Switching things up a bit to fit my own narrative arc. Nothing major, but my fellow nerds have probably already caught ay least one incident. Another one below. Well, two.
Part I.
Chapter 4.
They returned with a regal enchanter, an anarchist elf, and more questions than answers.
He was only mildly surprised by the relief he felt when Cassandra and Ashara walked into the Chantry. The reports from Leliana's agents in the city had not been heartening. The actions of his former brethren were baffling.
It was only logical to be worried about their safety. It had nothing to do with his growing affections for Ashara.
"It's a shame the Templars have abandoned their senses, as well as the capital," he remarked.
"At least we know how to approach the mages and Templars now," Ashara ventured wearily, headed toward the war room.
"Do we?" Cassandra responded, "Lord Seeker Lucius is not the man I remember..."
"True... He has taken the Order somewhere... But to do what?" That Leliana didn't have any leads was particularly discomfiting. "My reports have been... very odd..."
"We must look into it. I'm certain not everyone in the Order will support the Lord Seeker." He forced himself to sound more confident than he felt.
"Or the Herald could simply go to meet the mages in Redcliffe, instead," Josephine suggested.
"You think the mage rebellion is more united? It could be ten times worse." Despite his evolving attitude towards mages, he still wasn't comfortable with the thought of bringing so many apostates into their camp.
"I could at least find out what the mages want."
They all stopped and looked to the woman who was gradually becoming the center of their movement.
"No doubt what they've always wanted," the former Seeker drawled. "Support for their cause."
Josephine countered, "We shouldn't discount Redcliffe. The mages may be worth the risk."
"They are powerful, Ambassador. But more desperate than you realize," Cassandra countered.
"So it'll be dangerous." Ashara's voice was growing wearier. "I've been in danger since I walked out of the Fade."
He looked up at her with a sense of admiration and pride. She had been in danger beyond what he could ask any non-soldier to face, yet never quailed at a challenge. He was glad to have her at his side.
"If some of the rebel mages were responsible for what happened at the Conclave—" Cassandra cautioned before being cut off by Josephine.
"The same could be said about the Templars."
"True enough," he spoke up. "Right now, I'm not sure we have enough influence to approach the order safely."
"The Inquisition needs agents in more places," Cassandra agreed. "That's something you could help with, Ashara."
"In the meantime," their Ambassador added, "we should consider other options."
The discussion was over for now.
A raven arrived the evening after the party rode out for Redcliffe, carrying a scroll with his name written in a hand he recognized from her reports as Ashara's. Leliana handed it to him, unopened, an eyebrow raised in... maybe it was amusement? Skepticism? Curiosity? He'd never been able to read that woman's face.
He unrolled the thin parchment and found just a sprig of elf root leaves. Odd...
The next evening - they should be in Redcliffe by now - another raven brought him a blood lotus blossom rolled in parchment.
Two days later, a third strange delivery of a small embrium bloom.
None of the herbs was accompanied by a note of any kind. Beyond his name on the outside of the scrolls, of course. He didn't quite know what to make of the gifts, but kept them carefully rolled in a small hip pocket along with the coin his younger brother Branson had given him over twenty years ago.
He resisted the urge to approach her the moment they rode back into camp, the sun just beginning to dip below the peaks of the Frostbacks.
She needs rest and probably wants to bathe, and - the thought of her soaking languorously in a tub of steaming water, her braids undone, curls tumbling—
Stop it!
Maker, where did that come from?
Her brow was furrowed, the corners of her mouth drawn in, gaze turned inward. She was deep in thought, and it appeared that the thoughts weren't entirely pleasant. As she passed the training grounds in her return from the stables, she waved a distracted hand for him to follow, not making eye contact, still wrestling with something in her mind.
By the time they reached the Chantry doors, Cassandra had fetched Leliana from her post. The Inquisition gathered in the war room and listened in shock as Ashara and Cassandra recounted the events at Redcliffe.
"You mean, those skulls you've been using to find the shards are..." Josephine gasped.
"Tranquil. Yes." Her tone was flat.
"Maker's breath..."
"We can't just let this happen. I can't. Whatever the rebel mages have done, there are innocent children among them. Apprentices and enchanters who wanted nothing to do with the rebellion, only to be safe. And they're killing the Tranquil!" Ashara drove a fist into the table, striking the map right where Redcliffe was marked. He chastised himself for being amused by her aim.
"I was there," Cassandra confirmed. "Something is off."
"What do you propose we do?" the spymaster asked.
"We don't have the manpower to take the castle. Either we find another way in, or give up this nonsense and go get the Templars." It was true, no matter his opinion of mages.
"Redcliffe is in the hands of a Magister. This cannot be allowed to stand," Cassandra retorted.
"The letter from Alexius asked for the Herald of Andraste by name," Josephine reminded them. "It's an obvious trap."
"How nice of him to reach out to me personally."
Why must she be so flippant about this?
"A Tevinter Magister controls Redcliffe," - anger almost sounded in Leliana's voice - "invites us to the castle to talk, and some of us want to do nothing?" She directed a pointed glare at him.
"Not this again." Josephine's voice was dark.
"Redcliffe Castle is one of the most defensible fortresses in Fereldon. It has repelled thousands of assaults." He turned to Ashara. "If you go in there, you'll die. And we'll lose the only means we have of closing these rifts." He closed his eyes as soon as he said it, knowing how crass and uncaring it must sound to her. But he must put his duty to the Inquisition—to all of Thedas—ahead of his own feelings for her, even if that meant possibly hurting her feelings now.
He opened them again, catching the inscrutable expression playing across her features.
"I won't allow it." Did she hear how his voice betrayed those feelings he was trying to suppress?
"And if we don't even try to reach Alexius, we lose the mages," Leliana challenged. "And leave a hostile foreign power on our doorstep."
"Even if we could assault the keep, it would be for naught," Josephine argued. "An Orlesian Inquisition's army marching into Fereldon would provoke a war! Our hands are tied."
Cassandra looked up. "The Magister-"
"-Has outplayed us," Cullen finished.
"We can't just give up," the Herald appealed. "There has to be something we can do!"
"We cannot accept defeat now. There must be a solution." Cassandra was stubborn.
"Do we have to go through the front door?" Ashara glared at the map.
"Wait..." A flash of memory in Leliana's eyes. "There is a secret passage into the castle. An escape route for the family. It's too narrow for our troops, but we can send agents through."
"Too risky. Those agents would be discovered well before they reach the Magister," he rebutted.
"That's why we need a distraction," Leliana responded. "Perhaps the envoy Alexius wants so badly."
It had promise.
"Focus their attention on Ashara while we take out the Tevinters. It's risky, but it could work."
The door to their makeshift war room flew open and a striking young man marched in. "Fortunately, you'll have help."
Tevinter accent...
An Inquisition soldier was right behind him. "This man says he has information about the Magister and his methods, Commander."
Cullen turned his focus to the new arrival.
"Your spies will never get past Alexius's magic without my help. So if you're going after him, I'm coming along."
Ashara nodded at the newcomer. "Dorian," she acknowledged him. "Thank you."
"The plan puts you in the most danger, Ashara. We can't, in good conscience, order you to do this." He gazed steadily at her. "We could still go after the Templars if you'd rather not play the bait. It's up to you."
"I need to think." She turned unceremoniously and walked out of the room.
He watched her as she stopped at the chantry door to speak with another young Tevinter man who'd arrived at some point.
"I've made my decision."
It was early morning. She had called the others to the war room and wore that determined look she'd shown the day they had dragged her up the mountain after the Conclave.
"I am going northeast to the Storm Coast first thing this morning to rendezvous with Scout Harding and to meet with this mercenary captain who wants to join up. Hopefully that means we have a little extra strength going in. From there, we'll ride hard to Redcliffe. Leliana, does that give your people enough time to prepare?"
The advisors' eyes met briefly before Leliana answered.
"Yes..."
"Good. I'm leaving within the hour. I'll wait in the village until I receive word that it is safe to approach the castle. I won't let that bastard hurt any more innocent people."
He'd missed his chance to ask about the herbs.
Waiting for her return—their return—was difficult. They'd made it to the Storm Coast without incident and recruited both the mercenary band—led by a massive Qunari warrior—and a strange cultish group calling itself the Blades of Hessarian. A few days after the raven from the Storm Coast, word came from Leliana that Ashara had made it to Redcliffe with her party.
Additional protection aside, the news that they were now in Redcliffe—that Ashara was now in the midst of hundreds of rebel mages—made his headaches worse. He was not suited to inaction. Waiting around for news while essentially helpless to aid in the cause brought him back to a dark place.
So he took his preferred approach to the increasingly familiar feeling and threw himself into strengthening what defenses he could muster for their little village. He was overseeing the final stages of assembling the trebuchets when a messenger arrived at the gates.
"Ser! Knight-Commander Cullen?"
"That's not my-" He cut his growl off when he saw the young woman wearing a ragged Templar tabard. "What is it?"
"My name is Lysette. The Herald of Andraste said that you had joined the Inquisition. We have left Therinfal Redoubt. We cannot agree to the Lord Seeker's actions. We wish to join the Inquisition. I rode ahead to bring word."
"At ease, soldier." He took a few steps toward the young woman. "What was the Lord Seeker doing at Therinfal Redoubt?"
She paused as though trying to decide what to say. "I... don't know, Ser. Our commanding officers brought us there from all over. Orlais, Ferelden, the Marches. But they all disappeared not long after we got there. Some of the others were acting strangely. I think the Lord Seeker was... conducting experiments. With a strange form of lyrium."
Maker's breath... That would explain the Lord Seeker's odd behavior. "Was the lyrium red?"
She looked at him in shock. "Y-yes! How did you know?"
"I have encountered it before." He cursed under his breath. "You've done right by bringing this information to the Inquisition.
"Thank you, Knight-Commander."
"I am no longer a Templar. My title is simply Commander now. How many of you are there?"
"Only a dozen, Commander. The rest should be here by morning. I don't think there's anything we can do to stop whatever Lord Seeker Lucius is doing, but we hope to be able to help the Inquisition's efforts to seal the Breach and restore order."
"Welcome, then. The Inquisition needs all the help it can get. I am pleased to see there are some in the Order who still have some sense about them."
It was some small relief to know they would have additional Templar help should the mages prove a problem.
No sooner than he'd dismissed her, Leliana rushed from the village gates bearing word from Redcliffe. "They are returning, Commander. And the news is strange."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"
She shook her head. "The report is brief. They will fill us in when they get here. But the mages are safe and will be joining us as soon as they can. Ashara, Cassandra, and the Tevinter mage are riding ahead and should arrive by tomorrow night."
"That's all? No explanation of what happened?"
"None. Cassandra assures us no one was harmed. ...But nothing else."
"I don't like the sound of this. A Tevinter magister... And the Lord-Seeker is doing something with red lyrium..."
"Red lyrium?!"
"I'm starting to think we've stumbled into something far worse than we'd anticipated."
I can't let Barris die, y'all. I just can't.