Hello again!
Today it's Ser Cullen to the Rescue! I apologize for not updating for a bit. A close friend passed away recently, so the last couple weeks have been hard. Though, I thought I needed to write to keep me distracted a bit. Well, here it is. I hope you are all enjoying it. Please leave me a review, I would love to hear from you guys. Kali and Cullen only have 3 nights left together, and I haven't quite decided how I want those evenings to go ;) Let me know what you think!
RussianBear27
PS Any readers that ride motorcycles, PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! (Sorry for the Public Service Announcement)
Chapter 3
The day of the wedding was a blur of activity. Cullen was thankful he had the chance to wander the market in the early morning. He enjoyed wandering the streets as the merchants set up their shops, the first rays of light illuminating the streets. After breakfast he collected Kaliana, and they headed to the alienage. Thus began his day of feeling rather useless.
It seemed everyone had something to do for the wedding. Kaliana and her mother were busy helping Helena get ready for the ceremony. It seemed the entire alienage had come together for this wedding. Everyone, from the poorest of beggars to the most successful shop owners, contributed to the proceedings in some manner. Whether it was decorations, food, or wildflowers picked for the bride, everyone had something to give. And Cullen just stood there and twiddled his thumbs.
Cullen stood guard outside Kaliana's family home while the women prepared for their big day. He endured the stares of the community as they passed by. Finally, the women emerged just past noon. Each was dressed in their finest clothes, which was only a modest green dress for Naera. Helena had been gifted her mother's wedding gown, an adorned white dress with a long skirt that Helena held in her arms to save from the dirty streets.
Then there was Kali. She wore her best sapphire circle robes. Her long hair had been lovingly braided and pinned up as her sister's had. She was a sight to see, and Cullen had to bite his tongue to keep from complimenting her in public.
Kaliana gave her sister a hug, and joined Cullen. Helena and her mother wandered off together.
"Where are they going?" Cullen asked.
Kaliana smiled, "mother is taking her to meet her betrothed."
"Wait," Cullen was shocked, "they haven't met yet?"
Kaliana laughed, "no. Most marriages in the alienage are arranged marriages."
"Why?" was all Cullen could ask, trying to wrap his head around it.
"Well, life is hard here," Kaliana explained. "Arranging marriages just makes sense most of the time. Helena is to be married to a black smith's assistant, which means that he will be able to provide for her and their family. Arranging marriages insures the best possible outcome for both parties."
"That is understandable, I guess," Cullen granted.
"You guess?" Kaliana looked him in the eye.
"I don't believe I would be able to let someone make a decision like that for me."
"Really now? I would think you'd be very okay with it, having spent as much time in the Templars as you have. At least you can marry, if you so choose," Kaliana's eyes became cold. As a circle mage she would never be allowed to marry.
"I didn't mean it like that, Kali," Cullen tried to apologize, but Kaliana didn't reply and Cullen was forced to follow her in silence to center of the alienage.
The entire alienage had gathered there. A small stage had been built to hold the wedding for all to see. Soon, the Revered Mother from the Denerim chantry arrived to officiate the wedding. The rest of the wedding party showed up, not too long after the Revered Mother.
Kaliana took her place on the stage along side her mother, and the groom's family Cullen did his best to stay out of the way, and blend in at the back of the crowd.
The crowd split in half to make way for the bride and groom to take the stage. Applause and shouts of encouragement surrounded the couple has they climbed the steps to the Revered Mother. The Priestess smiled warmly as she began the wedding ceremony. That was until some unwelcome guests interrupted her. A small band of drunken noblemen had felt this was the best time to wander into the alienage in search of some fun.
"Ah, what do we have here?" one of them slurred. He was a middle-aged man, with a dirty goatee. Cullen pegged him as the leader. "Some sort of party, I do think." He stumbled up onto the stage, and Cullen began making his way slowly through the crowd.
"This is a wedding, Vaughan," the Revered Mother's tone was cold as ice, "and you are not welcome here. I will call the city guard." She knew this man well, he was always causing trouble, but she also knew her words would ring hollow in his ears.
"Shut up woman! I go wherever I so please," the man snarled. "My father is the Arl and I came here to invite some these ladies to my party." He put an arm around one of the bridesmaids, who slunk away from his touch.
Everyone was silent, unsure of what to do. The tension in the air was so thick it was suffocating. Anyone who had stood up to Vaughan before either ended up in prison or dead. There was nothing the elves could do. Vaughan's father controlled the guards, and these people were already so down trodden. Many of them accepted the abuse.
"These are some might fine whores here, Ser," one the cronies eyed Kaliana who gripped her staff tightly. She shuddered as he breathed in her scent. It took every ounce of her self-control not to burn the man alive with veil fire.
"Leave her alone," Cullen commanded. His eyes were dark and threatening.
"And who is this whelp?" Vaughan demanded.
"I am Ser Cullen Rutherford of the Templars, and that mage is under my protection," Cullen almost growled the words as he stared the man down.
"I suppose this bitch will have to do then," without taking his eyes off Cullen, the Arl's son grabbed Helena by the arm and Helena shrieked in surprise. The elven woman fell to her knees under painful his grip, soiling her dress in the dirt. Her fiancé made a move to aid her, but a nearby henchman flashed a knife in his direction stopping the man in his tracks.
Cullen drew his sword, "I suggest you leave now, or you will deal with the Templars."
The drunken lord laughed, "Templars? You mean the men in skirts who chase loose mages, and stand around in the Chantry all day? You have no authority here."
"By all means," Cullen smiled. "You have interrupted a Chantry sanctioned ceremony, threatened my charge and her family, as well as disrespected the Revered Mother. This is very much within my authority to act. I will give you one last opportunity to leave now, before I bring the might of the Templar order down upon your head," Cullen didn't even raise his voice, he didn't need to. His tone was as threatening as a caged dragon.
The man thought for a moment, and one of his goons approached him, "maybe we should just go to the Pearl instead, Ser."
Vaughan dropped his gaze from Cullen, and the Templar knew he had won. The drunken men stumbled off into the city, and the ceremony was able to resume.
Afterwards, the entire crowd thanked him for what he had done. Never had a human stood up for the elves, as he had, at least not in ages. Even the Revered Mother gave her thanks and told him she would send a glowing review of him back to Kinloch Hold.
Though it seemed that it was Helena and her new husband that seemed the most grateful. Before the dinner feast the couple approached them.
"I am glad you are the one looking after my sister," Helena told him. "We owe you a debt we can never repay, those men have preyed on the alienage for far too long. There are quite a few girls who have lost their… pride to those men. I cannot thank you enough."
"I know it is not much," Helena's husband Garven said, "but I want you to have this." The young elven man revealed a sheathed long sword, "It is my first solo work of silverite. I know it will serve you well in the protection of others."
"I can't take this," Cullen began.
"Please," Helena pleaded, "take it, and look after my little sister."
"I will," Cullen relented, taking the sword, "I promise."
"Thank you," Helena smiled.
It wasn't until the sun had begun to set did Cullen speak to Kaliana once again. The festivities would carry on late into the night, but Kaliana and Cullen had to return to the Chantry before nightfall.
"I'm sure the entire alienage has already said this," she said while they walked the streets in the fading light, "but thank you for what you did back there. It is a very rare thing for that man to leave empty handed, as far as Helena tells me. Perhaps he will think twice now before bothering the elves again."
They walked in silence for while. Kaliana stared at the road beneath her feet, the worn stones that had been laid centuries before. She knew Cullen was quiet because of how she had treated him earlier.
"I'm sorry, about what I said," she apologized. "I know the Circle tries to do what is best for the mages, and for Thedus."
"Do you wish you could be free of the Circle?" Cullen asked, curious.
Kaliana thought for a moment, "Yes, and no. Sometimes I feel like some of the rules are rather silly or outright oppressive to the mages. Yet, I know without the Circle, without the Templars, many would fall to the temptation of demons. Part of me feels like things could be better, for both parties. I don't know, it's much too complex a question for me to really answer."
"I suppose you're right," Cullen agreed.
"Living in the Circle isn't always easy, but deep down, I'm glad I'm there," she confessed.
"Any reason why?"
"I told you I went to the Circle when six years old, right?
"Yes, and I've wondered why. Most mages don't manifest their powers until at least ten years old."
"Well, I was a special case. The nightmares started shortly after my sixth birthday, when my father died. Then, not long after that, the Chantry sent for the Templars to take me to the Circle.
"There is a reason why my Harrowing went so smoothly. It was not my first time fully in the fade. I am what they call a dreamer, a somnairi. My connection to the fade is stronger than other mages, and when I sleep I would enter the fade completely."
"Doesn't that normally take Lyrium?" Cullen was surprised.
"Yes, but I, for some reason, don't need it. I am also able to manipulate the fade as I see fit, something that normally takes a lifetime of training. Many mages never achieve such power. I can even enter the dreams of others.
"Unfortunately, it also marked me as a prime target for possession. With my abilities, a demon could do unfathomable damage to the world." She could see Cullen was getting nervous, he was still a Templar after all.
"The Templars wanted to make me tranquil before I could even begin my apprenticeship, but Irving stepped in. He felt he could help me control my power and overcome the demons. Meanwhile, the Templars kept quiet about it and watched my progress carefully. By the time you arrived in Circle, I had mostly mastered my abilities, and the Templars had backed off. I think the only ones who know about me now, are Irving, Gregior, and a few of the higher up Templars."
"So how do you protect yourself?" Cullen asked timidly.
"Well, I construct a barrier when I sleep and enter the fade. Irving also put me through a lot of training and testing, so I would be able to identify and resist any demon I do come in contact with. In a lot of ways, I am much more prepared to resist possession than my peers," she wasn't bragging. Kaliana just stated it as a fact. This made Cullen relax again. "If not for the Circle, I would either be an abomination, or dead. I owe my life to Kinloch."
Even as a full Templar, magic still made him nervous sometimes. Especially magic he didn't quite understand. Yet, if Irving and Gregior were confident in her abilities, then he was too. The foolish part of him also felt that this woman would never fall to temptation, he trusted her.
They finally reached the Chantry, as the last rays of daylight faded away.
"Does it bother you?" Kaliana stopped outside the Chantry walls. "I mean, do my abilities bother you?"
Cullen sighed, his right hand reached for the back of his neck subconsciously. "Why has this been kept secret? I would think that at least the hold Templars would know."
"Well, somnairi are very rare and not well understood. I have worked very hard to get where I am today, and Irving did not want to cause unnecessary tension with the Templars." Kaliana began to get a bit defensive, "I am in full control of my power, I will never let it overtake me."
The spark of determination was evident in her eyes. Cullen was amazed at how she much she had to overcome, just to… exist. "You are amazing," he said truthfully, even if the power she held did intimidate him a little.
Kaliana smiled at him, "We should get inside before the Revered Mother sends out a search party for us."
"I suppose you're right," he smiled back at her, "but first…" before she could react he kissed her, praying no one was watching in the darkened streets. "I will always protect you," he vowed as they slipped into the Chantry courtyard.