Thanks so much anesor, Morninglight, karebear, Violet Enigma, and Apollo Wings for your awesome reviews. You all rock and I love you all!
I'd also like to thank Apollo Wings for pointing out something about Aveline that had been bothering me for a while. I felt compelled to write about this as an outrageously cheeky and disrespectful Anders, who dares to question Aveline in this chapter. You totally rock, honey!
Very special thanks go to my lovely beta CouslandSpitFire for her suggestions and chats and everything else! She takes time off her busy schedule to help me out and I really, really appreciate it! :D
So, this is something that happens in the game which most of you already know about. There are a few tweaks and changes here and there, even if I did use some of the in-game dialogue! (Uh, sorry about that!)
Also, I did empower Rhianna a bit in this chapter. Notice this fic is actually something Anders is writing about in his journal, so he gives her hero-like qualities and will not cease to sing his praises about her. I probably won't need to point out that Bioware has the knack of empowering their main characters/heroes also, turning them to semi-gods, but just in case I'm mentioning it, too. This is a fantasy fic, after all. :D
Please feel free to write your feedback as a review or PM me about anything you want! :D
Bioware owns EVERYTHING, I swear!
Chapter 18
Anders woke up at noon and turned on his side with a smile, flinging an arm around where he thought Hawke would be lying. His arm flung over nothing and he frowned as he opened one eye. Hawke's side of the bed was empty.
Groaning, he got out of bed, and reached over to don the robe that Rhianna had worn the previous night. It wasn't very long, but covered the important parts, so he walked towards the bathroom first and a few minutes later padded across the room and opened the door.
The whole mansion was eerily quiet, but he thought he heard noises coming from the kitchen, so in he went. Rhianna was bending over the oven, chatting to Orana happily. He smiled and leaned on the wooden frame, crossing his arms and adoringly watching her every movement. Orana noticed him and curtseyed immediately, mumbling a greeting and Rhianna whirled around with a smile and some flour on her face. Her eyes were twinkling up a storm as she quickly walked towards him.
"Oh! I don't want you to see this! It's a surprise!" she said when she reached him, pushing him gently so that he would leave the room. He chuckled and grabbed her in the dining area, giving her a kiss that made her hum appreciatively.
"Good morning to you too," he whispered after the kiss, his brown eyes warm. He wiped the flour off her face and then ended up caressing it softly. "What's the surprise?"
"It's a secret," Rhianna chuckled. "If I tell you, I'd have to kill you."
"Then, I'll wait to be surprised! Why are you dressed? Are we going somewhere?"
"No, not really. No missives from the Viscount, or anyone, so we're free today!" Rhianna said.
"That sounds unbelievable," he said with a grin. "What shall we do, then? Besides the obvious I mean…"
He waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed. "It sounds like you have something in mind," she flirted, batting her eyelashes at him. "Before you go and suggest what I know you will, I did want to go get some herbs for potions at Elegant's stall. Would you care to join me?"
"I would never let you go alone," Anders murmured. "You're stuck with me."
"I wouldn't call that 'stuck', but I appreciate you are around," she purred.
"What about whatever you were making in the kitchen?" Anders smiled.
"I've told Orana what to do. It isn't hard, she only has to watch the oven and…take it out," she grinned.
"I'll go get dressed," he said with a smile.
…
They had spent the day together, laughing, making love, and eating an early dinner, with pie as dessert, which had been made especially for him. Anders pretty much felt like the luckiest man alive by the time he was done eating the pie Rhianna had made for dessert.
"I never told you this, but pie is one of my favorite things," he said around his second helping.
"Then, I'm glad," Rhianna replied with a smile.
"This was delicious," Anders remarked. He was smiling, but then he grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "No one has ever cooked a meal for me before. I really appreciate it, Rhianna."
There was a knock on the door and Rhianna turned to look at the open door that led to the foyer.
"And here I thought we would be getting a whole day to ourselves," she sighed, shaking her head.
Before she could stand up to see who it was, there was a second knock, and voices coming from the foyer. The voices changed to screams. She recognized Isabela's voice and frowned as she stood up, hurrying into the next room with Anders close behind.
Isabela and Aveline were shouting at each other, in the middle of an intense argument. She stood there, without uttering a word until she saw Isabela lifting a hand to strike Aveline.
"Are there any good seats left?" Rhianna interrupted, walking right up to the two women, with Anders right beside her.
"Hawke!" Aveline said, slightly out of breath. "The Arishok is sheltering two fugitive elves in the Compound, who have 'converted' to the Qun. I need you to come with me to convince him to release them. He's already feared because of Petrice. If people start to think that he can ignore the law –"
"I'm going to die!" Isabela cried out, interrupting Aveline. Rhianna turned to look at Isabela, her eyes widening slightly. "There. Got your attention. Real problem!"
"All right, why don't we start over?" Rhianna frowned. "What's this about?"
"Remember the relic that Castillon wants?" Isabela asked. "Remember he's going to kill me if I don't give it to him? Well, a man called 'Wall-Eyed' Sam has it. If you help me get it, I won't die. Please!"
"I'm trying to keep the entire city from rioting against the Qunari!" Aveline argued.
"What if you go to the Qunari and speak to the Arishok, and he reacts badly to what you're suggesting, Aveline?" Anders said, interrupting the ginger guard. "What then?"
Aveline turned to Anders with a frown, her eyes flashing angrily for a few moments. "What?" she sputtered out.
"I'm just saying that the Arishok seems to take his 'converts' really seriously. Are you sure you want to do that? He seemed to be pretty set on protecting the Viscount's son," Anders calmly said, draping an arm around Rhianna comfortingly and pulling her close.
Aveline's jaw dropped. "And what if the people riot against him? What then?" Aveline snapped.
"What if the Arishok starts a war just because you want to take his 'converts' away? Who loses then?" Anders countered.
"We'll help Isabela first," Rhianna decided, interrupting them both before it turned into something nasty. "I don't want her to be killed by Castillon."
"Are you sure about this, Hawke?" Aveline asked.
"I'm pretty sure," Rhianna smiled. "Wait for me at the Qunari Compound. We'll retrieve the relic for Isabela, then meet you there."
Aveline nodded and walked out. Isabela's smile made both Anders and Rhianna smile as well.
"Let's pick up Varric on the way," Rhianna grinned. "He'll never forgive me if we do this and he isn't around to witness it."
…
It turned out that Varric wasn't alone, but playing cards with Fenris, who offered to go with them as well. They arrived at the area where Wall-Eyed Sam was supposed to be, and found a large group of Qunari waiting for them. Rhianna frowned and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Halt!" The leader of the group said in a commanding voice. "You will surrender the relic!"
"I don't have your stupid relic," Isabela replied haughtily.
"The bas has no honor! Vinek kathas!" the Qunari shouted.
They attacked and Rhianna gave an angry cry, jumping straight at the leader and slashing him.
Anders felt fear squeeze his heart for a painful moment, then breathed easier when Fenris quickly delivered a blow and the Qunari focused on him, rather than Rhianna, who had rolled on the ground in the meantime in order to attack the Qunari from behind. Varric delivered a volley of arrows that slowed the rest of the Qunari down, and the rest of the group continued to slash and maim the enemies until they all lay dead at their feet.
"If the Arishok asks why we killed all his men, we'll say it was an accident," Rhianna sighed.
"There's something you should know, Hawke," Isabela told her with a worried frown. "The relic belongs to the Qunari and they probably want it back."
Rhianna's eyes widened slightly. "Excuse me?" she asked in a frosty tone.
"I've always known what the relic is," Isabela sighed, deciding to come clean with her friend once and for all. "I just didn't want to…worry you."
"You're the picture of kindness, Rivaini," Varric frowned.
"The relic is a Qunari text handwritten by that philosopher of theirs – Keslan, Cousland…whatever his name is," Isabela added.
"Koslun?" Fenris asked, a surprised look on his face.
"That's the one!" Isabela exclaimed.
"Koslun is the founder of their religion," Fenris said. "The most revered being in their history. That text would be sacred beyond measure."
"Well, I stole it from them and they followed me here to reclaim it, and…it's the reason why they're still in Kirkwall," Isabela said sadly. "They can't leave the Free Marshes without it, in fact."
"So they've been here all the time waiting to get the book back?" Varric sighed, shaking his head. "That book could have saved us so much trouble!"
"If we give it back to the Arishok, it could solve Aveline's problem," Rhianna commented.
"That mess is over a couple of elves. I need this book to save my own skin." Isabela was starting to sound a little frantic and there were a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
"What about your shipwreck? Was that a lie, too? Or is that the truth?" Rhianna asked.
"Partly," Isabela replied. "I also had the Qunari dreadnought stuck to my behind like a bad rash, spitting fire and thunder at me."
"I can't imagine you stealing this priceless relic," Fenris added dryly. "How exactly did you manage to do that?"
"The Orlesians had the book, and were taking it by ship to the Arishok. I just stepped in and stole it from them. But the Arishok and his stupid dreadnought had already arrived. Getting the relic was easy. Getting away from the Qunari was the hard part."
"Well," Rhianna finally smiled. "It sounds like the Qunari take their reading very seriously!"
"Is there anything that the Qunari don't take seriously?" Isabela smiled back, but immediately grew serious again. She took a step towards Hawke, shaking her head. "Look. The book is right in that building" – she pointed to one of the foundries – "and I'm not letting it slip away again. It's the only thing that will get Castillon off my back. Please tell me you'll give the relic to me."
Anders knew what Rhianna would reply immediately. It was no secret that Isabela was like a sister to her. "It's yours," Rhianna said firmly. "Your life depends on it."
Isabela was surprised by Hawke's words though, and was even struck dumb for a few seconds.
"Really? I…wasn't expecting that. It's nice to have someone on my side, for once," she added, then smiled. "Come on. We have no time to waste."
They followed Isabela into the foundry to the largest room, where a mage was questioning a small man with very big, round eyes. There were two more mages beside the one asking the questions and they stood behind her. At that moment, a group of Qunari made an appearance and started a fight with the mages. Wall-Eyed Sam saw the opportunity to escape and broke into a run towards the exit. Isabela ran after him and Hawke, Anders, Fenris and Varric, were left in the room, with a Qunari soldier running towards them to attack.
They fought both the Qunari and the mages and once the battle was done, Rhianna spent some time looting the dead and then headed for the exit herself, with her party following close behind.
When they stepped outside, Isabela was gone, and Wall-Eyed Sam lay dead on the stone floor. Rhianna frowned as she approached him, noticing a parchment pinned on his tunic. She took it and read it aloud to the rest of the group.
"Dear Hawke,
I have the relic, and I am gone. I'm sorry it has to be this way. You've been a loyal ally, but this is best for us both. You promised me the relic, and I know you'll fight Castillon for me, but I don't want this. I've dragged you too far into this mess already.
You don't have to forgive me, but I hope you understand.
Isabela."
"She's gone then?" Anders commented. "Can't say I blame her."
"Once a thief, always a thief," Fenris muttered, the disgust in his voice apparent. Varric simply shook his head in silence, a worried expression on his face.
"Come on," Rhianna said with a sigh. She didn't have the time to reflect on what all this meant at the moment, so she did what she always did and focused on what had to be done. "We still have to head over to the docks to help Aveline with that mess."
"I can't wait to get there," Anders murmured behind her, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
…
They practically ran towards the docks, finally reaching the Qunari Compound where Aveline was waiting with some of her guards. The Qunari at the gates would not let all of them inside, so Anders watched Rhianna, Aveline, and her guards leave and the gates closing behind them with fear clutching his heart. He didn't like it one bit.
Varric took one look at Anders's eyes and worried frown and started chatting about Diamondback and other non-important stuff, hoping to distract him. But Anders was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't pay much attention. A young woman ran up to him letting him know that her mother was in need of attention at his clinic, so he turned to Varric and Fenris, asking them to come with him.
Once at the clinic, he tended to the woman, while Varric and Fenris waited patiently for him not too far away.
"Hey, Varric?" Anders called from where he stood. "Pack up some extra potions for me, will you? They're on that table, in the first cabinet on your left."
Varric nodded and did as he was told, and Anders turned back to the woman with a smile.
The healing took longer than expected, and by the time it was done, Anders looked up only to see more people making their way inside the clinic.
"What's going on?" he asked one of them.
"There's been a commotion at the docks, Ser," the young man replied. "Some are saying the Qunari are attacking the city!"
Anders looked at Varric and Fenris in alarm and he rushed to the door, turning to address the refugees still inside.
"Try to keep quiet and calm," he said. "You'll probably be safer here, but stay alert and run to hide if you see any Qunari around!"
"We'd better head to the docks, Blondie," Varric said. "I just checked outside and there are a lot of people around."
"It looks like the people in Lowtown are coming down here to escape the Qunari attack," Fenris added with a nod.
"We'll have to stay together," Anders said. "Let's take the stairs that lead up to the docks. Hopefully we'll find Aveline and Rhianna there."
They silently agreed to this and as they squeezed through the crowds of agitated people looking for safe shelter in Darktown, Anders stole a glance at both Varric and Fenris and saw they were worried, too.
Maker, please! Protect Rhianna and I promise I'll go to the Chantry more often.
Anders grimaced.
Okay. That was a lie. But I'll do something that you like, I promise!
…
Aveline and Rhianna were heading towards the stairs that led to Darktown when they ran into Anders, Fenris and Varric. Anders uttered a cry and took Rhianna into his arms, whispering his thanks to the Maker fervently.
"I thought they got you! Darktown is full of people trying to get away from all this," he added.
"They very nearly did," Rhianna told him. "The Arishok has declared war on Kirkwall. His men killed Aveline's guards. I still can't believe we managed to escape."
"We'll have to head to the Keep," Aveline said, pursing her lips. "We can rally my guardsmen there and will be able to fight them better."
"All right," Rhianna said, looking up the staircase that led to Lowtown. "Let's poison our weapons. I've got just the thing in my pack."
She went around and gave them each a small vial, and they got to work coating their weapons with it.
"It's a debilitating poison. It'll help transfer more damage to the Qunari with each hit – debilitating them," Rhianna explained.
"Hence the name," Anders quipped with a grin. Rhianna relaxed a bit after his words and actually smiled.
Once they were done, Rhianna took the lead, a grim expression on her face.
"Let's kick some Qunari arse," she said, a determined and fierce expression on her face. "They'll wish they never set foot in Kirkwall!"
…
Excerpt from Anders's journal:
The worst thing that can happen to you is when you are in love and the person you love calmly agrees to fight a huge horned giant. Notice I'm writing 'horned'. As in the boney things that protrude from the general area of the head. As in…Qunari horns. As in the Arishok's Qunari horns.
Let me start over. I'm writing this by candlelight as my love lies sleeping so I'll try to make it quick before she wakes up and tries to read my journal again.
We must have fought hundreds of Qunari as we made our way to Hightown the night of the battle. Literally hundreds. One of the worst moments was when we encountered a group of Wardens and Bethany was there with them. It should have been a happy moment, I know. But the thing is that one of my worst fears had come true. Bethany had indeed changed a lot since we last saw her when she was tainted in the Deep Roads. She was bitter now, and blamed her sister for everything.
I cleared my throat, hoping to tell her she was wrong, but Rhianna glanced at me with wide eyes… which was my cue to shut up. And so, I did. Rhianna was heartbroken when Bethany left with the wardens, and not because she was leaving. It was clearly because 'Sunshine' had nearly spat her words out while she was talking to Rhianna. She sounded so bitter. So angry! Not Sunshine any more. I glanced at Varric and saw the sad look in his eyes and knew that he was also thinking the same thing.
I was feeling bad after that, and tried to give Rhianna a quick hug and murmur something to comfort her, but she shied away from me. So, we focused on killing Qunari. Which, by the way, allowed her to perk up and actually smile after a while.
Yes. I know. I can't believe I fell in love with a killing machine, either.
Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. We finally arrived to the stairs that would take us to Hightown, only to be ambushed by a group of Qunari and elves – I actually turned to Fenris - uh, Liri - and might have frowned – who wanted us dead. Those just kept coming and coming and I had to drink two lyrium potions, because my Lyrium source kept getting away before I could use the lyrium on him to replenish my mana. Oh, well.
So in Hightown we came up against a Sten – supposedly a very powerful creature among the Qunari. (And I'm NOT going to read what I just wrote because I'd just burst out laughing and this would wake Rhianna) He went down in two seconds flat, thanks to one of the elf's mightiest blows ever and Rhianna's brilliant and deadly backstab. After that, it was all a matter of killing the Saarebas (Qunari mage) that appeared, because those were deadly. I often wondered afterwards if the Qunari took their mages out into savage thunderstorms, pointed at lightning and told them to kill that way.
At any rate, one of them nearly killed us, but then the Knight Commander herself rescued us.
Let me tell you now that the Knight Commander is one heck of a scary lady. She wears a crimson hood and has icy blue eyes that would freeze the balls off any man. It was no secret that she hated mages. I discreetly stood behind Rhianna trying to be as inconspicuous as I could, until the conversation was over. She informed us that the Qunari had overtaken the Viscount's Keep. She went to look for her templars, while we headed in the other direction, towards the Keep.
When we reached the square in front of the Keep, we battled a number of Qunari. Afterwards, we met the First Enchanter, Orsino. The Qunari had killed a group of mages that had been fighting with the First Enchanter and he had been the sole survivor. But when Meredith (the Knight Commander) caught up with us and saw Orsino, they both got into a fight that spoke volumes. And I mean VOLUMES. Lots of sexual tension there!
Anyway, Orsino found a way to get us inside the Keep, by attacking a group of Qunari guarding the entrance. Let me just say that Velanna should speak to the First Enchanter. I was certain his fireballs were as lethal as hers. Maybe because they were both elves? I don't know! At any rate, the Qunari who survived his fireballs ran after him, leaving the entrance unguarded and we finally got inside the Keep. We battled our way into the Throne Room, and one of the first things we saw lying on the floor when we opened the door was the head of the Viscount – no body in sight – and his stupid crown.
There were a whole lot of nobles inside the Throne Room – the hostages. And Rhianna looked really angry as she approached the Arishok, even though he expressed his admiration for her and called her basalit-an, which simply means 'worthy of respect.' He told her he could not leave the Free Marches without his precious relic, which Isabela had taken when she left.
There was a commotion behind us and Isabela walked calmly ON the Qunari that she had just hit who was lying on the floor. She had returned with the relic after all, and gave it to the Arishok. I sighed with relief, thinking it was all over, but alas. The Arishok wanted to take Isabela with him and Rhianna told him he couldn't and he declared they should fight in a duel TO THE DEATH with Isabela as a prize. I nearly died when I heard her agree to the duel and glared at Isabela, but she was too busy trying to convince the Arishok to duel her. She needn't have bothered because the Arishok ignored her completely.
Rhianna battled the Arishok, with all of us watching, and my heart was literally thumping so loudly with fear that I was sure everyone could hear it. But Rhianna was one deadly rogue and had a lot of tricks up her sleeves.
She had developed a tactic that she later explained was one used by expert duelists, which enabled her to backstab an opponent who was far – clear across the room in this case. The movement was called Vendetta among rogues and very few knew how to use it properly. Aside from allowing her to vanish in a cloud of smoke and moving under stealth quickly, it granted the rogue the ability to critically – if not fatally – wound their opponent. There were few rogues that could achieve this, but Rhianna had mastered it, so the very first thing she did was perform a Vendetta. The Arishok was fatally wounded before he even had the chance to try to figure out what was happening, and even though she had some tar bombs that would immobilize her target, she did not need to use them. She immediately jumped onto the Arishok's back and slashed his throat from behind, then dug her daggers into his back for good measure.
The whole thing was over quickly, and the Arishok went down with a mighty crash. The relief I felt left me weak in the knees. Of course, before he died the Arishok ominously declared the Qunari would return one day, but I doubt any of us really cared at that moment. The remaining Qunari turned around and left the Throne Room and all of Kirkwall for that matter.
Meredith, Orsino and the templars arrived, expecting to fight the Arishok who lay dead in front of Rhianna, while the nobles cheered all around us, extremely grateful for their lives. Knight Commander Meredith then declared my love the Champion of Kirkwall. She really had no choice in the matter. If she hadn't, I think the nobles would have probably run her over or something. That's how hysterically grateful they were at the moment.
Rhianna walked towards us through the crowd of cheering nobles, who were reaching out to shake her hand and even touch her shoulder or arm, her eyes on mine. I was grinning so hard, my mouth hurt. As soon as she reached me, I swept her up in my arms in a tight embrace, thanking the Maker that she was safe and extremely proud of my hero – my Champion: A petite, beautiful woman with a heart of gold who had saved Kirkwall from a Qunari invasion.
…