Author's Note: This story came to fruition through my good friend and mine's discussion about his Lavellan Inquisitor, which I created a sister for. Since then we have discussed the events of DA:I and how the pair would navigate them together, with Caedri as the Inquisitor and Aphre a concerned sister sent from the Lavellan clan. And here we are! I hope I do Caedri justice!
Both Lavellans had stepped through the eluvian, the eluvian that led them straight to Solas. Fen'Harel. It had been two years since the pair and seen him, but only Aphre could dwell on the thought. The man she loved was stood in front of her as if a day had not passed, a small smile on his lips. Caedri's hand was burning, the pain shooting across his nerves, debilitating, his vision blacked out momentarily before the pain subsided at Solas' command.
Caedri was on his knees, his eyes trained on the mark that radiated a sickening green light. Aphre's eyes were stuck on Solas, she was paralysed, helpless, weak. She was not weak, yet here she was, a moment away from collapsing in front of him, joining her brother on the floor.
"That should give us more time. I suspect you have questions." Solas spoke, the small smile playing on his lips. Silence hung in the air as Aphre helped her brother to his feet, the few moments allowed anger to wash over Aphre, the calm and contained kind. The one that held for so long before its fury was unleashed on everyone in its path.
"How were you able to control the anchor?" She asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
"In the same way as when I stopped it from killing you at Haven… Although I am stronger now. The mark was bestowed upon you buy the Orb of Fen'Harel. My orb."
"You're Fen'Harel?" Caedri interjected, still nursing his hand, but his gaze now directed at… the Dread Wolf.
"What's the Dalish curse? 'May the Dread Wolf take you.'" Solas said, Aphre laughed bitterly, shaking her head.
"And so he did." Her words cut with anger, it was palpable.
"I did not. I would not lay with you under false pretences."
"But you lied to me. I loved you. What a Creator's damned fucking fool I was. Did you not trust me? Was I not good enough?" The venom in her words pained Caedri, he couldn't remember a time when she had been this angry, she had never really been given cause.
"Ir abelas, vhenan."
"Tel'abelas. Don't you dare fucking call me that again. Ma harel lasa, I trusted you and you lied to me." Her teeth gritted, jaw clenched as she spoke, Caedri could only watch on as it unfolded before him.
"Only by omission." His face now filled with sorrow.
"Ma lasa banal'ghilana!" Caedri winced at her words.
"What would you have had me say? That I was the great adversary in your people's mythology?"
"I would have had you fucking trust me." She shouted, nearly screamed, as she took a step closer. The intensity in her gaze filled the air, Solas simply shook his head, the eerie quiet taking over.
Solas explained the creation of the Fade, the destruction of the world of his kind because of the Evanuris. Aphre remained silent as Caedri probed him for questions, at once sentence, Aphre could no longer contain herself.
"I will save the elven people. Even if it means this world must die." Though the anger boiled in her veins, her vision still red, sorrow began to take over, in her own anger she forgot that her brother was still tangled up in all of this. She hoped she may be able to reason with him, to put her anger aside to try,
"Solas, whatever you want, this world dying is not the answer."
"Not a good answer, no. Sometimes terrible choices are all that remain."
Finding out that Corypheus had delayed Solas tearing down the Veil and destroying their world, it felt like a sick and cruel joke, the Creators were not known for this level of cruelty. However, she was stood in front of a self-proclaimed god, that told her everything she knew about her own people was wrong, so what did she know? Solas' next words struck a blow deep within her, she had suffered poisons, deep wounds, fractures and breaks, but nothing had ever hurt as much, had cut as deep, as Solas' words.
"It was like walking through a world of tranquil." His words pained Caedri, too, but nowhere near as much as it clearly affected Aphre.
"We aren't even people to you?"
"Not at first. You showed me I was wrong… again. That does not make what must come next any easier."
"You never cared about us. We were the means to an end."
"You were people, and you deserved better… like all the rest I have used in one hopeless battle after another."
Solas' claims that he took no joy, that what he was doing was painful to him, did not sit well with Aphre, in fact she didn't believe him at all. Caedri was still struggling to take it all in. He claimed not to be a monster, yet to Aphre he had become one, only wearing the skin of the man she loved. Her attention changed in a heartbeat, to her brother.
"There's still the matter of the anchor. By the looks of it, it's getting worse."
"I know, vhenan, and we are running out of time." His words were still directed at her, despite her brother being the one with the mark. As he finished talking, Caedri cried out in pain, green flashing in the corner of her vision, he doubled over, holding his hand, falling to the ground once more. Aphre couldn't have felt more helpless. "The mark will eventually kill you, Caedri. Drawing you here gave me the chance to save you… at least for now." Seeing her brother in this pain, her own anger faded away,
"Solas, var lath vir suledin." The helplessness thick in her voice, she was pleading, pleading for her brother's life.
"I wish it could, vhenan." His expression appeared pained, Caedri cried out once more, his eyes flashed blue as the magic worked over Caedri's hand. The world had become too bright for Aphre, she could barely keep her eyes open, unless her gaze was focused on Solas, "My love," He said quietly, closing the gap between them and putting his hand behind her head. He kissed her, and she let him. The kiss was slow, and filled with sorrow, he pulled away, leaving Aphre wanting nothing and everything from him. "I will never forget you."
Those were the last words either of them heard from him. The two walked through the eluvian, returning to the Winter Palace, feeling the pain deep within them. A friend, a lover, both had lost something that day, something that could never be quite fixed, something that would leave a hole that never truly heal.
Caedri did not see Aphre in the days following. In between the talks with the Exalted Council and deciding the fate of the Inquisition, he didn't have much time to spare, and when he went looking for her, she was nowhere to be found. He spoke quickly with Dorian about the issue, asking him if he could try and look out for her, Caedri said he couldn't explain the situation fully right now, 'there's not enough time', but when they could be alone, he would make the effort. He just wanted to know that she was alright, they shared a chaste kiss before Caedri returned to his duties.
Aphre had never had much time for politics or exchanging niceties with diplomats, or the nobles so arrogant that any elf they saw they assumed was a servant. She only left her quarters in the Winter Palace when necessary, sometimes to visit the tavern, but after seeing Solas the only time she left was at night, taking out her anger and frustration on the training dummies, leaving her knuckles bloodied and bruised. She didn't want to see anyone, have them tell her what Solas was or wasn't, what they thought of him, their relationship, she wanted nothing, not even from her friends, not even her brother. The thought of any of them probing her love life, former love life turned the bile over in her stomach, it made her sick and sorry at once, and she couldn't stand it. So when a knock came at the door, she was tempted to throw the one knife she kept on her at full force. But the days of self-inflicted confinement had started to get to her, she had to talk to someone, before the isolation smothered her.
"Come," She said, using all her strength to keep her voice level, to make herself heard. She was expecting to see Caedri, but to her surprise Dorian walked through the door.
"I came to make sure… well, to make sure that you were still alive." Dorian started, still stood by the door. "Your brother worries, you know. He always worries, but now more than ever. I think you should talk to him."
"Because you know what's best for me?" She said derisively, staring at him directly. Dorian saw the redness in her eyes, she'd been crying, a lot. Caedri told him that he had never seen her cry, that she simply never cried, Solas truly had broken something within her, taken a part of her. Dorian saddened, but kept maintained his countenance, the last thing Aphre wanted or needed was pity.
"He is your brother, I know how close the two of you are. You cannot bottle this up, Aphre, it will do you no good." He continued, the edges of his voice tinged with concern. Aphre sighed, diverting her gaze downwards towards her sore and scabbed knuckles.
"He doesn't have the time, Dorian, you and I both know it." She replied listlessly.
"He will make time for you, he always will. Another thing, it hurts more to have your heart broken by someone who loves you than by someone who doesn't." Dorian spoke quietly, before he retreated through the door, shutting it with a soft click. Aphre was alone once more. Her stomach growled, when had she last eaten? She couldn't remember, but she didn't have the energy to move, or care enough to, she simply continued staring at her knuckles, running a thumb over the healing wounds, and let the silence surround her.