I have returned!

I just wanted to let you guys know that I did end up changing my mind about my Hawke's chosen name after a bit of research. I changed it from Elisabeth (too similar to Bethany) to Arissa (after Aristide Amell, her grandfather).

I've also posted this story on AO3 under the name NotGonnaMakeIt, so head over there if you'd rather read on that site.

If anyone is still reading, thank you so much. I appreciate you endlessly! I'll try not to be gone so long this time!

Half of the city was within the walls, and the other, containing the farms and livestock, were on the land just outside. He knew she'd want to see the farms, the stables, the livestock, even with the lesser number of people and the increase in raiders.

He decided to bring her out anyway; they were perfectly safe. He still had a few of his royal guards following him, including Fenris. Even if they didn't… he was armed, and confident in his skills even without Hawke's assistance.

It would be her first time outside of the city in weeks.

Just as the sun was indicating it was getting to be near time for dinner, they reached the gate to the outside. As it was usually, it was open to them. The guards stationed there saluted him as he passed with Hawke on horseback.

The first thing that struck him every time he journeyed outside the city's walls, was the sudden color.

With the sun bright and uncovered by clouds, the grass was all the more startling as opposed to the grays, whites, and browns that almost entirely made up the city within the walls due to the granite and marble. The fresh smell of the woods wasn't far, either, and after spending so much time inside he found himself glad he was here now.

Beside him, Hawke was smiling, closing her eyes as the sun once again hit her. The hair around her face turned gold in the light like a halo, and Sebastian had to quickly avert his gaze before he was caught staring.

He pointed out to her the different farmlands, describing which fields grew which produce, and the places where the sheep, goats, and cows stayed. She wasn't terribly interested in any of that, and he could admit he wasn't either.

As he led her further, they came across where they bred the herding dogs of Starkhaven, colorful and energetic dogs with thick, fluffy fur to protect them from rain and snow. They were a bit smaller than Fereldan dogs, and not as smart, but good ones nonetheless. Loyal and good at what they were bred for - herding sheep, and defending the livestock from wolves.

When she looked at the fenced in yard of fluffy sheepdog pups, he saw something flicker over her face. A sadness. A longing.

And Sebastian could guess why. From the time he'd met her to the time he left her, she'd never once been without Argos. A beautiful purebred mabari her father had gotten for her before his death. He remembered asking about it at one point.

"Hawke…"

She shook her head, looking down at her clasped fingers. "I had to give him to Varric. He's getting older and I couldn't take care of him while on the run. I didn't want him to have to die with me if I was caught."

"I'm sorry." Sebastian wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "If you like, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you played with them a bit," he encouraged.

Hawke let her eyes linger on the pups longingly as they barked and bounced about behind the fence excitedly, but after another moment she shook her head ruefully. "I couldn't…"

"Alright," he allowed, and steered her away from the breeder. Part of him was tempted to request one of them be brought to Arrow's Rest, but he didn't want her to think he was trying to replace her old friend.

Still… he'd keep this encounter in mind.

The end of the tour also happened to be one of Sebastian's favorite places when he was young: the Starkhaven Stables, near the walls that wrapped around half the city.

"The stable master, Gil, is a good man. He and his wife have trained horses and riders for years. I used to come here often when I was younger-" he rambled before he realized what he'd said, and what his words had unwittingly told.

"And why were you so fond of this place?" Hawke asked pointedly as she dismounted. "What brought you here?"

Sebastian blushed. Hawke knew of his past; there was no reason to lie, but all the same… it was not something he looked back on with pride. He didn't enjoy retelling it. "I, ah, used to come here... with young ladies."

He'd need to take them away from the prying, judgemental eyes of the castle if he didn't want to be caught. So he'd take girls here, behind the barn, and give them a tumble in the hay.

Hawke huffed out a laugh. "Offered a different sort of riding lesson, hm?" She quirked an eyebrow at him teasingly.

"I… suppose," he responded slowly, a little ashamed.

"Lucky girls."

Sebastian stopped short, watching her as she walked towards the doors to Gil's home. Confusion wrinkled his brow. Had she been… flirting with him? He'd seen her flirt with others, including Zevran and Tallis. She'd even flirted with him once or twice back in Kirkwall, but she'd always been joking. But when she was joking, she usually made it clear by going over the top.

He wouldn't know how to feel if she wasn't joking. He had no vows now, and no reason he shouldn't be interested in her. Hawke was a beautiful woman; she had sharp wit and a kind heart and anyone would be lucky to have her attention. But after thinking of her with Anders for so long, and so long being chaste… it was harder to look at her in that way.

He jogged to catch up with her so that he reached the porch just behind her, but neither of them managed to reach the door to knock.

As he'd been walking up, he'd noticed a group of what appeared to be six merchants on foot, likely on their way to the merchant's quarter within the city's walls. Three of them appeared to be armed, but that was to be expected. He knew firsthand how dangerous the roads could be. But when they'd caught sight of the two headed into the stablemaster's house with four royal guards not far behind them, all of them stopped and stared.

Not at Sebastian, though, which was what surprised him. No, they were staring at Hawke. Or more specifically, her wavy chestnut hair as it ruffled in the afternoon breeze.

"Hey, miss!" One of them - an elf lad - called out to them.

Automatically, she turned to face the one who'd called to her. Sebastian turned with her, his hand itching with the desire to draw his bow. He just didn't know why.

"Yes?" Hawke responded politely, stepping down off the porch to converse with them.

The elf didn't answer her immediately, and instead spoke in hushed tones to the others of the group. The others murmured quietly back; it was a little unnerving. Sebastian and Hawke looked at each other in slight confusion.

At least until the leader of the group, a hooded fellow, lifted his head and pulled back his hood, revealing blonde hair down to his shoulders.

And a hauntingly familiar scruffy, troubled face.

Anders looked back at them, calmly, and held out his hand to Arissa. "Come, love," he told her, as if speaking those words would be able to free her from non-existent chains.

Anders had to plan this very carefully. He was a wanted man, after all - especially in the area surrounding Starkhaven - but he had a few ideas. He'd done similar things when he ran from the Circle and then the Wardens.

He knew of ways to get into the city. That was going to be the simple part, so long as no one looked at him too closely. Once they were there, the tricky part would begin. Getting to Hawke.

She would be well guarded, that he knew. He could only pray she still lived, and hadn't been maimed to prevent her from running.

He needed others to complete this plan. His messenger, Pick, had volunteered himself and one of his friends. Pick was a decent rogue, and the friend he'd offered was a decent sword and shield warrior. Not nearly as skilled as Isabela and Aveline, but better than the nothing he had.

He hadn't the time for the week's ride to Kirkwall to fetch the others. Varric, Carver, Isabela, Aveline, and Merrill. Only if he failed would that be necessary.

Recruiting two mages hadn't been difficult. He kept in touch with a few groups, and some were loyal enough to him that they were willing to join him in this fight.

The final warrior he'd brought was a two-handed axe-wielder, a mercenary that could be bought with the coin still in his possession.

Six was a good number. Not such a large group that it would be difficult to move around without notice, but large enough to be able to face any troubles on the road. And that was to be expected.

What he had not expected was to run into the prince himself on his way into the city… along with a woman with familiar hair.

"Pick, say something to her. Get her to turn," he ordered under his breath just before they came upon them.

"Hey, miss!"

And she had turned, and there she was. Unharmed. Unchained. Wandering about just outside Starkhaven's walls as if she wasn't a prisoner.

"What should we do?" Pick hissed. "If she's here willingly-"

"She's not," Anders argued. "She would never be. Not after she defied him in Kirkwall."

There were only a few explanations Anders could think of. It'd been about two or three weeks since her capture, as far as he knew. He knew that she had been taken by force. He knew that she was a prisoner.

Unless Hawke had managed to manipulate Sebastian into letting her go.

Blood magic wasn't such a crazy notion. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Hawke might have been forced to use it to influence the prince's mind. He could understand it; were he in her place, he might have done the same.

He wasn't about to leave her behind, no matter what she'd done to free herself. His course was clear.

After whispering to his men to ready themselves, he took a step towards Hawke and pulled back his hood, reaching out to her. "Come, love," he told her gently, letting her know she would be safe with him. That he was here for her, that he still loved her.

He had never stopped. He had been a fool to let her go before, to let her slip out of his grasp and straight into danger. It was his doing that put her here now.

A half-step behind her, Sebastian stiffened in an instant and drew his bow, taking hold of Arissa's rolled up sleeve. "Get behind me, Hawke," he urged her.

Protecting her? Only a short time after calling for her death?

Behind him, Anders heard his men ready their weapons.

Sebastian's bodyguards snapped to attention, ready for a fight.

Faced with the two options offered to her, Hawke chose neither. She chose not to join Anders, and not to do as Sebastian asked. Instead, she drew her staff, but didn't make any aggressive moves. She only shook her head, keeping herself slightly in front of Sebastian.

"No. I'm where I want to be. I won't be leaving."

At Hawke's words, everyone jumped into motion at once.

Though others drew their weapons before her and charged to either defend their prince or protect Anders, she was not standing idly. Hawke swept her arms about her once, flames crackling to life in her palms before they were hurled outward to the road. The small ball of flames exploded on impact, knocking some of them off their feet and singeing their clothes and flesh.

Anders had stood steady, using a fade shield to protect him from the blast. Almost immediately afterwards sent a wave of healing energy into those around him, his skin crackling blue. Justice was already rearing his head.

All the same, the advantage Justice gave him was minimal. Though their numbers were almost even, Fenris was decimating both warriors Anders had brought with his strength and fazing abilities. He moved too fast for them to counter, and his strikes were powerful enough to send grown men to their knees. The other three guards were scrambling to keep their distance from the four bodyguards, unable to cast or shoot yet.

Sidestepping Hawke's protective stance before him, Sebastian began to fire arrow after arrow into the enemy group. His months on the throne had not softened him in the slightest; he'd trained at his craft for long hours each day for this very moment. He was one of the greatest marksmen in his family - second only to his grandfather - and he wasn't about to sit idle while Hawke and his men defended him. This was why he never left his bow behind for his travels into the city. The people of Starkhaven knew their prince was a warrior, and would defend the city and his people when the need arose.

A wave of energy rolled off Justice like blue fire, repelling Sebastian's arrows and forcing Fenris and the other bodyguards back several steps. It didn't hurt them, but it did give Anders' men enough time to recover themselves.

The two mages that stood with him finally got the chance to cast. Bright, shimmering shields appeared around them, protecting them from damage in case the bodyguards reached them before their spells finished. And almost simultaneously, they cast two different spells.

Lightning sparked and grew in one of the mage's hands, channeling for several moments before releasing into the group of bodyguards, leaping from man to man, taking advantage of their proximity. Fenris shouted in angry Tevene, and one of the bodyguards dropped to his knees as the electric energy locked his muscles in place for several moments. The other mage held out his arms as if to embrace them, and within seconds the ground began to rumble and shake, throwing everyone but Anders, Hawke, and Sebastian off balance.

Pick was doing his best to provide covering fire, but his arrows were being deflected easily by the shields of Sebastian's men. Sebastian was the greater archer, both in aim and speed, and quickly proved that with two arrows through Pick's unarmored shoulders. Pick fell, hurt but not dead.

The same couldn't be said of the two-handed mercenary, as a well aimed stonefist from Hawke knocked him off his feet and Fenris pressed his advantage, despite the shaking under his feet. One strong slash of his blade and the mercenary's head rolled away from his body, the grass and dirt beneath him quickly staining red.

Justice turned to face Fenris, intent on taking him out of the fight, but with Hawke focusing her attention on him, he was forced to keep half his attention on her. The rumbling of the earthquake ceased, and three of the four bodyguards rejoined the battle.

At that moment, the mages' shields went down, and Sebastian focused his own fire towards them. Neither wore armor, and had nothing left to hide behind. One shot instantly landed with a hissing thunk, embedding itself in the unfortunate mage's eye. The mage's head jerked back from the force of the shot, and he crumpled to the ground, unmoving. As the other mage turned to flee, he took two arrows, one to the center of his back, one to the thigh. He fell forward, unable to run, forced to try to crawl his way to safety.

It was down to only Anders and his shield warrior, but it was clear which side was going to win this. The last warrior dropped to his knees before the four men, begging them for mercy. Fenris stepped around him carelessly; Sebastian would deal with him and the wounded others later. But before he had the chance to deal Anders the finishing blow, Hawke had already rushed down the steps to meet him, keeping the abomination's attention solely on her with spell after spell until she was close enough to reach him. Anders had no staff to protect himself from physical force, and Hawke knew it.

So instead of continuing to rely on magic, she swung at him with the end of her staff. Anders had to block with his forearm, but a quick jerk sent the opposite end of the staff into Anders' stomach, stealing the breath from his lungs. Another spin of the staff and she cracked it against his temple - hard - and finally he fell to his knees, the blue energy dying down as he fell into an unconscious heap at her feet.

The templars were sent for immediately, and with the help of the others, Fenris bound Anders' hands behind his back along with the other two that had been captured. Anders wouldn't be a danger so long as he was unconscious, and the other two weren't capable enough to escape. Not with one of them injured the way he was.

Hawke didn't let the elf suffer, however. She had the men hold him down while she removed the arrows, one then the other. Normally it would be unwise to remove them without bandages, but they made do with Hawke's basic healing skills and a few strips of cloth torn from clothing.

Once nearly every templar still in Starkhaven had arrived to take Anders and his two remaining friends away, they chained the mages in lyrium cuffs and carried them back towards the inner city on stretchers.

They would be treated far better than Arissa had been; Sebastian would make sure of that.