The morning was cold and damp when Eridian returned to the main hall of the hold. He suppressed the urge to shiver in the cold air which clung to the stone walls despite the fires set down the hall.

He paused. Despite the construction being done here, a table had been set up and there were already people seated there. His sister was at the head exchanging words with a male shem. His dark hair was neat and eyes shining at what Eridian's sister was saying to him. His clothes were way too nice and skin darker than most of the shem that Eridian had seen.

The dwarf from last night was seated close to the shem on the other side of an empty chair. The one woman from last night, Vivienne, was seated close to the other end of the table speaking with the ambassador. There were two other women close to them, not shockingly they were both shem. One had red hair which came out from under than hood she was wearing and the other reminded him of the stories he had heard of Templars. There were several empty places at the table for more people.

Eridian hesitated and scanned the table. There was no sign of the flat ear his sister had been making out with last night.

"Fae!"

His sister called to him and Eridian turned his gaze back on her. She gestured for him to join them. Reluctantly Eridian moved and took the seat beside his sister across from the pretty-boy shem.

"Ah, so you must the brother I've been hearing about this morning," the shem said in way of greeting to Eridian.

"Yep, that would be Stumbles." The dwarf smiled at Eridian.

"Stumbles?" Eridian asked, staring at the dwarf.

"Varric!" Theria gaped at the dwarf. "Couldn't you have come up with a different name for him?"

Varric grinned. "Not a chance after last night, Inquisitor."

"What happened last night?" the dark skinned shem asked, sounding intrigued.

"Nothing, Dorian!" Theria shot a glare at Varric then gave Eridian a hard look.

Eridian looked back at her, his eyes narrowed. So his sister didn't want her relationship with that flat ear to come out.

"I wouldn't call that 'nothing,' Inquisitor," Varric started with a small smile. "It certainly warrants a good chapter in my book."

"Varric, you're more than welcome to write about what we're trying achieve, but leave my private relationships out of that book!"

Eridian couldn't help but feel satisfaction in the fact that this was a great way to stop her relationship dead with that flat ear. "Yes, who would want to admit to being caught kissing a flat ear?" he asked in cool, even tones.

The moment he looked up he saw ice had settled in his sister's pale eyes. He held her gaze with a determined one of his own, challenging her to deny his words. Perhaps provicking her wasn't his wisest plan, but he knew this relationship would only hurt her. Any man who came close to his sister hurt her. Like the first man who Theria had a crush on and… like he had when he had left them giving Eridian a false promise that he would one day return for them. Theria had been only two days old at the time and their mother had died in childbirth. He had hurt her in ways she didn't even understand.

"Flat ear?" the shem across from Eridian asked.

"Eridian," Theria started, grounding out his name rather than calling by the nickname she had given.

"Deny it then," he challenged her openly.

"What is a flat ear?" the shem asked again, sounding rather huffy at being ignored.

"Sparkler, it would be wiser to not get in the middle of this. Siblings need to fight matters like this out, trust me on this."

Theria took a deep breath and straightened in her seat. "Fae," she started again, this time her voice overly sweet.

At once Eridian felt ice form in the pit of his stomach. Her angered voice he could handle and knew what do and how to dodge around it. This voice, this voice he knew he was in for it.

"That isn't what we agreed."

He found himself nodding, remembering her words and knowing that she really would make him wish it was Elgar'nan he was facing down instead of her. Creators, why did his little sister have to be more frightening than the God of Vengeance himself? Heck, Eridian would take meeting the Dread Wolf alone in a dark forest over this voice. It always told him that if he didn't apologize he would find himself wishing he was dead in one way or another.

"Ir abelas," he choked out the apology and bowed his head low to her.

For a long moment Theria's gaze held him before her shoulders relaxed and the ice melted from her gaze. "Just don't suddenly think you've the tongue of Fen'Harel," her voice still held a sharpness to it which told him to watch what he said despite the fresh teasing note to it.

"I would rather not have Fen'Harel's wit, dear sister."

The rest of the breakfast passed with Eridian keeping an eye on his sister while she spoke with Dorian. The man was alright for a shem, he decided. But there was something about him which reminded Eridian about the keeper and Theria. He must have been a mage like they were. From time to time the dwarf would join into the conversation as well. Eridian only spoke when one of them spoke to him.

"Fae."

He looked at Theria after all of them had eaten.

"I have a lot to get done today. Can please not do anything that will offend anyone?" she asked, eyes pleading.

"I won't," he promised. And hopefully this time he would keep that promise. After seeing that she had meant what she said last night he would rather not incur her wrath.

Theria smiled at him before joining the ambassador. The two of them vanished through a set of doors he hadn't been through yet.

"What are they talking about?" he asked, turning to Dorian and Varric.

"Battle plans and other political stuff," Varric told him. "There's a lot going on with the Gray Wardens as of late that's gotten a lot of people on edge."

Eridian blinked. He couldn't figure out what the dwarf meant by this. The Gray Wardens were a group to be respected after all, so why Theria would want to make battle plans against them didn't feel right at all. But Eridian also didn't ask. A lot of what was going on here didn't make much sense to him. The threat against the world seemed distant and unreal. Perhaps if he had seen more of the Breach other than what Theria had told him about it then this threat would feel more real to him.

A small breath escaped Eridian as he stood. He would have to speak with this Solas character before too long. Besides he had also left some of his tools in the rotunda the other night. He would need them back.

"Hey, Stumbles, if you're planning on seeing Chuckles just be certain not to get him anger," Varric warned him.

At this Dorian frowned. "Solas can get angry?"

"You didn't see what he did to those mages the other day, Sparkler."

The more Varric spoke the more Eridian felt as if his blood was turning to ice. What kind of person was his sister seeing? He swallowed back the fear and instead started towards the rotunda.

Before he could get more than a few steps, Dorian caught up to him. "I need to speak with Solas," the man stated, "I believe he took a book I need."

When Eridian and Dorian entered the rotunda it was empty. The table no longer held the makings for paint, instead there was a plate of barely touched food with a book resting beside it and a strange artifact. In the daylight the room felt all the more magical.

Eridian's gaze was drawn away from the table to the paintings. Last night had barely noticed them over everything that was going on. The style of the paintings were akin to those his master had shown him done by ancient elvhen. She had told him some of them dated back before the time of the Dales. The one she had shown him had taken her many, many years to find and a lot of effort on her part. The painting had been faded to the point very little could be made out, but the style here reminded him vividly of that painting.

"Solas!" Dorian stepped further into the room, looking up as he went.

It was then Eridian noticed that the scaffolding in the room had been moved from where it had been the night before. He followed Dorian's gaze and his eyes locked onto the bald flat ear from last night. He hand paused in the painting he was working on.

"The book is on the table, Dorian," he stated without looking towards them.

"Did you find anything useful in it?" Dorian asked as he moved over to the table and picked up the book.

"Nothing of note," Solas replied. He had started working again on the painting.

"Hmm, so there was nothing which could help us destroy the necklace."

"No."

"Shame, I had hoped…" Dorian trailed off. "Have you found anything that might be useful in the Fade?"

At this Solas stopped working on the painting and looked down at Dorian. "No," he replied simply.

Eridian shivered. So Solas was also a mage.

"I'll continue researching it," Dorian stated. "It's better that it's destroyed rather than risking it falling into the wrong hands."

"Agreed."

Dorian started towards a door to the left. "I'll tell you if I find anything more," Dorian stated before he vanished through the door, leaving Eridian alone with Solas.

For a long moment Eridian shifted as he watched the other elf work. These paintings were amazing and worthy of respect. That didn't mean, however, that this elf had a right to be with his sister. It just meant that he was a little bit better than a flat ear.

"You're tools are by the table."

Eridian jumped at the sound of the smooth tones.

"Ma serannas," Eridian thanked him, then paused. It was more than likely that this elf didn't speak elvish. "Err, I mean, thank you."

"I know the language of our people, da'len."

Eridian flushed. "Ir abelas, I didn't know," he muttered and moved over to where his tools had been placed neatly against table. He stopped and looked up at Solas who had returned to his work. "You know I'm older than Theria, right?"

"I had gathered," he stated.

"So why call me a child?"

"I call her a child as well." His tone remained even and calm.

There was something unnerving about this man. It made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle like the time he had come across a wolf when he had been hunting. Yet, in the same moment, Eridian felt no urge to run. The more this man spoke, the more he reminded of stories his mother had told him before her death. The words were long since forgotten, but the sense of trust and knowledge of those stories remained even to this day.

Eridian took a deep breath. "Theria asked that I give you a chance before judging you," he found himself saying.

The sound of him setting down the paints followed. Solas slid down the ladder to join Eridian on the floor. "So I had gathered."

Despite his tone and the fact it felt as if Solas knew more than he let on, Eridian found he couldn't comment against it. He took a deep breath and asked, "You painted these?" he gestured to the paintings.

Solas didn't look away from him. "Yes," was all he said in reply.

"What are they of?" Eridian asked. His eyes were drawn to the first painting. The eyes looking down on the world were eerie and frightening.

"The accomplishments of the Inquisition and the Inquisitor," he replied.

"O-oh."

Eridian felt his stomach twist a little. These paintings were depictions of what his sister had done, what all of the people here had done. Some of these spoke of just how close to death she had come. He felt sick at the thought of losing his sister.

"Do you love her?" The question spilled from his lips before he could stop himself. He found himself looking straight into the other elf's pale, blue-gray eyes.

For the first time since meeting him, his eyes softened and lost their fierce quality. The expression was more than enough of an answer of Eridian.

"Excuse me." Eridian stooped down, scooping up his tools in the same motion. He didn't wait to see Solas's reaction before he was of the room and back into the main hall, heart racing.

The softening his eyes in the moment the question had been posed made Eridian's ears ring. His stomach tighten. Unease prickled across his skin. He – Solas loved her.

Elven phrases used:
Ir abelas – I'm sorry
Ma serannas – My thanks
Da'len – little child

(Author's Note: Volume Two of The World of Thedas pointed out something very interesting about Solas. It was the fact that he doesn't tend to eat a lot. I believe this is a side effect of his long sleeps and the fact he most likely didn't need the mixture of honey and herbs used to keep mages alive while in uthenera while he was in it. I believe that because of this he doesn't need a lot food while awake either.

Also if Solas ever acts strange, I am really, really sorry. That would be me getting mixed up in the personality of his younger self with the personality he has in game. He changes a lot from the time of Final Hour to when Inquisition takes place.)