We Are One

Chapter 4; Caught and Exposed

A year had gone by, and we moved closer to each other. Spending a lot of time together, with and without his friends, we grew stronger together, addicted to each other’s presence, and it was blissful. If we had known what would have happened, we might have prepared ourselves, but we couldn’t have seen what was coming.

 

It was the spring of that year, the flowers in bloom with a lustrous scent, and it made everything seem more precious. We had been walking home together from the market, bringing home food and a few new weapons and pieces of armor, laughing as we spoke of certain nobles we saw that seemed out of their places. As we reached the mansion, we stopped and stared at a small note hanging from the door.

“What’s this..?” Fenris set the bags down on the ground and walked to the door, reaching out to grab the note, gasping loud and pushing the door open, moving inside so quickly I didn’t even see him disappear behind the door. I reached down to grab the bags and ran inside, shutting the door behind me and setting the bags down on the table, running through the rooms and up to his room, watching as he started clasping himself in armor.

“What is it? Fenris?” He seemed troubled, rushing even as he strapped numerous blades around him, saving his greatsword for last. As I leaned against the doorway, I watched him with worry, letting out a heavy sigh. My sound caught his attention, and he brought himself to a halt, turning to face me. His head was dropped to the ground and he spoke softly, as if trying not to hurt me.

“...They’ve captured Hawke…” My eyes widened in surprise and I stepped inside the room, reaching my hand out to touch his cheek, lifting his head up to stare straight into his eyes, as serious as I could be.

“Who?”

He pulled his face away from my hand and stared at the ground. “My master had an heir after Hadriana, a teenager at the time I met him. His name is Luke, and he was training for years beyond my time with Danarius, he had to start when he was only five, or sometime around there. Anyways, he must have learned about me from either of them before they died, he’s searching for me, captured Hawke to force me in.”

“This could be a trap you know… Hawke isn’t weak enough to get herself caught so easily.”

“I realize that, but still! If she is there, we’re her only help.” He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “Prepare yourself. I will need your help.”

Giving him a nod, I rushed to my room and wrapped myself in my chainmail and armor, setting in bombs and daggers as much as I could. When I returned to him, he took my hand and lead me down the stairs, stopping in front of the door. Turning to me, he took my face in his hands and kissed my lips tenderly, as if trying to tell me that he wouldn’t leave me. “I just want to save her…” Was all he said. I gave him another nod and we set out from the mansion.

We didn’t go alone, we weren’t that stupid. Assuming they had a flank army of mages, we tracked down each of our friends.

We stepped inside the Hanged Man and looked around, moving up to one room we know would hold one friend, at the least, and we were welcomed with four.

In Varric’s room at the tavern, he and Isabela, Merrill, and Anders sat around the table, laughing as they were playing a card game. Varric peeked up from his chair and blinked in surprise to see the two of us together, much less strapped up for battle.

“Well shit, who are we killing, and why?” Varric asked, dropping his last hand on the table, the other three groaning in agony as they seemed to have lost.

“We need your help. A magister has captured Hawke.” As if triggered from her name, they all rose up and rushed over to us, worry filling their eyes.