A few months passed. Aisha and Isabela continued planning for their departure, gathering a crew, sending the sails for mending and purchasing a rather large anchor even though Isabela admitted that they did not need it.
"I just love anchors," was her excuse.
Aisha found herself being swept up in the excitement even though she was secretly sad at the prospect of soon leaving Hawke and the others. Varric however, assured her that they would all move on sooner or later. Kirkwall would not hold them forever. And Aisha knew that there was no way she was letting Isabela sail of into the sunset without her one more time.
It didn't matter if the pirate and the mage spent the day apart; they always met in the night. Most nights they would wind up warm, sated and spent but sometimes they would simply cuddle together in a messy state of tangled limps and fall asleep. The pirate might have wanted to deny it, but she loved those nights too.
This did not mean that Isabela stopped finding other bed partners, and occasionally they invited a third person into their bedroom as well. Aisha didn't mind as long as Isabela returned to her after; and Isabela always did. Occasionally it happened that the pirate smelled so strongly of somebody else's perfume that Aisha irritably told her to go away and not come back before she had taken a bath, but mainly it was said with good humour.
This was why Aisha didn't overreact when she came into the Hanged Man one day to find Isabela pestered by one of her conquests. The mage had gone up to the bar to order a drink, when she heard somebody talking to the pirate. It was a man, handsome, and even though his words suggested it, he was not drunk.
"Isabela," he said, "you dusky godess."
This will be interesting, Aisha thought to herself with a smirk.
"You have buried yourself into the flesh of my heart," Aisha had already taken a sip of her drink but immediately wished she hadn't because the man's words wanted to make her laugh. The man continued.
"Like a worm, in a red, red apple. You heartworm you."
"Oh look my friend is here, excuse me," Isabela said relieved rather than replying to the crazy ramblings of the man. She stood up to go and join Aisha who had sat herself down at a table not too far away, grinning from ear to ear at Isabela's plight.
The man stood up as well, attempting to follow her.
"But," he said, "I haven't got to the part where I invite you to feast on my tender white flesh!"
"That's alright," she said, "I think I'll manage." She started backing away and to her relief the man just imitated the face of a sad puppy and then he left. The pirate turned around and faced Aisha who burst out laughing. Isabela ignored her and sat down.
"You heartworm you!" Aisha whispered and gasped for air as her laughing continued.
"Yes, yes," Isabela said and rolled her eyes, "let's all laugh at Isabela and the troubles she gets herself into."
Aisha wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes as her laughing subsided. She leaned forward and brushed a kiss to Isabela's nearest temple.
"Don't be upset, sweet thing," she said, "You made your bed, now you lay in it."
Isabela just snorted a response, as Aisha continued giggling a little and then put her lips right next to Isabela's ears.
"Or you could simply forget about all the losers that don't deserve your time anyway."
Isabela turned her face and looked into Aisha's eyes.
"Whatever would I do with all that free time?" She asked. Aisha smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"I'm sure we can think of something," she said, "together." Then she looked up as a familiar figure walked through the doors, "oh look, there's Hawke!"
After almost an hour of friendly conversation one of the boys whom Hawke paid to keep a look out for trouble in High Town, the only way she managed to be exactly where the trouble was at all times, came running through the door.
"Sera, sera," he yelled and started waving his arms, "you must come quick!"
"What is it?"
"I don't know, but it's bad," the boy said, "the first enchanter and the knight-commander are fighting again!"
Hawke sighed.
"This is the last straw," she said, "come on, let's go."
The friends left the Hanged Man not knowing that it would be the last time they ever sat foot in the establishment.
…
They arrived at High Town where almost all of Kirkwall were gathered to watch Orsino and Meredith fight. Merrill was there, and Varric, Aveline, Fenris and Sebastian. Aisha searched for Anders but couldn't see him anywhere.
They had arrived just in time to hear Meredith order Orsino.
"I will have the tower searched. Top to bottom!"
But for once, Orsino refused to let himself be bullied.
"You cannot do that!" He yelled, "you have no right!"
"I have every right," Meredith continued, "you are harbouring blood mages, and I intend to root them out before they infect this city. "
Aisha and Merrill both took a mindless step backwards, both of them had dabbled. But Isabela smiled reassuringly at them. Over her dead body would anybody hurt them.
"Blood mages!" Orsino exclaimed and threw his arms up in the air, "where do you not see blood magic? My people cannot sneeze without you accusing them of corruption."
"Do not trifle with me mage," Meredith answered, "my patience is at an end."
"A wonder that I never saw it to begin with," Orsino muttered.
Hawke ran forward, she tried to smile.
"The way the two of you carry on", she said, "people will talk."
For once Meredith seemed to not appreciate Hawke's help, despite having asked for her help over and over during the past years.
"This does not involve you, champion," she said and took threatening steps towards Hawke but did not have the wanted effect. Hawke stood her ground even when Meredith was just inches away from her face.
"I called her here,"Orsino said from behind, "I think the people deserve to know just what you have done." The words made Meredith turn around in anger.
"What I have done,"she said, saliva splattering from her mouth as she talked, "is to protect the people of this city, time and time again. What I have done is to protect your mages from your curse and your own stupidity."
"She really thinks she wants whats best for us, doesn't she?" Aisha whispered to Merrill.
Meredith had turned back to Hawke.
"And I will not stop doing it,"she practically screamed, "I will not lower our guard. I dare not!"
"There must be some way we can work this out," Hawke tried but she was speaking to deaf ears.
"What other option do we have?" Meredith asked and there was actually regret in her voice, "should we look the other way? Tell the poor victims of a possessed mage that we meant no harm? Tell me, champion, that you have not seen with your own eyes what they can do, heard the lies of mages who seek more power?"
Hawke tried to take a deep breath, she was a mage herself after all.
"You can't use the actions of some to condemn them all,"she said.
"You would cast us all villians," Orsino said, "but it is not so!"
Meredith turned to Orsino once more, and there was actually compassion in her voice.
"I know," she said, "and it breaks my heart to do it. But we must be vigilant. If you cannot tell me another way, do not brand me a tyrant!"
"This is going nowhere,"Orsino said, "Grand cleric Elthina will put a stop to this." He started going towards the stairs to the chantry but Meredith stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"You will not bring her Grace into this!"
This was when Anders stepped out of nowhere and announced that the Grand Cleric could help no one anymore.
…
At first Isabela didn't remember where she was when she opened her eyes. Her ears where ringing and there was distant screaming coming from somewhere.
Anders… Chantry… Orsino… Knight-Commander… an awful noise… and a shockwave making them all fall to the ground.
Isabela lifted her head, immidiately searching for Aisha and the others. The pirate took a breath of relief when she saw that her mage was up on her feet. Her ears were still ringing and she could not properly hear what the mage was saying.
Aisha was furious, she was beyond furious. She had trusted Anders to be the boring old mage that he had always been, not this, not… a terrorist.
"What did you do?" She said and slapped him.
"There could be no peace,"Anders said, "there was no other way. Surely you must see that." He looked at Hawke for help, but she just shook her head.
Orsino and Meredith had also gotten to their feet now and Orsino looked at Anders with disbelief in his eyes.
"Why would you do such a thing?" He asked, tears streaming down his face.
Anders was crying as well, but his voice was not quivering when he replied.
"I removed the chance of compromise, because there is no compromise."
'The Grand Cleric has been slain by magic," Meredith said, "the chantry destroyed…" she seemed to think for a moment and then raised her voice so that everyone could hear, "as knight-commander of Kirkwall, I hereby invoke the Right of Annulment. Every mage in the circle is to be executed – immidiately!"
She then turned to Hawke.
"I demand you stand with us,"she said, "even you must see that this is a madness that can't be tolerated."
Hawke didn't even have to think. She looked at Merrill, looked at Aisha, thought about Bethany, her father and herself. She turned to the mages who were standing behind Orsino, most of them looking terrified and the younger ones openly crying.
"I won't let her slaughter all of you," Hawke said to them.
"Hawke," Aveline just said, "if you do this, I'm… I'm not sure if I can follow."
Aisha gasped and opened her mouth as if to say something but Isabela quited her.
"We all must follow our own path, sweet thing," the pirate whispered.
"I know we can do this," Merrill said and smiled at her lover, "I believe in you Hawke."
Hawke had made her choice.
"I'm not helping you Meredith," she said.
"You are a fool," Meredith said and then raised her voice one more time, "kill them all!"
AN: So, it has occured to me that I've made a huge mistake! Isabela's husband was Antivan! Not Riviani. Which would make Aisha Antivan as well. So please forgive me for that mistake... and let's just call this an AU where Isabela's husband was Riviani instead of Antivan? Is that okay...? I feel kind of silly about it. When I first started playing with the ideas of this story it was about Naishe and Aisha who were actual sisters, taking Aisha's name because it was so close to the name 'Naishe'. Then I added the tranquil-part, except at first she was going to finish as a tranquil rather than being "de-tranquilised", then I decided on a romantic story instead, and eventually I decided that Aisha was to be the daughter of Luis. Problem is that along the way I forgot that Luis was Antivan!
The first shard of idea I got for this story was from the song Jai Ho by A.R. Rahman, in case anybody is curious. I got this idea of two Riviani girls robbing someone to the sound of this song. I don't know... I think it was one of my weirder moments. But I've listened it to often while writing.
Thank you for the reviews! They really warm my heart. :D