In the turning of the seasons, in life and death,

In the empty space where our hearts

Hunger for a forgotten face?

Trials 1:12-15

'Sanctions lifted?' Solas inquired, arching an ironic eyebrow; he felt immediately sorry for having spoken the words in such a tone, for Veldrin merely looked at him with dull, sad eyes, and shook her head in sorrow. 'Apologies,' he said, watching her slink along the wall, and tiredly sit on the floor, her shoulder leaning on the bars of his cage. 'I was merely speculating on whether allowing you here, once more, was just one of Anaris' taunts.'

'You have lost so much weight,' Veldrin whispered, though she'd barely spared him a glance.

'It won't be long before I need to start eating, yes.' He neutrally responded; she merely nodded, but remained silent and continued to stare blankly ahead.

She was, he thought, mourning something, and though he was still furious at her, Solas found that he too did not wish her to grieve alone.

He sighed, in surrender, and sat down in turn.

If she reaches her hand to me, he thought, I will take it…It is so easy to forget, sometimes, that it is because of me that she grieves.

'What is happening, vhenan?' the man asked, biting his lower lip. 'It is neither in your character nor in your heart to pointlessly torture us both in this way, and I do not think you'd obey Anaris, yet…The thought that you likely had to ask him to come here still stings…'

'I'm beyond asking, with him,' Veldrin said. 'If he had meant to stop me, he would have; he did not.'

The words hurt more than she could know, but he contented himself on a bitter nod.

'If you know that he could have stopped you,' Solas reasoned, 'you must also understand that allowing you here serves him, in one manner or another... What did bring you?'

'Andruil,' the woman said, in that same painfully toneless voice; his heart skipped a beat.

'She's back?' Solas asked.

'M-hmm,' Veldrin replied – there was a sudden spark of anger in her eyes, when she finally met his gaze. 'She is back, and in grand form, Solas. My peace agreement, the one you mocked when we last met? The humans did not break it. She did.'

'I cannot deduce how,' he stingingly shot back. 'Andruil, for whatever she may be, could not rally Ferelden and the Free Marches to her cause – she's still an elf, if memory serves, thus…'

'Well, she came back parading herself as Andraste,' Veldrin smirked.

Solas fought to keep his voice level, though the consequences of what she had just told him ran though his mind at the speed of lightning.

'Well,' he said, 'that is…creative.'

'Were you expecting that I am pissed just because you two used to be together?'

'No, but I do not like Dorian's words when they come from your lips,' he angrily fired back. 'When so seldom we are alone here, it would be greatly pleasing if you did not remind me, at each breath, that you bonded with a human.'

'Or, as the case may be, reminded you that you were such a coward that you did not even dare bond.'

'You know why I did not; don't twist that I never bonded with you into Andruil's doing. I never bonded with you because…'

'Because she was a Goddess and I wasn't? She was Elvhen enough for you, and I wasn't?' Veldrin rasped.

'Is this important now?' he whispered in return.

She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. 'No,' she whispered in return. 'I am just…I'm sorry. What I said is beneath us both. I just wish…'

The woman tiredly shook her head before finishing.

'…I just wish a woman you once loved was not such a monster.'

'I wish none of us were,' Solas sighed. 'Did you encounter her, face to face?'

Vel nodded. 'Short, but informative acquaintance,' she replied. 'She had choice words – unremarkable little mite springs to mind – for me, but that is not what pains me. She seems insane, my heart, and, given the chance, she will torture this world before destroying it. At least you…'

'I did not intend to, but I achieved it nonetheless,' the man said, chuckling bitterly. 'You need not ask of me what you came to ask, Veldrin. Anaris has bested her before, alone – now he has Daren'thal, and…and you by his side. He will set right what I have so monstrously botched, if only to further prove me wrong.'

'I do not think he can,' Vel dryly said. 'She claims she has absorbed the powers of all of the other Creators, and even if she is lying, she has the Chantry at her beck and call. We both know there is no winning against them – even if there was, it would come at such cost that one might wonder if it is worth it.'

He laughed, warmly this time, and no longer waited for her to reach for his hand; he decisively placed his atop hers, tightly gripping her fingers. The woman glanced up, in surprise, and made him smile.

'There is no wonder,' Solas said, 'that they call you Lady Patience.'

'I would have thought…' she began, in a trembling voice; he cut her off by a brief shake of his head.

'It hurt to hear it, at first,' he said. 'Yet, time to think is all I have, and thought I have. You too must know, by now that I never considered Anaris an evil man. That in fact, he was a good and loyal friend. I viscerally disapprove with his view of himself, but that is neither here nor there, vhenan – his path in this, it seems, is not as vile as I thought it might be. Mere words do not make you a Goddess, Vel, yet…'

'I know that,' the woman muttered. 'It's he and Daren'thal that insist on this Lady Patience business.'

'And that, in itself, is a good sign.' Solas shrugged. 'If I borrowed his words, and truly thought like him, the so-called pantheon of our people never had patience as a worthwhile value. In this new world, the one that he will sooner or later master, he sees it as one. The humans say absolute power corrupts absolutely, but I cannot see that happening with you. You had the continent at your feet and if it was within you to take it, you would not have waited for Anaris and Daren'thal to give you a title to do it. You could have done it as Inquisitor and Herald.'

'You did not do it then,' he whispered. 'You will not do it now – neither fear nor assimilate the power of a simple name, my heart. Use it to your advantage, as you have done before…It will be harder this time, as you will have hundreds of years, perhaps millennia to exercise restraint, but you of all, will manage.'

'You know,' Vel said, in an annoyed voice, 'they keep saying that too; that I think like a mortal, when I am not one, this and that. But I am mortal, you are mortal, and so are they – sorry, my sister, you know you are,' she ended, looking to the ceiling. 'The fact that none knows how to truly kill you does not make you immortal…'

Solas laughed in earnest. 'It's sister now, is it?'

'They keep calling me that, so…'

'Don't worry,' he said, between chuckles. 'If I know Daren'thal, she's choking on some unfortunate's stolen pipe smoke with laughter right now… You and I…'

'You'll never know…or well, you'll never understand how it felt to first see you,' Solas said, with a shudder. 'You know all that I did in preparation for my return; you know of Imshael, you were him, you know of all my crimes.'

'I do, yes,' Vel sadly answered.

'Then you also know that I committed them from a distance.' He said, in an emotionless voice. 'Except for Fenassal, I have never killed with my own hand, nor witnessed killing in my name. Until you. I would have avoided the sight of you too, but it was unavoidable, you had…taken away the powers of my orb. And I first saw you, chained to the floor as Cassandra had you, I saw you from behind, and I thought – what have I done?'

'Oh, so it was the sight of my…'

'Please don't be Dorian,' Solas scolded. 'No. I looked at you, and I for the first time internalised that my gambit would soon kill someone's bonded mate, someone's mother, I thought of all the people that might miss you, I thought…that I was killing my own, under the guise of saving them. I,' he continued, holding her fingers so tightly that he felt he could have crushed them, 'I saw an Elvhen woman chained to a cold floor by humans. I finally saw the direct result my actions, and though I wanted to renounce it all and flee, I… Needed my focus orb, I needed the powers you then held. It remains despicable, yet I resolved myself to watch you to die, on that cold floor, and that I would do nothing to stop it; perhaps with you dead the powers of the orb would naturally seek me as their vessel... But then, the most wondrous thing occurred...I saw something I never thought that I would see again…'

'You were not sleeping, Veldrin, you were in uthenara.' he softly uttered. 'Under the giant tear in the Veil, your body was instinctively mending the damage that the sudden outburst of power had created. The Mark was not killing you, not because I was preventing it from doing, as I led all to believe, so but because, even unconsciously, you would not let it…Not even I would have been capable of uthenara, then, and no other elf in camp was capable of it…'

'What are you telling me?' the woman frowned.

'That even before the Mark, your powers were greatly above average, Veldrin. In a different world, in my world, you might have been one of the few; I saw it in you, and Anaris and Daren'thal see the same. The name they call you is not moot, or a sign of gratitude. It's simply recognition.'

'That is disquieting,' Vel hesitantly answered.

He nodded. 'I am grateful that you say that, my heart. Power should be disquieting… I'm glad I did not kill you in Heaven, when they foolishly left me alone with you and I am glad…I'm simply glad that you are here,' Solas ended, his voice fading.

'Andruil,' he managed, after a long silence, 'cannot defeat all three of you, and cannot strategically see why Anaris is not acting. Once she claimed the name of Andraste for herself, war against the Chantry was inevitable. The sooner you do away with her, the less torment this world you love so much will see.'

'Tell that to poor Varric and the entirety of Kirkwall,' the woman grumbled.

'Hm?'

'Well, he pulled her eyes away from Arlathan and onto himself; he might have stood a chance against Starkheaven alone, but Ferelden in the fray…'

'What is he thinking?' Solas inquired with a deep frown. 'And more importantly, what is Anaris thinking? What are you thinking?'

'I'm thinking that I do not want to fight the Chantry,' Veldrin answered, with a smirk. 'And I am selfishly thinking that even with her gone, the humans of the continent will either fight on, or simply want revenge for the ruse. Arlathan is no longer an imaginary castle in the clouds, Solas. It is a city state, with borders that all the continent knows about.'

'…and now you learn what happens when you toss a toddler in a river before it knows how to swim,' he scoffed. 'Did you and the illustrious Lord Watcher did not consider this could happen? Did Daren'thal not tell you that it would?'

'You're a fine one to speak on the subject of caution and planning,' the woman dryly responded. 'The axe started hanging over Arlathan the moment you came for Tevinter's elves – without my second so-called treason, they would have had the Imperium to contend with too, so please do not get coy…'

He laughed. 'And you think that Tevinter will defend them now? Need I remind you…'

'Gods, if I hear about Halam'shiral one more time…The Imperium has already pledged assistance; it's Abelas that keeps putting himself on the warpath with all those who might help. Radonis himself is under no obligation to put his neck on the block next to ours, Solas... How much do you think Tevinter will love him, if its men die defending Arlathan? If he starts a war with the entire continent because he gave his word to us?'

'If his intention was another Halam'shiral,' she fiercely followed, 'he would have renounced the treaty the moment Tevinter had its slaves back, and mercilessly marched on Arlathan. Abelas' view of all humans – your view of all humans is so self-sabotaging… Radonis is a good man, and he is not an elf hater…'

'I know that,' Solas reluctantly said. 'I am slowly coming to terms with it…Very slowly,' he sighed. 'Very well then,' he muttered, caressing her cold little hand with his thumb. 'Let us assume Tevinter will be honourable…That is even more reason for Anaris to do away with Andruil.'

Vel let her shoulders slump. 'And here,' she sorrowfully spoke, 'we arrive at the crux of the problem. At why I am here and why…why he let me come, I presume,' she whispered. 'He too seems certain he can defeat her now, but without your prison…'

'Oh,' he ironically spat, 'I see. Anaris can deal with Andruil, but Elghar'nan will not be that easy – the gall of both of you!' he muttered, withdrawing his hand from hers, and angrily clenching his fists in his lap. 'Not only did you return him to this sorry, unchanging world; now he has you asking me to help him rule it?'

'I am the one asking, and not on his behalf,' she whispered.

'Yes, Veldrin, but you are doing it with his implicit permission, and it is gnawing at me like a pack of hungry rats.' Solas hissed. 'To see you stoop so low, again…For a world that does not even deserve you, for him…For him, who sold our people into slavery not once, but twice…'

'Truly?' Vel furiously shot back, darting to her feet. 'And what would our people have inherited, had you succeeded, Solas? Or would you have conveniently and casually reshaped reality this time around, as well, to make them all forget that wherever they tread, they tread knee deep in blood?'

'You side with slavers and oppressors, and dare speak to me thusly?' he shouted, jumping to his feet in turn – weakness, such as he had never felt in his life before, not even when he had awoken victim to his own creation, overcame him. It was as if a million stars had exploded in his mind, as if his body had turned to rags…

No, no, no…he thought, but simple thoughts could not keep him from staggering and falling. She did, though, reaching her arms though the cell's bars and steadying him, and, for a heartbeat, he felt only her touch, her warmth, and nothing more, he dazedly thought that though the iron cage was still between them, though entire oceans of time and an entire world were still between them, in her stinted embrace he could have stood for an eternity…He couldn't, but she did not let him fall – she supported him, with all her tiny strength, and gently lowered herself to one knee, to help him sit back down.

'You would have made us all murderers, Solas,' the woman whispered, when at long length, he found enough strength to force his eyes open.

Neither of them noticed that their fingers were once more entwined, and, even if they had, they'd not have cared.

'Not all of us,' he weakly replied. 'I'd only have made a murderer of the one who's earned that title. Me.'

'I'd never have forgiven you, my heart,' Vel softly said.

'You should not have forgiven me now.'

'I know.'

'I love you,' he simply said.

'I know that too.' The woman replied, and Solas would have given his soul and his very last heartbeat that she would stay silent after that, yet…

I would not have loved you so much if you had ever stopped fighting, Solas thought. I would not love you so much if you finally stopped now.

He was too weak to talk, and so, he merely listened, though even that was a struggle; the more she spoke, however, the more he understood why she had come, for, as the tale of her encounter with Andruil, as well as what had preceded it and followed it, unwound, the terror and disgust that must have driven her to endure him again began creeping though his own veins as well.

Solas struggled to focus – his thoughts still strayed, however. Yes, he might have said, if he had had enough strength to, what she described was truly worrying proof that Andruil had done away with the others. It did not even matter in what order: he'd put a bunch of rats inside what must have felt like a burning metal nest. Within the Fade itself, they would not need physical nourishment but these, he belatedly realised, had other, more consuming, pangs of hunger.

Unlike the others he had sealed away, the Evanuris had not chased power as a group. At least one of them had always wanted it solely for herself - while Andruil might have been the catalyst of the deadly race to the top, none of the others could claim innocence…not even June, he bitterly thought, for it did not matter whether one acted out of ambition or out of fear…

The Forgotten, callous and indifferent to mortals as they had always been, had always pictured their ascension together. Contemplation was nothing without Silence; Silence was nothing without Mystery – Mystery herself was nothing without Beauty. Merit had Rebirth as her safety net, when, by using Fire too much or too little she erred, and needed the world to be restored. These first seven had always formed a cycle; for better or worse, the surviving two acted as though they were even trying to rebuild it...with Veldrin…Dorian…perhaps with Morrigan and her son, once he came of age…

While he, Solas bitterly thought…he had upturned entire worlds, and only managed to delay the cataclysm, and not prevent it…

'Does it occur to you, my heart,' he spoke, at length, 'that…maybe, for all these millennia, I have been fighting the wrong war?'

She frowned. 'Now it dawns on you…'

'Well,' Solas sighed, 'it does cruelly dawn upon me that perhaps Daren'thal is right in her talk of fate and causality. I've done all that I've done to prevent the very clash you are now facing, and yet here we all are, on the verges of the same ancient chasm.'

'What are you saying, Solas?' Vel whispered; he tiredly shrugged.

'That I have seen this play before,' he answered. 'And I know how it ends; I've tried and failed to rewrite it already, and I'm starting to think I shouldn't have. The cycle of destruction you describe is the very same one I saw coming when I created the Veil. I could not stop it then, at the height of my powers, and I'm starting to believe that it should not be stopped…No, no,' he insisted, forcibly retaining her hand in his, when she tried to pull away in anger, 'let me finish…You tell me Daren'thal sees a different future; maybe that future will come to pass precisely because I am off the stage, this time around. Maybe they were always fated to face each other on the battlefield, my heart…'

'There is no they,' the woman all but screamed – for all his efforts, she pulled away with the force of a hurricane. 'There's only us! Gods fucking damn it, Solas! You should be grateful for this cage, or else…'

She was half way across the room, little fists clenched at her sides, and though she was so enraged that she almost glowing in the dark, he laughed, warmly and sincerely.

'No, vhenan,' he said. 'You should be the grateful one. But for this cage, our consummation would happen on this cold and filthy floor, and if you haven't guessed, I prefer being on top.'

'You…'

'I've never loved or wanted you more than at this moment, Vel,' he softly said; the woman clenched her teeth and pointlessly tried to fight back tears.

'But there is nothing I can say or do to make you bloody change your mind,' she breathed out. 'How can you love me, and refuse to help me, when…'

'Because you do not need my help,' he kindly uttered, looking up at her. 'You already know all that I could ever teach you; you know there is no them and us, better than I ever did, and unlike me, you have the strength of spirit – not of body, not of mind, not of magic – the sheer force of spirit to fight for us. You had no more than that when you defeated Corypheus. You had no more than that when you defeated me, why sell yourself so short?'

'I won't defeat Andruil just because I am the better person! And, by the way, thank you for the reassurance – I know that I am the better person, I always knew that if I don't unite them we'll all fall - and do you know what that does, about defeating Andruil? Absolutely nothing!' Vel screamed, on top of her lungs.

'Do you need help, Magistra Pavus?' the door guard asked, peeking inside in alarm.

'No!' she yelled back; the man scrambled away in terror, slamming the cell door behind him, and Solas laughed even harder.

'See?' he managed, amid pained chuckles. 'You genuinely do not need help – I wonder what your husband, from his balcony, made of our previous screaming matches...'

'He thought that you and I should get a room with a roof, and resolve the screaming in private.' Veldrin muttered. 'Albeit, by making noises of a different sort…'

'Perhaps we should have,' Solas said. 'Perhaps I should have loved you more than I hated everyone else…'

'I never believed that, my heart. You just…'

'It's enough that I am thinking it now,' the man wearily replied.

He looked to the green flickering dome that rose over his cage. He looked at her, his only victory, his only light after a long, dark and dreamless sleep. He thought of her friends and allies – he saw their and her choices, he considered how much she had fought for their trust, and how much trust they had invested in her, in turn. Of how much of herself she had lost along the way, and of how little she had actually gained for it…

'You're right,' he said, at long length. 'Being the better person will not help you defeat her, Veldrin. When have we seen good triumph, in this world?'

'More than once,' Veldrin answered, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes; he could see tears streaming down her cheeks, like on the night…on the night…when he had told her she was beautiful. That she was perfect, just as she was. She'd screamed at him then, too, and though she had begged for the easiest lie he could have uttered, he hadn't been able to offer it. He'd turned his back on her because he'd come to love her too much to keep deceiving her, yet not learned how to silence his guilt or admit defeat or...

'I am sorry, my heart,' he whispered.

He slipped his fingers along her arm, the warm one, the one that was still alive, and timidly pulled her close, then closer still – he pressed his forehead to the cold bars, smelling her skin, smelling her perfume, smelling…oh, smelling human powders in her hair, but…

Their lips brushed shyly, but there was no point in pressing. His cage was small, hers was wide, but that shy touch was all the space that was allowed between them.

'I'm sorry too, Solas,' the woman said, slowly pulling away, first from that barely there touch of their lips, then from his grasp, then straightening, slippery and graceful as an eel. 'In another world…'

'Vel…'

'You gave me up to save your world. I'm giving up on you to merely give mine a chance,' the ghost of love long lost, clad in Tevinter robes, said, her back only now truly turned to him. 'You were right on Seheron, Lady Mystery...'

There were tears in her voice, and her hands trembled on the lock, but she did not turn to face him one last time before she spoke.

'He is yours now.'

Could this be Arc 4, and the beginning of the end?

Thank you for reading and commenting,

Cheers,

Abstract & IvI, always at your service.