Author's Note: I'm posting the next group of chapters (11 - 14) quickly as I am trying to ensure that if a reader jointly reads my story along with SnowHelm's 'Revelations' that is a smooth progress. Please, read, enjoy and review! A special thanks for everyone who is following this story.
Sunshine was really happy to be eating food again. She missed that, and was surprised that she actually seemed bigger than before. She'd have to figure that out at some point, right now there was a breakfast that needed to be consumed. She sighed happily over the food, glad that there wasn't anything disgusting like congealed blood at the table. As everyone was settling into their food she realized that she was on her third helping of the potatoes, huh.
"Sunshine, I waited long enough. Tell us why you didn't come to the Palace and stay with Fergus." Duncan was still very grumbly over this and further irritated at Sunshine's shrug.
"Well I did try to go -"
"At what time?" Fergus asked.
"Hmm, probably mid-afternoon, does that sound right guys?" She asked of Del and Zen.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
This caught up with everyone else, "What!" Grace shouted first. "I watched you leave right after breakfast."
"True. Back to the Alienage, I ended up -"
"Sunshine! Where were you before, why didn't you head straight to the Palace?" Duncan bellowed out.
"Oh, I just was out and about," she gestured vaguely. She finished another few bites of food. Grace, Fergus and Duncan thought she would elaborate, they were disappointed.
"Okay, so back to my story. I came upon -"
"No, tell us. You caused all of us four months of worry, tears and doubt. I will know what you were doing."
"I, uh, decided to go to the Chantry to pray?"
There was silence at this. A very loud silence. "Right," Duncan said, face hardening. "You just happened to decide to go to the Denerim Chantry, and send a prayer up to the Maker, did you?"
"Is that really a question, or just a snarky comment in question form? Look, I went to the Chantry, scoped it out, then headed to the Palace."
"For what exactly were you 'scoping' it for?" Fergus asked. The night before her wedding finally caught up with Grace.
"You didn't," Grace said.
"Didn't what?" Duncan and Fergus asked.
"Er, well, do you want to know about the Alienage or not? It's a much better topic of conversation than the Chantry is." Sunshine asked hopefully.
"Sunshine, please explain why my daughter looks like she's seen a ghost."
Del and Zen were fascinated, the only thing they knew about the Chantry during the battle is that shortly after the battle was finished Mother Lucia and two Templars had been found dead. They were now wondering if the death of Mother Lucia were tied to Sunshine. Del hoped so, that woman was bitch and deserved to die, it would be fitting for it to be at Sunshine's hands.
"Uh, the Chantry is a spooky place? Okay, now stop interrupting me you guys. The Chantry had nothing to do with my injuries and so is irrelevant. And before you bellyache anymore it wouldn't have changed the fact that I would have ended up in the Alienage, I think. Anywho, as I was saying -"
"Please, Sunshine, please, tell me you didn't risk yourself for me," Grace looked at her.
"Yeah, don't worry puss, there was never any risk, what so ever, to me, that is."
Fergus and Duncan exchanged a glance. Duncan began to sweat as pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Oh, sweet Maker, Sunshine didn't do what he thought she did, please. Fergus was convinced that she did exactly that but was debating on whether or not to confront her on it. If the words were said out loud, what would happen? He decided that they should all go with it for now, he may need to have a very private conversation with Sunshine, soon.
"Let's just move on to the Alienage, I'm sure Sunshine was just seeking some quietude before the battle," Fergus finally said. Smiling warmly at the relieved smile Grace gave him. Sunshine noticed that, and peeked with her magic. She laughed to herself at the sexual energy that pulsed between the two, with a lot on Fergus' side, poor guy.
"Okay, so I got to an entrance to the Palace that I believe was designed for a way for the Elves to enter, unobtrusively, from the Alienage. Del and Zen you have to stop me if I get any piece of this wrong. That's where I met our dear Zen and Del, the guard there was getting ready to rough them up, when I got there."
"A Palace guard...who?" Fergus asked.
"Yeah, he wasn't a real forthcoming guy with that, but an uglier bastard you've never seen. Rough black hair and teeth that wave at you when he smiles. The guy could eat an apple through a keyhole. He ended up punching me, so I punched him back. Hmmm, now that I think about it, I probably broke his jaw, he may have an even uglier smile now. They wouldn't let us into the Palace, well, I punched him after that."
Fergus, Duncan and Grace were getting rather upset. All this because of some dimwitted guard. Fergus resolved to clean up his Palace guard and was going to find this guy. He motioned for Sunshine to continue.
"So we got back to the Alienage and set up a barricade in the back, put those unable to fight in the most secure location possible, grabbed anything we could use to kill the Darkspawn and did our best to hit them at range." She paused.
"And then the Archdemon died, I got a little crazy, ran into the Darkspawn, killed a lot of 'em, ran out of ammo, ended up in a fist fight with an Ogre, Del got him with Big Bertha, and here I am."
Silence. Sunshine took this opportunity to eat more food. Grace finally realizing the sheer volume Sunshine had consumed and remembered that she had yet to have a particular conversation with her.
"That's all you're going to say?" Duncan felt like he would have more success getting blood from a turnip.
"What more can I say? It's not like I'm going to be able to say, 'yeah, you remember that really, really ugly one? No the other really ugly one, yeah that one. Remember when he went splat! That's the last time he gets in my way.' Something tells me that would not be a winning line of conversation. Now if you want to know what it was like while I was unconscious...that was hell, or the Void, what ever it is that you young kids are calling it these days."
"And then it becomes a joke."
"Of course, otherwise the shit just gets depressing and I would wallow in misery. More importantly, Fergus, the Alienage is stock full of fabulous people living in squalor who have little protection. They are incredibly vulnerable because they don't have any recourse for justice. Do I think that there is some miracle cure you put in the city's water supply to change the racism? No. But do I think that change needs to come? Absolutely. And you know what? I'll help."
"Uh, thank you?" Was Fergus' reply.
"I would say 'you're welcome' but I know a question when I hear one. Don't worry, the guns will stay stowed away. I'm thinking more of helping on a practical level, but perhaps a conversation for later? I think, if you guys really want the low down, you should let Del and Zen regale you." Fergus and Duncan were delighted to hear the story told from a more enthusiastic storyteller than Sunshine appeared to be. It also helped give more insight into the reasons why Sunshine chose particular actions, which was a relief to Duncan. She really only did what she thought was best during the heat of battle. The group was so involved in their conversation that they didn't notice when Grace pulled Sunshine out of the room.
As conversation was beginning to wind down Duncan noticed that Sunshine was missing, along with his daughter. He wanted to give them time to catch up but really wanted to see Sunshine too. It was like having her out of his eyesight for too long was going to make her disappear, he figured that the feeling would begin to fade sometime in the next Age. He walked toward their room and heard muffled voices coming from within. He opened the door and hurried over to them when he saw that Sunshine had been crying. The next couple of minutes were an indistinct blur, Grace becoming a sister, thereby making Sunshine pregnant, something about him being a father, Sunshine pregnant...
Sunshine watched with some humor as Duncan processed the information. It seemed that no matter how old the man, a surprise pregnancy always seemed to cause the same reaction. She smiled as his face lit up and he gently kissed her. She was holding him in her arms, murmuring more sweet nothings. He gently lifted up her shirt and placed a kiss on her belly, really noticing its size. "I love you, Sunshine. I can't believe we've made a baby together."
She laughed, "lover, you missed something key." At Duncan's questioning look she said, "we made two babies." Duncan blinked.
"Twins?" Sunshine nodded. "Twins? I...I'm going to be the father of three?"
"Yes."
"Maker, save me!" He leaned up and kissed his love, "I've never really been happier." Or more frightened, but he had enough sense to know better than to say that outloud. They moved to lay on the bed together. They were content to just lay there for awhile, quiet within their own thoughts. Duncan was pretty absorbed so it was with a start that he noticed Sunshine crying. "Love, what's wrong?"
"I just never thought...that I would have my own babies again. And that they will be your babies...I was so afraid when Grace told me I was pregnant that I had been...impregnated while unconscious." Duncan gasped, and held Sunshine closer to him, the thought that someone would have done something like that. He kissed her deeply.
"They're mine!" Duncan all but growled.
"Yes, love, Grace assured me that they had, as she put, 'your unique energy signature'. I'm just crying in joy and relief. I'm so happy." They were quiet for a bit. "You don't do things by halves, do you? Twins, hah! Say, Duncan, do you want to know what gender they are? Or should we just be surprised?"
"That's possible?" At Sunshine's nod, "hmmm, let me think about that."
"I have something else I should tell you." Sunshine struggled to find the right words, "first, let me ask you something...tell me about you and Flemeth, please?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Honestly, I would prefer it if you just cut off my hands and feet and told me to crawl through a desert. I'm pretty sure though, that it will help me understand some things more and help you understand some other things."
"Gruesome and vague, you really have a talent, my love." Duncan collected his thoughts and thought about the great misadventure of his youth. "I hadn't been a Warden for terribly long when I met Flemeth. A group of us were scouting in the Kocari Wilds for Darkspawn and were hit hard by a group of them. We were outmatched. My brothers were dead and I was nearly so, from what Flemeth told me. When I came too I was surprised to find myself face to face with the woman of my fantasies, more or less." Duncan felt Sunshine stiffen at that bit and he took a moment to look at her, letting his eyes show the truth of his next words, "Lover, it was three and twenty years ago. My fantasies of women were very immature, and if she tried that ploy now she would have to look like you." He took a moment to reaffirm his words with a kiss.
"As I've since realized, Flemeth used her magic to appear in a way that I would find most appealing. She presented herself as an apostate, avoiding the Chantry by living in the Wilds. Her magic felt so rich, and she used it expertly. In retrospect, I didn't realize that I didn't actually have the greatest sexual experience with her. She mainly used her magic to enhance the pleasure and bring me to release rather quickly. Being so inexperienced myself I had no idea that I wasn't such a fantastic lover." He felt Sunshine laugh against his chest at that.
Oh, no need to reinforce my words with laughter!"
Sunshine laughed harder at that, "Duncan, you are a superlative lover. Trust me, I'm just glad that I don't have to use magic to pleasure you and get me pregnant."
Duncan smiled, "no, you don't."
"As I was saying, I was deeply infatuated with her. She made me feel very manly and I thought she loved me too. Oh, before you get upset my strangely insecure lover, I realized that it was infatuation on my part, and not actual love. After a couple of months, I could tell she was getting frustrated with something, and one night she slipped out and when she came back she had this deep, magical glow to her. I was so entranced.
I think it was the one moment that I have no regrets about, and wish she had just not bothered with all the other nonsense and just performed her rite. It's what made her pregnant, and brought me Grace. I guess that actually makes it all worth it. She kept me around during the pregnancy, I suppose in case something went wrong and she needed me to impregnate her again. For my part I began to understand that I was no longer very important to her, but she continued to pleasure me, sexually, and tell me the right things so that my naivety would keep me around. I was also delighted that I would have a family of my own and was looking forward to holding and raising a baby.
It was just the two of us when she went into labor. I was able to help birth Grace. It was amazing. She was so beautiful, and I loved both her and Flemeth so much right then. It was the only time that I would get to hold her and care for her. Shortly thereafter Flemeth sent me out to hunt for fresh meat. I didn't want to leave them, but she insisted it was necessary for herself and Grace. When I came back the place looked wrecked and Grace was gone. Flemeth told me that they had been found by Templars and that Grace had perished. It destroyed me. I broke down.
It was at that moment when I realized that I was nothing to Flemeth. She looked at me with such pity, disdain and I think hatred and sent me away. I left knowing that I had spent a year being made a fool. It didn't extinguish my pain, it just made me harden my resolve."
Duncan grew quiet and when Sunshine looked at his face she saw the silent tears coursing down his cheeks. She kissed him, meaning for it to be brief and sweet but he clung to her instead. "Make me yours, Sunshine." And so she did, slowly and surely.
Later, as Duncan was pressing kisses on her belly, Sunshine asked, "so did you know that she was the Flemeth?" He sighed.
"No, I knew the myth but thought it was an affectation that she employed."
"How about the Wardens? They didn't come looking for you?"
"It was meant to be a prolonged assignment, and so I continued to send reports back, hiding the deaths of my brothers. At the time I didn't want to be found, I just wanted to stay there with Flemeth. I probably wouldn't have bothered with reports but Flemeth insisted. After I left I returned and told them that our brothers had fallen. I didn't inform them when it had happened and let them believe that it was shortly before returning. Not my best moment, especially when they made me a hero for my contrived actions. I was promoted. Not to Commander, but I was on my way. I vowed that I would make myself worthy of the Wardens." Duncan began to laugh.
"What?"
"I just remembered that I also promised myself not to fall for another beautiful witch, and it seems that I have."
Sunshine groaned, "oh, and there's the other shoe."
"Huh?"
"Well now, I promise that I have not altered my looks in any magical way. What you see, is what you get, with that. But, uh, there is a big thing I should probably tell you. So I was born completely and mundanely human. No magic, no fancy witchiness to me. It's not like here, I didn't just have my magic develop in me. When I traveled I hooked up with a clan of Dragons. This clan is pretty special as far as Dragons go because they are completely of the Wild Magic. We're called 'Sun Clan' or 'Sun Dragons', and yes the name comes from all that. When I became a member I was given my second form, that of a Sun Dragon."
They both grew quiet while Duncan chewed on this. He finally said, "so if I understand what you're saying, you are a Dragon, like Flemeth?" Before Sunshine could answer, "does this make you a god too?"
Sunshine yelped in protest. "I will have you know that I am nothing like that twisted, evil excuse of a Dragon. And those fucks are not gods, they're just people with a crap load of power! I don't know what Clan they are from and I don't know how they ended up here, in Thedas, but I'll be damned before I'm worshiped as a god! They should be ashamed of themselves. If I had my way, I'd execute them for letting themselves get so tainted and then I'd -"
"Enough, I get the point. And trust me, I know you're nothing like Flemeth. Although, I must have a thing for Dragons." Duncan began laughing. Sunshine 'harumphed', causing him to laugh harder. After he subsided, "are they really not gods?"
"Well I'm pedantic about the whole 'god' thing, as I'm a monotheist. Although it seems to be a trait of the Arcane people, like Flemeth, to pass themselves off as gods. We Wild folk seem to shy from that, it seems to fuck us up if we do. It's like it distorts who you are, and it can make people who have both Wild and Arcane, go fully Arcane. Probably what happened with this particular Clan of dragons."
"So they didn't start off as evil?"
"Well I'm not sure how we'd measure that. But no dragon is born sociopathic, so if they go to 'bad' it's because of allowing themselves to get corrupt."
Duncan mulled this over for awhile, and decided that he had enough Flemeth in his mind. "So, when do I get to see you as a Dragon," he teased.
"Hah! If you're lucky, not for a very long time. It would mess with things right now so I'll only change if absolutely necessary. But here, I can have you look into me and you can see her."
Duncan was astonished as Sunshine pulled him into an extraordinary land. When he looked around, there was sunshine and beauty everywhere. He looked toward Sunshine and was surprised to see a Dragon in her place. She was gorgeous. She looked so different from the Archdemon. She was long, lean and her scales were comprised of many different varieties of yellow, orange and red, with some blue shot through. He reached to touch her and felt her warmth and that feeling that was distinctly his Sunshine. She blinked at him and warmly nuzzled his body with her massive head. He held her back tightly, closed his eyes and sank himself into her warmth.
When he opened his eyes they were back in their room and Sunshine's arms were around him. "She is so beautiful, you're so beautiful," he breathed in her scent. "I love you so much, nothing I've ever felt before, with a lover, compares. You were meant for me."
They kissed then and were interrupted by an insistent knocking at the door and Del's voice. "Come on, enough gooey time, open up!" They both laughed and quickly put on clothes. Duncan noticed that she grabbed one of his tunics and put in on with some loose pants, he smiled smugly. When Sunshine opened the door she was tackled by Del and Zen.
"Yay! You're pregnant! We're going to have much fun with another set of twins." Del enthused as her and Sunshine were embracing. Sunshine missed the 'you better take care of her or I'll kill you' look she was passing to Duncan. Duncan just grinned, too happy all over again with Sunshine's pregnancy to care overmuch.
Sunshine noticed Zen looking sad, "Zen, honey, what's wrong?"
"Now that you have your own babies, you won't need us to stay." He replied.
"What? Horse feathers! Of course I need you two. Don't think this gets you out of a formal adoption by myself and Duncan, young man." Zen looked unsure, Del rolled her eyes at him.
"Zen," Del complained, "I told you to lay off the moping. There is no way two newborns could take the place of us." Sunshine laughed.
"She's right, you two are irreplaceable. In fact, let's head to wherever we have to go to formally make you our own."
Mid-afternoon:
Sunshine was a determined woman. Duncan realized that he had absolutely no say in this venture and decided that arguing would result in two things: a) the twins being even more distrustful of him, and b) Sunshine still getting her way. He knew that a wise Commander picks his own battles, when he can, and so graciously capitulated to the out maneuvering that had occurred. After a much dismayed Chantry recorder made the official notice, they headed about the Market District, buying new clothes and weapons for their new children. Sunshine also picked out some gifts for Aurora, Alistair and Grace, being delighted at being a Grandma.
"You do realize that you're not actually a grandmother?" Duncan told her as she was weighing him down with gifts.
"Pish-posh to that, Duncan. Of course I am, and you're a grandfather. I expect to see all that grandfatherly care you have in you when we're around her." Sunshine paused, cooing ridiculously over a frothy lace dress for an infant girl. "That poor girl is going to have a heck of a time in life. There is no way that she is going to be ignorant of her origins. The best we can do is ensure that she never feels like a second rate addition to the family. It has to be more than just Grace and Alistair."
Duncan was sure that he had never been so in love with someone and so ashamed by his own actions regarding Aurora. Not that he had been bad, but he hadn't gone out of his way to treat her like his own grandchild. That would change, he vowed to himself. He would let Aurora know that she was fully a part of his ragtag family. He realized, and stopped short as it hit him, that he was the head of this family. It was time he started to helm it appropriately. He applied himself with picking out a little doll for Aurora, he agonized over his selection, and was satisfied with one that seemed to look the most like her. Sunshine smiled to herself, that's the man she loved.
After being fully outfitted with more clothes than they could possibly need, more gifts than a baby girl could feasibly handle and more love than any of them thought possible, they headed back to the Palace for dinner.
Dinner:
Fergus was tied up in a court dinner and so it was just the family, as Sunshine put it, in a small, private dining room for supper. Grace seemed subdued until Del and Zen showed up in their new clothes. Grace leaned in to whisper to Sunshine, "I wonder how many hearts those two are going to break?"
"Oooh, I know. They don't even realize how lovely they are." Both women laughed. Inwardly envisioning Loren and Lynais' reaction to the additional Elves. Del was going to floor them. Grace smiled even broader as she realized how similar Del was to Sunshine in personality, just less experienced. Grace felt a twinge of envy at the ease in which Sunshine entered into relationships. She never second guessed people and their motives for being her companion. She spent the majority of her acquaintance with Del and Zen unconscious and when she's awoken wastes no time in adopting them. There had to be a word for someone like Sunshine, Grace just hadn't put her finger on it yet.
Sunshine noticed that Grace was less chatty than usual and so she ran to her room and brought back all the gifts they had bought. As they ate she began to carefully remove Grace's blue mood with all the lovely items. Sunshine showed her blankets, toys, baby essentials - although she railed at the lack of modernity in them - for both Aurora and the unborn baby. Duncan shyly showed Grace his present for Aurora and was gladdened that he was rewarded with a spontaneous hug.
"She'll love it father, thank you!"
"Oh, well," Duncan started, embarrassed, "it's just a little trinket for my granddaughter." He was flushed as he said it.
Grace looked up surprised, as that was the first time he had ever referred to Aurora as his granddaughter. The moment was precious. "I can't think of anything a little girl could want more than to be doted on by such a wonderful grandfather."
Sunshine was ridiculously proud of herself and took the time to eat as much as possible as Del told them all about how she would run around on the rooftops at night and how she slipped on the shoddy roofing of the Gnawed Noble once and received the scar on her cheek and eyebrow. Duncan took a moment to appreciate the fact that he was cursed with reckless women, he was rather grateful that Zen seemed to be less inclined to mischief. A thought occurred to him:
"Sunshine! We have to find out what we're having! Now!"
Sunshine looked up, with a mouthful of food, surprised. She carefully swallowed before giving him a perplexed look, "why?"
"Please, I just need to know."
"Okay, gimme a sec while I -"
"A boy and a girl," Grace blurted out.
"Hey! You peeked!" Sunshine smiled all the same. "There ya go, honey. A matched set like our Zen and Del. Why the anxiety?"
Duncan took a deep breath, at least it was only one girl, he thought. "I was worried..."
He took another deep breath, for good measure and rushed out, "I was afraid it was two girls and that would be the end of me." This caused everyone but the males to laugh, Zen just looked at him in sympathy. Duncan looked down at his plate, what a mess.
"Yes," a rich baritone came from the door, "daughters are a trial. Especially when they run off without a note, refuse to come home, and get themselves pregnant out of wedlock." Everyone stared at the speaker in surprise, aside from Sunshine who was catapulting herself into his arms.
"Da!" She cried as he lifted her up and twirled her around as if she was a young girl. "When did you get here?" Duncan was relieved at the fact that it must be Sunshine's father, as the man was very handsome, and had a presence that was enthralling and frightening. And then he was concerned because of those things, and the fact that Sunshine was his unmarried pregnant daughter.
Sunshine pulled her father to the table, "Da, this is my wonderful family. This is Duncan, Commander of the Grey Wardens and keeper of my heart, this is Grace our daughter, and Zen and Del, our twins." Grace was unsurprised at the introduction but she noted that Zen and Del preened. "Everyone, this is my father, Robin Goodfellow. Come join us."
Robin sat down amongst his newly acquired family and gave warm looks to everyone but Duncan and Sunshine. Sunshine was impervious, Duncan not so much. Grace was thinking about the familiarity of his name, it took a minute, but recognition came.
"The Robin Goodfellow," Grace asked. Robin grinned.
"At your service."
Duncan was surprised at this, "you know him?"
"Uh, of him, might be a better way to put it. He makes Flemeth look like a footnote as far as mythical proportions go." That made both Sunshine and Robin laugh.
"Yeah, good 'ol Puck," Sunshine kept laughing. Grace tried to cover her dismay.
"Oh," Robin said, "it gets better. Have any of you ever heard of the legend of 'The Trickster'?"
Oh, dear Maker, he surely doesn't mean to imply...but than again this is Sunshine, he probably does.
"Isn't he some sort of Fairy," Zen asked.
Robin smiled broadly, "why yes he is, young Zen."
"No way," Del said. "I don't buy it, the Fairies are a long ago myth."
This caused an amused glance between Robin and his daughter. "Del, I am a Fairy."
Del rolled her eyes, "that would make Sunshine a fairy, and fairies don't use metal."
"Now the metal thing is a myth," Sunshine added. Del looked at her, and then really looked at her.
"You're a fairy?"
"No, I'm just me. He adopted me in an extremely boring formal ceremony that is apparently excessively binding. Not that I'm complaining about anything but the length." Sunshine scowled remembering the week long affair she had not been warned about. "Did I mention it was boring?"
Sunshine turned a look to her father, "so dear Da, to what do I owe the pleasure of your unannounced arrival?"
"Cheftziba if you hadn't flung yourself headlong into battle with a giant, muscular thing you would have clearly been aware of the moment I arrived. It was your calling I answered."
Sunshine shook her head slightly, 'Don't even think about bringing up the Rite', she thought at him.
'Ah, keeping secrets,' he replied to her.
Sunshine rolled her eyes, "So you've been here for four months and just let my body languish while my spirit was fighting an all out war with a nexus storm, lovely."
"Not entirely, my dear. I did make it so your lover and his daughter sustained you." Without removing his eyes from Sunshine's, he said, "so, Grace are your symptoms better now that you're not carrying the hormones for three children? And Duncan has your appetite returned to normal? Zen and Del, still afraid of Templars?"
"You know most really powerful fathers would just heal their daughters and pull them from the nexus, but not you, oh no, of course not."
"Would you rather I let you doubt Duncan and Grace's love for you?
Grace and Duncan were fascinated by the exchange, what did he mean by the last part, Grace wondered. Duncan was slightly relieved to know that there was another man to share his burden with and who could empathize. He doubted that he was going to have an easy time...oh, and he just remembered, he hadn't married Sunshine. Well, this was apparently his just desserts.
Sunshine sighed, "I guess not, but what a rough ride. Grace how awful were your symptoms?"
"Ghastly."
"I'm sorry for that."
"Well it will reassure everyone to know that it was only possible because they love you too. Now if you'll excuse me and your lover, we need to have a private chat." The way he kept twisting the word lover had everyone concerned, including Sunshine.
"Hey, I wasn't exactly some virginal miss, you know."
"I'll try and keep that in mind." Robin stood up and gestured for Duncan to follow him, navigating him easily to Duncan and Sunshine's quarters. Duncan grimaced when he realized how clearly this space was theirs.
Sunshine watched the two men leave the room with an expression of bemusement and hoped that Duncan would be okay. She turned to the table, "Del and Zen? Do you mind if I grab your sister and have a chat? I think we need to catch up, and perhaps I need to answer some questions for her." The twins nodded and Sunshine went with Grace to her quarters.
Grace and Sunshine:
"So," Grace started, "you care to fill me in on everything?"
Sunshine caught herself before she sighed out loud, that was getting to be a very troublesome habit for her. "Uh, you want to give me a starting point, sweetie?"
"Oh, sure. How about we start with your father." Grace just waited, she hoped that Sunshine was internally squirming.
"Like I mentioned he adopted me in a very long, dull ceremony. I actually didn't get a say in it, really. Like these guys are so powerful that what I wanted wasn't taken into consideration. I couldn't have even fathomed what I wanted, and so it was probably for the best. I found out later that it was a toss up between Cthulhu and Goodfellow. I'm not sure what I would have chosen if given the opportunity, but I'm pretty sure it would still be Robin. I was already part of the Sun Dragon clan at that point and -"
"Wait, what about the Sun Dragons? What are they?"
Sunshine frowned, "didn't I tell you? I'm a Sun Dragon. I wasn't born into it like you were, I became one when I joined their Clan. We're the only Wild Dragons. All the rest either have a blending of some variety, like you, or are fairly Arcane. Are you sure I didn't tell you? Huh, strange. Well it's why you probably feel a resonant energy in me.
Okay, so I was just fresh with being imbued with a ridiculous amount of energy and given a second form when I was told I had to attend some ceremony. Apparently if you travel and you join a group, there is some crazy formality that goes down. I'm told the Arcanists dreamed it up, no surprise there. That's when I got adopted, very seriously, by Goodfellow and given a role. I assure you he is most definitely my father now. I had to spend a ridiculous amount of time having that bond actualized. I don't regret it. Next."
Grace tried digesting this all at once. What was she really talking about? They say that the Fey speak in riddles, what they failed to mention is that they sound nothing like riddles. Okay, Grace thought, she was trying to rush me through so I would ignore certain details. Aha! Sunshine I am on to you.
"So, what role were you given?" Grace took satisfaction in the chagrin and Sunshine's face.
"Wild Huntress, next."
"What? You can't just drop that and move on. Details. Now."
"Okay, so if you're up on your Fairy Lore, which I wasn't as I'm Jewish and thought it was all a bunch of hoo-haw, you'll have perhaps heard of the Wild Hunt. I head the Hunt now, when I feel compelled to answer the call. Otherwise, I just send other people out."
Grace thought about that, "I thought it was headed by some male?"
"Not anymore. From what I understand it was a really quick conversation, what role should we give her? And he jumped up and said, 'mine'. I wasn't there for that one either. They like their unilateral decisions."
"Okay, so how about this calling he mentioned?"
"Oh, that. Nothing that interesting there, I performed a rite that called for the Wild Folk. I'm surprised that it was answered. He must be more aggravated about the whole Duncan thing than I thought."
"So you're telling me that you, for some unstated reason, called for Wild Folk and your father shows up, and that surprises you? What was it? A call for Fairy attendants to flock about you?" Grace decided that she had to beat Sunshine at the sarcasm game to get more definitive answers.
"No, but I should keep that one in mind. A flock of Fairy attendants, that sounds fabulous."
Grace glared. Sunshine blinked. Grace glared some more. Sunshine sighed, which was really starting to get on her own nerves. She never sighed this much!
"Fine. I performed a Rite called 'The Hand of the Hag' and invoked Wild Vengeance on Lucia and Sers Domanic and Crias."
Sunshine watched Grace crumple, and felt like a total heel. She embraced Grace. "Honey, honey. I'm not sure what you're worried about, but I know you are. Yes, I'm responsible for their deaths and I asked for anyone to take up the call and hunt a bunch of other people down. And you may have motivated it but it needed to be done. I want to make sure they can't hurt another person like they hurt you. Please don't be mad at me."
Grace squeezed her back, sobbing. "Oh, Sunshine, I went to the Chantry with Fergus. It was awful. I hate that place. We found a mage being raped by Templars. We were able to stop it, but it was so awful. The poor girl, her name is Kara."
Sunshine understood the importance of naming her. "You saved her, love. You made her safe, and took some rapists off the streets. You've given her a name. I'm just sorry that I didn't have time to decimate them all. I'm so sorry I let you down."
Grace gave one of those hysterical laughs where you're crying so hard and laughing so hard, but it's all rather unpleasant. "What if something happens to you? What if they find out you're responsible and kill you? My father would die, the rest of us would want to. Please, don't risk yourself, not for me."
"Grace, honestly, there was no risk. I'm really good at killing people, far better than I would like, in fact. There is nothing tracing it to me, and even if you went and blabbed it to the Divine Justina they couldn't hurt me. And they would probably just think you were crazy. The Hag protects her own. That includes you. All magic ones, born or otherwise, are her children. The Rite itself is what protects me."
"Promise?" Grace asked hopeful, she was so tired of people getting hurt or taking risks for her. She was so afraid that it would crash down on her and she would lose everything and everyone.
"I'll do ya one better, I'll pinky promise you." And they did.
Duncan and Robin Goodfellow:
"Ah, I see you've made yourself right at home with my daughter. Nicely done. Oh, look, isn't that her nightgown? Hmmm, you know she hates the word 'tunic'. Isn't it curious that I should find her in one that looked so misshapen on her you would hardly know she was a pregnant woman. And with twins at that. Is that why she was wearing it, you think? Because she was trying to hide the fact that she's pregnant out of wedlock? Or perhaps she was encouraged by you to wear it to show ownership, like a mistress? Perhaps your intentions are not very noble, Duncan."
Duncan had started out contrite but now he was angry, and it was that anger that propelled him to punch Goodfellow in the face. Or at least try. Robin seemed amused by Duncan's efforts, and easily stopped the assault.
"Sunshine is the light of my life, don't you ever insult her like that."
"Ah, you can serve it on a platter, but you can't tolerate the taste. She is my daughter. How well did you like knowing that Grace was carrying on, not only before marriage, but with multiple lovers. Oh, I can tell by your expression. Hated it. At least she got the honor of a wedding before being impregnated by her husband, I will graciously add."
"I didn't know I could get her pregnant." Duncan ground out.
"Oh, so you're telling me that she's just your side dish? But maybe now that she's pregnant you'll stick by her."
"Look, I love her. I have from the moment I laid eyes on her. Neither of us are youths, and we found love with each other. I wasn't sure if I would live, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to stay. I...I am sorry that I didn't think to ask for her hand in marriage."
Robin's face hardened, "you had intimate relations with her not twelve hours after meeting her. Do not think to convince me that you were planning on proposing then and it just slipped your mind in the heat of the moment?"
"No, I won't lie. It was the furthest thing on my mind. That isn't because I wanted a fling. It's because..."
"Feeling foolish, are we?"
"Yes."
"Great, well let me tell you how I see it. My daughter decided to find a world that could use her talents, and she flits off. Not unlike her, and as you pointed out, she is no maiden I need to place a chastity belt on. I then started feeling her pull away from me, not to destroy our bond, but to make a home with you. I knew the moment she conceived. I came as soon as she placed a call out for a Wild Hunt on Chantry criminals. What do I find but a my poor girl being torn apart because the man she loves, and who claims to love her, didn't marry her."
There was a very long and painful silence. Duncan filled with sadness.
"This could have been prevented if we had been married?" At Robin's nod, he said, "why didn't she tell me?"
"She didn't know. She would have known if she ever thought about the possibility of falling in love, but she didn't. And as we are both aware she is impetuous and really doesn't care for ceremonies. She witnessed one Fairy wedding and told me that she would never undergo a month long nightmare that was our Fairy wedding tradition. Probably scared her off from even inquiring."
"We need to have a month long ceremony?"
"No. That's just if you were getting married in our House. Sunshine would hate you for suggesting it, so don't. There, that's my olive branch. She really does love you, but you better propose to her soon, or else I'll be mighty unhappy."
"I give you my oath."
"Very well." Robin turned to leave. "One more thing," he said, over his shoulder, "she wouldn't have told you even if she had known. She would always worry that you would have felt compelled to marry her. She also won't ask you to marry her. If you feel like I'm coercing you then don't ask her to marry you. She'd be better off without a man who is false." He left at that.
Duncan felt very tired.