The next time Cullen woke, there were soft lips pressed to his. They were familiar and glorious, and he lifted his hand to curl around the back of the head full of short, dark hair he loved so much. He felt Cassandra gasp, her mouth parting, and he seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips and tasting the heady sin that always awaited him. His other hand slid down her body greedily. She so rarely woke him up for this, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

He didn't let go until his fogged mind realized that she was wearing armor and there was a wetness on his cheeks that wasn't from him. He pulled back, keeping his hand in place to prevent her from leaving, but his heart tightened at the tears on her face. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" The sky was blue above, and the sounds of the woods were all around him. He frowned as incomplete memories of the temple presented themselves to him in a broken, ragged line. "Why are you here? How did I get outside?"

"You're alive," she whispered.

"Of course I am," he said. He massaged her neck with his fingers and smiled crookedly. "You're here. And I would never leave you."

She traced the scar above his mouth with her thumb and stared at him with such fevered wanting that only a deliberate cough from somewhere above prevented him from dragging her back to him to finish what they'd started. He sat up instead, never letting his hand leave her skin even as he looked around. Dmitri watched them warily, and a company of Nevarrans as well as the Fereldan contingent stood vigil with their eyes carefully diverted. Dorian and Darren were a few yards away, the former hovering with exhausted eyes and the latter sitting up with color back in his cheeks.

Dmitri knelt down beside them. "To answer your question, we carried you out, Commander. You were unconscious but we could find no injuries. Are you well?"

Cullen considered, moving his arms and legs experimentally. "I don't feel hurt," he said. His stomach tightened painfully. "But I'm starving."

Cassandra handed him a leaf-wrapped piece of venison, already cooked, and he devoured half of it before looking up with a smile. "You're always feeding me. Soon you won't have to worry about my belt anymore."

She smiled back hesitantly, and he threaded his fingers through hers. Sadness flashed across Dmitri's face, but Cullen couldn't find it in him to care. He couldn't remember why, but looking at her brought on echoes of an aching fear that he might never see her again. It wasn't pleasant, and he would hold her hand until it went away.

"I still don't know why you're here," said Cullen. Dorian tugged Darren to his feet, and they moved closer. Cullen spared a quick look for his brother and was relieved to see him nod in acknowledgment and reassurance. He turned back to Cassandra. "How did you know where to find us?"

"I had a dream," she said, frowning. "I think it was a dream. The Inquisitor and Solas. They told me how to find this place."

A dream with Ellana and Solas. The thought tickled something in his mind, and he said without thinking, "Ellana saved me." It was true and yet it made no sense. She was in Skyhold. Nowhere near this place. He touched his head in confusion and looked around. "Where is Solas? And Cole?"

Cassandra's eyes widened, and Cullen remembered too late that Cole was a secret. Dmitri politely ignored the slip, though his eyes were cold. "We recovered several bodies from the temple," he said, sweeping his hand behind him to where several robed men stood next a pyre. "Mortalitasi and elves. We are sending them to their rest as best we can, but none were Solas. Perhaps one was this Cole."

Abelas and the rest. Cullen rubbed a hand over his eyes. "No, not Cole," he said, lost. "Cole was alive. But Solas killed them."

"The Mortalitasi?" asked Cassandra.

"No. The elves. The guardians."

"Why?" she asked, incredulous. She looked at Dorian, who shrugged with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I don't remember," he said, balling his hands into fists. "Ask him."

"He's not here," said Dorian. Darren threw a sharp look at his lover, who turned himself to address both of them. "He left three days ago. Right after you came back out of the arch."

"Three days?" Now Cullen was the incredulous one. "I was asleep that long?"

"Hence our belief you were dying, Commander," said Dorian. "Though, of course, we're ecstatic you're still with us."

"Tell me what happened," he ordered.

Dorian and Darren both threw him mock salutes, and he glowered at them. Darren smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "We saw you go into the glowing arch with Solas and Cole. Time was a bit hard to track in the bottom of a temple with a wyvern corpse, but about a day later, a group of Mortalitasi, led by Vestalus, arrived in the chamber. A very dashing and resourceful Tevinter mage, who'd been keeping me alive and fed, hid us. Unfortunately, at that point my mind decided that it would be best to hide all of me from the world, and I passed out for good. I don't know if it helped but it did keep me busy."

"Don't joke, amatus," said Dorian quietly. He cleared his throat and spoke more loudly. "The Mortalitasi did a blood magic ritual in front of the archway that produced a similar effect to Solas's earlier spell. Vestalus was the only survivor and he promptly vanished, which was fortunate because they were playing havoc with the Veil and my magic was far from reliable. I wasn't sure I'd be able to take even one, much less the dozen that had appeared.

"No one else came, not even Abelas and his group, which I found puzzling. I know now they were dead," he said, nodding to the pyre. "They likely saved our lives with the groups of mages they cleared, and for that I'm most grateful. I did what I could to keep us going - Darren was in no shape to move - and waited. A day later Cole flew back out of the archway, in quite a state and completely incoherent."

Cullen raised an eyebrow, and Dorian chuckled wryly. "More incoherent than usual. When he saw us, he couldn't speak a sentence altogether, but he did leave the temple and bring us back food. Water I had from the river, but the food was very welcome. Then Cole left, or perhaps simply vanished, you never know with him, and the archway started to crumble worryingly. I tried to test it with my magic but feared causing it even more harm. So I waited again. Fortunately my magic was returning, and my limited healing skills were less limited. Two days later, approximately, you and Solas appeared."

"Wait a minute," Cullen broke in. "We were in there for four days?" Dorian nodded, and Cullen turned to Cassandra as he tightened his grip on her hand. "I thought it was only a few hours at most. A week with no word at all from any of us. You must have been frantic."

"Yes," she said. A simple word for a simple answer, but there was nothing simple about the lingering concern in her eyes or the new worry lines around her mouth.

Cullen leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

She cradled his cheek in her free hand. "You're safe. And forgiven."

Dmitri cleared his throat loudly. "I was also worried, for the record," he said, and the two of them sprang apart with flushed cheeks. "Please continue, Altus Pavus."

"You got my title right!" said Dorian in delight, then sobered again. "After your triumphant return, the arch collapsed completely. When I went up the stairs to ask what in the name of the Maker's ass was going on, you were unconscious and Solas was leaving. He told me to watch you, that you'd needed healing and would take time to recover. He also briefly stopped over Darren and did more to heal him in five minutes than I'd done all week. He then said he was going to find Abelas and Cole. He never returned. While being alone in a dark room with two Rutherford men is a particular fantasy of mine, neither of you were in quite the state I'd hoped for."

"So I can't make a joke, but you can," said Darren, but he was shifting on his feet anxiously, darting looks at Cullen.

"My jokes are funny," said the mage with a wave of his hand, but it ended in an apologetic caress of the other man's arm. "Darren was coming out of his healing more frequently, but he was still in no condition to help. I was on the verge of leaving you both and hoping to somehow get a message to anyone who might help - though I had no damn idea how - when these delightful people came to assist me. And now here we are."

Darren jerked away from Dorian's touch and knelt. He put both hands on Cullen's shoulders and stared at him with a terrifying intensity. The look in his eye was impatience and regret, but Cullen barely had time to be confused before his brother said urgently, "Did Solas find what he was looking for?" When Cullen only stared at him, he sighed. "The necklace. Did he find it? Is he taking it to Skyhold?"

Like a dam breaking, the blanks in his mind filled with tumbling pictures, and he inhaled sharply. "The necklace. Yes, he has it. Oh Maker, I was supposed to go with him," he said. His fists clenched. "I promised Ellana I would be there."

His brother swore and jumped up to pace, but the rest of them only looked confused. "How do you even know about it?" asked Cullen, caught up in remembering.

"Know about what?" asked Dmitri with steely patience.

Cassandra rubbed her hand across his knee and asked the same question with her eyes, and Cullen tried to gather himself. He looked only at her as he explained as best he could what had happened. The unreal place, Vestalus's appearance and death, and even the hidden secrets of Solas and Mythal. The only thing he kept back was the dream with Ellana, the fear and terror of her impeding death and the roads she was desperate enough to walk. He would tell Cassandra, later, but not here. Not with strange ears listening and judging.

But it didn't matter, because Darren was still pacing with coiled energy and had no such compunctions. "Don't you understand? He's going to let Mythal possess the Inquisitor," he said, snarling. "The most powerful person in Thedas, with a will that's no longer her own. Why didn't you stop him?"

It's a partnership, thought Cullen, but even he barely believed it. Dmitri and Cassandra had set, hard looks on their faces, but Dorian only stared at his lover with a growing horror. Cullen pushed himself up over Cassandra's protests and walked over to grab his brother's arm. "How do you know this?" he asked again.

Darren stopped moving and hesitated. Dorian's rich tones floated over them, sardonic and deeply pained. "Sleeping with the enemy, was it? I must admit I'm flattered."

"No," said Cullen, shaking his head as Darren closed his eyes. "You're not."

His brother sighed. "I am. I'm sorry," he said. He opened his eyes again to pin Cullen with his gaze. "I work for Fereldan's spymaster. I was assigned to the company going to the Inquisition to keep an eye on your senior leadership, especially Solas."

Dorian rolled his eyes. "You and Iron Bull will get along famously. You both have such a complete lack of discretion. Did they stop teaching spies that in order to spy effectively, you're not supposed to tell people about it?"

Darren flinched but didn't speak. Cullen folded his arms. "Why?" Even he wasn't sure if he meant why him or why anyone.

He answered both questions. "We knew the Inquisitor was ill, and we'd caught wind of some potentially dangerous cures being considered by your apostate. Cures that might be worse than Corypheus and the Breach. The return of a bloody Elvhen dynasty and the eradication of what humanity they could reach. Maybe another attempt to pierce the Veil. Maybe more," he said. "I was sent on with you to Nevarra for the same reason. As to why it was me, they thought our familial relationship would help me get access to the people I needed. And that it would make me less scrutinized by your own people. Leliana. Bull."

"And what pleasurable access you received," said Dorian. "I only wish I'd known how illicit it really was. I might have enjoyed myself more. Covert liaisons are so very stimulating, don't you think, Sergeant?"

Darren pushed past Cullen and advanced on the mage, who only smiled at him. His grin was flirtatious, but his eyes were cold. Only when Darren grabbed his shoulders did Dorian's expression break into anger.

"Don't," said Darren. "It wasn't like that."

"Oh? Then what was it like? Please don't feed me a tired line about love at first sight. I simply won't believe you."

"Of course it wasn't. For either of us," said Darren. "If you tell me I put stars in your eyes in Cullen's office, you're lying. Sure, you obviously wanted me from the beginning. You flirted outrageously, you were clearly available, and you were hot. I was on assignment, not dead. If you happened to spill a little insight into the Inquisition during pillow talk, so be it. We would both get what we wanted out of the arrangement, and a few other things besides."

Dorian laughed bitterly. "I can assure you I received plenty of what I wanted before you came along. The Inquisition is full of sinfully handsome men, and I am gorgeous and utterly without morals," he said. He cocked his head to the side and slashed a smile. "Traits that we seem to share."

"Everything that you wanted? Don't insult my intelligence," said Darren, anger clear in his voice. "I knew exactly what you were doing. You think I was using you? Fine. I was, in some ways, at least at the beginning. But don't act like the injured innocent. Don't pretend like getting me into your bed was anything more than taking the lesser Rutherford to satisfy your longing for the greater one."

Cullen's cheeks flamed as Dorian's eyes flicked to him once, inscrutably. Darren's ears were red as well, but he moved a gentle hand to Dorian's cheek, stroking his thumb along the mage's jaw. His tones quieted, anger gone. "But I cared about you anyway. You made the rest of the world seem so dull, and I caught myself watching you sleep at night just to memorize the outline of your face. I didn't know what to do. Falling in love with a man who would rather be with my own brother wasn't something I'd ever wanted to happen. And a Tevene mage, no less, when my entire career has been working against Tevinter to keep my country safe.

"But there I was. By the time we left Skyhold, I knew I didn't want to look at anyone else. By the time the ball was over, I knew I didn't want anyone else to look at you. And on the ship here, in that wet, damp, smelly hold where you were still so unfairly perfect, I knew that I didn't want you to look at anyone else ever again." Darren's voice caught and broke. "How could I tell you that? I'd lied to you from the beginning, and I still wasn't the man you really wanted. It was simpler just to keep pretending it wasn't anything."

He shook his head. "And there was the threat to Ferelden. I had a job to do. I was fairly certain by then that you were ignorant of the dangers your Inquisition posed, but I couldn't be sure. You're a very good liar."

"What a lovely compliment," said Dorian. His tones were less brittle than they had been, though Cullen noticed he'd kept his hands still and free.

Darren seemed to realize the same and dropped his own. He stepped back, defeated. "As time went on it got too difficult to ignore the divide inside of myself. I stopped sending reports to Ferelden the week before all of this happened. I was planning to explain everything and beg you to run away with me, to let me show you that I was more than just an imitation of your desires. I loved you, and a spy who loves something more than his cause isn't a useful spy," he said. "Which is never more true than now, because Solas has the artifact I was told to sacrifice myself to keep from him, and Ferelden wasn't prepared to move, and I may have doomed us all."

He started to turn back to Cullen but stopped and added in a low voice, "But I would probably do it again, if the choice presented itself. I never thought I would find someone worth destroying my world for. Don't ever think I didn't care, Dorian."

There was no answer as Dorian walked away, and Darren clenched his fists once, hard, before focusing back on the rest of the group. "All of that aside, whatever I am, whatever I said or didn't say, this is bigger than all of that. I'm telling you this now because you have to know the stakes. We have to get to Skyhold. You can't let Mythal take over the Inquisitor. She's dangerous."

"How dangerous?" asked Cassandra quietly. Cullen glanced at her and saw she was even paler than usual. He took her hand again, but there was no answering squeeze from her fingers.

"Let's just say if I'd known Solas was harboring her, I would have killed him my first night in the hold." Darren shook his head. "To think we had dozens of people searching for her, and she was right next to me the whole time. My boss is going to kill me, and I'll deserve it."

"Surely the Queen isn't such a punishing spymaster," said Cullen mildly, waiting to see how much trust his brother was willing to give.

Darren glanced at Dmitri with a grimace but nodded. "She is. It's why I would have run instead of going back," he said. He ran a hand through his hair. "A woman, a mage, came to her about six months ago. They'd known each other during the Blight, and the woman's mother was Mythal's original host, Flemeth. Or so she called herself. The spirit had found her when she was young, a wronged woman looking for power to kill a husband. That was the sort of thing Mythal loved more than anything, so she killed the husband as promised, then twisted her to her own will once the possession began."

"You keep saying Mythal is dangerous and violent, but when I saw her she was kind. Regretful," said Cullen.

His brother raised his eyebrows. "Obviously I've never met Mythal personally, at least not knowingly, but the tales of Flemeth don't really paint her as kind. Power-hungry, ambitious, a survivor, but not kind. Certainly her daughter didn't think so," he said. "She'd spent time in the temples the Inquisition found, researching the ancient Pantheon. The elves blame the Dread Wolf for betraying them and tricking their so-called gods, but the Wolf was only a late addition to the lore. Where did he come from? Where did he get the power he used to lock some of the most powerful in the earth and kill the rest more permanently? If what Solas said can be believed, he didn't even want it."

"According to the woman, Dirthamen's temple, the temple of secrets, yielded the truth." Darren's voice took on the tones of a well-learned lecture. "Mythal was the one who began it all. She chafed under the leadership of her husband, wanting her own undisputed power. She also seduced, and fell in love with, a young man of the Elvhen court, Fen'Harel. He was hot-headed, passionate, and unhappy with the societal constraints of the Pantheon's rule, and she saw a way to both gain ascendancy and have her lover all in one fell swoop. All it would take was a small rebellion and a lot of murder to do it."

Darren snorted. "They called Mythal the mother, the protector, but she's mostly good at protecting herself. She gifted Fen'Harel with the spirit of the Wolf, filled his head with visions of glorious freedom, and set him loose to cause chaos, keeping her hands clean. From what you said, even Elgar'nan always believed that Fen'Harel instigated it, that he was the seducer. Yes, she did very well. What she didn't plan for was Tevinter," he said.

His eyes flicked to where Dorian sat brooding, but he continued with only a slight pause. "Elvhen society collapsed and turned to her as she expected, especially after her husband was banished in one of the Wolf's more successful battles, but humanity warred with them too soon. Without the Pantheon's united leadership, the elves were utterly routed, and Fen'Harel made the poor choice to try to ally with the magisters to save the few, including his lover. A trust which the Imperium almost immediately betrayed. They destroyed her body, but her spirit fled into the human woman. Fen'Harel wasn't so lucky, and was lost in the Fade when Arlathan itself was thrown into it by the combined power of the magisters.

"Ever since she's been biding her time, trying to steer history to a point where she could have the power she wanted, even if it wasn't as an elf. She birthed daughters and possessed them in turn, extending her life indefinitely. She aided Andraste, planning to possess her once she'd gained ascendancy over Thedas, but Tevinter stopped her again, unknowingly, when they burned her. Hundreds of other wars, big and small, all in service to her goals. None succeeded. But during the Blight she convinced her daughter to perform a magical ritual with the King, one of the effects being the return of Fen'Harel from the Fade.

"Morrigan thinks their original plan was to simply unlock the Fade completely, bringing Arlathan back into our world to restore the elves, but Corypheus betrayed them for his own ambitions."

Cassandra gasped, and Cullen almost did as well. Morrigan was the daughter? She'd been helpful during the war, no doubt about it, but he'd never trusted her. She was unpredictable and ruthless. Like mother like daughter? But he had to admit she didn't directly lie very often.

"Yes, Corypheus was working with them," said Darren, misinterpreting their surprise. "But in a way, this was better for them, as long as they could find another talisman. Flemeth turned herself to stone rather than fade to dust when Mythal abandoned her, including the necklace she wore. Likely the last revenge of whatever remained of the original woman. We thought one of them might go after another, and I was supposed to make sure Solas, at least, didn't."

He looked at Cullen ruefully. "Maybe I should have told you what was going on earlier. But I was so convinced I could handle it on my own, without your help. Obviously another failure. And the Inquisitor carries almost as much power as Andraste did, and soon Mythal will control her and have her old lover, just as she always wanted. All we'll have to do is let her rule us all." He paused. "Of course, all of this is Morrigan's speculation. But based on what happened here, and the way Solas sacrificed his men and abandoned us, I'd say she might be on to something."

Cullen wanted to doubt more than anything, but it made all too much sense. Ellana had even admitted the plan of possession to him. But she thought it was going to save her. She thought Solas loved her alone. Maker's breath, no wonder the elf had left him behind. Cullen had promised to kill him if he did exactly what he was planning on doing.

He frowned, considering. Solas did love Ellana. That was a thing that Cullen had never doubted, not once. Even in the dream he'd been completely focused on her. He'd given in to what she wanted. Surely the plan didn't require that much deference. "Solas saved me twice. He healed you. He pointed Cassandra here to retrieve us all," he said. "Why do any of that if he just wants to give Mythal power?"

"Why does anyone do anything?" asked Darren impatiently. "I've seen a man cheerfully help a stranger load his goods into a wagon five minutes before he killed another one in an alley. There's no logic to evil, and no consistency to goodness. Maybe it was some strange penance. It doesn't mean he shouldn't be stopped."

Or maybe there really is more of him left than I gave him credit for, thought Cullen, but he kept it to himself. He looked at them all. "You're right. We have to get back to Skyhold. Protecting Ellana is the priority." He looked at Darren. "But I don't think we can trust the Inquisition to give us the resources we need, even if it were safe to ask. Can Ferelden help?"

Dmitri stepped forward. "You've killed Vestalus. The Mortalitasi's influence will be weakened, and I can finally move against them openly. For that alone I would help you, Commander," he said. He looked at Cassandra with soft eyes and took her hand. "And for my friend, whom I love most dearly, and her cause, I would do even more. You'll have whatever ships, horses, or messengers you need."

"Thank you," she said. She pulled him into a hug, which he returned with strong arms. Cullen did his best to keep his hand away from his sword. "Maker watch over you," she added softly.

"And you," he answered against her shoulder. He stepped back and smiled at her with tear-bright eyes. "I'm glad to have seen you again. These weeks have been the return of a beautiful dream. And you've given Nevarra hope." His eyes shifted to take in Cullen. "Both of you have. I would trust no pair more to bring that hope to the rest of Thedas. You must succeed, for all of our sake."