He hadn’t expected to find love. Not here. Not within the Inquisition.

And yet, here you stood—an anchor in a sea of uncertainties. Your eyes held a light that pierced through his shadows, and your smile—Maker, your smile—fractured the carefully crafted shell around his heart, piece by trembling piece.

He had sworn himself to a purpose far greater than this, greater than you. Yet now, as his hand rose of its own accord to cup your cheek, the warmth of your skin against his palm unraveled all he had worked to bury.

Your gaze catches his, and he feels himself falling, deeper into the abyss of you. A thousand unspoken truths press against the back of his throat, begging for release but give way to something raw and sharp.

“You’re the one,” he begins, his voice a gentle wisp, the words a secret woven just for you. “You’re all I ever wanted.”

I think I’ll regret this.