Solas's voice was no more than a whisper. There had been doubt lurking in his eyes but with the sight of her, there could be no more. He stared at her for what felt like an age until Varden made a small but very deliberate noise. His eyes tore away from her and suddenly aware again, he composed himself.

"You have all proven yourselves and will be given tasks and stations deserving of this. You have my personal gratitude for your service. Thank you all," he ended abruptly.

With that, he walked away in to the world beyond the mirror - looking back at her only once. Varden continued speaking with them, all the while regarding Ellana with curiosity. He had never seen his leader so disturbed. Eventually he led them away to a small encampment beneath the shadow of the Eluvian. Ellana had been in no state to pay attention to what was being said or notice anyone's inquisitive stares. When Varden left through the great mirror her friends rounded on her but she offered them no explanation. Lis put her arm around Ellana and gestured to the rest of the group to leave them. All but Daman heeded her, protesting still as he was led away.

"You're shaking like a leaf," Lis said quietly. "Here." She placed her robe around Ellana's shoulders. They sat in silence for a time but Lis broke it abruptly, hurt in her voice, "You know him, don't you? That's why you didn't want to come here. Vala is not even your real name…"

It was selfish but Ellana could not deal with Lis's hurt. She pulled away from her friend, about to seek solitude but before she could, magic consumed the mirror once more and Varden emerged.

"Fen'Harel requests your presence in the tower, Lady Ellana."

"The tower?" Lis retorted in confusion.

Varden gestured toward the great mirror. "I shall lead the way if you would be so kind as to follow."

Ellana picked herself up, Lis's robe falling to her feet. She followed Varden through the mirror and the beauty of the landscape on the other side jarred her from her boiling rage. The Eluvian stood atop a hill with trees, waterfalls, lakes and halla as far as the eye could see. A path snaked around the hillside and through dozens of elven encampments. Hundreds of her brethren went about their daily lives as she followed down the path to the base of a great white tower. Inquisition spies had spoken of elves leaving their homes to join with Fen'Harel but she never imagined this many.

"By the gods, he has an army," she thought.

Varden raised his hand to the tower's door and it opened to a room bathed in coloured light. A staircase wound around the height of the tower with rooms at the sides. They walked past the staircase to a platform in the centre of the entrance hall. Ellana looked up and was met with the source of the coloured light. A monumental stained glass roof topped the tower. Despite her fury, she found herself in awe of the beauty contained within this place and the man who created it. Varden gestured for Ellana to stand beside him on the platform as he pressed his hand against a pedestal. The platform rose from the ground with magical energy. As they drew closer to the upper reaches, the roof transfixed Ellana further. She could now see the glass depicted a great tree shedding white blossom. Varden seemed almost amused by her awe. No doubt he had felt similar feelings when he first set foot in this place. Further up it became clear that the top floor lay beyond the reach of the great staircase. All that connected the platform was a walkway that led out to a lone door. Her awe gave way to anxiety once more as Varden indicated she should enter. She steeled herself for what was to come and proceeded alone.

Ellana entered in to a large room that Solas had clearly made his own. An enormous desk sat in the centre surrounded by towering bookcases and glass cabinets. The desk was littered with papers, books and strange items. Two closed doors on either side of the room led beyond, to what she could only imagine. Behind the central desk was a vast window. The man himself was standing at the window looking out on the world he had created. He turned to face her as the door clicked shut. As they moved closer to one another, she could see the pained look on his face and he saw the same look on hers.

"Ellana, I…" He composed himself before he continued, "When I heard you had walked away from the Inquisition I had hoped you were living your life in peace. I never imagined… I never imagined this."

"Well I'm just full of surprises, aren't I? Not as many as you but I'm getting there!" Spite rang out in her tone more than she would have liked.

Solas sighed, pained expression only worsening. "Why are you here? How long…"

She cut him off, "I'm not here to spy for the Inquisition if that's all you're concerned about."

"I know; the Inquisition has no idea where you are. That is not my concern. My concern is you," he replied in an equally exacerbated tone.

Solas had been watching the Inquisition as much as their suspicions would allow. Although he did not believe they could stop him, he was very aware that they were the only ones who knew the full extent of his plans. His watching had led to the discovery that they too had no idea where Ellana was, let alone what she was doing.

"Concerned about me?! You're concerned about me?!" she shouted, her fury taking over. "I abandoned my friends, I abandoned my family, I abandoned my life all because of you! I loved you and you repaid that with lies! When you finally did tell me the truth you threw me away like I was nothing to you!"

"I left to protect you!"

"Protect me?!" Her rage pulled her closer to its source. "Oh I feel wonderfully protected! You tore me to pieces and abandoned me!"

He turned away from her. "I had no choice."

"You did have a choice but you robbed me of any chance to choose - all in the name of saving me from you! Maybe I would have liked to decide my own fate?! But no, you obviously know what's best for everyone! What's worse, you still watched me!" Ellana could feel tears welling in her eyes. "Haunting my dreams; never letting me escape your shadow. You left me with nothing and took everything from me." The tears were falling – uncontrollable, stinging. "I have nothing more to say to you."

"Ellana…" he said sadly.

She turned on her heel and walked out through the door, slamming it behind her. Varden had left but the magical elevator brought her to ground level without prompting. She made for the woods, barely able to keep her composure. Beyond the trees, she crumpled in a heap and wept, shaking with residual rage.

Solas watched her leave through the window. As she ran to the forest he put his head in his hands. He was shaking and he could feel the despair welling up inside of him. He had assumed the only time they would ever see one another again was if she was fighting him. How wrong he had been.

"Everything she said… She was right. She is always right… But I did not do this just to save you," were his last thoughts before he gave in to his despair.

Ellana left the woods and proceeded to the encampments. With Varden long gone, she had no idea where she was supposed to go. On her way back to the mirror Lis approached her at speed.

"There you are! I was starting to get worried! Varden brought us through shortly after you and he…" Lis noticed Ellana's red eyes and puffy features. "Are you alright?"

"No," Ellana replied. "There is a lot I need to tell you."

They sat for a great deal of time away from prying eyes and Ellana told Lis everything – her true heritage, her time as Inquisitor and Solas. She left out some details; keeping Solas's involvement in Corypheus's rise to power and the details of his plans to herself. She had long suspected that the elves who chose to fight for Fen'Harel did not fully understand the destruction they were trying to create or what it would cost them. Although she was angry with him, she saw no benefit in tearing down what he had built. To do so would hurt more people than just him and doom the elves to this life. Lis remained largely silent throughout, only breaking it to ask the occasional question. Once Ellana had finished her story, they sat in silence.

"So let me get this straight, you were the leader of one of the most powerful organisations of our time and, to top that off, you were fucking an elven god? Nice…" Lis mused, trying to lighten the mood.

Ellana laughed. "I guess so…But he's no god, not really."

"Ellana… I'm sorry," Lis said, struggling a bit with Ellana's real name. "You've been through a lot and I can't imagine how difficult it must have been. I wish you had told me sooner. It must have been terrible having no one to talk to..."

Ellana pulled her friend in to a warm embrace. "Thank you. You're a true friend and I'm so sorry I kept this from you." She released her so their eyes could meet. "Please, do not tell the others. I'm not ready for everyone to know."

"They are not fools. They know something is up, Ellana." It was strange hearing Lis use her real name. "We need to tell them something."

They both sat thinking of a way to avoid the truth.

"We could just tell them he thought you were someone else?" Lis piped up.

Ellana scoffed in disbelief. "You're the one who just said they are not fools! Who would fall for that?"

"I know they'll see through it but maybe if we both insist hard enough then they will at least stop asking questions. If someone is desperately trying to get you to accept a lie it usually means the truth is just going to hurt you," Lis exclaimed proudly.

Ellana laughed. "That does not usually stop people from wanting the truth."

"Well…we can hope?" Lis laughed along with her. Neither could think of a better option.

Lis led Ellana to their camp and the two were met with their understandably concerned friends. Lis spun her story with Ellana's help and the majority of the group met it with reasonable scepticism. The exception was Daman. He just seemed so glad that Ellana was no longer furious with him that he would accept anything she said. Garith and Lori, not wanting to overrule their leader, went along with it too. As the evening turned more to night, the encampments began to thrum with music and jubilation. Daman regaled their neighbours with numerous tales of their exploits, helped along by the remainder of their alcohol supply. The surrounding elves seemed happy to get to know them and share stories of their own. Ellana was pleased to join in the festivities. Venting to Lis had helped her greatly and even confronting Solas made her feel like a weight had been lifted. A bit of celebration was just what she needed to clear her mind.

As the night wore on, the wine ran out. With Daman's encouragement, the elves struck up a tune and the camp erupted in to dancing. Ellana joined him in a dance, finally feeling a sense of freedom. Daman swung her around the dance-floor like a mad man as the stars twinkled prettily above them. Ellana loved gazing at the night sky. It reminded her how small this world and her problems really were. On a particularly wide swing, she caught sight of something glistening on the top floor of the tower. She could see a large balcony and watching them from that vantage point was Solas. It was difficult to see from such a distance but Ellana could feel his eyes on her. In that moment she could feel only pity for him as he stood alone atop his ivory tower.

A/N - This chapter was updated AGAIN on 21/11/17 as apparently, I am never happy.