Author's Note: A super-sized chapter! A quick warning, this chapter contains psuedo-sexual banter and mild sexual situations.
Chapter 5 – Gentle Persuasions
Serena headed towards the library to seek out Dairren before dinner. Her whole body felt heavy with her mother's worried talk, and she thought a bit of shameless flirting would be just what she needed to snap herself out of this uneasy funk.
Thoughts of her father and brothers impending ride out, which had previously made her feel somewhat jealous, now just left her with a sense of dread. Worry creased her face, and she felt like she had a perpetual frown. It was strange to think she had been ecstatic simply hours before, desperately wanting to join Fergus and her father in the adventure. Now Serena found the conversation with her mother did little other than set off an intense anxiety within her.
She agreed with her mother that yes, they had their duties, but what if nobody respected her? What if she couldn't keep everything running smoothly during her father's absence from the castle? She almost wished she had had this sort of responsibility thrust on her sooner, so it wouldn't seem like such a monumental ordeal to her now.
"I don't know why I'm worrying so much," Serena muttered to herself. "It will either work out or it won't. There's no use toiling over it endlessly and ruining my afternoon."
Serena turned the corner into the library, and paused, taking in the delicious leathery smell of hundreds of books. She breathed deep, letting the familiar aroma soothe her apprehension. The castle had a fantastic collection, with huge shelves filled from top to bottom with books of all kinds.
Serena was particularly fond of a shelf of books on different species of animals found around Ferelden. Many of the tomes were very old, some nearly falling apart. Serena would spend long hours reading about giant spiders found swarming in the sea caves near Lothering, or the blight wolves that stalked the outskirts of the Brecilian Forest.
She even had a journal in her room filled with precise little illustrations, copied right from the different texts. Captions next to the drawings marked the animals' names and any special attributes the book had mentioned about them. Spiders, for example, came in a frightening amount of varieties, from enormous green poisonous ones to minuscule little red ones that would sneak into your bedroll at night and bite you, causing shiny purple blisters to break out all over the infected area. Serena shivered at the thought of them.
Flipping absently through one of the books, The Dragons of Tevinter, Serena marveled at the delicate brushstrokes some long-dead Chantry scholar had painstakingly reproduced to create the different types of dragons. Big, scaly, and absolutely vicious, she thought, how different could one dragon be from the next, really?
Lost in reflection, it made her think of all the fantastical things her books described that she would probably never get the chance to see if she stayed in Highever. She had traveled beyond the city, of course, but only to the nearby Bannorn, and to the capital, Denerim, on occasion.
There were so many places she longed to explore in Ferelden, so many exotic locations she had read about in assorted dusty volumes. Her world rapidly was starting to feel very small, and she felt the old familiar itch of restlessness settling back in. Serena tucked the book into her pocket for later.
The study Dairren had mentioned he and Iona would be in was behind a large door at the back of the library. It was a medium sized room, much smaller than the library proper, and was filled with a much more unique selection of books, handpicked by her grandfather. Mostly banned or no longer in print, he had collected them over many years, searching derelict shelves for books people no longer cared about, in houses people no longer cared for. Many of them were one-of-a-kind, or so Aldous told her.
"Serena?" a voice called from the hall. "Is that you, my dear girl?"
So much for quiet contemplation, Serena thought. She turned around at the mention of her name to see her old tutor striding into the library flanked by two small miserable looking boys on either side. "Hello, Aldous. It's a good afternoon for some peace and quiet, no?"
"Somehow I knew I would find you here, girl." The old man took a seat at one of the wooden tables, groaning at the effort of sitting down. Aldous must be in his seventies now, if Serena remembered correctly, it was no wonder he was feeling the ache. "See, boys? Everyone loves reading and history. I have no idea why you two think cleaning those awful-smelling horses would be more interesting."
"Uh… right. Yes." Serena shrugged helplessly. "Horses… books, of course. What exactly are you talking about? Are these some of your new charges?"
"Meet young masters Richard and Fabian," Aldous said, indicating first to the blonde boy, and then the black haired boy with darker skin. "Say hello, boys."
"Hello," both boys intoned automatically. Serena sighed. They would obviously rather be anywhere else, rather than stuck in the library listening to an old man ramble about the importance of times gone by. She couldn't really blame them, with all the bustling excitement around the castle these last few days.
"By chance, I am attempting to teach these young squires about your family's history," Aldous explained to Serena. "I don't suppose you would-"
"Do we have to?" Richard whined. "History is boring." Beside him, Fabian nodded enthusiastically. "Ser Bryant asked us specifically to help brush the horses, too," he added.
"I think not, boys. Lessons come first, even Ser Bryant knows that." Aldous pulled the two seats out beside him, patting the table encouragingly. "Indulge an old man this once, won't you?" The two boys groaned, flopping into the open seats. "Tell me, boys, do you even know to whom you are currently showing such blatant disrespect?"
Richard exchanged a quick glance with Fabian, who shrugged uselessly. Serena watched his face as he struggled to remember her name. Oh, this would be fun, she thought.
"Uhh… Lady… Sarah?" Richard said finally. Aldous shook his head, annoyed. Serena tried to stifle a laugh, but ended up in a fit of coughing. The boys simply looked amused at the old man's obvious exasperation.
"If you won't introduce yourself, I suppose I'll have to then?" he said. Aldous waited a moment, but Serena said nothing, she simply continued to grin. After working out with the knights, infuriating her old tutor was one of Serena's favorite pastimes. He was almost as easy to provoke as Nan.
"This is Lady Serena, not Sarah," Aldous replied icily. "She is the only daughter of Teyrn Bryce and Eleanor Cousland… the very family in whose castle you two ungrateful whelps live!" Aldous' face flushed so red, even his wrinkles looked furious.
"It's alright, Aldous," Serena said gently. "They're just boys. Plus history can be boring sometimes."
"I see you haven't changed," Aldous muttered. "Perhaps it would benefit you to join our lesson?"
Serena considered for a moment. She didn't really have anything pressing going on, and perhaps after a quick history lesson, she could meet up with Dairren and it would be considered officially "later". Then again, it was fun to aggravate Aldous.
"Oh, I think I'm a bit old for lessons, don't you think?"
"My dear, we are never too old to learn," Aldous replied. "And perhaps you could make the topic more… palatable for these young lads and their miniscule intellects?" If either of the two boys realized they were being insulted, they didn't show it.
"Very well," Serena relented with a sigh.
"Wonderful!" Aldous cried, looking pleased for the first time that afternoon. "The Cousland history is long, indeed. Where shall we start?"
Serena thought about it for a moment before a face rose to the forefront of her mind. "Tell me about our relationship with Arl Howe," she said.
"Ah, our recent guest, Arl Rendon Howe," Aldous said with a nod. "Yes, the history between the Couslands and the Howes reaches back nearly as long as the Cousland line does as teynirs. Highever, and the surrounding lands, originally belonged to a close cousin of the Howe family, Conobar. However, his wife, Flemeth, murdered him before they produced an heir, and so the land passed to Conobar's captain of the guard, as is tradition."
"That would be my ancestor," Serena supplied.
"Yes, Sarim Cousland. The next history picks up on the Couslands and Howes is during the Orlesian occupation," Aldous continued. He looked to the boys, and Serena was surprised to find they were actually paying rapt attention. Perhaps it was the mention of murder, she thought.
"When did Orlais occupy Highever again?" Serena asked.
"It was during your grandfather's rule, dear girl. Of course, Orlais found it difficult to hold these lands. During the rebellion against the empire, several battles were fought near Highever. The port of Harper's Ford was the teyrnir's center, and its arl was Tarleton Howe."
"Is that Arl Howe's father or grandfather?" Serena assumed it must have been his grandfather; Arl Howe didn't appear to be much older than her own father, unless he just took excellent card of himself, which she doubted. Or bathed in the blood on infants to stay young, she mused silently.
"Tarleton was Rendon Howe's grandfather, and since Howe's father, Bastian, had died of blood poisoning a few years before, Rendon was next in line. Keep in mind that although Tarleton was nearly ninety, he was still as sharp and bitter as cheap ale, and he had chosen to side with Orlais during the rebellion."
"But grandfather supported King Maric, right? In one of the few times we actually did side with the crown, it would seem," Serena added.
"Correct. Your grandfather openly supported the rebellion, and your family was forced to seize Harper's Ford before it was all over. As the most important port in the area, your grandfather couldn't afford to lose it. Indeed, by keeping the town, your family drove the Orlesians from their lands. Tarleton was hanged later as a traitor to the true crown, and the arldom passed to Rendon Howe, who, of course, still holds it today."
"So, the Couslands fought the Howes?" Fabian asked. His dark eyes looked eager.
"Yes, at first, but Rendon Howe had the good sense to see which way the winds were blowing, so to speak, and they eventually joined the rebellion, when all of Ferelden united behind King Maric and General Loghain. Just as we now unite behind Maric's son, King Cailan, to fight the darkspawn."
"What are the darkspawn?" Richard asked. "I heard the knights talking about a horde of them. What is a horde?"
"Darkspawn… well, actually, Serena since you're up, head over there and grab that big blue leather book for me, dear," Aldous said, pointing to a far shelf. Serena did as he bid, pulling the enormous book from a shelf. How had she never noticed this book before? It was longer than her forearm! She placed it down on the table in front of Aldous, who flipped it open.
"This is a record from the last Blight, over four hundred years ago, which is the last time the darkspawn reached the surface in any sort of vast amount. That's what a horde is, Richard. A very large amount of something. In this case, darkspawn warriors." Aldous traced one of the illustrations, etched big and black against the old pages. "This is what they look like, I suppose, although I have never seen one myself, thank the Maker."
Serena peered over his shoulder at the drawing. The darkspawn, she was surprised to see, was relatively human in shape, if the person had been somewhat disfigured. Huge hulking shoulders, atop which sat a smallish head, with a massive mouth filled with sharp little teeth. It wore crude armor, and carried a wicked-looking hand axe. She wondered if they trained with their weapons as people did, or if they just ran into battle blind, hoping for the best?
The two boys were enraptured by the pictures, fawning over the different drawings, pointing out all the horribly deadly attributes of each. Aldous looked over their heads at Serena, who rolled her eyes. Of course the deadlier the lesson, the more interesting it would be for the boys.
"Well, time to end the lesson for me, I think," Serena said at last. Anymore of these pictures and she was sure she would have nightmares tonight.
"Thank you for indulging an old man, Serena," Aldous said, appreciation showing in his old face.
"Aww, does that mean we have to listen to you, now?" Richard moaned. Fabian was smart enough to keep his mouth closed as Aldous stared daggers at the young blonde boy.
"Smart-mouthed hooligans," he said, rolling his eyes at Serena. "Perhaps you should go. I doubt they need any more distraction. I'm just going to settle in here and… apparently just talk to myself…"
Serena waved and quickly slipped in the study door, closing it behind her.
"Hello again, my lady," came a soft voice. Serena gasped, immediately feeling silly for her overabundance of nerves. Of course it was just Iona. Dairren had said they would be here, after all. Serena glanced around quickly.
"Hello, Iona," she said slowly. "How…are you?"
"Dairren is in one of the side rooms, reading, my lady," Iona replied. Serena could tell the blonde was trying to hide a smile. "But I am doing well, myself."
Serena felt her face growing hot. "I am… so very embarrassed. Am I that transparent?"
"You are young, that's all. I was young once myself, not so long ago." Iona grasped one of Serena's hands gently. "He speaks of you often. It is very sweet."
"He is a very sweet man," Serena replied, blushing. "I was curious; do you travel with Lady Landra often? I don't remember seeing you at my mother's salon, and I don't mean to be rude, but I noticed you are…"
"An elf, yes." Iona tucked her hair behind one ear, as if to emphasis the point. "I take no offense, my lady. It is rather strange to see an elven lady-in-waiting, I suppose. Lady Landra has been very good to my family, as she is to all her elven servants. That is not true in many households, but I heard it is in yours as well." Iona smiled, and Serena thought it looked a bit sad. "I hope… one day I can pass my title on to my daughter."
"You have a daughter? You seem so young."
"It is my elven blood; we appear much younger than we are, I think." Iona smiled, and Serena could see there was age in her eyes, if nowhere else. This woman had seen much in her years. "But yes, I do have a daughter. Amethyne. She has your blue eyes, her father's eyes. He was a very handsome man."
"Oh, he has…" Serena searched for the right words. "Has he passed?"
Iona nodded. "Yes, he died of the wasting sickness a few years ago. I am lucky, Lady Landra took us in, and I have flourished under her instruction. Amethyne will grow up with comforts many of my people must do without."
"You sound as if you love her very much, she is a lucky girl."
"Amethyne is my life. You will know when you have children." Iona placed her gentle hand on Serena's shoulder again, as if through physical contact she could transfer her motherly concern to her. "This is why your mother protects you from the coming battle."
"Yes, I know…" Serena sighed. "She just wants me to be safe. Sometimes it is hard to just… sit back and watch, though."
"Well, know that she means well. All mothers do." Iona pointed to a door to one of the small reading nooks located off the study. "Dairren is in there, I believe. I am going to rest before supper. I shall see you later this evening, my lady." With that, Iona left the study, the door clicking shut behind her.
"Maker, protect me from my own silliness," she said quietly. She steeled herself, taking a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
"Iona? Is that you? You can come in," Dairren's voice called. The door opened and Serena curtsied, grinning wickedly. Dairren looked surprised for a moment, and then smirked.
"Ah, Serena… it is... outstanding to see you again so soon," he said, wrapping her in a hug. "I was just enjoying your wonderful assortment of books in here." He indicated the room. "Might I ask to whom it belongs?"
"It was my grandfather's, actually," Serena replied. "He collected them over the years…" She picked one of the books off the bookshelf at random, flipping through it quickly before replacing it on the shelf. "Most of them are hand bound, or else out-of-print. I come here often to read and… reflect."
"As would I," Dairren agreed. "Do you have a favorite?" He held up the book he'd been reading in the little nook. "I found this one earlier. You should see some of the pictures…"
"Do you really want to talk about books, Dairren?" She pulled the book from his hand, reading the title aloud. "The Art of Passionate Love…" Serena giggled. "I think I might have read this once before, actually." She batted her eyelashes playfully at Dairren. "Late at night."
Dairren laughed, and Serena couldn't help but smile at the sound. "Yes, frankly I'm shocked it was written by a Chantry scholar, to be honest," he said. "From what little I've read, it seems… quite provocative."
"Well, you know it must get very boring in the Chantry sometimes." She ran a hand down his arm, where he caught her hand in his. "You can only pray so long before you have to actually do something, right?"
"My thoughts exactly," Dairren murmured, leaning in and kissing her softly. Serena wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing him deeper into the kiss. She loved the almost magical way all her anxiety seemed to melt away, replaced by a heady fire of lust.
Dairren slid the neckline of her dress down, kissing along her collarbone. "You have the softest skin, my lady," he whispered. "And you smell like the forest." He picked her up and placed her on the writing table behind them, shutting the door to the nook with his foot. He began kissing her anywhere there was open skin.
Serena fumbled uselessly with the buttons on his shirt until he shrugged the whole thing off, and then she was just touching his bare chest, his skin warm to her touch. "It feels so wrong, to do this in a library, you know," she whispered. If these books could talk…"
"Then they'd probably say 'you're doing it wrong'," Dairren replied, kissing her cheeks, her neck, her shoulder. "Besides, isn't it fun?" His breath came out warm against her neck and she shivered.
"Ohhh…" She moaned softly, the sound involuntary.
"I will take that as a 'yes', my lady." He ran a hand down her thigh, rubbing tiny circles with his thumb along the way. Serena remembered this move of his from her mother's spring salon, where they had stolen kisses in the castle's armory. Bumped up against the stone walls, surrounded by weapons of all kinds, it had been as thrilling as it was an absolutely awful place to find oneself intimately engaged. Well, at least there's no danger of being impaled on a book, she thought sheepishly.
Serena felt Dairren pause, his head jerking up to listen hard. "Did you hear something?"
"We're okay, I think, in here. The study door is shut, too."
The loud bang of a door crashing open and slamming into the wall froze Dairren and Serena in their tracks.
"Supper's on the table in ten minutes, girl!" came Nan's barking yell. Serena guessed she couldn't have been more than 10 feet away, her voice sounded that close. "Make sure you put those books back or Aldous will have your head!" Then there was the sound of stomping, and then silence.
Serena let out a sigh of relief, covering her face with her hands. "Today is just not my day," she breathed.
Dairren pulled her hands to his lips and kissed them. "It was probably silly of us to start this here, of all places."
"Aw, you don't find books very sexy?" Serena teased, running her hands over his wild red hair, smoothing it out. It felt so soft under her fingers.
"I find you very sexy," Dairren replied, grinning. "Perhaps we could continue this later?"
"Hmm, maybe you could come by my room tonight? After everyone is asleep?" She paused, thinking hard. "The guards usually go for a break around 11 or so, you could sneak by then. I'll leave my door unlocked."
"I think I could manage that, my lady." He pulled his shirt back on, buttoning it slowly. "You might have to re-braid your hair... I might have, um, mussed it up a bit." Serena put a hand up to her braid and felt the ribbon slide out of it into her lap.
"Worth it," she said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "I better go find a mirror to fix this mess. I'll see you at dinner?"
"Absolutely." Dairren caught her hand, pulling her to him in another kiss. "Until later," he whispered against her lips.
Serena straightened her dress, hoping she didn't look too disheveled, and giving Dairren once last smile, she departed.