The sun was beaming down on us as we left the mansion. People were all about, getting their coin purses ready as they headed to the Merchant's Guild. Anders linked his hand in mine and pulled me close to him as we walked together. I looked up at him and he was smiling down at me.

"What are you so happy about?"

"I've been thinking. Shouldn't we start to discuss names?"

"For the baby?" Anders nodded. I had tried to come up with names a few times, but never found any I really cared for. Anders seemed much more prepared for this baby than I. "Did you have any thoughts on this?" I asked.

"I have a few ideas, yes." he beamed. His whole face lit up and I could sense that this was something he had thought of for some time.

"Well, let's hear what you have in mind."

"Before I was sent to the Circle when I was twelve, I had an aunt who I was close to. She helped me keep my magic concealed, and while my parents feared it, she never did."

"What was her name?"

"Amira. Six months after I was sent to the Circle, I received word that she suffered an illness and passed away. I often think of her." he said, as he cast his glance downwards, a hurt look swept over his face.

"Amira is a lovely name, Anders. In fact, I quite like it." His eyes met mine and he smiled once more.

"You do?"

"I do."

"I am glad. Actually, I think you will really like the name I thought of for a boy."

"And what would that be?"

"Malcolm."

"Malcolm, as in my father?"

"Mhmm."

"You have to be the sweetest man alive." I said as I pulled his face towards me and kissed him. He pulled me into a warm embrace, and there we stood in the middle of the street, holding onto one another. I lay my head into his chest, and could feel his heart beating against me. He placed a hand over my stomach, and the baby started to squirm at his touch. We both started to laugh, enjoying feeling my little one react to his touch.

Once we reached the Hanged Man, Anders went on his way to the clinic. Isabela was inside waiting for me. We decided to take a walk around town, as I didn't really care for the atmosphere of the tavern while pregnant. With my heightened sense of smell, the scent of the ale and urine everywhere made me queasy.

We stopped by the alienage to grab Merrill. She was thrilled to join us. She had been hiding away in her home more often than usual. She was obsessed with fixing her Eluvian, a mirror that possesses magic powers. Despite our pleas with her to discontinue using it, she was not able to focus on much else. Isabela thought it would be a good idea to get her out of the house, and she gladly came along.

Isabela kept going on about a hat shop she discovered that she was thrilled with. We checked out the merchant's wares, but nothing seemed to appeal to my tastes. Merrill on the other hand, picked out three different hats. She and Isabela tried on every hat at least twice. I was never one to fuss over shopping, but I had fun watching them regardless. Isabela would place each hat on, doing her best impression of a Hightown noble. Merrill was all giggles and joined in. It was such a good feeling to be out with the girls. I had thought of bringing Aveline along, but quickly dismissed it. She and Isabela would be at each other's throats, and I was sure she would be busy. She was the Guard Captain now and was always up to her neck in work.

At the end of the day, I met Anders back at his clinic. He was in a seemingly good mood as he had less patients than usual, which meant he was able to work on his manifesto. When we walked in the door to our home, I immediately sensed something was wrong. Gamlen was in a panic, trying to gain information from Sandal about my mother, with little luck.

"What's wrong, Uncle?" I asked him as both Anders and I approached.

"There you are! Where's your mother? Is she feeling alright?"

"I'm sure she's alright. Why are you so upset?"

"Your mother didn't show up for our weekly visit. Is she ill? She is here, isn't she?"

"No, Gamlen. We haven't seen her all day," Bohdan interjected. "Perhaps she is with her suitor."

"Suitor? Leandra never mentioned a suitor." Uncle Gamlen seemed flustered. Mother never mentioned her involvement with another man to me either. Something seemed off about this claim.

"Well, those lilies arrived for her this morning," Bohdan pointed across the room to the table, and sure enough, there in a vase were a bunch of white lilies. As I took the sight in, my heart plunged into my stomach. No...it couldn't be.

"White lilies? I know something about that," I gasped.

"Love, are you saying what I think?" Anders looked at me, a panic swept across his face.

"Don't just leave me waiting, what is it?"

"There's a killer in Kirkwall who send his victims white lilies before he takes them. He's murdered several women already." Gamlen's expression turned from concern to terror as he took in what I told him.

"No, you're wrong. Leandra is fine."

"I'll inform Aveline. She'll get the city guard to keep an eye out." I knew it was her night off, and she would more than likely be with Donnic at the Hanged Man with Varric. Gamlen, Anders, and I rushed to Lowtown. I ran inside the pub while Anders went with my uncle to ask around if anyone had seen her. I spotted Varric, Aveline, Donnic, and Fenris at a table. I had maintained my composure around my uncle as to not worry him, but now I was getting frantic.

"I need your help, Aveline!" I yelled out as I approached.

"Hawke, what is it?" she asked. My friends turned their attention towards me, concern on each of their faces.

"It's my mother. She received white lilies this morning, and she hasn't been home since. I'm worried that...that..." I could not finish my sentence, but they all understood the dire situation. She bolted up from her seat immediately.

"Donnic and I will let the guard know straight away."

"I'll come with you Hawke. We'll find her." said Varric.

"As will I." Fenris too arose from his chair. Aveline and Donnic took off the inform the guard, while Varric and Fenris followed me. I spotted Anders and Gamlen speaking to a boy, no older than thirteen. Anders turned when he saw us approach and sneered at Fenris, but quickly dropped his attitude when he saw the look of fear on my face. The boy went on to tell us that he had seen mother earlier. A man had stumbled in front of her, bleeding. My mother offered to help him, and they took off down the steps into the lower part of Lowtown. Gamlen went back to my home to see if my mother returned.

We looked around, and spotted blood on the ground; the same man's, no doubt. As we followed the trail of blood, I became more and more frantic. What if he hurt my mother? What if she was already dead? I started to run when Anders grabbed onto my arm to pull me back.

"Hawke, I think you should go back with your uncle."

"Like hell I will! This is my mother, Anders!"

"And this could be the Kirkwall Killer! You are pregnant, think of the baby. You are in no condition to fight. We will handle it." I whipped my arm away from him, feeling my blood boil.

"No! She needs me. I have to help her."

"Hawke," Fenris spoke in a calm voice. "He is right. It is in your best interest for you to remain behind."

"I'll decide what's best for me. I'm so damn tired of everybody trying to tell me what's right for me. What's right for me at the moment is finding my mother, and I will not waste precious time arguing with you two!" I yelled at them both and ran off in the direction the blood was in. I was in such a panic, I could not consider what they were telling me. If my mother was in danger, I needed to save her, and no force in the world would have been able to hold me back.

The trail of blood directed us to a dark foundry. We entered the foundry and were lead into a cellar. Right away trouble was amidst us. Dark magic was at play, demons and skeletons were everywhere. Anders leapt out in front of me to protect me from their blows. Fenris directly attacked from the front, while Varric stayed at the back, using Bianca to shoot several arrows at once. I sent a paralysis spell flying from my staff to freeze our enemies in place. Once they were wiped out, I let out a deep sigh of relief. Little Hawke - or should I say Amira or Malcolm - was fluttering about like crazy. I rubbed my belly and Fenris turned to me.

"Is..the baby alright?"

"Yes, it just can sense my stress is all."

"We should move on then. The sooner we find your mother, the sooner we can leave this Makerforsaken place." he said.

We came down a set of stairs and before us stood a picture. It had an eerily resemblance to my mother. My heart pounded in my chest.

"What is this?" I gasped.

"A shrine dedicated to a wife? A sister?" Anders pondered.

"I don't like the looks of this. Let's move," Varric turned and we followed his lead. On the ground I found a piece of jewelry, my mother's locket. She was here. I began to run down another set of stairs and Anders yelled after me "Hawke, not so fast!"

In front of me on a bench laid the corpse of a woman we had helped some time ago. She was believed to be a future target of the killer, and here she was, dead.

"No, this can't be." I turned and continued to run further into the foundry. "I need to find her!" Five minutes and several enemies later, we turned a corner, and there stood a sickly looking man. In front of him was a chair facing away from us. A woman sat upright in it, but we could not see her face. I walked closer to this man, clearly a blood mage, and he slowly turned his gaze to me.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. Leandra was so sure you'd come for her."

"Where is she?" I demanded, in a calm yet stern voice. A twisted smile grew upon the mage's face.

"You will never understand my purpose," he said, walking away from the chair and towards us. "Your mother was chosen because she was special, and now she is part of something...greater."

"Spare me the demented rambling, where is she?!"

"She's here, she's waiting for you." His stare turned from me, over to the stiff body sitting in the chair. "I have done the impossible. I have touched the face of the Maker and lived. Do you know what the strongest force in the universe is?" He walked toward the woman and faced her again. "Love. I pieced her together from memory. I found her eyes, her skin, her delicate fingers... and at last, her face. Oh, this beautiful face." He leaned forward and stroked her face, with a look of longing in his eyes. With his touch the woman slowly stood up, stumbling as she did so. "I've searched far and wide to find you again beloved, and no force on earth will part us." The woman - straining to walk - finally turned to face me, and every muscle in my body stiffened at what I saw.

There in a wedding gown and veil was my mother, but only a fraction of her. Her head had been severed from her body and sewn onto a new one. Stitches and cuts were all over this body and all colour was drained from her. Her eyes were empty, completely lifeless, as she stumbled towards us. I felt bile rising to my throat, and this man leaned forward and cast a bunch of spells around him, summoning different demons to attack us.

"Leandra!" Anders screamed out.

"You will die for this crime against nature, mage!" Fenris bellowed.

I felt numb, as if I could not move, but I had to. We were under attack. Behind me, more skeletons were coming up from beneath our feet. I turned and cast fire on them while Fenris jumped before me and struck them with his sword. Anders and Varric focused on the demons that were being summoned. Anders shot a mixture of ice and electricity towards them as Varric's arrows sailed right through them. Demon after demon, monster after monster came. One by one they fell as they rose. My companions were attacking one last demon and I saw the man standing there, still smiling, egging me on. I charged at him, with a rage inside of me that I had never felt. How dare he defile my mother's body like this? How dare he lay his hands on her? I ran at him, lifting my staff to strike him with it, when he shot his hand forwards and hit me with one hard blow to the stomach with some kind of force spell. I flew backward and landed on my back hard.

"Marian! You bastard!" screamed Anders, and he ran over to my side. I gazed up to see Fenris strike his sword across the man's neck, decapitating him. I slowly stood up, with the help of Anders, and looked towards where my mother was still staggering.

"Mother!" I yelled as I ran to her, and she collapsed in my arms. I lay on the ground, holding her tightly to me.

"There's nothing I can do. His magic was keeping her alive." I heard Anders say softly, as he approached. Mother looked up into my eyes, and softly smiled.

"I knew you would come."

"Don't move Mother, we'll find a way to..." I couldn't finish. I knew it was hopeless. I had not come soon enough, I had failed her. If I wasn't so caught up in my own affairs I would have seen those damned flowers and I would have been able to save her. It was my fault.

"Shh, don't fret, darling. That man would have kept me trapped in here, but now...I'm free. I get to see Bethany again, and your father. But you'll be here alone."

"I'll be fine Mother," I looked away, trying to hold back tears.

"My little girl has become so strong. I love you. You've always made me so proud." And with that, her eyes slowly closed and I felt her weight become heavy.

"No!" I yelled out, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Please, don't leave me." I sobbed into her. Anders knelt down beside me and took me in his arms. "Shhh love, I'm here."

I began to shake, and felt intense cramping in my abdomen. I keeled over in pain and cried out. "It hurts," I gasped.

"Marian, are you...oh Maker, you're bleeding!" Anders yelled out. I looked down and in between my legs was soaked with blood. The cramping continued and I felt a gush of blood trickle down my thighs. "The baby!" He cried out, and I felt suddenly dizzy. I fell backwards and could no longer see. I felt my consciousness slip away, but was aware to the sounds around me.

"Help her, damn it!" Fenris bellowed from above me. I could feel his arms holding my head as Anders hovered above my abdomen.

"I'm trying!" Anders thundered back.

"Shit, Hawke! Stay with us." Varric pleaded with me. It was too hard, the pain was too great. Everything went black as I fell into a deep coma.

I felt Fenris' breath on my neck as he whispered "Please be okay. I still need you."

Authors notes: The summary for this story warns of dark themes, and the next few chapters are going to be why. Please don't hate me!