Chapter length - 3,497
Jack's thoughts are in italics
The last of Jack speaking in her own language should be in here. That is also in italics.
Also, Yay for correct grammar at last! It hurts me to write in broken english sometimes, it messes with my head in a weird way.
The first week while Danica was away, Jack fell into a solid routine of learning. She learned archery in the morning with her elven rogue teacher, Tevin guiding her how to make consistent shots and grouping.
During her lunch break, which usually consisted of thin soup but sometimes cheese, bread, or fruits, Leliana whisked her away to the war room, where the two exchanged information and made tentative plans over Redcliffe castle and Alexius, Jack's knowledge on the Barrier, and even some memories Leliana had from her time with Warden Allora Tabris.
"What was Allora like?" Jack asked her at one point in their lunches. "You know I followed her story, but what was she like as a person?"
Leliana smiled, soft and sad, and gently put down her teacup. "Kind. Unnaturally kind, despite all the pain and suffering in her life. Witty. Quicker to tease Alistair than even Morrigan. A heart so large and a smile so bright it hurt us, her companions. I think it broke her heart when she realized that Ferelden needed a good king and Alistair was the only real candidate. She didn't complain or cry that I saw, but when he left to become king, I believe it hurt her more than words ever could. She was a good friend though."
Leliana wiped at her face and went back to interrogating Jack on the chain of command in the Barrier.
Jack pretended not to have noticed her tears.
After her lunch, she returned to Tevin to learn how to wield daggers and stealth lessons so she could hide if fighting got too tough. Dagger lessons were the dreaded part of her day, which was saying something as she also had daily interrogations from Lady Nightingale.
Tevin was of the mind that the best teaching was through physical learning. Which mean more than often, she was covered in bruises from Tevin hitting her with a wooden dagger of his own from not blocking him enough.
Personally, Jack thought he found immense amusement from her squawks of outrage whenever he got her hard.
After training however, when the bells rang signaling evening, she would trudge through the town and pick up a solitary dinner before cleaning up at her house and heading to Solas' cottage for speech lessons. That first week of lessons did Jack a world of good.
She felt she now had an excellent grasp on the common tongue, and was no longer speaking in chopped sentences. After her fifth day of speaking lessons, Solas switched to reading and writing lessons at the behest of Sister Leliana, for some reason.
There were still certain words that tripped Jack up, but for the most part Jack was doing wonderfully in Haven. Her reading and writing skills were coming along slower than her speaking and fighting skills were, but she accounted that to her not being able to work on them as much as she was the others.
Solas had apparently even rounded Tevin into her speaking and literacy lessons.
Not that he did what Solas was asking for, of course. Tevin's speaking lessons, given while he pounded her into the dirt, consisted of teaching her Thedas' swears and insults. Although, he did give her spelling lessons during the calmer archery lessons. He would give her a word and she would spell it back while trying to concentrate on grouping her arrows in one place.
After Solas' literacy lessons from evening to the early night, Jack would drag herself back to her cottage and climb into her bed, where she would meet Learning to learn about Thedas' history. Her day was a blob of learning packed into a short day.
Still, she made good progress, and soon enough, Jack felt she was packed with knowledge.
It was the end of her first week, a full seven days after Danica had left, that Tevin rewarded her with a break. Jack had come leaps and bounds from her first stumbling attempts with a bow. She had just come back from lunch with Leliana, but instead of Tevin starting with daggers, he gave her the bow she used and told her to fire ten rounds.
It wasn't perfect by any means, but she made all the shots into the ring closest to the bullseye, and what more, they were all grouped close together. Tevin slapped her on the shoulder and sent her stumbling forward.
"You've come a long way, Lady Jack. I think it'd be good if we take the rest of the day off. You've been hard at work between Lady Nightingale, Solas, and me, and you're doing good work despite it all. Let's go get a drink."
Jack blinked. "I don't have any money though."
Tevin rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. You've been on payroll since your second day training with me. I asked Lady Montilyet to put you on after I heard how hard you've been working between me, Lady Nightingale, and Ser Solas. Payroll is every other week so you'll see your money next week. Flissa will run a tab in the meantime."
"I'm on payroll? You can do that?"
Tevin hid his smile. "Did no one tell you I'm a Captain? The only people I report to is Commander Cullen, the other advisors, and the Herald. Since the Herald has taken a personal interest in you, it was only a matter of time till you were on, so I just sped up the process. Your first drink's on me."
"Thank you then." Jack gave a huge toothy grin to the other man. "I'll certainly drink to that! Let me get cleaned up a bit and I'll meet you in the tavern."
He gave a mocking salute, and they both laughed while splitting off. She walked back to her cottage slowly, enjoying the cool breeze and not having to practice with daggers for the day. As she rounded the corner to the cottages, she saw Solas meditating in front of his house.
"Hey Solas. Good afternoon!"
"Jack, what a surprise. Are you not supposed to be training?" Solas climbed to his feet.
"Tevin's given me the rest of the day off. He said I'd been working myself nonstop, so he let me go for today and is buying me a drink at the tavern."
Solas nodded. "Yes, you are nothing if not dedicated to your studies. Take tonight off too with your academic studies. It will give you a chance to review all you've learned this last week."
"Only if you insist. I wouldn't want to overdo myself and waste everyone's hard work with me after all."
He nodded. "Very well, I will see you tomorrow then. Please do not forget all you have learned after one night off."
Jack smiled. "No, I wouldn't do that. I'll see you tomorrow."
Solas nodded goodbye and sat back down as Jack turned to her cottage and cleaned up.
Shrugging out of her armor, she pulled on the only casual clothing she had, which consisted of a thin white cotton shirt, dark breeches, and her only pair of leather boots. She didn't bother washing her hair, only pausing to throw it into a loose bun before walking back out into the crisp air and making her way to the tavern.
Tevin was waiting in the back of the building, in the very corner of the room. He waved her over and soon enough, Flissa brought over some ale and food for them. It wasn't very special, just some bread, cheese, and dried meat, and Jack wasn't particularly fond of ale or beer, but she enjoyed spending time off and having someone to talk to.
He raised his cup to Jack's as the barmaid walked away. "To your continued health and learning. Now let's get drunk."
Jack clinked her cup to his. "Cheers to that."
They both threw back their drinks, and when Jack returned her eyes to Tevin, he looked contemplative. "I know I'm not supposed to ask about where you come from and all that, but what can you tell me about yourself? You seem like a nice enough girl, why the Inquisition?"
"Well," Jack grinned. "Where I'm from, I'm was a Captain just like you are. I was in charge of some five-hundred or so people and the commander was combing me to take over his spot when he retired in ten years."
Tevin blinked. "Ten years? Why that long? And if you were so good that he was training you, why are you here now?"
Jack's grin faltered. "I didn't exactly want to leave, but it's for the best that I did. I can't get into the whys so much, but I know I wouldn't have been happy taking over his position. I didn't really want to be Captain, but when you're asked to ascend, you don't say no if you want to keep your head."
"And the ten years of training?"
"Commanders do a lot of work. There's a lot of secrets they hold and every commander combs their chosen captain during the last ten years of their command. There's a set amount of time that a commander can be in their position and you can't go over or under unless your dead. Or you've really fucked up, but I've never heard of that happening."
"There's more than one commander? How does the chain of command work?"
Jack downed the rest of her ale, trying to keep the grimace off her face. "Alright. So, there are ten 'soldiers' in a unit, and every unit is headed by a Lieutenant. Every fifty units are called a district, and are headed by a Captain. There are two Captains to a division, and six divisions that make up the whole of the entire chain. There is one Commander to each division who work in a partnership with the other Commanders. They're like a council, and the highest people in power."
Tevin whistled. "That's a lot of people. Why are there so many chain of commands?"
"It's much easier to approach someone who works with you every day than someone who you see maybe twice a month, if ever. Lieutenants live with the soldiers and it's easier for problems to be solved when you know there's someone who can immediately help you. Captains hold several meetings through the week to meet with all the Lieutenants and go over any concerns they or the soldiers have. Captains usually sort out the problems, and if we can't we go to the commander."
"How many people are there?"
A breath of air huffed from her lips. "Ten people to a unit, fifty units is five-hundred people plus fifty lieutenants plus the Captain are five hundred and fifty-one people for one whole district. Times two for an entire division is one thousand, one hundred and three people including the commander in charge of the division. So for all six divisions, there are six thousand, six hundred, and eighteen people."
Tevin's mouth dropped open. "Holy shit. That's a lot of people."
Jack shrugged. "That's only the people who work where I lived. I call them soldiers, but they're more like mages without the magic. There are also people like Templars and Chantry people without religion who watch over the 'mages'. It's… complicated."
"I can see why. Gives me a headache just thinking about it."
They both paused as Flissa came by to top off their drinks.
"What about you?" Jack asked as they were left alone once again. "What's your story?"
Tevin cleared his throat. "Well, I lived in the Alienage in Denerium until the end of the Fifth Blight. None of my family survived the attack on the city so I left for Redcliffe to work as a laborer for the farms. They needed people to keep out the wolves and bears and bandits. When I heard about the conclave, I was one of the first people to volunteer for soldiering. I wasn't a Captain until after the explosion of the Temple, but Cullen hasn't had any complaints of me so far. Or if he has, it's been nothing serious."
"You must have known the Hero then, right? What was she like?"
He smiled to himself. "Very kind. Always was thinking of someone else and never herself. Loved her friends with all her heart, Maker rest her soul."
They talked for hours. As the day shifted towards night, more people trekked into the tavern for drinks. She waved to The Iron Bull and his entourage when they walked in, and he briefly waved back as they settled into the opposite side of the building. Otherwise, Jack and Tevin's conversation was blissfully uninterrupted.
Until a tall, blonde soldier with a scraggly beard swaggered up to their table.
"Excuse me, pretty lady, but if you'd like to have a good time, you'd be better off looking elsewhere."
Jack turned to Tevin and raised her eyebrows in fake shock. "Really? But I'm having a plenty good time now. Are you not having a good time, Tevin?"
Tevin quickly hid his smile with his tankard.
The soldier's bravado faltered, but he pressed on. "Maybe I'm not being clear, my apologies. If you're looking for a fun night, your friend can't deliver, if you catch my drift."
"Maybe you aren't 'catching my drift' that I'm fine. Thank you for the concern, but I'm not interested." Jack gave him a wide, plastic smile then turned her back to him.
Someone from a nearby table, clearly eavesdropping, snickered. Tevin's face was a little pale, but his ears were tinged red with embarrassment.
The soldier's heavy hand fell on her shoulder. "Listen lady, the rabbit isn't going to fuck you!"
The nearby tables hissed in outrage and Jack heard the sound of several scrapping chairs, but acting on half reflex, half rage, she threw off his hand, stood up, and sucker-punched him in the jaw. He fell backwards into the eavesdroppers at the unexpected blow, and there were short yells of shock before the tavern fell to complete silence.
The soldier's nose was pouring blood, and he was staring at her in complete shock, eyes a little dazed – from the blow or alcohol, she didn't know. Jack could feel the eyes of everyone in the tavern on her, but her unbridled rage was still fueling her.
"Listen you bastard fuck," she growled, easily slipping back into her native language. "I'm not interested in having sex with you, so take a hint shit for brains. I ever hear that word come from your mouth, or anything like it, and I'll chop off your cock and shove it down your throat while I watch you beg for mercy. You ever touch me again, and you'll wish that's all I did. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to see a man about my hand. Tevin, would you help me out please?"
Tevin stood and nodded without speaking. Jack took the time during the dead silence to slam back the last of her ale before stalking out into the night with a tense 'I'll pay for damages' to Flissa. As soon as the door shut behind her and Tevin, the righteous fury left her.
"Ow." She sighed and flexed her hand, covered in blood, as Tevin looked at her with a strange expression. "Fucker had a hard face."
A surprised laugh bubbled out of his mouth. "Let me see."
She held out her hand for him to examine in the dull light of the lantern outside the tavern doors. Beneath the blood, some of it hers and some of it his, she could see that she'd split the skin between her third and fourth knuckles. She'd probably get a cool scar from it.
Tevin prodded her middle knuckle and she hissed in pain.
"Well, you most likely fractured your knuckle. We'll see if Ser elven apostate can help, or if you'll need an actual healer." He hesitated as they started to move towards Solas' house. "Why'd you do it Jack?"
"What?"
"Why'd you punch him? Stick up for me?"
Jack frowned at Tevin's hunched shoulders. "He's an asshole, I wasn't going to let him talk to either of us like that and ignoring him didn't help after the first time. I know the connotation of 'rabbit' here. You didn't deserve his treatment."
"That doesn't explain why though."
Jack sighed and rubbed her brow with her unhurt hand. "Listen Tevin, you're a great teacher, but I also like to think of us as friends after this last week. I stick up for my friends. I'm sorry if I've assumed too much."
Tevin smiled slightly and gestured for her to continue walking. "No, we're friends. Thank you for defending my honor." He stopped and swung into an over the top bow, but his smile faltered. "You should know that he was right in some fashion. I'm not interested in girls."
Jack glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Okay? That's good?"
"I like men."
"Yes, I figured that much out, funnily enough. Why does that- OH!" Jack stumbled to a halt. "That's not accepted here, is it? That's why it's such a big deal to you and why that jackass wouldn't leave us alone."
Tevin spluttered.
"Well, yes, no, you have to understand-!" He stopped and took a deep breath. "No one particularly cares who you get together with – male or female, but you're usually expected to settle down with some girl and have children together and live happily ever after even if you don't want to. It's not prevented by any means – man and man, or woman and woman – but in most places it's looked down upon if you don't hide it." Tevin grimaced. "Especially when you're expected to get with an elven girl and make elven babies for the good of all pure elves or risk getting kicked out. Especially if the one you love isn't elven. They expect you to 'grow out of' your feelings."
"Huh."
They started moving forward again. "Is it different where you're from?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah. No one cares where you stick what as long as both people are consenting and it's not in public. I've been on both of the spectrums really, my first love was a man, but he was reassigned and we ended the relationship. I also fell in love with a fellow Captain who was female, but she didn't want a serious relationship with me, so we went back to being just friends. Relationships where I'm from are a lot like mages' relationships here. You can have them and no one cares, but any children you have are taken away from you at their birth. Many people choose to get their reproductive organs removed because of it. I certainly did."
"Excuse me?"
The two stumbled to a halt right outside Solas' house, but Tevin was blocking the doorway, looking a little sick to his stomach.
Jack frowned. "Yeah. I couldn't ever keep the children I might have conceived so there was no point in keeping my uterus in my opinion. Ascendancy in rank generally relies on what you've given up to get there. My first love gave me up to rise to Guardianship, I gave up my uterus for Captaincy. It was a win-win situation really."
"Why didn't you just run away then?"
"I wouldn't have known how, when I was still there. Think of guardians as super-Templars with super-weapons. They'd kill me as soon as I looked at the door."
"What happens if you want kids later?"
Jack gave Tevin a startled look. "I wouldn't know the first thing about raising a child. But, hypothetically, if I did for some reason want children, I would find a child off the street who needs a parent. There's plenty to go around. They wouldn't need to physically be mine for me to love them I think."
Tevin's face shifted to curious. "Huh.
Behind him, Solas opened the door to his cottage, startling her trainer. He'd been clearly eavesdropping if his unwillingness to look Jack directly in the eyes was anything to go by.
The elven mage sighed. "Is there something I can help you with, Captain Tevin, Lady Jack?"
Jack grinned broadly at the man as Tevin slunk to the side of the doorway. "I got into a fist fight on accident. We were wondering if you know any healing spells?"
Solas blinked in surprise. "You? A fist fight? How did that happen?"
Tevin snorted. "There would have to be more than one fist swinging to make it a fist fight. You about knocked him out with one punch. As for how it happened… There was a drunken soldier who said some… things to the both of us. Lady Jack was defending my honor." He snorted again.
Solas raised an eyebrow. "I see. Well, come inside then. I'll take a look at your hand."
Sending a wide grin at both men, Jack walked into the wolf's den.
Sooooooo. I almost didn't post this today because I completely forgot it was Tuesday... School ended last week thank god, but now the days all blend together. Luckily I happened to look at my phone and saw what day it was. I need to set a reminder on my phone or something that will keep me on schedule.
My, my, Jack sure got angry didn't she! Tbh, it's not too far from something I did in highschool. Granted, there were no fists flying, but that's another story.
This week's recommendation is Dislocated Souls by LonelyAgain. HOT DAMN! If you're interested in a modern-character-in-Thedas where the main character kicks ass without actually kicking ass and civil rights for elves, THIS IS FOR YOU! I think I've read and reread the story 2 times and am on a 3rd now. They're split up into 2 stories, Haven and Skyhold and Skyhold is 133 chapters in. ITS SO GOOD HNNNNNGH
ANYWAYS let me know what you think and leave a like blah blah blah you know the drill.
Thanks for reading,
-Jade