For You are the fire at the heart of the world
And comfort is only Yours to give.
Chant of Light – Canticle of Transfigurations 12:6
The sounds of children's laughter followed him, teasing his ears.
His eyes slid involuntarily to the reason of the little bubble of happiness amidst their camp, and he felt something inside him soften at the sight.
Moving hundreds of people through snow-covered mountains in the middle of the Winter when every one of them had been brutally driven out of their homes, leaving their entire lives, supposed safety and, in some cases, loved ones behind, was harsh. Not unlike trying to move an entire mountain out of the way, he mused.
But if the disaster at Haven had taught Cullen anything, it was that mountains were indeed able to be moved, especially if a certain blonde haired woman was involved.
Whether a believer in the Maker or not, after everything that the world had thrown at the so called Herald of Andraste, and how she had taken all of it head on and somehow still managing to come out of it with some kind of upper hand against impossible odds…
Truly, it was difficult to deny Lyra Trevelyan had not been sent by the Maker.
He had thought her made of ice at first and he had worried. Worried that the only thing capable of closing the rifts, closing the breach and possibly save them all, had been bestowed to some empty hard person who looked untouchable and uncaring.
Maker, had he been wrong! And he was so very glad for that.
Truth was, the Herald had a quiet nature and like most people, he had been too quick to judge her unassuming manner as coldness. He'd been a fool.
A mage that had lived most of her life sheltered in a Circle with little contact with real life, thrust upon the world so suddenly only to have the weight of nations on her shoulders… and now, more and more the obstacles they faced, that she faced, seemed as giant as mountains. But she did it anyway.
She got through everything.
Oh, Cullen knew it wasn't quite that simple, not when a real person was involved. She was just one woman, as fragile as any of them and she had almost died a few times.
The last time, he truly had thought she had died and the weight of it on him had been hard to bear.
She had been ready to trade her life for all of them. People she had known for some weeks, people she didn't know at all. To be the only thing between an army of crazed Templars, a powerful darkspawn and some sort of archdemon.
Soldiers were ready for that, they were trained for that possibility, they had, more often than not, seen that. When the only thing possible to save a few, was to make a martyr out of one. It was not an easy thing to do, or to see, and it left anyone with deep scars.
To see a young woman, a mage, with no training of that kind, quietly making that decision for them all… his respect for her grew as tall as the Frostback Mountains they were standing on.
Seeing her shivering, her back bleeding, barely alive in the snow after putting herself in the way of an ancient Darskpawn and his dragon, still being able to fire the trebuchet saving them all and still being able to get to them in the state she was in… that had hit Cullen with an amount of relief he had not believed he had ever experienced.
He truly admired her.
Now if only he could stop acting like a fool every time she sent one of her rare smiles his way, would be great.
Although looking at her now, he doubted her smiles were really that rare.
The Herald had a little group of fans, it seemed. And when he said little, he actually meant it doubly, her followers were a group of young children.
The attack at Haven had been harsh on everyone, but the young ones always suffered the most. No one so young should find themselves in this situation or seen what they had seen.
Making their way through mountains was not an easy task either and at the beginning he hadn't even noticed that there were children in their midst, so withdrawn that they had been.
But somehow the Herald had rounded them up and slowly but surely coaxed them all out of their shells. She told them stories and encouraged them to do the same, she played with them and, at some point, she showed them magic.
Most of them were wary of it at first but she had enchanted them all.
One trick in particular, had had most of them, children and adults alike, stopping to see it better. Cullen included.
Apparently, the Herald had an affinity with ice and she had invoked some kind of very small and soft blizzard making it snow around them.
It had been sunny though, so something particular had happened. When the light from the sun had hit the snowflakes that she had summoned, it created some sort of rainbow in mid-air.
It had been mesmerizing and everyone along with the children, had been in awe of the phenomenon.
After, he had heard her explain to Solas that she had read about it in a book and that she had never tried it before. It was called diamond dust.
Needless to say, the children loved her even more for that and were constantly asking her to please make it snow colours again!
Another day, she had even managed to get Varric to tell them stories, something that the dwarf had seemed a bit unwilling at first but that by his heartfelt laughter heard sometime later, he had enjoyed quite a bit.
Truly, she was rounding them all up as surely as she had done with the children. So far her little get together with the children had managed to have, besides Varric; Solas showing off some magic tricks and charming them all with his soft spoken ways, even when asked about why was he bald and can I touch your ears; Iron Bull and an impromptu lesson on how to be an awesome soldier and boisterous laughter when one young girl had asked if she could grow horns too; Sera and some serious giggling involving breeches that Cullen would rather not know about; Josephine and stories about nobles being ridiculous (after she had sworn them all to secrecy); Blackwall and a history lesson on Grey Wardens and also, somehow, beard braids; even Enchanter Vivienne with a few lessons in etiquette (which had the boys a bit bored but still in awe as the accomplished mage commanded them); Leliana and animated singing; Dorian and a few new pranks to pull and some dreamy sighs about how he was so handsome even if he was from Tevinter which had him laughing good-naturedly and agreeing wholeheartedly.
Cassandra had made herself scarce but with a promise to join them sometime. Even the young man, called Cole, Cullen believed, sometimes wandered around them, as if drinking in their interactions but not quite joining in.
And right now, by the way the Herald had noticed his look and was beckoning him to join them, today was his day.
He wasn't sure what to expect.
When he approached the place where the Herald was sitting down with the children, one of the girls, with dark and curly long hair, spotted him and her eyes went wide as saucers.
He heard her say The Commander very quietly, awe painting her voice.
By then, all of them had noticed him and the Herald motioned him to sit beside her on the makeshift seat.
"Kids, this is Commander Cullen. He's the… boss, as Iron Bull would say, of the Inquisition soldiers"
Some of them were looking at him with wide eyes but others, the less shy, were saying hello with various degrees of excitement.
After sitting down he smiled at them. "Hello."
A red-haired boy with a cheeky smile wasted no time and cried out, "You're like the King!"
Many of the other kids looked at the boy asking, "The King?"
"Yes! The King of the Inquisition!" The boy said, nodding rapidly.
A slightly older boy next to him frowned at the red-head. "That can't be! Who's the Queen then?"
"There's no Queen!"
"There has to be a Queen!"
"No way! He's a Lion!"
At this, they became so involved in their discussion that they promptly ignored the two adults nearby in favor of discussing the topic at hand.
Cullen was left bewildered and beside him, the Herald was very amused at the turn of events.
They had, sometime later, broke off their argument (reaching no conclusion, Cullen was relieved to know) and started to question him about what it was like to be the boss.
He answered them the best he could, occasionally stammering when one of the children asked him some surprising, and sometimes very silly, questions. The woman beside him masterfully helped conducting the questioning and he noted how the children respected her.
After a while, he noticed the Herald looking behind her. She turned back to the children announcing it was time to eat so they should go.
Food was apparently a good motivator since they all fled in the direction of their parents and caretakers, shouting goodbye, Lyra at the Herald hurriedly.
She watched them go with a soft smile on her face.
"You're good with children," was out of his mouth without his consent, but it had been burning on his mind ever since he had seen her with them.
She moved her eyes to him and shrugged. "I've always liked children." As if that explained it.
Cullen wanted to know more but he dare not ask.
She must have read his thoughts because she continued softly, gazing at the horizon "I…well, there's always children at the Circle and… they're always terrified. No matter how gentle the Templars are with them, they've been forcibly dragged out of their homes, away from their parents and everything familiar to them. And that is without mentioning that they've usually just realized they have magic and you know how that isn't seen as a positive thing." She sighed softly, raising her hand in front of her and making a little ball of fire appear, floating in the air "When you're young, inexperienced and are afraid of your own abilities with magic, you're a much more easier target for demons." She made the fire disappear with a flick of her wrist. "So I did what I could for them. I helped them accept their ability to do magic and to not fear it. Respect it, yes, as you would respect and wield a knife or a sword carefully, but not fear it."
She sighed and clasped her hands in her lap. "And, well, these children saw things no child should see. I thought I could help them a little bit."
Silence fell between them.
"That… is very admirable," Cullen said after a long moment, when the depths of her kindness had sunk in, his voice coming out softly without him meaning to.
She turned her pale blue eyes on him quickly "Uh…thank you." She hastily broke eye contact with him and that made him smile.
He had a growing suspicion that the Herald was shy and for some reason, he thought that was adorable. He also wondered what was wrong with him, to suddenly start thinking that.
Any inner scolding he was about to give himself was interrupted when the little girl that had seemed so in awe of him, Elle, reappeared by the Herald's side and grabbing her arm while keeping her eyes on him, whispered something in the woman's ear.
Whatever the secret was, it made Lyra smile. She turned to the young girl and with an amused tone of voice asked, "And what are your intentions towards him, young lady? Hum?"
Elle shushed her hurriedly, looking at him in a way Cullen supposed it was meant to be discreet. He looked around as if he wasn't paying attention, to put her at ease.
He heard the Herald laugh "Yes, he is." And after some more hushed whispers "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." And "I won't forget to ask, don't worry."
"Goodbye Lyra," he finally heard the girl say and when he turned to look at them, she gave a quick kiss on the Herald's cheek and took off running.
"Goodbye Elaine!"
The Herald turned to him with the most magnificent grin on her face and he knew he was in trouble.
"So, Commander," she started, laughing at his expression.
"Oh Maker, that was about me, wasn't it?" What had he gotten himself into, now?
"Indeed. Young Elaine there wanted to know if the 'handsome Commander of the Inquisition forces was married or free', her exact words. I believe she is very interested."
He groaned and buried his face in his hands while the Herald giggled at the situation.
A part of him was elated to hear her so carefree, especially with him. The other part of him was a bit mortified for the position a young girl put him in. Apparently he was terrible with girls, in any age and of any age.
"I am unmarried and eh…free, I suppose," he finally said, rubbing his forehead with one of his hands.
"Truly?" She asked with a surprised tone. He wondered yet again why so many people had that reaction. Was he supposed to be married for some reason? He nodded.
She was silent for a moment "Not…not even in Kirkwall? No one special caught your interest?"
And suddenly the conversation went to a surprising place that had nothing to do with the young girl who had started it.
Cullen's heart started to make a weird dance that he had started to associate with Lyra Trevelyan's presence.
He held her eyes for a moment before answering, "Not in Kirkwall."
She maintained eye contact as if searching something in his eyes, even as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
She finally nodded. "I'll be sure to relay my findings to Elaine, although I should mention she appears to be sweet on not only you, but also Dorian, Varric and Solas, even if she think he should grow out some hair because surely he must be cold, especially in his ears" She told him with a fond smile.
He barked a laugh. "I'll be sure to guard my heart from that little would-be heartbreaker."
She flashed him a grin and he was glad that she seemed more comfortable in his presence.
"Thank you for joining us, Cullen."
He laughed softly. Truly he was the one who wanted to thank her, for everything really, but that was for another time.
"Anytime, Lyra."
The slow smile she gave him then, filled his heart with hope for the future.
A/N: First story! I wrote this more than a year ago so I'm confident I already leveled up from it, but it was the first thing I ever wrote with Cullen and Lyra so I'm quite fond of it :)
Diamond dust is an actual thing! I've never seen it as it doesn't snow where I live but I've seen images and it's rather pretty. Also, little Elaine was named after my Warden, Elaine Cousland.
Thank you for reading!