The Templar camp Dennet was worried about was easy enough to deal with. Dennet followed through on his agreement with Talyn, and he gave the Inquisition horses and set out for Haven with them to help tend to the Inquisition's stables.
When the group returned to Haven, Talyn told the council what Mother Giselle had said to her.
"Well, she's not wrong." Cullen said. "Half of Ferelden reveres you now. It'll be more difficult for them to follow through on executing you."
"I think you should try to reason with the clerics, Talyn." Josephine told her. "If anything, it will just show the people your desire for peace."
"I can have my scouts do a little digging through Val Royeaux." Leiliana offered.
Cassandra wasn't on board with it, though. "You could get seriously injured, Talyn. I don't like this."
"We could use the Chantry's help, Cassandra." Talyn argued. "We barely have enough resources as it is. I don't like the thought of entering a city where almost everyone there wants me dead either, but if we have a chance to get more help, we should take it."
"She will not be alone, Cassandra." Leiliana assured the Seeker. "My scouts will be in the city, along with you, and some others to protect the Herald."
"She'll have more protection than the Empress of Orlais." Cullen concluded.
Cassandra sighed. "I still don't like it, but you all have a point."
"I will make preparations for your journey to Val Royeaux. You'll have to have a carriage, at the very least…" Josephine was already leaving the war room.
"Wait, Josephine!" Talyn stopped her from leaving.
"Yes, Herald?"
"Is there any news about the mages?"
"Not yet, Herald, but I am working as hard as I can."
Talyn's hope dwindled. "Alright. Thank you."
"There is someone else who would like to speak to you in the meantime, Talyn." Leiliana brought Talyn's attention back from her thoughts. "A mercenary named Iron Bull. He's the leader of Bull's Chargers, a famous band of sellswords. He wishes to speak to you about employing the Chargers, and asks that you meet him in the Storm Coast, so that he can show you just how useful they can be to our cause."
Talyn almost asked her, 'why me?', but Talyn already knew what her answer would be.
Talyn was blessed by precious Andraste herself. Who wouldn't want to speak with her?
It made her a little sick, the fact that she, an amnesia stricken elf who had no idea what she was doing, kept getting all of these new responsibilities. That now she had to bless babies and speak with Chantry clerics who would rather watch her hang. But Mother Giselle's words ran through her mind constantly.
We seldom get to choose our own fate.
Stupid, stupid shems and their idiotic Andraste.
"Alright. We'll leave first thing in the morning."
Talyn left the war room as well, feeling more restless and disgruntled than she had walking in there. She already knew where she was going.
Solas. Every night on the trip back to Haven, Talyn sat with Solas by the fire, so close that their knees would touch, and would listen with silent wonder as he told her of all the things he'd seen in his travels through the Fade. It was becoming a daily ritual, to sit with him. Ever since their moment in the Guardian Grove, where for the first time since she'd known Solas he had shown her a moment of weakness, it seemed that they had grown closer. Although he never let her see that side of him again. He was calm and collected, as always, but he was letting Talyn in, a feat that not even easy going Varric had been able to pull off yet.
She walked up the path to his cottage and knocked on the worn wooden door. It opened by itself, and Talyn walked in, the warmth of the fire melting off the last bits of snow that landed in her braided blond hair. Solas was sitting at the little table, reading one of the ancient looking books that Talyn had seen on the shelf the last time she was in this room.
He was so engrossed in the book, that it seemed like he didn't even notice that he had opened the door for Talyn. So she went over to the tea kettle, and poured herself some tea. Then she sat opposite of Solas, and blew on the boiling hot tea, using the extra chair to prop her feet on.
The tea suddenly went from scalding, to just warm enough for Talyn to drink it without burning her mouth. She looked over at Solas, who was still reading.
She smiled and drank her tea.
"How was the council meeting?" Solas broke the silence after awhile.
"Well. I'm going to Val Royeaux to talk to a bunch of stuffy old women in a few weeks." Talyn drank some more tea. "And tomorrow we're going to the Storm Coast to talk to an 'Iron Bull' about joining the Inquisition."
Solas, who was still reading, smiled. "We're going to the Storm Coast?"
"Well, you've been acting like my shadow ever since I met you, so I only assumed that you'd come along."
"I can stay behind, if you wish."
"No!" Talyn slammed the cup down on the table, accidentally spilling some of the liquid.
Solas looked up from his book, with a smirk on his lips and an amused glint in his eye.
Talyn cleared her throat, picked up her mug, which was now wet, and sipped it. "I mean, you'd probably be useful. With your magic… and stuff."
His smirk turned into a full blown grin. He gently closed his book. "Yes, I am very useful. With my magic and stuff."
Talyn's face was beet red. "Tell me another tale from the Fade." She quickly changed the subject.
He rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and rested his chin on them. "What would you like to hear about?"
"Tell me about the gods. The Evanuris."
The Evanuris. The Elvhen pantheon, the rulers of the Old World, before the humans showed up and they disappeared, along with their blessings of immortality. Her request didn't sit well with Solas, she could see his bright silver eyes darken at the thought.
"They weren't gods." There was a hint of anger in his tone.
Talyn leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. "What do you mean?"
Solas looked away from her. She was starting to regret asking him about the Evanuris, but she couldn't understand why it made Solas so upset.
"I'm sorry, Solas." Talyn said after a few minutes of silence.
Solas finally looked up at her with an apologetic smile. "You have nothing to apologize for. I spent some time with the Dalish tribes, trying to teach them the knowledge they had lost. They were stubborn, so the subject of our Elvhen rulers has left a sour taste."
"Then tell me about the Fifth Blight instead." She changed the subject. "Varric mentioned it."
Within a heartbeat Solas dove into the tale of the first battle of the Fifth Blight, where King Cailan was betrayed by his uncle Teryn Loghain.
The Storm Coast lived up to it's name. All Talyn could hear was the crashing of the waves against the rocks, and the sea was as dark of a grey as the sky. But she loved it. She loved the salty smell of the ocean, the cool rain on her bare skin.
Talyn, Cassandra, Varric and Solas went to the location that Leiliana told them Iron Bull would be. But before they even reached their destination, the sound of steel against steel was unmistakable.
Talyn unslung her bow and knocked an arrow in it, running towards the sound of a battle. On the beach, Talyn saw a strange ship on the shore, and people fighting.
But what was more stranger than the ship, was the giant man with horns sticking out of his head, towering above the other humans, slicing men in two with his giant sword. He was massive. He had a broad chest that was littered with scars, and arms as thick as tree trunks, yet he moved with a grace that reminded Talyn of Leiliana. He had an eyepatch over one of his eyes, and the other was the clearest blue Talyn had ever seen.
That had to be Iron Bull. The name fit him.
It was unusual for someone to carry both a sword and a bow apparently, but Talyn felt vulnerable without having both on her person. Instead of raining doom on the men in foreign armor that the Chargers were attacking, Talyn charged head first into the battle, her lyrium markings glowing bright. She felt the familiar tingling feeling of Solas putting up a barrier around her.
Her sword started to burn a blue flame, the same shade of blue as the lyrium burned into her skin. Her muscles cried in relief at the chance to be used, and her heart soared at every foe that fell to her blade. Those that became her victims had blue fire licking at their wounds, before it died out, unable to sustain itself without Talyn's lust for blood to fuel it.
The battle was over more quickly than Talyn would have liked.
Talyn wiped the blood off her sword on her pant leg and sheathed it. Then she pulled her braided hair up into a bun, to cool her burning neck. She waited patiently for Iron Bull to be done barking out orders to kill the survivors and break out the mead. He sat on a piece of driftwood, which creaked dangerously at first, and then he turned his blue eye on Talyn.
Talyn was surprised when the man chuckled. "The stories are true, then. The Herald of Andraste, an elf with lyrium markings. I bet the Chantry just loves you."
Talyn couldn't help but grin. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the battle that made her giddy, or perhaps the satisfaction that the Chantry did in fact loathe her, but she wanted to laugh as well.
"Iron Bull is a strange name." Talyn stated with a joking tone.
He raised an eyebrow. "This, coming from an elf with glowing tattoos and a mark that controls demons?"
"Oh, is that what they say about me?" Talyn sat on the driftwood next to him and took a mug of mead that was offered to her. "Well, they're somewhat true. My mark controls the floating green portals to the Fade, not the demons."
"Ah, the demons sounded much better." Iron Bull responded.
Talyn sighed dramatically. "Yes, I know, it's such a tragedy."
Iron Bull chuckled again, and then changed the subject. "So, what do you think about my men? Are we worthy enough of your Inquisition?"
Talyn took a drink of her mead. "I'm curious. Why do you want to join the Inquisition?"
"It's in the interest of my superiors to get that Breach fixed before it causes more problems." Iron Bull said simply. "I'm Ben-Hassrath."
Talyn gave him a stupid look.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot that you don't have any memories from before the Breach. Ben-Hassrath are like the spies of the Qunari."
That explained why he reminded her of Leiliana. "The Qunari?"
Iron Bull laughed. "What did you think I was? A human?"
Talyn's ears burned. She regretted putting her hair up.
Iron Bull pointed to the horns. "Qunari are giants with horns, for future reference."
She nodded mutely.
He turned serious again. "Is it a problem, that I'm Ben-Hassrath?"
"Are you going to make it a problem? What information would you be giving to your superiors?"
He shrugged. "Oh, just little things. Enough to keep them satisfied. The plus side of having me around though, is that you would get information as well."
"Just enough to keep me satisfied?" She guessed.
He grinned. "Now you're getting it. Along with information, you'd be getting me. Your personal bodyguard."
Well. That would be useful. Not that Talyn needed a personal bodyguard but having Iron Bull along when she went on missions for the Inquisition would still be beneficial, since he was a monster of a swordsman.
But there was still one problem. "How much do you and your men cost?"
"Don't worry about that. Leave the money concerns to your ambassador... Josephine, is it?"
It kind of unnerved her that he knew so much. But it was to be expected. He did say he was a spy. But shouldn't Talyn accept his help, if he was willing? He said he would only give enough to satisfy the other Qunari in charge. Talyn didn't have to tell him everything either.
"Alright, Iron Bull. Come back to Haven when you're ready."
"Fantastic! Krem! Pack up the barrels, we're going on the road!"
"But we just broke open a casket, Chief! With an axe." The man who Talyn assumed was Krem answered back. He had short brown hair that was shaved on one side, and dark eyes.
"Well stick something in it and get a move on! We just got hired!"