Game Of Seduction

Chapter 3

Reana woke up in her bedchamber at the Denerim estate, the sunshine beaming through the windows, lighting up the room. Maximus had left at some point, early morning, hoping to avoid the servants. It had been a month since the wedding and she had said one word to her husband. Even then it was said under her breath and she wasn't sure whether he heard it or not.

She had seen a lot of Maximus. He would spend the night with her sometimes, always finding a way into the estate unseen by anyone. She had no idea how he managed it, part of her probably shouldn't know.

Today, her family were coming for a visit. Her father wanted to participate in the annual hunt and he wanted Reana and Seline to join him. Secretly, she hoped she would get to spend more time with Maximus. They stole every moment they could to spend time together. Sometimes it scared her how much she needed to see him. A consent longing for his touch, his lips all over her body as he explored every inch of her skin.

Reana got up to get dressed into her hunting clothes, choosing her doe-skin breeches, cotton tunic and her fur over coat in case the weather turned. Seline walked into her room with a face like an orlesian lady who just got told she had no fashion sense by a Fereldan, "Who crawled up your bum?"

Seline grunted, "Wedding, wedding, wedding...That is all I hear about," She spat, crossing her arms huffily.

"See, I would have more sympathy, but look at who I married," She patted the space on the bed next to her," You don't have to do it, Soph. Tell father that you refuse."

"You think I should?" She sat down next to her sister, resting her head against her shoulder.

"I do, Soph."

Seline hummed in thought, "I'll think about it."

"Good. Let's go, the men will be waiting."

"I've swayed it so we are partnered with Loghain and Maximus."

Reana chuckled, "Come on, I know you're desperate to see Loghain."

Seline playfully pushed Reana towards the door, "Oh and you don't want to see Maximus?"

They joined the others in palace courtyard, spotting that Bryce had a face on. Reana knew that he had found out Maximus and Loghain would be their escorts. She had to smile to herself, as she knew Bryce couldn't publicly object and not invite uncomfortable questions.

The four of them got in a carriage that was to take them to the hunting grounds, around an hour away. The girls wondered why they went so far when there were closer places but they told it was traditional to hunt there. King Calenhad himself would hunt there and in his honour, they did it every year.

Reana sat hip to hip with Maximus and he slipped his arm around her shoulders pulling her towards him. Seline was almost sitting on Loghain's lap, not that he minded, her legs slung over his, his hand caressing her thighs.

She sighed, settling in for the journey, face contorting in disgust as Seline pulled Loghain to her for a kiss that lasted far too long for Reana's liking. She cleared her throat twice, hoping to get their attention, when that didn't work, she went for the verbal approach, "You do realise you aren't alone, don't you"? Maximus's chuckles vibrated through her as the pair pulled apart slightly red faced.

"Oh hush. We haven't seen each since your wedding."

"I think you mean... "The worse day of my life," I hope my husband gets an arrow in the head."

Seline chuckled, "I can make it look accidental."

Reana scoffed before turning to Maximus, "Were you nearly caught by the servants this morning?"

He smiled, caressing her hair, "Almost. I'm just really good at getting away."

"Good. We wouldnt want people to gossip."

He kissed her forehead, taking in the floral scent of her hair, "Do you want me to send Urien and that i***t boy away for a few months?"

"You can do that?" Her eyes lit up with the prospect at getting rid of them both for a while.

"I'm the king, I can do anything I want."

"Please do it. Hopefully they'll get lost at sea."

"I cant do it for a month or two."

"I can wait. Just knowing they'll be pissing off will keep me going."

"I'll will inform Urien later. I'll make it worth his while," Maximus knew with them out of the way, he'd have an excuse to have Reana stay at the palace, under the pretence of her not being alone in her estate.

The carriage pulled to a halt unexpectedly, making everyone jolt, "What is it?" Reana asked Maximus.

"Stay in the carriage, ladies. Loghain?" Both men got out of the carriage, taking care to shut the door, "Bolt the door Reana," She did as Maximus asked. They heard shouting from outside, the noise got further and further away until the girls knew they were alone.

Something banged against the outside of the carriage, causing them both to draw their daggers. The door moved slightly as if someone tried to open it from the outside. They stayed as still as possible as the growling creatures prowled around the carriage. They had no choice but to stay inside, they knew from the footsteps they were outnumbered.

"Reana?" Seline whispered harshly, "What is it?"

"No idea. Just keep quiet."

The group headed into the forest, chasing after the darkspawns trail. Once they reached a clearing, they saw a dozen slaughtered animals, discarded like rubbish, heads torn off and insides ripped out. For one young noble, it had proved too much, as he doubled over, vomiting into a small bush.

Maximus looked at Loghain, knowing the the trail had gone cold. But they were both in agreement, "I fear the darkspawn have returned, once again," He said, troubled by the idea.

Arl Howe stepped to him, shaking his head, "Now we don't know that for sure."

Teagan scoffed at the older man, not surprised by his denial or ignorance, "don't be a fool! Who else could have done this?" He gestured towards the animal parts scattered around them.

"Teagan is right, my friend," Bryce said in agreement, "Who else knows of such brutality. You've heard the stories."

"I have, Bryce. But they are just that, stories. Who alive has seen them?"

"I have," A voice called out behind them, causing them all to turn around.

"Grey Wardens?" Arl Bryland asked as he recognised their armour.

"Yes, I am Warden Commander Duncan," He turned to a blonde hair man who had his staff firmly in his grasp, "Anders," He gestured to a dark haired elven woman, "Soral," He gave Maximus a hard stare, "And this is Alistair."

Maximus looked at his son. He had grown tall and handsome like Cailan. He also noted that Alistair didn't seem to inherit any elven traits from his mother and judging by the longsword he carried, he wasn't a mage either, "Pleasure to see you again, Duncan."

Duncan walked past Maximus towards the slaughtered animals, crouching down to examine one of them, "We have been investigating several sightings of Darkspawn coming out of the Deep Roads."

"You didn't think to report such sightings to the Crown?" Loghain questioned, sneering at the man, never having cared for since finding out about his past.

"We didn't want to inform you without evidence," Alistair looked briefly at his father, "Would believe it without evidence?"

Bryce crossed his arms, eyeing the young man with a hint curiosity. He looked just like Maximus and Cailan. He had of course heard the rumours about a bastard child of Maximus, although it was never proven, "Some of us would have," He respectfully nodded to Alistair, "I am Teyrn Cornwall. Tell me young man, what sightings?"

Alistair nodded back and looked to Duncan, with his consent, he told them, "A small village, not far from the deep roads, was burnt to the ground. As far as we could tell, all the villagers were killed."

Duncan stood up, pacing around the clearing, arms folded crossed his chest, "See, that is how they work. Start with smaller areas first," He looked at Arl Howe with a grave expression, "Mark my words, we are on the precipice of a fifth blight."

Howe snorted, smirking at the Grey Warden, "don't be ridiculous. Your majesty, do really believe in such rot?"

"Shut up, Howe. I've never had a reason to doubt them," Maximus admonished, leaving Howe looking like a wounded puppy, "So what do we d-" He started as a scream echoed through the trees. To his horror, he realised he'd left Reana and Seline alone in the carriage.

Bryce had already started running back to where his daughters were, closely followed by Fergus, "Seline! Reana!" He shouted as he got back to the carriages. Most of the carriages were on their side, a couple had been destroyed. He ran to the carriage they were in, climbing atop it to look inside, "They aren't here!" He yelled at Fergus, looking to see if they close by.

Anders walked around the carriage, spotting a small pool of blood, followed by drag marks, "Here. Looks like someone was injured," He pointed to the drag marks, "This way."

They followed the marks into a wooded area, a bloody hand print left on a tree stump. The men stared at the hand print, each noticing that it was small enough to be a woman's, and just when one them was about to voice this fact they heard a scream. They moved fast towards the source of the scream. They found Seline writhing in agony, trying futility to push a downed tree log that had her ankle painfully pinned into the sodden dirt off of her. Loghain rushed to her, falling to his knees beside her, "Stay still," He ordered, signalling to the others to help him. Together they moved it without causing her too much pain, "Are you ok?" Loghain asked softly.

"Where's Reana?" She asked as she struggled to sit up, even with Loghain's help.

Bryce crouched down to her, "Seline, where did she go?"

"I fell and the tree pinned me. She followed the trail but she was confused," Tears fell from her eyes, down her bloodied face, "So much blood. She's in pain, I can feel it," She managed through a strangled cry.

"Loghain stay with her. I need to find Reana," Loghain nodded to Bryce before he ran off to find his other daughter.

They moved in the direction that Seline had given them but in her confusion, Reana could have stumbled anywhere. The panic had started to set within Maximus, the longer they searched, the longer it would be before they found her and based on the blood she was losing, she didn't have the luxury of time. They found themselves at deep embankment, a path of disturbed bushes, leaves marred by blood. Maximus didn't wait for the others and made his way down the embankment, a growl in the distance grew louder as he neared the bottom. Finally back on solid ground he moved through the brush, coming to a stream. Fear gripped him when he saw the source of the growl. Werewolves were circling something in the stream, blood streaking along with the flow. Grabbing his bow, he fired an arrow in the neck of one beast, making the others run into the forest.

He rushed to her side, scooping her up in his arms. She was barely concious, limp in his arms as he carried her back to the embankment, "Bryce!" He yelled up to him, "Help me get her up."

Bryce slid down down enough so he could reach her, pulling her up as they struggling back up the embankment. Once the reached the top, Anders rush to her, checking her injuries, "She's lost a lot of blood. I'll heal her the best I can," Once Anders had finished, they moved both girls to the carriages, to transport them back to Denerim. Maximus and Loghain went back in a separate carriage. They had wanted to be with them but Bryce and Anders had gone with them. Both of them felt intense guilt over leaving the girls alone and they could only hope they would recover well.

Reana groaned in pain as she woke up, the sunlight stinging her eyes as it streamed through the half closed curtains, "Shall a shut the curtains?" Maximus asked her.

"No it's ok. What happened?" She blinked her eyes several times and sat up slightly.

"You were injured by darkspawn," He swallowed down his guilt, "I'm so sorry Reana. I left you in the carriage."

She signalled for him to move closer, "It's ok. I'm still here. Although, you can kiss me to make up for it," He smiled at her, his lips tenderly touching hers, running his tongue across her bottom lip, teasing her mouth open. He groaned as her tongue met his, sending tingles down his body. He moved, cocooning her within his arms, her body pressed against his, never breaking their kiss, the world disappearing around them.

Suddenly, Reana became aware of another presence in the room. She pulled away, turning towards the door, meeting the eyes of her mother, "Errr...mother?" Eleanor didn't respond, she calmly left the room, leaving Maximus and Reana looking at each other, wondering what she was going to do.