"Are you ready?"

Ellana's eyes flickered upward, catching the pale ice of his gaze.

His face was utterly calm as his fingers teased and tickled her skin. The digits were confident as they roamed her flesh, the pressure enough to feel but not enough to be satisfying.

One of his hands cupped the bareness of her calf, thumb rolling across her muscle while the other hand leaned forward and grasped her hip. He loomed over her from where she lay in the shade. Her fingers clenched the fabric of the blanket at her sides, listening to the rustle of grass.

Ellana swallowed, heat flushing in her face as Solas leaned further over her, his thighs brushing hers. He looked concerned, expression tentative but determined.

"It will hurt."

This… was not at all how this situation was supposed to go.

"Make sure it's fast." Cassandra's voice called from somewhere above her head. Most likely staring at them with a perturbed expression and crossed arms. It was a nice reminder that Cassandra, Cole and most of the Dirth Dalish clan was watching them.

It would almost be nice except for that.

And, well, the utter excruciating pain in her leg, and the sticky blood that had most likely coated Solas' beautiful long fingers.

She flushed, chiding herself. It wasn't really the time.

This day had been embarrassing enough and it seemed to get worse every notch the sun rose in the sky.

First she had stepped in a hunting trap (for Halla, they had learned). An amateur's mistake. Then shad to ride on Cassandra's back all the way to the Dalish camp, where she was introduced as the famed Herald (who had a broken leg from a stupid mistake.) And now everyone was watching intently as Solas crowded above her, weaving his magic and threatening to make her scream.

And not in a good way.

"I'm afraid of being too loud." Cole spoke her thoughts ominously, suddenly at her side on the grass, startling her and making Solas pull backward.

"Cole!" She exclaimed, touching his shoulder and her heart. "Don't-" she sighed, trying not to admonish his very nature. "It's alright—you don't have to do that."

"I want to help." He spoke dearly, eyes and brows worrying into a frown.

He thought it was his fault, she knew he did. With how many times he asked to help on the way over to the camp, that much was obvious. But she had only been trying to make sure it wasn't his leg in the damned thing.

"Hold my hand then."

He grasped her fingers fast, eager, and she turned her eyes back on Solas who was regarding her with a small warm smile.

She bit her lip.

"Not to worry da'len, I will make it quick." He promised and oh Creators—what a promise to be told in such an unexpected and unsatisfying way.

But there wasn't really time to regret the thought when suddenly his hands were on her broken shin. The magic that held her blood at bay began to recede, the trickling feeling a startling one.

"Solas—"

"Shh." He hushed, and she tried to match his calmness.

He needed to put the bone back together—or mostly back together. It was nearly a clean break and the injury was serious enough that in order to fix it properly he needed all his magic. But she could bleed out, he had explained. So they had to do it with poultice and elf root, which the Dalish were kind enough to provide.

So upon reaching the camp they had laid her out, unwrapped the wound and prepared for setting the broken bone. She could feel the thick patch of herbs and poultice coating the large teeth shaped holes in her legs and hoped it would be enough to stop her blood from draining.

Already she was woozy. She had been since the metal jaw had collapsed upon her and the pain had ripped her mind out of her head. And now it had been nothing but constant stabbing pains soothed only by the wisps of Solas' aura.

With that gone it felt like someone had ripped her leg out of a warm bath into cold, harsh biting wind.

She watched the top of Solas' head to stay focused, to try and ignore the sensation of her leg getting increasingly more painful. She traced the tips of his ears and the straightness of his brow even as it furrowed in concentration. So precise, so diligent…

And then—

"AAYH—"The scream was loud and cut off as her teeth snapped shut, jaw creaking as she turned and buried her face into Cole's hand.

Her eyes closed tightly.

Thought escaped her. She could only imagine words as textures and bright colors; images of fire or scorched lighting on the ground. Pain, pain, pain! The pain of the bone snapping back together was almost as bad as it breaking in the first place. It was sharp, and pressing, pushing from her leg into her back and arching her upward.

She thought she heard everyone talking, crowded and murmuring like the halls of Skyhold, but it all sounded far away. She felt a hand in her hair and the almost metallic ringing in her mind from the snapped bone began to gradually dim as did her mind.

"Ellana, no, do not close your eyes." She heard Solas speak, the roll of his voice so soft and soothing.

She could sleep to that.

"Get more wrappings!" someone called.

"Solas, the bleeding—you need to stop—"

"I'm trying."

Oh… gods she was exhausted. She felt the pain lesson to a pulsating throb. Each beat harsh and prominent, as if her heart were in her leg.

It was lethargic, listening to it. And her body felt heavy, weighted. Almost as if she was sinking.

"Ellana—da'len please—" He sounded more insistent this time. But he was distant… far.

"Cole. Wake her up." Cassandra again.

And suddenly her body jerked upward, hands grasping her head and yanking her into a lap. "Wake up!" The voice called above her. "You will miss sunrise!"

Memories rushed to her mind. Sunrise—the camp from clan Lavellan. The smell of burning embers from the fire the night before… If she missed sunrise the hunting party would leave without her—as First she had to go with them, she had too! Or she would never prove to Keeper Deshanna—

Her eyes snapped open and an inhale filled her lungs.

Vibrant blue eyes looked down at her, framed by a large hat. "They don't want you to fall asleep." Cole told her.

She nodded dumbly, the memory escaping her as fast as it had come. She could hear now, hear Cassandra rushing words at Solas as his magic raced along her skin with his fingers. A Dalish woman was insisting on helping wrap her calf while someone else was calling for a proper splint.

"Will you tell me about the Knots again?" Cole asked.

Hazily, Ellana tried to explain, staring into the void of the boy's eyes. "Something… to remember them by…"

"Did you make many at home?"

"Only… two…"

Her whole body was practically numb now, the air thick with the smell of rust and elfroot.

"Do you still remember them? Even though you don't have those knots anymore?"

"Yes…of course..."

Cole continued to ask questions she blindly answered, and it wasn't until he sat her upright to keep her awake that she saw how much blood she lost.

Solas had red on his hands like gloves. His fingerprints were dotted along her ankle, foot and knee like drips of paint. There were probably more around her actual shin, but she could not see it around the mess of blood that lingered there. The blanket beneath her was stained so much she had no doubt the grass beneath was soaked as well.

However, as Solas pressed a new wooden splint to her leg and a Dalish woman began to wrap, she noticed that the holes looked smaller. The poultice had done little – but enough.

"Hold it steady and wrap tightly please." He informed the woman, her thin face nodding up and down as she began.

Solas glanced up at her incredulous face. The pent up concern between his brows did not leave, but he gave a halfhearted smile.

It looked absurd in the middle of the battle-like gore scene.

She tried to smile back and the act at even trying made her laugh.

And then she was laughing hysterically.

"Inquisitor, please." Cassandra said; with such disgruntled disapproval that Ellana could only laugh more. The woman's face was so pricelessly exhausted and the situation so ridiculous—

"What is… so funny?" Cole asked loudly and that did not help to quell her mirth.

"Our fearless leader seems to have finally… snapped?" Solas suggested with a glint in his eye.

She didn't miss the ironic wording of his joke, and soon found tears in her eyes for laughing harder. It was good, distracting, the clenching and cramping of her stomach and heaving of her lungs. She couldn't feel the pain anymore, but her head was light and full of air.

Perhaps it was the flood of relief that she was alright, or the climax of so much adrenaline. "I'm so-so-so so! Sorry! HA!"

"Honestly." Cassandra grumbled harshly, standing abruptly and walking away, leaving them and the little crowd of elves.

Ellana watched her leave with a joyful ache in her cheeks, Cole still asking what the joke was from above her.

Solas caught her gaze and held it. Blood up to his wrists and a smudge of it on his cheek, he looked at her with an tired and splendid grin, chuckling so deeply it rolled through his shoulders as he shook his head.

"Those bastards have been trying to take down the southern herds for weeks now. I'm not surprised that someone got hurt—especially with bad shemlen iron work like this. The poor Halla are probably dying ways most gruesome."

Ellana smiled sadly at the young Dalish, his brows furrowed in disgust. The expression curled his vallaslin of June into the swallows of his cheeks. She watched silently as he dismantled the metal jaws.

Cole was sitting quietly on her other side, rocking back and forth on his heels and carving pictures in the dirt. He hadn't left her side since the setting of her leg, which she was grateful for. He would speak up each time she got too tired, Solas having given him the task of keeping her awake and alert.

"You best be careful Lethallan, the rust is most likely in your blood – you can get mad sick with rotten metal in your veins."

"That's what Solas has been saying…" She trailed, turning from her resting spot with the man to look over at the mentioned elf, he and Cassandra discussing something with Keeper Howen some distance away.

"Your hahren is right to be cautious. You will need to cleanse your blood when you get somewhere with more herbs." He was looking at her with warning, his eyes wide with insistence. "I know someone from the clan near the Emerald Dales who had to cut his arm off before the metal spread to his heart."

Ellana cringed, not liking the image of herself with no right leg. Cole on the other hand leaned forward to stare at the Elf in wonder.

"They cut it off?" The boy asked.

"The skin gets black and grey like the undead. It was nasty—they had to tie the arm down with a rope, and cut off the blood before taking one of them skinning knives—"

"Solas, Cassandra!" Ellana called, eager to see them approaching. She gave an awkward smile to her Dalish companion. "Sorry, we should speak about where we are headed next."

"No worries Lethallan, I wish you safe travels."

He left, taking the wretched Halla trap with him and Ellana hoped she would not see another for some time.

Cassandra's booted feet stopped before her eyes, the woman standing with a harsh and uneasy look on her face. Solas' expression didn't look much better. She parted her lips to ask, but he knelt before her instead.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, brows drawing forth and staring at her face rather than the red spotted bandages on her shin.

She smiled at him, silently wondering when her last offering to the Creators had been. Surely another was due, if only to thank them for sending her Solas. He was a light in the dark as Inquisitor— a warm, heady, knowing veilfire.

"I'm alright." She assured. It had been some time since fixing her leg and they insisted she take it easy. No sleeping though. Solas was still afraid she might fall to the Fade with the loss of blood and the pain. She could come out with a fever from the rust – or worse. There was always worse when it came to ill mages crossing into the Fade. She tried to shrug. "I can't feel it. My leg."

He frowned a bit at that but said nothing.

Looking over him she glanced back up to Cassandra curiously. "So what's happening? Is there a plan brewing I don't know about?"

"No." The Seeker answered immediately. Solas made a sound, something between a huff and a grunt that made Ellana raise her brows. "Well… yes. I suppose there is."

When neither said anything she tried on her best Inquisitor voice. "And you're going to explain to me…"

"We both agree that you need to go back to Skyhold."

"What?" Ellana sat straighter, eyes flickering from both of them in confusion. "I thought—Fort Revas—"

"Even if they have the supplies we need to help you recuperate, you will need to be off your feet for a week or more." Solas interrupted and for the first time Ellana found she hated his knowledgeable tone.

"A week? N-No. That's ridiculous."

"Inquisitor, be reasonable." Cassandra admonished.

"I am! We are needed here to help the forces push back the demons. And with less rifts—"

"It's not as important as—"

"This will not take a week—"

"It could be less, yes." Solas suddenly agreed. "With ample supplies and my steady hand, you could heal in days." The submission silenced her and she caught him looking at her with a trailing expression, pale eyes glinting. "…if you head back to Skyhold."

"Hahre—"

"Da'len." The voice was brisk and she found her lips clamping shut at the sight of his strong downward brows. He leaned forward on his knees, his head tilting. "Please."

Well that wasn't fair.

Ellana tore her eyes away from him, trying to hold up her argument. But Solas most likely knew how much stock she held in his advice. And judging from Cassandra's somehow indifferently pleased look – she did too.

"Why not just stay here though? Why not head to the forces at Fort Revasan and then chain me to a bed? Would not take at least a week to head back?"

It was Cassandra's turn to raise her brows. "You want to be away from Skyhold that long? With the Winter Palace ball so soon?"

She cursed quietly. She had not even thought of that. And with a broken leg… Damn her companions for being so… efficient.

"Besides, we know a way to get you back in five days."

"Oh?"

"Keeper Howen is willing to lend you the clan's Hart."

She regarded Cassandra with surprise. "That's… very kind of them." This was… upsetting. Leaving the Exalted Plains and not helping their forces secure the area was disheartening. But at least they could make it back to Skyhold with time to spare. And perhaps the quicker she got back the quicker she could be healed.

"So—should we all leave now and be across the Plains by nightfall? Or would that—"

Cassandra cleared her throat loudly, shifting on her feet.

"…What is it?"

In front of her, Solas sighed, "This is where some complication arises. The Dalish only have one Hart, Lethallan."

"Then Fort Revasan must have horses to spare…"

"Revasan is still at least a day's away. And I cannot carry you that far, nor can you walk on that leg."

She was frowning deeply now, brows drawn as she tried to organize her thoughts with all the problems they had presented her. Can't stay here, can't stay there. They had to head back but did not have enough to head back on. After a few moments of silence, she realized her companions were all looking at her patiently, as if they had already come to a conclusion, because of course they had.

"So what then?"

"So you and Solas will head back to Skyhold while Cole and I head to Revasan and do what we can to fight of the demons and help the soldiers retreat. We will head back with the Inquisition forces eventually."

She was already shaking her head. "No—I don't want to leave you here—"

"Inquisitor, it's our best option at the moment. We can't have you out here like this. Not with so many rifts still open."

"Which is exactly why—"

"Absolutely not."

"We should head—"

"Ellana—"

"To Val Royeaux!"

That got them all quiet. She smiled a bit, the grand idea already forming in her head. "The capitol is much closer. Solas and I can head there and rest. I'll heal up and then we'll head back."

Solas was shaking his head. "We need—"

"You already said my recovery could be less than a week if I had a decent and well stocked place to rest and you to help mend the injury." She bit out quickly, stopping his words instantly.

He narrowed his eyes at her even as his mouth twitched with a smile at hearing his words used against him.

Cassandra was frowning, but the stubborn look in her eyes was gone. "Come on, that is a better plan, no?" She urged. "We have connections in the capitol, and they will have endless supplies there. It will only be a day or two ride by Hart."

"She… makes a good point…" Cassandra trailed.

Solas didn't look too pleased, but he stood, hands clasping behind his back as he considered.

"We would be back within the week. We can finish closing he rifts and head back to Skyhold then."

The moments ticked by, the group awaiting his approval. His eyes closed, and Ellana leaned forward with anticipation.

"Fine."

She tried not to smile as he looked down on her, a harsh look of no nonsense on his face.

"But you will do as I say and you will not be walking, fighting, or otherwise straining yourself too hard. It will only make it worse and then we will have no choice but to head back to Ferelden."

"Yes, of course, Solas, of course."

He gave another tired sigh and Ellana let her smile show at her victory.

"Then we should be on our way."

She didn't like the idea of leaving Cole or Cassandra there in the Plains. But there was little choice at this point.

They couldn't abandon their soldiers here and Cassandra was more than capable of holding her own and leading them to a safe defense if not a victory. With the amount of demons scouring the area, they would need her.

Cole on the other hand…

"I will be alright. I can help here."

Ellana smiled warmly down at the boy from the saddle of the Hart, her hand clasping his as bright blue eyes looked up at her.

They had to be going. The faster they got to the capitol the faster they could come back, or at least that's what she kept telling herself.

"I know, I know." She agreed, nodding, releasing the boy and straightening in the saddle and reminding herself that he was a whirlwind of violence as well as a gentle spirit. He would of course, be fine.

As Cassandra approached with Solas, carrying the sacks of bedrolls and food rations the Dalish had so generously imparted with them, she tried to seem less effected by leaving.

"Do exactly as Cassandra says, Cole." She insisted as he nodded. "Do not leave her; I need you here in the Plains helping."

"He will do as I say if he knows what's good for him." Cassandra grunted, tying off their packs and causing the Hart to shift anxiously. The beast's large antlered head shook a bit and Ellana tensed, trying to keep her splinted leg steady as it moved.

A soft clicking sound came from below and Solas rounded the animal with a soothing noise from his mouth, hands grasping its head and whispering softly. The Hart quieted instantly, raising it's head to the apostate's with a silent understanding. It allowed him to circle around to it's side and Solas began hoisting himself on behind the Inquisitor.

And then she was tense for another reason.

His legs righted themselves on either side, like hers, and his chest settled neatly behind her back. Suddenly, everything was very warm.

She felt her face flush, but kept her head down as long arms circled around her to grasp the reigns, and the heavy rolling voice she knew so well spoke so closely by her ear.

"We should only be gone a short time. Two days there and a few for rest, before another two back."

"Do not get yourselves into any trouble." Cassandra admonished and Solas' chuckle from behind her tickled her spine as it vibrated low in his chest. The tips of her ears burned.

Oh- she had not thought this through.

After quiet goodbyes between anxious faces, Cole and Cassandra both wishing them well, they set off.

A/N: Not quite sure how many days/miles it is from Skyhold or Val Royeaux from the Plains - but the latter does look much closer to the Plains on the map, especially considering the Frostbacks in the way.