Chapter Text
"You asked to see me, Father?" Sereda knew what this was about, but she preferred to play dumb. It had become second instinct at this point, and men loved believing that they were smarter than any woman who spoke to them, so they often revealed more.
"You know what this is about." King Endrin said, because Sereda never once fooled him. Her father had once said she had her mother's diplomatic ability, but had the same telling twinkle in her eyes when she knew she was trying to manipulate someone. Sereda practiced lying in the mirror to herself for years trying to get rid of that twinkle, but could never spot quite what her father meant.
Sereda sighed. "I -"
"You need more time?" Endrin replied, raising an eyebrow. "Or what excuse was it last time? 'I haven't had the chance'? 'It's difficult to choose someone'?" Sereda scowled. "I've had enough. I have decided to assign you a Second."
"Father, you can't!" Sereda blurted out, her voice sounding childish and whiney even to herself. She might only be seventeen, but she prided herself on seeming older and more experienced than she was. "Having a trustworthy Second is more important than having a trustworthy spouse, it's not like picking out a nice necklace in a market stall."
"And have I not given you plenty of time to choose whomever you deem worthy?" Sereda looked at the ground petulantly. "It's not even common for the noble to choose their own Second, I only allowed it because you requested such. I assigned Ser Blackstone to Trian myself." Endrin scratched at his beard lightly.
"Yes, and Ser Blackstone hasn't enough common sense to kill a pig before he roasts it." Sereda sniped. "And Trian likes anyone who sticks around to praise his every word."
Endrin's gaze hardened a bit. "Ser Blackstone is an experienced solider, nonetheless, and has served your brother well." he sighed, one hand going up rub at his forehead. "Sereda, I have given you due time to find someone yourself, and you have not. That is not my fault."
Sereda grumbled and fought the urge to kick at the ground because that was not proper. "I don't want to be stuck with someone who's incompetent, Father." she frowned at the king.
"You need to have a Second, or I cannot send you on missions befitting your noble station. Here is what's going to happen." Endrin said, in the voice he used when speaking at trials or talking to particularly irritating envoys to the court. Sereda had heard this tone of voice often directed at her, and wondered yet again if being her father's favorite child (as the court loved to whisper) came with the added burden of being the one most likely to disappoint him. "I will assign you a Second. However, I will allow you the ability to reject someone I assign you within a week, provided you have good reason. If a week passes and you do not have good cause, they will be knighted and installed permanently in the court."
Sereda sighed. After a long moment of silence, she asked "What constitutes good reason?"
"Poor fighting ability or a reason to doubt their loyalty and dedication to your life." said Endrin.
Sereda nodded. "It seems fair enough."
"Good," Endrin said with a small smile. "Because it was not up for debate."
***
"I am Douvan, my lady. Your father sent me."
"Ah," Sereda said, eyeing the armored dwarf up and down. He seemed competent, if a little young to be someone's Second. The man barely looked old enough to have been through proper training. "So, you're the first one." The dwarf opened his mouth to reply but Sereda cut him off. "How old are you, anyway?"
"Fifteen, my lady." he said, seeming proud of the admission.
Ancestors, help me, Sereda thought to herself.
***
"I reject him." Sereda said to her father with a growl. Douvan stood next to her, trying to cower and possibly melt into the ground.
Endrin merely looked tired. "Already? It has been three days."
Sereda glared at the boy standing next to her. "We went on an expedition to a nearby thaig, and were attacked by a large horde of darkspawn while using a side tunnel. After me and my men fought them off, I found him hiding behind a large boulder."
Endrin sighed and waved at the guards to take Douvan away.
"Do try to at least send me someone older than I am, next time." Sereda said as she walked, without being dismissed.
***
Yurlin would have been a fine soldier, if he wasn't so old that he moved at the speed of a slug. He told her that he had helped train Paragon Branka and had known her grandmother.
After the man almost died during an expedition because his knee gave out suddenly, Endrin bitterly sent him away.
***
It became something of a pattern. The King would assign a man (or, occasionally, a woman) to the Princess, and inevitably, the Princess would reject them. Only two people had made it past even Day Five by now. The first was a dagger wielding rogue who the Princess had been quite fond of, until she turned out to be reading Lady Aeducan's journals. The second was an older man, who had seemed a strong warrior, if a bit arrogant and dull in conversation. The Princess had reluctantly had no complaints to give about the man until Day Seven, where the man seemed to get ahead of himself and attempted to make an inappropriate pass at the Princess.
King Endrin's wrath had been unparalleled, but there was not much more he needed to do, as Lady Aeducan had sufficiently punished the man for trying to force himself on her, if the bruises were any indication. Nevertheless, he was stripped of his titles and struck from the record books and branded as casteless.
Most interestingly, people had started becoming afraid to take the position of Second and the King was becoming increasingly frustrated with the whole plan.
***
"What did you say to her?" King Endrin asked in exasperation.
"Nothing!" Sereda protested. "I was merely asking her a few questions, and she burst into tears and ran out."
"Is asking her questions code for interrogating her?" Bhelen asked, with a raised eyebrow. They were in the palace dining hall, having a family dinner that no one had had the time for recently. Bhelen sat next to her and ducked his head as she turned to glare at him.
Trian, who sat across from her at the table, snorted. "Maybe she was frightened by your complete lack of etiquette for a noble." he said. Sereda attempted to kick his shin but missed and hit a chair leg instead. Trian glared. "Like I said," he said pointedly.
"I'll have you know that the deshyrs of the court are more charmed by one meeting with me than a lifetime of dealing with you." Sereda's brothers were interesting. There was Trian, the oldest, the heir, who she had spent most of her childhood idolizing. Trian had been everything she looked up to in a big brother, and part of the reason she had taken up sword fighting in the first place. And at first, Trian had loved her too, giving Sereda her first sword, helping her train, teaching her how to work the court. And then, their mother had died, and their father changed. It was as if their father had suddenly realized how fast death could take anyone and began priming his children in case the worst was to happen, starting with pitting them against each other, constantly placing Trian and Sereda in competitions of fighting prowess, in wit, in diplomacy.
Trian had not let it get to him at first, until Sereda had knocked him down during a fight one day and forced him to yield. Until she had convinced a deshyr to vote on their side when he could not. And slowly, Trian began to see her as a threat, and with insecurity, came hate.
Bhelen, on the other hand, had never been a part of their father's games, which Sereda thought made him lucky. Perhaps Endrin never believed he could lose his own life, as well as both his heirs, but the thought of Bhelen needing to rule never seemed to cross his mind. Bhelen was definitely Sereda's favorite brother, now, her distance from Trian making her relationship with her younger brother much stronger. Bhelen, the third, the forever overlooked, sometimes seemed put out by their father's lack of regard, but had recently learned to get past it.
Endrin, who sat at the head of the table, just sighed heavily. "I don't know how you manage to keep doing this."
"Didn't you know, Father," Trian said "annoying people is Sereda's number one talent."
"I learned from the best." Sereda said meeting her brother's eyes in challenge. Trian scowled. 1-0 to me, she thought to herself.
"Enough," Endrin said. "Will you two ever learn to get along?"
"Impossible," she said, as Trian said "Maybe when I'm dead."
Sereda gave her brother a bored face, and turned to look at her father. "It's okay if one brother hates me, Father. Bhelen's the better one, anyway."
***
Sereda walked out of her chambers, only to crash headfirst into a dwarf who had been poised to knock on the door.
"Ow," she rubbed at her forehead, leaning back against the door frame, the man she had crashed into had stumbled backwards. "Watch where you're going!" she exclaimed, finally eyeing the man in front of her with a frown.
The dwarf was taller than her, even if he was slightly bent over and rubbing at his head right now. His full ginger beard was worn in a style similar to Ser Blackstone except much more suited to his face. His hair was long, extending past his ears and the front was pulled back and braided so as to keep it away from his face. Sereda, admittedly, had always thought red hair of that shade was attractive, but she shook those thoughts away. "I could say the same to you," the man said roughly, finally straightening up to look at her. "I'm not the one barging out of my room without looking down. I know I'm Warrior Caste, but I do actually exist."
Sereda flushed, many emotions responding to the cheek he had just given her (her! the princess!) before deciding to respond with an arrogance that Trian would be jealous of. "And just who are you?" her chin tilted up, putting on airs of being above this conversation.
"Gorim Saelac, my lady." The dwarf bowed and Sereda was almost sure she wasn't imagining the sarcasm behind the title. "I'm your new Second."
***
"The Princess?!" Gorim had yelped when his father told him. "She eats Seconds for breakfast!"
"Tall tales, son." his father said. "Besides, this is your opportunity to help House Saelac be something."
"At the risk of my life?"
"Stop being dramatic, Gorim." his father said with a grimace. "And you're my only son. You are the only one who can help House Saelac, now." his father sighed. "We are not... quite what we used to be."
"I've heard she's arrogant." Gorim whined. "And mean."
"You're the best warrior I know, son." his father's eyes twinkled a bit. "Surely you can handle a seventeen year old princess."
Gorim sighed, rubbing at his temples with his hands. Finally, after an eternity, he looked up at his father. "Alright," he said. "Tell King Endrin I'll accept."
"Great! You start tomorrow." Gorim groaned.
***
He had been wrong, Gorim thought as Lady Aeducan pressed forward with her greatsword with a terrifying ferocity. Nothing was worth this.
The Princess fought with an intensity that made Gorim genuinely fear for his life. The only plus side of the entire thing was that Gorim's weapon and shield fighting style was much faster than her brute force technique. He might not have been able to compete against her strength, but he did have speed and strategy on his side.
She swung again, and Gorim just nearly dodged the blow, hitting the sword to the side with his shield. He could tell that he was wearing her down, if the sheen of sweat near her hairline was any evidence. After what seemed like forever, Gorim began to gain the advantage, pushing the tiring Princess Aeducan further back, until, with a final push of his shield, he had knocked her to the ground, his sword poised at her neck.
"Yield, my lady." he said firmly. Lady Aeducan looked angry and impressed at the same time. She stared at Gorim and he repeated himself. "Yield."
She opened her mouth and Gorim relaxed slightly, which was his downfall. "No," Lady Aeducan said and her foot swept across the ground, jerking Gorim's leg forward. He fell to the ground hard and hissed in pain, opening his eyes to find the princess holding her sword at his neck. "Yield," she said in the same tone of voice he had used and Gorim could swear she was mocking him. Her knees were being used to press down on his legs so he couldn't use the same trick she had.
"Fine," he spat. "I yield." Instantly, the princess got to her feet, throwing her sword to the ground. She looked like she was about to say something, which was odd given that Lady Aeducan seemed to avoid talking to him for the past four days, but eventually she closed her mouth and walked out of the room without a second glance.
Gorim sighed. He had hoped, if not best friends, they could be somewhat civil to each other but Lady Aeducan seemed to determined to ignore his very presence. He got to his feet and smoothed his beard out. Perhaps tomorrow's excursion into the Deep Roads would help the princess to stop looking at him like a particularly disgusting nug she had seen on the floor.
***
The genlock made a screeching noise as it charged. Lady Aeducan's back was turned and Gorim looked over from where he had just knocked a hurlock to the ground. The genlock was headed straight towards her and Gorim did not think before running. He threw himself in the path of the darkspawn, narrowly avoiding the thing's mouth as he carved a large chunk out of its neck.
He turned to see Lady Aeducan looking at him in wonder and... something else that he couldn't define. But there was no time to dwell on it as he saw an arrow fly past his head.
***
If Sereda was cold to Gorim as they made their way back to the Palace, it shouldn't be held against her. She was working through a lot of emotions that she did not know what to do with, with Gorim being the source of all of them. It was Day Five and he... had saved her life. She could feel Gorim's stare boring into the back of her skull as they entered the Palace and made their way to her chambers.
She opened the doors and didn't turn to look at him as she bit out "You're dismissed, Gorim."
There was a beat of silence before Gorim said "No," and closed the door to her room behind him.
She whipped around. "I said, you're dismissed." she gave him a glare she had perfected to make deshyrs wither. Gorim barely flinched.
"And I said, no." Gorim snapped. "Tell me what your problem is."
"Need I remind you that I am the princess?" Sereda asked, trying to make her eyes harder.
Gorim scowled. "Of course not, my lady." There was that sarcasm again, she was sure of it this time. "But since you want me kicked out anyway, what's the harm in knowing what in the Ancestors your problem is?" Gorim's voice rose as he reached the end of his sentence, and Sereda wondered if her guards could hear this.
"I don't-" she started to say but Gorim cut her off.
"I saved your life today!" Gorim almost yelled. "I saved your life and yet you still look like I'm some burden you've been stuck with." he glared at her. "News flash, princess, not everyone is actually out to get you."
"I don't need to justify myself to you." her voice was ice. "You are my Second, not my confidant." she turned around so that she would not have to face him.
"I want to know for when you tell King Endrin that you reject me." His voice had quieted but the anger was still present. "What is your problem with me?"
"Nothing!" Sereda snapped, turning back to look at him. Her words were sharp, but the bite of anger had died. "I... I have no problem with you and that's my problem." she admitted with a scowl. "Turns out, you're perfect, Gorim."
Gorim looked stunned, as if he hadn't expected that answer. The clear confusion in his face was amusing. "My lady, what-"
"I'm... not very good at trusting people." she said with a resigned sigh, sitting down on her bed heavily. "Father has forced me to take on a Second for safety," the last word was said skeptically as if she didn't believe it. "But until now, I've always had a good reason to..." she made a vague movement of her hand.
"To reject them?" Gorim offered and Sereda nodded.
"I don't trust you, either." Sereda said, meeting Gorim's eyes. "But I have no reason to reject you and it's frustrating."
Gorim frowned and she looked away, wondering what had made her be so honest with the warrior. Suddenly, she felt the weight shifting on her bed and looked up in surprise to see Gorim taking a seat next to her. Now, this is definitely improper, she thought.
"My lady," he started and Sereda thought that was the first time he had said it without the mockery behind the title. "House Saelac belongs solely to my dad, as his only siblings are sisters. And I am his only son. He sent me here to... make something of myself." Gorim smiled ruefully. "Bring honor to our house and all that rot."
Sereda raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Well," he said "It wouldn't really be in my best interests to betray you given that being your Second is the best position I can get to bring my house to a higher status."
Sereda gave him a considering look. "And if someone offered something higher?" she asked.
He smirked. "But how would they win me over without your charm and beauty, my lady?"
Sereda snorted. "Flattery, cheap flattery." she said.
"But did it work?"
"Hardly,"
"So, it did work a little bit." he grinned.
She shoved him off the bed. "You're dismissed, Gorim."
"Goodnight, my lady." he smiled, as he bowed and left the room.
***
Day Eight, and the castle was abuzz with whispers. Whispers about the first person to make it through the week of being Lady Aeducan's Second. After Day Five, things had finally seemed to change. Sereda had finally begun to open up to Gorim, getting slightly more used to the idea of having him as a Second. At least, she thought, it was better than Ser Blackstone. Or Douvan.
King Endrin looked so relieved on the day of the knighting that Sereda had fought the urge to roll her eyes. As was custom, the noble knighted their own Second in a ceremony, followed by a feast held at the Palace.
There was much pomp and fanfare, but eventually it came down to Gorim kneeling before her, pledging his allegiance and that he would protect her life with his own. Something she could definitely believe after the incident in the Deep Roads. And of course, she pledged her own protection and allegiance to him.
She tapped her greatsword (she had insisted on using it instead of the ceremonial one) on each shoulder. "Arise, Ser Gorim Saelac, First of Your Name."
He arose to cheers, and Sereda stretched out a hand which Gorim grasped in a firm handshake and a large smile.
***
The feast was finishing up, Endrin had dismissed the guests, and people straggled out of the dining hall. Sereda stood near a wall, waiting for all the nobles to clear out before she left herself. She could spot Bhelen and Trian on the far side of the room as well, doing the same. It was custom for Endrin to leave and her and her brothers to stay behind to offer farewells to guests as they left. Appearances to be maintained, of course.
Gorim, the man of the hour, approached her out of the corner of her eye and she looked up at him with a smile. "How was the feast, Ser Gorim?" she asked politely.
"Could have been better if Ser Blackstone hadn't been blabbering in my ear about his favorite types of armor polish." said Gorim.
Sereda laughed. "Welcome to court life. You're going to love it."
Gorim groaned, and then they were silent, standing next to each other, observing the departing crowd. Sereda was possibly too aware of Gorim's presence at her side, and she struggled to keep her focus on giving her farewells.
"'First of Your Name'" Gorim said suddenly, his voice startling her. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Is it too late to mention that I have a great grandfather who was named Gorim and was knighted, as well?"
Sereda burst into abrupt giggles that she smothered quickly with a hand. It was probably too late, because she saw many servants look up in shock. Lady Aeducan giggling. Now that was a rumor that would spread fast.
***
Gorim fought well, better than her some days, but he'd yet to "beat" her since that first week. (She acknowledged that in a real fight, Gorim would have killed her before she knocked him down).
And then one day, he was faster, stronger, and Sereda found herself quickly overwhelmed by his fighting. One thing she liked about her Second - he always sought to improve their training by trying new fighting techniques. It helped keep them both sharp.
These guerilla tactics of attack were vastly different from Gorim's usual, more calculated fighting style and despite Sereda's advantage in her weapon strength, it was hard to use her greatsword when her enemy was so close. And then Gorim was using his classic shield push to shove her to the ground, this time making sure to pin her legs down when he put his sword to her neck.
"Do you yield, my lady?" he asked, with a cocky raise of his brow. And all of a sudden, Sereda was aware of how close they were, his arm pressed down on her body, his face leaning over her own. He had been her Second for months now, and they had danced around each other in a weird inbetween where Sereda would not make a move for fear of taking advantage of her subordinate, and Gorim would not make a move for fear of caste differences and being executed by her or her brothers or the King.
To Hell with that, Sereda thought, as she reached up a hand and pulled Gorim's head down, meeting his lips with hers. She felt Gorim tense up briefly, frozen in shock, before kissing her back just as fiercly, using his free arm to pull her head closer, if possible. Sereda was brought to her senses by Gorim relaxing his arm that held her body down.
She immediately used the lull in his senses and Gorim's own body weight to flip the man over and knock his sword away. She rolled on top and straddled him, smirking at the surprise on his face, the blush that covered his face, the bruise forming on his lips from the kiss. She brought her own sword to his neck. "Never let your guard down, Gorim." she said. And then, because she did not want to get up quite yet, or ask him to yield, she kissed him again, softer this time.
Then she got up and walked out the practice room.
***
How she went from hating Gorim, to liking him, to loving him (though she still had not decided whether she would tell him about the love part), she would never know. Making friends was hard enough as a noble woman in Orzammar, the constant backstabbing and loyalty changes making it difficult to find anything lasting. But if there was anyone she could say that she did trust, it was Gorim.
Gorim, who threw himself in the line of fire for her, who looked at her like he actually cared. She suspected her father knew about the nature of their relationship, and Trian definitely knew, given how often he sneered at her while making snide comments. Bhelen seemed to know but not care, but she was sure his dalliances with casteless girls had made him more understanding about the entire thing.
Then came the day when her life crashed down around her and she lost him.
***
"Lord Harrowmont has also opened up the Provings for young men to test their mettle before tomorrow's battle. Rumor has it that Harrowmont hopes you'll be swept off your feet if a well placed young nobleman wins the Provings in your honor."
"Should we tell him I already have the man I need?"
"Why not? I'll just wear a sign that says 'Assassinate me before Lady Aeducan marries beneath her.'"
***
"What happened here?" Sereda seethed with the urge to choke Bhelen. He was a slimy little rat and she wanted to crush his windpipe. She could see his smug face behind her father and resisted the urge to scream. That would just make her look unstable.
"My Lady Aeducan is innocent!" Gorim cried and Sereda couldn't deny the small knot of relief that unraveled. She trusted Gorim but she had been worried, afraid, of what she would do if he had betrayed her now. But then again, it didn't matter what Gorim said, he was her Second, they would take his loyalty as bias.
And then the scout betrayed her and she wanted to put a knife through his eye. And then Frandlin Ivo, the nasty noble she had given her Proving helmet to, spoke out against her as well and Sereda merely felt helpess.
"Father," she said, her voice determinedly firm. "You know I did not do this."
But her father was too caught up in grief to even look at her.
***
"He must have been planning this for months." she said, bitterly, looking at the straw covered ground of the dungeon cell she was trapped in. She imagined the particular straw piece near her foot was Bhelen's face and crushed him, twisting her foot to turn the straw into paste. "Making deals and alliances all this time." she wondered briefly if Bhelen had ever actually liked her as a sister the way she liked him. Poor Trian. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "You have to respect his ability to play the game at least." she sighed.
"I'm sorry, my lady." Gorim looked torn and sad.
"What's going to happen to you?" she asked, because he had given her her own news first.
"My knighthood will be stripped and I will be struck from my family records." he grimaced. "But I will be allowed to make some sort of life for myself on the surface." he growled. "Harrowmont fought to get the same movement passed for you but..."
"But Bhelen, yes." she sighed.
"I wish I could come with you, my lady. Fight at your side." he moved forward and grabbed one of the bars of the cell.
She smiled. "You're safer this way. I'd rather it be like this." she laughed without humor. "Well, truthfully, I'd rather this not have happened at all."
She rubbed at her eyes, trying to think of the best course of plan to stay alive until she found the grey wardens in the Deep Roads. "My lady," Gorim said, his voice soft and sad. "If you do make it out, come to Denerim, the human city." his grip on the cell bar tightened. "I'll wait for you there and hopefully..." he swallowed. "We shall see each other again."
Sereda placed a hand on top of his. "Yes, we will." her voice sounded more confident than she felt. "I'm not that easy to kill, quite frankly."
Gorim laughed, but it sounded hollow. "I wish you luck, my lady."
And, if anything, this would be the time to tell him. To tell him that she might be starting to fall in love with him, that she would fight to make her way back to him, to ask him to hold her one more time. But she bit down the words. This was not the time, she thought to herself furiously, because there will be another time. Because I need to stay alive to choke Bhelen to death.
"Farewell, Ser Gorim." she smiled. "First of Your Name."
Gorim laughed, a wonderful sound, something she memorized so that she had something to help her not lose hope when she was in the Deep Roads.
"Farewell, my Princess."