Snapshots of Vesa Lavellan

Vesa Lavellan had always been a quiet girl, preferring to read the limited amount of books that her clan kept, or pursuing her studies, or learning from anyone that she knew. She flitted around the aravels, from elf to elf, asking quiet questions.

Most of the time, she often didn't need to ask questions. After a while, her clan just started telling her new information, and Vesa absorbed it all like a sponge, tying it all together with whatever lessons she learned from her Keeper, or from the humans she sometimes met while the clan was trying to trade.

Vesa learned, from a very young age, that she was an excellent peacekeeper. She listened to both sides of the argument, and was often able to come up with a reasonable compromise that both parties could deal with. Only later in life, just after her eighteenth birthday, would she realize how important her thirst for knowledge and her negotiating skills would be to her.

When Vesa first woke in the dungeon in Haven, all she could think of was the horrible, all consuming throbbing that consumed her left hand, burning its way up until her elbow. She had been chained, and cold, with a throbbing headache, and an aftertaste of magic that she shouldn't have touched.

Vesa had almost lost her patience when Cassandra and Leliana had barraged her with questions, not even giving her time to explain that she didn't know what had happened to the Divine or the Conclave. Only through breathing deeply, and trying to ride out the horrible waves of pain, did Vesa find the patience not to roast either of them.

Days later, when the Breach had been temporarily sealed, and it was clear that Vesa was going to have some part to play in the coming events, did Vesa finally find it in her heart to forgive the humans who had accused her. After all, Vesa knew that if something similar had happened to the Keeper, she'd have done the same thing they'd done.

Vesa, despite her unease and unfamiliarity with humans in general, soon thrived on the incoming flood of information she was learning on a daily basis. History, current events, politics, important figures in Thedas, herbology, and more than a dozen other topics soon were absorbed into the already impressive wealth of practical knowledge Vesa knew.

Not only that, but Vesa soon found herself being plagued with people coming to her trying to solve their problems, big or small. She solved them using her skills, drawing on information and her instincts to try to help everyone around her, even if they didn't like the fact she was Dalish very much.

Vesa wasn't the stupid, naive child many thought her to be. She may be inexperienced, though that was quickly righting itself. Even then, she could handle herself, and be a leader. She had been training to be the clan's First, after all. She was far more experienced than many assumed, even if her experience couldn't compare to the massive task in front of her.

Solas had quickly become Vesa's friend. He would listen, and he understood her dilemmas more than any of her other friends could. Solas was an apostate like her, he knew Elvhen like her, he was an elf like her, and he was wise, intelligent, and caring. He was all of these things, so very similar to herself, but he was very different too. He knew Elvhen that she didn't, spoke it differently than any Dalish Vesa had ever met, his magic felt different, and he certainly wasn't a Dalish.

Not too long after they had cemented their friendship, Vesa realized she was in love with him. A little while after, it was clear he felt the same. Though, it was extremely difficult to categorize their relationship: they weren't often physical in their affection, it was highly unlikely they would ever marry or have children, and they argued just as much as they discussed. Vesa loved him, and she relied on him to help her make the decisions that were best for the people of Thedas.

When Vesa closed the Breach, again, she had thought her problems would dwindle as the need for the Inquisition declined. How wrong she was.

Corypheus and the power he wielded could be enough to destroy Thedas. It would be enough to destroy Thedas, if Vesa couldn't stop him. In quick succession, Haven was overrun, Skyhold was found and claimed, and she became the leader of the Inquisition.

Vesa was soon the leader of an army of ordinary people, mages, and a mismatched group of idiots who could barely stop bickering to get anything done. She had political power, and status, and a say in almost everything that happened in Thedas.

Still, Vesa relied on Solas more than she should have. She relied on all of her friends: Dorian, Cassandra, Leliana, and the others. However, she relied very much on Solas.

It was Solas she let heal her wounds, it was Solas who held her the night she'd heard her clan had been killed, it was Solas who eased her fever after she fell into the bog in the Fallow Mire. She tried to be there for him, but she could also see a wall in between them. There was something keeping Solas from relying on her like she did. Vesa did her best, trying to get Solas to open up, get him to confide in her as she'd done with him.

It came as a complete shock when Solas finally told her some of the elven knowledge he knew. What shocked her wasn't the language he'd been teaching her, wasn't about architecture or battle, but it was the Vallaslin that made her sit down hard on a rock.

Vesa had listened to what Solas was saying, listened to his tale of how the ink had marked slaves. Then, Vesa had weighed her options. She'd thought of her dead clan, thought of the other Dalish who had marked themselves mistakenly and had worn the ink with pride.

Never before had Vesa regretted the tattoos. Never had she felt a rise of such anger at the ancient elves. She had stood, looked Solas in the eye, and asked for the Vallaslin to be removed. His magic, so careful and light, had tickled and tingled.

Then, Solas had ended their relationship. He'd walked away, leaving her in the clearing, shocked and angry.

Vesa now peered into the water, staring at the place where the blood red tattoo had been over her left eye, and wished she could get it back again. Now more than ever, Vesa wanted to remember the horrible pain of the needle, she wanted to feel the pride she'd felt for years.

Confused, shocked, and emotional, Vesa then stumbled back to Skyhold, found Dorian, and sobbed into his shoulder, confusing the living daylights out of the other mage. It had taken him almost an hour of calm reassurances, four glasses of wine, and some shouting for him to get the full story.

A few days later, Vesa looked at the black eye and nasty bruises Solas now sported with both gratitude and sadness. Vesa resolved to treat Solas no differently than she did her friends, even though her heart ached for him like her face had ached after getting her vallaslin.

(LINE BREAK)

Author's Note:

I'm not sure I like this chapter. I promise the next one will be much better, with dialogue and everything.