I have finally moved beyond the point where I must correct verb tenses. I'sulenan nehn. (That's "I sing with joy." It's possible I've been spending too much time editing - the only word of that phrase I needed to look up was "with.")
Translations at the end.
Skating
"Come on, you lot - we're skating. We've earned it, yeah?"
Somehow, poking through what's left of Sahrnia, Sera has acquired seven pairs of ice skates, which she dumps with a triumphant clatter on the ground in front of me, Solas, Varric, and Scout Harding. "That's not enough for all of us," I point out.
"Yeah, that's 'cause not all of us are gonna do it. Vivvy don't skate, I can tell you that, and I wouldn't give her skates even if she did," Sera tells me with a sniff. "You skate, though, right?"
"My clan is from the Free Marches," I remind her. "It's too far north for hard freezes like that."
"But you will, right? Right?" she presses.
I shrug. "I'll try most things once."
She snorts. "I know, believe me. Pretty sure if I were you, I'd've taken one look at the hole in the frigging sky and said, 'You want me to do what with that?' and then run clear the other way."
"Except you didn't," I remind her. "You came to find me to offer your help."
"That's right - guess we're both stupid sometimes," she muses. "Not about this, though. This'll be great, you'll see."
As it turns out, Blackwall and Harding can skate, and Dorian agrees to give it a try as though he is bestowing an incredible favor on us - which is how he does most things, so Sera just laughs at him and runs off. Soon she has organized an entire outing. Varric agrees to come along to keep a fire and hot drinks on shore for us, and definitely not to enjoy "watching you and Dorian fall on your arses, probably," as Sera says to me. Varric denies it so quickly that I know it's definitely what he's coming for, but I don't mind. After all the time I've spent in the snow and ice here, a fire and hot drinks at the end of it sounds too good to pass up.
Not just to me - it isn't long before everyone decides to come, regardless of whether they plan to skate or not.
"Can you skate?" I ask Solas as our group walks toward the shore.
"Yes, though it has been many years," he tells me, smiling down at me, "but I would much prefer to read."
I'm a little disappointed, but I suppose if he's reading he won't be laughing at me trying to learn. It's something. I know we found a volume in Valeska's Watch that he has wanted time to examine.
"I hope it's interesting," I tell him, indicating his book with a nod.
"As do I," he agrees, and we part ways - me to strap on a pair of skates at the edge of the river, and him to find a comfortable place near Varric's fire to enjoy his book.
Sera's method of teaching is, unsurprisingly, a little rougher than is actually useful. I have hardly managed to - mostly - find my balance standing still before she gives me a shove in Blackwall's general direction. "What are you doing?" I shriek, windmilling my arms and laughing so hard I almost can't form the words.
"You gotta move, yeah?" she yells back, "I'm just giving you a push!" She dissolves into gleeful mirth over her own pun.
Her aim is off, but Blackwall manages to catch my arm, which spins us both around. Luckily he's good enough to get us stopped without spilling us onto the ice, and helpfully keeps hold of my arm as he turns to Sera: "That's not how you teach someone!" he calls to her, his voice torn between amusement and disapproval.
"She can handle it," Sera assures him.
"But she won't actually learn anything," he retorts.
"And think of my dignity!" I add, still giggling.
Sera blows a raspberry. "That's for your dignity! See? That's me thinking of it!" She blows another one, just to make the point clear.
"I'm coming for you - just as soon as I learn how to make the ice and my legs cooperate," I warn her, though the threat is probably undermined by my laughter.
"Oo, I'm scared now," she taunts me with a grin, skating off toward where Harding is helping Dorian get his feet under him.
Blackwall chuckles, catching me again as I slip and then helping me find my balance. "Come on, I'll give you a real lesson," he promises.
"I would appreciate that a great deal," I tell him.
"Okay, to start with, you're standing too straight - in the legs, I mean," he says. "Bend your knees more - just like you're in weapons practice." I do as he instructs, and immediately find myself somewhat more in control of my balance. "That's good," he says. "Now, for moving - "
"Perhaps you might allow me?" a rich and well-loved voice says from my other side.
We both look up in surprise - and there's Solas, standing on the ice with his usual unruffled composure.
"By all means," Blackwall agrees, cheerfully relinquishing my arm as Solas takes the other one.
I slip again trying to close the short distance between us, forcing Solas to catch my other arm to keep me upright. "Are you ready to debate my grace now?" I ask him, hoping my cheeks are too red from the cold for him to notice my blush.
"Not at all," he says quietly, drawing me a little nearer. "I fully expect you will match, if not exceed, my limited proficiency by the time the afternoon is over." I am not quite in his arms, but his hands cupping both my elbows leave almost no space between our bodies. He bends toward me, and for a wild moment I believe he is going to kiss me here - in public - in front of all our friends and companions, and anyone from Sahrnia who might happen by.
He doesn't, but he does rest his forehead against mine. I close my eyes - hold my breath - afraid to do anything that might end this moment. Solas is never this demonstrative with me anywhere that we might be seen. "In'ane nere siu'ala dunathe alas'en, i ir siu'el o gonan," he whispers.
"That isn't true," I reply.
"It is more true than I can possibly express," he insists, and I open my eyes to look at him, worried. He smiles to reassure me and pulls away slightly, releasing one of my arms. "Come, let me teach you."
He is right: by the end of the afternoon I skate as freely as he does - but faster, by choice, because I love the way the chilled air feels sliding past me - and I watch with admiration and envy as Sera shows me how she skates backward. "If we had one more day…" I say wistfully.
"We could stay another," Sera coaxes me.
"No," I reply with a resigned sigh. "There is so much to do. We need to leave in the morning. But thank you for this." I turn to Solas, who has caught up to me. "Enaste, ma vhenan."
"Ma neral," he replies, and then smiles. "Mar'neral re ma neral."
"Ugh," Sera scoffs, rolling her eyes expressively.
I turn towards her again. "Let's get some of those drinks Varric promised," I tell her by way of reassuring her that Solas and I are finished exchanging endearments.
"Race you!" she yells, but Solas grabs my hand before I can take up the challenge.
The sun has slid behind the mountains, and a fall of rock more than half hides us from the fire where everyone but Sera is waiting, so I am not entirely surprised when he pulls me close enough to brush a kiss against my lips. "Gaelathe siugen," he teases before releasing me.
"Think I have any chance of catching her?" I ask him, looking after Sera.
"Not much," he judges.
"Then I suppose I may as well stay with you," I say, slipping my hand into his.
His smile alone is enough to warm me as we skate back across the river toward the waiting fire.
Latha was silent for a long moment after I opened my eyes, but eventually it spoke: "Did you never wonder what made me join you on the ice that day?" it asked.
"No," I told it decisively, unwilling to hear more of Solas's motivations from its - well, I suppose it did have a well-defined mouth, now, and it did use it as though shaping the sounds I heard - but it wasn't as though the spirit was actually speaking to me that way. "No," I repeated, "I never did, because it has never mattered." Then, with a practiced twist of my consciousness, I wrested myself free of the Fade.
In'ane nere siu'ala dunathe alas'en, i ir siu'el o gonan: You are likely the sweetest person in the world, and much sweeter than I deserve
Enaste: Thanks, lit. "grace" or "blessing"
Ma neral: My pleasure
Mar'neral re ma neral: Your pleasure is my pleasure
Gaelathe siugen: Pure sweetness