The stalwart guard captain kept their exit clear, as promised. Her men cheered as the news got out - the former Champion of Kirkwall had been destroyed. "We've still got a lot to do," Aveline said. "The sun is nearly down, and the undead that are left will be out in force once it's dark."

"Don't forget the Veil tears," Finn put in wearily, leaning heavily on his staff. "Someone… someone should really do something about the Veil tears."

"Won't be us," Vashti said.

"What?" Aveline and Ariane chorused in surprise together.

"He needs away from here," Vashti pointed to Finn. He looked up at her, mouth half-open as if to protest - then he swallowed and nodded. She valued, even admired, his strength, but there was no reason to test it further. Kirkwall was not good for him. "The templar Knight-Commander will kill her if he sees her," she pointed to Merrill, talking quietly, hand-in-glove with Varric. Between events of the past and the present, she did not want to rely on the shadow of the Right of Conscription to stay Ser Cullen's blade. "You have guards, templars, and mages. You are not helpless."

"I wasn't expecting the Grey Wardens to run from a fight," Aveline said.

Vashti shrugged, refusing to let the other woman's cold disappointment inside. "Not my fight anymore."

"Hey." Varric interrupted his conversation with Merrill to interject. "They helped a lot already. We got this."

Aveline glared at the dwarf, then turned abruptly on her heel. "The abominations are dead, but we're not done here yet! Squads, form up on your leaders and prepare to continue our sweep!" She stalked off, barking orders to her men, and sending messengers to take the latest battlefield news to Viscount's Keep.

"And… and if you ever see Isabela again, tell her I think of her often," Merrill continued as if no one had said anything at all. "And tell Aveline I'm so sorry."

"We covered that one, Daisy. Look, Bianca and I have to go help Madame Guard-Captain with the defense. Take care of yourself… and…" He gave a lopsided grin, although his eyes were damp, and Vashti turned away from the scene. Still, she heard behind her, "When you rediscover the Warden griffons, I want you to write and tell me, okay?"

"Fenris," Vashti called, mostly so she wouldn't have to hear Merrill's tearful good-byes. His hangdog head instantly swiveled her way. "Ma serranas. You help was appreciated."

He nodded - and Varric brushed past her, with a quick but piercing look and a murmured, "Thanks" - For the city? For his 'Daisy'? - and then tilted his head after the departing dwarf. "Then I will consider my debt paid. But my fight is not yet over; I stand with my… with my friends this night."

"Ostagar is open to all of the elvhenan," Ariane called - she stood a few paces apart, nearer to Merrill. Of the two mages, it was obvious which the allan'isa considered more of the risk. "If you ever wish to return to the homeland -"

Fenris gave her a very small smile. "Thank you, but… that seems unlikely." He slid his eyes to Merrill, grimaced and snarled, "Try not to bring madness and ruin to the Grey Wardens as well."

She only looked back solemnly. "I will. Walk your path free, Fenris."

He spat, then hurried to catch up with Aveline and Varric.

"Can we go now?" Finn asked plaintively.

Dog leapt and cavorted, practically beside himself with joy. Vashti had to smile when he paused to lick at her hand before bounding off again. The shemlen, she had to admit, might be onto something with dogs.

Tamlen did not smile. Arms crossed over his chest, he glared at the trio down the hillside from them. "You said you were going to kill her. She deserves it, for what she did!"

Vashti nodded agreement. "She does. And if the Creators will it, she may yet die. Joining the Grey Wardens is dangerous. And painful." And much worse, in her own opinion, than a simple, clean death. She had never held with Alistair's position that to be counted a Warden was an honor; it was a deadly, poisonous burden, one that she would rather place on Merrill's shoulders than some clan's promising young First.

"Good. I hope she does die." He scowled up at her. "It's not right."

Vashti studied him for a moment. It was hard to see such vicious anger in a da'len, but didn't he have cause? "The Dalish have little, so we must waste little," she finally said. "A broken dar'missan can be made into a dar'misu; a broken dar'misu turned into knife; a broken knife turned into an awl or some other tool. She has power and knowledge, and the Dalish Wardens have need of both. The Grey Wardens are not," she added dryly, "much concerned with 'fair' or 'right.'"

"Then the Grey Wardens are horrible!" he declared indignantly.

She looked away, downslope, and nodded. No sense denying it. "We are."

He spat a curse that would have made his mother yank his ears and took off downhill. He paused only to scream, red-faced, at Merrill before pelting ahead, into the trees. "Follow him," Vashti told Dog, who immediately whuffed an assent and loped off to keep the child out of danger. She lengthened her own steps to catch up with Finn, Ariane, and the witch.

Merrill walked a little apart, face cast down in shame. (If there was grief there, too, Vashti was unwilling to see it.) But she had made no moves to run and seemed to accept the judgement levied upon her. Ariane still watched her, and that was as it should be.

"It was a wise decision," her friend told her, as she fell in step. "Of course it pains him, but I think this is for the best."

"Ma serranas," she answered quietly. As always, Ariane knew what she needed to hear, before she even knew it herself.

"I was thinking," Ariane went on, with just a moment's hesitation, "that he will need somewhere to go, once we return home. My clan is thriving, we could take him in."

Vashti considered. "Will your Keeper allow it?"

"What, because of the so-called curse?" Ariane scoffed. "Then we will adopt him, formally. He will be as much ours as if he married in, and no longer Sabrae."

That sounded possible. "You know a bonded pair who would do this?"

"I -" Ariane broke off and made a sound - clearing her throat? "Yes. Yes, I think there are a few couples who would."

"Then let it be so," Vashti said, with a combination of weariness and relief. "The Grey Wardens are of no clan and all clans; he will be with yours. And the Sabrae will be no more."

"Oh, Vashti…" Ariane's eyes widened. "Abelas, I didn't mean -"

"No. No, it is better this way."

Walking along in silence, Finn pressed his lips into a thin line. A loving couple. A wanted child.

He hadn't spoken with any of them about what he'd seen in the Fade. It seemed too personal. Vashti, he was sure, would never bring it up. Ariane might think that he was just another figment of her imagination, some element of her mind trying to warn her, cloaked in his form.

The pieces ought to fit together. A wife for Vashti, a child for Ariane, a family for young Tamlen. Happily ever after, like the stories.

But it didn't… it didn't work that way. The Dalish wouldn't recognize that bond, for one thing. Ghilan'nain's Sisters frequently seemed closer than religious oaths might warrant, but they were united by their pledges to Andruil, not by a bonding ceremony. And Vera had said something - he didn't even try to recall the exact words - but it sounded like there was a fundamental mismatch, anyway. Then, the child needed a home now, not whenever Ariane and her Keeper worked out whether or not she would bond with that First fellow.

He glanced at Merrill, thinking of the pile of silver-grey shards they'd left behind in the undercity. Sometimes, no matter how you worked at it, the pieces just never came together the way you wanted.

Thank you for reading The Demon Queen of Kirkwall! If you enjoyed it, you may also like The Search for the Dragon's Claw, my first novella featuring Vashti, Ariane, Finn and Dog. Click on over to my profile page and you'll find the link to dastardly Orlesians, mad dragon cultists, and adventure under the boughs of the ancient Tirashan Forest.

Will there be more? Maybe! Back In The Day, my original plan was to follow this one with something set in the Dalish Homeland, wherein Our Heroes could work through some of their emotional conflicts (and probably solve some mystery while they're at it) and then to conclude with The Quest for Lost Arlathan. (Because seriously, they have the Lights of Arlathan and the Drake's Fall eluvian - it's time to go prospecting!) I don't yet have a compelling hook for Volume Three, but for a long time I didn't have a good hook for Demon Queen, either. So we'll see.