Chapter Text
“Okay Lily, go!” Jowan whispered, gesturing to the mabari from his place up on the awning of a fruit stand.
The proprietor below kept on calling out about his wares, not noticing the approaching animal until Lily picked a watermelon up in her mouth.
“Hey, get your teeth out of that!“
Lily huffed around it, and Jowan could sense her mentally rolling her eyes.
“Why, you! Get away from here, you filthy mutt!“ The proprietor grabbed onto the melon and tried to forcefully get it back.
Meanwhile, Jowan carefully reached over the side of the awning behind the man and grabbed one for himself. Just then, Lily let go of the melon, causing the man to almost drop it. He kicked at the dog, who dodged out of the way, and turned around to put the merchandise back with the others. He wore a confused expression as he saw the empty spot where he could have sworn there had been a melon before.
Jowan and Lily found a safe spot, where Jowan cut the watermelon with his boot knife.
“Nice going Lils. Breakfast is served.“
They ate with the everyday sounds of the marketplace as background noise.
As Jowan idly looked around, he spotted an usual sight - a figure dressed in plain clothes, with a hood covering most of their face. In Jowan’s experience, you didn’t wear a hood unless you had something to hide, and the clothes were plain enough that the person would be considered a nobody without. So why the hood, unless that person was someone special?
The hood came loose as the man (his build was too large to be anything else) bumped into someone. He apologized before moving on, looking around with obvious interest and absentmindedly pulling the hood back to run his hand through his hair.
Jowan gasped. If the man wasn’t of noble birth, he would eat his shirt (or not - maybe his blanket, it was getting old anyway).
He cut quite a handsome figure, it was easy to see as the clothes he wore were a bit too small, as if they had been borrowed from someone else. He had light brown hair cut short, the bangs spiked up, but Jowan couldn’t tell what color his eyes were from where he was. He had light stubble growth around his chin. His face was strikingly handsome.
The smile the man wore as he looked around with an expression of wonder made Jowan linger on his lips. Various proprietors tried to get his attention - Liselle with her oils and perfumes, Gorim with his Dwarven crafts and Cesar with this various odds and ends, but the man politely declined them all.
The man stopped to watch a small child, who was eying the apples on a man’s cart hungrily. Jowan watched in shock as the man reached over, grabbed one and handed it to the boy, smiling as it ran off with its prize.
The angry proprietor started in on the man, who just seemed confused at what was wrong. Definitely nobility.
The man was saying something about the castle and the king, probably trying to claim a connection to get away, but the proprietor was having none of it.
The proprietor grabbed onto the man’s arm and yanked him around, calling him a thief. Jowan watching on worriedly, wondering what to do. He was torn between not wanting to get into trouble (over a noble of all things) and wanting to help the man who didn’t seem like a bad person.
However, he knew he had no choice when the proprietor pinned the man’s arm onto his cart and brought out the sword.
“Please, wait!” The man entreated, trying to pull away as the sword was raised into the air.
Jowan deftly stepped in, stopping the sword’s trajectory. He took the sword away and replaced it with his hand, shaking the proprietor’s hand and putting on a smile.
“Thank you, kind sir. I'm so glad you've found him.” Jowan smiled back at the man and headed over to him, taking him by the arm and starting to lead him away. “I've been looking all over for you.“
“What are you doing?” The noble whispered to him.
“Just play along.” Jowan murmured.
“You know this man?” The proprietor grabbed him by the shoulder and asked suspiciously.
“Sadly, yes. He is my cousin. He's a little crazy.” Jowan’s finger circled around his ear in a universal gesture. The noble looked at him, shocked.
“He said he knows the King!” The proprietor grabbed him with both hands in a bruising grip and yanked him around.
“He thinks the dog is the King.“ At the word ‘dog’, Lily froze from her place at a stall where her teeth had been just about to close around a figurine of Andraste.
Jowan mentally slapped his forehead. They already had a collection of Andraste trinkets at home. He just couldn’t train her out of her devotion to the Maker’s bride.
Thankfully the noble got it together and played along, kneeling on the ground and throwing open his arms to the mabari.
“Oh, wise King. How may I serve you?“ His tone sounded affected, but Jowan supposed it could have been worse. He could still be gaping and wondering why a stranger was claiming cousinhood.
“Woof, woof!” Lily replied, tail thumping and causing dirt to stir up.
“Tragic, isn't it?“ Jowan asked, sneakily reaching behind himself and hiding away an apple in his clothes while the proprietor was still watching the spectacle.
“But, no harm done.” He walked over to the still-kneeling man. “Now come along, cousin. Time to see the doctor.“
Jowan had to bite his tongue to hold back his laughter when, as they passed a camel, the man turned to it and said, “Oh, hello doctor. How are you?”.
“No, no, no. Not that one.” Jowan looked over to Lily. “Come on, King.”
Lily barked in reply, panting happily at the crowd before turning and following them.
Jowan suspected that if she could have gotten away with the statue, she would have.
Alistair climbed the ladder behind…what had he said his name was? Jowan? He had withheld his own name, not wanting to be treated differently.
“Almost there.“ Jowan said, giving him a hand up.
As Alistair stepped onto the roof, he lost his footing and jolted forward into Jowan, who held him by the shoulders to secure him. They stared at each other for a moment before Alistair stepped back with a flush on his face.
“I…want to thank you for stopping that man. I mean, not that I couldn’t have taken care of it. Because I could have. Taken care of it.”
Oh Maker, his propensity to ramble when nervous was making an appearance. Alistair mentally groaned.
“Uh, forget it.” Jowan said, not looking wholly like he believed him.
So Alistair was a bit clumsy and maybe he had jumped into things a bit without knowing what he was getting into, but he really could have taken care of that situation if he’d wanted to. He just didn’t want to harm anyone unless it couldn’t be avoided.
Jowan reached down and picked up a pole off the ground.
“So, uh, that was your first time in the marketplace, huh?”
Before Alistair could reply, Jowan used the pole to vault over to the next building. Alistair’s eyes widened as he watched the practiced action.
“Is it that obvious?” Alistair asked sheepishly after he recovered, raising his voice slightly to make sure he was heard.
“Well, you do kind of stand out.” Jowan smiled, raking his eyes over him. After a moment, Jowan turned away. Alistair could see that his ears and neck were red. It was a good thing he had turned away when he did, or he would have gotten an eyeful of Alistair’s own red face.
Alistair wasn’t sure what to make of the other man. He’d never met anyone like him. He was the complete opposite of Alistair himself, street wise and unafraid to do what he wanted.
“I mean, uh, you don't seem to know how dangerous Ferelden can be.“
Jowan seemed to be going for a plank of wood so that he could make it across, but in a fit of daring, Alistair grabbed up another pole and took a running leap, vaulting over the building and landing with a solid thump beside the dark-haired man.
He tossed the pole over to Jowan with a smug grin at how wide Jowan’s eyes were.
“I'm a fast learner.”
“Right. Come on, this way.” Jowan grabbed his hand and turned to lead him away. Alistair stared down at their joined hands with wide eyes. He didn’t remember the last time someone had just touched him like that. Even Eamon only touched him when he was trying to show him something, or get his attention when Alistair was daydreaming.
“Whoa. Watch your head there. Be careful.” Jowan advised him as they dodged planks and beams, Alistair having almost hit his head on one as he looked around in curiosity.
“Is this where you live?”
“Yep. Just me and Lily. Come and go as we please.” Jowan replied, heading over to pet Lily. She had to take a different route through a few well-placed holes in the architecture, as she couldn’t go up the latter.
“Wonderful.” Alistair replied earnestly, looking around in interest. He ran his hands across the spines of the books on a broken shelf. They were dust-free and worn from reading, obviously well cared for.
Maybe as a prince he should find the place utterly uninhabitable, with all the dust, dirt and debris, not to mention the hole in the wall, but to Alistair it felt exciting and new. Back in the castle, his room was never anything less than sparkling and well-furnished. Sometimes he actually did go and sleep in the stables just to get a break from it.
“Well, it's not much,” Jowan admitted as if he’d said something negative, pulling back the curtain to expose the castle. “but it's got a great view. castle looks pretty amazing, huh? “
“Oh, it's fantastic.” Alistair drawled sarcastically, turning away, but Jowan didn’t seem to notice his tone.
“I wonder what it would be like to live there, to have servants and valets...” Jowan mused in a faraway voice.
“Oh, sure. People who tell you where to go and how to dress.” And who to marry, and a whole big list of things not to do, Alistair mentally tacked on.
“It's better than here. Always scraping for food and ducking the guards.” Jowan said bitterly, clutching the curtain in his fist.
“You're not free to make your own choices.” Alistair chipped in.
“Sometimes you feel so—” Jowan began.
“You're just—” Alistair groped for the right word.
“—trapped.” They both exclaimed at the same time.
They stared at each other in surprise, and once again they were caught up in each other’s eyes.
Alistair couldn’t believe that there was someone out there who felt so much like him, but they were such opposites in the life they lived. But they both essentially wanted the same thing - freedom from their forced way of living.
Jowan was the first to break the stare. He reached into his clothes and took out an apple, offering it to Alistair.
“So, where're you from?” Jowan asked. Alistair took a seat on a step, and wiped the apple on his tunic before taking a bite. He hadn’t eaten since the night before, and though the apple was a bit warm, it was juicy and crisp. Still chewing (what were table manners here?), he replied.
“What does it matter? I ran away, and I am not going back.“ Alistair said firmly.
“Really?” Jowan took out another apple, taking a few bites before offering it to Lily. The mabari huffed, but took the apple in her mouth and ate it dutifully. “Why not?”
Jowan walked over and took a seat beside him.
“My father's forcing me to get married.”
“That's—that's awful.” Jowan sounded genuinely upset for him.
“Woof!” The mabari - Lily? - barked.
“What?” Alistair asked curiously. After having had Duncan for so long, he’d come to understand him, but you had to have close bond. Every mabari was different
“Lily says that - uh that's not fair.” Jowan seemed twitchy, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. Lily made an inquisitive noise.
“Oh did she?” Alistair asked playfully.
“Yeah, of course.”
“And does Lily have anything else to say?” Alistair asked, feeling playful. He could guess what Lily had really said. Mabari were notorious for being loyal and protective of their owners. Lily was probably feeling a little left out.
“Well, uh, she wishes there was something she could do to help.”
Alistair found himself smiling at the other man’s almost shy manner. It was a side he hadn’t excepted to see.
“Woof!”
“Hmm, tell her that's very sweet.” Alistair drawled, not realizing how close they had been getting as they talked. He darted his eyes down to see Jowan’s lips so close to his.
He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d never been out of the castle, and anyone inside the castle was out of bounds. Even when he was allowed to train with the guards, Duncan made sure everyone kept it professional, no idle chatting, though Alistair thought some of the guards might have liked to have talked to him.
So suffice to say, he had never gotten really close with anyone. Since he’d hit puberty, he had always been curious about certain things, but never had the chance to explore it.
It was inexplicable, but he found himself wanting to take the chance to do something crazy while he was free. Jowan seemed to find him just as interesting in return, maybe he could just have one little kiss—
“Here you are!” The three looked up in surprise to see two guards heading right for them. They had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t heard them coming.
“They've found me! “ Alistair exclaimed, just at the time as Jowan did. They turned to each other in surprised confusion. “They're after you?”
“My father must have sent them—” Alistair began, but was interrupted.
“Do you trust me?”
“What?” Alistair turned to see Jowan standing on the ledge and holding out his hand to him.
“Do you trust me?” Jowan asked again more firmly. Alistair stared at the upheld palm.
“Yeees?” He replied uncertainly, but took it.
“Then jump!”
Off the roof they went, and the flight seemed to go by in an instant before they fell through an open roof into a building landing in a pile of salt. They started to pick themselves up, wiping off the white grains. Alistair lifted the hood back over his head to shake some of the salt off it.
Alistair saw the guard the instant before Jowan was grabbed by him.
“We just keep running into each other, don't we, street rat?” The guard had him by the throat, pulled close to his face. Then the guard let out a pained grunt as Jowan kneed him in the groin. The guard dropped him and Jowan took the opportunity to get away.
“Run!”
However, there was nowhere to go - more guards were blocking the exit. Jowan was grabbed and thrown to them, where they roughly held onto him. Alistair anxiously tried to figure out what to do. He could take down a man or two barehanded, but there were too many - he might be able to wrestle a sword from one of them, but he didn’t want to seriously wound anyone. He also didn’t want to see his rescuer treated so poorly.
“It's the dungeon for you, boy.”
“Hey, get off of me!” Jowan was struggling, but the guards only held him tighter. The grimace on his face told Alistair how much it was hurting him.
“Let go of him.” He declared.
“Look what we have here, men—a street mouse.” The guard sneered, pushing Alistair roughly to the ground.
“Unhand him, by order of the prince.” Alistair commanded as he threw off his hood, getting to his feet.
The guards gasped and immediately bowed, forcing Jowan to as well.
“Prince Alistair.”
“The prince?” Jowan asked in disbelief.
“What are you doing outside the castle? And with this street rat?” The guard questioned him.
“That's not your concern. Do as I command. Release him!” Alistair demanded.
“Well, I would, prince, but my orders come from Loghain. You'll have to take it up with him.”
With that, the guards dragged Jowan away, giving one last bow before they disappeared out the door.
“Believe me, I will.” Alistair growled angrily.