Chapter 14
"How are you feeling, fellow apostate?" Anders washed his pots and other items as he heard Bethany groan herself out of a gentle slumber.
"Heavy. What did you do to me?"
"Well, I applied a salve to disinfect the wound that was left in you. Then I used some herbs to stop the bleeding and then used a quick and easy healing spell to heal you right up." Anders spoke gently, with a rather humorous tone behind it.
"Thank you,… Oh, um, I didn't quite get your name" Bethany felt guilty of not knowing the name of her healer, almost trying to move off her seat.
"Anders. And yours?"
"Bethany. Bethany Hawke" The female mage put her hand out to shake Anders' hand, only to be taken aback by his astonished reaction. Anders ran towards the dark haired mage, grabbing her hand, sweat dampening both their hands.
"Hawke? As in… You're the Bethany Hawke, Alice Hawke's sister?" Anders holds Bethany's hand in both his hands. "Take me to your sister, I plead of you."
Bethany looked Anders in the eyes and saw that his request was sincere and nodded her head in agreement. "She may be out drinking with Varric, it's late. Plus, the last time she saw me, I had been taken prisoner by a group of Mage-demanding mercenaries."
Sun rays hit the eyes of Merrill and she squealed and rolled over, muttering obscenities in Dalish as she moved. Eyes still closed, she squinted to see if any mail had been left upon the floor. Only for Merrill to realise her view of the floor was blocked, by the toned and stark-naked body of Carver.
"Vhenadahl! MA EMMA HAREL, AR TU NA'-… Lethallin, Carver?!"
"Pleasant wake up call, indeed." Carver grumbled, covering his eyes from the bright sun. "The only bit I even understood was my name, although it didn't sound enjoyable to hear in a language I understand." The swords+ man turned over, facing Merrill directly.
"Why are you in my bed?"
The naivety in Merrill's Dalish tones caused Carver's heart to skip a beat, he stared at her, unable to respond for a while.
"Hello, Carver?" Merrill waved in front of the man, sure that she was transparent; looking down at her hands to make sure she was still solid. "Why are you in my bed, naked?"
"Merrill, don't you remember what happened last night?" Carver sat up leaning on his right arm, and winced. He looked at his arm and saw a tattoo upon it, the same symbols that are on Merrill's face. He slowly looked up at the elf to notice that her head was moving at a similar rate. Their eyes met. They were both very much confused. Carver mouthed the word 'Fuck!' and watched as Merrill played a scene of his mother finding out in her head.
"Carver, did you spike my drink last night?"
"No, Varric did. I just did as he said and took the bottle with me. And drank it with you… Last night, I did a lot of things… Oh boy…"
"Oh, and all I did was get drunk and give you a tattoo. That's ok, only two things" Merrill swung her legs off the bed, about to go into the bathroom when Carver tried to call after her to be careful – she was much too quick to stand and even quicker to fall. "Oh dear, what do we have here…"
"You also lost your virginity. So you did three things, not two."
"It doesn't hurt, though. Everyone said it would?" Merrill looked up at Carver who was looking down at her, peering over the side of the bed. "Are you sure?"
"Merrill, my body is telling me I had sex last night. Your body is having trouble standing… That means we had sex. Plus, that mess on your side of the bed is self-explanatory."
Merrill looked at the bed and moved the cover to see graphics of the night before. Very red, very sinful graphics. Merrill grimaced. She couldn't believe this, she couldn't believe the most important moment of her life wasn't even a memory she can recall.
"I'm sorry Carver but you have to go." Merrill looked down at the floor, feeling vulnerable; she just wanted to be alone.
"But I'm-"
"Please leave." Carver could feel Merrill's powers heating the room up and could tell that was his cue to leave. He nodded and dressed his bottom half accordingly. Knowing that there was a bright sun outside, he decided he was going to show off his body and strut topless with his new tattoo.
Merrill stayed in her room and looked at herself in the mirror. Once Carver had closed the door, she dropped the loose sheet she had wrapped around her and looked at herself; she inspected her body from head to toe, realising that Carver had left little red circles all down her neck, she touched them, they weren't tender, but she could feel them. She frowned and burst into tears. Unable to look at herself in the mirror anymore she rolled up into a ball on the floor and wept.
…
Bethany walked into the Hanged Man first and groaned at she felt the overbearing smell of concoctions hit her head. Anders spluttered and called after Bethany exclaiming she was trying to silently kill him.
Bethany chuckled and smiled and thought that Anders' on-going humour was rather befitting for her sister. A perfect match, I believe. She thought to herself. Bethany and Anders both reached Varric's room door. Nobody was in the room, Bethany turned around to see Anders standing very still, looking very pale.
"Anders…?" Bethany assumed a defensive stance, silently creeping behind the hooded Anders to see who the culprit was. Blue orbs formed in her hands and she attempted to throw them at the target, before dousing the balls and dropping her arms in relief.
"Um… Why did you choose not to save me from this arrow pointed in the back of my head?" Anders questions, still perspiring greatly.
"Why the hell are… OH, Sunshine, it's good to see you. You look fabulous. Would love to stop and chat but we've got an intruder-" Varric spoke, his eyes plastered on the back of Anders' head.
"Varric, he's with me." Bethany chuckled and placed her hand on Bianca.
"Weren't you the one that brought Hawke when she was stabbed and stayed by her side without rest until she woke?" Anders slowly turned to face Varric whilst pulling his hood off, Bianca still pointing at him.
"I care about Hawke." Varric placed the tip of one of the bows in Bianca against his nose.
"So do I, that's why I'm here. I want to protect her in the Deep Roads"
"Says the glowing Knucklehead that tried to kill her only the night before this."
"Sister was stabbed and needed to be brought to a healer? Wait, Varric you big softie, staying up - Anders, you tried to do what?" Bethany recreated the fireballs and held them close to Anders' face, pushing away Bianca.
"That's more like it" Varric said, "It's nice to see them balls pointed at someone else for a change" He put his arrows away, knowing that Bethany could more than handle herself.
"L-l-look" Anders found it hard to breathe with the fireballs pointed at his face.
"I am." Bethany's fireballs flashed brighter, intensifying.
"I'm an abomination… But not, at the same time."
"Digging yourself a hole, are you?" Varric chuckled and looked as Bethany's anger increase.
"Listen to me! I didn't try to hurt her. That was Justice. He was just trying to protect me, he thought that Hawke was too strong and was worried she would try to attack me first." Anders's eyes pleaded with Bethany's.
"I'm sure you can protect yourself." Bethany snarled, the love for her Family manifesting in anger and rage
"He's drained me of all fighting ability until I find a new source of power to draw from. So I can only use offensive attacks as him. And he comes and goes as he pleases, unfortunately."
"But he won't come out to me? I'm a mage."
"A pretty powerful one, at that."
"Here's a shovel; I'll help you with that 6 footer." Varric mumbled and started making digging gestures.
"Dwarf! Please, Bethany, just hear me out." Anders' eyes met with Bethany's and she looked back at him with wary eyes of her own.
"We may as well have a drink with the guy. He's saved both you and your sister." Varric placed his hand upon Bethany's arm. Bethany looked at Anders sharply before glancing at Varric and accepting a nod from him, indicating she should stand down. Anders smiled and sighed, praising The Gods for his swift escape of life, appreciating the fact that Bethany didn't see through his half-truth.
The three sat and drank with one another, laughing and smiling, getting to get to know each other. Varric told stories of experiences he's had as a merchant and Anders spoke about his recent encounters with the mages of Kirkwall. Varric rose to his feet and conjured a drunken sentence consisting of the words 'tiddle', 'leak' and 'burst' – Bethany grimaced and realised she was actually able to endure the fumes of the Inn when slightly inebriated. She and Anders continued to chatter, the connection of their Mage-Lineage bringing them closer as good friends. The two shared a toast to 'brighter thinking' and as the two's goblets clinked, Bethany felt a presence hovering over her: she knew this was trouble.
Bethany gasped and closed her eyes tightly shut as she felt Carver's hand rest upon her shoulder.
"Bethany?" Carver looked at her with shocked eyes, the look quickly turned from shock and joy, to anger and disappointment.
"Carver!" Bethany leapt into the arms of her brother, hoping that he didn't get too mad. "I've finally found you! Where is Sister?
"You weren't looking hard enough if you're drinking in the Hanged Man." Carver grabbed Bethany's arm and pulled it up to his chest, dragging the young girl up off her seat. "As for Sister, let us go and find her."
…Implied Incest Sexual Abuse, here. If you are uncomfortable please look away now…
When they arrived, the house was empty. Their mother and uncle were out, seeing to the estate and Hawke was still nowhere to be found. Carver pulled Bethany's arm towards him before feeling her flinch and letting her go. "Didn't you say the mage healed you?"
"Only in a specific area. I'm still injured." Bethany gently spoke, her eyes avoiding her twin brother's.
"That's bullshit! Whenever you healed me, I was healed. There were no injuries when you had finished!" Carver struck Bethany across the face, the young mage yelping as the hand connected with her flesh. Her face reddened, her eyes welling up with tears. "You're a liar!" The back of Carver's hand connected with Bethany's face as he spoke. Bethany groaned as she fell to the ground, her hand covering the right side of her face. "Also, how comes you were busy DRINKING with another MAN instead of coming home to your family? You WHORE!" Carver spat in Bethany's face, causing her to grimace in the smell of his spit. He took his hand and rubbed it all over her face with a smile on his own.
"Carver, I'm sorry. Anders and I… We went to look for sister and-" A slap across her face silenced her. Bethany screamed lightly, fighting tears; she braved it, breathing heavily.
"SILENCE!" Carver took Bethany's face in his hand and squeezed, causing her lips to perk. "You're full of excuses, you whore," Carver stuck his tongue down Bethany's mouth, wriggling it around and kissing her violently. The man then pulled back and pushed Bethany roughly on the ground. He looked his twin straight in the eye and smiled as he saw her struggle to fight back the tears. Carver began to unbuckle his belt, dropping his trousers; a semi-erection peaked through his underwear. The man smirked, "you know what to do."
Bethany trembled as she heard the words slip out of his mouth, took a deep breath and nodded. She braced herself for the act that was about to take place and got upon her knees in front of him, and pulled down his boxers, closing her eyes as she opened her mouth.
"Vhenadahl! MA EMMA HAREL, AR TU NA'… Lethallin, Carver?!" = Tree of the People! YOU SHOULD FEAR ME, I WILL KI… [Familiar term for someone you know, like saying 'oh, I know you!'], Carver?! - The Tree of the People bit is a little like us saying 'Jesus Christ' in shock, etc.