Alistair

Ashe looked fuming as she came back from the corridor where Anders' cell was.

"Did he tell you the truth, then?" Alistair asked, hoping that she'd come to her senses about the man.

"If you mean what he did in Kirkwall, yes," she spat. "As for the rest of it, I don't know to be honest with you." She walked past him, clearly done with this place, and Alistair followed. "I still have a hard time believing he is the one who's done this to me, the attacks I mean," she continued while keeping a brisk pace. "That he would have killed Lady Hewlender and Mahariel, and then attacked me... It doesn't make much sense."

Alistair scoffed. "Crazy people rarely make much sense, trust me, I have plenty of experience dealing with their kind. But if it's something I've learned through the years it's that people always want something, lunatics or not. And it's not hard to figure out that he's after you."

Ashe looked at him over her shoulder. "But why? He's always liked me, always helped me and cared for me, and..."

"Yes, my point exactly. He wants you," he interrupted.

Ashe let out a humorless laugh. "No he doesn't, believe me. He was like a brother to me, and I like a sister to him. There would have been countless opportunities for him to act on it, otherwise. And he never has."

"Tell me how you know each other."

Ashe sighed as they were stepping out of the fort and the strong rays of the mid-morning sun hit their faces. Alistair's guards, who were following them a few paces behind, stopped at a respectable distance from the pair. Ashe turned her face toward the sky and let the light wash over her as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the cool air fill her lungs. Alistair couldn't help but to admire how beautiful she looked, and found himself wishing that they were somewhere else, just the two of them with no crazy mage and no angry rival of a commander to deal with.

"He came to my estate a few years ago, disguised as a commoner looking for servant's work," she said. "My father employed him, but I could see right away that he didn't fit the part. He admitted to me... well, lied to me I guess, that he was actally a noble from Ferelden who's father had tried to force him into a loveless marriage. So he'd fled, rather living the life of a poor man and find true love than be wealthy and miserable. I... I thought it was so romantic. Maker take the stupid, naive girl I was back then."

Alistair could see the hurt flicker across her face as she said the words. It made her look so young and innocent and Alistair was again reminded of that she was still barely twenty years old, but he knew that she'd already had to learn what a harsh and unrelenting place the world could be. Maker, everything that had happened during the Inquisition alone must have added ten years worth of hardship and life lessons to her experience. He found himself almost mourning her lost innocence, although he couldn't quite tell if it was truly for her or for his own, which he'd lost at an alarming rate ten years ago.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ashe. How could you have known he was lying to you? Blame him instead, taking advantage of you like that. He clearly knew what you wanted to hear and used your family to hide himself from the aftermath of what he'd done, like the coward he is."

Alistair could feel a strong, almost overpowering urge to reach out and touch her. He hesitated at first, not sure if it was a good idea, but he finally placed his hand on her shoulder. He could feel her tense muscles relax underneath his fingertips, and she turned to look at him. Her beautiful eyes were filled with such unexpected affection that he almost regretted touching her in the first place. Because he knew, looking into those eyes, that there was no going back now. If he'd been angry with her, hesitated throwing himself into the drama that came along with her, her enemies and especially with Cullen, he wasn't angry now, didn't hesitate. The longer their silence stretched on, the longer she looked at him like that, the surer he became. Even the pain of thinking about how Mahariel was lost to him made him more reassured. Ashe was the only thing worth fighting for. She was worth everything.

The change in the air was tangible. It felt as if the tiniest of sparks would set it on fire and they swayed toward each other. He stared into her eyes, two oceans of endless beauty, before he noticed how she parted her lips unconsciously while they both took a step closer to each other. They were standing so close now that he only had to lean forward and he would be kissing her. He could hear her breathing coming in shorter, more laboured takes and her eyes were fixed on his lips.

Ashe

Just as she was about to tilt her head up to meet Alistair's warm lips with her own, a flock of birds launched themselves from the top of the fort. The sound of their flapping wings seemed almost deafening and Ashe looked up at how they flew across the sky and she suddenly realized that morning would soon turn into noon. And she was not where she'd promised she would be.

Cullen.

She'd said to him that she would be there with him when morning came and she could only imagine his reaction at finding himself alone in bed with no idea where she was. She started turning her head toward Alistair again. "Alistair, I'm sorry, I have to g..."

Her words were cut short when he planted a gentle kiss on her lips. He didn't linger for too long but the kiss left her breathless. So much affection in one simple move, it almost overwhelmed her. He lifted his hand up slowly and caressed her cheek, light as a feather. She couldn't help but to lean her face into his hand and close her eyes, enjoying his warmth.

"Do what you have to do, Ashe. I'll be waiting for you, we have to deal with the prisoner today."

She felt surprised at his first words, surely he knew that she would be headed to see Cullen? Yet he sounded so calm. Maybe he didn't care? But looking at him, seeing his eyes glow when he looked back at her, she knew that wasn't true. But he'd obviously come to some sort of decision to be adult about this. She wouldn't be any worse, then.

"Of course, and I really do appreciate that you let me speak to Anders in private, Alistair. I'll come and see you as soon as... As soon as I am able."

When Ashe entered her guest quarters, she saw no sign of Cullen. Until he slammed the door shut behind her, making her yelp in surprise.

"Maker's breath, Cullen! You scared the daylights out of me, I..." She silenced when he saw the look on his face.

"I scared you? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" His voice was alarmingly quiet. Only the red color of his cheeks gave away how furious he was and Ashe knew it was bad. She wished for shouting and cursing, not this. She knew he only got like this when something vexed him greatly. And now that something was her.

"Cullen, I'm sorry, but I had to see the prisoner, it couldn't wait."

"That's horseshit. If someone would have knocked on the door in the middle of the night to tell you about that, I would have woken up. No, you left here by your own volition. Why?" His arms were crossed over his chest and he towered over her, despite him not being that much taller than her. She found herself slowly backing up.

"I- I needed some air, that's all." She looked away from him, she couldn't look at him while she lied. Dammit, why the fuck couldn't she look at him and tell him whatever she wanted, like she could with everybody else?

"Stop. Lying to me. For fuck's sake, Ashe. Don't fucking insult my intelligence like this. You needed to stay here with me, you weren't safe. You'd just been attacked for the second time in one night, Maker!" He raised his voice at his last words as he pointed his finger accusingly at her. "You went to see him, didn't you?"

Ashe couldn't say anything, couldn't say that to his face. She looked up and gasped when he crossed the distance between them and had her pressed up against the wall in a heartbeat, without actually touching her.

"You did, didn't you? As soon as you were done with me, you ran straight to your precious king and his bedchamber. Did you spread your legs for him, too?" he snarled.

A cracking sound of flesh hitting flesh rang out as she slapped him hard across the face.

"How dare you!" she spat, but Cullen made her bite back her next words in shock as he spat out a trickle of blood from his mouth at her feet and laughed. It sent shivers of the really bad kind down her spine.

"What, are you going to act all indignant now, 'princess'? Oh wait, that's Hawke's little pet name for you, right? So what does Alistair call you? Or Anders? I bet he has a pet name for you, too, since he looked at you so adoringly when he appeared in your bedroom out of nowhere last night. Tell me, Ashe, how many men have you had in your bedroom since the one who deflowered you got his fill? Maybe you've set some sort of record for most men fucked without it being your paid occupation. Although I must admit, it's hard to think that it's not."

Ashe felt cold inside. She couldn't believe what he'd just said to her. It was Cullen, her Cullen, but the words coming out of his mouth was not him. He'd always been hot headed and a bit jealous but never disrespectful, nothing even near what he was spewing out now.

She said nothing, and couldn't stop tears from overflowing in her eyes, trickling down her cheeks silently.

Cullen's breathing calmed down and his expression changed when he saw her tears. "Ashe, I..." he murmured, but she shifted her gaze towards the door behind him, staring at it, at anything but him.

"Please move, I would like to leave," she whispered, not trusting her voice not to break if she spoke any louder.

"Ashe, I didn't mean..."

"Please move," she whispered again.

Cullen looked like she'd slapped him again but he didn't say anything, he just stepped to the side.

She took a few unsteady steps towards the door before she stopped, still not turning around. "Just so you know, Anders was like a brother to me. And I've never slept with Alistair." She squared her shoulders, held up her chin and left the room to the sounds of his desperate pleas for forgiveness.

Ashe sat at one of the balconies to Alistair's private quarters and stared up at the sky. Alistair himself wasn't there yet, but she'd been let in, of course. She'd also told the guards that the Commander was not to be let in to see her under any circumstances. She felt a great many things about what had happened earlier with Cullen. While she might not exactly be virtuous Andraste herself, and she knew she would have to choose between Cullen and Alistair sooner rather than later, that was no excuse for his behaviour. He'd told her that he loved her, that he would do anything to win her heart. And what had he done instead? He'd spewed insults at her, he'd called her a whore. Like she would ever have called him one for sleeping with a bunch of women? Which she was more than certain that he had.

Once again, she thought of how he hadn't shown interest in her until Alistair showed up.

Alistair.

Alistair who hadn't even called her a whore despite seeing her sleep with Cullen, when she even may have deserved it. She wanted to see Alistair now, desperately.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a knock on the open glass door leading out to the balcony, and she turned around to see a guard standing there.

"Your Worship, Lord Hawke requests to see you. Should we let him in?"

Hawke?

Hadn't Cullen said that he'd left only days ago?

She nodded to the guard, who shouted something at the door. He left as soon as Hawke came into view. Ashe stood up and and met his outstretched arms as he walked up to her and embraced her.

"Maker, Ashe, it's so good to see that you're on your feet again," he said and hugged her tightly. She motioned for him to sit down when they let go of each other.

"Cullen told me you left," she said and sat down opposite to him.

Hawke nodded. "The trail was cold and my contacts led me back here again. I hear that you have someone in custody?"

"Yes. But Greyer, you have to promise me to remain calm."

Hawke raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Someone I know?"

Ashe swallowed hard. "Yeah, you can say that again. All too well, I'm afraid."