Work Text:
The caves beneath the keep were beautiful, rocks covered in moss and fungus, lights glowing dimly all around the waterfall. Above them, two massive stone stags stood guard over the serene landscape.
For the first time since receiving the Anchor, Lavellan found her mind calming. Solas’ hand in her own was a steady weight by her side, and she couldn’t imagine any place she’d rather be at this time.
Reaching over to brush his hand over her cheek, Solas stopped their slow walk. “The veil is thin here. Can you feel it on your skin, tingling?”
Leaning into his touch, Lavellan smiled, nodding. “Though that may just be due to you being by my side.”
Solas chuckled, leading them further into the cave. “I was trying to determine some way to show you what you mean to me.”
“Well, I’m listening, and I can offer a few suggestions.”
“I shall bear that in mind,” Solas chuckled once more. “For now, the best gift I can offer is the truth.”
Leading her to sit on a mossy stone, Solas knelt down. “You are unique. In all of Thedas, I never expected to find someone who could draw my attention away from the Fade. You have become important to me. More important than I could have imagined.”
Lavellan smiled, reaching over to caress her lover's cheek. “I feel the same. I do not regret one moment I have spent with you.”
“Which is why I must tell you the truth.”
“The truth? What have you been hiding from me, Solas?”
“Your face, the vallaslin.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What about it? They honor the elven gods.”
“In my journeys in the fade, I have seen many things. I have discovered what those marks truly mean.” Solas adjusted on his knees, leaning forward so he could cup her face. “They are slave markings. Or, at least they were at the time of ancient Allathan.
“What?” Recoiling back, she shook off his hands. “My clan's keepers said they honored the gods. These are their symbols. Are you saying we have been wrong?”
“A noble would mark his slaves to honor the god he worshiped. After Allathan fell, the Dalish forgot.”
“So this is just another thing we got wrong.” Lavellan felt tears prickling at the corner of her eyes as she shrunk in on herself.
“I’m sorry Lavellan.” Leaning forward again, Solas took care to gently pull her close into his chest.
“My people vowed never to submit to slavery.”
“I know, vhenan. You could not have known. I’m so sorry for causing you pain.” Pulling back to look into her eyes, he brushed away the stray tears that had fallen. “I look at you, and I see what you truly are. You deserve better than what those cruel marks mean.”
Sitting up, Lavellan took a moment to compose herself. When her tears had subsided, she took Solas’ hands into her own. “Take them from me.”
“What?”
“Take the vallaslin away.”
He must have seen the resolve in her expression, because Solas did not try to argue. Cupping her face in his hands, he gently ran his thumbs over her eyelids, soothing them shut. Moments later, he removed his hands, and a soft glow erupted from his palms, casting her face in a cool light. Solas watched the marks disappear as he waved his hands, the expression on his lover's face settling into something calmer.
He ran his hands through her hair, taking a moment to study her smooth, unblemished skin. Now free from the markings, it was like looking at a woman re-born.
“It is done.” Solas placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “You are free.”
As Lavellan’s eyes met his once more, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning in for a passionate kiss. The pair sat like that for a moment, a tangle of limbs on the floor of an ancient cave, only worried about each other.
When Solas pulled back, Lavellan noticed that he looked troubled.
With a sigh, Solas leaned forward to rest his forehead against her shoulder. “There is something else, vhenan. Something I have been keeping from you.”
“And what might that be? More history that the Dalish got wrong?” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.
“It’s not that, I— I should have ended this long ago.”
“Solas? What are you—”
“I have been keeping things from you, vhenan. Big things, not just things about the history of the elves.” Solas pushed himself back to his feet, and began pacing. “I have distracted you from your duties. “
Lavellan leapt to her feet, barely a step behind him. “I will not give up on you Solas! I will not give up on us! Whatever your secret is, we can figure it out together.”
“Vhenan, we—”
Lavellan threw her arms around his back, effectively cutting him off.
“Please Solas, don’t cast me aside because you believe I cannot handle this. I love you.”
“My heart, I—” Placing his hands atop of hers, he wilted. “I will tell you. I will tell you in due time, but you must trust me.”
“With my life,” she promised, pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades.
Turning in her hold, he takes her hands in his.
“I am not who you think I am, I am sorry for deceiving you vhenan.” Lifting her hands, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
Before he could continue, the Anchor sparked to life in Lavellan’s arm. Screaming, she fell to her knees, clutching at it as blots of green lightning fly around her.
“Vhenan!” Solas is by her side once more in an instant, and before she can process it, his eyes are glowing silver, and the Anchor disappears.
“Solas…” she breathes, frozen, “what was that?”
“I—” Solas turns away, pacing. “I did not intend for you to find out this way. I am not who you think I am, I’m sorry for deceiving you, vhenan.”
Lavellan reaches out for him, desperately grasping at his arm to halt his pacing.
“Then tell me who you are. All I ask is that you trust me enough to let me in, Solas.”
The air is tense as Solas stills. “Very well.”
He guides her back to the rock and sits by her side. The whole world seemed to stop as he explained, explained who he was, where he came from. Explained why he was here. When he was finished, Lavellan buried her head in her hands, thinking.
“We aren’t even people to you,” she noted.
“Not at first, but you showed me I was wrong. You have become everything to me.”
“You cannot stay here, Dread Wolf.”
“And I do not intend to.” Solas reaches for her hand, hesitant. When he senses no resistance, he pulls it slowly away from her face. “Will you go with me, vhenan?”
Lavellan leaned into his shoulder, pondering his question. “What about the inquisition?”
“I will not leave until we have sealed the rift.” Solas stood, pulling away from her. “I do not expect an answer now, but please, think about it.”
With that, he left her to contemplate her decision alone in the darkness.
Later, when the orb broke, Lavellan watched Solas break with it. She stumbled her way across the uneven ground of the tower, desperate to be near him, to comfort him.
“Solas, I’m so sorry.”
“No, no my heart. This is not your fault.”
“But the orb, your power—”
“We will find another way.”
Solas grasped her face between his palms, his eyes boring deep into her soul. Below, someone shouted for them.
“We will find another way, Lavellan. Come find me when the dust settles.”
He kissed her, deep and hard, and when she finally came back to her senses, she was alone.
By the time Lavellan finally made her way up the summit, she allowed herself to breathe freely for the first time since defeating Corypheus. In the distance, she spotted the man she was searching for.
“Solas!” She rushed towards him, nearly tripping over the old ruin of the courtyard in her haste. When she finally sunk into his arms, it felt like coming home.
“Vhenan, there you are.”
He was warm in her arms, his very being rippled with more power than even the anchor in her own arm. As they sunk to the ground together, a giddy sort of joy began to fill Lavellan’s heart.
“I take it you have decided?” Solas asked, pressing a kiss to her hair.
“Take me with you, Solas.”
He chuckled. “What is the old Daelish curse? ‘May the Dread Wolf take you’?”
“And so he did.”