Cullen walked towards the War Table, Josephine had already begun to to scribble down notes. Her head buried deep into the parchment. Cullen couldn't help but feel pity for her situation.
"How are you feeling Lady Ambassador?" Cullen raised his eyebrow, placing his palms against the sturdy wood.
She raised her head from her quill and gave him a small smile. "Better. Thank you for asking." She placed her parchment down and looked at him. "I don't know how you do it, to be honest…" Her voice trailed as she looked at the map in front of her.
"What do you mean?" Cullen said, looking up at her curiously.
"You and the Inquisitor." Her watering eyes, reached his. Her lip trembling. "She has far more responsibilities than I and added with yours, I can't imagine. I can never have such a relationship."
Cullen looked at her seriously. "Dealing with nobles is no easy task...especially at your level of finesse." Cullen said warmly, he inched closer to her.
"You are too kind, Commander." Her eyes trailed to the wall.
"I'm being honest, Lady ambassador. Do not put your work under any other in this Inquisition. We are all good at something, right? I would never be capable of doing what you on a daily basis. It's very admirable." Cullen laughed under his breath. "How are you handling everything?" He now looked up at her more seriously.
Josephine's face fell. "Black-Rainier is a fine soldier. But it cannot be, like I have told you. Even more so now, I'm afraid. I must keep busy with my work. If he chooses to atone with the Inquisition that is for him to decide. No amount of flowers on my desk will change that."
"Then you are much stronger than I." Cullen gave her a weak smile. "And so are your tells." He added with a wide grin.
She stifled a giggle in her palm. "Never bet against an Antivan, Commander."
"I'll keep that in mind for the next time. Though I think my days of Wicked Grace are finally over." He muttered embarrassingly.
"Commander!" A messenger popped their head through the door, startling the both of them.
"Yes?" Cullen spun around, slightly annoyed.
"The Arcanist, Dagna, would like to see you, Ser. At the Undercroft." The head popped out of view and shut the door behind her without another word.
"My apologies, Lady Ambassador." Cullen bowed respectfully. Josephine waved him goodbye, a smile planted on her lips.
Cullen headed to the Undercroft, hoping Dagna analyzed the tools they found left behind at the Shrine of Dumat. He opened the door, up ahead a mountainous peak and fresh air wafted through. There was no enclosure to the undercroft, no window. Just open land that Cullen so desperately wished for. He stood still breathing in the fresh air and soaking in the marvelous view.
"Hiya!" A small voice called from behind him. Cullen spun around, startled. Nobody in sight. "Down here, silly!" Cullen's gaze faltered to the floor. A Dwarf with blushing cheeks stood sweetly waving at him, a wide grin on her face.
"Hello." Cullen said serenely, he couldn't help but smile at her impish features.
She walked over to him in a small waddle. "I'm Dagna! Nice to meet you, Commander!" She said excitedly.
Cullen was taken aback by her youthful joyfulness. "How has your research been coming along, Dagna?" He asked, slightly serious in tone.
She giggled and hurried away. She opened a trunk and reached over, her feet dangling from the front of the chest wildly. She straightened back up, holding a stone, its contents glowed red. Cullen became immediately light-headed. He raised his hand to his forehead and pressed on it gently.
"Oops. Forgot you were a Templar. Sorry!" She muttered apologetically. She stuffed it into her pocket and beamed widely at the Commander. "Thanks to you and the Inquisitor, I've created a rune using Maddox's tools to get rid of Samson's lyrium armor."
"A rune?" Cullen repeated, interested.
"Yes! Now all the Inquisitor has to do is place it in her palm and point it to Samson and BAM!" She yelled excitedly, bouncing in the air. "His armor disappears!"
"You're sure of this Dagna?" Cullen said, eyeing her inquisitively.
"Very sure! Sure Sure!" She said happily.
"I appreciate it, Dagna, I will go tell the Inquisitor, right away." Cullen gave her a weak smile, not even half of her exuberance.
Dagna sighed happily. "Isn't magic the best? Oh wait, you were a Templar...you wouldn't think that. I have to be careful…" she muttered to herself as she got back to work.
Cullen couldn't help but laugh as he walked away. She reminded him that he needed to pay a visit to his second favorite mage. He clicked the door behind him heading through the circular room that Solas resided in. "Commander, a word?" Solas silently made his way towards him. His hands behind his back.
"Solas?" Cullen looked up at him, surprised that he was talking to him.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about the Inquisitor…" His voice trailed as he paced around him in circles.
"Ah-Alright." Cullen looked up at him with widened eyes.
Solas gave him a weak smile, "I am quite aware of your relations with the Inquisitor and I hope you know exactly what you have gotten yourself into?" He looked into his eyes seriously.
"I-uh...yes. Of course." He replied, his gaze analyzing his blank expression.
"I am usually not one to meddle, as you have noticed." He gave him another weak smile. "I cannot however, in good conscious let this come to pass without proper warning. A warning that would become too late when the time arrives."
"I-I don't-" Cullen stammered.
"The urgency of this matter, is not to be dire, dear Commander. However...please keep in mind that mark and the power that it holds. The Inquisitor has become a dear friend to me and dearer to your heart as I would imagine." His smirk disappeared as his tone became solemn. "I, like I have told you before, have studied the Fade, her mark and know the power Corypheus wields. It is not one to overlook. I hope you understand the severity of my words."
Cullen's eyes widened as Solas stopped in his tracks. "Did you lie Solas? Will this-will this kill her?" His voice cracked, barely able to say those words.
"I cannot promise anything." Solas looked away. "I cannot foresee the future." Cullen's heart sank to the pit of his stomach, his face grew more pale. "However, I am clarifying that even if Corypheus is stopped, her job is not done. Are you able to accept this as truth?"
"Whatever I can understand of this truth, I accept it." Cullen said confidently.
Solas turned back to him, a genuine smile on his lips. "She holds great wisdom, much beyond the people I have met in my journeys in the Fade. She is different, not what I expected, in fact. The subtlety in her actions goes against everything I expected. Most people act with so little understanding of the world, but not her. I respect her deeply. Cherish her well, Commander."
"I do." Cullen looked up at him seriously. "I'll do whatever I can-"
"But how much can you do?" Solas interrupted him, raising an eyebrow, "Give her a normal life perhaps? Someone to come home to?" Cullen stared at him wordlessly. "Her life is forever changed, no matter how many years pass by. That Anchor will forever haunt her, something will always need being saved, or a rift needing to be closed. A quiet rural life as you much hoped has its time limit, a definite time. Be her strength and overcome these things together. But do not distract her from her duty that is greater than everyone else's understanding." Cullen's brow furrowed in anger, his lip curled to a snarl as his fists clenched. Solas' eyes averted to his hands and shot back up to his eyes. "Merely advice, take on it as you wish. Act upon it all you like." Solas bowed gracefully, his eyes never leaving his. He spun around and headed back to his chair as Cullen angrily marched off the steps to see Dorian.
"I don't know why I bother talk to him." Cullen sputtered angrily at Dorian, spit streaming from his mouth, pacing back and forth in Dorian's view.
"He is quite the cheerful one, is he not?" Dorian smirked as his eyes left his book.
Cullen stood in place, fists still clenched. "He told me I was a distraction!" He spat angrily.
Dorian laughed in response, placing his book down next to him. "Take it as a compliment. You are easy on the eyes."
"Argh!" Cullen groaned.
"You do know he can probably hear you from here right?" Dorian smirked while getting off his chair, overlooking the balcony. Cullen did a double-take and peered off the side next to Dorian. Dorian dropped his book merely inches away from Solas' nose. The elven mage looked up in disgust, his teeth bared. "Slippery fingers." Dorian muttered with a smile. "That book is called 'How To Get Along With Your Peers' do give it a read, won't you?" Dorian saluted him with two fingers, bidding him goodbye. "There that'll show him." Dorian gave Cullen a warm smile.
Cullen couldn't help but stifle a laugh, his mood changed instantly. "Maybe he's right." He said, a small smile still curled his lip, he analyzed Dorian's bookshelves half-heartedly.
"You are but a good distraction." Dorian reassured him. "I'm not quite so sure about what happens after this. Nobody is. But now you have each other and that will make you both stronger." Cullen looked up at Dorian seriously. "Either way," he sighed, "every time I think I've seen the ugliest possible demon, another one surpasses my expectations." He smiled politely and headed to his bookcase, preening his selection. "You did well out there, for Cole." He clarified.
Cullen walked towards him. "Instinct." He muttered, under his breath.
Dorian shook his head in disagreement, while picking up a book and opening its pages. "You single-handedly almost ended your tryst with our Inquisitor for a spirit-"
"Are you still angry at me for that?" Cullen interrupted, his voice higher than usual.
Dorian shot him a look, his eyes leaving his book. "I didn't only promise to keep her alive for you." He looked at him seriously, holding up a page in the book to his eyes. "I had to use magic I didn't want to."
Cullen look between the page and Dorian's eyes, his look confused. "Blood magic?"
"I take offense to that, I am no such cretin. It is also not my fault you turn a blind eye to all things magic." His hand slapped the book closed, keeping it at his side. "Necromancy has a wide array of branches that you are unfamiliar with. Enchantments, spells your tiny little mind could only believe to imagine. Just do be more careful next time. That is all…" His voice trailed.
"You're a lot stronger than I imagined then." Cullen said apologetically.
"And smarter and better looking." Dorian added, his eyes shining bright.
"Are you boys fighting again?" A woman's voice echoed from the stairs. The Inquisitor stood at the top, arms folded. "Solas mentioned to me in passing that I keep unruly company."
"Is that so?" Dorian folded his arms and peered over the edge. "I wouldn't take to heart the words of a hobo apostate." He said, looking over over to make sure Solas heard.
"Please speak up! I can't hear you over your outfit." Solas' voice echoed through the walls.
"Do come to Tevinter won't you? I'd make a great servant out of you. Bring Cole while you're at it as well. Your new test subject." Dorian shot back. Cullen and the Inquisitor's eyes widened in shock.
"Dorian!" The Inquisitor exclaimed. Solas snarled from the bottom level audibly.
"He had it coming." Cullen said, sticking up for Dorian. Dorian looked at him and smiled.
"Commander!" She said now looking at him in surprise.
"I do like this one, Inquisitor. Can he come with us more often?" Dorian said mischievously with a sinister smile on his face.
"No. I-I mean...he has his own matters to attend to." The Inquisitor looked up at Cullen apologetically.
"Which I should head back to." He gave them a weak smile. Dorian looked at the Inquisitor through a side eye.
"Leliana would like to speak to you, Commander. And I need to speak to you Dorian, I found the last set of Venatori in the Western Approach."
Dorian's eyes sparkled. "Ah my fellow countrymen. Will be so nice to see old friends."
"Dagna created a rune to rid Samson of his armor." Cullen looked up at the Inquisitor seriously, changing the subject.
The Inquisitor's mouth parted slightly. "Thank you, Commander." Her tone was low, as if in pain.
Cullen bowed his head in goodbye and headed towards the War Table.