Eostre was awoken from her slumber by the sound of shouting. She immediately jumped out of bed, rushing to dress, fearful that a fight was brewing.
She hurried towards the entrance of Haven's chantry to be greeted by the sight of a large ground. On one side stood mages, and the other stood Templars. "Oh no."
"Your kind killed the most Holy!
"Lies-Your kind let her die!"
"Shout your mouth Mage!" The templar reached for his sword as the crowd began to swell with anger, only being stopped when Cullen intervened.
"Enough!" Cullen bellowed, causing Eostre to gasp. She trembled a little, sensing the authority within his voice. A warmth spread through her body like fire.
"Knight-Captain!"
"That is not my title." Defiance laden in his words. "We are not Templars any longer. We are all part of the Inquisition."
"And what does that mean, exactly?" Chancellor Roderick made his way through the crowd, surrounded by an air of smugness. Eostre rolled her eyes. "Oh goodie, he's still here."
"Back already, Chancellor. Haven't you done enough?"
"I'm curious, commander, as to how your Inquisition and its 'Herald', this Eostre Trevelyan", Roderick gestured to the crowd for support, almost spitting out the words Herald and her name as it left a bad taste in his mouth, "will restore order as you promised."
Cullen couldn't help but feel defensive at the tone with which Roderick had mentioned Eostre. He knew nothing of her but, then again, neither did Cullen.
"Of course, you are," Cullen scoffed before returning his attentions to the crowd, although
"Back to your duties, all of you. NOW!" The crowd dispersed, muttering as they did so. Some incensed by Roderick's words, bumped into Eostre as they left, enraging Cullen further as he now noticed her.
Roderick, arrogant as he was, decided to stand directly in front of Cullen, almost taunting him to do something. But Cullen's discipline prevented him from knocking Roderick out. That and he didn't want Eostre to have a low opinion of him.
"Why do you even care what she thinks?"
Eostre took up a position near Cullen, her back towards Roderick. Much like the Chancellor, Eostre did not feel the need to hide her distaste for him.
"Majors and Templars were already at war. Now they're blaming each other for the Divine's death."
"Which is why we require a proper authority to guide them back to order." Eostre let out a groan of disgust, rolling her eyes.
"Who, you?" Cullen folded his arms boldly, "random clerics who weren't important enough to be at the Conclave."
"The rebel Inquisition and its so-called 'Herald of Andraste'," Roderick spat out the words, filling Cullen with rage. He took a step towards Roderick, who hastily took a step back. "I think not."
Eostre voice of reason broke the stalemate, helping to calm Cullen down slightly. He was still prepared, however, to punch this member of the Chantry in the face.
"So far, you're the only one who's insisted we can't work together."
"We might if your Inquisition would recognise the Chantry's authority," Roderick spoke accusingly.
"There is no authority until another divine is chosen," Cullen smirked, taking slight pleasure in reminding Roderick who sneered back at the Commander. "Ha!" thought Cullen.
"In due time Andraste will be our guide." Roderick looked away from Cullen and to Eostre, who did not turn to meet his gaze. Still sneering, he looked Eostre up and down, unimpressed. "Not some dazed Wanderer on a mountainside."
This enraged Cullen although, he wasn't entirely sure why. There was something about Eostre that Cullen wanted, no, needed to protect.
"Cullen," Her voice broke through his stream of consciousness, "remind me why you're allowing the 'Chancellor' to stay." She remarked, her words dripping with venom.
Roderick scoffed "clearly your 'Templar' knows where to draw the line."
Eostre head turned slightly, glaring at Roderick from the corner of her eye before allowing her eyes to leisurely wash over Cullen. "I suppose he is my Templar."
An inexplicable heat engorged Cullen at the idea that he was, in fact, hers. He shuddered pleasurably at the locking of their eyes. A smirk on his face.
"He's toothless. There's no point turning him into a martyr simply because he runs at the mouth." Roderick scoffed again at the pretentious tone Cullen had adopted.
"The Chancellor's a good indicator of what to expect in Val Royeaux, however."
"How widespread is the violence between Majors and Templars?"
"Impossible to say."
"Your organisation flouting the Chantry's authority will not help matters."
Eostre had always tried her best to be a pacifist, only fighting when she needed to. However, right now she wanted nothing more than to punch Roderick.
"With the Conclave destroyed. I imagine the war between Mages and Templars has renewed. With interest."
"The Mages and Templars are fighting, even though we don't know what really happened at the Temple of Sacred Ashes."
"Exactly why all this should be left to a new Divine. IF you are innocent, the Chantry will establish it as so." Roderick ensured to put severe emphasis on the IF, re-establishing his position that Eostre was responsible.
"Or will be happy to use someone as a scapegoat." Cullen was becoming more and more defensive.
"You think nobody cares about the truth? We all grieve Justinia's loss!" Roderick pointed his finger at Cullen and angled himself forward, trying to rile Cullen up.
Cullen took a step, getting himself closer to Roderick's face. He could now see the infuriation in Cullen's eyes "But you won't grieve if the Herald of Andrade is conveniently swept under a carpet," Cullen barked through gritted teeth.
Sensing that the tension was teetering on the edge, Eostre stood between them, forcing both sides to back off. Roderick murmured as he left, a smug smile crossing his lips as he assured himself that he was victorious.
Cullen sharply calmed himself down, realising that, as much as he wanted to, throwing Chancellor Roderick off the roof of the Chantry would do more harm than good.
"Don't let anyone riot while we're gone."
"The walls will be standing when you return, I hope."