Chapter 49: Spiral
Fenris waited at the bottom of the staircase tapping his finger impatiently on the banister. He was far too agitated already and the evening had not even started yet. Of course, Marian had lost the battle over what clothes they would wear. Merrill hid her armor from her using some kind of spell while twittering nonsensically about how she wanted to see Marian in a 'pretty dress'. Entirely too much space in his head had been taken up lately discussing clothing.
Too disgusted to argue, he put on what his sister had made for him. Sadly, it was the most comfortable thing he had ever had wrapped around his limbs besides Marian. And if dressing appropriately got him one less infuriating and spiteful stare from the Minrathous social climbers it was worth it.
He hadn't bothered to really look at what he was wearing, so when Marian came down the stairs he almost didn't look at her clothes either. Unfortunately, it was hard not to notice.
She stopped at the bottom and they studied each other. Eyes narrowed. Lips curled. Foreheads wrinkled.
"This is totally unacceptable, Marian."
"Over my dead body, Fenris."
Their disgruntled objections were spoken simultaneously. Marian was dressed in...not much. And while still appropriately modest, the suggestion of exposure was enough. Was too much in fact. Too much leg. Too much shoulder. And far too much of the tender spot on her neck, exposed from under her upswept hair, begging to be licked and bitten...
"This is impossible. I cannot protect you like this." Fenris hoped he made it sound like he would have trouble protecting her from the eyes of others and not like he would have trouble because of his own lust filled distraction.
"You're not my bodyguard. And you're the one who shouldn't be considering...this." She waved her hand around at him. "I can see your lyrium, for Maker's sake!"
Fenris looked down at where she was pointing her finger. He hadn't noticed the exposed lines of lyrium on his chest. He rubbed his forehead. "Enough. I'm done discussing this. We are going as we are, and I'm never spending another moment thinking about these ludicrous frivolities ever again."
He made for the door and she followed. Before opening it, he asked over his shoulder, "Do you have a weapon?"
"Several."
He looked her up and down again. "Where?" He saw no possible points of concealment on her person, lacking as it was in sufficient coverings.
She held out her arms and practically purred. "Search me and find out."
Fenris had to adjust himself as he reluctantly turned away from her. He walked out through the door, growling under his breath, "Woman, you will be the death of me."
xxxx
Unsurprisingly, the Archon's private estate was in the same district as the estate formerly belonging to Danarius. Hawke gestured at the newly abandoned manor.
"Look, love, you and Antonius are neighbors."
Fenris either didn't hear her or wasn't amused.
When they approached the gates to their destination, he started barking a list of orders at her. "Do not drink anything you are given. Do not tell anyone anything about yourself. Do not speak about Crasta, Danarius or Hadriana. Do not try to collect any more slaves."
Hawke interrupted. "Collect? What is that supposed to mean? More than half the slaves in our house belong to you! And I intend to free them as soon as we're able..."
Fenris pinched his eyes shut. "Fine. Fine. Do not 'rescue' anymore slaves. And do not leave my side."
She would wholeheartedly follow that command. She nodded at him. Fenris held out his elbow for her and she threaded her arm through his.
When they walked through the gates it was as if they entered into another world. The sun had just sunk down below the horizon. There was a dim purple haze of early evening hanging in the air. Music, from what sounded like a small group of instruments, tinkled delicately from somewhere in the distance towards the mansion. They headed in that general direction.
In contrast to the open lawns of Fenris's estate, the Archon's gardens were dense and maze-like. They wandered up and down paths and would occasionally come upon a clearing with some centerpiece of interest, a fountain or a statue or a neatly trimmed fruit tree. Hawke might have wanted to stop and admire the art and architecture if not for the people they found...at play, in each of the little coves. It was obvious the vignettes they were being made to pass as they walked through the gardens were all part of the entertainment. Each pairing was more stunningly beautiful than the next. Men, women, elves, humans, all were represented in all colors of skin, hair and eyes. The couples were in various states of undress, Marian assumed, as part of a grand orchestration to provide the most pleasing visual experience. A ripple of finely toned muscle here, the soft curve of a bare breast there; two women clad in bright green silks embracing, two men with not a stitch on them kissing.
At first she and Fenris walked through quickly with deliberate steps, not pausing to observe. But as they meandered deeper, their steps slowed. In spite of themselves they began to linger and admire if only out of the corner of their eyes. By the time they reached the mansion's doors, wide open with the inviting yellow glow of candle light coming from inside, Hawke was dizzy with desire. They lingered just outside the threshold. Her hand had come up to stroke the lyrium on Fenris's wrist and she had been pulling him so closely to her as they walked she was practically hanging on his arm. Her breaths came deep and heavy in her chest and the air she inhaled tasted thick and sweet. She leaned into him more and caught a whiff of his scent and, Maker his scent! She buried her nose against his shoulder to get more of it inside her head. She heard him try to stifle a moan as she nuzzled her face on the thin cloth of his tunic.
He grabbed hold of her arm and spun them around out of the doorway, pushing her up against the exterior of the mansion. He pressed his whole body against hers and the skin left bare on her back by the scant material of her dress was scratched by the stone when he started grinding against her. The sting on her skin from the abrasive wall was blissfully maddening. And the feeling of his hardness rubbing on her sex, even through their clothes, was fucking delicious.
He started kissing his favorite spot on her neck and she sighed into his ear. Her eyes closed, but even so, she sensed the light of his lyrium rise and she worked her hands under his tunic so she could feel it pulse under her fingers. His lips moved from her neck to her mouth and as he kissed her she felt his hands come under her behind and lift her up so their heads were level.
Somehow, in her lustful delirium, her legs found his waist and she pulled him in with the muscles of her thighs. She started trying to rub herself against him now with her own rhythm and it was almost right...
"Ah!"
The shocked gasp hadn't come from either of them. Hawke dropped her feet back to the ground and pulled out of their kiss. She looked over at a small group of people just emerging from the garden path. Fenris growled, his green eyes blown out to black with unsatisfied desire. His lyrium flared brightly now, unashamed and full of frustration. The intruders to their tryst all jumped and backed away at Fenris's threatening display. They hurried inside whispering things between themselves that Hawke couldn't make out but she sensed they weren't complimentary.
Fenris let out a breath, giving Hawke some space to straighten herself. He did the same. When she was presentable again, and not quite looking like she was tumbled through the bushes, she saw that Fenris was almost smiling. He folded his arms on his chest and was looking inside the open doors.
"They feared me." He said, as if he was trying to understand his own statement.
"I'm not sure we know anyone who doesn't fear you." Marian stated matter-of-factly.
"This was different. They didn't fear me because of what you could have me do to them. They feared me."
Hawke's head was still fogged with arousal, but she tried to understand. Fenris had been Danarius's bodyguard, so he was only feared as an extension of the magister. Now he was feared because he was a mage whose dark magic hung heavy on his shoulders like a cloak, with lyrium literally at his fingertips. She supposed that must be a pleasing revelation for him; to have turned the tables on these magisters such that they jumped at a mere reflexive twitch of his power.
"Fun, isn't it?" She commented.
"It is." He answered with pleasant surprise.
Pondering the power Fenris wielded and seeing him enjoying flexing it only served to put Hawke right back to where she started, consumed by the desire to ride Fenris up against a stone wall.
"Fenris, is it possible someone has summoned a desire demon? I'm feeling very affected by the atmosphere here and we haven't even gone inside yet."
He nodded his head in agreement with her concerns. "I don't know. It is possible. But I don't feel threatened at all. Yet. We should go in."
Hawke swallowed her disappointment, looking longingly at a patch of the stone wall before they entered.
xxxx
Fenris realized he could get very accustomed to not feeling constantly at peril. He was in the center of a pit of depravity surrounded by magister blood mages and possibly a desire demon lurking in the shadows. And despite all of that, he would have happily fucked Marian dizzy up against the side of the mansion as if they had not a care in the world. Of all the things magic had taken away from him in life, it was about time it started giving back and he felt this newfound confidence might be the beginning.
He led Marian through the massive mansion. Candles bathed everything in a soft and suggestive light. He could easily make out the music now, evocative melodies he had heard countless times before in settings much like this when he attended in a very different capacity. Naked slaves roamed about. There were several scenes similar to those of the garden path being observed by guests; sometimes being manipulated by guests. They passed a few magisters. Fenris made it a point to hold his head up and look each one in the eyes. All of them balked under his gaze and quickly looked away. The feeling was intoxicating. And somehow, arousing. He wished he had taken Marian up against that wall if only to relieve some of the tension bound up in the vicinity of his groin.
"We should find the Archon and greet him." He said to Marian as he looked around the large ballroom they had entered. There was certainly dancing going on among the many people inside, but of a very different type than was originally intended for this room.
Marian followed him as they stepped around scattered cushions and comfortable looking settees, all occupied. He tried to ignore the sounds of panting and moaning and skin meeting skin as he searched.
"Why?" Marian asked, a hint of disgust in her voice, though whether it was at the suggestion of finding Antonius or the sights and sounds of sex that were assaulting her, he couldn't tell.
"You truly have no experience with these types of gatherings among nobility, do you?" Fenris was getting a little impatient, though again, there could be more than one reason for that.
"Sex parties? I think that goes without saying." She met his impatience with sarcasm.
"You know very well what I meant. You were nobility in Kirkwall. You are the same here. You must learn sometime. He's your host. And the ruler of the land you now call home. And the man who holds the means to control you. He's invited you to his home. It matters not that you had no choice. We must pay him respect. I also don't think you realize how many of those magisters you saw in the senate today would cut off their right hands, and yours, to be here right now."
He heard Marian emit a grunt. He took it as assent. They passed through the ballroom and out onto a terrace. The moons were bright in the cloudless sky, providing enough light that torches were barely needed. As soon as they were outside, their search for Antonius was interrupted by a man of similar years to Fenris and Marian. He was well dressed, but he was a totally forgettable sort. As a bodyguard, Fenris would have dismissed him immediately as no threat at all. As a free man and a mage, Fenris was even less impressed.
"Good evening, friends!" The man said with a wide smile, raising up the glass of wine he held.
Marian's reply was quick, as if she'd been waiting to defend herself from something. "What do you want?" She demanded.
The man put up a hand, still grinning. "Now, now, I don't want anything, least of all trouble with the two of you." He laughed and took a drink. "Actually, that's a lie, I do want something. I want to thank you."
"Excuse me?" Fenris stepped forward, becoming annoyed at what felt like mockery from this insect of a magister who was likely too new in his position to know he shouldn't speak so casually to people whose magic was obviously stronger than his.
The man backed away, realizing his faux pas. "I'm serious. You're Magister Hawke and the Archon's Deathdealer right?" He laughed nervously. "You'd have no reason to know this, but you've done me quite a service. You see," He leaned in closer to them, lowering his voice to nearly a whisper. "I had an older sister. Only family I had. Hated her with a passion. She was a bitch and I considered killing her myself more than once, but you did the job for me."
Curious now, Marian and Fenris looked at each other, then back at the man, letting him continue.
"Her two apprentices showed up on my doorstep recently. Apparently she had been helping that Magister Danarius with some kind of coup attempt. They told me an elf, with a greatsword in one hand and a mage they had never seen before in the other, ran her through and killed her in Seheron. They said they barely escaped alive themselves. I don't know any more details. I thought it safer just to kill them both." He waved his hand dismissively. "So, thanks to you, I've inherited her money and her senate seat."
Fenris noticed Marian had been listening intently and with obvious amusement.
"I think they also said you might have some of her slaves." The man seemed to be trying to remember the words of the dead apprentices.
Marian's face turned fierce. "You're not getting the slaves back."
"Oh, gods, no! Of course not. My gift to you. And even so, I owe you more still." His voice got even softer. "Should you need support in any future endeavors, consider me an ally. And if you find it in your good graces to mention such to the Archon, I promise I would not disappoint." And with that he lifted his glass again and left them.
Fenris and Marian watched him walk away, neither of them really knowing what to say about it, so they just resumed their search for the Archon.
Thankfully it didn't take long. They had had to endure a few malicious stares from several groups of people, and more than one sharp whisper accompanied by sneers of contempt, but eventually they came around to the far corner of the terrace where the Archon sat alone on a low bench with a slave in his lap. Fenris felt Marian tense when she noticed what was going on.
Her hackles rose and she spoke through clenched teeth. "Fenris, I can't do this. This is...not right!" Her magic was starting to spark in the air, snapping with righteous contempt for the moral depravity she was witnessing.
Fenris pulled her in front of him and grabbed her shoulders. "Your morals are not their morals. One battle at a time."
She took a deep breath and calmed herself. When the feeling of lightning crackling disappeared from around her, he took her by the hand and they approached.
xxxx
Hawke wanted to retch. The man had a woman's head buried in his crotch for all to see. She was clearly a slave, a nearly naked one, and his eyes were looking down at her as he leaned back on his hands while she serviced him. His chest was bare again and the scorpion on it was sharp and clear in the moonlight.
She pleaded with Fenris. "I can't speak to someone like this. You can't make me do this, you know. I'm going to vomit if we get any closer."
"Stop whining. You sound like a child." He paused. "He is finished anyway."
Hawke saw Antonius stroke the woman's hair and she leaned back on her heels. She helped him put everything back in place then she stood. Hawke really did want to vomit. The woman stepped around the bench to stand behind the Archon. She kept her eyes down and clasped her hands in front of her demurely. Hawke couldn't help but notice she was absolutely lovely. She was an elf with dark skin and dark hair that fell in tight ringlets around her face. She was the picture of femininity with full breasts, lush curves and pouty lips, swollen from...
"Magister Hawke. Fenris. It's a pleasure to see you both again." The Archon gave them a relaxed smile. Hawke shook her head slightly trying to clear away the image of the slaves lips wrapped around Antonius's...
Fenris bowed and pulled Hawke down into one as well. He squeezed her hand when they rose and she spoke, trying to make her voice sound not at all agitated. "Excellency. We're honored by your invitation." That was what Fenris had told her to say and thank the Maker she had that statement to fall back on, because she couldn't for all the world think what she would have said otherwise.
Antonius looked at Fenris. "It seems you've acquired a new moniker. Better for us all I think. 'Little wolf' sounds more like an endearment than the name of someone who's killed more than one magister in cold blood." He rose and held his hand out to Hawke. She hesitated, looked over at Fenris, and then extended her hand to the Archon. He took it and kissed it lightly before gesturing that they follow him down a path into the gardens. Hawke directed a distressed glance at Fenris before she wiped the back of her hand on her dress.
They walked three abreast around shrubbery at a leisurely pace. The beautiful slave trailed behind, her bare feet making not a sound. When they had crested a small hill Antonius stopped and folded his arms, looking out into the distance. Hawke did the same and she noticed they could see Fenris's estate from this vantage point.
"I love what you've done with the place." The Archon said wryly. "I do hope you leave it like that. It makes for a good deterrent."
Hawke wondered if the fact that Antonius agreed with Fenris's plan for his estate would make him reconsider if only to be contrary. But that sounded more like something she would do herself. Whatever this game was they were playing with 'His Excellency', it seemed that Fenris was better at it than she was.
After another moment admiring Fenris's pile of rubble next door, Antonius starting walking back towards the mansion. "Come along." He ordered and they all obeyed.
The Archon led, Hawke and Fenris walked arm in arm behind him and the slave walked behind them. Everyone they passed stared, then bowed casually, then shot daggers from their eyes. The magic of so many mages in one place and all of it directed malevolently towards them was making Hawke tense and she was doing the best she could to try to maintain a placid outer appearance.
But that internal struggle became impossible when the Archon started leading them upstairs. Hawke stopped in her tracks at the bottom and the slave girl almost ran into them. Fenris gave her a stern look and nearly dragged her up the steps following Antonius. She pleaded with him wordlessly with her eyes trying to stop him from walking forward and trying to make sure no one noticed that was what she was trying to do. But she couldn't stop him without causing a scene so she had to give up.
He can't possibly be allowing this to happen. He said he wouldn't. We agreed bad things would happen if anyone touched either of us. He said we wouldn't have to participate...
Hawke's thoughts were spiraling out of control. She was terrified that all bets were off when it came to the Archon. She heard cries of pleasure or pain or both coming from below them. She heard flesh beat against flesh in time with the music. She looked ahead of her at the most powerful mage in Thedas, half dressed. She looked behind her at a his sex slave who not minutes before this was sucking his cock. She looked at Fenris, infuriatingly stoic, and she looked at the death grip he had on her arm, keeping her in step next to him. There was only one place the Archon could be leading them to. She wondered how far Fenris would allow this to go if it meant keeping her safe. Suddenly she didn't trust him not to make some kind of twisted self-sacrifice. She worried that he had a plan worked out in his head where they could leave this den of iniquity with their lives intact but not with their dignity. Freedom couldn't possibly be this fragile. Was everything in this damned empire simply a trade from one type of enslavement to another? Perhaps a prettier enslavement, wrapped with a bow and an orgasm, but no less a means of subjugation. Did Fenris think he had to do this to protect her? Did he really think her life was worth that? Because it wasn't. It wasn't!
"Marian!" Fenris growled between his teeth. They were standing at the doorway of what was obviously a bedchamber. Hawke was snapped back to the present from out of the grip of her wild suppositions. "Enter!"
She followed the command without question. She was paralyzed by indecision and numb at the prospect of having no good options in this scenario. Should she make a scene? Was she prepared to kill an Archon? Could she kill an Archon? How was she going to protect Fenris? How was she going to protect herself?
She was startled again when the slave girl inadvertently brushed past her as she hurried over to Antonius. The girl grabbed a robe off the back of a chair and she held it out for him. He wrapped himself in it in one fluid movement, then spun gracefully and wrapped the slave in an embrace. The Archon kissed the girl deeply, passionately, tenderly. His hand came up to her cheek. His arm rubbed against her back. Hawke thought she actually saw the girl smiling underneath the kiss.
Hawke tilted her head, shamelessly watching the two. It went on for so long, she considered that she and Fenris might be able to just sneak away and avoid any of the bloodshed that would ensue if they were made to join in. Antonius eventually gently removed the girl from his lips. She bowed her head and stood with her hands folded again.
Antonius tightened the belt of his robe as he spoke. "Renna, I would like for you to take Magister Hawke back downstairs and entertain her for a while. Fenris and I have things to discuss."
"What? No! There's no way..." Hawke stood protectively in front of Fenris, as if there was something she could do. She was about to draw up her magic and say a prayer to the Maker when Antonius laughed.
"What exactly is it you are worried about, Magister?" He sat down in a chair, completely at ease. Completely the opposite of Hawke who was getting lightheaded under the weight of more negative emotions than she could count. "If I'm perfectly honest, I don't very much like men if that's what concerns you. Occasionally a 'discussion' is just that and nothing more. Does that make you feel better?" He was speaking to her like she was a child. Perhaps she had been acting like one. "I won't be fucking your elf, so you may rest easy. Go with Renna." He waved his hand as if to shoe her away. "Leave the men to speak. She will look after you." He waved his hand again this time at the slave girl. "Renna, now."
"Yes Master." The girl replied. Hawke turned to her. The elf stepped forward, head still lowered, and extended a hand to the door beckoning Hawke to proceed. "Mistress?"
Gears rotated in Hawke's head as she looked at the mostly naked elf, then to the Archon, then to Fenris. None of them were acting as if anything was amiss. She felt like the last sane person in Thedas. Perhaps she had always been the only sane person in Tevinter. "I..." She stuttered. "I'm not leaving Fenris." She moved closer to her stoic elf. "And I don't like girls." She added. Why she added that statement, she had no idea. She had lost control of this situation so long ago she couldn't remember what it was like to feel comfortable.
"I'm glad to know your sexual preference, Magister, however, Renna is mine alone, so you need not worry over unwanted advances from her. I would offer that she can find you another handsome male elf to occupy you while you wait, but I believe Fenris would take issue with that, so perhaps the two of you would simply care to walk the gardens. She will get you something to drink. It appears that you need it. Now leave. Your apprentice will fetch you when we are done here." His tone left no room for objection.
Hawke still didn't move from her spot. Nor would she. Fenris had ordered her not to leave his side. Even if he had forgotten, she hadn't.
And then Fenris leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Marian, I will be fine. I promise you. I want you to wait immediately outside the door, where I can still feel you. Do you understand?"
Hawke reluctantly nodded her head. Fenris sounded sure of himself. Confident. It smoothed over her brittle nerves. Before she knew it, she was exiting the room, sex slave in tow, leaving Fenris with the scorpion.
