Chapter 78
"I thought about what you said."
"And? Can it be done?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. All we have to go on are two isolated incidents. So while it can be done, I don't know whether the same conditions can be recreated." Aedan shook his head. "Much less on a mass scale."
Leliana had told him last night about how Grand-Enchanter Fiona had once been a Grey Warden and had been cured of the taint. Re-initiations had failed, so her body was immune to, and actively rejecting, the taint. What this meant for a Grey Warden was retirement, an actual life after serving, with no need to go down into the Deep Roads to die.
Of course, if every Warden was cured and none answered the Calling, the good relations they enjoyed with the dwarves would suffer. But then again, only two of the Old Gods remained. Two more Blights and the world would no longer need the Wardens.
"But you have hope?" Leliana asked, looking at him.
"If a ragtag band can raise an army and defeat a Blight in under a year, I don't see how anything is hopeless, Leli," Aedan replied. He kept looking straight ahead. "I'll keep looking into it. Maybe I'll find something. Maybe someone else will. But I think that, eventually, answering the Calling will be a thing of the past."
"So it might not happen for Alistair."
It was not a question. Her tone was flat. Aedan sighed out of his nose.
"I won't lie to you. It might not." He stopped walking and faced her as they reached Leliana's tent. "Alistair has about twenty years left to go, approximately. Twenty years is a long time. So while there is a chance of success, there's also an equal chance of failure."
Leliana nodded, her lips a hard line. She already knew this, though he doubted that made it any easier.
"Just don't stop looking after you start," she told him.
"Wouldn't dream of it. I wanted to thank you for bringing this to my attention, though. It's work worth doing." He took out a sealed envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. "And I want to send this letter."
She took the envelope and turned it over, raised an eyebrow when she saw who it was addressed to.
"Him?" she asked. "What can he offer?"
"It's a different matter," Aedan replied. "Related to this, but different. If I'm building a case, I need to know all the details."
"Fair. I'll send it now. Anything else?"
"No, that concludes business." Aedan looked up at the activity going on at the ruins of the temple. "Big day, huh?"
"Yes. We have everything we need. We didn't want to delay it any further."
"Think you can seal the thing?"
"I hope so. Don't you?"
Aedan placed his hands on his hips and stared up at the Breach. He'd grown used to it over the past few weeks. It was strangely comforting to look at. Especially during sunrise. The ephemeral was always beautiful, if only because it would never last and was forever out of your grasp.
"It's not the sealing that worries me," he said after a while. "It's what'll probably come after."
Leliana sighed and shook her head. "One crisis at a time, yes?"
"Yeah." Aedan pointed at the letter. "Have that sent. I'll see you afterwards." He started walking towards the pound. "The dogs need food."