Later that night, upon returning to the inn, Jacquleyn followed Siara back to the room that she was staying in. Siara knew when the Inquisitor followed her that she was in for a good telling off, mentally preparing herself as best she could. But she was tired, she'd had enough, and she wanted to go to bed.
"You deliberately went against what I ordered." she stated, glaring at the elf. "I am so sick and tired of you always believing that you know better than me. I am the Inquisitor, not you."
Siara just sighed, running her hands down her face. She was exhausted, and she definitely didn't feel like dealing with Jacquelyn at that moment.
"Can you yell at me later?" she asked. "I'm tired, you're tired, and I think that Cassandra would quite like to go to bed."
"Leave me out of this," the Seeker muttered as she entered the room, heading over to the bed that she had claimed and taking off her jacket, casually throwing it to the side.
Jacquelyn's eyes darted briefly to Cassandra, then returned to Siara. The elf had slumped onto her bed, her shoulders hunched, hair falling messily around her shoulders. But her eyes, though showing exhaustion, were still a bit defiant.
"Fine," she said, "but we will speak more about this in the morning. We are not finished."
"Of course we're not."
Siara sighed and fell backwards on the bed as Jacquelyn turned and left the room, wishing Cassandra a brief good night as she walked away.
That night was the best sleep Siara had managed in a long time, possibly since she woke up at Haven. And she dreamed. She dreamed that Jacen was still there, that he was sitting beside her bed as she slept. That he watched over her, talked to her. Told her that she did the right thing, but that she still had so much to do.
"I'm sorry," he said, "that I can't be there to help you in the way I used to be. I can't be. But can you do one thing for me?" he looked off into the distance, a small frown on his face. "This might be one of the last times I'm really me. I can feel myself changing. I'm fighting it as much as I can, but there isn't much I can do. At least, I don't think there is. I didn't even recognise Anders initially. I need you to tell him something. Please tell him I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye. I still think that he did the wrong thing, blowing up that chantry, but I still loved him. Love him. If you can hear me at all, can you please tell him that?"
That was all Siara could remember when she woke up the next day. She didn't want to wake up, wanted to stay in bed and get another few hours of sleep. She needed them, but she knew she wouldn't get them. Cassandra was also waking up, and soon it would be time to set off back to Skyhold. Dread started to fill Siara. She knew that soon she would have to tell them all that Anders would be joining them on the journey back, that he would be joining them at Skyhold. She wasn't looking forward to their reactions.
Especially not Cullen's.
Cullen was the last to exit the building, looking over to where everyone was gathered. Jacquelyn, Vivienne, and Cassandra were conversing about something, all looking somewhat serious (though Jacquelyn smiled at him when she saw him). Leliana was off talking to some of her people, and Josephine was reading something written on a piece of parchment. Siara and Dorian were standing a little further away, apparently joking about something. There was actually a grin on Siara's face, and she looked a bit like she was laughing at something Dorian was saying. It brought a slight smile to Cullen's face, seeing her in such a good mood.
Jacquelyn crossed over to him, taking his hand in hers and smiling up at him.
"Good morning," she greeted. Cullen smiled back at her, resisting the urge to pull her towards him and give her a kiss.
"Good morning," he gave her hand a quick squeeze as they headed back to the rest of the group. He released her hand and cast his gaze over everyone, making sure all his men had shown up.
Jacquelyn was also looking around at everyone, also appearing to be counting if everyone was there.
"Right," she said. "I believe everyone is here. We should depart now."
Siara's turned her head in their direction, suddenly seeming a lot more serious.
"Hang on," she said, "we have one more person coming."
Everyone looked at her in surprise or confusion, and Cullen swore he saw her shifting uncomfortably.
"Who?" Jacquelyn asked her. Siara's eyes flicked to Cullen, then to Cassandra, and Cullen's blood ran cold. Siara seemed ashamed of something, and it filled him with dread. Siara actually feeling ashamed of something was not a good sign.
"Celene's second mage is joining us earlier than Morrigan is."
Her voice was hesitant, and it didn't escape Cullen's attention that Siara still didn't mention the name of the advisor.
"The mage from last night?" Jacquelyn asked. "The one who helped with Florianne?"
Siara just nodded mutely, now avoiding meeting anyone's eyes.
"Who is it?" Cullen asked, and Siara looked up to meet his gaze. She didn't even seem to be trying to hide how she was feeling. The look she had on her face could only be described as apologetically guilty.
"I - "
That was when Cullen spotted him. Walking over to the group of Inquisition members, seemingly without a care in the world. Siara whipped around when she noticed Cullen was no longer looking at her, but somewhere behind her, and quickly stepped in front of Cullen as he drew his sword.
"Cullen, don't."
"You knew. You knew who the second advisor was and you didn't tell us? You…" he was at a loss for words, red hot rage flooding his veins.
"I'm sorry. I knew that you would react like this, and I - "
"You know this man?" Jacquelyn asked, frowning slightly, looking from the blond mage to Cullen.
"Hi. I take it Siara hadn't yet told you who was coming."
To his credit, Anders looked a bit sheepish.
"I should kill you where you stand," Cullen growled, but Siara stayed planted firmly in front of him, a hand resting on one of her twin swords.
"That wouldn't end well for any of us," she told him. "Anders is still one of Celene's advisors, and killing him would probably only end in her declaring war on the Inquisition. Or, best case scenario, she wouldn't help us."
"He blew up the Kirkwall Chantry!"
"This is the mage that did that?" Jacquelyn sounded horrified, her eyes growing wide before narrowing into an angry glare. "Why should we not simply hand you over to the authorities in Kirkwall? Or throw you in our dungeons back at Skyhold?" she demanded.
"Because I want to help," Anders told them. "I know things. Things about the Fade, and I have fought Corypheus before. I can help."
"And because Siara is right," Josephine put forward, a concerned look on her face. "If we do anything to harm him in any way, we would be dealing with Celene and the entire Orlesian army."
"We need Celene's help if we are going to defeat Corypheus," Leliana added.
Cullen's glare moved from Anders to Siara, still not wanting to believe that she was sticking up for Anders. She knew what he did. Knew that he had killed so many innocents. He had thought that she was better than that.
He looked around as he felt a gentle hand placed on his shoulder, meeting Jacquelyn's gaze. She looked sorry for him. He knew she understood how he was feeling, but also that she was in an awkward position. He knew she didn't have a choice, that the Inquisition didn't really have a choice. To refuse Anders' help would be to refuse Celene, and that could end badly for them. Jacquelyn knew it. Cullen knew it. Even Cassandra must have known it, because despite how pissed off she looked, she hadn't even made a move to harm Anders. Unlike Cullen.
Slowly, reluctantly, Cullen sheathed his sword and stepped back, turning away from Siara. He couldn't even bear to look at her.
"Very well," he could hear Jacquelyn saying, "but know this. I shall be keeping a very close eye on you, and if you put a single hair out of line, if I feel that you are threatening the Inquisition or anyone else in any way, I shall not hesitate to take action."
"Seems reasonable."
Cullen scowled. And things had been going so well, too.
