Alistair

He poked the campfire with a stick. Not because it was needed, but because he had nothing better to do. It annoyed him that they even had to stop at all, but the horses needed rest, and he and his... companions, probably did as well, even though the adrenaline of the chase made it harder to notice.

He looked up to see Cullen sweeping the perimeter of their small, makeshift camp, ever the soldier. Hawke was sitting on the opposite side of the fire, skinning a rabbit and humming merrily to himself. Alistair snorted.

Hawke stopped his humming and looked up at Alistair.

"Something you wanna say?" he asked, his thick, black eyebrow raised in amused question.

"How can you be so damn cheery? Ashe is out there somewhere, we don't even know if she's still alive. And you're singing and going on like you're on your way to a cozy family dinner at your mother's house."

Hawke narrowed his eyes at him. "It would be rather more macabre than cozy having dinner with my mother since I would have to dig her up first," he said dryly.

Well, damn. That might have been a bit insensitive of him but Alistair couldn't know that Hawke's mother had passed away. Besides, he hadn't meant it literally, as the other man surely knew. Alistair felt even more annoyed now.

"You know what I mean! Don't you care what happens to her? I can't even eat, I'm so worried for her."

Hawke rolled his eyes. "If this is some sort of "who worries in the most obvious way"-competition, then by all means, Your Majesty, you win. Congratulations. But you don't need to imply that I don't care for her. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But it won't do me or her any favors to sit here and fret like a nervous wreck. Better to stay calm, eat and be optimistic. You should try it. Or who do you think have the best chance of saving her? A tired, underfed and jittery king or a strong, cool-headed one?"

Alistair scowled. "What does me being king have anything to do with it?"

"Everything, I'd say. You really think Ashe would be interested in you if you weren't a royal?"

What the fuck did he mean by that?

"She's interested in you, is she not? What are you? Hardly even a noble." Alistair muttered through gritted teeth, trying to stay calm and not shut the man up with a swift punch to the face like he really, really wanted to.

Hawke just laughed, making Alistair even more agitated. "I'm a hero, the Champion of Kirkwall, for all the good it ever did me, but still the Champion. I defeated the Arishok, I'm a damned legend in the Marches and beyond. I helped Ashe through the Fade itself. And goldielocks over there," he said and pointed to Cullen who stood out of earshot a small distance away, "he's the heroic Commander of her Inquisition, he helped her defeat the big bad Corypehus and is a vital part of running the operations still. And you, the King of Ferelden. See a pattern here? She only takes an interest in the mighty, the heroic, the dashing," he pulled his hand through his hair dramatically while smiling like a lecher, "the big, strong, powerful..."

"Maker's breath man, stop it! Stop praising yourself, it's making me sick," Alistair pleaded with his hands up in front of him.

"I praised us, but I'm glad all of those words immediately made you think of me," Hawke said and grinned even wider.

Alistair groaned. The man was totally and utterly insufferable.

"Why are you interested in her, then?" he asked after a while. "It sounds to me like you consider her a snob for only liking... certain types."

Hawke shook his head. "Why would I care when I actually fit the type? But all kidding aside, I don't consider her a snob or anything like it, it's not that at all. It's that no one else understands her. Tell me, Your Majesty, have you had an easy time finding a woman in these past ten years, who's been your equal? And I'm not talking about titles. I'm mean on a spiritual level. One who understands your burdens, your position, the things you have to do, the sometimes impossible decisions you have to make. Do those kinds of women grow on trees? I think not, since you're still unmarried. It is in all likelihood the same for Ashe." Hawke's expression grew more serious and he even stopped his work on the rabbit. "She needs someone special, because she's special."

Alistair said nothing for a few moments. But he couldn't keep himself from asking what was pestering his mind. "Do you think you would fill that need for her?"

The other man kept staring into the fire, motionless. It took a minute or two before he responded. "It doesn't matter what I think. It's not going to happen, so you can relax. The surly Commander is your only competition here."

Alistair felt surprised by that reply. Hawke seemed to like her very much, and Ashe had admitted that she'd slept with him on numerous occasions. He had to ask. "Why?"

"Because I have nothing to give her. And I have my own messes to clean up that I will not drag her into. Anders is one mess too many, I could have ended his life years ago but I took the coward's way out and now she has to pay for it. It won't happen again."

"That wasn't your fault. There was no way you could have known he would end up with the Trevelyans, of all the people in Thedas," Alistair said. Hawke looked at him then, surprise evident in his face.

"You, defending me, that's a shocker." He smiled and Alistair rolled his eyes.

"Don't get used to it, you fool. But don't take blame where there is none for you. That can't be the only reason."

"She's too young. Too young for you two as well, but I'm not going to tell her that. She would probably just kick her hind legs out and be even more determined, then. You know why? Because she's young, and that's what young people do."

Alistair didn't want to think about that. "She would kill you if she heard you say that," he said.

"Yes, you know why? Because she's y..."

"Because she's young, yes, yes, I get it. Didn't stop you from sleeping with her though."

"She's not that young. Sex is sex, and she's well versed in the arts of the bedchamber, let me tell you that," Hawke said and winked. Alistair grimaced but the other man continued as if he hadn't seen it. "But I'm smart enough to know that on an emotional level, I have nothing to give her. I've lived too long, seen too much. And she's so vibrant, full of life. I don't mock her experience, I know she's seen much of both good and evil. But she has this aura about her, full of curiosity and a hunger for excitement. While I could certainly give her the latter, I'm not sure if I'd want to. I would want to keep her safe, if I got any more involved with her than I already am. So a word of caution for you: Don't try to tether her, not even for her own protection. She would come to resent you for it."

Alistair flinched when Hawke stabbed a skewer into the rabbit, he'd been so engrossed in listening to his words, unwilling as he was admitting it to himself. Hawke started humming again, clearly done with the conversation.

Some time later, when the food was ready to be eaten, Cullen joined them by the fire, accepting the bowl of meat that Hawke offered him.

He stared into the fire while he ate. "What if she's dead?"

Alistair wasn't sure if the question was directed at them or if Cullen was just mumbling to himself.

"She's not," Hawke said. "I can sense some of the magic he used on her. It's why I can track them at all. She's alive, or there would be no one to bind in the manner he did." The mage sighed. "I don't even know how Anders knows magic like this. It's so strong, the traces left behind are impossible to hide, though I'm sure he tried. He was never this powerful when he was with me in Kirkwall. Damn shame, or the fighting all those years would have been a lot easier."

That didn't reassure Alistair one bit, except the part about Ashe still being alive. Cullen didn't look much more relieved either.

"When we find her, I'm going to kill that abomination with my own two hands," he said.

"Hey, get in line, man. I think it's obvious that I would be the one to do it," Hawke said.

"There is no damn line, it's just a matter of who gets there first. I will kill him, and you'd better not stand in my way," Cullen said, his voice low and threatening.

"Or what, dear old Knight-Captain?"

Cullen gave Hawke a look that promised bloody murder at the mention of his old title before the mage continued. "I'm sure Ashe would be absolutely thrilled to see you attack me first thing when we save her. I should have killed Anders years ago, it's my duty to do it now."

"You..."

"Enough!" Alistair shouted, shutting them both up. He shook his head. "You two are unbelievable, bickering about this now. Who cares who is the one to slay him? Considering how he put us all to sleep in the blink of an eye, and moved in and out of the castle undetected, with the Inquisitor in tow, we'll be lucky to even stay standing when the fight is done! It's more than likely that one or all of us will die during this. So who gives a fuck about you two measuring your cocks like a couple of youngsters? Ashe won't care. Who knows what that monster has subjected her to by now? If she is, Maker willing, unhurt, I bet she'd be pissed if she's not allowed to kill him herself, if anything."

Hawke actually laughed at that. "You're right, Your Majesty. She would be angry about that, the little wildfire."

Cullen stood up, throwing his bowl to the ground. "Don't talk about her like she's some stupid little girl. She's the Inquisitor, the most powerful woman in the realm, not your "little wildfire", you insolent son-of-a-whore," he spat.

Hawke stood up as well, standing eye to eye with the other man, their large frames all up in each other faces. "Get the stick out of your ass, you bitter old man, or do you want me to shove another one up there since you seem to like it so much?"

Cullen finally seemed to lose what little cool he had left and threw a punch directed at Hawke's face, but all he hit was the blue barrier that Hawke must have thrown up in the blink of an eye.

"Ah-ah-ah, Commander, don't forget who you're dealing with here. I only let you hit me in front of Ashe that once because I wanted her to see what a brute you were. You're not going to do it again," Hawke said, flexing his hand behind the barrier. Cullen only seemed to get spurred on by the mage's words since he started pounding on the barrier.

Sooner of later it would break, and Maker, they did not have time for this now. Alistair grabbed Cullen from behind but before he could even speak, he was rewarded by a fist to his face and he flew backwards and landed with his ass in the mud.

"What the fuck did I do?" he yelled and clutched his bleeding nose.

Shit, this was going to be one, long pain in the ass. Quite literally.