Dorian awoke, once again chained and naked. This time he seemed to be in the midst of some ancient ruins, surrounded by chanting Venatori.
Dorian began to panic when he saw one begin to approach with a ritual dagger, emblazoned with runes. "No! Please, stop! No, no, no!"
Dorian passed out again as the blade sank into his flesh.
...
Dorian was awakened by the sound of horses. "Commander!" came a shout from one of the soldiers. The barrier had thankfully dissipated. "What happened? When your horse arrived at the camp we feared the worst! Where is Messere Pavus?"
Cullen stumbled to his feet. "Quickly, a group of Venatori led by Halward Pavus attacked and they took Dorian. We must find them!"
"We had heard rumor of Venatori activity picking up near the old ruins near here. Perhaps that's where they went?" the soldier suggested.
Cullen nodded and mounted his charger, letting his soldiers lead the way as they rode hard and fast towards the ruins.
...
When Dorian regained consciousness again, the Venatori still surrounded him but had ended their chant. Halward was seated before him, scowling.
"Finally," Halward sneered. "This ritual won't work unless you're conscious."
"Please Father, I beg you," Dorian cried. "Whatever you do, please don't harm my children."
"Do you think I care for those abominations?" Halward growled. "They are no better than demon spawn and are expendable."
"No!" Dorian cried. "Please! I'll do anything. I'll marry Livia. I'll get her with child. Anything, please."
Halward smirked at that. "I had hoped you say something like that, although it's a bit too late to expect you to be dutiful without taking some…extra measures."
"What…what are you planning to do to me?" Dorian asked fearfully.
"First I need to see you suffer," Halward said darkly. "I was always too soft on you. So now you will be punished for all your indiscretions."
Dorian whimpered at the word punishment.
"Then we'll perform a ritual to break the bond you have formed with at Ferelden dog-lord of yours," Halward continued. "It may or may not cause you to abort your pregnancy. I don't care either way."
"No! Please I beg of you. Punish me if you must, but do not harm my children!" Dorian pleaded.
"Finally, I will perform a ritual to enthrall you to your bride," Halward said. "Livia, come here."
Dorian's eyes went wide when he saw her. They had met many times since they had become betrothed as children. Dorian had never particularly liked her. She was always just on the wrong side of bossy.
"Don't worry my dear, he will become the perfect, dutiful husband," Halward crooned.
She looked at him almost gleefully, hunger in her eyes as they raked over his naked form. "I can't wait to finally have him in my bed, my Lord," she said overly sweetly.
"Do you wish to observe his punishment?" Halward asked.
Livia nodded eagerly. "I was hoping I could perhaps participate for part of it?"
Halward chuckled darkly. "Your participation will be to observe. You may punish him to your heart's desire after you are wed."
Halward nodded then to someone standing behind where Dorian was shackled.
"Dorian you are about to be punished for your many indiscretions," Halward said loud enough for all present to hear. "The first fifty will be delivered by a riding crop, for all the times you fooled around with other Magisters' sons or ran off to brothels."
Dorian kept quiet and kept his head hung low.
"The next fifty will be delivered by strap," Halward continued. "Those are for all the times you refused your duty to marry your betrothed."
Dorian tried to keep is breathing even, but his Omega nature was beginning to get the better of him, and he let out a small whimper.
"Finally, the last ten are to be delivered by a cane," Halward said, lowering his voice. "Those are for running away from your family and duties, and for getting yourself knocked up by a Ferelden dog-lord."
Dorian's heart skipped a beat. He had never been hit a day in his life, except for when he was in battle. In battle, his adrenaline was up and he could fight back. Here he was completely helpless.
"When your punishment has been served," Halward said. "Then we will perform the ritual. The texts all say to break an Alpha/Omega bond, the Omega must be fucked, repeatedly. Once the omega has been filled with the seed of ten or more alphas or betas, only then will the bond with his mate be broken."
Dorian looked at his father, horrified. "You mean to have me raped?!"
Halward looked at him darkly. "Yes, son. And I am adding an additional twist to the whole affair. We bled you earlier. That blood will serve as the only lubrication. The other purpose of the ritual is to force you to find sex with other men…distasteful."
Dorian felt as if he were going to be sick. The man before him wasn't the father he had grown up loving and respecting. He was some sort of twisted monster. Could he truly eve be the same man? Could the Venatori have done something to him?
"Finally," Halward announced. "As I stated earlier, we will perform a ritual of enthrallment. You will belong to your future wife, mind, body and soul." Livia looked gleeful at the prospect.
Halward then indicated to the person behind him to begin the punishment. Livia sat herself next to Halward with a look of absolute rapture.
Dorian felt the hot tears begin to slide down his face as he braced for the first blow from the crop, hands gripping the chains that held his wrists so tight his knuckles began to turn white. He quietly breathed. "Amatus, I am so sorry."
Then the punishment began. Whoever it was that was wielding the crop held back nothing, hitting Dorian with the entirely of their strength. Dorian began to cry out by the fifth hit. The person doling out the punishment clearly knew what they were doing, because they backed off any time it looked like Dorian may pass out, gave him a few moments to breathe, before starting up again.
Finally, the riding crop was put down, and Dorian was given a drink of water by one of the Venatori. Halward still sat, watching his son become a complete blubbering mess. Livia sat next to him smugly. "Oh you and I will have great fun together after we're married, darling. You can count on it."
Then the strapping began, just as harshly as the crop, but giving a deeper burn. Dorian already felt as his entire backside was on fire, but now he felt as if he were being immolated. His skin had begun to break and blood was running freely, causing a wet slap with every hit as he cried out.
Dorian really wasn't sure how much longer he could take this. He stopped trying to count the hits and worried how this might be affecting the twins. Dorian's only hope was that Cullen would find him in time, but that hope was dwindling quickly.
The strapping continued unabated as Dorian just held onto his chains and screamed.
...
Cullen and his men approached the ruins cautiously. The sun had begun to go down and they could see the light of torches coming from the ruins. That gave Cullen hope that they had found the right place. If not, he would personally make every Venatori's life hell until he found Dorian.
Cullen took the lead, creeping quietly towards the ruins. He had a combination of warriors and rogues flanking him. The rogues had orders to take out any Venatori guards so they could quietly enter the ruins before they were detected. Cullen didn't want to risk Halward murdering Dorian out of spite.
As Cullen crept closer he could hear strangled cries and screams. Dorian! Cullen's heart rate sped up and he crept forward more quickly until he could see the source of the cries. Cullen was horrified by the scene before him.
Dorian hung by his wrists in chains. His back was red and bloodied, while a large man was hitting him repeatedly with a leather strap. Before Dorian sat Halward and some female Tevinter. Cullen guessed that may be Livia, the girl Dorian had been promised to when they had been mere children.
Cullen's Alpha instincts were screaming at him to run in and save his mate, but his years of military training cautioned against that. First he signaled to the others to surround the ruins and take out the rest of the guards and assess the situation before they moved in. Cullen didn't want to jeopardize Dorian by being brash.
Just then the strapping stopped and it looked like they were giving Dorian water to drink. That's when Cullen saw the man abusing his mate pick up a wicked looking cane, slicing it through the air a few times to get the feel for the new implement.
Cullen knew he didn't have any time left as he saw the man line up, ready to strike Dorian. Cullen could no longer restrain himself as he drew his sword and roared as he ran towards his mate. Before the man even knew what was happening, his head rolled onto the floor and Cullen was springing after Halward who let out an unholy shriek at the sight of Cullen.
Cullen chased Halward and Livia some ways away from Dorian before unleashing a powerful smite. He had given instructions to the ex-Templars amongst his soldiers to also avoid smites near Dorian if they could help it.
As soon as Cullen had roared forward, his men attacked, taking out as many of the Venatori as possible, hitting them with smites before lopping their heads off. Cullen had Halward cornered, with Livia cowered behind him.
"You had no right!" Cullen growled and Halward. "He is my mate; he carries my pups. He is mine and not yours!"
Halward advanced upon Cullen despite his better judgement. "He is my son. He will always be mine and never yours!"
"No!" Livia shouted. "No he's mine. You promised me he was mine!"
Without magic at his disposal, Halward tried to tackle Cullen and Cullen easily sidestepped the attack as Halward landed hard on the floor. Cullen stood over the aging Magister, his sword aimed at his heart. "Give me one good reason not to kill you."
"You will incite a war with the Tevinter Imperium," Halward sneered.
Cullen took a deep breath. He was right, and the Inquisition couldn't afford that right now.
"Fine, then I am arresting you for crimes against a member of the Inquisition," Cullen growled. "I'll let the Inquisitor deal with you."
Cullen shouted for his soldiers to bind Halward and Livia and take them back to the camp. Cullen then ran to Dorian's side. Dorian had already been released from his manacles and one of the soldiers was trying to dress the wounds on his back.
"Dorian! Love," Cullen almost cried, seeing the blood and welts on his mate's back. "You're safe now."
Dorian reached up and clung to Cullen as he squatted down next to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Dorian kept repeating.
"Hush," Cullen soothed. "There is nothing to be sorry for. Come let's get you back to camp so one of the healers can take care of you."
Cullen lifted Dorian up in his arms and carried him to their horse and gently slung him over the saddle, and carefully covered his naked form with his cloak.
They had to travel slower because of Dorian's injuries, so it was the middle of the night by the time they made it back to the camp. A healer was quickly roused as Cullen carried Dorian into his tent and laid the mage carefully down.
The healers did what they could and gave him a sleeping drought so he could get some much needed rest.
Several hours later Cullen and Dorian, surrounded by the soldiers, made their way slowly back to Skyhold. Cullen knew as soon as they arrived, the healers would insist on Dorian being brought to the infirmary. Cullen worried because he really would prefer Anders looking over Dorian, but no one knew Anders was even at Skyhold. Yet.
Cullen sent word ahead to the Inquisitor and a private note to Varric. Perhaps he could find a way to sneak Anders into the infirmary after the healers had their way with Dorian.
...
As they arrived at Skyhold, Cullen's assumptions about the healers was correct as they immediately loaded Dorian onto a stretcher and took him off to the infirmary. Cullen ordered Halward and Livia to be thrown into the dungeons before Cullen headed to the infirmary himself.
Cullen was shocked to actually see Anders openly healing someone. "Anders! What happened?" Cullen asked, frowning in concern. "Did someone find you out?"
Anders shook his head. "No, I took your advice. Varric set up a private meeting with me and the Inquisitor and we talked. She really is remarkable for a qunari. She plans to do a public hearing with me, but for now I'm to work in the infirmary."
Cullen breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you help Dorian, please?"
Anders looked concerned and gasped when he saw Dorian's wounded back. "What in Maker's name happened?!"
"His father. He attacked us and kidnapped Dorian. I think he was punishing him," Cullen sighed. "Please, heal him."
Anders nodded curtly and immediately went to work. Soon Dorian's back looked much better and the attendants in the infirmary were better able to wash the remaining blood and dirt off his back.
Then Anders checked Dorian more carefully, before sighing. "The twins underwent a great deal of stress, but they are alright," Anders reassured Cullen. "However, I think Dorian will need to be put on bedrest for the rest of his pregnancy. They really cannot undergo much more stress."
Cullen nodded. "I'll see to it personally. Thank you, Anders."
...
Anders allowed Dorian to return to their quarters the next day and Cullen fussed over him like a mother hen, bringing his work with him to complete at the desk Josephine had the foresight to place into their room.
Dorian drifted in and out of sleep as his body continued to recover from the trauma. As he slept fitfully he kept murmuring 'I'm sorry,' and it was beginning to worry Cullen.
A week later, and Dorian seemed much better physically, but he was very withdrawn. The normal confident exuberance had been severely tempered and Cullen wasn't sure how to cheer him up.
After finishing his last missive for the evening, he sent off all his reports to Josephine via a runner. He then locked their quarters for the night and undressed. He slept in his small clothes now, knowing Dorian wasn't interested in sex, no matter how much his Alpha might want it.
Cullen got into bed and tried curling himself around Dorian, but Dorian scooted away from him.
Cullen sat up in frustration. "Love, please just let me hold you."
Dorian didn't even turn around. He shook his head. "I think you should find somewhere else to sleep, Cullen."
"What? You can't mean that," Cullen was shocked. "Please, Love, talk to me."
"Stop calling me that," Dorian said, coldly. "I am not yours or anyone's love. Please just go."
Cullen was now very concerned. He hadn't realized quite how much Halward had harmed Dorian psychologically. He sighed. "Alright, I'll go somewhere else tonight, but we will discuss this in the morning."
"Fine," Dorian stated.
Cullen then dressed in some light clothing and made his way over to his office. The loft above still held a bed and he could sleep there for the night.
That night Cullen awoke screaming, experiencing the first nightmare he'd had since first meeting Dorian.
Dorian. What was he going to do about Dorian?
Cullen curled into a ball and simply cried as he felt his heart breaking for his mate.