At Your Side (A Dragon Age fanfiction)

By the Sea

Fenris put another log on the fire, rubbing his arms. Long as he had lived in Kirkwall, he had never acclimated—he thought longingly of the steaming hot jungles of Seheron. But of course, here in Kirkwall he had Hawke, and she kept things quite steamy between them. She was late tonight; no doubt still trading stories with Isabela and Charade and Aveline. They'd had what Charade referred to as a "girls' night" while Fenris held Diamondback night at Hawke's—their—estate. His mansion was now firmly in the hands of the Seneschal, and Aveline reported that a great deal of scouring and scrubbing and stripping of filthy wallpaper and carpets had already been accomplished.

Picking up his book, Fenris settled into the comfortable arm chair with a mostly contented sigh, losing himself in the adventures of the long-ago Blight hero Garahel. The book had clearly been written by an author who inclined toward Varric's school of sensationalism and overblown storytelling, but it was diverting, nonetheless.

A heavy knock on the front door sounded through the house, disrupting Fenris's reading. He looked up, unsure how long he had been reading—a significant chunk of the book, to be certain. A sense of unease settled itself in the back of his mind. Hawke was too late, and would certainly not be knocking on the door.

The knock came again, and Fenris dropped the book, hurrying to the door. He flung it open, glaring at the blandly pretty face of the young Templar who stood there.

"Serah!"

"Ser Keran, is it? What business have you here at this hour?"

"The Champion ..." Keran let the words trail away, his eyes darting nervously toward the shadows.

"Is not here."

"I know. She's been taken."

Cold fear swept through Fenris, freezing his very bones. "Come inside. Quickly." He closed the door behind the Templar, locking it securely. "Taken by whom?" he demanded.

"The mages. And some of the Templars. There's a group, formed by Ser Thrask. He's been teaching mages and Templars to work together, and doing it rather successfully," Keran said.

"If that is the case, why seize Hawke?"

"I'm not quite sure," Keran said, frowning. "It was Grace's idea, but I ... I left the meeting before she could explain why she thought it best to kidnap the Champion. I didn't want anything to do with it—the Champion was very good to me."

"Who is Grace?"

"One of the former Starkhaven mages. The Champion tried to help them, years ago, but they were recaptured. Grace has never stopped stewing about being locked away in the Gallows." Keran swallowed. "I sometimes think she isn't quite ..."

"You knew about this, and you did not think to warn us?"

"I tried!" Keran shouted at Fenris, his blue eyes bright and worried. "I said as much as I dared, when you visited the Gallows. I warned her to be on her guard."

So he had, Fenris recalled with a sinking heart. They had assumed it would be a threat against Fenris, and had laughed it off besides. He cursed their overconfidence.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. I can try to find out, but I don't know if they'll trust me."

"Do you know how long ago?"

"Hours. This was as soon as I could get away from my assigned duties. If I'm caught here on the wrong side of the harbor Meredith may have me killed—she's never trusted me since ... since those blood mages took me captive."