Alistair

He didn't know how long they had fought each other, but it felt like ages to him. Hawke was a formidable opponent, Alistair would give him that much at least. But so was he. In the end, they had simply tired each other out. Hawke had clearly spent all his magic since his punches were no longer spiked with the tingly sensation of it in the end. And Alistair's stamina was on the verge of nothing, his muscles screaming for him to stop. He managed to get one final hit in on Hawke before he was utterly spent, striking the mage in the side of the head. Hawke reeled and looked as if he were about to go down, and Alistair closed his eyes for a moment.

He shouldn't have. He felt something yank at his collar and his eyes flew open just in time to see Hawke's face inches away from his own before he got the goodnight kiss that was Greyer Hawke's head busting into his own. It sent Alistair to the ground, hitting his head even harder against it. He only had time to see Hawke go down in the same manner before his vision swam in black.

When he woke up, everything hurt. He tried to blink, and he bit his cheek as he raised himself up on his elbows, but couldn't manage more than that. He finally managed to open his eyes and saw through his blurry vision that Hawke was still laying on the ground a few paces away from him, with-

With Ashe leaning over him. Hawke had clearly come to, and was propped up on his elbows just like Alistair was. But where as Alistair was alone, Hawke's head was being held up by Ashe. He could see clearly enough now that he noticed how her hand caressed the mage's face lovingly, and she bent down to whisper something in his ear.

Had the mage beat him then?

No. Hawke would have to kill him before that.

He was just about to muster every last ounce of his strength to get up on his feet when he saw Ashe tip something into Hawke's mouth, and in a few seconds, Hawke rose from the ground with Ashe's help. By the time he stood on his own, he looked almost healthy again, except for the blood smeared all over his face.

Ashe kissed Hawke on the cheek, but before Alistair had time to react, the mage turned on his heel and whistled. A horse trotted out from the woods, and Hawke swung himself up into the saddle and looked at Ashe, who was standing where he'd left her.

"I'm sorry, princess. I really am."

Ashe smiled at him. "It's okay, Greyer."

What in Andraste's name is going on?

Hawke looked over at Alistair, and then back to Ashe. "I hope you know what you are doing." He sighed. "You know how to contact me, if you ever need anything…"

"I know, Greyer. I know."

Hawke simply nodded at her before he made a clicking sound and his horse started moving. After a few seconds, he had left the clearing, and their view.

Ashe stood looking after the mage for a few moments, before she turned to Alistair, who had no clue about what to say, even if he'd had the energy to speak.

She came right up to him and bent down over him, a red flask in her hand. She pulled the cork out of it with her teeth and tipped the glass against his lips.

"Here, Alistair. Drink."

He obeyed, and gulped the entire thing down in one go. His whole body tingled and he felt almost like normal within a few seconds. He sat up, but before he had time to even open his mouth, Ashe beat him to it.

"You got it all out of your system now?"

"What?"

She raised her eyebrow at him, like always. "You got to beat the shit out of Greyer. Did it make you feel better?"

He scrutinized her face, expecting it to be some sort of trick question. But she didn't look angry, just mildly amused.

"A little, actually. Although he beat the shit out of me, as well."

That made her smile. "He did indeed."

He almost smiled back at her, before remembering why he was even there. "Ashe. Would you care to tell me what the fuck is going on here? Why did you leave? And why was he with you?"

Ashe sighed. "Can this please wait until we are back in Denerim?"

He wanted to yell no, to demand answers, but he stopped himself. He had traveled all the way to Skyhold to see her, he was prepared to step down as King for her sake. He would do anything to get her back. Would anything she had to say now change that? The simple answer was no. And she hadn't really even done anything wrong, she clearly had some sort of plan. It annoyed him that Hawke had been with her, but what of it, really? Maybe he had just gone along uninvited. He didn't know, and he shouldn't have made assumptions. That hadn't exactly worked great for him in the past as far as Ashe was concerned.

"Alright, in Denerim then. But this time, I'm going with you. Don't you even think about leaving me behind again."

Ashe positively beamed at him then. "I won't," she said through her smile.

Someone cleared their throat right behind them. Alistair swung his head around.

"And please, Your Majesty, don't you ever think about ordering me to stand down again when a man is beating you half to death."

Alistair rubbed his neck, a little embarrassed that he had forgotten that Captain Roth was still there.

"I promise I'll… try?" he said, and the captain sighed while Ashe put her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter.

It was a long journey to Denerim, even though they were traveling light and quickly. Ashe seemed to be in somewhat of a hurry. Alistair had thought that she was trying to get a head start from him when she had first left, but apparently she was in the same rush now, even with him by her side. She seemed to be in good spirits, but she didn't say much. The three of them rode fast most of the light hours of the day, and at night, she retired to her own tent. He had no idea what to make of it. They made casual conversation around the campfire at night, but Captain Roth was always present, his ever vigilant behavior killing the mood each time.

It wasn't until they were only a few days ride from the capital that they got some privacy. They had stopped for the day earlier than usual since they had come by a large spring of fresh water, and their poor horses were well deserving of some drink and rest. Upon stopping, the captain immediately announced that he would go hunting for dinner, muttering something about how he couldn't stand to eat just cheese for another day as he disappeared from view. Alistair shook his head at the man, who was clearly not a gourmand like himself.

But when he saw Ashe get off her horse and stretch out her body, her back still to him, Alistair forgot about the captain faster than he could blink.

He hadn't touched her in weeks.

"Is he gone?" Ashe still hadn't turned around to face him as she spoke.

"Yes," he answered, his throat tightening as he watched her start to strip out of her armor first, and then her clothes. She dropped everything unceremoniously in a heap on the ground.

"Maker's breath but I have looked forward to a bath," she said and he saw her naked backside disappear into the water, right next to where her horse stood drinking.

Just watching her naked skin from behind had made him hard, and he quickly ditched his own armor, intent on following her. If she didn't want to talk, that was fine. They didn't have to say a word for what he had in mind.

He followed Ashe into the water, where she was lingering near the edge, submerged up to her chest. She had already dunked her head under the surface and come up again, and when she stretched her arms up, her breasts came up over the water, wet strands of her irresistible red hair slicked to them, droplets of water gliding down over the skin.

Alistair growled and grabbed her from behind, yanking her to him so that her back was pressed against his chest. He delighted in hearing her gasp and his hands disappeared under the water, one firmly grabbing her hip, holding her in place, while the other teased its way up her stomach.

"Alistair, we shouldn't…." she started but he shushed her.

"How long did you think you could torture me like this?" he rumbled as his fingers found her breast. She let out a delightful moan as he squeezed. "Denying me every single, fucking night for weeks? I'm done waiting."

Ashe

Her resolve was breaking fast, so much faster than she would have liked. She could already feel his hard cock press against her ass, and his hands grabbing her roughly while he spoke with that low, throaty voice was making her so wet for him.

Damn him!

He knew that she would be unable to resist him if he was rough, dominating, demanding. She knew that he knew. But she was helpless nonetheless. It wasn't as if the past weeks on the road had been easy on her, either. She had seen the hungry look in his eyes as he watched her every night. She knew he would have done anything to join her in her tent, but she also knew it would be best to hold off all such things until they got to Denerim.

And she had almost made it. They were two, maybe three days away from their destination, at the most. She couldn't give in now.

She tried to steel herself against him. "Alistair, please, don't," she whimpered.

"Why the fuck not, huh?" he growled and pushed her even harder against him. His hand snaked its way down, parting her legs and then his fingers were inside of her, making her treacherous mouth give out a moan. "I can feel how much you want me," he rasped and then bit her neck, hard, while he moved his fingers in and out of her.

"Oh, Maker, just… Ah, Alistair, please-"

She was unable to say anything else when she felt the tip of his cock tease her from behind. He dragged them closer to the edge of the water and pushed her upper body down on a large rock sticking out of the water.

She had given up resisting by then, far too ravenous for him to finish what he started, and she spread herself for him, making him groan appreciatively. She could hear him jerk himself off behind her while his other hand stroked her between her legs.

"Where do you want it, Ashe? In your cunt? In your ass?"

She moaned in response to his last suggestion.

"You are so fucking filthy," he snarled, and he pushed her further up the rock, making only the lower half of her legs still in the water. He squeezed her ass and wasted no time inserting a finger into her asshole. "So fucking sexy..." he mumbled and she all but screamed out her pleasure when he moved inside of her.

Maker, he's so fucking good at this…

He worked on her furiously and made her moan harder and harder, spurring him on even more.

"I want you to fucking scream when I put my cock into you, you hear me?"

"Yes!" she breathed, whimpering at the loss of contact as he pulled his finger out.

Just as he was about to enter her, they could hear hoof beats disturbing the ground in the woods around them.

Alistair let loose a whole string of curses, and Ashe quickly dropped down into the water. Alistair kicked himself out further to submerge more of himself underneath the surface, and she did the same. It wasn't long until they saw Captain Roth emerge from the trees, a frantic look to his face.

"Your Majesty?" he called, looking around for his sire. He came to a halt at the bank of the water, drawing in a breath of apparent relief when he saw Alistair and Ashe in the pool.

"I thought I heard screaming, I shouldn't have left, Your Majesty, I'm sorry-"

"It's fine, Roth," Alistair said through gritted teeth. "Must have been animals."

"Well, either way, I'm not leaving your side again, not when we are so close to home. I swear it, Your Majesty." The captain got off his horse and let it join the other two in drinking. The man rooted himself to the ground, his arms crossed in front of him, peering out into the trees, ever vigilant.

Ashe was glad he hadn't caught them completely red handed, but she could see Alistair almost shaking with fury. She swam up to him and smiled. "Try not to kill him before we get back to the palace, alright?" He rolled his eyes at her and made to catch her, but she kicked her legs out and swam closer to the bank.

"Ah-ah, darling. This is a sign from the Maker. This simply wasn't supposed to happen." She blew him a kiss and giggled as he splashed water her way and cursed.

A few days later, as they were riding into the city outskirts, Ashe thought back to the fight between Hawke and Alistair. She had been right to allow them to get it all out, even if they had beat each other half to death. Hawke had followed her from Skyhold from the moment she had left, trying to talk her out of what she was about to do, but in the end, it seemed he understood. But when Alistair had caught up to them, Hawke had snapped. She didn't blame him. All he wanted to do was to protect her, she had understood that before Greyer himself had. He wasn't in love with her, nor would he ever be. Maybe if he had been, truly – like Alistair – she might have fallen in love with him right back. But she knew people, she knew men. It might not be a pleasant thought for either of them, considering all that they had done to each other in bed, but in the end, they were like brother and sister to each other. Brother and best friend. He had proved it after the fight with Alistair. She had given him the healing potion, and all that it had finally took to make him understand were three simple words.

I love him.

She just had to find out one thing for sure, when they arrived in the city. Just one thing. And then she would be free.