Maker, how did I get into this position?

Isabela, sighing, was leaning her head against the door, hand softly knocking on it, again. "You have to come out at some point, kitten..."

All Isabela got in reply was a sniffle from the other side.

"Well she doesn't have to...there's a chamber-pot in there and I think her cupboards as well." Varric chuckled, making Isabela roll her eyes. "Think she can endure a siege for a few days, at least."

Sighing, Isabela temporarily gave up her attempt to coax a response out of the Dalish and turned to face the dwarf, eyes once more taking in the place with something akin to admiration, as always surprised to see what Varric had been able to produce for living quarters for Merrill.

The place wasn't clean, though Merrill had clearly tried to make it neat, there was only so much one could do with big cracks in the walls and ceiling letting dust and rats in. Nor did it really smell all that good either, there was always a strange pungent scent in cities such as Kirkwall, but the Alienages were always ten times worse, with no amount of pine brought from the forest able to repel it.

Yet it was far larger than any alienage elf could boast about. Isabela knew some elves lived nearly on top of one another, of families of fifteen living in a space half the size of Merrill's place...the fact that Varric had secured so much property for the elf spoke volumes of his contacts. Not to mention his generosity, he'd barely known the girl back then. Maker, wish I could ask him for help too, bet those contacts would prove useful... Shrugging aside the thought that she knew would only lead down a dark path, Isabela eyed the smirking dwarf so casually leaning against a door-frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "You could be helping a bit more, you know."

"I think I'll wait until she's calmed down a little, I'm just here to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid until then." The man pretended to scrutinize his fingernails as he drawled on. "But you continue banging your head against a wall, sorry, door. I find it entertaining...I thought you more of a 'no attachments' kind of girl?"

Isabela groaned, as always, the dwarf was far too clever for his own good. "Well come on, it's Merrill here...not doing anything would be like...like...kicking a puppy?" Varric arched an eyebrow, making her growl. "I'm still the same, pirate and scoundrel to the soul." She shook her head, voice a mutter. "Bloody Garrett..."

"To be fair, I think he did the right thing." Varric muttered back, the dwarf looked up at Isabela with an empathic sigh. "Didn't look like an easy choice either."

Isabela grimaced, but nodded. There was something...unsettling with the way Merrill had been so focused, so fixated, on the mirror and the goal of their recent quest. Her argument with Garrett, a man she clearly cared for, had only been the culmination of the whole thing. Lovers' spat...and me caught in the middle...great. Raising her voice, she directed it at the door behind her. "Come on, girl! Please come out...I'll...errr...persuade Anders to let you play with his cats if you come out?"

"Weak." Varric snickered even as the answer from behind the door was a continuous whimpering.

Isabela shot the dwarf a withering look. "What do you want from me? I don't usually do this shit."

"You'll learn." Varric smirked, apparently set on being difficult.

Isabela's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Come on, Varric, please help a girl out here...you want her to feel better as much as I do."

"That's better." Varric's smirk somehow got broader as he pushed himself off the door-frame and approached. "See? Having friends is good and helpful?" The dwarf shook his head in disbelief even as he turned his gaze to the door. "Can't believe I have to tell first Garrett and now you this simple truth..." He raised his voice, tone gentle. "Daisy, please come out, we just want to talk to you...if you don't want to talk, we understand, but we'd like to help."

"Wait, did you just compare me and Garrett-" Varric held up a finger, silencing Isabela's burgeoning protest at such a comparison, making her take an irritated breath as the dwarf kept his eyes on the door. "And stop that, she's not going to-"

A click made Isabela whirl around in surprise...though not fast enough to avoid noticing Varric's knowing smile at being proven right. Before her, the door was slowly swinging open, the red-eyed Dalish behind it looking exceedingly small with her slumped shoulders, head bowed and hands in front of her lap. Her voice was a quavering squeak. "H-hi."

Oh you poor dear. Before Isabela knew what she was doing, she was holding Merrill, her arms wrapping tight around the elf's shoulders and back. "Are you okay?" It was a ridiculous question, and one holding a frightening answer as Isabela caught a glimpse of the mirror beyond the doorway from whence Merrill had come, the jagged edge of a broken piece marked by a trickle of blood. "I...I know you're sad about...all of this." Yeah, good supporting there, Isabela, ass...

"Y-yeah.." Merrill muttered, sounding awkward. "C-could...could you...

Could I...? Isabela frowned in confusion, but Varric was faster. "What she's trying to say is that everyone here still loves and cares for you, and that things aren't as bad as they might seem." He paused, then rolled his eyes. "And I think, Isabela, Merrill is trying to ask you to take your breasts out of her face."

Oh. Isabela reluctantly let go of the elf and took a step back, finding the elf still looking disheartened and upset, but now with a lovely flush to her cheeks as well. "Sorry...and yes, that's what I meant...you and Garrett had an argument, big deal."

"It is a big deal!" Merrill protested, looking away with a flash of anger and regret in her eyes. "I was just...I just wanted..."

"Come on, sit down..." Varric's tone was as gentle as his big hands as he guided the elf to her rickety dinning table, seating the elf before taking the creaking chair next to it, his head cocked to the side, eyes on the little woman. "...you wanted it to work out, yes, now you instead find yourself at odds with Garrett, and that hurts, I understand."

"Yeah, b-but...the...he had no right to-"

Varric's face remained gentle, yet there was a hint of an edge in his tone. "He did what he thought best, Daisy, not for himself, but for you...given your own break from traditions within the Dalish, I don't think you're in a position to criticize."

"But..I..." Merrill bit her bottom lip, head tilting down. "...it wasn't supposed to go like this. I wasn't supposed to have to leave the clan. I...I wasn't supposed to resort to...to use...or to...human..."

Isabela blinked, the Dalish's words were nigh incomprehensible at the end, yet not, given the distressed look in Merrill's eyes. Eugh, love, see, this is why you should avoid it... "Kitten, you had a spat, the world hasn't ended."

The elf looked up, confusion written in her face at Isabela's words...but Varric was faster. "What Isabela is trying to say is that while yes, you and Garrett are at odds right now, that doesn't have to last." His hand moved to rest on the elf's, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Garrett is still up in Hightown..."

Merrill hesitated, looked over to Isabela, then Varric...and then visibly shook as she looked back down at the table, her eyes squeezing shut to fruitlessly try to hold back the grief. "B-but I s-said su-such mean th-things...!" She shook her head furiously, as if she could shake away the troubles. "I d-didn't want to b-but I di-did it anyway! I'm s-such a b-bad fr-friend a-and th-then h-he sa-said..."

"You both said things you didn't mean and regretted the moment you said them." Varric filled in, hand still on Merrill's as the other stroked her back. "We all saw it, dear. I'm sure Garrett is just as broken up about this as you are."

"Bet he'll be all stoic about it." Isabela grunted, feeling out of her element...and wincing as Varric shot her an unamused look. "Yet hurting a lot on the inside, obviously, that's just how he is."

"I...I can't just..." Merrill muttered, apparently unable to put her thoughts into words.

"What? Go go him?" Isabela filled in, then snorted, unable to help herself. "It's the easiest thing in the world, kitten, you put one foot in front of the other, then you're there. Don't let fear hold you back, not when staying like this will just make you miserable."

Merrill sniffled at the words and Varric shot Isabela an exasperated look, then sighed when he turned back to the elf. "As...blunt as Isabela might be, she's right, you could go there right now and...well I think everything would work out, actually. Maybe some tears, a few upset feelings, but in the end...well it'll be resolved and you'll be friends again."

If anything, biology might fix things, so some sweat, a few shudders of pleasure and a nice end... Isabela smirked at the thought,then shook it aside, forehead wrinkling. Though those two together...Maker, even I see the potential for even more heartbreak in the future.

Merrill looked up at Varric's words, eyes darting left and right as she thought it over, panic in her shaking hands. "Y-you think...?"

"I'm sure of it." Isabela said before Varric could reply. "Trust me, kitten, I've seen this many times before..." Usually from further away to avoid the bothersome feelings and shouts, but still. "...and I've yet to see these things be resolved for the better by a good old face-to-face..." Noticing Varric's sharp look, Isabela took the hint. "...talk."

"I...maybe..." A glitter of hope in Merrill's eyes as she turned to look at Varric. "I-if...do you think he'd give-"

The dwarf's reply was curt and stern, almost reminding Isabela of Garrett. "No, he won't."

"Oh..." Merrill looked crestfallen and ashamed for having asked, staring down at her hands again, but the look faded in half a second as a little toothy smile darted up to her mouth. "But I'd get him back, we'd be together again..."

Isabela couldn't stop herself from smirking. "As a friend, you mean."

"Wha...? Yes, of course." Merrill's gaze darted up to Isabela, then to the side as her cheeks flushed.

Isabela and Varric could do nothing but exchange an exasperated look.

8

8

8

"She's locking them up like dogs now! Slightest offence and you're sent to a 'chamber'!" Aveline sighed as Anders, unfazed by the looks of the two others in the room, railed on while marching back and forth across Garrett's office. She herself had taken a position by the door, leaning against the doorpost with a bored look on her face. "So now you either get to sleep in a big barrack with no privacy...or you're given all the privacy in the world as they lock you into a cell! I don't know what's worse, having templars gripping swords watching you and others sleep or having them stand just outside a locked door, but neither is right! They're treated like criminals!"

"Yes, I know, you've told us, twice." Garrett muttered.

The man was sitting in the big chair behind his desk, fingers interlocked in front of him, eyes on Anders. Yet despite that, he didn't look attentive, his gaze distant, dark rings around his eyes and an air of weariness and restlessness both emanating from him. Guess that argument with Merrill really did a number on him, huh? I should ask Isabela about it...Maker, I hang out with that woman too much.

"I know I have! Yet you have done nothing!" Anders snapped, stopping to point an accusing finger across the room and at the noble. "I thought you were on our side on this!"

"I'm on my side, holding true to my beliefs on this." Garrett sighed, giving a minuscule shrug that just seemed to infuriate Anders further. At least he's not glowing...Maker, one day he'll just explode and I'll be left to clean up the pieces. "I'm not about to overthrow the chantry, nor to join your little rebellion. You should be glad I respect and honour you enough not to work against you when you cause so much trouble with Meredith with your helping of mages to escape." Garrett's hands moved up, slowly, to rub his temples. He looks tired. "I've not forgotten Bethany, before you say that..." The man grimaced at the name for some reason. "...but nothing has changed, you can't expect miracles against an organization so rooted in the city as the templars. To uproot a tree you need time to dig, setting it ablaze is not an option."

Anders shook his head, looking away with a growl. "Well maybe a fire now and again is good for the forest as a whole..."

"Don't say that." Garrett and Aveline snapped in unison, the later nodding to the former to continue, the man nodding back with a growl aimed at Anders. "Nothing will hurt your cause more than the revolution you still seem to hold close to your heart. A dead mage is not free, and given your tales, I'm sure those that survived would wish they were dead." The man shook his head. "Patience is a virtue, I'd have thought you'd learnt that by now."

"Patience is...difficult for me." Anders growled, his hands clenched tight to his sides. "Especially when I everyday see and hear of mages suffering at the hands of these...bullies. You say Meredith isn't unreasonable, but I see the marks of her teachings every day, extremism is flourishing in the Templar keep."

Aveline arched an eyebrow, tone dry. "Unlike here, you mean, revolutionary?"

Anders turned, glowering at the woman. "Oh yes, paint me as the villain here, guards-woman. Everyone knows the templars have the guard in their pocket."

"Do they now?" Aveline snorted, the accusation stinging after all her work of removing the previous administration's errors. "That's news to me...tell me, how many mages have the guard arrested this year and handed over to the templars?"

"Eight!" Anders roared, taking two steps closer, looking as if he was about to punch her.

Aveline simply crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed. "And how many of those were well-meaning mages in hiding? I think...none, I think those eight were in fact criminals working for gangs and generally causing unrest. I make no difference from assault with a sword and one with a lightning-bolt, both will be taken in, but as the law says, those that do it with magic do get passed to the templars for sentencing."

Anders sighed, shaking his head at her in clear disapproval. "They only do so because they're desperate. They're driven to it by the situation they're in, by the need not to starve..."

"And how is that different from the other criminals in this city?" Garrett grunted, meeting Anders' glare with a steady gaze of his own. "You want equality, these mages do the same thing others do, why should the guard look the other way for them?"

For a second, there was no answer, then Anders pointed an accusing finger at Aveline. "The difference is that she sends them to the templars!"

"Because that's the law." Aveline growled, annoyed. "If child commits a crime, I send it to the orphanage, if a visitor commits a crime, I send them to their city for sentencing, if a Qunari commits a crime, I send them to the Arishok." However unwillingly...man never punishes them, claiming they did nothing wrong, stupid Qun..."I do things by the book, and I'm not sorry if that means arresting some of your friends who come to commit crime, that's what I do."

"Without thought of as to why or who wrote the laws...the chantry has you nicely wrapped around your finger, don't they?" Anders' reply made Aveline stand straight, eyed hard as she met Anders' glare. "How does it feel, being a puppet?"

"That's enough." Garrett snapped, the man slamming his palms into the table. "We did not come here to have you insult Aveline and throw accusations and demands around. My answer is final. I will not demand of Meredith to do anything, not at this juncture, because it won't work" He looked away, grimacing, clearly tired. "You can see yourself out."

Grumbling, Anders shot Garrett a final look before heading for the door, his shoulder slamming into Aveline's for good measure as he passed, nearly making him stumble. Yeah, try tackling the woman known as the 'tank' among the guardsmen, smart... Grunting in irritation, Anders shot her a final glare before slamming the door shut behind himself.

The moment the mage left, Garrett sighed and sank deeper into the chair, eyelids nearly closing for a moment as he muttered. "Maker, that man makes me tired at times..."

"Slept poorly?" Aveline asked, inching a little closer, hands behind her back and head tilted to the side.

"Yeah." The man shrugged, then straightened in his seat, glancing back to Aveline with a tired look. "Anyway, we had another topic of discussion...given our relatively strong position in Kirkwall, you and I are the two with both the power and will to do something about these Qunari issues..." Aveline grimaced. Issues is one way to call it... "What are we looking at right now?"

"Well the Qunari might only number three hundred, but they now have about a thousand elven followers within their walls...Maker knows how they keep all of them in order in such a small space as the one they've been given, but they're managing." Aveline sighed. "Those elves though...they get into problems any time they leave the Qunari compound. It isn't often, admittedly, but when they do they...well they're not really doing anything illegal at first, but their defiant behaviour creates a lot of anger and arguments with the humans in the city, and these elves are, when threatened, more than happy to throw the first punch, creating a riots and the like."

"Yes, I can imagine it stings the eyes a bit to see alienage elves all of a sudden acting...uppity." Garrett grimaced, looking away. "I've had complaints from both nobles and merchants of a lack of manpower too. Personally I think they should suck it up and hire something but elves that they basically turn into serfs, but the problem is that it causes yet more unrest, as you've noted."

"And then there's Petrice with her bloody fanatics." Aveline groaned, shaking her head. "You wouldn't believe how many protests and riots I've had to quell as of late, she's working up the poor into a fever-pitch!" She shuddered at the thought, moving a little closer. "This'll end in blood if we don't manage something soon."

"The guard is too small, and most nobles love their trading with the Qunari too much to willingly aid in anything that might help the Qunari leave." Garrett grunted, wearily shaking his head. "I've just...we have to..." A sigh and another shake of his head. "...they need to leave, and soon, relic or no relic."

"Given how many followers they now have, their fortified position and all those Qunari 'toys'...I don't think making them doing anything will be easy." Aveline grimaced.

"Yes...bloody Dumar, we shouldn't have let them in." Garrett sighed, staring down at the table. "I...might have to talk to Meredith about this. She has the numbers for making the Qunari, as even they have self-preservation instincts, leave in a peaceful manner."

"Meredith? As in the templars?" Aveline blinked. Anders will not be happy to hear that. "Why would she? She doesn't care."

"The Qunari have mages, and there could be elven mages hiding among them...that might be enough of an argument to sway her." Garrett noticed Aveline's doubting look. "I know, but it's worth a shot, I...don't know what else to do."

Aveline sighed, changing the subject. "You really are tired, you should get some rest." The words made the man grimace. "Is this about Merrill?"

"I don't know..." Garrett leant back, hands coming to rest behind his head as his gaze lazily drifted to the ceiling, eyes pained, forehead wrinkled. "...I keep thinking I did the right thing yet...it doesn't feel like it." He looked back to Aveline, a look of confusion on his face. "I...don't understand this."

Aveline nearly smiled at the look on the man's face. Donnic...Maker, he confused me too at first. "What don't you understand?"

"I...she's more trouble than she's worth. She's stubborn, she's a blood mage, she's downright foolish at times...she drives me insane..." Garrett looked away, shoulders slumping and a dejected look on his face. "...I should be happy that I got her out of my hair, I should."

"Yet you're not." Aveline smiled this time, unable to help herself. "Besides, she's still in the city, just let things calm down a bit and then...you know."

"M-maybe." Did he just stutter? Garrett looked uncertain at the prospect, the man visibly swallowing as he kept looking away. "I...need to think about that, to...I don't know...figure things out..."

Aveline couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Right, that'll work...

8

8

8

Thanks to Abydos Jackson for whipping me to go forward.