Author's Note: I have written a lot of things but this is the first time that I have had the courage to post. This story is based on my first playthrough of Dragon Age Inquisition. I will follow the canon of the main story pretty much, but I'll be changing some dialogue here and there. This will be a story about Cullen and Lavellan, focusing more on their relationship and their internal thoughts. I will also dabble with Lavellan's friendships with her companions, especially Dorian eventually because he's just so awesome. Eventually there will be sexytimes, so that's why it's rated "M". I hope you enjoy my little story.

I don't own Dragon Age, unfortunately.

Chapter 1

There was an unbearable pounding in her head. Her right hand was tingling with pain. It wasn't overpowering but certainly noticeable. She could hear voices outside. There was a fire in the hearth and while it provided adequate warmth, she still felt cold. She sat up and the world tilted. She took several deep breaths and tried to calm herself. With moving into a sitting position she now felt her entire body aching.

You can sit here Nadia or you can get up and figure out what the hell is going on.

She swung her legs over the bed and started to get dressed in her light armor that was sitting on a chair near the fire. They were clean so someone had taken the time to wipe the blood and dirt off. She brushed her long brown hair with a brush laying on the nightstand and put her hair in a traditional practical ponytail. She looked in the mirror and noticed she had a light scar above her left eyebrow that wasn't there before.

She took a deep breath again and looked in the mirror. Her vallaslin markings seemed to glow a light purple on her tanned face. The scar that now was present crossed through the markings that covered the top half of her forehead. Her markings were more subtle than most of the Dalish. The lines floated around her eyes, like branches on a tree. What marked her face even more were the dark circles under her eyes.

She still couldn't believe it. How did she survive, when all those poor people were incinerated into ash? She could still see flashes of green and being pushed back and remembered loud shouting of unknown voices. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to calm the pounding in her head. A squeak and light breaking of glass startled in her back into life.

"Your worship! You're up, I'm so sorry I startled you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," the little elf said. The girl was shorter and slighter than Nadia, which made her seem like a wisp of a girl. She dropped to her knees.

"Don't worry girl, I was already up. Why are you calling me your worship?" she asked.

"Your worship, you are the Herald of Andraste. You came out of the breach and stopped the chaos. Everyone is in you debt."

"The Herald of Andraste? That's just so...ridiculous. Absurd."

"But it's not your worship! You have been marked, you can protect us!" the elf said reverently.

Tying to understand the girl she asked, "What is your name miss?"

"Lydia, your worship."

"And just where exactly am I Lydia?"

"Haven, your worship. The town that abuts the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I'm sorry your worship, I was supposed to tell you that Lady Cassandra asks that you come to the Chantry building, the farthest room at the back of the cathedral."

She sighed. "Thank you Lydia."

She started walking towards the door. "Your worship?" Lydia asked. "I just wanted to say...how much it means to us, to us elves I mean, that you were able to stop the breach. You are such an inspiration to us." She smiled and started to pick up the tray she dropped.

She didn't know what to say. Her stomach churned. Confusion set in.

How could they look up to me?

She barely knew any other elves outside the Lavellan clan. She was twenty-three years old and still was practically a child in her clan's eyes. She started walking out the door, into the cold Haven air, and pulled her coat tighter against the bitter wind.

As she walked along the path, people came out of the houses and those that were already outside turned to look at her. She heard some of their whispers, of "herald", "savior", and "Andraste." She tried not to look at them. She started walking towards the Chantry building. It was clearly the most recognizable building, as the highest point in Haven. She walked with trepidation, wondering what Cassandra wanted. She helped stop the breach. While there was still a giant hole in the sky, she stopped the demons from coming through. Clearly it showed she wasn't behind the destruction of the Conclave?

She could hear raised voices in the room, Cassandra's and another man's.

Hear goes nothing.

"YOU!" said Chancellor Roderick. The man still was not fond of her. "Guards, arrest her. She is to be held at trial in Val Royeaux."

"Stand down. And leave please" said Cassandra in her determined voice. They left and closed the doors immediately.

"Seeker, you can't be serious. This girl must answer. There needs to be justice."

"There will be justice Chancellor Roderick. I swear to you. We will find the person or people responsible for this destruction. But it is not her." Cassandra looked at Nadia with her stern brown eyes.

"This is madness!" Chancellor Roderick roared. "And your plan Seeker is outrageous. The Chantry will not support the Inquisition. Never." He left the room and slammed the door.

"Well that went pretty much how I expected it to go," sighed Cassandra.

"What is the Inquisition?" Nadia asked. "Also, does this mean I'm no longer a prisoner?"

Cassandra went to the bookshelf behind her and grabbed a worn but clearly maintained book and set it on the table. The doors behind her opened, and in walked Sister Leliana and a dark-haired pretty woman in yellow silk. Behind her, Commander Cullen's imposing figure stood and closed the door. They walked to the other side of the table.

"Herald, Sister Leliana and Commander Cullen you have met before."

"It's good to see you up and about Herald, we were worried," said Leliana. She smiled at her. While her voice was soft and light, she seemed like a woman to never cross.

"Leliana was the Divine's Left Hand, Herald. She is our Spymaster."

"Subtle, Cassandra," Leliana sighed.

"This is Josephine Montilyet of Antiva, our Ambassador for the Inquisition."

"Pleased to meet you Herald. We were scared you might not wake up. Solas did say it would probably take you a couple of days."

"Days? Just how long have I been out?"

"Three days actually Herald. I'm glad you're okay," said Commander Cullen.

"Herald, Commander Cullen is in charge of the Inquisition's forces." He smiled lightly at her. There was a scar on his upper lip. While he was an imposing figure in his armor and grand coat, he made her feel relaxed. His hair was bright blonde and his eyes were a warm light brown. He was the most handsome human she had ever seen. Leliana coughed lightly.

Shit. I had just been ogling him. She could feel her face blush and she looked down.

Trying to get herself together, "So what is the Inquisition?"

Cassandra laid her hand on the book before her. "This is the writ by Divine Justinia, granting us the right to form the Inquisition. The Inquisition of old was set in place when the world was in chaos long ago. It was the back up plan the Divine had in place in case the Conclave did not work. We will never know now if the Conclave would have produced results. So as the Right Hand and Leliana the Left, we invoke the Inquisition of new."

"But what is the Inquisition supposed to do exactly?"

"We will try to put Thedas back together essentially," said Josephine. "As Ambassador of the Inquisition, I will reach out to rulers and nobility that will be favorable to us. We need to gain as much backing as possible if we want to be a force to be reckoned with. Without the Chantry's support, it will be tough, but I think we can manage."

"I will be working to gather information and agents that can prove useful to the Inquisition," said Leliana. "Information will be essential to figure out who is behind the destruction of the Conclave so we can be ready to act."

"And I will make sure our forces are able to meet the threat of the people responsible for this destruction" said Commander Cullen. "Our forces will also be deployed to areas all across Thedas to gather supplies and to protect those people that are being threatened by the open rifts caused by the Breach."

"And you will be the rallying point," Cassandra said.

"Lady Cassandra," she said as calmly as she could. "I don't know what you want me to do. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell happened at the Conclave. I was there as spy for my clan, to just see what would the Divine planned on doing to stop the fighting. I never meant to get sucked into this."

"I know that. I know you aren't responsible. And while you never meant for anything of this to happen, it did. I know you might be skeptical, but people see you as the Herald. They believe that Andraste saved you and you walked out of the rift. And while there are many that see you as the Herald, there are many that see you as a threat. And they will not hesitate to kill you. I will not forcibly keep you here. You are not a prisoner. But there are rifts all over Thedas now. Only you have the power to close them. There are people that need your help."

She looked down at her hand. It sparked green and then dimmed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In her mind, the only things she could see were the burnt bodies of the people at the Temple of the Sacred Ashes, stuck with looks of agony and pain still on their faces. She looked up.

"What must I do?"

"There is a woman named Mother Giselle. She is helping the people of the Hinterlands. The fighting between the Mages and Templars has grown in that part of Thedas. She has sent word however that she would like to meet you. While the Chantry is not going to be on our side, for now at least, we need to hear what she has to say," said Leliana.

"Okay," Nadia said. "When do we leave?"

"We have planned on leaving in three days. Gives you some time to recover still and get your bearings" Cassandra said. She smiled at me, or what I would call a smile for her. "Varric, Solas, and I will go with you."

"Alright. Thanks." She turned swiftly and left the room. She walked fast out the Chantry doors and kept walking.

She was swinging her legs sitting on the wooden boardwalk, looking out on the frozen lake. It was all so overwhelming. She felt like screaming. Lydia's comment kept running through her mind.

You are such an inspiration to us. Me. It's laughable.

Nadia was good with her daggers and she was a capable rogue. But she wasn't a warrior, a leader, a "Herald." She shivered. She hated feeling so fucking cold all the time.

"I was wondering where you went off to." She jumped and looked around. The Commander was standing close; she was amazed she didn't hear him. He had at least a hundred pounds or more on her and with all that armor she was still surprised when she heard his voice.

"Commander, you startled me. I didn't hear you."

To her surprise he came next to her and bent down to sit down. His large limbs hung next to hers. He was so much larger then Nadia, but he didn't scare her.

"While I may not be a rogue like you, I've learned how to walk quietly." He leaned back on his arms and looked out towards the frozen lake. His hand was resting close to hers. She had the insane desire to touch it.

"Are you okay? Really?" He looked down at her. His eyes were so soft, tender almost. She turned away before she embarrassed herself again.

"I feel numb. But I also feel like screaming. It just seems so insane. Me. A Dalish elf. The Herald of Andraste, it doesn't make any sense. And all these people that depend on me. They look at me like I can fix everything, like Lydia."

"Who's Lydia?"

"She is a servant elf girl that I met this morning. She said that I was an inspiration to her, to other elves I mean."

"Well you are. You're people have been on the wrong side of the sword for so long now, for reasons that are unjust. A strong person like you is just what they need."

She felt warm all over from his words. "I've never heard a human speak about the elves like that. I mean not that I have met that many humans in my lifetime. But the ones I did weren't that found of us."

"I've met a lot of elves, City-elves and even a few Dalish. While every species has their bad ones, I admire the resilience of elves to have survived so much."

"Thank you Commander." His words were comforting. His voice was so calming, making her feel okay for the first time.

"Your welcome Herald."

Nadia said it before she could stop herself. "Please, please just call me Nadia," she said shyly. She looked up at him to see his reaction. "I just...I just need to be reminded that I'm still her, still Nadia. Not just some Herald."

He smiled at her. The scar above his lip was so tantalizing. She wanted to kiss it. Nadia had never had these urges before, for an elf or human.

"Then call me Cullen, Nadia."

She smiled, a true smile.

"I must get back to some reports, but I'll be near the front gate if you need anything." He got up and he lightly touched her shoulder and walked away. She stared out across the lake. She couldn't stop smiling. While she had multiple layers of clothing on, her shoulder felt like it had been burned in the best way.

So there you have it. I have a few chapters written that just need to be edited. I'm in law school and unfortunately for me, I start school next week. UGH. I will try to have timely updates however because this story will probably keep me sane this semester.