X. First Impression

Uwen led Cullen to the third floor where the Senior Mages and the First Enchanter both had their chambers and their studies. Stepping down the hallway to the last door before there was a turn to another section of the manor, Uwen stopped and said, "This is where our First Enchanter conducts her business. Hopefully you won't get too lost around here."

Cullen really had nothing to say, settling for a simple nod, because he was focusing so hard on keeping himself casual. There was laughter coming out of the study from behind the closed door which Uwen was reaching for, and Cullen somehow felt as if this might've been surreal, perhaps another dream he was having that wasn't actually happening. But as Uwen turned the knob and opened the door before he stepped inside, there she was, Aislinn Amell, speaking with an older Templar and apparently laughing at something he'd had to say.

Her smile was bright, her hair was tied up into a bun on the back of her head, her blue robe was made of a material that had a slight sheen to it and outlined her beautifully with a sash tied low around her hips, and most of all, her laugh was enchanting.

Maker...she hasn't changed a bit. Meeting this part of his past again, Cullen forgot where he was for a brief moment. He'd told himself that his feelings wouldn't resurface that badly, that if anything happened, it would do so over time. It'd been seven years since he'd known her, and his heart would have forgotten and need time to remember again.

Sadly that wasn't the case. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her, and he felt like that young, inexperienced Knight he'd been before all over again.

Something he vaguely noticed while coming to grips was that, on Aislinn's hip, was settled a little girl who looked to be maybe four or five years old, with a crop of curly golden blonde hair and big blue eyes, her thumb shoved into her grinning mouth. It didn't register at first though as Cullen actually managed to remind himself that he needed to walk in with Uwen, and he did so before he looked like a complete dolt.

Aislinn happened to look over when the door opened, and upon spotting Uwen entering first with Cullen behind him, she exclaimed, "Oh! Back already," and she settled the little girl down in a chair that was against the wall before she stood up straight again and walked over toward them.

"Yes, Aislinn, it seems our newest have been able to get their things settled in a bit. Honnely, the new postmen are going to be sent to the barracks whenever you're ready to find them. I also wanted to point out, Aislinn, that there was a slight mis-communication with the Revered Mother in Kirkwall. She thought I was the First Enchanter and told your new Knight Commander as such."

Aislinn gave Uwen a bland look that said she wasn't completely surprised, and then she smiled up and over at Cullen, a smile he'd been warning himself to put a mental shield up against for a while now. "I'm sorry about that confusion then, but I'm glad you made it alright. Hopefully the confusion doesn't change anything."

"No, not uh," he stopped himself, thinking here I go again, and cleared his throat. "Excuse me. But no, not at all, First Enchanter Aislinn. I was surprised to hear your name when I was corrected, but there's no harm in it." Thank the Maker I can speak like a normal man at least. Doesn't make it any less hard to stare however.

Aislinn grinned and nodded, "Come in then, please, have a seat, you've come a long way. Oh, and meet the former Commander you're replacing, Ser Honnely. Ser Honnely, this is Ser Cullen."

The older man smiled and crossed his arm over his chest in greeting typical of the Order, saying, "Well met, Ser Cullen. Aislinn's told me a little about you."

That surprised Cullen, who greeted him in return and asked, "She has?"

"Not much," Aislinn piped up while walking toward the large desk in the room and behind it. "Just about how I knew you from the Circle Tower in Ferelden, the things we both went through there included."

"I see," Cullen spoke, then turned and settled himself in the chair across from the desk that Aislinn was heading behind at that moment. She was busy getting a few things together while Uwen was apparently informing of her their locations as if she'd had a lot on her mind that day in particular.

While this went on, Honnely commented to Cullen, getting his attention, "That was tragic, what happened in the Tower, but of course, any comment I make on the matter would more than likely be insufficient."

"That it was," Cullen agreed somewhat softly, adding, "but the important thing is that not everyone had to die."

As Cullen had spoken that to Honnely, Aislinn was telling her Senior Mage, "Uwen, go fetch me that crate if you would, you know which one I'm talking about."

"Yes, Messere."

Uwen turned to walk away, and Honnely grabbed a cane from where it was leaning next to him against the wall, which he turned on and said to Cullen, "I agree, some of our duties are not so pleasant. But I'll see myself out for now, find those new postmen before they get lost," he chuckled and then added more to Aislinn than to Cullen, "If you need anything of me, come ask." Following this, he looked back at Cullen and said, "Ser, I'll see you shortly in the assembly."

"Yes, Ser," Cullen returned politely as the older man used the cane to walk out of the office, showing Cullen exactly why they needed a replacement if Honnely was disabled in such a fashion. Cullen briefly wondered what might've happened to the man, but he supposed he'd find out later.

"Thank you, Honnely," Aislinn replied as she was going over some papers she held in her hands, and without even looking up, added, "Gracie, don't you dare."

Cullen remembered the little girl and looked over at her to see that she was ready to try to bounce up and down on the cushioned chair in which she was sitting, and she turned a bright and very cute smile up at Aislinn while the mage shuffled her papers. But Aislinn saw her and smiled as she sat down behind the desk she was at, all while Gracie said, "Mama, can I have a lolly?"

"You already had one, Gracie."

"I know, but I ate it. So now I don't got it no more! I need another to replace it," she added as if both certain and sad about it.

Aislinn leaned forward just a bit while reaching up to rub her eyes. She was amused by what Gracie had just told her, drawing out the word, "Child," before she turned and reached into a drawer in her desk just as Uwen was coming back into the room with a small wooden crate in his hands that was key locked. He went over to settle it near Aislinn on her desk as she lifted up a bit of candy from the drawer that consisted of a small wooden stick with a wrapper on the end of it covering a bit of hard candy and handed it to Uwen.

"Give that to Grace when her class is over, please Ser, and thank you so much," she smiled.

Uwen nodded before he turned to go over to Gracie, the little girl reaching up to grab his shoulders as he lifted her from the seat. "Come on, child, it's time for your class."

"Can I still have the lolly?"

"Yes, once your class is over. Is that fair?"

"Yes, Ser," Gracie nodded enthusiastically as Uwen carried her from the office. Cullen noticed her giving him a strange look on the way out as if she didn't know what to make of him, but she disappeared before anything more could be said or done, leaving Aislinn and Cullen to converse. Aislinn had put her papers down by the time they'd left and Cullen glanced back over at her, wondering when she'd become a mother.

"I uh...wasn't aware that you...had a daughter." Why hadn't the Chantry taken the child from her, he wondered.

Aislinn had been going through her drawers and she'd tugged out a key when Cullen's comment came, which made her look up at him to say, "Oh, well she's not my actual daughter. She's adopted." Settling back in her chair, she explained, "Templars found her and about five others in a village after it'd burned to the ground a little over a year ago. The fire was so bad it consumed the forest surrounding it for several acres. No one knows how it started, but we're suspecting there was some blood magic involved because the Templars had been tracking a known mage at the time. It was questionable though, but in any event, all of the people found died except for Gracie, and she didn't speak for nearly half a year after that. Honnely brought her here with the others, and I suppose she took to me after a while."

"I'm sorry to hear about her village," Cullen replied, thinking the story sounded bad, especially if blood mages were behind it. "But at least she seems to have settled well."

"She has," Aislinn nodded, smiling over the thought before informing him, "she's actually a mage too."

Now Cullen did look surprised. "That young?"

"I know, the youngest we've ever seen," Aislinn said with a nod of her head. "Honnely was trying to figure out if she's the youngest ever recorded, but the records are just too vague so far. She's only shown one sign in a year though, and honestly, we're thinking we just noticed because she was here among the mages. But this is her home now and I officially adopted her when I learned that she had magical ability with the Revered Mother's approval. She was already calling me Mama by that time anyway. Though, I think everyone here looks at her fondly, motherly. The Revered Mother looks at her like a grandchild, it's actually pretty funny to see them when they're together."

She did seem like a very sweet little girl, and Cullen could see why because of that. Having thought that Gracie was Aislinn's actual daughter however had given him mixed feelings. He'd considered she may have actually been married if that were the case, and he had no place to feel jealous, but a twinge of it had streaked through him anyway, which he'd quickly diffused in his own head and berated himself for.

But Aislinn had distracted him when she changed the subject by saying, "Anyway, how was the trip here? I hope the rain didn't bother you too much."

She watched him for a moment as he considered it just before he said, "No, it just made things colder. Kirkwall's a bit warmer than this, and I think I've grown used to it."

"Welcome back to Ferelden then," she chuckled softly. "You've been out in the sun a lot from the looks of it as well."

"I have?," Cullen asked, uncertain he knew what she meant.

"Your hair, it looks a lot lighter," she replied with an amused smirk. "Well, from what I remember anyway. But how was Kirkwall though? That is, before everything that happened I mean."

Cullen considered that question for a few moments, wondering how he might sum up his time in Kirkwall to her. Finally, he just settled on saying, "The Order was much more organized than it was at the Tower, and the rules imposed on the mages...," he trailed, trying to think of the best way to put it without possibly offending her, and finally settled on the words, "more strict. It," he paused yet again, then looked to the side, "worked to a point. Though you may think I've become biased after...everything that happened."

The Circle Tower, she thought to herself, and shook her head at him. "No, I think your views are based on sound facts," Aislinn replied. "It's why I requested you."

"You...," he paused briefly, "re-requested me?" Cullen hadn't known about that part. "They didn't say I'd been requested, only suggested for the...uh...position by the Revered Mother here."

"Yes, and when I heard the suggestion, I made the request directly to her. Her name is Marleyna. You'll probably meet her before too much longer, she's currently out on a little personal business for now though."

"Yes, I heard," Cullen nodded. After a moment of hesitation, because he was curious about what she'd said, he asked, "Might I inquire why it was that you requested me? I've heard the practices here go against standard Chantry rules and it's causing a stir," he shook his head at her, adding, "yet you know my position on matters regarding mages."

"Your position is why I requested you," Aislinn returned with no lack of confidence. "I felt your position on these matters was a needed view point in order to keep things going smoothly. The Chantry wanted someone like you sent here, and I thought that it was necessary as well. Honnely doesn't always agree with me, nor I with him, but we do have similar standpoints in most of our little debates, and compromise is reached easily, perhaps too easily with all of the tension going on. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't overlooking anything, and I thought that you might be a good option in helping to ensure that doesn't happen."

"I see," Cullen replied, giving a nod or two in thought. She wanted to bring his own standpoints here for the good of this Circle, which made sense. Seemed the next logical step was to then ask, "Then tell me more about what kinds of policies you follow here. How does Honnely go about things?" One thing Cullen was glad for was that he could apparently be professional with her in the least without bumbling his way through sentences.

Aislinn sat forward just a bit in order to lean her elbows against her desk while saying, "Well, foremost, this Circle encourages the mages and Templars to get to know one another, something we weren't sure would work at first, but has since become a standard practice. It seemed like the first most logical step to take to integrate rather than segregate and help things flow more smoothly. This goes against some of the Chantry's policies because they're afraid that too much attachment to a mage might cause a Templar to fail in his duty to that mage if the worst should arise, which I'm sure you already know."

It was a rule Cullen knew all too well, and easily remembered considering the woman he was looking at. He'd become attached to her, and the Chantry saw that as a potential weakness saying she ended up going bad and he had to hunt her down and deliver a final blow. They'd question whether he'd do his duty or not if they knew of his fondness of her, and might potentially relieve him of his duties altogether for it.

Since she seemed to understand that rule as well, he asked her, "Yet you don't fear something like that would happen?"

"Not in specific, no, not anymore," Aislinn told him plainly. "There's a certain amount of trust involved with this situation here that's surprised a good number of us, and the mages completely understand the necessity of what would be expected from a Templar should one of them fall prey to a demon or to blood magic. While I have my own personal views on it, most of the mages here regard it as a necessary precaution considering the way things are now, ever since the Chantry in Kirkwall was destroyed by a mage."

She took a breath, then added meaningfully, "Most of them are scared of what that event has brought on, and they don't want to leave here, afraid of what might happen to them on the outside. The world isn't a welcoming place to us and we know it. Most here believe they can do more good for mages by working together in this Circle than by running away from it."

"That seems...admittedly odd," Cullen said, his tone showing that he was surprised. "Most mages I've ever met would rather run from a Circle and lead a life on their own, not stay in one, even for their own protection."

"They do want a life of their own," Aislinn admitted, "but they want it in a world that accepts them. Here, they have that acceptance and have a chance to make others see. It may not be the independent, normal life we all want, but it's safe and it's family. Some of them have even told me that they feel like coming here might have saved their lives."

Cullen was starting to see the full picture behind this place now. He remembered spying the Templar and the mage on the porch playing Chess at a small table before he'd come in and wondered if that was a small taste of the things he might see here. The place had been set up to be much more of a community than that of a facility where mages were living just so they wouldn't have to worry about stepping on someone's toes in a sense. In order to do that, integration so the mages could understand more about what was expected of the Templars had been employed.

He had to admit, he was intrigued. He hadn't really thought of it with much of a sense of community. Then again, he did question that as well. So he admitted to Aislinn, "I'm having a bit of a difficult time understanding how this kind of integration can accomplish anything good in the long run."

"Well," Aislinn started, "tell me what a Templar's primary duty concerning mages is then."

"To guard against the potential dangers and threats they all pose," he told her without reservation, adding, "and to ensure they're all in line. The Order dictates that we must stay vigilant against all threats."

"So, it's a Templars duty to protect, both normal people from a mage's power, and a mage from his or her own," Aislinn summed up.

"Yes," Cullen agreed.

Aislinn was silent for a moment, letting that part sink in before she asked plainly and logically, "So, tell me then, Ser Cullen, why you'd ever want to protect something you hated or feared?"

Cullen watched her, seeing the sense in what she'd said, and he considered it for a moment. It was a good point. He didn't hate mages in specific, but he knew he carried a good amount of disdain for them, and he had to ask her considering she knew how he felt about it, "Are you suggesting that I'm not fit for my duties then?"

"Oh, I'm definitely not going that far," Aislinn replied, then she gave him a little smirk, waving her hand in his direction before asking, "Are you suggesting that you both hate and fear mages?"

"I don't fear them," he said easily, then let a soft sigh. "I did hate them for a long time, however."

"And now?"

"I feel disdain for them," he admitted, giving her a slow look. "Is that...unfitting?"

He watched her perking a single brow before she gave a slow shake of her head. "I couldn't tell you that. Everyone feels differently and for different reasons."

"Then how do you propose I approach this situation, commanding the Templars of a Circle when I don't think they should be...associating to much with the mages?"

"I think you should approach it the same way you'd approach any situation. Know what's going on around you first so you can make the best decision on how to respond, then respond to it."

She made it all sound so simple. Cullen couldn't help himself when he sat forward a bit and said to her, "You were in the Tower when everything crumbled from beneath our feet, yet you can honestly condone this? If the Templars of the Tower had been friends with the mages, it would have been a hundred times worse for them."

"If the Templars had been friends with the mages," Aislinn returned, "I could say that not as many would have turned to blood magic to escape a situation they felt imprisoned by, but I'm sure you've heard that argument several times before. An argument that I don't think you've heard however is that if the Templars had been closer to them, they would've known easier who to suspect of using blood magic and who not to, and things could have ended more quickly than they did."

Cullen was just about ready to make a reply, but he found himself unable to. What she'd said was true. Knowing the mages would have helped, and he knew for a fact that not many in the Tower did. He gave her a slow nod of his head, finally saying, "That's true. So what about the Templars here then, how do they view this type of integration?"

That question seemed to make Aislinn grin for some reason. "Ser Honnely knows better than I do, but most of them are happy with it, though I think more Templars have flat out refused assignment here than any other Circle that I know of. Mother Marleyna dislikes forcing those Templars to take up duty here as well because she thinks the integration this Circle is trying to establish has to be a slow one, meticulous, and I agree with her on that. But the Templars who actually are here seem to be fairly happy with their jobs and say it makes sense. Honnely has issued no complaints to me."

She continued after a moment by adding, "Honnely does say that most of the Templars aren't put off by getting to know the mages when it comes to the thought of maybe having to track them down to kill them however, or kill them during a Harrowing. In all of our failed Harrowings, the Templars have always performed their duties. In cases of tracking, they said they felt it would help because they knew their potential target. So like I'd mentioned, I think it could serve to be beneficial in capturing renegade mages more quickly before they can do much damage if the Templar knows more about how the mage in question thinks, not that we've had any mages we've needed to hunt down thus far. At least, not from this Circle."

In hearing this, Cullen had to ask her, "What about the mages? Don't they still feel...caged, knowing that if a Templar comes to understand their habits, they'll be able to track them down and kill them that much more easily?"

"I haven't kept it a secret from them," Aislinn spoke honestly. "They know the consequences of their actions. It's taken the mages a good bit of time to open up to the Templars as well, because of the way they feared they'd be treated." She sighed, "One asked me the same thing you just did. He wanted to know how I could ever expect us to integrate with Templars when they could become our death dealers."

Cullen listened, and when Aislinn didn't continue immediately, he asked her, "What did you tell him?"

She'd been looking at her desktop as he'd asked the question, and finally, her silver eyes drew back up to his face. Her voice was solemn and serious when she said, "I told him that I'd rather be killed by a friend than by an enemy if death was going to strike me down at all. I told him that I'd rather live among friends than among enemies, peacefully instead of fighting, even if the outcome at the end would be a tragic one."

"I see," he spoke softly, locked in gaze with her for a moment as he sat back in his chair. It seemed as if she'd had a lot of time to consider all of this, and despite his incredulity over it, he was glad that she had. "You'll have to forgive me. It's...quite different from what I'm used to."

"It's different from what we're all used to. The younger ones and new recruits seem to have an easier time of adapting to it."

He could see how that would be the case. After another moment of incredulous consideration over it, and he asked, "The Revered Mother here actually enforces this?"

"Much of it was her idea," Aislinn informed him with a nod of her head. "When this Circle was under construction five years ago, and I met her for the first time, we began proposing ideas to one another, and things just seemed to click. She said she could find nothing in the Chant of Light or anywhere else that said the ideas we presented were either out of line or even went against Chantry dealings in a general sense. There have been some times when we've had to give in of course, with practices such as the Harrowing which several have mixed views on, but overall, our modified methods are working well. We've lost more mages to Harrowings than anything else, which is starting to make the test very questionable to both the mages and Templars here.

"So as you can imagine, it's brought up quite a few discussions. Mother Marleyna is more of an idealist when it comes to mages herself, perhaps because she has a sister who's a mage, so she's always thought of ways to try to better the Circle of Magi's system. She doesn't think it needs to be eradicated, far from it, she just thinks it's heavily flawed."

"So she's not sympathetic to them since her sister is one?"

"Many assume that," Aislinn nodded, "and are less inclined to listen to her because of it. But she honestly isn't. Her sister is alive and well and has led a full life in an Orlesian Circle from what I understand, one without much problem. What would she have to be sympathetic to on the account of her sister? She simply thinks things need to be improved upon."

Cullen had to admit that so far all of this sounded like it really was a work in progress that needed to be looked after and perhaps even taken example from. But something was definitely settled in his mind that he was questioning, so he asked Aislinn, "Aren't you...fearful...at all that my views may put a stop to...what you're trying to accomplish here?"

"Not at all, I think they'll increase the usefulness of our efforts. We've already influenced other Circles in various ways, so word is finally starting to get out there, but no one will take notice unless we can show that this Circle isn't being biased in any nature. You, whether you agree with what we do or not, could help with that. That's why I don't think your disdain for us is unfitting."

Cullen didn't like how she'd said that, but he decided not to worry over it in that particular moment.

Some time passed in silence, and Aislinn wondered how he might've been feeling about all of this. She knew how it sounded at first, but there had been many who'd come to change their minds over time. As it sank into his head, however, he didn't seem to be completely disagreeable. Time may change that opinion, but for the moment, she was glad that he was at least giving the things she'd told him a chance to be considered.

So she got onto another very important topic with him, saying, "There's one last important thing I need to give you before you go to meet Honnely now. That is, if you don't have anymore questions?"

When Cullen shook his head no at her, Aislinn stood up and lifted the box that Uwen had brought in, and she settled it on the edge of the desk, stepping around to stand in front of it. From there, she turned and handed a key to Cullen, saying, "That opens this box. It contains all of the phylacteries of the Senior Enchanters in this Circle, myself included."

Cullen took the key as she spoke, standing up from where he'd been sitting, and he looked from her and to the box, asking, "You keep the phylacteries here? In the Circle with the mages?"

"Well, you," she enunciated, "keep the phylacteries where you deem safest. As a measure of trust between the mages and Templars here." Once she'd explained that, she waved a hand and gave a few details, "Not mention they're easier to reach if they're not sent off to the Chantry in Denerim or wherever else they could possible go. Honnely will help you to lock these away and explain it in greater detail, but every Templar of status has an assigned box, meaning that there's a group of Templars for a group of mages who'll react if a situation goes bad. You and your party would be responsible for one of the Senior Enchanters or myself if that happened to one of us. So essentially, I'm handing this vial of my blood to you and saying that I trust you to do the right thing should worse come to worse."

Once she'd spoken, her face became a good bit more solemn as she explained, "We feel it's more meaningful this way, that the bond of trust and understanding of what the Templar's position is supposed to be by the mages is taken much more seriously when one is handed the phylactery with such a purpose behind it. The mage knows this is who is protecting them, not simply...watching them."

That sounded just like the Aislinn he used to know who'd rather die than become some kind of Abomination. Her words held a good bit of weight somehow, this bond of trust she spoke of seeming more meaningful as she'd lifted the crate and turned to hand it to him, and he wasn't blind to how important it was. Somehow, it was also an act he could see the merit in, despite the harsh truth behind it, and he gave her a slow nod of his head as he took the box, telling her in earnest, "I understand." Following those words, he looked back at the box and added, "Honestly, I'm...impressed...over the work that's been put into this Circle so far. I...I'll look forward to seeing more of it for myself."

There was the stuttering Cullen she remembered, Aislinn thought with a smile on her face. He'd seemed a little bit nervous but overall he was very professional about this, taking it seriously, and it was easy to see just how much he'd grown since she'd known him in the Circle Tower at Lake Calenhad. She herself had been having a somewhat difficult time when she'd realized he was going to be taking Ser Honnely's place as Commander, but she remembered a promise she'd kept, one which she didn't think on right that moment.

Instead, she stayed on topic. "I hope it agrees with you," she said in earnest reply. "If anything, I know you'll speak your mind. I think keeping secrets is the first step to falling after all, so I want to know the truth when it comes what you think."

I think you're beautiful beyond words if you want the truth, came the thought in Cullen's head, but he kicked it out as soon as it had, narrowed his brows, and nodded in agreement as seriously as he could. The way the Templars sometimes conducted themselves in Kirkwall must have influenced him a bit if he'd had such a thought just then. "I can agree with that, and I'll...try to give you as honest an opinion as I can muster."

"Well, in that case, I'll lead you to Honnely who'll finish this up for you. Unless there's something else you need first?"

"No, not that...that I can think of at the moment."

Apparently, unless he was speaking to her professionally, Cullen was bumbling through his words. He wasn't sure if he could have precisely helped himself in that moment however. It had been seven years since he'd seen her, so perhaps a little time would wear down the swells of emotions he had felt when he'd met her again - he hoped. But he knew the truth deep down. He would never completely get over the way he felt about her, mage or not, it just didn't matter to him in his heart. He was simply glad he knew he could feel the way that he did and still do his duty for her.

She didn't seem to notice though, like always. Aislinn just nodded, though she noticed something in that moment that she didn't remember from before. His eyes were green. She'd always thought they were brown, but she decided the light inside of the Tower wasn't exactly the best for that kind of thing. As she walked out, allowing him to take the box, she turned and shut the door behind him once they were in the hallway again and began walking. "You're going to be meeting with the Templars in the barracks shortly, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, if that's the case, I'd feel badly if I left you out of an invitation. Honnely, Uwen, and Ila are going to the balcony tonight in the dining hall to have dinner with Gracie and I. Ila is a wonderful cook, and she'd got a few things on the menu for it. It's something of an unofficial anniversary of the Circle's opening we like to have every year. You're more than welcome to join us."

"That sounds...uh...lovely." Maker, she's not going to believe I meant that.

But Aislinn was smiling at him, which he'd noticed when he looked down to see her face. As they got to the stairs and began heading down them to the second floor, she said, "Good. Honnely will lead the way once you're both done meeting with your new men."

"I'll look forward to it." The reply came easily somehow, probably because, as they'd reached the top of the steps, he'd gotten distracted in looking at her, and realized he'd been smiling at her as well for a few moments too long. So he cleared his throat nonchalantly, adopted a more neutral expression, and carried on. Whether or not she noticed, like always, she never said anything.

Hopefully, that kind of pattern would continue if he were going to survive this. No, he couldn't say he'd been too offbeat this time around, but he certainly hadn't felt any differently than when he'd been much younger and more inexperienced with matters.

Aislinn had noticed though. She thought it was amusing, and she still couldn't quite tell just what way he felt about her specific. A crush, love, deep caring, there was no real way to know. But she knew the best way to continue forth for now was to just be normal. Easier said than done, she figured, since when she'd seen him in the doorway to her study, she'd almost done a double take due to how different he looked and carried himself alone, but she'd manage.

As she led him to the Assembly Hall where quite a few Templars were going, she remembered the promise she'd made to herself that if she ever ran into Cullen again, she'd do things right. That was definitely her intention now. She'd had a long time to consider it, and she felt it might have actually been a long time in coming as well, who knew?

But her first impression was that things weren't so different now as they had been then. They were both just a little older and a little wiser. If anything, that would make it all a little easier.