If Iona never sees the Winter Palace again it will be too bloody soon. And quite frankly if anyone calls her rabbit again she’s going to hit them. Possibly a lot. Politics and reputation be damned. She’s changed out of the red uniform jacket she’d worn to the ball, back into something comfortable and familiar. At least she’d done some good, for once, even managed to avoid a battle, there at the end.
And oh, it had been incredibly satisfying, to reveal Florianne’s betrayal to the Winter Palace at large. For all to see. Just because she hates politics, just because she’s an elf, doesn’t mean she can’t play the Game when pressed. The underestimation had come in useful, no matter how frustrating it was.
The best part of the evening had come after all was said and done, dancing with Cullen on the balcony.
Right now, all she wants to do is to find him again, and perhaps attempt to sleep a little. The former is more important than the latter, because sleep has been… increasingly fleeting as of late. But any plans are postponed when she’s told of the arrival of Warden Commander Surana. And for a moment she wonders if she can simply avoid the older woman. After Adamant… yes, avoiding her sounds like the best option.
But she can see Josephine’s disapproving frown already, so she sighs softly and resigns herself, making her way to the garden. She doesn’t have time for this. Niceties and small talk and potential arguments over what happened at Adamant.
“Warden-Commander,” she replies, inclining her head slightly.
Eldy thinks she can recognize that look: she rarely had access to a mirror the year of the Blight, the year she'd been on the run and trying to muster an army, but she looks at the blonde young woman and thinks, yes, I've been in your shoes.
It's early enough that Inquisitor Iona would have been fully in her rights to still be in bed. Early enough to melt away, avoid. Velanna's certainly lost none of her Dalish skills over the years. Except, no, she shouldn't have thought about Velanna, because Maker only knows where she is now. Dead? Thrown herself into the Deep Roads or cut down by her fellow wardens in whatever struggle has happened in Eldy's absence? Vanished?
She doesn't know. She doesn't know, and it's a constant prickle of guilt and unease under her skin. But this woman standing in front of her wouldn't know where Velanna is, where Oghren, where Sigrun, where Nathaniel, where Sadie, where Ben where Isk where- where any of her people are. They are Eldiana Surana's people, not Iona of Clan Lavellan's. Maybe Leliana might have some names on file, and Eldy is going to track down her best friend later and ask, but there's no point in any demands.
A lifetime of self-control as a mage is, she's long since worked out, useful in politics, too.
"I wasn't expecting to see you so early," Eldy begins. She has a... Well, when people are unkind, they call her voice 'prissy', and she can't really argue with them. It's a high, feminine, very precise voice with all those educated vowels. It can put people off their guard, make them dismiss her despite her intensity. It can also annoy the heck out of others. Hopefully, it won't annoy the Inquisitor. "And I would like to say thank you, for letting me and my people stay here as we travel back home. I do appreciate that courtesy."
People come here all the time, Eldy knows. But this is Iona's fortress, her home in many ways, and no matter that she didn't punish the Warden Order for whatever stupidity happened at Adamant, Eldy doesn't want to take it for granted. Nor does she want to give the impression of taking it for granted.
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Immediately after Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts it is!
And oh, it had been incredibly satisfying, to reveal Florianne’s betrayal to the Winter Palace at large. For all to see. Just because she hates politics, just because she’s an elf, doesn’t mean she can’t play the Game when pressed. The underestimation had come in useful, no matter how frustrating it was.
The best part of the evening had come after all was said and done, dancing with Cullen on the balcony.
Right now, all she wants to do is to find him again, and perhaps attempt to sleep a little. The former is more important than the latter, because sleep has been… increasingly fleeting as of late. But any plans are postponed when she’s told of the arrival of Warden Commander Surana. And for a moment she wonders if she can simply avoid the older woman. After Adamant… yes, avoiding her sounds like the best option.
But she can see Josephine’s disapproving frown already, so she sighs softly and resigns herself, making her way to the garden. She doesn’t have time for this. Niceties and small talk and potential arguments over what happened at Adamant.
“Warden-Commander,” she replies, inclining her head slightly.
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It's early enough that Inquisitor Iona would have been fully in her rights to still be in bed. Early enough to melt away, avoid. Velanna's certainly lost none of her Dalish skills over the years. Except, no, she shouldn't have thought about Velanna, because Maker only knows where she is now. Dead? Thrown herself into the Deep Roads or cut down by her fellow wardens in whatever struggle has happened in Eldy's absence? Vanished?
She doesn't know. She doesn't know, and it's a constant prickle of guilt and unease under her skin. But this woman standing in front of her wouldn't know where Velanna is, where Oghren, where Sigrun, where Nathaniel, where Sadie, where Ben where Isk where- where any of her people are. They are Eldiana Surana's people, not Iona of Clan Lavellan's. Maybe Leliana might have some names on file, and Eldy is going to track down her best friend later and ask, but there's no point in any demands.
A lifetime of self-control as a mage is, she's long since worked out, useful in politics, too.
"I wasn't expecting to see you so early," Eldy begins. She has a... Well, when people are unkind, they call her voice 'prissy', and she can't really argue with them. It's a high, feminine, very precise voice with all those educated vowels. It can put people off their guard, make them dismiss her despite her intensity. It can also annoy the heck out of others. Hopefully, it won't annoy the Inquisitor. "And I would like to say thank you, for letting me and my people stay here as we travel back home. I do appreciate that courtesy."
People come here all the time, Eldy knows. But this is Iona's fortress, her home in many ways, and no matter that she didn't punish the Warden Order for whatever stupidity happened at Adamant, Eldy doesn't want to take it for granted. Nor does she want to give the impression of taking it for granted.