Chapter 2: The Rain Stops

A/N: I still don't any of the characters. Not even my Warden, I think. If you got past chapter 1 and liked it, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Months after the Sabrae clan massacre, the tensions between the mages and Templars reached a boiling point. Circles across Thedas rose up in rebellion in direct response to Hawke and the Templars. Although he was the Viscount of Kirkwall, Hawke didn't stay for the fireworks in the Free Marches. He and Isabela left Kirkwall together, on a trip to his real home: Ferelden.

Meanwhile at Vigil's Keep, the Warden-Commander and Hero of Ferelden eagerly awaited the arrival of her guest. Vaela Mahariel looked forward to seeing Bethany Hawke and Nathaniel Howe return safely from Kirkwall as well, of course, but there were very few important more to her than this guest.

An older elven woman, clearly not a Grey Warden, entered the Keep asking for the Commander. "She's here! She's finally here!" the Commander sprinted through the halls of the Keep unable to contain her excitement. "Ashalle!"

"Vaela!"

The two embraced before giving a proper greeting. "I swear, you get taller every time I see you now, da'len." The older woman said, smiling.

The Warden smiled in response. "I've missed you so much, Ashalle."

"And I've missed you too, da'len. So, tell me what's been going on? What's my great Hero of Ferelden up to these days?"

Before the two were able to catch up, the seneschal entered the main hall. "Commander! Nathaniel and Bethany have returned!"

The Warden frowned. With Ashalle living in the Dalish settlement near Ostagar, she wasn't able to visit as often as she'd have liked to. Still, judging from the letters Nathaniel had been writing from Kirkwall, there was something extremely important she needed to hear from as soon as possible.

"Go on, da'len. I'll be here waiting for you," Ashalle reassured her.

Vaela, Nathaniel, and Bethany convened in the debriefing room, a secret area of the Keep that very few knew about.

For the next few hours the two Senior wardens told their Commander everything that happened between the mages and Templars, the extent of Anders' involvement, and the Champion of Kirkwall's intervention.

"But," Nathaniel said gravely, "there's something else you should hear."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Vaela asked.

"You asked me to keep track of Anders, and well… he ran into your clan."

Bethany's eyebrows raised. "Her clan?" she thought. "I didn't even know the Commander had a clan! Wait… this couldn't have been the same clan my brother told me about… could it?"

"Did something happen?" the Commander asked, with urgency.

"I didn't realize he left the city until it was too late… Commander, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what? Nathaniel, please, what happened?"

"When arrived at the Dalish camp… everyone was dead." Nathaniel said grimly.

The Warden's eyes grew large. "Dead?" She thought. "No way, that's impossible." To Vaela, Keeper Marethari was always invincible… there wasn't a mage alive that could best her. Anders was strong, the Warden saw that first hand when she couldn't stop from leaving the Order, but there was no way he could slaughter the entire clan by himself.

"Tha-thank you, both." The Warden said, choking up. "I- we'll talk later."

Vaela and Ashalle were alone in the Commander's bedroom. As far as they knew, they were all that was left of the Sabrae clan.

"How could this have happened?" Vaela asked, finally breaking the deafening silence. "They were supposed to be safe! There isn't single warrior I know that's stronger than Fenarel or Master Ilen… and it would've been impossible for any large shemlen force to get past our scouts..."

"Da'len…" Ashalle knew that eventually Vaela would blame herself for not being there to defend their clan and wanted to do everything in her power to keep from that dark, lonely road of guilt.

"We had to have been betrayed by someone our clan trusted! Why would they do that? Why betray them?! Why did this have to happen? It doesn't make any sense!" Vaela yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"This wasn't your fault, da'len."

"I left the clan to be a Grey Warden. I should've stayed, I should've-"

"You didn't ask to be a Grey Warden, Vaela."

Silence filled again filled the room as a storm raged outside of the Keep's walls. All Vaela could think about was the clan she'd never see again, the clan she spurned after she felt they cast her out, and how she would tell her new companions she never cared about her clan whenever they asked their fearless leader's past. She remembered that when she traveled to Ostagar with Duncan, she threw away everything that beared her clan's emblem. The guilt continued to build up inside her when she recalled the specific names of faces of those she held so close to her heart. Hahren Paivel, Master Ilen, Keeper Marethari, and her childhood friends Merrill and Fenarel all entered her thoughts.

" I failed all of you," the Warden thought. "But I swear on the Creators, I'm going to find whoever did this."

At that very moment, there was a knock on the Commander's door.

"Commander?" it was Nathaniel's voice.

"Nathaniel? Now isn't the time." Vaela responded.

"It's about your clan. Meet me in the debriefing room."