The sound of the portcullis opening pulled Cullen's attention away from his reports; no large groups were due to arrive at Skyhold today, smaller parties used the gatehouse.
If they're opening the portcullis then... he climbed to his feet and looked out the window. He'd guessed correctly; Ellana's group had returned early. He wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing or not. The usually rowdy group of soldiers seemed subdued as they followed The Inquisitor's battle nug into the courtyard. Leaving his paperwork where it lay, Cullen grabbed his cloak from the back of his door and exited out into the mid-afternoon sun. A few of the soldiers greeted him with half-hearted salutes as he headed down the stairs outside his office to meet them. Ellana greeted him with a tired looking smile,
"What happened?" he asked, forgetting himself for a moment in his concern and touching the bridle of Ellana's nug. It growled at him from somewhere deep in its chest, and Cullen quickly let go before the damn thing took a chunk from his hand,
"Not here." she mumbled, calming the nug with a scratch behind the ears. Cullen glared at it, the slightest provocation and it growled at him, she scratched its ears, and he was pretty sure it was purring. Are battle nugs supposed to purr? "You know he'd snap at you less if you used his name. He's smart, he understands."
"I am not calling him that."
"Why not? Mr Tiddles suits him. Doesn't it boy?"
"I am literally incapable of saying that aloud." Cullen said, giving it another dirty look, which he could have sworn the damn thing returned.
"Well, if you lose fingers you've only yourself to blame." she said, giving her nug another affectionate pat. She found a smile for the stable-hand that hurried over to take the reins of her mount. Swinging a leg over the saddle she slid gracefully to the ground, Cullen's hands went to her hips to help steady her. He squeezed her waist, his head tilted in silent question, she dipped her head in response; she was okay. It wasn't much of a reassurance, Ellana always claimed to be okay. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing all the soldiers that had returned with her were heading for the tavern. Biting her lip she turned back to Cullen,
"Let's get everyone rounded up and gathered in The Den. I need to put some gold behind the bar for the soldiers from The Hinterlands and I think more than a few people will want ale close at hand when they hear what's been going on."
With runners sent to each member of the inner circle, Cullen and Ellana made their way inside the tavern. With enough coin behind the bar to keep the troops happy for the evening, Cullen and Ellana climbed the stairs. Once alone she turned to him with a serious expression and hands on her hips,
"So, good trip?" Cullen asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at her. She snorted with laughter, totally obliterating her serious Inquisitor persona before wrapping her arms around his neck and reaching up on her toes to kiss him, one of his hands found her face, the other the small of her back, and he drew her to him. Cullen pressed his forehead to hers when she pulled away a little,
"I missed you, vhenan." she said softly,
"I missed you, too." He whispered back before kissing her again.
"Put her down Curly, you don't know where she's been." Varric said with a laugh, entering the room behind them. Ellana pulled her head back but kept her arms around Cullen's neck,
"Don't you have a manuscript to write, or something?" she asked over her shoulder,
"Probably. I do want to make sure I write down that bit with the dagger before I forget -"
"There was a bit with a dagger?" Cullen whispered,
"Don't ask." Ellana muttered back,
"- but you did call a meeting." Varric finished.
"Is it too late to run?" Cullen asked.
"It is." Leliana said, entering the room behind him and poking him in the shoulder as she passed. Reluctantly he took his arms from Ellana's back, letting her off her toes. She winked at him before hopping up to perch on the edge of the table. The others trailed into the room in two's and three's until they were all gathered together,
"What news do you have from The Hinterlands?" Leliana asked, starting the meeting off,
"We met a group of refugees from one of the villages The Believers attacked." Ellana said, becoming serious once again, "More notes than the ones we have are in circulation, they had a copy too. So, either more than one note is at each village or..."
"Or there're more villages we haven't had word about, Maker." Cullen finished with a groan, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck.
"Maker indeed." Ellana agreed with a nod.
"I'm fairly certain we would have heard of other attacks." Leliana said, a faint frown creasing her brow, "We have agents in many places. But I suppose if it was isolated we may not have had word yet. For now, lets work on the assumption there's more than one copy of each note at each village. I still have agents stationed, I'll have them check again."
"Alright, so when are this group arriving? I'll have people get things ready." Cullen said, already running logistics for food and housing in his mind.
"There's no need. I don't think they'll be coming." Ellana said, fidgeting on her spot on the table and pulling at a loose thread on her leggings, "They were... unreceptive to The Inquisitions offer of aid."
Varric barked a laugh, "That's a nice way of putting it, 'Lea."
"It wasn't their fault, they -"
"They spat at her, Curly," Varric said, turning to Cullen and cutting across Ellana's defence of the village, "They blame The Inquisition for bringing this down on them, and blame 'Lea for not handing herself over to the damn Believers."
"They did what?" Blackwall asked, "After everything we did for them? How soon they bloody forget."
"It really isn't their fault, they're looking for someone to blame, we're just the most convenient target." Ellana said, still defending the villagers. Cullen had to say he agreed with Blackwall and Varric wholeheartedly, but Ellana was looking uncomfortable enough already. He made a mental note to bring it up when they were alone.
"There was an awesome bit with a dagger though." Sera said, making Ellana roll her eyes. Cullen raised an eyebrow at her, she rolled her eyes again but nodded; she'd tell him later.
"The point is," Ellana continued, "The Inquisition's reputation is being dragged through the mud. We might not be able to rely on information about The Believers that doesn't come directly from our own sources. We need to act sooner rather than later. If we bait them out -"
"We've already had this discussion," Cullen reminded her, "I think everyone made their opinions on that matter very clear." But when he looked around at the others, they didn't look quite as sure as they had the last time Ellana's plan had been mentioned. Especially those that had gone to The Hinterlands.
"Inquisitor, even if we were to try your plan, we have no way of knowing if The Believers would take the bait." Josephine chimed in, Cullen breathed a sigh of relief, for a moment there he thought she might actually change their minds, "They haven't requested that you meet them, all they have asked is that you reopen The Breach. You cannot do as they ask, even if you wished to. Until they give us a meeting point, our hands are tied."
"Then we need more information, a way to make contact, a base, anything." Ellana frowned, clearly frustrated by their lack of progress.
"Leliana and I will reach out to our contacts again. Let us see if we can find any new information."
"Alright, Dorian says he has information but I'd rather not have all our dragon eggs in one basket."
The first moment Cullen got chance, he told Ellana of his mental block and resumed Templar training. She'd been, much to his amazement, not the least bit surprised. One day he might get used to the fact that she seemed to know him better than he knew himself, but it hadn't happened yet,
"You knew?!" he asked, mouth slightly agape as he watched her leaf through the backlog of letters and papers that had accumulated on the desk in their room during her absence,
"Since before we opened the lyrium rehabilitation clinic for the ex-Templars," she nodded. When he didn't answer she glanced up to look at him gaping at her, she rose from her chair with a sympathetic smile and patted his hand, "Cullen, we read just about everything ever written on the subject of lyrium, about its uses and withdrawal. We discovered texts that predate the Chantry, we're experts. Of course I knew that the loss of your abilities had nothing to do with you not taking lyrium, you knew it too. Or at least you would have had it been happening to someone else."
"Why in the Maker's name didn't you tell me?"
"Oh, I almost did, believe me. I nearly brought it up a dozen times at least. It was driving me crazy, for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. Then you told me everything that happened in Kirkwall and at the tower, and it all clicked into place. It was psychological, you needed time to heal. That's all. You'd have realised yourself eventually, when you were ready. Rylen just gave you a nudge."
"And resuming my Templar training doesn't bother you?"
"Of course not." she leant up on her toes to kiss him, "Just think; the next time I get carried away and set the hangings around the bed on fire, you can put them out without getting up. That's a win-win in my book."
Cullen chuckled and gently rubbed his hands up and down her arms, "I don't think that's quite what The Chantry had in mind when they established The Templar Order."
"You can't possibly know that. I could write to Cassandra and ask if you're really interested."
"Please don't." he groaned,
"Spoilsport." she swatted his shoulder playfully before winking at him, "I still blame you for the singed drapes, by the way." she leant back to perch on the desk, her expression turning solemn, "Seriously though, how're you finding it?"
"I won't lie, it was tough at first, but it's getting easier every time."
"I'll help, if you like? I can't imagine it's great practice for you to keep using the fire-orb of Rylen's."
"You have the time for that?" Cullen asked with a raised brow, eyeing her paper-work backlog,
"I'll find the time for that." she smiled again before picking up a few of the messages and starting to sort them, her head bent low with the sun streaming through the coloured glass behind her to paint patterns on her hair, "Did you find somewhere to practice? I can't see you being enthusiastic about using the soldiers training grounds."
"Yeah," Cullen rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "About that..."
She had been less understanding when she'd discovered he'd told Rylen about their secret training ground, she was still muttering mutinously to herself when Cullen led her and Rylen to the roof a few hours later,
"It's a bloody good job you're learning how to do this," she grumbled behind him as they walked up the stairs, "Because I'm tempted to turn you into a very fetching ice sculpture." From somewhere behind her Cullen heard Rylen laugh, Cullen shook his head,
Rookie mistake, he thought, all you've done is draw her attention.
"I don't know what you're laughing at Rylen," she said right on cue, "It's not as though I have a maximum number of casts, you'll be melting away right next to him."
"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Rylen replied.
Cullen winced; he'd called her ma'am, now he was in serious trouble.
"Since we're divulging secrets," Ellana said, her voice taking a dangerous turn towards silky, "Is there anything else you'd like to know? I could tell you about this thing Cullen likes where I -"
"Maker no!" Rylen exclaimed, clapping his hands over his ears and humming to drown her out,
"I thought The Inquisition didn't go in for cruel and unusual punishment?" Cullen asked mildly over his shoulder,
"That depends entirely on whom I'm punishing." Ellana replied, a devilish smile pulling at her mouth,
"I'm going to pay for this, aren't I?" Cullen groaned,
"Oh yes, ma vhenan."
"Wonderful." Cullen groaned again as he cleared the hatch to the roof, "That's just wonderful."
"Could you light the torches please, Inquisitor?" Rylen asked when they emerged onto the roof,
"Ellana. Come on Rylen, it's not hard. Say it with me; El-la-na." she said, flicking her wrists so the torches lining the battlements burst into flame,
"Sorry, Inquisitor." Rylen said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes at him and turned to face Cullen, "So, is this going to end the same way our training sessions usually do?"
His hands froze from where he'd been removing his sword and heavy cloak.
Oh, this isn't good!
Her voice was far too innocent, he didn't trust that tone for an instant. He turned to look at her; her eyes were huge, feigning sweetness and innocence. Her cocked eyebrow told an entirely different story.
Cruel and unusual punishment indeed.
He glared at her, silently begging her to stop whatever it was she was planning behind that innocent look. She smiled back broadly. At least her back was facing Rylen, thank the Maker for small mercies,
"How does it usually end?" Rylen asked, he was leant back casually against the battlements, totally taken in by her act and seemingly blissfully unaware of the fodder he was feeding her,
"With one of us on our backs and begging for mercy." she said. Cullen choked a cough, which only made Ellana's devilish smile widen. Cullen prayed the torches weren't bright enough to allow Rylen to see the blush he could feel making its way up his neck,
Thankfully the man seemed utterly oblivious, "I hope you took him down gently, Inquisitor."
Maker, will it never end?
"Oh, don't worry, he got a few good licks in."
That's it, Cullen decided, I'm going to kill her.
"So, who won the last one?" Rylen asked,
I'm going to kill him too.
"You know," Ellana mused, "I don't recall. Who finished on top last time, Cullen? You or me?" her shoulders started to shake with the effort of trying not to laugh. Her tongue wet her bottom lip before she took it between her teeth, tilting her head to one side,
"It was a draw." Cullen blurted, pulling his gaze from her mouth before she could make matters worse, "Shall we get on with it?"
"Jeez, Cullen, buy a girl a drink first." Cullen glared down his nose at her until she held her hands up in surrender, "Alright, I'm done. Honest."
"Humph." Cullen crossed his arms over his chest, "You've run out, haven't you?"
"When I think up some more, you'll be the first to know."
"I can't wait." Cullen said dryly,
"Can I throw fireballs at him yet?" Ellana asked Rylen over her shoulder,
"And here I thought you Dalish were all supposed to be about healing, nature and being one with the forest."
"Seriously?" she raised a brow at Rylen, "In Skyhold we have a beardless surface dwarf, a qunari that values family over duty and a Tevinter mage who's best friend is a Dalish elf, and that's the stereotype you're stuck on?"
"Ha, alright Inquisitor, fair enough." Rylen chuckled,
"It's Ellana." she said before turning back to Cullen, "What do you need me to do?"
"So far we've been working with benign magic, anything aggressive is going to be harder, and we don't want to risk an accident."
"Benign magic isn't really my forte." Ellana said thoughtfully, chewing on her bottom lip while her hand came to her throat to play with the lucky coin Cullen had given her that hung on its chain around her neck, "I have my fire mines, of course, but they're fairly similar to what you've already done with the fire in the ball. I imagine what you're looking for is something that's being actively cast and maintained but not too powerful or aggressive?"
"Exactly." Cullen nodded,
"I could set you up with a disruption field, but — hmm. Oh!" she suddenly brightened, "How about veilfire?"
"Veilfire?" Cullen didn't recognise the name, he was sure he'd never come across it during his time with The Templars, "I'm not familiar with it."
"That's not surprising, it's an old elven spell from back before the Tevinter Imperium. The Chantry banned teaching it, as I recall."
"Why? Is it dangerous?"
She shrugged, "I guess that depends on your perspective, but it's not harmful. Here, I'll show you."
An instant later and Ellana's arms were bathed in green flames up to her elbows, tendrils creeping off higher to surround her face and hair, giving her an almost green halo,
"It's beautiful." Cullen murmured stepping closer, the earlier teasing was forgotten as she smiled gently at him,
"It'll burn for an eternity without needing fuel, but its true use is communication. Back in ancient times, the elves would inscribe runes with messages that could only be read by veilfire. Of course, messages that can only be seen by someone using magic could be used against the circles, hence the banning. Not for the first time The Chantry missed the point entirely; messages written using veilfire can pass on sensations and emotions. Even memories can be left behind for someone to feel first-hand. Imagine what a person could learn if you could pass on the understanding of an idea, not just an idea itself. Not ideologies and intentions that can be left open for interpretation, but a true understanding."
"That's incredible." he whispered, watching the green flames flow gracefully around her arms. A long time ago, so long ago it could have been part of a different life, Cullen had been fascinated by magic. Before Kirkwall and Kinlock Hold. He'd thought those experiences had destroyed that fascination for good; fear, anger and distrust had taken its place. Then he'd left The Chantry, quit lyrium, joined The Inquisition and met Ellana. Her magic made him feel many things, but never fear. Then the fascination had returned.
"You can touch it if you want. There's no heat, only light." Cullen's hand passed through the green flame, she was right, he didn't feel any heat from it, just the familiar sensation of Ellana's magic, "Can you feel this?"
"Makers breath." he hissed, the veilfire pulsed brighter and the tingling sensation travelled down Cullen's hand and into his arm, lifting the fine blonde hair under his armour. He glanced at her through the green haze and saw her beaming a huge smile at him, "What?" he asked.
"You just stuck your hand in mysterious, magical fire!"
"Yes, but your mysterious, magical fire." Cullen chuckled, experimentally laying his palms on top of hers and watching the fire lick painlessly through their fingers, "I rather think that trusting your magic is a given at this point."
"Just when I start to take it for granted something happens, and I'm amazed all over again." her voice was soft, and her eyes so filled with affection that it made his chest lighten just to see it,
"Ugh," Rylen groaned, "You two are sickening, you know that?"
"Oh, er, Rylen." Ellana started a little, sending pleasant sparks of mana along Cullen's skin,
"You completely forgot I was here, didn't you?" Rylen laughed,
"A bit, yeah." she grinned at him sheepishly, letting the veilfire go out. The roof felt much darker and cooler in its absence, "Sorry."
"Quite alright, Inquisitor." Rylen grinned, "In any event, the veilfire you conjured should work well enough for practice, shall we?"
Cullen had almost entirely forgotten why they were up here in the first place, judging by the slight widening of Ellana's eyes he wasn't the only one. She took a few steps back into the centre of the roof, twisting her wrists and stretching her fingers.
"Now, we're just purging the veilfire, so there shouldn't be a drain on your mana, wouldn't want to leave you feeling drained when we have work to do." Rylen said, a touch of concern entering his voice,
"It's fine," Ellana reassured him, "I'm not worried."
"Good. Alright, let's give it a try."
Ellana flicked her hands and once again the green flames burst into life on her arms. Cullen could feel the small pool of will he'd been building up, sitting there and waiting for him to tap into it. But suddenly, he was very aware it was Ellana's magic he was about to try to purge. It hadn't occurred to him that he'd feel so conflicted about it. She had been so concerned about the effect her magic would have on him. Much to both of their surprise, it had never bothered him in the least. Her magic was part of her. He'd once told her he didn't love her despite her magic, he just loved her, magic included. Trying to purge it now was-
"Hey," she said softly, sensing his hesitation, "It's fine."
"But-"
"Unless you think you can't?" she cocked her head to one side and smiled, "If you think my magic is too powerful for you?" Just like that she turned it into a game, he smiled back, she always knew what he needed. He dipped into that little well of focused will and pushed. The veilfire flickered as though caught in a gust of wind. It didn't go out, but it was certainly better than Cullen had been expecting for a first attempt,
"Oh, wow!" Ellana exclaimed almost excitedly, "I felt it, it's like a wave of cold water. Try again?"
On Cullen's third attempt he could purge the veilfire entirely, on the fifth Ellana actually staggered backwards a step.
"Are you alright?" Cullen asked, slightly alarmed,
"Yes, it's not painful. I guess it's similar to magic? The intent behind it has an effect? I imagine if you were to do the same thing while angry or afraid it would feel different."
"That makes sense I suppose, though we don't draw from the fade as mages do."
"No, what you do isn't magic, not exactly. There's something otherworldly about it though, maybe some small link to the fade that allows emotions to have an impact." She looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging, "Just something to think about, I guess. Want to try one more?"
The headache that Cullen now associated with his Templar training had started to build in the centre of his forehead, but he thought he had another one or two purges left before they'd have to call it a night. He was about to ask Ellana to summon her veilfire again when the hatch to their roof banged open, causing all of them to jump a little.
"'Lea?" Varric's head poked through the opening before spotting them and clambering through,
"Fenedhis, I may as well start charging admission." Ellana muttered,
"Well I didn't tell him." Cullen replied, shooting a pointed look in Rylen's direction, Rylen held his hands up in submission,
"Don't look at me." he said, "I didn't tell him either."
"You guys really think you can keep this a secret?" Varric scoffed, "Please. Remember who you're talking to, I've known about this place for months."
"Excuse me? Months?" Ellana gaped,
"Yeah, most of us know." Varric shrugged, "We just thought it was nice you had somewhere to yourselves."
"Ugh." Ellana said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Dammit Varric, now you've made it sweet. I can't even pretend to be cross if you're going to pull shit like that."
"Like you could ever be cross with a dwarf this charming." Varric said, dusting his knees off, "I wouldn't be here now if I didn't think you'd fireball me in the ass for not telling you immediately." He turned a look of sympathy on Ellana, "Sorry 'Lea, they need you in Haven."
"Why? What's happened?" Ellana asked, already shifting into Inquisitor mode.
"I'm not totally sure, your soldiers need to work on their handwriting. I could make out that nobody's hurt, so don't panic, but people seem pretty shook up down there, you better head down and see what's going on."
"Send a bird ahead, I'm on my way." Ellana had vanished through the hatch almost before she'd finished talking. Cullen turned to Varric,
"That's all I know, I swear." Varric said, holding his hands up in surrender, "But, er, I'd go with her if I were you, Curly. If it's The Believers up to their tricks on our doorstep then it might be better to have someone there to stop 'Lea from doing something stupid. Not that she makes a habit out of doing stupid shit when she's pissed off, or anything." Varric finished with a grin.
"Good point."