A Candle in the Darkness (A Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction)

War Table

26 Solace, 9:44

On the other side of the eluvians, back in Val Royeaux, Antonia and the boys scattered: the Tevinter ambassador to liberate Josephine from the talks, the Seneschal of Kirkwall to hastily throw together a War Table in the Divine's rooms, the Spymaster of the Inquisition in search of 'something they were going to need', about which he refused to be more specific. The Inquisitor went looking for her Commander, finding him in the gardens with a strange dog.

Phoenix woofed questioningly, looking up at Antonia, who shrugged and passed the same questioning look on to Cullen. He stood up, looking only faintly sheepish.

"The storekeeper said his owners tired of the novelty. Mabari aren't an Orlesian breed ... could I leave a fellow Fereldan trapped in these surroundings?"

"No, I suppose you couldn't." She looked down at her own dog. "What do you think, Phoenix?"

Stiff-legged, the mabari walked over to sniff noses with the newcomer. After a few yips, both animals sat back, seeming to have reached an understanding.

Antonia smiled. "I guess he's part of the family now."

"I was thinking Vel could use a protector, as could anyone else who might come along." Cullen looked at her stomach, a smile crossing his face, and relief bubbled inside Antonia at the clear evidence that he was coming around to being excited about the new baby. But his smile faded as he noticed that she was back in armor, and that the armor had been used today. "What did you find?"

"Come with me; we might as well fill everyone in together."

In the Divine's rooms, everyone was assembled, including the familiar and much-missed face of Leliana.

Antonia threw her arms around the older woman in happy surprise. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Of course you didn't. And I'm not." She cast a faint frown in the Iron Bull's direction. "Or I wouldn't be, if the Inquisition's spymaster wasn't a bit too good at his job."

"What can I say, I can spot a beautiful redhead a mile away."

"Well, now that I have you all together ..." Antonia sighed before filling them all in on the dead Qunari in the Winter Palace, the eluvians, the Qunari in the forgotten space between eluvians, what Morrigan had once called the Crossroads, and the evidence that a powerful mage was stalking and killing the Qunari. "I don't know why the Qunari are coming here, why they've chosen now, or who this mage is," Antonia finished.

Leliana looked at her, eyebrows raised. "You don't know why the Qunari are coming here and why now? Why do you think Alistair and Celene aren't here? This Exalted Council is an excellent time and place for the Qunari—or anyone, really—to make a powerful statement to all of Thedas. The Divine, the leadership of the Inquisition, powerful representatives from Ferelden, Orlais, the Imperium, and the Free Marches ... I think the better question is whether this Exalted Council was pushed along by agents of the Qunari."

All eyes turned to the Iron Bull, and he growled in frustration. "I don't know. They cut off my sources when I was declared Tal-Vashoth. I can look at a crowd of faces and tell you which ones are most likely to be Ben-Hassrath, but I'd only be right about two-thirds of the time. They're that good."

Dorian said, "So we can proceed under the assumption that there are Qunari spies at the Exalted Council."

"If not within the Inquisition itself." Josephine spoke gravely, her eyes wide and a little fearful. Antonia understood the emotion; Skyhold was their safe haven. No one wanted to think it had been infiltrated by spies they didn't know about. But of course it would have been; that was life, and politics. "But it makes no sense! The Qunari may not be friendly to the Inquisition, but they have no reason to attack us."

"You're not of the Qun," the Iron Bull said heavily. "That's all the reason they need. You may be a valuable target, which is even more important."

"What concerns me more is their use of eluvians," Leliana said. "Qunari don't trust magic in general; why would they trust magic mirrors for such an important mission?"

"I had the mirror placed under guard, by people no one would suspect to be agents of ours. If anyone goes near it, I'll know." The Iron Bull looked as troubled as Antonia had ever seen him. Whether he was more bothered by the enemy being his people or by his failure to know what they were doing or what they wanted, Antonia couldn't have ventured to guess.

"Just when we thought we'd won through to some peace and quiet." Instinctively, Antonia put a hand to her stomach.

Cullen's eyes followed the movement of her hand, concern and sadness in his face. "First the Blight, then mages and Templars, then Corypheus, and now this," he said wearily. "Can't we go ten years without the world falling to pieces?"

"We must ensure that the Qunari do not disrupt the negotiations. The Exalted Council is in a very delicate state." Josephine bristled when they all looked at her in surprise. "Have we forgotten why the Exalted Council was called?" she asked, her Antivan accent thickening. "These people threaten our very existence! I am not going to stand by and allow the Inquisition to be dismantled because we became distracted by Qunari invaders!" She looked around the room at all of them. "Our only advantage is that Orlais and Ferelden are divided in goal and grievance."

"No, they're not." Antonia stood her ground, despite Josephine's glare. "They both have the same goal—to use the Inquisition as a tool in their unspoken war against each other. And the same grievance—that a powerful entity crouches on their border, ready to get in the middle of any attempt either country should make to attack the other. How we use that to our advantage, I don't know." She rubbed a hand over her face. "Could we use the Qunari to remind everyone how valuable the Inquisition still is? After all, neither Ferelden nor Orlais wants to take on the Qunari. If we did, surely that would buy us a few years of goodwill, of being seen as a protective force and not as a threatening one."

"We would have to know more," Josephine said. "Until then, the appearance of the Qunari looks as though we attracted them here." She sighed. "I will attend to the Exalted Council while the rest of you handle the Qunari."

"I'll help you," Varric said unexpectedly. "What?" he asked when Antonia frowned at him. "You can get Sera or Cole to go fight with you. Ruffles here is going to need someone backing her up. Sparkler would be a better choice, but no one trusts the Imperium any more than they do the Qunari, and you're going to need his magic fingers."

"Thank you, Varric," Josephine said.

"Don't thank me yet, Ruffles. You haven't seen my bill." He winked at her.

The group broke up, everyone scattering to their various jobs.

Cullen took Antonia by the arm. "You're coming with me."

"Where to?"

"I'm taking you to bed." As she started to protest, he slid his arm around her waist, making it clear he was taking no arguments. "We don't know what you'll be facing, when you'll have another chance to rest, or what kind of a toll the pregnancy is taking on your body, your energy, and your resilience already. You are going to sleep and eat properly before this all starts so that I know you're at your best and most rested when you take on whatever's ahead."

Sleep did sound heavenly; Antonia was exhausted. "Yes, Commander," she said meekly.

"Now, that's what I like to hear."