#But for example Helen still did the voices outside the horse. I have my own interpretation of it. as there's no for certain reason but she | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shannaraisles · 7 years

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Set In Darkness

Chapter: 21 Author name: ShannaraIsles Rating: M (for language) Warnings: None Summary: She’s a Modern Girl in Thedas, but it isn’t what she wanted. There’s a scary dose of reality as soon as she arrives. It isn’t her story. People get hurt here; people die here, and there’s no option to reload if you make a bad decision. So what’s stopping her from plunging head first into the Void at the drop of a hat?

Dusk and Dawn

Riding, Rory had discovered, was not nearly as easy as it looked.

For all that Master Dennet would soon refer to these horses as old nags, however, the placid mare she'd been given to ride didn't need much in the way of interference from her ride. Which was just as well, really - Rory was a city girl, born and raised, and had never been closer than twenty feet away from a horse before she'd been dropped unceremoniously in Thedas. Thankfully, she wasn't the only member of the Inquisition party heading to Val Royeaux who had never ridden before. It apparently wasn't as common a skill as she'd thought it would be. And while, yes, it meant that her days on horseback were spent with Helene, her Cullen-chosen escort, riding close beside her in case of accidents, it also meant she wasn't the only one taking her meals standing upright to spare the ache of her backside and hips.

"You know, cupcake, for someone who's traveled all over Ferelden, you're a pretty poor horsewoman," Varric teased her on the fourth night, from where he was lounging comfortably by the fire.

"That's why I have feet," she countered, unashamedly rubbing her sore rear end. "They're more reliable than a horse and don't leave me aching in uncomfortable places."

"I thought all humans knew how to ride," the dwarf pointed out with a chuckle.

"And now you know better," Rory informed him, not really in the best of moods to be teased. She groaned, stretching out her back. "No, I'm going for a walk. I'll be stiff as a board in the morning if I don't get my muscles moving."

"I'll come with you," Kaaras volunteered, rising from his seat at the fire. He waved Helene back down to her own seat. "I'll look after her - we won't go far."

Rory raised her brows, surprised by the Qunari's insistence on accompanying her alone until she remembered that he still hadn't had that talk with her yet. This was certainly one way to wangle a little privacy, which almost certainly meant he didn't want anyone to overhear what he wanted to say. Hooking his cloak over his shoulders, Kaaras drew her away from the main camp, her feet leaving three prints in the snow to every one of his. He didn't immediately speak, however, leaving Rory to break the silence.

"I hear we're expected to reach the capital in another four days," she offered into the gathering darkness. "Nervous?"

"Can you think of a reason why I shouldn't be?" he asked in turn, reflexively rubbing the mark on his palm through his glove. "They've probably never even seen someone like me before. There's no way they'll look past the horns."

"You shouldn't be nervous because you're responding to an invitation in good faith," Rory reminded him, although she knew his visit was not going to be the polite give and take they were hoping for. "Um ... because it gives you an opportunity to make contact with the templars?"

"That is true enough," Kaaras agreed mildly. "I'm inclined to agree with Cullen - the templars would be the better ally for dealing with the Breach, and besides that, they're the largest, best disciplined military force outside Par Vollen. The mages can't even control their own people."

Rory forced herself to button her lip on that. She wasn't supposed to know what he was talking about. But she found herself annoyed that he could so easily dismiss the mages from the equation. Would he willingly turn his back on them when he knew everything, she wondered. He was, after all, a mercenary at heart, raised by parents who were raised with an irrational terror of magic and mages.

"Sorry," he apologized in the face of her silence. "I'm not supposed to talk about it outside the council. I just assumed that you'd ... well, because of Cullen ... Never mind. Anyway, I'm still nervous about meeting the Chantry."

Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help smiling a little at his assumption that Cullen would tell her everything that went on in the war room. Reading a little much into a few kisses. But she could also spot the opening he was hoping she'd make for him in this conversation, happy to oblige. "I shouldn't worry," she assured him. "Cassandra will protect you."

"Cassandra could take on the world and win." Kaaras sighed hopefully, his voice filled with admiration for the Seeker even as he came to a halt beneath the trees. "Rory ... how do I know if someone likes me? As a friend, I mean."

"They let themselves be alone with you in the dark?" she suggested, referencing the situation they were in at that moment with flippant good humor.

The Qunari let out a low laugh. "I don't mean you," he clarified with a faint grin. "I know you're my friend. This is ... someone else."

"Well, it's a little hard to tell without knowing who you're talking about," Rory pointed out helpfully. "The way Solas shows friendship is very different from the way Josephine does, for example."

He frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right," he conceded. "I'm usually good at reading people, but this one ... She confuses me."

"It's a she, is it?" Rory asked with a gentle smile. Of course it's a she; he's got the hots for Cassandra! "Are you sure this is about friendship, Kaaras? Or are you hoping for more?"

The big horned head shook sadly. "She'd never look at me like that," he said, his tone resigned. "We're too different."

"I wouldn't rule it out entirely," she encouraged him in a confident voice. "Sometimes it's the differences that bring people together."

"Nothing I do seems to impress her," he confessed mournfully. "She won't even smile at my jokes."

"That's because most of your jokes are terrible," Rory told him, snorting with laughter at the feigned outrage on his boyish face. "She's got a pretty serious outlook on the world. Just be yourself - I'm sure she's not indifferent to your charms."

Kaaras eyed her with vague suspicion. "You know who I'm talking about?"

"Kaaras, there's only one woman you've spent a significant amount of time with," she reminded him in amusement. "Honestly, just treat her normally. Compliment her; flirt, if you've got the balls to. She won't be easy to reach, but I really do think you have a real chance with her."

"So you think she does like me?" he asked hopefully.

"I think, if she didn't, she probably would have hurt you by now," she laughed reassuringly. "You did drop her in a freezing lake and live to tell the tale. She's a passionate woman - everything she feels, she feels deeply. But she might be scared of letting herself feel anything for you, not because of who you are, but because of what you represent."

"This damned mark, you mean." He scowled down at his left hand.

"In part," Rory agreed, watching him for a long moment. "Look, the more you relax around her, the more she'll see you, not the bloody Herald of Andraste. And you're a very charming man-child with deadly skills. You'd be surprised what women like."

"Man-child?" he objected with a low laugh of his own.

"Yes," she said, standing by her assessment of him. "You have the potential to be adorable."

Kaaras' laughter burst from him at that. "Thank you," he guffawed, his laughter fading to let him fix her with a mock-serious look. "But don't ever repeat that."

"My lips are sealed," she promised. "Shall we go back? They'll worry if you're out of sight too long."

"You don't think she'll think that we're ...?" He trailed off as they turned back to camp, his hand gesturing vaguely between them.

Rory snorted, shaking her head. "No, I think she knows I'm not that kind of woman," she assured her friend.

"Really?" Fade-touched eyes surveyed her from his height. "What kind of woman are you?"

"The faithful kind," she said softly. "I'm not saying any more."

The Qunari grinned down at her. "You don't have to."

Grateful that he didn't try to pry into her own tentative relationship, Rory was yawning by the time they reached the camp, giving out her good nights to crawl appreciatively into the tent where her bedroll was laid out among three others. Riding might be quicker, but it was no less exhausting than walking all day.

And yet, despite her weariness, she still woke long before dawn, forcing herself to lie still and listen to the even breaths of her sleeping tent-mates. She missed Cullen. They'd only shared blankets three times, but in Haven, she was guaranteed to at least see him every day. It had been four days since she'd laid eyes on her golden Adonis of a commander, and she was feeling his absence like a persistent ache that would not ease, missing the tender secrecy of his hidden smiles across the training ground. Had he even noticed she was gone? Was he remembering to look after himself without her there to bully him into it? Would this absence make him fonder, or remind him that she wasn't really necessary to his health and happiness? What if - and this made her heart clench painfully - what if he noticed Evy and canon preferences took over?

She couldn't stand listening to her own thoughts in the darkness. After an hour of upsetting herself with what ifs that were more a disservice to Cullen than anything, Rory rose from her blankets, rolling them neatly into a bundle, and picked her way carefully out of the tent and into the pre-dawn gloom. The camp was quiet, hardly anyone up yet, and she took the opportunity to stretch out her aching legs and back without an audience for once. The ache was beginning to ease, but she wasn't sure horses were ever going to be her favorite mode of transportation. A side-trip to the cooking fire saw her furnished with a hot cup of ginger tea to try and wake up with, which she took off to one side of the camp, finding a small boulder to sit on and watch the slow creep of the dawn as it made menacing shadows of the mountains they had left the day before.

The camp was only just beginning to stir when she felt someone sit down beside her, glancing away from the looming shadows to find Casandra at her side, sleep-tousled and bearing a steaming cup of her own. The two women sat in silence for several long minutes, neither one feeling the need to fill the air with unnecessary words in the sleepy pre-light.

"You do not sleep well away from him," the Seeker said eventually. "I imagine it is the same with him."

Rory didn't need her to elaborate to understand what she was saying. "He doesn't sleep well, anyway," she pointed out quietly.

"Perhaps not," Cassandra agreed, sipping from her cup. "But there is a peace in him now that was missing when we first met. I believe you are responsible."

"That's a lovely thought, Cassandra," Rory murmured in answer. She wasn't sure why, but she wasn't happy to take the credit for Cullen's improvement. "It could just as easily be caused by his acceptance of his role in the Inquisition."

"I do not believe that," Cassandra told her gently. "He is a strong man, but even the strongest need someone they can be weak with. How many ever find a heart that does not judge them for their choices? I envy you both that you have found such safety in one another. It is a rare thing."

For the first time, Rory found she didn't want to deny what might be blossoming in her life. "I just hope I don't mess it up," she sighed, looking down at the dregs in her cup. "He's been hurt enough."

"Then a healer is exactly what he needs," the Seeker said in a soft voice. "He is a good man - troubled, but noble at heart. Sometimes he forgets that."

"I'll try to keep him reminded." Rory lifted her head, looking over at the Seeker in the dim dawning light, seeing the envy the woman had spoken of hidden in her face. "There's someone out there for everyone, you know," she said as gently as she could. "Sometimes it's the last person you'd expect."

She couldn't swear to it, but for just a moment, Cassandra almost seemed to blush. "A lovely thought," she answered, echoing Rory's own evasion as voices behind them signaled another day beginning. "Come. There is still a long road between here and Val Royeaux."

Smiling a wry smile, Rory got to her feet, turning her back to the dawn. It was a lovely thought, that someone who so wanted romance in her life could get it if she only let herself relax into it. And if the game was at all accurate, it would become reality within the year. Now that was worth smiling about.

#set in darkness #multi-chapter fic #cullen rutherford/original female character #cullen rutherford/rory allen #rory allen #varric tethras #cassandra pentaghast #kaaras adaar #on the road #asking for advice #vicariously being romanced through someone else #cassandra needs to get laid

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