Chapter 45
"I demand you wear that!" Dorian's animated cry echoed out from Ellana's cell phone. Not for the first time since they had begun their conversation, she was glad to have preemptively turned the volume down in advance of dialing her friend's number.
Turning in a circle, Ellana gazed down at what she was wearing. Fashioned out of a fine-knit black jersey, the back of the dress was open except for a delicate strap down the center of her spine. If anything, the strip of fabric amplified the exposed skin more than if it was left entirely bare. Not to mention, that the thin cloth draping down to her ankles left little of her body to the imagination.
"Are you sure it's not too showy?" Ellana asked tentatively, glancing behind her to the phone, propped up on her dresser, "I feel like everyone at the restaurant will stare at me."
Unlike Tevinter, Orlesians loved to obscure the body with comical puffs and voluminous skirts. Ellana wasn't wholly confident enough to wear such a voluptuous outfit in Val Royeaux. Out of all the three formal dresses total that she owned; however, this was the only one Solas had not seen her in. Would he even notice?
"Ugh, I know this dress screams Imperium, and the Orlesians will never appreciate such true elegance," Dorian responded supportively in Tevene, "but you look fantastic! Utterly and completely fantastic."
After searching for La Lune et le Renard on the internet, she had called Dorian for advice. Ellana was no stranger to fancy establishments, but after seeing the menu prices and photographs, none compared to where she was going this evening. The smallest tasting menu for two, which changed seasonally, was half her paycheck without the wine pairing.
Grabbing her phone, Ellana laughed, seeing Dorian in aviator sunglasses, lounging on what looked to be a stone balcony, ivy growing in the background. The mage was sipping on a frothy beverage with a paper umbrella. There was at least a thirty-degree temperature difference between Val Royeaux and Minrathous. By the looks of it, Dorian was wearing a light jacket.
"Thank you," Ellana replied warmly in Tevene. "Do you mind if we continue the conversation in the bathroom? I know it's awkward, but I need to pin my hair up."
"Not at all, my nug princess. Anything to keep me from answering more questions from my parents as to when I'll be an obedient little mage and follow my father into politics."
Standing Ellana skipped over to her bathroom, placing the phone upright in an unused metal contraption bolted to the wall she supposed was to hold a bar of soap or another similar sundry. Or suds-ery?
"That's dire. Where is Bull?" She asked, grabbing her plastic container of bobby pins. The couple was currently vacationing at Dorian's parents' villa outside of the city. Ellana understood the relationship to be strained, although markedly improved since his marriage.
"The underground pool with my mother. No doubt, she is interrogating him when she can expect us to make her a grandmother."
"Oh, is that why-" The words came out in a muffled jumble as she was holding a few pins in her mouth, straining at her reflection in the mirror.
"Drink number two!" Dorian snickered in Common. "Little thing I whipped up myself. Some vodka and fruit juice blended with the blistering lies you've been telling yourself about filial piety."
Ellana laughed, the pins falling out of her mouth and landing in the sink. Shaking her head, she picked them up, wrestling with the strands of her unruly hair. She knew that if she were persistent enough, she could fashion a simple chignon.
"I'm impressed that Solas thought to make a reservation at La Lune et le Renard. I was hinting to Bull that we should consider it for our fifth anniversary, but it's basically booked until the end of time. Did he use his secret-we-pretend-they-aren't-real spy powers?"
"All Dagna, his assistant. I am pretty sure she might have hacked into their registration system."
"His assistant? No! Did she ask you on his behalf?'
Ellana chuckled, remembering Dagna's intervention. She had to spend an additional day in the sleep lab for another round of tests where she was instructed to take intermittent naps. Around noon, the young scientist had strolled into her room with her rolling suitcase, all bundled up for the escalating snowstorm.
"I'm off to the airport to go home to the Holiday, but I wasn't able to say goodbye to the Professor." Dagna had interrupted with a mischievous grin, " Could you remind him that he needs to remember his appointment at La Lune et le Renard. I wasn't able to tell him? I'll miss my flight otherwise."
"Of course! Safe travels," Ellana had nodded, waving goodbye to Dagna without a second thought. At the time, she wasn't sure what Solas would want with a moon or a fox, but absorbed in her piles of research. She decided it was probably a project code name or something equally bland.
"Err… Not quite," Ellana admitted to Dorian a wisp of laughter on her lips when she reflected on the assistant's nudging. "but she might have hinted."
"Oh, Solas. Why does he struggle so much with some of the most basic interactions?"
"Don't be so hard on him. I think he didn't want to be untoward after all that's happened." Ellana grinned. She didn't need a mirror to tell her that a warm flush had spread across her face.
She and Solas had been in her office by the time he had gotten up the courage to ask her out. Picking up a crate of books, she had packed up to carry out to his car as he drove her home. He had set them down on her desk, opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped himself. Something in that moment prompted her to remember what Dagna had asked her.
"Oh, by the way, Dagna wanted me to remind you-I think it was a star and a wolf?"
"La Lune et le Renard?"
"Yes! That is it." Zipping up her coat, Ellana thought it was the end of the discussion.
She was wrong.
"Have dinner with me tomorrow night." Solas breathed, setting down the crate of books and staring back at her with a desperate look that made her grab the edge of her desk to steady herself. She had trembled when Solas cupped her face, his fingers tracing the curve of her cheek with his thumb. The simple gesture, so tender, made her lightly bite her lip with anticipation.
"You have an interesting way of asking, Solas."
"That's not exactly an answer." he teased, drawing back by picking up the crate of books again, " Do you prefer to hang-out?"
It had taken all her self-discipline not to invite him up to her apartment when he dropped her off. Although they loitered in the car a bit while saying good night. She only realized later that she had forgotten her books in Solas' car.
"What are you not telling me?" Dorian teased in the present. "You have your hand on your face and the dreamiest expression."
"I think he made his intentions clear." Ellana rotated around to show Dorian her up-do. "Does it?"
"It looks good. Jewelry? Make-up? I should really open up a side-business doing virtual dressing."
"I hadn't thought about either," Ellana responded, ignoring when Dorian continued to tease her as she walked over to her dresser again, opening a drawer, and taking out a box of small trinkets she had collected over the years. Most of it was costume odds and ends she had picked up from thrift shops. She preferred not to fuss, if possible.
In the end, the two selected a pair of earrings fashioned out of glass to resemble oversized black pearl droplets. She wouldn't add anything else, thinking the dress was enough.
After strategizing ways Dorian should or shouldn't tell his father that he was never giving up on his art, Ellana dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead. "I am glad I slept so much yesterday and the day prior because the last few days have been non-stop. First Fenris leaves, then I end up in Solas' sleep lab."
"So explain to me again, why was our fine doctor experimenting on you?"
"I have a sleep disorder. Very manageable, but I had a fainting episode when we were working on the exhibition. Lucky to be with a neurologist who specializes in neurodivergent mages, I guess."
Ellana hesitated a bit, she didn't like lying to Dorian, but Solas and her had strategized at length about what the implications of her diagnosis meant. It was better to keep the source of her power under wraps. She would tell him the whole story later, if possible, when she had time to process her thoughts.
Frankly, even she had trouble believing everything Solas had told her.
"I've never seen anything like this." The neurologist had remarked in awe, " In all of Thedas, you are unique." It had taken him an hour of guiding her through indecipherable charts and graphs to explain that she had a form of narcolepsy that allowed part of her brain to remain active in the Fade while awake. " You bridge both worlds, simultaneously," he had explained, " you have an almost inexhaustible amount of power-the implications…."
"How does this explain all the artifacts I'm activating? Why is that a trigger?"
"I'm afraid that's your purview. Not mine. Although we should talk regarding what comes next."
Treatment? None. Medication might make the effects worse, or effectively tranquil. Routine, lifestyle management, those were the only recommendations. All things Ellana had done for years. She wondered, not for the first time, if her need for order was not an intrinsic quality, but one that stemmed from elsewhere.
The loud buzz of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh is that him?" Dorian squealed a bit. "I thought your reservation was at seven?"
Picking up her phone, Ellana tried not to stare too intensely at the screen, or angle in such a way that Dorian might be forced to see up her flared nostrils.
Xxx-xxx-3454, Solas Fen'Harel, 5:00 p.m.
booking four a parking slot
"He's looking for a parking spot, or at least that's what I think his message reads as," Ellana continued, "I thought he might like to stop by for a drink. The place is terribly fancy, and I know he'll insist on paying. To be frank, I certainly can't afford it. So I went to the store and got a somewhat good, but less fancy, bottle of red as my contribution to the evening. I figured we could take a rideshare from my apartment."
"Oh, so he can pick up his car later?" Dorian teased, "Stay for a while?"
"Would that be so horrible?" Ellana grumbled despite herself to Dorian's roaring laughter. Although she had other pressing items to think about, the memory of how Solas' fingertips had felt tracing over her skin in the lab made her chest pound. It was undeniable that there was a spark between them.
"No judgment! Please, please sneak a few pictures of your food in and will you call me tomorrow sometime? Rescue me from the ongoing reproductive interrogation by my dear mother."
"I will, I promise! Thanks so much for the emotional support. I don't know why I'm so nervous!"
"You have what are called feelings. Romantic ones," Dorian chuckled, "It happens to the best of us."
"Please give my love to Bull and text if you need it,"
"Ditto," Dorian said, clicking the video screen off.
Ellana's heart littered as she heard the buzzer of her apartment go off. Jumping to the door, she ran down the hallway and the flight of the stairs to open the door for Solas to enter. He was wearing a gray wool jacket that went to his knees, a green scarf wrapped around his neck, and a matching hat on his head. Ellana was curious to see him clutching a brown paper parcel in one hand and a glass beaker in another.
She was about to ask what he was holding when he flashed her a coy look.
"Don't be impatient," Solas chided playfully, nodding up to her apartment. When she turned to walk up the stairs, she felt a sense of satisfaction when she heard a gasp escape his lips. Adding a little wiggle to her walk, she was relieved to be in her apartment, alone with Solas for the first time. Hopefully, away from any explosions for the evening.
After helping Solas extract himself from the extra layers, and hanging up his coat in her entryway closet, Ellana picked up the bottle of wine on her desk to uncork it. Before she could offer a glass of wine to Solas, she could feel a light pressure from his hand on the small of her back. Ellana couldn't help but arch towards his touch, her chest fluttering.
Ellana was further aroused when one of Solas' arms encircled her waist as his other hand thrust forward a generous bouquet of green stems, with purple tendrils spurting out from the top. Focusing on the bloom stalks, she realized she was staring at irises just beginning to unfurl.
"These are for you," Solas breathed into her ear. His thumb traced her spine, stopping to outline each vertebrae. She had to suppress a low moan as his warm fingers traveled upwards.
"They're beautiful."
"You are so beautiful." The baritone of his voice tickled the nape of her neck.
Taking the flowers in her hands, Ellana clenched them to her breast, forgetting the wine. She appreciated the gesture. Turning, she faced Solas for the first time. He was smiling. Brightly.
"I don't have a vase." She muttered, looking away shyly. Ellana knew the moment she made eye contact with Solas again that he would definitely be staying after dinner.
"That's what the beaker is for." Solas teased, his hands squeezed her hips once before releasing her. When he pulled back to go fill up the make-shift jar for the flowers, she admired how his suit pants and matching jacket hung over his muscular physique. She repressed any thoughts of what he might look like without clothes, and if she would find out that evening, on pouring them each a generous glass of wine.
"There is a couch now," Solas excitedly commented, setting down the flowers on top of her dresser. "Not that I didn't enjoy picnicking on the floor."
"Would you like to sit?" Ellana gestured with the filled wine glasses.
"Thank you," he said, plopping down on the side closest to the wall, his long arm outstretched on the back. Ellana sat down next to him, trying not to feel too self-conscious as she caught his gaze following the lines of her body as she spoke. By the end of the first glass, Ellana was practically sitting in Solas' lap. Her head curled up against his arm as she watched his chest rise and fall as he spoke.
For one blissful hour, and for the first time in their history, the pair talked about nothing entirely dire or essential. They found that their taste in art was similar and both Solas and Ellana favored many of the same painters. Although they disagreed on several recent policy changes by the Orlesian crown and disagreed passionately with respect to if the monarchy was outdated governance. Ellana found the whole exchange so easy and comfortable, even the argument. She could talk to Solas for hours.
Perhaps she'd have that opportunity.
The familiar blare of Solas' wristwatch interrupted the conversation.
"Did you seriously set an alarm?"
"I thought Dagna would be very upset if we were late," Solas replied practically. "Undoubtedly she had to do several illegal things for us to have an enjoyable evening out tonight."
Ellana went to her closet and grabbed a pair of black boots. They were a bit heavy, but considering that the windchill was below zero, she'd prefer to be safe than fashionable. Slipping a pair of wool socks underneath, she was glad to have thought to have put leggings on underneath her dress even if it wasn't the most attractive choice.
When the two were ready, Solas clicked open his phone, flashing Ellana a warning stare.
"Don't you dare tease me about my ability to use apps. I happen to summon rideshares regularly."
"Did your assistant have to teach you?"
"Hush," he said before triumphantly responding, "the car is here.
Ellana tapped her purse to make sure she had her wallet and keys. Locking the door behind them, she was happy to feel Solas take her hand in his as they meandered down the hall and exited the door.
The night was perfect.
Or was it?
The moment they were outside, a thick green fog obscured the street ahead. Ellana felt a chill go through her body the moment she made contact with the mist. Dread paralyzed her. A low rumbling laugh in the background. What is that?
Screams followed, piercing, and dark. Something was not right. Not right at all.