The blizzard hit with little warning, catching the Highever sleighs in the foothills north of Denerim as they traveled the Imperial Highway. The sky had been a hazy grey all morning and the party made good time, but their progress stalled when the winds began to claw savagely at the sleighs as evening began to descend. At first Elissa had thought it would be nothing more than a breezy Ferelden snow storm, but the winds grew stronger and the sleighs started to slide dangerously behind the horses, spooking the animals.

"Shall we stop, my lady?" the driver called out over the wind. His face was obscured by a woolen scarf.

"Stop where?" she demanded, "Take it slow until we can find somewhere to shelter."

"Isn't there a ruin east of us? In the foothills?" Ashlyn leaned close so she could be heard over the screaming wind. Like the driver and Elissa, she was bundled heavily against the cold.

"We'd have to leave the road," Elissa yelled back, shaking her head, "That would be suicide."

"My lady, bridge up ahead," the driver called, his voice straining as he struggled to keep the skittish horses under control.

"Slow and careful," Elissa repeated and resisted the urge to squeeze her eyes shut. The horses reared and fought the driver but he urged them forward across the steep ravine that the road crossed. The horses balked at the sudden sharp increase to the wind that tore at them, but they were across in moments and Elissa heaved a sigh of relief.

One of the horses pulling the rear sleigh screamed suddenly and all three in the forward sleigh spun around. The larger and heavier sleigh carried their supplies and Elissa's four guards. By rights, it should have had an easier time crossing than the smaller lead sleigh. Elissa's heart jumped into her throat as the rear sleigh's horses reared high and fought their driver. The sleigh was only half of the way across the bridge and she could see through the swirling snow that it was wobbling precariously on its treads while the horses thrashed.

"Get them under control before it tips, man!" her driver yelled out savagely to the other driver.

His call was too late and another gust of wind screamed through the ravine while the horses reared high in the air. The wind tossed the heavy beasts like they were spring foals, throwing them violently across the bridge. They fell against the low stone railing that lined the bridge, and as Elissa watched in mute horror, their momentum rolled them over the useless barrier, taking the sleigh with it. The horses didn't even get a chance to scream before they hit the bottom.

Elissa tore at the blankets holding her hostage in the sleigh seat. She scrambled out of the sleigh with Ashlyn at her heels, despite cries of protest from their driver, who still held his own horses barely under control.

"No, no, no," Ashlyn shook her head as the elf and her mistress crouched against the low wall at the edge of the bridge. They could just make out the shattered remains of the heavy sleigh through the swirling snow. The horses lay side by side, still tied to the sleigh. They'd landed onto the hard ice and rocks at the bottom of the ravine at least thirty feet below. Elissa's eyes scanned the wreckage, desperately seeking movement among the splintered remains.

"They're not moving," Ashlyn cried hoarsely, and Elissa could only reach out an arm and pull her maid close. Though no one spoke of it, one of the soldiers had been the elf's lover. That was part of why Elissa had selected him to go on the trip.

"Maybe…maybe we can check…" Elissa wasn't sure what to do, and she eyed the steep sides of the ravine uncertainly.

"No," Ashlyn said again, her tone flat and dead, "We'd be killed just trying to get down. We need to find you shelter."

Mechanically the maid stood up and dragged Elissa with her, hurrying across the bridge to their sleigh. She shoved her mistress into the vehicle and then climbed in. Elissa was startled and went without fighting.

"Drive," Ashlyn's croaking voice was terse and brooked no argument from the human driver, who nodded and loosened his hold on the horses. They continued down the road in silence. The snow stung horribly at Elissa's face and she tried to pull her scarf higher across her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to the Maker that they would find safety.


"My lord," Maric squinted against the stinging snow and nodded to one of his scouts when the man appeared out of the darkness. Everyone in Maric's rescue party wore runes that glowed brightly in the darkness and swirling snow. They'd charged out of Denerim as the day had waned toward evening, a maneuver that was probably foolish if Maric were honest with himself. Going out in a blizzard was crazy, but going out in a blizzard at night was tantamount to suicide. Still, his scouts were the best in Ferelden and Maric had lived the first half of his life living out in the elements. No one complained, and his scouts' eyes were everywhere once Maric reigned in their headlong dash. He'd taken an educated guess as to how far the Highever sleighs could have gotten before the blizzard hit. His scouts fanned out along each side of the road, each visible by the glowing runes tied to their fur coats.

"Find something?" Maric asked shortly, slapping a hand against his horse's neck. Like the rest of them, the horse was bundled against the savage cold.

"This way, my lord," the scout's voice was grim and Maric forced his suddenly racing heart to still. He dismounted and handed the reins to one of his guards. He pressed a hand to the scarf at his mouth and accepted the hand his scout offered. They walked hand in hand into the darkness a short distance.

"You'll want to crouch, my lord," the scout shouted over the wind, "A bridge. The wind gusts savagely."

Maric didn't bother to nod, the gesture would have been lost in the darkness. He mirrored the scout's crouched posture and they scampered across the bridge. Midway down the scout pulled him close to the edge, and Maric saw what had drawn their attention. The low stone railing that edged the bridge was scoured clean of snow by the wind, revealing fresh scratches along the inside edge. The ancient stone was scraped hard enough to reveal bright fresh stone. Something large and heavy had dragged along the barrier.

Taking a deep breath Maric nodded to the scout. He leaned his head carefully over the edge of the railing and saw more lights from his scouts at the bottom of the frozen ravine. Their lights bobbed in the darkness as they deftly scaled the sides despite the wind tearing at them.

"They threw down ropes," the scout supplied helpfully, "Let's go see what they found."

"Yes, lets," Maric said grimly, part of him not wanting to know the answer.

"One sleigh, my king," a half frozen scout shouted over the wind as they huddled against Maric's horse for meager shelter, "Five dead, four guards and a driver. Forzen, but the horses were still a bit warm on the inside. Dead no more than four or five hours. The other sleigh from Highever was nowhere in sight."

"The guards were in the second sleigh," Maric shouted back, "The first must have crossed safely."

"Aye, my lord. Shall we keep searching?" the scouts asked. Maric was sorely tempted to tell them to set up a camp with the domed tents they carried that would get them out of the wind, but something in his gut urged him on.

"Keep going, the other sleigh couldn't have gone much further in this," the king ordered and his scouts nodded immediately. They were well trained, and if they thought the king was pushing a little harder than he should for one noble, they kept it to themselves.


"The horses can't go on much more," the sleigh driver's voice was hoarse and barely audible over the wind.

"No sign of anything we can use as shelter?" Elissa asked shakily, lifting her head to look around. She ducked back into the blankets when stinging snow assaulted her already raw skin. Their pace had slowed to a crawl. The massive draft horses were staggering, barely able to keep their feet.

"Nothing this close to the road," the driver answered shortly, "But I know where we are. There's an old watch tower on that hill."

"What do you have in mind?" Elissa asked as she followed the driver's arm when he pointed, but saw nothing in the darkness.

"You and your maid make for the tower. It's not falling down, just unused. You just start going and walk uphill. It's right at the top. If you go downhill without hitting it, turn around. I'll stay here with the sleigh until daylight and then get help," the driver said tiredly.

"The horses will freeze," Elissa objected, shaking her head, but the driver cut her off.

"And so will you if you don't get shelter," he snapped, "Go, my lady. Get to safety."

Elissa wanted to object further, but Ashlyn pushed off the blankets covering them against the cold. She stood and grabbed Elissa's gloved hand, tugging her firmly out of the sleigh. With no better plan to save the situation she followed numbly behind her maid as the elf forged ahead through the heavy drifts alongside of the road.

"There it is," Ashlyn breathed after a seeming eternity of slogging through the frozen snow. Elissa couldn't feel her feet and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. She just wanted to curl up and sleep in one of the fluffy drifts they pushed through.

Elissa looked up and squinted, but didn't see anything in the dark. To her eyes it was pitch black, with only a few trees peeking out of the darkness and snow. It was then that she realized the wind had subsided.

"This way, my lady," the elf urged her, pulling on her arm as they stumbled the rest of the way up the unending hill.

"How did you see this?" Elissa asked dubiously when a squat stone tower loomed out of the shadows high overhead.

"Elf, mistress," Ashlyn replied simply, "We see well in the dark."

"Ah," Elissa mumbled, "Useful."

They stumbled arm in arm around the tower until they came to an old wooden door. Elissa felt a moment of panic that it might be barred, but the door opened easily when she braced her shoulder on it and shoved. They fell inside and threw the door closed, both leaning against the barrier as the last of their strength left them.

"We need a fire," Ashlyn mumbled around frozen lips. With far more strength than Elissa had, she pushed away from the door and stumbled to the cold firepit built against one wall of the tower. It was a simple round stone building, nearly empty save for a table and a few chairs. It was an outpost to be used in times of turmoil, but otherwise left alone. A simple ladder led up to a level above their heads, and that probably led out to the watchmen's post at the very top.

"There's no wood," Elissa frowned, pushing away from the door so she could stumble over to where her maid cleared a space to start a fire.

"Break the chairs," Ashlyn answered sharply, and Elissa was midway through smashing one of the spindly wooden seats against the wall when she realized her maid was ordering her around like a child. Elissa shrugged. At the moment, propriety was the last thing she cared about.

"Best I could do," Elissa mumbled as she passed a pile of shattered chair to the elf.

"It's fine," Ashlyn had pulled a flint and tinder from a pouch at her belt.

"Where'd you find a candle?" Elissa asked, frowning down at a pathetic stub of candle the elf had stuffed inside a few pieces of cloth and wooden splinters she pulled from the remains of the chair.

"I always carry one," the maid replied tiredly, "No better way to get a fire going in an emergency."

"Ah," Elissa nodded dumbly, "That's brilliant."

"It's my job," the maid shrugged and leaned down to coax tiny flames to life. She slowly built it up until they had a merry, if small, fire burning in the hearth.

"We'll need to break up the rest of the furniture if we want it to keep going," Elissa eyed the flames.

"Aye. Get started on that. I'm going to go up and see if there's anything on the next level we can use," Ashlyn stood and dragged herself up the ladder without another word. Elissa nodded to herself and repeated her treatment of the first chair on the remaining three. She flipped the rickety table onto its side and jerked the legs off. Moving around felt good, and though the room was still frigid, it was out of the wind. She leaned the tabletop against the wall and kicked it hard with her heel. The tabletop split with a dry crack along the grainlines. She repeated the technique until she had four narrow sections and then repeated the process in their long direction. Soon she had a pile of splintered planks as wide as her hand and as long as her arm.

Ashlyn was back by the time she finished and shook her head when Elissa asked if there was anything above them that might be useful.

"Now…I suppose we wait," the human girl sank down next to the fire, so grateful for the heat it gave off she wanted to sob.

"I'll check on the driver at first light," Ashlyn muttered, "And see if I can find us something to eat."

"I can hunt," Elissa said defensively.

"Oh, with what, my lady?" the maid asked stiffly and Elissa realized with a sudden lurch of heart that other than a belt dagger, she was unarmed. The rest of her weapons were at the bottom of the ravine with her solders and supplies.

"My father was a trapper. I can find us something," Ashlyn put a wooden plank onto the fire and pressed her lips together into a tight line.

"Ash, I'm sorry," Elissa reached out a hand to her maid's shoulder. She could feel the girl trembling even through her heavy furs.

"He asked me to marry him," the elf said suddenly, still not looking at Elissa.

"He did? Why didn't you say something before?" Elissa gasped, leaning forward to put her arms around the elf.

"I told him no," the maid replied hoarsely, "I told him I wouldn't let him ruin his life marrying a knife-ear. He had a good job in your father's service. He'd be throwing that away."

"What? You can't be serious. You know my father would never send him away for that," Elissa was shocked. Ashlyn had been a girl only a few years older than Elissa when she'd been assigned to the teyrn's daughter as a maid. Elissa thought of the girl as more of a friend than a servant.

"Perhaps. It doesn't matter now, though, does it?" And there it was. Ashlyn tried to choke back a sob, but her stony shell cracked and her mouth stretched into a feral grimace. Her wide eyes squeezed shut against the tears that tried to spill out.

Elissa made soothing noises and gathered the elf into her arms. The dam broke and Ashlyn's shoulders shook as sobs tore through her body. She rubbed the elf's back through her thick jacket and stared at the walls of the tower flickering in the firelight.