Under Darkness [AU]

[Tethras Clan]

"This is pointless," Zevran snaps. "Watching those would just torment us. We're here to help Hawke, not flageate ourselves."

Aveline stiffens. "I... we're..."

"He's right. I think we need to see see the subgarden. The painful memories," Varric says softly.

[Marian Hawke]

Tethras gives her father an odd look. "We were just there, it's basically empty. The night we were killed, finding out Jadan was dead, and one night when he stood us up for a date that later turned out to have been a mistake."

[Tethras Clan]

The entre Delving group stares at Hawke. "That's it?" Aveline finally asks. "That doesn't seem... odd? At all?"

[Marian Hawke]

Tethras blinks. "No? Why would it? Like I said, there's others nearly as empty. We didn't know Jadan for long." 

[Tethras Clan]

"You knew him for... three months and only had three bad moments with him? One of which was a mistake?" Varric says, seeing what Aveline is hinting at. "That doesn't seem... off to you? Just from a statistical point of view, that seems very improbable, to say the least."

[Marian Hawke]

"Moments like that? There aren't many in a given month. Those are really bad memories, not just like, brief misunderstandings." 

[Tethras Clan]

"So... it was great then? No real problems, just the one misunderstanding about the missing date?" Varric leads her.

[Marian Hawke]

A small, sappy smile. "Yeah."

[Tethras Clan]

"Then why did he try to kill you?" Varric asks idly. "Or how about selling Merrill to That One's kin?"

[Marian Hawke]

Tethras pauses, frowning. Above, the sky darkens, and an ominous rumble of thunder booms and crackles. 

[Tethras Clan]

"Well," Varric presses. "You're a Tethras. Use your ability to reason. Use logic. How did you go from a relationship without any issues at all to Jadan betraying the purest, most loving person in your life, the one that walked away from everything so you wouldn't be alone, into vile slavery. Explain."

[Marian Hawke]

She shakes her head. "That's easy. He didn't have anything to do with that, it was my fault. No, it's the stabbing I don't understand. Can't understand. Why did he kill me? Why was he so afraid to just come back to Nyra with me? Why did he seek his kin so hard he destroyed our relationship when his kin never wanted him?"

[Tethras Clan]

"So... you made him sell Merrill?" Aveline asks pointedly. "How did that happen? Did you use magic to puppet his body... threaten him... what?"

[Marian Hawke]

She shakes her head again. "No, the Drow took her. He didn't have anything to do with it."

[Tethras Clan]

"She clearly recalls him selling her," Aveline says softly. "She... Merrill said he told her to drink something. When it started to make her drowsy, she protested. So he hit her and forced her to drink it. It paralyzed her. He raped her, then blindfolded her. When she could see again, she was in a pen. She could hear him explaining, apologizing for the Matriarch's troubles, and saying that he hopes the gift would smooth things over."