Dreams
The soft sound of the creaking door broke the silence in the room. Ennaly didn't bother looking around to see who entered. For one, she knew who it was, and secondly, she had no desire to talk about her feelings.
The mattress shifted as someone sat down next to her, but she kept staring up at the ceiling, her fingers absentmindedly fidgeting with the hairpin that Solas had given her. "I thought you might be here," Dorian's voice said.
Three weeks had passed since they closed the Breach and defeated Corypheus. The banquet hosted in the main was still in full swing, but after her initial round of conversing with everyone, Ennaly had seized an opportune moment to sneak out and come here.
This was the first time she'd come back to this room.
"It is still exactly the same here, isn't it? He didn't take anything."
Ennaly smiled to herself. "He did, actually."
She sat upright and found that it wasn't just Dorian in the room. Bull, Varric, Cassandra and Cole were here too. For those that hadn't been here often, Solas' room might look the exact same as it always had. Books and papers lay scattered on the desk and table, and even his clothing was still in the wardrobe.
Dorian raised an eyebrow. "What did he take, then? His favourite paintbrush?"
"No." Even all those supplies were still neatly arranged in their basket. "A sketch. And a bracelet," she confessed. They hadn't been on the desk when she entered, where she knew them to be last. She had looked in the desk drawers, and they weren't there either. There was a small chance, of course, that he had tossed them in the fire, but Ennaly just knew that wasn't the case.
"Right. He never wore bracelets, did he?" Bull asked.
"Ennaly..." Dorian said as he took her hand and inspected her wrist. There were multiple bracelets there, but unless you knew them all, you wouldn't know one was missing. Dorian, however, knew, and dropped her hand with a sigh. "You really should forget about him."
"I know." She hadn't told anybody about their final conversation, and she was planning to keep it that way. What good would it do, besides re-open wounds? If Solas didn't want to be found, she was certain that no effort on their behalf could change it.
"How are you feeling?" Varric asked as he sat down on one of the table chairs.
She conjured a faint smile on her face. "I am okay. I really am. I am here because I wanted closure."
Cole looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again upon seeing her stoic expression. The point was, she wanted to believe those words, but she didn't, not yet. But if she repeated them enough times, they might turn into the truth.
"Varric?" she asked, gazing at the Dwarf with mild curiosity. "How did you end your story about Solith and... Ellana, you called her?"
He looked up, and all of a sudden, his expression turned guilty. "Oh. I never really got around…"
"Varric. Just tell me. I know it's just a story."
He shifted awkwardly in his chair. "You know how I told you that I don't really have a knack for romances? Most of my stories end in tragedy, and that probably says something unfortunate about me personally." At Ennaly's look, he sighed. "They die. Together. In each other's arms."
"Very tactful," Dorian remarked.
"I finished it before we went to the Arbor Wilds for the first time," Varric said in defence. "And I will never publish it anyway. It really isn't so good. I should stick to intrigue and action, not romance."
Ennaly could laugh and cry at the same time, but didn't show any emotion. Dying alone had been Solas' fear, and those lines, well... "I don't mind," she replied stoically, hoping she would come to believe that, too.
"You could add one more paragraph," Cassandra remarked. "After their death, their spirits rise into the Fade, to be together forever."
Cole sat up straight. "That isn't really how spirits –"
"We don't always write for reality, Kid, sometimes we write to escape it. And you know what?" Varric interrupted Cole, looking at Cassandra. "For someone who says she cannot find the words to write, you come up with damn good ideas. What do you think, Ennaly?"
"It does sound like a better ending for your readers. Go ahead and write it."
Varric nodded. "Alright. Seeker, mind if I steal it? If I do decide to publish it, I will give you a free copy. Signed."
"Deal," Cassandra agreed, appreciatively.
Ennaly forced a smile. Her friends smiled back at her, and an intense feeling of melancholy settled in her stomach. All these non-Elven faces had become so familiar to her, after they had been through so much together.
Cassandra, whose view opposed hers, yet that didn't stop them from finding common ground and kinship. Varric, the first one to show her kindness. Bull, whose life had taken a few turns similar to hers, and who offered her wisdom when she needed it. Dorian, who meant more to her than she ever expected a Human could. And finally Cole, who taught her to extend compassion to herself. At last, their collection of odd-minded people had accomplished the goal for which they had gathered, leaving behind one question...
"What is next?"
Cassandra was the first to speak. "A messenger arrived just after you left. Leliana will be named the next Divine."
Ennaly straightened her back. That was good news. Some of the tenseness that had been growing inside her, fell away. "That gives me hope. For everything I am, and a better future ahead. Non-Humans allowed in the Chantry, mages getting the chance to prove themselves. At least I no longer have to fear being locked up in a circle."
"See? There are some silver linings," Dorian commented.
Ennaly took a look at Dorian, Cassandra, and Varric in turn. "You all have noble goals to return to. Dorian to make Tevinter better, Cassandra to rebuild the Seekers, and you Varric… I don't know if you're going to help Kirkwall or cause mayhem."
"Organised mayhem is what we call that, your Inquisitorialness," Varric corrected.
"Of course," Ennaly replied with a smile. "And then we have us," she added, regarding Bull, Cole and herself. "We're free to do as we like, no ties to any past." She gazed at her Anchor. It had been silent for these weeks, but it might be foolish to think it would remain so. She might be on borrowed time, for all she knew. And yet, she silently hoped for it to flare up, for Solas had said he would be there if it proved too much.
"We still have demon ass to kick," Bull said. "I am sure there are more of those rifts around to close. I also have to fight another dragon. And Dorian had better stick around for some of it."
"You won't get rid of me this soon," Dorian huffed.
"I will not leave your side," Cole added, his blue eyes blinking at Ennaly from under the rim of his large hat. "I know you will go to places where I can be of help. I promised you I would stay as long as you'd like. I promised him, too."
A pang of sadness struck her heart. Had Solas reached out to him, but not to her? She forced herself another smile and regarded the hairpin in her hand. With a swift move, she replaced the simple wooden hairpin currently holding up her hair with the decorated one.
"Well, shall we go back?" she said, changing the subject. "I am sure Josephine will appreciate it if I show my face a final time. Thank you for being here for me. You truly were the best companions I could have hoped for to get through this all."
In the coming months, Ennaly only cried once. They gathered for a final journey north, knowing that afterwards, the group would break up as Dorian would continue north and Varric east. At the farewell of her two best friends, Ennaly didn't shed any tears, even though Dorian sobbed on her shoulder, and then on Bull's. But afterwards, when she was alone in the little room in the inn where they were staying, she buried her head under her pillow and cried until there were no tears left to her.
After that moment, she steeled herself. Cassandra left to rebuild the Seekers and Bull sometimes joined his Chargers on missions, close to the borders of Tevinter. Yet wherever Ennaly went, Cole followed, unseen by most, being both here and in the Fade.
Inquisitor was a ready-made persona, a mask she could hide behind, walls to surround herself with. It was a title that brought a certain severity to mind. An Inquisitor wasn't led by emotions, but by facts, by actions. And so, Ennaly stowed her emotions away. It was easier if she didn't have to feel them. Without Cole, without Compassion to soothe her, Ennaly's reckless surrender to duty and lack of self-preservation would have gotten her killed in multiple situations.
Yet she was forgetting about his lesson to extend compassion to herself. And while Cole tried to help, he wasn't always able to as Ennaly dismissed any words of comfort.
The Inquisition received news of the occasional lingering rift, and Ennaly followed up on all. It wasn't long before a new scar graced her shoulder, left there by a terror demon before she sent it back to the Fade. At times, she went on missions with Briala, Shimmers, and Loranil to help out with the city Elves. There were diplomatic affairs to attend, and Ennaly surrendered herself to being dressed for the occasion. Stays, heavy velvets, and leather shoes for Ferelden, corsets, silks, and tapered heels for Orlais. Josephine offered to create a few new gowns in her personal style, but Ennaly dismissed her.
The fashions of the ancient Elves belonged to a life she wasn't part of, and she wouldn't live in a lie pretending she did. If she had to poster, she might as well do that in the most suitable outfit for the occasion.
But when one such a dress appeared in her closet anyway, she stuffed it to the back and chose the structured corset instead.
She was gracious when attending these affairs, at times flanked by Josephine and Cullen, and learned how to avoid their concerned looks. She didn't shy away from diplomacy, but the deals she made were harsh. She didn't have the necessary investment to further the Inquisition's gain for their own sake, but wanted those in positions of power to take better care of their people, like those that had become homeless during the war.
But at the end of those events, she would always retreat back to her quarters, and lay awake for hours to stare at the painted stars on her ceilings as her thoughts spiralled up and down, wondering if she had done enough. There were nights were her Anchor started to ache, giving her a dim hope of seeing Solas again, but the aches always died down after a night of foggy dreams.
Sometimes she woke to shards of dreams that left her disoriented with questions if they were memories, dreams, or dreamer dreams. Dancing near a small lake in the desert, surrounded by strings of magical light. Watching a sunset, or even a gentle touch on her cheek, the rhythm of a chest rising and falling behind her, warm and supporting.
When the blossoms turned Orlais' cherry orchards pink, Ennaly answered the summons of their new Divine to Skyhold. With Cole as her ever-present shadow, she entered the castle without stopping, announced her arrival to the first people she saw, and strode over to the war room. There, she awaited Leliana, with Cole perched in a window to the side, unseen but for the small distortion of sunlight.
She sat at the table, staring at the maps as time passed without her active administration. As the door opened, she rose to her feet and bowed down. "Most Holy," she said, addressing Leliana with her new title, even if she herself didn't follow the Andrastian faith.
"Stop that, Ennaly," came the scolding reply and when she looked up, she saw that Leliana wasn't wearing her Divine robes, but her regular outfit. "I am not here as Divine and I did not call you here as Inquisitor. I addressed my note to Ennaly."
She stared at the woman, but didn't speak. Leliana sighed as she walked around the table, acknowledging Cole's presence. "Sit," she said to Ennaly, but it was almost a demand as she took a chair for herself, and Ennaly submitted. For a moment, Leliana just gazed into her eyes.
"I remember, one and a half years ago, seeing you for the first time. It was Charter's group that found you, even if it was Cassandra who ordered you to be tied up. I was there when you woke up, of course. I never thought you were responsible. You were too scared, too clueless about too many things, but you were so eager to prove your innocence, to help where you could. That never changed."
The woman sighed before she smiled sadly. "I understand, I really do. I see a lot of myself in you. And it was you that helped me see..." She glanced in Cole's direction. "Compassion. Not just for others, but for myself as well. I don't claim to know exactly how you feel now, but I relate, truly. You showed me there was enough light left in this world. Let me return that favour, Ennaly."
Ennaly stared at her hands, her eyes stuck on her sylvanwood ring, the Dread Wolf staring back at her. The promise had been a mantra of resolve in these past months. Protect those who cannot protect themselves. She never realised that she would have to extend that promise to herself, too. "I am afraid I no longer know how," she whispered quietly, looking up at the woman who had accomplished just that.
Leliana smiled, this time genuinely. "I ask for one step. Can you give me one step? You used to have so much joy dancing." She rose and extended her hand towards Ennaly, who stared at it, but remained seated. "You have done everything for everyone. If you don't want to take this step for yourself, do it for me. Please."
Ennaly took the extended hand, and gathering what felt like all the willpower left in her body, rose to her feet. Leliana smiled, pushed the chairs back and took her hands in a dancing position. "Just one step."
She stepped her right foot forward as Leliana stepped her left foot back. She had taken the one step she promised. And then, Leliana in the lead, took another step sidewards, and another, then ten more, and she extended her hand for Ennaly to spin under, and soon they were gliding over the floor in the war room, and tears were streaming over Ennaly's cheeks and she sobbed on the shoulder of the new Divine.
She had felt so disconnected, so alone, in these last few months. Her friends had histories to return to, futures to plan, but it felt like her life had stalled, stuck in a rhythm that wasn't her own. What hope was there?
But she wasn't quite alone, was she?
When she was done sobbing, a glass of water appeared in her hands, and she drank gratefully. Leliana led her back to her chair. "I am proud of you, Ennaly. It will take time, but you took the first step. The second one will follow."
"Thank you," she replied as she took the cool cloth to wipe down her face, offered to her from the shadows. The three of them watched the last rays of spring sunset shining through the windows.
Leliana turned back to Ennaly. "You might also be happy to know that both Varric and Cassandra returned to Skyhold, and Bull is back as well. I know you always used to have a fondness for history. We received a request from Professor Bram Kenric from the University of Orlais. He claimed you met previously in Val Royeaux. He found clues on the final resting place of the first Inquisitor. It might be interesting."
It would be an interesting prospect to follow. If she had no personal history left to pursue, why not pursue the history of her predecessor? She agreed that it would be wonderful to investigate and she spent a truly good evening with the advisors and her friends, losing to Josephine at Wicked Grace, but enjoyed listening to the tales the others had to tell.
That evening, Ennaly went up to her chambers, and for the first time in months, there was no shadow following her. For the first time in months, she felt calm, found a purpose to pursue that caught her full interest, and was excited for the weeks to come with travel on the road with her friends. She sat down at the vanity in her large room and started to brush out her hair. But there were items on her vanity that she had never placed there. A short vase held a single purple flower, and in front of it was a single amulet. Surprised, Ennaly took it and flipped it around.
Everything about this amulet was familiar to her, to the little chips at the edges, the veins in the purple jade, the slight asymmetry in the pattern of Elfroot. There was only one person alive who knew about this amulet.
Solas.
She had described it to him in the ruined herb garden, in the summer of the previous year. And the flower that was here was the same flower he left behind that day they closed the Breach.
Her resolve hardened, she dressed again and grabbed a blanket before sneaking outside to find her way to the old ruin. She hadn't been back there, not even once, after Solas took away her Vallaslin away and ended things.
When she finally reached it, she lit the torch of Veilfire and wrapped herself in the blanket. In the flickering light of the torch, the pink-and-green forest scape on the wall appeared to come to life. It had inspired the painting in her own chambers, and she wondered if it had been Solas who had painted this one too, in ages past.
It took her several moments to realise it wasn't the flickering of the torchlight that made the trees look alive, because the trees were alive, and it wasn't torchlight, but a gentle breeze that moved the leaves.
She turned around. There were mountains behind her and a waterfall that trickled down into a lake. In front of it sat a figure clad in white in a meditative pose, his eyes closed.
"Solas?" she called out and by the touch of fabric around her calves, noticed she was wearing a simple white gown.
Shocked, the figure opened his eyes. Almost reactively, as she had done so many times before, she reached out with her aura to confirm his identity. She gasped where she stood as she barely extended her aura beyond herself. An immense force overwhelmed her senses, pressing down upon her.
He was no demon. A part of this aura was so very familiar to her that she would have spotted it the size of a dust speck... And yet he hadn't even reached out with his aura. He had been doing something that resulted in the energy, sensible even this distance away.
"Ennaly?" he asked, surprised. Slowly, he rose to his feet and stepped nearer as she stood unmoving. "How can you be here?"
Ennaly dropped her aura, still recovering from the energy pressing down on her. "What happened?" she asked, breathless. "You are so... powerful."
He contemplated her words, almost as if he hadn't realised their truth. "I apologise, I did not intend to..." Whatever energy hung in the air faded away, leaving only a calm serenity behind.
Witnessing his power almost made Ennaly forget why she had come to the garden, when she remembered what she found on her bedroom dresser. "I… I found the amulet," she confessed, a little uncertain by the shift in the atmosphere. "I know it was you. How...?"
Solas looked different, but she couldn't quite explain what it was. "You cared for it," he stated. "If it was in my power, I would find it, and I did."
Ennaly hardly believed her ears. "Where? How?"
"I found it around the neck of a nobleman in Wycome. He had no right to carry it, and he confessed to taking it."
The words sparked the anger inside her, but it was a resigned anger, calm. "Did you kill him?"
Solas' face was fully sincere, but remained neutral. "What do you wish I did?"
She stared at her feet and dug deep into her consciousness. She wished she could say that death was never the answer, that justice need never be paid with blood. She thought of her mother, her Keeper, her friends among clan Lavellan. She looked up at Solas again with her eyes ablaze. "I hope it hurt when you did it," she stated with an unexpected bitter heat.
He nodded and a careful smile appeared upon his lips. A peace fell over Ennaly, like something inside her that had been clenched for a year was only now allowed to rest. She hoped that somewhere, clan Lavellan would feel the same. "Thank you."
They stood opposite each other, two yards of space between them, as they fell silent.
She looked at him. His features were still the same, the purple specs in his eyes barely visible, the scar on his forehead, the angle of his jaw... He was wearing something she had never seen him wear before. It was a leather vest, protective and utilitarian, the only decoration the stitching of the overlapping strips. Everything he wore was white, like her own dress was white.
"You must have fallen asleep in the herb garden below Skyhold," he noted as he observed their surroundings. "This is not where I closed my eyes."
Ennaly observed their surroundings anew. They were in the fresco come to live, the mountain and waterfall from the addition he made to the fresco in her quarters. The only symbols missing were the white halla and wolf.
"I did," Ennaly confirmed, turning back to Solas with a newfound thought. "Did you paint it?"
There was a new smile on Solas' lips, mournful but tender. "I did."
She took a small step closer. "Was it yours, once, Tarasyl'an Te'las?"
He didn't blink. "It was, a long time ago."
Ennaly tilted her head downwards with a small sigh. "You brought me there our very first night together. I... always thought it meant more to me, seeing it for the first time, but I understand now…" She sighed again, and looked up. "You never really lied, but you never quite corrected me either when I came up with a wrong conclusion. What would I have seen if I saw the full castle? Wolves painted everywhere?"
Solas searched for an answer, but it took a second too long and Ennaly exhaled again. "As a servant of Fen'Harel, you certainly are a good trickster."
The words seemed to affect him more than any words she had ever said to him before. He turned around and ran a hand over his head. "I am sorry," he said finally, facing her again.
"I am not." A laugh escaped her and a smile remained behind. "Not for that, at least. Solas, those dreams were wonderful. I wouldn't have wanted to miss them for anything. I just wished you trusted me, like I trusted you."
He was close enough to touch if she wanted, and she brushed against his fingers. Skin connected to skin, and Ennaly gasped, as if some magical spark still lingered on his body that discharged into hers. It didn't hurt, but it was overwhelming.
"I have been waiting for you," she continued. "You told me you'd help with my Anchor. It's been half a year, and I haven't seen you once."
Shards of dreams entered her mind, of sunsets, of a rising chest behind her back and anger flared up again, but it wasn't without hurt. "But you have seen me, haven't you?" She spun around, her skirts fanning out in the rapid movement. He was close enough that the hem touched his legs.
He took a step toward her, talking to her back. "I never intended to meet you like this, here."
She turned around, hurt in her eyes. "Did you intend to meet me at all? You have been healing my Anchor... From here?"
His face solemn, he reached out to take her left hand in his, and raised it, palm up. This was the Fade, and it wasn't real, but his touch on her hand made her remember all the times they had touched, to dance, to caress, to aid...
Solas lifted his right hand, and slowly, he started to channel his magical energy inside the Anchor. But her body here was only a projection. Somehow, the sensation of his magic flowing in her veins transcended space, as if her sleeping figure was affected like her Fadely figure was. Her breath turned shallow at the sheer intensity of his power, undeniably stronger than ever.
"Your Anchor bypasses the Veil with a direct connection between the waking world and the Fade," Solas explained. "You were able to manipulate the boundaries between the two from the waking world… And as you have noticed, with my increased power, I can affect your body from here, through this."
Ennaly closed her eyes as Solas finished his spell. "What happened to you?" she whispered. "Solas, you don't know what it's been like, these months. You told me you'd help me, but you conveniently forgot to mention I would be asleep for it – and don't say you're sorry!"
His voice was strangely formal. "I thought it was for the best."
Angrily, she pulled her hand back. "Your best or mine?"
He didn't reply and Ennaly felt her short burst of anger diffuse. "I am sorry," she muttered, realising she was being selfish. None of this was easy. He had helped her all this time without any obligation, he'd visited her, even if it had likely been painful for him to do so. Perhaps he had only wanted to spare her from the pain.
"There is no need to be," he replied quietly, and another silence fell between them. A gust of wind played with the hem of Ennaly's dress and left a scattering of blossom petals between them. Slowly, a fond smile appeared on Solas' face. "You have gained a scar."
Ennaly glanced at her shoulder, bared as the dress only had thin straps. "You've seen me before, Solas. I've had this for a few months now."
A slight discomfort entered his words, as if he wasn't certain. "You were clad in something else. The scar… was hidden."
She frowned, almost dreading his answer. "Then what was I wearing?"
He was searching for words, and for the first time during this dream, he truly faltered. "It… was likely the outfit you slept in."
An awkwardness overcame her as she gazed at him. "Oh." For the last few months, she had been sleeping in one of Solas' shirts. She'd been wearing it the morning on the day he ended things between them, and a week later, it had appeared in her pile of clean laundry. And a few weeks after that, she had started to wear it while sleeping.
She wanted to force a laugh and say that at least she hadn't been sleeping naked, when tears welled in her eyes. "The last few months have been so hard," she confessed instead.
Gently, he pulled her against him. "I know," he whispered, wiping away her tears.
Bare cheeks, where once... She glanced up at Solas and a new thought entered her mind, formed by fragments of what Solas had told her. He had said he had once been something like an escaped slave, and she knew... "Did you ever have Vallaslin?"
His thumb paused on her cheek, before he pulled his hand away. "I did, once," he confessed.
"What did it look like?" Ennaly asked, feeling like Solas' early behaviour made more and more sense. "No Dalish today has Fen'Harel's marks."
The corners of his lip curled, but it was a mournful smile. "A rebel has no need for slave marks."
"Then... what?" She imaged golden lines swirling over his face, the pattern changing before her mind's eye.
He sighed. "Mythal's. I once carried her marks, like you had, but extended to my forehead."
Ennaly leaned back aghast, feeling as if somehow, she had betrayed him. She had been wearing his painful past on her face with a sense of pride, berating him for his frows. "But... Why Mythal's?"
"What do you think a rebellion stems from? A sense of justice, of course."
She hardly knew what to say. "Justice... Slavery?"
All of a sudden, Solas straightened his back and his focus seemed to turn inwards, like he was listening to something in his mind. He grasped her upper arms, almost as a means to ground himself as a magical ripple emerged from him, washing over Ennaly. The force took her breath away.
"I have to go," he said urgently, his hands trailing down over her bare arms. Slowly, the outfit he was wearing shifted from white to brown and gold.
"Solas? What are you doing? Where are you? How did you get so powerful?"
He took a step back and shook his head. "I have to go," he repeated.
"Solas?" she pleaded. "Next time you visit me, don't let me fall asleep. Please?"
His hands arrived at her wrist, lingering at her fingers as if he didn't want to let go. "If that is what you wish." He released her hand, she blinked, and then he was gone, leaving her alone in a rain of pink petals.
With a gasp, she woke in the ruined garden, staring at the fresco that Solas' hand had painted, an unthinkable time ago, the jade amulet clutched in her hand. She sat there for several minutes before she rose, gathered her things, and returned back to the castle.
Leliana had helped her take the first step to find her inner peace again, and it was up to herself to take the following steps. Travelling to the Frostbacks with her friends allowed her to do just that. The scenery was beautiful, rough snowy mountains surrounding a lake large enough that the edges extended beyond vision. The presence of her friends allowed her to smile and laugh again, and slowly, she regained her ability to find joy in the little things.
It was a purpose, to follow in the footsteps of the first Inquisitor, and a purpose was exactly what she had been missing. From the first mention of the word vhenan, spoken by the first Inquisitor's lover, she knew they were Elves. Like herself, Ameridan had an Elven lover who was a Dreamer, as he himself was an Elven mage. How wonderful would it have been, if Solas had been here with her, to experience this strange similarity?
And even after they had learned all there was to learn in the Frostback Basin, and her friends went their separate ways, Ennaly was filled with a new sense of purpose. At Professor Kenric's invitation, she joined the University of Orlais. Like that, the next year passed with ups and downs.
During her travels with Briala and Shimmers, they noticed that more and more of their known passageways through the Eluvians were blocked to them. Was it the Crossroads collapsing in on itself, as Solas had said?
They never met in the waking world, but they did meet in dreams. Conversations sometimes were strained, for Solas refused to answer questions, and the next few times her Anchor was calmed, she had no active memory of it.
It was probably for the best. If she didn't have to see him, she might eventually be able to forget about him. There was a day that Bram Kenric invited her over for dinner. They had dinner together before, at the University, but it was very clear that this invitation was more than just a friendly chat. Ennaly wanted to accept. He was cute, smart, passionate about his research. Didn't she deserve a new chance at happiness? And yet she couldn't. Bram flushed a bit, and so did she, but they continued to have an amicable working relationship.
Some time in spring, that following year, she visited Kirkwall and travelled further to Wycome, to pay her respect at the graves of her clan. The glen was beautifully overgrown with flowers, the trees only saplings, a symbol of the future that had been lost to her. She gathered all the magical energy left in her body, and exhausted, she observed the small trees now casting shade on the graves, overlooking the vast sea.
That night, Solas met her again. And after noticing her heartache, instead of causing her to sleep, he dried her tears, wrapped his arms around her and consoled her. That night, they sat how they used to sit, Solas leaning against a tree and Ennaly resting against his chest. There was something serenely comfortable to the way her body moved with his breath, the way the murmuring chant of his spell whispered in her ear. That night, they didn't talk, and even after her Anchor was calmed, they sat there, his arms around her. That night, Ennaly knew that forgetting him would be impossible.
The next time, he didn't make her fall asleep either. Instead, they sat together in silence, overlooking the beauty of different landscapes. One of these nights, Ennaly turned around and tenderly cupped his jaw. Solas' grey eyes glittered at her as his body tensed. "Ennaly..." he started, his tone stern, but she silenced him with the touch of her fingertips against his lips.
"I am not Ennaly," she whispered. "And you are not Solas. This is the Fade, the realm of dreams. We are just two spirits here, seeking connection, no consequence, nothing beyond you and me. This is a dream... Wisdom."
She had wanted to say his name, but after just dismissing it, Wisdom was the first word in her mind. A heartbeat later and his body relaxed, the gaze in his eyes filled with the same wish as her. With the next breath, he pulled her closer against him, lips meeting hers.
"Joy..." he muttered, and it wasn't long before their clothes were discarded. She had forgotten how a connection like this could feel in the Fade, somehow more spiritual than physical. It was liberating to have no other thought but to surrender to desire.
Yet, when they met the next time, both of them acted as if nothing happened, and instead, sat opposite each other. It was probably for the best.
And as the summer of the second year after the closing of the Breach passed, the Inquisition was called to the Exalted Council. It was time for another bloody parade. At the back of her wardrobe, Ennaly found a dress in the Elven style, that Josephine had once commissioned for her. Perhaps this was a perfect moment for it to see the light of day again.