Chapter Text
Solas
Early in our acquaintance the Herald asked me if I'd joined the Inquisition to enrich my experiences in the Fade. Her curiosity delighted me, as it has always done, but I answered her truthfully when I told her I'd stayed to help fight the greatest threat Thedas has ever known.
While the veracity of my answer has not changed, it was not the whole truth, even then. I had not yet discovered the depth and breadth of her character, and although the importance of the anchor embedded in her flesh could not be questioned, she intrigued me in a way I'd never before experienced.
Who was this small Dalish woman who had not only survived the blast at the Conclave, but who had also walked physically in the Fade? Never mind that her body has survived the ordeal, more importantly her mind was intact. Well before she was appointed Inquisitor, her charismatic leadership set the tone for us all.
She was, in a word, remarkable. No one could blame me for wishing to stay by her side and witness how she would change history. I had no foreknowledge that she would change me, as well.
There is some irony that if not for Commander Cullen’s attentions, or the wisdom of Cole’s insight, I many not have found the greatest bliss I have ever known.
There is her touch, which gentle though it is, incites me to a passion I can hardly contain. There is her taste, richer than an aged wine, yet as sweet as the nectar sipped from spring’s first blossom. There is the way her body fits to mine in such a manner than I forget myself completely and there is only the bliss of our joining. And yet, more than any of those things, there is something else. A thing so unexpected and inexplicable that I never thought to find in this mortal world of decay and death.
There is the way in which her spirit sings to mine, filling all the dark corners of my soul, bringing to life within me all that I believed was long lost to me.
It is as miraculous as everything else about her. I cannot imagine a world without her in it.
The fear remains, but now it is of a different sort. It is the fear that she will come to harm as she risks herself on behalf of us all.
I protect her with my magic as best I may, but each blade that threatens her, every spell that causes her pain, arouses in me a terror I cannot truly describe. One that I must keep suppressed or put her yet in more danger.
I do not allow myself to consider the future, for the day will surely come when she must face Corypheus, himself. After that, I do not know what what shall become of us, but I fear it will destroy us both.
For now, I only know that she is ma vhenan, my heart. Nothing else matters.