A/N: This is a short one. Thank you all so much for the encouraging words and taking the time to read. It means a lot to me. :)

Act 1

Chapter 6

"Their Signal"

A few nights later Hadriana visited the estate, Fenris immediately knew she was in one of her moods. Her eyes pierced into his flesh throughout the whole evening meal, telling him what was to come. To his relief Lucian returned to his home that morning, and from the fierce argument he heard him and Danarius in, it was clear he would not be returning for some time. For some reason the Magister had been very adamant about leaving Hawke untouched. Well, at least she would be granted some reprieve for the time being.

After Danarius retired to his bed chamber for the evening, he and Hawke set out to patrol the estate. Really, this was a job for the guards but it was one of the few times they were ever allowed to be alone and he found himself enjoying the task now that he had her to join him.

Once they made their way to the back wall, Fenris turned towards her. She was deep in thought and still clearly affected by all of the things that had transpired over the last few weeks.

"How are you doing?" he asked with genuine concern and walked to her side.

Her weak smile told him that she was trying to cope. "I'm just glad I don't have to go through all of this alone." For a moment he thought she was going to take his hand, his pulse began to race at the idea, but she thought better of it and pulled back. "Orana won't talk to me. Credos thinks I'm a monster. All of the other slaves seem to be terrified that at any moment I'm going to gut them. You are the only one willing to be in my presence for more than a few minutes. Thank you by the way," she smiled. His heart warmed knowing that he was able to at least give her some comfort. "Tevinter isn't at all like I pictured it," she sighed as they continued walking the grounds.

The thought amused him. What could she have possibly imagined when she came here? "Tevinter is nothing but power hungry mages and even more foul Magisters; why did you seek refuge here of all places?"

"Well, mother wanted to go to Kirkwall. We have an uncle who lives there. But with Bethany being an apostate I thought maybe she would be better protected here. At lot of good that did me. Carver died, I'm a slave, Mother is a servant. It seems Bethany is the only one who didn't get screwed out of whole the thing."

"You care a lot for your family. They are lucky to have someone like you watching out for them," he grinned at her hoping to brighten her spirits.

"Thank you," she smiled weakly. "I hoped that by bringing them here we could be the family father wanted us to be. No more running from Templars. But it seems I made a mess of that. I just hope that mother is being treated well."

Fenris closed the distance between their bodies and brushed his hand along hers, hoping that she would be bold enough to reach out to him. When she felt his fingers twitch against hers, she smiled then hooked her arm in his as they continued walking.

"You said that Magister Clayden was your father's friend. Does that not bring you comfort?"

"Only a little. It was clear when we arrived here that his friendship with my father would only get us so far. He seemed angry that we would come to him, but once he realized my sister was a mage he gave us this option. I figured it would be better if only I was sent into slavery. And this way Mother would get to be with Bethany. I don't know if I did the right thing, but what's done is done. There's no changing it now." Hawke squeezed his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked.

It was nice having her here. Before she arrived his life felt empty. There was no purpose. Every day was the same, get up, do what his master commanded, go to sleep and start over. It had been so long since he felt anything other than anger, but since meeting her something within him had changed. Seeing all of her strength and determination through her predicament made him remember what he was like before his hope was gone. It had been so long since he thought of freedom, but now he couldn't help but wish that one day the two of them would be free and perhaps he could finally find happiness in her.

As they entered the main house, Hadriana's voice echoed from the dining room. Hawke pulled on his arm ushering him to the main stairs. No doubt hoping to pass by the mage unnoticed. Fenris had been lucky this evening at dinner, but knew by the tone of her voice that if she saw him pain would soon follow.

Just as they were ascending the stairs the slave she was yelling at cried out.

"Please Mistress. I didn't mean to insult you…"

She was cut off by a hard smacking sound. Hawke froze in place at the bottom of the stairs. "That is Orana," she spoke solemnly and looked back towards the dining room. Fenris could see the confliction on her face. Going to stop her would result in her own punishment, but letting it continue would prolong the torture of her friend. There was only a moment of hesitation before she released him and began walking in the direction of the voices. Immediately, Fenris cut her off. Hadriana would not touch her. He knew seeing her tortured by this witch would be too much for him. With a strong push he sent her into the wall and stormed past her.

As soon as he entered the room Hadriana turned her attention towards him. Already, the evil grin on her face made him ache. He knew what was to come.

Forgetting the presence of the other slave, she walked towards him and placed a hand under his chin. "Fenris, don't think I forgot about you." The sting of her magic began creeping up his legs, but he knew the worst was yet to come. "Such a beautiful creature," she cooed as she walked around his body shooting a fiery pain up his arms and torso. "Oh how I've missed our little visits." The pain was beginning to be too much and his knees buckled beneath him. Turning her back on Orana she shot a wave of energy over his body, causing him to cry out. With each sting of her magic his body became weaker until he was cowering on the floor before her. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Hawke enter the room and began pulling Orana away from the scene. Their eyes locked before she stepped out and for a moment he thought she was going to try to stop his torture, but then her eyes softened and she tugged on the lobe of her ear before she walked away.

Despite his predicament, he wanted to smile. He knew she would be coming to him tonight. While Hadriana continued to spill her mana into his markings he tried to drown out the pain with thoughts of her touch.

When the torture finally ended, Fenris was barely able to stand let alone walk. He used the wall for support as he made his way up the long stairs to his room. Each step was more agonizing than the one before, his muscles begging him to give up. If he could just make it to his room.

As he passed her door he wanted to call out to her, but was unable to find his voice. A muffled groan came out of his lips and his body slid down the wall unable to carry him anymore. He heard the creaking of a door and looked up to see her running to him. "Fenris," she whispered as she approached, he could hear the pain in her voice. "Can you move?" He tried to push his body up off the floor, but was too weak to get up. As he fell back he wound his jaw tight to fight the pain and shook his head at her. "That's alright," she spoke softly and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Let me help you." His body tried to protest, but when she hooked her arms under is and lifted him up, the pain was too great and he wrapped himself around her for support. Slowly, they made it to his room, taking one small step at a time.

Once inside his room Hawke gently led him to the mattress, trying her best to take on as much of his weight as possible. When she got up to leave, Fenris reached out for her pulling her back by the forearm. "I won't be gone long," she promised and brought his hand to her face kissing his palm.

Reluctantly he let her go and tried to let his body relax now that he was safe and in his bed. All of his muscles were wound tight from the tortuous ordeal, but he felt comfort knowing that she would be returning to him.

After a few moments of solitude she crept back into his room shutting the door behind her. In the darkness he tried to hear her movements, but struggled over the sound of his pained breathing. Just as his eyes were about to adjust to the darkness she lit his candle and crouched next to him. With soft gentle hands she began working on the buckles of his armor, trying extra hard to be as careful as possible. A muffled groan sounded through his lungs as she lifted his torso up to remove his tunic, and then laid him back down. "Thank you," she whispered and leaned over his face. He felt soft tingles rush to his cheek as she rubbed her thumb across it. Gathering his strength he brought his hand to rest atop hers and nuzzled it into his face. Hawke smiled sweetly at him and pressed her lips against his forehead. Lovingly she brought a damp cloth to his skin and began pressing the cool moisture across his body. Gradually his muscles began to relax under her touch, and then he began feeling the tingles of pleasure trickle across his body as her hand lightly trailed the lines across his skin. Each time her finger reached the lines across his lower abdomen, Fenris couldn't suppress a pleasured groan from escaping his lips. Hawke chuckled and then ran her finger across it again. "Does that feel good?" she smiled.

Fenris grinned back at her and made a pleased hum. She splayed her hand across his stomach and leaned up to him, widening her smile. He thought about how amazing it would be to kiss her, how incredible it would feel to have her mouth against his. In an attempt to close the distance between their faces he strained his neck to meet her, but in his weakened state was unable to lift his head far enough. Hawke lifted herself up onto his bed and leaned over him guiding his head back down to the pillow. As her fingers began playing in his hair, Fenris closed his eyes and moved his arm across her legs. His hand caressed her as he slowly felt the peacefulness of sleep tug on his eyes. "You are a good man," she whispered bringing him somewhat back to reality. How he wished that just for tonight, she could stay with him. Waking up next to her and having her constant presence through the night would be amazing.

She continued to massage his scalp as she spoke to him in a soft loving voice that made warmth spread across his body. "I am so grateful to have you. Each day I thank the Maker for you, Fenris. If nothing else good will come of me coming to Tevinter, at least I will have the memories of you." He felt the warmth of her breath brush against his cheek followed by the soft pressure of her lips. "You are special to me." A flood of genuine happiness spread across his body and he wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to his chest. Hawke nestled underneath his chin, but refrained from putting the weight of her body against him. "Goodnight, Fenris," she whispered and went back to running her hands through his hair.

Though he was unable to speak he hoped she would sense the adoration he had in his heart for her.

With each brush of her fingers against his scalp, his breath became more even and slowly he felt the muscles of his body relax under her touch, until his last waking thought was how incredible this woman lying next to him was.