It's Loghain all over again, he thinks wildly. Except Cousland had the good sense to be as horrified as Alistair when Riordan suggested it.

"The Joining isn't a punishment," he spits. "It's not a way to pawn off judgment onto someone else."

He needs to be somewhere else. He can feel the pressure building at his temples; next will come the shadows at the edges of his line of sight. If he's going to lapse into a blackout rage and take a swing at someone, he will be damned if it's Lavellan.