After several days and nights of chasing down her enemy, Séverine was forced to return to Kirkwall empty handed.
It wasn't really a defeat; the Red Templars had escaped for the moment, but they had a giant in their ranks, and such a creature left tracks that were very difficult to disguise. Some of her most trusted troops, as well as a few scouts from the Inquisition, would track the traitors back to whatever hole they were using as a base of operations. All things considered, it was probably for the best. The army needed time to recover, and their enemy would find it exceedingly difficult to replace their numbers. After all, there weren't many templars left for Carver to draw upon.
Séverine could not help but feel disappointed that he had escaped, but the battle simply hadn't presented an opportunity to kill or capture him without significant sacrifice. The cavalry charge from Sophia's Companions had effectively disrupted the enemy formation and allowed them to seize the upper hand, especially once the behemoth was turned away. But that same creature would likely have killed Sophia had Séverine not broken off from her fight with Carver to help alongside Lucien. And considering that she and Leon were barely handling him as it was, it seemed unlikely either of them would have survived a one on one fight with him. So he would flee for now. She would bring him to justice eventually.
It took a great deal of self-control to let Carver go, but Sophia had to be the priority. Her future was too important. In truth, it was extremely reckless for either her or Lucien to have been on the front lines of that battle, but Séverine of all people knew that they'd done so for most of their lives, and that it went hand-in-hand with who they were. Something that made it all the more painful for Séverine to ask of Sophia what she had.
She led her outriders through the gates into Hightown, finding herself wearier than expected. She'd spared the time only for the healing that was required before riding out, despite the severity of her wounds, and she hadn't found much in the way of sleep after the battle either. The Red Templars did not need rest, and she could afford little when pursuing them. Dismounting, she gave the reins to a waiting stablehand, starting back towards the Keep.
No sooner had she reached the top of the stairs than she found Leon, apparently discussing something with one of the guardsmen who manned the front door. At her approach, however, he broke off the conversation and made his way to meet her.
To say he looked unwell was at this point something of an understatement; he looked rather like it was still only a couple of days after the battle, rather than nearly a week. He'd been in no shape to aid in the pursuit of Carver, having fended him off essentially alone for a significant portion of the fight. It had cost him, as the bandages visible beneath his left sleeve attested. They ran up the entire length of his arm, where there was a deep slash wound that didn't seem to be healing well at all. Perhaps because it had been infected with red lyrium. No doubt if he were anything but a Seeker, it would have slain him.
He offered a slight smile, though, surprisingly warm for an expression so thin. The rings under his eyes were several shades darker a purple, stark in the sunlight, but if he was as fatigued as they suggested, he wasn't allowing himself to show it right now, at least. "Welcome back, Captain," he said. "I take it you've a report for us."
"I do," she said, coming to a halt and managing a smile in return, more just as greeting than anything to do with the news she brought. "Yours first. How are the wounded doing? How are you doing?"
"Recovery is slow," he admitted, raising one hand, palm down, and tilting it back and forth. "On both accounts." Leon grimaced slightly, the expression still somehow retaining his characteristic good nature. "My arm's seen better days; Rilien had to retrieve a couple of red lyrium shards that had lodged in the bone. He seems to have gotten them, though—I should heal up eventually." It certainly wasn't the kind of injury normal healing could do much about until the chunks of crystal were gone, if so.
He paused, casting back over a mental accounting of the injured, no doubt. "Khari definitely endured the worst of it, I'd say. It will still be quite some time before she walks under her own power again. Everyone else is somewhere between that and already completely recovered."
She was glad to hear that Khari would walk again, at least eventually. It hardly seemed like a guarantee that she'd still have her legs, given the hit she took from the behemoth. All things considered Séverine was lucky to escape with the break to her arm from blocking its blow. Khari didn't have access to the same templar magic that had helped repel it that Séverine had called upon. Without it, she doubted she'd have many unbroken bones left in her body. Instead she just needed the arm set enough to heal in order to chase after her enemies.
"That's good to hear," she said, taking a second to glance up the arm Leon had injured. "I'm... holding together as well, I suppose. A bath and a bed will be welcome." She paused, growing significantly more solemn. "I'm assuming the dead have been given the proper rites by now..." Likely some of her guilt shone through. Leon would know which of the dead most concerned her, and Séverine couldn't help but feel that she should've been here, paying her respects in some way other than with a futile chase after the traitors responsible.
Leon nodded, catching her solemnity like it was contagious. "The pyres went up two days ago," he said. "Though there hasn't yet been much time for proper mourning on anyone's side, given all there is to do for the recovery effort. You've not missed too much; no doubt there will be something more official when there is time enough to give it the weight it deserves." Whether he'd guessed at her thoughts or not, he seemed to be speaking to them.
She nodded back, trying to push it from her thoughts. All of it was a mess that she wasn't quite ready to deal with, but the facts of the matter were that the true templars were without a leader now, and she was the obvious candidate to step into that role. After what she'd been through with the Inquisition, and how she felt it had improved as a leader, she was ready to accept that role. Knight-Commander didn't seem as impossible a step up as it once had been.
They headed inside, winding up to the left after the first set of stairs, bypassing the throne room for the Queen's office. A pair of guards waited at the door, saluting before they opened the way. Séverine was not surprised to find she was expected; they must have sent word of her approach on ahead.
Her arrival seemed to interrupt a conversation between the Queen and the Emperor, the former rising from where she was seated on the front of her desk, while the latter stood beside her. They seemed... really quite happy. Séverine supposed that was a good thing, but it honestly wasn't expected. Given what she'd asked of Sophia when last she visited Kirkwall, and what Sophia had agreed to consider, Séverine expected the Queen's reunion with Lucien to be rather more complex. But perhaps she was overthinking things.
"Your Excellence," she said in greeting, before she hesitated. "Er, Your Majesty—"
"Either way, it's still Sophia," she responded, her smile somewhat wry. "I'm glad you made it back safely. I didn't get the chance to properly thank you for saving my life."
Séverine nodded, expecting that would be her opening. "It was an honor to fight beside you. Both of you. I'm just sorry we weren't able to capture the rest of them. The conflict has already dragged on long enough."
"And it will no doubt drag a bit longer," Lucien said, frowning. The expression proved to be quite temporary, however; the same happiness was still coming through rather clearly in the way he held himself.
Leon, at least, didn't seem to find it odd. "Still," he added, "we've clearly begun the process of turning things around. They invested a lot of their resources on this siege and takeover, and that we broke it was no doubt a heavy blow to the red templars as a whole, even before their actual casualties are factored in."
"That's accurate, yes," Séverine agreed. "They made no attempts to attack us in our pursuit. It was a full retreat. I believe Carver threw everything at his disposal at us in this attack. His failure here will crack the Red Templars, but..." Her eyes fell momentarily. "The nature of their fall prevents them from surrender. Wherever they've gone, we'll need to destroy them utterly for this to be over."
"And where are they going?" Sophia asked.
"Unclear, as of now, but their tracks lead west into Orlais. With any luck they won't be foolish enough to attack anything there. Weakened as they are, I expect they'll flee to a fortified position. Given their activity in the Emerald Graves, I wouldn't be surprised if they return through there on their way to their destination. I've already sent word to our scouts there to expect them."
It would be preferable to engage them on the road somewhere if they could, but logistically it just wasn't going to be possible. Their forces moved too quickly, without little need of rest or resupply, and the Inquisition simply couldn't locate them, maneuver, and set up a proper ambush before they would be gone again. Not after having just fought a battle. As they had from the start, the Red Templars would make the end as painful for everyone else as possible.
"Good," Sophia said. "With that settled, there's something else we need to discuss. The Red Templars are defeated, but Knight-Commander Cullen is gone, and both the Templar Order and the Chantry are leaderless."
Séverine nodded, feeling uneasy but still somewhat confident. "I had some time to think on this. I'm ready to step into the leadership role that is needed. I feel I've learned a great deal, from all of you, and with your help I can guide the templars forward."
Now Sophia gave her an uneasy smile. "That's good to hear, but... I have a different leadership role in mind for you. That of the Chantry, not the Templars."
The Chantry? But that meant...
Whatever confidence Séverine had flooded out from under her, and her armor suddenly felt twice as heavy. She realized in a instant what Sophia had in mind, and it felt like blocking the behemoth's blow all over again. Why was it that she always prepared so diligently for one thing, only for an entirely different thing to be required of her in the end?
"Divine?" she said. Using the word aloud made it all the worse. "Me? Really? Is that...?" she wasn't sure what the best end to that question was, so she let it hang in the air, looking between them for some confirmation that such a thing was not only possible, but a good idea.
"Does it seem so preposterous?" Leon spoke from his spot on her left. His smile was uneasy, too, but something about it was different from Sophia's. "The Chantry right now... honestly, I'm of the mind that it needs someone exactly like you. Because it needs to follow exactly the trajectory that you have taken, Séverine." His eyes moved away, settling on some bit of paper on the Queen's desk. He clearly wasn't really looking at it, occupied somewhere in the middle distance instead.
"It has hit a low point, lost credibility with those it most needs to serve. And nothing short of proactive, thoughtful and firm leadership will see it out of that. You've proven capable of drawing yourself out of a situation like that, and the Templars out of yet another." He squeezed his hands together behind his back, meeting her gaze again.
"You won't be alone, either," Lucien pointed out. There was nothing whatsoever uneasy about him, at least, and his smile was warm. "Seems to me you'd be starting off well, with good connections among the Templars, a friendship with your Lord Seeker—" there he nodded at Leon—"And of course a not-inconsiderable working relationship with a few of Thedas's secular governments, to say nothing of the Inquisition. All things you achieved without really thinking too much about achieving them, I suspect. There's much to recommend you."
They all made very good points, but this was not an easy thing for Séverine to come to terms with. It was hard to believe that someone with a darkness in her past like herself could be a better candidate than Sophia of all people, who had stayed true to the right cause even through all that she'd been plagued with over the years. But it wouldn't be unheard of, for a Divine to ascend from her current position. She found Lucien's words most reassuring of all, the reminder that she had built some very strong and useful connections already with the people she'd be working alongside. They would strengthen both her candidacy and her ability to actually perform the duties of the office.
Her eyes met Sophia's. "This would... free you, I suppose. To choose something else." She was no fool, and it was well known besides that the Queen and the Emperor felt quite strongly about each other. It was among the greatest of things Séverine had asked Sophia to give up by striving for the position of Divine.
"While that may be true," Sophia answered, "I'd like to say I didn't take it into consideration in this. I still believe you're better suited for this than I am. The Chantry doesn't need to be rescued by an outsider, it needs to be uplifted from within, by a woman who has used the opportunities it gave her to change herself and the world for the better." She smiled then, glancing briefly at Lucien before she looked back. "But you're right. I am... very much looking forward to the future now."
Even if she wasn't the best candidate, Séverine would gladly take on the role to give Sophia that gift, that obvious happiness she'd fought so hard for. Séverine wanted it for both of them. It couldn't be why she accepted the task, but if nothing else she was glad it would work out that way for them. "I'll need some time. To think about this, to..."
"Of course," Sophia said, nodding. "And you still have work to do with the templars, Knight-Commander. I wouldn't dare take you away from them now. When Carver Hawke and his followers are brought to justice, we'll take the next step. Not before then."
"Thank you." She glanced to her sides. "All of you. I pray I'll be worthy of the honor, and up to the challenge." Next to being pushed for Divine, being named Knight-Commander hardly seemed daunting at all.
Leon seemed to ease, brightening a bit either due to something she'd said, or perhaps just because she'd indicated she was willing to consider it, to prepare. "I've the utmost confidence," he said, inclining his head, "but you're both right. Let's see the Red Templars to their end. The rest will come in its time."
"In the meantime, I'll do what I can to settle the situation in Orlais," Lucien added. "Perhaps the ranks will stabilize a little if they sense that their leadership won't be undecided too much longer. And if you need any support when you find Carver—do write. Honestly. We're depleted after the civil war, but not so depleted we can't assist, at least."
"I'll be sure to," Séverine promised. It wasn't about revenge, couldn't be, but she had to imagine few people wanted Carver brought to justice more than the ones in the room, considering what he'd attempted to do. Wherever they found him, she knew it wouldn't be easy.
But nothing had been up to this point, and they were only made stronger because of it.
It wasn't really a defeat; the Red Templars had escaped for the moment, but they had a giant in their ranks, and such a creature left tracks that were very difficult to disguise. Some of her most trusted troops, as well as a few scouts from the Inquisition, would track the traitors back to whatever hole they were using as a base of operations. All things considered, it was probably for the best. The army needed time to recover, and their enemy would find it exceedingly difficult to replace their numbers. After all, there weren't many templars left for Carver to draw upon.
Séverine could not help but feel disappointed that he had escaped, but the battle simply hadn't presented an opportunity to kill or capture him without significant sacrifice. The cavalry charge from Sophia's Companions had effectively disrupted the enemy formation and allowed them to seize the upper hand, especially once the behemoth was turned away. But that same creature would likely have killed Sophia had Séverine not broken off from her fight with Carver to help alongside Lucien. And considering that she and Leon were barely handling him as it was, it seemed unlikely either of them would have survived a one on one fight with him. So he would flee for now. She would bring him to justice eventually.
It took a great deal of self-control to let Carver go, but Sophia had to be the priority. Her future was too important. In truth, it was extremely reckless for either her or Lucien to have been on the front lines of that battle, but Séverine of all people knew that they'd done so for most of their lives, and that it went hand-in-hand with who they were. Something that made it all the more painful for Séverine to ask of Sophia what she had.
She led her outriders through the gates into Hightown, finding herself wearier than expected. She'd spared the time only for the healing that was required before riding out, despite the severity of her wounds, and she hadn't found much in the way of sleep after the battle either. The Red Templars did not need rest, and she could afford little when pursuing them. Dismounting, she gave the reins to a waiting stablehand, starting back towards the Keep.
No sooner had she reached the top of the stairs than she found Leon, apparently discussing something with one of the guardsmen who manned the front door. At her approach, however, he broke off the conversation and made his way to meet her.
To say he looked unwell was at this point something of an understatement; he looked rather like it was still only a couple of days after the battle, rather than nearly a week. He'd been in no shape to aid in the pursuit of Carver, having fended him off essentially alone for a significant portion of the fight. It had cost him, as the bandages visible beneath his left sleeve attested. They ran up the entire length of his arm, where there was a deep slash wound that didn't seem to be healing well at all. Perhaps because it had been infected with red lyrium. No doubt if he were anything but a Seeker, it would have slain him.
He offered a slight smile, though, surprisingly warm for an expression so thin. The rings under his eyes were several shades darker a purple, stark in the sunlight, but if he was as fatigued as they suggested, he wasn't allowing himself to show it right now, at least. "Welcome back, Captain," he said. "I take it you've a report for us."
"I do," she said, coming to a halt and managing a smile in return, more just as greeting than anything to do with the news she brought. "Yours first. How are the wounded doing? How are you doing?"
"Recovery is slow," he admitted, raising one hand, palm down, and tilting it back and forth. "On both accounts." Leon grimaced slightly, the expression still somehow retaining his characteristic good nature. "My arm's seen better days; Rilien had to retrieve a couple of red lyrium shards that had lodged in the bone. He seems to have gotten them, though—I should heal up eventually." It certainly wasn't the kind of injury normal healing could do much about until the chunks of crystal were gone, if so.
He paused, casting back over a mental accounting of the injured, no doubt. "Khari definitely endured the worst of it, I'd say. It will still be quite some time before she walks under her own power again. Everyone else is somewhere between that and already completely recovered."
She was glad to hear that Khari would walk again, at least eventually. It hardly seemed like a guarantee that she'd still have her legs, given the hit she took from the behemoth. All things considered Séverine was lucky to escape with the break to her arm from blocking its blow. Khari didn't have access to the same templar magic that had helped repel it that Séverine had called upon. Without it, she doubted she'd have many unbroken bones left in her body. Instead she just needed the arm set enough to heal in order to chase after her enemies.
"That's good to hear," she said, taking a second to glance up the arm Leon had injured. "I'm... holding together as well, I suppose. A bath and a bed will be welcome." She paused, growing significantly more solemn. "I'm assuming the dead have been given the proper rites by now..." Likely some of her guilt shone through. Leon would know which of the dead most concerned her, and Séverine couldn't help but feel that she should've been here, paying her respects in some way other than with a futile chase after the traitors responsible.
Leon nodded, catching her solemnity like it was contagious. "The pyres went up two days ago," he said. "Though there hasn't yet been much time for proper mourning on anyone's side, given all there is to do for the recovery effort. You've not missed too much; no doubt there will be something more official when there is time enough to give it the weight it deserves." Whether he'd guessed at her thoughts or not, he seemed to be speaking to them.
She nodded back, trying to push it from her thoughts. All of it was a mess that she wasn't quite ready to deal with, but the facts of the matter were that the true templars were without a leader now, and she was the obvious candidate to step into that role. After what she'd been through with the Inquisition, and how she felt it had improved as a leader, she was ready to accept that role. Knight-Commander didn't seem as impossible a step up as it once had been.
They headed inside, winding up to the left after the first set of stairs, bypassing the throne room for the Queen's office. A pair of guards waited at the door, saluting before they opened the way. Séverine was not surprised to find she was expected; they must have sent word of her approach on ahead.
Her arrival seemed to interrupt a conversation between the Queen and the Emperor, the former rising from where she was seated on the front of her desk, while the latter stood beside her. They seemed... really quite happy. Séverine supposed that was a good thing, but it honestly wasn't expected. Given what she'd asked of Sophia when last she visited Kirkwall, and what Sophia had agreed to consider, Séverine expected the Queen's reunion with Lucien to be rather more complex. But perhaps she was overthinking things.
"Your Excellence," she said in greeting, before she hesitated. "Er, Your Majesty—"
"Either way, it's still Sophia," she responded, her smile somewhat wry. "I'm glad you made it back safely. I didn't get the chance to properly thank you for saving my life."
Séverine nodded, expecting that would be her opening. "It was an honor to fight beside you. Both of you. I'm just sorry we weren't able to capture the rest of them. The conflict has already dragged on long enough."
"And it will no doubt drag a bit longer," Lucien said, frowning. The expression proved to be quite temporary, however; the same happiness was still coming through rather clearly in the way he held himself.
Leon, at least, didn't seem to find it odd. "Still," he added, "we've clearly begun the process of turning things around. They invested a lot of their resources on this siege and takeover, and that we broke it was no doubt a heavy blow to the red templars as a whole, even before their actual casualties are factored in."
"That's accurate, yes," Séverine agreed. "They made no attempts to attack us in our pursuit. It was a full retreat. I believe Carver threw everything at his disposal at us in this attack. His failure here will crack the Red Templars, but..." Her eyes fell momentarily. "The nature of their fall prevents them from surrender. Wherever they've gone, we'll need to destroy them utterly for this to be over."
"And where are they going?" Sophia asked.
"Unclear, as of now, but their tracks lead west into Orlais. With any luck they won't be foolish enough to attack anything there. Weakened as they are, I expect they'll flee to a fortified position. Given their activity in the Emerald Graves, I wouldn't be surprised if they return through there on their way to their destination. I've already sent word to our scouts there to expect them."
It would be preferable to engage them on the road somewhere if they could, but logistically it just wasn't going to be possible. Their forces moved too quickly, without little need of rest or resupply, and the Inquisition simply couldn't locate them, maneuver, and set up a proper ambush before they would be gone again. Not after having just fought a battle. As they had from the start, the Red Templars would make the end as painful for everyone else as possible.
"Good," Sophia said. "With that settled, there's something else we need to discuss. The Red Templars are defeated, but Knight-Commander Cullen is gone, and both the Templar Order and the Chantry are leaderless."
Séverine nodded, feeling uneasy but still somewhat confident. "I had some time to think on this. I'm ready to step into the leadership role that is needed. I feel I've learned a great deal, from all of you, and with your help I can guide the templars forward."
Now Sophia gave her an uneasy smile. "That's good to hear, but... I have a different leadership role in mind for you. That of the Chantry, not the Templars."
The Chantry? But that meant...
Whatever confidence Séverine had flooded out from under her, and her armor suddenly felt twice as heavy. She realized in a instant what Sophia had in mind, and it felt like blocking the behemoth's blow all over again. Why was it that she always prepared so diligently for one thing, only for an entirely different thing to be required of her in the end?
"Divine?" she said. Using the word aloud made it all the worse. "Me? Really? Is that...?" she wasn't sure what the best end to that question was, so she let it hang in the air, looking between them for some confirmation that such a thing was not only possible, but a good idea.
"Does it seem so preposterous?" Leon spoke from his spot on her left. His smile was uneasy, too, but something about it was different from Sophia's. "The Chantry right now... honestly, I'm of the mind that it needs someone exactly like you. Because it needs to follow exactly the trajectory that you have taken, Séverine." His eyes moved away, settling on some bit of paper on the Queen's desk. He clearly wasn't really looking at it, occupied somewhere in the middle distance instead.
"It has hit a low point, lost credibility with those it most needs to serve. And nothing short of proactive, thoughtful and firm leadership will see it out of that. You've proven capable of drawing yourself out of a situation like that, and the Templars out of yet another." He squeezed his hands together behind his back, meeting her gaze again.
"You won't be alone, either," Lucien pointed out. There was nothing whatsoever uneasy about him, at least, and his smile was warm. "Seems to me you'd be starting off well, with good connections among the Templars, a friendship with your Lord Seeker—" there he nodded at Leon—"And of course a not-inconsiderable working relationship with a few of Thedas's secular governments, to say nothing of the Inquisition. All things you achieved without really thinking too much about achieving them, I suspect. There's much to recommend you."
They all made very good points, but this was not an easy thing for Séverine to come to terms with. It was hard to believe that someone with a darkness in her past like herself could be a better candidate than Sophia of all people, who had stayed true to the right cause even through all that she'd been plagued with over the years. But it wouldn't be unheard of, for a Divine to ascend from her current position. She found Lucien's words most reassuring of all, the reminder that she had built some very strong and useful connections already with the people she'd be working alongside. They would strengthen both her candidacy and her ability to actually perform the duties of the office.
Her eyes met Sophia's. "This would... free you, I suppose. To choose something else." She was no fool, and it was well known besides that the Queen and the Emperor felt quite strongly about each other. It was among the greatest of things Séverine had asked Sophia to give up by striving for the position of Divine.
"While that may be true," Sophia answered, "I'd like to say I didn't take it into consideration in this. I still believe you're better suited for this than I am. The Chantry doesn't need to be rescued by an outsider, it needs to be uplifted from within, by a woman who has used the opportunities it gave her to change herself and the world for the better." She smiled then, glancing briefly at Lucien before she looked back. "But you're right. I am... very much looking forward to the future now."
Even if she wasn't the best candidate, Séverine would gladly take on the role to give Sophia that gift, that obvious happiness she'd fought so hard for. Séverine wanted it for both of them. It couldn't be why she accepted the task, but if nothing else she was glad it would work out that way for them. "I'll need some time. To think about this, to..."
"Of course," Sophia said, nodding. "And you still have work to do with the templars, Knight-Commander. I wouldn't dare take you away from them now. When Carver Hawke and his followers are brought to justice, we'll take the next step. Not before then."
"Thank you." She glanced to her sides. "All of you. I pray I'll be worthy of the honor, and up to the challenge." Next to being pushed for Divine, being named Knight-Commander hardly seemed daunting at all.
Leon seemed to ease, brightening a bit either due to something she'd said, or perhaps just because she'd indicated she was willing to consider it, to prepare. "I've the utmost confidence," he said, inclining his head, "but you're both right. Let's see the Red Templars to their end. The rest will come in its time."
"In the meantime, I'll do what I can to settle the situation in Orlais," Lucien added. "Perhaps the ranks will stabilize a little if they sense that their leadership won't be undecided too much longer. And if you need any support when you find Carver—do write. Honestly. We're depleted after the civil war, but not so depleted we can't assist, at least."
"I'll be sure to," Séverine promised. It wasn't about revenge, couldn't be, but she had to imagine few people wanted Carver brought to justice more than the ones in the room, considering what he'd attempted to do. Wherever they found him, she knew it wouldn't be easy.
But nothing had been up to this point, and they were only made stronger because of it.