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A breeze blew through the tavern as Isabela knocked back the rest of her drink.
She mused out loud to the barkeep, “I just wish they’d get on with it! I’m sick of looking at them, looking at each other, thinking that the other one isn’t.”
The barkeep shrugged at her as he wiped another section of the bar clean. She raised a hand for another round, and a mug slid across the well worn counter towards her, sloshing the contents just over the rim.
Taking a long sip, she slammed it back down on the bar with a clunk. “I’ve got it!” she exclaimed, “I’ve got an idea to finally get them alone together,” she chugged the rest of her drink, tossed some coins across for the barkeep, and waltzed out into Lowtown.
~
“Mother, I don’t want to go,” Cass crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her other foot. Another set-up. I don’t know what about my reactions to all of the others makes her think I’ll be interested in any more. “We’ve been over this… a hundred times by now,” a sigh escaped her lips.
Leandra, persistent as always, continued to badger her, “Cassia, I’ve met the man. He’s quite a gentleman. He goes to church.” She muttered under her breath, “maybe he’ll be able to get you in there where you belong.” Leandra pressed a hand to her forehead, “You’re meeting him for dinner tonight.”
“Tonight?!” Cass’s hands shot up in exasperation. “It’s not enough that you set these things up without consulting me, but now you’re doing it for the same day?” She threw up her hood and turned to pace the library, clutching the hem of her sleeves.
She willed herself to try to keep some measure of calm, even if she was panicking inside. How could her mother expect her to be okay with these set-ups? She’s never liked being told what she should or shouldn’t do, even as a child. But now, she is a grown woman! Why couldn't she just be appeased that they had the family estate back and she had a close group of friends? What was wrong with being happy with that? With Bethany and Carver gone… all of the expectations had fallen to her. She hated it.
“Cassia,” Leandra shifted her tone slightly, a wrinkle forming between her brows as she frowned, her hands on her hips.
Cass stopped pacing for a moment, and crossed her arms. Still turned away from her mother she said softly, “I don’t want to...” Her nails digging into her palms through the cuffs of her jacket.
~
Isabela walked into Fenris’ estate, the estate he was squatting in anyway, without a knock. “Alright you broody elf, I have some great news for you!” She yelled into the main room as she walked in from the foyer.
Fenris rolled his eyes and wondered how quiet he needed to be for her to give up and leave him alone.
“I know you’re here, I saw you through the window on my way here.” She was on to him.
“What do you want, Isabela?” He huffed.
“I just came from Cass’ place, she said she’d go to the Hanged Man with you tonight if you swing by to get her,” Isabela was such a natural at lying. Her words just rolled off her tongue.
Fenris was apprehensive about this arrangement. Cass never wanted to go anywhere with lots of people, especially not the Hanged Man. She didn’t even come for Wicked Grace nights with the rest of the group. “Did she say when she would be ready?” He might as well play along, for now.
“She said give her a few minutes, which I used to walk all the way over here,” she feigned annoyance, “so she’ll definitely be ready by the time you get there.”
Fenris walked out of the adjacent room bringing Isabela into sight. “Alright, fine,” his hands raised in defeat. “I’ll grab my coat and head over.”
Content with her performance, Isabela flopped into a chair, “Good! I’ll walk that way with you, I’m headed back that direction anyway.” She fiddled idly with one of her daggers.
“I don’t need a chaperone,” Fenris shrugged on his coat. “Just because I’m not supposed to be in Hightown, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to get around unseen.”
She sheathed her dagger and stood up with a hop, “Have it your way,” she walked back towards the foyer and out into the street.
She really must think I’m stupid, Fenris thought to himself. Since when does she call her Cass anyway? He brushed it off and decided to head over to the estate anyway, just to see. I’ll just look in through the window and check on her.
~
Fenris walked up the back alley way behind the estate, listening for anything coming from inside the house. “It’s embarrassing Cassia!” He heard a muffled Leandra from the library window. He quickly crouched beneath it to listen closer.
The rest of their conversation was much harder to hear, but it seemed to him like Cass didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. He steeled his nerve, went around to the front door, and knocked.
Bodhan answered the door, shocked to see him, “Good afternoon sir, what can I do for you?”
Fenris looked behind Bodhan into the house, willing himself to hear anything else of the conversation. “I’m here to see Hawke,” a statement of fact.
Bodhan let him inside the foyer, and told Fenris that she was up in the library last time he saw her before he disappeared into the next room.
A deep breath and a look into the fireplace, then up the stairs he went. The library door was ajar, and he heard clearer voices this time coming from inside.
“You have to go,” Leandra firmly set her book down onto the table. A sound of finality in her voice.
He pushed the door open with a small creak from the hinges. Cassia turned her head immediately at the sound. “Oh good, you’re still here,” he said casually. “I was hoping you hadn’t left without me, I’m here to pick you up.”
Cass only had a second of hesitation before she accepted the escape route before her, “I was waiting for you,” she stood and walked towards the door, away from her mother.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Leandra questioned as Cass gathered a couple of books into her bag.
Fenris answered for her with a sneer, without skipping a beat, “That is not your concern. She is an adult and can come and go as she pleases. She’s the only reason you have this estate back at all anyway.” He shrugged, “Besides, I’ll make sure she gets home safe later.”
“You are not taking her anywhere!” She raised her voice at him. “You think you can just waltz in here and kidnap my daughter like this?”
Cass paused at her mother’s words, You can’t kidnap someone who doesn’t want to be here in the first place. She thought to herself. Silently wishing that she’d just leave her alone for once.
Fenris shook his head, “You can hardly call it kidnapping when she leaves of her own free will, now can you?” He crossed his arms across his chest in clear defiance of her protests.
Leandra scoffed, “Cassia, you’re not going to go with him, are you? You know how I feel about you and him…” She gave Fenris a glare out of the corner of her eye, a look of disgust on her face with her nose scrunched up.
Cass turned and looked at her briefly before shifting her gaze to the floor at her feet. The whole ordeal made her feel like she was burning from the inside. The flames lapped at the back of her throat, her sweater now itchy on her skin, her eyes darting from Fenris’ boots to her mother’s slippers and back again. She couldn’t speak, but she turned to finish gathering her books, and slung the bag over her shoulder.
She tapped lightly at Fenris’ elbow, a touch so soft anyone else wouldn’t have felt it.
“We’re leaving now, Leandra.” Fenris held the door ajar for Cass, and glared back at her mother, the slight blue glow of lyrium in his eyes a warning not to follow them out.
Leandra huffed and tried to stop the door from closing, but he pulled it latched too quickly for her.
Cass looked up at him briefly, eyes not lingering on his face before she walked quickly down the stairs towards the door. She stopped right outside and pulled her sleeves down over her hands, willing the scratchy feeling to subside and the fire to burn out. Fenris closed the estate door behind them gently, and let her lead as they walked away.
~
Once they were several blocks from the estate, he broke the silence between them, “Was she trying to send you out with someone tonight?”
She only nodded slightly in response, barely noticeable with her hood still up over her head, still not trusting herself to speak.
“You know, Isabela stopped by and told me a tall tale. Something about you agreeing to go to the Hanged Man with me tonight if I picked you up,” changing the topic as he glanced down at the top of her head while they walked towards Lowtown.
She looked down towards her feet, and paused. He stopped in his tracks instantly, and stepped in front of her. “I know it was a lie, but I’m glad I came over anyway,” a slight smile in his voice. He pulled her hood a little more forward over the front of her head, and took the bag of books from her. “We don’t have to go to the Hanged Man, but I’m happy to occupy your time so you don’t have to go back there and deal with your mother.”
Cass’ eyes darted towards the stairs that led to the Hanged Man, over to an alley in the markets, and back over at Fenris’ feet. She grabbed the hem of his sleeve and took a step towards the alley, and away from Lowtown. Fenris followed wordlessly as she released the grip on his coat, satisfied he was following her.
~
Several blocks, and many turns later they arrived at a small dock tucked behind a back alley. It wasn’t part of Kirkwall’s main shipyard, it looked like it had been someone’s private dock but had been long forgotten. Several of the boards were broken, and there was no evidence that any boats had docked there in quite some time. Cass sat down in a corner with her back to the wall looking out towards the water. Fenris sat down next to her, leaving a space big enough for him to set her bag between them. Her eyes darted from the bag, to him, to the water, and back again. She rummaged around in the bag for a moment and dug out a thin book. Moving the bag to her other side, she flipped through the pages before holding it out to him. He slowly moved closer to her and took the book from her hands, careful not to touch her bare skin.
She had been teaching him to read, occasionally, and this was the book that they had been working on last. He knew how to read well enough now to be able to get through it, if he went slowly. He opened the book to the beginning and started to read aloud to her quietly.
They sat there, with him reading to her, until the sun had started to set and he couldn’t make out the words on the page anymore. She hadn’t said anything to him since they’d left the estate. He looked up from the book at her then, and saw she had fallen asleep. A small smile crossed his lips as he gazed at her. He gently tucked the book back into her bag, and resumed his place beside her, content to wait until she woke up to walk her home.