Chapter One: One Crowded Hour
She always knew this day would come.
Yes, for all her family's skill at running and fighting, hiding and evading, Bethany Hawke knew that her days as an apostate were finite. To her, freedom was a tenuous and unreliable thing; after all, how free are you if you must constantly look over your shoulder?
You don't need bars to make a cage.
So when the heavy-handed knock sounded at her Uncle Gamlen's door, Bethany was not surprised that the Templars had come. Rather, she was surprised it had taken them so long to do so. No doubt her sister's absence had made the mage hunters bold. It could not be a coincidence that they had come now; they had to have recognized her as an apostate the moment she set foot in this cesspool of a city.
Nineteen years was a good run, all things considered. Not many 'free' mages could boast of such an achievement. Bethany owed her father a great deal.
Bethany noticed with concern the anxiety of her uncle and mother. They recognized the knock for what it was, too. Only the Templars managed to turn a simple rap on the door into a sound that conveyed authority, arrogance, and aggression all at the same time.
"You'd better get the door, my girl," Gamlen said gruffly. "There's no point delaying the inevitable."
"No, no…" murmured Leandra. "Bethy, there's still time to hide. We'll wait for Elinor to return."
"No, Mother, it's over," Bethany said, giving Leandra a sad smile. "And I'm tired of running."
The knock came again, louder and more insistent. If Bethany dawdled any longer, they'd kick the door in. She did not waver as she stood and walked over to open the door. Behind her, her mother had already started to cry.
Bethany was surprised to see the Knight-Captain himself at the door, and alone. She was expecting one of the lower-ranked knights and a few Templar recruits – a training exercise in how to apprehend a sinful apostate.
"Good afternoon, Ser Cullen," she said. "I've been waiting for you."
If the Knight-Captain was surprised by Bethany's statement, he did not show it. He simply bowed politely. "Miss Hawke, may I come in?" He had a set of aqua-coloured robes tucked neatly under one arm.
"Of course," Bethany replied, standing aside. "Can't say no to a Templar, can I?"
Cullen gave her an intense gaze as he passed by her. "That would depend on what the Templar was asking, I should think."
"You can't take her!" Leandra announced suddenly. "You can't. I won't lose another child!" She moved to take hold of the Knight-Captain's hands, as though to manhandle him back out the door, but Gamlen restrained her.
"I'm sorry, Serah," Cullen said, not unkindly, "but the law is what it is. Your daughter must come with me. You should be grateful that Knight-Commander Meredith has decided to show compassion and not prosecute you for harbouring a known apostate. If your elder daughter had not been so helpful to the city, such a kindness would not have been shown."
Bethany winced as her mother collapsed against her uncle, all fight gone from her. The Templar turned to Bethany and handed her the robes. "You will need to put this on, and then come with me."
"Am I allowed to bring anything?"
"Anything that can fit in a small bag or carried in your hands, subject to inspection and approval by the Knight-Commander," Cullen replied. "No weapons, except for your staff."
Bethany gave a curt nod and took the robes. She slipped into the small room she shared with her mother and sister, and changed into what would become her life-long uniform. She tried to calm racing heart and rapid breathing. Even though she was not surprised by her capture, she was still afraid. Of all the places to be forced into a Circle, Kirkwall was the worst. Even Orlais, the centre of Chantry rule, would have been preferable.
There was a sharp pain in Bethany's heart as she thought of what could have been if the Blight had not forced them here. The Hero of Ferelden, her own cousin, no less, had freed the mages from the Chantry and Templar control. She could have lived the life she had always dreamed about – a life with no secrets, no running, no constant anxiety, and a family of her own perhaps.
Bethany shook her head sharply. It's pointless to grieve over what-ifs, she thought. She grabbed her small backpack and began packing up her meagre belongings. It did not take long; a few pairs of underclothes, socks, the enchanted belt that Isabela had 'obtained' for her, a few books, the copy of the Chant that she'd saved from their house in Lothering. Her most prized possession was the portrait of her mother that Elinor had rescued from the old Amell estate, but she did not want to risk taking it to the Gallows only to have it confiscated or destroyed.
She heard her mother beseeching the Knight-Captain again. "Calm yourself, good woman," the Templar replied, in what Bethany could only assume was his attempt at a comforting tone. It still sounded far too stern and aloof to her. "Your daughter has no reason to fear me."
Bethany snorted in disbelief. The man was lucky her sister was not around, not to mention Anders. He'd have a dagger in his back before he knew it, and then his corpse would be subjected to a very long-winded, very tiresome lecture on the evils that the Templar Order perpetrate on poor, hapless mages.
Not for the first time, Bethany wished that her sister had taken her on her expedition to the Deep Roads, but Elinor Hawke could be so overprotective sometimes, and by 'sometimes' she meant 'all the time'.
When she had gathered all that she thought she could get away with, and picked up her staff, Bethany returned to the main living area. "I am ready," she announced, moving to her mother's side.
"Oh, Bethany," her mother said, embracing her. "My darling girl."
"It will be okay, Mother. You'll see."
"That's the spirit!" Gamlen said, clapping her on the back. His upbeat tone fooled nobody. Bethany pulled away from her mother and placed a kiss on her uncle's cheek. She was about to speak when the door flew open.
"Mother, Bethy! You'll never believe guess what we found down there!" Elinor Hawke exclaimed as she bounded inside, covered in blood and filth, but smiling happily. The grin fell from her face as she took in the scene before her; a sobbing mother, a grim uncle, the Knight-Captain of the Templars, and, finally, her little sister, clad in the ugly-ass robes of the Circle.
Bethany sighed in resignation. Her sister always did have the worst timing.
A/N – it's amazing how my muse works. I have had hardly any interest in Bethany as a character before – on my first playthrough she died in the Deep Roads, and in subsequent games I didn't use her very often – but the other day I decided I absolutely had to write a Bethany/Cullen story. Weird.
One of my favourite things about DA is how memorable a lot of the minor characters are, like Cullen and Bann Teagan for example. I'd really like it if Cullen was a companion in Inquisition.
I had originally planned to write a series of one-shots, but ultimately decided to go with a multi-chapter story. I apologize for my Missing Word Disease – I do try and catch any mistakes in editing, but sometimes some mistakes go.