4. Children

Characters: Sir Therius, Cassandra Pentaghast, various mages in training/knights in training (all of them being kids), Yurick, Solas

Pairings: TheriusxCassandra

Summary: Cassandra and Therius just happen to be in the middle of training when a bunch of little mages and knights in training (children, really) ask them to duel each other. After spending time with the children, the white knight only has one thing to say to Cassandra about it. The Seeker is not very amused by this.


Cassandra struck down the third practice dummy in a row. Sir Therius was standing off to the side, observing her quietly. He'd arrived earlier to see how Cassandra was doing but had only stood and watched. Now he wished to speak with her.

"At this rate," The white knight spoke as Cassandra began to hack away at a fourth practice dummy, "We're going to need iron dummies to keep you occupied, Lady Seeker. You slash through wood faster than most."

Cassandra turned to him, sheathing her sword for the moment. "I take that as a compliment, Sir Therius. Thank you."

Therius nodded quietly. "You are welcome, Lady Seeker." He paused, before speaking. "I see that you are formidable at battle."

"You are as well, Sir Therius."

"Thank you." The white knight took a deep breath before speaking, his emerald eyes meeting her dark ones. "Lady Seeker, perhaps you would like to duel with me as practice?"

Cassandra seemed to grin slightly at that. "I don't see why not."

Therius and Cassandra had grown quickly to respect each other after first meeting each other. They were both skilled at the sword, but both had their short tempers and did get into one or two fights. Other than that, though, they had the respect for each other. Other people thought that she secretly had some rivalry (which made sense considering that they had gotten into fights before) when it came to fighting with the sword, and there were even rumours that the two were closer than just mere friends.

Before they could even fight, only just taking out their swords, a little crowd of children came along, chatting amongst themselves and pointing at Cassandra and Therius.

"Hey, it's Sir Therius!"

"Who is the lady with him?"

"Her name is Cassandra! I remember hearing the other knights talk about her!"

"Oh yeah, Seeker Cassandra!"

"They're both so cool, Therius and Cassanrda..."

"Oh?" Sir Therius turned to the children, surprised. "What are all of you doing here? You shouldn't be in the military wing..." He managed awkwardly. As far as he knew, children were not allowed in the military wing for obvious reasons.

One of the kids giggled. "We snuck in! To see you!"

Cassandra blinked in surprise. "To...see us?" She managed. "Why come see us, then?"

Another one of the children, a mage in training, responded maybe a little too excitedly. "We want to see you both fight each other!" She squeaked.

Both Cassandra and Therius exchanged glances, before Therius spoke.

"And what would you all learn from that?"

The kids looked confused. "Huh?"

Cassandra got Therius' cue. "You are all young children training to become knights or mages in the future. If this fight between Sir Therius and me is of no educational benefit to all of you, I would suggest that you go back to your mentors and ask them for a demonstration instead. The both of us are busy, after all, with many things."

The kids seemed to panic, all of them huddling together to think up a reason why. Cassandra looked to Therius.

"Do you think they'll think of a good reason?"

Therius looked to the children briefly. "I believe they can."

That was when one of the kids spoke up.

"If we both watch you fight, it can give us knights in training and mages in training a demonstration of how real knights fight!"

Therius seemed to smile slightly at that explanation, looking to Cassandra. "Well, Lady Seeker? How about a quick spar?"

Cassandra looked to him, approval on her face as she pointed her sword at him. "Very well, Sir Therius. We will fight."

The kids cheered as the two took their positions, and they soon began to fight.

Therius could hear the kids whooping with enthusiasm as he and Cassandra exchanged blows. He stabbed forwards, before raising his arm with the shield strapped onto it to block a slash from Cassandra. Cassandra, meanwhile had sidestepped the stab from Therius, slashing at him but obviously was blocked by his shield. The two then exchanged more blows and slashes at each other with their swords.

Therius let out a soft sound of approval. "Not bad."

Cassandra seemed to grin slightly. "You're not too bad either."


Solas and Yurick would walk into the military wing to find a crowd of children cheering on Therius and Cassandra, who were heavily engaged in a sword fight with each other. Both mages stared awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Several questions popped up, like how in the world did these children get into the military wing and what the heck was going on but that was when Therius and Cassandra suddenly stopped fighting, turning to face them.

Solas finally spoke up. "Excuse our interruption, but General Asthar needs to see you both immediately about something."

Therius nodded, putting his sword away. There was a slight smile on his face. "Thank you, Solas." He looked to the children. "You have perfect timing, actually. Seeker Cassandra and I have been giving a demonstration to the children of how knights would face one another in battle. Since you and Yurick are both mages, Solas, perhaps you would like to demonstrate how mages can effectively use their mage in battle?"

Yurick blinked. "Er..."

Cassandra nodded in agreement with Therius. "That does sound like a good idea. And we'll be back after we see General Asthar to relieve you both of your fighting."

Solas looked to the very interested children before he sighed. "Very well."

As soon as Solas and Yurick had caught the attention of all of the children, Therius and Cassandra quickly escaped the Military Wing. As soon as they stepped into the Castle Courtyard, both of them let out relieved sighs.

"Thank goodness Solas came along." Therius panted, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "If he hadn't imagine how long we would have been fighting each other!"

Cassandra seemed to chuckle at that. "It was worth it, though. At least the children won't be running after us for a while."

The white knight grinned. "True." He then thought for a moment. "Seeing the children cheer us on was actually...amusing, in my opinion. It was fun to see that they were so engaged in watching us fight." He sighed. "I just hope they took something of educational value from it."

"I do hope that as well." Cassandra paused, before speaking. "I always wondered, Sir Therius...did you ever consider becoming a father?"

Therius blinked. "Er, no. Why do you ask?"

Cassandra made eye contact with him. "You looked...happy to see the children so excited earlier while we were fighting. And whenever they pass by you in the hallways of the castle while you're on duty, you always smile at them."

Therius thought for a moment. "Well, I have heard of some knights being fathers...but they are away from their children so much due to their duties, and I have seen the consequences of that. They don't have as strong as a bond between each other. And..." He shrugged. "I am sworn to be a knight for all my life, and I don't want to break my own child's heart because I am away from them for so long. Therefore...it's better if I do not have children in the first place. I don't have the room in my life for them. I don't think I'd...be able to balance two lives once-the lives of both a knight and father."

He looked a bit sad at that. Cassandra almost regretted asking him such a question.

"Forgive me, Sir Therius. I...shouldn't have asked."

Therius shook his head, looking up at her. "No, Lady Seeker, it's fine." He then paused before asking. "What about you? Do you ever think of...er." He blushed slightly. "Do you ever think of...being a mother, Cassandra?"

She blinked. "Wait, you're asking me?"

"W-well, you asked, so I thought it was fitting to ask you about the same thing..." THe white knight trailed off awkwardly.

It was Cassandra's turn to blush. "Well..."

No, she was not going to go and tell him that she was the type of person who was much into the romantic stuff secretly despite her appearance (reading all of Varric's novels did NOT help the situation). So she tried to word it as carefully as she could.

"Well..." The Seeker started again. "I would consider it. But of course, only if I were to..end up with someone in the future. They all say that I am too brash, I am too impulsive."

Therius blinked, thinking. Cassandra thought that he might say something along the lines of 'they're just being idiots, don't listen to them Cassandra' or something like that.

Instead, something else came out of the white knight's mouth.

"Cassandra, I can't imagine you pregnant. I apologize."

She just stared at him, shocked, before it began to turn to anger.

"What...What did you just say!?"

Therius paled, slowly backing away.

"C-Cassandra...I-I didn't mean..."

"I heard every word, Sir Therius." She slowly, malice seeping into her voice. "I'd kill you if I could...!"

Sir Theirus winced. "Er, I just remembered, General Asthar needs to see me. Good day!" He rushed off. Cassandra growled, hesitating before rushing after him.

"Get back here, you-!"

"Aagh!"

Next thing Solas and Yurick would witness were all of the kids cheering on Cassandra and Therius fighting-though Therius would definitely look like he was truly fighting for his life.