Author's Disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "Dragon Age 2." Nada thing.
Author's Notes: and we get Zevran, Isabela's assassin friend. She met him when he killed her husband years ago. And no, she didn't hire the assassin.
CharlieBarrow: Thanks for the messages, and information on the characters :P And for introducing me to them.
QueenTyzula: Yes the story is going that way :P Enjoy.
Maraghoul: I know you've played this as well; hope I'm doing it justice :P
"Catching the Wind"
Chapter six "Birth at the brothel"
Isabela waited in the reception area of the brothel, hand on her round belly. She hated her current dress, which was far more modest and covered a lot of her skin. She thought she looked like a frumpy house wife and the analogy made her bristle despite herself. Eager alpha men and women, and quite a few betas, moved through the reception area, happy to spend coin on a physical tryst. Several looked startled to see her, and a few of the braver alphas tried to engage her in conversation, if only to be nice.
It amused Isabela that her belly put a damper on so many moods that caught sight of her. Isabela caught the wrist of one of the whores who entered the room.
"Is Zevran available?"
The woman paused, looking Isabela up and down, eyes widening at her belly. Isabela waited.
"Zevran! He just got back from….an errand. I'll let him know you're here. Welcome, Isabela," The woman grinned. She leaned and hugged Isabela. Isabela grinned, recognizing her as a random fling in the past, and apparently the pirate's reputation preceded her. Particularly when it came to Zevran.
Isabela coughed when one of the alpha men patted the whore on her ass, but she had no time for them. She hurried to deliver the pirate's message and fetch her elf friend. Zevran was many things, but Isabela knew he'd be glad to see her. And she hoped he wouldn't turn her out on her ear.
A few moments later, a tall, thin elf with blond hair tied back in a high ponytail surged through the curtains of the reception area. His eyes alighted on Isabela and though he was shocked at her status, he did look glad to see her. Striding across the room, he knelt on one knee, taking her hand in his.
"As I live and breathe, if it isn't my favorite pirate queen!"
Isabela smiled as he fawned over her and kissed the back of her hand. "It always does me good to see you, my friend. How goes it?"
"I can see the bid for better news is in your corner." Zevran stood and gently helped Isabela rise. He clasped a friendly arm around her waist, leading her away to privacy. "With child! If I thought I had any claim to your heart, I'd be jealous. Who's the lucky sire?"
"No one you know," Isabela said evenly. "I walked out on her, and I'm certain she doesn't want to see me."
"Be still my beating heart," Zevran jested. "I should praise the Maker you thought of me to dump this into my lap. That IS why you've come, isn't it?"
"And here I thought you were just expecting another roll in the hay," Isabela teased. "But yes, I'd like to rest and collect myself. I'm due soon, and the women here would be a great help. Oh, and your face isn't that bad to look at either in the meantime."
"Isn't it? All the pretty women I bed tell me that," Zevran teased. He swept Isabela into his chambers and sat her on the edge of his bed. "Rest up. Don't give me that look; I am not going to paw at you unless you want me to. I know if I'm wanted."
"There's another thing," Isabela leaned back on the pillows, trying to get comfortable. Zevran rushed back to help adjust her hips so she was comfortable. She heaved a sigh of relief. "The girls know who I am, but they should start calling me by another name. Don't want to attract any unwanted attention."
Zevran nodded. "As you wish, my dear. May I suggest Ella? It sounds close to Bela, but that is far too close to your name for my liking."
"Ella is fine," Isabela said. She laid her hands on her huge belly.
Zevran sat beside her, and laid one hand on her belly. He rubbed. "Names aside, I wonder about the sire. Little birds whisper about a Champion championing a well-known pirate queen. It's Hawke, isn't it?"
The pursed lip on Isabela's face told Zevran the answer before she could speak. Every bit of her features screamed 'caught!' She sighed.
"If you say ONE word, I'll slice off a bit of your rump and feed it to you!"
"The ladies do like my ass," Zevran teased. He rubbed her belly. "Enough with the theatrics. I will protect you and yours. We are friends."
"You're just trying to get into my smallclothes again," Isabela complained. She placed her hand over the elf's. "Champion? I don't remember fucking a champion."
"Hawke has….become rather elevated. You've been gone from Kirk Wall quite some time. She's been named their Champion, graced in all the accolades of the title."
Isabela gaped then laughed bitterly. "She had to go and make this pup even more valuable to her enemies, didn't she?"
"I rather think if she knew you had gotten with child, she'd try to keep you. No one can tame our pirate queen," Zevran smiled cheekily. Isabela swatted his hand.
"Leave me alone," she complained. Zevran stood and etched a bow.
"Sleep well. I'll have one of the girls send dinner up to you."
"Where are you going to sleep?"
Zevran gave a wry look. "I'm not going to try and win your affections until your pup is born. That would be highly inappropriate right now."
"Since when did you ever stop trying?" Isabela was amused.
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Isabela was dreaming. She was far too huge and ungainly, but still the whores that were her friends still offered to warm her bed. They worked with her rounder belly and it felt good to have someone inside her, even if they weren't Hawke.
Isabela dreamt of nonsensical images. A large hawk was hopping on the ground, a mouse clasped in its beak. It turned to drop the prey for two small baby birds who hopped after. The protective nature of the larger bird filled Isabela with a surge of confidence. When her eyes flicked open, she was startled to see her water had broken, wetting the mattress beneath her.
One of her friends was curled up against her and noticed about the same time she did. "Bela!" she whispered. "Your water broke!"
"Shit," Isabela said. "Well, looks like it's happening."
"I'll get the other girls!" the woman slid into a robe and scampered for help. She came back with five to help her through the birthing bed. Zevran tried to gain entrance with them but Isabela threw a dagger at him, forcing him out.
After hours of labor, pain and screaming, the moment of truth was at hand. One of the women carefully gauged her dilation and the real pain began. Isabela tried to think of Hawke's soft eyes and eager smile, the kind of look that always preceded a turn in bed, but the memory was tinged sour by the pain coursing through her.
"Damn you, Hawke!" Isabela cursed under her breath. Finally, a child's cry split the air. The women were beaming, attending her child. "Give me the news, already."
"A boy." One of the women held up her son as another cut the umbilical cord. Isabela was oddly touched as the squishy looking infant coiled small fists and cried out.
"Looks like me," Isabela admitted. Despite herself, warmth flooded her heart. She reached forward. "Give him to me."
"In a moment…. 'Ella,'" One of the women's eyes twinkled merrily. "We have more work ahead."
Isabela gasped against the pillows. "I already did it all, give me my son!"
"There's another coming."
At that news, Isabela gawked at her friends. Sweat broke out along her brow. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!"
"Push, darling. Come on."
"Damn you, Hawke…damn you!" Isabela muttered. She bit her lip as she bore down. It made sense. Hawke's younger siblings had been twins. Isabela had no time to wonder if her children would take on any of Bethany or Carver's characteristics when the second child was born. Isabela fell back, supported by one of the women's arms. "Damn her….damn her!"
"I know, it all seems so hard now," the woman said. "Syrah gave birth last month. She'll help teach you what to do."
Isabela felt overwhelmed as two cleaned boys were bundled into her arms. She didn't know whether to feel scared or proud as the dark-skinned babies settled into her warmth. They had her skin tone, her hair. She had no way of knowing if any features of Hawke's would come about, but they were definitely her children.
Zevran knocked and sidled in, grinning. "Can I see the baby?"
"Who's going to stop you?" one of the whores frowned. He chucked her under the chin and moved to the bed. Isabela tugged at the covers with one foot, trying to slide it up higher.
"Babies. I've been blessed with twins," she groaned. Zevran looked as stunned as she felt. He then laughed and leaned in to gaze at the quieting babes.
"Well, when you do something, do it right I guess," he teased. Isabela made a face at him.
"Maker, help me. I had to take her knot…."
"Come off it, 'Ella.' You love them. If not now, you will one day." Zevran's face was almost tender as he peered toward the infants. He traced one small fist with a long finger. "They are cute. Look just like you."
"Stop trying to get on my good side," Isabela complained. She did smile when Zevran leaned to kiss her cheek.
"You did good, girl. Proud of you. But I doubt you want to hear that," he chided lightly. Isabela's eyes twinkled.
"You're right; I don't," she teased. One of the boy's mouth opened and he gave a light wail.
"Any ideas for names?" Zevran got comfortable on the edge of the mattress, keeping company. Isabela gave a wry smile.
"I was thinking Falcon, but I had no idea he'd have a twin. I guess Lark to match."
"Falcon and Lark. Cute. And keeps in tune with their sire's name." Zevran's eyes twinkled. "Why do I get the feeling you'll go back to her one day?"
"I'm not," Isabela protested. "I left. She doesn't want me around."
"I wouldn't be so sure. I'm glad to see you, for one. Who's to say the sire won't be as well?"
Isabela sighed, the fatigue of the birth weighing her limbs down. Zevran took one of the babies and laid him on the mattress beside Isabela's leg. "Just think… Hawke loved you so much, she blessed you with two. Just focus on that, Bela."
Isabela shot him a hurt look. "She was out of it when I took her knot. In fact, she was unconscious."
Zevran took that in stride and ribbed her. "Well, she still showed it in a way….?" His grin was insufferable.
"I guess…. is Syrah coming?"
"She will. They may need to be fed and soon," Zevran said. He left and came back with the new mother. The young whore was a beautiful woman, infant swaddled against her chest. She congratulated Isabela and went over the fine points of breast feeding.
Syrah wasn't all just talk either. After the two women kicked Zevran out, and the infants were crying, Syrah put her own baby down, and helped feed one of the boys herself. Isabela was truly grateful to have such good friends.
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Hawke groaned. She rolled over in her sleep, pressing her shoulder hard into the mattress. Her dreams were strange, and filled with toys of her youth. She was holding up a carved wooden rattle over a baby who reached up with dark fingers.
Merrill's voice, of all people, rang out in the dream, asking about the child. Hawke bent to scoop up the infant into her arms. The child's bright eyes met hers and she brought her nose to the babe's sweet-smelling dark hair.
"Hawke," a voice rang out. Hawke's eyes rose as if to greet Merrill, but the manor faded and she was on a dock beside the water, watching a ship approach the harbor. A smaller boat departed from the ship, a bent man rowing toward shore and Hawke. Hawke was pleased to notice Isabela standing at the prow of the boat, raising an arm in a wave. The child was gone from her arms and Hawke didn't question it. She offered a hand and helped pull Isabela onto the dock. The pirate queen was giggling with her, gesturing to two treasure chests in the boat.
"My pride and joy," she was saying.
Hawke blinked in the dim light, tears pricking her eyes as she woke. She scrubbed her wrist across her face, shaking. There was a jostle of movement beside her and Merrill slung a thin arm over her waist. Hawke yawned as Merrill pressed a kiss across her brow.
"When did you get in here? You could have woken me," Hawke said. Bodahn must have admitted her last night. Merrill giggled. She was as naked as Hawke, and ran hands down her muscled torso, skimming over her small breasts. Hawke's stomach concaved. The scar there was raised and jagged and she hated anyone touching or even seeing it. But Merrill….she was fine for reasons Hawke couldn't explain.
Warmth pooled between her legs as her shift happened. She gave a small smile as Merrill breathed kisses across her neck and face, one small hand urging her cock to harden. Hawke sighed.
"You know, you're the only one I let touch me like this," she admitted. Merrill gave a pleased gasp next to her ear.
"I…I didn't know. You're always off with your fans, or the nobles. They all must get your attention," she admitted. Hawke rolled over and trapped Merrill beneath her weight. The elf gasped and wrapped her legs around her waist. Hawke's heart twanged with guilt as she eased so readily into her friend's arms. Merrill was the only one she felt comfortable with intimacy since Isabela…damn her.
Hawke raised her head and captured Merrill's lips in a kiss. Merrill kissed her eagerly, fingers scraping through her short, tousled hair. Hawke didn't mind her wandering hands moving along her torso, scraping over the ridged lines of her belly scars. The Arishok left lasting damage to her and Hawke didn't fully disrobe in front of her sexual partners anymore.
The first girl she'd undressed for had gasped at the sight of her old wound and had fawned over her, and it hadn't the right effect. It pissed Hawke off. So, she only pressed her full nakedness against Merrill now. She didn't mind the elf's gentle hands.
They pressed together and Merrill gasped beside Hawke's ear as she firmly thrust inside her. Hawke kept hold of her rising lust, making her strokes deep and short. Merrill thrust up to meet her and pushed Hawke along to come inside her. Hawke yelled into the mattress beside Merrill's shoulder as she exploded, trying to keep her hip's thrusts as gentle as she could make them. Her knot was a ways off from forming, and Hawke reigned in her chi to keep it from swelling. There was so much of her Merrill could take and it was so good to come inside her.
Merrill smiled against Hawke's sweaty hair as she ran her hands up and down her back. The muscles bunched beneath her fingers. "That felt good," she giggled.
Hawke yawned against her. "Yeah…"
Merrill just kissed her and all too soon Hawke pulled out. As the Champion drifted to sleep, Merrill listened to her breathing, her heart swelling. She could feel Hawke's pain as she dreamed, and the pain roiled through her old wounds. Merrill felt on the bedside table. Her fingers scraped up her dagger and she made a fresh cut, calling on her blood magic. By and by, her incantation soothed Hawke's dreams. Her abdominal muscles stopped concaving in her sleep.
And Hawke slept peacefully.
End for now
End notes: Isabela's got some competition in Merrill. Poor elf really cares for Hawke. Like it, smash that button and do that review thing ^_^
Sincerely, pen
8/25/2017