At Harding's camp, they were briefed on the fighting in the Crossroads, and then rested for the night. Solas continued to heal the wound on Cassandra's leg. He had initially suggested that Elizabeth help him, but when Cassandra complained that the tent felt too crowded, she hastily agreed and added that the wound was not severe. She escaped to her own tent before he could argue.
"He probably wanted to criticize my healing magic," she grumbled to Jane as she pulled on a sleeping shirt.
"Or he just wanted to work more quickly," her sister replied from her bedroll. "Honestly, Lizzie, I don't think he's half as bad as you say he is."
"Didn't you hear what he said to Varric?" she asked. "About dwarves being 'the severed arm of a once mighty hero, lying in a pool of blood'? He's obnoxious."
"So far, he's been very nice to me," Jane said.
Elizabeth had, in fact, noticed that Solas was more tolerant towards her sister than he was toward most of the other members of the Inquisition. He patiently answered her questions about his background and the Fade, and even encouraged her to ask more. Perhaps he believes that if the Herald of Andraste counts him as an ally, the Chantry will not force him into a Circle after the war, she thought. She felt something akin to pity if he were that naive.
"Lizzie, I wanted to tell you something," Jane said.
Elizabeth sat on her own bedroll and faced her sister. The fire outside barely outlined their faces in the tent. "Is something wrong?"
"No! Not at all," Jane rushed to say. "It's silly, actually. I would have told you earlier, but you seemed distant before. Distracted."
Elizabeth realized that she meant since they had left Haven. "Yes," she admitted. "Right before we left, Leliana confirmed that two people I knew from Ostwick were at the Conclave."
"Oh," Jane said softly. "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't too much of a surprise," she replied. There was a long pause before she spoke again. "What did you want to tell me?"
"It was foolish," Jane said. "Forget I said anything."
Elizabeth lay down and rolled to her side. "Well, now I'll have to bother you until you tell me, and neither of us will get any sleep."
"I… fine." Jane propped herself up with her arm. "The morning we left, I… I tried flirting. With Cullen."
"You did?" Elizabeth asked, pleased. "Why didn't you say anything? How did it go?"
"It went horribly! I told you I'm terrible at flirting. Lizzie, I…" she hesitated, drawing her blanket up to cover part of her face in embarrassment. "I asked him if he was celibate."
"You what?"
"Well… you said sometimes templars are… and I thought…" Jane trailed off.
Elizabeth stared at her sister's face in shock for a moment, then began laughing uncontrollably, sinking her face into her bedroll to keep herself quiet.
"It's not funny!" Jane said. "I think I ruined everything."
"Oh, Jane. I don't think you did," Elizabeth replied as she recovered. She related her last exchange with Cullen before they left Haven, including how he'd flushed and called Jane important.
"That doesn't mean anything," Jane replied, but Elizabeth could see her sister relax a little. "Cassandra calls me important, too."
"Believe me, if she turned as red as Cullen did when she said it," Elizabeth replied, "I'd probably think our dashing Seeker was smitten with you too."
The noises of the campsite woke Elizabeth in the morning, and she realized she was alone in her tent. The smell of cooked meat wafted through the air. After pulling on her clothes and grabbing her staff, she went out to get breakfast. The late autumn air was brisk and she shivered slightly as she pulled on the boots she'd left just outside the flap of the tent.
At the campfire, Harding handed her a steel mug of oats and a rasher of bacon.
"The Herald and Lady Cassandra went toward the meadow to practice, if you're looking for them," she told her, nodding her head toward the north.
"Thank you," Elizabeth said, gratefully accepting both items. The steel mug warmed her hands as she walked towards the sound of clashing metal.
Varric was already there, his own mug balanced precariously on his knee as he watched the two women spar. He glanced up as she sat next to him.
"Hey Blaze," he greeted. "Your sister's not half-bad at fighting." He looked back towards the field. "I mean, she's getting obliterated by the Seeker, but most people would be liquid by now. Count me impressed."
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Was that a bona fide Varric Tethras nickname I just heard?"
Varric grinned, but then nodded back to Jane again. "Seriously, though. I can tell you worry about her. You shouldn't," he said. "As I think I mentioned, an hour after I first met her, she killed a Pride Demon. And those things are awful."
"Yes, you did mention," Elizabeth replied, her own smile fading. "And then she fainted and remained unconscious for three full days."
"But she's still alive, right?" he said. "You're not going to be able to protect her forever. And you won't have to."
She didn't reply. They watched some more of the fighting, and Elizabeth began to see what Varric meant. Her sister's form and confidence were good, and her command of her weapon seemed natural. Cassandra was a hurricane of motion, but Jane was defending herself well.
"I might worry too much," she admitted.
"She's gonna be alright," Varric told her. He considered Elizabeth for a moment, and added, "By the way, she's not the only Trevelyan who could use some training."
"I know," Elizabeth said, sighing. "Believe it or not, most of my time at the Circle was not spent learning how to kill people. Quite the opposite, in fact." She swallowed some of the oats. "I've been practicing."
"By yourself," Varric said, and for a moment she thought he was going to offer to spar with her. Instead, he looked over her shoulder. "Come on, Chuckles, you're our resident apostate. Want to help corrupt a local Circle mage?"
Surprised, Elizabeth followed his gaze. Solas was standing a few feet away. He met her eyes first, then turned to Varric.
"I'd be happy to train-" he started to say, but she was already standing.
"Varric, that is an excellent idea," she said, "but I really need to - gather some herbs. Before we leave. So maybe another time?" The excuse sounded weak to even her own ears. Solas took it in stride and nodded, facing back towards Cassandra and Jane, but Varric gave her a curious look.
"Alright. Just remember, Harding said not to go more than a half mile in any direction," he told her as she gathered her things.
"I'll keep that in mind," she said as she left, waving at the two men.
The Hinterlands were hilly, with twisting paths cutting through ravines. It made it difficult to see more than ten feet in some places, but elfroot was abundant enough that she didn't have to see far. She had almost filled the basket that Harding had leant her when she heard noises and froze, ready to grab her staff. There was a path in front of her that led into the mountains and she fixed her eyes on it, waiting.
A bush to her right shook, and a fennec fox leapt towards her, squealing as it passed. She let out her breath, almost laughing, and began to relax.
Then the templars rounded the corner.
There were two of them, both young and clean shaven. Their shields had smudges of soot and blood, and when their eyes met hers, they looked as startled as she felt. For a giddy moment, she wondered if they could all just turn around and pretend this never happened.
Then the one on the left gave a yell and reached for his sword.
Solas's barrier, she thought to herself, and with a flick of her hands it landed. It was still clumsy, but she was able to make it stronger this time. Her right hand reached for her staff as her left pooled mana, and she mentally catalogued her spells for one that might be a good offense against people in full armor. The charging templar was almost at her side.
By the time her staff was in her hand, the templar on the right had cast Silence and she felt the Veil slip through her fingers, leaving her empty.
Shit.
The other templar's sword hit her barrier. She was unharmed, but the force of blow threw her to the ground. She swung her staff at him and knocked him in the cheek, making him fall back. If I survive, I definitely need to get a blade for this, she thought to herself.
Elizabeth scrambled to her feet and tried to run, but the templar who had used Silence tackled her and she yelped as she hit the ground again, kicking. Her teeth connected with her lip, and the taste of blood filled her mouth as she struggled. Her foot hit something soft and she heard the man's "oof" as his grip loosened, giving her a chance to crawl away. The other templar had recovered, though, and she looked up to see him swing his blade up. Her barrier wouldn't survive this one, and she brought up her staff as she closed her eyes, knowing it wouldn't be enough to save her.
The blow never came. Instead, a familiar chill passed over her and she opened her eyes to see the man's frozen face. She snapped her head around to see Solas swinging his staff around at the other templar, a wall of ice appearing. It tore the second man apart.
She could feel the Veil returning to her, and she swung her own staff at the frozen man, flicking energy at him. He went straight from ice to fire, and he collapsed, burning, a strangled cry echoing as he fell. He did not get up.
In the silence that followed, she caught her breath and touched the cut on her lip.
"Are you alright?" Solas asked. Before she could respond, Varric appeared behind him.
"Damn it, Blaze, I said no more than half a mile!" he said, angrily. "The Inquisition soldiers couldn't see you over here."
"This is less than half a mile from the camp," Elizabeth replied. She paused. "Isn't it?'
Solas raised an eyebrow as he approached her. "Perhaps being confined to a single building for most of your life has made it difficult to gauge distance. We are well over half a mile from the camp."
"You're lucky Chuckles suggested we check up on you," Varric said. Elizabeth turned her eyes towards Solas, who brought up his hand, hesitated, and then healed her lip with a light touch before stepping back.
"Thank you," she told him sincerely. "Now I owe you twice over." Maybe Jane was correct and she was being far too harsh on the man.
He bowed his head in recognition and then considered the two bodies. "It was simple. It must've been some time since the renegade templars faced a mage of any real talent."
Ah, she thought to herself with a wry smile, there it is.
"No more solo expeditions!" Cassandra said, her fury etched in her face, which was uncomfortably close to Elizabeth's own. Varric had made her tell Cassandra what had happened as soon as they returned to the training field. "From now on, you stick with us. You do not wander off. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Elizabeth replied. She glanced worriedly at her sister, who was staring at her with a pale, haunted look on her face. Jane's reaction to the story was more damning than anything the Seeker could say.
"Those templars must have thought you were a rebel mage," the Seeker continued as she turned and began pacing. "I can think of no other reason they would attack you without provocation."
"Can you not?" Solas murmured, looking at the ground. Cassandra glared at him, then looked away, continuing to pace.
"We should avoid killing members of either side at all costs," she said. "If we are to gain them as allies, we must treat them as worthy of the alliance."
"Seeker," Varric interjected, "I don't know if you've been listening to a word Harding has said, but it doesn't sound like it'll be easy to avoid fighting. They don't seem to care who they hurt."
She waved her hand dismissively. "I am not surprised that they would attack our scouts on sight," she said. "Leliana has told me that there is propaganda in each camp, painting us as champions of the other side." She stopped and clasped her hands behind her back. "However, I hope that when they see Lady Trevelyan and me, they will react more rationally."
"What, just because you're the Right Hand and she's the Herald?" Varric asked.
"Yes," Cassandra said. "And also because I was a Seeker. It is my belief that the templars you encountered would not have attacked if I had been with you." She turned to face Elizabeth. "Nor will the rebel mages attack you or Solas. Together, as a group, we should be able to communicate with both sides."
Elizabeth was not surprised when Cassandra was proven spectacularly wrong in her assumptions the moment they reached the Crossroads.
"We are not rebel mages!" the warrior cried, keeping her shield up. Her hesitation in harming the templars was obvious at first, but when one of them hit Varric's arm and drew blood, she growled and struck the man down.
"I do not think they care, Seeker," Solas shouted in response, his voice raised over the din of the fight. Harding had warned them that the Crossroads would be dangerous, but even prepared, it was brutal. The refugees were huddled away from the fighting, trying to defend the meager supplies that remained, and the mages and templars barely discriminated between foe and bystander.
Inquisition soldiers were prevailing, however. While neither the templars nor the mages were impressed by the sight of Jane, their own forces took pride in her presence and seemed to fight twice as hard.
Elizabeth stayed behind Solas and Varric this time, and she carefully avoided using her mana to watch Solas or the mages. She focused on directing her fire away from the trees and huts, which made it weaker but more contained. Varric was right, she admitted to herself: She would need training if she was to continue fighting with them.
Luckily, her four companions and the soldiers seemed to have things under control for now. Since he had just saved her life, she initially avoided using Solas' barrier spell out of respect, until he turned to her, mid-shot. "The barrier!" he demanded.
With a mental shrug, she landed one on Jane and Cassandra immediately. It was much better than her first two and it lasted long enough for them to finish off the final wave of templars.
As the fighting ended, Cassandra sheathed her sword and began guiding Jane towards the infirmary to find Mother Giselle. Elizabeth hung back with Varric and Solas, the latter of whom bent to help an injured villager.
"Thank you, serrah," the man said as Solas healed him.
"Think nothing of it," he replied. When he finished, he looked the man in the eyes. "Do you know where the rebel mages have been taking your supplies?"
The man shook his head. "No, serrah. But there's a mage - a peaceful mage like yourself - up the hill, by the old shrine. She's been here a week or two. She might know."
"Thank you," Solas replied. As he stood, Jane came back into view.
"Well?" Elizabeth asked.
"Mother Giselle wants me to go to Val Royeaux and speak with the Revered Mothers," Jane replied.
"No. Absolutely not," Elizabeth said.
"It may be our only chance to convince the Chantry," Cassandra said.
"I mean, I can see Blaze's point, though," Varric said. "Val Royeaux? The place Roderick wanted to take her for execution?"
"This is not Elizabeth's choice to make," Cassandra replied. "We will talk about it with the War Council when we return to Haven, after we find the horsemaster."
"What about the refugees?" Jane asked. "We came all this way…" She looked around helplessly.
"Our forces will continue to help the refugees," Cassandra promised. "You, however, have more important things to deal with."
"Having the Herald herself help may be a good idea," Solas interjected. Cassandra looked confused. "The Chantry has heard the same propaganda that the templars have, I assume, and perhaps even more from Roderick. They believe the Inquisition to be, at best, a weakling organization prone to corruption, and, at worst, behind the death of the Divine. If we help the refugees, our reputation may improve."
Cassandra thought this over. "Fine. We will stay for one week, but no longer."
"Great," Varric said. "Now let's go write Curly a letter that we secured the Crossroads. He'll be pleased to hear it."
"Jane can write it," Elizabeth suggested. Her sister's eyes widened at her and Elizabeth offered her an innocent smile. "I happen to know from my years in the Circle that she's an excellent correspondent."
Varric shot Jane an amused look and then shrugged. "Suits me," he said.