On her way up to the chantry, Ellethir noticed Fae outside Leliana's tent, and stopped. Fae noticed Ellethir and waved her over. Leliana was busy writing something down, but she stopped when Ellethir joined them.

"I've received conflicting reports about what happened at Redcliffe castle, but it is settled that the mages have accepted an alliance with us, yes?" she asked.

"Yes," Ellethir confirmed. "They're already on their way to Redcliffe."

"Fae tells me that some magic Magister Alexius used caused you to disappear, along with the Tevinter mage?"

"It was only for a few moments, but the magister had some kind of magic amulet that he used," Fae added.

"It was the unstable time magic Dorian had spoken of," Ellethir explained. "The amulet was apparently supposed to erase me completely from time, but when Dorian interfered, we were both transported through time instead; to a year from now. And the events that had led to that time were…dark."

"Dark?"

Ellethir took a shaky breath before continuing. "The 'Elder One' that leads the Venatori had taken over Thedas. He had his agents assassinate Empress of Orlais at a ball she had been hosting at the Winter Palace, from which he led an army of demons. The Breach had taken over the whole sky. Everyone who had refused to worship him was killed, or worse. That red lyrium we saw at the Temple of Sacred Ashes? It's an infection, it grows on people's bodies until that's all that's left of them."

Fae's eyes were wide. "Maker…"

"How did you come back?"

Ellethir was quiet for a moment. "We came across a few of our allies along the way," she said finally. "Including both of you. You helped us fight our way through the castle to Alexius. We fought him as well, and while Dorian worked on that future Alexius' amulet to take us back, you all bought us time."

Neither Leliana nor Fae knew what to say to that.

"We can't afford to fail," Ellethir concluded.

Leliana stood up. "No, we can't. But we should continue this discussion in the war room, the others are waiting for us."

Ellethir's decision to recruit the mages as free allies earned her both outrage and congratulations from the small council. She agreed to allowing the former templars in their ranks to quietly keep watch for signs of possession among the mages, so long as they kept enough of a distance to avoid terrorising their new allies. That seemed to console Cullen as much as she could expect. Dorian had also let himself into the meeting long enough to announce that he would be officially joining the Inquisition, before sauntering out again.

The meeting ended up sapping away the entire day. First, they had to draft the Inquisition's official stance and explanation for the events in Redcliffe, then there was the matter of dealing with the bandits threatening Clan Lavellan at their new camp near Wycome. Then, they decided on sending the Bull's Chargers to investigate Therinfal Redoubt, where the templars had allegedly gathered but subsequently disappeared. They also received word from Teryn Cousland of Highever that he was sending some of his troops to aid the Inquisition as thanks for their presence at Divine Justinia's funeral.

Once all the correspondence had been dealt with, there was the matter of organising the Breach's closing. Fiona, Solas, Vivienne and Dorian all joined Ellethir in making the plans, politely (for the most part) arguing magical theory that went way over Fae's head. Meanwhile, Cullen tried to make sense of how the non-magical troops would be stationed. By the time the meeting was finally adjourned, the sun had already set, and Ellethir could barely hold her head up. As she passed her cabin, she was sorely tempted to just curl up in bed and sleep until someone woke her up to go and close the Breach, but her stomach growled indignantly, so she headed over to the tavern instead. Fae was already inside, sitting at a small table by herself and sleepily stirring a spoon in her bowl of soup.

"May I join you?" Ellethir asked.

"Of course. I'm surprised you're not sick of the sight of me yet," she joked half-heartedly. Ellethir sat down opposite her. "I could say the same for myself."

"Flissa? Could we have another bowl, please?" Fae called to the woman wiping mugs behind the counter.

"Oh! Yes, of course, my lady!" she chirped.

"Thanks."

Fae returned to listlessly stirring her soup. "Leliana's songbirds have been telling tales about me," she grumbled. "They're worse than Varric. Apparently one of them told Flissa that Andraste personally came to me in a dream and gave me the gift of knowing other people's secrets. And now I'm 'my lady.'"

Ellethir laughed at Fae's disgruntled tone. "Seeing other people's memories would reveal secrets about them, so they're not entirely wrong."

"No, but they're definitely not entirely right. They're doing it on purpose. Telling a hundred different versions of the truth to see which one sticks, just so I can sit at the table with the grown-ups and…" she paused. "I'm whining. Sorry."

Ellethir smiled. "Don't be."

"Thank you for saving the mages. I know I pretty much came out and begged you to, but I'm glad you did all the same."

"I'm glad I did too."

Fae looked at Ellethir, considering. "To tell you the truth, if you hadn't, and the templars had come here instead… I don't know for sure whether I would have stayed," she confessed, now avoiding eye contact. "I know that sounds selfish, it is selfish, but I really don't know."

"I've heard the templars' mistreatment of the mages is part of what caused the Circles to collapse. You really hate templars that much?"

"I don't hate them…well, I hate some of them," Fae admitted. "It's just…well when you spend most of your whole life having to run and hide from templars, it becomes an instinct. I can't just make that feeling stop. I might have stayed for a while, but there would always be a part of me begging myself to run." She shrugged. "Everyone has their limits, after all."

Ellethir froze, and Fae noticed her face had gone pale. "Are you alright, Herald?"

"I…You…" she cleared her throat and tried again. "In that dark future Alexius sent me and Dorian to, you said something similar when we found you."

"Oh? What happened? What did I say?"

Ellethir stared at a scratch on the table, refusing to make eye contact. "You were in a cell in the dungeons. You hadn't been infected with red lyrium like the others, but you were distraught. You said that the Elder One had used you as bait to draw out the Hero of Ferelden, and that she had been captured. You didn't know what had happened to her, but you blamed yourself. And then you…begged me, to end it. End you. You said 'everyone has their limits, and you'd reached yours long ago.'"

"And did you? End it?"

"No. I explained what Dorian and I were trying to do, and you agreed to fight with us."

"Well, good," Fae decided, after that sank in. "For a second there I thought I was going to die a very pathetic death."

Ellethir was stunned at her indifference. "That doesn't worry you, at all?"

Fae shrugged. "Maybe it should, but, you and Dorian are the ones who are stuck with remembering it. It was real, for you. For me, it's only a story. A terrifying story," she added as an afterthought.

"That future won't ever happen," Ellethir said firmly. "We can't allow it."

Fae put her hand over Ellethir's. "We won't."