"Meredith and Elthina," Varric mused. "Aside from the Grand Cleric promoting her to Knight-Commander, what else do they have in common?" He didn't have a clue. "But before you get into that, back up some. You walked Aveline home when she was released. She must've been pissed…"

Hawke interrupted, "Not really. She's been around and you don't live in a guard barracks for long unless you've got thick skin. It's a matter of survival. She summed it up when we left Anders' Clinic for Uncle Gamlen's house…

The sally port that served as a door to Anders' Clinic closed behind us. That morning the noxious haze known locally as chokedamp wasn't as bad as it usually was. A storm, riding a strong wind the previous night, cleared the air in the maze of passages that even a local could get lost in.

I joined her at the rail overlooking the harbor approach. It was a good morning for a fresh start. Aveline looked up at the sound of my footsteps. "About the other day… what I said…"

She held up a finger to stop me. "Anders pulled your fat from the fire for you. He told me why you said that." She looked back at the clinic door and continued, "I see what you said as a helping hand and will treat it as that, but there's one thing you need to understand." Her startling green eyes held mine.

Here it comes, I thought. Steady on. I didn't look away.

Aveline didn't either. "Hawke, my word is my bond. I've told you I'd be there if you need me, and I will." Her eyes finished for her, don't doubt me!

My hands were on her sturdy shoulders. We were almost nose-to-nose. "That knife cuts both ways, lady… just call me, I'll be there." I rested my forehead against hers.

When she pulled back, her face brightened. "Then we understand each other… let's go." She pushed by me and headed for the stairs, scattering a gang of street urchins at the bottom with a boisterous shout.

Aveline looked up from her examination of the dog. When we'd arrived at my uncle's home, there was no-one there but my sister Bethany and Faust. "He's got stitches. Was he hurt in Darktown that bad?" she asked, scratching the sweet-spot on the top of his head.

"No, that was from last night. He tangled with a couple of burglars. Stupid ones, too. Bringing clubs to a dog-fight?" Bethany rolled her eyes. She picked up something that was on her bed. "I hope you like what I did to your shield."

Aveline hefted it and looked at its back-side. "I've never noticed this," she said, pointing to a line of engraving on its tail.

Bethany smiled. "I did some research awhile back on arms and armor. It seems that that shield was originally from Orlais. Notice the difference in the sword-hilt cast into its face? It's a lot older than it looks. Apparently it was forged in the Blessed Age." They both looked at the list of names engraved on the back. "Since this was Chantry issue, each Templar to bear this buckler has had his name on there. I hope you don't mind… I took the liberty of adding yours to the list. Right… under Wesley's."

"Thank you, dear. I'm… sure he'd want it that way." The guardswoman set her shield up on the chest at the foot of the bed to see it better. "I like how you've touched up the heraldry, but why… the heart? I can only guess why…" She was at a loss for words, it seemed.

My sister pointed to the red fist-sized heart engraved just under the sword-hilt. "Practicality, really," she replied. "Truthfully, you're not a Templar. But a warrior related to the bearer of Chantry issue may claim it by marking it like this." She was obviously proud of her knowledge as well as her work. "This way they can never take it away from you or accuse you of stealing it," she finished.

"I don't know what to say," Aveline said, tracing the fine lines of her shield's herald, "but thank you so much." When I stepped up, she turned to face me. "What is that you have there, Hawke, it's beautiful," she breathed, eying what I held out; A sword with an ebony hilt engraved with gold inlays.

"Merrill found this on Sundermount before we went to find Asha'belannar. She gave it to me, but you deserve it more than I do. I know she'd want you to have it."

"I… I don't know what to say," she repeated herself.

"Thank you would fit," I grinned. "It's called Fadeshear and it will put a serious hurt on anything that's on the wrong side of the Veil. Here, take it. It goes well with Trusty there."

Aveline gave Faust one last pat on the head. It was none too gentle, but he didn't seem to mind. "I've put this off long enough, Hawke, let's go." She settled shield and sword into place on her back and gave little sister a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again, Beth'… you're a peach." She turned to the dog. "Faust… Sit! Stay… Good Boy!" She looked at me. "Hawke… Today!"

I was standing outside the Guard-Captain's office holding her sword and shield. It probably wasn't a good idea to stand before the man with a means of retaliation. My friend Aveline was anything but dumb.

It was strange that the Guard-Captain's voice was all I could hear from inside. But, then again, the Aveline we all knew would never raise her voice to a superior. She wouldn't feel the need to.

"Guardswoman Vallen, you want me to believe that in your off-duty hours, you were helping a friend escort some un-named merchant and you were waylaid by bandits?"

I didn't hear her reply. The silence stretched out to a couple of minutes.

"Bullshit!" he exploded. "You spent three full days absent-without-leave chasing some kidnapped merchant up and down the Wounded Coast? Enough! Do you want to stay with this outfit Vallen?"

Again there was silence. Evidently, she'd said the right thing.

"Fine, then you're on ninety-days-probation to prove yourself… keep your nose clean, and I'll consider keeping you. Dismissed!"

Kidnapped merchant? I mouthed at her when she opened the door.

She breezed by, dragging me along by the tunic sleeve. When we got to the notice board in the ready room, she stopped and studied a watch list posted there with great interest.

"That's it Hawke. I've got the bastard," she said with a lowered voice. "You're coming with me… tonight."

"That, she did," Varric enthused. "He was sending payroll pouches out with only one escort. Sounded like pay-offs from where I'm sitting."

"They never proved it, but just the smell of corruption was enough," Hawke added.

"And the icing on the cake," the dwarf was smiling. "Our Aveline was surprised when they tapped her to replace him. That didn't stop some wags from starting rumors about her motivation," he chuckled. "And now, the main event; You learned something about the Grand Cleric and the Knight-Commander?"

"Hmm, Meredith and Elthina," Hawke mused. "Right, Meredith had a sister, Amelia…

Elthina refilled our glasses with her usual flourish. "So, young man, why do you continue to return to listen to an old crone rant?" It sounded like a challenge to me.

Smiling, I set my glass down on the table, gently started kneading her shoulders, and replied, "I confess a fondness for… a certain long-winded lady friend." My hands continued their ministrations."I… however, do not agree with her somewhat myopic self-assessment." She sighed with contentment as I went on, "Me? I see an experienced, beautiful, wise, mature woman who's in a tough position of leadership…"

"You forgot patient, scholarly… intelligent… long-suffering…" she interrupted my blather with some of her own.

" … and most of all, infinitely modest," I finished my thought, giving up trying to be serious.

"Tough position, indeed," she murmured drowsily.

I leaned over and looked into her uplifted eyes. "How tough could it be for one so able?" I posed.

She sighed. "The qunari are one threat we need to keep a watchful eye on. The viscount has that task at the moment, but the Chantry has an ongoing interest in Kirkwall's defense."

"As have we all, Your Grace," I added. "So, Elthina, what's really on your mind? It's not the ox-men."

Her face was a study in concentration. After some time she said simply, "Kirkwall's Circle of Magi." She sighed, sat back, and let my hands work.

"So, it's Meredith you're concerned with?" I asked archly. "What is she up to?"

Did she hear me? She sat still, not saying a thing. Finally; "Meredith and Amelia… victims of blind ambition?" she murmured.

"Hmmh?" I leaned over her.

She looked up. "Sorry dear, daydreaming." Her eyes cleared. "Yes. Meredith." She picked up her wine-glass and drank.

"Rumors about the Knight-Commander are almost legend. Word on the street is that she's at war with the Circle of Magi." I told her.

Elthina shook her head in dismay. "Meredith and Orsino," she mused. "You'd think that was a given; The First Templar and The First Enchanter should get along or at least be civil to one another, but that is seldom the case. Personalities get in the way and emotion, rather than reason, often cloud important decisions–life-and-death decisions."

"Isn't it getting out of hand?" I asked her. Rumors of a mage-led revolt throughout Thedas came unbidden to my mind.

She made an impatient gesture. "It is nothing to be concerned about. It is most likely a family squabble brought on by some silly misunderstanding. You know how that can be." A thought caused her to frown. "Knowing Meredith's short temper, I will need to watch her closely."

I snorted, "Now, there's a motherless child, if I've ever seen one."

At that, she closed her eyes and looked away.

Confused by her reaction, I said; "My apologies, Lady. My mouth runs faster than my common sense at times."

Her eyes found me again. She smiled thinly. "No apology is necessary. In her case, it certainly seems that way, but I can vouch that she has a mother." She picked up the wine bottle, shook it, and set it down. "I will be right back…"

Varric looked up from his notes. "Meredith did have a sister and I think her name was Amelia. She was executed by the Templars… the whole affair was swept under the rug by the Chantry–a bloody fiasco from what I've read about it. A lot of villagers died along with Meredith's family before the abomination was taken down."

"That would explain why Meredith is so hard on The Circle. She blames magic for what an abomination did to her family."

"It killed her sister and her parents," the dwarf added. "Too bad it didn't get her. Things would be a damned lot easier now."

"Her adoptive parents," Hawke corrected. "Amelia and Meredith were both orphans…

Shortly, Elthina returned with another bottle. She was a little unsteady, so I offered to open it for her. She sat down heavily with a long sigh. "Our Knight-Commander as a motherless child, funny you should say that." She made an effort to avoid my eyes.

I was at a loss. "Please pardon me, lady… I…"

It was as if she didn't hear me, "Our Meredith was taken in by the Stannards here in Kirkwall as an orphan, but she does have a mother." It seemed painful for her to say. "A living mother at that," she added.

It was like she was far away. I wasn't sure if it was the wine or what she had to say. It was probably a little of both. I fumbled with the stubborn cork, hoping she wouldn't notice. "So, she does have a mother." I raised an eyebrow when I saw her watching me. When the damned cork finally pulled free, it was a surprise. "Do we… do I know her?" I asked, pouring the sample.

Elthina held her glass up to the light, gave it a sniff. "Oh yes, indeed we do," she assured me. "I see Meredith's mother often." She paused to taste the wine and looked up at me as if her mind was made up. "In fact, I see her every time I look in the mirror." Her eyes also said, So there!

I didn't know what to say. "You? I never would've guessed," was all I could say.

Kirkwall's Grand Cleric looked at me over her glass, drank, set it down. "Most of the population here know that Meredith was raised in a foster family. She was sponsored by the Chantry, so she wanted for very little growing up." Elthina looked into the fireplace. "A few here in Kirkwall, mostly those in the Chantry, know Meredith had a sister, Amelia, who died young. Some even know the truth; That Amelia was possessed by a rage-demon… and was executed in combat by the Templars, but not before she killed the Stannards and some seventy other villagers." Elthina's cool detachment was almost perfect except for the sorrow that showed in her eyes. A single tear ran down her cheek.

I took her hands in mine. They were cold.

Before I could say a word, she continued; "There are two things that no one knows, but me; That Amelia and Meredith were twins and that I gave them up for adoption."

"No one knows," I mused. "Does Meredith know who her mother is, may I ask?"

"You may." She tried to smile. "Unfortunately, no she doesn't. A condition of their adoption was that they would never know who their birth-mother was."

"A blessing and a curse, all rolled up in one," I said, raising the wine bottle."A blessing for Kirkwall's Grand Cleric, but a curse for the woman who is Meredith's mother." After she'd placed her hand over her glass, I refilled mine and set the bottle down.

"A delicate balance, at best," she agreed, looking up from her hands. "I suppose all this was a preface." She smiled at the sympathetic look on my face. "Remember my promise to tell you of Barowyn?"

"How does he fit in?" Then it hit me; "Him and Amelia?"

"Barowyn and Amelia," she murmured. "Their story is more personal than most myths, half-truths, and outright lies you hear about Kirkwall's Chantry." She paused to absently finger her wine glass's stem, then she continued, "While it is true that Amelia became an abomination, the why of it is still a mystery." She looked longingly at her empty glass and refilled mine, then hers.

"So, Amelia and Barowyn were both mages. Meredith fits in there somewhere?" I raised an eyebrow. "What about her, she had no talent?"

Her smile was wistful. "It is not unusual for twins to be so different in that way. They may look alike, but seldom do both have what some call a gift and others call a curse. My Meredith, I named them you know, didn't have much of the gift, but she did show the talent to make a brilliant Templar. That is why she has ascended the ranks so quickly."

I made a stab in the dark; "Taking a guess, I'd say Meredith was jealous of those two." I intended it to be a question, but it came out as a statement.

Elthina was quiet. She had to think. "Until lately, I would have vehemently objected to the assumption. Meredith was just a Templar then… she was involved with putting the abomination that… was once my Amelia down." She chewed a thumbnail as she considered. "If memory serves me well, Barowyn was condemned before that…"

A thought occurred to me; "Could that be what pushed Amelia over the edge? Was it really a rage-demon that possessed her?"

She shook her head. "Reports from that mission were not clear on that point. Accounts from three separate sources simply stated demonic possession. We can only assume that particular one fed on her rage." Her wine glass seemed to take her interest.

I wasn't sure how far to go. "Didn't you tell me that Meredith had you believe the tranquil was killed?" I watched her reaction carefully.

I could see suspicion dawning on her face. "Yes," she said, drawing it out slowly, "that is why his re-appearance surprised me so. Sister Ursina's interview of Barowyn was interesting, to say the least. It seems he was abducted by the necromancer…" She looked up at me. "Why would Meredith cover that up? I've always had trouble believing that the Templars would execute a tranquil, unless he was possessed. And he never showed any signs of being anything but tranquil," she ruminated.

"So, the whole story hinges on the Knight-Commander."

Elthina heaved a sigh. "Meredith's involvement, aside from her part in the actual battle, never did come to light." She looked across the room, studying the portrait of Andraste. "Was she involved in a love-triangle? Was she a spurned lover? We may never know." She returned her gaze to me, raised her glass, drank.

Stepping behind her, my hands again found her shoulders. "The Maker has a way with testing our faith, lady, doesn't He?"

Mmm, yes," she purred. "I am at a loss trying to make sense of what has happened. Most of the actors in this sad tragedy are at Andraste's side now. Meredith and now Barowyn are still with us, true, but neither of them is very forthcoming. The tranquil has no memories to speak of, and our Knight-Commander has an interest in silence, it seems." she managed a tired smile. "I suppose patience is a virtue in this case. Something may come to light… eventually, Maker willing."

I slid my arms around her, taking her hands in mine. "My problems seem smaller now. What can I do to help?"

Her smile gladdened my heart. "Just you being here helps," she said. "Knowing that you will come if I call eases my mind. It is lonelier here than you would think. Thank you so much." She looked up. "Yes dear, what is it?"

"Please pardon my intrusion, Your Grace." It was Nella. "The Captain of the Guard is waiting in the atrium. The Knight-Commander wishes an informal audience."

"What is it now?" she wondered under her breath. "Very well Nella, please show Cale to the door. I shall see what is troubling our First Templar…

"It's just like you, Hawke," Varric opined. "Put out with the cat. Why am I not surprised? Is that why you were so distracted… huh, downright cranky when we finally got to the Deep Roads? A little frustrated, were we?" he didn't bother to hide his mirth.

"No." It was almost a bark. "Nothing like that. It seemed that our… friendship was attracting attention. Attention from within the ranks of the Chantry. There was and is a power struggle going on and Elthina is determined to face it alone."

The dwarf was thoughtful. "Unless it's involving the Circle versus the Templars, I haven't a clue. Spell it out for me, that is, unless it's privileged."

"It is," Hawke replied. "But you're a friend and I trust you. I can speak for both of us-Elthina and me- when I say the truth needs to be told, but it's influence can be devastating now. You know the score."

He nodded solemnly. "Got it. You don't need to worry about me. This all is in code until the time comes for the truth, then my time in the sun begins." He grinned. "Sorry Hawke. A little levity here?" He paused to reflect on the power the champion had just placed in his hands. "You were saying?" he asked.

Cale pulled a single-page note from a pocket and carefully unfolded it. It had been re-folded so many times, it was almost in pieces. "I got this from her the day before we left for the Deep Roads." He passed it over without further comment.

Varric watched his friend carefully and only when Cale nodded and pointed to the note did he look at it and start reading;

My Dearest C,

It was certainly a pleasure to see you again last night. I always look forward to the time we steal to see one another. You see, I have grown quite fond of you, do not ask me why-I could not tell you. How you have broken down my barriers, I cannot say, but I am glad you did!

A question that torments me; You, Dear C or my beloved duty? My heart or my vows? Why must I choose? Can I not have you both?

You have helped me far more than I could ever elucidate-Where are the words? Aside from P and G, you are one I can truly talk to-I need never fear your judgment, though we do not agree at times.

Now to the point; Complications have arisen. Discretion demands that we are not seen together for awhile-A very short while is my fervent hope.

Perhaps I should explain. I feel I owe you that; It seems that my eldest daughter has been asking very pointed questions about you- And about me. Is she looking for an us? It is most likely so.

Now, I must close. Try to understand, Dear C; I am afraid I must face her scrutiny alone. The decision was not to my liking. Please forgive me. Please be patient.

Our Maker's Blessings,
My Fondest Regards,
E.

Varric carefully passed the note back. "So the Knight-Commander is on the prowl. Would she have the stones to buck up against the Grand High Cleric?"

"Seems like it. The Grand Cleric is the only check on the Templar Arm of the Chantry. Elthina is the only person in Kirkwall standing in her way."

"This may be outta line, Hawke, did you send her an answer?"

The Champion of Kirkwall nodded. "Yeah, I did. I forgot the exact wording. Something like; 'You're not alone. Call me and I will be there.'

The dwarf smiled at the thought. "Somehow, that's not so hard to believe."