Chapter 1: How to Win Against the Bull
The air outside of Haven's chantry was frigid, and the wind was howling. All of the recruits posted outdoors had scurried inside, realizing their day shifts ended soon anyways. And no enemy could make it through the blizzard with ease. Most of them had flooded into tavern with their arms upon their faces until they stepped into the warmth of ale and music.
Those from the Inquisitor's inner circle had also joined. Blackwall was quietly chatting with Krem and Grim, well mostly with Krem. Grim was too grim for talk about the proper techniques in swordplay and shielding. He answered with a long grunt when in agreement, and a short one for disapproval. The trio's attention was quickly stolen by Sera and Bull. The two were about to engage into an arm wrestling match after ingesting too much ale. Bets being placed on who would be victorious resonated though the tavern. Josephine excitedly shouted that she would put 10 gold on Sera, while Lelianna shook her head at Josephine's poor judgement of strength. Bull was obviously stronger, just look at those muscles. Vivienne sat in the corner on a high stool, with wine in her hand and a repulsive look on her face, obviously not enjoying the behavior of the ambassador and spymaster.
Not surprisingly, most had placed their bets on Bull. "Seriously, look at you. I got everyone in here on my side," he said smugly to Sera.
"Oh piss off," she yelled. "They just don't know my skill, yeah."
A low chuckle escaped Bull's lips. "Sure, elf. Whatever you say. The only one on your side is our ambassador."
"She smart though, right?" Sera shot a toothy smile at Josephine.
"Well, not anymore," replied Bull rather lowly. "So when are we gonna do this?" as he placed his massive arm onto the table.
"Now!" Sera yelled as she grabbed onto his hand.
The crowd erupted in cheers as they began. Bull was smiling at Sera trying to overtake him. He placed his other hand underneath his chin and leaned onto the table. "So, where's the skill you were talking about?" Sera growled at his comment. She really didn't need this right now.
Suddenly, Bull's arm came down an inch by the weight of Sera's hand. "Oh you're actually stronger than you look," Bull grinned. He removed his other hand from his chin and adopted a look of determination. Sera's hand began to bend, until a sudden rush pushed Bull's hand onto the table. The once loud crowd had silenced at the unexpected turnout. Bull's were wide, as were Sera's. "How did you…" he stuttered holding his defeated arm.
"Yeah! Piss on that!" Sera yelled, jumping onto the chair. Josephine would win a lot today.
"Wait. I want another one!" growled Bull.
Sera giggled at that. "We agreed to one, yeah! You can't take it back now."
"We never agreed to just one."
"I wouldn't if I were you Bull," said Solas in the corner.
"Solas!" shouted Bull pointing at the mage. "You helped her with your weird magic."
Solas threw his head back with laughter and took a sip of his ale. He was usually in seclusion, but today was an especially cold day. "Bull, you never said no magic was allowed."
"You little bald knif-"
Bull was cut with the slam of a door and a cold breeze tumbling in, making everyone shiver. Everybody turned their heads to see who had come in, and much to their demise, it was Trevelyan, well the less intelligent one. The Herald, Nicholas Trevelyan, had come to the Inquisition after the explosion at the Conclave, and he had come alone. A few months ago, the Herald's family had contacted Josephine, and insisted that he could not be left alone (which Cassandra completely disagreed with). Nicholas did have a lot to learn, but he was quite a talented archer, with his only weakness being his lack of experience.
Unfortunately, the Trevelyans did not see his potential and decided to send Nicholas' little sister, Elise, to Haven. She possessed no skills in terms of battle, and no strength in terms of the mind. The complete opposite of her older brother. Many times their personalities had clashed during the war council meetings, which Elise usually came to uninvited. Although weak, Elise was by no means quiet. She had a way with her words and was gifted to be diplomatic. However, this quality of hers had quickly been shadowed by her obsession with the Commander.
Cullen had never returned her advances, and most likely had not even noticed her affections towards him. Always buried in work, his focus was always centered on signing papers and reading reports. And although he never admitted it to anyone, Cullen had many times found Elise's closeness unwanted. He didn't have time to speak to her about unimportant matters like, "Cullen, what do you think of this dress?" or "Commander, care to take a stroll with me?" The girl was kind, but she did not understand Cullen, when he wanted to be alone or just wanted some rest.
So when Elise waltzed into the tavern, with a highly inappropriate dress for the weather and her hair elegantly done, and asked the question "Is Commander Cullen here?" the whole gathering had turned their heads away from her with groans. For a moment she stood at the door confused at the lack of an answer, until Vivienne had jumped off of her stool and strolled towards her, while the patrons had again burst into chatter.
"Trevelyan, darling, please shut the door behind you and come in," the mage said with an arm towards a table.
Elise smiled slightly with her nose pointed up. "Why Vivienne, lovely to see you here. I did not think this would be the kind of crowd you would fancy," she replied sternly looking at Bull arguing with Solas and Sera laughing drunkenly beside them.
Vivienne followed Elise's gaze, "There are certainly quite a colorful crowd, even if they do not possess proper etiquette. However, I do not fancy them, my dear, I am simply trying to assess the standards of the Inquisition." At that, Elise noticed the grim look on Vivienne's face as she peered at the rest of the inner circle. She lowered her voice to a slight whisper, "I do not understand why your older brother has recruited such vile creatures." At that moment Sera poured a mug of ale onto Bull, earning a loud burst of laughter from everyone.
Elise sighed heavily at the scene, "I do not understand it either, Lady Vivienne, I thought Nicholas would have better standards coming from such a high class family, but I was wrong."