#skyboneharper

“Come on, Inky, time for bed,” Sera said in a sing-song voice. Shejumped up and took the writing desk off of the Inquisitor’s lap.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. Thankfully, the pair set their tent farfrom the other two, so hopefully she would not have to hear them tonight. It’snot that she disapproved of the relationship, per say. She simply would havehoped the Inquisitor might have a touch more discretion.

“I think I’ll turn in for the night, too,” Bull said with a yawn. Withhis size, he practically took up an entire tent himself. Cassandra watched himstand, twisting at the waist a few times. “See you in the morning.”

“Not a bad idea, really,” Hawke said, stretching her arms behind herback. “Suppose it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get an earlystart tomorrow.”

Cassandra nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. In thedistance, she heard the Inquisitor shriek before giggling loudly.

Hawke laughed. “Suppose they’ll be having fun tonight.”

“It depends on your definition of fun,” Cassandra said with a snort.

“Right,” Hawke said, tilting her head, giving Cassandra the impressionshe was being studied. Thoroughly. “Well, good night, Seeker.”

Cassandra raised her hand to wave, but Hawke had already turnedaround, heading to the tent. Bringing her hand to her chest, Cassandra sighed,watching Hawke walk away. She would give the mage a few minutes to settle downbefore going into the tent herself.

Once her sword and shield was stored, Cassandra let herself into thetent. Hawke lay on top of her bedroll on her stomach, slowly kicking her feet.As quickly as she could, Cassandra took off her outer coat, leaving her in herpadded leather trousers and an undershirt.

In this heat, she had no desire to climb into the bedroll itself.Instead she lay on top like Hawke, but on her side, her back towards theChampion. Hopefully it would not be considered rude.

Cassandra tried to think of something to say before she fell asleep,but nothing good came to mind. Just as she decided to simply close her eyes,Hawke asked, “Have you been with the Iron Bull?”

She turned onto her back, blinking rapidly. “No, no, of course not,”Cassandra stuttered, trying to gain her composure. She didn’t think she wouldever get used to people simply talking about sex easily.

“No?” Hawke asked, and Cassandra heard a pout in her voice. “I’venever been with a qunari before.”

“I… I know of several who have been with him,” Cassandra offered, notquite willing to meet Hawke’s eye. “I’ve heard his stamina is impressive.”

Hawke sat up, looking in the direction of Bull’s tent. “Oh really?”she asked, running a finger back and forth over her lower lip. “Fuck it. Weonly live once, right?”

With a smile, one Varric once had described to Cassandra as captivating, Hawke jumped to her feetand left the tent.

Cassandra’s body deflated. There went any chance to speak to Hawke,one on one.

Her eyes closed, and she willed herself to fall asleep quickly. Shekept her breathing even, and started slowly counting backwards from one hundredin her head.

At ninety-one, she heard Hawke and Bull talking in low voices. Notthat she could understand a single word, but their tone was enough to know exactly what would be going on.

The tents were far too close together. But no matter. She would fallasleep before she heard anything else.

At seventy-eight, Hawke moaned. Loudly.

At forty-four, Cassandra heard the distinct sound of two bodiesslapping together.

At thirty-two, Cassandra realized her hand had slid down her trousersand there was no point to counting any longer. As quickly as she could, whichconsidering her fingers were stroking the hair between her thighs, was notquick at all, she covered up in the bedroll.

She tried to shut out the sound of Bull and Hawke being intimate;neither one of them was loud, but just the fact that Cassandra knew what they were doing made touchingherself more awkward than it should be.

And release would be welcome tonight. Especially with the stress ofthe journey, not to mention she had forgotten to pack her favorite chapter of Swords and Shields. How could she haveleft that back at Skyhold?

As she spread her folds, Cassandra let her mind linger on the KnightCaptain, how strong she was to deal with all the adversity thrown her way. Thewoman always rose to the occasion, always managed to come out on top.

Cassandra could desperately usesome of that magic for herself. Arching her back slightly, she started pressingdown on her nub with a little more force, all thoughts of the other tent gone.

At least the Knight-Captain wore sensible armor, unlike so many of theheroines in the stories she read. Beautiful platemail, the type Cassandra lovedto look at, but not wear. She preferred to have a bit more mobility.

She had to cover her mouth to hold back a gasp. Once contained,Cassandra pushed her hair off of her forehead, sweat from the heat and herpleasure, mixed in. If the Knight Captain had any flaw, it was her hair. Whyshe let her locks flow instead of putting it back in a sensible bun was beyondher.

But the way the Knight Captain’s hair was described! Like a beautifulsunset on a cloudy day. Cassandra could almost imagine herself running herhands through the Knight Captain’s thick hair, rubbing her shoulders after atough battle, telling the woman just how strong she was, how fierce…

Her climax was unexpected, causing Cassandra to bite down on her lowerlip to keep herself from moaning. Raising her hips, she tried to prolong herpleasure as long as possible, wanting to enjoy every last moment.

When she finished, she brought her fingers to her mouth and lickedthem clean, letting the taste linger on her tongue. It was not often Cassandrahad a chance to touch herself in the field like this, and she already knewtomorrow she would feel more relaxed and alert as they made their way back toSkyhold. 

If Hawke came back into the tent before Cassandra fell asleep, somehowshe would have to figure out a way to thank the Champion for the time alone.