It didnât take more than a day or so after the templars arrived in Haven for the predictable problems to crop up.
âTheyâre about three words from reenacting their stupid war on the Chantryâs front steps, sir,â Reed told him, rolling his eyes. Leon scrubbed a hand down his face, sighing heavily. Heâd hoped this wouldnât be an issue, as heâd thought Estella had made it rather clear that theyâd have no authority over the mages hereâthat the allies of the Inquisition were equals for as long as they were united to this purpose. Then again, it might not even be the templars that had started the argument. He doubted too many of the mages would be pleased at such a high concentration of them suddenly appearing in the already too-crowded town. It might look like oppression even when it was nothing of the kind; some of those wounds were still raw on both sides, and it might have been too much to expect that everything went smoothly.
Hopefully theyâd be able to put a stop to the nonsense quickly. The reality was they likely didnât have to tolerate one another for longâCyrus was already at work developing the exact ordering of events for the closing of the Breach, which he understood better than anyone else did. Likely theyâd be getting to it within a few days. Still, if any fragment of the Inquisition lasted beyond that, theyâd need to move elsewhere. The town was too small for an organization of the kind.
The Seeker pushed open the door out to Haven, Reed half a step behind him. Once his eyes had adjusted to the sunlight, he had to resist the urge to sigh again. It was, quite literally, a standoff. Less than a foot separated the frontmost templar from his counterpart mage, and there was a lot of shouting going on, along with general glaring and discontented murmuring. It was enough that few people even noticed him standing there, which was rather novel for Leon. While normally he wouldnât have minded, he actually needed them to pay attention to him right now. He glanced at Reed, who nodded and placed two fingers in his mouth, issuing a sharp whistle that drew everyoneâs attention temporarily.
âWhatâs going on here?â He demanded, using what Verena had once mockingly dubbed the âSeeker voiceââwhich was to say, the one that wasnât mild and quiet.
What appeared to be the leader of the agitated mages was the first to speak. âItâs the Templars,â she insisted. âEver since they got here, theyâve been acting like itâs all Circles again, watching us like hawks!â
âWeâve done no such thing,â the templar fired back, âbut youâll excuse us for being a little concerned that there are so many unsupervised, paranoid apostates just wandering about camp!â
The templar's words seemed to throw contention back into the crowd of mages. The murmuring grew and the glaring resumed, until a voice called out over the commotion. "That is enough!" it said. The words were not quite a shout, but still held enough volume and firmness to quieten the mages' clamor. They began to part as the owner of the voice made her way toward the forefront of the argument. Eventually, a redheaded mage emerged from the throng, her brows set deep and a frown on her lips. The disapproval on her face was not directed at the templar, but instead toward the mage.
The woman was Aurora, one of the first mages that pledged themselves to the Inquisition's cause in Redcliffe. She had led a small group of mages of her own, but by the way the others in the crowd regarded her, it seemed as if she carried their respect as well. She held arms crossed over her chest as she kept the man in her hard stare for a moment or two before she spoke again. "We should not bicker amongst ourselves," she began, offering a glance to the templar behind her, before returning to the mage.
"Not while that," she said, a bandaged hand pointing toward the Breach, "Still looms over us all."
"And how are we to know one of the rebel mages didn't put it there?" one of the templars asked, and a few of the others around him grumbled their assent. "How are we to know that mages were not responsible for the death of Most Holy?"
The hand of Knight-Captain SĂ©verine appeared upon the man's shoulder, the rest of the woman soon following, and she drew him back, coming to stand before the other templars. Rather than face the mages, she turned to look upon her own number. "We cannot know, just as they cannot know if one of our own rogue templars was responsible. There has been violence, corruption, and deceit from factions of both mage and templar. We who stand here with the Inquisition do so because we believe in this alliance. And any alliance must begin with trust."
The templar who'd attempted to rally the crowd behind him stepped back reluctantly, aware that his voice would not outstrip the Knight-Captain's. "I will not ask any of you to trust the mages with your lives," she continued. "I only ask you to trust that their goals, for the moment, align with ours. The closing of the Breach." Finally she turned to look upon Aurora and the other mages.
"Nothing will be gained by settling this with swords and deadly magic. Only death. A balance must be achieved, but this will only be possible once some semblance of order has been restored. That is what the Inquisition aims to achieve, and what we will assist with." She glanced back, to ensure the crowd knew she was speaking to her own as well with her next words. "Put aside your blind prejudices, and work towards something that will save lives, not end them."
The mage who'd argued with the templar earlier backed away and fell into the crowd, deferring to Aurora's judgement. "Mage or templar, we stand with the Inquisition together."
Though no one looked fully satisfied by this, it thankfully wasnât necessary to defuse the situation any further, and the crowds began to disperse on their own, something Leon was grateful for. âMy thanks,â he said, inclining his head to both SĂ©verine and Aurora. âIâd been concerned this would happen, but admittedly I thought it would take a bit more time.â He smiled ruefully, then shook his head.
âThough now that youâre here, Ser SĂ©verine, do you have a moment? I was hoping to speak with you for a bit.â
"Never underestimate a young templar's ability to do something rash," SĂ©verine said, with a knowing gleam to her eye. "And of course. I was rather hoping to speak, actually." She then nodded respectfully to the redheaded mage.
"If you'll excuse us, Miss..."
"Aurora Rose," she said with a respectful nod of her own.
"Miss Rose," she echoed. "Thank you for the assistance. Keeping the peace will be no small task for us, I fear."
"It appears so," Aurora agreed, watching the direction the mages had dispersed off into. "Ser SĂ©verine," Aurora said in a farewell before taking her leave. As she departed, she offered a wave to a passing Asala and Pierre, who hung from the woman's shoulders.
Leon nodded to Reed, who stepped back into the Chantry, and after Aurora had departed, he turned to SĂ©verine. âShall we take a walk? My office is rather appallingly unsuited for anything but paperwork.â He grimaced, and started them off to the south, mostly for the relative quiet that way. âIf youâd like to go first, please do; my questions arenât urgent.â
"Certainly." SĂ©verine kept pace with Leon, which wasn't overly difficult, given the meandering pace. She was still armed and full-armored, having gotten the damage to her gear already repaired by her new allies. "The templars behind you here are relatively few in number. Gathering more might prove difficult, with my rank only at Knight-Captain. Even some of those from Therinfal chose not to follow me, and instead returned to their old posts." She said the words somewhat awkwardly, as though struggling not to see it as a slight against her.
"Knight-Commander Cullen of Kirkwall will be the best place to start, if you would like a stronger relationship with the Templars for the Inquisition. He's a reasonable man, and an excellent leader. I would return to his command myself, were I not already responsible for the templars here." Her praise for the man was delivered in an earnest manner, without a second of hesitation. "I still plan to, once the Breach is closed."
Leon folded his hands behind his back, noting the information with some interest. âThereâs much to recommend him,â he agreed. The reports out of that region had been a marked improvement from the years before. Meredith had done a very good job of covering up the increasing instability in Kirkwall from the Chantry in Val Royeaux, such that no Seekers had ever been dispatched to the city even at the height of her zealotry. Though eventually suspicions had grown, and the Divine had elected to act covertly, sending an ally to try and recall Grand Cleric Elthina at least. An investigation had been pending when the cathedral in the city exploded and set everything off far earlier than anticipated.
âKirkwall has been rather stable, hasnât it? At least relative to the places where the mage-templar war has raged openly.â Of course, that had a lot to do with the fact that theyâd sent their surviving mages away or simply failed to stop them from leaving in droves. âI can only assume thatâs in no small part due to those of you stationed there, though I understand that the situation is⊠complicated.â They passed by several of the regulars, sitting outside for once due to the relative warmth of the day, loosely clustered around where a very animated Lieutenant Pavell was apparently regaling them with some sort of story. Leon gave them enough of a berth that none would feel obligated to acknowledge him.
"It wasn't pretty to get there," SĂ©verine admitted with something of a grimace, "and there are still issues to be worked out. Kirkwall's templars are a powerful force, a small army, and some don't share the Knight-Commander's views. Thankfully, no small amount of them showed their true color when they left to follow the Lord Seeker." It went without saying that the color in question was a rather glowing shade of red.
"But he's done it so far, and the popular opinion of the Order there has improved as a result. Granted, we haven't really been doing our jobs, watching over the mages, but... there aren't any mages left in Kirkwall to watch. On that front... it's like I said earlier. Beating the mages into submission and dragging them back to their Circles will only cause this to flare back up again down the road. Something has to change." She shrugged. "It's up to more ambitious minds than mine to figure out what."
They passed by a few of the returning Inquisition scouts, Lia at the head of them. The group appeared to be on their way to join to others gathered about not far from them. The young elven woman offered Leon a smile and a salute in passing.
"In all, the city's recovering, now that it has nothing left to hurt itself with. The Guard is fantastically well-run, and the Viscountess can twist the nobility into doing just about anything she wants them do. The common people adore her, as well." She smiled, the expression tinged with a certain amount of sadness, for some reason.
"Kirkwall's been through a lot, but I think it's finally getting some rest again."
âAfter all you lot have been through, Iâd say itâs well-deserved.â He half-smiled. âAnd what of you, Knight-Captain? Our rather imperious ally was quick to point out that youâre Orlesian by birth; Iâd have thought youâd be with one of those Circles. Did you transfer long before the events in question?â From the way he asked it, he made clear that he was only asking from harmless curiosityâwhen he inquired something of a templar, they often took it to be an interrogation, and that concerned him. Relations between his order and theirs had not always been germane to polite company, after all. Leonâs extremely benign demeanor was in some measure a defense against this assumption.
"I'm Orlesian in name and accent only, I think." SĂ©verine didn't seem bothered by this, and even her accent was only mild, obviously something that she had to have worked on. "I was in Val Chevin's Circle originally, but... let's just say I was not so mild-mannered and well-behaved as I am now." She nearly laughed at herself, evidence that she didn't think she was all that well-behaved even currently.
"It took me some time to figure out how to endure the insufferable people in life. I may have given one sniveling, arrogant recruit with a powerful family a rather severely broken nose. Though it was entirely deserved, it was the latest in a long list of transgressions for me, and they shipped me off to Kirkwall, hoping a stricter regimen from a more intimidating Knight-Commander might get me in line." She seemed to have unintentionally arrived at a sobering point of her narration.
"My superiors were right, though for a while I was not exactly in the correct line, you follow. The Qunari had arrived dug in by the time I reached the city, and it wasn't long before I was swept up in events I was not wise enough to avoid." She acquired a bit of a thousand-yard stare, but shook it off soon enough. "The acquisition of that wisdom didn't kill me, thank the Maker. When Cullen took over, he claimed I had some potential, and made me start to believe it, too. It was only a year ago I was promoted. In fact, it was on his order that I went to Val Royeaux and met the Lord Seeker. It was believable for me to be the one to run off with the zealots."
âSensible,â Leon replied with a knowing smile and a nod. âAnd I daresay Iâm glad you were there, even if it wasnât your summons we actually answered.â He sighed slightly, his expression falling into a troubled frown. âItâs⊠no problem if you havenât any insight about this, but,â he drew his brows together over his eyes. âHigh Seeker Ophelia. It appears she wasnât working with the envy demon, but⊠I still canât say I understand her motives. Did you see her do or hear her say anything strange or unusual while she was at Therinfal?â
He hated to suspect that his mentor might be up to something untoward, but sheâd always been an exceptionally difficult woman to read, and he could not discern what she was thinking now. It was unusual for her to be anything other than plain with him, however, and that more than anything put him ill-at-ease.
SĂ©verine hesitated, but decided to go ahead. "I... I think she had me figured out early on, to be honest. She's a Seeker, after all. She took me aside pretty quickly, asked me a few questions. It was on her advice first, actually, that I didn't take any of the red lyrium. After I turned it down a few times, the other officers shut me out anyway." She frowned, troubled by something.
"I saw her ingest it, though, along with some of the other officers, when they demonstrated to the lower ranks. She should've been changed, right? She looked fine to me."
That was concerning, and for a moment, Leonâs face reflected the alarm he felt. âThatâs⊠I canât explain that, except to say that when I encountered her, Iâd never have guessed sheâd taken any.â No explanation for that was ready to his mind, either, which meant it was the kind of question that he was going to have to trouble over. One more for the list, he supposed. He, at least, was going to be extremely busy even after the Breach was closed.
âSomething that needs investigating, at any rate. Thank you, for bringing it to my attention.â He sighed through his nose and resumed his light smile. âBut one thing at a time. First, the Breach. I believe weâll be prepared to deal with that within a few days. I trust you can keep your young and rash templars in check in the meantime?â It was more jest than serious query, though there was a little bit of that as well.
"I'll do my best," she replied with a salute, her tone matching his in terms of mixed seriousness and humor. "We'll be ready when the time comes."
âTheyâre about three words from reenacting their stupid war on the Chantryâs front steps, sir,â Reed told him, rolling his eyes. Leon scrubbed a hand down his face, sighing heavily. Heâd hoped this wouldnât be an issue, as heâd thought Estella had made it rather clear that theyâd have no authority over the mages hereâthat the allies of the Inquisition were equals for as long as they were united to this purpose. Then again, it might not even be the templars that had started the argument. He doubted too many of the mages would be pleased at such a high concentration of them suddenly appearing in the already too-crowded town. It might look like oppression even when it was nothing of the kind; some of those wounds were still raw on both sides, and it might have been too much to expect that everything went smoothly.
Hopefully theyâd be able to put a stop to the nonsense quickly. The reality was they likely didnât have to tolerate one another for longâCyrus was already at work developing the exact ordering of events for the closing of the Breach, which he understood better than anyone else did. Likely theyâd be getting to it within a few days. Still, if any fragment of the Inquisition lasted beyond that, theyâd need to move elsewhere. The town was too small for an organization of the kind.
The Seeker pushed open the door out to Haven, Reed half a step behind him. Once his eyes had adjusted to the sunlight, he had to resist the urge to sigh again. It was, quite literally, a standoff. Less than a foot separated the frontmost templar from his counterpart mage, and there was a lot of shouting going on, along with general glaring and discontented murmuring. It was enough that few people even noticed him standing there, which was rather novel for Leon. While normally he wouldnât have minded, he actually needed them to pay attention to him right now. He glanced at Reed, who nodded and placed two fingers in his mouth, issuing a sharp whistle that drew everyoneâs attention temporarily.
âWhatâs going on here?â He demanded, using what Verena had once mockingly dubbed the âSeeker voiceââwhich was to say, the one that wasnât mild and quiet.
What appeared to be the leader of the agitated mages was the first to speak. âItâs the Templars,â she insisted. âEver since they got here, theyâve been acting like itâs all Circles again, watching us like hawks!â
âWeâve done no such thing,â the templar fired back, âbut youâll excuse us for being a little concerned that there are so many unsupervised, paranoid apostates just wandering about camp!â
The templar's words seemed to throw contention back into the crowd of mages. The murmuring grew and the glaring resumed, until a voice called out over the commotion. "That is enough!" it said. The words were not quite a shout, but still held enough volume and firmness to quieten the mages' clamor. They began to part as the owner of the voice made her way toward the forefront of the argument. Eventually, a redheaded mage emerged from the throng, her brows set deep and a frown on her lips. The disapproval on her face was not directed at the templar, but instead toward the mage.
The woman was Aurora, one of the first mages that pledged themselves to the Inquisition's cause in Redcliffe. She had led a small group of mages of her own, but by the way the others in the crowd regarded her, it seemed as if she carried their respect as well. She held arms crossed over her chest as she kept the man in her hard stare for a moment or two before she spoke again. "We should not bicker amongst ourselves," she began, offering a glance to the templar behind her, before returning to the mage.
"Not while that," she said, a bandaged hand pointing toward the Breach, "Still looms over us all."
"And how are we to know one of the rebel mages didn't put it there?" one of the templars asked, and a few of the others around him grumbled their assent. "How are we to know that mages were not responsible for the death of Most Holy?"
The hand of Knight-Captain SĂ©verine appeared upon the man's shoulder, the rest of the woman soon following, and she drew him back, coming to stand before the other templars. Rather than face the mages, she turned to look upon her own number. "We cannot know, just as they cannot know if one of our own rogue templars was responsible. There has been violence, corruption, and deceit from factions of both mage and templar. We who stand here with the Inquisition do so because we believe in this alliance. And any alliance must begin with trust."
The templar who'd attempted to rally the crowd behind him stepped back reluctantly, aware that his voice would not outstrip the Knight-Captain's. "I will not ask any of you to trust the mages with your lives," she continued. "I only ask you to trust that their goals, for the moment, align with ours. The closing of the Breach." Finally she turned to look upon Aurora and the other mages.
"Nothing will be gained by settling this with swords and deadly magic. Only death. A balance must be achieved, but this will only be possible once some semblance of order has been restored. That is what the Inquisition aims to achieve, and what we will assist with." She glanced back, to ensure the crowd knew she was speaking to her own as well with her next words. "Put aside your blind prejudices, and work towards something that will save lives, not end them."
The mage who'd argued with the templar earlier backed away and fell into the crowd, deferring to Aurora's judgement. "Mage or templar, we stand with the Inquisition together."
Though no one looked fully satisfied by this, it thankfully wasnât necessary to defuse the situation any further, and the crowds began to disperse on their own, something Leon was grateful for. âMy thanks,â he said, inclining his head to both SĂ©verine and Aurora. âIâd been concerned this would happen, but admittedly I thought it would take a bit more time.â He smiled ruefully, then shook his head.
âThough now that youâre here, Ser SĂ©verine, do you have a moment? I was hoping to speak with you for a bit.â
"Never underestimate a young templar's ability to do something rash," SĂ©verine said, with a knowing gleam to her eye. "And of course. I was rather hoping to speak, actually." She then nodded respectfully to the redheaded mage.
"If you'll excuse us, Miss..."
"Aurora Rose," she said with a respectful nod of her own.
"Miss Rose," she echoed. "Thank you for the assistance. Keeping the peace will be no small task for us, I fear."
"It appears so," Aurora agreed, watching the direction the mages had dispersed off into. "Ser SĂ©verine," Aurora said in a farewell before taking her leave. As she departed, she offered a wave to a passing Asala and Pierre, who hung from the woman's shoulders.
Leon nodded to Reed, who stepped back into the Chantry, and after Aurora had departed, he turned to SĂ©verine. âShall we take a walk? My office is rather appallingly unsuited for anything but paperwork.â He grimaced, and started them off to the south, mostly for the relative quiet that way. âIf youâd like to go first, please do; my questions arenât urgent.â
"Certainly." SĂ©verine kept pace with Leon, which wasn't overly difficult, given the meandering pace. She was still armed and full-armored, having gotten the damage to her gear already repaired by her new allies. "The templars behind you here are relatively few in number. Gathering more might prove difficult, with my rank only at Knight-Captain. Even some of those from Therinfal chose not to follow me, and instead returned to their old posts." She said the words somewhat awkwardly, as though struggling not to see it as a slight against her.
"Knight-Commander Cullen of Kirkwall will be the best place to start, if you would like a stronger relationship with the Templars for the Inquisition. He's a reasonable man, and an excellent leader. I would return to his command myself, were I not already responsible for the templars here." Her praise for the man was delivered in an earnest manner, without a second of hesitation. "I still plan to, once the Breach is closed."
Leon folded his hands behind his back, noting the information with some interest. âThereâs much to recommend him,â he agreed. The reports out of that region had been a marked improvement from the years before. Meredith had done a very good job of covering up the increasing instability in Kirkwall from the Chantry in Val Royeaux, such that no Seekers had ever been dispatched to the city even at the height of her zealotry. Though eventually suspicions had grown, and the Divine had elected to act covertly, sending an ally to try and recall Grand Cleric Elthina at least. An investigation had been pending when the cathedral in the city exploded and set everything off far earlier than anticipated.
âKirkwall has been rather stable, hasnât it? At least relative to the places where the mage-templar war has raged openly.â Of course, that had a lot to do with the fact that theyâd sent their surviving mages away or simply failed to stop them from leaving in droves. âI can only assume thatâs in no small part due to those of you stationed there, though I understand that the situation is⊠complicated.â They passed by several of the regulars, sitting outside for once due to the relative warmth of the day, loosely clustered around where a very animated Lieutenant Pavell was apparently regaling them with some sort of story. Leon gave them enough of a berth that none would feel obligated to acknowledge him.
"It wasn't pretty to get there," SĂ©verine admitted with something of a grimace, "and there are still issues to be worked out. Kirkwall's templars are a powerful force, a small army, and some don't share the Knight-Commander's views. Thankfully, no small amount of them showed their true color when they left to follow the Lord Seeker." It went without saying that the color in question was a rather glowing shade of red.
"But he's done it so far, and the popular opinion of the Order there has improved as a result. Granted, we haven't really been doing our jobs, watching over the mages, but... there aren't any mages left in Kirkwall to watch. On that front... it's like I said earlier. Beating the mages into submission and dragging them back to their Circles will only cause this to flare back up again down the road. Something has to change." She shrugged. "It's up to more ambitious minds than mine to figure out what."
They passed by a few of the returning Inquisition scouts, Lia at the head of them. The group appeared to be on their way to join to others gathered about not far from them. The young elven woman offered Leon a smile and a salute in passing.
"In all, the city's recovering, now that it has nothing left to hurt itself with. The Guard is fantastically well-run, and the Viscountess can twist the nobility into doing just about anything she wants them do. The common people adore her, as well." She smiled, the expression tinged with a certain amount of sadness, for some reason.
"Kirkwall's been through a lot, but I think it's finally getting some rest again."
âAfter all you lot have been through, Iâd say itâs well-deserved.â He half-smiled. âAnd what of you, Knight-Captain? Our rather imperious ally was quick to point out that youâre Orlesian by birth; Iâd have thought youâd be with one of those Circles. Did you transfer long before the events in question?â From the way he asked it, he made clear that he was only asking from harmless curiosityâwhen he inquired something of a templar, they often took it to be an interrogation, and that concerned him. Relations between his order and theirs had not always been germane to polite company, after all. Leonâs extremely benign demeanor was in some measure a defense against this assumption.
"I'm Orlesian in name and accent only, I think." SĂ©verine didn't seem bothered by this, and even her accent was only mild, obviously something that she had to have worked on. "I was in Val Chevin's Circle originally, but... let's just say I was not so mild-mannered and well-behaved as I am now." She nearly laughed at herself, evidence that she didn't think she was all that well-behaved even currently.
"It took me some time to figure out how to endure the insufferable people in life. I may have given one sniveling, arrogant recruit with a powerful family a rather severely broken nose. Though it was entirely deserved, it was the latest in a long list of transgressions for me, and they shipped me off to Kirkwall, hoping a stricter regimen from a more intimidating Knight-Commander might get me in line." She seemed to have unintentionally arrived at a sobering point of her narration.
"My superiors were right, though for a while I was not exactly in the correct line, you follow. The Qunari had arrived dug in by the time I reached the city, and it wasn't long before I was swept up in events I was not wise enough to avoid." She acquired a bit of a thousand-yard stare, but shook it off soon enough. "The acquisition of that wisdom didn't kill me, thank the Maker. When Cullen took over, he claimed I had some potential, and made me start to believe it, too. It was only a year ago I was promoted. In fact, it was on his order that I went to Val Royeaux and met the Lord Seeker. It was believable for me to be the one to run off with the zealots."
âSensible,â Leon replied with a knowing smile and a nod. âAnd I daresay Iâm glad you were there, even if it wasnât your summons we actually answered.â He sighed slightly, his expression falling into a troubled frown. âItâs⊠no problem if you havenât any insight about this, but,â he drew his brows together over his eyes. âHigh Seeker Ophelia. It appears she wasnât working with the envy demon, but⊠I still canât say I understand her motives. Did you see her do or hear her say anything strange or unusual while she was at Therinfal?â
He hated to suspect that his mentor might be up to something untoward, but sheâd always been an exceptionally difficult woman to read, and he could not discern what she was thinking now. It was unusual for her to be anything other than plain with him, however, and that more than anything put him ill-at-ease.
SĂ©verine hesitated, but decided to go ahead. "I... I think she had me figured out early on, to be honest. She's a Seeker, after all. She took me aside pretty quickly, asked me a few questions. It was on her advice first, actually, that I didn't take any of the red lyrium. After I turned it down a few times, the other officers shut me out anyway." She frowned, troubled by something.
"I saw her ingest it, though, along with some of the other officers, when they demonstrated to the lower ranks. She should've been changed, right? She looked fine to me."
That was concerning, and for a moment, Leonâs face reflected the alarm he felt. âThatâs⊠I canât explain that, except to say that when I encountered her, Iâd never have guessed sheâd taken any.â No explanation for that was ready to his mind, either, which meant it was the kind of question that he was going to have to trouble over. One more for the list, he supposed. He, at least, was going to be extremely busy even after the Breach was closed.
âSomething that needs investigating, at any rate. Thank you, for bringing it to my attention.â He sighed through his nose and resumed his light smile. âBut one thing at a time. First, the Breach. I believe weâll be prepared to deal with that within a few days. I trust you can keep your young and rash templars in check in the meantime?â It was more jest than serious query, though there was a little bit of that as well.
"I'll do my best," she replied with a salute, her tone matching his in terms of mixed seriousness and humor. "We'll be ready when the time comes."