Continuing from 'Moment in pain.' Enjoy.

He became aware of her watching him around four in the morning. The fire was still strong, he had kept it fuelled. He had managed to distract himself from watching her sleep, by reading. It was a bitter sweet skill, Hawke had taught him. He heard her stir and then still as she looked at him, he ignored her staring. But after about ten minutes he allowed himself a small smile. 'Did you sleep well?' He asked. She jumped at his voice, she clearly thought that he was under the impression that she was still asleep. She scowled, looking at the sky, he had let her sleep most the night. She sat up wincing at the wound on her shoulders, she continued to watch him. Reading was always a skill she wanted to learn, she didn't expect him to know how to do it.

'You should have woken me,' she said.

'I was fine. I will sleep for a couple of hours at most,' he replied still reading. She frowned again and shuffled over to where he was sitting. She took the book from him without asking. Fenris merely raised a brow. She stared at the pages intently. There were pictures, coloured illustrations, but they merely added to the story. She turned the book over and glared at the cover as if she expected it to suddenly bite her.

'I just don't get it!' She said looking at the words. 'Ugh,' she passed the book back to Fenris and looked at the fire, a sour look on her face.

'You can learn,' he says as he finds the page he was reading. She glares at him, as if he insulted her.

'I know I can learn.' She states. Fenris has touched a nerve. He simply places a leather bookmark at the page and returns the book to his pack. He looks at the sky and sets his internal body clock to wake him in a couple of hours. He wouldn't sleep heavily, but it would be restful. 'Wait,' she said as he laid back against the tree and closed his eyes. He opened one eye to look at her. 'May I look at it?' She asked softly, her tone of voice had lost it's harsh reprimand. The corner of his mouth twitched in a smile, he gently passed her the book from the pack and handed it to her. She handled it with a lot more care this time and smiled at him. 'Thank you,' she said quietly. Fenris nodded and laid back against the tree. She was a little temperamental this morning it seemed. She started at the beginning of the book and looked at the pictures, there were a couple on every other page. She ran her fingers over the illustrations, the parchment slightly rough under her skin. It only took her about fifteen minutes to look through the whole book, it was fascinating. But then something else caught her eye. Fenris. She hadn't really taken the time to look at him properly. When she first found him, she watched from afar, afraid that her skills would let her down. Then when she saw his relationship with Hawke, she lost all respect for him. But slowly it was coming back. There as a lot more to him than first met the eye. She was starting to understand why he had clung to Hawke.

She looked at him carefully. She was keeping her distance. But she couldn't refuse the base attraction to him. It was something that started about fifteen years ago, she had met him when he was still a slave. It was only for a moment, his master had come to her own master's household for a meeting. She had seen him from a window, walking just behind Danarius, a collar around his throat, the leash held by Danarius. As soon as she saw him she began to run down to the courtyard where her master was greeting them. She was a young girl of about twelve, as far as she knew. She was wearing a red dress, it was a toga style that was held up over the one shoulder and had silver chains from her wrists to her own collar around her neck. She was enamoured, the white of his hair, broad shoulders, tanned skin. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He stood tall and strong, but had the glazed look in his eye that all slaves held. Danarius turned to him and he instantly dropped to his knee as his collar was removed. She peered around the column trying to stay hidden, but his eyes flicked around the courtyard and lingered on hers for a moment; before registering that she wasn't a threat. She couldn't help but stare at the intricate tattoos that adorned his skin, they were beautiful. Then fear pierced her heart, her master was ringing the bell that would normally summon her and her blood sisters. She quickly darted back into the house and bumped into her older sister.

'Come on!' Her sister said worried as she dragged her along. Her sister wore the same dress but her chains were golden. All the other girls' chains were golden, apart from hers, but no explanation had ever been given as to why.

'Amelia!' She hissed. 'Where's our veils?' She asked with panic. Amelia clicked her fingers and looked at the other girls. They all wore theirs, it covered most of their faces.

'I'll be right back!' Amelia ran off and quickly returned, she had her own veil on and quickly assembled her sister's veil, over her long dark curls. Amelia worried for her sister, their master was fond of her. Too fond. They filed into a line and walked into the courtyard their heads held high. They lined up behind their master and fell to their knees, heads bowed. She was in the very middle of the line, her older sister at the front. She wasn't listening to what the Magisters said to each other. She was trying to look at Fenris through her veil. She heard her name being called and instantly got up and stepped forward, she could feel her heart pounding.

'Here is my favourite,' her master said stroking her hair. She kept a blank face. Her arms and back was on show, the scarring obvious. Danarius nodded.

'She looks well,' he said politely.

'I have found her blood to be particularly potent,' he said smiling. He clicks his fingers and another slave appears with a blade and a vial. He takes the knife and hands it to her, she takes it and instantly slits her wrist barely feeling the sharp pain. She doesn't take her eyes off Fenris for a moment, he didn't even flinch. He couldn't see her staring at him because of the veil, her blood drips into the vial, until it was full. He stoppered it and passed it over to Danarius. 'Please, a gift.' Her master said. Danarius nods and slips the glass bottle into his robe. He looked back to her, she hadn't moved, her wrist still bled and dripped onto the courtyard and onto her dress. 'You may go,' her master said to her. She dipped her head and after a lingering look at Fenris returned to the line and the girls stood up and left.

As soon as they entered the mansion her sister swore and dragged her to the side. 'Bastard,' Amelia hissed, wrapping a strip from her dress over the wound. 'You didn't cut deep, good you're learning. You don't need to cut deep to bleed.' She praised. 'What's the matter?' She asked her younger sister as she raised her veil.

'Who is that man?' She asked.

'A powerful Magister, more powerful than our master,' she replied stiffly.

'No, the one with the white hair,' her sister corrected. Amelia smiled, her sister would soon become a woman. Perhaps it was about time to have a talk, especially as their master was taking an interest.

'They call him the wolf,' she whispered. 'He's a deathly shadow, more powerful than the Magisters, but Danarius has him chained. He protects his master. The markings are Lyrium, they give him skill beyond any man.' She says in a hushed tone. Her younger sister's eyes widen.

'If the wolf can break his chains, will he free us?' Her younger sister asked in naivety. Amelia smiled in a bitter sweet way. No slave breaks their chains.

'Yes,' she replied. 'If the wolf breaks his chains, then we will also be free,' she lied, if it gave her sister hope, then she would say it. Her sister's life looked to be one as a pet.

It was from that day. She listened for everything about him, when she finally heard that he had escaped, she thought it would only be a matter of time. But after years passed, she realised that he wasn't going to save them. Her sister had lied. She didn't hold it against her. At all. The night her sister was killed was the night she escaped herself. She vowed to track down the wolf and see what he had done with his ''freedom.'' What once was admiration turned into hate, then repulsion and now, as she looked at him; confusion. He brought back bad memories but she couldn't deny the flutter in her heart as she watched him sleep. She had let her twelve year old mind deal with him the first time they met in the alley, she needed him to focus on her. She wanted answers and she wasn't going to get them while he was chained to Hawke. She put the book down and rubbed her eyes. This man was confusing. She hated him, yet she couldn't help liking him. She teased and mocked him, he gave her reactions she didn't expect and made her laugh. The sooner she gets her answers the better.

Please review if you would like me to continue.