A/N: This chapter is a continuation from the previous one to some degree, whereas chapter one was to set the scene for Cullen and Ellanas eventual romance, this chapter is much more story based. Which is what I intend for the rest of the story. I hope you like it, and please review if you have any critiques.
Ellana heard Cassandra huff from her side, the seekers arms folded angrily across her chest. "What have the mages gotten themselves into now?"
"Desperation pushes people to act without thought, this magister seeks to take advantage of that. Be careful Herald, though the mages are thankful I do not think his intentions are entirely honourable."
"Thank you, Solas." The other elf nodded in response and leant on his staff. Redcliffe was a mess. Mages had set up small tents in the market place and she could feel their eyes on her as she'd passed. What did Fiona think when she had accepted Alexius' offer?
With a sigh, she unfolded the note in her palm.
"The note says to meet this Felix tonight in the chantry?" Blackwall, their newest recruitment said from her right, leaning over to catch a glimpse of it in her hand.
"Yes." She nodded, passing him the note. "But we should be prepared, this is after all Alexius' son, it might well be a trap."
"But why go to this length? Why not kill us in our sleep, he's already agreed to us staying here." Blackwall asked. She had to admit, he did have a point. If Alexius wanted to he could have just had them killed there at the Tavern. Alexius had been kind enough to offer them a place to stay before their journey back to skyhold.
"Alexius is no fool. He knows that killing us here, where we sleep would promote distrust in the Ferelden mages. No, he needs them to believe we were doing something wrong, plotting against him and that he had to act, resulting in our deaths." Solas answered, causing the room to look at him.
Ellana nodded. She hated shems and their damn games. She hated how they put on airs and graces, acting as though they were a friend, a trusted ally, only to then murder you in your sleep. Or they simply murdered you.
She wondered if it was the same way with other shems. Did they treat each other as badly as they treated the elves? From the looks of the humans at Redcliffe and everywhere else she'd seen, disregarding the mage templar war, she would have to say no. At least no member of the Inquisition had called her knife ear or filthy elf savage yet.
Yet, she thought.
"Then," She decided. "We don't let anything to chance. This Felix… He says it's just a meeting, but who knows what manner of things he'll have waiting for us when we get there." This was just what she needed, she sighed, another thing to complicate the matter. First it was Cullen and Leliana arguing about the mage and templar dilemma, and now she had another issue besides trying to get the mages to listen.
"Blackwall, Solas." She turned towards the two men, handing them each a pack of rations. "Your room is the one opposite us, if you have something to do, something to get, i suggest you do it now. We are to meet in here at nightfall and head to the chantry. Rest before we do so, we will most likely have a long fight ahead of us." The men nodded, and retreated out of the doorway. Now that only left Cassandra and herself.
"Herald," The woman started, and Ellana turned to face the woman. "Are you sure the mages are the best option?"
Ellana sighed. "Right now, I'm not sure either party is the best option. It's like picking the lesser of two evils. Yes the people might trust the Templars more, but who is to say they are the right choice?" Ellana sighed. "All I know for the moment is, there is a Tevinter Magister sitting his plump mage ass in a Ferelden castle, and he needs to be dealt with."
That seemed to be enough for the seeker. Cassandra nodded, and began to take off her gloves, setting them down by the bedside table.
Following her lead, Ellana unfurled her bed roll and set about taking off her armor.
She woke up to Cassandra strapping on her breast plate, tightening the leather straps as necessary. The seeker was a strong woman, someone Ellana admired immensely even if they did disagree on certain things. But she had stayed true to her word, and had saved Ellana's life more times than she could count. She respected her advice and judgement, and Ellana hoped in return Cassandra respected her.
With a grunt, Ellana pushed herself off the ground and stretched, feeling each muscle and bone give a pop before she got to work with her armor. There was less of it than the warriors, but the amount of straps and fastenings were a nightmare. Master Harritt had gotten straight to work on a new schematic she had found, something named prowler armor. The blacksmith had almost squealed with glee at the sight of it and spent the entire day getting it to fit perfectly to her smaller form.
There was a soft knock at the door and Cassandra opened it, hand ghosting over the pommel of her sword.
"It's just us," came the gruff accented voice of Blackwall as he pushed past the door, his armor already in place, Solas on his heels. "The taverns quiet, save a few snoring patrons." Cassandra nodded, stepping back to allow room for the two men to enter.
"Odd," Cassandra commented with a grunt as she continued to buckle her armor. "I would have thought the place to be still full, it has only just turned dark."
"Alexius probably has the place on lockdown," Ellana concluded buckling the last strap of her armor and sheathing her swords on her sides. "He has kicked the Arl out and taken residence in Redcliffe Castle after all. It would not surprise me if he thought he was entitled to govern the area." She grabbed her things from the ground, her bedroll neatly rolled and strapped to her pack, before she walked towards the door. "To the chantry it is."
The streets were quiet, the stalls that had littered the streets that day were vacant, covers pulled tightly into place to protect their innards from the weather. Redcliffe looked abandoned, as if there had been no life for a while. Alexius' doing no doubt, Ellana thought as they made their way up to the chantry.
Her fingers twitched at her sides, anxiousness prickling at the back of her neck. She hated it, the not knowing. She hated how she could be walking into a room full of mages, all of them ready to cast a hail of fire the second they walked through the door. Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at her party and nodded. This was it, she thought. She opened the heavy oak door with her right hand as her left grabbed her dagger.
What she saw though, was not what she had anticipated.
There was a man in the middle of the room, his dark skin illuminated only by the green glow of the rift he stood beneath. He was panting, grunting as he swung his staff to slam into the head of a demon. It reeled back, screaming in pain before he curved the bladed end of his staff upwards, slicing the demons throat. It gurgled as it's mangled body fell, before a green glow consumed it.
"Ah good!" He exclaimed with a smirk, turning to look at her. "You're finally here! Now help me close this, would you?"
Ellana paused, brows furrowing in confusion. "Who are-"
"Yes, yes. We'll get to introductions after this is taken care of." As if on cue, the rift exploded, the ground glowing with a green bile. She felt her hand burn with the energy, the green light etching through his skin and pulsing. The demons erupted from the ground with a scream, deafening her as she charged forward.
She could hear Cassandra yell behind her, asking for Andraste's guidance as she swung her sword to slice through the arm of a Terror demon whilst Blackwall knocked back it's advance with his shield.
Her arm burned, pain searing it's way up every tendon as she swung her blades towards a wraith. It hissed, swiping it's arm at her. She dodged, slicing upwards with her right as her left sliced the demons belly. With a wail the rift engulfed it, it's body tearing into the green glow above them.
She needed to close the tear. Turning towards the elf mage she screamed. "Solas! I need you to cover me whilst I close the rift!"
The elf grunted, swinging his staff in an arc before slamming it to the ground. Electricity crackled in the air and she felt her hair stand on end. The demons screamed, the lightening burning at their flesh leaving marred. He was panting, and she could see the signs of his mana draining. "Just a moment!" He yelled back, reaching to his belt to grab a vial of lyrium. He pressed the rim of the vial to his lips, the warm blue liquid quickly disappearing before he hooked the vial back onto his belt. He nodded, raising his staff and closing his eyes.
The air around her grew cold, a wraith, inches from her froze solid. With a quick jab, it shattered and she rushed forward, dodging a terror demons lunge. She swerved left, slicing her blades through the air. It hissed before diving forward, it's claws latching into her arm.
She bit back a scream. She could feel the demons talons tearing through her skin, feel the warmth of her blood beginning to spill. Grunting, she cut the air with her dagger, sending the demon back before she drove her other dagger into it's side.
It howled, screaming into the air. Before it could react, Ellana was on it, her blades a blur as she hacked and stabbed, unrelenting in her attack.
It threw up an arm, aimlessly trying to get the rogue away from it. Ellana hooked herself into one of it's protruding spikes, flinging herself into the air only to come down onto the creature. Her dagger cleaved through it's skull, black mucus spraying from the impact.
She landed with a crash, recovering as quickly as she could.
This was her chance. She burst forward, ignoring the pain in her arm as she threw her left hand into the air. Power willed itself through her, channeling into her palm and she was lit with a green energy. It was burning, searing, agonizing. Each second drawing more power, more energy than she'd ever used before.
It exploded with a loud bang, green debris falling from where the rift had once been. She had a moment to breath.
"Fascinating. How does that work exactly?" The man asked, incredulity laced in his voice. Ellana bent over, her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath as she looked at him. "You don't even know do you? You just wiggle your fingers, and boom! Rifts closes."
"Who are you?" She panted.
"Ah. Getting ahead of myself again I see." He bent low, his smirk covered by his moustache. "Dorian of house Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do?" Ellana tensed.
"Another Tevinter. Be cautious with this one." Cassandra stepped forward, her arms crossed and her face hard. She had to admit, though he didn't seem like the other mages, Alexius had also put on a show for her. Could this Dorian man be doing the same?
"Suspicious friends you have here." He frowned.
"Well, you know what they say, preparation for war is a constant stimulus to suspicion and ill will." Ellana said. She could almost see the cogs in the mans head turning as he thought what to say next.
Dorian hummed."Magister Alexius was once my mentor, so my assistance should be valuable- as you can imagine"
Ellana sheathed her daggers and crossed her arms. "I was expecting Felix to be here."
"I'm sure he's on his way. He was to give you the note, then meet us here after ditching his father." Dorian, glanced behind her, as if half expecting the young man to be walking towards them then. But he was not.
Ellana didn't like it. She didn't like any of it. Dorian, whoever he was... why had he not given the note to her directly? Why was he hiding from his former mentor? was there bad blood between the two? Or was Dorian leading them into another trap? Ellana shook her head, one question at a time.
"And you're betraying your mentor because..?"
"Alexius was my mentor. Meaning he's not any longer, not for some time. Look you must know there's danger, even without the note. Let's start with Alexius claiming the allegiance of the mage rebels from under you. As if by Magic, yes?" He didn't let her answer. "Which is exactly right. To reach redcliffe before the inquisition, Alexius distorted time itself." He was breathing hard, as if he were pleading with her to understand. And she did. This whole thing was bigger than closing the breach in the sky.
She felt her heart drop. It wasn't going to be simple, nothing ever was anymore. It wasn't a simple case of 'Get the mages and close the hole in the sky'. With each turn there were new players in the game. Mages, Templars, time travel, magisters...
Sucking in shallow breaths, she looked up at the man. "He arranged it so that he could arrive here just after the Divine died?"
"You catch on quick." Dorian quipped with a mischievous smile.
"That is fascinating, if true." Solas sounded almost cynical, still cautious of whatever this tevinter said. "And almost certainly dangerous." Ellana glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and watched as the elf frowned.
"The rift you closed here? You saw how it twisted time around itself, sped somethings up and slowed others down." He was pleading, his urgency seeming genuine. "Soon, there will be more like it, and they'll appear further and further away from redcliffe. The magic Alexius is using is wildly unstable, and it's unraveling the world."
Ellana breathed in deep, her nostrils flaring. "You're asking me to take a lot on faith."
"I know what I'm talking about. I helped develop this magic." Dorian scowled, brows knitting together in frustration. "When I was an apprentice, it was pure theory. Alexius could never get it to work."
He paused, fingers resting on his lips as he thought. "What I don't understand is why he's doing it? Ripping time to shreds to gain a few hundred lackeys?"
There was a small noise to her right and Ellana's fingers dived to the pommel of her daggers.
"He didn't do it for them." It was Felix, his eyes more sunken than before, his skin a more extreme white. He was frowning as he strode towards them, his limp less evident now he wasn't being watched by his father.
"Took you long enough." Dorian smiled, turning to greet the younger man. "Is he getting suspicious?" He added, his voice lower than before.
Felix shook his head. "No, but I shouldn't have played the illness card. I thought he'd be fussing over me all day." He glanced towards the Herald, taking in a deep shaking breath before he carried on. "My fathers joined a cult. Tevinter supremacists. They call themselves 'Venatori.' And I can tell you one thing, what ever he's done for them, he's done it to get to you." He was looking pointedly at her, eyes hard. And now, she thought, supremacist Magisters. Mage supremacists that were out to get her. Specifically.
"Alexius is your father, why are you working against him?" She asked, her suspicion returning. Felix sighed, shaking his head.
"For the same reason Dorian works against him. I love my father. And I love my country. But this? Cults? Time magic? What he's doing now is Madness. For his own sake, you have to stop him."
"It would also be nice if he didn't rip a hole in time." Dorian quipped, sarcasm lacing each syllable. "There's already a hole in the sky."
Ellana shook her head. "But why me? Why would he rearrange time and indenture the mage rebellion just to get to me?" Why was she so important to these people? Word of her had only just spread through Ferelden, how could a Tevinter cult know of her already? Want her so badly they disrupted time itself to stop her?
Whatever the answer, Ellana thought, it needed to be stopped.
"They're obsessed with you. But I don't know why. Perhaps because you survived the Temple of Sacred Ashes?" Felix suggested, stepping closer towards them.
Dorian furrowed his brows, thinking. "You can close the rifts. Maybe there's the connection? Or they see you as a threat?"
Ellana sighed. It was ridiculous. completely ridiculous. "All this for me? And here I didn't get Alexius anything."
Dorian chuckled, the corner of his lip curling into a smile. "Send him a fruit basket. Everyone loves those." The mage paused, his voice growing more serious. "You know you're his target. Expecting the trap is the first step into turning it to your advantage. I can't stay in Redcliffe. Alexius doesn't know I'm here, and I want to keep it that way for now. But whenever you're ready to deal with him, I want to be there."
He smiled and bowed, looking up at her before making his way towards the back of the chantry. "I'll be in touch." He paused, turning back to look at the young man beside her. "And Felix? Try not to get yourself killed." Quicker than she thought possible for a mage, he slipped through a small door that lead outside, pulling his hood over his head.
"There are worse things than death, Dorian." Felix said in barely a whisper. She wasn't meant to hear, wasn't meant to catch what he'd said. But the truth of it made her shiver.
"I still say the Templars are the way to go." He stated, resting his palm on the pommel of his sword. Ellana had arrived not an hour ago, her face covered in sweat and her hair sticking to her temples. She'd called the war council as soon as she'd been able, and so here he stood among the four women, feeling as though he were the only one arguing for the templars.
Leliana huffed, crossing her arms as she turned to face him. "Your bias does you no credit Commander."
"It's not bias if it is true. There are good men and women in the orders ranks, to simply disregard them is idiocy."
"This arguing is going to get us no where." He turned to face the small elvish woman, her delicate features twisted with anger and frustration. "There is a tevinter mage sitting his fat rump in a ferelden throne. Commander if you can not see the urgency of that commands then ser you are either a fool or blind."
Cullen frowned, "I am not blind to the trouble that may cause Herald. But you must understand, the Templars-"
"I must understand?" She questioned, the anger in her eyes now set on Cullen. "Commander, it seems that 'I' must understand a lot. I must understand that most of the mages in redcliffe are there not through choice." Cullen noticed that the room had turned to look at her, as did she. "I am tired of hearing that this is a democracy when it seems that only I am making the choices here. Commander Cullen, you want the Templars so badly that if I were to say we are siding with the mages you would leave the Inquisition?"
"No Herald."
"Leliana," She turned to the spymaster. "Would you leave if I were to side with the templars?"
"No, so long as it closed the breach." He ignored the glare she gave him and straightened his back.
"Then why," She started through gritted teeth, "if this Inquisition was started under Divine Justinia's command are we not following in her example?"
Cassandra made a noise to the Heralds left, crossing her arms and turning away from the rest of the room.
"I'm not quite sure what you mean..." Josephine trailed off, her knuckles white as she clung to her note board. she'd been mostly silent in the arguing, though Cullen doubted through choice. He sometimes forgot how...overbearing he and the spymasters arguments could become.
Ellana sighed, running a hand through her hair before leaning her elbows on the table before her. "Justina called the conclave to talk to both sides about a peace offering." She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. When no one interjected she continued. "Why can't we make both sides see reason?"
Cullen stifled a laugh, "You're serious aren't you? If we show any inclination towards the mages the Templars will all but shun us. It's not a matter for debate, it simply won't work. Especially not after what happened at the conclave."
Leliana scoffed, crossing her arms against her chest as she rounded on the Herald. "Not to mention the templars will see no one but the Herald. You can not be in two places at once."
Ellana frowned, letting her head sink into her palms. Cullen knew that a Tevinter Magister in redcliffe was trouble enough, even without the claims of time magic. But he also knew of the potential the templars held, to see the inquisition ignore them. He knew he shouldn't, but part of him felt like he himself was being shunned. The templars had always followed orders, had always stood vigil against the evil that magic could become. And not once had they been thanked. They were simply expected to follow.
"No." His head shot up and turned towards the voice. Josephine stood firm, back straight as she grimaced towards the table. "It could work."
"Josie," Leliana started, her tone soft but tired. The dark haired woman held a hand up, silencing the rogue.
"If we garner enough nobles, we could get the Templars attention. They would be forced to deal with us whilst the Herald deals with the Mages in Redcliffe." Josephine scribbled on her noteboard, a small smile forming as she thought. "I already have some families in mind."
Cullen sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Of course that only leaves the Herald alone with a Magister and his plan to assassinate her." He watched the woman in question, watched as her brows furrowed in frustration and her jaw clench and unclench. "Redcliffs walls are impregnable, to send you in alone would be suicide."
She gave a small laugh, tired and wholly unconvincing. "You doubt my abilities, Commander?"
"I have no doubt in your abilities, Herald. I simply know that if you were to go in alone, Alexius would succeed and that is something I would not allow." His voice grew soft to even his own ears and he gave a small cough. "You are the Inquisitions only hope in closing the rifts. It is paramount that we keep you alive."
The Herald glanced down, staring at the markers on the war table. One stood for each faction, both small but ornate miniatures of the castle's both groups resided in. It made him wonder, how amidst the chaos of it all, the divines death and the mage rebellion, they had managed to procure such valuable items. He would have to ask Josephine later.
Ellana moved, reaching to pick up the miniature of Redcliffe castle. she studied with it for a moment, twisting the object in her hand before pursing her lips. "I wont be going in alone." She finally said, putting down the marker to stare directly at him.
Cullen had never been one to be intimidated. Nervous and apprehensive in his youth, yes. But being stared down was something he was good at avoiding. But as her moss green eyes pierced into his, he found himself at a loss for words. She looked so commanding, so much like the leader they needed, that it took him a moment to realise she was waiting for him to reply.
"Be that as it may," He said, clearing his throat a little, "The castle is a stronghold, and we don't have the manpower for a siege."
"Even if we could assault the keep, it would be for naught. An Orlesian army marching on a Ferelden settlement would lead to war. There must be another way inside." Josephine said, waving her quill in the air for effect.
"There is." Each head turned towards the Orlesian as she spoke. "There is a secret passage into the castle, an escape route for the family." She placed her hands behind her back, looking directly at the Herald. "It's too narrow for our troops, but we could send agents through."
Cullen shook his head. "Too risky. Those agents will be discovered well before they reach the magister. " Though he was no fool, and knew that a magister in Ferelden was something to worry about, he would not throw lives away in this endeavour.
"That's why we need a distraction. The envoy Alexius wants so badly." Leliana said eyes pointedly fixed on him now.
Cullen thought for a moment. "Focus his attention on Lavellan, whilst we take out the Tevinters. It's risky... But it could work." If they could get a handful of their best agents through, it would be possible for the Herald to take two or three of her companions to meet Alexius. Whilst the Magisters attention was on Lavellan, they would be able to eliminate whatever tevinter force had occupied the castle. Though, he thought, they would probably posses more than a dozen mages. Leliana's agents should be prepared to fight against magic. He should speak to her later about it.
"Fortunately," His head shot up at the noise of the large oak doors slamming against the war rooms walls. "you'll have help." A tall man with dark skin and hair sauntered into the room, an Inquisition agent scrambling to catch up.
"This man says he has information about the magister and his methods, Commander."
"Dorian?" Ellana spoke, confusion ghosting across her face. The man, Dorian, smiled before tilting his head.
"Your spies will never get passed Alexius' magic without my help, so if you're going after him I'm coming along."
"Then it's settled,"Ellana declared, clapping her hands together. "Myself, Dorian, Blackwall and Iron Bull shall travel to Redcliffe to deal with the mages whilst Cullen and Cassandra go to Therinfal redoubt with as many Nobles as Josie can muster. Once we are done in Redcliffe I shall come to deal with the Templars personally."
"Herald," Cassandra started but Ellana held her hand up.
"No. Justina's plan would have worked if who ever had intervened hadn't done so. She wanted peace, why can we not strive for the same?"
"Then we have much to do." The Nevarran bowed, dipping her head with her hands clasped behind her.
"Indeed. Dorian, is it?" The man turned towards Leliana, "You said you might help infiltrate the castle?"
Dorian laughed, "I said you'd need my help getting passed Alexius' magical defenses, but in a way yes."
"Good," She answered, walking towards the mage with a determined step. "You can tell me everything you know." She motioned for him to follow with a quick wave of her hand before departing, the tails on her coat flowing behind her.
"Then I shall take my leave. I will be in what appears to be the tavern after your darling redhead has her way with me." With a wink, Dorian followed. Quickly joined by Cassandra and Josephine. The room grew quiet, save for Ellana and his breathing. He watched as she played with the markers on the war table again, picking each one up and studying them closely. As though they were the most fascinating things she had ever seen.
"Thank you." He said, before realising he had done so. Ellana looked up at him, eyes wide, plump lips slightly parted. "For giving the Templars a chance, I mean."
He would have missed her small smile if he had not been looking at her. "I thought, if even one of those men and women are half as good as you, then they deserve a chance." She looked away and he noticed the barest hint of a blush on her cheeks.
"T-Thank you." He stammered, feeling a blush of his own burning it's way up his neck. "But I hardly deserve such praise."
Ellana laughed. "You underestimate yourself, Commander. But I meant what I said."
Cullen could feel his cheeks burn with the compliment. She hardly knew him, save for the odd question here and there. Perhaps if she knew what he had done, what he had been like before, she would disagree. But that was not something he wished for her to know. "As did I."