Chapter Four

The next morning, Evelyn was a bit late getting to the Keep. She didn't regret it, though. It may have been that she finally slept in her bed, or maybe even the wine, but she had the most wonderful night's rest in a very long time.

When she arrived, she met up with the Knight-Captain hanging around outside of her office. He looked agitated.

He approached her and gave a small bow of his head, "Your Grace," he said in greeting.

"Knight-Captain," she said as she walked into her office, took off her coat and hung it up, then stood behind the desk, "I hope I haven't kept you. Have you been waiting long?"

"Only about twenty minutes, my lady"

"I see...," she trailed off, making a mental note to speak with the Seneschal about sending someone for her next time. As far as she was concerned, she knew she held her office by the grace of the Templars and even ten minutes was too long to keep the Knight-Captain waiting, "Please accept my apology. How can I help you?"

Cullen took out three vials filled with blood and carefully placed them in front of her on the desk. He gave her an irritated look, "We have a problem."

"Are these the three that I requested?"

"Yes."

She had never been this close to a phylactery before. She picked up one of the vials and examined it, "And the problem would be...?"

"They don't work."

Evelyn furrowed her brow and looked at the Knight-Captain, "What do you mean, 'They don't work'?"

"I mean none of those are usable as a phylactery. Every time we've tried to make one," Cullen shrugged, clearly frustrated, "they don't work."

"I see...do you think it's the taint?"

"Well, my lady, as far as I know, nobody has tried to make a phylactery for a former Grey Warden, so that's our best guess so far, yes."

"I suspect that Anders doesn't know that we can't track him, yet?"

"Presumably, no. Only the people involved in the process know, and none of them would have had any reason to see him."

"And I suspect, because you're prudent, that you've already written to Enchanter...," her voice trailed off as she tried to remember his name.

"First Enchanter Irving, as well as Knight-Commander Gregoire, yes, my lady," Cullen helped.

Evelyn nodded, "Good, then all we can do is wait, although now I'm wondering if it's not going to be a problem as well."

Cullen understood, "Because if the taint prevents a phylactery from being made, would his old phylactery from before he was a Warden still work."

"Exactly, in the meantime, do you mind if I have someone else take a look at these and see what can be done? She knows a bit more about such things than I do."

Cullen felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand just a little, "A blood mage, are you seriously asking me that?"

"Well, technically, she's not a blood mage and never was. She's just a regular mage that's studied blood magic...and may have cut a wrist performing a spell...or two...but she never actually practiced it, not really..."

Cullen cleared his throat and lowered his voice a bit, "Look I know things may have been difficult for you lately, and please forgive this question, because in all sincerity I do believe it needs to be asked, but have you lost your mind? Are you so overcome with grief that you've lost your reasoning capabilities and that's why you've just asked me, the Knight-Captain, for permission to bring three vials of tainted blood to an apostate blood mage?"

Evelyn stared into the Knight-Captain's face while chewing on her lower lip. Was that amusement she saw in his eyes?

"Ok, I see where you're going with that but...she did help the Templars," she was abruptly cut off.

"Because you asked her to, no doubt."

"I did," she acknowledged, "Why don't we just say that as Viscountess, I'm making a request of the Knight-Captain to leave these here so that I can confer with my associates. Would that help you to sleep better at night?"

Cullen leaned over the desk and squinted at her, "Indeed. Why don't we say I'll leave just one of these here for you to confer on?" He picked up two of the vials and returned them to his pouch.

"What are you going to do with those? They're of no use to you, you just said."

"Actually, I was thinking that it wasn't a bad idea. And I work in the Gallows, you know, where we keep the mages...do you think you're the only person in this office that might know someone that could possibly help?" Cullen smirked at her while trying to hide his amusement.

Evelyn's shoulders slumped as she realized her mistake, "Forgive me, Cullen, I am still trying to get accustomed to having all of the resources of the city available to me. I've relied solely on my friends to get things accomplished for so long, it didn't even occur to me to ask you about it first," she admitted.

The Knight-Captain relaxed a little, remembering that up until a week ago, Evelyn had no clue what being a Viscountess was about, "No harm done. I'm sure it's been quite an adjustment for you and I've known about the dalish elf for quite some time. She was also afforded some level of protection because of you, and I never saw her as a threat. Of course, I didn't know about the blood magic, which is forbidden...only rumors. Lucky guess just now, actually." He grinned at her in a way that seemed to say he was quite pleased with himself.

"You weasel," now it was her turn to smile, she didn't allow herself to be outsmarted very often. There was something disarming about Cullen, though. Was that some weird Templar power he possessed? She was a mage, after all. Maybe she needed to be more careful around him.

"As I said, she doesn't practice it, only studies it. Which may come in handy sometime, like now, don't you think?" She picked up the vial and handed it to him, "Look, if you'd prefer, take this one as well and use whatever means you have at your disposal first. Then if they can't help you, we can always go to her afterward," she shrugged.

Cullen contemplated her for a second. Then he took her hand, and gently placed the vial in it, "Go ahead and take it. The two I already have should be plenty, and we'll get more accomplished sooner if we work together." Evelyn noticed the faint, almost imperceptible tingling sensation where their skin touched...definitely some weird Templar stuff going on here...

Just then, Aveline knocked on the open door, while entering the room, "Oh good, you're both here." She was about two steps into the room when she noticed the Knight-Captain holding Evelyn's hand...was that a phylactery? Oops...awkward. "Um...I could come back later...?"

Evelyn hurriedly took the vial and placed it on the desk in front of her, while Cullen straightened up and took a step back, "No, Aveline, nonsense. Come in, please. You needed to see us?"

"Yes, I have the report on the damage assessment to date. I thought the two of you would be interested to know where we stood so far."

"I take it 'unlawful destruction of property' is the least of the charges?"

"Evelyn," Aveline hesitated only an instance because she knew she had to say it, but she hated delivering bad news, "there were, as far as we can tell, thirty-eight people in the Chantry when it was destroyed, including the Grand Cleric."

Evelyn sighed deeply and sat down. She realized then that she had hoped he'd planned far enough ahead to warn people. What vanity! She cleared her throat and furrowed her brow, "As far as you can tell?"

Aveline tried to pick the best way to phrase it, but gave up and simply said, "That's our best guess, based on the number of body parts we've been able to piece back together."

"I see...," Evelyn tried not to think about how bad it was, or how much worse it could have been. What if the Chantry had been in the middle of services? As it was, Anders would have to face prosecution for the deaths of thirty-eight people. He was officially a murderer. She didn't want to think about that either, actually. Today was supposed to be a better day than previously and she certainly didn't want to start it off by feeling sick.

"Whatever charges you are recommending, you have my approval. Knight-Captain, please review her recommendations and if you have any of your own to add, please review them with the Guard-Captain, but I trust your judgment as well. When they are final, I'll give them a cursory review, but see no reason I should question either of you."

Aveline gave a curt nod of her head to acknowledge that she understood, "Of course, Your Grace. Knight-Captain, I'll send you the full list of charges once I'm done. Just send me your recommendations afterwards and I'll compile the full report for the Viscountess."

Cullen nodded his acknowledgement.

"Thank you, Aveline."

The Guard-Captain said goodbye, then quietly walked out of the room.

Cullen had been standing there, arms-crossed, silent the entire time. If he had any thoughts on the matter, it was obvious that he didn't care to share them.

"I'll make sure to get back to her as soon as possible. Good-day, your Grace." He bowed his head slightly and walked out.

Evelyn picked up the vial sitting in front of her and contemplated it. Kirkwall needed order now more than anything else. As soon as the final charges were given to her, she could proclaim judgment and have it carried out. She knew what the sentence should be, but the fact that he wanted it so badly and it would make a martyr of him prohibited her from going through with it. She needed the support of the Templars for any decision she would make, otherwise people may think that she allowed her personal feelings to sway her. Truth be known, if she could have her way, she'd have thrown him to the Templars and told them to do their worst with him. Isn't that the real reason why she initially requested three vials, anyway? Because she knew what he thought of them and wanted to bring him some level of grief, repeatedly, however small? Now it turned out that it was actually a prudent decision. Funny that.

She picked up her quill and a parchment and started writing a letter to the Office of the Divine. The last time she'd asked for something, it ended badly. Hopefully this time, it would ensure that she would have the support she needed, when it was most crucial.

Once she finished, she pulled on her coat and put the letter in her pocket. She dropped the vial in her pouch and headed out the door. On her way, she stopped by the Seneschal's office to tell him she had urgent business to take care of that couldn't wait. She'd be back later that afternoon and they could go over everything then.

She made her way down the stairs of the Keep and headed for the Alienage.