Little Surprise
Part I
Summary: Cassandra knew little of Isoch's past, yet this little secret says more of him than anything else.
Winter had settled in Skyhold, the cold winds even colder as the snow covered the massive fortress in a blanket of white.
Much of the fortress was silent though save for the patrols and watchmen of the keep, each wearing thick fur armour while keep small torches of warmth near them as they kept watch with keen focused eyes. Inside the main keep were the nobles who were visiting the Inquisitor for the usual trades of words, alliances and personal goals.
Cassandra herself was in the dining room along with a few of the Inquisitor's inner circle, a book in her hands as she half listened to the banter between Iron Bull and Varric as they played a simple card game that to her surprise wasn't Wicked Grace. The qunari had lost probably half his coin by this point while Varric's own gold pile grew steadily.
'Sure you don't wanna concede Tiny? Save what little pride you have left?', the dwarf taunted with a smirk. Bull flipped him off and kept his eye on the set of cards in his hands, determination to win clear in his grey coloured eye. For a man with a single eye Bull had a terrible poker face that costed him more games than anything else which was great for people who needed the coin.
Even Cole was able to win his coin back from Bull.
As the seeker flipped the page, suddenly rushing in to the dining room was Sera. The elf…well if Cassandra was honest she wasn't sure what she was up to but the blond archer was peering behind barrels, looking under tables and chairs, even opening up chests. 'Where the sod did ya run off to this time!?', she yelled as she bent over a barrel to search behind them. The trio watched the elf literally scour the whole place, nearly throwing things aside.
'Buttercup? You uh, looking for something?', the dwarf asked. The elf turned on the dwarf, sweat pouring down her forehead and taking breathes as if she had been running from Ferelden to Orlais. 'I lost the little button!', she proclaimed. Cassandra blinked in confusion to this statement, granted Sera's clothes were less than socially acceptable and their conditions were more old rags she managed to snag off an elven close line.
Iron Bull and Varric's responses were…extreme.
Bull literally spat out his drink while Varric dropped his cards, exposing them to all. Bull coughed heavily while Varric turned on the elf. 'YOU DID WHAT!?', roared the dwarf in shock. Even Cassandra was startled by the dwarf's sudden outburst but more so when he hopped off his chair and followed Sera out, yelling at her carelessness.
'What was that about?', Cassandra asked to no one in particular. Bull took a look at Varric's cards, before he slammed them down in frustration. 'Bastard was bluffing!', he growled before he hopped off his chair and followed the two out of the dining area, leaving the seeker there alone in utter confusion. '…D-Did I miss something?', she said.
Skyhold was eerily quiet tonight the seeker noticed, even more so now that Sera and the others were off searching for the missing "button", which again the seeker wasn't sure if it was an actual button for a shirt or code for something only those kids would know about. Part of her was actually curious to know but the common sense of her said it probably wouldn't be worth any more stress than she already had.
She started a small patrol of her own upon the castle walls, enjoying the peace and quiet along with the cold air. Carrying her sword and shield in case of worst case scenarios, the seeker started these late night patrols recently after the events with Lucious and the destruction of the seekers, something to help her remember the better years with her mentor. Isoch suggested it to her once she discovered he himself was dealing with his own nightmares.
She smiled fondly at the Inquisitor in her mind, more than usual anyways. It had been a few weeks since he properly courted her and they were rarely apart from each other these days. He had been within the Hinterlands with the others to help out with weeding out a few red templars that had been appearing within the land and preying upon the refuges.
BAM!
The seeker nearly lost her footing when she felt something smack her in the back of her head. Quickly she turned around with her hand on her sword, grey eyes searching for her attacker but found naught but the empty walkways of the castle wall. Suddenly she felt something wet and freezing run down her back and quickly stood up straight. Reaching the back of her head she felt something cold and wet, and immediately knew it was snow.
She could feel herself growing frustrated at this, the only person who'd play these stupid pranks and be brave enough to throw a snow ball at her was the devious elf. 'Sera, if you value your limbs, come out!', warned the warrior.
BAM!
Again from the back, the seeker nearly fell forward from the attack. She rounded behind to find the snow ball throwing elf but once more saw nothing. However, before she turned around again she saw something moving behind a few spare crates, small foot prints in the snow. Calmly Cassandra slowly followed the steps, hand still gripping the sword in preparation to punish Sera…with the pommel of the sword.
Once she stood in front of the crates, she saw a small tiny body behind the crates, bent down and judging from her hands in the snow, the little prankster was preparing for another attack completely unaware the seeker was already above her. She heard giggling from the child as she held up her snow ball, then she quickly turned and prepared to toss…
Only to see the seeker standing there, arms folded with a scowl on her face. '…'.
BAM!
Sucker shot!
Cassandra growled as she rubbed the snow from her face as her eyes fell upon the small child quickly scampering away from the seeker. Cassandra wasted no time and sprinted towards the girl, quickly catching her by the back of her small coat and lifted her up even as she sprinted. The girl looked down and noticed her legs were no longer touching the snowy ground. Gulping, the girl turned her tiny head to the seeker with a sheepish grin. '…SERA MADE ME DO IT!', she suddenly screamed. Well to this kid's credit Sera's influence over kids is to be admired. 'If I put you down, will you run?', Cassandra asked.
The girl shook her head quickly, desperately wanting to be back on her feet. Gently the seeker lowered her back to the ground, keeping a close eye on her. 'Now then…who are you?', she asked. 'Alyssa', the little girl said with a toothy grin. The seeker noticed a missing tooth on her upper row set of teeth, yet the rest were white as diamonds. Her eyes were bright blue with a hint of green, long brown hair that was hidden in her small brown cap, her body wrapped in a thick fur coat.
'Where are your parents now?', Cassandra asked. 'Mama went to the Maker when I was a baby, and papa's off scouting', she said with a sad smile. 'Auntie Josie was meant to watch me but then Auntie Sera wanted to play hide and seek so I hide as best as I could, but I got bored and explored for a bit then I saw you and wanted to play!'.
Cassandra blinked at this sudden rush of energy from the little bundle of a child, noticing she was bouncing on her toes as she explained her day to the seeker. Not to mention the "Auntie" parts got her concern. 'Well…I suppose it'd be best if I took you back to Josephine before someone has a heart attack', she said. Nodding, the little girl took the seeker's hand, earning a brow from the seeker. 'Papa said "If Cassandra is with you, make sure to take her hand and you'll be safe"', she explained.
The seeker smiled in response to her as the two made their way to the diplomat's office as the snow grew heavier.
Alyssa kept humming one of the songs she no doubt has heard from Varric as she and Cassandra walked through the halls while enjoying the warmth of the fires of the large hearth. The little girl was an adorable thing though if the seeker was honest, so bubbly and sweet it was like a living and moving piece of candy.
They approached the door that led to the seeker's office and just when Alyssa was in the middle of another little story of hers…
'YOU LOST ALYSSA!?'.
Even Cassandra jumped in fear as little Alyssa "eeped" and hide behind the seeker's legs. Cassandra had never heard Josephine sounding so angry in her life, maker above she didn't know Josephine COULD get angry like that, she perfectly understood the little girl's fear. 'I don't wanna see Auntie Josie angry', little Alyssa squeaked.
'I…can see why, but I'm sure she'll cool down if you go', Cassandra encouraged. The little girl nodded but still hide herself behind the warrior. Both entered the room to see a rather livid Josephine at her desk, staring down at a now terrified Sera who was hiding behind the Iron Bull who even he looked ready to turn tail and run for the hills.
'Umm, everyone, I have her', Cassandra announced. Everyone turned to see the seeker and then the little girl her peeked her tiny head out. 'Hi', she said with a small smile. 'Button!', Sera cried in relief. Quickly the little girl scampered over to the elf, who then scooped her up into her bony arms and cuddled her. 'You're too good at hide and seek ya little sneak!', cooed the elf as she ruffled her little head.
'I refuse to allow you to babysit Alyssa anymore', Josephine said sternly. At this both girls looked at Josephine with puppy eyes. 'B-But, I love Auntie Sera Josie', the little girl pleaded softly like a little puppy. At this Josephine's anger deflated quickly as she smiled at the little girl with a tired sigh. '…Alright….but no more hide and seek!', she said with a wagging of her finger. Both girls cheered in victory while Cassandra smiled at the two.
'What's all the cheering about?'.
They all turned to see Isoch, the Inquisitor, entering the office while pulling back his cowl and hood. Revealing his tired and weary face, he smiled kindly to the others but before he could even greet them all, suddenly a tiny blur sped past the seeker and then, a reveal.
'PAPA!', Alyssa cried, leaping into his arms as he caught her and spun her around. 'Daughter, I was wondering why everything was so quiet!', he proclaimed as he cuddled his daughter in a loving embrace. 'I hope you've behaved for the others while I was out!', he said with a small smirk as he poked her little nose. She giggled at his poke before cuddling into his warm embrace.
'Best put you to bed for another day', he cooed. He carried her out of the office, all the while listening to his daughter's tales of Skyhold and her adventures with Sera and company, leaving the others there and left a dumbfounded seeker.
'Isoch, has a child?', she said in complete shock.
A/N.
…Okay, so for those who are wondering about the Champion and the Dalish…it's not gonna stop I promise, I've hit a wall and I wanna continue working on the chapter, but with that said I'll taking a break from it as well.
I've been having trouble focusing on it and I believe if I took a break of writing long chapters I can get some refreshing ideas for it, and I also wanna try writing short stories every now and then. So I'll be working on the next chapter and as soon as its finished I'll post regardless of my schedule.
So here's what I am gonna do, if I can't finish a chapter for the main story, I'll either do a two shot or one shot based on couples but I wanna also do a collection of Hawke(M)X Merrill shorts as well, so look forward to that.
Thanks for reading!