Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Free as a Bird	By : Letticiae Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 9737 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age, nor do I own the characters. I do not make money/profit from writing this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
Cullen had once again casually mentioned marriage during a conversation with Hawke. "When we get married we should get one of those," he had said, pointing to a weapon stand for sale at the Hightown Market that could hold four blades and one shield.
It was the second time he had said something like that in the past thirty days, so Hawke invited Aveline over for a drink to have a talk about templars and their lyrium addiction.
"You've settled in nicely," the Guard-Captain remarked, when she entered the rogue's estate.
"It's just luck," Hawke replied. "And skill," she added, smirking.
"Indeed. Here. I got you a house-warming gift. It's a very special brandy, aged five years in oak casks. It's made in Orlais. There they call it cognac, of course."
She certainly knows her spirits, Hawke thought, amused. "Thank you, Aveline. Should I open it?"
"Sure. Let's have a taste."
Hawke poured them the brandy and they went to sit in the library.
"Cullen said you requested a couple of templars to join the guards on some patrols," the rogue uttered.
"Did he tell you he refused my requisition?" Aveline replied.
"I thought you hated it when templars interfere with the affairs of the guard."
"I do. But the seneschal insists on having these templars. We had a few casualties in the guard lately due to unfortunate encounters with apostates even during patrols that were supposed to be quiet and easy. I have to find a way to convince the Knight-Captain to comply. Any ideas? Apparently, templars think it is demeaning for them to join the guard…"
"You can probably get Cullen to agree to anything in exchange for a lyrium draught if he's been out for long enough," Hawke huffed.
The warrior arched her eyebrows, giving her friend a concerned look. "Witnessed any withdrawal crisis already? They are not pretty…"
"No crisis yet, but it worries me that only eight hours without it is enough for him to start shuddering and sweating."
"Eight hours? That's not good, Hawke. Wesley…"Aveline smiled sadly, "…he was in it pretty badly too. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night craving it."
"What did you do about it?"
"What could I do? Templars need their special abilities to stand a chance against apostates and blood mages and I wanted my husband to come home safe every night. Without lyrium what would templars do? Try and run their swords through every mage they encounter? This is what it is, Hawke. There's no way around it," the Guard-Captain said, taking a large gulp from the glass in her hands.
"Cullen has been talking about marriage…"
"Really? And do you want to marry him?"
"I… don't know," the rogue sighed. "This is the most normal relationship I have ever had. I'm happy with him and given my previous history with men, I didn't think that would ever happen."
"You haven't been together that long…" Aveline pointed out.
"Wow, aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Hawke said sarcastically. "Anyway, he hasn't asked me yet. I have time to think this through."
"I'm sorry. It's just that… never mind."
"What? Don't do that! Tell me what it is."
"It's silly. Just something Isabela said," the red haired woman avoided Hawke's eyes as she spoke, feeling somewhat ashamed of what she had to say. It would sound like she was gossiping, but… maybe it was best to tell her friend about it before it was too late. "Weren't you pining over a tall bulky blond Fereldan warrior until you started dating Cullen – who can also be described by those same words?"
Hawke downed the brandy in her glass in one full swig and refilled it. "Isabela said that?"
Aveline nodded.
"And you agree?" the rogue asked, her expression unreadable.
The Guard-Captain breathed out heavily. "I just want to make sure that you know what you are doing. Is it really Cullen the one you want to be with?"
It was a genuine concern. Was he just a replacement for Alistair? Hawke felt her heart clench. She had gotten closer to Cullen for all the wrong reasons and their relationship had been born amidst lies. "Maybe it just means that I have a type," she shrugged, pretending she wasn't bothered by her friend's comment.
"It is a very specific one," Aveline remarked.
"Look, I'm not saying I agree, but I guess… perhaps at first… I might have felt attracted to him because of that. The thing is that I spent only one night with Alistair and I've been with Cullen for months now. If this relationship once had anything to do with Alistair, it doesn't anymore," Hawke explained, clearly upset.
"You're right. I shouldn't have brought it up."
The two women kept drinking in companionable silence for a few minutes.
Once Aveline's glass had emptied, Hawke offered her another shot but she refused. "I should leave," the guardswoman said, getting on her feet.
"About the lyrium problem, any other advice?" the rogue asked.
"You don't want to be near a templar during a bad withdrawal crisis, believe me. Draughts, they take the edge off, but they are not enough to feed their addiction. If you don't want him leaving your side whenever he runs out, you better have some lyrium dust around."
After her friend was gone, Hawke went back to the library. Garrus came in and sat by her side, resting his head on her leg. For long a time she stayed there, petting her mabari, lost in her thoughts. From what she had gathered from her talk to Aveline she should not only accept Cullen's addiction, but back it up. That seemed… twisted.

At least once a month there was either a ball or a banquet or a party of some kind in one of the Hightown mansions. Cullen didn't always have time off to accompany Hawke and every time she attended one of these events without him, people started asking if they had broken up. Even after she said that they were fine and he just had to work late, they still insisted on introducing her to their unmarried sons.
At least she was having the opportunity to engage in very lively conversations with tipsy nobles and gather information that was helping her narrow down the list of suspects of having hired the Flint Company to murder the Vaels.
On Harvestmere 30th Hawke and Leandra had a very formal dinner to attend at the Talwains. Cullen was busy and wouldn't be able to leave in time to accompany his girlfriend, so she asked him to meet her afterwards, at 10p.m. at the Chantry, where Sebastian would also be expecting her for an update on her latest findings.
When they left the Talwain estate, Hawke took Leandra along to the Chantry. Even though the rogue and her companions had wiped out the Guardsman Pretenders over a year ago, she didn't like the idea of her mother walking alone at night in Hightown.
The two women were about fifty yards from the stairs to the Chantry when Hawke suddenly halted and put her forefinger over her lips, signaling to her mother to be quiet. Leandra looked around frantically, but she didn't see anyone else on the street.
"What's happening?" her mother asked, whispering.
"Shhh!" the daughter insisted, taking a defensive stance.
Since she had come back from the Deep Roads things had been so quiet that she had often been going out unarmed. Right now she could practically hear Fenris' angry voice in her head, scolding her for being reckless. Not without reason, she thought, shaking her head at her own stupidity.
Abruptly, she pushed her mother to the ground just in time for an arrow to miss the old woman by an inch.
"Run to the Chantry, Mother!"
Carta thugs start pouring out of every corner.
"Marian, what are you going to do? They are too many," Leandra said nervously.
"I'll buy you time to get to safety. Send Cullen and Sebastian here and stay in there," Hawke replied, as she quickly stepped out of her high-heels.
"Marian?" Leandra shot her a desperate look.
"GO! NOW!" the rogue yelled.
As her mother rushed towards the stairs, Hawke faded from view.
She came out of stealth behind one of the rogue thugs as she knocked him out with her shoe. Hastily she grabbed his daggers, finished him and vanished again just when arrows started flying in her direction.
The next time she appeared she was cutting the throat of one of the archers. The thug closest to her charged, but with one acrobatic jump, she landed behind him and rammed her blades in his back.
Three down. At least fifteen in sight. Hell, she was not going to make it.

Leandra was already on the top of the stairs when she heard her daughter's painful scream. She spared a glance over her shoulder, but all she saw was a bunch of raging dwarves.
Luckily, Sebastian and Cullen were talking in the Chantry hall, right near the entrance, when Leandra pushed the heavy door open and stormed inside, flushed, trembling and panting.
The men looked at her, startled.
"Serah Amell, what happened? Where's Ma–" Cullen began.
"Outside," she interrupted, breathlessly. "She needs help! Please!" she cried.
Readying their weapons, the templar and the Brother rushed out of the Chantry.
From the middle of the stairs Sebastian spotted Hawke as she was falling on her knees and shot an arrow right between the eyes of a thug that was about to bury his blade on her back.
Cullen felt his heart skip a beat and almost went back to kill the prince for taking such a risky shot.
The archer kept firing his arrows from a distance as the warrior reached his lover and stood in front of her, protecting her as he engaged the remaining foes.
The Knight-Captain was already fighting three dwarves at once when two more came out of stealth, flanking him. Hawke tried to get up on her feet to help, but there were deep bleeding cuts in her thighs and she couldn't find the strength to stand, so she tossed her daggers, hitting two of the foes right in the chest. With this last bit of effort, she crumbled on the ground, slipping out of consciousness seconds later.
When she next woke up she was lying in her bed. Anders was standing next to her and Cullen was pacing in front of the hearth.
"She's awake," the healer told the templar and took a step back.
Cullen rushed to kneel by the bed. "Baby, thank the Maker you're fine," he said as he softly stroked her cheek.
"I feel awful," she moaned.
"The wounds in your thighs were pretty bad," the mage said.
"Is it morning already? I can't believe I was out this long," she uttered, rubbing her eyes.
"You lost a lot of blood," the healer remarked. "I hear you went out unarmed."
"I just did it because I wanted to give you something more exciting to deal with than stomachaches and colds. I bet you've been bored to death this past year without having to heal me from nearly fatal wounds every other day," she joked.
"Sure, Hawke. It's a lot more fun when you're dying," he said, rolling his eyes. "I have to go back to the clinic, but I'll come by again later to check on you."
The templar accompanied the mage to the door. "Anders, thank you. You can rest assured that I –"
"I know, Cullen. Take care of her," the healer said.
As Anders was leaving, Bodahn came in with breakfast.
"It's good to see you're feeling better, Messere Hawke," the dwarf said cheerfully.
"Thank you, Bodahn. Can you please send word to Varric and Sebastian to come meet me here as soon as possible? I need to talk to them."
"Brother Sebastian is downstairs since last night, Messere," the dwarf replied.
"Oh? Make him some breakfast then, and after he eats, tell him to come up," she said, sitting up on the bed.
"Baby, are you sure you want to see them now? You need to rest," Cullen gave her a concerned look.
"I'm okay, love. By the way, thank you for saving me," she smiled.
"You know, you had already killed at least ten of them when I got there. And you saved me when you threw your daggers on those two that were trying to flank me. But when they were all dead and I had to carry you out of there…" his expression saddened. "Maker, there was so much blood…"
Suddenly he hugged her. "I was afraid I was going to lose you.
"Luckily I'm tall and they were all dwarves, or these cuts might have been on my chest and back and then I would be dead for sure," she remarked, her tone playful.
He shook his head and gave her a stern look for taking something so serious that lightly, but then she caught his lips with hers and could feel him smile as they kissed.
Minutes later, as she was finishing her breakfast, Varric and Sebastian came in.
"Hawke, it's good to see you in one piece! Choir Boy here told me dwarves attacked you. New gang for us to wipe out?" the storyteller asked.
"I don't think so, Varric. They were Carta," she answered.
"Carta? Here in Hightown? Are you sure?" the dwarf raised an eyebrow.
"They were after her. I looted this from one of the bodies," Sebastian said, showing them a piece of parchment.
Varric reached out and took it from him. "Let me see that, Choir Boy."
Hawke noticed the dwarf's expression turning grim as his eyes ran through the words in the note.
"Don't keep us in suspense. What does it say?" she asked, annoyed.
"The Carta… they're hunting you down, Hawke."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but I don't think it's just you they want."
"What do you mean?"
"I think they might come for Bethany too. Apparently they want to bring 'the blood of Hawke' to some place in the Vimmark Mountains," the dwarf uttered, handing the parchment over to her.
"I'm not going to sit here and wait for them to ambush me or my sister, Varric. We have to find out where they are, we have to get to them first."
"Good. Bianca is looking forward to some action."
"Let's gather our party at the Hanged Man tomorrow and see who's willing to go hiking in the mountains," she uttered.

The next day, at nightfall, Hawke arrived at the Hanged Man with Anders, Sebastian and Garrus. All her other companions were already there, sitting around the large table in Varric's room.
"The Vimmark Mountains extend for six hundred miles, Hawke. How are you going to find them?" Aveline said, once all had been explained and they all had seen the parchment.
"I'm not sure. I was hoping you could help me with that," Hawke answered.
"You don't think the Carta will give up after just one try, do you?" Isabela asked.
"No, I don't," Hawke replied.
"So we just have to wait for their next attack. We capture one of them alive and interrogate him," the pirate suggested.
"Sounds good. I have to start walking around more at night, make myself look like an easy target. That will surely attract them. But when they come for me, I'll be prepared," Hawke agreed.
"And hopefully not alone," Merrill added.
"If I take three or four armored people with me every time I go out, the Carta might think it's best to get me at home and that would put Mother, Bodahn and Sandal in danger. They have to come for me while I'm out on the street and the only way I can be sure that they'll do that is if I do make myself look like an easy target when I go out," Hawke asserted.
"That's too dangerous. They were over twenty when they ambushed you and failed. They'll probably come in an even larger number next time," the prince said.
"I won't be unarmed again, Sebastian," she replied, dismissively.
"Foolish, reckless woman," Fenris muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
"Are you insane? You almost died!" Anders protested.
"Us rogues can follow you without them noticing. When they attack you, we attack them," Varric suggested.
"Alright. If you are up to it…" she said.
"I am," Rivaini immediately agreed.
"Choir Boy?" Varric asked.
Sebastian turned to Hawke. "Are you sure that's what you want to do, lass?"
She nodded.
"Then you can count on me," he replied.
Anders huffed loudly as he raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. "At least take me with you, then," he said. "Seeing you limp and bloodied in Cullen's arms… I can't take it, Hawke."
"He means the part that you were in Cullen's arms. Seeing you half-dead doesn't bother him that much," Varric chuckled, making Anders blush and turn away, pouting.

Cullen was not happy to hear about the plan that not only used his girlfriend as bait, but also did not include him. However no matter what he said he couldn't manage to talk her out of it. Every night he would go to her estate and wait, praying and pacing, until she got back from her dangerous stroll.
It took a month for the Carta to try and ambush her again. It was late at night and she was talking to Anders at the empty Hightown Market. When the thugs attacked, Isabela, Varric and Sebastian came out of the shadows to help. Fenris had been following her from the rooftops every night since the moment she had agreed to this plan and also joined the fight.
The foes, though in greater number, didn't stand a chance against a fully prepared Hawke along with five of her capable companions. Fenris pommeled the leader – a Carta overseer –, knocking him out momentarily as Anders casted a glyph of paralysis to hold him in place. When all the other enemies were dead, Hawke and her friends brought the overseer to her estate, so they could interrogate him.
Making the goon talk wasn't hard. Once the elf's markings flared and he shoved his hand in the man's guts, the thug spilled every bit of information he knew and gave detailed directions to the Carta hideout in the Vimmark Mountains. When Hawke decided that she knew enough she signaled Fenris to kill the prisoner. It was crude, but if she let him go, he could warn the Carta that she was coming for them.
It was already very late, so she thanked her companions for their help and told them goodbye, before going to bed with Cullen.

Once she had decided on her course of action, she went to meet her party at the Hanged Man.
"So, Hawke, when do we leave?" the storyteller asked.
She smiled brightly at her loyal friend. "I'm glad you're up for this, Varric."
"You have to take more people," Aveline said.
"And you should wait at least until next Drakonis before you leave," Sebastian advised.
"True. Climbing mountains in the cold season is most unwise," Fenris uttered.
"Sitting here and waiting for them to attack me is not the smartest thing to do either," Hawke retorted.
"They are right and you know they are, Hawke. Why make this even more dangerous than it is?" the Guard-Captain remarked.
"I'll go with you any time you like, Hawke, but I agree we stand a better chance if we wait until Drakonis," the healer said.
"Thank you, Anders, but I won't take you away from your clinic again for who knows how long. People in Darktown need you more than I do. I have another mage in mind for this."
"Who? Me? Is it me? Please, let it be me. You never take me anywhere," the Dalish elf said, almost jumping on her feet, hoping to be picked.
"I'm sorry, Merrill. It's not you."
"Bethany?" Aveline asked.
Hawke nodded.
"How? The Knight-Commander will never let a mage go out just like that," the guardswoman said.
"All I have to do is convince Cullen and he'll work things out with Meredith," Hawke explained.
"Hmm… I know some very effective persuasion techniques you can use on Knight-Captain Hottie," the pirate winked.
"Thanks, Isabela, but I don't think your help will be necessary," Hawke replied.
"Even if you convince him to let Bethany out, if you don't bring her back to the Circle when you return, that'll probably be the end for you and Cullen, Hawke," Aveline said in her concerned big-sister tone.
"I can't just go away from Kirkwall this long and leave Bethany here. The last time I did this… it was the worst mistake of my life," she sighed sadly. Top three worst, actually, she thought. "What if the Carta doesn't find me and decides to go after her? I don't think she's really safe anywhere but with me. If I can get her out and if we… survive, then I'll think about what to do next."
"About that, I think having a warrior with us might greatly improve our chances of survival," Varric said.
"Take me," Fenris offered.
"I appreciate it, Fenris, but I don't think it's a good idea. My sister has been through a lot already and –"
"I told you I can work with mages, Hawke. I did not lie," the elf said.
"Fine. But if you start giving her a hard time, I will kill you," Hawke said, staring into the elf's eyes, the most serious look on her face. "I mean it."

Cullen tried but he couldn't dissuade that stubborn woman from taking up such a dangerous quest and he hated that, being the Knight-Captain, he couldn't just abandon his duties and go with her. And when she told him she wanted to take Bethany with her…
They had been arguing for days on end now.
"You don't have to worry about her. She's safe in the Gallows," Cullen insisted for the hundredth time.
"No, she is not. It doesn't matter what you say or how good your intentions are, the only place she's really safe is with me," Hawke replied, also for the hundredth time.
"How come after all this time you still don't trust me? How many times have I told you that I'm watching out for her in there?" he hissed, angrily.
"I could say the same. How come you don't trust me when I tell you I'm bringing her back to the Circle when we return?" she retorted, waving her arms in the air in frustration.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Marian, baby, I'm so tired of fighting."
"You know I'm going to do this whether or not you let my sister join me. It's not only her that is safer with me. I'm safer with her too. Anders can't go and without a mage my chances of coming back alive are… not so good…" she sighed, looking down.
"I can't believe you are playing this card. If I refuse you now and, Maker forbid, something happens to you… It's not fair that you would put me in this position," he uttered, disappointed.
Hawke wasn't exactly proud of herself for using that argument, but she wouldn't go away for what could be months and leave her sister in Kirkwall when there were people out there hunting the "blood of Hawke".
"I won't leave until Drakonis or maybe Cloudreach," she said as a peace offering.
"So you can still see reason? I'm surprised," he snorted. "I'll talk to the Knight-Commander. You'll have Bethany by then," he uttered bitterly and stormed out of her house.
- 22
- 23
- 24
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Free as a Bird