LET NO SOUL HUNGER FOR JUSTICE: SONG FOR THE SOUL

[fleurdesel]

WHO: Anders, Bethany, Nathaniel, Leliana, Kallian, Sina, Beleth
WHAT: The First Ritual
WHEN: 1st of Bloomingtide (May 1st)
WHERE: half an hour outside Skyhold
NOTES: plotting thread.

The clearing is not all that far from Skyhold- only half an hour's ride. They don't anticipate anything going wrong in this particular ritual but familiarity with the location and a fear that something might go wrong in the future is more than enough to give it a solid once over before they begin. On it's own the ritual is absurd- but there'd been notes enough to make it seem, if not entirely credible, worth a shot. After all it will work or it will not.

Won't it?

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

Or a Jonas adventure until we've been beset by Darkspawn. We may need a whole new system to judge adventures by. Demons, maybe. Times Nathaniel rolls his eyes? Or Leliana shoots a silent look over at someone?

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Exactly right.

[She laughed as she tipped her head slightly to the side.] I say we separate them by level of annoyance of Nathaniel to Leliana, and just how visible it is.

[justice_is_blond]

Leliana hides it far better than Nate does. Mostly because he doesn't have a reason to hide it, and she has all the reason in the world to cover what she's feeling.

[Spymistress. There are many cards she has to keep close to her chest.]

So therefore, today has started at... low Leliana levels. Let us hope it does not grow to high Nate levels.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Yes ... that I would have to agree with completely.

[Bethany stated, with a touch more sobriety as she looked over her shoulder at the other woman, then away again.]

Maker's Breath, I hope not. Nathaniel's not much for raising his voice, but I am not looking forward to the 'low and terribly sarcastic' tone.

[justice_is_blond]

I've some tricks for lessening his mood if it gets that far.

[Yes, there's more than a little warmth and suggestiveness to his voice there.]

Though I'll join you in hoping that it does not get that far.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Mmmhmm. As a good little sister, I don't want to hear about any of those, thank you very much.

[She grinned as she said it though, giving Anders a gentle elbow. Then she solemnly crossed her fingers.]

Whatever happens, though ... at least we know that Marian isn't around to say, 'I told you so.'

[justice_is_blond]

[He grins back.]

Somewhere, far away, her ear just twitched and she said it anyway. Carver probably whirled around to glare at her, too.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[Now that pulls a laugh out of her.]

I can see Carver's face now, 'You don't know everything, sister!' Without even asking what she's talking about.

[justice_is_blond]

And then they broke into argument, as Donnic stood nearby, praying that anyone would hear him and grant him mercy. Maker knows how he's managing back there with Aveline gone.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

I have a feeling he's doing it with a lot of - 'And you two can just sit there in your corners thinking about the horrible things you've said to one another, and how does it feel.' Father used to do that to us, all the time.

[She grinned, just imagining Marian and Carver sulking in their opposite corners.]

I hope Aveline taught him that trick.

[justice_is_blond]

It was probably a five-week program, intensively focused on giving them Looks, the way she tried and failed to teach me to use a sword. ...At least he was likely a better student, and appreciated any incentives she may have offered. I'm still fairly certain she's disappointed I didn't stab myself.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Well, he was always better at calming her down than we ever were. Probably because she liked his smile better than ours.

[She bumped him slightly.] Aveline never would have wanted you dead.

[justice_is_blond]

[The amusement fades, and he looks at her with a heavier expression.]

You weren't there, after I blew up the Chantry. She did. Marian asked for input; Fenris, Aveline, and Sebastian wanted me dead. Varric was too tired to vote, and Merrill and Isabela voted for life. I'll never know why Hawke didn't go with the majority.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

...Because I was there. [Bethany said quietly, her hands folding in front of her.] I don't know if you saw me - you were lost in your own world then. But I came up behind the group, and she saw me and ...

[She sighed, folding her arms over her chest.] Marian wanted you to atone for all those deaths, Anders. You know, and I know, that she was never going to let you die when you had to make amends. That's not the person Marian was, even in her most sarcastic times.

[justice_is_blond]

[He'd missed her arrival, clearly. But he'd been a mess around then. It's not surprising.]

And yet she asked for a vote.

[It still hurts when it shouldn't, when he has no right to be hurt by it. She hadn't cared enough one way or the other to make the call herself. He hadn't mattered enough for her full fury or her outright compassion.]

But we were speaking of Aveline, who definitely wanted me dead.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[She looked back at him. before she put her hand over his.]

Well, I don't. And Nate doesn't. I don't honestly think Aveline wanted you dead - but I think she wanted you imprisoned for your crimes.

[justice_is_blond]

[He doesn't agree, but there's truly no point in arguing it with Bethany. He doesn't even want to argue with her - he likes her. Anders nods, looking down at their hands.]

I do know I've plenty of people here who don't want me dead. And I'm glad of that.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[She can see that edge to him fade a little, and she smiled because of it. He really did not like to fight with her about such things, and she respected it.]

I'm gad for you as well.