Chapter 10: Anniversary

The only request the Arishok had made to any citizen of Kirkwall was that she come see him. The only diplomat he would accept was a rogue that talked her way out of most fights. The Arishok had said before that the people she worked for diminished her honor, diminished the value of her deeds but it seemed her respected her even if he didn't respect those she worked for. She had her hand in everything it seemed. If she would have known that saving the Viscount's son would have led to her being the only diplomat the Arishok would accept… well she probably wouldn't have gone on that mission. She shook her head. That was wrong to think… she had saved him from those mercenaries who had slaughtered all his companions. She wouldn't of wanted to think what they would have done to the Viscount's son if she hadn't of stopped them. Any wounds could have been said to come from the Qunari that he planned to escape with.

Her argument with the Viscount had lingered longer than she wanted. She had spent the whole day at the keep going over the issue with the Qunari exactly, why she was needed, and why he couldn't use someone else. He had promised to pay her handsomely, but she didn't care about the gold. She was offended at the gold to some end. She was not working her way out of slavery, nor did she need the gold after her expedition but it seemed gold was the only thing to convince people in this city. The point was that she had to do this to keep Kirkwall at peace it seemed and that was worth more than gold to her. She sighed as she saw the sun setting as she left the keep but she didn't dwell on the fact she had wasted her whole day over politics.

She went to turn the corner and almost ran into him. She stopped abruptly and jumped back slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt there were few pleasures greater than speaking with a beautiful woman… so I came to talk to you."

She raised a brow at him. "…and you just happened to know I was here?"

He shrugged. "I saw you go in earlier this morning…I felt you would leave eventually. Anyways come on, it's time to celebrate."

She wasn't in the mood to celebrate; she had hardly ever seen him in the mood to celebrate either. "What are we celebrating?"

He could tell that whatever happened in the keep today hadn't made her the happiest woman. He ignored her sour mood and smiled at her. "The anniversary of my escape." He had trapped her, he knew she wouldn't leave at that. Perhaps she felt he was lonely, but he wasn't truly. He wouldn't want anyone else's company on this night but her. If anything she was too curious to say no to him, he saw how she was questioning him with those cold colored eyes.

The wine was the best she had ever tasted. He seemed to find the best wine, and she was envious that he had such an eye for good wine. She had tried to find good wine for him, but it had paled in comparison to this one. How did she always end up here like this? She always found herself in this chair before his fireplace sharing a bottle of wine with him while they shared tales of their past, her more so than him. She felt like he knew everything about her, that she laid her soul before him to get only tidbits in return. He was engrossing her with tales tonight though, she didn't know if it was the wine or if it was the day, she had to admit the wine was stronger than she had usually had, it crept up on her making her cheeks flushed and her insides warm.

"So your escape was just because they refused to let a slave on the boat that took Danarius from the battle?"

"I wish. That would be a much simpler tale. No what happened was I lived with these renegade Qunari.. the Fog Warriors they called themselves… for awhile. It took Danarius weeks to find me because he was injured from the battle..I respected them, these Qunari.. How free they were with each other and their affections..but Danarius came back. He ordered me to kill them all." She could see him withdraw into himself again, memories of a not too distant past haunting him.

"That must have been terrible.." She frowned, she wanted to reach out and touch him but would her touch be uninvited? Would it be intruding on his solitude. "Why did you do it?"

"It felt inevitable.. My master had returned. A slave does not dream of freedom. You think only of your master's desires. It never occurred to me I could be anything else…I turned on him after that though… I ran and have been running ever since."He leaned back in the chair, looking at her with those piercing eyes. "I have never spoken about this to anyone else."

His stories were heartbreaking to her. She wanted to close the distance between them but her fears of his reaction kept her at bay. She had said those words to him, that she loved him and he hadn't said anything about it. They had let it die, like it was never uttered… but perhaps he didn't understand her… perhaps he didn't know those words in Elvish.

She had a frown on her face plastered the whole night it seemed from his stories. He just wanted to place his lips to hers and erase it, replace it with something better. They had lapsed into silence, he had left her at a loss of words. It surprised him that she was silent.

"It seems like a large burden to carry… not sharing these memories with anyone… keeping them to yourself."

"You are one to talk about that…" He shrugged off what he said. "I didn't think I needed or wanted to tell anyone until now… I didn't think I needed or wanted anyone until now…"

He bridged the gap between her and him, kissing her hard. She responded lightly, tracing her tongue over his lips to have him shudder as she brought her hands up to touch his face. She pulled away to look him in the eyes, she had such kindness in her, did he have that?

"I have never allowed anyone too close.. When my markings were made the pain was extraordinary…"She kissed him lightly wrapping her arms around his neck ever so gently to pull him closer. "With you…. With you it might be different."