"No, Hawke, that's not how that works." His voice was chilled, now he was the one with his gaze averted, but he kept his expression carefully neutral.
"The two of you may have countless similarities, but what matters is that you didn't use blood magic. Whatever caused her to turn to it, I'm sorry for it, but it was a choice she made, not you." He found something to do, something to busy his hands with, so he could keep his voice even and keep from snapping at his Hawke through his anger at the other.
He wanted to think she had a good reason, something truly understandable, he knew how desperate things could be, but he almost couldn't imagine what. What could there possibly be that wouldn't simply sound like a weak excuse coming from any other blood mage.
"She was, supposedly, good friends with her Anders. Did he know? Did she stand there and condemn every blood mage they faced? Ridicule the practice in front of everyone? Agree with him whenever the thought of how every blood mage was simply hurting every other mage in Thedas with their insanity and cruelty angered him? Did she promise him support and friendship to his face and then go behind his back the next second and practice the very thing hurting the mages in Kirkwall more than anything? How much worse do you think things would have gone if Meredith had found out Kirkwall's own Champion was exactly the kind of mage she claimed riddled the Circle? Proof of corruption at nearly the highest point would have called the Annulment swiftly and without opposition before anyone could stop her. She's no different than Orsino."
Blue veins cracked down his cheeks and neck during his rant, but his voice merely developed a faint echo of something deeper, Justice scraping the surface with Anders' ire rather than fully emerging.
He wasn't her Anders, but he could imagine what kind of betrayal it would be if he was. Maybe it was better that he wasn't her Anders. If she did kill him, then perhaps that was a bigger blessing than he ever knew.
no subject
"The two of you may have countless similarities, but what matters is that you didn't use blood magic. Whatever caused her to turn to it, I'm sorry for it, but it was a choice she made, not you." He found something to do, something to busy his hands with, so he could keep his voice even and keep from snapping at his Hawke through his anger at the other.
He wanted to think she had a good reason, something truly understandable, he knew how desperate things could be, but he almost couldn't imagine what. What could there possibly be that wouldn't simply sound like a weak excuse coming from any other blood mage.
"She was, supposedly, good friends with her Anders. Did he know? Did she stand there and condemn every blood mage they faced? Ridicule the practice in front of everyone? Agree with him whenever the thought of how every blood mage was simply hurting every other mage in Thedas with their insanity and cruelty angered him? Did she promise him support and friendship to his face and then go behind his back the next second and practice the very thing hurting the mages in Kirkwall more than anything? How much worse do you think things would have gone if Meredith had found out Kirkwall's own Champion was exactly the kind of mage she claimed riddled the Circle? Proof of corruption at nearly the highest point would have called the Annulment swiftly and without opposition before anyone could stop her.
She's no different than Orsino."
Blue veins cracked down his cheeks and neck during his rant, but his voice merely developed a faint echo of something deeper, Justice scraping the surface with Anders' ire rather than fully emerging.
He wasn't her Anders, but he could imagine what kind of betrayal it would be if he was. Maybe it was better that he wasn't her Anders. If she did kill him, then perhaps that was a bigger blessing than he ever knew.