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The Inquisition ended just as it begun, with the slamming of a book.
As lips across Thedas spread the news of the Exhaled Council and the fate of the Inquisition, a new chapter began in the lives of the people of Skyhold. Not one of armies and favors, but of letting go and moving on.
And leaving Skyhold.
The fickle nobility departed the great castle just as quickly as they arrived, taking every favor culminated in the many cases that accompanied them. Next came the soldiers, quick and eager to see the families they so bravely protected. The mercenary companies, their blades called to coin once more. The workers, apprehensive in their futures, yet proud of what they were apart of.
And finally, the inner circle of the Inquisition, the haphazard building blocks that held the Inquisitor in place breaking apart as easily as they placed together. Though with promises of keeping in touch. Even the great spymaster's birds flew from the castle following their mistress to new secrets.
First to arrive, last to leave, Inquisitor Ellana Lavellan pushed the iron-barked colored braid from her shoulder waving one last good-bye to her companions each promising that staying longer with the Inquisitor would not be a problem.
But one last farewell needed to be spoken, one could only be done alone.
Her hands did not grasp upon the rests of her throne one last time, she did not look over her balcony in contemplation of the future, but rather stood in the great painted room under the library.
Instead of the now faded cloth draped over the stiff couches, her pale blue eyes saw only herself draped over the man she loved. She saw those fade-lit fingers illuminate the room as his lips parted in a story of her ancient people, every word, every nuance devoured by her pointed ears as a feast of the mind, every gasp in wonderment eliciting a crooked smirk from across the dreamer's lips.
Her tanned hand settled upon the desk meant to hold not only books, but the tea he so despised. A smile broke upon her as memories of that scowl settled in, and the smile that followed upon her many kisses pressed upon his freckled cheek. She saw memories of the shard she shattered while yelling over the treatment of her people cooled only by the touch of the dreamer's hand in hers and words of comfort.
Memories of the small end-table, where warm sunflowers shaded the handkerchief's flooded with tears over the loss of her clan. Fragments of the past where his arms still wrapped around her in an embrace, cradling her softly as she mourned the loss of her people. A hand smoothed over her braid as the other cupped her cheek with whispering ancient words of endearment and wiping away her tears.
She moved, attempting to place her hand against the howling wolf painted upon wall before her eyes met the stub where the rest of her arm had once been.
Gone.
Just as he was.
Though the weeks passed, their last meeting still burned like enchanted embers kindling a flame. The ache in her voice matching only his in melancholy and yet... she still held hope. A foolish notion, but Ellana never turned from foolish hope. She would find a way to change his heart. She would find a way to save him.
“Dareth shiral, emma lath. Telanadas.”
She whispered taking one last look around the painted rotunda before turning to leave Skyhold behind.