he was, he closed the book and placed it in her pack before anyone else walked in. He knew what it was like to have someone read his journal. Unfortunately it had been Michael that found his. Alistair watched Serene sleep and couldn't resist any longer. He lend down over her and gently pressed his lips on her forehead.
"You truly are a remarkable woman, Serene. If anything, I'm glad that I'm going through this with you." Alistair whispered as he touched her long hair lightly and went to set up his bedroll on the floor.
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"Good evening, Beloved." The fade woman said as Serene entered the fade. Serene looked around the room they were in. It was a lavishly decorated bed room with a plush couch, the same place the fade woman always brought her to.
"Good evening. Can I ask you a question?" Serene asked. The woman sat down on the couch and motioned for Serene to join her.
"You never have to ask, Beloved. I will always answer your questions. I might not give you a straight answer, but I will give you one all the same." The woman replied.
"If you don't have a name, can I give you one?" Serene asked. The woman laughed and hugged Serene.
"I've been waiting for you to name me, Beloved." The woman said. Serene thought for a moment.
"Since you call me Beloved, I would like to call you Bella." Serene said. The woman nodded.
"Then Bella I shall be. Thank you, Beloved." Bella smiled as she pulled Serene into her lap and kept her warm.
"You're welcome. Its just getting a little weird, not knowing what to call you other than fade woman." Serene said. Bella giggled.
"I have a secret, do you want to know?" Bella asked with a devilish smile on her face. Serene groaned and buried her face in Bella's chest.
"As long as it doesn't have to do with my being in Alistair's tunic..." Serene said as she blushed deeply.
"Oh, but you should have seen the look on the boy's face when he saw you all balled up in a chair in only his tunic. He blushed deeper than when Michael offered you to sleep in Alistair's tent. Though the sweet knight that he is, he merely grabbed a blanket and wrapped you up. I have arranged that his dreams be of you tonight." Bella said.
"Oh, you're just going to make things worst for us, Bella." Serene complained.
"On the contray, it will only strengthen your bond with him, and you do have a bond with him. He deserves a wonderful dream after all he's been through and it will help keep him interested in fighting for you." Bella said with a sweet smile.
"Why would he have to fight for me?" Serene asked, completely confused.
"You'll have many men wanting to pursue you, Beloved. Brandon is merely the first to notice you, though that boy is distracted easily. Too much talk and not enough action to back it up. All those mean things he said to Alistair and now he hardly even noticed you were missing most of the night. That's not a man that is worthy of you, Beloved." Bella stated.
"And Alistair is?" Serene asked. Bella smiled again and nodded.
"Very much so, Beloved. Right now he dreams of a way to offer you his tunic, should you want to keep it. I know you would like that. It didn't pass my notice that you smelled the tunic and enjoyed his smell." Bella pointed out. Serene blushed.
"It smelled odd and I just wanted to know what it was." Serene tried to lie. Bella laughed.
"My Beloved, you cannot lie to me for I see what is in your heart. He did the same to you. He smelled your hair as he left a goodnight kiss on your head." Bella said.
"Alistair did what?" Serene asked. Bella laughed loudly.
"It was not meant to harm you. Sometimes when we start to realize we care deeply for someone, we do odd things. Many men would have taken advantage of a half naked woman, but Alistair has been trained to be good. That is why I know he is more than worthy of your attention and affection. Yet I do believe I've told you too much." Bella said. She stood up and held out her hand to Serene who took it.
"Do you really think I could trust him? I've been hurt so many times before I don't think I could bare to fall in love again." Serene said sadly. Bella held her close and kissed her head.
"Falling in love with someone who is family is different than falling in love with someone you want to start one with. It will help ease the pain of past heart breaks. Now I must let you dream tonight, Beloved." Bella said.
"Why?" Serene asked. Bella smiled and winked at Serene.
"We all have to let our hearts have their desires. How else will you know them?" Bella said and suddenly the room vanished and she was in the room at the inn with Alistair. Alistair shifted his weight from foot to foot and nervously raised his eyes to meet hers.
"Serene I just wanted to apologize for last night. I saw you in my tunic, I just couldn't help it." Alistair said shyly. Serene swallowed hard and nodded. So Bella wanted her to act out her desire, well so be it. Serene took a few steps toward Alistair and smiled.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Alistair. I was merely looking for a way to get under your shirt." Serene said as she blushed. Alistair too blushed furiously.
"You wanted under my shirt?" Alistair asked, but he knew what she meant. Serene nodded and closed the distance between them. Both of the heat from their bodies seemed like it would melt snow.
"And more." Serene said seductively as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to kiss him.