I want to thank all of you who are following this story and for the great review I got recently, it is so exciting to think that other people are enjoying my story! You have no idea how much it helps to motivate me to sit down at the computer, anyway back to the story. Oh and Bioware owns all, as usual.
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Chapter 14 - Transformations
Fenris woke up some time later, he did not know how long he slept. Apparently the master was calling for him and he had to hurry and get his weapon and armor on before making his way to the masters' quarters. The slave who had come to retrieve him had a worried look on his face, this did not bode well. He had assumed that the master had enjoyed the festivities the night before and would not need him for some time.
He practically ran to Danarius' private quarters. The master was sitting at his desk looking over some documents lying there. "Fenris, it's about time you got here, you know better than to keep me waiting." Fenris made no comment as he walked quickly to the masters side, head bowed as usual, obediently awaiting any orders or perhaps punishment that the master had in mind.
His masters face looked grim and Fenris could not imagine what had upset him so. "We have a problem on our hands" he said as he looked at Fenris. "It seems that one of the lower ranking magisters, Albus, is making accusations about me behind my back." Fenris remained quiet, he knew that the master was formulating some kind of retaliation for this magister, but did not yet know his part in it. "I have been expecting some repercussions regarding my guest list, but I did not expect it to come so soon, we will have to deal with this." Fenris merely bowed his head lower, indicating without words that he would be up to any orders the master gave him.
"But enough of this for now, let us not ruin the day with these distressing thoughts. We will deal with it in due time. For now, prepare a bath and I require a massage afterward, bring in Seran, he has the strongest hands." Fenris acknowledged his orders with "yes master."
"That is, unless you would like to see to your masters comfort yourself?" he said with a sneer and that sick smile on his face as he reached out to stroke him where the skin was exposed on his forearm. He had made it clear to Fenris on many occasions that he wished him to be more than just a bodyguard. The thought made Fenris' skin crawl, while he was torn between wishing to please his master, the thought repulsed him and it was nearly impossible for him to hide his revulsion. He remained silent and held his breath.
"I see that you are not yet ready, it is a pity, but someday my little wolf, I will run out of patience." Fenris dared not move. "Enough." He said gruffly, "see to my needs slave!" Fenris hurried to get his bath ready. "And see to it that my guests are well cared for, I will rejoin them later."
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, to the great relief of all the slaves. There were no blood rituals and no slave was killed. The mansion had been in a state of high anxiety, as if waiting for the hammer to drop, the tension in the air was so intense that everyone had been jumping at the slightest noise or provocation.
All the slaves seemed to breathe a great sigh of relief at once as the last of the masters guests left without incident. The only thing left was to finish cleaning up the mess that was made and slowly the household returned to some semblance of normalcy. Late that night Fenris was eventually instructed to go look in on the newest slave to see how she had fared after the fight.
He made his way down to the slave quarters wearily. He allowed himself to relax for the first time in several days. The cook must have noticed his haggard appearance and had given him a larger portion of food. He looked at her with confusion, but did not comment as she merely gave him a small smile before she turned her back on him. He went to Hawke's cell to check on her, there was a small notch cut into the door so that he could look in on her without having to open the door. She seemed to be resting, he stood there for a time, watching her chest rise and fall and decided that she must be still asleep as there was a plate of untouched food on the floor. He settled himself on the floor and ate his dinner. After a time he felt himself drifting into sleep and he let himself rest.
He was awakened in the morning by one of the house slaves, he did not know her name. "The master has called for you" is all she said. He made his way to Danarius' quarters quickly and awaited orders. "We will be taking the new slave into town and having some armor made for her, we cannot have her guarding me in rags. She must have something that befits a master of my status." As he spoke to Fenris, two of the house slaves were busy fastening him into his robes, and seeing to his dressing for the day. "Take her to Hadrianna and have her bathe the girl and make her presentable for a trip to the city" he said.
Fenris did as instructed and went first to Rinval's office to get the key to her cell, explaining to him what was required. Hawke did not stir as the door opened, but he noted that the food that was there the night before was gone. She must have awakened at some time and ate. The cell was small and he couldn't help but notice that in her sleep she had a look of serenity about her. He studied her features for a moment in the dim light.
She did not have the look of most Tevinters, they tended have darker skin tones and most had blondish hair. Hers was black, but he noted that in the sunlight there were hints of deep burgundy in it; the color of Tevinter wine. The magisters themselves were generally pale because they travelled by carriage and stayed out of the suns damaging rays, but the native peoples and the slaves in particular were tanned from constant exposure. The wind and dry climate making their skin tough as leather. Her skin was pale as that of any magister and as he looked he noted that it was nearly flawless. Her cheeks had a natural pink tinge to them. He wondered idly if the rest of her skin would look like that. Her hands were not rough like his, though he thought that she must have calluses and cuts from wielding her blades, he could see none. She was lying on her side on the cot, and he noted that her features were not as pronounced as the magisters he had seen. Her nose was small, even for a human and her face was rounder than that of elves. He noted these differences and decided that it must be a trait of Fereldens' in general. Did all of her people look like that? He wondered.
While her features were indeed different, he found them pleasing to look at. He was still studying her quietly when she stirred in her sleep and he suddenly found her staring at him with those ocean blue eyes. He did not say anything for a time and just stood there staring, for a moment he had forgotten why he had come.
She stared back and smiled at him as she rose to a sitting position on the cot. "Well, did you come here for a reason?" Fenris did not immediately respond so she said "Do I have something on my face? The way your looking at me you would think that I grew another nose or a mustache or something." She said with a slight chuckle in her voice.
He mentally shook himself to clear his head, "the master wishes for you to get cleaned up so that you may attend him while he goes into town." Fenris was irritated at himself, but more at her for making him act so strangely, he felt nervous when he was around her. It confused him as he had never felt this way before. He felt that he was above most of the other slaves and never once found himself so flustered in their presence. This woman was strange and his feelings were alien to him. He wondered if it was because she was a new slave from some strange foreign land, or if it was something else entirely.
"To the bathing room then?" she asked. "Follow me" was all he would say. He decided that it was best not to speak too much to the newcomer, as he didn't understand why he was acting this way. He turned and walked from the cell and willed himself to focus on his task. He walked quickly and with purpose and Hawke found herself hurrying to keep up with him. "Where are we going?" she asked.
He did not answer and just kept on walking, eventually he led her into the mansion itself and she found herself outside a large set of double doors with intricate carvings in them. She did not recognize it and thought that she had never been to this room before. She looked at him questioningly, but he merely knocked and the door and stood with his head down.
A female elf answered the door, she was small and petite and was dressed better than most of the slaves she had seen down below. Her hair was done up in intricate braids and her dress was not the coarse material that the others seemed to wear. She beckoned them into the room without speaking and walked through another doorway into a lavish bathing room.
This was nothing like the rooms in the slave quarters. There was a large claw footed tub in the center of the room made out of some sort of hammered metal. There was also a large wardrobe and a small table with intricate carvings on it and several drawers. On it sat a three sided mirror with a gilded frame and a small stool sat in front of it. The room obviously did not belong to a slave as there were several large portraits on the wall and she noted a dressing screen in one corner that seemed to be draped in silk. Hawke stood wide eyed taking in her surroundings when suddenly the masters apprentice breezed in with a smile on her face.
There were several other female slaves in the room, all of them dressed in similar clothing to the one who answered the door. The human woman spoke to her then. "Strip" she said. Hawke wasn't sure she understood the order and turned to look at her. It was Hadrianna she noted, she remembered now that this woman is the masters apprentice. She stood there not comprehending what was required of her and before she could say anything the woman stomped over to her and slapped her hard across the face. Hawke's face stung where she had been slapped and she brought her hand up to her face.
"The master may put up with your insolent attitude, but I will not." She said. "Now strip and get into the tub!" Hawke turned to Fenris, looking for some sort of confirmation of what she was to do but he would not look at her. He was feeling ashamed that he had not prepared the woman better for what was to come, he had been too lost in his own thoughts. He now regretted not explaining what was expected of her.
Hawke hesitated and then took a step toward the tub in the center of the room. Hadrianna had no patience however and raised her arms in an incantation and let loose with a bolt of energy. Hawke found herself enveloped in an aura of blinding pain and soon was on the floor panting and struggling for breath. She looked up at the woman who only smiled broadly and said "do I need to repeat myself again?"
"No" was all Hawke could say in barely a whisper. The woman smiled at her again before she let loose another bolt of energy at her. "No what?" she said in a sickly sweet voice. Fenris struggled to maintain his composure and found that his hands had balled into fists at his side. There was nothing he could do, the woman had to learn her place in the household and although he regretting not preparing her, she would need to learn that when the masters asked something of her she had to comply. "No Master?" she said questioningly. Another bolt shook her body and she could not keep from screaming out in pain. It burned and felt as if her skin was on fire and she was fighting for air, it was as if she was drowning in fire.
"Do I look like the master to you, you stupid slave?" she asked as she hit her again with a flash of energy from her fingertips. She turned to one of the female slaves then and said, "would you please explain to this thick headed barbarian how to properly address the masters apprentice?"
She turned to the woman on the floor and with a look of pity and said quietly "This is Mistress Hadrianna, and you will address her with the same respect that you show the master." She stressed the Mistress part and Hawke understood. Hadrianna merely glared at her and motioned her to the tub of water. Hawke got up of the floor and walked to the tub, she dared not hesitate and while she did not want to undress in front of Fenris, it seemed she had no choice. She made sure that her back was to him as she removed first her pants and then her tunic. She had no underclothes, slaves were not given any and she quickly stepped into the tub using her arms to cover her upper body.
Hadrianna walked over and daintily put her hand in the water. She turned to Fenris and said "the water is too cold, bring the buckets from the fire so that she doesn't catch a chill." The water was already unpleasantly hot, so much so that it was turning her skin to an angry red, but she refused to complain or speak out. She didn't want to give Hadrianna any reason to punish her again.
Fenris brought over the buckets and poured it in the water, the tub was already steaming and he knew that the water must be hot already, but he was a slave and slaves did what they were told. Hawke closed her eyes tight and fought to keep her composure. Hadrianna turned to the handmaidens then and said "well, what are you waiting for?"
Two of the women hurried forward and grabbed Hawke's arms and began scrubbing with rough sponges. In the hot water they felt like they were made out of wire mesh and Hawke's skin was beginning to bruise under their hands. One of the women looked at Hawke and she could see the sorrow in her eyes, she knew that they were being forced to do this at the hands of their mistress. "Harder!" Hadrianna screamed at them, "the poor dear hasn't had a proper bath in months and we must be sure to get all the dirt off of her, wouldn't want her making a bad impression on the master now would we?"
Hawke ground her teeth together to keep from crying out. They made her stand up in the tub and eventually she couldn't help but release a strangled cry of pain. It felt like they were scraping her skin from her body and without realizing it tears were flowing freely down her face. Hadrianna called to one of the girls, "Belina" she said "we need more bath salts, she must smell sweet for the master." The smile never left her face as she said this.
Hawke stood there, tears streaming down her face, and she began sobbing quietly. She couldn't help herself.
At first Fenris had watched Hawke as she had undressed, studying her features discreetly from under his white hair. He noted that she did not appear to be undernourished like so many of the others in the household and that her female curves were much more pronounced. He could not bear to watch this however and shut his eyes tight. The sound of her whimpering was having the strangest effect on him. He was fighting the urge to jump at Hadrianna and wring her neck for enjoying the pain she was causing the new slave. If this went on for much longer he did not know if he would be able to restrain himself.
Fenris had his eyes shut tight, his hands balled into fists. He was trembling with the amount of energy it took to keep from doing something foolish, something that would get him or Hawke or both of them killed. He brought his head up and opened his mouth to speak, he had to put a stop to this, Hadrianna had gone too far and the master would not be pleased. It was at that exact moment when Fenris felt his control slipping when the master himself came breezing into the room, the smile on his face turned into a grimace as he took note of Hawke and the state she was in. Hadrianna turned to her master with a look of shock on her face. She had planned to heal the slave before she presented her to him. He would have been unaware of her handling and Hadrianna was sure that she could make it so that the slave would say nothing.
She was caught and they both knew it. "Master" she breathed, "I'm afraid that your new slave was in worse condition than we thought, she was covered in parasites and bugs. These Fereldens are truly disgusting things. Perhaps you should reconsider Master Lucivious' offer to purchase her."
Danarius looked at his apprentice hard before speaking and when he did his tone was grim. "Hadrianna, you need to remember who is the master and who the apprentice. I gave you a task and you have failed at it, failed miserably I might add. I can't very well take her into town looking like a peeled orange." His voice was quiet, but all in the room knew that he was angry. "But Master" she stared, Danarius did not allow her to speak however, and raised his hand for her to stop. The room was quiet except for Hawke's muffled sobs, everyone including the slaves listened as he spoke again. "Leave us, I will see to the slave and deal with you later."
Hadrianna left the room with her head down. Danarius generally did not stay angry at her for long and the punishment would probably not be that severe. At least that's what she hoped, she was after all his star apprentice and would someday inherit both his wealth and power. The woman was only a slave and she usually was given a free hand when dealing with them. Danarius made up his mind that he would have to talk with her later. He sighed heavily as he walked over to the now shivering Hawke standing in the tub of still warm water.
"My dear, I am sorry for what has happened, allow me to repair the damage she caused." Hawke looked at the master her eyes still wet with tears and merely nodded. He smiled encouragingly as he focused his magic and placed his palms on her arms. The healing spell worked quickly, the damage was not that bad as injuries go, and it was easy to repair. Danarius was not that skilled at healing, he focused more on the blood arts, but he could summon a small healing spell when necessary.
When it was done he offered his hand for her to step out of the tub. Fenris wasn't fooled by his actions. He was playing the part of loving master trying to win her over. It was something he had seen used before. The slave would be beaten or whipped and then the master would come and soothe the pain and the hurt at just the right moment. For the most part it worked, the slave being would then be devoted to the master, and would do anything to ensure his happiness.
Once again Fenris felt bad not telling Hawke what was to come. He had not known that Hadrianna would treat her this way, but he could have at least made her understand that she had to follow her order without hesitation. He had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wondered what it was, regret? Yes, that is what it was, he regretted acting the way he did. But it felt like something more, he frowned to himself as he tried to understand his feelings.
Perhaps he could have spared her some of the pain, but he doubted it. The master may have even planned this so that he could swoop in and save the girl at the last minute. But no, remembering the look on Hadrianna's face he didn't think it was planned. But the master had realized that he had been given a golden opportunity and decided to make the most of it.
He watched as Danarius helped her step out of the water, he motioned to one of the slaves to bring a towel for her to dry. He also noticed that when she was looking down at the floor that his gaze was directed at her chest and when she wrapped the towel around herself his eyes roved up and down her body. He had the look of a hungry animal staring at a caged rabbit. Fenris wouldn't have been surprised if the man started salivating. His frown deepened while he watched them and wondered if the barbarian truly believed the master had saved her from Hadrianna's wrath. Only time would tell.
Danarius turned to the other slaves in the room and directed them to dress her and comb her hair. He watched as she was given clean breeches and a tunic with a form fitting vest to cover the top and accentuate her bust. She was fitted into knee high boots of soft black leather and then presented to Danarius for his appraisal. He nodded his head and said "Yes, this will do" he held out his hand and smiled at her and she shyly placed her hand in his as he walked her to the door. "Well Fenris, I believe we are ready, don't you agree?"
He bowed his head and said "yes master". "I do believe that our little Hawke will be an excellent addition. Come here and stand next to her while I look at you." He said as Fenris complied. "Yes, yes" he said almost to himself "male and female, dark and light, elf and human" he was smiling "what do you think Fenris?" He was not sure how to respond and simply looked at his master. "Its allright little wolf, I am in a generous mood today, tell me, how does our barbarian look?"
"She looks fine" he said a bit hesitantly. "An understatement if I ever heard one, she looks quite lovely I think" and he smiled broadly at his new slave. Hawke for her part felt confused by the events of the day. She knew this man was her master and had gotten the impression that he was a cruel taskmaster, but he had treated her with kindness this day. She remembered back to their first meeting, remembered his cold glare and the malice in his voice as he spoke to her. She remembered the look of excitement on his face as he watched slaves been brutalized in the arena and knew then that he was truly an evil man. Anyone who could be so cruel one minute and then sweet the next had to be either a vicious calculating opportunist, or completely crazy. She knew in her mind that she could trust nothing that came out of this man's mouth and would have to be very careful when in his presence because she had yet to decide which category he fell into.
She decided to play along with his game for the moment, as she didn't want to anger him. If he was crazy who knew what would set him off, she remembered a saying that her father had taught her when she was younger. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Hearing his soothing voice in her mind she smiled to herself as she pictured his face, his piercing blue eyes and the look of love that came from them. Her smile broadened as she thought of him and it gave her strength, she glanced at Danarius who noticed the look of calm serenity that played on her features before she looked down at the floor as any obedient slave should do.
Danarius was pleased; this day was turning out much better than he could have hoped. He had not anticipated this turn of events, but neither could he pass up the opportunity to play the savior to his new slave.
For her part Hawke knew that if this was a game he was playing with her, it would be best to stay on his good side as he could at least keep her away from Hadrianna as he had proven today. Hawke was after all, no fool. She had survived by her wit and cunning for a long time and intended to survive this as well. She had to bide her time until the opportunity to escape came and ensure that she was ready. She had no intention of remaining a slave and if the master felt that she trusted him, perhaps he would drop his guard around her, even if it was only for a moment. Hawke said a silent prayer to the maker that she would be ready when that moment came.
"Let us be off then" said Danarius with a grin as he turned and headed out of the room and toward the stables. "Be on your guard Fenris, our little Hawke is quite the prize and I wouldn't want anyone to snatch her away from us."