jThe Blood Rose
Chapter 6: The past returns
Trigger warning: Sexual violence, violence, torture, death.
Leliana slipped through the crowd; her eyes scanning for her contact. Spying the elven woman at last she approached and stood next to her. The lithe girl was fingering an amethyst colored pendant at the Jewelers stall. Leliana herself picked up a gold necklace and pretended to admire it as she spoke in a low voice. "Were you followed?"
"Would I still be standing here if'n I had?" the woman answered snarkily.
"Don't be cheeky," Leliana chided in a pleasant tone offering a sweet smile to the merchant when he turned to eye her warily. He went back to tending to the displays and Leliana lowered her voice, "Have our friends been contacted?"
"My friends 'ave, yeah," the girl confirmed testily shaking her short cropped blonde hair out of her eyes. "Lucky you are easy on the eyes, the pay is shite."
Leliana pressed a coin purse into the woman's hand. "If they find anything interesting you can reach me at the Widow's Lament in port."
"Captain Blood's boat?" the girl whistled under her breath.
Leliana only nodded, afraid that someone might have heard the girl. She paid the merchant for the necklace she had been pretending to look at and left the girl standing at the stall. Her spies were now in place at the palace. Now all they had to do was wait for news.
Zevran and Carina found the Siren's Call at the port as it should be; however, it seemed to be deserted.
"Is it usual for a ship to be totally abandoned while in port?" Zevran asked as he pulled his dagger silently.
Carina shook her head, pulling her own dagger with one hand and grabbing his arm with the other. "No, it's not. But if we go up the usual way, we'll be walking into a trap. If we slip in the water we can climb up the lines on the other side, take them by surprise," she inclined her head towards the water.
Zevran followed without question. They slid into the water the way only two rogues could, silently swimming around to the starboard side. Then they climbed up and dropped quietly onto the deck, the only sound they made was the dripping of water from their bodies.
The deck was bare and dark. It had been abandoned before the sconces could be lit. Suddenly the door to the Captain's quarters opened, and armed men poured out of it. One of the men was holding a bound, gagged and pissed off Isabella. She looked at them both frantically. Though whether her eyes were pleading for help or for them to flee, it was unclear.
"You're either a courageous man or a foolish one," Carina growled out. "Isabella is the best duelist in all of Llomeryn. If you don't kill her, she'll gut you and every one of the slimy dogs that follow you."
"Oh Rose," a familiar voice with a slight Antivan accent chuckled. A torch was lit, and the familiar face sprang to life in the darkness.
"Taliesin!" Both she and Zevran exclaimed.
"Is this where I laugh like an Orlesian villain and say 'yes, it is I?'", he grinned with a shake of his head. "You're supposed to kill all the Warden's, Zevran. Not fuck them. Then again, you always did like to play with your food."
"What are you doing here, Taliesin?" Zevran asked without emotion in his voice.
"I heard the great Zevran had abandoned the Crows to join the Grey Wardens. I had to come myself and see if it was true. I should have known. You always did have a soft spot for these two sluts. Though I hadn't imagined either one of them would ever be sober long enough to join the Grey Wardens."
"You haven't lost your charm," Carina sneered.
Taliesin regarded her with a smile, "Oh, don't be offended, love. You're still as pretty a tart as ever. I'll make sure we get reacquainted, don't you worry. I'm sure you've missed me."
She stiffened at Zevran's side. "I wouldn't let that poxy flaccid cock anywhere near me!"
Taliesin laughed, "That's the Rose I remember! Such a mouth on you for a one-eyed whore. Never say never, love. Besides," he nodded towards his men, who then began surrounding them. "It's not like you have a choice. Take them!"
Carina drew her daggers in time to block an overhand strike from an ax. She whirled and parried, blocked and ducked, weaving in and out of the fray. More crows poured onto the ship and Zevran, and Carina found themselves fighting back to back.
Isabella struggled with her bonds. Managing to free one hand she balled up her fist and punched Taliesin in the groin. The swine doubled over, and she used the opportunity to relieve him of the dagger at his hip. Just as she was about to strike she was attacked by one of Taliesin's men.
"Help her Zev!" Carina called over her shoulder.
"No, I cannot leave you! I will not!" Zevran shouted back.
"I'll be fine, Grey Warden constitution, remember?" she laughed bitterly and pressed forward into the fray whirling in a dance of death. The Crow's moved with her, recognizing her as more of a threat than Zevran at this point. This gave the elven assassin the opportunity he needed to help Isabella. He growled, irritated that she was right. He tumbled out of the way of a knife and hamstringed his opponent putting him out of commission.
When Zevran finally reached Isabella, she was kicking at a drooling thug who was trying to wrestle the dagger out of her grip.
Zevran knocked the fellow out with a strike to the base of his skull with the pommel of his sword. Isabella landed a final kick to the unconscious fellows groin. "Arsehole!"
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Aren't you sweet?" she commented with a sultry smile. "I'm fine. How's our girl?"
Zevran turned around to find the Crows leaving the ship, Carina's limp form thrown over the shoulder of one Taliesin. "Bastardo!" he swore chasing after them.
They pursued through the winding twisting streets of lower Denerim, but the Crows peeled off one by one into the darkened alleyways. Carina and Taliesin disappeared into the dense fog like ghosts.
"Maiale cazzo figlio di una puttana!" Zevran spat.
"You said it, sweet thing!" Isabella said irritably. "Where do you think he's taken her?"
"I do not know," Zevran kicked a bunch of crates over in anger. "Fuck! Se la tocca anche solo, gli toglierò i testicoli e glieli darò da mangiare!"
Isabella eyed Zevran suspiciously. "You didn't?!" she exclaimed, when he turned away from to avoid her accusatory glare, she had all the answers she needed. "You did!" she growled angrily. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't? No telling her that you love her!"
He glared at her. "That was long ago. She has lost too much. As have I. I was not about to lose her again. No," he shook his head and made a chopping gesture with his hand for emphasis. "You do not get to lecture me! I left her long ago because you told me it would be better for her. Look at what happened, Isabella! She lost her eye! Was made to join the Grey Wardens! She's in the middle of the blight! I am not going to lose her! Not again! No, I refuse!"
Isabella pressed her lips together and looked away from him, angry tears filling her eyes. "I thought we were protecting her."
"If I have learned anything it is to not make choices for others," he replied bitterly. "Where is your crew?"
"Headed towards the Pearl as we speak, gave them the night off and their wages to spend," she replied.
"Where is Carina's ship?" he asked.
Isabella inclined her head indicating that he should follow. When they were finally at dockside, she pointed towards a ship moored in the distance. Its sails were furled, but, Zevran could tell they were not the usual white. "Her sails are black?"
Isabella gave him a knowing look, "Rose prizes stealth. She likes to attack in the dead of night or during a storm when her ship cannot be easily spotted."
Zevran tried to imagine Carina aboard her ship, her wild red curls glinting in the moonlight as she pursued her prey across the ocean. He shivered, both in delight and a little terror. He had to save her. This could not be the end for her, or for them.
Consciousness returned to Carina slowly and with it, a splitting headache. She struggled to try to get to her feet only to be overcome with a wave of dizziness and nausea. She sat down heavily, her bare back and bottom scraping against the stone wall and floor. "Fuck!"
"Aye, Lass. They were certainly not gentle with you," a smooth voice with an Orlesian accent answered.
She peered into the darkness of her cell to find that she was not alone. "Who?"
"Forgotten me so easily?" came the voice again. "How long did you and Duncan terrorize Jada until I practically had to beg you to leave port?"
"Riordan?" she croaked out.
"Aye," he said. "Stay still, I'll try to take a look at your head for you."
She stayed where she was and listened to him try to feel his way over to her. "Where the hell are we?"
"Honored guests in Teryn Howe's Denerim Estate," he rerplied bitterly as he reached her. He set a calloused hand on her shoulder, and the rest of her shivered, the warmth of his hand making the cold, dank cell seem colder.
"Teryn Howe! Fucking Weasel," she hissed as Riordan felt around the back of her head.
"You're not bleeding at least," he said. "Though I should think you likely have a concussion."
She snorted, "I figured that one out myself, thank you."
He chuckled, "Prickly still after all these years. I feel sorry for Duncan. Where is he, by the way?"
She felt her chest tighten and the air seemed to go out of the room. "Dead. At Ostagar. Another victim of Loghain's treachery," she tried to keep the tremor out of her voice but failed.
"Oh, lass," Riordan reached out to her, and she was gently pulled into strong arms. She went willingly, her head swimming and her heart aching in grief.
She laid her head on his chest and cried, seemingly unable to stop. He rubbed soothing circles on her back and let her cry. "I'm sorry, he was a good man. A good friend."
She wiped the tears from her face and took a shuddering breath. "It was over a month ago. I should stop crying over it, it's done. He's gone. It doesn't help us now. How long have you been here?"
"I don't know, since a week before the battle of Ostagar? Howe was still an Arl at the time. He comes down here upon occasion to gloat. The last time he came to gloat it was to tell me that he'd slaughtered the Cousland's and usurped the Terynir," he said angrily.
She pulled away from him and nodded. "I know. The last Cousland, Elissa, she is a Warden now. Duncan managed to get her through the joining just before the battle. She and Alistair are gathering allies with the ancient treaties he recovered from the Korcari Wilds."
"Ah, good!" Riordan exclaimed with relief. "Then we've hope. Though, I am surprised that Duncan allowed you to take the Joining."
She didn't have to ask how he'd known she was a Warden. Rose had felt him inside the cell with her just as she imagined he felt her. Until now she hadn't been able to tell the difference between the taint coursing through her and that of others. Darkspawn energy was dark and chaotic. A Warden gave off a more controlled feeling. With Riordan the energy was robust. Alistair felt...young by comparison? As she must feel to Riordan. "It wasn't exactly planned. I interrupted the joining."
" Ah," he replied solemnly, then he chuckled, "I told him you'd be trouble," he teased her.
"How did you get here?" she asked ignoring his jab.
"With a promise of aid and a poisoned chalice of wine," he replied bitterly. "I will enjoy skewering that rat-faced little shit on my sword."
"If we can get out of here," she said with a shake of her head.
"Well, before now I would have said it was impossible. With you here, however, I think we can hatch a half-way decent escape plan," Riordan said.
Taliesin watched the two interact from the shadows. When they began to talk about escaping he fought the urge to laugh. When he tricked Zevran into killing Rinna and thereby pitting his 'friend' against their Master, he never imagined that Zevran would be fool enough to accept such a dangerous contract. In fact, he expected Zevran to be so rage filled that he would have torn apart half the Crow cell just to kill their leader for 'causing' Rinna's death.
Then, Taliesin would play the sympathetic friend and offer to shoulder the burden with Zevran who would still be undoubtedly heartbroken. Soon, he'd be running everything and Zevran would be firmly put in his place, face down in a ditch. Where all whore-sons belonged.
Never ever would he have imagined that not only would Zevran tangle with the Warden's but he'd deliver to Taliesin the jewel of the seas. The Blood Rose was a highly prized mark indeed. From thieving pirates to Antivan Princes, the demand for her head was high. Taliesin would auction her to the highest bidder, after he'd had his fun of course.
Zevran would have to die, sadly. Taliesin fervently hoped to be able to talk his wayward friend in turning over the Pirate woman peacefully and then come home, tail between his legs like a good dog. Alas, life seldom went the way he planned. Especially where Zevran was concerned. He sighed as he remembered Rinna's death ...
"Face it Zev, your lover has betrayed us," He insisted with a sneer.
"NO!" Zevran growled at Taliesin, shoving the documents away. "She would never do that!"
Taliesin's sneer grew into a sarcastic smile, "If it looks like a whore, smells like a whore and sells herself like a..." sting from Zevran's dagger pressed to his throat made him pause.
"Take care of how you finish that charming anecdote mi amigo," Zevran stared coolly at his friend. "There is some other explanation for this, she would never do this! Not to me."
"As always you let her blind you," Taliesin stepped out of the reach of Zevran's dagger. "She doesn't care about you. She cares about killing the slavers that sold her. Zevran, we're collateral damage, we're the bait she needs to lure them out! She thinks only of revenge. You above all people, you know this."
And there it was, the niggling doubt that Zevran tried to shove down into the pit of his stomach. As soon as Taliesin touched on it, the feeling clawed it's way up and settled hot and angry in his chest. "Let me see the documents. I would know for myself!"
Taliesin conveniently knew right where to find Rinna, as though it was planned. Taliesin relied on his friends rage to mask the obvious set up. And oh, the look on Rinna's face as Zevran locked the door of her rooms behind him and threw the crumpled parchment at her feet. "You self serving bitch!" he hissed.
The look on her face was priceless, "Zevran! What makes you speak to me so? And why is that boot-licking piece of shit with you?"
"Ah, ah, Rinna. He may not be to your taste, but, he is loyal. Unlike you!"
"What are you talking about?" she looked down at the parchment he'd thrown at her feet. "What is that?"
"I think you know very well what that is, but, if you insist on this charade..." he gestured for her to pick it up.
She did so and read it. Her face turning pale as she neared the end of the document. It fell from her fingers as she looked up at him, her face full of undisguised fear. "No, you cannot believe this!"
"Can I not? Funny how you pale at the sight of it. Perhaps you know that you meet your end. How you made the fool out of me, dearest Rinna. No matter, you'll not live to complete your betrayal!"
"Zevran, Please, I love you!" Rinna, Zevran's Rinnala sank to her knees. Her grief-stricken expression was a brilliant touch. But, then when she spoke her declaration of love, she showed that she only feared her death and playing on his feelings now was a classic play. One well drilled into them by the Crows. Lies were all that she knew. Taliesin had counted on her reaction, and he was not disappointed.
Zevran forced a bitter laugh, "As if you, we, could know the meaning of the word! We are assassins, Rinna. Certainly you cannot believe that what we had was anything more than an amusing dance," he smiled cruelly, obviously covering the pain of her betrayal with cold rage.
"No! What we had was real! Mi il cuore, ti amo!" her voice cracked in desperation.
"Even if that were true, I do not care," Zevran drew his blade. "You have brought this on yourself."
"No, please don't do this, you don't have to do this!" She begged. "Taliesin! Don't let him do this, this is a mistake!"
Taliesin, out of Zevran's sight, smiles almost gently at Rinna. The glint in his eye says it all. "Oh Rinna, you should have left him be in the first place. I told you that it would only end in tragedy. And yet here you are, ending tragically. No one ever listens..." he clucked his tongue at her.
The last thing Rinna saw was the knowing smile upon Taliesin's face. Perhaps if Zevran had seen, then Rinna would still be alive.
Yes, if Rinna had still been alive he would have missed the opportunity to pluck this Rose. Taliesin smiled happily to himself. He still wore the smile as he stepped from the shadows, signaling the guards behind him to follow him. "Time to play," he said.
Riordan and Carina scrambled to their feet at the sound of armor clanking against the stone tiles. "Oh, it's you," Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust as Taliesin approached with two of Howe's soldiers. "I'd hoped to get to meet his Lordship face to face."
Taliesin smiled, "Oh, don't you worry. Howe is waiting for us. Lovely man, Teryn Howe. He's set up a little private party in the torture room for just the two of us. I've heard of Vaughn Kendalls obsession with torturing elven women, never would I have imagined that his collection of devices would be so extensive. The Crows could have used a man of his talents. Sadly, he was killed not too long ago. I'm sure he and Howe would have enjoyed breaking you together. You'll just have to make due, I'm afraid."
"Oh Taliesin," she said with mock pity. "So sad that you have to have another man take care of me for you. Performance anxiety must be such a burden. Poor baby."
The smile on Taliesin's face widened. "I always did love that smart mouth of yours," he said happily. He nodded for the guards to open the door to the cell. "Bring her," he ordered when they had the door open.
"Get your hands off me!" she snarled.
Crowley, Carina's first mate was a grizzled old Sea Dog and he was as salty as the Sea itself. With the way that he was now standing toe to toe with Zevran glaring down at him, you'd think he didn't like Zevran. And you'd be right.
"I know Taliesin, he will not give up his prize willingly. We must use stealth. If you take this many men we'll end up throwing lives away needlessly. Carina would not approve," Zevran again explained why he only needed five of the Widow's sailors. Not, as Crowley protested, ten men.
"And I say that the way they took her from Isabella's ship suggests otherwise!" the man scowled down at him. His salt and pepper beard touched his chest every time his mouth moved and the scar on the bridge of his nose was an angry red. Other than that he was not a bad looking middle aged fellow with piercing blue eyes.
"Gentlemen," Isabella chimed in. "Don't you think we should find out where she is before decide to go charging to the rescue?"
"I happen to know where she is," Leliana interjected from the gangplank.
"Nightingale," Crowley nodded to her respectfully, which, had Zevran lifting an intrigued eyebrow.
Leliana ignored Zevran and Isabella, instead she held up a map. "I have the lay out of the building where they're holding her. She is in the former Arl of Denerim's estate. That estate now belongs to Teryn Howe. Whom is currently paying your friend a hefty sum for her capture. The pirate who's plagued the Amaranthine Ocean for a decade and a Grey Warden at that. Quite the feather in his cap."
Zevran narrowed his eye at the bard. "Taliesin is not my friend, Leliana. Show me the lay out."
It turned out that it would take indeed ten men to implement the plan that they had in mind. Five men to distract the soldiers within the main household and five men to enter the dungeons from below and rescue the Captain.
"Leliana," Zevran looked up at her, for once his teasing tone gone and a serious expression his face. "The Crows will be installed throughout the estate. They'll be expecting me. You'll need to be careful."
She stared at him, "Of course."
He shook his head, "You'll need to take Nissa's tears."
Her brows shot up into her hairline but she inclined her head, "Thank you."
He nodded and then turned to Isabella, "Coming with me?"
"Of course," she replied.
Taliesin finished strapping her hands to the wall. Her ankles and hands were secured so that both were spread away from her body. She spat in his face, but, that was alright. He'd allow her this one last act of defiance, soon she'd be as meek as a mouse. He wiped his face with his shirtsleeve then he stroked her cheek. She yanked her head away and he laughed. "Do you mind if I take a brief moment before you break her Howe?" he called over his shoulder.
Howe chuckled, "By all means, you've procured me this prize after all." The man's face was predatory, as though he knew what Taliesin intended.
He smirked and then trailed his hand down the column of her throat and then palmed a breast roughly. She growled angrily at him and lifted her chin defiantly as he took her nipple and rolled it between his fingers roughly. He smiled as he could see her eyes shine with bright fury. "I've always wanted to touch you Rose, and you were too good for me. Now look at you, spread out for me like a whore."
She struggled against her bonds. "I'm going to kill you," she said lowly. Her voice filled with deadly promise.
He tutted at her. "Not likely, Rose old girl." His hand left her breast and went to his own trousers. He pulled out his member and stroked it a few times before grasping her hips to hold her still.
"Don't you fucking dare!" she hissed.
"Why yes, fucking is exactly what I had in mind, love," he laughed cruelly and positioned himself. She struggled against his hands on her hips but couldn't get the leverage she needed without breaking her wrists.
He thrust upward roughly. "Bit dry darling, one would think I did nothing for you," he whispered in her ear. "Zevran won't want you after I'm done with you. I'm going to fill you with my seed. Once I'm done with you, you'll be nothing but a used up crippled pregnant whore."
He could have made it quick, but instead he'd decided to drag it out. He pumped in and out of her slowly, licking her neck. He stuck a finger in his mouth, wetting it then reached down around her hip and slipped his hand between her arse cheeks "Got to get that ready too, Howe will want a turn."
"After you're finished, of course!" Howe replied deferentially.
"Stop!" she screamed finally as his finger prodded her entrance.
"Oh no love. Don't worry, this can feel good if you let it. It could be the last pleasurable thing you ever feel," he purred in her ear and she shuddered and then sobbed as his finger sunk into her at the same time his cock sheathed itself in her.
"Scendi da lei, pezzo di merda!" a voice shouted.
"Zevran!" she cried out.
Taliesin pulled out of her and turned around to face the owner of the voice. He didn't bother putting himself away, he wanted Zevran to see that he'd been raping her. "Hello old friend. Want to join us? Rose and I were just getting to know one another."
Zevran advanced on Taliesin but was stopped by the swift attack of Arl Howe. Guardsmen flooded the dungeon and Rose struggled against her bonds.
Taliesin gave her breast another squeeze before he tucked himself away and then grabbed a nearby axe leaning against the wall next to her. He leaped into the fray intent on bringing Rose Zevran's severed head.
"Oh my Rose!" a feminine voice choked out distracting her from the skirmish.
"Isabella!" she exclaimed with relief as she saw the Pirate Queen materialize from the shadows. "Untie me!"
Isabella untied her, tears streamed down her face. "That monster!" she said as she caught Carina in her arms.
"I've got bruises on my bruises 'bella. But, the only thing he's really hurt is my pride. Which, I can mend if you give me a health potion and a sword," she growled.
Isabella gave her her own sword and dagger and watched as Carina sliced her way to Taliesin. Half a dozen men fell to her blades and as Taliesin stood gloating over a prone Zevran. She sliced the tendons behind his knees first. He screamed in pained surprised and collapse on the stone floor. She paced around him until she could stand in front of him. He looked up at her, surprise turning to shock on his face.
She grinned and then pulled her foot back and landed a solid kick to his groin. He screamed as her foot connected. She sunk down to his level and shoved her dagger into his bowels. He screamed again. "I told you that I would kill you," she hissed. His hands clasped over hers to try to pull the weapon out but she twisted it viciously. She pulled it out finally and just as the last man fell to the blades of her crew and Isabella, she pointed to Howe who was now backed up against the dungeon wall with his hands up in surrender. "He comes with us," she ordered. She grabbed a poker out of a rack and set it in the roaring fire of the fireplace. "Isabella, around the corner and up the stairs you'll find more cells. A man named Riordan is in one of them. Release him and bring him back down here. I'll be ready to go by the time you get back."
"Zevran," Taliesin ground out, holding his hands over his torn bowels. "Help me. Kill her, come back to the Crows. We can kill Master Vicini together! She'll betray you, just like Rinna!"
Zevran spat on him, "What happens to you now, you deserve. I should have killed you for what you did to Rinna and I. I should have, but, I blamed myself. I am going to let her kill you, Taliesin. And I'm going to watch."
The sound of bare footsteps on stone made Zevran look up and he found Carina standing there, the poker she'd put in the fire moments ago a cherry red. She sunk to one knee before Taliesin, "Hold him!" she growled.
"No!" Taliesin coughed out before he was held down by Carina's men. He tried to stuggle but the blood loss made it impossible for him to break free. "Stop!"
She laughed coldly. "I would tell you that this is the last pleasurable thing you'd ever feel, but, then I'd been lying. Besides, a Crow is raped often. I've no doubt that you would learn nothing. So, I've decided to leave you with a momento of the time you failed to impress me," she wound her fingers tightly in his hair and drove the hot poker into his eye. Taliesin screamed in agony. The smell of burning flesh made one of her sailors release the flailing man and retch. She removed the poker and watched Taliesin flail and twitch before becoming still.
"Is he dead?" one of her men asked.
Zevran stooped and felt Taliesin's neck. "No. But, I doubt he'll live long. He's bleeding internally and the damage to his...eye, might also have traveled to his brain," he removed his hand from the body of his once friend and approached Carina slowly.
She had dropped the poker and turned to him, went to reach for her and she held up a staying hand. "Not now. Once we're underway and I've had a hot bath, we can talk. Right now we need to get Riordan and Howe out of here."
"If you think I'm going to let you take me anywhere then you're an even stupider whore than Taliesin thought," Howe said from where he'd been held at sword point the entire time. He removed something from his pocket and was about to swallow it's contents before it was swatted out of his hand by the crewman nearest him.
"Nice try," the man laughed cruelly before bashing Howe over the head with his sword pommel. Howe collapsed and was then thrown over a brawny shoulder. "Ready Captain!"
She looked at them all fondly, "Aye, let's get the fuck out of this place."
Isabella showed up with Riordan who gagged at the smell and the sight of Taliesin at her feet. He looked at them all questioningly. "Later," Zevran supplied.
He was never very good at telling people how he felt. He hadn't been ever since he was seven and Isolde had laughed at him when he brought her a dandelion. She'd called it pathetic and called him a dirty useless little urchin before sending him to sleep in the stables for the first time. Just one of the many stories he'd never tell Elissa. Elissa who was like the warmth of the spring sunshine after a harsh and cruel winter. He could not bare it if she laughed at him.
"Alistair?" came her sweet voice.
He closed his eyes tightly and balled his fists. Courage. Duncan would have told him that nothing ventured was nothing gained. Maker, he missed him. He drew a deep breath and steeled himself for the conversation that needed to happen. "Elissa," he said without turning around.
"Alistair, is something wrong?" she asked as she stepped up next to him on the hill overlooking Redcliff. They'd been about to descend upon the town until Alistair asked to take a moment before going to the Village.
"I have something to give you," he said, trying to keep his voice from betraying how nervous he was.
She stared down at the rose, "A Rose?"
"I picked it in Lothering," he said quietly as he handed it to her. "I thought, what a beautiful thing to find in the midst of all this darkness. In many ways, I think the same thing when I look at you."
She took the rose from him, "You think...you think I'm beautiful?" her cheeks flushed a light pink.
He watched her bite her lip and look up at him through her lashes and he couldn't help but lean down and take her lips with his own. His left arm snaked around her waist and his right cupped her cheek as he kissed her. When they pulled apart he looked over her face as though trying to memorize her features. "So beautiful," he murmured and then released her reluctantly. "I-," he suddenly remembered he'd not even told her how he felt. "I-," he rubbed the back of his neck again. "Guess my secrets out."
She giggled, "It was hardly a secret, Alistair."
"Ha!" he laughed nervously. "Well, like Duncan always said, I'm about as subtle as a hammer through a stained glass window."
She smiled and shook her head. "I care for you too."
His eyebrows shot up, "You do?!"
She nodded, "Yes, how could I not?"
He grinned and pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. "Maker's breath, you are so beautiful."
She giggled again, "You said that."
"I did? Well, something else I need to say that needs saying," he smiled down at her gently. "I love you."
Her eyes misted up and she kissed his lips and then his face and then his lips again, "I love you too!"
A/N: I haven't posted this Chapter until now because it didn't feel right or complete. I didn't feel like it flowed correctly and I was in a different place personally. However, I want to finish this story and my other, Honorbound. I hope this chapter finds you well.