Isabela wasn't sure how long she had been sitting on her son's bed in the darkness. She could hear shouting coming from the main hall down below and she knew that the entire castle was in an uproar about not only how this could have happened, but what was going to be done about it. The pirate side of her was screaming at her to go down and voice her opinion, to burn every village from Skyhold to Nevarra until they found the missing children. But the other side of her, the side that was currently winning her internal battle, told her to sit and mourn.

Raedar, her son, one of two things in recent memory that she could recall caring about, had been taken from her. She had always had a rule: If anyone had the audacity to steal from her, the punishment she dealt would be in accordance to the value of the stolen item. The more valuable the item, the more severe the consequences. But now, the most valuable thing she had ever possessed had been taken from her in the dead of night, and all she could do was sit on her son's bed and hold his stuffed bear that he had carried around since he was old enough to walk.

She had been awoken several hours earlier by a scream that had made her blood run cold. She was up and out of the room before Hawke had even opened his eyes, running through the hallways towards the source of the scream. It had taken her only a few short moments to find the cause of the commotion and she felt a chill run down her spine as she surveyed the scene. Leliana and Aedan on floor of their daughter's room. Leliana crying into Aedan's shoulders. The window to the room left wide open. Ember's bed: empty.

Isabela felt her breath catch in her chest and she turned on her heel and began running towards her son's room. She had never prayed in her life, but now she was sending up prayers to whoever or whatever would listen that she wold find her son safe in his room. She did not bother with tact and barged into her son's room, making the door shake on its hinges. She surveyed the scene and felt as if she had walked into a nightmare.

The scene was similar to that of the one she had just left; window left wide open, empty bed, occupant of the room missing. A small spot on her son's bed caught her eye and she came closer to investigate further. She felt the color drain from her face as she realized that it was blood. She fell to her knees in front of her son's bed and gripped the sheets in her hands.

She had not cried since she was a small child, but now her eyes were stinging and tears were freely flowing down her face. The greatest treasure she had ever acquired had been taken from her and she was helpless to stop it. The last five years of her life floated through her mind in a blur, one bittersweet memory floating into the next in the sea of emotion that even she could not master.

She distinctly remembered the moment she had discovered she was pregnant, and it was harder to tell who was more horrified at the idea; her or Hawke. It was the first time that she had ever seen Hawke speechless, and had she not been in a similar state of shock, she would have found the expression on his face comical.

"Pregnant?" He squeaked out.

"Pregnant." She said in a voice slightly above a whisper.

"As in there's a child, inside you?"

"Do you know of another use of the word?" She snapped.

Hawke stood up straight an adopted an air of arrogance "How do you know it's m-"

"Hawke!"

That infuriating smile that Isabela both loathed and adored came across his face and she was suddenly wondering if the horror she had first experienced was just a momentary lapse in judgement. But who was she kidding? She was not fit to be a mother! Her motherly instincts were buried somewhere in Antiva with the royal jewels she had stolen when she was seventeen. She had no reference point as to how a mother was supposed to act in front of her child, so how could she be expected to keep her child alive for more than a day? There was no way, none, that this was going to work out.

Hawke approached her and apprehensively placed his hand on her stomach, which thankfully for the moment remained flat.

"Am I really going to be a father?" He asked. His voice was heavy with something Isabela had never heard form him before; fear.

Something stirred in Isabela; something she couldn't quite identify. She felt an overwhelming amount of love for her unborn child, and towards the man who had put it there. The two had an unspoken agreement that they never spoke their feelings out loud, it was enough for the both of them that they remained in each others company and each were content to leave things at that. But now Isabela looked at Hawke and what she felt could not be put into any other words. She placed her hand over his and gave him a small smile.

"Yes, Hawke. You're going to be a father."

Her pregnancy had not been easy and during labor it was clear that their child had inherited Hawke's unusually large head, but once she had held their son in her arms for the first time, she knew that she had made the right decision and there was nothing in this world that would be able to take her son away from her. They had appropriately named their new born son Raedar, and he had lived up to his name. He was constantly stealing cookies from the kitchen, or jewelry from some of the more wealthy visitors to Skyhold. But it was hard to discipline a child who gave the stolen cookies to a young child of a soldier who was recently killed in combat, or presented the lonely old widow with a string of pearls. With his mother's knack for adventure and trouble and his father's generous spirit, the result was a child who was both a delight and a strain on his parents.

"I swear, he is proving to be your child more and more everyday." Isabela scoffed one day after once again giving their son a lecture on the consequences of stealing from one of the Montilyet sisters.

"Oh, now he's my son." Hawke shot back. "But when he is being adorable he is your son."

"Where do you think he gets these wild ideas of 'steal from the rich, give to the poor'? Even a blind nug could see that has your influence written all over it."

"My influence? Who was a self proclaimed pirate queen before she was tamed by the devilishly handsome Champion of Kirkwall?"

"Tamed is it? Meet me in the sparring ring and well see who still possess control of their...daggers."

Anyone who was not familiar with these two souls would be shocked that such a pairing could have survived for so long. But anyone who knew them knew that they were perfect for each other and while they rarely (if ever) spoke their true feelings out loud, their constant bickering was just their way of showing affection. It said that the other person was fighting with, and more importantly fighting for.

But all of the fight seemed to have left Isabela for the moment, and as she sat in her son's room in the dark, she wondered what her younger self would say to her if she could see her now.

"You call yourself a pirate? What pirate sits and lets others steal from her? You managed to acquire the best treasure that you could ever imagine and you sit here and mourn like an old widow while someone runs away with what is rightfully yours. Grab a drink, grab a sword and go find the bastards that dared to steal from you."

Hawke entered the room and paused at the door frame. Isabela didn't look up, she was barely keeping it together as it was and she could not handle to see the normally carefree Hawke with such a dead, empty look in his normally bright eyes.

"They've done a sweep of the entire castle." Hawke said, his voice heavy. "There's no trace of the children or any clues as to who might have done this."

Isabela gave a stiff nod but remained silent. She had expected as much.

Hawke crossed the room and knelt down in front of Isabela. "Cullen is issuing a full scale investigation. Everyone is to be interrogated; soldiers, maids, even the gardeners."

"An investigation? My son is missing and the only solution being brought to light is a bloody investigation?"

Isabela felt something inside her snap. She rose to her feet and crossed the room without a word to Hawke. She stormed down the hallway to their quarters and ripped open the doors to the wardrobe so violently that she was sure they would rip off the hinges. She rummaged around her belongings, throwing things out of the way to get to what she needed. She sighed in frustration as she failed to find what she was looking for and turned around only to find Hawke standing there with her two prized daggers held out in front of him. The hilts were made of solid gold and were made to fit Isabela specifically by a master in Kirkwall, and the blades were made of the strongest viridium that even dwarven blacksmiths would be pleased with.

"Looking for these?"

Isabela found herself both incredulous and grateful that this man once again proved that he knew her too well. She reached her hand out and took the daggers, feeling more at peace as she felt the weight in her hands. She twirled them around in her hands, proving that she was still a deadly force when she needed to be. And right now, she needed to be.

"The others are prepared to leave and day break." Hawke said as he lifted his own greatsword and rested the heavy blade on his shoulders.

Isabela raised her eyebrows. "Others? What about the fruitless investigation that Cullen is planning to waste his time on?"

A shadow of a smile crossed Hawke's mouth but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "I said that was Cullen's idea. I did not say everyone was supportive. Not everyone was content to sit by and do nothing."

"Least of all me." Josephine entered the room, her hand resting on her ever growing stomach. "I will not sit by while our children were taken from us in our own home. As soon as a call for action was announced I was the first one to suggest we take matters into our own hands."

"You?" Asked Isabela. "The queen of tact and diplomacy and lady 'the pen is mightier than the sword'?"

"Diplomacy will not bring my daughter back."

"Nor mine." Leliana said as she entered the room to join them.

"This was not a random act." Josephine said grimly. "Someone targeted our children specifically to get our attention. Who that is remains to be seen, but that is a matter for another time."

"The only thing that matters right now is finding them and bringing them home." Leliana chimed in. "Once we have done that then we can deal with whoever has done this. And Maker help me, I will return from the void itself to see them pay."

"We leave at daybreak." Hawke repeated. "Josephine will stay and assist Cullen with the investigation."

"I will also call upon those who owe us numerous favors and ask for their assistance in this matter. If nothing else we can at least have eyes and ears open in different parts of Thedas and hopefully that will bear fruit."

A loud commotion could be heard from the main hall and hurried footsteps echoed in the hall. Cullen burst into the room and his eyes rested on Leliana.

"You will need to see this."