They had fled.
With good reason Justice consistently reminded him, Why we brought her along is my question.
Anders looked toward Iseult's fragile form, she remained three steps a head of him since they left Kirkwall, she had not spoken a word to him. Her dark hair framed her face as it was adjusted to the ground, her lips pursed and arms crossed. In the nine years he had known Iseult, he had not known her to be the quite ponderer, she was not afraid to speak her mind. This must mean she was really angry.
How could he blame her? They had fled the city she had worked so hard for, though it was also the city that had cost her everything. He shivered at the thought of that brother of hers unconscious on the ground, the look upon her face as he pulled her hand, urging her forward. He was not far from the smoldering ashes of Meredith, he smirked at the sound of her cries, that was something he felt no guilt for. Maybe he was accepting Vengeance in too openly.
They moved forward, along the wounded coast, up deep into the hillside. It was when the sun had begun to creep below the mountain side, setting the sky a fire, that Iseult threw her pack down. They were right on the edge of the Planasene forest, the trees swaying in the breeze, eerily calling the outsiders closer.
He had no plan, he had not even intended on being alive at this point, her sparing his life was completely...unexpected. He looked to her again, she was throwing wood into a pit dug by a previous traveler, muttering beneath her breath.
"Izz." He sighed, moving forward, standing between her and the pit. She ignored him. "Iseult..."
She glared right through him, staring at the ever expanding pile of wood, darkness was beginning to envelope the land around them. She picked up another slab of wood, chucking it right past his head into the pit, he did his best to look unscathed.
"Iseult, you will need to talk to me eventually love."
Her icy blue eyes scanned his face, furrowing her brow further, before flames erupted from her palm. Iseult hurled it toward the pile, the warmth fluttering past his sleeve, missing him by inches.
"Andraste's knickers...What is wrong with you?" He yelped, leaping from the way.
"What is wrong with me?" She scowled, the flames still licking at her hands. "What is wrong with you?"
Anders opened his mouth to speak—
You let your women speak to you as such? Justice echoed through his skull, Anders suppressed the anger.
Shut up! This is your fault, Justice, all of this is. Anders thought, silencing the spirit.
"I do not understand how you could have thought this would help matters!" She gestured toward the tower of smoke they would still make out in the distance. "You have not made yourself a martyr, you have made yourself a terrorist, mages will now go from feared to extinct...because of you!"
Iseult resumed pacing, "Festis bei umo canavarum, Vishante Kaffas!"
Anders could not make out what she was saying, though he recognized the language of Tevinter, Arcanum curses flowing through her teeth as if it were her first language. He could feel the anger bubbling inside of him, as he thought of the elf who most likely taught her the mouth of a foreign sailor. Fenris had not spoken a word directly to him in months, tonight had been no exception, the elf burned a hole through Anders when Iseult announced she would let him live.
He had done his best to ignore their past, ignore the red cloth Fenris penned around his wrist after he had spent the night with her, after he had left her. Their affair was a brief one, though he was not able to ignore the spark in her eyes when that elf entered a room.
Anders recalled sitting upon the frayed crate, at the base of the keeps steps, watching the cinders settling around him. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Fenris grabbing Iseult's elbow, pulling her to the side. Their mouths moved rapidly, he could not make out what they were saying, but he could tell by her deepening frown that it was nothing good.
"Because I am!" Iseult finally burst, sending Fenris a step backward, "You can either help me or you can leave..."
Anders watched as the elf winced at her choice in words, he was completely aware of his regret, and took a sense of pride in foiling his ever longing happiness.
"Are you even listening to me?" Iseult tossed another small fire ball toward him, her brow knitted to the deepest extent.
"Pardon?"
"You are the most selfish..." She stomped away toward the tree line, continuing her curses and dirty looks in his direction; as he began to set up camp. Though it consisted merely of two bedrolls, and some blankets. He pulled a loaf of bread from her pack, using his dagger to slice it in half, and placing it to toast on the flames.
Anders smirked when she finally plopped down next to the fire, the smell of the warming bread drawing her in as he knew it would. Iseult kept her arms cross, glaring into the flames, nudging dirt around with her foot.
"Do we even have a plan?" She blurted, snatching the bread he offered out of his hands.
"I hadn't thought of one..." He shrugged, biting heartily into the slice. As a warden he found he was always peckish, though as a Ferelden refugee, and apostate mage, he learned to make do with what he had.
"Brilliant," Iseult growled, through chewing.
"Your ranting gave me an idea though," He replied, pointedly.
"My what?"
"We could make way for Tevinter." He dropped the idea causally, waiting for a hint of a reaction from her before proceeding. When she remained neutral, he began speaking again. "And if that doesn't work out, we have an entire world to explore..."
"What's in Tevinter?" Iseult asked, her curiosity peaked.
"A safer place for us...for now. Maybe we will be able to find a better support base there. It's just getting there that is the problem." Anders pointed toward the forest, "It's a long journey, especially on foot."
"Well..." Iseult faltered, looking toward the glow coming from the distant fire's in Kirkwall, the plume of smoke coming from the chantry still visible. "It is not as if we have much other option now."
"Tevinter, then?"
"Tevinter..."