A/N: This update includes 28.

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Kaitrith stood on her balcony facing the north, making sure she wasn't watching as Keeper Deshanna rode away. While the direction would be obvious for some time, Kaitrith didn't want to compromise the situation any more than she already had.

Fen'harel's threat had not been empty.

She wasn't sure what he'd done exactly, but while eating dinner with Josephine, suddenly all of the voices had fallen silent, save for one.

Come.

The next thing she'd known, she'd been standing in front of Morrigan's eluvian as a strange light burst from it. She barely remembered telling someone near her to keep it safe before all of the voices came back, crying and mourning and making it impossible to focus on anything.

When she'd woken up, Josephine had been with her. The light was guarded, the eluvian broken—by Kaitrith apparently, though she couldn't remember doing so—and Mythal was…

Gone was not the right word, but something had happened, and all that served her could feel it.

More than that, all that served her knew it was the work of the Dread Wolf, though how Kaitrith knew was beyond her.

He'd come to her in her dreams again, watching, waiting for memories to stir, sometimes even calling them.

Whatever had happened betwixt the gods, Mythal had sent what he wanted to Kaitrith, but he could use Mythal's connections now, and it was only a matter of time before Kaitrith's stubbornness gave way.

That was why she'd sent for Keeper Deshanna. Someone needed to protect Mythal's gift. Someone Kaitrith knew could be trusted, and someone the Dread Wolf didn't know.

She doubted clan Lavellan would be able to keep the light themselves. They would be too obvious a target. But they would pass it to another clan, one Kaitrith wasn't familiar with. Perhaps the clans would keep passing it, keep it moving until the Dread Wolf grew too tired of chasing it.

The light's appearance had told Kaitrith two things. One, she understood her 'bindings' to Mythal even less than she'd thought, and two, she should never have crossed the Dread Wolf.

How she could have avoided that, however, was hard to say. If she hadn't gone to the Conclave, she'd have never met Josephine. Despite everything, the death, the dealings with idiots, the demons, the pain, it had been worth it because it had led her to where she was meant to be.

There was a war raging, something that had been going on far longer than she could comprehend and something that would likely be going on well after she'd died.

However, it was hard to accept, but that war wasn't hers. She might be tied to it, bound to Mythal as she was, but for now, the best she could do for her side was extricate herself from it. If she knew nothing of where or who the key pieces were, then Fen'harel would have to work all the harder.

That worked well enough for her.

She'd never been interested in being a hero.

When she was younger, she'd protected her clan because that was all she was good for and because that way she still got to work with them—be with them. Then after the Conclave, she'd been the Inquisitor because, again, it was what she was good for.

She'd played her role because it was something she had to do.

Now, however, her role was to not be involved, and she was oddly relieved for it.

She heard the door open and close behind her and turned to see Josephine slipping into the room. The woman looked worn, but happy, stepping out onto the balcony and looking up at the stars.

"I take it everything on your end is done?"

"Almost," Josephine sighed, moving closer to lean her arm against Kaitrith's. "The Grey Wardens will be taking control of Skyhold. I am not certain that is wise, considering their previous dealings, but it will keep both Ferelden and Orlais from arguing over who received so strategic a fort." She hesitated. "There may still be scuffles, but we will have done all we could."

Kaitrith nodded slowly. There had been a group of Ferelden wardens who had rebelled against Clarel before Alistair. They had been protected by the crown, of all things, and Clarel had turned a blind eye as fighting with Ferelden when she wanted to start an army in Orlais would have been detrimental to her goals, allowing them to stay in Denerim whilst she and the others went to Adamant.

Alistair had left Denerim, hence the hunt for him.

"When will it be official?"

"Whenever Warden Velanna gets here to sign the papers."

Kaitrith nodded, mostly to herself. Of the wardens who had been in Denerim, Velanna was supposedly Dalish, and Kaitrith liked the idea of turning over an ancient elven castle to another Dalish, even if she was accepting it on behalf of the Wardens.

She'd given Keeper Deshanna copies of the lore she'd managed to jot down—she'd recruited quite a few people to make multiple copies, and Josephine had teased that she was becoming more of a scholar every day.

The voices did not come to her as easily as they once had. She suspected Fen'harel was behind that. As much as she wanted to beat him with something, she still felt like, all things considered, she'd done well.

Kaitrith had never imagined she would be much of anything more than an annoyance to her clan, a member who caused eye rolls and frowns that she so oft reciprocated. When she'd lost her best friends at the Conclave, she'd wondered if she would even go back, failing as she had, and yet…

And yet the Dalish had recovered more of their history through her in a few months than most clans managed in years.

They didn't have everything, but they were moving forward, as they always did.

And it was time for her to do the same.

"You should know," Josephine began, moving to wrap an arm around Kaitrith's waist. When Kaitrith embraced her as well, she grinned. "Yvette is quite excited for our arrival. Antoine sent a warning in his most recent letter. He says to expect a party."

At that, Kaitrith let out a low groan. "Has he at least tried to make sure it's a small one?"

"I believe so. I wrote him back about what themes should be avoided at all costs, and he's a good sort, so I feel safe that we will not be walking into anything too dire."

Despite baulking at the idea of a party, Kaitrith leaned her head against Josephine's shoulder to hide her smile. "I should have scared your sister away when I had the chance."

"I assure you, she is only a pain to those she completely adores," Josephine whispered before kissing Kaitrith's temple.

Lifting her head, Kaitrith caught Josephine in a kiss, loving the feel of the way their mouths molded together. The kissed, hands roaming and pulling each other closer until they were breathless.

When they finally broke apart, Josephine gently gripped Kaitrith's hand and led her back into their room. "Now then, after Skyhold is claimed, that should be everything, yes?"

"Yes," Kaitrith nodded. "We're as untangled from the Creators and Dread Wolf as we'll ever be able to be."

Josephine smiled, pausing to close the balcony door before moving to help Kaitrith out of her clothes for the night. "Good. It will be hard enough being tangled in Antivan business dealings without Gods dropping in to make things worse."

With a laugh, Kaitrith caught Josephine's hand between her cheek and shoulder and then moved to press a quick kiss to her fingers. "I imagine I'll be wanting to toss myself back to the Gods' whims in no time."

"You'd better not," Josephine warned, abruptly tugging Kaitrith closer and wrapping her arms around her. "It's about time I got you to myself, and I do not intend to share you, not even with Gods and especially not with that Dread Wolf."

"I'm glad we agree on that," Kaitrith murmured, laying her arm over one of Josephine's and squeezing her hand.

And with that, Kaitrith and Josephine retired for the night, moving on to whatever might come next.