The Daughter of Tethras

Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age

A/N: This is a bit of a spin on Inquisition. It is Cadash, but with a twist and it goes through Inquisition. Her reason for going to the conclave is pretty much the same, and so are the events of the game, but as I said there is a spin. There's also an obvious reason her name is "Bianca", she's named after her birth mother.

Chapter 1 (Dawn Will Come)

Bianca Cadash lay curled on her bed, with her fingers clutching the sheets between them. Her body felt loose and her relaxed gaze was focused on the dark haired dwarf standing beside her. "That was…nice." There was a brisk hesitation in her voice, but it did not betray her lie. The feeling she once had long ago was gone, and the man she'd fallen for some years prior.

Her boyfriend fastened his belt and looked her over with a curious gaze. "Glad you approve," he muttered. Being with Lantos during her years with the Carta had been pleasant at first, and she felt secure with him, but lately things had changed.

Lantos had changed.

It seemed so long since Bianca had run from the Cadash house, and when she met Lantos and the Dasher. Now twenty years old and having been taken in by the Carta, she was the youngest member of the clan.

She spotted a cylinder tube poking from Lantos's pant pocket and her heart began to sink into the growing pit in her stomach. Seeing her gaze, he turned himself away and pushed the tube down. Bianca took a deep breath and rolled onto her side.

Her gaze moved beyond strawberry blonde hair strewn in front of her face, and landed on the brown leather-bound book seated neatly on an end table. Her lips curved up gently as the warm candlelight flickered above the book.

"What are you looking at?" Lantos asked in a course, jagged voice. Bianca frowned and started to extend her hand towards the book, but before she could grab it, Lantos swept it away. "This stupid thing? Another one of that guy's crazy novels? You know he's full of shit, right?"

"He is not." She sat up and started reaching for the book, but he had an inch of height on her and laughed while raising the book out of her reach. She raised her voice, lacing it with frustration as she tried to grab the book. "Give it back, Lantos!"

"You shouldn't waste your time reading this smut." Her lips stretched into a scowl and she hopped out of the bed, growling as a rush of anger pulsed through her body. He knew why the novels were important to her, but he didn't seem to care.

"Go to hell."

"Come on. You think he's going to magically give a damn about you because you read his books?" She lunged for him and kicked her foot forward, sweeping it across his ankle. Lantos fell with a scream, and Bianca caught the book as it fell through the air.

She hugged it close to her bare chest, grinning with satisfaction. It was a brave move, but today was one of those times when he wasn't in his more aggressive states. She preferred him like this, when he was calmer-when she didn't feel like leaving him because of the abuse he put her through.

She blamed that on the Carta; the proof rolled out of Lantos's pocket, and a dull ache spread across her chest when her eyes fell onto the vial. Inside was the dark red, sticky blood that the Carta had been forcing him to drink for the last several months.

The man she loved once, they destroyed. The security she longed for was diminished now every time she saw him, but she couldn't escape the Carta-she didn't know where she'd go, or what she'd do. No one wanted her around.

"I thought you weren't drinking that stuff willingly." Her eyelids fell halfway and her foot hovered over the darkspawn blood. Lantos pushed himself up with a frustrated groan and narrowed his eyes while swiping the vial out from beneath her foot.

"I'm not! I was going to show this to Dasher. Tell him what Aaron and the others have been doing." Lantos pushed the vial back into his pocket and pulled himself to his feet, muttering something under his breath.

His glare pierced into her, freezing her like a blast of ice. She fell back, catching herself to sit carefully on the bed. Lantos folded his arms across his chest and exhaled from his nose, pushing out the bristles of his moustache and beard.

"Speaking of obsessions. You and those stupid novels."

"Shut up." Most of the members in the clan knew why she was so fascinated with Varric Tethras and his books, and above all, Lantos knew more than anyone. Still, he was hardly supportive of her anymore, and she was beginning to forget if he ever had been. "You know he's my father…"

"Doesn't change a damn thing." She bowed her head and shut her eyes. She felt a heaviness growing in her stomach, tightening as she struggled to ignore the malice behind the man's words. "Be realistic."

She had to hope that she'd get to know Varric one day. The only reason she knew of him was because the Cadash family told her about him. They told her how she was brought to them by her birth mother, and how she was named after the woman. They told her how she was the product of an illicit affair, and how worthless and unwanted she was.

For the Cadash house, they were friends with the woman that abandoned her, which they reminded her of constantly. She was born out of wedlock, without caste, and was 'better off dead' according to them.

"I'm going to find him, Lantos. I want to." His eyes bulged for a moment and he let out a dismissive scoff. "It beats staying here." He frowned and looked at her with a great deal of anger in his eyes, but to her surprise he remained silent. Her brow furrowed and her lips stretched back into her cheeks. "You know what I mean."

Women in the Carta were often looked down upon by the male members, dominated and used for their sexual gratifications. For the longest time, Lantos had kept her away from the other Carta members; it angered them greatly but it was the one thing he fought them tooth and nail on.

As far as they were concerned, she belonged to him and they would have to keep their pants on. As a result, led by one of the Carta members, they forced darkspawn blood down Lantos's throat and spiked his meals with it-and it was slowly beginning to change him.

Like a Templar on lyrium, he was becoming hooked. He'd become angry, he'd become abusive-a monster that terrified her. He'd become a man she hated as opposed to the man she once felt safe and protected by.

"How are you going to find him, anyway? You don't even know where the hell he's going to be."

"The conclave. Remember?"

He raised an eyebrow and jerked his head back. "The whole thing with Divine Justinia?" She knew he didn't think too highly of either the conclave or the war that was going on between the Templars and mages. He thought it was getting out of hand, and he mentioned having a terrible feeling about the conclave in general.

"Yeah. I was thinking about asking Dasher if he'd let me go." She set the book down beside her and grabbed her clothes up from the floor. Dasher chuckled once and shook his head slowly from side to side.

"Right. Now what do you expect to happen?" He circled the bed almost like a shark, narrowing his eyes and waving his hand in the air. "Just go up to the man and say what? 'Hi, I'm the daughter you had from an affair twenty years ago'." Her chest grew tight from pain and the corners of her mouth sank towards her chin. "Yeah I'm sure that'll end all peaceful like. About as peaceful as a mage and Templar sitting down to dinner."

She stood up and pulled her shirt over her body. "You don't know what could happen, and neither do I." Lantos rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Sure. I doubt Dasher would let you go anyway."

She bowed her head and closed her fingers, tightening her hand to the point her knuckles were turning white.

Just then, a man with a blue cloak entered the room. He was tall for a dwarf, had dark eyes and a bushy blonde beard. "What won't I do?" Lantos spun around and poked his thumb over his shoulder.

"She's got a crazy idea that her father's supposed to be down at the conclave." Dasher scratched his beard and looked over as Bianca turned away. She was embarrassed that the issue was even being brought up, and by Lantos, of all people.

"How did you happen to hear of this, Cadash?"

"I overheard a merchant talking about it," she muttered. This merchant dwarf and another female dwarf were discussing Varric and how he was being questioned by the Seekers of Truth. "They said they were going to take him to see Divine Justinia."

"I see." He dropped his hand and his brow furrowed. "For the moment, I do need a couple volunteers to be at that conclave." Her heart skipped and her fingers trembled nervously. "I wanted to speak with you about possibly doing some spy work for me, this could be your first actual job."

"Wait." Lantos raised his hand and glanced at her. "You want to send her to the conclave? Why do you even need Carta at the conclave?" She froze as Lantos raised his voice in urgency. "Her? She's hardly ready for something like that. Going into that kind of territory with two of the most problematic groups in all of Thedas. Are you insane?"

"I'd be honored to do the job," Bianca interjected. Lantos shouted for her to keep quiet and she dropped her gaze to the ground. Dasher frowned as Lantos approached the man while slicing his arm through the air.

"There's no possible way she's ready for a job like this. It's too risky, too dangerous, and hell, what do we even need with the Conclave?"

"It could be good for the lyrium trade." Dasher crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "She hasn't done a lot of field work as you know, so this would give her some great experience. Plus she doesn't have to go alone, I'll send someone with her. Maybe Aaron?"

Bianca froze as a wave of panic washed over her, bringing a cold sweat from the pores of her skin. She let a whimper escape her lips and sat back on the bed as Lantos started to tense.

"Hell no," Lantos replied with a guttural tone of voice. Dasher glanced between the two, humming with suspicion as Lantos jerked his thumb to his chest. "If anyone goes, I go with her." His black eyes darkened and he stepped forward, pulling his lips away from his snarling teeth. "The last person to go anywhere near her will be Aaron. I'd sooner tear that asshole limb by limb if he went anywhere near her."

"She doesn't appear comfortable with you anymore, perhaps it is because of your aggressive nature?"

Lantos drew in a raspy breath and flared his nostrils. "I don't fucking care." He swept his hand out, gesturing at her. "If she doesn't want to work with me, that's her problem, but I'm not going to let anyone else go to that place with her. If you think anyone else is more capable than I am…"

Bianca didn't mind working with him, no matter how horrifying he'd become. It was better than the alternatives as far as she was concerned, and if working with him would get her closer to finding her father, she would do it.

She regained her composure and pushed her trembling hands beneath the blanket. "I don't mind working with Lantos at all." Lantos gasped out astonishingly while Dasher looked over her with concern and suspicion. "If it's for the best, I'll do it if you allow me to work the conclave mission for you."

"So be it," Dasher replied. The man frowned and a heavy sigh rolled away from him. "You two used to make an excellent team when you worked together. I'm not sure what has changed between the two of you, but hopefully you can put that aside for one more mission."

The job was simple enough, and in the passing days, Bianca was overcome with excitement. She tried to think of everything she would say to Varric, and she pushed down her fears of rejection the best that she could.

Arriving at the Conclave, however, they saw no sign of Varric. Bianca's nerves were running away with her and she was growing increasingly worried the more the night went on. Lantos had been following her most of the night, saying little to discourage her but saying little to encourage either.

"You know it's probably best we don't find him," he replied with a casual smirk. Bianca rolled her eyes and tried to ignore him the best she could. "Think about it, Bianca. He may not even know you exist. What if he doesn't even want a daughter? What if he's not what you want or what you expect?"

"Stop talking."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm nervous enough, I don't need you hassling me." He was right, though. She needed to be careful with just how much of her heart she wanted to let down on the chance that Varric might not even want her around. "Why can't you be more supportive? You know, it's like you're a completely different person."

"Seriously? You just be lucky I'm managing to stay calm right now." His eyes narrowed and his hands balled up tight. "You could try showing a bit more respect."

He chuckled wryly and shook his head. "Anyway, I'm only trying to get you to see the inevitable." She drew in a shaky breath of air and shut her eyes as every muscle in her body started to tense. "Do you even know if he'd accept you right now? You're a member of the Carta, part of the criminal underworld." Lantos extended his hand and raised his eyebrows up. "Hell, according to you, you're 'damaged goods'. How do you even know if he'll want you around?"

Her protest stuck in her throat, and salty tears started to burn her eyelids. "I-I don't have to listen to this." Her heart was racing against her chest and she could feel a great sense of despair coursing through her veins. "I don't have to listen to you."

"Bianca." She turned her back to him and started walking away, praying inwardly that he wouldn't follow after him. "Bianca don't you walk away from me." He raised his voice, calling after her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere you're not," she hissed. Bianca grabbed the hilt of her sword and glared at him, forcing him to take a step away from her and raise his hands up. "Leave me the hell alone, Lantos."

"Bianca…"

"Just leave me alone. That's all."

She continued walking, picking up the pace and ignoring Lantos calling after her. His words were like poison to her quivering heart, darkening it with doubt as she considered what he had to say regarding the possibility of Varric rejecting her.

The thought that the one person she'd always hoped to find might turn her away forced hesitation within her. "I have nothing in life. The one person I thought I could trust is being turned into a demon, and whether it's him or the Cadashes, I'll only ever be stuck in some abusive situation…"

As far as she was concerned, she had to get to know her father. If he didn't accept her, she didn't want to go back to the Carta. She couldn't go back to the Cadash house either, not after the years of running from them.

"Maybe I am better off dead," she whispered while approaching a door. Tears ran over her cheekbones and she turned her head skyward, whimpering as the sky appeared to darken.

Shadows fell around her and filled her with a deep sense of dread. "Bianca!" Lantos called from several yards away. "Come on, we should get going. There's nothing here for us."

In an effort to get away from him, she started to turn the handle of the large door into the meeting room. "Who am I kidding, really?" She didn't hear the screaming from inside over Lantos, and bit back on the simmering anger and fear growing within.

Tears splashed out from her eyes as she slammed her eyelids shut. "I was a mistake. I shouldn't have ever happened. My own mother didn't think I was good enough for her." Without caste, without anyone that wanted her, she was nothing. The Cadash family made sure to remind her of that at every possible turn in her life.

Family friends of her mother, their connection to the woman was the one saving grace that kept her from being tossed into the deep roads as a small baby.

"Even my adoptive parents raised me out of obligation." Lantos's recent bouts of rage and abuse may have been fearful and shattering, but he hardly came close to that family she left behind.

Her heart began to tremble and the ground started rumbling beneath her feet. "Why would my father possibly want anything to do with me? A best-selling author, some famous writer who knew the 'Champion of Kirkwall', he wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"Bianca, get back here!" Lantos was screaming now, ordering her to turn back and get away from the meeting room. He saw something she didn't, but she continued to ignore him.

A violent scream pierced the air, jarring her thoughts. She jerked her head up and froze in shock when she saw a tall, thin creature glaring at her. His long, bony fingers held a strange green orb with a swirly design.

"What's going on here?" She stammered. In front of the creature was Divine Justinia, bound by magic. The creature dropped the orb in shock and Bianca's eyes widened. As though on reflex, she lunged forward to pick up the strange orb from the ground, ignoring the shouts of everyone around her.

The moment she touched the orb with her left hand, a surge of pain shot into her arm and pulsed through her nerves. She flew back, screaming aloud as her entire body started to rip apart from a violent explosion, and in that moment, she started to accept that she might not survive.

Coming to, she saw nothing but green skies and broken paths surrounding her. Someone was calling out to her, but she wasn't sure who. "Watch out for the demons!" It was Divine Justinia's voice. When she looked to the right, she could see giant spiders charging at her like a bull.

She scrambled to get up, screaming as the demons closed in on her. The pain with in her body surged, causing her to collapse to her knees. "I can't," she cried out in frustration. "I can't do it."

"You have to. You must survive!" She ground her teeth together and forced herself to stand up despite the feeling of being slammed by a ton of weight. Tears formed in her eyes and she glared at the woman, challenging her.

"Why?" Her chest expanded as she breathed in deep. "Lantos was right. No one wants me, no one cares. Why should I even bother-" In the portal behind Justinia she caught a glimpse of a sight that stole the breath from her lungs.

It was of a burly dwarf with broad shoulders and a thin, but muscular physique. A large crossbow was positioned on his right shoulder, being held in place with a strong right handed grip. A slick smirk stretched across his face, and his half-lidded eyes appeared to peer at her as though he could see her.

"Is-Is that my father?" She stumbled forward, furrowing her brow and reaching out with her hand. Her heartbeat flickered erratically and her tears glazed over trembling lips.

"Hurry." Justinia extended her hand and Bianca carefully placed her hand in hers. She started to doubt whether what she saw was real, but the moment she felt the Divine's hand tighten around hers, she was being shoved through the rip.

She started to scream as a shockwave coursed through, and for a moment she thought she could still hear Lantos shouting for her. Light flashed before her eyes, lasting for what seemed to be several seconds before fading into darkness as she collapsed onto the ground.

I hope you enjoy this as it goes along. Please do let me know what you think