A/N During a class rafting trip in Westwater Canyon on the Colorado River my senior year of high school, several of my classmates and some of the river guides were dumped out of their boats more than once, and most of them were experiencing hypothermia to varying degrees. I always counted myself very fortunate that a) I never went overboard; b) I had a sleeping bag in a waterproof sack; and c) I was tapped to provide body heat for a very cute river guide. Can you blame me if I stole a few kisses? He didn't object ...
Chapter 14
Anders wasn't sure how long they'd been standing entranced, hand-in-hand at the edge of the lake. The sight was so incredible that he felt as if he could willingly stay there forever, but he was also aware that his feet and lower legs were beginning to go numb from prolonged exposure to the cold subterranean stream. And if he was getting chilled, he knew what would be happening to Hawke with her slighter frame. He glanced towards her and saw that her face - ghostly in the blue light - was uncommonly serene.
As if feeling his gaze, she finally tore her eyes away from the doubled cone of fire at the middle of the lake. "Oh, Anders, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" she whispered in awe.
"You," he replied simply, and drew her hand up for a kiss. "But now," he continued, "let's see if we can find a ledge or some rocks up out of the water. We need to dry off and get warmed up a bit if we're going to go any further." They retraced their steps to where the passageway had first opened up into the main chamber, and on the left side of the watercourse, they found a shallow ledge that opened onto a small embayment floored with smooth, rounded rock.
"I imagine the water level varies quite a bit, depending on run-off from snow melt on Sundermount's higher slopes," Hawke murmured. "This alcove was probably almost filled with water less than a month ago and I'll wager that in a few more weeks, the stream will be even lower." She had started shivering once they had gotten out of the water, and her teeth had begun to chatter. "Damn, I'm freezing. Maybe we should have brought the torch, after all."
Anders quickly unhooked the chain that secured his feathered pauldrons and removed his coat. "I think this will do," he said, healing instincts taking over. After putting his satchel and the feathered capelet against the wall as padding for his back, he spread the coat on the floor and sat cross-legged on the lower skirt of it. "Come over here, Hawke." Light from the massed glowworms glinted off the white flowstone and the unbleached linen of his shirt. She hurried over to him, rubbing her arms with her hands.
"Just sit in my lap facing me, and pull the coat up over your back. Then tuck the sleeves over my shoulders. The air pocket we create that way will warm us up faster than a fire could." She complied as quickly as she could, crossing her legs carefully across his lap and gratefully huddling under the warm leather with its lining of felted wool. He cupped his hands over her ears and released a slight trickle of healing warmth while exhaling deeply across the top of her head and down the back of her neck.
For her part, Hawke rubbed her legs and feet until they began to tingle with returning sensation, then she started on what parts she could reach of Anders' legs under her own. She smiled to herself. In spite of what he had said, she found his legs quite attractive - lean and firmly muscled - and they went to such an interesting place. Her hands itched to move over his body, exploring and teasing, but she bit her lip and sighed. Not now. Later. He promised. Instead, she luxuriated in the warmth being generated by his hands and breath, and kept massaging their legs.
Before too long, her shivering had stopped entirely, and she tilted her head back so she could kiss him. "Thank you, Anders. That's taken care of it." She frowned. "This could present a serious problem, though. Even if the stream level goes down, there's still the lake to get across. My father was in good enough health, and he didn't know if other templars were coming. That gave him the impetus to swim across the lake. And Bethany can swim like a fish. But there's no telling what condition any of the other mages we help will be in. Some of them probably won't even know how to swim, or will be too exhausted to try.
"Once they're through here, it should be easy enough to get to the Wounded Coast road - and that's where they could link up with caravans heading out from the Bone Pit - ones crewed by Fereldans. And between Isabela's contacts and that Amaranthine woman I helped out a while back, we should be able to send some of them directly to Ferelden across the Waking Sea as paid passengers. We've just got to get them through here without drowning them."
Anders had been biting at his lip in thought while she spoke. "Maybe the Dalish could help us once more," he said hesitantly. "They call their aravels 'land-ships' after all. Perhaps they could build a small boat or even a raft to take people across - it wouldn't have to be fancy, just enough to keep them dry. Attach one end of a rope to this side and one to the boat - and they could just drift across with the current. Then the next group could pull it back to this side."
"Oh, I like it," Hawke agreed enthusiastically. "They could bring materials up here and build it with no-one the wiser."
Anders frowned. "I'm not sure how to persuade them to help, though. Merrill certainly doesn't consider Gallows mages to be a concern of the Dalish, and she's been exposed to more of the realities of Kirkwall life than the clan has."
"What if...," Hawke started, then shook her head, frowning as well.
"Yes?" Anders prompted.
She cupped one hand against the mage's cheek. "What if you told them about ... Zeyra and what happened to her and her clan?" she suggested tentatively. "The Chantry has never been good to the Dalish, and it's likely there will be elven mages among those we help escape. Dalish-born mages are more rare every year. If they'd accept Feynriel for training, I can't imagine they'd turn away full-blooded elves."
Anders' brows drew down in remembered pain, but he nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right," he said reluctantly. "At least Marethari should know about it to pass on to other clans' Keepers. It would be nice for Zeyra and her clan to be remembered by more than just you and me." He touched his forehead to hers and sighed. "Yes, I'll do it," he said with more conviction, but his voice was still sad.
Hawke brought up her other hand to the side of his face and kissed him lingeringly. "You're going to be helping mages avoid her fate, beloved, just as you promised," she reminded him, trying to lighten his mood. Struck by a sudden idea, she shrugged his coat down off her shoulders and began to climb off his lap.
"Here, let me show you the answer to my father's riddle. The final safety precaution if our fugitives are followed into the cave." Once on her feet, she spun around to the very edge of the shelf, and stood silhouetted against the light from the lake, arms raised above her head. She glanced over her shoulder, and whispered mischievously, "I can do magic, too!"
She brought her hands together abruptly in a sharp clap, shouting at the same moment. "Hoi!" And the light was gone.
At Anders' dismayed gasp, she spoke reassuringly. "'Living stars shall guide your way. To hide your path a single shout - will bid them obey, and put them out.'" She paused briefly, and heard him moving uncertainly behind her. When she started the next verse, Anders' voice joined hers, and his arms stole around her waist. "'When the danger's passed - The stars shall return. And once again, their fire will burn.'"
"I promise you, Anders. I will never let you be alone in the dark again. Never," Hawke said fiercely, turning in his arms to press herself against him, holding him close.
"Hawke, you are my light," he whispered in reply.
They waited. Watched and waited. For the miracle to occur, the final sign that their journey was nearly complete. Suddenly, a tiny point of light sprang up out over the lake. Then another, and another. By ones and twos, then by dozens, the lights burned brightly again.
"Star light, star bright...Make a wish, Anders!" Hawke whispered in delight.
"I already have, dear heart," he murmured into her ear, then breathed across it. "Let's not wait until we go back to Kirkwall. Let me show you here."
Much later the lights went out again, as their gasping cries rang out together and echoed off the cavern walls.