I hope you all had healthier holidays than I did. I was coughing up shit that never should have seen the light of day, and even though it wasn't in my lungs, I was pretty fucking miserable. Anyway. Happy New Year. Here is a chapter.

Crowns

The Inquisition camp we had hidden in the forest was a three hour walk northwest of La Celle, about two hours, or so I was told, downstream from the Winter Palace as the crow flew, though I didn't know the name of the river that flowed past both. Halamshiral was somewhat south of the palace, and so it was another three hours to its gates, but I would worry about that when night fell. Knowing Sera, we weren't going through the gates anyway.

The air in camp was an odd mix of anxiety and carefree jubilation. It was full of children, which no doubt contributed, and there was ample food thanks to Inquisition stores and the hunting prowess of the soldiers assigned to guard. The soldiers might also have helped - we slipped into camp without any fanfare, and in the hour or so I spent wandering anonymously, I only ever saw my soldiers treating the evacuees with respect and civility. The latter were almost universally elves, though I saw humans amongst the children. Sera told me that most of the humans in the small low quarter had elected to stay, though they gladly accepted staves and bows to defend themselves and their homes. Some, though not many, had been concerned enough to send their children away.

It was only when Solas and I presented ourselves to the healers to be put to work that word got around that I had arrived. Then some of the officers approached to apologize for not having recognized me before, apologies which I dismissed before praising their success in making the camp a secure and welcoming place. I asked if there was any further support they felt they needed, but it appeared Leliana had been extremely attentive to the operation, and things were running smoothly.

The patients being treated by the healers were a mixed bag. There were a number of soldiers who had run into the usual bad luck one might find in a forest, sporting various sprained joints, fractures, and a couple of wounds from animal attacks. An alarming number of elves had arrived in camp with stress fractures from overwork, a few with broken bones from mistreatment, and there were several pregnant women whose health ranged from merely needing the occasional check-in to requiring strict bed rest. Many of the elves were malnourished to some degree, and a handful of the youngest and oldest had proved to need more than a few days or weeks of good meals to set things right. There were some parasites, some infected wounds, a few with previously broken bones that had never set right, and two cases with lingering headaches and vision problems from past head trauma.

I had only been studying healing as a specialization for a few weeks, but I had been diligent and I truly was - as Dorian had once informed me - a powerful mage. I knew now how to layer my spells, one on top of the other, to encourage bone to knit together more quickly without risking deformation or allowing the blood to stagnate with too much swelling. I had honed my magical senses to better detect small irregularities in delicate organs and organ systems such as eyes. Under Port's direction, I had dissected several animals and one unfortunate soldier who had fallen from a cliff and broken his neck, touching various organs and glands directly with my fingers and my magic to better understand their shapes and functions.

I was, in short, now a perfectly competent healer, able to deal with any relatively simple condition, evaluate a patient for more complex problems, and even solve a few of the more complex problems. When I mentioned how many births I had attended - both for halla and elves - I was assigned to check on the pregnant women in the infirmary and around camp. Sera declined to accompany me, and promised to find me again when it was time to head for the city. (Her response to my polite inquiry: "Babies are friggin' creepy. Little parasites living inside you, eating your food up and whatever, then - then - coming right out through your bits! Eugh, no friggin' way.")

It was possible there were political motives behind the decision - I could easily picture Josephine soothing concerned nobles by pointing out that I had attended to a group of elves as a healer, and particularly as a healer for women carrying children. On the other hand, pregnant women had much larger and more personal concerns dogging their heels than whether the Inquisitor was the one making inquiries about their health. Any reserve quickly melted away under the importance of the subject, and all of them soon forgot to call me Your Worship .

The only drawback was that I wasn't able to spend the afternoon near Solas. He wouldn't be accompanying us into the city, but instead staying in the camp ostensibly to take over organizing the civilians so that the military commanders could focus on soldiers and defense. In actuality, he would be placing wards and readying magical defenses in case the camp came under attack during or after the ball. Leaving him behind was also a way to protect my personal safety - Solas would know if I were hurt or frightened, and outside the walls he would have a better chance of reaching our forces should a rescue be required. He would also have little trouble leading them to me, no matter where I might be taken.

He wasn't pleased by the consequences of the assignment - a displeasure I shared; I hated leaving him behind - but he couldn't pretend that my reasons weren't sound.

The last of my patients was in good health and had three other children besides the one she carried. Since I had finished my duty, I let her excited little ones take my hands and lead me to a clearing that the camp's children had made their own, nestled beside a bend in the river. It was a comfortable place, I thought, sun-drenched and welcoming. I was shown several stick-and-leaf play-houses that they had built, the best trees for climbing, and was eventually invited to sit on a rock not far from the water where a girl and boy were bickering over how best to braid flower stems to make garlands. The children didn't care at all about my titles and position. At first they wanted only my admiration, and seemed to take my need to lean in close to see any details of the structures they had built as a compliment, and then when they found out I was deft at making flower garlands and forming them into crowns, I was tasked with making as many as they could find flowers for.

I don't know how long I sat in the tall grass, weaving stems into garlands, showing some of the older children my technique, and telling stories when younger children demanded them while taking rests or waiting their turns to receive crowns. The shadows of the trees were stretching toward me across the river, dark pools breathing cool breezes where before there had been only sun-drenched warmth, when at last someone came looking for me

"What would Varric say, I wonder, could he see you now," Solas's voice said, and I looked up sharply from the girl whose hair I was twining with the stems of buttercups. Her skin was nearly as dark as Vivienne's, and she wore yellow beautifully. I had been too absorbed in my task to notice his approach.

"Why would Varric say anything?" I asked, not following whatever observation it was he was trying to make.

He made a gesture I couldn't see well enough to interpret, his feelings vaguely disapproving, but mostly just uneasy. "Master Tethras has been reflecting on what sort of portraits are likely to be made of you in the future, and the current scene is an idyllic one. Forgive me, I didn't intend to disturb you."

Holding the girl's braids in one hand, I reached out and caught Solas's arm, dragging his hand - and, more importantly, the edge of his badly-hemmed tunic sleeve - within reach. Then I wrapped my finger around one of the fraying threads and gave it a sharp tug. "No apology necessary," I told him with a triumphant smile. He snorted an amused laugh despite his concern as I turned away to use my prize to tie off the girl's hair. I gave her a pat when I was finished. "You can go play, da'len - that should hold."

She reached up to feel the plaited hair and flowers, her teeth white against her skin as she smiled at me over her shoulder, though Solas's presence seemed to make her too shy to speak. Prior to his arrival, she had been happily recounting to me the names and rivalries of every other child on her street, so I knew I wasn't the one who awed her. Then she ran off, shouting to a group of children that she was Empress Celene and they were all her subjects, but that one of them could be a dragon.

Solas sat next to me on the rock, his unease growing sharper rather than dissipating.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you," I told him, "even though it's only two nights." I didn't tell him that I knew he was concerned for me - though he was - or remind him that he could protect me most effectively from outside Halamshiral's walls.

"We will meet in the Fade," he told me, wrapping his arm around my waist. It wasn't a promise or reassurance so much as a command.

"Or else?" I teased him.

"Or else I may be forced to tear the elven quarter into pieces searching for you," he replied dryly, and I didn't know whether it was a joke or not, mostly because he didn't seem to know.

"You can send Cole to check on me," I offered.

"You assume he won't be following you the entire time," Solas replied. "While there is surely suffering here, I imagine it will be worse in the city. Those who have escaped here are the lucky ones."

"I know," I whispered.

"That wasn't a criticism," he said. "You've done as much as you have the power to do, and more than most."

"I know," I repeated, scrubbing a hand over my face. "That's not - " I took a breath. "I need to speak to Briala. It's my understanding that she knows more of Celene than most, and…"

"And you want to know if Orlais can be worth saving," Solas observed.

"I think Josephine and Vivienne would panic if they knew my thoughts on the subject," I said, trying to smile and probably failing. "If Briala means to lead a revolution, she might have better success if Orlais is in chaos. If she isn't prepared for such a step, though, chaos may only cause more pointless harm. And of course there is Corypheus to consider. I don't think he is an existential threat to Orlais - no matter how chaotic - with only his corrupted templars to aid him, but should he manage to take over the Magisterium…that would be another matter." I chewed thoughtfully at my lip. "So far the information Bull has been passing between us and the Qunari has been useful. But if they thought Tevinter on the verge of uniting beneath Corypheus…I think they would invade. And I don't think they would stop at the border of Tevinter. And then chaos in Orlais would be an existential threat - to all of us." I looked up at him to find his face set in a mask of neutrality.

"That's an astute summation of the present circumstances," he agreed. "What do you intend to do about it?"

"A great deal," I assured him, "but I shouldn't talk about any of it here. Leliana will have a report for me when she arrives. If you want to sit in when we present it to Josephine and Vivienne, I have no objections."

"Are you and she agreed on what is to be done?" he asked a little surprised, but more curious than anything else.

"Not entirely," I replied. "Or, well - on this, I don't know yet, but in general not entirely. She is more likely than anyone else in my circle to support bold actions in favor of necessary change, though, and to understand how to get at structures rather than fussing about with surface features. Our goals and priorities align closely, at least." I heard what I had said, then, and laughed briefly. "Which is admittedly not something I thought I would ever be saying of a shemlen . But…" I thought of Leliana telling me about Celene's massacre and her precious Divine's private anger after the fact. "I think regret for the past drives her almost as harshly as fear for the future drives me - and not just for the elves. For the mages, too."

He hummed thoughtfully. "I'd like to hear your plans, if Josephine and Leliana offer no objections." I heard the smile in his voice. "Vivienne will have a few, I'm sure."

"Oi!" Sera's shout rang out across the clearing. "Time to go , Your Gracious Ladybits! Stop letting His Royal Elfiness paw at you and come on !"

Solas heaved a sigh but rose to his feet, offering me his hand to help me - which I took more because I liked holding his hand than because I needed any help. Once I was on my feet, he used our joined hands to pull me closer, and then put his finger under my chin, tipping it up so he could kiss me.

Exaggerated retching sounds echoed from somewhere nearer the main camp, and I felt his lips curve into a smile.