Disclaimer: DAO owns everything,but my characters and any plot alterations

So here is chapter 5, please read and review

Happy Reading,

"Harder Cousland, don't disappoint me!" Her red headed knight yelled from the sidelines as he watched her fight another soldier. In a few days all the men that could fight in Highever would leave for the king's army, so this was her last chance to practice sparing.

She ducked to the left and narrowly avoided a swipe at her shoulder. She leaned back and let the man come closer, within her guard. Quick as lightning she spun on her toes and used the momentum to land a hard kick to the man's middle, causing him to stumble back. She took the opportunity to slide behind him and put a dagger under the soldier's chin. It was yet again another quick victory for the rogue.

"That was a well won fight, Fayne, though I do wish you would let me teach you how a real warrior fights. Honour is something you lack." Sir Gilmore said to her as she jumped the wooden railing of the courts arena into the stands.

With hands on her hips she said, "Tell me is death honourable? I don't think I would want to loose just because honour is in question. No thank you, I think I will fight dirty and win rather then fight with manners and loose." She patted him on the shoulder as she passed by him and into the hallway to her estate.

"One of these days I will let you give me one full days lecture on honour, how about that?"

The knight bowed his head with a smirk on his face, "That is excellent my lady, just be ready to have a very long, long, long day."

She laughed heartily as she closed the gate doors and started to head for her room. She was curious to see the strange elf that was lying ill in her room. I wonder where he came from, he looked so sick, is he a Warden too? She was so consumed by her own thoughts that she did not notice the figure watching her in the hallway. Only when the man roughly grabbed her swinging arm did she give him any attention.

"What do want Thomas, I have things to attend to" Fayne said in a bored voice as she wretched her arm free from his hold. She watched as the man's face smirked as he lifted a brow.

"Yes… I am sure you have "things" that must be done, oh the hardships of a woman" his biting sarcastic tone turned her off and she snarled at him.

"I have far better things to do then live off of my Daddy's glory, unlike you who seems to feed off of it like a leach!"

The sting of a hard slap rang loud in the quiet hallway; it was so unexpected that it caused her head to be flung to the left side. Dark red hair sprayed across her face as Frayne's angry eyes met the amused and irritated ones of Thomas Howe. Thomas moved closer to her so that his body was pinning her to the wall.

As he spoke he roughly grabbed a piece of her hair and painfully twisted it around a finger, "Do you know how long I have wanted you?" he asked in a frighteningly calm and quiet voice. "For a very long time" he tugged the hair causing her to let a little cry escape her lips as her head was pulled almost into his.

Their lips touched as he said, "Do not assume that you can run away from me this time, girl, I have your daddy's favour and I will not allow you to slip through my fingers again." Thomas released her head and his giant hand pushed her head back until she hit the wall again. She felt like a rag doll, being pushed back and forth.

He stood there for a time as his large hand pushed the back of her head into the wall. She was unable to see his expression, but as she struggled to loosen his hand she could feet his satisfaction at having such control. Suddenly he let go and walked away from her, not looking back or saying another word.

Fayne refused to fall to the ground like a weak women, instead she stood perfectly still as she fingered her face. She was unsure if it would bruise and she was formulating an excuse for the mark. She would not give Thomas the satisfaction of her running to her father like a little child, no she was a woman and could handle her own affairs.

"I would like to say I am sorry for my son's actions but I am not." Renden Howe came from behind a doorway cast in shadows. Had he been watching the whole time, thought Fayne as she watched the man approach her.

His voice filled the hall, "You should be happy my son is willing to look past your many….. unsavoury traits my dear." Renden turned and started to walk to the visitor's room and with his back turned to her he said, "You would receive the same from any other man, and once you marry my son you will receive more heavy handedness if you do not curb that tongue of yours…. That appendage is best left for more… appropriate things."

Howe's last statement brought a shiver down her spine as she watched the man disappear. Disgusting pig, she thought as she slowly made her way to her room. Fayne kept her hair in front of the side of her face that was marked. She was not in the mood to converse and she doubted in her state she could make a convincing lie about the hand print she now bore. She thanked the maker that her brother was not in his room, it gave her the ability to open her door and inspect the ill man without an audience.

She silently closed the door behind her and made her way towards the bed. The man's form was sleeping peacefully with his back in the bed. Like a cat, she padded lightly towards him and bent over to get a good view of the man's face.

Moving dark braids from across his face, she was shocked to see what a lovely creature the elf was. With his calm expression he looked absolutely beautiful with his high check bone, strong sharp sloping jaw and strait regal nose. His hair was only a few inches shorter than hers and was braided strangely.

She was so enraptured by his appearance that she sat beside him and started to finger the light brown tattoos that were on his face. They went from his temples and forehead down the slope of his nose and across his right eye. They swirled in exotic patterns that invoked both fear and fascinations. She bent over him, leaning close enough to hear him breath, as she eyed the design trying to find where it started and where it stopped. She had managed to make it from his left temple down his nose when she made it to his eyebrow. When she glanced at his eyelids she froze, the elf was watching her staring at her as his green eyes pinned her to the spot.