Chapter 6

I wake up, cold sweat streaming down my face and body. Adaar's voice echoes in my head as if I really had just spoken to her, and I can smell her above the dank moldiness of the cave.

"Your friend has visited you in the Fade again." The mage states, but he does not question me for details.

I describe the Fade dream in such detail it surprises me. I have not spoken of Adaar in many years, and the words tumble easily from my mouth. When I am done, the mage is so quiet that I suspect he has forgotten I had spoken.

"It is the Fade recreating these events for you, Sten. Why I do not know. Perhaps reflection of some sort?"

The mage dishes some fresh stew from the pot before taking a seat next to my bed.

"Did you do as she asked? Did you become her companion?"

"I went back the next week. And the week after that. Days became months, months became years. It was a dangerous situation and we took immense risks." My throat is dry and I drink thirstily from the cup of water the mage hands me. He sits back and strokes his beard, contemplating my last comment.

"And you were content with her practicing her magic….this 'Saarebas'? Despite what the Qun has taught you."

I had to think about this.

"I was never accepting of it but Adaar, she could make anything seem like it is the most natural thing in the world. Until then I had never met a Quanri like her. I was…enthralled by her sense of self. She refused to conform even in the face of certain death."

The mage is listening intentely and I carry on.

"The Tamassran teaches that people are not simple. They cannot be summarized for easy reference in the manner of "The elves are lithe pointy eared people who excel at poverty."

The mage's eyebrows shoot up, but he says nothing.

"The Qun teaches that the Qunari as a society is one - each part of a limb that makes up a body. Yet the Tamassran teaches us that we are complex, that there are many things that make up our nature. Until I met Adaar, did not understand how we can be one being but also individual at the same time. It was not my place to question this. I chose a path that day and I followed it."

The mage shakes his head. "An unusual path for a devout Qunari such as you."

I smile at this remark. "Maybe so, but this was many years ago, I was less devout. I thought I could handle it. Had I been wiser, I might have chosen differently. I might have slain her or reported her to the Arigena."

"But you did not."

I shake my head.

"No, I did not. I hesitated"