Sisters of Tevinter

Always Something

     Kaisen fell asleep, Jor wasn't sure when, lying next to the scholar and curled on her side. Her flaming hair lay in wisps across her face. How this world had changed her... She used to feel safe enough, confident enough to lay on her back in the castle at home. It was Jor who feared the dark, protecting her innards and plethora of stuffed animals when she laid down to rest.

      Kaisen's hand was relaxed, resting near her head. Jor looked at her for a moment as Bull and Krem teased each other and sipped their tea. The scholar pulled her scarf from her neck and unwound its layers of green cloth. She draped it gently over Kaisen's side. 

       The sudden silence made her look up. Bull was watching her. As she caught his gaze, he smiled. "I can only assume siblings are a joy."

        Jor blew out a long, shallow breath. "Family is family. There's always something."

         "Something good?" 

        "Rarely." 

         Krem made a soft noise of agreement. Jor smiled at him slightly. "You have siblings?" 

         "...Not anymore." 

         Jor nodded slowly. 

        Bull poked the mercenary's cheek, smushing the skin endearingly. "But you do have family." 

        Krem scoffed, swallowing a grin as he caught the qunari's huge wrist. "Not for long if you keep that up."

         The scholar laughed softly, pulling her knees to her chest and smothering a yawn. It was nice to see something so familiar again. A kind of playfulness despite the situation, the mourning, the wounds and demons and everything else. People were strange. Jor had missed it. She thought suddenly of her elder brother and closed her eyes. 

          Maxwell would kill me if he knew where I was. What I was doing. 

          The thought made her lips twitch upward. Stupid bastard. He'd disappeared long ago, along with Jor's father on an escort for some kind of merchant caravan. This was years ago. Six... seven... 

          Seven. Kaisen left a few months after her brother's disappearance. Certainly that had factored into her decision. Even now, the unknown, the stubborn hope that Max was alive somewhere, made Jor's gut squirm. 

           He's dead, she reminded herself quietly. Yet the nausea persisted. 

            "You two should get some shut eye." Bull stood up. "I'll take the watch." 

          Jor looked up. "Are you sure?" 

          "Yeah." He glanced down at Krem, whose weary gaze was amused. 

         "Alright. Wake me in a few hours. Three?" Jor looked to the qunari, wanting to sound insistent. She had yet to take watch for her companions. It was time to start.

          "Sure, boss." Bull smiled and turned to stride towards Cassandra, who was standing at the edge of the tree line, alert and vigilant. 

           Krem laid down on his back, folding his hands over his chest plate. "Goodnight, your worship." The title was more teasing now. 

           Jor smiled, settling on her side to face the trees, her back to Kaisen. "Goodnight, Krem."

           Jormungandr dreamt of home. 

            She was twelve again, sitting in bed with a stuffed bear in her lap. "I just don't think mother is happy. I couldn't tell her the name of that city again. I always forget." She gathered the brown cotton creature to her chest, its sad button eyes looking up at her in sympathy.