Love and Lyrium

Coming Home

Evelyn's awareness returned in small spurts. Raised voices argued nearby, but she was only catching snippets as her mind fell in and out of wakefulness. Her wounds had been treated, that much was for certain. When she finally was able to drag herself back to the harsh land of reality, she found herself bundled beneath layers of furs and blankets on a cot set up in a lean-to. A fire blazed nearby and she pushed herself to her elbow to glance out at the leaders of the inquisition, huddled around a fire and arguing. No surprise there. "What would you have me tell them? This isn't what we asked them to do!" Cullen's sharp tone rose above the others.

"We cannot simply ignore this! We must find a way!" Cassandra shouted back.

"And who put you in charge?" he snapped angrily. "We need a consensus, or we have nothing!"

"Please, we must use reason!" Josephine pleaded. "Without the infrastructure of the Inquisition, we're hobbled."

"That can't come from nowhere," Cullen scoffed, his words clipping the end of hers as he quickly retorted.

"She didn't say it could!" Leliana scolded him.

"Enough! This is getting us nowhere!" Cassandra's voice was filled with frustration.

"Well we're agreed on that much..." Evelyn tried to block out the rest of the pointless shouting as Cullen continued to speak.

She sighed and closed her eyes momentarily. "Shh, you need rest." Evelyn glanced at Mother Giselle who was seated beside her cot, calmly sorting healing herbs.

"They've been at it for hours," Evelyn said sadly, glancing back at the group of arguing friends.

Mother Giselle offered a gentle smile. "They have that luxury, thanks to you. The enemy could not follow, and with time to doubt, we turn to blame." She sighed as well. "Infighting may threaten us as much as this 'Corypheus'." How had mother Giselle learned the Elder One's name? Had she been raving in her sleep?

"The only thing yelling gets us is a headache," Evelyn said, feeling her own headache beginning to return. "Another headache."

"They know," Mother Giselle conceded with a small nod. "But our situation... your situation... is complicated. Our leaders struggle because of what we survivors witnessed. We saw out defender stand... and fall. And now we have seen her return." Evelyn sat up, facing Mother Giselle as the wise woman continued to speak. "The more the enemy is beyond us, the more miraculous your actions appear, and the more our trials seem ordained." At Evelyn's look of shock, she smiled. "That is hard to accept, no? What 'we' have been called to endure? What 'we', perhaps, must come to believe?"

"I escaped the avalanche," Evelyn corrected. "Barely, perhaps, but I didn't die."

"Of course. And the dead cannot return from across the veil. But the people know what they saw. Or, perhaps, what they needed to see. The Maker works both in the moment, and in how it is remembered. Can we truly know the Heavens are not with us?"

"Mother Giselle, I just don't see how what I believe matters," Evelyn pushed herself up from the cot, tears burning her eyes. "Lies or not, Corypheus is a real, physical threat. We can't match that with hope alone." She walked to the opening of the lean-to and raised her left arm to lean on the support pole and press her forehead against her forearm. At least her hand wasn't glowing anymore. Then she sighed and dropped the arm, moving outside the tent where the others had temporarily dispersed. She rested her hands on her hips and surveyed the lost leadership. Cassandra poured pointlessly over a map of the area, Josie and Leliana sat huddled together by a fire and Cullen paced in a tight circle mumbling to himself. It was a sad sight and she wished she had some way to help. Suddenly, Mother Giselle's voice rose behind her.