Hey guys! So this is the 2nd chapter of this story. Hope you enjoy it :}

Chapter 2: Speaking of Cullen's Love Life…

It was night now and everyone was harbored in the tavern, everyone except for Cullen. He had been in his makeshift office signing papers when he heard a loud laughter echoing through his walls. He held his temples at the noise. The headaches were becoming worse every day, and on bad days he would take it out on others. Three days ago, Cullen sat at his desk with his head pounding as he looked at a drawer holding his precious lyrium. Lelianna had suddenly walked in to inform him that the Inquisitor had decided to recruit the mages, instead of the Templars. Memories of the tower, memories of his first love, memories of Uldred and abominations flashed in front of him. In a fit of anger, Cullen began to rant on why nothing good comes from mages, how they cannot be trusted. He eventually apologized to Lelianna for his harsh words, but he had yet to apologize to Solas, who had appeared at Cullen's door after hearing the commotion. The elven mage walked out in disgust after hearing his insults and sneered at the drawer holding the lyrium bottles.

Cullen heavily sighed and left his desk behind and trudged in the snow towards the small gathering, in hope of seeing Solas, until he saw a raven flying towards Lelianna's tent. Cullen wrapped himself with his arms and hurried in the direction of a scout who had the raven perched on his arm.

"Recruit," Cullen stammered in the cold, "Who is it to?" He did not want to read anything that was only for Lelianna's eyes, in fear of what he may find. The soldier swiftly pulled on the roll of parchment and uncovered only the top of the letter.

"It's written to you, sir," he said handing the paper to Cullen.

Cullen hurriedly took the document from the scout's hand and opened up the missive to read the message:

Cullen,

We've successfully made it to Redcliffe. Many mages are housed in here because of the war. There's some creepy guy here named Alexius. He said something about Tevinter, but I'm not sure of how closely they are connected yet. Strangely enough, Fiona did not seem to remember the invitation that SHE gave us. I don't know. It's weird here. Did I mention the fade rift in their chantry?

I also met this guy named Dorian (in that chantry). Nice fella (and his moustache is exquisite). Apparently, he told me about this time magic thing happening with Alexius. Yeah. Never really understood this whole magic stuff anyways.

Let's see. What else… Oh! I got a bruise from Cassandra (don't ask why… hee hee). Varric got his breeches ripped off by a bear that he tried to feed or something. And that seems to be it. We'll end up coming back to Haven in a few days.

Nicholas

P.S. I got the horses.

The last line made Cullen smile satisfyingly, and the scout looked at it in disbelief. Cullen had been asking the horse master, Dennet, for a long time to provide the Inquisition with horses, but the stubborn man had never budged. And now Nicholas had managed to lift one more burden off of Cullen's shoulders.

He tilted his head back towards the night sky and realized that the storm had slowly cleared, and patches of stars could now be seen past the clouds. For once, Cullen felt as if the Inquisition could succeed. Of course, now they would have to deal with Redcliffe and Alexius, but only one problem at a time could be solved. Cullen peered at a light behind a group of dark clouds and watched as they moved to uncover the silver moon.

He was brought out of his thoughts by another loud laughter from those in the tavern, and noticed the scout still standing next to him. "You're dismissed," Cullen said promptly, yet softer than usual. The soldier stood still for a moment and then nodded. Cullen watched him run off into the tavern, no doubt to tell the others of his experience in witnessing Cullen smile.

The message from the Inquisitor would be have to be given to Lelianna and Josephine soon, but Cullen was in no rush tonight. Finally, his headache had subsided and he wanted to enjoy a moment of peace, knowing that the pain would return in a few hours. Cullen walked towards the docks by the lake and sat on the boards overlooking the water. He opened up the letter again and reread the last line with the light of the moon. After a sigh, the commander lied on his back with his eyes closed and his legs hanging off the dock. He felt a chill in the air and opened his eyes to an even fuller moon now. "Solona," he breathed out.

He wondered if Mage Solona Amell was also looking at the same moon right now, if she were still alive. He remembered her long hair as black as the night sky, and eyes as gray as the moon. Even the breeze reminded Cullen of Amell's icy magic. She was everywhere right now, and he was surrounding by her memory. He had never loved anyone but her. He had his flings here and there, but it was always just to fill the gap of Solona.

The last he saw the mage was ten years ago during the Blight. His first love, taken from him because of darkspawn. Cullen never actually had told her of his feelings. It was too late, and even then, what mage would love a Templar. And when she had arrived at the tower to save them all, Cullen had drove her away. Such a sorry state he was in, a man plagued by torture. He never ended up apologizing to her for what he said, and he never forgave himself.

Last Cullen heard of Solona was when she took over Amaranthine. There were rumors of her ongoing affairs with King Alistair, who she had put on the throne, throughout her whole time as the arlessa. Cullen felt a pang of jealousy in his heart whenever their relationship was brought up. Queen Anora was married to Alistair, but somehow someone always brought up Solona and Alistair's "undying" love. And then, Mage Amell disappeared. No one knew where she went or why she left. It was all such a mystery.

With another heavy sigh and one last look at the moon, Cullen stood up and stalked towards the tavern, with Nicholas' missive clenched in his hand. Lelianna and Josephine could not be kept waiting any longer.