Chapter 21 - back at Skyhold. A sweet little filler chapter, next chapter is Trevelyan leaving for the Arbor Wilds (originally they were one chapter but I decided to break it up). Sorry for the wait!
When they arrived back at Skyhold, it was almost as if they'd never left at all, with how quickly they were pulled back into their regular duties. But though all their tasks remained the same, everything felt different, the very air within the fortress felt different somehow. Charged, almost.
Leliana attributed most of the feeling to what had happened in Valence. She glanced at the ornate gold-plated chest that sat on her desk, a reminder not only of what had happened but of all that she had been through and all that she would not have to go through again. Valence had been a rebirth for her. (Once, Leliana would've been wary to use such a word, but now – well, there was no denying that she was changed, now.) She was free. Free of the burden she had carried as the Left Hand of the Divine. Free of the hardness she had steeled herself with through the years. Or at least free of the need for it; Leliana knew that it would take time to dismantle the walls she had built around herself. But she had time, and what was more, she had a reason.
Leliana smiled down at the report on her desk as her thoughts turned towards Trevelyan. The woman she loved, the woman who loved her. Maker, she her head still swam and her heart still fluttered when she remembered their time at the Valence cloister. In truth, she hadn't even meant to let the word "love" to leave her lips. She hadn't wanted to put a name to the emotion she'd been feeling. She had thought that naming it meant making it undeniably real, real in a way that almost taunted the world to tear it away from her. But once she'd looked into Trevelyan's eyes, shining bright with such a soft fondness, once she'd seen her wide grin that without fail caused her heart to skip a beat, she couldn't deny that love was exactly what it was. Nor could she deny that it was real, without being voiced; real in the elation she had felt when Trevelyan had agreed to come away with her, real in the way that her heart raced when Trevelyan kissed her, real in the way that her skin tingled under the rogue's touch. Real in the way that she had wanted to take Trevelyan in the cloister so that when – if – Leliana became Divine, she wouldn't be able to be in a Chantry without thinking of Trevelyan, without remembering the feel of Trevelyan beneath her fingertips, without remembering the way she'd rasped out Leliana's name. She had resigned some small part of herself to the distinctly likely possibility that, with the Sunburst Throne looming, they were on borrowed time. Their relationship was like the fervent words to a prayer that she did not expect to be heard. But then Trevelyan, with her eyes glowing and her jaw set determinedly, had said that they could make a future together regardless of what lay ahead, and looking at her then, Leliana felt hope surge in her chest. So much of her life had been duty and sacrifice, but perhaps… perhaps it didn't have to be.
So Leliana was sincere in her belief that everything felt new, felt different. But there was something else, something beyond just them, that was different as well. There was a palpable undercurrent of excitement running through Skyhold's halls, lighting up the eyes of everyone from the servants to the soldiers to the visiting dignitaries, and it did not take long to discover its cause. Corypheus' army, which had been in tatters after Adamant, had turned on its heel and retreated to the Arbor Wilds, and the Inquisition and its allies were eager to pursue, eager to press an offense in a final, decisive battle. Trevelyan, when she had heard, had grinned, a battle-hungry glint in her eyes. Leliana could see Haven reflected there, all the things the Inquisition had lost thanks to Corypheus, and she understood. It was past time to avenge the fallen, to set the world right again.
That didn't quell the trepidation she felt at the thought of Trevelyan facing down a now desperate Corypheus. She didn't doubt the rogue – Leliana knew Trevelyan would stop at nothing to defeat the former Tevinter magister. Therein laid her worry. Despite how far they'd come, Leliana couldn't help but be haunted by Haven, haunted by the nagging thought that Thedas had more dead heroes than live ones. She would not have Trevelyan add herself to that list. Not for the world.
Leliana realized she was clenching her quill in an iron grip, and with a slight sigh she laid it down. She brought her hands up to massage her temples. Worry is for the unprepared, she reminded herself. It was a small comfort. If there was one thing Leliana was not, it was unprepared.
The sound of footsteps ascending the staircase to the rookery drew her out of her thoughts. For a brief moment, she thought it might be Trevelyan, but after listening a second she knew it wasn't. Trevelyan tended to bound up the steps, while these were measured and light and seemed familiar as well. Leliana was unsurprised when Josephine came into view.
"Good afternoon, Josie," she greeted her friend, shooting her a small smile.
Josephine's eyes crinkled kindly as she smiled in turn. "Yes, good afternoon – though you would be hard-pressed to tell it here." The ambassador shot a glance around the room. Leliana knew her friend disliked the dark and closed-off nature of the rookery, much preferring the openness of her own office, bathed as it was in warm light and the heat from her fireplace.
Leliana sat back in her chair, her eyes twinkling in amusement. She was about to make a teasing comment, but Josephine spoke again.
"I came to see if you'd like to go for a walk. It really is a good afternoon, outside." Leliana knew that walks were often a pretext Josephine used when she was worried for her, as a way of tearing her away from her work. It used to irk Leliana at times, before she accepted that it was just her friend's method of looking out for her in her own small way.
Leliana shrugged, looking down at the reports on her desk. None of them were urgent – most of her agents were stationed, waiting for orders. "Alright," she agreed, standing and making her way to her friend's side. Josephine beamed at her, and led the way out.
They were mostly silent as they made their way outside, the ambassador nodding in passing to their companions and visitors. When they finally descended the steps leading out of the main hall, Josephine sighed contentedly, turning her face up towards the sun and basking in its warm glow. Leliana chuckled, knowing how her friend detested the cold, and she had to admit that the warmth felt nice after the long winter.
Josephine opened her eyes and turned them to the spymaster. "I feel like we haven't had the opportunity to speak since you've returned." They reached the grass and made their way to the garden.
Leliana hummed in agreement. None of them had had much time to talk of anything other than plans and strategy. "We've all been busy with planning our final assault."
Josephine nodded, mouth drawing into a fine line at the thought of the upcoming battle. She glanced again at her friend, and Leliana thought she saw concern flicker in her dark eyes, but the ambassador turned away to examine the garden's blooming flowers before she could be certain.
"So," Josephine said, reaching down to gently stoke the petals of a delicate looking pink flower. "How was your time in Valence?"
Leliana felt her lips stretch into a smile of their own accord. "It was…eventful," she replied, biting her lip as a myriad of more fitting adjectives came to mind. "As I expected, we ran into some trouble." She quickly related the story of Natalie to the ambassador, who looked positively beside herself when she heard Leliana had let the agent go. Leliana rolled her eyes and continued. "But in the end, we found what we were looking for. More than that, perhaps," she added, more to herself than to the ambassador.
Josephine nodded with a small smile. They made a loop around the garden, walking in a comfortable silence, and when they made it all the way around they then set out towards the other end of Skyhold's grounds.
"Trevelyan blushed a rather brilliant shade of red when I asked her the same question," Josephine remarked after a moment. She glanced away, making a show of watching some older children running about in the distance, but Leliana could still see her wide and mischievous grin. "It was a most intriguing reaction."
Of course Trevelyan had, Leliana thought fondly, smiling. She could practically feel Josephine's curiosity hanging in the air, so she responded, "Like I said, the trip was eventful." She hoped the insinuation was enough; Leliana thought even she might blush if she had to go into further detail.
Josephine's grin became pure and elated, and she turned to face Leliana once more. "I'm happy for you, Leliana. Truly, I am," she said sincerely, patting her friend's arm. "You two are wonderful together."
Leliana felt a surge of gratefulness for her pure-hearted friend. "Thank you, Josie. I…" She slowed her step, and Josephine matched her pace. Leliana looked up at the clear blue sky overhead. "She is very dear to me." The simple truth said aloud made her feel lighter and her heart pound.
Josephine practically shone with joy. She shook her head with a smile, stepping around a group of Cullen's soldiers. Her eyes caught something up ahead. "Speaking of the Inquisitor," she said with a wave of her hand.
Leliana followed her gaze. In the clearing before the merchant stalls, Trevelyan had attracted a small ragtag crowd of children. Some of them Leliana recognized as servants' children and others wore clean-cut tunics that clearly designated them as nobility. All of them were equipped with sticks or toy wooden swords and were chasing Trevelyan about, shrieking and laughing. The rogue had loosely tied a familiar-looking silver sash around her waist, and she twisted and turned as the children grabbed for it, playing a rather outmatched game of keep-away.
The two advisors hung back, content to simply observe from afar. A gentle, tender feeling bloomed in Leliana's chest at the sight of something so ordinary and innocent. Leliana would hazard a guess that some of these children hadn't laughed and played like this in a long while, so the thought that this moment could happen now, amidst all the chaos around them, made it all the more special. Next to her, Josephine was uncharacteristically quiet, and Leliana glanced at her friend curiously.
As Josephine watched the game before them, something shifted in her countenance. "I keep telling myself that one day, we will no longer be at war, and there will be no need to fight." Josephine said, and Leliana was surprised at how heavy her voice sounded all of a sudden. "One day, children can pick up a wooden sword simply to play, like this, and not to train." She smiled thinly, but it lacked much of its previous mirth, replaced instead with longing.
"Josie…" Leliana understood the sentiment, and put a comforting hand on the ambassador's arm. "That is what we're fighting for, no? If everything goes to plan, our forces will defeat Corypheus and his army in the Arbor Wilds, and then we will stitch back together the pieces of Thedas. We are at the cusp of peace."
An elven girl who had been lingering on the edge of the group, either shy or hesitant to join human children in play, turned away, thin shoulders slumping. Noticing this, Trevelyan darted forward, scooping the girl up and placing her atop Trevelyan's shoulders. Trevelyan said something to her, and the girl grinned widely, nodding. She brandished her wooden stick, blue eyes sparkling with determination, defending Trevelyan from a few blows while the rogue dodged just out of reach of a boy snatching for the sash.
Josephine shook her head. "It seems surreal, to have the end in sight after so long." She hesitated, then added, "I am glad for it, but… I will miss this, if that makes sense. It sounds so hypocritical to say."
Leliana watched as one of the children finally captured the sash, waving it above his head triumphantly. She watched Trevelyan's easy smile, her laugh. The rogue looked as if she didn't have a care in the world, though Leliana knew better.
"It makes perfect sense," she said, because it did, and she had no doubt many people within Skyhold harbored similar feelings. "After Corypheus is defeated, everything will change."
Josephine nodded. She turned to Leliana, some of her earlier levity returning. "Especially for you. The next Divine!" Her dark eyes glowed with excitement, and what Leliana thought might be pride. "You will do the Sunburst Throne justice, Leliana, I have no doubt. Though, imagining Trevelyan in a Chantry, in Val Royeaux of all places…" Josephine chuckled. "Something tells me you will have your hands full, with her as much as with your new duties."
Leliana's brows shot up in surprise. She thinks…Trevelyan is coming with me? To say she'd never considered it would be a lie, but she had never seriously entertained the idea.
Josephine read the confusion in her expression and frowned. "Ah, I just assumed…" She trailed off, studying Leliana carefully. "What do you plan to do then?" When Leliana hesitated in response, Josephine's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me you'd thought to end it and go your separate ways in some foolish – though typical, for you – act of martyrdom."
Leliana frowned at the barb, though she knew it was well-intentioned (and had a kernel of truth to it). "Trevelyan is the Inquisition, Josie." Therein was the problem. Though the rogue had never asked for it, somehow she had become the Inquisitor, a symbol of strength and hope. The world needed that symbol, needed hope, just as it needed a Divine. The shape of the peace to come depended on them.
Josephine gave no quarter, though her eyes softened in sympathy. "She is more than that, I think. Or she could be, if given the chance." She patted Leliana's arm, glancing at Trevelyan, who had been approached by some Inquisition soldiers and was engaged in a conversation with them, her brows furrowed in thought and previous freed expression all but vanished. "It is something to consider, at any rate."
Leliana nodded slowly. "It is. Josie…" Leliana paused. There was so much she wanted to say. Thank you. What had she done to deserve such a good friend? Someone who was kind and caring, but would not tolerate the nonsense and excuses that Leliana was so good at spinning. Someone who saw the world clearly, in contrast to the shades of gray that Leliana so often got lost in.
Josephine waved a hand, seeming to understand, her eyes crinkling in amusement. "Don't mention it. Just, Leliana – I want to see you happy. After everything, you deserve this. You both do."
Leliana gave her a small smile. Perhaps…perhaps her friend was right. But it was something she could ponder later. "I think it is time for us to return to work," she pointed out, and as they began walking back the way they came, she added, "Thank you for the walk, Josie. It was exactly what I needed."
Josephine smiled knowingly. "I thought as much."
I love Josephine. And since Leliana plays a big part in Josephine's romance in-game, I thought Josie would return the favor. She's a good friend :)
Next chapter is Trevelyan leaving for the Arbor Wilds + a goodbye scene. Then the chapter after that is the quest in the Arbor Wilds, so some action and Trevelyan/Morrigan bonding time (as far as you can say Morrigan really bonds with anyone).