Cullen was not surprised at all to find Leliana waiting for him at the entrance to Skyhold.
"Is it truly her, Cullen?" she asked, staring at the woman in his arms. She seemed to be holding her breath until she could see Amell for herself.
"Yes," he said, carefully dismounting while still carrying Amell. Leliana leaned over her with a frown. She lightly grazed Amell's cheek with her fingertips, as though she couldn't be convinced the woman was real unless she touched her.
"Come," Leliana said, "I had a room prepared for her." She turned and walked off.
Cullen followed her through Skyhold, well aware of the hushed whispers that followed them as they passed. Leliana had clearly planned a route that would garner the least attention possible, but it still wouldn't be long before everyone knew the Hero of Ferelden was with the Inquisition. He hoped Leliana had thought to post guards outside the room, to keep out those who would gawk at the missing Warden-Commander.
To his relief, Leliana had two of her best people outside the door awaiting them. She nodded to each in turn before opening the door and allowing Cullen through.
The room itself was one of the simpler guest rooms. He wasn't sure if Leliana chose it to suit Amell's tastes or because it was likely to attract less attention. Knowing Leliana, it was most likely a combination of the two. He half-smiled at the thought of Josephine finding out this was the room chosen for such an important "guest" of the Inquisition.
Leliana turned down the blankets and Cullen gently laid Amell down. He took a step back and watched Leliana tuck her in. The Left Hand of the Divine gently removed her gloves, pulling a chair next to Amell's bedside and twining her fingers with the mage's.
"Oh, Solona," she said, more to herself than either of them.
"You never call me that," said the woman herself, eyes closed and still murmuring. "Must be bad."
Leliana laughed. "My poor Warden," she said, her free hand stroking Amell's hair. "I don't mean to worry you."
"Is Alistair still here?" she asked, brow furrowed.
"Alistair?" Leliana asked, raising her eyebrows as she looked to Cullen.
"He said he had a horse," she murmured, leaning into Leliana's touch. "I called him a liar. Leliana, I have to get up –"
"Hush," Leliana said soothingly, thumb stroking the back of Amell's hand. "You're ill. It can wait."
"No," she said, trying to push herself up to a sitting position, "I said that about the circle and –" she cut herself off with a cry of pain as she fell back on the mattress.
"Check her left side," Cullen said, suddenly panicked. "She took an arrow there, she may have torn the wound open."
Leliana peeled back the sheets, frowning and softly shushing Amell's whimpering. "Send for a healer," she said, and Cullen hurried to the door, quietly telling his request to both guards. Amell quieted, and he turned back to see Leliana gently pressing on Amell's side.
"She fell asleep again," Leliana said quietly. After a moment of silence, she added, "What was she doing here? She must have only just arrived. If she had been this close any longer than a few days, my spies would have found her."
"I don't know," Cullen replied. "The area we found her is near a Deep Roads entrance. Perhaps she meant to come to Skyhold that way."
"You don't think…" Leliana trailed off, gazing down at Amell sadly. "Could she have been going to her calling?"
"I don't know," said Cullen, terrified at the thought. She seemed too young for that, but honestly, he knew nothing about Wardens. And if Corypheus had tricked her, it didn't particularly matter either way. "It's… possible. But Amell has been missing for seven years. From what we've learned of the Calling, I doubt even she would survive that long."
"Hm," Leliana replied, lost in thought.
Cullen remained standing; unsure if he was welcome to stay but unwilling to leave, he was still deliberating what he should do when there came a knock at the door. Glad for something to do, however minor, Cullen answered it.
It was Venthari Paivel, a healer Cullen knew well from Kirkwall. She had come from a Dalish Clan, unwilling to allow them to disown a child because the girl would have been one mage too many in their clan, and there were no others nearby who could take her. She'd turned herself into the Kirkwall circle a year before his arrival and asked to join the Inquisition with him when he left.
"I'm here to tend to the Hero," she said, and Cullen nodded.
"Thank you," he replied, stepping aside to allow her into the room. He quietly clicked the door shut behind her and turned around. He rested his hands on the hilt of his sword, feeling restless.
Leliana stood and took a few steps backwards to allow Paivel to see the wound. The elf winced as she saw it and a faint light emanated from her hands. After a few minutes, she ceased, looking exhausted.
"She'll be all right," Paivel said reassuringly, looking first to him and then Leliana. "The field healer did the best they could, but this wound was deep." She pulled a vial of lyrium from a pouch on her belt and uncorked it.
Cullen looked away, suddenly fiercely wishing he had tried harder to be free of the lyrium. There wasn't any way he could have predicted he would meet Amell again, but the thought that he could have put that life behind him, that he could truly be free when he saw her again… Paivel had begun speaking again without him realizing, and he quickly turned his attention back to her. "-a few hours, maybe," she finished.
"The Warden has been waking up," Leliana said, "but she believes that now is years ago."
"How many years?" asked Paivel, voice carefully controlled. Cullen knew that tone. It was one of not wanting to panic the listener.
"About ten," Leliana replied, and Paivel's frown deepened.
"Is that about how long it's been since you last saw her?" asked the woman.
"Yes," Leliana said.
Paivel relaxed. "Then it's nothing to worry about. If she fully regains consciousness and is still convinced it's ten years ago, you should send for me. Still, I'm fairly certain she'll make a full recovery." Paivel fell silent for a moment, looking her over. "There's nothing else I can do for her. I think it would help, for you to stay with her."
"Thank you," Leliana said, attention already turned back to Amell.
"Thank you," echoed Cullen, and the mage half-smiled at him, almost as if to reassure him.
"I'll make myself available in case you need me," she replied. Turning to Amell, she murmured, "Mala suledin nadas, Hero."
With that, she left, softly closing the door behind her.
"Will you stay?" Leliana asked, looking at him expectantly.
"I don't know," he replied. "I'm not certain I'd be welcome."
"Why?" Leliana asked, comprehension dawning almost before she finished speaking. "She never blamed you for what you said to her. Not even then." After a moment's hesitancy on Cullen's part, Leliana rolled her eyes. "Sit, Cullen."
Well. Arguing with the Left Hand of the Divine certainly wasn't a good idea. He sat.
They passed a few hours in silence, both Leliana and Cullen taking their reports in Amell's room. His soldiers had tidied up the mess with the tempalrs and were now not so subtly asking about his whereabouts. One would think one's subordinates would be a little more respectful, but this sort of prying was what he'd come to expect from very nearly everyone in the Inquistion.
He was halfway through a curt response that the soldiers had things they should be doing that most certainly did not involve why he was waiting at Amell's bedside when a soft noise from the bed drew his attention. Solona was awake and alert, propped up on her elbows and looking around the room with a frown.