Blood from Stone [AU]

[Garret Tethras]

"All of them?" Garrett asks slowly. "All... seven thousand, eight hundred and six? Some of them are... very wrong. They..." His eyes close as he strokes the belt with a finger, somehow reading them. "Some asked for very wrong things."

[Marian Hawke]

"We'll go through them," she promises. "One by one, we'll make sure Justice is done. That's what the law requires." I'm never sleeping again.

[Varric]

"Oh. Sleep. Sleep... does sound good," he admits carefully, almost warily.

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene nods. Then hesitantly, gingerly, offers nir left hand to him. 

[Garret Tethras]

"I know all of them," Garrett says softly. "All the contracts. And I can... feel them. The embers they are... linked to?"

[Carver Amell]

Carver cuts in, "Mother? Leandra Amell? Or, Leandra Hawke?" he asks, eagerly. "Can you set my mother free?"

[Varric]

"Yeah... yeah okay. I just..." Varric hesitates, looking over at his kids. He takes a deep breath, then nods. "No, they have things. Alright." Mustering a smile, he reaches out to take Helene's hand.

[Garret Tethras]

Beth sucks in her breath as Garrett takes the first slip and joins it back to the belt, then pulls out another. "Leandra Hawke ne Amell. Her soul in exchange that..." He falters, the name written there a blur of uncertainty, undefined and unknowable. He sways, expression growing pained.

[Marian Hawke]

"In exchange that?" asks Marian, very softly. She wraps an arm around his waist, supporting him. ~You can do this.~

[Garret Tethras]

"I- I cannot read-" He tries to focus, fails, then lets out a soft mewl. Turning, he burrows his face against Marian's shoulder. ~It has no value definition. It cannot be known. It should not exist.~ Only the intimacy of their bond makes it possible to detect the word 'I' in the repeated 'it.'

[Marian Hawke]

"Hey, hey," she says, gently, rubbing his back. "Hey. It's just a mortal thing. Mortals often care very much about things that cannot be known. It's called having faith."

[Garret Tethras]

"I cannot speak a... value that does not exist," he mumbles. After a moment, he tentatively pleads, "can... can you read such things?"

[Marian Hawke]

"Yeah," she says quietly. "Let me see."

After a moment, she says quietly, "Oh. I... I see. It-that-was-Tentoplenumitaeziro is gone. But it once existed."

She frowns, her arms and body breaking out in goosepimples all over. That was... wrong. On a deep fundamental level. Like the idea of raping Ciren.  "Call him Tento, for short."

[Bethany]

Bethany shudders. "Ugh... that was..." Next to her, Carver nods but he clearly wants to get back to the contract. 

[Garret Tethras]

Garrett stills a moment, then nods slowly before pulling back. Just a little. "Substitution of the unknowable value with a permissible value. Clever. I shall... attempt again. It reads, 'Leandra Hawke ne Amell. Her soul in exchange that... Tentos shall cease his current activity.' I... I recall... wisps of more. Context? Yes. It was trickery. Nightmare. She would not sell for wealth or power. She would not sell for health or revenge on Malcolm Gold Hawk. She would not sell to have her..." His eyes move from the paper to Marian's face. "She would not sell to have you back. Did not accept your death, because her son did not. She sold because she believed that... Tentos... had her children. Was hurting them. I... I do not like... I wish to hunt.... Tentos. But..."