Notes: Thank you again for reading the story! This is a transitional chapter, before—I'm sorry to say—some rather dark events, canon events that I am not fixing and which are foreshadowed at the start and end of the chapter.

If you thought I was being unfair to Fiona in the previous chapter, I hope this one clarifies her point of view. That said, I really and truly don't think Fiona and Caitlyn would get along, and I am not going to turn my OC (least of all one like Caitlyn, who, IMO, has been Lawful Evil on occasion) into some sort of perfect goddess who can get everyone on her side. I deeply dislike fanfics like that and I am not going to write one myself. This chapter delves into why I don't think they would get on.

Song: Dropkick Murphys – "Rebels with a Cause"


Chapter 84: Rebels with a Cause


After the mass revolt, Caitlyn and Anders had wondered whether the mages from Circles east of Kirkwall would make for Kirkwall or go to Andoral's Reach with the mages from Orlais, Nevarra, and the Anderfels. The answer arrived in the form of the former First Enchanters of Antiva City and Ansburg, Astebadi and Luidweg. They brought with them nearly seven hundred mages.

Caitlyn was astonished at the size of their force. "This is an enormous force for merely two Circles!"

Astebadi explained, "My Circle was the only one in the entire country of Antiva, and most of our mages were not sent abroad."

"I don't see our Rivaini allies," Anders remarked. "Are they still in Dairsmuid?"

"Yes," former First Enchanter Luidweg spoke up. "First Enchanter Rivella said that she would gladly join the united Free Mage army whenever it makes its final push against the enemy stronghold, but for now she and the mages who follow her have a duty to serve their people. That and..." He hesitated. "She suggested that she might try to get in contact with the mages in Starkhaven and Tantervale who are conscripted to fight against their wishes."

Alarm spread over Caitlyn's face. "She needs to be very careful if she does that! I'm sure there are some who are conscripted, but a lot of them have to be actual Loyalists—and loyal to the schism, not even to Divine Justinia."

Astebadi nodded. "We advised her so as well, but she is strong-willed. She can take care of herself and those who follow her, though."

"Let's hope," Anders said. No one misheard the anxiety in his tone.


The mages from Antiva and Ansburg had barely gotten settled in when, one sunny morning, messengers approached Caitlyn with a momentous piece of news.

"Grand Enchanter Fiona has led a large force of mages to the city gates," a young messenger from the approaching army said. "We number almost three thousand battlemages and Healers, not counting the children and apprentices."

"Three thousand mages?" Caitlyn asked eagerly, her heart thumping. This was the Andoral's Reach contingent—the rest of the Circle mages. It had to be.

"Yes, Your Grace!" the messenger confirmed. "We're from Nevarra, Orlais, the Anderfels—we're the ones who went to Andoral's Reach after the rebellion in the White Spire of Val Royeaux. Grand Enchanter Fiona... well, former Grand Enchanter, I suppose, is our leader and representative."

Three thousand mages will more than double the size of this army, she thought. It still won't be as large as the schism army, especially—her heart momentarily sank—with ninety percent of the Templars and Seekers now in their ranks, but these are mages. We can do things that even Templars cannot. And I have quite a lot of ordinary soldiers too. Even if my forces still don't match the enemy's in number, we surely exceed them in sheer force—and we have the blasting powder and the rockets now. Her heart thumped hard again. Maker—we're going to win! We're really going to win!

She turned to the messenger. "Let Fiona know that I require an audience with her and her closest advisors."

When the young woman had departed, Caitlyn found Anders and the children and told them the news.

Anders was delighted. "This is it!" he exclaimed. "They're finally here. With this and the... weapons... the Templars' and schism's days are numbered!"

"That's exactly what I think," Caitlyn said, smiling.

"Though..." He considered, the smile falling from his face. "The size of the mage army has suddenly doubled with this force. Can the city support that? Can we house them? Even with Darktown emptying out to settle in the farmlands—and some of Lowtown too—there has always been a space problem in Kirkwall."

"Three thousand mages is quite a lot for the city to absorb, admittedly... but it'll be temporary. Yes," she decided, "now that all the Circles outside the schism have revolted, it'll be temporary. And when the war is over, most of them will probably want to return home. We can provide quarters for the short term until we bring the war to the enemy's doorstep."


Fiona's closest advisors proved to be an Enchanter named Rhys and—to their displeasure—an Orlesian Templar named Evangeline de Brassard.

The Templar, pretty and dark-haired, knew that her presence was unwelcome at this particular conference—that the Viscountess of Kirkwall and her Consort did not trust her and that their distrust only heightened when they learned that she had answered directly to Lord Seeker Lambert van Reeves, who had broken the Nevarran Accord and joined the Seekers and Templars to the schismatic Orthodox Chantry. To her credit, she was well aware of their distrust and deferred to the mages to explain their recent history.

Enchanter Rhys did most of the explaining that Fiona herself did not assume. He had been directly involved in some of the most exciting—and violent—events, so the former Grand Enchanter deferred to him for those accounts. He was a handsome, dark man three years older than Anders. He was also rather interested in Anders, Caitlyn noted at once—though it did not seem to be romantic or sexual interest. Indeed, the mage actually seemed to be attracted to Evangeline. Mage-Templar attractions were incomprehensible to her, but she did not dwell on it. Other people's love lives often made little sense to those outside of them. She instead wondered what it was about Anders that so intrigued Rhys... but he did not seem inclined to explain that in front of the others. Caitlyn resolved to ask him privately later.

"It was a rather shocking series of events," Rhys explained. "Justinia actually did want us to vote for independence... and we were probably going to... but then Pharamond's results came out, and the Lord Seeker objected strenuously. He declared the research a failure because it determined that there was no way to perform the Rite of Tranquility that kept a mage's emotions and free will intact. He then named us all traitors and heretics..."

"Which is ironic, considering that he so quickly broke with Justinia and swore his Order and the Templar Order to the schism," Fiona put in.

Caitlyn and Anders exchanged a glance. "Justinia really wanted the College to vote for independence? You're certain of that?" she asked.

"Yes," Fiona said. Her words were strangely cold. "I have since been informed that she wanted the vote to occur because she believed... or hoped... that it would end the war peacefully. She thinks that you two are developing some sort of terror weapon based on the explosive that broke the siege in Wintermarch, and she wanted the independence vote to provoke the schism to surrender instead of you two using this weapon... if it exists."

Anders' eyes widened in alarm and anger, but he kept his thoughts to himself. So, he thought sourly, when she wanted the remaining Circle mages to vote for independence, it was merely because she wanted us to be thwarted. She wanted our rising power to be crushed, no doubt because she sees the threat it poses. Who told her that we're developing weapons, anyway? Was it that Templar from Hasmal? Whoever it was, they don't know the details, surely. Ironbark Ridge's security is too good.

Fiona continued. "We escaped because of the interference of the Left Hand of the Divine. We fled to Andoral's Reach, but not before the Lord Seeker killed Ser Evangeline."

Caitlyn and Anders gaped at her. "I'm sorry, what?" Caitlyn sputtered. "Is this not Ser Evangeline?"

The Templar spoke up. "It is true. I died... in a manner of speaking. I suppose a Healer such as yourself would be better equipped to explain the intricacies of it. I do not recall seeing the Maker, but I was later told that my heart had stopped but it was not brain death—"

"Yes," Anders said, understanding at once and nodding. "It's possible to revive a patient with a stopped heart as long as the brain hasn't decayed. It's 'death' in a sense, but not final, irreversible death. That would be why you didn't see the Maker. A mage saved you, I take it? Rhys?" He seemed quite proud and smug at this possibility.

Rhys looked deeply sorrowful. "Not me. My mother, Wynne. And she died doing so. Permanently. She is with the Maker."

Anders fell silent. Caitlyn had never met Wynne, but she knew who the woman was. She fell silent too in respect for the man's loss.

Rhys took a deep breath. "My mother was a Spirit Healer like you, you may know, Lord Anders."

"Yes," he said haltingly. "I wasn't her pupil, but I knew who she was."

"About ten years ago, she fell under attack by demons summoned by Uldred, the blood mage who nearly destroyed the Fereldan Circle. She was mortally wounded, but a Spirit of Faith came to her and... healed her. But there was a price." Rhys stared hard into Anders' eyes. "I suppose you can guess what it was."

Anders and Caitlyn exchanged a momentary look of fright. He knows, Anders thought. He knows about Justice. How does he know? Can he detect Justice's presence in me? But he isn't giving it away to the others. He is protecting my secret. And the fact that he knows means that Wynne... she...

"The Spirit of Faith took possession of her," he finished quietly.

Rhys frowned. "I wouldn't put it quite like that. She remained herself. But... yes, it shared her body. She served beside Warden Elissa Cousland... saw the Ashes of Andraste... saw a vision of me in the Temple of the Ashes, she told me, though I sure have no memory of it! She lived for ten more years... but at last, when Evangeline was dying, she gave up this spirit and it healed Evangeline instead. But my mother died. The spirit was keeping her alive."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Caitlyn said gently. She suppressed a shiver at the horrible memory of Quentin, the Butcher of Lowtown, who had targeted her mother—and would have killed her if not for Anders.

"She walks in the Maker's city now," Evangeline said stoutly.

"Why, because she—a mage—gave her life for a Templar?" Anders said combatively. "We can only earn the Maker's grace by dying for our 'betters'?"

Evangeline bristled. "Did I say that? It is clear enough to me that you dislike me because I am a Templar, but I took on the Lord Seeker knowing that I might die. I made no demands of Wynne!"

Fiona interjected, glaring at Anders. "Wynne made her sacrifice willingly, just as Evangeline would have. Would you have done so, Lord Anders?"

Caitlyn answered her before he could, outrage filling her voice. "Anders threw himself in front of a spear for me and our children!" she exploded.

Rhys interrupted before the discussion turned into a fight. "So we all understand the magnitude of sacrifice that my mother made," he said hurriedly. "She did it freely, Lord Consort. Evangeline didn't command it."

Anders gazed levelly at the Templar. "So," he said, "did this Spirit of Faith inhabit your body after it left hers?"

The Templar gazed back. "What of it, Lord Consort? I am no threat."

Anders glowered back in challenge. "That's what we mages have tried for ages to tell you people, that not all spirits are evil, and that we are not the only ones who can become possessed anyway!"

Caitlyn interjected again. This discussion was heading to a dangerous place for Anders, and she wanted to keep it on track. "Let's stay focused, Anders. If this spirit didn't harm Wynne for ten years, there's no reason to assume it would harm Evangeline. Let's continue. The battle at the White Spire."

"Yes," Anders interrupted. "Why did the Lord Seeker attack you in the first place?"

"I involved myself in the battle, knowing that it would make me a rebel against my superior to side with the mages—"

"If Divine Justinia really did side with the mages, it did no such thing," Caitlyn said brusquely. "Last I checked, she was the Lord Seeker's superior."

Rhys smiled mirthlessly. "'Last you checked' must have been before he joined the schism, with all due respect, then. Divine Justinia means well and is a friend to mages—"

Anders scoffed derisively, and Caitlyn barely suppressed her own scoff.

Rhys frowned. "She is. She has done the best that she can under—difficult circumstances."

"Difficult circumstances?" Anders repeated derisively. "You think Divine Justinia's circumstances were difficult? Do you have any idea what we have been going through over three years?"

Rhys faltered. "I know you've been at war, and it must have been hard..."

"Divine Justinia may indeed have meant well, from your perspective," Caitlyn said harshly. "But we have been fighting a war, bleeding, suffering, and dying for the cause, for three years, and Justinia has offered us no help in any form that could make a difference in this war. None. At all. Kirkwall underwent a siege, which would have meant the violent brutal death of every mage who looked to me as a leader, as well as my children, if Kirkwall had fallen... and Justinia did nothing!"

"I'm sure she must have..."

"No. She didn't. And before the war even began, I fought domestic unrest stirred up by Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard as I tried to reform Kirkwall's Circle peacefully. Divine Justinia did nothing until I forced her hand! She didn't act forcefully against Meredith until I proved that Meredith was using illegal lyrium! Meredith almost made me miscarry my daughter, and what did Justinia do? She sent that bitch a harshly worded letter. All her abuses against mages meant nothing to Justinia, just her illegal use of red lyrium!" Caitlyn was becoming exercised and heated, and Anders took her hand under the table, soothing her ever so slightly. Her nerves slightly calmed, she continued. "So do excuse me if I have trouble giving her the same amount of credit you do for her 'friendship.'"

Fiona actually looked pleased at this turn of the discussion, but Rhys and Evangeline did not. The pair appeared sorrowful and annoyed respectively.

After the silence lasted long enough to become awkward, Rhys spoke again, tentatively. "I am sorry that it was so hard for Your Graces... though you've done exceedingly well without Justinia's armed support," he said.

Fiona snorted almost inaudibly, a gesture that neither Caitlyn nor Anders missed. What's that about? she thought. I thought she was on our side...

Rhys continued. "But I remember well what life was like in the Circles under Divine Beatrix and Grand Enchanter Briaus. The vote would not even have been allowed to happen. And to be perfectly honest, Your Graces would not have been allowed to hold your titles under Beatrix."

"You certainly wouldn't have," Fiona put in, sneering.

"I'm well aware of that," Caitlyn replied, frost in her words.

Rhys took a deep breath. "Divine Justinia was a friend to us. Her orders are the reason we are speaking with Your Graces today instead of decorating stakes to be burned as heretics."

Caitlyn looked down, feeling awkward at the memories of Petrice's auto-da-fé.

"But as much as I'm sure the Divine must have wanted to retaliate against the Lord Seeker, what exactly can she do when he leads ninety percent of his own order and the Templars in rebellion?" Rhys continued. "Nominally, she is his superior... but practically? Not anymore. No more is she our superior, practically speaking, except of course as the head of our religion. If our rebellion—if your rebellion, Your Graces—is legitimate, so is the Templars' and Seekers'. And that means that Most Holy is not the Lord Seeker's superior anymore. He is a member of the schism, and Evangeline is in rebellion against him by her loyalty to Divine Justinia."

Anders and Caitlyn exchanged impatient glances. "Let's move on, then," Caitlyn finally said. "Wynne died in the Battle of the White Spire sacrificing her life for Evangeline, and the Left Hand of the Divine helped you escape."

Fiona nodded. "And from there, we traveled to the fortress of Andoral's Reach. Other Circles joined us as word spread. I held a vote at last—there were representatives of Antiva and Ansburg present, even though the First Enchanters had decided to bring their mages to Kirkwall directly—and we voted for independence." She glanced at Rhys in gratitude. "It was Rhys who provided the decisive vote and turned the other Fraternities to vote with the Libertarians. Before he became an Aequitarian in his mother's memory and swayed that Fraternity, it was quite possible that my motion would fail, even after Pharamond's discovery that Tranquility could be reversed, even after the White Spire Revolt, even after the Lord Seeker's treason and heresy in joining the schism."

Caitlyn regarded the Grand Enchanter as disappointment seeped through her. Is that supposed to impress me? she thought, let down immensely. After all that, you still barely won your vote, and only because of a single mage? While a war for mage freedom was going on, and a second Chantry schism, at that? What does that say about you as a leader? I didn't even have to do anything except win battles and allow mages to live normal lives in Kirkwall, but that motivated four Circles to rebel, one to switch sides in battle, and another to flee their city in the middle of an attack and ultimately join us.

But she said none of this to Fiona, of course. Anders spoke instead. He was frowning in contemplation at the former Grand Enchanter's words. "You mentioned Antiva and Ansburg having representatives at Andoral's Reach, and of course, Orlais, Nevarra, and the Anderfels had their entire Circles there," he said, thinking. "Dairsmuid's Circle remains at home. Starkhaven and Tantervale are enemy-occupied. And here, we have Kirkwall, Ferelden, Markham, Hercinia, and Hasmal's former Circles. But what about Ostwick? Where do they stand in all this?"

Rhys, Evangeline, and Fiona exchanged grim looks. "Ostwick... is determined to be neutral," Rhys said reluctantly.

"Neutral?" Anders repeated in disbelief. "That's impossible now!"

"It isn't impossible," Fiona said. "Ostwick's Templars remain loyal too. But that Circle sent no representative to Andoral's Reach and informed us that they would not be going to Kirkwall with the Circles of Ansburg and Antiva."

"They're not here," Caitlyn confirmed, eyes wide. "Neutral? They stand alone. Every other Circle has either rebelled, has allied with us rebels, or is being forced to fight for the Templars and schism. What are they thinking at Ostwick?"

"Don't ask me," Fiona snapped. "I agree that it is a foolish and untenable stance. But so it is. We cannot count on them to join us. They apparently mean to profit from the spoils of victory without actually fighting for it."

"It may not be everyone," Anders said at once. "It might just be their First Enchanter or some of the Senior Enchanters who think that. The rank and file might want to join the war. We can't punish them for the stupidity of their leaders. We fight for mages," he emphasized, "including those who don't agree with us about everything—or are being coerced into staying out of the fight."

Rhys finally smiled. "I completely agree."


After that conference, Caitlyn and Anders snagged Rhys before he could leave. He seemed to expect it, looking resigned and preparing himself as they closed the door for privacy.

Anders got straight to the point. "What did you do to me?" he demanded.

Caitlyn gave him a surprised, sideways glance. "Do to you?" she repeated.

"Before we talked about your experiences, you were looking at me funny, and then I felt this..." He shook his head. "And then when you talked about your mother and her Spirit of Faith..."

Rhys took a deep breath. "You are correct. You are like my mother, aren't you?" He held up his hands as both Caitlyn and Anders looked to turn hostile and aggressive. "I mean you no harm and I have no plans to tell anyone, including Evangeline, of my suspicions. But you have a spirit too, don't you?"

"How do you know that?" Anders demanded.

"I am... a medium," Rhys said. "I can sense the presence of spirits. And I sensed one bonded to you."

"A medium. I guess I am too, then. I've been able, in the past, to tell when someone is possessed," Anders said. "Sometimes. Or when a spirit is nearby."

Rhys nodded. "Truly, I will keep your secret for you. What sort of spirit is it? This interests me."

"He is a Spirit of Justice."

"That's... appropriate enough. That or a Spirit of Freedom. But Justice makes more sense, since you've been so committed to the cause and to your family for so long. Freedom... well, as you know, spirits can sometimes take the idea that they stand for too far, by our lights."

Anders nodded, the tension within him dissipating.

"There was one other thing," Caitlyn said, feeling somewhat guilty now about the tense and unpleasant conference they'd had. "Anders and I have been frustrated for a long time with Divine Justinia. Things really have been difficult for us here, and that has been the case for years. I know that I couldn't be what I am today if Justinia weren't on the Sunburst Throne," she emphasized. "I understand that. But Rhys, she uses people. She sees practically everyone as disposable. Collateral damage, if she thinks she needs to sacrifice someone to accomplish a goal—and not even as a military leader might sacrifice troops," she amended guiltily. "I led battlemages and trained soldiers to war, who had chosen to be there and to fight for the cause. Justinia uses people and she wouldn't even offer meaningful aid to us. She wanted us to win, but that in itself was a way of using us. She wanted us to get our hands bloody doing this ourselves, and then she would ultimately get to swoop in and make the reforms, acting the conciliator. That was her plan. She is a Game-player to the core."

Rhys sighed. "I cannot disagree with Your Grace. She was willing to let Pharamond, who recovered from Tranquility by means of his own research, be made Tranquil again because the Lord Seeker demanded it in exchange for allowing the College of Magi to vote."

Anders was outraged—and terrified. Caitlyn knew why. If someone who was possessed by a spirit could be made Tranquil, that means he could too, she thought, shuddering. Justice's presence would not save him from that horror.

He spoke, barely able to get the words out from fear and anger. "The Lord Seeker? The same one that she knew—that we all knew—was in sympathy with the schism and the rebel Templars? She still thought to placate him by tossing him a sacrifice?"

Rhys sighed again. "I am afraid so."

Anders shook his head in derision. Caitlyn replied, "And that, Rhys, is a perfect example of the behavioral pattern Justinia has shown for as long as we've been in power. Part of the reason we assassinated Meredith Stannard, starting this war, was that we saw clearly that we might have become 'collateral damage' to Justinia if we left it entirely in her hands. Or our children. And that was unacceptable."

"I understand," he said.

She nodded, managing a smile. "So, despite how it looked at that conference, we weren't angry with you. We have been frustrated with her. I'm sorry if it appeared otherwise to you."

"No hard feelings," Rhys reassured her. "I understand that Evangeline's presence at the conference must have been off-putting, too. I advised Fiona against it, and to be honest I don't know why she wanted her there. It seemed odd to me to select a Templar instead of another mage to represent an army of three thousand mages." He lowered his voice. "I feel honor-bound to warn you. The Grand Enchanter complained about Your Graces on the way."

"Oh, did she?" Caitlyn snarled. That explains some things, she thought. If she doesn't like us, she could have wanted the Templar here specifically because it would make us ill at ease. "What exactly was her issue with us?"

Rhys hesitated. "She doesn't approve of your actions over the past three years. She thinks it made her task of persuading the College of Magi harder."

Caitlyn and Anders both scowled. "What were we to do, lie down and surrender? We didn't cause this war," Caitlyn said. "The 'Orthodox Chantry' and its Templars have been relentless. Years earlier, before they became the Orthodox Chantry, they gave me trouble—violent trouble—for two years, even before we took out the last Knight-Commander."

"And the reason we did that was that she had abducted our eldest child," Anders said tightly. "What would the Grand Enchanter have advised? Letting Meredith have him? Our son?"

"I don't think Fiona would have advised that," Rhys said hurriedly. "Perhaps Your Graces should speak alone with her. I'm not sure that she knows everything about what you have gone through all this time. She has been very focused on her own work and only would know what she heard in Orlais." He added quickly, "Please don't repeat to her that I gave you this warning."

"Of course," Caitlyn assured him. "Thank you for trusting this to us. We'll keep your secret for you."


They managed to corner the former Grand Enchanter as the newcomer mages' other leaders were working with the Mages' Council to handle the massive influx of new people. Fiona did not want to speak alone with the pair; that much was evident, but she did not try to deflect them away.

Caitlyn wanted to confront her directly about what Rhys had told them, but it would be hard to account for the knowledge without revealing the fact that he had told them about it. Anders also had a rather direct approach for dealing with conflict, perhaps in part due to Justice's influence, so Caitlyn knew that it was up to her to try to operate in her other mode, the mode of a politician. She invited Fiona to share tea in a private chamber.

"As you have learned, I have a Mages' Council, composed of the Free Mages' chosen leaders, that handles a lot of issues relating to their living situation and... other things," Caitlyn said. "Ordinarily the Free Mages would select their own representatives, but since you already command such a large force—and you were Grand Enchanter—I've decided to offer you a position on the Mages' Council outright. And also my own War Council." Keep your friends close and your enemies—or rivals—closer, she thought.

Fiona smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "I thank Your Grace."

Caitlyn poured some tea for them all. "I understand that Andoral's Reach is somewhat... dilapidated as a fortress," she ventured.

"Compared to occupied keeps, yes. But we believed we could have held it."

"What do you mean, 'could have' held it?"

"If the rebel Templars had attacked us there. But they did not. They went instead to Tantervale to report to that false pretender of a 'Divine.' I presumed they meant to launch an attack on Kirkwall at once. That is why I led the army here. But as we all know... there is no such attack occurring. Yet."

In spite of her best intentions, Caitlyn was becoming annoyed. Fiona's clear implication rather offended her. "Are you saying that you wouldn't have joined your force to ours if you hadn't thought that Kirkwall was going to be under attack soon?"

"Andoral's Reach was not kept up, but it was hardly a moldering ruin. Thousands of mages lived there in safety and relative comfort. It is a fortress, easier to hold than a city like Kirkwall would be. This city is infamously vulnerable, Viscountess Hawke."

"You're not telling me anything I haven't known for years," Caitlyn retorted. "Though you will find that I've made significant improvements to the defenses since I became Viscountess. There is a reason we withstood a three-month siege even before we blew the enemy forces to the Void."

"But compared to a fortress, a city has special challenges. I had hoped that your part of the mage army would join us, in fact."

Caitlyn blinked. "You thought that I would take my army to the northern reaches of Orlais, abandoning my city? Tantervale and Starkhaven would've plundered Kirkwall like bandits if I'd done that! They're far closer to Kirkwall than to Andoral's Reach!"

"Really?" Fiona replied. "You could not have left non-magical forces behind, armed with that new weapon of yours?"

"We used it all breaking the siege," Anders cut in. "Since then, we have focused on developing something else with it. The 'terror weapon' Justinia's spies suspected," he snarled. "I don't want to speak further of that just yet."

"I see."

"Why did you think that the rebel Templars were going to attack Kirkwall again? Did you hear something to that effect?"

"No, but it seemed logical. As I said, Kirkwall's history over the ages proves how vulnerable it is."

"Things are changing. They know full well how the siege was lifted. I don't think they're going to risk a repeat. But if we had taken the army to Andoral's Reach, they might have assumed we had the blasting powder with us, and then attacked Kirkwall. Going to Andoral's Reach might have been walking right into a trap."

Caitlyn thought this was very canny of him. She gave him an approving smile, then turned to Fiona. "To be clear—you heard no intelligence suggesting that the rebel Templars were about to attack Kirkwall again?"

"That is correct."

Caitlyn let out a breath of relief. "Good. That means we have time to put together a battle plan for ending this war."

"And it's about time," Fiona said at once. "Three years of stagnation."

"It hasn't been stagnation," Caitlyn retorted. "We've beaten back every attack they made. Since the war began in early 9:37, several Circles joined us—well before your conclave at Andoral's Reach. And we took Hercinia."

"But the enemy took Hasmal. And you have beaten back the attacks, but you have made no further progress on enemy territory. In fact, the Templar side is stronger now than it was when the war began!"

"I hope you're not implying that that's our fault!" Caitlyn snapped. "They rebelled after your vote! And as you know, the mage side is stronger too."

Fiona scowled. "To my eyes, it appears that there has been no meaningful progress in this war. I hope that this changes soon."

Caitlyn and Anders glared at her. "I can't change your opinions if you are determined to see it that way," she said. "Ultimately what matters most is, as you say, winning the war now."

"I agree," Fiona said curtly.

Caitlyn tried to still her temper. "Then let's discuss the path forward. Since you have criticisms of us, you must have ideas of your own," she said, attempting—and not entirely succeeding—to keep spite out of her words. "What experience do you have in combat, like as a battlemage? Particularly in a leadership capacity, or a position to decide tactics and strategies?"

Fiona sat up proudly. "I am surprised that you do not know that I was once a Grey Warden."

Anders drew back sharply, wary and distrustful. He gave his wife a quick, wide-eyed glance, but she could not ask him about it yet...

"What do you mean?" she managed. "Anders resigned from active service, but he still has... what makes a Warden a Warden. It's the same for you?"

"No, Caitlyn," Anders spoke up, glaring at Fiona. "It isn't. She's not Tainted. I don't sense her presence through that at all."

"I expected that he would point this out," Fiona said to Caitlyn. "I am not lying, though. I was once a Warden. There are those who can verify it. But the Taint left me."

"What?" Caitlyn exclaimed. Her eyes widened. "How is that possible? Obviously, Anders has taken potions to negate some of the worst side effects of being a Warden, but for the Taint to completely vanish..."

"And yet it did," Fiona replied. "It was a magical occurrence owing to unique circumstances. The Architect played a role in it."

Anders blanched.

"I know that he is dead, and I do not regret that one bit," Fiona said to him. She turned back to Caitlyn. "And I did not just lose the Taint. I could not accept the Joining again. It did not work on me after that."

"True immunity..." Anders mused in surprised awe.

"No one has been able to duplicate it, however."

"Wait," Caitlyn said, holding up her hand. She eyed Fiona. "You're telling me that you learned all about Grey Warden secrets, including some secrets of the Architect, and the Wardens ordered you back to the Circle? And even let you become Grand Enchanter?"

"What could they do?" Fiona challenged. "I could not be Joined again."

"There are people who work for the Wardens but aren't Wardens themselves. Anders told me that one was sent to Ferelden to be their treasurer when he served there. I'm surprised the Wardens didn't make you do research for them, especially if the Taint no longer posed a threat to you."

Fiona gazed back hard. "You know certain Warden secrets, obviously, and Weisshaupt likely presumes as much, yet you have never been forced to take the Joining."

"I'm a head of state. Weisshaupt can't force the issue with me. They may claim that they can conscript anyone, but in practice, they cannot conscript someone who can summon a militia and make war on them," Caitlyn said coolly. "And since I am a head of state, I know state secrets, understand the importance of secrecy, and have the ability to control information—and Weisshaupt likely presumes all that as well. They couldn't have assumed anything of the sort about a Circle mage. Circle mages haven't exactly had the right to withhold information from Templars or Seekers if it's demanded. I'm just surprised the Wardens would take the risk."

Fiona glared at them. "If you fear that I have told Grey Warden secrets to the Templars under coercion, worry not, Viscountess Hawke," she replied tartly.

"I'm not accusing you of anything! I only meant that it struck me as odd that the Wardens would do what you tell us they did. Nothing more." She managed to force a smile. "In any case, we look forward to hearing your ideas at the War Council and Mages' Council, and you are most welcome here."


Most welcome here, Fiona thought with a scoff once she was alone and settled in to her quarters. What better way to make me feel welcome than to interrogate me about something that is absolutely none of their business? Caitlyn Hawke is not a Grey Warden and Anders is essentially a deserter; who do they think they are to harangue me about keeping the Wardens' secrets? Or to remind me that they answered to nobody while I was under the authority of the Templars and Seekers?

An unwelcome reflection entered her mind at that thought. She had not been entirely honest with Hawke and Anders. Although Weisshaupt had not interfered with her political campaign for mage rights, the Grey Wardens had, over the years, sent Templars to snoop around and bully her to ensure that she was not talking about their precious secrets. The Wardens had selected two Templars who had close relatives in the Wardens, relatives whose lives they could threaten if the Templars did not keep tabs on Fiona.

Bah! As if she had any motive to blab their secrets. As far as Fiona was concerned, the day the Taint left her was the best day of her life. She had barely thought about the Wardens since then. Back in the Circle, her life had meaning. She had worked for thirty years to lead mages to freedom in southern Thedas, and she owed no justification of herself to someone like Hawke.

If anything, Hawke owes me an explanation, Fiona thought. And all the mages who came with me. Her mass assassination of Templars three years ago, the schism she and Anders provoked, her tyrannical rule of Kirkwall—she does not understand how damaging these things were to my efforts. I could forgive it, perhaps, if they had actually managed to win the war by now, or to crush the Templars so thoroughly that victory was inevitable. But they have not. She does not see how detrimental it was for her to be the face of mage rights until now. They are the ones who ought to explain themselves.


I don't like her, Caitlyn thought afterward, and I don't think she knows as much about warfare or politics as she believes she does. She's annoyed that I haven't won the war, and she can't see that I have indeed made progress. The enemy army would be in a far more threatening position if I hadn't decimated the Templar forces and fleet when I broke the siege. Hercinia had an army of two thousand people that is now basically gone. And she says nothing about facing Red Templars at the White Spire or elsewhere. I don't think she has. We have, and we cut off one of their "breeding" grounds under Hercinia's Chantry.

I don't suppose I can fault her for not knowing about the inroads we've made against Red Templars, but she should be able to see that we've made progress. It's hardly my fault that the Seekers and Templars revolted en masse. If we hadn't already whittled down the enemy forces, this new revolt would have made them basically insurmountable. Can't Fiona see that?

And that doesn't even touch on what Rhys said, that he thinks she believes the way we conducted the war made it harder for her to win her vote. What is that? Does she think that because we've supposedly been ineffective, because progress has supposedly stagnated, that discouraged mages in the College from voting for independence? Because if we fought for it, we couldn't win, and my war supposedly proved it?

She doesn't know, Caitlyn finally concluded. She has been immersed in College of Magi politics, far from the battlefield here in the Free Marches. She doesn't know what things have been like for us here.

I just hope she's willing to listen and change her mind.


That evening, Fiona requested another audience with Caitlyn, this time a private one. Not even Anders was present; he and the children were meeting with the new mages' leaders.

Caitlyn resolved to take advantage of this meeting to justify and defend herself, hopefully changing Fiona's mind. But that resolution fled her mind at once when Fiona brought up a very different topic entirely—a startling one.

"Your Grace," Fiona began, "what I'm here to discuss is a personal matter."

"Oh?" Caitlyn said, surprised. "Well... all right, then. I confess that surprises me, but I'm sure you have a reason for asking me."

"I do. You formed an alliance with Ferelden. That Circle—or part of it—was the first to join your side after you declared Kirkwall's Circle free. I wondered how well you know the King of Ferelden? Alistair?"

"I know him as a loyal ally," she said, mystified by this question.

"I heard that he was a Grey Warden and a husband and father."

"Yes, he fought beside the Hero of the Blight, as did my husband. And yes, he married Queen Anora and Princess Celia was born in 9:36. He has a family. But so far as how well I know him: not very. I only met him once. Why do you ask?" she asked curiously. "Do you think you need something that wouldn't be part of the existing terms of alliance?"

Fiona took a deep breath. "No. Nothing like that. The reason is, King Alistair is my son. King Maric and I met on an adventure in the Deep Roads and had a relationship. He was a widower, so I would prefer not to be judged," she added coolly. "It is no different from your past."

Caitlyn was so shocked that she barely heard Fiona's latter comments. She had not expected that, and she could not see any suggestion of Fiona's looks in Alistair at all. She hadn't seen him since the Landsmeet in Dragon 9:35, but Kirkwall had an official diplomatic portrait of the Fereldan royal family. For a moment she wondered if Fiona might be lying to make herself more important, making a claim that no one could prove—but I bet there are people who could prove it, actually, she thought. I bet Loghain knows. No, it's probably true. I took after my father much more than my mother. It can happen.

She gazed at Fiona, eyes wide. "I had no idea," she said. "Does he know?"

"I do not think so."

Caitlyn softened. She did not like this woman, but mage parents who had been separated from their children were inherently sympathetic to her. "You were sent back to the Circle after you ceased to be a Grey Warden, and they wouldn't let you keep him, so you gave him to Maric. I'm so sorry. I can arrange a meeting—"

But then Fiona shook her head sharply. "Maric would have provided for us, but I wanted Alistair not to know who I was for his own good," she said. "I made Maric promise that he would be told his mother was a human and was dead. I chose to return to the Circle, because I believed I could do more good there than living as an elven mother with a human child."

Caitlyn stared at her. "You... chose to give up your son and go back to the Circle?" The sympathy that she had been feeling suddenly reverted to disdain. She had raised Mal without Anders for three years, and she would never have contemplated giving him up, certainly not to go to the Circle.

"It was for the best. He is a king now, which he could not have been if I had raised him. He has a wife and child as well. And I have led the mages of Orlais, Nevarra, and Hossberg in rebellion."

Caitlyn bit back a retort that would have been unhelpful. "But it's not too late. No one else has to know about you now. I meant a private meeting. If he were to learn you were alive, he might like to meet you. There was a time when I feared that my firstborn would never meet his father."

"I do not need to see him," Fiona said. "I merely wanted to know that he was happy and satisfied with his life. His daughter undoubtedly gives him joy."

Caitlyn gazed evenly at her. It seemed to her that Fiona was proud to be the mother of a king, but that her years in the Circle had taken away much of her maternal feeling for her child. She had put what she believed was her duty ahead of her natural feelings, and now she had let that duty overwhelm all else and also give her an inflated sense of her own importance to the cause and the war. "If you change your mind, let me know," Caitlyn said in clipped tones.


She gave up her child, Caitlyn thought. She gave up her baby to go back to the Circles—and after being a Grey Warden, at that! She knew more of the world than the Circles. She surely must have seen how ossified and frightened most of the mages within were... and she chose to go back and give up her baby, because she thought that was the way to fight for the cause.

She could have been the companion of a king. She probably could have still claimed to be a Grey Warden, so she could have lived openly as an elven mage mistress of a King of Ferelden. A widowed king, at that, so there would have been no Queen to cast the shadow of adultery over the relationship. There would have been scandal, there would have been opposition—Maker knows I know that—but there also would have been minds changed by the example she set and the support that King Maric would have given her. Maric might well have remained alive longer if he'd had a partner living with him. The Blight might have gone very differently with him as king. I might never have left Ferelden. I might never have needed to. And Anders might still have been free to live with me, to marry me, under a reformist regime that Maric and Fiona could have established there, like the one I have established here.

Caitlyn recalled what Cassandra Pentaghast had told her three years ago about the First Enchanter of Montsimmard, Vivienne de Fer, who had become an Orlesian duke's mistress and used that position for political ends. Fiona could have done it too, but to help fellow mages instead of just playing the Great Game. Fiona resents me because I got to keep my love and children and also be the mage rights leader, and she sees now that it could have been her. She could have kept her son and pursued the cause from a political position outside the Circle. Instead she had thirty years of loneliness and subjugation... and the futility of talking to frightened, calcified old fools in the College of Magi. She saw the love of her life drown and her son grow up never knowing her. And now she must realize that none of that was necessary for the cause.

Caitlyn sighed. This woman might prove a serious rival... and while she could understand the envy and resentment that Fiona surely was feeling, that did not mean it was her fault. I was a toddler when Fiona made these choices. I'm sorry that she gave up so much and now sees that she didn't have to, but we all must face the fact sometimes that we made mistakes. Maker knows that I have. She will have to face the bitter reality of her mistakes too.


Fiona tried to keep her ire from towering after that little conference. How dare this woman pass judgment on her! Caitlyn Hawke was a privileged human noble. Even before she had regained her family fortune, she had been raised with tales of "noble blood" from her mother—who was the daughter of a man who had been considered for Viscount of Kirkwall in his day. Caitlyn Hawke had never been raped, experimented on by a darkspawn, or pulled into a Circle and her blood stolen to track her. No one outside her family knew that she was a mage until she revealed that fact in a manner that greatly benefited herself, after an attack on her city that—at the very least—she must have seen coming.

Even grubbing in the dirt in Ferelden, Caitlyn Hawke had never faced the obstacles that an elf like Fiona had faced. I did what was right for my son, Fiona thought mutinously. The human son of a king. Of course someone like Hawke would think about selfish maternal sentiment, but she cannot consider that not everyone had her life. There are sacrifices that must be made in other cases for the good of the child. Alistair could not have become what he is today if he'd been raised as the child of an elven mage. Even if I had become Maric's mistress and kept my magic secret somehow, Alistair would not have been considered for anything important as the child of an elf. And I knew it. My feelings were unimportant compared to his rights.

And since I could not give my child the future he deserved if I were in his life, the right thing to do was to focus on the cause—to return to the Circle and pursue my ambition of rising within the College of Magi, where I could persuade other First Enchanters and Senior Enchanters. I was right when I said it was all for the best. But Caitlyn Hawke would never face that hard choice, of course. She is a noble-blooded human, and of her and Anders, she is the parent with the "superior bloodline." Fiona hated to think in such terms, but it was how humans—and, sadly, far too many elves—saw it.

Fiona considered the contacts that she had made among the disaffected mages here in Kirkwall. Some of their views were distasteful to her. Fiona was not a mage supremacist or a Tevinter sympathizer. Still, she reasoned, the ones who imagine that they would like to reestablish Tevinter rule are just building castles in the sky. It's all theoretical. They are like members of the Fraternities for so long, playing with ideas that they will not actually get to implement. Many people fancy what they believe was a golden age. I have seen it among my own people, elves who imagine that ancient Arlathan was perfect. That is all that this is. They would like to live in a better world too, and they believe at the moment that returning to an imaginary golden age is the way. In the end, they are idealists. Misguided, but idealists all the same.

What matters for my purposes is that these mages are disgruntled with Viscountess Hawke, Fiona concluded. And honestly... they have a right to be. She persecuted and oppressed them, making a scapegoat of them for the problems that she brought upon herself by acting the tyrant to others—and taking too long to fight the war. They complain to me that she treated them as a Templar might have treated members of a disfavored Fraternity, criminalizing the very ideas they talked about, and in that they are correct. They are disgruntled with her, and in that sense they are my allies.

I have been in the politics of persuading mages for thirty years. I finally achieved my great task, persuading enough people in the right places to win the vote for Circle independence across southern Thedas. I can persuade some misguided idealists if it should become necessary .


Caitlyn confided in Anders that night as they went to bed. "I don't like her," she admitted to him. "She has an issue with us and I think most of it is resentment of a very personal nature."

She explained to him what Fiona had told her, as well as her own conclusions about Fiona. "So she sees us getting to 'have it all,' to lead mages from a ruling position instead of from the College of Magi, getting to keep our children, to know love with each other... and it must have crossed her mind that none of her sacrifices were necessary."

"I agree," he said. He paused, taking a breath. "But that doesn't justify her being unfair to us about the war's course. We've done the best we can. We've done an excellent job, if I may say so! We could have finished them off without Fiona's army, I think, now that we have the blasting powder and rockets. Of course, she doesn't know about the rockets," he reasoned. "Still, I think her envy and resentment are getting the better of her."

"She made all these sacrifices, giving up Maric—whom I gather she really loved, and who loved her—and giving up her child, to go back to the Circle and fight for mage rights. In order to justify that sacrifice, I think she's convinced herself that Alistair is better off not knowing her. It's sad, really."

"It is sad," he agreed. "But you can't fix everyone else's life, Caitlyn."

"Doesn't Alistair have a right to know that she is alive, though? I know this and he doesn't. How is that right or fair? He's her son. I'm nothing to her."

Anders considered. "Justice and I are both conflicted on that," he admitted. "It doesn't seem fair to him, I agree... it seems unjust that you and I should know the truth but not him... but at the same time, that's what Fiona wanted. Going against her expressed wishes is unjust too. I think you should stay out of this one, love," he advised. "Focus on the war when it comes to Fiona. And..." He grimaced. "I hesitate to say this... but please, unless something else happens to justify it... please don't treat Fiona as you treated Harlan."

Caitlyn gaped at him. "Maker, Anders! Harlan was a crime lord and a traitor. I wouldn't have even considered executing him if he hadn't been a criminal! Fiona is just a rival. I don't go around executing everyone I see as a rival!"

He chuckled. "I know! I'm sorry. I just meant... try to work with her. We're fighting for mages, and she is a mage. She supports mage freedom, too. She brought her army here. And... that's the other reason," he said. "She brought three thousand battlemages with her. Antagonizing her, making an enemy of her, could be very bad strategically."

"You're right," Caitlyn acknowledged. "Even if they aren't all enamored of her, enough of them would be personally loyal to her that turning an uneasy rival into an enemy would be... a problem. And the cause comes first."

"Yes," he agreed. "We don't have to like everyone we work with. What matters is fighting for mage freedom and winning this blasted war at long last. You won't even need to deal with Fiona afterward if we do that."

Caitlyn nodded, considering his words as she snuggled into him. "I really dislike her, I admit," she told him. "I don't understand her. I don't understand how a mother could give up her wanted child, give up the love of her life when there was no serious impediment to their relationship, and go to the Circle. I know I couldn't have. It seems... cold... to me."

"I can't ever see myself doing that either, but... I do wonder what I might have been if I hadn't become a father. Hadn't fallen in love with you. Or... even if I had, but we had never had children. I wonder if I might have become something like her, focused on the cause to the exclusion of all else."

Caitlyn was disturbed by that idea, but—as much as she hated to admit it—she could see it. She could envision Anders having become like that. She didn't like the image, and she quickly pushed it out of her mind. "We were spouses and parents before we became revolutionaries," she said. "Well... all right... parents," she amended, since he was raising his eyebrows at her and she reflected on the fact that she was already scheming with Mother Petrice before they had gotten married. "You're right, though. About trying to work with Fiona. She must have suffered a great deal, and now she has to have a lot of regrets. I don't have to like her... but I will work with her."

Anders gave her a kiss. "Of course. That's why you are the leader of the Free Mages."

She smiled and nestled into him, grateful for his vote of confidence.


Caitlyn and Anders quickly threw together a banquet for the Senior Enchanters. She supposed that the time had passed for banquets that could encompass the entire mage army, now that it numbered over five thousand. There was no structure that could hold them all. The Gallows assembly hall certainly couldn't. It was crowded even with just the Senior Enchanters. She had—somewhat reluctantly—paid for local taverns to offer drinks and food on the house to any mage the night that she held the banquet, and given the Senior Enchanters permission to tell the junior members of their Circles that they could have their own parties at any of those establishments.

Mal and Jo Beth were on their best behavior at the banquet, though in the case of the little girl, that might have been because her father was watching her like a hawk. Caitlyn couldn't have excluded them. Mal was more than old enough to participate, and his little sister wouldn't dream of being left out. Seeing the children seemed to motivate the assembled mages, too.

"It's a shame that the Rivainis aren't here," she remarked to Petra. "They were our allies longer than anyone except for Ferelden and Markham."

"Yes," Petra agreed, taking a sip of her wine, "but I'm sure we'll all be feasting together soon. Rivella can probably throw a great party."

They were all enjoying their meal, Caitlyn and Anders' dislike of Fiona temporarily out of their minds, when a messenger in the livery of Kirkwall suddenly burst into the Gallows assembly hall and approached the head table.

Caitlyn and Anders were alert immediately as he drew near.

"Your Graces!"

His expression was alarmed and fearful. Caitlyn instantly panicked. Mother? she thought. Carver? My friends? Merrill was here, as a member of the Mages' Council, but no one else was, not even Aveline. What's wrong?

She did not have to wait to find out. The messenger gave her the news at once. "I've just received word from a messenger of Cassandra Pentaghast, Right Hand of the Divine. The Lord Seeker is dead!"

Caitlyn and Anders gaped at him, taken entirely aback. "What?" Caitlyn said. "Lambert van Reeves?"

"Yes, Your Grace!"

"How?" she burst out. "He joined the schism! He was going to Tantervale with the rest of the rebel Templars and Seekers! Who killed him, and why?"

"Nobody knows!" the messenger said. "He was just found dead in his quarters, knifed! He never made it out of Val Royeaux."

Caitlyn and Anders drew back, shocked. As they exchanged glances of fear and concern, Caitlyn realized that they were likely thinking the same thing: This is it. This is the endgame.


Notes: Fiona says that she went to the Circle to pursue mage rights. That means she's been pursuing the cause and her ambitions since Dragon 9:10, and that she sacrificed the chance to be a loved partner and mother to do it. I think she'd deeply resent Caitlyn appearing out of nowhere as a leader just six years ago, getting to "have it all" to boot, and Caitlyn's approach to governing would likely not endear her either. And I have established that Caitlyn, for all her willingness to play politics, loses her patience when it doesn't bear fruit fast enough and then doubles down on aggression/authoritarianism, so I think she'd regard Fiona's long-game approach with derision for not producing results fast.

Whether Caitlyn or Fiona has the right of it in the protracted what-if scenario of her trying to advocate for mages as Maric's mistress will forever be a question mark. I tend to side with Caitlyn, but I wanted both to be plausible.

I'm sorry, but it is incomprehensible that the Grey Wardens would allow Fiona to leave their supervision, nay, kick her out, given all that she knows and the fact that she is immune to Taint. It was clearly done for one reason, to reboot her as the hero of mages and the "nonviolent counterpoint" to Anders (which comes across to me as Bioware telling us how to think about certain issues and characters, which I really dislike). King Alistair gets to "resign," yes (and I've followed that same precedent for Anders here), but what he knows of Warden lore is nowhere close to the level of secrets that she holds... and there is nothing special about him as a Warden.