Thank you for reading!
I have a quick note/inquiry for all of you who are interested: I'm toying with the idea of starting another story that pairs Trevelyan and Alistair and am curious to see if anyone would interested in reading about those two. I find there is a severe lack of stories about the two, which is why I ask if there would be enough interest to warrant writing it. I have a few ideas that might make it plausible and I haven't decided whether it would be King Alistair or Warden Alistair but I thought I would get opinions before I really start brainstorming. Any feedback at all regarding this (reviews or PM's) would be greatly appreciated!
As Ellie set her Commander on the stone floor, two of her fingers pressed gently on his stubble-covered neck right below his jaw. She let out a shaky exhale of relief when she felt that he still had a pulse, though it was very fast. Ellie watched for a second as his chest rose and then fell, his breathing shallow.
In a fierce sprint, the Inquisitor ran out of her quarters, frantically searching for someone to heal the man laying on the floor of her room. All of the fatigue that had clouded her seemed to all but vanish as her adrenaline kicked her into high gear.
She entered the main hall, eyes roaming the space for anyone who might be able to help. The first person she saw that could be of any use was Vivienne who was speaking with some masked Orlesian noble. The mages eyes flicked over to the desperate-looking blonde and immediately bid adieu to whomever she was talking to and approached Ellie with the calm, graceful air that is typical of her.
"My dear, what ever is the matter?" the magic empowered woman asked quietly so as not to alert anyone near by.
Ellie hastily motioned for the mage to follow her, "I need your help. Please." Her voice was on the verge of sounding like she was begging, and in a lot of ways she practically was. Though Vivienne put on airs, Ellie knew that she wouldn't hesitate to offer her assistance which was proven when the mage, who had clearly sensed Ellie's distress, met the blonde's pace on their way back to her quarters.
The two wasted no time leaving the main hall then ascending the stone steps that led to the expanse of the room. Vivienne let out a small gasp at the scene before her. The Inquisition's military Commander was out cold on the floor.
"What happened?" the mage questioned as she started to conjure as much healing magic as she could muster.
"I- I don't know. He came in here saying he needed to speak to me and then he collapsed," Ellie blurted out in a rush, purposefully leaving out the part where Cullen had asked for a replacement. If he made it out of this, she could only hope that his request was the result of whatever caused his pain and collapse.
A glow filled the room as Vivienne worked her powers to aid the fallen Commander, "Go get Solas and Dorian for me, dear. I'm doing what I can to stabilize him right now but I'm going to need their help."
Paying no mind to how she was dressed or the fact that it was around dinner time, Ellie did as the mage asked and dashed back out of her quarters and ran full throttle towards Solas' study. The elf was working peacefully on the ever-growing mural that was beginning to cover the circular room. As soon as Ellie stepped foot into the bottom level of the tower, Solas craned his neck to see who was the cause of the intrusion.
Solas opened his mouth to speak, but Ellie beat him to the punch, her words falling from her mouth in an urgent tone and pace. "Solas, I need to you to get Dorian and come to my quarters right away. I don't have time to explain right now, please just hurry."
The elf nodded in understanding, though Ellie could tell his curiosity was ebbing away at him. He turned to go up the flight of stairs to where Dorian could usually be found. With him out of sight, she raced back to her room, hating that she had to leave Cullen's side twice since he had passed out.
When she arrived back, Vivienne looked like she hadn't even moved. She was still hovering over Cullen, magic seeping from her fingers. Ellie couldn't help but feel so incredibly helpless in all of this. There was almost nothing she could do to aid Cullen and the thought of that sickened her. As she watched the First Enchanter, Ellie remembered that she kept a stash of potions in the desk in her room for emergencies.
Striding over to her desk, she opened the bottom drawer to be met with the sight of a dozen or so little, glass bottles of various concoctions. Most of the them were healing potions and she took one of those out in case they could use it, but what she was really after was the couple lyrium potions she had as well. Ellie didn't really have use for the stuff, but she kept it on hand anyways. One can never be too prepared, as far as she was concerned.
With the bottles in hand, the blonde handed one to Vivienne just as the two male mages entered the room. Dorian looked genuinely surprised at the sight of the man lying motionless on the floor. Solas was as stoic as ever, but Ellie figured that if any of those three would have an idea of what happened to Cullen, it would be him.
Dorian silently joined the First Enchanter, enhancing the healing spells that she was casting. Ellie observed as Solas closed his eyes briefly, seemingly in thought, and then opened them again, his gaze falling on the blonde woman yet he remained quiet.
Her panic and fear getting the best of her, Ellie couldn't wait any longer for Solas to say whatever it was that he had discovered. "Please tell me he is going to be alright," her pleading voice was scarcely over a whisper and she begged the Maker, Andraste and any other deity she could think of to let the answer be affirmative.
"There is no doubt he is weak, but he seems to be stabilizing," Solas stated calmly, "Once Vivienne and Dorian steady his heart rate, he will likely just need a lot of rest before he makes a full recovery."
Ellie let go of a huge breath that she hadn't even been aware that she was holding. She was so relieved Solas believed Cullen would recover she had to fight back the urge to hug him. Instead, she gave Dorian and Vivienne the last of her lyrium supply and then faced Solas again, hoping he had some more answers for her. "Do you have any idea what may have caused him to pass out?"
Solas clasped his hands behind his back as he addressed her, his face expressionless, "It's hard to say that it was exactly one thing. If I had to guess, the biggest culprit would be a lack of lyrium in his blood. Exhaustion could be another possibility."
Ellie numbly nodded, too busy trying to put the pieces together in her mind. If the elf's suspicions were correct, it would actually make a lot of sense. She obviously was aware that Cullen was indeed suffering through lyrium withdrawal, but she didn't know the symptoms would get this bad. When she had spoken with Cassandra, the Seeker seemed confident that the Commander would be just fine. Surely Cassandra would have stepped in if she started to think otherwise in Ellie's absence.
But just as Solas had said, perhaps it was a culmination of his withdrawal and other factors that pushed Cullen to this point. Ellie didn't know how many times she would look over at Cullen's office at all times of the day or night and see light inside. It was clear to anyone that spent much time around the man that he didn't get a lot of sleep. Ellie couldn't help but feel so bad for him. He had dealt with so much in his life, he carried so much responsibility and now he had to deal with this? Lyrium withdrawal and sleep depravation? Her heart went out to him and she wished that he would just wake up.
The mages ceased their magic on Cullen, who seemed to be breathing more evenly now. She almost felt stupid for her blind panic and needing to get all three of them. But if her Commander was well, it was worth it.
"Thank you for helping him so quickly, I was so terrified when he just collapsed," Ellie said to them in earnest.
"He will still need to rest for a while before he has the strength to wake up," Solas informed, looking at Ellie almost expectantly.
She didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the situation, knowing that they could not afford for their Commander to seem weak. There was no possible way they could carry him back to his office and up the ladder to his bed without notice either. "Can you help me move him onto my bed? I would prefer to keep our Commander's condition to ourselves for now."
"If I may interject," Vivienne spoke up in her eloquent voice, "It may be a good idea to take off his armor before attempting to lift him."
Ellie and no doubt the other two appreciated the First Enchanter's reasoning, knowing that the metal he wore considerably added to his overall weight. Dorian bent down to unstrap his chest plate and Ellie began working on the armor that covered his arms. The Tevinter was being uncharacteristically quiet since he came in and Ellie knew that he was itching to say something, though she figured whatever it was, it wasn't appropriate for the other ears in the room.
With the Commander's metal shed, Ellie picked it up to place on her dresser while the two males lifted Cullen's limp body onto the bed. The Inquisitor thanked them all again for the assistance and discretion. Solas instructed her to keep one or two of her health potions handy for when he woke up and suggested that she keep an eye on him to make sure his stable state didn't wane. With that, both Solas and Vivienne left her quarters. Dorian made his way towards the door, but stopped before exiting with the other two, turning to face his friend.
"Are things alright between you two?" He asked evenly, looking at her with genuine concern. Ellie eyed him defensively, not sure how he knew. Luckily, he didn't leave room for her to wonder for very long. "We've only been back a few hours and I've already heard whispers of his mood since we left. Have you not spoken to him since the little incident on the rooftop?"
Ellie loved Dorian, she really did. But she already felt incredibly guilty about what happened. She didn't need anyone pointing out what was already obvious to her. But the mage was her best friend, she wasn't about to lash out at him for being right about her mistake so she simply shook her head.
"Do not blame yourself for his condition right now, my dear," he offered consolingly, seemingly aware she needed that in the moment, "Take care of him and talk to him when he has his strength back. I honestly doubt you did permanent damage, Ellie."
With that, her best friend exited the room leaving her alone with the unconscious Commander in her bed. The selfish part of her wished that she could just crawl into the bed too, the fatigue settling in her bones again now that the rush of panic had left. The thought of cozying up to Cullen in her bed was almost enough to make her get in beside him right then and there.
But she knew that, especially with the way they left things, if he woke up to her next to him in her bed, he would most definitely freak out. No, without his knowledge or permission she couldn't presume that course of action would sit right with him and she cared for him and respected him too much to only pay attention to her physical needs at the moment.
Instead, she pulled her armchair closer to the bed, just near enough that she could prop her feet on the other side of the bed from where Cullen lay in rest. An armchair wasn't the preferred spot to snooze, but it was a comfortable chair, one she used frequently to read in if she had the time. Those moments of spare time seemed increasingly more rare now.
As she settled into the chair, she observed the sleeping man in her bed. He was motionless except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. Absentmindedly she wondered if he always rested this soundly though she doubted that was the case.
Quicker than she expected, she felt her eyelids get heavy and she struggled to stay alert in the event there was any change to Cullen's state. But despite her best efforts, her eyes fluttered closed and the Inquisitor succumbed to the affects of a long, hard journey and a sleep deprived mind and body.