"This has all gone to shit," Hawke murmured, out of breath as they stood on the docks. A large number of templars and mages lay around them in various stages of death, sleep and unconsciousness.
"You can say that again," Varric murmured.
She was wiping the blood from her face, when a number of crates tumbled deeper in the berth. Hawke spun around at the head of her companions, daggers raised.
"Maker protect me, I told them no," the young templar said as he crept out. "We didn't want this."
"You," Anders said, taking a step closer. "We helped you, why did they attack us?"
"They're convinced you're working for Meredith, Champion," the templar said, trembling. "It's Keran, serah. I never forget what you did to save me... I never escape the dreams."
"Meredith is just about the last person I want alive," Hawke laughed in disbelief, the sound growing harder as she circled and gripped her daggers. From a wave of Ander's hand, the mages and templars that lay suffering around them slipped into torpor once more.
"Thrask didn't know that," Keran said, moving uneasily. "They just knew there was a spy - and they wanted to... Maker's mercy and your blessed bride, guide us from this... I didn't know it was you."
"What's done is done," Anders whispered, walking between the Circle mages. His expression was ashen, "Most of them are already dead."
"I had heard they took someone from the Circle - hoping to keep the spy at bay."
Hawke turned back to him, her expression hardening, "Who did they take?"
"A girl named Bethany," Keran said.
"They took my fucking sister," Hawke said, her voice a heated whisper.
"What were they thinking?" Anders said.
"They weren't," Varric said. "Where - where did they take the girl, nug for brains?"
"The coast," a mage on the ground beside them said, and Hawke was on her knees to clutch him by his robes.
"Why would you do this?" she hissed, shaking him. "We're trying to help you! Tell me!"
"Marian," Anders said, pulling her back from the mage as she shook him. She huffed and threw Anders' arms off. Fenris eyes turned from her as the mage on the ground was healed.
"Get out of my way," she snarled, making a sound of frustration as she took up the stairs out of the berth.
"Bethany," Hawke choked on her words, collapsing to her knees in the dirt as she picked up her sister's head. She blinked rapidly, her voice cracking, "Open your eyes, little sister. Anders - Anders what is wrong with her."
"It's blood magic," he said, as the young mage came alongside him. "She's still alive."
"G-grace did it," he said. "I - I can release her, but it... I must use more of it."
"Typical," Fenris grunted, wrinkling his nose.
"Come on, Broody," Varric sighed, motioning back to the path.
"Just let her go," Hawke demanded, laying Bethany back on the ground.
Alain stood over them, hand trembling as he brought a blade across his hand, the air charging with the release of his blood and the arcanum uttered on his lips. The blood red mist that rose around them seemed to draw from Bethany's pores, and in a moment she sucked in a deep breath, body stiffening as her head rolled.
"Sister?" she softly said.
"That's me," Hawke forced a smile, embracing her close as she murmured. "Can't get rid of me, I'm afraid."
Bethany hugged her sister in kind, trembling as she squeezed her tight, "The last thing I remember... was templars coming for me. I - I thought that was it."
"They can't hurt you," Hawke murmured into her. "Not templars, or mages, or anyone. They'll have to survive me first."
"Hawke," Varric and Fenris jogged up as Hawke helped Bethany up. "Templars are marching from the main road."
"Stay here," Hawke said, and was on her feet to head them off, standing boldly as Knight-Captain Cullen and his retinue approached.
"Champion," he said, stopping in his tracks. "Samson had not specified you were handling the situation."
"I guess you didn't get on with those mages as well as you thought, eh?" Samson said, crossing his arms.
Hawke remained tensed, looking back to her sister before she said, "The situation is under control. Those that remain... they are not a threat."
"None the less, they will return to the tower to be interrogated," Cullen motioned to the other templars. "We cannot know what sort of corruption they have taken in."
"You have my word, they did not fight. You can't simply hand them over to Meredith," Hawke said, her voice hard. Bethany touched her arm, drawing her attention. "I would prefer to take my sister back to the city. Do you think I would leave you to escort her, when you could not even protect her from your own?"
Varric cleared his throat behind her, barely murmuring, "Hawke..."
"Unless you wish word to escape that the Gallows cannot keep their charges under lock and key?"
"I -" Cullen cut off his words, blinking lengthily with fatigue. He turned to the other templars, "Gather the living to march back to the city. We will send a second entourage for the bodies, Maker guide them."
Hawke stood vigilant by her sister and Anders as the Knight-Captain moved amidst the bodies. A few knights and mages were roused, and subsequently healed by Alain. When one or two looked at her, she pressed her lips into a fine line.
Cullen stopped as the rest headed for the cliffs, "If she is not back within the Gallows by day's end, it will be on your head, serah Hawke."
When the templar had gone out of earshot, Varric huffed and murmured, "I'd pay to see him try and take it."
Hawke's shoulders slumped a bit, and she ran a hand over her face.
Before she could speak, Bethany took her arm and squeezed her close, "No wild escape plans, sister. I know that look."
"I was thinking of pie, thank you very much," Hawke murmured in reply. They walked to the edge of the sea as the three men waited in the wings. "You need but say the word, and I'd do anything to get you free, Bethany."
"I know," she replied, and they stayed arm in arm. "It's not just about me, though."
"What are you saying," Hawke grinned a bit, casting a sideways glance at her. "It has always been about you, Lady Bethany. I suppose it's best we return you to your castle. And the First Enchanter perhaps?"
"Stop it," Bethany softly said, trying not to grin as they turned.
"I'm just glad to see you," Hawke said in a moment of brevity. Finally she sighed as they took to the path, "I have all these months of ribbing and sibling jibes to catch up on. Letters just don't have the same effect."
The sun was setting as they made it to the steps of the Gallows, and Knight-Captain Cullen stopped them just inside the gates.
"I am surprised to see you return," he said and crossed his arms.
"What can I say," Hawke sighed, and reached for his cheek. He stepped out of the way as she pouted, "I missed you dearly."
"I am better than that, ser," Bethany sighed, letting go of her sister's arm.
"Indeed," Cullen said, peering at Hawke. "We will take her inside from here."
"Dear ser templar, I would not be doing my duty to this city if I did not see her to the First Enchanter myself," Hawke put a hand to her bosom, ushering Bethany off towards the entryway. They turned templar heads as they walked through the dusky courtyard, and the Champion proclaimed, "You find the strangest things in your pockets at times. Good thing I was nearby, quite the danger."
"Sister," Bethany hissed, and Hawke smiled brazenly as they were up the steps. "They will make it worse for me."
"I –" Hawke's smile faded, and she shook her head. "Sorry, sister."
Bethany knocked twice on the First Enchanter's door before opening it, and Orsino turned from the bookshelf where he stood.
"Bethany," he put the book down, and they hurried into each other as Hawke closed the door behind them. He embraced her without thought as he said, "There were rumours of what had happened to you, I feared the worst."
"It was no work of Meredith's, don't worry," Bethany replied, blushing as he took her hands to kiss her knuckles.
"Champion," Orsino turned with Bethany at his side. "I – I led you on this chase, all the while one of the things I cherish most was being kept from me. I should have done nothing at all."
"My sister is cherished by many I assure you," Hawke said, smile softening beneath tired eyes.
"Thrask is dead," Bethany said, and the elven man turned away to his desk, leaning onto his hands. "As is Grace and many others."
"Damn it," he said under a hushed breath, though the tension in his shoulders fled when Bethany put a hand over his.
"They were working together," Hawke's voice dropped as she crossed her arms. "Against Meredith. And were convinced that I was working for the bloody woman."
"Maker protect us on the paths we tread," Orsino quietly said, shaking his head. "No matter what steps we take, we are pushed back another three."
"We will find a way," Bethany said, and he straightened as she folded her fingers around his hands. "We will make it through this."
"I would like to think you were safer here, but..." Orsino touched her cheek before looking back to Hawke and releasing Bethany's hands. "I apologize, Champion. We..."
"No need to explain to me," Hawke grinned tiredly. "Anders has told me of the joys of love beneath a templar's gaze, so perhaps mine is a little less scrutinizing. Just come give me a hug, mageling, before the knights come to lock you away."
Bethany stepped into her sister and embraced her tightly, "I miss you dearly."
"I know," Hawke sighed against her, closing her eyes. "I am sorry for bringing you back here."
"They would have come for me. They would have killed me." Bethany's voice wavered. "I could not leave..."
"I understand," Hawke said, stepping back and flipping her sister's hair. "The house would be too crowded."
"I swear they will not harm her again," Orsino said, parting his hands. "I could not live with myself if anything further happened to her."
"Indeed," Hawke chuckled, looking up to Orsino as she released her sister. "You have my assurance I will assist with that fate."
"She's back in the Gallows now," Hawke said as she sat down, heavy circles under her eyes.
"Geeze, Hawke," Varric said, putting a hand on her shoulder as he put a drink in front of her and sat beside him. "Sunshine's okay though?"
"As good as anyone in there can be," Hawke emptily said. "She's stronger than she seems. Did I miss something? When did everyone go insane?"
Fenris shook his head, crossing his arms.
"They're desperate and frightened," Anders said, shaking his head. "It's what happens when people are pushed to the limit."
"I know," Hawke replied, staring at her hands around the flagon. "Bethany doesn't blame them. She honestly laments their deaths - laments what they were trying to do, even if they went about it the entirely wrong way."
"If the Gallows weren't locked down before, they certainly are now," Hawke said, before drinking half her glass. "Even Orsino is confined to the inner courtyards now. I... I don't know when I'll see her again. Meredith imprisoned the people I knew - those that weren't killed in the unrest. There's no reasoning with her anymore." Her words trailed off as she looked away.
"Anymore?" Varric asked. "Was there ever?"
"What does she honestly hope to accomplish?" Anders said, shaking his head. "Why can't people be rational, moral creatures! They would see that even mages are different, they are people too."
"Hate to break it to you, Blondie, but people aren't rational or moral," Varric said, smirking. "Most of your friends aren't even."
"To me, it is rational to fear those who can become some sort of unspeakable horror. Especially those bordering on terrorism - who kidnap their own kind. I have to imagine the explosions in the underground had something to do with you," Fenris said to Anders. "How did they escape the Gallows?"
"What are you talking about?" Hawke asked, sitting up and furrowing her brow.
"To you, we're some sort of terrorist. But to me, and many others, we're freedom fighters," Anders said. "I see your perspective, I may not accept it but I see it. Accept my desire to be free - to live like you do! See what it is like in mine and every mage's shoes, and you'll see why we're driven to this."
Fenris scoffed and shook his head, and Anders' hands tightened into fists.
"We always return to this loop. You'll never try and see."
"I just see it differently," Fenris countered. "To you an apple is just an apple, but to me, it can easily be something to throw and cause another harm."
"You don't like apples?" Hawke lightly said, looking at her drink. She laughed nervously, "I would love one right now."
"That's ridiculous. You're impossible to talk to," Anders replied, leaning towards Fenris. "All these years, haven't you seen how I am just like any of you? Or how Bethany is?"
"I notice you omit Merill... in my time in Kirkwall, I've seen just as many - if not more - horrors than I ever did as a slave in Minrathous." Fenris made a sound of disbelief, "That you profess to be the same as anyone is a farce."
"Yes, that's right, because you're so normal." Anders shook his head, "You chose to be what you are, Fenris - and look at what you do to people. You almost killed your own sister. You wanted nothing more than to rip her heart out."
"Anders -" Hawke interjected.
"I was born this way - I didn't choose to become some damned creature like you," Anders ignored her. "I didn't lust for this power."
"Just like you didn't choose to become an abomination," Fenris said, staring him down.
"Learn some empathy," Anders snapped. "It makes me sick that you hold yourself above everyone when you're the worst offender of all."
"Am I now," Fenris linked his fingers together around his glass, still watching the mage.
Anders motioned at him, bristling, "Unlike you, I actually do things for other people without Marian twisting my arm. I don't sit in my mansion belabouring the woes of my enslavement - I help people. I do something about it."
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself," the elf chuckled darkly.
"I am trying to make this world a better place - the kind of world I want. Which is more than can be said of you," Anders said, pushing his chair back and standing up. He looked to Hawke, "I can't stay here."
Hawke stared as Anders left, her eyes wide. Fenris looked down into his drink, lips in a grim line as Varric gathered the cards. The silence stretched as the cards shuffled together.
"Well?" Fenris asked, his voice hard. "Are we going to play or not?"
Hawke smacked the table and got up, glaring at Fenris as she left to follow Anders.