Salla sat on the railing, staring down at the entrance to the hallway. "Do you think it worked?"

"I don't know." Agatha paced the carpet. "We should have heard by now, right?" She turned back to Salla. "I mean, it's the Inquisitor and your papa. They are two of the most powerful mages in the world."

"And Aunt Merrill. I wish your mama was here too." Salla chewed the end of one of her braids. "Leandra's going to be alright. The others too."

Agatha looked down at where Caleb was talking to Kels. Kels stood with some of the other Inquisition soldiers and the Warden-Commander, blocking any attempt to enter the hallway. She squinted. Not just soldiers. Templars. Despite his best efforts, Caleb clearly wasn't getting anywhere. While he might have been able to talk his way past Kels, there was no way he was going to succeed in talking his way past Saitada. And if Caleb couldn't talk his way past, nobody could. For a moment, she considered going out the window and looking for a vantage point to watch what was happening in the garden.

She caught a glimpse of red hair and saw Salla rush to intercept the guard captain. "Aunt Aveline..." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Anabel wasn't with..."

"No." Aveline took a deep breath. "Thank the Maker, Donnic's mother was watching her." Aveline glanced at the guards on the hallway.

"How many were hurt?" Salla clasped her hands. "Do they need another healer? I could..."

Aveline caught her shoulder. "I know. You want to help." She sighed. "It could have been a lot worse if the Inquisition hadn't brought some of their mages. Seven were killed, the rest are recovered enough to be making demands of the Viscount." She looked from Agatha to Salla. "You two should go home."

"If something goes wrong, a healer might be needed here." Salla stuck out her chin stubbornly.

"Your father and the Inquisitor -"

"Could be the ones hurt." Salla folded her arms. "And I'm a better healer than Papa anyway."

She left Salla to argue the guard captain into letting them stay. It wasn't like Salla's argument wasn't valid. Agatha squinted. "Something's happening." She watched the Divine emerge from the hallway, followed by the Inquisitor and the others. She didn't see the kids, but there was someone new. A tall, black haired, and very good looking young man. She tilted her head. Based on the fact he was carrying a staff, he was probably a mage. And whoever he was, he was making the others very nervous. "Who is that?"

"I had best go find out. You two stay here." Aveline glared at them before heading down the stairs.

They gave a count of thirty before following her.

#

"Kieran." Brehan raised an eyebrow. "As in the son of Jerath and Morrigan Kieran?"

"Yes." Carver nodded.

"Are you sure?" Cullen raised an eyebrow at Carver.

"It's been about three years since the last time I saw him, but yes. I'm sure."

"Alright, forgive my skepticism..." Cullen glanced over his shoulder. "That guy is at least four inches taller than I am."

"Oh, thank the Maker. Someone else said it first." Alistair leaned on the table. "What now?"

"Hold it." Sera shook her head. "We're all okay with..." Sera glanced over her shoulder. "He's a big demon guy, and he just shows up here now? How'd he know about this even?"

"I called to Jerath. And he answered." Alistair closed his eyes. "Which means Kieran can help." He called over to Kieran. "You can help, right?"

"'Tis why I am here." He walked over to them. "Though it would assist if someone told me what it is I am supposed to help with. It must be more than demons." He raised an eyebrow at Alistair. "You told Father your son needed help."

"Someone took him." Alistair sighed. "Along his second, the Inquisitor's son, Anora's son, and Carver's daughter."

A strange light flashed in Kieran's eyes. "Someone took my cousins?" He turned towards Carver. "Someone took Leandra?"

"Someone or something." Carver nodded. "Someone tore the veil, summoned demons as a distraction, and took the children."

"Well. That is unacceptable." Kieran folded his arms.

Divine Victoria stepped forward. "What do we know now?" She nodded to Merrill and Dorian.

"It's not where they took them," Merrill said.

"It's when." Dorian folded his arms. "The tear showed a point in the same location, but approximately sixteen years in the future."

"Someone from the future stole the children?" Leliana frowned. "Why?"

"Likely to change the timeline." Kieran tilted his head. "Considering whose children they are, imagine what role they could play in future events. Recall what eliminating the Inquisitor from the time stream once did."

"That is profoundly disturbing notion." Ruya ran her hand through her hair.

"Now what?" Alistair leaned on the table. He looked up at Kieran. "Jerath sent you. What do we do now?"

"There are two options. One, we reopen the tear and retrieve the children. Two, we figure out who is behind this and eliminate them before they can manipulate the time stream." Kieran tilted his head. "Three options. We do both."

"I vote option three." Carver nodded.

"Option three." Cullen echoed him.

"Except we don't have the power to..." Dorian trailed off and looked at Kieran.

Kieran nodded. "Once I open the tear, there will be more demons, and I will likely draw the attention of whoever opened it in the first place. I'll need most of you to hold it open so I can deal with that. Aunt Merrill can direct spirits to retrieve the children."

"I'll need some time to handle the summoning." Merrill nodded.

"I suggest everyone else get some rest and prepare." Divine Victoria looked at the hopeful faces. "Will dawn give you enough time, Merrill?"

"Yes."

"It sounds as if we have a plan." Ruya took a deep breath. "I'll arrange to -"

Cullen touched her chin. "I'll handle the lyrium. Kailey needs her mother, and you need rest." He furrowed his brow. "You do as well, Hawke. And you, Dorian. It sounds like we're going to need you all at your best."

Carver nodded. "Kieran, you can come back to the estate with us. It would..." He glanced at the Divine. "Probably best if we didn't have to explain you to anyone."

"Yes, Uncle Carver."

#

Aveline was waiting for them outside the Divine's office. She gave Kieran a questioning look before turning her gaze to Hawke. "Anything?"

"We have a better idea of what happened, and plan for a second attempt in the morning." He raised his voice. "The three of you can go ahead and come out." He waited for his children and Agatha to emerge from around the corner. "Salla, take your brother and Trouble home and tell Orana we will be having an extra guest this evening. And let the Inquisitor's people know she'll be along shortly as well."

"Yes Papa." Salla nodded before grabbing Caleb and Agatha and making herself scarce.

Divine Victoria turned her gaze to Aveline. "How is the Viscount?"

"Worrying himself sick, like the rest of us." Aveline sighed. "Brehan and Sera are all over the city, helping my guardsmen run down leads. I fear we've all too little to go on." She waved a hand. "We've made several arrests, but the threats we've found were rather petty. Most wouldn't have been sufficient to even serve as a distraction to what occurred."

"Three tears." Hawke folded his arms. "Two to sow chaos, one to take the children."

"Brehan considered that the other two tears also had specific targets, and is looking in that direction." Ruya sighed. "We should..."

Cullen pulled her to him. "We should get you home."

"Alright."

#

Salla cuddled little Varric to her, while Agatha did the same with Narus. They paced the balcony almost in tandem. Orana was in the kitchen. Demons. Dragons. Bloodmages. Assassins. Orana faced every threat to the Hawke family in the same way. Feeding everyone. Right now she was making pastry crusts. Her brother sat near the fireplace, coaxing a melody from his lute.

The door opened, and Father entered, followed by Papa and her aunt and uncle. The young man from earlier was with them as well. Something about him felt very odd. Maybe it was because he was a mage? She made her way down the stairs. Caleb was on his feet, questioning their parents. "What happened? No one will tell us anything. Who took Leandra?"

"We don't yet know." Papa shook his head. "But the important thing is we have a plan to get her back and kick the ass of who took her and the others."

"Good." Agatha's voice was fierce.

Merrill stepped forward and held her arms out for little Varric. Salla handed the infant over rather reluctantly. The young man came to stand next to Merrill, and smiled down at little Varric. "He's lighter than Leandra was." He ran a finger down the infant's cheek gently, and Varric cooed up at him.

Orana came out of the kitchen. "I set up a room." She looked back at Papa. "I should put the babies to bed." She took Narus from Agatha, and gestured for Merrill to follow her.

Uncle Carver nudged their guest. "Orana made food, if you're hungry?"

"I'll be fine, Uncle Carver."

"Wait..." Caleb blinked. "Uncle?" He tilted his head. "We have another cousin I don't know about? Who is this?"

"He's..." Papa furrowed his brow. "Complicated."

"No." The young man shook his head. "I'm Kieran."

#

Alistair started to head back to his room, and hesitated. He took a couple breaths before knocking on Anora's door. Erlina opened the door a moment later. "Your majesty."

"How is she?"

"Not well." Erlina looked over her shoulder. "I gave her a small dose of a sedative in her tea, and she's asleep now. He's..." She sighed. "He's a gift, your majesty."

"I know." Alistair nodded. "We know more. We have a plan. We'll be getting them back very soon."

Erlina nodded. She gave him a concerned look. "Would you care for some of the tea, your majesty?"

"I..." He hesitated, and then nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

#

Ruya closed her eyes, and to her surprise, managed to fall asleep. She found herself in Haven, as it had looked during the early days of the Inquisition. Her eyes went to the sky, where the breach had been. And she felt the Fade seem to ripple behind her. "Solas."

"The spell was focused on Gavren." He stood, hands clasped behind his back.

She took a deep breath. "How did they focus on Gavren?"

He looked down instead of meeting her eyes. "You were pregnant with him when the anchor began to..." He sighed. "A trace of that energy remains upon him."

"Then..." She narrowed her eyes. "Whoever took Gavren found him..."

"Because of me." Solas nodded. "Yes."

"You son of a bitch." She clenched her fist. "My hand wasn't enough?"

"I did not cast the spell, Ruya." Sorrow was visible on his face.

Her shoulders slumped. "No." She ran her hand through her hair. "No. You wouldn't target my son. So who would?"

"Neither of us has any shortage of enemies." He fell into step beside her, and they walked around Haven as they had so often done those years past.

"How many powerful enough to do something like this?" A group of Venatori, perhaps? Or something else.

"The Formless One remains. You killed Ishmael, Hawke killed Xebenkeck, and at it happens, Alistair helped the Warden kill Gaxkang." Solas gestured with one hand. "And the Warden gave Gaxkang's blade to Loghain mac Tir."

"All those children in one place." Ruya sighed. "A perfect target." She took another deep breath. "Are they..."

"They live."

Relief staggered her, and Solas put a steadying hand on her shoulder. It took her a few moments to regain control. "Why would The Formless One take them?"

"Consider who they are. The children of those who reshaped Thedas. Their potential is all but limitless." He smiled ruefully. "Were they other than yours, I might have considered such a notion myself."

"We know who. We know why. We have an idea how." Ruya squared her shoulders. "We've done more with less." She nodded. "Thank you, Solas."

"I wish you luck, my friend. You should get some real sleep." He smiled before vanishing.

She looked around Haven one last time before willing herself out of the Fade.

#

"If you are going to need mages, then I'm coming to." Salla folded her arms.

"Salla..." Papa shook his head.

She set her jaw stubbornly. "You might need a healer, and I'm the best in Kirkwall."

He started to argue, and then sighed. "No. You're right. We very well may. You will stay back and you will follow instructions. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Papa."

Caleb opened his mouth. Papa glared at him. "You and Trouble will stay behind the guards. I'd tell you to stay here, but you'd just go out the window and beat us to the Chantry."

"Probably." Caleb shrugged.

#

"Solas told you this." Leliana raised an eyebrow at Ruya.

"In a dream, last night." She caught the stump of her left arm in her right hand and sighed. "When..."

"You tried calling him for help." Leliana nodded. "No, I quite understand. It is..." They'd prayed, and it had been old friends that had answered. The thought was both terrifying and comforting. "If this Formless One is targeting you, then we must also consider who it was that came to assist."

Ruya's eyes widened. "Kieran."

"Son of The Warden." Leliana wrapped her arms around herself. "And I really don't want to consider how his parents would react if he were harmed."

"Maker." Ruya swallowed. She sighed. "Vivienne has agreed to help us hold the tear."

"There is going to be a lot of power in that room." Leliana half closed her eyes. "And yet we have no choice." She turned to Ruya. "Are you ready?"

"My son is in danger." She squared her shoulders. "I've been ready for hours."

#

The mages formed a semi-circle around where the tear had been. Kieran was looking it over curiously, head tilted. Salla watched him from where she stood, back behind Cullen and her father. He couldn't be older than she was, and yet not only were they letting him go near the tear, both her father and the Inquisitor appeared to be following his instructions. Something about him tickled her memory, but she couldn't make the thought coherent.

Aunt Merrill stood next to Uncle Carver, eyes closed, clearly already involved in casting a spell. The Grand Enchanter was watching Merrill with a disapproving expression, but holding her silence. A signal of some kind must have passed, because suddenly the room was filled with anticipation. It felt like something big was drawing a breath. Kieran's hands began to glow, and the tear suddenly reopened. She felt as much as saw the rest of the mages join their magic to the spell, pulling and holding to prevent the tear from closing again.

The spirits cross in one direction as demons came from the other. Almost as one, the warriors stepped in. Her father's tattoos glowed brightly as he entered the fray, preventing the demons from getting anywhere near her father. She saw King Alistair, Commander Cullen, the Warden-Commander, and Uncle Carver doing the same for the other mages.

There was a jolt in the tear, and she felt something else try to push through. It was terrifying to the point of being painful, forcing its way in like fire going through a field of dried grass. And then something on their side hit it back. She saw Kieran's eyes start to glow as he formed a barrier, pushing back with... She'd never sensed anything like it before.

Other demons came through, and then there were other forms. A rage demon moved towards Merrill. Uncle Carver stepped in, and then there was a blond man was next to him, sword and shield helping her uncle drive the demon back. The tear was wrenched and twisted, and snapped shut abruptly. A despair demon sent a bolt of ice at the Grand Enchanter, and then someone was filling it with arrows. It turned on the archer, and a man with a shield stepped between them, blocking the ice.

A pride demon roared, and a fist formed of what felt like the fade itself hit it, staggering it enough for a woman with a greatsword to drive the blade home. A moment later, the demons were vanquished, and everyone was looking around. Her eyes widened. She didn't see the children anywhere. Kieran was shaking his head as if dazed.

"What happened?" King Alistair held his blade still at the ready. "Where are they?"

Across the room, the archer lowered his bow and stared at the king in disbelief. "Father?"

"Well." Papa looked around the room at the five newcomers. "Shit."