"What would you have me tell them? This isn't what we asked them to do."
"We cannot simply ignore this. We must find a way."
"And who put you in charge? We need a consensus, or we have nothing."
"Please, we must use reason. Without the infrastructure of the Inquisition, we're hobbled."
"That can't come from nowhere."
"She didn't say it could."
"Enough. This is getting us nowhere."
Voices arguing, blending together. She watched the Inquisition's leadership fight among themselves.
"Shh," came a voice from near her elbow. "You need rest."
She turned to see Mother Giselle sitting next to her. "They've been at it for hours."
"They have that luxury, thanks to you." Giselle handed her a teacup filled with steaming liquid. "The enemy could not follow, and with time to doubt, we turn to blame. Infighting may threaten as much as this Corypheus."
She sipped. Broth, not tea. She took a longer drink, and felt warmth spread through her. "Do we know where Corypheus and his forces are?"
Giselle shook her head. "We are not sure where we are. Which may be why, despite the numbers he still commands, there is no sign of him." Giselle took the cup from her and refilled it. "That, or you are believed dead. Or without Haven, we are thought helpless. Or he girds for another attack." She handed the cup back to Ruya. "I cannot claim to know the mind of that creature, only his effect on us."
She drank. "If they're arguing about what to do next, I need to be there."
"Another heated voice won't help." Giselle glanced out of the tent. "Even yours. Perhaps especially yours. Our leaders struggle because of what we survivors witnessed. We saw our defender stand..." She glanced down at her hands, rubbing her palm. "And fall." She turned back to look at Ruya. "And now, we have seen her return. The more the enemy is beyond us, the more miraculous your actions appear. And the more our trials seem ordained." Giselle's eyes were calm and knowing. "That is hard to accept, no? What 'we' have been called to endure? What 'we', perhaps, must come to believe?"
"I escaped the avalanche." Ruya set the cup down, and folded her hands in her lap. "Barely, perhaps, but I didn't die."
"Of course, and the dead cannot return from across the Veil. But the people know what they saw." Giselle smiled. "Or, perhaps, what they needed to see. The Maker works in both the moment, and in how it is remembered. Can we truly know the heavens are not with us?"
Ruya smacked her hands on the cot in frustration. "All of this happened because of fanatics, and arguments about the next world." She stood up. "It's time we start believing in this one." She strode out of the tent.
#
"Shadows fall and hope has fled. Steel your heart, the dawn will come." Mother Giselle followed her out of the tent, hands clasped in front of her. Her eyes were half closed as she sang, voice low but pitched to carry through the camp. " The night is long, and the path is dark. Look to the sky, for one day soon the dawn will come."
Leliana raised her head, and joined her own voice to the song. High, sweet, and clear, forming a counter harmony to Mother Giselle. "The shepard's lost, and his home is far. Keep to the stars, the dawn will come."
Slowly, other voices began to join in, Cullen among them. " The night is long, and the path is dark. Look to the sky, for one day soon the dawn will come."
Around her, the survivors of Haven approached. One by one, they came to Ruya. Some knelt as they sang, and others simply bowed their heads. "Bare your blade and raise it high. Stand your ground. The dawn will come."
Some of the Chargers joined their voices to the harmony. She saw Blackwall and Sera. Even Vivienne and Varric. " The night is long, and the path is dark. Look to the sky, for one day soon the dawn will come."
They were all looking at her. Eyes wide, hopeful. Believing. The dragon hadn't shaken her as much as all those eyes did.
Mother Giselle placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's all one world, Herald. All that changes is our place in it." She walked into the crowd, which slowly began to thin as people returned to their work with lighter steps.
"A word?" Solas said from behind her. She nodded.
#
Ruya was a bit grateful when Solas led her away from the tents. He lit a torch with a wave of his hand. "A wise woman. Worth heeding. Her kind understand the moments that unify a cause. Or fracture it." He clasped his hands behind his back, and looked at her. "The orb Corypheus carried, the power he used against you. It is elven. Corypheus used the orb to open the Breach. Unlocking it must have caused the explosion that destroyed the Conclave. I do not yet know how Corypheus survived..." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Nor am I certain how people will react when they learn of the orb's origin."
She gazed out into the distance. "All right, what is it, and how do you know about it?"
"They were foci, used to channel ancient magicks. I have seen such things in the Fade, old memories of older magic." Solas twitched a shoulder. "Corypheus may think it Tevinter. His empire's magic was built on the bones of my people. Knowing or not, he risks our alliance. I cannot allow it."
"This whole mess is confusing." She shook her head. So much desperation out there... "I can see how elves might be an easy target."
"History would agree. But there are steps we can take to prevent such a distraction." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "By attacking the Inquisition, Corypheus has changed it. Changed you." He knelt, and used his finger to sketch a map in the frost on a rock. "Scout to the north. Be their guide." He looked up at her. "There is a place that waits for a force to hold it." He stood. "There is a place that where the Inquisition can build... grow..."
#
Convincing them to follow her was easy. Ruya barely had to point, and they were moving. Together, she and Solas ranged ahead of the others. It seemed every time she looked back, there were more following.
The trail was old, but here and there, Solas was able to point out markers, nearly faded into the stone.
He tapped her shoulder just before they crested a rise, and gestured. "Skyhold."
It was magnificent. Despite the span of time it must have remained hidden here in the mountains, the stone of its walls were only crumbled in a few places. She walked towards, it, wonder written on her face. Home. They were coming home.