Author's Note: So, after playing DA:I twice, I have come to realise one thing... the story as to how Josephine made it to Val Royeaux to break up the duel really needed to be told! Really loved the pairing of Lady Trevelyan and Josephine, but wish that their romance was a bit more (most of you would probably agree as well.) So... with that said, here is a little something I decided to cook up for the two lovely ladies! Hope everyone enjoys!

Josephine leans heavily against the door of her office and lets out a frustrated sigh. She could still feel the warmth of Evelyn's lips on her own, though she left the Inquisitor alone in the Chantry gardens several moments before. Even though she had been loathed to leave the heady embrace of Evelyn, the ambassador knows it is in their best interests to not allow their relationship to progress further than it already has. 'A few stolen moments kissing in the an alcove in the gardens is much easier to manage than nights of endless passion, should the worse come to pass,' Josephine had often thought to herself as she tried to assuage her guilt and her own frustrated eros.

But now, the mantra is not working as she feels her body longing for Evelyn's touch. "By the Maker... I need to stop spending time alone with Evelyn," she says aloud as she pushes herself off of the door and walks to her desk.

"Do you really mean that, Josie?" Leliana asks as she moves from a darkened corner of the room to one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. "I honestly feel as though you should spend more time alone with Lady Trevelyan. Maker knows you both need the intimacy."

"Leliana!" Josephine starts as she clutches her hand to her chest and tries to calm her breathing. "What are you doing here? You gave me such a fright. We didn't have a previous arrangement did we? I could have sworn that I checked my ledger before leaving out to make sure that I did not have any meetings."

The spymaster smirks as she stares at her friend. "No... this is not an arranged meeting, Josie." She pushes the cowl back from her face. "I came here to talk some sense into you. She is distracted, you know."

The ambassador stares back at Leliana, her eyes convey the confusion she could not voice. Leliana rolls her eyes at the Antivan noble before her and continues. "Lady Trevelyan... she has been most distracted as of late, or at least that is what the reports show. She had to visit the mage's tower last week after the battle she had with a Ridgeback in Crestwood."

"Ridgeback?! You mean she fought a dragon last week and did not tell me?" Josephine questions as she moves to sit in the other chair beside the fireplace. Her grace and poise disappears momentarily as she leans forward to stare at the Orelsian bard.

"Yes, she did fight a dragon last week. Had you not been busy trying to find a way out of this arranged engagement instead of just allowing the Inquisitor to duel Lord Adorno Ciel Otranto, you would know what is going on."

"I can not allow the Inquisitor to duel Lord Otranto. It would be counter-productive to her mission with the Inquisition. Lady Trevelyan needs to focus on Corypheus, not a minor set-back in our relationship." Josephine settles back in her chair and her training as ambassador returns to her. "That is one of the reasons I decided that I should handle this engagement. Her duties as Inquisitor are far more important than our relationship. It is why I am deciding to put a halt to our relationship altogether."

"Listen to me, Josephine," Leliana says as she stands up from her chair and moves closer to the fireplace. Staring into the flames the bard begins. "I once felt the same way you did when Neria and I started our relationship many years ago. Wynne, a senior enchanter in Ferelden's Circle of Magi, had even tried to tell Neria to break off our relationship. As you know, Neria is a mage herself and would normally listen to the advice of a senior enchanter, but when it came to this subject..." the Spymaster smiles as she glances back at her friend. "She did not.

Oh, I tried to discuss it with her as well. I felt that she would come to harm if she paid more attention to me instead of her duties as a Warden, but she wouldn't listen. She said, 'No matter what happens, I will protect you with my life and will never leave your side. If the time comes that I should die, I will die happy to know that I made the world a better place for you and more so than that... that I had you in my life, no matter how brief.'"

"What did you do when she said that?" Josephine asks as she felt a rogue tear slide down her cheek.

Leliana smirks as she gazes back into the flames. "What did I do?" Laughing slightly she continues, "I slapped her and ran away from the camp. An hour later she found me sitting on a boulder by a lake. It had started raining by then and I was shivering and wet. She spelled a barrier around the two of us to keep the rain away and gave me the blanket from her pack. I tried to ignore her, but she had made it so hard for me to ignore since she was not paying attention to me. The whole time she had been staring out across the lake watching the rain mar the surface of the water.

I finally gave in to her own version of the silent treatment and told her that Wynne was right. That we should end whatever we had started and focus on our task at hand. She just turned to me, smiled and told me that I was being silly. That without my love for her, she would not know how to go on fighting the archdemon. That it was our love for each other that allowed her to continue her fight to survive each day and see the blight ended. Neria also said that Wynne had no idea what she was talking about, that our being together allowed her to fight with a clearer head than she would have ever fought before."

"So, that is why you come here now?" Josephine asks as she wipes another tear away. "But you told Evelyn that she should not toy with my emotions and that I was an innocent in love! Though I have no idea why you would say something like that... I do not even believe what I feel is love yet. We have only known each other for a few short months and..." The ambassador stands up and walks towards her desk. "You told her not to attempt a relationship with me... if I am not mistaken, you also threatened bodily harm to her if she hurt my feelings."

Leliana sighs as she moves to lean against the wall by the fireplace. "I did. I am not proud of what I did, but at the time, I thought it was in everyone's best interest for this relationship not to occur. Now I think differently about our leader and feel that she only has your interest in mind. You are like a sister to me and you are the only person that I trust in Skyhold. With Neria outside of Thedas, in Maker knows what sort of lands, I have to hold on to what friendships I do have. I wanted to protect you from any harm that could befall you. And I..." The spymaster moves closer to Josephine. "I had made the same mistake as Wynne did years before, haven't I?"

"It doesn't matter," the ambassador says curtly as she walks behind her desk and sits in the chair. "We can not do anything more with our relationship until everything is settled anyway. I really shouldn't have met with her today in the gardens, in fact. It was a lack of strength on my part. Believe me, it will not happen again... not until Corypheus is disposed of." Josephine shuffles through the papers on her desk and sighs. "I would have thought that Yvette would have told mother..."

"You thought she would have told your mother about Lady Trevelyan, no?" Leliana finishes the ambassador's sentence as she leans against the desk and takes a piece of parchment off the top of the stack and reads over the missive. "Your sister did tell her, but how could your mother back out of an arrangement that she made five years ago? Surely she will be seen as a pariah in Antiva if she tries to back out of the agreement now."

"How do you know..." Josephine sighs and places her quill back on the desk. "Forget I even attempted to ask. What do you think I should do?"

"Well..." Leliana places the parchment back on the table. "For starters? Stop stringing the Inquisitor around. She obviously loves you and I for one think you should tell her how you feel, even though I believe you are lying about the extent of your feelings, and tell her that you feel that your relationship should be put on hold until Corypheus is dead. I personally think... "

"I mean about the engagement?" The Antivan noble interrupts as she straightens the parchments again. "My parents went to a lot of trouble securing a proper arrangement but now I can not comply to it, but if I do contest it, it will endanger my family politically... and Evelyn just helped me secure my families position in Orlais."

"Then allow her to duel Otranto," Leliana states simply. "It will keep your family's reputation intact and there will be no repercussions once he is defeated."

"You don't understand, Leliana," Josephine begins as she pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. "The members of the Otranto family are skilled duelers. Though Lady Trevelyan is also trained in the art of dueling, Antivan-styled dueling is different than what is learned in the Free Marches or the Rivain. In Antiva, it is a past-time for warriors. The rapiers used are not the foil weapons others are accustomed to. The weight alone will offset her normal fighting stance."

"But you forget, Josie, she is trained in the Game... and a rogue always knows how to wear down an opponent."

"You forget how Antivans are, Leliana." The ambassador looks up at her friend, a spark of determination dances in her eyes. "This is something I must do, not anyone else. I will find a way to deal with this without dragging the Inquisitor into this."

"Have it your way, Josie." The spymaster stands up and starts to walk towards the door. She reaches for the handle when suddenly there is a knock at the door. The bard backs away from the door as it slowly opens.

"Sorry to bother you, Lady Montilyet, but... oh... I didn't realise that you and Sister Leliana were having a meeting. I will just come back when you are finished." A messenger says as he backs out into the corridor slowly.

"Come in, please," Josephine says. "Sister Leliana was just leaving."

"I beg your pardon, my Lady, but Commander Cullen thought that you would like to see this." The young man walks back into the room and quickly strides over to the desk. Once the letter left his hands, he gives a stiff bow, turns on his heels and walks out the door as quickly as he came in.

"Well, that is interesting. What information does Cullen have that would be of importance to you?" The spymaster asks as she walks back to her friend's desk and tries to peek over her shoulder. "Did a visiting dignitary get into a spat with one of the soldiers?"

"No, it is much worse," Josephine says as she lets the parchment flutter to the floor. "Evelyn left for Val Royeaux to duel Ontranto."

"She couldn't have gone very far, you were away from each other for maybe a candle-mark by now. If we leave now, we should be able to catch up with her before she gets to Val Royeaux." Leliana quickly walks towards the door, her mind already finding ways to slow down their pursuit. The bard knew that this was the only way to quickly dispatch the problem that was causing her friend and their leader so much trouble. If I can only keep Josie from realising that I am stalling our arrival, then hopefully, I can give the Inquisitor enough time to start the duel, Leliana thinks as she walks into the main hall of Skyhold. "Did the missive say who went with Lady Trevelyan? Maybe whoever went with her could keep her from acting until we can get there."

"That I am very doubtful about, Leliana," Josephine states as she follows the Spymaster out onto the grounds. "She brought Varric, Dorian, and the Iron Bull with her. Not a single rational mind in her group... they will goad her on, though I still do not understand why she would not allow me to handle this situation. It is my own problem, so therefore, I should handle it."

Leliana stops in her tracks and turns to face the Antivan ambassador. "I believe your problem is her problem as well, Josie."

"What do you mean?"

The bard sighs and closes her eyes. "You see, this is what I warned the Inquisitor about. You are so naive that you do not see what is right in front of you."

Josephine opens her mouth to retort, but Leliana continues, "Her feelings for you go beyond mere idle fancy, as I have already mentioned. She sees more to your relationship than you have even thought about. I think she loves you and that is why she asked you if there was a way she could help you in ending your betrothal. You should have never mentioned dueling though."

"There has to be a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why she would duel him," the ambassador states as she ignores her friend's knowledge of the conversation between herself and the Inquisitor. "I do not believe that love is the case. Maybe she believes that this problem is going to affect my duties as ambassador for the Inquisition."

"Yes," Leliana replies sarcastically as she rolls her eyes and walks towards the stables. "Keep telling yourself that Josie, I'm sure it will come true. Now, let's go before it is too late."