Hi! Rina here, sorry about the wait. Sickness waits for no one! Any who, Alistair is about 25 in this fan fiction. Why? It makes things better chronologically. I also made up a plant. Sorry cannon herbology fans! Yes, the time is a bit skewered, this is hinging on the idea that it took them two years to get rid of the blight.
Rina
Recap
"oh Alistair! You're such a bad boy!" Kia playfully splashed him. She cherished this peace. Because she knew it was short lived. Any day, they'd be attacked. And when they were, Kia would be ready. She had thought she lost Alistair once, she wasn't bound to lose him again. She still could remember the day they met, a day even Alistair had no idea of.
10 years ago.
"KYSANTHIUM" Came the loud shout from somewhere upstairs. The small elf girl who had been sleeping on a pile of rags jolted up, shaking her head. "KYSANTHIUM" Came the shout once more. Kia leaped up and ran out of her "bedroom" a spare closet in the basement of the castle. Kia's hair had already grown to her shoulders by this time. She ran up the stairs, her bare feet making a soft clicking noise. She ran up the the fourth floor of the castle, running as quickly as her tiny legs would carry her. In his room, Vaughan Kendells sat on his bed. He was a young boy, only a few years older than Kia herself.
"Y-yes my lord?" Kia stuttered due to fear. She trembled slightly, keeping herself faced to the floor.
"About time you got here. Maybe we should have named you Kysanthium SLOWrin!" He laughed at him own joke before looking at the girl. "We have visitors here. Templars. Perhaps they might even take you off of my hands. Draw me a bath, fold my clothes for me. Then, go clean up yourself. Astrid has been instructed to clothe you in your finest wear. Do take care this time." Kia nodded and obliged, first grabbing a pail to fetch the bath water with. While she was outside, she noticed some blood weed growing. Blood weed has a plant that Vaughan was allergic to. Fearfully, she took the plant and stuffed it in one of her ratty pockets. If the Arl of Denerim learned that there was this plant growing out here, he'd have each of the elves beaten, maybe even killed. Kia then walked back inside, carrying the heavy pail of water. She dumped it into the large round tub and repeated the process looking for more blood weed to hide away. She found several more plants of it, which she stuffed in her pockets. She lit the fire under the bath to heat it up, warming it to a nice temperature. "Kysanthium! What's taking so long? I think I hear dark spawn, ready to eat you." That was the threat they used often, that they'd feed her to the dark spawn if she wasn't good.
"Forgive me, my lord." She said, bowing. He rolled his eyes and walked to the bath, stepping in.
"Kysanthium! Why are there no spices in my bath! I need to smell good! Unlike you." He sneered at her and smirked. She nodded and then stepped into a side room, pulling out spices meant to make him smell better. Her eyes fell to the blood weed in her pocket. Oh god, she was going into serious trouble! She had a devilish grin on her features now.
Kia was in the middle of her bath, the evil old bath mistress Astrid was scrubbing at her back, attempting to get rid of a few blisters on her back.
"The least you could do is keep yourself cleaner." Astrid grumbled, scrubbing harder. Kia whimpered a little at the stinging. Speaking of stinging... A loud scream came from Vaughan's room up the stairs. He bolted down the stairs, wearing only his under garments into the slave quarters.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT! YOU PUT BLOOD WEED IN MY BATH!" she shouted at Kia, running to her bath. The boy's skin was red as a rooster's head. He grabbed Kia by her hair and pulled her out of her cold bath, tugging her out of the room, naked. Kia whimpered as the coldest air ever hit her still bleeding blistered back. "FATHER! FATHER!"He shouted at the top of his lungs. The Arl himself called from the other room.
"In here son! Don't make such a fuss. We have company from the Chantry." The Arl said, sighing at his son's lack of manners.
Vaughan Dragged the naked Kia into the room before throwing her to the floor.
"She put blood weed in my bath! Look at me! I'm red as a tomato! I demand she be punished immediately!" He growled, watching with disgust as Kia curled into a small ball. He lifted a foot and kicked the small elf girl in her ribs, gaining a small squeak from her. He pressed his foot on Kia's bleeding back, pressing down on her frail body.
"Stop that!" Someone else shouted. A young boy. "Look at yourself. You're red but the poor girl is covered in blisters. You should be ashamed of yourself Bann Vaughan! The poor girl is covered in blisters!" Suddenly, the pain was lifted from her back, the pressure gone. Kia looked up to see a boy the same age as Vaughan, holding down his hand. "I'm sorry little miss. I'll help you with those blisters myself." Kia reluctantly took the boy's hand, allowing him to toke her back into the quarters. "My name is Alistair. And your's?"
"Kysanthium."
7 years ago
"Alright then, I invoke the Right of conscription." Duncan said to Vaughan. He took a look at the thin elf girl, the same one that had been freed from the very man trying to have her killed once more. He knew now, there was no choice. They had to let the girl go. She sighed in relief and looked at Duncan, her deep eyes saying thank you to him. She still wore her bloody wedding gown, the wedding ring glittered on her ring finger, a shining beacon of what once was.
"Fine take her. Let the dark spawn eat her!" Vaughan said, lifting his hands in surrender.
At the camp, Duncan asked her to find a young man named Alistair. Kia shook her head, of course it wasn't that Alistair. How could it be? She walked up to the ruined courtyard and stood off to the side as a young man harassed a mage.
"I'm just sending along the message." He said. Kia's eyes widened, it was him!
"Well, you can tell the revered mother that us mages have more on our hands every day!" The mage sauntered off, grumbling.
"Its so wonderful how the blight can people together. Hi, I'm Alistair, I supposed you aren't one of them, are you?" He asked, looking at her. His strawberry blonde hair was cut short, not the shaggy style she remembered.
"You know me," She said, looking at him.
"Oh, I suppose you used to work with the chantry then? Fat chance that." He replied, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Ah, sorry. I'm Ky-Kia. Kia Theirin." She held out a hand.
"Ah, the new recruit! Nice to meet you, I hope we get to work together soon."
Kia's heart nearly broke. Of course, why would he remember her? She was just a raggedy elf.
