Authors Note: Okay... so this chapter contains characters from Dragon Age II *cough, Anders... So if you haven't played that game it's okay because I'm twisting the backstory a bit so that he was in the Kirkwall circle at the same time as my OC Evelyn, he will also be in a few other chapters coming up, so if you are curious just a simple google will definitely give you enough information. Basically, Anders is a mage and a healer in Kirkwall, he also incited the mage revolution by blowing up the Chantry in Kirkwall. Also, this chapter has a few flashbacks into Evelyn's time at the circle in Kirkwall, there will be a lot of flashback's next chapter too, so enjoy!
*Flashback*
Cullen was walking the halls of the Kirkwall Circle when he heard angry voices.
"You're a traitor!" Someone hissed.
"Blood magic is wrong, what should I have done?" Evelyn responded back.
"You shouldn't have turned them in! You're just the Templar's pet aren't you? Captain Rutherford can't be around all the time, and when he isn't we'll-"
"You'll what exactly?" Cullen asked, turning the corner, Evelyn looked at him with relief and the other mage with horror.
A few minutes later the mage and Evelyn were in front of Meredith, who seemed especially crazed that day.
After hearing Cullen's telling of what happened Meredith announced her punishment, "For you," She said pointing to the other mage, "You will suffer the rite of Tranquility."
"No! No! Please!" She cried desperately as a Templar dragged her out of the room.
"And for you," Meredith said, now pointing at Evelyn, "I'll let my Captain decide your punishment. Do whatever you would like." Her meaning was clear, Cullen was free to force himself on her if he chose, fortunately, Cullen was not that kind of man. Nevertheless, Evelyn rolled her shoulders and looked at the floor in discomfort, as if she was afraid of him. "Oh and Captain, take the rest of the night off, I'll make sure you're not bothered." She added. This made both Cullen and Evelyn furious, although they couldn't show it.
"Yes Knight-Commander." Cullen said, "Thank you." He added, not wanting to get on Meredith's bad side.
Cullen then escorted Evelyn to where he assumed Meredith thought he would take her, his room. He shut and locked the door behind them, he then started to take off his heavy armour and she stood and watched him. When he was done she moved quickly and hugged him tightly, "Thank you." She said in his ear.
He didn't say anything, just held her a bit tighter. They remained like that until Evelyn pulled away, she brushed her hand over his forehead and said, "Do you have a headache?"
"A bit," Cullen replied before yawning.
"You should sleep." Evelyn said, and Cullen looked apprehensive, "I'll wake you up if you..."
Evelyn grabbed one of the books on Cullen's desk and sat on the other side of his bed. He laid his head down on his lap and shut his eyes, "I love you Eve." He whispered.
"Get some sleep Captain," Evelyn whispered back with a smile on her face.
Cullen shut his eyes and slept peacefully for the most part until the nightmares started to creep in.
Evelyn looked down at him, he was starting to mutter and toss in his sleep, she brushed his hair out of his face, "Cullen, wake up."
Cullen awoke in Skyhold with a smile, that was the first time in a long time that he had had a dream about Evelyn that didn't end in him killing her, and he was glad for it. He was still in a bit of shock from last night, she had kissed him!
Although she had immediately left afterwards, at least they had reconciled, and it had given hope that maybe he could fix what he had done.
Cullen was broken out of his reverie by Maxwell entering his room, "Cullen, gather the others, there's something we need to discuss."
Cullen nodded and quickly rounded up Josephine and Leliana before heading to the war room, when they got there Max, Cassandra and Evelyn were looking at the map and seemed to be in deep thought.
"What's going on?" Leliana asked.
"We need to discuss the Winter Palace," Cassandra said with disgust evident in her tone.
"Yes, this will be a pivotal moment for the Inquisition," Leliana added.
"Did you have something in mind Leliana?" Cassandra asked.
"In fact I did." Leliana said, "If we are to be disrupting the assassination attempt, then we need to give Maxwell enough time away from the watch of the court to root out the assassin." She paused before looking at Evelyn, "That is where you come in."
"Me?" Evelyn asked with confusion.
"Yes, there have been rumours spreading, and well, I'll allow Josie to explain the rest." She said.
"Rumors?" Evelyn asked.
"Well, primarily there are two rumours, the first is relatively harmless. It outlines a strange and outlandish tale in which your mother had an affair with a Tevinter mage, thus explaining your magic abilities, however for every person that believes that there are two more that believe your family was chosen by the Maker. It is the second rumour that troubles me." Josephine said.
"It may be useful if we are smart," Leliana said.
"Can someone please just tell me what it is?" Evelyn said, starting to get nervous, something that didn't escape Leliana's notice.
Leliana and Josephine shared a concerned glance before Josephine spoke, "The rumour is that... you've infiltrated the inquisition forces to assassinate Commander Cullen."
Evelyn couldn't help the snort that came out of the mouth or the laughter that followed. Cullen let out a slight chuckle, "People really believe that?" He asked.
"Unfortunately they do, it would create quite the stir if you were to act in the exact opposite manner," Josephine said.
Evelyn nodded, "Yeah alright, fine by me."
"Good, now you have your time Inquisitor," Cassandra spoke.
"Everyone should get a good night's rest, we're leaving at dawn tomorrow," Josephine said.
Everyone went their separate ways.
Later that day...
"Eve, would you like to play?" Cullen asked as she approached the slightly hidden chess table he was currently sitting at.
"Sure, although I warn you, I'm no good," Evelyn said.
They smiled and laughed and played, not knowing that Dorian was watching closely from above, Max was just trying to find Solas, but he kept getting lost, so when he saw Dorian observing Cullen and Evelyn, he decided to see what was going on.
Dorian looked at Max inquisitively as he came over, "What can I do you for Inquisitor?" He said and then paused, "I hadn't meant to say that, but you know what I'm glad I did."
"What's going on?" Max asked gesturing to Cullen and Evelyn.
Dorian looked at him for a moment before asking, "You... know?"
"I assume, I've overheard a few conversations," Max said.
"Good, now I have someone to share my frustrations with." Dorian said, "Those two are perfect together, but she won't commit! It's driving me insane!"
"Well, maybe she still doesn't trust him after what happened in Kirkwall," Max suggested as if it was obvious.
"That's what she's trying to make it seem like, but there is another reason, one I didn't really think about until recently actually." Dorian paused, and Max gestured for him to continue, "There was someone else, before Cullen, another mage I think."
Max turned to Dorian, "Really, you think so?"
Dorian nodded, "I think it ended suddenly, either he left or was killed, she didn't get closure, so she's self-sabotaging," Dorian explained.
Max looked back at Evelyn and Cullen, Cullen was looking at Evelyn with a mixture of confusion and concern, Evelyn wasn't facing them, but she stood and saw that she looked sad.
"See?" Dorian said before walking off.
Max knew he should be mad at Cullen, but he knew him very well, that man wouldn't hurt anyone unless they were on opposing sides of a battle, so he knew that Cullen would never intentionally hurt her. The new information he gained from Dorian was interesting. If it was true then-
A horrific thought suddenly came into Max's head... all the eavesdropping, gossiping, rumours... he was turning into his mother. Max was utterly horrified.
New approach, he was going to go talk to Evelyn about all this.
Evelyn was roaming the halls of Skyhold, trying to familiarize herself with the massive stronghold.
"Evelyn!" Max called and she turned around to see Max jogging towards her.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"I wanted to talk with you." Max said, "In private."
"Alright..." Evelyn said, eyeing him suspiciously.
They walked to Max's room and stood on the balcony, "So... you and Cullen?" Max asked.
Evelyn raised her eyebrows, "What?" She asked.
"Are you and Cullen... in a relationship?" Max asked.
"I..." Evelyn sighed, "I don't know, it's complicated."
"Why?" Max asked.
Evelyn shook her head, "I don't know, I guess I'm just holding on."
"Holding onto what?" Max asked.
Evelyn shook her head slightly, "It's so stupid you know? Because I know he's dead, but I can't help thinking that maybe he's not, maybe he's out there all alone, maybe he's looking for me, and I... feel so horrible for it, because that man does not deserve any wondering, but..."
"You can't help it." Max, finished in understanding, Evelyn looked up at him with surprise, not expecting him to understand. Max put his arm around Evelyn's shoulders, "I'm sorry Evie."
Evelyn blinked back threatening tears and turned to Max, "So what about you and Josephine?"
Max chuckled a bit and rubbed his forehead, "Does everyone know about that?"
"No..." Evelyn started, "Well, actually yeah everyone."
"Of course they do," Max said.
"Make a move Max, come on, she clearly likes you," Evelyn said.
"Really? You think so?" He asked.
"I'm pretty sure," Evelyn said.
They both fell silent as they looked over the mountains, "Do you want to come with us to Emprise Du Lion with us after the Winter Palace?" Max asked her.
Evelyn nodded, "Yeah sure, it'll be a nice change from the Western Approach."
"You can say that again." Max said.
The next day...
"Josephine, you can't be serious?" Evelyn asked from behind a closed door. Josephine had lent Evelyn one of her dresses for the occasion, Evelyn looked down at herself, the dress was... revealing, to put it mildly. It was blue with red detailing, it had a very low back and a low cut front, it was flowing, but showed off her chest and hips. The actual dress was strapless and sleeveless, but there was a sheer fabric that formed a layer over most of the bare skin.
"What you don't like it?" Josephine asked, "I thought it would look quite nice on you." Max and Dorian, who were standing outside the room with Josephine shared a raised eyebrow.
"No, it's nice Josephine, it's just, it's a little showy," Evelyn replied.
"Well, just come out, it can't be that bad," Max said.
There was a pause before the door opened and Evelyn stepped out, Dorian leaned over to Josephine, "Ten royals that Cullen faints when he see's her."
"You're on," Josephine whispered back.
"Evelyn you look lovely." Dorian said before furrowing his eyebrows, "Turn around for a moment?" He asked.
She turned so her back was to them and Max's eyes widened, there was a large, jagged scar going across her back.
*Flashback*
Knight-Commander Meredith was stalking in front of two mages, Evelyn and Anders.
"You two dare go against me?! I know one of you is the source between the mages here and the apostate group the Mage Underground... now, who is it?"
Evelyn looked at Anders, who was about to confess, "It's me." She said, "Anders has nothing to do with it, he doesn't even know."
Anders looked at her in surprise, "That's not true!" He cried, "It's only me, only me."
Cullen was standing off to the side of the room he was watching the interrogation with baited breath. Over the few weeks he had been tasked to watch the mage Evelyn he had gotten to know her slightly, and he had become a bit fond of her. He knew that it was Anders that was part of the Mage Underground, but Evelyn and Anders were very close, that was obvious by how much time they spent together.
"So one of you is a liar." Meredith said before turning to Cullen, "Captain, which one of these mages do you believe is the culprit?" She asked.
Cullen looked at Evelyn, her eyes silently begging him to choose her, but he couldn't, "I believe it is the man, Anders."
"No!" Evelyn cried.
"Evelyn, it's alright. It's okay." Anders said calmly.
"The punishment for this crime... is death," Meredith said.
"No! No!" Evelyn screamed, one of the other Templars, Aldrich, Cullen believed, was holding her back.
Meredith drew her sword and started to make her way to Anders, who was being held down by another Templar, not that he was struggling. Evelyn, however, broke free of Aldrich's hold on her and ran towards Meredith and Anders. However Aldrich took off after her, sword drawn and he cut her deeply across her back, from left hip to right shoulder.
Cullen clenched his jaw and gripped his sword tightly as he saw the expression on Anders' face, "Evelyn..." He whispered. Suddenly what felt like a shock-wave knocked down everyone in the room, when Cullen gained back his hearing and looked up from the ground he heard the chanting and saw Anders desperately trying to heal Evelyn.
Anders was quickly pulled off of Evelyn and dragged to the black cells in the Gallows, from which he would eventually escape, but that was a different story.
Anders had healed Evelyn just enough to get rid of the severe damage, but Cullen approached her limp form, and he thought she was dead, but then he heard her raspy breathing and could see the faint movement of her chest rising and falling.
Meredith came over to him, "Captain, does she live?"
"Yes Commander," Cullen replied.
"Good, that scar will be an eternal reminder of what happens when she breaks my rules. Take her back to her quarters, she is not to receive any medical attention unless you deem it a life or death situation. Do not let this one die Captain, I like her spirit." Meredith Commanded with a smirk.
"Yes Commander," Cullen said.
*End Flashback*
"What?" Evelyn asked, turning around to see Josephine and Max's pitying and angry looks, Evelyn thought for a moment, "Oh... the scar..."
"Where did you get that?" Max asked in shock, Dorian sent him a warning look, not that he saw it.
Evelyn looked at Max quizzically, "I'm going to pretend you didn't just ask that." She said before turning to Dorian, "What do you think?"
"I think our Commander is going to lose his mind." Dorian said, then added, "So I think it's perfect."
Evelyn rolled her eyes, "Alright, let's go."
The trip to the Winter Palace from their lodgings was short, they were split into two different cars, in Evelyn's was Dorian, Iron Bull, Varric, Blackwall and Cole.
"Fifteen royals that Curly faints when he see's her," Varric said.
"I'll take that bet," Dorian said, smirking.
"Both of you stop, I have a dagger hidden in here and I'm not afraid to use it." Evelyn threatened.
Blackwall's eyes nearly popped out of his head and Cole looked at her with astonishment, "Where is it?"
"That is for me to know and for you to find out." Evelyn said before turning to Dorian with a smirk, "So Bull, what do you think of Dorian's attire?"
Dorian blushed wildly and Bull replied, "I don't know, I was into the exposed shoulder, although-"
"Oh thank the Maker! We're here!" Blackwall cried in relief, just pleased to get out of the carriage.
Author's note: Thank you guys so much for all the support you've given me. It means a lot! Please keep reviewing/commenting, I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy, :)
