Chapter 68

Under any other circumstance, Alistair would have made a comment about Cullen's fluffy cape. It was just waiting to be done, really. But it would have to wait a bit longer. After a non-stop trip from Amaranthine to Haven he was still locked in a panicked mindset, especially considering the latest news.

He nodded at Cullen and Cassandra, who he knew as a passing acquaintance, and shook hands with Josephine Montilyet, who was a complete stranger. Seeing that Leliana was all right had calmed him somewhat, but seeing Aedan now pushed all calmness out of the window.

The six of them were in the council room, with only Aedan seated. Leliana and Josephine looked calm enough. Cullen and Cassandra didn't know what to think and made no secret about it. He was right there with them, so he did what he did best and made a bad joke.

"It's been a while," he said as he sat down across from Aedan. "You look good. Lost some weight, did we?"

Aedan chuckled. He looked like he'd been struck by a famine or three. Other than the sunken cheeks, Alistair could clearly see the bones against his skin. He looked pale. Diseased. Tired.

"I've been better," said Aedan. "Who's in charge at the Vigil now that you're here? Solona?"

Alistair nodded. "Yeah. Between her, Nathaniel and Varel, everything will be fine."

Cullen cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt but... when you say Solona-"

"Yes, I mean the mage you were in charge of at the Ferelden Circle of Magi eleven years ago." Alistair shot him a quick smile. "She goes by Archivist Amell now."

Cullen nodded, smiling faintly. He said nothing more, so Alistair looked back at Aedan.

"So are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to buy you dinner first?"

Aedan sat still for a moment, eyes closed. He leant back into his chair and took a deep breath.

"Can you see me, Alistair?"

"Unless you've mastered the art of invisibility, I sure do."

"No. Can you see me?"

"Oh." Alistair closed his eyes. Being a Warden, he could sense darkspawn... as well as other tainted creatures. Aedan had been the largest blip in his mind's eye for quite a long time. How the man had gotten so tainted, Alistair didn't know. How he wasn't dead yet was another mystery. But right there and then, he couldn't detect the faintest bit of the taint from Aedan. Not a single drop.

Alistair opened his eyes but found he had nothing to say. It was just... the most bizarre thing he'd ever encountered, talking darkspawn included. He shook his head and asked, "How?"

"So it's as I thought," Aedan said with a sigh. "I'll get to my theory in a bit. Tell them of the Architect first."

"Is he involved?"

"In a bit. Tell them first."

Alistair nodded. Leliana he trusted. Cassandra and Cullen too, to an extent. And Leliana would only keep Josephine around if she was trustworthy. Still, he looked around at them all and motioned for them to sit.

When they had, he said, "What you're about to hear is a Warden secret. Nothing of what I say here can ever leave this room. Is that understood?"

They all nodded. Alistair exchanged a quick look with Aedan, who also nodded. So he told those assembled all about it: how the Architect was a sentient darkspawn mage, out of the control of the archdemon's calling. He'd wanted to bring peace between darkspawn and all other life forms and he had tried to do this by infecting the population of Thedas with the taint. He'd been stopped thanks to King Maric, Duncan and the other people in their band.

After the Fifth Blight, the Architect tried once more to connect with the Wardens. By feeding darkspawn Warden blood, the Architect was freeing them of the hive mind, making them sentient. He'd tried to free a broodmother, but she'd ended up going mad and birthing mutated darkspawn left and right to take the Architect and his faction down. The Wardens, with the help of the Architect, had defeated the Mother.

"The Architect turned informant after that," explained Alistair. "We'd talk to him and he'd tell us things, clear away the Deep Roads for safe expeditions, you know? Things like that."

"From what I gather, he was among the seven Magisters who stepped inside the Golden City and got all fucked up," Aedan said. "The first darkspawn."

Alistair nodded. "Now it's your turn."

"Well, I don't know if you're aware, but a while ago, all the Wardens started to hear the Calling, which is a thing that happens when the taint grows too strong. Usually, when a Warden hears the Calling, they go down to the Deep Roads and fight darkspawn till death. Take as many as they can with them." Aedan smiled. "I'd been hearing the Calling for months-"

"What?!" Alistair spluttered. "And you didn't say-"

"I was preparing. I didn't even tell Fergus." Aedan waved it off. "Anyway, when everyone started hearing it, we all knew it was bullshit. I even went to talk to the Architect, who said that no Blight was stirring. There was no new archdemon yet. But I had to find out what I could. Warden-Commander Clarel sent me a letter, inviting me to go archdemon hunting with her. I refused, but something was off about this whole situation.

"So I went to the Conclave. I knew there would be some Orlesian Wardens there and I wanted to talk to them. I wrote to Weisshaupt too, but we all know how that works. However, one of the Wardens, a mage, felt... off. He gave me the same vibe as an archdemon does. Something was very wrong. I decided to talk to him but," he shook his head, "that was a mistake. I felt... something cross over from his body into mine. Like being possessed, but worse."

He sat silently and drummed the tabletop with his fingertips. Alistair felt himself leaning in.

"I don't know how to describe it to you. I was completely in control of my own mind, but unable to control anything else." Aedan flipped his palm. "I could see and think, but I was not in control of my own body. I was walking and talking and doing things... but it wasn't me. Anyway, I go into this room, and there's the Divine, being held by a couple of Warden mages with magic vines of some sort. And I thought, 'Whatever this thing is, it can control the Wardens.'"

"But was it the Architect?" Alistair asked.

"No. It was something different, but very similar. Whatever he was, he just materialised out of me, and he looked very much like the Architect, but behaved and spoke very differently. Me, I tried to take him down, but he just waved his hand at me and I collapsed. It was like I was dying. Couldn't breathe, couldn't lift a finger. He had this orb in his hand and he called the Divine 'the sacrifice.' He held out the orb at her but then your elven prisoner walked in, interrupting the little ceremony. The Divine slapped the orb out of this... thing's hand and the elf picked it up. Then everything exploded."

"So how are you alive?" Leliana asked. Alistair was wondering the same thing.

Aedan hiked his shoulder. "The asshole took me again and got out. It's like an archdemon in that regard, but it can go in and out. It left me out in the wilderness."

"Why?"

"Alistair, do you remember what the Architect said? About how he was able to turn Wardens into hurlocks by speeding up the taint in them?" Alistair nodded. "I'm thinking that's what happened to me."

"Then shouldn't you be a hurlock instead of being taint-free?"

"He's taint-free?" Leliana asked, brows furrowed. "Is that possible?"

"Warden records do show that there was a Warden who was cured of the taint around the same time as the Architect met Maric and Duncan," Aedan said slowly. "This Warden was excommunicated and all mentions of them removed, including their name. As far as I know, they're the only one to be cured of the taint."

"So what, the Asshole sped up your taint and it ran its course and fizzled out?"

"That's what I think. If the Asshole is anything like the Architect and can control tainted creatures, he would've left me when there was no more taint to control." Aedan hummed. "But then again..."

"What?"

"Remember Avernus?"

Alistair squinted. "...yes?"

"He gave me a potion that strengthened by taint, made me something... more."

"Maker, Aedan." Alistair shook his head and got up. "That was blood magic! Harvested from dead Wardens!"

"And it helped us defeat an archdemon," replied Aedan bluntly. "I did whatever had to be done to make sure we came out on top."

"But at what cost?!"

"My personal cost. Not yours."

"Fuckin' hell-"

"Alistair, why do you think you could track my taint from a mile away? Why do you think I could punch a hole through the Mother's face? The excessive taint helped, and it was also the beacon that let the Asshole get me. I was prime cut bacon, as far as he was concerned. And I don't know, maybe whatever it did to me also saved my life and helped cure the taint instead of turning me into a ghoul."

Alistair blew out a breath and dragged his palm down his face. Grey Wardens took help wherever they could, after all.

"Right," he said after a while, but he didn't sit back down. "Right. So, where does that leave us?"

"Well, the prisoner's mark didn't come from Andraste, then," Leliana said.

"If my story can be believed," Aedan added. Alistair grimaced but said nothing.

"It's the only story we have that covers all the facts," Cullen said, steepling his fingers. "We just have to dig around some. See what we can find."

"Talking to the Architect might help," Aedan said. "But I'm not going anywhere because I'm a suspect."

"Right, I'll get on that." Alistair placed his hands on the back of his chair and leaned in. He didn't want to sit down. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually. Just one more thing."

"Your wish is my command."

Aedan smiled. "Seeing as how I'm no longer tainted, I can't be a Grey Warden anymore. So, my heartiest congratulations upon this promotion, Warden-Commander Alistair Theirin. You're now in charge of the Ferelden Wardens."

Alistair had to sit down for that one.