Cullen hardly saw anything of Trev the next few days. He didn't get a chance to speak to her in private, as she had busied herself with various Inquisition tasks she normally left to others. He only ever really saw her in the war room, and even there she refused to look at him. She didn't come to his bed at night either.

Four days after Cullen had watched Trev recieve the message Leliana gave her, he was driving himself crazy wondering what was wrong. He felt sick to his stomach. Why wouldn't she even look at him?

He was crossing the lower courtyard on his way to see Leliana, to ask her what in damnation was going on, when he saw Trev walk down the stairs with Leliana close behind her. They stopped at the base of the steps and turned their heads in the direction of the main gate. Cullen didn't have to wait for long before he saw what they were waiting for. An entourage of people and horses were crossing the bridge to the keep.

Cullen kept watching but held his distance.

He could see a man dismounting the first horse that rode into the courtyard. A relatively tall fellow, clad in a nobleman's outfit. Cullen stiffened as the man closed in on Trev, he was much too close. Cullen took a step towards them but stopped himself when he saw the man lean forward and kiss Trev's cheek.

What in the Maker's name...?

Nobody greeted the Inquisitor that intimately. No friend, no nobleman, not even a king would dare. She was the Herald, the Inquisitor. And even if it had been possible, she would never let anobody in that close, except for Cullen.

Then he saw the man's hand slide along her arm in a far too intimate gesture. He saw Trev tense, but she didn't remove his hand.

Cullen wanted to hack if off, preferably with a large, sharp sword.

Why is she letting him touch her like that?

They said something to each other, turned around and Trev and the man walked up the stairs while Leliana followed, as usual. The rest of the entourage were taken care of by a couple of servants. Trev met Cullen's eyes briefly before she continued climbing the steps, her face a mask of neutrality.

Cullen felt lost. He couldn't for the life of him understand what he'd done to deserve this icy cold treatment from Trev. And who in Thedas was that obnoxious man?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone call for him.

He was needed elsewhere.

Later that evening, Cullen stood outside the door to Trev's quarters. He'd come to demand, no, beg for her to tell him what was going on. He was just about to knock when he could hear voices from inside. He knew he shouldn't listen in but the door was slightly ajar and he was so confused, he'd do anything to get some kind of answer.

"You have to tell him!" It was Leliana's voice. She sounded angry, scolding.

"No! I can't! I've already told you, there's only one way I can handle this. Please, Leli, you swore you would help me." Trev sounded desperate. Cullen wanted to rush in and hold her, to tell her everything would be alright if she just told him what was going on. But he stopped himself.

"And I will, you know I will. But then you know what you have to do. You can't just leave him wondering like this, can't you see how much you're hurting him? You speak to him tonight, do you understand?"

Cullen was taken aback by the tone in Leliana's voice. He couldn't for the life of him imagine what would make Leliana speak to Trev in such a way.

"And trust me when I say you need to inform your father about this. If what you've told me... if Lord Trevelyan hears of this from anyone else, could you imagine? We don't know what he would do. You need to take control of the situation."

"But..." Trev sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I know it's hard. You don't have to tell him everything, in fact, I think that would be unwise. But I need to know that you will do everything that you can, and I will do my part."

Cullen stood dumbfounded and confused when Leliana came storming out of the room. She halted when she saw Cullen, and he could see her expression shift from anger to pity when her eyes found his.

"Leliana, what..." he started but the spymaster shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Cullen. This is between you and the Inquisitor. I think you'd better go in and speak with her." She walked passed him and Cullen stared after her until she disappeared around the corner.

Cullen suddenly didn't feel like going in. That look of pity on Leliana's face... He knew nothing good would come of this. But he knocked on the door anyway.

"Who is it?"

Cullen could hear fear in her voice. Who did she expect here in the safety of her own keep, to make her sound so afraid?

"It's just me."

Silence.

The door opened. Trev looked at him for a few seconds before she slid her eyes down to the floor and motioned for him to enter.

He walked in and she closed the door behind him.

"What do you want, Cullen?" She sounded tired, and irritated. It cut through him like a knife.

He turned to face her. She still wouldn't look at him.

"Please, Trev, what in the Maker's name is going on? Everything was so good, and then you receive some message and then you refuse to speak to me, to even look at me. Hey! Look at me, Trev, I beg of you!"

He could see her muster up strenght before she turned her head and looked him in the eyes. He could see how she smoothed out her expression to a neutral one. A cold one.

He took a step closer to her and reached out to touch her arm.

"Don't."

He withdrew his hand like she'd burned it.

"I... I'm sorry Cullen, but it's over." She looked down at the floor again.

He didn't understand what she meant.

"What's over?"

When she didn't answer, it dawned on him.

No, she can't mean us. This isn't happening.

"What is going on, Trev? Answer me. Don't you think you owe me more than this? What the fuck is going on?"

She winced at the anger in his voice, but he couldn't help himself. This was insane.

"All this time, all we've been through together... You seemed so happy! You've always wanted my company, always told me that you care for me more than anyone. You know I love you." He could see her screw her eyes shut at his last words, like it was painful for her to hear. "I know you feel the same, Trev. What's changed?" He was desperate now.

She turned her head away from him, her eyes still shut. What she whispered next almost brought him to his knees.

"I never said I loved you."

Cullen took a few steps back, reeling, and braced himself against the closed door.

She... doesn't love me? She's... right, she never... she never said. You idiot. You pathetic idiot.

Cullen didn't think he could feel more pain until she spoke again.

"Just go, get out of here before you cause any more embarrassement to yourself."

Her voice was like venom.

Not my Trev. That's not her, that's someone else.

No matter how much his brain tried to convince him, he could feel his heart shatter into a thousand tiny pieces.

He managed to open the door somehow and stumbled out of there, bile rising in his throat. He had to get away from there, away from this nightmare.

He didn't see her fall to her knees, her face in her hands as she began to weep uncontrollably, as he stumbled away from there, away from her.

Cullen woke up to the sound of someone banging on his office door. He groaned and lifted his head, trying to orientate himself. He was sitting slumped on the floor, his neck stiff from leaning against the wall half the night. He didn't even know how he'd made it back to his office. Sometime during the night he must have drifted off to sleep out of pure exhaustion.

Someone banged on the door again. The events of the night before came rushing back to him and he felt like he was going to be sick. He felt disgusting, and remembered vaguely how he had stopped and thrown up over the side of the battlements on his way here. His mouth tasted like death and he felt like it too.

It has to be some kind of nightmare. Something's terribly wrong. She wouldn't just do this to me.

He became more and more convinced that there had been some kind of mistake, that it was all just a big misunderstanding. He'd go talk to her, right after he'd cleaned up a bit.

"Commander!" The banging on his door continued and someone shouted at him through it.

"Yes! Maker, I'm coming..."

He got up to his feet slowly, still a bit dizzy. He walked up to the door and unlocked it.

Cassandra.

"Maker's breath, you looked like something the cat dragged in, Cullen," she said, wrinkling her nose before her expression softened. That damned pity again. "Have you been in here all morning?" she asked.

Cullen just nodded.

"Then, I guess... you haven't heard?"

"Heard what, Cassandra?" he said, rubbing circles against his temples, trying to relieve his pounding headache. She looked hesitantly at him.

"Well, spit it out then. I guarantee you can't make me feel any worse than I already do," he said.

Cassandra looked unsure of herself.

That's a first.

"I... maybe you should sit down first. Can I bring you anything, something to eat? Drink?"

"Maker, Cassandra, since when did you become a servant?"

"Alright, alright. But sit down for me, yes?"

He was too tired to argue and slumped down in his chair.

"Cullen. You need to know. There's been an announcement this morning. From the Inquisitor."

Cullen sat up straight. "Yes?" he breathed.

Cassandra cleared her throat.

"She's... she's announced her impending union with Lord Dreallor."

Cullen shook his head in confusion.

"What union, what are you talking about? And who in the fade is Lord Dreallor?"

Cassandra looked sad.

"He's the nobleman who arrived yesterday. Apparently he's a friend to Lady Trevelyan from back home. I guess... he's more than a friend, actually. They're going to be married."

Cullen had never thought that anything in his life could feel worse that the torture in the Circle. He was wrong.