Target
Juliette received an official request to attend a council meeting the next morning. She was to be present in the council antechamber at one o'clock with her party in attendance.
The summons had been delivered by a page with a flourish in the main gallery. He had entered the room heading directly to her bowing before announcing quite loudly, "A summons from his Majesty, Warden Commander."
Juliette had opened the paper, scanned its contents and told the page that they would attend. He turned on his heal and left.
At one o'clock Juliette was standing outside the council chamber with Anders, Oghren and Nathaniel standing with her. They all came in full dress armor, well oiled and shined. Anders purple mages robe was spectacular and Oghren fairly gleamed in his plate. The chamber doors opened.
"Warden Commander Cousland, wardens, please follow me, ma'am." A page in livery requested. The group took a collective step forward and were soon delivered before the gathering council.
She saw that the chamber was very large with windows that reached almost to the high ceiling. There was a very large fireplace behind the ornate chair that sat middle of the center table, clearly being the King's. There were three tables in all, the center table having the other two coming off its front, forming a large U.
Most of the seats were filled, many with those she recognized, including Bann Alfstanna and Arl Wulff. Her father had been invited to sit with the council during the last year of King Maric's rule. Bryce Cousland had declined the offer, though he had been honored.
Juliette noticed that Bann Reign was standing in the far corner, closest to the door that must lead to the King's chamber. His head was bent in conversation with Bann Ceorlic, the only Bann to side with Loghain during the Landsmeet.
"Interesting." she said to herself.
The door to the King's chamber opened and Arl Eamon stepped through. Everyone in the room came to attention and King Alistair came behind the Arl a brief moment later. All present bowed in his direction, Juliette dropping into a deep curtsey. He walked directly to the large chair at the center table and acknowledged the group.
"Good day everyone. Warden Commander, thank you for coming, please rise." Alistair said taking his seat. The council members all sat in their seats, leaving Juliette and the wardens standing in the middle of the U. It was quite clear to all that the wardens were not being invited to sit.
"Warden Commander, I want first to again extend our thanks for your service to our people." Alistair began, "The threat of the remaining darkspawn bands has certainly diminished and is all together gone in many regions."
"It has been an honor, your Majesty"
"The council has been regularly receiving reports from your seneschal and things in Amaranthine seem to be recovering." the King continued. "It seems that the people there have found your rule mostly favorable."
There were several nods of agreement from councilors, the King pausing briefly while looking at a document.
"It seems that not all things are well in Amaranthine, though. It was reported that there were darkspawn who seem to have the ability to speak. Am I understanding this correctly?" Alistair asked.
"Yes your Majesty you are. We encountered at least five darkspawn who not only spoke but appeared sentient."
"Please explain to the council why that would be unusual." Alistair invited.
"Yes. Darkspawn are soulless creatures who feed on the dead. They do not think independently, acting entirely on instinct. It is their instinct to attack anything that does not carry their taint, the goal being either to spread the taint or to end what it cannot be spread to." Juliette paused, waiting for Alistair to ask more.
"So they are unable to think?" Arl Eamon prompted.
"They are unable to reason, driven completely to taint or kill. I have seen nothing that would lead me to believe that any darkspawn has emotion or thought." she allowed her gaze to scan the council and then continued. "Darkspawn cannot control their behavior."
"Yet they seemed organized and even followed tactics during the Blight." Offered a council member she recognized from the Landsmeet.
"Correct sir. The darkspawn sense the old god's untainted presence in the Deep Roads, again on instinct. The old god, once released is sentient and has the ability to direct the darkspawn, but the darkspawn make no decisions, they respond to orders only."
"Please explain your first encounter with a talking darkspawn." Arl Eamon said.
"The night that I arrived at Vigil's Keep, approximately six months ago, the keep had been overrun by a large party of darkspawn."
"How did that happen?" a member asked.
"Unclosed connections in the sublevels of the keep had allowed them access, the people within not knowing until much too late."
"Please continue, Commander." said King Alistair.
Juliette nodded.
"After Warden Anders, Warden Oghren and I had cleared the keep, we reached the battlements. It was here that we discovered Seneschal Varel being held by a darkspawn. Upon our approach I heard the darkspawn order the others with it to kill all but me."
"What happened then?" Eamon asked.
"I attempted to engage the darkspawn in communication, for in truth I was amazed. But as I said before, darkspawn do not reason, they act. The others with it attacked and we had no choice but to kill them."
King Alistair sat forward in this seat, placing his elbows on top, his hands folded together. He seemed to be thinking this all through.
"Your Majesty, with your permission, may I ask a question?" asked Bann Reign who was seated at the end of the U.
"Certainly" Alistair nodding his consent.
"We know that both you and our king were the only Wardens in Ferelden at the time of the Blight and I am most grateful for your heroics. With the king taking his place, the appointment of Warden Commander was offered to you, correct?"
"Yes, Bann Reign." Juliette answered, turning to face him.
"By whom?" he asked.
"King Alistair asked me to take the position. Weisshaupt Fortress had no objections."
"Weisshaupt Fortress being the headquarters, if you will, it's the, uh, source of leadership for all wardens, yes?" he asked.
"Yes." she said.
"And is it Weisshaupt that you are loyal to, Warden Commander?" he questioned, looking her in the eyes.
There was a charge of energy that went through the room. Many council members shifted in their seats or looked with concern at one another.
"I answer to Weisshaupt that is correct. They advise me."
"But your loyalty, Warden Commander, I understand that the warden's say that once you are a warden there is no turning back. Is that correct?"
Alistair met her eyes briefly and then sat back slowly in his seat. Arl Eamon appeared to be nonplused. It seemed that Bann Reign did indeed have a plan.
"My father and mother were Fereldens, sir. I was raised to love this land and to look after those within." she answered.
"Your Majesty I must protest the Bann's tone. To imply that Warden Commander Cousland is not loyal to her own people is insulting to all. She is the Hero of Ferelden and the daughter of Bryce Cousland." said Arl Wulff.
"I simply wish to understand who the Warden Commander works for." Bann Reign said."So, you are not free to make your own decisions, you must justify yourself to Weisshaupt." he began again. "Those at the Fortress make decisions for all wardens, which is why the King was required to wait for their approval of your appointment."
"If you mean to say that I make choices that best suit Weisshaupt's needs over Ferelden's, then no, you are incorrect." Juliette answered with ice in her voice.
"Bann Reign, do you persist in insulting this woman?" Arl Wulff asked, standing.
"Please!" he said, raising both hands innocently, "I meant no insult! I am simply ignorant and wished to understand, nothing more. Pray, forgive me. You have my most sincere apologies, Warden Commander." and with that Bann Reign ended his questions.
The room was silent for a few moments as all of this seemed to settle in. Arl Eamon cleared his throat.
"Warden Commander, thank you. Would you please explain who this "architect" creature is?" he asked.
"The Architect is one of the sentient darkspawn that I know of. He could not explain how he came to be so." Juliette provided.
"And this other thing, the broodmother known as "The Mother"?" Eamon led.
"She was also sentient. This a result of an experiment performed by The Architect." Juliette explained.
"An experiment? Elaborate." ordered King Alistair.
"The Architect began experimenting with various magics to discover why he was different from the other darkspawn. It led him to conclude that the taint within each darkspawn was the reason they remained non sentient." Juliette paused. "He then began to determine if he could bring awareness to the others."
"It was this experiment that brought about "The Mother", then?" he asked.
"Yes your Majesty. While the theory proved sound the result was remarkably wrong. She became sentient but was insane, desperate to return to the nothingness she had known."
"What occurred then?" asked Arl Eamon.
"The Architect continued his efforts and was successful in freeing many darkspawn. Most were able to recover, as it were, and only a few were unable to transition." Juliette shifted on her feet.
Juliette paused then continued. "Those few became united under "The Mother", she having gone into hiding in the deeper parts of the Deep Roads. It was this small group that decided to retaliate by attempting to kill The Architect."
"So a civil war, in a sense, was going on between these two groups." King Alistair concluded.
"Yes, correct. The Architect sought out the warden's at Vigil's Keep, asking our aid in killing The Mother."
"You AIDED a darkspawn?" this from Bann Alfstanna.
"I would not say that I aided them, no. I used the information that I had available to find a broodmother and her army and destroy them." Juliette answered.
"Please explain why you didn't kill all of them." King Alistair said. "It would have seemed the prudent thing to do, Commander."
"Perhaps" she thought her answer through briefly."The Architect had been successful in bringing consciousness to many darkspawn and the majority have no desire to leave the Deep Roads. They acknowledge that their place was underground." Juliette answered.
"As a Warden, it is my purpose to end the threat of the darkspawn. It has always been believed that this could only be achieved through their destruction, costing literally thousands of human, elven and dwarven lives over the last several ages." she paused and met Alistair's eyes. "The potential that those creatures could be freed from their drive, thereby ending their need to taint and kill is real. Our goals seemed similar, so I allowed it to live, understanding that it would continue its efforts to end the taint."
"An unusual if not controversial decision, Warden Commander." King Alistair said.
Juliette gave no answer but stood in her place before the tables.
Alistair leaned over and said something to Arl Eamon, who stood.
"Thank you, Warden Commander for speaking with us. The council has much to discuss and we offer our gratitude for your answers."
With that, the Wardens were dismissed.
Hours later Juliette received a note in her rooms inviting her to meet Isolde, Arl Eamon's wife, in the private gardens that she had walked with King Alistair. Juliette donned another gown, this one of pale blue and pinned her hair up. She took a wrap with her and stopped at Nathaniel's door letting him know where she would be.
Juliette arrived at the garden at the designated time but did not see Isolde. She walked through the garden to the fountain and sat to wait.
After a while, with Isolde still not having arrived, she walked the back part of the garden, following a path she had not when she had spoken with Alistair. The rosebushes were beautiful and trained over a series of arches, creating a tranquil spot. Admiring these she turned down another path that had a long stretch of tall bushes and she wondered if the garden included a maze as well. Curiosity won and she poked her head in, discovering she had been correct.
As she rounded a corner, promising herself she would not venture far, else she miss Isolde, she heard a voice. Juliette paused but did not recognize the man's voice. Deciding it best to turn back, she followed the path she had walked but collided with someone at the exit.
"Oh! Excuse me!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to" and stumbled at being struck.
Juliette recovered her stagger and turned ready to fight but the man had the better of her and her temple met with the hilt of his sword, her world turning black.