The paper was heavy in her hands. The weight of Blackwall's words made her whole body tense. Maeve stomped out of the barn, pushing past the messenger.
The training dummy shook with every blow. The raw emotion increased with each strike. Control had fled her mind, only the raw betrayal. "I think he's had enough, don't you think?"
Maeve couldn't look at the Inquisitor knowing full well how unhinged she probably looked. "I take it Leliana told you."
"We have a lead on where he may be. There's an execution in Val Royeaux, but I'm not sure what the connection is. Did he…mention anything to you?"
Maeve rounded on him. "What do you fucking think, Inquisitor?"
"I…I'm sorry, Mae. I'd like you to join us in Orlais. We need to get to the bottom of this. He must have a good reason, right?"
She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "He better have a good reason," she grumbled. "I need a drink first."
"We're drinking? Better make it two!" The Iron Bull called over from training with Krem nearby.
Val Royeaux's Summer Bazaar was grey and bleak, perfect for a hanging. The Inquisitor's small group joined the growing crowd at the gallows. As the doomed man's crimes were read Maeve searched for the man she currently wanted to punch in the face. Or was it strangle? Maybe kiss? A cocktail of confused emotions had clouded her thoughts for days.
"Stop!" Maeve looked up to see Blackwall on the gallows. "This man is innocent of the crimes laid before him. Orders were given, and he followed them like any good soldier. He should not die for that mistake!"
"Then find me the man who gave the order." Blackwall spotted Maeve in the crowd and paused.
Her heart stopped. She could hear Varric curse under his breath, the Inquisitor shouting Blackwall's name. Maeve didn't need to hear him say those words. His deception was all over his face. She numbly watched the guards haul her love away and stood there as the crowd dispersed.
"We…I should speak with him." The Inquisitor placed a hand on her shoulder and the touch barely registered.
"He lied to me…"
"He lied to all of us, Rusty," Varric murmured.
Her footsteps echoed through the jail as she approached his cell. Seeing the man she'd grown to care for hunched over in personal agony snapped Maeve out of the fog. "I don't know what else to say to you, Inquisitor."
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
Rainier looked up. Was that…disappointment on his face? "I…I didn't want you to see me like this. I wanted you to remember me as a good and honest man."
"So you thought it was better for me to think you just up and left with no explanation? Really helps paint that "good and honest picture" for me." Her voice was cold and even, unnatural coming off her lips. "You lied to me."
"I never meant to lie to you. And when I did I couldn't take it back. You weren't supposed to find me. You were just supposed to think I was gone."
"I can't stand to look at you," she hissed. Maeve turned on her heel, stomping up the stairs.
"I'm sorry, my lady…" His apology echoed, only the stone to hear it.