AN: This chapter takes place during "In Hushed Whispers" and contains spoilers for any who have not done this quest. :)
Chapter 2
"We don't have the manpower to take the castle. Either we find another way in, or we give up this nonsense and go and get the Templars," Cullen insisted vehemently.
Cassandra shook her head. "Redcliffe is in the hands of a Magister. This cannot be allowed to stand."
"The letter from Alexius asked for the Herald of Andraste by name. It's an obvious trap," Josephine pointed out.
"Of course it is," Nora said with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't go. We need to stop arguing and make a decision."
Cullen let out a growl of frustration. "Redcliffe Castle is one of the most defensible fortresses in Fereldan. It has repelled thousands of assaults." He turned a stern gaze on her. "If you go in there you'll die and we'll lose the only means we have of closing these rifts. I won't allow it."
Nora clenched. "Is that really all you're worried about losing?" she rebuked. Cullen's brown eyes widened when he realized what she thought he meant.
"I didn't mean . . ." The entire room went quiet and Nora averted her gaze to the war table, scowling. Only Leliana was willing to break the tense silence.
"If we don't even try to meet Alexius, we lose the mages and leave a hostile foreign power on our doorstep," she said.
"Even if we could assault the keep, it would be for naught. An Orlesian Inquisition's army marching into Fereldan would provoke a war. Our hands are tied." Josephine sounded irritated that this course of action was being discussed in such length, clearly convinced it was the wrong move.
Cassandra looked irked as well. "The Magister—"
"Has outplayed us," Cullen interrupted.
"I can't believe that's true," Nora said. A muscle in Cullen's jaw tightened, but he didn't argue with her. "And even if he has, can we really afford to let him control all the rebel mages? Is there no other way to get into the keep other than a head-on attack?" She pondered for a moment. "Where is the Arl of Redcliffe? I'm sure he'd help us get his castle back."
"After he was displaced, Arl Teagan rode straight for Denerim to petition the crown for help. I doubt he'll want our assistance once the Fereldan army lays siege to his castle," the Ambassador explained.
Leliana stepped closer to the map with an eager expression easing her usually stern expression as she recalled something. "Wait. There is a secret passage into the castle; An escape route for the royal family. It's too narrow for our troops, but we could send agents through."
Cullen's finger tapped on the pummel of his sword. "Too risky. Those agents will be discovered well before they reach the magister."
"That's why we need a distraction. Perhaps the envoy Alexius wants so badly."
Nora perked up. "Give him what he wants and he'll be too busy to look for spies. That's clever."
Cullen nodded begrudgingly. "Focus his attention on Trevelyan while we take out the Tevinters. It's risky, but it could work."
As if hearing the cue of his people, the large doors of the war room opened to the Tevinter mage who had helped them close a rift back at Redcliffe. "Fortunately, you'll have help," he said as he strutted up to the table.
"This man says he had information about the Magister and his methods, Commander," a guard announced from the door. Dorian smiled briefly to Nora, who returned it with a nod. She was unsure of his motivations, but he had helped them thus far. He would need to be watched, though, until she could be sure.
Cullen levelled a mistrustful scowl on the Tevinter, but did not phase the mage. "Your spies will never get past Alexius's magic without my help. So, if you're going after him, I'm coming along," Dorian said. Cullen looked to Nora.
"This plan puts you in the most danger. We can't in good conscience order you to do this. We can still go after the Templars if you'd rather not play the bait. It's up to you." His brown eyes silently pleaded with her to take another route.
Nora looked down at the map again before those eyes could change her mind. "The Templars have already expressed their disinterest in the Inquisition. Going to them would be no less dangerous. We cannot let the Magisters hold power over so many of the Mages in Fereldan. We will go ahead with Leliana's plan.
"So be it." Cullen's voice was quiet now, sad.
He had been right. Of course he had been right. Nora awoke laying in six inch deep water and sputtered a cough as her lungs repelled the vile tasting stuff. "Blood of the Maker, where did they come from?" She looked around the dim room to a pair of armored men at the door who were now charging on her. Wait, they? She found Dorian at her side but didn't have time to ponder yet. Only after they dealt with the men did she really have a chance to look around. They were in some sort of prison cell. Had Alexius transported them to the dungeon?
"Interesting," Dorian mused. "It's probably not what Alexius intended. The rift must have moved us, to what, the closest confluence of arcane energy?"
"What do you mean?" Nora asked. "Since when is the dungeon of Redcliffe, a 'confluence of arcane energy'?"
"Let's see. If we're still in the castle . . . it isn't. Ah! Of course! It's not simply where, it's when! Alexius used the amulet as a focus. It moved us through time."
"You're kidding," Nora argued in bafflement. "Did we go forward or backward and how far?"
"Those are excellent questions. Ones we will not find the answers to in this cell. Let's have a look around. Once we know where the rift took us, maybe we can find a way to get back. If we can . . ."
"Right," Nora agreed. She ignored the clenching in her gut and refused to ponder what would happen if they couldn't. The rest of the dungeon was just as dark and dank as the cell they had woken in. But most disturbing was the red lyrium protruding from the walls. The few poor souls they came across seemed unable to process anything outside their own minds. The lyrium had probably driven them mad. A familiar voice drifted through the halls, however, and Nora paused.
"The light shall lead her safely through the paths of this world and into the next. For she who trusts in the Maker, fire is her water . . ." Nora followed the sound of Cassandra's chant, but something sounded wrong about her voice just has it had everyone else's. It echoed hollow as if it were not really her. But it was undoubtedly Cassandra she found sitting in a cell, staring at the floor in defeat. When she approached, the warrior looked up and her eyes widened.
"You've returned to us! Can it be? Has Andraste given us another chance? Maker forgive me, I failed you. I failed everyone. The end must truly be upon us if the dead return to life."
"I didn't die, we just . . ."
Dorian stepped forward to help her explain. "Alexius sent us forward in time. If we find him we may be able to return to the present."
"Go back in time . . ." Cassandra muttered as she rose to her feet. "Then, can you make it so that none of this ever took place?"
"With any luck, yes."
"Alexius's master . . . after you died, we could not stop the Elder One from rising. Empress Celene was murdered. The army that swept in afterwards—it was a horde of demons. Nothing stopped them. Nothing . . ." Cassandra looked to the floor, haunted by some terrible memory. Nora stepped forward and put her hands on Cassandra's shoulders.
"We'll stop all of that from happening, I swear it."
Cassandra's grey-blue eyes met hers. "Maker guide us all."
They found Varric in the dungeons as well, humming a song to himself that he had invented for his beloved crossbow. She had heard him hum it during battle now and then. He was less visibly distressed than Cassandra had been, but no less haunted. It was painful to see in someone who was ordinarily so carefree and upbeat. He had heard that Alexius had barricaded himself in the throne room, so that was were they were headed now. It was difficult to navigate through a castle that she had only ever seen two rooms of before. They stood at a four-way corridor, unsure what path to take.
"I think it was left," Varric said.
"No, right," Cassandra argued.
"Are you saying that because you actually think it's to the right, or is it just because I said left?" Varric bantered. Cassandra snarled in frustration.
"No, really, let's stand around and discuss it. If we wait long enough, we're sure to be discovered. I bet they would bring us straight to Alexius, but I doubt we'd be in any condition to fight as it would only be our heads," said Dorian. Nora took in a deep breath. As a compromise, the Herald took the middle path. None argued. Further down the hall, she heard the grunts of someone being beaten.
"How did the Trevelyan know the sacrifice was at the temple? Answer!" A man demanded.
"Never," replied a familiar feminine voice in a thick Orlesian accent. She gave another outcry as he no doubt punished her for not answering. Nora looked to the others to confirm what she heard. They nodded. She followed the voice to a room at the end of the hall and threw the door open. A man in Tevinter robes and a mask turned in bewilderment. Leliana hung from chains behind him, her feet just barely close enough to the floor to stand. When he turned, she wrapped her legs around his neck and twisted. There was a crack and he fell to the floor. Nora sprinted forward to pull the keys from his body.
"You're alive," Leliana muttered while she unlocked the shackles around the Bard's wrists. Nora couldn't stop staring at her face, much older than it should have looked given that only a year had passed. What kind of torture had she endured? It had to have involved magic to have such an effect.
"We'll get you out of here," the brunette reassured her.
"Do you have weapons?" Nora nodded. "Good. The Magister's probably in his chambers." The redhead strutted past them to a chest on the floor.
"You . . . aren't curious how we got here?" Dorian asked.
"No," was Leliana's short reply.
"Alexius sent us into the future. This, his victory, his Elder One, it was never meant to be," he clarified anyway.
Nora continued to take in the Assassin's haggard appearance. "I . . . I'm sorry for everything you've had to endure. But if we can find Alexius and get back to the present, then you'll never have to go through it."
"And mages wonder why people always fear them. No one should have this power." Leliana shook her head.
"It's dangerous and unpredictable," Dorian agreed. "Before the Breach, nothing we did-"
"Enough," Leliana interrupted. "This is all pretend to you. Some future you hope will never exist. I suffered. The whole world suffered. It was real." Dorian fell quiet.
"Leliana, I . . ." Nora hesitated, the question tingling her tongue, but she had to build the courage to ask it. "What happened to the others? Where is Cullen?"
Leliana shook her head sadly, smiling ironically. "We were blind not to have noticed sooner. The two of you were not subtle. But don't do this. Remember him as you know him. Just know that he thought of you always." Her words were meant to help, of course, but they only made Nora feel worse. She had done this to them. To him. "We should move," Leliana suggested. The Herald nodded.
An unholy wailing shook the throne room, knocking rubble loose from the ceiling. "The Elder One," said Leliana. Whatever the Elder One was, Nora did not look forward to meeting it.
"Time to go, Herald," Varric said. He and Cassandra shared a look and she nodded. "We'll hold them back while you make your escape. Once they get through, the rest will be up to you."
Nora's green eyes widened when she realized what he meant. "No, I won't let you die for this."
"Look at us, we're already dead," Leliana said. "The only way we live is if this day never comes. Cast your spell. You have as much time as I have arrows." Nora's compatriots turned to the door and shut it behind them to help keep the Elder One at bay while Leliana remained inside to hold them off once Cassandra and Varric . . . Maker how Nora wanted to fight; to protect them from any more harm. The cries of demons perforated the walls. Finally, the door burst open. A Terror tossed Varric's corpse into the room as a slew of demons and Tevinters streamed in. Cassandra was dead somewhere beyond the room, she knew. Leliana chanted to herself as she held them off until a familiar young woman marched into the room. Nora gasped.
"No," she exclaimed. Kiara advanced on Leliana with intimidating calmness, deflecting the Bard's arrows with a wave of her hand. She was using magic. Kiara was a mage? No, this wasn't Kiara anymore, she realized. Her eyes, which had once been hazel, were glowing green like a demon's.
"Leave the Herald for me," the demon possessing Kiara ordered the others in a deep voice that did not match her sister's young feminine face. Nora moved to help Leliana, to do something, but Dorian grabbed her arm.
"You move and we all die!" he declared. Leliana continued to fight while Dorian's spell on the amulet began to open a rift. Nora glanced back at Leliana one more time, in time to see the demon who had possessed her sister rip into Leliana with powerful magic. Kiara turned an unfeeling gaze onto Nora. Nora took in her sister's heartbreaking appearance for a few moments more before sprinting through the portal with Dorian. Seconds later, they found themselves back in their own time with everyone looking on in shock, especially Alexius.
"You'll have to do better than that," Dorian jested. Nora strutted past him and grabbed Alexius roughly by the neck.
"Is that the best you can do?" she spat.
"Maker," Cassandra blurted, surprised by Nora's outburst of aggression. She didn't understand, didn't know what he'd do. Dorian's hand found her shoulder.
"No, Nora, he's not the same man as the one we met. Things can be different. He doesn't need to die," he pleaded.
Nora clenched her eyes closed. He was right and she knew it. With a cry of anger, she shoved Alexius to the ground. Leliana's men moved in on him and the Herald turned her back to leave.
"It's not a matter for debate," Cullen insisted. "There will be abominations among the mages and we must be prepared."
"If we rescind the offer of an alliance, it makes the Inquisition look incompetent at best, tyrannical at worst," Josephine argued.
"What were you thinking, turning the mages loose? The veil is torn open!" Cullen barked.
"We need their cooperation," Nora said. She did not look at Cullen. Hadn't since they got back. That seemed to be making him more frustrated, but she couldn't bring herself to.
"That's not all, is it?" Dorian said from the corner. Everyone jumped and drew their weapons, not knowing he was there. Nora gasped. Even as distracted as he had been, he had noticed her reaction when Kiara had entered the room.
"Leave, Tevinter. You were not asked to be here," Cassandra snapped.
"That girl. You knew her," Dorian said as if the Seeker had not spoken.
"Girl? What girl?" Leliana asked. "What did you leave out?" Nora had explained most of what had happened, leaving out the gory details of the fates of those in the room. There was no reason to burden them with that knowledge. She had also neglected to tell them about Kiara. Nora shifted uncomfortably as all eyes watched her.
"My sister. They took her. Used her against us . . ." was all she could say.
"Are you hoping to find her among the rebel mages?" Dorian asked. She gave a stiff nod. No one seemed quite sure what else to say. As usual, it was Leliana who broke the tense silence.
"What's done is done. We can go over this in more depth another time. For now, you should get some rest while we prepare the mages for closing the rift. You've had a trying few days." They adjourned and began filing from the room.
She wanted to go to Cullen, to apologize for whatever horrible fate had befallen him in that place. But she couldn't force her feet to carry her to his office and they refused to remain still to wait for him. Instead, she wandered through Haven to the little one-room home they had set aside for her. Her mind drifted, picturing what the room would have looked like in that dark future; A future that only came to pass because of a decision she had made. She was supposed to help the Inquisition down the right path. Until a few nights ago, she hadn't even given herself time to think about what would happen if they failed.
She didn't notice Cullen come in. He cleared his throat in the doorway and she spun to face him, startled. "Sorry," he apologized, shifting awkwardly on his feet. "I, um . . . I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have gotten angry. I was just . . . worried about what might happen with the mages."
"I know. You have valid reason to worry. We should keep an eye on them." Nora dropped her gaze and turned to the small room again.
"Nora?"
"I don't deserve your apology, Cullen. You were right, I almost ruined everything. I can't bear knowing that what I did . . . I killed you. I killed all of you . . ." She struggled to keep the emotion from her voice and it gave a quiver. She felt Cullen's hands graze down her arms to just above her elbows, felt his warmth behind her. His lips rested against her head above her ear, his words soft. She found his hands with her own and gripped them. His fingers, which were usually gloved, were cold to the touch from the crisp air.
"I don't know what you saw in that place, but we can change it. We know more about the enemy's plan and we kept the mages from joining this 'Elder One'. And we'll find your sister. They won't take her, I promise you." Kiara. After all these years, she really was alive. Did she run because she was a mage? Was she really that afraid of the Circle? Perhaps in Fereldan there would be reason to be, but the Circle in Ostwick was notoriously lax. She would have answers soon enough. Finally.