Disclaimer: I tragically do not own Dragon Age.
Lost and Found
Chapter 2
Since the very beginning of the Inquisition, whenever Leliana felt even close to reaching the end of her list of tasks, a hundred more would be piled on top of it. The work of a spymaster was endless and scandals and secrets waited for no woman no matter how much she wished it. Not that she was necessarily unhappy with her situation; it was better to keep her mind active to stop it from drifting to other things she'd rather not contemplate.
Leliana sighed and pushed her hood back so it fell around her shoulders. Even at the best of times it was difficult to hold all the threads of her spy network balanced in her head. One tug in the wrong place or at the wrong time could unravel everything she'd worked so hard to weave and that thought never strayed far from her mind, especially when it came to decision time. Now was not the best of times.
"What are you doing?" asked a small voice from behind her. Leliana pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. But of course.
"Cassandra," she replied in Nevarran. "It is very late. Why aren't you in bed?" It was indeed so late that none of her agents remained in the rookery and all her birds were fast asleep on their perches. It wouldn't last long; there was only a brief window during each night in which Leliana had the privacy of solitude. Sometimes she used that time to sleep; often she didn't.
There was a pause and Leliana opened her eyes and turned around in her chair so she was facing the child. The child who was Cassandra. The woman she'd spent the last five years working side by side with to serve their beloved Divine. If this was the Maker's will then he certainly had a strange sense of humour.
With a quick glance at the uncomfortable bedroll spread out on the floor, Cassandra bit her bottom lip and shrugged her shoulders. It was decidedly out of character, or at least it was for the adult version of this girl. "I couldn't sleep," she then said as she pulled at the coarse material of the children's nightdress Josephine had miraculously located before scurrying off with the Inquisitor. Leliana was under no illusions about how they'd spent the rest of their evening. Not to say she begrudged Josephine and even Lavellan some happiness in this dark time, because she didn't. She just hoped that Lavellan continued to heed her warnings because Herald or not if she hurt Josie then Leliana would destroy her.
"I see," said Leliana slowly. She looked around the rookery with a critical eye. Cassandra was obviously uncomfortable in there and Leliana couldn't blame her. She'd chosen this room for it's convenience, her own comfort be damned, and could admit that it was dark, drafty and the number of birds she had in there did no favours for the smell. The rickety railings around the large hole in the floor would hardly stop anyone from falling down and breaking their neck if they weren't careful enough. As she'd told the Inquisitor, this was no place for a child. Cassandra deserved better.
"When is Anthony coming to get me?" Cassandra asked, when no further response was forthcoming.
Pity gripped her heart and Leliana forced herself to smile. Again. When did something as simple as a smile become such a monumental task? "I'm not certain, little one," she said. Cassandra's face fell. "I'm sure he'll come back for you as soon as he is able." From a young age Leliana had been taught to use secrets and lies like currency. It's only wrong if you get caught, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Marjolaine repeated in her head. But these lies...they tasted wrong in her mouth. She hoped Cassandra would be able to forgive her if she remembered this conversation later. False hope was a cruelty Leliana did not wish to inflict on her friend. If that's what they were. If not friends then something close to resembling it.
"Okay," said Cassandra sadly. She wrapped a pair of thin arms around herself and hung her head.
Leliana watched the girl for a moment before tilting her head to one side. "Is there something else you need?"
Cassandra hesitated as she gazed up at Leliana through dark eyelashes. "Could you tell me a story?"
There was no accounting for the way fear gripped at her heart at those six innocent little words. And why? Telling stories had been her passion for such a long time. But... "Cassandra, I'm very busy," she said, hating herself for it. She gestured at the letters piled up in front of her with the quill that rested in her hand.
"Oh," said Cassandra. The grip that she had on her own arms tightened and she stared at the floor. "Okay. Sorry."
Without another word, Cassandra skulked away from her and back to the thin bedroll. She curled herself into a trembling ball in the middle and then pulled the sheet over her head with one hand. Leliana sighed and rubbed her eyes. She would get no more work done tonight.
There was something of a spring in Ellana's step that morning. Tragically, Josephine had no longer been in her quarters when she'd awoken but there was a nice little note from her love resting on the pillow beside her head. Admittedly it had taken her a couple of tries to make out the words; Josephine had been teaching her to read in their downtime but it was slow-going. The ability to read wasn't considered a necessary skill for most of the Dalish but Josephine had insisted and well...any excuse to spend time with the ambassador really.
It was probably just her imagination, but even Skyhold itself reflected her good mood. The main hall was busier than usual and so far she'd only heard two petty arguments between masked Orlesians over living quarters and who ate the last bread roll at breakfast. Even Vivienne had nodded to her in greeting as she'd passed, which Ellana supposed was the best she could hope for from a woman with whom she fundamentally disagreed with on nearly everything.
She passed Varric's usual haunt and continued into Solas' room.
"Ah, Inquisitor," said the man as she entered, closing the door with a soft click behind her. He was sat in front of his desk leafing through a pile of papers with what looked a lot like Dorian's handwriting scrawled across it. "I was wondering when you'd stop by."
She stopped and offered him an easy smile. "Thought I'd better come and see how baby Cassandra is getting on with our fearsome spymaster." Not to say that she really thought Leliana would push the child off the balcony if she was irritated enough, but Ellana would be lying if she said the thought hadn't crossed her mind once or thrice.
"Quite," said Solas, inclining his head in agreement.
"Did you guys make any progress with the whole...turning her back into a grown-up thing last night?" she asked. "I don't mean to sound self-serving but I'm hearing rumours of a dragon nesting somewhere near one of our bases in the Hinterlands and Bull will not leave me alone about the damn thing. I know it will annoy her but was hoping to take Cassandra with me considering she's the only member of the Inquisition who has ever even seen one." She paused. "Except for Leliana maybe. The archdemon was a dragon, right? Varric has probably seen one too if his stories of the Champion of Kirkwall are anything to go by...which I'm not convinced they are. Either way I'd rather Cassandra were there."
If Solas was put off at all by her endless chatter, his face didn't show it. "I believe the archdemon Urthemiel took the form of a dragon, yes," he told her. "In regards to the magic affecting Cassandra, so far we have made no headway."
"Of course we haven't," said Ellana with a sigh. "That would just be too easy, wouldn't it?"
"I'm sure it would, Inquisitor," Solas replied. His lip curled upwards before he became serious in that way he did whenever he was about to impart some sort of lesson to her. "The magic Dorian used was...unstable. Too unstable for the library where any member of the Inquisition could wander by and get caught in the crossfire."
"Well...yes. I think the Right Hand of the Divine being little more than a toddler right now is proof of that," said Ellana. "Are you saying you need a new workspace?"
"We already have one," Solas informed her. "Grand Enchanter Fiona has had some of her mages clear an unused area of Skyhold and put up protective barriers to hopefully stop any more wild magic escaping."
"Smart," said Ellana with a nod.
"I'll be headed over there soon to assist," Solas continued. "We may need some new research materials, however. Dorian knows of some literature in the Tenvinter Archives and libraries that may be of use."
"Of course," said Ellana. "If you get a list to me I'll ask Lady Montilyet to see what she can do."
"Thank you, Inquisitor. I'll bring it to you as soon as I've discussed the matter with Dorian, hopefully this afternoon."
It sounded like a dismissal and Ellana took it as such, saying goodbye to Solas and resuming her journey up the stairs to find Leliana and Cassandra. She didn't have to go far to locate them because as soon as she entered the library, something warm and solid crashed right into her stomach, sending her stumbling backwards onto the floor.
"OW!"
Above her, Cassandra babbled something and flapped her hands about. Ellana didn't understand a word of it but she could gather their meaning.
"Don't worry I'm fine," Ellana was quick to reassure the child, who very rapidly was approaching panic. Cassandra took a step back and held out her hands as though to stop Ellana from moving any closer to her. "It's okay."
"Cassandra!"
If the people in the library weren't staring at them yet, they certainly were now. Ellana hoped Leliana wasn't planning to keep this whole mishap a secret because gossip spread around Skyhold like wildfire and Seeker Pentaghast being reduced to a child was the most interesting thing that had happened in weeks. Ellana placed most of the blame for that on Varric and the Iron Bull. Complete gossip-mongers. Dorian wasn't much better either.
Leliana raced into view then, Josephine trailing worriedly behind her, hands clutching at a small collection of child's clothing. Cassandra turned around to see her pursuers, the look of a caged animal playing about her face. She glanced at the stairs behind Ellana but obviously calculated she'd never get past the elf whether she was still firmly on her rear or otherwise. Her slim shoulders slumped as she resigned herself to her fate.
When the two women reached them, Leliana dropped to her knees and gripped Cassandra by her arms. "Do not run off like that!" Then she caught herself and repeated the sentence in Nevarran.
Ellana turned her gaze to Josephine, who looked rather flustered as she tried to smooth down her clothes. "Problem?" she asked. She struggled to her feet and brushed dark red hair from her face. Josephine offered her a wan smile.
"It seems Lady Cassandra does not like the clothes I chose for her, Inquisitor," said Josephine regretfully. Ellana held out her hands to look at the offending items herself and stifled a laugh. They were all very...Josephine. Ruffles and silk and was that...yes, it was indeed a pretty pink dress.
"Where did you even get this?" Ellana asked. "I haven't seen many children running around Skyhold in petticoats." They aren't very practical, she wanted to say but didn't because that abject look of disappointment on Josephine's face was already too much to bear.
"I've had a very productive morning," Josephine replied. She'd have to have done considering it was still two or three hours before midday. "Though..." She trailed off and they focused their attention to were Leliana was still admonishing Cassandra in that strange, guttural language. "I think next time I should tailor my efforts more specifically to the intended recipient." You think? Have you never met Cassandra?
"It was worth a try," said Ellana with a shrug. "She's being a bit melodramatic though, don't you think?"
Cassandra was eyeing the clothes in her hands now as though if she glared hard enough she might be able to set the whole sorry collection alight and have done with it.
"She claims to hate them," Josephine told her. "She would not even entertain the notion of trying them on."
"I don't know what you were expecting, Josie," Leliana chided, though not without humour. She had risen to her feet and had wrapped a single arm around Cassandra's shoulders, probably to stop the little hooligan from running off again. The contact seemed to please the child, however, and she leaned ever so slightly into the woman. "This is still Cassandra Pentaghast we're talking about. You're lucky she didn't make a grab for one of my knives and cut your pretty clothes into ribbons."
Josephine looked thoughtful. "The blue silk shirt would make such beautiful ribbons."
"It would," agreed Leliana, with a fond smile on her face more genuine that Ellana had ever seen from her. "They would go so perfectly with the pretty dress you wore to the Bouchard's summer party in Val Royeaux two years ago."
"The one with the lace trimmed neckline or the periwinkle buttons?"
"The lace trimmed. I used to have the most beautiful pair of powder blue shoes that would match that dress wonderfully."
Ugh. Shems. Ellana loved Josephine, but there was only so much of this inane conversation she could endure. And what even was periwinkle exactly? Suddenly she didn't blame poor Cassandra for making a mad dash for freedom.
"So basically we're going to need some different clothes," said Ellana, loud enough distract the two women from the conversation they were definitely on the cusp of boring her half to death with. What was the point in shoes made out of satin? She'd managed just fine in the forest for years without any shoes at all and even to her that choice of material seemed impractical. "Pants probably."
"It perhaps would be easier to borrow some clothes made for a little boy?" Leliana suggested.
Josephine looked most put out but she nodded in agreement. "Of course, Leliana. I shall get to it as soon as I can." There was a hapless sort of look on Leliana's face when she nodded that Josephine seemed to notice. "Perhaps I can take Cassandra with me and she can select her own garments?"
"Yes," said Leliana. Then her pale cheeks turned pink at the embarrassing speed at which she'd replied. Ellana couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Babysitting not all it's cracked up to be?" she asked.
Leliana smiled apologetically. "It is very hard to get anything done under the constant worry of a certain someone accidentally falling through the hole in the rookery floor. I've had my agents keep an eye on her but I can't help but feel their time would be better spent elsewhere." She then turned her attention to Cassandra and said something to her in Nevarran. The lack of being able to understand what they were saying was already starting to grate on Ellana's nerves. She couldn't even imagine how difficult it must be for Cassandra.
At first, Cassandra shook her head, but then Josephine inserted herself into the conversation and held out a hand for the girl to take, which she did but with no small amount of hesitation first.
"Thank you," Leliana breathed.
"It is no problem, my friend," said Josephine. It was a problem but never mind. What else could they do? "I will see about finding someone who can take care of her until this...accident has been rectified." With that, she bade farewell to Leliana and Ellana and then led Cassandra from the library, though not before the kid looked desperately back at Leliana for approval. Quite what she thought sweet, beautiful Josephine was going to do to her that frightened her so Ellana wasn't sure. Force her into a cornflower blue bouffant gown maybe.
"I think she's imprinted on you," said Ellana when they were gone.
"Excuse me?" said Leliana. Her brows contracted in the middle making her look particularly hawk like.
"Once my clan made camp by this cute little pond a few miles away from Kirkwall that was full of ducks. In the spring one of them gave birth to a little group of baby ducks and Amras, our clan's main cook, was there at the time. He was the first thing those little ducklings saw and from then on they followed him everywhere he went like they were tethered to him by a piece of string. Drove him mad because I'm sure he just wanted to eat them but the Keeper wouldn't let him. They thought he was their mother I guess." Ellana ended her story with what she deemed a very graceful shoulder shrug.
"Cassandra is not a duckling," said Leliana. "And I am certainly not her mother."
"I know that," Ellana huffed. "I'm just saying...you were there when she woke up in this unfamiliar place. In her head she's turned you into her protector. Her safe place maybe. Everyone around her is speaking this funny language and all her family are gone. Can you blame her for wanting to stay close to you?"
On that note, Ellana said goodbye to the troubled looking spymaster and went about her day.
Author's Note(s): Thank you for reading :-)
To Guest reviewer - I actually deliberated over that sentence for a while but chose to say Tevene over Tevinter because I was going for an adjective rather than just naming the country. Like how you'd describe someone as Welsh rather than Wales. If it sounds too weird though I'll go back and change it?