Hi all! Welcome to this story. This story came to pass from the lack of Cullen/Amell stories during Inquisition. I am not going to repeat dialogue from the game. This story is more behind the scenes with the exception of chapter 2. I hope that this story is enjoyable.

Thank you all for following reading, following, favoriting, or reviewing. You all are awesome.

Prologue

Haven was peaceful in an eerie sort of way, despite the fact that the forecast had a hundred percent chance of raining demons. The world had been thrown into chaos. Mages were fighting templars. Templars were fighting mages. Civil unrest as brother fought against brother. The list could go on to describe the problems that Thedas was facing. For the past week, the moon had been absent since smoke darkened the cloudy, night sky from the remains of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. The observer wearily sighed and looked at his left hand clenched in a fist.

This hand was the reason he was a not a charred statue along with many soldiers during the failed peace talks at the Conclave. He could not help feel bitter as he continued to watch the smoke rise with his green eyes. Each wisp was like a soul of the departed from that day. Fate was a fickle thing choosing him to be the sole survivor of that cataclysm. Was it better to be dead? The man shook his head. There was no use focusing on the what ifs and why nots. Regardless of his personal beliefs, too much responsibility now hung on his shoulders. He could truly feel his shoulders sag with the burden in his solitude.

He did not know whether his decision to help the mages was the right one.

Cassandra said they needed magic for the mark, so they needed to seek out the mages. He trekked across the Hinterlands fighting mercenaries and closing fade rifts until he eventually arrived to Redcliffe. After speaking to Grand Enchanter Fiona, everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. He could not believe that he fell for a trap at Redcliffe's castle. As a reward, he had to fight through hordes of demons in the future to confront Alexius and then an angry King of Ferelden.

Before he even had a chance to talk to the Templars, King Alistair made the decision to banish all mages from Ferelden. He couldn't bear to see the innocent mages of Ferelden banished. The thought of countless innocent men, women, and children in the streets of foreign lands was unbearable, so he did the only thing he could: invited them all into the Inquisition. Of course, Cassandra and Cullen had been furious but he didn't care as long as each child got a bed.

He absentmindedly stroked the tree he was leaning against. Each decision had a consequence and the consequences could aid in the horrible future of the destruction of Thedas. Did he truly make the right choice?

"Herald, I have news." He inwardly groaned at the intrusion to his solitude and glared at the soldier wearing thin chainmail armor.

By the Maker what is it now? "What is it?"

The soldier failed to see his annoyance and delivered his report. "Our scouts report Ferelden riders are coming our way." The Herald shifted his weight to his other foot, causing the snow to crunch in the process.

His brow knitted in concentration, trying to deal with the news. Cullen said many have come to Haven to join the order. The Herald failed to see how this information was important.

"So, we have new recruits. Why bother me with this?"

The soldier heard his frustrated tone and cleared his throat from nervousness as he fidgeted with his helmet that he had removed. "Their banners bear the royal seal."

It was an ambassador from Ferelden then. He rubbed his temple at the tension headache that started to form. Well, they could wait. He had enough faction dealing for one day.

"House them in the best beds we have, and I'll talk with them in the morning."

"But, Ser!" The soldier squeaked as he looked at Maxwell Trevelyan incredulously. "It is said that King Alistair is among them."

So the king finally got over his childish outburst in Redcliffe? Maxwell could not help but chuckle at the thought. He did not think highly of the Ferelden king because of his unprofessional manner. "Very well, thank you for this information. Send word to Leliana, Josephine, and Cullen. I want them present at the front gate to greet his Majesty."

"Yes, Ser." The soldier beat his right arm over his plated chest as he left to carry out the order.

As Trevelyan traveled down the hill, he could see the silhouettes of his three advisors become bigger as he got closer to the front gates of Haven. He opened the double wooden doors, and the hinges creaked in protest from the lack of oil. Luckily, he was still wearing his dragonmail armor since he did not have any other formal wear to greet the king.

" … but whatever the case, his arrival is important-" Leliana could not finish her explanation as the sound of hooves galloped loudly towards their direction. A few riders circled them holding Ferelden royal banners, whereas a figure wearing gold heavy armor dismounted off his horse.

"Greetings, I am Alistair Theirin." The king smiled a goofy grin before his expression sobered. "I had wanted to apologize for not being in the best of moods at Redcliffe. I tried to protect this particular groups of mages for years. Yet, at their first opportunity, they decided to have a house party with Tevinter magisters at my uncle's estate. Nasty business aside, I had done some thinking. I believe that the Inquisition is what this world needs now since all the other kingdoms seem to be twiddling their thumbs these days waiting to be attacked."

The Herald looked at the young king with scrutiny."Is that what you are doing? Sitting on your throne being a lame duck waiting for an enemy to swoop down on you!?" Trevelyan challenged feeling his blood boil. He could not believe that the royal powers were doing nothing while the whole world could possibly end tomorrow.

" Maxwell." Leliana's Orlesian voice chided. Maxwell's self control was diminishing the longer he stared at the king. If the king made one more inappropriate response, then one of his advisors would have to hold him back from punching Alistair.

Alistair smirked at the blonde Herald's outburst. "It does appear this way doesn't it? No, we won't let them swoop down on us. After all, swooping is bad. No, after the Blight, Ferelden is still suffering. We are aiding the reconstruction but our forces are still few in number. We are likely to be invaded by Orlais as the tension rises."

"Which I hope it does not come to that because I do love their cheeses. "The king muttered to himself before continuing with all seriousness. "With this said, I would like to aid the Inquisition in any way I can, but I can't send any of my troops to aid your cause." He looked at a crow that cawed on a tree.

"King Alistair, why did you come?" Leliana questioned the king as she too looked at the crow with confusion. Maxwell could not blame her because he thought it was odd that a crow was out especially at night.

Alistair brushed her comment aside while he looked at his gauntlet rather bored. "I said you were not getting any soldiers, but it does not mean you are not receiving aid. I am offering to provide my Chancellor to aid your cause. Although the ambassador should be here by now since I did force her to come here." The king finished, scratching his head rather nervously.

"You don't mean…" Leliana trailed off while her eyes grew wide with realization when she looked at Cullen. Maxwell thought Leliana caught on to the king's offer, but he thought it would be disrespectful calling her out.

"Forgive me, your Majesty, but Josephine is an ambassador, who is adequate enough to our cause." Cullen began clearly confused as he scratched his neck where the fur cradled around his shoulders. "I mean no disrespect to your offer, but two ambassadors would suggest that the Inquisition are playing enemies with sides."

"Did I say ambassador? No, I mean warrior." Maxwell thought the king was starting to sound like a merchant trying to get rid of merchandise. There was a catch somewhere, there always was a catch. "Look, all I am saying is you need men. In addition, she has access to Grey Warden treaties so she can obtain aid when needed." There it was, a Grey Warden. When a Grey Warden was involved, then there was something at stake.

"In other words, she must be a Grey Warden?" Trevelyan stared at the king, daring him to prove him wrong.

"She was still a Grey Warden, when I spoke to her an hour ago." Maxwell scoffed at the king's tendency to deflect serious conversations with humor.

"Who exactly is this Chancellor? I was not aware that the crown had one." The Commander rubbed his chin thoughtfully while his other hand still grasped his sheathed sword.

The Herald thought this was all funny business. If the king was not forthright with his offer, then he did not want any part in all of this. "I agree with Cullen. I don't see why a Grey Warden advises the crown. We already have a Grey Warden in the Inquisition ranks. What use will another one have?" Trevelyan crossed his arms while skeptically looking at the king.

"Herald…" Trevelyan's advisors looked at him funny. They could not believe he had just asked that question.

"Ha! That is a good one. You are joking right?" Alistair laughed heartily, thinking the so called Herald was pulling his leg. The laughter died as soon as he saw the man's serious look. "You aren't joking."

"Herald, King Alistair and her Majesty Elissa are Grey Wardens." Josephine answered with her heavy Antivan accent. She looked at the king apologetically. The Herald thought it was funny that she was trying to repair the damage that he made.

"This particular Grey Warden can provide more troops to your cause." The king reminded.

Trevelyan put a hand over his face as he thought about the options. He could tell the king to sod off but that would harm the Inquisition in the long run. At least, Blackwell was forthright with why he wanted to join the Inquisition. He did not like the idea of this unknown Grey Warden joining their cause. On the one hand, they'll have more men."I see we can use more troops."

On the other hand, if they were going to die of the Breach anyway, why not risk it? "Alright, where is this… Chancellor? Did she arrive?" He questioned, sounding defeated.

"Excellent!" The king clapped his hands in excitement. "I think introductions are in order." Alistair snapped his fingers, and the crow that was on the tree cawed loudly and flew down. All of a sudden, a burst of magic flew out of the crow.

The king and Leliana were not fazed by the magic. On the other hand Trevelyan, Cullen and Josephine, were taken aback by the magic.

"By the Maker! What sort of magic is this?" Cullen pulled his sword out at the woman, who started to materialize from the magic, but the Ferelden troops had their swords drawn at Cullen.

"Okay" The king put emphasis on the last letter trying to knock those present out of their shock "now that normal transmission has resumed. I would like to introduce you all to Solona Amell, Warden Commander of Ferelden."

"Solona!" A bundle of red hair flew past Trevelyan like a nug. He did not know that Leliana could run that fast as she hugged Solona. "It has been too long."

"Yes, too long." The dark haired Warden smiled at the spymaster until her light blue eyes caught the hazel eyes of the Commander.

"Glad to see you have not changed much, Cullen. This makes this the second time you tried to kill me." The mage sneered at the former Templar, causing him to become pale.

"S-Solona I-." Maxwell could feel the awkward tension, causing gravity to make the air harder to breathe. He never knew that the normally composed Commander would be reduced to a stuttering fool due to a girl. Leliana and Cullen owed him an explanation when he was not tired. Still, it was his duty to end the tension.

"Neat trick." Maxwell could not help but feel a little impressed. "Is that all you can do?" Trevelyan noticed Cullen giving him a grateful nod for saving him from his embarrassment.

"Do you mean in terms of shape shifting? No, I can turn into almost any animal or insect, but I don't turn into spiders. That is where I draw the line…spiders." He watched as Solona shuddered, and Leliana and Alistair chuckling quietly to themselves. He definitely was having a long talk with Leliana. One thing was bothering him. How could she do magic, if she had a sword and did not wear mage armor?

"Wait your shape shifting ability requires magic, but you do not look like a mage."

The mage looked at him as though he was stupid, but he could tell how hard she was trying to hide the annoyance in her voice. "I have learned the skills of an ancient specialization known as the arcane warrior in my travels during the Blight. I can teach it to your mages if you wish. I also am proficient on using all elemental magic and other specializations, such as spirit healing." She glared at the king as she continued. "Against my better judgement and preference, it has come to my attention that the Inquisition needs help. If you would allow me to join your cause, my magic is yours. In addition, I will provide some Grey Wardens to join your cause."

"I thought Grey Wardens do not get involved in political matters." The Herald tried squeezing information from her.

"We don't, but recent events have come to my attention and I need answers. Believe me, it will benefit us all in long run." The mage crossed her arms while answering. Although her eyes was looking at the Commander, who was looking everywhere except at her.

"Thoughts?" Trevelyan did not want another argument like he had earlier with his advisors. He wanted to make sure everyone agreed.

"I feel she would be a great ally. She led the mages and templar armies in the Battle of Denerim, and I have seen her prowess in battle." Leliana answered with approval.

"So, what does an ambassador to Ferelden entail?" Josephine questioned the king.

"She will tell us what you need, and we will provide arms and money by contacting nobles who are willing to help." The king answered, smirking at the turn of events.

"In this case, we can get more aid and cover more ground. I can focus on Orlais, and she could focus on Ferelden then." Josephine nodded her head in agreement as she jotted some notes down in her book.

"Cullen?" The party present could see the Commander was rather nervous as he started to open and close his mouth. It was as though he was fighting an internal battle when he finally closed his eyes.

Maxwell was going to go ahead and accept the Warden from Leliana's and Josephine's approval, sparing Cullen from embarrassment.

"Leliana and Josephine make valid points. We do need more arms. The decision rest with you,' Cullen looked at Trevelyan before finishing. 'excuse me." He bowed his head slightly to King Alistair and briskly walked away, leaving those behind in surprise.

"Well then since…" How should he put it? "I have heard nothing but support from my advisors," Solona scoffed at Maxwell's trouble of finding words. "I would like to officially welcome you to the Inquisition."

"With alacrity."

Leliana and Alistair could hear the sarcasm dripping from Solona's voice even though she sported a smile. They looked at each other in nervousness. Alistair was nervous because Elissa would kill him when she found out what he had done. In Leliana's case, she was nervous for Cullen's life. For the Inquisition's sake, they hoped that Cullen and Solona could put their differences aside because the entire world hung in the balance.

A:N

I want to thank The Prince of Nothing Charming for Beta-ing this chapter