A week after his proposal, Josephine stopped her fiancé as he passed through her office on his way to the War Room, giggling when she saw that expression of absolute love that he got whenever he looked at her, the way his eyes sparkled the way they did for nothing and no one else.

"How are you, my lord?" She asked, setting down the papers that she was looking at. He stepped in front of her desk her desk, making her shiver pleasantly as he looked at her as if nothing else existed in the whole of the world.

"I am engaged to be married to the most beautiful, loving woman in the whole of the world." He wooed, making her swoon happily at the honey in his voice. "I don't think I need to elaborate how utterly magnificent that is."

"Oh, you are simply too much." Josephine giggled, an adorable little blush coating her cheeks as her spirit soared. There was simply no way that such a man existed, so sweet and so loving, not to mention all of the other unearthly things that he did as the Inquisitor. Defeating Demon Kings and closing massive Rifts in the sky were only the start of his wonders. "May I talk to you for a moment?"

"Certainly." He pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the desk where he stood, leaning forward on his elbows. "Though you'll forgive me if I stare while you do."

Josephine gave a little snicker at that, laying her hands out and ontop of his, feeling the ring around her little finger that meant so very much to her, and him. It was utterly gorgeous, something certainly befitting the bride-to-be of who was arguably the most powerful man in all of Thedas. It was made of incredibly rare Dalish Gold, now unable to be mined as it only came from Arlathan, and set in with amethysts and fluorspar entwining in an Antivan bind. It didn't have a traditional diamond, as that would poke out and over her finger, making her work harder, so instead the gems were inlaid over the ridges of gold.

"I sent word to my family with news of our engagement the morning after you proposed." He smiled at that, grasping her hand and giving it a chivalrous kiss. "Oh, you. Well, they were ecstatic when they heard that it was you that I was to be married to, and they want to come to Skyhold to meet you in person."

"Wonderful!" He smiled wildly, giving her hand a loving squeeze. "I would love that. Though I believe we'd already met at my Aunt Lucille's summer party."

Josephine nodded knowingly, trying not to remember too vividly the traumatic events when she had first met her now Fiancé, all of those years ago. "That's true. But that was years and years ago. And we're both so very different than we were back then. I think they want to meet the man I'm going to marry, instead of having to remember the boy they met back then."

"Fair enough." He kissed her hand again. "Well then, let's. Would you write to them, sweetheart?"

"Of course." Josephine kissed him on the cheek, making him laugh. "And don't you worry about anything. They are just going to adore you, I know it. From what I understand, father was seething when he heard that someone else duelled for my hand, until he heard your name. When I wrote them saying that I loved you and hoped they would understand my leaving of the arrangement, they were overjoyed to hear we were together."

"That's lovely to hear." He took her head in both of her hands, kissing her on the forehead. "I'll be so glad to meet with them, love." He pulled back a little, and she trembled when she saw the adoration in his eyes that still laid there. "I still can't believe we're doing this." He whispered. "It still doesn't feel real that we're together, that you're mine and that we're to be together for the rest of our lives. That we're going to be a family."

"Me either." She murmured, touching his cheek and feeling the roughness of his beard that lay there. "I never thought I could be so happy as I am with you. But it is real, we really are going to be a family. Kindred companions, you and me."

She leaned in for another kiss, which he met readily. A moment later, they could hear a throat clear behind them, and they turned to find an amused Cullen smiling at them through folded arms. Cantis laughed, remembering that he had been going through to meet the commander.

"We really need to get you an office that doesn't distract the Inquisitor every day, Miss Montilyet."

Weeks later, Cantis was greeted by Josephine and three awfully familiar figures, one a woman, another a small girl, and a third a man when he entered the Great Hall, though time had dulled his memories of all but the smallest.

"Amore." Josephine smiled, a little shakily. "I would like you to meet my family."

The one he recognized best was Yvette, Josephine's little sister who he had met, albeit briefly, in the Winter Palace, only hours before the Public Alliance of Orlais. The large man, as she introduced, was her father, Yves. He was a great bear of a man, tall and heavy set, with powerful shoulders and a large beard that was jet black, like his daughter's gorgeous curls. The woman was her mother, Carmela, who was rather strikingly beautiful, blonde hair that was so different from Josie's, brilliant green eyes, fair skin, and a slender, graceful figure. However, time and motherhood had begun to take their toll on her body, and it showed, even if only a little.

"It's lovely to meet you all again." He smiled, giving a rather professional handshake to Carmela, but was met by a gigantic bear hug from her Yves when he offered a hand out to the man.

"Ah, my lad!" He laughed, crushing the Inquisitor slightly under his embrace. "I'd hoped to see you again after that awful business in Ostwick. When I heard it was you that our little Josie was courting, you have no idea how glad that made me."

"You two have been the talk of all the schoolgirls in Antiva." Yvette chimed in. "All the girls want to be Josie, getting swept off of their feet by their prince! Is it true that you two are going to elope after the wedding and go and live in Orzammar?"

"Yvette!" Both Josephine and her mother chastised her at the same time, and Cantis laughed when he saw where she got her stern side. Even their voices were almost identical.

"There's so many stories about you!" Yvette ignored them. "Did you really go into the Fade yourself? Do you and Josie actually sleep ontop of a pile of gold? I heard that you fought that dragon barehanded and in nothing but your small clothes!"

"Yvette!" Josephine stamped her foot. "That's enough."

"Boring." She sighed, folding her arms and looking away.

But Cantis just laughed, finding her endless ridiculous questioning to be endearing instead of annoying. "Well, let's see. No, yes, no, and god I wish I had." Yvette snickered, satisfied but holding her tongue so long as her sister and mother were there.

"And what of your family?" Carmela asked, turning her head a little. "Is Bann Trevelyan here with you?"

"No." He flinched when the question was asked, even though he knew that she meant nothing by it. "My father is… dead, I'm afraid."

"What?" Yves cried, sitting up, the mirth on his face falling. Cantis nodded sadly at the memory, and his expression turned to one of outrage. "Do you know who killed him?! I swear, I will raise soldiers to help you avenge him if you do!"

"Father..." Josephine trailed off warningly, not wanting such a happy occasion to be ruined in blood, but Cantis held up a hand to end it himself.

"No, I don't. But it doesn't matter, not now. It happened during the Mage rebellion, and the Templars attacked, looking for Lyrium for themselves. Dad died protecting us. And now the war is over, the remaining Templars either with dead from Corypheus, with the Chantry, or a part of the Inquisition."

"I'm sorry." Yves whispered, sombre. "I'm so sorry, boy. Your father was such a good man, such a good friend that… that I'm sorry I didn't know better."

"Thank you." Cantis said simply, bowing his head a little, and for a moment the group was silent, what should have been a joyous meeting marred by a memory of the dead. Even Josephine and Yvette, who hadn't know the Trevelyan patriarch, were reminded of how close death lay to them all, of those they too had lost.

Josephine raised her head to look at her heart, her soulmate, doubly grateful for him standing there after everything that had happened.

"And of the rest of your family?" Carmela asked, breaking the heavy silence of memory. "Are they here?"

"No." He said morosely. "After dad died, I was… exiled from Ostwick. And that's a… big deal back home. I… can't go home, and I haven't heard from them at all since then."

"That's awful!" Cut in Yves. "Why did they do that?"

"I… don't really want to get into specifics." He said after a moment, a clear not of reluctance in his voice. "The stripped down version is that my mother always hated how I didn't listen to her every word, and when she became Bann, she kicked me out."

"But you're the Inquisitor!" Yvette interrupted. "You closed the hole in the sky! If you went back, they'd have to let you in!"

Cantis smiled sadly at her. "Don't you ever lose that optimism." He told her. "But no, no they wouldn't. No matter what I am out here, back there I'm just a man, a man who isn't allowed back home."

"That's awful." said Yves, but Cantis just shrugged. "You're a hero, even in Antiva, and don't you let anyone tell you any different. If they won't have you, then that is their loss, not yours. And don't you worry, you can be our son now. If she won't be have you, then we will."

"Thank you." He smiled, trying not to show how much the words meant to him. Then they fell into silence once more, unsure of what was to be said, until Josephine spoke at last.

"I hate to cut this so short," She said, "But you arrived sooner than I thought. I have a meeting in a few minutes, but I will meet you at dinner, alright?"

"Alright." Yves nodded, smiling at his daughter, looking sober in sharp contrast to his usual cheerful expression. "We should get to settling, see you at dinner." And at that, Josephine, Yves and Yvette all left, but Carmela remained with Cantis.

"Do you mind if I speak with you myself, my lord?"

"Of course." He nodded, motioning plainly. "But you can call me Cantis, if you like. We are to be family after all."

"Alright then…. Cantis." She stumbled over the word, unused to it in place of Inquisitor, of thinking of this man as her son-in-law instead of the mythical legend that the stories made him out to be. As silly as she was, all of Yvette's questions were serious stories from Antiva, and many of them were more believable than those. "I… love my daughter very much. And I would like to know you better before I watch you two be wed."

"I can see that." He stretched a little, meeting her chestnut brown eyes. "I'd do the same, for my own. So, what do you want to know?"

"I just have to ask." She said, wringing her hands. "What do you see in her? Don't get me wrong, m-… Cantis. I love my daughter, with all of my heart. I am so incredibly proud of the woman that she's become, of all the good thing she has done with her life. But you are The Inquisitor, you could have anyone you want. Even the Empress in Orlais."

Cantis couldn't help but laugh at that. "Oh, I doubt that, Lady Montilyet. I've met her myself, and she… well, let's just say that I think that she likes women as much as I do. Probably even more."

"Really?" Carmela raised an incredulous eyebrow, but laughed a little when she saw his knowing smirk. "I'd have never have guessed. But, in any case, my point still stands. You could choose to be with anyone you want, someone more beautiful, with more power, or someone from a more wealthy family. Why my daughter?"

He thought a moment and shrugged. "Because I love her." He said simply. "Though I'm not convinced that women more beautiful than her exist in the world, you are right. There are those who could offer more in the way of political connections or money. But I've travelled all around the world, met thousands of people, made an organization that could tear the world to shreds if it wanted. And nothing and no one holds a candle to your daughter."

Cantis sighed, looking off into the distance, thinking of his dear Josephine. "I remember, after the Breach opened, no one knew what to think of me. They didn't think I did it anymore, but no one trusted me either. No one except her. I looked up from where I was sitting once, feeling alone and broken, and then I saw her looking at me back, and then she smiled at me, with those perfect teeth. She believed me. More than that, she wanted to be my friend, even on the chance that I did have something to do with the Breach."

He cleared his throat, realizing that he had been staring away from her in his recollection, and looked back to Carmela. "I don't know you very well, Lady Montilyet, but I know that you must be a wonderful person, because you've raised the single most amazing person I have ever met in the whole of my life. Josephine is… perfect. The world that we live in is a cruel, almost inhospitable place, but she refuses to surrender to the killing and cruelty that's defined so much of it. Selfless, compassionate, intelligent... she is a noble soul that has stood by me in so many trials and triumphs. There are times when I look at her and I still can't believe that she's real. So, you are right. There are people with more power or money or whatever, but none of them can offer me as much as she does."

As he spoke, tears gathered at the edge of her eyes, and she threw her arms around him as he finished talking, feeling him stiffen a little under her unexpected embrace. Tears trailed down her cheeks as she held him tightly. "Bless you." She whispered, happiness glowing in her voice. "Bless your heart. Ever since she was a little girl, I've needed to hear those words from a man who loved her. I was always so worried that she had would stolen away by someone who didn't appreciate her for the wonderful woman she is, especially when she got so involved in that Orlesian politics. That she would be taken by someone who would hurt her, only using her because she was so beautiful. She deserves so much better than that."

"She does." He agreed, returning her embrace. "I can't promise you that I am the single best person for her. There are almost certainly people out there that could make her happier, that could give her a better life than I can. That I'm not the most handsome, the smartest, the most fun. But I can promise you this, Lady Montilyet: no matter how long you look, you will never, in a thousand years, find anyone who loves her as much as I do."

"That is all I ask." She sobbed quietly, warmly. "That is all that you have to be."

Many hours later, after drinking and talking with the Montilyet family late into the night, Cantis and Josephine found themselves in their bed once more, snuggled under the blankets and wrapped in each other's embrace. They tended to talk late into the night when they lay like this, if Josephine hadn't worked herself too hard, or Cantis been too wounded in fighting for the Inquisition. When it happened, they both treasured every last word spoken, partially because they rarely had a chance to be together with everything that had happened, and partially because they knew how close death lay to them both at every moment. And lately their discussions were entirely on them, on their marriage, on the future.

Because, for the first time since he had been exiled from Ostwick, Cantis had a future. He had a woman who would be his wife who he loved with all of his heart. They could consider having children, of leaving the Inquisition and being together as a family. For the first time, he could imagine a life without death and killing, of living a life of his own.

"-And of course, Leliana and her wife are coming, she has agreed to officiate us herself. Just imagine! I'm being wed to you, the Inquisitor, by the Divine herself! I think this is everything that I had dreamed of as a little girl, dreaming of my perfect wedding."

Cantis chuckled, a low, throaty rumble in his deep voice, giving her a loving pat. "So you dreamed of marrying an old soldier who's seen too much, killed more people than he's talked to and has a glowing… thing on his hand that still hurts two years after it came to him?"

"Not that specifically." She smiled up at him, kissing his chest. "But I always dreamed I would have a prince who would kiss me late at night, who would love me with all of the fire in his heart, whose heart I could feel beat and feel it giving life to the both of us. So yes, Amore, I have always dreamed of you."

"You are much too much." He laughed, kissing her on the top of the head. "And I am the luckiest man in Thedas for having known you."

For a moment, they lay in comfortable silence, Cantis smiling blissfully as he smelled the lavender on her skin and the honey in her hair, and Josephine having her eyes flutter shut as she felt his heat and warmth wrapped around her. Then she sighed, rolled over, realizing that neither of them were very much in the mood for sleeping right now and she wished that they could do something else to fill the silence. But she knew how uncomfortable he was with that sort of intimacy, and she loved him far too much to pressure him into anything he didn't want. So instead, she spoke more of their approaching wedding day.

"So," She murmured, snuggling closer to him. "I've been compiling a list of who we should invite as guests. Do you want to invite anyone from Ostwick?"

"Maybe." He shrugged, or as best he could with her curled so completely around. "I served in the army, I'm sure some of the men I fought with would love to see me again if they haven't got themselves killed. And we should be sure to invite the servants and stablehands, they never saw enough love."

"What about your mother?"

Cantis flinched at the mention of his mother. He was one of four children, among whom he was the second eldest, which may as well have made him nonexistant. She didn't love her children exactly, more was obsessed with the concept of building these perfect people in her image. She had spent the childhood of his older brother, Robert, convincing him how he was to be perfect in every way. She had fixated so much on him that her relationship with her other children, particularly Cantis, was strained to the point where she barely knew them. And worse for Cantis, he didn't join the Templars when she and his father had wanted him too, to serve the Chantry, as he didn't believe in the Maker. He had followed his own path in life, joining the armed forces of Ostwick, and she had practically spit venom when he did that for himself. When his father had died, she had kicked him from Ostwick, into the snow with nowhere else to be.

"Amore?" The gentle soothing tone of Josephine's voice broke him from his thoughts, and he blinked hard, old memories once again drowned.

"I'm sorry." He stammered. "Just... thinking."

Josephine nodded sympathetically, knowing how hard of a topic that was for him to consider. When she had sent for help from the Trevelyans at the start of the Inquisition, so very long ago, she had responded by saying that she had no fourth child, words that had struck him to the core.

Several days later, half of Ostwick would receive letters inviting them to the wedding of their lord who was still loved by the people of the city-state. And his mother received a letter herself. Instead of the fancy letters that everyone else had found, hers was a simple, plain white. Inside was handwritten note that read simply.

Lady Trevelyan,

You know who I am. I am your son. No matter what you think or say, I have always been your son. I doubt you want to hear from me, but you should know that I'm alive and doing better than I ever would have at home. Doubtless you know what I am now, that I hold more power than the empress in Orlais or the Queen in Ferelden. And you probably know that I'm also getting married. I don't know if you want to come, not after how we parted, but you are invited, if you want to be here when the child you never had has the happiest moment of his life. Regardless of what you do, in the face of love and happiness, I'm sending you the greatest gift I can.

I forgive you.