Cullen and Skye spent the majority of the rest of the morning discussing how best to find Lily. Skye was adamant that she wanted as little people involved as possible as it was something very personal that she didn't want nobles or indeed commoners gossiping about. She was also didn't want to tell their friends until after they had found her. She couldn't bare the thought of the pitying glances her friends would give her if they knew why she had left and came back empty handed.
"If that's what you want to do then I'll support you, we'll tell everybody when we find her." Cullen said with slightly more confidence than he felt. He was positive he was going to try his absolute hardest reunite Skye with her daughter but unfortunately he was at a loss at where to start. Traveling to the Ostwick Circle might be a good start but Cullen couldn't by sure that any record would still be there after it was abandoned and probably looted by bandits a dozen times over by now. Cullen confessed that he was at a bit of a loss as to where to begin their search.
"Well what was the procedure when this type of thing happened back in Kirkwall or Ferelden?" Sky asked.
"Well rather unsurprisingly it didn't happen often during my time at Kirkwall, I can only recall it happening around less than half a dozen times. And I'm sorry to say that it didn't really have a lot to do with the Templars. I mean obviously as Knight Captain I was notified as well as Meredith when the situation occurred but it was really only so we could then contact the Chantry and then they dealt with it. The mages tended to look after their own so even if the Templers wanted to be more involved for whatever reason it was unlikely their help would have been accepted. Eventually when the mage went into labor some Chantry sisters were called in to assist with the birth and then the baby was taken away. Meredith and I were notified if the birth was successful and that was about it. Life in the circle just carried on as normal."
Cullen couldn't help but notice that Skye stiffened next to him as he spoke. He understood her reaction, he could see now after listening to Skye that the way those situations were handled was wrong, but at the time he had never really thought about the effect it would have on the mother.
"I was a different person back then; it was a different time." Cullen said not wanting Skye to think that he was still that unfeeling person.
"I know." She said looping her arms around one of his and resting her head on his shoulder. "We were all different people back then, but I love the man you are now and I would never hold your past against you."
"The Maker definitely smiled on me when he sent you into my life." Cullen said clasping Skye's hand with his free one and gently kissing the top of her head. Skye laughed slightly before falling silent, thinking again about Lily.
Cullen did have an idea, but he was unsure how Skye would react to it. Regardless at this point it was the only one he had so he had little choice.
"I know you just said that you didn't want anyone to know, but Leliana probably knows more about the Chantry's protocols and procedures than either of us do, especially now she is Divine. It might be wise to use her expertise and resources to find the information we need."
Skye disentangled herself from Cullen to stand up and begin pacing across the room, clearly weighing up Cullen's idea in her head.
"I know its not ideal but it would really help us and save us a lot of time."
Skye huffed in frustration and continued pacing. Eventually she signed and sat back down.
"You're right, you're right. It would be stupid not to asked her for help and its not that I don't trust her, its just I want as little people as possible to know until I've got her safe in my arms and I can proudly introduce her to everyone myself."
"I can understand that, but asking for Leliana for help will means the sooner you can do that. Do you want to go and ask her now?"
"Yes, let's go."
Since Leliana had been made Divine some months ago her life got even more busy than it already was but she still spent as much time as she could spare back at Skyhold. She said it kept her grounded and helped her identify the needs of her followers a lot better than sitting around in some cathedral. Cullen and Skye ascended the central tower and found Leliana hunched over a table reading some correspondence, when she heard them come in she looked up and smiled in greeting.
"Inquisitor, Cullen, what can I do for you?" Skye opened her mouth to speak but unfortunately no sound came out. Leliana looked confused and turned to Cullen for clarification.
"Skye was wondering if she could ask you for a favor." Cullen said nudging Skye slightly.
"Of course Skye, you know I would do anything for you." Leliana said, standing up to give Skye her full attention. Skye took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.
"Leliana, if I ask you something will you promise to not read anything into it and not ask why I want to know?"
"Ummm…I will try; it depends what it is you're going to ask." Leliana replied still confused.
"Ok." Skye said. "If say a mage had a baby whilst in the circle where would one who wanted to find this baby search for information on its location." Cullen took the time to appreciate the look of complete shock on the spy masters face, sure in the knowledge that he would probably never see it again.
"Ummm…" Lelianna said. "Oh wow, Skye…"
"Leliana please don't. Can you just tell me if you know anything?" Skye begged and Cullen reached forward to hold one of her hands.
"Yes of course." Leliana stuttered still at a bit of a loss. "Well all births that occur in the Circle are overseen by the Chantry. A record of all births would be kept at the Circles local Chantry or within the circle itself if it has its only Chantry within the building. However, a copy of all Chantry reports, which I would assume would include birth reports, are sent to the Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux to be archived. My advice to…this person would be to start there. I could send an agent to receive the information for you but there might be questions." Leliana finished.
"No…No thank you. That's everything, thank you for your help. You have no idea what this means to me." Skye said embracing her friend.
"Oh I have an inkling." Leliana smiled. "I hope you find what you are looking for." Skye gave Leliana one last squeeze before letting her go and descending the tower.
"Cullen go to horse master Dennet and tell him that we need our horses prepped and ready to leave tomorrow morning. I'll go tell Josephine that we'll be heading to Val Royeaux and that we will be gone for a few weeks. And you'll need to leave orders for your men and I'll have to…"
"Skye, Skye honey, slow down." Cullen interrupted and pulled her into an alcove away from prying eyes and ears. "Skye you need to relax. I know your excited and nervous but you have to relax. Why don't you go back up to our quarters and have a rest? It's been a tiring day for you. I'll sort out our leaving preparations and we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning." Cullen said tucking a finger under her chin and pulling her face up to look at his, she did look tired.
"Are you sure?" She asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
"Positive." Cullen replied bending down to kiss her softly.
"Oh Cullen, you have no idea what this means to me. What you mean to me. I am so lucky to have you." Skye said before the two of them left the alcove and made their way into the main hall before separating as Cullen headed for Josephine's office and she walked off towards their quarters.
"Ah Cullen, I trust everything is well now?" Josephine said hopefully as soon as Cullen walked in.
"Yes, everything is sorted now."
"Oh thank the Maker, I was so scared that I had caused some rift between you…"
"No, no, everything is fine. Skye and I are good." Cullen interrupted before Josephine could carry on with her fears over the state of his and Skye's relationship for hours. "But there is something I need to speak with you about."
"Of course, please continue."
"Skye and I are going to be taking some personal time away from Skyhold so..."
"What?! The Inquisitor and the Commander of the Inquisitions forces can't just leave. There are fail safes we need to plan, contingency plans to prepare, stand-ins to interview and a whole other lists of things that need to taken care of so we know for definite that the Inquisition will still be here when you return."
"Josephine calm down, we will only be gone a few weeks, a month tops." Cullen said trying desperately to calm the ambassador down.
"A month! Do you know how many events the Inquisitor is invited to this week alone? She must at least attend some of them."
"Well you can tell them that unlike these stupid nobles, Skye actually has other things to do apart from planning what to wear to the next one of these stupidly pointless party's."
"Commander! These are not just party's thrown by some noble, these people were our allies in the war with Corypheaus, we have to show our thanks."
"Enough! This argument accomplishes nothing. I'm sorry Josephine but this mission is very important to Skye and it can not be delayed. I don't know how you will deal with these parties' but I'm sure you'll think of something, you always do. Now excuse me, I have travel arrangements to make." Cullen said turning away from Josephine's desk and walking to the door, but just before he reached it Josephine spoke again.
"Is Skye alright? Is there something wrong that she doesn't feel she can share with everybody? Because she knows I'll help her with anything right?"
"Of course she knows that Josephine. Its just something important from her past that she doesn't want to share until she has sorted it out herself."
"Ok, but remember if either of you need anything I'll always be here."
"Thanks Josephine." Cullen said before leaving her office and heading down to the stables.
Telling horse master Dennet that they were leaving the next morning was a lot easier then telling Josephine. He simply asked where we were going so he could pack an appropriate amount of supplies for them. Cullen then proceeded to track down Knight-Captain Rylan, his second in command to let him know of his future absence and to discuss the extra duties Rylan would need to undertake. After Cullen had sorted that he decided that he should probably tell the rest of their close friends that they were going to be gone for a few weeks, it seemed rude not to. By the time Cullen had finished making his rounds the day was drawing to its end and he had yet to see Skye return from their quarters. So stopping by the kitchens to get some food for himself and Skye he proceeded to make his way to their quarters. Walking in he saw that Skye was asleep on top of the covers on their bed, an open book next her. Cullen silently made his way into the room and tried to gently place the tray of foods down on the table but unfortunately the small clatter awoke her.
She jerked up and frantically looked around the room before realizing it was just him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Cullen said sitting down on the bed.
"No its ok, I needed to wake up. My God, where has the day gone." Skye asked looking through the balcony windows and seeing that the sun had already set.
"You've been asleep all afternoon. But that's ok because I took care of everything, our horses will be saddled and waiting for us tomorrow morning. I got Josephine and Rylan to cover for us and I told everyone that we were taking some personal time away. So everything is ready. And I thought you might be hungry so I brought us up some food."
At the mention of food Skye lunged over the bed and grabbed the tray from where Cullen had set it down and proceeded to ingest everything in sight.
"Oh Maker Cullen, how are you so perfect? Is their anything you're bad at?" Skye asked cramming more bread and meat into her mouth.
"Well you've seen me dance." Cullen and Skye both laughed before Skye started choking from trying to eat too much food at once and laughing and start coughing, spewing crumbs over the edge of their bed.
"Aren't you supposed to be a lady?" Cullen laughed, gently patting her on the back. When Skye eventually gained control of herself she turned round and glared at Cullen slightly before carrying on eating, occasionally slapping Cullen's hand away when he tried to grab too much food. When the tray lay bare Cullen put it back on the table and the two of them got undressed for bed. Cullen removed his armor and underclothes and sat on the edge of the bed and positioned his sword at his side so he could quickly grab it in case of an emergency during the night, a pointless but reassuring habit. Just as he was about to lay down he felt Skye kneeling behind him on the bed and she wrapped her arms around his chest and started kissing along his neck. Cullen could feel that despite the cold chill in the air she had decided to forego a night gown.
"Have I told you today what an amazing man you are?" Skye asked in between kisses.
"Not in those exact words but I think you made it clear." Cullen said resting his head back on her shoulder.
"Are you sure I've got my point across? Because I think I could make it clearer." Skye whispered in his ear, as she slowly pushed him down onto the bed and straddled him.
"If you feel the need to further prove your point, then please do. I'm all ears…among other things." Skye laughed heartily before bending down and kissing him deeply, as she planned to do for the rest of the night.
-x-
Cullen work up the next morning from Skye shaking him.
"Cullen come on get up, we need to leave soon." Skye said giving him one last shake before jumping off the bed to get ready.
"Yep, yep, I'm getting up." Cullen said rolling over and immediately falling back asleep.
"Cullen!" Skye shouted, throwing one of his gauntlets at him, hitting him square in the back of his head.
"Aghhh." Cullen moaned before sitting up and rubbing his eyes open. "I'm up." He said again, this time actually getting out of bed. Skye and Cullen got ready together in silence, both donning their armor and weapons. They headed down to the stables via the kitchens to grab a bite to eat. When they arrived at the stables Dennet was just finishing saddling Cullen's Orlesian Courser Milo while Skye's Amaranthine Charger Abby was waiting nearby.
"Ah Inquisitor, Commander. A good morning to ya, I've got your mounts ready." Dennet said as he finished with the saddle and patted horse's neck.
"Thank you Dennet." Skye said as she climbed on her mount.
"I filled you your saddle bags with more than enough rations to get you to Val Royeaux twice over and I stored some camping gear was well, can never be too careful." Dennet said as he helped lead the two horses out the stables where Leliana stood waiting.
"I'll see you when you return, safe travels." Dennet said as he retreated back into the stables. Leliana made her way over to Skye and simply handed her a scroll.
"In case you run into any trouble. I wish you the best of luck in finding what you seek, whatever that may be." Leliana said before bowing her head and retreating back into the castle. Cullen looked at Skye questioningly, who just shrugged in return and unrolled the scroll.
To Whom It May Concern:
Let it be known that the bearers, Inquisitor Skye Trevelyan and Commander Cullen Rutherford, of this missive are to be afforded every service, assistance and courtesy they require during their travels.
By the divine will of,
Divine Victoria I
Skye chuckled slightly before handing the scroll to Cullen for him to read. Cullen read the scroll and chuckled as well while rolling it back up and handing it back to Skye.
"Being friends with the Divine definitely has it perks." Cullen said before urging his horse forward through the courtyard and to the main gate, with Skye's horse following closely behind. Cullen carried along the bridge but heard Skye's horse stop behind him. He pulled his horse to a stop and turned back to Skye.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"What if we don't find her?" Skye suddenly asked.
"Hey." Cullen said turning his horse around and circling to Skye's side so he could clasp one of her hands. "We will find her, I promise even if we have to search all of Thedas, we will find her." He squeezed her hand again before letting go to clasp his reigns.
"Now then, are you ready to find your daughter?"
Skye was silent for a moment before she nodded and urged her horse off into a gallop leaving Cullen scrambling to catch up.
Please Review