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The best days were the ones where the words flowed easily across the page, the scene unfolding in Varric's mind and moving almost directly onto the parchment in front of him. He was in the middle of a scene like that, smiling at the charming insouciance of Donnen Brennocovic, when the Rivaini came rushing through the Hanged Man as if all the demons of the Void were after her.
She was gone up the stairs before Varric could ask her what was wrong. He got to his feet, hastily pulling his papers together, heedless of the ink that splattered all over the scene that had seemed so important moments ago. Hawke had gone with Isabela; something to do with the pirate's lost relic. If the Rivaini was here, looking frantic, and Hawke wasn't … Varric cursed the impulse that had led him to forego the day's adventures with Hawke and stay in to write instead.
Before he could hurry up the stairs after the pirate, he heard a commotion outside. Leaving his papers with Corff, the bartender, and grabbing Bianca, he went out to investigate. People were streaming past the doors, running for Hightown, looking panicked. He caught the first person he saw going past, the potion maker Lady Elegant, catching her by the sleeve. "Elegant! What's going on?"
"The Qunari are attacking. Anyone who's smart will either get out of here—or hide very, very well."
The Qunari? "Hawke!" Varric said urgently. "Have you seen Hawke?"
Elegant shook her head. "No, but I heard she was there when the Arishok went crazy." She shook his hand off her arm. "I'm going, Varric. You should, too."
"Uh-huh," he said, not knowing exactly what he was agreeing to. All he could think of was Hawke, and the Arishok. If there was anyone in Kirkwall the Qunari wanted dead, it would have to be Hawke. It had been obvious to the Arishok for a long time that Hawke was the only competent leader Kirkwall had. They would never have let her leave the compound.
Varric pushed his way through the fleeing crowd, heading for the stairs that led to the docks and the Qunari compound. At last he reached them, and to his tremendous relief, he saw Hawke climbing up toward him. Her armor was blood-spattered, but she looked all right. Vaguely he recognized that Aveline was with her, and Fenris, and Merrill, but mostly he only had eyes for Hawke.
"Varric!" Her eyes lit up when she recognized him.
"Hawke!" He wanted to throw himself into her arms, so great was his relief, but he couldn't seem to make his feet move. "Are you—" His eyes went to the blood on her armor.
"Oh. No, I'm all right. This was—" She turned a stricken face to Aveline. "The Qunari went for the guardsmen, and left us alone. It was almost as if … as if they let us get away."
"They did," Fenris said flatly. "The Arishok has plans for you, it seems."
Hawke shook her head. "I don't think the Arishok cares what happens after this."
"You would be surprised. The Qunari do not act on impulse, much as it may have seemed so today."
Hawke passed a gauntleted hand over her face, but all that accomplished was to smear blood across her nose. "Merrill, you should go to the alienage. If people are panicking like this—well, I don't want the Qunari attack to land on the elves and find them unprotected. Get your people out, take them … to the Hanged Man, or to my mansion. Varric, you with me?"
"Always."
She frowned. "You haven't seen Isabela, have you?"
"I have. She came tearing through the Hanged Man. You know what happened?"
"Yes, she—"
"That pirate whore's damned relic was a Qunari artifact," Aveline put in. "She lied to us. For years. Then she ran out on us when we were fighting her battle, took the artifact, and fled. I always knew she was a worthless poxy harlot, but I never thought she was a coward."
Underneath the acidic words was a very real worry, which Varric shared. If the Qunari caught the Rivaini with something of theirs, after having been stuck here for years waiting to find it …
"We need to do something," he said urgently.
"We need to get to the Viscount's Keep."
Hawke turned to Fenris. "Why there?"
"Because they will be collecting people there. Those who agree will be assimilated into the Qun. Those who don't …" His tone of voice left no doubt as to what the Qunari will do.
"Storm the fortress, save the city? I can do that," Hawke said. "Aveline?"
"Lead the way, Hawke."
Fenris and Varric both nodded, and they followed Hawke through Kirkwall, through seemingly endless numbers of Qunari. The Knight Commander and the First Enchanter were outside the Keep, arguing over who was going to be in charge of the assault. Hawke cut between the two of them without a moment's hesitation. Glaring into each of their eyes in turn, she said coolly, "I won't have you two at each other's throats. I'm in charge."
Neither of them were happy about that, but neither of them argued with her, either. On most days, it looked to Varric as though the Knight-Commander would be a match for Hawke, but today Hawke was angry, and an angry Hawke was very difficult to say no to.
It was only when they made it to the throne room, where Viscount Dumar had been murdered and many of the city's nobles clustered together in fear, that Varric understood what Fenris had meant by the Arishok having plans for Hawke. It was the elf himself who brought up the idea of Hawke and the Arishok dueling in single combat, but the look on the Arishok's face when the elf spoke up told Varric all he needed to know about the way the Arishok intended to get out of this situation he had begun.
Hawke considered it, looking around the room as if weighing her options … but she really had none, unless letting half the city be slaughtered was an acceptable choice. At last she looked back at the Arishok. If she was afraid, Varric couldn't see it. "All right," she said, as lightly as if she was at a cotillion. "Let's dance."
And they did. The Arishok didn't make it easy for her, but in the end she prevailed. Bloodied, injured, so exhausted she could barely lift her blade, but she did it.
Knight-Commander Meredith arrived in the throne room as Hawke stood over the fallen body of the Arishok. Meredith looked like she had just been sucking on lemons as she surveyed the scene in front of her. "It appears Kirkwall has a new champion. Well done, Hawke."
Hawke nodded wearily, and slumped to the ground, her legs giving way underneath her. Around them all, the Qunari filed out in silence, not deigning to look at anyone or anything as they passed, including the body of their former leader.
The Qunari occupation of Kirkwall was ended.