And yet, the fire in the Conductor's heart ignited

Within the Architect a terrible flame.

And so he turned all the lesser priests and acolytes from the Temple of Beauty

To beseech counsel from his god.

Silence 1:8, 1-4

'Mae?' Veldrin called, entering Magistra Tilani's Senate chambers uninvited, and only knocking once she was already in the room.

'Second, darling!' Maevaris Tilani1 called, from somewhere in her private library. 'Looking for…something…In fact, want to come in here, so we don't have to shout?'

'Sure,' Veldrin answered, closing the door, and following the sound of Maevaris' voice into the back room. 'Mythal'enaste2! you are looking!' she gasped, once she laid eyes on the terrible disorder of books and parchments. 'It looks like a hurricane has been through!'

Maevaris emerged from behind a bookcase, waved briefly in greeting, and disappeared again. 'It always looks like this, doll,' she said, with a light chuckle. 'Dorian was by earlier, and almost had a fit, as if he didn't know my archiving method is…erm, non-linear.'

'You can say that again,' Veldrin replied, still looking about herself in amazement. 'What are you looking for?'

'De Utilitas Somnaboriae3, by I…don't remember who,' Maevaris answered. 'In fact, maybe I archived it under 'I don't remember'…Hold on', she enthusiastically said, once more emerging from behind the bookcase, and passing by Veldrin to head for a different one. She blew the elf an air kiss, then started pulling out one book after the other, looking to their bindings then carelessly flinging them to the floor.

'No wonder Dorian had a fit,' Vel exclaimed, dropping to her knees and instinctively starting to stack the books that Mae was tossing. 'You are giving me heartburn…You put Genitivi under 'I don't remember'?' she chuckled, noting one of the authors.

'Eh, he's not that memorable,' the human replied. ' I am far more partial to Phillam! A bard; more drama, sweetness…And…grand success!' she exclaimed a second later. 'There you go,' she ended, victoriously placing a tome on top of Veldrin's pile. 'Leave the others, some unfortunate will put them back later.'

'You were looking for this to give it to me?' Veldrin asked, frowning.

'Or Dorian, whichever one of you came by first,' Maevaris shrugged, extending her hand to help Veldrin to her feet. She was still smiling, but her eyes were oddly clouded. 'Hope it's not drivel,' she said, with a distinct apologetic undertone. 'It most likely is.'

'Thank you,' Veldrin said, straightening her robes and holding the book to her chest.

It was, the elf thought, always a pleasure to deal with Maevaris; she might have looked as if she was perpetually distracted, but she was probably one of the most pragmatic and level headed people Veldrin had ever had the pleasure of encountering. It was also, as always, a pleasure to note how alike she and Dorian thought; they'd not had time to speak in the morning, as, under Lexi's spell Veldrin had slept long and deep, and he'd already gone by the time she'd awoken. Still, he'd obviously had the same idea that Vel herself had, and gone to speak to Maevaris.

She followed the human back into the main study, feeling oddly grateful to be away from the chaos of the library.

Maevaris sat behind her desk, propping her endless, flawless and bare legs on the desk in obvious self satisfaction, and waved for Vel to take a seat as well.

'Everyone thinks that having an 'I don't remember' section is a clear sign of insanity. That shows them!' she said, ringing for refreshments – tea, Veldrin feared – with a lot more energy than the gesture required; somewhere in the gigantic underbelly of the Senate building, a little bell was probably ringing hysterically, and driving some unfortunate server hysterical as well.

'You did well in Publicanium,' Maevaris said, without more preamble.

'If by that you mean no one criticised my Tevene,' Veldrin sighed, 'then perhaps, but otherwise…Did you come and watch?'

'Open session,' Maevaris shrugged. 'I did. Glad you didn't come to watch me and Dorian in the upper chamber, though. We got mauled.'

The elf sighed. 'Regular mauling or…?'

'Regular,' the human answered, making the source of the sadness in her blue eyes clear. 'How Dorian is married to a southerner elf and how I am a man living as a woman and was almost married to a dwarf – so obviously, the Lucerni care nothing for Tevinter's legacy, which is why we are so lightly giving away Ferelden, which is ours, by all rights...Nothing of substance, just low personal insults. It's like the entire Senate slept though the past two ages, I swear.'

Veldrin nodded. 'Did Radonis' stance not help?'

'Well,' Mae smirked, 'he didn't mean to help us – he meant for us to help him. The fact that the faction that supports his position got essentially tarred and feathered just shows…'

'…how independent of his will the process is, yes,' Vel said, cranking her nose. 'I'm sorry,' she earnestly said.

'Don't be,' the Magistra answered, with a tired, but sincere smile. 'Let them insult Dorian because of you – he stopped caring long ago, if he ever actually did care, and if the only argument against our position is the fact that he has an unsuitable wife, then it's obvious they have no other argument. You did not get racially insulted, and the other speakers were incensed enough by what you were saying to not mock your accent. Your diphthongs are still too soft, but other than that…In any event, by my brief talk to Dorian, you have other things you need to worry about than your pronunciation in Tevene.' Maevaris said.

Vel looked down to the book in her lap. 'Life should not stop just because…'

'The man you once loved is threatening to destroy the entire world as we know it? The people whom you regarded as friends are treating you as an enemy all of a sudden?' Maevaris helpfully prompted.

'Yes,' Veldrin nodded. 'How much did Dorian actually tell you?'

'As much as he thinks I need to know, I am sure,' the Magistra said. 'It was comprehensive enough though, which is why I was looking into the Somnaborium for you.'

The elf rubbed her eyes. 'I am grateful and it is a good idea, but I think these are best left alone. We've seen what one could do, perhaps…'

Maevaris shrugged. 'Look, Vel, I find it eerie how you and Dorian sound like twins, which you can't possibly be. He said exactly the same thing, and I will tell you exactly what I told him – keeping ourselves willfully ignorant of the enemy's weapons is irresponsible. If I were you, I would actually ask this rude spymistress to bring me one of the veil controlling artefacts as well…Where's that lazy elf with the tea?' she asked, in an irritated tone. 'Oh,' Mae said, catching herself just a moment too late. 'Sorry.'

'I don't actually like tea,' Veldrin said, smiling sadly.

'You know what I mean,' Maevaris said. 'I'm sorry, it just gets away from me sometimes.'

She straightened and leaned her elbows on the desk – unwillingly, Veldrin smiled, for Maevaris Tilani was actually…strikingly beautiful, and a pleasure to behold, with her angel's halo of blonde hair and wide, blue eyes; if the elf had had a choice, she'd probably replace every depiction of Andraste with Maevaris' face and body. It would not have made the Chant more truthful. It would simply have made the human temples tolerable.

'I am more grateful than you can imagine that you and Dorian chose to trust me with this knowledge, and with your troubles.' The Magistra said. 'This book I found for you, it is of the Steel Age4, it's written in new Tevene, so it will likely not be of much help. Too recent to actually be relevant, but I will keep searching. And, in the meanwhile, I am glad you both know that you are not as alone as you feel. Or well,' she corrected, 'how you probably feel.'

A hasty and frantic elven slave entered, carrying a tea tray and making babbling excuses – the sessions in both houses had left many Magisters and Altus with dry tongues, so there had been a rush of ringing bells; he, of course, would have gladly serviced the Magistra Tilani first, it was simply that the kitchen master would not see reason…

'Take it back!' Maevaris bitingly ordered. 'The lady Pavus does not like tea.'

'Mae, please, no, not this way,' Veldrin said, softly. 'Ar abelas, lethallin,' she said, rising to take the trey from the server's trembling hands. 'Ar abelas, I will love this tea. I am grateful that you made it and brought it,' she followed, setting the trey down on the corner of Maevaris' desk.

The elven male looked at her blankly for a stunted heartbeat, then set his terrified and confused glance upon the power in the room, clearly not knowing what to do with himself.

'I don't think he speaks elven, Veldrin,' Maevaris said, kindly. 'Oh Maker, I was just being horrible again…It is alright,' she said to the slave, in Tevene. 'We'll take the tea – it's what I rang for, anyway. Thank you.'

'The Magistra Tilani does not wish for this to be taken away, then?'

'No,' Maevaris said. 'We will have the tea and we are grateful for your service…what is your name?'

'Whatever the Magistra pleases to call me is my name.' the slave responded with practiced speed.

'I shall call you patience, and ring for you specifically next time' Maevaris said. 'Thank you.'

The man departed, feeling grateful; the Magistra took one glance at her friend's stony countenance, and lowered her head in shame.

'It gets away from me a lot,' she sighed. 'I'm sorry, it's just…'

'Innate,' Veldrin said, dryly.

'Yes, but also ridiculous – here I was trying to say I am grateful for your friendship and trust, and then I go and snap at…'

'An elf?' Veldrin bitterly chuckled. 'That man was no Elvhen. He merely looked like one.'

She shuddered at her own words; that was, she thought exactly what…She shook her head to chase the thought.

Maevaris sighed. 'Would it help if I said I might have acted the same way if he had been human?'

'Not much,' Vel answered with a strained smile. 'But let us not go there, my friend; slavery and the Imperium are too deeply intertwined for either of us to try to disentangle them, and, to return to our halla, so to speak,' she grinned, 'every attempt at doing so in the past has led to the political suicide of anyone considering it. We are not in a position to even approach that subject publically, so there is no point in us privately discussing it.'

Mae narrowed her eyes, and smiled wryly. 'That was almost an insult, was it not?'

The elf smiled, too. 'Almost,' she said.

'But see,' the Magistra answered, shaking her head, 'this is precisely why I am happy that you came by, and I am glad to give you the book. I know how much we have robbed you of in the past, and Dorian says your southern allies are being tremendously rude to you in not wishing you to deal with elven artefacts…'

'Mae,' Veldrin interrupted, caressing the book's cover, 'I understand. My reluctance to conduct research into foci is not the fact that out of us three doing it, one of us will stumble upon some great power and turn into another Corypheus; I know you and Dorian well enough, and I know myself. My very well-founded fear is that a little knowledge may be a dangerous thing.'

'But you controlled one of them,' Maevaris refuted.

'I don't know how I did that, though,' Vel replied, 'and the sky above the Temple of Lost Ashes has a very pretty scar that reminds us all I did not know what the hell I was doing…'

'So now, we learn,' Maevaris simply responded. 'Slowly, carefully…and if we actually manage to find another one of these things, we take great care not to touch it with our bare hands. Don't be such a southerner,' she chided. 'It's hardly befitting to be scared of magic – of your own people's magic, even.'

She picked up one of the tea cups and took a sip, then measured Veldrin over the cup's rim.

'You are really not alone, Vel,' she said, softly. 'Let me help you. Let us help you.'

Veldrin bit her lower lip. 'I don't think this is the way.'

'Then tell me of another,' Maevaris shrugged. 'You did come to speak with me, you must have had something in mind.'

Veldrin nodded, then took a deep breath. 'I do. You won't like it though, and before I tell you, you have to swear you will not tell Dorian about it.'

'You're right,' the Magistra said. 'I'm already not liking it.'

'Well, I shall leave the telling Dorian at your discretion, then,' the elf said.

'Better,' Mae responded. 'Go on,' she said, visibly bracing herself. 'What are you thinking?'

'Has Dorian explained the basics of the plan?' Veldrin asked. 'The transfer of the essences part?'

'Yes,' the other woman nodded. 'He was not particularly enthused, but he believes it will work, and that it shall weaken Fen'Harel enough for him to be physically killed, which, I guess, is what, unlike everyone else, you both want?'

'Indeed.' Vel nodded, in her turn. 'My problem with that plan is that I truly do not trust the person who will conduct this essence transfer ritual – ironically, because of whatever is good in her nature. The target of the essence channeling is her son, who is, or rather was…'

'The vessel of Urthemiel,' Maevaris said. 'That's the part that renders me deeply uncomfortable with this; I am unsure how she captured that soul in the first place, but I would not like the child to die, and have Urthemiel roaming about finding something else to inhabit. Like say, a dragon.'

'Yes...And now, we plan to have him be the container of Asha'belannar, the woman Thaedas knows as Flemeth, and the Elvhen know as Mythal. I do not think this child can hold both, Mae; in fact, I think that the attempt will kill him, and I think his mother fears the same, so she will try to do the thing that she has been running from her entire existence, and attempt to absorb Mythal herself.'

The Magistra frowned. 'Are you afraid of what she might do with this power, if…'

'Ironically,' Veldrin earnestly responded, 'no. I think my old acquaintance, Morrigan, has learned her lesson after the Well of Sorrows. She will not do this to grow herself, she will do it to save her child, as any loving mother would. My cowardice has already cost her greatly once, so this time, I would take the cup from her.'

Maevaris leaned back in her chair, and took a deep breath, then drank her tea in one breath, as if her insides had suddenly turned into a desert.

'So,' she said, with a deepening frown, 'let me reiterate this…You do not want to play around with the somnaborium, but you do want to play with the essence of a presumably immortal being.'

'Yes,' Veldrin briefly answered. 'The magic involved is newer and more easily accessible.'

'And I am assuming that, unlike you, your southern associates and Dorian have considered the myriad of ways in which this could go wrong, and said a definitive and resounding no to this absolutely mad initiative.'

'Exactly,' the elf said. 'Which is why I am here.'

'Ah, because you have a death wish and you think I am the only person insane enough to grant it, I see,' Maevaris muttered, her beautiful blue eyes gathering the hardness of sapphires.

Veldrin lowered her glance; she felt her mouth was dry too, but she did not reach for the tea.

'I do not have a death wish,' she softly said, 'though I will admit to you that once Solas is dead, I will feel…less than completely alive myself. I have, however come to accept that the first of my people can be stopped if their intent is removed. One path is tranquility, of course, but I,' she whispered, 'will kill anyone, friend or foe, who entertains the notion for more than a heartbeat. The other way, then, would be for their essence to be irreversibly transformed into pure energy. Energy that lacks intelligent intent.'

'Hm,' the Magistra said, 'that is a very good thought; it would be a very basic principle of thaumatologic entropy. The only problem is that we do not know how to reshape energies, Veldrin.'

'We don't,' the elf said, raising her glance to the human's, and gathering all her courage; she found it came short for the words that now needed to be spoken – she forced herself to speak them nonetheless. 'Aurelian Titus5 did.'

Magistra Tilani stood up so briskly that she almost overturned her desk.

'I've never had the urge of calling the Templars in my entire existence, Veldrin,' she hissed. 'I am having it now.'

'No need for the Templars,' Veldrin pleadingly whispered. 'Just Dorian will do.'

'Do you know what Aurelian Titus did? What he was?' Maevaris asked, in a low growl. 'He stole the power in people's blood, by draining them dry, over years – or did Varric artistically glaze over that part? Maleficarum does not even begin to describe this man! How dare you mention his name…How dare you mention his name to me, of all people…'

'Because you of all people actually know what he did and how he did it,' the elf bitterly said.

'No, I do not know how he did it, Veldrin, because studying his methods would be like staring into the piss and blood filled pits of hell! Maker almighty!'

'You also fought and defeated him, Mae,' the elf said. 'You'll know how to kill me, if…'

'There is no if, here, Veldrin,' the human said, shaking her head in fury and awe. 'You, my deluded friend, are speaking of torturing the man you love to death...'

'Perhaps, if…if we…perhaps we could make it brief, if…'

She would have followed, but her courage was now truly gone, and her voice broke. 'Ar abelas, Mae…I know…'

'Maker's breath,' the Magistra said, crashing back to her seat, and covering her face in her hands. 'I bloody know you know what you are asking – I even think you've considered the price of what you are asking, which is,' she breathed, 'chilling. Your arm was one thing, but this…Even if you don't die or go insane on the spot, you will break yourself from the fade completely. You'll never even dream again unless you keep using Aurelian's ritual, and I will, personally…'

'I understand that, Mae,' Veldrin said, softly. 'That is why I am asking you, and not Dorian. I just…Look,' she whispered, 'the man I love made a terrible mistake, and he is about to make another, not out of malice, but out of shame. So far, though, he has done nothing, and he has hurt none. If I allow Sister Nightingale to go through with what she is planning, if it works, then Solas' actions will cause one innocent boy of seven and ten to either die, or live all his years as if he were dead. It will cause a woman I do not care greatly for, but whom I am indebted to to be chained to a creature she has spent all her years loathing...'

'I do not wish to kill Mythal, and I don't want her power or her essence,' Veldrin sorrowfully followed. 'I simply wish to stop my friend before he turns his people, our people into destroyers of worlds…before he truly becomes the monster our legends make him out to be.'

'Even if the cost of this is becoming a monster yourself,' Maevaris said, in an equally sorrowful tone.

'Maybe it does not have to be that way. All magic, even blood magic is just an instrument – it is altered by the caster, but should not inherently alter the caster herself…' Veldrin whispered. 'I could use Titus' ritual as base, and perhaps deviate enough from it…'

The Magistra shook her head, and exhaled loudly. 'You would not be able to do that alone, my friend. You are good, but not that good, you'd need…'

'…your help,' the elf nodded.

The silence stretched, stony and cold, and it felt as if millennia had passed before Maevaris once more met Veldrin's glance.

'I need to think about this,' Maevaris tiredly said; she sighed deeply. 'My first instinct is to simply say no, but I fear that if I do not help you, you will simply seek out someone who will, and they will be remarkably easy to find.'

'I swear to you I will not,' Veldrin said – the Magistra shook her head in absolute refusal of the statement.

'It does not matter what you swear to me, Veldrin. It does not even matter if you truly mean to keep your oath, now, as you speak it…You will not be able to.'

'Because the tug of the blood magic…' the elf began, in a low whisper; the human shook her head at this, too.

'No,' Mae whispered in her turn. 'Because sometimes, affection, loyalty and selflessness are more dangerous than hunger for power; if there was one lesson you could have taken from the man you so love, it should have been this one…If you've thought of this in such depth already, and you've braved asking me…me, though you know what risks I run and how frail my position is,' she followed, in bitter regret, 'you won't let this go. You won't be able to.'

'I am sorry,' Veldrin said.

'I am too,' Mae responded, and there was nothing left to say.

1 Mae Tilani features in the DA comics. Again, not to spoil, but she is the 'widower' of Varric's cousin, and a very good, honest friend to our hirsute dwarven acquaintance. She almost makes erm, too good friends with a certain King of Ferelden, who is unaware Mae is in possession of parts that, shall we say, Dorian would be more appreciative of. She is probably the first 'good' Magister we encounter in DA in overall.

2 Mythal protect us.

3 This is the Tevinter name for the Elvhen foci – Solas' orb of destruction is one of these, but there should be others. The Ancient Imperium encountered these (obviously, since they sacked Arlathan, and Corypheus clearly knows how to use them) so they do have some lore on them.

4 Uhm, very new, in absolute terms. Anything relevant on the subject of the somnaborium should be at least Ancient, and definitely in Old Tevene.

5 Infamous blood mage, at the hands of whom Maevaris Tilani has literally suffered a great deal. This too is part of the DA graphic novel series. In brief, Aurelian Titus discovers a way of draining specific powers from the blood of other people, and transferring them to himself, via an imitation somnaborium. Maevaris learns about this from Varric, who is out helping a…royal friend, and foolishly goes to face the guy alone, so she gets kidnapped and spends a few months chained to a wall in Aurelian Titus' not so tender care.

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