ACT II: The Thread Begins to Fray
Note: Thanks to my beta, xXFallenSakuraXx52, for looking this over for me. She's been a great help in pushing this through!
There was nothing left for us in Crestwood. An All-Call had gone out to any soldiers from the nearby Storm Coast, who wanted another station, to make their way toward Crestwood and man the fort. The Blades of Hessarian had proven their worth over the last several months and I was making the executive decision to let them have the Coast.
We had spent another week straightening out business with the villagers. The Wardens had disappeared soon after Stroud did. Suspicious, but I wasn't going to go chasing their tails just yet. Leliana had sent word that I was needed back in Skyhold and there wasn't anything pressing to keep me in Crestwood. I took my close party to travel back and left Harding to figure out the statistical nightmare of reordering ranks once the heads were gone.
Warden-Commander Clarel is a mage, according to Stroud, I need to find out where she was during the Conclave. I sat astride Avonal, my hands resting on the horn of his saddle. The snows of the mountains drifted by us as we made our slow way back home to Skyhold, our group silent and bundled in the earlier morning light. Bull and Blackwall had taken the lead this turn, with Varric and Solas at the rear. Dorian had paired himself up with Vivienne behind me, which made Sera my companion.
Unnaturally, my wild-eyed archer had been silent most of the trip back. She's not going to talk to me with an audience. She was close enough with her own horse that I balled up a piece of hard-tack biscuit and chucked it at her. It bounced off her nose and she blinked out of her stupor, glancing around before her gaze landed on me.
"That was you?" She asked with the back of her hand swiping across her nose.
"No." I said flatly and promptly bit into my tack. She snorted, loud, and reached into her travel back to pull out her ration as well.
"Liar!" She snipped at me, chucking what looked like jerky in my direction. I fumbled for it (jerky was my favorite part of the ration) and clutched it to my chest, glaring at her. Avonal's ears swiveled angrily at me for jostling around on his back, but he kept his trot even as he continued to follow behind the others.
"Wasteful!" I sniffed, stuffing my words into my nose and turning it up at her. She snickered wildly, her eyes going bright with amusement. She nudged her horse closer to mine and reached out with a lightning jerk of her arm to catch my wrist. I didn't fight her and allowed my limp limb rest in her grip. What I expected was for her to inspect my arm under my coat.
I didn't expect her to hold my hand, her fingers laced through mine. She squeezed her grip, holding tight, and I wondered what had startled her. I kept our pace with the horses and held on, seeing the need for what it was; she wanted comfort. Why she had come for comfort from me, I wasn't sure, but I wasn't about to turn her away. I wasn't sure how long we held hands, but after a while her head rose and she stared at me.
"What's up?" I asked her, a faint smile on my lips.
"You're the worst." She replied with a frowned nose.
I blinked. "Alright. Unexpected, but everyone's entitled to an opinion."
"No, yer not listenin'." She tugged on my hand and I waited. Clearly something had bothered her and shame smoked through my lungs, I haven't really had a conversation with her in a hot minute. Maybe that's it? With Sera, I hadn't figured out her patterns yet, she wasn't as easy to read as Blackwall or Dorian had become to me.
"Okay." I answered, straightening in my saddle. "I'll listen." She narrowed her eye distrustingly at me, watching for the fib. Not that I think I could lie to her, she was a bit like Cole in the sense that they did make sense, but their rules were vastly different. Just have to learn to play the game.
"Yer losing it. Yer runnin' 'round doing all these things and yer slipping." Sera dropped her eyes away from my face and stared at our joined hands. Her fingers squeezed around my again, desperate to keep me in her grip as he knuckles went white. There was a pause and there was a lot I wanted to ask, but I kept silent and waited.
She glanced back up at me, a forced sneer on her lips. "Wut? Not sayin' nothin'? Not defending yerself? People get righteous when they think they're doin' the right thing." My eyes flicked over her face, wondering at the thoughts that ran behind her eyes. Is she worried that I'm turning into one of those asshole nobles?
"You asked me to listen." I replied softly with my gaze on her. "Listening doesn't mean I get to interrupt." Without warning, her eyes glistened with tears that pooled at the corner of her eyes. A sharp jerk of her head turned her gaze away from me and she shuddered, forcing herself to swallow the emotion. My heart twisted in my chest as more guilt flooded me; I'm so sorry, Sera.
"I guess I was expectin' you to forget, y'know?" Sera sniffed hard and hunched her shoulders to roll them before straightening her back. "People get high and mighty when they're powerful. They start forgettin' the little things." She glanced at me, checking to see if I had anything to say. It killed me to stay silent, because her whole dilemma seemed to stem from me.
She fiddled with her reins slightly. "I thought wut wit' yer title'n'all, yer just goin' ta go forgetting what yer suppos'd to be doin'. All of this is gettin' too real and we fixed the hole in the sky but nothin' really got fixed. It just got worse."
Ah, I blinked at her. It shouldn't have been a surprise. Stitch the sky, stop the fighting, go back to making money. Easy, right? I adjusted my grip in her hand and squeezed her fingers between mine. We didn't talk much, if barely at all, and she was watching me slip further and further away into the ranks of nobles and authority. I'm not part of the little people anymore.
"You can talk now." She let go of our hands, our fingers slipped between each other and she took her reins lightly in her grip. There were a thousand things I wanted to say and none of them settled right on my tongue. Platitudes and speeches didn't work with Sera because her world tilted on a different axis. So I settled on what she would appreciate.
"Did you know I almost threw up during the court hearings?" I blurted out. Her shoulders jerked, startled, and a laugh bubbled out of her with a wild cackle.
"You wh— yer serious?" Sera laughed harder when I nodded, wiggling in her saddle happily. "You looked like a statue! Wha'chu mean you almost threw up?"
"I am dead serious. I could feel my stomach erupt into my lungs." I gave her a dead stare, playing the scared hare in front of a crowd, my voice dipping low for dramatic effect. "I thought this is how I die." Sera snickered like a madwoman next to me, the tears in her eyes ones of amusement rather than sadness.
"I would have loved to see that." Sera grinned at my giddly. "How di'ya stop from gettin' sick?" My mouth opened, because like a goddamn fool I was going to spill the beans and blab about my infatuation with The Iron Bull and the comfort it was to have him around. My face screwed up tightly to wind itself shut, my thoughts skidding to a haul with a sharp 'whatthefuckiswrongwithyou?!' snap
Sera caught the look, and a snake's smile graced her lips.
"Oooh!" Sera leaned in close, nearly slipping from her saddle. I gripped her shoulder and held her steady, fighting a smile as she leered at me. "Thinkin' something naughty, were you?"
"Sera." I pushed her back into her saddle. "I have a titty-waving Qunari wandering around. When am I not is the real question." Snorting laughter spouted from my elven companion, uncontrollable and crackling. Not seconds after Bull's horns turned toward us as he glanced over his shoulder.
I struck a threatening finger at him. "Don't you dare! No one invited you to this conversation!"
"I distinctly heard Qunari, Boss. I think that includes me in the conversation." Bull answered, a smirk tossed my way over his shoulder. Embarrassment rushed my ears with a searing heat and my heart squirmed in my chest. Sera was mad with laughter, enjoying my discomfort. I lightly kicked her knee for it.
"Look, you make it really hard to talk shit about you if your back isn't turned." I fired at him. Blackwall had the nerve to burst into laughter, leaning back in his saddle as Bull shook his head at me. The stares of the rest of the party burned up my back and neck. I refused to hunch up in defensive mode.
"That's not very nice, Boss." Bull lectured me, his tone playful. "Makes for bad camaraderie."
"Andraste's ass, it does!" Sera came to my defense, beaming with a wide grin. "She pays you to look pretty, we all know that!"
"What in the fuck." I deadpanned, the tendrils of dread pulling at my lower ribs. "Who's side are you on?"
"Yers, o'course!" Sera flashed her grin at me. "Ain't foolin' no one, you didn't take three of the prettiest with you as yer just goofin' through the rain." The indignant squawk from Blackwall, Bull's barking laughter, and Dorian's 'hear, hear' from behind had me in stitches. Tears blinded me because the thought of Blackwall being labeled as pretty had never crossed my mind.
"Oh fuck," I wheezed, fighting the laughter, "I got caught!"
"Damn right you did." Sera lifted her nose, adjusting in her saddle. "Had all these worried buzzes in my ear thinkin' yer gone change and started rubbing elbows with big nappies thinkin' yer not answering to us folk no more." Like she always was, Sera's words were a slap to the face. Bursting at the wrong moment (or the right moment for her) and ripping the rug out from under everyone.
Throwing it into the chaos and hoping no one would notice.
I laughed, catching her game. "Okay, yeah, no, because that requires that I shower at least once a week and I don't have that kind of time." Dorian's disgusted gurgle behind us had Sera snicker into her palms, but her sharp eyes landed on me. She grinned between her fingers; I guess you're alright.
I shrugged at her, amused.
I guess I am.
-0-
"Do we suspect the Wardens to be a part of Divine Justinia's death?" Cullen leaned against the war table before him, his palms flat against the surface as his left index and middle finger played mindlessly with one of the many pieces we used to mark our forces.
"I don't have enough information to speculate that, but there is something going on." I answered and crossed my arms against my chest. The morning had shifted into afternoon with the sun hanging over our heads and filtering into the War Room through the windows. My party had dispersed into Skyhold when we arrived and my Hydra had been waiting for me in Josephine's room.
"It is highly suspicious." Leliana glanced over the map. "We said as much when they disappeared soon after the explosion at the Conclave."
"Solas and I think that Corypheus was there, his Calling may have scattered them." I interjected and rubbed at my chin with my knuckles. Cullen and Josephine shot their gazes up at me, but Leliana was undisturbed. Figures she would know. Or just be really fucking good at hiding it.
"Care to explain?" Cullen prompted, his voice rough with surprise. I raised my left hand, the Mark clear as the sunlight through the windows. Without a glove to hide it, the Mark flickered and pulsed within its prison.
"This thing. The Anchor is a focal point for magic, but it can't be triggered from a distance." I lowered my hand back against my chest. "Corypheus needed to have had the Anchor in his possession or person when the Breach was created."
"Because he was attempting to rip open the Fade and enter." Leliana followed along with a nod. "Yes, that makes sense, but no such creature could have gotten to the Divine without being noticed."
"Which means he had help." Cullen sighed heavily and dropped his head briefly. "Maker, it just gets worse, doesn't it? Why hadn't you mentioned this before, Inquisitor?"
I sighed, "Because I didn't find this out until after Haven. There was a bit more going on at that point."
"Are we under the impression that the Wardens assisted Corypheus in entering the Conclave?" Josephine tipped her head in and glanced at all of us, questioning our thoughts. Cullen shared a look with her, but Leliana's eyes were on me. No? I don't know. It's suspicious as fuck, but that doesn't mean shit. Could they? Possibly. Would they? Who the fuck knows.
"It's too little to tell." I answered into the silence. "Correlation is not causation. We can't assume that just because one happened after the other, they're the same thing."
"Correct." Leliana glanced at the others, her arms behind her back. "I don't recall the Wardens being invited to the Conclave, as they are against any political stance."
"Doesn't mean they couldn't be coerced into serving a master, if what Stroud told the Inquisitor is true." Cullen countered with a sharp look to Leliana. He stood and straightened his back with a small pop and a wince. "And now with the mess they're attempting to make at the Western Approach? They may have been insane from the start."
Hesitation gripped me. Do I mention my suspicions? Cassandra wasn't in the room with us, so there was no worry that whatever I said would get back out to the party, but the threat was still there. My crossed arms tightened against my chest, my fingers digging into my elbows. Worried, I turned my attention to Leliana.
"Blackwall is still here." I started quietly. Cullen and Josephine blinked at me, briefly confused. Leliana's honeyed eyes went blade sharp and her mouth slit to a firm line across her mouth as her puzzle pieces caught up with mine.
"He is." Leliana murmured thoughtfully. "Odd."
"Goodness, what conclusions are we leaping to?" Josephine muttered with a frown, glancing between the two of us. Cullen's gaze had narrowed and he searched my face for an answer. I had none to give him.
I held up a hand to stop Josephine. "No, I'm sorry. I'm — sorry. My brain's jumping. So, when we were talking to Stroud, he mentioned that he could hear The Calling, not words or anything, but the melody."
"Blackwall has made no mention of such a thing, or that he hears it." Leliana muttered, one arm folded across her stomach and the other elbow propped up to allow her hand to hold her chin.
"It could be it doesn't affect him." Cullen added carefully, feeling the temperature of the conversation. "Too far to notice it?"
"No, that can't be." I shook my head. "At least, I don't think so. Stroud hears it, every Warden in Orlais did. Orlais. The Conclave happened in the Temple, and that was in Ferelden." I pointed to the map were the old, faded X of where the Breach had hung over the Temple was marked.
"The Frostback Mountains, to be precise." Leliana added with a tilted chin. "And that mountain range is our western border to Orlais. Wardens on both sides must of heard it and scattered."
"Yet Warden Blackwall was found wandering through the Hinterlands, training conscripts." Cullen sighed and reached up to rub his forehead roughly. "Which could mean he is extremely resistant to the call, if such a thing is possible —"
"— Or he isn't a Warden." Leliana and I finished together. Deadly silence blanketed the room, Josephine shifted uneasily on the other side of the war table and clutched at her board with nervous fingers. Leliana and I remained in place, waiting for the other boot to drop. Cullen stepped away from the table and walked toward a window behind him, his hand on his sword.
"If The Calling is so strong that every Warden abandoned ship to Weisshaupt, he should have gone, too." I followed up with a shallow voice, my fingers tapping a toneless rhythm against my elbows. "I'm not saying we kick him out, but it's another suspicion we need to watch out for."
"What do you mean?" Josephine turned to me in shock. "Blackwall has been nothing but loyal to the Inquisition."
"No." Cullen replied sharply, glaring out the window. "He's been loyal to her."
Josephine reeled up to her shoulders. "But he hasn't betrayed us, he's had no reason to, he's answered every call, every question —"
"No, he hasn't." Leliana snapped darkly, her brow pinched. "He's always dodged the questions we've posed. We've let it go because he behaves."
"Are we insinuating that Blackwall is a spy?" Josephine gripped her board tightly, glaring at us. "Who in Thedas would he report to? How? Without us knowing?"
"Corypheus." I answered quietly with a shrug. "Anyone who works for him? Other Wardens? The fact of the matter is that the pieces don't line up."
"Are we certain it is safe to keep him in our ranks?" Cullen asked, turning back to our conversation. I could see the nerves jump at the Commander's temple, too many parts and pieces were moving and he was left with little to no room to plan for them.
"I would rather have an enemy at my side than not." I replied honestly, nerves firing up my neck and heating the underside of my ears. What a mess this turned into, but we can't ignore the clues. "He's no different than Bull at this point. Damn if you do, damn if you don't."
"If he stays, we can keep an eye on him." Leliana agreed with a small sigh. "It may be that he only takes advantage of the title, and has no connection to Corypheus."
"Why not ask him?" Josephine pressed into the conversation, her gaze alight with anger. "Would that be so hard?"
"I don't know if he would answer me honestly, Josephine. The Mark only tells me so much. That's the problem." I brought my hands together and pressed them to my cheeks in frustration. "He could end up running, or clamming up, or omitting enough to fool my Mark…"
"There are too many holes." Leliana picked up my train of thought. She turned gentle eyes to Josephine, her mouth softening. "Would that we could trust every answer he's given us, but this throws all of that into the fire."
"But you trust The Iron Bull, do you not?" Josephine pushed a little harder. My heart swelled for her with pride, damn right, girl, don't you let it go without a goddamn fight. A small, sad chuckle slipped from my lips and I shrugged in agreement.
"I trust Bull insofar that I can see him." I huffed, amused. "But he's still sending missives to his superiors, isn't he?" My question was shot toward Leliana.
"He is."
"Then he's no more trustworthy than Blackwall." I answered with a firm nod to Josephine, but my heart twisted violently in my chest. Not now. "We just need to be careful, that's all. I'm not saying we hang him." Cullen returned to the table, a little less miffed at the situation, but his face readily pink at the cheeks from his frustration.
"So, then, to other matters. We have the issue with the Wardens at the Western Approach." Cullen reached over and tapped at the edge of the map. "And we received word from Harding about a search for a possible criminal?" Cullen turned his eyes up to me, just in time to see me flare up in renewed anger.
"Gregory Dedrick." I snapped, my arms crossed again over my chest. "Former mayor of Crestwood. I want him found for questioning."
"According to the reports, there is a great deal of suspicion that Ser Dedrick flooded old Crestwood ten years ago." Leliana pointed to the scroll of parchment that Harding had sent, allowing Cullen to peer through it before it was passed to Josephine. "His confession letter states he did it to save the remaining citizens from the Blight."
"Maker." Cullen exhaled with a sad shake of his head. "That is not a good position to be in. Your thoughts, Inquisitor?"
"I wanna hear him." I answered with tight teeth, my fingers stiff on my arms. "I want to know if there is any remorse for what he did. I can be logical, but not when you run from me." The three heads stared at me for a moment. Josephine's mouth tipped to one side and she shot a side glance at Leliana and Cullen.
"She forgets how intimidating she can be, doesn't she?" Josephine quipped with stage whisper.
"What?" I asked, startled, my arms dropping from my chest.
"Well, when she gives you that type of look." Cullen continued the joke, fighting a smile from his lips.
"Ass." I shot back. "The scars make me look amazing."
"Amazingly terrifying." Leliana jabbed lightly.
"Oh my god." I sighed, pressing my knuckles to the bridge of my nose. "It's going to be endless." Josephine cleared her throat and slipped a piece of paper from her board and laid it out on the table before us. The mood immediately dropped into ice as the contract's name was revealed.
Breaker Thram.
"Right." I murmured tiredly. "I nearly forgot about that. They're here, then?"
Josephine nodded. "Yes, Inquisitor. Breaker Thram will be up on the battlements. When convenient, please see to her today." I agreed with a weak nod and took the parchment to roll up into my belt. I don't know why I'm nervous. It's not like I'm interviewing for a job, I'm already saving the world.
"Mother Giselle is also asking for an audience with you, Inquisitor." Leliana caught my attention with a sharp uptick in her tone. With a blink, I turned to her and nodded, asking her to continue. Leliana shrugged, "I know not what she needs or wants, she would not say."
"Right, because that's not fucking ominous. Alright, noted." I gave Leliana a nod and turned to the other two. "Anything else I need to be aware of?"
"If you could, Inquisitor." Cullen tipped his head in politely, watching his words. "Would you be so kind as to check in with Cassandra?"
"Oh no." My heart dropped through my chest. "She found out, didn't she?"
"Yes. And with Varric having returned with you…" Cullen muttered and slowly his eyes went wide. "Varric's returned."
"Oh, fucking hell!" I snipped the conversation short with a swipe of my hand. "Right, over and out, I gotta find those two before she kills him!" I spared no time for the Hydra. Turning on my heel, I stormed out of the War Room, sprinting down the hall toward the exit through Josephine's room.
Fuuuuuuuck!
