Pride, Wolf and Rebellion

Truth

"Solas," she said again. Saying his name made it real, made him real. He was...

"This should give us more time," he said with a gentle smile. He held her arm.

The pain faded and she stood, shaky knees and stinging feet.

"I suppose you have questions," said Solas.

She inhaled, held her arm, took tentative steps. "You are..."

"I was Solas first," he said. "Fen'Harel came later. It was meant to serve as an insult, a construct from the Evanuris. But I wore it with honour. The Dread Wolf inspired hope and fear, not unlike the Inquisitor."

She shook her head.

"There is an unmistakable irony, is there not?" he said.

"Irony?" she said.

"What is the old Dalish curse?" he mused. "May the Dread Wolf take you?"

She scoffed. "You're joking."

"I did not lay with you under false pretenses," he said.

"You lied to me," she said. "Made a fool of me. I loved you. I love you, as Solas and Fen'Harel." The words stuck, felt funny coursing from her mouth, felt strange in the air.

"Ir abelas, Vhenan," he said.

"Tel'alelas, Vhenas," she said. "Tell the truth. Now."

"I freed slaves, removed their vallaslin, granted them protection from their masters... When the Evanuris killed Mythal..." he sighed. "She was the voice of reason, the voice of compassion. I fought back, banished those you call the Creators to the Fade and erected the Veil to hold them in."

Fen'Asha touched her face. "Did you think of the consequences?"

"They would have destroyed the world," Solas said.

"You destroyed the world," replied Fen'Asha.

Solas looked down, "I know."

She shook her head.

"The Veil took everything from the elves," he said. "It took their immortality, crumbled their cities."

She stepped toward him, tentatively meeting his gaze.

"So now I walk the Din'Anshiral," he said. "I will restore what has been lost to my foolishness."

"How?"

"It will hold great cost to all of Thedas," he said.

"What kind of cost?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I had tried other solutions first," he said.

"The orb..." she muttered.

"Yes," he said. "I did not give Corypheus the orb. I had my agents leave it where the Venatori would find it. I had hoped his foolishness would cause his destruction when he tried to open the foci. In turn, I would receive the Anchor and be able to enter the Fade freely. I would have removed the Veil, restored the world of the elves..."

The Anchor sizzled again. "This was intended for you?"

He nodded. "The Anchor will kill you," he said. "In truth, you should not have survived this long. But you are a remarkable creature..."

She was close to him, felt his heat, wanted to touch his skin.

"Only I should have been able to wield the Anchor," he said.