The following is a one-shot taking place in Inquisition with elven rogue Lavellan during a romance with Solas.

Very heavy spoilers- obviously.

- * l " 9

Fen'vhenan Lavellan was still strange to Solas. He was with her consistently, his barriers important enough to her that she seemed unable to go anywhere without him, yet every day she surprised him. He wondered at how she saw things. Oh her marks may have given her to Falon'din, but her spirit was obviously meant for Fen'harel.

Tonight they sat at a campfire in the Exalted Plains, making camp before exploring the area fully. It was a lovely evening, one meant for sitting and telling tales. Varric had been happy to oblige, but his was not the only voice meant for stories in this group. He and Vhen had been taking turns all night while Solas and the Iron Bull listened in wonder. Varric told of current events, what he had seen and the grand adventures of Thedas. Lavellan showed her spirit, telling older tales- though not the versions Solas had heard from the Dalish. Hers were challenging, and (if Solas was being generous in his assessment) closer to the truth than most of the Keepers he had heard.

The night had grown late, but the fire was going strong. Varric wound up,a tale and looked to Vhen. "Your turn, Wolfy." The nickname had arisen one day after she had scared a pack off in her own. It grated on Solas, but she seemed to grin and chuckle every time it was spoken.

"It's pretty late," the Dalish protested. "We should probably stop."

"One more, boss" Bull begged.

Fen'vhenan sighed. "One more. Any suggestion?"

Varric thought. "You spoke about that one figure before. The trickster..."

"Fen'harel," Vhen provided. "I... you'll have to pardon me. Dalish don't speak of him much. Not even the name."

"My apologies..."

"I'm not a normal Dalish," Vhen reminded. Then, slower, "You want a story of the wolf I was named after?"

Solas blinked. "Your name is taken from the elven god of treachery?"

Vhen nodded, looking at him closely. "My father was Fen'assan- the wolf's arrow. I was meant to be the heart of the wolf, though my keeper always laughed and called me wolf-hearted." She smiled, biting her bottom lip. "I know the tale for tonight.

"There was a girl who lived with her clan happily, growing up with the bow and the hunters. She loved her mother and her father, and her sisters. The girl adored her family and offered thanks daily for them.

"Just after her eighth birthday, the girl was in the forest when her brother fell from a tree. She was scared and reached to help him, healing his scrapes and revealing she had magic. Her family was devastated, as there were already four mages in the clan. So the girl cried and cried, begging for aide.

"The girl asked Dirthamen to keep her secret, to no avail. She begged Sylaise to let her keep her family. She made promises to Elgar'nan and Mythal should they allow her to remain. None of them answered.

"The day came when the girl was to leave the clan. Her mother took her hand before she left and told her the route to a woman in the woods who she had been told would take care of her daughter. Sad, upset, the child went into the woods and cried as she wandered down the path. And as she did she begged for the Dread Wolf to take her, since she no longer wanted to live. And she followed the directions on her route. All she had was a basket of provisions and a red cape her mother had given her to remember them by.

"As the girl was walking a man approached from the woods. 'Where are you going?' he asked her, smiling at her. 'I'm going to live with an old woman in the wilds,' she replied. When he asked the location that he may see her safely there, she told him, having no reason to lie.

"What the girl could not know was that his man was Fen'harel, there to assess her wish and give her what her heart truly desired. He had her scent and knew her name. As the girl went into the wilds further, the Wolf rushed ahead and found the old woman she was guided to.

"Fen'harel found the woman cruel and cold, a powerful witch who would end the girls life, so instead of leaving the woman he gobbled her up- a mercy so that she would not hurt the child. Soon the girl came. Not wanting to show his cruel justice to a faint heart he hid his form and made his voice as the old witch.

"The girl asked many questions, and he answered all in his fashion. Fen'harel is swift to think after all, and lies come easy to his tongue. Yet the girl was dismayed and wary..."

Solas realized as she halted the story that he was leaning forward, drawn in and actually eager for the end even as he feared it.

"What happened then, boss?" Bull asked, as entranced as the others.

Fen'vhenan smiled and answered. "To this day nobody knows what question little red asked that the Dread Wolf could not lie. Yet she did find one, and he revealed himself to her. And the girl cried, thinking he would end her life when she truly just wished to be home. Instead... he took her in his own fashion. He removed the magic, claiming it as his own, and she was able to return to the clan."

Silence reigned over the campfire. "So he helped her?" Varric asked. "No price?"

Vhenan shrugged, looking across the fire. "Some Dalish would say he had her scent, and that was price enough."

The dwarf seemed troubled. "You've spoken of Fen'harel before, you said he always demands a price," he pressed.

Solas watched as Vhen stood. "Then hers was lost to history. Excuse me." And so speaking she left, walking to her tent.

It was thirty minutes later the elven girl heard a rustle outside her tent and the flap opened. Solas entered, puzzled.

"Your story was new to me," he admitted. "The other Dalish do not seem to speak of it. I would like to know the real ending."

Vhen hung her head and sighed. "Of course you would pick up on that. The others don't need the tale." She met his eyes, feeling somehow that she was drawn to tell him the truth. "The girl was returned, and proved she no longer had magic, but the clan would not take her. Her family shunned her. This too Fen'harel had anticipated, and as she left again he whispered in her ear that she was his. Clanless, alone, she worked as his will- truly taken by the Dread Wolf."

Solas blinked. "That... is how it is spoken?"

Vhen nodded. "It is. It isn't often stated if she was happy, but... She was truly free. I like to think she was."

"Free? She was bound!"

"Maybe. Or maybe the Wolf cares about his charges, and she was clan to him. Perhaps he considered her his lethallan." Vhen stretched a bit, closing her eyes briefly. "At any rate, she eventually found a mate and when she had children passed the skills she learned to them. But never again magic. It was lost to her line."

Solas saw a smile on her face, thin but noticeable. "You are from her line."

Fen'vhenan nodded. "That I am. Supposedly, at least." She chuckled a bit. "Who knows if there is anything to the legend."

Solas had to bite his tongue from saying there was. He knew; he remembered the startled child well. She was nothing like the calm, ruthless Vhenan he saw fight demons. The child must have taken her duty quite seriously after he helped her in the Fade and spoke to her afterwards.

A blade. He had demanded she become a weapon. As a woman she must have asked the same of her children. The result was...

Stunning.

"Sleep well then, da'lana," Solas teased.

"Da'lana?" Vhen asked, curious.

Solas blushed. "Little red. I thought it appropriate for the red-caped figure you described."

"Da'lana," Lavellan repeated, smiling. "So it is." She ran a finger through her own red hair. "If you must then."

~ I'd rather call you lethallan. ~

Solas banished the thought as it appeared, looking at her a moment before retiring.

When Fen'vhenan's birthday came weeks later she was surprised to find a package on the chair at the head of the breakfast table. Unwrapping it, she found a brilliant red cloak lined with grey fur. Wolf fur, she caught. She smiled at the gift, wondering who had made it appear, until her eyes wandered down the table to the elven apostate near the opposite end. He caught her gaze and smirked knowingly.

She swore, he could be as unreadable as the Dread Wolf.