3 - New Alliance

I don't recognize the bed I lay in when I wake. I push myself upright and hear a crash.

"Oh! I didn't know you were awake, I swear!"

A small flat-ear woman stands shaking at my feet. A box lay crumbled on the ground where she'd dropped it.

"Don't worry about it. I only—"

The flat-ear falls to her knees. "I beg your forgiveness and your blessing. I am but a humble servant." Her voice shakes.

Confusion addles my mind. "Where am I?"

"You're back in Haven, my lady. They say you saved us. The Breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand. It's all anyone has talked about for the last three days!"

"I—" I look down at my glowing mark. It doesn't pain me, at least for the moment. "So you're saying…they're happy with me?"

She still hasn't stood up. "I'm only saying what I heard. I don't mean anything by it." She finally stands to her feet, hands twisting in front of her. "I'm sure Lady Cassandra will want to know you've wakened. She said 'at once!'"

"And where is she?"

"In the Chantry with the Lord Chancellor. 'At once,' she said!"

She scrambles away, slamming the door behind her.

I stare back down at my hand. What happened? The Breach had stopped growing, she said. Does that mean it still hovers in the sky? Nails dig into my mark as I clench my fist. Then…I failed. So, why are the others happy with me?

I look around the shemlen cabin. It's small, cramped. My clothes lay on a wardrobe nearby. I quickly undress, changing out of clothes that obviously had been changed for me while I slept. It feels better, being in my own things instead of the strange plainclothes provided for me.

I glance out of a side window. I can see a large temple not far off. It must be the Chantry the servant elf had spoken of.

I freeze once I step out into the daylight. Shemlen of all sizes, ages, men and women, stand waiting. Guards hold their hands crossed over their chests in salute. Everyone goes quiet as the door closes behind me.

Many begin to lower their heads, bowing. Whispers begin to spread in the crowd as I step forward.

A lump forms in my throat.

"That's her. That's the Herald of Andraste (1). They said she came out of the Fade, Andraste herself was watching over her."

Herald of Andraste? One of their shemlen gods?

"Hush! We shouldn't disturb her."

They leave a path for me up to the Chantry, more whispers following in my wake. Over and over, they call me "Herald of Andraste," something I do not understand. Do they not see the point to my ears? Do they not see the vallaslin twisting its way across my face?

As I get closer to the building, Chantry women kneel before me as I pass, just like the commoners. When I reach the front of the Chantry, a few of the Chantry people speak in hushed tones.

"Chancellor Roderick says that the Chantry wants nothing to do with us."

"That's not Chancellor Roderick's decision, Sister."

The name sounds familiar. I pause to think, recalling the man at the forward camp who had been arguing with Leliana and Cassandra about my fate. He was a crass man, with a slightly pitted face.

He hadn't been pleasant to speak to.

I take a deep breath and open the door.

The room inside is massive. The ceiling stretches to the sky, pillars holding the massive stone structure aloft. There's a certain beauty to the building I cannot deny, no matter my preference for open air and twinkling stars.

The farther into the room I walk, the more voices reach my ears from the far end.

"Have you gone completely mad? She should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes Divine."

I recognize the voice. It's the Chancellor man. Roderick. He had said the same thing when Cassandra had marched me up to him at the forward camp.

"I do not believe she is guilty." Cassandra's voice.

"The elf failed, Seeker. The Breach is still in the sky. For all you know, she intended it this way."

So, I had failed at ridding the world of the Breach. I had been too amazed at the humans bowing to me to look up. I mutter to myself in disappointment, making a mental note to be more observant around these humans, no matter their treatment of me.

"I do not believe that," Cassandra continues.

"That is not for you to decide. Your duty is to serve the Chantry."

"My duty is to serve the principles on which the Chantry was founded, Chancellor. As is yours."

My gut pangs at me. I ignore it, pushing open the door behind which they all argue.

The two of them, and Leliana, stand gathered around a large table. They all turn when I walk through the door.

"Chain her," the Chancellor says, gesturing to the guards on either side of me. "I want her prepared for travel to the capital for trial."

Cassandra waves them away. "Disregard that, and leave us."

I'm only mildly surprised to see the guards salute to her and do as she said.

"You walk a dangerous line, Seeker," the Chancellor growls.

"The Breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it."

I clear my throat, dislodging the lump hiding in its depths. "I did everything I could to close the Breach. It almost killed me."

"Yet you live," the Chancellor says. "A convenient result, insofar as you're concerned."

"Have a care, Chancellor," Cassandra chastises. "The Breach is not the only threat we face."

Leliana steps forward. "Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect. Perhaps they died with the others — or have allies who yet live." Her eyes flit to him, her gaze holding steady.

"I am a suspect?"

"You, and many others."

"But not the prisoner."

"I heard the voices in the temple," Cassandra adds. "The Divine called to her for help."

"So her survival, that thing on her hand — all a coincidence?"

"Providence," Cassandra says matter-of-factly, as if talking of the weather. "The Maker sent her to us in our darkest hour."

The words of the people outside suddenly click into place. They believe me chosen by one of their gods.

"You realize I'm an elf. A Dalish elf."

"I have not forgotten," Cassandra says, her eyes slightly narrowed. "No matter what you are, or what you believe, you are exactly what we needed when we needed it."

Leliana clears her throat. "The Breach remains and your mark is our only hope of closing it."

"This is not for you to decide." The Chancellor's face is red with suppressed anger.

Cassandra walks around the large table. She turns back around, slamming a heavy and thick book down onto it.

"You know what this is, Chancellor? A writ from the Divine, granting us authority to act." She seems to grow in size, her shoulders pulling back. "As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn." She stalks up to the Chancellor, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order with or without your approval."

Roderick scowls. He throws one last look in my direction before turning and leaving the room.

At least I've avoided execution. For the moment.

Leliana's hand rests against the large volume. "This is the Divine's directive: rebuild the Inquisition of old. Find those who will stand against the chaos." She shakes her head. "We aren't ready. We have no leader, no numbers, and now no Chantry support."

"But we have no choice: we must act now." Cassandra looks at me. "With you at our side."

Me? Why are they willingly asking for my assistance? I hesitate. "What is 'the Inquisition of old,' exactly?" I ask.

Leliana gestures to the book. "It preceded the Chantry: people who banded together to restore order in a world gone mad."

"After, they laid down their banner and formed the Templar Order. But the Templars have lost their way. We need those who can do what must be done united under a single banner once more," Cassandra says.

I purse my lips, my brain addled with confusion. "But…aren't you still part of the Chantry?"

Cassandra lets out a snort of laughter. "Is that what you see?"

"The Chantry will take time to find a new Divine, and then it will wait for her direction," Leliana says.

Cassandra scowls. "But we cannot wait. So many grand clerics died at the Conclave… No, we are on own own. Perhaps forever."

I turn my back on them, looking at the door I'd come through. What would my clan say, if they knew where I was, what I had done? Would they be proud?

I look down at the mark on my hand. It seems as if this is the only thing that can close the holes now tearing through the Veil. I swallow, hard. In the end, it comes down to one thing: getting rid of the Breach before it swallows the world.

I turn back to them, holding my head high. "When I woke up, I certainly didn't picture this outcome."

"Neither did we," Leliana chuckles.

"Help us fix this before it's too late." Cassandra holds out her hand.

My mouth is oddly dry. My stomach is turning circles in my chest. But I don't hesitate.

We shake hands. A silent agreement. A new alliance.

(1) Andraste - the prophet whose teachings served as the foundation for the formation of the Chantry; spiritual wife of the Maker, whom the Chantry worships