Doom Upon All The World

Chapter 17: Parental Disagreement

     Something had to be done. The chaos, the aggravation, the tense situation was making sleeping impossible. Their were too many people in one room for most of them. A few of the couples didn't have this problem of course. Bull and Dorian did just fine as they only had Octavia. Fenris and Hawke were alone and thus didn't need anything else. And Varric and Bianca seemed content taking up the rotunda. Though the thought of sleeping in a place were Solas and the Inquisitor had been physically intimate made him squeamish. Sleep seemed to elude them all with the close quarters they were suddenly living in. Nothing was done on their first day back at Skyhold.

     Leliana allowed everyone to sleep. But most of them couldn't. And that second night when sleep was expected and needed most fruitfully, they all had had enough. The children were hyper and excited to explore the new venue but the danger was too great and so they kept them within the walls. This of course only made it worse. At the end of the day the children passed out from exhaustion, all the running they did around the castle making them tired. In Nicolynn and Mythalus' case they fell asleep lying curled up between their parents. This didn't bother Maeve or Solas. They enjoyed having them close but they could not deny the growing headache.

     Tom came in a few times in attempt to get away from the kids but they only followed. They all had far too much energy to be bottled in the same place as the adults. New sleeping arrangements had to be made. Many spaces were considered but one in particular sounded like the most fitting. They corralled all of them up after lunch and took them to the gardens. Claude didn't understand why everyone had been gathered there. She hated being outside. It was dirty and disgraceful. She wanted so very much to be back at the estate in Antiva. She still didn't fully understand what was going on. They hadn't told them yet. The adults needed time to figure out what they were going to do and who they were up against.

     Nevertheless they knew the younglings would grow curious so they set them in garden at once to explain. They all sat on the stone benches perched around the statue of Andraste. Mythalus eyed it with confusion and suspicion. He didn't understand how this human deserved such a monument. There didn't look to be anything special about her. He assumed she could transform into some great beast and they built this statue to honor it. But then why would the statue be of her punier form? He pondered it as the others sat around him. Nicolynn was on one side of him, Anthony on the other. He looked to the human boy beside him. "Who is that?" Mythalus asked Anthony.

      He was human, surely he knew. Anthony took a moment to look over the monument. He didn't need to admire it to know who it was. He'd seen this same statue countless times. She was an idol, a prophetess in the eyes of the people and the Maker. "That is Andraste, bride of the Maker." He told the curious little Elf. He wondered how Mythalus did not know of the Maker, surely they taught it in every place of learning, not just in human ones.  Curiosity flared in Mythalus' eyes, expecting the dark haired boy to go on. "What does she do?" He asked when the young warrior didn't respond. His little voice was edged by the temperament of impatience.

      Anthony thought him somewhat odd. He looked just like his mother, all dark brown waves of hair, and vibrant emerald eyes, and pale freckled skin. But something in him, his wisdom, the hardness in his eyes, the wonderment in his tone, the subtlety of his smile, reminded him of Solas. He was exactly like his father in these ways. It made him wonder what Mythalus would be like when he was older. "Well, she doesn't really do anything anymore. She was killed by a Tevinter magister long before our time. I suppose she guides us in a way like the Maker does." Anthony claimed, pondering the idea himself. What does she do? Mythalus shook his head.

     "But before that? What could she do? Could she fly? Could she make herself into some magnificent creature?" Mythalus questioned. Anthony stared down at him in slight terror. He felt very claustrophobic at his sudden nearness. Mythalus waited excitedly for Anthony's  answer but he didn't know what to say. He wouldn't lie. Yet he didn't want to let the lad down. "Uh, no. Nothing of the sort but she was a prophetess. She spread the word of the Maker and performed his tasks as he bid her." Anthony tried to sound enthusiastic but the poor disappointed look on Mythalus' face told him he failed. His pointed ears seemed to droop. Anthony couldn't help but stare.