Chapter Fifty-Nine: Mirror Mirror
The return to Troy was at a much more leisurely pace than before, but we used the magical beacons to relay our success back home so that no one worried.
Upon our return, we made the announcement of the facts. It was met with great happiness, but muted celebration. For the Tiberii, there was some worrying done about what that meant for Aurelia and the dynasty. Not least because as we had thought, it was impossible to keep the news of the Fade immunity issue a secret. Too many had seen the healing magic fail to work properly on Tam, and Heloise Brandon was not stupid enough to pass up a chance at claiming divine intervention was at work, further proof that we neo-Trojans had been assigned a special task by the Maker.
Leha's reaction was rough. She attempted to beat me with the flat of her sword, and when that was taken from her, the kicks kept coming for days, at random intervals. For 'deflowering her best friend' she said. Count on her to make the distinction using that phrase of all things.
The best about it was perhaps a greater reconciliation between Julie and her sister than had happened or been possible previously, even at Amaranthine. Claire had hurt Julie with her words about putting their niece and nephew at risk, but all that was put behind them completely.
Most people weren't celebrating because they were too busy, however much the Chantry propagandist types would have wanted them to. Dozens of women were going into labour daily. Markham's people were having to draft in the combat medics of the Libertarian and Aequitarian regiments just to keep on top of it all. That occupied a lot of attention as you can imagine.
There were even Army slang names about the phenomenon by this stage: 'garrisoned soldiers' were the baby bumps, 'drunk on love' for the morning sickness, and my personal favourite, 'first campaigners' for the expectant mothers, none of whom to my knowledge had children before this point. Not the most tactful things to say, but our girls were toughminded and didn't care.
This sort of thing would be a feature of all our campaigns, in truth. You could always expect to lose about a third of the female enlistees after a campaign, temporarily or otherwise.
Not exactly an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination, but it generally happened in a good natured atmosphere. Besides the fact that we were all fighting for a particular cause that meant it was ideologically unacceptable to take advantage, it's also somewhat hard to get away with raping someone if the victim and all their friends are perfectly willing to bayonet you in your sleep. An instinct that had no respect for rank, in fact. Our officers, with the exception of higher command staff, do not sleep separately or guarded.
I'm getting off topic. Point is that we were busy.
On top of all that, February was less than a week away when we got home. The storms wouldn't be far behind, maybe three weeks tops. Every other available hand was being put to the task of creating good shelter, gathering necessary materials, and generally battening down the hatches. Velarana even hired the entire Valos-Kas group to help, using funds from the state treasury.
We cleared a truly impressive number of trees, the carpenters from both Hearth and Jader used incredible skill in making cabins without the use of metal nails (as we had none); earthen windbreaks were constructed around each block; drainage, sanitation and water supply seen to by re-directing rivulets and streams with the help of mages skilled in elemental magic; the ships were beached and tied down. The Assembly building and the military headquarters were the last things completed before the wind and rain really began picking up.
Troy was ugly as hell, but it was proof against the storms. It would get prettier later, but pretty wasn't what we needed that February.
When the storms finally did come, we hunkered down and waited it out. Most just got on with every day domestic life, such as it is when the streets are near-flooded. Other than directing our defence, which didn't take much as we had forts up too now, all I did was sit around, work out or talk about the future with one of the three women now bearing my own children. It was... very peaceful. After months of constant activity, it was also a huge relief. I hadn't had a real vacation in two years, after all.
The exception to the rule was the Navy. The strategising for the assault on Jader after the end of the storms had began in frantic earnest, with every variable being discussed over and over. I was a party to these meetings as a courtesy, but by the end of the first, I just wanted to put my head through a wall.
Would the Jaderite naval squadron revolt and join the Revolution? Would the townspeople rise up? Were the elves still alive to rise too? Would Lady Seryl and the border barons take hostages? Could the armies of Celene march to Jader to put an end to its liberation?
They couldn't answer any of these questions, but they kept on talking nonetheless.
That wasn't to say I lacked confidence in the Navy's ability to take Jader back. It was a week and a half's worth of sailing to get there, the Orlesian royalists was likely far too busy sitting-on-ass in port to intercept and the pirates didn't range that far west usually. Our ships and marines would likely take the city entirely by surprise, put Lady Seryl to death and Jader would become an autonomous province of the Trojan Republic.
The city itself, being located between two forks of the Frostback Mountains, accessible from Orlais only by a narrow mountain pass and farmlands threaded with fairly deep rivers, the County of Jader was the most defensible in the entire realm. All you'd need to do to cut it off from the rest of Orlais was seize the Imperial Highway at one of the bridges, preferably the western-most one. Which is why Seryl was able to hold out against the rampaging army of Gaspard after his betrayal of Celene below the walls of Halamshiral.
So, apart from my insight into urban fighting techniques, my input was limited and passive. My involvement in the whole thing was to keep Troy itself alive while the Navy went off and did its thing.
Or so it was supposed to be. There was a development in the Orlesian Civil War that had happened outside our notice, one that would reverberate in the geopolitics of Thedas for decades to come. And two unexpected guests would come to tell us what was then some good news.
In the last week of February, the bombardment of the skies against our little city was letting up, and was dumping the last of the heavy rain on us before the cloudy but mostly dry late winter began. By then, all of us were sick of the feel and smell of damp outside.
So we kept indoors. As Tam, Julie and I were doing on February 25th, in our quarters on the Mont du Mars. A decent sized one-floor building in a stout 'log-cabin' type construction, large enough for three adults but probably not if you added two children to the mix. To say nothing of whether or not Aurelia and child would eventually join us, as she was living in the Tevinter 'embassy' at that time.
It was early-afternoon, and with neither sessions of the Assembly or War Councils to attend that day, we had spent the morning first sleeping, and then having sex. There was pretty much nothing else to do but make-work, and we didn't even bother with that. So, basking the afterglow of our activities, we looked like we might drift off to sleep again until evening.
Good times.
By the time one of us opened our mouth to make noises other than those of pleasure or contentment, Tam was already half-asleep, her horn poking me as she lay across my stomach. The person who did speak was Julie, lying on my shoulder.
"I have a confession to make," she began confidently in Common, "Something I need to get off my chest before there are infants around, screaming at me." Memories of her sisters at the fore there, I thought.
"Hmm?" Tam mumbled, lids cracked half open, "What's that?" She shook her head once and blinked, trying to stay awake.
"There's nothing on your chest right now," I joked back to Julie, eyeing the region in question, "Or maybe I can't see. Let me check."
I reached over, my intent clear, but got a light slap on the hand for my trouble.
"Don't distract me," Julie said, unable to contain a little giggle, "I'm trying to be serious here."
"Okay," I said, "What is it you need to confess?" Confess being a strong word, really.
The giggles departed from the conversation. I felt Julie's throat move on my shoulder, as she took a gulp of air, trying to clear anxiety. The air seemed to thicken, as all sorts of strange possibilities went through my mind. Mostly involving something or another about plots to overthrow Velarana or something about her and our child. I was way off.
"I am totally happy," she said, "But that makes me suspicious. I wasn't sure I could ever be this happy again after what happened to Elodie. Is that strange?"
I sighed, having something like that apprehension in me too. "Like it's too good to be true," I agreed, "Yeah, I get that. Best way to handle that feeling is to enjoy the high while it lasts, I think. If you're worried all the time, you'll spoil it."
Julie nodded, lowering her head and closing her eyes to think.
Tam cocked her head slightly, accidentally giving me a jab with her horn. Her thinned lips and narrowed eyes betrayed her incredulity at our little conversation.
"Do you not both say that we're going to go to war?" she said, "All the time, in fact?" The good times were already spoiled by that dark cloud hanging over them, in other words.
True. The coming war was pretty much the lynchpin of both Julie's politics and my own expectations and planning for the Army. Yet here we were, talking like the danger to our present happiness was some unknown thing. I exhaled an amused breath, wondering if cabin fever had gotten to us.
"I guess we do," Julie replied, laying back on the bed again, "But I think we can survive the war, assuming the High Chancellor's crazy plan to bring people from Orlais over works. I still don't understand why she wants Orlesians only. Plenty of Marchers would join us, I'm sure of it."
Velarana had decided to tap into the great political forces of nationalism, for better or worse.
"We have to survive," I said, dodging the politics, "No choice any more. The selfless sacrifices aren't selfless any more. We're going to be parents. We all have to come home safe."
There was a ruckus outside, in the corridor that led to the Army headquarters building and the other High Command residency. Guards protesting, very insistently on our behalf, that there was no entry. Someone else, female and Orlesian, dismissing the protests with the ability that only a highborn lady could ever achieve. The fact that the intruder was winning the argument became clear as the voices got louder, not from voices being raised but from their owners growing closer to our own door.
"Here comes trouble," Tam smirked, standing up with only a light sheet to cover some of her front.
Trouble had indeed arrived.
A single knock rang out against the wood, and once the sliding door shifted to the side, in stepped Mariette de Villars, dressed in furs over Free Army green from head to toe, only a slice of her blonde hair poking out from under her hood against her forehead. The guards, seemingly having heard vaguely what we had been doing a little while earlier, wisely averted their eyes as they remained at their posts.
"Marquis, Marquise... Warden-Commander," Mariette greeted us, each according to the hierarchy of rank she placed us on. An eyebrow wobbled at the sight of the standing, mostly naked Tam, but tracked to Julie soon after.
"I'm sorry, Marquis," the lead guard said, still looking away, "We couldn't stop her without using force... and..."
"General de Villars of the OSS is not someone you want to step in front of," I said, completing his sentence, "You're forgiven, and dismissed." Already, the OSS was gaining a reputation as word of the sort of things Mariette was teaching a few of her recruits had gotten out, before they had been further disciplined.
Mariette gave a little smile at what she thought was a compliment, although this was far less than I had expected from her. She was restraining herself, for some reason.
The guards made good their escape, walking like robots, hands firmly at their sides, out of our living room and closing the main doors behind them. When they were finally gone, I crawled out of bed, around a stationary and bemused Julie already locking eyes with Mariette, and made my way to my pile of clothes across the rug-covered wooden floor. It was chilly, to say the least, even with the braziers.
"It's cold, I stink of sex, and I was hoping to avoid any real official business until spring," I said, grabbing my pants, "What do you want, Mariette?"
I half-expected her to try and check me out as I half-dressed, but she didn't, keeping her eyes firmly on my spouses. Conceit on my part, but not without precedent either in her case.
"The High Chancellor has called a meeting of the Army and Navy General Staff," Mariette said, her blue irises finally pointed my way, "You're not going to believe who showed up, Sam."
"Who?" Julie asked, getting off the bed, blanket held up against her front, "And how? The storms have been raging."
Mariette curled her lip and shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said, "It's completely incomprehensible. If I didn't see it with my own eyes..."
"Well, that is completely unhelpful," Tam remarked, breathing annoyance through her nose, "So you've been instructed to get everyone together for this?"
"I just happened to be across the way on the Capitoline when the... guests arrived," Mariette replied, "Discussing the boundaries of how far I'm allowed to go in my duties with Lady Velarana, in fact."
"A delightful conversation, I'm sure," Julie frowned, moving to her own clothes now, "I presume it wasn't by boat that they came."
Which would have been pretty stupid, given the weather.
"Definitely not," Mariette chuckled, "You'll see what I mean soon enough."
"We'll meet you in the main room," I commanded, "Gather the rest of the High Command, and we'll head over to the Assembly building together."
"Yes, my lord!" Mariette replied, giving an Earth style Free Army salute with a little too much enthusiasm. Before any of us could so much as flinch at this, she was marching off towards the exit, flinging the doors open with far more force than was necessary, putting the fear of the Maker into the guards beyond.
I sighed, and closed our bedroom door properly. "What's her problem?" I wondered aloud, "Suddenly, she's sullen and I barely see any of her."
I quickly snapped my mouth shut, realising it had run itself without thinking. Tam snorted, aware of my conceit and was amused by it.
"She is busy, isn't she?" Julie said, nonchalantly, "For all she wanted her new position, it doesn't give her a lot of free time to be hanging around you... even if you don't have much to do yourself." That didn't sound like her. Mariette had boundless energy, even making Tam look like she lacked endurance.
"Or perhaps she has realised the futility of her pursuit," Tam said, finding her boots, "She was not as polite to us as she should have been, but nor did she make her usual inappropriate jokes despite ample opportunity."
Something definitely was up.
"I'll go ahead, talk to her," I said, quickening the pace of my putting on clothes, "Hopefully we can straighten all of this out."
Hurrying so as to pre-empt any possible objection, I took my firelance along out of habit, but also as a precautionary measure. Last thing I needed was a knife-shoe up my ass.
The main room of the Army headquarters was as large as the Cabinet Room of the Assembly, modelled on exactly the same plan as that part of that building. The difference was that there were almost no walls, doorways shooting off in every direction, covered not by doors but by thick tent canvass, as there was no room to put the sliding doors without blocking other doorways. No spare hinges, so no swinging doors either.
Sometimes, I really cursed not ordering people to dismantle their doors for the metal parts when we had left Hearth. It was drafty as a mountainside in that room, canvass covers or otherwise, at least along the floor. So my feet felt considerably colder than the rest of me, whenever I was there.
The rooms branching off were the brigade offices, mostly, with two corridors to the Commanding-General's Quarters and the Staff Quarters at opposite sides, and the way to the atrium and main entrance was opposite my own office. In the very centre, inevitably, was our war table. The new one, rougher than the one we had involuntarily donated to the Cabinet, but tougher too. Not one for bringing along on campaign. A statement that we would never have to move it again, because the building in which it stood would never be threatened with attack.
The others were more or less already gathered. Soprano was dressed in much the same way as Mariette, she must have been summoned from outside. Asala was likewise, having been the duty officer for the defence forts for the day. Everyone else had their warm clothing in their arms, instead crowding around the larger braziers, stone slabs under and around them to prevent them setting everything on fire. Though that would have been a miracle in itself, as the floor here was wet from water coming in with people's boots, although thankfully not muddy.
Mariette was on her own, uncharacteristic of her, not even her cousin with her at the heat source she was warming her hands up with.
I went over, and joined her, spreading out my hands in front of the hot metal. No point beating around the bush.
"So, what's wrong with you lately?" I asked, "You have what you want, right?"
Mariette's face angled up slightly, as she stared at the fire inside the brazier. "Not exactly," she said, "Being your spymaster and herder of assassins isn't the same thing as having what I wanted."
I was confused.
"You wanted to be at the centre of our power," I stated, "Julie, Tam and I recognised your skills and put you there. And you didn't need to use your body to get there, as I said you wouldn't."
Mariette licked her lips. "Yet I do not have the place that the Marquise or the Warden-Commander has," she said, "To say nothing of Lady Aurelia. So, I repeat myself. I do not have what I desire. In fact, I cannot have it now. You will be a father soon, and even I know when the window for what I had intended for us has closed, for now."
I shifted my weight, uncomfortable with the conversation as I knew I would be, but pressed on.
"It's good that you realised it," I replied, softly, "Because it was never going to happen."
Mariette's stare went from the fire to me, and her head cocked to the side slightly. As if to say 'Oh really?'
I cleared my throat, feeling the pressure now. "Okay, maybe it could have in another world," I admitted, "You're a desirable woman. But I am married. And soon to be a father for too many damn kids."
Mariette pulled her attention back to the fire. "See, was that so hard?" she said wryly, "I would hate to think I went through everything I have, only to be told that my skills and training have failed me."
"They haven't, but all I can offer you is friendship," I said, "It isn't the same thing, but it places you a hell of a lot higher than ninety-nine percent of people here. Can you accept that?"
Mariette breathed out a long torrent of air, accidentally flaring the wood inside the brazier, brightening the space around us for a second or two. For a moment, I thought she would decline, but finally, her face brightened.
"I guess I will have to find my fame some other way," she smiled, "The Game has many facets."
I nodded, buoyed by her optimism, sure she would succeed at gaining the status she wanted.
Julie and Tam swept into the room in full regalia, British Army Desert Camo and Warden blue-and-grey in front, brown bear furs over their shoulders, hoods up.
"Sorry for the delay," Julie declared, pulling on her gloves, "Shall we go see who our esteemed High Chancellor is entertaining?"
We crossed the causeway and wide wooden bridge between the two central hills of Troy, constructed when it became very obvious that the small stream running between them would become a river once the rain came properly. It was the last thing our carpenters and those of the Tevinter fleet built before the waters came, and although today it doesn't stand there any longer, the two hills now jut towards each other as the causeways were left intact after the event that pulled down the bridge.
It was thoroughly unpleasant, given the wind and wet. The sky was a very dark grey, and I almost wanted to go back to my room and get my flashlights on seeing it from the entrance of HQ. Naturally, the smell of damp grass was taken in with every breath. The bridge was also vibrating from the flow of the water beneath us, which had me imagining the whole thing collapsing despite repeated previous reassurances from our sappers.
We came up to the now-complete Assembly building and its distinctive shape, that I shall explain about, used for the moment mostly as quarters for the Aequitarians and Hospitallers. Finding ourselves sick already of the conditions, we made good by rushing through to the protection of the bottom of the outer ring balconies of the huge round building, which had been cut off from the outside by yet more tent canvass. Inside the ring, we found racks of furs drying off against the walls, stinking badly.
There to greet us were the Navy High Command, Fisher Senior and his captains, and the Tevinter delegation, led by Aurelia and Tiberius Senior.
As soon as I had exchanged pleasantries with our Admiral, as protocol dictated, I went to Aurelia at once, drawn by some invisible force.
"Hey, how are you doing today?" I asked, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead, "Feeling better?"
Tiberius seemed to light up with delight at this quite mild display of affection, assuming things that weren't yet rooted in our hearts. I passed on disabusing him of the notion, thinking that it would be better for him to keep his assumptions.
"No, I'm not," Aurelia replied, returning the kiss on the cheek, "Nausea all morning. Healing spells don't get rid of it."
Pregnancy, for being a miracle, is a rough ride. Nausea is the least of it. After the number I've been personally involved with, I often think education on these matters is lacking among men. Advice to all concerned; get educated if you have not been already.
"We haven't got that yet," Julie said, putting her hand on Aurelia's shoulder in solidarity of a sort, "Strange."
"Not to scare you, but you likely will," said Markham gruffly, approaching from another section of the covered walkway, "Once everyone is here, we shall proceed inside. We're expected." Not a word from him about who it was waiting either. The Chancellor had given instructions then, I knew, if both Mariette and Markham were keeping quiet.
The people we were waiting for were the Cabinet, whom arrived from south as one group, probably having been involved with errands concerning the Jader attack.
Without another word, Markham turned around and led the way around, taking us practically half the circumference of the Assembly building underneath the balconies. It was no secret where we were being taken; the main entrance to the Assembly Chamber itself at the north-west curve, so placed because it would allow afternoon light into the space for the opening of each session. It was the old building of course, so the entrance looked far more like a set of barn doors doubled up than the pink-white marble arrangement that can be seen today.
The doors were opened by soldiers of the Rangers Brigade, the one on duty that day, revealing the hard work that had been put into the whole construction, mostly by the Tevinter shipwrights.
The Assembly Chamber, as previously mentioned, had yet to be quarried out, but the soil had been cleared away, leaving a flat but rough surface of exposed granite. Evidence of an extinct supervolcano under the ocean, of which our coast and the isle off of it were remnants. Over the large area was a high angled roof, supported by arches on the inside, so that the whole building looked like a spinning top on its head.
The inner ring of the building had window-frames looking in, so that both government and opposition could monitor events in the Chamber from their offices with ease. At that time, we had no glass, so they were all shuttered up. For privacy of the meeting as much as anything.
It was a spectacular feat of engineering, especially given the lack of large amounts of metal parts like nails we had available, but we had carpenters from Hearth and shipwrights from both Tevinter and Jader to work with. There was a lot of naval-looking architecture about the place, especially when it came to the supporting arches, which looked almost as if they had taken the ribs of a great ship, turned them upside-down and spliced them together in a circle.
It wasn't the first time I had seen all of this, though I had to admit the sound of the rain hitting the roof in a drumming sound made the whole space seem more aweworthy than it truly was. It was about sixty or seventy feet wide, enough for about two hundred and fifty elected members in the first hemicycle. Naturally, it was expanded in later years, the hemicycle dug even deeper.
In the middle of the space were three figures and a particular item clustered around a brazier that had been brought in for the purpose of the meeting, and at the back wall, a wagon.
Velarana was the immediately recognisable person; she had changed into her formal mage robes, dark-grey cloth patterned with the iconography of the Chantry and Circle of Magi in orange, blonde hair poking out from under her hood in a similar fashion to Mariette's own. I frowned as I noted it, not pleased that it was such an important matter. I felt severely underdressed in my T-shirt and furs.
I was right to feel like that.
As we got closer, the other two figures heard the chomp of our boots on the ground and turned around. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw them, as did everyone else except the Tevinters.
Henri Clouet, the Baron du Midi.
Briala, the former handmaiden of Celene Valmont.
Neither should have been there in any sane world.
The last time I had laid eyes on Henri Clouet had been in Halamshiral before the defeat at Lydes, having sent him south to recruit more troops and open a second front against any royalist forces that might raise forces against us. As for Briala, she had left a bad taste upon leaving the Wolf's Lair, having failed to convince those who wished to stay in Orlais to fight for her.
Lord Clouet's appearance was particularly strange. Unlike Briala, who certainly looked like she had been on a long journey through wild country courtesy of dirt-stained furs and hunting boots, he looked like he had just dropped in from a party. He was wearing the same bright orange mask he had been when I had first met him, the fire-motif still very much his style, along with a black silk doublet that looked entirely inadequate for anything like the weather to be found in the region.
I had to half-slap myself to get moving again, being beaten to the punch by Tiberius.
"Ahh, Lady Briala," he said in Orlesian, "So wonderful to see you again."
The magister approached, offering his hand to the she-elf, shifting his staff to the other. Briala took it gingerly, still as unaccustomed to his false familiarity as she had been at the Winter Palace.
"I..it is good to see you too, Lord Tiberius," Briala replied, in Common, "I did not expect to see you here." Not that she wouldn't have known he was somewhere in Troy, but his invitation to the meeting would have been hard to assume, my marriage to Aurelia notwithstanding.
"Nor I you," Tiberius said, continuing in Common as the rest of us drew up beside, "But then, you have gotten your hands on something special there, haven't you?"
He gestured to the item that stood behind the guests. A huge mirror, ten feet tall, three wide, shaped like a pointed Gothic arch. The frame looked like solid gold, engraved with writing I didn't recognise, and the glass had a golden sheen unlike anything I had ever seen.
"An eluvian," Aurelia breathed out in awe, "And it appears to be functional!" The entire Tevinter delegation seemed thunderstruck, stopping mid-step with sharp intakes of breath. Some magical thing then, I thought.
"Indeed it is," Lord Clouet said, "Lady Aurelia, I presume?"
They exchanged names and titles at this point, which doesn't bear repeating in full.
"How did you get it working?" asked Valentine, Aurelia's father looking considerably more pale than before, "Only eluvians that were left 'open' are accessible to us."
"An ancient demon named Imshael created a keystone to open them," Briala replied, honestly enough, "I managed to get possession of it after the chaos outside of Halamshiral. After Gaspard finally betrayed Celene. Now, I can control the passphrases to open them as required."
The story of which is actually far more complicated, and is recorded in Briala's own memoirs under the volume entitled 'Masked Empire'.
This news caused much discussion among the Tevinters, most of it not entirely happy.
Which begged the question.
"What is an eluvian?" Leha asked bluntly, chin up, "And why does it have these Vints' breeches in a twist?"
Briala's attention went to us, at last. But she didn't answer the question immediately.
"Marquis, Marquise... Warden-Commander," she said, "All of you. It is strange meeting like this, given all that has happened. Perhaps strangest of all is that you are no longer the leaders here."
"For now," Julie said, crossing her arms, "Answer Leha's question."
Briala seemed to pause, collecting her thoughts on just how to best explain.
"An eluvian is a magical door in the form of a mirror, like the one behind me," she said, "It can take you to another place, in which there are many other eluvians, leading to other places in Thedas... and elsewhere. A shortcut across the world, and to other worlds. Although we have not found a route to Earth, Marquis."
My interest in this had been painted all over my face, or else she wouldn't have said such a thing. I felt my heart flutter about in confusion. After all this time, to have hope of returning home, or even being able to travel freely between the worlds, only for it to be abruptly squashed. I sure as hell would have preferred to have a modern hospital available, given what situation I was in.
"So, it's what? A stargate?" I said, "A way to travel instantly from place to place? That explains how you got here so quickly in storm season, I guess."
For my potential Earthling readership: Not really a sci-fi type of guy, but I enjoyed Stargate. Plenty of gunplay and America kicking alien ass. What's not to like? The technobabble, I guess.
"It was not easy even then," Briala replied, "We had to find an eluvian close to you, which we did in Hercinia. After that, we had to come through stealthily so we could steal it. Transporting it across the river..."
"The Alba in winter is a torrent, according to our scout reports," Velarana nodded, "Once you are past that though, it was easy enough to follow the coast to here, although I'm sure it was unpleasant."
"The storms prevented us from simply using the beaches," Briala confirmed, "But we were able to use the eluvian to rotate volunteers. Lord Clouet came through as soon as we had installed it here. Only I made the entire journey."
A testament to her toughness, and the importance she placed on the mission. I began to consider the possibilities. The military ones especially, the ability of being able to transport troops across vast distances in minutes not being one any serious commander would pass up. Of course, there was another line of inquiry.
"Assuming this is not some sort of absurd trick... it appears your plan for populating our city has become far more viable," Julie said, addressing Velarana, "Not to mention that we could aid Lord Clouet directly as required."
The High-Chancellor did not openly react, which was always the surest sign that she was very pleased with herself. She allowed herself a single, barely perceptible nod. Julie sighed on seeing it, already beginning the calculations as to how to best exploit the new scenario herself.
"It is for that reason that we came," Clouet stated, a hand gesticulating, "The snows are already melting in the Dales. Soon, I will march my army north to Halamshiral, to relieve the city from the siege."
My jaw dropped open.
"Hold it, Halamshiral didn't surrender?!" I asked loudly, "How?"
The armies of Orlais probably couldn't have breached the city in the time since we were forced to retreat from Lydes, especially as they were fighting each other, but I had expected the city to surrender. Presumably on good terms to Gaspard, who was far more willing to countenance such a thing as long as it improved his standing.
"That doesn't seem possible," Tam added, more coherently, "Our assessment of the city's defences was not good."
"But we had cannon in our equations," Julie countered, "The walls shouldn't have been breached yet, it's still winter."
"The first siege ended when Gaspard attacked Celene outside the walls," Briala said, "Some of her forces took shelter in the Winter Palace, as it had been abandoned by the inhabitants after the battle at Lydes and the Grand Duke did not dare to damage it with an assault. Celene and I fled, Gaspard followed hoping to catch us, and it was during that journey that I gained control of the eluvians. I sent Celene back through at the Winter Palace. She re-established control of the remnants of her army, and gathered support from her loyalists."
"You didn't kill her?" Julie asked, "Take her prisoner?"
"I judged that unwise," Briala said, "The Empire would not have survived her death, or the death of Gaspard. Nor could we improve the lives of elves if one of them gained power. So I offered them safe passage, knowing I could play them against each other."
"Until your support was worth enough to turn the tide in someone's favour," I concluded, "Clever. What about Gaspard? Where did he exit?"
"Gaspard came out at Val Chevin," she said, "But that need not concern us. Gaspard's forces withdrew towards Lydes when Lady Seryl sallied out of the County of Jader with the border legions. Celene naturally wished to restore her control of the city itself, but your officers by then had reorganised the defence, knowing that there would be a slaughter if they had failed. She returned to Val Royeaux by sea. Lady Seryl now besieges Halamshiral, and when the snows fully melt, her siege engineers will bring engines from Jader and breach the walls with ease."
So the war had mostly moved westwards from Halamshiral, but the danger to those we had left behind was imminent. Yet I also saw the opportunity there, vaguely, assuming we could put everything in the puzzle together. Eluvians, ships, armies, firelances, good luck and the element of surprise. There was a lingering question though, about whether or not we should bother taking the risk.
"Quite the tale," Aurelia remarked, "Very entertaining."
"Now now, my dear," Tiberius said, cheerfully as ever, "No need to be scathing. She has obviously come for a reason, I for one would like to hear it."
"Is that not obvious?" Julie said, as equally scathing as Aurelia had been, "She wants our help. After disparaging our intentions and strategy, after trying and failing to recruit our deserters. Even bringing a former ally of ours to convince us."
"The necessities of war are cruel to one's preconceptions, Marquise," Clouet responded, "You know as well as anyone that I would not associate with Lady Briala under normal circumstances. I would not have even associated with you, not least in the way that Pierre des Arbes did."
Clouet was never the image of tact, and I was impressed by Julie's self-control that his last little remark wasn't answered by handcannon fire. She didn't even twitch, in fact.
"Lady Briala is lucky we do not remove her head from her neck," Tam replied coolly, "Or better yet, detain her to obtain the secret of these eluvians. Or perhaps you know it too, Lord Clouet?"
"A very astute observation," Valentine noted aloud, turning to Velarana, "We can help you with that, Lady Chancellor, should you choose to explore that option. The Tiberii do not lack for knowledge of elven magic, and our foremost experts are here with us."
Velarana gave a withering stare in reply, as only a fool would have accepted that offer. It would have been the same thing as handing the magical technology straight to Tevinter, and although we were allied to the Imperium through Aurelia at the time, an ally is not the same thing as a friend. Valentine shrugged the reaction off in good humour, beaten at the Game for the moment.
Briala didn't flinch from the open talk of imprisonment either. She stood there without a care in the world.
"I wish to unite the Libertarian forces in Orlais under one banner," Briala said, "That means Lord Clouet's forces, those still inside Halamshiral and my own partisans need to come together. Perhaps even the mages, if they do go into open revolt. We need a safe place. Halamshiral can be that safe place."
That was my cue to intervene, because I had never heard anything so ignorant of conventional military wisdom in quite a while. Briala was an excellent assymetric fighter, and a politician at least on the level of Velarana and Julie if not even more capable than them, but was still no general.
"Halamshiral is a death trap," I replied, voice raised a little, "It might be surrounded by hill country, especially to the north, but it also sits at the crossroads of the Imperial Highway and most of the roads leading south into the Eastern Dales. Hell, we walked right up to it, no problem. It has high walls, but walls don't feed people inside and weapons can bring them down. It's entirely reliant on food being brought from outside, and from quite far too. The countryside around grows grapes and flax, not crops. To cut through all the bullshit, it's indefensible unless we control the countryside to the south."
"It is a symbol," Briala retorted immediately, "It was the city built by the freed elves of Tevinter after their long journey to the Dales. It is the winter capital of Orlais. Keeping it from the hands of both Celene or Gaspard would be a powerful sign to the world, and the city itself would be the rallying beacon of our cause."
"Except you can't keep it from them," I shot back, "I just explained why. You would need a huge army to do it, and a huge army needs food, money and weapons in amounts you can't provide. Even if we assisted you. Halamshiral will be taken from you, and then what will it be a symbol of? Your weakness?"
"Then what do you suggest?" Briala snapped back, "Do you wish to abandon the citizens of Halamshiral? After you provoked them into rebellion?"
I felt a wretch of anger through my temples. This was a woman who would have gladly provoked the same if it met her own political objectives, and it wouldn't have taken the assassination of anyone in her family to have brought her to it.
"No, I still want to save them," I insisted, "But we cannot do that if we have to hold the city too. The initiative isn't ours any more. That doesn't mean we can't do anything."
And with that, I began to explain my plan.
The start of the second week of March.
The storms were gone, though they had left us with the wind. The same wind that sped the Trojan Navy on its way towards Jader, the fleet having left the day before. The Tevinter fleet had also left, going home in the opposite direction, although most of Aurelia's family and her entire 'bodyguard' had remained.
I found myself staring at the eluvian in the Assembly, wondering what the hell would happen when I tried to step through it. It was the one hitch in my plan. Its golden-shining mirror reflected my own image back at me, and I barely recognised myself. I had not greatly changed in attire, I was wearing the usual mix of Earth panoply with the addition of two Thedosian melee weapons; namely the mace I had picked up on the hill after Gethran's Crossing and the sabre that had been a gift from Louise de Villars. It was the ease with which I had started to fall into my role that struck me more.
I looked at a confident man who was perfectly willing to cede the command to his subordinates if something went wrong. The same man would have been very reluctant to do any such thing only a few months earlier.
A conversation about the whole subject happened beside me, between two very learned mages. Aurelia, in full battle array complete with samurai helm and snarling faceplate. Velarana, for once not in her Aequitarian robes but a light dress with sleeves in a light blue colour. The sun had finally made an appearance, regardless of the wind.
"And you assure us that this will work?" said Velarana, courteously but firmly, "This item is of great strategic importance to our realm. The Marquis breaking it would be a great loss to us."
"He won't break it," Aurelia replied in assurance, "The Marquise is already through with the exact result we predicted. The original Tiberius travelled through the mirrors of the Elvhen many times. The Codex Tiberii has no less than eight instances described in detail, and a number of other incidents that could only have occurred if my ancestors were capable of moving great distances almost instantly. As no other magical means of instant travel has ever been invented, we can assume..."
"What happened two thousand years ago may not be relevant here," Velarana insisted, "And neither the Marquise nor Lady Tam is the Marquis. If I am correct, you're risking trapping..."
Aurelia finally took umbrage.
"Madame Chancellor, do not be absurd," she said, "This is not your area of expertise. The Circles of the Southern Chantry do not delve into these matters, and you are not in a position to lecture me on the history of my own dynasty. The mechanism of the eluvian is simple; it connects a bubble of reality in front of the mirror to the front of another. The magic itself doesn't actually touch the user, so all Sam's presence will do is destabilise the bubble after he has passed. As long as he doesn't hang around inside the eluvian's frame, it will function. If this explanation does not satisfy, you can order the Marquis to stay if you wish."
Do your business or get off the pot, being her point.
The High Chancellor of the Trojan Republic sighed, running her hand through her hair in frustration. Her objections were more to do with placing me, and Julie, within reach of our enemies once more.
"Very well," Velarana said, before switching to Orlesian to speak to me, "If there is even a hint of trouble in these 'Crossroads' or with the mirror on that side, you are to return at once. I don't want you collapsing that magical realm by your mere presence."
"I'm not sure it's possible that I would," I replied, "But I'll do as you say, if the worst happens."
"Good," Velarana replied stiffly, "I wish I could go with you, but the city needs to be governed. The Marquise may have insisted on going with you, but she must not participate in any combat. Her loss would be a terrible blow to morale."
"I insist that she stay out of the fighting," I stated, shaking my head, "Tam at least has the good sense to know when enough's enough, thank Christ." She would be managing the affairs of the Grey Wardens while we were gone. Light duties for her body, and a certainty that we'd return in her heart.
Velarana's thin eyebrows twitched up for a split second at the mention of the last word, her knowing the backstory there, but did not comment further. She said nothing, and looked expectantly at me.
"Ladies first," I said to Aurelia, gesturing to the eluvian.
My Tevinter spouse gave a tilt of the head, her equivalent of a shrug, before placing her helmet on her head, complete with snarling faceplate, and went to the place in front of the mirror. Quietly, she said the pass phrase, and the golden sheen of the mirror turned an electric blue, glowing slightly. Without hesitation, she stepped through, eager to see what was on the other side, as this was the first time she had used the device.
"See you in a few weeks," I said to Velarana, strapping my own helmet on, "Madame Chancellor."
"Try not to destroy my army," she replied, half-joking, "Get the civilians out safely."
I gave a single nod, and copying Aurelia's forwardness, I stepped through the glowing blue window of the eluvian, holding my breath as I did so.
There wasn't anything to it. The device did its job, and the only sign of anything being wrong was a sort of harsh whipping sound behind me as I arrived on the other side and the eluvian's portal shut itself, my passage having closed it.
The Crossroads, the realm to which eluvians connect, are a bubble of realspace contained within the border of the Fade. Not just another world, but an alternative reality, built by the elvhen 'gods' and their lieutenants over the course of centuries. Their true extent is unknown to us, and likely will remain so, but I think it is fair to say they are perhaps at least as large as all the lands ever settled by the elves. Aurelia hypothesizes to this day that they are essentially a copied overlay of Thedas, that was then customised to the whims and fancies of the creators.
Our first encounter with this constructed magical realm was the same as that of who knows how many similar travellers; my first sight of the place was that of a gloomy grey-cobblestone courtyard, fog-shrouded and studded with other eluvians, most of them broken in some way. Soprano's brigade and the Vashoth mercenaries clustered about in the space, the former sitting on the knee-high walls that threaded through it, the latter milling about uncertainly, displeased to be in such a strange place.
I thought to myself that the lights must have turned themselves off. Gods don't generally live in such dull or creepy places. The elvhen gods must be dead, which quite naturally got me thinking that they weren't gods at all.
Of course, this whole perspective is the result of my own humanity. Elves saw it a little differently, which was probably why most of my troops looked bored. All they saw was an overcast sky with sunlight peeking out of the clouds here and there, although the fog remained. It was unremarkable to them, after a few minutes, soldiers as ever not fully caring about the philosophical or cosmic significance of things.
Another result of my humanity crept into my skull; a piercing headache. It seemed to be the result of looking about the place. Nothing seemed solid, and you had to put effort into focusing your eyes to get a firm fix on anything. I rubbed the bridge of my nose, clenching my jaw. The throb seemed to grow, until it reached a point where it remained. It was bad enough that I considered taking a painkiller.
"Sam, are you alright?" asked a voice. Aurelia's voice, I thought, as the question was asked in Common.
"My head is splitting open," I said calmly, blinking away the pain and standing up straight, "I'm not supposed to be here."
Julie, Tam, Aurelia and Briala stood around me, looking at me like I was going mad. Only Briala was dressed for combat, although Julie and Aurelia both had their armaments despite neither being likely to see fighting on this little excursion. Tam was in her blue Grey Warden tunic, which was far too tight, whereas Julie was in her British Army fatigues. Aurelia's mage robes were remarkably similar to that which Velarana usually wore, albeit in deep black and sharp white fabrics of unknown type to my eye.
"Curious," Aurelia mused aloud, "Humans usually feel unease in this place, but you seem to feel a great deal more uncomfortable."
Great, I thought, another quirk of Earthling existence to deal with. I didn't say anything, feeling like having a good bitch about the whole situation unbecoming of an officer.
"Was this in your codex?" Tam asked, worried.
"No, it wasn't," Aurelia said, her lips getting tighter, "And I wonder why my ancestors would have failed to put such a detail into record."
"They might not have known," Julie replied, before explaining, "Your ancestor was Roman, correct? From my reading, they were not ones to complain. Stoic philosophy, was it? Your forebearer likely said nothing about the pain."
Aurelia smirked, like she was proud to be related to such a person. "That's possible," she said, "Our immortal ancestor was known to keep fighting though wounded, without uttering a single word."
"This magical space doesn't seem to have collapsed at the Marquis' mere presence," Briala said, keeping to the practical matter at hand, "Just as your records indicated."
"And to think my fellow Altus believe we are eccentric for believing in the chronicles," Aurelia said, her smirk remaining in place as she looked to me, "I really do look forward to seeing them humbled before our children."
As it was, Aurelia could probably level Minrathous a block at a time and still not get results. I shudder to think what a demonstration to convince the Magisters to bow to our kids would have had to consist of.
"Yes, but before there will be any humbling done, we have a battle to fight," I replied, "And other things besides that."
"Exactly," Julie said, "Keep your Tevene politics to yourself, for the moment. We're here for Troy's benefit, and that of Orlais. Sam, you go talk to your officers." She began walking off, as Aurelia's smirk finally disappeared.
"What are you going to do?" I called to her.
"Rally the troops," Julie called back, only half turning her head to say so.
I blew out a breath, half out of pain, half out of the exasperation of Julie requiring herself to be part of the attack that was to come, even if it wasn't l'arme à la main.Even as she moved, the sea of round helmets, full metal copies of my own, began to turn in her direction.
"I will go make sure she doesn't do anything over the top," Tam said, giving me a look, "We'll see you at the other mirror." Tam's motives being very predictable at times like this. Sahrnia comes to mind.
"Looking forward to it," I replied, with a smile. Tam cocked an eyebrow, before wandering off to join Julie, who had mounted one of the small walls and had gathered the attention of most of the enlisted personnel and NCOs, already beginning her speech.
A speech about erasing dishonour from our record, and liberating those that we had promised to liberate.
I didn't hear it, but I believe it is laid out in full in the volumes of Speeches in Troy, a record of the more notable speeches given by Trojan politicians and other notables over the past thirty five years or so. It's worthy of being placed there, if my memory of the faces watching it being spoken out is any evidence.
"I see she is still quite good at that," Briala remarked, as I looked on at the gathering masses.
The Rangers being entirely from the original core of ten thousand troops raised by me for the Free Army, they were naturally more loyal to Julie than the general population, to the point that all of their regiments' representatives were Libertarians save one. I kept my mouth firmly shut, wanting Briala to believe Julie did have the support she desired.
"Not good enough," Aurelia replied, shouldering her naginata, "She lost the election."
I looked at my Tevinter bride with narrowed eyes, annoyed that she had pointed that out despite it being obvious. Aurelia's golden honey irises just looked back with mirth.
"The circumstances of which were temporary," Briala said flatly, "People in exile want security and familiarity. You Trojans are no longer in exile. The people will be more willing to take risks as time goes on. That woman will be back in power before long, count on it."
I turned to the former handmaid, feeling insulted on Julie's behalf. "And I suppose you would say that is a bad thing?" I asked, "What would you have her do? Sit on ass?" I checked my anger just in time to keep polite, but the words I used still managed to convey it.
"Tie her to her horse and use her as a battle standard," Briala replied, without any scruples whatsoever, "But she is too fiery to be the one actually running things."
I'll tie you to a horse by the feet, I thought to myself, and give it a good slap to get it going.
"Or perhaps you favour the full-blooded elf to a half-breed," Aurelia suggested, harsh in her tone and implication, "You are, after all, a warrior for their right, are you not?"
"Lady Velarana is not the right choice either, for precisely that reason," Briala said, "We elves can rule, but it must be through a human face. A necessary facade, as our numbers are fewer and prejudices are still very strong. As I am sure you have discovered already."
My mind went back to the meeting with the Trevelyans, to Maxwell Trevelyan in particular and his blood-curdling insults. Perhaps she was right, I thought. Velarana wanted to make me a monarch for much the same reason.
"Whatever," I said, "If Velarana isn't up to the task, she'll lose the next election. If other countries have a problem with her, well, that's why we have a standing army and navy, isn't it? Let's get on with this."
I swept forwards, past Briala, towards the small cluster of officers ahead, standing beside the eluvian we had to use. Unlike the others, mounted in stone alcoves, this one was propped up by wooden supports, next to a wagon. Its original location was a half-week's travel away in the Crossroads, but seemingly, moving the eluvians within them does not change their connection point to Thedas.
Those waiting to meet me were Soprano, both de Villars, Aoife of the Avvars, Shokrakar and the Adaar siblings, as well as Armen and Ciara. All in full battle array, from the pseudo-Earthling helmet and firelance of Soprano, to the plate armour in the qunari style of Herah Adaar. With a couple of exceptions, which we'll get to.
Soprano was in charge of the Rangers' brigade, which had been selected for the mission. The Vashoth mercenaries naturally led their own force, which explained the towering qunari present.
Louise de Villars and Aoife the Avvar were coming along for an entirely different reason; apart from their very obvious skill in a close quarters fight, they had a role to play if we did win. Namely heading off to the Grands-Collines and the Frostbacks respectively, to rally people there to join us before the civil war came to them.
Armen was coming along as my personal magical support, whereas Ciara was coming as a second shooter, armed with the British firelance she had been given for the battle in the mountains.
Which leaves Mariette de Villars, who was armed and armoured exactly as Ciara was, in Earth-panoply and with a firelance, the longer version that I carried as she was a good deal taller than Ciara. Over the few weeks between the acceptance of my plan by Velarana's Cabinet and this point, I had taught her how to use it.
Why I had done so was twofold. First of all, she knew the Winter Palace like the back of her hand, and could double as a guide if something happened to Briala in the course of events. Second, it was something physical in Mariette's hands that I trusted her, enough to give her a precious weapon from another world. It had the desired effect, and while it restarted the flirtations she had so enjoyed before, the flirting was more friendly than provocative.
Speaking of which...
"You have everything you need, I see," said Aurelia, "I will return to Troy. I won't say good luck, because you don't need it, do you?" She took my hand and kissed my palm, and shouldered her naginata once more.
Again seeing the golden honey-coloured eyes framed by the shock of black hair, I was overwhelmed by the urge to say something stupid, namely that I was sure that our kid was going to be a real looker. I murmured words along those lines, and got a laugh for my trouble.
"I'm sure you're right," she said, "And there will be others too." This time, she kissed me on the lips, before departing towards eluvian leading back to the Assembly building. I watched her go for a second, eyes not ashamed to look where they should not have, before I was interrupted appropriately.
"Marquis, the Rangers are ready to move on your order," Soprano reported in Orlesian, before eyeing the grey giantess beside her, "Shokrakar's people are ready to move too."
"Quickly," the mercenary leader growled from above, "This place is not right. I should get more for having to go through this... place."
"You can talk to the Chancellor about that," I replied, sympathetic if only because of the headache I was experiencing, "But I wouldn't count on her agreeing."
Shokrakar grumbled, but seemed to accept that. She knew that the contract we had given her company for this was essentially a charity one. We had the forces to do it without them, but Velarana wanted to establish good relations with the Valo-Kas, and the Valo-Kas really needed the silver, apparently.
"Baroness de Villars, Lady Mariette," Briala said, greeting the cousins with a nod.
Both of them ignored her, preferring to check over their weapons. We were minutes away from the moment of truth. She didn't take it to heart, because an answer wasn't what she was looking for. She was letting them know that she was going to be relying on their skills, should the worst happen, as I've previously indicated. Both of them had been in the Winter Palace often over the course of their lives.
"What do you think we'll find on the other side?" Armen asked, his approach sounding off with taps of his staff, "The open jaws of wyverns?"
"A trap," I replied, "Almost certainly. The Empress is unlikely to have kept the mirror where Briala's agents could use it without being noticed."
"It is also unlikely that the eluvian leads to anywhere that will kill us immediately," Briala cut in, "So no wyverns. The small chance that I would send someone to infiltrate the palace, or that I would use the mirror to escape to Celene if defeated by Gaspard, means that it is probably in the dungeons somewhere. Guarded, too."
"Which is why we have grenades," Ciara said, matter-of-factly, "Don't worry Armen, we'll be okay."
Briala's brow rose high onto her forehead, while Armen's customary grin sprung up as he waved his concession to the logic involved. "I think I have an idea, in that case," he said, "Let me go through first? The grenades might damage the eluvian, whereas I won't."
I shrugged. As a mage, he was the best protected of any of us. In fact, only a few of the battlemages or Aurelia herself would have been better off in that scenario. The chances of the Empress having Templars on hand was minimal, the Chantry would have had to stay out of the civil war for political reasons, hedging their bets against Gaspard's equally possible victory.
"As long as it isn't a stupid idea that will get you killed..." I began, "Do it."
Armen nodded rapidly, his grin disappearing rapidly, curdling into something rather more grim. I recognised the look, and approved heartily. Armed combat is no joke. Ciara was already slipping into a similar face, checking the white fletching on her arrows, even if her bow had been demoted to a mere backup weapon to the one hanging off the front of her Kevlar.
Shouts of approval roared from the troops behind, weapons and fists held up in salute, as Julie climbed carefully off the wall she had been standing on with the help of Tam, and began to make her way towards us.
"It's nice to see them all so enthusiastic," said Soprano, a little sarcastic, "Time to get them in order again. Marquis, we'll await your command." She tapped the radio piece with two fingers, and went off, barking at the soldiers as soon as she passed Julie and Tam coming in the other direction. The troops began forming into the groups that we had trained them into mercilessly over the past days, the sprinkling of Qunari mercenaries scattering out of the way as the sergeants began joining in the fun.
As always, I admired Soprano's zeal. And decided I would reward it again, as Julie finally sauntered up and looked at me, a hand on her hip.
"Once you've taken the bridgehead, you're not staying at the front," Julie commanded sternly,, pushing a lock of her auburn hair out of her eyes, "You're to link up with the city's defenders. That's the command of the High Chancellor, and my request as your wife. Don't forget."
"I won't," I replied, "Soprano's boys and girls are more than capable of handling the palace. And Shokrakar can handle the amusing part. Why would I forget?"
"Plans don't always work out," Tam breathed with amusement, "Sometimes you think the only way to fix a broken plan is for you to put yourself in danger. You can't do that any more."
Feeling that was entirely correct, and eyeing her lower torso pointedly, I nodded. Tam smiled, and kissed me briefly on the lips, followed closely behind by Julie. Keeping the memory of that moment in mind, I determined to do exactly as they said. While still winning.
Shokrakar rumbled with disagreement, her plate armour resonating a little with it. "What sort of leader would he be if he did not put himself in danger?" she growled, menacingly, "You might have problems with us following your orders if you hide like a coward. We're mercenaries, not spear-fodder."
"He'll be alive, tal-vashoth," Tam spat back, "Alive to be Arishok of this land, and alive to meet his three children that will soon arrive in the world."
She continued the retort in harsh qunlat, saying something along the lines of "Not that a curse-haunted traitor like you would understand either loyalty to a cause or fatherhood". We got the picture from her tone.
This time, Shokrakar's armour shook and vibrated with the sound of a loud, deep laugh. "Oh tama, you should not have left Qunandar," she said, "At least there, you could pretend that such things matter. Well, the loyalty to a cause part at least." As fathers do not exist under the Qun except in the most practical way; the making babies part.
"Those things will matter in Troy," Julie chipped in acidly, "They already do."
The giant Tal-Vashoth thinned her lips, disappointed.
"Then you are more delusional than I thought," Shokrakar shrugged, "But you are not the first rich deluded idiots I have worked for. We'll be ready when the time comes. Karaas, Herah, come."
The mercenary leader gestured for the two qunari to follow from where they were standing, a little ways off. Both were armed and dressed in the qunari fashion for mage and warrior respectively, as they had been when I had first seen them. The two went along, lickety-spit, not about to disobey the huge lady that looked increasingly like a surrogate mother to them.
The hypocrisy of Shokrakar's position had me rolling my eyes. One moment, saying we're crazy for believing in certain ideals, and the next, demonstrating her own belief in something similar. These little contradictions aren't Shokrakar's alone, but still.
I checked my watch.
"Lady Briala, are you ready to go?" I asked, turning to her, "It's dark in Halamshiral."
The former handmaid was putting on the silver half-mask, gathering her cinnamon brown hair into the weird hair-nets that was the fashion of the high nobility in Orlais at the time. "If your entire team is here, we can go," she replied, checking a pair of straight silverite daggers hanging off her leather armour, "I'll open up the door."
"Remember the deal," Julie said, pointing at her, "We get access to the eluvians afterwards, except those in Orlais."
"I haven't forgotten," Briala replied, perfectly politely, "And as your Chancellor insisted, after today, Jader is no longer Orlais. I do not require reminding."
Julie seemed mollified, and stood up on her toes to plant another kiss on me, this time on the lips, lingering there for several moments. "Good luck," she said.
Tam leaned in and gave me a more swift but no less passionate kiss. "Do us proud."
Not that I needed reminding of the stakes now. I said nothing, as nothing needed to be.
"Well then, now that we've got that formality out of the way," Mariette said, revealing no upset at the previous scene at all, "Let's do this."
"Stack up," I said loudly.
Armen, Ciara, Mariette, Louise and Aoife lined up in that order to the side of the eluvian, weapons held for use, ready to storm through. The practice we had done on this meant that they moved as one out of instinct, just as we had done with the rest of Soprano's brigade. The woman herself was returning, having seen to the disposition of her men to go through the mirror after us when the time came.
I pulled my UN beret out from under my shoulder strap, and called 'catch' to her as I threw it over. She caught it deftly, and put it on her head like it had been hers all along. She fixed it with a single tug, and saluted.
I moved to the front of the eluvian, and looked to Briala. "Open it," I commanded.
With whispered words, the pass phrase was spoken, and the eluvian's surface shone a glowing, deep blue. The magical connection back to Thedas shimmered, nothing but a haze, before coming into focus. The image of the space beyond was dark, but less so than in reality. The eluvians were designed to allow travellers to see where they were going, at least when undamaged., so there was some magical assistance involved. It was a large courtyard, a decorative one by the fountains and marble benches, surrounded by relatively low defensive walls. A familiar sight; it was one of the courtyards of the Winter Palace.
Exactly where we wanted to go.
While I was pleased to know that the eluvian on the other end hadn't been moved to some castle in the middle of nowhere for safekeeping, the fact that it wasn't inside set off alarmbells in my head. Just not enough to convince me to cancel the whole operation. I saw no guards on the walls, no traps on the ground, not a single soul in sight. Nothing but cloudy sky, shadowy wall and moon-lit marble. That didn't mean there wasn't something behind the view radius of the mirror, but I suspected it was standing against a wall, considering the dimensions of the courtyard.
It was as good a chance as we were going to get, I decided, even if it did make me uncomfortable.
Armen looked at me, having peeked around to see what was ahead. "Maybe I don't have to do anything after all," he said, jinxing the whole damn thing. I shook my head, condemning his playing with fate by saying such a thing.
"Goggles!" I ordered. Armen, Ciara and Mariette pushed down the night vision goggles from the front of their helmets over their eyes. Louise and Aoife didn't have any, but they were armed for a close-in fight, which goggles aren't useful in really.
"Go!" I bellowed.
Armen took a single step forward, putting him directly in front of the portal, before leaping through. Ciara calmly but quickly followed, one of Mariette's hands on her shoulder as the harlequin tagged along directly behind. Briala nocked her bow and rushed through from where she had been standing. Aoife and Louise completed the manoeuvre, swords drawn.
No hesitation from any of them. I felt a little better about us going from seeing their confidence.
I spared Julie and Tam one last glance, violet purple and emerald green staring back at me. Sure of their confidence in me, as I was sure of the confidence of my comrades, I pushed my own FLIR goggles down over my eyes and stepping through the eluvian, beginning the Third Battle of Halamshiral.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: TLDR on the huge delay for this; work got in the way. This chapter was originally meant to be much longer, encompassing the next one's content, but I felt I needed to get it out so you guys knew this wasn't dead. It also works better as a separate chapter, I think. The next one is fully planned and partially complete.
The story has also broken through 550 favourites and is almost past 650 followers, which is great news. Again, thank you to all who follow, favourite, and especially review this story. It's awesome to see this story ranked among the top ones on this site for DA fics.
Enjoy!
Tusken1602: Thanks!
Transcendant: In-universe time, a year. It's March of 9:40 as of this chapter. In canon, the Breach happened in January 9:41 if I remember correctly. I have been considering moving it up, as the events of the story have messed with canon events enough to make that realistic. The Orlesian Civil War started early, for instance, which was an opportunity that Corypheus could exploit.
Twinbuster2: The Inquisitor will be Evelyn Trevelyan. As for whether or not Sam and the rest will join the Inquisition, we'll have to see.
OnkelJo: I did foreshadow the shite out of it...
Katkiller-V: There's a fairly brutal war coming, so I wouldn't be too worried about goody-righteousness. Although I'm not sure I can fully satisfy your taste in this, given what I've read of your own work haha
thepkrmgc: Varric will be showing up very soon indeed. Like, the chapter after next.
Meathouse: You're welcome.
5 Coloured Walker: It has to do with the mechanism by which the Outlanders come through to Thedas, and their natural near-immunity to magic. I'll probably explain more fully how the process works at a later date, when the kids are kicking around.
Zechs: Sorry for making you wait so long! Considerably longer than the last chapter's wait.
FloridaMagpie & Guest: Thanks!
Franciso914: You'll be waiting a while, that tech is more than a bit ahead of the available industrial capacity...
SleeperAwakens: Very high praise indeed! Sending it on to friends isn't something that happens often as far as I know, I'd really like it to happen more often!
As for your criticisms:
1. Yes, it was necessary. I had come up with both Tam and Julie, and didn't want to give up either as main characters. Nor did I want them to fight over Sam in some far more cliché manner. So, Julie being the one to bring all three together was my solution to it. It fits her more than a little manipulative character to boot. Aurelia came a little later in the process, but since the 'taboo' was already broken, at that point it didn't matter. Mariette's more or less the tragic addition, insofar as she's part of it at all.
2. It was a necessary front-loaded plot device. The books had business being there, space on the helicopter was available and the peacekeepers are often in charge of various civilian rebuilding efforts, so it isn't massively far-fetched that they'd throw the books on board just to stop them cluttering up the place. Their inclusion was necessary to make the story more interesting though, so I admit no shame for having included them.
3. Julie was raised in the Smith Quarter of Hearth, learning metalworking and engineering skills from a very young age by necessity, as her stepfather was left alone after the death of her mother in childbirth. She devoured the books Sam brought through, which obviously contain huge insights as to technological progress. She hasn't pushed beyond what is strictly possible for a Renaissance level civilisation (in my opinion). Furthermore, her scientific accomplishments, if you can call them that, are not only hers. Armen was involved in the development of the black powder and firelances, if you'll recall. Her getting most of the credit in-story has more to do with her position and Armen's more reserved political style.
4. I've cut down on that considerably due to others saying exactly the same thing, although some of it is unavoidable due to the nature of an autobiography-type story.
5. Not apologising for the French at all, the untranslated sections are either very easily understood through context. I like French. I can speak it, although according to Titus Pullover, apparently not as well as I used to.
I hope you continue reading and reviewing, as it had me dancing on the spot with excitement when I read your review originally.
Viper: Thanks!
Akashic Records: WOOO!
BlackBox INC: I'd be happy to read anything decent in this genre and universe, or in other universes, so listen to your muse.
Time more or less travels the same way on Earth as it does on Thedas, but that isn't an absolute rule, because Fade shenanigans are possible.
Tam was deliberately supposed to be the voice of conscience and more motherly, the 'matron' to Julie's 'maiden'. She is the eldest of the three, after all. She's a former Qunari tamassran, I don't think it would have been right to make her as flamboyantly romantic as Julie. Particularly as that sort of thing is already done with Iron Bull in the main canon, and I didn't want her to be a female Iron Bull. That said, perhaps you're right in that I haven't been as convincing about her place in the relationship as I should have been. I'd like other opinions on that, if possible.
The tamassrans forbid kossith and humans, or any other race, from attempting unauthorised procreation. That suggests to me that it is very possible for them to have children together. The Qun don't throw away people for being mixed race of course, but I get a whole behind-the-scenes racial superiority vibe off of them when it comes to their own bloodlines. Hornless qunari are very likely a genetic abnormality, yeah. I'm simply suggesting that human-qunari hybrids would also be hornless and making that part of my canon.
The election could not have happened after they arrived at Val Halla. They needed to decide their course of action ASAP, and they needed to do so in a place that was both secure and had shelter. Troy is basically a giant building site as of this chapter, and everyone is busting ass to get the place fully liveable. Winter in Amaranthine on the other hand, there was nothing to do but wait. A siege was unlikely; the Fereldans had just had their asses beat at the Hafter against one third of the Free Army, and winter is a shite time to start a siege. Fereldan siege weapons are no match for cannon either.
Yeah, there won't be ironclads any time soon. Nor tanks in a form we would recognise them.
SaddyFics: A few things. The constitutional debate is far from over, the current Assembly is more or less charged with finalising everything at present. Troy is not a continental republic, but more or less a city state at the moment. Furthermore, it has the knowledge to make better communications techniques a reality within a decade, in theory, so it could become a continental republic if needs-be.
Titus Pullover: Yeah, I'm sure Sam's world is going to come undone the first time all the babies cry at once haha
As for Troy: the settlement is not on the island, it is just inland of the coast opposite the island, sheltered from the ocean by it. I'm tempted to make a foreshadowing comparison with our own world here, but I'll refrain for now. Troy is not another Hong Kong.
Hercinia is the closest city, yeah, but that city is not a state in the real sense of the word and in this canon is divided from Val Halla by both thick forest and the River Alba, which is a large one (but short). Needless to say, as a haven for raiders and the like, there will be conflict along the Alba, and soon.
Upload your map to a DeviantArt account and give me the account name, I'll find it.
As for French... How dare you say my French sucks! Surely Mars, as a god, should always have the definitive article in place!
Kinda adorkable: Yeah, I've read/watched Gate, although a good bit after I started this fic. It seems that 'Isekai' or otherworld fiction is having a bit of a moment in Japan at present. Most stuff along those lines isn't my taste, but I do encounter it regularly.
Guest the Second: Bit harsh to kill poor Armen simply for disagreeing.
Darkness envoy: Not sure if this chapter is a disappointment to you as a Mariette fan, but stay tuned.