Halamshirale shenanigans be happening! Chapter 19 is done!

Silhouettes Swaying

A/N: Look I wrote this at 1 am when I was supposed to be sleeping and it was too adorable to stop. I feel that all of us first learn to love from our parents (that can either be a good thing or a bad thing) . I myself grew up with parents who were very much in love and still are, and I feel they’ve influenced me alot in how to love, just as Talia’s way of loving was influenced by her parents. I think thats one of the reasons i love the human noble origins so much, cause i relate to it so much.

A fog of darkness had descended on Cousland Castle, but not the kind that would frighten. It was a softer, kinder darkness that allowed the eye rest. A deep blue dark like that which could be found beneath the waters of an ocean. Rather than engulfing the world around it, this darkness merely embraced it fondly. Like a lover come to visit to give you the gentle comfort of their presence, who must leave at the come of dawn, but will only leave with the promise to come again with the next sunset. The guards armor clinked quietly as he made his rounds through the castles halls. Briefly, he stopped a moment to look out the window, almost squinting in the brightness of the full moon. The soft pitter patter of footsteps caught his attention, and for a moment he wondered who would be up at this hour. He tensed for a moment, half expecting to find a thief prowling. Then he noticed that the footsteps he was hearing were quiet small, and a tiny giggle followed these steps. The guard smiled ever so slightly and continued on his way as if he heard nothing. 

    Talia smothered her laughter with both hands, and peeked out from behind the wall again. This was a game she’d often played, and it was much more fun at night. The castle had been overrun by Orlesians and she alone could save them. Clutching her imaginary sword close to her side, she moved forward on her tiptoes, trying to be as silent as possible. She couldn’t give herself away to the Orlesians. Her family was counting on her. Her mabari, Brego padded along behind her, watching her movements intently. He was still only a pup and easily bored. Luckily he hadn’t barked much yet. As she began to make her way down the hall, she could almost feeling him following close behind on her heels.

    Down the hallway, she noticed one of the doors was ajar and she approached it, her bare feet cold against the stone. Golden light seeped out through the crack and as she neared she heard voices, both she recognized. Curiosity flooded over her, and peeking in, she realized not everyone was asleep. She found her mother and father in the study, her mother working at the desk and her father standing beside her. They were talking in low voices, and Talia understood none of it. It was difficult to see their faces in the dim candle light, but Talia could tell her mother was tired. There were dark circles under her eyes and there were more lines in her face than there should’ve been. Looking closer, Talia noticed a soft sadness in her father’s eyes. He spoke a bit more and her mother shook her head. They seemed to be arguing over something, but Talia didn’t know what. Talia’s father spoke again, and held out his hand. Talia’s mother looked over at him for a while then smiled and shook her head. She put her hand in his, and he brought it gently to his lips before leading her out of her seat and to an open space in the room. He pulled her close, their hands still intertwined, his hand resting upon her waist, and they began to dance. Eventually, Talia could hear her mother softly humming a tune, trying to add music but the notes quickly died on her lips. Soon they were barely moving at all, just holding each other and swaying in place, gazing into each others eyes. Talia’s father leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her mothers forehead, and the two rested their foreheads together, still gazing at each other lovingly. Talia smiled slightly, but she quickly decided to leave before they started making out. 

    Talia was reminded of that small memory more than 20 years later, when she found herself holding her wife in her arms, much the same way her father had held her mother, swaying the two of them gently on a balcony of the Winter Palace, away from prying eyes. Looking down, she could see Leliana’s eyes had closed as she rested her head against her shoulder, finally letting go completely, secure in her wardens arms. Talia smiled down at her, feeling flush with both the love she had found for this woman. Unable to help herself, she leaned down, her lips brushing ever so slightly against Leliana’s head, wips of red hair tickling her nose. Leliana looked up, and, seeing the look on Talia’s face, gladly returned the smile. She leaned up slightly, her lips calling out to Talia’s. They were so close together she didn’t have to lean very far. Their lips met, and this time, Talia didn’t shy away from kissing.

New Chapter is up! Next one coming as soon as school stops giving me more things to do

New Chapter! Hopefully the next one won’t take as long. Enjoy!

Sten: Undomesticated equines could not remove me.

Warden: It's wild horses, Sten...

Warden: That was a joke...

Warden: You just told a joke.

Into the Dark

Another fanfic drabble from the old days. This one’s more angsty than the fluff I normally go for. Talia’s an ultra protective gay, and will not tolerate any danger to her lovely bard girlfriend.

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    Talia loosened the strap on her shoulder pauldron and pulled it off in silence before moving on to the belt securing the faulds on her hips. Behind her, she could hear Leliana divesting herself of her own armor. She often finished long before Talia did, and more often than that she would offer to help Talia finish with hers. She never turned down the help, as the intimacy often distracted her from the events of the day they were about to leave behind, but tonight she couldn’t afford such distractions. There was something that needed to be said before her conscience could rest easy. 

    She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize that Leliana had already finished and was tugging at the straps of her breastplate, “What’s on your mind? You’ve been quiet ever since we left Harrowmont’s palace.”

    “I’m always quiet.”

    “No. This is different. What’s eating you, dearest?”

    Talia was silent for a moment, trying to decide on how to proceed. This sounded so much easier in her head. At last the piece of metal came free and she took a gulp of air, her lungs feeling less strained and the weight on her shoulders lessened.  “I… I need to ask a favor of you, but please don’t get mad.”

    “Of course. Anything.” Leliana slipped the blue and silver tunic over her head, leaving on Talia’s white undershirt, and was about to move on to the greaves but Talia took both her hands and stopped her. She needed the woman’s full attention here and now. 

Talia took a deep breath, dreading the fight that she feared she would be starting, then continued, growing more and more anxious with each word, “When we leave for the deep roads tomorrow, can you please stay here?”

“… Why would you ask me this?…”

“Lel, I’ve heard stories, I’ve read a lot. The deep roads are a hellish place with no sunlight, no water, nothing but rock and endless darkspawn. It’s not the sort of place you simply walk through. This is gonna be ugly, and I don’t want you to have to experience all that for my sake. You’ve been through enough as it is…” 

That was part of the reason, but not the real one. Talia had been doing alot of reading in the dwarves archives, and she’d found some interesting coincidences when she dug deeper. Darkspawn had often been reported dragging away captives, an occurrence almost unheard of on the surface. The targets that the darkspawn had been singling out and taking had the same similar traits; untainted, young, females. A puzzling fact that Talia had been stewing over for days now. There was still so much they didn’t know about them, and that brought another unpleasant thought; it was also still unclear how they reproduce. If Talia’s hunch was correct, if she was right in believing that the darkspawn were singling out and taking away these women to… No. She couldn’t stand even thinking about it. Jolts of electric fear coursed through her veins again, and she had to fight to keep herself composed.

“And what about you?” The bard’s tone was sharp, unmoving, exactly as Talia had worried it would be. She knew already this was a fight she didn’t have the strength to win. “If you’ve decided to go down there without me, who’s going to look after you?” The last words were almost a shriek. 

When Talia looked back up, she could feel herself wavering at the sight of those blue eyes shining too bright. Forcing herself to speak, she soldiered on, “Leliana…”

“I know. You’re not thinking of yourself… That is the crux of the problem…”

“Leliana…”

“What if something were to happen to you, and I wasn’t there to stop it? How do you think I’d feel? I can’t just sit here and wait for you to return, my place is by your side, till death and beyond!”

“Leliana please!” Talia’s voice was suddenly a shout, her voice carrying a hint of steel that she was using to hide the fear. She was breathing heavily now, heaving each breath and shaking with each exhale. Before she could continue, Leliana wrapped her arms around her in a fierce embrace, 

“I cannot lose you…”

“You won’t.” Talia said, returning the comforting embrace. She forced herself to swallow her fear, giving her voice as much certainty as possible. She couldn’t break now, that wasn’t what Leliana needed right now. She needed her warden, not the scared little girl from Highever.

“There is only one way I can know that for sure… Let me come with you.”

Talia gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to banish the tears that wanted to flow. There was no getting around this. She had tried to reason with her, but there was only one way to proceed now.  

“… Alright…”

    Dragging herself out of the haze of the content warmth that had enveloped her wasn’t easy. Reluctantly, Talia forced herself to sit up in bed, knowing that she would have a limited amount of time before the bard woke. Still she allowed herself one last long look, drinking in the sight of her lover. Every part of her wanted nothing more than to stay, but as painful as it was, she knew this was the one time when she simply could not let her follow. She’d been through enough already, and Talia would never forgive herself if anything had happened to her, especially something as awful as what her imagination was continually wracking her mind with. The darkspawn would kill Talia and be done with it, but if her suspicions were right… No, she had to close her mind to the thought. She couldn’t afford to lose herself in such fears; not now, not when there was so much ahead of her to be endured. 

    Reluctantly, she slipped out of bed and began searching for the scattered pieces of her armor, stealing as many glances as possible at her lovers sleeping form. When she had fully dressed, packed, and prepared, she knelt down and pet her loyal mabari hound, Brego, who had been watching her with sleepy eyes. As quietly as she could, and gesturing so her message was as clear as possible, she whispered, “Stay here, boy. Stay with her.” Brego looked back and forth between Talia and Leliana, a soft whine tugging at Talia’s heart. She hated having to leave him behind, but she trusted him more than anyone in the world. There was no one else she trusted more with protecting the woman she held most dear; except maybe Alistair. And if anything were to happen to her, the mabari was the last connection Leliana had to her. He was the only thing left from the life she had once had. He was almost apart of her.

    She stood once more and moved towards the door. She heard claws on stone and noticed the mabari edging towards her, trying to follow. “Stay with her, Brego. Stay with her.” She didn’t want to speak so loudly, but she needed Brego to understand. Brego stopped, and hung his head, another sad whine escaping his throat. He understood. “Good boy, Brego. Good boy.” Talia took one last glance at her, then the door opened, and she left. Zevran, Morrigan and Sten were waiting outside; these would be the only one’s she’d be taking with her. She’d already penned a note for Alistair and Wynne explaining what she was doing; and a private one to Leliana, with one sentence. 

I will always come back for you, even if I have to tear a hole through the Veil. 

-Talia

WIP

tagged by @herald-divine-hell who happened to tag me right as i was working on this thing. Tagging no one, cause im a deviant (and I cant remember which of my friends have already been tagged)

Chapter 6. (no title for the chap yet) of The Dark Wolf and the Red Fox

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“The magister asked for you by name. It’s an obvious trap!”

Eryn didn’t pay any mind to the ambassadors warnings, “Well, that’s flattering. What else did he say about me?” 

It was Leliana who answered, “He’s so complimentary, that we are certain he want to kill you.”

Eryn shrugged, “He’ll have to get in line. Half of Thedas and the majority of the chantry could say the same.” 

“Not this again…” Josephine muttered.

“Redcliffe is one of the most defensible fortresses in Fereldan. It’s repelled thousands of assaults.” Eryn listened to Cullen’s assessment with surprise. For a former templar he was remarkably well versed in things he had little to no experience with. The man had been a mage jailer, not a solider. The assessment also made her want to laugh. Most defensible fortress in Fereldan? Sure, unless you’re three assholes and a dog. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Commander. They didn’t keep me out.” She said. Cullen was giving her a puzzled look, so she continued with a shrug, “I’ve been there before. During the Blight. We had to get in to stop the undead coming from the castle.” Her eyes sparked as the memory brought an idea to mind. She looked at Leliana, “That secret passage we used last time, is it still there? The one inside the windmill?”

The spymaster nodded, “Almost certainly.”

“You mean you didn’t storm in through the front gate, slaughtering the undead hordes single-handedly?” Cassandra feigned surprise. “Shocking how inaccurate Varric’s stories are.” 

Eryn made a mental note to give the dwarf a good bruising when this was done, then moved on, “Can we even open it, though? Last time we used Arl Teagan’s signet ring to open the passage, but that ring’s long gone by now.”

“That won’t be a problem. My agents have gotten through much more difficult locks.” 

She nodded, “Let’s do that then.”

    Cullen wasn’t convinced, “Too risky. Those agents will be discovered long before they reach the magister.”

    “Unless they were distracted by something else going on in the castle…” Eryn paused before continuing, “Like the arrival of the famed Herald of Andraste they’re so eager to meet with.” She held up her hands in an exaggerated jazz hands pose. She did her best to sound as grandiose as possible, her eyes alight with mirth. Cassandra rolled her eyes, and Josephine stifled a giggle.

When Eryn woke up that morning and left for Redcliffe, she thought she knew what to expect. She didn’t think the magister would give up without a fight, and figured she would be in for a brutal battle. They say animals are their most dangerous when you corner them, and this almost always true for people as well. She had expected the magister’s resistance, and the attempt on her life. She didn’t expect to be pulled through a portal of some kind and dumped into a waterlogged prison cell in the lower parts of the castle. Time travel. Now that was definitely something she hadn’t counted on seeing. It was also something she hoped she’d never see again. 

The trip had brought her into a waking nightmare. Redcliffe was a wreck. The halls of the dark castle were lined with fissures of red lyrium. The stuff seemed to be growing from everywhere, like the stonework itself had been infected with some bizarre disease. The incessant noise of the red lyrium put Eryn even more on edge. A constant throbbing that was beginning to sound like voices, giving her the unnerving impression that her Calling was near. She was reminded of her time spent in the deep roads, but somehow this was worse. It was enough to drive her mad. If Dorian hadn’t been there to provide some break in the noise with his thoughtful insights on the situation, she might’ve snapped. She was grateful to have his company, even if she was barely able to follow half of what he was saying. 

As they made their way through the castle, she was moody and unpredictable. Irritable and harsh one minute, silent and withdrawn the next. It felt like she was battling with two different sides of herself, but neither one was quite her. It was strange to be back in this castle that she’d come to know so well, and yet recognizing almost nothing. 

The story of The Battle of River Dane was one of the few books in Tabris’ house