"Wait," the voice was female, and strident, speaking Orlesian. Anders got ready to translate for Neria. A middle aged Chantry sister - obviously high ranking, was pushing her way through the crowds of mages and templars to the centre of the room where the Knight Commander stood. "This is preposterous. The wardens have no right to be here!"
"Matriarch," the Knight Commander replied. "I have checked the records. This is all in order."
"Jehan, you cannot be serious," she continued, turning to call another woman forward. "Genevieve will go through the records again. We cannot begin the council until this has been verified with the Grand Divine..."
"Your holiness, I must beg to disagree. The warden mages have places on the council..."
"Foolish man!" she was almost snarling.
"Matriarch, I assure you this is perfectly legitimate according to Chantry Law. Believe me when I tell you I wish it were otherwise."
"Have it your way then," she hissed. "Begin the Council. But mark my words these apostates will be thrown out of here before the end of the day!" She and the other woman left the room, making Anders wonder what they could possibly come up with to make things difficult. He had no doubt she would come up with something.
The last of the mages and templars filtered in and took their seats. Anders was interested to see Greagior finally enter - looking worn around the eyes and much, much older than he remembered. The younger templar, Cullen stood up as his Commander arrived, relief evident in his features, and helped him to a seat. Anders healing sense tingled even so far away as he was and he had a sudden inkling of what might be bothering the Knight Commander of Kinloch Hold.
"Greagior doesn't look well," Neria whispered to him. Anders shook his head, surprised to find he was worried about the man.
"Lyrium," he said softly. "It looks like Greagior's finally succumbing to it. Poor bastard."
Neria's eyes widened in surprised sympathy.
Fiona was still speaking quietly with the Knight Commander, who was nodding, his face guarded. Finally she made her way back up to where Anders and Neria were sitting.
"Ezio's going to lay out the proposal," she whispered to them. "But we've got a few formalities first."
Anders had some idea of what the formalities would entail as soon as the Matriarch reappeared with a full contingent of sisters behind her. He repressed the urge to groan. He didn't think he'd sat through a full Chantry sermon since he left the Tower and he wasn't looking forward to it again.
Of course it was Transfigurations. In Orlesian, though, which he hadn't heard before - making it somewhat more interesting than Sister Adela's recitals at noon every week in the Tower's Chantry. Still, it went on for far too long. Anders got the impression the Matriarch was talking more slowly than normal - several of the Orlesians shifted in their seats and sighed during the recital.
The Matriarch was stalling.
When finally she came to the conclusion of the canticle they were lead in prayer. Again, it was unnecessarily long winded and heavy on the "mages need to be locked up because they're dangerous" angle. He could feel Fiona tensing next to him on the bench, and Neria looked suspiciously like she was going to fall asleep.
He had confirmation that the woman was stalling when her eyes lit up - the younger sister from earlier appeared back in the chamber and the Matriarch wrapped up abruptly. Knight Commander Jehan stepped forward into her place and Anders could feel the tension level in the chamber increase.
"Gentlemen and ladies," he began. "The Mages Council is now in session. I call forth Ezio Genaro of the Antivan Circle to put forth his proposal."
The Antivan mage stepped up to the lectern, spreading out his papers. "Our proposal is simple," he began, again speaking Orlesian. He paused, giving the various mages and templars time to translate to each other. Anders translated for Neria, but kept his eye on the corner of the room where the Matriarch and her fellow sister stood. They were deep in conversation, the younger woman holding a large tome, flipped open, running her fingers down the page.
As Ezio spoke - laying out his ideas for individual towers in towns with assigned templars, Anders watched as the Matriarch got angrier and angrier. He couldn't stop the smirk that spread over his face, thinking the damn woman was not going to get what she wanted, until the younger woman jabbed at the book and the Matriarch stood up, a smile spreading over her face.
Ezio was coming to the end of his proposal, but the Matriarch seemed to care nothing for propriety, for she strode to the lectern and pushed the Antivan mage out of the way.
There were shouts of outrage from the mages, but the woman simply stood and waited for them to subside. The Knight Commander stepped forward but she held up her hand.
"No, Jehan," she said. "We have business that is more important."
"If the Matriarch wishes to make a point of order..."
"I do!" she cried. "There are mages present who are not permitted. My archivist has gone through the Chantry records."
"I have already..." the Knight Commander started, but the Matriarch held up her hand.
"The records state that no mage who has not undergone the Harrowing be permitted to hold a place on the Council," she said, and she couldn't disguise the glee in her voice.
Anders rolled his eyes. Did she think warden mages were all apostates? He scanned the wardens he was sitting with and suddenly his stomach sank. Several of them were looking uncomfortable - both the wardens from Antiva looked outright frightened.
Fiona hissed. "That's a problem," she said.
"You mean some of these wardens were never in the Circle?" Neria said.
"Many of the senior mage wardens were originally apostates," Fiona said. Anders and Neria both looked at her. She shrugged. "The Circle's indoctrination tends to squash leadership potential," she said. "You two are the exception, not the rule."
"You've been harrowed, haven't you?" Anders asked.
"Of course," Fiona said, but she hushed them both and turned their attention back to the centre of the room.
Ezio was standing next to the lectern. "Your Holiness," he said. "What do you propose we do?"
"Those who have not been Harrowed must leave the chamber immediately," she said. The mage wardens erupted into noise behind them and Fiona got to her feet. The Knight Commander held up his arms for silence.
"Go ahead, warden," he said, once the chamber was still.
"Will the chamber allow those Wardens who have not undergone the Harrowing to be Harrowed as soon as possible?" she asked. There were murmurs behind her. It was a drastic suggestion, but Anders didn't think the warden mages would succumb easily to the demons of the fade - given the horrors and temptations they faced every day.
It wasn't acceptable for the Matriarch, however.
"Of course not!" the Matriarch replied. "You cannot expect us to believe those wardens who have been Harrowed have not shared the secret of the ritual with those who have not..."
Angry murmurs met this comment. Although Anders would lay bets that she was completely right on that score.
"I am afraid," the Knight Commander said, "I must ask those mages who have not undergone the ritual to leave the chamber..."
"There is no way of proving which of the wardens have undergone the Harrowing and which haven't," the Matriarch continued, sounding triumphant. "Therefore I submit that none of them remain."
This was met with uproar. "I object strenuously," Fiona said. "Many of these wardens come from circles who have representatives present - their Harrowings are matters of circle record..."
"Unless those records can be produced.."
"Enough!" A different voice called from the benches, in Ferelden accented Orlesian. Anders was shocked to see Irving and Greagior on their feet. "Each circle has representatives present," Irving continued. "We shall vouch for those mages we are certain went through their Harrowings."
Although many of the templars looked disgruntled at this proposal the majority made affirmative noises and the Matriarch pressed her lips together firmly, looking at the Knight Commander. He nodded. "That is acceptable," he said.
It wasn't fair - there were mages in the wardens who had certainly been Harrowed, but who were unknown to their circle representatives. Luckily the current First Enchanter of Orlais had been present at the Tower for Fiona's Harrowing - but some of the other older wardens weren't so lucky. In the end, nearly half of the warden mages were forced to leave the Chamber.
"Where does that leave us, numbers wise I wonder?" Anders asked Fiona. She shrugged. From the look on Ezio's face, however, Anders wasn't hopeful.
It was possible they'd come all this way for nothing.
Once the wardens had left the chamber, Ezio took his place again at the lectern. The rest of the proposal was outlined.
The grumbling of his stomach let Anders know they'd been in the Chamber for far too long, and his feelings were confirmed when the Knight Commander called for an end to the day's proceedings. As they filed from the Chamber, Anders couldn't help but feel deflated. Ezio made his way to them once they were outside, his face grim.
"What do you think?" Fiona asked the older mage. "Are we defeated?"
"Not yet, my dear," Ezio replied. "Not yet. I shall not give up hope for our cause. That your Irving and Greagior were willing to stand up for you gives me hope that there are some amongst the Aequitarians and Lucrosians who will support our cause. More than did previously, in any case."
"Gah," Fiona spat. "The fraternities annoy me."
"You were never a member of one?" Neria asked.
"Were you?"
"Libertarian," Neria replied. "Of course. Well... I was a being trained up as a good little Loyalist but then Uldred happened and truly - that was enough to make Libertarians of all of us."
"I don't need to ask you, Anders, do I?"
"If there was an Andersarian fraternity I would have belonged," Anders said, grinning. "Funnily enough none of them ever approached me. I wonder why that was?"
"Must have been your charming personality, my friend," Ezio said, laughing. "In any case, we shall see what comes of this tomorrow. I have hope, my friends. And in any case, we have certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons. The Matriarch is running scared of us, she believes we are a threat."
"Then we shall have to press our advantages," Fiona said decisively. "Tomorrow, the real persuading begins."
