#thyfairshadow

Oop-!

(tagging @thyfairshadow because anon is talking about Banal)

Short answer is 'no'. XD

Long answer:

First of all, he's not married. Banal and Dirthamen are engaged, they never went through with the nuptials. First the whole rebellion of Solas got in the way and later on... it just never really mattered between them.

Secondly, his marital status is completely irrelevant to his sexuality. He never has even in the slightest found Banal sexually attractive. I'm not even sure, if what's between them counts as romance in the traditional sense. He is deeply infatuated with her sharp wit and ruthless mind, but he could never see them getting intimate far beyond the act of drinking from the same wine bottle.

Banal and Dirthamen chose to get engaged, mostly for political reasons. Part of it was pettiness on their part. As their engagement basically crossed a political divide, that none of their brethren were at the time yet willing to openly acknowledge and they both were quite frankly growing tired of the hypocritical animosity all around them.

Banal doesn't even count as Dirthamen's beard, because everyone in the old realm was well aware of the deeply devoted romance between Dirthamen and Falon'Din. So there was no need for him to marry a woman just to "hide his gayness".

If anything their relationship can probably be described as: Two close friends, who understand each other on a fundamental level.

Below is a list of my muses that I am currently active on!

@damnshems - Darcia, Princess of the Cult of Secrets and Priestess to both Dirthamen and Falon'Din. The light of @dirthara-an's life, usually.

@thyfairshadow - Banal'Ras, One of the eldest of the Forgotten Ones, Elven Goddess of Darkness. Also home to Lailani, special advisor to the Goddess of Darkness and troublemaker.

@isalathe - Dahlia, Desire Demon. Currently moonlighting in disguise as the Inquisition's leading demon expert.

@cleverjune - June, Elven Master of Crafts, God of Crafts and Building. Beloved husband of @hathalen-sylaise. Also home to June's First, a very, very tired soul.

[Affection Starters] accepting

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☺ - to guide my muse through a busy crowd

Had he any presence of mind left for it, Dirthamen would have been mortified at the miserable state, he was seen in right now, clinging feebly to his fiancée's arm, as she guided him with sure, quick strides away from the festive hall. But the agonizing headache, that was currently about to split his skull left very little room for thoughts more complicated then which foot to set forward next.

What was he thinking!? Agreeing to follow the invitation, despite just having recently come down with a cold fever, he should have known what would happen. But foolishly he had believed with just enough herbal medicine to knock out a lesser being, he would be able to bear this diplomatic nuisance for at least a couple hours. He had barely lasted one, before Banal - blessed be her no-nonsense attitude in all matters Dirthamen - had pointed out, he looked like what gurns with diarrhea left behind and immediately decided to drag him away, announcing their early departure with so much disdainful contempt in her voice and posture, that nobody in the room, dared question her.

In a moment of agony, when fever and pain was making the Keeper of Secrets question briefly, if he could even make it back to his temple, he leaned against his fiancée, feverish forehead seeking the comforting cool of her bare shoulders.

[maybe interactive quotes] accepting

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Dirthamen scoffed, but his eyes twinkled in fond exasperation. "Who would have suffered and who would have been made to suffer... I wonder", he mused, before taking another sip from the wine glass, his fiancée had all but thrust into his hand upon their arrival.

Letting his eyes roam over the many nobles in attendance his mild mood soured quickly and he let out a weary sigh.

@thyfairshadow ↪

"My, my," purred the Forgotten One, fingers carelessly holding her teacup, like she wasn't bothered if it slipped from the curve of her finger, "haven't you heard of client confidentiality, little Hearthkeeper? I know you spend all your days tending to your little gardens but... Surely you can't be that... unread?" Unlike the host, Banal did nothing to hide her malicious smile, as her eyes flitted around the gardens in question. "Such beautiful gardens... Thou surely has sunken much time into them, no? I truly hope, nothing untoward happens to them. With the unpredictable weather we've been having, you should be careful of droughts."

Sylaise's eyes briefly showed something ugly and feral, but the moment was so quick gone, it might as well have never happened. Reaching for a currant bush, that decoratively grew into the little pagoda, she began delicately picking the sweet and sour berries and placing them on a glass plate between them.

"Not to worry, my dear", she answered easily, "My gardens will long last for your viewing pleasure. My dear husband is not a man, who would leave such thing to the mercy of unexpected happenstances, such as drought or... malicious interference."

As if on cue, a very small winged creature flew past the pagoda, it looked like a thumb-sized elf with white speckled butterfly wings. Fluttering by the entrance it almost looked as if the creature was making rude gestures at Banal, but it was hard to tell with such a tiny thing. But when Sylaise waved her hand, it dipped in salute and fluttered off again.

@thyfairshadow ↪

The silence was palpable, as cold onyx eyes stared down at what Banal could only call a rat hiding in one of her cellars. Another refugee? Gods, they never stopped coming. And she always got the misfits, too. The trembling little creature before her seemed to fit well into that category. She bit down a frustrated sigh. Had Lailani left the outer gates open again, when she'd taking her pets for a walk? Slender fingers shot out and grabbed onto the front of the boy's robes, hoisting him into the air and slamming him into the cellar wall and holding him there, with strength that betrayed her willowy figure. Her lip curled up in menace as her gaze burrowed into the other, now at equal heights. "Do I look like I eat filth, hm?"

"Eep!"

Shien squeaked panicked, when his feet suddenly left the ground. He instinctively went slack in her grip, dangling from her hands like some sort of panicked ferret.

"N-no, madame!", he babbled in a desperate attempt at appeasing the terrifying lady, who's ire he so unwittingly had invoked, "O-of course not, madame! Only rosewater cakes with honey jam for the madame! N-no need to eat this dirty little slave, madame!"

He wasn't really dirty. He always took great care of his hygiene, his heightened senses making him extra anxious about carrying any detectable scents on him. But he figured it couldn't hurt to exaggerate a little, if it meant getting to live in one whole piece another day.

'rough touch' starters

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For as little interest he had in women overall, Dirthamen loved Banal dearly, he really did. But sometimes she was quite a lot to handle. Especially when her mood was stirred unexpectedly. The Keeper of Secrets sighed indulgently, as he gestured for a terrified servant to move the small table with assorted delicacies away from the potential splatter zone and stepped closer to his fiancée. Just in time as it seemed, for the foolish man who had brazenly disturbed their shared moment over afternoon tea by barging in and demanding an audience with the prince, turned a rather interesting shade of green all of a sudden.

"Dear, if you keep that up he will-"

Alas, it was too late. In a rather impressive stream of muddy red the tormented man upended his insides before them. Dirthamen had barely time to grab Banal firmly by her hips and turn them around, so that the disgusting mass of messy death splattered only the back of his robes and left her pretty dress untouched. He sighed, now at least a little annoyed, as he felt the wetness seep onto his back.