Happy Friday! It's almost officially fall and I'm so happy! My birthday is next week! Enjoy the chapter and see you at the bottom! =D
Giving Skyhold to the Inquisition was one of the harder decisions that Solas had made since waking up. This structure, while different than what he remembered it being, held a lot of memories, times when he wore his title of the Dread Wolf with pride. His people used this place as a central point in his resistance. He could still feel the ancient magic throughout the fortress, calling out to him like an old friend. Not for the first time he wished that he was back at his full power. The people of this world didn't understand true fear of magic until they'd seen an elven "god" wreak havoc with nothing but a thought. He could stop this Elder One and get his orb back without so much as breaking a sweat. But, ideal wishes did not stop the problems at hand.
Not for the first time, Solas found himself sitting in the garden against a tree older than the fortress that lay around it, as overgrown and tangled as the fauna was, he enjoyed it nonetheless. There was more magic in the center area that he could absorb, syphoning off long buried wards.
It also tended to be quiet, since none of the nobles wanted to get dirty in the overgrowth, but that was all going to change soon, so the rumors claim. The gardens were the most untouched areas of the fortress, though the humans were planning on destroying parts of it to create a more Orleasian friendly setting. It made his stomach churn just thinking about it. While much of the fortress garden was overgrown, there was a beauty to it.
Solas heard the deliberate sound of crunching leaves to the left of his head. He turned his head to see Ellana approaching. She was using a crutch to walk, causing the usually silent rogue to make unnecessary noise. He could see her nose crinkle in distain at the sounds the wood was making against the leaves and he suppressed a laugh.
The poor woman had broken more than one rib escaping the avalanche that consumed Haven and nearly destroyed the Inquisition. She had been lucky none of ribs had punctured one of her lungs, but magic only healed so much and she was confined to light walking with a crutch for the next few days between healing sessions, much to her distain.
The humans had named her Inquisitor two days ago, putting another title on her already burdened shoulders. She wore her title well, better than worn his name in the past. There was no pride obstructing her vision. The collapse of Haven had humbled her somewhat, not that she really ever had power clouding decisions. She wasn't nearly as innocent as she had been when she started her journey, they had lost a few good men and women in the fight and it haunted her. Haunted everyone, if Solas was being perfectly honest with himself.
There was added pressure for her to heal now, though she didn't take anything any healer said seriously, which was making the process slower than it should have been. She should be in bed resting instead of wandering around Skyhold, which was in a state of disrepair. Something could fall and kill her at any moment, but she didn't really seem to care.
Then again, Ellana had always paced when she was nervous, she had run laps around Haven before she made any lasting decision in the war room. It must be driving her mad that she can't run around. From what he had heard she has to travel across Thedas to further the Inquisition's reach as their leader and deal with Orlesian politics and nobles. There were even mentions of Ellana needing to attend a ball at the Winter Palace. If she ever felt the need to pace nervously, now would be the time for her to start.
Things were starting to get out of hand for the young Dalish hunter.
"I thought I might find you here," she said, slightly out of breath. There was a faint wheeze to her breathing that shouldn't have been there. Were her lungs bothering her? He made a move to get up and, but she held up a hand, halting him. Solas settled himself back against the tree, not wanting to get in her way or make her trip and hurt herself further.
"Was there a reason that you decided to seek me out?"
"I've never needed a reason before, but if I have to have one, I suppose I can ask in an official capacity to see how you're settling in. Everyone seems to like it here so far. Dorian has been complaining about the lack of variation in the library, but I know he loves that he has his own little corner to be a book worm in," she replied, a teasing grin on her face.
Solas rolled his eyes at Ellana's jab at Dorian, but figured that he should reply. "I'm settling in fine. I plan to start frescos in the rotunda. If that is alright with you?" He had wanted to do something to celebrate her accomplishments in a distinctly Elven fashion and he had always had a talent with paints.
Ellana turned her eyes skyward, as if asking for guidance. Solas had to hold in a laugh."I wish people would stop asking me permission to do things. If you want to paint, paint. I'm not going to stop people from their hobbies because I was named Inquisitor. This fortress is hardly mine. We literally just decided to occupy it four days ago."
Solas mouth twitched, tugging at a smile at her behavior. She would never stop amusing him. Nor was she quite ready to rule as Inquisitor. He honestly figured she'd never quite be ready for the responsibility, but her childish moments were what made her who she was and Solas wouldn't replace that for anything.
She swung her crutch towards him as she hobbled over to sit next to him on the ground. A moment later she took his hand in her own. Solas jumped, startled by the contact. He'd never realized how thin and callused her fingers were, nor how cold, but that could be because of the mountain air.
It wasn't often Ellana initiated contact with anyone other than Dorian or Sera. "How are you really? I know seeing a Darkspawn Magister wasn't something anyone planned for. I've had to talk Sera down more than once. The poor girl just can't handle the thought of another Blight. I just want to make sure that you're okay. You, Sera and Blackwall were the closest anyone got to the Archdemon-Dragon-whatever, besides me," she said, squeezing his hand gently.
Solas wasn't sure if should take his hand back or not. It wasn't often that anyone moved to touch him beyond trying to kill him or shove past him. He couldn't even count how long it had been since someone had held his hand in such a caring manner. The world didn't deserve Ellana, she was far too kind to the people she thought as her own.
The gesture seemed innocent enough. The contact was probably just as much for her as it was for him.
This woman would never stop amazing him. He gave her a small, but genuine smile. "I assure you that I'm taking this better than Sera. This Elder One is just another enemy that we need to figure out how to beat and since we know the Orb is Elven we know that he has been lying to his people about where he received powers. Now, we need to figure out how to take them away."
Ellana squeezed his hand a little tighter, not in a painful way, but it was getting there. He could feel a callus on her left hand, rough from years of archery and knife work. "Solas, do you have any idea what the artifact is? Beyond the fact that it's Elven, of course."
He felt his throat tighten for a moment. As secluded as they were and as much as he trusted her, she could never know who he was, it was too dangerous, she was doomed to die from his mark and he couldn't bear seeing her reject him. It would be cruel to tell her and it would make working with her more difficult, but when her grey eyes met his, he felt his resolve weaken, but it didn't crumble. So, lying to her was necessary.
"No, but once we get it out of the Elder One's hands, it should make things easier," Solas lied through his teeth, hoping that with the speed in which he answered and the genuine determination in his voice, he'd be able to fool her.
Of course, Ellana looked disappointed for a moment. Did she know he lied or was she just upset that he didn't know any more information about the artifact?
"Solas, if you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me. I do hope you realize that."
Damn. She knew he lied. How did she always know?
"I do. You have fought for my freedom since the day we met. I won't turn my back on you." He deflected, hoping that using guilt would keep her off his back, if only for a little while.
"That isn't quite what I'm talking about and you know it, but sure, play coy and continue lying to me."
Her grip loosened in his. Was she leaving? He wasn't quite ready for that. He gripped her hand as she attempted to pull away, nearly setting her off balance.
"Is it true that you are going to be attending a ball?"
He felt her entire body sag against the tree in exaggerated horror. Her attention was successfully diverted.
Finally.
"Yes, Josie is trying to find something suitable for all of us to wear. I just hope she realizes that I'm going to be wearing something traditionally Elven to the Palace. The humans have been talking about some kind of suit and I know I'll look ridiculous in it. I don't care what Josie says about uniformity. As they say, you can take the elf from the Dales, but you can't take the Dalish out of the elf," Ellana replied, burring her hand in her hands towards the end.
"I'm nearly positive no body says that." He teased and turned to him and grinned.
"Maybe I'm spending too much time with Sera…"
Solas wrinkled his nose at the mere thought of spending more time with that girl than necessary and Ellana chuckled. He had no idea how Ellana enjoyed being in Sera's company, but then again, they were nearly the same age and they loved getting into harmless trouble, so that could be it. They understood each other on a level that Solas would never comprehend. To Solas, Sera was an immature girl that was in over her head. She was talented with a bow, but had no intellect to back it up. Ellana obviously saw something different, because through Sera's friends and the war table, they had been making some political waves. Some minor rebellions had happened and there were even some noble houses that had ben put in disgrace and it was all because of Sera.
Was there something to that girl that Solas was missing? None of what she said really ever made sense and she was never willing to listen to anything Solas said, so he never really found too much of reason to engage with her beyond pleasantries, if even that much.
"She isn't nearly as bad as you think she is. I'm even teaching her Elven."
Solas raised an eyebrow impressed. "Now, how did you manage that?"
"Told her I knew some really dirty phrases and she just had to know them. But, I told her she needed to understand the basics of the language first. She's a quick study," Ellana replied, eyes twinkling her grin infectious. And here he thought that Sera would never want to take part in learning the old language. The only issues he could foresee is that Ellana might not be completely fluent in the Ancient tongue. Not many Dalish can read or write. The Keepers and Firsts of the clans Solas had visited seemed to hoard the knowledge of literacy to themselves. Then again, he'd seen Ellana write to him before and he'd been impressed with her penmanship. If she had question, Solas was nearly positive she'd come to him for answers.
"Is it petty of me to wish it had been difficult for her?"
"A bit, but now we might not be able to poke fun at everyone now that Sera will understand parts of what we're saying."
Solas pinched the bridge of his nose. At least she was getting some kind of background in her true heritage. Maybe one day Sera could appreciate the culture of her bloodline.
Then again, that would be like getting water from stone.
I liked writing this chapter. It wasn't originally going to actually be a thing until I realized I needed something between this and meeting Hawke. Also, surprise! You're all going to get a chapter in Hawke's POV next week! Now that we've reached the Skyhold milestone, there will be chapters in both Hawke's and Solas' POVs. I felt like I needed some super sarcastic and self degrading POV that wasn't Solas, but was someone that really understood what was going on with the plot. Things are going to be getting exciting now that the plot has developed a bit more. =)
To everyone dealing with hurricane damage, I wish you the best of luck. I have family out in the Caribbean and in Southern Florida who had to deal with a lot of damages and general destruction. I hate hurricane season. So, I guess my message here is: stay safe!
I'm still dropping hints about who Ellana really is and her relationship to Solas, so I hope some of you guys have started figuring it out. =3 Anyway, thank you to all the lovely people that have reviewed, favorited and followed. Please continue! I love seeing feedback and genuine interest in my writing.
See you all next week,
Animerocker