The Inquisition army's return to Skyhold was not unlike the first journey; quiet, tense, and with frequent stops along the way for healers to intervene when a soldier began taking a turn for the worse. The battle had been won, but the fighting had been hard, and the confusion surrounding the collapse of the bridge and the Inquisitor's literally miraculous survival once again did nothing to soothe already frayed nerves.
While her advisors rallied together to come up with suitable explanations for the events at Adamant and their new allies in the Grey Wardens, Ellethir threw herself back into the field in a matter of days, heading straight for Emprise Du Lion in Orlais after hearing word of work in the area involving red lyrium.
Fae, for her part, opted out of the field venture, and confined herself mostly to her room. At first, it was assumed that she was embarrassed after the very public argument with Hawke, who had stayed behind at Adamant to work with the surviving Wardens on the Inquisition's behalf for the time being. After Cassandra relayed to the Inquisitor's advisors what had happened in the Fade, however, Fae's reluctance to emerge from her room made more sense, although it was a concern to everyone for different reasons.
Leliana worried aloud for the fitness of the Seer to continue her duties, and privately, for her young friend's mind. Josephine found herself preoccupied with turning away the now ready stream of Inquisition guests- the diplomat had found many potential allies would accept the use of the elf's 'prophetic' ability as fair trade for favours, which she now needed to exchange or delay as long as was needed. Cullen voiced his concern for Fae's nature as a mage- it was well-known among mages and templars alike that mages victimised by demons of fear or despair are more likely to fall to their whim, or become abominations.
Ellethir received letters from all three advisors saying as much, and deliberated, and gave her orders. They were to wait, to watch, and to be nice. To emphasise the point, she sent Fae a gift along with her response to the advisors, to draw Fae out of hiding. The elf was coaxed out of bed one chilly morning to go to the stables, "By order of the Inquisitor, and everything," Sera giggled. "The boss is getting bossy. Come on! Just wait 'til you see it, it's so weird."
Stablemaster Dennet was waiting for them outside the stables as Sera half-dragged Fae along with her. "One Faellathi Tabris for you, Dennet! See ya!"
Fae frowned, eyes still adjusting to the sudden influx of sunlight. "Don't you want to see this horse she's sent, seeing as you've gone to all this trouble to get me to see it?"
Sera stuck her tongue out. "Hell no! I've seen it once, that was enough, and it's definitely not a horse. Gotta go, things to do, important Inquisit-y things." Sera waved and dashed off, swiping the apple from Harritt's hand as she left. "Thanks for breakfast, Dennet!"
"Thieving imp," he called after her, though there was no heat in it. He looked at Fae and sighed heavily. "She is right, I'll give her that. It's no horse. This way."
He led her to the last stall, where the one next to it and the one directly across were both empty. "Not certain as to its friendliness, but the actual horses were getting jumpy and I didn't want to take the risk," he explained, gesturing to the creature as if its appearance explained all. Which it did, to a degree. It was like a horse in physicality, but much smaller, almost pony-sized, and where there would be fur, there were scales, ranging from a dull purple to a pale, almost translucent blue. Most importantly, instead of comparatively flat horse teeth, its maw, now closed, boasted long, thin fangs. It stood eerily still, the only movement being yellow eyes darting back and forth between Fae and Harritt.
"…What is it," Fae asked flatly.
"It's called a dracolisk. Supposed to come from far away, Anderfels I think, or further. The Vints' use them in their armies. No idea how the Inquisitor found this one in Emprise Du Lion, but I suppose she might have mentioned it- for you," he rummaged in his pocket and handed Fae a crumpled letter, which read, 'She has a straight gait, so no fear of falling off. Venatori mount- no red lyrium corruption- I had her checked. Enjoy!'
Fae looked at the note, then at the dracolisk, then at Harritt. "She's mad."
Dennet shrugged. "Important people usually are a bit mad. Come, let's try getting you two introduced—Ah ah ah, no bowing- this isn't one of your Dalish halla. You've got to be the boss of her or she'll be the boss of you."
Getting to know the exotic new mount (newly named 'Kelpie' for its vague resemblance to a Dalish folktale Shianni used to tell to her before bed) proved a good distraction for the day, although when the next day dawned and Fae remained in her room once more, the advisors were somewhat disappointed. Still, she began to emerge once in a while to offer her services as a healer, and that in itself counted as progress.
It was on one of these days that Solas knocked on Fae's door, which currently read 'Fuck off!' Another young elf answered the door, informed him that she wasn't there, that he should ask Orla and let them and theirs get on with things- apparently they were using this rare opportunity to clean up the room and return it to 'a state of enough dignity to host guests of the Inquisition'- Lady Josephine's words, not theirs.
He found Orla in the lower courtyard, standing perfectly still and staring straight ahead. The young woman was Tranquil, he knew before he drew close enough to see the brand on her forehead, partially obscured by dark curls. He packed the rage bubbling up inside him at the notion of Tranquillity neatly away for later. "Greetings. Do you know where I might find Faellathi?"
The girl pointed towards the medical tents, not far away from where she stood. The rooms next to them had been officially designated for a medical bay, but some healers still preferred to do their work in the open, calling upon spirits of healing to influence nature in favour of their ailing patients. One of these was currently Fae, sitting cross-legged on the ground with a soldier in front of her, his head cradled in her lap as she worked, presumably reciting spells to aid in his healing process.
"You've been watching her?" Solas asked Orla, although it was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes. She has had an encounter with a powerful fear demon. The Inquisitor's advisors believe she is therefore at a higher risk of possession than usual. They would like her to be watched for her own good, as well as the good of others. This is usually the role of the templars, but she does not like templars to be near her. She likes me."
"She knows you are watching her?"
"I believe so. I believe she accepts this."
"Have you known each other long?"
Orla considered. "We were apprentices together at the Circle of Magi in Ferelden. We were both there during the Circle rebellion. Until recently, both of us presumed the other was dead."
"I see. Thank you for you aid," Solas bowed slightly.
"You are welcome, ser." Orla's eyes remained trained on her childhood friend in the distance.
Orla was not the only person watching Faellathi. As Solas approached, one of the senior healers, a greying human woman, intercepted him. "You're the one called Solas, right?"
"I am."
"The poor sod's been gone for an hour, but she won't leave him. Been singing some elven prayer to him all this time, but we've got to get him… sorted out, see. I'd leave them be, but we need the space," she explained, somewhat sheepishly.
Solas listened. Fae's voice cracked dryly as the notes of the song rose and fell.
"Not a prayer," he murmured to the healer. "A lullaby." He moved closer to Fae and her patient, and she stopped singing, but her focus remained on the soldier's closed eyelids below her.
"I healed him during the battle, but his wound was deep," she said, barely above a whisper. "I told him to stay where he was. He went back out to fight again," she explained, her breath catching. "His mother was Dalish, like mine."
Solas noticed the man's ears, rounded enough to mark him as human, but with an outward curve that implied elven blood.
"She raised him alone in the Highever alienage. Perhaps they're together again, now."
"Perhaps they are."
Fae looked up at Solas then, and he saw the dark circles under her eyes. "I'm so tired, Solas," she admitted, unable to keep the waver out of her voice.
"Then you should sleep."
Fae looked away again. "I have slept. So much. It doesn't help."
"I can help. Come with me." He held out a hand, and she reluctantly let him help her up. The healer swept in promptly with a sheet, covering the fallen soldier. She mouthed 'thank you' to Solas as he led Fae away.
"Where are we going?"
"I thought I might introduce you to a friend," Solas said lightly.
"Who?"
"You'll see when we get there. I was not aware you spoke the elven language."
"I don't, really. My mother was Dalish, like I said. She knew some- she spoke it with my sister, Shianni. So Shianni spoke it with me. Mostly songs, and sayings and stuff." By stuff she meant swear words, but she didn't think Solas would approve of that.
"I know of your cousin, of course, but I was not aware you had a sister, either."
"Not many people do." Fae stopped walking suddenly. "And I'd prefer to keep it that way, if you don't mind."
"If you like. May I ask why?"
She shot Solas a quizzical look. "Well, to begin with, I'm a mage. That complicates things. I was taken to the Circle, then I was an illegal apostate, and now, I'm… this," she gestured to herself with a sweep of her hands. "People see me, and I'm sure plenty of them don't like what they see in me. So I don't want anything I do to make my family a target. Better for most everyone to think I don't have family to target. Except for Neria, of course. Though they'd be fools to try."
"I understand."
"I think you do," Fae patted him on the arm. "That's why you were alone, before the Inquisition, right? And the way you talk about elves from the cities, and the Dalish, as if they're apart from you."
"It is somewhat complicated," Solas acknowledged. "But I was never alone. I did have friends before the Inquisition."
"…You mean the spirits in the Fade?"
"I do," Solas smiled, gesturing to someone just ahead of them, a tall figure in a long cloak, facing away from them. And they were alone. Completely alone. It was as if Skyhold alone remained while everyone in it had simply vanished.
Fae sucked in a short breath. "We're in the Fade," she realised aloud. "Solas?" There was a hint of panic in her voice as she grabbed onto his wrist, as if she was worried he wasn't real after all.
"It's alright," he said calmly, prying her hand off, taking it gently in his and leading her towards the cloaked figure. "I told you I was going to introduce you to a friend, didn't I? This is Language."
A/N:
Hi! I know, it's been a long while, in my defence, if you've heard of the ao3 curse, it's all true- life will intervene when you start writing fanfiction! So, yeah it turns out you have a lot less time to work on an ongoing project for fun when you:
1) finally get paid work
2) finally get a mystery illness somewhat un-mystery'ed (chronic illness girlies raise your hand) (or don't if you're always tired bc you have a chronic illness)
3) almost have to move house but then don't?
4) join a dnd campaign, dm the the next campaign, and then join a new group kind of? A lot of character creation and backstories yum my favourite
5) Also had one particularly vicious comment which didn't exactly stop me from posting but it did rattle me a little bit ngl. Also feels like the right time to leave a friendly reminder that if you don't like this series, if it's not what you were looking for, or you don't think it's good, that's fine! This is pure self-indulgence on my part, anybody besides me actually enjoying this is an added bonus, but ily kind people who leave kudos and say nice things! You'll never hear me say no don't flatter me and boost my ego
Finally! The lullaby mentioned is Mir Da'len Somniar from The World of Thedas Vol 2, here is a link to the lyrics w/ translation: r/dragonage/comments/gbsrvy/spoilers_all_translating_elven_poetry_mir_dalen/
And personally, my favourite cover of the lullaby:
watch?v=Zl3CmzQY1So&list=PLvkORCEsoun67SLp5EBQ-d81bCVvSYv8h
Anyway! Next chapter is all done and ready to go after this one so stay tuned!