The alley was quiet now; the mages had certainly chosen a quiet spot for their meeting. I had thought we could help them; they wouldn't listen. They believed all of Kirkwall to be their enemy. We had been forced to stop them. Cullen would be pleased, unfortunately.

"Mages," Fenris said disgustedly, pulling his sword from the body of a dead blood mage. "All the same. The templars just do what needs to be done."

I spun on him fast enough to startle him. "That type of thinking keeps my sister locked away from me, away from her only family," I hissed at him.

I turned my back and started walking away, only to hear him say, "Too bad you don't realize they do it as much for her good as for everyone around her."

My blood froze; I slowly turned back to him, unable to find words in the midst of an overwhelming anger. Isabela and Aveline stood near, watching for my reaction. "How dare you compare her to them!" I pointed to the ground and stepped closer to him.

"She is a mage just as they are. None of them can be trusted."

We stood facing each other, neither willing to back off. "Don't you see?" I asked. "People like you are the reason they resort to such measures." I lowered my voice, "The blood they spill is on your hands as well."

He stood up straighter and shrugged, "It's no use. It would be impossible to reason with one who makes friends with blood mages," he pointed at Merrill. "Not to mention, sharing her bed with an abomination."

"You should have seen her! She drew her blade and had it at his throat before he even knew it. If Aveline hadn't been there…well, let's just say that I certainly wouldn't have gotten in her way," Isabela said as she took a drink.

"Damn him," Anders muttered. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"She left with Aveline and Merril," she took another drink. "To Merril's house I think."

Anders stood to go but Varric stopped him. "Wait just a second, Blondie. She'll be fine without you for a minute longer. Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" He looked to Isabela.

"What?" Isabela asked, annoyed. "Aveline stopped her. I made sure Fenris didn't follow her. The end," she rolled her eyes.

"Fenris," Varric muttered. "You'd think he'd learn. Even after all the help Hawke gave him…but he still shoots that mouth off to her."

"That bastard. I don't know why Szeren ever did help him. Thanks for the drink Varric," Anders said as he stood quickly to leave.

"Don't see how he can get so angry," Isabela said to Varric, as Anders walked out the door. "It's his fault she gets in all that trouble over mages."

"No, not quite," answered Varric. "Her father was an apostate; her sister's locked in the Circle. She'd get into that trouble whether he was around or not."