Growing Up the Hard Way. Again.

Chapter 3

Not long after the sun had risen above the horizon the majority of the Inner Circle were meeting for breakfast, once again eagerly awaiting the presence of the Spymaster and their young leader. After the incident that occurred last time, the initial plan was for Varric to greet Quinton considering the child's apparent affections towards him, and for Solas, Sera and Iron Bull to stand closer to the back so as to avoid another bout of insults.

Even Iron Bull hadn't finished his breakfast when Leliana ran into the room, eyes wide and face sightly pale. Immediately everyone rose from their seats, abandoning their meals and headed towards the uncharacteristically shaken Spymaster.

"Leliana? What's wrong?" Cullen asked, reaching out the grab her arm once she was in reach.

"I can't find him!" She said, eyes dark a frown settling onto her forehead.

"What do you mean you can't find him?" Vivienne asked, face deeply set in worry. Leliana turned to her in annoyance.

"Exactly what it sounds like. I woke this morning and he wasn't there." She explained, turning back to the majority of the Inner Circle.

"Everyone spread out and search the whole of Skyhold. Send a message out the moment he is discovered." Cullen ordered, turning around and jogging towards the Inquisitor's quarters. The rest of the Inner Circle scattered, Dorian heading to the library, Sera to the smithy, Iron Bull to the pub and Cassandra to the armoury. It was Blackwall who found him, not long after the search had begun. Near the kitchens in the lower level where numerous unused rooms full of old tapestries and dusty old books rested, mostly undisturbed. It was under a cobweb covered desk in one of these rooms that Blackwall found the shivering figure of the missing child. Heading back to the kitchen, Blackwall sent the message detailing Quinton's location to the rest of the group before sliding quietly into the room once more. He could hear the tell-tale hitch of Quinton's breathing when the child noticed his presence.

"Quinton?" Blackwall asked, slowly sliding to the floor by the door. From that angle he could see Quinton's bare, and horrifyingly, bloodied feet and not much else sticking out from behind the desk. Another hitch in his breathing as Blackwall's voice filled the room filled the warrior with a strange feeling of dread.

"My name's Blackwall. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." He said, slowly moving to the side until he could face Quinton. His face tensed in anger at the site. Quinton looked to be seven years old and was almost completely covered with some form of injury. His face was black and blue with cuts sporadically covering the area. What little he could see of Quinton's arms through the rips in his ragged shirt were grimy and dirty, no doubt covering more injuries.

"Quinton?" Blackwall pressed again as Cullen appeared at the door. Blackwall held a hand up as Cullen opened his mouth to speak, freezing the commander in his place.

"My friends and I are here to help you, I promise." Blackwall continued almost sighing in relief when Quinton began to relax slightly.

"You-you won't hurt me?" Quinton asked, voice quiet and rough as if he hadn't spoken in days.

"I won't touch you at all if you don't want me to." Blackwall confirmed, looking up to see most of the Inner Circle crowded around the doorway.

"Okay," Quinton said again, shifting slightly in his position.

"Do you want to move out here?" Blackwall asked. "We could clean you up a bit." He offered. Quinton nodded furiously, almost scrambling in his haste to move over to Blackwall. He froze the moment he caught sight of the crowd at the door, shifting his body slightly to hide behind the warrior.

"Are you going to hurt me?" He asked them, peeking out from behind Blackwall's leg slightly. When numerous looks of fury visibly crossed some of their faces he jerked behind Blackwall once more, his body beginning to shake. Blackwall quickly made a shooing motion with his hand, and fortunately Cullen and Josephine got the message, shepherding the group away from Quinton.

"I promised you we would help you remember? There won't come near you if you don't want them too," Blackwall said, turning around to face the cowering child.

"They were angry at me." Quinton said, voice shaking as tears pooled in his eyes. "They always hurt me when they're angry at me." He said desolately, his voice turning somewhat desperate. Blackwall's eyes widened.

"Who hurts you? Quinton?" He asked, leaning forward. Quinton turned his head to the side, shrinking his body back into a defensive stance. Blackwall sighed, gently placing his hand on Quinton's arm.

"I promise, they weren't angry at you. They just mad that you got hurt." Blackwall explain, gently pushing the boy forward.

"Come on. You wanted a wash did you not?" He asked, leading the way out of the room. He could hear the sound of small footsteps following him, so he led the longer but quieter way through the fortress to the bathing area which was fortunately empty. Mostly underground, the room had no permanent roof, letting the sunlight in to reflect off the water surface which covered the majority of the floor, growing deeper the further in. Quinton almost tripped over numerous times in his haste to undress and climb into a bath that looked more like a hot spring that an actual bath. Heated water was constantly poured in from a small waterfall at the other side of the room. Blackwall sighed as Quinton dived into the water, scrubbing aggressively at his skin. It was going to be one hell of an interrogation finding out what happened to him. He decided to start out easy.

"How old are you Quinton?" He asked, leaning against the wall at the entrance to prevent any potential bathers from disturbing the bathing child.

"Seven," Quinton responded hesitantly. "And a half," he added quickly, rubbing at some residual dirt on his upper arm.

"Why were you so scared earlier?" Blackwall asked next. Quinton frowned slightly.

"I thought you were one of them. I thought you all were one of them." He said refocusing his washing attempts as he realised that what he thought was dirt was actually a bruise.

"One of who?" Blackwall asked gently, aware this question caused Quinton to close down last time. He was silent, waiting patiently for an answer.

"They abducted me a few weeks ago. I don't really know who they are." Quinton said finally.

"Did they tell you what they wanted?" He continued cautiously, eyes sharply watching Quinton for any sense of emotional distress. Quinton shrugged.

"Money. Same as usual." He said, tone blank. Blackwall blinked in surprise.

"This happens often?" Blackwall asked, his confusion overcoming his interrogation. Quinton stared at him, backing away slightly when her realised how close he was to the man.

"I'm the youngest child of a rich and influential noble family." He said in explanation, his tone as close to condescending as a child in his position could get to. Blackwall stood up with a small sigh.

"I'm going to go get you a change of clothes; will you be okay here on your own? No-one will bother you in here, promise." Black said, staying in place as Quinton gave him a small glance and paused in his frantic scrubbing.

"Don't take too long," Quinton pleaded quietly, turning away from Blackwall. The swordsman never ran so fast in his life. He was back with a shirt a pants as close to Quinton's size as possible. When he returned to the pool, Quinton was mostly clean, only serving to show a horrifying amount of scars and bruises covering his body.

"I'm back," Blackwall said quietly, wincing when the child almost jumped out of his skin. His absence hadn't done any good for Quinton's emotions it would seem.

"You came back," Quinton said, some form of awe entering his voice as he reached for a nearby towel. Blackwall frowned.

"Of course I came back." He said, looking away to let Quinton get dressed.

"The nice ones never come back," the boy said quietly, letting the towel drop to the floor as he walked over to Blackwall, keeping a careful distance between them. Blackwall stayed quiet at that statement as he led Quinton from the room.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, turning to look behind him. Quinton shook his head violently.

"I just…" He trailed off awkwardly, looking to the side.

"What is it?" Blackwall asked, pausing to allow the child to catch up to him.

"I'm really tired," Quinton blurted out. "Can I sleep, please?" He asked, almost desperately. Blackwall nodded quickly.

"Yes, of course. I'll take you to my room, okay?" He offered, changing direction to take some of the less travelled halls to his room. His eyes caught Leliana's as he passed by the kitchen and he mouthed what was going on. She gave him a nod and turned back to where she was berating the cook. Before long, Blackwall was pushing open the door to his room, letting Quinton walk in first. His room was on the small side, as he didn't use it often. He preferred the space he had made above the barn rather than his official room. Quinton hesitated once inside the room and Blackwall pulled the covers back quickly and stepping back.

"I'll be outside the door. I won't move." He promised, heading towards the small window. Quinton nodded, a small smile crossing his face as he climbed into the large bed and curled into a ball under the blankets and furs. Blackwall quickly pulled the piece of cloth that acted as curtains over the window and headed out the door. He was unsurprised to find the majority of the inner circle waiting for him as he closed the door softly behind him.

"Well?" Cassandra asked, her worry making her tone more brusque than usual. Blackwall sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"This spell is going to be hard on all of us."

Well. It's been a while. Honestly I kind of lost interest in these stories for a while after I finished the game. Then I went off to university, where I now live most of the time on campus, so I haven't been able to play it. Now I REALLY want to play it again, so my interest has been revived in an extremely annoying way. There should be 7 more chapters to go :). Hope you enjoyed.