[Fic] Iron Bound [1/25]
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Fenris/Hawke, Sebastian
Word Count: 5k this chapter, ~95k total
Summary: Fenris, captain of Starkhaven’s White Guard and the dearest friend of that country’s prince, has arrived in the kingdom of Kirkwall with a retinue of noble-born guards and a carriage brimming with lavish gifts. How else to win over the hearts of a suspicious mountain people who would rather break teeth on stone than accept the prince of Starkhaven stealing away their heir princess?
But stone is all they have in their kitchens lately, and gravel in their quarries and ice in their bitter rivers, and Starkhaven sits abreast the richest lea and moorland south of the Minanter.
And Sebastian Vael, the young prince of that country, needs a wife.
Fenris shaded his eyes, observed that the road to the base of the mountain had not appreciably shortened in the last fifteen minutes, and resolutely did not clench his jaw. He also did not bother to wipe the sweat from his eyes or hurry his horse onwards, taught by the last several hours of the futility of both. Had he been alone, without this great useless carriage and the retinue of nearly as useless guards—but had he been alone, he wouldn’t have been here in the first place.
“I think just over an hour, perhaps,” said the lady Merrill, standing in the stirrups of her little pony as if the height might help. She was a slight, slender woman in high brown boots and a green kirtle, prone to irritating prattle, but her eyes were clear and sharp, and Fenris trusted her instincts. At least here, he amended, on the road and in arms’ length and when it came to distance traveled, where he could see her movements clearly and there were no magic mirrors for her to curse or accidentally set upon cursing others. “But it will still be slow up the mountain once we’re through the gates. The carriage is so very large and unwieldy.”
“Yes,” Fenris said shortly, and one of the guards riding to his left stifled a snort.
Fenris threw Druvond a sharp look. The lieutenant stiffened, all mirth falling from his face. “Apologies, Captain,” he said smartly, and the horse tossed its head at the tightened bit, breaking into a trot for a few paces before falling back into sedate line.
