After they returned to Skyhold, Gale was content to let Solas help him find new ways to sense the Fade even without a Rift nearby. In the afternoon, they stood face to face in the yard, both barefoot with their staves held before them. Heads bowed, eyes closed. Solas told Gale to mind his breathing, to focus on all his senses until he could feel each disturbance around them. The gentle breeze, the bending of the blades of grass beneath their feet, the people of Skyhold passing them by... Soon, Gale should begin to recover a sense for his home.
"Do you feel it?" Solas murmured.
"Yes," Gale exhaled, keeping his eyes shut.
Marnie passed through the courtyard just in time to see this exchange. She glanced at them and waved her hand dismissively. They could do their weird magic shit and never mind her; she had a task to do. She absentmindedly tapped the grass with a thin, two-foot long segment of a tree branch as she headed for the stable. After Cole took that blow for her at Adamant, it was obvious his delusions were getting out of hand. Well, it wasn't like they were very in hand to begin with, but now that he put himself in danger, all for the sake of the Arisen...
Cole was in the barn already, just as Marnie had commanded in her thoughts. She tried not to be annoyed at him for following her orders so easily. She put a rope around the red elk's neck and pulled her out of the stall into the corridor.
"You wanted to see me alone today," Cole said, looking at her with his usual bright, aloof gaze.
"I have a task for you," Marnie shifted her weight onto one foot. She didn't waste any time coddling him.
"Alright," Cole nodded.
Marnie offered the branch.
"Take this and hit the elk," she ordered.
Cole jumped back like she'd struck him.
"But... I-I don't want to hurt her." Cole hid his hands behind his back.
Marnie lowered the limb indifferently, and Cole flinched again.
"If you were a pawn, you wouldn't have hesitated," she stated. Cole gave her a bewildered look. He knew what she was doing. "Stop acting against your nature, Cole. You need to accept that you are not, were never, and never will be a pawn for me to command."
"But I can help you!" he pleaded. "Please, Arisen, I can be just like you want me to be. Tall, talented, tempered, and true... I can learn magic for you. I can help you."
He was desperate. Marnie's expression softened.
"Becoming like my main pawn won't help," she said. "You could help so many others! Everyone who's hurting, everyone in this world, so long as you're not fixated on me. Would you truly abandon the Inquisition for an Arisen?"
"But you're helping the Inquisition," Cole muttered, as if that made it a non-issue.
"I do not need your help. I have Gale and hundreds of other pawns. You can't be among them because if you expire, you won't return to the Fade. You'll die. And the Pawn Legion would never accept you. You have no master but yourself. Cole, You have a will, and the others do not."
Cole stared at the ground, his hands shaking. He knew it was all true, and it didn't soften the blow any that it was she who said it. That didn't matter. This had happened before. He remembered when Lambert had proved he wasn't real. Why did this keep happening? He knew this wasn't real. Cole looked at his bare hands, unmarked by the scar common to all pawns, and he knew. His stomach twisted with an uncomfortable mix of emotions. Anger, frustration, fear, anguish, loneliness, and despair. Despair, not despair...
Without letting another thought enter his mind, he bolted. He couldn't stand to be here another moment. He ran out the opposite door of the stables and disappeared. Marnie sighed and let her shoulders sag. She felt for him, but ultimately she was glad her plan worked. The red elk nudged her arm, and Marnie smiled. She raised the branch and rubbed down the elk's neck and back softly. The elk snorted and nudged her again, sniffing her pockets and hands to see if she might have a treat.
"Spoiled girl," Marnie murmured affectionately.
.
Before the afternoon was up, Varric found Marnie exercising the elk in the paddock. He lingered by the fence next to Gale, who was sitting on the middle rail and cleaning some pieces of tack.
"Foxfire, what did you do to him?" Varric demanded.
Marnie wrinkled her nose and didn't let herself get distracted from lunging the elk in circles around her. No hello, no chance to explain herself, just brash demanding.
"What did he say to you?" she asked tiredly, tugging on the elk's leadrope. The elk slowed and stepped beside Marnie obediently.
"Nothing. He won't talk to anyone, and now we can't find him. What did you do to him?"
"I proved he wasn't a pawn." Marnie watched him for a deliberate moment before she reached up to unfasten the elk's halter. She heaved a sigh. "He took a blow for me at Adamant. Had we not been in the Fade, he would've died. I can't stand for such a preventable outcome. I couldn't let it happen again."
"What did you say to him, Marnie?" Varric's tone was still stern, but even. "He's really upset."
"Well..." Marnie didn't want her methods out in the open for everyone to judge. "I told him to hit the elk."
"What?!"
"As a test!" Marnie clarified, hastily digging in her pockets for some bits of carrot for the elk. "I knew he wouldn't do it because it's completely against his nature."
"And what if he had?"
"I wouldn't have let him. I would've scolded him for doing anything he's told and I would've told him to remember his true nature. Being kind, helping people. The Arisen isn't infallible; the pawns only need to think so, so the Arisen is never without support. Cole needs to hold up his end so he isn't corrupted. He's volatile, whatever he is."
"He's a person, Marnie," Varric reminded her. "A person you hurt. If you wanted to protect him, you could've done much better without rejecting him."
After nudging her a couple times and finally deciding Marnie didn't have any more treats, the elk wandered a few steps away to graze. Marnie watched her simply for avoiding Varric's gaze. In truth, a middle ground between "being worshiped" and "being outcast" was a rare luxury for the Arisen. She couldn't control anything when people were in the middle. At least if she and Cole rejected each other, he'd be safe from her influence. Although, if she wanted to make amends, she'd need to find Cole first, which would be impossible right now. Cole had already disappeared. Only one person could find him now.
Marnie turned to her pawn, who hadn't moved from his spot on the fence.
"Go find him, Gale," Marnie ordered. "Make sure he's alright."
"Yes, Master."
.
Gale found Cole in a makeshift hollow behind a set of hay bales in the loft of the stable. It was a suitable hiding place; it was so inconspicuous that Gale wasn't surprised no one thought to look there. Cole was lying on his side, curled up with his back to Gale. About a foot away from him, Gale recognized a few squirming figures resting on a bed of straw. Another litter of kittens.
"They came here because it's drier," Cole mumbled.
Gale could tell by his voice that he either was or had been crying. At least he was alright. As a pawn, Gale was never the best at addressing acts of emotion, but he'd picked up a few things from tending his own Arisen and watching his fellow pawns. Gale knelt at Cole's shoulders and reached for one of the kittens. The queen didn't so much as glance at him, though her kitten squealed weakly as Gale placed the ball of fur on top of Cole. He was trying to comfort him, but today it had the opposite effect.
"Don't do that!" Cole burst, pulling the kitten off of him and placing it carefully with the queen again. Cole remained sitting up. "They have to stay together or they'll get lost. They can't see, don't you know that?"
"I'm sorry," Gale apologized. He leaned sideways to get a better look at Cole's face. The boy looked no better than he usually did. Worse, actually. "Are you alright?"
"No."
"I see. Is there something I can do to help?"
Cole didn't say or do anything. Gale looked around the loft. After a moment, Gale scooted closer to Cole and put an arm around his shoulders. Cole leaned on Gale's chest, tilting his head awkwardly to accommodate his hat.
"Varric is worried about you," Gale said. "A lot of people are, actually."
"I'm sorry..."
"No, you didn't do anything wrong." Gale's tone was friendly, but Cole was far from reassured.
"The Arisen doesn't want me anymore," Cole whispered.
"No, she wants you, Cole."
"She doesn't want me to follow her anymore."
"I know," Gale nodded. "'Tis for the best, brother. You're not a pawn, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care for you."
"Then why did she leave me?" Cole asked, close to tears again. "Everyone leaves me when they figure out I'm not real to them. Rhys and Evangeline and now her."
Gale swallowed. His voice was quieter when he replied.
"I'm still here."
It was a risky statement, with him being a pawn. His company might not hold the same value as that of the Arisen, or even other people. But he remembered his and Cole's common ground as people of the Fade. Cole wasn't alone; that's all Gale was trying to say.
"Thank you," Cole breathed.
"You are real, Cole. You are you. The Arisen only meant to teach you that."
"I know."
"Then why strain yourself? If you know what you are, why try so hard to be a pawn, of all things?"
"I like pawns," Cole sat up and looked earnestly in Gale's eyes, their hands still entangled. "You're good and you help people. And... if I'm a pawn, I can't become a demon..."
"Is that what this is about?" Gale asked quietly. Cole couldn't reply. "Are you afraid of being bound?"
"Not bound," Cole shook his head. "Chained. Changed. Turned into a monster or something I cannot be."
"Is that why the Arisen upset you so much?" Gale realized.
Cole stared forward in resignation. "You're not my Arisen. I don't have an Arisen. I am my own master. I'm the only one who can help me."
"That's not true," Gale brushed some hair behind Cole's ear. "You may have free will, but you can still ask for help. You still have friends here, Cole. Don't forget that."
"Alright," Cole nodded.
.
That evening, the Inquisitor found Cole arguing with Solas in the yard.
"But you like demons!" Cole protested.
Solas sighed in exasperation. "I enjoy the company of spirits, yes. Which is why I don't abuse them with the power of binding."
"It isn't abuse if I ask."
"Not always true. Also, I don't practice blood magic, which renders this whole conversation academic."
Trevelyan waited in the yard to watch the scene. Cole walked over to him, pointing accusingly at Solas.
"He won't bind me!" Cole said. "He's a mage and he likes demons, but he won't help."
"Why would you want Solas to bind you?" Trevelyan asked.
"So I'm safe," Cole's voice broke. He turned away from the other two. "If Solas won't do the ritual to bind me, someone else could. Will. Like the Warden mages at Adamant. And then I won't be me. Walls around what I want, blocking bleeding, making me a monster..."
"Where is this coming from, all of a sudden?" Trevelyan looked at Solas. Solas shrugged.
"I suppose it could have to do with the... incident in the Fade," Solas admitted. "You see, pawns remain invulnerable to binding. I'm sure Cole thought the same of himself before today."
Trevelyan turned back to Cole. "Isn't it extreme for Solas to bind you? What if that takes away who you are?"
"Helping makes me who I am," Cole said. "I help the hurting. That is what I do. All I do. Am."
"And if binding erases your mind?" Solas proposed. "Your consciousness?"
"You won't make me hurt innocent people," Cole said. "I don't want to hurt innocent people again."
Trevelyan wanted to take his shoulders or hug him, but Cole didn't seem like he wanted any physical contact right now. It didn't look like he'd tolerate it. Trevelyan settled for talking.
"We'll figure something out that isn't binding you, Cole."
"I have a suggestion, if Cole is ready to listen," Solas's tone wasn't without characteristic impatience. "I recall stories of amulets used by Rivaini seers to protect spirits they summon from rival mages. A spirit, wearing the Amulet of the Unbound, was immune to blood magic and binding. It should protect Cole as well. The resources of the Inquisition could be used to find such a talisman."
"I'll put someone to work on it," Trevelyan said.
"Good," Cole sighed, stalking away. "They will not take me."
.
Three days came and went, and Marnie still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Cole. Gale still went to see him, but Cole didn't have any interest in Marnie anymore. Marnie only wished he'd talk to her again, if only so she could apologize. She didn't regret proving his nature to him, but she regretted upsetting him so much. True, she may not see him for a while yet, but at least he wouldn't get hurt in her stead again.
On the third day, a few packages arrived in the mail for Marnie from Gransys. The Inquisition's carter made regular circuits to collect any mail for the residents of Skyhold, and Marnie had been waiting for supplies from Val Royeaux for weeks now. One of Marnie's cousins had ferried the goods to Val Royeaux, and the carter took it on from there. Getting something in the mail finally lightened Marnie's mood. She brought the crates up to her room and unpacked everything with Gale.
There were a couple letters from her cousins; they wrote about how much they missed her and how long would it be until she came home. Marnie entertained the letters patiently. She did miss her friends in Gransys, but there was no need to fuss about going back yet. There was still much to do here. Next, there was a strangely pristine letter with a red wax seal on the front. Behind it, another white envelope. Marnie turned the letter over in her hands and frowned.
"What would the Duke be writing to me about?" she wondered. And how did he know where she was? Marnie tore open the envelope and looked the letter over. Her mood soured to exasperation and annoyance. Couldn't he ever leave her alone?
Gale unpacked the crates while Marnie worried over the letter. Per the Arisen's request, her cousins had pulled some of her belongings from storage and sent it over. Most of it was travel gear more suited to the harsh climate, but they also included dried flowers, pelts, a flower pot and plant cuts, and anything else they thought would quell her homesickness. Gale laid everything out with care. A few pieces of gear had been left with the smithy for commissioned improvements; Gale was certain his Arisen would be glad to see they'd all been completed. The armorer had also included a new saddle blanket with scarlet tassels for the elk.
Marnie recovered when she set the letters down. She joined Gale by the bed, folding her hands on his shoulder and leaning against him as she looked over everything on the bed.
"They sent over everything you requested," Gale said.
"Mm, so they did," Marnie nodded. She straightened. "Get changed. I need to talk to Jo."
.
"Josephine?" Marnie began. "Er... Lady Montiliyet."
Josephine looked up from her desk and gave Marnie a reassuring smile.
"What can I do for you, Marnie?" she asked. Marnie relaxed and held up a pristine white letter.
"I received a curious correspondence today—an invitation from the empress' representative for the upcoming ball at the Winter Palace. Did you have anything to do with it?"
Josephine extended her hand curiously and perused the letter Marnie gave her. The wax seal was legitimate, the handwriting recognizable.
"No," Josephine trailed off. "I only aimed to secure an invitation for the Inquisition—and then Inquisitor Trevelyan would bring a few people as his guests. You've been invited to speak at the peace talks?"
Josephine gave her a look of disbelief. Marnie shrugged emphatically.
"I had no knowledge of this before," Marnie said. "The Duke of Gransys also sent a letter ordering me to interfere with the peace talks and reinstate the treaty between Orlais and Gransys."
"I'll ask the Inquisitor if I should investigate. Perhaps Leliana will have connections inside the Empress' court."
Something still didn't sit right with Marnie. Josephine could tell by the look of discontent on her face. Josephine was quiet for a moment, waiting for Marnie to fill the silence with her troubles.
"He shouldn't know where I am," Marnie admitted rather sheepishly. "I didn't tell him that I was leaving. Even so, I don't know how the correspondence could be so efficient between him and the Empress. To organize my appearance in court in his stead for the business of a professional appearance with the Empress herself must've taken several letters. I don't know how this could've happened so quickly."
"That... is a little strange," Josephine admitted. "I'll try to verify the legitimacy of the invitation. If the invitation is fake, you'd be socially ruined in Orlais. Imagine anyone would be so presumptuous as to expect an audience with the Empress when they weren't even invited."
Marnie cringed at the very thought. "Yes, of course, you do that."
Josephine tried to put Marnie at ease again.
"You've been attending the lessons I put in place for you, the Inquisitor, and the others, I take it?"
"Yes," Marnie nodded. She wouldn't betray who she hadn't seen at the lessons, of course. But Marnie herself had been attending the lessons on court etiquette diligently, almost to the point she was embarrassed. In her defense, she had to re-teach Gale everything after the fact. The lessons bored him to no end; he wouldn't even pretend to pay attention.
"Good," Josephine sighed. "At least someone is. I'll inform Trevelyan that you and Gale won't be available to join him. Is there anything else you need? Clothes for the ball?"
"You've done so much already," Marnie sighed. "Thank you, Josephine. I'll leave you to your work. I have to get changed."
Josephine only raised her eyebrows.
.
Even after everything her cousins had so generously delivered to her, Marnie still had a few things she needed for the ball. She made a plan to travel to Val Royeaux in the next few days to procure what she needed. She needed an outfit for herself and one for Gale. Luckily, she had enough in the way of savings to furnish such a purchase. In the meantime, Marnie decided to enjoy what she finally had.
Marnie was so excited to receive their finished commissions that she couldn't wait to wear it. She spent the rest of the day walking around Skyhold in her armor—a now complete set of red leather accompanied by scarlet leggings and a similar cape. She was practically beaming when she found Dorian and Varric in the tavern. They were playing some kind of card game, but Varric seemed all too happy to abandon it as soon as she joined them.
"So that's what you were waiting on," Varric appraised her outfit. "What, couldn't wait to get out in the field to wear it?"
Marnie grinned from ear to ear. She glanced up when she saw Gale walking down the stairs and into the tavern. The other two followed suit with audible reactions of their own.
"Looking good, Firefly."
"That's what a mage should look like," Dorian said.
Gale's healer's robes were replaced with ancient looking but tasteful amethyst robes with accents made of carved bone. Under that was a long sleeved dark purple shirt and a blue kilt that reached his ankles. Various other pieces complimented the outfit, but most impressive was a cloak made of hundreds of large, brown feathers that draped down his back and shoulders. The entire outfit seemed to shine under the lighting of the tavern. If the outfit was as old as it looked, the armorer must've had a hell of a time revitalizing it.
"Where'd you get that ensemble?" Varric asked Marnie.
"Most of it was commissioned," Marnie replied. "The animistic robes were reconstructed from some old bits we found in a ruin. The cloak is made of griffin feathers all from our hunts. The manufacture ran us maybe nine thousand gold?"
"Whoa."
Dorian whistled.
"Anyway, now that we have some funds, we're going to Val Royeaux to pick up a few things. We'll probably stay for a few days. Hey, either of you want to come along?"
"I have a deadline coming up, unfortunately," Varric declined. "If I ask for another extension, my editor will have my hide."
"Would that I could, dear," Dorian sighed. "But unfortunately, the Inquisitor asked me and Bull to the Emerald Graves to collect resources. Maker knows why."
"Get some sun while you're there," Marnie smiled.
"Eat lots of grass," Gale suggested, because that's how they saw off their cattle.
Marnie gave an endeared shake of her head. That reminded Varric of something.
"You could ask Cole to go along."
Marnie's face fell. "No, he's still not talking to me."
"Still mad at you, huh?"
"I wish I could apologize to him. I never meant to make him so upset, I only..."
"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here. We know you didn't mean any harm. It's just a matter if Cole will be willing to listen to you... He'll come around eventually."
Marnie gave him an appreciative look and kicked away from the table.
"I'm going to tell Trevelyan we're leaving," she said. She took Gale by the hand and they both waved over their shoulders as they left. "See you."
Varric and Dorian waved before collecting their cards and resuming the game.
"'See you'?" Dorian leaned across the table to whisper to Varric. "She's beginning to sound like a native."
"That she is. Your move, Sparkler."
.
Marnie leaned on the wall outside the door to the council room. The Inquisitor was in the middle of a meeting right now, so she decided to just wait. Gale leaned on the wall right by her as usual. Once the doors opened, Trevelyan caught sight of Marnie. She straightened and walked alongside him down the hall.
"Inquisitor," Marnie greeted. "How are the wars?"
"Coming along nicely," Trevelyan replied. "You're lively this evening. Your new gear looks great."
"Thanks," Marnie's nose wrinkled when she grinned. "You should see Gale's new stuff."
"I saw," Trevelyan looked over his shoulder at the pawn silently shadowing them. "He looks like a rich noble. Are you sure he can go out into the field like that?"
"Of course," Marnie nodded. "Bull told me this trick—a practically dressed mage is a priority target, a well-dressed mage is a priority for ransom."
"Huh."
"Anyway, Gale and I are going to Val Royeaux for a couple days. Need anything?"
"Oh no, I couldn't put you out like that. What are you going to Val Royeaux for?"
Marnie gave a look of disdain and pulled a wax sealed envelope out of her pocket.
"His Royal Pain-in-the-Arse back home has ordered me to interject the peace talks at the ball. We need to reinstate the peace treaty with Orlais soon; may as well do it now."
"Does the Duke often trusts you with handling high-end political affairs?"
"'Tis basically a run-about job. There's not much to negotiate. He's such a lazy oaf. He makes me do everything for him. I'm going to have to find a reputable tailor for Gale and I. I doubt it would be tactful for us to show up on Gransian business wearing Inquisition garb."
"Vivienne knows a good tailor," Trevelyan said. "You could ask her."
"I'll have to sweet-talk her into giving me their name, then."
"Easy on the sweet-talking," Trevelyan advised. "She hates people who grovel."
"... Yeah."
Trevelyan glanced at her. Marnie started speaking again, quietly this time.
"Trevelyan, do I truly have any place here with the others, or am I just wasting my time?"
"What?" Trevelyan stared at her. "Marnie, the others like you. Varric and Dorian and Bull especially."
But what about Cole? Marnie couldn't bring herself to say it.
"I suppose," Marnie allowed.
"What, is that not enough for you?" Trevelyan demanded. "Sorry we're not as impartial to you as your pawns are, but we're real people, Marnie. It's time you remembered how to interact with someone who might disagree with you."
"I know that," Marnie sighed. She crossed her arms and looked away. "Cole and I had a fight recently. He won't talk to me now, simply because he's not a pawn."
"Cole's been on edge with everyone since Adamant," Trevelyan recalled. "He and Solas had a fight as well—Cole was asking Solas to bind him. Wait, is that what you two were fighting about?"
"Not directly," Marnie said. "But pawns can't be bound by common mages. I fear Cole has a lot more on his plate than a lack of direction."
Gale eyed her, then looked beyond the other two again. He held the door to the main hall open for them.
"Well," Trevelyan changed the subject, resuming a casual tone again. "If you want to curry favor with Vivienne, she did ask me to do something for her recently."
"Oh?"
"She needs the heart of a snowy wyvern for an alchemical formula," Trevelyan explained. "Cullen said we could find one in the Exalted Plains, but snowy wyverns are very venomous. I'm not sure if I can manage it, on top of everything else. Not before the ball, at the very least, and by then I'm afraid it'll be too late."
"Let me take it, then," Marnie offered.
"Are you sure? I don't want to task you."
"Trevelyan, I have next to nothing to do when you're not tasking me with something. You can always ask me to help pick things up if you're overburdened. The pawns and I can take care of it."
Trevelyan heaved a sigh and felt as if one weight of many had been lifted off his chest.
"Thank you so much, Marnie. I'll owe you one."
.
Marnie took Gale and her two support pawns to the Exalted Plains to find the wyvern and claim the area previously blocked off by a rock slide. After establishing a camp, collecting some resources, and claiming a few other landmarks for the Inquisition, Marnie took to the marshes in search of the snowy wyvern. It was her first time being allowed to travel alone with just her pawns again. The arrangement left her feeling light in spite of the current work. Her pawns had plenty to say now that they were on their own again.
"'Tis never so... wet in Gransys," Tate lamented as they trekked across the spongy ground.
"The fog makes it hard to see," Gale noted. "Mind your footing, Master."
"My feet are cold," Lavender complained.
"Remember, we're looking for a wyvern," Marnie called. "We need the heart intact. Target the wings and the skull alone; I'll handle extracting the heart after the beast's dead."
"Yes, Arisen," came the chorus of three voices.
.
When Marnie returned to Skyhold, she took her boon to Vivienne's balcony at once. She debated bringing her pawns to see if the First Enchanter would pay a little respect to those who helped procure such an ingredient, but Marnie thought better of it. She needed something from Vivienne. She'd better not pester the woman. Marnie stood behind Vivienne on the balcony and offered the satchel. Vivienne turned to face her.
"The Inquisitor informed me you'd be taking up the task," Vivienne folded her arms. "You brought it more quickly than I'd expected. I take it the wyvern caused you no trouble."
"'Twas easy with my pawns at my side," Marnie replied. She withheld the satchel, and Vivienne raised a delicate eyebrow. "I crave a boon."
"My, aren't you precious," Vivienne smirked. "Let's hear it, then."
"The name of your tailor."
Vivienne couldn't help herself from laughing in earnest this time. She reached a hand behind her to rest it on the balcony railing.
"Darling, you can't be serious," she was still beaming when she composed herself. "You risked your life to gain my favor for a name? That's preposterous. I would've given you the name, dear, had you just asked. Besides, the Inquisition uniform will come in your size, don't worry."
"I'm going alone," Marnie said.
Vivienne raised her eyebrows, but Marnie didn't say any more. "Interesting... And I presume you'll need a tutor as well? I would oblige, but..."
"I don't need your management, Vivienne," Marnie withdrew the bag. "I just need respectable clothes for my pawn and myself."
Her manner was rough, but Vivienne was obviously making progress with her.
"Good," Vivienne held out her hand. Marnie handed the satchel over. "I'm going to Val Royeaux. If you'll join me, I'll vouch for you in person to my tailor. He's quite picky about his clients. We can discuss politics on the way. Can I expect you to be ready to leave tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Then be ready."