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Cassandra has not slept in thirty-two hours.
Rage keeps her eyes open, bubbling up her throat like a snake’s venom. Poised and ready to strike she bites her tongue when those who don’t deserve her harsh commentary check upon her.
Solas is the one who should be struck by her anger. Fangs dripping with vitriol for the wolf masquerading as a sheep dog - leading them blindly towards his cave instead of the farm house. She didn't know which aggrieved her more, the fact they all fell for his act or the fact Daine's heart fell hardest.
Recalling the rise and subsequent fall of her romantic dalliance with Solas makes Cassandra confront her joy at their separation and her shame from benefiting from an event that left Daine distressed. The way Solas played her like a lyre using the history of their people and Daine's thirst for knowledge up until his disappearance itched at Cassandra before she realized the true extent of her feelings for Daine.
Cassandra sits with her anger until it weighs upon her neck like a noose. Unbidden, an old mantra resurfaces in the back of her mind, 'Never trust a mage'.
A whimper in the dark breaks the silence.
Cassandra is ashamed.
Leaning over to dip a threadbare cloth in cool water, she hushes the pained noises spilling from Daine’s cracked lips. Her love stills beneath the damp touch, head listlessly following the sound of Cassandra’s voice. She mumbles something that Cassandra has a hard time making out, but falls back into the Fade as quickly as she’d been roused.
Perhaps she sensed the dark turn of Cassandra’s thoughts; the unfair prejudice she’d fought many years to overcome. Solas betrayed them, yes, but it had nothing to do with his magic. Like her own sword, magic is simply a tool which follows the path of its caster’s hand.
Daine herself had shown her the beauty of magic when she conjured butterflies instead of lightning bolts. One of their more romantic outings that still ended with Cassandra fighting off a bear.
Sliding back into her seat, Cassandra sighs letting the rag fall onto the ground in exhaustion. Soon Dorian will arrive to ply her with food as he checks on Daine’s arm - or lack thereof.
Her eyes dart to the linen-wrapped appendage, wincing at its sudden stop where Daine’s elbow used to be. Bile rises, frothing as it mixes with the toxin pooling in her mouth.
She will not give Solas another chance to hurt Daine; Cassandra will kill him first.
“If you glare any harder you’ll set the floor on fire.”
“That is your specialty Dorian, not mine.”
“You try sneezing mid-spell and see how accurate your aim is.”
Cassandra snorts, the first sound of levity the room has heard in days. She pretends not to see Dorian’s smirk, but her lips twitch in hopes of matching it. He’ll be insufferable about breaking her vigil, but if anyone has earned the right to be so, it is Dorian.
Vivienne is silent when she enters, gesturing to the servant behind her where to place the tray of food. Cassandra’s stomach growls and she glares down at it, betrayed.
“I am not hungry.”
Dorian opens his mouth to argue, but Vivienne waves her hand until he turns his attention to Daine. He grumbles under his breath, but that soon turns to concern as he examines his patient.
No one would ever accuse Vivienne of being soft, but there is a gentleness to the way she takes Cassandra’s hand in her own.
“My dear Cassandra, while your actions are understandable they are foolish in equal measure.”
Before she can defend herself, Vivienne continues, “wasting away won’t help her. She is going to need you at your strongest when she wakes.”
The silence is deafening and the bluster building in Cassandra’s chest is robbed of oxygen. Feeling like a child scolded she sniffles into her shoulder, a breach of etiquette that Vivienne graciously overlooks.
“You are right. I cannot fall to pieces now, I refuse to!”
Vivienne's nod radiates approval, but the moment is short lived when Leliana makes herself known. She cuts an imposing shadow in the doorway and the set of her mouth makes Cassandra stiffen in alarm.
"Josie is doing her best, but if Daine doesn't awake soon it will be out of my hands."
The air holds a new kind of tension, one that encases Cassandra's spine in stone. How dare those pompous, self-important, sycophants press their advantage when the heroine of Thedas recovers after saving their useless asses. Again.
It's enough to reignite Cassandra's ire.
As if sensing the brewing storm, Leliana positions herself in front of Cassandra's blade resting against the foot of Daine's bed.
"I know you'd love nothing more than to put them in their place. I have already put a stop to Iron Bull and Sera's attempts at subterfuge, but - " Leliana is cut off by Cassandra's sharp denial.
"You are wrong."
Cassandra feels the weight of their eyes on her as she reaches out to hold Daine's hand. Her thumb brushes gently over Daine's knuckles, catching on the tiny scar from when she was a child. The floor creaks outside the door from the shifting weight of those who refuse to leave Daine's side.
"The only thing I desire most in this world is for her to wake up."
If this were one of Varric's novels, Daine's eyes would fly open and they'd embrace promising never to let the other one go. Cassandra would cry, Daine would brush her tears away and they'd be left to comfort each other in peace while the Exalted Council entertained themselves.
Daine remains still long after Cassandra's words have faded into silence.
A warm cup is pressed into her empty hand and Cole's soft humming is the last thing Cassandra hears before she succumbs to the valerian root slipped into her tea. There are no dreams, no memories to relive in the soft darkness which embraces Cassandra.
The sun hangs low on the horizon when she finally wakes, tongue heavy and ears itchy from the concoction of herbs she unwittingly ingested. No longer sitting up, Cassandra realizes she is pleasantly warm and tucked into a familiar blanket she'd been staring at for what seemed like days. The scent of elfroot and cinnamon makes her eyes prickle with tears and Cassandra turns to hide her face in what she realizes is Daine's bare shoulder.
"You're not allowed to get made at them."
"They drugged me."
Daine's laugh is the sun after a fortnight of thunderstorms.
"You gave them no choice 'ma'lan."
Cassandra does not grumble into Daine's skin, no matter what she says to Dorian later. She does, however, press grateful kisses everywhere she can reach without putting additional pressure on Daine's recovering body. Their reunion is swiftly interrupted by a gaggle of familiar faces rushing to be the first ones in the door. Sera swears when she catches sight of Cole in the far right corner, having made himself comfortable while Cassandra slept. Any embarrassment at being caught in an intimate position is swiftly curtailed by Dorian smacking Varric with his staff before anything can be said.
Past anger makes room for joy and Cassandra's heart is light once again.