spoilers for Inquisition
Kallian followed the Inquisitor to what seemed to be her 'office' although the room was more luxurious than kallian's own bedroom; golden statuettes, beautiful sculptures, fancy furniture and lots of books. The Warden wondered if the Inquisitor had the time to read all of them.
"Please have a seat," Aya intimated.
The inquisitor was already sitting behind her huge desk. Did she finally put aside all the pretense and false modesty? Even if she was now a mere peacemaker receiving orders from Devine Victoria, Lavellan was still a powerful woman considered holy by most Andrastians and married to the man who had the loyalty of the greatest army in Thedas… getting on her wrong side would not be the wisest thing to do.
"I admire you, Warden. I truly do" Aya declared with a smile "you are what I consider a true hero"
"It is not like I had the choice, it was the 'fight or die' kind of situation"
"For me as well, it was this kind of situation" the Inquisitor laughed. "But it is not what I meant. Unlike me, you, Kallian Tabris, have faced true evil, you gazed into the abyss but strangely the abyss didn't gaze back into you"
Kallian frowned, but tried her best to keep a serious face, she wasn't sure what the Inquisitor was meaning by this abyss story yet she had to answer the best that she could.
"Do you consider that Corypheus wasn't evil enough?"
Aya laughed "He was a joke!" she shook her head "a caricature blabbering with a deep voice, speaking big fat clichés about godhood and Tevinter superiority" she cleared her throat and said mimicking Corypheus' voice "You will kneel…you are a mistake… You are nothing"
Kallian laughed, it was unusual to see someone talking like this about the vanquished enemy. Ordinary people would say their enemies were the most evil, the most powerful, and the most dangerous just to seem braver. It was a rule 'the more you demonize your enemy the more you look heroic' but somehow the dalish woman was not interested in giving this impression.
"No, you see Corypheus was so lamentable, people following him were insane or marginalized buggers he lured with power, gold or red lyrium"
"It is true that no one believed he was a god or that he would make the world a better place"
"True evil is incarnated by an attractive, charismatic and silver-tongued bastard who has the power to turn the brother against his brother. convincing or confusing, he can commit atrocious crimes and still find loyal people to defend him tooth and nail"
The more Aya talked the more Kallian felt targeted.
"The most serious kind of evil can cause more death and destruction than the blight itself and still find support, respect, and admiration"
"Aya…Inquisitor, I do not like to dwell on the past"
"I understand, but I need to know something, it will be primordial for what we are going to discuss next. One question Warden, allow me to ask"
Kallian nodded.
"I am not going to ask you why you didn't execute him, you reasons are your own. but I desire to know what you think of him"
"What do you want to hear Inquisitor?"
"The truth, if possible."
"People say that you and him are close friends… are you testing me?" Kallian glared suspiciously at the dalish woman.
Friendship, what a treacherous concept, Aya thought.
"I lie to the liars and I am honest with the honest, I do not know yet to which category you belong, but after you answer my question I will decide"
"I will answer your question"
Aya's eyes glimmered with interest.
"He is a dishonorable, dishonest, and devious man. Anyone who trusts him is stupid or oblivious and the ones who respect him do not deserve respect," Kallian said calmly.
"And what about the ones who love him?" The Inquisitor hinted.
Aya was very entertained. Usually the flat-ears didn't bother with morals but this one, she was outbidding, pushed by what Aya defined as guilt.
This was good for what was coming next.
"...Love doesn't obey any moral rules" Kallian muttered staring at the Dalish woman who was clearly having a good time setting her up.
"This was not what I expected…" Aya said tracing the vallaslin on her chin.
"What did you expect?"
"Not this amount of pragmatism from you. You sure were delusional at a certain point of this story," Aya confessed and soon regretted her words facing the murderous glare of the Warden.
"Calm down Warden. Look, we need to lighten the mood."
Aya stood up and gave the Warden sign to follow her,
"Come with me I am going to show you my collection of arms"
"Your collection of what?"
"my artificial arms, I have so many and I keep receiving them as gifts, the one I am wearing now is a gift from my father it's made of ironbark"
The Inquisitor grabbed Kallian's hand and put it on her left arm "feel it"
Kallian didn't know how to react anymore, but if Aya's purpose was to distract her, the dalish woman had succeeded.
"Come now I have so much more to show you"
"I can't believe you didn't tell us," Adaia said before taking another bite of her sandwich.
"It is not like I am going to get married tomorrow, I asked for her hand and she said yes."
"The Inquisitor, this Ava or Aya or whatever is her name, is she forcing you to marry her daughter? Tell the truth Caridin!" she stopped to swallow and continued "Mom is going to butcher her!"
"Nobody is forcing me. I am old enough to choose a wife. At seventeen, mother was facing a blight while pregnant with me."
"Then, mom is going to butcher you," Adaia said as she kept munching her snack.
"Kalli is coming our way, listen, Adaia, I am serious, she is susceptible and shy, be nice and don't ask many questions, and wipe your mouth, piggy pig"
Adaia wiped her mouth quickly with the back of her hand and raised her head to look where Caridin was looking. There was a silver-haired elven girl wearing a simple dress coming their way with hesitant steps, Caridin smile encouraged her and she smiled back as she took more assured steps.
"She doesn't look like her mother," Adaia mumbled.
"She is adopted, hush now," he said quickly and rose to greet the girl.
"I was looking for you this morning," Caridin said
"I… I was…helping in…in the infirmary," The girl stuttered.
"You have been missed" Caridin whispered as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. The girl blushed and glanced to Adaia who was staring at them with wide eyes.
"Kalli, meet my little sister Adaia or as we all call her at home 'the little monster of Amaranthine'"
Kalli grabbed Adaia's hand with both her hands "I … I have heard…so…so much …about you" the girl stuttered
"Whatever he said it was all lies" Adaia joked
"Caridin is luck…lucky to have…a sis..ter, I have al…always wanted…to have a…a big family"
"Oh, I'm sure that Caridin will give you many children" Adaia watched with amusement Kalli's pale face turn red.
Caridin nudged his sister with his elbow
"What?" Adaia asked
Caridin replied with a glare.
"I wanted to show you something this morning, would you like to go for a walk with me, now?"
Kalli nodded and grabbed Caridin's arm,
"It was a p…pleasure to …meet you …Adaia"
"Skyhold is tricky don't get lost," Caridin warned.
"I am going to sit here, all alone, cowardly abandoned by my own brother in a foreign place" Adaia whined
"Maybe we should…" Kalli tried to say
Caridin glared at his sister and pulled Kalli by her arm "Let's go!" he muttered watching his sister sticking her tongue out to taunt him.
He took a few steps and turned over to shout "And no fighting in the mud, piggy pig!"
"Kalli, when you get back, remind me to tell you the story of the throne room!" Adaia shouted back
Caridin led his fiancée to the garden, when they reached it, he put his hand over her eyes and guided her for a few more steps. When he removed his hand the young elf started laughing with delight at the spectacle before her eyes.
"See, it blossomed!"
"I thought it was dead," she said caressing the white petals
"You give life to everything you touch," he whispered.
Kalli smiled and pulled him into a warm embrace. After a moment she whispered "I am sorry" Caridin put his hand under her chin and raised her head. When their eyes met he asked, "For what, love?"
"I…My stutter, it gets worse when I meet someone new, and your sister, she must think I am…"
Caridin smiled "when they first meet you, people are too subjugated by your beauty to even notice what you are saying"
Kalli burst into laughter, "you are terrible!" she said slapping him on the shoulder.
"Tell me about the throne room story that Adaia talked about," Kallie said giggling.
Caridin smile faded but he managed to keep a straight face.
"Is it not a funny story? If you don't feel like telling it, I would understand," she stammered.
"Well, it is a silly story about a silly thing I did when I was ten" He smiled to reassure the girl who was looking at him with concern, alas it didn't work.
Caridin sighed "When I was ten I convinced the new seneschal to let me pass judgments I took advantage of mother's absence and the man's inexperience and I lied to him, I told him that I had her permission"
"He believed you?" Kalli frowned.
"I can be very convincing. Anyway, I sat on the throne and sentenced everybody to death even the two guys who were arguing about a goat ownership…"
Kallie clapped her hand over her mouth in shock.
"Nobody got killed, the seneschal kept them in cells and waited for mother's return. When she came back, she locked me in my room for several days"
"She must have been furious!"
"That's what everybody thought, but I saw something else in her eyes... fear, she was afraid of me, I begged I asked for forgiveness to no avail. She let me out after uncle Nate intervened"
"Were you serious about executing all those people?"
"I was not even serious about passing judgment and I was aware that if I had stated otherwise the new seneschal would have carried the sentences so I said 'hang them all' I knew he would wait for mother's arrival to applicate such a severe punishment."
"Did you explained to her?"
"She was not convinced. The uncompromising Warden-Commander was probably thinking that somehow I had the roots of evil inside me... I now understand why"
"That's not true," Kalli said squeezing his hand "and you know it"
Adaia was about to return her attention to her meal when she heard him
"How is your family?" Loghain asked
"Not you again!" she growled
"Your grandfather, uncle, and aunt are they all right?"
"Yeah, they are fine. However, uncle Soris, the one you have sold his wife, is still waiting for an apology or a sign of regret" Adaia mocked the man who was standing unblinking before her.
Facing his annoyed silence she rolled her eyes and said "That's what I thought"
"You are quite eloquent, girl. Do you like your studies?"
"It depends. Orlesian literature is my favorite subject I learned a new phrase recently do you want to hear it"
"Sure"
"Casse-toi sale con," she said.
"So this is the kind of education your mother is dispensing you" Loghain kept looking at her with his arms crossed over his chest. He knew how to react when someone attacked him but he had never suffered such disdain from someone he cared so much about… Maybe once or twice, but never from a girl with a face he had always associated with tenderness and affection.
"Although it has always been one of my dreams to become best friends with a war criminal, I really have to go now" Adaia stood up preparing to leave.
"You are an arrogant brat who knows nothing about life" He hissed grabbing her arm.
"I know enough not to want to be near a man who has treated peasants as slaves, mages as weapons and elves as animals,"
"That is what your mother has told you?" he involuntarily tightened his grip on her arm.
"My mother is a merciful fool, if it was me, your head would still be hung on Denerim's gate."
How could someone who had this face speak such cruelties? It was like having his own mother telling him how much he deserved to die. He was shaking...this… it was too much to bear, Even for him.
"Let go of my arm, you disgus..."
Adaia didn't see this coming. The man pulled her closer and hugged her with all his forces. Surprise gave way to anger as she struggled to free herself. When he finally let go, breathless, she stared at his face and it became impossible for her to recall any insult or pettiness... "Stay away from me," she managed to say before she ran away.
Even if her brain started to assimilate what just happened, her heart refused to acknowledge it.