It was the morning of the day that Fenris would finally be reunited with his long lost sister, at least that was their hope. They would head to the Hanged Man at noon, which was only two hours from now. As much as Hawke should have been happy about this little reunion, she had a very bad feeling about it. Something just didn't feel right, but she was ready for an ambush. If Danarius showed, she would not hesitate to attack. If the bastard dared to try and take Fenris away from her...well, he would pay dearly.
Hawke spent the morning practicing her blade skills in the Estate's courtyard. It was a normal routine. An exercise she took joy in, it even helped ease the stress that continued to build each day. However today she just couldn't seem to concentrate, Hawke stood there while twirling a dagger gracefully in her right hand. Her piercing blue eyes starring off into the distance as thoughts of how the day may turn out troubled her. Would everything go smoothly? Or would something horrible happen? The Maker only knew.
Hours later Varric, Sebastien and Fenris stood with Hawke in the middle of Lowtown's market. They've been awaiting for Anders and Isabela to arrive for quite sometime now.
"I should have known the mage wouldn't show." Fenris grumbled under his breath as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Ah, come on Broody...I'm sure he will be here soon enough. You forget that Blondie's a healer after all. The guy has a lot of people to look after. Perhaps something came up." Said Varric, then giving his beloved crossbow named Bianca a pat he added, "Besides, even if Blondie doesn't show, Bianca is here and ready to pierce some skulls!"
"I'd like to know where Isabela is." Sebastien added thoughtfully, "Didn't she say she would be here as well?"
Varric nodded, "Yeah, she did. Though I haven't seen her since yesterday evening. She wasn't even at the Hanged Man this morning either."
"Odd" Sebastien replied, "Isn't she always at the Hanged Man?"
Fenris cursed something in Tevinter and threw his hands into the air. "That's it. I cannot wait any longer. I need to see Varania." Without another word he began to head towards the tavern. Hawke sighed, and he said she was the stubborn one for helping the mages...Then again, perhaps she was just being silly. Varric practically lived at the tavern, and he did say he hadn't noticed anything odd there this morning. All this over worrying was starting to make her feel rather sick. Taking a deep breath then exhaling it out slowly, she and the others followed after the broody elf.
Once inside the Hanged Man, Hawke instantly knew something was wrong. The tavern wasn't as crowded as it normally was, there were less than a handful of people at the bar. Their backs were towards them, heads low while they sipped their mugs quietly. Something was defiantly not right, though before Hawke could say anything, an elven woman at one of the tables spoke.
"It really is you."
Fenris stopped dead in his tracks, "Varania?"
Again, there was something not right with this woman. The way she kept her gaze forward, refusing to even look at Fenris, her long lost brother.
"I...I remember you." Fenris said softly, taking a step towards her. "We played in our master's courtyard while Mother worked. You called me..."
"Leto." The elven woman rose to her feet, eyes still refusing to meet his. "That's your name." She seemed very nervous and it wasn't from meeting a long lost brother for the first time.
Fenris raised his brows, "What's wrong? Why are you so..."
"It's a trap!" Hawke growled angrily.
"Ah, my little Fenris. Predictable as always." A deep humorous voice came from the hall.
Both Fenris and Hawke turned their gaze to the stairs as a tall man with a gray beard and cold eyes came down the steps.
A mix of confusion and fear slowly formed upon Fenris's face as he realized what was happening.
"I'm sorry it came to this Leto." Varania said sadly, her dead eyes finally meeting his.
Anger soon took over Fenris as he turned his head to glare at her. "You lead him here!"
"Now, now, Fenris. Don't blame your sister. She did what any good Imperial citizen should." Danarius came to stand before them, smiling wickedly.
Fenris's body immediately tensed up. His head was lowered, though his eyes glared up at his former master. "I never wanted these filthy markings, Danarius! But I won't let you kill me to get them."
The blood mage simply laughed in Fenris's face, "Oh, how little you know my pet."
Hawke felt a whole knew hated towards this monster, from all the evil beings she had came a crossed the past six years, this man had the most coldest, heartless eyes she had ever seen. Those same eyes suddenly turned to her and instantly Hawke began to feel strange.
"And this is your new Mistress then? The Champion of Kirkwall? Quite lovely..." His intense gaze took her in, looking her over, examining her slender form. When his eyes met hers, Hawke began to feel extremely light headed. What was going on?
"If you want him, he's yours." Spoke a voice that was not her own.
"What?" Fenris turned to look at her, brows raised, he was completely caught off guard. Why was he looking at her like that? She hadn't been the one to…
A cruel and twisted smile formed upon Danarius' smug face as he looked at her. "Interesting. I'll make it worth your while, of course. The power of the Imperium will be at your disposal.
Fenris looked from Danarius to Hawke, stepping in front of her. Eyes pleading. "Don't do this Hawke, I need you..."
Why couldn't she move? Her body suddenly felt so damn heavy, what was going on? Again the voice spoke, that same voice that sounded like her own. "You're on your own, Fenris."
Shit! It was her speaking, but not really... She would never, ever willing hand Fenris over like this. The one thing she wanted the most was to keep him safe, and kill Danarius so he would never harm him again. Wait...the bastard was controlling her with blood magic! That had to be it. Every part of Hawke's being began to scream with pure rage, she tried to move, tried to speak, but her body refused to obey. Why wasn't the others speaking? Varric and Sebastien were just inches behind her but they were being so silent. Were they under the same trance?
Years ago at the Blooming Rose Hawke had fallen under a trance like this while speaking to the 'Exotic Wonderer.' Another blood mage that held certain information that Hawke needed, when she was asked for it, she tried to control Hawke's mind. Yet when the woman had requested Hawke to raise her own dagger to her throat, she was able to break free from the mind control. But this time...this time it was so very different. She had no control, no matter how much she screamed orders for her body to move, to fight, nothing happened.
Fenris's eyes narrowed at her, "I suppose I should not be surprised..."
'No!' Hawke tried to plea with Fenris with her eyes. 'Don't believe it! Can't you see what's happening?' But it was no use...she figured that her face must have held a heartless, cold expression upon it, for he turned his gaze from her.
"So, what shall it be Fenris? Will you throw your life away?" Danarius asked coldly with a smirk.
The once bright light that Hawke had seen in Fenris's eyes began to slowly go out. He lowered his head as the tension in his body began to cease. After all the years he spent fighting for his freedom, something inside of him shattered.
'Damn it Fenris! Don't give up, fight!' Hawke couldn't believe he couldn't realize what was happening, that he was just giving up so easily. How could he believe she would betray him like this? Did he never figure it out that she would die for him? That her love for him was so strong that she would do anything and everything to protect him? Hawke wanted to shake him, then push him aside and tear Danarius' heart out herself, that is if he even had a heart.
The pleased look on the bastard's face made Hawke realize this was his plan all along. He must have known that it would break Fenris if a close friend betrayed him. Only she was not betraying him, Danarius was using her. By doing this, it shattered Fenris to sand, he no longer wanted to fight. For any chance of living a free and peaceful life had been destroyed in mere seconds by the one woman he had trusted the most.
"Lovely! Here's a token of my appreciation, Champion. I'm sure I can arrange to have something...more appropriate sent along soon."
Once again, against her will, Hawke's body reacted without her permission. She watched as her hand reached out to take the bag of coin from the blood mage.
Danarius' cruel eyes looked deep into hers, his smile widening. Then, with a quick snap of his fingers, five of his body guards soon surrounded the broken elf. "Remove the blade from his back, as well as any of his belongings. He will no longer be needing them."
Hawke was forced to stand there, watching helplessly as Danarius' goons began to remove Fenris's things. The Blade of Mercy that she had given to him as a gift weeks before was removed from the sheath on his back. "Hey, bet this will fetch a nice price. Can I keep it?" Asked one of the men, he held the sword out to Danarius.
Danarius arched a brow at the blade, then back to the man. "Take it for now, though we will speak about the sword later Jordan."
"Uh...right. Sorry." Jordan placed the sword in the sheath and wrapped it around his arm before continuing to remove Fenris's items.
Where the hell was Anders? If only he was here they could stop this! Hawke felt her heart begin to break as she was forced to watch the men tare and rip pieces of Fenris's armor from his body.
'No, no... Maker please stop this!' She watched as Jordon pulled out a dagger and began to cut through the red sash that was tied around Fenris's forearm. The very sash he wore out of love for her, a symbol of their night together. Or that was at least what Merrill had told her. Hawke wanted to cry as she watched the sash fall to the filthy floor of the tavern. The guards dirt covered boots stomping on it as they continued to remove item after item.
The Hawke family crest that Fenris also wore on his belt was cut free and tossed to the floor along with the red sash. She hated feeling like this, unable to help him. She screamed within her mind, ordering her body to move, to do something, then cursing words that she had never thought of speaking before when it refused to obey.
The lost and empty expression upon Fenris's face broke her heart. He lowered his head even more, his eyes soon becoming hidden beneath the thick white hair that she had once ran her fingers through so lovingly.
Within minutes, Fenris was stripped from his belongings, he stood there, slumped over, appearing beaten as his wrists were roughly bound behind his back. His returned proud Master came to stand in front of him. Hawke wanted to rip Danarius' heart out from his chest and hold it up in front of his damned empty eyes, so he could see just how black it was before he died. This wasn't over, even if he took Fenris, she would hunt him down, no matter what it took she would get him back for this. This was...not...over!
"Come along, everyone. The boat leaves for Minrathous within the hour!" Danarius clapped his hands and soon his body guards began to lead Fenris from the tavern. They didn't even have to shove him or anything, he went willingly, without even a fight. Hawke wanted to reach out to him, to grab his arm, but couldn't. Wanted to scream his name to stop, but couldn't. There wasn't a damn thing she could do, and it was killing her.
Hawke watched helplessly as Fenris, the one she loved so much, walked passed her, head lowered, eyes on the floor. The guards rounded the corner and out the door, within the blink of an eye, Fenris was gone...and she screamed. Screamed a scream that was so loud within her mind that it shook her very soul. She screamed her heart out, screamed all the feelings she felt at that very moment. Screamed for Fenris, screamed for him to return, screamed vengeance upon Danarius for doing this.
Suddenly Danarius was an inch from her face, starring her down with that twisted smile of his. "Now, to make sure that you and your..." He looked at both Varric and Sebastien that still stood silent behind her. "...friends don't follow us," Danarius pointed at a table lined with mugs. "Sit and have a drink. Make sure to drink every last drop. Oh and don't worry, it will not kill you. Though it will knock you on your ass long enough for my ship to get away."
Reluctantly, Hawke and the others were forced to sit at the table. Oh, he was good and had planned this little meeting out well. Not only did he have full control of their minds, but he was going to make damn sure that they wouldn't be able to follow him. Damn it, damn it to hell!
Hawke cursed at her body as it obeyed Danarius' every command. She watched as her hand reached down to pick up the pint of whatever liquid he had poured into it. Slowly, she raised it to her lips and took a deep swig of the drink. "Good girl." He whispered against her ear. "Don't worry about Fenris, he won't suffer...long."
'I'll kill you...' Hawke swore to herself, 'Whatever it takes, I'll find you, I swear on the blood of my family, I'll see you dead! This is not over!' Her eyelids began to feel extremely heavy, so heavy that she was no longer able to keep them open. The last thing that Hawke heard was Danarius' cruel laughter before she fell into an abyss of pure darkness.
Part 3 coming soon! Please excuse any erros that I missed, I apologize for that XD