Solas: People should seize any chance for a moment's respite in times such as these. I am glad you've allowed yourself some happiness.

Blackwall: What of you, then? Have you found someone to share a moment's respite?

Solas: I find my peace elsewhere.

Twenty-One

Is There Something Here?

The Harrowing Chamber was much as Solas had seen it echoed back through the Fade during Rosa's ordeal. There were fewer Templars now, only about six of them in total. They stood in positions around the chamber, fully armored and ready for battle.

That count didn't include Knight-Captain Brycen or Seeker Pentaghast, who seemed to mutually despise one another, judging by the frequent glares they exchanged. The Seeker seemed to have the true authority here, standing in a position behind Brycen that indicated she oversaw the chamber's entire goings on and could stop it with a word or a gesture.

Brycen was the one who did the speaking, telling Solas that he had been taken to his Harrowing early as punishment for skipping classes. He must choose between becoming Tranquil and undergoing the Harrowing ritual now. Yet Solas, bored with it all, spent most of his time reading the enmity between Knight-Captain and Seeker. Finally Brycen said, "Which do you choose, apprentice?"

Doubtless they wanted him to elect to become Tranquil. Tranquil were the tower's greatest moneymakers. They were safe, responsible, and endlessly obedient. He could almost feel them trying to will him to that choice…but to no avail.

"I will undergo the ritual," Solas answered evenly. He stretched slightly in place, limbering up cramped muscles. He'd spent the better part of two days inside his lightless cell, half of it awake and half unconscious, waiting for them to call him for this foolish ritual.

The night before he'd touched Rosa's dreams and found her incensed that she had to spend some unknown number of days locked up—her sentence was longer than Solas' apparently. Their time to find a way to deceive the Formless One was fast disappearing. Today and tonight were their last chance, but no matter how Solas considered the problem he saw no way around merely accepting that the Formless One had won and trying to lessen whatever loss its punishment incurred. And, at least with his Harrowing completed, Solas could join Rosa and Tal once more during meals.

"As you wish," Brycen said and motioned to First Enchanter Braden who'd lingered behind Solas and out of sight until then. The First Enchanter carried a wooden bowl, smoothly finished and lacquered. The ritual lyrium waited inside it, brilliant blue and bubbling, as if eager for him to ingest it. Knowing where it came from—and the nastier effects it still had on him despite the Veil and his own weakened mana stores—Solas repressed a shudder of revulsion.

Braden smiled encouragingly at Solas. "Go on, Revas. I have faith you will persevere." He lifted the bowl higher, sloshing it slightly. He'd assumed Solas' hesitation was out of fear of the ritual, rather than unwillingness to consume the lyrium.

Returning the man's smile politely, Solas took the bowl from the First Enchanter and brought it to his lips to sip. The sharp, biting taste seemed to kick him in the mouth and spread warmth all the way down his throat to his belly. Swallowing a groan as he felt his limbs go hollow while the rest of him became as heavy as lead, Solas tried to drop into a prone position on the floor as gracefully as he could—only to collapse with a wheezing grunt. He would have laughed at the sound had his lungs and throat not gone numb as the lyrium drew his spirit from his body against his will.

Opening his eyes again, Solas found himself in a grassy plain. Tawny, dry grass stretched out on the hillocks as far as he could see. This was a land that no longer existed: a seasonal grassland that'd been destroyed during one of the Blights that'd created the wastelands of the Western Approach. Turning round, Solas saw rocky buttes, a lustrous red-brown in color. The air held a chilly nip in it as it swept over the grasses, rippling them like waves in a sea.

When he strained his senses outward he felt the painful prickle of a demon's presence. Based on the aura, which wasn't especially strong, he guessed it was a common type of demon—fear or desire or pride-based. Likely it was the exact demon the First Enchanter and his comrades had lured to this area of the Fade specifically for the ritual. As he stood motionless, staring into the horizon and wondering whether he should warp the Fade to bring the demon to him or conserve his energy for a potential fight, he sensed a Dreamer.

Turning to look over his shoulder into the depression between the tawny hills, he smiled as he saw Rosa—and then his lips parted with surprise as he saw Tal with her. "Greetings," he addressed them both with a friendly nod. Solas wondered if Rosa had told her brother about him but pushed the topic aside for the present. Best to assume Tal knew nothing until he learned otherwise.

"Andaran atish'an, Revas," Tal spoke up first, grinning. Then he seemed to freeze, his mouth forming an O-shape as he gazed up at the sky, which held the bright, fractal colors of the Fade. "Whoa…what is this?"

"A memory Revas saw in the Fade of Elvhenan," Rosa explained before Solas could.

Well, he thought, shooting Rosa a tight look. That answers that question. For whatever reason, Rosa had not revealed the truth about him to her brother—much as her own clan had restricted the truth from other clans and their own people. What are you hiding still? He wondered, and made a mental note to question her as to why she had decided to hide this from Tal. Was she waiting for him to give permission to share it? Or was there something more…?

Rosa wore her Keeper armor as she usually did in the Fade, with one hand on her hip and the other tapping out an idle rhythm on her thigh. It took Solas a shameful heartbeat to realize what rhythm she was going for—the underlying hum of the world as it should be. The Fade had constructed this dream from his pre-Veil memories, recreating with it the song that accompanied Elvhenan's reality where the Fade and the physical plane had been one.

Rosa raised her eyes to the sky and grinned. "So. Do you think this is truly what Elvhenan looked like?"

Solas glanced up briefly before looking back to her and nodding, still smiling. "Yes, although it could just be an idle fantasy remembered in the Fade as well. There is no way to be certain. It is beautiful, however. Don't you think?"

"That's like asking if the Divine prays to the Maker," Tal said, laughing as he spun in a slow circle, staring up through squinted eyes at the sunshine and the brilliant colors in the sky.

She snorted, grinning. "Tal stole the words right out of my mouth, Revas. It makes me think of the dancing lights I used to see back home, in the Brecilian—but only in the dead of winter." Falling silent a moment, she made a face and Solas felt his chest constrict with sympathy, knowing the topic must remind her of all she'd lost.

"You and your wild stories, asamalin," Tal teased.

"It is not a wild story," Solas retorted, frowning at the youth. "I have seen the phenomenon she refers to. It is called an aurora and only occurs in the far north and far south."

Rosa smiled at him. "Thank you, Revas."

Tal rolled his eyes and charged up the side of the hill to stand beside Solas. "Let's get down to business then. Where's the demon you have to kill, falon?"

Solas pointed into the distance, near the horizon where a reddish butte extended up from the sea of tawny hills. "In that direction. This one is nothing remarkable."

Striding up to join them, standing to Solas' right, Rosa sighed. "Figures that I'd be the only one to face off with the blighting Formless One."

Sandwiched between brother and sister, Solas saw the way Tal fidgeted at the mention of the powerful demon, tugging at the cuffs of his mage robes. Unlike Rosa, it seemed he'd embraced the clothing and culture of the tower. Solas wondered, if he had seen Tal's self-projection in a dream a week or two ago, would the youth have worn Keeper or scout armor—or any armor at all? For all his devotion to his sister, Tal couldn't have been less like her. Did he worry now that Rosa's fears that the Formless One intended to pursue him in punishing her would prove true? Or was something else troubling the young elf?

"You know," Rosa murmured then, her tone suggesting she was nervous and hesitant.

Solas turned to regard her again, curious. When he saw that she had begun fidgeting with her hands too, much like Tal—a truly notable sign of her anxiety with whatever she was about to say—he arched a brow. "Yes…?" he prompted.

Licking her lips, she watched him warily. "I know you said the Formless One is far too powerful for us, but are you absolutely sure? What I mean is I know another powerful mage—my mentor, a Dreamer. I could—"

Solas interrupted her with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head. "Three Dreamers could not defeat the Formless One. Ir abelas." Inwardly he noted her mention of a mentor with interest, filing it away for later.

"But you could use me too," Tal suggested brightly from his other side. "Would that be enough?"

"Not without a powerful weapon or a trick of some kind." The Anchor, more precisely, he thought, but would never have said it even if Tal weren't present. "I'm sorry, but it is simply not possible."

Seeing Rosa's crestfallen expression, he sighed, shoulders sinking. "I know you do not accept defeat easily. It goes against your very nature, but I see no way out of the bargain the Formless One struck with you. It would not have made such an agreement unless it would receive something it wanted regardless of how you acted."

She stared at him, eyes unfocused and clouded with anger intermixed with grief. "Translation: that son of a bitch wins no matter what I do."

"Yes," Solas said, "Ir abelas, lethallan." Reaching out, he laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Be thankful the demon did not wish you or Tal or myself dead."

"Yeah," Tal piped up, stepping around Solas slightly to look at his sister more directly. "Whatever that bastard does to punish you, we'll make it through. I promise, asamalin."

Rosa's lips twitched up in a small, warm smile. Her violet eyes flicked between Solas and Tal, soft with genuine affection that Solas could almost feel flowing through the Fade—the way such things once had in Elvhenan.

Feeling that dangerous something stirring within him at the affection in her eyes, Solas quickly let his hand fall from her shoulder and turned to survey the horizon. "Might I suggest we continue with our purpose here? I do not fancy the thought of the Templars growing impatient and killing me while I sleep."

Anticipating his thought process, Rosa said, "Well then, shall we make a shortcut? Save a little time?"

"I thought you would never ask, lethallan." Solas grinned at her and made a motion to invite her to take action by leading the way.

Clapping her hands together, Rosa sauntered ahead, trotting down the hill and sliding a bit. Dirt and pebbles hissed as they tumbled down, but Rosa stopped herself with a flourish of her arms. This was the Fade, after all. One need not follow any natural laws. Crouched in that unnatural, precarious position on the hillside, Rosa reached outward to the horizon with both arms and grunted as her hands closed into fists. Solas felt his skin tingle as her will made manifest altered the Fade, blurring it until the far distant horizon, where a rocky red-brown bluff stood out against the array of colors in the sky, swelled and surged toward them. The ground between blurred and then fell away entirely.

Tal scoffed playfully. "Showoff."

"Done," she proclaimed, ignoring Tal as she whipped about to look at Solas. "Now you get to lead the rest of the way. This is your Harrowing after all."

"I am aware," Solas replied curtly as he jogged down the hill and passed her, moving to ascend the bluff, both Dalish tailing him. The grass gave way to unstable earth made of dry clay as he reached the top. Solas buried the odd desire to reach out to the bluff at the base of the butte and crumble the reddish clay between his fingers. Such fine pigments had been highly sought after in his village and probably still were in modern Thedas.

As if she'd heard his thoughts, Rosa grunted from behind him with interest and Solas heard the clay crumbling as she touched it. "My Keeper would have killed for this stuff. We always had to find bloodstone and grind it up instead. Real pain in the ass."

Indeed, Solas thought, although his village had used magic to automate the grinding portion of extracting red pigment from bloodstone. Rosa's clan would have had to sprain their wrists grinding it themselves.

"Where is this place, by the way?" Tal asked, taking up the rear. "It looks like the northern Dales, but drier and with a lot more red."

"I am unsure," Solas lied, hoping Tal wouldn't probe. He hurried ahead, his legs rustling through the grass, following his inner senses. "The demon is below us," he said, frowning with concentration. "And inside the butte."

Rosa made a noise of interest behind him, her pace slowing as she too frowned with thought. "Can you tell what it is…? Feels like a…"

"A pride demon," Solas finished, recognizing the aura. Great.

Solas led the way down again, curling around the butte and down a sandy slope. At the bottom of the hill a few gray blocks of rough-hewn stone lay over the red-brown dirt. Solas recognized them as being of dwarven construction, fallen columns. Set into the side of the hill was a latticework of reddish stained glass tiles, each giving off a faint glow to provide lighting to the entrance.

"An entrance to the Deep Roads?" Rosa asked from just behind him.

"Possibly," Solas hedged. In truth he didn't know. He had spent a great deal of time in the areas that were known as the Western Approach to modern Thedas, because he held stewardship over them for a time while Falon'Din was imprisoned after the Evanuris' civil war. Yet, he wasn't familiar with an entrance like this, likely meaning the demon had constructed it—or, alternatively, that Solas' own memories were fading somewhat. He hoped it was the former and not the latter.

Striding in through the narrow entrance and past the reddish glow, Solas found himself in deep darkness. The air smelled dank and sickly sweet, rotten. Extending his arms out to either side of him, Solas willed braziers to appear there, lit with bright white flames. As the light filled the chamber, Solas saw he stood in a foyer of sorts. The room was rectangular and with a fairly low ceiling supported by thick, ugly columns made of dark stone. Rocks and dirt and other detritus littered the floor in heaps where water or wind had presumably pushed it. And at the far end of the chamber a tall, narrow mirror stood, flanked on either side by stone dragons, the symbol for Mythal.

The sound of grit under the others' feet alerted Solas to their presence as Tal and Rosa filed in. Rosa's expression warped with disgust as she undoubtedly reacted to the smell, but Tal seemed less affected as he walked to the first column and brushed his hands over the runes. "What is this place?" he asked, his voice echoing from the walls.

"I do not know," Solas answered truthfully. He could feel the presence of the demon in this room, its aura cold and pricking against his skin. "I suspect the demon intends to face us here."

"Dwarven and elven," Rosa said, noticing the mirror. "Odd."

Not as odd as you would think, Solas thought but nodded in feigned agreement. Reaching inside himself to feel over his mana core, Solas approached the mirror. He heard Rosa and Tal shadowing him at a distance, close enough that they could react but far enough away to let him tackle the challenge alone primarily.

The mirror—an eluvian—was dark. Inactive, but intact. Solas circled around the last column in the room until he stood in full view of the mirror. The glossy surface showed a shadowy figure that might have been himself reflected back, but Solas doubted it. This would be the demon.

With a grunt, Solas summoned fire into his right hand. The mirror went dark entirely, showing no reflection at all as he flung the fireball at it. As the fireball struck the mirror Solas cursed under his breath as he realized too late the trick the demon had employed. The fireball ricocheted back to him, the fire crackling and roaring. Solas erected a barrier and dodged, letting the fireball crash into the column behind him.

A cold, cackling laughter echoed through the room. "Is that truly all you have to use against me, Pride?"

The demon was using a specific barrier to reflect his magic back on him. It would be easy enough to dispel or mindblast it away. Spirit magic would thwart the spell. Solas refreshed his barrier and summoned the magic to dispel the demon's barrier, but stopped as he registered the shape in the mirror now: Felassan.

"What a delightful diversion the enchanters have sent me this time," Felassan said in his smooth, friendly voice, though his face had twisted with hate. "I can read all of you like open pages laid bare to me. Your fears, your hopes, and your weaknesses—all of it. And do you know what I see?" His dark eyes swept over Solas and toward the Dalish siblings, taking them in with a leering smile. "None of you are strong enough to do what must be done."

"Demon filth," Rosa snarled, edging closer to the mirror and drawing mana of her own. "Let's send this bastard back to the Void, Revas!"

"Yeah," Tal agreed, but there was an odd waver to his voice as he stepped to his sister's side in solidarity.

"Bastard am I?" not-Felassan mocked them, grinning. His teeth were sharper than Solas remembered. With his hood back Solas could see his old friend's pale hair, cropped short and tied back. His vallaslin curled around his eyes as he laughed. "I do believe that description fits the two of you far better than myself. Cast your spell and I will tell your friend why. You don't want that now, do you? Rosa? Tal? "

This threat silenced both brother and sister, though they glared daggers at the demon as it laughed. Solas had paused to listen, intrigued despite himself, but he knew he must act or else the demon would turn its eye on him next.

Drawing in a deep breath, Solas cast the dispelling, aiming the spirit energy at the eluvian where mock-Felassan paced in and out of view like a caged animal. With a low hum the spirit energy blasted the demon's barrier and Solas felt it splinter and fail, giving way. With a hard grin, Solas flung another fireball at the mirror and this time it hit. Orange light flickered and the room filled with crackling and a sharp stink as fire engulfed the mirror. The demon let out a deep hiss and the mirror that held it dissolved into Fade ether. In its place the hooded figure of Felassan rematerialized and darted for the Dalish siblings.

Rosa Fade-stepped to avoid the demon, a streak of blue as she shot across the chamber and appeared at Solas' side with a slick whine-pop noise. Tal, however, was not so lucky. The demon snatched him by the neck as he tried to backpedal away. It slammed him against the wall and Tal flailed against him, his fingers burning as he called fire.

"Tal!" Rosa screamed and unleashed a volley of chain lightning on the demon as Solas clenched his fist and jerked it downward to cast winter's grasp.

The demon let out another hissing shriek and spun about on its heel, tossing Tal directly at Solas and Rosa. "Take back this cretin since you want him so badly!"

Solas Fade-stepped around a column to avoid impact with Tal but Rosa stayed her ground and thrust both hands out, using raw spirit energy to cradle her brother as he collided with her. The siblings tumbled together, arms and legs akimbo, yelping with surprise and pain.

The false Felassan grinned at Solas, his rough-hewn cloak scorched where Tal had touched him and where Rosa's lightning had worked over him. Frost still rimmed his shoulders and the edges of his face. "And what of you, great one? Look how far you have fallen. I wonder—would you allow me inside you? We are so alike, you and I, and I can help you. You are too weak to escape the tower. Too weak to face the awful truths of this world. Time will destroy you before you achieve your goals, but I could extend your life and grant you the power you need."

"Silence," Solas snarled at it in elven, heart pounding at how close the demon was to revealing too much within earshot of the siblings. He Fade-stepped through the demon, freezing it as he passed. The sharp crack of the frost spreading over it filled his ears, louder than Rosa and Tal's scuffling feet as they righted themselves.

Reaching deep inside himself for as much mana as he could spare, Solas unleashed a mindblast. The loud boom of it echoed from the walls and impacted the demon hard. It stumbled backward, its shape warping and failing. By the time the spirit energy had finished working on it, the demon had adopted a new shape—Zevanni. It spoke with her voice too, a harsh, teasing lilt in it. "Strike me again and I will tell them. I will tell them what you are."

Solas hesitated; fear clutching at his throat, but at that moment both Tal and Rosa struck the demon for him, shouting in war cries. Rosa flung a chunk of Fade rock that smashed into the pride demon, knocking it over against the wall. Tal unleashed an immolate spell and the demon erupted in flames. Letting out the breath he'd been holding in tension, Solas hurled icicles at the demon like hidden blades, piercing it all the way through.

With a final shriek the demon vanished. Solas had a moment to breathe deeply, smelling the acrid stink of burning intermixed with dust and hearing Rosa and Tal whoop with triumph. He turned to congratulate them only to feel the Fade lurch around him, blurring. Stumbling to his knees, he fought to cling to the dream, certain this was mana burnout. He had nearly grazed the end of his reserves in this fight, particularly with the enormous mindblast.

"Are you all right?" Rosa called to him and he heard her footsteps crunching the grit as she hurried to his side.

Tal moved with her, kneeling and reaching for Solas's arm as if to haul him up, but actually his hands gripped him in a restraining hold. "This is the part where you wake up, falon," he said, teasingly. "Think you can manage that?"

Solas blinked, frowning as the realization hit him. "Ah," he grunted. "I see." He nodded to Tal and then to Rosa, smiling his gratitude. "Thank you for your aid. With luck, I shall see you both at lunch today."

Rosa frowned. "Probably not me," she growled. "I'm still locked up."

"And you two have to stop sneaking off," Tal admonished. "Sharing breakfast and Mythal knows what with each other! The shame, asamalin."

Rather than deal with such teasing, as he could already feel his ear tips burning at Tal's less than subtle insinuation, Solas closed his eyes and let his head hang. The Fade blurred and began to close around him, failing into darkness.

After congratulating Solas for passing the ritual, the First Enchanter bestowed him with new robes and assigned him to another mage who was to be his roommate, a human man by the name of Francis. Bleary-eyed and crotchety at the early hour at which he'd been called upon, Francis proved a poor conversationalist and had little patience for Solas, though he did show him around.

The mages lived in three levels of the tower, higher than the apprentices, and segregated by sex with women in the west half and men in the east of each level. Like the apprentices, the mages lived communally, though they bunked only two to four in a room and the beds appeared much nicer. Classroom space was shared with the apprentices as the mages often did the grunt work of teaching the youngsters. However, there were a few classrooms on the mages' level of the tower where Francis explained enchanters and senior enchanters taught advanced courses. The mages also had multiple privies on each level, four to be exact, and located in the cardinal directions. Each privy came complete with nice porcelain tubs in fine tiling inlaid with the Chantry's sunburst.

Solas didn't see any sign of Rosa or Tal as he moved through the halls with his roommate turned escort, though he watched for them. Rosa might very well still be in a cell. The thought made his shoulders tense with worry for her, hoping she would not be mistreated.

Francis brought him to the eastern privy, most commonly used by the male mages, and left him to bathe. After bathing just a few nights ago the unexpected bath now was a delightful boon, and he was allowed to linger in the warm water much longer now. His head still ached faintly in a few spots from the blow he'd received from Ser Tess and sinking under the water to soak up the warmth was as soothing as any healing spell. He considered trying to relieve certain other afflictions but dismissed it, determined that he would control himself and his inclination toward such distractions. Finding release at his own hand would only encourage him to seek further pleasure. Austerity and self-discipline were the wiser choices.

After donning his new mage robes, which were now blue and white with no green in sight, and with broader shoulder pads, Solas returned to his new quarters to nap and make himself at home. The bed was plusher than the cot he'd had as an apprentice, with blankets that were soft and looked reassuringly warm. There were two other beds; one belonging to Francis and the last to some unknown roommate Solas hadn't met yet. The other two had bedspreads different from his own—the bed adjacent to his had a patchwork of squares made of what appeared to be old mage robes while the one across from his had a white blanket with the red symbol for the Circle of Magi on it.

His particular bedspread was red with the Chantry sunburst in gold woven into it. It made him shudder, reminding him of the lyrium brand placed on Tranquil's foreheads. With no possessions to speak of, Solas had no way to customize his small space except by stripping the Chantry sunburst blanket and flipping it over to reveal the reverse side, which was an attractive creamy tan color. Much better, he thought and then lay down, closing his eyes and letting the Fade take him.

Opening his eyes again, Solas found himself staring at an enormous gray-brown boulder pockmarked by lichen in varying shades of white, orange, and green. Sensing the weight of another Dreamer nearby, Solas turned round and saw Rosa standing a few meters away from him beside a large pond. More of the enormous boulders lay scattered around them, enclosing the grassy glen from the wind and lending a sense of privacy, perhaps even intimacy.

Striding closer to the pond over the soft, spongy grass, Solas saw the water was clear though purple and yellow lily pads dotted the surface. Colorful fish swam lazily through the water, resplendent in white, gold, and purple. The pond extended around the boulders to Solas' right and out of sight. Water trickled down from the boulders in a gentle, musical song, feeding the pool.

Across the pond Rosa had yet to acknowledge him or glance in his direction for more than an instant. She stood with her back to the boulder behind her, leaning against it with her hands clasped on her stomach and her eyes fixed on the pond. Her expression held a gloom that didn't mesh well with the energy of this serene place.

"Are you well, lethallan?" Solas asked gently. "Have they not released you yet?"

Rosa shook her head. "Not yet."

When she fell silent again, still looking troubled, Solas asked, "Have you been well treated at least?"

She shrugged, her attitude flippant and dismissive. "I've gone a lot longer than I'd like without food or water, but at least they're letting me sleep this time. That's really all I've done."

Had she drawn him here or had he done it? The pond and the boulders weren't a place he recognized, which suggested this was her creation and he was the visitor, but one could never be certain with the Fade. "Did you wish to speak with me?" he asked.

"Why not?" she asked, shrugging again. "I felt you entering the Fade and willed you here. Did you have other plans?"

"No," he answered quickly. It was unlikely that Zevanni or Felassan were sleeping now so he would be unable to check in with them. The same was true for the enchanters and the Templars within the tower. He could have sought out his friend Wisdom or communed with local spirits—hostile or friendly alike—but in truth he knew he'd napped with the express hope that he would find Rosa.

She let out a long, heavy breath, and pushed away from the boulder. Her Keeper armor glinted, despite the diffuse light of this misty, secluded glen. As she circled the pond at a slow pace, moving closer to him, Rosa said, "The Formless One is going to win and there's nothing I can do about it."

Solas dipped his chin in acknowledgement. "Unfortunately I suspect that is true, yes."

"And it said it would whisper something to the Templars that would cause me to suffer—but won't kill me." She frowned, arms crossed over her chest and eyes locked on the pond. "It wants Tal and I alive." She broke off, chuckling bitterly. "The only way I can think of to spite it would be to kill ourselves…or escape this tower. Immediately. No tower, no Templars, no sting to the secret it reveals."

Solas scowled as he took up a spot at her side, also staring at the pond. "Attempting escape would simply end in your deaths. It would spite the demon, but it is not a viable option. We will simply have to curtail the damage the Formless One creates."

Rosa scrubbed at her face with one hand. "See…I think I know what it will tell the Templars." Solas arched his brow, waiting expectantly and Rosa went on. "It'll convince the Knight-Commander or the Knight-Captain or the Seeker or someone that Tal and I are siblings. Some of the things it said made me sure it wanted to separate Tal and I."

"And that would be an excellent way to achieve that goal," Solas murmured and nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure we can combat that," Rosa said and her voice cracked. Solas shot her a sidelong look and saw that she covered her mouth with one hand while her brow furrowed and her eyes clouded. After a few moments she inhaled shakily and said, "If they took him away we'd both survive just fine, but…"

"You knew one another from a distance before," Solas said, speaking aloud something he'd guessed based on the siblings' various stories, hints, and general familiarity with one another. "You met at the last Arlathvhen, did you not?"

She nodded, her hand dropping away and her lips curling in a bittersweet smile. "He was being taunted—tormented, really. The other children—Firsts and Seconds and others who'd come with their Keepers—ganged up on him. They hogtied him and pelted him with halla dung. He could have burned through the ropes, but he just took the punishment because he knew they'd beat him if he fought. When I arrived and saw it…"

She laughed, hard and triumphant. "I charged in and flattened them with a Veilstrike. The leader was years older than me and resisted it, but I shot a Fade stone at him. Knocked him out cold. They were all so stunned and witless; they thought I was a demon and ran off. And Tal stared at me, his mouth hanging open, but he wasn't afraid."

"That could not have been the first time you met him," Solas said softly, smiling at her story.

Frowning, Rosa glanced at him with something akin to disapproval. "Why not?"

"How would you have known him to be your brother?" Solas asked.

She stared at him hard, silent as her eyes flicked over his face. Her lips parted a moment and then closed again as she flashed a tight smile. "I just felt it. In here," she said and laid a hand over her heart. "And when we spoke I learned we had the same father."

How curious. Making a noise of interest in his throat, Solas said, "You have not spoken of your father."

Now Rosa's nose wrinkled with irritation. "That's because I never knew him, not really." Sniffing, she narrowed her eyes at him. "What about you, Solas? I've never heard you mention your father."

Clenching his jaw at the angst in her tone, Solas kept his voice calm and even. "My father and my mother are both long dead, casualties of war. There is nothing else to say of them."

"Nothing you wish to say or nothing worth remembering?" Rosa pressed.

"Nothing I wish to say as it is not pertinent," Solas elaborated with a frown.

"Well," Rosa mumbled, picking at her fingernails. "There's nothing I wish to say about my father for that same reason." Dusting herself off absently, Rosa pivoted to face him rather than the pond as she went on. "Something I've always wondered…"

Solas turned his head and met her eye. "Yes?" His heart had suddenly started pounding inside his chest, though he wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was Rosa's emotion carried through the Fade, influencing him. Yet her expression was fairly open, with only the slight upward tic of her lips to indicate anything else might be lurking beneath the surface.

"What happened at the end of Elvhenan?" she asked, brow furrowing. "Did you witness it?"

Solas' blood seemed to turn to ice in his veins, but he remained impassive as he answered. "If you are referring to the fall of Arlathan specifically, then no, I was already deep in the dreaming." Hoping to learn more of what she knew and what details she might be seeking, Solas forced himself to stay calm as he asked, "What did Ivun tell your clan?"

She frowned. "He told us the Elvhen warred upon themselves and the humans descended like vultures to strip our people's knowledge and wealth once we were too weak to fight them." Gazing back at the pond, her features softened. "He would not tell us more than that." She pinched her lips together then, appearing troubled. "But I'm sure he knew more and just wouldn't say. The Keeper who recorded his tales thought that, anyway."

The chill of Solas' dread eased and a small, sad smile curled over his lips. "From what I saw scattered in dreams, Ivun was correct. The People destroyed themselves."

"The Dalish blame the Dread Wolf," Rosa said and Solas stood stiff and motionless, barely daring to breathe though Rosa wasn't looking at him and seemed to speak idly. "But Ivun said that wasn't true." She chuckled. "In fact, he told us—"

"Why did you not tell your brother about me?" Solas interrupted, frantic to change the subject.

Rosa blinked at him a moment and then smirked. "Did you want me to?"

Solas shifted from one foot to the other, fidgeting. "I…am unsure."

Rosa edged closer to him, smiling warmly. "Well," she said, her voice dropping into a lower register, almost sultry. "Your secrets are safe with me, Solas. If you want to tell Tal, then do so. If you want me to tell him, let me know and I will. Until then…"

The cold fear of possible discovery had evaporated suddenly and completely, leaving him flushed with warm affection, fluttering inside his chest in time with his heart. His eyes followed her and his stomach flip-flopped with both trepidation and excitement as she laid a hand on his shoulder, close to his neck. Her eyes were dark and smoldering, locked with his but for the occasional flick down to his lips as she finished what she'd been saying, "Your secrets are your own and I'll never betray them. Never betray you."

Stop, a small, frantic voice shouted in the back of his head. Run! There were things she hadn't revealed to him, he was certain of it. But, similarly, he had things he would never tell her. Couldn't ever tell her. Even though, staring into her violet eyes and feeling her warm fingers brushing over his shoulder toward his neck, he wanted to. She was so clever, fearless, courageous, and determined…surely she could handle the truth. Surely she would understand what he'd done, and what he still must do. She deserved to know. And once she knew and accepted him anyway there'd be no reason he needed to hold back, to fight this unstoppable, maddening desire.

But if she didn't understand what he planned to do, if she didn't accept him...

He'd have to kill her.

He reached the same conclusion again: She can never know. There can never be anything between us.

"Thank you," he murmured, barely voicing the two words as his mind spun and his chest constricted with the weight of hopelessness. He had to ward her away, reject her before her bold nature drove her to make a physical move that he might not have the self-discipline to rebuff.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, apparently sensing or reading his distress. She cocked her head to one side, eyes narrowing with concern.

"No," he stammered, desperately racking his brain for the right thing to say to put an end to this flirtation. "I was…" She was so beautiful, so alive. How could he possibly turn her away when he wanted her so badly that he could feel his heart throbbing against his throat? "I…hope that you know I will never betray your secrets as well."

She had drawn closer still as he spoke, resting her other hand at his opposite shoulder now too. He could feel her breastplate brushing against his chest, her knee jutting out to meet his robes as she leaned in. Her violet eyes danced as she watched him expectantly. "And…?" she asked, smirking. "You're easy to read like this, Solas. What are you thinking?"

Tell her you have no interest in romantic entanglements, the frantic, angry voice inside him raged. Tell her there is no future with you, that she deserves better. That she can return to her clan, to her…

And then the answer leapt to him and he was speaking it, awkward and stilted, soft but strained. "You said you were betrothed. Before you left your clan. Once we escape this tower, you can return to them. To him."

Rosa frowned a moment, her lips puckering as if she'd tasted something sour. "Is that what's had you so skittish?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. "You think I'll abandon you once we leave here?"

"It would be kinder in the long run," he blurted, grimacing as he tried to extricate himself from her hold, to withdraw several steps backward.

Rosa let go of him, her hands flopping to her sides before she crossed her arms over her chest. "What is that supposed to mean, Solas?"

The sound of her voice saying his name made Solas close his eyes, restraining a shudder of pleasure. How dearly he wanted to hear her say his name like that, to care about him for him and not his magic or his stature as an Evanuris. His chest felt light, his limbs heavy and tight with tension as thoughts skittered wildly, madly through his mind.

"I…" He swallowed hard, throat bobbing. "I do not see a future for us once we leave this Circle. You will join a clan, but I cannot. I am not Dalish and I would never be content to spend what little time remains to me tending halla and repairing aravels." He couldn't meet her eye and averted his gaze, frowning as he felt his face burning. "Ir abelas…"

Rosa's steps made the grass sigh as she closed the distance between them and, before Solas could retreat again, she laid her hand on his cheek and turned his head toward her. Solas stared down at her, his brow knit and his heart aching at the warmth of her skin against his cheek. For a fleeting instant he let his eyes land on her and then away again, but only for a heartbeat as he registered her expression—soft and warm with a gentle smile on her full lips. His gaze flew back to her and stayed, holding his breath with the tension.

"Solas," she said, her melodic voice caressing him, "If we care for each other, why deny it? One or both of us could die when we try to escape. The future is never something that's guaranteed. Only fools and cowards deny what's in here—" she laid her other hand over her heart as she spoke "—to try and protect themselves from being hurt."

Her eyes were bright, her smile shining and although Solas knew she was no longer possessed by Rogathe, it seemed he could almost see the spirit of bravery showing through. He chuckled despite himself, shaking his head. "Are you certain Rogathe no longer possesses you?"

She grinned, the hand she had on his cheek falling to caress his jawline idly. "I'm sure it's gone, but I spent my whole childhood learning from it, you know. And it taught me early that choosing to be vulnerable takes enormous bravery."

Sobering then, she withdrew her hand and took a step back. "So," she began with a quick breath. "Tell it to me straight, Solas. Is there something here? Void take whatever happens in the escape and whatever plans we have for after. Now is all we have to worry about." Sucking in a breath, she repeated, "Is there something here, Solas?"

Lying was impossible. Staring at her, Solas heard the thud of his heart pounding in his ears, felt that dangerous and forbidden emotion fluttering inside. "Yes," he answered her, his voice already husky. Fenedhis. "Yes."

She grinned at hearing his answer and Solas returned it with one of his own as he reached for her, giving in to the greedy hunger building within. She moved into his embrace and met him partway, her lips pressing to his and her breath already fast. The taste and warmth of her mouth made him frantic, turning her with a firm hand at her waist to guide her into the boulders. Her armor clanked and scraped against the boulder and soft grass sighed at their feet as she collided with the rock, sandwiched between Solas and the stone.

He pressed close to her, his hands cupping her cheeks and jaw, fingers grazing her ears. When she shivered and moaned at his touch Solas took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth to meet with hers. Rosa responded with ardor, sucking and teasing with her teeth. Arching her back, she ground her hips against his and her hands wandered over his chest and around his waist.

With his mind filled with Rosa's taste, her scent, and the sound of her breath and her moans, Solas almost missed the first jolt that passed through him as a shudder of excitement. But long ages of experience set off alarm bells within his mind and he broke their increasingly sloppy kiss, panting as he struggled to speak. "I am waking," he told her, but drinking in her swollen lips and hungry eyes he pulled her close for another kiss.

Rosa moaned with appreciation, nibbling at his lip. "Do you have to go?"

Solas heard a voice echo through his skull: "Revas! Wake up!" The voice was familiar and male—and loud enough to make him cringe and pull back from Rosa. "Yes."

She grabbed his chin and turned his head sideways, speaking into his ear. "I'll see you tonight." He felt her hot breath and then her tongue and her teeth on his ear tip and moaned as a pleasurable shiver rippled through him.

Turning his head to kiss her again, desperate for one more taste to take with him out of the Fade, he suddenly felt himself be shaken and jerked awake with a gasp. Blinking and bleary-eyed, he lifted his head from his pillow and scowled up to the figure who'd woken him. Gradually the other man came into shape: Tal.

Groaning, Solas eased himself onto his elbows, slow and cautious as he assessed his body and again found—annoyingly—he had a rampaging erection. He'd turned onto his stomach while asleep, a position he apparently favored while engaging in sensual dreams, and that hid his shame though it did nothing to prevent the hot blush that stole over his cheeks.

"You were really out," Tal observed with a chuckle. "Must've been a good dream." His brown eyes twinkled mischievously, as if he already knew what had transpired or had seen it with his own eyes. Then the youth grinned. "And you're blushing!"

Solas sighed, focusing internally on imagining runes and complex spells and…anything but Rosa. "Why did you wake me?" he asked and grimaced at how much like whining it sounded like to his own ears.

"It's lunch time," Tal said with a shrug, still wearing his goofy grin. "One of your roommates, Adwen, is a friend of mine. He told me you were out cold in here and I volunteered to wake you."

How considerate of you, Solas thought and rubbed at his face as he finally felt safe enough to roll over and sit up. His stomach rumbled, however, as wakefulness fully took him. Drawing in a breath, Solas stood up and managed to smile at Tal. "Very well. Let's go."

Next Chapter:

"I was only about twelve years old then," Rosa went on. "And everything at the Arlathvhen filled me with awe. So many wise elders of the People, so many secrets and stories! On the second day of the gathering, I met a woman, stooped with age and with hair as white as a blizzard, who told me she had the gift of prophecy. She called me close and told me if I helped her prepare her evening meal she would read my future."

Rosa smiled and shrugged flippantly. "I figured, why not? It wasn't as if I had much else to do by then because my Keeper was deep in meeting with the others. So I helped the old woman and afterward she took her knife and cut off a bit of my hair and held it to her lips, like this…"

She lifted her spoon and laid it against her puckered lips, closing her eyes and wrinkling her nose as if with deep concentration. "Then she spoke in a deep, gravelly voice," Rosa dropped the pitch of her own voice in imitation and Solas felt his skin dimple with gooseflesh despite himself at the words. "'You will leave the People to save them and travel far and wide across all Thedas. You will stand tall against a monster that seeks to destroy our world and you will give your heart to one you can never keep.' It gave me the creeps, but I never forgot it, and so far she's not been wrong entirely."

A/N: Well, it was close enough to Friday that I decided to post this. Now that it's January 2017 I am finished with my exclusion period that I had to observe thanks to my contract with my agent and her agency. As a result, I may begin focusing more on original works, particularly the one that's supposed to be published late this year. As much as I love DA and Solavellan, I have to keep working at that whole writing as a career thing, and fanfiction, with a few notable exceptions, can't further that. *tear*

Big thank you to Urazz for reviewing! Most interesting, the things you notice. A good eye, falon, to notice what Rosa doesn't say as much as what she does. ;-)

I'm currently sitting on Chapter 34, just finished it, and this story from that spot is very nearly done. I need to query you, my lovely readers, regarding an upcoming chapter. It's narrated by Tal but doesn't further the plot, meaning I could skip it and you guys wouldn't really notice. I used Tal's POV later to drop additional hints and eventually drop my big secret through him, though without explanation so some might not notice still, but anyway. Those hints are just sections and not whole chapters. My question for you guys to consider is would you like to read a funny chapter narrated by Tal even though it doesn't further the plot much? You don't have to answer/decide now as it's a few chapters off and your opinion might change once you realize what the chapter is about. But I thought I'd put it out there as my beta said she wanted to remain closer to Rosa and Solas. I take her opinion over mine as I adore Tal and that makes me biased. Writing his POV was me stretching my writer muscles and feeling him out. It's good for me, but that doesn't mean it's great for you guys. Anyway, something to think about. Let me know!