faderift | closed; a civil disagreement

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closed; a civil disagreement

WHO: Cassandra and Leliana, and later Cullen and Josephine
WHAT: Cassandra has some concerns to express to her fellow advisors.
WHEN: Beginning of Drakonis, immediately following Cassandra's interrogation of Galadriel.
WHERE: The War Room
NOTES: here it comes

Cassandra is still shaking with suppressed indignation and fury as she makes her way across the courtyard and through the Great Hall, heedless of the startled, curious looks she attracts. Those who find themselves in her path remove themselves from it quickly. She had said little over the sending crystals, merely telling the Inquisition's advisors in short, terse words to meet her in the War Room.

This is a disaster. How could she have been so blind? All those people, appearing from the rifts alongside the demons...and they had been taken in with hardly a pause. No one had questioned who they were or where they came from, much less what they could do, or what they would dare to do.

Maker, how could she have been so blind?

She arrives first and sits down to wait for the others, but all too soon she finds herself back on her feet, pacing impatiently. The soldiers appear a few moments later and confirm that Galadriel is secured in one of the fortress's cells. They lay the items they had confiscated on the table as they report; the elf's staff takes up the better part of the map, and beside it sits a strange, glowing glass. Cassandra dismisses the soldiers shortly, and they retreat from the room.

And then there is nothing to do but wait, to try to calm herself so that she can think. She longs to act, to confirm that no one else threatens the Inquisition as Galadriel does, but she can not act alone now. They are the Inquisition; she must at least tell the others. She has no doubt that they will all be as horrified as she is.

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Cassandra stares at Leliana, silently fuming. Her expression shifts from angry disbelief to righteous indignation as she listens. She will not allow her fury or Leliana's betrayal stop her from doing what she knows must be done. Cassandra has never bowed to anything in her life; she will not bow to this.

"And the Spymaster twists her words to fit her own purposes, as she always does," she replies, her voice steel. "I do not care if people feel threatened. I care that they are threatened." She turns to Cullen and Josephine, her eyes flashing. "One of the rifters - a mage of no loyalty and unmeasured skill - knows how to open rifts. When I asked her to swear that she would not, she refused. She believes that she is above the authority of the Inquisition, and will neither obey my commands nor tell us what she knows." She is a danger, that much is more than clear. How can any of them be safe when so powerful a mage as Galadriel throws all caution, all concern for the consequences of her actions to the winds? "I have taken her staff and had her locked into the dungeons, for the safety of us all." She throws Leliana a look of contempt at the last word.

I do this for you, because you are too idealistic to see that it is necessary.

The problem is that both of them have excellent points. Then again, that is always the issue when it comes to moments like this: people usually try to do what is right, or at least, what is necessary, but people are biased. Even though Josephine knows her own talents at diplomacy she knows she is not immune to this effect. It was Leliana who had invited her to the Inquisition, Leliana who had convinced her to come along by appealing to both her good nature and her thirst for challenge.

Sometimes, Josephine can't help but feel she falls short of the mark. She has to try, however, so she takes a deep breath and does her best to push her biases inside. A younger Josephine would have leapt to Leliana's defense without hesitation, but... in times like these, she plays a different role here. "Cassandra," she starts, using the woman's name mostly as an emotive appeal, "your care for us all is certainly appreciated. Few have done as much as you to ensure the safety of the Inquisition. However..." It is here that Josephine allows disappointment to carefully flavor her voice. She is not an imposing woman, she knows, certainly not the type to be capable of intimidating Seekers, but that does not stop her from straightening, drawing herself up to her full height before looking Cassandra straight in the eye.

"However, may I suggest it was perhaps unwise to act before consulting with the rest of us? I know you only did what you considered necessary, but Leliana has a point." Josephine inclines her head in the Spymaster's direction. "We are all supposed to be working together, and that means the mages and the templars, as well as the four of us." She throws Cullen a look over her shoulder. He hasn't said much yet but she is sure that the Commander has his own thoughts on the matter.

Josephine rolls her shoulders, a motion of resignation. "In any case, your actions can not be undone, so what we must think of now is what we can do going forward." She can feel her heart hammering in her chest as she considers her next words. When she had started speaking, she had done her very best to push her biases aside and consider the situation objectively. However, she has had to contain herself for far too long, and these have been frustrating, trying weeks. She should bite her tongue, but doesn't.

"All I can think of is this: the Inquisition was founded in part to be a stabilising force among all the uncertainty that exists in Thedas. How can we say we are pursuing that goal if we only contribute towards such uncertainty? And..." she lowers her gaze then, eyes dropping to her noteboard. "I cannot help but wonder what Evelyn would think, if she were here to see us fighting amongst ourselves like this."

Josephine can feel her face burn as soon as the words leave her mouth. Oh, how she hates drawing attention to herself. Half of her wants to shrivel against the wall, the other half wants to lift the lid off her carefully contained temper entirely. In the end, she takes a step back, so that Cullen's more in the room than she is. She can play it off like she's given him the floor to speak, but in all honesty: she needs a break to calm down.

Edited 2016-03-03 00:12 (UTC)

"How is her reasoning unwise?"

It's a simple question as Cullen enters the room fully with a thankful nod to Josephine. "Lady Cassandra has done what she thought was in the best interests of the Inquisition. I would have done no less in her position." And he's glad he wasn't. He's not sure how he would have reacted in her situation.

"If they - those with the shards - can open these rifts, who is to say that they will not do so again? Who is to say they will not rise up against the Inquisition should they decide to? To align themselves with Corypheus?" He thinks in broad worse-case scenarios, but he's trying to think of the bigger picture here. He sees where Josephine is coming from, that Cassandra may have acted a bit harshly when it came to such insubordination on the Rifter's part.

"I understand your concern, Leliana." He pauses, choosing his words carefully. "It looks... bad, for lack of a better word. But we cannot risk the rest of the Inquisition because one person has gotten their feelings hurt. The needs of this Inquisition outweigh one person."

His tone at the end is a bit sharper than he wants to admit, but the fact they are all questioning this is talk of concern. Josephine's mention of Trevelyan does not go unnoticed, and he has to bite his tongue before going on. "She would have wanted us to be reasonable."

A slight sneer curls the corner of her mouth, subtle and allowed to linger for barely a moment before Leliana brushes it aside. "The traditional response of Seekers and Templars, then? To act against others without considering what consequences might follow."

It is a low shot - too harsh, too cruel, and especially in the wake of Anders, but Leliana feels herself twisting, of late. She has been becoming something harsher even than the Left Hand needed to be. Acts of mercy feel wrong and warped, even as she is glad to have spared a live, to have stopped a man such as Anders as being painted as some hero for a cause, cut down by the Inquisition. She has her beliefs though, her faith, and she will hold onto those until the very last.

"We certainly do not give them much incentive to ally with us, if we are willing to lock them away. You complain that she did not swear loyalty, but what reason have we given them? And then, when word gets out of this - and it will, without doubt - how will people react, if not with trepidation? Is fear and desperation not what has driven so much conflict, and prompted backlash? What have they seen of Thedas most, if not the conflict between mages and templars in Skyhold itself and horror stories of what is done to people who do not fall in line? After the Conclave and Haven, Thedas must seem a grim and bloody place to be trapped, and then the one place they have turned to locks up a rifter who has committed no wrong beyond displeasing the Seeker?"

They could no better job of forcing people to look to other alternatives in their desperation, if word should get out, if more should be arrested under the same reasoning. She has seen for herself, and more than once, how quickly a single event can spiral into something bigger.

She shakes her head. "Do not misunderstand me. The safety of the Inquisition and Thedas remains my highest priority, but what are they if not made up of people? This is not a matter of feelings being hurt, Cullen. It is a matter of alienating a group whose aid we need to close the rifts, in the wake of Evelyn's death. We should be extending an olive branch, winning them over as allies so that we might better progress, not imprisoning them."

Cassandra does not fix Josephine with the same angry glare she had pinned on Leliana, but her brows draw down in disapproval at her suggestion.

"Should I have left her to wander free while I consulted with you?" she asks sharply. "Should I have asked her to wait while we discussed in detail just how valid a threat she posed? Yes, I am sure she would have been happy to sit patiently and allow us to come to a consensus on what must be done with her, this mage who directly threatened the Inquisition -"

She is ranting, at Josephine no less, and she cuts herself off, seething and looking angrily away, her heart twisting in her chest as their diplomat invokes the Herald's name. She shoots a grateful look to Cullen as he speaks up; he, at least, seems to understand the potential risk, their duty to keep the entire Inquisition safe.

Then Leliana speaks again, and the flames of Cassandra's ire are fanned to life once again. "Forgive me if I argue against known threats being allowed to wander Skyhold freely, Spymaster," she says with a cold waspishness that surprises even her. "Forgive me if I seek to identify them before they act against us, and lives are nearly lost." It is petty, and more cruel than she ever allows herself to be - but she feels petty, and angry, and betrayed anew with every word that passes Leliana's lips.

Her own lips twist in a sneer as Leliana fails to understand the point yet again. She has never known the Left Hand to be so obstinately obtuse. "If you will not listen, then this is pointless," she growls. "I have told you. I did not imprison her because she displeased me. You will note that I have made no move to imprison you." Her voice raises again, louder with every word as if hoping that if she only shouts loudly enough, Leliana will finally hear her. "She threatened the Inquisition. I did not have time to consider allies, to consider how the elves might feel that a stranger who is not even one of their own now faces consequences for her promise to open further rifts as and when she pleases." She pauses, breathing heavily. She is angry now, her face red.

"I acted because I knew I must, because action had to be taken and I was the one in a position to do so."

Josephine is still busy maintaining her composure when Cassandra rounds on her, so she remains tight-lipped and silent in the face of Cassandra's accusations. Of course the Seeker is going to be angry, and Josephine will not invalidate her emotions. Cassandra simply did what she thought must be done, as she always does, and here they are standing around questioning her decisions.

Maker have mercy, she really is not in the proper frame of mind to be dealing with this right now. She is still gathering her thoughts, trying to think of the best way to respond to everyone's concerns, when Cassandra directs her barb about imprisonment at Leliana and then, involuntarily, she feels her fingers clench more tightly around her clipboard. How dare she. If she were in less control of her emotions she may very well have thrown it at Cassandra, but she is not a child or even a young bard any longer. She has no right to be getting into physical tussles. Not to mention that Cassandra would certainly win.

In the end, her restrained frustration and anger result in the heavy exhalation of air through her nostrils. How can she remind everyone that the issues at hand are bigger than any one of them, bigger than them all, if she allows her feelings to get in the way of her diplomacy? She takes a step forward, and then looks at each of the other advisors in turn. Her brows are furrowed in a way that might on any other person be referred to as a 'glare'.

"I understand the risk is too great to allow Galadriel to wander freely. However, the way you talk about her is as though you have already judged her guilty."

Josephine turns her gaze to Cullen before she continues speaking. "You are right, Commander, that the needs of the Inquisition outweigh the needs of any one person within it. That, however, must include us."

Then, finally, she turns to look at their Spymaster, and finds herself feeling extraordinarily bashful. There was a time when she was much younger when she admired Leliana very much, and though that has not really changed, it is still unsettling, sometimes, to look at her friend and be able to see her flaws. "What is going to happen when the rest of the Inquisition discover that the very same people that founded it no longer get along? How can we stand up to the threats we face if we cannot prevent a united front to the world? Dislike each other as much as you please on a personal level, but as it stands, if we are unable to make decisions together, we have no hope in achieving our goals. The Inquisition will rot from the inside."

She lifts her chin then, feeling the exhilarating thrill of defiance that she has not allowed herself to indulge in for so long. "I came here to help resolve the unrest that threatens Thedas. I have no desire to contribute to it."

"We are going to disagree on different matters, plain and simple. And this happens to be one of them. The Inquisition will not rot if we disagree on this matter." He doesn't mean to snap at Josephine, but it comes out harsher than he would have normally liked. She makes valid points, but everyone has at this point.

Cullen's tried to keep calm up until this point, knowing that cooler heads prevail when it comes to arguments like these. They've had long arguments in the past, trying to come up with compromises when they do not want to agree on anything. They do not have the luxury to argue, to have long conversations when things need to be done. The Inquisition needs its leaders to effectively lead.

"If she has threatened the Inquisition, she threatens all of us. That means she is guilty. Cassandra did what she thought to be right in that time, and you cannot fault her for protecting the very thing that Evelyn gave her life for."

That both Cullen and Cassandra turn on Josephine with those tones make her hackles raise, and Leliana finds herself stepping forward. If not for how they were spaced in the room she would move to stand between the the others and Josephine. She does not have many friends, those that remain to her are precious, and for all that she would count Cullen and Cassandra in that number, in this moment they are the threat and Josephine is the one in need of shielding.

Some habits died hard, it seemed.

"Disagree seems an understatement," she comments, a little too sharp. "You are both determined to see her guilty." As though they would like nothing better, as though the backlash from Anders and their frustration is to be taken out on a woman who, so far as Leliana had been able to tell, was not vicious, who had treated their Chant of Light with more respect than people from this world might.

And Evelyn's name has been invoked enough times in this-- this discussion that it seemed to be treated as dirt, something to be bandied about so easily, so comfortably. "The Herald," Leliana starts, crisply, barely holding back a rawness that threatens to infect her tone, "did not give her life to see freedom and justice undermined. I know Galadriel. I cannot imagine that she would make a threat against the Inquisition unprovoked, and I would know what brought such an event to pass before we condemn her."

"I am determined to see the truth."

Her voice is cold. She is done with this. Cullen understands, but it is not enough. Not when Leliana refuses to listen. Josephine pleads for agreement, for a united front, and Cassandra agrees with her, in principle, but it is clear to her that neither are possible right now.

Her lip curls when Leliana dares to - yet again - fling Evelyn's memory back in her face. Cassandra had not brought up the Herald's name before now, unwilling to guess at her motives or use her as a shield, but she will not allow Leliana to use her as a weapon, either, to cut Cassandra down through guilt and grief.

Cassandra has few friends, and fewer today, she thinks bitterly as Leliana spits her vicious words, than she had yesterday. But she had counted Evelyn among them, and she will not see her name used as a tool, used to further an agenda. Leliana goes too far.

"The Herald gave her life to keep us safe," she says, her voice shaking, "and I would not see her sacrifice be in vain." She pauses, and shakes her head. "I do not pretend to know what she would do. Perhaps she would see things differently than I. But I was there, Leliana, and you were not. I have told you what happened. Galadriel was obstinate, and then she was belligerent. She spoke of opening rifts, and parting the veil, and when I asked her to swear that she would not, she refused." She takes a breath. "Evelyn is not here to guide us, and we cannot guess at what she might say. We must use our own judgement, and my judgement is that Galadriel is a threat to us all."

She lifts her chin, leveling a challenging gaze at the Spymaster. "If you wish to see her freed, you must go through me."

They are going in circles, and Josephine's head is spinning from looking at Cullen to Leliana to Cassandra. The two women still at each other's throats. It seems that despite Josephine's best efforts, this is not going to be resolved today, and she might very well have to retreat back to her office to brainstorm all the potential ramifications Cassandra's actions have caused. She takes another breath to steady herself, to swallow down the tremor that threatens to slip into her voice.

She cannot remember the last time she has been so angry. They are behaving like children. Josephine allows the initial rush of rage to surge through her before displacing it.

Her personal emotions have no place when it comes to diplomacy.

When she does speak, her voice is calm, although quieter than her usual tones. "Has everyone said their piece?"

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closed; a civil disagreement

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I'M SORRY FOR MY SLOW and also for leliana being a jerk

never apologize

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