I own nothing of Dragon Age. Just Amilee.
Fenris rose from his bed to the sound of some kind of pounding. At first he thought it was his head from drinking overly much the night before, but when he stood with no ill effect, he determined it was his front door. He took his time getting up and putting his armor on, then meandered down the stairs.
When he opened the door, he had the sudden urge to slam it shut. "What do you want, mage?" he sneered.
Anders smiled and replied sarcastically, "Nice to see you too, elf. We've got a... a little problem that we need your help with."
"We?" Fenris countered as Amilee moved out from behind Anders. She was in nothing but a shirt that came halfway down her thighs. He was appalled but he looked her over nonetheless, making sure she was no worse for the wear having been in the company of the abomination all night. He ignored the fact she looked alluring dressed as she was, with her hair in disarray and her eyes still hooded from sleep. "What could you two possibly need my help with?" he growled.
Amilee crossed her arms, arched her brow, and spoke in a warning tone, "Fenris."
"What?" he barked, his green eyes narrow with anger.
"Do not look at me in that tone of voice," she barked back, folding her arms. "Please just hear us out."
It took a moment for the men to decipher her quip. Anders chuckled absently and the elf rumbled, "Come on in then."
The two followed Fenris in and his heart clenched, a dull ache spreading to his limbs. He didn't drink enough last night, it seemed. Now he was faced with the happy couple the day after consummation and he had to pretend it wasn't what bothered him. He led them to the study and they took a seat across the table from him. He propped his feet on the table and leaned back.
"So... To what do I own the pleasure," he ground out.
Anders cleared his throat and looked over at the girl, as if waiting for approval. She turned away huffing and waved her hand, giving him the go ahead. He enlightened Fenris on what had happened with them during the night and earlier that morning. He skipped over the details of their physical encounter, which was perfectly fine. By the end of their story, however, Fenris felt as disturbed and frazzled as the mage looked.
"I can scarcely believe it, but my hate for magic and the Imperium just grows and grows. So you're telling me that not only is she a product of blood magic, twice over, but because of her predicament you can't even sleep next to her without her almost dying? And because of this, you want me to let her stay here? Why not back with Hawke?"
Anders eyes narrowed to slivers of copper and snarled at the elf's condescending tone, "Look, you and I both know we don't like each other and Maker knows the last thing I want to do is ask you a favor. But this is Amilee we're talking about." He gestured to her and she glared at his hand then up at his face as if taking offense. "None of this is her fault, and you know it. She can't be around other mages, including Bethany, for their safety and she can't sleep at my place for her own. What would you have me do? Send her to the circle?"
"If it helps her-"
"She's not a normal mage, Fenris!" Anders face was red from exasperation. "She is a normal human turned mage by some means of blood magic. She'd walk right in, the templars would find out, and she'd be made Tranquil on the spot. Its like if you came to Kirkwall and the templars decided your skin should be stripped from you just because its never been encountered here before. Is that what you want for her?"
The elf's mouth shut at that revelation. He ran his hands through his tousled hair and groaned in sheer frustration. How in the world was he supposed to handle a situation like this? The woman he loved sat across from him with her lover and they were asking that he let her move in with him. Not only would the woman he dreamed of almost every night be sleeping in the next room from him, it would mean the blonde mage would be around too. A lot.
He subdued the urge to slam his head against the table. "I will have rules."
"Oh, here we go," the mage responded with a flare of his hands.
"One, you will need to obtain your own food. I cannot always provide for you. Two, 'training' will take place in main hall during the day. No nightly... visits."
Amilee blushed furiously and Anders sent him a dirty look.
"You can take her somewhere else for that, mage," he added snidely. "So I don't want to hear any protest. And three, the minute she sets fire to my home, she's out." Silence fell. "You came to me, these are my stipulations."
Anders turned to Amilee again and this time she had her arms crossed and looked at them both like this was the last thing she wanted. Anders gaze turned hard when he looked back at Fenris. The haunted look in the mage's eyes was a mirrored reflection of his own. "If that is what it takes to keep her safe, then so be it."
With a wave of his hand, the elf replied, "The main hall is yours then."
Amilee stood, her chair sliding back with a squeak, and trudged out without saying a word. Anders and Fenris stood as well, but they lagged behind to stare each other down. "You have my thanks. If that means anything," Anders said admittedly.
"I don't want you're thanks. I don't even want you with her. But if this is the only way to protect her from herself, then it is the best we can do." He turned away, not before he tossed a sovereign to the other man. "Get her some clothes. And a bed set. I have nothing here..."
The mage nodded, though he knew the elf couldn't see. Knowing he'd been dismissed, he walked out and shut the door.
Fenris punched the wall in front of him, the stone cracking slightly under his gauntlet. He ran the last few months through his mind wondering how it had come to this. He had not felt any sign of magic within her, in all the time they'd spent together. The fact that no one had a clue, even knowing she had killed her captor, was a testament to how blind they could all be.
Being in love with her was to be blind, he thought. No matter how much he hated magic, hated mages, he couldn't bring himself to blame Amilee for any reason. Even this. She didn't even try to hide the fact she didn't want to be here, didn't want to be apart from Anders. And now he would have to deal with her here every day... And watch as it all fell apart.
Of that he was certain.
Anders mentioned something briefly about buying her a new tunic and pants as he stormed out, leaving Amilee to her own devices.
After a few minutes of fuming, she grabbed a errant sitting chair from the random pile of crap on the side of the room and threw it as far as she could, screaming. It hit and slid halfway across the room, a leg snapping off. She stomped over, grabbed the leg and took to beating at the rest of the chair until the other legs splintered off and the seat was all that remained intact. The first leg broke, which she cast aside then moved to grab another one with her left hand.
A sharp fingered gauntlet grabbed her firmly by the wrist to halt her. She let Fenris pull her arm up and moved to punch at his chest with her right fist. He caught it deftly with his other hand and kept them raised above her head. She began to sob and he quickly released her, letting her to crumple to the floor. "Stupid, cowardly, son of a bitch!" she cried in English, hit her fist against the floor, crying out in anguish.
She was tired of keep it in, of keeping the pain to herself. It wasn't like there was a shortage of people who cared. Including the one in front of her. While they had their differences of opinion, somehow she knew Fenris wouldn't hold it against her. She wiped her tears away angrily and glared up at him.
"You can be such a child," he said softly in Archanum, crouching down with his elbows on his knees. His green eyes held some emotion she didn't recognize as he stared down at her.
"So can you. And him, for that matter. So I don't want to hear it," she replied, still glaring her eyes burning from tears shed.
A ghost of a smile came to his lips at her witticism and he sighed, "You have such a fire, that I burn in it's ire. I can only kneel low, as the fire burns me slow. Yet the burn is so sweet, though I become ashes at your feet..." He paused as if afraid to say what came next. "You hold what I fear, you will never hold dear."
Her breath caught and her anger dissipated. Pain returned to her gaze as she whispered his name.
"You are no child, Amilee, I know this. And I hate that you are his. I do this only because I would not see you dead because of his stupidity, do you understand?"
She looked at him now as if for the first time. In all the time they'd spent together, she would never have guessed he'd had feelings for her. She saw the irony in it and felt all the more pitiful that she could do nothing for him. She could only nod.
He stood again and helped her to her feet.
"Where is that from? It was beautiful," she asked.
"A bunch of drivel I heard from a slave that dared love her master... I thought her the idiot, but her words stayed with me."
"Did he love her back?"
His bark of laughter was short and bitter, "He sacrificed her in a blood ritual in an attempt to overtake Denarius. My former master killed him quite quickly, much to the curr's dismay. It was one of the only times I was glad Denarius had won."
"Bastard," she commented. "She deserved better."
"So do you," he said pointedly, as he resigned to turn and walk back up to his study to hide from the pity in her eyes.
Anders wandered the market of Hightown, kicking himself over and over. What the hell was he going to do? So much was happening at once he was still reeling from the backlash. Bad enough he couldn't fall asleep at night with his love in his arms, but she had to bunk with his rival to protect her.
It was no secret the elf had designs on Amilee too, and obviously from his generous donation to her attire and bedroom set, Fenris was more than capable of providing more for her than he could. That thought alone sent him into a fit of mindless jealousy so strong, he was tempted to stalk back to the mansion and tear the guy limb from limb.
It just wasn't fair, he thought. To have her in his arms once only to have this come between them... It really just wasn't fair.
He stopped at a woman's clothing supplier and perused through their petite tunics.
"Look at you, shopping for your woman," came a voice from behind him. "Has you trained already?"
He looked over his shoulder to see Isabella smirking at him with her hands on her hips. "Not now," he growled, turning back to select a dark purple tunic with black embroidery at the bottom as well as a simple set of small clothes.
The pirate appeared next to him and cocked her head. "Trouble in paradise already, huh. What has your nickers in a twist?"
He sighed and paid the tailor for the garments along with a nice pair of black leggings. "She almost died last night."
"Well, yeah, that's why she's with you now, isn't it?"
When he explained further, she rolled her eyes, "So you're going to use it has an excuse to abandon the relationship? Dammit, Anders, you can be such a coward sometimes."
"Well, what am I supposed to do then? I can't be with her the way any normal couple should."
"But you're not a normal couple, you ninny! And to turn away from her now just because its getting difficult will earn you no favors among the rest of us. If she's worth having, Anders, then she's worth fighting for. So fight. Or she's going to go crazy on you."
He stood stiffly, his eyes closed in thought. The pirate had a point and he realized he was being ridiculous about the whole situation. He had to stop panicking and start being a man for Amilee. Or he would lose her before he could really say she was his. "Thank you," he spoke suddenly, opening his eyes and sighing softly. "I guess I just needed a voice of reason."
"You're welcome," Isabella replied grinning in return. "Maker knows you need a kick in the arse once in a while."
At that he laughed and she followed him as he continued on to find a shop for bedding.
"If I die young, bury me in satin, lay me down on a bed of roses, sink me in the river at dawn, send me away with words of a love song..." Amilee sang softly in English, her voice lilting to the gentle country tune she could barely remember from home.
She'd taken to cleaning up the front hall while she waited for Anders to return and the silence was deafening. Fenris had not emerged from his study since he'd admitted his feelings for her, so she assumed he was holed up for the day. She found a decently clean rag to dust with, though it was dry, and started on the tables lining the walls. She started sneezing halfway through and missed the luxury of having wood polish. She finished the tables and started on the knick-knacks by the time Anders walked back in. She stopped and turned to him, wishing her heart didn't flip so quickly at the sight of him.
He smiled widely and held out the clothes he had in his hands. "These are for you."
She put the rag down and strode over to take them from him. She hummed with simple pleasure at the feel of the fabric on the tunic. "Thank-you," she responded politely as she slipped on the bottom underclothes and the leggings.
"Thank Fenris too. He supplied the money," he said with his nose curled in distaste.
She paused at that, then nodded.
He fiddled with the ends of his sleeves when she finished, the stillness between them stretching. "I need to apologize," he stated suddenly.
"For what?"she asked, knowing what he would say, but needing him to acknowledge it.
"For acting like an idiot. I've been so focused on keeping you safe that I've failed to take your thoughts on all this into account. I should have handled this whole situation better."
She took a moment to think on his words and smiled encouragingly. "You have done everything you can to keep me safe. It will be hard to do at times, but this is a-" She tried to remember how to say the word. "Partnership. There will be rocks in the road, so to speak. I will try to do the same for you. It is alright."
Sighing with relief at her forgiveness, he took her into his arms. "I will try to be better at this from now on. It's the least you deserve." He moved to kiss her and she let him, his lips softening against hers. She leaned into him, happy to be in his arms, and thought to herself that the world was right again. For now.
I'm on a roll this week. I'm just going with it. Review! Action next chapter, I promise.