Chapter 43
When it was clear that the peculiar magic had dissipated Solas gradually removed his hands from Ellana's and guided her into one of the plush chairs placed at the side of the viewing room. Ellana could only stutter. Her body was frigid and hard to move. It felt to her as if she was covered in a thick sludge unable to climb out.
In the haze of her rambling thoughts, one idea was clear: Ellana wanted to understand why the days in Val Royeaux seemed so much longer than any she had spent in any other place.
"Your body is in shock after expelling so much magic," Solas said in his steady baritone, kneeling in front of her on the floor. "You will start to come out of it in a few minutes, I'm going to stay right here until you do."
As Ellana's vision cleared, she calmed admiring the freckles dusted over Solas' cheeks. She appreciated in particular how his gaze never left hers. She was loath to admit it, but she was glad for the neurologist to be there after such a fright.
Once her breathing returned to normal, Solas moved to sit in the chair beside her.
"I recommend we kept up appearances. Anora is on the other side of the building, and as far as I know, the only one in the warehouse today given the holiday. I'll find her and fill out the paperwork to have the objects transferred to campus for the exhibition. Then we can go"
Ellana nodded, still finding it difficult to string coherent sentences of words together.
"We'll speak when we're out in the car." Solas continued in a tender whisper, tightly wrapping Ellana's coat around her shoulders as the chills were already starting to begin again. "Do you think you can wait for half-an-hour?"
"Yes," Ellana stumbled before leaning in the chair. By the time Solas returned, he found her slumped over fast asleep.
The cold air of the outdoors on the walk to the car revived her a bit, but over the next half-an-hour, Ellana struggled to stay awake falling in and out of a peculiar, shallow sleep. Before they entered the city, Solas pulled over the car at a fast-food diner. Leaning over in the seat, Ellana felt him softly put the back of his hand to her forehead to check her temperature. She smiled weakly when he brushed a piece of her hair out of her face.
"You don't have to eat, I expect your feeling slightly nauseous, although it might help you."
Considering the way her stomach kept rumbling, the thought of food made her ill. Still gave her feelings of weakness she knew Solas was right. Something in the way he looked back at her in the car made her feel excitable.
"It is absurd how often we are brought together after a strange magical-flare up," Elllana replied despondently, leaning the passenger seat back, and crossing her arms with a dramatic sigh. "The library and now this. I should really start my own electric company. It would certainly pay more than teaching."
Solas chuckled at her outburst. A response she cared for more than if he continued to fuss over her. Truthfully, she felt a little embarrassed to spend so much time unconscious around the doctor. A handsome doctor she had thought to herself several times over the last morning.
"Let's get something to eat," Solas repeated turning the car off. "Take our minds off things."
Ellana took a little bit longer than necessary to exit the car as she moved her arms and fingers to fumble with her seat belt and exit the vehicle. Although she caught Solas gazing at her as if he wanted to help, he remained at a respectful distance. Adjusting her sunglasses, Ellana called on all her available gusto to make it through to the door and into the neon fast-food chain that specialized in frites with various sides.
The two paused for some time, staring up at the brightly lit menu before Solas looked at Ellana. She was wobbling a bit, leaning against the soda fountain counter.
"Why don't you sit down," Solas suggested. His strained tone conveying his displeasure on Ellana's stubbornness to suffer as she grasped the edge of the table. "Do you know what you want?"
"Pick for me," she muttered before pointing to a booth brightly lit up by large windows, "I'll go sit there."
Truthfully, she didn't care for not being able to obsess over every possibility and configuration as she usually did, but she was going to faint if she attempted to stand for much longer.
It was beginning to snow. Heavily.
Pulling off her coat, Ellana had to fight back the urge not to fall asleep in the ten or so minutes it took Solas to bring back a tray of food. Setting it down in front of them Ellana was a little disappointed not to see anything that with any nutritional value. Most of the food were variations of fried potatoes wrapped in brightly colored paper inspired by old Orlesian symbols.
"What is this?" She asked, pointing to a buttery roll covered with a glob of red and white goo.
"Lobster roll," Solas said with an amused sigh. "Ah, You're a healthy eater aren't you?"
She nodded with a small laugh. After another unexpected morning, full of mystical shenanigans, the normality of the exchange was heartening.
"I thought you were a doctor?"
"Doctors?" Solas scoffed in good humor. "Yes, but we are on a whole admittedly terribly addicted to junk food. Unless you can escape to the cafeteria, you are regulated to whatever you can string together from the vending machines."
Picking up a large fry, Ellana held it up skeptically in front of her nose. She had not had very much fried food in the past considering that Tevinter did not encourage the fast-paced lifestyle either Orlais or Fereldan did. Growing up, she didn't even know about such a thing, as the Dalish grew their own food, eating mostly vegetables with various boiled grains.
"Here these are sweet potatoes," Solas said, shoving a carton of waffle fries along with a small container of what looked like aioli.
Resigned, Ellana dipped the fry in the sauce and then took a bite trying not to spill anything on herself. It wasn't her favorite, but she was starting to feel hungry. She hadn't, after all, had anything other than a small bit of chopped-up fruit and coffee for breakfast.
The two ate in companionable silence for a bit with occasional interruptions for Solas to urge Ellana to try a small bit of some of the other "delicacies" ranging from a hot beef sandwich dipped in au jus to a number of different dipping sauces with the fries.
"You can say you had some of Orlesian finest now," Solas teased her, holding out a paper package of fried brie bites for Ellana to taste.
"OK," She said after a few bites, "I am somewhat convinced although I'm fairly certain that I've consumed a couple thousand calories that I'd prefer were dedicated to wine."
"You probably burned that activating the sphere," Solas replied gravely. "I've been thinking about the events at the library and this morning. Have you noticed that your magic has changed recently? Grown more powerful? Any other symptoms of it misfiring."
Ellana stopped to think, resting her hand against her cheek.
"I didn't mean to startle you so abruptly by changing the subject. Although I do think it is good we talk about what happened. There aren't many mages left that can summon a spell that strong."
"I've never really used my magic, to be honest." Ellana began with a small wistful sigh. "I learned enough from my Keeper, minor healing spells, and the like. I was never really interested."
"May I ask you a sensitive question?"
Ellana nodded her permission unsure what Solas was about to say. Judging from his solemn expression it would not be joyful.
"Fenris. W-well, " Solas hesitated as if studying her face to see if he should continue. "At The Kirkwall, Fenris mentioned something about your magic. I wasn't sure of his meaning."
It took Ellana a couple of long seconds to find the will to answer. She was unsure what Fenris had said exactly, his past was not something she shared lightly. Laying her hands down on the table in front of her, she was surprised to find Solas' extended his hand towards hers, palm up. An invitation. When she took it, she was greeted by a small reassuring squeeze. It was enough for her to unburden herself.
Something in Solas' gaze made her feel as if she could trust him.
"The tattoos on Fenris' face, and over his torso are lyrium. When he was younger a blood mage experimented on him, thinking that since Fenris was an elf that he would be more magical."
"I'm sorry," Solas sympathized. "I've heard of a few incidents like this."
"He can sense magic in the markings..." Her voice trailed off. "There isn't anything to be done since-"
"Lyrium transfigures the skin, making it impossible to remove. So while the short term gains of a more powerful spell-casting ability are hypothetically possible, it is really only a sensitivity that develops to sense magic, rather than create it. And Fenris is a non-mage."
Ellana confirmed with a small nod.
"So, you can imagine that since I am a mage," She choked, a couple tears streaming down her face, "That any moment I was producing mana would be painful to him."
Ellana knew since Solas was a mage and a doctor he would understand the subtexts that would include.
"That's difficult. I know you two care about each other quite a bit."
Ellana pulled her hand away and wiped a few tears away. She tried not to let the strangeness of talking about one ex-lover to another overtake the conversation. Judging from the compassionate look in Solas; eyes, she felt that he was not trying to undermine any of her history, if anything, only to understand it.
"He mentioned that he could sense my magic all the time," Ellana continued. "Before it was only periodic, for example, when I was casting a small spell or emotional. You have to understand, I hadn't seen Fenris for almost two years before he came to visit.
"So it was a late onset of magical ability? In a short amount of time." Solas mused. 'Almost entirely unheard of."
A contemplative hush passed over the table, and Ellana nervously took a knife and cut the lobster roll in half before shoving it into her mouth in a single bite.
"Solas?" She said after she had finished chewing.
"Yes?"
"If we have the same capabilities why do you not experience these flare-ups. I know you specialized in magic, do you just have different training?"
"I'm not sure we have the same abilities," Solas admitted. "At least, in total."
"Then what do you think happened at the Library-or the warehouse today."
"I have several theories after seeing what happened first-hand this morning," Solas said, casually dipping a small handful of fries into a cup of ranch habanero dressing. "Particularly with your secondary symptoms. I think you should let me run some tests to see if you have a sleep disorder."
"I'm not sure I agree with that theory." Ellana said shaking her head, "My routine is very consistent."
"It's the way you cross back and forth from the Fade. Most mages that are particularly powerful or weak have some form of neurological abnormality related to the sleep cycle."
"Between this and the orb, I don't know if I can keep up. Should I call Morrigan and ask for an appointment? With the holiday, I won't be able to get in for a few weeks at the very least. I-I hate to think that I might have another flare-up, or whatever one might categorize these as."
Ellana couldn't keep her thoughts straight. She was troubled to find herself racing towards anything that might offer her some stability.
"You don't have to bear this alone," Solas said with a grin. "I am after all a neurologist. In fact, we might be able to figure out one dilemma in less than forty-eight hours."
"What do you propose?"
"May I invite you to my sleep lab tonight?" Solas said with a grin. "Otherwise you'll have to wait until late January when Dagna returns from Orzammar."
"Why am I not surprised you have a sleep lab?" Ellana sighed before hanging her head in her hands and mumbling. "When will my life ever be ordinary?"
"Ellana," Solas replied gently, before picking up the empty tray and standing to take it to the garbage can. "I think we both know you are anything but ordinary."
The reverential expression Solas flashed Ellana on their way back to the car made her stomach flip with anticipation.