Journey to Skyhold took them almost two days. During that time Cullen had to stop and make a camp several times as Ellena's condition slowly deteriorated. Despite her promising start when he had found her, the elven woman was now fading in and out of consciousness and her body was wrecked with high fever. And Cullen felt more desperate than ever before.

He used all his healing potions and elfroot salve to help her as much as possible. His hours were spent in a silent vigil when he either sat next to her, watched her battle with the illness and his mind fervently prayed to Andraste and The Maker. Or when he'd have his arms tightly wrapped around her waist while he tried to navigate their horse through the snowy terrain and at the same time make sure she would not fall off.

But during the entire time Cullen's mind was plagued by worries and sickening fear that he might lose her now. Not to Corypheus or the Breach but to something as mundane as a lung fever which had found its way into Ellena's body, now weakened by her ordeal at Haven and by so many hours spent in the freezing mountains.

"Cullen." The Commander shifted slightly, his mind still hazy from vivid dreams and he felt a hand gently squeeze his shoulder.

"Mhm..I am awake." Was all he would say before he collected himself enough to sit back up in his chair and looked around. The room was dark as the candles slowly burned down sometimes during the night and the fire in the fireplace at the opposite wall was now nothing more than a few flickering embers.

"What time is it?" Cullen finally asked, his head still half fogy from the sleep but the metallic taste in his mouth also reminded him that his current state was more due to lyrium. He took too much of it yesterday and its effects were still making his head spin.

"Five, the dawn will come soon. You look terrible." Cassandra's voice sounded on edge and he turned his head to regard his friend. But in the cold darkness of his quarters all he could see was a hard outline of her jaw.

"Yeah well...with how things look like these past few days..." Cullen left the rest of the sentence hanging as he ran his fingers through the matted mass of his hair and a sigh escaped his lips. "Why do all the things always turn for worse Cassandra? I mean..." But these words too disappeared into a silence. He was not even sure what he meant.

"Cullen, you need to pull it together. The Inquisition needs you. We all need you. We have troops coming to Skyhold everyday and they need training and organization. And you are not doing yourself any favour by staying in here all holed up."

"How is Ellena?" The ex-templar finally asked the question which had been on the back of his mind this whole time and to somehow shake the dread he felt from the answer, he stood up and proceeded to light up the candles again and give the embers a little stir with the fire-poker. His eyes followed the sudden burst of small flames and the tiniest sparks which flew from the wood reminded him of the fires at Haven.

"I will not lie to you. She is not doing well. Her fever is still high and despite our best efforts we are very low on medical supplies. Most of it perished in Haven together with Adan. I did send letter for Mother Giselle but it will take her several more days before she arrives, if at all. From the reports we have, there have been many new refugees pouring to Redcliffe and Crossroads and they might need her more down there."

Cullen balled his right hand into a tight fist as he kept his eyes locked up on the fireplace. He was just about to reply when Cassandra interrupted him. "She was asking for you last night though."

"She did?" Cullen saw Cassandra nod and a small sad smile appeared on her lips as she took few steps towards him and leaned against the corner of his table, her eyes reflected the flames and gave her an odd, amber glow.

"Solas used his last Embrium supplies, the tonic helped her a bit and she was able to talk with us and we could finally get her to eat something too." A pause in her voice managed to douse any traces of hope that Cullen might have had from the previous statement. "But its effects are wearing off quickly. We need the proper herb suppliers, preferably some dawn lotus so we could actually brew some useful potions, but there is just no settlement for several leagues to any direction and people are too scared because of the rifts to risk sending caravans this far away."

"Let me just clean myself, I will go and see her." The Commander tore his eyes from the flames and gave Cassandra a small, friendly pat on the shoulder." Thank you for all you are doing. I know I have been a mess, I will pull myself together."

"I am glad to hear some resolve back in your voice Commander." Cassandra smiled with a nod.

"Did you have a chance to talk with Leliana yet?" Cullen paused for a moment in his tracks. The thought of their Spymaster made his blood boil. No matter how much he had tried to turn and twist all the facts, in his mind it was Leliana who was directly responsible for Ellena's condition, despite the fact that they were unable to get any information about this from the elf herself.

"I planned to have a meeting with her today in the afternoon actually. You are more than welcome to join us."

"Good. I will do that."

They parted ways and Cullen found himself staring at the wooden case of his lyrium set for the longest of times. This was not the first time in his life when he had found himself wondering if it was all worth it. He left the Chantry and the Templars but even now when he was with the Inquisition he felt chained to his old life. To the horrors of Kinloch Hold and later to the events which had happened in Kirkwall. His thoughts wandered back to Meredith. Even now, sometimes he woke up with sweat on his forehead when his memories brought her horrid demise into his dreams.

"Perhaps it is time that I break this leash." The Commander mumbled to silence of his chamber and pushed the wooden box away from himself across the table.

But he was not even sure if the lyrium addiction could be stopped. He needed to talk to Cassandra about this.

"Ma'am, we have the newest shipment. Right now we are sorting the slaves you have bought. Those in need are given necessary treatment, others are given clothes and food as we speak. Also a Templar is here to see you."

Calpernia spun quickly from her window view and regarded the clerk who stood just one step before the closed door of her office. The man looked overworked and not healthy. Perhaps it was time for a few days off. After all the next planned shipment from Tevinter will not arrive before the end of the week. The mention of the Templar on the other hand worried her but she would just have to keep that hidden. There is just no place for showing weakness.

"Show him in, but keep the house guards close by."

She knew the man had entered her office even before she could hear the door close behind him. It was that sickening sweet odor which seemed to evaporate from his whole being. It reminded her of sick people once when a plague erupted in one of the poor districts of Minrathous. The people there smelled the same. Sweet, sick scent of death and decay. Calpernia took in a long breath before she recognized the presence of her guest. "Samson, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"No need for the pleasantries. That was quite a stunt you pulled at Haven. Did you really think that The Elder One will not notice your...rather wavering allegiance?"

She turned to face him. The man looked even more sick than the last time she saw him. His face was pale as death and dark veins throbbed right under the surface. But her focus shifted to his eyes. They looked barely human. An evil red glow seeped around his irises and gave his already shambled visage an appearance of someone who was suffering from some kind of addiction. And Calpernia had a hunch that whatever was going on with Samson, it had something to do with the red lyrium bottles her agents had recovered from Terinfal several weeks ago.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She had to stall him, the protective runes around her office were all in place but they needed a bit more time to charge up. And Calpernia was not a fool. The fact that he appeared here was a proof enough that she had been replaced.

"Well I mean as admirable as your ties to the slaves are..." She watched with rising anger as Samson casually strolled into her office and stopped near one of the side tables to tap his filthy fingers over some of the shipment manifests there. "you have to admit to yourself that helping our enemy, just because she happens to be somewhat like you...Is rather stupid."

The magic dampening field appeared almost out of nowhere. She could feel the tingling at the tips of her fingers and it made her whole skin crawl. So this was the power of the Templars?The sheer crushing force made her stumble and her hands instinctively found support at the nearest table. This could have been her end, if she was someone else. But being a slave from Minrathous, Calpernia soon learned how to be resourceful and more than anything, always prepared.

"I see. Does this mean The Elder One has no use of my services?" She spat out through gritted teeth. Just to keep the concentration of that slimeball Samson on herself, away from the wards, which have almost reached their peak of power.

"It would seem so. A shame. But now I will be the vessel of his will." The man laughed in a way which had left little doubt in Calpernia's mind that he was slowly turning mad.

"Very well." Was all the reply she could muster as another inhibiting attack crashed against her body. The sensation of having her magic pent up and unable to release made her head spin. But still with enough clarity, Calpernia managed to press the secret switch under the edge of her writing desk.

In mere seconds the whole office erupted in flames and a dazzling, high pitched noise of her wards echoed through the whole building. But she did not wait for her guards to enter the room. With how things have turned out, she could not trust anyone here. With enough time to only grab her cloak and the bag of necessities she had always kept at arms reach, Calpernia quickly rushed to the window behind her and without a second thought hurled herself through the glass and out to the courtyard.

A sharp pain brought her senses back and she could feel sickening warmth of her own blood which slowly ran down her left arm. With a low growl the escaping mage ripped the large glass shard free from her shoulder and now, when outside the reach of Samson's cursed powers, she focused all her remaining will and created a small invisibility field around herself.

There was now only one place where she could turn for support and revenge. Skyhold.

Updated: 27.3.2016