Where Shadows Roam

Now a Servant

Tevinter. It was all ripe with the infamous slave trade, how freely magic was wielded with little restriction, the Black Divine, and tales that held certain kernels of truth. Like all upper classes throughout Thedas many high ranking Tevinter Nobles quarreled with each other for whatever reasons their mind concocted, and yet another nobleman is found dead in his home. How this murder came about was the peculiar part; no marks were left on the corpse to indicate a sort of struggle, and very little magic was sensed aside from the traces of blood magic.

Many whispered about what had happened until eventually the case ran cold and was eventually forgotten.The incident had happened years ago now, and none chose to dwell on the topic any longer, including a certain elven servant.

Silently he walked through the halls of the labyrinthine mansion, passing by other servants who all spared him a brief glance before heading to their quarters for the night. The young Tevinter known as Dorian had been adamant about his father sending the elf as a personal servant to watch over him, but as the years went by he proved himself to be useful in regards to the magical arts and currently he was heading to the mage's room. During those years their bond grew closer inch by inch as the magical studies had them work together, an evolving fondness and solace in the other's company.

Approaching the door he gave it a soft knock with his knuckles, prompting one of the men inside to open it which turned out to be Felix, Magister Alexius' son "Happy to see you, Sah'rel." The man greeted him warmly to which the elf gave a small smile.

"It's always a pleasure to see you too, Felix." Felix had heavily insisted that the elf drop the 'master' part and to simply call him by his name, something that took some time to grow accustomed to but gave the young elf a form of comfort and allowed him to grow a friendship between them.

"How goes the research? Any progress?" He asked with slight curiosity to which Felix shook his head.

"Nothing yet, they've hit a dead end for now."

"They should be able to find a way through it I'm sure."

"Lets just hope and see, I was about to retire for the night so I leave Dorian to you. Perhaps you can convince him to get some rest." Felix said as he left the door open for Sah'rel to step inside and close it behind him.

There, sitting at his desk with his head in his hand, was Dorian, the light from the candle flickering over the multitude of notes and books that were scattered about in a mess.

"Now you can't clean up after yourself?" Sah'rel joked, learning that little quips like these seemed to help Dorian perk up as he walked over and read the notes over and glanced at the title of the books, sorting them in a way that his Master preferred in neat piles.

The elf simply got a sigh in return as the young mage leaned back in his seat and rubbed his face, remaining quiet which made Sah'rel frown.

"Has it been that stressful?" He finished sorting out the mess "You need to get some sleep, Master Dorian." The Tevinter's hand twitched before he removed it.

"I'm close to it, I know it, I just need a bit more time."

"Stop." The elf's tone turned soft "I know how much this means to you and Alexius, but if you can't even keep your eyes open and focus your mind then what good will you be?" He leaned over so he could see Dorian from the front, cleaning up his disheveled appearance "Look at you, a mess you are."

The Tevinter gave a half smile "Where would I be without you, always clucking like a worried mother hen?" Despite the tiredness clear in his tone the quip got a small giggle from the elf.

"There's the young Master I know, now come on." Dorian stood up at Sah'rel's prompting, but before the elven servant could leave the mage had grabbed him by the wrist.

"Is there something you need?" When Sah'rel looked back he was greeted with a sudden tender kiss on the lips, shocking him senseless as Dorian pulled away.

"Will you stay with me for the night? Felix should find a way to convince Alexius to let me rest a little longer. I... I also want you to drop the master part as well, just call me Dorian." What the Tevinter had just said further shocked the elf's mind into senselessness.

Was it the exhaustion clouding his senses? Or did he find a way to sneak a drink? Whatever the case may be the elf could feel his heart twist, should he just run out of the room, bidding Dorian goodnight? No, no he wouldn't like that. For now he smiled slightly and chose to go along with what he wanted despite how his mind was trying to convince him otherwise "If that is what you wish." With that he allowed Dorian to pull him over to the bed, crawling under the sheets with the man as the lone light of the candle slowly burned out.

He blinked a few times as he snapped back into reality, the dreamy haze the memory brought fading away as the elf became aware of his surroundings once more. He stood outside the room Dorian was currently resting in, the noble birthright of the Pavus granted him access to a more clean and private room on the ship they rode in. The same couldn't be said for the elven servant who had been sent to the less clean and secure levels, stirring up memories that he believed were best forgotten.

Silently he opened the door, poking his head through the crack to see if the Tevinter he served was asleep to which he was. Carefully walking inside he softly closed the door behind him, walking over to the human's bedside and cautiously sitting down, not wanting to wake him from his slumber.

After the night they had shared their first kiss it began to escalate from simple, experimental kisses to heated make-out sessions as much as the elf hated to think of it that way. They hadn't risen to sex yet despite Dorian's obvious signals along with the emotions that he portrayed so blatantly to him, and it wasn't that he didn't want... whatever it was that was forming between them, but that it all felt unreal and it scared him. He was just a lowly servant, an elven slave no different from the rest and his mind tried to convince him that Dorian only treated him the way he did just so he could get a pleasurably kick out of him, but his heart said otherwise and it squeezed tight in yearning for the Tevinter. 

He wanted to take the emotional complications out of it all, however it seemed their story had different ideas, and after the discovery of what Dorian's father had planned for his son the two took off, deciding to trail after Alexius after remembering the ludicrous proposal he made to the mage. It was more so them finding an objective to occupy their minds from the dark truth, to give them something to do as they let their current reality sink in.

Sah'rel squeezed his rare violet eyes shut for a moment, hugging himself tightly before tentatively placing his fingers on his forehead as his face shrewd up in discomfort and his long, dark brown hair fell forwards to shield the sides of his face in cascading waves. His entire arm and hand began twitching incessantly for a few still moments before it stopped and the elf let out a sigh.

"Not again..." He mumbled quietly before opening his eyes at last and looking back down at the sleeping Tevinter.

Reaching over he gently caressed the man's cheek, running his fingers across his tanned features before pulling away and standing up, quickly leaving the room as quietly as he came in.