OOoOO
She was sick of the Grey Wardens, she was sick of running off at the first mention of trouble in the name of her Queen, and she was sick of being Solona Amell, the damned hero of Ferelden. She had lost Alistair to the blight, Anora thought she could order her around at will and of course Anders had run off to Kirkwall and now here she sat, in some piss ant tavern in the middle of that stinking city. What could have possessed him to run to this slum?
You know what, sod him. She wasn't going to do this anymore she was going back to Amaranthine where it was quiet. Void she'd rather go back to the circle than chase a ghost, who had run from her.
Chugging the rest of the swill they actually called ale; she pushed away from the bar and smacked into someone coming in. She stared into bright blue eyes; by the Maker she could have been looked in a damn mirror. The hair was shorter and her robes were different but the rest was almost a perfect match.
"Hey, watch it huh? You run into the wrong person like that and they might not be as nice as I am." The woman brushed herself off and eyed Solona.
Like a lightning bolt, an idea hit her out of the clear blue sky.
"How would you like a drink?" Her lip curled into a smirk as the woman before her nodded and they went to a back room to talk.
"You're bleeding nug humping crazy. That would never work, first of all."
Hawke the champion of Kirkwall as luck would have it; ticked off on her fingers
"You're a Warden, I'd get everyone killed. Second my brother is a Templar in the city; He'd catch on for sure. Third as if I needed a third, it's not that close of a likeness."
"Hah!" Solona grabbed a looking glass and held it before them as she stood next to Hawke.
"First, you're the damned Champion you've fought dark spawn before. Second and third, my mother if I had known her wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
"Your serious then you want to trade places? What makes you think I want to leave?"
"Well Hawke, if you weren't interested would you still be here?"
Hawke had to admit it sounded interesting, like an adventure and if there was something Marion Hawke liked, it was an adventure.
"Alright then we have to hurry, my other Grey Warden Nathaniel is going to be here any time and if we're going to do this you must leave with him. I need to shorten my hair, and you should tell me how I get home. The rest we might have to fake."
"You know what, to the void with them all. I have no reason to stay, you saved Ferelden maybe you can do better than me here. So what do I need to know to be a warden?" Marion grinned at Solona
"Besides you're an Amell you belong in that old house more than I do."
"Well first things first." She grabbed the dagger that was at her belt and hacked her pony tail off. Solona cut pieces of her black hair off until the general shape was the same as Hawke's.
"If you let Nathaniel lead he'll take you through most of it. I have let him lead for awhile; I'm trying to get him ready to take on Commander of the grey. Mostly so I could get away from it all."
Solona shucked her warden armor off motioning for Hawke to do the same.
They stood together before the looking-glass. It was incredible; it was hard for either of them to even tell each other apart.
"I think your eyes are a bit darker blue than mine." Mused Hawke.
"Alright remember they call me Hawke or Champion, if you wait down stairs an elf and dwarf will be looking for you, you can claim to not feel well and head home early. They shouldn't bother you. Head to Hightown and it's the estate with the Amell crest on it. Two red Eagles. "
The key dangled from a chain and she dropped it in Solona's hand."
Poking her head out the door Solona caught sight of Nathaniel entering the front door.
"Okay this is it; Nathaniel is here, black hair Warden Armor,remember everyone calls me Warden Commander or Amell mostly Warden or Commander, tell him you're done here and wish to return to the Warden keep. He'll agree, he hates it here; if you're ever stuck on someone's name just nod. It'll come you'll see. You can get messages to me at your house here and anything I have I'll send to the warden's keep. Now go! Think of it as an expedition."
Solona gave Hawke a shove out the door towards Nathaniel.
"There you are, I'm not sure I want to know what you were doing back there. Not in a place like this; are you ready to leave yet? I think I've stepped in something, not to mention I doubt I will ever get this smell out of my clothes."
"Yes, of course let's return to the Wardens Keep."
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes at the Hawke in Solona clothing
"What did you do to your hair?"
Solona thought for sure they were caught but Hawke was quick on her feet.
"I got something sticky in it in here. I had to cut it off, what you don't like it?"He shugged.
"Whatever, I won't argue about getting out of this shit hole, after you Commander, we'll catch the first ship out of this stinking city." Tossing a final glance over her shoulder towards Solona, Hawke winked and mouthed.
"Good Luck."
Then she was gone with Nathaniel, and Solona had never felt more free; she even went back to the bar, found a table and had another mug of swill.
"Hawke."
Solona looked up to see a very oddly tattooed elf take a seat across from her, the dwarf next to him slid on to the bench next to her.
"Fenris says he's here to earn that money he owes us. What do you say? Are we waiting for the others before we make our broody elf cry as we beat him at Wicked Grace?"
"Well, uh, actually." Solona stuttered
"I was thinking I should head home, I'm not feeling well you see."
"What? You can't leave, you set this up everyone is going to be here. You'll be fine we'll have Blondie take a look at you when he gets here. Just relax and have another drink, I think you've dealt in politics too much it's affecting your game."
The dwarf ordered them all another drink and the elf he had called Fenris, began joking about some fight earlier in the day."
"Varric, I thought you said everyone was coming."
A red-haired woman joined them now taking a seat next to Fenris. Alright elf Fenris, Dwarf Varric, she could do this.
"Everyone is coming Aveline, have a drink. Did you invite your husband?" Fenris called for a drink for the new woman, Aveline red-head got it.
"No, he's on duty, says he'll be at the next one at your mansion though. Speaking of that we need to talk."
Aveline and Fenris seemed to be having some sort of argument over an abandoned mansion he was living in.
Varric turned to her and began rattling about some novel, 'Hard in Hightown' he was writing.
She was five or six mugs of swill in and was rather enjoying hearing his story, she was laughing about the long road to love, about how she had helped get Aveline and her husband together. Maker that would have been a sight; this could be okay.
As Solona nodded and laughed into her mug, the door swung open and she dropped her mug to the table, it clattered sideways and fell off the table with a clatter. There in the doorway stood her ghost.
"Makers dimpled butt cheeks Hawke, you drunk already? How many did you have before we got here?"
"I said I'd make it and here I am. I hope you haven't started yet; I had two very sick children at the clinic they are resting now. Thought I could use a break so I," Anders lifted his eyebrows at the slack-jawed look on Hawke's face.
"What do I have something on my face?" Solona still didn't answer and Varric waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hawke said she wasn't feeling well Varric. Maybe we should have let her go home." Concern etched the elf's face.
Solona couldn't believe it; he had been with the Champion. He couldn't have missed how much the Champion looked like her. Was that why he was staying? She shook her head
"No, no I'm fine let's start the game before the next blight shall we?" Anders looked her over as he slid in on the other side of the bench, so she was between him and Varric.
"Are you sure you're okay, you look a bit peaked maybe you should come back to the clinic." Anders went to place a hand on her forehead but she ducked out-of-the-way.
"I'm fine, if I need healing I can take care of it myself."
Everyone at the table went still, the cards stopped moving and all eyes were on her.
"Since when Hawke? You been dabbling in healing magic? Planning on finally getting rid of Blondie huh?"
"Bout time." Grumbled Fenris and Anders kicked him under the table, earning a dagger glare from the elf.
Biting down on her tongue hard enough she tasted blood, the one question she should have asked. We'll I'm just going to have to keep my mouth shut, and feel this out a bit more then.
The slip seemed to have been forgotten and everyone continued the game, laughing and drinking late into the night.
"Well Hawke I see your sickness didn't slow you down, you cleaned out the elf again." Laughed Varric
Fenris groaned. "I'm out you've done me in again Hawke. I still think you cheat, if Isabella was here she would prove me right. Too bad she had other plans for the evening."
Stretching Fenris got up from the table, gave her a longing look as he turned away with a simple.
"Good night, Hawke."
Solona stifled a yawn and chugged the last of her drink, she had lost count, but she was hungry, it had been far too long since she had anything to eat and her Warden blood was screaming for food.
"I think I should go home, I'm starving and." She hadn't even finished when Anders stood and motioned for her to stand as well.
"I'll walk Hawke home, have a fantastic evening everyone." The rest gathered waved and nodded as they left the Hanged man.
Walking through Kirkwall pretending she knew where she was going was more of a challenge than she had thought.
"You have no idea where you're going do you?" Anders stopped and stared at her. Reaching forward he grabbed the chain around her neck and pulled. A golden earring dangled from the end of it and Anders almost laughed.
"So how did you know it was me then?" Solona sighed
"You mean besides the fact that I can sense the taint in you? And last I checked Hawke was not tainted." Solona smacked her forehead with her hand.
"Oh for the love of the Maker, how did I forget that?"
"What did you do Solona? How and why are you here, and what did you do with Hawke?"
"The simple answer Anders is I was tired of being me, it sounds like Hawke was too and she is on her way to Amaranthine, as we speak."
"You switched places?" Anders yelled
"Shut up Anders." She slapped a hand over his mouth.
"It's not like I thought you, were part of her company. In fact if I had known that to be true, I wouldn't have stayed."
"You're insane Solona, this is never going to work."
"It will if you keep your big mouth shut Anders" She hissed back at him.
"Now take me home."
"So you know Solona, Fenris is in love with Hawke. She never showed interest back but I thought you should know, he hates mages but can't help himself around her, of course he hates me and I'm sure I'm about to make that worse."
"How would you make it worse?" She was caught off guard as Anders turned and slammed her against the nearest wall, coving her mouth with his. He didn't stop there, letting his mouth taste her skin, his fingers on her cheek.
"Anders stop it." She pushed him back.
"What do you think you're doing? Is this why you haven't come back, because Hawke was a suitable replacement to me? You get the look alike without the trouble of being a warden?"
"I was never with Hawke, Solona, sure she looks like you but she is not you. And no it's not why I stayed away."
"Screw you Anders. You've always left me, you left me at the circle and you left me in Amaranthine. I'm not sure what possessed me to come here looking for you."
"You came looking for me?"
"Don't make some big thing out of it, I had decided to leave you to your fate when I ran into Hawke and saw my own way to run."
"Solona, sweetheart we're more alike than you think. No matter what you think of me, I'm glad you're here." They stopped outside the door to the Amell estate and he opened the door pushing her inside, he spun around and trapped her against the door.
"Now my love, I think it's time your husband gave you a proper welcome to Kirkwall."