Here There Be Dragons

by DreadNot

A phrase meant to denote uncharted territories. Collection of ficlets exploring any pairing, all characters, and myriad situations. This week, Poppy Hawke doesn't join the Qun, Alistair says goodbye, and Hawke mourns. Chapters 115-117.

38. You have been weighed

The Arishok challenged Hawke to a duel. Over her.

"Wait one minute." Isabela stepped up. Who was the duelist here after all? Her? Or the spindly mage?

And no she was not going to think about the fact that Hawke was anything but spindly because she really wanted to do things to him that would make him forget all about the little thing he had going with Merrill, no matter how sweet the girl was.

Wait. Where was she? Right. Priorities.

"If you're going to duel anyone," she challenged, "duel me."

The Arishok merely shook his ponderous head. "You are not basilit-an."

And what the buggery was that anyway?

He dismissed her, simple as that, and he saw in his eyes something that made her burn with humiliation: You have been weighed. You have been measured. And you have been found wanting.