Hawke stopped in front of the barred gate, peering through to see a dwarf loading up a bronto. He held his fist up, motioning for the others to stop, and he looked as far into the room as he could. He gave a nod, gesturing to one of the rogues to open the gate, noting that the dwarf inside had noticed him, and was simply waiting for him to come in.

It immediately put him on edge.

He turned slightly, acting as if he was speaking to Fenris, who was next to him. "Fenris, nod along as if I am giving some sort of strategy," he said in a quiet voice. "I can't tell how many are in the room, but it looks as if there is some sort of leader in front of us," he spoke only loud enough for his group to hear.

"Those of you that can't see in most likely can't be seen either. Wait here, and come rushing in once their trap has sprung."

Nathaniel looked up from where he was bent over the gate controls. "Commander," he said softly, "See this gear?" he asked.

"I see it," came the reply.

"It's the way to open the gate, in case it shuts behind us," Nathaniel said.

Duran sighed. "I may not get to use my skills much anymore, but I still have them," he grumbled.

"Just wanted to be sure," Nathaniel said with a smirk, as he pushed on the gear, and the gate swung upwards. He looked to Hawke. "Shall I go first then, or would you care to?" he asked.

"I'll go first, Fenris behind me. You and Varric look around for more traps," Hawke suggested, his eyebrow cocked. He thought, not for the first time, that Nathaniel had a better sense of humor than he originally seemed to. Carver must have tons of fun with this lot, he thought with a chuckle, and strode forward into the room, keeping his eye on the armored dwarf in front of him.

"Ah, Hawke," the dwarf spoke as he got closer. "I heard that you would be trouble, and you didn't disappoint."

"Traps, front and sides," Nathaniel muttered, and the four of them stopped. Hawke gave a cocky grin, intent on keeping the dwarf talking to give Nathaniel and Varric time to eye the traps, and find the triggers.

"And you are?" Hawke asked, keeping his voice mild, and somewhat bored sounding.

"Why, I invited you here," the dwarf answered, giving the bronto a slap on the side, letting it know that it could now stand. He looked out again, and asked, "Where's the rest of your group? Trying to set an ambush?"

Hawke gave a shrug, figuring he would have been told of their number. "Better than walking into one, I suspect," he replied.

"No need of that," the dwarf continued to speak, moving more into the center of the room. Hawke could see the cloudy appearance of his eyes, but his face still looked clear. "Just needed to get you here."

Perhaps he can still be reasoned with… Hawke thought. "Your… invitation, left something to be desired," he said skeptically, turning as he heard footsteps behind him. He rolled his eyes, unsurprised that Carver was stalking forward.

"You brought the whole family, how generous," the dwarf smirked, and Carver bristled.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Carver demanded, pointing at him.

He dwarf seemed to stand up straighter, almost as if he was looking down his nose at him. "I swore to Corypheus that we would bring him Malcolm Hawke's blood, one way or another," he replied candidly.

"So it's this Corypheus that is after us?" Hawke asked, though he already had that part figured out.

"What Corypheus wants, Corypheus gets. From us, or from someone else. But we want the reward that comes with it, so here we are," he answered.

"And how is my Father involved?" Hawke asked, looking to his sides without turning his head, and receiving nods in return.

"I don't ask questions, I only do what he commands," the dwarf answered.

"You're very honest, why is that?" Hawke asked.

"It's not like you'll be telling anyone, so why not?" he smirked. "I have no reason to make up stories."

"Who needs a reason?" Varric murmured.

"How much blood are we talking here?" Hawke wondered aloud. "Everyone has been oddly nonspecific about that part."

The dwarf gave a terrifying grin, and Hawke mentally hit himself for asking. He thought their conversation would continue, but the dwarf suddenly looked upwards, and began shouting.

"Corypheus! We have done as you commanded, and your sacrifice is here! You shall walk in the sun once more!"

Hawke looked around, as other dwarves took this for a signal of some kind, and began lining up ahead of them on a raised platform. He could see their crossbows aimed at him and his companions, and he gripped his staff tightly, pulling it smoothly from its sheath.

He looked back towards the leader, seeing that he had also armed himself with a giant sized double-bladed axe, and he involuntarily swallowed. This is looking bad… he thought in trepidation.

The dwarf moved forwards, still grinning that eerie grin, and Hawke heard the others running in behind him.

"Go for those on the platform, we've got the traps!" Duran shouted behind them.

Hawke whirled around in surprise, but seeing the others jump into action, had him doing the same. He put up a barrier around himself, then began doing the same to the others, and seeing that Anders was doing the same, as a barrier came around Varric before he could cast it.

He threw himself to the side, as the bronto came charging at them, barely missing being struck.

"Go Wonka, get them!" the dwarf called, as he yelled a stream of commands to his men. "Kill them all, but keep one Hawke alive!"

Hawke pushed to his feet, enraged, only to have Sebastian hold him back. "Wait here Hawke, let him come to us," he said quietly, causing Hawke to glance up at him in question.

They waited only a few moments more, as the dwarf came at them slowly, until Sebastian yelled, "Now!"

Hawke heard a noise, and a grunt from behind him, and then suddenly large saw blades came spinning up from beneath the floor boards, and tearing into the dwarf, who screamed.

He rolled to the side, though he was bleeding in several places now. But Hawke could see that his thick armor protected him from losing a limb, even though he had been sliced in a few places. They looked like deep cuts, but the dwarf acted as though they did not exist.

"You will not stop us!" he bellowed, getting up and charging towards Hawke at full speed.

A bolt from a crossbow appeared in his shoulder, yet he continued to come, and Hawke quickly dodged. The dwarf went after Sebastian, and Hawke used the temporary reprieve to check on the others.

He saw Fenris dodging and attacking the bronto, and while he was making headway, the beast didn't not seem tired at all. He did a quick spell, ignoring any flourish to his movements in his haste, and trapped the creature in a gravity vortex. He could see Fenris give him a glare, but he just moved in to finish it.

Looking up at the platform, he could see that they were holding their own, Anders' ice spells and Alistair's shield keeping the enemies from getting hits in.

Hawke turned back to the dwarf, seeing that in the short time he looked away, Sebastian and Duran had shot him so many times that he was hardly able to keep his feet. He felt impressed and proud at the same time, and decided not to use his mana since they didn't need him. He could use it to help any injuries.

So he waited, as each of the smaller groups finished their respective battles, and began to congregate together once more.

"I wish I could say that was the end of it, but the dwarf spoke the truth," Alistair spoke as he joined them. "If not by these dwarves, then their master will find another way to get to you, Hawke."

"Agreed," Anders said, even as he looked around at the others to check for injury. "They seemed so fanatical though. What possible reward could be offered for this kind of devotion?"

"I have no idea, though we've seen worse," Hawke replied. "People will do anything if they are desperate enough."

"That's the problem Hawke," Varric spoke up. "These dwarves weren't in a desperate situation."

"Not that we can see, no," Duran said, still looking down at the arrow-riddled dwarf at his feet. "What was so important?" he asked in a murmur.

"What is that?" Carver asked, as he came over to look where his commander was. Duran moved so that he could see what Carver was asking about.

"I… do not know," Duran answered. He knelt down, and rolled the body over, and everyone saw then, the glow that was coming from under the dwarf's armor. Duran quickly grabbed it, and pulled, then moved to show Hawke what was in his palm.

"Some sort of… gem?" Hawke asked, confused.

"I suppose," Varric said, looking at it from several angles. "It doesn't look very expensive though."

Duran stood then, pulling the gem back to view it more closely. He heard a few speculative noises, and realized that the glow had dimmed slightly.

Raising an eyebrow, he pushed his hand back towards Hawke, humming in consideration and the others made noises of surprise when the glow became brighter. He pulled it back and then did the same towards Carver, with the same result.

"Obviously, there is something to the idea of needing your father's blood," Duran said.

"Obviously," Hawke said dryly. He held out his hand, and Duran placed the gem in his palm.

"What… is …. happ…en…ing…? Hawke managed to grit out as his body writhed. It wasn't pain exactly, more like something was pulling on his insides.

"Hawke?" he heard from every direction, uncertain of who all was speaking.

After a moment, everything stopped, and Hawke merely panted, as he looked at the gem in his hand.

"It… isn't glowing anymore," Nathaniel said with a frown. "What happened?" he asked.

"It felt like… it was inside me…" Hawke answered, putting his other hand to his chest. "Very uncomfortable, and I don't want to do it again."

"If this thing is the key they were speaking of, perhaps it didn't need your blood like we thought," Varric commented as he looked at Hawke speculatively. "Perhaps they needed your father's blood to use it, meaning, they needed one of you to be the one to wield it?"

"Interesting," Duran spoke up. "But then why not simply pay him to come here? Why all the trouble?"

Varric shrugged.

Hearing footsteps, the group turned, only to see several dwarves retreating from them. Hawke shoved the gem into one of the bags on his belt, and picked up his staff from where he dropped it. "Let's go," he suggested. "I have a feeling, they will take us to Corypheus."

Cat fell yet again, rolling over on the ground in order to land face up. She panted in and out, wondering once more how she could have thought that she was ready for sparring.

The elven warrior walked over and looked down at her, a wicked looking smirk on his face. "Are you finished yet, Shem?" he asked arrogantly. "You will not best me, no matter how hard you will it."

"Yeah, I figured that one out on my own, thanks," Cat muttered. She gave it another moment, and started to stand.

"Are you certain you want to try again? The keeper told me that you are a warrior, though…" he trailed off, his skepticism apparent, and more to grate on her pride than to be hurtful. "We have other tasks to make yourself useful during your stay, so you need not push yourself."

"I believe I mentioned something about recovering from injury," she mumbled, but stood up straight and got back into position.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Again," she said, her eyes narrowed on him.

He grinned at the other warrior that was lounging nearby, and came at her again.

Hours later, Cat hobbled around the camp toward the keeper's tent, knowing she was the topic for all the whispering she could hear. She had known that Dahon and Feyn were upset to be the ones chosen to work with her at first, but they did it anyway because Marethari asked them to. They hadn't eased her into the training at all, and had most likely been hoping that she would give up.

She had been thoroughly beaten, but had also learned several new techniques that she would be trying once she could move without pain again. She was reluctant to show how bad it was, and tried to walk without grimacing, though she stopped all pretense once she made it inside. I may have pushed too hard, trying to prove that I was a fighter, she admitted, though only to herself.

She was only slightly regretting that now, when her bruised ribs were aching, and her muscles were screaming as she laid herself down as gently as she could. Mostly she was proud of being able to stick with it all, without passing out.

Well, at least in front of those two, she thought, as she finally let herself give in to exhaustion.

Later, when Merrill found her there, she decided to simply leave some food nearby for when Cat woke. She wondered if her human friend even knew how well she had done. The clan wasn't one to trust humans, they had been burned too often in the past for that, and normally the sentries were the only ones to having dealings with them.

Hawke had done much in the past few years to change that, and now Cat was building on that small foundation of trust that he had painstakingly cultivated. Merrill wondered if she would ever be able to tell them what it meant to her, that they were willing to even try. She knew most humans wouldn't have bothered, not with her, or her clan.

She stepped out of the tent, intent of giving her friend some peace, and looked out across the camp. Even if the clan shunned her, even if they ignored her presence, she couldn't help but think of them as hers. Hers to protect, hers to keep safe- whether they asked her or not.

She turned, looking up at the mountaintop behind her, her features becoming hard as stone.

"I know that look."

Merrill glanced to her left, unsurprised to see Marethari at her side. The keeper had been keeping a close watch on her since the night before when the two of them arrived. "What look?" Merrill asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Do not carry this burden long da'len," Marethari answered in the way of a knowing mother to a child. "You did what you thought was right with the information you had."

Merrill turned her head fully now, the resentment hard to swallow and to hide. "It could have been averted though," she pointed out. "If you had told me."

Marethari gave a sigh, looking back up at the mountain. "I had nothing concrete, just my feelings," she admitted. "Would it have made a difference?"

"I don't know," Merrill replied honestly. "But for now, all I can do is wonder what could have been."

"That is not all da'len," Marethari chided. "You can press forward, as you have always done. Looking back only causes pain."

Merrill's brow rose at that. "Ironic to hear from one who is tasked with remembering the past and keeping it alive."

"Perhaps," Marethari answered thoughtfully. "But then, I would be one that knows the truth of what I speak, wouldn't I?" she asked. "Get some rest da'len," she said, before Merrill could say more. "We will start again in the morning," she added as she walked off.

As always, Marethari had given Merrill more to think on. She shook her head, wondering if she had always been this way, or if she had learned it from the keeper before her.

She turned around again, to go into the tent, knowing that the keeper would make her rounds through the camp before returning. She stopped as she lifted the flap, seeing Cat asleep inside, and turned, deciding instead to go and sit by the fire.

She smirked to herself as she thought of the camp retiring early, simply because they wouldn't want to stay at the fire with her there. She found that she truly didn't care, since she wanted some solitude.

Hawke tried several spells, but every bit of magic simply dissipated against the barrier. Disgusted, he lifted his fist above his head and struck- as if his arm was a hammer. It did little but hurt his hand, and he shook his arm to get rid of the pain.

"It seems we fell for their trap," Nathaniel spat, his voice carrying the same disgust that Hawke felt.

"Where are we?" Varric asked. "We've got to be deep underground now," he grimaced as he looked at Anders, and the mage gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't say it," he ordered.

"All right, but that won't change the answer," Anders replied, as he pointed to a small flag that hung nearby, emblazoned with the warden's heraldry.

"You've got to be kidding me," Varric replied. "The fecking Deep Roads?!"

"I agree, though I've never seen tunnels like these before," Duran spoke up. "They don't seem similar at all to the Deep Roads I have traveled."

"Definitely more fancy than we are used to," Alistair joked. "Proper doors and everything."

"They don't even appear to be like those near Kirkwall," Nathaniel added.

"Well, we are halfway to Starkhaven," Sebastian said thoughtfully. "Perhaps that has something to do with it?"

"No idea," Duran answered. "I deal more with the wardens in Orlais then the Marchers, since theirs connect to the Fereldan Deep Roads," he gave a grin.

"Then how did you end up in Kirkwall?" Fenris asked, confused.

"Uh… they may have been chasing someone…" Anders muttered under his breath.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Yes, that," he answered. "But we were already close, as we were meeting with the Orlesian wardens. We happened to run into an unfortunate dwarf trying to sell information about a new thaig, and decided to investigate."

"That bastard Bartrand" Varric spat. "Sorry mother.." he tacked on.

"We had barely made it back to Orlais with young Carver here," Alistair continued. "when the wardens in Orlais asked us 'politely' to go home."

"I thought wardens weren't loyal to any nations, only their own order?" Sebastian asked, sensing something amiss.

"True, but just like nations, there are politics within the wardens," Duran frowned. "It's hardly a secret. During the fifth blight, after the king was killed, the Fereldan monarchy refused to let the Orlesian wardens cross the border, for fear that they would occupy the land afterwards. The Orlesian wardens are having a hard time letting that go."

"To say the least," Alistair murmured.

"Honestly, it would be much easier to simply bypass Orlais when we travel the Deep Roads, but as far as I know, the Deep Roads are only underground, not below the ocean," Duran teased, to get to a lighter topic.

"Likely not, as the darkspawn are constantly causing cave ins," Alistair said with a wry smile. "I doubt they like the water much."

"Soggy darkspawn definitely does not appeal," Carver replied, and Alistair gave him a slap on the back, glad whenever the boy pulled out of his brood enough to speak.

"Well, we're not going back this way," Hawke grunted, giving the barrier one last poke with his staff blade, and still getting no where. "We may as well get some sleep here, where it's defensible. Who knows what is waiting for us in this place."

"Darkspawn," the wardens all answered at once, and Hawke shook his head at them.

"I wasn't actually asking you know…" he muttered. "Let's get something to eat, and then I'll take first watch," he said with a crooked smile, belying the sense of unease he felt.

Duran didn't wake anyone when his watch was over, he couldn't sleep anyhow, and didn't see the point in having someone else awake if he was.

He could sense them… they were close, but not yet a threat. The darkspawn were here, and he wondered why the dwarves would willingly enter this place. It had to be something to do with the creature, he was sure of it.

He thought back to all the information he had- both from Cat, and his own observations- but he was still uneasy. He had thought it would be relatively simple to keep the wardens away, after all- if the creature had influence over the taint, then even Hawke would agree that they should stay back.

Now, however, he wondered why he had never thought to ask how far back they needed to stay. Cat had told them not to go in the prison, but how could he have explained that to Hawke without telling him too much?

He had stupidly thought that they would simply have been able to retreat back once they got too far, and now they would all pay for his recklessness.

He didn't care much for himself, though it wasn't like he wanted to die. He had people that he loved, family that he wanted to return to someday. But he would give his life if it meant that his men would survive.

He looked over at the sleeping bodies huddled near each other for warmth. These wardens, who constantly gave all of themselves to protect their world, and the people's way of life, without praise or glory.

They were stuck here now, trapped in this prison, and Duran was feeling that he needed to be prepared for the end- for either his wardens, or Cat's secrets. The more he tried to think through his options, the more it looked as if he had an impossible choice. To betray Cat by speaking of her gift, and most likely destroying her and Hawke's happiness- or betraying his men, and killing all the tainted men to keep the monster from escaping.

The men didn't bother with their normal routines when they woke, they simply went about the business of cleaning up their bedrolls, and preparing themselves for battle.

They all knew the creatures they faced, and as seasoned warriors, they knew what needed to be done, and were prepared to do it.

"I'm ready whenever you all are," Duran said. Hawke looked to where he was waiting by the door ahead of them. He gave one more attempt to dispel the barrier behind them, and then turned to walk to him.

"I'm ready," he said, giving Duran a nod. He looked back to verify that the others were with them.

"Remember Hawke, rogues first," Varric said with a smirk.

"Remember that wardens go first," Duran added seriously. "Try not to have any contact with the darkspawn."

"Not that we wouldn't want to recruit any of you, but we don't have the means necessary at the moment, so no getting tainted, all right?" Alistair added with a smile.

"There are some close by," Nathaniel added, prepping an arrow into his bow.

"Here we go," Hawke said, brandishing his staff, and readying his mana. He watched as Duran gave Alistair a nod, and the warrior kicked open the door.

The first genlock fell before it had even registered what was happening. The others put up more of a fight, but were quickly dealt with. Hawke looked around and moved forward in a zig zag path, in order to avoid the darkspawn bodies.

"Guess we know what happened to the them," Varric said, as they passed the mostly eaten bodies of the dwarves that led them into the trap. "I would have killed them anyway, but no one should go like that," he added.

"Agreed," Hawke replied. He saw a barrier up ahead of him on the right, and went closer to inspect it.

"Uh, that thing is glowing again," Varric warned him, and Hawke took the gem out of his pocket to see that it was lit up more so than it had been.

"...be bound here for eternity, hunger stilled, rage smothered, desire dampened, pride crushed. In the name of the Maker… so let it be…"

"What was that?" Carver asked in a hushed voice, as everyone looked around.

"Did you see that?" Anders asked in awe. "Hawke! That was-"

"A spell," Hawke replied, as he gingerly stepped closer to the barrier. "Or the vestiges of one, and by the sound of it, a binding spell…" he added as he looked past the barrier in front of him. His eyebrow rose, as he took in the sight of a shade, skulking in its prison. "Someone bound this demon here."

"What's this?" Sebastian asked, pointing to a glowing mark on the wall.

"Do not touch it!" Fenris snapped, and Sebastian pulled his hand back, but he had already touched his hand to it.

They waited with bated breath, but nothing happened. Carver moved closer, and looked at the mark.

"It's strange, but… it seems magical," he said.

"Likely, since Fenris was so upset," Anders glared at the elf, who returned it with a scowl.

"But, it also seems… familiar?" Carver said, uneasily.

"Familiar?" Anders asked, surprised. He looked over to Hawke, who shrugged, and back to Carver. "Are you well versed with different types of spells?"

"No," Hawke answered for him, gaining a glare of his own from his brother. "Carver wanted nothing to do with magic, since it basically kept him in hiding as much as the rest of us." It was said as fact, without judgement or scorn, and Carver looked to his brother in confusion, then back to the mark.

"I don't know why, but…" he mumbled, as he put his hand up to the mark.

There was a loud sound, and Hawke's eyes widened as the barrier around the shade flickered, and then disappeared.

In the moment of confusion, the shade slid forward towards the nearest person, and struck with its claws.

Duran evaded easily, firing off a shot, and the shade screamed in pain and anger. The other men fell back into attack positions to fight it off, just as the shade used it's own energy to summon others.

"I said not to touch it!" Fenris yelled angrily, as he scythed out to the left and struck two shades at once.

"Sebastian touched it, I thought it was just writing on the wall!" Carver shot back, jumping up and coming down with a mighty blow with his sword, cleaving another shade in two, the pieces melting into the floor.

"Little late for I told you so!" Hawke laughed, as he shot a lightning spell at another one. He watched as it keeled over, and melted away, and he turned suddenly at Anders' shout.

"There it is again!"

Hawke could feel his jaw drop, and he stared at the ghostly figure that walked through the group, as the voice echoed around them.

"I can do nothing about the Warden's use of demons in this horrid place. But I will have no one say any magic of mine ever released one into the world…"

There was a few moments of silence, and Alistair broke through it timidly. "Uh, Hawke?" he asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I just did," Hawke replied, crouching down, with his head lowered as he took a few deep breaths. The others waited until he looked back up, and turned his gaze to Carver. "Did you recognize it?" he asked.

"The voice seemed familiar, but… it couldn't be," Carver answered, swallowing gamely.

"But it was," Hawke replied, standing back up, facing the group. "That was my father's voice," he declared.

"Hello Charade, have a seat," Aveline offered as a guard escorted Hawke's younger cousin into her office.

"Thank you Aveline," the girl replied, and Aveline could only give a small smile. Charade's head tilted slightly and she looked to the guard captain in question.

"Sorry, just a random thought," Aveline shrugged.

"I could use a happy thought, if you don't mind sharing," Charade said as she sat down. Aveline thought of it for a moment, and then ceded with a nod.

"Very well," she said. "I just had the thought that you remind me of Cat sometimes, the way the two of you carry yourselves," she looked slightly embarrassed at Charade's happy look, and quickly continued. "And then I remembered that Hawke told me once how Cat reminded him of his late sister, Bethany…"

"Oh!" Charade's hand came up to cover her mouth, and Aveline was shocked to see tears pooling in her widened eyes. She swallowed a few times, to compose herself and stop the tears. "Thank you so much for telling me that," Charade finally said.

Aveline waved it off, and turned to go to her seat at the desk. "No, really!" Charade insisted. "I went so long thinking that I didn't have any family, and as wonderful as Aunt Leandra and cousin Hawke have been, it still felt as if I were intruding somehow…" she was the one to look embarrassed now, and ducked her head.

"But to hear that… it feels more… real, I suppose," Charade continued. She looked up to Aveline. "Thank you, truly."

"I didn't know you felt that way," Aveline said, frowning. "Any one of us could tell you of all the times you've reminded us of Hawke through the past."

Charade gave a loud belly laugh at that, and grinned. "I guess I should have just asked!"

"Well, should we get down to business?" Aveline asked, wanting to move on.

"Absolutely," Charade said, reading the other woman well. She couldn't help but feel closer to her now, and hoped that working together- no matter how unpleasant the reason- would help them become friends.

"I was allowed in to see the Knight Captain, but the Knight Lieutenant stayed the entire time as well. I even asked to speak to the Knight Captain privately, and he told me that anything I said could be entrusted to the Lieutenant as well." Aveline frowned, uncertain of what was going on with the templars.

"Perhaps he's convinced Cullen that you will try something," Charade frowned as well. "Though I cannot imagine what he could have said to make such a thing possible."

"Cullen is extremely wary of mages and magic in general," Aveline commented, as she sat back in her chair to think.

"Isn't that true of any templar?" Charade asked sardonically.

"Actually, no," Aveline said, giving a small smile. "Though it may seem that way, there are many templars who join the order to help protect the mages as much as protecting people from them."

"You sound as if you have personal experience," Charade said, asking, though trying not to pry.

"My first husband was a templar," Aveline answered, the memories long enough ago to only bring comfort. "The good sort," she added.

"I suppose I haven't had enough dealings with them to know the difference," Charade admitted.

"Just like all peoples, there are the best, the worst and everything in between among the templars," Aveline replied. "I'm not certain what is going on, but I have always thought Cullen to be a fair and just man."

She looked over to Charade. "The fact that I didn't see that man when I saw the Knight Captain today is what concerns me."

"It just doesn't make sense to me," Charade said, deep in thought. "Some kind of experiment involving the Knight Lieutenant, and him saying that it wasn't done because Cat was still in the way…"

"Right," Aveline nodded, thinking through the evidence again, trying to explain the cryptic thoughts with what she had witnessed earlier. "And?"

"Something about Cullen's memory, and the Knight Commander not caring how something was done, as long as it was," Charade completed her thoughts. "The pieces just aren't adding up."

"We might have to make some assumptions, and then see if we can find evidence to prove or refute them," Aveline suggested. "You said that you felt the danger was to Cat, correct?" she asked, pulling out a piece of paper to make notes.

"Yes," Charade agreed. "The feeling won't go away."

"All right, so it sounds as if the experiment isn't about Cat, since she is considered in the way," Aveline started to work through the evidence again, making notes in different squares on the page.

"Perhaps the experiment is about Cullen's memory?" Charade offered timidly. "Isabela had said that he didn't remember her at all, which seems unlikely."

"True," Aveline nodded, putting Cullen's name above the square where she had written "experiment". "That's a good deduction," she praised, and Charade flushed.

"And if that is true, then the thing that the Knight Commander wants done is likely one of two things," Aveline continued. She drew two lines from the box labeled "Knight Commander wants it done"- one to the box marked "experiment" and the other to the box with "Cat in the way".

"Either she wants the experiment done," Aveline paused, not liking where her thoughts took her. "Or she wants Cat out of the way."

Charade's eyebrows went up. "That's what I've been afraid of, but I never would have thought it went all the way to the Knight Commander," she admitted. "Aveline, do you really think the Knight Commander capable of having Cat killed?" she asked.

"I don't know," Aveline admitted. "The Knight Commander is a dedicated woman, determined to keep the people of Kirkwall safe," she said.

"But?" Charade asked, looking worried.

"But…" Aveline continued, looking back to the other woman. "She wouldn't hesitate to remove any obstacles that would keep her from that," she said. "If she saw Cat as a threat… I think she would see herself as justified in removing her without a second thought."