The next morning Harding arrived at the log cabin with a raven perched on her shoulder. She approached Anri who was warming his hand before the fire, and sighed, still finding the loss of half his arm a terrible thing.

  "Harding?" Anri noticed her lost in thought.

  "Oh, Your Wor..."

  "Anri Harding, no fancy titles needed."

  "Right. This will take me a while to get used to." She returned to the matter at hand and patted the bird who dropped a tiny scroll onto her palm, then flew off to return to base. "Message from the Weaver regarding Ash Hills."

  "Thanks. How's being the region spymaster going for you?"

  "Yo... Anri, you could've given me a location with pretty meadows full of daisies." Harding grumbled but shook it off with a laugh.

  She had only arrived in the area and cover-identity as a worker in a weapons shop with one of Dorian's servant dwarfs out in Hasmal. So, she had missed the whole Ash Hills horror. And it made her wish she had seen it coming better. She had given Anri a report before he had arrived in the city, but it was mostly to keep him up to date with city affairs. If she had only scouted better and looked deeper into the traveling parties around there.

  "Lace Harding. You're brooding again."

  She sighed. "I'm sorry. I just keep thinking if I had done better to give you warning about the city and those hills."

  Anri shook his head. "You couldn't have spotted the Venatori's crime any more than I did. They had a magister who used blood magic to change identity." He patted reassurances on her back. "It's okay. And I'm sure you'll get them next time."

  Harding smiled and nodded. She felt so glad Anri didn't change when he stopped being the Inquisitor and lost the anchor. Instead, he was more focused and awe inspiring.

  She went off to continue with her other duties, mostly back at the weapons shop.

  Anri eased into one of the arm chairs and read the scroll to learn the Hinterland folk started talking about rifts returning.

  Leliana had gone to investigate and saw a static one near the old Dragonling Nest landmark. Nothing was coming out of it, but it just existed as an open space of greenish nothing.

  She returned to her new home in the Frostbacks, where she had set up a nug breeding farm across the Sect Treasury Chamber entrance as both a cover and happy pastime. Business was going good too. She saw another static rift not far from when Anri had last been in the area.

  Then Hawke sent a bird message asking if she had any information about orbs opening rifts. Leliana lingered around some of the smugglers waterholes and eventually caught word of a lot of slaves being shipped to the Silent Plains and Free Marches, mostly elven children.

  She sent a bird to Rector who contacted Varric, and he got word back from Hawke (who was able to learn more) that they were Venatori inventions.

  Leliana reached out to Charter via bird, who confirmed that some of the Seekers noticed strange tears in the sky but no action.

  Charter updated Cassandra, who needed to carefully observe public responses before making any official statement. She instructed Charter, who was recently appointed as her Left Hand, to work with the Seekers and eliminate the source as part of their peacekeeping and stability efforts.

  Leliana started tracking he static rift sightings on a wall map in the chamber and providing agents with updates.

  Anri frowned at seeing Free Marches listed. No doubt his clan would once again be a target for that nasty group.

  He burned the information, then wrote coded updates for each of the sect's spymasters and Cassandra with all the information he had gathered. Then approached Dorian for carriers.

  "Do you have birds?" He plainly asked Dorian who was grumbling about not finding clean wine glasses in what he described as a dingy hunter's hole.

  "I'm sure we cooked some for breakfast this morning, and they tasted like Divine Victoria's hat, absolutely bland and off-putting."

  Anri chuckled. "I meant carrier ravens. Got some saucy love letters to send."

  "Well you can just hand them to me right now. No birds required. Although doved-designed fascinators might actually look not so tragic this time of the year, compared to the bunched-up flyscreens some ladies wear."

  "What?" Anri looked confused and returned to his purpose. "I meant, I need to send out updates."

  "Oh, business, right. Well, I do have Harding manage the rookery behind the weapons shop. Have her do the work."

  Anri nodded. "I do need to go into town to check if Mattron and the slaves returned to the city okay."

  "I have a bird in my room if you need a message sent." Maevaris calmly entered the kitchen and conversation.

  "That would be great. I can at least get one to Charter, as she's already on a mission with the Seekers to investigate the static rifts."

  "Is she now? And this Charter is..."

  "The Divine's left hand," Anri carefully answered.

  Maevaris paused, absolutely fascinated and impressed by how well this young and handsome Dalish had everyone doing their duties. If all elves were like Anri, they wouldn't need to follow this Dread Wolf. It was just as well Anri was one of the good guys.

  "Then we must absolutely make sure she gets the message."

  Anri followed Maevaris down the hall and into her room were he saw Elana awake and patting the head of a raven that was perched on the window sill. Her hair was cut short in a clean bob, combed and washed. She was bathed and wearing a simple but pretty dress of green and blue.

  "Elana!" He perked up.

  Elana turned and slammed into Anri with a hug. He knelt to check her condition.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "I spent some time bathing her with healing salts and getting the lice out of her hair. Naturally the child was frightened at first, but she is a quick study and very observant. The dwarven girl brought some clothes for her."

  "You look beautiful." Anri's mouth quivered with the tears of joy he held back. He hugged her tight. Then he turned his attention to Maevaris. "Thank you."

  Maevaris remained poised but watched the elven pair with a smile. "It was no problem. The girl has been through an ordeal, she deserves the luxury and care."

  "Are you hungry?" He asked Elana who eagerly nodded.

  "I'll take her to the kitchen and fix up something. Heaven forbids if we have to rely on Hawke's cooking again: we'd need a rift orb to a lavatory." Maevaris held Elana's hand as she took her to the kitchen.

  Anri set the message for Charter to the bird and whispered the direction it would understand.

  He then returned to the kitchen and eased onto one of the dining chairs before a simple rectangular table with Dorian and Elana sitting awkwardly next to each other. Elana couldn't stop staring at his face.

  "This is Dorian." Anri warmly introduced him.

  "You're pretty." She blurted to Dorian, which broke the tension between them.

  "Oh, the girl has a discerning eye I see." Dorian relaxed in his chair.

  "Your body light is like Anri's. It looks nice together."

  "Body light?" Dorian frowned, not familiar with the term.

  "I think she means aura."

  "And our lights look good together?" Dorian felt unsure of how to respond to a child who seemed to see Anri and himself carrying the same colored aura.

  Anri blushed. He wondered if someone told Elana about their relationship or she had some kid intuition and saw their compatibility.

  Maevaris laughed as she placed a plate of cured meats and a sandwich before Elana. "Why gloat about your love life yourselves when you have a kid do it for you."

  "I think I like this child." Dorian grinned.

  Conversations become light and happier topics to bring a smile to Elana's face. She began to yawn through her meal and looked sleepy afterward. It seems her body was still recovering.

  "I'll put her to bed. Come on little one, the more you rest the stronger you'll be." Maevaris rose to clean up the girl's plate and then escorted her to bed.

  Dorian's expression showed concern when he watched the girl reluctantly follow his friend back to her room for sleep.

  "To think she could've been one of those in red lyrium. Maker, what are we doing to our children?"

  "That's why we continue to fight. I, for one, want to see more children like Elana with the chance for a carefree and happy life."

  Dorian faced Anri with his worry. "Did she suf... it must've been horrific."

  Anri closed his eyes and thought back to his near-death ordeal. Indeed, if it wasn't for Ray, Elana and his Song of Love, he would've become something like a darkspawn.

  "I was almost corrupted. I felt it's... " He shook his head. "I guess taint, but somehow I survived."

  "Andraste!" Dorian gasped. His expression became one of determination. "Promise me you'll never do that again."

  "Do?"

  "Put yourself in danger like that. You have a nasty habit of selfless destruction. Frankly, I hate it." Dorian fretted.

  Anri wasn't sure if he could promise that, but he nodded.

  Maevaris returned with a message from Hasmal. It was a report from one of her agents who learned from the Templars that Mattron and the slaves had returned to the city safe and sound. They were being cared for by the Chantry and Templar Order. Knight-Commander Brycen sent out a templar unit to wipe out Venatori stragglers and confirmed the Ash Hills's caverns were completely sealed and buried.

  Anri closed his eyes with sadness at not being able to save any of the entombed victims. He slammed his fist on the table with frustration. "Dammit! All those people..."

  "What happened to them is the fault of the Venatori. They are in their gods or the Maker's hands now." Maevaris's expression darkened when she added. "I promise I'll do my utmost to eradicate this plague of a cult who taints Tevinter's name and harms the people."

  Hawke walked into the room and saw the somber atmosphere. "Either one of Harding's birds fell into a stew or I've walked in on bad news."

  Anri sighed and lightened his expression. "We're just recapping the horrors."

  "Couldn't you have talked about how scarce Kirkwall nobility will become because someone gave a Red Jenny free rein to off their heads."

  "You forget that I'm one of the head choppers."

  "So that means you get to off your own head, my dear Comte."

  "It depends on what price I get for it."

  Hawke laughed, it sounded so Anri. He changed the topic to an update he got from the city.

  When the city guards and commoners realized that a magister had used blood magic to parade around the alienage, resembling the most famous Dalish elf, they were naturally horrified and angry on the matter.

  "Someone, cough, not shadow related, fed rumors that the Herald of Andraste went in to smite the dark magister and his monsters, saving the innocent from harm."

  "What?!" Anri frowned and ran his hand through his hair. "I specifically don't want attention to that title."

  "Well, too late now." Hawke continued, saying the Hasmal elves felt they had stoned Andraste's messenger, especially when Anri didn't fight back, and saw this as further proof the Herald had been before them. He had tested their resolve and saw to the return of the children.

  "Shit!" Anri cursed and began chewing a nail with frustration.

  Dorian huffed and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "It's your fault. If you didn't want to stand out, then don't play the hero."

  "And let the Venatori keep feeding red lyrium their people? You know I can never turn my back on that."

  Dorian sighed. "It's what makes you both adorable and annoying."

  "On the bright side, the people have come out of their city bubbles to mingle. Hasmal is, once again, at peace of sorts." Hawke added, hoping to break the mood.

  Anri droped his nail-chewing and eased back in his chair. This reconfirmed a fundamental truth the hard way. "I'm the sect's biggest enemy. I had you all perform the unseen hand rite, but I fail to uphold this myself."

  "What are you going to do about it?" Maevaris pragmatically asked.

  "What I should be doing, going back to Kirkwall to be a comte." He faced them with a suggested directive. "You should return to your cover lives as well. We have the Weaver network running optimally, so our communication abilities are solid for now. But I'll have to have Dagna cook up a better way for long distance communication between us all. Anyway, it'll mean nothing if we can't convince people we aren't disconnected from the Inquisition's past ties and goals. Not to mention the danger to our lives. The need for acclaimed acting is critical."

  "And what of Elana?"

  Anri's expression eased into warmth. "I'll take her to Wycome and see if she can be part of my clan."

  Maevaris grinned, finding the sentiment charming. "I'm sure your family will adore her."

  "You will?" Elana piped up excitedly from the hallway.

  "It seems some young lady didn't try to sleep."

  Anri nodded. "Let's go home."

  Elana nodded.

  Dorian frowned, seeing Anri happy to bring a little girl back to meet the family but not once did he ever ask him. Besides, with what happened at Ash Hills and nearly losing him twice to death, he felt the man was unaware of his vulnerabilities. He had to go with him, at least be there to protect him.

  "I'm coming with you."

  "Dorian?" Maevaris eyes lowered with her teacherly austerity reserved for wayward boys.

  "The Lucerni and Magisterium can surely do without me for a few months. And I'm sure you'll be able to cover the teacup dramas with no problems."

  She eased her expression with a sigh. It was fair enough, considering how much the couple had sacrificed of their relationship toward saving the world. "Just don't stay away too long. It won't take long for the sharks to bite into the net."

  Anri was so happy to bring Dorian home. He felt he was floating on a cloud.

  "Fenris and I will travel with you to the border." Hawke noted.

  Everyone spent time packing up and burning evidence of their presence and Shadow Sect movements. A few days later, they all dispersed to go back to their cover lives and purpose.