Four Templars waited outside Josephine's door when she arrived, lined up in escort formation. She gave them her best noble glare and asked, "Is this necessary?"
It was Cullen who answered behind her. "Your Grace, an unknown mage of unknown origins with unknown intentions and potentially limitless power is waiting behind that door. I'm amazed there are only four."
The lone woman of the group saluted. "Another eight are already in the room, Knight-Commander Cullen, with Lady Montilyet and her assistants."
"Excellent, Arlena. You are a credit to the Order. I'll be in my office or on the sparring grounds, should you need me, though I'm sure you will not. Please take care of the Lady Inquisitor," he said, returning the salute. The woman's posture became even more painfully military, and Evelyn inwardly groaned. She wouldn't be able to use the privy by herself until the elf was gone, much less convince them to leave her alone in a room with him. The bastard. His smile as he made his bow to her hid nothing, and she resolved to recruit Sera into a retaliation plan.
Nothing to be done about it now. Besides, whispered the Inquisitor, they will make him unsettled. And make good shields. Evelyn slammed her mind shut. "Lead on, Knight-Captain."
She decided to fight after all when she saw the crowd in Josephine's office. Large as it was, it was not designed to hold an entire delegation, especially when that delegation was trying to give a polite amount of room to a guest. Josephine gave her no chance, however, leaping from her chair beside the elf as soon the door opened. "Inquisitor! I'm grateful for your time this morning. Allow me to present Lord Abelas, protector of Mythal, though he says he is known to you already."
He rose and looked at her. His face was older and more lined, catching up to his ancient eyes, but there was no mistaking who he was. His countenance never changed, but she felt she'd disappointed him somehow.
Evelyn stepped forward and bowed. "Yes, that's so. He was a crucial ally against Corypheus and offered me much trust. I hope that he saw his trust rewarded."
He sighed. "All too well rewarded, it seems. You do not hold the wisdom we offered, nor the price it carried."
She shifted on her feet, aware of the eyes on them both. "It didn't seem the correct path," she said slowly. "The enemy sought to become a god, never my goal, and had given me one of his tools already. Taking the second would have been… risky. I entrusted it to another, one with strength to fight me should I go wrong." So careful. So much to guard.
"The choice favors you, and shows wisdom for a human, but it leaves another path blocked to us," he said. "I do not expect the recipient to be as easy to find as you were. There was cunning there."
Josephine motioned them to their seats, but Evelyn cut her off. "Would you prefer to talk outside, my lord? I'm sure being indoors isn't comfortable for you." Please say yes, she thought. A place where ears can be kept distant, even with eyes on me.
The Templars muttered, and Josephine's smile intensified in its diplomacy, but Abelas saved her from a mutiny by sitting back in his seat. "I appreciate the courtesy, but I find little in this world comfortable, indoors or out. Human buildings are no better or worse than others. And I would not challenge your protectors, who honor you as I honor Mythal," he added, close to smiling. "But I am no lord, merely Abelas."
She sat across from him and leaned forward. "So you haven't found a new name. I'd hoped you might. I'd hoped your people would find comfort in Thedas, now. Possibly even among humans." She paused, puzzled. "Why don't you call us shemlen, as the Dalish do?"
His eyes narrowed. "The Dalish are mad children scratching on trees, making messes where there should only be order. They do not understand the words they use, the rituals they follow, or the lives they lead. I pity them, but I will not indulge them."
So like Solas, the Inquisitor whispered. This contempt is weakness.
"As for my name," he continued, "your barefaced friend knew much, but I am afraid he did not understand names. They do not change easily or lightly, and were I not Abelas I might not be at all."
Evelyn stared at her hands, unsure of what came next. There were flavors of sorrow, like joy or love, and his had changed from the ferocity of loss to the exhaustion of grief. She had nothing to offer him. As the silence lengthened, she realized he wished for that oblivion, to no longer be. The price kept him tethered, and he suffered underneath it the more because he couldn't imagine struggle. The mark on her hand sparked, once, and tears gathered in her eyes. She felt a terrible kinship with this ancient elf who couldn't leave himself behind.
A cough, from Josephine, brought her back to the room. "What is it you would like from us, Abelas?" Josephine asked. "We welcome your people to the Inquisition if you will join, as a continued alliance, as advisors, or even as friends. Your order is ancient and worthy of respect. We've cleaned much of the temple and you'd be welcome to it, or we could find other land or space for you to live. Or, if you merely wished to speak more with the Inquisitor, we could arrange for a dinner tonight and an open line of communication in the future."
"Yes, we should talk about that," he said, steepling his fingers. "Your Inquisition seems noble, as these things go, but my people serve our own cause and cannot join another. We had hoped to find the gifted knowledge here, but that hope was an empty nest. Rather than begin the hunt over, let us change targets.
"We went out into the world, as we had to, after the attack on our Temple. We looked for a place that was not strange, but all the world is strange and we felt no pull to service. When it became clear that we had no place in your lands, we sought to end our awakening, to go back to dreams or death. This, too, eluded us. To me, this can mean only one thing - Mythal yet has need of us, in this time. We must serve her, of course, but we have no guidance. No message has come. She may be in the other world, in this world, in no world at all but our own memories. Her needs may be many or as few as one. We guarded the Temple and its secret as our only task, but that is no more. We thought the knowledge of our purpose might live inside of you, Inquisitor, even without our gift, for there are many stories of your power in this world."
He paused and tilted his head, waiting. An image pressed itself into her mind - an old woman taking a soul from a boy in the Fade. Flemeth. Mythal. She calls her warriors back to her. But why? Thoughts from Evelyn, herself. The Inquisitor's dark thoughts came behind, oily and grasping. A goddess in need of protection. An opportunity. A valuable piece for capture.
But the last voice, unfamiliar and strange, was the one she heard most clearly. Be careful, little one, be so careful. His trust is a snake, his loyalty not to you. A trap, a test, a snare in front of you.
She cleared her throat and stared into the fire behind him, choosing her words. "I don't know what service your Mythal might need from you, Abelas. While stories about me are plentiful, truths are dear, and my power doesn't extend to gods. But she's here, in this world, and if she's revealed this to you then her need must be great."
"You've seen her then? She lives? Where can she be found?"
"I saw her only in the Fade, but she was alive and walked in and out of like she was not a prisoner. She told me she had lived in the world, though nowhere specific. She could be anywhere by now." She avoided mentioning Morrigan, not that she knew where her mother was regardless. There was no reason to give the elves a second reason to go after her. "The Inquisition would be happy to use our resources to help you in your search, however. She did a service for a friend, and there are things I'd like to ask her, if she's found."
Abelas relaxed. She hadn't realized his tension until his shoulders dropped back, and she glimpsed a flash of magic fold back into his hands. The Templars behind her didn't see it, thank the Maker. Angry Templars rarely made a negotiation run smoothly.
"We welcome your aid, Inquisitor, and we can also offer a beginning to a search. While we have no fixed location, our mages have sensed puzzling flashes of her spirit in a place you call Fereldan. The glimpses do not feel as we remembered, and they move erratically. Nevertheless, they are our only clue. That, and the compulsion to find you. The connection was present but unknown in nature."
Josephine crossed her legs with a pointed rustling, and he turned in her direction. "Lady Ambassador, I apologize for the deception. I meant no harm, but I had to know how much trust would be offered. Protecting is not always noble." He turned back. "But I misjudged you, human, and I re-offer my trust if you will have it."
Evelyn stood. "I understand your concerns, and my offer of help still stands. I'll discuss this with my advisors and see what is appropriate. Please be our guests in Skyhold, or anywhere on her lands, until we've reached a decision."
He mirrored her motion, then nodded his head. The Templars walking him out were no less formal than before, but she was reasonably sure they were less afraid. Josephine certainly looked more confident. And only two Templars stayed behind to guard her. Thank the Maker.
She walked over to the fireplace and leaned against it, staring into the flames. "So Cole," she said, not turning around, "what did you think of him?"
A laugh came from the corner. "You saw me! You always see me now, like a leaf sees the wind, without eyes."
"You put a thought in my mind again, didn't you." she asked without a question. He drew up beside her but avoided her face.
"I didn't put it in. It wanted to come through from yourself so I helped it. It was slippery, but I found a path. I'm sorry if I did wrong," he said.
She chewed on her lip. "No, it was an important thought. It helped me." His face brightened under the shadow of his hat. "I wish I knew more about what he wanted from me. His mind doesn't work like any of ours, even the modern elves. Even yours."
Cole nodded. "When you put your hand under the water it separates and is no longer your hand. Light displaces flesh in time. They will never be joined the same."
She smiled as he held out his own hand to the light of the fire, then swept out of the room.