After Cullen reports on the death of my clan, I quickly dismiss the meeting and exit to the main hall, heading for the privacy of my room. I said nothing to the people who greet me as I quickly traverse through the space and remaining stone-faced as I go through the door leading to my private chambers. I angrily grab the bottle of wine on the table by the settee and head to the closet, divesting myself of my clothing to pull a sleeping tunic over my head. Flopping down on the bed, I draw a blanket around me and grab the bottle of wine, taking a long swallow.

Fenedhis, how could this happen? Now my clan is gone, and any hope of going back home after this was all over destroyed. Fuck, why? Because I was trying to do things the diplomatic way, I had to be fucking diplomatic. Gulping the wine doesn’t slow my rage. The shaking of my body and the flaring mark give away my emotional state. My eyes are dry. The need to destroy something is growing.

Once the last swallow of wine is finished, the bottle goes crashing against the wall. I feel a smidge better. Suddenly Cole appears. The ghost boy turned corporeal always knows when something is wrong, “you’re hurting, angry, wanting to lash out.”

I take a deep breath, calming my nerves. “I know, Cole, which is why I need you to leave me be for a while.”

He gives me a steady look, “Okay, but if you need me, I’m here.”

“Thank you, Cole.”

A covered plate on the table shows that Nadia brought me food, but it is the last thing on my mind now. Reaching for a glass of water, I walk over to the side of the bed I should rest.

I make it a point to head into the fade. Perhaps I can deal with my anger here. The fade is like a mage’s training hall, and it’s always worked for me. I freeze a stone and then send both a fire strike and lightning blast into it, decimating it, and smirk wryly as the rock crumbles. That’s better, but I need to do more. Soon I am throwing a flurry of spells and watching the surrounding devastation. Everything shattering around me into pieces like my heart is. I no longer worry about control. I keep casting and casting, but it’s still not enough. My entire world is crumbling. My lover broke things off without reason. I can never go home, and because of having this stupid mark, people expect me to be their diplomat and hero. What good is having power if I can’t use it to protect my own?

I feel another presence. No one should be here, and in my frame of mind, lob a fire strike in that direction. Solas defects the fire strike looking at me with surprise as I turn to see who it is. “What do you want, Solas?” I ask unapologetically as he has intruded. I turned away to cast a stone fist at some icy stalactites, following up with a lightning strike and another fire strike, sending icy particles everywhere.

Solas comes to stand behind me as I use the power of the mark to move more rocks over to where I want them. Before casting again. He says nothing, watching me as I create mountains and rocks in the fade’s fabric to destroy them with my magic. My mana is dwindling, but my rage feels eternal. Finally, my last spell flickers and goes out. I spent my energy and drop to my knees in exhaustion.

Solas walks over to me, crouching down looking at me with a worried expression. I gaze at him angrily. “You didn’t answer my question, Solas. What do you want?”

“Cullen and Cole came to me,” he says as he draws closer to me, sitting down, “I came to check on you.”

“Well, you’ve seen me, and obviously I’m fine, now leave,” I say, glaring at him.

Solas reaches over to cup my face and brush my cheek with his thumb. “Vhenan,” He says sadly.

Anger brews within me again as my mark flickers, “Don’t,” I choke, pushing him away and standing quickly, “just leave me alone!”

I walk away, parting the fade and stepping through. Solas follows, “Please, Ellana, it’s not safe in your state,” He calls as he follows me. I can never outrun him here. I need to wake up.

As he reaches to grab my arm… I start awake with my heart in my throat. Solas was chasing me in the fade. Perhaps now I can have the privacy I crave. Sitting up, I reach over to pour a glass of water from the pitcher on the nightstand and drink it. Why wouldn’t he leave me be? As I lay back down, the Well, with its many voices, speaks out. “He’s got your scent.”

“What?????” Jolting up in the bed, my mind races. Solas broke things off with me after I agreed to take the power within the Well. Not that there was much choice. The Well would have been a powerful boon to Corypheus. It was, after all, the collective knowledge of Mythal’s servants. Surprisingly, Solas refused it and stated that Morrigan wasn’t the right person to take the knowledge and memories of the Dalish. That left only one option. It had to be me. I drank from the Well of Sorrows. Now the voices of those servants speak to me.

“You have his mark.” The Well says louder. “Who?” I ask curiously.

“Fen’harel, he’s got your scent. You have his mark.”

“Is Solas? Fen’harel?” I ask, terrified to hear the answer.

“Yes,” the Well answers.

“And I have his mark?” I look down at my hand in disbelief as the mark flickers to life.

“Yes.” The answer seemed to reverberate in my head.

Every story about Fen’harel I was told as a len came running back into my head. Supposedly the mark was created by an orb that was in Corypheus’ possession. Solas had told me it was of Elven origin, but not that it was… his orb. He caused this. But before I can give it any more thought, I hear the door to my chambers slam open and someone running up the steps. It is almost dark now, so I can barely make out his bald head as Solas races up the steps and stops at the sofa once he sees me.

Taking a deep breath to portray a calm I don’t feel. I stand to light two lanterns in the room and stoke the fireplace. “Since you feel compelled to invade my privacy not once but twice. Say what you need to say, and then please leave.” He needs to leave. I need time to think.

“I will not,” He says stubbornly, “you are not alright. Even if you say, you are.”
It’s true, but having him here makes things even more complicated right now. Does he not understand space? Why does he care anyway? He broke things off with me. He’s fucking Fen’harel, and the orb and mark with all its powers are his. His lies were all of omission. Realization hits me…. that’s why he “cares” his power is attached to me, and he wants it back. My astonishment turns to deep, seething anger.

Narrowing my eyes, I glare at him. “Look, Solas, or should I say Fen’Harel,” His eyes widen at the use of his proper name, “Yes, the Well has been quite forthcoming. Is that what you were afraid of when I drank from it?” Studying his reaction, he pales at my words. “It’s been a fairly shitty day,” my voice gets louder, “my clan is dead, and I find out that my previous lover is the fucking dread wolf!” I throw my hands in the air and start pacing. “And that should be enough for anyone, but then I find out the bloody orb that started this mess was yours, to begin with. Fenedhis, go away. You’ve helped enough already!” I turn my back on him, heading to the bed. I sit down cross-legged and face away from him, looking over the balcony.

The bed sinks as he moves to sit behind me. No, if he touches me right now, I will break down. He needs to leave. “Don’t you get it?” I spit out angrily, “You are not wanted.”

Solas puts his arms around me, and I choke on a sob. “Please go.” He tightens his grasp, pulling me to his chest, and I collapse against him. I want to turn into his embrace and sob, but that would only extend my pain. It is time for him to break, not me.

“You have every reason to be angry with me, Vhenan,” Solas says calmly, “But I still refuse to leave you like this.”

“Anger, you think this mere anger,” My eyes flash dangerously in the mark’s glow as I turn to face him. I want to see that calm facade of his crack. “Right now, I want vengeance. I want destruction. I want to see you hurt! You may not have outright lied to me, but you didn’t tell me the truth either. I have no clan and no future because of you. Then you dare to call me Vhenan!”

Pulling myself out of his embrace gives me the strength I need to continue, “I don’t know how Corypheus got your orb, and I don’t care. But it’s pretty clear to me you only care for me to get to this.” I raise the mark that is flickering brightly now in the room. “After all, you said it yourself, you wanted to find what caused the breach, but you knew all along that it was the mark. So you stayed close to me and with the inquisition because of that fact. You tricked me, Fitting, isn’t it as the trickster god?”

He looks at me emotionlessly after my tirade. I smirk savagely and clap my hands, mock applauding him. “Well done! How you must have laughed at the silly Dalish girl falling in love with you.”

“Ellana,” Solas says softly.

“Now that we all know who we are,” I say scornfully, “how would the God Fen’Harel like me to address him, Solas, Dread Wolf, my lord?” His jaw twitches as I keep on. “Or perhaps you prefer something with a bit more flair, Mirthadra Harellan?” I offer with a saccharine-sweet tone.

He grabs my arms hard enough to bruise, and I look up at him, defiantly daring him to hurt me. He tightens his grasp, and something flickers in his gaze. I realize Solas is very close to losing control. “Well, which is it? It must have been so trying to hang out with us mortals and our silly worries and beliefs.”

“Enough,” Solas growls as he roughly pushes me down on the bed, using his body and arms to keep me pinned as my challenging gaze meets his, “You are provoking me, Da’len.”

A God has pinned on my bed, and it should terrify me, but my anger has taken control. “What are you going to do about it, Fen’Harel?”

He leans down and viciously bites my neck, almost hard enough to draw blood. This causes me to glare at him angrily, but also something else. Excitement. That is a bewildering response.

“I did not get close to you,” he says before leaning down to bite the other side of my neck, “because of the mark.” He lifts his head to look at his handy work with a smug grin.

Ingoing my reaction, I snort cynically. “Then what was your purpose, Fen’harel?”

He leans down again to nip my nipple through my tunic. I startle as he does this, and warmth spreads through me. I’m angry and hurt, but… that bewildering feeling returned, and I feel a push from the Well. Keep going.

“My purpose right now,” Solas says firmly with a smirk, “is to get you undressed.” He takes his hand and, using a bit of fire magic, burns a line up my tunic. As the fabric falls away, I feel the cooler air of the room hit my bare chest and shiver slightly.

“You seem awful sure of yourself, Dread Wolf,” I deadpan.

He growls, ripping the small clothes off of me, before taking possession of my mouth. I give him no response until he pinches my nipple painfully, which causes me to gasp. He takes the opening and deepens his kiss as he roughly gropes my body. Then he moves his lips to my ear and giving a quick hard bite, “You have been in control of this entire situation, Vhenan,” He says brutally, “Pushing the limits of my self-discipline.”

I turn my head to look at him disbelievingly. “As if this naïve little dalish girl would ever have the power to do such a thing,” I taunt, “the great, mighty, Fen’Harel would never….”

He kisses me brutally before I can finish my sentence. His fingers are finding my breasts as he teases them, leaving me breathless and chasing the thought out of my mind before he finally pulls his head back for some much-needed air. Realizing that my hands are now free, I push him and flip us over. Sitting on him, I look at him coldly as I debate between walking away or staying. I smirk wryly, realizing that desire is winning out over anger, although I am pissed.

Reaching over to pull the dagger from my bedside stand, he gives me a look of surprise that turns into a feral grin as I make quick work of his tunic and breeches before tossing the dagger aside. I lean, biting his shoulder hard as my hands work their way over his body. He growls in response, bringing his hands back to my breasts. I pull away, shaking my head. Solas gives me a defiant glance before lowering his hands. I decided that some deliciously evil retribution is called for. Aligning our bodies, I quickly drop my hips. The action has the effect of making us both gasp for a moment. I move methodically and slowly, knowing that my movement is not entirely his normal speed. He reaches over to grasp my hips. I shake my head again at him. “You said I was in control here. Prove it because I’m not sure I believe you.” There is more than one way to make a person lose control, and I’m going to use everything at my disposal.

Solas drops his hands, letting me have my way. I keep my movements painfully slow, purposely taunting him. Until finally, his eyes pop open. I can see that telltale flicker again, the one I saw before, and realize he is nearing his limit.
“Fenedhis lasa!” He says before grabbing me to flip me as I had done earlier. However, we are near the edge of the bed, and the next thing I know, I am hitting the floor with a thump and then a softer thump as Solas lands on top of me.

I am stunned for a moment, and then I laugh. I hear Solas’ laugh join mine. “Are you alright, Vhenan?” He asks. I nod as he experimentally moves his hips to test our position. “You really shouldn’t tease Fen’Harel,” he growled softly.

His voice vibrates in my ear, and I shudder in response as desire reignites. His pace picks up, and he pins my hips to the floor with his hands. I can’t move. I settle for running my hands down his back and grazing his sides with my nails until my hands finally come to rest on his ass. He shifts slightly, changing his position, and a moan escapes my lips as this new angle seems to hit every pleasure point with each movement. My nails dig into his skin, causing him to increase his pace. My breath catches as I look up at Solas. His eyes are closed, oblivious to my gaze. “Ma lath,” I reach my hand to cup his angular jaw, “look at me. I want to see all of you.”

He opens his eyes with a slight look of surprise but does as I ask. Solas’ intense gaze pushes me over the edge, and somehow I keep my own eyes open as my body shudders beneath him. His release comes moments after once again. His face contorts slightly with pleasure as he mindfully keeps his gaze on mine. We continue to focus on each other as our breathing slows. Solas leans down to place a feathery light kiss on my lips. “Perhaps we should move to somewhere more comfortable,” he says.

“Sounds reasonable,” But before I can stand, he plucks me up, setting me on the bed. Reaching for the glass of water, I take a sip before offering it to him. “I think we have things to talk about. Don’t you dare think for one second, you are getting off that easily…”