CHAPTER FIVE

Fen'Harel led her outside once more, but instead of turning at the giant statue, they instead continued straight along another pathway, this one heavily guarded by sentinels, though they did not have the same appearance as the sentinels inside; these stoic guards all had their heads covered with black hoods, their auras imposing as they walked past them. She could literally feel the magic rolling off of them in waves.

They stopped before an inactivated eluvian, Pharen looking up at him in confusion. "Are you ready, da'enansal? I am uncertain as to whether you have seen the likes of the city before." He grinned smugly, as if laughing at something only he knew. Furrowing her brows and crossing her arms with a slight huff, she smiled a sarcastic smile. "Have you already forgotten you showed me Arlathan in the Fade, Fen'Harel? That bath must still be on your mind."

The Dread Wolf opened and closed his mouth several times before settling on closed while she laughed openly at him. He felt a very unfamiliar flush rush underneath his robes as he admired her warm smile, that he knew despite it being aimed at him, it was indeed for him. Fen'Harel rolled his eyes at her. "Come, da'len. We have much to do." Pharen's laugh slowly stopped as it dawned on her the words he used. She had grown quite used to him calling her his gift; in fact, it gave her a small thrill deep in her belly when he did, especially knowing his reasoning behind it. Now that he called her da'len, it was almost an insult.

It was Pharen's turn to open and shut her mouth, and as she, too, settled on closed, she allowed him to place a hand at her back as he guided her through the mirror. Once they reached the other side, into the Crossroads, his hand remained at her back as he guided her toward an eluvian that had several elvhen markings across the top, along with two statues of trees flanking either side, their roots curling together to form the bottom of the mirror itself. She stepped through it without hesitating this time, and finally saw what she had only dreamed of seeing with her own eyes. Arlathan.

It looked just like it had in the Fade, except brighter, more people, and many more merchants than he had shown her initially. She gawked as she walked past the merchants, calling in ancient elvhen for potential customers to come to their stalls. It was beautiful, and she told Fen'Harel as much when she turned to him. "Beautiful, is it?" He grinned, showing a little bit of pride at Arlathan's ability to essentially make Pharen speechless.

She elbowed him, "You know it is. You live here." She grinned broadly, the slight dimples in her cheeks showing, along with a seemingly ever-present blush. Fen'Harel reached out and took her hand, pressing several gold pieces into her palm. "Go have fun. Whatever you wish to look like here, you have your choice of vendors, I assure you." He gestured to a clothing stall not far away from where they currently stood.

Pharen smiled gratefully up to him, and before he could process what was happening, she stood on her tiptoes, her hand braced against his chest to keep her balance, and pressed a chaste kiss to his cleft chin. "Thank you," she said as she removed her hand from him. All he could do was give her a small smile, afraid to speak for the emotion that was welling deep within him, battling with the ever-present wolf, telling him to stop leading this beautiful creature along a path that she could surely not go down with him.

Lavellan worried at her lower lip as she walked away from him, mentally chiding herself. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why. Again. Why are you doing this to yourself?! She inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves as she approached the vendor which he had pointed out. The merchant spoke softly to Pharen, "My dear, please, peruse my clothing. I make all of it myself, and it would do me a great honor to have a devout to Fen'Harel wear one of my dresses." The older elf nodded as she appraised Pharen's lithe figure. Pharen, though taken aback at the merchant's words, said nothing to correct her. She had, in fact, been very loyal to the Roamer of the Beyond both as a child and as an adult.

As she stayed and spoke quietly with the merchant, the Roamer himself was watching her. He could not help but to notice the curve of her full lips as she spoke and smiled with wonder, nor could he fail to notice the more subtle movements of her body language; the way she shifted her weight from the ball of her foot to the heel if she was nervous, or the way she would run a hand through her hair after telling a lie, or even down to the way her eyes were alight with genuine interest at what nearly anyone would tell her. She was beautiful to him, though he was uncertain as to when she became such.

As he pondered the answer, he was surprised to see dragon horns at the very edge of his peripheral vision. The woman sidled up next to him, fixing him with a very calculating look. "Fen'Harel," she said, "why must you watch her so? Surely you cannot be interested someone you barely know anything of." He cringed, realizing she was right. "Mythal, is there something I should know?" He raised an eyebrow at her, causing her to laugh, which in turn caused his hackles to raise.

"Wolf, there are many things you should know, but are you willing to listen?" She replied cryptically. He sighed, knowing he would not get very far. She rested a hand at his shoulder, squeezing it gently, before turning away to greet her priest, Abelas. Abelas nodded once to show his acknowledgement before being led away by Mythal. Fen'Harel gave a weary sigh before turning his head back to where Pharen had been. She was wearing a broad, dimpled smile, and was laughing with the vendor.

Almost as though sensing his gaze, she turned to him and gave him the softest smile and wave he had ever had the pleasure of being graced by. He felt his heart jump into his throat as he smiled back at her, though now he knew he was in trouble. Pharen walked over to him, a blue and gold dress draped over her shoulder. "I'm ready to go when you are, Fen'Harel. And…thank you again, for this, for everything." She smiled briefly, and settled into step next to him as they strode toward the eluvian.

His mind was rushing with various trains of thought, all connected to her in some way. Pharen noticed how quiet he was being after the dragon-horned woman had spoken with him at the market. Though she was loathe to admit it, she was afraid the woman had said something to make him back off from her, which, she decided, was not what she wanted. She wanted to get to know the younger Solas, and to do that, she would have to share about herself, first.

"I was wondering if we could have dinner outside tonight?" The question came from out of nowhere from her once they reached the temple. He stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded. "You…want to have dinner with me?" He asked slowly. "Of course, silly. I'm staying here with you, and I know that…you don't know much about me beyond I am not from this time and my name. Would you at least indulge me for a little while?" They had stopped in front of the fountain, and he was contemplating his answer. Apparently he took too long, and he saw the telltale signs of a blush creeping across her chest.

"Ir abelas, hahren. I know I need to get better at this but I can't help but think that you're…him…from the past. I want to know you, if that makes any sense. I don't care that you are him, or look like him, or whatever. I also don't mind that you're a god of the pantheon, so you can get that out of your head. I'm not trying to do anything…weird…I just want to get to know you better, is all." Pharen sighed as she finished her small speech, turning to go into the temple, but before she had even reached for the door, he pressed a hand to the crook of her arm. "I will see to it we are not disturbed, da'enansal. Consider your wish granted."

She gave him a charming smile, dimples and all, and nodded her head in understanding. Pharen walked quickly back to her quarters, both excited and nervous at the prospect of dining in the Wolf's den with the Dread Wolf himself.