The bared line of a Cauthrien's foot dangled in slow swing from the gnarled tree standing proudly on the border of her father's field. Stalks of wheat stood tall and rich with the promise of a good harvest. It had become habit for her, since a very young age, to scale the tree and hide whenever she wished to play hooky from her daily farm chores.
On days like this – blue skies speckled with pillow top clouds and the warmth of the sun shining down cozy – she would often disappear into the solitude and shelter of her favorite tree and daydream. Her imagination ran wild with dreams of lords, ladies, knights, battles and courtly intrigue during such respites. It was a world far different from that of a young girl living and working on her family's farm.
Like many young girls in the fall of their teenage years, she would dream the cliché – a knight in shining armor would come and take her away, saving her from the daily toil of her agrarian lifestyle. Hunger and money worries would be but things of the past. Only when the call of her father pierced the veil of her fantasy did she pull herself from her wishful thoughts and return to the harsh living of her life.
The voice that drew her attention this day was not that of her father, though. An accent ripe with cocksure origin and ripe with the stench of ale bellowed in command, "Your money or your life."
Arms quickly wrapped tightly about the thick and sturdy limb of the tree providing her with a better vantage point of the ground below.
Her breath sucked in deep and her eyes widened. A dream? Below, dismounted and floored from a majestic black steed, lay a dark haired man swathed in silver armor. Standing in front of him, holding a dagger in a threatening manner stood the grizzled and dirty form of a highway bandit.
Little thought was given to the leap made as Cauthrien launched herself from atop her branchy perch and upon the bandit, knocking him and his knife to the ground with a loud thud. What air she had in her lungs was quickly expelled upon impact. The brunt of the fall fell, however, on the thief beneath her.
Laughter erupted entertained from the armored knight at the display before him. All gangly limbs and well-worn clothing, Cauthrien cut quite the image of the gallant savior.
She pushed herself up, using the unconscious man beneath her for leverage. Dark brows furrowed confused as she looked to the now seated knight on the ground. Hands moved to rest against her hips. "What's so funny," she asked, failing to see the humor in the situation. She had saved him and he laughed? Fancy armor or not, it was rude.
The laughter ebbed, though a smile of mirth persisted upon the man's mouth as he looked up to the girl. The smile suited him, bringing light to his blue eyes. But something about the man bespoke laughter was not something he engaged in often. "Quite the dramatic entrance," he mused dryly, extending a hand to her in a plea of help.
"Yes, well, I couldn't very well let you get robbed." A real knight in real armor extending a hand to her – butterflies fluttered about her stomach. Any apprehension she felt at his lack of appreciation quickly faded away. Fingers wrapped about the cool metal of his extended hand and tugged. Deceptively strong, Cauthrien pulled firm on his hand and helped pry the man and his heavy armor from the ground.
"You certainly are a spry one," he noted, taking another moment to look the girl up and down in a somewhat clinical manner. "Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir." An introduction made.
It was a name she knew quite well. Hero of the River Dane. Nerves began to tickle at her insides more earnestly. What does a person say when meeting a hero? What does a person do when meeting a hero? Her posture straightened, the words of her mother echoing in her head.
Stand up straight girl or you'll never catch yourself a man.
Capture a man she was not attempting to do. But impress him? Most certainly. She stammered her own greeting, "Oh, I'm Cauthrien. Just Cauthrien."
A thoughtful tilt of the head, Loghain's expression grew pensive. It was hard not to feel as if she was being weighed and measured beneath his stare. "Yes, well, we shall have to see what we can do about that."
That day her life changed. She saved a man from a bandit's ill intent and left her family's farm on horseback with a knight in shining armor.