Part One
The Vengeful Prince
Sebastian Vael had been remade for the second time. He had never wanted the changes that were forced upon him. The first had been when his frustrated parents had pushed their rebellious and embarrassing son into the life of a Chantry Brother. The prince had fought and ranted against the quiet life in the Maker's service only to have it grant him the feeling of peace he'd never even imagined existed. The second, when that, that, abomination had destroyed the peace he'd found.
With a snarl the prince of Starkhaven smashed his calloused hand into the piles of reports on his desk. The world was going up in fire and he, that thing, was to blame. Everywhere there was senseless death as the mages of Thedas rose in rebellion against the Chantry's Templars. Even in Fereldan, which had previously had the most successful circle, the power hungry magi had slaughtered their keepers and were burning their way across the land.
If it wasn't for the Hero of Ferelden all of the country would have been engulfed in their unholy flame, the former Circle Mage coupled with their new king were having the most luck in quieting the rebellion.
But in the Free Marshes, chaos reigned. For over a decade the mages had been subjected to atrocities that were still coming to the light and they were insane in their freedom from the templars. The loss of the Chantry had brought the wrath of Divine Justinia down on Kirkwall and the templar numbers had swelled to breaking as more and more flooded into the city to combat the mages.
Sebastian pushed most of the reports to the ground like the trash they were. He knew all of this. He knew that the Divine was marshalling her troops against the mage rebellion lead by that.. that thing. His own troops were pledged to Her cause and were readying even at this moment. He tossed himself back into a high backed chair and kneaded his forehead with a tired hand.
A polite knock on the door interrupted his reverie, startling him from his slumped position into readiness. "Enter."
The aged Seneschel entered, Sebastian vaguely recalled him from his younger years and the respectful face bore almost no resemblance to the scowling younger Lord that he was used to. The old man had been running the country for the various pretenders to the Vael throne during his absence and had welcomed the older, more responsible prince home with open arms; smoothing the ruffled feathers of the nobles and easing the transition into a ruler's life.
"Highness," There was a slight pause here, the man's distaste for Sebastian refusing the coronation ritual until the Mage's rebellion was over was a long standing argument, "There is a warship flying neutral colors that has entered the harbor. The, ahem, woman captaining it is quite insistent that she is a, friend."