The days were rapidly becoming shorter, and colder. Inquisition scouts returned from Emprise Du Lion with new stories of people in dire straits. Civilians were going missing, there was red lyrium sighted in the area, and if that weren't enough, there were rumours of high dragons flying overhead. If the scouts who returned from that frostbitten place had hoped for a warmer climate within the bounds of Skyhold, they had been disappointed. It was warm enough to allow snow to melt into the ground nearly as soon as it had fallen, but the strong winds from their high place in the mountains whistled through the doorframes, suppressing hastily-fed hearth fires and enveloping anyone who was not dressed in enough layers in a cruel, dry chill.

Which made removing oneself from the soft, warm cocoon of a bed in the early hours of the morning all the more difficult. It was time for the preparations needed for the upcoming trip to the Winter Palace to begin in earnest. Fae felt a shiver down her spine as she picked up the pace to reach the war room- in the privacy of her own chambers, all she had to do was send a few more embers from her palm to improve the fireplace, but she dared not try the same trick on other fireplaces in her path, lest she spook anyone nearby who might see.

Her reluctance to be present only increased when she opened the door connecting Josephine's office and the war room to find only Cullen and Vivienne present.

"Commander, Madame Vivienne," she greeted them uncomfortably. "What a pleasant surprise."

Vivienne smiled. "We are going to have to work on your l'air de rien as well dear, if that is the best you can do."

"As well?"

Cullen cleared his throat. "Madame Vivienne is as familiar with the Orlesian Court as Sister Leliana and Lady Josephine, if not more. We will benefit from her input, I'm certain."

"As well as the advice of a fully trained Circle mage," Vivienne added. "With my assistance, you are going to improve your ability as regards to ice, Seer. If someone engages you in combat at the Winter Palace you will need to respond with the utmost discretion. No one must know or take notice, so brash displays of lightning and fire are out of the question. Freezing an opponent will give you the opportunity to thaw them out once they are no longer a threat to you, and the natural climate will be less taxing to your mana in producing ice-based magic. Of course, this is a skill that requires years to master, but I have seen you use it on occasion and I believe that you have the latent talent to make a marked improvement within the timeframe we are allowed. Hmm, and perhaps we might also work on the basic use of a dagger, as well. Not magical, but useful."

"I'm not totally unfamiliar with daggers, but, uh, thank you, Vivienne."

"Of course, darling."

"I hope you have not begun without us," Leliana said smoothly, sauntering in with Josephine by her side. Behind them, Ellethir stifled a yawn, her eyes still bleary from sleep.

Vivienne moved over to welcome them in. "We wouldn't dream of it, Sister Nightingale."

"Morning everyone," Ellethir mumbled. "Josephine, would you mind going over it all again? I think I'm only just waking up now."

"Of course, Your Worship. Now that the matter of the Grey Wardens is in hand, it is time to put our efforts into making our debut in the court of Orlais a success, and most importantly, ensure that the future Corypheus has planned for never comes to pass. Beginning, of course, with the assassination of Empress Celene which we will be present to prevent." Josephine moved the Inquisition's war table piece, a carved wooden sigil, to Halamshiral on the map. "This ball has been arranged at the urging of the empress' cousin- Grand Duke Gaspard's sister, Grand Duchess Florianne-" She moved another piece, a lioness painted green and yellow- "To serve as an opportunity to conduct peace talks with the Council of Heralds present, and to end, one way or another, the ongoing civil war between Celene and Gaspard."

"So we'll need to prevent Celene from being killed by Corypheus and Gaspard."

"That is correct, Inquisitor."

"Remind me who they all are, again? And why they want to kill each other?"

"It is a little more complicated than wanting to kill each other, my dear."

"Vivienne is right, Inquisitor. In the Grand Game, the situation is always more complex than it seems," Leliana smiled wryly.

"Our invitation, courtesy of Lady Josephine, comes from Grand Duke Gaspard, the man who would have been emperor," Cullen explained. "He's Celene's cousin, and was first in line to inherit the throne when their uncle, Emperor Florian, died. Celene was only sixteen at the time but she out-manoeuvred Gaspard. Her parents had both died under suspicious circumstances, and Gaspard was suspected of sending assassins to her household, an assassination which evidently failed. She managed to garner enough sympathy to win over the Council of Heralds, who hold authority over title disputes. So, Celene became empress, and Gaspard became a general in the Imperial Army, who then climbed the ranks on his own merit. He's also a chevalier, and a highly renowned one at that. Most of the chevaliers, save for those few loyal only to the Crown, sided with him when he turned on the empress."

"I thought the chevaliers were part of the Imperial army?" Ellethir asked. "Wouldn't they have to follow the Empress?"

"They are," Cullen agreed. "Most chevaliers are sworn to serve the Crown, but that does not give them faith in the person wearing it. The empress has tried to improve relations with Ferelden and Nevarra, their former enemies, and has traditionally been more hesitant to solve issues with war like many of her predecessors. As such, the chevaliers see her as anti-military, and worse, dismissive of their traditional value as chevaliers. They see Gaspard as one of them, a man who could lead the empire back to the glory of Drakon's expansion years."

Fae frowned, thinking. "Celene has been the Empress of Orlais my whole life, but this civil war only began last year. What changed? Was it something to do with the Circles breaking down, or the Purge of Halamshiral?"

"What's the Purge of Halamshiral?" Ellethir asked. Fae and Leliana exchanged looks.

"A Purge is when humans invade an alienage, or anywhere in a city that elves live," Fae said quietly. "They kill anyone they see, man, woman or child, and they destroy everything- burning homes, cutting down the vhenadahl tree. It's a massacre. Usually, it's to take revenge against an elf who committed a crime, or to put down rebellions, real…or potential. Last year, Empress Celene personally led one in the slums of Halamshiral, a city bordering the Dales. Gaspard led a surprise attack against her forces while the slums were still burning, and she was forced to retreat to the Winter Palace nearby. The remaining survivors of the Purge are…struggling."

"Creators…"

"To answer your question, Seer," Cullen said, breaking the solemn silence that loomed over the table. "It is more than likely both related to the Purge and the Mage-Templar War. Empress Celene is a renowned diplomat and reformer. She has worked tirelessly to secure peace for the empire, to the point of being accused of complacency. Long ago, it was even rumoured once that she was considering offering her suit to King Cailan, to water down the bad blood between Orlais and Ferelden in the wake of decades of Orlesian occupation. But Cailan was already devoted in his marriage to Anora; even if it was a possibility, it never came about. Since then, Celene has never accepted any suits, and so she has no direct heir, nor has she named one, which leaves the future of the empire in doubt if anything happens to her. Technically, the next in line is still Gaspard, who still has few friends on the Council of Heralds, even all these years later."

Now it was Ellethir's turn to frown in confusion. "How can Gaspard still be her heir if he's trying to take Orlais by force?"
"The title 'Grand Duke' indicates that he is a prince of the blood. His claim comes by birth, not by his personal merit," Josephine explained. "He, and his younger sister Florianne, are the only living direct candidates."

"Is it possible that Florianne might try to take the crown for herself?"

Leliana smirked. "Possible, but unlikely. Florianne was raised to defend her brother's interests, and is not known to be the jealous type. Besides, even if she wanted to, she would have little in the way of powerful backers to keep the throne, should she manage to take it. It is also important to note that although our invitation comes from Gaspard, his disregard for elves is widely known. Celene holds him responsible for forcing her hand in putting down the rebellion in Halamshiral. He fuelled rumours of her soft touch towards the elves."

"Which brings us to our third main player," Josephine added, glancing down at her clipboard.

"There's a third?"

"The newly-titled Ambassador Briala."

"What is this Briala the ambassador of?"

"Briala is an elf, and Celene has named her the ambassador of the elves," Leliana shook her head. "In truth, she is an ambassador in name only, the title was given as part of her invitation by Celene to join the peace talks. Over the last few months, she has organized the elves of Halamshiral into an underground army, sabotaging both sides of the civil war, presumably to prolong it long enough for the elves to retake the Dales for themselves. The empress invited her in a bid to gain the elves' alliance. That would be scandal enough, without the rumour that Briala is a jilted lover of Celene's. A personal grudge and a network of saboteurs at her command? It's a promising lead."

Fae scoffed. "The empress massacred her own lover's people? That would be motivation enough for me. I would think Celene is the one who was jilted, not the other way around."

"It is only a rumour, mind," Vivienne quipped. "And not a widely known one. The scandal alone could destroy Celene's support if it were true, and even if not, Briala could use it to blackmail the empress, if she's learned anything from a lifetime of watching the Game in play. She was Celene's handmaiden for years, some say since their childhoods. She must be using her connection to the crown to her own advantage."

"What about the empress' guards and servants now? Could we warn them that Celene is in danger ahead of our arrival at the ball?" Ellethir asked.

"We did think of that- there would be no better place for an assassin to hide than in their mark's own household," Josephine agreed. "But it seems our messages have been unable to reach her. They were intercepted somehow; by Briala, by Gaspard, or by Venatori agents, we do not know. We at least know from the Inquisitor and Dorian's experience that Corypheus' agents will wait until the ball to attack, so her life is safe for now."

Leliana placed a small map on the war table. "And in case we are wrong, I have several spies placed in various roles in the Winter Palace's household already, and several more are in contact with our Red Jenny; they will notify us if anything changes. We are working to map out a floorplan of the Winter Palace, that we might place our Inquisition representatives strategically at the ball."

"With all that in mind, we must now resolve the matter of how we are going to leverage what information we have, and what information we could gain, to make sure Celene survives at least long enough for the Inquisition to take down Corypheus," Josephine said firmly.

"Please tell me you've figured out a way," Ellethir pinched the bridge of her nose. "My head's still swimming with everything you just told me."

Joesphine and Leliana exchanged satisfied looks, and for a moment Fae could see how they must have been once, young bards who thought they had the Grand Game all figured out.

"We have the beginning of a plan, at least," Josephine admitted. "With what we already know, we believe we may have a chance to convince either Briala, Gaspard or both to protect Celene for the time being. They are political enemies of the empress, yes, but they are both pragmatic tacticians. If we can make them understand that Corypheus' success would be the downfall not just of Orlais, but of everyone and everything, we could persuade them to hold off on their personal ambitions; either by offering a public truce with Celene, or perhaps publicly continuing their own agendas without doing anything to truly change the balance of power."

"And for the leverage we still need?"

"That is just as complicated, and part of why we requested Vivienne attend this meeting."

Vivienne stood just a little taller and prouder. "I have been invited to many events hosted by the royal family over the years, in all their royal estates. Each royal palace has its own uniquely enchanted keys for areas exclusive to the family. Personal chambers, vaults, and the like. The doors and keys to these rooms are enchanted by the Formari, and unlike traditional doors and keys, the doors have no keyholes; the 'key' is always a small object that matches the shape of its sister rune inside the door itself, and some doors require multiple keys. The tricky part is in identifying what the keys for the palace in question are."

Josephine nodded. "The locked sections of the palace are where we are mostly likely to find valuable information,"

"Or blackmail material."

"Yes, Leliana, or blackmail material," Josephine sighed exasperatedly. "Therefore, identifying these keys and recovering them for our use is of the utmost importance. With our agents in place, they are in a position to deliver objects of interest to us, but we must know when we have found what we need. Seer?"

"Mm?" Fae suddenly stood up straight, having been lost in thought.

"This is the part for which we require your help. Any mage can identify objects which harbour traces of magic, but the empress is greatly intrigued by matters of the occult. As such, she owns many enchanted items. You, however, have the ability to sense when objects have been touched by the Fade with emotional intent; many scenarios of highly emotional moments in life happen behind closed doors, especially in the Game. We hope that you will be able to identify the kind of item used to open those closed doors, if our agents bring them to you."

Fae considered, chewing on her lower lip. "Even if that works, and we begin to steal the keys, won't it be suspicious that they're all going missing? Couldn't they just change the keys?"

"It is a risk, to be sure," Josephine conceded. "But one we must take. We already know that the Winter Palace is undergoing renovations. The rumour that these renovations are a consequence of Gaspard's forces attacking the palace is unconfirmed, but renovating a palace during wartime could be seen as a display of standing one's ground, boasting one's bounty of resources, or a vulgar display of self-indulgence, depending on who you ask. Regardless of which is true, replacing every specially enchanted door and key would be an expensive and time-consuming project."

"If we play our cards right it shouldn't be an issue," Leliana assured Ellethir. "The items recovered that are not the keys will be sold on the black market as they would be if it were normal theft, and once we have identified the keys, we will return one or two so that they may appear to have simply been misplaced and found once more."

"And what of the servants, our agents or otherwise, who will be accused of these thefts?" Fae asked.

Cullen stepped forward. "Our agents will be ordered to return to us here in Skyhold for reassignment. As for the other servants…it may come as a blessing in disguise for them to not be present at what will likely be an incredibly dangerous event."

Fae rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that'll be a comfort to them, Commander. 'Sure, you might have been whipped or mutilated, turned out onto the streets with your family for crimes you didn't commit, but at least you weren't murdered by power-hungry nobles!'"

"Fae is right, Cullen," Ellethir agreed. "We will have a responsibility to them if that happens. Leliana, will you make sure your spies watch out for anyone who is falsely accused? Prove their innocence if they can, or see to it that they are looked after by us?"

"Of course, Inquisitor."

"And remind me how many of us will be there, exactly?"

"Excluding our unofficial agents…and our Red Jenny connections…" Josephine counted on her clipboard. "Twelve. Your Worship, the Seer, myself, Leliana, Commander Cullen, Lord Dorian, Madame Vivienne, Seeker Cassandra, Warden Blackwall, Ser Varric, The Iron Bull, and, against my better judgement, Sera. We will also have six trusted soldiers handpicked by Commander Cullen, who will be there as our honour guard…and our back-up when and if required."

"Not Cole?"

"The Head of the Royal Household does not remember my inclusion of Cole's name to our proposed list. Cole has since informed me he will be in attendance but has no desire to be remembered by the other guests."

"So, Inquisitor and friends. Is it normal to be allowed this many extra 'guests?'"

Cullen shook his head, smiling wanly. "It is not, but Gaspard undoubtedly would enjoy a show of force."

"The Inquisition is also a topic of fascination in the Game, we are simply using that to our advantage," Leliana added. "Several of us were extended invitations personally, but Gaspard is aware that we will all representing the Inquisition, aside from Serah Hawke who is our ally in an official capacity, but not a member. It seems Celene is inviting as many famous figures as she can- no noble would dare refuse her invitation and miss out on the opportunity to pass their fans at living legends."

"So what decisions do we need to make today?" Ellethir asked reluctantly.

"We must decide whether or not to wear masks, and whether to give the ladies fans."

Ellethir stared blankly. "Why?"

Leliana giggled, a strange reaction for her usual cold demeanour. "Come now, Inquisitor, you must have seen almost everyone wearing masks in Val Royeaux. They are everything in Orlais."

"Nevertheless, we are representing the Inquisition, not Orlais," Josephine muttered.

"Don't start, Josie. Allow me to explain, Inquisitor. In Orlais, one's mask tells everyone who you are, and what you represent. Typically, the heads of noble houses wear the finest masks- jewels and feathers and such, and members of the family wear slightly simpler variations. Anyone who serves that family will wear a noticeably paler imitation of it in public, to show that they represent and are under the protection of that family. Merchants and tradesmen also wear masks that indicate their profession, and their standing in it."

"However, the various branches of the chantry do not wear masks- no clergy, templars, or even seekers; a reminder that the Maker and by extension his servants, are ultimately beyond the bounds of mortal politics," Josephine concluded. "So, we must decide- are we a religious order that has a holy duty to not succumb to the whims of the Grand Game, or are we a military force, a key player in the Grand Game that is not to be trifled with?"

"Can't we be both?" Ellethir asked. "If we don't wear masks, wouldn't it show that we have nothing to hide?"

"It would also mean we could retain our peripheral vision if we end up in combat," Fae added, crossing her arms. "They're all used to fighting in masks and helmets and whatever in Orlais, we're not. And we don't all have enough time to learn."

"I'm inclined to agree," Cullen nodded. "Symbolic or not, we must prioritise practicality above all. We have enough odds stacked against us as it is."

Leliana looked disappointed, but resigned. "No masks, then. And fans?"

"If we're not wearing masks, there's little point in using fans, too." Josephine at least looked a little wistful at that prospect.

Cheer up, my dears. There's always the gowns," Vivienne tactfully pointed out.

Leliana did perk up a little at that. "Yes. And the shoes."

"As for gowns…" Cullen cleared his throat, hesitant. "I still believe the Inquisition should appear as a united front, and the best way to do that in Orlais is with what we wear. Military uniforms would solidify our image and make us recognisable."

"We have elves, dwarves, humans and Qunari among our number," Ellethir listed off on her fingers. "We will look strange enough to be recognisable regardless. No matter what we wear, gowns, masks, any of it, we won't get anywhere trying to meet impossible expectations."

"As comfortable as military uniforms would be, I agree," Fae conceded half-heartedly. "As usual, the nobles want to be dazzled by mystique and intrigue, including Gaspard. He wants a show, so let's give him one."

Leliana nodded. "I will not pretend to be unbiased in this matter, but if we can walk the fine line between playing the Game well enough to be considered worthy players, but poorly enough that we are underestimated, achieving our goal might actually become easier. Or at least possible."

"To that end, I have managed to procure two experts in their fields to help us," Josephine said, sliding two letters out from her clipboard and placing them on the war table. "Madame Bertin and Monsieur Bourrée both arrived a few days ago. Madame Bertin is a milliner and a master of her craft, as well as Empress Celene's personal dressmaker. She will be outfitting each of our Inquisition guests to suit their personal needs and preferences- in a way that will make us at least look like a cohesive group, as Commander Cullen just proposed. Matching colours, fabrics, and so on. Madame Bertin is also known for the exclusivity of her clientele; if we do well in the eyes of the court, we may be able to add to our own prestige by working with her again in future."

"And the other one?" Ellethir asked.

"Monsieur Bourrée is primarily a dance master," Leliana explained. "But he has also been a familiar face at court for decades, conducting both dance and etiquette training for young royals and nobles alike, as his father did before him. In addition to teaching our people the most essential court dances of the season, he will also be instructing us in etiquette. It will not be enough to master these things, of course, but it will at least give us a fighting chance."

Josephine scanned her clipboard again. "Ah! There is also our new arcanist, who—"

There was a quiet knock at the door. She tsked irritably. "I've made it clear many times we are not to be disturbed in meetings with the Inquisitor."

"I'll survive," Ellethir reassured her bemusedly. "Come in!"

A red-faced scout opened the door half-way. "My apologies, Inquisitor, but Sister Nightingale asked for you to be informed on any information coming from Emprise du Lion immediately. We have a new report from Scout Harding."

"Right. We'll have to come back to the subject of the ball later. Let us know if and when you find anything, Fae."

"Yes, Inquisitor."


A/N: And we're back! Did I bite off more than I could chew? No! (yes) More chapters on their way soon!