Chapter 4

[Love at First Punch]

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Adeline swore as her head went under the water again, choking on the tainted river as she struggled to keep her nose above the churning surface. He could have told me he couldn't swim! She thought with a scowl, sucking in a deep breath and floundering with one arm; her clothes and shoes made it hard to swim, and the weight of this stranger kept dragging her under the surface as she forced his head over the water.

Flaming sword of Andraste! I'm going to die because of this idiot! She thought in a panic, squealing in pain as the rapid flow of the water slammed her back against the leg of a stone bridge, the crust of barnacles on the rocks scraping against her sodden clothes. Adeline held her breath and wrapped her legs around the young man's back, trying to lean back in the water and float; she closed her eyes and felt as if it would work – the water wasn't splashing over their faces anymore.

They had been floating closer to the river's center, where the current was faster, but with a few floundering strokes – Adeline thought her arms would give out any moment now – they came to the sandy strip of the riverbank. They had traveled nearly all the way to the sea; the Elf could taste the salty tang of the ocean on her tongue as it mixed with the dark river water, and spotted gulls wheeling about the sky as the sun traveled towards the distant horizon.

Adeline staggered to her feet as she felt her back hit solid ground, groaning as her muscles quivered in pain. Why did I even bother with this one? He made me lose my mark! She almost groaned out loud as she stared down at the unconscious youth, still halfway in the water. Slim's not going to like this…and the boss'll kill me for setting the garrison off like that…

Adeline ran her hands through her hair and swore again. She took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to regain a bit of composure, before bending over and struggling to drag the young man further up the bank. Maker's breath! He's so heavy! She thought with chagrin, gasping and panting for breath as she hooked her hands under his armpits, her feet churning up the sand on the bank as she dragged the man onto dryer ground.

She fell back in the sand next to him, panting and closing her eyes, regaining her breath before sitting up, looking over him. He was a tall, wiry young man, just out of boyhood – he was muscular, but still had the look of a puppy with oversized paws, she thought, and was just beginning to grow a scruffy goatee and sideburns. Adeline placed a hand over his heart, making sure he was still breathing after all this trouble, scowling as she realized he wasn't.

"Sod, sod," she swore under her breath, struggling into a sitting position and placing her hands on his chest, pumping downward and rolling him onto his side, beating at his back and hoping that she was actually helping, and not making it worse. The boy's back shuddered, and he vomited out water across the sand, taking in long, ragged breaths, but remained unconscious as Adeline let him fall onto his back once more.

"Maker's breath…" she groaned with relief, falling back in the sand with a sigh. "You shems will be the death of me."

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Daveth came-to, coughing out a small amount of water and sitting up slowly, running a hand through his damp hair. He began laughing, shaking his head – he hadn't drowned after all, like he thought he would. The Elf girl stood beside him, twisting her hair to drain out the water, looking at him like he had three heads. Daveth chuckled as he settled down his laughter, getting shakily to his feet and patting himself down – luckily, he hadn't lost any of his gear in the river. He'd have to re-oil his blades and armor, but at the moment, he was grateful to be alive.

He looked back at the girl, grinning and holding out a hand in greeting. "Thanks for that. My name's Daveth," he introduced himself. The girl glanced down at his hand, taking a long, slow breath before turning to look at him. Daveth found himself on the ground, his head swimming – she had punched him hard across the face, nearly breaking his jaw.

"What the sod did you think you were doing?" she hissed, her eyes on fire. "That was my mark!" she explained as Daveth stared up at her.

"I didn't see your name on him," Daveth remarked, and she crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at the response.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny," she snorted. "By the Maker, now I'll have to explain to Slim what all that chaos was…" she groaned, running a hand over her forehead.

"Well…" Daveth began, getting to his feet and brushing the sand from his back, "if it's any consolation, I'm sorry." The girl whirled around, raising her finger and opening her mouth to shout again when Daveth smirked. She froze, staring at him with wide eyes – he was twirling the merchant's wallet around his little finger.

"Mmm…" she grumbled, pursing her lips as her cheeks flushed red. Daveth's smirk widened at her embarrassment – this girl was the cutest thing he had ever seen; she was like an agitated kitten, trying to spit and hiss like an old tom.

"So who's Slim?" Daveth asked, and she made another low grumbling sound in her throat, bending over and scrunching up her skirt in her hands, trying to drain out some water from the soaking garment. She let out a long groan, seeing that Daveth wasn't going to leave her alone.

"My…employer," she replied cryptically, and Daveth nodded slightly – he had assumed as much, the way she was panicking. He bounced the wallet in his hand before opening it, finding three sovereigns worth of silvers and bits inside. He closed the coin-purse and tossed it to the girl, who gasped as she was startled, fumbling with the purse and nearly dropping it. "…this is yours," she remarked, trying to give the money back, but Daveth held up his hands.

"You need it more than me," he replied. The girl stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide around as saucers. She looked down at the money and swallowed hard.

"A-are you sure?" she whispered, and the rogue chuckled, nodding. Her shoulders slumped, and her fingers trembled. "…thank you," she breathed, looking back at him with tears in her eyes. "Thank you…"

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