At Your Side (A Dragon Age fanfiction)

This Is Home

"91. 92. 93 ..." Fenris paused in the count, his ears picking up a familiar whinny. His heartrate increased with relief and anticipation—Evelyn was home.

"Papa! You stopped counting!" His daughter's voice broke into his thoughts.

"I am sorry." Obediently, he resumed. "94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 ... 100. Prepared or not, here I come!"

There was an answering rustle in the treetops; she was on the move. Fenris closed his eyes, listening to her progress among the branches. Daughter of two warriors though she might be, his daughter inclined more toward Isabela's style of stealth. Or she would when she learned not to make so much noise, Fenris thought with amusement.

He and Hawke had been the proud owners of this Antivan lemon grove for the past six years, and the proud parents of Bianca Vael Hawke for a little more than five of those.

After the deaths of Meredith and Orsino, and the ascension of Aveline to the Viscount's seat, Fenris and Hawke had remained in Kirkwall, but it wasn't the same. Hawke had lost her taste for getting involved in the city's affairs, and Aveline had made it clear that despite her respect for Hawke, mercenaries who worked outside the law could no longer be tolerated. The empty space where the Chantry had stood was a constant reminder of what they had lost that day, and what Hawke had lost throughout her time in Kirkwall.

True to Cullen's prediction, he hadn't remained Knight-Commander of Kirkwall's Circle for long. They never found out where he'd been sent, but Varric's sources suggested it might have been Aeonar, the mages' prison. Bethany had been under constant suspicion and scrutiny, despite her valiant attempts to keep the Circle together while mages were revolting against their Chantry oppressors across the rest of Thedas, and after a little more than a year she had found it necessary to leave Kirkwall, escaping in the dead of night on Isabela's ship, the Temptress. After some serious consideration, and spurred on by the increasing interest the Chantry was showing in Hawke's role in the events that had shaped Kirkwall over the decade she'd spent there, Fenris and Evelyn had accompanied Bethany in her flight. They'd spent a couple of years on the run, enjoying the freedom and excitement of pirate life.

And then the miracle occurred—Hawke had discovered she was pregnant. The idea of a child had always teased at the backs of their minds, but after years in which Hawke had never shown the slightest indication of fertility, they had assumed that for whatever reason, it would never happen. The pregnancy had changed everything; with a child on the way, they could no longer afford to live in the kind of danger Isabela constantly courted, and they both felt a strong desire to settle down somewhere peaceful and quiet. A great deal of subterfuge had been necessary, since the Chantry was increasingly eager to discover Hawke's whereabouts and question her, and Tevinter magisters still came around occasionally looking for the famed lyrium warrior as an addition to their slave collections, but eventually they had settled here in the warm anonymity of the Antivan countryside. The local village pretended to think they were perfectly normal, given Hawke's willingness to help out on any and all occasions, and Hawke and Varric had arranged a complicated set of ruses to ensure safe communication—overly complicated, in Fenris's opinion, but that was Varric for you.

Hawke was returning now from a visit to the coast, purchasing supplies and checking on news from Varric. She was the logical choice for these journeys, as her appearance was far more easily modified and less noticeable to start with than Fenris's. He had to admit, he enjoyed being left at home with Bianca and only occasionally missed the greater excitement of the outside world. Even after all these years of patient tutelage, Hawke was an impatient Wicked Grace player at best ... although when she resorted to her particular brand of cheating, it became an entirely new game, Fenris thought, warmth shooting through him. Hawke's absence had been slightly longer than usual this time, and he looked forward to being alone with her tonight.