Siara and Solas had headed off to find somewhere reasonably far from their camp and the town so she could practise controlling her magic, though full control was still eluding her. Solas had been having to run quite a bit of damage control, though they weren't working with fire yet so at least it was mostly just shards of ice burying themselves into tree trunks around the small clearing they had found. After everything that had been happening with Dedrick, Solas had decided that maybe having Siara concentrate on something other than the former mayor might be beneficial, both for herself and for the mayor's safety. Siara sat herself down on a nearby rock, taking a drink from her water skin as they paused in their training, Siara having been showing signs of fatigue. She leaned back slightly, looking up at the sky.

"You know," she said, rather conversationally, "there's something that's been bothering me."

"Oh?" Solas asked, standing in front of her, leaning on his staff as he watched her rest.

"Yeah. It's about Anders and Justice," Siara looked at Solas. "Nightmare targeted every one of us in the Fade, trying to get into our heads and scare us. But not Anders or Justice. Why not?"

A small smile appeared on Solas' face.

"I have a few theories about that, if you'd like to hear them."

"Sure."

"The first theory is that Justice was masking Anders' presence in the Fade," Solas explained, taking a seat next to Siara. "If you noticed, Duty and the Divine weren't targeted, either. This suggests that Nightmare couldn't figure out the fears of spirits, or at least for some reason wasn't."

"I suppose that would make sense," Siara frowned slightly, now looking down at the water skin in her hands.

"The second theory is that Nightmare didn't want to target Anders, even if it knew about his presence. After all, Justice was in control of his body. What would be the purpose of scaring him?"

"In case he got out of the Fade?" Siara shrugged.

"Perhaps," Solas smiled again. "My third theory is that perhaps Anders was targeted, but Nightmare spoke directly into his mind."

"Why would Nightmare speak directly into Anders' mind and not the rest of us? It spoke out loud for the rest of us."

"Perhaps it is again because Justice was in control of Anders' body at the time."

"But what if Nightmare wasn't talking out loud to us just for us? What if it was also trying to somehow… I don't know. Share our weaknesses with each other to try and divide us or something?"

"An interesting point," Solas conceded, "but if that was the case, then why would it speak to me in Dalish?"

"Why didn't it speak to Bull in Qunlat?"

Again, Solas smiled, leaning on his staff slightly.

"That, I cannot answer. We may never know all the answers, as we cannot know the mind of a demon, or a spirit, for that matter."

"No kidding," Siara looked down at her hands, a small frown on her face. She wished there was a way to know the mind of a spirit, or at least be able to comprehend them better. Duty's words were still bothering her a bit. That the only people she needed to worry about were herself and the Inquisitor. She didn't understand it, and she desperately wished she could. Why should she have to worry about Jacquelyn, when Jacquelyn clearly didn't give a flying nug about her?

"I think we've had enough practice for one day," Solas' voice cut through her thoughts and she looked around at him in mild surprise. "We should head back to camp, before people start realising we're missing."

Siara half smirked.

"What, afraid they'd start talking?"

"Not particularly," Solas replied, already walking off back in the direction of the campsite, leaving Siara to decide for herself if she was going to stay where she was and contemplate life, or if she was going to follow him.


Siara got back to camp just as it was starting to get gloomy, torches being lit around the place as some of the Inquisition soldiers retired to their tents for the night. Others still hung around the campfires, playing rounds of cards, and others were still out. Siara assumed they were likely at the tavern, enjoying themselves before they took the long trip back to Skyhold. She spotted Barris nearby, talking with the man that had led the little mayor-hunt, remembering what he had mentioned about going to find a couple of rogue mages somewhere nearby. She paused, sticking slightly in the shadow of a tent, listening to what was being said.

"Commander Rutherford requested that I -"

"We need all the help we can have to get Dedrick back to Skyhold in one piece. Our orders were that he is to be brought before Inquisitor Trevelyan alive and able to stand trial. We need everyone we brought here in case we come across a raiding party, or anyone else stupid enough to try and fight us."

"I understand that, but I requested Smith, Tanner, and Bennet to come with us so they could accompany me to hunt the rogue mages."

"I can't spare the men, I'm sorry. That's my final decision."

The man stepped back and headed off to find his tent, ignoring Barris. The templar took a deep breath in, clearly unimpressed and doing his best to keep his anger in check.

"That's a bit scummy of the bastard," Siara said, rather conversationally as she stepped forward.

"It is what it is, I suppose," Barris muttered. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough. How many people do you really need to go with you?"

"Ideally, including me, at least four. I can't really do this on my own, which is why I asked Smith, Tanner, and Bennet to come with me. But now, apparently, that…" he stopped and took a deep breath. "Apparently, our good friend there has decided that his needs are greater than the job they were originally sent for."

"Well, he can't tell me what to do. I'm not employed by him," Siara shrugged. "I know I'm not three people, but at least it's something, right?"

"You want to come with me?" Barris looked surprised by this, his eyebrows raised. "Why?"

Siara shrugged, not really wanting to tell him her real reasons.

"I got a soft spot for damsels in distress," she joked. A scoff escaped Barris before he could stop himself, an amused smile replacing his look of confusion.

"I'm a damsel now, am I?"

"Yup. Just let me know if you see any dragons - can't have you being stolen away by one, now, can we?" Siara smirked. "I'll see you in the morning. See if you can find anyone else willing to go against Captain Bossy-Boots, but I wouldn't count on it. I think Varric and Dorian, at least, have to get back to Skyhold for Jacquelyn to order around. You might almost stand a chance with Solas, though. Not sure he strictly speaking got permission to come with us in the first place."


Siara stood watching as everyone packed up, waiting for Barris and anyone else who would be joining them. If anyone else would be joining them - she didn't have particularly high hopes that there would be anyone else. Cullen's man seemed pretty determined to not let anyone go just at the moment, apparently being too afraid of Jacquelyn if anything went wrong on their journey back and something happened to Dedrick. Siara wished that she could do something to the man, something painful, but he wasn't worth the effort.

"I hear you're not returning to Skyhold with us," Solas said, stopping next to her.

Siara shook her head, casually leaning against an old post near the edge of the camp. Her pack sat on the ground beside her, and Blaze was nearby contentedly grazing.

"No. I just need a bit more time to work some stuff out. You're not joining us, I take it?"

The promise she had made to Mia was lurking in the back of her mind. Siara had every intention of talking to Cullen about his addiction, about his relapse and his once more taking lyrium. But she had never agreed on exactly when she would talk to him, and she just needed to work herself up to it. She had no idea how she would even approach Cullen, still not being entirely happy with him. If she didn't know how to talk to Cullen about anything, how would she talk to him about something as serious as lyrium?

"I wish I could, it would be beneficial if you didn't have a break in your training," there was an edge to Solas' voice, as though he didn't approve of Siara going off where he couldn't watch her. "Unfortunately, my services are needed back at Skyhold."

"The place would just fall apart without you," Siara joked, then sobered. "Don't worry about me. I'm not going to try anything without you around."

"Good. It's a lot better that way. If, however, your powers do get out of control, at least you are travelling with a templar."

Siara's eyes narrowed slightly in thought, and she frowned at the ground.

"He seems like a pretty good one, at that," she muttered. "Doesn't seem to even consider abusing his position."

"Indeed," Solas agreed.

Their conversation was interrupted at that moment by Barris joining them, his horse resting its nose on his shoulder. The serious look on Siara's face evaporated, replaced with a joking smile.

"Good morning, sunshine!" she greeted. "I see you have quite the lack of merry men with you."

"Unfortunately. No one else could get away to help us," Barris said, then nodded to Solas.

"I apologise again," Solas told him, "but my studies require me to return to Skyhold."

"It's quite all right, Solas. I understand."

"Shall we say our farewells and hit the road?" Siara suggested. "You haven't told me any details yet, and even though I have no clue where we are headed, I'm sure we have a lot of ground to cover."

"Quite right," Barris agreed. "I'll wait here with the horses while you say goodbye to your friends."