The Herald of Andraste was a busy man, between traveling all around Thedas, making new alliances and keeping Haven from imploding were just a few things that he had been tasked with. Not that Maxwell Trevelyan minded, it kept his mind off other things, like what to do about the mages and the Templar's.
"Herald?" A tentative voice asked from behind him, he turned to see Josephine.
"Hello, Lady Montilyet." Maxwell greeted.
"Please, call me Josephine."
"Then I insist you call me Max."
Josephine blushed slightly, "Of course, Max."
The stood together looking over the troops training in silence for a few moments before Maxwell spoke, "Did you need something Josephine?"
"Well, I know you've been having troubles choosing between the mages and the Templar's, and I thought maybe you just needed to talk about it." Josephine spoke. Max stood silently, staring off into nowhere, not responding, and Josephine geared she had gone too far. "I am sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"No, it's fine I was just..." He trailed off, "Do you have any siblings Josephine?"
Josephine didn't immediately answer, taken aback by the suddenness of the question. "Yes, I have three brothers and a sister."
"I have two brothers and one sister." He paused, "My family is quite... devout. We grew up with the expectation that we'd either marry a rich noble girl or join the chantry, my youngest brother is a Templar, I don't know where he is or what he's doing, or if he's safe. The other one is married and lives far away from all the fighting."
Alex paused again, and Josephine asked, "What about your sister?"
"My baby sister, Evelyn, Evie I called her. She was an absolute angel, our parents weren't around much, it fell to me to take care of her often. And then when she was older we were the best of friends. When she was sixteen we discovered that she was a mage, and..." he stopped for a moment, "Our mother sent word and the Templar's stormed our house and they took her. I don't know where, but when the circles fell and she didn't come home..."
Maxwell shook his head and continued, "If I choose the mages, I put my brother in danger and I leave him to deal with whatever is happening within the Templar's. If I choose the Templar's, I put my sister in the exact same position. I just don't know what to do." Max was rubbing the sides of his head.
"I-I am so sorry Maxwell, I did not know this decision was so personal for you, we were wrong in trying to rush you into deciding." Josephine said.
"Thank you for coming and talking with me Josephine." Maxwell said, he rested his hand on Josephine's and gripped it tightly, he then brought it up to his mouth and pressed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
Maxwell left Josephine with a flushed face, he made his way down to the main courtyard where Cullen was observing the troops training.
"Maxwell." Cullen greeted, he and the Commander were very good friends, they had bonded over tactics and chess.
"Cullen, how are the troops?"
"Oh, lazy as ever." Cullen responded before turning to two of the troops practicing and yelling, "You have a shield, use it!"
Maxwell chuckled, "Do you ever think that you're being too harsh?"
"No, no. Certainly not." Cullen said with a grin.
"Are you up for a game?" Maxwell asked, referring to their nearly daily game of chess.
"Of course," Cullen said to him before turning to the troops, "Alright that's enough! Training is over for the day!"
Together they walked towards where the chess board was set up in a more secluded corner of Haven, they played for a while chatting idley.
"So Cullen, tell me, do you have someone waiting for your return?" Max asked him, Cullen sent him a confused glance, "I mean a woman Cullen."
Cullen immediately blushed and looked down, "Well, I..." he stammered.
"You do?" Maxwell asked surprised.
"No, no. I, well, I-I did but..." Cullen sighed and rubbed his face with his gloved hand, realizing he had to shave. "There was this girl, she was perfect, but I-I did something neither of us could forgive me for, and she ran. I haven't seen her since, I hope, I hope that where ever she is she's okay."
There was a moment of silence where neither man knew exactly what to say.
"I'm sorry Cullen." Maxwell said.
"No, it's fine." Cullen responded, "Now, where were we?" He asked, a happy facade replacing the haunted look he had had earlier.
Maxwell smiled as well and replied, "I believe I was winning."
"Not a chance."
The sun was setting as a lone rider screamed through the forest near Haven, there were three others on her tail. Blood was trickling down her arm from where she'd been grazed with an arrow earlier. As the towers at Haven came into view the rider urged her horse to run faster, as they approached the gateway to Haven, she was surprised to find it open and relatively unguarded, she had seen one of the soldiers on the lookout run off o tell someone about her approach no doubt.
She rode her horse right into the courtyard and dismounted, the other three did so as well, they were Venatori she believed. They slowly surrounded her, and she let them. She also noticed that people were watching carefully, cautiously, waiting to see what would happen, wanting to her face that was shrouded by a bright blue hood.
When something finally happened it was sudden, the Venatori from behind her threw a ball of lightning at her, she threw up a magical shield as she heard the crowd gasp, and then gasp again as they realized that she had just cast a spell without a staff. The fight continued, she threw fire at one of them and managed to knock them out, the other was young, obviously untrained, he was easily finished with a simple freeze spell followed by a lightning bolt, shattered. The last of the Venatori proved to be a harder challenge.
Their style revealed to her that they were most likely an ex-magister from Tevinter, the battle continued to go back and forth until soldiers came piling into the courtyard, separating the two of them.
She went down quietly, not saying a word and not resisting either, but the Venatori began to shout and thrash and threw a lightning bolt at one of the soldiers who managed to block the hit with his shield. The others attacked the Venatori and ended him.
The whole courtyard was humming with noise, noise of the people, noise of the soldiers, talking whispering, about her. The humming halted when the Herald of Andraste came waltzing down the stairs with Seeker Cassandra in tow.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked her as he approached, she did not answer but instead stood to her feet. "Who are you and why are you here?" Maxwell asked again.
She let out a shout chuckle, "I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me." She spoke in a voice that was unmistakable to Maxwell, "Hello Max." She spoke again.
She removed her hood to reveal her white-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, her lips curved into a half smirk half smile.
Maxwell was momentarily in shock as he processed what and who he was seeing, for the first time in nearly nine years, "Evie?" He whispered, taking a step towards her.
Evelyn smiled and nodded.
Cassandra, who was standing right next to Maxwell looked on with confusion as Maxwell embraced the mysterious woman.
When they released each other Maxwell cleared his throat and turned to Cassandra, "Cassandra, this is my little sister Evelyn, Evie, this is Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Cassandra, I apologize for the mess I've made. I was in a bit of a rush." Evelyn said to Cassandra.
"Are those Venatori?" Maxwell asked, looking at one of the bodies.
"Yes I believe so, they've been on my trail for a while now, we had a bit of a scruff earlier today, there used to be seven of them." Evelyn said.
"You are a mage yet you do not use a staff? How is it that you are able to cast spells?" Cassandra asked her.
Evelyn sighed, "That is a long story for another time, for now all I want is to have a warm meal in the company of my dearest brother."
"You're bleeding." Max commented.
"Oh yes, a minor wound, won't even need healing, it'll do it on it's own in a matter of days." Evelyn said.
"Well, then follow me..." Maxwell said, leading her up the stairs towards the main hall, "I'll call a meeting and I can introduce you to everyone and I'll find you some place to sleep for now and..."
To Evelyn, Max's voice faded away as she glanced at a familiar face behind him, the face that haunted her every dream. Cullen Rutherford.
"Max, listen." Evelyn interrupted, "I can't stay for long."
Max turned sharply to her, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I've been on the edge of something for a while now, and I need to see it through. I'm on my way to Redcliffe, I wasn't actually planning on coming here, but the Venatori have been on my trail ever since I left Tevinter."
"Why were you in Tevinter?" Max asked.
"There's a mage currently in Redcliffe who is messing with time, I originally met him in Tevinter. He accidentally sent his apprentice and myself to the distant future, and while we weren't there for long..." Evelyn shivered.
Then everything clicked, she was talking about Alexius and Dorian.
"I know, I've been to Redcliffe, I've seen it." Maxwell told his sister, "Dorian and Felix mentioned waiting for someone to make a mess."
"Oh yes, we actually have a bit of a time sensitive plan in place, I really should be going soon, tomorrow even." Evelyn's eyes stayed on Cullen until his form disappeared into the background.
"You say that thinking I'll let you." Maxwell said, he meant it in a loving way, not wanting her to go so soon, but Evelyn took it a bit differently.
"Let me? I'm a knight enchanter Maxwell, I'd like to see you try." Evelyn said angrily, her full focus now on Max.
"No, Evie, I didn't-"
"I know, I know. I'm just tired of being told what I'm allowed to do and where I'm allowed to go." Evelyn said, referring to the Circle.
"If, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to call my war council together to discuss this information, I would love if you came with me and spoke to them yourself." Maxwell said to Evelyn.
"I don't know Max..." Evelyn said uncertainly.
"It's alright, they're all my good friends, in fact I was just telling Josephine about you!" Max said excitedly.
"Alright," Evelyn said, "So tell me about this operation of yours." She said as they were walking towards the war room, her anxiety was building, but she calmed herself, saying that 'what were the odds that Cullen was part of Max's inner circle?'
"Well, currently I've been agonizing over the decision whether to ally with the mages at Redcliffe or the Templars." Maxwell told her.
She hummed, understanding the difficulty of the decision, as they entered the war room she felt all eyes on her, but only one set of eyes were shocked.
"Eve?" Cullen asked, the confusion apparent in his voice, at this Maxwell turned to his sister with confusion.
"Rutherford." Evelyn said, carefully displaying zero emotion, but not looking in Cullen's direction at all.
"I'm sorry, you two know each other?" Maxwell asked.
"Kirkwall." They said at the same time. It was obvious neither of them wanted to talk about it, so Max dropped the subject.
"This is my little sister, Evelyn." Max introduced, "Evie, this is Leliana, the spymaster, Cullen is our commander, and Lady Josephine Montilyet is our lovely ambassador."
"A pleasure." Evelyn responded slightly stiffly, purposely keeping her eyes down, nervous that if she made eye contact with Cullen that she would kill him on the spot.
"So, Evelyn has gotten herself quite deep within what's going on at Redcliffe." Maxwell started, "She says that she has a plan that's been coordinated with the mage we met when we were there,-"
"Dorian, Felix and I put this is motion months ago, I'm confident we can handle it without your intervention." Evelyn said.
"If what she says is true this could provide an opportunity to gain two allies." Leliana spoke, "If your sister can help the mages, and if we help the Templars, we could potentially gain the help of both."
"I think before we make any decisions, we should hear this plan." Josephine said.
Evelyn nodded, "Quite some time ago I discovered tunnels that lead in and around the Redcliffe area, Dorian and I will sneak in through the tunnels to where Felix will have drawn his father. Felix will begin the confrontation, Alexius won't attack his beloved son. Hopefully Felix will be able to talk him down enough to make him realize what he's doing." Evelyn paused, "But we're not counting on it. Assuming that Alexius reacts poorly, trying to escape or even attacking Felix, Dorian and I will step in. We know how he does it, he has an amulet that can manipulate the veil. To prevent him from using the amulet, I will cast a powerful barrier around Dorian, Alexius and I so that none of us can leave. Worst case scenario is: we kill Alexius and destroy the amulet, but hopefully we can simply take the amulet from him and detain him in the cells within Redcliffe."
"And what happens if this goes deeper? Who gave Alexius this amulet?" Cassandra asked.
"I tracked the amulet back to ancient Tevinter legend, but previously it was in the hands of the leader of the Venatori leader, Calpernia. If she is there, I can hold her off long enough for Dorian to get the amulet, then we run for our lives and meet back at Haven." Evelyn spoke, but she saw everyone's uncertain faces, "I've been tracking Calpernia, I believe she is currently in Nevarra, so it shouldn't be a problem. That's why I've had Venatori following me, because I was following her."
"Calpernia is one of the most skilled mages in all of Thedas, and you are certain that you could stand against her?" Leliana asked.
"Quite. Calpernia and I have had an encounter before, where I used the barrier spell to get away, it held up for a few minutes, long enough to run." Evelyn explained.
Leliana nodded and said, "This plan seems sound to me."
"I have one question for Evelyn if you don't mind..." Josephine asked her.
"Of course, ask away." Evelyn responded.
"How do you use magic without a staff?" Josephine asked.
"Oh well, I manifested my gifts some time before I was sent to any circle, so I taught myself the basics, but I couldn't very well carry a staff around with me so..." Evelyn trailed off, faintly smiling. That was until she glanced at her brothers face which looked like he had just been betrayed.
"What?" Was all he said.
"Our dear mother didn't tell you? The only reason I was caught was when I saved her from some crazy assassin after father. And what did I get in return? A one way ticket to Kirkwall." Evelyn rolled her eyes at the memory.
Maxwell glanced around at his advisors, momentarily wondering if this was the place for such a personal conversation, but these people were all his close friends, so he felt that it was okay. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't I tell you? Are you serious? As I recall at the time you were training to be a Templar, I was pretty sure I knew what your reaction would have been." Evelyn said, and Leliana smiled slightly.
Cassandra, sensing the tension between sibling tried to change the subject, "So, are we in agreement? Eveyln deals with Redcliffe and we march on Therinfal with the nobles of Orlais?"
All eyes in the room turned to Maxwell, he rubbed his chin in thought and eventually said, "Let's do it."
Later that night...
Evelyn was walking to the front gates, ready to leave for Redcliffe, she had told Max that she would ride out with him two days from now, but she couldn't be here, not if Cullen was. Her wounds were too fresh, too painful to bear, she had to leave.
She was about to push open the gates when a familiar voice spoke from behind her, "So that's it? You're just leaving?"
She turned and saw Cullen, "And why would you care?" She snarled.
Cullen took a few cautious steps towards her and said, "Eve, it's me, I still-" He reached his hand out to her.
Evelyn took a quickly step back and said, "Don't touch me!" A flash of fear showed in her eyes, and it made Cullen flinch.
"What about your brother? You'll just leave him too?" Cullen asked, sensing that trying to resolve their problems was maybe not the best choice.
"Oh so that's what you think happened? That I left you?!" Evelyn shouted at him, "I hate you!" Cullen couldn't even be surprised, the last time he saw her he was pointing his sword at her heart. "The only reason I'm staying is because of my brother, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you. Just leave me alone."
Cullen nodded numbly, and watched her walk back inside. It was a strange feeling, having her say that she hates him when he loves her so much, but he was just glad that he managed to convince her to stay longer, if not for her own sake then at least for Maxwell.