Chapter the First: Dead at Sea
Rated: M for violence
Prologue: The Blight is ravaging Ferelden. Aurelia Hawke, her mother Leandra Hawke and her twin siblings Carver and Bethany have fled the devastation. They have battled Darkspawn and an ogre, which takes Bethany's life. They have encountered other survivors, lost another life and been saved by the Witch of the Wilds. Asking what seems to be a simple favour in return for safe passage out of Ferelden, they have but one choice. They have booked passage on the crowded Andraste's Mirth and are sailing towards what they hope will be a land free of Blight and full of promise. This is their story.
The boat did naught but sway restlessly on the stubborn, still sea. They had been stranded for six days now. Many and more of the refugees and traders had died from the shortage of food and water. There had been little to no rain and they were a mere two days' sail to Kirkwall's bay, so the food and water stores were depleted. No one was strong enough to row. Aurelia Hawke tended to her sickly mother and brother as best she could, with the help of Aveline Vallen. Both Leandra and Carver Hawke had fallen ill after the third day. The journey had taken much longer than the captain had expected, due to storms ravaging the boat and nearly throwing them off course. Captain Groswann had begun rationing food and water some time ago, but even that did not stave off sickness and starvation. He had taken on too many on the boat, trying to fill his coffers with coin. Now, the Andraste's Mirth was full of nothing but death and sickness. The poorer refugees crowded into the hold underneath the deck fared the worst, the plague spread like wildfire and once the captain realized it, he locked them down there. Aurelia had tried to protest such cruelty, but Groswann had threatened to throw her and her family off the boat in chains.
And some desperate souls did throw themselves overboard, in hopes that they could swim or float the last few miles to Kirkwall. Most of them drowned, some were eaten by sea creatures and others drifted away. Aurelia could not fathom succumbing to death by thirst or starvation. They had come too far and faced far too many dangers, just to die in such a pitiful manner. She would not stand for that kind of ending. It was perhaps, this fervor which sustained her. The burly Groswann had tried praying, sacrificing and rowing of the oars. They were still stranded. No ships had passed them. And now a plague was encompassing the ship.
Aurelia used minor spells to create ice to cool Carver and Leandra's fevered bodies. Thankfully, they showed no signs of the reddened, blistered skin the plague victims had but were ill all the same. Aveline reasoned that they were simply fevered from malnutrition and exposure. Aurelia couldn't create water from thin air, she had very little mana left, but she could take sea water and make ice. Aveline kept guard, so that her magic, illegal as it were, was not discovered.
Sitting on the edge of her mother's bunk, Aurelia dipped a ragged cloth in the small bowl of melting ice to capture the bit of water. With long, meticulous fingers, she wrung some of the precious water out over her mother's brow. She wiped the sweat which beaded along Leandra's pale neck away too. When Leandra's children were young, Carver had been sick quite frequently and Bethany had been the expert healer, caring for her twin with patience and skill. Yet Bethany was gone now, killed by an ogre that Aurelia had failed to kill quickly enough. I failed her, my sweet sister, who of all of us deserved to die the least. Leandra had refused to leave her body initially, nearly costing the rest of them their lives as well.
Carver was angry and lost without his twin. Something broke inside him then, a great tidal wave of wrath and bitterness. He had always been kind to everyone. Everyone but Aurelia, that is. Yet when Bethany's crumpled body took its last breath, it seemed almost as if he had as well. He was a shell of a person, his temper flaring for no reason. He rarely spoke and would go days without eating. Aurelia guessed the latter was what led to his rapid decline in health.
Carver had always resented her, though. When they were children, Carver would get irrationally jealous of Aurelia, who was only a year and a half older than the twins. He would hit her, break her things and do anything he could to torment her without giving himself away. Carver would add a new black and blue bruise to Aurelia's little body before the last green and yellow one had completely faded. She was smaller than Carver, having been born too early and never quite surpassing her younger siblings in size. Leandra was thought to be barren after Aurelia had been born, as a string of miscarriages had preceded her. Yet then the twins came, robust and healthy. Malcom Hawke had swelled with pride at finally having a son and heir. Carver enjoyed his singular attention for years, until that fateful day when Aurelia turned seven.
Birthdays were always a big to-do in the Hawke household. They couldn't afford much, but Leandra insisted on celebrating with gusto. The morning of, she would wake the birthday child (or children) up to dress by the fire in a new outfit. The entire day would revolve around them, getting to pick the day's meals, an outing, etc. On her 7th birthday Aurelia had been given a new puppy from one of their neighbor's whelps, a beautiful black wriggly thing. Aurelia had taken it to the well with her to fetch water for supper, unaware that a brooding and angry Carver had followed her. He had, unbeknownst to Aurelia, had his eye on that very puppy since they were whelped. As Aurelia had skipped and sung and chased her new playmate all the way to the well, he'd followed her. After she had pulled the water bucket up and sloshed it to the ground, she'd been startled to see him standing there, with a menacing glare she'd not seen before. She had tried to back away, but Carver had kicked and punched her until she could do nothing but curl up in the dirt and cry. When he was spent, he went to walk away and stopped as the puppy made to shew at his boot and play. He froze, and kicked the small thing as hard as he could. The dog hit the stone well with a resounding crack and thudded to the ground in front of Aurelia, dead. Her blood curdling scream could be heard for distances. It also awoke something in her. Magic. She had pelted balls of magic from her very fingertips, knocking Carver unconscious. She then turned distraught to her little puppy's broken body, trying to wash him and wake him in the bucket of water. Thus her father found her, distraught.
From then, this day of her birth celebration, a day about life, she felt she instead had been given death. Her existence ceased as she had known it. Carver had been punished for the first time in his life; he lost his father's respect and love. All this and more Aurelia gained, as Malcolm relentlessly tutored his eldest in magic. It was to be his legacy, it seemed. Aurelia hated magic, wanted nothing to do with it. But she would not disobey her father. So she suffered in silence. Carver dared not hit her again. Indeed, he rather seemed to largely avoid her. When Bethany came into her magic much later, Malcolm finally turned some of his attention away from Aurelia. A few years later, he died, finally releasing his grip on Aurelia.
Now, nineteen years of age, Aurelia shuddered at the memories of her past. Once Carver and her mother were settled and sleeping, she and Aveline slipped out of the stifling cabin and into the night air. Carefully making sure no one was about, they walked to the ship's side. "We have to do something, Hawke, this is getting precarious," Aveline urged, pacing.
"We cannot swim, we cannot row, we cannot make the wind pick up again. What choices do we have!?" Aurelia retorted in frustration.
"I don't know. If Wesley were here, he would have an idea to save us all, save all of these people."
"Aveline, the only way we will survive this situation is to leave everyone but the four of us. Surely you realize that?" she said gently, placing her hand on Aveline's sleeve as her tall friend leaned against the railing.
"Dammit, Hawke, how can we condemn the rest of these poor people to death!? We must fight for them, too!"
"We have not the means or strength left to save them all. I'm sorry" she said, watching in sadness as Aveline stomped away. The air was thick and heavy. Aurelia sighed, leaning her midsection over the railing, contemplating throwing herself into the sea. Suddenly, she noticed something. Attached to the ship rather haphazardly, was a rowboat. Most ships had a few, for some reason the Andraste's Mirth had only this one…forgotten. Aurelia smiled and raced down the side of the ship to catch Aveline.
Figuring out how to get two bedridden and sickly people from their cabin and into that boat was the hardest part. So few of the crew was left alive that avoiding them or even fighting them off would be the easy part. With dawn only a couple of hours away, Aveline and Aurelia scrambled to pack their belongings into sacks. Then they had to inspect the row boat. There was no easy way to reach it. It looked as if it had been tied to the vessel last minute, leaning precariously. Being adept at climbing and the smaller of the two, Aurelia decided she would scale the side of the ship and climb down to the boat. As they were still stuck with the ship barely moving, Aurelia thankfully needn't worry much about the boat swaying and knocking her into the water. They had devised a dangerous plan. Aveline would wrap Carver and Leandra's bodies as if they were dead, after giving them a small amount of a sleeping draught. Too much would kill them in their weakened state, but a little would keep them asleep and quiet. She would then tell the captain that she would dispose of the bodies over the side of the ship, as they normally did. After the first waves of victims, it was no longer done with any sort of ceremony. Rather, the bodies were generally dumped as quickly as possible, from any side of the ship. Aurelia would have to catch the bodies and ensure that they did not cause the little boat to come loose before she cut the ropes. It seemed like a seamless plan but they both knew there was much danger to it. It was their only, and last, chance.
As the last patrol before dawn thudded by their cabin door, Aurelia slipped out and down the few feet to the side where the boat was. She tied a length of rope as inconspicuously as possible to the bottom of the railing, the other end around her waist. She knew once she got so far down she'd have to cut that lifeline completely. Lying flat on her stomach, she wiggled her body until her legs dangled over the edge. She ship swayed slightly, just enough to make her heart skip a beat. Then she was gone. Using Aveline's dagger, which had been Wesley's, she sunk it as quietly as possible into the side of the ship and climbed her way down. It was slow work and tiresome, using all her arm strength to hold onto the dagger and whatever handhold she could find. She passed portholes, praying no one was looking out. Luck was with her. When her climbing rope became taut and she had no more lead, she dared to look down. The little rowboat was just a few feet below her, but slightly to her left. Realizing, too, that she could not cut the rope if the dagger was lodged into the side of the ship, she panicked momentarily. Finally she noticed a porthole immediately to her left. Once she had a good grip with one hand, she took a deep breathe. She'd only have one chance to do this smoothly and correctly. Closing her eyes and saying another quick prayer, she took her free hand, pulling the dagger out as fast as she could, at an upward angle. It cut the rope easily but her palm was sweaty and she dropped the dagger in her haste to grab hold of the porthole edge with her other hand. Blinking back tears, she kicked her legs and let go, hoping for the best.
She landed on her back into the small boat. She didn't make much of a sound, as there were several sacks in the bottom of the boat, but it did sway precariously, creaking against the side of the ship. Once Aurelia had reasonably regained her composure, she quickly assessed her situation. Dawn was beginning to break the horizon and Aveline would be bringing her mother and brother. If she didn't succeed, they would all be buried at sea. The boat was bigger than it had seemed from the deck, thankfully. There were a number of sacks and rope, odds and ends scattered about the bottom. Thankfully, she found no holes in the bottom or sides. There were three oars, oddly enough. After inspecting the ropes holding the boat to the ship, she found a bit of courage...and hope.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Aurelia's story. I hope ending on this cliffhanger will leave you wanting to read more. I will say that compared to my Origins story, Aurelia's is a bit darker. She goes through much trauma. But there will be some light. Please feel free to send me any suggestions and I would definitely appreciate any and all reviews. Thank you for reading.