Rumors that the Inquisition's spies had been seen in the area made Claire decide they needed to leave. They were too close to Skyhold anyway, and she didn't want to chance them finding Anders. He wasn't doing as well as she liked, dealing with the false Calling, though their daughter helped brighten his life, and the thought of the Inquisition discovering the man who blew up the Kirkwall Chantry scared her. She feared they wouldn't listen to reason, even though they sided with the mages in Redcliffe, even though the Inquisitor was a mage herself.
Unfortunately, as they made their way to the outskirts of the Hinterlands, Claire's fears were realized, when a couple scouts confronted them.
"Anders, Grey Warden, and apostate?" One said, standing in front of the mage.
"What do you want?" Claire asked. Anders' expression was one of a man already defeated. "He's not the same man."
"Sure looks the same to me." The other scout said. "The Inquisitor would like to have a few words with you."
"It'll be all right, Claire." Anders said.
"No it won't." She snapped. "They want to hold you on charges for things you didn't do!" The scouts shared a look, and one shrugged.
"Come with us to the camp at least." One scout said. Claire felt her little Elanor's hand grip hers and she gave the toddler a reassuring squeeze.
"Just so long as you promise no harm will come to my family." She knew they couldn't promise it, but they did anyway, and she begrudgingly followed them to their camp, where the Inquisitor was waiting, with the Iron Bull, Solas, and Cassandra. Seeing the Seeker there sent chills through Claire's body and she prayed the woman wouldn't straight out attack Anders.
Instead, with a flick of her wrist, the Inquisitor had Claire and Anders both clapped in irons, binding even her elbows to further prevent her from escaping. Elanor clung tightly to Claire's legs.
"I'm surprised you came so willingly." The Inquisitor said. "My name is Evelyn, and I have it under good authority that you two are the ones responsible for the Kirkwall disaster."
"The only ones responsible for that disaster have died." Claire snapped. "Justice, Meredith, Elthina..."
"We'll talk more when we get back to Skyhold and put you through a proper trial." Evelyn said. "But this day has long been coming."
"Just so long as it is a fair and just trial." Claire said. She quickly looked over at Anders. "Are you going to be all right, love?"
"You worry too much." He said, leaning over to kiss her before they separated them.
The trip to Skyhold wasn't very long, but Elanor was worried about her parents, and Claire tried to reassure the toddler, but there wasn't much she could say, especially when someone came and whisked the child away, without letting her say goodbye. Then Bull pulled Claire away from Anders, as he was being taken to the main hall.
"No, wait! Let me go with him!" She cried. She fought the Qunari, but he was far stronger than her.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine."
"But he's not fine!" She yelled. "He's never been fine! Not since they hauled him off in chains as a child and punished him just for existing!"
"Isn't he the one who blew up a Chantry?" Bull said.
"He was possessed at the time, but he's not anymore, anyone can tell." She saw the cells as they walked down the stairs.
"He still did it."
"Vengeance took him over! He couldn't stop it, and neither could Hawke." She was starting to have a full blown panic attack, and it felt like her heart was going to explode. "Please, you have to make sure they don't hurt him! Please! He's not well! If anyone should be accountable it should be me, because I didn't stop him, I told him it was the best course of action, because the knight-commander had already called for the Right of Annulment, she was already going to slaughter all the mages, and the Divine was planning to march on Kirkwall, and everyone in the city would have been slaughtered, it seemed like the only option to save the most lives!"
He looked at her with a curious expression. "Perhaps they should hear this..."
Anders stood in front of the throne as a crowd started gathering around him, with the Inquisitor watching him. He recognized the knight-captain from Kirkwall, originally from Kinloch hold, though they hadn't seen much of each other there, with Cullen being a fresh new Templar while Anders had been in solitary confinement before Uldred went insane. Varric stood off to the side, looking with pity at Anders, but what could Anders say? He knew the day would come when he'd be found. Perhaps if they had stayed with Claire's parents, but neither he nor Claire had wanted to risk putting them in danger. They should have sent Elanor to live with them, however.
"The prisoner before you has been brought up on the following charges; violent destruction of a Chantry, the murder of Grand Cleric Elthina, and those within the Chantry and surrounding area, apostasy, and possession."
"How do you plead?" The Inquisitor asked. What could he say? It was his hand that caused those things to happen, even if he had tried to stop it.
"Not guilty!" A cry came from the door and Anders turned to see Claire being brought in.
"What's the meaning of this?" Evelyn asked. "I thought she was going to be interrogated."
"She was more than willing to speak." Bull said. "And I thought what she had to say might affect the trial, especially since she confessed to encouraging the spirit to blow up the Chantry." Anders looked at her in horror, wondering what she was playing at.
"Is this true?" Evelyn asked Claire.
"The city was doomed to begin with." Claire said, stepping forward. "You all knew it, Commander, Seeker, Sister... You all knew. The knight-commander had already called for the Right of Annulment, she was going to slaughter the mages without giving them a chance to defend themselves because she was too corrupted. I overheard someone say that what was coming would make what Ser Alrik proposed a mercy... a Templar who so abused his power, making any mage he wanted tranquil, and everyone knew! And that would be a mercy?" Claire was getting worked up, tears streaming down her face.
"The Grand Cleric knew!" She continued. "Meredith knew! And they allowed him to make mages tranquil, well past their harrowing, which is against Chantry law, and he would rape them over and over again, and abuse them horrifically, and it was allowed! Excused! Everyone looked the other way! And then the Divine herself contemplated crushing Kirkwall to the ground, and no one listened to us. No one cared! And now you want to blame it all on Anders, a man who tried to the best of his ability to prevent a war that everyone else was so bent on starting.
"Are you going to ignore the people who worked hard to break from the Circle, like the Libertarians or the Resolutionists? Are you going to ignore the decades of war that's been brewing to conveniently place all the fucking blame on this one man, who is no longer even possessed by the spirit who forced his hand in the first place? He tried to stop him, but he couldn't. And Elthina continued to lead the mages on, letting them think she was neutral when she backed the Templars and the Chantry all the way, and all their abuses." Anders was impressed they let her speak, though he had little hope it would move them to pardon him, and would only punish her.
"I do know you!" A cheerful tenor voice rang out from the back. Claire turned and watched the man walking towards them.
"Dorian...?" Claire frowned.
"Ah, you remember me as well, good." Dorian grinned. "Though I must say it's been some time!"
"This ought to be good..." The Inquisitor mumbled.
"You were just a child..." Claire seemed confused. "How do you remember me?"
"You used that same kind of speech on your parents concerning the slaves." He said. "It left a bit of an impression on me."
"I... admit, I've... blocked a lot of that time out of my memories..."
"Not enough to not recognize me, apparently."
"Who could forget someone like you?" She grinned back. Anders felt a flare of jealousy rise up, but then felt shame at doubting Claire's affections for him.
"We're in the middle of a trial here, Dorian." The Inquisitor sounded a little irritated, yet amused. "Are you testifying on behalf of this woman's character?"
"It would appear so." He said. "Since it seems she has hardly changed in the years since we last saw each other." Claire still looked bewildered, but said nothing.
"Commander Cullen, is what the woman said true, that the knight-commander was going to invoke the Right of Annulment prior to the Chantry explosion?" Cullen looked down, and nodded.
"Yes, Inquisitor. She had called for it, convinced that there were too many blood mages to deal with otherwise."
"Leliana?" Evelyn looked towards the spy master. "Was the Divine really going to march on Kirkwall?"
"It was a possibility, yes." Leliana said. "I was sent into the city to see how bad it had gotten, and based on my report, she would have made her decision, probably to march, had the Chantry not been destroyed."
"She would have considered the entire city a threat?"
"Tell the Inquisitor how the Divine wanted Elthina to leave the city, even." Claire said. "How the whole world was watching Kirkwall, how it was the worst threat to Thedas since the Qunari invaded."
"How is it that you know all this?" Leliana asked, suddenly angry and suspicious. "That was information only given to a few."
"I told her." Hawke spoke up from a dark corner. "And why not? You come in, tell me the Divine is going to destroy my city and that I needed to get the grand cleric out, and you expect me to not mention it to anyone?" Anders felt so much relief at seeing Hawke, knowing people still took him seriously. "My friends needed to know, and from everything I've seen, even though I disagreed with them at first, I believe Claire is right, that it was the only course of action that could save the most lives. The war was inevitable, Inquisitor. We were all doomed from the start."
The Inquisitor sighed and put her hand to her head. "It's done and over with, the spirit is gone... we might as well just put these two to use helping us here as reparation. You're a healer, right?" Anders nodded. "Then you can help out in the infirmary. Maker knows we need it. If anyone needs me, I'll be drowning in a hot tub somewhere quiet..." The Inquisitor hurried off while the guards went to unlock the shackles from Claire and Anders. As Anders was about to hug Claire in relief, Dorian grabbed her first.
"Always good to know you survived." He said. "After what happened with the rest of your family..."
"Turns out they weren't her real parents after all." Anders said, putting his arm around Claire's shoulders, prompting Dorian to raise an eyebrow and smirk.
"Well, that raises some interesting questions, doesn't it?" He said. "And don't worry, my dear mage, your woman is perfectly safe with me. You, on the other hand..."
"Hey, keep your hands off him, he's mine." Claire said, sticking her tongue out like a child.
"I can't believe you're still getting into trouble." Hawke said, shaking his head. "I'm still having to bail you out, after all this time."
"Hawke, Maker it's good to see you." Anders was quick to embrace him, and he saw Dorian give him a look.
"Don't even, Dorian..." Claire muttered. "You'll never be able to compete with Hawke."
"I've been getting your letters." Hawke said, ignoring Claire. "Where's Elanor? I haven't seen her in a year at least."
"I'm not sure where they took her." Claire said. "But it sounds like we'll be staying a while, so I'm sure you'll see her quite a bit."
"You have a daughter?" Dorian asked. "My, time has flown indeed."
"I'm thinking about sending her to stay with my parents, for safety reasons." Claire said. "I can't imagine it would be very safe here for her."
"She can hang out with Morrigan's little boy." Dorian said. "They're usually in the garden."