Cullen was in no hurry to move from the small village. He had no idea where to go, anyway. There was a fair chance he would be recognized in a larger town. And Solona was quite content to simply explore life outside of the Tower in the small little village. She even was beginning to go out without him. Small trips, but she always came back sunny, gushing about what happened to him eagerly.

The only real problem was that Cullen's back was beginning to hurt.

He refused to sleep in the bed with her. After the first night she had offered, blushing and pulling at her braid as she did so, for him to use the bed as well. She trusted him to not do anything ungentlemanly. But Cullen had refused and used the chair. Temptation was mean, and Cullen wasn't going to tease it any more than he already did.

Cullen was sitting in the bar when he heard the gossip. Some of the men sitting farther away from him were talking about the rumors they had heard. One was a traveler, bringing more fear as he spoke about the Darkspawn horde. Apparently it had already completely destroyed the small town of Lothering. And spreading fast. Some of the men were scoffing, speaking of Loghain. Others cowered, muttering prayers and spent extra time at their little run down Chantry.

Cullen reminded himself that they were in danger.

Finishing his drink he made his way back up to the room. Darkspawn were ravaging Fereldan. The Tower could possibly explode. He wasn't sure where to go, but Solona was not safe here, and that was bad. They were too close to the Tower, really. Any survivors from the Tower could end up in the little village. The Blight was not slowing. Cullen brooded until Solona walking into their room, carrying a basket of the free fruit and some fish they had given her during her walk. She was humming a song about a lady and her knight- he only knew it because she sang it all the time to the young apprentices she took under her wing when they showed up- and set it down on the small nightstand. It was then she noticed his expression.

"Cullen?"

He glanced up, giving her a small but honest smile. "I see the villagers love you."

"I... yes. They gifted me with these. I think it's always a holiday for them if there are strangers in town. Perhaps it's the only excitement they ever get?" She stepped around to stand in front of him. "But something is wrong."

"Nothing, really. I am just thinking. We should probably start moving on."

"Oh. I was wondering if we were," she said, trailing off. She leaned in as if she was going to say something else and then suddenly thought better of it. Instead she smiled, clasping her hands behind her. "Should I pack up?"

"No- not yet. I want to see if I can get some coins first. We are getting low."

She nodded. "Can I help?"

Cullen shook his head. "No need. I- we don't need much. It shouldn't take very long." He stood with a smile. She gave a slow nod, losing her smile a bit as she turned around and went to the basket of fruit. She took out the fish, taking them out and moving to the door. Cullen watched her go- likely taking the fish down to salt and ice them.

It took Cullen one week to work up the sovereigns he wanted. As they left Solona stopped to say goodbye to over half the small village, waving as he guided her over the road. Cullen quickly found that their time on the road was his favorite. In the small towns and villages he took them to- avoiding the larger more populated areas, and completely avoiding the south- she went off on her own. She spent the days walking the markets and spending time playing with the children. She spoke to the ladies, and batted eyes at some of the men.

But on the roads she only had eyes for him.

Cullen hated how selfish that sounded, but it was completely true. Cullen wasn't sure how to really woo a woman. Templars were allowed to have loves and spouses. The only rule was that mages weren't allowed spouses. Mages were supposed to be chaste. Templars were supposed to not sin- but loving and marrying was not a sin. Still, life in the Chantry did not teach Cullen how to woo a woman. It was easier to woo her, Cullen thought at least, when it was just them.

But Cullen wanted her to love him in return. He wanted her to want him. Sometimes he thought he was making progress. He'd catch her looking at him with a secret little smile. Sometimes if their hands brushed she blushed and muttered apologies. Most of the time, however, Cullen felt like a charging bull in a Chantry. Always stuttering and acting a fool. It was always when he was thinking, trying. When he just had to- provide, protect- it was easy. He didn't even stutter when he spoke.

Cullen was cursed, he was sure.

Cullen shifted his bag, searching the trail. They had been walking for most of the day and it was about time to stop for a meal. Solona was better, quickly developing a stamina to handle the long walks but Cullen didn't like to push her. Finding a shadowy grove to rest in he set the bags down, letting her pull it from him and begin the meal. She always seemed peeved when he tried to help.

The meal passed with small talk, and Cullen reclined against a tree as she walked around. They should have been moving on. But she was smiling and laughing as she watched the birds or picked some of the wildflowers. He hadn't meant to let his mind drift. There were dangers. Darkspawn could be anywhere. They were lucky to have not ran into them. He usually was diligent anyway. But his eyes closed and his mind went elsewhere. If asked he couldn't even say what it was he was thinking about.

But he felt the gentle caress of something terribly soft and his eyes snapped open. He instantly blushed seeing how close her face was to his. She gave him a smile, her own cheeks rosy as she finished settling the crown of flowers on his head. She giggled, fixing it when it tipped a little before finally settling back on her knees. "There."

Cullen couldn't stop the stupid smile spreading on his face, gingerly touching the crown. "Thank you," he said, since there was nothing else to say.

She reached up again, fixing a flower so that it sat right against the others. "I was thinking," she said. "We should leave Fereldan." She gingerly glanced down at him, pulling a bit at her braid as her hands pulled away from his crown.

Cullen's eyes must have gotten too wide because she started to ramble. "I honestly don't have any clue where to go. The only other place I know is Kirkwall. And I was less than ten when I left. And less than seven when I entered the Gallows so, really, I don't even know Kirkwall that well. But, you are obviously so tense here in Fereldan. And the darkspawn are not slowing down. I am absolutely terrified of fighting them. Their very essence kills the land they say. Lothering is decimated. I can't imagine fighting them. You fighting them." She shrugged. "I thought, away from Fereldan you would relax some and... we could stop traveling so much."

Cullen realized then why she seemed so scared of everything. It wasn't just being in the Tower from a young age. She was from Kirkwall. There was no greenery there. An ocean, and that was about all unless somebody went searching for the swamps. Not that they were easy to miss, but he assumed the city dwellers tried to avoid the swamps. Like most in Denerim avoided leaving the walls. Still, he almost felt hurt that he never knew she was originally from Kirkwall. "Kirkwall?" he said stupidly, instead of anything else he wanted to.

"Yes. We don't have to go there. But they've always been desperate for Templars. And you are a good one. Most of the time." She gave him a teasing smile. "In fact, if you play your cards right you can easily get a Mother to send you. I remember Senior Enchantor Orsino talking constantly about how the Mothers needed to send more men. Grand Cleric Elthina apparently has been trying to work on it.

"You are an amazing Templar. You're kind and never took advantage of us. And you've got good instincts." She shrugged. "Meredith was being set up to take over things when I left, and really, you and her might get along alright. She was stern, mean even, but fair. At least she was. Orsino does not like her. He says some rather off putting things in his letters to me."

"You still speak to him?" Cullen wasn't sure why he was jealous over that.

"Of course. He took me under his wing when I showed up in the Gallows. He's very kind. Very upset over the mages plight and all. He is probably the only reason I was able to keep in contact with my mother until she died."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You aren't the one to kill her." She shook her head, and Cullen was going to ask about that odd statement, but she continued quickly. "But it doesn't matter. None of my family are still there. Well, my uncle might be, but he is inconsequential really. I'm not even sure if I've even spoken to him before. And the Amell family has lost all their fortune there. That's not why I wanted to go to Kirkwall. I don't even care. Its just, I don't' have a claim to any place. I have no 'national pride' or whatever. And I know little about anything. It's all just book knowledge. We could go wherever. I just thought..." She shook her head, stopping her ramblings. "Anyway. I just... you could go back to being a Templar and put me back in a Circle. If I go back to one, I'd like it to be the Gallows."

Cullen knew what she was doing. She was giving him a choice to stop with the foolishness. An easy way out of everything he had started. He glared at her for doing so. "No. I'll not go back to that. You are free now. I'm not a good Templar. Not when it comes to you, Solona."

She blushed, and he realized how close he had gotten when he leaned forward, holding her hands, hoping to convey everything to her. When all she did was give him a wide eyed stare Cullen did the only thing he could think of. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He wrapped one hand around her waist, the other cradling the back of her head. He had kissed a few women before Solona but he felt clumsy still against her plush mouth, tongue timidly sliding across her lips.

She on the other hand was graceful. She pressed back against him, back arching to mold her body against his. Her tongue twirled with his, agile and doing delicious sinful things back. Her hands twisted in his shirt, pulling him even closer if possible. His hands slid down her body, pliant beneath his large hands. Her curves filling his hands. Except he knew she had ended up smaller, likely because of all the traveling, and that was a shame. He spent years watching her, and those quick sparse moments he had held her before- engraved in his depraved mind- he knew she had lost some of her curves.

Cullen groaned into her mouth anyway.

He pushed her back until she was laying down, holding himself over her by his elbow. His other hand remained on her hip, rubbing a circle there with his thumb as he gasped for air. Her chest heaved as she sucked in air, giving an airy giggle and reached up to fix the crown. "It rather ruins the sultry look," she mumbled, hand trailing down to cup he cheek. "But it does suit you."

Cullen chuckled, nuzzling her hand, kissing her wrist. He knew he could take her there. He could have. Flower crown and all. His elation that she had responded made him near delirious. Her curves pressed against him, laid beneath him- he was only a man after all. But he respected her too much. Loved her too much. It was not just lust. He would not take this quick. He would take this slow and give her everything he had. And not on the muddy ground of a grove.

No matter how tight his pants got.

I have officially caught up with my posts on livejournal now. All of this was somewhat force written, so if you find it to be of lesser quality than earlier chapters, that is why. And I have no beta, so, another excuse. Not that they're very good excuses, but there ya go. As for what I written, the only part I like is Cullen with a crown of flowers. I personally love flower crowns, and big ol' Cullen wearing one is adorable to me. I've always liked to imagine Amell/Surana taking the flowers and herbs brought in for lessons and making crowns for friends- Jowan, Anders, and Cullen included. I was very happy to be able to use that in this story. If I could draw better than I do, I'd have drawn the Dragon Age casts (1 and 2) with crowns of flowers, all bewildered, embarrassed, or happy.

Reviews appreciated, of course.