The Blight

Carver had dragged himself home just ahead of the horde. The Hawke women were all relieved to see him survive the massacre of Ostagar. He'd left only days after he and Bethany came of age, now 3 weeks later and he was telling them they needed to flee their home or die to the blight.

Marian lead her family away from Lothering, fighting darkspawn, meeting Aveline Vallen and her templar husband, Ser Wesley, and they all worked together until they came to that damned clearing.

Marian would never forget the ogre, or the sound of Bethany's last screams of pain as it picked her up and slammed her into the ground, crushing her ribcage. She fought through her tears to kill the thing, trying her hardest to not look at her baby sister's body. Once the beast was dead Leandra ran to her child's corpse, desperately shaking her, begging her to wake.

"Mother, I'm sorry, but her sacrifice will mean nothing if we linger here!"

"Don't speak to me of sacrifice!" Leandra spit venom at her eldest, tears streaming down her face, "How could you let her charge off like that?! Your little sister! My baby girl..." Leandra broke into sobs. Ser Wesley commended her soul to the maker, and Carver helped their mother stand, ready to carry her away if he needed to. But they were too late, more darkspawn had amassed, and they had no chance of defeating all of them with Bethany gone and Wesley injured. A fearful roar and waves of fire interrupted their battle, then a high dragon landed in front of them, before shifting into a strangely adorned old woman.

Marian approached her cautiously, but politely, requesting further aid to get them to Gwaren. They came to an agreement, she would deliver an amulet for the witch, and in exchange her family would be saved from the horde. But Ser Wesley could not be saved, the blight was taking him, and Marian watched sadly as her new ally was forced to kill her own husband.

The journey to Gwaren was mercifully uneventful, and the boat ride to Kirkwall was unpleasant but went smoothly. Marian had missed her last menses, and here again she missed it. She had been nauseous frequently, but assumed it was due to sea-sickness.

"Mother... I know you're grieving, and you don't need more worry but... I haven't bled twice in a row now."

"Stress can do that dear, but once we're settled in Kirkwall back at my family's estate, we can see about getting you to a healer."

"No, Mother, I don't think it's just stress. I... Anders and I..." She flushed, looking down at her lap.

"Marian! How could you be so reckless!?" She scolded, keeping her tone harsh but hushed.

"We tried to be careful! I just... I'm a grown woman, and I thought I was going to be living the rest of my life hiding, never getting close to anyone. I'm sorry, maybe that healer we find could...do something about it?"

"Do something about it? Honey, I love you, I would not make you end the pregnancy simply because it was foolish. We've lost too much family as it is. If you do not wish to bear the child, I understand, but don't make that choice based on my opinion." She pulled Marian into a hug, and rubbed a soothing hand up and down her back as she broke down crying in her Mother's arms.

-

They had been waiting in the gallows courtyard for 3 days, waiting for Gamlen to come and claim them so they could enter the city. Despite being off the ship, Marian's nausea had not subsided, confirming her state. When Gamlen did arrive, he was not the noble they had been expecting, but a sleezy pauper.

"I can grease some palms, but you'll need to sign on for a year long contract with either Athenril or Meeran to pay them back for the grease."

"A year! But, Marian couldn't possibly..."

"I'll work for as long as I can, Mother." And seeing the curious looks from Carver, Aveline, and Gamlen she sighed, shoulders slumping. "I'm pregnant, 2 months along."

"What!? Who... It was that mage, wasn't it!? That little bastard, I'll kill him!" Carver shouted, causing Marian to flinch.

Aveline squared her shoulders. "I will help you pay back your debt, I was a soldier, there's plenty of work I can do."

"Thank you, Aveline. I appreciate that. Let's go speak to these people and see exactly what kind of work they're offering."

They went and spoke to both parties, and settled on working with Athenril, the smuggler seemed a safer option for a pregnant woman to do. After doing what they needed to to prove their worth for being hired, Marian quickly explained that she had gotten pregnant just before the blight, so she would need time off for the birth and newborn stage.

"That works to my advantage actually, no one expects a pregnant woman to be doing anything unscrupulous, and if they try to give you trouble you can still set them on fire, regardless of if you can see your toes."

Marian smiled, glad that Athenril wasn't going to punish her for having a life outside of this arrangement, and they went to deliver the news to Gamlen and Leandra.

"We're finally safe, let's make this count." Marian said firmly, her hand unconsciously going to her stomach protectively.

"I just with Bethany were here."

"And Wesley..."

"I wish that bastard Anders would show up so I could kick his ass." Carver grumbled, Marian slapped him on the chest lightly, a small smile playing at her lips.

"I appreciate that, but I'd rather if he did show up that he get a job and support the family he made."

"He can still do that. After I've kicked his ass."