Work Text:
She believed him.
How could she not? His was a voice of reason and guidance when the only sound louder than the blood rushing in her ears was the crackling of the Mark.
He knew where all the artifacts were; he could explain Veilfire; roamed the Fade with more freedom than any mage.
Looking back, she could see all the signs. He knew fluent Elvhen, for Creators’ sake!
But she swallowed his lies as gospel.
Surely one of her peoples’ Gods would only return to help them? To guide them back to the light and raise them from the sparse plains clans like hers roamed?
No, he wasn’t here to save them. He was here to play person for a day and take away her security, one stolen smile from across the room at a time.
Inquisitor Lathanna startled, the flames she accidently flickered to life in her rage expelled with a shake of her hand. She never had much control over her magic this close to her heat, hence why her staff hadn’t been utilized in days and laid currently in the corner of her shack. She was maybe a few hours off at most. She rose and poured more of the spiced wine she and Sera swiped from Iron Bull while he was busy exaggerating the size of the Gamadoran they’d taken down a few weeks ago.
She remembered a time when they meant Solas too.
Fen’Harel too, you mean.
“Wolf,” Lathanna scoffed, choking down the fiery liquid in one gulp, “More like snake.”
A snake who is still fighting for you.
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
Even now, as deep in her cups as she was, Lathanna could feel the constant pressure on her connection with the Fade. He was reaching out to her, cooing from the other side of the Veil, to come closer, to sit up straight because da’len, you get headaches with poor posture, to listen to him for just a moment. At least he couldn’t sense her upcoming heat through the Veil. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough not to fall not his arms.
She couldn’t. Not because she didn’t want to. No, of course not, she’d cut her tongue out for another taste of his skin, to feel another beat of his unearthly heart beneath her ear.
But like Blackwall said; their lives were not their own to live. She had a world to protect.
Ranier. Just another viper you’ve let into your sacred circle.
She scowled and drained another cup. His hushed assurances from the Fade made her stomach churn. No, it’s not your fault, you did good, shh, shh.
“Not even good enough at drinking to drown you out.” So Lathanna persisted until the questionable bottle was drained. She tugged Cullen’s fur cape further around her narrow shoulders and made her way out to the storm, the pressure on her skull nagging her to make sure the wards were set properly. She turned her head, inhaling the woodfire and mahogany scent of Cullen, recalling the day she left Skyhold.
She released Cassandra with a teary smile.
“I don’t agree with your decision but I respect it. Write often if you insist on leaving.”
Lathanna smiled, this heavy feeling in her chest more bittersweet than anytime she could recall. “And I’ll be sure to make my raven out to Divine Victoria.”
She was the beginning of the end of it all. After her, the remaining companions at Skyhold would disperse, like ink in water. If and when she returned, she would be alone. If Solas had access to her Fade connection here, he’d be tempting her with the promise of falling into his arms and abandoning the world and all the people in it. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to deny him then and there with her life changing before her very eyes, shifting beneath her like sand.
“Inquisitor.” She turned her head to see him lounging against the gate of Skyhold, hand awkwardly stroking the back of his neck.
“My very own Knight Commander to send me off? Have I been a bad mage?”
They drew close and only when they were inches away did he hand over the garment.
She looked down, shocked as the full Alpha scent of him lit up her synapses with cues of wrong, not yours, find yours.
“You look as though you did not realize it comes off.” Her fingers pet idly at the red mane, looking up to see a blush chase it’s way across his face.
“I.. do not know what to say. You are taking a risk.” He grinned then, suddenly ten years younger. A hand met hers and they both clutched the thick fabric of his cape.
“Oh, I don’t know. A risk sounds like giving yourself away so a town full of people could escape, or opening a rift in the middle of the Western Approach then jumping through it.”
She scoffed playfully. “I didn’t jump through it; I fell through it!”
Suddenly, he looked so weary, like all her burdens he’d felt tenfold. He was even more nervous about her journey than she was, Lathanna realized with a start. He was the only one who cared enough to truly care, to wonder what was going to happen to her. To some degree, she supposed she loved him, but the throb at her neck would never let her forget another.
“You chasing Corypheus through the remains of the world was a risk. This is what little I have to repay you for saving the world.”
She opened her mouth to protest but he took the cape and fastened it around her shoulders before she could speak, mahogany and cinnamon enveloping her.
“There are a lot of things I want to do for you. Let me do this.”
And thus he was the last person she’d kissed in many months, the taste of electric lyrium still faint on her tongue if she concentrated.
Cullen was a sweetheart, always had been. Maybe in another life, they could’ve been something.
Her bound feet made soft squick-squick noises in the mid afternoon mud of the cabin she currently stayed in, swells of seawater from the Storm Coast threatening to raise the water level to her ankles.
She settled down and carefully folded the excess cape in her lap to avoid dirtying it. Her hands shook in the cold and her body swayed with a mix of inebriation and preheat but she focused on the ancient Elvhen ward relic, commanding it to thicken the Veil. At this point, defense was her only option. She had no chance to best him in open combat, instead relying on her nomadic heritage to hide her from her Alpha.
So far, she’d been to the Fallow Mire, two safe houses just west of Crestwood and now a rather lavish shack in the Storm Coast, compared to some of the places she dwelled.
The dull ward flared back to life, stoked by the sudden influx of magic she’d fed it. That should do it for a few weeks, at least. Just in time for my heat.
She rose, swiping the wet locks from her overheated face and turned up to the darkening sky. Dark days like these always reminded her of harvesting spindleweed along the banks of the Waking Sea, her Keeper challenging all the little ones to see who could collect the most.
Fortunately, she wasn’t nearly drunk enough to not hear the snap of a branch behind her, so without thought, her adrenaline coursed and she was off.
But because Lathanna Lavellan never listened to anything but her heart, she chanced a glance back.
Maker’s Bride, of course it’s him.
A great white wolf bounded after her, claws kicking up bits of earth with every great beat of its paws propelling it forward, the most brilliant ice blue eyes chasing her movements.
Her heart stuttered wildy, she felt the beats down the tips of her toes and behind her eyes
Relax, relax. We planned for this, right, Lavellan? Just take that cave that probably leads out into upper Crestwood. Maybe. It’s not like she had time to check out every cave she came across. She’d be fine. Really! There was an army of defensive wards she’d set up weeks before, just waiting to be activated.
Lathanna lunged into the cave, turning halfway and swiping her hand across the rune.It gleamed once then erupted the front of the cave with a brilliant wall of flames, the fire settling into a thick shell. Over the roar of magic, she heard howling, loud and anguished, her chest constricted with the sound, her omega calling out to him through the ward. The less animal side of her shook with the rush of triumph. There was an array of impressive wards between then. He could dispel them, if he truly cared for her like the bond said. Or he could just bring the cave down on my head if he doesn’t. And who was Inquisitor Lavellan if not a gambler?
Her weight came down hard on her ankle and she felt an odd twinge before pain exploded between the bones of her foot. Lathanna let out a squeal and clenched her injured foot, looking up at the cave entrance.
He was stock still, save for the jittering fingers by his side. Dressed the same as when they first met, save for the snowy pelt enveloping his lithe frame, he stood tall above the flames, his eyes dark and lips murmuring, no doubt trying to dispel her wards while she was incapacitated.
She tried standing to her feet and promptly collapsed.
No, no! Don’t stand. Let me heal you. I can’t help you from here..
Lathanna scoffed and shouted at his wide eyes and restless hands, no doubt itching to caress away her pain. Or inflict more then say he never meant to.
“Maker’s breath, Solas! You are not a child, use your words!”
He inched closer to the barrier, bare feet coming as close as she’d allow. She couldn’t smell him from here but she remembered. His scent was forever ingrained in her memory; Felandaris and some floral undertone. Collecting the plant near rifts quickly became something she rushed to get over with. Explaining the slick in her drawers was always embarrassing to Dorian whenever they harvested some. What could she say? Oh sorry about my arousal, it’s just that these flowers smell exactly like my ancient elven mate. You understand right, love?
She shifted closer to him, the needy, fragile thing inside her begging her to put away the ward and let him come closer and help her. He’s her alpha. He would protect her, right? He had to.
Liar. He’d sell you in a heartbeat if your blood bought him the Veil. You were a means to an end.
Lathanna dropped his gaze. When had looking him in the eye become so hard? She used to chase his eyes to catch his gaze.
Breathing deeply, further down she could see the bioluminescent glow of Deep Mushrooms hinting at the depth of the cave itself. Gods, she was so tired, why couldn’t he have come last moon or next? The first signs of her heat started hours ago, her skin heavy with sweat under Cullen’s cape.
His scent began to permeate the barrier now that he was only a handful of feet away, close enough to lock eyes with him and for him to see her desperation. Despite the familiar clothes, he seemed… off. His body seemed, overfull, like he was a step away from spilling his magic onto the floor. She released a sharp chirp in her throat at the thought of that.
Even stronger than before? What a good alpha you’ve caught!
She scowled and hoped he didn't catch her train of thought.
Luckily, he seemed preoccupied with her cradled ankle and sweaty face.
“You are ill, lethallin.”
She turned to him minutely, settling her back against the cave wall, bare legs out before her.
“ Teldirthalelan, ir din tel'geshor.” (
Bet he wishes he never taught me Elven now. Lathanna looked over at him hesitantly and wondered when the pieces would click into place. She could see the exact moment he realized. His pupils constricted to pinpricks, azure swallowing the black. Her heart raced angrily as she saw him from her seat, his elegant nose turn upward just a fraction, just enough to get a healthy dose of her honey slick scent and a sour smell overlaying that.
A rival.
Solas snarled, throat constricting as he fought to swallow the possessive surge down.
“ I presume Cullen is lurking near?” He spit the word out venomously. Her eyes narrowed while the lower portion of her abdomen clenched angrily.
The small voice inside her whined. Why, why, why? Why is he making you so upset? So unsafe. Cold ground.
Creators, the way her mind was darting around topics reminded her of Cole when he gave cryptic one word sentences. She understood why he did it now, these emotions don’t need many words to experience. Not when they’re this strong.
She laughed meanly at him, more a sharp exhale than anything else but the darkening of his face showed the intention was conveyed.
“Shemlenes sa’lin! I needed a masking scent. Nothing would draw more attention than a fertile omega.”
Lathanna didn’t realize she was letting off an angry scent until the pressure on her Fade connection tugged at her mind. Her mind cleared as her heat burned out the last of the alcohol, body preparing for a rough next few days.
They could both smell it now, her pheromones, thick and heady in the air as the elder elf sucked into his lungs greedily, his own scent getting stronger in response, trying to soothe her.
“You had but to reach your hand out, and I’d have come.”
With an exasperated snarl, she tore the cape from her shoulders, a waft of honey invading the air. “Whose attention do you think I was trying to avoid?”
Solas’s mouth opened, then shut and he sat then, haltingly like he wanted to say something else but resigned himself to quiet down, likely subdued by his omega’s scent.
The Coast was quiet for a moment, the waning sun cast long shadows on the side plane of his face, making him look older than he seemed, probably as old as he really was.
His eyes were towards the horizon, undoubtedly waiting for her searing gaze to recede. Lathanna’s gut twisted as she realized just how late it was. She wasn’t safe here. A cave with uncertainty on one side and, well uncertainty on both sides. Her body wouldn’t kick start her heat until she was safe, warm, happy. It was just burn uncomfortably in the back of her mind for the next week or so, then drift away, leaving her unsatisfied.
Great. So just gotta leave the cave and in a day or so I’ll be fine.
Which seemed a lot easier out of context and when you weren’t facing down the suddenly not-so-dark end of a cave and an actual god. He’d probably insult my Dalish ideals if I called him a god to his face.
The glow of distant torchlights alerted her to company first, but the acrid scent assaulting her nostrils let her know just as easy who was coming. Alphas.
Both elves’ eyes were drawn down the long end of the cavern where the sound of fumbling boots and clinking of armor.
If I can deal with a High Dragon, I can deal with a few Alphas.
Lathanna grimaced at the jolt her ankle gave as she tried to rise to her feet. She settled for kneeling as she clenched the dead-end tendons in her arm, celestial fibers knitting together to form the rest of her sundered hand. Flexing her magic, the fingers wiggled, and bowed to her will.
“Where are you going?” He snapped to his feet immediately, muscles tensed to give chase, hands pressed flat against the whining barrier. She laughed mirthlessly and favored her healthy leg while she rose to her full height, still a great distance away from him.
“I am fighting, it is a familiar sight from when you wore your sheep wool, no doubt” She grinned when he took a sharp inhale at mention of his treachery.
“You mean to say you’re going to engage them?” His shoulders bunched up angrily, his hands subconsciously testing the barrier. She mentally took note of the Ring of Doubt around her neck. If he split the barrier down the middle, she’d slip it on and he’d lose her scent in the influx of alphas flooding the tunnel.
“Relax, Ara’Harellan. This won’t take long enough to be considered engaging them.”
“Let me.” Solas snarled out. Oh, how she loved him when he got like this and the unfaltering smirk on her face let him know just that. He just had to convince her. The Inquisitor played games, she always has.
“I am willing to negotiate.” It must’ve killed him to compromise, to spit that plea out. Made his stomach churn to not get his way. Such a sore loser her wolf was.
The men rounded the curve of the cave then, a paltry 20 or so feet away. She clasped her phantom hand behind her back in a mimicry of his usual position.
“A few more moments now, and they’ll be upon me. What time have we for negotiating?”
A growl crept from his throat as he realized she was right, they were advancing on her, swords raised and expletives on their tongues.
He continued to make angry noises behind her, her amusement never faltering. He was right about some things; The right way is not always the good way.
“Your assistant chef is mine. She tastes all your meals.”
She turned then and for a moment, she looked just like she did years ago when she first uncovered his treachery. Her jaw set to avoid a quiver and her eyes gleaming before she blinked it away.
For a long searching moment as the men descended on them, they did nothing but stare at each other as he let her scour his eyes. In his eyes, she saw the will to protect and to rip those men apart outweighing the need to claim her. She saw a way out. If they were to give in, she may never eventually do what he world needs her to do.
But her emotions where high and her heart thrummed with the energy of a heat unfulfilled so she simply snarled and resolved to take her anger out on these bandits before her.
“No.”
Her hand ghosted over the rune, lyrium-blue light ebbing from the wall before her hand receded, the barrier between them untouched; A taunt if he ever saw it. To be so close to the men endangering his mate but being denied their murders was truly torture.
Her favored method was much messier than her normal cool demeanor would imply. Newly opened rift tearing apart the ribs of someone who dare got too close to the Inquisitor, sharp spikes of rock jabbing drowning lungs.
She whirled on the last man, ready to impale him with a shard of ice when a pale hand erupted from his chest, mouth bubbling with a terrified scream. She staggered back as the arm receded and extracted the still heart of the alpha with it. The body fell and revealed Solas, teeth lifted off his teeth in a snarl, eyes trained on her yet still in a daze. Rut.
If she was in her right mind she would’ve calmed him down with gentle petting on his arms and face and chest and put his sharp nose in her neck to ease him with her scent but she wasn’t in her right mind. She was high off adrenaline, heat, rage and fear. So she ran.
Her injured foot surely slowed her down and it certainly was not the right thing to do in that situation. An alpha’s first instinct is to chase and he is both alpha and wolf so her running truly was the worst thing for her to do.
Yet here she was, scrambling down the rocky slope of the coast, evading a grunting elven god while shrieking like a banshee.
She’d only ever seen him run in the face of dragons, otherwise he was aloof; letting enemies try their luck against him rather than hunt a foe down. Which is the exact opposite of what he was doing now. His chest heaved as he took in great gulps of air, flooding his lungs and hoping to find a morsel of her scent. Great hands swiped at her and each time she twisted, wriggling away from his growl of frustration.
Her nearly bare feet slid in sludge as his hands finally gripped her scruff tight, yanking her down with him. She let out a squeal as Solas bore his weight on her back, snuffling at the nape of her neck. Lathanna turned her head instinctively to give him access to mouth wet kisses along her pulse points. Fire burned in the depths of her guts as she whined and bucked backwards, half trying to unseat him and half itching to get closer.
He shushed her, cooing little whispers, and kicked her legs apart with the gentleness of a starved wolf. She supposed he is after all, starving. His mate denied long enough, he tore at the heavy vestments she wore.
She keened when he laved his tongue up the back of her neck to the tip of her ear, the sharp point twitching in response. Still, amidst the pleasure his unfamiliar proximity gave her, her mind rebelled. She was, in fact, sleeping with the enemy. The Enemy. Capital E.
“Solas." Lathanna trilled, blinking the blurriness from her eyes.
"We can't. “ She fought to close her legs but as she moved, his muscled thigh came up to halt her movements. She was so hot, the heat that lingered in her womb figuring she was safe enough with her mate and shot her veins with all the dopey hormones it could. Which is why she has an excuse when people ask later why she ground down and bit at the flesh of her arm to silence her cries.
He crooned at her and jerked his wrist, frost enveloping his hand significantly. Solas’s ice cold hand wormed between her squirming stomach and the ground, settling above the cramping heat in her gut and pressing down firmly. The shock of temperature made her keen and press against him wantonly.
His other arm was iron around her middle as he tugged her to all fours. Like a wolf. She realized. The thought should've set her stomach churning but she loved him. Every part of him. And she certainly enjoyed seeing this darker side to him.
“The ground would be less harsh in the Fade.” They could both freely walk in the Fade and no one spirit would dare approach them there.
Lathanna jerked her head back at the mention of the Fade. The rift between them coming to the forefront of her mind, reminding her that them mating was a very, very bad idea.
She shifted, drawing her limbs beneath her to clamber away from him, the heat of his body and his heavy scent in her nose drowning out all logic in her mind.
“No, no.” Solas panicked, hand cooling her heated skin gripping her jaw to the side harshly, demanding her attention once more. “No!” His shout focused her gaze back onto him, a wild look in his blue eyes.
“Stay with me, vhenan.”
He implored her desperately, eyes flying frantically over her face. She let out a whine to steady him, to assure him.
“ You stay with me .” She bit at the sharp angle of his jaw and much to her delight, he growled happily and snapped his jaws right back at her.
Her fingers squished in the mud and she turned her head to eye the warmth of the cabin. Without knowing it, a soft, displeased whine sounded from the throat he had clenched in his teeth. Solas’s eyes followed the path of hers and he agreed with a rumble of his own, hauling her up, long legs wrapping around his waist as he trudged to the cabin, the Inquisitor clinging to the broad expanse of his shoulders.
The warmth of the cabin only added to the inferno beneath the Herald’s skin, an angry squeal bubbling from her throat at the additional discomfort.
Should’ve just fucked me in the rain.
Solas kicked the door shut behind them, and sniffed at the crumpled bedding. Beneath her thick, honeyed scent was the bitter, residual scent of a rival alpha, almost certainly coming from the many nights she spent curled in the comfort of Rutherford's cape. Fog wrapped around the edges of his vision, his rut settling in for the first time in a thousand years. He held the squirming elf aloft against him as his one hand swiped the offending blankets to the floor.
He set her down on the bare mat and chased her up to the wall, her limbs scrambling to carry her until they were eye level.
Half her clothing was out in the rain and half being torn away by his probing hands, burning a path across the peaks of her jutting hip bones and bare thighs. Solas tore the last layer of fabric down her shoulders, exposing her bare chest and the valley of her stomach. He grumbled unhappily, She hasn’t been eating . She spotted the discontent in his eyes and surged up to catch his lips, nibbling until he was compelled to reciprocate, slipping his tongue past her teeth.
“Inquisitor,” He trilled, settling between her spread thighs as a delighted smile lit up his features. It had the opposite effect on her.
Her mouth curled and she swiped her nails at him, eyes alight with rage. He deflected most of her blows by gathering her hands in one big palm and trapping them above her head.
“Do not call me that, Fen’Harel.” He grimaced and nodded, seeing her point. Far too formal for their current position and much too teasing for how far gone they both were.
“Fair enough.”
He adored her when the heat got the best of her. It not only brought out his own rut but also heightened her emotions tremendously, so much so that the slightest thing would have her spitting wrath at him. Normally, she took the pent up frustration out by riding him to completion until she was quiet and content to let him lead. Each move she made endeared her further to him.
Her hips made aborted movements in an effort to flip him, but he shushed the worst of her curses away.
“I intend to cherish this.” The unspoken because we may never be together again lay between them.
He held her fidgeting hands down by her sides as he mouthed down, past the peaks of her heaving breasts to her core, drawing moist gasps from her lips. Sharp teeth suckled roughly on the skin of her hips, her thighs until deep blue bruises bloomed beneath the milky white.
“Solas!” Lathanna squealed as he descended, tongue parting her lips, long fingers shifting impossibly deep into her. Everything was so new, the many nights between them as apostate and Inquisitor paling in comparison to their union now. His added power electrifying every nerve and leaching into her muscles, her body jolting with each touch.
He jerked his wrist, scissoring slightly and flattened his tongue, lapping roughly. The knot in her belly grew as she kicked her bare legs out, heel catching his shoulder and disrupting his flow for just a moment before he chuckled and dove upon her again, closing his lips around her pearl.
Lathanna cursed and tried to shift her thighs shut, the relentless assault on her sensitive skin too much for her as she neared her peak. Broad shoulders held her open for him, his hands gripping her legs and pushing her apart impossibly far, the most intimate part of her exposed completely to his hungry eyes. Her scent was doubled here, slick dripping down the knob of his wrist from the effort.
Solas brought her over the edge with harsh suckles on her clit and three fingers crooked inside her, his other hand pulling her thigh aside.
He idly rubbed his thumb against her as he disrobed with his free hand, her legs jerking at the stimulation.
She felt warm . The first climax paired with the alpha bites that mottled her skin told her heat she’s fine, she’s being taken care of. The burning finally receded to a dull warmth lingering beneath her skin, sharp electric tinges shooting through her belly at each movement of his hand against her clit.
Lathanna whined impatiently, legs squirming to remove his attentions from between her legs, her shaking form needing a moment’s re st. Solas kicked his clothes away, fully bare to her lazily drifting eyes that roamed his body, catching on her own mating bite that marked his neck.
He laid down, each curve of her softened the hard edges of him as they lay tightly pressed together. A sharp nose sniffed at her neck and breathed deep, savoring her clean water and honey scent. To him, she smelled like the Fade just as you were entering or exiting; that eerie twilight moment that simultaneously smelt of freshness and a deep seduction that had not found replicated until her. That’s how it was with him. Always until her.
A harsh breath stuttered from her chest as she felt him pressed against her, his hand softly urging her head to the side to peer at him. She went easy, limbs pliant from heat and desire. Azure eyes met veridium as he palmed her breast and pulled sharply for the first time in years, much too long for such a hungry bond as theirs.
Suddenly she was being roughly urged to his lap, limbs curling around each other, his legs folded beneath him for momentum. Solas grinned and she smiled right back, so hard because he was so happy that his cheek dimpled and his whole face had such a boyish charm it stole her breath. In an instant, it felt like the first time they ever kissed. Creators, how awkward! But sweeter and more pure than anything that she’d ever done or ever will do.
He coerced her mouth open with little nibbles on her pinked lips as he surged forward, burying himself to the hilt within her. Lathanna buried her face in his sweat-slick chest, a sharp cry of surprised pain muffled in his flesh. A soft croon started up in his chest, shuddered out and comforting immediately.
“Since our last time?” Solas’s voice was gravelly with possessive desire. The knowledge she was untouched by another set his blood alight, ears twitching in bone-deep satisfaction.
“I would have no other.” She slurred, twisting her neck to meet his eyes but still lay her head upon him, the sterling bite at her nape gleaming at him in the dying sunlight.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself from her burning warmth, fresh slick dripping freely onto his lap. Solas dropped her weight suddenly, and she squealed from the sudden fullness. Lathana rocked her hips, the heavy weight of him inside her only getting worse as the constant motion urged his knot to full size.
Kitten licks at his lower lip brought his attention to her face, her cheeks rouged with exertion.
“Do not tie to me.” She implored, brows furrowed in building pleasure. A gasp ghosted across his face as he unconsciously ground deep within her, heavy hands urging her hips to circle down.
He was being selfish enough, mating her, biting her , fighting against her then chasing her down when his heart could take the distance no longer. He could at least stop himself from anchoring her to him. Anymore than he has, at least.
Solas nodded absently, yet understanding nonetheless and bucked up, hunting both their ends. She shattered around him after a particularly harsh thrust against the swollen spot inside her, her cunt clenching rhythmically around him, encouraging his own end. He followed not long after, willing away the instinct to tie her to him. The apostate released within her vice-tight depths, her stomach tingly pleasantly at the sudden heat.
The simply breathed together for a few moments but then she gave a heavy sigh and sat up a bit, enough to let him know she wanted to untangle from him
He pulled from her depths, a string of his seed leaking out her much to his satisfaction. She looked well and truly marked. They basked in the afterglow, the sun outside just on this side of being too harsh. Everything seemed a little too harsh right now. Lathanna rose, favoring her nude form as she searched for her clothes.
Solas glanced at the shadows and determined they had a few more hours, at most before they’d have to part and she’d return to either roaming the countryside or Skyhold and he’d return to… what? Plotting against her? Scheming to destroy the woman he loved and her world along with her? The reality thickened his tongue in his mouth, but he was desperate to keep her here for as long as he could so he forced his lame mouth to work.
“We have time. Just a few moments longer?” He fumbled scrabbled ungracefully for once in his life for the bedding on the floor, throwing it on the bed in an effort to appeal to the instinctual parts of their minds. See? This is safe. It’s a nice, warm bed that you can rest in. Do not go out in the cold.
She never ceased in tying her tattered robes around her trembling body.
“No.”
If he was in his right mind, he may have let her go, his logical side realizing begging would get him nowhere with his stubborn Inquisitor. But he wasn’t in his right mind so instead he whined petulantly in his throat.
“Why not?”
Lathanna seems to still then, half her chain mail tugged in her shoulders. She still can’t face him, can’t meet his searching eyes so she watched the sun sparkle off the rain-dampened grass, casting fractals on her face.
“I've dedicated myself in the service of the world. The world you threaten. You go this route and our paths will converge much sooner than you like. It will only continue with one of our deaths.” She smoothed down her wrinkled robe, sweetened with her dried slick.
“The world needs your death, and perhaps I am selfish but-"
She drew close, sad eyes flooding as she gripped his white-knuckled hands. Staring unfocused with her gaze darting all over his face, as if this position between them would never be recreated no matter how many millennia passed.
“I pray it receives mine. I cannot live my life knowing I ended yours.”
He curled his lip in sudden indignant rage; she shouldn’t have to pay the price for him bisecting the world. Yet she does, and she will each day he threatens it, as long as he threatens it.
“What has the world done for you?” Solas demanded clutching her hands, feeling the callouses caused by her spirit blade for perhaps the final time.
Lathanna smiled, small and watery, the line of her lips trembling with a deep sorrow.
“It brought me you, didn’t it?”
Her fingers forcibly untangled with his, as she stepped into the center of the room, hand fishing something from the pocket on her side.
“Ir abelas, vhenan.” And she slipped on her Ring of Doubt and disappeared from his life.
So that’s how it feels.
He strained to hear her footsteps but he knew he never would. Solas couldn’t seem to stop himself from burning the cabin to the ground, the siren scent of her all too tempting, seductive enough to make him stray from his duty.
He also couldn’t stop himself from collecting the remains of her clothing from their outside scuffle and fastening them beneath his pelt, a secret comfort from his mate to him alone, something to cling to in the dark days to follow.