Back in Haven, Sirena woke up by herself way early in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and stretched before looking around the room drowsily wondering where she was for a hot minute. After swinging her legs off the uncomfortable bed, she looked around for a clean outfit to wear for the day. Wearing the same dress more than a day, made her feel really disgusting. It seriously had to get cleaned. Knowing full well that Evelyn and Varric were at the Hinterlands, she borrowed her “cousin’s” other clothes. Sirena grabbed a pair of dark breeches while scrunching her nose as she mumbled to herself at the same time looking at the pants. “These are so not my style… Maybe I can get away with wearing my skinny jeans today…” She quickly folded the breeches back up and placed them back in Evelyn’s drawer. Still in her night gown that Evelyn had given to her, she pulled out her jeans and quickly put them on feeling a little happier putting her own clothes back on. Sirena then went rummaging through the Herald’s clothes again in her drawers to look for a dark tunic. As soon as she found one, she pulled it on herself and found that it was loose on her which she did not like at all. She really missed her form fitting clothes that she had back home. With a sigh, she wrapped her dark blue cloak around herself to hide the loose fabric that was oddly soft against her skin.

A knock then pounded on the cabin’s door while the fake blonde woman was making her way to the water basin to brush her teeth. Deciding to answer the door first, Sirena made her way towards the door and somehow managed to trip over a foot locker. She made a little “oomph” sound as she fell onto the hard-wooden floor. That happens when doesn’t let herself wake up first before moving around.

“Ow, that hurt.” She said while rubbing her head before she picked herself up off the floor. Her hands reached up and pat down her hair to tame it since it was an unruly mess of curls and got worse when she fell. She made her way to the door and after she got close to it, her hand reached out and opened the it.

As the door opened, she was able to see who was on the other side which was none other than the Commander Cullen or was it Rutherford? Sirena knew that in the military it was rank first then last name afterward, but did things work the same in the world she was in currently? The woman tilted her head in confusion and blinked her eyes at him a couple of times. She really had no idea why he was standing outside the door and if she did well obviously she couldn’t remember. Some people from where she was from even said she had a memory of a gold fish which in a way amused her since her memory was very bad. Though, she was sure her face was easy to read at that moment.

“You look really bewildered right now.” Cullen said while studying her face as he tried keeping his own expression composed. Cullen was right; she was in his words “bewildered” though in a way happy to see him. Sirena opened the door wider to let the commander in the cabin.

“You’re welcome to come in; I just have to finish doing things.” She said vaguely since she needed to brush her hair and teeth. The tall handsome man walked in with only a few steps with his long strides. He made his way to the foot of Sirena’s bed and sat down on it while observing the room and her. The woman who looked and walked like she belonged somewhere else, made her way over to the water basin and discreetly as possible; brushed her teeth. She could hear a little laugh from behind her which made her cheeks flame red from embarrassment since he could obviously hear her spitting out the paste for cleaning one’s teeth. She really missed some things from her modern world and the minty taste when her teeth were clean was one of them. Her head hung a bit as she thought about all she took for granted. With a sigh, she walked over to the vanity and sat in the chair as she pulled a hair brush and inspected it for lice before using it.

Cullen remained silent as he watched her inspecting the hair brush that looked to be clean from where he was sitting. He watched as she started brushing her long curly locks of hair that became wavy after she brushed them. As he continued to watch her, he longed to brush her hair with his fingers, to feel the silky smoothness that her shiny hair looked like. He didn’t know what was going on with him or his thoughts, but he couldn’t really control them anymore. His hand moved to the pommel of his sword, gripping it tightly as he shook the thoughts out of his head. ‘Stop having these thoughts about her, Cullen. It is highly inappropriate and would not end in your favor.” He thought as he turned his head away from her finally. Sirena glanced at the mirror to look at Cullen and saw him looking away. She turned around in her seat after she was done brushing her hair and looked at the dirty blonde haired man and smiled softly at him while biting her lower lip before asking him a question. Though, she was hesitant of that as well right now after seeing his face which looked a bit angry. “What brings you over to this cabin?” Sirena asked before turning back around to avoid his gaze in case he looked up. As she looked around at the vanity and reorganized things to keep her busy, her thoughts went to Cullen. ‘What is it with me? Why in the hell am I attracted to an older man? I mean, I like older men, but… usually my maximum age gap is three.’ Sirena asked herself in her head. While in the midst of reorganizing, she heard his deep tenor voice speak up.

“I came to get you for your training. Since you’re good with archery, I figured we could go on to swordsmanship. I was wondering though… Which skill did you want to learn, sword and shield? Two handed weapon? Or duo wield?” He asked her while looking down at the floor boards, avoiding looking at her completely. She turned back around in her seat to politely answer him while looking at him.

“I was hoping to learn both duo and double handed blade.” Sirena answered as she thought about telling him why. A smart person in this world would and should want to learn all they can with different weapons to be able to easily switch blades if need be. She called it preparing for the worst that could happen to her. “The more I know, and can fight with; the better off I will be.” She added knowing full well she was right.

“I won’t be able to teach you the duo blade, but I can teach you the double handed weapon.” As he talked while he was looking at the floor still, Sirena looked around the room with more clarity compared to earlier that morning when she had just woken up. She saw on a night stand in the room was a coin purse with a note beside it. Wanting to read the note, she got up from the seat and walked over to the end table. Since she was really good at multi-tasking, she picked up the note and read it quickly. Apparently the coin purse was her allowance. The new noble woman looked at the handsome man in armor and gave him a nod.

“That’s okay, I’m sure I’ll find someone who will have enough patience to teach me the duo wield.” Cullen let out a little snort as a response to her statement.

“I guess you didn’t know your cousin was a duo wield rogue then?” He asked her. She blinked her eyes a couple of times then shook her head slowly. It did make a lot of sense the more she thought about it though since she had played the game. Solas was one of the mages, Varric was the crossbow archer, and Cassandra was one of the warriors. That leaves the rogue duo blade who had to be her cousin. After her earlier reaction, she can’t let him know that she knew.

“No, I did not know that actually.” She replied, lying to the man who she felt attraction for. Deep in her gut was the feeling of regret. Regret for lying. Hopefully he couldn’t see any tell-tale signs of what she just did since she normally wore it for everyone to see. The poor girl was nor good at hiding her emotions. Just this once she was glad he was looking at the floor still.

“Now you do.” Cullen said as he got up from sitting on her bed. “Are you ready for your next training session then?” He asked now finally looking at her for a response. Sirena nodded her head and made her way back over to the door since she was finished with what she had to do to get ready for the day.

“Yep, I’m ready to learn some more.” She responded verbally as Cullen walked beside her until they made it to the door. The trainee opened the door before the Commander was able to and held it open for him. “After you.”

“Thank you.” He walked past Sirena getting out into the open cold air without even glancing at her. Cullen wanted to keep his feelings and thoughts about the woman in check even though it was too late. The last time he felt that way was during his time in the Fereldon’s Circle of Magi for a mage he had a crush on. The girl he foolishly flirted with had also disappeared after the incident; that person was named Amell. He continued to think while he had the time.

Sirena had noticed him not looking at her even while he said thank you to her. She didn’t know where the coldness came from but she ended up shrugging it off while thinking “let it go” from her favorite animated movie made by Disney which was called Frozen. After she walked out of the cabin, Sirena closed the door behind her then quickly caught up to Cullen by jogging. They walked in silence towards the training grounds for the second time. It made the walk a lot longer than what it was due to the uncomfortable silence. By that point, it was eating at her. She had no idea what she did to him or what she did wrong, though, thinking back on it, she didn’t do anything. Glancing up through her lashes, Sirena looked up at Cullen with concern before looking forward.

After making it to the training area after what felt like forever to the American, Cullen walked over to his tent and set his sword down next to it. His sword leaned against the commander’s tent then made his way back over to the young woman. He nodded his head that told her to follow him. Sirena walked behind the Commander, following him. As she walked behind him, her eyes drifted down to his butt purely on accident. Well mainly because she couldn’t get her eyes off of him. With a little blush rising to her cheeks while biting her lower lip, she thought to herself ‘damn… nice ass.’ She then started smacking her head gently trying to get the bad thought out of her head. When he stopped walking, he turned around to look at her again. Her eyes quickly diverted themselves away from his butt and instead looked up at him. She hoped, he didn’t catch her looking, that would be humiliating. Apparently when she wasn’t paying attention, he grabbed an object. He held out to her what looked like a wooden practice sword that she saw Henry from Once Upon A Time play with. Her gaze went to his other hand to see the same looking sword.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“We will start with parrying. You will need to know how to deflect a move and defend yourself.” Cullen said in an instructor tone which she had heard from her professors and teachers throughout her education; though some educators were more boring than others, especially when the voices were monotonous. The Commander, she could never see as boring. “Do not be afraid to hit hard because you will need to when the time comes.” He continued to explain as Sirena took the wooden sword from him.

“Alright…” She said slowly while watching him closely to see if he’d try to get her unawares. Surprisingly, he just walked out to the middle of the training area where there was the most space for them. When he finally stopped walking, he turned around to face her as if he was waiting for her. Sirena hesitantly made her way towards the middle and eventually stood in front of him.

“Now, raise your sword.” She raised the wooden sword up with both of her hands and held it like it was a katana. As soon as it looked like she was ready, Cullen thrusted his sword at her. Due to not expecting him to start so soon, she let out a little squeal and quickly hit his sword away from her as if it was out of instinct. Not even realizing he was using his other arm; she felt a hit on her side which caused her to fall onto the ground with a thud.

Cullen looked down at her with a slight frown on his lips, feeling bad for hitting her so hard. She was just training after all. ‘She is going to end up with a lot of bruises today. This woman has zero experience in the art of battle…’ He thought sadly as he held out his hand to her to help her up. Her small pale hand that looked very similar to Cullen’s own paleness lifted up and slipped into his larger hand. From their first touch, Cullen felt a pleasant shiver go up his spine. With surprise, he looked down at the woman he hardly knew and saw her shiver as well. When she looked up at him, her blue-green eyes caught his golden brown ones, staring into each other’s eyes while he still held her hand in his. Sirena was the first to look away as her cheeks turned pink from another blush. She kneeled down to pick up her sword and while doing so, removed her hand from his. After she picked up the wooden sword, she stood back up and looked back up at him again.

“I’m ready to go again.” She said as she stared into his eyes while feeling her fingers tingle from his touch. The Commander held up his sword again, now waiting for her to do the same.

“Always keep your eyes on your opponent and never be close sighted. You need to be aware of his or her other moves after the one you deflect. It’s about moves and counter moves; remember that.” He advised not wanting her to get thrown down again. Sirena readied her wooden sword yet again. She nodded her head preparing herself for anything he threw her way. Cullen swung his sword at her again, this time she lifted her leg in a kick at his wrist while spinning which she learned from watching a lot of Asian shows with martial arts and she learned the kick she did was literally what it was, a spin kick. As her back was turned to him since she wasn’t able to do the full spin, he made a step towards her just as she thrusted the sword behind her. Feeling the sword clash against his armor before she heard it, the young woman looked back behind her to see the Commander with big round eyes from surprise and a grin was spreading across his face.

“That was quick and amazing!” She turned around to face him to get a better look at his face when she heard more praising words from him. “I don’t know where you learned that move, but I’ve never seen anything like it and it’s not something the enemies will expect either.” He continued to praise until he got the serious look on his face, the look of disproval. “I could have killed you when your back was turned towards me.” A little smirk tilted up on her pink lips since she noticed his change in demeanor.

“Are you so sure about that?” She asked coyly since she knew full well that he wasn’t sure about it. Her sense of hearing was heightened since her sight was a bit dull but not enough to get in the way of living. When she saw the look on his face though, made her lips tighten in a thin line since his face was hard and stern. “Mianhae (I’m sorry).” She apologized quietly. Cullen gave a little nod as his gaze softened as he looked into her eyes.

“Are you ready to go again? This time you can use whatever moves and counter moves you want to use.” He gave her permission this round to see her fighting technique so he could help make it better; to give her more chance to survive on the battle field.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go again.” She said before she thought ‘that’s what she said’ with a little smile on her face from her literal inside joke that she made. The two continued to spar, hitting each other back and forth. Cullen used what he learned in the Order while Sirena on the other hand used what she saw on television and learned from her uncles as well as her reflexes which the Commander helped to perfect her techniques.

By the time they were done sparring, it was early afternoon. The soldiers went back to their usual daily routine of sparring and taking orders. Cullen dismissed Sirena so she could do what she wanted since the Inquisition forces were out and about. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he had to keep it a secret that she couldn’t fight and the fact he was training to protect her. “Didn’t all nobles know how to fight?” He asked himself before giving those under his command orders.

The American quickly walked back to the cabin almost to the point that she was jogging. As soon as she was in, she ran off toward the end table where the coin purse sat. Grabbing the coin purse that held inside her allowance from the Herald, she ran out of the cabin and down the steps toward the training area. Instead of going straight where she had been earlier that day with Cullen, she turned left towards the blacksmith. When she got to the building, Sirena began panting from being out of breath from the run. The young woman rested her hands on her thighs trying to catch her breath.

“Man! I’m out of shape.” Sirena said to herself while standing up straight after she finally caught her breath. She walked over to the blacksmith and gave him one of her sweet smiles.

“What can I do for you, My Lady?” The man with dark hair asked with polite professionalism.

“I would like a sword made and not just any sword.” She said as she drew a sketch of the curved blade she wanted. The blacksmith stared at the picture in awe.

“This would be my best work yet! What is this sword exactly, my lady?” The man asked curiously while staring at the drawing.

“The sword is called a Katana.” Sirena said with a smile. She had one back home. It was black and had a dragon on it and it was mounted on her wall as a decoration; she missed that Asian sword terribly to the point she wanted another to actually use in battle.

“I’ll get this made, my lady, I’ll start right away. It should be done by tomorrow.” He said with excitement wanting to get started on his new project that he received from the woman. Folding the paper up, he placed the sketch in his pocket so he was able to use it as a reference when he made the katana for her.

“How much will this cost sir?” He waved his hand dismissively not caring about payment.

“Do not worry about it; getting this project is good enough.”

“No, no, I must pay you.” She insisted with wide eyes. It was ingrained in her to always pay for what you want.

“How about you pay how much you think it’s worth when you see and test it.”

“That sounds fantastic! Thank you!” Sirena said with a happy grin on her face.

“No; thank you, my lady.” The blacksmith said with a little bow since at this point he just really wanted to get started on the blade he’s never made before.

The young woman started making her way back to the cabin when she saw the Commander working before, he glanced up from his clip board to see her looking at him. He gave her a small sad smile before returning back to his work. As she wondered why he had the sad smile, she made her way towards her temporary home which only took a few moments. After making it inside the little place, she noticed an elf girl which made her immediately suspicious yet oddly convenient.

“Excuse me, but what are you doing in here?” The elven girl turned around as if she was startled from an unexpected sound or either that she got caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Sirena didn’t really trust strangers, especially ones she finds hanging around in the room. To her it was too weird.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I came in to see if you needed anything since you’re new here and you’re the Herald’s cousin.” She explained as her cheeks turned pink from embarrassment.

“I actually would like to know where I can go to bathe.”

“Oh! I can bring in the tub with hot water. Is there anything I can get you, for your hair perhaps?” Her eyes widened in surprise as she thought to herself ‘they have shampoo and conditioner here? For real!?’ A small smile tilted up on her lips.

“Would you have any shampoo and conditioner?”

“What are those?”

“Never mind, floral scented oil, preferably Cherry Blossom, if you have any.”

“I’ll bring it right away!”

“Thank you.” Sirena said before the girl curtsied to her. She stood stunned with her eyes wide as the stranger ran off. It was rather disappointing to find out there was no shampoo or conditioner in that time period. As she waited, the American woman grabbed a random book to read and sat on her bed. When she opened the book, she could tell right away that it was going to be a dry read since it looked boring to her. While Sirena was reading the book and trying not to fall asleep, she heard the door open and the noise of bustling coming inside the little cabin. Glancing up from the book, her eyes caught sight of people carrying a tub. In a way, the two people carrying the tub looked like they were struggling. Sirena set the book aside quickly, got up off the bed and rushed over to help them. She grabbed a side and both women smiled at her gratefully. They couldn’t believe she was helping them; most nobles leave them to struggle on their own.

When they made it to the most open area in the room, the three women set the wooden tub down gently. Afterward, a bunch of other people lined up holding filled up buckets of hot water and poured them into the oval shaped bath tub with a cloth material covering the wood. Everyone had left the cabin with the tub full; all but one anyway. The elven teenager she saw earlier was the only one left standing and she was holding two bottles in her hands, setting them next to the now filled tub.

“Here is the oil that you asked for. I also brought you soap in case you needed it.” She announced to the noble woman.

“Thank you.” The elf teen curtsied again before leaving the room for the second time. The American woman waited till she heard the door open and close.

When she heard the sound she was waiting for, she started stripping her cloak and top off. Her eyes glanced up at the mirror where she saw many splotches of blue and purple bruises on her pale skin. She carefully touched the bruises with her fingertips and winced from how tender it was. Now knowing she had bruises, Sirena was careful while peeling off the rest of her clothes. Seeing herself naked became a bit of a shock. She took more beating than she had even realized. After she was done gawking at how horrible she looked, the American climbed into the bath tub. When her body was submerged into the hot water, she closed her eyes and immediately began to relax due to the heat, letting all thoughts leave her mind as enjoyed the bath.