The two elves trudged through the Alienage, smiling whenever they were given a blessing from the others. It seemed like everyone was so happy for them.
Well, except one elf.
Angelus and Soris had met her just when they left the narrowed parts of the Alienage. Angelus had been speaking with the child - he guessed he was hers - and the child seemed more happier about their marriage than her. When Angelus gave the women elven a nod, she merely scoffed and spoke to him and Soris in an icy and bitter tone, glaring at them.
"You think you're better than me? Well you're not!" She had said, but not before hissing out the words "Spirit Eater". A rush of anger had came over Angelus, as he had felt the tone of her voice offensive, but the blond didn't do much about it. They just left the women there, letting her brood in her misery. A part of him wondered if it was because she was paired off poorly that he had gotten the wrong end of the stick with her. Angelus certainly didn't recall ever doing something bad to her.
"There's the man of the hour!" A voice said, making Soris and Angelus look up. The elf had a darker shade of skin than both of them, brown eyes, dirty blond hair, and of course a bit tall than Angelus, but almost shoulder length with Soris. Soris smiled.
"Taordor! You made it!" He said, giving him a hug. After a split second, Soris turned to Angelus. "Have you met my cousin? He's getting married today too!"
"Not formally, no. Blessings to the both of you lucky grooms." The elf, Taordor, said, smiling politely at them. Angelus couldn't help but smirk a little.
"Soris doesn't consider himself so lucky." He said, snickering when he heard Soris choke beside him.
"Says the one who wanted to run away in the first place," Soris muttered lowly, before speaking out loud. "But, true enough. Still, better to be married and have a real life than to remain a child."
"There's...something you should know, Soris." Ttordor said, voice full of concern and sadness. Angelus raised an eyebrow as they waited for him to continue. "My brothers won't be coming...they left to find the Dalish, you see."
"You mean the elves that still live in the woods?" Angelus asked, curious and wonder.
"Unfortunately, yes." Taordor said. "Even Alarith swears that Dalish elves saved him on his way to Denerim." He scoffed. "Nonsense."
"Wait, Alarith? The shopkeeper?" Angelus asked.
"Indeed! He told my brother that, when he was fleeting from his homeland, he found the Dalish elves - or rather, they found him. I don't really remember." Taordor spoke, looking quite sheepish. Angelus just gave him an encouraging smile while Soris rolled his eyes, mumbling the word 'Typical' under his breath.
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. They were probably just taken in by another old story." Soris said, before smiling at Taordor. "Taordor it was great seeing you. I'm sure your brothers will show up in a few days, embarrassed and hungry."
Taordor smiled sadly.
"I hope so. I should go. Best wishes to the both of you." He said, turning away from them. The two elves watched him go before Soris let out a dramatic sigh.
"Well, let's see if we can find our wives, shall we?" He said. Angelus didn't say anything and followed Soris throughout the Alienage, until they came across a scene that made Angelus feel ill, and a sense of foreboding overshadowed it.
"Let go of me! Stop please!" A elf women cried, breaking free from the man that grabbed her. The man apparently didn't come from the Alienage, as he was dressed way to fancy for that, and Angelus was sure that the man came from the upper parts of Denerim. That, and he was human, so that was a dead giveaway that he didn't belong.
Angelus felt his stomach clench, a wave of nervousness and slight hostility going up his spine.
"It's a party, isn't it? Grab a whore and have a good time." The man slurred, laughing in a way that made Angelus's blood boil. In a instant, Angelus knew he wouldn't like this human very much. This guy thought he was better than everyone - at least, to the elves - and he thought he could get away with harassing the women of the Alienage.
Not if Angelus has anything to say about it.
"Savor the hunt boys," The man continued, looking at Shianni with lustful eyes. Shianni glared at him. "Take this little elven wench here, so young and vulnerable."
"Touch me and I'll gut you like a pig." She snarled, the hate in her eyes set aflame. The man tisked just as the elf beside Shianni cried out.
"Please, my lord! We're celebrating weddings here!" He begged. The man snarled and stomped over to the man, slapping him. The elf cried out in pain, falling towards the ground.
"Silence worm!" He said. Seeing that, Angelus felt his nervousness gave way into anger and he was tempted to walk over there and give the human a piece of his mind - and maybe slap him too, he did do that to his brethren after all - when Soris stopped him.
"I know what you're thinking," He harshly whispered into Angelus's ear. "But maybe we shouldn't get involved."
"I won't let these humans abuse our women." Angelus hissed back. Soris looked at though he was about to protest, but decided to agree with him, if not a bit wary.
"Fine, but let's keep it diplomatic, shall we?" He said. Angelus just gave him a smile - a smile that Soris recognize as a 'No promises' type of smile. Hanging his head, Soris and Angelus watched as the man appeared them.
"What's this? Two grooms come to welcome me personally?" He chuckled, sneering at the two. Soris could tell Angelus was about two seconds away from punching the human in his mouth, so he gave the blond a gentle squeeze of his hand, trying to calm him.
"I'd welcome you in getting what you deserve." Angelus spat out, the heat and anger evident in his tone. So much for trying to calm him down. He thought, wondering just when has Angelus ever thought speaking like that to someone who obviously was in more power was a good idea.
"HA! Do you have any idea of who I am?" The man scoffed, looking quite smug, and again, Angelus couldn't hold himself back. He had been ready to fire back with a I don't really care comment when, out of the corner of his eye, he notice Shianni rushing towards the human with a glass in her hand. Soris shook his head and hands, telling her this was a bad idea, and when the human notice this, he had turned around just in time for Shianni to throw the glass in his face, effectively knocking him down on the ground, cuts on his face.
"Whoo! Go Shianni!" Angelus shouted, making Shianni blush and smile. Meanwhile, the guards that were the guy didn't look so amused.
"Are you insane?! This is Vaughan Urien, the arl Denerim's son!" One of them shouted. Shianni stopped smiling, her face going white as she realized what she had done, and fear crawled into her skin.
"What? Oh Maker..." She whispered, hands covering her face.
"Well, maybe his father should have taught him better manners!" Angelus shouted, glaring at him.
"You have a lot of nerve, knife-ears. This will go badly for you." Another one said, smirking smugly at Angelus. Soon the guards picked up the unconscious noble, and began walking out of the Alienage. The elves watched them go as Shianni held her stomach.
"I'm going to be sick. I didn't mean for this to happen." She said, groaning. "I really messed up this time."
"It'll be alright. He won't tell anyone that an elven women took him down." Soris said, trying to lighten up the mood. It didn't work, as Shianni gave him a slight glare, before looking down at the ground.
"I..I hope so. I should go get clean up." She said, walking away from them. The two watched her go, concern, before two women came up to them.
"Is everyone else alright?" Soris asked.
"I think we're just shaken. What was all that about?" The girl wearing a golden robes asked. Soris laughed nervously.
"Looks like the Arl's son had quite a bit of drinking early. Well, let's not let this ruin our day. This is Valora, my betrothed." He said, looking at Angelus with a slight, nervous smile.
"So that means your companion is my betrothed?" Angelus asked, looking over at the women in white.
"Please to meet you. Soris says so much about you." She said in a slight jittery voice. Angelus wasn't exactly sure if it was because she was nervous, giddy because she thought they were the perfect match, or nervous, because she didn't want to get married, or even better - nervous because she wanted to make a good impression on Angelus, hoped they lived happily after ever, and have kids.
Angelus really didn't like his options.
"I'll just leave you two alone, then." Soris said, grabbing his betrothed's hand and walking away from the other couple. Angelus stuttered, wanting Soris to come back, but the redhead was long gone, and Angelus turned to face his wife, who was smiling nervously at him.
"So here we are...are you nervous?" She asked, looking at him politely and with a bit of hope. A part of him felt really bad because...
Nesiara was a pretty women. Had Angelus liked women, maybe he would go for her. She seemed polite enough, and she seemed really into him, and if Angelus did swung that way, pretended that this wedding wasn't arranged, he could see himself spending the rest of his life with her.
But that wasn't the case.
"Sort of nauseated, actually." He said. Nesiara chuckled lowly.
"I understand. My stomach was in knots the whole time here." She said. Angelus couldn't do it - he had to tell her the truth, or else this whole marriage thing would be a lie, and Angelus couldn't live with that.
"Look, I...I have to be honest here," He said, scratching the back of his head. "I...I'm just not interested in this whole deal at all."
Almost immediately, Nesiara's face went from shy to angry.
"Are you saying you don't want to marry me?!" She hissed, glaring at Angelus. The blond bit his lip, trying hard to defuse the situation.
"I just don't want to get married at all..." He whispered. He was lying - he did want to get married, but the problem was Nesiara was the wrong gender. He didn't want Nesiara to get the wrong idea, and was proceeded to tell her that, when she cut him off.
"I see. Well, I hope in time you can learn to-"
"Come on, cousin. We have let them get ready." A voice said in Angelus's ear. Looking at Soris in surprise, Angelus nodded and the girls were off. "Don't look now, but we another problem."
"Other than telling my betrothed off?" Angelus asked.
"Nice job on that by the way, but this is serious. Another human just walked in. Could be one of Vaughan's or a random troublemaker." Soris said. Angelus cocked his head to the side as they watched the stranger walk around. Great, he thought. Another human.
But Angelus wasn't sure to make of him. He hasn't started anything, and it wasn't like Angelus to start judging someone based on one person's behavior. On the other hand, after that last encounter with humans, Angelus was on edge.
"Either way, we need to move him along before someone does something stupid." Soris continued, looking pointedly at Angelus when said this. The elf couldn't help but blush at the accusation.
"I wasn't going to allow any harm to fall upon my people, if I could stop it." Angelus said, folding in arms. Soris sighed, though, there was a small smile on his face when he did and ruffled the boy's hair.
"Glad to know that. Come on, we should at least talk to him." Soris said. Angelus grinned, agreeing, and two walked over to where the stranger was.
"Good day," The stranger started, a light smile on his face. Something about this guy made Angelus believed that he wasn't going to start trouble, as he was too calm for anything of the sorts, but still. He had to keep his guard up. "I understand congratulations are in order for your impending wedding."
"Thanks, but please go. I'd rather avoid any unpleasantness." Angelus said. To his surprise, the man laughed, though, a bit quietly.
"What manner of unpleasantness might you be referring to?" He asked, more amused than anything. Angelus isn't sure what to make of this human - unlike the last one, this human seemed a bit more...wised and professional. He certainly didn't try to at least make a show of how superior he thought he was to the elves.
"The Alienage isn't a good place for humans to be." Angelus tried to explain, but the smile and amusement in the human's eyes clearly told him that he wasn't leaving any time soon. Had it been any other person, maybe Angelus would have been annoyed, but for some reason, the elf couldn't be.
"I'm sorry, but I have no intentions of leaving." He said. Angelus sighed.
"Fine, then maybe we could compromise." He said. This seemed to be something the human was looking for, because his face light up, eyes sparkling with interest, as he looked at Angelus.
"He keeps his composure, even when facing an unknown and armed human. A true gift, wouldn't you say, Valendrian?" The human said.
"I would say the world has far more use than those who know how to stay their blades," Valendrian said, looking a bit cross, before a tight smile came across his face staring at the human. "It's good to see you again, my friend. It's been far too long."
"You know this human, Elder?" Angelus asked, surprised. Valendrian and the human turned to face him.
"May I present Duncan, head of the Grey Wardens in Ferleden." Valendrian said. Angelus blinked.
"What's a Grey Warden?" He asked.
"They are the great warriors, child, sworn to protect our world from darkspawn." Then Valendrian looked over at Duncan, curious if not a bit hesitate. "But my question remains unanswered. Why are you here, Duncan?"
"The worst has happened: a Blight has begun. King Cailan summons all the Grey Wardens to Ostagar to fight the darkspawn horde alongside his armies." Duncan said, voice graved.
"Yes I...heard the news. Still, this is an awkward time. There is a wedding to be had - two, in fact." Valendrian said. Maybe it was just Angelus imagination, but he could have sworn Valendrian was hiding something - or at least, trying to shoo Duncan away for whatever reason. Angelus made a mental note to ask about that later.
"So I see. By all means, attend to your ceremonies. My concerns can wait, for now." Duncan said.
"Very well. Children, treat Duncan as a guest, and for Maker's sake, take your place!" Valendrian said, shooing the two away. Soris and Aneglus began to protest playfully, and Duncan watched them go, interest peaked.
"So," He said. "He is a Spirit Eater. Just like his mother."