Sigrun held up her glass as Nathaniel filled it with Antivan brandy. "One magister down."
Saitada raised an eyebrow. "Who got the kill?"
"Jerath and Carver kept the Architect focused on them." Nathaniel said. "He never saw Caronel coming."
She smiled. "So, what happens now?"
"Now..." Jerath twitched a shoulder. "We keep doing what we are doing. Killing darkspawn. Aiding the Inquisition in taking out Corypheus."
"Saving the world."
"Pretty much. Under the circumstances, returning to Vigil's Keep is probably a bad idea."
"You might be right." Saitada sipped at her drink. "We also need to see about rebuilding the order. Not sure how we are going to do that, with Clarel having emptied all the caches."
"Yeah, about that..." Jerath shrugged. "Clarel didn't empty the caches. We did."
"You..." She took the rolled map Loghain handed her, and shook her head. "Why?"
"Weisshaupt has been questionable for a while. We wanted to make sure backup plans were possible. So we relocated the caches."
"You told me you thought the world was building to something." She drained the rest of her drink. "I think you might just be right."
#
Kas brought the axe down on the joint of the dragon's shoulder. Sera was cackling gleefully as she fired arrow after arrow. On the other side of the dragon, Iron Bull buried his axe into the thing's belly. When it turned to snap at him again, Kas put her own axe into its neck.
The Orlesian mage actually had a sword in her hand. A weird glowing magic sword, but a sword. She swept the blade across the rear leg of the dragon. It roared, and started to take off. Sera took careful aim, and put an arrow in the underside of its throat. It faltered instead of taking off, and the warriors moved in quickly to take advantage.
Dragon claws scrambled at the ground, and the beast went still. Triumphant war-cries echoed through the ravine.
#
"My lady Inquisitor, it's good of you to speak with me." Mother Giselle smiled up at Kas. "I have news regarding one of your..." She swallowed. "Companions. The Tevinter."
One of the mages. "What did he do?"
"It's not like that, Inquisitor. I have been in contact with his family: House Pavus, out of Qarinus. Are you familiar with them?"
"Not particularly. Why?"
"The family sent a letter describing the estrangement from their son and pleading for my aid. They've asked to arrange a meeting. Quietly, without telling him. They fear it's the only way he'll come." Mother Giselle offered Kas a letter, and she scanned it quickly. "I was hoping you could assist in the matter."
If his family wanted him home, she was happy to send him off. In a barrel, if needed. "I'll do what I can." Entirely too many mages around for her tastes anyway.
#
"Are you reading..."
"One word, elf, and I end you." Cassandra glared up at Brehan. She sighed, and set the book down. "It ends in a cliffhanger."
"I believe the author is currently in the great hall. You could ask..."
"Oh, and then deal with his..." She shook her head. "No."
"I could ask."
She tilted her head for a moment, and then sighed. "Pretend you don't know this about me."
"I'll add this to the list. Along with all your middle names and how you look in a ruffled-"
"End. You." She stood. "Feel like sparing?"
"I could do with fresh air." He followed her out of the tower.
They hadn't gone far when they heard the noise. Cassandra raised an eyebrow at Brehan, and he shook his head with a dumbfounded look. They headed in the direction of the sound.
The Inquisitor was... singing. She, Iron Bull, and Sera sat up on the ramparts, drunkenly attempting something approaching a melody about fighting dragons. Cassandra exchanged a look with Brehan. He nodded. They both backed away slowly.
#
"Sigrun told me about Velanna. Are you alright?" Jerath sat down next to her.
"I should be asking you that. I know there were feelings there." Saitada shook her head. "You should have heard her talk about you."
"There were feelings there. I did not return them." His voice was quiet. Her eyes went to the ring he still wore. He followed her gaze. "I found her."
"You..." She met his eyes. "You found Morrigan?"
"And my son."
Saitada stared. "Your..." She shook her head. "She..." Her mind went back to that day in Denerim's palace. She'd given him the helm to keep him from following Morrigan. "Did you know?"
"That she was pregnant when she left? Yes."
And he'd taken the helm anyway. Let her go off to Par Vollen while he stayed to clean up the mess. "I..."
"His name is Kieran. Almost taller than me already." His smile was proud. "Morrigan and I are married."
"I should punch you again for not inviting me." She sighed, but her smile was fond. "Where is Morrigan now?"
"Orlais. In the court of Empress Celene."
"How..." Saitada shrugged. "Do I want to know?"
"Probably not."
She smiled. "Stone. I missed you, little brother." She stared into the fire. "Loghain gave me the latest orders from the Inquisitor. We are to stand by and twiddle our thumbs while darkspawn are being reported on the Storm Coast."
"Cadash thaig is supplied." Jerath shrugged. "Can send most of the Wardens there, except for what are needed to deal with the Storm Coast issue."
"Except Brehan is still in Skyhold." She shook her head. "I don't particularly want him to pay the price for our actions."
"If it comes to that, I'll get him out."
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "You have a plan?"
"Ride in on the back of a griffin, of course." He smiled. "Varric and Dagna both have said Cassandra is looking out for him. She's formidable."
"And Leliana?"
"Sister Nightingale..." Jerath shook his head. "Has a disturbing tendency to mirror the nature of her mistress. She may remain an ally in this fight, but she is no longer a comrade. Or a friend."
#
"Mage."
Dorian jumped at the sound of the Inquisitor's voice, and turned around. "Yes?"
"Get your gear. We are heading into Redcliffe." She didn't wait for a response and headed up to the rookery.
"How fun." He grabbed his staff from where it was leaning against the wall and went to go find his armor. As he passed Solas, he raised an eyebrow. "What is going on in Redcliffe?"
"Redcliffe?" Solas gave him a questioning look.
"The Inquisitor just told me to get my gear for heading into..." He frowned. "She didn't tell you?"
"She did not."
He shrugged. "I am from Tevinter. What did you do, kick her puppy?"
Solas shook his head. "Can you picture that woman with a puppy?"
"I..." Dorian tried. "Good point." He started to continue on to his quarters, and turned back. "That orb Corypheus carries..." He tilted his head. "Are you certain it's of elven origin?"
"I believe so. Why do you ask?" Solas clasped his hands behind his back.
"There are paintings in the Magisterium's archives of men holding similar orbs. They were depictions of a time long before the magisters. The ancient Dreamers, perhaps. The texts called those orbs 'somnaborium'-'vessels of dreams.' Could they be the same thing?"
"Perhaps." Solas nodded. "The humans of ancient times took much from the elves."
"And Corypheus isn't far removed from the time. Hmm." He frowned. "I'm not certain how to go about getting additional information on the matter. Perhaps we could discuss it when we get back from whatever is going on in Redcliffe."
#
Dorian watched the Inquisitor send Blackwall and Sera off with instructions to locate a healer. The Qunari woman continued on to the tavern. With a shrug, he followed her. It occurred to him that she might have forgotten he was there. After all, she hadn't said more than two words to him since they'd left Skyhold. Blackwall hadn't been much better. If it hadn't been for Sera, the entire trip would have undoubtedly been spent in sullen silence. The little elven girl was the only one he'd seen manage to get genuine smiles out of the Inquisitor.
Inside, the tavern was... "The place is deserted? Is this normal, or -?" His hand drifted towards his staff. A trap? The Inquisitor was looking around, but her face did not appear concerned.
"Dorian."
He knew that voice. He half-closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning around. "Father?" A trap. Just not for the Inquisitor. He turned to look at her. "You knew about this? Is that why you brought me here?"
"I'm only trying to help." She said that. She actually said that. Worse, he thought she might have actually meant it.
"Help? Is that what you call this?" He'd never wanted to actually punch someone in the face before.
"She didn't know I would be here, Dorian." His father took a step forward. "I apologize for the deception, Inquisitor. I never intended for you to be involved."
"Of course not." Dorian shook his head and took a step away from the Inquisitor. "Magister Pavus couldn't come to Skyhold and be seen with the dread Inquisitor. What would people think?" Leader of a southern Chantry organization. And a Qunari. The idea was laughable. "What is 'this' exactly, Father? Ambush? Kidnapping? Warm family reunion?"
"This is how it has always been." His father sighed, and gave that disappointed head shake that had once made the bottom drop out of his stomach. And he hated more than anything that it still did.
The Inquisitor actually looked confused. She glanced at his father. "You wanted him here. He's here. Talk."
"Yes, Father. Talk to me. Let me hear how mystified you are by my anger."
"Dorian, there's no need to -"
He turned back to the Inquisitor. He'd seen the way she looked at Sera. "I prefer the company of men. My father disapproves."
She met his eyes, and he saw realization dawn. And, to his surprise, something approaching sympathy. "Then walk away, Mage. You already did that once, didn't you?"
As if it had been that easy. "Yet here I am once again, no thanks to you."
"Dorian, please, if you'll only listen to me."
"Why? So you can spout more convenient lies?" He looked at the Inquisitor, and gestured to his father. "He taught me to hate blood magic. 'The resort of a weak mind.' Those are his words." He turned back to his father. "But what was the first thing you did when your precious heir refused to play pretend for the rest of his life?" He shook his head. "You tried to change me."
His father took another step forward, his hand outstretched. And to Dorian's surprise, the Inquisitor moved to stand between them. His father stopped in his tracks. "I only wanted what was best for you."
"You wanted what was best for you." Dorian glared at his father. "For your fucking legacy. Anything for that." He clenched his fists.
The Inquisitor's arm stopped him from moving forward. She looked down at him. "I hope we're done here."
"We are."
#
Blackwall glanced over his shoulder. Dorian had been glowering since they left Redcliffe. They escorted the healer to the Crossroads, and the Inquisitor checked in with Corporal Vale.
Part of him was grateful they didn't run into any Wardens. They were somewhere north, according to the last report. His luck couldn't hold out forever. Fortunately, avoiding the one at Skyhold was easy. Unless he was accompanied by Cassandra or another guard, he wasn't allowed out of that tower. Moving his own belongings to the stable loft had solved that problem. Horses were better than questions.
"So, I've been thinking-No jokes, the lot of you-I thought Josie was kissing ass, getting right up in there. But she's actually been fooling nobs all along. Good, too." Sera gestured with an arrow, pointing it around as she spoke.
Josephine. Thoughts he shouldn't be having. This whole matter was complicated enough. He saw some crystal grace, and began wondering how to get some of the blooms back to Skyhold without anyone noticing. "Milady's adept at her special brand of warfare."
"All smiles and pleases, like giving us their stuff does them a favor twice over. And they love her for it! Best idea ever. I'll have to steal that one."
He shook his head fondly. "Yes, Sera, you go right on ahead."
The Inquisitor called for their attention. Apparently, some bandits had moved in and needed to be sent elsewhere.
#
It was rather difficult to keep an eye on a man that wasn't permitted to leave his quarters without an escort. Especially when his usual escort was Cassandra Pentaghast. Varric frowned to himself. The Inquisitor had gone, but Leliana still had eyes everywhere. He was trying to think of a good excuse when it occurred to him he already had one. With a shrug, he headed up the stairs and knocked on the door.
Several seconds passed before a voice told him to come inside. Brehan raised an eyebrow when he entered. Varric shrugged. "Am I interrupting anything?"
Brehan shook his head. "Usually my visitors don't wait for the invitation before coming inside. Varric Tethras?" He gestured towards one of the chairs at the tiny table.
"That's me." Varric took a seat. "So, I just got to know..." He gave the dalish man a once over. "Did you really climb Fort Drakon?"
"The last hundred feet was dicey, what with all the ogres throwing flaming boulders and an archdemon circling around." Brehan shrugged. "Fortunately, we had enchanted ropes braided from the hair of virgin Dalish women. Immune to fire and they knot themselves."
"Virgin hair ropes. Can I borrow that one?" Varric shook his head and smiled. "Daisy said you were a story-teller."
"Who is..." Brehan frowned, and a cloud came over his eyes. "Merrill."
Varric sighed. "Look, I don't know what all you heard, but..."
"She's a blood mage. Her consorting with a demon resulted in the death of Marethari. What part do I have wrong?"
"I..." Varric leaned back in the chair. "None of it, I guess. But it was..." He searched for a word. "Complicated. Everything about that city was."
"Complicated. I suppose we Wardens have no right to pass condemnation on 'complicated' matters." Brehan leaned back in his own chair. "Ir abelas. Hawke's story should not have ended that way. He had family?"
"They know." They were with Hawke now. And Daisy. Daisy was part of that family, actually. "Your clan..." He raised an eyebrow. "When we started rebuilding Kirkwall, I tried to find them."
"I arranged passage for them back to Ferelden. They are safe."
He took a deep breath. "That's a relief. You okay with me letting Merrill know?"
"You are in touch with her?"
"We write."
Brehan was silent for some time. "Will you..." He shook his head. "Tell her I found Tamlen. Falon'din guides his steps."
"She used to talk about you two all the time. I'll let her know."
#
"I'm sorry."
Dorian nearly tripped. Of all the words he'd expected to hear from the Inquisitor... "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, mage." She frowned. "He won't try to get at you another way, will he?"
"No." He sighed. "You could have told me. Taking me out there without a word, even if you didn't know it would be him..." He shook his head. "Why didn't you let me decide?"
"That's not how it was supposed to go." She shrugged. "It's done now."
"It is." He glanced at her. "I'll pretend you weren't secretly hoping I would patch things up and go home." Her eyes told him he'd hit the mark. But when she'd thought he was in actual danger, she'd stepped in. Maybe that was the part he should focus upon. "But if you meant well..." If she merely wanted to be rid of him, it wasn't as if she didn't have plenty of options. "Then thank you for the attempt."
#
"And he's standing there staring up at the sky, babbling about the pants and holding them out. I reach for them, and Leliana grabs my arm and hands me my pants. Alistair gives me this confused look, and that's when Zevran walks over, naked as the day he was born. He takes the pants, thanks Alistair, and heads back to Lenore's tent. Griffin is rolling on the ground and, Mythal ma halani, I can hear that dog laughing."
"You know, we met Zevran one time." Varric took a drink.
"Ir abelas." Brehan took a drink from his own glass. "By the way, Cassandra is still waiting for the next chapter of Sword and Shields."
Varric spit out his drink. "I must have heard that wrong. It sounded like you said that Cassandra read my books."
"More than once."
"Are we talking about the same Cassandra? Tall, grumpy Seeker? Likes stabbing things?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Wait, did you say the romance serial? She'll be waiting for a while, then. I haven't finished it and wasn't planning to. That book is easily the worst I've ever written. The last issue barely sold enough to pay for the ink."
"Pity. She's rather hooked on it."
"And I honestly thought a hole in the sky was the weirdest thing that could happen." At least a hole in the sky he could almost get his mind around. "You want me to finish writing the latest issue of my worst serial. For Cassandra." He took another drink. "That's such a terrible idea, I have to do it. On one condition: I get to be there when you give her the book."
"Deal."
"I'll get to work, then. You know, the fact that the book is terrible just makes it more worthwhile, somehow."
#
Kas looked over the report. "The Wardens have vanished again?"
Leliana shook her head. "Not all of them. Loghain claims he has divided them into smaller groups to deal with the incursions. Which makes sense, except my scouts can only account for about fifty Wardens."
Cullen raised an eyebrow. "The others could be dealing with matters in the Deep Roads."
"True." Kas frowned. "Or Loghain is no longer in control of the bulk of the Wardens. That Aeducan woman has not yet been accounted for?"
"She has not."
"Send Scout Harding out to meet this 'Fairbanks'. And you had something on Calpernia?"
"Yes, Inquisitor."
#
Brehan raised his head from his book when the door opened. "Inquisitor."
"Warden Constable." She tilted her head at him. "That is your rank, yes?"
"It is." He set the book down. "What can I do for you?"
"The bulk of the remaining Wardens cannot be accounted for. And we have not yet located Warden-Commander Aeducan or Senior Warden Sigrun." She came forward, to stand on the other side of the table. He saw Cullen in the door behind her. "Where are they?"
"How would I -" He was cut off by her punching him in the face. Then she grabbed him by the front of the tunic and hauled him over the table. He forced his hands to remain at his side.
"Inquisitor." Cullen stepped into the room. "He has been locked up or under guard since he arrived. The only Warden he could have spoken to at all is Blackwall, and we already questioned Blackwall."
She nodded, and looked down at Brehan for a moment before releasing him. He sank back into the chair, and wiped at the blood coming from his mouth and nose. She folded her arms. "You and your Order are already on your second chance. There will not be a third."
"Understood, Inquisitor."
#
Blackwall ran a hand through his hair, and wondered how different the conversation might have gone if he hadn't been sharing a drink and a laugh with Sera when the Inquisitor found him. Loghain, it seemed, has verified his story about recruiting on his own for the last few years. The man who had once betrayed the Wardens and a man who was lying about being a Warden were the only Wardens the Inquisitor currently trusted. Even Varric wouldn't tell a story that absurd.
Hopefully, this was all some misunderstanding. Surely the Order wouldn't do anything foolish again? They'd been tricked, had their honor and sacrifice twisted and used against them. So dedicated to protecting they'd never wavered.
He leaned out over the ramparts. Running had occurred to him. But here, in the Inquisition, he was representing all Wardens. He couldn't run. Not now. A Warden had to stand.
#
Cassandra folded her arms as she watched Solas tend to Brehan. "She should not have struck you."
"I have the sneaking suspicion that woman doesn't like me."
"And here Dorian and I were concerned it was just us." Solas offered Brehan a cloth. "You will not lose the tooth."
"Ma serannas, hahren." Brehan gave him a respectful nod. "How did you and Dorian incur her wrath?" He wiped the remaining blood off his face.
"We are mages."
Brehan shook her head. "I was hoping for more 'we put snails in her boots'." He shrugged. "Watch her right hook."
Solas smiled. "I shall bear that in mind."
"Are you all right?" Cassandra asked.
"I'm fine. Cullen put a stop to it." Brehan set the cloth down. "Would you mind checking in on Blackwall? Cullen said she'd questioned him."
"I'll see to it." Cassandra nodded before ducking out of the room.
Brehan glanced at Solas. "Join me for a drink? Varric left me a bottle."
#
Kas looked down at the back of her hand. There was a small cut on her knuckle from where she'd struck the Warden. She'd let her temper get the better of her. Again. If Cullen hadn't been there... She ran a hand over the back of her head irritably. At least she'd lashed out at someone who could take a punch. The man was a Warden, after all. This should have been a simple matter. Find the guy responsible for her brother's death. Kill him. Go back to leading her mercenary band. Now she had an army of people looking to her. Depending on her.
Cassandra was walking down from the quarters. Stalking might have been a better word. Kas took a deep breath, and went to intercept her. "Cassandra."
"What?" The other woman turned to glare.
"You mentioned there were some rogue mages and templars that needed to be dealt with."
There was a suspicious look in Cassandra's eyes. "I did. You said it was not the Inquisition's responsibility."
"I've considered the matter. That Warden. Leliana said he trained a lot of her trackers. He's useless sitting here. Why don't you see if he can sniff them out and you can deal with the issue? You two did well enough at Caer Oswin."
"I..." Cassandra blinked, and then nodded. "Thank you, Inquisitor."
She nodded, and walked away. That should settle the matter well enough. She needed a bloody drink. And maybe some company.
#
"Love seeing you, yeah?" Sera grinned up at Kas.
She returned the smile, and offered Sera a bottle. Sera accepted, and sat down across from her on the pillowed bench. She'd acquired a few new things. Kas hoped the previous owners weren't going to come looking. They talked a while, about everything and nothing. The booze was starting to get to her a bit. She looked Sera over. "It's nice to see this side of you, that you trust me." Made her feel warm inside.
Sera grinned. "Don't you go blabbing around, yeah? Because I'll have a big, trusting foot up your pucker." She lifted a fist in playful challenge.
"I think that, after our rooftop chat, I get why you're not like other elves." And that was probably a good thing.
"Well, don't. How about we dig into what you are? Or what you're supposed to be? Are you just a Qunari? All Qun this and whatever that?" There was a challenge in Sera's eyes. "Because you could be more than just that. To me, anyway."
It took her a moment to process the last three words. "Whatever I am to you, Sera, that's all I need."
The smile on Sera's face lit up her eyes and the entire room. "Listen to you, turning rubbish into butter."