VIVIENNE: Ah… my dear Lady Cousland, I am surprised that you agreed to join the Inquisition.
COUSLAND: Leliana wrote to me, she thought I could help.
VIVIENNE: Indeed. I have not seen you since our Wintersend ball back in Denerim. Tell me, how is your husband?
COUSLAND: Still deathly afraid of you. I will send him your regards if you wish.
VIVIENNE: Thank you. I do like hearing from frightened Kings, you know.
VIVIENNE: It is good to see you in armor again, Lady Cousland. The tales are quite right when they said you are a formidable archer.
COUSLAND: I doubt that. Leliana is still and will always be a better shot than I am.
VIVIENNE: Really? Then how is it that you are the one who was called a Hero and not her?
COUSLAND: Simply because I was the one who stabbed the Archdemon. But if I had a choice, I wish no one would call me that. The defeat of the Fifth Blight was a victory for everyone, not just me.
VIVIENNE: Such modesty, my dear. You remind me much of our dear Cassandra… only you are more likely to shoot someone between the eyes rather than strangle them to death.
COUSLAND: I have been known to do that.
COUSLAND: As I understand it, Lady Vivienne, mages are not allowed to bring any possessions relating to their former lives when they enter the Circle.
VIVIENNE: That is true, my dear.
COUSLAND: And yet you were able to rise to power with nothing more than your looks and wit. Aren't you afraid that someone would accuse you of just using Duke Bastien's wealth for your own gains?
VIVIENNE: My dear girl, someone already has. And if I am not mistaken, you were driven out of Highever, turned into a penniless Warden and yet you ended up being the Queen of Ferelden.
COUSLAND: I married Alistair because he was Alistair, and not because he was King Maric's bastard. If he had remained with the Warden's I still would've married him.
VIVIENNE: And yet you manipulated the Landsmeet to oust the former Queen Anora and give the reins of running a country to a fool of a former Templar? Sneer as much as you like on how I rose to power, Lady Cousland, but you cannot deny that we are both players of the Great Game.
VIVIENNE: Am I to understand, Lady Cousland, that you were the one who conscripted the mage who blew up the Kirkwall Chantry into the Grey Wardens?
COUSLAND: Anders was… is… a good man, and he was worthy of being a Warden.
VIVIENNE: And yet he went off and killed thousands by causing an explosion? What kind of a good man is that?
COUSLAND: One who just wants a pretty girl, a decent meal and the right to shoot lightning at fools.
COUSLAND: Lady Vivienne, I understand that you are a Knight Enchanter and that you are more than capable of handling yourself at close range, but I would prefer if you stayed at the back ranks.
VIVIENNE: And this request is made for what reason?
COUSLAND: Your clothes and headdress are too bright and sparkly that I mistake them for the target's eyes when I'm aiming my arrows. It would be regrettable if I accidentally shot that pretty, manipulative little head of yours.
VIVIENNE: Although I must say, Lady Cousland, your fashions have gotten better since I last saw you.
COUSLAND: I aim to please, Madame De Fer.
VIVIENNE: You're taken to silks and velvet more often in Skyhold instead of your filthy Ferelden cotton.
COUSLAND: The Tevinter among our companions has more fashion-sense than you, it seems.
VIVIENNE: You wound me, darling. My fashion sense is far more refined than that Tevinter fish.
VIVIENNE: My dear Lady Cousland, is that blood in your locket?
COUSLAND: It is, Lady Vivienne.
VIVIENNE: Normally, I would've thought Tevinter would practice such a barbaric act. I did not expect the Wardens to do such a thing.
COUSLAND: Isn't blood taken from mages before their Harrowing and put in phylacteries?
VIVIENNE: Indeed, but we hardly wear them around our necks. What purpose does such a bauble have that you need to wear it?
COUSLAND: It is a reminder of our life before we became Wardens.
VIVIENNE: And do you miss that life that you insist on wearing it all the time?
COUSLAND: I do not miss the life. I miss the people in that life.
COUSLAND: For a moment in Halamshiral, Lady Vivienne, you looked like you missed the court.
VIVIENNE: It was my life, darling. It was only right that I miss it.
COUSLAND: You're doing your fair share of subtle machinations in Skyhold, though.
VIVIENNE: The Game in Skyhold is more like a game of Sheperd's Six, darling. Many of your opponents are bumbling fools that you hardly need a tactic to defeat them.
VIVIENNE: Is it true, Lady Cousland, that you can hear the Calling?
COUSLAND: Indeed, Lady Vivienne.
VIVIENNE: You have been hearing something that speaks of your death and you have not gone mad as your comrades in Adamant? How are you able to do such a feat?
COUSLAND: When you know that there is someone waiting for you to return, that is all you need to conquer anything.
VIVIENNE: I see. Your determination is admirable, Lady Cousland. I can see now why you are considered a Hero.
COUSLAND: Thank you… I think.
VIVIENNE: Lady Cousland, darling, if I may ask, where did you get your boots?
COUSLAND: Free Marches. From Arlanté DeCartier's line.
VIVIENNE: DeCartier? Isn't he the designer from Starkhaven? How did you get your boots from him?
COUSLAND: Well, when you travel as much as I do, Lady Vivienne, you can sometimes make side-trips for shopping.
VIVIENNE: I see. I must ask my tailor to get me similar boots.
COUSLAND: You can ask Leliana on how to order his works. I believe she sends a raven to him when she buys shoes.
VIVIENNE: That is most helpful, darling, thank you.
COUSLAND: So am I to understand that you are Marquis de Ghislain's… mistress?
VIVIENNE: As a matter of fact, I am, Lady Cousland.
COUSLAND: I see. I met with him on some occasions, when he was still hale and visited Denerim for trade negotiations. He was a good man. I am… sorry for your loss.
VIVIENNE: Thank you, darling. That is… appreciated.
COUSLAND: He had you when he left this world. To die in the arms of a loved one is the happiest death anyone could ever ask for.
COUSLAND: I'm sorry to point this out but, Lady Vivienne, I think one of the opals on your mask is fake.
VIVIENNE: What? Where?
COUSLAND: See? This one, by the ends. It's just a painted glass stone. The sheen is different from the others.
VIVIENNE: I am going to have to send a sternly worded- letter to my hat-maker.
COUSLAND: Good. Because I think this diamond right here by the eyepiece is fake as well.
VIVIENNE: The gall of that… *growls*
COUSLAND: I think a personal appearance is more appropriate, Lady Vivienne.
VIVIENNE: Agreed.
VIVIENNE: Darling, I must ask, what did you see in King Alistair that warrants your affections towards him?
COUSLAND: When we travelled during the Fifth Blight, he is very… romantic, brave and caring. And funny.
VIVIENNE: And idiotic.
COUSLAND: *chuckles* He was, for a time. But he has learned from his mistakes. He is doing his best for his country.
VIVIENNE: And I imagine the change in him is due, in part, to your influence?
COUSLAND: Perhaps.
VIVIENNE: No man succeeds without a good woman behind him?
COUSLAND: A good woman and determination.
VIVIENNE: Hmm… on that much, we can agree on.
COUSLAND: *groans*
VIVIENNE: My dear Lady Cousland, are you quite alright?
COUSLAND: I'm fine. I just… have a crick on my neck I can't get rid of.
VIVIENNE: Would you like to me schedule an appointment with the Imperial Garden Spa for you? I have a regular specialist there who would adore having you as a customer.
COUSLAND: I doubt we could go there right now, Lady Vivienne.
VIVIENNE: Nonsense, darling! I can have her in Skyhold by next week. Maker knows I need a good spa day as well.
COUSLAND: That sounds like a plan, Lady Vivienne.
VIVIENNE: Returning to your darling husband when this is done, Lady Cousland?
COUSLAND: Of course.
VIVIENNE: Well, do give him my regards, my dear. I'm sure he misses you terribly.
COUSLAND: Indeed, he has. But honestly, I'm going to soak in a hot bath before I greet him. I need at least three hours worth of scrubbing to get rid of all the dirt I've carried in all our misadventures.
VIVIENNE: Ah, of course. I agree to that whole-heartedly.