Chapter One Hundred Forty-Seven: *Homecoming Utha crumpled to the ground, her unblinking eyes open, not even a rasping breath left of her unfortunate life. Zevran taught me well...but what does that say about me? Chaos broke out around me, but I ignored it, settling her body down, closing her eyes, and whispering a sincere prayer to whatever deity might be...
Chapter Two: Ruins Of Chaos The turn of the season came fast upon us at Skyhold, and all through the summer we enjoyed the endless days of blue skies and warmer nights with an almost childish delight, our troubles dissipating in the warmth of the season by the bright sun above and the soft soil beneath our feet. Shoots of grass sprung from the frozen groun...
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One: Peak Security "The Crows figured out Zevran's alive, and they know he's here." Aedan waited a beat before continuing, "We were attacked on our way here from Kinloch." Eyes widening at his words, I did a quick visual inspection and confirmed that neither of them seemed to be injured. I'd just assumed that the Crows would let...
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Three: *Promises Kept The twentieth of Wintermarch. The date of my wedding anniversary...and another important event in my life: the birthday of the man I'd married. And I'd had no idea, at the time, that our wedding had fallen on the day we should have been celebrating his life. "The twentieth?" I asked. Alistair nodded, wincin...
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six: Success and Failure When I finally met with Rolan, Anders, and Solona, it was even more difficult to explain everything than I'd expected. The first hurdle was that Rolan and I had never discussed my origin or knowledge. He'd been told by others, of course, but had never had the opportunity to ask me questions. He wanted to k...
Chapter One Hundred Sixty: Stone Dreams I went back inside rather than watch everyone leave; I was going to miss them, and worry about Anders and Solona, and somehow watching people go was just harder than it should have been. Or maybe it's just my lack of sleep? Alistair caught up to me before I got far, pulling me against his chest and just holding me. I...
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Eight: Guilt Trips The pyre for George, the templar whose real name had been Patrick, was up on the roof of the tower that night. All of the wardens – including the newly Joined ones who were still recovering – came; Fred had to be carried. My tear ducts had finally sorted themselves out, and I cried openly. It wasn't the first de...
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Eight: *Pain and More Pain I met with Ena the next afternoon; she didn't have any information for me, so I paid her the fifty silvers she was owed and headed back to the inn. I dodged Fergus in the common room, instead sending down for supper, determined to enjoy it with my husband -- and perhaps tell him what I'd done. He'd bee...
Note: I got a surprising amount of Alistair-hate after the last chapter. As a result, I wrote a side story from Alistair's POV called "Regrets" – please read that before you read this. It will make so much more sense! ***** Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine: *Apologies and Indiscretions I spent the night crumpled in the hallway, right where Alistair left...
Chapter Five: A Broken Heart None of us could recall a colder season than the one we had found ourselves hopelessly in that particular winter. Perhaps being hauled up in a drafty Keep in the heart of the Frostback Mountains didn't help our cause, with the iciness managing to penetrate even the sunniest of days. Varric had once claimed he had found snow deep...