Two

The horses slowly walked along the path, not bothered by the snow and ice that clung to the ground.

Pavus had arrived in the dungeon at dawn to retrieve him. The arrival woke Marinus, who stood at the bars of his cell issuing demands about the conditions he was being kept in, about his mistreatment and about his deserved release. Cassius cursed every word the boy spoke within his head, knowing that it all fell upon deaf ears.

Pavus smiled and laughed at the rant and didn't respond to any of it, giving only a playful wave over his shoulder as he led Cassius out of the dungeon. Once in Skyhold's yard, Dorian quipped that he would be glad to be free to talk without the noise of whining children.

He had walked Cassius to the stables, where three horses were saddled and ready. Standing with them was a red-haired woman wearing a purple cowl, with a longbow and full quiver over her shoulder and a pair of long, slender knives crossed in sheathes at the small of her back. Her eyes glanced at Cassius, cold and calculating, and she said not a word.

Even half an hour out of Skyhold as they rode up the narrow mountain path, the woman had said nothing. She rode a few lengths back behind them, keeping the same slow pace. Dorian led their small column, speaking loudly as he spoke of nothing in particular and nothing of consequence.

He spoke of Orlesian wine and cheese. He spoke of the collection of books in the library at Skyhold. He spoke of the southern cold and how, even after months out of Tevinter he could not seem to shake the way it pierced him to his bones.

He didn't speak of why it was he came south in the first place, what he had done since connecting with the Herald or what it was he wanted.

For an Altus heir, he didn't act much like the other magisters' sons Cassius had crossed paths with during his time in the Circle, in Minrathous, or in passing in other locales. There was a certain disregard - or was it disrespect? - for tradition and etiquette in Pavus that confused Cassius. Had he run away as the rumors said, or was he banished?

He couldn't recall anything of Halward Pavus, other than his face. Serving as a page in the Magisterium had put him into contact with most of the magisters, their families, their slaves, even their mistresses, in a few instances. Despite his standing, Halward Pavus had rarely dabbled in any of the more dangerous spats on the floor of the chamber. He stuck mostly to more mundane policy, although he took a certain interest in any matter that might bring more wealth to his holdings.

For a man like Cassius, of low birth and quiet demeanor, there was a lot to be learned within the back hallways of the Magisterium. Most magisters did not guard their words as closely as they should, especially considering some of the things they said. A little eavesdropping was mostly harmless, he had found. At least, he had managed to stay out of trouble during his time of service.

Had he not been assigned to serve Magister Arrentius and impressed him, he might have spent another year or two running errands from office to office until he aged out and was shipped to some functionary position in the capital.

Instead, Flavius had taken Cassius into his home, shared the bounty of his house with him and treated him almost as if he were his own son. He could never repay the man for that kindness.

"Here we are," Dorian said from the front of the column as he pulled the reins of his horse and came to a stop, casually hopping out of the saddle to the snowy ground below.

The terrain had flattened a bit, but otherwise, there was nothing here. Was this all just a trick? Was everything that had occurred the day before been a ruse? Drag him out into the wilderness, deliver the sentence and roll his body off the side of the mountain?

If it was, he would at least walk toward his death with his head up. Cassius stopped his horse and dismounted too. Dorian had stepped away from his horse without securing it, but it showed no signs of leaving. Cassius let the reins drop from his hand as he followed the magister's son, who continued to walk up the path.

"I find Skyhold terribly stuffy," Dorian said as he stepped off the path, trudging through the fresh snow off the right side of the trail. "I don't miss much of home, but I do long for the simple pleasure of the bath house."

As he stepped around a rocky cropping, for the first time, Cassius could see the steam rising off the pool of water nestled within the snow, and smell the subtle scent of brimstone. The water was a bit cloudy, with a pale haze to the otherwise cyan water.

"I assumed this would be a more relaxing place to discuss business than between the bars of a cell, or, honestly, anywhere else in the fortress," Dorian said as he leaned his staff down against the stones and began to unbutton his coat. "Nearly on the scalding side, but just right in the snow, I find."

Dorian pulled his jacket away and tossed it onto the snow haphazardly. He turned his head over his shoulder as he began to pull his shirt over his head. "Come on now, don't be shy, we're all men here."

Cassius turned his head to the woman who was traveling with them. She was a few steps behind him, her arms crossed over her chest. She was making no indication that she was going to join them.

"Don't mind her," Dorian said as he kicked his boots off. "She's just here to listen."

Dorian unbuckled the belt at his waist and let his pants drop, stepping out of them and kicking them aside. He looked over her shoulder to the woman and stretched his arms over his head, flexing his shoulders as he tightened the muscles in his rear. For a mage, Pavus did have a well-defined form.

The woman did not seem amused, as she narrowed her eyes into an even more icy glare than she wore before. Dorian shrugged, relaxed his body, and slowly slipped into the water with a sharp exhale as his skin came into contact with the steaming water.

Cassius gave one more look over his shoulder at the woman, then began to peel out of his own clothes, slowly folding them into squares and placing them down on the ground, setting his boots on top of the pile. Last of all, he removed his chain and Chantry pendant and dropped it into one boot before slipping into the water himself.

Dorian had not been lying when he said the water was nearly scalding. As soon as he slipped into it, he could feel the abrasiveness of the water. The sulfur smell was a bit stronger within the pool, but he could also smell a saltiness like the sea.

The spring was large enough for at least another half dozen people, but Pavus had already chosen a spot across on the opposite side of where they had entered. So Cassius settled down where he was, submerging his shoulders. The woman was behind him, where he couldn't see. As Dorian's eyes glanced up and gave a subtle nod, Cassius assumed that was the goal.

"How is it?" Pavus asked, stretching his arms along the lip of the spring.

"Very nice," Cassius said. "Warmer than the springs in Hossberg."

"I've never been," Dorian said. "The Anderfels always just seemed so… drab."

"It is a hard land, filled with hard people."

"To put it lightly," Dorian agreed.

Pavus tipped his head back, letting a slow groan escape his throat as he soaked. He dipped his right hand into the water and tossed some of the water over his chest, then scrubbed his palms across his breastbone before placing it back on the rim of the spring. He moaned again lightly, followed by a deep exhale.

And he didn't say anything else for a moment, then a moment longer. Then it had been a good minute of silence, aside from Dorian's pleasured utterances and the occasional splash as he tossed more of the steaming water across his chest.

Cassius would have leaned back himself to relax, if he had such luxury. He turned his head, looking back. The woman was still standing in the same place, observing, with the same look on her face. The wind blew, tussling the purple hood over her head slightly as a small strand of her orange-red hair slipped out from beneath it.

He turned back around, a sudden shiver creeping through him as he closed his eyes and rubbed a bit of the water across his face.

"Pavus, if you don't mind, what is it you require of me?" he asked.

Dorian sat back up at the question and leaned forward, dunking his head into the pool before tossing his head back, a plume of water flying off the top of his head. He ran one hand back through his hair, while the other curled the ends of his moustache back into place. When he finished, he lifted that hand and pointed at Cassius.

"You're the one who published that treatise about 'flow,' aren't you Terro?"

"I am," he said, a bit unsure.

What did that have to do with the Inquisition, or his current predicament? He had completed his study and written the essay during his penultimate year in the Circle. Several of the senior Enchanters were impressed by both the findings and the concise and clear way they had been presented. Discussion of it often included the phrase "just a Laetan" in one form or another, but overall its publication had given him a reputation. That was more than could be said for many students.

Most of anyone, Magister Arrentius was awestruck by it and it had given him further cause to open doors into his household even wider.

"Yes, when I heard the name I thought to myself, 'Now where have I heard that before?'" Pavus said as he placed his hand to his chin in thought. "When I read it, it seemed so obvious that I could hardly believe someone had not thought of it before, or, at least, not published it before. I, for one, had never thought of how much mana is wasted due to opening and closing the connection to the Fade in between spells. Tell me, how did you come up with it?"

Cassius didn't see how this was relevant to his question, but he could not decline to share. Knowledge was meant to be shared, that it might benefit all.

"When I came to the Circle, magic was entirely new to me. It was a phenomenon I was experiencing, truly, for the first time. The lessons of the Enchanters were helpful - I do not mean to diminish their contribution to my development in the least - but I soon found inefficiencies that, while they might not impede a more naturally-talented man, were barriers to my advancement. I made it a point to identify and address these problems, out of necessity, sir."

Pavus looked amused. "You saw a problem and you sought to correct it, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what did the Enchanters say to that?" Pavus asked.

"They," Cassius started, recalling the many meetings he had with the enchanters to discuss his progress and time management, "did not see it as a particularly good use of my time. If I would just refocus myself on their lessons, redouble my efforts, I would soon break through, they said."

"Yet you continued."

"I surmised that I was not the first Laetan to arrive in the Circle and experience difficulty with the curriculum, no," Cassius said. "In fact, I was aware of several other students who had been sent home for inadequate performance. Most of them Laetan, like myself."

"You felt these problems were unduly dismissed by your superiors?"

"Yes, sir," Cassius answered.

"They were ignorant of these problems, because they did not experience them themselves. Is that fair to say?"

"Yes, I believe so," Cassius agreed again. "Or, at least, if they had experienced them once, they had since forgotten about them."

Pavus stroked his chin with two fingers as he nodded. "And, in pressing forward without the approval of your superiors, you made a noteworthy advancement. One that, I assume, likely humiliated many of your teachers."

Senior Enchanter Troilus did try to have him expelled shortly after the publication, after he had secretly submitted it through Magister Arrentius to the other enchanters at the Circle at Minrathous. Ultimately Troilus was outvoted by the others, resigned his post, and returned to his estate in Marnus Pell.

Cassius spent his final year in the Circle assisting many of the younger Laetans who were struggling, with many positive outcomes.

"My research aided many other students," Cassius said. "That is what is important to me."

Pavus rolled his eyes at that sentiment with a derisive snort. "While your treatise was interesting in reducing waste of energy, the technique does come with the tradeoff of increasing the risk from demonic possession. Or do you disagree?"

"Not at all, and I noted such in my research, sir," Cassius said as he tried to recite the quote from memory. "'While manipulation of flow casting, as I have previously described, can reduce inefficiency in spell formation and maximize available output, in light of these benefits, the continuous draw upon the Fade and required focus to maintain such make the technique not recommended for extended use except by experienced magi or in conditions where ample precautions have been taken to ward against the denizens of the ethereal plane.'"

"To have such a significant flaw," Pavus said. "So, then those who call it a landmark discovery could only be described as overly enthusiastic about the promise of your technique. This is no transformative discovery."

Cassius shook his head, slightly, confused. Had Pavus asked him about his most notable accomplishment only to ridicule it?

"Forgive me if I have given an impression otherwise, but I don't believe I ever claimed my work was such, sir," Cassius said, humbly. "It is not perfect, but I believe it has been of some benefit to the Circle and the Imperium."

Dorian glanced up, his eyes aiming over the top of Dorian's head and he grinned. He lifted his hands out of the water, palms turned inward toward his body as he bowed his head slightly. He was clearly gesturing to the woman.

Cassius turned his head to look back at her again and her eyes caught his for a moment. He felt unable to turn away from her steely glare, knowing, sensing perhaps, that this was the moment she was making her assessment of him, much as Dorian had done the day prior in the hall of Skyhold.

She said nothing, but nodded her head down, slowly, once.

Cassius turned back around. Had this all been some sort of test?

"If I might inquire again, Pavus, what is it you require of me?"

Dorian clapped his palms down on top of the surface of the pool, creating a small splash and sending ripples across the surface of the water as he now openly smiled.

"I want you to go home to Tevinter," he said.

Cassius waited, expecting further instructions than that. When none came, he shook his head slightly again.

"Is that all?"

Dorian laughed and gave a shrug.

"More or less, yes," the magister's son said. "There are only three things I require of you when you return to the Imperium."

He lifted his right hand, touching his thumb and forefinger together in a loop and lifting his three other fingers.

"One," he began, fluttering his middle finger before pulling it down into his palm. "You are not to return to martial service against the Inquisition in Ferelden or Orlais."

That should not be too difficult. The Venatori stake in Ferelden was shattered. With Magister Alexius imprisoned by the Inquisition, there would be a needed period of reorganization. The Elder One's first, Calpernia, likely did not know of him and likely would not miss him if he returned to Tevinter.

And after his capture, no doubt both Andria and Valerie would lobby their father to keep him at home, even if the magister did wish to redeploy him to the field, especially with Marinus' fate still hanging in the negotiation.

"Two," Dorian followed, fluttering his ring finger before retracting it. "At some point after your return, you will receive a letter, an invitation from a magister requesting a meeting with you. You will agree to meet with her. Whatever you do beyond that meeting, I leave to you."

This demand sounded more suspicious. If Pavus were to arrange a meeting with a Magister, certainly it would be someone sympathetic to his cause. He said 'her,' which vastly narrowed down the roster of possibilities. It would certainly not be anyone currently loyal to the Venatori, such as Cressida Ceratori.

But it was the second part of the demand that gave him more pause. Whatever happened after the meeting was left to him? Could Cassius go and meet Dorian's contact, humor her, and then go along his way unbound to the promise? That seemed suspiciously careless.

"Three," Pavus said, lowering his smallest finger until his hand closed. He then rolled his wrist and opened his palm, holding it up and outright toward Cassius. "I would ask you only to do what you believe to be right."

Of the three points, the last was the most vague and unclear. Do what he believed to be right? For who? For Pavus? For the Inquisition? For himself?

Cassius considered Dorian's open palm and the subtle, cunning, arrogant shine in Pavus' eye. He was certainly plotting more than he presented.

"Do we have an accord?" Pavus asked.

"If I agree, you will ensure that Marinus Arrentius will be safe?" Cassius asked, to make it clear. Nothing had been said of the boy and to carelessly overlook such a fact would be amateurish.

"Safe and sound and well kept," Dorian agreed with a nod.

Cassius still hesitated. "Your terms are… imprecise. What will you have gained if I meet your magister, but then do not act in whatever way you predict I will? What if I merely return home after that meeting and remain there, with my wife and my family?"

"I suppose I would gain nothing but the ire of our dear Spymaster for letting go of a hostage without utilizing the leverage I hold against him," Pavus said. "Beyond that, I will only gain doubt in myself that I misjudged you and, perhaps, am not as intelligent and cunning as I believe myself to be.

"And that, itself, would be a terrible tragedy to consider," he added with mirth.

Pavus had much to gain, perhaps, and little to lose except his pride and one, maybe two, Venatori prisoners of limited use to the Inquisition. Even if both he and Marinus were put to torture for every bit of information they held within their heads, it would not be of much value.

Cassius could not only gain his release, but further ensure the safety of Marinus, as well. The unanswered question was what did he lose by cooperating with Pavus? That still had not been cleared up. It likely would not be revealed, not at least, until he met with Pavus' contact in Tevinter.

Cassius did not enjoy the prospect of being manipulated, but the dilemma was logically easy to resolve at this juncture.

He took Pavus' hand, clasping fingers, and shook it.