this is all of me for all the world to see; leliana

[magnus]

It hurt to see Leliana in so much pain and it caused a dull ache to form in his chest as he watched the unspilled tears in her eyes. He hated that he wasn’t able to protect her from this, that he wasn’t able to sooth this wound from her. His dark gaze turned to Dovev, drilling into him there, as if he could get the answers from him—but the thin stallion was breaking apart so quickly there was nothing for him to glean.

And then there was poor Atrani.

Her words caused him no small heartache and while part of him wanted to pull her close, to hold her and protect her from more pain, she was clearly strong enough to stand on her own, and he let her. He had no real claim to the child. She wasn’t his blood, and her mother was little more than a passing acquaintance. Still, he felt tied and bound. Somewhere within him, he believed that he owed Cerva, that he’d somehow done wrong by her. If he could do right by her in this, if he could do right by her daughter, then he would.

Dovev turned and left the group and it took everything within Magnus to not rage, to not storm after him and tell him what a coward he was being. This was his mess and instead of facing it, he was abandoning them—abandoning her. For a brief moment, Magnus’ hard face turned terrifying, the molten gold of his eyes simmering, his onyx lips turning into a hard line. Whatever pain Dovev felt, he should have bore it.

Instead, he simply turned tail—leaving Magnus with the woman and the child to care for.

Tears finally began to fall down Leliana’s cheeks and although she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out. Finally, she closed her lips, shook her pretty head and turned to the coast—to where her sister was, to where the water lapped against the shore. To where she would be able to grieve in quiet.

Magnus let her leave but his heart wrenched in his chest.

Forcing himself to draw a careful breath, he settled his gaze on Atrani, standing quietly there. He took a step forward and then paused, dropping his head to her level but leaving distance. “I’m not sure why your mother told you to come here.” He paused, considering. “I would soften this for you, but you have felt a lot of adult emotions today, and you deserve to know the truth, so I am going to be very honest.”

His voice was steady and quiet, whatever rage he had early felt compartmentalized for a later day.

“After all the kingdoms went away, and Beqanna granted our group Tephra, I found your mother and your father in the meadow.” He didn’t mention that Dovev had been but a child at the time, a child who had called her mother his own, because even though he was being honest, he didn’t want to be cruel.

“I told them about Tephra and invited them to it, but your father did not want to come.” He shrugged, although he knew she couldn’t see the motion. “I never fully understood why, but I think perhaps your father blamed me for some of your mother’s unhappiness—and perhaps he had a right to.”

Another pause as he studied her, made sure she was okay.

“A long time ago, I lived in a kingdom called Heaven’s Gates. I met your mother when she first arrived there, but I left shortly after. I had…fundamental disagreements with the King and he had exiled a close friend of mine.” His words were even despite the pain. “Your mother stayed behind. I should have looked out for her. I should have made sure she was okay.” Here the frustration leaked into his voice more and he took a moment to steady his breathing, to center his thoughts. “I should have done right by her, Atrani.”

And he should have. Even though he didn’t know the full story. Even though he didn’t understand the depth of Cerva’s pain or her loneliness, he knew that much. He knew that he could have done better.

“So, to be honest, I am not sure why she told you to come here, Atrani, but I can tell you that I am here to help you in whichever way you wish. If you want to return home, I will take you there. If you want to live here, I will look after and protect you. I will do my best by you.” He just had to hope that it was enough.

out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know
I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll

Leli left so it's just Mag and Atrani now, Aeris. <3

Totally up to you whether you want to have them continue, end the thread, start a new thread, etc. etc.