It was early in the morning when Josephine was awoken by sunlight pouring in through the windows, warm and pleasant as it brought light to the world as well as a smile to her face.
"Good morning." A warm and happy accented voice greeted her, tightening the arm around her waist. "Was starting to think you would never wake up."
"Mmm." She pried her eyes open to find Cantis smiled at her, face sparkling like diamonds as the sun shone on him. "Of course I did. Waking up to you is the best dream I can imagine."
"Ooh." He laughed, making her smiled even wider for having caused it. "You're good."
She rolled over, laying her head on his muscular chest and feeling the beat of his heart and breath, somewhat in awe that it all worked together to bring him life. That the universe had come together in such a perfect way to make him alive. Then again, that she had found him and found love was an equally awe-inspiring thought.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked, shifting his weight a little to cuddle her further. He was cute that way, loving to curl up against her in such a way that made her feel adored, cherished. Which she was, to him.
"You." Josephine smiled, pushing her weight back to curl into him in turn. "And how much I love you."
"You're too much." Cantis smiled in turn, kissing her on the forehead before giving a short, exasperated sigh. "I guess we should be getting up soon. Much as I love laying here with you, the world doesn't seem to stop for us lovers, I'm afraid."
Josephine shook her head, curling closer still. "Not yet." She mumbled, kissing him on the chest. "Soon, but not yet. Empress Celene sent me another update to one of our treaties. I'm supposed to read all hundred pages of it and send her my revisions before the end of the day." She smiled a little more, wrapping her arms around him. "I have a feeling I'll need this memory later."
Cantis' smiled melted a little as he began to offer his help. "I… wish I could help you, Josie, but I-"
"No, no." She shook her head, biting her lip. "You're busy enough already. I won't trouble you with this too." She shouldn't have brought that up, should she? Now he would worry for her sanity and sleep schedule all day.
"It wouldn't be any trouble." He insisted. "Really. It's just, I..." He bit his lip, thinking of how to phrase this as she looked up at him curiously. "I… never told anyone this before, but I… well, Josie, I can't read."
Josephine blinked and moved her head back, meeting his eyes and saw the deeply hidden shame that lay there. "I… what?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, then bit her lip again and began speaking as fast as she could. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course not, I just hadn't expected that since you were always-"
"Josie, Josie." He smiled, whatever disgrace he had felt about that melting away in the face of her adorableness. "You're okay. Whatever you say isn't going to hurt my feelings. Trust me. I know it's weird, that's why I don't tell anyone about it."
"Well, no, no it's not." Josephine tried to comfort, making up for her embarrassing lapse in basic politeness. "Many people in Thedas don't know how to read. I don't think Sera does."
Cantis smiled grimly. "Oh, good. I'm on the same intelligence level as the woman who thinks that Bees are an effective weapon in combat, and can't form coherent sentences half the time." he sighed, but shook his head in apology. "Sorry, I shouldn't be rude. Just… kind of a hard thing to admit, is all."
"You don't have to apologize." Josephine shook her head, feeling a little hurt but not something she couldn't deal with. His rudeness had come from a reasonable place, and she quite honestly shouldn't have said that considering how unintelligent Sera could be. Not a good comparison. "I… just don't understand. You were a lord in Ostwick, weren't you?"
"Yeah." Cantis paused a moment, considering how to explain it. He knew how much his life made her sad, how difficult it had been. He had to think of a way to phrase it in a way that made sense and didn't drag her down. "But my parents had fourteen children. I was… what, the fourth? And when I was born, Ostwick was at war with another city-state, I don't remember which one, so they had more than a little on their plate and not much time to take care of me. And by the time it all finished up, they had two others, so… yeah." He nodded, and so did she before laying a loving kiss on him. "When I was sixteen I joined up with the Ostwick military, and they didn't care much for educating me. You know the rest."
Josephine nodded, smiling sweetly at him as she listened. She loved hearing about him and his life, so storied and fascinating. Compared to him she was dull indeed, having only a schooling of politics and a single brief interesting moment. Nothing as exciting as being a soldier, a farmer, a Red Templar and now the Inquisitor. Then again, maybe that was something to be grateful for.
"Let me teach you." Josephine offered after a moment, entwining her hands with his. "I love you, and it's a good thing to know. I promise not to give up on you."
Cantis thought about it a moment before nodding eagerly. He had tried once and failed miserably, but surely Josephine's teaching style would be better, and she knew him better than anyone else in the world. At least he should try. He would like to actually be able to sign his name for once, instead of simply signing an X.
"Then it's settled." She smiled. "I… hmm. I don't know where to start. Give me a day or two to figure it out, and then we can start. Does that sound acceptable, Amore?"
"If it's you teaching me?" Cantis smiled. "Nothing sounds better."
Three Days Later...
"My lord!" Josephine was immediately smiling when she saw Cantis enter into their room, having come back from his latest escapade in the Hinterlands. She stood from the couch and threw her arms around him, basking in the brief kiss that they shared.
"It's good to see you, darling." he smiled, encircling his arms around her waist supportively. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Josephine nodded, smiling at him before motioning to the couch for them to sit together. "I wrote something for you. Something to help you learn your reading."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow as she pulled a small leather bound book from the table. "And what might that be?"
"Well, first I want to make something perfectly clear." She laid the book in her lap before turning to him and entwining their hands together. "I know this isn't easy for you. I can't imagine what you've been through, especially hiding this from us with all the things we've handed you." Cantis nodded grimly, sadness in his eyes as he gazed at her seriously. "So I want you to know this: I believe in you, and I love you. I will love you regardless of what happens. You are a smart, intelligent man, and I believe in you wholeheartedly."
"Thank you." Cantis nodded, smiling uncertainly at her. This was going to hurt, no question about it, but she believed in him, and that was all he needed. At the very least he needed to learn his own name.
"So, I wrote this for you." She pulled the book from her lap. "It's… a bit silly, but I think you might like it." She put herself into his lap, snuggling close just like they did in front of the fire place.
"A is for Anchor," She read from it, looking a the intricately designed pictures that she had spent painstaking hours designing. "The mark on your hand.
B is for Blackwall, protector of the land.
C is for Cu-"
"Josephine." Cantis cut in, and she looked to him. "I don't need pictures and children's rhymes to learn how to read!"
Josephine's face took on a plaintive expression, pouting her lip asher eyes took on an innocent, puppy-dog look. "But… but I spent so long on them."
Cantis smiled and chuckled under his breath, nodding once at her, cuddling closer. "Right. Sorry. Go ahead."
Josephine smiled and continued. "C is for Cullen, our warrior king.
D is for Dorian, his father approves not of the way he swings.
E is for Empress Celene, we did save her life.
F is for Fiona, full of political strife.
G is for Gallows, the place war would occur.
H is for Hawke, she's silly but we're stuck with her.
I is for Inquisition, that brought the world from it's knee.
J is for Josephine, I love you, and you're stuck with me.
K is for Kirkwall, a place of grief.
L is for Leliana, our professional thief.
M is for Merrill, pure and fair.
N is for Nugs, they haven't any hair.
O is for Orlais, the place it all began.
P is for Pavus, Dorian, a silly and kind man.
Q is for Qunari, who we've seen many times.
R is for Red Jenny, who's committed many crimes.
S is for Solas, our friend of mages.
T is for Tethras, Varric, who loves his pages.
U is for unite, what you did to the land.
V is for Vivienne, whose fashion is grand.
W is for the Winter Palace, the place of the Great Game.
X is how you used to sign your name.
Y is for you, who will never sign X again.
Z is for Zevran, who I've never met, but his name starts with Z to complete the alphabet."
She finished and looked up at him with eyes beaming full of pride at her hard work. "Well?" She smiled. "What do you think?"
"I love it." Cantis smiled in turn, kissing her forehead. "That sounds a lovely way to remember these. Though I get the feeling you'll need to read it to me a few more times."
"I would be delighted to."
"Josie, I… I don't know about this." Cantis stammered, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. "I… I'm not smart enough for this."
"My lord, you're one of the most intelligent people I know." Josephine murmured reassuringly to him. "If you're uncomfortable, we don't have to do this, but I believe in you."
Cantis took a deep, shuddering breath and faced down something he feared more than demons. He grabbed the pen and began writing, slowly, unsure of himself. But Josephine believed in him, and he couldn't let her down.
Josephine kept her arms around him the whole time, watching intently and cooing encouraging words into his ear.
Finally he pulled his hand away to reveal the words he had left on the paper before him:
Cantis Trevelyan
"Amore!" Josephine cried, and he flinched away a moment, preparing himself for chastisement and rejection. "That's perfect!"
"R-really?" He stammered, looking to her. "Y-you can tell me the truth, y-you don't have to lie for my benefit."
"I'm not." She shook her head, smiling as wide as she could, absolutely beaming with pride and joy. "You really did it." She embraced her love, holding him close. "I knew you could."
After a moment, he bent over the paper again and began scrawling once more until it read:
Cantis Trevelyan and Josaphine Montilyea
Then he drew a heart over both names, then turned and smiled at her. "How's that?" He asked, sparkling eyes meeting her own.
"Perfect."