New chapter for you all. Just a warning, there is a bit of language in Hawke's chapter.

Disclaimer: All I own is Bell

Sebastian POV

For the past hour the only sound had been the incessant scratching of quill on parchment. It was mindless work. The kind doled out to initiates who had not yet taken their vows but it kept me busy and my mind quite. Which, I suspected, was Elthina's intention all along.

Regardless of how many letters I skimmed over or wrote, there were always more…to the point I was starting to wonder if half these people existed at all.

As I neared the end of the page, there was a knock at my door and I responded without even looking up.

"Yes?"

The door opened slightly. "Brother Sebastian? There is a woman here asking after you. A…Lady Hawke?"

My eyes snapped up, the missive long forgotten.

Bell? Here? Asking for me? I did tell her not to hesitate to ask if she required anything. Was she alright? Did something happen?

"Tell her I'll not be a moment."

As the door closed, I hurried to make myself presentable, threw on my Chantry coat and made a poor attempt of tying the sash. In the chaos, I nearly spilled the jar of ink on my desk all over the letter.

I took the stairs two and three at a time until I had a clear view of the pulpit and the figure in front of it, staring up at the statue of Andraste with her head cocked and her blonde hair falling over her shoulders in a thick braid.

All at once, I felt relief. And…perhaps, a tinge of disappointment.

"Hawke."

Bright blue eyes turned in my direction but they were the wrong ones. These eyes spoke less of innocence and more of the frozen depths of ice. And the shape….far more like Lady Leandra's then Bell's were; almost reptilian, snakelike.

Bell's eyes were rounder. Softer.

"Who's this, yeah?" She motioned up to the statue and I gaped at her.

Hawke leaned against the pulpit and laughed brightly. "Kidding, love. You just looked so disappointed, like someone made off with all your candy. What? Not the Hawke you expected? Word of advice, dear? Don't get your princely little hopes up. Bell's off limits."

She pushed herself off the pulpit and motioned for me to follow. I did.

"I'm sure there are plenty of young ladies perfectly willing to lay back and take it for a castle, servants and all that fun stuff."

My ears burned red and I cleared my throat. "Hawke, I think you have gotten the wrong idea. I have no ill intentions toward Bell," I followed quickly behind Hawke, maneuvering through my Brothers and Sisters as I did so until she stopped in front of the Chantry doors.

"My vows-"

"Are for a Chantry Brother not a prince." She finished. "Don't tell me you haven't thought on it? Princes need heirs, not hymns."

Her words struck me square in the chest. It…was true. I had thought about it; late at night, when the last candles had withered down to nubs and the nightmares were keeping me awake. Delirious, half-baked thoughts.

"You should know," she said. "This is not why I've come, dear. I did, in fact, locate the company who killed your family. Mercenaries; mostly cutthroats, the Flint Company…operates out of the Free Marches. Well," she grinned. "They used to operate out of the Free Marches. Now they're fly food."

"Dead?" I breathed the word. It was heavy on my lips and not as freeing as I'd thought it would be. "All of them?"

Hawke nodded. "Quite. But…there's more."

"More?"

"Do you recognize the name 'Harimann'?"

"Of course," I said. "The Harimann's have been close friends since…since…."

Hawke smiled sadly.

"No. No. They wouldn't." I balled my fists at my side, my knuckles turned white with anger. "My father attended their daughter's naming ceremony, my brothers and I played with their children. Our mother's had tea together every Sunday after Chant. How do you know it was them?"

"A letter, signed by Lady Harimann." Hawke reached into her pocket and held up a piece of parchment that looked like it had been crumpled more than once.

When I reached out to take it she yanked it back. "If you'd like, I'll show you the signature but…I can't let you read this. I do have a heart, you know."

My fingers twitched and fell. Hawke was probably right. Nothing good could come of reading the words that murdered my family.

"Sebastian…" Hawke's voice was soft, softer than I'd ever heard. "There is one more thing. How many brothers did you have?"

I blinked at her, not sure I'd heard correctly. "Three. Two older, one younger. Why?"

"Six not five." She whispered then lifted her eyes to mine. "That night, Lady Harimann expected you to be there. In Starkhaven. Why?"

I bit back the guilt, the heaviness around my neck and just let myself go numb. "It…was my youngest brother's 20th birthday. I'd received an invitation; the first in a long while and I was going to attend but…" I sighed and turned away from Hawke.

Pews stretched out before me and I slipped myself into one of them, feeling a warm body join me soon after.

"I couldn't face them." I said, my eyes fixed straight ahead at Andraste as if she could abolish all of my sins, all of my guilt in an instant. And I very much wished she would.

"Father and I did not part on happy terms. As it was, mother had to convince him not to disown me as well as ship me off to the Chantry." I scoffed. "And, the worst part is…I deserved just that. Whoring, drinking, fighting, acting a fool."

"I wasn't there to help them." I said solemnly. "And, if I was, there'd probably just be another mound of dirt in the family cemetery."

"There, there dear." Hawke patted my shoulder gently. "Look at the bright side; the sun is shining, it looks to be a beautiful day and I have the Harrimann's shiny new Kirkwall address, thanks to a nosey and wonderful dwarf."

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "So, Prince Sebastian Vael, normally I like to take care of these things with as little mess as possible but in your case, I'll make an exception."

Then she stood and looked down at me with a toothy smile. "I, Hawke, hereby invite you to join my little rag-tag group; we're going to visit the Harimanns. You mentioned soldier training, yes? Are you a sword man? Bow, perhaps."

"Bow." I answered, my voice hard. "And I accept."

Hawke POV

How...welcoming. I stared up at the three-story mansion, torn straight out of the pages of one of those fairytale things Bell used to read. If, perhaps, said mansion had simmered a few decades in blistering heat and a quite-literal sea of grass and vines.

Lady Harrimann's gardener, clearly, was either dead or lazy.

"Varric, are you sure this is the right place?"

"Positive." He came to stand beside me. "I've got three pages of bulk delivery reports for Lady Harimann to this place. Sounds like she was stocking up."

"And what a charming place it is." I smiled. "I simply love this abandoned, decayed look."

"Is that why you're always with the elf?" Varric scoffed.

"Well, then. Shall we?" I stepped forward. "I expect Lady Harimann will be delighted to see us."

"Yes." Fenris said dryly. "Who wouldn't be excited to see an elf, a dwarf and priest on their doorstep?"

"Maker, when you put it that way, elf, we sound like the beginning to a bad joke." Varric chuckled.

"Are they always so talkative in potentially dangerous situations?' Sebastian asked as sank to my knees before the door and fished around in my pouch for lock picks.

"Love, you've no idea." I whispered and eyed the keyhole. Number 3s...definitely number 3s.

Metal scraped against metal as I slid in the pick; it was a soft, satisfying sound second only to the faint click that graced my ears soon after.

"There we are." I hopped up and grinned at His Majesty as I pushed. The door did not budge; it didn't even bloody entertain the idea.

I put all my weight on it. Nothing. And I could hear Fenris snickering behind me.

"Don't. Say. A. Word. Elf." I pushed at every pause to no avail until I was huffy and sweating from exertion and blistering heat. "One of you dears want to be a man and open this goddamn door? Heat must've swelled it shut."

"Allow me, Hawke." Sebastian gripped the handle and swung his weight into the wood; it made a pretty noise but that's about it. I smirked as he geared up to go again. What a champ. And here poor Bell was missing all this muscle-bulging concentration.

After three more tries and a possible shoulder dislocation, Sebastian moved aside for Fenris to attempt. His arm flamed blue all the way down to his fingertips and he gently placed his palm against the wood. It didn't push through.

I watched sweat dot on his brow with concentration.

"Alright." I said finally, quite possibly saving Fenris from self-combustion. "So either this door is made of impenetrable steel or my manly men could use a bit more 'manly'."

"It's magic, Hawke." Fenris growled. "I feel it."

"Magic? Not the nice kind, I assume?"

Fenris just glowered at the door like it, personally, offended him.

"Well, there are other ways." I hopped over to the first window; good sized ledge, nice footing. This will do.

I braced the leather padded elbow on the pane, pulled back and slammed it back. There was no waterfall of shattering glass, not even a bloody crack.

"Andraste's flaming knickers…." I hit it again. "Break you bastard."

I blew irritably and leaned against the pane. "Right. Plan B anyone?"

"Bet blondy could get this open." Varric suggested.

"Yes but," I motioned with my eyes to Sebastian. "Visitor."

"They've met." Fenris said without taking his eyes from the door.

"How-"

"Your sister."

Balls.

"Who are we talking about?" Sebastian asked.

"Anders." Varric said helpfully. "Tall, blonde and angsty? Favors feathers."

Sebastian winced. Oh, yes…they'd clearly met.

"Yes. Bell asked me to retrieve him when you were…indisposed. I am aware of his situation and I've already promised Lady Bell that I would not whisper a word of it and I intend to keep that promise."

"Have you then?" I mouthed. Honestly I was quite shocked; a man of the cloth had obligations but here he was with his jaw set in adamant determination as if he found it incredulous that I should question his word.

And, Maker help me, I believed him. Were that promise made to anyone but Bell, I might not have. But her opinion of him, for whatever reason, mattered.

I sighed heavily. "Why can't anything ever be simple? Break in, stab bad people and get drunk later?"

Varric laughed. "Where's the fun in that?"

"The fun's in that long nap you get afterward." I said cheerfully as I tried to follow the path back through the grass.

Almost two hours and one apostate later, we were back and Anders touched the door gently.

"This is no ordinary magic." He said. "It's not just to keep people out but to keep them in as well." Then he turned to me. "Hawke, you're not going to like this…"

"Oh, I rarely do." I replied with a smile. "But what, specifically, am I not going to like?"

"I sense a demon." He said. "A powerful one."

"A…a…demon?" Sebastian blanched. "Here?"

Anders nodded. "Inside. And this barrier is strong; I can't open it alone. Hawke…I'll need help."

"Fine," I waved my hand casually. "Merrill will-"

"More."

I paused. "More? Two mages can't break down a shoddy demon's barrier?"

"Not this one."

I signed and wove my fingers into my hair.

"Does that mean we won't get inside?" Sebastian voice was hard as steel and he pointed to the door. "These people slaughtered my family and I will see that debt paid. Demon or no demon."

"It's not that easy, Choir boy." Varric shook his head then his voice got softer. "What're you gonna do, Hawke?"

That was the question, right? Everyone but Sebastian knew what that really meant.

"I'll not get her involved in this." I hissed finally, low enough that only Anders and Varric could ear. "Forget the demon, what about Vael?"

"Then why's he here?" Anders whispered back.

"Because there wasn't supposed to be a fucking demon!" I yelled.

"Okay, okay." Varric held up his hands. "Calm down before you blow that pretty little head of yours. All the demons and the boogiemen will still be here tomorrow. Let's sleep on it and deal with it on a clear mind and more sunlight."

Until then, I had not noticed our daylight was waning and with it came a faint, sickly green glow in the air. Demons. Bloody demons.

"Hawke are you seriously considering…"

"Yes, I am." I rounded on Sebastian, smile firmly back in place. "Door's locked, love. Demon locked. Varric's right, nothing we can do about it today. Unless you'd like to try your hand at praying the big bad door open, that is."

"This isn't over." I continued. "As much as I'd quite like to go home, have some tea and never think about this again, there's a demon in there. So we'll get this blasted door open and we're going to kill it so hard its own mummy won't be able to recognize it." I paused in thought. "Anders? Do demons have mummies?"

"No, Hawke."

"That's their problem then, no hugs. Hugs are important." I smiled brightly at my little group. "One hour, Hanged Man. Choir Boy, lovely name by the way Varric, you're not invited."

Sebastian made to argue and I gave him a stare that booked no sass-back.

Once again, my bleeding heart has gotten me into a lovely, absolutely-bloody-wonderful situation. This time with demons, the Chantry, Starkhaven royalty and my own damn sister right in the thick of it.

Maker, why can't anything ever be easy?