Nearly done. No translations.

Aftermath

I clawed my way to consciousness with a desperation I usually reserved for battle. The spell Solas had used to keep me from waking faded only slowly, but I tore at its remnants with skills I had almost no understanding of, and could still perceive only dimly. When I finally shook off the last shreds, it still wasn't quite dawn - no more than a quarter hour could have passed between Solas's leaving and my waking. That was, admittedly, time enough for him to make an escape, but if he had, perhaps, stopped to instruct agents within the College, or if he had otherwise been held up for a little while -

I slipped from the bed and ran for the hall, not even bothering with a robe or slippers. At that moment, I didn't care who saw me or what they thought. I didn't even know what I meant to do if I caught Solas - hold him down and yell at him for trapping me, certainly. Perhaps that constituted the sort of alarm he feared I would raise, and perhaps not. I only knew that I could not allow him to leave me like this - not again - not stewing in the revelation he had precipitated with his always-so-superior command of magic, and then refused to actually discuss with me.

He had come to learn what he wanted to know and then clung to me in the aftermath, and he wasn't even going to extend me the same consolation?

I was furious with him.

The hall was empty as I careened through the door to my suite. I turned and headed for the servants' staircase, which I had never taken before and could only hope would lead me easily to the kitchens, dining area, and wherever else they might be congregating at this hour. My feet made virtually no sound against the stone floor. Certainly Elze didn't hear me coming - I nearly knocked her back down the stairs when she appeared with a tinderbox and coal bucket just as I reached them.

"My lady!" she gasped as I narrowly avoided crashing into her with some quick footwork and the aid of a heavy wall-hanging too lofty and firmly anchored to mind the strain my weight placed on it. "Your Worship," she corrected herself as I tried to edge around her, "what are you doing?"

The door to the stairs was narrow, and Elze was effective at blocking it. "Someone let Solas - Fen'Harel - into my bedchamber," I growled impatiently, "and it's possible he's still here. I must attempt to find him. He was dressed as a servant."

Elze blinked. "Your Worship," she said carefully, "even if all that is entirely true, the College employs over a hundred servants and staff. How do you intend to hunt him? They are scattered across the compound. Are you going to summon all of them to make a full accounting? Do you expect him to be where many are congregating? You must know any confusion you cause will only give him a chance to escape." She looked pointedly at my state of undress. "And if you appear below in this manner, you will cause considerable confusion with your mere presence."

I opened my mouth to argue, and then realized I had no argument to offer.

Damn it. Damn it. I pressed the heel of my palm to my right eye and squeezed the other closed, trying to think. She was right, damn it. I hadn't taken time to think any of this through. I didn't have time to think any of this through. Had we been anywhere else - a forest, a plain, within the city, even - or had I been anyone else, I would have been in a position to take advantage of any mistakes Solas made. But here, within the organized chaos of a large, stratified organization, encumbered with the burden of my position - here all my skills as a tracker were utterly worthless.

My chest spasmed and I failed to swallow a sob as I slumped against the wall-hanging that had so lately aided me, fury giving way abruptly to hurt. Solas had outmaneuvered me. Again. "You're right," I said, my voice cracked. "I can't follow him. He knew I wouldn't be able to - "

Elze set the tinderbox and coal bucket on the floor, and then reached out to place a steadying hand on my shoulder. "Not here, Your Worship. Lean on me if you need it, but maintain your composure until you are safely returned to your rooms."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, and let her guide me back. She settled me into a chair in my sitting room, covered my legs with a blanket, and left to retrieve her fire-mending tools. I curled up, waiting to fall apart again - but I had started thinking instead of reacting, and one of the thoughts I couldn't shake was that Elze owed me no particular loyalty and had already seen enough to stir gossip if she chose to speak of it. Little as I wanted to care, my sense of duty buried all the hurt and anger for later, leaving me outwardly calm.

Upon her return, Elze bent immediately to the business of coaxing my fire back to life, not looking at me - perhaps trying to offer me a little privacy, though I had no need of it now. "So," she said after a moment, her back turned to me as she worked, "you are...fond of Fen'Harel?"

I chose my response with care. "He was part of my inner circle, once - one of my closest friends and confidants," I allowed. All the hurt was still there, and still so raw - I wasn't certain my expression would have held up to any scrutiny, but my voice was level, the emotion in it proportional to the relationship I was describing. "There are few people I respect more, and I don't believe anyone has ever disappointed me so thoroughly."

"He likely has agents among the servants," she warned me without turning to look.

"I am certain he does," I replied, wondering if I spoke to one now. I took a breath and decided to address my most pressing dilemma head-on. "Have you given more thought to my offer of employment?" I asked her. As long as she had seen me in such a compromising position - and heard me admit to part of my association with Solas - I might as well make a more concerted attempt to bring her under my protection and authority, where I could ensure she had little incentive to do me harm. At least - outside of whatever Solas had her do, if she was working for him. I could trust in his concern for my physical well-being, at any rate, even if he had decided to dispense with concern for my welfare in any other dimension of my life.

Elze rose and turned to look at me at last. "I had wanted to speak to you of that. Circumstances have...made a larger income desirable for me just now, if you truly meant what you said about paying more."

"What happened?" I asked, sensing there was a story there.

"My brother seems to have been affected by the poisoned wells," she said, closing her eyes. "He was working near - well, the rest of my family appears safe enough, but his wife and their children will find it difficult to feed themselves without his income."

"Has the Chantry contacted any of you about palliative care?" I asked, rising to my feet and going to the desk at one side of the room.

"Yes," she answered, turning a little to watch me. "They have already collected him - to protect both him and his family - and are merely waiting for word on where there is space available to house and treat him."

"I can do better than that," I told her dismissively, pulling out paper and ink. "Would your family prefer Kirkwall or Starkhaven? The hospice at Starkhaven is still being worked on, but he can stay in Kirkwall temporarily, until renovations are complete."

I glanced up at her and found her staring at me. "That is kind, Your Worship, but they will not have the means to visit another city, no matter how near it may be."

"Elze," I began gently, "I wasn't speaking only of your brother. Would your family prefer to live in Kirkwall or Starkhaven? Surely you would prefer to take them from Cumberland? You are too bright not to understand the nature of this poison, even if we are careful not to speak its name outright in public. You know it may spread further, don't you?"

She closed her eyes. "I know. But I couldn't ask you - "

"You aren't asking, but you most certainly could," I returned. "If you take a position with me, we must be absolutely clear on one point: while I am your superior in the Inquisition's chain of command, and while the world may look at the work we do and sneer at yours while honoring mine, your work is what makes it possible for me to do mine. The power I wield ought to be used for your good as well as my own, as well as the Chantry's, as well as the world's. You will serve better if you have confidence that your family is as safe as you can make them, and if they have the comfort of at least occasionally being able to see your brother. So tell me: Kirkwall or Starkhaven?"

"I know little about either city, Your Worship," she confessed. "Which - which would you recommend?"

"Kirkwall," I said. "Prince Sebastian is by all accounts a good man, but I know the Viscount of Kirkwall personally, and I know how much he has done for the elves there. I also happen to have an estate that may be able to offer employment to one or more of your family members. Besides, the hospice is already running smoothly. Less relocation makes everything simpler. Now," I went on, "as for wages…will half again whatever Fiona pays you be enough? Or do you think you will need more? Perhaps we ought to wait to settle on a final amount until after your family knows what their expenses look like in Kirkwall?"

I waited as her mouth worked. The timing seemed suspicious - Solas visited me in secret and the next morning Elze accepted my offer of employment? But sometimes red lyrium poisoning did take weeks or even months to become apparent, and neither Solas nor Elze were fools enough to entirely fabricate such a story. It might be coincidence. If it wasn't - even more reason bring her into my circle, where she could be watched.

"It is far too much, my lady," Elze said at last. "To pay me more in addition - when I have not even demonstrated I am worth the expense - "

"Then consider the matter of your family compensation for your brilliant tactics the night of the ball," I advised her, "and let us discuss salary as a separate issue. I already know you are worth the expense. Who talked sense into me not ten minutes ago when my instinct was to act as a hunter and not the Inquisitor? Do you know how few people speak to me that way? I would hire you just for your lack of awe and general good sense." I sat down and readied a pen before being struck by a thought. "As I spend little time at my estate and have not yet settled on renting it out - though I do have negotiations underway to do so - the staff is small and there is plenty of space in the servants' quarters. Perhaps I might offer your sister-in-law, her children, and - do you have other family?"

"My mother," she answered.

"Then for the first year, they can live at my estate rent-free," I offered. "My housekeeper, Naraja, can likely find at least piece-work for them to do - sewing, running errands, that sort of thing - for a little income, and they will have a full year to establish themselves wherever and in whatever jobs they wish. I will pay you the same wages you receive now until they either find a situation more to their liking, or Naraja finds there is enough work to hire at least one of them onto the household staff. After that, we can renegotiate your compensation."

"I would be a fool not to accept such a generous offer," she said, her eyes wide, "and I hope I am not a fool."

"This is only a little exertion and expense on my part," I assured her. "I hope you will tell me if you see something similar that I can do for you - or for someone else within the Inquisition - in the future. Consider access to Inquisition resources part of the job's compensation. I won't always be able to do everything, even my reach is limited, but the ability to do a little good for individuals - rather than always thinking of society as a whole - is part of my compensation for a job that can otherwise be equal parts thankless, dull, terrifying, and heartbreaking. Can you understand that at all, or do I sound unbearably insensible of my good fortune?"

She tilted her head to one side. "If the number of times you are rumored to have nearly died is even half true, I am not certain I would call you fortunate."

"Well, you have seen my scars," I pointed out. "Each of those can be said to represent a near death for either me or one of my friends, so I will let you do whatever calculations you please. In the meantime, I believe I will begin writing letters on your behalf. Breakfast would be appreciated, and perhaps you would be willing to see Harding and Sera roused and sent to me? I would also like to speak with the Grand Enchanter, but it can wait until after she has breakfasted." I sighed. "Solas was here, and we have a great deal to discuss."

"Yes, Your Worship," Elze replied, dropping a curtsey, but then she hesitated halfway through turning to leave. "Your Worship - how do you know I am not one of Fen'Harel's agents?"

I glanced up from the page on which I would compose my first missive - a note to the local Chantry Mother, who would be able to direct me to whatever sister or brother oversaw the cases of red lyrium poisoning. "I don't," I told her simply, and then considered my next words, choosing them with care. "If you are his agent, then you present benefits and opportunities as well as risks." I hesitated a moment. "If you are his agent, I hope you will give me the chance to win your loyalty for myself."

She smiled. "If I were, I think you would already be making good use of your chance. As it is, I can hardly believe my good fortune in winning your notice."

I returned her smile and she left to see to everything I had asked of her. I wondered as I watched her go: did I believe her?

No. I found I did not.