Dragon Age

The Rose of Highever

A/N: It's been four years since I last wrote anything. Dragon Age made me do it again. This is a story about Cousland's rise from the privileged daughter of Teyrn Bryce to the hero of Ferelden. This is NOT a novelization of Dragon Age: Origins. It would only be focused on two characters: Samantha Cousland and Alistair.

There are changes to the plot, just to tailor fit Cousland's story more. I try to keep in-game dialogues to a minimum, but sometimes during the crucial scenes, it's inevitable. Especially during the beginning few chapters. The first few chapters stick to the main plot dialogue. It's quite boring for me to write as it might be boring for you to read, but it's essential to set the foundation for the rest of the story, to set a baseline of who Cousland was at the beginning of the story. Skip them if you find them boring. Juicy and fun part starts at around chapter eight "Fireside Gossips".

I've put a list of references and easter eggs in my profile page. Check it out if you are interested.

English is not my first language. Most of the time, I'm still struggling with grammar and proper usage of words. This story is not beta-ed, so please excuse any mistakes and typo. Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy.

Eleanor's locket and Samantha's pendant in this chapter were inspired by a mod called "Of Noble Cast" by JOG.

(Last edit: February 2011)

Disclaimer: Bioware owns everything.

Part One

Chapter One: Paradise Lost

"I will tell you, however: you're my darling daughter, I love you, and I trust you completely to carry on the Cousland name if the worst should happen." - Teyrn Bryce Cousland.

Sky blue eyes shot open.

The pounding sound on the heavy wooden door to her bedchambers awoke the Lady Samantha Cousland from her peaceful slumber. The sound became more insistence, knocking harder by the second. Something was not quite right.

"My lady! My lady! Help!" A voice called out desperately from the other side of the door.

Samantha immediately jumped off her featherbed and ran to open the door, just in time to see a painful twitch on the servant's face before he collapsed onto the floor by her feet with a bolt buried deep into his back. The young woman looked up and spotted the assassin across hall, loading his crossbow with a new bolt undoubtedly for her. Samantha slammed the door shut and heard a loud thud when the bolt hit the wooden door. She quickly reached for her beloved dagger, the Rose's Thorn, and hid next to the tall bookshelf by the door, waiting for the assassin to move in.

Just as she predicted, the door to her room flew open. One man charged in with a long sword waving in his hand. Samantha gave the shelf a hard shove and tipped it right onto of the man, knocking him off his feet, disarming him. Samantha quickly picked up the discarded sword and drove in right into the back of the assassin, piercing it through his armor. She gave it a twist before pulling out the weapon, making sure he was dead, and took the sword with her.

A bolt came flying across her room, missed her by no more than a few inches. Furious, Samantha charged at the other assassin while he rapidly reloaded another bolt. When she drew close, the man abandoned his crossbow and reached for his dagger. But it was too late for him. Samantha thrust the sword into his stomach, then slashed his open throat with the Rose's Thorn.

"Sammy!"

Samantha spun around when she heard her mother's voice. "Mother!"

"Sam! Thank the Maker you are all right!" Teyrna Eleanor Cousland rushed to her daughter and crushed her into a fierce hug. "Have you seen your father?"

Samantha shook her head in confusion. "No. No, I haven't. Mother, what is going on?"

"Your father has not come to bed, I feel for his safety." Eleanor nodded towards the dead man on the floor. "These are not ordinary assassin, Sammy. They bear Howe's shields."

"Arl Howe?" It was then Samantha finally took a good long look at the corpse by her feet. Her mother was right, on his shield was a familiar crest of the House of Howe. Betrayal, anger, confusion, all burning up inside her. "Why would he do that to us?"

"Who knows why he would betray us? Power is what I suspect. He has planned this all along, and did not strike until Fergus led most of our men down south." Eleanor sneered in disgust.

"He'll pay, Mother! I will make sure of it!" vowed the young Lady Cousland.

"He will, Sammy. But first we need to find your father, Oriana, and Oren, before Howe's men get to them," instructed her mother. "Go get into your armor. Your nightgown wouldn't do you any good in battles. I'll go get your father's weapon and check on Oriana."

Samantha nodded and did as she was bid without delay.

Modesty be damned. Samantha began to stripe off her bloody silk nightgown even before entering her room. Her custom made leather armor was waiting for her on an armor rack at the corn, as always. She donned her armor quickly with practiced ease, faster than she had ever done. Her leather armor fit her like a glove. It was strong and sturdy enough to protect her, yet light and flexible enough for her to move. Her brother Fergus had brought her to a highly eccentric armorer in Denerim to have this armor made for her. According to the master at the shop, as he would like to call himself, the only armor stronger and lighter than what Samantha had would require a very special item to make: dragon scales.

As if dragon truly existed.

Even if it did, who would dare to slay one just to get its scales for an armor?

Samantha caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror above her dressing table. Long blonde hair disheveled, blue eyes bloodshot, but now was not the time for vanity. There was blood spattered on her face, thankfully not hers. She took a final look at her room and suddenly realized everything in there was replaceable. But the people she loved: her family, Old Nan, Master Aldous, Ser Gilmore, the maids and guards she had known for all her life, they were irreplaceable. For nineteen years, Lady Samantha Cousland had lived a privileged and sheltered life as Teyrn Bryce Cousland's darling little girl. Tonight, as Lady Samantha's paradise began to crumble at her feet, her mind suddenly became clear, her eyes opened. The most important thing to her was her loved ones, not some trinkets from Antiva or silk and velvet dresses. Kicking a pair of Orlesian heels out of her way, Samantha stormed out of her room for the last time, vowing to herself she would protect everyone she loved.

Her vow was soon broken when she reached her brother's room. The normally poised teyrna broke down on the floor next to the body of her grandson. Samantha gasped in utter horror as her mind processed the image. Laying there on the floor with their blood gathering underneath their lifeless bodies were Oriana and Oren, Fergus' wife and son.

"Maker..." Samantha stopped behind her mother.

"Poor Oren! He was just a child!" Eleanor wept. "They were defenseless! How could those monsters do this to both of them?"

Samantha felt as though someone had just punch her in the gut. It was merely a few hours ago her little nephew had asked her to teach him how to use a sword. And now, there he was, lying on the rug he always played on, with a large sword wound on his little torso. Blood fanned around both mother and son, deep red forming a stark contrast against their ashy pale skin. Samantha felt her stomach turned.

"Don't look, Mother." She dragged her mother up and guided her out to the hallway.

Eleanor wiped the tears off her face. When her sharp green eyes landed on her daughter's soft blue ones, the old fire returned. "We have to find you father before it's too late." She handed a sword to Samantha. "Drop that piece of junk in your hand, Sammy. Use this."

Samantha looked at the sword in her mother's hand, her eyes widened in surprise. "But that's the..."

"Yes. The Cousland blade. Use it to kill every Howe's man standing in our way."

That was the heirloom sword that had been in her family for many years. Samantha took it and nodded solemnly.

"We have to go find you father. There is a way out of the castle through the kitchen. Howe's men probably haven't found that out yet. We must hurry."

Taking a final look at the home she was born in, Samantha hurried to follow her mother out of the temporary safety of the family quarters and into the flaming hallway.

Her paradise was lost within one single night, all because of one man's treachery. Come Dark City or high water, Lady Samantha Cousland swore to kill that traitor who destroyed her home and murdered her loved ones.

At long last, Samantha had located her father. Yet, it was far from the reunion she had hoped for. The sight in front of her was more horrified than any nightmares she had ever had.

Her heart pumped furiously from both battle rush and fear. Its pounding beats sounded deafening to her ears. Coppery taste of blood lingered inside her mouth, the smell of charred bodies assaulted her nostrils, and the heat of the kitchen suffocated every pores of her smooth skin. Her vision was blurred by sweats and tears. Yet, she could still take in every detail of the scene all too clearly. So clearly that the image would forever burn into her mind and haunt her until the day she died.

Lying on the grimy kitchen floor, Teyrn Bryce Cousland struggled to press one hand against a fatal wound on his abdomen. Blood continued to sip though his fingers despite his effort, soaking his hand in deep red that resembled color of his daughter's ruby pendant. Eleanor rushed passed Samantha and dropped to her knees beside her husband.

"Bryce!" Eleanor cried out, horrified by the pond of blood underneath the teyrn. "Maker's blood, what's happening? You're bleeding!"

"Howe's men... found me first." The teyrn gasped for precious air. " Almost... did me in right there."

"Why is Howe doing this?" asked Samantha as she joined her mother at her father's side. The very idea of standing on her father's blood sickened Samantha, but the inexplicable betrayal by the same man she had talked to only hours ago upset her even more.

"He can't... get away with this! The king will..." The teyrn groaned loudly in pain. It was a terrible sound Samantha would never have thought she'd hear from her kind but strong father.

Samantha panicked. "We need to get you out of here!"

"I... I won't survive the standing, I think."

"That's not true! You'll be fine!" Tears streamed down from her eyes, but the impeccable Lady Samantha didn't care to wipe them off. Right now, there was only one single thought in her mind: her father could not die. He simply could not.

"Ah, my darling girl... if only will could make it so." The ghost of a smile on the teyrn's face was meant to comfort his daughter, yet it had only saddened her even more.

"Then we will stay and defend you!" Samantha's voice steeled with determination.

"Once Howe's men break through the gate, they will find us!" Eleanor reasoned. "We must go!"

"Someone... must reach Fergus... tell him what has happened." The teyrn gave out one of his final orders.

"You can tell him yourself, Father. Please!" Samantha reached out to her father as gently as her shaking hands could, helping him up to escape. She absolutely refused to accept the idea of her father dying.

"I... wish I could." Another groan. This time, blood was coughed out.

"Bryce, no!" Eleanor cried out, tears rolled down her pale face. "The servants' passage is right here! We can flee together, find you healing magic!" The teyrna was a proud woman who had come from a long line of female warriors; she always took pride in being strong not just with her sword arm but also with her will and her mind. Seeing her firey mother in tears the second time tonight crushed Samantha's heart.

Samantha swallowed hard to bite back a tear. She mentally reminded herself she was also from the same long line of strong female from her mother's side. Her will and her mind would have to be as strong as her sword arm tonight, not for herself, but for her parents.

"The castle is surrounded..." Bryce protested weakly. "I cannot make it."

"I'm afraid the teyrn is correct," said a deep and rich voice coming from the kitchen door. Samantha quickly reached for her discarded blades, only to drop them down once more when the owner of the voice stepped inside. Black hair with silver strands, thick beard, she remembered him well, even though she had only briefly exchanged pleasantries with this man hours ago.

"You are... Duncan, then? The Grey Warden?" asked the teyrna.

The black-haired man offered a quick nod as he approached the Couslands. "Yes, Your Ladyship. The teyrn and I tried to reach you sooner."

"My daughter helped me get there, Maker be praised." The mother and daughter shared a glance, drawing strength from the knowing each other was safe.

"I am not surprised," said the famous Grey Warden, sounding oddly pleased.

"Thank you for saving my father." Samantha dipped her head politely at the older man. Even when the situation was as chaotic and dire as this, she would not allow her manners to slip. She was a Cousland.

"I fear your thanks are premature. I doubt I have saved him." Duncan shook his head grimly.

"Whatever is to be done now, it must be quick!" Eleanor urged. "They are coming!"

"Duncan..." said Bryce between gasps. "I beg you... take my wife and daughter to safety!"

"I will, Your Lordship." The Warden agreed but paused briefly before he continued, "But... I fear I must ask for something in return."

"Anything!"

"What is happening here pales in comparison to the evil now loose in this world. I came to your castle seeking a recruit. The darkspawn threat demands that I leave with one." The Grey Warden rested his eyes squarely on Samantha's.

"I... I understand." The teyrn conceded.

Samantha had an inkling she was the subject of their discussion, yet she did not want to jump to conclusion. She hoped against hope her guess was wrong. Cautiously, she asked, "Are you talking about me?"

"You fought your way to me through Howe's men. I think the Maker's intention is clear," said the Grey Warden.

"What about Ser Gilmore?" A knot between her fine brows tightened. She had heard Ser Gilmore was the reason Duncan had traveled to Highever.

"Truthfully, you were always my first choice." Duncan's tone was sincere without a hint of empty flattery.

Under any other circumstances, Samantha would be flattered to receive such praise from the leader of Ferelden's Grey Wardens. But not here. Not now. She was a Cousland; duty always came first for Couslands for the past centuries. Right now, it was her duty to protect her father and her mother, then to find her brother and together seek vengeance. Duncan could always find another recruit, but her parents could not find another daughter.

"No! I will not agree to such a thing!" Samantha firmly refused, shaking her head so hard her matte blonde locks were sent flying.

"Then what else? How will you survive?" asked her father weakly.

She knew her father was right, but Samantha was not about to give in. "I can't be a Grey Warden, Father! I am a Cousland! What if something has happened to Fergus? You can't lose the two of us!"

"The king will see justice done," Duncan assured the Couslands. "The Grey Wardens, however, must face the darkspawn above all else."

"He is... right, Sam," urged the teyrn.

"I will take the teyrna and your daughter to Ostagar to tell Fergus and the king what happened," Duncan bargained. "Then, your daughter joins the Grey Warden."

"So long as justice comes to Howe... I agree." Bryce nodded weakly.

Duncan once again turned to the Lady Cousland. "Then I offer you a place within the Grey Warden. Fight with us." His eyes were warm despite being the fearsome warrior he was known to be, his voice sincere.

"No! I won't leave you, Father! I refuse! I won't go!" When she saw the light behind her father's once brilliant blue eyes - the same ones she had - was beginning to fade, she knew her struggle was feeble. Blood froze inside her vein despite the heat from the burning hallway outside. One thought paralyzed her mind: her father would not make it.

"Howe thinks he'll use the chaos to... advance himself. Make him wrong, Sam. See that justice is done!" Teyrn Cousland coughed once again with more blood escaped from his lips. "Our family... always does our duty first. The darkspawn must be defeated. You must go. For your own sake, and for Ferelden's."

She would be damned if she denied her father's dying wish. Even if the Maker forgave her for denying her father, Samantha would never forgive herself. Biting hard on her lower lip to quiet her sobs, Samantha gathered whatever strength left in her and wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. It shamed her to have her father wasting his precious few last breaths to remind her what she had known all her life: duty first. Always.

"I will, Papa. For you... I will," she vowed weakly with a voice too shaky and coarse to be her own.

Her father's proud smile was all the confirmation she needed to know it was the right thing to do, as it always had been since she was a child. Samantha was her father's daughter through and through, always seeking his approval through hard-work and discipline. She might not like to be a Warden a single bit, but she had to. With the darkspawn threatening the south, Samantha had to fulfill duty as a Cousland to defend Ferelden.

"We must leave quickly, then." The Grey Warden put a firm hand gently on the his latest recruit's shoulder.

"Bryce, are you... sure?" asked the teyrna.

"Our daughter will not die of Howe's treachery. She will live, and make her mark on the world."

"Sam, go on with Duncan," Eleanor instructed firmly. "You have a better chance to escape without me."

"Mother? No!" Samantha cried out, horrified by the implication.

"Eleanor..." The teyrn protested.

"Hush, Bryce." She put a loving hand on her husband's arm. "I'll kill every bastard that comes through that door to buy them time. But I won't abandon you."

"I won't let you sacrifice yourself, Mother!" Samantha reached out to grab her mother's arm to pull her up to escape, by force if needed be. But Eleanor was quick enough to take her daughter's hand in her own with a firm gripe.

"My place is with your father. At his side, to death and beyond." Eleanor glanced up at her daughter calmly with a tender smile, accepting her place, hoping her youngest child would accept her very own as well.

"Mama..."

"Hush, Sammy." The teyrna released her daughter's hand and unclasped the amulet around her neck. "Take this. It was supposed to be given to you on the night before your wedding day. As it has been for generations passing down from mothers to daughters in my family. If only you weren't so hard to find a match..."

Eleanor pressed the locket into her child's palm and closed it.

The teyrn removed his hand from his gushing wound long enough to pull his sigil ring off his finger. "Here, Sammy. Keep it safe. I won't let it fall into Howe's hands..."

Samantha took the bloody ring from her father with a shaking hand. With two heirlooms pressed painfully in her palm, the reality of losing both her parents had finally sunk in and kicked her hard in her gut. The strong front she had barely held onto was now broken. Loud sobs escaped from her trembling lips as tears flooded down from her bloodshot eyes.

"Papa... Mama... I love you both, so much," she slurred between chokes and sobs. It was very unladylike, but Samantha was beyond caring. If only wailing like a five-year-old would erase this nightmare. Alas.

"Then live, my darling," said her mother lovingly with the same smile that had always comforted her for the past nineteen years. "Become a Grey Warden, and do what is right."

Duncan picked up Samantha's discarded blades and put a firm hand on her arm. "We must leave. Now."

Samantha Cousland cast a final glance on both her parents. Her vision blurred by endless tears. Yet, she could still see the image clearly – the image of her parents surrounded by the ever-growing pond of her father's blood, looking up at her in both pride and relief. So clearly was the image that it forever seared into her mind, both haunting her and giving her strength until her dying day.

–

(Last edit: February 2011)