Fenris picked up his goblet, but did not drink. "I believe their visit to Danarius was their first social engagement outside the Archon's palace. The Archon, being at least in name the head of the Chantry, leads a quieter life than most magisters, at least in the public eye. In any case, his vice of choice is gluttony."

"No lie-down orgies for forty around the palace, I take it," Varric smiled.

"No, but while Danarius liked to set a good table, he delighted in…other vices. As guests of the Archon, the Hawke family might have fancied they were prepared for life among the magisters. They were wrong." He finished his drink in one long swallow.

"I was there; Danarius liked to have me pour wine for his guests, walking proof of his wealth, his power and his skill. I made them uneasy."

"If you let even a tenth of your feelings show, then I think the fact that you were heavily projecting 'I hate you and I want you dead' at them might have been part of it," Varric commented.

The elf chuckled and even briefly smiled. "…I said exactly the same thing to Magistra Hawke, word for word, that very evening. The Magistra wore white and gold, her mother Leandra purple and silver, both in the Minrathian style, and did so well; her brother Carver wore the clothes of a Fereldan or Kirkwall noble, and looked very hot and uncomfortable lounging on his dining couch. The dinner itself was unexceptionable. Stuffed dormice, roast peacock, lampreys in aspic, all the usual. There was background music; a few of his slaves were trained to play as part of their duties. Conversation served as entertainment for the meal proper. I was kept busy and had no reason to pay any more attention to the Hawkes than to any of the other guests," the elf stated, and paused.

"Until…?" Varric prompted.

"She thanked me for filling her cup. Of course, Hadriana—Danarius's apprentice," his face twisted in loathing, "laughed and chided, 'Thank a slave! Would you thank this table for holding the dishes?'

"Magistra Hawke replied, 'If the table could walk and talk and think, I would.' She looked me in the eye and again said, 'Thank you.' Hadriana laughed again, and said 'If you can call what he does 'thinking',' but then she let it drop. She knows better than to annoy a magister, even a new and untried one. Hawke's mother and brother thanked me, too, rather more quietly. I recall thinking, 'This courtesy they show will not last.'

"With the dessert came the real entertainment, though. An elven boy and a human girl, slaves both, naked, and no more than sixteen years of age, the full glow of youth and health upon them. Also, a donkey, a part mabari mongrel dog, and a Tal-Vashoth—that is, a Qunari who has abandoned the Qun, all male. Those three had been…prepared for the night with drugs or spells that worked them up into a state of…"

"I think you're drawn me a picture," Varric hastily put in.

"Danarius looked around while his guests, or most of his guests, debated the merits of what should happen first, and saw the faces of the Hawkes. 'It's all right,' he told them. 'Those two will be freed by morning for their…cooperation.' He spoke the truth, if death is freedom. The girl…choked to death and the boy died of some internal rupture, but that was some hours later.

"Danarius giggled, but the Hawkes did not seem to find his statement comforting. When the company decided the dog should take the girl first and the Tal-Vashoth, the boy, Leandra Hawke swooned. Her son sprang up, as did Magistra Hawke, and as I was nearest, Danarius nodded that I should assist them, rather than interrupt everyone else's pleasure.

"I was not sorry to leave the room, nor did I care to hasten back. I helped them to the hall, and sent a maid, Orana, for water, cloths, and smelling salts, while Carver Hawke went to see about their palanquin chairs and their porters. The Archon had provided palanquins for their use while they stayed with him. No woman of the Magisterial class ever sets foot on the common ground," he explained when Varric raised a quizzical eyebrow. "They step into a palanquin in their own homes and are carried through the streets until they are indoors at their destination."

"Oh, right," Varric commented. "I think I know what you mean. Every now and then a noble of Orzammar has to visit the surface, and they have these stone box things—Go on."

"Orana returned with the housekeeper, and they helped Leandra Hawke to a retiring room to recover. Magistra Hawke and I were left alone together in the hall.

"Her face was wet, and she flinched at a roar of approval from the dining room—a cheer at the Tal-Vashoth's prowess. 'What a horrible place this is,' she said aloud, 'Yet I can live nowhere else now, not after what happened. It would not be the Circle for me now, it would be execution or Tranquility. And yet this is such a horrible place.' "

"'Do not worry,' I told her. It was an act of the greatest impertinence to speak so to her, but I have ever been foolhardy. 'In six months' time, it will no longer bother you, and in a year you will be up to your elbows in gore, performing blood magic like all the rest of them. The shame and discomfort you feel now, as in so many things in life, will fade very quickly.'"

"'Is there no help for it?' she asked.

"'I could loan you my blade,' I offered. 'It is very sharp. Your death would be swift and relatively painless.'

"The sound she made could have been a sob or a laugh; I could not tell which. 'What would you do, if you were free?'

"'Kill all the mages,' I replied instantly.

"That time she did laugh. 'If there were no mages, then. What would you do?'

"'I do not know,' I admitted. 'It would be pleasant to find out.'

"Besides gilded toenails, it was also the fashion for unmarried women to wear fresh flowers in their hair, and she had a vine with starry white ones in hers. She reached up, tore them off, and ripped the vine to shreds, scattering flowers on the floor. 'Oh, to have the kind of magic that could just make everything better.'

"'Magic has never made anything better…How did you destroy the Qunari?' I asked.

"'You are only the seventy-eighth person to ask me that since I've been here,' she replied. 'I banged two rocks together and it made a spark, a much bigger spark than I thought it would, and I got burned. The Qunari were burned worse, though. I think it had something to do with the sea water. After all, the first thing Father taught us, after "Don't talk to demons and don't use blood magic," was, "Never fling lightning bolts when you're standing in water." Not that it was a lightning bolt.'

"'You…banged two rocks together?'

"'I banged them very hard. With telekinesis.'

"'Impressive,' I allowed.

""You know, this is the first anyone has been at all friendly to me since we got here.' She looked at me. 'Thank you.'

"'Has it escaped you that I hate you and I want you dead?' I snapped.

"'Has it escaped you that this is Minrathous?' she countered. 'You have been honest. That is more than anyone else has been. Is there truly no hope?'

"'At the moment, you are a novelty, and of interest. When you cease to be either, then if you are not powerful enough, if you do not become like them, you will not survive.'

"'Yet if I do become like them, I will not survive.' She meant her soul would not, of course.

"'I say again, I can loan you a blade. But at this time, I must return to my master.' I said, and that was what I did. I made the rounds with the wine. Then Magistra Hawke returned, and approached Danarius's couch.

"'I am sorry, but my mother has been taken ill, and I must accompany her home,' she said, ignoring the carnal display beyond Danarius' shoulder. 'I could not go without thanking you for your hospitality, however. This has been an evening such as I have rarely enjoyed, and I hope to have the pleasure again soon.' I do not believe he saw what I did: that she only just managed to hold down her gorge. She sounded and looked as sincere, and sycophantic, as Hadriana."

"It seems like you had a pretty deep understanding of her for someone who just met her," he observed.

"No one changes that much, that quickly." Fenris dismissed the observation. "Not unless they become possessed. Danarius acknowledged her courtesy, his attention more on the obscenity in progress. She went on, 'I hope I do not offend against unwritten etiquette, but I have taken a fancy to your wine bearer, the white-haired one. What will you take for him?' It came as a shock when I realized she meant me."

"I would think so!" exhaled Varric. "What happened then?"

"Danarius truly looked at her, and guffawed. 'You mean Fenris?'

"'If that is his name, yes.' she returned.

"'Yes, my little white wolf. But why? What do you want him for?' His eyes narrowed for a moment, calculating how long we might have been gone.

"'I like how he pours wine.' She shrugged off all implication.

"'I see. Well, I am very fond of him, so I would not dream of parting with him for anything less than his weight in lyrium.' His other guests gasped and tittered at that.

"'That is fine,'" Lady Hawke replied. 'His weight in lyrium. Would you prefer raw or refined?' They believed she was joking with them to save face. I believed she was joking with them to save face."

Varric whistled. "Your weight in lyrium, huh? What do you weigh? 155, 160?"

"About that, now. I have put on flesh since then. At the time I scarcely weighed above ten stone. Hadriana was wont to starve me at her least whim and deny me any sleep as well." Fenris told him.

"So, a hundred and forty pounds or so. Maybe Orzammar produces that much raw lyrium in a good decade, but refining it reduces it by half. That would be twenty years worth of lyrium right there. It could easily take twice as long. What happened then?"

"Danarius giggled, 'Oh, refined by all means. Everyone who knows me knows I cannot bear anything unrefined.' This time the laughter and subtle jeers were louder.

"'Refined it shall be, then. It will take me a little time to amass that much.' She frowned slightly.

"'Take all the time you need,' he said, expansively. 'I give you my word I will not sell him to anyone else in the meantime, and once you have it, you may call upon me day or night. I will always be at home, and if I'm not, I'll be at the Arcanists' Hall.'

"'Splendid! That is very handsome of you, and I appreciate it. But now I must go; I cannot make my mother wait. I bid you all good night.' She smiled at all present with every appearance of cheer, and went. Her self-possession was wonderful, I will admit.

"You may believe that once she was gone, they mocked her thoroughly, ripping her every word and action to shreds. As for myself, although Hadriana was in rare form that night, and I went hungry and sleepless, I did not blame Magistra Hawke for it. Hadriana might have done the same for no reason or any reason."

"So," Varric sat forward, steepling his fingers together. "How long did it take for her to get that much lyrium together?"

"A little over two weeks."

TBC...


A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read, favorited, put this story on alert, and reviewed!