AN: I made up the quest for this chapter because I did not see one that suited my needs in Act 2.
Clara and Rosalind are made up characters for the story. This is the only chapter they will appear in.
Anders was lighting the fire. Hawke surveyed the campsite briefly, noting that Sebastian was laid out on his bed roll already. "You know, if I never see another blood mage, it will be too soon," Anders said with a visible shudder.
"It did take longer to take them all out than I thought it would," Hawke conceded.
"Look on the bright side," Sebastian called out from his bedroll, "at least we saved the girls. It could have been much worse. We could be bringing back bodies in their place."
"That's true," Hawke agreed. A few minutes earlier, Katherine had agreed to take the two noble girls to bathe at a stream. Apparently, blood and gore were 'unbecoming' of a gentle lady, and the two women had insisted they bathe almost immediately following Hawke' victory, but somehow camping for the night with three men was totally okay for noble women. Hawke loved how Merrill wasn't afraid of a little blood on her.
Mother had come to find Hawke in the market place a few hours prior. One of his mother's tea time friends, Serah Charlotte, was in an absolute panic because her two darling children were being held for ransom. Being the good, thoughtful son that he was, Hawke agreed to rescue them. Hawke had been under the impression he was rescuing children, but they were grown, snobby women.
"Creepy crawlies, cutthroats, and blood mages. Exactly how I wanted to spend my evening," Hawke offered aloud, though he spoke to no one in particular.
"Not that I wish to promote gossip," Sebastian began, "but Katherine had said something was going on between you and Merrill, our resident blood mage. Am I then to assume you see a difference between her and the blood mages we just killed?"
Hawke didn't respond right away. He finally opted to state, "Merrill is not a blood mage."
"She does practice blood magic, does she not?" Sebastian asked in his crisp, to the point tone.
Anders was warming his hands at the fire, but looked over his shoulder. "Oh, please, Sebastian. We all know that even if Merrill practiced no blood magic at all, you would still scorn her. Nothing would please you more than to see all of us mages bound in chains; Bethany included." Sebastian's mouth formed a tight line, and he just stared at Anders. Now Hawke was regretting bringing the two of them on this mission together. He knew Katherine and Sebastian were close, so he had thought they would enjoy working together. And he enjoyed working with Anders, so he had brought Anders, too.
Anders shook his head, and then looked back at the fire. "So you and Merrill, eh?" he asked.
Hawke looked in the direction of the stream that Katherine had taken the women to. "I hardly think where my affections lie is any business to the two of you."
Anders laughed. "Well, that isn't a no," he replied jovially.
Hawke did not respond. He just stood where he was. It had only been a few days since he and Merrill had started this . . . thing between them. He supposed it was a bit of a relationship. Long before he thought of Merrill in that way, he had known she would not be one to be casual with affection. She was no Isabela. Was he interested in being tied down? He wasn't sure, but he did know that Merrill was kind-hearted, sweet, and all around a good person. In the end, he was glad that Katherine had kind of pushed them together. After Aveline and Donnic had excused themselves from dinner, Hawke had flirted more with Merrill. It had culminated in a series of kisses before Katherine returned. True, the kisses were mostly innocent, but they were still nice. Still, he did not want to put labels on this 'relationship' until he was sure it was a relationship.
Choosing to change the subject, Hawke asked, "so how is the training going with my sister?"
"Training with Bethany?" Anders repeated like he had no clue what Hawke was talking about. Then he visibly seemed to find his thoughts, and said, "oh, right. The training with Bethany." He paused a second. "It is going good. She follows instruction well."
Hawke regarded him oddly. Anders always seemed so serious about his healing arts; he didn't seem the type to forget about something he loved. "You better not be having her meet up with some strapping young man when she is suppose to be learning healing arts," Hawke warned in a stern voice, though he thought that would be the furthest thing from the truth possible.
Hawke found it even more odd when Anders blanched. "Of course not," Anders rushed to say. "Your sister is learning well." Hawke narrowed his eyes, wondering what Anders was allowing Bethany to do when away from him.
Before Hawke could question him further, screaming drove the three of them from the campsite. They raced to the direction the women had taken. Hawke was sure that they probably saw a snake or something; heck, maybe the water was too cold for them. They still responded like they would have if it been Katherine yelling. The sight that greeted them was not caused by a snake or other somewhat benevolent matter.
Bandits were upon them. Katherine was defending them, having put herself between the women and the men with swords and axes advancing forward. It was apparent they did not clear the cavern as well as they thought they had, for the men looked of the same ilk as the ones they had freed the girls from. As he raced forward, Hawke noticed the blood mage starting to sap his energy from him. "Sebastian, Anders," he called, as he ran to engage one of the swordsmen. "Take out that damned Blood Mage before he kills us all." Hawke didn't listen for a reply, instead his blade cut into one man's leg so deeply it nearly took it off entirely. He followed up with a more severe swipe to the man's torso. Moving on to the next man, he parried until he found an opening and he took the opportunity. The man was dead in seconds. Before long, they all lay dead around the stream. Hawke wasn't sure who delivered the death blow, be it one of Sebastian's arrows or Anders' magic, but the blood mage lay as dead as his companions.
The two women were still crying hysterically. One of them, the blonde Rosalind, declared, "Momma was right, Clara." She let out a huge sob here. "Women have no place pretending to be men." Hawke couldn't fathom what she was talking about, so he just went back to raiding the pockets of one of the finer dressed dead men.
The darker haired one, went to embrace her sister. Between sniffles, she replied, "We were wrong to trust our safety to a woman." Clara turned to look at Katherine, "no disrespect, Wren. Men are just stronger and more intelligent by nature; you should just accept that. It wasn't your fault you were inept at protecting us." Clara then went back to embracing Clara, as they strangely shuffled towards the campsite still hugging. Hawke silently thanked the Maker that Katherine merely shot them an 'oh, please' look, accompanied by an eye roll, instead of contradicting them.
Finding nothing of worth on the two bodies he first checked, Hawke decided to stop looting their corpses. Moving towards the still crying sisters, he called out to them. "Let's get you two back to camp." As they started to walk, Rosalind nearly fell on her rich behind, but Sebastian was there in an instance, holding onto her elbow politely to ensure she maintained her balance. Anders trailed them.
Hawke looked back at Katherine before he would follow them. She still had her greaves on, but had removed her top. An undershirt was in place, maintaining her modesty. Luckily, it seemed they had taken care of the bandits before she was injured due to lack of armor. "You okay?" he asked.
Katherine looked over to him. "I am fine, Hawke." She then started to put on her breastplate, concentrating on the buckles, instead of looking at him. When she looked up, she seemed a little surprised to see him still there. "You can go back, Hawke," she said in a tired tone. "I will be along shortly." She then picked up her swords, inspecting them.
Hawke nodded. "Don't take what they said to heart, Katherine." When she didn't bother to look up or answer, he began the short walk back to the campsite. Anders was trying to console the two still visibly upset women. Sebastian, however, was sitting near the fire, watching his approach. Hawke half-way listened to the two women lament at how horrid the experience was. It was beginning to seem like it would be a long night.
When Katherine broke through the forest into their camp, Sebastian immediately came to his feet. "What were you thinking?" he very nearly yelled. "You could have been killed!" Hawke knew that the two basically considered themselves siblings, so his worry over her safety didn't seem abnormal.
Katherine glanced at the two women and Anders, before meeting Sebastian's gaze. When she spoke, it was in the language of Starkhaven and Hawke could understand none of it. It was apparent she did not want the two women privy to their conversation. "A beth fyddai ydych wedi cael I mi ei wneud?" (Translation: And what would you have had me do?) To Hawke, she sounded to the point, if slightly annoyed. Hawke figured she was complaining about what Clara had said about women, and Katherine herself.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes some at her. "Dylech fod wedi trawodd ef, Katherine." (Translation: You should have smote him, Katherine.) Hawke was surprised at how angry Sebastian seemed. He was usually friendly and polite, except that one time when he was searching for vengeance and the Grand Cleric hadn't agreed.
"You are sadly mistaken, brawd, (Translation: brother,) if you think Hawke would choose him over me. And with Cyfiawnder (Translation: Justice) that could be a death sentence." Katherine spoke quietly and sounded certain. Now Hawke knew he was involved in the conversation, but they could have just spoke entirely in Sebastian's language for all Hawke could understand. He had no clue what they were talking about; Maybe it was time he took Sebastian up on his language lessons.
"Ni fyddwn yn gadael iddo niwed I chi." (Translation: I would not let him harm you.) At least Sebastian no longer sounded so angry. Then Sebastian quietly added, "bydd yn y pen draw yn cael gwybod" (Translation: he will find out eventually.)
"Eventually, but not now," Katherine replied, with a slightly hard tone.
Sebastian stared at Katherine for a moment. "Da iawn, chwaer," (Translation: Very well, sister,) he finally replied to her words. "Ni fydd Hawke glywed oddi wrthyf". (Translation: Hawke will not hear it from me.)
"Hey," Hawke called out. "Now, I've heard my name twice. Is there something I need to know?" When the two just stared at him, Hawke gestured towards Anders and the two woman. "Look, Katherine, if you are upset with what they said, I'll apologize for them. They are going home in the morning. No need to worry another moment over it."
"It is not them, Hawke," Katherine said evenly. She then met Sebastian's gaze again, and talked in the foreign language to him. Chi a'r Templars yw'r unig rai sy'n gwybod y gallaf taro. Credaf ei bod yn ddiogel I ddweud na fyddant yn rhedeg I naill neu'r llall ohonynt a'r wybodaeth honna. Nid wyf am iddynt wybod, o leiaf nideto, fy mrawd. Nid tan y gall y mage drin a gwrando ar fy rhesymau heb geisio fy lladd I. (Translation: You and the Templars are the only ones who know I can smite. I think it is safe to say they won't be running to either of them with that knowledge. I don't want them to know, at least not yet, my brother. Not until the mage can handle it and listen to my reasons without trying to kill me.)
"Very well," Sebastian replied. "Bydd yn fel y dywedwch." (Translation: It will be as you say.)
They seemed to reach some sort of amicable decision, but Hawke still had no clue what the heck they were talking about. He would ask Varric about the little bit, which was virtually nothing, he had understood from their conversation when they got back. Varric always seemed to have knowledge on everything.
Rosalind and Clara were now loudly discussing their terror with Anders. From his vantage point, it seemed more like flirting, now that they were no longer crying. Oddly enough, it did not appear that Anders was flirting back in the least. That didn't seem like Anders at all. Hawke sat near the fire, listening to the women carry on. It would be a long night indeed, if they continued to talk like that.