The Dragon Age world, plot, and their characters aren't mine but belong to Bioware. I get no money for writing this sequel.
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-- The Free Marches - outside Ollcliffe harbor village Hawke: That Reverend Mother seemed the kinder sort I had been more used to before Kirkwall, which had made Petrice such a nasty surprise. Why this one and Ser Trivor were here, in a place that had to serve as a smuggler or pirate port, I didn't want to ask. I didn't like that both Anders and Merrill sagged very slightly, but they didn't act against him and so I thought we managed to remain undiscovered. I wasn't worried about our fighting our way out, as I wasn't that worried about four Templars.
What I didn't like was that the one left the Chantry at almost a run. Ser Trivor didn't seem to notice and I noticed his eyes had some of that fogged look I'd seen in older Templars. Once I'd packed our new potions, I paused near the altar, considering the street outside when we entered. It wouldn’t give that much of an advantage for an ambush, and I didn't want to keep Anders in here longer than needed.
I tensed as I opened the door, and was glad to see Paws was alert as well. The quiet street had the handful of people moving along with their bread from a bakery or large, covered basket. All doing everyday things.
We didn't need anything else this village had, and I wasn't sure enough of Justice to want to stay at an inn. We'd have to go to Nug Falls. I wasn't sure if I should pray we'd find an old smuggling contact there or not.
On the good side, we'd gotten some supplies and Anders saw a Templar and Mother without attacking them. On the bad, we weren't far enough away yet. The one woman at the Chantry for help had been beaten, and several others in the village had that huddled, wary look I'd often seen in Anders' clinic.
Anders hadn't even seemed to notice; he was preoccupied with Justice.
I wasn't going to point it out even if I felt bad about it. He needed care, and time. But I felt callous and guilty that I hadn't allowed him to help, and I
hated that I was choosing our immediate safety over others. I tried to tell myself that their injuries weren't that bad, but it wasn't helping.
We had to leave this unhappy place as soon as possible, I couldn't do anything to help here and I was getting angrier again. Looking at the terrain, the steep slopes and bluffs said we could really only go west. I wanted to be a fair distance away before we camped.
Paws growled almost silently just before the strangers appeared. I started to reach for my daggers but slowed, hoping we might talk our way out first. I also prayed Anders could avoid doing magic.
Then it didn't matter as the band of bandits revealed their intention. The one still had the heavier armor he'd worn in the Chantry a short while ago. Two others spoke, but I watched the warrior.
I gave him his last warning that even Magisters, held no fear for us. I could see from his face that he didn't believe me, but I wasn't about to attack him directly like some warrior. I flung my shield at an archer off to my side hoping to knock him silly, but my attention was on the warrior who led. Beat him and some of the others might leave.
Kill him in a messy way and they might flee in a rout.
All this took less than a second and when I stabbed him in the back with both blades, making a spray of blood, he dropped. I scattered others away from Merrill and Anders after that and moved from target to target until all were either down or fled.
Paws was close to Anders, so he'd earned a skritch to his ears. Merrill had used some of her more subtle spells, and some of our attackers were asleep. And Anders? He looked healthy still, though he had a couple of cuts and the start of a shiner. He gripped his spear with white knuckles. The point had some blood on it; he shook as he stood there and looked around.
Still wobbly, he called, “Does anyone need healing?”
I rushed over to hold him for a moment and say, “I'm so proud of you.”
Seizing me closer for an almost desperate kiss, he soon calmed enough to say into my ear, “I could get used to this part after a fight.”
Looking up into his eyes, they were only the clear and warm brown I loved to look into, whatever the light. Anders had that silly look with a smile in even his eyes and I...
A cough broke into my daze, and Merrill said with some amusement, “Perhaps you might go stargazing later tonight if there is no rain.”
Flushing, I took a deep breath and said, “We need to get out of here before the cowards bring back friends to finish their ambush.”
With a quick hug, Anders stepped back, even if he took hold of my hand as he did. “Leaving here is a fine idea.”
Paws bumped into me, and I realized that his mouth was already cleaned of blood while I was distracted. They were right, these louts could return or wake, and I wasn't interested in proving we could have killed them all.
So we trotted away, following a rarely used path to the west. Once we'd gotten a better distance away and left the path, Anders healed us all. We returned to the road and I pushed our pace so we covered a lot of ground before we made camp.
Our attempt to raise the tent wasn't that funny at first. I swore a lot. Anders had elegantly pithy insults for the merchants and the makers of the tent long before he changed targets. Merrill giggled. When we finally figured it out, I was sweaty and sore, on top of being tired. We tucked our blankets and packs inside, so we'd fit in with some extra space so it wasn't snug. Anders wasn't that happy we weren't alone, but we could sleep better if we were warm and dry.
Sleeping well was still a problem many nights. I'd wake, and once sure it was only a dream I'd go back to sleep. Some nights Anders was also awake, and sleep was not quick to return. On worse nights I woke before him. He looked like he dreamed, but he knew nothing when he woke, which bothered me.
Once I'd started the soup for tonight, I had some time and fed twigs into the fire.
Dropping down beside me and putting his arms around me, Anders suggested against my neck, “I have been told we should go stargaze.”
I didn't answer right away, still more thinking about how the twig was catching fire and worrying about what fires we'd started.
“My love?” he asked with a wobble a moment later.
“Yes?”
“I love you, my shining light,” Anders said more firmly. “Whatever happens, remember that.”
Turning to face him, I asked, trying not to sound accusing, “Are you planning to do something stupid again?”
Wistfully, he admitted, “No, but I'm not much help in a fight right now. I could get killed in that way, or some large and heavy rock could fall on me. I want you to know how much I love you... but I cannot find the best words for that. Whatever happens to me, just remember.”
“I am expecting you to try
very hard to avoid dying,” I said, wiping my leaking eyes. “I love you too, and want you with me for a long time.”
“Certainly, and I want you to also live too, even if some house sized bird swoops down to feed me to its fledglings,” Anders said while cupping my cheeks. “Don't you do anything stupid then, Aldera.”
“Better watch me, I have been known to cheat,” I smiled.
“Yes, while... about that. I'm sorry I sold off your gift like that. I hadn't really wanted you to know about it and I didn't want to cut in to our passage and bribe money,” Anders admitted with a flush.
I'd forgotten about that, and said, “That's okay, it wasn't that bright an idea for a gift.”
Reaching into his belt pouch, he said quietly, “I hope this one is better.”
With that, he handed me a small lump wrapped in a scrap of fabric and said, “I'm sorry this took so long.”
I was surprised, as I so rarely had gotten wrapped gifts for any occasion since Mother's death. I didn't want to look greedy, but when I saw how worried he was I decided to quickly unwrap the simple package.
Inside was a pair of earrings, with some kind of design in the surface. They looked substantial, and far too nice to belong in a place like that village. I had to touch the shining gold and looked at him, “But I don't wear earrings.”
“That we can fix, but the etching reminded me of you. And really, earrings are practical for living on the road. I meant to get you something then and just forgot; like a fool when I could have ordered something custom. I'm sure I could have had something made, I spent so much on everything else... I guess I could have gotten a necklace or something with gems, but this seemed so perfect...” Anders touched my ear briefly and added, “Fresh breeze, storm winds blowing the old away, the updraft in the abyss, the words that change minds, and even your fresh mouth...”
I stopped his babbling by taking his hand and saying, “They're lovely, but I'd wanted the necklace to be your gift. It doesn't seem very fair for me to be wearing the result. Maybe you should wear them, you're better with words.”
He looked hurt and I felt stupid to be turning down his gift, so I hastily added, “How about we each wear one?”
Anders' smile was relieved and he pulled me against him with a sigh.
After dinner we heated one of my metal picks and pierced my ear after he cooled it briefly. I was not that used to sitting still when metal cut my skin, but in moments it was done and healed.
In a few more minutes, his looked nice too. Then again he didn't need gold for that.
Merrill approved, “I'm sure those are very nice, especially when the sun shines on them tomorrow. It is too bad that you do not have a proper tattoo from when you became an adult like Hawke does, Anders.”
Tugging his new earring, Anders replied with a smirk, “How do you know I don't, Merrill?”
“I'm just glad we got through a fight,” I said while patting Merrill before she could reply. She and Anders always annoyed each other, the story between most of my friends. Putting my arm around Anders again, I reminded him, “I don't expect us to avoid notice for long, no longer than six months I'd be willing to bet.”
“Your gambling friends aren't here to take your bets, Hawke,” Anders said with a smile that disappeared instantly after he spoke.
I rubbed his back, as Isabela was not in any way his error.
“You could play cards with your friend Paws,” Merrill suggested. “Varric was giving him tips, wasn't he?”
“No, no, I don't need to lose
more money to a mabari,” Anders protested.
Paws whined unhappily, and I could feel that my face had almost frozen in place with my amusement.
Looking a little frantic, Anders said to my mabari, “No, I can't afford to. It's embarrassing.”
Rubbing away my smile, I relaxed my face into a more neutral expression. I was compressing my mouth to prevent another smile.
“Oh, maybe he would be willing to play and return the money to you?” Merrill said with the tiniest smirk. “Where would he spend his winnings?”
Nodding his head and panting, Paws agreed. Anders looked resigned and I dug out some cards. We didn't play that long, though I hadn't realized I missed such a small thing.
When Anders reclaimed his coins, we started settling in the tent for the night. It was roomy enough, even if he was cross that Merrill and Paws were inside too.
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It took only a few days for us to reach the next settlement that had an actual protected harbor where the rank smell of penned animals reached us as we got closer. There'd been planted areas within an hour's walk, but as we got closer, the land was in intensive use for various plantings wherever it wasn't rocky. Our first view was from a slightly higher spot in the road, where we could have a good view of the harbor. It looked like there were two ships in port, and neither flew any recognizable flag.
I thought I had been here once from the shape of the harbor, large and protected from storms on three sides. Then, I'd been told to shut up and keep my nose out of the locals' business. Bethany and I had still been upset about Carver's death and what our dear uncle'd arranged, so it was no hardship to stay on the ship. We didn't have the interest or money to sample the inns and any bonuses were partly being saved for Mother. I did start replacing my too-warm Ostagar armor and tried it out while climbing around the ship while Bethany watched.
Now that seemed a hundred years ago.
Still, there was a slim chance I might know someone here, so I announced, “I might have been here with Bethany when working for Athenril.”
“Might have been?” Anders wondered.
“They didn't tell me much, especially for the first few months,” I said, keeping my voice flat. “We weren't paid anything, unless I bled extra usefully or nearly begged for replacement armor. I thought Athenril enjoyed not paying the shemlen.”
“Hawke...” Merrill said worriedly.
“Brana,” I reminded her. “She did soften about nine months in, and we stayed on a few extra months as she started paying us nicely. We left money with Mother as often as we were in Kirkwall. But I don't remember some of the places we went for the first month or two.”
Anders moved closer and put an arm around my waist, “Will anyone remember you?”
“I don't think so, and hardly anyone used my name, so 'shem' and 'scout' were the nicer things I was called while we were here,” I explained, as I'd tried to forget part of this.
“That doesn't sound too risky,” he said with a slight smile. “Do you think we might get passage here?”
“No, these ships don't take passengers, only cargo. We're not cargo, but I think the other ship I saw here in those days had the cargo I hate. I wouldn't trust them,” I finished while gritting my teeth.
His voice deeper suddenly, Anders agreed, “Fine. No passage here.” He shook his head, but nothing else happened.
“What do we hope to accomplish here?” Merrill asked.
“Not something large, we need news about what is happening in other places and any port town should have that. A small place with little guard or Templar presence that we can't get easily cornered. Sell some of the extra weapons, and maybe replace your armor if we happen to find any. A lot of odd things got dumped in shops here, according to Athenril,” I mused. “Nothing we can't do other places, but I don't know how many ports we'll have to try until we might find a captain we can trust.”
“Onward, Brana?” Anders asked with a small smile.
Nug Falls was maybe midway between Lothering and Kirkwall in size, and as we entered we could see there were far more people and businesses. Even a single inn with the name of
Andraste's Arms could be read from a distance away. Only when closer, did we see that the statue was softened from many years of rain and wind. What made me want to laugh was seeing that where the arms were broken off, was also weather-worn.
Anders smirked as well.
I asked a youngster for where better merchants were, and the answer matched what I remembered, so we visited a weaponsmith's shop. I could smell a forge nearby, reminding me of the Foundry, but I didn't hear an active large scale forge. The smith came out front and brought out some blades when I asked.
We made a show of examining them, but only bought a modest spare sword, before selling some blades to him. I wanted a pair of matching daggers but I had to try to act like Aveline had in places like this, dismissing most blades but only showing cautious interest in sturdy and well made swords. I did like the extra weight when I swung it, but it was so much heavier and slow.
The armorer talked more, and mentioned that some armor he had was from a ship out of Amaranthine. That caught Anders' attention, and he asked about the armor and armorer. All this one could say was that it was made from dragon scale.
Anders nodded his head the tiniest bit, so I brought out a shield that was too bulky for us to even pretend to use. It was a good one, and I'd had a good rune put on it.
That caught the merchant's attention and bargaining got spirited. Eventually, for the shield and a couple gold more, we got armor for him that was much better than we'd cobbled together in the forest.
We visited other merchants and they were as much interested in gossip as trade. Not as much when I said we'd just come overland from Navarre. It didn't take long for us to confirm that there was no Circle here, and not much of a Chantry. It seemed no one thought much of the Reverend Mother here, at least as far as entering this Chantry. They complained that she did little but scold the smugglers, pirates, and loose women, to the merchants' amusement.
We were offered bets twice as to when she'd realize there were also pretty boys at work in Nug Falls. The best part of collecting gossip was that Anders relaxed.
As far as fishing for news about events in Kirkwall, there were dozens of rumors and some that only made me blink in surprise at their insanity. The descriptions of the Champion were pretty vague, being a huge warrior who'd always killed the Arishok with a mighty blow from her shining sword. I wasn't as sure about continuing to pretend to be a warrior, now. Was I more worried about strangers identifying me, or people like Sebastian or Cullen finding us? Other tales said that I planted the foul magic that destroyed the Chantry... and Anders tried to control a twitch at that. One Antivan insisted it was done by a blood mage who wanted the Grand Cleric's blood for a spell. Others were closer, mentioning an apostate lover who'd been corrupted by a demon, not that I wanted accuracy either.
The only rumors I was glad to hear were some tales that mages had escaped and not recaptured. Some children from the Gallows got out before the real fighting, and fled to their relatives, who were loud at how they'd been broken in the short time in the Galllows. Anders' eyes glowed at that. The nullification of obedient mages by the Knight Commander was approved by some, but not by all who spoke about it.
Orsino's stupidity had almost become a secret, he'd killed everyone but us who might have reported it. I wondered, had he ever done magic like that before? Was that a grain of truth behind Meredith's insanity? Not that it mattered, executing all mages for one's crime was evil. I wasn't sure if I wanted the truth known, not that I expected Varric to be quiet.
There were rumors that the Templars had seized my mansion briefly before changing over to the Viscount's palace. Another said Cullen had been declared viscount, but then the nobles rejected him and elected one I vaguely remembered meeting about a problem. He was supposedly ruling out of his own mansion and trying to gain the palace.
There were no definite rumors about where we'd gone. Some thought I'd been an agent of either Ferelden or Tevinter and returned there. Another said we killed each other, quarreling, or that Anders had killed me once I'd served my purpose.
I had to nudge Anders discreetly when we heard that, as he'd started to look bad. Then he lost almost all expression.
We did hear of towers having problems, some even supported by neighboring people. We were heading generally towards Cumberland. Anders heard there was some kind of Collegium there. But I was sure I'd heard about only two in all the Free Marches: Starkhaven and Kirkwall. The circle in Ferelden had no unrest and was still engaging in regular trade over the last month, which made the merchants happier than Anders. The closest other tower was in Orlais, and I was not going to even hint at going there to Anders. We might as well go visit the Qunari or Tevinter.
Then came the weird rumors and everyone laughed at those, including the merchants telling us. The Qun were ruling Kirkwall, Dragons could take human form, and the Chantry was building a new tower near Orzammar to more directly control the lyrium trade. The only thing that gave me any comfort was that in no story had anyone thought we were caught by Templars. We'd been spotted, singly and in various groups, in at least a half-dozen places.
Merrill was amused, with a twinkle in her eyes only through the silly ones. We didn't buy much, another tarp, a few rare or awful tomes, and more useful travel supplies.
By the time we did that, we'd ended up near the docks and shipyards where most merchants had their shops. A few had tables out, mostly for trading food and other everyday items.
One had churns and rolling pins and other household items we didn't need, so I paused to pick out which direction might have another new merchant or gossip. Anders hurried over to the wood turner, as if he was a moth. I didn't see why, until he reached into a crate and brought up a squirming ball of fur...
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A/N: Thanks to my beta readers who have been kind enough to read this and point out stupid flubs. Any typos that remain are not intentional... Reviews or a PM to let me know what you think would be very appreciated.
