Chapter 77

Leliana placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow. She didn't say a word. Silence was the best treatment. It made people uncomfortable, made them want to fill that void. It had the added bonus of making people feel that they had lost your favour and affection. Children, especially. And seeing as how she was dealing with children, it seemed like an appropriate response.

At least they had the decency to look ashamed. Neither of them met her gaze. The spectators had all bolted, along with the organisers, leaving the combatants alone in a room covered in feathers and cotton. They themselves were covered in the stuff.

Cullen stood twiddling his thumbs. Alistair was trying very hard not to sneeze. Both were blushing profusely. Josephine took one look and had left the room in a fit of laughter. Cassandra had just shaken her head.

Leliana remained silent. Why boys were the way that they were was something she would never understand.

At long last, Cullen said, "It wasn't my idea."

"It wasn't mine, either," Alistair added.

Leliana sighed. "Who won?"

"I did," Alistair and Cullen said at the same time. Then they glared at each other.

"Well, since you both won, you both get to share the responsibility." She pointed her finger at the floor. "Clean all this up."

And without another word, she walked out of the room. Only then did she cover her face and start laughing. A fight sixteen years in the making. Ending in another draw. Grown, thirty-year-old men resorting to infantile behaviour over a disputed pillow fight. She would have to find Varric and thank him later.

It had brought an air of levity to Haven. The soldiers, thanks to the ridiculousness perpetrated by their commanding officers, would be much happier. With the closing of the Breach, the hardest part would soon be over. Then there was the matter of rebuilding, but without demons falling from the sky, that could be handled leisurely.

But there was always work to do, and Leliana found Grand-Enchanter Fiona sitting at her tent, waiting for her. She rose in greeting.

"Salutations, Spymaster," she said with a nod. "Firstly, allow me to thank you for how you chose to handle our situation. The way things went, you could have demanded anything – even made us your slaves. Yet, you made us equal partners. I was not expecting that."

Leliana smiled at that. "You rebelled for good reason. Your cause is just."

Fiona smiled back. "I knew you, of all people, would understand."

"Besides, from what I was told, it was Warden-Constable Alistair who smoothed things over with Queen Anora. If anything, you have him to thank."

The woman's smile faltered for some reason, though she controlled herself masterfully.

"Yes. He... seems a decent man."

"He is. Shall I introduce you?"

"No," she said with a weary sigh. "It is much too late for that." Leliana raised an eyebrow. "Just makes me wonder at the irony." Fiona waved it off. "It's not important. I was merely musing on the clever tricks the Maker plays."

"No, it sounds as though you know him?"

"I... knew his father, King Maric. I was also good friends with Duncan, his mentor."

"Really?" Leliana sat down at that and motioned for her to sit as well. "How did you know them?"

"I was once a Grey Warden," the elven mage said, smiling softly. "Normally, one is part of the Order until death, but long ago, I found myself stripped of what made me a Warden. They tried to reinitiate me, but nothing worked. Nor could they figure out how it happened." She hummed. "I was the first Warden to be kicked out. Quite an achievement, I think. So, I was sent to the Circle of Magi, where I have been a Grand-Enchanter and the leader of a rebellion. And now, I am none of those things. Odd where Fate takes you, no?"

Leliana fought every instinct in her body not to get up and run to Aedan. Instead, she interwove her fingers over her lap and said, "You sound happy about leaving the Wardens."

Fiona nodded. "Becoming a Warden seemed like a dream when I was first Conscripted. Towards the end, my brothers and sisters... they felt I had somehow cheated death. I was glad to get away."

"Do you miss it?"

"Sometimes. Though I suppose I left one family for another. I was... unique in the Circle. I had the opportunity to do more than I ever could as a Warden. I pushed for our vote to free the Circles of Magi. Some credit me for having thus started the Mage Rebellion, but I daren't take sole responsibility for it." She sighed again. "Still, despite all the chaos, despite all the tragedies, I would do it again. What happened had to happen."

"But you said you weren't the Grand-Enchanter anymore...?"

"Any claim I had to the title ended along the Circles of Magi, although some still call me by that." She smiled. "Perhaps the Circles will one day be resurrected. If so, then another will take the position. Until that time, I lead my fellow mages by default. I will continue to do what I can for them."

"You think the Circles of Magi will be recreated? After all this?"

"It depends on who the next Divine is, and what she offers. We can't go back to the way things were... but endless warfare benefits no one." She shook her head sadly. "This is why I agreed to Justinia's Conclave. She believed, as I do, that there must be another solution."

"Yes," Leliana mused. The next Divine, huh? "There always is another way, isn't there?"

"I believe so, yes. But look how I prattle. I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes. I wanted to ask you how exactly it was that Alexius took control of Redcliffe."

Fiona told her how mages, stragglers and strangers, found their way to them while they there. Some happened to be Tevinter, and spread whispers about alliances. Being desperate, the mages agreed. Under threat of a possible templar attack, it was the only option open to them. Leliana made notes about it all and sighed to herself.

"It could have ended much worse," Fiona reassured her.

"Things can always get worse," she replied. "But that was all I wanted to know. Thank you for your time. I'll leave you to it now."

"Before I go, Spymaster, a question?"

Leliana looked at her. Fiona stood wringing her hands. She seemed anxious. Uncertain.

"Yes?"

"I understand that you and Warden-Constable Alistair are... close? You travelled with him during the last Blight."

"Yes," she replied, slightly curious. "We make no attempt to hide it."

"No, of course not. I only wanted to know if he... if you both were happy. His... father had high hopes for him." She stood up and inclined her head in a short bow. "Don't mind me, Spymaster. The concerns of an old woman. Nothing more."

Then she turned to leave.

"We are happier than I ever imagined was possible," Leliana said and Fiona stopped and turned around. "The only thing that casts a shadow upon us is the fact that I will lose him to his Calling."

A strangled sound resembling a sob broke from Fiona, and she turned and sped away. Leliana sat there for a while, turning it all over in her head. She would talk to Aedan about it, but she couldn't seal away the bitterness at knowing how both Aedan and Fiona had escaped their Calling but Alistair wouldn't.

A/N: Next chapter will be Aedan's POV.