Work Text:
The Arlessa knew what was about to happen only a moment before it did. Even standing there with her sword dripping blood, soot-blackened and exhausted, the tall qunari was looking at her as though she were the most beautiful thing in the world. And without warning, without even a word, he leaned down and kissed her.
How long had he wanted this? All this time as they had fought side by side, as they had talked long into the night by the campfire...had he been longing for this, for her, the whole time? She knew the answer the moment his lips touched hers, could feel it in the gentle caress of his hands in her hair.
When they broke apart a few seconds later – or was it longer? – there was a softness in his eyes she had never seen before. And she finally understood what perhaps in some way she had known all along – that he loved her. For all their bickering, for all his jokes and carefree teasing, in this moment he was vulnerable, laid bare before her.
She pulled away. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
A flicker of pain crossed his face, swift and sharp as an arrow, and then it was gone, replaced by a rueful smile.
“So am I.”
“It’s not that I don’t...”
He cut her off by raising a hand. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he said. “It was a foolish thought, kadan, nothing more.”
The term of affection felt like a knife to the heart, and she could only watch speechless as he turned and walked away, his tall shape disappearing into the darkness, horned head silhouetted against the flames of the burning city. Amongst the fire, for a moment she recalled her first sight of him all those months ago, when she had thought him a demon. If only he had been. It would have hurt her less. Her sword fell from her hand to clatter uselessly on the ground, but even dressed in silks the Arlessa had a skin of iron, and she did not shed a tear as she watched him vanish into the night.
“What?! That’s it? What kind of ending is that?”
“I know I asked for your opinion Seeker, but I was hoping for something a bit more constructive,” said Varric easily.
The tavern was quiet at this time of day, with only the bartender humming quietly to himself as he cleaned glasses behind the bar, and Iron Bull in the far corner chatting to Maryden the bard. Or possibly chatting up Maryden the bard, it was sometimes difficult to tell with Bull. Varric had chosen to meet here because he considered it neutral ground, of a sort, but Cassandra had still made clear how awkward she felt at the whole thing, even if it had been her who kept pestering him about writing more of his romance serial. Or at least getting the Inquisitor to pester him on her behalf, which frankly wasn’t fooling anyone. There was no way Varric was going to waste any more time or ink on Swords and Shields, but the truth was he had been working on something...similar. Sort of. It was a romance anyway. He hadn’t intended it to be when he started, but somewhere along the way the two main characters had surprised him, as did occasionally happen. It wasn’t perfect, but as a first draft it had potential.
Cassandra clearly disagreed. She had been sitting quite stiffly on her chair when he had started reading to her, but now she was quite literally on the edge of her seat, and was staring at him with undisguised dismay.
“How can they not end up together?” she said, sounding genuinely outraged. “Why on earth would she reject him after all they went through?”
Varric shrugged. “Two different worlds. She’s a noble, he’s a bandit. She’s a human, he’s a qunari.”
“Why should that matter?”
That gave him pause. “You really think it doesn’t?” he said.
“No! They were perfect for each other! They fought side by side, they challenged each other’s beliefs, they grew to respect and trust one another even after their initial—” Cassandra broke off suddenly, clearly realising she was being rather more enthusiastic than she had intended. Varric could see her making a conscious effort to temper her feelings on the subject, and when she spoke again it was in a rather calmer tone.
“It just seemed to me,” she said, “that the story was leading towards the two of them...”
“Getting together and living happily ever after?” finished Varric for her. “Sorry Seeker, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
“Bullshit,” said Cassandra, frowning at him. “Did he not love her?”
There was an almost plaintive note in her voice, and for a moment, Varric hesitated. Stupid. The beat of silence felt like an eternity, and as he held her gaze he saw a faint blush bloom on her cheeks. His own face felt rather warm too. Perhaps this hadn’t been such a good idea at all.
“Of course he did,” he said, and was relieved to hear his voice sounded more relaxed than he felt. He was absurdly grateful that Cassandra had dropped her gaze.
“And she loved him,” she said. It wasn’t phrased as a question, though Varric had never allowed the Arlessa to declare such a thing aloud in the story. Cassandra had clearly made up her own mind.
“I can understand that he might have doubts,” she said quietly, still not looking at him. “Especially since you wrote her to be so...prickly. But once he made his feelings plain she would not reject him. Not just because things might be difficult. Not if she truly cares for him.” Cassandra looked up at Varric defiantly, a touch of colour still in her cheeks. “You do her a disservice by writing that.”
There was a long silence.
“You’re right,” said Varric.
“Just because she...” Cassandra trailed off. “I’m...what?”
“You’re right,” he repeated. Cassandra was staring at him as if he had just told her he was going to be the next Divine. He grinned at her. “I don’t ask for an opinion if I don’t want to hear it, Seeker. I thought the ending just seemed like the only logical thing to happen, but maybe you’re right. Maybe I was too hard on the Arlessa.”
“So you’ll...change it?”
“Yeah.”
“What to?”
Varric shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll just see what happens. Maybe they can work something out after all.”
To his surprise, Cassandra smiled. To see her smile at all was something of a rarity, to have her smile at him was...new. Once again the room seemed warmer than it had any right to be. Varric shuffled his sheaf of paper hastily into order and got up to leave.
“Well thanks for the feedback anyway,” he said. “I’ll...let you know when I’ve got another draft, if you want.”
“It is strange,” Cassandra said, “that you can change their fates so easily.”
Varric made an effort to meet her eyes.
“Not really Seeker,” he replied. “It’s just a story, after all.”