Alyssia woke the next morning to the sound of Idrilla giggling. She slowly opened her eyes and shifted herself to look at Idrilla. She smiled at the scene before her. Idrilla was sitting on top of Solas giggling shaking him. "Come on, Dad! It's time to get up!" Idrilla tried to whisper but she was giggling so much the whispering didn't matter.
Solas had pulled a pillow over his head in a vain attempt to ignore her. "Idrilla, the sun just came up. I would like to sleep for another hour," he managed to grumble from underneath the pillow.
"Nope! You've gotta get up now!" Idrilla giggled, clearly enjoying tormenting her father.
Alyssia was hardly able to contain her laughter as she shared a look with her energetic daughter.
"Go wake your mother," Solas grumbled. Idrilla looked at Alyssia who smirked knowingly and winked at Idrilla.
"Ok!" Idrilla said happily and crawled off her father and towards her mother. Alyssia grinned at the relieved sigh she heard from Solas.
Alyssia mouthed, "One, two." Then spoke letting herself he heard, "Three!" between her and Idrilla they managed to push Solas right off of the bed.
He gave a surprised cry as he fell onto the floor, and Idrilla and Alyssia burst into laughter. Solas sat up and glared at both of the girls. "That was completely unnecessary," he groused, rubbing the back of his head.
"No, I found it completely necessary," Alyssia managed through her laughter.
Solas couldn't help but smile it had been far too long since he had heard her gentle laugh or seen her brilliant smile. He knew there was no possible way for him to stay irritated. "Neither of you are going to allow me to go back to sleep are you?" he asked with a slight smirk.
"Nope!" Idrilla chirped with a happiness that Solas found unnatural for this early in the morning.
"Then I suppose that I am up for the day." Solas sighed and shook his head unable to keep the smile from his face.
Alyssia giggled then crawled over to that sides of the bed, kneeled and offered him a hand to help him to his feet. He took her outstretched hand and she helped pull him to his feet.
Idrilla was already dressed and pulling on her cloak. She clicked her tongue three times and Harea raised her head sleepily. "Come Harea, we are gonna go see if Commander Cullen is up yet." She looked back at her parents who both wore confused expressions. "Mom and Dad have got a lot to talk about." She said as she slipped out the door, Harea not far behind her.
Solas sighed softly. "She is an intelligent child isn't she?"
Alyssia let out a breath. "I am not surprised. She is your daughter after all."
Solas furrowed his brows in thought and began pacing. "I was unaware such a thing was even possible. I will have to look into it once we return home. I need to go through what's left of Vir Dirthara and see what I can find. We need to leave soon if we are to avoid the worst of the fighting."
Alyssia cut him off before he could continue. "Excuse me?" she asked, looking at him as if he had lost his mind.
"We have to leave soon or else we will get caught in the middle of the fighting. I would rather we avoid as much as we can," he repeated not even looking at her or recognizing the dangerous fluctuations in his voice.
Alyssia stood and interrupted his pacing by moving in don't of him. "Excuse me?" she repeated her tone lower and her voice darker.
Solas's eyes widened as he realized his mistake and instead of backtracking tried to reinforce his opinion. "Alyssia, we can not stay here,"
Alyssia cut him off quickly. "You want to leave? You want to abandon all of these people whose lives you endangered? You want me to simply ignore the giant tear in the Veil and the magic that brands my palm?" Her voice was low and dangerous, her body a visual of pure anger.
"Alyssia it is far too dangerous for any of us to stay. If anyone were to discover the Veil's origin and our true identities we would likely be killed, if not by the Inquisition then by others." Solas held his ground, his pride not allowing him to back down as he tried to talk her out of her decision.
"Of course," she exclaimed then fought to lower her voice back down, "and whose fucking fault is it that any of this even happened? Whose fucking fault, Solas?" She hissed through her teeth.
Realizing his current argument wasn't getting him anywhere he switched tactics. "What about Idrilla? This is no place for a child. It is far too dangerous for her to be in the middle of a war that is not our problem."
Alyssia snapped and shoved him hard causing him to stumble back a few feet before catching his balance. "Don't you dare talk to me about the conditions in which to raise a child!" Hot tears now streamed down Alyssias face. Anger, frustration, fear, distraught and pain broke through her voice all at once as if Solas had opened a flood gate of emotions with a single phrase. "I had to raise Idrilla on my own, in a world that was completely foreign to me because the man I gave everything for took it away from me!" Alyssia wiped viciously at the tears on her face. "I was completely alone, Solas! I was even turned away by the descendants of my own family, my own blood line. Yet, despite everything, I managed to raise a beautiful, intelligent daughter who refuses to see the bad in people because she is so pure and innocent and kind!" She tried to speak more but her voice cracked with a sob. She put a hand over her mouth to cover the sound of another sob and leaned back against the wall behind her.
Solas closed his eyes tight and sighed heavily. She was right, this was his fault. The Veil was his problem and he was running away from it just as he had tried to run from Mythals death. He opened his eyes and moved towards her. "Vhenan I…" His voice was soft, the fight and pride drained from him as he watched the love of his life break before him.
Alyssia shook her head. "Solas, please just… just go." She took a shaky breath to keep the sobs from her voice and looked up at him tears still sliding freely down her cheeks. "I need time to think, to process, please just go."
Solas stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. No matter what they fought over he still loved her and he needed her to know that he loved her and that no matter what was going to happen next he would always love her. "As you wish, Ma Salath. I am sorry, you are right regarding everything. I had no right to do what i did with the Veil, and no right to question your judgment regarding Idrilla." He kissed her head softly. "I will give you the space you need, however, i would later like to discuss safe measures for staying here, in case of emergencies." Solas kissed her head again. "Ar lath ma, Vhenan. I never wanted to hurt you," he said softly. He released her and left the cabin.
The moment the door closed Alyssia slid down the wall and let herself cry. The pain of her lost past hitting her fast and sudden like a sword to her gut. She missed everything. Her family, what few friends she had. The familiarity of the fade. Everything was gone, and she could do nothing but cry for its absence and so she did.
By midmorning she had managed to pull herself back together, calm herself down and get dressed. She combed out her thick black curls and pulled it all back into a tight braid.
Her head pulsed with an intense headache that had accompanied her tears. She mumbled irritability to herself as she dug through the wooden crate of herbs that Solas had brought in the day before. "Where is that damned herb? I could have sworn there was some in this box yesterday."
A harsh knock at the door caused her to jump and hit her head on the shelf above her. "Fendhis!" she cursed softly then sighed. Rubbing the back of her skull she looked over at the door. "Come in!" she yelled giving up on her search.
The door opened and Cassandra stepped into the cabin. "Do you have a moment?" Cassandra asked although Alyssia assumed it really wasn't much of a question.
"Of course," Alyssia said with a half smile. She was certain that her exhaustion and frustration showed on her face. Thankfully, however, Cassandra did not comment on it.
"I would like you to formally meet the Inquisitions advisors," Cassandra said then elaborated on her reasoning. "Since you are going to be working alongside the Inquisition, Leliana and I believe that it is important for you to know who to go to with any issues or concerns."
"I think that is a wonderful idea. When would you like to set this meeting for?" Alyssia asked thankful for the distraction.
Before Cassandra could answer the door swung back open and Idrilla ran in holding a crate. Idrilla looked at her mother then at Cassandra. "Sorry Lady Cassandra, I didn't mean to interrupt but I have armor for my Mother from the blacksmith," the girl said sheepishly.
"It is of no consequence, Idrilla. I am sure that you are merely doing as you were told," Cassandra replied dismissively then turned to Alyssia. "In answer to your question they are currently gathering in the Chantry. I was going to ask you to join us."
"If you would give me a moment to speak with Idrilla and don my new armor, I would be honored to accompany you to meet with the Inquisitions' advisors," Alyssia stated with a slight bow of her head.
"Of course I will be waiting outside for you," Cassandra agreed then took her leave.
After the door had closed Alyssia sighed softly and looked at Idrilla. "I suppose this is less about the armor and more to do with the fight I had with your father this morning." Her voice was soft as she took the box from Idrilla and set it on the bed.
"I was worried. He looked really upset when he left the cabin this morning. And he told me to leave you be for awhile," Idrilla said, her blue eyes still clouded with worry.
"Your father and I have some things we need to work through still, and he's not being himself. He is fueling his decisions with his fear and isn't as adjusted here as we are," Alyssia explained as she began changing into the new armor. "It will get better between us. It just... may take time."
Idrilla looked back at the door. "He feels really guilty for what happened. He told me he was going to fix it and make it better for all of us," Idrilla said softly her voice low.
Alyssia stiffened slightly and looked at Idrilla then at the door. "This is not the place or time to discuss this. Later when we go gather herbs we will talk alright?"
Idrilla nodded and helped her mother adjust the last of the armor. "Ok, Mamae. I just want you and papa to be ok."
Alyssia smiled softly then hugged her daughter. "How did I ever get so lucky to have such an amazing daughter?
Idrilla smiled nuzzling against her mother. "I love you Mamae." Idrilla murmured contently her voice slightly muffled by Alyssias armor.
Alyssia sighed softly and kissed the top of her daughter's head. "I love you too Idrilla."