Erica North

Wicked Graces: Chapter Fifteen

A/N: Thanks for everyone who dropped by to read. I hope you enjoyed the story. The festivities following the announcement of a royal bun in the oven prompted a celebration that carried on in Starkhaven for well over a week. Hawke was used to being at the center of attention, but never for something others considered so positive. During his time on the throne, the usurper Goran Vael had no family…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Fourteen

Responsibilities kept Sebastian busy throughout the day, and for that he was grateful. If left to sit and fester with his thoughts, he would have been a lot angrier with Hawke as the day progressed, but distractions kept him levelheaded. By the time he sat down at a table made ready by the servants in his apartment, he was calmly prepared to confront her if she didn’t confess her secrets. Of…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Thirteen

Varric spent the remainder of his afternoon kissing up to Hawke, making sure she wasn’t actually mad at him for spilling her beans. Not that the Wardens actually cared, but it was the principle. He really shouldn’t have told them, but for a second he was actually worried they might try to drag her back to the Deep Roads with them. Someone like her would clean the place out in no time flat; the…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Twelve

“Explain this to me again.” Hawke pressed her shoulders into the back of the chair behind her and ground her teeth together against the faint nausea that should have passed well after losing her breakfast on the way to the very meeting she was enduring now. Thank the Maker for Varric, and the pouch of little mint candies he produced, promising they would settle her stomach a little, and help get…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Eleven

It was very late when Sebastian staggered up the stairs and into bed. The kind of late that evolved the sky beyond the palace windows from pitch to smoky amethyst and promised sunrise was only a few blinks away. He’d gotten roped into philosophical and spiritual debate with an old friend once destined for Chantry service just as he was, but who managed to convince Lord and Lady Kenric his talents…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Ten

Hawke had been to many high society gatherings since reclaiming the Amell family home and making herself a prominent figure in Kirkwall. Even before she was the Champion, people seemed to know who she was, and they were always inviting her attend functions and festivities. She always dreaded going, as she more often than not wound up leaving covered in someone else’s blood, ruining a perfectly…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Nine

Their escort back to the castle for the banquet and festivities seemed to take an eternity. The entire city of Starkhaven lined the streets for the procession, children throwing flower petals and confetti and colorful bows made of ribboned paper into the white cobbled streets as the royal couple passed. Sebastian reveled in the sweet smell of blossoms crushed under foot, and the beaming smiles of…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Eight

Over the next ten days, Hawke kept busy familiarizing herself with the household staff and servants while aiding in preparations for the coronation. She brought order to it all with surprising alacrity, finding herself grinning quietly each time she realized how proud her mother would be, not just of her rise in station, but by how well she’d fallen in line with her duties. She really did have a…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Seven

Trade negotiations were not supposed to take all day, but in the seven years Sebastian’s cousin, Goran the Usurper, sat the throne in Starkhaven, he’d made a mess of relationships the Vael family had kept in good standing for several generations. Duke Antoine of Wycome had come to power three years earlier, and though communications over the last couple months painted him amicably, the ambassador…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Six

By no means had Varric Tethras ever given anyone cause to call him slow. Under ordinary circumstances he was generally very observant, quick to the uptake, often figuring things out long before anyone else and piecing them together so he could sit back and say, “I knew it from the start,” while everyone else was making sense of it way after the fact. But Hawke had thrown him for a complete loop…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Five

A/N: May contain language and situations not suitable for readers under the age of seventeen. Hawke didn’t remember falling asleep, though for the first time in months her slumber was not plagued by twisted nightmares of all the ways her lover might die before she was back at his side to protect him. In fact, she didn’t remember dreaming at all, not a single threat or temptation working its way…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Four

A/N: May contain language and situations not suitable for readers under the age of seventeen. What began in the bath ended in the bedroom, a trail of water leading to a twisted mass of giggling sheets and quilts. The servants weren’t going to be happy about the mess they made, but he didn’t care. He never would have taken her for a giggler, despite her uncanny quick wit and sharp tongue, but…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Three

Hawke was too exhausted to explore the suite of rooms she claimed as her own after retaking the castle. Directly across the halls from the royal apartments, she was quite content to have easy access to her husband, while enjoying a little privacy if she so chose. She liked privacy, room to breathe and move. It made her feel less like she was less confined; Hawke hated feeling trapped. It seemed…

Wicked Graces: Chapter Two

Much to Chancellor Benneit’s dismay, Prince Sebastian Vael paced in front of Starkhaven’s open wrought iron gates. Wringing hands clasped at the small of his back and head cocked toward the growing visage of two riders on the road ahead, the prince’s stomach felt like twisted, rising dough—both airy and light, but equally agonizing. His wife was only mere moments from meeting him after months…

Wicked Graces: Chapter One

Ferventis, 9:38 Dragon—Seven miles south of Starkhaven “Explain to me why you’re doing this again, Hawke. The Templars’ bluster is just that, bluster, and besides, once this coronation is over, there’ll be no turning back. You do realize that, right?” Varric Tethras shifted in his saddle and coughed into his shoulder to hide the grunt of discomfort that followed. His backside throbbed, both legs…

Hello from the Void

Wow. It’s been an age or more since I posted over here. I’ve been… sort of busy. Writing, not writing, working a lot. I was struggling a lot with my non-fanfiction writing for a while, so I stepped back into my fanfiction shoes and something’s pouring out of me right now that feels really good. It takes place in the Dragon Age universe, so I may share it here when I feel confident it’s heading in…

Siren is Now Available

It’s been a long time since I had a chance to update. I haven’t been working on much fanfiction lately because my actual fiction has to take priority. I’ve been really busy getting my newest book ready to go so I could send it out into the world. It released on Monday after an eight week pre-order period, and seems to be gathering some momentum.

If you enjoy my fanfiction, and would like to see…