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Quin wakes with a start, gasping for air as he tries to remember what his nightmare was about. He doesn’t know, but it was scary.
Looking around the dark room, Quin’s nerves grow. He doesn’t like the dark. He’d rather be snuggled up with Dad or Zi than stuck in the dark by himself. But to get to them, he has to go through the scary darkness.
He considers his options, gathers his blanket around him, grabs Ser Ravey, and bravely makes his way out of his room. The hall is dark, too. Quin bites his lip, fear coming up to choke him. It’s okay. He can do this. Dad’s room is only a few doors away.
Quin darts down the hall, nearly tripping over his blanket as he finds the right door. He has to stand on his tiptoes to reach the door handle, nearly falling over in the process. The door creaks open, letting Quin into Dad’s room. Dad’s still asleep. That’s okay! He’ll just have to wake him up!
Padding softly over to the side of the bed Dad likes to sleep on, he finds what he’s looking for. Quin slaps Dad in the face, hoping to wake him. There’s a shuffle and a surprised grunt.
“Who—“ Dad’s hand lands on his head. “Quin?”
“Can I sweep wit you?” He tries. “Had a scawy dweam.” Quin knows Dad is staring at him, weighing his options.
“Fine,” Dad picks him up and deposits Quin on the bed beside him. He settles in as Dad throws an arm around him, using his free hand to card through Quin’s hair. He likes it when Dad does that! It feels nice.
It’s warm and cozy, and nothing can hurt Quin when Dad’s around, so he lets himself go back to sleep.
Quin wakes slowly, wondering what woke him. He was having such a nice dream. He rubs at his eyes, pulling Ser Ravey to his chest and opening his eyes. There’s a girl he’s never seen before staring at him. She’s got pretty blue eyes and curly red hair.
Why’s she here? “Who’re you?” Quin yawns. “Why’re you in Dad’s room?”
“Why are you sleeping in your Dad’s bed?” She inquires. “Aren’t you too old for that?”
Quin pouts, sitting up. “What would you know?!” He retorts. “Just ‘cause your Mom and Dad don’t let you doesn’t mean Dad can’t!” The girl stomps off. Weird.
Well, whatever. Quin should get up. Rosa will be coming to find him soon, and she might get lost if he’s not in his room! He gathers his blanket, makes sure Ser Ravey is secure, and hops off the bed. He even manages to get the door open without problems!
“Ah! Young Lord. I was just about to wake you.” Rosa states with a smile. “How about we put your blanket and Ser Ravey back in your room so we can get you ready for the day?” He nods, making grabby hands so she’ll pick him up.
“Rosa?” He starts once he’s firmly in her arms. “Who was that girl? The one with the red hair?” He yawns, losing his grip on Ser Ravey. Rosa catches him before he reaches the floor.
“You must be talking about Lady Allona. She and Lady Isa arrived early this morning.” Rosa deposits his things on his bed and moves to take him to another room. “Lady Isa is Lord Viago’s aunt. I’m sure they have much to discuss.” That must be why Dad left before he woke up.
“Aloe looked like she was my age.” He speculates.
“She is. I believe she’ll be turning five in a few months.” Rosa gives him a warm look. “Now, what would you like to wear for your party, my Lord?” Right! He forgot it’s his nameday!
“I wanna wear the purple clips and sparkly!” Quin states happily.
“You have to wear more than a hair ribbon,” Rosa states. “Would you like me to choose an outfit to match?”
“Yeah!” Quin cheers. “You’re good at dat, Rosa!”
Quin kicks his feet as he eats breakfast beside Zi and Dad. Across from them, Aloe and her mom sit, eating quietly. Dad talks to them while he and Zi look at their visitors curiously.
“Dad?” Quin asks, “Since it’s my nameday does that mean I get to start training wit you and Zi?”
Dad smiles at him. “After breakfast, Jaren’s going to help with an aptitude test to see which, if any, weapons you have a talent for. After that, we’ll start basic training.” Quin grins, then starts shoveling his food down. It’s got something spicy in it. He may not know what it is, but he likes it!
“Just because you eat faster doesn’t mean you’re going to get to start training sooner. Jaren’s not scheduled to be here until ten.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t get here early!” Quin grins, looking above him to see the large Qunari with a grin of his own. “If the little guy’s ready to start, I can keep an eye on him until you sort things out with your family.” Jaren offers.
“Please, Dad?” Quin asks.
Dad sighs. “Fine. Just be careful.” Quin hugs Dad, then hops out of his seat to follow the Talon through the house. Quin’s never been allowed in the training room without Dad! He’s so excited!
“You’ve never gotten to come down here on your own, have you, kid?”
“Nope!”
“You’re in for a treat! Tell me, how much do you know about the aptitude test?”
“Zi went through it when I was little, and Dad wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Jaren smiles at him, throwing open the door and leading him inside. “That’s because he didn’t want to influence your choices, little guy.” He motions to a rack of various weapons. “First things first, grab that knife there.”
Quin does. It’s a bit heavy, but he can handle it. “Good. See that dummy over there? Hit it.” Quin nods, approaching it. He feels something weird in his body. He might not know what it is, but he doesn’t think it feels bad.
Several things happen at once. Quin hits the training dummy with the knife. Quin feels a rush of adrenaline-lined joy like none he’s ever felt before. Quin feels that something inside him explode outward. Quin feels the knife shatter in his hand.
The room explodes into purple that dances across his skin. Quin goes flying backward. The dummy vanishes from the face of Thedas. Debris goes flying. Quin has a headache because something hit him in the forehead.
Quin groans from the spot he’s found himself in along the wall even as he grins. That was fun! But now his head hurts. It’s dusty. Where’d the dust come from?
Come to think of it, where’s Jaren? Quin looks around. The Qunari is against another wall with a heavily bleeding cut in his side. Quin scrambles up and rushes over to him.
“Jaren?” Quin asks.
“Get over here.” Jaren wheezed. “Surprised me with that one, kid. Guess you’re gettin’ a whole different lesson today.” There’s so much blood. Quin feels tears prick at his eyes. “Not time for that yet, kid. I need you to do me a favor.” Quin nods, trying to push back the tears. “Take your shirt. Press it against this gash as hard as you can for as long as you can.” Quin nods, pulling off his vest and doing as Jaren said. A shame. He liked that vest.
It’s several minutes before the door slams open. “What was that?!” Dad demands. “What hap— Quin! Jaren!” Dad rushes over to them.
Jaren grins. “Quiet the talent you have there, Viago.” He winces. “Now, Why don’t you give me a lift to the infirmary before this gets worse? We can talk in depth later.”
“Help me get him up.” Dad demands.
That woman from earlier comes up beside him to help Dad lift Jaren. “Quin. Come with us, won’t you? You’ve got a nasty cut of your own.” The woman states. He nods, following after them.
Quin winces as the cut through his eyebrow is cleaned and cared for. It stings. He’s already told Dad everything that happened. “You’re a brave boy,” Rosa states as she finishes up. “Most fledglings would have started crying and become useless at your age in a situation like that. You did well to help Lord Jaren until Lord Viago arrived.”
“Is he gonna be okay?” Quin asks.
Rosa smiles at him. “He’ll need some time to heal, but Lord Jaren will recover.”
“Can we go see him?”
Rosa smiles. “Certainly.” She helps him down, making sure he’s got his footing before leading him over to another part of the infirmary. This part has curtains that’re hiding Dad and Jaren from Quin’s curious gaze. They’re talking about something being ‘amputated,’ but Quin doesn’t know what that means. Maybe Dad will tell him later!
Rosa greets them before pushing back the curtain. Dad’s standing at the end of the bed that Jaren’s lying in. “There’s the man of the hour!” Jaren greets. He sounds tired. “Seems like you got through everything okay.”
“Yeah!” Quin agrees. Scooting over to stand beside the bed.
Jaren pats his head. “I’m glad!” He smiles. It’s not as bright as normal. “A shame we’ll have to push back your training until I’ve recovered. You’ve got a lot of potential as a mage, Quin!” He doesn’t get to start training? Aw, man! Zi got to start on her fifth nameday. It’s not fair he has to wait.
“Hey, now. Don’t pout. You just gotta wait a few days until I can be present so we don’t have another big explosion like that. Don’t want to hurt your Dad or sister, do you?” Quin pouts even though Jaren has a point. He doesn’t want to hurt Dad.
Rosa takes his hand. “Why don’t we let Lord Jaren rest? That way, he’ll be able to supervise your training sooner.” Hm. She has a point.
“’Kay.” He’s still not happy about it, but he’ll listen to her this time. It’s not Rosa’s fault.
“Why don’t we go get you a snack? Then we can go find Lady Allona and the two of you can meet properly.”
“’Kay!” He’s not sure about meeting that girl properly, but a snack sounds great! Lucas makes the best snacks.
“Mama?” Quin hears as he munches on Lucas’ newest creation. “Can we go back to Zia nonna? I don’t like it here.”
“We’ll be staying here for now, Reginetta.” Oh! That’s the lady who helped Dad earlier.
“I wanna go home! I wanna see Sammi and Zia nonna!”
“I know, but this is our home now. Jaren and Viago have been kind enough to let us stay, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Quin pokes around the corner, spying that Aloe girl starting a tantrum. She’s not very nice. He’d never do that to Dad! Neither would Zi!
He steps into the room. “Stop that!” Quin grumbles. “Don’t be mean to your Mom!”
She sets her eyes on him. “Who’re you to say what I should do?! You don’t even have a Mom! Viago’s not even your real Dad!”
Quin feels tears prick his eyes. How dare she! “At least Dad chose me! Zia Isa is stuck with you!”
“Children!” Isa calls, stepping between them. “That’s enough. Allona. Don’t you think you’ve gone a bit too far? Even adoptive parents are real parents.” Aloe pouts. “And Quin. Just because my daughter started it doesn’t mean you should join in with cutting remarks of your own.” Quin pouts. “Now. Why don’t you both apologize to each other, and then we can go see that wonderful chef for something sweet?”
“I’m sorry you’re such a brat and that you don’t know how to behave in someone else's home.”
“Quin! That is not a proper apology! Try again.”
“I’m sorry for saying you don’t know how to act,” Quin mutters.
“Better.” Zia Isa turns to Aloe. “Allona?” Aloe sticks her nose up at him, huffing in annoyance. Isa sighs. “Fine. Rosa, dear.”
“You called, my Lady?” Whoa. Where did Rosa come from?
“Will you keep Allona here and keep an eye on her? Quin and I are going to visit that lovely dwarven chef of yours.”
“Certainly, my Lady.”
Isa turns to him. “Come now, Quin. We have sweets to enjoy!” Quin nods, grabbing her hand and following her through the halls as Aloe starts another tantrum. Suits her right.
Quin falls asleep snuggled in his warm bed with Ser Ravey at his side and fond memories of his nameday. Today was a good day, even if it had a few hiccups along the way!