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Vhenan'ara	By : Arcanis_Born Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 6576 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from this.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Dragon Age: Origins is owned by Bioware, as with all its characters, the story as it deviates from canon is mine, however, as with the personalities of characters as they deviate from those in the game.
I hope you guys enjoy, and I would appreciate any reviews!
Translations:
Mi bella: Antivan. "My beauty." Endearment Zevran uses for Riel.
Mi diosa bella: Antivan. "My beautiful goddess."
Eres una diosa, yo no la merezco: Antivan. "You're a goddess, I don't deserve you."
Asombroso: Antivan. "Amazing."

Back at the camp, Riel groaned as she brushed out her hair then re-tied the messy bun behind her head. Unlike the places they normally stopped by, there was no river or lake nearby for her to wash in. The only water they had came from the well back in the village, and Riel didn't feel like leaving her tent to go fetch some. So she would have to deal with the blood and grime on her skin until it dried and flaked off her own.
Oh well she thought bitterly. It wouldn't be the first time I fell asleep with blood covering me.
A sound outside of her tent caught her attention, and Riel paused, focusing her hearing. Yet after several minutes of no one knocking on her tent or calling out to her, Riel released her dagger and picked up her leather armor and her small repair kit. In one of the fights, a Darkspawn slashed at her midsection, tearing the leather of her armor slightly. It needed to be repaired before fighting again or else the next attack would end very badly for her. Afterall, armor was only as good as it was maintained.
About an hour passed with Riel haunched over her armor, when there was another noise outside of her tent. "Riel? Are you awake?" Leliana's light voice called to her.
"Come in, Lei."
Leliana pulled back the tent flap and ducked inside. Sitting herself opposite of Riel, she was careful to make sure that nothing of hers touched her fellow rogue and friend. Once seated, Leliana reached through the tent flap, then pulled in a rather large bowl filled almost to the brim with water.
"What's the water for?" Riel asked curiously.
"For you," Leliana stated simply. Riel eyed her friend before shrugging.
"Thanks, I guess I did kind of dirty back there." Riel grabbed a cloth from her pack then wetted it down before going to work at wiping down her arms and hands.
"I didn't get it actually…." Leliana corrected, her voice tentative. "Zevran did."
"Oh," Riel's eyes lifted to Leliana's for moment before she went back to cleaning herself.
"Did something happen back in the village? I mean, besides the whole Darkspawn, demon, golem things?"
Riel stayed quiet for a few minutes, deciding whether or not to speak of her feelings with the redhead. However, she wasn't exactly sure what her feelings were, let alone try to talk about them.
"Why?" Riel asked without looking up.
"Riel, talk to me. Something is going on. You've been in here for a while and haven't spoken to anyone. Not to mention how badly Zevran looks right now."
That got Riel's attention. "Something happened to Zevran?" she asked, barely hiding the worry in her voice.
"He's out there sitting by the fire, not speaking to anyone. Even when Alistair teased him, he refused to say anything. After you entered your tent once you all returned from the village, he left again, saying he forgot something back in Honnleath. When he came back, he was carrying a large bucket of water. He asked me for one of my mixing bowls, then poured some of the water into the bowl before placing it outside of your tent. Then he sat down by the fire and hasn't said anything since."
"Well…." Riel started, unsure of what to say. "Tell him… Tell him I said thank you for the water then, will you?" Riel finally stated while she rinsed out the rag and went back to wiping off the blood on herself.
"Riel… Something happened."
"He didn't want me to help him," Riel suddenly said, keeping her eyes on her work.
"I don't understand. Help him do what?"
"After our first fight with the Darkspawn. He had their blood on him. And I didn't want him to get sick from it. So I tried to wash it off him." Riel's words were flat, as if she was trying hard to keep the emotion out of them. Yet the perceptive bard beside her didn't miss the small current of hurt that ran in Riel's voice.
"And he didn't want you to?" Riel shook her head no. "And that upset you?"
Riel lifted her eyes to Leliana, hurt and confusion shining from the silver depths. "No! Yes! I mean, no! I mean - by the Void, I don't know!" Riel huffed, tossing the rag down and cupping her face in her hands.
What is wrong with me? Riel thought over and over.
"I don't know how to do it, Lei." Riel's voice was soft and partially mumbled behind her hands. "I don't know how to act… I tried, and it didn't work. He doesn't want my help…. He doesn't want me…."
"Hey now, sweetie…" Leliana fought back the urge to reach out and comfort her friend. It was hard though, watching Riel shudder behind her hands as if she were crying.
"The stupid thing is, I'm not even angry at him. I'm angry that I don't know how to not to be angry."
"I think I know what is going on."
"You do? That's great. Maybe you could tell me then. Because I have no clue," Riel sniffed, lifting up her eyes and revealing the tears that ran down her face.

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"Are you going to sit there all night like that?"
Zevran ignored the witch and kept his eyes trained on the fire before him. He didn't care what she or Alistair said or how they teased him since he sat down. None of it mattered while he wracked his brain as to way make Riel forgive him. He wasn't exactly sure what he did, yet it was obvious that he had somehow upset his Warden. While she seemed grateful for his distractions during the conversation with Shale back in the village, she still refused to speak to him even when they returned back to camp.
A little while ago, he saw Leliana go into Riel's tent and Zevran prayed the bard would be able to get an answer from her friend. Because that was one thing that women did, did they not? When they were upset or angry, they spoke to their female friends and lamented whatever foolish thing that their men did. Not that Riel thought Zevran was hers, even though Zevran certainly wished she did. Perhaps after the bard left, he would be able to speak to her and be able to pull some clue out of her as to what he did to upset his Warden.
"This is what you fleshy meat creatures do? You wait around fire while the Darkspawn roam the land?"
"We're making camp for the evening, Shale. Redcliff is still a few days travel north from here, and it's more dangerous travelling at night. So we make camp at night and travel during the day," Alistair answered.
"Yet unless I am mistaken, the sun still shines in the sky above."
"It's late. We wouldn't get very far before we'd have to stop and make camp again. Besides, I'm tired from the fighting from earlier."
"Hmph. Flesh creatures," Shale said with disdain. "I don't get tired. I don't need sleep either. Or food. Or whatever else you disgusting things things do. This is much preferable."
Zevran caught movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head to see Leliana step out of Riel's tent. Immediately his muscles tensed, his mind racing with questions to ask the bard. Yet he remained seated, unsure of how to broach the subject with her.
"Zevran, I need water for cooking tonight. Would you help me get some from the village?" she asked him casually. Yet even though her voice was calm, there was something in the young woman's eyes that caught his attention.
"Uh, of course Leliana. It would be my pleasure," Zevran stated, getting up to his feet. Quietly he followed behind her down the old road towards the village, neither of them saying anything to the other. It was only when they got to the well that Leliana broke the silence between them.
"How much do you know about Riel, Zevran?" The question was sudden and blunt, yet asked just as casually as when had Leliana had asked Zevran to come with her.
"I know some things…" Zevran answered carefully, unsure of how much Leliana herself knew. He wasn't about to out his Warden's secrets to anyone, even a woman who seemed to be friends with his Riel.
"She had a very hard life before the Dalish found her," Leliana said sadly as she lowered the bucket down the well. "Riel doesn't like talking about it, but one night after leaving Lothering, I asked her why she doesn't smile very much."
"And what did she say?"
"That she didn't know how to." They were quiet again for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts. "Imagine living a life where you didn't know how to smile? To laugh, even? How would you know how express your feelings?"
"That would be difficult," Zevran conceded, his mind working on the meaning of her words.
"Yet she is always quick to help people who need her. Even if strangers. If she sees a problem that needs fixing, it's as if it is her way of showing that she cares. For example, if I needed help making arrows, I wouldn't even have to ask. She would sit with me and help me make them. It is as if that is her way of showing me that she cares for me as her friend."
"I have seen her several times sitting by the fire with you, setting the shaft and attaching heads to the ends," Zevran stated, pulling up the water from the well.
"Riel is very good at that," Leliana said with a soft smile. "Although I would hate to think how she would feel if I told her that I didn't need help with my arrows, even when I clearly did. She would think I didn't want her help." Leliana met Zevran's gaze for the first time since they left the camp. "Or to her, that I didn't need want her caring about me. Or perhaps even her friendship."
A knot tied itself in Zevran's stomach as he caught Leliana's meaning. "Would she think that?"
Leliana shrugged and returned her gaze to the area around them. "Perhaps. And if I were her, perhaps I wouldn't know how to express my feelings about it, either." Leliana grunted as she tried to lift the heavy bucket full of water. "Maker this is heavy! Good thing I know how to ask for help when I need it, huh Zevran?" Leliana said with a wink.
"Leliana, it would be my pleasure to carry this bucket back to camp for you," Zevran replied with a short bow.
"Good! I'm glad I brought you along."
"Me too," Zevran grinned. "I am very glad, my friend."

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"Mi bella, are you busy?"
Riel looked up from the dagger she was cleaning and stared at the tent flap. After Leliana had left, Riel had spent several minutes crying silently before she finally got tired of feeling sorry for herself. Going back to her armor, she repaired the hole in it, then set about to cleaning and sharpening her daggers. Her emotions were all over the place, and she wasn't sure she could handle another visit from someone, especially if that someone was the one causing her all the turmoil in her head.
"I'm busy, Zevran."
"Of that I have no doubt," Zevran replied quickly. However this time his voice came from a lower direction, as if he were know kneeling or sitting outside of her camp instead of standing. "I will only take but a moment of your time, I swear to it, mi bella."
Riel sighed, finding herself unable to resist his soft voice. "Come in."
"Excellent," Zevran said as he lifted the tent flap and stepping inside.
"What do you need, Zevran?" Riel asked without lifting her eyes from the blade on her lap.
"It is good you are working blades, as I find I am needing help with my own."
Riel lifted her eyes and stared at the other elf. "I find it hard to believe an assassin would need my help with his blades, Zevran," she stated dryly before lowering her eyes again.
"Well it seems that I have misplaced my repair kit, and the handle on of my blades is a bit loose. As seeing as you are the only one with similar weapons to myself, I knew that I had to come to you."
"The kit is in my bag, I just finished with it."
Taking a risk, Zevran reached across the space between them and placed his hand upon Riel's, stopping her motions. "Mi bella, I need you."
Riel looked up and found Zevran staring at her with such an intense look in his eyes. Emotions she recognized but couldn't name filled her as Zevran held her hand. Emotions she also saw mirrored back at her through Zevran's honey eyes.
"I wish to apologize for earlier, mi bella."
"F-for what?"
"For upsetting you with my careless words. I had misunderstood your intent by the well, and I wanted you to know that there is no one else I would rather have offering what you did."
Riel shrugged her shoulders as she went back to cleaning her blade. "Anyone can wipe up Darkspawn blood, Zevran. I was just the one there. I am sure I am not the first to offer to clean you up after a fight." The last sentence was said more bitterly than the rest. "I'm not very good at it, either."
"Mi bella, look at me." Riel slowly raised her eyes to meet his. "This isn't just about wiping up Darkspawn blood. Tell me what's on your mind."
Riel felt tears again prick at the corners of her eyes, yet she refused to cry anymore. Especially in front of him. Instead she just shrugged her shoulders again, unsure of what to say. "I am not like you, Zevran. I'm not very good with words."
"Very well. I shall tell you what's on my mind then," he replied with a small chuckle. "I was just thinking how beautiful you are."
Riel felt her heart skip in her chest before launching into a furious race.
"Although…" Zevran paused, looking around the tent before spotting the bowl of water and rag that Riel had used earlier. Smiling, he took the rag and rinsed it out before bringing it over to Riel's face. Carefully he wiped at a smudge of dried blood on her cheek until it disappeared. "Much better."
"Kiss me."
Zevran's eyes shot up to her own, shock filling him. He blinked a few times, his mouth agape at what he thought he had heard. Surely this was just his mind playing tricks on him, right? She couldn't have said what she did, not out of the blue like that. Could she?
"Pardon me, mi bella?" Zevran replied, stunned. "I don't think I heard-"
"Zevran, I am so messed up when it comes to a lot of things, I know this," Riel interrupted, exasperated. "I've been hurt in the past really bad, and it's made me afraid of so much. Afraid of being touched, afraid of being close to others. Afraid of what… people do…. when they…."
"I am not expecting anything from you, mi bella. Remember that."
"What if I am expecting something of myself, though? What if I want something, but I am afraid of it at the same time?"
"Then if you would permit me, I would help you to no longer be afraid."
"I don't want to afraid anymore, Zevran," Riel said as tears gathered in her eyes.
Placing his hand gently on her face, Zevran knew what was being asked of him. He knew that this was no simple kiss that she asked of him. In her own way, she was asking him to return a piece of her that had been cruelly ripped from her when she was young. To restore a piece of that innocence that she longed for.
Smiling softly at her begging look, he pulled Riel into his lap and turned her head so she was again looking at him. With a look of confusion and even disappointment, Riel was about to ask him why. However, Zevran cut off her question as he held her face softly in his hand again.
"Mi diosa bella, if there is one thing to know, is that anything worth doing, it is worth doing right. And with you, everything is worth doing," Zevran purred before leaning in slowly to place a soft chaste kiss on Riel's lips. He felt as if his heart exploded in his chest when his lips met hers. Even such a small touch set him on fire, and Zevran immediately sent a dire warning to his crotch to behave lest he cut the troublesome thing off.
Zevran didn't want to push her, or cause her to retreat from his arms, so he didn't move quickly or even use that much pressure. And when he pulled his head back after a few glorious moments, he chuckled to himself as he saw Riel's still closed eyes and parted lips. The temptation to kiss her again, to pull her deeply against him as he ravaged her mouth... It screamed at him to fulfill his desire and to ease the aching within him.
Yet even with Zevran's head spinning from how good that one small kiss made him feel, he knew that caution and time was what was needed for his goddess. And so he was not prepared for Riel to grab his face and pull him once more down to her waiting lips. However, Zevran's surprise only lasted a brief moment before he was lost in the feelings this hard and fierce Grey Warden was eliciting within him. His hands snaked around Riel, one holding her close while the other tangled itself in her hair.
It seemed as if an eternity passed yet at the same time ended all too soon as the two young elves slowly parted. Both of them breathing heavily, they stared into each other's eyes, unsure or unable to say anything.
Never before had Zevran felt the way that he did at that moment. There were enough women and men in his past that Zevran was well acquainted in the art of kissing, yet none of them had ever touched him so deeply. It was if when he helped return a piece of Riel's broken spirit, she had done the same to him. A piece that he didn't even know he was missing until that very moment.
Riel's breathing came in short heavy bursts as she found herself just as speechless. She remembered the hard, forceful kisses her masters laid unto her, their seeking tongues pushing past her reluctant lips. The taste of alcohol and bitter cigars flooding her, causing her to gag every time. They often laughed at her as she tried futilely to push them away. To remove their wandering hands from her body as they tore at what little clothes she had. Then the pain as they forced themselves into her repeatedly, even years before most girls would even start thinking of others in a sexual way.
Riel forced those images away from her mind as she felt Zevran's arms encircle her. Unlike her old masters, he wasn't demanding with his touch. Even when Zevran kissed her, he was careful not to push her too fast or give more than she could handle. Yet Riel could feel that Zevran wanted more. More of a kiss, more of her skin to touch, more of her. She also knew that he resisted though, as he stared lovingly into her eyes.
"Eres una diosa, yo no la merezco," Zevran whispered softly as he stared completely lost in Riel's eyes.
"I don't understand, Zevran."
"Pardon me, my sweet. I sometimes forget that I am not in Antiva. I just cannot believe that you are real.
Riel laughed softly at that. The sound filled Zevran's ears, making his chest swell as he thought about how lovely and musical the sound was to him.
"Well, I assure you, I am very real. Unfortunately, so is this Blight. So as much as I would love to stay here with you like this, I think our companions may be wondering what is going on."
Zevran again sighed heavily as Riel reminded him of her quest. With her, everything seemed so far away - as if it truly was just the two of them lost in the wild somewhere alone, in a tent. Something that Zevran found himself wishing for more and more.
"You are right, as usual, mi bella."
"You say that a lot, mi bella. What does it mean?"
"It means, 'my beauty', in my home language. You are, after all, more beautiful than any other in my eyes."
Again, Riel laughed at his comment. She knew what she was, and that was far from beautiful. Between the scars on her back and the one on her face, she thought of herself as the exact opposite of beautiful in fact. As she thought about what he said and the thoughts that came from it, Riel raised her hand subconsciously to the scar that stretched along her face.
Zevran watched Riel's eyes grow faint as she touched the scar on her face. Without being told, he knew what she thought, and again he felt anger at what she had to endure in short life.
"No, mi bella. Do not think such thoughts. Your scars are a part of you, and as much as I wish I could erase your past and replace it with one of joy and laughter, they show just how strong of a woman you are. You are beautiful, my sweet. And I will show you that one day."
Riel smiled up at him before placing a soft kiss on his lips. Instantly, she felt his hands wrap tighter around her, yet she wasn't afraid. Not of him. Not of his touch. The thought surprised her, yet as she tried to explain to him before, things between the two of them just somehow seemed right.
Zevran couldn't help the groan that came when her lips touched his. The feel of her lips, the sweet taste that teased him, the way her scent made his head dizzy with desire, the way she felt against him in that moment... It was almost more than he could bear.
"Mi bella. Perhaps we should make our way out to our companions before I decide to keep you in here with me for the rest of the day so I may have the pleasure of simply holding you and looking into your asombroso eyes."
"What if I wanted that too?"
"I would say that you have still not eaten this evening. Perhaps after I have made sure that you are well nourished, we can come back inside here and I can hold you until you fall asleep. Would that please you, mi bella?"
"I would love that."
"So would I."
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Vhenan'ara