Apostates of Amaranthine: Chapter 91

[amhran_comhrac]

Title: Apostates of Amaranthine: Chapter 91- "I'm Blaming You for All This."
Characters: Anders/f!Amell (Maggie)
Rating: M/AO (this chapter T)
Word Count: around 6000
Summary: Unlikely hero Maggie Amell attempts to rebuild the Grey Wardens and deal with continuing threats from the darkspawn, while trying to fit into a world that's a far cry from the tower. All this while the Chantry seems to wait around every corner, eager to remind her and Anders just what they think of mages who manage to escape Circle control.
In this chapter:  A surprise at the Circle of Magi, grumpy old men Greagoir and Irving don't see eye to eye, and Maggie finds her wardens act a bit too much like her for comfort. 

Nathaniel and I met Gerard at the harbor. I introduced the two men and Gerard greeted us both politely. We climbed into the coach once his trunk had been retrieved. "So," I said as soon as the door had closed. "Is there any particular reason the Free Marches, Antiva, and Nevarra suddenly have such a dire need for mages?"

He started coughing. "Well. You don't mince words, do you?"

"Not when I may have sent five of my people into a dangerous situation without even telling them what they were walking into," I said. "They're Wardens, they would have gone anyways even if something unpleasant was waiting for them. I don't feel right sending them blindly, though. These are people I recruited myself, people we've been working with for years."

He sighed. "I understand." Gerard looked out the window at the countryside passing us by. "The situation is complicated."

"Is there a danger?" I asked. "Is there something we can do to help?"

"There is… but it may not be as severe as you think," he said. "The magic you shared with our mages, at the conference?" I nodded. "Well… I've never seen anything like it. A mage that's as powerful as any warrior, with magic on top of that? Brilliant, really."

"That's why I wanted to share it," I said.

"And I'm glad you did," he said. "The Chantry, however, isn't particularly pleased. You know how they are, any magic that isn't approved is forbidden by default."

"How did the Chantry even learn of this?" I said.

"That I don't know," he admitted. "Believe me, I wish I did. For all we know it could simply be that a templar observed one of our mages in action. It seems to have attracted attention almost everywhere, though. I'm amazed you haven't been dealing with problems from them as well."

"I think Ferelden and the Chantry have enough problems right now," Nathaniel said. "We've been in a standoff for more than a year now."

"True," Gerard said. "That isn't even the whole of it, either. They seem to have discovered there are now Grey Wardens who know all the skills of templars, with none of the lyrium addiction to go along with it. This is… more troubling to them, as many templars themselves didn't even realize their jobs were possible without the lyrium. Some are… well, let's say they're not thrilled."

"Most don't know," I said. "At least, not outside Ferelden." Sighing, I looked out the window. "I'll need to speak with him first, of course, but if it comes down to it and they force a confrontation I can say I taught everyone. I learned them myself from the king… not much, just enough to pass on the basics. He's beyond their reach for retaliation, and they're already out for my blood. I'd rather it fall on me than Ronan."

A dry chuckle came from Gerard. "Well, confronting someone would mean they're admitting it's true," he said. "They've been denying it so far."

"That's good, at least," I said. "But… what's going on with the mages?"

"It isn't a danger for us," he said. "At least, I don't think it is. They just… won't even let us near the Circles."

Anders and I exchanged a glance. "Is… is there a reason to think the mages there might be in danger?" Anders asked quickly.

"Not that I know of," Gerard said. "I spoke with Alain, apparently they did let him in when he began making a fuss- he had the same concerns in mind. I believe he actually accused the templars at the entrance of slaughtering the mages for sport and refused to be quiet. Granted, that is how he always behaves when attempting to recruit a new mage, or so his lieutenant told me. So it could very well have been business as usual for everyone involved. But, once inside he conscripted nearly a dozen mages at once, not the usual single mage, and got thrown out on his backside for it. They have always been wary of letting us in to recruit just because the Chantry hates letting any mages leave to join the Wardens, where they will be free of Templar scrutiny." Anders and I nodded. This wasn't news to us. "Of course, you know better than I would about that," Gerard said with a chuckle. "I suspect news of Alain's stunt and the number of mages he freed has spread and barred us all from our respective Circles."

"That could explain why he hasn't written to us for mages," I mused.

"From what I know he's rather embarrassed about the entire situation," Gerard confided. "Marko told me that the First himself wrote him a rather stern letter about being so dramatic in the course of his duties, and remembering that his actions could impact Wardens around Thedas."

"Ouch," I said. I dreaded the day I'd get one of those letters. Of course, I also assumed it was a matter of when.

He sighed. "I should have said more in my letter, I can see why you would have been concerned. I'm more worried about the templar issue," he said. "One of my men was cornered in the street by a templar who demanded to know if it was true that they didn't really need lyrium to do their jobs. I've heard similar stories from Marko as well."

"What did he tell him?" I asked.

"Well, my man didn't even know what he was talking about. He'd never heard about the lyrium addiction, so when the man asked if it was true he just confirmed it. Evidently the templars can sense another with the same skills. I had no idea."

"Neither did I," I admitted. "Can you?"

He shrugged. "Not particularly, maybe something faint if I focused but generally nothing that stands out." He put a hand to his mouth in thought before returning to gesturing as he spoke. "Although, and this is just off the top of my head, perhaps my senses as a Warden override that. Maybe I can't sense templars because it isn't a powerful enough feeling to overpower the sensing of Wardens and darkspawn."

"Maybe," I said. "I could ask Ronan. He was a templar, a true templar, before he was a Warden. Maybe he can say if it's different now. Not that it matters much for us, though."

Gerard chuckled. "Indeed," he said. "It would be far more useful if we could teach our mages to sense templars!" We all laughed at that. "Ah, it's good I'm here. I've never been to Ferelden, and seeing another nation is always exciting. I do like the idea of helping to pick mages at the Circle and being a part of the Joining. I will be their commanding officer, after all. It only seems appropriate."

I nodded. "I don't think we'll have the same issues at the Circle here," I said. "The First Enchanter and Knight-Commander are… um…" I paused, hunting for a word. "Well, not sure if I would say friends, especially in the case of the latter. But we are on much better terms than when I was a Circle mage."

"I suspect they have to make some allowances when the Commander of the Grey also happens to be the best friend of the king," he said. "You're quite lucky," he said. I raised an eyebrow. "You need to talk to the nobility and you speak to one man. I have dozens of royal families across dozens of city-states I have to fight with. Takes ages to get the smallest thing accomplished." He shook his head, chuckling. "At least I don't have Marko's problems, though. I cannot imagine having to negotiate with multiple Crow cells for my tithes and conscripts."

"Me neither," I admitted. "The Crows do have a track record of trying to kill me, though."

Gerard gave me a strange look. I could have sworn he was trying not to laugh. "Is it true that the first Crow they sent to kill you failed and ended up becoming your lo—"

"Yes," I said with a sigh before he could finish. "But there's a lot more to the story than that."

"No, there really isn't," Anders interjected. "Unless 'Maggie has a thing for men with long blonde hair a great sense of style' counts as more to the story." He laughed as I elbowed him.

---

We left for the Circle the next day, bringing Tobias along with us. Four would make night watches much easier. Only having to cover a quarter of the night each was practically a luxury. Although Gerard was perfectly comfortable on horseback we took the wagon, knowing the same could not be said of any recruits.

"You have seen the talking darkspawn?" Anders asked him.

"Just one," he said. "I… I don't know what to think of it, really. I've never been more horrified in my life. They're a difficult enough foe in their normal state, giving them cunning and reasoning…" he shook his head.

"Tell me," I said, "do you know how long they live? Darkspawn, I mean."

"Around me? Perhaps thirty seconds," he said with a laugh. "As it is for all of you. But… on their own? Who knows. We really don't know much about them at all, sadly."

"I really wish I knew if they were all survivors of the Architect's experiments of if one of them had figured out how to make more," I said. "I suppose we may never know."

"Probably not," he agreed. "I suspect it did come from Ferelden, though, since it was spotted near the shore initially. They can, from what I know, swim. Well, after a fashion."

"Fantastic," I muttered. He could only nod in agreement.

"Aren't there Circles all over Ferelden now?" he asked, clearly not wanting to think too much longer on the image of darkspawn swimming across Thedas.

"There are," I said. "But the smaller ones are mostly for younger children, so they can be closer to their families. Any full mages there will be teachers and mentors. They're less likely to want to leave, since they made the choice to be a teacher. He nodded, understanding. "The main Circle will be where you'll find the mages who don't really have much else to do. They still hold classes and everything, but the bulk of the tower is full of people who don't want to teach and haven't found a position outside the tower."

"How is it working?" he asked. "Are there problems?"

"Seems to be working so far," I shrugged. "Can't say I'm up to date on the everyday business of the Circle, but there haven't been any more riots. I'm sure if it was absolute chaos I'd be getting a regular earful from Knight-Commander Greagoir." Anders and Tobias both laughed at that. "People with more… traditional views aren't thrilled, but even then…" I wasn't quite sure how to explain things.

"Fereldans can't stand people butting into their lives," Anders finished. "So since they can still send their mage children away never to be seen again it keeps most of them satisfied. Pressuring other people to change how they live isn't really done. Not by anyone with a bit of manners, at least. So they may be angry to find out their neighbor's mage child comes home for Andraste day and goes to school only a few miles away, but they'll keep it to themselves."

"Ah, the famous Fereldan independence," Gerard said.

"Pretty much," Anders said. "Most people, if you try and tell them what to do, well, they'd end up more determined to do the opposite just to prove a point."

"Not in an alienage," Tobias said. "The hahren- that's like a village elder- butts into everyone's lives. Even arranges marriages." He shrugged. "It could be intentional, though. Another way to tell themselves they're different from humans." He laughed. "You know, given the choice I prefer being left alone. I really dreaded the day they'd haul me into his house so I could meet a total stranger I'd be expected to marry."

"But you love total strangers," Anders teased. "On a very regular basis, in fact!"

"Yeah, and I wouldn't want to marry any of them, either. No more than they'd want to marry me, I suspect. And don't act like you were any better before she came along. I've heard the stories. Aidan said you were practically a legend in the Circle, even years after you'd left. Very impressive, by the way. Is it true you were once caught in a storeroom with three women at the same time."

"Nice to be remembered," Anders said cheerfully. "And a gentleman never kisses and tells. Fortunately for you, I don't think I've ever been a gentleman. My reputation is slightly exaggerated. It was only two women. And one man."

Tobias made a choking noise as soon as Anders said that. Laughing, I slapped him on the back. "Take a breath. It shouldn't be that easy to shock you."

He just shook his head after a moment, laughing.

Gerard chuckled. "It seems mages abandon social convention everywhere," he said. "At home the templars will tell anyone who listens that abominations stalk the streets here and good people are afraid to leave their homes for fear of the maleficar running wild."

"First I've heard of anything like that," I said. "Come to think of it, I suspect I may personally know at least ninety percent of the maleficar in Ferelden…"

"Just don't tell the Chantry," Anders said.

We finally arrived at the tower. The ferryman took us across without any of the usual delays I'd become accustomed to. I couldn't help but notice he had a new boat. I asked him about it.

He chuckled. "Oh, this is quite the place to be these days."

"Really?" I asked, confused. If anything there would be fewer people crossing into the tower.

"You'll see," was all he said.

Anders and I both froze once we reached the island. He glanced over at me and we chuckled. "I still feel like they're going to drag me off and lock me up," he admitted.

"Me too," I said. "Worse for you, though. I've never been dragged through these doors as an adult, just the once as a child."

"It must have been terrifying," Gerard mused.

"It was," I said. Anders nodded in agreement.

"I remember when they took Aidan away," Tobias said. "Rose and I were talking about it. I had nightmares for weeks that someone would show up and take me away. I didn't even realize that was what it was until Rose asked if I remembered. I was only eight or so, he was a couple years younger. They pulled him from his mother, and she held onto the Templar's legs while he tried to walk away, just dragging her in the dirt until she let go."

"I had given up on fighting the templars up until we got to the shore," Anders said. "When I realized this was where they were taking me I started to panic. Screamed, kicked, bit one on the face, accidentally set the boat on fire with a lightning bolt and jumped out to try and swim back to shore." He sighed. "One almost drowned jumping in after me in his armor. Another stripped his off and pulled us both to shore. This side of the shore, specifically." He sighed dramatically. "Ah, memories."

Gritting my teeth, I walked up to the doors and pulled the rope. Although we couldn't hear it, a bell was sounding on the other side. A moment later they swung open. "Oh. You."

"Carroll, always a joy," I said, rolling my eyes.

He sighed, opening the door for us. "Just so you know, I'm blaming you for all this."

"For all what?" I asked him, not having a clue what he was talking about.

"You'll see," he replied.

"I'm getting really tired of hearing those words," I muttered, walking past him.

Walking in, I saw an exhausted looking Greagoir sitting in the main hall. A surprising number of mages, none of whom were at all familiar, stood around talking and gossiping. "Strange," I said.

"Very," Anders agreed.

Gerard looked at us. "Strange?"

"Everyone seems… happy," I said. Anders nodded. Not to say that everyone in the Circle spent every day of their life miserable. But an entire room crowded full of laughing cheerful mages was rare.

The Knight-Commander glanced up to see who had been ringing the bell, a look of dread on his face. Seeing me he frowned, standing and shaking his head. "Margaret, is this your doing?"

"Huh?" was all I could say in response. "Is what my doing? I'm just here for recruits."

"Maker's breath, what do you do with them all?" I stared at him and he colored slightly. "Right. Easy to forget… that. Sorry."

"This time they're not for me," I said. "This is Warden Commander Gerard of the Free Marshes. Apparently the Circle of Magi there is unable to provide him with any mages, so he came to us for help. Having seen a blight first-hand he knew Ferelden would be far more understanding about the needs of the Grey Wardens."

"Commander," Greagoir said, saluting. I couldn't help but give him a dirty look for that. After all, even if we were getting along now, he had never once used my title or saluted me, and my rank was identical to Gerard's. The only difference, of course, is that Gerard isn't a mage.

He sighed, looking at me. "Please stop glaring at me, Margaret. It's easy to call a stranger by a title. I've known you since you were four. I still have a scar on my hand from where you bit me when we were bringing you here. It's all I can do not to ask if your homework is done."

"Nathaniel does that now," I said, offering him a smile. That was a fairly reasonable answer, actually. I felt slightly guilty for assuming it was something kind of prejudice on his part instead of just familiarity.

"As long as you have someone sane watching over your shoulder," he said. Apparently Anders had been lumped under the 'not sane' header along with me. "And really, you can skip the talk of blights and the attempts at guilt. Even if you didn't legally have the right to conscript every soul in this tower you know Irving will just give you whatever you want. He always does."

"Not always," I said, thinking back to begging Irving to reconsider making Jowan tranquil. It wasn't a subject I wanted to dwell on, though. "So… what exactly is it you think was my doing?"

"Look around!" he said. "How many mages lived here when you were here last? Six hundred? Seven? We never recovered to the numbers we had before Uldred's attack." I nodded, wincing. Almost a thousand mages lived there when I was an apprentice.

"And?" I said.

"Well, knowing that, and knowing we now have Circles in six other cities, can you explain why a thousand mages currently live in this tower?"

Anders gasped and I stared at him in shock. "A thousand?" I said. He nodded. "Um... blight babies starting to show signs?"

"No," he said flatly. "And what in Andraste's name is a 'blight baby'"?

I shrugged. "People react differently to tragedy and the potential end of the world. You'd be surprised. The population of Amaranthine surged nine months after the blight ended."

He groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. "Charming," Greagoir muttered. "And no, it is not all children. We have the usual number of children. The rest are all adults."

"Huh?" I said again. "Look, can you just tell me what happened all at once. The little bits and pieces thing is going to mean I keep making that noise."

"Listen!" he said. "Not to me, to them!" he waved an arm and went silent. I glanced around the room. A few of the groups were whispering and pointing at me. After a moment I realized what was so strange about the conversation in the room: I couldn't understand a word of it.

"They're… foreign?" I said with surprise. I could hear snippets of Orlesian from one corner, and an accent not unlike Zevran's from behind me.

"Exactly," he said. "Come with me, I'm sure Irving will love telling you all about this. He thinks it's fantastic." I suspected that Irving and Greagoir liked nothing better than arguing with each other over games of chess, so I suppose if Irving loved this latest development Greagoir would hate it in principal just so they would have something to bicker over.

"Well, it is replacing all the people lost during the blight," I said, trying to find a bright side.

"I'm highly disturbed by this optimistic streak you've developed since joining the Grey Wardens," he muttered. "Someone with your life shouldn't be so cheerful."

"What's wrong with my life?" I asked. "I'm practically a professional hero. What could be better than that?" He made a face and I laughed. I didn't believe any of that, of course, but I knew it would get a rise out of Greagoir.

He only shook his head, clearly disagreeing with me but not wanting to argue. We finally reached Irving's office. When he saw us the First Enchanter jumped up. "Did you see?" he asked. "Isn't this exciting?"

"What's going on? Who are they all?"

"Well, they're mages," he said. I raised my eyebrow and the First Enchanter directed us to sit. Once we had I introduced everyone.

"Mi scusi" came a heavily accented voice from the door. I glanced back and saw a dark haired elf backing up. "I come back later," she said, skittering away.

"They're slowly learning the language," he said.

"Where did they come from?" I asked.

"They're apostates," Greagoir said.

Irving waved his hand. "I don't think moving from one Circle to another would make someone an apostate," he said.

"They didn't have permission to move!" Greagoir said. "Running away from a Circle in one country to move to a Circle in another isn't approved by the Chantry." He sighed, sitting down near the wall. "I suppose it is better than simply running away." With that Greagoir gave Anders a pointed glance. Anders only smiled.

"Wait, what?"

Irving grinned broadly. I'd never seen him look so pleased, to be honest. "Apparently there are a great many mages who, while they are perfectly content to live within a Circle, prefer a Circle where they have freedoms not allowed in other countries. As one put it, they like the thought of a Circle that treats them like people. The first was a group who were supposed to be assigned as healers to the Orlesian army. They cut through the mountain pass and went to the first Chantry they saw in Ferelden asking for an escort here. Then a group who escaped from the Circle in Antiva bartered passage on a boat with wind spells. It's been nonstop for months since then."

"Why not Tevinter?" Tobias asked.

"Tevinter is just the opposite of everywhere else," I said. "There mages run everything. That seems just as wrong as the opposite. Most people don't want that any more than they want to be seen as less than a person."

"I wouldn't mind that," Anders said. I elbowed him and chuckled. "But that is the reason, I think. I wouldn't mind being in charge of everything since, well, I'm brilliant. But really, I just want to be equal. I think that's what any of us want, and it isn't exactly a lot to ask."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Tobias said, rolling his eyes. "Let the elves know how your great plan for equality works."

"When the Chantry starts locking elves up from childhood and taking children from their parents as a rule we'll talk," Anders said. "Since I would have loved the freedom of living in an alienage when I was locked in here. At least you could go outside without worrying about being killed on sight."

"Wardens," I said, cutting them both off. "Let's just agree that everything is horrible for everyone who isn't born a human man without magical powers and even some of them have a hard time, and leave it at that, shall we?"

"Got it," Anders said. Turning to Tobias he added "sorry, sore subject."

"Agreed," Tobias added, patting Anders on the shoulder. "I think we're probably both a bit overly defensive."

"I really can't complain," Gerard said cheerfully, "so I suppose there may be something to that. I have a bloody horrible retirement plan, though."

I glanced over at him and burst out laughing. A moment later the other Wardens did the same. Greagoir and Irving, who knew what we would all face, just looked on in horror.

"Anyways," I said when we had calmed down. "We need Wardens."

Irving nodded. "Can you give me a few hours?" he asked. "I can get everyone in the assembly hall; you can just present it to them yourself and see who is interested. I don't know any of the new mages enough to guess who might be a good candidate."

In the end I spoke to the mages, pausing frequently so some of the foreign newcomers could translate for their companions who were less used to our language.

We ended up with almost fifty mages, far more than what I had expected. The majority would be going to the Free Marches, but Tobias and Anders both sensibly pointed out that while we were there it would just make sense to recruit for Ferelden as well. Since I had waited for Irving to gather everyone in the assembly hall it was too late for us to leave by the time we spoke to all the interested mages. "Maybe we'll camp tonight," I mused.

Tobias raised an eyebrow. "Boss, you really want to tell these people that they need to start sleeping on the dirt a day early, only half an hour from their own beds, because you don't like it here?"

Damned observant rogues. "Well, no…" I admitted.

"Besides, they probably have people to spend some time with before leaving," he said. "They may not get another chance."

"Good point," I said. "I can deal with this tower for one night."

"Fantastic!" he grinned.

"So you met a girl?" I said, finally realizing why he wanted to stay so badly.

"Something like that," he admitted.

"Just don't get caught by the templars," I warned.

Anders and I were given one of the nicer guest rooms. If I wasn't mistaken, it was the room Duncan had been given many years ago. We were just falling asleep when an angry templar woke us. "Commander!" someone shouted through the door. Anders got up and pulled on a pair of pants before drawing the bedcurtains closed. "Ser, I was actually hoping to speak to your… um… wife," the templar said, clearly uncomfortable with both using a term of respect for Anders as well as referring to anyone as a mage's spouse.

"Here's the thing with women," Anders said. "They take a lot longer to get presentable. So unless you want to speak to an undressed Warden Commander you've got me."

I laughed at that. "I can hear you, go ahead."

"We found your, um, Warden," he said.

"I wasn't aware he was lost," Anders said.

"He must have been," the templar said, "since there's no legitimate reason for him to have been in a storeroom, especially not in the condition he was found in."

I yanked a long nightshirt that had been tossed across the foot of the bed on and stumbled out. "Condition? What happened? Is Tobias hurt?"

The man blushed seeing me and saluted before turning his gaze to the ceiling. Really, this was less revealing than my Tevinter robes, but I suppose just knowing it was a nightdress made him uncomfortable. "Not hurt, Commander. He was… not alone." I sighed, not feeling the least bit surprised. "Really not alone," the templar added. Anders laughed as I sighed again. "I don't see the humor in this, Ser," the templar said, sounding annoyed. "He was caught with three young women. That sort of thing is unnatural. It's an affront to the Maker!"

I glared at Anders and he wisely shut his mouth. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Ser," I said calmly. "I hate to mention this sort of behavior in front of our new recruits, but I assure you he'll be mucking out the stables for at least a month once we get home."

The templar saluted me once again and left.

"Will he now?" Anders asked when our door was shut.

"Nah, but I may lecture a bit," I said. "It makes us look bad when someone gets caught doing something like that. We're here on official business and he has a bedroom to use! But you know how templars are. That was what he wanted to hear. I would love to come here and recruit without someone getting caught fooling around somewhere, though. Although given our reputations I suppose Irving and Greagoir are just happy it isn't us they catch."

"I'm sure that's why they gave us the nice guest room," Anders said. "Three women," he added, sounding impressed. He paused and made a face. "That little bastard beat my record!"

Laughing, I grabbed him by the waistband. "Back to bed, old man. You can barely keep up with me, you really think you could handle two more at once?"

"I can most certainly keep up with you," he said, feigning insult. "Is that a challenge?"

I yanked the nightshirt off and hopped back on the bed. "Well?" I said, waiting for him to join me. "Prove me wrong!"

I suppose it shouldn't have been surprising that we were both yawning as we gathered up the new recruits the next morning. With so many our wagon was useless for anything but carrying bags. We all had to walk along side, adding several days to our trip.

"You know what I wonder?" Anders whispered to me as we sat on watch. I gestured for him to go on. "Why escape one Circle to go to another?"

"Maybe they didn't hate the Circle as much as us?" I guessed.

"Well, clearly," he said. "But if it was all right, why leave at all?"

"More opportunity in Ferelden," I guessed. "A life on the run isn't for everybody. Maybe they figured the templars wouldn't come after them so long as they were in a Circle?" It seemed as good a reason as any. I heard someone moan from one of the tents and giggled. We'd had to borrow quite a few from the templars just to get everyone home, I suspected this was the most excitement some of these tents had seen… well, ever.

After a brief stop at the Peak to get Fiona, who was still in need of mages and would be brining many of the recruits home with her, we finally returned to the keep.

"How are things going?" I asked Fiona while we waited for recruits to return from the Deep Roads. Gerard had all but seethed with jealousy seeing how convenient it was for us to send recruits out to kill their first darkspawn.

"Good," she said. "Very good. I recruited in Denerim not long ago. Some elves from the alienage, a few surface dwarves, and the king even called me to meet with him when he realized I was in town so he could offer a few of his knights and guards who had expressed interest."

"How is Alistair?" I asked, trying to prod her for more information.

"Subtle," she said, seeing right through me. "He seems to be fine. The babies…" she paused, looking into the distance, "they are beautiful. Perfect. They have the same smile he did as… well…"

I nodded. "Any further thoughts on…"

"Not really," she said. "We, we actually spent an afternoon together in his office. Talking about the Grey Wardens, about Duncan, about Weisshaupt and what I knew of his father. And then we got on the subject of books we had both read. It… it was nice, to speak with him like that. Even if I don't tell him, well, I'm content knowing him, knowing he turned out a good man. That he makes time to speak with me, even if it is because he enjoys talking about the people I once knew, is nice."

I couldn't argue with that, as much as I wished she would tell him.

The joining was an amazing success, with more than three quarters surviving. We saw the new Wardens off at the harbor when they left with their Commander only days later, once they had some time to recover from the ceremony.

I did finally receive a letter from Alain more than six months later. It wasn't about mages, though. He wrote in Warden code, which had come back into vogue since my trip to Orlais, and he had taken further security by having it translated into code from Tevinter. Even then it was remarkably vague.

Margaret-
Increased DS movement near Sea of Ash. Recall our conversation when I was last in Ferelden regarding knowledge Bregan shared with our enemy? A devotee of this enemy is said to be leading them. I have stepped up patrols and would appreciate any extra hands you could send my way. Let's stop this before it starts, yes?
Your brother,
Alain

With shaking hands I set the letter down on my desk.