Work Text:
Snow drifted in sheets along the hills and mountains, settling in the valley below Skyhold. It rose to the waists of most men in the deepest of places. Inquisition soldiers were pounding wooden stakes into the ground, holding the fabric of their tents taught enough for the powdery substance to slide right off. Commander Cullen surveyed them from his mount, pointing towards a group of smaller tents where many refugees were staying, “Make sure to tie them down as well. It’s supposed to storm tonight and I won’t have any of these people without shelter.” A few of his men hurried away with ropes and hammers, carrying buckets of other such supplies. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed tightly, “Andraste’s ass,” he murmured, “All this snow will be the death of me.”
“I don’t mind it too much,” a voice carried over as the speaker rode up on her mount: a black and white speckled mare. Cullen peered over at her from the corner of his eye, dropping his hand to the horn of his saddle. “Aminthia,” he greeted her, his chestnut stallion whinnying as he turned them towards the Inquisitor, “I was not expecting you to make the trek down here so soon after your arrival from the Western Approach.” He made a point to pull the fur of his coat around himself tighter. Aminthia Lavellan pulled on the reins, bringing her mare to a halt. Solas strode his alongside her, the black steed bumping his head against her mare with a snort. Neither of the elves wore much when it came to protective wear against the chill. “It’s a welcome change to be out of the heat,” she responded with a small smile. Cullen sat up straight, his hands rested on the hilt of his sword, “Well you would be the only one to think so. Most people here are aching for a break in the cold.”
“The sunshine helps,” Aminthia responded, glancing up as she spoke. There wasn’t much for cloud cover, and it was a welcome sign that perhaps a storm would not be coming after all. The sun’s rays made the snow glisten brightly. It was almost hard to look at. The corners of Cullen’s mouth turned upwards slightly, “I suppose it does.” He then tensed his shoulders, looking more dignified as a commanding officer should look, “Did you come down here to inspect the tents? To see how the soldiers were doing?” Aminthia shook her head, “Not exactly.”
Solas’ eyebrows rose slightly, “I am confused. You had said that this was the sole purpose of our short journey to the valley, yet I seem to be mistaken?” Aminthia turned to him, her smile faltering slightly, “Oh, well.. I do expect to see how the soldiers are doing,” she offered in reply. He didn’t pull his eyes from her, “There was something else on your mind that you wished to do then?”
“Sort of.”
Cullen’s horse reared its head in boredom, shaking out its mane. He tugged on the reins, “I suppose I should leave you to it then. I will see you later tonight in the War Room, Inquisitor.” With that he pulled away, his horse plowing through the snow as if there were none.
Once the commander was out of earshot Solas spoke again, “Is there a reason for the deception?” He didn’t seem upset, but rather mildly annoyed. Aminthia wrung her fingers around her reins, the leather stretching under her hands, “I-I am not d-deceiving you, Solas,” she muttered, a slight stutter in her words. He shifted his weight, his back straight, “Oh? You and I both know that you are a bad liar. Horrible, in fact.” Was he smirking? The corners of his mouth were turned upwards just slightly. She glanced away from him, breaking their eye contact, “Perhaps I.. Wanted to ride with you? Sp-spend a little time.. with you.” Creators she was bad at this. She had hoped to share some privacy with him without actually asking to do so. A slight blush crept up her neck, and it wasn’t from the cold.
Solas turned his horse away, his heels kicking into its sides as he clicked his tongue. Aminthia stared after him confused, “Solas?”
“Follow me,” he ushered. She hesitated a moment or two, watching his steed stride through the snow down the path. It wasn’t as deep as the untouched snow in the valley was, only coming up to the ankles of a man. Various Inquisition soldiers and refugees stopped their busy work to watch as the Inquisitor and her Elven advisor passed, many of them showing their respect with a bow of their heads or placing their arm across their chests. And while Aminthia was down here, she figured she should keep to her word, looking over the tents and wagons that she passed, making sure all met her standard; which they did. It seemed Commander Cullen trained his men well, and not just on the battlefield, but in survival as well. She knew well some of these men would be here in the valley for many moons, while others will be going to Emprise du Lion soon, an equally snowy and cold place.
Having been thinking of these things Aminthia did not notice when she was trailing behind Solas and his steed. Promptly shaking her head to focus on the task at hand, she gave her mare a swift kick to catch up, the horse whinnying and plowing her way through the snow in a hurry. At this, Solas’ horse took it as a challenge and began to trot at a quicker pace, shaking his head with a snort. Aminthia found herself grinning slyly, her fingers tightening on the reins. She gave her mare another kick, this time clicking her tongue as a cue to go into a canter- not quite at full gallop, but quicker than Solas’ steed. She came up next to him in no time, passing him by a few paces before looking back at him, “Do you fancy a race Solas? I’m sure I will win.”
Solas had an amused look to his eyes, however his smile was just slight, “Inquisitor I do not believe this is something worth our time-”
“You’re just backing out because you know you’ll lose,” she taunted, her mare shaking out her mane. She was still a few paces in front of him her eyes sparkling with their childlike roundness. Solas sighed, “No. In fact I am quite certain that it is I who will be victorious. However, I still stand by my thought on how this is a waste of time. Plus you must be aware that both our horses are at a disadvantage in this snow.”
“That’s what makes it fun,” she retorted, pulling on the reins and coming to a stop. Solas came up besides her, resting his hands on the horn of his saddle. There was a mischievous fire in his eyes that she could see, but she knew she had to do more to get him to agree. She pouted her lips just slightly, giving him the best sad-eyes she could manage, “You wouldn’t even race me for a bet? 5 silvers perhaps?” The Apostate rose his brow, his smile turning into a smirk, “Surely you know better than to bet against me, Vhenan.” With that word rolling off his lips in a hushed whisper, she found her heart skipping a beat. It happened every time. And he knew it too, using it to take advantage of the situation- using it to suddenly get the upper hand and steer his horse into a full on gallop up the trail, leaving her in the powered snow dust behind.
“Hey!” She called, her cheeks bright red as she came to the conclusion that she was in love with a cheating hobo. Clicking her tongue and digging her heels into her mare’s sides, she raced to catch up as quickly as she could. Now she knew she could not let him win! Not because of the silvers, but because of the pride.
With Solas’ head start, he was far ahead of Aminthia. But she had her own advantage; having hiked these trails many times in the past months, she knew where this one was headed, and she knew a shortcut. Turning abruptly up a steeper path, she knew she would beat him to their final destination if she could urge her horse to go faster. However this shortcut was hidden by many large boulders and trees, so she would not be able to see Solas until they reached the clearing he was taking her to. Therefore she had no way of knowing if she were ahead or not. Oh well, it made the race all the more fun!
Crashing through the snow like a druffalo herd, Aminthia broke through the path to a sudden clearing, her mare whinnying and prancing about the space to find that they were the victors. Solas came into view only a few moments later, his steed also whinnying and playfully nipping at the mare’s behind. Aminthia pointed at Solas, “You cheated!” She declared. He shook his head, “I did no such thing, there were no rules to this race,” he climbed off his stallion and took the reins, leading his horse to a tree and tying it firmly around the trunk, “In fact if this were a proper race, then you would have been disqualified for taking that shortcut.”
Aminthia narrowed her eyes as he sauntered over to her, “You knew it was there?” He took her reins from her and lead her to the same tree, tying the mare just as well. A sly twitch of his lips turned into a knowing smirk, “You are not the only one to walk these trails alone, Vhenan. I often find myself wandering them when I need time to myself, or when I just want to find a peaceful place to explore the Fade.” Aminthia turned towards him, swinging one leg over to be sitting sideways on her horse. He reached his arms up and gripped her tightly by the hips, gently pulling her from the saddle of her mare and setting her on her feet in front of him. It took little effort, for she was rather small and weighed hardly nothing, a fact that Varric often reminded her of. “You need to eat Freckles,” he would say to her almost every day. She thought he was teasing her before, but with how seemingly easy it was for Solas to just lift her from her horse, she was now thinking Varric was right. Aminthia’s face flushed bright red, her cheeks and nose rosier than the red of the drapery in the main halls of Skyhold. Solas’ smile softened to something genuine, his hand going to a stray hair and brushing it from her face, “You are so beautiful,” he said quietly, “Even flushed from the cold.”
It wasn’t the cold that made her blush, but she didn’t correct him. Instead she cleared her throat and awkwardly looked away, “I um… Why did you bring me out here again, Solas?” The clearing was beautiful, fresh fallen snow covering the ground where there’s always green grass and flowers. The trees surrounding the area made it feel secluded, even though Skyhold was seen easily from between the two boulders on the western side, high atop the mountains. The sun shining down made the clearing bright and the snow sparkle, glittering as a breeze picked up the power and sent it circling through the air before landing once again somewhere new. Solas took a step away from her, regaining his composure, “Of course. I had wanted to steal some of your time before you were required to be the Inquisitor again. I’m sure you do not have much time to be alone, you always seem needed somewhere.” He waved his hand to motion around the clearing, “And I had wanted to bring you somewhere I felt you would enjoy.”
Aminthia smiled shyly, glancing about at the snow as it settled into the pines and on the branches of birch trees. The air certainly had a magical sense about it, like a calm before the storm. It was a wonderful place, she had to admit.
“It feels like…This was much needed, thank you Solas.,” she finally said, looking back up at Solas as he towered over her. The sun shone where a shadow fell across his brow, but she could still see his smile. The moment was perfect, the two of them only a mere space from each other, their horses standing still behind them as the sun was beginning to ascend towards the mountains where it would soon be dark. Their breath mingled together as clouds due to the slowly growing cold. Aminthia was sure that if she closed her eyes and leaned forward, Solas would kiss her. The mere thought brought her heart to skip a beat.
But instead she took a step away, bending down as Solas watched her curiously, gathering snow into her gloved hand. Solas rose a brow, “And what are you doing now, Vhenan?” That word once again made her chest warm. But this time she didn’t allow it to distract her, only fuel her with what she needed to toss the snowball right into Solas’ face, and then run the other way as quickly as she could while laughing.