She was unconscious the entire night and half of the following day and Cullen has spent his time keeping her hand and praying to the Maker. He wasn't sure what Gods she worshipped; because to him it seemed that she had a liking for the Elvehn Pantheon, especially Mythal and sometimes he heard her saying that the Maker was deaf and didn't care about his children. Was she an andrastian? Was she a Mythal's follower? He had no idea and if he was honest with himself, he didn't care either.
So, in his prayers he added every God he could come up with and for once he didn't felt guilty or afraid that he was doing a mistake. He chuckled looking at their intertwined fingers. This woman would be the death of him; she always was in a way or another. It didn't matter that she was a mage in the Tower and she found exciting to take his Templar heart. He submitted to her will, then. It didn't matter that she was worshipping Mythal now; the elven people did it for centuries and they were still here; no one struck them with lightning because of that. He didn't care; he wanted only to see her open her eyes and look at him with that smile he loved.
After the fight, when she fell to the ground without a word, Dorian was fast in stopping the bleeding, but the mage couldn't do more than that. Cullen shook his head in disbelief; it seemed that Tevinter mages considered learning healing magic under their abilities; like something only the minor mages could learn. Dorian was the best with offensive and defensive magic but he sucked at healing. The Commander had a sudden moment of inspiration; next time he will beat the mage at chess, he will ask for a bet. Taking healing magic classes would teach the Tevinter Altus a bit of humility.
The two healers in the camp did what they could to knit together the muscles, but Azzura had to heal by herself with rest and healing potions at the best. And that's why he was here, watching her sleeping and waiting for a sign that she will come out from the Fade. Thinking of the Fade made him remember the way she treated that desire demon. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of what he witnessed and to strangle her … again … for the risk she took. She had spirits around her, treating them as friends and convinced a demon to get back from where it came. He never heard about any mage doing that; she was amazing.
As amazing she was, she still got distracted and made the mistake to turn her back to Marcus. And he wanted to laugh again remembering the face the mage did when he saw her changing into a dark blob of energy. She had spirits to protect her …
Cullen jumped to his feet and looked around. She said that the spirits would protect her but she got hurt all the same.
"You should have protected her! Is not your job?" – Quickly he closed his mouth shut. It was ridiculous! He began to talk alone in the tent; soon people will think that he went crazy; the last thing he needed.
"I can protect against offensive magic and the Guardian protects her mind. Even we have limits; but it's endearing to hear how you think so high about us."
The sultry voice came from nowhere and he could feel a presence on the right side. Trying to calm his beating heart and the cold shivers in his body, Cullen pinched his eyes and breathed slowly.
"Can you at least show yourself? I can't talk to the walls. That's absurd!"
A soft light shone near Azzura's head and then the Spirit of Endurance made its appearance.
"Better? Although I don't think that helps you much. Those who could hear you outside would still think that you started to talk alone."
"Great. That way rumors about my impending madness will reach Skyhold and the next thing I know, is the Herald coming here to check on me and my lyrium addiction. The day couldn't get worse."
The Spirit smiled and fixed a curl of blond hair above her forehead. "That … could not be entirely true."
Cullen narrowed his eyes to the ethereal being. "What do you mean?"
"The sleeping beauty has to wake up and release that poor Templar from his sleeping spell. The Wardens just brought him to the camp. You forgot the poor boy in that Tower … an entire night."
"Maker's breath! You're right. Wait, what about the other Warden?"
"Dead. The Stonefist was a bit too powerful. I keep telling her to work on it."
"She doesn't need to tune down her spells! That's why she got hurt."
Cullen raised his voice a bit too much and the guard stating outside approached the tent and asked. "Are you all right Commander?"
"Yes. I just think aloud, nothing else."
The soldier shrugged and went back to playing cards with his companions, with a grin. His Commander was a love sick puppy; better than a grumpy lion.
Endurance watched Cullen attentively. "You have a headache. I can help, if you want me to."
He had to still himself in place; being around Fade beings made him so uncomfortable but since joining the Inquisition it seemed that the two worlds collided every day. Closing his eyes – at least he won't see the Spirit lady – he accepted her help. The tingling sensation made by the Spirit's hand touching his face made him stiffen.
"Relax, dear. It's over."
"I'm sorry; I am not used around beings like you."
The Spirit smiled warmly. "It's not your fault. The way you were taught however is to blame. Your Chantry made a lot of mistakes that can't be repaired overnight. For them I am a demon and a danger to everyone. Centuries of instilled fear won't wash in a day's passing."
Azzura awoke earlier but she didn't want to interrupt Cullen's get-to-know talk with her favorite spirit. Seeing Cullen warming just a little bit to her Spirit companion made her wake up fully.
"Once a Templar, always a Templar. Hello, sweetheart. How are you? Making friends already?"
The blonde man's eyes filled with happiness and his voice chocked. "You're awake! Thank you, Maker!"
"Indeed I am. I'm sorry for being hurt."
"It's all right, love. We can yell at each other once you are recovered." – Cullen's crooked smile made her swoon. He filled a glass of water and helped her drink. The Spirit of Endurance watched them both with interest.
"Your Templar is a strong man. I am amazed how much self-control he has. His body is the perfection of years of training and hardship."
Cullen shifted uneasy under Endurance's scrutiny. He was used to women admiring his body shape, not Spirits. Azzura moved her hands over his arms feeling his muscles tense under his shirt. "He does, doesn't he? I rather like him the way he looks these days."
"I thought you are a Spirit of Endurance, not a Spirit of Ogling." – The ex-Templar grumbled.
"Well, my purpose is to evaluate how strong the beings in this world are. How I would help if I can't compare them?"
Azzura rested her head on the pillow; this conversation should be interesting. Cullen was in for a treat.
"A lot of men and women around us are skilled warriors but I took an interest in Templars because of their condition. Lyrium gives them strength by numbing their senses; you on the contrary are far more interesting because your choice. You fight on even if your physical pain is unbearable sometimes. I see you struggling with your addiction but you won't give in. You have no idea how invaluable and worthy of admiration you are, Commander. I can't do much against your desire for that substance, but I can alleviate your pain; just call me when you need."
"I … I don't know what to say. Thank you? I will think of your offer."
"Good. Now it's time for me to go. The warriors are starting their shirtless training."
Cullen who tasted a piece of bread chocked instantly.
"What do you mean?"
"I like to watch shirtless men, what else?"
A discussion he had with Rylen a while back came in his mind. "Rylen told me that he was feeling watched."
"Templars have a higher perception of Spirits, he wasn't wrong. Knight-Captain Rylen is another example of perfection."
Cullen replied dryly. "I bet that my friend wouldn't find it funny. And again, I think he might like it. The man is a hedonist. He knows that women like him and his tattoos. I never saw a man who would take advantage like that. If a woman asks how far his tattoos go, by the end of the day she will know for sure."
Azzura replied lazily. "Way down under his smalls."
"WHAT?" – Cullen's voice raised one octave.
She chortled and soon winced because of the pain from her wound. "The Knight-Captain Rylen. His tattoos …"
"You don't need to repeat that! How do you know about his tattoos?"
Azzura pointed her finger towards the Spirit. "Witty. She told me. Although, I have to admit. Rylen is a good looking man. That accent and those tattoos … uhmmmm. "
"Maker, this is a nightmare." – He looked to Endurance – "Just go, disappear, whatever you do." – And turning to Azzura, he added – "I don't like to share, remember? Keep it in mind, mage."
The light being disappeared in a poof of smoke and Azzura heard it in her mind, still laughing.
"I don't think he's ready to hear about what a Spirit of Love likes to do."
Amell laughed until she couldn't breathe anymore. Every time she stopped, Endurance's last words made her begin anew. Poor Cullen; he would be horrified knowing that the Spirits of Love liked to spy on mortals' sex life, between other things. The thought alone would make him stop wanting sex, for sure.
Dorian found them like that; Azzura still laughing and Cullen giving her the stinky eye.
"Well, by the sounds coming from your tent I concluded that you recovered well."
"Mostly because the Commander kept me company, Dorian. I want to thank you for saving me from bleeding to death. Your healing skills need improvement though; I will have another scar."
The mage zapped her with a tiny electrical discharge.
"Oww! Sorry, sorry! Forget I said something."
"My dear; this is a big faux-pass. You don't point other people's flaws one day after you had almost died because you made an error of judgment. Tsk – Tsk , turning your back to the enemy … bad move. As for the scar? The one crossing your back is far worse and your lovely tattoo on your arm? You should show it around! I have the right design for a nice tunic for you to wear."
"What scar? What tattoo?" – Cullen was still sour after the discovery about his friend he made earlier.
Dorian gave him an uncredulous stare. "Why, Commander? Don't tell me that you haven't seen our Warden's naked body?"
Cullen blushed to the roots of his hair. "N- no, I didn't." –He stuttered.
The other man's jaw almost dropped on the floor. "Fasta vas! Then what in the Maker's name you two are doing all these nights alone in your tent?"
Cullen kept his mouth shot and helped Azzura rise from her bed.
"We talked, cuddled and slept mostly." – She decided to spare the poor Commander the embarrassment.
"No sex? At all?"
Cullen groaned and made a fast exit from the tent. The temptation to smite the Vint was too high in that moment.
"No Dorian. We decided to wait until we get back to Skyhold. We are too old for tent debauchery; at least I am and Cullen is too worried with the image his troops have about him."
Varric's voice boomed from outside. "Now I can tell to the Spymaster that she lost to the Inquisitor. Lots of talking and no sex. How sad, if I may say."
Azzura leaned on Dorian's arm and went outside to see the grinning dwarf who listened shamelessly their little chat.
"Then again; I might decide to steal the Commander and hide somewhere. Apparently not even in Skyhold I wouldn't have so much privacy. Hello Varric."
"Hello Snowy; where to?"
"I need to talk to Ser James. I hope he rested well; after all he had an entire night to sleep it over."
The Templar wasn't aware of who she was. The Wardens told him that they were looking for a deserter which Warden –Commander Clear wanted to be brought to justice. He went with them because he needed lyrium and the Wardens took advantage of that weakness.
Ser James was ashamed to discover that he hunted down the famous Hero of Ferelden and by mistake the Wardens attacked her friend. Azzura still tried to understand how the Templar was led to Sarina, by the phylactery. The mystery was soon resolved however when they realized that the Templar saw her in the tavern and later, after she left, the Wardens saw Sarina instead. Cullen asked Ser James to join the Inquisition and the Templar accepted.
Nathaniel looked at his boss. "I wish that we could have an explanation to your resemblance to my wife. Sarina is still convinced that somehow, you two are related. Before being forced to slow down because of her pregnancy, she made a quest of cleaning the castle's attic in the hopes that she will find hidden diaries, documents that could prove something. Now that she is free of the burden, she will go again in her wild-goose chase. Fergus is the most pleased with that. He always wanted to clean the attic, but couldn't spare the people; Sarina is doing it for free."
Azzura scratched her head and bit her lips. Sooner or later she had to admit that her inheritance was a bit far north.
"I don't know, Nate. I don't see my mother or your parents being involved somehow. Maybe we are some distant relatives and it happened that we inherited the same facial features?"
"How about your father? You always avoid talking about him."
"He was a Tevinter Magister."
Everyone, except Dorian stared at her. Varric was the first to break the silence.
"Well I'll be damned. That must be the best guarded secret in the Amell family."
"My mother had no idea. My father hid his magic for obvious reasons; and then I was born. After I was brought to the Circle, my father left mother and went back to Vyrantium. He died ten years ago."
Cullen massaged his temples. "That … makes you his heir in the Magisterium. Am I wrong?"
"I found out the all story only several years ago and I still have to get used to the idea. But I wouldn't want to have a place in the Magisterium. I'm looking for someone to transfer the title to."
"An Amell, a hero, an Arlessa and Commander of the Grey of Ferelden; now with good chances to become a Magister. What next? You will tell us that you are an elvhen Goddess in disguise?"
"No, Varric. I would be an awful God anyway. As for the things how they are right now, sooner or later I will have to clash with the First Warden. I do too much noise for a Warden that shouldn't involve in politics or taking positions of power. Or, I could bring up their ties with the Anderfels' King; yup, that'll work."
Varric clasped Cullen's arm, who was still skulking about the all magister trouble.
"Heads up, Curly! She's not going all mwahaahha! … For now."
Azzura replied dryly. "Thanks Varric. Now he will stay up all night watching me. That's creepy."
True to her prediction, Azzura caught Cullen wide awake and watching her. After several nights of letting him brood and watching her sleep, she had enough of it.
She felt him moving on the bed and dragging all the blankets with him. Azzura woke up shivering and opened her eyes without warning. Cullen taken by surprise jolted.
"Cullen, seriously! If you continue starring like this, I will make sure you sleep one week. Give me the blankets, I'm freezing."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you up." – He lay back on the cot and turned his face to her and pulled the covers on them.
"Talk to me. Since you found out that I am in danger of becoming a Magister, you barely spoke to me."
"It's true. I … I … don't know what to say. I am scared, all right?"
"About what? About the fact that I like Tevinter? Or maybe the fact that I like my job and what I'm doing? Cullen, I am not changed. It's still me; with a bit of scars and skeletons in my closets; but that doesn't make me different."
He snuggled close to her and put an arm over her waist. It was so easy to let everything undisclosed and he was tired of keeping that fear in him.
To someone from outside the way they fell in that behavior seemed strange. But not to him. For them it was like they never were apart and in the last years they kept in touch often. He couldn't describe the feeling; for him it was like he saw her one hour earlier and not after eleven long years. He loved her and he was afraid that she will leave again; that somehow their roads will split once more and this time they won't find each other.
She waited for him to talk. Cullen was never one to open up easily; he needed time and encouragement, especially in the matters of the heart. She smiled at the memory of him telling her for the first time I love you. It took him weeks of fumbling and stuttering because he wasn't sure about her and he feared that she would laugh.
"When you came back and told me that you want me in your life, I was certain that I won't listen to that voice in my head telling me that you are real. I was afraid that it was one of your games; you had the King after all. In these last months I came to realize that I always wanted only you and if I would send you away, this time you won't come back. I was afraid to let you go and afraid to let you get into my heart again."
Softly, she kisses his lips and eyes. "And I'm still here."
"Yes, you are. Imworriedforthefuture."
Azzura blinked. He rushed the entire sentence in one breath, spilling out his worst fear. "Care to repeat?"
"I'm worried for us, for myself. I wouldn't be able to see you leaving again; and now that you might become a Magister and still having to serve the Divine what's-his-name; I fear that you will have to go."
Warmth flooded her cheeks. "Are you asking me to stay, with you?"
"Well, it's implied … I think?"
"Cullen, If I wasn't sure that I would want you back, do you think I would have played with your hopes like that? Of course I will stay. Maxwell needs me and the Divine and Archon Radonis would kill me if I fuck this up. They want to support the Inquisition and I was appointed for this task."
"And after? When Corypheus is defeated? What we will do?"
"We get married."
Cullen forgot to breathe. She raised her brows in the dark of the tent.
"Cold feet already?"
"I… Did you … do we …" – He wasn't able to articulate more than those words.
"Yes we will. Now, you get back to sleep and be a good Templar."
"I'm not a Templar; and how do you think I would sleep when you just told me that I will get married?"
After that, they spent the entire night kissing and talking and cutting out the entire Thedas.