Chapter 20

The entire glade went dead silent. No one dared to even breathe, fearing the reaction of their commander; by now, everyone present apart from Sigrun knew just how Matthew felt about the Chantry, and could only guess at what his reaction to this would be.

Keeping his expression blank, the Commander reached out and took the blood-spattered vellum from Oghren, and read it in silence. Everyone stood at guard, waiting for the inevitable explosion that they all knew was coming. When their commander did react however, it was in a way none of them expected.

He laughed.

The sound was so unexpected every Grey Warden in the clearing was taken aback. Seeing their confused faces, Matthew chuckled, and explained, "First Bann Esmerelle, now Revered Mother Morag; am I really doing such a poor job of running this Arling that I must have not one but two attempts on my life?"

A moment after this unexpected jovial mood, however, all humor vanished from Matthew's face, leaving only cold anger and steel determination on his countenance. Nathaniel asked, "What could the Revered Mother ever hope to gain from this, sending out Templars to assassinate you? If it ever came to light that the servants of the Chantry participated in the outright murder of the Hero of Fereldan, it would utterly destroy their reputation in this Kingdom; they are already on shaky ground after their support of the Orlesian occupation, and the Grand Cleric of Denerim certainly made things worse after she barred the doors of the city's cathedral and left hundreds to be slaughtered at the gates during the Blight."

"Morag already has that covered," the Commander whispered, voice hard and cold as ice. "She told these templars that after they killed me and any witnesses to the crime, read 'all of you', the other mothers at the Chantry of our Lady Redeemer were to plant evidence in Mother Julia's chambers making her look the perpetrator. Apparently, Julia has been preaching that the faithful should be more accepting of those outside normal society, namely the mages and the Dalish, and after the Battle of Denerim she has started to gain ground. So, Morag has decided that she needs to go, and being framed for my death will be the ultimate discredit to Julia's unorthodoxy." Faced skewed in disgust, he added, "Not to mention the fact that she will be able to spew some nonsense of being able to overlook my blasphemy of not bending down and planting my lips on ring finger. Bah!"

"I'm sorry, but you all have lost me," Sigrun suddenly piped up. "What is the Chantry?"

"The single most compelling argument that we should all lay down our arms and let the darkspawn destroy the surface world in order to ensure that nothing as horrible as it can ever happen again," Matthew declared.

"It is a religion, Sigrun," Nathaniel explained. "The single largest on the surface, and one which most humans follow; they believe that, if they spread the Chant of Light to all corners of the world, their god, the Maker, will come to Thedas and turn the world into a paradise. However, there are some," he added with a poignant look at the Commander, "who disagree."

Sigrun nodded in understanding, but then appeared confused. "Is murdering people who disagree with them an actual part of their doctrine?"

"No," Nathaniel said. "It is not."

"Then why did they try to do it now?"

"Because they are hypocritical and are unable to conceive that someone can disagree with them," Matthew spat out. Folding up the vellum paper, he placed the letter containing the order to murder him in a small pocket in his pack, before turning to the rest of the group. "I'm sorry everyone, but I'm afraid we will have to hold off getting back to the Keep for our well-earned rest; we're making a detour to Amaranthine, and taking the most highly regarded religious figure in the Arling prisoner, an action that could very well result in all-out war between the Grey Wardens and the Chantry."

"In other words, all in a day's work," Anders said, his characteristically cocky grin returning with a vengeance. "Don't worry about offending me, Commander, I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

Looking around, Matthew saw all of the members of his group acknowledge their assent to his plan. Sigrun was especially enthusiastic; she was tickled pink at the prospect of seeing a city on the surface world. As they were fishing out any coins they could from the dead Templars, they turned down the road leading to the port city and set out; Matthew noticed that Velanna was walking apart from the rest of the group, deep in thought, and appearing dejected and morose. When Nathaniel approached her to ask what was wrong, she simply shied away; even this lacked her usual hostility. It was clear that she was still hurting from the words that her former clanmate had said.

Once this errand was finished, Matthew resolved to talk to Velanna, find out the exact circumstances behind her leaving her clan, and try to help her overcome this.

It took another day and a half of travel before they got to Amaranthine. When the Wardens finally reached the port city, Matthew immediately began questioning the guardsmen and women at the gate as to their commanding officer's location. Eventually, one told him that Constable Aiden, the officer that they had assisted with the smugglers, was busy dealing with two market stall owners who each claimed that the other was stealing from them. As the group made their way to the city's market corner, however, a passing dwarf accidentally bumped into Sigrun.

"Oh, sorry about that; I-" Suddenly, the dwarf went dead silent as she looked at Sigrun, recognition flashing in her eyes, which quickly turned to rage. "Why, you ungrateful, backstabbing duster!"

"Hello, Misha," Sigrun murmured, shame and guilt replacing her normally perky features. It was clear to all that these two dwarves had a history together, and that it was not a pleasant one.

Turning to Misha, Matthew said, "Do not speak to any of my Wardens in that manor again, woman. And how do you know Sigrun?"

"I was a merchant in Orzammar," Misha said, not backing down from the Commander's glare and returning it with one of her own. "Until she ruined me. I had her running errands for me in exchange for food, blankets, even some coin when I could slip it under the table. It was keeping her out of trouble. Thought I was doing a good deed. Then, I hear House Bemot's lost a gold statuette of their Paragon. Next day, it turns up in my shop. If you know anything about dwarven culture, I don't have to tell you what happened next."

Indeed she doesn't, Matthew thought. The dwarves of Orzammar had an extreme respect, though he would say obsession, with their traditions, particularly the caste system. If a merchant appeared to have stolen an object from a noble, they would look no further than that surface appearance, even if the merchant was innocent. Exile to the surface would be the least such a dwarf could expect.

"Sigrun…" Matthew said, waiting for an answer. Insulting slur or not, if Sigrun had done something that had destroyed a woman's life, he wanted the truth.

"I was running with a crime lord named Beraht," the rouge said, eyes downcast. "He was worried that it might be traced back to him, so he told me to plant it in Misha's shop. He said he would kill her if I didn't do it."

"House Bemot nearly had me executed," Misha hissed. "You could have spoken up, told them the truth!"

"And then Beraht would have killed me!"

"Of course," Misha said, shaking her head. "All you cared about was yourself, just like every other duster. I don't have time to deal with this; I need to get some skins to a tanner. Out of my way , brand."

The angry dwarven woman made to move past Sigrun, but was suddenly brought to a halt when Matthew brought the Summer Sword down in front of her throat. Freezing in shock and fear, she looked up into the Commander's steel gaze.

"Never. Use that word. In front of me," he whispered, voice cold as a blizzard. He held the sword at her neck for a moment, than lowered the flaming blade, allowing the woman to leave, which she did quite quickly.

Taking a look at his dwarven companion, Matthew asked, "Do you want to talk about this, Sigrun?"

She shook her head. "It's in the past, Commander. We should get going."

"As you wish." And with that, he led the group toward the market quarter.

It wasn't hard to find the Constable; a small crowd had gathered to witnesses the spectacle that had arisen as the constable and his men attempted to calm and separate the two market stall owners. Standing back in the shadows so as to avoid the sight of anyone who would report his presence to the Chantry, Matthew watched as the officer tried desperately to contain the two furious merchants. After a few moments of hearing the two men bicker ceaselessly, two groups of guardsmen came up to Aiden. It turned out that both of the merchants had been telling the truth; they had been stealing goods from each other at the same time. After two guardsmen had lead the two thieves away, Matthew and his group approached the constable, the Commander holding the folded paper containing the order for the attempt on his life in hand.

Spotting him, Aiden did a double take before standing at attention. "Commander, it is a pleasure to have you in our city again. Forgive me, I don't have any proper greeting for you; we did not receive word that you would be arriving."

"That was intentional, Constable," Matthew said, careful to keep his voice down. "I needed to enter Amaranthine as inconspicuously as possible. I need to speak with you immediately, in private."

Catching just how serious he was acting immediately, Aiden nodded, and lead both his and Matthew's group into a nearby alleyway. After checking to make sure that they were not followed, the Constable asked, "What is going on Commander; why is this necessary?"

Taking one last glance around, Matthew leaned towards the man, and said, "There has been an attempt on my life, Constable. And the perpetrators are in the city."

Aiden and his men hissed with fury at the revelation. "Maker's blood," the Constable spat, eyes hard as iron. "Tell us who has done this act, Commander, and we will ensure that they will face justice."

"A group of templars, under the command of Revered Mother Morag and all but one of the remaining mothers at the Chantry of our Lady Redeemer," Matthew said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.

The guardsmen before him went from furious to stuned before anyone could blink. Taking advantage of the silence, he handed the letter to the Constable, saying, "I found this on the leader of a group of Templars laying in ambush while on my way back to Vigil's Keep. It should clear up any confusion."

Except there was not ambush, Morrigan's smug voice echoed in his mind. You simply slaughtered them all the moment you saw them and used protecting the elves as an excuse.

He doesn't need to know that.

Aiden spent no less than five minutes examining the letter from the Revered Mother, trying to comprehend what he was reading. Finally, the man lowered the letter, and put his hand up to his face in disbelief. After collecting himself, he said, "I cannot believe that a holy mother of the Chantry would stoop as low as this, Commander, but I cannot deny what I see in front of me. What would you have my men and I do?"

The Commander gave the group a humorless smile, and began laying out his plan.

oo-00-oo

It took half an hour before the details of Matthew's plan for his unprecedented arrest of most of the senior members of a city's Chantry to be hammered out, and for the groups of city guardsmen and women that Aiden had recruited after his reveal of Morag's treachery. The Constable was sure to bring in only those of the city guard that he was sure would be unwaveringly loyal to them; while the Revered Mother was secretly despised and disliked by the city's populous, the Chantry itself was held in high regard by most, and there was the possibility that some of their supposed allies would turn of them. It wasn't until these loyal guards were posted at various points around the Chantry of our Lady Redeemer to ensure the Mothers did not try to escape that Matthew and Aiden made their move on Morag.

Approaching the front door of the religious building with his group and Constable Aiden's personally chosen men up the stairs to the Chantry's front door. The Constable had protested this sledgehammer approach, on the grounds that they would provoke the Andrastian Chantry even more than they already were, but Matthew would have none of it; this was the second time in a matter of weeks that this a member of this organization had made an attempt on his life and the lives of his Wardens, and what little patience he had for this religious group had long since been used up. Fortunately, there were virtually no Templars nearby; the recent chaos of the darkspawn incursions had forced even these pompous armored asses to leave their cushioned hall and assist the city guard in policing Amaranthine.

The two groups assembled on either side of the large double doors of the building, ignoring the Chanter by her board of requests, who was paying no attention to them as she knelt and began praying to the God she had devoted her life to. Shaking his head at what he saw as incredible insipidness, the Commander gestured for his followers to proceed, and pushed his door open as Aiden did his own.

Marching through the opening, the group separated marching up and through the aisles between the pews the commoners sat on when they attended services. All of the mothers of the Chantry, except for Julia, were assembled in a circle just before the podium, Revered Mother Morag at their head. Looking up, and seeing the Warden approach her, went completely pale, and began backing up unsteadily, mumbling and appeared to be trying to scream, but was too stricken by fear and shock to do so. Seeing their leader's reaction, the remaining priests followed her gaze to the door, and by the time they saw the danger, Matthew and his men were already half-way to them.

"Revered Mother Morog," Matthew's voice boomed across the small cathedral, "Mothers of the Chantry of Our Lady Redeemer. You are all under arrest, charged with treason, and conspiracy to commit murder. Guardsmen!"

At his order, the men with him moved in on the group, pulling out manacles as they did so. At this point, the guilty priests scattered, and all attempted to run to different exits to try and escape. Unfortunately for them, the guards the Commander had prepositioned came through the door and seized the surprised priests before they could do more than jump in surprise, shackled their wrists and chained their manacles together. After a brief struggle, the traitorous holy women were all bound together like a chain gang of prisoners. Several still protested and tried to resist, including Morag who had regained her senses, but a few quick yanks on their chains quickly forced the bound group to move forward.

"What in the Maker's name is going on?"

Turning to the main entrance of the Chantry, he saw a small group of chantry sisters, the eldest no older than her mid-twenties, lead by Mother Julia, who was looking over the spectacle of the entire upper echelon of the city's religious group being clapped in irons and hulled around like common thugs.

"Ah, Mother Julia," Matthew said in greeting, keeping his voice purposefully non-chalet. "So nice to see you again. Is there something I can help you with?"

The Mother spluttered for a moment, and then regained her composure to continue her indignation. "Commander, this is outrageous! You have the Revered Mother and half the priests of this Chantry in chains! Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of Thedas!"

"It has now," Matthew said smugly, a small grin spreading his face. Through the ring, he felt Morrigan groan at his childishness.

Seeing Julia starting to turn red, though, he dropped his mocking attitude, and turned to Aiden. "Constable, make sure our new friends don't try anything. I'll explain the situation to Mother Julia." Turning back to incensed priest, he gestured for her to follow him into a nearby room, where they could talk in relative privacy. As soon as the door to the small meeting room closed, Julia was directly in his face, their noses almost touching.

"Commander," the woman hissed, "I realize that you do not hold Chantry in high regard, but this is unacceptable! Morag has served as Revered Mother of this Chantry for twenty years, and now you are dragging her, and all the other high priests, out in manacles! What possible reason could you have for this?"

Matthew handed the letter to the woman, saying simply, "I found this on the leader of a Templar ambush team. It should answer any questions you have on my motives."

Tearing the paper from his fingers, Julia smoothed out the piece of velum, and began rapidly scanning the letter. As she continued through the instructions from the Revered Mother, though, she began to slow down here reading, and began to go pale as a sheet. When she finally finished reading that those she had considered her friends and comrades for years had ordered him outright murdered and have the deed pined on her, Julia lowered the velum and looked down at the floor, eyes glazed and knees shaking. Slowly, she backed up and sunk onto a nearby bench staring at her limp hands, allowing the letter to fall to the floor.

Stepping forward, Matthew knelt down and placed a hand on the grieving woman's shoulder, picking the piece of velum off the ground as he did. After a moment, Julia looked up, shock and sadness filling her features, and asked rhetorically, "Why? Why would they do this? To either of us?"

"Because they are evil, manipulative, hypocritical, and feel completely justified going completely against the creed they swore to uphold whenever something pops up that they feel is inconvenient to them," The Warden said, voice laden with disgust.

"You say that like I should expect it," Julia said.

"This is now the second time this organization has tried to murder me and my wardens, Mother Julia," Matthew explained. "Not to mention all the other inexcusable acts I have witnessed them perpetrate, such as trying to enact genocide on the Circle of Magi when they could have quite easily saved the entire tower themselves. Or supporting Loghain Mac Tir's coup and regicide, only turning on him when they found out he had kidnapped a Templar and assisted in a blood mage's escape. And then there was the Grand Cleric in Denerim, who ordered the doors of the city's Chantry shut during the siege against the darkspawn and leaving hundreds of the city's civilians to die at their hands. Not to mention the Divine's complete support of the Orlesian invasion during the Blessed Age. And that's without mentioning-"

"Alright, alright," Julia said softly. "I understand." Finally looking the Commander in the eye, she asked, "But what do you intend to do with Morag and those who follow her?"

"Ordinarily, I would send them to trial, and have them executed for treason," Matthew answered without batting an eyelash. "However, given the more pressing darkspawn issue, I will have to postpone those plans. I will have them escorted to Vigil's Keep, and imprison them there until such a time as the dearkspawn threat has passed."

Nodding, Julia stood up, no longer looking as though she were going to pass out, and said, "Very well then, Commander; given the evidence you have uncovered, I cannot, and will not, oppose this. Morag and her followers have disgraced themselves and the Chantry, and should face appropriate punishment for their crimes. Now, if you will excuse me, I must ensure this unheard of development causes as little upheaval as possible. I bid you good day."

"And I to you, Revered Mother Julia," Matthew said, using the priest's new title; as the last Chantry mother at the Chantry of Our Lady Redeemer, Julia was the only one with the rank to take over running the church, and would certainly have her hands full after his little coup. The two exited the small meeting room, Julia making a point of ignoring her former compatriots.

Walking up to Constable Aiden, he said, "Constable, it is my intention to take these traitors to Vigil's Keep for incarceration. Would you be good enough to spare a group of your men to assist our escort?"

Aiden appeared conflicted for a moment, as he needed all the men he could for keeping order in the city, but eventually relented, and agreed to spare a group of five guardsmen to help guard the prisoners on the way to the Keep. And so, with his Wardens, city guardsmen, and sobbing, shrieking arrested priests in tow, Matthew gave to order to return to Vigil's Keep.