Believe it or not, I am trying to make Armour as much about friendship as romance, so expect some Morgana/Leliana friendship fluff later, as well as... this.
Tomorrow
Morgana
Alistair looks more and more pained as they approach the castle; she'd assumed flushing out the demon was a good thing, and she can't help wondering why. A few times he looks as though he's about to say something, then shakes his head and seems to give up.
When they ask which mage will go into the Fade, she chooses herself - it's the least cowardly option, in her opinion. She meets Jowan's eye, as if in reassurance, but he's surrounded by Tower mages glowering at him, and he returns the look only briefly before fixing his eyes on the floor.
She accepts nothing the demon offers; she'd thought it would be harder, and indeed, images of all that she could have flash before her eyes, but she takes a deep breath and remembers all that anchors her to the real world: her duty, Brian (she smiles at remembering how he likes to be scratched behind the ears), her... friends. The word feels different now - there were always Jowan and Anders (she remembers that Anders is... gone, and her heart drops like a rock), but it's meant in a different sense now. There's still Jowan, but others too - those she fights with, those who shield her...
She ignores the whispers in her head, as she has done all her life, and it is soon over.
She looks Teagan in the eye, and doesn't raise her voice; quite the opposite - it gets quieter the more angry she gets. "Still in a cell?"
He nods. "My lady - "
"Until your brother wakes up?"
Wisely, he seems to realize that speaking is not a good idea, and simply nods again.
"I... see." She keeps her hands behind her back, falsely casual, so he can't see the way her fists are clenched and that she is trying to control herself. She reasons that it's not his fault, he isn't the Arl, and somehow manages to calm herself, unclenching her fists finger by finger and bringing them back to her sides, putting on her formal Warden mask. "I will return shortly. With the Ashes."
Another nod.
She turns to her companions, says for their ears only, "I... need a moment. There's something I have to do. Can I meet you at the gates?"
Alistair still looks uncomfortable, but nods; Leliana is about to say something, but stops, instead slipping her a health poultice and a small smile. "Perhaps this will help."
She returns the smile. "Thank you." What else can she say?
Leliana puts a hand on her arm before turning away. "The guards here... they are not cruel."
As Morgana begins the long walk to the dungeons, she realises that it's true what they say: Chantry sisters really are terrible liars.
She dismisses the guards, even though she knows perfectly well she has none of the authority to, and they trudge away.
She tries to ignore the knot that ties itself round her heart as she sees a familiar figure, face down on the dirty stone floor, only the heaving of his back showing he's alive at all. She kneels, and, registering her presence, Jowan looks up. "Ana?"
She nods. Of course her eyes aren't watering, it's only the wind, never mind that there's no wind here... She reaches out and clasps his hand through the bars. They stay like that for a moment, before he begins to protest.
"But..." But I'm a blood mage, but I ran, but... She knows him too well.
She shakes her head as she rummages through her pack, and all she offers by way of explanation is, "Your own blood. Never to kill."
He nods his head, still surprised, and she looks up to meet his eye. He tries his best to give her a smile, though it is marred by the blood trail streaming from his broken nose - the guards' work - and she returns it. Well, tries to.
It doesn't matter what either of them are wearing, it doesn't matter how much things have changed around them - in that moment, a kindred spirit recognises another.
She passes him all that she could smuggle in, and he does his best to tuck them under his robes - elfroot, a piece of Alistair's best cheese, bread, a few small vegetables... A dim voice reminds her that she will have to restock supplies with what little money they have, that she is giving too much, but she ignores it.
She looks down at their hands as he takes them, and an involuntary memory rises to the surface: half an orange on Saturnalia morning, in a cold dormitory.
She meets his eye, knows he is thinking the same, and they share another smile.
She spreads out her mana, healing all that she can - though she can barely touch him, is soon exhausted and is severely lacking lyrium - and then stands up.
He does the same. "You... You'll come back?"
She nods. "Always."
It's not what he meant and they both know it, but he nods anyway.
She adds, "You aren't staying here. I won't let them. You'll be free."
He gives her a broken smile. "You sound like Anders."
She hasn't the heart to tell him about the Tower.
He catches her arm as she begins to walk away. "If you see Lily... tell her I love her. That I'm sorry." His eyes are gleaming now, the same as hers.
She nods. One last smile. She turns and walks away, and with every step, she is more certain that he cannot stay in there.
The sunlight blinds her as she walks out of the castle, and she looks back, not caring that she won't be able to see him, imprisoned in stone. As always.