The return/Don't listen to Uncle Dorian
After two days, Allen's fever dropped entirely. Instead, a rash appeared on his skin, causing worry in Cassandra and Varric; yet the healer assured them that everything is fine and the boy will be healthy. With a supply of herbs and a new ally made for the Inquisition, they left for Skyhold.
The way to the keep was surprisingly peaceful and uneventful. They haven't got a raven from Leliana since Cassandra asked her for help with searching for the boy's living relatives. Cassadra hoped she will have at least some information about his parents, but maybe Leliana still hasn't found out anything; either that or she wanted to speak with them in person.
Soon enough, they were standing in the Skyhold's gates.
"Ready, Seeker?" Varric asked her, holding Allen in his arms. "We will have to endure never ending jokes about this from his Inquisitorialness and Dorian, you know."
"And Sera. And Iron Bull," Caassandra pointed out.
"Ruffles and Nightingale also won't leave us alone. Well, we're screwed," Varric said with a serious expression, but Cassandra could hear hints of amusement in his voice.
Varric was far too comfortable with all of this, in Cassandra's opinion. Just yesterday, he was trying to teach the boy how to walk, by holding his hands and making very small steps along with him. While this was all good, and to be honest, they were looking quite adorable (not that Cassandra would ever say that out loud), she felt like the inevitable parting with Allen would hit him hard.
She could not say that she didn't become attached to the boy in some degree, yes, but she did not allow herself to familiarize with him as much as Varric did.
Even though she wanted to.
Cassandra shook her head to free herself from the thoughts. Together with Varric, she entered Skyhold, were, obviously, they were met with quite big welcoming committee. Adaar was, of course, first to reach them, with a huge grin on his face.
"Varric! Cassandra! Welcome back," he bended curiously over Varric. "Is that the child?"
"What, do you think we brought more children with us? I'm going to have to disappoint you," Varric was quick to respond.
"Don't worry, we can wait 'till you're ready for more." He winked at Cassandra and she scoffed. Adaar turned his head back to Allen, who was obviously fascinated with the large Qunari.
"Well hello there," he cooed at him. Allen's eyes gotten even bigger than they already were, as he tried to catch Adaar's horns. Inquisitor laughed and called the others to come closer.
While Sera and Dorian were busy chatting with Varric and meeting Allen, Adaar turned to Cassandra.
"Leliana said she wants to talk to you," he grumbled. "I don't know why she is not here, but maybe you should go see her when you rest."
"Rest won't be necessary, Inquisitor," Cassandra quickly opposed. "I will go see her right away."
"Oh," he looked at her sneakily. "Parenthood is treating you well then? No one's crying is waking you up in the middle of the night?" Cassandra just scoffed in response and made her way through the crowd that has been gathered on the courtyard to Leliana's tower.
In the meanwhile, Sera was quite fascinated by Allen.
"He's a small one, ain't he?" She crooked her head, her fingers curiously touching Allen's face. "So wha' now, you goin' to be all adult like, with kid and shite?"
"I'm already and adult, Sera," Varric said blatantly ignoring Dorian mumbling 'Cassandra would disagree'. "And the kiddo is going to live with his next of kin, if we can find one."
"Aw, that sucks," Sera puffed out her cheeks. Varric snickered at her reaction.
"So how's yours and Cassandra's, ah, relationship now?" Dorian looked really smug for no particular reason, which made Varric a little concerned. But he only rolled his eyes at him.
"There is no relationship, Sparkler, I told you already."
As Cassandra climbed the stairs to Leliana's floor, she could hear the cawing of ravens and voices of several people talking. It seemed that Leliana was discussing something with her agents; Cassandra could only hope it was related to their cause. As she reached the top of the stairs, Leliana greeted her with slight smile.
"Ah Cassandra, welcome back," she looked at her carefully. "You did not bring him with you?"
"No, I left Allen with Varric," Cassandra clarified, feeling uneasy, as Leliana smiled teasingly at her. But she was merciful enough to not mention it, and instead went back to business.
"I see. We have not located any of the boy's living relatives yet." Cassandra's face fell. This was not the news she was hoping for. "In fact, it seems that his family from the father's side was all living in the village that was massacred, or dead already."
"And his mother?" Cassandra asked. For the first time, she wondered what will happen to Allen if they don't manage to find his family.
Leliana shook her head.
"We know nothing about the mother," she said. "Trying to find out what clan did she come from can take weeks or months. Didn't you come across something that could lead us to it?" Cassandra thought about it for a while, but she could not remember anything peculiar.
"No," she replied. "We did not find anything." Leliana gave her an inscrutable look.
"I see. Well, go and rest now. I will inform you, if we find anything of importance." Cassandra nodded and went back to the stairs.
In the meanwhile, Varric and Dorian made their way to the hall, more specifically, to Varric's desk. The Tevinter was now holding the boy, and still, he had an irritating smirk on his face.
"See, this is your Pa's desk." He told Allen. "If you're lucky, you may inherit it one day." Allen did not seem particularly interested with the desk, or with what Dorian had to say. Instead, he was looking around, as if looking for something.
"Don't listen to Uncle Dorian, kid." Varric said, casually shoving through the papers before speaking to Dorian again. "You, on the other hand... you're mentioning my non-existing relationship with Cassandra way too much. Did you wager too much coin on some ridiculous bet?"
Dorian laughed. "Dear Varric, there are many people who wagered way more than I did on this bet. Believe me; I'm not trying to do anything."
Varric did not believe him, of course, but before he could say anything, Cole appeared next to them.
"Searching, concerned. Where is she? Did she leave me?" He whispered cryptically before either Varric or Dorian could say a word. Dwarf furrowed his brows; there was no easy way of telling what Cole meant sometimes, but this time he probably was talking about Allen.
"What is it, Kid?" He asked him, just to be sure.
"He's afraid." Cole informed him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Varric turned to Allen and saw that the boy was indeed uneasy.
"Hey, don't worry, the Seeker will come back soon." He took the boy from Dorian and stroked his hair comfortingly.
"You see, you're already prepared for the role." Dorian laughed and Varric shot him a glance. Before he could form a response, Cassandra came out of Solas's study.
She looked uncertain and a little out of it, Varric noticed. She smiled at Allen, who started bumbling happily as soon as he saw her, and turned to Varric.
"We need to talk."