Clan Lavellan Part 1 of 3:

Ellana opened her eyes and glanced over at Cullen to watch his chest gently rising from a peaceful slumber. She tried to minimize her movement as she slightly shifted to rest her chin on her palm, supporting herself with her forearm to get a better look at him. Creators, he was handsome. He was always blushing and would grab at her to turn the attention back around whenever she openly stared at him like this and so she found it a delightful treat to have this quiet moment of surveying him while he slept.

Ellana had been having the dream again – the enjoyable one… walking through the field of flowers. She seemed to be alternating each sleep between night terrors and dreaming of that cabin with Cullen and… she blushed. Children with him – they had mildly discussed it before but… Ellana had never given a whole lot of thought to the subject. She didn't know of any shemlen and elf partners who had children. The only thing she knew about half-elves is that, for all intents and purposes, they looked human: shemlen ears and the ability to pass as such – which most chose to do. In a world that was unkind to full-blooded elves, it was even less so for half-elves. She glanced back at Cullen and found herself considering for the first time if that was something that bothered her. She didn't feel troubled about it; truthfully, she just found herself entranced by the mere idea of having that future with him.

A loud clang came from outside their tent and Alistair painfully yelped, "Maker's Breath!" He must have tripped over something… Ellana cursed him as Cullen stirred from the commotion and began to wake up. He gave her a groggy smile and chuckled, "were you watching me sleep?"

She buried her forehead into his chest and coyly smiled, not ready to admit what she had been thinking about for the last few minutes.

Before she knew it, they were back on their horses for another long day of travelling through the back roads of the Imperial Highway.

"Cassandra, I've heard some interesting rumors about candidates for the next Divine." Cullen called out.

Ellana snuck a quick glance over at Cassandra for her reaction; she too had heard the rumors of both Cassandra and Leliana being considered for the position. She didn't want to bring the topic up – since she had raised the issue of the Book of Secrets the other day and felt another controversial topic may be pushing her luck; therefore, she had asked Cullen to be the one to address it at some point on their trip. She gave him a quick wink in appreciation for following through with her request. Ellana was curious to hear Cassandra's thoughts on the matter and if being Divine was something that interested her.

Cassandra grunted, "Yes… I know of what you speak."

"…and?" Ellana couldn't help to press the issue, "what do you think about it?"

"At first, I thought it was ridiculous." Cassandra mumbled, "I suppose the idea has started to somewhat grow on me this past month."

"Really?" Ellana was astonished! She quickly recovered, "I mean, I think you would be great in the position – I truly do. I just hadn't expected you to be interested in it."

"Not in the way that the Chantry has it organized now, no. I would change things; use the opportunity to rebuild and reorganize, eventually, in a way that brings more inclusivity and uniform to what being the Divine stands for."

Ellana carefully nodded. "What would you do with the Circle of Magi?"

Cassandra momentarily hesitated… "I would not abolish the Circle of Magi. I know that must be difficult to hear, but I do believe it fulfills a primal need. I would implement drastic changes, such as the elimination of templars having control over the Circles and therefore control over the mages. I see co-management of the Circles by the Chantry and mages being a solution. It would be run with guidance from senior mages – no longer by the templars."

Ellana felt disappointed. She had hoped that Cassandra would support the entire elimination of the Circles; however, having the organization equally run by mages was a huge improvement and would do wonders in eliminating their mistreatment. Truthfully – Ellana didn't know how to approach the problem, herself. She detested the Circle of Magi, however acknowledged that unmonitored blood magic had the potential for a complete disaster and the possibility of another Blight – she could certainly testify to that with her current situation…

The Dalish were a relatively small group and for that reason, they had been able to implement the use of Keepers to ensure that blood magic – and magic practice in general – was kept under control. Would the same model work on a significantly larger scale? She wasn't sure… maybe this was one of those 'moving in the right direction' situations and Cassandra's proposal was certainly better than having things remain as they were.

Cullen grunted, "I agree with the fact that templars have been given far too much power and should not remain exclusively in control of the Circles, but implore you to remember that there are some out there who still remain loyal to the Chantry. Not all templars had abandoned faith and followed Sampson in his pursuit of red lyrium and aiding Corypheus. What of those men? They are likely already reeling from the effects of withdrawal, praying for a new Divine to be appointed so they can resume their posts in the towers and gain access to lyrium again. I am not suggesting that we go back to how things once were, but if you eliminate the need for templars all together – what will happen to those men? Do you have resources or a plan to support them?"

Ellana scoffed, "That would be a waste of resources on men who deserve to waste away…"

"Ellana – " Cullen sadly recoiled, "That easily could have been me. The ones who remained loyal to the Chantry are probably not the ones who abused its power in the first place."

"How are we to know?" Ellana threw back at him, "Are we to throw endless time and resources towards men who may not deserve any of it?"

Cullen shifted her eyes to her and gave her an unsettled look. "You use to feel differently on this subject. Back at Haven, when we were discussing the option of siding with the mages or the templars… you told me that you saw templars as men who needed our help. We couldn't help them back then, but we could help them now. Has your opinion changed so drastically since then, that you would turn your back on them entirely?"

Ellana's mind was pulled to that evening in Haven where she sat on a bench with Cullen on the outskirts of camp and discussed with him her arguments for siding with the mages. True – she had told Cullen that upon meeting him, her entire opinion of the templars had changed. He allowed her to see them as men that were held under the thumb of the Chantry, bound by an addiction to lyrium and forced into cruel behavior against the mages. Did she no longer feel that way? When had it changed?

She glanced at Cullen and saw him grievously staring at her, awaiting a response. She didn't know what to say and so she forced a sarcastic smile on her face and jokingly retorted, "I probably still feel that way, Cullen – I've just had about three hundred of them try to kill me since that conversation, so I'm feeling a little bitter."

Alistair laughed, "Justified, I'd say."

Cullen forced a chuckle, however kept his glance on Ellana and watched as she dropped the façade, allowing a deeply troubled look to spread across her face. 'She has changed her opinion…' he somberly thought. 'When did that happen… and why?'

Over the next few weeks, the four of them continued putting in long hours of travel during the day, inching closer and closer towards the southern part of the Free Marches. Ellana could feel her instincts sharpen the closer they arrived to her Clan; her connection to the forest and nature itself grew deeper, her innate skills at tracking intensified, the smells of the wild called to her and the air felt more crisp and fresh as it filled her lungs – the wild and untamed trees were guiding her home.

One afternoon, the group spotted a small lake and decided to take a short rest in order to restock on water supply. Ellana slid down the sloppy hill to the crest of the lake and quickly began to unlace her boots. She blissfully slid her feet into the cold fresh water and closed her eyes, leaning back on the hill with her face lifted to the heavens. Her hands reached out to the side and grabbed hold of the long sweetgrass.

Cullen watched her from across the bed of water and smiled, he hadn't seen her this relaxed and at peace in quite a while. It was a beautiful sight: her hair wildly spread out among the hilly slope, lightly blowing from tiny gusts of wind as she tousled her hands though the long blades of grass and splashed her toes in the cold water. He watched as she began to pull herself up and picked up her boots; giving them a frustrated look, she cast them aside and turned around to head back to her horse. Was she going to try and ride without them? Cullen recalled how Ellana refused to wear boots when she first joined the Inquisition – claiming that Dalish elves were more than comfortable walking about in their bare feet. Sometime over the next few months, she had begun wearing boots… likely when the fighting picked up and their travels brought them to places like the Storm Coast. Was she returning to that? He quietly picked up her boots and shoved them into one of the bags attached to his horse. 'Just in case she came to regret throwing them away…'

Later that day, Ellana caught sight of a pack of city elves travelling the backroads with several large bundles attached to their backs. She quickly dismounted her horse and ran over to them, hoping to get information on her clan's location and recent activity. She was in luck! The elves had recently run into one of the Dalish from Clan Lavellan and had taken part in trade negotiations. The Dalish elf had mentioned the clan's intention to travel North within the near future, but they should still be within the area. Ellana thanked them for their generosity and quickly ran back to share the news with the others.

After getting her three companions up to speed, Cassandra and Alistair decided to separate from Ellana and Cullen in order to head towards a nearby town and stay in the local Inn. Ellana understood – she hadn't wanted to mention anything but was a little concerned over bringing three shemlen into her clan's camp. Besides, it was Cullen that she was most interested in meeting her clan. They waved goodbye to Cassandra and Alistair before continuing in the direction that the city elves had pointed.

"How are you feeling about meeting my Clan?" Ellana teasingly smiled over at Cullen; she knew him well enough to know that he was nervous.

He meekly smiled, "Not expecting them to like me very much, but I am looking forward to it. I know they mean a lot to you and because of that, they mean something to me as well."

Ellana brought her horse over to ride slowly along Cullen's and reached out for his hand. "They will recognize how important you are to me, how much love I hold for you."

He smiled and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Does everyone in your clan speak the common tongue?"

"Most of us do – although, so did Solas…" she laughed, "And I'm sure you recall how often he chose not to use it around you. Best to prepare yourself for a bit of that." Ellana watched as nerves spread back through Cullen's face and she gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, ma'arlath – it will be fine. I'll be there with you."

Ellana wondered what her clan would think about the fact that she was with a shemlen man. She wasn't planning on mentioning his background with the templars – that would only cause further animosity than what was likely to already be. Cullen was the epitome of male shelmen appearances: he was tall with broad, toned shoulders from years of swordplay, which meant he was strong – exceptionally strong. Personally, Ellana's heart skipped a beat every time she thought about his looks, yet recognized it would only further her clan's dislike of him; he was very clearly a representation of everything they were not… everything that pushed them into the brink of society. His looks screamed conquest and colonization. Ellana nervously bit her bottom lip at the anticipation of Cullen meeting her clan and sent a prayer to Mythal that it would go smoothly.

A sharp gleam of sunlight reflecting off an arrow's bow caught Ellana's eye off to the right. She quickly halted her horse and motioned for Cullen to do the same. Holding her hands up, she called out: "Aneth ara."

A slender male elf revealed himself from the thick forests while lowering his bow. Cullen noticed he kept it drawn with an arrow, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Ellana dismounted her horse and turned towards the elf. "Harel!" she cried out and began running over to him. The male elf – named Harel, Cullen gathered – quickly dropped his bow and joined Ellana in a warm embrace.

Cullen dismounted his horse and heard the two began speaking in their language; he assumed Ellana was explaining how they had returned for a visit. Cullen began moving closer when Harel grabbed his bow and pointed it towards Cullen's chest. Ellana quickly stepped in front of the arrow and held up a hand, speaking something in Elven to her male companion. He gave Cullen a resentful look before slowly lowering his bow. Cullen clenched his jaw and expected much more of that to follow over the next few hours. Ellana slipped her hand slip into Cullen's and gave him a reassuring smile; "He'll bring us to them."

They walked for a few minutes into the dense forest, carefully guiding their horses through the steep branches and hilly landscape. Cullen noticed Harel glaring at him the entire time; the elf's nostrils flared whenever Ellana reached out to hold onto Cullen's arm and especially when she'd slip her hand into his. Eventually, they came to a clearing of the trees and stumbled upon a medium sized campsite with around forty Dalish elves. Nearly everyone stopped what they were doing upon the group's arrival and stared in astonishment and horror at Cullen.

"Ellana!" an older woman with long grey hair came running over to place her hands on Ellana's arms and began studying her. "Garas quenathra, da'len?"

"Keeper Deshanna!" Ellana cried out and pulled the women into a hug. She switched to the common tongue, for Cullen's sake. "I am travelling to Nevarra with a few of my companions from the Inquisition. We heard from a local merchant that you had moved into the southern part of the Free Marches and I had to come by to see you all again. I've missed you terribly!"

Cullen warmly smiled – he had heard quite a bit of Ellana's Keeper over the last year. He was still a little confused on the relationship and dynamic of a Keeper to its Clan, however he had the impression that Keeper Deshanna had taken the place of a parent or grandparent to Ellana when she lost her family. It was heartwarming to see her reunited with the woman and could tell how happy Ellana was in this moment, to be holding her in a warm embrace.

The Keeper's eyes shifted to Cullen and Ellana withdrew from their hug to step alongside him, slipping her tiny palm into his hand. "Deshanna, this is Cullen Rutherford. He is the Commander of our forces with the Inquisition. I've brought him with me to meet you all as I… well, we are – "

"Ar tu na'lin emma mi, shemlen!" an angry voice called out from the crowd.

Cullen felt Ellana's hand tense as she glanced at Keeper Deshanna, waiting for her response. The elder elf gave Cullen a long and scrutinizing stare; he did his best not to break out in a blush, wanting to appear confident and worthy of Ellana's attention.

After a few moments, the elf lowered her eyes in a disappointed acceptance and turned towards the rest of the camp. She shouted something in elven and Cullen watched as the group collectively lowered their shoulders and went back to their regular activities. He wasn't positive, but it appeared as though Keeper Deshanna had ordered the clan to accept his presence in the camp. Ellana confirmed his suspicions when she turned towards him and gave him a quick wink, signaling that the worst was over.

Ellana passed her reins to Cullen and asked if he would tie the horses to a nearby tree while she carried their belongings over to the main part of camp. Cullen gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and began leading the horses to their resting area. He felt a light tap on his shoulder just as he was finishing tying the last of the ropes. Turning around, he felt a great deal of surprise at seeing the clan's Keeper standing before him.

"Keeper Deshanna, it is an honor to finally meet you and the rest of Clan Lavellan. Ellana speaks fondly of you and her time here. It means a great deal for her to return here – she misses you terribly."

The elder woman gave him an icy glare before leaning in to stare directly into his eyes. "You will be safe here, as you are accompanied by one of Clan Lavellan's most cherished members. Ellana is like a daughter to me; many of our Clan's elders feel the same sentiment. Do not mistake our decision to allow your entrance here as acceptance… acceptance for you as a mate to her. You will not receive that from myself, or any of the Clan members. I do not support this; cannot understand why she would choose someone like you. Regardless, I have ordered the Clan to respect Ellana's wishes and to refrain from troubling the two of you while you are here." She sharply turned and walked away from Cullen, leaving him in shock and awe over her harsh words.