Chapter 7: The Slave and the Pariah

Hawke made her way back to Lowtown with Jester, Bethany and Varric in tow, Isabela had decided to stay In Hightown; she had some 'business' at the Blooming Rose. Hawke had shaken her head at that, Isabela rarely had more than a few silvers in her purse at a time, when she had coin she celebrated.

A pirate's philosophy of life she supposed.

Hawke was still fuming, the elf's comment about Bethany still fresh in her mind. How dare he say such a thing about Bethany, especially after she had aided him in that Magister's mansion?

"You harbor a viper in your midst, and it will strike at you when you least suspect it."

Still… Fenris had been good on his word, he had paid them for their services, and now they had another ally for the deep roads venture. The elf was a confusing person, one moment she had felt sorry for him, for what his former master had done to him, the next, he was insulting her sister infuriating her.

No she really did not know what to make of their newest companion, or the feelings that he brought out in her.

"And that would be a waste of a perfectly handsome elf."

Sweet Maker, had she really said that to him? Hawke shook her head. Fenris was like no other elf she had seen before, fierce and proud. Yet, she could sense vulnerability about him, when he asked them about the chest in Lowtown. What had he hoped to find there. What prize would have drawn him to risking his life for it?

Leave it alone Mari, she thought to herself, you don't want to drag yourself down with that poor soul.

"Well," Bethany said to her, "Fenris is certainly…intense isn't he?"

Hawke nodded.

"If I had spent Maker knows how long running from slave hunters, I suppose I would be to," Hawke shrugged.

She didn't know why she was defending him, not after what he had said about Bethany.

"You should leave that alone Sunshine," Varric warned Beth, "I don't think that elf is someone you would want to get involved with."

Bethany turned red.

"But I wasn't…" she sputtered, "I was just…I only thought."

"I'm just teasing you Sunshine," Varric chuckled, "but you are right. Still those abilities of his should come in handy in the deep roads."

Hawke could not help but agree. She had seen Fenris tear through the demons that his former master had left in the mansion. Those creatures had not even known what hit them.

She imagined Fenris crushing the heart of the ogre who had killed Carver. If any creature deserved such a fate it would have been that one.

They spotted Aveline on their way back home; the guardsman was finishing up her evening patrol. Aveline had heard rumors of a group of thugs that had been terrorizing Hightown in suits of stolen guard armor. They would come upon a wealthy mark in the middle of the night, offer to escort them home, and then force their way in and rob them at sword point.

She intended to put a stop to these false guardsmen.

Hawke offered to help her, she still had a lot of aggression to work out, killing bandits would likely help.

It would also be a good distraction; she needed to stop thinking about a certain elf for a while.

She glanced at her sister.

A viper in their midst indeed.

IOI

Fenris found himself staring at his new home, the mansion was a mess, the shades and demons Danarius had left behind had done a great deal of damage. Still, it was nothing that could not be fixed with time. He knew he could run now, the hunters would not be so quick to pursue after losing so many to him and his new allies.

He could run, true, but to be honest he was tired of it. Let Danarius come; he would be waiting for him.

He would have to thank Anso the next time they spoke; he had found something that Fenris had not expected, a mercenary with a sense of honor.

And a great beauty as well.

Fenris shook his head, he should not be thinking this way about Hawke, they had just met after all, and he could not see how she could trust a mage, even if it was her own flesh and blood.

Fenris knew mages very well. He had seen many pass through his master's gates in Tevinter. They saw the world as their playground, other people as toys to be used and then discarded.

Fenris had been that way once, all he had known was Danarius' orders, his master's whim his only concern.

It had taken the rebels to open his eyes, how blind he had been. Now, he would be free of Danarius, let the Magister come, Fenris would be here…he would be waiting.

Sometimes you must stop running, turn and face the tiger.

Fenris would wait, he would stand firm, and when Danarius finally came…

The two of them would have their final dance.

Would Hawke stand with him on that day he wondered? Her skills would be greatly appreciated. He would journey to the Hanged Man tomorrow; she claimed that she could often be found there in the afternoons.

In the meant time, the mansion required his attention, the shades and demons had killed the few servants Danarius had left behind, those bodies needed to be disposed of before they began to reek. The physical labor would do him good.

It would give him something else to focus on besides Hawke's sky blue eyes, the way she moved, her quickness and skill.

Fenris cursed under his breath, what was he doing? He was not too smart to be taken in by a beautiful face.

Beauty could hide great ugliness, ugliness of the soul; he had seen that many times in the Magister's of Tevinter.

Now was not the time to be thinking of Hawke and her attributes. He needed to be doing something, something besides thinking of her.

There was work to be done here, to make this place livable again.

There would be time for Hawke, tomorrow.

IOI

A new day brought new jobs for Hawke and her companions.

The first was from Athenril, a city Magistrate had come to her, he needed help recapturing an escaped prisoner who had fled to some caves outside the city. The guard had already been dispatched, but the creatures living inside the caves were turning out to be too dangerous for them to deal with alone.

Hawke gladly took the job; it couldn't hurt to get the law on her side.

Fenris arrived shortly after her meeting with Magistrate Vanard. The elf nodded politely to her and took up a position in the corner behind her. She couldn't help but notice how distracted everyone was around the Tevinter elf.

That could be useful she supposed, people might think she was more powerful than she was after seeing her strange new companion.

Bethany was helping Mother at the market today so she would not be able to accompany them, Aveline was busy as well, her guard duties were taking up more and more of her time, that left Hawke, Varric, Isabela, and Fenris.

Hawke did not want to go into those caverns without magical support. She decided to swing by the Alienage to see if Merrill wished to join them.

Hawke sighed.

Fenris was just going to love Merrill, she was sure of it.

IOI

"AVERT YOU GAZE WITCH!"

Merrill tried not to stare at Fenris now, but it was very difficult now that she knew it bothered him. Creators why did it always have to be that way, she did her best not to look at their tattooed companion.

She could not help but be fascinated by his markings though. Clearly they were not Dalish in origin, and when he fought the magic in her blood hummed, she could feel the lyrium. She could not imagine why someone would want lyrium burned into their skin, it sounded terribly painful.

Maybe that was why Fenris was so grouchy.

She wasn't sure why Hawke wanted the surly man along with them today. Hawke was a perfectly skilled sworder after all. Why did they need another sworder in their party she wondered? It wasn't as if Hawke could not deal with anyone who attacked them.

The caves the man they were after was hiding in were quite exciting, giant spiders, walking corpses, even and arcane horror.

Part of her wondered if they shouldn't just leave this shemlen to his fate, if that elven merchant Elren outside was to be believed the man targeted elvhen da'len.

Why would someone want to kill innocent children, it made no sense to Merrill at all?

The horror tried to curse Hawke, to drain her of her very life energy, Merrill began a counter curse.

She need not have worried.

Fenris leapt at the horror, his markings pulsing with magic.

The demonic creature shrieked as Fenris reached inside it and pulled it apart with his bare hands.

Merrill gaped; she had never seen anything like that before.

They managed to find the poor elvhen girl that the shem had brought down here with him. Lia, as she was called, begged that they spare her kidnapper. The man, Kelder, had told her he was under the influence of demons; such a man should not be harmed if it was not his fault.

Merrill felt sympathy for the da'len, because the man had let her go, she felt him deserving of mercy, but what of all the other children. Did they not deserve justice? This Kelder shem had murdered them. Such a man did not deserve mercy in her eyes.

It was not her choice however.

Merrill trusted Hawke; the woman would make the most rationally decision and act on it.

Merrill was sure of it.

IOI

A heavy rain was falling as they made their way back to Kirkwall.

Hawke had done what she thought was right, that elf girl Lia was safe and Kelder, the murdering bastard was dead. The fact that he was the Magistrate's son had been hidden from them, had Hawke known she would not likely of taken the job in the first place, but what was done was done. Kelder was dead; he would threaten no more elven children.

Hawke wished she could be happier about that.

When Magistrate Vanard got word that his son was dead, he would likely make things very difficult for her and her companions.

She felt sorry for the man, and in his place she was not sure she could do what was necessary. How could anyone expect a father to execute his own son?

In that case, the Magistrate should have excused himself, and let one of his fellows deal with Kelder, by not doing that, he was at least partially responsible for all the deaths his depraved son had caused.

She supposed she could bring this matter before the Viscount, but who was he likely to believe, a city Magistrate or a Lowtown thug?

Marian shook her head, she would have to prepare for this the best she could. Vanard could make things very difficult for them.

Isabela complained about the rain, the pirate queen was eager to return to the Hanged Man. Merrill was silent; she was lost in thought, her mind leagues away. Fenris was…

"You did right."

Hawke was surprised to hear Fenris admit that to her. The elf had been unusually quiet since he had killed the boy.

"I likely brought a very bad storm down on all of us." She said sadly.

"It is a storm we will face proudly at your side," Fenris assured her, "you not only saved that girl, but countless more children as well. You should be proud of that."

Hawke could definitely see his point, who knows how many children would have died had she spared Kelder's life? Would his father keep him contained, or would the mad man have escaped again?

Her way was likely the only way that Kelder's future victims would stay safe.

She was pretty sure she could live with that.

Despite the pouring rain, Hawke found herself at peace with her decision.

She was now sure that she could live with it.

"Thank you Fenris," she managed a weak smile, "I needed to hear that."

The elf gave her a curt nod.

He may not approve of Hawke's choice of companions, but he could not doubt the woman's quality.

It was finer than even she realized.

He would have to show her that one day.

IOI

The Magistrate was furious, he returned home with blood in his eye and revenge in his heart.

His poor, poor son!

How dare that Lowtown bitch kill Kelder, did she think he would let such a thing pass? Did she believe he would not respond?

Vanard did his best to calm down; there were many ways he could make the little bitch pay for what she had done to his poor son.

She would suffer; she would know what it was like to lose your entire future!

He made for his office, he had work to do. He would find out everything there was to know about this Marian Hawke.

Then the woman would answer for her crime.

Had he been paying attention, he may have noticed how none of his servants were around, and more importantly, none of his guards either.

Given how angry he was, it was understandable…

But it was also a fatal mistake.

He walked into his office only to be struck by a strange whirling vortex of crimson light, where the light touched his bare skin…it burned. The Magistrate tried to back away, but to no avail.

The light followed him.

His body began to desiccate. His skin and hair turned brittle, his eyes and tongue dried out, the very blood froze in his veins.

His mouth opened in a silent scream…a scream that never came.

The magic faded, leaving only a figure of dust and ash, its legs snapped under its own weight, as it fell, it turned into a cloud of dust, carried away by the wind from the open balcony.

The Magistrate had died with barely making a sound.

The room fell silent once more.

Then, out of nowhere, a shadow moved, it flowed up next to the pile of dust who had only moments ago been a vengeful Magistrate.

A small angry voice emerged from the shadows.

"For the da'len, and for Hawke," it hissed angrily, large green eyes appeared in the darkness. They took one last look at the man who would have dared hurt her friends…

She would never allow that, the Keeper had taught her long ago that if one was faced with a danger to her loved ones, then that danger must be removed quickly and without mercy.

Merrill had learned that lesson well.

There was no further reason to remain here; the blood magic had done its worst. A search by the guard would reveal the Magistrate's role in protecting his murdering son.

That information alone should occupy them.

The important thing was that her friends were now safe.

Merrill was happy about that.

The shadow moved without further delay, she had to recover her ball of twine; it would lead her back to her home in the Alienage.

One day, she would have to learn her way around the city better.

It was not safe to be wandering the city by oneself.

Kirkwall was a dangerous place.