Hearts for Tomorrow

Chapter Two

He was easily the largest Qunari that Dorian had ever seen, and a shiver of fear immediately ran down his spine at the sight of him. He wasn't just tall though, Dorian could deal with tall. This beast of an ox-man was almost seven feet by the looks, made of muscle, with horns as wide as his shoulders and sharpened at the tips. He was shirtless as well, donning ceremonial vitaar patterns across his chest, shoulders, and face. It seemed the only thing he was wearing were baggy pants that were hardly appropriate for his wedding.

He was watching Dorian intently with a single eye, the other covered by a thick leather patch – however Dorian could easily see the deep scars that ran from over his eyebrow to just below the patch. They matched a lot of the scars that covered his skin. Of course he would be given to a warrior, what else could he have expected?

The hulking Qunari broke the silence as he stepped closer, holding out a massive paw of a hand covered in callouses, and two of the fingertips were missing. "I'm called Hissrad, but I know how you Vints like your names. When I'm working outside of Par Vollen, most people call me The Iron Bull," his voice was thick and heavy in the space of the room, and his Tevene was impressively passable, though some of his dialect was sharper than it needed to be. Dorian quickly assessed all of these things as he took the Qunari in, trying to form an idea of what he was going to be dealing with in the coming months – and his main concern was that this one might be intelligent. Tevene was a hard language to pick up, and harder to speak fluently.

"Yes well, my name is Dorian, though I'm sure you've already settled on calling me Saarebas, right? Will you be sewing my mouth shut before or after the ceremony?" his own voice dripped with sarcasm and he could feel Felix's nervousness mounting behind him.

Hissrad raised the brow of his good eye, "Actually it would be Bas Saarebas, since you're not of the Qun. And I'll be sure to buy you dinner first." He smirked, and in some odd way it was almost charming, and then he added, "Dorian is a fine name. I think we'll keep it," he chuckled softly, and some of the tension in the room eased.

Dorian just frowned because he refused to be taken in by this man's attempt to make light of their situation. He kept silent in order to further gauge the situation, wanting to make sure that he understood his enemy as quickly as possible.

Hissrad turned to one of the two Qunari guards who were flanking him and asked something in Qunlat. It was obvious that Dorian would have to learn if he wanted to keep up in Seheron, but he had never been given opportunity to do so when asking for a book on the language would seem too eager – not that his father had afforded him many luxuries since he was dragged back home. The guard responded with a single syllable, sharp and gruff, and Hissrad nodded before he looked back towards Dorian and Felix, "It seems we have a few minutes. Just enough that I'd like to speak with Dorian alone before we get this started."

The mage had to physically bite his cheek to keep from sneering, "And why is that?"

Hissrad raised a brow and sighed, but the guards were already moving to clear the room, ushering Felix with them. Dorian gave his friend a worried look, concerned for the other's wellbeing before he was suddenly very alone with the monstrous Qunari. The mage just stared at the man as he attempted to school his expression.

Hissrad took a breath, "Look, Dorian, I know you're upset. I know you're probably scared. I wanted to let you know that I have no intention or desire to hurt you in any way. I will never touch you without your permission, I have every desire to treat you as Dorian. This whole event is about our two people trying to find a common ground, even if only in one place."

The words were confusing when they came out of the mouth of someone who had very obviously slaughtered Dorian's people in the past, and he held on to that thought in order to keep the lies from easing his tension. "This whole thing is a sham, and you know that as well as I do. The moment that one side breaks the illusion, I'll be bound and chained to a ship for Par Vollen."