Note: So I'm not entirely sure if this could play out this way, but I like the character of Otto and it never says specifically when he was injured and subsequently blinded. And I'm trying to use canon characters as side characters/cameos instead of making them up whenever I can, so I thought hey, why not.

Chapter 12: Transfigurations

Rustle of curtain, creak of wooden bench.

"Have you come to know the peace of the Maker's benediction, my child?" Brother Otto asks.

Pause. "I have, brother."

"Do you come with a contrite heart, ready to do penance and accept atonement for your sins, my son?"

Pause. "I do, brother."

Otto sits back and stares into the darkness of his confessional cloister. It is warm and snug; womblike, though the comfort is spiritual. He closes his eyes and waits to take confession from the young man on the other side of the curtain. Though confession is anonymous, Otto has grown used to certain voices over the years, and this one is new. He quietly rejoices in the ways of the Maker, leading someone away from sin and despair toward the light. "Confess your sins, child."

Deep breath. "I have secrets, brother," he begins. "They fill me to bursting, and yet I don't feel I can gain release."

Otto nods in the darkness, sensing the uncertainty in this young man. He has always been good at feeling undercurrents of evil and impurity, one quality the Chantry says will make him an excellent field templar. But that, combined with his gentle and compassionate nature, also makes him well-suited to taking confession. Otto doesn't mind either way; it is always as the Maker wills, and he does the Maker's work in either capacity. "What is the nature of these secrets, my son?"

Silence. "I prefer not to go into detail."

"If you keep the details quiet, then you will continue to bear your burden and gain none of the benefit of the Maker's blessing," Otto says and hopes he can hear the sympathetic smile in his voice.

Sigh. "I have a half brother," he says at last.

"Surely family is no reason to burden yourself so heavily."

"I only know I have a half brother because I've been dishonest," the young man says. "I've lied and bribed my way around most of Denerim to learn more about him. I even lied my way into the Chantry to see him a couple months back."

Otto sits up straighter. "And why do you feel you must resort to these courses of action, when you know they are out of the Maker's sight?"

Scuff of feet on the stone floor. "Because our father has not told either one of us." A laugh that holds a pitch of desperation. "I'm keeping secret the fact that I've uncovered my father's secret."

"Why have you not spoken with your father about this?" Otto asks. His heart breaks with pity for this burdened young man. He longs to reach out and tell him that the Maker understands what it is to have a heavy heart; but he knows the penitent on the other side of the curtain must come to that realization on his own, and confession will cleanse him and enable him to accept that truth.

"The Chant says something about Maker judging liars," the young man says. "I'm not sure what's worse, keeping a secret from my father, or finding out I was mistaken and I've done that false witness thing."

For all his paraphrasing of the Chant, the young man seems to have thought this through. Otto knows his soul stands on the edge of a sword. "By keeping secrets from your father, do you not also bear false witness against yourself?"

Creaking noise from the other side of the curtain, as he shifts. "I'm not sure I get it."

"You sneak about and keep secrets. Then you put on a façade and omit details about what you've discovered. Not to mention you learn it through deceitful methods. You bear false witness against yourself when you do this," Otto explains. The silence speaks volumes. "I take it you know this in your heart."

"How do you know?"

Otto can hear the rueful smile in the young man's words. "Because you wouldn't have come seeking forgiveness if you didn't know what you were doing was wrong. Tell me, my child, do you find there are any other ill effects of your behavior?"

"My future father-in-law hates me," he says. "But I think that had to do with a serving girl incident or two. Don't worry, I went to confession over that back at the… in a chapel near home," he says carefully. Otto shakes his head sadly; the boy is in the house of the Maker and he still feels the need for secrecy and lies of omission. He prays for wisdom. "I tried to tell my future wife about it all; you know, the whole truth will set you free thing? She actually got angry with me over it. And my father and I… well, that's the worst part." He sighs. "I guess I feel like I don't have anyone."

"You have the Maker," Otto says. "But He looks with sadness upon such rifts between a father and his son," Otto says, his way of encouraging the boy to continue.

"He started it!" the young man bursts out. "My mother died when I was really little. I needed my father and he disappeared on some damned fool adventure. I'm lucky he came back at all," he says and there is such rage in that voice. He lets out a shuddering breath. "I'm pretty certain my half-brother was conceived when my father went away. I was five, and my father was off making bastards in the Deep Roads."

"Does your father know you harbor such anger toward him?" Otto asks in a gentle voice.

A snort meant to cover a sniffle. "If he does, he doesn't let on. I… I wish he would. It would be easier if he called me out on it."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he's my father. It's his job," he snaps. "Sorry, brother. I know it's not your fault." Heart-heavy, world-weary sigh. "The important thing here is, I have a half-brother that I'm pretty damned positive about, and my… no, our father won't admit to."

"Have you asked him to admit it?"

"No! I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because my father is… well, because of who my father is."

Otto bows his head. "All men are the work of our Maker's hands, from the lowest slaves to the highest kings," he quotes. "Even a king is a man. And all men make mistakes. Sometimes they don't realize they have made them at all," he says.

"So how do I make him realize his mistake?" The young man's voice is fragile, as if confession has pushed him to his breaking point.

Otto chuckles softly. "Only he can realize his own mistake," he says. "What is important is for you to realize and repent your mistakes. It seems you know what you need to do. But your secrecy has led you to a life of sorrow, a world of pain," he quoted. "The Maker can lift you from that if you are willing. Are you willing, my child?"

Silence. Otto waits in the cocoon of blackness around him for uncountable, uncomfortable minutes. "Forgive me, my child, but I fear for your wellbeing," he says as he reaches out to pull back the curtain. But for the small flickering votives lit by the faithful earlier in the day, the Chantry is dark. And as he suspected, the wooden bench is empty.