Promises: Chapter Sixteen

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine but Bioware's.

Zevran wound up plotting out a course that would take them to Rialto while crossing as many of the caves on the maps as possible. The first cave they explored had nothing. It was obvious that no one had visited it for quite some time. The second cave they reached was inaccessible because of a cave in while the third cave was as empty as the first.

The fourth cave, however, was a different story.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Zevran asked. Craning his neck, Fenris looked over at where the assassin was pointing. He blinked. While there was no signs of life, hidden under a ledge was a sizeable treasure chest.

The chest was not well hidden in the slightest. "That's too obvious," Fenris said. "It's most likely trapped or locked."

"Or both," Zevran agreed. "However, that's what I'm here for. To take care of such difficulties. Stand back while I work my brand of magic."

Fenris rolled his eyes but kept his distance while Hawke did the same. Neither of them wanted to be near the assassin in case he failed miserably and set off a trap. Zevran turned out to be as skilled as he claimed to be. He defused the trap set before the chest without a single misstep and then picked the lock on the chest with ease. The assassin was pleased with himself and sported a large grin.

That grin only grew when Zevran opened the chest and peered inside. "Finally! It looks like my luck has changed," he announced.

That sounded like hyperbole to Fenris' ears. "Don't tell me that you've found a map pointing out the slavers' main hideout," he said. If the assassin had found such a map, Fenris was inclined to think that it was a fake. No master slaver would ever be foolish enough to draw a map to his main holding ground and then leave it unguarded.

"Don't be ridiculous, my friend. Of course not. But have we have here is truly sublime. Here, take a look."

Fenris looked suspiciously at the other elf. He wouldn't put it past Zevran to try and pull one over on him. He cautiously walked forward to peer at the contents of the chest.

What was inside was truly a treasure. The chest was filled to the brim with the bottles of wine, brandy, whisky, and more. Fenris felt a smile tug at his lips as he caught sight of not a few bottles of the finest wines out of Tevinter.

Hawke had followed behind him and was regarding the chest with considerably less enthusiasm. "Lovely. We have enough liquor here to be drunk for days. I can't see how this helps us at all."

Fenris exchanged a glance with Zevran. The mageling obviously didn't understand what a rare find this was, and one of them had to bring this to her attention. The assassin gestured at Fenris, indicating that he was leaving this task to the elven warrior. Fenris silently cursed the other elf's cowardice in his head. His mageling wasn't that scary.

"It doesn't help us directly in our quest," he agreed with Hawke. "However drinking some decent wine will make for a nice change over the cheap slop we usually get."

Hawke looked at the stash then back at Fenris and narrowed her eyes. "We can't carry everything," she noted.

"We can carry enough." Mentally Fenris calculated how many bottles of wine he could easily carry. He would have to take care to pack them properly as it would be such a waste if they broke.

"Besides isn't it like stealing?" she asked.

"Every bottle of this stash has already been pilfered. We're stealing from thieves," Fenris pointed out in return.

Hawke sighed. "The two of you are going to carry away as many bottles as you can no matter what I say, right?" She shook her head and then threw up her hands. "Men," she muttered.

"Be reasonable, little one. It's not as though we won't share with you," Zevran put in. "You might be surprised. We might find a practical use for this liquor. Having a bottle of aged Antivan brandy makes for a great bribe."

"Oh. So you mean you're not intending to drink all of that yourself." Hawke shot Zevran a knowing look.

He laughed bashfully. "Well…the thought had crossed my mind. However it is probably too much for me to finish," he admitted. He rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

"You might be able to finish all you can carry more quickly than you think," Fenris noted.

"What? You do not plan to help me? I saw how your eyes lit up when you saw the cache," Zevran stated.

"Fenris' tastes tend more towards wine," Hawke told the assassin. "And if you breathe one word of the pun I can see you thinking of, I'm going to send a fireball your way," she added.

"It wasn't that bad."

"It was probably worse," Fenris said. He cocked his head slightly as he remembered Zevran showing them their path on the map when they first started out this morning. "You thought that this particular cave would be large because of its size on the map, right?"

"Yes." Zevran glanced around at their cramped surroundings and frowned. He hung his head. "Yet this cave seems to be the smallest we've been in yet. So much for that theory."

Hawke rolled her eyes. "You nicked the maps from Isabela, right? The larger marks on the map probably meant that she has something important hidden there more likely. Take this cache for example." She glanced over at Zevran. "You know, she's only going to want to hurt you more when she gets back here and finds that you've made off with her personal stash. It must have taken some time to collect all these."

"I am not so worried about that. She has bad taste when it comes to alcohol so I doubt this was her personal stash. More likely she was going to smuggle these bottles to a collector later. The tariffs that Orlesians levy on foreign liquor is nothing short of highway robbery," Zevran said.

"And I trust you've committed enough highway robbery that you should know it when you see it," Fenris remarked. Zevran artfully protested but to no avail. Meanwhile Fenris turned over Hawke's theory regarding the map in his head. "If Hawke is right about the larger marks indicating places where your raider friend has hidden treasure—"

"Then perhaps we can find more stashes like this one just by investigating those larger marks," Zevran finished Fenris' thought.

Fenris nodded his head. "It would also explain all the ale stains on those maps as well," he added.

"Good point. You are nothing short of brilliant, my friend. I must confess that I didn't find the thought of trying to cart off enough brandy to last me this entire job appealing," Zevran told him.

"Maker's breath, you're not serious, are you?" Hawke shook her head at the elves. "Don't answer that. I can see that you are. You know, Zev, when Isabela finds you, she's not going to be content just to cut off your balls. She's going to feed them to you too."

Zevran held up a hand. "There are two problems with that statement, little one. First off, you said when Isabela finds me rather than if. Trust me, I know how to hide. Second, when did you get to be so vulgar? I can only conclude that our friend here has been a bad influence on you in more ways than one."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Zev, but I'm afraid that you're far more of a bad influence than Fenris," the mageling replied. She sighed. "Oh well. There's no use trying to convince you of anything resembling common sense. The two of you had best start choosing what you want to take." She fixed them with a steely glare. "Although I do hope you know better than to try and convince me to carry any of those heavy bottles for you."

Hawke stalked outside, leaving the two elves alone. Fenris wasn't sure if he liked how Hawke had lumped him in with Zevran with that last statement of hers. Something was bothering her, but he didn't know what or even how to ask her what was wrong.

For now, he would have to concentrate on the problem immediately before him. And that involved not only picking out the best vintages of wine, but packing them carefully enough that they didn't break during their journey.

While Hawke's cheerful mood reappeared after they left the cave and its amazing cache behind them, over the next few days, it became more and more apparent that something was weighing her down. Fenris was genuinely puzzled as to what set off her moods. It wasn't the wine. She hadn't complained at all when they had stumbled over a second stash but just rolled her eyes before getting out of the elves' way. Fenris also didn't think that Hawke was upset over their lack of progress in finding Brax because they had made progress. One of the caves they explored had housed a small group of slavers, whom they promptly disposed of, along with invoices that Zevran and Hawke combed over for hints as to the master slaver's location.

Oddly enough Hawke was at her grumpiest when it was time to make camp. Of course, a grumpy Hawke was nothing like a grumpy Fenris. She didn't snap at every smart comment the assassin made or brood incessantly. Rather she kept apart from the others at dinner, preferring to stare off at the sunset instead of hanging around Fenris.

Fenris found that he rather missed the usual Hawke and her non-stop babbling. He felt her absence most keenly; he had grown used to having his mageling always by his side. He wanted her back so badly that it took him by surprise. He just didn't know how to get the old Hawke back or even how to get her to tell him what was bothering her.

When Hawke once again wandered away from the elves after dinner, Fenris decided enough was enough. Although making conversation wasn't his strong point, he could at least end the separation that had grown between them. He followed Hawke, who had settled down by a tree near the river, and took a seat beside her. He remained silent for he didn't know what to say and was content to be by her once more.

It was Hawke, as usual, who started talking first. "You don't have to watch over me, you know," she told him. She sounded annoyed. "I can take care of myself."

He raised an eyebrow at her tone. "I know you can. I just thought…maybe you could use the company?"

Hawke twisted so that she was facing him. "Are you feeling quite all right?" she asked.

"Yes." Fenris felt rather insulted at her question. "I could ask the same of you," he added without thinking. Fenris winced as he realized just what he had said. He didn't want to start a fight between him and his mageling, but now he was worried that his careless words had done exactly that.

The mageling sniffed and then turned her head away from him. "I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth.

"No, you're not." Fenris was tired of this charade. His mageling was not fine, and she was silly to think that she could try and fool him. "You haven't been yourself lately. I…if I somehow offended you the other day…well then I apologize," he finished awkwardly. He cast his eyes downwards as a flush broke out across his face. He felt like a fool, apologizing without knowing why he needed to apologize. If it made Hawke feel better, however, it would be worth it.

"Oh Fenris, you have nothing to apologize for," Hawke told him. Her voice had a breathless quality to it, and when he glanced at her, he could see her blinking back tears. Her anguish struck him hard. Without thinking, he moved to close the distance between them, winding up so close to her that her eyelashes practically touched his as he gazed into her eyes.

"What is wrong?" he asked her. "And don't tell me it's nothing. There have been times when you've been…off these past few days. It's been happening ever since we left that gave with all that wine and brandy and—"

"It's nothing you've done," she reassured him. "It's just me being silly, is all. I'll get over it. Just give me some time."

"If it upsets you this much, it can't be nothing," he insisted.

To his complete and utter horror, Hawke broke out sobbing. There was nothing Fenris could do but sit and watch as his mageling shook with tears. He patted her hesitantly on the shoulder, hoping that would somehow help her storm of grief to pass. He didn't know how long he sat there and listened t her cry, just that it was far too long.

Finally her tears slowed down before vanishing all together. "I'm sorry," Hawke said. "I'm being such a silly girl right now but when you said that…it sounded just like something Father once said to Mother and I—"

Hawke's eyes filled with water again, and Fenris rushed to say something, anything, to stop their fall. "You must miss your parents, your whole family," he said in a low voice. "It's not silly for you to feel that way. The way you were torn away from them…it has been very hard for you, hasn't it? I'm sorry."

Alas his words did not have their intended affect, and Hawke started crying again while Fenris looked on. Hawke felt the loss of her family keenly. He hated seeing her so upset, but what he hated more was being unable to comfort her. All he could offer her was his presence though that was hardly enough.

"I'm sorry too," Hawke said when her tears subsided to a slow drip. "I know I've been a pain these last few days but when you and Zevran were in that cave…it reminded me of me and Carver. We fought like cats and dogs most of the time, but every once in awhile we'd agreed on something, and Father always said that when we did, it meant trouble for everyone else around us. The way you two were grinning and making plans…I…I—"

"You could try to find them," Fenris suggested, sensing another torrent of tears approaching. "We're headed in a southerly direction towards Ferelden. After we help Zevran here, perhaps we'll have enough coin to catch a ship to Denerim."

That drew a small laugh out of Hawke. "You? Offering to go on a ship? And for a mage?" A rueful smile appeared on her face. "But no. I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn't know where to start looking. Father must have moved our family by now. He was leaning towards moving anyway, ever since he caught that last batch of templars sniffing around, but he wouldn't suffer our family to live anyplace vulnerable to both templars and slavers. The only thing I know about my family's whereabouts is that they're not in Lothering any more." Hawke's face fell as she finished.

"You could still start there? Surely someone must have seen the direction your family headed off in at the very least," said Fenris.

"That's likely to be misdirection on my father's part," she told him wanly.

Fenris frowned. "You're being more pessimistic than I've ever seen you," he said. He took in Hawke's sad face, her slumped shoulders, and her shaking hands. A stray thought occurred to him as he recalled one of the first things Hawke ever said to him. "You…you feel abandoned, don't you? Because your father never came after you."

Hawke shook her head frantically side to side. "No, no. Disappointed, perhaps, but I understand why. Father has Mother and the twins to think of. He had to make sure they're safe, not just chase after a silly girl who couldn't fight off a band of slavers."

Though Hawke protested mightily, her denials sounded weak to Fenris' ear. While Hawke may have accepted the reasons why her father had not attempted to rescue her on a intellectual level, it had to still rankle her that her family had so easily left her behind, especially after the mageling had covered her sister's escape. "Knowing you, I'm certain you gave them a good fight. It must have taken more than a few slavers to bring you down," he noted.

She wrinkled her nose. "I didn't fight as well as I should have. Obviously. If I had, I wouldn't have got caught," she said. She looked off in the distance as sadness and regret crept into her eyes. "I…sometimes I can't help but wonder…what if I could have held them off for a few more minutes. Would that have been enough time? Would Father and Carver have come to help me? Or would everything still be the same, with my family out there somewhere together while I'm left all alone?"

"But you're not alone. You have me," he said without thinking. Fenris bit his tongue immediately after those words left his lips, a bit shocked that he could think that way about a mage, much less express such thoughts out loud. Any lingering doubts he had, however, were erased when he caught sight of the first real smile gracing Hawke's face in days.

"That has to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," she told him. She beamed up at him, and Fenris' breath caught in his throat at the sight. There was nothing more lovely than his mageling when she was truly happy about something.

Hawke continued talking. "The most unbelievable thing about you, Fenris, isn't that you can glow in the dark or literally rip a man's heart out of his chest. It's that despite how kind and sweet you are, you persist in believing that you're an awful person when you're really not. It's just as well that I won't ever leave your side. You need someone by you to remind you how good you are."

His mageling was in for a rude awakening eventually. Fenris knew full well that he wasn't half the man she thought he was. Still a fairly significant part of him thrilled to the idea that she was just as committed as him when it came to remaining together.