"He wants to touch her, but there's something blocking, belaying, breaking her bond. Cole tapped the glass in the window of the Inquisitor's bedchambers. "'Why doesn't it answer?'" The moon glared back at him with a white light. "'It'll never answer.'" He turned around to her at her desk. "You're Dalish."

She laid down the paper, but didn't look at him to respond. "What a keen observation."

"That's why you won't. 'Dalish make Dalish make Dalish.' Duty to a dying race." He clapped his hand, the one that wasn't in a sling, on his thigh and smiled. "'We'll bind you to the moon!'"

She couldn't help but join in his smile as he recreated times she hoped weren't lost. "Yes, Cole. That was what she said."

"You were strong with her. She was the roar in your voice." He stopped smiling and looked at the ground. "She wishes you were with her too." The door opened and shut. Footsteps sounded on the stairs. His body tensed visibly. By the time the guest reached the top of the steps, Kurana saw Cole's dagger slightly drawn.

"Calm down. It's just Leliana," Kurana warned him. The dagger was shoved back into its sheathe and Cole relaxed. "Could you wait outside please?"

"'Friends fighting green fire. She lived, he lived, but at what cost?'," he mumbled. "She lost her roar." In an instant, he was gone. Not for long, she knew. She received no respite from his company.

Leliana laid back on the Inquisitor's bed with her hands under her head and her legs crossed. "Now, this is what a bed should be. I usually fall asleep at my desk." She laughed and added, "I should have this. You don't seem to be using it at all these days, do you?"

Kurana rose one eyebrow and asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, everyone already knows." She rose from the bed and seemed to glide to the desk, gesturing with her hands elegantly. "You, the Herald of Andraste and leader of the people, stealing away to the bed of the man that trains and leads her armies. It's so romantic. The Warden was partial to such tales. She'd love this one."

Kurana sighed and shook her head. "We haven't… No."

The spymaster leaned on the table and gave her a longing look. "Come now. You can tell me. I can keep a secret." Kurana remained silent. "You can tell me now, or I can ascertain the information in… other ways." Her fingers ran through Kurana's hair.

"You wouldn't!"

"I would," she mocked. She sat down in the chair adjacent to Kurana. "Now, tell your big sister. What is going on in that bed of Cullen Stanton Rutherford of Honnleath? I've known Cullen to have a secret weakness for elven girls, but I never pictured he'd like them so young."

"Nothing. We don't do that." Kurana stammered over her words, tripping over them as though the entire conversation were a field of ropes grabbing at her. "I've never been with a man. I've never even seen a naked man before." She shook, now sweating from the whole topic.

"Aw, well," Leliana grinned so widely, she could hardly keep her teeth closed. "That's so predictably adorable of you. Our little kitten." She pinched Kurana's cheek, which she did nothing to stop. "You're an even bigger softie than he is!"

"He wants to… he's tried to…"

"You told him no?" Leliana wrapped her arm around the elf's shoulders and put her other hand on the Inquisitors arm in a comforting manner.

Kurana didn't want to admit what happened last time. Rumors surrounding Cole and her were already bad as it was. "Yes. I just wasn't ready." A quarter of the truth.

Flashes of forests, painted glittering white. Frosted. Waterfalls and at the bottom, rocks. Her fingers hurt and hurt until they hurt no more. The ache faded. All she could think of was grasping Myra's hands. Myra's red hair was soaked and both sisters were silent as the rapids roared. Kurana was silent in prayer. Perhaps Myra was too. 'The pain now is nothing,' she reminded herself. 'Nothing compared to the pain of losing her.' It was hours before the others came.

"We need to take it," the healer said. The finger was black to the knuckle. "It's just the smallest one."

"What happened to it?," she asked as her wrist was strapped down.

"The Dead Wolf bit it off." He shook his head. "A small price to pay for your big sister's life." The blade reflected the moonlight into her eyes. "His bite made it black."

It healed quickly, though she had to adjust her shot accordingly. Her thumb often ran over the place her finger once was. Unblinking, she gazed at the moon. Myra caught her at it again. "The moon doesn't need to be worshipped, da'len." She flashed the smile they shared, their father's smile.

"I'm not worshipping it, I'm just…," she turned her big, blue eyes back to the silver orb hanging in the black endlessness that was the sky. "I'm talking to it." She wondered if the Dread Wolf was howling at it this night.

"Does it talk back?," Myra asked warily, with a hint of amusement. "Mages sure are odd."

"No, it doesn't talk back of course. But it's always there and no one notices. It must be lonely."

Myra laughed and mocked her, her red hair flipping as she doubled over. "We've finally found you a mate. You'll bind with the moon!" Kurana smacked her arm. "Better than some shemlen coming and sticking his shem babe in you."

Kurana made a disgusted noise. "Ugh, I'd never let a shemlen man touch me."

Myra's tone darkened. "I don't think he'd ask your opinion. You need someone to protect you like Bellan protects me."

She rolled her eyes. "Not this again."

"Yes! This again!," Myra pressed in an exasperated voice. She clutched Kurana's arm to keep her from storming away. "You need a mate. Dalish make Dalish make Dalish. The sooner an elven seed is sown in your garden, the better. Your mate could watch over you. We have a duty to our dying race." She took Kurana's four-fingered hand and placed it on her heart. She placed her own hand on Kurana's heart in return. "Ma lin. Ma vhenan."

"Let me in." These words Kurana had been dreading to hear, but knew it was inevitable. Cole's 'protection' was becoming less gentle, less welcome, and more regrettable. "Let me in and I can protect you forever," he whispered to her. He had backed her against a wall, trapped her with an arm on either side of her. She placed one hand on his chest in a futile attempt to urge him back, but that was before he said those three words. She was petrified, every muscle paralyzed but her eyes. She could hardly breathe. His breath, however, was hot on her ear. He smelled like the Fade, like the residual scent after a spell; hot sand, crumbled stone, and burning. His eyes explored her face while his finger traced her vallaslin. "No more fear, no more pain. Just you. Just me. Emma nadas." He was plucking the elvish from her head. Her mind screamed for her body to move, but it refused and allowed Cole's hands to move over her arms and settle at her hips, gripping almost desperately. "This body could be ours, together."

"Kid," she heard a coarse voice warn. Varric had interrupted. Cole reluctantly turned around, releasing Kurana. "Kid, for some reason I don't think you and Kitten were having a loving moment."

Her eyes were still screaming and a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead and onto her nose. Cole sustained the same level of intensity. "There is nothing more loving than the act of merging, becoming one."

"Calm down, Kid. Just let Kitten breathe for a bit. Stick around and she'll turn blue."

He slowly set his dark eyes on her and asked, "Is this what you wish of me?"

She managed to nod and as soon as he was gone, she gasped and relaxed. "I can barely control him anymore." She dropped to her knees and Varric rushed over. "I don't want to become an abomination."

"It's alright, Kitten. You'll be fine," Varric assured her.

"Doubtful," another male voice interjected. This one was more delicate, but more arrogant. "A spirit of compassion is a fragile being. He's been led off course." He glided towards the two of them. "It will be a hard thing to do, making a demon into a spirit again. He can't possess you without your consent, but he can destroy everything around him if this goes unchecked."

"Please," she looked up at him with red eyes. "Whatever it is, do it."

"Stop that sniveling. The more you fear, the more attached he becomes." He returned the glare Varric was giving him. "She needs to get better."

Varric stood and shrugged. "Seems like he needs to grow as well." He offered a hand to Kurana to help her up.

Solas seemed to ignore Varric's suggestion and resumed his stern lecture. "You'll need to stay away from him. Don't banish him from the Inquisition, however. He can use our cause to reclaim his purpose. Besides, you banishing him could end disastrously for anyone in the vicinity. It's best we do this gently." He shook his head and furrowed his brow as if he were scolding a child. "Look at this mess your weakness has made."