Muse A has wealth, beauty, and wit - but a scandalously short marriage ruins her reputation and sends her fleeing to her country estate. The gossip is that she killed her husband for money. Enter Muse B, who is a (servant, vicar, priest - take your pick) and immediately drawn to the new addition to the town. But, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Jaded by her past relationships, heckled by old “friends” from London, and the class difference between Muse A and B could tear their lives asunder. But, maybe it’s worth it?
[[Another piece in that series of past-Theo-memories thing! This relates to a pretty twisted series of events in Theo's past that can be read here in a drabble. HOHOOO glimpses of unforgiving Theo yeehaw. [My brain just pooped out my thoughts and this is what happened, so no revision! >:I ]
Denerim 9:30 - The battle of Denerim
The warden's heart pounded in his chest as he ran through the flaming streets of Denerim. Blood poured from his arrow-pierced leg, though he could not yet stop to tend to his wounds. The war on the city was in full motion, another wave of darkspawn within sight just a few hundred strides ahead. The team had already pushed through masses of enemies, their health waning but spirits struggling to remain composed. It was absolutely crucial that they reach the Archdemon - they could not fail. They would not fail.
The gaining creatures were continuously snuffed out as more emerged during the journey to Fort Drakon. The Darkspawn ambushed from mansions that had once made up the wealthy quarter, luxurious houses and estates in shambles. As the elf cut through a pair of genlocks, a faint screaming caught his attention. The cries were coming from somewhere inside one of the blazing homes and he immediately began to run in the same direction after felling his enemies.
"There's someone trapped inside there!" Theo called to alert his team mates of what he was doing.
"Tis but one person, warden! Is this really the time to be veering the course!?" Morrigan spat as she summoned another spell, though Theo paid no attention. He'd simply aid the citizen away from danger and return to battle all within a simple moment. Lunging through the already unhinged door, he immediately jammed his dagger into the temple of a hurlock, dropkicking another before slaughtering it, as well. Coughing as he squinted from the smoke, the small man stretched out a gloved hand to pull the other person from behind a barricade of crates. However, as his eyes focused on the hand in his amongst the ashy air, his blood ran cold and all time froze in that instant. There was a ring he could not mistake for any other that bore a house sigil. The house of Thornton.
Amber eyes darted up with a desperate haste only to see his fearful suspicion was entirely correct. Those same piercing eyes he'd dreamed of so many times in nightmares of his youth - they stared back with the same wide realization and shock. They knew each other, all too well. They knew that they both knew. Theo's gaze locked and he recognized that same aged face, that wicked stare and manicured beard even under all the blood and soot. He never thought he'd be forced to see that wretched man's visage ever again, and yet here he was, saving his life.
"You..." The man finally uttered with a rasp. Hearing his voice was just enough to tip the scale of unbalance in Theo's mind and soon his jaw clenched. The grip around Lord Thornton's hand grew more into a vice than saving grace and the elven man's eyes grew glossy with a suppressed rage.
"Yes. Me." The warden growled through grit teeth, his features contorting with malice and years of inner torment. How fateful that they'd meet again, right here in these circumstances. It was impossible for them to break eye contact, as much as Theo wished to. Icy blue depths stared back with a stark fear and uncertainty, peering into brilliant amber eyes so disturbingly laden with unhinged hatred that the reflecting flames could have easily been coming from within the elf. Perhaps Lord Thornton would have been better off facing the darkspawn, instead.
Theo's heart hammered beneath his breastplate as nostrils flared in a shuttered huff of a breath. It felt as if he were about to faint, though the pure and unfiltered loathing within the man kept him on his feet. It seeped into every particle of his being, coursing through every vein until he was no longer a man, but a beast entirely fueled by memories of those hideous, treacherous, depraved eyes that stared back at him now. How satisfying it was to see them begging for mercy. Groveling for forgiveness at his own fingertips. 'Save me' they prayed.
No.
With an almost pained, animistic cry, Theo's breath hitched within his hoarse throat and his dagger was drawn forward to slash at the Lord's face. However, the savage attack was interrupted by a sudden spray of blood from his would-be victim's chest. A pair of massive claws jutted forth from his torso then as within the same instant, a plume of sickly black smoke revealed a shadowed creature shrieking from within the flames. A ghastly sight to see the burning darkspawn taking out one last target as it hissed and wailed in pain, though Theo made no attempts to interfere. A spurt of red punctuated the river of blood that began to pour from Lord Thornton's lips, flowing into his now greyed beard. How pathetic he looked. How utterly helpless.
As ringed hands grasped out for one last meager attempt at life, the warden wordlessly took a single step back to instead watch the scene unfold. Agonized screams soon filled his ears as the flames migrated over the dying man's flesh, the Shriek simultaneously ripping away at his body and gnawing at his throat. As Theo watched with dulled eyes and stoney expression, the cries that rose with the fire were only drowned by the gurgling of the man's own blood. Such a gruesome death with no one to weep for him.
Good.
The years of pent up hatred and agony suddenly melted from Theo's body then, replaced with a familiar numbness as he watched. The same emptiness he'd grown accustomed to whenever the man before him had bid farewell so many times before in his younger years. The same man who had stolen his childhood, who had caused him so much grief, now fading away before his eyes. There should have been a sense of justice in that, but as the rogue stared down at the Lord now burning and bleeding out along the soles of his boots, Theo felt absolutely nothing.
Raising his glance, deep honey irises rolled with disinterest back towards the door where he promptly made his leave. Just as he exited, the mansion's beams all seemed to collapse at once into an ashy, blazing heap as he took to a trot to catch up with his battle party. Theo had better things to do. There was still far more important filth to take care of.
making so many female friends is like, definitely the best thing i've ever done.
because when i compare the friendships i have with other women to the friendships i had with dudes, the way i was treated by my male friends is just ridiculously disgusting.
i thought shit like sexual harassment and disgusting jokes was just the price of friendship, something friends did with each other, but that's just not true. that's something dudes do to girls because they can get away with it.
