Siara gently took Anders by the arm, smiling to the nobles he was talking to with a quiet "If you'll excuse us."

Anders saw the look on her face and didn't argue, frowning inquisitively at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Who is the other advisor of magical matters, as you put it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who is she, Anders? I know there's another advisor. Who is she?"

Anders shrugged slightly.

"Her name is Morrigan. She's from Ferelden. We're not exactly close."

Siara closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she pinched the bridge of her nose, a large sigh escaping her.

"Great," she muttered, "I just got used to Alistair, now there's a chance I'm going to run into Morrigan? My year just keeps getting better."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. Short version is I have a lot on my plate right now," she took another deep breath and looked back at Anders. "Listen. The Inquisition knows of a plot to assassinate Empress Celene. Leliana told Jacquelyn to be wary of you and Morrigan," she raised an eyebrow at Anders, "and why do you not seem surprised?"

"This is Orlais, Siara. Someone is always trying to kill the empress. I'm sure you've already been informed about the whole Gaspard thing."

"I suppose," Siara conceded.

"And Morrigan and I are mages. And apostates, even before all the circles fell. Even if we have nothing else in common, we know what it's like to be under suspicion."

"Where is she?"

"Morrigan? Probably keeping an eye on Empress Celene while I've been seeing what I can hear about any assassins."

"You already knew about this specific plot, didn't you?"

Anders smiled, then shrugged, looking back out over the crowds.

"Always got to be on alert," he muttered. Siara just watched him. Every now and again she could understand what her brother saw in Anders. Not that she was ever really interested, especially not after finding out about him having a totally-not-demon living inside him.

"'So what's the plan?"

"What?"

"Jacquelyn seems to think that you and/or Morrigan are in on the plot, or the sole person partaking in attempting to kill the empress. So, what's the plan?"

"Who said there's a plan?"

Siara rolled her eyes and folded her arms, looking like she was mere moments away from tapping her foot in exasperation.

"Come on, Anders. You may be dumb, but you're not stupid. You know what the Inquisition being after you could do. I don't think you want Jacquelyn after you, not with your… passenger."

Anders thought for a moment, then somewhat reluctantly nodded.

"You might have a point," he conceded. "I suppose the plan is to figure out who the actual assassin is. Preferably before the Inquisition."

"Well, I figured that. Do you have any ideas of how?"

"With our smarts and good looks?"

Siara wanted to deck Anders in that moment. He wasn't taking things particularly seriously. Usually, she'd have found the comment amusing. And maybe she still found it a bit amusing, but she hated balls and was stressed about Jacquelyn and the others finding Anders and discovering his secret. As it was she was surprised that Cullen wasn't aware of Anders having a totally-not-demon inside him, sharing control over his body.

"I'll stick close to the Inquisition. Find out what they know. You see what other information you can dig up," she paused, "and keep an eye on Florianne. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but she seems more off than a lot of the people here. And Gaspard. And by the sounds of it, Briala. Basically everyone close to Celene."

"Gaspard's sister?"

"Probably. I don't pay that much attention to lineages, especially not Orlesian ones."

"There is no way you'd survive The Game."

"Do I look like I particularly care?"

Anders watched for a moment as Siara vanished into the crowds, seeing a vague shadow, or maybe a blur, not too far behind her. He frowned slightly. Somehow he didn't think that it was exactly him that was seeing it, but Justice. Whatever it was, Justice didn't seem particularly concerned about it, so for the moment he pushed it to the back of his mind and instead set about figuring out who wanted Celene dead the most.

Jacen couldn't entirely explain how he knew it, he just did. It was a sense he had, and because he could sense it, Siara got a sort of… minor taste of that sense, so to speak. Because Jacen could sense what Florianne's duty was, Siara would get the feeling that there was something about her that wasn't right. At least, that was Jacen's understanding of it.

Recently Jacen had been starting to be able to sort of feel what someone's primary duty was. Or what they believed their duty was. For example, Gaspard.

Jacen could tell that Gaspard's duty was to the people of Orlais, but not just as the person in charge of their military. He felt that his duty was more, was bigger. That it was his duty to rule it as emperor. Because of this, Gaspard felt that it was his duty to remove Celene from power, by any means necessary.

Another example was Briala. The elf was standing off on her own, waiting for the meeting to begin. The members of the Inquisition had not yet met her, as far as Jacen knew. But just by looking at her, he could tell that she still felt a duty to Celene. To defend her, to keep her safe. To act as her spymaster, even after some sort of falling out. She still felt a duty to her empress.

Turning his attention to Siara, he could tell that she still didn't feel like she had a strong sense of duty to anyone or anything. There was some sort of sense of duty to keep Anders safe, though Jacen still didn't quite fully understand why despite knowing it had something to do with him. Beyond that, Siara didn't seem to have much of a sense of duty towards anything except herself. But she was wrong to feel that way. She had a much bigger duty, and it was Jacen's duty to make her figure that out and fulfill that duty.

Starting with Florianne. Jacen could tell that Florianne's primary duty at that time was to take Celene out. Bring chaos to Orlais. Overturn the Orlesian Empire. Why? From what Jacen could figure out, it was for Corypheus. He could feel some sort of sense of duty to him from Florianne, for whatever reason. This new ability of his only went so far.

He could tell Siara was keeping a close eye on the duchess from her position near the rails. She was also keeping an eye on as many Inquisition members as she could, and, of course, Anders. The mage was still doing what he could to investigate the threat on Celene's life while Siara just kept an eye out for trouble, which never seemed too far away.

"Is everything okay?"

Jacen turned to look as Cullen approached, Siara's eyes only briefly flicking to him before she went back to her observations. She just shrugged.

"So far nothing seems too out of what I would expect to be ordinary," she replied, "but I just can't shake this feeling."

"I can see that," Cullen stopped next to her and followed her gaze to where Florianne and Jacquelyn were now talking. Jacen didn't miss the look that appeared in Cullen's eyes. He knew that the commander truly had strong feelings for Jacquelyn. Feelings that went well past duty, but Jacen also knew that Cullen's duty to the Inquisition would come before his love for the Inquisitor.

Siara was frowning ever so slightly, absently scratching at her wrist just inside the cuff of her shirt.

"Has Jacquelyn had much success in figuring things out?"

"She was suspicious of Briala," Cullen informed her, "Morrigan gave her a key to the servants quarters, and there had been some talking among the staff that there was something going on there so Jacquelyn went to investigate. I haven't had much of a chance to talk with her since then."

"Anything on Gaspard or Florianne?"

"Not that Jacquelyn has said."

"But is that because she doesn't know anything, or because she doesn't want to say what she knows?"

"Any decision that Jacquelyn makes, she will make with the best interests of the Inquisition in mind."

"Mm. I'm sure," Siara didn't seem convinced. And who could blame her? Jacen knew that Jacquelyn wanted to be on top. That she liked the power. Yes, it was true that she wanted to protect everyone and everything from Corypheus. But her love of being Inquisitor definitely went beyond that. Jacquelyn had never had much of a chance of having any sort of power, not being in line to inherit the Trevelyan estate. If she wanted money or prestige, she would have had to marry into it. Instead, she had been wanting to train to be a Templar. And, though it didn't seem that she had told Cullen, she was continuing her training now as Inquisitor, specialising in Templar abilities. Jacen was sure that Siara had worked this out, that she could smell the lyrium around Jacquelyn. Part of him was surprised that she hadn't mentioned it. But he didn't know perfectly how her mind worked, not any more.

Siara raised her eyebrows as Jacquelyn took Florianne by the hand and led her to the dance floor.

"Now here's an interesting turn of events," she muttered, pushing herself away from the railing and turning to watch the dancing. Cullen stayed standing beside her, but he tensed ever so slightly. Siara couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"Aw, is our poor commander jealous?" she teased.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"And here was me thinking you weren't the type to dance, considering the number of potential partners you've refused."

"You're just jealous because no one has asked you."

"Oh, touche, monsieur. Touche."

Siara was still smirking slightly, not bothering to inform the commander that she had, in fact, had a few suitors of her own that evening. It was just that, like him, she did not enjoy dancing particularly much. She preferred to be left to her own devices, staying out of the way as much as possible and trying to do her job.

They didn't say anything more while they watched, waiting for the dance to end before making their way around to join up with Jacquelyn and the other advisors.

"You'll be the talk of the court for months. We should take you dancing more often," Josephine was saying. Jacquelyn smiled in response.

"It has been a little while," she admitted, "I am a little rusty. But it certainly made a nice change from facing demons and other such horrors."

"You're still facing demons and horrors. These ones are simply better dressed."

"Were you dancing with Duchess Florianne?" Leliana asked.

"Quite spectacularly, might I add," Siara actually meant what she said. She had to hand it to Jacquelyn, she was a good dancer.

"More importantly, what happened in the servants' quarters? I heard there was fighting." Cullen cut in, shutting down that line of conversation in an instant.

"I hope you have good news. It appears the peace talks are crumbling."

Josephine didn't quite look anxious, but she was definitely a bit uneasy.

"The Grand Duchess informed me that there is proof of Gaspard being in league with Tevinter," Jacquelyn told them, snapping back to business as easily as Cullen had.

"She offered up her own brother?" Leliana asked, "She's more cutthroat than I realised."

"These Orlesian politicians. Can't even trust one's own family."

"Then… the attack on the empress will happen tonight."

Jacen could tell that Siara was still uncertain exactly who the attack would come from. It was something in the way she frowned ever so slightly and folded her arms, once again scratching at her wrist. It was really starting to bother her.

"Warning Celene is pointless. She needs these talks to succeed, and to flee would be to admit defeat." Josephine put forward.

"Then perhaps we should let her die."

Leliana sounded almost heartless when she said it. Sometimes Jacen forgot that she used to be an assassin of sorts, and he could tell Siara was a bit taken aback by the comment. She didn't say anything immediately, however, simply standing there taking in what was happening. No doubt forming some plans of her own.

"I thought our purpose for being here was to defend Celene?" Jacquelyn asked, not angrily, almost as though she were simply curious to know about Leliana's thought process.

"What Corypheus wants is chaos. Even with Celene alive, that could still happen. To foil his plan, the empire must remain strong. This evening, someone must emerge victorious."

"And it doesn't need to be Celene," Cullen added, thoughtfully, "She's right."

"Do you realise what you're suggesting, Leliana?" Josephine sounded shocked.

"Sometimes, the best path is not the easiest one."

Jacen could tell that it didn't sit right with Siara, and yet she still didn't say anything. Simply kept her mouth shut and listened, seeming to get increasingly irritated with the situation. It was entirely possible she just hadn't yet worked out what she was going to do, or if she could do anything.

"And so you are asking me to make a decision that will impact the whole of Orlais?" Jacquelyn asked, slowly, as though to weigh her words as she spoke them.

"More than that," Cullen sounded almost sorry for Jacquelyn, "Whoever controls the Imperial throne will affect all of Thedas."

Jacen didn't envy Jacquelyn for having to make this decision. He doubted Siara did, either. Though as he watched his sister, he could tell she was already preparing to step in if Jacquelyn made a decision she deemed as stupid. It was probably one of Siara's bigger flaws, especially in this situation. She thought she knew best. Sometimes she did, he had to admit it, but it wasn't always her job to know best.

"You cannot stop Corypheus without a decision. You must support someone, or all is lost." Leliana added. Jacquelyn stayed silent for a moment. Jacen knew she already had a decision made, that she was simply acting the part.

"Then we should support Celene. She is the rightful ruler. Why would we say otherwise?"

"Because she led Orlais to this point. I say Gaspard, provided his sister is wrong about him."

"I would suggest Briala. She would bring true peace, not only to the empire but also to its elves."

Jacquelyn regarded her advisors closely, then looked at Siara.

"I suppose you have some thoughts on this?" she asked. Siara raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.

"Wouldn't having a drastic change in leadership cause chaos on its own?" she asked, not offering any more thought on the matter. Jacen knew that she had made her mind up. She wasn't about to let Celene die, even if it meant risking her own life, and her place in the Inquisition, in the process.

"This is, however, your decision, Inquisitor. Not ours." Josephine and the other advisors looked to Jacquelyn expectantly. Even Jacen found himself almost wanting to hold his breath as he waited for Jacquelyn to state who she supported.

"At this moment, I would have to say that I support Gaspard. We need someone with military know-how. However, I will have to wait for final judgement until I get back from the lead that Duchess Florianne has given me."

"What did she tell you?"

"She said Gaspard's mercenary captain is in the royal wing. That he knows about the assassination."

"Which could be a trap," Cullen pointed out. Jacen could see the ever so slight look of concern etched on his face.

"Or a lead. Either way, you should search the private quarters in that wing for clues." Josephine suggested.

"I'll go with you," Siara volunteered, ceasing her scratching and instead idly looking through the crowds, "I just have to find someone first."

"You do not have any weapons here, Siara. What help do you think you would be?" Jacquelyn asked, rather pointedly. Siara just smiled.

"No weapons that you know of," she replied, "I'll be right back."

"Could you get me access to the royal wing?" Jacquelyn asked her advisors, "And while doing so, could you get your men into position in case we need them?"

"At once," Cullen nodded slightly, "Just be careful, Inquisitor."

Jacquelyn smiled gently at him, but made no other move to calm his nerves as he and the other advisors walked off into the crowds.

Meanwhile, Jacen followed Siara as she looked for Anders to update him on the situation.