Solas seemed to step from the fade itself, putting himself between Cullen and the door. Knowing that the Templar would try to run away. He cursed himself, he knew it was a trap, and it was all along. He cursed at how good she was at acting the part, pretending diplomat and leader. When really all along this was some sly ruse to get him alone without suspicion.
" Don't worry Commander, we're not going to kill you or anything like that." Anara leaned back on the table, the skirt riding up her legs. Exposing more flesh to Cullen's eyes. His first reaction to the situation was something sinister between the mages. He had been without Lyrium for some time. His powers were draining slowly around him. He could try to suppress their magic if he tried, but he had no guarantee.
"There's no point using your abilities Commander, we can feel it, slowly fading like the night sky." Solas stood there, his back braced against the door now. Cullen tried not to panic, the situation he didn't know if it was escalating or falling apart anymore. But his fight or flight was slowly kicking in, and he didn't know which one he'd choose.
" Commander," She pulled his attention back as he searched the room in panic. " We only came here to talk Commander, we have no intention of harming you."
Cullen tried to calm down, her eyes focusing on him, and him alone.
" We know about your….Indiscretion? Voyeurism? I'm not sure what to call it exactly. But Solas and I discussed it. To say the least, I have a proposition for you."
Solas still stood there in silence, his eyes never leaving her.
" I think, Commander that there is some, tension between us all. All I'm suggesting is, that we take it out."
Cullen was dumbfounded, struggling with his words, "What you're suggesting is.."
"Sex, Commander. Simple as that." She had crossed one ankle over the other, the conversation simple and easy to her. Cullen couldn't understand how this kind of talk was simple to anyone.
"Between you and...him?" Cullen was still confused to the situation, what were they exactly suggesting?
" Me and him, me and you, you and him. Does it really matter? All fine details commander." She cocked an eyebrow at him, " Why Commander, do you not think I'm attractive?"
"Maker no! That's not the poi…." Cullen shut his mouth, biting down on his lip, oh maker he's digging himself deeper into this hole.
She pushed herself off the table, languidly moving towards the Commander. " So then, you admit you have been watching us?" Her fingers touched the breast plate, dragging their way up. She leaned in close, whispering in his ear, " Did you enjoy it? I could tell the last time."
She pulled herself away, biting her lip as she looked over his body. " Under all that armor, those titles you are still a man." She turned away, making her way back to the table, " And a man, has needs." She beckoned him, her fingers silently pleading for him to come closer. He was lost from his conscious, his body moving freely without hesitation.
He stepped closer, and closer, his body almost pressing against her's, Cullen was lost for words, " What have you done to me? You have bewitched me.."
He could feel himself pulling closer to her, feeling her legs spread as he fell in between, feeling her body against him.
Cullen's hand came up and braced her cheek, his thumb finding it's way across her cheek bone. He could feel his lips inching closer, his body becoming lost to the feeling that was going to consume him.
Anara's eyes closed as she felt him get closer, his free hand grasping for hers on the table. Her lips parted as she let a gasp escape her mouth, Cullen so close, his body hard plains against hers.
His lips lightly brushed against her's, feeling her pull against him. The passion and love that she promised threatening to drown him in a sea of want.
" What have you done?" He asked, his eyes still closed, his lips achingly close.
He could feel his body stir from the light kiss alone. Maker, he worried she would think of him as a school boy, eager to kiss his first girl.
She leaned in closer, he could feel the heat from her lips, from her body radiate outwards, washing over him. His lips struggling to touch hers, maker how he wanted her, how he wished to be rid of this guilt that filled him. They didn't chastise him like a child, but instead allowed him the freedom of it. To the freedom of what he felt.
But it was Them that gave him the freedom of it. Not her, Cullen pulled his lips away, his body still against hers. He struggled with his internal battle, his conscious staging a coup against his body. His voice trembled as he looked at her, eyes close eagerly awaiting a hungry kiss.
" I...I cannot..Do this.." He looked back and forth between Solas and Anara. Trying to carefully select his words with the mages in the room. He was no longer able to use his abilities, even if he wanted to. His concentration was off, his body feeling painfully aroused, his thought only on relieving himself of the feeling.
He pulled away slowly, back away from the wooden war table. Anara stood there, her arms bracing the edge as a sly grin came across her lips.
" It seems that the dear Commander has some restraint in him yet."
Cullen could feel her eyes on him, like some great mountain cat stalking it's prey. He could feel himself backing away as she sauntered forward, step after step, getting closer as he tried to give distance.
" We could help him with that." He heard the voice of the elf in his ear, his hands wrapping around his shoulders, keeping Cullen in place. Anara took each step in her own time, sizing him up a smirk playing across her lips. Cullen felt so far away from his escape, the distance to the door only seemed to be increasing as he felt Anara's gaze directly upon him.
"Come Commander. You don't need to be so hard on yourself." He could feel her hands touching the breast plate again on his chest. Her breath deep as she closed her eyes, " What I wouldn't give to feel under this armor."
Her voice was sumptuous; seducing him further, her lips against his ear, " Solas doesn't even have to join, it can just be you and me." She looked over at Solas, merely inches away. "Solas enjoys a good show as well."
He had heard her giggle in his ear as she pulled away, "So then Commander, why can't you do it?"
His mind struggled with his words as the mage grilled him, wishing he was free from this predicament. " I….I cannot share you. I cannot compete.."
She pulled back, a look of surprise on her face. "Compete? What is this a melee tourney? No my dear, there is no competing." He could feel the grip on his shoulders loosening as Solas took a step back. She had given him the distance that he wanted, moments from letting himself be consumed by them both.
" There is only, satisfaction Commander." She had made her way back to the table, her attention back on the Templar. " But it seems that you aren't the sharing type." She gave a disappointed sigh, briefly letting him think he was off the hook.
" Tis a pity though Commander." He was back under the spotlight of the two.
" A pity indeed." He heard Solas behind him, the tension filling him again as he stood between the two mages.
Anara tilted her head, looking at Cullen, her fingers resting on her legs as she spoke. Her fingers curled, dragging their way up her leg, slowly entangling in the skirt. Exposing her skin to the Commanders eyes, " I would've Loved to have gotten to know you better." Cullen eyes tried to pry away from the sight of her thighs, looking at her muscular legs. Imagining them wrapped around him as he slammed her into the war table. " And I think Commander, that you would've loved to have gotten to know me better."
She bit her lip as she looked over the Commanders body, the straining hardness betraying him to her games of coy.
Her hand beckoned out to Cullen, tempting him to come closer. But he fought with himself, with his body and with his urges. Drawing himself away from the bewitching woman. How she had power of him, how she was a temptress in the flesh, a desire demon dragging him to his doom.
Cullen pulled himself away, a look of disappointment on her face as she looked at the Templar. But it was made up as Solas pushed past the Commander. Wasting no time to be back in the arms and against the body of his Vhenan.
His hands reached up to Anara's face, pulling her lips in for a heated kiss. Lifting her legs onto the table Solas pressed himself into her, pressing her back against his body. Cullen heard a moan escape her lips as Solas took the spot that was originally intended for Cullen. Solas broke the kiss, both of their gazes turning to Cullen, still standing there in silence and awe of them.
Anara bit her lip, looking at the Commander standing there in silence, " Commander? Care to join us, or will you hide in your tent?" She smiled a wicked smile filled with pent desires and unhindered pleasure. How he wished to go over there, tear Solas from her grasp and pin her to the table with his body.
Cullen fought with himself, his body struggling with his decision. He took a step back, trying to separate himself from the mages. Their magic together was drawing him in, overpowering his senses. He felt his inhibitions begin to slip and fade under the feel of their magic, fearing their true power together.
His mind made it's decision, but his body disagreed. He rushed for the door, his hands pressed against it as he fought himself one last time.
" Remember Commander," He turned to look at Anara, her legs wrapping around Solas's hips, " You're only a man, and a man has needs."
Her attention pulled away from Cullen's frame as he left, shutting the door behind him. The back of his head hit the door as he heard a loud groan fill the room that he just left. He forced his feet to move forward, leaving the Chantry, leaving them to their unspent passion. Something he felt, he would kick himself for perhaps the rest of his days.
He had retired to his tent, wishing for his privacy once again. Wishing never to leave his tent for anything less than the town of Haven burning down. Privacy was a precious commodity that he didn't have at this time, wishing for his night to fade into the distance and the memories with it to fade too.
He had barely kissed her, his lips brushing against hers gently. Feeling the warmth and gentleness that would've been given without a moments hesitation.
How he would regret his decisions now. How he regretted it the moment he stepped out of that room. The mages drawing him in, both their magic dragging him along like a long awaited intoxication. How he wished more than anything to possess Anara, to be as close, if anything closer than Solas. It killed him, seeing the elf lift her onto the table, his body closing the distance that his body failed to close.
He remembered her hand in his, how she pulled him closer and closer in each passing second. It seemed Cullen would either give into the temptation presented by the mages, or spend the rest of his days resisting their sirens call. How conflicted he felt, give in or resist, fight or fall.
He knew in his decision that he won't be able to just move on with life. He would be teased and tested constantly by the pair with competitive and lustful glances. Oh how his life was going to be miserable from this night on. His head hit his mat on the ground of his tent, his body aching for her touch, but he ignored his needs. Pressing instead his need of sleep. He knew he would need his strength for the battle to come between him and the mages that would torment him.
Anara laughed into the room as Solas joined her. " Do you actually pity him?" Solas asked, his eyes looking up, his lips on her collarbone.
" Of course, no man should have THAT much sexual frustration. Luckily for me, I don't have to worry about that." She smiled as Solas grabbed her hips, pulling her back into his body. His hand running up her outer thigh, the other tangled in her hair as his lips found hers in a passionate kiss.
" You must admit Solas, It will be fun." She looked into his eyes, feeling him press himself against her. His rocking hips causing her to lose her breath, sighing contently.
"Indeed Vhenan, as you said, he is a man." His hands slipped up her thighs, her skirt moving up as well, allowing him better access as his fingers freed his manhood from his trousers.
Solas loved a good show, and she put on a good one, regardless of the Commanders response. Solas enjoyed the cat and mouse game that she played so well, pretending to be coy or wanton.
His eyes filled with pent up aggression and lust for her, wishing only to be one with her again. He positioned himself at her entrance, leaning down to whisper in her ear, " And a man, has needs."
His hands came to grip her outer thighs, holding her in place as he entered her. A moan coming from her lips as he paced himself, trying not to end it too soon. Their bodies entwined on the hardwood table, the maps and cursors finding their way to the floor. The inquisitions strategy outside their personal needs, it meant nothing in this moment. Only reminders on the floor to be strewn about.
The morning broke through, the tent, no type of canvas heavy enough to rid the light from his eyes.
Cullen braced for the world that awaited him outside his tent, and the possible never ending torment that stood out there. He opened up to the flash of bright light from the sun, it's glare reflecting off the snow. He turned about the camp, looking for any tell tale signs of the mages that seem to haunt him like a ghost.
"Looking for someone?" The ring of the Orlesian Spymaster rang in Cullen's ears. He could feel his back become rigid, somehow expecting a knife right after her words. Leliana moved her way around the Commander, standing in his way, "A little bird told me you had a meeting with the Herald, Alone." Curses, Cullen thought to himself, curse her and her little 'birds' he had to think his way fast out of this one.
" Lady Anara needed my expertise on Ferelden." He tried to come off sincere, and annoyed by her prodding. Something he hoped came through as thus.
"Of course, expertise, alone, in the war room." Leliana seemed to make jest of him just a little, " I figured you for the type to take a vow of celibacy when you became a Templar." She cocked an eyebrow at the Commander, her questions becoming too personal.
" I'll have you know it was strictly professional. She wanted to know about Redcliffe, and the area around there. You should know Nightingale, I was stationed in Kinloch hold when you and the Hero of Ferelden stormed in and recovered the tower."
Leliana nodded, looking at Cullen, her previous jesting tone becoming serious, " I remember those days Commander, as I believe you do too." She began to sound concerned, " Have the nightmares stopped yet?"
Cullen's head sunk as he shook his head, "No, It's been months, perhaps it will haunt me forever." The personal attitude of the question pushing away his dreams filled with soft lips and teasing touches that only left him aching for the real thing.
Leliana looked at Cullen, " Remember Commander, you aren't the only one with scars here. But it is those scars that brings us closer to the men under our command, and those above us." Cullen was trying to decipher her hint to him. Perhaps talking about Anara and her experience in the Circle, with other Templar's.
"Speaking of which, where is Lady Cassandra and Anara?" Cullen carefully put Cassandras name first, to avoid any suspicion.
" They left for the Hinterlands this morning. Cassandra, Solas and Varric in tow. They should be back in the following week,or so."
Cullen grumbled to himself internally. Thank the maker, a week at most to get things done, to push these memories and thoughts from his mind. To come back anew, prepared and ready for the two mages and their, tactics.
Finally, some peace and quiet again.
The Hinterlands seemed to be a natural wonder to her eyes. Different from the lands of the Free Marches, different from Ostwick. She rarely ever traveled outside the city when she was a child, and stayed locked inside of it as she grew. She remembers the ocean and the smell of the salt in the air as the waves crashed against the rocks. But here, there was no sea, no dark rocks littering the land like spires from the earth. There were hills and mountains, grass and trees, the rush of water as it cascaded from the mountains, crashing against the rocks below.
Ferelden had fascinated her beyond belief, with little doubt in her mind why the Hinterlands was so sought after by Orlais.
She had met the scout named Harding, and lead herself through the battlefield between Mages and Templar's that spilled out over the land. She had built towers, stopped the Templar's from expanding, and as she stood over the bodies of the rebel mages apart of herself sink at that moment.
If she had stayed on her path against the Templar's in the circle. If she had killed the Knight-Captain instead, she would be here. She would've rebelled, she would've fought and she would've died. Instead as she grew she came to her senses, the broken horse that remained silent and obedient instead became revered. She had grown to become an enchanter in the circle of Ostwick, perhaps her name finally securing her a position somewhere. Trevelyan, Enchanter to the Ostwick Circle, and opinionated member of the Aequitarians.
But that time felt like a whole lifetime ago, that ages and eons had passed between who she was then, and who she became now. Her trip through the fade, the mark on her being and body had changed her from who she was before. When she had learned of the mark and how it was consuming her, she was filled with fear. Death was the only thing that she feared in her life, far more than abandonment or silence. She had changed mentally, reveling in what life she had, and trying to enjoy all the pleasure that life can provide. No matter how simple, or how complicated it became, she had changed. Whether for better or for worse, she didn't know, only time will tell.
Night had fallen again as she looked over the camp they had established. Mother Giselle suggested they travel to Val Royeaux to talk to the Chantry there, but she did not want to leave.
She sat atop the hill, her camp within a stones throw as she heard Varric and Cassandra hash out their differences again. Her feet rested in the waters that flowed from the mountains, the cold on her toes felt good after a long march.
Her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds of the water, remembering the sounds of the waves from home. How she spent hours sitting in the windows overlooking the ocean, watching ships leave the bay, some for Kirkwall or Highever. She'd watch the seasons change, from those windows, the snow caps on the Vimmark Mountains. The ships leaving Brandels Reach, and on the clearest days in the winter, she could swear she could see Amaranthine in the distance.
But those days were gone again, brought back to the reality of the world around her, she had yearned for freedom all those years ago. To see the lands outside of her city and outside of her window, but she never expected it.
Here she was, her feet in the waters of Ferelden, from Lake Calenhad or from the Frostback Mountains, she couldn't tell. She had seen Haven for all it's worth and felt no more at ease then here. Her noble blood may say she belonged in Val Royeaux playing the game with other nobles vying for position. But who she was after so many years of solitude and quiet wanted nothing more than to stay in the wilds. Leaving the affairs of the world to others around her, wishing to shed her responsibility like a second skin.
She felt a warm blanket envelope her, a body nestling behind keeping her close and warm from the cold waters.
"You'll catch a cold Vhenan. Who else will save the world?" She felt his arms wrap around her, the blanket covering her body except for her legs.
She sighed, "Cassandra perhaps. She is a Pentaghast." She heard a chuckle come from his lips as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
" I doubt she can pull her attention from Varric long enough to save the world Vhenan. Best she stay where she's needed." she could feel his lips press against her shoulder, sending a chill through her body.
Solas noticed her silence and her sudden need for privacy away from the group, "Is there something the matter?" She could feel his affection in how he nuzzled her ear, or how he held her close despite the situation.
"I was thinking of all the things I never go to see." She tilted her head back, resting on his shoulder as he held her. " I always wanted to See Ostagar, or Denerim, or..or Highever, but I never expected to leave Ostwick, ever." She turned, just a little; enough to look Solas in the eyes, "Have you seen those places?"
Solas looked out onto the water, the lake reflecting the thousands of stars like a mirror into another world. His mind deep in thought to what she said, " Yes Vhenan, I have. Perhaps too we shall see it together." She felt Solas pull her closer, her feet retreating from the water curling up with the elf under the blanket. She could feel his lips press against her temple, his affections and love pouring out through him as his arms wrapped around hers.
She looked out onto the water, the ripples of fish echoing through the waters. She rested her head, staring out into the world around her and the freedom she yearned for. Finally in her grasp.
She sat there, in Solas's loving grasp as they looked onto the world from their perch. Solas regaled her with tales of the things he's seen in the fade, of distant memories and battles fought. He held her close, feeling her slowly drift into sleep within his waiting arms as silence overtook the land.