"I think it can be both things, you know? I mean, the middle of a war isn't a great time for making that kind of observation, usually, but it can be addressing a real problem and also not doing it well. I think, for instance, if you let people learn at the circles but like... go home to their loved ones on holidays. Check in regularly but otherwise have real lives. There might be a lot less of that fear you're talking about. On both sides. It's like the Inquisition sending the Rifters to Kirkwall. No one was going to be less scared of us if we all stayed hidden away in Skyhold, right?"

She touches her thumb to the corner of Herian's mouth, fond. "It's complicated. Everyone who's not trying to spew propaganda knows that."