Ashe

She jumped at the sound of his voice and whipped her head around to where it was coming from.

"Greyer?"

And sure enough, there he stood; leaning against the window with his arms crossed in front of him like he hadn't a care in the world despite the venom in his voice only moments ago.

"Hey, princess." He smiled at her briefly while opening his arms, inviting her in. Ashe got up from the throne and embraced him, taking in the familiar scent of him before leaning back, searching his face for answers to why he was even there. It seemed rude to ask.

But Hawke said nothing. He only continued to look at her, his hands still around her arms from the embrace. It was Ashe who finally moved and broke contact by taking a small step back. That seemed to break him out of his reverie.

"I came here with Alistair," he said, every trace of softness gone from his face now.

"So I've heard," Ashe said. "Care to elaborate as to what calamity drove the two of you to become traveling companions?"

Hawke sighed. "He came and looked for me, it seems. I was minding my own business, but he just had to come and disrupt the peace, of course," he snorted.

"Why?" Ashe asked, more than a little puzzled.

"He wants me to persuade you."

"Of what?"

"What do you think?" Hawke looked pissed, but she suspected it wasn't directed at her.

"He wants you to talk me out of believing what you told me?" She said it almost as a joke. Surely, that couldn't be it.

"You hit it on the head there, princess."

Ashe looked at him with skepticism. What reason could Alistair possibly have to do such a thing? Why would he -

"Why would he ask you to do that? Is there any truth to what he says?"

She had tried to stifle it more than once already, but she couldn't help a small glimmer of hope to surface in her. Why would Alistair try so hard if he was guilty? Why would he go to all this trouble - to come here to persuade her of his innocence – if she meant so little to him that he would betray her with some whore, or whores, rather? She knew he loved her, it had been plain as day for quite some time. That was why it had cut her so fucking deep, what he had done. But why would he even… Unless, it actually had all been a misunderstanding? How else could Alistair house any sort of hope to enlist Hawke's help, of all people?

Hawke still hadn't answered her question. She searched his face again, frantically. He looked as though he were thinking hard on how to answer her.

"Please, Greyer, I need to know. Has he spoken to you about what happened? Could it just have been a mis-"

"No."

His icy response hit her like a slap in the face.

"No, princess. It was no mistake. I saw what I saw, and I heard the girls, too. They were saying how Alistair still had it in him, that you wouldn't be a problem in the future either. They were young, about your age, two blondes, very pretty. They giggled about how he had worn them both out and that they would be sore for days, how -"

"Please, stop," she half-whispered. "I don't want to hear anymore." She felt like throwing up.

"I'm so sorry, princess, but I had to tell you so that you won't do anything stupid now that he's here."

Ashe slumped back on the armrest of her throne. "Why didn't you tell me this before? You only said that you had seen them walk out of there, not that you had heard them actually talk about him like that."

"Surely you can understand why I didn't want to tell you?" He walked up to her and tilted her chin up with a gentle hand, looking into her eyes. "I would never do anything to cause you unnecessary harm."

Ashe could taste bile in her mouth but she also couldn't quite believe it. "Why would he ask you for help, then? What did he say to you?"

"He tried to tell me that I should think of your happiness. That he was the best option for you, that he could care for you. He implied that you wouldn't last long on your own without the Inquisition and that he was your best bet, and that if I cared for you at all, it was my Maker damned responsibility to help make you see that, in his own words."

Ashe scrutinized Hawke's face while he spoke, but he was hard to read. Ashe had trouble believing what she was hearing, which only confused her more. She trusted Hawke more than anyone in the world. He would never lie to her, would he? But what was coming out of his mouth now was almost harder to believe than to think he was lying to her. Why would Alistair ever say something like that? Unless everything she had ever thought she knew about him was wrong, but that didn't seem very likely to her. She was a good judge of character. A phenomenal one, even. Just the fact that Alistair had cheated on her on the eve of his proposal was hard enough to take in, but that she would have misjudged him so completely? How many times had he expressed heartfelt admiration about her independence? She could see it in Alistair's face, how impressed he was with her. He had protected her freedom – her free will – at great costs; facing the wrath of Orlais for as long as he could, all just to let her decide her future on her own terms. He had never, ever pressured her into anything.

And to think that he would degrade her so, by speaking about her like she couldn't manage on her own? It was almost too ridiculous to even imagine.

But then again, had someone told her a month ago that Cullen would suggest that she step down as Inquisitor to come and live with him as his mistress, under his wife's roof, she would have laughed in their face. But that is exactly what he had asked of her.

She guessed that you could never really, truly know someone.

But that exact sentiment was also what was running through her head when she watched Hawke's face as he continued his tirade against Alistair. Did Greyer hate him so much that he would do the one thing he had sworn to her that he would never do and lie to her? Her stomach dropped at the thought.

On the other hand, if he was lying to her about Alistair, there was a good chance that Alistair was in fact not lying. The fluttering inside of her as the thought struck her pushed all of the disappointment she might feel about Hawke out in an instant. If Alistair had not betrayed her, then all he had done was to get Cullen out of his way. Ashe didn't even care about that anymore. She would have done the same, and if she were to be honest with herself – worse, if it had been her in his situation. He had lied and schemed, all of it, but it was for her.

All for me.

She nodded at Hawke, pretended to understand what he was telling her. But she excused herself soon enough, blaming heartbreak and exhaustion. He looked at her sympathetically but she had none in return for him. He was clearly lying to her, she was certain of that now.

She walked with hurried steps toward the guest quarters she knew that Alistair would have been assigned. Sure enough, two royal guards stood outside the door, but they stepped aside with low bows as she approached, and she rapped her fingers across the wood, three impatient knocks and her stomach whirling with hope and anticipation.

She heard some scuffling inside and a servant opened the door. Ashe opened her mouth to ask for Alistair but she shut it again, feeling as though someone had punched her in the gut when she saw who was obstructing her view from him.

Two young, very pretty blonde girls, as Hawke had put it.