"Inquisitor," Solas entered the war room. Artemis didn't remember having ever seen him in there before, but as she had been holed up in this room since waking up, he would have to come here to speak to her. Artemis could guess what this would be about and she knew that no matter what Solas would say, she would not change her plan. She would ride out to find the Venatori, after all they had to be close, they were going to use Cullen against her, so they would have to be able to contact her.

"Yes, Solas," Artemis gestured for him to come in.

"You intent to find the commander," Solas said.

"Of course," Artemis replied.

"On your own."

"Perhaps."

Artemis had expected a reprimand, when it didn't follow she looked up. Solas was staring at the map, his hand rubbing his chin. Eventually he met her eyes. "They took the commander to leverage him against you, I presume."

Artemis felt herself blushing, Solas had seen what had happened in the office, which made trying to deny her connection to Cullen pointless. "Yes, I believe they did."

Solas nodded. "I have heard some strange rumours about… a potion."

"Of course you have," Artemis said, cursing the rumours going around the fortress.

"I'm not sure we could locate the commander, we have little information to go on."

"True," Artemis said. She sat down on the table. "Still, there is something I've been thinking about, something I saw… The Venatori agents only seemed to have horses to carry them but no baggage, nothing. Of course they could've hid more horses, or a cart even, outside of Skyhold, but would they risk that? Trying to slip into Skyhold unnoticed must have been difficult enough, we're surrounded by snow and on top of a mountain, even a small group like theirs would've been spotted and yet we heard nothing like that. Surely they would've kept the risk as small as possible. They also didn't bring an extra horse for Cullen, so either they will have to find a horse for him or they can't go very far without resting constantly. But I'm sure they wouldn't want to risk being spotted by anyone, not with an unconscious prisoner with them. I just feel they are either camped relatively near Skyhold, or their actual base isn't that far. Or maybe they are meeting a larger group?" Artemis sighed; she was rambling. "I know I am holding on to desperately little threads here, but I just think I might be able to find them if I ride out alone, I'll be faster and…"

"When Haven was attacked we left with a large group of people. You stayed behind, but we were walking out there, huddled together, and Corypheus' men didn't manage to find us. Or spot us leaving. I am certain he must have sent people after us, when he realised the battle at Haven was lost, he had destroyed the village but not the Inquisition and I am sure he must have sent people to complete his victory, but they failed to find us. Even though we were traveling out there for days," Solas said.

Artemis felt angry, she was angry with Solas but only because he pointed something out she should've realised on her own. "You mean to say I won't be able to find them if I ride out, even if I had left immediately after waking up."

Solas nodded. "If you still wish to try, I would suggest sending out one of the scouts. You should concentrate your efforts elsewhere."

"Elsewhere? Do you have a suggestion on how to find Cullen?"

Solas pursed his lips. "No."

"Oh, you mean concentrate on the Inquisition."

"Yes. If I find something that can help find the commander I will tell you, but right now I don't see what we can do."

Artemis shook her head. "You were willing to help before but now –"

"Now it would not be reasonable to try, we can't always decide based on desire," Solas' voice softened a little when he saw the expression on Artemis' face. "You helped me with my friend, I would help you with this if it were possible. I respect the commander – even if he is too quick to action at times – but I do not believe he would wish to see you risk the Inquisition for him."

"Fine," Artemis said, she pushed herself off the table and quickly left the room, before Solas could say anything else. Naturally she had no intention of listening to his advice.

Artemis headed for the great hall, she was going to her quarters, unsure what to do now but desperate to be alone. She knew she was being selfish, and that when she accepted the role of Inquisitor she had accepted the responsibility that came with that, but she wasn't willing to give up on Cullen. She remembered what she had seen in that future in Redcliffe, how he had tried to free her, she couldn't do any less.

"Inquisitor!"

Artemis swiftly turned around, feeling a little startled. Dorian was walking up to her with a quick pace. "Inquisitor," he repeated, "it seems I have finally caught you."

"Caught me?"

"Yes, for someone who is supposed to be resting in bed you have been oddly difficult to find." Dorian narrowed his eyes. "And I wager you're not on your way to get some rest right now either," Dorian said as he looked at Artemis' hand resting on the door to her quarters.

Artemis bit her lip. Normally she felt she could quite easily confide in Dorian, you couldn't really go through a hell only you two remember with someone without feeling close to them, but right now… what she was doing or wanted to do was incredibly selfish and Dorian wouldn't approve. He had come to a place where a lot of people hated him on sight, be it because he was Tevinter or a mage, to help fix the world and here Artemis was risking everything (because how could they fix the rifts without her mark) because she couldn't stand the idea of a world where she let Cullen die. They wouldn't kill Cullen before using him against her, but if she refused, if she kept refusing, she had no doubt they would kill him.

"Artemis," Dorian said after she remained quiet for too long. "This is about the commander, isn't it? You intend to find him."

"Yes," Artemis replied tersely.

"And your plan?"

Artemis shook her head. "I don't know, I tried… something, but it didn't work." She took a deep breath. "Dorian, I don't know how to find him, but I can't leave him with the Venatori."

"I think they will find you, that is why they took him after all."

"Yes, but if they do, if they find me before I find them, I will have to get him back on their terms. I don't know what they will ask but…"

"But you're afraid you will give in to them?" Dorian finished for her.

"I would rather not have to."

"I understand."

"I just don't know what to do now. The one thing I thought could help failed and short of riding out there trying to find the ones who took him…" She shook her head again. "I just wish there was some way to contact Cullen, to know he is all right and where he is being held, but I don't know of anything that can do that. The only way we had of finding people remotely in the Circle were phalacteries."

"I can't say I know of anything that could help either."

"I can't leave him there, Dorian."

"You did before, in Redcliffe, because you had to," Dorian cautiously added, "you might have to again."

Artemis' eyes flashed fire at him. "I only left him there because I knew he would be all right if we saved the future, same reason I let the others sacrifice themselves to let us escape. This is not the same situation."

"I'm afraid it is. Sure we are not dealing with time traveling Venatori right now, just the plain old boring kind, but you might still have to make a choice."

"Not that one."

"He did," Dorian said. "When he left you in Haven."

"Again, that was not the same kind of situation!"

"Wasn't it? Sacrificing one member of the Inquisition, no matter how important, for the sake of saving the others? Ensuring at the very least the chance of victory?"

Artemis turned away from Dorian and opened the door, she disappeared into the small hallway, but Dorian wasn't done talking to her and he followed her. "You do realise Cullen wouldn't want you to follow him?"

"And you do realise I don't tend to listen to Cullen's advice?" Artemis quickened her pace.

"Normally you'd probably be right not to, but –"

The door to Artemis' quarters slammed open, two scouts rushed into the hallway. Artemis was still running through possible explanations in her mind, when all possibilities shrunk down to a single one as a mage dressed in Tevinter attire appeared from her room. The man cast a spell and suddenly the space around Artemis and Dorian was filled with a new strange light. Artemis didn't recognise what spell it was. Her legs buckled out under her. Artemis looked over to Dorian just in time to see him crashing to the floor as well. Lying on her back now, Artemis tried to get up but found she couldn't move. By the looks of things, Dorian couldn't either.

The two men dressed as scouts moved forward.

"I feel we need to tighten the security around Skyhold," Dorian said. "I feel like lately every other day there is a stray Venatori agent wandering in here."

Artemis rolled her eyes, but secretly she was thankful for Dorian's humour in even the darkest moments. But why were they doing this? Couldn't they have taken her at the same time as Cullen if this had been their plan all along?

The two men approaching them were talking to each other, Artemis tried to figure out what they were discussing but she couldn't make out more than a few words.

"Ah of course, kill the Tevinter mage, afraid of a little competition?" Dorian said to the mage, who was still standing at a distance.

"What?" Artemis asked frantically.

"That seems to be their plan," Dorian said.

"Was that what they just said?"

"No, I was trying to entertain you." Dorian said sarcastically.

Artemis looked at the scouts approaching them, "listen, you are here to drag me to Maker knows where to make me do Maker knows what, right?" Neither the scouts nor the mage answered her, but Artemis felt certain they understood her as they were all frozen in place. "That's why you took Cullen – the Inquisition's commander – isn't it? But if you harm this mage I won't help you no matter what you threaten with." Artemis hoped it would be enough. She hoped they would fear her refusal to do what their masters wanted threatening enough to spare Dorian's life. "I won't do anything you ask of me if you kill him."

The scouts said something, looking directly at Dorian, aware he was the only one who understood Tevene fluently. Artemis looked over at Dorian as well. "What?" she asked impatiently.

"Oh nothing really, just the usual threats," Dorian replied, "but I don't think they will be murdering me, in Skyhold at any rate."

One of the scouts lifted Artemis, he threw her over his shoulder and she tried to turn her head to be able to see Dorian, she saw he was being carried by the other scout, the sight was almost comical, considering how much bigger Dorian was than the man carrying him. She felt some relieve because it didn't seem they still planned on killing him, but she hated that Dorian was being taken. She was willing to go with them herself, she would've given herself up if they hadn't immediately attacked. It was why she hadn't tried to scream for help, even though she wasn't sure anyone would hear her.

"Why must you always involve me in these dangerous missions?" Dorian said.

"Well you know me, I couldn't get anything done without you," Artemis said. She tried to meet Dorian's eyes but she could only see his legs.

Cullen had the strangest sensation while working on the hole in the roof, he felt he had fixed this before, or… Cullen shook his head. It was an old building, this home they'd chosen for themselves, he was fixing holes all the time, and once this was done he could spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun. Like yesterday?

"Cullen?" Artemis' voice rang out across the field and Cullen jumped off the ladder to rush over to her: he lifted her into his arms and kissed her. He set her back down on the ground and she danced across the field away from him. Cullen smiled. He looked around and suddenly realised he knew this place from when he was younger. Even though they had lived here for… He didn't remember how long they'd lived here, a while. Why then did it feel like he had only just realised they were close to where he used to play when he was a child…Near the horizon he could see the windmill he used to pass almost every day. But wasn't that windmill destroyed during the blight? Cullen frowned. Maybe it was a different windmill, or they'd rebuilt. He could just go over there and look…

"Cullen? Are you done fixing the roof?" Artemis asked, she appeared from behind him.

"Ah," Cullen looked over his shoulder at the roof and the giant hole still in it. "Not yet, I'll get back to it right away, love," he kissed her again before walking back to the roof. He climbed back up the ladder and picked up his tools. It shouldn't take him too long, besides, he enjoyed having a clear goal, a sense of purpose. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping to spot Artemis, but she had disappeared again.