Blood and Thunder: MotA ch.1

The throbbing had begun in her shoulders, impatient and in desperate need of soft pillows or a certain mage's soothing touch. It had then crept up her neck, tingling needle like sensations that pierced her brain with a promise of getting worse should it be ignored. If only Maeve had listened…

Now she found herself leaning heavily against a stone column in the middle of the Hightown market after dark, crippling pain flaring across her skull punctuated with sharp stabs of white hot agony whenever she moved.

Closing her eyes she cringed, the smallest of whimpers escaping her lips.

Suddenly, warmth seeped into her skull, falling in a cascade of soothing sensations down her neck and spreading across her shoulders. The pain was gone…

Sapphire eyes opened to find warm amber orbs staring back, a soft smile on her lover's face as his fingers massaged her temples.

"Thank you." She breathed, the emotion in her voice conveying more than her words. It was an old habit from living with her sister, whose healing magic worked well but always left Maeve feeling uncomfortably numb. The warrior woman had gotten used to enduring things like migraines without magic.

Anders's healing though, now that was a different story. The man's energy was calming, almost euphoric as it ran through her system. Maeve always felt energized after he healed her, as if she could take on two ogres and a High Dragon without breaking a sweat.

"Anytime love." He breathed, kissing her forehead before pulling her close.

She pressed her face into one of his feathered pauldrons before eyeing the dwarf that stood not far away, "How much longer Varric?"

"Five minutes Girly."

"You said that five minutes ago…"

"I don't understand this," The dwarf muttered to himself, "Edge is usually very reliable…"

"That's what you get for trusting a man named Edge…" Maeve groaned, tightening her hold around Anders's waist. Her response was a light nip at her neck and she smiled. Her smile only lasted a few moments, the Champion feeling unease slip in where the migraine had been. There was a chill in the air that shouldn't have been there, and it was quiet…too quiet.

They were waiting for one of Varric's contacts, a man named Edge who said he had important information regarding the Champion and Nobles. This had intrigued Maeve, who hadn't expected to be dragged out of her home in the dead of night to find out the specifics.

"This is usually when we're ambushed…" Anders offered, releasing his hold on her to ready his staff. Maeve did the same with her sword and shield. The Hawke's Key seemed to vibrate in her hand, the energy surrounding the golden colored blade making her cringe. She was still getting used to her new sword, her heart aching for her beloved Fadeshear which was now locked safely in a chest underneath her bed.

"Now come on you two, it's not always an ambush…"

Maeve smirked as the shadows moved, the trio soon surrounded by masked men carrying some of the sharpest blades she'd ever seen. The groaning of bow strings being pulled erupted around them, alerting the group to the many archers above.

"You were saying Varric?"

"Alright, sometimes it's an ambush…" Varric growled; Bianca's clicks and whirs somewhat reassuring in the dark.

She straightened, her attention focused on the bandit approaching her.

"And there is the Champion of Kirkwall," He purred in a thick Antivan accent, "You die today."

So not bandits, these were Antivan Crows…

"Shit." Maeve hissed through her teeth, twirling her sword in her right hand as she raised her shield.

There was a scream from above, followed by the body of one of the crows. It landed with a harsh crunch, the man covered in blood that gushed from multiple stab wounds.

Maeve had expected a fight, but soon found herself in the middle of a whirlwind of destruction, the lithe body of an elven woman at its center.

She was dressed in green leathers that looked elven but carried another, more foreign, touch of craftsmanship. Her auburn hair whipped about her face as she hacked and slashed, ducked and twirled, leaving her foes broken and bleeding.

The woman finally stopped in front of her, daggers spinning expertly between her fingers as she raised one eyebrow. Her bluish green eyes seemed to dance with mirth as more Crows emerged, "Well? What are you waiting for?" she asked before leaping onto one of the assassins.

Maeve lashed out with her shield, slamming it into the face of an oncoming foe, "Who in the blazes is that?!" She yelled.

"Kill first, ask questions later!" Varric cried, backing off as Anders unleashed a wall of ice against the crows who had stupidly tried to surround him.

"Good plan!" The elven woman shouted as she narrowly escaped getting crushed by a war hammer.

Maeve shrugged, throwing herself into the fray and forgetting everything but her most basic instincts.

Her body became one whole weapon, the warrior woman using her clawed gauntlets and spiked armor just as much as her sword and shield. She barreled into her enemies, using her shield as a battering ram to eliminate large groupings. The Crows seemed to be bleeding from the walls and Maeve found herself laughing as she wondered how many more were coming.

Between the four of them the fight soon came to an abrupt end, the silence following the destruction somewhat eerie.

"Are you alright?" Anders asked; voice frantic as he checked her for injuries.

"I'm fine love, calm down…" She squeezed his hands before turning towards their new friend.

"Sloppy." The elven woman scoffed, stepping over a few corpses as she made her way towards them, "You'd think the Crows would be better at this. They've been doing it for ages."

"Where these fellows a gift from you? That's generous…" Maeve said as she sheathed her sword.

"Heh, I didn't send these men, but it's no coincidence I'm here." She smirked, then bowed, "My name is Tallis, and I've been looking for you."

"Looking for me?"

Tallis shrugged, "Looking for the woman who has an invitation to Chateau Haine to be more specific."

"Oh, that's what Edge was on about…" Varric said; he turned to her, fastening Bianca back in place, "Remember? Duke Prosper…he fawned all over you at the Champion of Kirkwall Banquet, invited you to some kind of hunt."

"Yes," Maeve remembered a slimy pervert whose hand kept trying to rest on her backside, "And my answer was I'd doubt I'd go to such a thing."

Tallis took another step forward, "I was hoping you'd reconsider, the Duke is an excellent host…or so I hear."

"I get the feeling this isn't just a social call…" Maeve responded, feeling Anders tense behind her.

"I need to relieve the Duke of something he has no right to possess, but I can't do it alone."

"You mean you plan to rob him…"

"There's always a catch," Anders growled, "Nobody ever helps us unless there's a catch."

"Well stealing from Orlesians is never wrong. Or, so I've been told." Varric chuckled, causing Maeve to roll her eyes.

Tallis shifted from foot to foot, "This isn't how I was planning to ask you, my introduction had a lot less blood."

"Funny, blood seems to be a common component to my introductions."

Tallis chuckled, "I see…"

Maeve glanced at her two companions; Anders was a feathery mixture of irritated and concerned while Varric just seemed amused by the whole situation.

"What makes you think I steal things just because people ask me to?"

Tallis moved to respond but Varric interrupted, "I, uh, may have…talked you up a bit."

"Damn it Varric!" Maeve groaned, "Why?!"

The dwarf made the wise decision of looking suitably scolded, "Well I could have told people about how you've slaughtered your way through half of Kirkwall, you want me to tell those stories?"

Maeve's eyes narrowed at the mention of her time with the Red Iron, but let the matter drop as she turned back to Tallis.

"Look all I've heard is that you get things done, I'm hoping that's true." The elf said, hands raised in a peaceful gesture.

"It is, up to a point…what do you want me to steal?"

"A jewel." Tallis began, "The Duke thinks it's valuable, and it is, just not in the way he believes. What's more he shouldn't have it in the first place. He who wishes to walk on water must first learn to swim."

"There's something you aren't telling me…" Shared glances with Varric and Anders told her she wasn't the only one who thought that.

Tallis brushed it off, "Come with me to Chateau Haine, I'll explain everything on the way. If nothing else, you get fine wine and fancy company but…I hope you want more than that."

Things had been slow, really slow, slow to the point where the Champion was about to rip her hair out. She was a woman of action not sloth and though she did enjoy the occasional lazy day with Anders in her bed…she was beginning to get twitchy, even contemplating enticing a bar brawl at the Hanged Man though she was sure Aveline wouldn't bail her out of jail for that.

She felt Anders's lips at her ear as Tallis walked towards the other side of the courtyard to let them talk.

"It's up to you my love, I'll follow you anywhere."

She smiled, tilting her head to the side as his lips traveled down her neck, "And the fact that you are just as bored as I am has nothing to do with it?"

He chuckled against her skin, "It may have influenced me a bit."

"Mmmm," Maeve kissed him softly, turning in his arms towards her trusty dwarf, "And what of you Varric? Think you can bear to part with the Merchant's Guild for a few days? I know how much you love them…"

"I think my heart can take a few days separation, Bianca needs some exercise."

Maeve tilted her head back, allowing Anders to nip at her throat, "Oh, why not? I hear the Orlesians make excellent cheese."