A/N: Meant to have this up yesterday, but was too tired. Thank you so much for reading!

...-...

Vivienne drummed her nails against her book, where it sat closed in her lap, staring into into the desert. They'd set up a temporary camp just outside of the tower where the mages should have been, hidden away in its shade to avoid the harsh sun as Finley healed their new companions' injuries.

This should have been a simple mission, one that would have boosted morale back at Skyhold. The mages had been reluctant to leave the valley's safety and march with the army, but they had. They had followed their inquisitor out into the back end of nowhere and fought against a demonic army.

And they had lost many a friend.

People had noticed that the inquisitor had been absent from the healing tents and there had been the obvious whispers as to why. Truly, a mage couldn't do anything in this world without it being picked apart.

The latest rumor that had reached Vivienne—Reinald had been a dear and had, for whatever reason, actually brought it to her attention—was that Finley thought herself better than the other mages.

It was laughable, really. The inquisitor could be a bit arrogant about spellwork, but beyond that…

For a while there had been rumors that she was Commander Rutherford's pet, but after she accepted Cole, the two had gone so cold toward each other that it had been hard not to notice. There had been grumbles of a bet from a few and wonders of whether it was still in effect...to which others insisted it was, seeming quite cheerful.

Vivienne had yet to get anyone to let her in on what this lovely little bet was, but she trusted that with enough patience, she'd know and be able to evaluate any harm it might do.

In the meantime, Inquisitor Finley had needed a good, solid win. One that would sate the mages' resentments and still benefit the Inquisition.

Vivienne was in touch with a few different sects of the rebelled mages—mostly those who had realized that they had no survival skills and who were desperate to be able to go somewhere safe, even a Circle like the one in Montsimmard.

She didn't doubt that Grand Enchanter Fiona had contacts with others, but these people were hers.

And, the inquisitor riding out to aid mages would have been a great story.

Except that things weren't going to plan.

As usual.

When Inquisitor Finley had heard of the mages' plight, she'd so instantaneously agreed to go—right then, right there—that Vivienne had suspected that the Inquisitor was fleeing from something.

A bad start.

However, Finley had gone to her templars and given them instructions, at times very lively ones, based on her hand motions, and they'd moved quickly to follow orders.

Vivienne had hoped that whatever she'd done would be…

Appropriate.

Then she'd been calling for Sera and the Iron Bull. Warden Blackwall had offered to come with them, but she'd waved him off, telling him to go back to Skyhold.

Some were no doubt speculating as to why she would distance herself from the others who had fallen into the Fade with her, but Inquisitor Finley was oblivious, as she was to so much of what went on in the background.

This should have been a simple mission.

It should have been a lot of things. An old friend from Cumberland, Jerille, had contacted her just before they'd headed to Adamant Fortress, and she'd considered it lucky that they would be heading the same way that he'd indicated he was. According to his letter, he'd been holed up with fifty powerful mages, who had come to a consensus that they wanted to join the Inquisition, but that they hadn't dared leave their haven due to the fighting across Orlais, as well as reports of unusual templar activity.

Fifty mages had seemed like a number that could handle themselves, but his note had also hinted that they had some children and elderly mages with them, who were making moving complicated.

Worse, he mentioned being disappointed that she hadn't replied to his first letter.

If he'd sent her another one, she'd never received it.

Vivienne had heard a few people mention missing missives and the like already, and she had no doubt that their spymaster was already looking into who was intercepting their messages.

Regardless, she had a very good idea of who had gotten Jerille's first message.

According to the children, Tess and Neolle, they had been waiting for people to come rescue them when the Venatori had attacked. The two of them had hidden outside of the tower while the assault took place, daring to come back in when they thought the attackers were gone.

They'd found that everyone had been taken, though the everyone they spoke of varied considerably from Jerille's letter.

From the sound of it, there had been maybe five adult mages, with mostly children.

The two hadn't known what to do and had been debating trying to follow after the Venatori to save their friends—a notion that broke Vivienne's heart that such small mages would feel as though they had to fight when they were so so young—when more Venatori had shown up.

They would have been taken as well, except that the Tal Vashoth had shown up on the Venatori's heels.

The Valo-kas.

They had slain the Venatori and then been at a loss for what to do with Tess and Neolle. Not wanting to bring them along to join in the carnage, they had left Ehreese Adaar to guard the children and continued the hunt for the rest of the Venatori.

Ehreese was an odd sort, who had been all but bought completely by the offer of food and healing, and seemed more than a little cheerful to talk about slaying vints as she stuffed her mouth full of whatever she could get her hands on.

She'd fallen trying to get a toy for Neolle off a rather precarious ledge, and while she'd caught herself, she'd hurt her leg, making her all but useless.

The qunari's words.

"You're about a day behind my people," Ehreese offered as she took a huge bite out of an apple. At the rate she was going, none of them would have any food left in a day.

"We'll head out when you're finished," Finley stated, matter of factly. She was rummaging through her own things, looking for Maker-knew-what, when Neolle plopped down beside her.

Instantly, Finley was leaning away from the boy, eyeing him as though he might be possessed.

"Can I see it?" He held his hands out toward her, toward her marked hand.

She frowned. "It's the same as it was before."

He didn't budge. "Please? Inquiser?"

Even as a hurt look began to settle on his features, Finley shoved her hand toward him, awkwardly. The boy gripped her hand and peered down at the thinly shifting green on her palm as she murmured, "Inquisitor."

"Inquiser," Neolle replied, poking at the glimmer of green and chasing it across Finley's skin.

"InquisITor."

Her odd accent came out a bit as she stressed the syllable the boy kept missing, looking almost frantic.

For what, Vivienne couldn't fathom.

"InquisIT...er." The last syllable was added on as an afterthought.

She jerked her hand away from him a bit too quickly, though he didn't seem to mind, instead looking up at her as she rose to her feet and then floundered for something to do that would put distance between herself and the child.

"You really a witch?"

The question was innocent enough as the boy peered up at her, in mild awe—nothing like the determined little creature they'd first come across. However, the anger that flickered across Finley's face had him hunch away from her, as though he expected to be hit.

Knowing how some of the Circles operated, it wasn't unlikely.

However, what surprised Vivienne the most was Finley's reaction to his fear.

Instantly she was sitting beside him again, reaching out, though she stopped just shy of him and tucked her hands into her lap.

"I'm sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."

Neolle eyed her a moment before leaning toward her again. This time, Finley managed not to lean as far away from him. "Are you? A witch?"

Finley floundered again and then patted his hand carefully. Quickly. "No. I'm not a witch. Not that anyone listens to me." She fidgeted, reaching for the braid that was no longer there and then flipping a few locks of hair helplessly. "That's not your fault, though."

"People are stupid when it comes to old stories about mages," Tess said, her voice a bit harsh as she added, "Templars, particularly."

"Yeah!" Neolle nodded fervently, perking up again when he saw Finley sigh and nod as well.

That...was not good.

"Not every templar is stupid," Vivienne corrected. When both children's attention snapped to her, annoyed expressions on their faces, she arched her brow.

Before she could speak, however, Tess muttered, "Some are just evil."

And of course, the inquisitor had to nod at that, too.

Maker preserve her, but Finley was acting like a fool. If word of her opinions got back to Skyhold, the templars who mistrusted her would have a field day. And with children involved, especially one as young as Neolle, it would be hard to keep what was said here a secret. "Inquisitor, I know you are displeased with a few individuals at the moment, but surely you do not actually think every templar is either stupid or evil? Did you not recruit some of them yourself?"

That made Finley pause. Wheels were turning in her mind, connections being drawn.

Vivienne dearly hoped they were the right ones.

The children turned to Inquisitor Finley, looking betrayed, and she was lost for a moment. Finally, she pulled herself from it and sighed, leaning elbows against her knees and hands cupping her face. "Some of them can be decent."

"Was a templar that wrote your book, yeah?" Sera offered. Her things were already packed and she'd just come back from their mounts to make sure that everything was ready to go. The tower's shadow was slowly creeping toward them. They needed to move, soon.

"Ser Caudry," Finley murmured. Then, without prompting, she rummaged through her things and pulled out an old book. Vivienne had seen it tucked under her pillow a few times in Haven. Once, while the Inquisitor slept, recovering from her encounter with red lyrium, Vivienne had slipped it out to take a peek, just to make sure it wasn't anything that people could use against them. She'd been surprised by what she found.

A children's book.

It had baffled her, but she'd been sure to put it back quickly and quietly.

Tess had picked up on the inquisitor's discomfort better than Neolle and been giving her space, instead sitting near their qunari guardian. However, when Finley sat back down and flipped the book open to show Neolle, she dared to wander closer, trying not to look too interested.

"When I was a little girl, I was saved by templars," Finley explained, flipping the pages slowly so that Neolle could look at the pictures. Tess had edged close enough that she could see, too. "I was very afraid of everything, so Ser Caudry told me stories and Ser Ross drew me pictures. They were very kind and patient men."

Tess let out a cluck, crossing her arms angrily. "Were you a mage when they saved you?"

Finley stopped flipping the pages, gaze downward. Vivienne doubted she was reading the book. "No."

"What did they do when your magic came in?"

Finley abruptly closed her book and rose to her feet, moving to tuck it back away in her bag. Neolle watched it disappear back into her things with open disappointment slumping his little shoulders. "They were guardians, protectors. They—"

"Turned on you, didn't they?" Tess crossed her arms, glaring as she waited for a confirmation.

Finley let her bag fall back into the sand and shifted uncomfortably. "I do not like to talk about this."

"Because they turned out to be the same as every other templar, didn't they?" There was so much anger in Tess's slender frame, so much disdain for templars. Vivienne recognized it well, had seen it so many times in her brethren, and felt her heart break for the child.

She'd learned early on not to trust the templars.

"They decided before my magic ever came in that it would not be safe for me in a Circle," Finley stated, a note of annoyance in her voice. "I'd been exposed to blood magic at a young age and my eyes were stained as they are. They felt the other templars would either isolate me permanently in some small room on my own, or kill me or make me tranquil, to make sure I couldn't 'corrupt' any other mages. When my magic came in, they sent me to the Avvar in the mountains. They were good men."

Tess seemed at a loss. Her jaw worked like she might say something more, but instead, she simply snapped her mouth shut and whirled away, going to check on her own things which were already packed. Vivienne thought she could see tears pricking the young girl's eyes as she kept her back to most of the party.

However, what had struck her more was Finley's admission that her eyes were as they were...because of blood magic.

This…

She almost regretted coming out here.

However, these children and the rest of the mages needed their help and she wasn't about to abandon them to the elements to make sure no one ever heard about the inquisitor's encounter with blood magic.

Though, for it to have stained her eyes so completely...that didn't seem possible. There was more to the story that they weren't getting.

No wonder the inquisitor bristled so at questions about herself.

"The Templar Order needs reform, certainly," Vivienne offered, gathering her own belongings, "and there are many in it who should be removed. It is just ill advised to speak so sweepingly of the men and women who people rely on to keep them safe from magic."

Tess simply glared. Finley bristled.

As Finley moved to secure her things on her steed, Vivienne followed her. "Thank you, inquisitor. For your help with the children."

Finley eyed her a second and then went back to tying her things to the horse, looking more than a little put out. "I didn't do anything."

"You gave them an example of templars doing good," Vivienne countered, glancing back to see that the others were starting to head their way as well. "Though I must admit surprise that you lived with an Avvar tribe. You never mentioned them before."

"I didn't," Finley replied, finally done with the straps. "I never made it to the Avvar."

Before Vivienne could ask what had happened or any of the other dozen questions that popped up at the admission, Finley was frowning at the others. "What are you doing?"

Ehreese was the first to answer, tugging her satchel up higher on her shoulder. "You won't know what signs my company used to mark the way. You need me."

"Not you," Finley corrected, and Vivienne looked over in time to see Tess's eyes widen.

"You can't leave us here."

"You're children," Finley retorted, crossing her arms. "You can't fight against Venatori."

"There are creatures out here," Tess argued, terror creeping into her voice. That and a hint of betrayal.

"There are creatures everywhere." Finley looked to Vivienne for support. "I do not want children fighting with us."

"Nor does anyone, inquisitor," Vivienne replied, a bit perplexed that she'd even need to say it. "But they are right. We can't just leave them by themselves."

"I'd offer to take them north to meet with the army," the Iron Bull interrupted Finley before she could argue further, "but if we ran into more Venatori, I don't know that I could keep them safe alone. I'm good, but it always falls down to numbers, in the end."

Finley stared at him a moment and then pointed to Sera and Vivienne. "You three go, take them to safety."

"Piss on that," Sera cried out. "Not leaving you with stranger to run off and fight who knows how many baddies."

"I'm not taking children to blood mages," Finley snapped, angrily.

"What if," Ehreese stepped between Finley and the rest of them, holding up her hands and then pointing to the kids. "We go find the Venatori. See how many there are, and then we figure out who stays back at camp with the kids and who goes and beheads some vints."

"I like that," Bull nodded. "Especially the beheading part."

"No! Children should not be anywhere near this sort of thing. If we're close enough to see the Venatori, they're close enough to see what they can do!"

…-...

The shadows had left them by the time they finally managed to convince Inquisitor Finley to bring the children along if only because they were losing ground the longer they waited to leave.

And that the Venatori already had over a dozen other children with them.

Vivienne had to say that she was surprised at how desperately Finley had fought against them all—children included—to make sure the little ones would not have to go near blood magic.

She was surprised, and even a little pleased.

Though she had to wonder if Inquisitor Finley was simply seeing herself in Tess and Neolle and trying to save herself from whatever had stained her eyes so.