Chapter 3: Enemies, Rivals, Opportunities?

When Max and his companions returned to Haven from the Hinterlands, a surprise met them at the doors of the Chantry. Leliana, clad in the mail of a champion of the Maker, held a large and ancient tome. Cassandra instantly broke away from the group consisting of herself, Max, Solas, and Varric to join her companion at the Chantry doors. Max realized that she had plans with Leliana that predated his being marked, and that they related to this tome.

"Before she called the Conclave," Leliana said in hardened tones, "Divine Justinia informed the Right Hand and me that she had authorized the creation of the Inquisition to investigate the motives and feasibility of religious dissent, if it should become necessary." Her gaze was as cold as stone. "The directive was not specific as to that purpose, however—and a new, far more urgent need has arisen in the skies above us." Her sapphire eyes flickered upward to the Breach. "In Her Perfection's name, Seeker Pentaghast and I hereby declare the Inquisition reborn!" She turned to the Chantry walls, withdrew a banner from her cloak, and tacked it to the door.

Max gaped at the heraldry, an Eye of the Seekers spliced with the Templars' Sword of Mercy that he knew so well from the Circle.

Leliana regarded him emotionlessly. "We will invite more advisors to join us here in Haven. I have sent word to a friend of mine who is very experienced as an ambassador, and I recommend that we take all help offered in good faith that we can find. And as we are now an official organization, we must engage in diplomacy with the local authorities. Come inside, Herald, Solas, Varric. And you as well, of course," she said to Cassandra and Cullen. "We have much to discuss."

Cullen and Leliana were interested in the state of the Fereldan Hinterlands. Max was pleased to give an account, and to his surprise, Cassandra Pentaghast did not interject ahead of him. He wondered at that; she was the one who knew them better and had plotted with them before to initiate the Inquisition. Perhaps she is just a natural follower, he supposed. But... does that make me a natural leader? I don't feel like one.

Max decided not to worry about that yet. He just needed to explain what they had seen, not obsess about who had what unofficial rank—not realizing that this very practicality was itself a sign of leadership. "We noticed more criminals and violent types in the Hinterlands than just bandits," he said. "There were some fights between..." He frowned. "Mages, definitely—you can't mistake a mage who is fighting, of course—but I think they were fighting Templars."

Leliana and Cullen exchanged alarmed looks. "Were the Templars using red lyrium in their attacks?" Leliana asked anxiously.

"No, I didn't see that. Were you thinking they might be the fugitive Red Templars that Samson and Carroll are leading?"

"I am not sure whether to hope that that is the case or not," Leliana said. "I am worried that there has been no sign of them since Firstfall of last year, when the Kirkwall mage alliance lifted the siege of Starkhaven and they escaped that city. That is just over five months with no word! It is indeed concerning. But at the same time, I would not want them to spread the foul substance further in Ferelden. And if they were not using it in their attacks, the people you saw are not Red Templars. They cannot help but use it if they take it." She frowned. "The war crimes courts at Ansburg have the rest of the Templar malefactors in custody, those who were involved in the Annulments. These must be survivors of the Conclave itself who had come to Haven in good faith, innocent of those atrocities, hoping to learn what Most Holy had in store for their Order, but have lost all hope now and struck out on their own."

"What about the mages?" Max asked. "I thought the Free Mages were under Viscountess Hawke's authority. Why would they go to the Hinterlands after the Breach instead of returning to Kirkwall—or staying here?"

"The Free Mages' representatives, Enchanter-General Petra and Enchanter-Captain Lysas, are here in Haven," Cullen said. "I know Petra well. I worked with her in Kirkwall, and I knew her in the Kinloch Hold Circle before that. They and their small delegation survived the blast. The mages in the Hinterlands are not with them. We should admit them to this conference."

Max nodded. "Let's do it."

The two mages, a young human woman and an elven man, were located and shown in. They bore leather armor with the clenched spellcasting fist that was the sigil of the Free Mages of Thedas on one breast, and the complex abstract sigil of Kirkwall on the other. They took their seats, and Petra began speaking.

"I do not know how widely known this is," she began, "but after the Annulments of Dairsmuid, Tantervale, and Starkhaven, a company of the Free Mages... deserted." She glowered. "Former Grand Enchanter Fiona led them. We also know for a fact that a lot of them—not all, but many—were mage supremacists. In Kirkwall, they had formed secret, illicit 'fraternities' that they called 'Potentatists' and 'Restorationists'—and by the end, the Potentatists had basically all become Restorationists, the more radical group. And what they meant to 'restore' was exactly what you think: Tevinter hegemony."

Cassandra's nostrils flared. "There was a Tevinter attack on Hasmal after the schism took it during the war. They overthrew the so-called Orthodox Chantry and all the local lords, but left the posts unfilled and abandoned the city. Hasmal rapidly descended into lawless chaos."

"Yes," Lysas confirmed in a growl.

Varric spoke up. "It wasn't the official Tevinter government, but a rogue faction called the Venatori acting on its own. I have that from a magister who used to be an in-law. Who opposed the Venatori," he added quickly.

Cassandra groaned. "Maker's breath, Varric!"

"What?" he exclaimed innocently. "She's quite decent, for a magister."

"I meant the number of secrets that you keep and reveal at opportune times. I think you do it to shock people."

Varric smirked and shrugged.

Max cleared his throat. "Let's move on. The deserters."

"Viscountess Hawke asked her allies in Markham and Ferelden to send a peacekeeping force of common soldiers to Hasmal to restore order," Petra said, defending her leader. "We had nothing to do with the chaos. But I bring it up because there was evidence that the deserters under Fiona were with them. And I think these renegades in the Hinterlands are with that group. They are certainly not with the official Free Mage army."

Max was sure he knew where this was going. "Are we going to need to deal with the problem?"

"I do not know," Leliana admitted. "It is occurring on Fereldan territory, specifically that of Arl Teagan Guerrin of Redcliffe. He may regard it as an encroachment upon his authority if we send people. That is the other matter I meant to bring up at this conference. Ferelden has claimed land all the way to a north-south demarcation line just east of Halamshiral, where the Winter Palace of Empress Celene sits."

"Queen Anora and King Alistair offered sanctuary and rights to elves after Empress Celene cracked down on the elven rebels in that city," Cullen put in. "They fled east and helped Ferelden seize land close to Halamshiral."

Max raised his eyebrows. That was a bold move. He approved of it—no true Marcher liked Orlais—but he did worry that the Fereldans would face blowback from annexing land so close to an Imperial palace's location, in a way that Celene would have to read as a direct slap in the face. He hoped that the Inquisition would take Ferelden's part if it got involved in the conflict.

Leliana continued. "There are Fereldan soldiers patrolling the eastern Dales, and the people of the area are apparently quite content with their new authorities. But this boundary, of course, encompasses this very town of Haven. Haven used to be disputed, but no longer; Orlais is not in any position to regain its territory this far east, what with Fereldan presence in the Dales themselves. We will need to deal with the Fereldan Crown for legal matters, now that we are the Inquisition and not just a group of travelers to Divine Justinia's Conclave. And while we do so, we might as well ask Arl Teagan if he needs assistance with the attacks in his arling."

Varric cleared his throat. "This is all very important, no doubt, but... it seems to me that we have a bigger problem on our hands than who controls what patch of land and where a rabble of good-for-nothings went. What about the great big hole in the sky? That's what you and Cassandra initiated the Inquisition to deal with, wasn't it? And we've got our Herald with his glowing hand that can close rifts. What's the plan?"

Cassandra nodded. "You are quite right, Varric. The Breach is the most important problem. Demons are coming through the rift and new rifts keep forming as long as the Breach remains open. We have seen it in the Hinterlands." She turned to Max. "The Herald has been able to close the smaller rifts, but it will take too much out of him to attempt to close the Breach by himself. It could kill him to try it, Solas tells us."

Solas nodded. "We need assistance from others, a large infusion of magic through the mark. That would be enough to seal the Breach."

Varric tilted his head. "A large infusion of magic. Well... Hawke has a force of several thousand fully trained mages in Kirkwall." He seemed reluctant to mention it, as if this were a betrayal of his friend to drag her into the Inquisition's fight, but he knew he also had a duty to Thedas itself—and if the mages could seal the Breach, sending their magic through Max's mark, surely Hawke would not begrudge that. She did not need all of them to defend her city, and they had fought to be free, not to be confined to one place again.

Petra spoke up in agreement. "That is true. We three can ask Viscountess Hawke to send the Free Mages here to do it."

"Would she?" Cassandra asked skeptically.

Varric gazed levelly back at her. "It wasn't three days ago that you were convinced her army was guilty of creating the Breach. Now you want their help."

Cassandra sighed. "I was wrong, Varric. Is that what you wanted me to say? I spoke too soon. Yes, if the Free Mages can help, it would be good."

"Hawke trusts me... at least, as much as she trusts anyone who isn't her family," Varric said with a shrug. "She trusted me to advocate for Kirkwall and the Vimmark-Minanter Treaty. And she trusted these two to advocate for mage rights. We can ask her to send the Free Mages."

Cullen, Cassandra, and Leliana exchanged looks. "If that will take care of the Breach, then we can consider other issues," Leliana said. "Namely, the reuniting of the Chantry, as Most Holy wanted done. I hope that with the full authority of the Inquisition behind us, we can finish her work."

Leliana's hope proved vain. It did not take long at all for Chancellor Roderick, who had been close to Divine Justinia, to turn on the Inquisition, referring to Cassandra as a "thug" as he sneered at them.

Then, just after Max sent a letter to Viscountess Hawke requesting the aid of the Free Mages, the group planned a trip to Val Royeaux to meet with Lord Seeker Lucius to discuss him as a possible ally. The sailing weather was decent now, but this trip proved even more disastrous. Revered Mother Hevara of Val Royeaux preached in the streets of Orlais against the Inquisition as heretics and blasphemers, specifically referring to Max's title as the Herald of Andraste.

Then Lord Seeker Lucius, who had once been Cassandra's ally, punched the priest in the face. Max was outraged; even though she was clearly an enemy, the priest had been unarmed. If anyone is a thug, he thought, remembering Chancellor Roderick's words, it's an armed and armored Seeker who knocks an unarmed woman to the ground. I don't care if he would be an ally. We don't need allies like this. He prepared to draw his staff and form a spell.

But Seeker Lucius sneered at him as well. "The ten percent of Templars and Seekers who remained loyal to Divine Justinia stayed in this city," he snarled. "But this proves that Val Royeaux doesn't deserve them! As Lord Seeker," he commanded, raising his voice, "I hereby withdraw all Templars and Seekers from this city and command them to accompany me!"

Cassandra interceded. "Lord Seeker! The Inquisition—"

He spat on the ground at her feet. "The Inquisition!" he scoffed. "I see nothing but a rebel Seeker, a deserter Templar, a murderous bard, a dwarf in the pay of the Kirkwall war criminals, a knife-eared apostate, and the chief blasphemer himself! You have no authority."

"Divine Justinia gave us the authority," Cassandra snapped.

Lucius spat again. "Divine Justinia, more than anyone else, is responsible for the current situation. She coddled mages for too long. I see that at long last. She sat back and watched as a new schism occurred, the forces of the Chantry fell away, the Kirkwall apostates created foul new weapons and destroyed a city, and the lands bought dearly with the blood of the faithful fell to the Fereldans. She is to blame most of anyone! Even if you weren't lying, her word holds no authority anymore." He turned to the Seekers and Templars who followed him. "Anyone who allies with this gang of heretics and apostates, I name deserter and traitor to the Order!"

The Inquisition members stood stock-still, glaring and shocked in turn. Max thought at first that he was shocked, but that did not last long.

"I don't want to say 'I told you so,'" he muttered to Solas as they quietly left the square, "but... well... I told them so. The Lord Seeker may have always been a hopeless case, but we might have had that priest if they hadn't claimed I was the Herald of Andraste. I don't believe I'm any such thing, and it is blasphemous to claim it for political advantage while believing it to be false."

Solas smiled thinly. "Your title has gained you support in Ferelden, however. This is a problem only here in Orlais, it would seem to me."

Max sighed. He didn't like admitting it, but that was true enough. Back in the Hinterlands and Haven, the title of Herald of Andraste was largely working in his favor, particularly when he and his companions killed the demons that were plaguing the locals and closed the smaller rifts from which the demons had been escaping. But there were no rifts or demons in Val Royeaux, just politicians.

Well, he thought, trying to muster his reserves of mental strength, I was raised for that too. My magical ability has helped convince the Fereldans to support me. Maybe my Trevelyan background will help me with the Orlesians. He still felt a certain resistance to using the skills that his father the Bann had taught him, since that man had been so eager to get rid of him when he showed magic—and to send Evelyn to the Chantry against her wishes at the same time, as if to make an apology to the Chantry for fathering a mage. But, he supposed grudgingly, political skills were useful.

He was almost at the gates when two things happened: a note borne on an arrow landed at his feet, and another note was pressed into his hand by a more civil and conventional messenger.

As his companions, startled and alarmed by the arrow, looked around quickly to try to find its source, Max just opened the letters. He read them contemplatively, then folded them, thinking it over.

There is no help to be found in what remains of the Chantry in Orlais. We don't have the Orlesian priesthood or the few Seekers and Templars who remained loyal to Justinia. What was it that Leliana said when she declared the Inquisition reborn? We needed to take any aid offered in good faith that we could find.

"I think we will," he murmured.

Later.

As Max boarded the ship back to Jader—the Fereldan port of Jader, he noted to himself—from where they would begin the trek back south to Haven, he reflected on the trip to Val Royeaux.

He had not achieved the goals he had set out to achieve. The Inquisition had no allies from the Chantry in Orlais or the Templars and Seekers. But they did have new allies. In the estate of Duke Bastien de Ghislain, the place to which the "proper" courier in Val Royeaux had been carrying an invitation, he had acquired the support of First Enchanter Vivienne de Fer, a Loyalist mage who had joined neither the schism nor the Free Mages. Max knew that he did not agree with her views about Circles, but she was clearly an intelligent woman who had connections in Orlais and the ability to the play the Game. The shot arrow with a note tied to it had also led them to a new ally, an ally of a different kind: Sera, a young elven archer who was part of a group called the Friends of Red Jenny and purported to speak for the common people instead of nobles and the powerful. He had admitted Sera's aid to the Inquisition in the teeth of Cassandra, Vivienne, and—to an extent—Cullen, but the full support of Varric and Solas.

Leliana's response to meeting Sera was a curious one. "We have met before," she had said suddenly to the young elf, awareness suddenly in her face.

Sera eyed Leliana. "Have we? When? Where?"

"In Denerim during the Blight, in a tavern for women who fancy other women. You met Lady Cousland there as well, and a Rivaini pirate... and a qunari woman came by on some errand..."

Sera remembered then, slapping her thigh in recognition. "Oh yeah! That was good fun. Wow, look at me, knowing the Hero of the Blight!"

But this seemed to Max to be a form of vouching for Sera. He was glad to admit her to the Inquisition and believed her viewpoint would be needed, what with people like Vivienne and the Advisors also on the team.

And in Jader on the way to Val Royeaux, the Inquisition had gained the company of a priest, Revered Mother Giselle. She would be going to the Hinterlands to support the people there who had suffered from the demons, bandits, and renegades in the wake of the Breach.

"We should have an additional ally by the time we return to Haven," Leliana murmured to him as she approached him by the railing on the ship's deck. "My friend the ambassador should have arrived by now. Her name is Josephine Montilyet. She has contacts throughout Thedas." She gazed ahead, her cloak and hood concealing her face. "Enchanter Trevelyan, do not despair. I think that the trip was as successful as could be hoped for. We did gain some useful allies, even if they were not the ones we intended to gain. And I also think you will gain the help of the Free Mages to close the Breach. If we can do that, we will gain significant credibility among the skeptical."

He turned suddenly to face her. "Sister Leliana," he said, his heart pounding. He knew that what he was about to ask her was very bold, and might indeed be impertinent. But he quickly resolved to plunge ahead anyway. "They say that you are in a longtime relationship with the Hero of the Fifth Blight."

Leliana turned sharply to face him. He could see her eyes gleaming beneath the heavy dark hood. "That is true. What of it?"

"Are we..." He hesitated about how to ask. "Can we expect any support from the Grey Wardens through her?"

Leliana turned aside again, facing the waves. The silence went on for so long that it became awkward, and Max prepared to turn aside without an answer, when she finally replied.

"I would not count on it," she said, and her tone was shockingly guttural and harsh. "I have reached out to her about the Breach, the Conclave disaster, and Justinia's death. She lives in Vigil's Keep, the Grey Warden fortress near Amaranthine. She has had plenty of time to receive the message and reply. She has not done so."

This was obviously a painful subject, and Max regretted raising it. "I'm sorry," he said.

"She did warn me. As I have said before, she passed me warnings about a corruption in the Grey Wardens and the threat of an attack on Haven. I did warn Divine Justinia... but she just felt that the Conclave was too important to cancel. I cannot blame El—Lady Cousland for this. And she also warned me that the same situation with the Wardens that concerned her had prompted her to lock down security. She said she might do this. But... I cannot say that it does not upset me that she is ignoring my letters in the wake of Divine Justinia's death. Perhaps the Wardens can do nothing for the Breach, but she knows what Divine Justinia meant to me—has meant to me for many years."

Max felt extremely uncomfortable. He had not asked for this level of detail, and he wished he had not heard it, since it was so painful for Leliana to say.

She pulled the hood low over her face, and when she spoke again, her voice was like ice. "But it matters not. She believes that there is a security risk of some sort that outweighs emotional needs. How can I say her nay? Divine Justinia might be alive if she had listened to her warnings. She is doing what she perceives to be her duty. So must we all." With that, she walked off.

Max reflected on the conversation uncomfortably. He did believe he was doing his duty—not a duty that he had asked for, but one that had been foisted upon him by parties unknown. Andraste? he thought mordantly. Could it really have been her? I just can't believe that, though. But whoever foisted it upon me, I have no choice but to carry on with it. And even if I did not ask for my hand to be magically marked and to be set in council with a lot of Chantry heavyweights in a new Inquisition, I did want the chance to shine.

I also wanted to know love, but... perhaps Leliana is right. She has known love, the love of Elissa Cousland, but that's why this dutiful absence hurts her so much. If they were not partners, it would not matter that Lady Cousland was not in contact with her about Divine Justinia's death. Duty can be... maybe not the death of love, but in conflict with it sometimes.

He reflected further. In the Circle at Ostwick, the Libertarian mages like me liked to talk about Viscountess Hawke and Consort Anders. They were supposed to have had a great romance. Separated for years after he was captured and taken back to the Circle. She gave birth to their firstborn child in his absence. But then they were reunited against all odds and became a team that no one could stand against. It was an epic love story that we Libertarians liked to idealize. We all wanted that ourselves.

Now I wonder how much of it was our own storytelling. They must have had difficulties sometimes. Who doesn't? But they do seem to have been a team, a couple that stood against the world—and won. Love and duty did not come at cross purposes with them.

Perhaps Viscountess Hawke will have replied to my request, he thought. And if the Free Mages do come to Haven to help me seal the Breach... His thoughts trailed off. Then what? We still don't have the person who actually killed Justinia and created the Breach.

Something occurred to him at once. If we close the Breach, that'll probably draw out whoever did it. They must have meant to create it, and they will be furious if their handiwork is undone. If they're still alive... which they must be, since we did not see any suspicious bodies among the dead. Closing the Breach will not end my tenure as a leader. And I do not know how to feel about that. I wanted to do something meaningful with my life, but now that I have the chance, I feel like I don't always have any idea what I am doing.

I suspect that's probably typical too, he reflected wisely. But I have acquired some good allies who can help me. And who knows? Maybe I'll find an ally, among this set or another set in the future, who will be that special person to me that Elissa Cousland is to Leliana and Anders is to Hawke.

Back in Ferelden, Max quickly discovered that Ambassador Josephine Montilyet, who was Orlesian-Antivan, had arrived in Haven—but a response from Viscountess Hawke had not. That was concerning. Kirkwall was much closer than Lady Montilyet's prior location, and it was also closer than Val Royeaux. Hawke and Anders must have received the request for aid; they just had not decided how to answer it, apparently.

He tried to push his concern aside for the time being. Perhaps even in the worst-case scenario, that of Hawke withholding the Free Mages, the Templars could close the Breach instead. In the meantime, waiting at the Chantry in Haven would not bring a response from Kirkwall any faster. He wanted to go to the Hinterlands to help the people there, and he decided that the time had also come to confer with Arl Teagan Guerrin about the deserter mage supremacists and the status of Ferelden's forces in neutralizing the threats.

He had expected Vivienne, who was very much a fashionable lady of Orlais, to disdain the Hinterlands and the village of Redcliffe. But to his surprise, she had no difficulty switching to the mode of a soldier.

"I am a Knight-Enchanter," she explained to him as they defeated a gang of bandits. "A trained, authorized Enchanter of the Circles, one of the elite and most trusted." She frowned. "At least, when such things had meaning."

He could not help but respond to that. "Can you not make a place for yourself in the new order?" he asked. "Someone with your skills would be appreciated and valued anywhere."

"Oh, no doubt, darling," she said.

Her use of such terms of affection had startled Max at first, until he realized that it was not flirtation, at least not the sincere kind. It was either a habit of speech or the idle meaningless kind of flirtation that occurred in the Great Game. That realization came swiftly to him as he recalled lessons as a child on courtly politics, and with that, he knew how to respond to it going forward.

"However," Vivienne continued, "to sell my staff in such a manner would make me no more than a common mercenary. That is what the Free Mages will find, dear. The more skilled will be conscripted to serve as soldiers of lords and nations, to fight their little battles. The rest will become mercenaries. A degrading existence. Freedom, I fear, will not taste as sweet as they think."

Max frowned. "You know as well as I that we can do more with magic than fight and kill, and I can't think Viscountess Hawke led the Free Mages to victory over the Circles just to let lords and kings force them to fight for them instead. In a wartime draft, sure; it'll be the same as any other citizen able to fight. But in times of peace, the Free Mages will have the chance to live normal lives. Some of them won't even want to use magic to earn a living; they'll want to practice some other trade, I would think. Farmers or whatever who just happen to be mages."

Vivienne smiled condescendingly. "Perhaps in Kirkwall for a time, it will be so. But Hawke and Anders cannot control what other nations do."

"The mages are mostly still in Kirkwall," he pointed out. "And if some of them move to places and then find themselves forced to become soldiers even in times of peace when they don't want to practice that profession, well... they are mages. No town guards or whatnot will be able to force them. They aren't Templars. And I think the lords and rulers will know it and won't antagonize the mages by trying to force them into service that they don't want."

"I hope you are right, dear. But people are people."

With that the conversation seemed at an end, and in any case, neither of them did know what the future would hold. Besides, the party was approaching the gates of Redcliffe Castle. All conversation ground to a halt as the guards questioned them for admittance.

The Inquisition easily gained an audience with Arl Teagan Guerrin. His wife, Arlessa Bella, sat nearby. She was a very comely woman, though she had lost the glow of youth. Max had heard that she had had three children in the space of just six years. Also beside the couple was a young man, a young mage, who looked to be just a few years younger than Max.

"This is my nephew Enchanter Connor," Teagan introduced the young man. "When Kinloch Hold rebelled, he returned to Redcliffe due to his youth at the time. He was just sixteen."

"And you kept me here throughout the war," Connor groused.

Teagan gave him a thin smile. "You were too young to fight. Your aunt Queen Rowan fought the Orlesians at too young an age too, as did King Maric and Teyrn Loghain. Not you. You've had the chance to do your part, though."

Max was very tempted to tell the youth that he understood and sympathized completely, but it might be impolitic. "It was similar for me," he said diplomatically. "My Circle didn't join the Free Mages. But I've also had the chance to... do my part, as you say, my lord." He grimaced at his hand.

Teagan rose from his seat, followed quickly by his family and the guests. "You have come here to ask us about the status of the deserter mages. We know where they are, and there is a reason we didn't admit them to Redcliffe."

"They tried to gain admittance to Redcliffe?"

"They did. That elf, Fiona, did lead them, as you thought. They looked surprisingly well-equipped for a band of deserters, with good clothes, very good staves, potions..."

"We have some theories about that," Max said darkly. "We'll share them with you, but go on, my lord."

Teagan nodded. "They tried to assert their way into the keep, Fiona claiming that King Alistair had personally approved her. We asked to see documents bearing the royal seal to prove it. She had none. So we turned them out. Connor and his fellow mage friends warded the place against them."

Max grinned at the young man. "You probably did your uncle's arling a great favor."

"It is a not ignoble part," Vivienne allowed.

Sera rolled her eyes. "Blah-blah-blah. Good on you, I say."

"Enough," Cassandra said repressively. "Let the arl speak."

"Since then," Teagan continued, "we have learned that they took up with a... cult, is the only way to describe them, in the Winterwatch Tower. It is an abandoned fortress not far from here. This cult worships the Breach, we hear."

"We have heard of this cult too," Max concurred. Indeed, they had received news of the group during their work in the Hinterlands. He had resolved not to have any dealings with them, since the Inquisition was already being accused of heresy and blasphemy. Aligning with a cult that worshiped the Breach itself would make matters even worse in Orlais, and might undo their good work in convincing the local Fereldans—most of whom regarded the Breach and the rifts with deep distrust and fear—to trust them. "We have nothing to do with them. We are trying to carry on the work of Divine Justinia now that she is gone. Are they causing problems for your arling?"

"None as such, but we don't like the fact that they've made common cause with those deserter mages." He gave Max a studying look. "What was your theory about the high quality of their supplies... Herald?"

Max sighed heavily. He had raised the subject himself, but this was not going to go over well. Reluctantly he told Teagan what he had learned from Petra, Lysas, and the others about the mage-supremacist views many of the deserters had held in Kirkwall and the strong suspicion that they had joined up with a group of Tevinter extremists to sack Hasmal and leave it in chaos.

Teagan, surprisingly, took the news calmly. "This doesn't surprise me, I must say," he said. "Obviously they had obtained wealthy allies somewhere, and that was obviously not with the legitimate Free Mages or Kirkwall itself. I'm definitely glad that we didn't allow them into the arling, in that case."

"The Inquisition has asked the Free Mages to come to Haven to assist us in closing the Breach," Max said hurriedly. "We think that they could send a large amount of magic through my mark and that would do the job. I hope this news and this rumor about these deserters won't turn your lordship against mages in general..."

Teagan smiled thinly. "Have you forgotten that my nephew is a mage? I admit that if this had happened ten years ago, I would have given you a very different answer."

Max noted that Connor became distinctly uncomfortable at this.

"But I have seen that magic can be used for good. Ferelden is an ally of Kirkwall, too, and the loyal Free Mages seem all right. If they can close the Breach, we'll be glad to have them as temporary neighbors of sorts until they return home."

"And in the meantime, we're doing what we can to close the smaller rifts," Max assured him. "Do you need assistance from the Inquisition in dealing with the more ordinary violence in your arling? Bandits, these renegade mages, rebel Templars, and so on?"

Teagan considered. "Obviously you have the full right of self-defense and the defense of innocents if you encounter any on the road," he said. "And your Inquisition can deal with the Breach as you must. But in terms of deploying forces in Fereldan territory to fight common criminals—that is something you will need to ask the King and Queen. It's above me, Herald. If you want to have an armed garrison in Haven, a Fereldan town, that has full legal authority to conduct law enforcement in Ferelden, you'll need royal approval for that."

The Haven Chantry.

"The warding that Enchanter Connor and his friends put up was a deed well done," Cullen said once the team had returned to Haven from this mission. "But the arl's news is more disturbing than not. I for one found the news about their high-quality supplies a lot more alarming than the Winterwatch cult alliance. That suggests that they are still working with the Venatori."

"What can we do, though?" Max said. "Ask the Free Mages to fight their old friends? Even if they are deserters and many of them are mage supremacists, they were once friends of the loyal mage soldiers. I think we have to let the Fereldan authorities deal with this, Cullen. We're spread too thin if we take them on, and it's as Arl Teagan said, we need royal approval too."

Vivienne scowled in disapproval. "I still think we should reconsider inviting the Free Mages to ally with us, Herald. They may not have exercised the especially terrible judgment that Fiona's group did, but they have a history of support for radicalism and violence. Everyone knows what Caitlyn Hawke and Anders did to Tantervale and particularly to its Chantry. There are many who believe them guilty of a war crime for attacking the Tantervale Cathedral with that terrible weapon of theirs, but they remain free, ruling a city, because of their brute power and the fear they have inspired—and the Free Mages support their leaders' actions. You would bring such a force here, after what Haven has suffered from the Breach? Consider how this looks, Herald."

"It was war," Max said heavily. "I've heard about the chemical attack on the Tantervale Chantry, and it was a terrible thing, but they were at war. The false Divine had had three Circles Annulled without cause. What else could Hawke do but fight to a victory after that? At least the Free Mages were loyal. They never deserted their cause or their commander, even when times were hard." I wish I could have been among them. I wish I had been in that army. Max shoved these bitter, wistful thoughts aside as he recalled what he had learned about the Siege of Tantervale from Varric, Petra, Lysas, and others. "And I've heard that the Free Mages were about to run out of their other weapons. If they hadn't decided to strike the Tantervale Chantry with those... things... then the false Divine might have triumphed."

"The false Divine should have been overthrown by an Exalted March of Templars, Seekers, and Knight-Enchanters duly chosen by the true Divine," Vivienne replied, "not a force of rebel apostates fighting for a secular ruler."

"A lot of those Templars and Seekers had already gone over to fight for the false Divine," Varric interjected. "Justinia didn't have the forces for an Exalted March. Our Herald is right—the Siege of Tantervale, and, sadly, the poison gas attack on its Chantry, won the war."

"Hawke's own actions provoked the schism, however. Justinia meant to reform the Circles more gradually."

"Whatever happened, it's in the past," Max said. He didn't agree with Vivienne's assessment, but he didn't want to fight about it. "What matters for us is that she has the Free Mages. They were courageous and loyal. As for Fiona's group, whatever their reasons might have been, they still left after they had sworn to fight. They were faithless. But I still can't ask the Free Mages to attack them unprovoked. They are in a Fereldan castle. Let Ferelden deal with them if they and their cultist friends start causing problems."

"But the evidence is that they allied with the Venatori to sack Hasmal, I have heard. If they do still have such allies, that is concerning, and we will need to look into it eventually," Josephine Montilyet, the new ambassador, pointed out. "If we need royal approval, then we must send a request to the King and Queen for it. That is all there is to it."

Vivienne scowled again. "Are rebel mages the only options for closing the Breach? You have a political problem, my friends, from what I have learned of your encounters in Val Royeaux. To make amends with the Chantry, is it really the best thing to ally with the Free Mage Army? Have we no other choice?"

"There is another option," Cullen said, staring at the war room map. "I have since learned where Lord Seeker Lucius took the Templars and Seekers."

"Oh?" Max asked. "Where?"

"They are dug in at Therinfal Redoubt. It's a fortress in eastern Ferelden that belonged to the Seeker Order until Blessed 8:99 when they vacated it. They could probably close the Breach too, but there is an issue."

Max sighed. "Of course there is."

"The Lord Seeker wanted them to report to this place to discuss 'rebuilding in the absence of Divine leadership.' He presented this as a second attempt at reconciliation for the Templars and Seekers who joined the schism—and believes that he can offer them something that'll force the mages to heel again, too, and even take on Kirkwall's army and arsenal head-to-head," Cullen added darkly. "I have some thoughts about what that might be... but he says that the Inquisition is the enemy and that they are not to work with us."

Max turned to Cassandra somewhat gingerly, not wanting to provoke a flare of her temper, but curious about what her take on the situation was. "What do you think happened to him? You had high hopes for him before Val Royeaux."

Cassandra scowled. "I do not know what motivated Lucius to do this. It may have been that he was betrayed by others. He believed the lie about this Inquisition and apparently felt that he must work alone to reconcile the schism."

"Has he also summoned the Knight-Vigilant to Therinfal Redoubt?"

Several of the others exchanged awkward, embarrassed glances. Varric spoke first. "I know your Circle didn't join the war, but they must've kept you very isolated. There is no Knight-Vigilant. Hasn't been since Dragon 9:35."

He gaped out at the table, feeling embarrassed and ignorant. Damn the lot of you. Gerard, Senior Enchanter Lydia, all of you who kept us out of the war. How can I lead anyone? I don't even know basic things. "Well, it's not as if anything at Ostwick required the involvement of one," he finally managed, "but why? Dragon 9:35 was before the schism..."

Cassandra replied. "Divine Justinia removed the last Knight-Vigilant, Ser Trentwatch, from his position following some vile and disturbing comments he made about his views of the authority of Templars over mages and Tranquil. Lady Seeker Nicoline and her lieutenant, Seeker Lambert van Reeves, claimed that he was suffering from lyrium sickness—though this was later shown to be a lie—but the Divine promoted this idea as true and sent him to the Templar Hospice rather than risking violence and rebellion by sacking him for cause. She did not fill the post because she was unsure whom she could trust... and then the northern clerics declared the schism, with many Templar officials joining them, so Most Holy continued to command the loyal Templars herself, with the support of other loyalists in the Templars and Seekers."

Max took that in. "So he escaped, I take it."

"There were many who could have smuggled him out. His room in the hospital was found empty one day. He joined the schism, but did not become a Red Templar, and apparently did not participate in the Annulments either. The courts at the Ansburg Trials have not been able to convict him of anything warranting execution. They were specifically commissioned not to try anyone for merely joining the schism, but rather for atrocities and war crimes."

Cullen then spoke up. "It pains me to say this..." He exchanged unhappy looks with Cassandra, Leliana, and Varric before continuing. "But, considering what the Lord Seeker has said—something that he thinks could force the Free Mages to heel and take on Kirkwall—we may be looking at a new surge of Red Templars from this meeting at Therinfal Redoubt."

Max groaned. "More red lyrium?"

"That is my suspicion."

Max sighed, rubbing his temples. "But why? Why would he think it could 'bring them to heel'? The Free Mages won against Red Templars already. They have rockets! Flying bombs! Some of them contain poison gas! What can red lyrium do against that? They couldn't win a war with red lyrium."

"That's what's concerning," Cullen said. "Red lyrium makes a Templar stronger and faster, but at a terrible cost. They become brutal, cruel, cold... and that's the good outcome, the outcome for those who basically remain human. There were others who ceased to be anything resembling human at all. They became just creatures of red lyrium itself. And then they die, and the ground itself is poisoned with the filth. The Free Mages saw that in Hercinia's Chantry cellar and the battlefield south of Tantervale. It's like a tumor upon Thedas, all living things ultimately turning into red lyrium if it isn't stopped. It can begin even before they die, if they deliberately seed the soil with it." He leaned forward, intense feeling in his expression. "I fear that the result of Therinfal will be the corruption of the whole Order and the earth itself. The Red Templars may not care about countering rockets flying through the sky if they can poison the ground under everyone's feet."

Max hesitated, listening carefully. Cassandra then spoke up. "Lucius and I went to Kirkwall just before the war began. The Viscountess had written to Most Holy about red lyrium. She had found it on the disgraced Templar, Mettin, who led the despicable Satinalia Massacre in Kirkwall. We found that the Knight-Commander of Kirkwall was also using it and dispensing it to others in a mixture. She had purchased an artifact from the dwarf who found it—"

"My asinine brother," Varric muttered, though sadness was in his voice.

Cassandra gave him a brief, sympathetic look. "She wanted a supply that she could consume, so she was having it smuggled to them from the source. Cullen is correct; it destroys those who take it."

Max considered. "The Knight-Vigilant, the last one. Trentwatch. You said he didn't become a Red Templar himself?"

"He did not. The leader of the Red Templars was Samson, the very one who is on the loose after escaping from Starkhaven. The false Divine gave him the sacrilegious title of 'Knight-Divine' of their false Chantry. He also took part in the Kirkwall massacre. Perhaps Trentwatch's stay in the hospital, around Templars who were dying of addiction to the normal type of lyrium, gave him pause. Seeker Lucius and I..." She paused and scowled. "During our Kirkwall visit in late 9:36, Varric made us a map of the Deep Roads with the original site of red lyrium veins marked. We blocked the entrance. However, we know that the schism was harvesting it from the dead bodies of Red Templars. They did not need access to that thaig anymore. If Samson had that knowledge, and we must assume he did, he could have shared it with anyone by now. Apparently... much as I hate to say it... Lord Seeker Lucius."

"Or Lucius has betrayed you and opened the original thaig again," Varric muttered darkly. "Or both."

Cassandra sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes. It was shocking to Max, who had never seen the imperious Seeker look so vulnerable. That was it for him. He set his palm firmly on the tabletop. "If there's a danger of a new army of Red Templars forming, we can't have that. Even leaving aside the moral angle, we need to prevent more enemies from being made. I've decided. I do want the Free Mages to come here to seal the Breach," he said with a pointed look to Vivienne. "I'm not withdrawing my request of Viscountess Hawke. We need them and I hope she sends them. But I'm also going to Therinfal Redoubt to try to save as many loyal Templars as I can from red lyrium."

"Hawke's mages and scores of Templars all in the same spot again, after the explosion. That'll be interesting," Varric said. "Oh, and one other thing—it's probably best if you don't bring Trentwatch here with the Free Mages around."

"I don't intend to reward those who betrayed the true Divine," Max said, "but I'm curious. What, exactly, did he say that was so bad?"

Varric exchanged an unhappy look with Cullen before explaining the man's ugly opinions about rape and consent with respect to the Tranquil.

Max considered long, and the room fell silent, before he spoke again. "I have little sympathy for Templars and Seekers who betrayed Justinia," he said slowly, "least of all for someone like that... but the Lord Seeker summoned all of them. We can't let down the ones who stayed by Justinia's side."

"Trentwatch did not, though," Cassandra said. "We are not constrained as the Ansburg courts are. We can hold trials for any offense, and we can deal out justice to him for his betrayal of her."

It was late in the day when the team had returned to Haven, and Max was ready to just go to sleep. But the next day, they had to start discussing the logistics of going to Therinfal Redoubt. It was a fortress deep in Ferelden, on the border between the teyrnir of Gwaren and the arling of South Reach.

Leliana considered that. "The Teyrna of Gwaren is married to Warden-Captain Loghain," she mused. "That could be good or bad for us. He is one of the Wardens who shut off all communication with the outside. I do not think that a ruling teyrna could do that, though. She must deal with outsiders."

"Who actually owns the fortress?" Max asked. "I thought that, since the Templars and Seekers were going there, it belonged to them."

Leliana and Josephine exchanged pointed, sly, knowing looks. "The rightful tenancy of Therinfal Redoubt is an interesting legal debate that we mean to use to our advantage," Josephine began. "The Seekers did use it as far back as the Storm Age for training. That, of course, was before the Orlesian invasion of Ferelden, so their deed was from the Crown of Ferelden. But they vacated it in Blessed 8:99, when Orlesians were occupying and ruling Ferelden. Toward the end of the Rebellion, in fact. They have not resided there since."

Leliana spoke up. "But the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden was illegal. The Fereldans did not accede willingly to Orlesian rule as the people of Jader and the far eastern Dales did to Fereldan rule a few months ago; it was enforced by murder, theft, and violence. That is what we are going to assert: that, since the Orlesians had no right to claim Ferelden, the Seekers' departure did not cede Therinfal Redoubt back to the Orlesians and then to Ferelden when King Maric won the war. What we will claim is that, in fact, the original Storm Age deed to the Seekers from Ferelden was and is still in force—that the Seekers have a right to be there, and we have lawful authority over the Seekers."

Max considered the plan. It was much like something that his father the Bann would have taught him to do years ago, before he discovered that he was a mage. It was cunning, certainly. Using the legal uncertainty about whether the Seekers really had ceded ownership to Orlais, when Orlais had never had any right to assume the title in the first place, was a sly move. But Max was not at all sure that it would work, based on what he had surmised of the King and Queen of Ferelden, particularly the Queen.

"When we were visiting with Arl Teagan," he began abruptly, "he said that we would need royal approval to send troops out for law enforcement purposes in Ferelden. Ferelden just took a lot of land from Orlais, too... and the alliance with some of the elven rebels from Halamshiral to seize land in the Dales is a direct thumb in Empress Celene's eye, since she cracked down on the elves. Queen Anora seems very aggressive, very protective of Fereldan interests. Will she agree with our position about Therinfal Redoubt?"

"We will be saying that the Orlesian occupation was illegal," Josephine reasoned. "That will surely please the daughter of Loghain Mac Tir."

Max thought that the queen would likely see right through that. "But we're only doing it to claim jurisdiction over a castle in Ferelden."

Leliana and Josephine exchanged glances. "She may say what she likes, but we, not the Fereldan Army, have authority over the Seekers," Leliana said. "And if we can get the Free Mages here, we will have their might too."

So you're intending to use the Free Mages to intimidate Ferelden into giving us a castle, after asking for their aid merely to close the Breach. Ferelden was their ally in the war. How could you do this? But he did not voice this thought. His head was starting to hurt, but more than that, he felt troubled in his mind. I don't agree with this. This is two-faced, and it is my name that was on the letter to Viscountess Hawke, not theirs. This will reflect on me. How can I stop this if it looks like it will come to pass?

That evening, at last, the expected response from Viscountess Caitlyn Hawke of Kirkwall arrived. It was not what anyone expected, though to Max, it was a secret relief.

.

Enchanter Trevelyan and the Inquisition:

We have received your request for the aid of the loyal Free Mage Army in closing the Breach. After consideration, we have decided to grant this request, but with certain conditions:

First, the Free Mages will be tasked only with closing the Breach and fighting soldiers of the enemy who created it. Under no circumstances will any mage of the Free Mage Army be commanded to fight for the Chantry, for Orlais, or for any other leader, state, city, organization, or purpose. Any Free Mages who do choose to fight as allies of anyone or anything except your Inquisition, or for any purpose other than to close the Breach and defeat the forces of the entity who caused it, will be considered by the Free Mage commanders to have left the Free Mage army.

Second, any mages of the Free Mage Army shall have the right to leave your site and return to Kirkwall at any time, without punishment or hindrance. The only exception is if a mage should choose to join the enemy who created the Breach. The Inquisition may deal out justice in that case.

Third, under no circumstances will the Free Mages be placed under the command of Templars or Seekers. The mage army is independent and this will be respected; the Inquisition will not take advantage of the crisis and our benevolent alliance to force the mages back into a Circle-type structure. Enchanter-General Petra and Enchanter-Captain Lysas are the Free Mage Army's leaders. They will take orders directly from the Inquisition leadership.

Fourth, if the Inquisition violates any of these terms, the contract of alliance with the Free Mage Army will be null and void and the mages shall be recalled to Kirkwall irrespective of the status of the Breach or any combat operations against the personage who created it. Any attempt to hinder their departure in this situation will be met with force to support their return to Kirkwall.

Fifth, we reserve the right to recall the army in whole or in part at any time if a crisis in Kirkwall or its allied cities calls for the army's aid, or if the Inquisition comes under attack from any force except that belonging to the Breach-creator.

Finally, under no circumstances will your Inquisition have access to military secrets of Kirkwall, including but not limited to weapon designs and formulae for explosive powders and poisons. The Free Mages are aware that revealing such information to outsiders constitutes high treason. Any attempt to extract such information from them, from Varric Tethras, or from anyone else that the Inquisition believes may possess it will result in the Inquisition being deemed a military enemy of the Vimmark-Minanter Treaty Organization.

We appreciate your adherence to these terms and hope that the alliance between the Free Mage Army and the Inquisition will be mutually profitable.

Viscountess Caitlyn Hawke of Kirkwall, Commander of the Free Mages of Thedas

.

The letter created quite a stir among the Inquisition inner circle.

"Well," Josephine said. "That was... less than helpful. It is clear now why the Viscountess took so long to answer."

"This is a blatant threat," Vivienne seethed. "She openly threatens the Inquisition with her arsenal! 'A military enemy of the Vimmark-Minanter Treaty Organization.' We know what that means."

Max didn't care for that. Everyone in Thedas was afraid of Kirkwall's new weapons. Nobody had reproduced them and nobody had a defense against them, not even the Qunari. The presence of several thousand trained, regimented, and emboldened-by-victory battlemages enhanced the threat. Max did not want the Inquisition to be on their receiving end, but he could not fault Hawke for setting down very rigid terms for what the Free Mages could be tasked with doing. He knew for a fact that if she hadn't, the Inquisition, in his name, would have taken advantage. Some of his companions had been plotting to make them fight Templars and, more importantly, menace the Kingdom of Ferelden on the Inquisition's behalf in order to seize a castle to which their right was debatable. This means that that won't happen, he thought, trying to suppress visible evidence of his happiness about that.

"What has happened to her, Varric?" Cassandra asked him.

Varric shrugged. "Honestly, Seeker, she's been like that ever since she became Viscountess. Definitely ever since she had to fight a war. She protects her charges. Always has, even when that only meant her son. I know Hawke."

"And mages have been exploited for a very long time," Solas added.

Cassandra scowled. "She did not trust Divine Justinia and she does not trust us, despite your presence, Varric. Does she even trust you?"

"I think she does. This isn't about me. And I don't see a real problem with these terms."

"I do," Cullen spoke up abruptly. "She says that 'under no circumstances will the Free Mages be placed under the command of Templars or Seekers.' That means Cassandra and me. Will we not be allowed to give them orders even to close the Breach?"

"She said they can take orders from the Inquisition's leadership. There are more people in the Inquisition's leadership than just you two."

"She is deliberately being difficult and combative," Cassandra seethed. "She does not want to aid us. The sky is torn open, and she does not want to let her army of mages help! This is the most begrudging, resentful—"

Max spoke up, not wanting the Inquisition to decide to forgo the mages' aid in their irritation. "I can command them directly. I'm not a Templar or Seeker. I can give the commands, or Varric, or the Free Mage leaders who are here... and you two, as well as the rest of you, can continue to advise me."

Josephine sighed. "That does work, Herald, but it is deeply frustrating that such things should be necessary. The sky is torn apart, the Chantry is in chaos, and instead of getting behind the one organization that is trying to help, people are throwing obstacles in our path, from Val Royeaux to Redcliffe to Kirkwall."

"Divine Justinia did warn us that this is what would happen with the Chantry disarmed," Cassandra said harshly. "No unity against even existential threats. Everyone out for themselves."

That includes us, Max thought mutinously. Can you not see that? We're no exception. We were going to use that army to threaten a sovereign nation and take a castle.

"We must accept Hawke's terms," Cassandra concluded. "We will have the Free Mages close the Breach, and she has authorized them to fight the enemy who created it, should our foe appear. But we must also be stronger once we have the forces to do so. It will begin with Therinfal Redoubt."

Notes: So we have the status of the various groups - Free Mages, Venatori-aligned deserters, Red Templars, and loyal Templars - in the AU. I said when I was writing Spells that I didn't want to "break" DA:I or prevent its main beats from occurring, and this is a main beat that I hope is now clear. We also have the path forward for the Inquisition: The Free Mages will come as allies (with conditions of their own and a leader who will truly advocate for them!) and the Inquisition will try to save the loyal Templars too.

We're also beginning to see some dark!Inquisition conduct, though that didn't get anywhere in this specific case. It may also be upsetting to see Leliana act this way if you are a Sanctification reader, but we know that canonically working for Justinia (and then seeing Justinia's death) did harden her into this cold, ruthless operator again.

Leliana and Elissa met Sera in Sanctification, the chapter "City Lights." It was an AU event, of course.

Spells readers, this letter may come as a bit of a shock, but I hope that if it does, it makes sense after you think about it. In this AU, the mages are not desperate, forced to accept any terms the Inquisition offers. They are victors of their war and had intended to force Divine Justinia's hand. They are not about to let this organization take away their hard-won rights by stealth or inertia (through keeping them there under vague terms and mission creep). Caitlyn, as well, did not trust Divine Justinia by the war's end and does not trust the organization that her Left and Right Hands have instituted now. Varric's presence helps, but only somewhat; he is just one man. She also knows exactly what could happen if Orlais or the Chantry got rocket schematics. Although she asserted a variant of the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction in Spells, she's not quite ready yet to deal with a military power that is a true rival in capacity. So some of this letter is bluster and bravado, but they could mount a devastating aerial attack from a mile or so away, and this threat is potent.