Raviathan and the others moved quickly through the alleys and back streets. Nesiara and Valora helped Shianni walk, her arms around their shoulders as she limped along with her head down. At every pain filled step she took, Raviathan regretted he hadn't saved the last elfroot potion for her.

Soris watched over the women as Raviathan took vanguard distracting guards and shems or rerouting their path as needed. He moved them as fast as he dared, his only thought to get back to the alienage. Valendrian would know what to do from there. Thankfully, there were no guards at the gates to the alienage. Word of the assault on the estate had probably not yet spread for the guards to organize against them, not with the fire.

"Come on," said Raviathan in a voice he didn't recognize. It was hard, stronger than he remembered. He was normally soft spoken, but now he sounded like Valendrian on a bad day. "The gates are clear. Let's go."

Catching up to him, Soris whispered as he glanced about, "What will we do, cousin? The house servants will surely tell the guards we're responsible." Most had run at the first hint of danger. Though the elven servants bore no love for Vaughan, it was only a matter of time before whispers spread or witnesses came forward. The city guard would come to the alienage. The real question was when. Would they have enough time to escape the city?

"Don't worry about it," Raviathan said, disturbed by the darkness in his own voice.

Soris glanced around again. "But…"

"Listen! The first thing is to get the women back." Lips pursed, he said quietly, "We'll probably have to leave Denerim. If the guards know we're solely responsible, it might spare the rest of the alienage from a purge. I don't know how far we'll get, but if it saves the others… We'll have to hurry though."

Soris paled at the thought. "Y-you mean… we'll be hunted?"

"Don't think about it," Raviathan whispered, hoping the others hadn't heard. They wouldn't be able to run for long, and the guards wouldn't be kind. Their lives were forfeit. All they could do now was minimize the damage for the others. The shouts from inside the alienage became clear once they neared the gates. Voices buzzed in a low, angry hum as if someone had thrown a stone at a wasp's nest. Most of the elves were gathered between the vhenadahl and stage. The festive decorations and lights appeared garish after all that had happened.

The vhenadahl, painted in unnatural red on white, burned Raviathan's eyes. The alienage flattened before him. Sounds warped, images distorted to swirls of color. Only the vhenadahl, the heart of the alienage, stood real and terrible. Shianni, pale legs with a splatter of blood.

Spying them, Valendrian hurried forward, Duncan following with long easy strides. "You've returned." A frown crossed Valendrian's stern face as he reviewed the party. "But where is Toulime's daughter, Nola?"

Though she had stayed strong for most of the journey, Valora's squeaky voice was full of tears when she piped up. "She… she didn't make it."

"They killed her," Raviathan said in that same strange voice that wasn't his.

"What happened?" Valendrian asked, the lines in his face deepening.

The women led Shianni to her home, trying to cover her from the angry crowd as best they could. Valendrian watched her limp away. Raviathan said, "Vaughan and his guards are dead. The guards…" He couldn't look at Valendrian. Shock and rage were still running their course making the world seem flat and unreal.

Soris added looking shamefaced at his hahren, "Rav thinks we should go before the city guards get here."

"Ugh," Valendrian sighed. "That it had come to this. I don't know what I can do for you."

"This might be the only way to keep from implicating the whole alienage," Raviathan said. "If so, it's better you don't help us. Say we did this against the will of everyone here. We had better hurry. The guards will start combing the city and gates, but there might be a way for us to get out by the docks." He unfastened the borrowed long sword and held it to Duncan. "Thank you for the use of the sword."

"Maybe you should ditch the armor too," Soris said taking off his chainmail shirt. "We'll blend in better if you don't have it on."

Duncan had opened his mouth to say something, but the four turned at the sound of marching and clink of armor. Raviathan's heart pounded. For the second time this day, shems invaded his home. Resolution settled into Raviathan's eyes as he turned towards the oncoming guards with his shoulders squared and chin lifted defiantly. "Run, Soris," he said. "Hide in one of the buildings." The other elf hesitated, looking at his cousin, but at Raviathan's hard glare, he ran into the crowd and disappeared.

The guard captain, a fit if older man with a white goatee, led a procession of official city guards. His gaze settled on Valendrian and Raviathan immediately. "Elder. We've respected your role here. Do not tarnish it by trying to hide the culprits, for there will be no tolerance this time. A swash of blood covers what remains of Arl of Denerim's estate. Who are the culprits?"

"I am," Raviathan said firmly before the guard could continue.

"Who else?"

"Just me." Raviathan's hard gaze met the captain's. He was still shaking in rage as he stepped forward.

The captain sneered down at him. "You expect me to believe that an entire estate's worth of guards and three trained lords were taken out by one elf?"

Valendrian placed a hand on Raviathan's shoulder before the young man could react in blind fury. He was calm as he addressed the guards who towered over them. "We are not all helpless. Captain."

One of the guards snorted, and Raviathan's steely gaze went to him. The captain recognized the look, how the elf's grip on the sword tightened for a moment. If the young elf resisted, they would kill him. It was as simple as that. The main problem would be the city's unstated need to see the elf hanged publicly, and tensions would flare for months if the people's need for blood was denied.

A hanging for a lone elf probably wouldn't be enough to satisfy the mobs that would form. He'd have to be tortured publicly, perhaps for weeks. Such acts had not been performed since the Orlesian occupation, and Ferelden was well to be rid of them, but this was a rather extraordinary case. Vaughan had a strong following, nobles and guards who saw him as a forceful leader, a promise that the city would prosper when he became Arl. A public torture of the elf might be the only way to save the alienage from a purge. Those city guards loyal to Vaughan and the Kendells family would not be kind if a purge was ordered.

There was no hope for the boy, but true as that was, cornered men fought the hardest. Whatever the elf had done, he wasn't a novice, and the captain was sure there would be more than one casualty on his side if this wasn't handled well. He faced the lad, understanding that the elf knew what was coming and had sacrificed himself. He looked at the beautiful face and could almost see the damage that would be done to it in the coming weeks. The torturers would break him in every way imaginable. Such a pity. He wished more of his guards had the kind of nerve this elf showed. "I commend you for your courage though I do not envy your fate. Surrender your weapons and come with us."

With a bitter sigh, Valendrian squeezed Raviathan's shoulder. "I'll see what I can do for your trial. Perhaps I can persuade Mother Boann to testify on your behalf."

The guard who had snorted smirked at the old elf. "You think he's going to get a trial? Even if he does get one, I doubt there'll be much left of that pretty face by the time it comes about."

"That's enough," the captain said glaring the guard down. Idiot. He was trying to avoid bloodshed. Last thing he needed was to panic the elf. The guards would react, the alienage would react, and then they would have no choice but an immediate purge.

"Ah, captain," Duncan said and all turned to him. "I am Warden-Commander of the Grey Wardens."

The captain scowled at the unexpected interruption. "You would be Duncan then."

"Yes," the dark human replied. "I am invoking the Right of Conscription." Raviathan frowned in puzzlement, and Valendrian's breath caught in a mixture of hope and regret.

"The right…" the captain stammered, "you can't. He broke the law."

"That does not matter," Duncan said injecting more authority in his voice. "The Right of Conscription can be used in lieu of the gallows if necessary, and that is especially true during a blight."

The words 'a blight' rippled through the guards. The few elves still standing to watch the exchange gasped. Some ran off to spread word. One guard whispered loud enough for the rest to hear, "So it's true. It isn't just a large darkspawn raid."

There was a prayer, "Maker save the King."

The captain swore as thoughts of how the city would react floated through his head. The Warden-Commander may have just saved the elven boy, but he doomed the alienage. The outrage from the city would be immediate, enough that even though actions against the Grey Wardens were unthinkable during a blight, conscription might not be enough to ensure the boy's safety. He fixed Duncan with a look that he hoped conveyed the seriousness of the situation.

"Get him out of the city. Today. Sooner the better." The captain turned then to the guards. "Men. If any ask, you are to say the elves responsible were killed for resisting. Any rumors that get started won't be hard to trace back. The Grey have the King's favor, and any sedition during a blight will not be dealt with leniency." That was the best he could do for the Wardens, but he doubted the men would keep their silence without a demonstration this evening. Days like this made him count the months to his retirement. "Fall out."

The guards left with dark looks and a few grumblings, but they were trained well enough not to speak too loudly. Raviathan slumped, and Valendrian wrapped his arms around the young elf and pressed his face against the back of Raviathan's neck. "Oh my boy. You have no idea what they were going to do to you."

Raviathan had seen it in the city guards' faces. There was a hard hate that many shems had when they saw an elf, but this was beyond anything Raviathan had experienced. They had wanted to see him broken. Not just humiliated or hurt. Broken. Those were the same ugly looks the guards at the estate had when they laughed around Nola's still warm body. It was a final insult that she couldn't even scream as her body was exposed and violated. The young elf started shaking in what Duncan recognized as reaction now that the main crisis was over. A trembling hand rested on the hahren's arm, and Valendrian gave Raviathan a final squeeze before releasing him.

Caught between rage, fear, and distrust, Raviathan returned Duncan's sword without looking at him. "Hahren, once I'm out of the city, Ness and I will have to run. Can you tell her…"

"I'm sorry, Rav." Valendrian clasped a hand against Raviathan's neck. "You have to go with Duncan."

Raviathan's brows knit. He glanced at Duncan, bitter hate in his eyes, then turned back to Valendrian. "Hahren," he whispered. "I'm not going with that shem."

"You listen, young man. I trust Duncan with my life. And you will fulfill your obligation."

"Say your goodbyes, but be quick about it," Duncan replied. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

"But," stricken, Raviathan looked to his hahren, "Ness. I can't leave her."

"Rav," Valendrian said, "you have no choice."

"No. I can run. The guards won't know. She… Valendrian, please..."

"Stop!" Valendrian squeezed Raviathan's arms, his grip painful through the armor. The hahren had a sickly pallor, his age showing clear in the midday sun. "This is a blight. Blights destroy entire nations. We will all be killed if it isn't stopped. Your father, your cousins. Ness. Myself. Everyone in this alienage. Thousands of others. Rav, this is bigger than any of us. You have been chosen. We need you. All of us."

When Raviathan looked out over the crowd of faces, men and women who had been celebrating his marriage only hours ago, he saw rage and sorrow. News was spreading rapidly through the crowd, and the multitude of voices that had hushed in fear of the guards rose. A few left grumbling that there would be a purge for sure and the wise would leave immediately. Elva's shrill voice complained to any who would listen that the whole alienage had been compromised to save a few, a decision had damned them all. Some of the elves agreed, their grumblings added to the snatches of news and worries.

Salia, at whose wedding he had played music and danced, came up to hug him. She whispered, "Maker bless you, Rav. What you did, you did for all of us. Some of us will always remember that."

He sniffed and hugged her back. "Thank you. Take care of yourself."

Sorrow and rage. It was their day of celebration. He was married to a beautiful woman, one who was going to fill the rest of his days with love, family, and companionship as he would have done for her. The whole alienage, family and friends, neighbors and rivals, had set aside grievances to give them this one day that would be special. This was to be a holy day for them, one that would unite them for the rest of their lives. The crowd parted when he walked through the square. The fragility of their lives was revealed in one harsh blow. Any of them could be taken, and there was no defense. Only rage and sorrow.

He entered Alarith's store not sure if it would be for the last time. "Hey youngin'. So you're off then."

"Yeah." Raviathan swallowed. The shop was thankfully empty. "I'm going to be a Grey Warden." He looked about the shop as if seeing the familiar shelves and goods could steady his life. He had known when he took Duncan's sword that nothing would be the same. Had known that the minute the shems invaded the little corner of homeland his kind had in the city.

Alarith nodded slowly as if it had been inevitable. "They're lucky to have you."

Raviathan shrugged to lighten the mood, though sorrow remained in his eyes. "Better than working at the docks then. Glad you approve."

Alarith came around the counter and hugged him. It was an uncharacteristic display from the Tevinter elf, but then, they had almost been family once. "This place is going to be a lot quieter without you." Raviathan returned the hug resting his chin on Alarith's shoulder. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Raviathan ended the hug. "Take care."

Alarith squeezed his shoulder. "You were always meant for better than this place."

Raviathan smiled sadly at his almost uncle. Almost family. He kissed Alarith's cheek then left the little shop and its familiar organized chaos and scents. The cold outside was hard as the bitter southern wind snaked through his clothes to bite his skin. All the elves were still in a buzz, crowding in the street. He started off for Shianni's apartment. It seemed harder to walk now as if he were wading through water. The whole alienage drifted in unreality.

"Rav?"

He looked down to see the face of a young boy who had been one of his first deliveries without Solyn. Even as an infant, the boy had jade green eyes that were far too old to be a child's. "Hey Justen." He knelt down to the boy's height. Everything seemed so distant and flatter somehow. Even the noise and movement from the square felt like it came from behind a bubble.

"Is it true what they're saying? Are you leaving?" Justen had always been a sincere child. He didn't try to hide his emotions, and the sorrow in his old eyes made Raviathan's throat ache.

"Yeah. I have to."

"Why?"

"Because the guards will take me away otherwise."

"But you didn't do anything wrong."

Raviathan kissed the boy on the head. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's just unfair, and there's nothing I can do about it." His long fingers stroked the Justen's fine brown hair. "If I can come back and visit, I will." They hugged and Raviathan kissed his temple in parting. Zacky was crying in a corner, and Justen left to hug him. Raviathan pressed his fingers to his lips then waved goodbye. Would it have been so hard to make time to play with them, give the orphans the attention they were starved for? No more.

No one stopped him as he made his way to the apartment building he had called home all his life. He heard angry yelling from across the square but paid it no mind. Shems had done horrible things here before, especially during a purge, but the blatant criminality of the Arl's actions would be remembered for decades. The elves were always divided on whether they should fight back or not. Some were grateful to his mother for defending the alienage, but others said she got what she deserved. Would he miss the rivalries and factions? He never thought he would, but now that his home was drawing away from him, he was clutching at memories he had taken for granted before.

The rough apartment building was colder than the street. The immense shadow cast by the alienage wall only lifted in the afternoon. He went into Shianni's apartment first. Valora and Nesiara were there. "How is she?"

Valora answered in her timid, squeaky voice, "She's calmer now. She'll be okay. Shianni's tough."

Raviathan nodded automatically. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off Nesiara since he entered the room. Valora quietly left looking between the two of them. The words of his father returned to him then. Would his wife be satisfied living wild among the Dalish? How could she be happy running as a fugitive? Nesiara was smudged and dirty from the fire and fighting, a smear of blood on her jaw. More blood on her dress. Gazing at her now, how could he ask her to live the rest of her days in hiding? She deserved better than that. Better than anything he had been able to offer her. "Ness," he began but his throat was closing.

She walked forward to hold him. "Soris overheard. A Grey Warden."

"Ness," he tried again. "I'm so sorry." His vision started to swim.

She whispered, "You saved me. You risked everything to save me."

"I love you." He closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling, but one leaked out anyway. "I can try and come back," he offered.

"Duncan told me that Grey Wardens can't have families."

As much as he didn't want to hear it, he had expected as much. He kissed her hair. This would be the last time he felt the silky softness of her hair against his lips. At least her willowy little body was still hers. That alone was worth giving her up. "I'm sorry, Ness." His chest tightened as he held her close. "I would have done anything for you."

"I know, my love." She sniffed then. He could feel the wet of her tears against his neck.

"I…" It felt like his heart was being crushed by a large fist. He couldn't breathe. "I want you to be happy, Ness. Will you do that for me?" His lips brushed her temple, and he caressed the fine skin of her jaw.

She buried her face in his chest. "Rav," she whispered.

He rubbed her back. "You were the best thing that happened to me in a long time, sweet Ness. I'll always treasure these days. You made me so happy." He leaned down and kissed her tears then lifted her face to look into her cornflower blue eyes. "You made me so very happy. I want you to stay safe and find your happiness. Do that for me, sweet Ness. Make that my wedding gift." It made her cry all the more, but she nodded unable to speak. He kissed her hand. It was rough with calluses and capable of creating beautiful things. How he loved her hands. "You're special, sweet Ness. Don't ever forget that."

He walked away from her towards the second room but stopped before he entered. "Rav," she said softly, "You're the best man I ever knew." There was a squeak of hinges, and the door closed behind him. Nesiara was gone. Duncan had saved him from a hanging, but at this moment it didn't seem like the man had done him much of a favor. She was gone.

The door stood before him with the unreality of a portal to another world. Shianni. The image of her face, crying in pain and humiliation, was more real than the door. Followed that was the image of the human pulling himself off. The line of his sick seed still trailing from her. The small splatter of blood on her upper thigh added to the bruises already forming on her legs. Bile rose in Raviathan's throat. It's ugly acid taste added to the nausea he already felt. He opened the door to see her sitting on her sleeping mat like a vacant and broken doll. He sat next to her. He wanted to touch her but was afraid.

"Cousin," he said. "I have to leave."

She pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I heard." She looked at his hand for a moment before taking it between hers. "You're off to do great things."

He leaned down and kissed her hand. She stiffened but did not stop him. "I'm sorry, cousin." The apology felt useless. He didn't even know why he bothered saying it. It changed nothing. Shianni had paid the price, and no apologies would take away what happened.

"I don't want anyone to know what happened," Shianni said with fresh steel in her voice. He looked at her then. The sweet grey brown eyes in her child's doll face had hardened. In a few days the bruise that covered half her cheek and jaw would be purple. He knew there were more from the way she walked, stiff and limping. She had said nothing. It was like she shut down a part of herself. "They just think Vaughan roughed me up a bit, and that's all they're going to know. Promise me."

"Cousin," he pleaded feeling shame wash through him like a black rain. He had felt rage and pain at the deaths of his mother and aunt, but not this clawing guilt. Unlike then, this was his fault. He had been overwhelmed by panic to get Shianni and Ness back, but now that she was here and torn, torn and never to be repaired, he felt the full force of his responsibility. He had failed her in the worst way possible. All the training he had gone through in his childhood was useless when he couldn't protect the ones he loved.

Her hand withdrew, and she wrapped her arms around her legs again. "They'll treat me differently. You know that. Elva will call me a whore. The boys will get ideas. I'll either get pitied or picked on." He wanted to hold her and let her tears come as they would have when they were children, but she had shut down. "I'll be fine."

What could he say? It wasn't right to keep this a secret, but he didn't know what else to do for her. "Alright. If that's what you want, I won't tell anyone."

She sniffed and looked at him for the first time. "You promise?"

"Yes Shianni. I promise."

She looked back down. "I love you, cousin."

He had never felt so small and helpless. "I love you too." He left her on the mat. There was nothing he could do for her. No words. If only he were wiser maybe then he could find some way to comfort her, say the right thing to make her feel less alone, less hurt. His feet felt leadened as he trudged up the stairs to his apartment.

Calls from the neighbors accosted him on the way. Some wanted to know what happened or what was going to happen. He ignored them all. These people he had known from childhood. He had made poultices for them or watched their children while they went on some errand. Some had watched him as a child and told him stories or sang lullabies. Nearly every day for eighteen years he had seen their faces and traded gossip or jokes. What would it be like without them?

Soris and his father were in the apartment. His father hurried over to give him a hug. "Oh, son."

"I'm alright, father," he said grateful for his father's wiry strength. "At least this way I'm alive."

A sob escaped the old elf. His grip tightened for a long minute before he let go. "You did the right thing. Your mother… she'd be so proud of you."

Raviathan almost cried when he heard that. He held back the tears with an effort, but his voice was strained. "You think so, father?"

A wide smile cracked the old elf's face as tears welled in his eyes. "I'm sure of it. Being a Grey Warden. I know she thought about that life more than once, but she loved you with all her heart. She thought about it, but she never regretted staying. I think she'd be proud that you'll do something she wanted as well." The tears swam in his blue eyes but didn't fall. "Go and pack up."

"Yes, father." Raviathan gave Soris a look to follow and the two went up the ladder to the upper floor. Raviathan took the oldest pillow case and started adding his few belongings. There wasn't much to pack: his clothes, a comb, sewing kit, an unused wrapped bar of soap, his little leather pouch of lock picks that was hidden under the false bottom of his chest. The lute, fiddle, and pipes would stay. A pouch of coins, some precious stones and jewelry, brandy, and odds and ends he had pilfered at the estate went into the sack as well.

While he packed, Soris said, "You took all the blame. You're amazing cousin, you know that?"

A small sad smile eased Raviathan's lips. "It was nothing."

Soris sat on the bunk bed. "You always were my hero. Now you're an official hero."

"You were there too, Soris."

"What did I do? I was never as brave as you."

He gave Soris a wide silverite bracelet with moonstones set in an ornate filigree. "For Valora. You've got a proper wedding gift for her now."

Soris took the bracelet, turning it over and over. "I didn't earn this."

"Yes you did. Don't let anyone tell you different." Raviathan's chest jerked in a sob. He piled all the coins from the three purses he had taken from the nobles into one and put that in the chest for his family to find. In an empty purse he put the best piece of jewelry he found, a gold necklace with three rubies. "Give this to Ness. Please."

"Sure, cousin." Soris said in a strained voice. "You're going to miss her."

Raviathan lay on the floor to grab the strap of his healer's bag and dragged it out from under the bed. That at least was something he wouldn't have to worry about hiding anymore. "I'm going to miss all of you."

"I know, but you were happy for the first time in years."

Raviathan shrugged. It didn't matter anymore. She was gone. "Soris, following me today, it was brave. My mother trained me, so I knew what I was doing. All you had was a sword you've never held before. I know you don't feel like you're that kind of person, but when you don't think about it, when you just act, you are." He tied the pillow closed with a bit of rope and tied that so it rested on top of his herbalist kit. He could have taken something small like his pan pipes, but the thought of music repelled him.

He looked up at his ornament and hesitated. It belonged to Nesiara now, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing it. I'm stealing from her, he thought. He took it carefully from the tack. The little crystals clinked in a colorful dance. Raviathan held his breath and forced the tears away. It was too delicate to take with him. Instead he stored it under the false bottom of his chest. "Promise you won't tell."

"I promise, cousin."

Finished, Raviathan hopped down the hole to the bottom floor, and Soris handed him his small collection of things.

Nessa had entered the room while he had packed. "Rav. I don't think I can ever repay you for saving us."

He smiled and gave her a hug and kiss goodbye. "Take care of my father, huh? Make sure he eats and all."

Cyrion held his son affectionately by his neck. Raviathan wondered if this would be the last time he felt his father's rough, cold hand. "I'm supposed to say that to you."

The two men stood with their foreheads touching in a moment of silent comfort. Raviathan wondered at his father's strength. Years ago, after his wife was killed, Cyrion had developed a peace that made him able to endure the stings of life with quiet calm. Raviathan had been bothered by it, thought his father too passive. In that moment, Raviathan felt his father's calm and knew it for the strength it was. He would mourn, but he would endure. "Alright son. Be good, and wise, and strong."

"I will, father."

At the bottom floor, Raviathan heard a woman crying from Drioni and Eolas' apartment. "There now, dearie," Eolas's voice was muffled through the door. "We've both lost husbands. It hurts like nothing else. Deep down, and it hurts. Go ahead and cry."

He touched the door, his heart squeezing tight. She was gone. Soris wrapped his arms around Raviathan, rested his face in Raviathan's hair. The tears came try as he might to hold them back. His wife was gone.

"I'm sorry, cousin. I know you loved her."

Raviathan wiped his face and the two left the apartment building together. The square was no less full. Raviathan waved goodbye to the children who had gathered near the orphanage and alleys. They stayed out of the adults' way but had come to see Raviathan leave. All the children waved goodbye. A few cried. "They'll miss you too, cousin."

I'll miss them, Raviathan thought. "Soris, be good to Valora."

The pale elf nodded. "She's a good woman. Has ideas for changing this place for the better. It won't be so bad."

Raviathan grinned. "Better than gargoyles."

"That's right," Soris said smiling with the bittersweet resign they usually saw in adults. "Doesn't this remind you of when we tried to run away to find the Dalish?"

Raviathan's laugh sounded more like a sob. "Yeah. All I need is a frying pan and a fish for my weapons."

"Darkspawn beware!" Soris said clapping a hand on Raviathan's back.

Duncan and Valendrian were waiting, the two in quiet discussion by the gates. As they approached Duncan asked, "Are you ready?"

"Almost." He gave Soris a final hug goodbye, and they kissed on the cheek. "Take care, cousin." He turned to Valendrian who ran his fingers paternally through Raviathan's hair. He gave his hahren a melancholy smile. "There'll be less trouble around here now that I'm going."

Raviathan looked at his hahren with new eyes. Valendrian's crinkled skin was like fine, old porcelain. His white hair gleamed in the shadows of the alienage. Despite his age, the old elf's deep voice carried with a resounding authority. Raviathan had always respected him, but now saw just how sagacious the elf was. He had held the elves together for decades and guided them through crisis after crisis. Raviathan was going to miss his council, his quiet wisdom and absolute integrity. All Valendrian's life had been dedicated to serving his people.

Valendrian pulled him in a hug and they rested their foreheads against each other for a moment. "You were always meant for better things, Rav. Take care, my boy."

Unable to speak, Raviathan kissed him goodbye. Without looking back, he left with Duncan out of the gates and away from his home.