A newcomer descended the stairs. An unmasked woman in a wine red velvet ballgown, with raven hair pulled up into an elegant coiffure, and yellow eyes which sparkled with amusement.

"The leader of the new Inquisition, fabled Herald of the faith. Delivered from the grasp of the Fade by the hand of Blessed Andraste herself," she began. "What could bring such an exalted creature here to the Imperial Court, I wonder?" She reached the end of the stairs, and dipped her head towards Fae. "And of course, her nearest and dearest advisor, a young apostate with a penchant for making powerful friends across all walks of Thedas. The Grand Game draws in many intriguing figures, to be sure."

"Morrigan," Fae's eyes sparkled back. "It's been a long time." Ellethir had half-expected Fae to rush forward and embrace Morrigan like she had on her reunion with Hawke, but the Seer remained still, polite but wary.

"A lifetime, and the blink of an eye, Faellathi Tabris. You have changed much, I see." Morrigan sauntered around them, inspecting them both carefully.

"I grew up."

Morrigan smirked. "Perhaps that is it, perhaps not. Allow me to introduce myself to your new friend properly." Morrigan faced Ellethir and curtsied. "I am Morrigan. Some call me advisor to Empress Celene on matters of the arcane."

Ellethir regarded Morrigan cautiously, taking her cues from Fae. "We've heard."

"I have heard that your people have been very busy this evening, on the hunt. Perhaps you and I hunt the same prey?"

"I don't know. Do we?"

Morrigan chuckled. "You are being coy."

"I'm being careful."

"Not unwise, here of all places," Morrigan conceded. "Allow me to play my card first, then, to put you at ease. Recently, I found, and killed, an unwelcome guest within these very halls. An agent of Tevinter."

"We know the Venatori have a presence here," Ellethir frowned. "We just don't know what kind, yet."

"In that case, allow me to offer you this, as well," Morrigan produced a key from her sleeve. "A key found upon my prey's person. I expect it leads somewhere useful, but where exactly? I cannot say. In any case, if Empress Celene is in danger, I cannot afford to leave her side long enough to search. You, however, have the use of many more hands with which to investigate."

"Our leads so far are pointing us towards the servants' quarters," Ellethir accepted the key. "With any luck, this key will take us there."

"Clever girl."

"Why are you protecting the empress, Morrigan?" Fae asked. "We have our own reasons, but what are yours? You must know she doesn't deserve it."

Morrigan chuckled again. "Deserving or otherwise, if aught were to happen to Celene, eyes would turn first to her 'occult advisor.' The Orlesians love to throw the term maleficarum around as much as the Fereldans." Her yellow eyes narrowed. "There are sharks in the water, Seer, and I will not allow them to prey on myself, or my son. Not now, not ever."

"Your baby," Fae smiled wistfully. Morrigan's face softened for just a moment. "Indeed. A boy of ten, now."

"We should return to the ballroom," Ellethir reminded them.

"Of course." Morrigan led the way through the ballroom doors, then curtsied to them once more. "Proceed with caution, Inquisitor, Seer. Enemies abound, and not all are Venatori. I will see you both again soon, no doubt."

Ellethir waited for Morrigan to stride some distance away before turning back to Fae. "Why did she say "perhaps" when you said you changed because you grew up?"

Fae frowned, still watching Morrigan's retreating form. "Who knows. Morrigan always liked to appear to know more than she actually did. But she does know things that Circle mages don't. She was the one to teach me how to become invisible…after I nagged her long enough. The first time I did it, Neria was furious, she thought they'd left me behind somewhere," she chuckled despite herself. "Morrigan ended up teaching her too, but Neria forbade me to do it again unless she told me to."

"Hm…" Ellethir was momentarily lost in some train of thought or other, and then she remembered. "Oh, did you end up finding that package the servants mentioned?"

"No, but I found this," Fae untucked the scroll from a hidden pocket in her skirt. "Something about a powerful weapon, the others should see this so we can keep an eye out."

"Leliana's just over there, let's take it to her first."

"You go, I have to go and rescue Cullen."

"Rescue him from what?"

"I'm… not entirely sure yet. Cole asked me to."

Fae negotiated her way through the now busy ballroom. Even unmasked and in military uniform, Cullen only stood out from the small crowd around him by being half a head taller than most.

"Smile, commander! You're so handsome when you smile!" One woman giggled.

Cullen laughed back uncomfortably.

"He is just as handsome when he doesn't," said another man.

Cullen jumped and spun around. "Did you just… grab my bott—?"

"Commander!" Fae called out, pushing her way through to wrap both arms around one of his. "You've attracted quite a following, but duty calls, I'm afraid."

"Oh, dear," said the woman, pouting. "Do not tell us you have come to take him away?"

"Our Lady Inquisitor would speak with you, Commander," Fae said apologetically, pulling him back through the crowd.

"Do hurry back to us!"

"Uh…"

Fae kept a stubborn hold as they walked in silence.

Cullen cleared his throat. "…Does she actually need to speak to me?"

Fae shrugged. "We have some updates on our leads, and it looks like we may end up needing our honour guard to do more than honour us tonight. There's also an old friend here, she's already found one Venatori agent, no doubt there's more. We're still trying to figure out who let them in, or whether it was even intentional."

"I see…Thank you, for getting me away from those people."

"Thank Cole, not me," Fae said shortly. "He tipped me off."

"Even so."

Fae sighed, although it was more like a huff. "You aren't the first to be looked at as less than a person and you won't be the last."

"Ah, I… realise I never apologised for that," Cullen combed his fingers through his hair with his free hand. "What I said about mages, back then. I confess, I don't actually remember it myself, but I am ashamed to know that it is remembered. I'm sorry."

Fae wanted to ignore him altogether, but she found herself glancing at him for a moment. "…Have you always had that scar on your lip?"

"Ah— no. Hawke took my presence in the Inquisition about as well as you did."

Fae's mouth quirked. "Oh."

"Do I take it that you no longer want to kill me, then?"

Fae let go of his arm, spotting Leliana and a few other comrades gathered around the Inquisitor.

"Does it matter? We have more important things to worry about," she strode ahead.

"Fae," Leliana nodded as she joined the group. "Sera, Solas, Cole and Vivienne will go with you and the Inquisitor now to investigate the servants' quarters. If Morrigan's key doesn't work, Sera will pick the lock, or you may need to use one of our special keys. Was there anything else of interest near Gaspard's note?"

"The Orlesian who owned the note was dead when I arrived, along with another Orlesian and two Fereldans," Fae replied. "A literal trail of blood led me to them."

"Screams that no one hears. Silence that everyone hears."

"Yes, thank you, Cole."

"Hmm," Leliana frowned. "Rushed work, then."

"It could be the ambassador, removing messengers and forging their own communications to keep Celene and Gaspard in conflict," Josephine suggested.

Cullen shook his head. "Or it could be the Venatori."

"Why would the Venatori be attacking servants if their target is the empress?"

Vivienne tutted. "It's simple, they are using people they consider dispensable to empower their blood magic."

"Dispensable people like servants? Tossers," Sera scowled. "Then we need to stop them now before they hurt anyone else!"

"The nearest entrance is at the bottom of the stairs in the Hall of Heroes, our people will give you your weapons at the door." Leliana handed the key back to Ellethir. "If you reach the guest wing you've gone too far. Maker go with you."

The first two rooms were bare, apart from a few boxes and barrels. Continuing down the stairs into the central chamber, Ellethir stopped stock-still at the sight before them.

It was carnage. At least a dozen servants, both elven and human, lay unmoving, blood pooling around them, or smeared across the floor. Some of the victims had tried to escape. Sacks of grain were ripped apart, and barrels of mead had been tipped over, still leaking into the thin carpet.

"Creators…"

"Who the fuck did this?" Sera's fists clenched and unclenched. "Who the fuck did this?!"

Fae's notice was drawn to the door on the right, hanging limply off its hinges. "Maker, there's more…"

The others followed her into the servants' bedchamber. Several elves had had their throats cut as they slept. One body was by the fireplace, a hand blackened by the fire where they fell, and another body lay splayed out on the floor, a wound on his back still bleeding from the dagger which must have caught him as he'd attempted to flee. Clumps of hay had fallen from the thatched roof above them, sprayed with blood.

"Wake up, please wake up! What was that noise? Who's there? It's cold," Cole said frantically.

"We should move the bodies to the beds," Fae croaked. "They don't deserve to be left here, abandoned like this."

"Out of the question, we cannot risk our clothes," Vivienne said crisply.

Fae glared. "Excuse me?"

"You misunderstand. Your idea is an admirable one darling, but we cannot appear in the ballroom with bloodstains upon us, and we do not have the luxury of time. I have no doubt Celene will treat the remains of her murdered people with the utmost respect."

"What respect?" Fae spat. "Celene burned their families in their homes! They aren't her people."

"Look I hate saying Viv is right as much as the next one, but there could still be survivors," Sera snapped, taking a closer look at each still form.

Vivienne nodded curtly. "Then let us continue."

Ellethir led the way into the kitchen, where a pile of bodies was slumped in one corner, blood-coated produce spilled everywhere.

"Fuck, more people caught in the middle of this shit," Sera swore. "What fully qualified arseholes stop to kill every single servant?"

"They always kill the servants first, my dear," Vivienne said. "Otherwise, any of them could run and warn someone."

"Oh sure, reasonable, innit? Friggin' garbage."

"The defenceless are always the first casualties of war, darling."

Fae pushed past them, already headed back into the hallway towards the exit to the lower gardens.

Solas sighed. "It is not war if only one side are armed to fight. It is a massacre."

With frozen fountains and tall archways of climbing vines, the gardens would have been idyllic, if not for the corpses of yet more slain servants. The stairs down led to a wider courtyard, with a large, ice-frosted fountain in the centre. And in front of the fountain, another corpse; laying face-down, mask still in place, a dagger still lodged in his back.

"This can't be how it ends, this can't be how it ends," Cole muttered fretfully. He turned to Fae.
"I heard them all but I couldn't help them all. I'm sorry."

Fae took Cole's hand in her own. "You helped who you could, like any of us would. It's not your fault."

"I know. It's not your fault either."

"This was no servant," Ellethir said, crouching down to look at the dagger. "What was he doing here?"

Vivienne also drew closer. "Judging by his attire, this man was a Council of Heralds emissary. Curious to find him here, so close to the servants' quarters."

"Is that not the Chalons family crest, on that knife?" Dorian observed. "What have you been up to, Gaspard?"

"He, or his men, left without taking the murder weapon- this is sloppy work, dear."

Dorian leaned down and expertly winched the knife from the emissary's back. "It seems he doesn't care too much if he's caught, which means he's confident that tonight will go his way."

"He and Briala seem to have that in common," Ellethir muttered.

A shrill scream pierced the air. The group readied their weapons as an elven servant ran into the courtyard. Her second scream was cut off when a dagger planted itself into her back, and she fell to the ground with a thud. The thrower of the dagger was a strange-looking person. They wore black and white close-fitting attire, and their face was covered entirely by a featureless white mask. The attacker threw down some black powder which exploded before them, and by the time the plume of smoke cleared, they were gone. Running footsteps followed, and a group of Venatori rushed into the courtyard, swords flashing, arrows aimed.

"Venatori agents!"

The fight was short but bloody; the Venatori agents fought hard, but with the fervour of new recruits, not combat veterans.

"They must have been watching this approach," Ellethir panted.

Sera marched over to the fallen servant. "Can one of you mages heal her?"

Vivienne obliged, waving a hand over the body. The woman's hair rustled lightly, but there was otherwise no obvious effect.

"She's already gone, my dear, I'm sorry."

"Shit! Can't we even save one person?!"

Fae attempted to touch Sera's arm in consolation, but she yanked her arm away. "Fine! Let's at least go and get them back for it."

Dorian noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. "More Venatori! They're all over the bloody place!"

The Venatori saw them coming, and the Inquisition followed the agents deep into a never-ending labyrinth of floral archways and vines. There were many places to take advantage of for cover, but the group managed to draw all the Venatori out one by one. Ellethir spotted a flash of black and white darting through a nearby doorway. "There!"

The Inquisition gave chase, following the figure up the stairway to the Grand Apartments. They caught up with the Venatori in a large open dining room. Chair legs splintered and tables were overturned in the ensuing struggle, but the white-masked assassin evaded them still, bolting up a winding staircase and fleeing down the following balcony. As the Inquisition pursued them, one door they ran past gave Fae felt that strange feeling again; a combination of ambient magic like the focus of a staff, and the pull of a potential vision.

"There's something behind that door!" she yelled as they ran.

"We'll come back to it after we catch this fucking monster!" Sera shouted back. They passed through room after room, stripped bare save for bulky furnishings covered with white cloths. The Venatori agents stopped running at the next hallway, gasping for breath. They'd have to make their stand here. The assassin kept running, but found the door at the end of the hall locked; they were cornered, and increasingly outnumbered as each agent fell.

They made a last-ditch attempt to retreat back in the direction they came, dodging and weaving spells, arrows and daggers. In a flash of black and white they rounded the corner, and their head suddenly flung back, a dagger protruding from between their masked eyes. As the assassin sunk to the ground, an elven woman sauntered into view. Ink black hair in a tight bun, a mask inlaid with ivory and painted gold and violet, the colours of House Valmont. A dark blue gown that mimicked the cut of a serving woman's dress at the bodice, accompanied by the full-length skirt of a noblewoman's gown.

"Fancy meeting you here, Inquisitor Lavellan."