139 réponses à ce sujet

[Sue]

another great chapter. always bring such emotion that you can just feel.

[VioletTheirin]

Thank you Sue; both for the compliment and also for reading. Hearing that people are enjoying the way I portray the characters absolutely makes my day!

[Lynn01]

I'm glad to find another update of this the only downside is that I keep wanting to read more! ;-)

/hugs

[VioletTheirin]

Fear not my dear Lynn, chapter 17 is poised to be completed by tomorrow evening. I think you will be happy with it as it contains sparring practice and jokes that are made at Oghren's expense.. LOL

* hugs back * 

Modifié par VioletTheirin, 19 août 2010 - 07:12 .

[VioletTheirin]

Chapter 17~The Fierce Little Blighter~





"Aaargh…come on, you man skirt wearing freak…aaaargh…I'm dying here!" Oghren stood in the sitting room of Leliana's house doubled over in what seemed to be excruciating pain; with Anders standing over him, obviously amused by the dwarf's alleged agony.



"Nope, I will not do it…" Anders faced the dwarf; a smug smile stretched across his lips, crossing his arms defiantly.



Oghren turned his gaze upwards, still unable to unfold his body from it's pained position. "Why not, you like seeing me suffer don't you, you thunder-humping son of

a….uuuuuuuugh"



"While you do make such a compelling argument for why one should be merciful, I am afraid that I am under strict orders from Nathaniel…who might I remind you has been made your and my senior officer, not to give you any aide." Anders laughed as he shook his head. "He feels that since your stupidity caused your horrible pain and therefore caused the both of you to be delayed getting back to the Keep you should have to just suffer and maybe a lesson can be drilled through your thick skull and into that little booze addled brain of yours."



Alistair chuckled as he approached the pair. "What's all this? I thought he was supposed to be with Nathaniel on their way back to Amaranthine?"



"Oh they were…that is until 'Ser-Farts-A-Lot' here convinced Nate to stop at the Gnawed Noble for a bite before they got on the road."



Alistair gave Anders a confused look. "Did he just eat too much? I would ask if he drank too much but by now I don't think there is enough ale in Denerim to even make him tipsy."



"Oh if it isn't the little pike twirler, oi…you stay out of this, 'least I can hold my booze! You've only been at it for eight sodding years and look at you, I've seen ****e falling out of a bronto's behind that looks better than you…uuuuuugh…."



Anders rolled his eyes. "I suppose you could say it was something that he ate, though it was nothing on the menu. Our friend here noticed Cyril, the barkeep getting ready to throw out a jar of pickled eggs that were older than I am. Oghren seemed to think that to be wasteful and ate the lot of them…and then washed them down with the brine."



Alistair's complexion turned green at just the thought of what that could possibly taste like.

"Dear, Maker!"



"Uuuuugh….come on sparkle fingers…sodding help me."



Zevran then came down the stairs…seemingly in a hurry to get somewhere but stopped just short of the door upon seeing Oghren who was still bent over in two. "Ah, Oghren is back…and bent in half…what did he eat this time?"



"It's none of your sodding business elf, now get over here where I can see you…I don't trust you anywhere near my hindquarters when they are all exposed like this….aaaaaarrrgh….."



Zevran knelt down to meet the dwarf's lower-than-normal line of sight. "Tsk tsk tsk…and here I had such hopes for you and I, Oghren; but alas, it was never meant to be. You are so...cruel, my hairy friend"



"Huruuuuuuugh, bloody pointed eared comedian."



Zevran laughed and stood before making his way to the door again.



"Where are you going?" Anders' focus turned away from the writhing dwarf.



"I have business to take care of in the city…I shall be back." Zevran opened the door but before walking out he peeked over his shoulder to once more look at the dwarf.

"Oghren…you will wait for me, yes? Just the way you are?"



Oghren remained hunched over but began slowly making his way toward Zevran who was grinning smugly. "You stay back elf…or I'll tear you apart limb from sodding limb…you unnaturally prissy freak."



"Ah..the high hopes that I had for our relationship; once again cruelly dashed…such a shame…" Zevran winked and then stepped out the door.



Alistair could not help but laugh; though he and Zevran never did see eye to eye on everything, the elf's sense of humor could almost always cheer him up. Alistair then turned back to Anders. "Anders, have you seen Rose? I need to speak with her. I checked out by the swing where I saw her playing last but didn't see her and I'm not sure where else to look."



"I believe I heard it mentioned that she was going to go practice with Nathaniel..."



Alistair looked at the mage curiously. "Practice; practice what?"



"Sparring. Your daughter has proven to be quite adept at wielding a pair of daggers." Anders noted a look of concern in Alistair's eyes and quickly tried to reassure him. "They use blunted daggers and she is only being taught the basics...mostly form and how to hold a weapon.."



Oghren, who had finally managed to sort of prop himself in a chair interrupted the mage. "He he he...basics my hairy arse...that girl grew out of the basics before she could even talk! That little blighter is her mother through and through...but I still think she would make a sodding brilliant berserker; instead of this sissy arsed duelist training...mmmmmm..." The dwarf then fell to his side in the chair; no longer able to exert the effort needed to hold his body up.



Anders scrambled to nullify the image that Oghren had no doubt put into the new father's head. "I promise you, Alistair...Leli, Zev and Nate have only been teaching her basic moves..."



Alistair held out his hand, cutting Anders off. "Its fine, Anders...I trust Leliana and Zevran and if they both trust Nathaniel to teach my daughter then I do as well. The only real fear I feel is for my own life, as I have to have a discussion with her that she is not going to be very happy about...and now, knowing that she has weapon training, I'm beginning to wonder if I need to borrow some armor before approaching her."



Anders gave a relieved chuckle. "If she were angry and determined enough; she would find a way around that armor in short order mate." Anders pointed toward the back part of the house. "Toward the back fence...behind the woodshed there is a practice area set up; I wager you will find them there."



Alistair turned and began walking out the door as Anders called after him. "May the Maker watch over you!"



The clear sky began turning a deep orange as the sun made its way lower into it. Alistair found the practice area but remained at the side of the woodshed, watching his daughter as she listened attentively to Nathaniel's instruction.



Nathaniel stood behind the girl, helping her to position the daggers in her small hands. "Now bebinn, once you draw, you will want to hold the left blade like this...and the right like…this...there you go. Are you ready to try?"



Rose nodded her head readily as she slid the daggers into the belt that was strapped around her petite waist. She then positioned herself on the other side of the practice area from her teacher and relaxed her body in a casual stance.



Alistair watched his daughter in amazement; just a little earlier that very day she was so shy around Nathaniel that she could barely even look in his direction. But once those daggers were in her hands and the challenge placed before her, any trace of child-like infatuation with the young man seemingly disappeared; leaving her focused and determined.



After allowing the girl a moment to ready her mind and prepare, Nathaniel stealthily crept up behind her. Though it would look to most that the child was oblivious to the fact that someone was slowly approaching her; Alistair knew better. After nearly two years spent traveling and fighting next to three extremely talented and well trained rogues, he knew exactly what he was looking at. Her head, ever so slightly cocked to the side indicated that she had caught onto his sound, her chest, moving slowly and deliberately indicated her adjusting her breathing to allow for her to be able to hear better, her lips, moving ever so slightly...counting the steps as he approached, and her hair, pulled up into a loose bun so as to expose the sensitive hairs on the back of her neck which would alert her to any moment that danger was imminent.



Nathaniel made his way across the yard until he was nearly on top of the still, and very focused Rose. His hand then began to reach around toward her throat, and it was then that Alistair saw his daughter's internal alarms beginning to sound as her green eyes sprang open. In an instant her muscles tensed slightly, breathing pattern changed once again and head moved slightly. Just as Nathaniel's hand began to contract and close around her throat, Rose snapped from her meditative state and instinctively grabbed Nathaniel's wrist that was just ever so close to her throat, bringing it down so that his elbow bent over her shoulder. She then took a step out so that she could kick one foot backwards; viciously implanting it into Nathaniel's groin.



The young man grunted loudly, hunching over from the shock of the impact. Rose then pulled Nathaniel's arm around the side of her shoulder and threw him into the dirt in front of her. As Nathaniel scrambled to stand upon his feet Rose once again brought up her foot but this time she used it to kick him squarely in the rear, knocking him face first into the ground with a sickening thud.



As Nathaniel once again worked to get back onto his feet Rose pulled her daggers from her belt, instantly holding them in the position he had just shown her. Nathaniel nearly got himself up-righted only to be knocked flat as Rose thrust her body in a tight circle and slammed one booted foot into his chest. Nate's back hit the ground and without the time to even make a move to stand again Rose jumped and landed straddling him. She then slammed her knees forcefully into his ribcage, knocking the breath from him and also allowing her to get close enough to cross her blades at his throat.



Alistair watched the whole dance in a complete daze; it was savage, frightening, yet beautifully dangerous. The young rogue's father then shook his head, snapping himself from his hypnotic trance. Alistair gulped loudly as what he just witnessed completely sunk in, his body growing noticeably chilled. "Dear Maker, I'm a dead man."



Rose pulled her daggers back from Nate's throat and slid them into her belt. A huge grin found her face as she squealed with excitement "I did it! How did I do Nathaniel, did I do it right?" In her excitement Rose forgot that she was still kneeling upon her "victim's" chest.



Nate drew in a painful breath before managing utter a few raspy words. "Rose...I...can't...breathe..."



Rose's cheeks pinked as she quickly jumped to her feet. "Oh! I'm so sorry!"



After panting for a few moments and allowing oxygen to once again find his lungs Nathaniel looked at the worried girl and gave her a big smile. "You did so well, Rose! Perfection, bebinn...just like your Mamae."



Rose let out another loud squeal of delight.



Nathaniel patted the girl's red hair and chuckled lightly. "I'm proud of you bebinn, you have picked up on these things so quickly, and some of these maneuvers prove difficult for even an experienced rogue to perform." He wrapped an arm around Rose's shoulders and pulled her in to give her a congratulatory squeeze. He was still obviously in quite a bit of pain as he grimaced at the bit of effort that it took to pull her in. "There is just one tiny thing that I need to remind you of."



Rose turned to face Nate and bit her lower lip nervously, by the look on her face Alistair could sense that she knew what was coming.



"Remember, when we are only sparring…you don't need to use your full force to perform all of the moves. All of this is more about working on your form, strength can come later. All you need to do is pretend like you are going to kick me…or jump on me and I promise I will be fair and act like you really hit me very hard."



Rose's disposition instantly went from joyous to crushed as she began to cry. "I'm so sorry, Nathaniel…I didn't mean to, I just started doing the moves and…"



Nate interrupted Rose, feeling terrible for ruining her proud moment. He pulled her in for a hug once again as he reassured her. "No, no, no Rose. Bebinn…don't feel bad. The fact that you can focus yourself so well and think only of the battle you are in is a good thing. It's just not always so good for my health sweetheart." Nate kissed the little girl on the forehead as she began to calm down. "There's no need to cry, love."



Nate pushed the girl's chin upward, forcing her to look into his eyes as he grinned. "You know, we're friends…so I guess I can tell you the real reason why I need you to take it easy on me…if you promise not to tell anyone else."



Rose nodded emphatically "I promise!"



Nate leaned over and whispered. "The truth is, if you wanted to you could probably kick my butt."



As Rose's face once again lit up Nate stood back and thought to himself, With as fierce as that little girl is it won't be too long before she really could kick my arse.



Nate tousled Rose's hair, which by now had begun to fall out of the bun in a mess of haphazard wavy strands. "Bebinn, why don't you go ahead and practice your kicks on the scarecrow for a little while, so I can have a little rest."



Rose nodded and obediently began throwing kicks of all different styles into the chest of the scarecrow. Nathaniel leaned up against a stack of straw bales that they used to hang archery targets on and watched his young prodigy at work.



Alistair walked to the other side of the bales from where Nate was standing and laughed. "I must say Nathaniel, you are a much braver man than I; showing Rose such powerful techniques and then allowing her to use you as the practice dummy."



Nathaniel took a long drink from a skin of water and shook his head. "Truthfully, I only wanted her to throw me to the ground and wield the daggers smoothly enough to be able to combat with them; the rest was all her."



"Why didn't you stop her? I know that just her first kick would have had me incapacitated for the entire night."



Nate wrinkled his nose. "Nah, I have found that once she is in her zone, it is best to just grit your teeth and let her go. She is extremely talented and the fact that she can do such complex things on a whim is very impressive. I don't want to stop her while she is using her mind that way; it causes her to become discouraged and should a situation ever rise where she needs to think on her feet it will be much more difficult to do so. When we are done I just gently remind her that when sparring it is okay to simply 'mimic' the more dangerous and painful moves."



Alistair smiled. "Well I must say you are great with her, she really seems to respond to you."



"She does seem to prefer sparring with me; while Zev and Leli are great teachers they tend to make her stick to strictly practicing form; which I grant them is very, very important, however I tend to believe that all of the form and grace in this world won't do a person a bit of good if they don't know how to actually incorporate it into battle."



Alistair was impressed by Nathaniel's philosophy on Rose's training and found that he really was inclined to agree with him.



"So, Alistair; what brings you out here this evening? Are you merely observing or would you like to go a round with her?" Nate gave Alistair a cheeky grin.



"Oh no…no sword play for me just yet. I'd be lucky if I could even pick one up, let alone swing it with as out of shape as I am." Alistair chuckled. "Of course, after this conversation I am about to have I think that a spar may be inevitable."



"Oh, so good news I take it?" Nate laughed. "Rose, let's call it a night, bebinn…it has gotten dark and I believe your father would like to chat with you; besides I think I need to pay Anders a visit."



Rose ran up to her father, her face beaming with pride. "Did you see me? Did you see what I did?"



Alistair knelt down and caressed the girl's cheek with his hand. "I did see, Rose! Very nicely done, you looked just like your Mamae out there and I'm very proud." Alistair stood again and reached for Rose's hand. "Can we go for a walk and talk for a little while?

There's something I need to tell you."



Rose quickly nodded and took her father's hand. As they began to walk away Alistair noticed the daggers still sticking out of her belt. He stopped and pulled them from the girl's waist all the while keeping a smile on his face.



Rose shot him a confused look as he handed them to Nathaniel. "What are you doing?"



"Oh, I'm just giving them to Nathaniel to hold onto while we take our walk…for safe keeping."



Then as Rose began to drag her father away he muttered back to Nathaniel…"Of course by safe keeping I mean keeping me safe."



Rose quirked her eyebrow at her father, "What did you say?"



"Nothing Rose…nothing at all." Alistair motioned her forward with his hand. "Lead on…"



Nathaniel remained propped against the hay bale laughing loudly as he watched the pair disappear around the house.



"Nathaniel, is there something about Alistair's posterior that you find particularily amusing?" Zevran chuckled as he approached Nathaniel.



Nate continued to laugh as he shook his head. "I really shouldn't be laughing; bebinn is going to eat that man alive." Nate turned to Zevran and though it was dark he noticed a white bandage wrapped around the elf's hand. "What on earth happened to you?"



Zev looked down at the white cloth wrapping his hand. "Sometimes you cannot completely lose your grip on something, unless you bleed a little."



"What?" Nathaniel looked at his companion with confusion.



Zevran merely gave Nate a slight smile, before patting him on the shoulder and walking back toward the house.

[Sue]

another great piece.they way you write I can just see everything. The only thing that I don't like is that I have to wait for Monday for the next one. Ha Ha. Keep it up, this is one of my favorite one to read. You have a good weekend.

[VioletTheirin]

Aww thank you Sue! I'm glad that you're enjoying it and that I am able to make the characters and their stories come to life for you. I always find myself biting my nails when i first post, hoping that I am living up to my reputation. Have a wonderful weekend!

[Sue]

I would say you should have no worries, you always deliver. They are all fabulous so save those nails and get a nice manicure. you deserve it.

[VioletTheirin]

LOL. I'll save my nails for my Teagan story that I'm releasing sometime next week...That's the current one that has me freaked out. It is WAY outside the box from what I normally do.

[Sue]

Wow, I will be looking forward to reading that one too. I know it will be great. Just the way your other stories are you have such a talent in writing. and I have none of that. I have always been number s person. I have great imagination but just can't get it from my head to the pen.

[VioletTheirin]

LOL...ya...numbers and me, don't get along. I made it to Pre-Algebra and that was it...but I married an accountant; go figure! I've always loved to write, ever since I learned how. I still have my first story in a box somewhere that I wrote in Kindergarten...I'll have to see if I can find that now that I think of it

[Sue]

well then you are balanced. Same here my hubby is great in letter and contract writing. I am always asking him to proof read the important stuff that I have to send out just to be safe. ha ha. That is cool, you still have it. you probably should read it again.... bring back sweet memories.

[Djehmli]

Just dropping a note to say wonderful story, I just finished reading it in one sitting. It flows beautifully, despite your problems with the boards formatting, you've captured enough of the personality of the original characters that you can still relate them to the game-world, yet you've definitely left your own stamp and style in a wonderful way that is believable. Thank you for sharing.

[VioletTheirin]

Djehmli, I am SO happy that you enjoyed my story...one sitting? WOW! And yes...I will openly admit that the formatting on here drives me to absolute frustration and I apologize for it looking so weird. I had someone suggest to me to paste it from a text doc instead of from Word so I am going to try that next time and see if it works. Once again, thanks for reading! New chapter will be out soon!

[0x30A88]

I have read the six first chapters and I am very impressed, keep it up

[Lynn01]

hehe very nice again!!!!!! As always, I love it!!!

[VioletTheirin]

@ Gisle Aune...I'm glad you are liking it so far, I hope I continue to impress



@Lynn01 Thanks as always! I'm going to try to add chapters more frequently now that my kids are back in school...*fingers crossed*

[BramAlam12345]

This is really great stuff. I've read the first five chapters and am very impressed. Very moving stuff. Thank you very much.

[VioletTheirin]

Thank you, Bram, for reading and for your kind words! I hope I continue to impress and entertain you!

[0x30A88]

I read everyone you have written so far, will be looking forward to reading the next too, keep up the good work.

[VioletTheirin]

Thank you Gisle, I'm working hard on keeping my fans happy! Glad to have you on board!

[VioletTheirin]

Chapter 18 ~Her Mother's Daughter~


“What do you mean you are leaving?” Rose furrowed her brow in a mixture of anger and confusion at her father who was pacing the room nervously. She stood from the armchair where she had been sitting and approached him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You told me you would stay…you promised me that you would never leave again.”

“Rose, I promise you this is only for a little while…”Alistair reached out for his daughter in an attempt to calm her but his hands were forcefully pushed away.

“You promised that you wouldn’t leave…now you promise that you will come back?!” Angry tears welled up in Rose’s eyes. “How can I trust anything that you say when all you have ever done is lie to me?”

Alistair was unsure of what to say, habitually his hand traveled up to the amulet hanging from his neck by a piece of leather. He pulled the amulet over his head and held it out in front of his daughter. “Here, take this. It was my mother’s, you see and I never part with it.” Alistair knelt down as he took the child’s hand in his and placed the amulet within, closing her fingers over top of it. “I want you to keep it as an assurance that I will be back to retrieve it…I want you to keep it safe.”

“I don’t want your amulet or your promises…just leave.”

Rose shoved the amulet into her father’s chest but as she turned to leave he grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around to look into his eyes. “Rose, I promise you…I will come back. I just need to get my life together before I can be much of a father to you, I’m doing this for you, you have to believe me.”

“I don’t have to do anything you say, least of all believe you! Why don’t you just go back to wherever you came from and forget that you ever found me.”

“I won’t do that Rose, I love you and I want to be here for you.”

Rose glared into her father’s brown eyes, trying in vain to hold back the tears that were threatening to pour down her cheeks. “Well I don’t love you and I don’t need you here for me…I hate you!”

“I know that you don’t mean that…”

Alistair once again tried to reach for his daughter but when his hand brushed her arm she turned and pushed him harshly to the floor as she screamed. “I said I hate you! Leave me alone!!”

Alistair felt as though his heart shattered into a million pieces as those words came from her mouth; a reminder of the same words that spilled from his own mouth so many years ago as Ruthi tried to reason with him when he boarded the boat for Rivain. He figured that this was the Maker’s way of punishing him for what he did to her. Slowly, he picked himself up from the floor and made his way out of the room; determined to find Rose and to try and make her understand.

When he entered the sitting room he was greeted by a crowd of concerned but seemingly confused faces staring back at him. Upon seeing the broken hearted expression painted across his face, Leliana stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Alistair’s shoulder. “Alistair, what happened?”

“She got angry and said that I lied to her…that everything I’ve ever said to her was a lie. I tried giving her my mother’s amulet, to assure her that I would be back but she wouldn’t take it. She told me that she hated me and wished for me to go back where I came from.”

Zevran then stepped forward as confusion was replaced with shock. “Let me speak with her, she should not have said such things…”

Alistair shook his head. “No Zev, she has a right to feel the way that she feels. It’s fine. I think I will just head back to The Pearl for the night, I am suddenly very sleepy.”

“Alistair, stay here for the night…please? I would not feel right sending you back there when there is plenty of room here.” Leliana smiled sweetly, trying to offer a bit of comfort to the heartbroken man.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

Leliana nodded. “I insist.”

Relief washed over Alistair upon hearing her words because in his current state of minds he was afraid that the temptation to find comfort in a bottle of ale would be too great to resist and he did not want to fall back into that cycle of comfort again. He gave Leliana a grateful smile and nodded. “I will just go back and get my things.”

Anders stepped forward, much to his wife’s dismay and approached Alistair as he headed for the door. “I’ll come along, seems you could use a friend.”

Alistair smiled at the mage and nodded once more. “Thank you, Anders that would be great.”

Morrigan folded her arms and grumbled as she turned and made her way toward the stairs, but before going up she turned once more to face her husband. "'Tis best you mind yourself when visiting the Pearl my husband. I would not wish anything ill to befall you when you return, no?" Morrigan's hand glowed with blue flame.

“I will be good…I promise.” Anders smirked as he blew his wife a kiss as she turned and walked up the stairs.

Once Anders and Alistair left Zevran let out a long sigh. “It seems that my sweet Rose is in need of a talk, I suppose I shall seek her out.”

Leliana smiled at her friend. “Would you like me to go with you and try to reason with her?”

Zevran returned the smile but shook his head. “No, not just yet mi querida; I will see if I can get through to her and call for reinforcements if needed, yes?”

“Well should you change your mind, I will be here.”

Zevran made his way out the side door to the apple tree where Rose usually hid when she was upset and as expected he noticed her perched among the highest branches; swinging her legs and looking at the stars. Zevran leaned his back against the tree as he calmly called up to the girl. “Rose, Mi bendición can you come down for a moment?”

“No…I want to stay up here.”

“Rose, I just want to talk to you and I will not play foolish games. Come down here.”

Rose could hear a stern tone to her Uncle Zev’s voice that she was not used to hearing, still she did not want to completely give in so she instead climbed down the tree to the lower branches and sat down.

“That is better I suppose, at least I can look into those beautiful eyes now.” Zevran winked at the girl who was once again swinging her legs to and fro. “Now, what happened between you and your father that has you in such a state?”

“He’s not my father.”

“Ah but my dear, I can assure you that he is. All of the denial in the world will not change this fact.”

“I wish he wasn’t my father. He lied to me. He told me that he wouldn’t leave and then turned around and changed his mind. I wish I could go back to thinking that my father was dead…I wish that he was dead.”

“Rose Adaia Tabris Arainai, que no voy a decir tales cosas odiosas. Yo no te plantear a ser tan irrespetuosos!” (Rose Adaia Tabris-Arainai, you will not say such hateful things. I did not raise you to be so disrespectful!)

Rose felt chills crawl down her back. It was rare that her Uncle Zev ever raised his voice to her, rarer still for him to do it in Antivan and adding in the fact that he used her full name she knew that he would no longer tolerate any nonsense. Quickly she bit her lip and swallowed back the harsh words that were at the ready to spill forth from her mouth.

Rose let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay I don’t wish he was dead…but I wish he hadn’t come back.”

“Rose, mi querida…did you even give him the opportunity to explain why he needed to leave?”

“No, and I do not care to. He says he wants to be a good father but how is running away being a good father?”

“My dear, I can tell that you are in no state of mind to actually listen to what I have to say; you are going to hear what you want to hear and nothing else. When you decide to come down and speak civilly and actually listen to reason I will be in the house. Do not take too long however as it has been a long day and I wish to go home and rest, si?”

Rose remained silent but nodded her head in agreement as Zev turned and made his way into the house.

As Zevran walked away he let his frustration out in a stream of words muttered under his breath. Maldita sea esa chica, tan terco y el cerdo con la cabeza. Te juro que es como su madre, no podía ver la verdad si se mordió en la nariz condenados si no quieres. (Damn that girl, so stubborn and pig headed. I swear she is just like her mother, couldn't see the truth if it bit her on the damned nose if she didn't want to.)

“I take it that the father-daughter conversation did not go so well?” Nathaniel’s voice called out from behind Zevran as he reached for the handle of the door. “I don’t speak a scrap of Antivan and I can tell that those words mean trouble.”

“She is her mother’s daughter…I will give her that.” Zevran let out a light chuckle under his breath.

“If you don’t mind, perhaps I could try to talk to her?”

Zevran gave Nate an appraising look and patted him on the shoulder. “It cannot hurt, no? If there is anyone that she will listen to, chances are it would be you.”

Nate gave Zevran a friendly smile and began walking toward the tree where Rose was once again perched within the top branches. Rather than call her down, Nate jumped and scrambled up the tree to the branch diagonally below where she was sitting. “So bebinn, what has caused such sadness to stain that pretty smile of yours?”

Rose looked away from Nathaniel and silently shrugged her shoulders as she worked to hold back her tears.

“Your Uncle Zev tells me that you had a fight with your father…what happened?”

“No, I got in a fight with Al because Al is a liar.” Rose could once again feel her anger beginning to bite away at her. “My father was an honorable man, an honorable man who died during the Blight. My father would have kept his promises, as for Al, I hope that I never see him again…ever.”

“Don’t you think you are being a little too hard on him bebinn? I don’t think that he is trying to betray you or hurt you.” Nate carefully stood on the branch where he was sitting so that he could look into Rose’s eyes. “Your father has done a lot of things that he is not proud of and became the type of person that most parents would not want their child to be around. He only wants to be the best father for you that he can be, he wants to clean up and get his life in order so that he can become someone that you can be proud of. Truly bebinn you are lucky to have a father that will do what is best for you no matter how much it will break his heart to be away.”

Nate motioned toward the ground, inviting Rose to climb down. Carefully he helped her down from the tree, lifting her from the lower branches once he was on the ground. He then took her hand in his and led her to the garden where they sat in silence for a while; allowing Nate’s words to resonate within Rose’s mind.

Rose then took a deep breath and looked to her lap as she spoke. “But why would he say that he would never leave me and then turn around and tell me that he is leaving? He lied, people are not supposed to lie.”

“Bebinn, just because someone isn’t here physically…it doesn’t always mean that they are gone. Do you know why?”

Rose shyly looked up at Nate as she shook her head.

Nate tilted her chin up and then lightly tapped her chest over her heart. “Because now, he is right here, and no matter how far he may travel he won’t ever leave your heart nor will you leave his. He is there forever bebinn.”

Nate noted a thoughtful look that seemed to dawn upon Rose’s face and he knew that to some degree he was managing to get through to her; he continued… “On the same side of the coin…just because someone is here physically it doesn’t always mean that they are here with all their heart.”

“What do you mean?”

“My father was around all of my life and yet I don’t think that he held even an eighth of the love within his heart for me that your father does for you after knowing you for only a couple of days.” Nate took a deep breath, the memory of his father still a painful subject. “My father was a cruel man who did a lot of horrible things to good people. He was cruel to me as well as to my sister and brother. He treated us terribly until he finally drove us all away and then he began hurting other people. In fact your mother and father worked very hard to stop him doing these things. So I say to you once again bebinn…you’re lucky.”

“But what kind of things did your father do?”

“Just….bad things bebinn…you are too young to know much else but I promise I will tell you when you’re older.” Nathaniel wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “Do you understand things a bit more clearly…are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Then I think that you should go and talk to your father. He is hurting bebinn, in the matter of just a few days he is seeing just how much he has lost and missed out on and he only wants to try to fix what he can.” Nate tilted Rose’s face so he could look directly into her green eyes. “He’s a good man Rose, just give him a chance.”

“I will.” Rose whispered as she felt a warm tear roll down her face.

Nate gently placed a kiss on Rose’s forehead and took her hand, leading her back toward the house. They entered the sitting room to find Leliana, Soris, Zevran and Anders chatting quietly as Alistair sat alone in the corner, seemingly deep in thought as he gently ran his finger over his mother’s amulet which he held in his hand.

Alistair looked up upon hearing Nate gently clearing his throat. “Alistair, I think someone wants to speak with you.”

Alistair smiled as he stood from his chair and walked toward his daughter. Rose stepped forward but continued to look at the ground. Alistair placed a gentle hand on her back and led her back toward Soris’ study.

Upon entering the room Alistair quietly closed the door as Rose sat down in the armchair in the corner where Soris would sit to read. Alistair grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it in front of her so that they could speak eye to eye.

“Rose, I know that I have never given you any reason to believe me, in fact I know that you barely know me but darling I really want to do this right. I don’t want you to see me at my worst…I am ashamed that you have seen me like this. After all that I have done wrong, I want to do something right.” Alistair took his daughter’s hands in his own and squeezed them lovingly. “I promise you Rose I will not stay away long and if you want me to I will write you every day that I am gone…or even twice a day if that is what you need for me to do to put your mind at ease. I love you Rose and I would do anything for you.”

Alistair let go of Rose’s hands and once again removed the amulet from around his neck and placed it over her head. “This was my mother’s amulet; it is the only thing that I have of hers in fact. A long, long time ago I thought that I lost it but your mother found it and returned it to me and I have kept it with me ever since.
Until you came along this was my most treasured possession; now I want you to hold on to it for me and I will know that the two dearest things in the world to me are waiting together here in Denerim and that will be all the inspiration that I will need to pull my life together…so that I can get back here as fast as I can. Will you keep it safe for me Rose?”

Rose could no longer hold back her emotions as she fell into her father’s arms sobbing. “I will…I promise.”

Alistair lovingly stroked his daughter’s hair as he softly whispered into her ear, “Shh..it’s alright Rose. I’m here now, and I swear I would do anything for you.”

“I…I’m sorry for the things that I said earlier. I was just so angry…”

“It’s alright Rose, I understand why you felt that way and I’m not mad at you. I’m just glad that we had this chance to talk.” Alistair tilted Rose’s face up and smiled at her. “You know, I don’t have to leave immediately; what do you say we have a father-daughter day together, just you and me. We can do anything you want and it will give us a chance to talk and get to know each other better.”

Rose’s face lit up. “Can we bring Emaba?”

“Sure...Emaba can come. Do you know what you want to do?”

“Can we go fishing? I’ve always wanted to go fishing!”

Alistair forced a smile onto his face. “Sure…fishing…great, I love fishing. It’s a date.” Alistair gave his daughter a tight hug and kissed her on the cheek before she skipped out of the room to tell everyone about their plans.

Alistair remained for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought to himself. Of course, she had to pick fishing…this ought to be interesting seeing as the only time I’ve ever gone I fell in the lake and nearly drown. Alistair drew in a deep breath. I guess I did say anything, thank the Maker that I’ve learned how to swim since then…

And with one more deep breath Alistair stood from his chair and headed for the guest room where he would be sleeping; he figured he was going to need the rest.

Modifié par VioletTheirin, 04 novembre 2010 - 02:01 .

[Lynn01]

Awesome V! Well written, and it's good to see an update of your story :-)

(I do think you double posted a part though hun)

[VioletTheirin]

LOL...I noticed it last night and will admit to being too tired to fix it. Doing it now I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

[0x30A88]

I would prefer you to have a short list of the vocabulary you used in the chapter.

A nice story you have going on here.