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Rook hated waiting for the night assignments. Usually, she didn’t have to respect a certain time to carry out the missions, but sometimes the Viper gave her tasks that could only be performed in the wee hours of the night, and she had a few hours to kill.
She usually waited in the hideout, where she could talk with other Shadows until it was time to leave, but that night apparently everyone was busy. Rook sighed and poured herself some water—sad, but she never touched alcohol before a mission.
She saw someone walking past and called, “Tarquin!”
He saw her and took a seat in front of her. Rook loved her friend, really, but she loved even more annoying him, especially when she was bored and had nothing else to do. She drank some of her water and said, “You know, the other day I was rereading The Tale of the Champion—”
“Is there a time when you don’t read that book?”
“And I was thinking,” she went on ignoring his interruption, “I don’t justify in any way what Anders did, but I understand where he comes from. In the South mages are oppressed and I see why he saw no other choice but blowing up the Chantry.”
Tarquin pinched the bridge of his nose, a sign that he was dealing with an impending headache—which meant that she was succeeding in her goal.
“Are you seriously rationalizing mass-murder?”
Rook shrugged, knowing it would drive her friend even more up a wall. “You can’t deny that the Chantry and the templar order are responsible for it. If the templars weren’t as horrible, it wouldn’t have been necessary to get to such an extreme measure.”
Tarquin was glaring at her. “Do you realize I’m a templar, too, right?”
“You’re not like the Southern templars, though,” she pointed out. “You’re not a lyrium addict, for starters.”
Tarquin’s mouth slightly twitched upwards, which was the correspondent of an out loud laugh for any other person.
“Yeah.”
Venhedis. Now Tarquin was calm, which meant that the next couple of hours were going to be excruciatingly boring.
She saw the Viper talking with other Shadows not too far from their table, and Rook thought maybe she’d just found another way to kill some time. “I didn’t know the boss was going to be here tonight.”
“Yes—the Viper told me he would pass by.”
Rook knew that her friend had almost slipped and called the Viper by his real name. “How come I don’t know his name, while even Lorelei knows it?”
Tarquin’s sharp eyes pierced her.
“If you didn’t act like the orders he gives you are mere suggestions, maybe he’d tell you his name, too.”
Rook rolled her eyes. She only disobeyed orders when she could save lives. Or when the Viper’s plan was stupid. Or both.
Whatever his reasons were, it was a bit frustrating to be probably the only Shadow Dragon not to know his name.
But Rook’s mind came back to her plan and said, “Shall we involve him in our discussion?”
Before Tarquin could protest, she attracted the Viper’s attention. He slowly walked towards them and took a seat next to Tarquin.
“Mercar,” he greeted her.
“Rook was making her position about Chantries clear,” Tarquin said. “And she’s really prone to blowing them up, possibly with hundreds of innocents inside.”
The Viper went stiff at that, and Rook rolled her eyes. “That’s an exaggeration, but, yeah, I think violence is necessary sometimes.”
“Well, I’m not surprised you agree so much with Dorian’s policies,” he replied.
All the Shadows worked for the same goal, a Tevinter free of slavery, with differences in class between mages and Soporati and where Blood Magic was banned, but they had vastly different approaches.
Magister Pavus proposed the use of violence and whatever other means necessary to reach it—as Rook well remembered from last year—and she supported his vision; on the opposite, Magister Tilani wanted to mediate with the conservative Magisters, proposing a slower but more durable change—the Viper, instead, agreed with that policy.
“Of course I do, our Imperium is too corrupt to be changed,” she said. “I agree with Magister Pavus: it makes more sense to eliminate the current ruling class and change them all with new Magisters aligned to our cause.”
“The Lucerni are trying to moderate the changes,” the Viper replied. “Tevinter can’t be reformed in one day, we need people to get used to the new law proposals. It will be a more stable change, albeit a slower process.”
“I agree with Rook,” Tarquin cut in. “You Maevaris’s followers are too optimistic.”
The leader turned to the other man, and Rook had to stop herself from grinning. Finally, Tarquin was going to find out how it felt to be on the other side of the Viper’s cold look.
“It’s not optimism, Quin. It’s the truth.”
“What have the Lucerni done up to now?” Rook asked. “I don’t mean any disrespect, of course, but we would get more results by hitting the more conservative Magisters where it hurts.”
“And what would we get?” the Viper replied. “If we killed or blackmailed Magisters, we would only make ourselves enemies of all the mages in this Imperium.”
“Why would we care about that if we would change them with other Magisters more aligned with our values?” Tarquin said.
“You Tilani’s loyalists won’t approve, but what is the difference if the Magisterium votes against slavery because we force their hand, and not because they all finally understand it’s wrong?“ Rook added. “We’re going to get the same result, but in one tenth of the time.”
The Viper sighed. “You Dorian supporters are impossible sometimes.”
Rook didn’t have time to reply, because another Shadow Dragon approached the Viper and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and the younger Shadow left.
“I would like to discuss our politics all night, but duty calls,” the Viper announced. “Rook, Quin, it was a pleasure.”
He left, but Rook was lost in her thoughts.
She agreed with Dorian, no question asked. It may be possible to reform Tevinter in the future, but it wouldn’t be doable if they followed Magister Tilani’s lead. The Lucerni’s efforts were bringing little results—if any.
She saw the Viper’s point of view, too: in an ideal Thedas, Rook would agree with having the laws introduced little by little, but reality was much different and harsher.
Magisters wouldn’t change just because they asked nicely. They would only listen to violence, and Rook was glad to give it to them.
Tarquin grinned at her. “Who could have said you agree with the right approach?”
She chuckled. “Of course, Magister Pavus’s approach is the only way to reform Tevinter. We need to take out all those who’re in power before we make new laws.”
“It’s the first sensible thing I’ve heard you say all evening,” Tarquin said.
Rook grinned.
“I’m extremely sensible, especially when the reform of Tevinter is involved.”
Her friend chuckled and she took an eye to the clock. Rook needed to kill one more hour, but she’d do it in another way.
She got up.
“I need to go, too. I have to be on the docks in one hour.”
“Good luck,” Tarquin told her.
Rook left the hideout, her mind still going through the last conversation with the Viper. Magister Pavus had her full approval, because even the most sketchy jobs he assigned her—like the one she’d kept a secret over a year ago—had brought more results than mediation ever could.
He was right, sometimes a little of violence was necessary.
The Shadow Dragon needed the most effective approach if they wanted to reform Minrathous first, and then all of Tevinter, and Rook was ready to bet that Magister Pavus’s would be the one succeeding.