Ella didn't bother to knock, instead opting to open the door with such force the gust from outside that accompanied her entrance blew out the nearest sconce. Solas looked up from where he was writing. Without a word, he pointed to the small table by his bed and turned back to his work. The only sign she had startled him was the slight release of magical tension in the room when he saw it was her.

She shut the door behind her and headed to where her things were, eyeing his back as she hurried past him. On the small table, she found her phone, car keys, and headphones. She looked over her shoulder at Solas, "Did you-"

"I tested them for magic. I found none. I did nothing else." She probably should be questioning why he wasn't pushing on this. The nagging feeling that he was plotting something in that head of his came back. However, she was soon pulled back to the task when her eyes went back to the items.

With trembling fingers she brushed over the objects as though fearing they might suddenly vanish. Strange that things she had never thought twice about now held such importance to her.

Realizing she had been standing there for some time she scooped the items up and pushed them into the bag Leliana had given her. It was a bit packed, but she managed, though the bag no longer closed all the way. That done she started to leave but hesitated.

Solas had not bothered to glance her way or even acknowledge her presence aside from the brief moment when she'd first entered. Despite herself, it made her immensely curious what had him so absorbed. She moved slowly setting each foot down with care to make as little sound on the wood planking as possible.

When she got closer, she noticed the title of one of the books appeared to be in a language she didn't recognize. Given that her husband was a linguist this was a rare thing for her now. She kept a foot or so away from him squinting and tilting her head slightly to try to read the title better.

"Elvehan Diis Falsis: Triew Metod Dracas," Ella jumped at the sound of his voice and looked to find that he had turned and was watching her one eyebrow raised. "Do you often look over people's shoulders while they are working?"

"No. I- that is-" her eyes glanced to the book before going back to him. "What language is that?"

"Tevene."

Ella's brows furrowed. "Is it commonly spoken here?"

"No."

"What are we speaking now?"

Solas blinked, "Common tongue."

Well no going back now. "What does it look like?"

He picked up a nearby book titled On Silver Cords. "This is common tongue. I had assumed you were literate if I was mistaken-"

She waved his words away, "I can read. I just..." How did she go about this? Saying, I think my mind might be doing some weird shit where it is automatically translating something it shouldn't, would probably not be the best approach. "What do you see?"

"Excuse me?" Solas' brows furrowed now, eyes intent on her.

"Describe some of the letters to me. As though I were blind."

Solas described each letter in beautiful detail. It surprised her how great he was at imagery. Though what surprised her more was that her suspicions were confirmed. What she saw was not what was there. When she looked at it, she saw English, but from what he described, she should be seeing something else. Which also implied that she was now speaking fluently in a completely different language without even knowing it.

Ella's head spun at the implications. Without thinking, she took a few steps back and sunk onto the edge of Solas' bed bringing a hand up to her forehead. How was this possible? How was any of this possible? These kinds of things didn't happen in real life. This was the stuff of dreams, of books and movies, not of reality. A painful throbbing started at the back of her skull, and she squinted her eyes shut forcing deep breathes.

To her mind, she still was speaking English. What if she tried speaking other languages? Would those translate to something else? Her eyes went to Solas, who was watching her silent and expressionless. "Quelle langue est-ce?"

Solas' eyebrows went up just barely, and he leaned forward a touch, "That sounds Orlesian, but the words are not the same. What did you say?"

"It translate to, 'What language is this?' I wanted to see if you knew it."

"I do not. What is it called?"

Ella realized too late that she shouldn't have said anything, "I don't think that's important. I apologize, I shouldn't have bothered you. I've got my stuff so I'll leave you to your work."

She stood and started out of the room internally cursing herself for letting her curiosity get the better of her. As her hand reached for the door, Solas' voice reached her ears, "I am fluent in several languages, including elven."

Ella raised an eyebrow as she turned her head to glance at him, "Forgive my ignorance but is it not common for elves to be fluent in elven?"

"No. Much of the language has been lost. What the Dalish have managed to preserve is nothing but scraps. Much of it is incorrect. It would be… inconvenient for others to know this about me."

Ella's hand lowered from the door handle, "Why?"

"I am already in a misunderstood and often feared field of magic. I have learned much in the Fade. Many would not understand. I wish to help. To do this, I offer what assistance is relevant. Too much and I might not be allowed to stay. It is much the same reason I told you to keep your status as a dreamer between us."

Now she turned to him completely, "Why tell me?"

"A secret for a secret. Tell me of the language you spoke just now."

This could be a trap of some kind. He was clever enough to do something like that. How she wasn't sure. Even if it was a trap, she was oddly interested in where it might lead. "It's called French."

"I have never heard of it." Ella said nothing and after a while, he continued, "I have heard of many languages in my journeys through the Fade. It is odd I would not have come across this one." She shrugged, "Ah. You enjoy languages?"

"Yes..."

"I propose a trade. I will teach you elven in exchange for information about you. Information on things where you are from."

Ella crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him eyebrows raised, "Wouldn't language for language be a more equal trade?"

"What good would a language be to me that is not spoken here?"

"The same could be said of elven, could it not?"

They eyed each other in silence, neither one ready to back down, after what felt like minutes, Solas broke his gaze, "Very well. If there is nothing else." With that, he turned away from her and back to whatever he was working on.

Ella's fingers gripped the bag with her belongings in it tighter. "That's it?" Solas said nothing, so she continued in a rush, "You aren't going to press me about my things? About the strange language? Nothing? You're honestly just going to leave it be? Especially after my…" She paused trying to find the best word.

"Challenge." Solas offered still not looking at her, "I said nothing about leaving it be."

"Why then?"

"Are you claiming you would tell me if I asked?"

Ella shuffled her feet, eyes going from the variety of books on his desk to the door next to her. On the one hand, he undoubtedly would have a lot of knowledge to offer. Not just about language but about this world. On the other hand, giving him information could put her at risk of him finding out the truth. Although, a lack of information could literally be the death of her in this world.

If she were smart, she could feed him tidbits similar enough to things here that he might just assume she was from somewhere far away. The phone would be harder to explain, but little bits like that surely wouldn't give it away. It seemed he was the most likely to keep any information she gave to himself. She was capable of learning some stuff on her own but having someone like him helping would expedite things.

"I'll… think about your offer." Solas' hand paused over the papers for just long enough that she would have missed it had she not been watching. There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she was already going to regret this.

Instead of saying a word he went back to his studies moving some papers about on his desk. She had planned on leaving but as her eyes followed his movements some of the papers that he removed revealed a book underneath. It was a massive thing bound in beautiful dark leather with silver lettering along the side reading, The Botanical Compendium.

Ella's treacherous feet moved her away from the door and back into Solas' lodging. When she got close to the desk, her fingers betrayed her as well, reaching forward to brush along the leather binding.

"If you would like to read it you may." Ella's eyes looked up to find Solas watching her with his usual unreadable expression. It was only for a moment that she hesitated before scooping the book up. She went over next to Solas bed and plopped down on the floor leaning back against his bed as she carefully opened the large book in her lap.

"You may use the candle on the bedside table." Solas still hadn't looked at her, but Ella took that as permission to make herself somewhat comfortable.

With careful fingers, she set the book down on the floor and stood taking the candle. She went over to where Solas was and leaned around him trying to not get in his space to terribly. It was impossible to avoid completely, and she brushed against his arm as she reached over to use his candles flame to light her own. Her breath caught and she looked at his papers worried she might have messed up some of his notes. Luckily he must have assumed she would have done that because he had paused in his writing and seemed still as a statue.

Ella mumbled an apology and hurried back her spot on the floor with the now flickering candle. There were a few seconds of total silence and she held her breath again worried he would make her leave before she'd even had a chance to read anything. When the soft scratch of his quill started again, she released the air from her lungs and turned her attention to her book.

It was a treasure trove of interesting and useful information, not only informative but sprinkled with humorous antidotes. Soon she had pulled out the notebook, quill, and ink that Leliana had brought her and went about taking notes and trying to sketch out the various plants. Who knew when this information might come in useful and she couldn't very well haul this monster of a book everywhere, assuming Solas would even let her take it out of his place.

For the most part, the two worked quietly together. The soft scratching of quills on paper and rustling of pages the only sound in that space. Once she found a story that made her let out a snort of amusement and she couldn't resist asking about it.

"This book has a story about an Orlesian woman who ordered her Crystal Grace to be enchanted, so the flowers chimed like real bells. Supposedly she then grew so annoyed by it she lit her entire lawn on fire in some insane temper tantrum. That has to be made up right?"

Solas spoke with his back still to her, "It is true that stories like that are often made up or exaggerated. However, it is Orlais so it is not entirely implausible."

"You're kidding. Someone would actually set their entire lawn on fire for something like that."

"Orlesian's have killed for less."

Ella opened her mouth and shut it again, biting her lower lip in thought before quickly scribbling in a corner of her notebook, "do not go to Orlais ever," and underlining the ever a few times for good measure. Not that she planned on being here long enough to go traveling about but there was a lot of information to take in so she figured she should make note of any places that were potential death traps. The fact that this was a thing in her life now was… disturbing.

How long went by like that she couldn't be sure. It was several pages of notes and half a candle later that she felt her eyes growing heavy. The problem was she was in the middle of an interesting section on something called elfroot which seemed to be extremely useful in a variety of things. She wasn't positive if Solas' good grace towards her would continue or when she would have another chance to look at this book. Perhaps if she just let her eyes rest for a moment she could continue, just for a bit longer.

Solas squinted his eyes in the fading light as he finished off the last notation he was working on. When that was done, he let his quill drop flexing his fingers. It was only then the lack of sound registered to him. The girl's movements behind him for so long tonight had become something he'd grown used to, faster than he'd like to admit. After being alone so long outside of the Fade, it should not be so easy to become accustomed to another presence in his space. Yet she seemed to have this uncanny way of worming herself in without him even realizing it.

Thoughts of the girl were like an insect buzzing about in his head. Eventually, they would leave him and he could turn his attention back completely to the more pressing issues. Despite what the girl may seem he could not afford to make mistakes and if his time in this world had taught him anything it was that trust was something he could ill afford to give easily, not when so much was at stake.

Solas stood and turned towards her mouth opening to prompt her departure. What he saw when he turned made him pause and his mouth shut without a word. The girl was leaned back against his bed, her feet tucked beneath her, and head tilted to the side. She'd removed her boots they set to one side of her while the other side had the open book on plant life. The quill she'd been writing with rested loosely in her long ink-stained fingers and her chest moved in a soft, steady rhythm.

It was almost like seeing a completely different person. He had suspected she was guarded but now, seeing her face while she slept, he had an idea of just how guarded. There was a softness to her features now, a slight parting of the lips, and her brows smooth, the tension gone from her.

With quiet footsteps, he moved towards her and knelt in front of her. He should wake her. He should send her back to her room; he'd even let her take the book she seemed to have latched onto so tightly. Yet he hesitated.

Instead, he found himself standing and going to retrieve his bedroll. With careful movements, he set it down next to her moving the notebook from her lap and the large compendium from its place next to her. When he lifted the notebook, he couldn't help glancing at it. The sketches were surprisingly well done given that her script was messy and barely readable, the letters all squished together and hastily written.

Though he knew he shouldn't his curiosity won over and he flipped through some of the pages stopping when he saw a notation that had been underlined with particular verocity, "do not go to Orlais ever." A smile curved the corner of his lips and his finger brushed over the words before he realized what he was doing. The smile vanished and he shut the book setting it next to the rest of her things.

That done he laid out the bedroll next to her before reaching out and gently removing the quill from her hand. He couldn't help but note that he had been right in his earlier assumption that her hands would be callus free. Other than the ink now staining her fingers they were unmarred, skin smooth and pale, not hands used to manual labor or wielding a weapon.

Where had she come from. This creature so unexpectedly dropped here. Across the sea perhaps? Could she be Voshai? Or from one of the Boeric Ocean's islands? He knew little about either of these. He should look into them more. Especially now that he had a language that was unique to her. Though he still was not sure what to make of her reaction to him describing the letters.

He had described a few of the letters wrong on purpose and she had said nothing. She was clearly literate, so how was it possible she did not know this? Was she playing him? Trying to mislead him in some form? To what end?

He set the quill next to her things glancing at the bag that now contained the things of hers Leliana had brought him. Strange things indeed, no magic that he could sense. One of them he recognized as some kind of key, though not like any he had seen. The other two items he could not begin to guess and the stubborn girl would likely never tell him.

Solas turned his attention back to her easing one arm behind her back and one arm under her knees he lifted her ever so slightly. He froze once he had her up. She stirred letting out a small hum in the back of her throat before stilling again. Once he was sure she would not wake he moved her onto the bedroll easing his arms out from under her with utmost care.

Once that was done, he covered her with a fur and stood. It was his intent to go back to his things and put them away before sleeping himself. However, he found himself watching her a moment longer. The events of the previous night had played in his head on an irritatingly consistent loop throughout the day.

This little creature walking up till she was only a hand's width away from him, having to tilt her face up to meet his gaze, a spark of challenge in her eyes. What was she? What was she that she was able to dig her way into his thoughts with such ferocity? Lodging her claws in and refusing to release him again.

A cat indeed.

As he watched her, something changed. The soft upward curve of her mouth turned down. Soon her brows furrowed and he saw the fingers of the hand that rested near her head twitch. Something was not right. When he looked closer, he noticed sweat had started to form on her brow.

That was when he felt it.

One of his wards had been broken. It had been subtle, a minuscule tear in the barrier. The demon that had done it was undoubtedly clever. It was rare for demons to go through the trouble of breaking through his wards or to have the strength to accomplish such. Even in his current state, his magic would not have been easy to break through. For it to go through that trouble…

He had to get to her and fast.