a/n- Introducing the Champion of Kirkwall. I really have nothing else to say about this chapter. If you're still with me after all this time, if you're still reading for some insane reason, thank you. Rest assured, the romance will happen soon. I know I said this story was adventure/romance and it will be. I feel like people are still waiting for that to happen.
Hawke
Solas' final words on The Iron Bull stuck with her for quite some time afterward. Enya knew what he'd meant, felt it in her core. Each time she thought of it she remembered her vallaslin and the talisman of Mythal that hung around her neck. She remembered how hungrily she'd questioned him on the ways of ancient elves and how they'd fought about the Dalish's rigidity regarding what they learned. She'd bristled when he suggested that even she couldn't open her mind to hear what he had to say on the matter. Regret had softened his words when she turned what little elvhen she knew against him and shamed his snap judgements. But it was just that pride, that desire to hold on to home, to her origins that drove Enya to such an impassioned response. It had been long ago in Haven, when the Inquisition barely knew what stood before them, and even still she remembered the faraway look that filled his eyes with such sadness when he spoke of Arlathan and Elvhenan, more than the loss of a friend or a lover, it was longing for something else, she thought.
Even so, the Iron Bull did not appear to have any reservations about the Inquisition on his arrival. By the time the Chargers had made themselves at home in Skyhold, the tavern had little need for any business and handed orders to the Inquisition's new Quartermaster every other day. They were very particular in what they drank but not exacting in their tastes. Enya had been informed by the Quartermaster that he quite doubted any of the makers of these ales and beers were used to orders of such magnitude. His lip curled as he tied the requisition to the leg of a raven.
Enya left the Inquisition's quartermaster disgusted by his duties and had no sooner stepped outside than she was stopped by Cassandra.
"Leliana informs me that Josephine had a letter from this 'friend' Varric promised to write to," the Seeker spoke quickly. The hand that gripped her sword closed about it in a vice grip, "That she will be arriving today," she shook her head, "I swear, if its who I think it is I will…I-"
Cassandra let out a disgusted noise of irritation, "Well, I don't know what I will do. But he won't like it."
Enya raised an eyebrow, "Who do you think it is?"
"Someone the Inquisition, someone Thedas desperately needed. I will say no more. No need to have him running about crying 'persecution' again."
The Seeker wrung hands together and then straightened, "Forgive me Inquisitor, I should not have stopped you."
"I really don't mind Cassandra." She hesitated and then added, "I promise, as soon as I know who Varric has brought I'll let you know."
Cassandra's shoulders visibly sagged, "I'm being foolish, sitting around worrying about who that little Charlatan has invited into our midst. You don't need to report to me, Inquisitor."
Enya opened her mouth to speak but a dark-haired young man ran up to them, calling to her.
"My sincerest apologies for interrupting, Seeker Pentaghast, Inquisitor," he turned from Cassandra to Enya, "Your presence has been requested on the Battlements. We have a guest."
Excitement danced through the young man's voice, pure and unadulterated. Though the clothes he wore were plain and his stance indicated he had spent much of his time light on his feet, his worn linen shirt bore the insignia of Kirkwall, red and angular. Enya realized then who it was Cassandra was concerned Varric had brought. Cassandra's face was taught with fury when Enya glanced at her next and the Seeker left with a growl, stalking toward the tavern. Given this young man's lack of ability to contain himself, she was undoubtedly correct.
The Champion of Kirkwall. It was such a grand title, and though she had yet to read the tale Varric had woven, she had heard enough to know that it was hard earned. And hard lost. So quickly the people of Kirkwall had turned on their Champion, though as she ascended the stairs, she could not blame them, for few knew the extent to which the champion was involved in the destruction of Kirkwall's Chantry and subsequent slaughter. If this really was who she was to meet, perhaps they would see better eye to eye than anyone she could have hoped for.
Varric stood on a lowered observation tower above Skyhold's gardens. He took a drink of wine from the bottle he held in his hand and paced the small section of ramparts. Enya had never seen him so anxious. The rogue scratched the back of his neck but when he spotted her, he smiled at her approach.
"Inquisitor. I suppose that boy found you then. Good I…" He paced, "There's someone I think you should meet. Let's just say, she and I know a bit more about what's going on than I've said."
The door to the tower shut with a bang and a woman with dark red, chin-length hair made her way toward them. Her eyes were dark and the daggers she wore on her back were of Dalish origin. Enya raised her eyebrows in surprise. It was very rare for a human to carry Ironbark weapons. Even one so well connected as the Champion of Kirkwall.
"Inquisitor, I'd like you to meet Oriana Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall," He grinned broadly at his friend.
"Such as they say, Varric. I'm not sure Kirkwall would give me that title anymore," Her voice was oddly light for a woman so heavily armored.
"Now Waffles, I'll have you know some people still remember you quite fondly. Aveline, for instance, refuses to say a bad word about you,"
"Well yes, but she always was too stubborn to let anyone speak poorly of her friends." Despite her rebuttal, Hawke smiled.
There hung in the air a sense of dismissal and Varric seemed to sense it immediately, "I'll leave you two to talk."
"Now, Inquisitor. I suppose you'd like to know what I know about Corypheus. Although, you've already dropped half a mountain on him. I'd say you're doing just fine on your own."
"I used what I had at my disposal. It didn't matter though. That archdemon of his pulled him clear of the avalanche. We can't defeat someone who is a complete mystery. And Varric says you can help."
"Well, you could fight a mystery with some very serious dumb luck Inquisitor. I think that's what helped Varric and I survive him," she ran a finger along the stone edging about the tower and crossed her arms, "We came across him by accident. Some Carta assassins were sent after me in Kirkwall. It turned out they had been hired by the Wardens who were holding Corypheus captive."
The rogue settled against the ramparts, leaning on her elbows.
"They were holding him captive?" Enya asked, "I thought it was a Warden's job to put an end to the darkspawn. Why wouldn't they kill a man who claimed he was responsible for starting the blights in the first place?"
"I don't know. Somehow, he had invaded their minds and was controlling him. My father had helped the Wardens bind him with his own blood. Drawing me to the tower ultimately unlocked his prison, though I didn't know it while it was happening. He orchestrated his release through them," She seemed disturbed, "Perhaps he controlled their minds so they couldn't kill him. Or perhaps, they couldn't work out how to kill him. But I promise you this. When Varric and I left that tower, Corypheus was dead. Varric stuck him with so many arrows he looked like a bloody pincushion. I check him. We all checked him. He was dead."
Enya looked out at the courtyard, one hand on her hip and the other stretched across her stomach to grasp her waist. Corypheus had escaped death more than once. It was not a comforting thought, but it explained how he could truly be what he claimed all these years after the beginning of the Blight. And how he had escaped the Conclave. At once, the conversation she had had with Leliana before she'd recruited Blackwall sprung to mind.
"The Wardens have disappeared across Ferelden and Orlais. Could it be that Corypheus is controlling them like the Wardens at the tower?"
"I suppose it's possible. Somehow, he's managed to convince an archdemon to do his bidding and blew up the Divine's conclave. The last hope to save Thedas from the mess we made back in Kirkwall. He's clearly grown strong since he was freed from his incarceration."
They lapsed into silence for a long while, both staring out into the courtyard.
"Skyhold is beautiful, Inquisitor. You have quite the view," She sighed, "I had a view like this once. From my family's home in Kirkwall I could see the whole city stretched out before me. But after a time all I could see were the people, the lives that depended on me to make the right decision."
Enya nodded, watching the movement of the dwarven masons as they neared completion of the bridge from the rotunda to the walls. The surgeon moved about in the lowest tier of the courtyard, always looking just slightly harried. Mother Giselle directed the weary travelers through the Chantry garden into the room containing Andraste's shrine. Josephine and Leliana stood at the entrance to Skyhold's castle chatting animatedly. Enya doubted rather strongly that what they discussed was Inquisition work. And down by the training dummies she spotted Cassandra, and to her surprise, Cullen engaged in a rather aggressive sparing match that. They had garnered a crowd of onlookers, not the least of which was The Iron Bull. He cheered and drank in equal turn though she noted he seemed no worse for the wear.
"The Inquisition is filled with good people. I feel the weight sometimes, but we're doing something good here. We're trying to repair Thedas and stop whatever is going on from getting a whole lot worse. Every time I feel that weight I just remind myself of that," Enya drew back from the edge of the tower and paced inward.
"Goodness. Varric was right about you," Hawke commented.
Enya started, "He's mentioned me."
She shouldn't have been surprised. Varric, afterall was a storyteller and it would be ridiculous to assume that Varric's recent correspondence with the Champion of Kirkwall was his only since the Inquisition's inception. No doubt he had discretely kept his friend appraised of what had happened.
"Only good things, I promise. I was surprised actually, Varric's not usually one for religion. When I heard he was following the 'Herald of Andraste,' I thought he must have gone mad, but you inspire something in him. In a lot of people, I imagine," Hawke paused, "I believe he said to me that you have a good chance of fixing Anders' mistake."
The mage that had set in motion the explosion of Kirkwall's Chantry had been banished. It had invoked fury in the hearts of Andrastians for they wanted retribution for his crimes. Leliana explained that though many had looked in the absence of the Champion, there was no trace of him. Many in Kirkwall assumed Hawke had hidden him or helped him, but no one could be certain.
"What did happen after Kirkwall's Circle fell?"
"There were calls for an Exalted March. I had stayed in Kirkwall for a while in an attempt to quell the people's fear but they no longer cared to listen to me. Most believed I had freed Anders out of our friendship, but in truth, we had no such thing. Anders was always a wild man, a former grey warden no less and when I tried to help him and I realized he was host to a spirit, I knew it spelled trouble. I wish I could have made him see reason or that I had noticed what he planned but he… I couldn't kill him and allow him to become a martyr, a symbol for mages everywhere to cling to as an example. Certainly, there was a problem with Kirkwall's Circle and with most Circles across Thedas, but he forced the mages into a fight they were not prepared for. Threw this world into Chaos. I couldn't let him become a hero at my hand," She paused and shifted, "I let Kirkwall in the hope that it might split the Chantry's focus, that they would send people after me instead of purging Kirkwall, but I needn't have bothered. The Exalted March never came. The Templars when to war with the mages. And it seems my absence only made things worse in Kirkwall. Lowtown rose up and attempted to purge the Alienage. Any mage that didn't want to fight was victimized, beaten. The last thing I heard from Aveline was that she had gotten my sister out of town. Maker knows where Bethany is now." She sighed, "and last I heard from Varric, Merrill had taken any elf that wasn't killed in the purge and spirited them out into the Vinmark mountains. I guess she's teaching them the ways of the Dalish, caring for them."
"Your daggers?" Enya gestured at the tapered Dalish weapons strapped to the Champion's back.
Hawke smiled, "Dar missan. A gift from Merril's Clan before they were slaughtered for blood magic. I was well liked by their Keeper."
"That is rather uncommon. My own clan would never have dreamed of giving any human such a gift."
"Keeper Marethari was an uncommon woman and Merrill was her First and one of my dearest friends. She cared very deeply for Merrill, despite her interests in blood magic. She entrusted her to my care when it became clear that the clan would no longer accept Merrill's curiosity."
Appalled, Enya replied, "They threw her out for being too curious? She was a First. It was her job."
Hawke laughed, "You'd have to know Merrill to understand why I do not blame them. She was young, and a little rash and her curiosity preceded all other rational thought. Varric and I went to great pains to keep her out of trouble in Kirkwall. And even then, it sometimes found her." Hawke pulled herself away from her reminiscence, "Anyway, I believe we've strayed a bit too far from the reason Varric brought me to you. I have a Warden friend, Stroud is his name. I've been working with him, trying to track shipments of red lyrium I heard whispers of after I left Kirkwall. He could be an invaluable resource where the matter of the Grey Warden's disappearance is concerned."
"He hasn't disappeared as well?" Enya pressed.
"Not that I am aware of. I only heard from him last week. He's hiding in an old smuggler's cave in Crestwood, trying to stay out of trouble. I have a meeting with him soon. Varric has the location to give to your advisors. Come when you are ready. I will be sure I am there when you meet him," She glanced around Skyhold quickly, "Now, I believe I should be going before your Seeker Pentaghast or Sister Nightingale catch wind that I am here."
Enya laughed, "I'm afraid very little here happens that Leliana's ears have not already heard and Cassandra was made aware that 'Varric's contact' arrived when the runner found me. They are no threat to you."
"That remains to be seen, Inquisitor. I know how hard they looked for me when they were planning to restart the Inquisition. I doubt they'd take kindly to my reappearance now."
The Champion donned a weather-worn cloak which she pulled up over her head obscuring her hair.
"Now, off to Crestwood. I will meet you there, Herald,"
The Champion made her way down from the walls and Enya followed only just behind. As Hawke reached the bottom of the stair, she was met with Cassandra. The two women froze on the spot. Enya descended the rest of the way down the steps, stopping at Oriana's shoulder. A chill filled the space between them, very uncharacteristic of Skyhold's warmth. Anger burned in Cassandra's eyes, her shoulders set straight and her jaw, rigid. Enya wondered if she should intervene, but her Nevarran friend broke the silence.
Cassandra straightened, "Hawke."
Her voice was dead and dark, coals of the fire that had been her fury.
"Seeker Pentaghast."
Enya sensed resentment in the Champion's tone as well, but had not expected the ire. The stood utterly still staring at each other for several moments longer before finally, Hawke moved, rushing down the final set of steps to Skyhold's gate. Cassandra leapt into action, moving to apprehend the Champion, but Enya held out a hand to stop her.
"Let her go, Cassandra." She implored softly.
The seeker rounded on her, "I- She could- Inquisitor!"
"She can't do anything for us here, Cassandra. Let her help us in her own way,"
Cassandra met her gaze for a moment then straightened, "As you wish, Inquisitor."
Enya crossed her arms as the Seeker left her, hoping against hope that she might have made some impression on her friend. Though she doubted it.
In the camps below, Enya wandered, making note of how the Inquisition's soldiers were getting on. Since her speech them and the subsequent conversation she'd had with Cullen, she wondered how long it would take for them to begin to grow together again. They got on well with the Chargers, she saw and the Chargers had taken some time to help Cullen with the training, as had Blackwall, she noticed.
She stopped to briefly chat with Warden, asking whether he'd joined the Wardens before or after the fifth Blight. He answered that he'd been a Warden through the Blight and had joined willingly the company of the Grey. They parted when an Inquistion recruit approached him, asking how to perform a stronger shield bash and Blackwall apologized for returning to work.
Enya wondered after the Warden. Not only did he seem unphased by the disappearance of the Wardens, but he didn't even seem to feel the effects of whatever Hawke had suggested Corypheus used to control the Wardens. Before she could make it any further down this line of thought, however, she heard a crash from the armory.
"All this time!" the Seeker's hand cut through the air as sharply as her sword, "You know where she was."
Cassandra's voice echoed out into the courtyard, muffled by the wood and stone of the building but still very audible.
"Of course I did!"
"You conniving little shit!"
A second crash drew her in and up the stairs just in time to see Varric duck underneath the swing of Cassandra's still armored right fist. The dwarf put the table in between himself and the Seeker.
"You kidnap me, interrogate me and somehow you suspect I'd suddenly trust you enough to tell you where my best friend is hiding. That I would somehow bring her to you as though you hadn't just spent a week more or less beating the Tale of the Champion out of me. Going over every detail of my story? What did you expect?!"
Cassandra reared back to strike at him across the table but Enya jumped in the middle.
"Enough!" She held her arms outstretched to both of them.
"And suddenly, he's the injured party. You're on his side?!" Cassandra's angered voice brimmed with incredulity.
"I said enough!" Enya bought her hand down on the table between them, "This isn't solving anything."
Cassandra shook her head, sneering in Varric's direction for a moment before turning to Enya, "This Inquisition needed a leader, a voice people would listen to. Leliana and I spent months searching for the Hero of Ferelden but she had disappeared. Then we resolved to find Hawke. But then she was gone as well. There was a chance there was a connection to the disappearance of both, but no!"
She rounded on Varric again, "It was just you. Hiding and sneaking like the rogue you are."
"And now we have a true leader," Varric gestured at Enya.
"If anyone could have save the Divine, it would have been Hawke. She would have been there…" Cassandra trailed off, her rage fading.
Suddenly, she was not the pillar of vengeance she had become at the arrival of Hawke but had instead receded into grief, a woman searching for answers in a world that was giving her few. Enya felt a stab of pity for her Nevarran friend, despite the abuses to which the Seeker had just subjected Varric.
"You can't change the past, Cassandra. No one can."
Cassandra drew back, her eyes falling, "So what would you have me accept? That all of this- the Most Holy's death. That the Maker wa-wanted this to…"
The Seeker's voice caught in her throat and she looked away from them, gathering herself. Varric rubbed the back of his neck as though this sudden display of emotion made him uncomfortable. There was a bit of regret on his face. He and Cassandra had become something close to friends over the month since the Inquisition had begun and even though Enya knew it compared in no way to his relationship with Hawke, he clearly felt a touch of guilt for hurting the Seeker.
"Varric is a liar, Inquisitor, a sneak. He cannot be trusted." Cassandra concluded with an emphatic wave of her hand.
"I was protecting my friend," Varric defended.
She waved her hand dismissively, "Yes, and you will always be on her side. Never the Inquisition's."
"That's not entirely fair Cassandra. He's with us now and he brought Hawke to us when it was clear we needed her. There's no point in attacking him after the fact," Enya placed her hands on her hips.
"Ha," Varric chimed in.
Enya rounded on him, "Don't think you're getting out of this free Varric. You had better not be hiding anything else. If you're going to be part of the Inquisition, you have to trust us. That Includes Cassandra and Leliana."
He to a step back and then his shoulders fell, "I understand."
Cassandra, let out a sigh, drawing their attention back to her. All the fire had left her now and her arms hung limp at her sides. She turned away from them to lean on the railing overlooking the rest of the smithy.
"I must accept that I cannot change the past. No matter how hard I try," she lowered her head, resting her forehead on her forearms, "Go Varric just…go."
The dwarf shrugged, the expression on his face revealed too late that he was not done with the conversation. As he reached the top of the stairs, he called back, "You know what I think. I think if Hawke had been at the Conclave, she'd be dead too."
Enya waited as he descended the stairs. Once the door banged closed, she approached her former captor.
"I-believed him. I let him weave a pretty little tale of friendship in the face of adversity. Of a woman simply on the wrong end of fate despite all she had done to repair her city."
Cassandra paced to a bench and fell onto it, her head falling into her gloved hands, "I didn't explain to him why we needed Hawke. I should have said something instead of demanding he tell me. But I didn't. 'You must think before you act, Cassandra', my instructors always said. I am such a fool."
"What difference would it have made if you hadn't believed him. Were you so certain Hawke would have said yes to your proposition?"
Cassandra let out a ragged chuckle, "No. She probably would not have. She had no reason to trust me, and no way to know I was not trying to reinstate the circles."
She looked up at Enya, "I should have been smarter, Inquisitor. I should have looked harder. Been more vigilant. Perhaps if I had… I do not deserve to be here."
"Cassandra," Enya tilted her head, drawing her companion's attention, "You are far too hard on yourself. You made this Inquisition what it is. You and Leliana. Cullen and Josephine were brought here by the both of you. Give yourself more credit."
The seeker let out a sharp breath and visibly pulled herself up.
"What I said before, about Hawke being the Inquisitor. I don't want you to think that I don't believe in you. That I am discounting everything you have done for the Inquisition. Perhaps, if we had found Hawke before the Conclave and she agreed then we might have had no need for you. But we did need someone, and the Maker sent you. You say that I made the Inquisition what it is, but I disagree. I will always disagree. We are here because of the things you have done."
"Fine, Cassandra, today I won't argue."
The seeker smiled, "If I have learned anything from this, it is that I know less than nothing." She paused and then added, "Thank you, Inquisitor."
Enya left the Seeker to her thoughts. No doubt a few training dummies would be in repair by the time the day was out but Enya felt considerably better having diffused the situation between the two. Who knew what would have happened had she not arrived precisely when she did. Varric yelling persecution would have been the least of Cassandra's problems.
She found Varric in the Great Hall, leaning against a poorly crafted table and drinking mead from a tankard the size of his face.
"Describe how angry she still is in terms of who or what she is punching right now." He commented.
Enya shook her head, "She wasn't really angry at you Varric."
"I must have missed this being about something else when the fists were flying at my face." He quipped and then he settled onto a stool, "I know I should have told her, but I had no reason to trust her at the time. I'd only been out of that bloody interrogation room a week and all of a sudden there was a hole in the sky and demons everywhere. Hawke's been through enough. I couldn't be responsible for putting her through anything else."
"I know Varric, because I know you, I know. But if everyone keeps secrets and tells only half truths, the Inquisition has only ghosts on which to operate. And we can't have that. I need to be certain you will tell me everything next time."
"Don't worry, Inquisitor. You'll hear no more lies from me. At least not on anything important. There might be the odd embellishment to a story or two."
Enya smiled, "I wouldn't expect anything less."
a/n- For some reason these chapters are getting longer each time I write them. Even editing adds a few tens of words. I don't know what else I can do! Anyway, how I managed this one in a day, I'll never know. And I'm writing three different chapters from 2 different stories at once (working on a couple of updates to Halam'shivanas. If you follow that story, it will become clear why I'm working on multiples.)