"The Fade," Dagna said triumphantly.

Jerath blinked. "Dagna, remember what I said about not being able to read your mind."

"Oh, right. I figured out that silverite you brought me." She continued talking, chattering about harmonic structures and inter-transiency and many other words he was convinced she made up on the spot.

"Alright, slow down." He tilted his head at her. "You are trying to tell me that the silverite absorbed energy from a weakness in the veil?"

"Yes," she said. "Like your dragonbone blade." She gestured. "Carver, come here."

Carver walked over cautiously, and Dagna offered him a greatsword. He took it gingerly, and she gestured at where she'd set up a combat dummy. "Go, try it out."

"The last time I did this, my hand was numb for three hours." Carver held the sword carefully.

"That was his sword. This one's yours." She bounced eagerly. "Go on, give it a try."

He swung it experimentally a few times. On the fifth swing, there was a blast of lightning that arced to the other two dummies, blasting the stuffing out of one. Dagna clapped gleefully. "Ah, so that's what it does!"

"You... didn't know what it would do?" Jerath asked.

"Well, I was reasonably sure it wouldn't hurt him. I insulated the grip." Dagna gestured. "Look at the sheen on his armor now. The other effect seems to be to provide a limited sort of barrier. Not quite as good as having a mage shield you, mind, but should take some of the sting out of a hit."

Carver turned the blade around in his hands. "I like it."

Jerath shook his head. "How are you coming with the memories?"

"A lot of it's useless," Dagna said. "Genealogies, stuff that barely mattered when they recorded it. I did find some interesting bits. Used a little in making that sword. Working on a shield next. I'm going to need dragonblood."

"We'll get right on that."

"Not dragonling blood, either. High dragon. And a revenant heart. Silverite takes well to enchantments that hurt darkspawn, and I can use the dragon-blood to make it more effective against demons. Should work well with Carver's templar abilities." She snatched the blade back from Carver and put it onto the workbench before fiddling with it some more.

"Make a list, we'll see what we can find."

"Anything else fade-touched."

#

Carver smiled when he saw Loghain. "You found us something?"

"I found something that may be able to find something. An abandoned Warden outpost from the fourth blight."

Jerath raised an eyebrow. "That's a little recent."

"True, but hear me out." Loghain laid out a map. "It was commanded by none other than the Warden mage Isseya, sister of Garahel. She created an underground lake."

"Impressive," Nathaniel commented.

"And there are two other things true about this place. Considerable Warden lore dealing with magic was relocated here to keep it safe as other outposts were lost." Loghain gestured at the map. "And it appears that the sickness that ultimately killed off the griffins may have originated at this location."

"You think it might have been contamination from something magister related?"

"I think it is a possibility we cannot discount." Loghain looked up. "Blood magic was used to hold Corypheus. At this point in the Fourth Blight, there were a number of rumors that Isseya and no few others among the warden mages and their adherents were blood mages."

"How do we get in?" Nathaniel asked.

"Duke Prosper is holding a wyvern hunt." Loghain shrugged. "I suggest you go in the front door."

Carver grinned. "Always wanted to hunt one of those."

"What?" Temmerin elbowed him. "High dragons aren't good enough for you anymore?"

Jerath shook his head. "Duke Prosper will know you on sight, Loghain, and likely pay attention to a dwarven guest. You, Nathaniel, and Temmerin stay on the outskirts. Carver and I will go in."

"Like you won't be noticed," Temmerin muttered.

"Ah, but I'm not going in as a Warden," Jerath said. "It's Orlais. They won't look once at an elf in servant clothing."

#

"We have a problem," Carver whispered.

"I noticed." Jerath narrowed his eyes at the incoming group. "What is your brother doing here?"

"Heralding an oncoming storm?" Carver shook his head. "What now?"

"Anders will definitely recognize me." Jerath considered a moment. "Go visit with your brother. If nothing else, I'm sure whatever he's doing here will make a great distraction. Help him if he needs it."

"Yes, Commander." Carver waited for the other man to vanish, then started walking towards where his brother was talking with Duke Prosper.

#

Anders approached him as soon as they were out of earshot of the other guests. "Carver, I ran into Leliana, and she said that the Commander..."

Carver sighed, and nodded. "He left for Denerim the same time Stroud and I left for the Free Marches. There had been...riots, and an incident in the alienage. He was supposed to take ship back to Amaranthine the next day, but instead his cousin delivered the Commander's helmet to the Vigil with a note saying that Saitada was to be the Warden Commander."

"He didn't say where he was going?"

"No." Carver looked down, and then looked back to Anders. "The incident that caused the rioting in the alienage was the murder of the elvish bann."

"Wasn't the Elvish bann..."

"His father, yes."

"I would ask if you thought that was why he left but..." Anders shook his head. "If you told me he pulled Fort Drakon down with his bare hands in response, that, I'd believe. But not simply leaving."

"Warden-Commander Saitada was already on her way to Amaranthine due to receiving a request for her presence from Commander Jerath. Clearly, he expected to be leaving. She arrived only two days after he'd vanished, shocked to find him gone."

Isabela spoke up from where she'd been shamelessly eavesdropping. "I met him once. He beat me at cards. I was cheating heavily, but he beat me anyway." She shook her head. "Never saw it coming."

Anders frowned, and then looked back at Carver. "You don't suppose that... the commander... well he did survive killing an archdemon, perhaps the Calling came sooner for him than normal, and he simply did not want to make a fuss?"

"Warden-Commander Saitada had the same theory. Still... no one in Orzammar ever saw him arrive."

#

Nathaniel snickered. "Let me get this straight..." He glanced at Carver. "Our distraction for robbing Chateau Haine is... your brother is here to rob Chateau Haine."

"Yes."

"We have had worse plans," Jerath said.

"True." Nathaniel glanced at Carver. "How big a distraction do you think your brother is going to provide?"

"Well, he did put down a Qunari invasion more or less single-handedly."

"And he's an Amell mage." Jerath shrugged. "Never a good idea to get in the way of one of those." He glanced at Carver. "Stick with your brother. If we end up getting him in more trouble than he can handle, give a shout."

"Yes, Commander."

#

"An Avvar altar, dedicated to the Lady of the Skies?"

Jerath shrugged. "We can't get in yet. Might as well check it out."

#

"Nothing like a battle with demons to get the blood pumping," Nathaniel said. He downed an elfroot potion.

Loghain shook his head. "Anything useful?"

"A ceremonial knife of some kind, and a book. Perhaps Morrigan can make use of them," Jerath said. "Let's get out of here before anyone sees us."

Nathaniel pointed. "Looks like the party is ending. Shall we head in?"

"Let's move."

#

Carver found him, and gestured urgently. Jerath moved towards him, keeping his face turned away from the young Dalish woman that was accompanying Carver. She appeared engrossed in the plants winding up the fence. "Leliana and Arl Teagan are both in attendance."

"Brehan?"

"If he's here, I didn't see him, but..."

"If he's here, we are already screwed," Jerath said. "Teagan, Leliana, your brother. Is the First Warden also in attendance? Flemeth?"

"The latter wouldn't really surprise me all that much."

"Me either," Jerath said. "Keep your head down. If you run into Brehan... point out your brother is also here, then make your escape as soon as you can. We'll meet you back at the port."

"Yes ser."

"Who is your friend?"

"Um... Merrill."

"Try to have fun."

Carver laughed softly. "Will do."

#

Nathaniel blinked. He could see the Champion and the elven woman skulking about. The guard below him caught sight of them as well, and started to stand. Nathaniel shrugged, picked up a small statue, and dropped it onto the guard's head before ducking back into the shadows. Amateurs.

#

Carver sensed two wardens, and headed in the other direction. "Okay, we're lost together. Both of us, not that we're 'together' together." He'd helped kill two of the original magisters, fought a high dragon, and walked through lands that didn't technically exist. How did one elven mage get him so twisted up?

"If we have to be lost somewhere, at least it's a nice hallway!" Merrill gestured. "Very well built, not at all likely to collapse."

"Right, well, back to rescuing..." He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her. "Wait. You're doing that on purpose."

She giggled before running on. He shook his head, smiled, and followed.

#

Jerath picked up a tray, and walked into the chateau with the rest of the servants while Leliana was distracted. Once inside, he simply walked through as if he had a perfect right to be there. Nobody even looked at him twice. He could sense Nathaniel moving around on the floor above them.

He opened a window, and waited while Loghain and Temmerin entered. "If your information is right, there should be an entrance down in the vaults."

Loghain nodded. "This is really not how I pictured invading Orlais."

#

Nathaniel tilted his head, and glanced down. "Anders has been wandering the sublevel for the past half hour, going in circles."

Jerath blinked. "Is he lost?"

"Or insane." Nathaniel shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Oh for..." Jerath shook his head. "Let's find this cache and get out of here."

"I don't know. We could stay here and watch the mages try to be sneaky." Nathaniel shook his head. "It's surprisingly entertaining." He started moving, then stopped. "The floor is trapped."

"Can you get it?"

"I can, but it will take me a few minutes."

"We don't have a few minutes."

Nathaniel considered. "There is probably a switch or something that shuts them off. But it would likely be on the..." He pointed. "There."

"That's less than helpful," Temmerin said. "How are we supposed to get to it?"

Nathaniel and Loghain both turned to look at Jerath. He sighed. "You know in some countries, elf-tossing is illegal."

"And in others, it's a national sport." Loghain shook his head. "This is Orlais."

#

"A problem."

"Oh. Lovely. Haven't had one of those in five whole minutes." Jerath glanced at Temmerin. "What now?"

"I found the cache."

"That seems like the opposite of a problem." Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at the dwarf.

"It's in there." Temmerin pointed at the lake.

"Ah. That would be a problem then."

"It's only about two feet down, but it's a good thirty feet into the rock and behind a barrier door. Even if we could hold our breath long enough to get the door open..."

"The water would destroy what we came for as soon as we opened the door."

"It's not really a problem," Loghain said.

"How is that not a problem?" Temmerin asked.

"Well, I suppose if you have an issue with getting a lot of Orlesians wet, it's a problem."

"Temmerin, find me a good spot to blow a hole in a mountain." Jerath smiled. "We'll send the Duke a letter of apology later."

#

"What was that?" Merrill asked, glancing around after the castle rumbled.

If he had to guess, he'd say one of Dworkin's toys. Carver shook his head. "Probably nothing." He gestured for them to keep moving.

A door led them to a pleasant garden. Merrill picked a flower and tucked it behind her ear. "Should we head back in?"

He shook his head. "Let's try circling around the chateau, finding our original entrance. Maybe we can track the others."

"This is exciting, isn't it?" She fell into step next to him. "Do you do this often?"

"Hunt through Orlesian palaces looking for my brother?" He laughed. "No. Normally we hunt through palaces looking for darkspawn."

He wasn't sure, exactly, when they'd taken each other's hands. For a moment, he let himself forget all the real reasons he was there. He was strolling through a garden with Merrill.

#

"Commander?" Nathaniel said. He pointed.

Loghain swore quietly. "What are they doing here?"

Jerath sighed as he observed Carver's brother and several others, including Anders, entering the deeps. "Blocking our escape."

"Wait for them to pass?" Temmerin suggested. Soldiers began to head after the Champion. "Or not."

"Well, there is a nice hole in the mountain. Can you swim?"

"We had a plan when we came in here," Nathaniel said. "I distinctly remember us having a plan."

#

"Are those Qunari?" Loghain asked.

Temmerin nodded. "At least now there is a cover story for 'why part of the mountain exploded'."

Nathaniel shook his head. "You know, I always thought Carver was exaggerating when he talked about his brother."

"Only because you never knew Lenore," Jerath said.

"She couldn't have been that bad."

"In the time I knew her, she accidentally summoned five demons, nine revenants, and a high dragon." He considered a moment. "Some of the revenants might have been on purpose."

"How does one summon a high dragon?" Temmerin asked.

"A gong on a mountainside. Let's get moving."

#

"Are you coming back to Kirkwall?" Merrill asked hopefully.

Carver sighed, and shook his head. "I can't. I'd like to, but... I'm a Warden now."

"But you'll visit, right?" She laid a hand on his arm.

She was beautiful. He could spend a lifetime lost in her eyes. It had been fun, fighting alongside his brother. Fighting alongside Merrill. But after the last couple years, his brother's battles just seemed... small. He ran his fingers through Merrill's hair. She put a hand around the back of his neck, then rose up on her toes to kiss him.

Time went away.

#

"That's... a lot of Qunari, actually." Nathaniel touched his bow.

"Technically, I think they are Tal-Vashoth," Temmerin said.

Loghain shook his head. "Whatever they are, if they make it up the hill, Carver and his brother are going to be in a lot of trouble."

Jerath drew his weapons. "Let's give them a hand, shall we?"

#

Merrill led him a bit away from the others. When they were alone, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. She was light in his arms. "Stay?" She whispered into his ear. "Just for a little while?"

"I can't," Carver said. Letting her go felt like cutting his arms off. "You don't know how much I wish I could."

Her eyes watered. "Duty calls?"

He ran his fingers down the side of her face. "If it were anything less than the world at stake."

She giggled.

#

Jerath was soaking wet. Carver blinked. "Ser?"

"Carver..." Jerath just shook his head. "Don't ask."

"We should get going, ser." Carver glanced back over his shoulder. "The world is in danger."

Jerath laughed softly, and shook his head. "The world is always in danger. It will keep a few more hours."

"Ser?"

"Go. Remember why it's worth saving."

Carver's face broke into a smile. "Yes, ser."

#

He found her only a few feet from where he'd left her, sniffing at the blossom on a tree. "Merrill."

She turned back to him, and her face lit up. "Carver."

#

Jerath saw the elven woman leave the Champion and head off on her own. Quietly, he followed. When she moved through the crowd, he took the opportunity to brush past her.

#

"Did we retrieve anything useful?"

"A chest marked with a seal saying it's for the Warden-Commander's eyes only." Loghain glanced at Jerath.

Jerath nodded, and unrolled the map. It was clearly a few hundred years old, but the markings on it were distinct enough. "If this information is correct, one of the apprentices to the original magisters was one of the forces behind the origin of the first Grey Wardens. She joined forces with a scholar to develop the Joining."

Morrigan raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

"And the information she brought to the Wardens included this." He gestured at the map. "The original magisters had uncovered the locations of all the old gods."

She shook her head. "We knew the Grey Wardens know the locations. You got that much from the Archi..." She took a second look at the map. "This is different."

"It is. Lusacan in the Western Approach, Razikale under Lake Calenhad, and this symbol..."

"Directly beneath Weisshaupt." Morrigan stared at the map.

Loghain shook his head. "So is Weisshaupt compromised by a magister, an archdemon, or something else?"

"I don't know."

"Anything else?" Morrigan asked.

Jerath set another scroll on the table. "A list of all Qunari agents in Thedas."

Carver blinked. "How did you get that? I thought Tallis took it."

"Remind me to teach you how to pick a pocket. It's a useful skill."