A/N: I like to think of this earliest story arc as being the "Solas Doesn't Know" theme, which is utterly hilarious for its irony that Solas usually knows everything about everything. Putting him in this humiliating position brought me an inordinate amount of joy. I hope it does for all of you as well! So feel free to play "Scotty Doesn't Know" as a theme song for this chapter and the next one to come.

Four

Daddy Droopy Ears

Morning light colored the room and the sound of birdsong filled Solas' ears as he stepped through the eluvian and found himself back in the locked storage room at Halamshiral. He'd been away all night and by now he suspected Ellana would be at the summit, distracted by the endless droning of the politicians.

He started for the closed windows, staring out into the quiet alley below, contemplating. He could try and trick Ellana and the Inquisition into finding the active eluvian by themselves. It'd be easy enough to chase a Qunari warrior through and ensure he made his way to where someone would find him and follow the blood trail back to the mirror.

He'd considered that plan the night before but always dismissed it as needlessly dishonest. He'd already misled Ellana and the Inquisition for years and she was too clever not to start asking questions once she started finding clues in the Crossroads or tangled with Qunari who'd call Solas "an agent of Fen'Haral." Better to try what Lyris suggested: honest alliance.

How can she forgive me for this? Solas asked himself, grimacing and shaking his head. But she deserved the truth far more than he deserved her innocent love. I should have told her years ago…

Turning from the window, Solas strode instead to the door, pausing a moment to brush at his robes and checking for bloodstains or debris from the collapsing watchtower. He found dirt and pine needles from the night he'd spent at Hellathen Hamin. Sniffing at himself, he made a face, wishing he had a moment to bathe and wash the campfire smell from his clothes. No such luck. He stashed his staff beneath a low table near the door, knowing it'd draw attention in the palace if he walked around armed—not that he needed the weapon to be deadly.

After listening at the door for a time to be sure the hallway outside was empty, Solas unlocked the door and slipped through. The palace beyond was still and peaceful, deceptively calm like Solas himself. He shut the door as softly as possible and strode quickly away, tugging the hood on his robes up and over his head as he walked. The servants he passed ignored him, set on their tasks and demure, but he did catch a few curious stares as they registered he wasn't one of them.

When he encountered his first Inquisition sentry, a human man standing slumped along a corner beside some masked Orlesian guards, Solas clenched his jaw and kept his pace steady and his head downward slightly, hoping to pass unnoticed. But before he'd gone halfway down the hall the Inquisition man shouted, "You there! Halt!"

Solas obeyed and forced himself to smile in greeting. "Yes?"

"What are you doing in here, mage?" one of the Orlesian guards demanded with a pensive scowl. "Are you a speaker at the Exalted Council?" Unlike the noble who'd called Solas a rabbit the previous day, this guard had recognized him for what he was on sight.

Before Solas could reply the Inquisition sentry motioned at him and said, "Put your hood down."

The suspicion in the sentry's voice was impossible to miss, and his narrowed eyes told Solas he had no chance of getting by these men without being recognized. He tugged the hood down, somehow managing to smile even as all three humans reacted with recognition.

"You're Inquisitor Lavellan's Fade expert," the Inquisition man said. "Solas."

"Yes," he answered, keeping his voice lighthearted and calm. He twisted to show them the armband with the Inquisition symbol embroidered on it. "I was just on my way to the Exalted Council. I seem to have gotten turned around."

The sentry started toward him, his tread authoritative. "The Inquisitor gave orders for us to find you."

He blinked, startled by this news. Of course he'd known Ellana would have noticed his absence by now, but to have the whole Inquisition looking for him? Squashing his startled reaction, he allowed the sentry to walk up to him, ignoring the pounding of his heart. "Is there a problem? Is she well?"

With his back to the Orlesians the Inquisition sentry's expression relaxed somewhat, but his voice was still gruff as he answered Solas' question. "No problem, sir. Just following orders is all." He motioned back down the hall in the opposite direction from where Solas had been heading. "If you'll follow me."

With his back stiff and a knot of tension growing in his chest, Solas obeyed. Magic coiled inside him, ready to be unleashed at any moment. The sentry could be a Qunari spy, not a loyal member of the Inquisition.

The sentry brought him to a doorway that led outside and stopped, speaking in whispers with another set of Orlesian and Inquisition guards. The whole group stared at Solas, their lips quirking in a way he interpreted as withholding some emotion—smirks or sneers? The previous day he'd been able to pass undetected through the palace, but now they all seemed to recognize him. Had all of Halamshiral gone mad the single night he was away?

Another Inquisition sentry left her post at the door and entered the pavilion beyond. Solas couldn't see inside, but he could hear raised voices arguing. When he tilted his head, concentrating, he recognized Josephine interrupting, calling for a recess. Chairs scraped on the floor and a pompous male voice protested the adjournment, but already Solas heard footsteps thumping over the floor, coming toward the door—and he recognized the tread. It was Ellana.

Drawing in a breath, he steeled himself for what would surely become a confrontation.

Ellana's blood had already been boiling with the Ferelden ambassador's attacks on the Inquisition, so when a sentry whispered to her that they'd located Solas she was thrilled for more than one reason to leave the politician spluttering with barely repressed rage. Every step through the pavilion and back toward the palace made her heart hammer harder and faster in her chest, anticipating something…out of the ordinary. Her stomach fluttered, ever-volatile recently as she tried to keep her mind empty rather than coming up with inane reasons for why Solas had disappeared the previous night.

The sentry exited the pavilion with her and as Ellana followed she saw they really had brought Solas—though by his expression he wasn't entirely happy about it. "Solas?" she called, trying to restrain her first instinct to rush toward him like the worried lover she was.

"Inquisitor," he replied with a nod, his posture stiff and proud and aloof. Did he know already? Was he angry or upset or just unhappy she'd been foolish enough to talk to others before him? But the shape and darkness of his eyes revealed not anger but something closer to despair. She held her tongue, aware of the curious onlookers. The Orlesian guards and the two Inquisition sentries were both watching them with open curiosity.

"I apologize for my absence," he began then, his voice strained and formal. "I'm afraid it was unavoidable. I have dire news." His gray-blue eyes flicked toward the sentries and the guards. "Perhaps it would be best if we met with your advisers in a more...suitable location."

Unable to stop herself from frowning, Ellana said, "All right." Her skin felt hot and then cold, heavy with the sudden onset of dread as she wondered what could be so dire that Solas would pull her from the Exalted Council. "I'm sure Josephine can cover for me—but I can't stay away long."

"I understand," he said, but his brow knit and his lips worked as if holding back additional words. Finally he flashed a small smile, though it didn't reach his sad, dark eyes. "I did not wish to trouble you. I will await your summons in the courtyard."

"No," she blurted and then blinked at her own outburst. The single word managed to be both alarmed and angry at once.

Solas noticed it too and shot her a glance of confusion and—was it fear? His solemn expression intensified as he asked, "Inquisitor?"

Ellana licked her lips, about to tell him she needed to speak with him in private but stopped, aware of the sentries and guards within earshot. This encounter had been strange enough as it was. The last thing Ellana needed was to be seen pulling him into a side room to whisper in private. The guards and sentries would surely talk about it and make the connection between the rumors about her "delicate condition" and Solas' strange vanishing act.

Steeling herself, Ellana jutted out her chin and said, "I'd prefer if you waited here. It will only take a moment to summon Leliana and Commander Cullen." Before he could reply she turned and motioned to the nearest Inquisition sentry. "Please find our spymaster and the commander and bring them here." To the Orlesians she said, "I will require a private room to meet with my advisors."

Both the sentry and the guard hurried to do her bidding. Ellana waited in the hallway with Solas in what should have been companionable silence but was actually tense and awkward with the Orlesian guards still stood within earshot. Soon the Orlesian ambassador and Divine Victoria exited the pavilion, both stopping to make friendly small talk with Ellana as they left.

"Solas," Cassandra said with a warm smile. "It's good to see you again, my friend."

"Seeker," Solas greeted her, also smiling. "Oh, forgive me. Divine Victoria."

"I have never stopped being a Seeker, truly." Cassandra glanced to Ellana quickly before speaking to Solas again. "We missed you yesterday. Did you leave the palace grounds?"

"No," Solas said, his smile shrinking noticeably. "I was merely indisposed."

Ellana stared at him, forcing her expression to remain neutral to hide her disbelief. Even if he'd been extremely ill a servant or someone would've found him. And that story didn't explain his reappearance looking pale and stressed but otherwise healthy.

"Quite the coincidence," the Orlesian ambassador put in, his lips curling in a smile that immediately made Ellana's skin crawl. "The winter palace is simply fraught with mystery illnesses!"

Both Cassandra and Solas stared at the ambassador with blank or confused expressions. The reaction from Solas made the knot of anxiety in Ellana's chest ease slightly. If Solas had heard of her pregnancy in rumor she felt sure he wouldn't be able to feign the look on his face now.

Distraction, deflection, and humor, Josephine's words repeated in her head. Ellana let out a polite laugh at the ambassador's joke and then, feigning enthusiasm, said, "Speaking of mysteries, did you hear about the servants throwing pies last night?"

The Orlesian ambassador's mouth fell open a moment before he let out a loud laugh. "I did, actually. Arl Teagan was apparently one of the victims. He was livid about it last night."

Controlling her own laughter, Ellana gave a theatrical gasp. "Not the distinguished Ferelden ambassador. How dreadful."

"Yes," Cassandra said, shooting Ellana a knowing glare. "I will speak with the palace staff. We cannot tolerate such childish behavior during the summit."

"Certainly not," the Orlesian ambassador said, though he was still smiling.

As the sentry returned with Cullen and Leliana in tow, their expressions grave and their body language stiff, the ambassador and Cassandra excused themselves. A winter palace servant escorted the four of them to a small room down the hall from the pavilion. Once everyone was inside with the door closed, Leliana immediately turned on Solas.

"Care to enlighten us on where you were yesterday and why?" Her eyes were hard and cold with suspicion.

The room they'd been given to meet in was a spacious study with one wall covered in floor to ceiling windows. Tall bookshelves took up the other wall space and a long table with unlit candles dominated the center of the space. Ellana stayed near the door, wincing as she crossed her arms over her chest again only to remember that hurt now. She leaned against a bookcase, watching and waiting with her two advisers as Solas walked to the windows. The casual grace of his steps might've fooled Ellana years ago but now she didn't miss the way little muscles worked in his jaw and the side of his bald head. His pointed ears were red at the tips.

With his back to the three of them, Solas said, "As you well know, my extensive study of the Fade has made me something of an expert on Elvhen artifacts and their associated magic. Yesterday I sensed just such magic. Upon investigating I discovered an active eluvian."

"What?" Cullen blurted. "There's an elven mirror in the winter palace?"

Solas twisted at the neck to stare coolly at the commander. "Indeed, there are several in fact. I sensed them on my first visit to the palace during the peace talks before the defeat of Corypheus, but they were not active at that time. The one I sensed yesterday was."

"Solas," Ellana said, her voice tighter than she'd like. She swallowed, feeling an ache in her throat when he tilted his head to acknowledge her but didn't meet her gaze directly. "Why didn't you bring this to my attention?"

He stepped back from the windows, facing the three of them without meeting any of their stares. "I did not wish to interfere with the Exalted Council, but I could not ignore the eluvian. I had to see what lay on the other side."

"And what did you find?" Leliana asked. A neat smile curled over her lips, almost in mockery. Ellana recognized it as the look she often wore when she'd caught someone in a lie or half-truth.

Solas lifted his gaze to meet the Inquisition's spymaster with a little frown. "Qunari."

"Qunari?" Cullen parroted, his jaw dropping. "I don't understand."

"I suspect the Qunari intend to use the eluvians to deploy troops and invade Southern Thedas. Like Corypheus, they would greatly benefit if Orlais fell into chaos." His head turned slightly and for the first time since they'd set foot into the study, Solas met Ellana's eye. "The timing could not have been an accident. The Exalted Council would allow them to kill important leaders from all across Southern Thedas."

"Including me," Ellana murmured with a frown as the realization dawned. She shuddered and crossed her arms over her chest again, prepared this time for the small spurt of pain it caused her. A little wave of dizziness passed over her but she pushed it aside.

"Especially you," Solas said, his eyes soft with tenderness. His watched her a moment, the tenseness of worry changing for a flash into something darker and unreadable before he tucked his hands behind his back, squaring his shoulders as he faced Cullen and Leliana. "I tracked and killed several Qunari warriors on the other side of the eluvian, but there were far too many for me alone to fight and I do not yet know the extent of their plans."

"Amazing what you have learned in just one night," Leliana commented, no longer wearing the coy smile.

"I can hardly take the credit for what I do know," Solas told her with a note of irritation. He looked to Ellana again. "Inquisitor, do you recall the sentinels in the temple of Mythal?"

"Yes…" Ellana answered. "They did not stay at the temple, I take it?"

Solas shook his head. "No, they have served their purpose with the Well of Sorrows now despoiled by Morrigan. I met their leader, Abelas, in the Crossroads—the fractured construct where eluvians meet." He paused a moment, his lips pinching into a thin line. "It was Abelas who told me everything I know of the Qunari plot."

"We must destroy the eluvian," Cullen said, thumping one fist against the palm of his other hand, his face set in a snarl that promised violence. "We cannot allow this threat to—"

"I would not recommend that," Solas said with a deep frown of disapproval.

"And why not?" Cullen asked, growling.

"Because then we will lose our only means of properly combating them," Solas countered with a glare. "Their efforts in the Crossroads have allowed them to establish far flung bases around Thedas. That is not the kind of power you allow an enemy to possess, Commander."

"Then you're suggesting we go to war with them?" Ellana asked, arching a brow. As Solas turned his blue-gray eyes back to her, his expression grave, Ellana felt suddenly nauseous. She strode to the long table separating herself and her advisers from Solas and leaned her hands onto the smooth wood, determined not to vomit. "I can't commit to anything that extreme without more evidence."

"More evidence than my word," Solas added and she scowled down at her hands on the table, unable to look at him. She hadn't missed the emotion at the fringe of his words, but it wasn't the insult she'd expected. It was softer, reserved.

"Do not mistake me," Ellana said with a short sigh. "I trust your guidance, but you could have been misled. The Qunari offered alliance two years ago through Iron Bull."

"Yes," Solas said, a note of irritation in the single word. "And when we sacrificed their dreadnaught they made Iron Bull Tal-Vashoth. Even had we been allied with them, the Qunari cannot be trusted. They would have betrayed the Inquisition at the first opportunity. They will not rest until they have conquered all of Thedas and enslaved its people under the Qun. That is not a philosophy you can reason with, vhen—" He cut himself off as she looked at him, the half-uttered term of endearment still ringing in the air. He was red-faced, anger and something akin to desperation in the set of his jaw.

"The entire journey here you insisted I should order the Inquisition to disband," Ellana reminded him with a glare. "Now you're begging me to declare war with it."

He withdrew a step, closer to the windows, glancing at Cullen and Leliana. The two humans stared at him, Leliana smiling again as if she found the confrontation amusing while Cullen sneered with disapproval. They hadn't known of Solas' fervent advice to their Inquisitor regarding the Exalted Council before now, but neither showed surprise.

The heated emotion drained from Solas' face, the tension in his body language easing as he visibly regained composure. "I am, yes," he admitted with a nod. "Because the threat is grave."

"I think that's something I should see for myself," Ellana said, pushing off from the table and raising her chin. She willed herself to feel like the leader she was, not the confused elven woman facing off with her lover and the father of her unborn, newly discovered child. "And I'd like to speak with Abelas to hear what else he knows."

Oddly the words seemed to make Solas flinch—or had he just shivered? But the micro-expression was so fleeting she was sure she'd misread it. "Of course," he said. "And there is more you should know."

"More?" Leliana asked and chuckled. "Should we sit down for this one?" Her blue eyes moved to Ellana, shooting her a sympathetic look.

Solas followed the exchange, his brow knitting slightly as he focused on Ellana. "Yes, I'm afraid it is not good news."

"It never is," Cullen grumbled. "Especially not from you."

Solas scowled at the commander quickly before looking back to Ellana. "As you know, the Anchor is sensitive to Elvhen magic." His gaze softened with tenderness. "I fear that if you encounter such magic going through the eluvians it will destabilize the Anchor. The consequences could be fatal."

"Fatal?" Ellana repeated, eyes widening.

"How can you possibly know that?" Cullen demanded, losing his temper. "It's been stable for years now."

Solas hadn't stopped staring at Ellana. The pressure of his eyes on her made Ellana squirm, aware of the mark in her hand as well as the weight in her abdomen. Another dizzy spell made her close her eyes, but she hid the action by pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "You stabilized it before," Ellana murmured. "You can't do it again?"

"It was blind luck before," Solas told her, the words as soft as a caress. "The Anchor is far more powerful now. I doubt I would have the strength to bring it under control again."

"I'll ask again," Cullen growled. "How can you be so sure?"

"I have seen such magic before," Solas replied coolly. "In the deepest memories of the Fade and I have felt it again in the Crossroads. The mages of old were far more powerful than any living today. All Elvhen ruins remain charged with their magic. The Anchor will react to it. I am certain." In almost a whisper he said, "Vhenan. I beg you, do not go to the Crossroads. The Qunari must be dealt with, but you do not need to lead the assault. I will go in your stead."

Ellana flexed her left hand, staring into the palm, and sighed. Why had this happened now? How had everything fallen apart so thoroughly? The aching lump in her throat threatened to become tears but she swallowed hard and gritted her teeth together. When had she become such a soft heart?

"This is something to take into consideration, Inquisitor," Leliana said. "You do not need to endanger yourself personally…"

Ellana didn't need to look at her spymaster to know the other woman was subtly referencing her pregnancy. As if Ellana needed to be reminded of what was at stake. The thought made the room spin again and her stomach clench. She needed more ginger and something to eat. And Mythal's mercy, maybe just a little breeze into this stuffy room!

"I would also volunteer," Cullen put in. "Should this turn out to be a credible threat."

"I assure you, Commander," Solas said with a tone of mild annoyance. "It is most credible." He chuckled, the sound dark and ominous. "I wish it were not."

Still thinking of tea, fresh air, and ginger, Ellana's shoulders slumped. "I can't decide this now." She fanned herself, blowing out a breath. "I need to see the eluvian and I need time to think."

"And there is the Exalted Council still to consider," Leliana reminded her.

Solas was watching Ellana, a look of concern on his face. Seeing it, Ellana let her hand fall to her side, aware of how strange it must've appeared as the air wasn't especially hot yet and everyone had been telling her how pale she was after all. Solas likely saw it too.

I need to tell him, she thought, but the idea of it just left her exhausted with so much else happening.

"I need to get back to the summit," Ellana said and groaned.

"Solas," Leliana said. "Perhaps you can escort Commander Cullen and one of my sentries to the eluvian." She nodded in Ellana's direction. "I will walk back with the Inquisitor."

Ellana restrained the frown that tugged on her lips as she read Leliana's intent. She's splitting us up. Solas' slight hesitation told Ellana he'd noticed it too. With a quick glance to Ellana he dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Of course." He raised one hand, gesturing at the door. "If you would follow me, Commander."

As soon as the two men had left the room, Leliana crossed to grip Ellana by the arm, her hold firm but gentle. Her bright blue eyes met with Ellana's own deep green. "I am sorry for all this," she said, her smile melancholy. "How are you holding up?"

Ellana laughed humorlessly. "Does everyone know?"

"Word spreads quickly at the palace, but I would have been told regardless," the spymaster said, smirking. "And I would have guessed first if I'd had but a few more days seeing your symptoms…and with fewer distractions of my own."

"Always the Game," Ellana muttered with a shake of her head.

"Yes," Leliana said and all humor fled from her. She squeezed Ellana's arm. "I hate to tell you this, but Solas is hiding something from us."

The lump in Ellana's throat tightened, aching as she nodded. "I was afraid you'd say that." She sucked in a shaky breath. "And…I suspected it too."

Leliana's jaw clenched, but her eyes stayed soft with sympathy. "He knows far too much for this to be a new development. And I knew about the eluvian in the palace. They keep it locked away in storage and have ever since Morrigan left. She warned them it could prove dangerous."

"So…how did he get into the room?" Ellana finished for the spymaster.

"Exactly." She made a noise of disappointment with her tongue. "What I don't understand is why he's trying to lie to us. He's a brilliant man and he must know I will catch him." She searched Ellana for a moment and then asked, "Have you told him yet?"

"No," Ellana murmured, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I haven't had the chance. The sentries just brought him here from…" She stepped out of Leliana's touch and groaned. "From wherever he was. Fenedhis, why do I always feel like I'm about to vomit?"

Leliana chuckled. "Nerves as much as the little one." Her footsteps thumped lightly over the floor behind Ellana. The spymaster brushed her elbow, guiding her toward the door. "My advice, Inquisitor, is to be cautious. It's clear Solas cares for you, but it has always bothered me how little I could find of him. I had thought that was because there was little to know—but I should not have assumed such. It's always the quiet ones who surprise you, and not always in pleasant ways."

The thought that she couldn't trust her lover of over three years made Ellana choke as pain stabbed through her chest, constricting it. She hesitated with Leliana by the door, breathing deeply.

"I'm sorry," Leliana murmured, her voice as gentle and reassuring, motherly. "Truly, I am. Whatever he's hiding will come out, and I think he knows that."

"Should I confront him?" Ellana asked. "Reveal that we know the eluvian was locked away?"

Instead of answering her question, Leliana motioned back toward the windows where Solas had stood. "The way he lingered there before speaking—perhaps I imagined it, but I feared he would flee. I doubt he would get far, but I would not confront him before you have exposed your own secret first. His reaction could be most telling."

I feared he would flee. The words pounded on the inside of Ellana's skull, robbing her of breath for a second before she managed to snort, finding humor in Leliana's advice. "I'd best hurry then since everyone seems to know about it."

"That would be best," Leliana agreed, opening the door for Ellana. "Because as usual, you are the talk of the winter palace just as you were during the peace talks."

Ellana could only groan and curse herself for confiding in Sera for the thousandth time that morning.

Lanya found him in the same alley as yesterday, balancing a tray of used glasses on one shoulder. Sweat lined her brow and her black hair was matted with it at the temples. She didn't look happy.

"Can I bring you something, sir?" she asked despite the fact her tray was clearly for returning dirty glassware.

"Information," Solas replied under his breath, leaning closer to her.

"Gaatlock barrels have been brought into the palace," Lanya told him, hissing through her teeth. "On Inquisition manifests."

"Fenedhis," Solas cursed, turning his head to glare into the corridor and the tavern beyond. Lanya stayed next to him, watching and waiting but silent as he weighed his options. Finally Solas looked back to her, licking his lips. "Have one of the shem-elves from the palace move it close to the tavern and subtly direct Iron Bull's attention to it."

"Fen'Haral enansal," Lanya said and dipped her head to him before hurrying away.

The warm, humid midday sun beat down on him, heavy as he stared unseeingly at the opposite wall of the alleyway. He rubbed at his neck, feeling the accumulating sweat, and letting his thoughts return repeatedly to the conversation in the study. He knew Leliana would probably poke holes in his story. It had too many variables he couldn't control because he hadn't had time to plot it out properly. Leliana had only to unravel a few and the entire structure of his lie would crumble.

He knew the spymaster had deliberately sent him away on a meaningless errand with Cullen so that she could speak in private with Ellana. Even Cullen seemed to see through it as he'd barely spent any time in the storage room with the eluvian. The sneer of instinctual fear on Cullen's face as he glared at the mirror had made Solas feel his literal age—a couple thousand. Cullen saw the eluvian as nothing but an evil threat and would've smashed it without a second thought. As a Templar and an Andrastian, he'd been raised to fear magic and the Fade from birth. As much as Solas resented that viewpoint, he knew he had no one but himself to blame for it and Cullen was a good man, for a human and a Templar at least.

And that was how Solas now found himself lingering in the courtyard, sweating under the noonday sun, itching to act and yet hampered by his subordinate position and subterfuge. Initially he'd intended to divulge far more to Ellana and her advisors, but after being apprehended and escorted to her almost like a prisoner…wariness got the better of him, to his shame.

Feeling thirsty and overheated, Solas left the alley and walked into the tavern. The crowd was lively, despite it being early for drinking and merriment. Nobles and commoners alike crowded the few tables and booths, but fortunately neither Iron Bull or Sera appeared to have taken up residence there yet to waylay him. He had no interest in drinking alcohol, but he procured a cheap mug from behind the bar and poured water from a glass pitcher.

As he drank, Solas felt the other patrons watching him, both covert and obvious. A niggling worry churned in the back of his mind as he pretended to take no notice. Something had happened yesterday or overnight to change the mood of everyone at Halamshiral, and it'd made the entire populace see him.

But then again, perhaps it was merely his imagination.

Downing his first mug of water, Solas took another when suddenly he heard a familiar female voice call out behind him. "Hey you, droopy ears!"

Restraining the desire to frown or roll his eyes, Solas set his mug down on the bar and turned to regard Sera, one eyebrow raised. The elf girl wove her way through the crowded tavern and sat on the stool next to him, an unusually hard glint in her brown eyes as she flashed her lopsided grin at him. "Drinking already?" she asked. "You shite bastard."

Solas sighed, his patience stretching thin. "It is water. Perhaps you had not noticed, but the day has grown quite hot."

"Maybe for you," she said and giggled. She plucked at his gray robes and curled her lip with distaste. "I should stick you with an arrow, leaving the Herald alone. Right out of her mind, she was. All worried." She leaned closer, wrinkling her nose. "Right. So, where'd you go?"

"That is none of your concern," Solas answered, taking another swallow of his water.

"That bad?" Sera whistled. "I hope she lets me pie you."

"Excuse me?" Solas asked, shooting her a glare. He recalled the banter between the ambassador and Ellana regarding a servant throwing pies at Arl Teagan. Was that what had happened to so upset the palace?

"Stop with the questions," Sera said, scoffing as the anger in her eyes flared up. "Like you don't know shite. Yeah? You don't fool anyone, you twat."

"I can see the last two years have not dulled your charm," Solas told her, his voice dry and sarcastic. "Tell me, how have your dreams been lately? Perhaps you might enjoy discussing the extraordinary experience of walking physically through the Fade at Adamant Fortress?"

"Piss off," Sera snarled and leapt from her stool, storming away. She threw a last taunt at him, shouting from the tavern entrance loud enough that the others inside would hear her: "Daddy droopy ears."

Solas scowled at the comment, baffled. Her slang had often confused him and she'd been surprisingly volatile during this encounter, as if he'd done something to offend her other than being absent the previous night. The rest of the tavern goers pretended to ignore the exchange, but Solas didn't miss the quick looks cast in his direction—far more than before.

Daddy droopy ears? Was that her less than clever way of calling him old? Odd.

Finishing his water, Solas left the mug on a servant's tray full of dirty glasses and exited the tavern. He knew where one of his Inquisition spies was stationed in guard rotations in the palace gardens and planned to cross paths with him to confirm Lanya's tip about the gaatlock. He passed Thom Rainier practicing throwing knives in one corner of the courtyard and made a wide circle around the Warden, unwilling to stop and chat with a man who, like himself, had multiple identities and a shameful past. But as he entered the gardens he heard another familiar voice and grimaced as Dorian hurried to catch up with him.

"Solas," the other mage greeted him with a mischievous grin and then, as he sidled up to Solas, he wrapped one arm over his shoulders as if they were the best of friends. Solas stiffened and glared his disapproval but the other man ignored his silent protest. "I've been looking for you all morning," he said. "You sly dog. Where did you run off to yesterday?"

"I'd rather not discuss it," Solas said and twisted, ducking out of Dorian's one-armed embrace. "If you please, I have somewhere I need to—"

"Oh, no you don't," Dorian said, wagging a finger at him as if Solas was nothing but a disobedient child or underling. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me when you're going to do right by the old girl and marry her."

Solas paused, blinking a moment before shaking his head. "We've already discussed this, Tevinter. I have nothing more to say on it. There are more pressing matters that require—"

Dorian interrupted him with an angry scoff and a wave of one hand. "I'm sorry, did you just try to brush off your responsibility to Ellana?" The icy tone of his words did nothing to hide the mottled blush of rage that spread over his face and stabbed at Solas from his eyes. "Because I may have to hit you if you did. I always thought you more respectable than this."

"I do not particularly care what you think of me," Solas snapped, losing his temper. They glowered at each other and Solas didn't miss the charge of hostile magic in the air, though he wasn't sure how much of it was his own and how much belonged to Dorian. He was about to turn away and leave when Dorian's head tilted to one side and the rage in his expression warped with something unreadable.

"I think we may have misunderstood each other," he said with a shake of his head. "Because I cannot believe you would turn your back on the old girl after three years with her."

Solas scowled. "Do not call Ellana that." The nickname always made him bristle with its casual familiarity and mild rudeness, reducing Ellana to some diminutive thing when she had always been so much more than her physical nature to Solas.

Dorian motioned to him with a smug smile now. "There, see? That's more like your usual stubborn propriety." He edged closer, dropping his voice and failing to notice that Solas recoiled as if he had bad breath. "Let's start over, shall we?"

"I'd much rather continue this at a later time," Solas protested, looking over his shoulder toward the gardens. In truth he had plenty of time, but he didn't want to spend any of it dealing with Dorian and his bizarre quest to force him and Ellana into matrimony.

"No such luck, I'm afraid," Dorian answered, teasing his mustache with one hand for a moment as he grinned. "Now, you simply must tell me. Are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?" Solas asked, terse and unconcerned.

Dorian, oddly, froze at Solas' innocent question. Staring at Solas, his lips pinched and his eyes narrowed, he was speechless for several long heartbeats. Finally he let out a quick, high-pitched guffaw. "You haven't heard?"

"I was indisposed," Solas lied, his brow furrowing as curiosity got the better of him. "I heard something about Sera pranking the nobility last night. Is that what you mean?"

Dorian threw his head back and laughed, eyes closed and shoulders heaving. "You really don't know!"

Solas' skin prickled with irritation. He cleared his throat, struggling to maintain composure. "No, as I said, I was indisposed."

"Indisposed," Dorian repeated almost mockingly, laughing. "Indeed. Well, since you haven't yet heard I won't be the one to break the news to you."

Feeling his face afire with humiliation, Solas glared. "Then I have nothing further to say to you." He pivoted and stalked away, unable to keep his tread from thumping with his anger over the stone. His shoulders felt tight with strain and stress. What had he missed while he was away? It seemed his instincts had been right the first time that whatever it was it had involved him, somehow.

It doesn't matter, he consoled himself once he was out of Dorian's sight in the garden. He stopped beside a potted plant and felt absently over its waxy green leaves. Most of the scenarios for his current plot ended badly for himself and Ellana. She might never forgive him and he'd lose her love. The Anchor could destabilize and kill her, or if it didn't and he managed to save her life but not her arm, she could blame him for that loss and his betrayal.

Remembering his moment in the study, staring out the windows, Solas shuddered and closed his eyes. He'd feared attack when he revealed who and what he truly was, despite how well he knew Ellana, he'd seen people he usually considered levelheaded and critical thinkers react very poorly when faced with intimate betrayal of far smaller magnitudes than his own. It could still happen that he'd emerge out of this situation having lost Ellana and any hope of alliance, honest or otherwise.

If it came down to it, could Solas disappear into the eluvians and leave Ellana behind for good? His lieutenants would approve such an action, as would Fen'Haral and his greater purpose. But Solas the individual was weak and the thought of losing Ellana to death or his own misdeeds made him feel as though icy hands clutched at his neck, robbing the air from his lungs.

Plucking the leaf and watching it fall, Solas sighed and rubbed his face with his other hand. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Next Chapter:

"So…uh, sorry to hear you were, ah, out of the loop yesterday." Varric clapped his hands together, rubbing them and looking away for a moment before his expression brightened. "Have you tried talking with Sera?"

"One does not talk with Sera as much as listen with only a vague hope of understanding every other word," Solas replied with a quick shake of his head.

"You're saying you did talk to her?" Varric asked, cocking his head to one side quizzically.

"She insulted me a few times and left," Solas explained, wiping at his forehead again. "I had hoped you would be more coherent."