Gradually the world began to return to her. Mara opened her eyes, blinking slowly as the realm of nightmares disappeared. At first, the world was a pure, burning white, and then it became a black-and-white monotone of singular form. Then the colours came back, one by one, until everything was normal once more. She gave a sigh of relief and fell back onto her bedsheets.

Maker's Breath, but that had been… an experience, to be certain. She rubbed her eyes, a flood of memories flooding back to her as she remembered what she had seen in the Fade. That spirit, Faith, alongside that demon, Despair… that had not been what she had expected. First of all she had expected a fight of some kind, though the lack of it was a relief considering she would have lost for sure. And this spirit… watching over her? Like a guardian angel? That was… not unheard of, certainly, but such a rarity. And for one to choose to watch over someone as plain as herself? Surely Faith had made a mistake, to be guarding over such a normal person. What was it Faith had said? That her mother knew she was special? How could she even know that?

Her mother. Revka. She cursed that name, in spite of her peaceable nature. The one who had sent her daughter to this hell-hole, and for what? Because she was scared of her magic? To appease the Templars? To 'do her duty to the Maker'? She had sold her daughter's future, and if there was ever a decent reason for such a thing, Mara had never heard it. And if she had known she was special, as Faith claimed, then why would she have whored out her daughter's future?

The Templars who had taken her away needn't have feared her anyway. What had she done in her time knowing she was a mage? Fail lessons because she wasn't good enough at magic? Grow plants and stitch up wounds? Many of the things that the other mages chose to do with magic she did with her own two hands, making her own shoes and cooking her own food, mostly because she had no discernible talent with the power that she had been imprisoned because of.

"Mara?" A voice from someone standing over her called, and she sat up abruptly. Over her stood a man in blue robes with dark hair.

Jowan. Her half-brother, and only constant companion in the Circle.

"Hey." She murmured, rubbing her eyes again, head throbbing.

"Hey." He said, sitting by her and wrapping an arm around her. "How's it going?" His voice was so casual, as if nothing had happened, even though they were both painfully aware of what had happened, of the danger that had happened last night.

Mara gave a short laugh, closer to a huff, hugging him close. "Oh, you know. Same as usual." It was rather nice, actually, to have a normal conversation after all that, after everything that had happened. To have life go back to what it once was.

"I'm glad you're alright." He spoke in a soft voice after a moment. "They carried you in this morning. I... am sorry. I heard your screams as they dragged you off."

Mara sighed. Of course. It wasn't exactly a lie they could keep up, pretending that she hadn't been dragged away to be forced into batttle. She could feel the genuine sorrow in him, at failing to protect his sister, one of the only things in his life that mattered and put an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry about it." She soothed as she sat up. "It's alright. I... understand. There was nothing you could do." There was nothing anyone could do to guard her from the templars.

He smiled, and tightened his embrace, holding her close, bringing a smile to Mara's face. "So, what happened? Did you win?"

"I..." Mara didn't know how to answer that. On the one hand, she wanted to tell someone, anyone about what had happened, and Jowan was the best person to tell. But on the other, if anyone thought she hadn't killed her challenger, they would immediately think she had been possessed. Even if Jowan didn't tell anyone, this was a dormitory, and if anyone overheard it…

"Jowan, I love you, but I… I don't want to talk about it." There. That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth, not exactly. She would have to out and lie to Irving, but for someone she loved so much, she couldn't bear to do it.

He nodded. "I understand. Just… just remember that I'm always here for you, okay? If you need to talk about it, I'm… I'm here."

Her heart fluttered a little at acceptance and love, laying her head on his shoulder. Even if her mother had sold her future, she still had some family left in the world.

But then she sighed, and sat up, smiling weakly at him. "I should go. I think… I think Irving will want to talk to me after that."

Jowan nodded. "Okay. Listen, I… might need your help with something later. If you can, can you meet me in the Chantry? Something's... happening with me and Lilly."

Mara nodded in turn. "Sure, sure. I'll meet you there soon as a I get a minute."

Jowan smiled up at her, and left the dormitory room.

After washing her hair and pulling on some half-clean robes, Mara found her way to Irving's office on the second floor from the top.

Inside were Knight-Commander Greagoir and Irving, arguing as per usual. But beside them stood a man she had never seen before, one with dark skin and was wearing heavy steel armour with interlocking plates over a heavy blue coat, with a single steel Griffon on his breastplate.

As she entered, they were already deep in conversation. "-Many have already gone to Ostagar." It was Greagoir that was speaking. "Wynne, Uldred, and most of our senior mages! We've committed enough our of own to this war effort!"

"Your own?" Irving smiled. "Since when have you felt such kinship with mages, Commander? Or are you just afraid to let the mages out from under the Chantry, where they could put their maker-given powers to good use?"

"How dare you! I-"

"Gentlemen, please." The armour man interrupted them, and they fell silent. "Irving," He gestured to Mara. "Someone is here to see you."

Mara gave a polite nod, feeling the anger in the room. Her empathy let her feel the men: Greagoir was seething mad, although she needed no intuition to see that. Irving was irritable and confused, and this new man was... optimistic, somehow.

"Ah," Irving smiled at her. "If it isn't the newest sister to the Circle. Welcome, child."

The armoured man stepped beside Irving. "This is...?"

"Yes. This is her."

Greagoir made a move toward the door. "I can see you're busy Irving." He spat the words out. "We'll talk later."

"Of course." He said as Greagoir left the room, leaving it to just the three of them. "Well then... where was I... oh, yes." He motioned to the man beside him. "I would like to introduce you to Duncan, of the Grey Wardens."

"A Warden? In the tower?" She asked, impressed. She didn't know much about the Wardens, but knew enough that their presence was always either an honour, or a herald of doom on the horizon. Usually both.

"Wardens go wherever our duty takes us." Duncan shrugged, and she nodded.

Irving nodded in understanding agreement. "I expect you've heard of a war brewing in the south?" Mara nodded in turn, having heard bits and pieces of it, although not anything coherent. "Duncan is here recruiting mages for the King's Army to join their efforts."

"Why?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the two of them. Typically the outside world tried as best they could to forget that the possibility of mages so much as existing could be real. Not to mention that they deliberately taught mages to never, ever use magic to harm anyone.

Duncan shrugged. "Mages are uniquely equipped to battle Darkspawn."

"Darkspawn?" She asked, having thought it a war against barbarians or something of the sort. She didn't know much about Darkspawn, other than they were some sort of monster that Grey Wardens fought constantly.

He nodded. "They have formed a horde down south, in the Kocari Wilds and threaten to invade the north." He shook his head. "I fear what will happen if we don't stop them."

"Ah," Irving said, turning back to her. "But we're worrying the poor girl with talk of Darkspawn and Blights. We have a discussion to have, don't we?"

"I'll leave you to it." Duncan nodded his head, and left, bumping into Mara on the way out and muttering a quick apology.

"So," Irving motioned for her to sit beside him. "What happened, child? You were thrashing about in your sleep for a long time, and then you just… stopped."

Mara took a sigh, nodding. What was she to say? She had met with a spirit who protected her from demons and just let her be? That would a ticket to being watched every moment of every day, if not just killed outright for fear of her being possessed.

"I… heard voices in the Fade and I had a feeling of being watched, and followed them and… and came across a demon of despair." It wasn't a lie, not exactly. Just omitting the truth, and that was the best for both of them.

"And you defeated it?" He asked, and she just nodded. "Very good, child. I had worried about you all night, and it's good to see you survived."

Mara bowed a little. "Thank you. I won't bother you any longer, First Enchanter, now that I'm safe."

"Wait," Irving said, and she stopped herself from standing. "I just wanted to let you know that you are a valued member of our Circle, and that we… we're glad that you're still with us."

She smiled weakly, not believing a word of it, and stood to leave. Feeling something in her pocket, she reached into it and found a slip of paper. It simply read:

Meet me in the Library.

Walking uncertainly in the Library, Mara found Duncan sitting alone at the table, a book in his hands. He was no longer wearing his Warden armour, and was simply wearing a tanned Rivaini cloth. She sat opposite him, unsure of herself, and he looked up.

"Ah, hello." He smiled, setting the book aside. "I'd hoped you would find my note I left for you. Sorry that was a… less than conventional method."

"That was you?" She asked nervously, tapping her hands. There wasn't a deception to this man, but still… the last time she had listened to a creepy note left for her, she had gotten her throat slit.

"Yeah, sorry." He chuckled a little meeting her eyes. "After hearing him talk about you, I very much wanted to meet you, but with Irving there, I couldn't think of an easier way to ask you." He paused a moment, meeting her wary gaze, and nodded. "Irving speaks highly of you."

"I'm sure he does." She chuckled derisively. "He's always thought me to be his star protégée." She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure why. I'm a terrible mage."

"Nonsense." He derived kindly. Wardens kept their mages close, and treasured them. None were more vital in turning the tide against the Darkspawn. Even those who weren't skilled could grow whilst Wardens, and it only took belief.

"You might be surprised." She said self-derisively, shaking her head slowly.

A belief she didn't have.

"Well, I'm here to recruit for the Grey Wardens, as you heard." He said, and she nodded. "And I was curious if you might be interested in joining with us?"

"That's probably not a good idea." Mara looked down and shuffled a foot, vaguely ashamed. "I've..." She didn't meet Duncan's eyes, feeling foolish for this. It was such an unusual, uncomfortable thing that other people surely wouldn't understand. "Never been outside." It wasn't quite true, she had vague memories of the outside from when she little, but they were like a concussion seen through broken eyes. Faint, almost non-existent. As if they could have been the single greatest dream of her life. Her only coherent memory was her mother abandoning her.

"Oh." For a moment the awkward silence was consuming, and then she looked up and he gave a reassuring smile. "Well, I'm sure a lot of other mages within our ranks haven't either, and I would ask that you at least think on it. Irving speaks so highly of you, it would be a shame just to let you sit in this tower for the rest of your life."

"Okay," She said, leaning forward. "I doubt you want me in your army, but I'll hear you out." That seemed at least fair, to hear him after he went through the trouble to meet with her and he seemed a nice man. "What do you do?"

Duncan thought a moment, and then he spoke. "Our duty is to battle Darkspawn wherever they may arise, whenever they choose to appear. We are... elves, humans, dwarves, all united by a single common purpose."

"What is a Darkspawn, exactly?" She had heard passing mentions of them in her history books, and had heard the word earlier, but never a clear description, considering how the Chantry had purged Warden records from the Circle.

Again, he thought for a minute. It has always been clear to him what they were, but he had fought them the majority of his life. How did you explain air to someone who breathed water? It was much the same.

"Well..." He talked slowly, each pause in the word giving him a moment to think on his answer that she was patiently awaiting. "It is a... monstrous beast, a corrupted being made form the sentient people of Thedas." He paused, reflecting. "They are a single-minded people, with only a single instinct: To create Blights."

"Blights?" Again, it seemed frustratingly, impossibly out of the way. There were the faintest mentions of them, information that was so critical to Thedas' past, and yet the templars had discarded it entirely to keep the ideal of the Wardens from the mages.

Duncan didn't speak for minutes, thinking on how it was to be explained to someone with such a limited extent of knowledge on something so natural to him.

"It's... an apocalypse, of sorts." He said finally. "The Darkspawn awaken, and corrupt, a dragon with their own essence, making it into a Darkspawn itself." His voice was solemn, thoughtful and deep in contemplation. "The beast then leads ever last of the other Darkspawn to war with the surface, and they seek to eradicate the people of Thedas. We Wardens are the ones who stop them whenever that happens."

Mara leaned in closer, enthralled with the tales of a world she would never know. "Why do they try to kill everyone?"

Duncan shrugged. "I don't know. They don't think, not exactly. There's just this... singular feral drive that they have to cause Blights, kill us all." He paused a moment. "The Chantry, the dwarves and the Dalish all have different explanations of their origins, of their way of thinking. All I care about is stopping them, regardless of why they act."

The two of them continued to talk well through the morning, discussing Darkspawn, the Chantry and whatever came from their thoughts and words.

And as he spoke of his adventures, of the Grey Wardens and Darkspawn, of Blights and war, a love awoke in Mara's heart. Not a love of him, or of the Wardens, but rather one of the world she had never seen. There was a love of beautiful things made by kind men, of Orlesian balls in the winter, of flowing and shining rivers in the sun's final glow of summer.

And that love awoke a wanderer's heart. How amazing it would be to go and see the great mountains of the west! To dance in a field of wheat and smell an autumn harvest's breeze! To cast down her staff, and carry a sword instead. Oh, but to explore the world, to see cities with more people than she could have dreamt in her wildest fantasies. She looked out the window and saw the stars above them in a blued nebula in an endless mottled plane of darkness, and she thought of the jewels of the dwarven kingdoms and all the coin in a dragon's hoard.

If only.

But then reality returned. She wasn't a Grey Warden, and this was no fantasy. She was a prisoner who would spend the rest of her life here, and what they were discussing was an apocalypse where hundreds of thousands of men and women died, and of death and sickness.

"That sounds..." She paused, finding the words. "I wish I could go out with you, see that world." Her voice was tired, longing. Long she had locked away the heart of a wanderer, because of how she had been born. She wished to leave, and see the world. But she was locked up here, trapped in her own private hell. Perhaps there were content apprentices in kinder circles, but she was not one of them. The whole of the place was her waking nightmare.

And those words encouraged Duncan. He needed Wardens, and Mara deeply desired to leave, not to mention that he saw the raw potential in this young woman, even if she herself didn't. "Do you want to come with me?"

Mara closed her eyes slowly, thinking deeply. She did. Maker above, but she did. But she wasn't any good at magic. She couldn't help them.

"Yes" She admitted. "But I don't know what I could do to help you. Do you have ponies that need shoeing? Wounds that go beyond stitches and elfroot?"

Duncan shrugged. "We can use you. We'll find a place for you, if you want it."

Mara thought for a minute, and then shook her head slowly. "I do." She admitted. "But I... can't help you. I'm not a good enough mage to stop any Darkspawn, or save any wounded." It hurt to say, but it was true. The Wardens had to be the best of the best to stop the world from ending, and they had no place for her, whatever he said. Mara stood. "I'm sorry."

At that, she turned and left, dejected. She hadn't intended to want what he suggested, merely to listen and give a polite no. There was no place for her out there, for someone who was as useless at everything as her. She simply left, remembering that Jowan had asked to meet her this morning. She would have to blame it on Irving's long winded nature.

And as she left, Duncan smiled. Mara would make an excellent Warden. All she needed was a little push to prove to herself that she was worth something.

All he needed now to figure out how to convince Irving to release her.

The doors to the simple Chantry of the Circle were massive and made of heavy oaken wood. Inside was completely deserted, except for Jowan and a priestess named Lily standing together, talking in one of the alcoves.

"Where were you?" Jowan asked in disbelief as Mara approached, sullen and sulking, still dejected from having gotten her foolish hopes up during her talk with Duncan.

"You know Irving." She waved her hand, and nothing more was spoken on it.

"You've met Lily, before." She nodded. She and Jowan were together, something that brought a smile to get face. She was the only one who knew. That was the most forbidden, taboo things she could think of. The Chantry forbid mages from getting together with... anyone. Let alone one of their own. If word got to the templars...

"I can't believe you two haven't been caught." She laughed a little. "I had to lie to that Templar, Cullen, last week about where you two were."

Jowan nodded a moment, breathing hard. "Listen to me: The three of us, we have to get out of here. We have to escape." He looked up at her, utter dread in his eyes. "They're going to make me Tranquil."

"Tranquil?" She cried out in disbelief. Tranquillity was only ever given to those who willing gave themselves to the rite and to those who practised forbidden magic. "Jowan, that's crazy."

Lily shook her head. "I saw the paper on Greagoir's desk this morning, after you went to see Irving. It authorised the Rite of Tranquillity on Jowan, and the First Enchanter had signed it."

For a moment, Mara didn't believe it. What reason could they have for it? That wasn't just something that the templars did on a whim to prove their power. They had to be wrong about this, or there had to be more than they were telling her. She had no love for the templars, but that wasn't what they did.

"What reason would they have for doing this?" She whispered grimly.

Jowan thought a moment, hanging his head in shame. "They think that I'm..." He bit his lip before he spoke it, as if uttering the single worst word in the world. "A blood mage." He shook his head. "It's probably because I've been... distant, and hiding in the distance, slinking away from lessons and at night to come up here to see Lily."

Tears were gathered by the edge of Jowan's eyes, and she threw her arms around him in a comforting hug. "It will be okay." She reassured. She didn't believe she had the whole of the story, but it didn't matter, at least for the moment.

"No it won't!" He shrieked. "They'll take everything from me! My hopes, my dreams, my love for Lily! I'll just be a... husk! Existing and breathing, but not living!"

And Mara felt his fear, and it shivered through her in a symbiotic emotion. That was the doubled knife of pure empathy: She could feel and experience whatever the other did. And right now she felt as terrified as him.

"What can I do to help?"

"We need to escape." Said Lily.

Jowan nodded. "If we can destroy my phylactery, they can't follow us." Their eyes met, and her heart sunk further. "But we can't do it alone. Please."

Of course. Phylacteries were vials of blood that they used to hunt any run-away mages. If Jowan's and Mara's could be destroyed...

"Of course I will." Mara nodded. "What do we need to do?"

"I can get us into the repository." Lily offered. "But I need a rod of fire to get through one of the locks on the doors."

"And they don't give them to priests." Mara finished, and Lily nodded. "Alright. Is that all you need?" Lily nodded again. "Then I'll be back."

"Thank you." Jowan hugged her again before she left. "Thank you so much."

And with that she turned and left. Owain at the stockrooms would have rods of fire, but she had something to do first.

She began for the First Enchanter's office.

Irving looked up from his desk when he saw her enter, and gave Mara a smile.

"First Enchanter." She said curtly with a tiny bow. "Do you have a moment?" Irving nodded, and she returned his smile before sitting across from him.

"I trust you saw Duncan back to his quarters?" Asked Irving, and Mara nodded in turn. "Good. Then what was it you needed, child?"

She thought a moment on how to phrase it, and then leaned forward. "One of my fellow apprentices, Jowan, fears he will be made tranquil, and there are... dark rumours of that as well." She tried to continue speaking, but Irving held up a hand to quiet her, and she fell silent.

"And how does he know this?" She didn't have an answer. "I suppose that young initiate he dallies with revealed it to him." Mara raised a curious eyebrow, thinking that if he knew their secret that he would have stopped them from seeing one another by now. Irving chuckled a little. "I didn't become First Enchanter by keeping my eyes and ears shut."

"So it's true?" Mara asked in disbelief. Surely it couldn't be! There was no way in the world that Irving would allow such a thing.

"I am afraid it is."

Her heart sank at that. So it was true. He would make her friend into a ghoulish husk. "Why?"

He sighed and glanced down, not daring to meet her gaze. "Greagoir says he has proof, and eyewitness testimony, that Jowan has been praising Blood Magic. I... can say no more."

Forbidden magic? Blood Magic? That involved deals with demons, something Jowan wouldn't the spine to do. No... that couldn't be true. If Irving had seen it, perhaps she would believe, but Greagoir... no. It was a lie. But that didn't matter. They would perform it on him regardless.

"I'm sorry, child."

Mara shook her head sadly. "I understand." And then she looked up, meeting his eyes. "There was something else I needed, if you don't mind me changing the subject."

"Of course not." Irving almost laughed, relieved that she accepted it so readily and eager to discuss another topic. "What is it?"

"Do you have a spare request form for a rod of fire?"

"Come on!" Mara shouted, and they ran inside the newly opened room together.

They looked around desperately for Jowan's, but the room was decorated with entire shelves filled with dozens of the vials of blood.

Then she saw it. Laid out on a table, specially marked for the rite of Tranquillity, was Jowan's phylactery.

"Jowan!" She shouted, picking it up. He turned and she threw it to him. He caught it midair, and looked it over.

"I can't believe that this tiny thing is all that stands between me and freedom." He whispered as he swished around the blood inside. "So small. So fragile. So easy to end it's hold over me." And with that, he dropped it, shattering on the ground.

And as he spoke, Mara found her own and shattered it. "Come on." she motioned and they started for the exit. "Let's go."

"I don't want to stay here a moment longer." Lily agreed, and they left.

As they went back the way they came, Mara laid the templar's shield back beside him. To lose the sunburst shield was a high disgrace among templars, and she didn't want to get him in trouble. With that they headed to and opened the door to the basement level they had entered through in the first place.

"Oh, shite."

As they exited into the tower's first floor, they found themselves surrounded.

Around them was a dozen or more templars, headed by First Enchanter Irving and Knight-Commander Greagoir.

"So what you said was true, Irving." Said Greagoir, his voice grim and serious. "I was hoping we were wrong. All of us."

"G-Greagoir." Lily stammered as Mara hung her head. This wasn't quite all of the templars in the Circle tower, they were missing a good half-dozen, Cullen included, but it was more than enough that they would have no chance of escape now. They would be taken and executed for this, she was certain.

"An initiate." Greagoir shook his head in frustration. "Conspiring with a blood mage. I'm disappointed." He stepped forward, inspecting her face. "She seems shocked, but fully in control of her mind." A moment later, he nodded. "Not a thrall of the blood mage, then." Then he took several steps back, not taking his eyes off of the group, but he turned just slightly towards Irving. "You were right. She has betrayed us, and the Circle will not let this go unpunished."

Irving sighed wearily at Mara. "I'm disappointed in you." She could feel the anger being buried under frustration. "You could have told us what you knew of this plan when you came to see me, and yet you didn't."

And that tore it. The empathy carried the emotion both ways, and she knew how what she was feeling wasn't entirely her own. But the frustration and resentment in Irving coupled with her own hatred of the Circle, and she snapped.

"Well what the hell did you expect?!" She shrieked, looking up and meeting his eyes. "You tore me from my home and take me across the seas to another country so I could live the rest of my life in this hell!" She had never yelled so loudly in her life, but she had never felt so furious before either. "I accept that you'll kill me for this." Now she was seething, filled with hatred that was entirely not herself. "And go ahead. I would rather you burn me alive than force me to live another second in this prison."

"You don't care anything for the mages!" Jowan chimed in, stepping forward. "You're just an arm of the Chantry, weak and spineless!"

"Enough!" Screamed Greagoir, brandishing his blade, and the rest of the assembled templars followed suit. "As commander of the templars under this tower, I sentence this blood mage and his... associate here, to death by beheading." He gestured his blade at Lily. "And his initiate to a lifetime in Aeonar."

Mara nodded her head in grim resignedness as the templars closed in, but Lily slinked back. "Th... the mages prison?" She cried. "Please! Please no!"

"No!" Jowan shouted, brandishing a knife from his belt. "I won't let you touch her!" And with that he plunged his knife deep into his hand, blood pouring from the palm. Then it glowed in a flash of power and it lashed over, overpowering all of the templars gathered in front of them.

"By the Maker!" Lily shouted in terror, shivering running through her as she cowered away. "Blood magic." She felt like such an idiot, such a fool. He had lied to them both, and she had believed every word. "H-how could you?! You said that you never..."

Jowan held his hands up defensively. "I admit, I-I dabbled." His voice was strained, and he too was terrified. "I thought it would make me a better mage, help us escape!"

"Blood magic is evil." Lily hissed. "It corrupts people... changes them..." Now she was hurt beyond all belief. He had lied to her, and for what? The tiniest bit of power?

"I'll give it up!" He promised, stepping towards her, but Lily backed away in fear. "All magic. I-I just wanted to be with you!"

She thought only a moment before she shook her head with ferocity. "I... I trusted you. I was willing to turn my back on all of my life for you." Then she motioned away. "Get out of my sight, blood mage."

He turned to Mara for support, who was tending to the injuries of the First Enchanter. She had been seriously tempted to run away after Jowan's display of power, but then had realized how stupid and irresponsible that was. He was a blood mage. He had betrayed them, and she wouldn't let anyone, not even her captors, die for that mistake.

Seeing and feeling the weight of his decisions, Jowan made a decision.

He ran.

A moment later, Irving stuck his head up, and found her sitting beside him. "Are you alright?" He croaked, all anger gone. "Where is Greagoir?"

The knight-commander stood in response, dusting himself off. They were all in pain after the display of power completely overwhelming even their templar training. "I knew it." Cursed Greagoir. "Blood magic. But to overcome so many..."

Mara sighed, and hung her head. He had weaved his story, and she had simply swallowed it whole. He had used her hatred of the Circle to trick her, and now she was here, to be killed alone.

"I'm sorry." She didn't know to whom she was apologizing. To Irving, for not trusting him. To Lily and the templars for hurting them. To Jowan himself for not being able to help him.

She helped Irving up, and Greagoir approached the pair. "This is all your fault." His voice was angry, in a hiss. "If you had let me act sooner, none of this would have happened!" Irving began to protest, but the templar moved on, facing Lily. "And you! You took vows of the Chantry, and yet you helped him! Look at all he's hurt!"

"She didn't know anything about this!" Mara defended, but Lily help up a hand.

"You've been a friend." Her voice was shocked, and distant. "But you needn't project me any longer." She sighed and met Greagoir's eyes. "I know what I did was wrong, and... I will go with you. Whatever punishment you see fit."

Greagoir gestured, and the templars took her away. Then he turned to Mara. "And you. I hereb-"

"Knight-commander!" The voice was new, and they all turned to see it. It was Duncan, dressed in his Warden armour. "If I may, I'm not just here to recruit for the king's army." He fixed Greagoir with such a fierce gaze that even the highly-experienced templar backed away. "I am also recruiting for the Grey Wardens." They all turned to Duncan, with Mara's mouth agape. She knew what was coming, and couldn't believe it.

"Irving spoke highly of this mage, and I would have her join the Warden's ranks."

"What?!" Greagoir shouted in anger, anger that flowed through to her, but she swallowed it down. It wasn't her emotion, it didn't belong to her, and couldn't hurt her.

"Duncan," Irving warned. "This mage has assisted a maleficar, and shown a lack of regard for the Circle's rules."

"She is a danger!" Greagoir insisted. "To all of us!"

Duncan smiled. That was true, which was exactly why he needed her. She was more dangerous than she thought, but there was a kind heart in her that would give her strength to bear the weight of a Warden's responsibilities. "It is a rare person who risks everything they have when a friend is in need." And then he nodded. "I stand by my decision: I hereby conscript Circle mage Marilina Amell, and take full responsibility for her actions."

"No!" Screamed Greagoir, drawing his sword. "I refuse to let this stand! I will not let a blood mage escape, and then reward his accomplice!"

"Hush." Irving said, nodding at Mara sadly. "We have no more say in this. The right of conscription allows the Wardens to recruit anyone and everyone they please, regardless of their standing or occupation. We cannot stop him."

Mara turned to Duncan. "Are you sure?" She asked in spite of the heart full of hope that she had. "I can't do much for the Wardens. You know that."

Duncan gave an amused smile at her. "Perhaps the horses need shoeing." And she laughed at that, nervous and terrified, but still with genuine mirth.

Then Mara turned to face Irving. "Farewell, First Enchanter." Then she lay a hand on his shoulder. "I always hated it here, but I'm glad to have known you." Irving nodded sadly, and she returned in kind. And then she turned to Duncan. "Alright, then." She almost didn't want to leave now, but it was death to stay. There was nothing left here for her. "Let's go."

"Do you have anything to take?" Duncan asked with a raised eyebrow, but Mara shook her head. She had her staff in her hands, and her mother's wedding ring around her finger. She owned nothing else in the whole of the world.

"Then let us go to your new life."