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“Thank you, good Sers. I can manage myself from here.”
“With all due respect, your Majesty, the King bade us remain with you for the entirety of this trip.” The guardsman looked around him uneasily. “Given the rather unstable nature of Kirkwall these days, milady.”
“Alistair has trusted me to combat a horde of sentient darkspawn alone in years past. I think I can keep an eye out for danger in a well-guarded Hightown estate such as this.” With a practiced hand, Breynna slipped from the saddle of her horse and handed the reins over to the guardsman. “Feel free to see the sights while we’re here. I wouldn’t be surprised if this visit takes a few hours or more; the Champion and I have much to discuss.”
For as large as the grand living room was, the décor provided a surprisingly intimate setting. In the middle of the room were several reclining lounges for guests in an arc around the roaring fireplace. In the center was one grand sitting chair, the occupant of which had not moved since Breynna was seen into the room. She took a step toward the array when a row of statues caught her eye. She turned to take a closer look, only then noticing that they were not statutes at all, rather full suits of armor. Female armor.
“You don’t think they’re too gaudy?” The voice from the chair asked. “I admit they stand out a bit from the rest of the interior but I like them. They remind me of what it’s taken in the past to be where I am today.”
“These are yours then?”
“Yes.” The woman rose from the chair and met Breynna’s eyes. She surveyed the newcomer before extending an arm in an invitation to join her by the fire. “What’s left of them, at any rate. Constant battle does take its toll over time.”
“A sentiment I am only too well acquainted with.”
“So I hear. It is an honor to finally meet you, Queen Breynna. I am Corena Hawke, as you are no doubt familiar.”
“Indeed Serah. Your rise to fame has become a bit of legend across the sea where I am from. A legend that I dare say reminds me profoundly of myself in many ways. For this reason, I felt compelled to meet with you face to face.”
“Does it now?”
“Yes…” Breynna studied the face of this woman trying to ascertain whether she was intentionally being elusive or merely humble. “We began as Fereldens both. Left with nothing, our homes and families torn from us. We are warriors, driven to settle the score with violence. We have risen to power and have our countries standing for us now. Surely, you have also seen these connections.”
“I have merely done when I felt necessary, your Highness. Beyond that, any connection between the course of our lives is coincidence, I assure you.” Corena pulled the cinch of her robes tighter and turned her attention to the fire before them. “If stories are what you seek, I advise you to find Varric. That is more his specialty than mine.”
“Serah, that is not my intention. I came to offer my assistance in this time of need. Perhaps a word of warning as well.”
Corena turned back to the woman before her. In the firelight, her face had taken on a weathered appearance, serious and aged beyond what her years would have suggested. There was a glint of something powerful in her calm green eyes and a knowledge that was derived from past experience. Before she could say another word, a man charged into the room.
“Cora, is it true that the Warden Comman–“ He stopped abruptly in his tracks, caught in the astonished gaze of the women.
“Anders?” Breynna’s eyes widened. “What in the Maker’s name…? I thought I’d never see you again!”
He tapped his fingers together and took a deep breath. “Oh, dear, this is the rather awkward part I had somewhat hoped to avoid. But you know me, if there’s a chance to be embarrassed and tongue-tied, I’m all for it.”
Breynna’s expression softened. “Anders, don’t fret so. I’m not angry with you. If anything, I am simply relieved to see you well.”
“Oh, Maker, that’s a relief.” He joined Corena by her side. “I am… sorry, Warden Commander, for leaving so abruptly. I just didn’t know what would happen with Justice in me. I couldn’t stay in the Order knowing I could become a burden – or worse, a liability – to you, to anyone for that matter.”
“Well in that way, you are very much like my husband,” Breynna said, chuckling. “Though I wager he’d be a bit envious of your freedom to leave the Wardens at a moment’s notice.”
“Freedom.” Anders mulled over the word. “I confess that word has changed meaning for me as of late. But yes, freedom is certainly an enviable thing to those who do not possess it.”
Breynna raised her eyebrows at the remark but Corena cut off her question. “Anders, please. Day in and day out, it is always talk of the mages’ revolution. Certainly our guest would like to speak of other things today.”
“Oh, you! Such lover’s talk is music to my ears. Makes me feel really very cared for and appreciated.” Anders rolled his eyes in mock hurt.
“Oh!” A light dawned in Breynna’s eyes. “Are you two… together?”
Their shared coyness spoke for them. She took this opportunity to steer the conversation away from the heatedness of the last topic. “Well I for one am glad of it, Anders. Maker knows you deserve a bit of happiness in your life.”
Anders nodded. “You know most people would consider themselves lucky to be saved once by a beautiful, courageous heroine. But to have it happen twice? I don’t know what I did to deserve such a blessed fate.”
“Nor do I, Anders.” Breynna shook her head without concealing the mirth in her smile. “The Maker works in ways we shall never understand.”
“I am pleased I had the opportunity to see you and set things right, Warden Commander. I fear I must be off though. As my Cora has already made mention, I am a leader of a mage’s underground society here in the city. There a number of people I must see before the meeting tonight.”
He leaned over and kissed Corena’s cheek before bowing a goodbye to them both.
“Some people see heroism as an obligation, thrown into their lap by the wheels of destiny.” The two women watched Anders walk out of the room. “Others cannot live their lives without it, it seems.”
Breynna’s face darkened. “And which are you?”
“I suppose that depends on who you ask.”
Breynna scowled. “Enough games, Serah Hawke. The matter I come to with is a serious one.”
“You and all of Kirkwall!”
“I am well aware of what it takes to be a Hero!” They glared at each other a moment longer. Breynna smoothed her cloak and recomposed herself. “I didn’t come here to argue. But I did need to speak with you. The effects of what is happening here in Kirkwall are being felt in my land, perhaps throughout all of Thedas. Everywhere the Chantry is, is everywhere that stands to fall to ruin. And your Anders may be the one lighting the fire on the keg as we speak.”
“You’re here to plead the Chantry’s case?!” Corena nearly jumped out of her seat. “Do you have any idea what corruption they’ve spread throughout this city? They’ve started a holy war here against anyone unlike themselves!”
“I’m not claiming their agents are blameless.”
“They’ve made half the city’s mages tranquil already. My sister could be next! Anders could be next! Just because they felt like it!”
“And they might do it as retribution too if you don’t stop and think about what you’re inciting!” Corena suddenly became silent at the suggestion. “Now that I have your attention, I’d like to explain why I’m here. All I ask is that you listen and then you are free to make your own decision.”
“As you wish.”
Breynna took a deep breath and recalled back to the aftermath of the Blight. “I have seen firsthand the power of mages, both in their capacity for goodness and the corruption that can come from within. I have been aided by a sister, brought back from the brink of death by an enchanter’s healing, and fallen in love with a templar. But what scares me the most is the fragility of the Chantry itself.”
“I have seen the pillars of the Chantry shaken by the powers of ancient magic that I am loathe to admit I was partisan with. The fallout from that alone caused more damage that I had wished, but the meaning of its consequences became clear. I began to realize how much influence my actions held. How their effects ripple outward to outcomes I never even considered. ”
Corena frowned. “But if you tried to do what was right…?”
“That’s just it. Humanity’s sense of right and wrong is shaped by the lives we lead, the influences around us, our own needs and desires. Power begets more power. And that has a funny way of warping someone’s mind. As dangerous as any blood mage out there, is the way power deludes one into thinking that what they personally desire is what it right.” Breynna’s eyes clouded over with some unspoken regret. “What I am trying to say is that we fundamentally lack the objectivity that’s needed for unbiased decisions.”
“But what does this have to do with the Chantry?”
“It has everything to do with them. Their entire order has been built on a fragile faith, sustained by the beliefs of its citizens. And that belief is a delicate thing because it relies on the inherent subjectivity of their nature. Because belief is so fluid, it’s extremely vulnerable to assault. If you take one brick from the foundation, it is all liable to fall in time.”
“You wouldn’t know that by looking at them,” Corena scoffed.
Breynna smiled sadly. “And therein lays your answer. The Chantry’s only means of self-preservation is by convincing its followers that their castle of sand is really made of stone.”
“So they rule by fear? By deception? If that were true, then how could you argue that the world wouldn’t be better without it?”
“Do you really think you are in a position to decide that?” Breynna rose and stood by the fire. Its light flicked and filled her face with a terrible light. “Who do you think sheltered all those people who ran from the Blight? Who do you think picked up the pieces in Lothering and created a town from the destruction wrought by the darkspawn? Who do you think were the first warriors that aided me against the archdemon?”
Corena glanced away. “That much is true. They do not turn away those that seek their aid.”
“Those that others forsake, the Chantry accepts. And it is them that this undoing will affect the most. The people you seek to dethrone are untouchable and you will only cause suffering on the people who look to you for guidance!”
Corena grew angry again. “So what then? Sit around in our wealth and comfort and let the corruption continue on in the Chantry unchecked?”
“Don’t you see? It isn’t the Chantry that is corrupt; it is the positions of power! It is the people who think that they are the ones called by the Maker to do his work of doling out discipline and justice. But often in those people lives corruption and justice too often is confused with vengeance.”
“Anders.”
Breynna turned back to look at the other woman, concern turning her brows down.
“When Justice was a spirit of the Fade, he was pure of form. But inside Anders, the spirit fights for control with his conscience. Sometimes I… I can’t always tell who’s looking out at me. I can’t tell if what he wants is what I should do.”
Breynna nodded. “It is, perhaps, a war that cannot be won.”
“Then what would you have me do?”
“My mother was fond of animals back in Highever. She lived by the motto that you don’t throw away the chicken because it laid a bad egg. As a consequence, we were inundated with pets in the arling – three legged dogs and one eyed cats and all the like. My father thought it quite a bother but loved her too much to put a stop to it.”
“I don’t think I understand...”
“Be like my father, Serah Hawke. He understood the balance that was needed to be a truly great leader – a ruler that people are inspired by and are loyal to. Only then do you truly have the tools to fight the corruption you seek to end.” She stood and gathered her cloak about her. “I thank you for seeing me today.”
“Your Highness, wait!”
Breynna turned and the woman caught up to her. “I don’t want to be the ruler of Kirkwall or the Free Marches. I didn’t want any of this. I just wanted my family to be safe.”
“Oh no? Give it time.”
And with that, Breynna shut the door behind her. Corena made her way back to the sitting chair and sank into its plush depths once more. The sound of the fire crackling just beyond her filled the stillness of the room. The flames danced and leapt across the wood as she thought. The sound of crackling wood and light from flames that danced and leapt.