Lady Pentaghast lifts her head when she hears the quiet click of the door that leads from the families' glass summer room, out into the large expanse of the beautiful garden. She sees that the Inquisitor has returned from his very important task of tucking the youngest Trevelyan Lord's, his Nephews, into their beds and that he is going to be joining her again on the blanket that they have laid out on the grass. Cassandra watches him close the glass panel behind him quietly after they'd decided it was much too nice of an evening to be sat inside and that they would take advantage of the peace of the Trevelyan estate. Skyhold was always so busy and someone or something always demanded their attention, It was difficult to take a moment and catch their breath sometimes so they were going to take advantage of Ostwick and its tranquillity.
It had only been a matter of minutes of getting cosied up next to her lover that Lady Annabelle had come rushing out to him announcing that she couldn't get the boys to settle without him tucking them in. He had reluctantly removed his arms from around her but dutifully followed Annabelle inside to see to Jack and Elliot. Cassandra couldn't help but wonder if it was all a ruse to try and come between them, she hadn't even apologised for interrupting their quiet time together but was very insistent that she needed his help. The Seeker rests her head onto the arm that she tucks behind her head again, looking up at the dark sky above her, watching the stars shine brightly against the black listening to the sound of his boots pressing into the ground as he walks. She couldn't see him but even if she hadn't heard the door and the sound of the steps, she felt him close by.
"I didn't mean for that to take so long." Lord Trevelyan chuckles making Cassandra smile, she was sure it had taken him so long because he had made it that way. The pair had spent the day with the children and his Mother and Father after Lady Annabelle had excused herself again, saying she felt unwell and unable to help with the final preparations for her husbands funeral the next day.
"They have a difficult time letting go of you, just like I do." Lady Pentaghast laughs turning her head to look at him when she watches him unbuckle his boots, removing them and placing them on the ground at the edge of the blanket. "Especially after what has happened to their Father." Cassandra adds wishing she hadn't said it as soon as it leaves her lips, she, of course, had been thinking about the Commander's words all day and she had to admit that she had seen it too. Jack did look like the Inquisitor, and it bothered her.
"Elliot is young but Jack.." The Inquisitor sighs. "I worry about him." He adds as he kneels on the woven blanket next to her, she laughs quietly when she watches him throw himself onto his front before leaning up on his forearms.
"He has a family that loves him." The Seeker begins as she rolls over onto her side, she places her elbow on the blanket to rest her cheek against the palm of her hand so she can look at him. "He'll get through this and the sadness and pain will soon be replaced by only happy memories of his childhood and his parents." Cassandra nods slightly remembering how she felt to be without her Mother and Father. Her memories of them weren't as clear as she had hoped but the ones she had were of good times, she had lost them both but Jack and Elliot still had family and each other.
"No child should have to go through something like this. It must be hard enough as an adult to lose a parent but he's just a little boy. What will he do without Henry?" Lord Trevelyan sighs.
"He has you." Lady Pentaghast whispers watching her lover nod sadly, she watches as he plucks a blade of grass from the ground playing with it between his fingers as she diverts his eyes from hers, she could see the battle taking place on his face because of his Nephews, no doubt blaming himself for Henry's death and leaving the boys without a Father.
"I was never good enough for him." The Inquisitor replies casting aside the grass that he has torn in half, he sighs again when Cassandra reaches her hand out to him stroking the soft skin behind his ear.
"You need to tell me the truth." Cassandra mumbles when she sees him drop his head, she watches him place his hands over his face for a moment as if he has been dreading this conversation today.
The Seeker had been watching them all day, she too dreading the moment that she felt she had to mention it to him. She wanted to believe that he wasn't keeping things from her but she wasn't sure how many revelations of things he had kept quiet, she could handle. Lady Pentaghast refused to let herself get cross with him, she would give him a chance to explain and forgive him like he had done with her so many times when she had done or said things that would hurt him. She had watched Lady Annabelle's face every time she had seen Jack and the Inquisitor interacting, it was not the look of a woman seeing her son with their Uncle. It was regret and guilt. Cassandra had watched Jack's mannerisms mirror the man he clung so tightly to and the way that Lord Trevelyan doted on him was more than he was letting on.
"I don't want to talk about it." Lord Trevelyan replies from behind his hands until Cassandra wraps her fingers around his wrists pulling them away from his face, forcing him to look at her.
"I'm not giving you a choice. I know these are things that happened before we met, but if we are to have a future together you need to start telling me the truth no matter how much it hurts. Am I that cold that you are afraid to tell me things?" The Seeker replies frowning slightly when she feels him try and pull away from her, she moves to wrap her arms around his shoulders showing him that she wasn't going anywhere. "Ashton I have bared my soul to you. You know everything about me and the more time I spend here the more secrets are revealed to me." Cassandra sighs, she hadn't shared everything with him but she had tried to tell him as much as she could. They were both too used to protecting their hearts it seemed.
"You aren't cold. I never meant to keep things from you. I never thought I'd be back here again, I thought when I left here I had left all of this behind me. I didn't think I would see Annabelle again and I didn't even know if I'd see Jack and Elliot again." Lord Trevelyan directs his eyes to her when he feels her place her hand between his shoulder blades.
"Did you not want to come home and see them?" Cassandra asks feeling him shrug beneath her hand, she leans forward wrapping her arms around him tighter squeezing his shoulders. He had left home in great pain and after being forced to join the Inquisition never thought he'd see Ostwick again. She too had fled her home never wanting to return to the place that brought her so much pain.
"I wanted to see the boys, of course, I did. But part of me had to let go of them. I had to detach myself from this place otherwise I would have run home at the first sign of trouble and never been able to stay with the Inquisition. As much as it hurts to be here, it was where I grew up." Lord Trevelyan replies leaning his head to rest against hers when she places her chin on his shoulder. "That was before I fell in love with you of course." He smiles making her smile at him in return.
"We should never have made you chose between your family and the Inquisition." Cassandra sighs, she had dragged him into this mess in the first place and maybe if she had known two small boys were waiting for him at home she would have directed him away and found someone else. But then she wouldn't be with him now and she couldn't think of anything worse than that.
"I made the choice. I knew that Jack would be fine. He had his mother and he had Henry. It was made clear to me from the moment that he was born that I wasn't what was best for him or his future and that I should keep my distance." Lord Trevelyan nods as if remembering the day well. "I wanted so desperately to see him and be here when he was born. I wanted to hold him and tell him that I would do everything I could to give him the best life." He adds lowering his eyes again.
"Who decided that was the best for you? How did you know to come home and that he was due?" The Seeker asks frowning slightly, who would ever make a decision like that, that would change his life so drastically. She places her hands on the back of her neck stroking his skin trying to comfort him, her heart was breaking for him.
"Henry. On both accounts." The Inquisitor gives a weak smile as he shakes his head. "He wrote to me and told me Annabelle was due to give birth so I rushed home as any dutiful Uncle should. It took me almost a week to get here and I was sure I would be too late. When I arrived I was just in time to hear his first cries. Just in time to see Henry holding his son for the first time. Henry told me to keep my distance from then and let them raise their child. I stayed for as long as I could but it hurt to see them. I lived here on and off for years until you found me."
"So what is the truth?" Lady Pentaghast feels him roll over onto his back under her arm, he places his hands on his stomach looking up at the stars above them. She feels him sigh beneath her hand when she places it on his chest before resting her head there too.
Cassandra can feel the strong thump of his heart beneath her cheek when she closes her eyes for a moment; she already thought she knew what his reply would be. Jack had to be his son, his first-born and something that had been kept from him all of these years. She had battled with her feelings over this truth all day but now as much as she didn't want it to be so, she knew it had to be. Their baby might not be his first child.
"The truth is Jack is Henry's son." The Inquisitor replies, biting his bottom lip. "I was with Annabelle when she fell pregnant, but what I didn't know then was that Henry was too. He had already made his move on her by then and she had already planned to leave me to be with him. We were barely together then. She wasn't happy with me." He sighs again. The Seeker glances up into his face seeing him move an arm to rest behind his head while the other one wraps around her body. "I had no more of a claim over him than he did. He might just be my Nephew and his real Father might be the man we are burying tomorrow."
"So why did they try and keep you away?" The Seeker asks, yes they were young when Annabelle had been pregnant with Jack but if they had intentions to marry and had done it quickly they could have kept up the pretence.
"Annabelle's family didn't believe I was a good choice for their daughter." The Inquisitor chuckles, Cassandra knew that feeling well. She was sure people would think she was a bad choice for Lord Trevelyan. "I was third in line to the estate. I wasn't being raised to be a Templar or Seeker, or anything great like my brothers were. I was just a young Lord that had gotten their daughter pregnant and didn't know where my life was headed. I couldn't provide for my child or her as my wife. I was led to believe, until my wedding day that he was my child but there is no proof now. I didn't raise him and I was told on that day that it wasn't my baby she was carrying." The Inquisitor bends his head to brush his mouth into her hair.
"But you wanted what was best for her and Jack. You said you were due to be married, so why didn't she go through with it? Whether Henry was his Father or not you could have still married and raised him." Lady Pentaghast mumbles pressing her cheek into his chest again.
"Henry offered her the whole world. I didn't know that she had already decided she wanted him instead of me and that they had been hiding their relationship from me the whole time. I didn't know that when she left me waiting for her at the wedding that she was going to marry him instead. Her parents thought she had just got cold feet and as far as her family knew he was being a great man by offering to take Annabelle from me and give her a better life." Lord Trevelyan sighs again, Cassandra could tell that the whole situation had left him broken. Not only had his brother and future bride betrayed him, but also a child that could be his was taken from him and given to Henry to raise. Lord Trevelyan didn't know if Jack was his son, but she could see the evidence in front of her eyes when she looked at the little Lord.
"So they got their way? They got to avoid anger and judgement directed at them for their infidelity because he so graciously offered to take care of them both? Did you not try and tell them the truth?" Lady Pentaghast feels herself getting angry, she was hurt that he hadn't told her but she was feeling angry on his behalf.
Annabelle had been unfaithful and his Brother had betrayed him and yet the Inquisitor had taken the blame when his brilliant brother had been such a martyr and cleaned up his little brother's mistakes. Cassandra was starting to wonder how great of a man Henry was after he had twisted the situation for his gain, he had let his little brother be shamed but avoided any negative attention on himself from their parents.
"I tried but everyone loved Henry. Everyone talked about what a good thing he had done and that was the end of it, they got married soon after excitedly awaited the birth of their first child. No one asked questions and everyone that knew Annabelle had been pregnant before they were married answered their questions deciding that Jack was still Henry's and that they were getting married so quickly before he was born because she had fallen pregnant with Henry's child." The Seeker feels him shrug slightly, they had planned out his whole life for him and it didn't include Jack.
"What about your parents?" Cassandra whispers, she loved them already and couldn't believe that they would have let Ashton get hurt and treated like that. They adored their youngest son and would have supported him no matter what.
"They were told what everyone else was told. Annabelle and I weren't suited and Henry and Annabelle were. They wanted a swift wedding so they could begin their life together. As far as they are concerned Jack is Henry's son. No one but her parents knew she was pregnant before the wedding, but they still believe it was with Henry. But he promised me he would tell me as soon as Jack was on his way, he promised me I could see him just once as my son. When I saw him holding him I knew I would never have that with him and that Henry would never acknowledge me as his Father." The Seeker glances up watching him close his eyes once more.
"Do you believe Jack is your son?" The Seeker asks as he looks down at her again, he reaches to brush a strand of her hair away from her face. Cassandra lets him pull her into his arms feeling him wrap his arms tightly around her, she places her hands on his back tangling her legs with his.
"I don't know. How can I know?" Lord Trevelyan sighs again. "I thought that the moment I saw him, I would feel a pull and that I would be able to walk up to my brother and take him.." The Inquisitor mumbles "The moment he opened his mouth and screamed the walls down, I knew he was part of me but I didn't know if that was because he still shares my blood. I hoped I would know he was my son, and not Henry's. But I had to realise he would be happy with Henry and Annabelle, he would be able to live here with a Mother and Father that loved him and that loved each other. I had nothing to offer him then. But I could be his Uncle and I could still watch him grow up, love him unconditionally and be here when he needed me." Cassandra feels him huff slightly thinking about the fact that he hasn't been there for Jack always when he needed him.
"Why did you leave them?" Lady Pentaghast asks leaning back from him so she can see his face, placing her hands on his cheeks gazing into his beautiful deep brown eyes, eyes that she has seen on Jack. Cassandra sees his brown furrow realising her words may have sounded unkind and like she was accusing him of abandoning his family.
"It wasn't like that.." The Inquisitor huffs again. "I didn't have a choice. Mine and Henry's relationship had completely broken down and we were trying to live in under the same roof. Me, with my ever-increasing rage and Henry with his ever-increasing happiness. I was so angry and I felt so betrayed. It was killing me seeing them together and I had to leave. Even after I managed to forgive Henry, Annabelle made it difficult for me to live here. She drove me out of my home and away from my family. I had to detach myself from the situation and leave them to be a family. I knew he would be okay without me." Lord Trevelyan adds watching Cassandra nod, she strokes her hand against his cheek trying to show him she didn't mean any harm by her comments. He had done what he thought was best for Jack, he had let him grow up with a mother and father and removed his bad feelings and hurt from the home.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound that way.." Lady Pentaghast gives him a slight smile trying to get him to return it, he ducks his head to press his mouth to hers as she slides her arms around his neck.
"I did what I thought I had to do. I wasn't certain he was mine and I was making everyone's lives difficult here." The Inquisitor sighs against her lips before she wraps her arms tight around him again resting her head against his. "I don't want you to think I make a habit of walking out on people.." He adds making her smile to herself, he had no idea how wonderful he was and how perfect he had made her life; she had no worries that he would ever leave her right then. He had felt he couldn't have given Jack the life that he thought he deserved so had left him with the people that he believed could.
"I know you don't," Cassandra sighs, pressing her mouth to his ear. "I believe you and know you would never leave us. Your life is very different to how it was eight years ago and for all the reasons you believed then, that you couldn't be a Father to Jack, are the reasons I know you now can be a Father to our child." The Seeker adds feeling him nod. "You did what you thought was best, Ashton and although the choices were forced upon you and they might not have been right for you, you knew they were good for him."
"Please forgive me." The Inquisitor whispers as she kisses his ear again making him sigh. "Please believe how sorry I am. No one knows about Jack here, apart from Annabelle and I think it's better if it stays that way."
"Is there anything else you need to tell me? Anything else that will make me so furious with you so that we can get everything out in the open now and move on with our lives? I don't want anymore hurt. For either of us." Cassandra pulls back from him once more, she places her hands on his shoulders feeling him relax at her touch.
"Nothing, I promise." Cassandra nods at his words, she knew he had never kept things from her to hurt her but more to protect himself but she had to believe there was nothing else that would come out later. They both wanted happily ever after and that would only be achieved if they were honest. "I can't change the things that happened, but he is still Henry's child. Henry and Annabelle raised him and he is theirs, Henry's death doesn't change that. I could never confuse him and bring him more pain right now if he has questions when he is older that will be up to Annabelle to decide."
"I think you are right." The Seeker sighs "He loves you and he knows that you love him, maybe the time isn't right to ruin what you already have with him and replace it with a truth that might not be true and might hurt him. You said Henry was a good Father to Jack and Elliot so maybe for now let him have those happy memories of him." She didn't think lying on top of lies was the best way but Jack had just lost the man that raised him, the man that had taught him how to walk and talk, played with him and adored him, the Father that had spent 8 years protecting and loving him. He deserved to remember the man that brought him up as his Father. "But.." Cassandra begins watching Lord Trevelyan give her a puzzled look.
"But what?" Lord Trevelyan asks glancing down at Cassandra's hands when she places them on his chest again. "Don't tell me, but I have to forgive Annabelle because I can't. She made the choices for me that lead me to where I am now, so I won't forgive her for what she did to me." The Inquisitor blurts out making the Seeker shake her head.
"I wouldn't even suggest that I know she hurt you. But she is his mother and you need to make sure she is okay. If you want him to stay where he is, with your parents and his mother taking care of him you need to support Annabelle. She doesn't need financial support but we have to offer everything we can. Emotionally especially." Cassandra adds hearing her lover snort, he was hurt by her and didn't agree she needed help from anyone.
"She hates me, Cassandra." Lord Trevelyan shakes his head at the thought, Cassandra feels herself roll her eyes slightly. That woman was desperate to get him into bed with her, she clearly didn't hate him at all.
"You are so blind." The Seeker sighs as he frowns again. "I'm not doubting she loved Henry but she knows she made the wrong decision for her and Jack. It is written all over her face." Cassandra adds, seeing him laugh uncomfortably. "Didn't you see her face when you told her you had a family of her own now? She was sure you would come running back to her and play happy families again." Lady Pentaghast stops before she gets angry about the thought of her touching him as she had.
"She is grieving, I'm sure her actions were out of fear of being alone than any attraction to me." Lord Trevelyan chuckles to himself again, this time Cassandra snorts.
"I can't blame her for wanting you back." Cassandra gives him a smile when he chuckles again. "But, that wasn't what I was going to say. I was going to say from this day going forward we make more of an effort to return to Ostwick." Cassandra fixes her eyes on his seeing a small smile tug at his mouth.
"It's a long journey" The Inquisitor smiles trying to pretend to have a list prepared for all of the reasons they couldn't return to Ostwick. "You don't like the Sea.." He adds smiling; Cassandra could see that he was fit to burst.
"We need to see Jack and Elliot as often as we can." Lady Pentaghast smiles when she sees how overcome he suddenly looks at the idea of spending time with his Nephews. "He is going to need you now more than ever and so are your parents. From now on, no more avoiding home because you are worried about seeing Annabelle or are afraid of getting hurt. Skyhold is home, Ashton but this is our family. No excuses and I am perfectly aware that it is a long journey and there is an expanse of sea between us but he is your blood. He needs to see you and you need to see him. Make sure they bring the boys to visit us and we will make sure we see them as often as we can. Soon the fight will be done and we will need to start getting some normality. We will have our baby, our home and our family that are here." Cassandra smiles again seeing the happiness all over his face. "Show Jack that we love him and will always be there for him when he needs you." She adds.
"Thank you for not being angry with me." The Inquisitor replies dropping his eyes before looking back at her "They are going to love Skyhold and they are going to love spending time with you." Lord Trevelyan nods wrapping his arms around her again squeezing her. "I love you and I can't wait to have the chance to be a real Father to our babies." He smiles when she brushes her mouth against his, he kept referring to plural children and she hadn't even had one yet. "I can't wait to fill Skyhold with our beautiful children and to have my Nephews visit us." He nods, she sees a slight flash of sadness in his eyes, a nephew was going to have to do.
"I love you, and that is why I was so angry with you.." Cassandra sighs seeing him look upset for another moment. "But I know it wasn't to hurt me and I understand that this is a secret to protect Jack but we aren't going to continue having these revelations anymore. We are a team, Inquisitor. It's you and me versus the world and I need to know we are truthful to each other, no matter how much it hurts. No more secrets." She felt like she was having Deja Vu. She hoped if there was anything he felt like keeping from her again, he might think twice. She was still no closer to knowing the truth about Jack, but she felt she knew as much as he did about the matter. As far as he was concerned, Jack was his Nephew.
"No more secrets." Lord Trevelyan nods. "I am on your side and I won't keep anything from you, even if we know it might upset each other I promise I will be honest with you." He sighs when she presses her mouth to his again trailing her hands through his hair, Cassandra sighs against his lips when he tangles his legs with hers again trying to pull her closer to him.
"I cannot wait to carry all the children you want to give me, and fill Skyhold with little Inquisitor's." Cassandra giggles when she places her hands on his chest and pushes him onto his back, she throws her leg over him straddling his hips. "And Little Seekers." She adds leaning down to press a light kiss against the corner of his mouth. "How many shall we have?" She feels him smile when she brushes her lips against his cheek. Lady Pentaghast couldn't wait to have a family with this man, but she was still unsure how she was being to be as a mother. She traces her fingers over his chest before sliding her hands down to his stomach.
"At least ten. Five Seekers and Five Inquisitors." Lord Trevelyan laughs making her smile at him, he was so perfect and yet so flawed, but she loved him for every part of him. "Although if any of them wanted to be Templars.." He begins before trailing off.
"Ten is a very tall order, My Lord." The Seeker giggles when he places his hands on her waist sliding his hands up her back so he can pull her down till her chest is pressed against his. "We would never have time for anything else if we were just making children to fill your fortress."
Cassandra gives him a smirk when she grabs hold of his hands that he is gripping onto her hips with and moves them to her back. His hands were a big weakness for her and the longer he kept them from roaming the longer she could concentrate.
"Maybe I'd like to double my order." The Inquisitor returns her smirk and slips his hands down her back again "It would be a worthy cause and one I would be fully supportive of." Cassandra feels him move beneath her and sigh when she leans forwards and presses her mouth against his throat in a gentle kiss. She sits up batting his hands away making him laugh, he places them firmly on her shoulders. "Why won't you let me touch you?"
"Because your hands get women like me into trouble." Cassandra giggles when he cups her face in his hands pulling her to him, he sits up letting her wrap her legs around his waist when he captures her mouth with his. The Seeker hears herself whimper when she wraps her arms around his body and he begins teasing her mouth with his tongue. Lady Pentaghast feels him move his hand to her hair, tangling his fingers in the raven black locks.
"Your mouth gets men like me into trouble." The Inquisitor pants against her mouth when she finally lets him speak. Cassandra bites her bottom lip eyeing her slightly ruffled haired Inquisitor, she thought her fingers through his short cut did wonders for his look. "Not a complaint, by the way." Lord Trevelyan adds leaning forward to replace her teeth on her bottom lip with his own.
"We should go to bed.." The Seeker sighs when she feels him trail kisses from her mouth down to her throat, she leans her head back when his mouth meets a spot between her neck and shoulder. "As beautiful as this night is, we need to go inside." She adds slipping her fingers through his hair again when she feels him wrap his arm around her waist and move to place her on her back. "Ash.." Cassandra sighs almost forgetting her not that convincing argument at his actions.
"Why are you so eager to get me behind a closed door?" Lord Trevelyan chuckles pausing his mouth against her neck, she moves both his hands to her hips tightening her legs around his waist.
"Because I believe Lady Annabelle is spying on us." Cassandra giggles as she glances towards the house where she is sure she has seen Annabelle in the family dining room, hiding best she can behind some of the plants. Lady Pentaghast laughs further when she watches her lovers head snap round to try and see if he can spot Lady Annabelle too before he lets out a groan when he sees a flash of fleeing woman and her blonde hair. Breakfast was going to be awkward.