Thanks for reading! And my apologies for the delay! Hope you enjoy, let's give some proper introductions for Aelia before the party is off to Halamshiral.

Aelia sighed as she saw the first lights of dawn. Well, this was not how she was expecting her arrival. Now, she had to go to sister Leliana. The Nightingale had given her the night, needing it as much as her, but had been quite adamant in her look as she demanded to see her ASAP in the morning. She looked at the remaining of a healing potion next to her cot. It wasn't going to do anything against the headache…Damn fake-calling, this was driving her crazy!

Not let's-do-blood-magic-and-bring-doom-upon-the-world-we-swore-to-protect crazy but still, crazy.

At least, the people here were going to do something about this. Hopefully. Maker, they had to.

She entered Skyhold. A couple of scouts pointed her the rookery for Leliana. At least it may not be all formal right – and I spoke too soon. As she was in the main hall, Leliana came from a door on her right.

"Warden-Commander, great, you are here. Come with – " She suddenly interrupted herself to clear her throat "Inquisitor."

Mahariel had stopped her strides at the front door, looking at the red-hair. Fenedhis, why were people here at dawn?! Well, obviously it had been a good idea to split from Solas before…Even if it was hardly saving any kind of appearances. She composed herself.

"Spymaster." She turned to Aelia and hesitated a moment but without further information, she went for a friendly smile "lethallan." The elf returned it.

"Aneth Ara, your Worship. I'm Aelia a, er –" She turned to Leliana, unsure of what the spymaster wanted her to say.

"She is a Grey Warden, Inquisitor. And a friend of a friend." Okay, no lie to the Inquisitor. Duly noted.

"Grey Warden?" She repeated with surprise. "And a friend of the Hero? That…is unexpected but not unwelcomed." Leliana nodded as Aelia was trying to figure out how she came to the second conclusion that quickly.

"I was going to meet with the Commander in his office. I did not want to wake you for it but since you are here…"

"Yes, of course. Begin without me, I can skip the introductions. I just need to change and I will be right here." She replied, looking down at the cape, covering her still partly torn tunic. She was about to spin on her heels when she took a look at Aelia. "Except if you want a change as well? You are in full armor." Aelia was about to thank her and wave the offer away but Leliana answered first.

"It is actually a good idea, an unknown mage in full armor and carrying her weapon is going to put the templars on edge." They both noticed the wrinkle of Aelia's nose when she mentioned templars but did not point out.

"Perfect. Garas lethallan, we will find you guest room and clothes once the Ambassador is awake. For now, I think my outfits should suit." She took another look at the woman and thought she could be happy to clean herself quickly as well. "Leliana, we will meet you at the Commander's office within half an hour." Leliana nodded.

"Your worship, Warden-Commander."

Considering she had apparently no voice in this matter, Aelia followed Mahariel in her quarters. The Herald searched few seconds her dresser, looking for two outfits. She took her black tunic, leggings, dragonling scales apprentice coat, and fingerless gloves for herself. Then, she showed her an outerwear made of light colors textures.

"I was thinking Day's Vigil. What do you think?" Aelia nodded absent-mindedly, not really concerned by whatever outfit she was to wear. Mahariel put it on a chair and resumed. "There is a bucket of water if you want to clean a bit. I will have the servants pouring you a bath after the meeting if you want."

"Oh, er, don't bother your Worship, it…" She was going to say it wasn't necessary but she stopped her words, considering her current state of dirtiness. Well, maybe it was a bit necessary, at least the bucket. But she felt not exactly comfortable right now, in the private quarters of the Inquisitor. The idea of cleaning her face was tempting nonetheless…Mahariel raised an eyebrow.

"First, call me Mahariel. Second, this is not bothering me and I can tell from your eyes that you desperately want a bath. Don't make me command you, lethallan."

This was Aelia's turn to raise an eyebrow. She was a Warden, she did not have to take order from – and it was obviously a joke. Maker, you need to relax, the woman is being friendly. She put a smile on her face.

"I wouldn't dare indeed. Thank you Inq – Mahariel." The white-hair smiled back and went in a little room to change her outfit as she spoke.

"I owe you both apologies and thanks by the way. I made quite the poor first impression, didn't I?" Aelia could feel how she was forcing a light tone in the words but wasn't quite comfortable with the memory of last night. She tried to reassure her.

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad I was able to help." She paused and hesitated a sec. "Are you feeling better?"

"I'm fine." The statement was final. Aelia did not insist, considering she barely met the woman. "These roots, it was an elven spell, wasn't it? I could feel the familiar energy but I never saw such thing. What clan are you from?"

"Er, this spell comes from a fellow Warden, Velanna. I…I don't know which clan she came from." Mahariel let her dodge the question for the time being.

"Hum I see, I would be curious to meet her…Given she stayed away from the current mess."

"I have no idea where she is." She answered, happy that Mahariel did not point out her not-so-discreet dodging.

"Yes, I thought as much, this is quite the common answer about the Wardens right now…So, a healer?"

"How do you – "

"You are a mage dedicated to Sylaise. I just guessed you followed the Vir Atish'an. It would make sense."

Aelia bit the inside of her cheek. She did not cross paths with so many Dalish among the years and had forgotten the meaning of the vallaslin she had received. The Dalish lore was just so blurry and she had been raised an Andrastian. She suppressed a sigh. Of course, she couldn't fool a true Dalish. The woman probably already knew she wasn't born one.

"Well, let's postpone this discussion for later, shall we? The Commander and the spymaster are waiting. You ready?"

Aelia nodded, once more thankful for the politeness of Mahariel. She was not herself sure why she still was uncomfortable with this part of her history. It didn't matter anymore, she was a Grey Warden. And a good one. But some Dalish were not that friendly with non-dalish elves and she had never been very eager to share her history either way…

When they entered the Commander's office, she literally froze and her mouth opened with surprise too soon for her to remember her latest inner statement about her past.

"Cullen?!" The man looked up from his desk and widened his eyes as well.

"Aelia?!" They stared at each other with disbelief before she resumed, her words staggering.

"I thought you were – "

" – dead!" He interrupted, ending her sentence.

"And, now it makes sense." Mahariel addressed to Leliana, finding quickly the answer of the puzzle. The spymaster looked at her questioningly. She waved. "Leave the explanations to them, given they stop looking at each other as they would at a ghost."

But it was exactly what was in front of them: a ghost. A ghost they thought ten-years dead. They both tried to speak again.

"How are – "

"Maker, you cannot – "

They both spoke at the same time and closed their mouths at the same time. Mahariel suppressed a sigh. This was going to be longer than she thought. She took Leliana's elbow and declared, not sure they were even able to hear her.

"You know what, we'll be back in ten minutes, luckily it would be enough for you to…defeat this awful awkwardness."

Once on the battlement, Leliana looked at her, waiting for some explanation. She clarified.

"She is not born Dalish, I'm sure of it, I could tell that only with her aneth ara. The accent is not the one of a native, it is Fereldan. She is a mage and you saw as well as I her reaction when you mentioned templars. Her back straightened purely by reflex. Not someone who has been taught to despite shems, but to fear templars. Add to it she knows Cullen…"

"She is from a Circle."

"Likely the one of Lake Calenhad." Leliana winced, remembering how they found the said circle ten years ago.

"No wonder they grew livid…"

Cullen leaned on the desk, needing support. Aelia did the same against the wall, almost falling on the ground. She didn't even know what to say or how to act. Cullen had been her friend, he was one of the rare templar who would speak with her, or with any mage, without always barking orders. Dammit, before everything became hell, she could remember her Harrowing. He was to be the one giving the deathblow if she failed and he felt so bad about it…She crossed path with him after it, he could not even find words to tell how relieved he felt she had made it, how terrified he had felt to the idea of doing his duty if she was to fail…They were so young back then…He was twenty and she was eighteen…

"How?" He finally managed, interrupting her recollection. She could see his hand slightly trembling. She gathered her voice.

"When…When Uldred began the rebellion, I found myself trapped inside and…I…I fought, for a time. But eventually, they were too much so…Andraste, I don't know how I survive, I jumped through a window and swam…I knew it would make of me an apostate but…I couldn't fight anymore and…I didn't want to die." She explained, pain in her voice. She had still nightmares about this part of her life and was not proud of what she did: she abandoned her home, ran away. He took a deep breath.

"I was trapped inside too. We fought but my brothers fell, one by one and…" She could see the trembling growing as he chased the thought. "If it wasn't for the Hero, I would be dead." She let a nervous laughter out.

"That makes two of us."

"You weren't in the tower anymore when she arrived." Pointed he out, trying to follow her story. She nodded.

"Indeed. I…I manage to find a Dalish clan. I stayed with them for a time, they gave me the vallaslin…I thought being acknowledged as a Dalish was better than as an apostate…Of course, I forgot my phylactery. The clan couldn't take one more mage so finally, I parted from them. But after the Blight, the templars began to look for me…They found me in Amaranthine. I knew going in a city was a huge chance but I needed supplies. The Hero popped as they were going to take me…I was trying to explain what happened, that I didn't want to flew but they didn't care…So, she conscripted me. After, once the templar were gone, she offered me the choice of joining the Wardens or not. I accepted."

"So, you are a Warden." He repeated the obvious, considering her words. He seemed thoughtful and frowned a bit. Yeah, of course, being a Warden wasn't that good these days. She stood and came closer to the desk. Cullen was very pale, his hands shaking. She tilted her head, trying to find his gaze.

"Cullen, are you okay?" He waved the concern.

"Yes, just a headache."

She looked at his features. Right now, his eyes seemed older than they should be. He had a new scar above the lip. But, most of all, he had the look of someone who had seen too much for his age. She put a hand on the arm of her long-lost friend.

"Cullen, what happened during the last ten-years?"

"I…er…" They both heard Leliana's and Mahariel's voices coming closer to the door. She took back her hand and stepped back as he composed himself.

Aneth ara - friendly greetings