The days passed in a blur for Rosalina. Skyhold was preparing for war, at least that's what it felt like. She had agreed to go with Cullen to a hideout he had found that seemed to belong to Sampson and ever since then everyone seemed to be on edge. She was thankful when the day arrived to leave. All that planning and preparing had been driving her crazy. She grinned at her team - Bull, Dorian, and Varric. With Cullen there she knew she could afford to bring the stout dwarf instead of another heavy hitter.
Varric wiggled his brows at her as they climbed into the carriage. Normally they would ride or walk, but Rosalina knew Varric and horses didn't get along and Cullen would not allow walking, so into the carriage they all went. She laughed slightly, feeling some of the tension leave her.
"See, Varric, this is why I bring you along. You have the capacity to turn even the most serious ventures into a joke somehow," She teased.
"And here I thought it was for my stunning good looks," He joked back.
"If I wanted stunning good looks I would bring Cullen everywhere."
The group burst into laughter at that as Cullen's face turned red.
"Well, really, Inquisitor, I appreciate the compliment -"
Rosalina shut the Commander up with a kiss.
"They all know, Cullen," She said when she broke away. "So there's no need to be formal around them."
"But, how?" He demanded.
The group laughed again before Bull finally answered.
"There's no way you two could keep your relationship secret. Especially not after the letters Rosie has tried hiding from us."
The couple blushed at that, knowing that some of the letters they wrote each other could get a little racy.
"I gotta admit, Curly, we all thought with the way you two write that something would have come of all those letters," Varric added, winking at the couple.
"Varric!" Rosalina exclaimed, horror-struck.
"He's only saying what we all are thinking, my dear," Dorian teased.
Rosalina huffed and buried her face into Cullen's heavy coat. She couldn't believe how embarrassed she was by their comments, having given out her fair dish of comments similar, but she couldn't stop the blush from rising to her face at their teasing. The trio chortled at her face, teasing her a little about her it.
Cullen watched all of this in surprise. He knew that they were close, but the fact that they were close enough to Rosalina to tease her was something that he had no expected. He was not, however, annoyed by it. There was a caring tone to their teasing that said they cared more for the Inquisitor than just as a boss. He looked over at her as she kept her face buried in his cloak. She definitely did inspire a certain kind of love and loyalty and he couldn't help but wonder if she even knew that she was like that.
He thought about it as they rode, wondering when the last time someone had inspired such loyalty in him. The Warden, she had done it without a problem all those years ago. Hawke had inspired some, but not a whole lot, the two were too different to really get along for a long period of time. He glanced at Varric who was watching Rosalina fondly and realized that while he cared for the Inquisitor he must miss Amelia.
Rosalina was glad when, almost six hours later, they left the little place that had been Sampson's hideout. Cullen, she could tell, was wrung out. Finding that Tranquil mage had nearly been Cullen's undoing and she wished she could offer more words of comfort. The ride home was much more subdue each of them lost in their own thoughts. All that was left really was to go to this Arbor Wilds and figure out what their next move from there was. She watched her boys carefully, noticing how tired they all seemed, and began to make plans for going to the Wilds.
I'll have to get a different team for this one, She thought. They all look so tired now. Maybe Solas. It's an elven ruin after all, he could be helpful there. Blackwall and Cassandra in case we need heavy hitters. Let Dorian and Bull have a break from me dragging them all the way around Thedas.
Then she looked over at her Commander and felt a pang of sympathy. He looked exhausted, but there was nothing she could do about that. There was no way she could let him stay behind and rest. She sighed sadly, wanting to take Cullen's burdens and carry them for him. It wasn't possible, she knew, but that didn't keep her from wishing anyway.