A Twist of Fate

Varric hated being interrogated. Well, that wasn't true all the time. It could be fun if the interrogator had any sense of what was humorous. Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast had none.

"I want the truth, Varric … not the fabrications in that book!" Okay, maybe Varric had frustrated her just a bit — enough for her to stab a copy of "The Champion of Kirkwall" while it was still in his lap.

"What do you want to know?"

"How did the Champion end up in Kirkwall? Where did he live in Ferelden?" the Seeker threw up her hands. "Where did he come from? You infer that he had royal blood in him. From where?"

"I swore I'd keep his secret."

"And, I swear I'll be discreet." She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes, but then sighed when Varric looked around at the Seeker guards. With a slight motion of her head, they left. "Start with where he was born."

"Right. The beginning. I gotta warn ya' that I wasn't around at the real beginning, but I'll tell you what I was told." Varric cleared his throat. This was going to be one long bout of storytelling. "It begin here in Kirkwall, actually, with a serendipitous twist of fate …"

The Kirkwall harbormaster announced that the ship Fairsky was about to depart. The Fairsky was bound for Denerim with a stopover at Ferelden's northwest port of Highever. One of the passengers was Fiona, an Orlesian elf mage Grey Warden and a new mother. She was there in Kirkwall with her traveling companion, Duncan, a Grey Warden about to be stationed in Ferelden. Duncan had taken a short leave to help his friend get her affairs settled. Fiona felt that she was soon to be an ex-Warden. Something about a run-in with a talking darkspawn who experimented on her and took away the taint in her blood. No taint in her blood meant she was no longer a Warden but, since she was also a mage, she couldn't keep a baby. She was going to Ferelden so she could "hand over" the baby to his father.

Well, that day was warm and humid. The only child in the group was the one in Fiona's arms, but there was a pregnant woman nearby. Fiona recognized the man with her.

After shifting the babe in her arms, Fiona nodded toward the man with his arm supporting the pregnant woman. She whispered to Duncan, "He was the apostate who strengthened the wards in the Vimmarks. We stopped over at the warden prison on our way back to Orlais. I overheard that bastard Larius bragging about forcing him to cooperate by keeping his wife hostage." Fiona could feel the flush of anger show on her face.

Duncan was very skilled at looking around without seeming to look around. "With all the Templars on every street corner here in Kirkwall, I can understand why he would wish to leave."

"How can you stay with with the Grey Wardens, Duncan?! I know you are a better man than that!" Fiona turned her head. "Larius threatened an innocent woman to get his way."

"Whatever it takes, Fiona." Duncan shrugged. "It would not have been my way of going about things, but the wards were failing and it had to be a descendent of Magister Relius Accipiter. Duncan's warm smile at Fiona's young son was enough to stop the elf mage from railing on. "I stay in the Order to make it better."

Before Fiona could begin again on her thoughts about that, Hawke's wife doubled over with a cry. The growing pool of liquid around the woman's feet told Fiona all she needed to know. The woman was going to give birth right there on the docks of Kirkwall. Fiona wasn't a healing mage, but she had just been through childbirth. She knew what needed to be done.

"Stand aside! Give the poor woman some room!" Fiona shouted as she handed off her own child to Duncan. She pointed to a man unlashing a canvas tarp from some crates. "You! Give these men that canvas." She turned to the crowd nearby. "You! Hold it over her so she can get some shade."

By that time, the woman had already slumped to the ground with her husband holding her as best he could. "It's too soon," the woman cried, her eyes wild with fear.

Ultimately, that statement proved true. Their boy was stillborn and the parents, Malcolm and Leandra Hawke, were both heartbroken. As Fiona swaddled the infant, Malcolm glared at Fiona. "If I'd noticed your tabard sooner, Warden, I wouldn't have let you touch Leandra."

Duncan, still holding Fiona's baby, crouched down next to the man. He said quietly, "If Fiona hadn't aided her, you would have likely lost them both and you know it."

"All aboard!"

Fiona thanked the Maker that the announcement … as well as discomfort at the confrontation … caused the crowd to rapidly shuffle away. With tears in her eyes, Fiona handed the tiny unmoving bundle to Leandra. "Maker take him to His side."

"Can you stand, Leandra?" Malcolm asked. Without waiting for an answer, he picked her up. "I'm sorry, Warden. That was uncharitable of me." The unshed tears he'd been trying to hide from Leandra ran down his cheeks.

Duncan handed Fiona's baby back to her and picked up Leandra's bags. "We can help you get settled on board."

Fiona looked down at her young son and then at the young couple on their way to leave Kirkwall for Ferelden. She had planned to give Alistair to his father who was in Ferelden, but suddenly felt the Maker was showing her a different path. Not that she was all that religious. She felt a twinge of regret that King Maric would never know he had another son, but Fiona hadn't really wanted Alistair to be given into royalty anyway.

"This is the royalty you meant? King Maric?! The Champion is the bastard son of King Maric?!" Cassandra paced and fumed, putting her hands on her head or her hips in rapid succession. "He's … he's the last Theirin?!"

"The more you interrupt me, Seeker, the longer it'll take." Maybe Varric would enjoy this interrogation after all.

"Fine, continue." The huff of breath as she crossed her arms almost made Varric laugh … but he continued …

Fiona followed Duncan, Malcolm and Leandra onto the ship. The captain was a kindly man. It was decided to send the stillborn boy to the Maker sooner rather than later. The Captain couldn't delay departure, but he and a Revered Mother en route to Highever arranged a tiny funeral pyre for the stillborn as they slowly left the harbor. Quite a few passengers stayed on the deck with the parents. The small body turned to ash quickly and, as they began to build up speed and turn out into the Waking Sea, the ashes were gathered and given to Malcolm and Leandra.

The Fairsky wasn't a luxury ship, but it had a few comforts. Fiona and Duncan had secured a very small private room, which they gave to the devastated Hawkes. After a moment's hesitation, Fiona handed Alistair to Leandra while she helped Malcolm stow away their things.

After pushing as much as she could into the narrow closet, Fiona turned toward the berth and saw Leandra's face. The woman was smiling and gently speaking to Alistair. Fiona gave Duncan a knowing look and he nodded in return. Duncan had also noticed.

Fiona knelt next to the berth. "His name is Alistair." After a brief smile, Fiona added, "I was heading to Ferelden to give him to his father, but I've never been certain that was the best thing for Alistair. You see, I cannot keep him. I shall be going back to Weisshaupt, the Warden fortress. I won't bore you with the details, but I am no longer a Warden … and they want to know why. That degree of interrogation and testing is no place for a child."

Leandra's face scrunched in dismay. "That's horrible! You could come live with us!"

Malcolm smiled and kissed his wife on the top of her head. "If Leandra says it would be all right for you to come with us, Fiona, then it is all right with me." Fiona did not miss the challenge in Malcolm's gaze. He would not allow his wife to come to harm. If he was a powerful enough mage to strengthen the seals on the warden prison of an ancient darkspawn, then Fiona knew he would be powerful enough to make good on that challenge.

Fiona felt tears sting the corner of her eyes. She had no idea it would be this hard. She felt Duncan put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Let us think about it during the voyage and perhaps Fiona will do that very thing." After a small squeeze of assurance, Duncan lifted Alistair out of Leandra's hesitant arms. "We should get settled ourselves and allow you some time to rest. The voyage to Highever will take several days. It should give us time to become better acquainted."

Duncan found a corner of the common room where they could have a bit of privacy. In reality, a couple with a crying baby would garner a wide berth, regardless, so privacy was easily attained. Fortunately, the common room wasn't that full.

Once their own goods had been stowed into chests and locked away, Duncan sighed and sat on the hammock across from Fiona. "Am I right that you intend to give him to a couple you barely know?"

Fiona sharply glared at Duncan. "About as well as I know Maric," she whispered. "Think Duncan. What will Maric do with Alistair? Will he honor my request to keep him out of the nobility?"

"I don't know, Fiona, but he is Alistair's father. It seems like he has a right to know he has another son … for good or ill." Duncan dropped his voice even lower. "And, I will have an easier job keeping my eye on him through Maric than having to keep track of an apostate and his wife around Ferelden. What if Alistair turns out to be a mage?"

"Malcolm is … was … a Senior Enchanter at the Kirkwall Circle. He can train Alistair. He'd probably do a better job training Alistair than the Ferelden Circle." She shuddered.

Duncan didn't argue further. He only smiled and patted Fiona's shoulder. "I'll go look around the ship and see if I can find some food for us."

"Without going into boring details, Seeker, that's the beginning. As you could probably guess, Fiona gave Alistair to Leandra and Malcolm Hawke and they raised him as their own. In a couple years, they did have their own children: the twins Carver and Bethany. Alistair and Bethany turned out to be mages and did receive proper training from their father … before Malcolm died from pneumonia one particularly harsh Ferelden winter." Varric reached over to take a long drink of ale. At least, he wasn't being tortured … yet.

"Maker." Cassandra whispered. "So, the Champion is the son of King Maric? And … no one knows this outside the Hawke family … and you?"

"Eh, not exactly." He frowned. "Duncan's conscience wouldn't let him keep Maric in the dark about another son. Besides, had you ever seen Maric?"

"No. Does Alistair look like him?"

"He has some features of Cailan. When he was younger, he had long hair. Older people noticed the resemblance to Maric. There were snickers and rumors. That's why he keeps it so short now. Even so. Take a look at the portrait in the Viscount's keep. The resemblance is still there." Varric shrugged as he put down the now empty mug of ale. "Anyway, Duncan told Maric and that royally pissed off Fiona.

"Ironically, since he also turned out to have a mage son, Arl Eamon was sent to Lothering to quietly check up on Alistair. He convinced Maric that the boy was getting a good upbringing in a loving home. That's when they all decided Alistair would be told the truth on his twentieth birthday.

"So, by the time of his twentieth birthday, lots of people knew. The Chantry in Lothering was informed of their royal mage charge and First Enchanter Irving visited from time to time. Irving and Knight-Commander Greagoir insisted that Alistair undergo his Harrowing. Malcolm insisted it be conducted at their house in Lothering. When Alistair passed in record time, Greagoir thought they had botched it somehow." Varric laughed. "Alistair told me that he was sworn to secrecy so I don't have any juicy tidbits. He explained exactly what happened in the Fade and Greagoir backed down. Of course, since he's now Champion of Kirkwall, and a mage, there's little chance they'll bring up his claim to the throne."

"A mage could not be a king, but still …" The Seeker actually looked sad. She didn't need to keep up her steel balls act since the guards were gone and they were alone. "Wait … the Chantry in Lothering right before the Blight?"

"Yeah, Sister Nightingale was Sister Leliana back then. She was friends with Alistair." When Varric noticed the Seeker's face reddening, he added, "I guess she forgot to mention that?"

"No, she did not mention that." Cassandra sighed and leaned against a desk. "The truth of the Champion's tale is not what I had assumed. It's all so tragic."

Varric almost laughed again, but kept quiet. Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast had emotions! Varric would bet his last royal she was a romantic, too. Damn. Romance wasn't his strong suit. He only smiled. The Champion had a well-developed sense of humor which he blamed on his father. "Alistair is anything but a tragic character, Seeker. In fact, some of his stories almost rival mine. Almost. Even after … you know …"

The Seeker snapped out of her reverie and waved her hand. "So, move ahead to what brought the Champion to back to Kirkwall."

Varric held up his empty mug. "I'll need a refill or ten for that …"

AN: Okay, here's the crazy idea I've been throwing up in the air and seeing how it would fall out … also, it makes DA2 a bit more fun to run through. Canon? Eh, not so much. Just another AU of my quirky mind. ;) As always, any reviews, follows or favorites are greatly appreciated!