Chapter Text
“Inquisitor, a letter for you from King Alistair.”
Ellana Lavellan glanced up from her own half-read rift status report to study her diplomat’s familiar dark olive face. Josephine stood on the other side of the war room, as she picked up yet another letter and began to scan it. She was carrying her usual tablet, though the candle is rarely used now that they’re in the bright halls of Skyhold. The new war room is still an unfamiliar setting to Ellana. The room had too much light, stiff chilly breezes often brushed in from the snow-capped mountains outside, and the ceilings were so high that any odd raised voice would echo within the chamber. Somehow, in the Inquisition’s very own castle, Lavellan missed the dark and damp of the Haven chantry, where she had learned to call home these past few months.
Josephine pulled the parchment from behind her tablet and pushed it across the table. With a sigh, Ellana picked up the surprisingly thick piece of parchment. The very top of the letter was stamped with a red seal that looked oddly like a dog. Ellana assumed it was the Ferelden royal family’s seal. After her last encounter with the King of Ferelden at Redcliffe, she was not eager to read further beratement of her actions, especially after she had saved the town, a town of his kingdom no less, from becoming the seat of Venatori power.
The letter read,
Inquisitor,
First things first: an apology. I offered the rebel mages safe harbor in Ferelden only to have them drive my uncle out of his town, so I'll admit I wasn't in the best of moods when I first met you. I just wanted everyone out of Redcliffe, and didn't care who was responsible for what. Now I wish I'd done otherwise. Isn't that always the way? These cultists... Venatori, I think they're called? We have them in the royal palace, or so I'm told. Like rats -but with magic and nasty sneers. I don't know what they're up to, but I need to find them and drive them out. Since the Inquisition knows all about them, I'm hoping you'll help. Something something grateful something.
Wait... did you just write that? You scribes do this on purpose, don't you?
King Alistair Theirin
“Ha!” Ellana couldn’t help but bark out a laugh, inadvertently drawing all of her advisors’ attention. Leliana gazed at her coolly, revealing none of her thoughts. Josephine coughed a little, as if to hint that an outburst of laughter towards a foreign dignitary is poor manners. Cullen just frowned.
“Now he wants our help!” Ellana exclaimed towards her diplomat, who dropped all pretenses of working on the other missive.
“Yes, Inquisitor. That is indeed the intent of King Alistair’s letter.” Josephine confirmed patiently, as if walking a child through the first steps of courtly decorum.
“Josephine, he kicked me out of Redcliffe, even after I removed Alexius from right under his nose. No ‘nice to meet you’ or ‘thank you’. Now he wants my help to remove the Venatori from his capital and makes jokes about it? The gall!”
“King Alistair is beloved in Ferelden, and he apologized for his behaviour in his letter. We are in no position to deny a request from any noble of influence, especially a reigning monarch.” Josephine continued in the same even tone. Ellana scrunched up her face slightly in distaste.
“Let me see that.” Leliana jumped in. Before Ellana realized, the spymaster had taken the letter out of her hands. Leliana's eyes darted across the letter, then she giggled slightly. “Alistair hasn’t changed one bit.”
Ellana glanced over at her spymaster. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Cullen’s frown was now directed at Leliana. “The King of Ferelden is a friend of yours?”
“We traveled together briefly during the Fifth Blight with the Hero of Ferelden.” She paused, walking back to her usual station at the war table. “For Alistair to be requesting help, things must be difficult in Denerim.”
“Difficult? What do you mean, Leliana?” Cullen all but abandoned his own deployment schedules and engrossed himself in the conversation.
“While Alistair is not the most politically savvy ruler, he has maintained power in Ferelden for the past 10 years. He helped the country recover from the blight and fended off any Orlesians looking for a chance to recover their lost province. If he had the capability to eliminate this threat, he would not be reaching out to us.”
Ellana could see where this was going. Her diplomat wanted to help, and her spymaster thought the situation tough. “So I take the big swords in, stab some Venatori baddies, gain the gratitude of the king, and then we go on our merry way?” It didn’t sound like a bad idea, now that she had said it aloud. She’d never been to Denerim before, and how often did a person get the chance to foil a royal assassination?
“I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to, Inquisitor.” To Ellana’s surprise, it was Josephine who interjected. “Stopping Corypheus should still be our priority, and I believe it best to focus your attention on the Winter Palace."
“Josephine, I don’t understand…” Ellana began.
“I have just the agent in mind for this.” Leliana cut in, offering the alternative Ellana was going to inquire for. “Allow me to send her to Denerim to quietly hunt down the Venatori spies.”
“Send forces to aid in the manhunt.” Cullen proposed. “Not only should we help, but everyone should see us doing it.”
“Cullen, that would lead to a spectacle. Denerim will appear weak for having spies in its ranks, and everyone will know it.” Josephine argued.
Cullen opened his mouth to argue, but Ellana cut in. “So send in the agent then.” The war room always went this way, in a three-way argument until the right balance was struck. They always seemed to reach the correct answer, but the process was exhausting.
“No,” Josephine replied, deep in thought. “A lone agent won’t be enough to show the Inquisition values Ferelden as a potential ally.”
“Josi, eliminating the threat will be more valuable than any envoy, no?” Leliana had already started scribbling down a message, no doubt instructions for her agent. Josephine didn’t look convinced, and began tapping her pen on her tablet as she mulled over the options.
“What if the Inquisition sent members of the Inquisitor’s Inner Circle to assist with the task? The Inquisitor will not be distracted from stopping Corypheus directly, and we show Ferelden willingness to dedicate important resources to its aide.” Josephine said carefully, after some consideration.
“They would provide back-up to Leliana’s agent.” Cullen added, seemingly pondering the proposal and agreeing with it. Leliana simply nodded. All three looked to Lavellan for the final nod.
Ellana shrugged. There’s no arguing when these three were on the same side. “Now I need to figure out who to send.”
