The young page who had been assigned to Alistair struggled down the cobblestone path with his heavy pack. He chuckled and shook his head, calling out to her from outside the gate, "I really wish you'd let me carry that, Gwennie."

The girl gave him a flushed, breathless grin, "No sir… only way... t'build up muscle, sir." Gwen finally closed the gap and let the heavy bag fall from her back.

Alistair scooped it up easily and slung it over his shoulder. "You behave while I'm gone. Remember what I told you about the boys."

"Aim for their jollies if they get fresh, sir."

"That's my girl."

Paien was in an agitated state and he paced back and forth across the courtyard. He alternated between barking out orders to pages and servants and digging into his various bags as he looked for something he was having no success in finding. They had only two hours to get to Amaranthine and board the ship for Cumberland. Lindise trailed after him and tried to keep him calm with soothing words.

"We need to leave," Nathaniel murmured, watching Paien over his shoulder as he walked towards Alistair. "What's he going on about?"

"Take your pick."

"Where's Elissa?"

Alistair slid the Howe a look. "She's coming."

"Where is that damn healer?" Paien shouted as he spun on a heel. "I swear to the Maker, if we miss this ship…" He turned back to Lindise and shoved an empty bag into her hands, "I still can't find them. Go. Up to my room, see if I left them somewhere up there."

"What can't he find?" Elissa jogged down the stairs from the Keep towards the men. "He was up all night making preparations. I heard him going up and down the hall every few minutes, I swear."

Lindise sprinted back into the Keep, while Paien turned to face the three of them, "Where's Anders?"

Elissa shook her head, "I haven't seen him all morning. What else are we missing?"

"My maps." Paien looked momentarily lost and confused, patting the bag at his hip again. He shook the expression away and settled back to the more comfortable and familiar state of irritation. "Has anyone seen Anders?"

"He might be… down below the armory," Nathaniel said slowly as he motioned a page closer.

Alistair nodded a little. Paien had been so preoccupied by the journey that Justice had apparently gone completely unnoticed.

"Of course. Ollie," Elissa said to the page, "run and see if you can find Anders down in the catacombs."

Ollie made a face, nodded, and sprinted off to the door that led to the dark, dank rooms below the Vigil.

"How could you have misplaced your maps?" Alistair asked. "Don't we need those?"

"They are Warden maps," Paien answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Outlining our strongholds, secret passages into the Deep Roads. Places that Sabinia may hide."

Elissa frowned, looking up at the Vigil and crossing her arms. "Do you think someone took them?"

"I don't like the idea that I misplaced them," Paien grimaced.

"Can we carry on without them?" she asked.

"If we must, yes. I know them well."

Nathaniel glanced to the east and checked the position of the sun. "We need to get on the road."

Paien groaned, "Le nichon de Andraste." He sucked in a deep breath and called out, "Lindise!"

Several moments later the elf reappeared empty handed. "I tore your room apart, I couldn't find anything." She added with some hesitation, "Sorry about the mess."

"Get word to Cruso," Paien growled. "Have him search the Vigil top to bottom until they are found. We'll need to carry on without, but I don't want them falling into the wrong hands."

"Yes, Commander."

"Lady Cousland!" Ollie had reappeared, out of breath and having trouble forming words. He rested one hand on his knee and another at a stitch in his side. "Anders… he isn't down there… an' neither is Justice."

"What?" Paien blinked at the page, and then stared at Elissa.

She closed her eyes, and Alistair could see the muscles in her jaw flexing. "He's gone."

Nathaniel threw his pack to the ground in a fury, "He's taken the maps and run off!"

Alistair's eyes grew wide, "Would he do that?"

"We can't exactly pursue him!" Nathaniel motioned off into the distance. "Not when he has the maps and we have a ship to catch. Bastard!"

Paien had grown very quiet and stared at a stone on the road. Finally, he said, "Nathaniel, pick up your things. As you said, we need to leave."

"But," Alistair began, watching Paien walk past him towards the main road. "What about Anders?" He wasn't surprised that Nathaniel immediately leapt to the conclusion that the mage had betrayed them. He had a little trouble accepting the idea himself. Sure, Anders had undoubtedly run off, but stolen Warden maps as well? He couldn't picture it.

"He's made his choice. In a very dramatic fashion. Nothing we can do about it now." The man looked over his shoulder at them. "We need to move. We cannot miss that ship, Sabinia has enough of a lead on us already."

Nathaniel snatched up his pack. "Someone ought to call the Templars to hunt him down."

Elissa gawked at him, "Nathaniel!"

"He's run off and betrayed us!" he spun back to her. "He knew we needed him! Dragging his traitorous ass back to the Circle would be more than a fitting punishment!"

"Walk and argue!" Paien hollered back at them.

Elissa shot him a dark look and fell into step behind Paien.

Alistair jogged a few steps to catch up with her. "He... has a point." That was more difficult to say than he thought. The Howe had a point that was not on the top of his head.

"Don't you start, too."

"He's an apostate now," Alistair reminded her. "If he's left the Wardens, we can't protect him. I don't think he's thought this through very well."

"Oh, he's thought this through very well," Nathaniel growled.

"I'm not saying I want him to fall into Templar hands," Alistair added, glancing back at Nathaniel. "I rather like Anders. And we don't know for certain that he took the maps, do we?"

"Don't be a fool," Nathaniel shot back. "He's taken them for hiding places. To know where the Wardens are likely to be so that we can be avoided. And for his betrayal to only be discovered now, when we can do nothing about it…"

Lindise hung back, exchanging words with one of the pages. When finished, she ran to catch up, sprinting past them to walk beside Paien. "Cruso will take care of it," she told him.

"What did you say to him?" Elissa took long strides to walk on the other side of Paien. "To convince him to join us?"

"I took the military approach and gave him an order," Paien replied with a grimace. "Clearly... I should have listened to you." He glanced at her. "We are without a healer and without any maps. We need to get to Cumberland, meet my contacts, and see if we can do something about our situation. At current, our largest disadvantage is the massive lead Sabinia has on us. That is what we shall focus on. Is that understood, men?" He glanced over his shoulder at Nathaniel and Alistair. "Not Templars, not revenge, not possessed corpses," the last was aimed back at Elissa, "but the mission at hand."

Nathaniel sneered, but answered, "Yes, of course."

Alistair stared at the Warden Commander in disbelief. Paien knew about Justice after all. Why didn't he mention the spirit earlier? "Yes. Sir," he finally said.

The long march to the docks of Amaranthine was mostly a quiet one. As the sun inched higher, the early frost faded away, and the landscape was golden in the morning light. Freshly plowed fields made the rolling hills look naked, and the path was scattered with fallen leaves, making the trees look equally bare. Everything was exposed and waiting for the oncoming winter, while the party trudged ahead in thick cloaks and heavy armor.

The city itself was just beginning to stir when they arrived and hurried through the empty streets. Lindise paused at a food stall as it was opening to buy a basket of apples and a fistful of herbs. Jogging to catch up again, she handed an apple to Paien, resting a hand on his back, murmuring, "We're nearly there."

"We're nowhere near there," came his reply, but he accepted the apple with a nod of thanks.

Lindise grimaced, but turned to offer the rest of them breakfast as well.

"You're a mage, aren't you, Lindise?" Alistair asked. He'd made a few attempts at conversation on the road, but no one seemed to be in the mood to chat. Or for a sing-a-long.

The elf gave him a smile, "Yes, I am. From the Circle in the Anderfels. Before that, I grew up in an Alienage."

"So what is your specialty? Can you turn people into toads?"

The elf laughed, "That I cannot do. No, I am an elemental mage. Fire, water and ice, air, earth and stone. I am able to manipulate them. Nothing terribly impressive or fancy-"

"Nonsense. You control the elements better than any mage I have ever known," Paien glanced back at her. "Tell him about your golems."

"Oo, tell me about your golems."

Lindise's smile grew more shy, and she shifted the basket of apples in her arms, suddenly self conscious. "They aren't real golems, not like the dwarven ones. I can just build a figure out of stone or ice and make them traipse about and punch people in the face."

Alistair grinned broadly at her as he twisted the stem off him apple, "That is both impressive and fancy. I look forward to seeing it in action."

The Amaranthine docks were far busier than the city itself. They were greeted by the smell of freshly caught fish headed to market, and by the sounds of seabirds and sailors shouting orders to one another. Their ship waited for them, a lean schooner under the banner The Bearded Lady. Twin masts stretched towards the heavens, and crisp white sails were open and ready to catch the wind to carry them to Nevarra.