M!age Carroll Hawke is in a romance with Anders, and has a high friendship with Sebastian. He allows Anders to live, and fights for the mages with him, promising they will be together forever. Sebastian is furious at this, and swears to bring an army, to kill both of them if necessary. They are found by Sebastian in Starkhaven, Justice had almost completely consumed Anders, and had threatened Hawke into making an attempt on Sebastian's life, so that they are free to continue with the mage revolution without fear of being captured. This is where our story starts.

Sebastian sat at his desk, eyelids drooping. He supposed he should go to bed. Starkhaven wouldn't run well if its ruler were too exhausted to function. There was so much damn paperwork to do, when he could be actually doing things to help people. Still... It would help in the long run, even if it was mind-numbingly boring. Pushing the chair he was sat in back, and standing up, he surveyed the room fondly. It had been his grandfather's room – the chair a mahogany rocking chair, impractical, perhaps, for desk work, but it gave Sebastian comfort to sit in it, so impractical or not, it would stay. The four poster bed was plain for one of its kind – his grandfather had not been one for impractical luxuries, and from his time at the Chantry, neither was he. And with that, his thoughts turned back, as they often did, to that day almost a year ago.

Almost a year, now, since the explosion of the Chantry at Kirkwall, and Sebastian still felt the same anger and grief he had back then. He had trusted Hawke. The two had been good friends, and he cursed himself for allowing the mage to trick him, especially where Anders was concerned. He thought he had known him – he didn't agree with all the man's viewpoints, but he was amiable enough, and easy to get along with. He had always thought it was simple charm that the man possessed, but now... Now it was easy to see that he had been manipulated. Perhaps not by blood magic, he doubted that the mage would stoop that low, although he supposed it was possible. But nevertheless, he had been tricked by Hawke into believing he, and his lover, were good men, and by himself for trusting Hawke's opinion on that blasted abomination.

He shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. Now was not the time to reminisce. He would have justice for the murders of Grand Cleric Elthina and all the innocents in the Chantry that day, but Starkhaven had to come first. Hawke and Anders would pay for their crimes, but now was not the time to think of it. Shedding his clothes into a pile on the floor, Sebastian crawled into bed, and settled into an uneasy slumber.

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Little more than an hour or so later, Sebastian awoke to shouts in the castle. He opened his eyes just in time to see a shadowy figure looming over his bed,and rolled to the right just as a fireball set alight where he had been laying. The four poster bed started flaming, and the smoke bought Sebastian enough time to grab a dagger from his bedstand. He tried to dash to the door so he could alert the guards, but was cut off by his attacker.

"Will you run, then, Prince?" a gravelly tone spat at him. The voice vaguely registered with Sebastian, but he couldn't place it. "Will you run from your responsibilities to your kingdom, and from your fate, as you ran from the plight of the mages?"

"Who am I speaking to?" Sebastian snapped, keeping an eye on the movements in the dark room. "And who are you to speak to me about running while you skulk in the dark? Show yourself, criminal!"

The entire room lit up with blinding blue light, and for a moment Sebastian was blinded.

"I am no criminal. It is proof of your ignorance that you would call me such!"

Recognition dawned, and as the white hot rage flushed over him, it was all Sebastian could do to keep his head. There were sounds of a scuffle outside his room, and as he had seen the mage's combat magic in action, he decided to keep the abomination talking until he had more favourable odds, and only hope that Anders didn't have reinforcements.

"Anders." he growled, voice flat with the effort it took to keep his feet glued to the ground. "Who have you come to murder this time?"

Anders scoffed. "You, who would impede our cause to save mages, you, who would kill us for our liberation of magekind everywhere? You would dare judge us?"

"Liberation, is it, Anders? Is that what you say so you can sleep at night? Is that how you justify the murders of so many innocent families at Mass that day, the murders of innocent members of the Chantry and public alike, the murder of Grand Cleric Elthina?"

"They were necessary sacrifices to ensure the safety of every mage ever torn from his family, every mage forced to blood magic by the templars, freedom for mages across the whole of Thedas, just as Anders was. They are insignificant in the whole picture, as was Anders."

Sebastian was vaguely aware of what Anders was saying, and even more vaguely aware of formulating some response as he kept an ear to the noises outside – it sounded like a hell of a battle was going on. He hoped against hope his men would win – he doubted he stood a chance against the possessed apostate alone. "...But enough talk. I shall have my justice, and you shall seek to repent your sins at the Maker's side."

Anders lunged at Sebastian at the same time the door burst open, proving just the distraction Sebastian needed to rush the mage, holding a dagger to his throat.

"Don't kill him!" a voice yelled from the open door. "Maker, Sebastian, don't kill him!"

Sebastian ignored the man's frantic yelling, and stabbed Anders once, hard to the back of the neck. He turned to the mage, who had collapsed, stricken, to his knees on the floor, surrounded now by more than ten of his guards.

"Hawke." Sebastian said, paying little attention to the mage as he picked up a pair of trousers and shoved them on, well aware it was hard to be intimidating when you were naked as a nug on a spit. "As you can probably tell, your words mean little to me anymore. But go ahead, tell me why I should spare you."

Hawke remained silent, and lifted his chin defiantly at Sebastian, tears streaming down his cheeks. "If I told you you wouldn't believe me." Sebastian made a small noise of anger, and turned away from the sprawled mage on the floor, and towards his Guard-Captain who stood to weary attention.

"How many soldiers did we lose tonight, Guard-Captain Jeryn? How many lives does this pathetic excuse of a mage have to pay for?"

The Guard-Captain shot an uneasy glance at Hawke, then back to his ruler. "...We could have lost fifteen, Ser."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "Could have? What is that supposed to mean?"

Jeryn shifted his feet worryingly - it took a lot to shake the seasoned soldier, and Sebastian felt even more on edge.

"...We didn't lose any, Ser. Fifteen men and women were mortally injured, and seven more broken bones and such the like. The mage," he nodded his head towards Anders, "You killed was taking no prisoners."

Sebastian snorted. "I gathered that. Although the abomination tends to talk too much to be a competent mercenary, he'd be shot down before he was halfway through a speech..."

"He's not an abomination!" Hawke shouted.

One of the guards backhanded him across the face with a gauntleted hand, and there was a loud crunch as something broke. "Silence, mage-scum! You'll speak when spoken to."

Sebastian shot the guard a reproachful look, but otherwise did not comment. "Carry on, Jeryn."

"Yes Ser. I... have never seen anything like it. When we realised the mages were inside the castle, and Maker only knows how they got in, we drew arms. Both mages attacked offensively, but that one," Again, he gestured to Anders' body, "Seemed to want to leave no survivors. Just when we thought all hope was lost, we... This one, Hawke, whatever you called him, started healing us. Brought Samantha back from near-death. Don't get me wrong, he was still attacking, albeit using only paralysation on the wounded. No-one's damaged beyond bruises, Ser." Sebastian raised an eyebrow, then turned back to Jeryn, who was still talking. "...Shall I call the templars, Ser?"

"...No. I am taking the mage down to the dungeon, and I do not wish to be disturbed. I believe Lieutenant Brear has some templar training, does she not? Set her outside the door to drain his magic, and I shall question him."

"Aye, Ser. It shall be done."

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After ordering the guards to leave him, but stay vigilant in case of more attacks, Sebastian turned to Hawke. The man had put on weight, Maker only knew how with a life on the run. His hair had grown to his shoulders, sticking out in matted straggling lumps, and his beard had been completely clean shaven, and recently. The prince narrowed his eyes at his former friend, who was trying to make it across the room to his lover's body, struggling somewhat as his hands had been tied and the templar Brear's powers had sapped his energy as well as his magic. Sebastian stopped him.

"No. I am not a cruel man, Hawke. You will see him, but he's not going anywhere, and you have questions to answer." For a moment, Hawke looked like he was going to argue, then visibly deflated and nodded, subdued.

"I... what do you want to know?"

"Can you stand?" Sebastian asked. "With the holy smite, I mean. You don't look very steady." Hawke nodded, and struggled to his feet, sweating slightly. Sebastian knew for a fact that Brear had been a very strong templar before she had been dismissed by the Order for helping mages to escape from the Starkhaven Circle when it burnt down. Sebastian had given her another chance and a small supply of lyrium, on the condition she would use her templar abilities to help him should the need arise. He had seen Lieutenant Brear's combat and templar skills in action, and knew that Hawke must have got even more powerful to even be able to stand. Hopefully not blood magic...

Sebastian called for two guards, and they, Lieutenant Brear, he and Hawke walked to the dungeons, where the soldiers all waited outside, the templar the closest to the door. Sebastian glared at Hawke.

"Understand I am only letting you live because you healed all my soldiers. Whether I change my mind will depend on what you tell me. And if I find out you have lied to me..."

"Have you ever seen me lie, Sebastian?" Carroll asked tiredly.

Sebastian smiled slightly. "'There's a fire just round the other side of this block', comes to mind."

Hawke almost laughed then. "Yes, fair point. Merrill never really got elaborate ruses like that... Bless her." His look became far away and distant, remembering old friends, and times gone past. "...I suppose I owe you an explanation for this... this knife in the back." he said, face twisted and voice bitter.

"Ah. I haven't checked you for weapons yet. Considering your boyfriend just tried to kill me, and you helped, I better had, don't you think?" Sebastian joked, slightly worried at how easy it was to see the old Hawke, the Hawke that hadn't been an accomplice to murder...

Hawke paled visibly, and shook his head. "No. I... I, no. Please don't."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "Hawke. What don't you want me to see?"

"Just... I can't..."

Sebastian stepped towards the shorter man, who seemed to have shrivelled over this past year in confidence. "I'm going to search you. If you would take your shirt off, I'll let you keep your trousers, if you're that bloody worried I'll start having a measuring contest. The templar can always re-smite you, but I'm not taking the chance you have a knife up your sleeve.

"No, I bloody won't!" Hawke yelped.

"Then I will." Sebastian growled. A scuffle ensued, and Sebastian grabbed Hawke's shirt, ripping it as Hawke fell over from exhaustion due to the holy smite. His eyes widened, and Hawke moved his hands to cover his chest, but he was too late.

Sebastian had expected a knife, or blood magic scars even, but... not this.

Hawke was a woman.

A more than slightly pregnant woman.