Zevran was quick, she had to admit. By the next morning, they were leaving Denerim, back onto the road and heading east. Before they left, he had given instructions to all the mercenaries he had hired the previous day, and they had all been sent on different paths in order to find where the wardens were traveling.
Rina was just happy that he hadn't kept any mercs to travel with the two of them, because they all gave her the creeps. Most of them leered at her in a way that made her uncomfortable, but there were also a few that sneered at her because of the way Zevran flirted with her. It wasn't like she asked him to always be touching her in some way, just the opposite! He seemed to instinctively know her boundaries, and he never crossed them, but he was always close. Either taking her hand or arm in his as they walked, or tucking her hair behind her ear when it got in her face.
She was having such a good time with him, that the days of walking went by quickly. She had surprised him with her knowledge of how to clean and cook the game he caught, and had told him a little about Steven- how she had tried to do the things he enjoyed, like hunting and fishing. How she had wanted to make him proud of her and kept it up until she could do it right.
He peppered her with questions about the "man who must have been blessed by the Maker to have had her," but she evaded them as best she could, simply saying he was someone she was once involved with, and left it at that.
He once asked about her prowess at hunting, and she told him about her lack of skill with the bow Steven had given her. They laughed as she regaled him with stories of her ineptitude with the weapon, and how Steven had finally admitted defeat and gotten her a crossbow. She wasn't much better with that, but at least she could sporadically catch some game.
She tried once to bring up the idea that killing the wardens wasn't his only option, but he became angry and refused to speak to her for several hours. He was stubborn, but then again, so was she. She considered him a friend by this point, and was worried that the wardens may not decide to spare him. She started listing the pros and cons of killing the wardens versus joining them, and she did so out loud to ensure that he heard. He didn't comment, and she could only hope that it gave him something to think about.
All too soon, the mercs rejoined them, and Zevran's plan was revealed. He explained what he wanted to accomplish, and where, in order to avoid unnecessary death. Though they didn't care about that, in order to get paid, they followed his instructions. Based on the warden's location, it was decided to travel quickly towards Lake Calanhad and set up the ambush.
Rina struggled to keep up as they traveled throughout most of the night in order to get there quickly. Though he wasn't sympathetic to her complaining, Zevran slowed their pace. She ignored the complaints and glares from the mercs, but when the blond woman came to threaten her life if they weren't there in time for them to set up the ambush properly, she grew slightly concerned. The details of how she would be killed provided sufficient motivation for her to push herself. No one wants to be burnt alive after all.
She also noticed that they closer they got to their destination, the more aloof Zevran became. The two women with the group were more than happy to distract him, which left Rina walking alone, and avoiding everyone else. She couldn't understand what was going on with him, but could hardly find out with the two "ladies" hanging off him.
After what seemed like days of walking, they finally stopped. Rina immediately collapsed to the ground to rest, pain radiating in her shins. She sat there rubbing her legs for some time, trying to get rid of the stabbing pain when Zevran knelt in front of her and grabbed her leg.
"What are you doing?!" she asked him, trying to pull her leg back to herself.
"If you want to get rid of the pain, I can help you," he answered quietly. He looked at her with a slight smirk on his face, but still gently as he put pressure on her shin with his thumb, moving it up and down the pain affected area.
Rina let out a sigh of relief. While not gone, the impromptu massage was doing wonders for the pain. She smiled at him, and noticing movement behind him, saw the blond woman that threatened her glaring daggers.
"Ah, thanks Zevran, it feels much better now," she said, and pulled her leg again. This time he let her, with a questioning look.
"I know I excel at the massage, but I'm sure even my magic fingers cannot heal pain so quickly," he said.
With another look behind him, Rina sat cross-legged to ensure he couldn't grab her leg again. She tried to keep her face straight, but the woman was holding fire in her hand now. She had to do what she could to let her know that she had no intentions when it came to Zevran.
"I see," he said, and got up and went to speak to the others.
Rina took a deep breath, and closing her eyes, released it. Yes, she considered him a friend, and didn't like the look he just gave her, but it wasn't worth being hurt or even killed because someone else thought they were romantically involved. She waited until they had a fire going, before getting up to join them. She sat as far from Zevran as she could, sitting against a tree stump in front of the flames. She fell asleep before they even had tents erected.
She awoke with the stiffest neck she'd ever had. Sleeping while sitting up all night caused all sorts of stiffness throughout her entire body. Looking around as best she could, she could sense something was off, but wasn't sure what it was. She stood and stretched, loosening her muscles. She stopped as she noticed how quiet everyone was. That was the same moment she realized that she was actually alone.
Rina's strides ate up the path as she stormed after her traveling companions. She could easily believe that the mercs would leave her behind, but how could Zevran have been okay with this? She steamed about him, his mercenaries, and her situation in general as she continued walking.
She tried to scream as she was suddenly grabbed, but quick as a whip, a large hand covered her mouth. Her eyes widened as she could tell whoever held her, was not Zevran. She pushed and elbowed, trying to get away before whoever held her hooked an arm around her waist, pinning her arms down in the process.
"Well.. look what I caught," a voice said quietly. She froze as she recognized him as one of the mercs that was constantly leering at her. She tried threatening him to let her go before Zevran killed him, but it didn't have the impact she was trying for with his hand still over her mouth. It seemed that her could guess her intent, as he laughed mockingly at her.
"No one around, just the two of us," he told her. She knew she needed to fight. She couldn't afford to freeze up any longer. Feeling his arm move from her waist and grab her breast threw her into action. She grabbed his hand and bit down as hard as she could. He yelped, and tried to pull her off by her hair, but she held on. He finally reached back and backhanded her on the cheek, and the flew back a few paces and rolled a bit as she landed.
She was dazed, but her mind screamed at her to run, get away as fast as she could! She stood shakily, and ran through the trees. She had no idea which direction she was heading, just knew that she needed to get away! She hit several trees, tripped over branches and bushes, but managed to somehow keep on her feet. As she ran, she somehow came back to the path, which helped her move a little faster.
She ran, though she was tiring quickly, and ran right into someone's arms. She couldn't think, she couldn't fight so she screamed as loudly as she could.
Zevran couldn't believe it. He had left Rina sleeping back at camp. When Selene had suggested it, he was quick to refuse, however the more he had thought about it, the idea had merit. It would keep her safe, and would keep her from trying to stop him, for he was sure that was her intention. But now, right as Selene was about to run forward to entice the wardens into their trap, she came barreling out of the trees and straight into the warden's arms screaming at the top of her lungs.
He watched as she she recoiled back away from the man in armor, realizing the predicament she was in.
"I'll kill her," he heard Selene hiss out next to him.
"It can still work," he said. "She'll bring them into the trap unwittingly."
"Hanric was supposed to keep her occupied," she seethed quietly.
"What?" he turned to look at her, and noticed that she paled slightly.
"Nothing," she answered. His eyes narrowed, as he understood that his mercs had made plans without his knowledge involving Rina. They would definitely discuss this after the battle.
Zevran and Selene watched as Rina was walking backwards, looking wildly around for something, though they weren't sure if her instinct was flight or fight. The warden's group was slowly advancing on her, with the armored man in the lead, though he had his hands up as if trying to calm and assure her that he meant no harm.
Zevran smiled, the plan was shot, but Rina was accomplishing the mission. Just a few more meters and they would be able to spring their trap. As if she knew this as well, she stopped retreating and held her palm out to the group in a stop gesture. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but knew it couldn't be good.
"That's it!" Selene hissed. "If we fell the tree now, we won't trap them all, but it's all we've got!"
"No," he said, not taking his eyes off Rina. "If we trap them now, they'll kill her."
"Then she dies," she answered, running out of their hiding place and giving the signal to the men to drop the tree.
"No!" Zevran roared at her back. He ran after her, seeing her beginning to conjure a fireball in her hand. He wouldn't be able to catch her in time, but raced anyway desperate to stop her.
He wasn't sure what happened, but would describe it as some sort of shock wave. It barely grazed him, but left him feeling drained. He saw both Rina and Selene collapse, being directly in it's path. As he reached Selene he looked to Rina and saw that she was unconscious. Selene however was awake, though she looked injured, or deeply ill.
"You tried to kill her," he stated without emotion.
"I… tried to accomplish the mission," she had a hard time getting the words out, but he understood her. "She was simply in the way."
"And I told you she was not to be harmed," he scowled at her. "You know the consequences." He crouched down, pulling out his dagger. She screamed as best as she could, though not well. He stabbed her chest and angled his dagger up to pierce her heart, twisting it as he did. Then quickly pulled it out again, letting her fall back to the ground in the same move.
He heard the gasps at the same time, from both the warden's group as well as the mercs'. Several mercs began shouting and rushing into the clearing to fight, while the wardens tried to speak, and ended up pulling out their weapons to defend themselves. He shook his head as he looked at Rina, and wondered how the day had gone sideways, while realizing he was looking at the answer.