"How was your trip from Nevarra?" asked Ellana when none of them spoke. There was nothing but sincerity on her face and in her voice.
"Not as fast as we would have liked," said Cassandra. "But it is good to be home."
Josephine stepped forward to draw the Seeker into a hug, which was repeated with Dorian, Cullen and even Darren. Her smile was wide enough to split her face. "I heard wonderful reports of your diplomatic efforts. Prince Dmitri's retainers have already inquired about a marital alliance. Truly exemplary work from you all."
"The Inquisitor is much improved also, as you can see," said Leliana quietly. She hadn't moved, watching them with hooded eyes from behind the throne. "Her cold has quite passed her by."
"I only needed my healer back," said Ellana, grinning at Solas. "He always makes me better."
Solas smiled in return but said nothing. When she held out her hands, he crossed to the throne and pulled her to her feet. Ellana kissed him swiftly, then turned back to the rest of them. "Let's talk. Like old times. Vivienne isn't here, and Blackwall is in Amaranthine with the Wardens, but the rest of us can catch up. Your office, Josephine?"
Cullen didn't like it, going into an enclosed space with no guards. No backup in case things went wrong. On the other hand, he could hardly learn what he needed to know in front of a hall of people. He'd been studying her face, and she seemed exactly as usual. Maybe more energetic, and definitely healthier, but there was no specter of evil about her. He cut a sideways look at Darren, who wore a polite smile. But as soon as Cullen's eyes swept over him, a slight grimace took its place, almost too fast to see, and Cullen knew he was ready to fight.
Another reason a less public place was better. If Darren attacked her out here, it was going to be a slaughter.
Varric went to round up the missing members of the inner circle, and Bull disappeared into the wine cellar with a large sack. Cullen made to follow the Inquisitor into the office when Leliana pulled him aside. "I'm glad you've all returned safely, Commander. I'd begun to fear the worst. Traitors in the ranks shouldn't be taken lightly."
Her gaze moved seemingly at random across the crowd, lighting first on Darren before moving to Solas. Her face didn't change, and Cullen strove to match her even expression. "You knew?" he asked.
"Cassandra's maid is one of my best agents. She decided the risks of allowing him to continue were outweighed by the rewards of knowledge. It seems she was correct," she said. "And I'm pleased you left her in Nevarra. Dmitri desires absolute power, and those who desire such things can be useful but always bear watching."
Double meanings and hidden words. She was never not playing, never not weaving a web around every person she met. Why couldn't Leliana just have a normal conversation? He couldn't match her layers, but he would try. "Morrigan visited Queen Elissa a few months ago, looking for help from an old friend. I'm surprised she didn't come to you as well."
Leliana laughed. "She would have received no help from me. Had she come seeking something dark, some revenge for an old pain, some raking up of past wrongs, I would only have given her pretty words, not her heart's desire. Revenge is a fool's game. A person does not break a hammer simply because it once injured her thumb. She simply takes more care to wield it correctly," she said. She stared through the doorway at the gathering party. "And with a powerful enough tool, you can re-build the world."
The assembled group was half-awkward - namely, the half who had any idea what was happening. Bull, Varric, Sera, Josephine and Ellana carried the conversation while the rest watched each other. Ellana made it a point to engage the recently returned members, clapping excitedly at Darren and Dorian's newly acknowledged intimacy. Josephine was less sanguine and muttered about Imperial repercussions, rifling through her files until Leliana led her gently away from the desk.
Cullen stayed near Cassandra, settling next to her on the couch, though whether to protect or be protected he would never know. Ellana was pleased to see their own closeness restored, and she led a round of teasing that was capped by Sera and Varric's dramatic re-enactment of the two warriors sparring, then falling passionately into each other's arms. It was close enough to the truth that Cullen couldn't stop a blush, which seemed to placate some of Bull's suspicions of their stiff demeanors. The former Qunari spy was no fool.
When they turned back to Dorian to ask for embarrassing details about his own courtship, Cole sat next to Cullen on the couch. The spirit was pale, his ragged hat covering even more of his face than usual. "Hello, Cole. Did you come back with Solas?" asked Cullen.
"Yes. It was so quiet."
Cullen lowered his voice. "And how is the Inquisitor?"
The boy looked up at him miserably. "I can't hear her anymore. I don't know when she's hurting," he said. His hands twisted together cruelly, grinding bone against bone. "How can I help if I cannot hear? Who will smooth away the fears that come in the night? Maybe she's in pain. Maybe I'm the one who hurt her. Silent secrets in shadows that should not have been spoken."
"Cole," said a voice. They both twisted their heads to see the Inquisitor standing over them. She smiled and touched Cole's shoulder. "You didn't hurt me. But you don't have to stay, if you don't want to."
Cullen stared at her in shock, but Cole was already shaking his head in quick little jerks. "Where would I go? No one will remember me if you don't."
"Then stay. I'll remember you, and that will help me," she said. "Right now Solas wants to speak with you."
Cole hopped to his feet and a dagger flashed reflexively in his hand before it slid back up into his sleeve. As soon as he was gone, Ellana took his place next to Cullen. "Cullen, you're so silent. Aren't you happy to be home?"
"Who are you?" No more dissembling. No more laughter. He didn't have the patience for it.
"I'm Ellana Lavellan. Former First of her Clan, current Inquisitor, and the woman who saved your life," she said. Her smile sharpened as she looked past him to Cassandra. "Possibly twice."
His eyes dipped to the talisman around her neck. "Maybe you are all of those things. But who else are you?" he asked. Darren was watching them as he told a lewd story to Josephine, and Cullen shook his head slightly.
The Inquisitor sighed. "You already know. I don't need to say it. But it isn't what you fear. I'm still me. She just healed me. She takes the power my body can't hold safely and keeps it apart. My mind stays my own," she said. "It's like with the Well. It gave me voices that tell me what I need to know. Hers is just clearer."
"Then what does she get out of it?"
"Him," she said, nodding at Solas. He made to stand, but she waved him off. "I love Solas. She loves Fen'Harel. And I'm there for them both."
He must have looked unconvinced because she took his hand between her own. They were so small around his, even with the glow, even with the new strength cording through them. "Cullen. It's me. I'm your friend, and I'm alive. I'm healthy again. Be happy for me?" Her smile was gone, but her eyes were hopeful.
Cullen softened and turned his hand over to grip hers. "I am happy for you. I wanted you to live so much."
Tears formed in her eyes, and she was leaning to envelop him in a hug when Cassandra's voice cut in, smooth and controlled. "Prove that your mind is your own, Inquisitor. Cole cannot hear you. Solas convinced you not to wait for Cullen. Neither of these things inspire my confidence."
The rest of the room had fallen silent, Cullen realized, watching them with various degrees of confusion and aggression. But he focused on Ellana, whose hand had gone still in his. "Cassandra," she said with a half smile. "A Seeker of Truth even now. The centuries change but the Inquisition remains."
"Please, Ellana," said Dorian. His face was vulnerable with hope and terrible with fear.
She looked at him, then pulled her hands back to herself. "I went with you to confront your father in Redcliffe. You wanted to leave, but I told you to stay, to talk to him, or you would regret it. And you did, and now you're in love and I couldn't be happier for you. Josephine is in a feud with a Free Marcher merchant who sells ink because she wants the kind that doesn't run and he continues to ship us the wrong sort, only he's well-connected politically, so she can't take away his contract. Varric and I wrote a few chapters of a love serial one night when we were both drunk, about two Dalish elves in the big city, and it was absolutely terrible."
She stood and began to pace. Solas gripped the arms of his chair until his knuckles whitened, watching her move. "We played Wicked Grace one night and you, Cullen, lost all of your clothes in a very ill-advised bet. Cassandra, you couldn't keep your eyes to yourself, and Varric was hard-pressed to keep chapters of Swords and Shields coming fast enough to satisfy you," she said. She whirled around to face them with fire in her eyes. "I am your friend. I am your Inquisitor, and I remember all of you. Every piece of every memory. Every time we fought, every time we laughed and screamed and bled together. I've loved you all. The only question is, do you trust me or not?"
Darren's jaw was still tight and Solas's gaze never wavered, but the rest of them dropped their eyes. Even Bull, even Sera, and especially Cole. Her anger was like a physical thing coursing through the room, shaking them like leaves on a wind-stirred tree. Even meeting each others' gaze was an effort beyond them all. She was their leader, and she didn't think they believed in her. Cullen had done that to her, and his shame threatened to overwhelm him.
He lifted his eyes slowly, an apology on his lips, when she continued. "Because if you don't trust me, you should leave."
Cullen's stomach clenched into a knot. First the offer to Cole, now the threat to all of them. Ellana never wanted anyone to leave. She'd even saved Blackwall, a man she barely knew, to keep this new family together. The bond of the Inquisition was the most important thing in the world to her. And what had she really told them in her flaming speech? Just memories. Things they all already knew. They would have been easy for Mythal to find, or for Solas to tell.
No one else moved, but he stood in a quick motion and crossed to where she waited. "We don't want to leave, Ellana. You've always had our trust. I'm your Commander, and I'll be it until the end," he said. He rubbed her arms as she smiled gratefully. He took a breath and continued. "Which reminds me, I spoke to Captain Rylan on the way in. She told me they've had some issues with wildlife up in the mountains. Nothing serious, but I'd like to take a personal look."
He looked at her carefully. "Would you mind if I went on patrol?"
When she nodded agreement with no flicker of recognition in her eyes, no concerns of any kind, he smiled tightly. Without warning, he grapsed the scales around her neck and pulled as hard as he could.
Everything exploded at once. Ellana snarled and shoved him away at the same time his shoulder wrenched, the necklace resisting his movement. The talisman glowed under his fingers, and he lost his grip as he fell away from her and hit the floor. Maker but she was strong, stronger than she'd ever been. Solas sprang to his feet and advanced, magic crackling around his hands and the staff he held. A shimmering purple wall fell around them both, cutting them off from the rest of the room. Another barrier flew over the doors, trapping them in. Growls and curses filled the room as aggression spiked through them all.
Darren drew his sword and advanced, only to be yanked back by Iron Bull's massive hand. Dorian yelped and jumped on the qunari, trying to block him from drawing the axe he always carried on him. Varric only stared, dumbfounded, but Sera had her bow drawn already. "Who do I shoot? Does someone need to get shot?" she growled. The tip of her arrow waved at each of them in turn, but no one answered her.
Cassandra moved to stand over him, blocking him from Ellana's eyesight and spells. Mythal, he thought dully. There was no Ellana left in this woman. Only a life learned by rote, facts rattled off like the lines in a play that would always be performed and never again be true.
He met Solas's eyes briefly and saw pity and sorrow in them for a moment before the feral rage returned. Cullen had been right, there was something of him remaining. He wasn't all Wolf, but he was enough to kill them, if he chose to. Cullen should have been more careful. He should have thought instead of acted. He breathed heavily from his place on the flagstones and prayed to the Maker for help.
Instead, Mythal held up her hand, still glowing, and silenced the room with a resounding clap of the Fade. It wasn't a rift, exactly, but they all felt the dull thud of spirits hitting the Veil, scrambling and clawing to cross into the world.
Bull paled and stopped struggling, though he kept a grip on Darren. "Boss, what are you doing?"
She ignored him. "That was very foolish of you. I nearly shattered your mind once without intention. Do you think you would have survived a second attempt?"
"I promised her," he growled. "I promised her she wouldn't be lost."
"She isn't," said Mythal. "She survives. Just as I promised. I don't lie."
"You just lied a half dozen times," said Cassandra. "Possibly more."
"Details only. Ellana remains. Her voice is clear. She wants me to keep you all alive. I was merely trying to accomplish that goal," said the elven woman. Ellana's pale eyes flashed, set in a face that was somehow deadlier than it had ever been. "I must admit I would like to spare your lives as well. I've gained respect for each one of you over the last year. You would make a strong court. A new Pantheon for a new age."
Dorian laughed harshly. "A Tevinter mage in an Elvhen court would certainly count as a new age."
"Little Dorian," she said, chuckling. "You know so little about your own history for all you want to restore it."
"Okay," said Sera. "Someone better fucking tell me what is going on right now, yeah? Why is Her Glowiness saying all this spooky shit? She hasn't done that ever, not once. Even when she was still all Andraste-blessed. This is too weird." She shivered, not something to be done lightly while a bowstring was still drawn.
"Solas is possessed by an ancient elf. Now the Inquisitor is possessed by his lover, another ancient elf. And she doesn't seem to want us to just go and plant a tree somewhere," said Darren coldly.
"That's bloody ridiculous."
Varric's eyes were narrowed to slits, but his voice was casual. "Wouldn't be the most ridiculous thing we've seen. Might not even crack the top ten. Or am I the only one who remembers that lovely little trip into the Fade?"
"So what does she want?" asked Bull. "And, lady, I'll just say right now that if it involves opening up the Fade, you can find another horned guy for your Pantheon."
Mythal smiled slightly. "No. The power to do that is beyond even me. The anchor is only a portion of Fen'Harel's power. Corypheus destroyed the rest. There's just enough left for tastes of the other side." She raised her hand and let the glow expand out to bathe the room in a green glow. The sounds of the spirits muted underneath other voices, speaking in strange accents. Elvhen, but not. They sounded like Abelas but using a language Cullen couldn't understand.
Until one cried out, "Fen'Harel!" in a worshipful tone, and silence fell again. But this was the silence of thousands holding their breaths. Solas shifted and closed his eyes. A curl of power arced out from the tip of his staff and the silence became more natural again.
"It's easier to find the past here," said Mythal conversationally. "This was his temple."
"Fortress," said Solas. "I was a general. Not a god."
Mythal turned to him with a soft smile. "You were both, my love," she said, caressing the side of his face with the tip of her finger. "There was none better."
A look of shame passed across his face, but she didn't seem to notice. "As to what I want, I've told you. A new age. Peace for this world, and a rule of it that will span generations. Another Arlathan. A better one," she said. "You can all help with that. Negotiations move more quickly with true power behind them."
Cullen rolled and stood. "No," he said firmly.
"No?" asked Mythal. "It's what you wanted. I can simply make it happen more quickly."
"We wanted a united word, not a cowering one."
She laughed. "Perhaps that is what you wanted, Commander," she said. "But one of your comrades, at least, does not agree."
Cullen gaped as Leliana crossed the room and through the barrier to stand beside the elves. "You can't support this," he said.
"The Maker works mysteriously," she said. "I thought for a time He wanted our deaths. Now I know He demands our lives. Fully. How long has The Chantry excluded and controlled those we did not deem worthy of His love? Mages. Elves. Is it any wonder His new messenger was an elven mage? The new Divine wants this world to continue as it was. I want it to continue as it has never been."
Her eyes sought Josephine, who looked ashen and terrified. "I believed the Maker spoke to me once. I believed I had carried out my purpose in the Blight. But my purpose is much greater still. So yes. I do support this. It is hope."
"It's an abomination," spat Cassandra.
"I agree," said Cullen. "An Elvhen spirit can't speak for the Maker. And she won't be content with peace. She'll only be content with absolute devotion. That won't come without blood."
The mood of the room grew darker, somehow, and the sounds of spirits creaking into the Veil returned. Bull looked around him warily, and Sera crowded in closer to the rest of them. Cole wavered and flashed around them, and when he gripped her hand she didn't object.
Mythal drew herself up and glared at him with cold hatred. Cullen's heart squeezed, and he had to remind himself that it was Ellana's face, but she wasn't the one who hated him. Mythal didn't move, but he felt her focus come closer to him, circling dangerously. He forced himself to meet her eyes.
"I had such hopes for you," she said. "Ellana demanded your rescue, but it wasn't unwelcome after I saw the shape of your mind. A strong man who had no distaste for following a woman. Who, in fact, preferred it. You've followed women without shame all your life. Your mother. Your sister. A Knight-Commander. A Viscountess. The Inquisitor. Even your lover. Such a thing is a rarity even among humans, and almost unheard of among my people. Only Fen'Harel was able to discover this capacity inside of himself."
She smiled at the man next to her, who took her hand and squeezed it. There was no more shame on his face, only power and purpose. "You are worthy to be followed, my love."
She nodded regally and her face fell into anger again. "But not to the Commander. A man will always show his true nature in the end. When a woman with undeniable power over him exists, power he cannot ever hope to overthrow, he will never submit. My husband was the same, always. And I deserved more," she said. "Now I shall have it. And you will have your world. Will you truly not take this offering, my friend?"
"I'm not your friend. Ellana would never do this," he said. "I follow her. She's deserving. You are nothing but a thief, a rapist of souls, and there's nothing deserving about that."
Fen'Harel snarled and flung a blot of electricity through the barrier, arcing it into Cullen's chest and driving him to his knees. The muscles in his body spasmed while his friends pulled closer, weapons readied once more. Dorian's magic trickled into him, releasing the overwhelming tightness, and he threw the mage a grateful look before focusing back on the now furious trio behind the barrier.
Cassandra drew her sword in a slow, deliberate movement. "Do not do that again," she said. It was directed at Fen'Harel, but her eyes were only on Mythal.
"I do what I must," she said. "And so I ask one more time. Who will serve? And who will not? The answer will determine how much more is done, before the end."