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The lights faded after the second bell chimed. "Fashionably late," Sif muttered to herself as she reentered the ballroom. The room was still bustling with excitement, laughter, and gossip as its guests moved about the room. Sif adjusted her mask, mentally swearing to herself to have a word with the good Commander once she was back in Fereldan.
She may have been Orlesian Noble by birth, but that was a life she had never wanted to return to after she had run away from home. She knew she would be the talk of the celebration (the Commander had hoped it would enable her to retrieve more information about their enemy, Thanos) but she hated the circumstances that she was forced to abide by. The Game fashioned by the other Orlesian Nobles bored her- the seduction, the deception, the lies. She solved more problems with her sword than she could by an attempt to stoop to their level.
"Announcing the arrival of the Lady Elsif-"
"It's Sif," she interrupted the court announcer, not caring for her proper titles to be announced. She was here for a mission and then she would be gone from this wretched country. She stepped forward and bowed to the Duchess for whom the celebration was created. Then, Sif hurried off to waste some time before she was supposed to meet the Inquisition's informant- that time was when she met him.
He was tall, thin, almost lanky in his build. She could tell his clothing was expensive and made specially for him, judging by the custom seamwork in his jacket. His midnight black hair was slicked back away from his face so that his snake-like mask was more prominent. She could not remember which Orlesian House's coat of arms featured a snake, but she wondered more about the man beneath the mask than the family he belonged to.
She wondered if she had would have known him if she had stayed and not run away as she had so many years ago. He was pleasant enough to look at, could they have been lovers? She raked her eyes over his form once again, contemplating the option to indulge her mind's curiosity at what awaited her beneath all the layers he wore.
Her brown eyes met her green ones when she glanced at his mask once more. She tilted her head out of curiousity when he approached her with a devilish grin on his face. "Lady Elsif, you grace us with your presence at last." He bowed before her gracefully.
Oh, he is a slick one with a silvertongue, Sif thought mentally. The mask fits then.
"Please call me Sif. Elsif is too formal for an event like this," Sif insisted. It was terrible enough to be forced into the dress she had on by the Commander, she was most assuredly not going to be addressed as Elsif for the evening.
"Well, Lady Sif, it is a pleasure to meet you. Your family must be glad for your return," the man began slowly, sizing her up and seeing if she was up to play The Game. Everyone knew already about what had happened when she had gone to her family home.
"They cried tears of joys when I returned home uninjured. Tomorrow we are planning a feast for my return. You are welcome to join us, my Lord," Sif lied easily as she began to size up her opponent.
"I am afraid I have a meeting to attend tomorrow. Perhaps another time? Although, I hear your time is taken up by your many adventures," The man countered before he gestured toward the door leading out to the gardens. "Won't you have a walk with me in the gardens and tell me a thrilling tale of adventure?" He asked her, offering her his arm.
She could feel eyes on her and her skin prickled beneath the layers of the dress. It was a trap, that was obvious to her but The Game had strict rules and she was at its mercy. "I have many thrilling tales of adventure to share. Let me tell you about the time I killed a man with a scarf," Sif explained to him as she accepted his arm. The two of them walked out to the gardens and Sif prepped herself for the moment when she met the silvertongued man beneath the snake mask.