"Thank the Maker…" Hawke sighed with relief through pants; she had sprinted from Lowtown to her estate without stopping, her companions struggling to keep up with her (especially Varric, Blaize and Bianca).
Her estate was still in one piece, and near enough the only house now standing or not on fire. She would have to thank Sandal later with the biggest chocolate cake he could ever get his hands on. The door to her estate immediately opened and Bruiser bounded towards her, barking in happiness as he jumped up and knocked over his master, licking her all over her face.
"Down boy!" Hawke chuckled, pushing the slobbering fur-ball as Bruiser ran around in circles in front of her before greeting everyone else.
"You better come quick, mistress," Bodahn spoke quickly, worry evident in his voice, "Master Fenris has taken a toll for the worst."
Immediately getting onto her feet, Hawke strode with a determined look fixed on her face into the mansion, "Sebastian? Isabella?"
"We're in here Hawke!" Isabella shouted back, her voice resonating from the master bedroom.
Hawke stumbled up the stairs, trying to get there as fast as she could before bursting into the room. Tears immediately started pouring from her eyes as Katherine was desperately trying to resuscitate him. Throwing her staff to one side, she glared at Katherine to make her move. Reluctantly, and not used to taking orders, Katherine obeyed and left the room, which left Sebastian, Isabella and Hawke.
Closing her eyes, Trinity placed her hand on Fenris' heart and used subtle electric pulses to try and get Fenris' heart beating again.
"Please don't leave me, not now…" She whispered through sobs, not noticing Sebastian move quietly to the other side of the bed to check his pulse. Despite feeling her mana slowly drain, Hawke persisted, she loved Fenris too damned much to lose him.
Fenris had always had Hawke's back and always picked her up whenever she fell, both emotionally and physically. Now it was her turn to do that for him.
Suddenly, Sebastian started to laugh with relief, "He's alive Hawke!" But there was so much more to be done.
Hawke started to wave her hands above Fenris torso, slowly fixing each bone back together like a complicated jigsaw, starting with his ribcage and making her way down to his legs. Gentle pulses of pale blue healing magic emitted from her hands.
"This is going to take a while, why don't you guys go and get everyone else sorted out, and Thankyou for bringing him back to safety," Hawke muttered, but loud enough for Katherine to hear, "Sorry for not being much of a host, your majesty. Bodahn and Orana will fix you, your husband and anyone else food if needed."
"Thankyou, serah," Katherine nodded before marching out to find her husband. Isabella soon left afterwards, not saying another word to anyone before she was reunited with the rest of her friends.
Hawke stopped for a moment, recovering her strength as fixing bones always took the life out of her. She perched on the seat beside the bed, resting for a while. Sebastian came and knelt in front of her, offering a lyrium potion, Hawke nodded in thanks and chugged it down.
"Hawke…if there is anything that you need…?"
"I'm fine Sebastian…" she gently took his hands in hers, smiling weakly, "Thankyou for bringing Fenris to safety. It means-"
"I know. I will be just outside if you need anything," Sebastian smiled warmly before leaving, closing the door gently behind him. Hawke could already hear Winter asking the prince about her uncle, and when she could go and see him.
Feeling energised again, Hawke continued her healing magic, knowing full well that Fenris would not be happy knowing that she was healing him with magic. Sighing, she began to piece together the bones in his arms.
"No fighting for a while, Fen…" she whispered softly.
After spending another couple of hours double-checking for any other injuries, Hawke quickly (but carefully) began to take off Fenris' spikey armour to check for any cuts or bruising. She decided to leave the bruises and small cuts, knowing that Fenris would fuss if she healed those too. Trinity then began to change Fenris into some clean clothes, placing his bloody ones on the chair closest to her.
Finally satisfied that Fenris wasn't in pain, she collapsed onto the space beside him on the bed, gently brushing strands of hair away from his face. He appeared to be dreaming peacefully about Maker knows what, and all the usual anger and broody glare on his face had seeped away. Hawke smiled sadly before wiping away from tears that were beginning to fall before she rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, eventually falling asleep from pure exhaustion.
"So let me get this right; Anders had killed two of your Wardens and had almost killed you too?" Bianca asked Katherine, the entirety of the group was gathered in the library, trying to distract themselves from worrying about Fenris and Hawke.
Aveline had already left earlier to check if Donnic and her guards were alright; Varric, Blaize and Isabella left to check if the Hanged Man was in one piece (and Blaize really needed a bath). Merrill was too busy blubbering on about Maker knows what with Carver, checking him for wounds, to notice anything going on. The King and Queen of Ferelden sat on the chairs in front of the fire Bodahn had prepared and Bianca leant against the staircase frame with Winter perched on the table closest to the dwarven mage. Sebastian was pacing back and forth, muttering prayers to the Maker as he was clearly worried.
"Indeed, and that is why I wanted to hunt him down. I knew he was from the Circle in Ferelden, so I wrote to Solana Amell who pointed me to serah Hawke. She and Alistair have been corresponding for a month or so before his visit to Kirkwall," Katherine replied sternly.
"I had only briefly spoken to Anders before he disappeared. But I knew there were some deep dark secrets, his presence really shook me," Bianca tucked a long lock of black hair behind her ear.
"What do you mean?" Alistair questioned naively.
"As if you hadn't noticed, I'm no ordinary dwarf; and I like to read minds on the side too," Bianca chuckled before her face became serious, "He lied his way through life, and had many regrets. Death followed him wherever he went, leaving a mass of bodies in his wake."
"Anders did have his good side of course," Katherine added, "He protected his friends, fought for what he believed in and he was generally really great to be around."
"Can we stop talking about that blighted mage?" Sebastian snapped; his pacing becoming more erratic.
"Maybe you should go home…" Katherine said softly.
"I have no home! If you didn't see, it was blown up by Anders and his stupid Revolutionist group."
"Sebastian, now you're being unreasonable," Bianca added gently.
"I apologise, your Highness," Sebastian bowed slightly to Katherine before leaving the room.
"Maybe he has gone to check on Fenris and Hawke. I mean, Sebastian is never that moody but today really has not gone well for him," Merrill chirped innocently.
"I suppose you're right. We should all go home and get some sleep, well, Katherine and I will return to the ship and come back in the morning. There is much we need to discuss with Hawke," Alistair bid everyone farewell, thanking them for helping stop the strife in Kirkwall. Katherine remained silent, as if she were deep in thought, as the pair left the mansion. Bianca and Winter followed soon after, heading back to the Hanged Man whilst Carver and Merrill stayed in the library since they had nowhere else to go.
Fenris awoke to a sharp pain immediately throbbing in his head, his eyes opened wide as he bolted upright, his whole body aching as he tried to recall the previous day.
Carver's wedding…Chocolate cake…Letter…Mages and templars…
Running a hand through his matted hair, Fenris' vision cleared as his eyes focused on the blurred figure seated in the chair opposite to the bed. But it suddenly moved to push him back down to the bed with strong, gentle hands.
"You need to rest, Fenris," spoke a strong Starkhaven accent.
"Where's Hawke?"
"Oh good morning to you too Sebastian, sorry that I made you risk your life carrying me back to the mansion and almost getting killed a few times," Sebastian chuckled, which made Fenris feel a pang of guilt inside him as he turned his face away from the prince.
"Thankyou…"
Sebastian smiled warmly, "No problem, my brother, and Hawke is lying right beside you. She presumably passed out after she healed you-"
"I told her not to heal me with magic," Fenris snapped, trying to sit up again but the throbbing pain in his head knocked him backwards, causing him to groan in pain.
"She saved your life Fenris…You were dying," Sebastian sighed.
Yet again, Sebastian stabs Fenris with the knife of guilt. He knew that Sebastian had his best interests at times but he didn't know the side effects healing magic really has on the healer. The healer uses their own life force to make another one recover, and if he was on the brink of death, then Hawke is extremely weak right now and will take far longer than he will at recovering.
Fenris managed to prop himself up against the headboard of the bed, despite his body protesting otherwise.
"What happened whilst I was…Passed out?" Fenris finally broke the awkward silence between the two men.
"The First Enchanter and Knight Commander are both dead. The Circle has been destroyed and most of Kirkwall is in ruin. Knight Captain Cullen helped Isabella and I to escape with you since Meredith planned on killing you for your markings, and he also sided with Hawke when he realised Meredith was insane."
Fenris grimaced at that blighted templar's name. It always left a bad taste in his mouth, "I see…Where is Winter?"
"She's safe and sound with Bianca, Varric and Blaize at the Hanged Man. We thought it was best if she was away from you and Hawke for a while, she was literally trying to claw her way through the door," Sebastian chuckled, finally managing to make Fenris smile, even if it was for a few seconds.
"Anyway, I will leave you to sort yourself out. If you need assistance, I'll just be outside the door," Sebastian nodded to Fenris before leaving the room, leaving the elf to do whatever he needed to do.
Fenris rolled his shoulders, knowing that it will take a while for his sword arm to get better but thanks to his ability to heal quickly, as well as Hawke's magic, he would be fighting fit in no time. Wincing in pain, he moved himself to lie beside Hawke, who was still sound asleep and holding what appeared to be the red ribbon that he usually wore on his wrist.
Carefully, Fenris pulled the ribbon out from her grasp and tied it back where it belonged. He then noticed that Hawke was still in the bloody robes she wore that battle, so he made sure to free her of them, leaving her in just her underclothes. He knew that she was the one who had cleaned him up and dressed his wounds, so he would do the same for her.
He could already hear Hawke calling him a 'damned stubborn elf' for doing this for her despite almost dying the day before. He simply threw the dirty clothes on the floor and held her sleeping form against his, pulling the duvet over them.
Her hair stunk of perspiration and fire, but Fenris didn't care. Hawke grumbled as she moved onto her back, still sound asleep and lying in Fenris' arms. He chuckled quietly before twirling a lock of her re-growing hair around his index finger; it had grown back surprisingly quickly and was already past her shoulders.
Fenris nuzzled into her neck, closing his eyes as he suddenly felt a wave of tiredness completely envelope his body.
"Festis bei umo canavarum," Fenris whispered, sighing before falling asleep.