"Five…six…seven…" Blue orbs spied naughtily through silt fingers. Cheater. "Eight…nine…ten! Ready or not, here I come!"

A blur of green and gold cotton skipped heedlessly pass his sensible hiding spot. Little Reina Cousland had never learned to search the room she started in. Amateur. On the tippiest of toes, the oldest of the Howe children discreetly abandoned the safe harbor he discovered among various crates and pursued the bouncing clueless girl. Dark midnight ringlets adorned with silk ribbons, green and gold to match her noble's dress of course, danced in the air with every skip.

"Ridi…come out come out wherever you are." Reina quietly taunted into every room as she traveled desolately down the long castle hallway, her voice echoing along grand stone walls. Nathaniel's lips began curling upwards as Reina's began curling down. "Ridi! You're cheating, I know it." She whined throwing a minor spoiled child's fit. "Where are you hiding?"

With the slightest chuckle, Nathaniel reached out with twitchy fingers and tickled the little Cousland girl relentlessly on her sides, right below the rib cage. That spot always did the trick. In a whirl of curls, cotton and silk ribbons, Reina spun in a huff, unable to bar the girlish giggling. "Ridi, that's not fair!" Perpetual laughter and unfading smiles flushed her features of natural color.

"Fair?" Ceasing his calculated tickle assault, Nathaniel brought a hand to his chest in all innocence. "My lady, whatever do you mean?"

"Do not play ignorant with me." Reina whimpered, trying desperately to bury her joy…and failing to do so. "The game is hide and seek. Not hide, wait for the seeker to miss you and then follow. Ridi, you cheated!"

Nathaniel couldn't help but laugh. "Rei-rei, was I mistaken or did you sneak a peek while you were counting?"

"I…uh…I was just making sure you weren't, um, cheating!" Holding her head high, Reina crossed her arms defiantly despite the obvious fib that fell from her pouty lips. "How did you get by me?"

"You, my lady, need to learn to keep eyes focused behind you as well as in front of you." Nathaniel smirked, winking knowingly towards his young friend. "I believe it is your turn to hide, is it not?"

With a bright smile and a crinkle of her nose, little Reina Cousland turned on a heel and ran blissfully down the hall. "Start counting Ridi! I promise you won't find me this time and I won't have to cheat like you did!"

Nathaniel scoffed jovially at the flutter of deep greens and golds escaping his sight. With a soft sigh, he covered his shimmering silver eyes. "I will always find you Rei-rei, no matter where you hide. One…two…three…"

The Maker had a terrible sense of humor. His home had been filled with the shuffling footsteps of those who did not belong. Trespassing fingers skimmed along items that were not theirs to possess and voices of warden intruders inhabited rooms that were rightfully his. There was nothing just in these squatters frolicking freely on stolen lands, nothing at all.

Nathaniel pinched the bridge of his nose. Frustration built easily while housed on the criminal side of steel bars. Or perhaps he was actually on the free side, for all that remained beyond his prison were crooks and thieves…and Reina Cousland.

"Cousland" The name fell from his lips like a poison as he pounded a fist against the cold prison floor. "You will pay for what you have done."

Originally, his intent had been to kill the one who murdered his father, the one that abducted everything from him, but once he traced familiar ground memories of a naive girl following him about the keep's halls infected his arduous thoughts. Fleeting images of a teenager begging to learn how to handle a blade flooded his mind. The voice of a beautiful woman calling out his name late in the night as he explored her slender form for the first time rattled within his skull. It became increasingly difficult to maintain his justified rage while pleasant memories stirred within his conscience.

With a weakened heart, Nathaniel settled for reclaiming a few of his family's lawful possessions, but before he could make haste he was thrown with the rats, stripped of what little items he had, and locked away to await whatever sentence that Cousland deemed necessary. Foolish cowards. They should have let him go. Should have hung him themselves if anything, for now he could think of nothing other than snapping her pretty neck. Pleasant memories were much easier to replace with hatred when left alone in a cell.

Nathaniel rubbed his temples as the sound of rusty hinges screeched throughout the tiny dungeon. As if summoned by his burning animosity, four sets of footsteps and one set of animal claw clicks approached. Three were unfamiliar, sloppy and loud, while the last he would recognize anywhere. Each step was taken with intent, every movement barely audible. Cousland... Sitting up, Nathaniel glared at his unwelcomed guests. Two men, a guard and a mage. A dwarf, warrior. Sounds like the set up for a bad joke. So...a guard, a mage, a dwarf, a dog and a murderer walk into a dungeon...

Reina froze at the sight of him; face twitching with bewilderment as her mabari excitedly jumped on the cell door with tail wagging and tongue hanging out. "My lady, um I mean, Commander. I apologize. It took four of our men to capture him. He's a threat, I would suggest hanging..." Ever the noble, Reina lifted a leather braced hand, hushing the guard beside her. "Leave us." Though soft, her confident voice could send shivers down a grown man's back when she needed it to. "Both of you as well." With the flick of a wrist, Reina dismissed her companions.

"Leave a dungeon? You don't have to tell me twice." The mage said already half turned towards the exit.

The dwarf raised a bushy eyebrow. Nathaniel couldn't distinguish if it was out of concern or mere skepticism. "You got this, kid?"

Reina nodded, eyes refusing to abandon the man before her. "Take Jester with you."

"Sodding dog, I'm watching you." Grumbling, both dwarf and dog trailed after the mage.

At the sound of the prison door closing, Reina released a deep breath. She looked...different, to say the least. Frilly dresses were replaced with bloody armor and weapons. Ribbons were abandoned for a single metal clip. Bouncing curls no longer fell upon her shoulders; instead messy loose strands of hair framed her face. Her eyes, like his, were no longer endless pools of brightness and hope. Nathaniel had thought that when he finally came face to face with his father's murderer he would be greeted with the face of a monster, but the girl that stood in front of him was nothing more than a broken soul. Broken like he was. The Maker really had a horrible sense of humor…really horrible. Pushing pity aside, Nathaniel reminded himself of the wrongs committed against his family. Reminded himself that he needed to do right by his father. I promise father, she will pay.

Sitting on the floor across from him, Reina leaned against a wall and extended her legs, ankle crossing over ankle. Though surrounded by mounds of aged dirt and cobwebs, an air of grandeur surrounded the woman. Glittering blues and silvers accentuated her high cheek bones and long lashed eyes. Colors, he could tell, were chosen specially to compliment the drake skin armor she donned of a similar palate. Only Reina Cousland could turn being a rogue into a fashion statement. Busying her hands, she dusted her armor absentmindedly. "Been a long time Nate, I see you've taken up petty thievery."

"I see you've taken up murdering fathers." Nathaniel growled venomously as he clenched his jaw.

Raising a dark thin eyebrow, the woman clucked her tongue expectantly. "Trust me; you do not know the whole story. Rendon Howe was not the man you thought he was."

Grinning crookedly, he shook his head. "Likely, I'm sure. You know, you've always lacked skill when it came to lying."

"Still the charmer I see." With a quick toss, she slid a small leather pouch into his cell. "If I was lying, would I give you that?"

Perplexed, Nathaniel cautiously opened the pouch revealing a set of fine crafted lock picks he had gifted her years ago. He wasn't sure if this was a sign of blind faith or some sort of brilliant trick, but no matter the reason he wasn't about to squander the opportunity to escape. Deftly he freed himself. With a quick side glance, Nathaniel took notice of the trunk containing his belongings that had been left carelessly close to his cell. "What are you trying to prove with this little stunt?"

"That you are not your father."

"You didn't know my father."

Reina snorted, chewing aimlessly on her pinky nail. "No I really didn't and believe me, you didn't either. I thought he was a friend. I assumed he was the great man you painted him to be, but it turned out he was just a traitorous coward."

"Tread carefully Cousland." Seething, Nathaniel flared his nostrils.

"Arl Howe murdered my family; destroyed my home whilst our army was sent to defend Ostagar. Sounds like an opportunistic coward to me."

"Your family was going to sell us out to the Orlesians."

"I take that's what he told you." She rose to her feet, feline-like eyes fixated on him as she brushed dirt off her back side. "Did he also inform you of his numerous transgressions? Such vile transgressions included selling his citizens into slavery. Does that sound like the man you knew?"

It was provoking how caustic and dry Reina kept her tone, but if she wanted to play, Nathaniel was more than willing to oblige. "How could he? Last time I checked, corpses weren't the chattiest of folk."

She grunted, smirking bitterly. "Well, I suppose that means you aren't aware that he seized the children of his political enemies for torture."

Nathaniel shook his head. His father tended to partake in the unconventional, but unnecessary torture? He was no stranger to the late Arl Howe's violent demeanor, but Nathaniel couldn't bring himself to accept Reina's words. "I don't believe you."

"Or that he held the Queen hostage for knowing too much." Rubbing her knuckles against her prominent jaw line, Reina fastidiously closed the distance between the two ex-nobles. He could feel her hot breath against his skin.

"Stop." His muscles tensed, fists constricted, as he resisted the urge to lash out at her.

"The blood of hundreds of innocents drenched his hands," Tilting her head from side to side, the Cousland girl toyed with his ever growing frustration, stoking his ferocity. "…including King Cailan's."

"LIES!" Violently he shoved her back and without hesitation, turned towards the chest next to him, kicking it open. Ignoring the pain radiating through his unarmored leg, Nathaniel reached for his twin daggers as Reina drew her own blades. Steel clashed ruthlessly against steel. With a brisk side step, Reina dodged his attempted right flank and countered, jabbing the hilt of her off hand weapon into his shoulder.

"You're losing your touch, Nate. What happened to the boy that could disarm anyone in one move?"

Nathaniel gnarled, gripping his daggers with primal intensity. Rushing her in a flurry of slashes, he screamed out. "I loved my father!"

"I loved mine." She retorted, dexterously avoiding his onslaught.

"And I loved you." Dropping one of his daggers, he wrapped his hand around Reina's regal neck, forcibly pulling her into him. Their lips collided in raw barbarity. Her enchanted weapons fell to the ground in a clatter, barely noticeable over his pounding heartbeat. Her tongue tasted just as he remember, like cinnamon. Too much would burn, but in just the right doses it was the sweetest, most delectable spice imaginable. Nathaniel stifled a moan as nails clawed at his back in a mixture of pure passion and desperation.

With a quick intake of breath, she pulled away from him. Blue eyes widened as her pupils dilated in fear. Her plump lips stretched horizontally as her lower lip began to tremble.

"But not anymore." Her warm life liquid spilled onto his hands. Backing away, Nathaniel eyed the dagger hilt jutting out of Reina's abdomen. He wondered if this mimicked his father's final moments. If the Arl had looked just as small. If his world ended just as dramatically. Choking on air, she reached for him as her body spiraled towards the prison floor.

With crimson stained hands, Nathaniel returned to the chest and reclaimed his belongings. Sifting through his canvas sack, he retrieved a health poultice and placed it next to the feeble woman he had just bested. He bent down, pressing his mouth against her ear. "Start counting, Rei-rei."

Throwing on his cloak and slinging his bow and humble quiver over his shoulder, Nathaniel prepared to make a run for it. Outside the dwarf swayed drunkenly, stubby finger pointed at the statue of Andraste and mouth spewing obscenities regarding her…figure. "Hey hey good looking, nice ass! Ahahahaha. Get over here and take a ride on ole Oghren." Both mage and mabari had their rear ends in the air and heads down as the mage cooed ridiculously into a bush. "Here kitty-kitty." If the skirted man had a tail it most likely would be flailing as happily as the dog's.

Fascinating the company she keeps now...

"Mage!" Nathaniel called out as he was about to turn a corner. "Your dear Commander requests your presence."

Not waiting for a reaction, Nathaniel ran for the side exit located behind the prison. One lowly guard stood between his capture and escape. A brutal jab across the chin was all that was needed and before anyone noticed, he was gone.

Pausing on the outskirts of Vigil's Keep, Nathaniel scowled over his shoulder. Let the games begin.