From the outside, the Winter Palace was a gorgeous place. Holli had seen it in the distance from their inn, but up close it was much more impressive. Hawke offered his arm to Holli, and she took it, letting him lead her through the gates as they were surrounded by the others.
Their entrance into the courtyard was noticed.
"Inquisitor Hawke, Lady Herald! We meet at last! I've heard much about you both," a masked man greeted them in the courtyard. "You've been busy. Imagine what the Inquisition could accomplish with the full support of the rightful Emperor of Orlais!"
The Duke himself or a supporter of his? Josephine had told them it was Duke Gaspard that had extended the invitation to them.
"And which one was the rightful one, again?" Hawke asked. "I keep getting them confused."
"If we keep watch, he may appear. Probably by the brandy. I am not a man who forgets his friends, Inquisitor. You help me, I'll help you."
He gestured for them to follow him.
"Prepared to shock the assembly by appearing as the guests of a hateful usurper, my lord, my lady? They will be telling stories of this into the next age."
"I can't imagine that crowd has seen anything better than us in their entire lives," Hawke said, casting an amused smile down at Holli.
When he looked back at the man, he did not like the way he was looking at her, his beady eyes travelling down the slope of her neck, over her bared shoulders.
"Indeed," he purred. "I knew we would get along famously, Inquisitor. As a friend, perhaps there is a matter you could undertake this evening. This elven woman, Briala – I suspect that she intends to disrupt the negotiations. My people have found these 'ambassadors' all over the fortifications. Sabotage seems the least of their crimes."
"Is there more to your suspicions than 'the elves were acting dodgy'?" Holli asked a little snidely.
"That 'ambassador', Briala, used to be a servant of Celene's. That is, until my cousin had her arrested for crimes against the empire to cover up a political mistake. If anyone in this room wishes Celene harm, Inquisitor, Lady Herald, it's that elf. She certainly has reason. Be as discreet as possible. I detest the Game, but if we do not play it well, our enemies will make us look like villains. We're keeping the court waiting. Shall we?"
They followed him through the courtyard, drawing the gazes of those scattered about.
"Is that the Inquisitor? The Champion of Kirkwall?" One woman whispered.
"Started this whole thing I heard, back in Kirkwall. Not sure he should even have that title."
"Well, they can go eat a bag of dicks," Holli muttered quietly to him.
He let out a quiet huff of a laugh. "That's disgusting."
They headed up the stairs, catching bits and pieces of more comments about them both.
"That's the Herald of Andraste; they say she comes from another world."
That had her brow furrowing. That certainly wasn't news they'd tried to spread. The others had even told her to keep it quiet. Obviously the inner circle knew, and it appeared it had gotten out somehow.
"Because she was born of the Maker and Andraste. They sent her here to save us."
Holli's brow rose, and she looked up at Hawke questioningly. That was a new one; she'd never heard that before.
"You get more and more divine every time someone speaks," he laughed lightly.
Holli rolled her eyes. "Do they truly not realise how ridiculous that is?"
"Do you realise half of it is true? You did come from another world."
"Yeah, but the other half is absurd."
"But it's not such a stretch given the first half."
It was to her.
Josephine shifted closer to them. "Now, when you meet the Empress, the eyes of the entire court will be upon you."
"Feels like they're upon us now," Hawke retorted.
"You'd be safer staring down Corypheus," Josephine said.
Cullen also took this opportunity to give them a bit of an update. He would be ensuring their people snuck into the palace without being caught. But it would take time. He would alert them when they were ready.
They continued to follow the Duke through the vestibule and up the stairs. They caught up to the Duke so as not to look too out of place.
Inside the main hall there were even more people. Holli could feel her heart beat pick up its pace and the nerves really start to set in.
"Now presenting: Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons." Gaspard bowed towards the Empress and the court, a poncy thing. "And accompanying him: Lord Inquisitor Garrett Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall, and the Herald of Andraste, Lady Holiday Whitlock."
Holiday curtsied as Josephine had taught her, and Hawke bowed towards the Empress, who was watching them from the other end in a voluminous blue gown and a black mask. From this distance she couldn't make out much else. Holli had wondered what the Empress might look like.
But what had become clear to Holli was just how differently she was dressed from everyone else. They all had huge, billowing skirts, layers upon layers, hair up in elaborate styles, and masks that concealed most, if not their entire, faces.
Holli hardly heard the introduction of her companions listed off behind her, too busy trying to convince herself she wasn't sticking out like dogs balls. She felt quite underdressed but knew she wouldn't be comfortable in what they were wearing either. Better to be comfortable.
Holli was brought back to the introductions when she heard Mai Bhalsych. She had to try really hard not to lose it.
"Maker's Breath," Hawke whispered. "Do not laugh, Holli; I swear to the Maker..." He trailed off.
He looked like he was about to laugh too. Maybe that was why. If she started, he would start. But how fucking ridiculous. And the man didn't even look like he got it. Or he just wasn't paying attention to what he was reading. She could imagine the job got a bit boring after a while.
Her good humour was ripped away when they announced Solas as their elven manservant. She looked to him apologetically, but he merely smiled slightly in response.
Cole didn't even get announced; in fact, he had completely disappeared. Hiding maybe?
Holli and Hawke stood just below the Empress with Duke Gaspard. Beside her was another woman; from slightly behind them, Leliana told them that was Florianne.
"Cousin," Duke Gaspard greeted. "My dear sister."
"Grand Duke. We are always honoured when your presence graces our court."
"Don't waste my time with pleasantries, Celene. We have business to conclude."
"We will meet for the negotiations after we have seen to our other guests," she told him.
The Duke gave another flourishing bow before giving them something of a goodbye and leaving them before Celene.
"Lord Inquisitor, Lady Herald, we welcome you to the Winter Palace," Celene greeted. "Allow us to present our cousin, the Grand Duchess of Lydes, without whom this gathering would never have been possible."
"What an unexpected pleasure. I was not aware the Inquisition would be part of our festivities," Florianne said. "We will certainly speak later," she said, eyeing Hawke like a piece of meat before leaving them to it.
"Your arrival at court is like a cool wind on a summer's day," Celene said.
"We're delighted to be here, your Majesty," Hawke returned.
"We have heard much of both your exploits. They have made grand tales for long evenings. How do you find Halamshiral? Is it very different from your own world, Lady Herald?"
Oh, just going to be that blunt about it?
"Halamshiral is exquisite beyond words," Holli replied. "But comparing it to my own world, it would be comparing flowers to butterflies; they both have a beauty all their own."
"Indulge me; tell me of your world. I find myself ever so curious."
"Well, we have man-made beauty and natural beauty, of course. But to me, what I love most about my world are the feats we managed," she said. "We sent people to the moon; they walked its surface. We built machines to carry us to the deepest trenches of the oceans. We built a massive space station that orbits the earth so people could live and study among the stars. We built telescopes so powerful we could see beyond our galaxy and microscopes so advanced we can see things so tiny they're invisible to the naked eye." She took a breath.
"That is the beauty of my world I think – the beauty of knowledge – that with each new discovery we... we become a little more connected to the vastness of our world and the people we share it with. And – and realising that there's still so much more to know, that the possibilities are endless."
She hadn't intended to go on so long or become so impassioned about it, but every time she thought about how far humanity had come, it still blew her mind. Especially contrasting it to the world she currently found herself in. And they had magic. Magic and science together could surely accomplish amazing feats!
Almost every day she was here she learned something new, but mostly it was something specific to this world. Not some new discovery, not anything that would benefit anyone but her.
"These things you speak of... they sound impossible," the Empress said.
Holli was a little offended; she didn't like being accused of lying. "Maybe here," she retorted. "At least for now."
She felt the speculating gaze of the Empress as much as saw it through the eye holes in her mask.
"Well, feel free to enjoy the pleasures of the ballroom, Lady Herald, Inquisitor," Celene said. "We look forward to watching you both dance."
Holli got the feeling Celene may not have liked what she said. She and Hawke bowed and moved on so Celene could greet her other guests. They made their way up the stairs to the mezzanine where many other guests were congregating.
"Is that true about your world?" Hawke asked.
Holli nodded. She didn't know what he was talking about specifically, but everything she'd said was true.
"You've really had people on the moon?"
She nodded again. "It was before I was born, but I've seen the videos. Millions of people watched it on TV. Well, most people who had a TV at the time."
"That's... astonishing, that something like that can even be done. What is the moon made of?"
"Rock. I assume it's the same for your moons. We only have one where I come from."
"And these tiny things that can't be seen? What are they?"
"Micro organisms - like, bacteria and shit. Cells, proteins, DNA... Looking at stuff under a microscope is pretty neat. Grass looks like it has happy faces inside of it."
He looked at her like she was making that up.
"I swear," she said.
He still didn't look like he believed her.