Moments

Moment of Choice - Part 2

I tried to leave my clan alone to settle themselves in the first available space Josie scrounged up. But every moment I attempted to go, the Keeper found one more minor question for me, one more small problem for me to solve. It was Blackwall of all people who rescued me. Wandering out of his barn, he eyed up the aravel and waved me towards him, awe in that patch of skin between hair. The Keeper supervised the men unpacking a set of tents for those who wouldn't sleep inside the ship, while Eria carted around her far too massive axe trying to find a hunk of wood to whack in twain.

Blackwall didn't even have a chance to ask me a question before she spotted him and shrieked, "Sweet Andruil! There's a badger on his face!"

"Wha?" Blackwall staggered back, shaking his head about as if there must be some other man with a face gnawing badger behind him. Unfortunately, the movement only encouraged Eria's twisted belief and she ran full bore towards him, still clutching her axe. I used the confusion to slip away, though I did pause to make certain no one was seriously injured.

It was Varric I found first, sitting at one of the tables just inside the great hall. He swirled a stein in contemplation. "That's a hell of a thing, eh?"

"Where are the others?" I asked, ignoring his question.

He jerked his head back, "Where do you think?"

I nodded curtly, stepping away, but an idea pulled me back. "Varric, the rumors about this could be detrimental. So..."

Chuckling, he sloshed down his mug and propped a foot up on the chair across, "Boss, you really think anything I can spin will top one of those elf forest ships rolling through Skyhold and threatening to run off with you?"

"I suppose not." This was a disaster no matter what I did. Nodding once more to the dwarf who seemed in no rush to catch his ship now, I trudged through the streams of doors to get to the war room. Why did we need so many of these damn things and insist on always keeping them shut?

While lifting the iron pull upon the door the full weight of the situation caught my chin harder than any shield bash could. What was I going to do? What did I want to do? I'd entertained the idea of returning home through every step of this journey, some days the ache growing almost impossible to bear. When someone grew cross eyed at my dropping an elvish word into conversations, or my still waning table skills sent a snail fork skittering across the floor I dreamed of sailing through the forest in my old aravel. What state was the poor thing even in after so much time? Assuming no small animals chewed through the floor, I could easily patch it up and...

Return to being another hunter in the clan. Was that why I did all this? Just to return to the past? My head collided with the door, softly pushing it inward to revealed the hushed voices of two disturbed advisors. The last remained silent.

"How do we mitigate this?" Leliana asked.

"We can't," Josephine cut back, the worry amplifying her accent and rolling her vowels.

"There must be some solution," Leliana continued.

"This is what we get for propping her up as the face of this institution. Nobles throw their support behind her first and foremost, not us. She's built up the alliances."

"Josie," Leliana scolded, reminding the ambassador to not discount her massive role.

"If we lose her, if she goes back to the Dalish - her clan, we'd probably lose the mages first. There aren't many left in the hold now, but being able to call on the college as a possibility was a boon for other pockets of rebels. Fiona wouldn't trust anyone else's word. She's made as much clear often."