Anders follows her look, heart in his throat, but nods, and heads that way. He's still hand in hand with Karl.

"Guess you noticed Ilska acting like a startled cat when you mentioned Bartrand." It's not really a question.

"I did notice that. Is she okay? He didn't do anything to her, did he?"

"I don't think he'd have managed anything if he tried. She had him up against a wall right after he told her he'd left you guys behind. Like. Literally lifted him off his feet."

"What?" Anders' breath leaves him in a rush. That's no easy feat for someone of Ilska's age. "How did she-"

"Sheer rage? I wasn't paying that much attention to the how, more to making sure no-one was gonna go for her while she was distracted. Karl? Any idea?"

"There is...something. I could feel her healing Cia and me when we got tired. I think she's a mage."

"A mage? Ilska?"

"...that actually makes an alarming amount of sense."

"You're not wrong there, but...how did I miss that?"

"I'm not sure she fully understands what she is herself."

"Given what little I've picked up from her and Cia, it seems like she learned to hide it very young."

Karl's look turns sad. "It's a choice young mages have to make. Some don't even realise they made it."

"But she's kept it hidden even from me. Does Cia even know?"

"If she doesn't remember herself what she is..."

"Then probably not. Maker's breath," he says, and holds Karl's hand a little tighter.

Raeli taps her fingers of one hand on the back of the other, it looks like she has something else to say, but isn't sure whether now is the time to say it.

"She'll need training, we can handle that. Encourage her powers while also being cautious." He notices Raeli's look. "There's something else wrong, isn't there?"

"Depends on your definition of 'wrong'," Raeli says carefully. "You said Varric was going looking for Bartrand." She pauses, breathes in. "He's gonna be lucky if he finds a corpse."

"What hap-" He cuts himself off, staring in shock at Raeli. "He's already dead? Did...was that-"

"I can't swear it was Ilska, I can't even swear he's dead. Just- She snuck out one night, and the next morning, Bartrand had vanished."

"Maker," Anders says on a breath. He didn't care that he was dead, but the danger Ilska put herself in was huge. "No one would've been able to protect her if she was caught. what was she thinking! What if they found her and dragged her off!"

"At least she didn't do it in front of witnesses. We can be thankful for that."

"We can be. She's smart, she would've waited till the opportune time. Maker, listen to me. The relief is that she didn't get hurt or caught is far more powerful than my anger that it happened at all. Though I don't blame her. Justice and I were ready to kill."

"I mean, what he did was really awful. You can't begrudge her a little vengeance."