[closed] tiptoe through the tulips

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict, Wren, James, Simon, Hanzo, some new friends
WHAT: The time has finally come to return Benedict to his people. Something maybe goes a little bit wrong.
WHEN: Early Bloomingtide
WHERE: southern Tevinter
NOTES: Warnings for violence.

Three Templars, a magister's son, and a Shimada cross the border from Hasmal to the Tevinter Imperium: it sounds like a joke, and in many ways it probably is, but to Benedict it just seems like overkill.
His mother requested the Templars, ostensibly for protection against the southern apostates driven mad by their little war; Hanzo, a man whose name he recognizes but is too young to properly remember, presumably tagged along for the practical benefits of visiting Minrathous without the Inquisition's grandeur.

Magister Calpurnia Artemaeus awaits them at the family home, and all they have to do is get there. Surely the nightmare will soon be over.

Comments

[judgemewhole]

Norrington, for his part, honestly would rather die from infection than have a Magister administer 'medicine' to him. He's tense, as weary and sick as he is from his exertions. Hanzo gets a quick side-glance -- well suddenly things made slightly more sense. Otherwise, Norrington puts the man out of his mind as he steps away from Wren and allows her to handle the 'Diplomacy Bits'. Simon didn't need care - or want it. Benedictus, thank the bloody Maker, was just hiding away.

So James did the one thing he wanted to do. He moved back to his horse, making sure Dauntless was prepared for travel. The sooner they were done with this nonsense, the better.

He had a lot to drink away, after all.

[altusimperius]

"Near Minrathous? No. But I had hoped to meet you partway, as I've had a change of heart." Calpurnia smiles radiantly, though something in her deep brown eyes remains cold. "Captain, give them our extra supplies. I must have a word with my son."

She steers Benedict by the shoulders and walks him toward her horse, where, upon observation, he doesn't seem consoled or even mildly comforted by anything being discussed. If not so shellshocked, he might even be overtly upset, but all the boy can really do is nod and listen, watching his mother's face with an expression best described as sick with dread.
In the meantime, supplies are passed out: food, salves for the wounded, fresh bandages, and full waterskins.

It's a good twenty minutes later when Calpurnia, apparently finished with the conversation, pats Benedict on the shoulder and mounts her horse again. "Safe travels," she calls to the party, and she and her entourage leave again with little ceremony.
Standing there looking like he's about to faint, Benedict can only stare at the ground as he mutters, "we're going back."

[paladingus]

"--Are you fucking kidding me?"

Simon has been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this entire ordeal, even when not forcibly gagged, but this seems to be the breaking point.

"Maker's sack, all that and we canny even get rid of you? I was shot twice and branded for nothing?"

[limier]

Her fingers press to a temple, come away to snap irritated toward Benedict. If she disagrees with Simon's assessment —

Well. Do any of them?

"Details." Curt. They can't assume they aren't still being watched. "If you please."