9:38 Dragon, Spring Part II of III

The noiseless breeze ruffled her hair as she pressed against Starkhaven's gates, staring out at the dream that Goran had been promising for the last seven years. Seven wasted years filled with blank spaces and hunger pangs, and still unsatisfied in this moment because of the gates. Those damn gates that kept her in and him out. Her stomach cramped, and she was certain that if she was strong enough, she could have bent the bars backwards, ripped the gates from their hinges, and flung them across the cobblestone path, so she might have crashed into his immovable body, melted into his dirt-stained embrace.

Sebastian shifted in his saddle, reaching up to prop a hand on the bow that was slung across his body. Flora's horse whinnied as she worked to keep it quiet, patting its neck soothingly, though her gaze stayed fixed on Samantha

"Lady Samantha." Ser Rayce's hands closed upon Samantha's arms. "You must stay—"

Samantha twisted away from him, dimly aware of her own voice as she shouted, "Let go of me!"

As she turned to bark at the Knight Commander, she caught sight of Starkhaven's citizens just behind the barricade. Were they surprised? Elated? She couldn't tell. Both Templars and guards were shuffling about, trying to keep the crowd under control, trying to keep them back from the gates. On the other side of the gates, there seemed to be two groups: one group contained Sebastian, Flora, and that strange-looking elf, and the other group contained Keis, Marke the Fereldan mage, and Corbinian. Corbinian. His skin was a deep bronze, his hair was long and nearly blond, and a short beard covered most of his jaw. And then he smiled; it looked involuntary – almost giddy.

One of the onlookers caught sight of him over Samantha's shoulder, and gasped. "It's the Marquess! It's Corbinian Vael! He's alive!"

One woman fainted, and a few others nearby came to her aid, fanning her face with their hands. There were similar instances of fainting elsewhere and some of the crowd were growing rowdy as they attempted to maneuver themselves closer to the barricade. Samantha could see movement in the masses, and worried for Sophine whom she had impulsively left behind. But Samantha didn't faint and she didn't move from the gate. Neither did Ser Rayce, and he patiently brought a hand to her shoulder again.

"Please, my lady..." Ser Rayce said gently.

Samantha turned a steely gaze on him. "I am not leaving."

His lips came back together and, from the way his features relaxed, Samantha knew without a doubt he would let her stay at the gate. He removed his hand from her shoulder and said, "If there should be bloodshed, I am removing you." And then he added: "My Lady."

Before she could smile at him, Corbinian spoke.

"It is I," he said calmly yet loudly enough so that those in the crowd might hear. "At long last, I am back."

"We knew you would be back!" a man shouted. "Thank the Maker!" A woman called out. "I knew he would never break the Oath!" someone else yelled. Several others whooped with joy, and Corbinian waved to them all. Samantha stood in surprised silence; was Goran right? Would the people readily accept him, even though he may have broken the Oath of Starkhaven?

Corbinian then turned to Sebastian. "Brother."

Keis and Marke had been keeping their gazes fixed on Sebastian, who looked from the crowd behind Samantha to Corbinian. When he spoke, it sounded as if he was continuing a conversation – in fact, Samantha imagined, she had missed a fair share of it.

Sebastian glanced at Samantha as he asked Corbinian, "You really told no one of your return?"

"I wanted to. But it is as I said before: I wasn't sure I'd make it," Corbinian answered sadly; he sounded tired. "And I could no more explain in a few sentences where I've been for the last seven years than you could tell me all about your life in the Chantry. What's important is that I've returned, as I always will, to honor my Oath to Starkhaven." The crowd cheered again. Corbinian leaned forward in his saddle. "What remains unclear is why you have broken your oath to the Chantry."

Sebastian seemed gravely affronted. "I would not have left the Chantry unless the Maker gave me a clear sign—"

"He gave you a sign?" Corbinian burst out laughing. "That's not fair! He didn't give me a sign in the entire time I was gone."

"You're mocking me, but I—"

"I'm mocking your quest to steal the Starkhaven throne," Corbinian interrupted, and the crowd murmured.

Sebastian shook his head emphatically. "This murderer's actions have ignited tensions between mages and Templars throughout Thedas!" Samantha assumed he was speaking about the apostate who had destroyed the Kirkwall chantry. "Starkhaven is too vulnerable, ripe for sacking, and Goran's hold over the Circle is tenuous at best. I cannot sit by and let tempers flare. Not when I can prevent another holocaust like the one in Kirkwall."

"Even if you were right and the city—" Corbinian lifted a hand to point over his shoulder. "—which stands un-sacked behind me, were on the brink of collapse, you would still be unwelcome. You are in exile."

"Exile!" someone in the crowd shouted to thunderous stomping of the crowd. It was like they were a collective mind, and Samantha suddenly understood why the guards looked so concerned. So many had gathered that should the crowd wish it, they could trample over everyone and bring down the gates.

Sebastian didn't acknowledge the crowd's jubilance. His knuckles, gripped around his bow, turned white in clear frustration. "You are not listening to me! None of you are listening to me! I say again, a mage, an abomination, has murdered Elthina, the Grand Cleric of Kirkwall, and destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry!"

"Kirkwall's problems are Kirkwall's to solve," Corbinian said resolutely, and many in the crowd murmured in agreement. Samantha turned around and noted many of them nodding their heads. "This is the Free Marches, last I heard, not Orlais."

"No." Sebastian shook his head. "This isn't just Kirkwall's problem. This affects us all. He could be anywhere in the world – even here – and I intend to find him, and bring him to the Maker's feet."

"Excellent." Corbinian smiled wide, gesturing to Flora and the elf. "Take these fine people and go find him, then."

Many in the crowd chuckled, and Sebastian sighed loudly in exasperation. "I will not sit outside these gates and argue with you. The Maker has showed me that I belong here."

Corbinian nodded his head thoughtfully. "Just like I said. You have come back, against the law, to steal that which has been stripped from you."

"I am the rightful heir—!"

"You are the heir to nothing." Corbinian forcefully cut in, and someone in the crowd yelled out an emphatic "That's right!" "You forfeited all lands, titles, and inheritances the moment you took your vows to the Chantry. Your duty is to the organization to which you have sworn an oath."

"The Chantry is in good hands."

"So is Starkhaven."

"The man who sits on the throne was placed there as a puppet leader by an abomination," Sebastian said, and a number of gasps and yelps of anger bounced out from the crowd. Indeed, Samantha thought him brazen for the accusation, but he continued: "He doesn't rule at all, I'm told. In fact, I hear he hired a regent to rule in his stead."

"Be careful, brother. That's my other brother you're talking about." Corbinian gave a small condescending smile, but behind him, his fellow riders seemed irritated. Marke set his jaw, tensing the grip of the neck of his staff. Even the emotionless Keis shifted on her horse, her shoulders rising and falling in silent aggravation.

If Sebastian seemed intimidated, he didn't show it. Instead, he turned to speak to the crowd. "Goran took three years to rebuild the Circle – a project that should have taken less than a year with the help the Chantry offered. I know that there has been considerable political unrest; families vying for power, using the resources that Goran wastes to further their own goals. I know that he has entered into a political marriage agreement with the daughter of the Margrave of Ansburg – something no prince has ever done."

"That Sophine is a sweet girl!" someone called out. Another said, "Goran has done right by us!" Samantha felt a swell of emotion that the people would stand up for Goran this way. Had she been so removed from society that she hadn't noticed his rising popularity? Could it be true?

"Goran is not fit to rule!" Sebastian called to them, and the crowd quieted. "There are too many outside influences upon the prince's seat. Our position in the Free Marches has been weakened."

"You forget to mention his Ghost Chasers." Corbinian offered, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Also, I've heard that he has held too few royal banquets."

Sebastian scoffed loudly. "You're making jokes? We face a serious threat—!"

"And that's why the Chantry needs you!" Corbinian insisted. "Maker! You haven't changed at all. You're abandoning them when they need you just like you abandoned Starkhaven."

Sebastian scowled – Corbinian had hit a nerve. "I could say the same for you."

There was a general grumbling in the crowd and while Samantha knew there were supporters for Corbinian's return, it was obvious there were detractors as well.

"You don't want to compare yourself to me, brother," Corbinian warned. "The reasons why I had to leave are much different than yours. Do the people you've brought with you know why your father banished you from Starkhaven?"

Samantha flushed, suddenly nervous. Sebastian shifted a little in his saddle. Flora and the elf seemed genuinely intrigued. The crowd quieted down. Corbinian wasn't going to tell everyone what Sebastian had done, was he?

"I was a just a boy, then," Sebastian said carefully, trying to hide his discomfort at the subject. "Reckless and foolish. If I could go back, I would change things, but the Maker sets us upon a path for a reason and I know why he sent me—"

"The Maker didn't compel you to take advantage of a young girl," Corbinian said angrily, and some in the crowd gasped. The elf glanced at Flora, who looked confused.

After an uncomfortable pause, Sebastian replied, "That was a long—"

"A long time ago! Yes, so long ago, that you still can't own up to what you did," Corbinian said, the disapproval in his voice loud enough for all to hear. "This is the reason you were kicked out, brother. This is what you want everyone to forgive—or is it forget?—so that you may come back to take a throne that doesn't belong to you—"

Sebastian seemed to be growing angrier with every word Corbinian spoke. He said, "My father—"

"—Is dead!" Corbinian finished. "This isn't a Fereldan Landsmeet. The ruler of Starkhaven is not decided by debate."

"This is my home!"

"But this is not where you live," Corbinian replied darkly. "Are you going to tell your friends why you were banished? How about Flora or your elven friend, Fenris, is it? Maybe the citizens on the other side of the gate? These are the hearts you hope to win – surely, they deserve to know why you have to ask to come back."

Silence fell over the gates of Starkhaven, and the tension in the air was so thick, Samantha could taste it.

Corbinian was clearly angry, and Samantha wondered why he had held onto his anger over this one thing for so long. She remembered all the times he spoke of Sebastian, his little comments about fights and duels—she'd thought he was joking back then!—but she had never suspected he harbored resentment over that night. She thought of her conversation with Goran about this very topic, and how angry he had been as well. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps to an outsider, this act that got Sebastian banished was far worse than it actually was. She tried to imagine a hypothetical scenario where she had been told a similar story about a friend of hers, Flora, Arianna, or even Sophine, and wondered if she would feel similar anger or if she would be as quick to forgive. She had to admit, it would have been difficult for her to pardon the perpetrator in the way she had so readily forgiven Sebastian. She wasn't sure why that was.

"You're afraid they won't forgive you," Corbinian said, shaking his head in disbelief.

To his credit, Sebastian looked somewhat conflicted, as though he was having an argument with himself inside his head. He stole a glance at Samantha. "I have begged the Maker for forgiveness. With the help of Elthina, I feel that He has forgiven me."

"What about me?" Corbinian asked him, his voice carrying over to the crowd's rapt attention. "Have you asked for forgiveness from me?"

Samantha didn't know what Corbinian meant by that, but Sebastian looked extremely uncomfortable. After a moment of seeming uncertainty, he carefully lowered himself from his horse. "The Maker sent me here with a divine purpose. Perhaps part of that purpose is to earn your forgiveness. Perhaps it is to earn the forgiveness of the people of Starkhaven. I am prepared to do both. But it's more than that. I was sent here to protect the city from the oldest threat that we have ever known. From magic."

Corbinian paused, and when he spoke again, he sounded more serious than Samantha had ever heard him. "No one can stop magic. Not one man, not a thousand. Magic is neither a tangible foe nor an ideal we can debate. It exists within a realm we don't fully understand, and cannot be defeated. We can only survive it, brother."

"Magic can be stopped," Sebastian said convincingly. "Mages can be stopped."

"No. They cannot," Corbinian said sadly. "I took an oath to this city, just as you took an oath to the Chantry. I have spent the last seven years fighting to honor myoath, but it seems you have spent the last seven years trying to break yours." Sebastian opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by the whinny of Corbinian's horse as he maneuvered in front of the gates. "You are a walking contradiction, brother. You stand at the gates of Starkhaven with mercenaries in tow claiming that to bring about stability and peace, you must first break the law. Why should anyone trust in you when you won't give the people the answers they deserve? You tread where you do not belong."

"I have seen what's to come," Sebastian hissed passionately over the crowd's mumbling approval. "And I know how to fight this new enemy."

"You are the only enemy I see here," Corbinian responded solemnly. And then a moment later, he also lowered himself from his horse.

The entirety of the crowd gasped, including Samantha who didn't notice that Ser Rayce had placed a gloved hand on her shoulder again. Flora twitched upon her horse, reaching for her bow, but arrested herself from doing anything further, clearly conflicted about what she was supposed to do. The elf sat atop his horse neither moving a muscle nor making a sound.

Sebastian's mouth dropped open in obvious shock. "I am not your enemy!"

Corbinian stood rigid, the sunlight glinting off of his armor plating. "Anyone who seeks to harm my city is my enemy. My Oath demands that we fight if you refuse to leave."

"This is madness! I will not fight you!"

"Then you will leave and take your friends with you."

"I can't do that."

Corbinian drew his sword, the metal ringing ominously. "Then know that it will bring me no pleasure to kill you."