Thank you Gisle, I'm glad you enjoyed it and I may try that for the translations in the next chapter that needs them and see which is preferred. Working on Chapter 19 right now, stay tuned!
The Rose of the Alienage: Chapter 19 is up 11/8/2010 :)
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VioletTheirin
, mai 02 2010 03:49
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#127
Posté 06 novembre 2010 - 04:56
VioletTheirin
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Update: Chapter 19 is finished and titled "Lainadan". It will be posted Monday morning!
#128
Posté 08 novembre 2010 - 02:44
VioletTheirin
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Chapter 19 ~Lanaidan~
The moon was set high in the sky when Zevran began his long trek from Leliana’s house to his apartment within Denerim’s alienage. Leliana offered for him to stay another night and as tempting as her offer was he refused. After such a long, emotionally draining day Zevran longed for the comfort of his own bed in his quiet little apartment. The journey was made slightly easier by the fact that Rose decided to stay at Leliana’s house so that she and Alistair could get an early start to their day the next morning.
Zevran spent the long walk in quiet reflection, staring down at the face of his sleeping son. Leliana’s words from earlier in the day seemed to resonate within his mind. While he knew Nelaros was his son and claimed him as such Zevran realized that before tonight he never really felt it…Nelaros was Ruthi’s, just as Rose was and he was merely their guardian.
Zevran could feel his heart warm as he looked down upon the sleeping child and for the first time he was able to really appreciate how much of himself reflected back at him. While Rose unmistakably looked like her mother, Nelaros was like a miniature version of his father; the same slight build, tan skin and white blonde hair, his nose, his chin, even his eyes were a mirror image of Zevran’s. He imagined that this is what he looked like when he was a small child, when the world was still beautiful and held so much promise; when he was still innocent, before the Crows got their claws into him. Zevran swore at that moment that he would see all of Thedas sink into the sea before he would ever allow Nelaros or Rose to experience even a fraction of the abuse that he endured as a child.
Once home Zevran laid Nelaros down in his cot, gently rubbing his back as he started to stir from the movement. Once he was sure that the child had drifted back to sleep he made his way to his own bed and after changing into his night shirt crawled between the cold sheets and drifted quickly to sleep.
________________________________________
Zevran awoke to the sensation of fingertips gently running along his hairline, he struggled to shake the sleep from his head as he sat up. He was expecting to arrive back in Ruthi’s camp but was shocked to find that the fingers that were brushing over his face did not belong to Ruthi or even Rinna, but to a woman whom he had never seen before but who looked hauntingly familiar. She was an elf, very slender and though her features expressed a life filled with hard work she was quite beautiful. She had long soft blonde curls, and ice blue eyes.
As she continued to run her fingers along Zevran’s face from his forehead down over his cheek and jaw, he noticed that she was repeatedly whispering something and after straining to hear he made out that she was simply saying “I’m sorry Lainadan, I’m so sorry.”
“I am terribly sorry my good woman but I believe you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is not Lainadan, it is Zevran.” Zevran gently pulled the woman’s hand from his face and gave her a kind grin.
The woman quickly pulled her hand back and gave Zevran a slight smile. “I’m…I’m sorry. I suppose that I should introduce myself, my name is Santiel…Santiel Arainai.”
Zevran’s body grew ice cold as a lump caught in his throat. Left speechless he stared at the woman in disbelief.
“And the reason that I was calling you Lainadan is because that was to be your name…you see, I am your mother.”
Zevran remained silent as he continued to stare at the woman. He had no idea what to think of the news and even if he could think of the words he did not know that the lump in his throat would allow for him to speak. He chose instead to listen.
“Oh darling, I wanted so much more for you. I never wanted your life to be filled with so much pain.”
“I was a child of a **** house; did you expect it to be filled with sunshine and happy days?” Zevran asked plainly.
A pained expression marred the woman’s face and Zevran found himself wishing that he had chosen his words a little more carefully. “I’m sorry, I did not intend to hurt your feelings but honestly if you are truly my mother, what kind of life did you expect me to have? I was a bastard, born to a ****, in a **** house...”
“First, you are not a bastard; your father and I wanted a child more than anything and we tried for so long. Then, your father became ill and we figured that our dream of having a child was over. The disease claimed him quickly…he was dead within a week and the day that we buried him was the day that I found out I was with child.”
“My father…what was his name?”
Santiel smiled. “Your father’s name was Beinion and he was the most kind, good-hearted man I have ever met. When he died I thought that my life was over, but then I found out about you and I knew that you were his way of staying with me. I knew that times would be tough without him and I worked any job that I could find in order to make a home for us but laundering clothes and shining armor just wasn’t enough. Then one day a woman who worked with me delivering laundry told me about what she did in the evenings, working in a brothel called “The Golden Fan”. At first I was repulsed, I could not imagine selling my body for any amount of coin; but after some careful thought I realized that it may not have been ideal but if it gave me enough money to get us out of Antiva, that for you, I could bear it. So for the remainder of my pregnancy every copper that I ‘earned’ was put away so that as soon as you were born and able to travel we would leave Antiva and that life behind forever.”
“So, then what happened?” Zevran found himself captivated like a child listening to a fairy story as so many questions that he had asked himself for so long were finally being answered; the pieces of the puzzle at last falling into place.
“So, I saved and I prepared for your arrival. By the time you were born I had managed to save sixty gold and began to make preparations to get out of Antiva; booking passage into Ferelden where I arranged to work as a wash woman in Highever Castle. I was so excited and counted down the days until you would arrive. As I said I picked a name for you, Lainadan which in Dalish means ‘Free Man’ ; because that is what you were going to be...you were going to be free. I kept quiet about the money and my plans to everyone except a woman named Hessiene who had become my dearest friend in the months following your father’s death...and the trust that I placed in that woman was the biggest mistake I ever made.” Santiel’s voice began to tremble as Zevran watched tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“I assume that she betrayed you, si?”
“Simple betrayal would have been one thing, but what she did was far, far worse...she murdered me.”
Zevran’s blood instantly seemed to begin to boil within his veins, catching even him by surprise. “Murdered? But I was told that you died as I was being born. Are you telling me that it was all a lie? What happened to the money that you saved?”
“I cannot say that you were necessarily lied to; everyone thought that I died giving birth to you. The truth is, Hessiene poisoned me. She slipped a poison called ‘Silent Death’ in my tea on the morning of your birth. The poison made me extremely ill and caused my labor to begin and in the chaos she took the money and left. By the time you made your entrance into this world I was hanging on by a thin thread. I heard your first cries and was able to look into your eyes only once before drawing my final breath, but in your eyes I saw your father and all of our dreams...I died happy.”
Zevran took his mother’s hands in his and raised them to his lips as a torrent of hurt, anger, and sadness fell in wet droplets upon her slender fingers. Santiel leaned in and kissed her son on the forehead before resting her own upon his. They sat this way for a while, each afraid to move or even make a noise; fearful that it would all fade away. Finally the urge to speak got the best of Zevran as he looked to his mother with reddened eyes.
“Why have you waited this long to speak to me? There are so many times when I needed you...I have been so alone my entire life. Why now?”
Santiel squeezed her sons hands tightly. “Lainadan...I mean...Zevran, I did come to you quite frequently when you were young but after you were taken by the Crows it became harder and harder to reach you; it was like there was a clear stone wall surrounding you. I could see what was happening to you...what those monsters were doing to you. I could hear you; your cries, your screams, and your anguish but no matter how I tried I could not get to you. And then as you began to change and your heart hardened: your voice began to fade, the wall darkening more and more until you were gone.” Santiel wiped a stray tear from Zevran’s cheek as she continued. “Then, about nine years ago suddenly I began hearing whispers and the wall slowly began to fade. But it wasn’t until today, when you finally let go of the past that the wall vanished and my path became clear.”
“I swear to you Mother, I will visit vengeance upon this Hessiene. I will work until the day that I die to see that you are avenged.”
“No darling...let it go.” Santiel cupped Zevran’s cheek in her hand and looked deep into his eyes.
“But she killed you...she took you from me and ruined my life.”
“And killing her would accomplish nothing. When all is said and done, will it bring me back? Will it change the childhood that you had? It will send you back down a road that you worked so hard to abandon and that is all. Zevran I must tell you, the poison that was given to me...it should have killed you; but it didn’t. Do you know why?”
“No.” Zevran looked to the ground and shook his head, his voice echoing whispered sadness.
Santiel placed a finger under her son’s chin and tilted his face up to meet hers. “Because you are a born survivor. Darling, you were meant to do great things, you were meant to overcome, and while I would have never chosen the life that you were given I must say that it made you the person you are today. Every obstacle, every hardship you overcame made you that much stronger.”
Zevran looked into his mother’s eyes and smiled because for the first time in his whole life, he finally felt whole...he finally knew just who he was. He wrapped his arms around his mother’s slender shoulders; memorizing her touch, her voice, her smell until the familiar sensation of awakening began coursing through his body. Zevran pulled his mother in tighter and tighter in a vain attempt to remain with her but to no avail; she faded more and more until she was but a ghostly whisper within his arms; and in the last whithering seconds of slumber she whispered into his ear. “I love you, my son; and I am so proud of the man you have become. I love you Lainadan...”
The moon was set high in the sky when Zevran began his long trek from Leliana’s house to his apartment within Denerim’s alienage. Leliana offered for him to stay another night and as tempting as her offer was he refused. After such a long, emotionally draining day Zevran longed for the comfort of his own bed in his quiet little apartment. The journey was made slightly easier by the fact that Rose decided to stay at Leliana’s house so that she and Alistair could get an early start to their day the next morning.
Zevran spent the long walk in quiet reflection, staring down at the face of his sleeping son. Leliana’s words from earlier in the day seemed to resonate within his mind. While he knew Nelaros was his son and claimed him as such Zevran realized that before tonight he never really felt it…Nelaros was Ruthi’s, just as Rose was and he was merely their guardian.
Zevran could feel his heart warm as he looked down upon the sleeping child and for the first time he was able to really appreciate how much of himself reflected back at him. While Rose unmistakably looked like her mother, Nelaros was like a miniature version of his father; the same slight build, tan skin and white blonde hair, his nose, his chin, even his eyes were a mirror image of Zevran’s. He imagined that this is what he looked like when he was a small child, when the world was still beautiful and held so much promise; when he was still innocent, before the Crows got their claws into him. Zevran swore at that moment that he would see all of Thedas sink into the sea before he would ever allow Nelaros or Rose to experience even a fraction of the abuse that he endured as a child.
Once home Zevran laid Nelaros down in his cot, gently rubbing his back as he started to stir from the movement. Once he was sure that the child had drifted back to sleep he made his way to his own bed and after changing into his night shirt crawled between the cold sheets and drifted quickly to sleep.
________________________________________
Zevran awoke to the sensation of fingertips gently running along his hairline, he struggled to shake the sleep from his head as he sat up. He was expecting to arrive back in Ruthi’s camp but was shocked to find that the fingers that were brushing over his face did not belong to Ruthi or even Rinna, but to a woman whom he had never seen before but who looked hauntingly familiar. She was an elf, very slender and though her features expressed a life filled with hard work she was quite beautiful. She had long soft blonde curls, and ice blue eyes.
As she continued to run her fingers along Zevran’s face from his forehead down over his cheek and jaw, he noticed that she was repeatedly whispering something and after straining to hear he made out that she was simply saying “I’m sorry Lainadan, I’m so sorry.”
“I am terribly sorry my good woman but I believe you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is not Lainadan, it is Zevran.” Zevran gently pulled the woman’s hand from his face and gave her a kind grin.
The woman quickly pulled her hand back and gave Zevran a slight smile. “I’m…I’m sorry. I suppose that I should introduce myself, my name is Santiel…Santiel Arainai.”
Zevran’s body grew ice cold as a lump caught in his throat. Left speechless he stared at the woman in disbelief.
“And the reason that I was calling you Lainadan is because that was to be your name…you see, I am your mother.”
Zevran remained silent as he continued to stare at the woman. He had no idea what to think of the news and even if he could think of the words he did not know that the lump in his throat would allow for him to speak. He chose instead to listen.
“Oh darling, I wanted so much more for you. I never wanted your life to be filled with so much pain.”
“I was a child of a **** house; did you expect it to be filled with sunshine and happy days?” Zevran asked plainly.
A pained expression marred the woman’s face and Zevran found himself wishing that he had chosen his words a little more carefully. “I’m sorry, I did not intend to hurt your feelings but honestly if you are truly my mother, what kind of life did you expect me to have? I was a bastard, born to a ****, in a **** house...”
“First, you are not a bastard; your father and I wanted a child more than anything and we tried for so long. Then, your father became ill and we figured that our dream of having a child was over. The disease claimed him quickly…he was dead within a week and the day that we buried him was the day that I found out I was with child.”
“My father…what was his name?”
Santiel smiled. “Your father’s name was Beinion and he was the most kind, good-hearted man I have ever met. When he died I thought that my life was over, but then I found out about you and I knew that you were his way of staying with me. I knew that times would be tough without him and I worked any job that I could find in order to make a home for us but laundering clothes and shining armor just wasn’t enough. Then one day a woman who worked with me delivering laundry told me about what she did in the evenings, working in a brothel called “The Golden Fan”. At first I was repulsed, I could not imagine selling my body for any amount of coin; but after some careful thought I realized that it may not have been ideal but if it gave me enough money to get us out of Antiva, that for you, I could bear it. So for the remainder of my pregnancy every copper that I ‘earned’ was put away so that as soon as you were born and able to travel we would leave Antiva and that life behind forever.”
“So, then what happened?” Zevran found himself captivated like a child listening to a fairy story as so many questions that he had asked himself for so long were finally being answered; the pieces of the puzzle at last falling into place.
“So, I saved and I prepared for your arrival. By the time you were born I had managed to save sixty gold and began to make preparations to get out of Antiva; booking passage into Ferelden where I arranged to work as a wash woman in Highever Castle. I was so excited and counted down the days until you would arrive. As I said I picked a name for you, Lainadan which in Dalish means ‘Free Man’ ; because that is what you were going to be...you were going to be free. I kept quiet about the money and my plans to everyone except a woman named Hessiene who had become my dearest friend in the months following your father’s death...and the trust that I placed in that woman was the biggest mistake I ever made.” Santiel’s voice began to tremble as Zevran watched tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“I assume that she betrayed you, si?”
“Simple betrayal would have been one thing, but what she did was far, far worse...she murdered me.”
Zevran’s blood instantly seemed to begin to boil within his veins, catching even him by surprise. “Murdered? But I was told that you died as I was being born. Are you telling me that it was all a lie? What happened to the money that you saved?”
“I cannot say that you were necessarily lied to; everyone thought that I died giving birth to you. The truth is, Hessiene poisoned me. She slipped a poison called ‘Silent Death’ in my tea on the morning of your birth. The poison made me extremely ill and caused my labor to begin and in the chaos she took the money and left. By the time you made your entrance into this world I was hanging on by a thin thread. I heard your first cries and was able to look into your eyes only once before drawing my final breath, but in your eyes I saw your father and all of our dreams...I died happy.”
Zevran took his mother’s hands in his and raised them to his lips as a torrent of hurt, anger, and sadness fell in wet droplets upon her slender fingers. Santiel leaned in and kissed her son on the forehead before resting her own upon his. They sat this way for a while, each afraid to move or even make a noise; fearful that it would all fade away. Finally the urge to speak got the best of Zevran as he looked to his mother with reddened eyes.
“Why have you waited this long to speak to me? There are so many times when I needed you...I have been so alone my entire life. Why now?”
Santiel squeezed her sons hands tightly. “Lainadan...I mean...Zevran, I did come to you quite frequently when you were young but after you were taken by the Crows it became harder and harder to reach you; it was like there was a clear stone wall surrounding you. I could see what was happening to you...what those monsters were doing to you. I could hear you; your cries, your screams, and your anguish but no matter how I tried I could not get to you. And then as you began to change and your heart hardened: your voice began to fade, the wall darkening more and more until you were gone.” Santiel wiped a stray tear from Zevran’s cheek as she continued. “Then, about nine years ago suddenly I began hearing whispers and the wall slowly began to fade. But it wasn’t until today, when you finally let go of the past that the wall vanished and my path became clear.”
“I swear to you Mother, I will visit vengeance upon this Hessiene. I will work until the day that I die to see that you are avenged.”
“No darling...let it go.” Santiel cupped Zevran’s cheek in her hand and looked deep into his eyes.
“But she killed you...she took you from me and ruined my life.”
“And killing her would accomplish nothing. When all is said and done, will it bring me back? Will it change the childhood that you had? It will send you back down a road that you worked so hard to abandon and that is all. Zevran I must tell you, the poison that was given to me...it should have killed you; but it didn’t. Do you know why?”
“No.” Zevran looked to the ground and shook his head, his voice echoing whispered sadness.
Santiel placed a finger under her son’s chin and tilted his face up to meet hers. “Because you are a born survivor. Darling, you were meant to do great things, you were meant to overcome, and while I would have never chosen the life that you were given I must say that it made you the person you are today. Every obstacle, every hardship you overcame made you that much stronger.”
Zevran looked into his mother’s eyes and smiled because for the first time in his whole life, he finally felt whole...he finally knew just who he was. He wrapped his arms around his mother’s slender shoulders; memorizing her touch, her voice, her smell until the familiar sensation of awakening began coursing through his body. Zevran pulled his mother in tighter and tighter in a vain attempt to remain with her but to no avail; she faded more and more until she was but a ghostly whisper within his arms; and in the last whithering seconds of slumber she whispered into his ear. “I love you, my son; and I am so proud of the man you have become. I love you Lainadan...”
Modifié par VioletTheirin, 08 novembre 2010 - 12:36 .
#129
Posté 08 novembre 2010 - 07:07
Lynn01
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I absolutely love this update V! It's so sweet that he meets his mother!!!! *sob
#130
Posté 08 novembre 2010 - 01:11
VioletTheirin
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Thank you m'lady! I'm glad that you continue to enjoy it!
#131
Posté 28 janvier 2011 - 07:45
VioletTheirin
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This is a drawing from the wonderfully talented and super-sweet Lynn01 of Rose playing hide and seek. Thank you SO much, I just love it!
*EDIT* Okay...will post it when I figure out how because I am completely computer illiterate apparently.
:whistle:
[img]http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/028/3/5/hide_and_seek_by_lady__elle-d388dpk.jpg[/img]
*EDIT* Okay...will post it when I figure out how because I am completely computer illiterate apparently.
:whistle:[img]http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/028/3/5/hide_and_seek_by_lady__elle-d388dpk.jpg[/img]
Modifié par VioletTheirin, 29 janvier 2011 - 01:30 .
#134
Posté 29 janvier 2011 - 01:37
VioletTheirin
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Give up on posting the picture, silly! *MUAHS*
#135
Posté 29 janvier 2011 - 03:04
Gilgamesh1138
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ROFL!!! Oh okay that's all right then. *MUAHs*
#136
Posté 29 janvier 2011 - 11:15
Lynn01
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Like this?
Modifié par Lynn01, 29 janvier 2011 - 11:15 .
#137
Posté 29 janvier 2011 - 04:57
VioletTheirin
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Yay!! Thanks Lynn....Technology is SO not my BFF
#138
Posté 29 janvier 2011 - 06:11
Lynn01
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lol np ;-) I couldn't stand by and not help after seeing those last six posts here hehe 
