Chapter Three
Anders emerged from the bedroom, dressed in the clothing Hawke had given him. Ella waved him over to the hearth where she was seated, cutting an apple into slices. He accepted a wedge, his gaze straying around the room to where Hawke was leaning close to Nora, obviously deep in conversation.
Folding his long legs underneath him, he scooted close to Ella, deciding it was a good time to catch up. She shook her head, but smiled at him fondly.
"How did you manage to get out this time, Anders? I believe the escape when we met involved a spare set of templar armor, didn't it?"
He chuckled in remembrance. "You're right, it did. I think that was one of my easier exits from the Tower, actually. Even though that armor was almost too heavy for me to walk normally." He popped the last bite of crisp apple into his mouth, enjoying the tangy sweetness. "You won't believe how I got out this time. It was almost ridiculously easy."
Ella leaned back in her seat, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she smoothed her hands against her skirt. "You drugged the templar guarding the basement tunnels?" He shook his head and she tried again. "You hid in the supply boat?"
Anders laughed. "That one worked twice for me, but not this time. Do you give up?"
She sighed. "I'm sure it was something clever to have gotten you out the seventh time. I give up."
He rubbed a hand across his stubbled cheek and leaned closer, pitching his voice to a low murmur. "There was a new female templar who was quite taken by my charms. I chatted her up, exhausted her in the usual way, then stole her keys while she slept."
Ella's shoulders were shaking with laughter. "I would have guessed sex, but I thought everyone in the Tower knew about you by now."
He grinned and shrugged. "I'm just oddly grateful she was as homely as a mabari, and very eager for male attention. It made it easier for me, although it was necessary for me to close my eyes and picture someone else to get the job done."
His eyes strayed back to Hawke, lingering on her mouth when she laughed at something the other mage said. He glanced back at Ella who was watching him with a knowing smirk.
"What can you tell me about Hawke?" he asked quietly. "She said she's been living with you for some time."
Ella sobered and nodded. "A year. I found her outside of town in an open field, confused and covered in blood. She never told me what happened to her, and I don't push." She sighed, her careworn face reflecting her age.
"I think she holds onto a lot of secrets, but she's dear to me, Anders." Ella looked at him severely. "Don't do anything to hurt her."
He held up a hand, palm facing out. "I'll be a perfect gentleman- mages honor." He hesitated, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Until she tells me otherwise, anyway."
Ella laughed and pushed his shoulder. "I've already warned her about you, so whatever happens, at least it won't be on my conscience." She stood and rubbed her lower back absently. "I'll fetch your bedding. You can sleep by the hearth tonight, and I'll share with Nora since I have the larger bed."
She shuffled off and left Anders contemplating the dancing flames before him and wondering what awaited him in the coming days and weeks.
The following days passed without any problems. Hawke was always on the alert, knowing it was the calm before the storm. Her hands itched to push a confrontation with the templars, but she forced herself into a restless patience.
She seldom strayed from Anders side, which he seemed to appreciate. They fell into a comfortable pattern of flirtation and blossoming friendship, though she still kept him at a distance physically.
Ella helped Nora to prepare for the next part of her journey, and the mage eagerly set off for Denerim before week's end. Running low on money again, Hawke decided to gather more potion ingredients, with Anders eager to help. They slipped from Amaranthine unnoticed.
Their journey would take them several hours from the city. Anders grumbled half-heartedly about the hood she had insisted he wear to cover his hair and help him blend with other men of the area.
"If your vanity is more important than your life, by all means, feel free to dress as you choose. Did I happen to mention that I have a bit of a fetish for men in hats?" She asked innocently.
"Hmmm, I'll have to remember that. Actually, Mari, I wanted to ask you something."
She smiled at his shortening of her name. Justice/Anders never called her anything but Marian, and further emphasized to her just how different he was without the spirit to change him. The old anger burned in her gut.
"What is it?" She headed them to the east of the city, in a wooded area that always yielded the plants she sought. She wore her enchanted sword, and Anders carried two daggers she had loaned him just for show.
"You mentioned you know what I'm like in bed, but you didn't tell me who gave you that information." His voice rose in a question.
She pulled a handful of leaves from the hanging branch of a tree, and let them fall from her fingertips onto the soft turf they were walking across. She chewed her lip thoughtfully, cursing herself for the flippant remark.
How could she tell him that she remembered with perfect clarity the feel of his tongue on her most sensitive areas, or the scrape of his calluses on her breasts? How he knew exactly how to touch her to bring her to her knees with want?
Just thinking of it brought a demanding burn to her blood and an aching emptiness in her core. She sighed inwardly and ignored her body's demands. This was not the same as before and never would be, and they were nothing but friends.
"Maybe I was just teasing you to get a reaction." She avoided his eyes to see if he would accept her explanation. He took her hand to stop her from walking away and turned her to face him. She kept her expression blank while he examined her face.
"I don't buy it. You were serious when you said it. I've learned to read you over the past week, you know. Why not just tell me? I'm far too curious to let it go, and I'll keep pestering you until I get an answer."
She focused on his gold earring while she decided just how much to tell him, then nodded and met his sharp, brown-eyed gaze again.
"Alright, but if what I tell you sounds unlikely- remember, you asked for it."
He pursed his lips. "Fine, now talk."
Hawke turned to continue walking, but he tugged on the hand he still held to prevent it, and shook his head.
"No, I want to watch your face so I can tell if you're lying." She laughed in surprise, but he smirked and raised a brow.
"Maker, you're demanding. Very well. Have you heard of the gift of precognition?"
He tilted his head in confusion, wondering what that had to do with anything. "That's the supposed ability to see future events. What of it?"
She blew the hair off her forehead and glanced down at his broad, tunic covered chest. Finding that even more distracting than his eyes, she returned her gaze to his face.
"I have a bit of precognition." When he continued to look confused, she blurted it out. "I've seen us…together." An unexpected blush burned her cheeks while understanding crept into his gaze, followed by a smug male laugh of triumph. He pulled her flush against him, and her heart thrummed insistently against her ribs when he threaded his fingers in her hair possessively.
She closed her eyes against his dear face. Hawke ached with the love she had to keep hidden in her heart for him. She had no idea this would be so hard, especially when he pressed lips she knew as well as her own against her throat.
"If you can see the future and we become lovers, then why delay? Should we not seize the time we have," he whispered into her ear seductively.
Oh, Maker, I'm not strong enough to resist this. Should I resist? she wondered desperately.
A loud scream rent the air, and they both stiffened, turning toward the sound of swearing and struggle beyond the thick row of trees where they stood. Hawke didn't know whether to be relieved or curse in frustration, but she pulled away from Anders, drawing her sword.
"It sounds like a woman," he said, pulling out one of the daggers.
"Stay behind me," she ordered, "and don't use magic unless you have to." She cleared the tree line and missed the way Anders' jaw tightened at her words.
It didn't take long to draw conclusions from what was happening. There was an unconscious man on his back, while four others gathered around a woman on the ground, clearly intending to force themselves on her. Cool rage flooded Hawke's veins, and she welcomed the opportunity for action. She had been idle far too long.
Clicking her tongue chidingly, she drew their attention and they looked toward her. "Now, now, boys, don't you think you should reconsider?"
She silently praised the woman when she ran for the trees behind Hawke and Anders, and Hawke kept talking to give her time to get away.
"I can tell just from looking at the four of you, that your dicks are too pathetically small to offer even a modicum of satisfaction." Anders' choked laugh joined with the angry growls of the men before them.
"Are you boys sorry for what you've done, or are you prepared for a thrashing today?"
The biggest lout stepped forward and spat contemptuously at her feet. "I don't know who you think you are, girl, but I'll put that mouth of yours to better use before I slit your throat."
"I was hoping you would say that," she purred menacingly.
The men surged forward, intent on rushing the two mages, but she extended a hand forward and lifted it, then made a fist bringing it down sharply. All four of them flew high into the air then slammed down into the earth, knocked unconscious. She strode forward and did to them as they had threatened to do to her and slit their throats, bringing the brief confrontation to a swift close.
"Disappointing," she murmured, while wiping her sword free of blood on the clothing of her final victim. Anders scoffed, and she looked at him questioningly.
"I thought you said we shouldn't use magic," he said with a small frown, looking at the bodies.
"I said not unless we had to, which clearly, I had to. I'm fairly adequate with a sword with one opponent at a time, but not four."
The woman ran back through the trees and threw her arms around Hawke, who looked a little surprised at the show of affection.
"Thank you, ser, you saved our lives! Oh, I forgot Thomas!" She ran to the unconscious man and tried to revive him, but he groaned and lay still again. Anders stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, drawing her back.
"I'm a healer. Let me just have a quick look at him." The woman nodded gratefully. Anders hands glowed a pale green and moved just above the head of the injured man, knitting the gash and stopping the flow of blood. His eyes fluttered opened, and he looked around in confusion.
"Erin?"
The woman grinned and threw her arms around the man, laughing happily. Hawke smiled at Anders, always proud of how willing he was to offer his gifts for the benefit of others, and he winked at her. Erin and Thomas stood and turned to thank their rescuers, but Hawke waved it away.
"I'm just glad we were nearby to stop those men." She looked at the bodies dispassionately. "They won't be able to hurt anyone else."
Erin clasped Hawke's hand and spoke fervently. "I always said mages were good. Just look at how a mage saved us all from the blight. How can we ever repay you for what you done?"
Hawke smiled. "Just forget you ever saw any mages, and that will be thanks enough."
"You can count on me, ser, my lips are sealed." The woman nodded eagerly and pulled the man along, anxious to get back to their farm, and safety.
Hawke and Anders left the area, walking quickly, and he noticed a little worried frown between her brows.
"Are you alright, Mari?" he asked gently.
She looked at him and the frown faded. "Just wondering how long until the gossip comes back to bite us in the ass with the templars. I think we had better get serious about getting out of Amaranthine and…ah- shit."
More than half a dozen templars stepped out of cover, blocking their way forward. Marian glanced behind her, whispering a life detection spell under her breath, but there was no one behind them. She sighed in relief and turned in time to see Anders step in front of her protectively to speak to the leader, who wore no helm.
His eyes were as cold as his smile.
~o~