Trevelyan spent the afternoon making last minute plans to leave Skyhold and preparing the potion. It was practically the middle of the night by the time the party was leaving, but Trevelyan could still see a dim light coming from Cullen's office as she handed the messenger the potion and a small note reading, "Please take care of yourself, the Inquisition can survive without your presence for a few hours. At least 8." As the party set out, and was crossing the bridge, a small figure appeared on top of the battlements.
"It would be a lot kinder on our feet, to simply talk to the Commander," Dorian said. He was walking next to Trevelyan. After Trevelyan's clear refusal to respond to the remark, Dorian continued anyway, "I am assuming he is the reason for this sudden excursion, yes?" Trevelyan still didn't speak. Dorian sighed. "Just talk to him, for the sake of both our sanities."
"Playing matchmaker are we?" Trevelyan asked, it was unfair of her because she knew Dorian wasn't trying to get them together.
"I am not suggesting you marry the man," Dorian said, sounding slightly frustrated. "I simply feel going up to his office to tell him what the danger is, rather than whatever you think you are accomplishing now."
"It isn't that simple."
"You keep saying that, but I really feel it is." Dorian narrowed his eyes. Trevelyan responded by narrowing her eyes as well. "I'll think about it," she eventually said.
"I have heard that before," Dorian said.
"I will," Trevelyan assured him.
Sometimes Trevelyan wondered if her title was just a rouse to keep her content because honestly some of the missions they sent her on (well some of the ones she agreed to do) seemed so insignificant it made her worry she was risking defeat by focussing her attention on trivial matters. This quest had been one of those trivial matters, which is why the letter arriving from Skyhold surprised her so much. What surprised her even more was the fact that it was signed by Cullen.
"The scouts informed us of your situation, reinforcements will be sent as soon as we can mobilize them." Shouldn't Leliana… And what does he think they know? It was a very brief, very formal note. Except for one line at the bottom. "Please take care of yourself." They were Trevelyan's words repeated back at her. It was this last line that she didn't read out loud when discussing the message with Dorian.
Dorian looked sleepy, but he had still been awake when she had barged into the tent he shared with Varric (unlike the dwarf who had managed to sleep through several pushy attempts to wake him). "I don't understand," Trevelyan said, "something is wrong. We don't need reinforcements."
"Oh I don't know, I would welcome anything to distract us from the tediously boring task at hand," Dorian replied. "Who would have thought saving Thedas would require so much herb gathering."
"Dorian," Trevelyan tried to get him to focus, but she was smiling nonetheless. "I can't believe this is an accident, clearly they've gotten word from some source, but the way he phrases it – "
"He?" Dorian raised an eyebrow. "I half thought the message must have been from our spymaster."
"Err… guess she isn't always the first to know of pending ambushes, or whatever they think we are experiences right now." Trevelyan looked away awkwardly, hoping Dorian wouldn't ask to see the note. "At any rate, the message – "
"Yes, it does sound like he believes there is some form of impending doom looming over us," Dorian said, "not that that would be a new experience for us, still…"
"I've already sent word back, telling them we're not in any danger, but I can't be sure it will reach them in time; Leliana's birds are quick but are they that quick?"
"Well this seems like a good time to test that theory," Dorian looked around the camp, "unless of course it turns out we are in fact in danger and it is us, not them, who are misinformed."
After returning to her tent, Trevelyan was understandably restless, rolling around; the bedroll seemed the most uncomfortable thing in the world right now. What good would dragging a few men away from Skyhold do? If this wasn't a mistake (and the chances of it being a mere mistake seemed infinitely small to her) someone had created the illusion of a need for reinforcements, but even with those men missing, Skyhold was a fortress. What point could there be? Even the threat to Cullen's life didn't seem to come into play, after all, a single assassin did not need troops to be moved. As the weeks had passed, Trevelyan had relaxed a little, as it seemed that 'they' did not find a way into Skyhold, but this… sure the Inquisition had more than one enemy but the idea of this all being a coincidence was a little absurd.
She had almost managed to doze off to sleep when she heard a familiar voice echoing through the camp. For a moment she lay there thinking she was just imaging the voice, hoping to hear the voice, but as others started responding to it, this seemed unlikely.
"Where is the Inquisitor?" she heard the voice demand. Then nothing. Nothing until she heard footsteps just outside her tent. The tent shook as someone frantically tried to open the tent and eventually pushed their head through the flaps to look inside. "Trevelyan!" Cullen said, he sounded relieved.
"Cullen?" she asked surprised, despite recognizing his voice earlier; pulling the covers with her, she sat up. Behind Cullen's head Trevelyan could see a scout looking confused, when their eyes met the scout quickly disappeared from sight. "Are you all right?" Cullen asked as he slipped into the tent. Seemingly without thinking he gently put his hand on her leg.
"Of course I am," she said, the letter informing him of this very fact had not reached him it seemed. Which wasn't surprising as he had gotten to the camp only hours after the message went out. "I don't know what kind of reports you've been getting, but there's nothing dangerous about harvesting herbs." Trevelyan tried to smile, but Cullen's eyes burned into hers as if he thought she was hiding some kind of trouble from him. "Cullen, there's been no danger here."
"But…" he seemed to be thinking back to the reports that had brought him to the camp. Cullen eased himself into a sitting position. "Who would want to get troops out of Skyhold," he said, understanding what must have happened. He seemed to be talking more for his own benefit than Trevelyan's. "There would be no advantage to that, if Corypheus planned to try and take the fortress…."
"Why are you here?" Trevelyan blurted out.
"I received – "
"No," Trevelyan stopped him, "why are you here? Why are you not at Skyhold?" She suddenly felt angry with him. Cullen was the commander of the Inquisition, he couldn't just risk himself like this, but she was really angry because it had now dawned on her how vulnerable he was, outside of Skyhold.
Cullen moved, feeling uneasy. "We had to make sure the Inquisitor was alright, if we lose you we lose the – "
"Then where are the troops?"
"I… I went ahead," Cullen admitted.
Trevelyan shook her head. "This isn't like you." She felt a strange sort of fear, fear for the hours he'd been completely open to attack while riding here, and fear for what might still happen.
Cullen sighed. "The report…," he paused and sighed again, "it claimed you were trapped, cornered, that there were Venatori trying to…," Cullen paused again, "it sounded much darker in the report," he added apologetically. "It made it seem, well, that they were after the mark and that it could possibly… cost you your life."
"Corypheus already tried that."
"Because he is incapable of it does not mean others will not try," Cullen said sternly.
"I end up in danger every other day that doesn't mean I want the Commander to personally come to my aid." Cullen was more strategic-minded than this. Why come here alone? Trevelyan felt her fears grow. They couldn't have known he'd come here himself, this can't have been to get him out of Skyhold, Trevelyan thought to herself, mainly to calm herself, but she couldn't deny the similarities that worried her. She felt they were being played out against each other.
"You should not have come here alone," Trevelyan blurted out, feeling her anger rise again. He'd risked himself coming here. "You shouldn't have come at all, you should be in Skyhold!" She almost yelled at him this time. It wasn't reasonable, because having Cullen assassinated in Skyhold couldn't be that more difficult than doing it outside of the fortress, but she felt overwhelmed by her fear.
"I felt I needed to handle this myself," Cullen looked piqued, "well, ride out in front of the reinforcements, because I could reach you – the camp that is – much faster."
"Well you did, you almost outran Leliana's bird," Trevelyan said. "Your warning had already arrived, there was no need for you to risk yourself – " Trevelyan stopped herself. "There was no need for you to leave Skyhold when I'm sure there are many things there that require your attention."
"I thought Skyhold could survive without me for a few hours?" Cullen sounded angry as well now.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." She shook her head.
Cullen looked more confused than angry by now. "Risk myself?" Cullen frowned.
"Yes, risk yourself, didn't you think it was dangerous to leave Skyhold alone, in the middle of the night? Maker knows how many ambushes you might have narrowly escaped without realising it."
"It seems unlikely anyone would have found me, or wanted to find me."
"Why? You don't think the Commander of the Inquisition's forces is a target?" Trevelyan tried to steady her voice.
"A target? For what, an assassination?"
"Maybe, or just one of the many enemies we have chasing us?"
"And what would they achieve by targeting me?"
Trevelyan shook her head. "What would they achieve taking out someone vital to the Inquisition? You think your death wouldn't affect me? Or hurt the Inquisition?"
Cullen looked surprised by the sudden fire in Trevelyan's voice. She hadn't been very successful in trying to keep her calm, it was just that weeks of fear now seem to come to a head, despite the extremes she'd gone to, to diffuse the situation. Trevelyan had all but destroyed her relationship with Cullen until it was barely even a professional one, and still she'd ended up here, so close – or so it felt to her – to losing him. Trevelyan shook her head again, mainly at her own behaviour. How she wished she was the capable leader people believed her to be, rather than just someone afraid to lose. She wanted to drag Cullen out of the tent and personally deliver him back to Skyhold, but that seemed an unnecessary risk as well, dragging her party out of their warm beds and then travelling by night.
"Cullen," Trevelyan's voice was much softer now, "I just don't want you believing that risking you, the commander of our forces, for me, is something I would want you to do."
"I didn't think you would want me to come for you, I thought I needed to."
They looked at each other in silence. Despite herself, Cullen's words made a small smile spread across Trevelyan's face. Cullen smiled back at her and he move forward a little, his hand reached out as if to touch her cheek, but he thought better of it and placed his hand on her arm instead. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Trevelyan covered Cullen's hand with her own. "Cullen, I was never in any danger."
"I believe you," he answered, "but you seem… troubled."
"Well harvesting herbs for days on end does that to me."
Cullen chuckled a little. His hand moved down a little and he squeezed her hand.
"I think we should tell the others what happened," Trevelyan said, this was a good idea of course, but she had said it to distract from the situation between them, but she didn't free her hand. Trevelyan looked at their hands. "I think they should know."
"Oh!" Cullen said startled, "I didn't think you wanted to – "
"Tonight, what happened tonight," Trevelyan quickly corrected him.
"Ah, of course!" Cullen let go of her hand, moved back and clumsily climbed out of the tent. Trevelyan followed him.