A continuation of the story "Life After Kirkwall." Decided to split off into a new story since Hawke is gone. Story will revolve around Anders and co. while they deal with the fallout of what happened in Kirkwall. As always, Bioware owns everything.
"Come here Sweet Bean!" Kylee ran blissfully into Isabella's arms, giggling as the pirate captain twirled her around the room. "Maker's balls Anders what have you been doing to this girl? She wasn't nearly this big the last time I was here!"
"Isabella, please. She has been repeating everything she hears lately and I don't need her picking up your sailor tongue." An eyebrow rose at his choice of words, but the quip remained unspoken given the warning that accompanied it.
"Up!" the little girl demanded. The pirate smiled down at her mischievously.
"I have a better idea Kitten. What say we go and pick out your birthday present?" A round of bouncing and happy squealing ensued, however Anders felt a blanket of anxiety settle over him. Isabella's gifts usually required a certain amount of parental approval or supervision. On Kylee's first birthday the pirate had presented her with a child sized dagger for "self-defense." The last time she had visited she had brought a barrel of hard cider, insisting that her own mother would give it to her by the glass. He shuddered to think of what she had conjured for the girl's third birthday.
"Perhaps this could wait until tomorrow. I am needed at the infirmar-"
"Nonsense! Fenris is waiting for us in Amaranthine and I won't let you ruin all the fun."
The mage couldn't disguise his surprise. "Fenris is going with you? To pick out Kye's birthday gift?"
"He is my last choice for a shopping partner, believe me. But we came up with this little idea together and he insisted on being there."
Anders felt relief course through him. Fenris had proven himself to be quite the mother hen over Kylee, having nearly beheaded Carver when the warden had allowed her beyond his line of sight for more than a moment. If anyone could be counted on to assure the girl was safe it was the elf. "I suppose I don't have any say in the matter then."
Isabella smiled brilliantly. "Oh good! I'm glad you see it my way. The next step in the plan involved knocking you out. Although now I can't have my way with your unconscious…"
"Isabella!"
"Right. Sorry."
Anders' eyes were heavy as he made his way back from the infirmary. He was beginning to think that the city of Amaranthine itself had no clinic or infirmary as it seemed that anyone who suffered from anything more severe than a runny nose wound up at Vigil's Keep seeking treatment. Per Elissa's parting request before disappearing on some secret Warden business Anders made it a point to keep his magic use to a minimum. The mage only evoked his powers for the desperately ill or injured, resorting to bandages, herbs, and poultices for the rest. But if the current influx of patients did not stem they would soon be in dire need of supplies.
A loud crash rumbled from within his home, snapping Anders out of his mental inventory. He pulled the staff from his back as fear prickled up his spine and listened at the door for any clue as to what was happening within. However the mage felt like a paranoid fool when another clatter was followed by Kylee's giggles and the low voices of Isabella and Fenris. Shaking his head Anders replaced his staff and entered, however the sight that greeted him was far from expected.
Kylee lay on the floor amidst a slew of toppled furniture as she wrestled with a pup that was nearly her size. When his daughter saw him she smiled brilliantly and jumped to her feet. "Papa!" she squealed as she leapt into his arms. Anders lifted her from the floor and was unsurprised when the small Mabari was perturbed at his new friend being taken away. It growled lowly at the intruder disrupting it's fun until Kylee shook her small finger. "No! Bad Fred! Be nice to Papa!" The dog dropped its head and whined apologetically. The ecstatic child turned back to her father and smiled brilliantly. "Do you like him?"
Anders did his best to hide his startled state by smiling back at the girl. "He certainly is a surprise isn't he?"
"He picked me!"
"I see that…" Anders raised an eyebrow at the two people he assumed were responsible for the animal that was now prancing happily around his feet. Isabella smirked while Fenris stood shamelessly next to her. "The dog's name is Fred?"
"Frederick actually. Your scrumptious Warden friend Nathaniel came up with that one." The pirate crossed the room and cupped Kylee's cheeks in her hands. "Do you like your present Sweet Bean?" The girl nodded and threw her arms around Isabella.
"Thank you Auntie Bella!" Kylee squirmed her way to the floor where she ran across the room and locked her arms around Fenris legs. "Thank you Fenris!"
The elf smiled genuinely. "Why don't you take Frederick to the dining hall? I am certain Carver will be interested to see your new dog." The girl smiled excitedly as she hurdled out the front door toward the kitchen entrance of the keep, the Mabari bounding ahead of her.
Anders couldn't help but give a small smile as he closed the door. "So…a Mabari? For a three year old?"
Fenris did not flinch under the mage's questioning gaze. "Hawke once told me that Mabari are highly sought after and prized in Ferelden. Is this not so?"
"Yes, but-"
Isabella smirked. "Well what better protection could we offer than a lethally intelligent war dog that would defend its mistress to the death?"
Loathe as he was to admit it, Anders had to concede to his companion's logic. Kylee was protected within the walls of the keep he worried about what would happen when she was old enough to venture beyond the safety of her current boundaries. The girl habitually found herself in restricted areas of the stronghold, an issue Anders was certain would extend beyond the protective ramparts.
"There's another reason we're here Anders." The pirate's somber tone caused alarm to swell in Anders' gut as Isabella handed him a letter. The anxiety grew into fear and burrowed into his heart as he read the message once, then again; Aveline's neat flowing script clearly outlined circumstances that could doom them all.
"You're sure of this?" The grave look in the pirate's eyes was all the confirmation Anders needed. He tried to think, tried to still the trembling in his hands as the latent instinct to flee stirred in his mind. "If Aveline is right then we are undone. The Seekers will not stop until they have found us. They will track us to the ends of Thedas. Maker, they will find Kylee!" With each passing minute the mage's eyes grew wider, more desperate. "I have to leave. Tonight."
"Hold on a minute Sparkle Fingers, don't panic just yet."
"Isabella, how can you-"
"I also received a letter." Fenris stepped forward. "Varric instructed me to return here while he goes to Kirkwall to deal with this Chantry Seeker."
"Varric? What… why? He's going to turn himself over to the Chantry?"
"The Seekers are searching for Hawke. Who better to convey her tale than the one who told it first?"
"What if they do not believe him?"
Isabella scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I once watched Varric convince a squad of Templars that the two most wanted apostates in Kirkwall were working for the knight commander. I think he can handle it."
Tentative relief began to wash over Anders as he chuckled at the memory. The sensation didn't last long as he glanced between his two companions. "So… why are you two here? Making sure I don't disappear into the night?"
"We are here for insurance. If things go south with this Seeker bitch then we," Isabella motioned between herself and Fenris, "are to take you and Kylee to Merrill, to stay with the Dalish for a little while."
Anders finally let the relief fully wash over him and felt his shoulders sag under its influence. There was a plan. He prayed silently to the Maker that they wouldn't need it.
