Dragon Age One Shots

Daddy Solas

He paid no heed to the weight upon his shoulders, nor the feet smearing red sand across his chest. All of Solas' attention was upon the book before him.

At least it was until a small arm enveloped around his eyes. Somewhere behind his head, a tiny chest leaned tighter trying to inspect the words she couldn't possibly understand.

"I know that," the voice rang with certainty in the face of facts.

"Is that so?" Solas asked while tugging her arm higher so he could continue his studies.

"Uh huh. That's the tale of the beautiful princess." His daughter didn't waver for a moment. No, her tone was bold, her words stark, and her grip constricting. He'd often leave instructions for the librarians to come running should they hear him fall from his chair due to a lack of air.

Prying her tight fingers from his throat to the safer shoulders of his sweater, Solas asked, "What else does it say?"

"Can't you read it, Daddy?" her smart response bit back and even as he sighed internally at her obstinance he couldn't discount her wit.

Patting her back to make certain his little wren remained safe in her perch, Solas said, "You read it better, da'len."

That was enough, his daughter trying to lean closer. Solas pitched with her bringing his nose nearly to the table as she slowly told the tale in her imagination.

"The princess was beautiful, but stern. She wouldn't let any of her people have sweets for dinner."

"A most terrible tyrant," Solas interceeded.

"Daddy, shush! You're interrupting the story! 'One day she was walking through the forest and a spirit came upon her. 'What spirit are you?' she asked because she was too hard of heart to recognize it."

His daughter's hand slid lower, her fingers digging into the bridge of his nose. "'Why, I am compassion, my lady.' The princess was happy to hear this, 'And you have come to reward you for all of my good deeds.' 'No,' the spirit said. 'You have let your people starve, your crops rot, your rivers dry.'"

Solas' lips thinned at the macabre images his little girl spun. How much of his work did she overhear from her bed?

"The princess gasped, falling to her knees as she learned how bad she was. 'Spirit, what will you do to me?' The spirit took her hand and said, 'I will do what you cannot. I will teach you compassion so you may share it with the world.'"

As her lips stilled, Solas blinked away a tear in his eye, the certainty of her simple world striking deep. He patted his daughter's leg, wishing that a child's dreams were applicable to real life.

"Well," she asked, a hand to her hip. "Did I get it right?"

Tugging her off his shoulders, he placed his little wren upon the table. As her wide eyes beamed up at him, Solas bounced the tip of his pinkie against her nose. "You read it perfectly."