Chapter Text
Davrin knocked quietly on Isseya’s office door, hoping she was in there finished with her paperwork. He’d spent three weeks adjusting to life in Treviso and boredom was slowly starting to creep up on him daily. He was surprised Lucanis was letting Isseya work now she was in month six of pregnancy and it turned out they’d had a large argument about it and he’d conceded by letting her do office work only. “Teia still worked, plenty of women still work. I’m not special” she’d heatedly told him before spending two nights at her brothers house. Davrin heard a cue to go in and he’d barely opened the door before Assan bounded in for fuss from his favourite person.
“Hey you two! Assan I have no treats left in here, you’ve eaten them all!”
“He’s been pacing outside your door for about ten minutes, I think he just wants to sit with you. Protection is his job after all.”
“Then he can come in whenever he wants!”
“You might come to regret that you know.”
“Oh I doubt it. I’ve finished my paperwork for the day though, wanna get some fresh air?”
“Absolutely, as nice as your house is I could really do with seeing literally anything else.”
“Well I’ve gotta drop some contracts off to Viago for our house after I’ve passed Lucanis his for this house. Lunch?”
“How did I know you’d suggest food? I’ll go get my boots on. Assan, come!”
The Griffon squawked and looked up at Isseya, choosing to stay by her side. Davrin laughed and shook his head as he left the office and continued down the corridor to his room. Isseya, and Assan, knocked on Lucanis’ door opposite and went in as soon as he called them. Assan excitedly ran to the grinning Crow in front of him and immediately dropped to the floor for belly rubs.
“Don’t let Davrin see you doing that, you’ll ruin all his hard work.”
“Well Darkspawn aren’t a thing anymore so I’m sure he’s allowed a fuss. Are those all the new contracts you’ve accepted?”
“Yes my love. There’s some for the Fledglings to try, breaking and entering to plant some documents. One for you, there’s a slave trader pestering some Dalish clans in Arlathan. The rest can be picked up by whoever wants them.”
“Fucking slavers, I rank them third on the worst list. Behind Venatori and Antaam.”
“I’d say they belong there, scumbags. Davrin and I are going to go for lunch after I take Vi his contracts, are you coming or are you going straight to Arlathan?”
“This contract won’t take me long, the slaver has been very sloppy in covering his tracks. I’ll go straight to Arlathan, if I’m not home by dinner then assume I am staying with Bellara.”
“I love you, be safe.”
She leant across the desk and kissed him deeply as Davrin cleared his throat at the door, indicating he was ready to leave. One final quick peck to Lucanis’ cheek and Isseya left the office, with a feathery shadow in tow, and followed Davrin downstairs.
The air outside was warm as the two of them wandered over the bridge to Viago’s house. The sun was high in the sky, enveloping the whole of Treviso in bright rays. The sky was cloudless and a beautiful shade of blue, something Davrin still wasn’t taking for granted with the amount of time he’d spent in the Fade staring at its green hued attempt of a sky much like the Lighthouse had. Isseya knocked on Viago’s front door and was greeted by Teia instead. The house was strangely silent and she looked sleepy.
“Hey sis, everything ok?”
“Oh yeah, we’re fine. Mariposa has had a bit of an illness so we haven’t slept much. Are those contracts for Viago?”
“Yes they are, pass them to him directly. His Guildmaster already overlooked some of them once, good money in most of them.”
“I’d invite you both in but the last thing I’d want is for Mari to make you sick.”
“Oh that’s ok, we’re gonna go for lunch anyway. Want me to bring anything back from the market for you? Anything from the healer for Mari?”
“The pantry was restocked this morning but thank you for offering, you sweet thing. If Mari is feeling ok in the next day or two we’ll come over and hang out.”
“Well I hope she does feel well soon, and that it hasn’t spread to Viago. I feel a sick baby would be easier to deal with than him.”
“He’s probably going to get sick but she won’t settle on me for whatever reason. He already said he’d take one for the team and look after her as much as he could.”
“Is this the same man that had some sort of breakdown about becoming a father?”
“The one and only.”
“Mariposa is a very lucky little girl and you are a very lucky woman. We’ll leave you to get some more sleep but don’t hesitate to send a Fledgling to find us if you need anything.”
Teia leaned out of the door and hugged Isseya as tight as she dared before quietly retreating back behind the large wooden door. Davrin led the return over the bridge and out of the front gates of Villa Dellamorte for a slightly quicker journey into the central area of Treviso to find a nice café for lunch.
*****
Lucanis stalked through the bushes of the area of Arlathan Forest he found himself in, tailing a Venatori slaver. When he’d read the contract he couldn’t believe his luck on the intel that had been captured. The slaver had brazenly been trying to take people out in the open without a care who saw him. Spite was on the opposite side of the path giving him perspective from the left hand side. Lucanis read the contract intel one more time, trying to decipher if it was a trap or if the Venatori truly were that desperate to cling to what little power they had left. Spite climbed back into their body and stopped Lucanis from walking as the slaver in question sat at a camp in front of them. There was three large cages behind his tent and one of them had a small family of Dalish elves, frightened beyond belief, cowering in the corner as far from where the man was sat as they could get. Spite howled with rage at the base of his skull but knew that Lucanis stayed still for a reason. He was calculating his plan and was watching for any weakness the man may have. He was older than expected, in his fifties perhaps. He didn’t look like a Mage but Lucanis always took an extra moment to check when it came to Venatori targets. No staff was obvious, nor was any orb or mage knife. A large sword sat propped against a tree next to where he was sat, polishing a smaller dagger.
“Do you see anything else, Spite?”
“Too. Open. Too easy.”
“Hmm, I thought so too. I’m going to double back and use that ledge above his tent and the cages. Can you get us up there quietly?”
“Sometimes. You ask Spite. To do. Things. That are. Too simple.”
“I’m just being polite and not assuming!”
“Oh. You show. Spite. Humility. Spite is. Sorry.”
Lucanis crouched down to minimise his footsteps and turned around to head the way they’d came. He’d spotted a rock face a few feet back that would be easy for Spite to launch them up to for a higher vantage point. Something was sitting in his gut about this whole thing being a trap, Spite was right about it being too easy. He’d had plenty of “easy” contracts over the years but this felt off. He started to climb the rock face and Spite used his wings to fly them both higher.
The higher angle gave him a much better view of the slavers camp and the surrounding area. The non occupied cages were dummies with no doors or wheels on them. Runes were scattered around the two entrance areas to the grove, presumably with some sort of elemental traps attached to them. Not a mage, Lucanis decided. He scanned the area above should he decide to go in from the top and found… nothing.
“He’s baiting us to come in from above, isn’t he?”
“He has. Done his. Research. Wants you.”
“Mmm, I feared that. Who even is he? The name is not familiar to me.”
“He is. Nobody. To us. Not right. Now anyway. Go in. from. The top. Give him what he. Wants. He won’t. survive.”
“That is the only sure thing about this.”
Spite spread their wings as Lucanis jumped on top of one of the empty cages and eventually into the middle of the camp. The slaver merely smiled and looked up at him, placing the dagger he was polishing back in it’s sheath. He stood up and closed the gap between himself and Lucanis, standing tall over him. He might’ve been in his fifties but he was still well muscled and height alone had Lucanis feeling uneasy.
“Cario Vitus, a pleasure to meet you Signore Dellamorte.” The man offered his hand out.
“I don’t usually take much pleasure in meeting Venatori, let alone slavers.”
“I thought that might be the case but I want to tell you I have taken the contract out on my own life, purely to meet you.”
“To… meet me? I’m not doing an autograph.”
“If I requested an audience with you, it would be declined. You have no business with me, after all.”
“But you have taken a contract out on yourself to make business with me?”
“No, I intend to atone for my younger self’s actions.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Are all Venatori this cryptic? I’ve never had one in front of me alive long enough to know.”
“Take a seat, Signore. I’ll tell you once your wife turns up.”
“Oh I don’t fucking think so. She is NOT going to come anywhere near here.”
Lucanis paced back and forth as Cario pressed a rune to take down the illusion of the Dalish family in the cage. The slaver simply sat down and poured himself a tea appearing to wait the arrival of Rook. Spite had wandered down the path as far as his tether to Lucanis’ energy could let him and was greeted with Rook, Davrin and Assan trudging up the path. At least the Warden and Griffon were with her.
“Bellara? Irelin? I’ve got the supplies you said you needed urgently. Davrin is here too!”
“ISS! NO!”
“Lucanis?”
Davrin pushed himself in front of Isseya and took the full brunt of one of the ice traps from the runes on the floor. Assan flattened his ears and instantly went into attack mode, looking for any sort of target to protect Isseya from.
“Oh I do love it when a plan comes together. Cario Vitus, a pleasure to meet you Signora Dellamorte.”
“What do you mean pleasure!? You just tried to capture me in an ice trap after luring me here under the pretence of a letter from my friends!”
“No, my ice trap captured precisely who I needed it to. This conversation is for the three of us, and that creature next to you I guess.”
Cario moved out of the way and allowed Isseya to rush to Lucanis’ side, Assan in tow. Lucanis ran his hands all over her to make sure she was ok. Every pass of his hand down her bump rewarded him with a kick from their daughter. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the ripples and pressed a kiss to her forehead before turning back to the Venatori next to them.
“You may speak now, Vitus. If I don’t like what you have to say, I will fulfil your contract. Understood?”
“I want you to fulfil it regardless. I told you I was here to atone for my previous actions.”
“What does that have to do with me and my wife? You just knowingly endangered her and our baby just to have a chat?”
“She was never in any danger, nor was your baby. Please, sit down so I can begin. I’d offer you both some tea but I know you won’t drink it.”
Isseya sat down on the log behind her but Lucanis remained standing, pacing back and forth slightly as Spite settled himself next to Assan and his Rook.
“I have served the Venatori for most of my adult life. The entire time has been spent capturing, enslaving or murdering Dalish. I see your wincing, this is relevant don’t worry. Twenty nine years ago I stumbled upon a Clan I had never met before. I spent a few weeks observing them before making my move. Most of the clan were weak, died before I could even capture them to sell. The last couple left were reluctant to even leave their tent, highly unusual but it made my job easier. I entered their home to find the man’s wife actively in labour with their first child.”
Isseya clutched Lucanis’ hand, her chest feeling tighter the more Cario spoke.
“The only time I have ever abandoned my principles or my job was to help that sweet woman give birth. A beautiful baby girl, healthy, wailing the place down. The elven woman was weary and exhausted from the strain, her husband was begging me to help in any way I could. She’d lost an awful lot of blood and I wasn’t really sure what to do. I ended lives, not saved them.”
Isseya was now crying, borderline breaking Lucanis’ hand with how hard she was holding it. Her sobs echoed through the glade as Lucanis held her close. Even Spite had died down in his mind, seemingly also knowing what Vitus was talking about.
“I found plenty of elfroot and I had some bandaging in my pack but sadly the blood loss was too great and she passed not long after the birth. I helped her husband with the baby and I helped him prepare her body for funeral rites and allowed him time to mourn. I spent a whole month with him, sharing baby caring duties and hunting for food. He has stuck with me my entire life. I’ll never forget seeing his lifeless body after a wolf got him before I could help. Only twice have I had my heart broken, that was one of them. I remembered the rites he’d given his wife and bestowed him the same honour. They’re buried in that cave behind you. Loren and Elaris. I didn’t know your mother beyond those few moments after your arrival but your father was a wonderful man.”
Isseya wailed almost falling off the log under the weight of her sobs mixed with the words that Cario was saying. The warrior simply sat opposite her and looked at her with sadness in his eyes.
“I remember when I looked into those purple eyes for the first time, I was blown away. Your father said it meant you were destined for greatness, how right he was. He never actually gave you a name in the time he had you in his care. He wanted to name you for your mother but it caused him immense heartbreak and as he had no Keeper to help, nameless you ended up. I was left in a Forest with no help and a month old baby I had no business with but what I also had was a promise to your father. That is what I need to atone for. That is what has eaten away at me for the past twenty nine years. I promised him before he headed off to hunt that if anything happened to him while he was gone, I was to look after you and raise you as well as I could.”
Isseya looked up at him still sobbing uncontrollably and still holding on to Lucanis for dear life. He looked back at her directly into her eyes and also started to cry. Both Lucanis and Spite thought this was a story about how Cario killed her parents but even their hearts felt heavy listening to his words.
“I did try, I really did. I had you with me for another month as I trekked back to any form of civilisation. I thought about heading home to Vyrantium but I knew I’d be immediately arrested or killed with you thrown into some dilapidated orphanage to eventually end up a slave. I thought of Nevarra with their bright outlook on families being made up of all sorts of people. I got as south out of the forest as Minarginta and had the choice of east or west. Antiva City was a closer walk and at least you’d have more of a chance of freedom in Antiva. It took me a few days of hiding in Inns and abandoned buildings but I eventually found my destination. I spent a few days people watching in café’s to find a suitable doorstep to leave you on, I was not putting you in an orphanage. Your mother was a beautiful woman, often meeting the King in the same café with a small boy. The resemblance between the boy and the King was undeniable and I knew then I’d found the perfect person. I tailed her back, wrapped you up nice and tight before I left you and knocked on the door. I watched her read the letter I’d left, signing it as an anonymous Elf and I watched her reaction when she called her husband and son over. Your brother was very excited, it made me laugh a little bit. He wasn’t even bothered about your ears. Your father was a different story, he just stormed off but I still felt happy with my decision.”
Isseya had calmed down a touch now, even relaxed her hand on Lucanis’. Davrin had defrosted and heard most of the story so he remained quiet, holding her other hand. All of the tension in Lucanis had dissolved and he listened with intent.
“I made many trips to Antiva City over the years to see how you were getting on. I loved watching you chase your brother around the streets, around your courtyard, anywhere you could. It took a few visits to realise your father was an absolute piece of shit but I couldn’t intervene unless absolutely necessary. I eventually managed to do so when your brother was passing his Crow graduation and needed a high level first target. I went to the King under the pretence of being an advisor from the House he’d been assigned to and told him about the abuse his former lover had been enduring. It incensed him enough that he assigned the contract to Viago and well, the rest is history. You moved to Salle not long after that and I was still on the run from my former bosses. They’re all dead now and I have been free from the Venatori for the past ten years. You’ll probably be happy to know I have killed hundreds of my former colleagues and rescued probably thousands of people being sold for slavery. I know it does not make up for any of the bad things I’ve done but I felt like I owed the Dalish something back.”
He let out a long shaky breath, as if he expected some sort of immediate attack but nothing came. Silence hung over the glade like a thick, heavy fog. The only sound cutting through was the gentle sobs from Isseya and surprisingly Davrin. Cario sat with his head in his hands as if it was holding what was left of himself together.
The first person to move was Isseya herself, she stood up slowly and closed the gap between her seat and Cario’s. She knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his leg gently. He opened his eyes and looked down into her purple gaze, still wet with tears. His lip trembled as he took in her features up close, smiling as he had flashbacks to the few moments he had with Elaris before she died.
“I forgive you.”
“You… You… I’m sorry…”
“I forgive you, Cario. Most of my life before I left for Salle I was so convinced someone was watching out for me and you’ve now given me an answer to that. You could’ve killed my father but you chose to stay and help him care for me in his grief, you buried him with respect and you did what you had to for me to survive. I won’t allow Lucanis to fulfil your contract.”
“I have spent almost thirty years doing the opposite of everything I was trained to do. Every day I have thought about this conversation and how it would play out and it never went this way.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance. Thirty years of killing your peers, bosses, probably your friends, freeing people to live their lives as they choose. That is the most honourable thing you could’ve done. I know my father would’ve been proud of that.”
“In the short time we had caring for you, he taught me so much about your culture, your lives, everything elves had been through. I just wish I could’ve found somewhere to settle and raise you.”
“Despite Marco being, as you described, an absolute piece of shit; I wouldn’t change anything.”
Cario released his head from his hands and held Isseya’s on his lap, the two of them crying almost in sync. They stood up and Isseya allowed Cario to hold her in a close hug in the middle of the glade.
Lucanis quietly rose from his seat and entered the shallow cave behind him, seeing two gravestones set at the back. Fresh flowers adorned both plots and they were free from weeds, something that had clearly been done recently. He knelt down and stroked both stones gently, feeling Spite step out and watch him. All Isseya had ever known was her parents died after giving her away and now she had the truth. She had two parents who would’ve loved her endlessly. He heard her enter the cave alone behind him so he stood up and turned to watch her walk up to where he was stood.
“Fresh flowers… someone’s been taking care of them.”
“I suspect he’s sat outside. Are you ok, amor?”
“It’s… a lot. My hormones aren’t helping, I’ll probably be crying all week at this rate.”
Lucanis wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She sniffled beneath him and leant back to be as close as she could.
“I should bring some of Caterina’s roses here, they deserve such beauty.”
“I wish I could’ve known them. It’s not that I don’t love Mamma and Viago but these two gave me my life, the very breath in my lungs. I carry our daughter because of them.”
She turned around in his arms and pressed her face into his leathers to cry again. The weight of Cario’s story still sitting heavily on her. Lucanis let her sob as much as she needed to, maintaining his eye contact with the two graves behind him. Spite stood on the other side of his Rook, pressing as much of his incorporeal form into her as much as he could.
“Let’s make a memorial to them in the Villa gardens. I’ll send one of the landscapers to make sketches of the graves and we can recreate them?”
“Oh! That’s a wonderful idea. I’d really like that.”
“You know, we haven’t really thought about a name for the little one. I’m just trying to lighten the mood, you can also tell me to fuck off.”
Isseya giggled and looked up into his dark brown eyes, a familiar cold tingle settling on her neck as Spite’s head moved with hers. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and pulled her back into the soothing hug.
“Do you know what your mothers name means? We could always use it as a middle name.”
“It means light of the moon. It’s quite beautiful really. We could use your mother’s name for her middle name, and maybe Caterina’s? Go full Antivan and give her a million names.”
“Elaris Teresa Caterina Dellamorte de Riva. A perfectly large mouthful. I thought Viago and Teia were bad for Mariposa’s full name.”
“Well we wouldn’t use the full name for anything except for formal occasions.”
“Elaris Dellamorte de Riva. Our light of the moon.”
“Oh Luc… it’s perfect. The connection I never knew I needed.”
“Do you want me to rescind Cario’s contract? I don’t think I can kill him after all that. He has more than atoned in my eyes.”
“Yes, I do want you to rescind it and I also want to take him back to the Villa with us. I have a lot more questions and I’m getting a bit tired.”
“As you wish, amor.”
They both pressed a kiss to the stones and exited the cave to where Davrin and Cario were sat swapping battle stories. Assan was happily rolling around in a patch of grass at the front of the glade swatting at bugs with his tail. Lucanis patted Cario’s shoulder and offered a hand out, the older man smiled and shook it as Isseya ripped up the contract behind him.
“You two show an old man too much kindness. Do you want me to mark this glade on your maps?”
“I did it whilst you were talking earlier, but thank you. Cario would you like to come to Villa Dellamorte with us? Iss has a lot more questions and I’d like to show hospitality to the man who saved her life.”
“I would like that, thank you. I’ve spent my ten years of freedom moving from place to place out of fear but everyone in the ranks who knew me is now dead. You have nothing to worry about with your security.”
Lucanis nodded and took Isseya’s hand to help her back off the log to exit the glade. Davrin called Assan to his side and took the rear point with Cario just behind him. The four of them made their way to the Veil Jumpers Eluvian to head straight back to Treviso to get some rest.
*****
Isseya woke up much earlier than Lucanis the following morning, her head still swimming with thoughts of her parents. She sat on the balcony overlooking the gardens wrapped in a large blanket, absent mindedly stroking her bump. Tears threatened her as the weight of her mother dying while giving birth to her really settled in. She was already scared and worried about her pregnancy and birth and hearing Cario tell her what happened, didn’t help her spiralling thoughts. She knew deep down she’d be fine, Lucanis had more than enough money for the finest healers and Vittoria had never lost anyone she’d helped during birth. A strong wake of kicks followed one of her strokes and she smiled at the sensation of the growing life beneath her hand. Getting the life in there had been an emotional task with a considerable amount of failed attempts but that felt like a distant memory now it was over halfway complete. Isseya felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she felt someone join her on the balcony.
“I didn’t think it would take you long to find me, Spite. Are you two ok?”
“Little man. dreams of you. Dreams of. The night. The moon.”
“We picked a name for the baby, my mothers name meant light of the moon.”
“He dreams of. Long brown hair. Warm cuddles. Stolen. Treats. Soft kisses at night. He sees. It taken. From him. He feels. Sadness. Spite feels. Sorry. Wants to comfort.”
“He dreams of his own mother, Spite. She was taken in a way far crueller than my own mother was.”
“You call. Poison man’s. mamma. The same. Is she. Not yours?”
“No, my sweet. She adopted me and raised me. Cario left me on her doorstep because he had a good feeling about her. She is my Mamma, she always will be.”
“Tall man. has. So much. Sadness. Loneliness. He spoke the. Truth. Spite knows. He did. Spite could feel. All of. His. Hurt. It was. Dark. Is Rook. Ok?”
“Oh honey, I am fine. Thank you. Do you want me to come back to bed?”
“YES.”
She laughed and rose from the bench and followed him back inside. He was much more gentle these days now her bump was the most prominent part of her. He often yelled at anyone who got too close when they weren’t supposed to. His determination to protect her no matter what fuelled his daily tasks and made Lucanis’ life a lot more peaceful. If he wasn’t resting in his hosts mind, he was floating around wherever his Rook was. Nobody could see or feel him but it would never deter him from his favourite job.
Spite got back in the bed stiffly as he always did and Isseya curled up into him, letting him pet her hair carefully. He’d once accidentally knotted a small section together and it took Teia almost two hours to untangle it. He’d been more than upset with himself and didn’t speak to anyone for two whole days until Rook explicitly said she wasn’t mad at him. Isseya felt her eyes getting heavy once more and drifted off to sleep under Spite’s gentle movements. He felt more than pleased with himself but also knew not to wake Lucanis while it was still so early.
Down the corridor Cario Vitus was also struggling to stay asleep. He’d replayed the previous day’s conversations in his head thousands of times and no matter how hard he’d tried they’d never been positive. He’d had Lucanis kill him in many gruesome ways, he’d had Isseya slap and scream at him, hell he’d even had Viago lacing his drinks with some sort of poison. He’d never even allowed a positive thought about meeting back up with the sweet baby elf he’d once left, no, abandoned on a doorstep. He rose from the all too plush bed and stood on the balcony to the room he’d been graciously given and looked out across Treviso. Seeing the sun rising behind the spires of the grand buildings, the orange glow in the canal and the noise of birds already dancing overhead gave him peace he hadn’t had since he’d been a boy. Going east on the day he decided to find Isseya a better home had been the single easiest decision of his life.