Cole
She was not like Evangeline, she was less frightening, more strange, like him. Cole had never seen somebody with eyes like that, they were like shattered stained glass, like the glass in Val Royeaux. He was a long way from Val Royeaux now, but it didn't matter. Nor did it matter they would forget him, he only wanted to help. She said she would remember, so far she had kept her promise. It was morning now, light steramed from his bedroom window between gaps in the curtains. She had said her room was only a few steps away, and he would usually wander a while before she called her companions together, plus him, to discuss what the day would bring. He hoped he would not run into the elf girl again.
A sweet sound carried from the Inquisitor's room in the pale light of morning. She would sing as she bathed, whether day or night, he had noticed. I thought I heard the old man say, leave her Johnny, leave her. Tomorrow ye will get your pay and it's time for us to leave her. Cole liked the songs she sang; they were all sad, about death or sadness. Her voice was sweet and soft when she sang; it matched her lips, but not her face with all its scars. She could not have been much older than him, he thought. He had not meant to enter the room, but he wanted to hear the words, so he could remember them. She had a large bath, carved stone in the willowy shapes of elves and trees.Leave her Johnny, leave her. Oh, leave her Johnny leave her. For the voyage is long and the winds doth blow and it's time for us to leave her.
She had seen him in the mirror, he did not think she would have been able to see, people tended to get offended when somebody saw them dressing or bathing, he didn't really know why. "Cole! What are you doing?" she had sat down with a splash, spilling water over the sides of the basin. She did not seem to mind as much as Evangeline about being spied on. Nonetheless, he was sorry for it.
"I didn't mean to see anything; I only wanted to hear the words." He looked at his toes, fidgeting awkwardly like a child. Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she stared at him.
"I can take you to the tavern sometime; they have Bards there sometimes if you like music." She seemed genuinely intrigued at his motives.
"No, I- you don't have to. I like your songs best." He smiled. What a scrunched and unsure thing it seemed but she smiled back all the same and laughed to herself.
"I don't quite do them justice. You should hear an entire crew of rowers belting out a tune all together."
"Have you heard that?" He sat upon the ground, legs clutched to his chest. The uncomfortable position felt most natural to him, he liked to keep the pieces of himself close.
"I have. I sailed with a group of… entrapaneurs… well we were pirates really, there's no use coating it in sugar now. They used to sing all the time, day or night. I miss it, the noise, it was nice to fall asleep to, like a storm." She clutched the rim of the tub, resting her chin on its edge thoughtfully.
"Do you miss being an entra… pirate, Inquisitor?" He did not want her to stop talking, she might forget him otherwise.
"Sometimes it is difficult not to, though the food is far better here. I don't care much for the rules here though. Tell me, Cole, do you miss where you came from?" she looked like a cat with her gold eyes shining. He thought of angry men, darkness and lonely chills. Cole shook his head.
She had offered before to send for Rhys, Evangeline or anyone he would like to see but Cole had shaken his head then too. Rhys was different now; he had his own life and was making a difference in his way, as he always had. Cole was needed right where he was and he would help, somehow.
"I was lucky, when I wouldn't have missed the place I was in, I could move on, become someone else. I don't think I'll be able to do that again, there's only so many lives a person can have." Water was dripping down her forehead and onto her nose, falling on the floor with dull thuds. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you came back with us."
Could he be someone else, change what he was and feel less caught? Maybe she would tech him, if he helped enough. No, he knew what he was; there was no way to reverse it. He was glad she was glad he had stayed though. Maybe she needed someone to listen to her songs.
"Could you sing the one about the lost lady?" he thought it best to ask while she was likely to say yes.
"A lost lady?" she frowned slightly.
He struggled with the words for a moment before settling on the correct lyrics. "A lass that is gone. She's a lost lady, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is." She seemed lost herself as she spoke. "I will sing it once, and only once, before you have to go. I'm expecting the Seeker to burst through the door at any moment." And with that, she began to sing.
The Templars come to kill you. You won't remember me. You will forget. Or you'll die. I won't forget you. Cole! Come out you little bastard! Shh, Bunny. Bunny? Mother? Rhys? Evangeline? What was her name? Inquisitor. Trev-trevelyan. Raen. Raen? I almost forgot you. I'll kill you, you little bastard, you little freak.
The Fade was a horrible place and he knew the dream too well. He didn't want to sneak up upon her, but he could not breathe, it was getting harder and harder to wake. He had to struggle, to fight more than ever to work himself from the grasp of the man who called him 'son'. The sobs were harsh and strangled as they escaped him. Why couldn't they let him be? He felt alone, like never before or perhaps lately he had simply been craving more tethers to reality, more contact. He didn't want to sneak up on her. He didn't want to frighten her. But how could he not when he was the monster they said he was?
So he sat outside her door and let his loneliness and remorse overwhelm him. She heard him, she had not been asleep it seemed, and was cold, clammy and shaking as she pulled him to his feet with strength she looked to lack. He was taller than her, but she stood upon her toes and pulled him into a long embrace. She then opened the door again, dragging the blankets from her own bed and wrapping one around herself, put them upon a long cushioned seat. She inclined her head, signalling for him to sit beside her. He was still crying, softly as he settled and she wrapped a banket about his shoulders. He didn't deserve this. He tried to tell her that. She got mad. "Don't you say that, not ever." He hadn't noticed she had been crying before. It seemed silly for her to cry for him. He couldn't watch her cry, so he laid down, tentatively resting hi head upon her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and placed her other hand over her mouth as the tears flowed down her cheeks, yet despite her shaking, he felt safer than he had in a very long time. It felt like home. He did not dream again that night, nor did she.
"Will you sing, Raen?" Cole was sitting beside her, with the curious elf Solas on his other side. He liked the elf man, and the Qunari one, Raen called him Bull. Cole had seen him leave her room a few times at night; they must have been planning something big. The Spirit boy had whispered, but he was sure she had heard him.
"Not tonight, Cole. Nobody wants to hear that." She breathed softly, half-smiling at his suggestion. He thought it would be nice, Bull did too.
"I didn't know the Inquisitor sang when not inebriated." He boomed from across the campfire, his one eye blinked in disbelief. She shot him a look that said; don't you dare. He dared. "By all means, Raen, regale us with a charming ditty from your days at sea."
"I'll give you a charming blow to the head if you don't shut up." She laughed, surprised to find everyone looking at her. The camp was silent. "I'm not singing."
"I'll start you off. Cole, any requests?" The Qunari was not going to let it go, and Cole was happy to help if it meant he could fall asleep to something other than silence.
"The Lass that is Gone." He smiled, confident in his choice. It was her favourite.
"I can't say I know that one" The Iron Bull looked to Raen for guidance.
"He means the Skye Boat Song" she elaborated, though no look of recognition crossed the Bull's face. She was less irritated at the request to sing than she was at the fact nobody knew what she was talking about now. "Where's Blackwall when you need him? Oh come on, you know it, sing me a song of a lass that is gone, say could that lass be I?"
The Qunari smiled as she realised he had won. "I do know it, actually but you might as well finish now." He chuckled while she sighed and pointed an accusatory finger at both he and Cole.
"You are both impossible", but Cole could tell she was not mad. "Merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to sky." The Bull joined her after a few verses; by the end of the night they had repeated the tune so many times that the entire camp knew it by heart and was merrily singing along with them and the song no longer seemed so sad. Cole saw the pain in their eyes fade away, as they listened and sand. He fell asleep to the sound of their voices, they would remember him tonight.
