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[stabsbooks]

WHO: Cassandra Pentaghast and you
WHAT: Cassandra, in and around Skyhold
WHEN: First half of Drakonis, before the ball
WHERE: Various
NOTES: Does your character want to yell at Cassandra about Anders? About Galadriel? About her choices in general? Alternatively, do they want to celebrate her on a job well done and thank her for her vigilance in keeping Skyhold safe? Maybe try to finally get a straight answer about exactly what is going on? This is the place!

For timeline purposes: post-Anders announcement; before/in the midst of/after rifter interrogations; either pre-Galadriel's imprisonment or while she still languishes in the cells.

She might be found swinging angrily at the dummies in the yard, assisting Cullen in training what recruits they have, or nursing a large ale at the Herald's Rest. More than likely, she's dodging Vivienne and her endless preparations, instructions, and reminders for the ball. Wherever she is, Cassandra is likely not in the best of moods, and there is a certain righteous fire in her gaze whenever she is challenged. Leliana's words and the way she had looked at Cassandra still sting, but she does not regret what she has done.

Still, no one can possibly be angry all the time, right? Maybe you'll catch her on a good day...

Comments

For Aleron

[stabsbooks]

Despite all that had occurred in recent days, Cassandra has not forgotten her promise to Seeker Darton. He had wished to see the Divine's final writ, and she means to grant him that. It is the least she can do for him, in the wake of Justinia's death. To offer him some final peace, if she can.

It will be good to speak to him as well, she muses, in any case. It has been years since the boy she had known at Montsimmard, and she is curious to see the man he has become.

She sends him a short note inviting him to meet with her, and settles herself behind her desk, determined to at least try to make some progress in the seemingly perpetual stack of paperwork waiting for her.

[lifeofendurance]

Aleron climbs the stairs to the loft over the armory in a somber and reflective mood. There is no small amount of curiosity as to the woman Cassandra has grown to be. He has a few lingering memories of that period in his youth, another preteen cohort. An angry one. They were both of them angry in those years. She lashed out at anyone and anything; he pushed down those feelings to simmer in silence until he was an unemotional, unmovable wall. Professionally, she has done well for herself. Hailed as the Hero of Orlais, made the Right Hand of the Divine as a very young woman. How many dragons had she slain? He'd heard eight, or perhaps it was nine. Regardless, he expects to find a woman who is larger than life.

She is perhaps not quite the dreadfully imposing figure he'd expected after all. Aleron can see traces of the girl in the woman bent over paperwork. Same dark hair, intent fire in her eyes, profile of her face. She's actually quite beautiful though he's not the one to say such things aloud.

"Lady Pentaghast." He bows formally on reaching the top of the staircase, waiting to be invited to enter her workspace.

[stabsbooks]

Cassandra glances up immediately, pausing as she looks over Aleron. He has changed, of course. He has grown - grown into a man, and a fine figure of one, though the faintest trace of a smile touches her lips as she notes his eyes, still so blue, and the familiar, serious set of his jaw.

"Seeker Darton." She rises from her desk, gesturing somewhat impatiently for him to come in. She has never been one for ceremony, and certainly not with someone she once knew so well. "Please. I trust you have recovered from your journey?"

[lifeofendurance]

"I have, thank you. The view was magnificent. I'm surprised to learn that such a stronghold was nestled in the mountains." For all that Skyhold has sections in need of repair, it's in remarkable shape. How it came to be left unoccupied and forgotten about is a marvel. If only the circumstances prompting him to come had been different. If the world were not being turned upside down and torn apart. Alas.

He does come further in as beckoned. It's still awkward to reconnect with someone from so long ago, knowing she's a public figure and one to be both respected and admired. "Thank you for taking the time. I hope this isn't too much bother for you."

[stabsbooks]

"Of course not."

She hesitates awkwardly as she stands, still with her desk between them. Should she go around to meet him? Offer a hand to shake? Embrace him?...no, probably not that.

In the end, she stays where she is, and merely gestures to the chair before her desk.

"Please, sit down." She smiles as she does the same. "We were all surprised, but very grateful. I do not know where we would have gone, if - if not here." She does not speak of Solas, the name catching in her throat before she can voice it. There has been no sign of the apostate for months, and Cassandra is still caught between shock, anger, and a little lingering resentment at the way he had disappeared before Evelyn had even been laid to rest.

She smothers the thoughts, focusing instead on the Seeker before her. Solas is gone and she does not expect to see him again, but Aleron is here before her now. "Skyhold has been exactly what we needed."