The Daughter of Tethras
Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age
A/N:
Chapter 10 (Cherished Memory)
"You killed a bear?" Varric spoke slowly and with a single rising eyebrow. Bianca and Sera glanced at each other and then back to him. It was a large bear too, and it didn't help that after killing it, a second one came running after them.
He crossed his arms and shook his head from side to side. "By yourselves, with Bianca's injuries still healing up?"
"I'm not that wounded," Bianca replied, "It's all healed up." She spread her arms out and shrugged. She had worse scrapes in her life, but as annoying as this was, she understood the concern. "We weren't in any real danger."
"That is true," Solas replied, "Mainly because I kept the passing mercenaries and outlaws from seeing the two of you out hunting." She sighed and turned to Sera. The blonde's glare darted towards Solas and her head began to turn red.
"Just because we're young doesn't mean we're easy targets," Sera exclaimed. Bianca held her breath, opting not to stir up anything by getting involved in Sera's anger. "You don't have to watch over us like we're a couple of kids, you're not our parents."
Bianca tilted her head and squinted her eyes. "Technically…" She appreciated the protectiveness. She didn't like being told that she should or should not have done something, but this was really the first time someone that could potentially have a right as a parental figure was taking concern over her.
Varric turned to Solas, his fingers tapped his forearm and his already narrow eyes looked to shut further. "And you were watching them. You let them fight two giant bears on their own and didn't intervene?"
"I wouldn't say they were giant," Solas chuckled.
"The size of the bear isn't important. Or it is, but still…"
Leliana walked around the corner. Her wrists were locked behind her back and her eyes were focused on Bianca. "They were in no danger." The four turned around and Bianca watched a subtle smile form across the spymaster's lips. "A few of Sera's arrows missed, though."
Sera gasped and pointed at the woman. "I know I didn't miss a shot, every shot hit those bears." Leliana closed her eyes and her lips twisted into a smirk.
"That's because every for each shot that you missed, I fired a shot into the bears." Bianca stifled a laugh while Sera groaned. "Don't worry about the girls so much, Varric. They're safe, they weren't in any danger, and they are quite capable of taking care of themselves if they have to."
"I know that." Varric swept his hands over the back of his neck and paced off to the right. "I just-what if something had happened? I should have been there. I was never there, I should have been." Bianca furrowed her brow and a sudden pang struck her chest. "I'm aware she doesn't need to be babysat, I just-agh…"
He rubbed his forehead and turned away from the group. "I need to think." He stopped a few feet away from them and turned his gaze over his shoulder. "By the way, I'm glad you two had a good time hunting, and you got some prime meat as well. So good hunting, something to be proud of."
Her heart lifted up and a bright grin stretched over her face. Varric was proud of her; though it was just a small thing to be proud of-getting bear and ram pelts-it still meant a great deal.
A soft hand touched her shoulder and she looked up to see Leliana smiling down at her. "Try not to take it too serious, he really is just concerned." Bianca walked over to a stone wall and sat on the top of it.
"I'm not worried. It's kind of nice, actually." She crossed her legs and leaned backwards. Her hands pressed down behind her, stabilizing her position. "So, you were out there. Sera and I talked about some personal stuff, you…didn't happen to hear anything private, did you?"
"Like what?"
Bianca hesitated and her expression fell flat. "Nice try." Leliana smirked and took a seat beside her.
"I heard your story about the Deep Roads." Her arms tensed and her head bowed. She was afraid Leliana might have heard that; she only meant for Sera to hear the tale. It likely didn't matter that Leliana knew of it, but it still could change how people saw her.
"Could you, maybe, not tell Varric about that?"
Leliana looked in the direction Varric left and chuckled. "No worries, your secret is safe with me." She did wonder why he was so concerned, but she wasn't curious enough to ask about it.
"I can't help but notice Bianca, you seem to like two handed weapons. Would that preference have anything to do with that group you encountered in the Deep Roads? Many carta seem preferential to daggers and arrows."
She straightened her back and brought her hands around to her lap. "To be honest, yeah." She tapped her left hand with her right and smiled as the memory of that red-haired dwarf and the noble hero that wound up finding her that day. "Big swords and axes, I really didn't start thinking anything of swords until then. They were beautiful, what those men had."
"I'll bet." The grin on Leliana's face was widening, much to Bianca's surprise. There was a glint of pride in the woman's gaze as well, which wasn't expected. At least not from a woman that normally appeared so stern and stoic.
"I don't know who that group of people were, and I was too young to think much of it besides 'I really want to go home'." She furrowed her brow and leaned her head back slowly. "A shock considering who I was going home to."
"I imagine."
She leaned herself forward and brought her hands down to the edge of the wall, clamping her fingers over the edge and pushing her hands into her legs. "Those people saved my life, and I never knew their names. I never thanked them, and I wish I could. They're my heroes, one way or another…and that's coming from someone like me."
"Someone like you?"
"To tell the truth?" Bianca glanced up to Leliana. Her lips sank into a frown, pulling back into her cheeks. "That time I was lost in the caves. Given my life, the shit I've gone through…that was probably the only time I think I wanted to live." Leliana's lips pursed and her hands folded over in her lap.
"It was?"
"I grew up with that family. The Cadash house…Amelia and Marcus were always abusive, always lashing out at me, there were times I wanted to die. Hell, the whole reason I was in the deep roads in the first place was because I wanted to get away from them." She paused for a breath and watched as the wind blew a stray leaf across the ground.
Leliana fell quiet as well. Her eyes slid out to the right, but her expression did not change from a calm, stoic one.
"I didn't want to die alone in a cave with a bunch of darkspawn, knowing nobody would ever find me-no one would ever know what happened to me." She spoke slow while trying to imagine what could have happened to her. "I can't have been the first kid to get lost in there, and I probably wouldn't have been the first to die…"
"That is true. You've certainly survived your share of near death experiences."
"Evidently."
"You know. In your tale, it sounds like you might have been rescued by the Hero of Ferelden when his group was returning from dealing with Branka." Bianca's eyebrows rose and her mouth opened into a circle.
She felt a rush of excitement and her cheeks turned a shade of red. "Really?" It was something difficult to believe, but if true, then it was amazing. "Oh, I'm almost certain it was, and I bet his group knows just how grateful you are they found you…"
"You said once that you knew them, so maybe…" Her eyes darted to the side and she pushed her hand along her neck, sighing heavily. "It's a little embarrassing to ask." Leliana smiled gently and raised her eyebrows. "Maybe you could just tell them about me? Tell them I said thanks for getting me out of there? I know so many people wouldn't have stopped, but the fact that they stopped for me."
"They may not have known you were there if it hadn't been for Oghren hearing you." She froze and her eyes shot back to Leliana. She never mentioned the name 'Oghren', primarily because she didn't know what the name was.
Still, since she had known them, it was likely she knew the names that she didn't. "Yeah. I know for them it was probably just another small event in the day, just another person they were helping, and after all this time they may not really care anymore…"
Leliana's head tilted to the right and the corners of her mouth dropped an inch. "Well, I wouldn't be so sure of that." The woman reached over and pat Bianca gently on the knee. "I'll be happy to pass the message on. I'm sure they'll love knowing where you are now and what you might accomplish in the future because of them."
She caught the twinkle in Leliana's eyes, further sparking her curiosity. "My life really wasn't that great after that either, but at least now that I'm here, maybe it'll get better."
"Oh they will, and I can assure you, I won't let anything bad happen either."
"You know, the Hero of Ferelden may have been part of that group that saved me, but the one man-the guy you said was Oghren? I think he's the real hero." She started to smile and wiped away a wistful tear in her eyes. "I mean, it is as you say. He was the one that stopped. He was the one that heard me running from the Darkspawn, and he was the one that called the group over. He's always been more the hero of that story than even as you say, the warden…"
"Oh. You know something? I think he would be overjoyed to hear that." Leliana let out an airy laugh and shook her head. "He always liked to joke or complain how David was the one everyone remembers and how he was the important one. I believe David would never hear the end of it if he knew just how important he was to that little girl he saved from the Deep Roads."
Bianca laughed and ran her hand across her moist eyes. These were only tears of joy, remembering something that was truly a fondly cherished memory. "I always remember that axe weapon he had, it was amazing the way it shimmered. It looked like crystal too, though I don't think it was."
"Faith's Edge." Bianca's lips pursed and her eyebrows slid together. Leliana turned her head forward and pat her hands on her knees. "If I remember, the axe Oghren had was called Faith's Edge."
Leliana closed her eyes and curled her fingers in. "'Blessed is her touch, blessed is her breath, blessed is her blood that runs through my heart and strengthens my mighty blow'. Those words were inscribed on that weapon. We always found it ironic that was the weapon he selected."
"So you knew him personally as well? I thought it was just the Hero of Ferelden that you knew personally. Well, him and the lady you were talking about before."
"I knew all of them. Even a woman that might have actually been related to one of the ancestors of your adoptive family." Bianca coughed and pat her chest with a closed hand.
"How exactly does that work?"
"Complicated." Leliana's eyelids fell halfway and her lips twisted into a thin line. "You grew up with one of the noble merchant families that lived out of Orzammar like Varric and his family does, so I don't know how much you know about your ancient paragons."
"Next to nothing, I suppose." She never paid that much attention to the paragons either. The history wasn't all that interesting to learn; she did learn what she could, but tuned out most.
"Right." Leliana took a deep breath and looked towards the sky. "Well Caradin was a smith paragon long ago that found a way to make the 'ultimate warrior', but it required turning people into golems. One of the first to volunteer was a dwarf by the name of Shayle, of House Cadash."
"Oh."
"These golems never died. She did manage to get frozen in one place as a statue for the longest time until we found her. After meeting with Caradin, we destroyed the anvil that would have allowed for more golems to be made…that's probably why you don't see them anymore."
"Kind of glad about that, actually." Her nose wrinkled up. She hopped off the stone wall and walked forward a few feet. She was mentally processing Leliana's words and her knowledge not only of the people in that group, but of the very weapon Oghren was wielding at the time.
The familiarity of the red haired woman that was in the group was beginning to be realized. Her heartbeat flickered and began to race as a nervous and excited sensation pulsed through her veins.
"Just a thought," Leliana stated with a plain tone. Bianca turned to her, smiling as the woman rose up. "You mentioned in your tale that a woman held you while the others fought off the darkspawn. What was she like? What was going through your mind in that time?" In the woman's eyes was that familiar gentleness she recalled from the woman in her memory.
She didn't want to assume, but if it was possible that Leliana had any deeper connection to that group, then it just might change her opinion on how close she wanted to be to this Inquisition.
"Closest thing to mother-like nurture I've ever felt at the time, Leliana." Leliana swayed back for a moment, breathing in through barely parted lips. The woman shut her eyes and curled up the corners of her mouth. "Like I said, if I could have ever had the chance to tell them how much I appreciated them in that time, I would have. So pass that on to them if you ever hear from them again."
So what's been running through your mind reading this? What do you think's going through Leliana's mind? Pride?