The Journey to the Knight Commander's office was going to be a very tedious one thanks to Fort De Rouge's complex labrynth like design. With the Knight Commander seeming to have no interest in conversing, it was going to be a very dull trek to her ofifice. It was very fortunate that Jacquelin was very familiar with the route to her office, which was on the fourth floor of the main structure, near the Main Barracks located on the fourth floor, otherwise they would have gotten lost. Like most of the other routes to any major area of the Fort, there was a series of corridors and stairs, dead ends, and even a few puzzles to solve. The Commander flawlessly led them through them all. They were nearly out, when Commander Jacquelin fell to a knee. Her palm grabbed at her forehead, she was clearly in pain. With blurred vision she arose, slowly and looked back to Aywen, though she did not exactly see Aywen. She saw her friend from a decade ago, carrying an Apostate they had captured up the near endless stairs fo Val Royeaux. Jacquelin knew what was happening...she had gone too long without Lyrium, she had been trying to slowly free herself from the addiction, and was now on th verge of having an episode. She begun to feel a tingle all over herself, making her really twitchy and she felt cold. "Aywen...", she stated aloud and unsure of herself. "You wouldn't happen to have any lyrium on you?".
Dull. That could easily describe the relationship of the two as they walked stairs and hallways. Aywen was less than pleased; the relationship between her and the Lady Commander was not outstanding, she wouldn’t even use the word good to describe companionship between them. The Apostate was heavy and she scowled with every step she took. Now the Lady Commander was being downright rude. Not speaking to those in company was—it irked her. However, she could save her breath to carry the man that the Lady Commander was obviously too high and mighty to even consider offering help. Aywen’s brows knitted together, on the other hand if she had been talking, it would have been more along the lines of ‘nag this, nag that. Are you even listening Aywen?” Of course not, she didn’t have to listen to someone who was so centered in their title that they still demanded to be treated like a Lady. This was war. Ladies could die on a sword, she’d seen it happen before. Maybe it would be better if she just died already.
She stopped, her eyes widening as she suddenly dropped the Apostate behind her, listening to his body hit the floor with a thud, her own falling to its knees as her hand landed on the Lady Commander’s back.
“Well shit! I didn’t mean right now,” she snapped, concern in her eyes as she looked worriedly at the commander lifted her head and asked for lyrium. She nodded, pulling out a small vile from a concealed pocket near her breasts. She popped the cork, offering it over to her Commander, not moving from her side.
Jacquelin grabbed the veil and moved it to her lips, tilting it and letting the contents pour into her mouth. Her face was that of a child who was being made to take the herbal medicine they despised. Still she drank it. The blue liquid that was Lyrium, magic in it's physical form, went down her throat and into her gut, but her symptons were not dispelled so swiftly. They were halted, kept from progressing. And as the high of having the Lyrium in her, of finally having her drug, over took the Commander, so did the symptons retreat. Reality and her memories ceased to collapse ontop of one another. Her eyes were diliated and her breathes were audible, quick, and shallow.
"Aywen...Do not tell anyone about this...". Jacquelin spoke, her voice hushed. She looked around at everything like a frightened child in a dark room and spoke once more. "Give me a few moments to collect myself...".
Aywen said nothing, choosing to bow her head in response. She understood Lady Commander’s plight, and carefully she took the vial back from her, placing it back with the other three that were nestled near her bosom. She kept them for emergencies, but she wasn’t about to tell the Lady Commander about her extra stash.
“Take your time Lady Commander.”
Some time lapsed before Jacquelin went on, beckoning for Aywen to follow. She solved the last puzzle and they appeared in another large hall, though not as large as the Main hall. There were three doors, with guards at each, and Jacquelin choosed to go to the one on the right. The guards saluted her and Aywen, then opened the door and moved aside.
Jacquelin sighed at the sight of her office, the mahagoney desk in the center greeted her warmly as did the reports and requisition orders, complaints, and other papers stacked high on her desk. The walls were decorated with various paintings and there was even a small statue of lady Andrastre. One of the Paintings showed the Jean-Claude Family infront of their estate in Val Royeaux. The Commander, who was actually a Knight Captain when this was painted, is almost unrecognizable. She is not in her Templar Armor, she actually looks girly in that white and yellow dress. She was holding the hands of another man who was next to her, he matched her in attire and they seemed to be very happy. Another odd thing, the commander always came off as bitter.
"Put him down somewhere while I go ahead and make my desk not look like the City of Denerim.".
Aywen carefully placed him down onto the floor, kneeling beside the Apostate to carefully rearrange his limbs on the floor. She made sure that he was more comfortable than before, touching his neck and searching for a pulse. It was there but faint, her lips pulling into a frown as she made no move to offer aid to the Lady Commander.
"Poor man," she said softly. He'd been through a lot. Running for his life and freedom only to be caught and beaten. Those were the ways of the other Knight Captains. Not her. She didn't allow herself or her own men to beat and harm Apostates, simply put it was counterproductive and yeilded very little information that could remotely be considered true. Statistics had proven her point but people were so stuck in the fear of the old ages that it was easier to beat men and women senseless then to try and calm their fears and stroke their souls. But she digress.
As long as she remain in charge of her men, they wouldn't harm a single Apostate that didn't openly put of a fight. Maybe he had put up a fight. That would explain the scratches and bruises that made her eyes narrow and her stomach burn with hatred. Damn the Knight Captains. They needent be hated and feared like they were. It was counterproductive to their cause. Not that she would say anything. It did nothing but grow suspicion and breed hate between different fractions. That was the last thing that they needed and safety of her Templars came first and foremost.
After she had finished tiding up her desk, Jacquelin went to the picture of her family. She examined it thoroughly with a smile on her face, though this went away when she saw herself and that other man. She heard the words of Aywen and looked at the woman to see what she spoke of, she was concerned with that Apostate and not at all paying attention to what she was doing. Good. The Knight Commander turned her back to the picture, the memories it brought were tucked away.
"Poor if he did not do anything to deserve it...".
"No one deserves to suffer."
"In a perfect world perhaps...". Jacquelin added. "Is he breathing?".
"Lucky for us," she responded sharply.
"And why do you say that, Captain?", Jacquelin asked. "Do you really think the Knight Vigilants would care that an Apostate was killed?".
"I care, and that should be enough."
"And you think I don't?".
"You are a woman of duty," she said simply, "Orders mean more than your morals."
"You don't know me beyond my title, Captain..", Jacquelin replied, planting her bossom on her chair to commence her work. "But yes, I do believe I should follow the orders of those above me but it is because I have faith that they know better than I do.".
"I like to think that no one knows exactly what they are doing. That's why people make mistakes. I have faith in myself and my men, their decisions not to do...well this," she gestured toward the man, "is what can give the Templars a better name. We shouldn't be feared."
" I do not approve of senseless beatings, Captain. However, Captain Cornell has a very high success rate when it comes to the hunting and retrieval of Apostates and these are his methods. If these methods are effective, than I see no reason to stop it. A few bloodied Apostates and dead Maleficurs seem like a small price to pay for the safety of the general populace.".
"His methods indeed," she scowled, "Excuse me if I disagree and value life and limb a bit more. It makes little sence to beat a cowardly man, much less than simply asking questions."
"Your dedication to fairness is admirable, Aywen...but I'd rather not risk having a maleficur waltz into my Fort and reduce everyone into his Demon's play things or blood stains on the wall, all because you valued his life.". With that there was a knock on the door. "That must be Captain Cornell, Come in!".
"I did not say that tough decisions weren't going to have to be made. We make choices everyday that can help or harm the people. What may seem right at the time can have long lasting consequences that negatively affect everyone. I just don't want to breed hate between us and mages." Aywen sighed and tipped a bit of water onto the corner or the mages mouth.
(That was a Post collaborated between me and Nibble, My parts being in italics and hers being in regular)
_Marquis Dampierre_
Marquis had not expected the man to take on his offer, not with how rude he was being. Not many would reject such an offer especially from the likes of Dampierre, his suspicion only grew. He did not waste time pondering, but rather he dismissed himself and motioned for the girl to follow him. He walked back to his entourage and reached into his robes, pulling out a mask that was like his but very simplistic, and handing it to her.
"This is yours.", he said kneeling down and placing in her hands. "You will wear it whenever your out in public. Anyone who sees it will know who you work for and if they dare harm you, who's wrath they will endure.".