There were two reasons for the delay in Antoine's execution. One had been personal. She wished to have some small measure of time between committing to her sentence and actually carrying it out. There was still a small part of her that felt she was letting Antoine off too easy, that her clan deserved real justice. But as time passed, she felt more and more certain that she was doing the right thing. Her clan wouldn't want torture, and they wouldn't want her to become a monster on their behalf. This was the best way. The execution would honor their memory, not sully it.

The second reason was rather more out of her control: politics. Wycome was not as large of a city as Kirkwall or Starkhaven, but it was big enough to survive as its own city-state. The Inquisitor couldn't exactly walk into the city and take its leader prisoner without there being political repercussions.

A successor had been appointed quickly, a man of no relation to Antoine who had been working trying to take control of the Duchy for years . Considering the decimated state of the city in the aftermath of Antoine's machinations and the revelation of what the Inquisition had discovered about the Duke's role in what happened, the new leadership of Wycome had been compliant with what Sylvanni had done. She had feared, at first this new Duke would try to claim the right to punish Antoine himself, but he had said he would respect the Inquisition's judgment. The city was in too weakened a state to disagree anyway. Leaving the responsibility of handling Antoine's punishment to an outside authority like the Inquisition was likely seen as a burden of obligation that was being relieved.

That said, the new Duke had written the Inquisition when he had heard what had happened, requesting a delay. He felt it would be proper for him to attend the execution, hence, the need for delay in order that he might make the trip down to Skyhold with his retinue. Josephine and Sylvanni had agreed. Even if Wycome didn't have the strength to pose a threat, it was a simple enough request. It was a trying time for the city as they tried to rebuild and recover; the Inquisition would offer what compliance it could.

Sylvanni stood in the courtyard with Cullen and Josephine to greet the Duke as the gates clanged shut behind the last of his entourage. The man himself was standing before them, and Sylvanni allowed Josephine to handle most of the pleasantries. She herself and Cullen were mostly only there for decorum. Leliana had declined to attend, feeling a spymaster would likely not be missed.

"...and of course, I must express my condolences to you, Lady Inquisitor, for the fate which has befallen your clan." He turned to Sylvanni with this, and she found herself putting on a smile as she was drawn into the conversation. "This is a most terrible event, and I cannot help feeling that I must share a part of the blame that this has happened within our city. Antoine should have been discovered and ousted before this could come about."

There was something about the man that felt stereotypically… human, much as she hated to admit it. He spoke with the same kind of cordial tone she'd come to expect from members of the nobility. As always, she found it difficult to judge if the politeness was tinged with insincerity or if that was simply the way nobles talked. She was starting to think that it might be a feature of accent: that noblemen spoke this way because everyone else around them always had, and thought no more of it than that. He had an absent sense to him. Rather than the cunning noble manipulator who stayed abreast of everything around him, he seemed to be entirely unaware of things outside of his immediate concern. The kind of noble Sera would have a laughably easy time pranking, but that was probably not effective enough to have accomplished something to deserve punishment in the first place.

While Sylvanni thought she didn't quite like this nobleman, she wouldn't quite go all the way to saying she disliked him either.

"The fault is not yours," Sylvanni said politely. Much as she wished to blame his negligence, she could not hold him to direct maliciousness. Beyond that, he was a guest. Better to focus on those who had done this intentionally. "And I intend to see those who are at fault brought to justice swiftly. Both Antoine and the master he serves."

"Yes, an admirable mindset. I simply wish to extend my thanks for you delaying your hand long enough-"

"Commander!" The shout came down from the top of the wall, cutting off the rest of the sentence. Cullen and Sylvanni both looked up, sensing urgency in the call. "We've spotted watchers in the distance, ser!"

Cullen turned to the nobleman, addressing him for the first time. "My Lord, are there any more of your people outside the walls?"

"Oh? Oh, no, everyone should be in." He looked around, as though trying to reconsider whether or not he could have missed someone. "That's why the doors were closed, wasn't it?"

"Is there a chance you were followed?"

Sylvanni felt she didn't need to hear the answer to that question, and a glance at Cullen said that he had come to the same conclusion. There was a very good chance he was followed. This man was exactly the kind of person that would be easy to sneak around. Both Sylvanni and Cullen took off at a run toward the stairs up to the ramparts, leaving Josephine to politely usher their guest into the keep as the issue was seen to.

The soldier who had called out met them at the top of the stairs with a hurried salute. "They're up in the crags above the road, and they're definitely watching while trying not to be seen. We're guessing they're armed, but it's hard to say. They're travelling lightly, whoever they are. Our best guess is that they're scouts, but for whom, we cannot say."

Skyhold's location wasn't exactly a secret, especially with the Inquisition's power growing greater with each day, but that didn't mean scouts wouldn't be an issue. Scouts could be a harbinger of a greater force, or they could be a team sent out to conduct sabotage. Sylvanni had approved enough missions for Leliana to understand how devastating a small team working under cover could be. Travellers to Skyhold, even those who came unannounced, wouldn't avoid the roads unless they had a very good reason, especially not in the steep terrain of the Frostbacks around the keep.

One of the scouts handed a looking glass to both Cullen and her, and they both raised them to look. It took a few moments of searching, but the lookout managed to point them out. Sylvanni trained her glass on the group, twisting the dials to bring the distant image into focus.

"It's unlikely that there would be an army this close to Skyhold without our knowledge," Cullen said beside her. "I doubt they're scouting for an assault. In that case, they're likely a long ways from whoever sent them."

"They could be a strike team," one of the scouts suggested. "Or they might be doing reconnaissance, and reporting back on us to someone. Could be Venatori."

"Or Red Templars," Cullen said.

"Or the Qun," Sylvanni said without looking up. "Or some other group entirely. It's difficult to know for sure." It was difficult to tell much of anything when she couldn't get a clear image of them. Between her difficulty focusing and the fact that they were trying not to be seen, she couldn't make out much of anything.

"Commander," the scout said, "we have archers in position to fire on them, and a few mages who believe they can cast at that distance. Or, we could send a stealth team to try to capture them for information."

"I think it wisest that we try to bring them in," Cullen said, "but the decision is the Inquisitor's."

She was about to agree with his choice - it was sound tactical advice - when she managed to find the right position on the lenses and the image snapped into focus. One of the distant watchers looked out toward the fortress and she finally managed to get a good look. She felt a shock, as though someone had cast an electric spell through her, running from her spine to her toes. It couldn't be. It couldn't be.

"Hold your fire," she ordered, lowering the spyglass quickly and handing it off. Her head was rushing to find a logical explanation. She must have mis-seen but she had to know. She needed to see for herself.

Cullen sensed something was wrong. "Inquisitor?"

She wasn't really thinking about what she was doing as she swept her hand to the side, casting a barrier around herself. In moments that required quick decision making, she worked on instinct, and this was no exception. Before she could second-guess herself, she stepped forward, planted her hands on the rough stone of Skyhold's ramparts, and vaulted over the side.

Cullen's panicked shout of: "Inquisitor!" behind her was the last thing she heard as she free fell to the ground below.