"Are you awake?"

"Barely." Solas adjusted his neck to allow her more space beneath his chin. "I would ask what inspired that, but I must confess I worry that asking will prevent it from happening again."

"Liked that, did you?"

"I thought that much was obvious."

"Only to me and half the camp."

"If you are trying to embarrass me, I lack the energy to muster it."

"Pity." He felt the corner of her smile against his collarbone.

Solas laughed quietly and placed his hand over his eyes. "What time are we to leave?"

"I believe daybreak was the order."

"Your order."

"Want me to go take it back? Tell them we'll be spending the day in here?"

"Your bed in Skyhold is more comfortable. And the walls much thicker."

Evelyn rolled onto her back, still cradled in the bend of his arm. "I don't want to return to Skyhold."

"Do you plan to run away, then?"

Her head tilted back against his shoulder. "If I did, would you go with me?"

"Is this a serious question?"

Evelyn was quiet, her fingers restless against his ribcage. "Do you think I'm selfish for thinking about it?"

"No. I think you grow tired of command. It happens to the best of us."

"You say that as if you know."

Now it was his turn to be quiet.

"I'm sorry, Solas. I wasn't being rude."

"I know." He shifted toward her, her forehead just against his mouth. "We could, conceivably, go away for a little while. Not forever, I think that would result in a price on my head."

"I love that you think my father doesn't already have one." She nuzzled into his neck further. "Where could we go?"

"I know of places, not far."

She placed a hand against his chest. "They would be reluctant to let us go alone."

"Let them send a small escort, then. I can still find ways for us to be alone." His fingers laced through hers.

"A vacation," she sighed.

"Yes. A vacation."

"Then take me."

"Now?"

"Right now."

"Fine, but then we should think about taking that vacation."

Her laughter was muffled by his mouth.

The good humor didn't last past first light, when the announcement that she was going to take some time away was met with stony silence at best, and harshly whispered words at worst. Solas heard the arguments from a distance, observing but not interfering, although the stares being directed at him proved he had already clearly interfered enough, in some's view. Evelyn left the command area in a huff, mounting her horse with only a terse, "It's time to go." He gathered the important details of the objections in her muttered grumblings as they rode.

"My duty, as if I'm not entitled to any time alone. Even the soldiers get R&R, why am I not allowed the same? If it's so imperative I be at Skyhold, why are they so anxious to send me off for every minuscule request, every nothing artifact in some godforsaken corner of a desert no one else has ever heard of? Why am I the one fetching elfroot and iron from the fucking plains if my place is at Skyhold? What do they do without me then?"

He knew better than to respond, following behind at a safe distance, letting her rage in her quiet way. She eventually trailed off, allowing the occasional heavy sigh and shake of the head releasing the last of the frustration. They reached the campsite by nightfall, their attachment of men setting up near the road to watch for any oncoming danger. Their horses tethered, he forged ahead to the clearing beyond while she gathered her things.

The grove was so vivid green it hurt at times to look at. Silver moonlight on heavy damp leaves, smell of wet grass and deep ponds. It was beautiful, primal, wild. Such a peaceful place to cause his heart to feel so heavy. A place laden with memories long scattered to the four corners of the world. Solas put his hand in the cool earth, willing it to unlock. Tonight he was tempted to dream, to enter the Fade and seek out the lost souls within these rocky walls. But he couldn't, not here. Not with her dreaming beside him. She tended to wander in, even when uninvited, their connection too strong to be denied, even when unconscious.

She was unlike anything he'd ever encountered before. And this made it too risky to open some doors. He knew he would betray too much, without meaning to.

As if he summoned her, she sat beside him then, tearing a hunk of bread in two and offering him half. He shook his head and she shrugged, biting into her half with ferocity. "How can you not be hungry? I feel as if we've ridden for days."

"A little over a day. It can be too dangerous to stop through these woods."

She exhaled a long breath, leaning back against the ground. "These paintings are elvhen, aren't they? What is this place?"

"It is a grove that was once important to the elves who lived in these lands. Its name has been forgotten for many centuries. It is considered a holy place, a shrine to one of their gods."

"So the paintings are thousands of years old? How are they still so vibrant?"

"Ancient elves would imbue their cave markings with a bit of magic, the same I used in your chambers. A way of marking so that their paths are not lost to the elements. See there?" he splayed his fingers wide, indicating a large depiction of elves marching in a line. "See how it glimmers in the moonlight? There's something else there, something only revealed with veilfire. A message. Or a warning."

"Can you read it?"

"I could if I had some veilfire, yes. Perhaps in a bit we will see if there is a brazier nearby. They tended not to leave such etchings without a way to see them. First, finish your dinner."

She chewed in silence, staring up at the glimmering painting. "Why are there holes? In their heads and chests?"

"These elves are enslaved. Holes in the mind, in the heart. They are not free. There, off to the left?" he gestured toward a menacing figure in black armor, the skeletons of elves at the feet. "That is one of the... the beings that enslaved them. And there, to the left? Those are the now freed elves riding into battle. The rebellion."

She stared at the images of the elves, bows and swords in hand, riding the halla. The golden halla at the front had no rider. "And that's Ghilan'nain."

Solas smiled. "Very good. It is, in a way. The golden halla is used to represent her in most modern elvhen lore, but it is truly her emissary. An immortal halla who will lead the people to safety, to freedom, to victory. Her name is Hanal'ghilan. She was a gift to Ghilan'nain from another god."

"Andruil?"

"No."

"Her lover, at any rate."

Solas looked at her sharply. "Why would you assume that?"

"An immortal golden halla? To protect her people? That's quite a gift."

He sighed, settled back beside her. "It was more complicated than love. Ghilan'nain was not a god when it all started. She was just like any other of the people. She had a particular talent, some said that was given by the gods. She could create. A sort of organic alchemy. She was a master huntress, you see, and when she was no longer challenged by all that she found in her lands, she began to create new creatures. The gods were displeased, because creation is a power that only they possess. Andruil, who favored Ghilan'nain above all others, struck a deal for her life. Ghilan'nain would be elevated to godhood in exchange for sacrificing all her creations to the other gods. Thereafter, she would create only for them."

Evelyn had stopped eating. "That isn't the way that story goes. Ghilan'nain was captured by a hunter, and turned into a halla by Andruil."

Solas laughed. "That, vhenan, is a Dalish story. It's better that one of the people be blessed by a god than to become elevated herself. I think they believed it blasphemous."

"It seems the Dalish alter a lot of elven lore to fit themselves."

"Is that not the way with every society, since the beginning of time? History, legend, all changed to fit current social mores. Look at your own Andraste, for example. How much of that has been covered up, changed? Even her own elvhen army was written out of the chant."

"That does seem to be true." Evelyn brushed her hands off on her trousers. "So did she? Sacrifice her creations?"

"She did," Solas said quietly. "Or at least, she began to. The cries of bird and hare haunted her dreams and she wept bitterly. In her desperation, she asked for someone to help her, to help her deceive the other gods so that she wouldn't have to slaughter all of her beloved creatures."

Evelyn sat up, a little breathless. "Fen'harel."

He nodded, his throat dry from her excited response. "She knew that he alone would know how to hide things from the other gods. So together they chose one bird, a deeply black raven she had imbued with the shimmer of a morning rainbow, and taught it to fly so high and so quickly that it would resemble other birds against the sun. Then the gods would not notice it. Then they took a sea serpent she had breathed into life and taught it to dive deep, and to hide among the seaweeds. And finally, they took the halla, her most beloved, and those they taught to be fleet-footed and secret, delving deep into the forest and staying out of sight. After Ghilan'nain had ascended, Fen'harel let loose the halla, and they ran free amongst the fields and became beloved of the elves. This caused the other gods great anger, because they knew they had been deceived, but Ghilan'nain was moved by the gesture, for it was her connection to her people. Her way of letting them know that they would always be loved and protected by her."

"So Fen'harel did love her!" Evelyn seemed quite pleased with herself.

"It was more complicated than that, especially then. While he loved her, they were not lovers. Ghilan'nain was powerful and quick-witted, and she saw through to what he really was. She never allowed him to bed her, but the knowledge that he loved her enough to grant her that incredible favor, and that she knew him enough to see through to his true nature… that was a kind of love that transcends. It was a love that was never to be, anyway. He was frivolous at times, and therefore not capable of truly understanding a woman such as she was. Beautiful, powerful, vengeful, terrifying. He never felt truly worthy of her. And she could never see past what lie inside him."

The two of them stared at one another a long moment before Solas broke the spell, rising to his feet. "Come," he offered her a hand. "Let us see if we can find veilfire."

The brazier was located in a small alcove, beneath two carved trees. Above the brazier was another of the primitive paintings that made Evelyn exclaim, "Oh!"

Solas raised the veilfire, illuminating the painted image. A wolf in a cloak of nighttime, embracing a woman with halla horns. "Oh. Yes. Well, this is one of her groves."

"I've seen this before. In Skyhold. I assumed you were painting them."

"Common elvhen art. Yes, I paint a similar image."

"You paint this exact image. In the barn, below the loft. In the blacksmith, in the upper level. In the inn in that old room with the ceiling caving in. In the study…."

"They are places I hold dear."

"They are places where we lost ourselves, back when we still had something to hide."

"They are some of the places where we have lost ourselves, yes. Would you like me to paint in all the places? That abandoned hut we found in the cliffs above Redcliffe? The room you hurriedly rented at the inn in Val Royeux after we enjoyed too much summer wine and abandoned your poor associates with a thin lie about needing a tome from a rare bookseller that only I could recognize on sight? That cave in Crestwood? Did you know the people living in that area believe that cave is now haunted?"

"Are you trying to make me blush?"

He laughed slightly. "I'm sorry. I forget myself."

She placed a hand flat against the painting and glanced back at him.

"I am finding myself curious as to what you have in mind."

She raised an eyebrow. "Tradition."

He nodded. "It is important to preserve tradition."

She pulled him to the ground, her head turning as he bit at her neck gently. "Wait. There's writing here."

"Yes," he responded without looking.

"Can you read it?"

"I can."

She pushed him away roughly, rolling her eyes. "Will you?"

He sighed and squinted at the etching. "It is a poem, of sorts. There isn't a direct translation. The closest would be,

I will shelter you

I will comfort you

Even when you are nothing left

Even in death

I will remember you."

Evelyn adjusted her jacket, undoing the buttons. "Sounds like wedding vows."

"They were, of sorts." He plucked a leaf from her hair and twirled it in his fingers as he stared down at her.

"Now I'm curious what you're thinking."

"Tradition," he answered. "One in particular."

She nodded solemnly. "I hear traditions are very important."