Fen'Tarasyl

Chapter Thirty-Three

Alexius didn't look like a Tevinter magister anymore. Stripped of his titles and the blood red magister robes, he looked like an ordinary man. He looked tired, his hair was longer and he had grown a beard, as if he hadn't bothered with his appearance in months. He was sitting at a small round table, ancient books and scrolls scattered across it. A quick glance at the titles showed it was the research her and council had assigned him on the Fade.

Back when Talyn didn't know what she knew now.

His dark eyes narrowed at her, his lips were drawn into a thin line. He shut the book he was reading and stood to his feet.

"Inquisitor, it is an honor to have you grace my humble prison." He said sarcastically.

Talyn took off her cloak and tossed it unceremoniously onto the back of one of the chairs at the table. Then she took the chair Alexius had been sitting in and sat down. Her dirty boots went onto the table, right on top of his books. She took joy in the annoyance she saw on his face at that move.

"How's Felix doing, Gereon?" Talyn asked him with true concern.

If Talyn didn't hate Alexius' guts, she would have pitied him for the pained look that crossed his face. She smirked when she noticed that there was still the ghost of a handprint around his throat.

"He's resting." He said, his tone ending the subject.

Alexius waved his hand and the books underneath Talyn's feet were pulled out. They floated to the poorly made bookshelves that were against the wall. Then he sat in the chair that Talyn had thrown her cloak on.

"How can a lowly mage like myself help the mighty Inquisitor? Shall I brew you a love potion? Enchant your blades? Look into your future?"

She narrowed her eyes at his tone.

"I want to know about your time magic."

Alexius' grinned arrogantly. He leaned forward and folded his hands on the table. "Ah, so that's why you're here. Do you plan on reversing time, Inquisitor? Or do you just want to skip ahead to the future again?"

Talyn raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "How does it work?"

"A pinch of lyrium dust and a willing sacrifice." Alexius answered sarcastically.

She looked down at her nails and started picking the dirt from underneath them. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'll execute you in front of Felix."

Obviously Talyn wouldn't do that to poor Felix, but it ignited the fear in Alexius that she wanted. His face was pale with it. His eyes darted towards a door behind Talyn's shoulder, and he licked his lips nervously.

"There's something different about you, Inquisitor. There's a lack of the naivety that I had seen in you last time we spoke."

"Corypheus tends to squash the innocence right out of you." She leaned forward. "You want to see just how far my lack of naivety goes? Or do you just want to answer my question?"

His eyes darted to that door again, and then he spoke.

"How much do you know of your own culture, Inquisitor?"

Talyn shrugged, and lied smoothly, "only what I've heard from others. We were subjected to slavery and prejudice for over a thousand years."

He nodded. "Yes, that's right. But what of your gods? The Evanuris, as you call them."

She shrugged again. "All I know is that they abandoned us."

But they didn't abandon the elves. Talyn and Solas locked them away. And with that simple action, the two of them doomed their world.