Chapter Eleven
Whole
The children were taken into the kitchen to be washed and fed while Isolde awaited them in the main hall.
"Dagna, I would prefer if you went with the children," Fable said. "I am still uncertain of our hostess' intentions, she has proved… slippery in the past."
"Oh, for sure, I'd rather go eat anyway," Dagna said and followed the servants to the kitchen with their rowdy charges.
Hawke looked expectantly at Fable. "Slippery?"
"She is fierce when it comes to Connor. Don't let that Orlesian grace fool you."
"Understood," Hawke said with her signature smirk.
They strode into the main hall and Connor stood aside arguing with his mother. He had changed back into typical Fereldan mage robes.
"My lady," Cullen said.
"Mother, please," Connor said. "Let me handle this."
Isolde threw her hands up in the air. "I don't even know you anymore, Connor!"
Fable looked to the young mage. "You said there was someone here for me?"
Connor opened the door to his right and a tall, thin man stepped inside. The last time Fable had seen him was in this very hall.
"Jowan." Her voice trembled his name.
"It is good to see you are well, Fable Amell."
Fable looked to Cullen for support. Jowan was Tranquil. Cullen closed his eyes and took a breath of regret. Fable took a step toward the mage who had been her friend, the friend she had betrayed.
"Oh, Jowan, look at what they did to you," she said and brushed his hair out of his eyes. He looked blankly at her. "I don't understand, why is he here?"
"I brought him," Connor replied. "I brought several of the Tranquil. I couldn't leave them," he said. "I had no idea there was anyone left in the tower, Lady, forgive me for leaving the children." His head lowered and she could see the weight of the incident was burdening him.
"Sit down, please, we have so much to talk about. We'll tell you anything you want to know, Lady Isolde, we just need to find out what happened to the Circle tower," Hawke said. Her cousin was still staring with disbelief at the Tranquil mage before her. Fable was holding both of his hands in hers as though she were afraid he would disappear.
Cullen touched Fable's hair and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Were you there when it was done?" She asked him. "Did he suffer?"
"He did not suffer."
"Jowan was self-deprecating and funny, he was smart and anxious, we shared homework and secrets, and he loved a girl named Lily," Fable said. "Jowan was a blood mage because of his love for a girl who abandoned him when she saw what he was. If any of you had taken a moment to get to know him, you would have seen just how big his heart was, Cullen. He would have done anything for Lily."
"I would drown us both in blood just to keep you safe," Hawke said with a look to Anders. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose and she knew he was reliving the night they had met, the night he had put his ex-lover to the knife to save him from being Tranquil. The horror of what had happened to Fable's friend had an unsettling effect on the mages.
Fable wrapped her arms around Jowan's neck. "I'm so sorry. I would have told you to run had I known. I am so sorry."
"I am fine. I am well," Jowan said.
She pulled back and touched his cheek. "Send him away, Connor, I can't bear this."
Connor nodded and looked to Jowan. "Jowan, please, could you go back to your quarters?"
Jowan nodded serenely and took his leave. Fable found a seat. "We need to know what happened, Connor. Did Greagoir invoke the Right of Annulment?"
"No, he never had a chance to," Connor replied. "It all happened so suddenly. I've had a chance to think about it for a few days now and I think this insurrection was planned. Or at the very least, they had a plan in place should something occur."
"Who? Who do you think had plans in place?" Hawke asked.
"The Libertarians. They've been heavily recruiting within the Circles lately."
"We've heard varying tales of what happened in Kirkwall," Isolde spoke up. "Do any of you know what happened in Kirkwall? Have you heard anything?"
"The mages were being terribly abused in Kirkwall by a Knight-Commander who had been compromised by a tainted artifact. She invoked the Right of Annulment after an apostate blew up the Chantry with the Grand Cleric and the rest of the clergy still inside," Hawke said. "We were there, we did what we could for the mages there."
"Oh, Maker," Isolde said and clasped her hands in prayer. "Maker, forgive us for what we've done."
"There was a meeting of the Senior Enchanters about a week ago," Connor said. "I was in the library below and I could hear yelling and crying. There was quite a few booms, staves cracked into the floor in anger, I suppose. I can only speculate that a message had been received with the news about Kirkwall, but it must have been smuggled past the Templars. They never knew what hit them.
Wynne came flying out of the meeting with a look of… well, the last time I saw the look in her eyes was when I woke up here, next to you, Fable. My mother had the same look in her eyes when you saved me when I was a child. I do not know what happened to her, I'm sorry, I know you were close to the First Enchanter."
"You didn't see her after that?"
"No, but when we were running, two of the Tranquil had said they had seen a man in black leave with her the night before the fighting broke out," he said. "The fighting was terrible. I don't know how you do it every day." Connor shook his head in disbelief. "When the mages struck, it was quick and quiet. They were well coordinated. They used spells that wouldn't draw attention at first, so they could take down as many Templars as they could, one by one."
Cullen shifted in his chair. His eyebrows drew together in misery over the fates of his brothers. "It was a calculated strike then," he said. "Tell me, son, do you know who was in control of the Libertarian fraternity in your Circle?"
"It was a woman named Felice. She was very vocal with her remonstrance of a Chantry-run Circle of Magi and she is very… compelling."
"You mean she was probably using blood magic to influence the mages," Anders said.
Connor nodded in agreement. "There were rumors."
"It always comes down to what they can take," Fenris said. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "I'll tell you what would have happened had this been Tevinter, the Libertarians would have escaped once the chaos began and the Templars were rounding up all of the mages, whether they were attacking or not."
"That's – that's exactly what happened. The remaining mages tried to defend themselves against the terror and confusion that the rebellious mages caused. They – they became abominations, and the Templars panicked and tried sealing us in and I don't know what happened." Connor stood up from his chair then and began pacing the hall. "There was fire and blood, and monsters and shades, and then I looked and saw the Tranquil and they were just standing there and the Templars! The Templars were just cutting them down, they weren't even defending themselves! So I grabbed as many of the Tranquil that I could and I made them run. We ran outside and there were bodies in the water all around us and there was no boat!" Connor was crying at this point. "I – I made them get into the water and swim across. Some of them didn't make it, there were people still alive in the water and they were clinging to anything that moved and they just pulled us down and some came back up and some didn't."
"It's okay, Connor, it's okay," Hawke tried.
"No! No, it's not okay! We finally felt sand under our feet and I helped who I could out of the water. There were still shades, though, and rage demons, and they were following the Templars to the shore and people were running and screaming from the inn. We had nowhere else to go, so I brought them home," he said. "I ran home. I am a coward."
Fable stood up and crossed the room to where the red-haired young man stood. She put her hands on his shoulders. "You saved the most helpless of them, Connor. You saved the ones who couldn't fight back. You saved my friend. You are one of the bravest mages I've ever met. Most would have left the Tranquil to die while they got themselves out. You are no coward."
Fenris nodded in agreement. "She has the right of it, most would have left the Tranquil there. Most won't even look a Tranquil in the eye. You have proven yourself above."
"My Connor, so brave," Isolde said.
Hawke shook her head. "Didn't we deal with some Libertarians in Kirkwall?"
"Yes, and they seemed to know the Kirkwall Circle was going to fold," Anders said. "There was no way they could have had any idea of what would happen to the Chantry, I guarantee it."
"Yes, especially since not even the woman you lived with for three years knew what you were going to do. Well done," Fenris said dryly. "Let's all pat Anders on the back for his intrigue."
"Shut up," Anders said. "You have no idea –"
"What slavery is like? Try another line, mage, because that one won't work on me." Fenris was in Anders' face now.
"Wait," Isolde tried.
"What I was going to say was you have no idea how hard it was to make that decision without Hawke," Anders said.
"Wait, you blew up the—," Isolde began again.
"You seemed to have no trouble tricking her into helping you do it, though! I stand corrected, you are a marvel of contradiction," Fenris snapped.
Isolde suddenly burst out of her seat. "You! You blew up the Chantry? And you come into my house?"
Hawke slammed her staff into the floor with a telekinetic blast, separating Anders and Fenris. "Enough," she cried. Anders and Fenris were both knocked back onto the floor. Merrill jumped out of her chair and clapped both hands over her mouth to stifle her surprise. Fenris stalked out of the main hall while Anders glared at Hawke. "Lady Isolde, there were circumstances beyond our control in Kirkwall. We came to Fereldan to make restitution, though, and that should be worth some of your time, at the very least."
"You caused this," Isolde stammered. She turned to Fable. "You have brought these criminals to Redcliffe?"
"Lady, look at your son and tell me you aren't happy he is home. You would never have him here if it were up to the Chantry. What they are doing is wrong," Fable said. "He knows firsthand the abuses the mages suffer in the Circle."
"We are proposing a Circle as a mandatory school, with Templars serving the Mages and not the Chantry," Cullen said.
Fable took her place beside him. "Cullen was Knight-Captain of Kirkwall, and before that, a Templar here in the Fereldan Circle and he stands with us for change. We are here to make this right, Arlessa, I swear to you."
Cullen was surprised to see that Fable was holding his hand throughout that. "We want to end this war peacefully, but we cannot do that if we are fighting an unknown enemy who is a step ahead of us. Any information we can get on the insurrection at Kinloch Hold would be of vital importance to our mission," he said. "This won't end here. I wouldn't want another young mage to go through what Connor went through."
Isolde dropped back into her seat. "Oh, Eamon, why would you have to be away at a time like this? Tell me, Connor, what would you do with these people?"
"I would," Connor started and he looked at them each in turn. "I would help them, mother. I can't fight, that much is obvious, but the magelings stay here. We will open Redcliffe Castle to any mage interested in helping our 'school'."
"You're joking," Isolde cried out.
"You heard me, mother, if you want me here, then you'll listen to what I have to say."
"He's certainly his father's son," Fable said.
"You fought the Desire Demon for me, and for my father, in the Fade. I told everyone that I didn't remember, but I did. I was ashamed. You taught me that sometimes people will do the right thing for complete strangers. So, in a way, I have a lot of you in me, as well, Fable Amell," Connor said. "Castle Redcliffe is yours, though I know you will not linger."
"We need to find Wynne, Connor, do you know where she might have fled to?"
Jowan walked into the room. "If I could be of assistance, the First Enchanter has gone to the White Spire in Orlais."
Fable cocked her head at her friend. She moved across the thick carpet and stopped in front of him. "What makes you say that, Jowan?"
"She told me I was to tell Fable Amell that she was going to the White Spire in Orlais should Fable Amell question her whereabouts."
The Grey Warden raised her hand over her mouth in surprise – she should have known Wynne would leave a failsafe. "But why, Jowan?"
"Because of the letter."
"What letter?" Fable's patience was beginning to run thin, she wanted to shake the information out of him.
"The letter telling of the fall of the Kirkwall Gallows. The Libertarian of Orlais called his order to arms," Jowan replied matter-of-factly. "
"Why would this matter to Wynne? She's an Aequitarian. Who is 'the Libertarian of Orlais', Jowan?"
"Why, Wynne's son, Rhys, of course."
