when everything is life and death

[fightingale]

WHO: Starting with Leliana & Cassandra, later Josie, Cullen and Eggselsior
WHAT: Left and Right hand relationship problems and I guess some stuff about blood magic fears and problem behaviour and imprisoned Cate Blanchetts being wrong or something
WHEN: The daaayyy after Gavin was imprisoned, and the day of Obi-Wan’s post and Cyril approaching Leliana and…. stuff? Timelines????
WHERE: War Room
NOTES:
Warning for Bella aggressively singing along to Marina and the Diamonds as she writes tags, and also referring to herself in the third person.
NO UH nothing but I'll add things later if I think of them 8]b

There are simple messages sent out. One to Cassandra: The War Room. It is urgent.
For Cullen and Josie: I am looking into something concerning. Come to the War Room when you are able.

Her talk with Cyril was only recently concluded, but what he told her was so concerning that she has no choice but to leave her work, no matter how pressing it has been. That has been the great obstacle to her helping Galadriel herself, the aftermath of everything that has happened and of ripples of their honouring the Champion's verdict and handing Anders over to the Wardens. Word has filtered out, and now the rolling waves bring word back, and it is a dangerous tide to be caught in. At any moment it is possible to be dragged under by the current, and without understanding the sea you could be easily lost to it. Everything in her is dedicated to this Inquisition, and in that horrifying moment when Cyril Ashara handed her those two letters, she thought she might drown in it. She and Cassandra have been at odds, but the respect had endured. Now? To find that Cassandra had deceived them, had lied to all the Advisors, and so fresh on the heels of so many lying to hide Anders?

She speaks to no one as she stalks down to the War Room, brushing past more than one scout with only a single utterance: later.

The very moment Cassandra enters Leliana turns upon her. Her blue eyes are wide with her rage, mouth caught in a very visual snarl, a far cry from the control and masks of the ball - of the Nightingale on so many other days. "You lied to us," she starts, and she is almost surprised how angry she sounds, how hurt. "After we have fought against so many others turning their knives against us, you have done the very same. How could you?"

Comments

accidentally wrote "empress celine" so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmbw8OycJrE

[fightingale]

"It is not our place to decide what the elves should or should not fear! What is or is not personal." She doesn't realise she is yelling until the words are already torn from her throat. "They live with humans corroding their culture, seeing their aravels burned and their people slaughtered. They live with the sight of smoke rising off Halamshiral. It does not matter if they are Dalish or from an alienage or if they are from another world, even, we cannot determine the worth of an elf who has not lived with such abuses to them. We cannot take someone that-- that could symbolise hope and change to them and cage them, and declare that it is not personal."

She is guilty. She is guilty of ignorance, of benefitting in a world where elves suffered. She is guilty of carrying the Divine's order to Empress Celene that if she did not bring the elves into line then the Divine would not help Celene stabilise her empire regarding the tensions between mage and templar. Leliana is guilty of so much, she has silenced herself over and over again in the name of loyalty and because she was a servant to something - someone - greater.

No. Shaking her head, Leliana's breath is shaky, and she almost cannot bring herself to care. The great bard, the great Spymaster, deceived by another friend. Even that feels so... meaningless, compared to all else. "And you thoughtfully their concerns to rest without even communicating with our diplomat?"

time to burn the winter palace to the ground

[stabsbooks]

Cassandra's lips part slightly, a sudden, brief flash of understanding passing across her face. She had never been able to understand the elves' connection to Galadriel, for all of Leliana's anguish and indignation. She does not share their history or their blood, and Cassandra had been truly baffled at their dedication to her. But as a symbol of hope...

Even so, she shakes her head, desperate now, nearly pleading. She is tired of this wall between them, tired of Leliana looking at her as if she is nothing - as if she is less than nothing. But she cannot capitulate on this, not when she so passionately believes that she is right.

"She is dangerous, Leliana. I did not jail her for being an elf - I would not. You must see that, even if they cannot." She frowns, troubled. It had never occurred to her to ask Josephine what to do with the letter. Whether she would have listened to Cassandra or not - well, that hardly matters now. "I did not - I did not think..."

She trails off. She had acted too rashly, acted without thinking, just as she always has.

[fightingale]

What has always amazed her about Cassandra is that for all her surliness, for all that others find her intimidating or alarming, she has always been so easy to read. She has a kind heart, a good heart, and each beat of it is clear. When she is pained, delighted, when she is angry or when she repents or forgives. To a bard, Cassandra might as well be yelling it out. Now that openness makes this all the more painful to see - the unravelling. The realisation, the desperation, and Leliana feels her own heart dropping.

"I know you would not."

That is the terrible thing. At the heart of it, for all her anger and for all-- for everything, she knows Cassandra well. She knows things Cassandra might not even be aware she knows, but such are the privileges of being vetted by the Nightingale for a job that you technically already possess. Her voice comes more quietly, now, and for a moment she wishes that Galadriel would simply disappear and their troubles with them.
She has not been quite so fanciful since the Blight, and even then she was not quite so childish as that, certainly not enough to believe that things could ever be so simple. And the girl from the Blight was a delusion, she reminds herself, sharp, and rights her posture in the same breath so that she is sculpted into something harsher once more. Do not be soft. Do not waver.

"But the Inquisition does not. All they have are dismissals of their concerns. We need to fix this, Cassandra. We have to restore their faith in us, and we either need proof of that she is a danger or we need to release her or the damage done to the Inquisition may be irreversible."

[stabsbooks]

Cassandra swallows, dropping her eyes. Leliana's words confirm her deepest fears. She has seen the truth of it - has watched as the Inquisition has begun to tear itself apart, as everything from her authority to her character has been questioned and condemned. How can she hope to lead if she does not have the respect of those who are meant to follow? How can she expect anyone to trust the Inquisition if even its founders cannot agree on such important matters?

Maker preserve her, but she misses Justinia.

"I know," she says miserably, and shakes her head. She has been over this, with Malcolm, and a million times in her own head. "But I do not know what to do. I have no proof - but I know she is a danger." She meets Leliana's gaze, not challenging now but lost. Looking for answers she has been unable to find. "Would you have me release her to appease them? Put all of us at such great risk?"

[fightingale]

Would that this were so simple that all could be well between them. There is too much disagreed on, too much ground that Leliana cannot give up in good conscience. Her gaze is steady.
"I would not see a woman who has committed no crime being held, whether it is in a dungeon or somewhere more accommodating."

Leliana does not reach for her - but Leliana rarely reaches for anyone, if ever. She always holds back, preserves her walls and boundaries, because it is easier to watch and observe from a distance. This is a moment, though, where she wishes that she could stop being a bard and simply be Cassandra's friend. "She may be a threat, but she has committed no crime in this land. If we keep her imprisoned and punish her simply for what she may be then we are no better than those who abuse their power to keep others in check."

[stabsbooks]

"What she is," Cassandra says, quietly but firmly. She holds Leliana's gaze without flinching. She wants a reconciliation, she wants Leliana to be on her side again, but she still stands by what she did. If not, perhaps, the way she did it.

"If we simply set her free, someone will get hurt. I will not allow that."

[fightingale]

"That remains speculation," Leliana objects, sharp but lacking the venom that was in her words last they discussed this. She is passionate about it, about freedom, but tearing Cassandra apart in this moment will win her little, and dismantling a good woman is not how she wishes to proceed.

"If we do not set her free then we are imprisoning a woman who has done nothing to harm the Inquisition and undermining the faith our followers have in us in the same stroke." Leliana shakes her head, and considers her words a brief moment before continuing. "This is not an instance where we can proceed without proof, Cassandra. I have faith in your judgments, but I cannot in this. Galadriel must go free. Word spreads that she is imprisoned for failing to swear an oath of service to the Inquisition, and our refusal to clarify exactly the nature of the threats made make our actions appear no less than an abuse of power."

[perseverances]

The doors to the war room swing open at that time, Cullen storming in with a concerned look upon his face. Maybe not as concerned as more - fearful, much like a templar might look when facing an apostate with abilities far too powerful than they might realize. He is anxious about information that he has just come into possession of, something that all of the advisors need to hear.

"Ladies," He nods to both of them as he enters, brief and curt. They have no need for formalities at the moment, just pressing issues. "I have information that I must share with the both of you."

[theproperglove]

Josephine arrives shortly after Cullen, managing to catch the door just before it swings shut. She had, of course, arrived at Leliana's behest, so her eyebrows raise just slightly as she hears Cullen's pronouncement. "Go on," she says, as she settles against the wall, her clipboard in hand.

A feeling of discomfort settles over her, thick and heavy. She feels certain that despite her best attempts, nothing good will come of this meeting.

They really must stop meeting like this.

[stabsbooks]

Truthfully, Cassandra is glad of the interruption. Leliana's words are...troubling, but she can still offer no solution Cassandra agrees with. They are quickly approaching yet another stalemate, she knows, and she dreads another argument.

And so when Cullen enters the room, she turns to him immediately, frowning at the expression on his face. It is not often that their Commander looks so...afraid.

"What is it?" she demands, with only the briefest nod of acknowledgement for Josephine as she follows. "Tell us."

[fightingale]

Leliana has thoughts to share, but in the wake of Cullen's dramatic arrival, she holds her tongue. Instead she simply looks to Cassandra, and when Josephine has found her place, goes to stand alongside her friend, hands behind her back.

(Very gently, subtly, she nudges the Ambassador with her elbow, and on another day it might have been a don't look so serious, Josie. Now it's more a we'll get through this, don't worry gesture, even if she does not glance at her friend.)

yes this is late. sigh.

[perseverances]

He didn't actually mean to be that dramatic, but well, things happen. He clears his throat a bit, steadying himself.

"I know how we all feel regarding the Galadriel situation." Which personally, he'd rather see her sit in a cell for a lot longer than she has been, and Cassandra is entirely right in doing what she has been doing. He's rather adamant about that. If he didn't trust Cassandra, then he would have never agreed to join the Inquisition in the first place. "But I fear if we keep her there any longer, she'll just use her own magic to make us let her go."

Awfully cryptic, but he continues. "It's come to my attention that her form of magic might be akin to blood magic. The ability to control people's minds. People have said that she still remains in the dungeons to placate us rather than use her abilities to release herself."