Flowers appeared out of nowhere, scattered across Skyhold as if by an unseen hand. Enbrium blooms in vases on the dining hall tables. Dawn lotus in all its glory crowned the Inquisitor's throne. Bunches of precious vandal aria lent their sweet scent to the Armory, the library, and the Herald's Rest Inn. But strangest of all were the simple orange and purple wildflowers Ellana found in her chamber. While the delicate flowers occasionally graced her pillow, more often than not she found the blossoms on her settee, where she spent many happy moments with...
Corypheus met his end a month before. At the end of that epic battle, Solas abandoned the Inquisition, breaking Ellana's heart. Only now was she able to set foot in the rotunda without sobbing. Only now could she look at the frescoes Solas crafted on its walls without seeing them through tears. And a large part of her recent healing was the flowers she saw throughout Skyhold. Seeing them made her smile, even when she keenly missed Solas's presence.
Eventually, Ellana caught Cullen replacing spent embrium blooms for fresh ones after she returned from the Emerald Graves, where it grew in abundance. She saw Blackwall return to Skyhold after a solo outing with enough dawn lotus to keep the Inquisition supplied until the next Age. Sera and The Iron Bull pointed fingers at one another, each claiming the vast amounts of vandal aria was the other's brilliant idea, until they confessed they worked together to gather it. But no one owned up to putting the wildflowers in her chamber. Not even Cole was aware of how the blossoms made it from the hills of Redcliffe to her pillows and settee.
The fire burned low in the grate, the embers reflecting in Ellana's half-closed eyes. She sat on her settee, a glass of wine in one hand, fresh purple flowers in the other. In happier days, she and Solas wiled away many nights like this, sharing Antivan port and stories after the sun set. On one such night, Ellana shared her fondness for the little wildflowers, telling Solas they reminded her that beauty can be found in the most unlikely places, even in the middle of war and strife. Ellana smiled into the twilight at the old memory, the warmth of the fire and the last sip of rich, heady wine lulling her to sleep, purple flowers tumbling to the floor as her eyes fluttered closed.
Morning dawned, the sun dappling green and gold over her cheeks as Ellana slowly stirred in her bed. With a gasp, the Inquisitor sat bolt upright, for her last memory was dozing off on the settee, yet here she was in her bed. Turning this way and that until her sheets half-tangled her legs, Ellana calmed when she saw nothing out of the ordinary in her chamber. All was as it should be - until she saw the bouquet next to her. Perched on her pillow, tied with a green and gold ribbon the exact shade of her widening eyes, was a cluster of purple and orange wildflowers. Gathering up the bouquet in both hands, she rose from her bed and wandered to her balcony as had become her custom in the mornings since the Breach was sealed, gazing over the jagged peaks of the Frostback mountains. Instead of despair and longing, Ellana felt hope wrap around her like a warm embrace.
Ellana brushed a kiss atop the wildflowers, then blew a kiss into the air, caught on the shifting mountain breezes. Then, with renewed purpose, the Inquisitor began her day, feeling alive once again.