The upside to the hole in Cullen's ceiling was that it was easy to hear things going on outside. It was one of the reasons he gave when Josephine started pestering him to get the carpenters to fix it, though if he was honest with himself, he felt like it would be a waste to spend resources on his own comfort. The increased audibility was a perk though.

Especially when he'd been on edge waiting for word of Sylvanni for weeks.

"Movement on the horizon! Riders approach!"

The yell was muffled, but Cullen caught it, standing immediately. He walked out to the center platform in between the two front towers, taking a spyglass from one of the soldiers. The five riders were far out, but he could recognize her from here.

"It's the Lady Inquisitor," he called, collapsing the spyglass with a snap. "Open the gates!"

He handed the glass away, and hurried to the nearest set of stairs. All of Skyhold seemed to get caught up in an excited bustle as word of the Inquisitor's return spread. Cullen wanted to be there to meet her in the courtyard after whatever she'd been through. He'd managed to get Josephine to tell him what was really going on, because asking Leliana had been as fruitless as ever, but despite seeing a copy of the correspondence, he still couldn't quite believe it.

Her entire clan killed? And she hadn't said a word. To him or to anyone else, it seemed. How had she carried that alone, in silence? He feared she'd done it to protect him, because she hadn't wanted to bother anyone else with her problems. It still hurt, however, feeling like she didn't trust him enough. He told himself that probably wasn't it, but that didn't make his doubts go away.

He'd been worrying about her for weeks. For her safety on this trip, for the things she'd confessed that night before disappearing, and most prominently, for the pain she must have been feeling these past few months, alone and without reaching out. Whatever was really going on, they would sort through this. Now that he knew, he could help. As he watched her ride into the courtyard, however, something told him that this might be more difficult than he had first believed.

Sylvanni's eyes were not her own.

He pulled up short, pausing as a worried frown crossed his face. The face he knew so well almost seemed a stranger's. The warm, kind confidence he had come to expect from her was gone, and in its place he saw cold cruelty instead. Her gaze landed on him for a moment and her mask faltered, letting a hint of shame through the hard outer shell, but it was gone in a moment as she tore her eyes away.

She held the reins to another horse besides the one she was riding, and he saw that the rider there had had his hands tied to the saddle horn. It would seem she'd managed to find Duke Antoine after all. The Iron Bull, Sera, and Solas rode in behind her and the prisoner, falling into a light formation as the guards began to lower the gates again.

Sylvanni slipped from her saddle with customary grace, then walked over to see to the duke. A deft motion untied him from the saddle while leaving his hands still bound, and she all but dragged him from the horse, throwing him none-too-gently to the ground once he was detached. The duke attempted to break his fall, but tied wrists made the motion awkward, and he hit the cobblestones with a breathless grunt of pain.

A few of the guards hurried forward to grab him and haul him to his feet. Sylvanni gave a commanding nod in their direction. "Take the former duke down to the holding cells and let the guard there know she's to throw him in the least comfortable cell we have. He is to receive nothing but water and gruel until such a time as I can deign to deal with him."

The higher ranked of the two guards snapped a salute. "Yes, Lady Inquisitor."

Sylvanni handed the two reins she'd been holding off to a groom who stepped forward, then started pulling off her riding gloves. She picked out a runner as she walked toward the main hall. "Ser, please inform my Advisors that I've returned and that I would like to meet at the war table in fifteen minutes. I'll speak with them there."

The girl nodded, saluting as well. She gave a small glance toward Cullen, decided that he was probably exempted from that order, as he'd been close enough to hear the call himself, then she took off at a sprint to find Leliana and Josephine.

Cullen walked forward, falling into step behind Sylvanni. Something seemed to stiffen in her walk as he did so, but he pressed on. "I'm glad you've returned safely. Did everything turn out as you'd expected?"

She glanced his direction for half a heartbeat before forcing her eyes forward once more. "We're back, and we have him. That's all that matters."

He laid a hand on her arm, not liking the stiffness in her tone. "Sylvanni…"

She stopped, and he could feel her arm tense through the fabric of her coat, though she kept her eyes forward. "Commander, I would prefer to discuss these matters at the war table. Perhaps you should prepare any reports I may have missed in the meantime."

The formal address and dismissal felt like a slap, and he blinked, lowering his arm. "If you prefer, Inquisitor."

"I would. Thank you." Without looking at him, she resumed her purposeful stride, making for her quarters to change out of her travelling clothes, no doubt.

He stood in the entrance of the Great Hall, watching her walk away and trying to figure out what had just happened. He felt torn between worrying over the knowledge that something was very wrong with her, and the hurt from the harsh way she'd forced him away. Finally, he simply shook his head and quietly walked back to his desk to grab his papers.