Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste

[Balorak146]

Well, that could have gone...actually, that really is about the best it realistically could have gone.

And stop poking Amy's buttons, Shaper. She does that too much on her own as it is.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Well, that could have gone...actually, that really is about the best it realistically could have gone.

And stop poking Amy's buttons, Shaper. She does that too much on her own as it is.

Click to shrink...

Shaper gambled everything on Amy and is not going to give up until the Gacha pull gives it what it wants.

 

[bob1?]

wow, she really missed the point in lord of the rings…
you know I honestly can't wait for Cole to start his little "therapy" sessions with he, I'm sure it will go pleasantly for everyone involved.

can he sense shaper?

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: Behold! After another Breakdown, Amy almost gets it! Just barely in reach. You know what they say about hitting rock bottom before going upwards.

Many thanks extended to all my readers and those who have commented, and to everyone who has contributed to the TV Tropes page.

Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste

By Kylia

Chapter 12​

Once more, Amy was back in Josephine's office. Her desk was even more piled with papers and letters than last time she'd been there - the woman had been busy while Amy was in the Hinterlands, but she had said she'd been working hard on corresponding with nobles and stuff to get support for the Inquisition. That was a lot of paper though.

"How have you not gotten cramps from writing all those letters?"

"Long years of arduous practice, mostly," Josephine said with a soft laugh, sitting down at her desk. Food was supposed to be brought in soon, and Josphine started gathering some of the papers and letters together, putting them into drawers and organizing the piles. "I have been in charge of managing my family's finances for some years now, and before then, I maintained regular correspondence with friends and contacts all over Thedas."

"Sounds exhausting," Amy sighed. "Keeping up with letters with so many people."

"I find it quite invigorating overall, honestly. It is a wonderful way to stay abreast of matters happening all over the world, and I enjoy learning as much as I can. It is the mark of a true Antivan aristocrat to be able to have a skilled and informed conversation on nearly any topic one might imagine." Josephine's words didn't remotely make Amy feel like it was any less exhausting. "And as the heir to the Montilyet family, I have an obligation to manage the finances for the success of our House."

Amy blinked. 'Heir'. Not 'head' of the house. If Amy remembered what Josephine had said a while back right, both of her parents were still alive, but Josephine was managing the family money, not them? She wondered how that worked, but she didn't press on it. Maybe they just decided she was better with numbers or whatever.

"It is somewhat more tiresome trying to secure support for the Inquisition, though reports of your healing abilities are beginning to spread, and I suspect that will rebound to our benefit as well."

"I'm not healing rich nobles just to get their support," Amy said quickly. "I don't do requests. I heal people who need it, but it's based on who I can get to, and who needs it the most." She shook her head. She'd been offered money more than once for healing, to jump the line, to heal people who really didn't need her services just so they could save time on recovery after surgery, or not have to wait on transplant lists even though they had a long time before it was actually essential they got a transplant or whatever else. And one son of a bitch who had been eating and drinking his way into an early grave who wanted Amy to undo all that so he could keep going - no dieting, no cutting back on the booze or the cigars.

She turned them all down.

Heroes didn't take money to let rich bastards cheat the system. Or get out of the consequences of being gross, fat drunks.

"I do recall you mentioning you don't do healing 'on request', yes. Don't worry, I haven't pledged your services to anyone, though I'm sure requests will start to come in." Josephine assured her. "If I may ask, why do you not do requests? It would be of great use to the Inquisition, and from what I understand, your healing isn't a limited resource."

"Well, I have to actually be there, so I'm not schlepping all the way to some random castle just to heal some duke that thinks they matter more than anyone else," Amy explained. She sighed, "Mostly it's just - if I start doing one request, I get more. If I just refuse them all here, like I do back home, then they'll stop asking. Eventually. Mostly."

She still got requests sometimes, from people on the street or whatever who recognized her, but everyone at Arcadia knew better than to try and ask Amy for healing now, finally.

Josephine shook her head, chuckling, "I am afraid that perhaps you have never met an Orlesian noble if you think saying no to them would be enough to dissuade them from something they truly want."

"And that Orlesian Noble hasn't met me," Amy muttered. "No means no, when it comes to my healing. Someone tries to force me, I can always just give them cancer." She actually managed a smile. "That's actually part of the official plan my Aunt and Carol drew up, for if someone tried to kidnap me to make me heal someone."

"But it never happened?"

"No, thank god," Amy confirmed. "I guess people were either too afraid of my sister beating them to a pulp, or Carol cutting an arm off or anything else my family can do." She let out a breath. "People know my family's dangerous. They know Glory Girl - my sister - will personally take on anyone who tries to hurt me." She smiled a little, more genuinely and easily this time, then her smile faded as she felt the ache of missing Vicky throb in her chest again. She was always missing her sister, but if she tried not to think about it, it hurt a little less. She blinked her eyes, hating that she felt like she might start to cry again.

Damnit damnit damnit. Vicky wouldn't cry this much for missing me. Her sister could be strong. She could too. She had to be. Amy bit the inside of her cheek.

"Please, do not cry - I do not mean to keep reminding you of your family." Josephine opened one of the drawers.

"I'm missing my sister all the time. It's - You didn't make it happen." Amy said quickly.

"Still. Perhaps this can cheer you up at least a little." She took out a small metal box with a locked latch, and handed Amy a key. Amy took the box, and the key, shaking the box a little. She heard something moving against the metal, a lot of something's. Small and -

Is it it -

Amy set the box down on a clear patch of Josephine's desk and unlocked it, opening it to reveal that the box was packed full of coffee beans.

"I - Josephine, you are my favorite person in Thedas." Amy said after a moment, taking the time to smell the beans. She'd never actually done that much back home - it was usually just coffee grounds and coffee and boom, drink, but at this point she -

She had her own supply of coffee that she could take on the road now. This was a lot of beans actually, and she could probably be really careful and parcel it out.

Not that she wanted to just have a small amount, but that way she'd always have coffee.

"And I arranged for a coffee grinder of your own," Josephine handed Amy a small grinder, looking maybe less fancy than the one Josephine had used, but still, she could grind her own coffee.

"Thank you, oh my god, thank you so much," Amy let out a long sigh, feeling something almost resembling contentment for a long moment. "When we go to Val Royeaux, I can actually have coffee on the trip." She tried to think back to those distant camping trips, before her trigger, before Vicky's trigger. Back when life had been... back when Amy had been something resembling carefree, and she could just... be Amy Dallon. She hadn't been a coffee drinker back then, but she had seen one or more of the adults making coffee over the campfire.

"When you actually get to Val Royeaux, I suggest getting coffee at one of the cafes," Josephine suggested. "They're not quite as good as the cafes back in Antiva, but," she inclined her head a little, "they are still better than making it yourself here in Haven, or on the road."

"Assuming anyone will sell to the false prophet," Amy muttered.

"In my experience, the only thing cafe owners in Val Royeaux care about is how your money spends," Josephine assured her.

"Saved by greed," Amy chuckled humorlessly.

"Self-interest is often one of the best ways to motivate someone." Josephine pointed out. "Mutual self-interest is after all the foundation of all good political and business relationships."

"Because god forbid doing the right thing be what people do." Amy grumbled.

"Unfortunately, most people are not so selfless," Josephine sighed. "The world would be a simpler place if more people were such, but one must live with the world we have, not the one we would prefer." She poured herself some water from a metal pitcher and offered some to Amy. Amy nodded and Josephine handed her a cup and filled it.

"Don't I know it." Amy muttered. She was about to say something else when the door opened and someone brought in food. It was more stew, which seemed to be a staple up here. But at least this one didn't have cabbage, and from the smell, she thought that was pork, rather than mutton. Also bread - dark bread, like what they usually had here. Amy had occasionally gotten something lighter, but the rye was the most common.

Something something white bread used to only be for the rich people? That sparked some sort of memory from Amy, maybe from some movie or late night documentary she only half-paid attention to.

Josephine accepted the food with thanks and once the person who brought the food was gone, she eyed it with a small frown.

"It is a low priority, but I do hope we can import more options for food than what is available here." She said after a moment. "One makes do with what they must face, but... I am not overly fond of stew."

"At least it isn't mutton?" Amy felt weird being the one to point out the bright side, but... it was a bright side.

"That is true." Josephine let out a breath. "I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to come here, though I do admit I didn't expect to stay in Haven for long. If it was practical, I would strongly advise we relocate elsewhere, but staying close to the Breach like this is likely the best option." She sighed, "Still, why anyone would feel the need to live here before Andraste's Ashes were found, I will never understand."

Josephine was rich, so yeah, she was probably used to much fancier places than here. Better beds too.

Your home still doesn't have electricity and shit. I'm slumming it a lot more than you. Amy that back, rather than say it, because Josephine had just given her coffee and... she was probably the nicest person Amy had actually met so far in Thedas.

Besides, Haven was pretty shitty.

"I don't know what I don't like more. The cold, or the middle of nowhere or the limited food options. They all suck," Amy agreed.

"It is unfortunate, but keeping busy helps distract the mind from it." Josephine noted. "From the cold, the rustic amenities, the food, the wildlife, the complete lack of civilization for miles around..." she sighed, then started to eat. She had a few spoonfuls of her stew, Amy doing the same, before Josphine spoke up again. "Though given what you have said of your home, the adjustment for you is much more severe."

"Yeah, but we already know that. And no amount of bitching is going to make television a thing here."

"Television?"

Amy took a bite of the bread, grimacing at the taste and thought about how to answer. "TV is a way to like... watch a play without having to be at the theater. Any time, even if it's really far away. Or the play was done years ago."

"And this is not magic?"

"No. It's- I don't know how it works. I just know you turn it on and watch stuff. Mark - my adoptive father - and I would do it a lot when we couldn't sleep. It takes less energy than reading. Just... sit there and sort of mindlessly watch whatever was on that was halfway interesting." Amy explained.

Josephine shook her head in wonderment, "Being able to see a play any time, anywhere would be quite pleasant, especially here." She ate another spoonful of her stew. "I gather you read for pleasure, as a pastime?"

"I used to. I... I sort of fell out of the habit, and..." Amy sighed. "It's hard to focus on it sometimes. It's hard to enjoy it." And then the only book I have that's fiction right now is the book Katerina gave me and suggested I read and I don't want to give her the satisfaction of reading it. It was stupid, but it kept stopping Amy when she considered trying to get back to the Tale of the Champion. "Healing took up most of my day and energy, back home."

"I can understand not having the time to pursue your enjoyments," Josephine sighed. "Since taking over the majority of my family's finances, in addition to both my prior position as Antivan Ambassador to Orlais, and this one, I have found my time to simply... relax quite limited. Still, you are young, and there is little healing you can do here, at least, most of the time. You should take the time to rest, when you can. There is no need for you to work yourself to the point of exhaustion. I have many duties, and less relaxation than I'd like, but I do take what chances I can."

"I'm fine. I don't need to be coddled like I'm made of glass," Amy muttered. "Did Cassandra put you up to saying that? I'm fine. I don't need to - I'm fine, okay?!" Amy raised her voice at the end of that, and Josephine seemed pretty impassive in response to Amy yelling.

"Cassandra put me up to nothing. Why would you believe she had?"

"Because she gave me grief for not telling her that healing tires me out if I do a lot of it in quick succession, back at the Crossroads, and basically told me to rest more and stuff." Amy sighed. "She was like 'you should have said something and only healed a few people'. Like I can just... tell someone that 'oh, you're not sick enough for me to heal today, I'll get to you tomorrow."

"That does happen when there is a shortage of mages, alchemists or doctors to see to everyone that might be sick. Surely you understand the need to prioritize the sickest or most injured?"

"Yeah, but I can heal almost anything in just a few minutes, at most," Amy explained to Josephine. "And it's not like... I don't 'run out' of healing ability the way a mage can run out of magical reserves or whatever they're called. It's just... exhausting. I feel all... wrung out, afterwards. But I can't just... not heal people when they need my help right there, right where I can get to them."

"I have to do it, when I can. I'm Panacea, the miracle healer." She couldn't hide the sour note in her tone as she said it. "It's what I do. I heal people." And if she stopped, then -

Well, then she was everything Carol obviously always believed Amy was.

And I am, but I have to try to not be. Not that it would ever matter, or ever be enough. But - what else was there?

"That's supposed to be my life. I should be back home, healing people. There's people dying back home because I couldn't get to them. Cancer or heart failure or genetic disorders or - victims of cape attacks or a million and one other things. And the worst part is... I fucking sleep easier here, then back home, because - there's just nothing I can do about it." Amy blinked repeatedly, trying to hold back wetness in her eyes.

"Back home, I just... lie awake, at night, all the people I'm not healing running through my head. Brockton Bay is huge compared to... Haven," she gestured around herself, even though they were inside. "Hundreds of thousands of people. When I couldn't sleep, I went out to the hospital at night, and did more healing." Amy barked an empty, hollow laugh. "But I can't do that here! There's got to be sick people all over the place, but even if it was safe to, I can't just walk there and heal them. It would take days to get anywhere, and instead I need to go to Val Royeaux and do politics. And yet, despite all that, it's easier to sleep here because I just... I can't do anything about it! And I hate that. I hate it so fucking much."

Josephine said nothing for a long moment, then finally she pushed her bowl to the side and laced her fingers together in front of her, hands resting on the desk. "I understand how the circumstances might make it easier to sleep, knowing that even if you didn't sleep there's little you could do, but I... I must admit, I am at a loss to understand why you would hate being able to sleep better."

"Because people who I could help are still dying!" Amy insisted, "What does it say about me that I can just... accept that and sleep easier? What kind of person can just... ignore all that? I'm not back home, and people are dying because I'm not there to heal them, back home! That should be keeping me up at night, and it does but - but not enough apparently?" She was on her feet now. When had she stood up? "What does it say about me that I can sleep easier here, even knowing that being here is leading to people dying! Or even just suffering needlessly when I could fix whatever was wrong with them in a matter of minutes?!" Tears were in Amy's eye now, and she felt sick that she was saying all this, but - she couldn't stop.

She'd been in Thedas for nearly three weeks? Or maybe more? It was hard to tell. Everything started to run together - she didn't even know the local calendar. What month was it? What year?

Whatever it was, in that whole time, she'd missed her sister nonstop, nearly died at least twice - three times, counting that fireball Katerina tackled her over - had to deal with her hand feeling like it was being stabbed every time she closed a rift, got accused of mass murder, became an icon of fucking religious veneration and -

She wanted to go home, she wanted her old bed, and - and TV and electricity and the books she never read and she wanted Dean to be all patronizing and shit and Carol to be disapproving and Mark to mean well but not be able to do anything and she wanted everything to be normal and it wasn't!

And she had to deal with Katerina and her bullshit and it actually seemed like Cassandra cared but it was clearly as much pity and wanting to keep their precious Breach-closer functional and Josephine was nice but how much was that just her being a diplomat and Amy hated how fucking insane everything was and -

She felt frayed, and raw and exposed, like a nerve. She felt like that a lot, but this was so much worse, and now she was ranting and she couldn't stop herself. And couldn't stop herself crying either.

"It's already bad enough that I hate healing. It's bad enough that I wish I didn't have this stupid fucking power, it's bad enough that I - It's bad enough that I used my power like I did on that abomination! I helped kill him! And I used my power to - used my power to hurt him? What kind of monster would use the power I have to hurt people? What kind of person has the ability to save so many lives like I do, and hates it? I save a kid's life and their parents tearfully thanking me just makes me upset and - and now I'm resting easier even though I know people are dying and suffering here and back home and there's nothing I can do about it but that shouldn't be enough to let me sleep well and I broke my rules when I used my power to hurt the abomination!" she was repeating herself, words spilling out of her as an uncontrolled flood. It was every melt down she'd already had here but all at once.

Amy slumped back down into her chair, sagging, sliding down it a bit, wishing she could just melt into the floor. Of all the times to not be able to use my power on myself...

"There's a reason I insisted I wasn't a hero like my family. I'm not." Amy's voice was quiet, small, a whisper, weak. She shouldn't say more, couldn't stop, just...

May as well get it all out there.

"Heroes don't hate saving people. I'm not a good person like they are. Good people - good people don't have the power to save so many lives, like I do, and wish something would happen to take it away. Good people - good people aren't me." Good people didn't - good people didn't love their sister in the gross, disgusting way Amy did. Good people didn't look at their sister kissing her boyfriend and wish she could be in the boyfriend's place.

Somehow she managed to avoid saying that part out loud, but it was true.

Josephine said nothing for a long moment, looking at her. Staring, probably. Judging her. Pitying her, maybe. Realizing just how fucking pathetic Amy was, probably.

"I told you I am in charge of managing the finances and businesses of my family." Josephine finally said. Even as she spoke, she handed Amy a fresh handkerchief, or at least tried to. Amy didn't actually reach out for it, and Josephine set it down on the desk as she kept going on this complete non sequitur. "It is a task made more difficult by the fact that though the Montilyets were once a great trading house with vast fleets, our resources have become quite diminished in recent decades. It is something of an embarrassment, and the task of salvaging our position falls to me. It is... a heavy obligation. In such a situation, every expense we can reduce, and every profit we can increase, is essential to preserving our status and position."

If Amy had had the mental capacity, she might have commented on that, something about god forbid her family be a little less rich, but as it was, Amy could barely muster the energy to think that, let alone say it. She blinked, trying to stem the tears still slipping down her face, though at least she wasn't sobbing for the moment, anymore.

"It is a task, a duty that has taken up much of my focus over the last few years, and will no doubt continue to. Six months ago, I discovered that we were accidentally overcharging a merchant we were doing business with, and had been for some time. I hadn't noticed sooner, no one else working on my family's end of it had, but just as much, neither had the merchant. They had paid what was charged, and seemed not to notice we were asking for 15% more than what we should have. Added up over time, it was quite a sum of money, especially given the Montilyet's financial state." She sighed.

"Most in that situation - assuming they had even a modicum of mercantile ethics - would simply lower the price in the future. The mistake was made, but no reason to lose the money, especially given how dearly we needed it to stave off creditors and see to other expenses. Others might repay the overcharged sum, and leave it at that." Josephine shook her head and let out a small sigh. "But that would not be right - I repaid the merchant as soon as I discovered the issue, at no small cost to our limited reserves of coin on hand, but it is not enough to simply repay the sum - the merchant is a prosperous one, but they too suffered limitations and shortages for our mistake, as they had less coin to hand to see to their own other expenses. I spent weeks arranging favors to repay them properly for our error."

Fuck this is like Katerina trying to 'relate' to me by talking about her fucking cowardice. Amy managed to put the thought together about what Josephine might be doing. The other woman wouldn't just start talking about this for no reason unless she was building up to something. Calling attention to the fact that repaying them was hard, that they 'needed' the money. That she went above and beyond...

It was just like what Katerina tried to do.

But this wasn't the same thing? Katerina was a coward who had seen people doing bad things and did almost nothing. Josephine had discovered she'd done something wrong and fixed and done more.

Not the same thing. Not - fine she did the right thing but that's still nothing - it's just money and it's all rich merchants and cash flow and all that shit.

Amy's breath hitched as she tried to stop herself from crying - she had to look even more awful than usual now, splotchy and - and

"The merchant was more than satisfied with my efforts, quite thankful actually, and invited me to his home to discuss our business relationship going forward. Only when I got there, the merchant was nowhere to be seen." Josephine paused and took a sip of her water. "In his place was Leliana."

Amy blinked. The story she'd been expecting, some sort of... something about how Amy was totally actually a good person just because she healed or whatever, and now - what? The unexpected twist in Josephine's story threw Amy for such a loop that as she blinked at her eyes again, there were no fresh tears. The knot of dread and self-loathing and anxiety was still tight in her chest, her gut, that yawning chasm inside her always threatening to swallow her up still there, but...

Confusion was overlaying everything. What did Leliana have to do with anything?

"We had known each other, been close friends in fact, many years before, when she was a bard at the Imperial Court and I was at University in Val Royeaux, but we'd gone our separate ways some time before meeting again. She was there to offer me a position assisting the Divine in negotiating a peace between the Mages and Templars, and then assisting the Inquisition she would create to ensure that peace was implemented across Thedas, and held."

Amy reached for the handkerchief and wiped at her face - she wasn't crying anymore, somehow, but she could feel the dampness on her cheeks and everywhere else on her face from all the tears.

"The entire affair with the merchant was a test, arranged by Leliana. She believed I was the best fit for the task she had in mind with my temperament and experience, and she trusted me, from our past friendship, but she had to be absolutely sure that I was the right person for the job. That the Ambassador for the Inquisition would have to be someone of 'painful integrity' in her words." Josephine sighed. "I must admit I was a bit annoyed by her indirect approach, but I do understand her desire to be sure."

Leliana is a spy, so stupid roundabout secret tests of character seem like the thing a spy would do. She'd run into characters doing shit like that. But Josephine had done the right thing and more, so she'd passed. But what was the point of Josephine doing this? Or how was it going to tie back to her, since that was the reason Josephine was bringing it up, right?

Josephine set her cup down, "My point is, Amy, that if healing is something you do not like doing, if doing it taxes you as you say it does, then the fact you insist on doing it regardless is the more moral deed."

"A good person would want to help people!" Amy snapped, raising her voice again, angry. Josephine meant well, but she didn't get it.

"And you do," Josephine said simply, unfazed by Amy yelling at her.

"I just said I don't!"

"No. You said you don't enjoy the task of it, and that you wish you didn't have your power, or the obligation you feel comes with it. But no one has forced you to use your power, to volunteer to tax yourself as you have using it. You chose to do it. You wanted to do it." Her tone was simple, and matter of fact, as if she was stating just reality. Amy stared at her, trying to - what was Josephine doing?

"I do it because - because it's the only thing I can do! Because I - I never wanted this power. I never wanted any power. But I have it, and I have to use it and I have to help people."

"Because, at the end of the day, you are a good person, Amy. Wanting to do a thing does not mean you'll enjoy it. Believe me, I do not enjoy all of the tasks a diplomat must perform. But I want to do them, because I want to succeed at my work, and the benefits of doing so are worth it." The way Josephine was talking reminded Amy of Carol, weirdly, the way she laid everything out all matter of factly, building on what was obviously a whole constructed argument. She'd heard Carol practicing some of her court cases, or heard Carol arguing with Aunt Sarah about things, and her adoptive mother would often lay things out, say things... just as facts and with a delivery that Josephine's was reminiscent of...

"But I - that's not - you don't get it!" Amy protested, the words feeling pathetic. How - how could she explain it all? Her biological father, her - her disgusting feelings for her sister. She couldn't -

It was all part of it. It was her. She wasn't a good person. She never had been. Never could be. Her power was monstrous, and every time she had some thought, some errant idea on how she could use it to make terrible things, or do something awful, that was further proof.

"Don't I? Leliana's choice of words - painful integrity - are not the ones I would choose to describe my actions... they are... far too self-aggrandizing, in a false humility sort of way. But there is some truth to them. It was painful, to arrange for those favors, to free up the money to pay the merchant back all at once. But it was the right thing to do, and I would not have been able to live with myself. I wanted to be the kind of person who would do the right thing. That has always been true. And it is true for you. You want to be a good person. You want to be the sort of person who would do the right thing. And you see healing others as right. Which it is. And so you do it."

Josephine wasn't saying it in a supportive, 'I'm here for you', pitying way Cassandra had. She wasn't saying it, like Vicky did, in a voice of love and affection that made Amy feel worse because of the disgusting taint Amy left on everything to do with her sisterly bond with her.

Josephine said it as if it was unquestionable. Water was wet. The sun was hot. Gravity pulled things down. Amy Dallon is a good person.

It's not that simple. It's - It's not... Amy knew it wasn't true. But Josephine didn't know why. And Amy - Amy couldn't tell her. She was alone in this insane, stupid, horrible fucking world, and Josephine was nice to her and Amy -

Amy didn't want to tell her all the reasons the older woman was wrong. All the reasons Amy knew she wasn't a good person. All the reasons she needed her rules.

"It's not that simple," Amy murmured, the protest feeling weak and pathetic, because she couldn't explain it. How could she even start?

"Few things are that simple... and yet, they often are," Josephine pointed out. "Closing the Breach should be simple, and it is. Get the mages or templars to help you close it, the Breach is closed, Thedas is saved. And yet, it isn't. And yet it is." Josephine folded her hands in front of her, resting them on the desk. "You are young, Amy. Given time, I hope you'll understand, but..." she smiled softly, chuckling, "It is not that simple to understand... even though it is."

"I -" Amy started, then she felt her shoulders sag. What could she say? What could she possibly say that would even come close to making Josephine get it? The other woman just... seemed to believe it. She barely knows me! She just knew Amy could heal, would heal -

That I'm putting my life on the line to close the rifts and the Breach. Cassandra had pointed that out too, but - what else could she do?

There was no real point in continuing the conversation. Not right now. She wasn't going to get anywhere, and she needed - she needed time to figure out how to explain it to Josephine. In a way that wouldn't - that wouldn't make Josephine hate her. At least not yet.

It was bad enough being in Thedas. She didn't want to make one of the few people she almost liked talking to hate her. She was alone enough as it was.

"Thank you. For the coffee. And the grinder." Amy finally said, taking both and slipping the metal box and the coffee grinder into her pocket. "I - I should go. I - I don't think I'm going to be up to do more planning about Val Royeaux right now." She'd almost forgotten that this was a break for lunch. Her meal was only half-eaten, still there on the desk, but she wasn't hungry and

"You are quite welcome." Josephine said softly. "I do hope that even if you won't need to make use of my own coffee beans, we might still sit together and talk, over cups, from time to time while you are here, in the future? I am still very curious about your world, and I would like to help you understand Thedas better, for as long as you are here."

After a moment, Amy nodded, "Yeah... that... sure." She swallowed. "In the future. I just - I need to sit down and rest and - I'll - later," Amy didn't really know what to say, so she just... sort of said a few things and turned away, walking out of Josephine's office and out of the Chantry, still stewing on... everything. On what she'd done to the abomination most of all. How to explain it? How can I make her-

As she pushed open the doors, she was greeted by a whole mass of people standing in front of the doors, but for a change, they weren't all staring, as if waiting for her.

There were a bunch of people in armor - Amy recognized the Templar symbol on some of them, and tensed, but they didn't have weapons drawn and -

Cullen is a former Templar, Katerina is - must be other former Templars here too. They were standing on one side. On the other were people in mage robes, like the ones she'd seen on the rebel mages attacking the Crossroads. The loyal mages who'd joined with the Inquisition. Just a handful of them, though there were some other people standing on the other side. Including Katerina.

And arrayed around the whole group were a crowd of onlookers, watching as the mages and templars were arguing.

"...how dare you say that, when it was your kind that killed the Divine!" A templar shouted, to a chorus of agreement from the people behind him and some of the crowd.

"Lies!" The mage shouted back. "Besides, it was Templars like you who failed to keep her safe. Abandoned her and the Chantry!"

"I never abandoned the service of the Chantry and the Maker!" The Templar snarled. "Had your kind not rebelled, none of this would have happened."
"Right, and so they were supposed to just stand there and take it and die, forever, were they, Ser Gilbert?" Katerina said, arms crossed in front of her. In a voice dripping with scorn, Katerina went on. "Is that what a Templar would do? Or would a Templar break their oaths to the Divine the moment they were given an order they didn't like by her?"

"You speak of Oaths when you never even made one, Initiate," Ser Gilbert countered, stepping closer. Katerina did the same, and they were now a few inches apart. "You would have made a poor Templar, siding with mages over-"

"I'll stand with mages over anyone who still wears the Templar sigil." Katerina spat on the ground in front of him. Gross. "I'll side with-"

"Enough!" Amy heard a voice from behind her - Cullen - and he walked past her, moving between Katerina and Gilbert, shoving them both away from each other.

"Knight-Captain!" Gilbert said, sounding like he was about to protest, or something, but Cullen cut him off.

"That is not my title anymore. I am not a Templar, and neither are you. The Order broke with the Chantry, but we did not. These mages also chose not to rebel, because they are as loyal as you are."

Katerina seemed to be about to say something, but then Cullen turned to her. "And you know better than to do this. Antagonizing your brothers in arms is pointless, and dangerous. I'd have thought you learned your lesson after the fifth time you were assigned punishment detail to fill latrine trenches."
Filling latrine trenches? Five times? Amy assumed 'filling latrine trenches' was like, piling dirt on a big ditch that had been a latrine - something resembling a good hygiene practice - and it was just by the name alone, a shitty job. But Katerina had been punished with it five times for 'antagonizing' ex-Templars?

"We are all part of the Inquisition, and you should all act as such!"

Nice sentiment. At least Cullen, even if he had tried to justify the Templars rebelling with 'they felt ill-used', was part of the 'We've got bigger problems' program now. Better than not.

Low bar, but how many people in Thedas had failed to clear that one?

"And what does that mean, exactly?" A familiar voice that Amy hadn't heard since he'd been trying to order guards to put her in chains said, the watching crowd parting to allow Chancellor Roderick, hands clasped behind his back as he approached, a sneer on his face.

Think of the asshole, and he shall appear.

"Back already, Chancellor?" Cullen let out a small scoff. "Haven't you done enough?"

He poisoned the Chantry against us, so yeah, he has. But obviously he didn't agree he had. Because of course not.

"I'm curious, Commander," Roderick began, "How your Inquisition, and your 'Herald' will restore order as you've promised." He gestured to Amy, standing closer to the door, behind Cullen. "Do you have any thoughts on that, Herald?"

"Do I need to just write 'I'm not a Fucking Herald of Anyone' on a piece of paper and tape it to my forehead?" Amy crossed her arms in front of her, glaring at Roderick. Everyone's eyes turned towards her and Cullen, and Amy dropped her arms to her sides and pulled her hood over her face.

"Of course you are," Cullen muttered in response to Roderick's comment.

"You have no answer! Your Inquisition offers false hope on the basis of a false prophet! You're seeking to usurp the Chantry's rightful place in Thedas!" Roderick countered. "I ask again, how do you propose to restore order?"

"Closing the fucking Breach, for a start," Amy muttered. She regretted it immediately - why wasn't she just going back inside, or trying to get away from the crowd or -

"Closing the Breach you say? That would be quite the achievement, and yet, you haven't done it yet! The Inquisition claims you can, and yet-" Amy had to respect the level of sarcasm the Chancellor was bringing to bear, as much as she hated to admit it.

"If you have a better solution for the Breach, I invite you to offer one, Chancellor. In the meantime, back to your duties, all of you," he raised his voice, gesturing to the mages and ex-Templars. "There is nothing to see here."

The ex-Templars hesitated for a moment, then Gilbert let out a wordless, annoyed sound and turned on his heel, stalking away. The mages did the same, and a few others in the crowd did as well, though not everyone went.

"The only way Thedas can be restored to order is if it is done by the Proper Authority," Roderick said firmly, and Amy could hear the capital letters as he said it. "Surely you cannot believe that your upstart organization can bring peace where the Chantry could not?"

"The Chantry was bringing peace, until someone went and murdered the Divine, Chancellor," Katerina pointed out, because of course she hadn't gone 'back to her duties'.

I am her duty, so I guess that tracks.

"And you have not only allowed the chief suspect to roam free, but have claimed she speaks for the Maker!"

"The Inquisition has only claimed that Amy can close the rifts, and the Breach, which she can. What people believe about her is their affair," Cullen said firmly.

"And I'm not a fucking Herald of anyone!" Amy protested. Before Roderick could say anything, Amy kept going. "But right now, I'm going back to my - my cabin, and you can do your little one-man show for an audience that doesn't include me." Amy brushed past Roderick, keeping her hand from touching his - it would have been so easy - to avoid the temptation to give him diarrhea or something unpleasant and nonfatal.

A good person wouldn't even be tempted...

But that bastard made it so hard to not feel the temptation...

Roderick tried to protest, say something, but Amy didn't listen - the remaining onlookers parted for Amy to get past them, and she heard Katerina following behind her.

"The Chancellor is an idiot blowhard, but he's a good idea of what you'll see if you go to Val Royeaux," The redhead said, catching up to walk beside her.

Stupid tall person with their stupid long legs.

"Did Cassandra already tell you we're going?" It would make sense. "And you don't need to talk to me to be my bodyguard." She did not want to be dealing with this... coward. This woman who had put herself ahead of the people she was supposed to protect, put ambitions and dreams ahead of doing the right thing.

"...I was right there when Mother Giselle suggested it." Katerina pointed out. Oh, right. "And no, I don't, and honestly, part of me would love to not talk to judgemental bitch like you, but do you realize how boring standing guard is?

"I'm not here for your entertainment," Amy muttered.

"No, that's just a nice extra benefit," Katerina said with a grin. Then she sighed, "Look, Amy, I meant what I said - you are a judgemental bitch."

"I judge people who deserve it. You do."

"Judging me isn't the problem. I'm judging myself every fucking day of my life. Calling me a coward when you don't even understand the first thing about what I was experiencing is!" Katerina raised her voice, then flushed, looking around to see a few passersby looking at them both. Katerina grabbed Amy's hand and half-dragged her - ignoring Amy's protest and even if Amy was willing to she couldn't do anything to her since Katerina was wearing gloves - the rest of the way to Amy's cabin, opening the door and going in with her, before letting her hand go.

"If you're trying to make me forgive you, you're not helping by dragging me like that!" Amy snapped, crossing her arms in front of her. She could - she could fuse Katerina's tongue to her mouth - not for long, just - just for a few hours.

That would be okay, right?

Well, no, it wouldn't but -

"Why would I want or need your forgiveness, Amy?" Katerina countered, crossing her own arms in front of her, glaring down at her. Amy just glared back at her, head tilted up. "The people that I didn't step in to help - they're the ones who have the right to decide if I deserve forgiveness. You've made it pretty damn clear you don't speak for the Maker, or Andraste, so why, Amy, would I care about your forgiveness?"

Amy tried to ignore the embarrassed flush to her cheeks as she realized the merit of what Katerina was saying. And that she had made the same mistake she had when Katerina had told her about her crimes - of negligence, of inaction: that Katerina wanted Andraste's or the Maker's forgiveness through her.

I guess you hear me say 'I don't speak for the Maker' enough times and it sticks?

"Fine. Point taken." Amy admitted, hating every word of it. "What do you want, then?"

"I want some kind of truce or something," Katerina answered, letting out a small sigh. "I think you're a bitch, you think I'm some kind of moral coward, forever stained by my mistake. Fine. Whatever." She shrugged, "But I'm stuck with you, and you're stuck with me. So - truce? We don't have to like each other, but can we at least pretend to get along?" She held out a hand, asking Amy to shake it wordlessly.

Amy glared at the hand, and debated the offer.

She was stuck with Katerina, that much was true. Maybe she could complain to Cassandra, but Cassandra might not care. The older woman's primary concerns in assigning Katerina as bodyguard were probably trustworthiness for the job and skill Katerina was observably good with her massive sword, and at least in terms of standing between Amy and anyone trying to hurt her, or keeping people back, Katerina seemed to be worthy of Katerina's trust.

She certainly seemed willing to die to stop the abomination.

And as far as other possible bodyguards went, Amy was sure she could do worse. So much worse. Ser Gilbert, for instance. Or some other soldier, one who saw Amy as sent by the Maker and wouldn't believe her or care when she insisted otherwise.

A bodyguard that considered Amy to be a 'judgemental bitch' was better than one that called her 'Herald' and and looked at her with awe or reverence.

Besides, 'judgemental bitch' wasn't inaccurate anyway.

Arms still crossed, Amy weighed her options, given the reality of being stuck with Katerina. Would it be so bad to have a civil conversation? Amy was capable of not being a bitch to people she didn't like, she just didn't usually care enough to try. But with someone she really was stuck with... it would probably be better to have some sort of truce.

And while Katerina was a pathetic moral coward, it wasn't like she'd actually hurt any mages directly. That didn't give her a pass, not even close, but it was different then a truce with someone like that 'Ser Jethan'.

"What exactly do you mean by 'truce'?" Even as she said it, Amy's shoulders sagged, suddenly feeling exhaustion set in. The encounter with Roderick being an asshole had momentarily staved it off, substituting annoyance for the drained, wrung out feeling she'd had after leaving Josephine's office. Katerina dragging her here and opening with an insult - even an accurate one - had only fed that annoyance.

But Amy couldn't stave it off for long. Trying to explain to Josephine why she wasn't a good person - and failing - had taken a lot out of her and...

Honestly, arguing with Katerina about anything right now just seemed, somewhat suddenly, to be too damn much work. Amy sat down on the bed, looking at the floor rather than Katerina, her hands in her lap, exhaling slowly.

"Trying to have mostly civil conversations, and... maybe - maybe - talking more about stories? We both like reading - or at least, you used to like it. Thedosian stories, and ones from your home." Katerina put on an almost charming, rueful grin and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm pretty curious about that Lord of the Rings story you mentioned, and those Roaraxia stories you just talked a little about sound really interesting too."

Right. This is just because she doesn't want to be bored.

Amy had enjoyed talking about Roaraxia though...

"Yeah, sure... that - maybe we can do that. Truce." Amy shook Katerina's hand this time when she offered it again. She could handle being mostly civil to her face, and she could decide if she wanted to talk to her about stories later. Right now, she wanted to lie down and sleep and think about Vicky.

"Glad to hear it." Katerina's smile was smaller, but less rueful, more... genuine. "But I'll let you rest right now. You sound tired." Katerina stepped out of the cabin, closing the door behind her.

Amy got off the bed long enough to strip off her robes, and then her armor and flopped facedown onto the bed, before rolling onto her side.

Josephine was wrong. She was wrong.

She had to be.

She had to be.

---

The next day, after a surprisingly restful and nightmare free sleep, Amy stumbled out of bed after someone brought in breakfast, which turned out to be some kind of savory oatmeal-like thing, flavored with garlic and onions.

They really like both of those here. But Amy guessed that a lot of the seasonings she knew - like sugar, fuck, she missed sugar - were just not a thing in Thedas, or at least, not in some tiny town in the mountains of Ferelden.

But, tired of garlic and onions or not, food was good, and she'd woken up hungry, having skipped dinner in her rush to lay down and just... block out the world after her lunch with Josephine.

She finished the food, and washed up with a bucket of cold water. She would have made coffee using the fireplace in her cabin, but she had no kettle, so she couldn't put her new grinder and supply of coffee beans to any use, yet.

She also washed her hair, just with water. They didn't really have shampoo or conditioner or even close here. Asking Josephine before leaving for Haven had revealed that washing your hair 'with' something wasn't actually that common. Even washing hair wasn't common - done, yes, but not even close to as often as Amy was used to. Haircare was important, and Josephine had an extensive haircare routine, but a lot of it involved brushing extensively twice a day and having your hair in various stylings that made it less likely to get especially dirty.

The stuff they did have to clean hair was pretty harsh, though they also had some perfumed oils and the like to make hair smell nicer.

All in all, Amy was missing the three-in-one shampoo-conditioner-body wash she used back home.

So Amy was left using a brush and a fine toothed comb on her hair after getting water in it, and cursing at her tangles, and the brittleness was getting worse and -

Maybe I should just cut it all off. She didn't really care about her hair anyway, she'd only ever kept it long because Vicky had said she liked Amy's hair and how 'fuzzy' it looked once, and -

And Vicky wasn't here. And by the time she got home, her hair would have probably regrown anyway and -

But the hair's what I have of her, in that. Something she liked, something that's...

Amy picked up her long-dead phone. She hadn't actually gotten around to trying to charge the battery with the sun, forgetting a lot or just not wanting to do it, or...

She popped the case open and set the battery out on the table, where it should be able to catch some sun, and she hoped it did work. It would be nice to see pictures of Vicky again.

Giving up on her hair halfway through, Amy dressed, putting on her armor because she knew Cassandra would demand she wear it when they did more jogging, and then put on her robes.

She liked the hood, and the fact that she could sorta hide within the robes, and... it was easier to just... hide behind Panacea when she was wearing them.

Thedas had somehow done the impossible and almost made her think being 'Panacea' rather than Amy Dallon wasn't stupid. Almost.

Still better than Herald.
To pass the time, she tried reading some more of Brother Genitivi's book, reading the section on Elfroot, and then others on other herbs and plants used in medicine. They weren't as extensive as the entries in that 'Extracts from the Botanical Compendium for the Healing Arts', but they gave her something.

As far as she could tell, none of the other medicinal plants were quite as bullshit as elfroot was, in terms of ease of being turned into something that could heal, or the full range of what they could do. They were still bullshit since as far as she could tell they'd work just as well on elves as humans - (and dwarves, but they were biologically close enough to humans that that almost made sense. Though Amy was sure there probably were differences that Genitivi's book didn't discuss) but Amy was pretty sure that whatever magic was apparently responsible for elven biology probably made sure it like... functioned right with everything else.

I really need to get a real 'look' at elfroot. And maybe look into Alchemy. There was an alchemist here in Haven, right? And maybe she could touch someone who was being healed by magic or drinking a potion and see how it went?

But that would mean not healing someone who needs it and - I can't do that for -

Experiments didn't trump people who were suffering and hurting that she could help.

So... not really an option.

As Amy sat with that realization, Cassandra arrived and as predicted, off they went to jog. Amy hated every second of the lap around the village, but drew up short as they finished it and Cassandra held up a hand.

"We'll stop with this for now."

Amy sucked in air, legs sore from even the one lap. Less than that first time, maybe, but still, sore. She leaned against the wooden wall surrounding Haven.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are we stopping so soon?" She accepted a waterskin from Cassandra and took a sip, swishing the water around her mouth first and then handed the skin back to Cassandra and swallowed.

"I have something else in mind." Cassandra 'answered' ominously. She gestured for Amy to follow her and they went over to the training ground, where Cullen was barking orders at what Amy assumed were new recruits, running them through some sort of spear drills. Cassandra led her over to a row of wood and straw training dummies, some of whom 'wore' armor - leather on some, well beaten and dented steel on a few.

There was a rack of weapons just inside a small tent. Blinking, Amy watched, confused, as Cassandra produced a long wooden staff - though it was entirely plain and undecorated, no weird shapes at the top or whatever, unlike the handful of mages staffs Amy had seen so far.

It did have a series of thin metal bands wrapped around either end of it.

"Here," Cassandra lightly tossed the staff at Amy, and Amy just stood there, staring at Cassandra as it hit the ground at her feet.

"What the hell?" Amy looked down at the staff, then back to Cassandra. "I said I don't fight! You seemed pretty okay with that? It's why I'm stuck with Katerina all the time!"

"Even if you were willing to fight, given your lack of experience, you'd need a bodyguard. And, unfortunately, battlefields are a dangerous place, and twice now, you have been at great risk, despite our best efforts." Cassandra pointed out. "Normally, I would simply say you should be kept from danger, or allowed to take your own risks, but you are too important for those chances. Given that you are reluctant to use your power in your defense-"
"For damn good reasons!" Amy snapped, interrupting. "I have rules-" Before she could go any farther, Cassandra raised her voice and interrupted Amy in turn.

"I am not arguing with you about these 'rules' you speak of, nor even asking you to explain them." Cassandra closed the distance between them and crouched down, picking up the staff, standing back up, and half-forcing it into Amy's hand. "But your lack of desire to use your power in your defense does put you at even more risk. Even if you weren't so reluctant, it may not be enough. Had the abomination been less interested in grandstanding, it might have killed you."

Amy shrank in on herself and her hand tightened around the staff involuntarily, knowing how true it was.

Cassandra sighed, "Granted, grandstanding is not uncommon among blood mages, but we can't count on only blood mages and others of a similar bent to be the only ones to try to kill you."

"Oh fucking joy, let's list off all the people who want me dead. And I was having such a good day," Amy didn't care that she was being an ass now, because really, the last thing she wanted to think about was people wanting to kill her. She dropped the staff, but standing as close as she was, Cassandra caught it before it could hit the ground.

"I am not a fighter," Amy said, insistent.

"This much is obvious," Cassandra replied, and Amy flushed a little. Why do I care? I know I'm not!

"I don't want to fight."

"Also already established." Cassandra nodded, "But I'm not sure that this is a luxury you have anymore." Cassandra tried to hand her back the staff, but Amy refused.

"I'm not doing this! I don't want to fight. I won't fight!"

"I am not asking you to take the front line against demons before rifts are closed. I'm not even proposing you come along with us when I or others are dealing with other threats to clear the way to rifts, even in the back line. But, if something happens, it's better to have the option."

"I'm Panacea. I'm a healer. I don't hurt people." It was bad enough she'd had to be so close to fighting. That she had to wear this armor. That she'd broken her rules with the abomination. "The only good thing about this stupid, awful power I never asked for is that I was never expected to get into fights."

"I never wanted to fight. I never wanted powers. God, you guys would be so much better off if Victoria had been the one to get sent here."

Amy couldn't imagine she'd be better off though, thinking Victoria was dead at the 'hands' of a Bakuda bomb. Prospects raised themselves, about how she'd (completely fail to) handle it, how she'd respond but she refused to think about them, to follow that train of thought, doing her best to focus on the matter at hand.

"So you say," Cassandra replied noncommittally. "But you are here, not her. You do not want to fight, and such... peaceful intent is admirable, in a way, but Thedas is not a place that looks kindly on those with no means to defend themselves. Especially not a young woman in your position." She stepped back and lifted the staff up. "There is a reason I propose a staff, as opposed to other weapons."

"Because everyone keeps calling me a mage?" Might as well play to form. She wore robes - not that her robes looked anything like what she'd seen mages wear, but who cared about that? -

"The number of mages who use their staffs as weapons to hit their opponent is actually quite rare. When mages are skilled in the art of combat, they are more likely to make use of a sword, spear, bow, or other more lethal weapon." Cassandra answered. She stepped back further and swung the staff around in a small arc in front of her - despite the distance between them now, Amy instinctively stepped back, away from the staff...

"The primary advantages of a staff as a weapon are its simplicity of use, its limited lethality compared to a blade, and the range at which one can keep opponents at bay." Cassandra explained. She held the staff straight up, resting one end on the ground. "You are not a fighter. Using a staff well requires skill. But it is much harder to hurt yourself with a staff than with a blade, if you lack skill."

"I lack skill because I'm not a fighter, and that's not going to change!" Amy dug in on her position, glaring at Cassandra. "I. Do. Not. Fight."

Cassandra made another one of those scoff/snarl noises of disgust that Amy had heard from her many times before, and she closed the distance between herself and Amy again. "You do now, Amy," Cassandra said bluntly. "Whether you like it or not, your life will regularly be in danger for the rest of your time in Thedas, and I will not allow you to continue to be utterly helpless. It is up to you if you actually use the staff to defend yourself, but," she grabbed Amy's arm with one gloved hand, using the other to pry her fingers apart, and then shoved the staff into her hand, closing the fingers around it.

Amy let out a yelp as she was manhandled, but Cassandra didn't seem to care, and short of grabbing Cassandra's neck and doing something to her, Amy didn't exactly have a lot of options.

Cassandra stepped back to the tent and pulled another staff from it, though this one didn't have the bands of metal around either end.

"You can use it to defend yourself, or you can take the hits. You will need a potion either way by the time we're done for today, the question is: How badly will you need it?"

Cassandra held the staff in both hands and then swung the lower end of her staff, in a sort of 'underhanded' move and it rapped against Amy's shin. Amy yelped again, the pain ringing up her leg. It wasn't that bad, thanks to the armor on her legs but it still hurt! She jumped back a little, lifting her left leg up and shaking it a moment, wincing still.

"What the fuck?!"

"A staff can kill your opponent, if you hit them hard enough in the right places, but a blow to the extremities, or a lighter blow to the torso, is exceedingly unlikely to kill your enemy, without significant strength behind it." Cassandra said, as if Amy hadn't said anything. She stepped forward and swung the staff around, swinging down towards Amy's arm - Amy tried to step back, but this time she stumbled and landed on her ass. Cassandra didn't let up as Amy tried to scramble to her feet, one hand still holding onto the staff Cassandra had given her.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Amy demanded again. Cassandra's staff blow hit Amy's arm and the pain of the strike reverberated up her arm, eliciting another yelp from Amy.

"Most people prefer to avoid getting hit in the first place, and a staff's length can keep your enemy at bay. Or, if they lose their footing in the process, put them at your mercy." Cassandra extended a hand to help Amy up, and after a long glare at it, Amy accepted the hand, standing up.

"As I said," Cassandra noted, "It is your choice if you defend yourself or not, but trust me - others who fight you will not give you the same luxury of minimal force."

"That's minimal?"

"Compared to what I could do, yes." Cassandra said simply. She stepped back again, raising the staff.

She's insane. She's lost it. She - why is she - what is she -

"You have a weapon. Even if you do not wish to strike back, you can defend yourself. Or, I can hit you again. You have choices. Pick one."

"I'm not -" Amy started to protest, and then Cassandra's staff hit her right shin. Amy yelped again, stumbling, catching herself with the staff in her hand. "Stop hitting me!"

"Make an effort to stop me."

---

Author's Note: Another early posting, another time I'm ahead of the game. Expect another update two weeks from now, as per normal. That next update will be a pair of Interludes, one from Cassandra and one from Josephine. They're short enough, even together, that I didn't feel like it was fair to space them out separately. There will be more interludes down the line, but when is up in the air, as I'm still deciding on those details. At a minimum, I am committed to a Cullen Interlude, a Katerina Interlude and a Solas Interlude before the end of 'Book 1' (which ends at the end of 'Act 1' of the Game itself - DAI doesn't have formal acts, but it does narratively break up into three specific parts pretty well.) The Solas Interlude will be close to the end of Book 1, but I'm not sure about the Cullen or Katerina ones, or if I'll give Interludes to Varric or anyone else.

 

[quasit17]

"I never abandoned the service of the Chantry and the Maker!" The Templar snarled. "Had your kind not rebelled, none of this would have happened."
"Right, and so they were supposed to just stand there and take it and die, forever, were they, Ser Gilbert?"

Click to shrink...

Missing a paragraph break.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: The first interlude.

In general, most interludes will, generally, pick up from wherever the last scene of the last Amy POV chapter happened, and move things forward from there. But sometimes, since I'm already doing an Interlude anyway, I will take the opportunity to go back and cover something that already happened that Amy either was not physically present for, or that, even though Amy was there, another character's perspective on the scene in question is useful for the story. We don't backtrack like that often, however.

Also, Cassandra refers to the events of 'Dawn of the Seeker' in this fic. It is not required to understand the chapter - just a reference - but it is good and I do recommend it for fans of Dragon Age, though it definitely has some weird 'that's not how Thedas works' details kicking around in the movie. The movie is the events of the incident where Cassandra fought two dragons that were being used as a weapon to kill then Divine Beatrix (Justinia's predecessor) that was alluded to several chapters back, and how Cassandra came to be known as a 'Hero of Orlais' and 'Right Hand of the Divine'.

---

Slipping her blade past the guard of her opponent's shield, Cassandra drove it unto her opponent's armpit, his armor offering no protection there, and it sank into flesh. She pulled the blade out quickly and stepped back, avoiding a frantic, wild swing as the renegade Templar flailed. She caught another such blow with her own shield, and swung with her blade, aiming not for his torso again, but for his sword-hand - her blade connected with the gauntlet in a downward slash, and he dropped his sword under the jarring force of the blow.

It was a simple matter to dispatch him after that, and as she pulled her blade back, Cassandra looked around for any more enemies - there was only one left, she saw, an archer, making no move to surrender, firing another arrow - it sailed past her and hit the arm of one of her soldiers, but then a shard of ice connected with his shoulder, and a crossbow bolt sprouted from his back - Solas and Varric having combined their efforts to take down the last foe.

"Did Kirkwall have higher standards, or were these templars weirdly easy to kill?" Varric asked, collapsing his crossbow and slinging it over his back.

Cassandra sighed, understanding Varric's point, a fact she hated to admit. The insufferable dwarf had a bad habit of making correct observations about many things.

"Without access to legitimate supplies of Lyrium through the Chantry, it is likely many of them were suffering withdrawal, or using less pure or less refined Lyrium." Cassandra surmised. She raised her voice to give orders to the soldiers and scouts with her, "See to your own injuries with potions, or seek the aid of Solas if you require magical healing. Then check our fallen enemies. If any live, ensure they remain so if possible."

Fort Connor - named by the late Arl Eamon for his father, had once been a formidable structure defending the Hinterlands. During the fifth blight, Darkspawn emissaries had used their magic to break the defenses, and neither Eamon, nor his younger brother and successor, Teagan, had repaired the structure. Even in its current state, it was a solid foundation, and had the rogue Templars here had just a few more soldiers, or better discipline, then digging them out would have been a much harder proposition.

Arl Eamon boasted nothing short of magic could break its walls, and the Templars are fighting mages, so they likely knew this would not be worth concentrating forces in.

But its commanding position on the main road through the Hinterlands still meant it was worthwhile for them to place forces at. However, it was obviously not their main base. Finding out where that was would be made far easier if there were any survivors.

Following her own commands, Cassandra checked the fallen. Unfortunately, each one she found was dead. Over each body, she murmured a prayer for their souls. Each one of these renegades had crossed far too many lines, but most were still sincere - even if utterly misguided - in their desire to act as they believed the Maker wished them too.

She could respect that sincerity, even if it had not, and would not stay her hand.

She was done with the fifth one, still none alive - she hadn't ordered her soldiers to pull their blows, knowing the danger inherent in that - when she heard Varric's raised voice from further in the fortress.

"Seeker, we have a problem. A big one." Cassandra finished her prayer over a young man who couldn't have been much more than an Initiate when the rebellion broke out and then stood, walking further into the grand hall of the structure - and she pulled up short as she saw what had caught Varric's attention.

Growing out of the back wall of the grand hall of the Fort, like a tumorous growth, was lyrium. Red Lyrium.

"Hold back," Cassandra ordered to the soldiers and scouts of the Inquisition, raising her hand. "Do not get too close." From everything her investigation into Meredith in the aftermath of Kirkwall had been able to determine, simply being near Red Lyrium for a short time was largely harmless - it took prolonged exposure for it to affect someone's mind, as it had for Meredith, or Varric's brother Bartrand.

But it was not a risk she would willingly expose any of her people to.

"What the fuck is this shit doing here?" Varric demanded. "Meredith's body is still in Kirkwall, and there's no excuse like whatever happened at the Temple to explain this. Chuckles, any theories?"

"None," Solas admitted. "All I know of Red Lyrium is what you have told me of it. I still don't know if my theory about how it came to be at the Temple is even correct."

"It looks like it grew out of the wall." Varric murmured. "It sounds like Lyrium alright, but wrong, like that damned idol." Dwarves were said to be able to hear the 'song' of Lyrium, which is how their miners could find it deep underground. "Seeker, we need to make sure nobody else comes close."

"We don't have the forces to leave any here to protect this location, not while there are still renegade Templars and rebel mages attacking the refugees," Cassandra countered. "We can leave a banner here, warning those who might approach, but..." She shook her head.

"You did hear me tell you what Red Lyrium could do, right? Make shit fly, animate statues, be all make a place all haunted and shit. We can't just let anyone get to this." He looked back towards the fallen Templars behind them. "These ones already did."

"...you think they were using Red Lyrium to replace the Lyrium they lack." Cassandra did not like the thought of that. Meredith had not ingested red Lyrium, but if these Templars had...

"I have no idea. Andraste's tits, I hope not, but..." Varric shook his head. "It's one thing to keep Meredith's statue or whatever she is now under guard, but if there's Red Lyrium here of all places? How the fuck did it get here?" he asked the question again, staring helpless. "I'd say there's no way, but... After I found out what that damned idol did to Bartrand, I put a lot of money into finding out if anyone else had ever run into this red shit, and no one had. So this has to be new."

"Red Lyrium at the temple, Red Lyrium here." Solas observed calmly. "One would assume there is some sort of link between the presence of this substance at both locations."

"Yeah, but again, how? Rocks aren't crops. You don't plant iron somewhere and expect to be able to mine a whole bunch of it. Lyrium doesn't grow, so how does this?"

"Lady Cassandra!" One of the soldiers called towards her, and Cassandra turned, seeing him hold up a piece of parchment. "Found this on one of the bodies. It says the Templars have a base somewhere along the banks of the river to the west."

"Don't get anywhere nearer to that. I will ask Leliana and Josephine to put devote resources to seeking more information on this. There must be some sort of connection, as you say, Solas." Then she moved towards the soldier, taking the parchment and reading it. It did say as the soldier had said it did - it gave no precise location, but it was an exhortation for Templars to defy Lord Seeker Lucius's command to withdraw and continue the fight against the mages until none were left standing.

As she read the note, she heard Varric and Solas continue to speak:

"Red Lyrium at the Temple, Red Lyrium here with renegade Templars - sounds to me like the Templars - or at least these ones that didn't stand down - might have been behind the explosion." Varric pointed out. An even more troubling thought, Cassandra considered, and a thin thread to hang blame upon, but... possible.

"I can't imagine any way Templars could have Conjured the necessary power to do whatever happened to destroy the Conclave, and open the Breach," Solas disagreed. "If that is what caused the Lyrium underneath the Temple of Sacred Ashes to turn red, then the same sorts of magics would need to have been performed here."

Templar abilities were not magic, and neither what they could do with Lyrium, nor what Seekers could do through the force of their Faith could come even close to the force of what had destroyed the Conclave.

But... once before, hardline elements in the Templars and the Chantry had found a common cause - murder of the Divine - with blood mages. Both had been merely using the other - Frenic had admitted as much before giving himself over to become an abomination, and Cassandra did not doubt that Knight Commander Martel and Grand Cleric Callista had plans for eliminating Frenic once they seized power. He knew too much to be left alive.

Could something of the sort happened again? Templars, like these ones, that had opposed the idea of peace, working with mages that believed the same? With an active war going on between the two sides before the calling of the Conclave, it seemed absurd, and yet, it had happened before.

It is the most likely explanation for what happened at the Conclave, but I cannot say there is any evidence to support it. Having blamed Amy without evidence and nearly costing all of Thedas the one person who could close the Breach, Cassandra was not prepared to leap to conclusions regarding the identity of those behind the Breach.

Cassandra handed the parchment back to the soldier. "Gather the men and prepare to head out. We should finish securing this part of the West Road before we consider moving on towards the river." She turned back towards Varric and Solas. "As soon as the Crossroads is secure, and we have the forces to space, I shall assign some men to secure this Red Lyrium. Hopefully, some means of... destroying it might be discovered."

"That would be nice, but if it were that easy, I would have figured it out already," Varric sighed. He took one last grim look at the Red Lyrium, then turned away. "I'm going to regret just leaving this here, I know it."

"There's little else we can do." Cassandra reminded him. "We have to finish securing this part of the Hinterlands to clear a path to the rifts for Amy, and to make it safe for the refugees at the Crossroads. Once those are dealt with, it will be easier to spare men to protect the fortress."

"And in the meantime, people could just walk up and touch that shit. Can't you at least have your men pile some of this rubble in front of the door? Make it harder?"

Cassandra frowned. A reasonable suggestion from Varric.

She hated it when he had those.

But it was a good idea. Nodding to him, she gestured to her forces, "Once we leave the structure, gather rubble to pile up in front of this door. It will not do to leave this..." she looked back to the Red Lyrium growth, "there, easily accessible."

---

"Make an effort to stop me."

Cassandra did not, as a rule, attack people who could not fight back. There were times, when her anger got the better of her, to her regret, but generally speaking, she only ever fought those who could, who did fight back.

Seekers were not sent to deal with noncombatant apostates.

It brought her no pleasure to attack Amy with the staff, but she could think of no better option for getting the girl to actually be willing to defend herself.

Cassandra brought the staff back around and swung it towards Amy, intending to hit her on the side - lightly, but enough to make the point.

She does not wish to fight, and would that that was possible, but it is not.

Amy didn't raise up her own staff to block the attack, despite Cassandra moving slowly and making it obvious what she was doing, but at least the girl tried to evade the attack, and this time managed to step out of the way in time - Cassandra pulled the swing short and brought her staff back, resting one end on the ground again.

"Why are you doing this!?" Amy demanded, raising her voice.

"Because you are quite stubborn, and it does not seem likely words will convince you that you need to learn to defend yourself." Cassandra explained, bluntly. "I am not attacking you because I enjoy it, Amy. I don't want to hurt you."

"And I don't want to hurt anyone! I'm not a fighter!"

"I'm not asking you to attack me, I'm asking you to try and block, Amy!" Cassandra snapped back, then she lowered her voice, trying to be more calm: "Amy, battle is a dangerous place, and no matter how much I might wish it, I cannot guarantee, Katerina cannot guarantee, no one can guarantee you will always be safe when a fight happens that you are near to." Cassandra shook her head, stepping forward again, putting her empty hand on Amy's shoulder. Amy shrugged it off, and Cassandra let her arm hang by her side.

"And your solution is to just - attack me?! How does that make sense!"

"You have a means of defending yourself. You can use it, or you can be hurt." Cassandra explained. "I could hardly be making it any easier for you to raise your own staff in your defense." Cassandra stepped back and raised the staff again.

"Is this how they taught you to fight with a sword? Hit you with a wooden one until you fought back?"

"Not exactly. I was quite motivated to learn how to fight - when I was sent to join the Seekers, I was far more interested in the martial side of my education than the religious, even though that is what was emphasized, at the beginning." Cassandra explained. Her blood had boiled with a need for revenge, every day, when she'd first joined. She'd wanted only to learn to fight so she could hurt those who had killed her brother Anthony.

Byron had been correct, of course, to focus her on the teachings of Andraste, the doctrine of the Seekers, rather than the blade, at first. A Seeker was more than a weapon, more than a killer of blood mages and rogue templars. They served the Divine, the Maker, as instruments of Truth, of justice.

One could not serve justice merely with a blade. It was an important, inseparable part, but not the only one.

"We did train with wooden swords at first, yes, that is merely good sense. Then blunted blades, and finally real ones."

"Because training with live blades makes perfect sense," Amy muttered. "God, I'm so glad no one does that back home or I'd have so many people with like - missing fingers or hands whatever to have to heal."

Amy's phrase - 'live blades' was a strange one, though Cassandra could grasp what she meant. It was another one of those oddities in the way the girl spoke - turns of phrase, whole conceptions of the language that betrayed how... strange she really was.

"If you suffer an injury of that sort when training with a blade, then you were not ready for it, and likely not wearing proper armor," Cassandra explained. "As I said, it is harder to hurt yourself with a staff, than a blade."

"Still hurts when you hit me!" Amy protested. "I don't -" Amy started, perhaps about to repeat her 'I don't fight' protest yet again, but then her shoulders sagged and she let out a long breath. "I don't want to fight," her voice was quiet, plaintive. "I never wanted to fight. I never wanted powers. I never wanted any of this." She gestured at herself, "Let alone any of this." She gestured around her.

Cassandra put her hand on Amy's shoulder again, and this time Amy didn't shrug it off.

Amy was a confusing, infuriating child. She was, whatever her protestations, marked by the Maker in some form - all happened within his sight, and Cassandra could not believe that her arrival and survival in the explosion was not providential. And yet, she was not the sort of girl Cassandra would have ever imagined might be marked by the Maker. She was a cynical, bitter, angry child, a believer in little else but some internal moral code that Cassandra still had trouble grasping the details of.

At her core, her morals were correct, of course. Risking your life to save the lives of others, healing others with no regard for oneself, an aversion to harming people - they were of course all good principles to base action on. Amy did not know the word of Andraste, of the Maker, but she was good.

But the details? The Circles and the Templars as they had existed before the rebellion were a mistake - Cassandra had had her concerns, her misgivings, once she'd let go of her hatred for all mages - once Regalyan had opened her eyes - but Amy had a hatred for the idea of the Circles that Cassandra did not quite understand.

Regalyan. Cassandra pushed the thought of him to the side, for the moment. Merely thinking of him did not bring her to tears, but the wound of his death was still fresh, and there was still too much to do, too much that needed to be done, to let her focus on her grief for all that had been lost.

She could grieve when the Breach was closed, when those responsible for it were punished. She would grieve, for Regalyan, for Justinia, for all who had perished.

Going as much by her lack of statement as anything else, Amy seemed to see nothing wrong with inflicting harm on, or even killing, those who deserved it - those who hurt innocents, such as the rebel mages and renegade templars who had attacked the Crossroads. But the idea of using her impossible power even to hurt someone was beyond the pale and had reduced Amy to the sort of breakdown Cassandra had only seen a few times in her life. And Amy was stubborn beyond all belief in her refusal to take up any arms in her defense.

Cassandra didn't understand either of those - an aversion to fighting, Cassandra understood, even if she didn't share it. It would be easier to understand if Amy was a coward, but the girl was manifestly not that.

"You are utterly impossible," Cassandra finally said, lifting the staff and poking Amy's arm with it, enough force to make the girl yelp, but not enough to do real harm. "You are many things, but you are not a coward."

"You shouldn't be so sure of that," Amy muttered.

"You don't hesitate to draw close to danger when it is the right thing to do." Cassandra countered. "Katerina told you to stay inside when that apostate began throwing fireballs into the village, and you immediately ran out to start healing people."

"Because I could help them and I couldn't just stand there and not help!"

"A coward wouldn't be so cavalier with their life." Cassandra poked Amy again, in the side this time.

"Stop that!"

"Again, make me," This entire affair felt intensely juvenile, but Amy was barely more than a child, so perhaps that might actually get through to her. Cassandra poked her thigh with her staff.

"You are not a coward," Cassandra said again, "and so your utter unwillingness to raise a weapon in your defense is baffling. Josephine would far rather use words to resolve all problems, but she would raise a blade in her own defense if she absolutely had to." According to Leliana, anyway, Josephine was not unskilled with a rapier - no expert, but she was not foolish enough to be entirely unprepared for a fight. Leliana had hinted Josephine might have been a bard, in the Orlesian tradition, in her youth, but Cassandra hadn't pressed on the issue.

"You do not object to violence in all forms, as some do."

"God no. Some people fucking deserve to be beaten to a pulp." Amy confirmed. "But I'm not a fighter. I'm a healer."

"Back in your home, that might have been enough to protect you." Cassandra poked Amy in the chest, then the stomach in rapid succession - her armor meant it wouldn't really do more than be noticeable, and annoying. "It is not enough here."

Cassandra moved to poke Amy in her other arm, but this time, when she thrust forward with the staff, Amy finally moved - her movements were slow, somewhat jerky and absolutely obvious, but she did raise her staff and use it to knock Cassandra's away so it wouldn't connect with her.

"I said stop poking me!" Amy was nearly yelling. "Fuck! Fine, if it will get you to stop hitting me with that thing, I'll try to block you, but I'm not fighting actual fights and I'm not agreeing to anything more than stopping you from trying to hit me!"

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, curious if Amy would keep it up, and swung her staff downwards to hit Amy's shin again - Amy, again with a far too obvious swing, blocked the attack once more.

"I don't want you to fight unless you must. Such as to stop someone from hitting you." Cassandra insisted.

Amy looked down at the ground, shrinking in on herself a little - she was prone to that, extremes of anger followed by seeming as though she was falling into despair. But at least Amy again blocked Cassandra when Cassandra tried to poke her again in the stomach.

"I mean it. I'm not - I'm not agreeing to anything. I'm just - Stop that!" Amy cut herself off as Cassandra swung again, and Amy only barely managed to block her.

"As I keep saying, make me." Cassandra truly couldn't believe she was saying it like this, but...

It seemed to be working.

Cassandra spent the next hour arguing in circles with Amy about her unwillingness to fight even in her own defense, while mostly getting blocked in her attacks by the girl. Cassandra feinted a few times, trying to make Amy develop some sense of battlefield awareness, or at least start that process, but mostly she just wanted to make sure Amy kept blocking.

The arguments were frustrating, but attacking her and seeing Amy act in her own defense, even under protest, at least mitigated that somewhat.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: Short, but sets up some stuff up for down the line.

Cassandra is a pretty easy character to get into the head of, for me. Josephine? Not so sure. So all thoughts or critique on how I handled her voice and inner monologue are welcome.

---

"There is something very wrong with that girl. I'm worried about her." Josephine said, setting her cup back on its saucer, looking across her desk at Leliana. She rarely had the chance to catch up with her old friend, there was simply too much to do, and that wasn't even what they were doing. The lunch they were sharing was a working one, trying to keep abreast of what the other was doing and the seemingly endless struggle to keep the Inquisition going.

"Somehow, I suspect your concerns about Amy are not the ones I have, Josie," Leliana said with a small chuckle, setting her own tea down. "What worries you about her?"

"Everything! To begin with, it seems as though she's convinced she's some horrible person for reasons I can't even begin to grasp, she nearly fell to pieces just because I tried to assure she wasn't." And that really was just the beginning. She had only been able to spend so much time with Amy, and that was largely due to the offer of coffee - Amy's fondness for the drink outstripped almost anyone Josephine knew, frankly - but what little she had been able to pick up was quite troubling.

It was guesswork, but Josephine was fairly certain Amy was quite a lonely girl back in her home - she'd spoken only of spending time with her sister, or healing, or her schooling, nothing of any friends, or really any sort of social life. Her obvious preference for holing up in her cabin only reinforced that theory. In principle, Josephine knew there were people who preferred to be alone most of the time, but then, they weren't quite so emotionally fragile as Amy quite obviously was.

She bounced from extremes of anger to despair quite rapidly, and directed both at herself with great intensity.

"We know very little about her." Leliana pointed out. "Perhaps she has done something she's ashamed of, something she feels a need to atone for." The hard edge that often accompanied Leliana's voice these days was a bit softer there - Josephine did not know all of Leliana's past as a bard, but she knew some details, of Marjoline, of how Leliana came to be a lay sister of the Chantry in the first place.

Josephine's own mind went back to that young man, the struggle, him falling down the stairs, recognizing him. She still wondered what sort of person he'd have grown up to be, if only she'd used her words, rather than force.

"I suppose that is possible, but her guilt seemed far less... founded, from her tone." Josephine wasn't sure how much she wanted to, or could, betray Amy's confidence. Would the girl appreciate it if Amy spread the details of her concerns?

I still cannot grasp how she is so sure that the simple fact of not liking healing people makes her a bad person. It did have to be more than that, but what was it that burdened her? She hated being the focus of attention, always trying to hide within her robes. Amy was an attractive girl - Josephine knew young noblemen who would fight duels for her, and young noblewomen who might aspire to her figure, but she made no effort to draw attention to that, and indeed, seemed to hide from that too.

Cassandra does much the same, though I do not believe her reasons and Amy's are similar.

Josephine sipped at her coffee again, letting the flavors linger on her tongue for a moment. It wasn't the same as what she could get from the cafes back in Antiva, or in Val Royeaux, but it was still quite worth the expense of getting them here, and the genuine delight on Amy's face when Josephine had given the girl her own beans and grinder had also been well worth it.

"As I said, I am worried about her." Josephine repeated herself. "I wonder if the pressure being placed on her is too much for her to handle. She is little more than a child."

"Not much younger than when Kalaius Cousland saved Ferelden from the Fifth Blight," Leliana pointed out, smiling a little.

"We cannot all be the Hero of Ferelden." Josephine countered, laughing softly. "He at least already knew how to fight, as did you yourself by her age. Amy, quite obviously, doesn't have that much." She exhaled slowly, setting her cup back down. "Regardless, I fear she might break rather than bend under the weight of it all, and I don't know how to help her, or how to reach her."

"She's held up remarkably well, thus far, if even half of what she has said is true." Leliana disagreed.

"She looks like it publicly, but you didn't see her yesterday. The simple act of asking how she was doing set her off. She seems to exist permanently on the edge. No one can stay there forever."

"We hardly need forever from her," Leliana shook her head, "We just need her to last long enough to close the Breach." The hard edge in her voice was back. "She seems to be quite committed to helping with that, so I do not think she'll be unable to hold herself together that long."

"And then what, Leliana? Throw her away like a broken tool when the task is done?! Surely you cannot be so heartless!" The redhead did have a possible point about Amy's ability to bear up given the task ahead - whatever Amy's protestations, she was a good person, dedicated to helping others. She hated healing, but despite the toll it took on her, did it anyway, far more than she had to. She got agitated when she wasn't healing. Amy did seem to be able to use the task ahead as a means of keeping herself going.

But then what? Amy was in danger of breaking under the pressure on her, from herself, and from others. Indeed, she might already be broken, held together only by her own work as a healer, and now the tasks before her as Herald. But once the Breach was closed?

Amy needed to relax the pressure she placed on herself, at the very least, and find a way to have time for herself. She needed, in other words, a break.

As do you. Josephine could recognize in Amy, as in herself, that sense of obligation. But Josephine was far older than Amy, and she at least tried to take a few small times for herself, even now. Such as it was, and such as they were. Amy didn't even do that much, and she was little more than a child. She needed that time even more.

"I have no plans or desire to 'throw her away', Josephine, but the Breach must be closed. That takes precedence, above all else. The Inquisition is the only force trying, and Amy is the only one who can do it, as far as can be understood."

"And as I said, and then what? If she breaks in the process of saving us all, what does that say about us that we let it happen?"

"One girl against the lives of all Thedas, should the Breach not be closed?" Leliana shook her head. "It says that we did what needed to be done." Leliana inhaled sharply. Josephine felt her blood boil - Leliana wasn't the same woman she'd known all those years ago, and she had been the Left Hand of the Divine, but still! There were limits to what could -

Leliana held up a hand before Josephine could put voice to her protests.

"I am not saying that she should be sacrificed. Nor is a choice I am eager to make, but if it must be made, it must be made. As for what happens after the Breach is closed... I cannot say." Leliana lowered her hand. "I do not believe she is as close to breaking as you believe, but I can tell she is... troubled. The girl does not belong here in Thedas - that, more than anything, makes me certain of her story."

"You were the first to believe her words, back in her cell, from what I understand."

"I was the first to accept that she wasn't lying. The girl has even less capacity for artifice than Alistair. She shows her emotions all over her face." Leliana chuckled, "If she had any money, Varric would have fleeced her of all of it in a game of WicCked Grace."

"I think Varric might draw the line at stealing money from a child. He is a scoundrel, not a monster." Josephine countered with a small smile of her own.

"He might give it back after he was done, especially if it proved to be too easy for him," Leliana conceded the point with a small nod. "But yes, I believed her words in the cell, if only because she was not lying. Still, she speaks of something impossible, and her powers defy all belief. They are not magic, but achieve magical ends. They are real, and yet, impossible. If there are other worlds, they must have been made by the Maker, but she has no knowledge of him."

"I'm no Chantry sister, but if the Maker used Andraste to deliver his will to us, perhaps he used someone else to her world. The Maker's will is not easy to divine, as you have said more than once, as Divine Justinia herself often said."

"We can only do what we believe we must," Leliana agreed softly. "That is true, but it does raise questions. The girl does nothing but raise questions."

"And she lacks the proper education to answer them, by her own admission." Josephine would very much love to see Amy's world - the villains, the 'capes' sounded terrifying, yes, but it was a world of much wonder, and their understanding of the sciences had to be quite impressive, if they really had achieved so much without magic.

She was very curious what sorts of plays could be seen on the 'television' Amy had spoken of, for instance. The theatrical traditions of an entirely different world, with a history entirely unlike that of Thedas? It was a wonderful thought.

"She can answer some of them, if she would speak on the subject more completely." Leliana noted. "There are questions of the Maker that her existence represents, but there are more important ones for the moment - what exactly are the limits of her abilities? She can obviously do far more than healing, but what else? What moves her to action, what drives her? She is an unknown, and her reticence and insistence on keeping to herself makes it harder to learn that. And I can't exactly seek out those who know her and ask them about her past."

"I don't think it much matters what else she can do besides healing," Josephine shook her head, "She is quite firm on her unwillingness to use her abilities for anything else, from what Cassandra said, and from what I have seen."

"So she says. So she believes now." Leliana shook her head. "But we all have it in us, the capacity to do terrible things, Josephine. The measure of a person is what it takes for them to be willing to do them."

Josephine's eyes narrowed. "You're afraid of her."

"I am worried about what she could do if she chose to. And I am worried I know so little about her as to have no idea of what might serve as leverage. Her desire to go home is all we have, but I haven't the slightest idea of how to send her there. It is hardly a leverage that can be used, given that."

"You hardly need leverage against her, Leliana. She is no threat to be contained or blackmailed." Josephine abhorred the darker edges to the game, though she was not above strategic use of blackmail if it absolutely had to be done - she preferred favors, and winning her enemies over with words, or boxing them in with her own allies, if direct diplomacy failed. But Leliana was the Left Hand of the Divine.

Such a position existed for a reason, distasteful as it was, and Josephine was glad a woman as principle as Leliana was the one who held it, but it did make her see things from a very different perspective.

Sometimes, she left Josephine quite worried about her.

"There are times, Josie, when I wish I could see the world the way you do." Leliana murmured softly. "We must be focused on the Breach, but Amy is still a potentially dangerous unknown, and that she is unknown is what worries me about her."

"And if you are so busy trying to find some leverage against her, so concerned by her danger, that we lose sight of the task at hand? I don't think she will take it well if she finds out you're looking for some means to blackmail or force her to do as you wish." Josephine countered. She didn't really expect Leliana to be convinced - the other woman was stubborn when it came to things like this, but Josephine was not above being able to say 'I was right', if it turned out that this effort backfired on Leliana like she feared it might.

"What exactly is she going to do? Not help close the Breach? If there is one thing I am certain about, it is that Amy's desire to close the Breach, and quickly, is genuine." Leliana shook her head.

Josephine inclined her head, because she could dispute that. "I suppose you are right about that but if nothing else, it seems quite churlish and unfair to rely on her to save us all and plot to undo her purely on possibility."

"You prepare for the possibility of betrayal as much as I do, Josephine," Leliana said, chiding her, a small smirk on her face.

"I prepare for the possibility of being betrayed, protecting myself or those I am working on behalf of from the effects of it, not preparing to attack or undermine an ally." Josephine corrected. "It cannot say I do not understand your desire for caution in the abstract, but having had the chance to spend more time with her, I can tell you - there is no artifice in Amy. She is reticent to speak of herself, yes, but she cannot lie or hide her feelings. If you want to understand what motivates her, Leliana, you are perhaps best served by asking her."

 

[quasit17]

Josephine corrected. "It cannot say I do not understand your desire for caution in the abstract, but having had the chance to spend more time with her, I can tell you

Click to shrink...

I

 

[Kylia Quilor]

I didn't know spellchecker had an account here. Man, Technology is amazing.

 

[bob1?]

wow Caorl really messed her up…
Still wondering what happens when she and varic find out the Blight infected red lyrium

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: Last Chapter (and Cassandra's interlude) was something of a major low point for Amy. And arguably her lowest, and the point where things begin to trend upwards overall. She's gonna have some pretty bad days going forward - people who know DAI can probably guess at a few of them - but she's going to be slowly on a recovery for a good while, overall, so she'll be significantly more... reasonable.

Thanks are extended to everyone who has and everyone how will contribute to the TV tropes page for the fic. It is a great motivational boost to give it a look every now and then.

Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste

By Kylia

Chapter 13​

"You're picking up on things," Cassandra praised Amy, as she lowered her staff, and then took a sip from her waterskin, passing it over to Amy.

Amy took the waterskin and took a deep drink, flushed and sweaty and lightly bruised all over. Three days into this stupid staff training (not that they were completely giving up on the jogging around the village thing either) and Cassandra had only put more force into her swings, and Amy was collecting an annoying collection of bruises from where the staff connected with her. Usually through her armor, and Amy was blocking a lot of them, but Cassandra was faster than she was, and kept feinting and Amy was left trying to catch up, on both fronts.

"Am I really? Is this actually going to help me?"

"Yes, it will," Cassandra said quickly, firmly. "In battle, all the enemy needs is one lucky blow, truly. Every attack you are able to block, or dodge is one less attack that has the chance to be that lucky blow." She accepted the waterskin back from Amy. "Next time a demon or anyone else gets close, you might just be able to buy yourself some time to get away."

"Running away from the people trying to kill me is always a good idea," Amy agreed.

"It is sometimes the most sure means of your survival, and in your case, there is no fault in running from a fight."

Amy bristled at the 'in your case'. Cassandra meant it in terms of like 'you're not a coward for running from a fight when you can't', or something - which was... Amy couldn't totally agree with it, but she got it, and -

But it always felt like Cassandra was looking down on her because she didn't fight.

"So am I trained enough for it to be safe for us to go to Val Royeaux then? When are we even leaving and getting on with this plan?"

"If we could, I would prefer to take several months before we took you to Val Royeaux, or skip the entire trip altogether, but no other options have presented themselves for getting us the support we need to close the Breach." Cassandra sighed. "And word continues to come in about the Grand Clerics denouncing us, denouncing you."

"What the fuck is their problem?" Amy knew the answer, it was obvious, but still. Endbringer Truces are a thing back home, we can actually work together against the big threats! And Thedas couldn't even just agree to get out of her way when it came to closing the Breach.

"They are small-minded and petty, more concerned with the perceived threat to their power that you, that the Inquisition represents." Cassandra gave the answer Amy already knew. "Hand me your staff. I think that is enough for today."

"Oh thank God," Amy let out a breath and handed the staff over, Cassandra putting it back on a rack of weapons. "Are we done, then?"

"With training, yes." Cassandra answered, And Amy let out a sigh. That was a very specific answer, which meant Cassandra wasn't done with her for the day.

"And what else is there?"

"Many things, Amy, but for now, I have questions."

"Questions like 'why don't you want to fight?'" Amy rolled her eyes. "Goddamnit, I've said everything I want to say about that!"

"Not precisely questions like that, no. And others. You profess to worship no God, and yet you swear by and thank one with some regularity?"

"Habit. Most people back home believe in a single all-powerful God. Kind of like your Maker, but, you know, not. People say 'Thank God' and 'Goddamnit' and whatever around you enough times, you pick it up," Amy sighed. "And if we're going to talk religion, I need coffee."

She turned and started walking towards her cabin. She had a kettle now, so she could heat up her own water for coffee, and had, and the little coffee grinder Josephine had gotten her, and the beans... fucking lifesaver.

Cassandra followed after her. "It is already mid-afternoon. You are clearly well awake."

"Coffee helps with my mood, and keeps me alert and stops me from being even grumpier when I'm dealing with shit I don't want to deal with," Like being awake, and dealing with... well, anything other than her bed, or spending time with her sister, or, back when she read books, reading a book.

She had actually finally picked up the Tale of the Champion again yesterday. Just a few more pages. Hawke's arrival in Kirkwall, docking at 'The Gallows' with all the other refugees, packed in. Some had been waiting for days, or weeks, but Leandra, Hawke's mother, had claimed her brother would get them passage into the city. It was just a matter of telling someone that and getting them to listen.

The Kirkwall Guards had seemed distinctly disinterested in hearing anyone out, from the description of things so far.

"You and Josephine both, and that drink," Cassandra muttered, but she said nothing else until they reached the cabin. Cassandra nodded to Katerina, who was standing guard outside. "You may take your leave for the moment, Katerina. I will be with Amy for some time."

Great.

She hadn't actually sat down and talked stories with Katerina since their little truce - too busy with jogging, or the whole 'I'm going to attack you with a stick so try and stop me' thing, or with Josephine talking to her about what to expect in Val Royeaux. When she wasn't doing one of those things, Amy just... wasn't up to talking.

She was still brooding on what she'd done to that abomination. She didn't get why she'd stopped having nightmares about it. She was glad for it, but... why? It was still bad? She still felt guilty about it. Why was she suddenly sleeping so well?"

Thankfully, Josephine hadn't tried to lecture her about her being a good person since Amy had broken down in her office, thankfully, and Cassandra hadn't either.

I'm not. Amy insisted to herself, every time the question came up in her mind since. She wasn't a good person. She couldn't be. Josephine's argument sounded reasonable, but she just...

Josephine clearly was smart and educated - she mentioned going to University, so college was a thing here for rich people, at least - but she just... she didn't understand Amy. Didn't understand why, with Amy, at least, her perfectly reasonable argument was totally and completely wrong.

Had to be wrong.

"So what's this about, the whole 'God' thing? Because I pretty much said all I can really say." Plus, while Cassandra wasn't as bad as religious nuts she'd met back home, the older woman was devout, and armed, and talking in detail about how she was an atheist didn't really seem like a good idea, under those circumstances.

"It is a matter I have questions about," Cassandra said, but Amy could hear the 'but' coming, as she poured water from a pitcher into the kettle, and started grinding coffee beans as Cassandra went on. "But, it will have to wait for another time. I want to ask you about your family."

Amy paused mid-turn of the wheel of the grinder and then stared at Cassandra. "My family." Amy had talked about her sister a lot, on the road, with Varric, or with Josephine, and of course that had touched on her family, but she hadn't spoken in detail about Carol or Mark or anything like that. "Why do you want to-?"

"I'm trying to understand you. You are a confounding, confusing young woman, Amy, and if I am to help you carry the burden of being Herald, of bearing that Mark, as I promised, I need to understand how to help."

Goddamnit. Amy didn't need -

"I don't need-"
"Yes, Amy, you do," Cassandra reached across and put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "I am... I am not perhaps the best person to provide that help, but I'm not sure who would be. What little rapport you had with Katerina has not been present since the Hinterlands, and while you seem to get on well with Josephine, she cannot be there in the field, or come with us to Val Royeaux."

"I can manage just fine." Amy muttered. "I don't need the help of a coward like Katerina."

"Coward? Katerina is many things, some of them... frustrating, but a coward is not one of them."

"She stayed silent when she had a choice to speak out. She told me all about what happened when she was an Initiate. How she only quit when the Templars turned on the Chantry."

"Then you know she also tried to speak out and saw the consequences, for herself and the one she spoke to." Cassandra countered. Amy opened her mouth to rebut, to explain that wasn't enough - doing the right thing wasn't just... trying and then giving up when you failed, because you were afraid of what could go wrong, or you didn't like the consequences. But before she could say anything, Cassandra held up a hand. "As long as you aren't so unhappy with Katerina that you want a different bodyguard, I see no reason to step into your issues with her."

"No, I don't want a different bodyguard. At least this one isn't all... reverent and stuff, like half the people in the village." More than half, even, maybe. And she was still better than someone like Ser Gilbert, or anyone else who thought like a Templar. They served a purpose, she got that... having been face to face with that abomination, she had no issues with them trying to prevent that.

But imprisoning mages and getting addicted to Lyrium - even on orders - and then rebelling because they couldn't be oppressive was still bad shit. And even if the Templars working for the Inquisition hadn't rebelled, Ser Gilbert and the ones who had stood with him during that spat still hated mages, or close enough.

"Then let us return to the matter at hand. Your family."

Amy returned to turning the grinder, as much to buy time as to finish grinding the beans she'd added to it.

"Fine. What do you want to know about my family."

"You've said they're heroes, who protect the people of your city from criminals, like that man Hookwolf, you mentioned. Or more ordinary armed thugs." Amy nodded. "And they were for your entire life?"

"All that I can remember. I'm adopted, so I wasn't part of the family until I was six,"

"What of your birth parents?"

"I don't remember anything about them." She knew she remembered a bit more about her birth mother when she was younger, but at this point, all memories of her had faded - she remembered she remembered the smell of strawberries, but that was it. Her birth father... she didn't remember much about him either, thank god.

"You remember nothing of your life before you were six?"

"Pretty much. What, do you remember much when you were that old?!" Lots of people didn't have strong memories from that far back!

"I am more than twice your age," Which would make Cassandra about Carol's age, right? Amy did some math in her head - she knew Carol's date of birth, so...

Yeah. Just about. Depending on how much Cassandra meant by 'more than'. One year? Five?

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I do have a few memories of back then." Cassandra answered. "...Many centering around when I was told my parents were being punished for treason and my brother and I would be given to our uncle to raise." She exhaled quietly. "I was six when I learned that as well."

"...Your parents were traitors?" Amy blinked. What sort of treason? How did -

"My parents made the mistake of joining in a plot against King Markus, then - and still - King of Nevarra. When it failed, they and their conspirators were executed, and many of their immediate families were exiled, had their lands and titles revoked or were also executed." Cassandra explained. Amy grimaced. Her parents had been executed when she was six? How was Cassandra so nonchalant about that? Fine, it had probably been thirty years, but...

Her parents were criminals, but like - weren't the American revolutionaries traitors? Amy had no idea what kind of King this Markus was or - Amy didn't really know enough to even begin to grasp how to respond to that. Overthrowing evil kings was always what the heroes did in stories, and punishing the families of conspirators against you seemed pretty 'evil king' territory?

"But you didn't get killed, exiled or have anything revoked?"

"Not as such, no." Cassandra agreed. "My brother was but thirteen, and I was six. We were both deemed too young, and we were Markus's kin... when loyal relatives spoke on our behalf, we were given to our Uncle Vestalus."

"Your uncle was one of those necromancer guys." Amy remembered Cassandra mentioning being raised in her Uncle's home, now that she thought of it.

"Mortalitasi, yes." Cassandra answered. Amy blinked as she registered something else Cassandra said.

"Wait, you're related to the King of Nevarra? You're royalty?!" She looked at Cassandra, wondering how she'd never picked up on that. But - how could she pick up on it? Amy had no idea how princesses outside of Disney movies or YA books acted, and with the latter it's because she knew a given character was a princess if they weren't... 'acting like one'...

"In the loosest sense of the word," Cassandra said with a sigh. "I am, last time I was told, seventy-eighth in line for the throne."

"Last time you were told? So you don't check?" Amy tipped the very well ground coffee into the kettle, hanging it up over the fire. She was sort of doing this to try and stave off Cassandra asking questions, but now she was also curious. Amy wasn't - it was just... kinda weird, being so close to royalty. Do you get to be called a princess if you're 78th in line? How did that even work? Did they really track succession that far forward ahead of time?

Had some group of genealogists sat around a table and said 'Right, let's plan ahead and find out who will take the throne if 77 people die unexpectedly in quick succession'?

"I have no interest in the affairs of court. The Pentaghasts are a large clan, I have hundreds of relatives, some so distant that we would require charts to tell exactly how we are related." Cassandra grimaced. "And yes, they all have them. Most Pentaghasts value their precious blood like it runs with gold."

"But not you?" Amy raised an eyebrow, feeling a little skeptical.

"I have but rarely returned to Nevarra since becoming a Seeker, and only in service to my duties as one." Cassandra answered. "The Pentghast family were once dragon hunters of great renown, in addition to being the rulers of Nevarra. Few now have any desire to make anything of themselves."

Cassandra killed two dragons and saved the Divine, so clearly she's a Dragon Hunter... Or at least, killed dragons. Curiosity pressed at Amy, about Dragons - as stupid an idea as it was, she still wanted to touch one, see how the hell it was possible for them to fly and breathe fire. She really hoped the answer wasn't 'it's magic', like it was with 'how do elves work?'

"But we are, again, getting sidetracked. Your family."

Amy inhaled slowly. "Right. Fine. Yes, they've been heroes for all the life that I remember. New Wave is the name of the team. Carol and Mark - my adoptive parents. Uncle Mike, Aunt Jess, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Neil. Then Aunt Jess died and Uncle Mike moved away, and there were just four left, until my cousin Crystal got her powers."

"Magic has been known to run in bloodlines..." Cassandra started, furrowing her brow. "Not always parent to child, but -"

"Powers aren't inherited... not exactly. There's parahumans that have kids that never got powers, but second-generation parahumans are a thing. Like my cousins and my sister and me."

"But you aren't related by blood to the rest of your family." Now Cassandra was the one raising an eyebrow. "Were your birth parents-"
"I don't know." Amy lied. Her birth father, yes. Her birth mother? Amy had no idea. She knew that the latter had died and she'd gone to live with the former afterwards, but beyond that... she really hoped her birth mother didn't know what sort of man she'd slept with until after. Whoever her birth father was...

He had to have been a monster.

"I don't look anything like the rest of my family. They're all... blonde and tall and... they don't have these," she gestured to her freckles, "Naturally thin and athletic and all that too. Anyone who looks at us can tell I don't fit in." Amy looked down at the ground as she said that. It didn't really hurt much anymore to talk about that, but...

One ill-advised attempt to bleach her hair blonde (which had nearly damaged her scalp because she'd used too much and done it wrong) and Carol's response to it had been enough to convince Amy that looking like part of the family wouldn't change anything.

"I'm not saying they weren't your family I - I am merely trying to understand." Cassandra put her hand on Amy's shoulder again and squeezed lightly in what Amy imagined was supposed to be a supportive gesture, but it felt... awkward. Like she really had no idea what she was doing.

Which oddly, almost made it feel more... genuine? This wasn't some practiced pity move...

It was still pity, of course - and it was just Cassandra trying to 'help' because she needed her for the Breach, but -

Of course, Cassandra was saying they were her family... she was wrong. Vicky was her family. But Carol had made it clear, even if not by words, that Amy wasn't family. Crystal and Eric... she supposed they acted like cousins were supposed to, so they were family, they saw her as family. Aunt Sarah? Uncle Neil? Maybe, them too. Mark...

Mark cared, but he just... wasn't there.

"What are you trying to understand? Where are these questions going? What's the point?" Amy finally said, not wanting to linger on Carol, on the inescapable fact of her isolation from her family. That no matter what she did, what she tried, she was never -

Cassandra inhaled sharply, letting her hand fall back by her side and letting out a breath. "I suppose - I'm trying to understand if getting powers, if becoming a hero like your parents, your Aunts and Uncles, was something you had reason to anticipate being your whole life with them."

What the fuck does that have to-

"Maybe? It was - Victoria would be able to go into detail about this, but second generation powers were known as a thing, even if not well understood. Just in Brockton Bay - there was this villain, Allfather. Nazi piece of shit," that Cassandra had no idea what a Nazi was didn't really register in Amy's mind as she went on, "He died years before I ever got my powers, but he had two kids. His son, Kaisar, and his daughter, Iron Rain." Iron Rain had also died before she'd ever even gone to live with the Dallons, just from knowing basic timelines. "No one knew who any of them were under the masks, but everyone knew they were his kids. He led a gang called Empire 88 - all Nazi shitheads - and now Kaisar leads it."

"A hereditary gang?" Cassandra sounded surprised. "It seems surprising that a collection of thugs could hold together for that long. But then - so you knew growing up you would get powers?"

"Could get powers. It's not - it's not certain. There's Parahumans with kids who never get powers, or..." Amy furrowed her brow, trying to think, trying to figure out how to explain it. "People look like their biological parents because they inherit things from them. Vicky looks like a younger Carol, basically." It had been really weird, finding an old picture of Carol when she was Amy and Vicky's age a year and change back. It hadn't been identical, but... "Someone has black hair because one or both of their parents did, or green eyes, or whatever because parents pass those biological traits onto their kids. We call those genes," Amy was massively oversimplifying, but... she kind of had to. "From what I remember my sister telling me one time - she studied this - no one's found a... parahuman gene. Victoria once said there was a theory about... proximity to a parahuman for long enough, rather than who your parents were?"

Fuck, I don't think I even remembered her saying that to me until I started thinking about it. Amy listened when her sister infodumped about powers, she did, and in the moment, Amy tried to be actively engaged, if Vicky wanted it, but - in the end, it wasn't her thing. She didn't care, she didn't really want to know all that, so it tended to just... end up in the back of her mind.

"I guess... yeah, we knew it was possible. Just... not certain." Amy concluded. "Crystal was the first one to get powers." She thought back to that conversation - she still remembered it way too vividly, the one where Carol had managed to kill the Roar books for her, without even meaning to. The weight of her disapproval and expectations and...

"You only get powers through something bad happening to you." Amy said. "Something awful. I never wanted to go through that." She swallowed. "I wish I hadn't. Seeing Vicky like that, bleeding - she was... You never realize how much blood the human body can hold until you see it all spilling out, and it's getting all over your hands and -" Amy tried to shut herself up, tried to stop talking - she tried to drive the images of it out of her head, the feeling of seeing her sister, the most important person in her life, the only person who -

Her breathing was coming faster and shallow and -

"Amy." Cassandra had a hand on her shoulder, and then took one of Amy's hands in her other hand. "Look at me. Breathe."

Amy opened her eyes and looked at Cassandra. "Breathe," Cassandra repeated, and Amy tried to force herself to take a deep breath. It didn't really work, all ragged and shallow, but then she tried again, and then a third time, and that one was at least mostly a deep breath. Kinda. Sorta.

"I'm sorry for bringing up that memory. I saw how badly you reacted to discussing what happened to your sister the first time. I wasn't trying to revisit that, but... I should have expected this, and steered the conversation better."

Amy wiped at her eyes, taking another deep breath, looking away - the intensity in Cassandra's expression was a lot to look at - and she swallowed. "It's - it's okay. I... it's worse, just because I haven't seen her in so long." Amy explained. It wasn't like she liked thinking about that day, but she didn't usually get so immediately bad about it if she did, and -

Don't linger on it. Get to something safer. Anything that would make sure her thoughts stayed away from that, at least a little...

"I never wanted powers. I didn't want to go out and fight. I didn't want to... I didn't want to hurt people or get hurt myself or... do you know what it's like, everyone knowing you as the miracle healer? It doesn't happen as much anymore, but it used to be people were always coming up to me, asking me to heal this person or that person, or- Most people with powers wear masks. Take it off, and they could be anyone. My family... always in the public eye. Photo shoots and publicity events and assholes following to try and find some hint of scandal."

Local celebrity, cape celebrity - it wasn't the same as being a famous child actress, sure, thank God, but it was still... still too much. And then she got powers.

"I hate people looking at me." Amy shrugged off Cassandra's hand and let go of the other one and stood, taking the kettle and pouring coffee into a cup. "Vicky. Vicky always wanted powers. She wanted to... she wanted to be the one in the spotlight, wanted to be the one who could get rid of all the bastards destroying the city. All the gangs, the villains. Every night, she'd fly around, looking for thugs to stop, to take down, to arrest."

To throw dumpsters at...

"She's a hero. Every day, she's focused on saving lives, on helping people. That's what she wanted to do. It's always what she wanted to do. Me?" Amy shook her head. "I never wanted any of that."

"Your sister spent years preparing to become a warrior, someone who fought. And you did not." Cassandra said after a moment, sounding like she was having some sort of realization.

"And then I got this. I could fight with this, you're right. One touch to bare skin, out like a light." Well, it could take a few seconds, probably, depending on how invasive she wanted to be, but...

Amy sipped at her coffee.

"I never wanted that. I don't want that. If I didn't have to deal with demons and abominations and all the other insane crazy stuff here, I could just... keep healing. I wouldn't need to fight with a staff."

"But you do need to." Cassandra said. "You need to be able to defend yourself."

"I need the ability to stop you from whacking me, at least," Amy muttered. "A staff wouldn't have saved me from that abomination."

"Maybe not. But it might have given you more time. More options." Cassandra countered. "And the next opponent that comes close enough to harm you might be wearing too much armor for you to use your power on, if forced to."

If they're wearing armor they're human and I don't - I can't -

It was one thing to use her power on that... thing. It was once a person, but she'd watched, live, as he'd become something very much... not. And she'd felt how unnatural he was, both just... seeing him, being near him, and touching the body. Anything that might have been human was in the rearview mirror.

But an actual person? Even... even someone monstrous? A Hookwolf for Thedas?

I can't do that. I can't - I can't use my powers like that on them. What she'd done was bad enough, proving every fear she'd had right, for all that Josephine and Cassandra didn't get that.

"That's true." Amy hated both words as they left her, but it was true. And - and hitting people with a staff didn't have to kill them. Blunt force trauma could kill, yes, but it usually took blows to the head, or shattered ribs getting into lungs or things like that to cause major harm immediately.

Internal bleeding took time, and that she could correct. Even someone in armor - once they were down for the count, she could heal them.

"I don't want to hurt people. Even people who probably deserve it. Even people who definitely deserve it." There had been nothing satisfying about ramming that fire extinguisher into Skitter's head. Nothing.

Nothing!

"But...you're trying to help. And you're right. I just..." She sighed, and she tried to find a way to put it into words. Because Cassandra was right. She hated that Cassandra was right, she didn't want to admit that Cassandra was right, wanted more than anything else to live in a world where Cassandra was as wrong as it was possible to be.

But she also didn't want to die. She didn't want another abomination, or a demon, or some heavily armored idiot with a sword to kill her.

She didn't want to hurt people, but she was so far past that she couldn't see daylight, wasn't she? So what was it? Or rather - she knew what it was. Just... how did she say it?

"I just - every day, I feel like I'm slipping away. I'm Amy Dallon. Panacea. I hate the name, but that's who I am, what I am. Now I'm here, I can't heal as many people, or as much. My family isn't here, and I - I've got this stupid thing on my hand, and I barely understand anything happening around me, and people are looking at me like I'm the Second Coming and - and now I'm faced with having to fight." She looked down at her robes. She hated them, hated the red cross symbol, hated that the robes defined her as Panacea, hated that she was supposed to be called Panacea when she was wearing it, back home, but...

At least that was familiar. She knew who 'Amy Dallon, Panacea' was.

Who the hell was 'Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste'?

"I don't want to fight, I don't want to hurt people, but just as much... at least here... I don't want to stop being who I am. What I am. And it feels like I'm losing that." Amy held her coffee in both hands, just sort of letting the warmth from the cup radiate into her body.

Cassandra looked at her for a long moment, silent, then: "I wish I had some form of assurance for you that your fears are wholly unfounded."

"But you don't. You can't say it."

"I can't." Cassandra agreed. "I joined the Seekers when I was younger than you are now, and that has been my purpose for almost my whole life. When Lord Seeker Lambert led the Seekers and the Templars into rebellion, I could not join them. What does it mean, to be a Seeker, who is in effect, no more a member of the Seekers? When Divine Justina lived, I was her Right Hand, her guardian, her sword. That much could drive me. Without her..." Cassandra trailed off, shaking her head.

"I am thirty eight years old, and I do not think it is unreasonable to say I have a greater sense of myself, and who I am, than you do." She smiled softly, "It is perhaps a privilege of experience. But... I cannot say that I am free of the questions of who I am, and who I am becoming. If the Maker is with us, the Breach will be closed, and those responsible for the destruction of the Conclave will be brought to justice..."

Cassandra sounded pretty certain of success, given the 'if the Maker is with us' caveat...

"I sometimes wonder what people will say about me? A madwoman, a fanatic? A heretic leading a new movement against the Chantry? Will they say I did the right thing? I am Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker of Truth, Right Hand to Divine Justinia V and... I am less sure what that means now, then I was a mere two months ago. I don't want to lose that. Who I was. But..." She exhaled slowly.

Cassandra held out a hand. "When this started, we agreed you would help close the Breach, and I would do all I could to help you find a way home. That agreement still holds. But perhaps we can agree, here and now, to find out who we are becoming, who we will be, together? To work together to ensure that whoever we are when this is over, we at least recognize ourselves?"

Amy's first thought was to reject the offer. To refuse to accept that she was losing herself, that she was going to have to concede to changing. That she couldn't hold onto staying who she was when she arrived in Thedas.

But I'm already not Panacea anymore, not really, right?

She wasn't going to just give up on Pancea, on clinging to what she knew. She couldn't. She wasn't that brave. But... maybe with some help, she could hold onto that a little easier? She wasn't sure how she could help Cassandra at all, but it was...

She couldn't imagine Carol ever not being sure of who she was or what she was doing. And even if that happened, Carol would never admit to it.

Cassandra did. Amy... Amy appreciated that. And -

"I... we can try." Amy finally said, accepting Cassandra's hand and shaking it again.

The other woman was really determined to try and help her. It had to be because she needed her to close the Breach and all, but she was still doing more than Amy would have expected, trying harder than she would have expected.

She let go of Cassandra's hand after a moment and sipped at her coffee again, letting out a breath.

"Thank you," Cassandra said, and Amy shook her head.

"I should be thanking you." She sipped her coffee again, and they were silent for a moment, and then:

"...what exactly is this 'Second Coming' you mentioned? From the context, I assume it ties into the 'God' you mentioned earlier." Cassandra asked. Amy grimaced. Religion. "If you don't want to speak of it-"

"I brought it up," Amy sighed. "Like I said, I don't worship God, I've never read the Bible - it's like the Chant of Light, I guess - and I just know the stories I pick up. There's a God, he created the world in seven days, then created humans and then humans sinned and got cast out of paradise, or... something." She knew more than that about the Garden of Eden story - snake, apple, tree of knowledge - but it wasn't worth going into detail.

"Eventually... you know how the Maker has Andraste, took her as his bride and everything?" Cassandra nodded, "Well, back home, according to the Bible, God picked this woman Mary - who was a virgin - to bear his son. Not through sex, just... boom, you're pregnant. Not sure how that worked." Cassandra raised an eyebrow, but really, was a virgin birth really any weirder than God - sorry, the Maker - deciding you were his wife? "Anyway, she has his kid, who gets called 'Jesus Christ' these days. The kid grows up, starts preaching to people about peace and love and helping your neighbor and all that. Does miracles - heals a leper, and brings a guy back from the dead and turns water into wine-"

"The son of your God turned water into wine? That is a miracle contained in the holy book?" Cassandra sounded not like she thought it was impossible, but that she thought it was... silly? Minor? Not something worthy of a miracle?

"He's not my God. And yes. Probably others too, but the water into wine one comes up a lot. He... pissed off the existing priesthood, or scared them or something, and the - the Roman Empire, who was in charge of the place crucified him because the priests asked or... something. I don't know. He dies, and then three days later comes back from the dead and goes up to Heaven, but supposedly he's supposed to come back - the Second Coming - at the end of the world and save everyone or... something." She gestured sort of helplessly. "No idea about the details, but - that's really pretty much all I know about it. Not everyone back home worships him, but there's a lot of people who do, and lots of different ideas on how."

Amy pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know how you guys have that other Divine in Tevinter?" Cassandra nodded. "There's like three major versions of Christianity, and two of them are even more subdivided." Amy held up a hand, "Don't ask me for the differences between them, because they don't really make much sense to me."

Something something should the Pope be in charge or not and then Martin Luther hung a note on a door. That and a bunch of wars for like a hundred and change years after that were about all she knew about the Protestant Reformation, and she knew even less about why Eastern Orthodox split off from Catholic.

Cassandra stared at her for a moment, then shook her head, "I almost regret asking. Because what you say is strange and confusing, and yet, you can't answer most of the questions I have."

"I mean, if you wanted me to go on an extended rant about how too many people don't take care of their bodies," like she didn't, but never mind that, "I could give you all the details about how that all works, but then we'd be here for a month." Amy didn't really care if people did take care of their bodies, not enough to actually pester anyone about it, but equally, she couldn't help but pick up on anytime she touched someone.

That man smoked, this one drank too much, that woman didn't get enough protein, that other woman didn't bother taking the meds for their minor allergy, this person had an obvious muscle issue they were refusing to get looked at, that person was tanning themselves to death.

Amy didn't get enough sleep, used to drink too much coffee and before endless leg day and now staff fighting training, probably should have been more active for her own health. Her own diet was... acceptable, though also probably not balanced perfectly. In some ways it was probably more balance now, though also probably less in others.

Cassandra smiled, "Perhaps another time."

---

Another day later and everything was set, they were all packed and prepared to leave for Val Royeaux. The plan, apparently, was to go down the mountain, into the Hinterlands, but a part further north than the part they'd been too before - the area near Redcliffe was the area that had been full of rogue templars and mages and full of refugees - and then head overland to a city called Jader, which was just inside Orlais, and take a ride on a ship to Val Royeaux from there.

Amy had never actually been on a boat before. What few vacations the Dallon Family had ever taken with her had been by plane or car. The Bay wasn't exactly a place for pleasure cruises or whatever.

And somehow I doubt my immunity to being sick will cover seasickness. Because that wasn't actually a disease.

Fun.

"I still wish we could send some soldiers with you," Cullen said, "But even though we've had more arrivals, even a dozen come yesterday, we just can't spare them. Even the ones that are trained aren't trained to all work together as a unit. That kind of cohesion takes time."

"And there's no way we would be allowed to send soldiers into Val Royeaux." Josephine added. "I've secured permission for Amy and others to enter the city to meet with the Chantry Sisters, but we still aren't recognized by the Empress or the Imperial Government. We have been over this, Cullen."

"That's not what I mean. The roads aren't exactly safe, at least not all of them." Cullen explained. "Your route should take you past any areas with known dangers, but now it's just the unknown ones we have to worry about. And Jader is not exactly the safest city for anyone, let alone someone who has people who will want to kill you."

Motherfucking...

Amy let out a long sigh. She was so... so... so tired of all this. Could people just let her save the damn world already? "How worried should I be about assassins, really? Like, should I start sleeping with one eye open? I get that they're possible, but... can you give me a percentage?"

"The further you get from Haven, the riskier it gets," Leliana cut in. She'd been hanging back, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, rather than standing by the table with the map - the 'war table', Cullen had called it, to mild amusement from Josephine and Leliana. Now she stepped forward, hands by her side. "Val Royeaux itself should be relatively safe, I think. I've reached out to those in the Chantry that Mother Giselle suggested can be trusted to hear you out, or are ready to be on our side if given the chance. They'll be in a position to make sure the other Grand Clerics don't hire anyone inside the city itself. Besides, if you die in the city, all suspicion will fall on them, and they'll prefer deniability, at this point."

"So it's getting to the city that I should be worried about then?" Amy double-checked, and Leliana nodded in confirmation. "If I die to an assassin, I am going to use my last breath to laugh at them for when the Breach kills everyone or consumes the world or whatever the hell it's supposed to do."

"We will do what we can to ensure your safety. Either myself or Katerina will be with you at all times. Ideally both. And Varric and Solas are skilled combatants as well." Cassandra assured her. "If we can, I want to keep up your staff practice on the road."

"It's still not practice when it mostly consists of you hitting me, and me trying to make you stop." She didn't say it with much bite, her little heart to heart with Cassandra the other day at least making her less annoyed at the staff training. But just less.

"My training with a blade when I joined the Templars was more nuanced than that, but in essence, that was a large part of it," Cullen disagreed, and Amy glared at him. He was unbothered, because why would he be? Amy knew she didn't exactly look scary.

Vicky doesn't really look scary either unless she's just broken something strong or lifted something heavy near you. Or she has her aura up and it's making you afraid. Not her, but you know, the whole 'general you' thing.

Cullen reminding her he was a Templar wasn't doing much for her view of him. She didn't have to deal with him on a regular basis, so she didn't really stop to think about it. He'd left at some point, sounded like when the Templars had rebelled, and he clearly agreed Meredith had gone too far, but from what little he'd said when she was around, he didn't have anywhere near the disdain for them and their abuses as Katerina.

How much had Cullen turned a blind eye to? How much had he given a pass to?

And what does it say about Josephine and Cassandra that they don't mind that? Or maybe they did and he was just too useful? Cassandra didn't mind what Katerina had done, but -

Amy closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head, trying to return her focus to now. She could ask Cassandra about Cullen later or -

People sucked. Cullen could suck as long as he was doing the right thing now and she didn't have to deal with him. Details were important, but Amy had so many things to worry about...

Just - put that in a folder labeled 'deal with later' - and then move on.

"Fine, fine, maybe it is practice." Amy waved a hand. "Okay, so worry about assassins the further we get to Val Royeaux. I'm guess I'm gonna have someone guarding the door of any room I'm in, fine, I'm used to that, and... what, just some sort of 'constant vigilance' thing?" Like Mad-Eye Moody or rather, the guy pretending to be him, had always said.

"In essence."

"Great." I hate this. I hate this so much. "So, we go to Jader, catch a boat, get to Val Royeaux, talk to the Grand Clerics and..." she trailed off. She'd spoken with Josephoine about what she was supposed to say, but at the same time, Jesus Christ, what was she supposed to say?

"And then I somehow convince them to stop fucking denouncing me and the Inquisition."

"Right now, they're a mostly united force. All you need to do is convince some, and make others doubt." Josephine said. "You are disinterested in taking power from the Chantry, or undermining people's faith in the Chant of Light. Your only interest is in closing the Breach. You just need to convince them of that." Josephine paused, "Though perhaps without cursing."

Amy was tempted to throw a bunch of curses together in a row in response to that, but she appreciated Josephine's point.

"Fine."

"I've written some suggestions on what exactly you should say, building on our discussions, but for something like this, you need to believe in what you're saying, and make it your own," Josephine handed Amy a folded piece of parchment, when she unfolded and looked over.

It was pretty much all the points they'd discussed, but it was nothing she'd ever say - all diplomatic niceness and formal phrasing. She really just wanted to be blunt about it, even without the cursing, but...

Her eyes flicked over to one of the suggested bits in particular, something she might be able to work with: 'The title of Herald of Andraste is not one I claim for myself, and I have never claimed to speak for her or the Maker. In these trying times, people look for guidance from the Maker and his Bride. Because I can close the rifts, people look for that guidance from me. But if the Chantry were to work with us and not against us, we could-

Okay, so it just went on and on.

"I'm not saying any of these. I'd sound like some terrible actor reading their lines on stage from a piece of paper," Amy said. "But... I'll try to come up with something based on them."

"I'm sure Varric would be more than happy to offer his assistance. He's quite persuasive when he wants to be, and skilled with a turn of phrase," Leliana suggested. Cassandra made a small noise of disgust, and Cullen grimaced, but Leliana continued. "You don't need to sway everyone, or even most of them. Just a few, just enough."

No pressure then. Well, all the pressure, the fate of the world was at stake, not to mention the assassins that might come for her. But at the same time... just convince a few. Get a few to doubt. She could do that. She didn't give two shits about the Chantry, or their power, or any of that. Sure, it sounded all oppressive medieval Church and she would love to see that stop, especially with the way they treated elves. But the Breach was important and there wasn't anything she could do. She wasn't a believer, she couldn't leave, couldn't force the issue by herself...

And she just wanted to go home.

So... convincing them she just wanted to close the Breach and that was all... hopefully easy. Face to face.

"You're not the monster and threat and heretic they've built up in their heads, in their denunciations. You're a young woman dedicated to doing the right thing." Josephine said firmly. "Even if they can't see the latter, a look at you will make it quite clear you're not the former."

Once again, Amy felt like she should feel insulted. But really. She was a short, tired, grumpy teenager with frizzy hair and a coffee addiction. She didn't have the energy to be a heretic. And she wasn't a monster in the way they seemed to think she was. That much she could say with certainty.

"Okay." She took a breath. "Anything else before we leave?"

"Just a few highlights on the most important Grand Clerics that will be there," Josephine said. Amy held back a grimace.

Great. School.

---

"You recruited Hawke to join your brother's expedition because she'd been such an effective enforcer for a smuggler?" Amy demanded of Varric.

It was three days out from Haven, and they were encamped now, and Amy had gotten back to reading Tale of the Champion. As a story, it was really good, and as a character, Hawke was compelling. Amy almost found herself forgiving her for being that enforcer. Varric had painted such a vivid picture of how shitty the Gallows were with so many refugees crammed in, and Hawke's Uncle Gamlen's insistence that they needed 'more grease' to get Hawke and her sister and mother into the city was delivered with just the right -

As a character, Gamlen oozed. He was slimy and awful and then he went and basically indentured Hawke out to a smuggler as a way to get her into the city and pay back his debts. She really hoped Hawke punched him in the face a few times at some point.

Even that first 'test' Hawke had done to prove she was worth hiring had - a merchant who had bought stuff from Athenril - the smuggler - and then refused to pay. No honor amongst thieves and all that. And assuming Varric wasn't exaggerating with the guy taking advantage of refugees, paying them peanuts for their valuables so they could afford food while trapped in the Gallows, he was a piece of shit.

But that didn't make it okay for Hawke to threaten him into handing over the money, or okay for all the other stuff Hawke did working for a smuggler for that year. Crime was crime, even if Hawke had only killed other criminals who attacked her first. Even if the book tried to insist Hawke always tried to avoid hurting people, criminal or otherwise.

If this was just a book of fiction, Amy wouldn't mind it, but this was a real person. A person that was celebrated as the 'Champion of Kirkwall' and here this book all about her was basically celebrating her crimes.

"More that she'd been so effective in general." Varric shrugged. "Hawke knew how to get things done. She had to get things done for Athenril to get into the city and keep her sister safe from the Templars. But once she was done with that year of service, she didn't exactly run around committing many crimes. Apart from harboring apostates, if you count that."

Amy didn't.

"That makes it all better. She stopped." Amy rolled her eyes as she muttered that, then raised her voice: "And how exactly did you know all about the stuff she was doing in the criminal underworld?" She didn't like Varric. He played up the 'Rogue with a heart of gold' act, but that wasn't a thing in the real world. So that meant he was just a rogue. And he clearly loved the sound of his own voice. Those two facts had seen Amy not really interested in spending much time chatting with the man, but...

Just how much of a rogue was Varric, really?

"Paying protection money is just the cost of doing business in Kirkwall. Bartrand left that part of the job to me - mostly because he was always too proud to admit we needed to. Besides, criminals make for better card players than most people in Hightown." Varric chuckled. "Besides, Athenril wasn't all that bad."

"Right, next you'll tell me that she smuggled medicine for poor families or something like that. Gave it away for free, like some Robin Hood." Amy regretted it as soon as she said it, because now Varric was going to ask about that. He was always trying to learn more about Earth-Bet.

"Hardly, but she took good care of her people, took any chance to kill slavers that tried to prey on the poor, especially in the alienage, and didn't kill anyone who didn't come at her people first." Varric explained. "Put her leagues ahead of most of the other criminals in the city." Before Amy could say anything else, Varric kept going. "Who is Robin Hood?"

Amy sighed. "Fictional character. Sort of a... mythic figure guy. Tall tales and stuff. He lived in England a thousand years ago and robbed from the rich to give to the poor, resisting the tyranny of the evil King Jon with his band of merry men. He's a story. People like him don't exist."

"Anyone who goes into theft and tries just giving all their take to the poor is going to get shanked by their buddies pretty quickly, true." Varric agreed. "But a smart criminal knows how to make sure the poor like and trust them. There's a reason there used to be parts of Kirkwall's Lowtown that city guards used to never go, even in force, and parts where no one talked to the guard." Varric shrugged, "A bit of largess goes a long way."

Thank god the criminals of the bay don't do that. Not that there weren't areas dangerous to be a cop in the bay - Amy had had to heal too many BBPD officers who'd had to go into them - and not that plenty of people didn't refuse to talk to the cops back home, but none of the gangs were out there buying support from the people. Empire 88 might come the closest, appealing to racist fuckheads and all their quiet little backers who pretended all the violence was bad while secretly agreeing with them.

There was almost no one in the Asian community in the Bay that liked the ABB - Amy knew that part all too well, having had to heal too many victims of the ABB - which were as often other Asians as anyone else.

And well, no one but the drug addicts and other dregs of society liked Skidmark and his drug dealers.

"Used to be? What, the gangs all stopped being generous?"

"No, just that after six years of Hawke kicking the shit out of every gang that got too violent or nasty, and Aveline making the guard actually competent and honest, it was actually almost safe to walk through Lowtown at night." Varric paused, "And then Blonde blew up the Chantry and the whole city went to hell."

"And crime is back up?"

"Surprisingly, not really. Sure, people still get mugged, the Coterie still collects protection money and stuff still gets stolen, but it's still pretty low key. Kirkwall's still recovering from the mess, and there's just not a ton of money in crime right now there." Varric explained. "That, and Aveline basically runs the city now, and she's got no patience for any funny business. The city's leaders probably would have appointed her Viscount if she'd let them."

Amy blinked for a moment, and then - "Aveline takes over the Guard?" The woman had journeyed alongside Hawke and her family to Kirkwall, after having to kill her husband...

"Much to her chagrin. Caught the previous Captain taking bribes - too many bribes, even for the way things had been going in Kirkwall - and letting important people get stolen from. Again. Too many important people. The Viscount decided that she should get promoted, for her sins."

"Right, because a little crime is okay. A little bribery's fine." Amy rolled her eyes at that. It wasn't like she didn't know that was a thing, that people looked the other way, but none of that made it okay. Did Kirkwall have some official number? This much bribery okay, that much not?

"Cost of doing business. The Tethras family has people all over the Free Marches representing our interests. I know some of them are skimming a bit off the top, but as long as they don't go too far, and make at least some effort to hide what they're doing, I'm not going to get too bothered. Capable help is hard to find." Varric chuckled. "Which brings us back to Hawke: Hawke might have worked for a criminal, but she was trustworthy about it. I'll take an honest criminal over a liar who's never technically broken the law any day. Besides, the whole point was for her to buy into the expedition."

Amy stared at Varric. He was just so... cheerfully bland about the fact that people were stealing from him, and he even wanted them to try to hide it! And he - he was just -

Amy could almost see the logic about preferring an honest criminal to a liar who never 'technically' broke the law. She remembered an Aleph movie about pirates she'd watched once - the pirate 'hero' - who had been technically better than the pirate bad guys - had said something like 'you can trust a dishonest man to be dishonest'.

In fiction, there were those rogues with a heart of gold. Still criminals, still bad people, but sometimes, the story almost made you think they weren't that bad. Amy had to remind herself of it all the time, really. They were still criminals. Still selfish. Still just out for themselves.

Better than the bad guys was still bad. Negative one was still a negative number, even if it was bigger than negative ten, and all that.

Criminals preyed on people. Used them. Hurt them. Made their lives worse, ruined everything they touched, in the end. It was about money and power and no matter what, they'd always end up destroying lives and property and anything else in pursuit of it. The ABB pretended to be protecting the Asian community from E88, and then beat up Asians who refused to pay protection, and abused the women and girls in their brothels - mostly Asians.

E88 claimed to protect 'Good, decent, white Americans' from all the dirty immigrants and black people... and sure, they hurt a lot of minorities, but they hurt a ton of white people too. Not to mention all the drugs they flooded the streets with.

You couldn't be a criminal without hurting innocent people. It was just - that's how it worked. Victimless crime wasn't.

And - there were people who got away with being truly awful bastards without breaking any laws. Pharma CEOs, Gun manufacturers, criminal defense lawyers, most politicians...

They sucked too.

Amy let out an exasperated growl, "You write about Hawke like she's some great hero, she's the 'Champion' of Kirkwall and - Katerina sounds like she worships the ground Hawke walks on." Granted, Katerina's judgement was already suspect, but still. "She - I mean, it's good she helped save mages from getting killed, but that doesn't make up for her being a criminal, for working for a smuggler. And god knows whatever else she does against the law."

"Apart from helping the occasional mage avoid the Templars, she didn't really break that many laws after she was done with Athenril." Varric answered. "As for the rest..." Varric chuckled, "You're young, kid. Life is always simple at your age. Things aren't always that simple, and people are complicated."

"Life is just always simple. Something's good, or it's bad. Good people don't do bad things."

Varric laughed, "Must not be a whole lot of good people in your world then."

Don't I fucking know it.

---

There were a lot of things in Thedas that were nothing like the fantasy novels she'd read, obviously. But one thing she'd really not been prepared for was the smells. Just the daily assault of living in a world that didn't have modern hygiene standards or modern plumbing. Haven was a farming village, with farm animals. Same with the refugees at the Crossroads, even if they didn't have as many animals.

It wasn't really all that bad once you got used to it, and any one smell was hard to pick out from the general cacophony, but still.

Jader? Jader was so much worse.

It wasn't that the city had shit lying in the streets - no one was pouring chamberpots out the window, thank god - but she could still pick up the faint smell of it, all around. Horses did occasionally just shit in the streets, and there were stables with even more animals. And they didn't just flush it all down to sewers too. Probably gathered it up to take out of the city to farms or something.

That is why they call it fertilizer, right?

But it wasn't just the smell of bodily waste - it was the sheer mass of unwashed humanity. Thedas wasn't a place where like, no one bathed ever, but they weren't as clean as people were back home. Jader wasn't a physically large city either, as far as she could tell. No city in Thedas probably was as large as the massive metropolitan areas back home, but even still - people were packed in tighter.

And so, even though Varric told her that Jader had 'about fifty thousand people' - one seventh of Brockton Bay's 350,000 - the city looked, felt and smelled a lot less clean than Brockton Bay did. At least as long as you weren't near a drug den or the Trainyards, or something.

And that was before they made their way to the docks. Which smelled like fish. Rotting fish, dead fish, fish guts.

So.

Much.

Fish.

Amy didn't really like fish. Sure, she ate it, if that's what was for dinner, or if a can of tuna was handy and she needed to add something to boxed mac and cheese, but that wasn't the same thing.

Amy pulled her robes up to cover her nose, but it wasn't really doing much to block out the smell.

"They say you get used to the smell, in every city," Katerina observed, standing next to her as she was. "I don't think I ever did."

She was standing with the redhead and with Solas while Cassandra and Varric were off trying to book them passage on a fast ship. Well, Cassandra was, but Varric went along to make sure that 'you don't get fleeced, Seeker'. Cassandra hadn't say he couldn't come, so the dwarf had gone along with her.

"I would imagine that you spent most of your time at the Cumberland Circle - that's likely to be in a cleaner part of the city, and one less populated in general." Solas observed. "If someone is forced to deal with this sort of smell all the time, they will get used to it. Especially if they're born in one." Solas wrinkled his nose. "None of that changes the unpleasantness if you're not used to it, however."

Katerina shrugged. "Fair point."

"Somehow, I feel like the rich people in these cities don't have to deal with this smell."

"They do, but not as much." Solas disagreed. "I can't say for sure how the nobility or elites of Jader do it, but in practice, the wealthiest parts of a city are built upwind. They also have access to expensive perfumes and incense to help mask the smells in their own homes. And there's just less people packed into their districts." Katerina made a comment of agreement with Solas, and Amy sighed.

"I guess that makes sense. Rich people are the same everywhere." The wealthier parts of the bay had bigger houses, bigger properties around those houses, were further away from the worst parts of the city - it was all the same thing, wasn't it? The Dallons and Pelhams lived in a pretty nice part of the Bay, but not the places the Stansfield or Anders or Christner family lived.

"In my studies of the Fade, I have found that the powerful tend to behave the same across time, no matter where they were." Solas commented. "I suppose that also extends to other worlds."

"I mean, there are differences. No one today is as bad as the Magisters of old Tevinter. Even Tevinter today isn't as bad as the old Empire." Katerina pointed out. "Still slaving blood-magic using tyrannical bastards, but when I was in Kirkwall, I read that thousands of slaves a month died being worked to death or being used for blood magic, during the heyday of the city. And that was just the one city."

"Jesus Christ," Amy breathed out. "You're kidding me, right? That's just - what the fuck? Wouldn't they run out of slaves like that? That's just - what the fuck?" She repeated herself, but tried to wrap her brain around it. It was evil, but it just seemed so fucking wasteful. There was evil and then there was... that sort of obscenity.

"The Tevinter Imperium's hunger for new slaves fueled their expansion. Thedas is scattered with ruins from which they conducted raids for slaves. I've dreamed in many of them, walked the hallways trod by hundreds or thousands or more of slaves over decades and centuries." Solas explained, his tone calm and level, despite what he was talking about. It was distant and removed, and he had that tone - level, not really flat, but not easy to read either - a lot.

An affectation? Just the way he talked? Solas was pretty closed off, that much Amy could tell, so that was part of it. The elf left her with so many questions. It was convenient that a guy who knew so much about the Fade was handy when the Conclave blew up and blasted a hole in the sky into the Fade. He claimed he was pretty much operating on theory and guesswork when he though her mark could close rifts, but he was right. His wards on the mark - which he'd touched up again yesterday - did a great job at making the stupid thing hurt less.

But if this was so unfamiliar to him, how could he do all that?

On the other hand, Amy was also certain that Cassandra and especially Leliana had asked those questions, and had answers. She should probably ask Cassandra, actually. If they thought Solas was involved in any way, they'd have taken care of him already. They threw her in a cell before she even woke up, so back when the Breach had first opened up, they were clearly in the 'jail first, questions later' mindset.

"For a while, after I first left the Order, I started to wonder if the stories about how bad old Tevinter was were just made worse, for Templars to justify all their bullshit." Katerina added. "But I started reading more about it, looking for people like Brother Genitivi or people who disagreed with the Templars on somethings." She shook her head.

"No, they really work fucking monsters. They killed thousands of people in blood magic rituals on pointless vanity projects. Not to mention all the people they killed to enter the Fade and bring the Blights on us all. And just the mundane stuff. Their highways, built across Thedas, on the bones of slaves worked to death in the quarries during the construction."

"That's just - how can they be - that's evil, but it's also - how could they be so obscenely wasteful?" Amy shook her head. "I mean, back home, we don't - we don't have slaves anymore, but we do have rich assholes not providing as much safety for their workers as they should, but I mean - I've never heard of a factory or even a coal mine having thousands of people die a month!"

Amy's mouth opened and closed silently as she tried to process all of this. It wasn't really working, so instead she looked over at Katerina while she tried, and instead her mind drifted a little - probably because she didn't want to think about thousands of people being worked to death every month, or thousands

She'd finally taken Katerina up on that 'Truce' and talked a bit more about books from Earth-Bet with her, and movies or TV shows she'd seen. She'd explained those the way she had with Josephine 'like plays you don't need to be at the theater to watch'. She'd talked about Star Wars, figuring that was the sort of story Katerina would be interested in the most.

Explaining the space stuff had been hard, but the thing about Star Wars was that the Force was basically magic, and the space stuff didn't really matter. It was basically just a fantasy epic in space, so she mentioned they were in space, but it was basically just flying fortresses and flying boats and ships anyway.

The core story though - that Katerina liked. She even liked Darth Vader's ending. Which was nice and emotional but like... twenty years of being the Empire's enforcer and murderer wasn't made up for by one nice thing at the end. As far as Amy was concerned, Luke shouldn't have been so ready to give Vader a chance... even if the guy saved the day by turning on the Emperor at the last possible moment.

Amy hadn't had the chance to explain the Prequels yet. She wasn't going to touch the Earth-Bet versions. They'd been an absolute mess of stupid choices, bad writing and nonsense. She didn't think the Aleph versions were like, amazing, and not better than the Original, but they were good.

(Vicky, somehow, had the poor taste to think the Bet versions were better. She actually thought Darth Jar Jar was a good plot point that made any sense at all. It was one of the few times her sister was actually, unequivocally in the wrong about something.)

"The very fact they're not slaves is likely the biggest factor. At Tevinter's height, if a slave died, there were more where that came from." Solas explained. "It was cheaper to work a slave to death and buy a new one, then it was to keep that slave alive for years. I have seen the memories in the fade of Magisters making that very choice." He sighed, set his jaw, and kept going, speaking with what felt like real conviction, even a bit of righteous anger in his words.

"The powerful exploit the powerless all over Thedas, and they always have, but slavery is a unique degradation - to be a slave isn't to be a person, it is to be property. You can't control where or what you eat, how you eat, where you sleep, how you dress, even your ability to connect with your fellow person is ultimately entirely at the whim of your owner. Slaves could only marry with the permission of their masters, slaves could be raped with abandon by their owners. Every minute of existence is subject to the whims of their owner." He inhaled sharply, and Amy actually saw his hand balling into a fist for a moment.

"Even the meanest serf in the most remote parts of Orlais has more right to dignity and life than any slave in any realm, or any era has. Even the small moments of comfort a slave might have were tainted by the fact that they were entirely on the whims of their owners. At best, a slave was a treasured pet - a thing to be taken care of, yes, even regarded well or loved, but still entirely subject to the master's whims and desires. At worst, a tool, and a disposable one at that.." Solas finished and Amy stared at him for a moment longer, still sort of processing.

"I... fuck." Amy said after a moment. "I mean, I knew slavery was bad, but I never - I mean... I never thought about all that in detail. It was just 'slavery is bad, moving on'." Had Solas been a slave in Tevinter? Or had he just seen all this over and over again in the Fade and it had gotten to him?

It was interesting to know there was something that really animated him though. And Slavery... fuck, the existence of it in Tevinter was super fucking evil, and - there wasn't anything she could do about it. The rest of Thedas hated and distrusted Tevinter and still couldn't get rid of them.

"There are many subjects where debate and nuance is merited, where morality is complicated and considering carefully before making a judgement is the right course. Slavery is not one of them." Solas said after a breath, his voice calmer again.

Well, that's not true. She agreed about slavery, but most of the time, right was right and wrong was wrong. The problem was that most people just didn't want to do what was right. They were too weak, or too afraid, or too selfish. Or all three, in Amy's case, sometimes.

Katerina opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Cassandra and Varric returned.

"I have booked us passage on a fast vessel heading to Val Royeaux," Cassandra explained. "It leaves in an hour, so we shouldn't linger."

"And she didn't even get overcharged that much once they realized she was in a hurry." Varric added. "I might have had a hand with that." He smirked and winked. Cassandra let out a frustrated scowl. "I told you not to let any captains know you're in a hurry, Seeker. People always charge more when they know you're desperate."

"We needed to make sure we were dealing with a fast ship that wasn't going to be waiting here for long," Cassandra explained.

"There are ways to do both of those things. You really should have let me handle the negotiations."

Cassandra growled again, then, ignored him and looked back towards Amy, Katerina and Solas, then repeated herself: "Come, we shouldn't linger."

 

[Foxfax]

Varric, stop mansplaining at the heavily armed, armour-clad anti-mage. She tends to delete the idiots who try. Solas proving why "slavery bad, m'kay" is the best and only response. Poor Any needs non-shmexy Vicky cuddles. Someone her age get in there!

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Varric, stop mansplaining at the heavily armed, armour-clad anti-mage. She tends to delete the idiots who try. Solas proving why "slavery bad, m'kay" is the best and only response. Poor Any needs non-shmexy Vicky cuddles. Someone her age get in there!

Click to shrink...

Give Amy another 300k+ words and she'll realize Katerina (who is only three years older) is conveniently right there. Then it'll take a while for her to do anything, but that is the direction of the story.

 

[litnon]

Hmm, useless lesbian story.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Hmm, useless lesbian story.

Click to shrink...

...In what sense do you mean that? Even in a positive sense, not really sure that applies - Amy is lesbian, sure, but Katerina isn't exactly crushing on her yet and Amy's not crushing on Katerina (or even close). Their relationship will be major slow burn. At current plans, they won't get together until well into Book 2. And Amy won't even realize she actually likes Katerina (which she doesn't even yet) until near the start of Book 2.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Notes: There are not a lot of hard numbers for population numbers in Thedas. We get some relative placings (what's bigger than what) and we get some hard to believe numbers (usually hard to believe in terms of being very small), and some perfectly reasonable sounding numbers. Thedas is a mishmash of medieval, renaissance and early modern in technology, aesthetic, social organization, and so on, so we can't even use actual history as a clear guide - Thedas is more dangerous than IRL (thanks to demons, darkspawn, dragons and assorted beasts more dangerous than the average wildlife of Europe in the time) but also is at least somewhat further along in terms of hygiene than Europe was in those times (though how dirty Europe was at various times has been overstated to various degrees), and magical healing, while not widely available, would help as well. Potions, and some of the healing herbs available - especially elfroot - would increase health even more.

Thedas does have potatoes and other new world crops, which are a huge population multiplier, but food production would still require most of the population - Thedas is still more rural than not.

All this to say - I give some population numbers in this chapter. They may not be what you think is the case, but they're true for this fic. Feel free to debate them with me, but at the end of the day, it's all guesswork and vibes outside of the handful of hard numbers we get.

Also - people familiar with the story of Dragon Age: Inquisition well will know a very, very important detail about a character that shows up in this chapter. I would politely ask that people who know this detail either not talk about in their posts/comments, or at the very least, provide spoiler warnings or spoiler tags, for those readers of this fic who may not know Dragon Age: Inquisition as well. If you forget to do this, I'm not going to kill you, obviously, but please try to not talk about it unspoilered. I would love it if some readers ended up getting the surprise by, well, surprise, when it is revealed.

Finally, I have posted this quite early, somewhat ill-advisedly, because I have had a bad week IRL and expect next week to also be bad, and I really wanted some serotonin boost. Also, this is my favorite chapter of all the chapters I've written for this fic so far, and I'm really excited for people to read and react to it.

---

Amy Dallon was, under normal circumstances, a heavy sleeper. When she actually managed to sleep.

Being seasick aboard a medieval-era wooden ship was not normal circumstances, as it turned out.

So as Amy's eyes slowly opened during her third night, the sound of the ship groaning around her, the floor creaking under the bed she was in, a twinge of nausea still lingering in her stomach, the first groggy thought that passed through her mind was 'goddamnit'.

Her second thought was 'oh fuck' as she noticed a shadowy figure standing over the bed, the limited moonlight doing nothing to illuminate the details of their features. Frozen, confused, mind still moving sluggishly, Amy could only stare up through half-opened eyes as the figure reached down to their waist. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as she saw the figure draw a blade, a dagger, the sharp tip gleaming in that limited moonlight.

An Assassin.

She should cry out, she should scream or shout, she should try and grab their hand or push them back or do something to them or move out of the way, roll out of the bed. Katerina was sharing her room, where was she? Where was Cassandra?

She was going to die, she was never going to see her sister again or see home or even Mark or Carol or -

A figure loomed behind the other figure, taller, and as the assassin - still moving slowly to Amy's eyes - started to bring the blade down to her chest, two things happened:

One, Amy managed to move her arm upwards - it felt like she was moving through some kind of thick, dense liquid - syrup or maybe blood or. She tried to grab at the hand holding the blade, or block it, or knock their arm off course or - she wasn't even sure, it was all instinct and reaction, panic and desperation, all acting before she could consciously give the order to her body.

Her hand missed the assassin's hand or wrist, but it did knock into their arm, covered by a sleeve, but still, holding it back, holding the blade back, the point inches from her neck. Inches from probably killing her.

If the assassin was surprised by her being awake, by her holding their arm back, they didn't have time to act on it, as the second thing happened: the figure behind them had wrapped one arm around their neck, and the other hand grabbed onto their wrist, pressing hard, twisting the hand away, upwards, the dagger's tip no longer so close to Amy's skin.

The assassin wrenched their arm free of Amy's grip and tried to struggle with Katerina - it had to be Katerina, it matched her profile and as Amy's eyes adjusted to the dim light more, she could make out more of Katerina's shape to be sure and the assassin was trying to wrestle away from Katerina, get control of his dagger back - Amy watched his other hand scrambling at his belt - she was pretty sure they were a he now - and he pulled another dagger and started to stab behind him -

Whatever had left her in a stunned state of frozen shock finally vanished and Amy grabbed onto the assassin's bare hand, their biology - male, brown hair, brown eyes, maybe too much iron in their diet, how was this what she was noticing first off? He had a recently healed fracture on his left femur, and the hearing in their right ear seemed damaged and -

With a normal, understandable human biology, Amy didn't need to resort to severing nerves or anything so complicated. She just had his biology knock him out, as if suddenly hit with a massive dose of anesthesia, telling his body to go to sleep. She watched and felt him slump in Katerina's grip, and the redhead let go of him, his body dropping to the floor, one dagger landing on the bed next to her, the other clattering on the wooden floor.

"Are you okay? I was all set to grab him when he tried to stab so he wouldn't move too quick and get you before I could stop him and - but fuck that was cutting it too close, I should have noticed him sooner I'm sorry-"

"I'm fine," Amy said, staring at the unconscious/sleeping assassin on the ground. "I'm fine." she said again.

Then she blinked. "No. What am I saying? I'm not fine. Someone just tried to kill me." Amy let out a hysterical sounding laugh, feeling wetness in her eyes as she forced herself up into a sitting position. "Someone just snuck in here and tried to kill me in my sleep because they think I'm some sort of heretic and fucking hell I - I thought I was past worrying about being killed in my sleep after my seventh birthday."

Katerina said nothing for a moment, staring at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Your seventh-" Then she cut herself off and shook her head, "Nevermind." She crouched by the assassin and grabbed his legs, dragging him away from Amy, towards the far wall. A bit of fumbling in her pack and then she was lighting a small lantern, hanging off a hook on a wooden pillar in the middle of the two-person cabin, illuminating the room enough for her to get a look at the assassin.

Brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, wearing pretty forgettable clothes - greens and browns, looking like what she'd seen on a lot of people in Jader, really. Which made sense - assassins didn't wear uniforms in real life. Kind of short, wiry-looking build, slightly pointy facial features, but also definitely a human. Nothing elf about him.

Katerina pulled lengths of rope out of her bag - why did she just have those?! - and started tying the man's wrists together behind his back, and then his ankles together.

"What are you going to do with him?" Amy really had no objection if they just executed him. He was an assassin, and they couldn't exactly chuck this guy in a cell. Would anyone else imprison him?

"I'm going to make sure he's thoroughly tied up, and then I'm going to find Lady Pentaghast and then help her make this bastard tell us who hired him," She tugged the bindings tight and tested them a moment. "He will wake up if I slap him, or throw a bucket of water at him, right?"

Make him? That's - Amy couldn't just sit here and let them beat answers out of him. She couldn't be part of that. She couldn't force him to talk, but she could at least tell when he was lying, probably. She'd have to get some baseline first, or something, but...

"He'll wake up fine, yeah. Might take a few slaps, he's pretty under, but he's just unconscious, nothing special." She'd flooded his system with anesthetic chemicals. "Not sure why you need to ask who hired him. Seems like it's obvious." Amy added. Fucking Chantry. Backwards primitive, power hungry religious zealot. Everything she hated about fundamentalists back home - rare as they were in this age of capes - but with bonus murder for hire!

At least when fundamentalists kill someone for being gay or whatever they're doing it themselves. It wasn't common, not with Legend being so prominent, with so many queer people triggering - even if so many died quickly - but happened, still.

"Good." Katerina picked up his fallen daggers, sticking one into her pack and holding onto the other. She was wearing a loose undershirt and loose pants as her 'pyjamas', which was pretty much what Amy was wearing as well. Pyjamas weren't really a thing here in Thedas unless you were talking nightgowns or things like that. Fancier, generally, too.

Katerina approached the door, not bothering to grab her sword or put on armor and muttered a series of curses at the sight of the busted lock. But before she could open it, the door swung open inwards.

In the second it opened, Amy braced to roll out of the bed, to get behind it, under it, to hide, to avoid being a target. Katerina raised up her arms and held the dagger ready to defend herself -

It was just Cassandra, also not wearing her armor, but she did have her sword in hand. She lowered it as she saw Katerina, and then peered inside, seeing Amy and letting out a small sigh.

"Good, you are both unharmed." Her eyes flicked past them to the bound assassin. "I heard the sound of a struggle, and then more noises." She gestured with her empty hand at the tied up guy. "I assume he was the source of the noise?"

"More the stopping him was, but yes. He woke me up as he moved past me - he was trying to be quiet and careful, and I worried if I moved too quick to stop him and missed, he'd act too quickly, so I tried to get in position to stop him at the last moment. In the end, we both stopped him."

We? Amy had been the one to stop the dagger from hitting her neck -

Well... no. Amy's shoulders sagged. She was too tired and nauseous to be angry. Katerina had acted at pretty much the exact same time as she had, and if she hadn't grabbed the guy's wrist and tried to choke him out then he probably still would have been able to stab her and -

Katerina had saved her life again, mostly. Though Amy had acted. Using her power on someone.

But knocking him out with my power is pretty much the thing I'd be able to do. It was exactly what Uncle Neil had told her to do once she explained that she could do that. Yes, she needed to be able to defend herself in a fight - not that she remembered his lessons much - but she had her power. If she absolutely had to fight, she used ever advantage she could.

Uncle Neil, Aunt Sarah, even Carol had all agreed that if she was in a situation where she had to defend herself with her power, with no one there to help her, and she could touch bare skin, she should do that to knock someone out.

She'd tried to do that to Skitter, but the bug bitch's uniform was completely skin-covering. If Tattletale had been the one to hold a knife to her though...

Amy inhaled slowly. She shouldn't have done it, not really, but she didn't have much choice and it was - it wasn't hurting him, not really. Not the same thing. It was just what she might do to someone in a lot of pain before she healed them, if they were conscious and didn't want to be.

"Good. You are alright?" Cassandra asked Katerina as she stepped inside, and the redhead nodded, closing the door behind her. Cassandra looked over at Amy. "Are you alright?"

"Someone just tried to kill me in my sleep and I survived by like this much," she held thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart. "Some idiot thinks I'm such a threat to their power or their religion or their cushy job or whatever that they sent someone to kill me! Because that's going to help close the Breach! Some stupid small-minded parochial dipshit in your useless Chantry decided to send someone to kill me. I almost died here, in this fucking world because someone would rather use thoughts and prayers to close the Breach and we're not even to Val Royeaux, we're not even close to done with closing the Breach and I've nearly died so many fucking times and now I have assassins sneaking in trying to kill me in my sleep! No, I'm not fucking okay!"

She let out another hysterical laugh and felt tears gathering in her eyes and running down her cheeks once more. "I'm going to die before I get home. If it's not demons or abominations it's gonna be some stupid shitheel backwards zealot moron. Or I'll puke my guts out over the railing of the ship, or fall off a horse and break my neck, or actually closing the Breach will hurt so much it will kill me and -" she choked up, unable to say more, crying, shallow breaths, heart pounding.

She wasn't sad, she wasn't scared, she was just angry and tired and she felt like she should give up. She had basically sworn to close the Breach or die trying, because that was the right thing to do, but the 'die trying' was looking a lot more likely now.

They'd told her assassins were possible, but she thought if that even happened it would be like... someone sneaking up behind her, or shooting her from a distance, like the character in that video game she'd seen Eric playing once. Not- not this.

Even with sharing a tent with Katerina on the road and a cabin with her here...

She just hadn't really registered that this could happen and now it had and -

I can't even fucking sleep without having to worry about being killed!

"It's close the Breach or die trying and I do not want to die trying and now I might because of some Chantry-sent assassin!" She broke down into sobs and she hated that she was doing this could she just stop crying in this stupid world and -

A hand - a bare hand - grabbed hers and it was much the sudden explosion of another body in the 'eyes' of her power as Katerina's words as she grabbed Amy's hand that made Amy's train of thought come to screeching, explosive crashing halt.

"Amy, breathe." It wasn't a suggestion, or advice, Katerina said it like a command, brooking no dispute. "Take a breath, close your eyes, and then breathe some more."

Katerina's biology was nothing unusual for a human from Thedas - it lacked some of the antibodies of someone back in the Bay, and all that stuff, but Katerina was by all measures, a perfectly normal human. Red hair. Brown eyes. Fair skin, though kinda tanned because she was outside a lot. Normal human - albeit one with insanely unfair genetics when it came to muscle development.

Sure, Amy could tell that Katerina had worked hard for her build - she was more muscular than Vicky, though her sister hadn't exactly been a bodybuilder, since her power let her cheat that anyway - but she also was just one of those people who built muscle easier.

Bitch probably never has to worry about gaining weight either. The universe just always had to be unfair, didn't it?

After long moments of looking over Katerina's biology, Amy realized she was breathing now, deeper breaths, wasn't actively crying now, her heartbeat was a little lower, a little slower. Not much, but -

"You're okay. You're not hurt. You're alive. And frankly, there's probably not going to be another attempt on your life from the same source until they know this one failed. So you're probably safe for a few days... or at least until we get to Val Royeaux." Katerina pointed out.

"You really suck at being reassuring," Amy told her again.

"Better than telling you I can guarantee you'll make it through this alive." Katerina pointed out. "I can and will promise to do all I can to keep you alive, but that's all I can do."

Amy nodded and she sagged inwards again, an involuntary yawn escaping her. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep now, of course, especially not with them about to interrogate the assassin. She slowly let go of Katerina's hand, taking another slow breath.

"I guess. You saved my life again."

"You helped too. That guy could have stabbed me in the side or leg if you hadn't stopped him." Katerina pointed out. Cassandra opened her mouth, then closed it before saying anything. Katerina stepped away from Amy's bed and turned back to the assassin. "We don't actually know the Chantry sent this one. Templars, some random noble who thinks the Inquisition is a threat, Empress Celene could have done it for some reason - whoever was behind the explosion at the Conclave might want to kill you, if any of them are still alive."

"Who the hell else would it be?" Amy shook her head. "It's got to be one of your stupid small-minded Grand Clerics, right?"

"We can try to find out. Though assassins do not always loudly proclaim their allegiance outside of the storybooks," Cassandra sighed. "This man may have been hired by the Chantry, or by someone else, but they were not a zealot. A zealous killer would make their motives plain before acting."

"So a professional, then?" And that meant probably not cheap, too. Great. So someone wanted her dead enough to pay a lot of money to have her killed.

"Likely. Though likely not a Crow." Cassandra explained. "Useful for us - Crows don't even always know who is behind their contracts, nor do they betray their oaths lightly."

"Crow?" Amy asked. From the context she'd assume like... assassin guild? Hitman organization?

"The Antivan Crows. They're the most dangerous assassins in the world. They don't give up on a contract, they just keep coming, at least until you kill enough of them to not be worth the trouble." Katerina answered. "Or that's what the stories sway, anyway."

"It is more accurate that most contracts with the Crows have a set number of assassins that will be sent, and that number is dependent on price. There is a story that once someone paid a large enough sum for the entire guild to be committed to the death of a single man, but I have no idea if it's true," Cassandra clarified. "But this man is not a Crow, and you are not a noble and you have no ties to Orlais, so that leaves out the House of Repose."

Great. Multiple assassin guilds. So many that one specializes in just Orlesian nobles.

"So... this guy isn't a Crow?" Amy felt like an idiot right after she said it because Cassandra had just said so.

"It is very unlikely." Cassandra confirmed. "The only way to know anything for sure is to interrogate him."

"If he's a professional, wouldn't he not want to talk? Something - professional reputation or whatever?" That sounded like something that made sense, right?

"Very likely. And we do not have the luxury of time. A proper interrogation is a matter of days, a cell, and a whole team." Cassandra confirmed. "And people skilled in it. We have none of those things." She exhaled. "Short of forcing the issue, there's not likely to be much we can do to make him talk."

Forcing the issue. Amy swallowed, inhaling.

"Forcing the issue. You mean torturing him," Amy swallowed. This was a medieval world. Fucking primitive, backwards, barbaric...

What Vicky did in anger to thugs in Brockton Bay's back alleys was bad enough - she hated all six times her sister had done it, but it was in anger. It wasn't some cold, calculated thing. Victoria hadn't thrown a dumpster at the last guy just so she could have Amy withhold healing to make him talk.

Amy knew her sister better than that.

"I have no intention of torturing him," Cassandra said firmly, cutting off Amy's thoughts. "Or actually trying to force the issue." She shook her head. "Leaving aside the fact that it is unacceptable, it is also ineffective on a short time scale as well."

Right, so you're only doing it because we don't have time. Amy clamped down on that first thought. No, Cassandra had just said it was 'unacceptable'. So she wasn't okay with torture.That was good.

"So if he doesn't talk..."

"He doesn't talk." Cassandra confirmed. "But he does not know I will not torture him." Cassandra crouched next to the man, looking him over carefully. Katerina approached Amy, standing next to her.

"Lady Pentaghast is quite good at scaring people shitless." She wrinkled her nose, "Usually just metaphorically." Katerina said this quietly, probably hoping Cassandra didn't hear her.

"Ugh," Amy muttered just as quietly. "Gross." She said that without too much heat - it was, and she didn't relish it happening here, in the room she slept in - not that she was getting back to sleep tonight, no way, no how - but she did have experience dealing with piss and shit from healing people, especially amidst emergencies and mass injury events or the like.

"Usually, like I said. Hope it really is just the metaphor this time."

Cassandra slapped the assassin on his cheek. Lightly, and then after that caused no response, again, harder.

"Wake up." Cassandra growled in the same angry, aggressive tone she'd used when Amy had first met her, in that cell.

The assassin stirred, eyes fluttering open slowly, a groggy 'unhhhh' sound escaping his lips and then they snapped fully open - seeing Cassandra and Katerina, or realizing he was tied up or something else.

He closed his mouth, setting his jaw.

"You tried to kill Amy Dallon. You are a professional. Someone hired you." Cassandra said. "Who?"

The assassin didn't say anything, tugging experimentally at the bonds on his legs and hands.

"Even if you got free of those, you're not going to escape, outnumbered the way you are," Katerina pointed out.

The assassin shrugged wordlessly. Amy found his silence maddening. She'd expected defiant 'you'll never make me talk' or something like that, or spinning a web of lies about who hired him. Just... blank silence was - she didn't like it.

It would be so easy to just... make his body produce sodium pentathol or -

Amy clamped down on the thought, biting her cheek. She looked around for her robes and found them in a pile on the ground, pulling them on as she got out of the bed.

"Did you know she was coming to Jader specifically, or were you one of many, hired to keep an eye out for her and kill her?" Cassandra asked. He didn't say anything, looking away, and Cassandra grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. Amy braced - that much wasn't torture but anything else...

She just said she wasn't -

"Who. Hired. You?" Cassandra demanded, raising her voice.

The assassin continued to say nothing. Amy looked away from him. She could set his nerves into overdrive, make him feel pain at the slightest touch, slightest breeze. She could do all sorts of things to make him talk without actually hurting him. She could threaten to do something to him.

It was dancing at the edge, but it - it was okay. She could. She had before. Multiple times.

Amy approached the assassin, though still standing behind Cassandra and Katerina.

"How much did you charge for it?" Amy asked. The assassin looked at her, but his face was carefully blank.

"Amy-" Cassandra started, but Amy held up a hand, setting her jaw. Cassandra didn't say anything else, but nodded after a moment.

"My parents, my whole family back home, are... pretty big deal, at least in the city I live in. My aunt got killed in broad daylight out shopping one day." The death of her Aunt Jess had been a hit that had made Amy afraid to go outside for months afterwards. She'd been straight up unwilling to go outside even with Vicky there with her for a few days, even when Carol had tried to punish her if she didn't.

Back then, she'd still hoped maybe Carol would love her, still thought Carol did, at least a little, and she had felt safe with her adoptive mother. So she'd leave the house if she was with Carol, or Mark, or an Aunt or Uncle stayed with her the whole time, but she refused to go to school, refused to even go into the yard or anything like that, unless someone was with her.

"The guy who did it wasn't a professional. Just a shithead racist who wanted to get in with the higher ups in his gang. Have the bragging rights he was the one who killed Fleur - that's the name everyone called her. I just called her Aunt Jess." Jess had been her favorite of her Aunts and Uncles too.

As she kept talking, she found herself going from a calm, normal tone to a louder, teeth half-clenched, carefully spoken one, anger starting to radiate off every word. She

"Ever since, it's not like I didn't know there were people who'd like to kill my family, kill me, but...back home, there's... rules about that sort of thing. What happened to Jess didn't happen again, and then I became a healer, and was pretty much off limits. So I kind of got used to no one wanting to kill me. And then I show up here, in this world, and none of you want to kill me because I'm a Dallon, or because I'm Panacea, or because I'm a cape or any of that. No, you want to kill me because I got this stupid thing on my hand," she held up her left hand, "and some people, some -" Amy managed to bite back 'some credulous idiots' before she actually said it, "some very mistaken but devout people decided it meant I was sent by your Andraste or your Maker to save you all."

"I wasn't. But now I'm here, stuck in this fucking world, away from my family, away from my home, having to deal with people acting like I'm some holy prophet or whatever for a religion I don't follow, and I've got to traipse all over closing rifts - which hurts like a bitch - because I'm the only one who can." Slight exaggeration since thanks to Solas's work on the wards around her mark, it didn't actually hurt that much when she closed the rifts. "Also tried closing the Breach, that part didn't work yet, but have you ever dipped your hand in a tub full of acid and razor blades? It felt like that."

"So you might expect, after all that, I'm a little fucking stressed," she wasn't quite yelling now, but she was just a few rungs below it now. "And now, I wake up in the middle of the night - after being seasick all goddamn trip so far - and some asshole is trying to kill me. I have just about had it up to here," she held her hand a few inches above her head, "with this world, and the idiots trying to stop me from saving your asses. So, how much, how much did you get paid to try and kill me? What's the going rate on a seventeen year old girl who is just trying to close the Breach, hasn't killed anyone, and isn't actually a threat to your precious Chantry?"

The assassin scoffed, and finally spoke, his voice thin and reedy, "Was that little speech supposed to be scary?"

"No. It was supposed to make clear to you that I have zero fucks to give, at this point. So when I tell you that you should start talking, or else I'll make your dick stop working and let you feel what it's like to dip your hand in a tub full of acid and razor blades, you should believe me."

Granted, Amy wouldn't do it, and she had no idea if she was actually making him believe her, but - he didn't know she had rules. He didn't know the reasons why she couldn't ever act on it.

"Amy is perfectly capable of doing that," Cassandra told him "She can heal with a touch, but her abilities extend well beyond that."

"You can threaten me with magic if you want-"

"It's not magic!" Amy held herself back from reaching out to grab him and prove her point.

"She knocked you out just by touching you earlier. No spell. Just a touch." Katerina pointed out, smirking.

"You name it, I can give it to you: diarrhea, vomiting your guts out, a headache that lasts for the next twenty years nonstop, give you painful boils on your ass, make everything you eat taste literally like shit... the list goes on. I could melt all the bones in your arm!" That one had never actually occurred to her until just now, unbidden thoughts about how she could do just that rising to her mind as she'd listed off empty threats. Hopefully he didn't realize how empty they were.

Amy felt sick just saying it, thinking it, and it wasn't just the seasickness talking there, but - she couldn't - she looked away, taking a deep breath, grabbing into Katerina's shoulder to try and prevent herself from swaying too much.

The Assassin stared at her a moment, then his eyes flicked to Katerina and Cassandra.

"Fifty Royals."

Amy had asked how much her life was worth because she was angry. Because she hated all of this and hated that someone wanted her dead badly enough to send someone and that she really did have to worry about getting killed in her sleep and then she'd - she'd meant to make a small threat, right? Cancer, or just - ED or something. And she'd just sort of... unloaded and gone crazy with it and -

There was a big issue with her demand on how much the assassin had been paid. She had no idea how much money was worth here. They used gold and silver and copper coins, she'd gotten that much, but - how much was any of it worth. She had no idea how much Fifty Royals was.

"Well, at least the going rate for your life is high enough only the nobility or the richest merchants can afford it." Katerina observed. "But I'm guessing that doesn't feel like enough money now," she added with a smirk.

"That's a lot of money then?"

"More money than any farmer, even one with a lot of good land, could ever hope to see in their life. You could buy and sell the village I grew up in with that sort of money," Katerina explained.

"Who hired you?" Cassandra demanded, pulling a knife from her belt and holding it in front of him, not quite pressing it to his throat. "One way or another, we can force the information from you."

She's lying, she's lying, she's lying. Amy repeated that in her head, trying to remind herself Cassandra had promised no torture, but she was starting to feel bile rising in her throat again. She didn't know if it was more seasickness, or feeling sick about what she'd said or what she'd threatened,or the whole 'this is how you could turn this guy's bones to liquid' thought that had formed in her mind or -

"I don't have a name. You think they were stupid enough to let me know that?"

I could tell if he's lying. Probably. It could vary from person to person, she'd had trouble knowing with Solas because he was an elf, but humans were humans -

But if she touched him she might - she might -

No. No touching him. No temptation to do any of the things she'd threatened or -

She covered her mouth with her hand, feeling bile rise up in her throat again. No. No. Forcing it down for the moment, swallowing it, feeling the burn of it inside her throat, she ran for the door, ignoring Cassandra calling her name and racing down the little hallway belowdecks for the stairs to the deck. She nearly threw up there as the chill night air hit her face, but she managed to make it to the railing before bending over and then she emptied her stomach again, such as it was.

She pulled back for a moment, breath feeling hot, tasting her vomit on her tongue a little - gross, but she didn't have any water or - she spat over the railing, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. Only so effective.

"Here," Katerina's voice came from behind her, and Amy turned to see her holding out a waterskin, which she handed over. Amy took a sip, swishing it around in her mouth, and then spitting back over the railing.

"Thank you." Amy said after a moment, handing the skin back.

"Seasickness, or something else?" Katerina asked, sounding concerned. Pitying.

I'm not going to bare my soul to you, bitch. Amy bit back that response before she said it. Katerina had saved her life less than half an hour before. And they'd agreed to a truce. She could-

She could just - be nice. Or at least... less of a bitch.

"Maybe that, maybe the something else. Or a lot of something else." Amy answered. "I just - I just knew I needed to get out there." She let out a breath, "Not like I'd be able to sleep even if Cassandra took that bastard out of my room for somewhere else."

"Fair enough," Katerina nodded. She let out a small yawn, which made Amy yawn in turn. She wasn't going to be able to sleep, but she was tired. Katerina was tired.

"That story about your Aunt-" Katerina started, and Amy cut her off.

"I don't want to talk about that," Amy turned back to look out over the railing, onto the sea the ship was steadily floating through. She heard Katerina move and then saw her standing next to her out of the corner of her eye, leaning against the railing.

"Or the whole thing where you apparently were afraid you'd die in your sleep before you were seven?"

"Definitely not that either," Amy agreed, pulling her hands down across her face, letting out a groan. "Shouldn't have said that part out loud. Didn't mean to."

"I'm starting to get an idea of why you're so... you." Katerina said quietly.

"You don't know me," Amy said quickly. Truce or not, she wasn't going to just let Katerina pretend that she -

"I said an idea. Not the whole damn story." Katerina clarified, or corrected or whatever, interrupting Amy's train of thought. She said nothing for a long moment. Amy said nothing for a long moment.

"Could you really do all that, with your power?" Katerina asked. "I mean, I know you messed with that abomination somehow, and you knocked the assassin out, but - all of that?"

"Yeah."

"And you just use it to heal?" Katerina shook her head. "I don't think I'd just heal with it. A lot of people who deserve a lot of pretty awful things happening to them."

So not just a coward, but -

Well. There were people who could use her power reasonably. There were people who could. Katerina wasn't one of them, but -

There were a lot of people who deserved awful things happening to them.

Amy should know. She was one of them.

"Like Ser Jethan?"

"Definitely on the list."

"You have a list?!" What, did she just have a list of bastards she wanted to punish or something.

"Not now, but if I had your power, I'd start making one." Katerina shook her head again. "But you just use it to heal. Can't imagine the kind of self-control it takes for that." She chuckled, "No problem with threats though."

"I didn't - I didn't mean to go so far with it," Amy admitted, letting out a sigh, looking up at the stars. "I - I meant to just threaten cancer or make his dick not work, or something like that. Not - not all that."

"You threatened to give the guards in your cell cancer too." Katerina commented. "That your go-to threat, then?"

"I don't - I don't have a go-to threat.!This is - this is the third person I've actually threatened. Or - third time, anyway." There was more than one guard in the cell, and - she had threatened both Skitter and Tattletale.

"This guy, the guards in the cell and..." Katerina trailed off.

Amy sighed. "You're really determined to make me talk about myself." Katerina shrugged and inclined her head to the side. Amy let out another, longer sigh, and then, "Alright - a few weeks before I arrived in Thedas, I was at a bank." she blinked. "Do you guys have banks here?"

"Where else would Kings and nobles get loans from?" Katerina answered.

"Ask a stupid question..." Amy sighed. "Well, I was in line at the bank, and these villains, the Undersiders, decided that that was the day, and that was the bank they were going to rob. There's five of them. Skitter, she controls bugs. Tattletale - she's... some kind of mind-reader or - she knows things. Looks at you and knows all your dirty little secrets and uses them against you. Reads people like a book and likes to lord it over everyone. Thrills in destroying people with words, too."

That certainly was the vibe Tattletale had given her, the way she'd seemed so delighted when she'd threatened to tell Amy about her biological father. Or tell Vicky about -

About how Amy felt about her.

"The other three were outside of the bank, fighting the heroes trying to catch them - but those two were inside. Skitter had spiders on all the hostages - poisonous ones that would have bit them if they moved too much. But she was watching the fighting, using her bugs to mess with the heroes." Amy explained. "It's hard to explain, but I managed to mess with her spiders." She had never really been able to explain exactly how it worked. She'd found the part of the spider's brain that received whatever signals Skitter sent them and sort of... scrambled the signal?

"Mess with her spiders?"

"Made it so she couldn't control them. Couldn't tell when the hostages got away. I got them upstairs, and then I - I tried to attack Skitter. Grabbed a fire extinguisher." Amy blinked, pausing, about to try and describe one and how it worked and what it did, and then deciding it wasn't worth the time. "Well - I - it's big and metal. I tried to attack her with it. Got a hit in, but..."

"You're not much of a fighter."

"Well, yeah, I'm not." Amy nodded slowly at Katerina's comment. She licked her lips and went on: "She managed to get a knife to my throat. Hold me hostage when my sister showed up. I made threats but - even if she'd believed me, her outfit covered her entire body. No bare skin, I couldn't use my power on her."

"You threatened to give her cancer too, though, right?" Katerina looked sideways over at her, still leaning on the railing.

Amy leaned forward herself, arms on the railing. Looking out at the sea, the stars, the night air...

It was almost easy to almost forget what she'd just done, what she'd nearly done. That someone had just tried to kill her.

"Yeah. And make everything taste terrible forever."

Katerina snorted, "Give her something that'll kill her, or just make stuff taste bad. You need to work on narrowing the range of threats, Amy."

Amy rolled her eyes, "No. I need to not make threats again."

"I mean, if they work, they work. We'll have to find out if Lady Pentaghast gets anywhere with him on threats and interrogation alone." Katerina let out a long breath.

"Does it even matter if we find out who hired him?" If it was someone important, especially someone high up in the Chantry, Amy doubted that they could just... arrest them.

"Sister Leliana can probably do something to make sure they know not to try it again." Katerina suggested.

"Kill them you mean." Amy grimaced.

"Or a suitably threatening message. The stories about Sister Leliana are insane, most of them are probably nonsense, but she's no stranger to either option." Katerina answered. "She was the Left Hand of the Divine. Solving problems quietly."

"As in, assassination?"

"Or blackmail, or bribery, or anything else covert."

"Great. So my life is in the hands of someone who used to assassinate on behalf of the Chantry, but I'm safe because she isn't fond of the people running the Chantry right now."

Amy supposed if Divine Justinia ordered Leliana to kill someone, it was like a kill order for a villain back home, or when the government or the Guild targeted some super dangerous cape or terrorist or whatever overseas. But who exactly was Leliana killing for Justinia? People who at least mostly deserved it or -

Cullen was a Templar right there in Kirkwall with that crazy Meredith lady. Leliana was or is an assassin. Josephine... she's great, as far as I can tell. Cassandra...

Amy didn't know. She wanted to believe Cassandra was good. That she didn't have some pile of secret sins hiding somewhere. That she hadn't been a moral coward like Katerina. But she couldn't know. And what could she do, ask Cassandra:

'Hey, Cassandra, got any skeletons in your closet I should know about?'

"She also wants to make sure you can save the world." Katerina pointed out. "Sister Leilana's pragmatic. All of the stories about her make it clear she only kills people who need to die."

"Right. And she gets to decide." Amy shook her head. It wasn't even - there were people who deserved to die. Hookwolf. Slaughterhouse Nine. Bakuda, honestly, after the insane, monstrous shit she'd pulled. And - the one who hired this assassin... they were not a good person. They were trying to kill her. The one person who could close the Breach, just to protect some petty power or because they were a religious zealot.

But... it felt different when someone was potentially dying because of her.

"Someone has to." Katerina shrugged. "She helped save Ferelden during the Fifth Blight. I know she's sympathetic to the rebel mages. She's better than some options." Katerina let out a long breath. "But really, assuming Sister Leliana even goes with killing whoever was behind the assassin - it all depends on if Cassandra can get the guy to give her a lead, even if he really doesn't have a name," Katerina repeated the sentiment she'd expressed a few minutes ago.

Amy swallowed, nodded.

"Yeah. I guess that's pretty much the most important thing first."

---

Cassandra did not get a name.

By the time they'd arrived at the docks of Val Royeaux, Cassandra had gotten a lead, of sorts, out of the assassin. He still professed to not know who hired him - he'd been approached by an intermediary, a man the assassin had described but who sounded eminently forgettable. Probably what made him useful for that.

But the lead was something maybe Leliana could do something with - the assassin had been paid half up front, and the other twenty-five Royals had been placed in what sounded like the equivalent of a safe deposit box held in the care of a small Chantry in a city called Lydes, to the south of Val Royeaux. Apparently that was a thing the Chantry did, store money or valuables for people. Rich people.

Discovering the lead had done nothing to make Amy sleep easier, especially since the assassin was still on the boat. Some demands from Cassandra (and a payment by Varric) had seen the assassin chained up in a small room in the lowest part of the ship - the steerage section. Cassandra had plans to hand him over to the authorities in Val Royeaux for attempted murder.

The one who hired him could probably get him out of it. But would they bother? They might just kill him.

She was a little surprised Cassandra didn't want to just kill him - she had to assume the death penalty was a lot more liberally applied in Thedas - but she hadn't said anything about that, so...

Maybe she didn't think he was worth it? Or she thought Amy would be squeamish about it since she'd objected to torture?

God, I don't know.

Amy let out a small yawn and then shook her head violently, taking a breath when she was done. She looked at the city as the ship slowly made its way to one of the piers. It looked massive, so much bigger than Jader. A million people, according to Varric, the largest city in Thedas outside of Tevinter. The heart of the Empire of Orlais, and the Chantry. During major holy festivals the population could swell even more as pilgrims and visitors came.

In the distance, she could see white buildings serving as a sort of 'skyline', but the largest was a tall spire, towering over the rest of the buildings she could see outlines of. The spire was gleaming white in the sunlight.

"The White Spire," Katerina said softly, standing next to her on the deck, hands on the railing. "I used to dream of being able to see it in person. Now we're about to, and it doesn't mean anything to me." She let out a long breath. The tone of her voice made it pretty obvious to Amy why it was 'I used to dream' and not 'I've dreamed'.

"This White Spire has something to do with the Templars, then?"

"The beating heart of the Templar Order. Empty now, probably, beyond maybe some people keeping it clean. The Templars left the city, the Circle mages there would have fled even if they weren't rebels..." Katerina shook her head slowly, as the captain started directing the crew to drop the anchor and ready the gangplank.

"Stay close," Katerina added, as Cassandra, (the assassin in tow, arms shackled behind him, gagged too) Varric and Solas came out from belowdecks. "I've never been to Val Royeaux, but the docks are legendarily busy and almost as deadly as Kirkwall's docks. It would be easy for someone to just slip out of the crowd and knife you."

"Fucking hell, I thought I was supposed to be safe in Val Royeaux."

"Safer, maybe, but there's no point in taking chances." Katerina pointed out, which Amy had to admit was a fair point.

"So where exactly are we going?" Amy asked Cassandra once they went down the gangplank and onto the docks, the swell of people intense compared to Jader. It was loud, a constant background of people going about their business as they edged their way through the busy docks and then onto solid ground. People shouting, she caught snatches of what sounded like someone hawking some wares, the noise of carts and animals and thousands or tens of thousands of people all milling around.

It also smelled. Like fish - fresh and otherwise -, and the sea. But the scent of shit wasn't as strong, though the sheer weight of less washed humanity around her was pretty overwhelming all over again.

"I'm going to hand this one over to the Harbormaster." Cassandra gestured to the assassin. "They'll see to it he's held in a cell until Leliana or Josephine can arrange something further, have him brought somewhere the Inquisition can hold him and figure out what to do with him."

The assassin made a noise of protest, but Cassandra ignored him, tugging him along after.

"I give it even odds he's gone from his cell by the time we leave the city, Seeker. That, or someone kills him so he can't spill anything else." Varric wagered.

"Perhaps, but we can't take him with us into the city center, to the Grand Cathedral."

"That's where we're going then?"

"The Grand Clerics are there, or should be. I imagine word will reach them that we are in the city before we get there." Cassandra explained.

"Shouldn't we... make ourselves presentable first?" Katerina asked, and at those words, Amy looked down at herself. Her robes weren't filthy or anything, but they were dusty. And she hadn't had any sort of proper bath in ages. She was unwashed humanity right now.

She hated how she'd sort of gotten used to it by now. Only sort of - she had to wash up as much as she could, but...

"It would be best if we do not keep the Grand Clerics waiting," Cassandra disagreed.

"They've been waiting the whole time we've been on our way, Seeker. It would be nice to stop somewhere and get a proper meal too, while we're here. I've never been to Val Royeaux, but I hear all about the restaurants and cafes. Ruffles won't shut up about them if you get her started."

Ruffles was Varric's nickname for Josephine, referring to the ruffles on her shirts, Amy assumed. Not very creative, but then, his nickname for Cassandra was 'Seeker' and his nickname for Katerina was 'Red', so...

"It would seem prudent to ready ourselves for the meeting," Solas offered, agreeing with Katerina.

"If nothing else," Amy chimed in, "I need coffee if I'm going to make it through this meeting. I didn't exactly sleep well on the ship, and I couldn't make coffee." The ship had had a galley, with a sort of stove made from bricks, but it was small and cramped and Amy wouldn't have been allowed to monopolize it to boil water for Coffee. (she'd asked). So she hadn't had any coffee the entire trip.

Cassandra grimaced, but then nodded, slowly. "You are... likely right, all of you." She looked up at the sky. "Though, if we take too long, it will be evening. It might be better to meet with the Chantry clerics tomorrow, then. One of Leliana's contacts will find us when we get closer to the city center, and we can get a better idea of the situation then," she concluded.

"Putting off this meeting until I've slept in a bed that isn't moving and I've bathed and had coffee tomorrow morning sounds really nice," Amy said. "A little more time to go over what I'm going to say, too."

She had put a lot of thought into it, working from Josephine's suggestion and talking to Cassandra (with a few mostly helpful suggestions from Varric) about it, but still. This was an important thing. She had to make sure she could get it right.

After depositing the assassin off with the Harbormaster - which involved Cassandra raising her voice and poking the man in the chest repeatedly until he agreed to have the assassin thrown in a cell and kept under guard - they made their way through a crowd that now knew she 'was' the Herald, word spreading quickly. They were quickly given a wider berth, though the intersections were still busy, and the crowd didn't always stay parted for them. The further they went into the city, away from the docks, the less crowded it was getting, the less it smelled, and the cleaner it looked. The White Spire loomed ahead. They were sticking to wide, main thoroughfares, rather than side streets that just from looking at them seemed almost mazelike. Cramped too, in some cases, though both of those qualities seemed to be less and less as they went.

They walked for what felt like an hour, maybe more, maybe less - Amy's feet didn't hurt after that much walking, not anymore, but she didn't enjoy it. Finally though, they reached an area of the city that was much, much nicer, and people were walking around in very nice clothing - the guards they saw on patrol even had nicer, shinier armor.

What's with the masks? Amy asked herself as they passed her fourth person wearing one since they'd entered this distinctly richer part of the city. They weren't capes, obviously, it was just masks, no costumes... The masks looked to be metal - one was gold, the rest maybe silver? Two had only covered the top half of the face, others had covered more, though none covered the mouth entirely. One of the masked people, a woman, let out a gasp at the sight of them and hurried away - she didn't run, but there was a definite hurry to her steps as she moved away.

"I think word of our arrival has definitely gotten this far already," Varric observed.

"Your skills of observation never fail to impress me, Varric," Cassandra drawled.

They reached a sort of park - it was small, but it had some trees, and flowering bushes, and benches, arranged around a small fountain where water was coming out of the mouth of a lion.

A woman wearing plain green clothes approached quickly. She didn't have any weapons in hand, but Amy saw Katerina's hand go to the sword on her back as they approached. Cassandra stepped forward, not drawing her sword, or even putting her hand on it, but getting in the woman's way.

"Lady Cassandra," she said quietly, quickly. "I am Rowan. Sister Leliana told her people here to watch for you and those with you on the way to the city center from the docks." Her eyes flicked to Amy meaningfully, but she didn't say 'Herald', at least. Though how much that mattered, Amy didn't know.

"Leliana told me that any of her agents approaching would have something specific to say," Cassandra said cautiously.

"Aye. I am told that Haven's cabbages are unusually yellow this time of year," Rowan said in a very quiet tone of voice. Cassandra nodded, so that must have been the right one.

"What is the situation in the city?"

"The Grand Clerics are here in the city. Some are preaching against the Inquisition even now, some are arguing about calling a new election for the Divine, others seem to just be waiting until you and your party can arrive."

"But they're not all gathered at the Grand Cathedral."

"Not yet. I can pass a message to the ones we can likely count among our supporters for that to happen, but it might take some time to get everyone together, they are spread out across the city, especially the ones preaching against the Inquisition and the Herald."

Not the Herald, not the Herald, stop calling me that. Amy would have enough of that happening tomorrow, so...

"Send word that Amy - she does not claim the title of Herald, whatever else others say - will meet with them tomorrow morning," Cassandra told them.

"If they will have us, of course," Solas chimed in.

"We came all this way to meet them, it would be rude if they refused." Varric observed. "I can't imagine Orlesians being rude." Varric's voice wasn't exactly dripping with sarcasm, but he was obviously not being serious.

"Of course, Lady Cassandra," Rowan nodded.

"Before you go - is there an inn close to the city center that we can trust?" Cassandra asked. "There was already an attempt on Amy's life on the way here. I would not invite another if we can avoid it." Cassandra explained the attack, that the assassin had been handed over to the Harbormaster.

Rowan did know a suitable inn - apparently it was one the Inquisition's agents already worked with, the owner having been an agent of Leliana's for some time, or something. That was the impression she got from what Rowan implied, anyway, and so off they went to the inn in question.

Cassandra paid for their rooms and their meals and baths for them all with some of the assassin's money - he hadn't had all twenty five Royals on him, but he had had a few, and one was enough to cover all that.

The inn did look and feel fancy. Everyone inside was well dressed, there were more people wearing masks -

"Okay, I have to ask, what is with the masks?" Amy asked once they made their way into a hallway leading to their rooms.

"Orlesian noble politics," Cassandra said scornfully. "Few nobles are seen in public without masks in Orlais, especially in Val Royeaux. Something about hiding your true face from rivals and making it harder for people to read your expression."

"That's... stupid."

"They're Orlesian nobles. Kind of comes with the territory," Varric offered. "The smart ones at least remove the masks when they're visiting Kirkwall. The stupid ones keep wearing them and usually end up mugged for their trouble."

Sounds very... French. The whole 'doing their own thing and everyone else thinking it was stupid and just what they were like. Like Leliana, every Orlesian person she'd heard had a vaguely French accent - some more like the French accents she knew, some less. Amy had no idea how that worked, but then how did everyone speak English?

She'd asked how everyone spoke the same language - Europe in the medieval period hadn't and still didn't. Apparently they were all speaking a language first used by dwarves for trade and then Tevinter had spread it when they ruled most of Thedas and it had just kind of stuck.

The rest of the day was taken up by a few things. First, bathing - the inn actually had running water for bathing, in a separate room that could be used by guests, though it didn't have running hot water. If she'd been willing to wait and pay extra, someone could heat a bunch of water over a fire for her, but Amy was, much to her annoyance, pretty used to cold baths by now, and she wanted to be clean more than she wanted to wait.
Then they had a late lunch and/or early dinner. And coffee.

It was much, much better coffee than what she'd had back in Haven, or made on the road herself. Whoever made it was obviously really good at it, and they were probably using really good beans too. Amy wasn't really one to care much about the taste of coffee as long as it kept her awake, but this was... really really nice coffee.

After eating, Amy worked more on what she was going to say, and Rowan came by to say that the Grand Clerics were willing to meet with Amy outside the Grand Cathedral, but not until noon tomorrow. Why not in it? Why noon? Rowan didn't have an answer, though she did say it was not a uniform decision, just a majority one.

Cassandra grimaced at the news, but after some thought, decided it was likely a power play by the Grand Clerics. Rowan promised she and Leliana's other agents in the city would keep their ears to the ground in case they learned anything else.

The last bit before she went to sleep was Amy talking about the first Prequel movie with Katerina - who found the whole idea of the story a little weird. Some of that was because - for all that she liked the Earth-Aleph Phantom Menace - it was a bit of a weird story. Some of it was because Katerina just lacked the frame of reference to understand things. She was confused by the droid army being shut off by the ship being destroyed, or why the Trade Federation could do what it did and get away with it, or the whole vote of no confidence thing, the fact that the Senate was doing nothing -

And the whole 'Jedi saying no to training Anakin thing'.

Which... yeah, some of that didn't make much sense to Amy either. But the core of the story, and the reveal that Padme was the Queen Amidala and the body double thing was something Katerina liked, and the idea that a young slave boy won his freedom in the race was one she liked. Amy could hardly do a blow by blow, but she tried to do justice to talking about the movie.

Katerina promised she'd tell Amy about some of the other books she'd read other than Tale of the Champion next chance they got to talk about stories.

---

The next day Amy woke feeling something resembling rested, but with a twisted tightness in her gut - she was going to be facing the Grand Clerics today. What she said was a big deal. Sure, she had something to say, it was planned out, she could even recite it under her breath a bit as they went, but -

What if she said the wrong thing? Or said it wrong? Mother Giselle had said she didn't need to convince them all, just make some of them doubt. Break the unified voice. Josephine was certain that the most important thing was just to be there, make her case, and create enough breathing room for them to do what they needed to do.

Amy hoped that was right.

For breakfast, Amy had coffee and a flaky, buttery pastry that reminded her of a croissant, but not crescent-moon shaped, and not as flaky. It was filled with marzipan.

And then, off towards the city center. But the meeting wasn't until noon, and so they sort of... strolled, meandering. More people recognized her, or Cassandra, or the whole lot of them, and people gave them a wide berth. Some seemed afraid, some seemed intrigued, but no one was approaching and bothering her, asking for healing or a blessing or whatever, so she could take the stares and looks, for now.

They passed a bookstore along the way and for a moment, Amy was tempted to go in. She'd read the Tale of the Champion a bit more, almost despite herself. Hawke wasn't doing more crime, at least, and had just met Anders while dealing with gangs in 'Darktown', a sort of underground slum beneath the city, old Tevinter mining tunnels and slave quarters in ages past. Hawke was out there looking for work to do, and some of that work involved killing criminals and taking their stuff, or returning things they'd stolen. Anders's clinic was right smack dab in the middle of Darktown, which was mostly run by gangs of various flavors.

The worst part about Anders was that brief scene she'd seen of him so far, healing refugees in the old, poor under levels of the city was... he was doing good. Being good. He hadn't sounded like the kind of nut who would blow up a church - chantry - and...

People should be obvious about what they were. Anders was a man willing to kill hordes of innocent people to make a point, and then start a war... and he came off as normal, if stressed and harried, and he was healing people for free, just because he could, because it was the right thing to do.

He was also apparently an abomination - she wasn't sure why she remembered that detail that Katerina had mentioned in conversation with Varric... what, a month ago at this point?

He certainly hadn't transformed like that guy in the Crossroads, but...

He didn't seem like he was being controlled by a demon either. How did that work?

But... the idea of looking at books made the nervous feeling in her gut get worse. She had something important to do, even if not yet, so... no.

She did make a note of the place, though. It was stupid and selfish of her, maybe, but she... she wanted to see what books Thedas had. Wanted to read them. Which was - well, not a novel feeling, but one she really hadn't felt in a while.

They drew close to the city center, but still had a while to wait. And so they stopped at a cafe and Amy had more coffee. Which was even better than the coffee at the inn, and sweetened with honey without her specifically ordering it.

Which was not better.

But they sat, and Varric regaled her - and Katerina - with an admittedly amusing extended anecdote about Hawke, a pompous noble, two drunk laborers and an unruly, ornery horse. And then... and then it was time to go. And so, off they went to the city center. To get there, they walked along a street lined with statues. Important Emperors or Empresses or whatever, probably. Or other important people. As they drew closer, Rowan raced towards them, from the city center. It was definitely the same woman, but she wasn't wearing the same outfit as before, wearing a hooded cloak with leather armor underneath, and she was armed - a short sword at her belt and a bow and quiver slung over her back.

"Templars are in the city." Rowan said quickly, sounding half-out of breath. "The Grand Clerics - the ones who have been the loudest against the Inquisition - are saying that they've returned to defend the Chantry against the Inquisition. I think that's why they wanted to delay until noon - they're almost here to the Grand Cathedral."

Well shit. Amy felt a chill run down her spine, freezing in place.

Cassandra cursed repeatedly, then looked back at Rowan. "There's no way the entire Order would be here and we'd only just be hearing about it now. How many?"

"Twenty or so, but Lord Seeker Lucius is at their head. People have been asking him why they've returned, but he's answered no questions just marching ahead into the city, towards the Grand Cathedral."

"Twenty's still more than we can handle," Varric cautioned. "I mean, I'm good, Bianca's good, and Chuckles and Red can carry their weight, and Maker knows you're deadly with your sword, Seeker, but five to one odds are still five to one."

I guess I don't count, do I.

"Leliana's other agents and I can take up positions to aid you if it comes to blows," Rowan suggested.

"Or we could go. No point in giving Templars the chance to take a shot at Amy," Katerina suggested. "We're walking into a trap."

"Lord Seeker Lucius is.... Honorable, in his way. He would not attack Amy when she is here for a meeting like this." Cassandra said, sounding a little unsure, like maybe she was trying to convince herself.

"If the Templars really have returned to the Chantry, then he might take orders from the Grand Clerics to attack Amy, regardless." Solas cautioned. "Though I find it strange that they would return now, if they wouldn't earlier."

"In Val Royeaux, only the Divine can truly give orders to Templars," Cassandra countered. "And there is no Divine."

"They rebelled against the Chantry in the first place. Even if the Breach is a big enough deal for them to come back, I don't think they care much about the legal niceties," Varric pointed out.

"Templars never have," Katerina chimed in.

"On the other hand, there is the question of where are the rest of their forces?" Solas leaned on his staff a little, a thoughtful look on his face. "Twenty not that many Templars, in the grand scheme of things."

Amy blinked. "...I remember Leliana mentioning something about the Templars - all of them - leaving their fortress in Orlais. So why only twenty? Wouldn't they all come here?"

"Twenty is still more than enough for us," Katerina pointed out. "We should leave, now, while we can."

"If the Grand Clerics wanted Amy, wanted us, dead here in Val Royeaux, they could send the city guard against us, or whip up a furious mob," Cassandra shook her head. "I do not trust this development, but I do not think this is any more dangerous to Amy than it already was." Cassandra looked over at Amy. "The choice is yours, however."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're the one at greatest risk, if this is a trap, or does come to violence."

"You didn't really ask if I wanted to come this far in the first place," Amy pointed out. They hadn't forced her - it hadn't really gotten that far. "So why ask now?" She shook her head before Cassandra could answer. "Nevermind, don't answer." She looked ahead, licking her lower lip, inhaling slowly.

She didn't want to go and risk there being a fight, risking getting hurt. She did have her fighting staff, at Cassandra's insistence, but she could hardly use that against someone with a sword and armor who was determined to kill her in a real fight.

But she'd also come all this fucking way. Riding horses and then that stupid boat and some asshole assassin trying to kill her - hired by one of the Grand Clerics they were about to meet, Amy was sure. And -

They needed to close the Breach. Needed mages, or Templars. And the guy in charge of the rebelling Templars - the Lord Seeker - was here, right. So maybe she could talk to him directly. She didn't like Templars. They were everything wrong with the PRT and the Police but worse, and in a medieval hellscape. And they were all addicts.

But... if Templars were here, and she could convince them to help...

She didn't care if she didn't like Templars. The Breach was a fucking nightmare, and the sooner she closed it, the sooner this could be all over. Maybe.

"I want to go." Amy said finally. "We'll talk to the Grand Clerics."

"Amy, you can't-" Katerina started, but Amy cut her off.

"We've come all this way, and if Cullen is right that Templars can do the job of helping us close the Breach, then we can talk to the Lord Seeker and maybe convince him to help with it now. Save us time."

"They're Templars! They're not going to agree to help anyone!" Katerina snapped.

"Katerina." Cassandra cautioned. But Katerina shook her head.

"No, Lady Pentaghast, I'm - Amy, you can't be stupid enough to think this is a good idea."

"Nothing I've done since I've ended up here has been a good idea, Katerina!" Amy snapped. "Why would I start now.?" Hell, a lot of her life was bad ideas because she didn't have any good options. She hated healing, but she hated the guilt from not healing more? So she went and healed, even sneaking out at night. She didn't want to fight, didn't want to get hurt, but was getting close to demons to close rifts because what else was she going to do?

"It took us fucking forever to get here, and it's going to take forever to get back to Haven. If we turn back now, the whole trip is for nothing anyway!"

Katerina grimaced, "You're being an idiot, Amy."

"Wouldn't be the first time. And what happened to that truce thing?" Not that she was actually upset by Katerina calling her an idiot, but still.

"I don't think it covers standing by and being silent when you decide to walk into a fucking trap,"

Okay, I suppose that's fair.

"And if it's not? And I mean," She looked at Rowan, "You and Leliana's other people can get involved too, if it comes to blows."

"As long as it's in the open. Some are already getting into position. We can use our bows to help clear an escape for you."

"Good." She paused, then, "Thank you for that." She looked back at Cassandra, Katerina, Varric and Solas. "We have to try. The Breach needs to be closed, and if meeting with the Grand Clerics, talking to this Lord Seeker Lucius guy can get us somewhere, then I'm going to do it."

"Then we should keep moving." Cassandra said, after no one else said anything for a moment. She looked at Katerina. "Keep silent when we speak to the Lord Seeker, if we do, Katerina."

Katerina inhaled, nostrils flaring a little, then she nodded stiffly, speaking in a curt tone. "Fine."

With that decided, they pushed on towards the center of the city, and the plaza out in front of the Grand Cathedral. The White Spire was visible ahead. Bells started ringing, signifying that it was noon. They reached an open plaza, the street lined with statues spilling out into a massive space, vaguely rectangular. At one end, it sort of ended semi-circular, she could see in the distance, and the White Spire towered over everything.

"This is where Lady Pentaghast killed those dragons and became the Hero of Orlais," Katerina said with a hint of wonder in her voice, her voice low, speaking to Amy.

"I had a significant amount of help from circle mages, and a great deal of luck." Cassandra said firmly. "It was reckless in the extreme for me to do what I did. The title 'Hero of Orlais' is unwarranted."

"You saved the Divine, and everyone who was gathered here for the festival," Katerina protested.

"Not without help. The Divine certainly thanked one of those who did, publicly even, but I am the one the bards sing songs about, the people sing stories of. Regalyan D'Marcall is forgotten almost entirely, let alone the other mages who fought with him."

"I've heard that name. But not in connection to what happened here-" Katerina started, but Cassandra cut her off with a glare. Katerina actually shut up.

What was that?

It was nice of Cassandra to insist on credit for someone else though. Not many capes would have, though Victoria did, as Glory Girl - despite her reputation on PHO.

The plaza was mostly empty - it was huge, probably could hold thousands or more when it was full, but right now, there were just bare handfuls. Most of them were gathered near the base of the White Spire, and as they drew closer, Amy could see that at the front of the crowd was a raised podium of some sort, and a bunch of women dressed in robes like Mother Giselle's, but fancier, with the same weird inverted triangle-looking hat, were standing on it. Some were clustered around the edges of the podium, but at the center was another cluster gathered together around a woman who was talking animatedly, her voice raised. It carried well and as they drew closer, she could pick up what was being said.

"...It was treachery that felled Divine Justina! Her heart yearned for peace and friendship, and so she sought to beckon the rebel mages back to the fold with words and kindness. They punished her, and all of us, with destruction, and now demons roam this world freely. Our sins have compounded and are punished once more by the Maker. Only by remembering his word, and holding fast to the Chantry, can this be undone."

The crowd around the podium was at least a few hundred, most of them nobles, judging by their masks. Amy took a deep breath, grimaced and swallowed.

In other words, just obey us and everything will be fine.

"The Breach in the sky is a sign that our faith has wavered, and that sin, vice and weakness have taken their hold too much in Thedas."

"Grand Cleric Hevara," Cassandra said quietly, voice dripping with derision. "Maker above, I should have known she would be at the front of this."

"You know her?"

"Mostly by reputation, thankfully." Cassandra admitted. "She was an opponent of Justinia's election, and she somehow manages to be an inflexible, unbending fanatic more concerned with the appearance of faith than its content, and a political opportunist."

Amy blinked. "That's almost impressive. Should I assume that convincing her is basically never going to happen?"

"Almost certainly. Convincing those gathered around her, or those who might be wavering, however, is entirely plausible." Cassandra advised. "The words you have planned are still what you should go with."

"None who live now are free of sin, and the greatest sin, is that of Pride, and it is Pride that claimed Justinia - her soul was beautiful, her desires noble, but she believed she could single-handedly end the conflict caused by the Circle's rebellion. And it is Pride that has claimed her Right Hand, a woman who once saved the lives of many here in this very plaza, to raise up a mage as a false prophet, a so-called 'Herald' of Andraste." Hevara continued, gesturing towards them. The crowd turned, parting a little for them, small gasps or even shouts spreading through as people recognized Cassandra - by sight or reputation - or even her. How detailed a description of her had spread.

Amy didn't say anything yet - she wasn't going to shout to be heard, and they weren't close enough. She shrank inwards a little on herself under the stares, then felt Katerina put a hand on her shoulder for a moment in a gesture that was probably supposed to be supportive, or seem supportive. But it was as much because Amy knew Katerina thought she was kind of pathetic and weak.

Because... well, Amy was.

But she had to be better.

"What would Vicky do?" Amy muttered under her breath. Punch something, or someone, maybe. Her sister wasn't just 'punch your way out of problems', but if her sister had made it this far, she'd have to be angry. Really angry. And that meant there was a chance she'd punch someone.

But putting that one aside, her sister would do what needed to be done, say what needed to be said. Head held high. Amy wasn't her sister. She couldn't just... feel confident. Be confident. She couldn't handle being at the center of everyone's attention. But maybe... maybe she could fake it. She'd sort of faked it a few times. She had to do it now.

"A 'Herald' who claimed to rise where our beloved Divine fell. She claims to speak for our Prophet, for the Maker himself, and claims that she will save us all from the Breach."

One out of four isn't exactly a passing grade. Amy bit her tongue, holding that thought back.

Hevara gestured at her grandly, "Do we believe her? No! We say this child mage is a false prophet, a tool raised up by those who seek to replace the Chantry. This 'Inquisition' has no right, no place to act, and it serves nothing but their own ambition and greed!"

And your intentions are as pure as the driven snow, right?
"And there are the templars," Varric commented, looking off to the left. Amy's eyes darted to the side and there, indeed, entering the plaza, was a group of armored men and women, walking in a two by two formation, led by one man. The Lord Seeker, presumably.

Showtime.

Amy inhaled as they drew close enough, and lowered her hood. Probably best that everyone could see her face. She raised her voice, hoping it carried enough.

"I've never claimed to be a Herald of anyone, or anything. I'm not a prophet, and I don't pretend to speak to Andraste or the Maker, or anyone else." Amy said. "My name is Amy Dallon. That is who I am. That is all I am. There's only one thing I'm concerned with, and that's closing the Breach! I don't want anyone to worship me or revere me or anything else!"

There was a small chorus of murmurs.

"I'm not interested in challenging the Chantry."

"Your words hold little meaning, child. It is those who hold your strings that should be speaking."

Oh for fuck's sake.

"I'm nobody's puppet!" Amy snapped, then immediately regretted it. This was not in the plan. She swallowed, trying to control her tone before she spoke again: "I'm not even from Thedas. I have no idea how I ended up in the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I didn't ask for this, and I never told anybody to consider me a prophet."

"The Inquisition holds you up as the one who can save us all! Their tool to gather the allegiance of those too weak and too afraid to understand what must be done to save us all from the Breach." Hevara said. "What say you, Cassandra Pentaghast, to the charges against you?! You have raised up a heretical movement, an army to challenge the faithful-"

"To challenge the Breach, and those behind it. To restore order in a world gone mad, like the Inquisition of old!" Cassandra countered. "We must work together to close the Breach before it is too late! Amy is not a puppet."

"My job as protecting her would be easier if she was," Katerina cut in, just loud enough to be heard by some of the crowd, and there were actually a few laughs. Cassandra held up a hand, and Amy really, really wanted to slap Katerina for that, but -

She really wasn't expecting this whole 'puppet' thing as the avenue of attack. She was pretty sure no one had, or at least no one had mentioned it to her.

"I'm not anyone's puppet, because like I said, the only thing I care about is closing the Breach. That, and getting back home after all this is done. The only thing I'm interested in helping the Inquisition do is closing the Breach. Even if Cassandra or Leliana or anyone else actually wanted to do something else, like overthrow the Chantry, and they don't, I'm not going to help them, and as soon as the Breach is closed, I'm leaving Thedas." Well, not immediately, but she was trying to make a point.

"You say you have not sought the mantle of Herald, and yet you have used your magic to heal anyone who asks, claiming it to be a gift of the Maker rather than magic!" This was a different Grand Cleric, but one standing near Hevara.

"Oh for -" Amy cut herself off before she swore, then bit her lower lip and started again. "My power isn't magic, and I'm not a mage. A month ago, I'd never even heard of magic, or the Maker, or Andraste!" And I wish I never had. "I never claimed my power is from the Maker, because it's not!"

"Her abilities are not magic. I am a Seeker, we are trained to find and combat magic, and I can assure you, what she can do is not magic."

"If you claim it is not magic, then it can only be from the Maker - and that claim can only be a pretense of false prophethood!"

"Magic or Maker aren't the only choices!" Amy wanted to shrivel up and die, so many eyes were on her, and even the carefully planned 'this is what I'm going to say' wasn't there to serve as a crutch because they were getting so fucking off topic. "You think I want everyone staring at me like this, you think I want people calling me 'Herald' and acting like I'm holy? I'm seventeen! I want to be back home, with my family, not here. But I am, and as long as I have this on my hand, I'm apparently the only one who can close the rifts, and the Breach." she held up her left hand, showing the mark. Despite the fact that there were no rifts nearby, it flared bright green for a moment, and Amy did a double take at sight of it.

Did I do that? Or is it like, responding to my anger?

She said nothing for a moment, and the flare of light

Back to the script, back to the script.

"You're afraid. Everyone's afraid." Think like Vicky. Say something inspiring. Give people a reason to hope, not to fear. "From what everyone's told me, before the Conclave, the whole world was already going crazy. Civil war in Orlais. War between the mages and Templars, everyone caught in the middle." Amy swallowed, feeling like her voice was wavering, shaking -

"It's too late for words! The Templars are here to protect the Chantry from your lies!" Hevara shouted. Amy looked back to the left, and the crowd was parting again for the templars. The one at the front - the Lord Seeker - was walking towards the podium, the twenty or so templars behind him following up onto it.

"That is where you are wrong, Grand Cleric Hevara," Lucius said loudly, his voice had a... commanding note to it. Drawing attention. It was deep, a little deeper than she'd have expected from seeing him. He was tall, and had long brown hair, sort of slicked back. His armor had the Templar symbol on it, the whole sword in fire thing. His eyes looked a little sunken.

"Lord Seeker?" Hevara started, sounding confused. "Surely you must see that this false Herald must be stopped before-"

One of the templars behind Lucius reached out and grabbed one of Hevara's wrists, pulling his other hand back to punch her. Luciuys turned, holding up a hand.

"Hold. She is beneath you. Do not sully yourself by attacking her." The Templar looked surprised, but lowered his arm and let go of Hevara's arm - Hevara stumbled regardless and fell backwards, landing on her ass. Lucius turned back to the crowd. "The Templars are not here to once again serve the whims of those who are too weak to take action, those who tried to stay our righteous hand when the mages rebelled, and those who seek only to talk when the Breach threatens us all, and when demons roam the world freely."

Okay, that sounds promising. Even if kind of - not thrilled he's pissy about the whole 'they stopped us from killing mages' thing but -

Focus on the problem. On the Breach.

"So you're here for the Inquisition? You heard we were coming?"

"I came to see what frightened old, weak women so much. I came to laugh at them. But yes, I am also here for you, Herald."

"I'm not a Herald. My name is Amy Dallon." Lucius stepped down off the podium, approaching her.

"But you can close the Breach, yes?"

"I can close the rifts, and I stopped the Breach getting any bigger. In theory, yes, I can close the Breach. But I need help. Maybe your help." She paused, "You and a lot of Templars, that is."

"Lord Seeker, in order to close the Breach-" Cassandra started, but the Lord Seeker held up a hand, cutting her off. He wore metal gauntlets.

"I will not treat with you, Cassandra Pentaghast." Lucius said firmly.

Cassandra blinked, and when she spoke again, she sounded confused, or even hurt, "Lord Seeker?"

"I admire your will to act, rather than to merely rely on words. Declaring the Inquisition was a bold move, but the wrong one. Even still, that is not why I will not treat with you. When the Seekers and Templars broke with the Chantry, you remained, and led others in that refusal to join with us."

"Because I believed that breaking with the Divine was not the way to restore peace! Lord Seeker Lambert was wrong to act as he did. What happened in Kirkwall was not the fault of the mages as a whole, and the events afterwards, at the White Spire, at Andorhal's Reach spiraled out of anyone's control by the actions of a few! Surely you can see that!"

"As I said, I am not here to treat with you. You are not a Seeker, and I will not debate the past with you. You acted with conviction, but you acted wrongly." Lord Seeker Lucius turned back to Amy. "It is you who I will treat with, and you whom I came to see. I wanted to take your measure. See the mage that claimed she could close the Breach. See if you were a threat, like the rebels, or if you could be worked with, if you could aid me in leading the Templars in restoring order, as I build a proper future for Thedas! One where those who must act, may!"

Feels like he's gone and decided he's the main character here. Amy was the one who could actually close the Breach, not him. But she did need Templars. Or might need them.

And he was giving Cassandra shit, though in a sort of... respecting way. He didn't like her or agree with her, but he did respect her conviction and her 'will to act'.

"I'm not a mage!" Amy insisted, grabbing onto that one while she tried to process everything he said. "Look, if any of your templars are injured, if you're injured, I could show you and you could all feel that it's not magic."

The Lord Seeker cocked his head to the side a little, then he turned. "Ser Arras, approach."

Another knight, this one wearing leather armor, a leather cap of some sort on his head, bow and arrows on his back, came down off the podium and approached. Lucius handed him a small knife. "Remove your glove and cut your hand."

Oh fuck -

Before Amy could protest, the Templar, Ser Arras, was removing his glove.

"Wait, wait you don't-"

Arras pressed the edge of the knife to his palm and dug it in and pulled down. No protest. No hesitation. Just cutting himself because his boss told him to. What the fuck?

He pulled the bloody knife away, showing the shallow cut in his hand.

Jesus fucking Christ. Amy stared at it for a moment, then shook her head quickly. She was supposed to heal it.

"I need to touch you to heal you." She stepped closer, holding out her hand. The Templar was taller than her - not that that was hard, though he wasn't as tall as Katerina - and he reached down with his hand, and Amy touched his fingers. She didn't ask for permission - reaching the hand out and following his bosses cult-like command to cut himself just for this seemed like permission enough.

He was a perfectly normal human, but she could feel something weird in his body, his bloodstream, his brain, his digestive system. It was a microbateria, or something that she'd never felt before. Everyone had unique gut biomes and all that, but this was - it was completely alien. Something she'd never seen in anyone before.

What the fuck is that? Some sort of weird local bacterial infection? He didn't seem sick - there was a sign he was having headaches, that he was fatigued, but she couldn't identify a clear source. Probably just tired or stressed or something? She focused on his hand, closing the cut with ease, sealing it up, using the very blood he'd spilled to knit his flesh back together.

Ser Arras looked at her, shocked, and the Lord Seeker's eyes widened for a moment, though he could control his expression better.

"I sensed no magic, nothing of the Fade from that, nor any blood magic. Ser Arras?"

"Nothing, my Lord. And I feel... no pain." He poked at the healed skin. "It seems to be perfectly healed, as if by magic. But it is not magic."

"Remarkable. Is this power linked to your ability to close the Breach?" Lucius asked her.

"No. I had it for years before I arrived in Thedas." Amy was not exactly good at reading people without reading their biology, and she wasn't touching the Lord Seeker right now. Nor could she just grab him to find out. But there was something... weird about his voice when he called her power 'remarkable'. Fascinated, which made sense, but...

And his eyes...

Greedy. That's it. He looked at her power greedily. The ability to heal without 'evil' magic. Another reason for him to want her to help him.

"And how did you come by it?"

"It's - where I come from, some people develop unusual powers. My sister can fly and break through solid stone walls with her fists. My aunt can shoot beams of fire from her hands, and also fly." Amy answered. "Nobody is really sure where it all comes from. Just a lot of theories."

Lucius nodded, then turned back to Ser Arras. "Prepare your fellows. We will be departing the city shortly." Arras nodded, a fist to his chest and turned to go back to the podium. He turned back to Amy. "As for you - messages were sent to us that you and the Inquisition wished for our aid in closing the Breach."

"They were. When I tried to close the Breach with this mark the first time, I was able to stabilize it, but as far as people who know more about this than I do can tell, the Breach was too powerful for the mark to do it alone, like I can with the smaller rifts. I need either more power, or I need to weaken the Breach."

"And you believe that Templars can weaken the Breach." Lucius made the very short leap to why they needed Templars. "Enough that you can close it for good."

"That's the idea." The guy seemed to have his priorities straight, but he was a Templar - okay, Seeker, but he was in charge of the whole rebellion thing. And his whole emphasis on her 'aiding him' in the Templars restoring order. Plus, his definition of that probably included throwing mages into circles again, or worse.

But the most important thing was the Breach. She told herself that a few times in a row. And so far, he seemed perfectly willing to explore the idea.

"When you didn't return the messages asking for your help, the idea was coming to Val Royeaux to confront the Chantry and get them to stop denouncing the Inquisition might make the Templars willing to hear us out." She paused, "Doesn't seem to have been necessary though."

"We are loyal to the Maker and his word, to the teachings of Andraste and the Chant of Light. But it is not the Templars who failed - it is the Chantry. It tried to stay our righteous hand when the mages rebelled, and it is they who allowed the problems to fester as long as they did to make this happen. Lyrium is essential to the work of a Templar, and there can be nothing done about the toll it takes on the body and mind, the dependency it creates, but the Chantry used it like a leash, cutting off access to Lyrium when a Templar dares to stand up for what is right, rather than what is convenient!"

Okay. That's... yeah, that's screwed up. Getting your soldiers addicted to something was insanely stupid, even if it was necessary for the whole suppressing magic thing. But if they really did use it to control Templars, that made even more 'sense'. Also made it worse.

Lucius was raising his voice, and clearly grandstanding, playing as much to the crowd as talking to Amy.

Goddamnit. His priorities were right, but for the wrong reasons.

Vicky would absolutely work with villains in an Endbringer fight. The Breach is basically this world's version of an S-class event. Hell, it would be an S-class event back home. Or more. Did they have something worse than S-class? Z-class?

So she couldn't afford to say no, even if this was about him wanting to use closing the Breach for his own gain.

Close the Breach. That's the most important thing.

"They used Templars like tools and then tossed them away when they were done with them, leaving their minds to be consumed by Lyrium, and their bodies to wither away!" The Lord Seeker went on, and Amy had to admit, again, that sounded pretty messed up. But maybe don't oppress mages? Fight the blood mages and the abominations and mages that hurt innocent people, but just locking a mage up because they could be dangerous was still wrong! "No more! I will not allow these brave men and women, who stand for the Maker's light against the Void! The Chantry as it stands today is not worthy of our protection." He looked around at the assembled nobles and others, who were gasping, or even murmuring angrily. "Nor is Val Royeaux."

There was another gasp from the assembled audience.

"Before you go- will you help us-" Amy paused a moment, remembering that he was here to talk with her. He'd come to Val Royeaux to speak with her, not with Cassandra or 'The Inquisition'. The thought made her throat feel tight, her head light for a moment, but she swallowed and corrected her words. "Help me close the Breach?"

"I will. But it is not a matter that can be discussed simply, or lightly. The Breach must be closed, but there is more that must be said before such an alliance can be forged, Herald." Amy bit back her 'not the Herald' reaction. "And I will not remain in this city for any longer than I must. The rest of the Templars who have stayed true to the path are on their way to Therinfel Redoubt, in Ferelden. We will be joining them. I would not betray my Templars by treating them as tools like the Chantry did. So I must put the question to them, before I can agree on their behalf."

Okay, nice and noble but seriously? You're right here? I'm right here!? Let's just agree and close this fucking thing!

Amy didn't say it, didn't curse at his man's ego. Was inviting her to this 'Therinfel Redoubt' a power play? Make her come to him? Make her talk to him in a place where he had the advantage? Maybe make her a prisoner and force her to work for the Templars?

Probably not that last one, but... the greedy look in his eyes, the note in his voice talking about her power. And his rampant 'main character syndrome' was not making her trust him.

Maybe when we're done the mages will work with us. She'd prefer mages, but... she had to admit, the Lord Seeker's bullshit or not, the idea of working with the Templars was a better looking option now than it had been before this meeting.

Again. He did have his priorities straight-ish.

"So... we come talk to you at this... Therinfal Redoubt place?"

"I will send a message to Haven when I have convinced the Templars that this is the correct path for us, the way we shall show Thedas our power, and that I can lead them to a new glorious future that will put Thedas back on the righteous path."

Jesus Christ on a goddamn fucking pogo stick. She'd heard a kid at Arcadia say that once, and it sounded fitting right now. She couldn't tell what was more off-putting about the Lord Seeker. His main character syndrome, or his zealotry.

"Okay. I guess we'll talk later then," Amy said, trying very, very hard not to pull at her hair in frustration. She wanted to slap some sense into this idiot. She did get the whole 'don't use the Templars as tools' thing, but this - why wait until he got to some fortress in Ferelden? That could take weeks, another month, if they were going overland as a whole force? It had to be slower than their trip here, moving a whole damn army and not by ship, right?

"We shall." He confirmed. Then he turned to his Templars. "Templars! Move out! We march for Therinfal Redoubt!" The Templars got off the podium and gathered together in a two-by-two formation, the Lord Seeker at the head and the marched out of the plaza through a different way than they'd come in. Once they were out of earshot, Amy let her shoulders sag.

"Fuck me, that was - what the -" She cut herself, she didn't even have the words, really.

"That man is insane," Katerina said quietly. "I - and then Ser Arras just... cut himself because he was ordered to? What the fuck? I've - I mean, Templars are supposed to obey the chain of command, but - what the fuck?"

"I'm a writer, I've written a lot of bestselling books, but honestly Red, I don't have any better way to say it: What the fuck?" Varric agreed. "Are you going to take him up on it?"

"I mean, that's half the reason we came here. The other half is the mages."

"You can't - you just saw how crazy he was. You really think he's in this to close the Breach?"

"He's in this for power, yeah, I get that. And yeah, he definitely comes off as... fanatical and nutty and stuff." Amy agreed.

"That is not what I expected from Lord Seeker Lucius," Cassandra said quietly. "How could he have changed so much since last I spoke to him?"

"Power might change a man, and the line between visionary and madman is a thin one," Solas suggested. "When last you knew him, Lambert was still the Lord Seeker, no?"

"That is true, but Lucius Corin was always a moderate, a man who preferred reason over... that." Cassandra explained. "He agreed to the peace talks at the Conclave without much protest."

"Because he was probably involved in blowing them up. Get enough of his enemies in one place, kill them all." Katerina muttered, and Cassandra glared at her.

"You will hold your tongue on baseless accusations, Katerina." Cassandra ordered, her tone harsh, and direct. "You have no evidence for such a charge, and while the Lord Seeker has changed, he is still worthy of respect." Katerina opened her mouth, then seemed to think better of speaking and closed it, nodding after a moment.

"Yes Lady Pentaghast." Her response was pretty toneless, but she didn't need to touch Katerina to see how stiffly she was holding herself.

"I suppose it's possible the responsibilities and burdens of leadership have changed him, and it is like him to be concerned more about the Breach than Chantry politics, but..." Cassandra shook his head. "I have never known him to grandstand like that either."

"Maybe he was doing it for the Templars? Make sure they knew he stood with them more than anything else?" Varric offered. "Or maybe he changed. Or maybe you never knew him at all. Happens to the worst of us, Seeker, might as well happen to the best too."

"There was something odd about the way he looked at Amy when he saw her power at work." Solas observed quietly. "A desire, or perhaps... envy. He wanted her power. Wanted to control it. Possess it."

"You got that feeling off him too?" Amy asked, and Solas nodded. "Okay, so not just me. Kind of makes me worried he's going to try and take me prisoner if we go talk to him at Therinfal Redoubt. That and his whole main character syndrome bullshit."

"...main character syndrome?" Varric said slowly. "I would have just called it being self-obsessed, but that is a really good way to put it. I'm stealing it." Amy blinked, confused, then realized Varric meant he'd use that phrasing somehow, maybe in a book.

"What do you mean, Amy?"

"I mean he was - he was talking about how he was going to lead the Templars to glory or whatever how I would aid him in restoring order." Amy explained to Cassandra. "It was all about how he was going to be the guy who changed the world. The main character, everyone else just there to be part of his story? Nothing like the way he used to be, right?" From the expression on Cassandra's face, she'd expected Cassandra would say something of the sort.

"He was never very ambitious. I was surprised when I heard that he had agreed to become the new Lord Seeker, after Lord Seeker Lambert's death." She sighed. "I do not understand how he has changed so much, but it is a mystery we cannot answer now. The important thing is that he is willing to aid us in closing the Breach."

"Willing to let me help him close the Breach," Amy agreed. Not that she minded. If Lord Seeker Lucius wanted to be the center of everyone's attention, let him. She exhaled, and looked back at the podium, where Grand Cleric Hevara was back on her feet. Some of the others around here weren't there any more, and a whole different cluster of the clergy had gathered, centered around two women.

At a glance, it seemed like the ones who had been around the edges were coming together. Amy wanted to believe that it was because of her words, or her showing with the Lord Seeker, but it was probably just that they were already inclined to disagree with Hevara, or the way the Lord Seeker had humiliated her and very publicly denounced the Chantry had convinced people to move away from her camp.

I didn't even get to finish my script, and it was really all just supposed to make a few doubt, not change any minds. Give hope and stuff.

"We came to talk to the Grand Clerics. We didn't really get the chance to do that," Amy said. "I feel like Josephine would want me to try and negotiate with them some more."

"That is likely. If we do align with the Templars, their very public rebuke of the Chantry could cost us. It would be best to try and head that off at the pass as much as we can." Cassandra agreed.

Amy approached the podium. Hevara glared at her, and then Cassandra. "I am sure you are pleased by this, Seeker Cassandra," Hevara commented. "We have been shown up by our own Templars. The way is clear for you and your Inquisition to take power as you wish."

"This has never been about power, Grand Cleric," Cassandra said firmly. "I am not pleased to see the Chantry spoken so ill of, nor am I pleased to see any Grand Cleric, even you, come so close to assault. But you brought this one yourself, specifically delaying until the Templars arrived, believing they would return to the fold to side with you against us."

"You forced our hand!" Hevara protested.

"The Templars rebelled, Grand Cleric. They stopped being 'your' Templars years ago. Might want to see to your own house before you start blaming the Inquisition." Varric suggested. Hevara scowled, but said nothing. "Bluffing when you have a shitty hand is a risky game. Next time, don't bet everything on a pair right before the Angel of Death gets drawn."

There was soft clapping from the other cluster of Grand Clerics and Amy turned to look at one, a woman who looked a lot younger than most of the others. Not like mid twenties young, maybe more late thirties or early forties, but most of the other Grand Clerics seemed more fifties or sixties at least. She wore white gloves in addition to her formal 'Grand Cleric' robes.

I'm guessing she's an important someone's daughter or sister or something.

"Your wit is as excellent in person as it is in your novels, Varric Tethras." The Grand Cleric approached and stepped off the podium to stand next to Amy. "I am Grand Cleric Marcelline de Ghislain," she introduced herself. "Divine Justinia raised me to my position a year before her unfortunate passing. I had little time to know her directly, but she was a good woman, and I believe she would approve of what you are doing, Herald."

"I'm not-"

"You may not consider yourself the Herald, but at a certain point, that does not matter," Marcelline said, before Amy could finish. "You spoke well, both to Hevara, and to that boor of a Lord Seeker."

"Boor?" That was like, a blunt, crass sort of bull in a china shop type person. "I mean, he was... fervent, but he didn't seem like a boor."

"You have much to learn about Orlais, Herald." Marcille said after a soft, tittering laugh. Amy flushed. She was pretty sure she'd just been mocked. "But I do believe, having heard you speak, that you and the Inquisition pose the best hope for Thedas right now. You have my support, and that of many others in the Chantry."

"That's... I appreciate it." Amy said honestly. "We came to Val Royeaux to - try and stop the Chantry from denouncing us." She swallowed. "I suppose you're right, people are calling me Herald and there's not much I can do about it, as much as I don't like that, but..." she could at least bring in a little more of the script. She swallowed and inhaled sharply. "People are afraid. I'm afraid every time I look up at the Breach. But I can close the rifts, and I stopped the Breach from growing, thanks to this mark, on my hand. So they hope. And they want to give the Maker credit for that hope, I guess, and so they call me Herald of Andraste. The Chantry can help us convince people that there is hope. If they'll work with us."

"Wisely said." Marcelline nodded. "I could not agree more." She paused, then, "While you are here in Val Royeaux, I would invite you to visit my elder brother Bastien''s chateau, just outside the city. The First Enchanter of Montismard, Vivienne de Fer would like to speak with you, and she asked that I extend you an invitation to visit her there."

Amy blinked. That was... okay, a Grand Cleric playing messenger was... not what she expected. But it sounded like she was right Marcelline was someone important's sister. "I'm not from Thedas so... I don't - who is Vivienne de Fer?"

"She was, until recently, the Court Enchanter to Empress Celene, and she stands now as the leader of the mages who remained loyal to the Circles, and to the Chantry. For some time now, she has expressed an interest in meeting you, and believed that the Inquisition was the best hope for the restoration of Order before I did." Marcelline explained.

We do need mages. Amy had to assume that these loyal mages weren't enough on their own to close the Breach. If they were, she was pretty sure Cassandra or Josephine or Leliana would have mentioned something, rather than going to the rebels.

"And she's at your brother's estate?"

"Vivienne is my brother's mistress, and a valued ally of our family in the Great Game. She is a formidable woman, and would be a great aid in your efforts to close the Breach and restore order."

Great. More politics. Was this some sort of 'de Ghislain' scheme to get influence in the Inquisition? On the other hand, Amy was certain that Josephine would be upset with Amy if Amy just said no to someone important wanting a meeting.

The fact that Marcelline just out and said Vivienne was her brother's mistress was... gross, but Amy also didn't actually care. If this Bastien wanted to cheat on his wife, and Vivienne was willing, that was bad, and normally Amy would want nothing to do with either, but this was kind of a bigger deal than that. But it wasn't just gross, it was also weird. Just... out and saying it.

Nobles did arranged marriages, right? So maybe having a mistress was seen as less bad?

"I guess I'll talk to her before I go back to Haven." Amy nodded. She inhaled, and decided she needed to be diplomatic just a little bit longer. "Thank you for your support, and for passing on the invitation."

"Of course, Herald," Marcelline nodded, moving back to join her allies. Amy started to turn, and then Hevara spoke up once more.

"Wait." Hevara's tone was much less imperious, more... not plaintive, but definitely wavering. Less certain. "Answer me one question, child. If you are not the Herald, as you insist, if you are not sent by the Maker, then what are you? Who are you?"

"I'm just Amy Dallon. I'm just someone who can't do nothing when she can do something to help people, to save lives. I'm just the one who was unlucky enough to somehow end up with this thing on my hand, and the ability to close rifts, and the Breach."

"You would have us believe that the salvation you offer is the result of random chance, then?"

"I guess?" Amy shrugged. "I don't know. You have a better idea of what the Maker wants than I do. Anyone in Thedas who follows him does, really." She really objected to it being phrased as 'salvation' too.

"...I do not know how, but that is comforting, in a way." Hevara admitted. "I suppose we shall all see what the Maker wills for the future, in the coming days. I do not know if I believe you truly can save us all, if you can close the Breach for good. But perhaps, I wish I could."

"So you're going to stop denouncing the Inquisition?"

"It has accomplished nothing as it stands," Hevara admitted. "The Chantry must concern itself with the election of a new Divine, if any agreement can be made in the aftermath of the deaths of so many."

"I do not believe such a choice will come quickly, Grand Cleric," Cassandra offered, "but I wish you and all the Grand Clerics the Maker's guidance in your choice."

Hevara chuckled hollowly. "Any obvious choice for Justinia's successor died at the Conclave, it is true. But we can only pray for Him to make the proper choice obvious, in time." Hevara said nothing for a moment, and then, "Good luck, Amy Dallon."

Now she wanted to be supportive? A little late. Be diplomatic. Be diplomatic.

"Thank you." Amy nodded politely and then turned away, letting out a breath, shoulders sagging again as she walked. Her heart was still pounding in her chest after all that, but she was pretty sure it was going to come down soon. "I guess we should go back to the inn? And uh... maybe plan out meeting this Vivienne de Fer? Do you guys know her?"

"I've heard of her. If half the rumors are true, she's no one to be trifled with. She's helped Duke Bastien face off assassins and spies for years, and you don't stay Court Enchanter for as long as she did without fending off a few rivals." Varric answered.

"She is a formidable woman." Cassandra said, "I've only met her once, but her reputation precedes her. From what I understand, she has only a small number of truly capable mages gathered under her leadership - it is mostly the frail and elderly, the apprentices, or those not especially powerful, but she does have some. And she is quite skilled herself with magic. Her help might be of use, though it might also alienate the rebel mages."

"The rebel mages thus far have no interest in speaking to us. This Vivienne de Fer seems as though she does." Solas pointed out. "Perhaps better to focus on the option before us."

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," Amy quoted, nodded. "I feel like we should at least talk to her."

"If you would permit it, I would prefer to stay in the city while you visit the de Ghislain chateau, Amy," Solas asked. "I do not believe I would be especially welcome in any noble estate, but I am also an apostate, who was never of the Circles. I would be especially unwelcome at a meeting with a Circle Loyalist."

"You're not planning on quitting if she joins up? I kind of need you for the whole making this thing on my hand not hurt." Amy said.

"Hardly. I wish to see this through to the end."

"Then if no one thinks this invitation is a trap or anything..." she looked at Varric and Cassandra.

"It's Orlais. Everything could be a trap. A dinner party, a hedge, a loaf of bread. But I'm pretty sure this isn't one." Varric suggested.

"I concur," Cassandra nodded.

"Then yeah, if you'd feel uncomfortable going, I guess." Amy would love to stay at the inn too, since she really felt uncomfortable at the idea of meeting with someone else who probably wanted to take a measure of her. Amy was just the tool for closing the Breach, she wasn't running things! Vivienne should be talking to Cassandra, or sending a letter to Josephine or something! Talk to them, don't put this all on me, damnit!

They were almost to the exit of the plaza, Amy's heartbeat finally just about slowed down to normal when there was a whistling sound and a clatter as an arrow hit the stone right in front of her, maybe inches from her feet. Amy shouted, jumped back and crashed into Katerina behind her, who fell over and Amy fell down on top of her. Cassandra drew her sword, and Amy rolled off of Katerina, heart pounding in her chest again. Someone tried to kill me again. AGAIN!

"I thought you all said I was safe in Val Royeaux damnit!" Amy snapped. She was done. She was fucking done. She'd held up through dealing with the Grand Clerics and then Lord Seeker Lucius and then the Grand Clerics again but she had had enough. "What the fuck!? I am - I swear I am going to just start giving people cancer!" It was an idle threat, even in her furious, absolutely done state, she knew that, but could she just -

"I don't think it was someone trying to kill you, Panpan," Varric said calmly. Amy struggled to her feet and looked at the dwarf, who was holding the arrow, and it had parchment tied to it by a red ribbon. "I think it was a message."

"And they couldn't just deliver it like a normal fucking person? I don't care. I don't care who it's from, or what they want, just throw it away, if they can't be bothered to fucking bring a message the normal way, and they have to shoot a fucking arrow at my feet and - just fuck them!" Amy snapped.

"No, I really think you shouldn't ignore this one," Varric said. He'd taken the parchment off the arrow and unrolled it. He held it out to her - the bottom of the parchment was curled back up a bit.

Amy snatched the parchment from Varric. It was written in a sort of looping script, with little doodles around the edge.

People say you're special. I want to help, and I can bring everyone.

Word is there's a baddie in Val Royeaux. I hear he wants to hurt you, hear he tried already. Have a search in the evening for red things in markets by the north docks, and maybe you'll meet him first. Bring swords.

-Friends of Red Jenny

Click to shrink...

Amy stared at it. Was this person saying they knew who had tried to kill her? Who was Red Jenny? Why did she have friends who delivered messages via arrow?! And what - what was this 'have a search for red things'?

She looked back up at Varric. "Okay, enlighten me. Why should I care about this letter especially?"

"It's from the Friends of Red Jenny. They're..." Varric trailed off for a moment. "You know that Robin Hood guy you told me about?" Amy nodded slowly. "The Friends of Red Jenny are probably the closest thing to him that can exist in Thedas."

"What does that mean? You told me yourself that anyone who tried to rob from the rich and give everything to the poor would get shanked by their buddies."

"And they would. Friends of Red Jenny aren't thieves... not exactly. Mostly it's just servants who hate the noble they work for passing on rumors, or what they saw, things like that." Varric explained. "Most nobles don't pay attention to their servants, so they usually see and hear a lot. Friends of Red Jenny are sort of a... loose network for them to pass it on to people who might use it to hurt nobles or rich merchants or whatever who abuse their servants or things like that."

Put it like that...

"The Friends of Red Jenny are just a legend, a story passed around." Cassandra said firmly.

"Sorry Seeker, but they're very real. There's not really anyone 'in charge' but I know some people in Kirkwall who are pretty well connected with the whole thing there."

"And they just had to deliver the message like this?"

"No, that one's new, but if the Red Jennies know about someone who's plotting against you, might even have been the one to hire that guy who tried to kill you, it's worth following up on."

"It could also be a trap." Katerina cautioned. "On the other hand, I'd love to get the chance to strangle the guy who sent that assassin."

"I get to strangle him first," Amy said quickly.

"Assuming you can reach his neck," Katerina said, "Then sure, first dibs are all yours."

"I am not that short, Katerina, you - you - you stupid tall person." Sure, Katerina was taller than Cassandra and Solas - taller than almost everyone she'd seen so far in Thedas - but Amy wasn't that short, damnit!

"Whatever you say," Katerina chuckled. She looked at Varric, "Is it a trap?"

"It could be. But it's sure an odd way to get you to a trap. Doesn't even say where to go, yet. Just go to the markets by the north docks and look for 'red things'" Varric pointed out. "Amy, trust me, I think this is a lead worth following."

Amy glared at the dwarf. "Fine. Fine. We can go to the North Docks and look for red things, whatever that means. But first, I want something to eat and another coffee and five minutes, just five minutes where I can relax."

---

Author's Note: As a clarification, I went and checked Interlude 2 again, before I wrote this chapter. While Vicky and Amy do withhold healing from that Nazi thug unless he agrees to start talking, and I would agree that qualifies as torture, for all intents and purposes, especially since Vicky inflicted the harm (albeit in an act of anger rather than a conscious 'I'll hurt him so that Amy can withhold healing to make him talk'. Still a bad thing to do, of course, but context matters, as ever), at no point in the Interlude do Victoria or Amy inflict further pain on him to make him talk.

Which makes sense, they both see themselves as operating as heroes, there's limits to what either of them can self-justify, and overt, active, participatory torture is absolutely one of those things they would not be able to self-justify. So while Amy is being pretty hypocritical in decrying torture, it's not really a conscious hypocrisy, because I don't think she'd really see threatening to withhold healing as torture.

The pretending the Nazi's dick was broken might also count as some sort of psychological torture, but was mostly just funny.

Also, with regards to Amy's comment about being afraid of being killed in her sleep - I don't think it's a stretch, given her first impression of Carol, if little six year old Amelia Lavere turned Dallon had some misplaced fear that Carol would kill her in her sleep. Amelia wouldn't have been right, but that's not really what's at issue. There is room to say it's a stretch that Amy would remember it or be cognizant of it, but it's possible she might remember the fear, even if not the full details of why, especially once she gives up on ever earning Carol's love (which she long since has by this point, at least for the purposes of this fic). Plus, she is in Thedas, the land with a literal realm of dreams. Who knows what old memories might resurface?

(This is foreshadowing)

Also, one last note about the chapter, I am aware Hevara is a Reverend Mother in the game, but in the context she appears, it feels like it makes more sense for her to be a Grand Cleric to me, so I changed it for the fic. Changed a ton about the scene in general, after all.

Thanks again to everyone who has and who might in the future contribute to the TV tropes page.

 

[Balorak146]

Lucius getting an expanded role is...interesting.

And off we go to recruit the two worst party members in the game. Fun.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

And off we go to recruit the two worst party members in the game. Fun.

Click to shrink...

Hopefully you'll like what I do with their recruitment scenes next chapter. Get 'em both done in one chapter so we can move on from Val Royeaux and all that.

Of course, very soon after that it's The Iron Bull and Blackwall. And you know Shaper's gonna scream 'gimmie' when it sees Bull and gets a look at whatever is going on with his biology.

 

[Balorak146]

Hopefully you'll like what I do with their recruitment scenes next chapter. Get 'em both done in one chapter so we can move on from Val Royeaux and all that.

Click to shrink...

Here's hoping. At least it'll be eventful - if Amy could lose her shit and call Katerina a collaborator for being a powerless grunt who left at the first opportunity, how bad is the meltdown going to be when she realizes just what kind of cold, self-serving witch Vivienne is?

And Sera? All I can say is 'good fucking luck' in writing her in a way that doesn't make you want to smash a brick through her obnoxious teeth. She just has that effect on people.

Of course, very soon after that it's The Iron Bull and Blackwall. And you know Shaper's gonna scream 'gimmie' when it sees Bull and gets a look at whatever is going on with his biology.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I'm definitely looking forward to The Iron Fucking Bull and his Merry Men, though I'm sure the reality of the Qun is going to make Amy physically ill.

As for Shaper...is it unreasonable to think that that psychopath still won't be happy with Amy after having partial dragon DNA delivered to its front door?

 

[Kylia Quilor]

As for Shaper...is it unreasonable to think that that psychopath still won't be happy with Amy after having partial dragon DNA delivered to its front door?

Click to shrink...

Oh, nothing short of abominations before god will make Shaper happy, but less pissed off at Amy is still an improvement. -8 is still better than -10 after all,

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: In another homage to SageFic's 'Daughters of Andraste' fic, I borrow the name Everly Epic as another author of novels in the context of the Dragon Age Setting, as well as the name of another one of her Portia Plume novels, though the premise I invented for it is entirely my own.

---

Amy had wanted five minutes to relax.

She actually got five minutes. Well, more than five minutes, a lot more. She was a little surprised, after everything that had happened with the Grand Clerics and the Lord Seeker and the arrow with a message, but she was not going to complain about it.

They'd gone back to the same cafe that they'd stopped at on the way to the meeting, and Amy had gotten another coffee, though this time she'd told them that she didn't want any honey in it. It was still really, really amazing coffee. The kind of thing that would probably cost thirty or forty or more bucks a cup back home.

She felt bad spending so much money on coffee, but the money was still coming out of what Cassandra had taken from the assassin, so she tried to focus on the fact that it was some asshole's money being wasted on it.

With some more coffee in her system and some time to try and collect her thoughts, Amy felt... better. Still overwhelmed, still wishing she could go hide under covers and pretend none of this was happening, but - less so. She could manage this better. Because she had to.

With most of her coffee drunk, Amy took a breath before speaking to Cassandra.

"Okay, so the plan is - we need to look around the north docks for 'red things' in the evening and we need to visit this Duke Bastien's chateau so we can meet with Vivienne." Amy outlined. "And then we go back to Haven and figure out what we're going to do."

It had taken way too long to get to Val Royeaux, and then they were going to turn back around and head back. This would be why people probably didn't take vacations in the middle ages, right? You travel for fifty billion weeks to get to medieval Disney World and then you have to turn around and go home in a day.

Val Royeaux was the prettiest place she'd been in Thedas so far, at least the city core area, with all the clean streets and the really nice buildings and the statues. Didn't make up for all the rest of the bullshit, and at least in Haven she could hide from everyone easier, but she didn't hate Val Royeaux.

It was better than roughing on the road too and from Crossroads.

"That is the plan, yes. Hopefully by the time we get back, the mages in Redcliffe will be willing to talk, and then we can figure out how to close the Breach." Cassandra said.

"You'd rather get the help of the mages than the Templars?" Amy raised an eyebrow. Cassandra had seemed to be pretty eager to cover for the Lord Seeker's... weirdness, or at least, try to explain or maybe hope it away. Not to the point of going too far, but a lot of wishful thinking to make picking his offer seem more palatable. Plus she'd been certain he hadn't been a threat when they'd first learned he was coming.

Granted, she'd been right, but...

Amy was a little surprised Cassandra was eager to get the mages help now that they had an offer, sort of, from the Templars.

"I'd rather get the help of whoever is willing to help us the soonest, the fastest," Cassandra answered quickly. "But Divine Justinia died trying to end this war." She closed her mouth a moment, setting her jaw, then lowered her voice a bit. "If dealing with this crisis created by the circumstances that led to her death can serve to end this conflict the way she wanted to, with both sides uniting in common purpose, perhaps... perhaps it can all be worth it, in the end. Or least... less pointless."

Amy blinked. That -

"You want to try and get both of them to help us with the Breach."

"The Breach threatens us all. Two months ago, both sides were willing to talk, to come to terms. All respected Divine Justinia - if her life cannot restore peace, perhaps her memory can." Cassandra said softly, sounding almost wistful. "Closing the Breach at all is the most important thing. We cannot tarry in trying to accomplish some wild dream, but I cannot help but hope."

Wild dream sounds kinda right. The Lord Seeker had repeatedly talked about mages being the problem. Sure, the Breach was the issue and he got that, but would he work with mages to do it? And would the mages work with the Templars who did all kinds of awful shit to mages? Amy really felt like they wouldn't, and they'd be justified to say no.

In theory, Amy could see how it made sense. And peace sounded good. This war had generated refugees and hurt innocent people and she doubted the mages liked having to hide in one town. They probably wanted peace too, which is why they'd agreed to negotiate.

If they could work together to close the Breach, maybe that could serve as a basis for more negotiating. It was kind of way beyond Amy's remit though.

She was here to close the Breach.

But it was a nice idea.

"Whoever is willing to help us the most and the easiest sounds like the best plan," Amy admitted. "But I - it sounds like a nice idea."

"Unfortunately, we do not live in a world where nice ideas are enough," Cassandra murmured. She sighed, then nodded to Amy's empty cup of coffee. "We should move. We still have some hours before the evening, but it will take time to reach the northern docks and the markets by then." Cassandra stood.

Amy nodded, "Yeah. We should. But I mean, - how long are we talking? I - I was wondering if we could make a stop first?" She said that last part hesitantly as she stood, feeling a little guilt even as she said it, knowing what it was and why and -

"A stop?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow.

"I... we passed a bookstore on the way to the Grand Cathedral earlier and I..." Amy licked her lips. "I wanted to go in and get a better look at the books Thedas has? I... The only books I have are Brother Genitivi's and Tale of the Champion, and Hawke's a criminal who helped smugglers and sure they're fighting gangsters in Darktown now but you can't just make up for being a criminal like that and I - I don't know that one's slow reading and I just, I want to find something else to read because for the first time in ages I - I actually really want to read and I don't... I don't want to lose that."

Amy hadn't stopped reading because she'd stopped enjoying books in of themselves. She'd stopped being able to enjoy reading because she was so damn tired all the time. Because Carol had ruined her memories of her favorite series. Because whenever she did read she felt like she was failing all the people she couldn't heal. And even the few times she had really tried to open a book, she could never focus on the pages.

Well, at this point, she was so inundated by all the people she couldn't heal now it was - at least in Haven, there was nothing she could do about it. She felt guilty for feeling better about that, hated that it made it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep and her dreams had been mostly nightmare free since coming to Thedas and she hated that too but -

It was the case. And she did want to read.

Books had been her great escape. She loved spending time with her sister, she did, but Vicky could be... exhausting sometimes. She was so exuberant, wanting to go places and do things and Amy loved doing that with her, but... it had always been nice to retreat into a book. Especially at school, or when she was dragged to events - even before triggering, Amy had been expected to make showings at all the public events New Wave was invited to. Hiding in the corner with a book when she could manage it had made those more manageable.

And when Carol had been especially bad, lecturing her about her grades, or her weight (okay, that was more often Carol parroting Aunt Sarah, but still) or how she wasn't taking good enough care of her hair, or just... being herself, Amy could retreat to her room and read. When she actually did get a really good grade on a test after trying really hard and she showed it to Carol, back when she'd thought she could just be good enough, do enough to make Carol love her, and Carol couldn't even say 'well done' or 'good job', couldn't even do that fucking much, books were there to comfort her.

And she'd lost the ability to enjoy all that and even want it really, however much she wanted to be able to want it... but now she did want it. And she wanted to have that feeling again. Even just a little. Of being swept up into a story where the endings were happy and love won and the bad guys were beaten and things were certain. Books where you knew how it was gonna end but you read it anyway because you wanted to see it get there.

She wanted that all back, damnit!

"No, no, you don't want to go to that bookshop," Katerina said, standing up from the next table. Amy blinked, biting her lip to avoid snapping at Katerina. She turned to look at the infuriating redhead. "I mean," Katerina said quickly, "A bookshop in Val Royeaux, that close to the Grand Cathedral? It's going to be mostly poetry or nonfiction, and the stories they do have are going to be pretty bland and boring. There's got to be a bookstore closer to the docks. One that will have the good books. The exciting stories."

Amy blinked, biting her lip. That... okay, that made sense. She looked over at Cassandra. "Is she-"

"Katerina is likely correct. If you're looking for stories, you will have better luck at a store closer to the docks." Cassandra said nothing for a moment, then, "I do know of one, closer to the north docks." She said that quickly, and Amy almost thought she saw a hint of a flush on Cassandra's face, for just a moment. "It will not be out of our way, and we should have time for you to look for a while."

"Thank you," Amy said quickly, and for a split second, she had an urge to hug Cassandra. She didn't, because what the hell was wrong with her for thinking that?

Walking through the streets of the city, they did stop at the inn - they'd probably have to stay another night, since they were going to look for 'red things' this evening and... then something, and then go to Duke Bastien's chateau tomorrow. So Cassandra told the innkeeper that, who nodded and probably noted it down for their bill and off they went.

To Amy's mild annoyance, while her legs and feet did hurt from all the walking they'd done today, from the inn to the Grand Cathedral and now from the inn towards the northern docks - they didn't hurt as much as the trip to the ruins of the Temple had been, that first time. Or the first few days Cassandra had forced her to run and walk about Haven. And all the walking she'd done since.

Fucking Leg Day has paid off. Victoria would be all insufferable with 'I told you so' if Amy mentioned it. Vicky wasn't a fitness nut, not the way she was about powers, but... she took it seriously. And had always tried to make Amy take it seriously.

Getting further from the center of Val Royeaux saw the streets get crowded again, and though having Cassandra and Katerina in front made it easier to get through the throng. The city didn't smell as much as Jader, maybe because it was the capital, but it was still more intense the closer they got to the docks, the sell of fish and salt wading in from the docks, and the press of unwashed humanity and even a lingering, but covered smell of shit. Faint, but she could definitely pick up on it.

It took longer than Amy would have liked, and she was terrified every minute that the desire to go into the bookstore would fade. She clung to the desire to read, to browse, for dear life, focusing on it. She really had no idea what sort of stories Thedas had - Katerina hadn't started talking about Thedosian stories yet, they were going to once Amy was done talking about Star Wars, but now she supposed they were going to a bit.

Lacking any other ideas, Amy figured she might start by looking for anything by that Portia Plume woman - Amy somehow suspected that she'd written more than one romance novel with a pen name like that. She had no idea if they would be good, but the one she'd seen had looked like the sort of romance novels she had once enjoyed 'borrowing' from Aunt Sarah, so they seemed a place to start.

Finally, they did indeed reach the bookshop. It looked like a small building, crammed in between what looked like a tailor's shop and what looked like a medieval version of an apartment building.

"Do not tarry for long, we have time, but not forever," Cassandra said gently. "I'll wait out here." She handed Amy a pouch with a bunch of silver coins in it. "That should be sufficient for more than several books."

Solas was apparently interested in going into the shop as well, while Varric stayed outside, probably looking to pester or bother Cassandra. Katerina came in with Amy, her bodyguard no doubt intending to stay close to her the whole time.

The interior of the bookshop was cramped, with tall shelves climbing up to the ceilings, the little areas between the shelves narrow, books on the highest shelves and on the lowest. There was a bespectacled elderly man sitting behind a table near the door, nose in a book. He made a sort of grunt of acknowledgement when they came in, but didn't look up as the door opened or closed behind them. Solas separated off to look at some books, and Katerina quickly looked over the aisles.

"So, any idea what you're looking for then, Amy?"

Amy opened her mouth, closed it, and then, "I... I don't know. I - when we were at the Crossroads, there was a book - Chief and Challenger by Portia Plume? It looked like one of the romance novels I used to 'borrow' from my Aunt. I - I liked those."

"Portia Plume and other romances are in the right back corner, both shelves up against the wall there," the bespectacled man said, turning the page of the book he was holding.

"Thanks," Amy said, and headed towards what she hoped was the 'right' according to him (seemed like the right from when you came in the door?) and then back. The interior walls were almost mostly lined with bookshelves, except for a few small windows - open, no glass, the bustle of the city coming in through them, but in the promised corner, she saw a pair of shelved wedged in there, and a quick scan saw the name 'Portia Plume' on a book. The title, according to the spine, was 'Moonlight Over the Minanter River'. She looked, and around it were more books by the author, the shelf above had books by an 'Everly Epic', and looking over the shelves, almost all of them had names that had to be pen-names. Was that a common thing in Thedas then? Some vague tickling of hearing about books in the past made her think that used to be a thing on Earth-Bet centuries back, but she wasn't sure.

"Portia Plume isn't bad, if you like romances, which it sounds like you do, and can put up with overwrought prose about how many ways a man can 'plunge his spear' into a woman's 'warm inviting depths'," Katerina murmured.

Amy grimaced, then realized she was and tried to return her expression to normal, "I like the romance," Amy didn't comment on the other part. From what little she could tell, being gay wasn't actually 'burn them at the stake', but she - she wasn't going to just come out here. "I...I like the whole, getting swept up in it all, and knowing that there'll be a happy ending and love will win and all that." She added instead.

"Portia Plume's good for that. I've read a few, but they're not really for me." Katerina scanned the shelves. "Romances in general..." he shook her head.

Amy picked the Moonlight one off the shelf and looked at the back of it, hoping there was a blurb or something. Fortunately there was. The book promised to tell the story of a forbidden love between a roguish, rakish young nobleman, the black sheep of his family (it didn't use that term, but seemed to be that vibe) and the daughter of a merchant who inherits her father's business and has to struggle to keep it afloat in the face of challenges from within and without her extended family. Pretty bog standard from the sound of it, but she could easily see herself liking it.

"So what do you read then, if not romances?"

"Stories of mystery and drama. Adventure stories too - quests to distant lands, journeys across Thedas, that sort of thing. Almost none of the books that feature Nevarra get it right unless the author is from there too." Katerina grumbled that last part, and Amy was reminded of how bent out of shape Katerina had gotten when necromancy had come up weeks ago, about the way people perceived Nevarran necromancy.

"But... ah, there we go." Katerina pulled a book off a shelf directly over Amy's head, reaching up to grab it, showing off being a stupid tall person again. "There are some romances I have fond memories of." She handed it to Amy, and Amy tucked the Portia Plume book under her arm and took the book Katerina offered.

The title was 'Her Hidden Dedication', and the author - another penname, probably - was 'Lissa Limaris'. The cover depicted a blonde woman in a fancy dress standing on what looked like the battlements of a castle, and kneeling next to her, a knight. Then Amy blinked, when she realized the knight had long, flowing black hair. It was hard to say - the facial features were instinct and vague, and the cover only showed the knight's face in profile but...

Definitely looked like a 'her'.

"My cousin Eugenia gave me a copy of this one when she caught me having my first real kiss in the back of the barn," Katerina explained, chuckling. Amy blinked, staring at the book. Even knowing that being gay was apparently at least kind of okay here, Amy was sort of stunned that a medieval world would just... have a lesbian romance novel just... here, on a shelf, where anyone could read it. "It's still a romance, still not really my thing these days, but I mean - I'd just started to realize my own preferences, so like I said, fond memories. Good romance, especially if you like the whole 'love wins in the end' thing."

She's gay? Or maybe Bi? Katerina was just... saying it. Was she trying to - had she - was Katerina trying to flirt with her? Amy dismissed that thought after a moment. There was nothing aimed at Amy there, just Katerina sharing a story she liked and had 'fond memories' of. And one that she thought Amy would like.

"Uh - thank you?" Amy said, turning the book over. It did sound like her sort of story - a young noblewoman, a knight in service to her father who loved her from afar, arranged marriage getting in the way, but she definitely got the vibe that there'd be a happy ending between the two of them. "I - so... you like girls then?"

"I feel like 'like' is an understatement," Katerina said with a chuckle. "It's a good book. It's focused on romance the most, but there's some drama and even a sword fight, but it is a happy ending where love wins in the end."

Amy stared at the book for a moment. She'd never really sought out any stories about lesbians back home - she'd read a few stories with romances between women, nothing explicit, when she was thirteen and fourteen, when she'd still read, but she was still only sort of getting the idea that she'd liked girls, that she was gay. It wasn't really until after she'd triggered, after she'd realized and dealt with the horror of realizing her gross, awful feelings for her sister that she'd completely grasped that she was gay.

And by then, of course, she wasn't reading much and she - she was afraid that if Victoria ever found out she was gay, her sister would be one step closer to realizing how Amy really felt about her.

Feels... stupid, almost, to say it now. Or think it, anyway.

She turned the book back over and looked at the cover. Two books was probably enough. This Moonlight book, and this one. If she liked it, she could get more later.

"Okay, well, then, these two will be a good place to start," Amy finally said. "We have places to go, and - " Katerina held up a finger to her lips, a sudden tension in her stance that hadn't been there a moment earlier. Amy braced herself, swallowing, feeling her blood chill and Katerina moved quickly, darting into another aisle between shelves and then there was the sound of a yelp and then Katerina returned into Amy's vision, slamming someone's back against one of the shelves lining the wall, books falling off, though it looked like the shelves itself were fine.

"Who are you and why were you eying Amy like that?" Katerina demanded, one hand on the collar of the person - a young man, brown hair, sort of bland and forgettable looking, wearing plain clothes - the pants were brown, the shirt a dark green, looking like other people that they'd passed. "You followed us inside." Katerina accused. Her other hand was checking the man's belt for weapons, finding nothing, but then pulling a piece of parchment sealed with wax out of his pocket.

"I'm - I'm just a messenger. It's for the Herald." The man said with a surprisingly steady voice. "I was told to make sure to give the letter to her, not to the Seeker or anyone else."

"I'm not anyone's Herald." Amy said that part without much force. She was getting extremely tired of saying it, and it was probably pointless - well, no, it was pointless - but there was a principle at work, and she was - she was never going to claim to be a Herald of a prophet/goddess/whatever.

She's the Maker's wife, but she's not a goddess, but like - even Jesus is God, right? Amy didn't get the Trinity, but she was also pretty sure most Christians didn't get it, so whatever.

"And why does everyone always want to talk to me? I'm not in charge here. Cassandra's more in charge than I am!" Amy added. She and the other three - Leliana and Cullen and Josephine - seemed to be in charge together.

"You're the one who can close the Breach, the one with the Mark of Andraste?" The man asked. Katerina, apparently satisfied he wasn't an assassin, had stepped back just a bit, letting him down, though she still stood between him and Amy.

"That doesn't mean I'm in charge or the one people should be talking to. You, the Lord Seeker, that Vivienne de Fer, the Friends of Red Jenny - why does everyone think I'm the one to talk to!?" Amy heard more footsteps and turned to see the proprietor standing there, arms crossed.

"If you're going to yell, do it out in the streets! But clean those up first!" He said, not raising his voice much, but the stern note in his tone worked as he gestured to the books that Katerina had caused to scatter onto the ground. "And if you broke my shelves, you're paying for them! Herald or no Herald!"

"Not a Herald!" Amy said again. It was... almost refreshing to have this guy be so focused on them causing a mess in his store than anything else. Better than awe or whatever. She looked back at Katerina and the guy. "Fine, whatever, just give me the damn letter and I'll read it."

Katerina extended the letter to Amy, reaching behind her. Amy snatched it out of the redhead's hands, and heard Katerina tell the man to start picking books up. She broke the seal of the wax, and looked at the letter. It was written in a tight, elegant script, very readable. None of the doodles like had been on the Red Jenny letter.

To the Herald of Andraste

I am Fiona, once Grand Enchanter of the Circles of Magi, and now leader of those mages who have sought our freedom against the control and threats of the Templars. I am aware that the Inquisition has sought to contact us for some time - the messages spoke of our aid in the final closure of the breach, though details were lacking.

In principle, I support this cause, as do my people, and the Breach is indeed a threat to us all - the rifts that have spawned in its wake have given way for more demons to enter Thedas than has happened ever at one time, in all of our history so far as I am aware. While I do not know what exactly we can provide to assist in the closure of the Breach, it is a working of some sort of magic, if one unknown to all of the mages who reside in Redcliffe. And so it makes sense that magic would play a role in its undoing.

But the Inquisition was proclaimed by agents of the Chantry, and by the word of a Seeker - Cassandra Pentaghast may have stayed under the aegis of Divine Justinia rather than rebel with the rest of her Order and the Templars, but I cannot simply agree to place my people at the mercy of those who I cannot be sure I can trust.

The stories that have reached Redcliffe of you are contradictory - some say you are a mage, others say that you are not. Some say you have claimed to speak for the Maker, others that you have very firmly stated you do not. Many claim that you are from somewhere beyond Thedas, though exactly where remains a matter of dispute.

Regardless, you are not a Seeker. You are not a Templar. And if you are from beyond Thedas, then you are an outsider, one free from the long history that has defined us all. I would invite you to come to Redcliffe, where we might meet, and discuss terms. As I said, in principle, I would be more than willing to aid you in the closure of the Breach, but I will not put my people into the hands of those who might seek to put us back into bondage.

If you wish to meet with me, come to Redcliffe. You and a small party - including guards if you so wish - will be allowed into the town, and we will speak.

-Fiona, Grand Enchanter

Click to shrink...

Amy looked up from the note and to the man who'd had it, who was putting the books back on their shelves, Katerina watching cautiously, carefully, still standing between him and Amy.

"This is from Redcliffe then? This... Fiona gave it to you to take to me?"

"She did," he nodded. "We heard you were going to Val Royeaux, and this seemed to be the surest way to make sure the letter got to you, and no one else."

"I'm still not in charge of the Inquisition." Amy pointed out. "Everyone seems to want to meet me and take my measure and see if they can trust me, but it's not like I give any damn orders!" She let out a sigh. "Fine, whatever, you can tell - you can tell the Grand Enchanter," and fuck that felt weird to say even after this long in Thedas, "That I'll - I'll talk to her." They needed to close the Breach. Cassandra wouldn't disagree with a meeting. Maybe the trip could be Redcliffe and then this Therinfall Redoubt place, or vice-versa?

Everyone wanted to meet with her. This was stupid, and they were stupid, and the idea of doing all these meetings and talking to all these people left her feeling like she wanted to shrivel up and die. At least hopefully these other ones would be more private than trying to confront the Grand Clerics all at once in front of an audience of hundreds. Hopefully. Maybe.

Please, please, please.

Maybe Josephine could come with her when they meet with the Grand Enchanter or the Lord Seeker? She wasn't a former Seeker or former Templar or former Chantry or anything like that, so Josephine might be trustworthy enough for Grand Enchanter Fiona to work with her, and as for the Lord Seeker - he didn't want to talk to Cassandra because she'd left the Seekers. Josephine had never been a Seeker, and she wasn't with the Chantry either.

So... she really hoped that would work.

Amy turned back to the proprietor, who was standing there, watching the man put the books back on the shelf, and raised the two books in her hand. "Can I buy these?"

"Yeah." He gestured for her to follow him back to his table, and he looked at the two books, reading a price scribbled on the inside cover of each. Some silver coins changed hands, Amy got some copper coins as change, which she put back into the pouch.

Katerina was done with the man, and she was by Amy's side as they left the bookstore. Solas hadn't left yet, leaving just Cassandra and Varric. Varric was talking, spinning some yarn probably, and Cassandra looked like she was trying hard to ignore him as she watched the crowd.

"We had a little visit from a messenger from Grand Enchanter Fiona." Katerina told Cassandra.

"The man who came in just after you?" Katerina nodded at Cassandra's question.

"You just let him in?!"

"He was unarmed, and I trusted Katerina could handle him. I can't accost everyone in the street, Amy," Cassandra pointed out. "What was the message?"

"An invitation to Redcliffe to talk about working with the rebel mages to close the Breach." Amy handed her the letter. Cassandra looked it over, frowning. Amy wondered what Cassandra thought about the Grand Enchanter not trusting her, but whatever it was, she didn't show it on her face.

Cassandra lowered the letter. "It would seem the trip to Val Royeaux has achieved the goal of making the Templars and mages willing to talk to us, even if not the way I expected."

"As long as we're one step closer to closing the breach, right?"

"Correct." Cassandra agreed. She looked at the books in Amy's hands. "Portia Plume?"

Amy flushed a little, "I - I like stories where - where it's all a happy ending with love winning in the end." She sighed, "Nothing like reality." She looked at Cassandra's face, worried she'd see a withering glare of disdain that would make her desire to read suddenly shrivel up, like her enthusiasm for a thing after Carol's disapproval.

She didn't see anything like that in Cassandra's expression. It even looked like there was - approval?

"She's a fine choice for an author." Cassandra said. "That one is among her better books as well."

Cassandra reads romance novels? "I - it looked good."

"Wait, Seeker, are you telling me you read Portia Plume? You read romance novels? You?" Varric sounded shocked and intrigued and she also got the impression he was mentally rubbing his hands together with glee.

Varric really enjoyed messing with Cassandra, and now he had new ammunition.

"I enjoy well written works of all sorts," Cassandra replied. "Which leaves yours quite out of the running."

"I'm hurt, Seeker. Right here, in my heart," Varric patted his chest.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Katerina making a momentary face of surprise, so she must also have been surprised that Cassandra read romance novels. But she didn't say anything.

"Where is Solas?" Cassandra said after turning away from Varric, clearly not willing to engage with his nonsense right now.

"He was still in there, looking when we left," Katerina said. "He already had a book in hand though, so maybe he'll be done soon?"

"Let us hope."

---

It didn't take long for Solas to be done, he left with several books which he slipped into his pack, but then it was off to the markets by the northern docks. Val Royeaux was large enough to have three sets of docks - north, center and south, all running along the coastline of the city. Sitting at the end of the Waking Sea made the city the natural endpoint for so much sea trade, according to Varric.

A city like Val Royeaux had to consume a lot of food. Amy used to take for granted - still did, really - where food for the next meal was coming from. But someone had to get it from point A to point B, and while there were farms around the city, so much had to be imported from further afield. Plus all the fishing and more.

The markets near the northern docks were sprawling, a mess of stalls and shops and people hawking wares, shouting over each other to sell everything from newspapers to food to knick-knacks to 'Fine Dwarven Wares from Orzamar'. Finding 'red things' was - it was kind of an insane request, when you thought about it.

But according to Varric, what they were supposed to be looking for was red ribbons, which was a marker the Red Jennies used for messages. Of course the rogue knew how they sent their messages around. Not the only one he said, but one that was used. Splitting up - Amy stayed with Katerina and Varric, Cassandra with Solas - they found all three after an hour of searching up and down. One ribbon amongst a stack of crates behind a blacksmith, another near a tavern, a third in a barrel down a small side-alley. Each ribbon had a small note, apparently messages from different people. One mentioned lifting a key off a drunk guy who was talking about the Herald. Another mentioned overhearing some armed men talking about a time - which translated to just before midnight, apparently - they were together, and the last talking about a gate they'd seen certain people opposed to the Herald passing through.

It was a little roundabout, and Amy felt like it screamed 'trap', but Varric was insistent that this was how the Friends of Red Jenny operated - individual people with a bit of information sharing it so one person or small group could use it all. Amy didn't trust Varric person to person, but... so far he had been trustworthy on the 'keeping Amy Dallon alive' front, and he cared about closing the Breach. So she was pretty sure he wasn't setting her up.

Cassandra seemed to be willing to trust Varric too, so...

I suppose it makes sense that a rogue like him would know how people like these Red Jennies work. There was that old saying, something about using a thief to catch a thief?

And so, with all that in mind, they were heading back towards the richer parts of the city, though not all the way they'd gone. Sort of in between. Apparently parts of Val Royeaux were a dense network of side streets, alleys and little narrow passages between buildings. Messengers, delivery boys, servants and the like used them to service noble mansions or the like, and there were various locked gates.

According to Katerina, one of the books she'd read mentioned they were used for intrigues and secret meetings and stuff in Orlesian politics, 'The Game', as they called it. Hence all the locked gates, really - block things off, have control, influence...

They didn't actually go into that area until later, stopping to purchase food for dinner and eat while sitting on the benches in a small public park-like area. While they waited, Amy used some of the light of the setting sun to start 'Moonlight Over the Minanter River', picking that to read first one mostly at random.

But eventually, it did start to get dark, and they made their way through the alleys and sidestreets - Cassandra had some experience with them, but they did get turned around and lost twice - before finding the proper gate.

"Moment of Truth. Let's see just who the bastard who hired the assassin to kill you is, eh?" Varric offered, sticking the key into the lock and turning it. With the lock undone, the gate could be pushed open.

The other side revealed a small sort of courtyard, a cluster of about a half-dozen men and women in armor and carrying weapons, and one man wearing a golden mask covering the top half of his face, and a sort of weird hat-thing that made Amy think vaguely of Leia's hair from Star Wars, but not really. It sort of jutted out on either side of the sides of his head.

His shirt had big poofy shoulders, and it had fancy threads and patterning and multiple colors - blues, yellows, golds. It was probably expensive. That and the mask suggested he was a noble.

"Who are you?" The man demanded in a surprisingly thick French-sounding (well, Orlesian, Amy supposed) accent. Then, he stepped back. "You are Cassandra Pentaghast - and that would make you the Herald of Andraste!" He gestured to his men. "I don't know how you found me, but it was an expense of resources that will be your undoing! Kill them!" He shouted that one, gesturing to his men, running back, away from the fighting.

Amy had a staff in hand, but she immediately fell back as the half-dozen armed men charged. Varric and Solas immediately targeted one - Varric sent a crossbow bolt into the man's leg, and then Solas hit him with a blast of ice. Katerina swung her sword in a wide arc that didn't hit any of the three - mercenaries? Guards? - that she got near, but it forced them to jump back and Katerina pressed the advantage, while Cassandra fended off two with ease.

As she watched the fighting, Amy bit her lip. This wasn't like the Crossroads, where they were stopping people from attacking civilians. And they were fighting to kill. She watched a bolt from Varric's crossbow - really, why did he name it Bianca? - embed itself in the back of one of the men fighting Katerina, punching through his armor and then Katerina's blade smashed into his chest, sending him sprawling back, the armor rent and bent and he collapsed, probably shattered bones and internal bleeding and Amy could go there and save him but there was fighting and -

These guys weren't attacking innocent people but they were working for the man who had hired someone to kill her.

I could still save him probably. Keep him from dying -

There was fighting all around, but there was an opening.

Did he deserve it? Amy healed criminals sometimes in the Bay, she'd healed Lung after he'd been caught and Armsmaster's tinkertech sedative had reacted poorly to his regen, making his body necrotize. If it was important to keep someone alive for trial or for information or -

But this wasn't that.

Amy had refused to heal some criminals. It felt bad when she did it, but there were lines. But that had always been - they weren't about to die. It had been 'let them get their bone to heal like a normal person' and stuff like that.

Biting her lip, Amy darted forward, running as quickly as she could, towards the man. He'd landed on his side - probably the only thing keeping him alive, given the bolt in his back... if he'd landed on top of that -

It might have dug even more into him. Amy slapped a hand onto his bare chin - he was barely conscious, and Amy did nothing to stop that. She forced the bolt out of his body, healing the worst of the damage behind him, the internal bleeding cut off, bones fit back together...

Without even thinking about it, as she healed, Amy looked up and to the left and then saw a sword swinging down at her - Amy pulled away, landing on her ass and sort of crab-crawling backwards to get away from it, the blade passing through where she'd been just a second before.

Fuckfuckfuck. Amy didn't think she was some super fast dodger or anything - she'd gotten lucky. She tried to raise her staff to block another swing, but thankfully, Cassaidra came up behind the attacker and hooked her shield-holding arm around his shoulder, pulling him back towards her and she stabbed her blade into a gap in his armor.

Amy nodded and struggled to her feet, holding the staff in both hands. The fighting was almost done - Katerina cut her blade into the leg of one of them, probably connecting with the bone or something, and her opponent fell to one knee, and then flat onto her face.

The nobleman in the mask was standing by another gate, readying himself to push it open.

"The assassin I sent after you, Herald, had no idea of my connection to this place, he had no knowledge of me. I do not know how many resources you expended to trace me here, but it must have cost you dearly." He pushed the gate open.

"I don't even know who you are, you idiotic piece of shit!" Amy shouted, heart pounding in her chest. "Someone just said you were up to something, so here we are."

"Impossible! My security is too great for this to be anything but a costly victory. I may fall before the rest of my men arrive, but the Inquisition will suffer defeats elsewhere because of what you spent to find me!" He drew a rapier.

An arrow clattered against the cobblestones in front of him - he looked up and to the right, Amy followed his gaze and saw a slight figure atop a nearby wall.

"Just say 'what'," the voice sounded vaguely British - not in the fancy refined accent sort of way, but the more - the poor one. Amy knew there was a proper name for it but she didn't know. It was definitely a woman's voice though, and she drew another arrow on her bow.

"What is the-" The man only got that much out before an arrow practically sprouted in his neck, blood spurting a little. For a few moments, he stood upright, staggering a few steps, and then - he fell back, collapsing on the ground in a heap. Dead, or close enough.

"What the fuck?" Amy muttered. Someone had just been straight up murdered in front of her. This wasn't killing someone in a fight. He had a weapon, but still, he was just - that woman had shot him and -

He hired the assassin to kill me. And he did have the weapon. He was prepared to fight, and to the death.

The woman on the roof dropped down, landing in an acrobatic roll and on her feet in seconds.

The woman was taller than Amy, maybe 5'5" or 5'6", blonde hair - short - and pointed ears. An elf. She was wearing some kind of leather vest over a red shirt, the sleeves of the shirt red, but rolled up. She had a quiver over her back, and a bow in her hand.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess she's a Friend of Red Jenny.

"Squishy one, but you heard me right?" She said, conversationally, as if she'd not just killed a man in front of them. "'Just say what', rich tits always try for more than they deserve." Sera crouched by the man's body and pulled her arrow from his neck. "Blah, blah, blah, obey me! Arrow in my face."

"Are you the one that shot that message at Amy?" Katerina asked, moving to stand more directly between the woman and Amy.

"Amy's the one with the glowy hand, the Herald?" She tilted a bit to look past Katerina at her. "Shorter than I expected, up close. Everyone's talking about you and here you are, looking pretty... ordinary. Huh." She shrugged. "I had to get the message to her somehow."

"And you couldn't just... I don't know, have someone give me a note like a normal person would?!" Amy demanded.

"You got the note, found the clues, found this tit," she kicked the man's body lightly. "What's it matter?"

"It matters because you shot an arrow at me!" Amy stared at her, not understanding how this woman could just... be so goddamn confused about why Amy was upset. "Who the hell is this guy anyway?"

"No idea, I don't know this idiot from manners. Just heard from one of his servants who hates him that he was talking about trying to kill the Herald and he was pissy it didn't work." Her tone was blunt. "By the way, the name's Sera, and that," she gestured to some disused crates nearby, "is cover, and you might want to get round it."

"Why?"

"For the reinforcements!" Sera said cheerily. "Don't worry, someone tipped me their equipment shed." She leaned in, smirking and with a conspiratorial note to her voice, '"They've got no breeches!"

It took Amy a moment to realize that by 'breeches' she meant pants. But the sound of shouting from down the alley ahead was enough to get Amy moving to that cover, because she really didn't want to get shot.

Within moments, there were arrows flying towards her four companions plus Sera, and Sera was already stringing an Arrow and firing back.

The ensuing fight was pretty quick - the attacking guards did indeed not have any pants, just wearing underwear. It was surprising they went out to fight without pants, but they were beaten. Amy held onto the staff, but she didn't get into it, didn't go to heal anyone. There wasn't - she didn't want to get shot or stabbed or - if any of them could be saved afterwards - no one was attacking anyone who went down...

Amy's gut churned at not doing anything, but what could she do, mid fight? Besides, these bastards were ready to kill her...

When the fight was done, Sera giggled, "My friends really came through with that tip. No breeches," She giggled again.

Amy stood up, taking a breath, heart pounding in her chest. "The fuck?!" Amy muttered that, not even sure what she was 'the fuck'-ing about, but... She took a breath.

"What exactly was this about?" Cassandra demanded, bloody sword still in hand.

"You're the Seeker, right? And you're the Herald," she gestured at Amy. "So you're the Inquisition."

"We're part of it, yes." Cassandra agreed. "I cannot object to finding the man who sent the assassin after Amy - he admitted it - but I do not understand your motivations, or those of these 'Friends of Red Jenny' you represent."

"I don't represent them." She made a sort of 'psh' sound, waving a hand dismissively. "Nothing all fancy-like. They're just my friends. That's all it is - little people working together to stick it to nobles they hate," Sera explained.

"Okay, fine, but what the fuck was this about?" Amy's heart rate was finally starting to slow down after the fighting. She looked at the fallen reinforcements and grimaced. She had to check if any of them were alive and at least keep them from dying, if she could. She stepped around Katerina, crouching by the first one. Dead.

"What are you doing?" Sera asked. "They've got no pockets to go through." She giggled, and repeated 'no breeches' again.

"Checking to see if any of them are alive to heal them," Amy explained, trying to ignore the mention of looting their corpses. The Inquisition had stripped the weapons and armor from the Templars and mages they'd killed, to put them to use protecting the people at the Crossroads, but she really suspected Sera was more talking about just taking the money from them now that they were dead.

"What do you want to do that for?" Sera asked quickly, confused, voice raising in pitch a little. "They just tried to kill you."

"I'm a healer, I heal, that's what I do." Amy countered. It was something she could still do, something that was still familiar. The next one was alive, but bleeding out, internally and externally. She set to work on doing the bare minimum to keep him alive.

"You're a strange one," Sera said after a moment. "But that's not the point." She added quickly. "I want to join you."

"You want to join the Inquisition?" Cassandra asked.

"You're working on closing the big hole in the sky, yeah?" Sera asked. Cassandra must have nodded or something as Amy moved on to the third guard. Also dead. "Then yeah, I want to join. Not just me and my arrows - my friends. They'll know things that can help. Anyone else tries to kill the Herald, might find out about it."

"Hard to say no to that." Katerina suggested. "Though I really wish you'd left this one alive enough for me to strangle him. I get to kill the next one."

"I like the way you think. What are you then, bodyguard or something, all fancy-like?" Sera asked. "Tall enough for it," she added, and Amy flushed a little as she got the distinct impression from the slight drop in Sera's volume and the change in tone that the elven woman was looking Katerina up and down... appreciatively. Which - well, Katerina was pretty, and probably wouldn't mind a woman checking her out.

"Not fancy, but yes, I'm her bodyguard." If Katerina noticed the change in Sera's voice, or cared about it, she made no sign of it.

"It's fancy. Normal people don't get warriors with fuck-off big swords protecting 'em do they?"

While they spoke, Amy checked the other three guards. Out of six in this batch, only two were still alive by the time she'd gotten to any of them, and she'd at least made sure they wouldn't bleed out, internally, externally or anything else, as well as healed the second one's broken arm. She was pretty sure Katerina's sword had done that one.

Amy stood up and turned back to look at the scene.

"Fair," Katerina chuckled.

"The Inquisition already has spies... though I doubt Leliana would mind getting information from your 'friends' as well." Cassandra observed.

"Inquisition and all your spies are all up here, with the powerful people." Sera held her hand up by her head. "Only gonna see so much. What gave this shit away?" She gestured to the dead noble, "One houseboy who didn't know much, but knew a bad man when he saw one, and heard him talking about killing someone who probably didn't deserve it. Your spies don't get down there with the little people." She bent over a bit and held her hand down, closer to the ground. "So no, I'm not Knifey Shivdark, but I still know things."

Amy knew nothing about spying, but Leliana seemed like she knew what she was doing. Getting spies in the servants just seemed to make sense. So she probably did that already. But Cassandra was also probably right that Leliana would be happy to have more.

"And why do you want to join the Inquisition?" Cassandra asked.

"Everything's gone mad since the Breach opened, right? Only good thing it did is make everyone stop fighting their stupid war, but with that Lord Seeker bastard coming through the city with all his soldiers, swinging his dick around like he owns the place, that won't stay true for long, will it? I want things to go back to normal, before Mages and templars started killing each other and wrecking the lives of the normal people caught in between. Before people started killing each other over who gets a stupid chair in the palace. Inquisition's doing that, yeah?"

Killing each other over who gets a stupid chair in the palace? Then Amy remembered the mention of a civil war in Orlais, that was in a ceasefire right now thanks to the Breach.

"We are trying to restore order, yes." Cassandra agreed. She considered for a moment. "You know where the Inquisition is based?"

"Haven, right? Tiny little village somewhere in the mountains?"

"Yes. I'll send word ahead. We'll be staying in Val Royeaux for at least another day before returning."
"So the guards don't try and shoot me when I get close?" Sera chuckled. "They could try anyway." She said that pretty confidently. "So I'm in then?" Cassandra nodded.

"Welcome to the Inquisition then, I guess?" Amy offered, finally speaking up. She didn't really object to the woman joining the Inquisition. She was probably a thief, what with the Friends of Red Jenny stealing stuff too, but... the Breach.The Breach needed to be closed. And Sera had helped out, found the guy behind the assassination. Or a guy, maybe. Could have been a whole conspiracy, really.

"Right." Sera said, turning to look at her. "Really, apart from your fancy white robes, you look normal. Thought you'd be taller though, in person."

"I'm not that short!" Amy insisted.

"Maybe not, but for someone that's got all the fancy people and all the clerics in a tizzy, you are short." Sera pointed out. "Who ever heard of a short hero in the stories? It's all tall and muscle-y and in your face with my sword that's totally not a metaphor for my dick." She gestured grandly as she said that last part. "I suppose I should get moving if I want to get to Haven."

"Pack warm. It's freezing up there sometimes," Amy advised.

"Just gotta make sure I don't forget my breeches, yeah?" Sera said with another giggle, really milking that 'joke', apparently.

---

The next day, Amy slept late - it was past midnight by the time they got back to their inn - and then stayed in her room after eating for a few hours, and she decided to read. Not just read a little, but read a lot, really just... plow through a lot of a book, like she used to.

It wasn't that simple, as things turned out. it was slow going at first, forcing herself to keep looking at the pages, not let her mind wander, worry, think about all the people she wasn't helping but -

She was in a major city. There had to be some kind of hospital for sick people, right? Even the middle ages had hospitals, or at least... something like them? She could go in and start healing people. But -

Amy really doubted it would be that simple. Back home, everyone knew who Panacea was. Here, nobody knew Panacea from Bob. She couldn't just march in and start healing whoever. People probably wouldn't let her. Plus, the reputation of the 'Herald' was probably still mud here in the capital. And people would see the mark on her hand sooner or later once she was healing.

It felt like excuses, but it was - it was a legitimate point. She couldn't just... go do it. Not right now. If she had to come back here again, maybe then, but...

Once she managed to get into the rhythm of it, the reading did start to go faster, but it still felt too slow compared to what she remembered. Either she remembered wrong, or reading as a skill had atrophied since she didn't do it as much. But she read and...

'Moonlight Over the Minanter River' was good. A bit of a cliche storm, yeah, but it used them well and the writing was... maybe a bit purple compared to what she was used to, but good. Vivid. The main character had to deal with debts inherited from her father as well as cousins and an uncle who all wanted to claim the business from her, and she was striving to navigate both. The man her father owed money to sounded very 'loan-sharky'. The love interest, the black sheep nobleman was the very picture of the dashing rogue - flirty, but not getting creepy about it, handsome - or so Amy assumed, based on the description and the main character's reactions to him - but with that hint of having more too him, under the surface. He seemed to take nothing seriously, and was implied to have a whole trail of broken hearts behind him.

Intellectually, Amy knew the fantasy at work - that the main character was so great, so awesome, so wonderful that this man-slut would ultimately end up picking her and staying with her and being loyal and he'd change himself to earn her love and all that. It was pretty clear - he was interested in her from the first meeting, when he'd saved her from some goons of the loan shark trying to beat her up in an alleyway (though the woman had been making a decent showing of herself with a knife before he'd come in with his bow and then his rapier and his wit. Really, the man's tongue was sharper than his blade) - that he wanted her, but she was of course, holding herself at a remove.

She'd only gotten as far as their third encounter by the time it was time to leave. Duke Bastien's chateau was on the outskirts of the city, so it wouldn't be a fast trip there. Somewhat to her surprise, it turned out Varric had hired a carriage to take them there.

"You can't show up to the home of an Orlesian Duke after walking the whole way, Seeker," Varric explained. "We want the Herald to impress Madame de Fer, not look exhausted and sweaty because she walked from one end of the city to the other, or close enough."

"It's frivolity and frippery."

"Orlais in a nutshell, Seeker, you know it as well as I do."

Along the way, Amy got filled in a bit more about Vivienne de Fer. One thing she did learn made the fact that Vivienne was the Duke's mistress slightly less gross - his wife had been dead for nearly fifteen years. Since mages were oppressed outside of Tevinter, it probably wasn't allowed for him to marry her as like, a second wife or anything, so their relationship staying that way... made sense, at least. It was almost romantic in a way, and she could guess there were some romance novels in Thedas about the forbidden love between a mage and a nobleman.

Note to self, look into finding one of those. As long as it has some kind of happy ending.

What? Amy liked love winning, in stories. So much happier than reality.

But it was only slightly less gross because his wife - and mother of his two kids, though only one was still alive - had been alive when they started up.

Arranged, maybe unhappy marriage or not, in real life, cheating was bad. Affairs being happy stories of true love against societal expectation were exclusively the preserve of romance novels. Fiction, not reality.

Getting past the front gates of the chateau proved to be a little tricky, until Amy said she was the Herald and proved it by showing the mark. With no rifts nearby, the glow wasn't that intense, but it was still unmistakable for what it was. Having been given orders to let the Herald through, they were let through.

Judging from the fifty or sixty carriages arranged off to the side of the main 'road' to the Chateau from the gate, and the sound of music spilling forth from open windows, distantly, the Duke was holding some kind of party.

"Of course there's a party," Amy muttered. "Because I so desperately wanted another audience,"

"It's Orlais. If a noble isn't out fighting or hunting, they're partying - hosting, attending, planning." Varric told her as they got out of the carriage. The dwarf handed the carriage driver a small coinpurse and told him to wait for them, then turned back to Amy as they strolled towards the stairs up to the front door. "It's all part of their Game. They say that all the real decisions that govern the Empire are made during the balls and galas."

"And who are 'they'?" Amy asked. Varric had a lot to say about Orlais, little of it good, but was any of it actually true?

"The Orlesian nobles of course," Varric laughed, "Nobody is as in love with the Orlesian nobility's reputation for intrigue, assassination, scheming and double-dealing as the Orlesians nobles themselves." The dwarf scoffed, "The Merchant's Guild have them beat, and if half of what I hear about what goes on in Orzammar is true, Orlesians are all amateurs anyway."

"Fun." Amy muttered. If there was a party, she felt distinctly underdressed. Another showing of the mark on her left hand to the guards at the door and she was let in.

"Be careful of what you say," Cassandra advised as they were led to the parlor by a servant, which was where they would meet 'Madam de Fer'. "These people wield words like weapons, and the Inquisition's enemies would love nothing more than for you to say the wrong thing and cause some sort of upset."

"More diplomacy. Great." Amy inhaled and a door was pushed in by the servant, revealing a large, expansive room, the back end raised up, accessible by two stairs. A group of musicians were playing instruments in one corner, while assorted guests were standing around, chatting, a few were dancing. There was a table lined with food against one wall, and a few servants travelling around with trays of food or what Amy assumed was wine.

As they stepped into the parlor, another servant spoke in a loud, booming voice that projected well and carried across the chamber: "Lady Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste, representing the Inquisition, and party."

Of course that made all the murmuring go silent and everyone turned to stare at her. Amy fought the urge to put her hood back up, biting her lip. After a moment, though, conversation started up, though people seemed to be giving her looks.

"Anyone know what Vivienne de Fer looks like?" Amy's eyes flicked over the guests. They were all wearing masks, and the ladies had an assortment of dresses, many with ruffles and poofy shoulders (the men had those two) and some with these absurd collars that went all the way past the chins of the women wearing them.

"She is a dark skinned woman of Rivani extraction." Cassandra said. "She often wears a...horned hat, of sorts." Rivain was a country in Thedas, Amy remembered seeing that on the map, north of Antiva. With so many people wearing masks, she had to look at what parts of their skin to see if anyone was dark skinned, but she wasn't seeing anyone, and no one had any horned hats either.

As she looked, they were approached by a couple - she assumed, the woman with one of those weird high-collared dresses that covered her chin and a wide brimmed feathery hat.

"It is wonderful to see a new face at these events," the man said. "Especially from the Inquisition. You are the talk of the city after your confrontation with the Grand Clerics and the Lord Seeker, Herald."

Great.

"Just doing what needs to be done to close the Breach," Amy said, trying to keep her voice level and calm. "I'm not a threat to the Chantry or anyone else, and so I told them that."

"Your Inquisition is beginning to accumulate resources, favors and soldiers at a rapid rate." the woman said in a sort of tittering voice that Amy hoped was an affectation. "We hear so many stories, I cannot believe even half of them are true."

"They're probably not. But it's not my Inquisition," Amy corrected, licking dry lips. "Cassandra is more in charge of it than I am."

"The Inquisition is about doing what must be done to restore order, rather than placing anyone in charge," Cassandra said quickly, firmly.

"But of course, Lady Pentaghast." the man said, inclining his head a little. "You must be here to speak to Madame de Fer, then?" Amy let Cassandra do the talking and looked around, wondering if she could just go make a beeline for the food and get something to eat, let that distract her for a minute.

"She extended an invitation to Amy through Grand Cleric Marcelline." Cassandra answered. "As for the stories you have heard... I cannot say how true the ones you have heard are, but many untrue stories have spread."

"They say that the Herald was delivered from the Fade by the hand of Andraste herself to save us all. Is that not true?"

"It is true that she left the Fade in the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes and that she has the ability to close the rifts, and given time, the Breach itself." Cassandra said. "She claims no special connection to or ability to speak for Andraste or the Maker, but the Maker's eyes are always on us all, and I believe he had a hand in her survival and ability to close the Breach."

Goddamnit Cassandra.

Amy bit down on the inside of her cheek, tasting blood quickly as she tried to restrain herself from saying anything.

"Of course, all happens within the Maker's sight," the woman agreed. "And it is a wonderful thought to believe that he would not abandon us in this time of dire crisis. I do dearly hope you are correct, Lady Pentaghast." She looked over at Amy. "Please, Herald, I must know: Is it true that you personally convinced the Lord Seeker to hold back his assault on the clergy! I hear a Templar nearly hit one of the Grand Clerics!" She had that breathy, 'scandalized' tone that Amy sometimes heard some of Vicky's friends use at the lunch table when gossiping.

Amy swallowed the blood in her mouth, coughing a moment, fighting the urge to spit. She managed, barely, and coughed again. "A templar did almost hit Grand Cleric Hevara, yes, but I had nothing to do with stopping it." Amy said quickly. She flushed as she realized just how quickly she'd said it, almost tripping over her words. "He - the Lord Seeker stopped that himself. I - all that happened is that the Lord Seeker agreed that helping me close the Breach is the best way to restore order."

"Any success on the part of yourself or the Inquisition to convince the Templars to do something other than wage their mindless war is worthy of praise, Herald." The man pointed out. "I admit, I was unsure what to think of the Inquisition when I first heard of it, in the aftermath of the destruction of the Conclave" he added. "But thus far, it seems the Inquisition is committed to restoring peace and order."

"Peace and order! Pah!" Another man said, coming down the stairs from the upper area towards them. He wore a sort of green, lumpy-looking hat, almost looking like a turban, but... one that melted? It had a red feather sticking out of it at the front too. "What a load of pig shit! Washed up sisters and crazed Seekers, using a mage as a figuredhead and claiming she is sent by the Maker." He scoffed, loudly, hands on his hips for a moment. "No one can take the Inquisition seriously. Everyone knows it's just an excuse for a bunch of political outcasts to grab power."

"The only interest of the Inquisition is restoring peace and finding those responsible for the murder of Divine Justinia," Cassandra said firmly.

"Right, and I'm sure your army is combing the Frostbacks for her killers right now as we speak," the man said, sneering. "If you had any honor left, Lady Pentaghast, you would step outside and answer the charges."

Oh no you fucking- Amy was done with idiots. She was done with Val Royeaux, and she was fucking done with even pretending to be diplomatic. Fuck this, and fuck him for deciding Cassandra didn't have honor or that this was some scheme by her to get power, doubting the woman's sincerity. Amy was certain of very little in this godforsaken shithole of a world, but Cassandra wanting to help? Amy was certain of that.

"Oh fuck off and take your dick measuring contest somewhere else," Amy snapped. The man turned towards her, a furious scowl on his face. Amy didn't care, and she shrugged off Katerina's hand grabbing her shoulder and ignored Cassandra saying her name, "A dick measuring contest that you're losing against a woman, by the way."

"Well, I never!" The man started.

"Yeah, you clearly never have won a dick measuring contest, and I have had it up to here with everyone acting like this is some goddamn power grab. Where I come from, we deal with giant monsters wanting to destroy entire cities every three months, and somehow, we work together, but you idiots get one hole in the sky and you're squabbling like toddlers over candy! Fuck off and get your act together!"

"You will regret speaking to me like that, girl!" the man started, his hand going to the sword - much shorter and thinner than Katerina's - slung over his back. But before he could begin to do more than start pulling it from its sheath, his arm and midsection were suddenly covered in ice that formed over him, freezing him in place.

Amy's first thought was Solas, but he wasn't here, but then she heard a woman's voice, refined, careful, measured.

"My dear Marquis, how unkind of you to attempt to draw a blade in my house, on my guests. You know such rudeness is… intolerable." Amy turned to the source of the voice, revealing a tall, black woman wearing a black and white dress, heels clicking on the stairs as she stepped down them. She had a silver mask, and a black hat that did indeed, make it seem like she had a pair of horns. The dress itself had this weird, collar thing that flared out massively, looking like the wings of a butterfly and then a bit that wrapped twice around her neck, before going down into the rest of the dress.

"Madame Vivienne, I humbly beg your pardon!" the man said hurriedly. "But her words-"

"Uncouth though the child's words might have been, she is young, and you are not. You began this by hurling insults and challenges like some Ferelden dog lord. And all dressed up in your Aunt Solange's doublet." Vivienne looked him up and down, not sneering, but certainly in a way that had to feel pretty bad, Amy guessed. Like she thought he was covered in mud, maybe?
"Didn't she give you that to wear to the Grand Tourney? To think, all the brave chevaliers who will be competing left for Markham this morning… and you're still here."

Ouch. Amy could recognize a burn when she heard one, and despite herself, she realized she was smiling. She returned her expression to normal quickly though. Katerina and Varric both chuckled, though Varric's lasted longer - Katerina stopped herself pretty quickly.

"Were you hoping to sate your damaged pride by defeating the Herald of Andraste in a public duel, before realizing that wouldn't work? Perhaps you decided Lady Cassandra's blade could put an end to the misery of your failure?" The man - the Marquis - didn't say anything, and Vivienne turned to Cassandra and Amy.

"My apologies for this... disruption. I do try to avoid having my personally invited guests having to deal with such behavior, but it seems in this case..." She trailed off, shrugging a little. "Tell me, Herald, Lady Cassandra - you are the insulted parties here, what should I do with this man?"

"I don't find myself especially concerned with his fate," Cassandra said.

"I think the blow his ego just took from what you said is enough to leave him crippled for a while," Amy was reminded of something on a Star Trek spinoff from Earth-Aleph she'd seen some episodes of with Mark once, late at night, on rerun. Something about a guy getting beaten up by Klingons and then saying that his injuries would heal but the cutting remarks he'd made would last a lifetime?

"By the Grace of Andraste, it seems you have your life, Marquis. Do run along and try not to waste this chance." Vivienne said, waving a hand. The ice shattered off of him, landing on the ground and quickly melting away. The marquis didn't so much run away as scamper away, making for the door, probably flushed red in embarrassment under that mask.

Vivienne turned back to Amy. "I am delighted you decided to accept my invitation, Herald, I've so wanted to meet you. Perhaps you would be willing to join me for a private discussion on one of the balconies?" She gestured towards the upper area and some doors that presumably led to the balconies.

"Uhm... yeah, sure." Amy flushed, feeling like an idiot saying it like that, but as quickly as her blood had gotten up, it was going back down.

Fucking hell, I nearly screwed everything up. I made a scene, I cussed some noble out. He's embarrassed now, and if he was willing to draw a sword on me before, what next? More assassins?

Amy wanted to melt into some hole in the ground. Her stomach roiled and she forced herself to take a breath. She just had to open her mouth and screw it up. Vivenne didn't seem to hold it against her, but from the way she'd called her a child, it was clearly a 'I don't judge because you're too young and stupid' kind of thing.

"Very good. Lady Cassandra, Master Tethras, please, feel free to enjoy the gathering while I speak with the Herald. I understand if you would like her bodyguard - Katerina is it? - to accompany her while we speak."

Cassandra hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"You're very well informed, Madame de Fer," Katerina said softly, inclining her head a little.

"I like to know everything I can about those I invite into my home, my dear girl. Please, follow me, both of you." She beckoned, and the woman led them to the aforementioned balcony, which seemed to be overlooking some kind of elaborate courtyard - hedges, some trimmed into designs, a lot of rows of carefully planted flowers arranged in patterns by color, some trellises with vines on them...

It was a pretty looking garden. She could see a fountain in the distance as well. Katerina stayed a bit back, while Vivienne moved to stand next to her at the railing. She took off her mask - though she still had the weird horn-hat - revealing a somewhat severe, but attractive face, older, but not old.

"Again, my apologies for that... unseemly incident. I will grant that your words to the Marquis were perhaps not unfair, but they were also quite uncouth. I would advise you to avoid being so... direct in the future."

Amy flushed, "I - " She wanted to say 'I've had it up to here with pretending what a bunch of rich Orlesian assholes think about me', but since she was talking to one of those rich Orlesians... maybe not a good idea. She ran her tongue over where she'd bitten the inside of her cheek minutes before and took a breath. "It's been a long few days, and Val Royeaux isn't like anywhere else I've been."

"A common reaction to those who come to the city for the first time," Vivienne agreed with a nod. Amy figured Vivienne assumed she was like... overwhelmed by the grandeur, and it was grander than the Bay (low bar though that was), but it was more just the stupid medieval bullshit that was getting to her.

"Still, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry." Amy said. "Last thing the Inquisition needs is another enemy."

Vivienne shook her head, "I wouldn't worry about the Marquis. His aunt is the vicomtesse of Mont-de-Glace. Not a powerful family but well-respected… and very devout. Alphonse will be disowned for this. It's not the first time he's brought his aunt disgrace, but I'm sure it will be the last. And after such public humiliation, I expect he'll run off to the Dales to join the Empress's war efforts. Either to make a good end or to win back a modicum of respect."

Right, and it's so good that I humiliated someone into joining a war and getting killed. Yay me!

"Okay... I guess there's that then." Amy flushed again, biting her lower lip a moment, then stopping. She didn't want to taste her own blood again tonight. "You invited me here. What is it you want?"

"I wanted to meet you face to face. Get a measure of you in person, past all the reports and rumors. It is important to consider one's connections carefully." Vienne explained. "I have heard many competing stories from you. Mage, monster, heretic, heroine, savior, sinner. Is it true you have no memory of the events that led to you getting that mark?"

"It is, yeah," Amy nodded. "One minute I'm working in the hospital back home, the next... I'm waking up in a cell feeling like someone's stabbed right through my hand."

"Quite strange. As are many of the stories about you, including that you have the ability to heal with a touch. I thought you a mage, until dear Marcelline told me that the Lord Seeker himself confirmed your abilities were not magic."

"Not magic." Amy agreed. "I also don't speak for Andraste or the Maker or anyone else." She added that, because she really didn't want another person who thought she was heaven-sent. "And I really doubt either of them had anything to do with this." She held up her left hand.

"None of us can profess to know the mind of the Maker, my dear, beyond what is given to us in the Chant of Light," Vivienne said confidently. Though everything she'd said so far was with confidence. The woman moved and spoke with natural authority. "But what I do know is that with Divine Justinia dead, the Chantry is in shambles, and the Empress is far too distracted by the unpleasantness in the Dales and the tentative talks with her cousin to take the lead in things. That leaves only the Inquisition as a means of bringing back sanity and order to the frightened people of Thedas."

"So you want to join up?" Like Sera... and only like Sera in that way and probably not a single other way.

"As the leader of the last loyal mages of Thedas, I feel it only right that I lend my assistance to your cause." Vivienne confirmed. "That, and it would seem to me that the destruction of the Conclave and the opening of the Breach was a declaration of war against the people of Thedas. If that is true, then I would like better the chance to meet my enemy face to face, whoever they are, rather than quietly wait for my destruction."

Amy barked a small, quiet laugh, "My sister would agree with you on that." She inhaled slowly, then nodded, "Well, I'm not in charge, but I don't think anyone would say no to your help." If Vivienne was half as connected as it sounded like, Josephine would probably be thrilled. Amy did wonder about the 'loyal mages' thing. She was a mage who... what, missed the Circles? Like being locked up and policed by Templars? That didn't seem right, but Amy really, really didn't feel like arguing the point. She wanted to go back to the inn and collapse on the bed and then sleep for the next month or whatever until they had the Templars or Mages all ready and then she could close the Breach.

"We're going to head back to Haven tomorrow," Finally, "So you can head that way whenever you're ready, I guess? Like I said, I'm not in charge, but I don't think Cassandra, or Josephine or anyone else would object to you offering your help."

"I certainly cannot see Josephine Montilyet turning down my assistance, no." Vivienne agreed with a small smile. "It will be quite pleasant to see her again."

"You know her?" Amy supposed she wasn't surprised, moments after she said it. It made sense, given the whole 'Ambassador' thing and Viviene used to be the Court Enchanter.

"I know everyone who has ever been associated with the Imperial Court, my dear girl. Josephine was Ambassador to Orlais from Antiva for many years after all." Vivienne answered, echoing Amy's own thoughts.

"That makes sense then." Amy nodded. "So... yeah. Welcome aboard then."