That You May Always Remember Me

Chapter 13

That voice.

Days passed and Elissa remained in the castle. She spent much of her time in the gardens and even requested riding lessons from the stablemaster. At night she would curl up in the library, quickly reading through the large collection of books in an attempt to retrieve all the knowledge she once possessed. Alistair began skipping the quiet dinners he and Anora used to share and instead brought whatever he could carry from the kitchen to Elissa and they would eat together while discussing the past, present, and future.

One evening Alistair found himself working in his office much later than he would have preferred when a familiar form entered, speaking quickly in that rich accent that was once familiar to the king's ears. "I have a bone to pick with you." Alistair's first reaction was to grunt at whatever he had done wrong now before he finally looked up and found Zevran Aranai staring angrily at him as if continuing an argument from that morning when in reality the two hadn't spoken in 10 years.

"How did you get in here? I have guards…"

"Yes, and they are not as good at their jobs as I am at mine. Now stop changing the subject and explain yourself."

Alistair shoved his head into his palms. "Ugh… What?"

Zevran took a seat in front of the desk. "When the Blight ended and we all went our separate ways I understood. I never thought we'd be lifelong friends, but I at least thought you'd have the decency to tell me if Elissa was still alive!"

Alistair slowly lifted his head. "How do you know that?"

Zevran squinted at the king. "Well it certainly wasn't because you told me. How could you? Elissa was my friend too and I had a right to know if she was alive or not!"

"Shh!" Alistair hushed as Zevran raised his voice in anger. "No one knows except a handful of people… apparently including you."

"You should have told me."

"And how was I supposed to find you? Look down every dark alley and seedy underground market?"

"Yes, those would have been good places to start, but you didn't even try, did you?"

Alistair failed to produce a response to this and let his forehead fall to his desk tiredly. Zevran could see that he had made his point clear. "I suppose," he began in a slightly softer tone, "I could begin to forgive this transgression if I were to be offered a place to stay in your lovely home…"

"Fine," Alistair groaned. Zevran pushed his chair back, preparing to leave, when the king spoke up cautiously. "If you go to see Elissa though… don't expect too much of her."

Zevran frowned. "So that's true as well?" He sighed and wiped his face before a devilish grin crossed it. "But surely you've been reminding her?"

Alistair shook his head slowly. "She's as quick a learner as ever, but she doesn't seem to be actually remembering anything. I thought just being here would help but…"

"What I mean is," Zevran continued as his accent seemed to get thicker. "You've been giving her plenty of reasons to remember you, no? I've heard about the king's recent diplomatic affairs."

Alistair's face flushed bright pink. "That's… you shouldn't participate in such idle gossip. None of it is true."

The corners of Zevran's mouth turned downward slightly and his brow crinkled. "I find that hard to believe. I remember during the Blight you two couldn't keep your hands off each other."

"Then you remember wrong because that's not true either."

"I know you liked to think you were being quiet but our tents weren't so far apart and…" Alistair cupped his hands over his ears and began humming loudly to himself. He knew it was childish but he desperately wanted to avoid hearing whatever the elf had to say. Zevran huffed. "I don't understand you, Alistair. Against all odds a man like you somehow managed to get a woman like that (even thought she could have had her chance with me…), and now that you can be with her again you do nothing!"

"It's very complicated."

"I disagree. 'I love you.' 'I love you, too. Now let's take our pants off.' See? It's really quite simple."

Alistair rolled his eyes and Zevran stood once again to leave. "Have a bath drawn for me. It is so tiring talking with you." Before Alistair could echo the sentiment he caught Zevran staring at the painting of Elissa on his office wall. The Anitvan mumbled sadly to himself before leaving the room and once again Alistair had to silently agree. It would never be the same.

OOOOOOOOOO

Viola threw her book on the ground and it bounced away from her, just barely missing the blazing fireplace. She had read everything she could get her hands on about the secretive Grey Wardens and they all came the same conclusion: if you kill an Archdemon, you die. She could find no loophole in this logic or even the beginnings of a plausible explanation for Elissa's survival. It was becoming evident that she simply didn't know enough about Archdemons and, unless they were hiding more secrets than anyone realized, the Wardens didn't know enough either. They knew how to kill them and that seemed to be all the knowledge they believed necessary.

The Inquisitor rubbed her eyes and stretched her legs out in front of her on the couch in her bedroom. Outside the wind howled as it raced across the Frostbacks, a familiar sound to all members of the Inquisition. That was why, though the noise was very faint, Viola could clearly make out a wolf's howl in the distance. Walking out to her balcony she leaned over the railing and squinted north where she could make out the silhouette of a pack approaching Skyhold. There wasn't much game this high on the mountain and she was confused why they'd wandered so far, but once they were close enough that she could see them clearer she gasped and raced down to meet them in the snow. They were Elissa's wolves.

She shivered in the cold as her excitement had prevented her from putting on a coat or even suitable shoes, but she had to investigate the dogs who were now standing right before her. "Are you looking for your mistress?" she asked, bending down to let the alpha of the group sniff her hand. He did so and quickly found her to be acceptable, allowing her to pat his head softly. "I'm not sure you'd be welcome in the palace." She laughed to herself and added quietly, "What am I saying? It's Fereldan."

The other wolves seemed to grow unsettled as the Alpha backed away from Viola and stood on its hind legs. The Inquisitor's violet eyes widened to their limits. She had once witnessed Morrigan turning into a dragon, but that was nothing compared to the horror this transformation elicited within her. In only a few short seconds the wolf had vanished and in its place stood Solas.

Her first instinct was to throw a fireball at him, which he aptly deflected.

"Viola."

That voice. That voice she once thought could make anything sound beautiful. That voice she decided over many wasted nights of waiting that she never wanted to hear again. He took a step forward and that was far too close for her. With a gesture she trapped him in a magical cage. "You know I can get out of this?" he asked with a smirk that only made Viola's rage grow.

"You don't get to speak!" The wolves began to growl lowly at her. "Call them off!"

Solas crossed his arms. "Only if you agree to be rational and listen to me."

"And why would I do that?" Solas nodded slightly toward the dogs who where now baring their teeth. Though she knew better than to trust the elf any more, this was an easy bluff to call. Raising her hands in the air she stared him down defiantly. "If this is what you came here for then so be it."

Solas crinkled his forehead and let go of the pretense. He rounded his lips and produced a whistle Viola couldn't hear at all, but it sent the pack running down the mountainside. She lowered her hands and moved toward Solas, still keeping him in his glowing cage. She examined him with all her scrutiny, but he looked the same as always. A little tired, maybe. "Where have you been?" she asked, her words dripping with acid.

"I… I can't tell you."

"Why did you leave?"

Solas responded with a frown.

"Can you at least tell me why you were pretending to be one of Elissa's wolves?"

He smiled faintly at a question he could answer. "I was watching her. I have been for some time. I wasn't there when you found her in the woods but I know you sent her to Denerim. Viola, listen carefully." His expression changed toward something the Inquisitor could hardly believe looked like honest earnestness. "She is not what she appears." Biting back the urge to yell, "I knew it!" Viola kept her gaze locked on Solas as both their faces leaned closer to the barrier between them. "That's why I came back- to warn you about the Hero of Fereldan."