Fae had wasted no time asking for directions to Leliana's tent; she was even more on edge than usual now after seeing the swarm of templars milling around outside Haven. She'd expected the templar presence; they only came to Haven for the conclave in the first place, but still. She stopped just shy of entering the tent. Leliana was leaning over a table piled up with papers, facing away from her.

"Leli?" The red-haired bard looked up from her paperwork, gave the briefest of smiles, and looked back down again.

"Fae. I'm glad you're here. The Herald should awaken any day now, I want you to be the first person she speaks to when she does. I'll explain more later, it's just that right now…I'm…" Leliana trailed off, holding up two letters to compare with her brow furrowed.

Fae tried to ignore the pang of hurt that crept into her heart. She came all this way because she considered Leliana family, and because Leliana had asked her to. She hardly expected Leliana to pick her up and spin her around like she was still ten years old, but some enthusiasm would have been nice.

"Later, then," Fae confirmed. She doubted Leliana noticed her leaving.

Outside the tent, she took a moment to survey her surroundings. The Haven she stood in today was barely recognisable from the one she'd seen only a decade ago. There was the obvious absence of the Temple of Sacred Ashes looming over the rest of the village, but even the original cottages had long since been replaced by twice as many wood cabins; perhaps they'd fallen too far into disrepair to be worth fixing by the time Haven became populated largely by pilgrims instead of cultists. She remembered the chantry vaguely, and how surprised she was when the villagers inside chose to attack with knives instead of diplomacy, even inside a Chantry. Back when she believed the Chantry abhorred violence, before she fully understood the relationship between the Chantry and the Templar Order.

Her mind drifted back to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. She'd heard on the road that the Ashes themselves had disappeared a few years ago; she had no doubt the spirit of, or perhaps who acted as Disciple Havard was behind the disappearance, sworn as he was to protect them. She wondered where he was now, whether the other spirits had gone with him or whether they'd returned to the Fade now that they had no gauntlet of worthiness to participate in.

As for this Herald of Andraste, she wondered. The 'woman' people claimed to have seen as the Herald fell out of the Breach could have been anything; a demon or spirit in danger of falling through themselves, even a plume of smoke that happened to form an outline resembling a woman. It seemed highly unlikely that after all this time, and every disaster that had befallen Thedas since Andraste's death, that the Maker's Bride would care enough to make an appearance now, but this was where her physical remains rested for centuries. If she was to be seen anywhere, it would be here. But even if it were true, the implication that it had anything to do with this Herald's survival was another reach in and of itself. Either way, the strange ability for closing the rifts in the Fade meant that whether the Herald liked it or not, all eyes would be on her.

It occurred to Fae that she didn't even think to ask Leliana where exactly the Herald was. A young elven girl dashed by suddenly carrying a large bundle, and Fae called out.

"Uh, excuse me?"

The girl yipped in surprise. "Sorry, yes miss?"

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work, I just- do you know where the Herald is staying?"

The girl beamed. "I do! In that cabin down there, the one on the right, closest to the gates. I'm looking after her, see," she rambled with no small amount of pride. "Well, not the Herald herself exactly, but I've been keeping her cabin nice, for when she wakes up. Sister Nightingale assigned me the job personally, I'm taking these to her now," she nodded to the pile of folded woollen blankets in her arms. "I'm Lia, by the way," she added, gesturing for Fae to walk with her.

"Fae. Pleasure to meet you."

"Did you come here for the conclave too? I haven't seen you before, but there's lots of people coming and going. I came here for the conclave with my father, he was an apostate, he never lived in a Circle. But he…um…died, so I'm sort of stuck here now, but it's not so bad really, because Sister Nightingale is very kind, and when he didn't come back from the conclave, she said it's alright, you can work for me! Just like that! No references or anything. And now, I'm practically working for Andraste's very own Herald too!"

"I'm sorry for your loss, Lia."

Lia went quiet for a few moments. "I…thank you." She stopped outside the Herald's cabin. "Well, I should go in, but I don't know if you're allowed," she said nervously.

"That's alright. Would you mind letting me know as soon as she wakes up? Sister Nightingale asked me to speak with her as soon as possible."

"Alright!"

Ellethir woke with a start, realisation dawning that she'd already slipped back into sleep within minutes of her first waking. That poor young girl had been nearly beside herself, falling to her knees in praise and rambling about going to fetch someone before making a hasty retreat. Now, there was another, a young elven woman no more than a few years her junior, but like the other girl, she was no Dalish. She perched on a little wooden chair, waiting patiently for Ellethir to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"Lia told me you'd awakened," the woman said softly.

"I'm sorry, I think I scared her," Ellethir rubbed the back of her head, rustling her shock of short white hair.

"I wouldn't take it to heart- I get the feeling Lia has learned to be scared of most people. But she's here to help, just like the rest of us. How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I think."

Ellethir's gaze moved unconsciously to her hand, with its green sparks darting restlessly over her palm.

"Is it painful?"

"No, not painful exactly, it's more like…sparks. Like I've been leaning on it for too long and the blood flow is just starting to return."

"Like summoning lightning."

"Yes, just like that!" Ellethir smiled. "Are you a mage?"

"I am. Aaand I'm just now realising I haven't introduced myself. Faellathi Tabris, at your service, Herald."

"Tabris? As in Neria Tabris? The Hero of Ferelden?"

"Yes. My cousin," Fae shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Sorry, people must ask you that all the time. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ellethir, First of Clan Lavellan."

Fae shrugged. "Not many know my full name. As for yours... You don't look like an Ellethir. But I suppose everyone will call you Herald no matter what your name is."

"Are you with the Chantry, Faellathi?"

Fae laughed. "Hardly. There are no elves among the Chantry ranks. I'm here because Sister Leliana asked me for help- she's something of a family friend."

"Seeker Cassandra mentioned her, on our way to seal the Breach. It…didn't work, though."

"It stopped spreading, and demons are no longer falling through it. I would consider that a success, considering your condition was already precarious. It's taken you this long merely to regain consciousness, after all."

"How long…?"

"Three weeks."

"Weeks?!"

"Mhm. Long enough for Leliana to send word and a couple of her songbirds to escort me from where I was, all the way to Haven."

"So… what happens now?"

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, Leliana has asked me to show you to the chantry- from what I gather, she and Seeker Cassandra want a word."