Two guards stood at attention at each of the three entrances within the courtyard. The young lieutenant led them to the Northwest entrance and held the door for Cassandra which irritated her beyond words, but Josephine insisted she wasn't to "react negatively to good manners" because that wouldn't be polite. Thank the maker, she wouldn't be forced to endure a life in the Chantry. The current Divine was far better suited to the post.
"Lady Seeker," he said as they approached a door at the end of the hall. This is the barracks of the Templar guards we have so far. It's a small group still but very dedicated."
She nodded an acknowledgment and preceded the officer into the door to the barracks. A few off duty Templars stood at attention as she entered, and Cassandra ordered them at ease in a soft voice. "Are any of you from Kirkwall?"
One nodded to Cassandra's way. "I am, milady."
"Did you serve under Meredithe?" She asked the question waiting to see their reaction to the disgraced Templar's name.
"We were Milady. Shame what happened to her. She was keeping the blood mages at bay."
Well, then, thought Cassandra. There it was. The mindless justification of cruelty in the name of safety. It had been that very attitude that had resulted in a mage blowing up a chantry in the first place. She'd met Anders. She'd seen the blood mages running amok. She'd … done what she could.
In the end, Meredith and Orsino had both been their own kind of monster.
"Gentlemen, how many mages are in your charge?"
"We've taken charge of ten so far, Lady Seeker."
"I would like to see them if you please."
The officers in the barracks all exchanged uncertain looks. "Milady, the Commander maintains a strict policy of isolation here in the tower. The mages are allowed contact with no one outside."
"You are refusing to allow an official of the Chantry access to the mages we are tasked to care for. Lieutenant, that is a serious position to take." Cassandra had decided to go big. The Commander wouldn't tolerate her throwing her weight around, but these children would have no chance against her.
"No, Lady Seeker, not at all." And, just like that, he capitulated reluctantly as she'd known he would. The Lieutenant led her up a level to the Mage Quarters. They passed a tranquil on the stairs with a prominent bruise on his cheek and neck, but Cassandra said nothing. She only took stock of what she saw for now.
The ten mages were apparently kept in one well-guarded barracks if the four Templars on the doors were any indication. She was escorted past them and into a windowless, candlelit room with a weak fire. One of the mages shivered near it.
"What is wrong with that woman, Lieutenant?"
"She is the healer. It's a consequence of her work. She is unhurt."
Cassandra was no fool. That shivering was a consequence of healing too frequently, but she kept that to herself. Releasing the rage she felt rising in her would do the woman no good at all. She looked around the room without hiding her concern.
"Where is the senior mage?"
"Oh, milady, that's one of the reforms the Commander has put in place. There is no senior mage."
Confused, she met the man's gaze with her own. "Where does your Commander get his magical advice from in that case? Who advocates for the mages' care?"
"The Commander does all of that himself, Milady. It's his thought that the mages of Kirkwall had entirely too much freedom and that is how it all began. He keeps a stricter watch on the tower now."
She breathed in deeply. There it was. "I've seen enough, lieutenant." It was a tough job keeping the disdain she felt for the Commander's way of doing things out of her voice. "Time to make my report to the Divine. Thank you for showing me the tower."
Gratified when he really needn't be, the boy bowed to her. So young, so easily led, she realized. They all were, and she suspected chosen for just that quality. She and Marcus found the gate on their own and went straight to see the only person in Kirkwall who could actually help her.
"Varric, my men are not your personal army!"
That shout came from the Captain of the City Guard, Aveline Vallen. Varric only continued to glare at the strikingly tall woman with whom he appeared to have about the same chemistry as he did with herself. Cassandra decided to intervene.
"Captain," she said softly. "This is not a conflict with the Chantry. We are asking for assistance. The Chantry has jurisdiction over that tower, and it has been usurped by men who are mistreating the mages kept in those walls unspeakably. My next step is to obtain Chantry troops of my own, but I need more men to take that tower. These Templars do not have the authority of Divine Victoria behind their actions whatever they may have asserted to the contrary, and they are abducting your citizens in her name. The Seekers have yet to reestablish in the numbers we need to police the Templars effectively. Until we have, we need help from local authorities."
Varric added, "Aveline, I've known the Seeker for a long time. She's good for it."
The Captain studied them both a moment and finally spoke in waspish agitation, "This will not become a habit." She turned her glare straight to Casandra. "However, you are right. If the Chantry has not given them charge of the tower, they are an occupying force. I can defend an action against them on those grounds at least."
Cassandra nodded at her. "Thank you, Captain. The Seekers are grateful for your help."
After the Captain had taken her leave of them, Varric said to Cassandra, "You know this is bound to go sideways on us, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Of course, but we have no choice. Leaving the tower Templars to their own devices would be far worse than anything else that could happen."
The dwarf threw his most cynical look at her. "You really wanna bet on that?"
"No, Varric," she sighed. "Not with our history of luck."
"Exactly."
Marcus didn't speak until they were on the cobbled streets of High Town in the iron-gray dusk under a still overcast sky. Construction towers surrounded the Chantry which was still being rebuilt.
"You seem worried, Lady Seeker." Cassandra glared his way until he laughed.
"Cassandra," he corrected.
"I don't like that Alexander Martin was here and involved. It's not like him, not really."
Marcus stopped when Cassandra did, but he looked back the way they'd come before saying, "Trauma and battle can change a man."
"They can, but can they change him so much?"
"I don't know about his past, but in his present, perhaps…. He's assigned a man to follow us."
She sighed heavily for about the thousandth time today. "Of course, he did. It's why I arranged for Varric to bring the Captain to us, so it would appear only a friendly meeting of old friends. We must tread carefully inside the Chantry. It is very likely the Commander has friends among the Sisters, those who share his views of mages since the explosion."
"How do you intend to talk to the Mother then?" Marcus asked while keeping a sharp eye on the shadows in the street. A lamplighter was slowly making his way through as night approached. She also slid her eyes over the near vacant streets.
"I'm only here to pay respects and pray, Marcus. What else would a devout woman be doing?"
The Kirkwall Chantry had always been slightly ornate for Cassandra's tastes, but it appeared that the new Divine decided she would erect limits as well as buildings. It was far more utilitarian than the old Chantry and much more steeped in Andrastian history. As Cassandra looked up at the Sunburst symbol just inside the great doors, she thought of her friend and hoped she found time to enjoy more than just her mission. The Chantry would likely overwhelm anyone's life, but Leliana in particular would easily become a slave to it.
Leliana's plans for reform didn't include a resumption of the old ways. The presence of a mage tower in Kirkwall would infuriate her. She was still selling the clerics on the idea of bringing mages into the fold, not as captives but as partners. The rumors out of Orlais suggested that her compromise of towers that ran as Skyhold's did were gaining traction with the people, just one more way the Inquisition had changed the world.
Marcus followed close behind, appearing for all the world like a bodyguard, as Cassandra made her way up the aisle to the alcove in front of a towering statue of Andraste where she knelt to begin her chant. As she had expected, her Seeker shield had drawn notice and Mother Danell from hiding as well.
With the losses taken at the Conclave, Kirkwall's resident spiritual leader was younger than one would expect. She was also, unknown to many, a halfling. Her mother had come from a farm family in Ferelden, but her father was alienage born. She was also one of Leliana's new reforms in action.
"Mother Danell, it is good to see you again." Cassandra stood from her prayers as the mother approached in long white robes bearing the cowl and the sunburst. Her own guard walked behind her.
"Lady Pentaghast, I do apologize for interrupting your prayers." Giving Cassandra a gentle smile, the younger woman nodded to both of them, including Marcus in her acknowledgment. It pleased Cassandra, suggested that the newest of Leliana's clerics was a worthy woman well-chosen for leadership. She continued, "We're nearing the dinner hour. Would you and your guard care to join us?"
She looked toward Marcus and smiled slightly. "We would be honored to do so, Mother Danell."
Another broad smile and she said, "Excellent. Follow me. We're having a wonderful meal this evening. Game has been plentiful since the rifts were closed. Partly your doing, if I'm correct, Cassandra."
It was no statement. Mother Danell knew exactly what the Inquisition had done, and she expressed sincere gratitude with bright, vibrant eyes.
"I only did my duty, Mother Danell."
The woman turned, hands cowled in her robes. "You did far more than your duty, child. You saved us all. Now, let us eat, and you can tell me why you're really here," she finished with a slightly sly half-smile on her face.
