Work Text:
It was dark, darker than the upper levels of the tower. Though, that was to be expected, you supposed, you were under ground after all. It was a lot wetter than you expected however, there was a lot of moisture in the air. Mold grew in some of the corners and water dripped from nearby. You guessed it was because of the proximity to the caverns that ran under the lake.
A quiet mew caught your attention and you turned to see two eyes glinting in the dark. You immediately recognized it as the mouser Anders always talked about. You immediately crouched down and held out your hand, coaxing the feline over.
The cat emerged from the shadows, revealing itself as a tabby, meowing. You cooed, wiggling your fingers, beckoning the small animal closer.
As the cat entered the cell you were placed in, someone speaking your name commanded your attention.
"Knight-Commander," You greeted easily, smiling as you took notice of the small upturn at the corner of his mouth.
"I see you have already made the acquaintance of our resident mouser, I thought you might like him. It's why I had you placed here actually, plus it’s far more comfortable than some of the other cells. I couldn't get you off without a sentence, but I can at least make your stay comfortable." Gregoir spoke freely, as his only audience was you and the tabby that brushed against your leg, pushing his face against your hands.
You laughed, standing up and approaching the bars.
"Papae, that's unnecessary, It was my own actions that caused this, nevertheless, thank you." You reached a hand through the bars and Gregoir sighed, eyes softening as he squeezed your hand in his.
"I will never understand how that Edlyn became your 'mamae' and I your 'papae'." You laughed, you couldn't really understand it either, but between the two of them, they had p ft practically raised you. Plus, you secretly thought they would be cute together, Templar and Mages be damned. "And while your actions may have caused this, Amell had it coming, she's been turning this tower into a joke, convincing Templars into her bed, thinking she was above the rules just because she's Irving's 'star pupil'."
Gregoir was scowling at the ground and you laughed, smiling brightly.
"Be that as it may, I could've easily killed her, papae."
"I would've let you!" Both your gazes turned to Edlyn as she entered the room, grinning. "That was a marvelous show of magic my dear, throwing her across the room like that! Your aura whipping around, trashing the room and blowing off the Templars when they tried to dispel it, it was perfect." Gregoir snorted, the action taking years off his face.
"I should've known you would encourage such behavior." Gregoir glared at Edlyn, but the slight quirk of his lips betrayed his emotions.
"Now, now. No need to jump to conclusions Greggy-" the Knight-Commander scowled, "Little dear here, decided she would attack the demon spawn all her own. No outside prompting required." Edlyn winked at you, your cheeks began to ache from the constant smiling.
"How did you even get in here?"
"I set the guard's breaches on fire, he ran like the Dread Wolf himself was on his tail, oh sorry, Flemeth? I don't know, twenty years in this circle and I still don't understand your obsession with a singular god. As if one person could be responsible for all this." Your mentor scoffed, and Gregoir rolled his eyes.
"What have I told you about messing with the Templars?" You laughed at Edlyn's scandalized expression.
"Me? Mess with Templars? For shame, Greggy. I would never." Gregoir gave the mage a look, peeking an eyebrow.
"Is that so? So it wasn't you that put electric wards in all of the bathtubs?"
"Electric wards?" You decided to jump into the conversation, looking between the two parent figures for explanation. "Mamae?" Edlyn sent you a sly smirk, amusement flashing in her green eyes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I bet that Cullen of yours is a secret mage, I saw him snooping about before heading to dinner, and it would explain why Amell's always hanging about him after all." Gregoir scowled at the mention of Amell and one of the youngest Templar.
"Speaking of Cullen, isn't he supposed to be attending his first Harrowing soon?" You had heard from Anders that Cullen was almost old enough to take his vows and attend a Harrowing. Gregoir froze for several moment before nodding slowly.
"Yes, Irving has decided that Amell will soon take her Harrowing and I've decided that Cullen will be the one to cut her down if anything happens."
Edlyn gasped, her eyes sparkling. You had a similar reaction.
"You're kidding.." Edlyn squealed, practically jumping up and down from the information. "Amell is taking the Harrowing soon, so young?"
"Irving thought it best to speed it up, and I might have mentioned that it would be a good idea for you as well." Gregoir looked to you, smiling warmly. You gawked.
“Me? What about Jowan? He’s been here longer than Amell and I both!” You reminded, with wide eyes.
Gregoir paused for a moment, and you quickly took note of it, narrowing your eyes.
“Papae, Jowan will be going through his Harrowing soon, yes?” You pressed. Gregoir avoided your eyes and Edlyn sucked in a breath. “Papae..”
“I cannot-”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare say you cannot tell me! You’ve already broken all the rules for me, papae. Do not tell me now that you cannot, just tell me Jowan will be going through his Harrowing soon. Please , tell me. Please .” You gripped the iron bars separating you and them. Your eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“Gregoir, we should leave. Irving is going to get suspicious. You can control the Templars, not the mages. Come on.” Edlyn quietly lead Gregoir out of the room, both of them avoiding your eyes.
With a shuddering breath you collapsed to the ground, you pressed your hands over your mouth, quieting your sobs.
“No, no, no . Not that, anything but that. Please , no..” The candles blew out. You cried in darkness.
**
“Mr. Wiggums, come here. Look what I got, some leftover fish, would you like some?” You set your plate on the ground, sitting comfortably on the cot provided to you. Gregoir kept his word and kept you as comfortable as he could without drawing too much attention from the mages. Aside from Edlyn, Jowan, and Anders of course, the latter finding himself in solitary alongside you, soon after your own sentencing. Of course, it also couldn’t necessarily be called solitary when there was two of you.
“Hey! You stole my cat!” Said blonde shouted, pouting as Mr. Wiggums rushed to your plate, allowing you access to showing affection. You laughed, momentarily wondering when Jowan or Edlyn would visit again.
“I did no such thing! He probably just likes me better.” You grinned as Anders scoffed, cooing over the tabby cat. Scratching his ears as he ate.
“Please, he wouldn’t like you so much if you would stop giving him your leftovers !” You laughed, leaving the cat and made your way over to the bars separating the two of you.
“Make me.” You smirked, eyes twinkling in a silent challenge. Anders met you at the bars, his voice lowering an octave.
“ Maybe I will .” Anders whispered, a smirk of his own gracing his features.
You froze as you realized how close the blonde was to you, you subconsciously licked your lips.
“Heyo kiddos! What’s happening?” Edlyn burst through the door, Jowan on her heels.
You practically flinged yourself to the ground, scarring Mr. Wiggums and sending the tabby sprinting away.
“H-hey, Edy, Jowan. Nothing much, just got finished with lunch. How’s the outside world doing?” You rushed with a forced smile on your face.
“Uh, fine?” Jowan tried, looking confused.
“Hah! As if we would know, dearie. Perhaps I could tell if we weren’t all trapped in a tower in the middle of a lake, not allowed to go outside because someone- ” Your mentor sends a look at Anders who grins in response, “-decided that it would be nice to take a dip and proceeded to escape across the lake .”
“Eh, I didn’t really see the point to required exercise anyway, I’d
much
rather stay inside. A lot more fun to be had, if you know what I mean.” Anders winked at you and an undignified squeak left your mouth, causing you to cover your face with your hands.
“Am I missing something?” Jowan wondered, looking between Anders and you. Anders opened his mouth to respond but you cut him off by rapidly shaking your head.
“Well my dear, I’d like to have a private word, but as I am unable to without Gregoir present.. It will have to wait. So, until then, I think I have some apprentice’s to watch set themselves on fire.” Edlyn moved to leave.
“You're supposed to teach them how to not set themselves on fire, mamae.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“It’s not supposed to be fun.”
“Not for them .” Edlyn disappeared through the door, leaving a wide-eyed Jowan, a laughing Anders, and you rolling your eyes.
“So.. I brought that book you wanted.. but isn’t this banned by the chantry? How’d you get ahold of it, little star?” Jowan wondered, producing a small book from his robes. You eagerly reached for it with grabby hands.
“Don’t ask questions , just gimme, gimme,” You urged, pouting as you reached your arms out. “Jowieee.”
“If you keep calling that, I’m never bringing you a book again.” Jowan held the book just out of reach. You pouted but relented, nodding your head.
“Okay, just give me the book !” Jowan held it out and you snatched it away, cooing over the leather cover and petting the spine. “ My precious .”
“Actually, maybe I should just.. take it back.” Jowan uncertainty reached out to take the book back but you jumped backwards and scowled.
“ Mine. ” You held the book protectively to your chest, and Jowan held his hands up.
“Okay, okay, Maker.” Jowan rubbed the back of his head, running a hand through his dark hair. Momentarily holding your attention. A coughing from the doorway broke it however, and the three of you turned to see a Templar sending a steely look at Jowan.
“It’s time to leave apprentice, you are not allowed to visit without supervision of an Enchanter or Templar. Please make your way out of the dungeons.” The Templar spoke gruffly before returning to his post.
“Well, until next time I guess, little star. Try not to influence her too much Anders..” Jowan left, scurrying through the doorway like a frightened kitten.
You sat in silence with Anders for several moments, flipping through your book.
“What’s that about anyway, if it was banned by the chantry?” Anders’ voice broke you from your trance and with a smile you eagerly rushed over to the bars to show him.
“It’s a book about shapeshifting, I found it a while back and it goes into detail about- mm.” The book was forgotten as a hand took your chin and soft lips found yours in a chaste kiss.
“Shapeshifting huh?”
“Mmn, what?” Your stared at Anders’ mouth in a daze, lips slightly parted. “Shape.. shifting.. yeah..” You trailed off, before grabbing the blonde’s robes, pulling him as close to you as you could as you eagerly pressed your lips to his. You lightly bit the blondes lip, and in a moment Anders was kissing you just as eagerly. Your hands found themselves tangled in the blondes hair, and as Anders tugged gently on your own hair, a quiet moan left your mouth, deepening the kiss.
“I’m gone for two minutes and- woah there dear, no need to send daggers out me, not like you could do much else anyway. Dearie, keep looking at me like that, and we’re going to have problems.” Edlyn cackled, her heels clicking on the floor as she casually opened the door to Anders’ cell and dragged him out. “His solitary is up, sorry love.” Edlyn grinned at your flushed face and angry expression, Anders gaping like a fish. “Toodles~!”
“ MAMAE !”