Chapter 4

Field Report

12, Kingsway, 9:41 Dragon

Contact with Horsemaster Dennet has been established. He has requested that the Inquisition establish watchtowers around key points of the Hinterlands to help the common folk combat the rogue Templars and Mages, as well as the bandits. I have enclosed a map with the specified locations.

The Herald has taken it upon herself to assist anyone in need in the area before we depart, hence our delay in returning. She has become adamant in her desire to "show compassion and instill hope" in everyone she comes across. Perhaps this will help the Inquisition gain favor from the clerics, but at present it feels like we are wasting precious time and resources.

The Herald has also decided that she would prefer to offer the rogue Templars and Mages a chance to surrender and join the Inquisition forces. I have spoken with her at length as to why this would be imprudent, but she is unwilling to see reason. Those who have chosen to surrender thus far, have been given an escort back to Haven. Commander, I trust you to keep them under a watchful eye and to take action if necessary.

The Herald has acquiesced to martial training and has been improving slightly. She would greatly benefit from further training with the soldiers and Templars upon our return.

-Cassandra

Rebekah grunted at the impact of Cassandra's dull sword against her staff. She knew that Cassandra wasn't putting all of her weight behind the downward swing, knew that Cassandra was going easy on her, but it didn't make her feel any better.

As promised, Cassandra had been sparring with her every day and night to help her become more accustomed to battling different opponents. Unaccustomed to the strain on her body, Rebekah would wake up and go to sleep in agony. After two weeks of training, she had yet to see any improvements. Cassandra would hack and slash, Rebekah would block and dodge, but every session ended with Rebekah being both physically and mentally bruised.

In addition to her martial training, Solas was attempting to strengthen her spirit magic. Solas knew that Rebekah's training had been kept strictly to primal magic, the enchanters deeming her innate healing and protective capabilities as "abysmal." They had managed to train her to erect a barrier, albeit a weak one, but had not seen any point in training her further in that area. Solas was not as easily convinced.

After a number of injuries that Rebekah sustained during skirmishes between both the rogue Tempalrs and mages in the area, Solas proclaimed that Rebekah needed to at least strengthen the protection of her barrier.

He had reasoned that she could not expect to have someone with her to provide protection, and as such would need to rely on her own abilities to ensure her survival in a fight. Cassandra had been the first to agree with him. Rebekah had not even bothered protesting.

She knew that they were both right. Every time that she bathed or undressed, she could see the faint scar near her shoulder where the arrow had struck her and she knew that she needed the training. Many other scars and bruises had followed that one and she guessed that the injuries would continue without their tutelage.

"That is enough for today," Cassandra declared, wiping the back of her hand across her brow.

Rebekah didn't have the breath to respond, so she simply nodded her head, her hands fell limply to her sides, her fingers loosened their grip on the staff.

"Come on, Snowflake! Take a seat, drink some water," Varric called to her. When she turned her head to view him, she saw that he had taken a seat under a nearby tree.

She took one deep breath and on the exhale slowly straightened, the muscles in her back and shoulders screaming. She walked over to the tree slowly, her legs and feet aching from the combination of training and traveling through the countryside.

They had not planned to stay in the Hinterlands for so long. Upon arriving at the Crossroads, Rebekah had been inundated with requests from soldiers and common folk alike. Corporal Vale, who oversaw the survival of the refugees and villagers wanted her to forage for food, collect blankets, take care of bandits, quell the fighting between the mages and Templars. Meanwhile, the common folk asked for her help in personal matters. She found that she could not refuse them.

Cassandra and Solas had complained about the delay in their return, stating that they had no time to lose, that the focus should be on finding allies and closing the Breach. Rebekah had argued that they were finding allies, just not the massive following that they had expected.

Truly, Rebekah just could not leave them to suffer and did not seem to trust anyone else to ensure that the people got what they needed.

So, a couple of days had turned into a week. One week had turned into two weeks. Now, here they were, almost a month after their departure from Haven, and they were finally returning to debrief with the council before traveling to Val Royeaux.

"How much longer, do you think?" Rebekah asked Varric as she slowly crouched next to him, wincing at the pain in her legs, before finally sitting down in the grass.

"Only a few more hours. Would've been faster if that Dennet guy had supplied us with more than one horse," Varric grumbled, motioning to the chestnut gelding that grazed lazily across from them.

"We'll get more horses once we build those watchtowers. I can't blame him for using them as leverage to ensure the safety of his people and farm," Rebekah reasoned before taking a long swig from the leather canteen that Varric offered her.

She could hear Cassandra scoff and then heard the grind of blade on stone as Cassandra sharpened her sword.

"Whatever you say, Snowflake," Varric replied as he shook his head with a smile.

-0-

They arrived back in Haven after the sun had already set. Refugees milled around, raucous noises emanated from the village tavern, and the soldier encampment was eerily silent. They returned with no fanfare, separated at the top of the first set of stairs into the village, and went their own ways.

The following morning began early for Rebekah. Incessant knocking woke her from her sleep close to dawn. She didn't bother getting properly dressed as she angrily flung her blankets off and stomped towards the door. She threw the door open, her hair still wild from sleep, to find Cullen on the other side.

She saw his expression change from mild irritation to utter shock as he realized her state of undress.

"Can I help you?" Rebekah asked, her tone louder than she had intended; the anger at being woken at such an ungodly hour roiled through her. She had not even fully registered who stood at her door until he spoke.

"I apologize, I did not mean..." Cullen trailed off, his eyes looking at anything but her.

At the sound of his voice, Rebekah's eyes went wide. She looked first at Cullen, who was blushing furiously, and then down at herself suddenly realizing just how revealing her nightgown was.

Without a second thought, she slammed the door in his face. She could feel the blush creeping up her neck and radiating across her cheeks as she gripped the fabric of her nightgown tight around her chest.

"Uh, I was sent to retrieve you. The Council is meeting up in the War Room. Your presence has been requested," Cullen continued, returning to business.

Rebekah groaned. Who calls a Council meeting at dawn after a five-day journey?

"Very well! I'll be up in a moment," she replied breathily. She silently berated herself for being foolish enough to open her door in nothing but her nightgown. Maker only knows what he thinks of me now, traipsing around and opening my door in my nightclothes for all to see.

She hurriedly pulled off her nightgown and gathered her spare set of clothes from her pack. It took only moments for her to pull on the pair of black leather breeches, white tunic, and brown leather waist coat. It took another moment to retrieve both of her boots from where she had kicked them off the night before. She roughly yanked her fingers through her mussed hair as she grabbed a spare cloth off of the table, dipped it into her toothpaste, and vigorously scrubbed her teeth.

Once she was satisfied that she was presentable, Rebekah walked towards her door, took a deep breath, and threw it open.

She was shocked to find Cullen standing a little bit away, leaning against a wooden post, talking to himself.

Rebekah had almost decided to avoid him all together, but when their eyes met she knew she would not be able to avoid him.

"Commander," she greeted quietly, and she could feel her cheeks warming.

"I thought I might walk with you to the Chantry," he replied bashfully, rubbing the hairs at the base of his neck with a gloved hand.

He was dressed in his full regalia: metal breastplate peeking out from beneath a red and gold cotton wrap, the black fur of his shawl was spotted with fallen snow and blew softly in the morning wind.

"Maker, he must get tired after wearing all of that armor all day," Rebekah thought to herself as he walked towards her. "Um...sure," she said, her tone uncertain.

Truthfully, she was surprised that he had waited outside as she had gotten ready, especially after she had rudely slammed the door in his face. Rather than apologize for her earlier behavior, Rebekah opted to simply turn on her heel and begin walking towards the Chantry without another word.

"Right," she heard Cullen mutter to himself and soon she heard the his footsteps closing in from behind.

She made a conscious effort not to look at him. She stubbornly kept her gaze forward as he came into step beside her, their feet making a soft stomping sound as they ascended the steps.

"I don't think we've ever had a chance to properly talk," Cullen began hesitantly and Rebekah fought the urge to meet his gaze.

"Talk about...?" Rebekah supplied, not quite sure what he was referring to.

He seemed at a loss, the silence between them growing longer and more awkward. "Nothing in particular, I suppose," he finally responded and she gazed down long enough to see him clenching and unclenching his fists nervously. "I guess I just wanted to apologize."

"You already did," she wanted to reply, assuming that he was referring to the fiasco that had just occurred, but she did not have time to respond as he hurriedly continued.

"I was in a very... angry place when I called for the Circle's annulment. I don't think that I had taken time in the moment to consider the implications of taking such actions. All I wanted was to make sure the blood mages didn't escape," Cullen continued quickly.

Rebekah turned to him then, her eyes narrowed slightly not because of what he was saying, but from surprise that he would bring up Kinloch Hold at all. She could see his shoulders slumping inward slightly, his head down, unwilling to meet her gaze.

"You truly wish to discuss this now?" was the question that arose from her lips, though there were a myriad of statements and questions running through her mind. She stopped walking and turned fully towards him. He took one extra step before stopping and turning towards her.

"I needed you to know that I am not that same man. I didn't want you to think you would be forced to work with someone who you thought might...hate you," Cullen replied softly, finally looking into her eyes.

She tilted her head to consider his words, to consider how his presence in the Inquisition made her feel. Did she believe that he truly hated her? Did it make her uncomfortable to work with a man that had once cried out for her execution, albeit indirectly? Did she believe that he could work for not only the betterment of Thedas, but for the betterment of mages?

She took a deep breath and reached forward to grip his forearm. Normally, she would not have been so bold, but she wanted, needed, him to know that what she said was genuine. He looked up into her eyes, slightly surprised. "I do not blame you for how you acted after the uprising. Maybe at one time I may have, but eventually I came to understand why you and other people who experience the dark side of magic call for our deaths. There is no need for you to apologize to me."

They stood in silence for a moment, the awkwardness between them still there but lessened to a degree. "Shall we continue?" Rebekah prompted, releasing her grip on his forearm. He gave her a brief nod and a soft smile before gesturing for her to lead the way.

The remainder of their walk was made in silence as their boots crunched over the dry dirt path that led to the Chantry. At this hour, only the sounds of birds chirping and the leaves rustling in the wind filtered through the village. It felt almost peaceful, even with the angry green swirl in the clouds.

"Good morning, Herald. I trust that your travels went well," Josephine said in greeting as Rebekah and Cullen entered the war room.

"Yes, thank you," Rebekah replied, taking up her position at the table. Even after weeks on the road with Cassandra and time to get used to her role as an integral piece at the heart of the Inquisition, Rebekah was still not quite used to having such autonomy, influence, and respect.

Cassandra gave her a curt nod from her spot on the opposite side of the table and Leliana gave her a smile from where she lounged against the wall to Rebekah's left.

"Good, now that we're all here, we can begin," Cassandra said as she glanced at each person in turn.

"The Templars and mages that you had escorted back to Haven have been settling, though they were a bit... combative at first," Josephine began, glancing quickly at Cullen.

Rebekah could see Cullen tense up, his hand gripping the pommel of his sword tightly. "Combative is putting it lightly. I don't see why it was even necessary to recruit these men, they're traitors."

There was a moment of silence where everyone seemed to avoid looking at Rebekah, everyone knowing that she had been the one who had made the decision to allow rogue Templars and mages to join the Inquisition. When the brief pause did not end with Rebekah speaking up for her decision, Cassandra cleared her throat to speak instead.

"The Herald insisted that they be given a chance, to... atone," Cassandra replied, her tone dropping flatly at the word atone.

Cullen scoffed, "Atone? Those Templars deserted their post, those mages went on a rampage. We can't even begin to determine how much death and destruction they've caused. We're lucky that the villagers aren't damning us for saving those criminals."

"We've heard nothing from the common folk or the nobility to suggest that they have any opinion on the Inquisition harboring the rogue Templars and mages, but we can't expect it to stay that way for long," Leliana piped in, looking at Josephine.

"I have already prepared our response should we receive any backlash," Josephine replied with a curt nod, scribbling on a piece of parchment attached to her writing desk.

Rebekah was not used to speaking up, not used to standing up for herself and her decisions. Her heart beat erratically in her chest and she began to wring her hands behind her back as an uneasy feeling settled over her. She felt as if she were being attacked by them for offering these men and women the mercy of a second chance, even if none of them directly addressed her for it. Why should they be put to the sword without being given the option to atone for their crimes?

"They've been putting a considerable drain on our morale with their constant bickering. Just the other day I had to stop an all out slaughter right outside the Chantry doors," Cullen continued, and Rebekah saw him rolling his eyes.

Rebekah held her comments back; she felt like she might explode.

"They blame each other for the Divine's death. It appears that even without the war, they are determined to seek bloodshed in other ways," Leliana added.

"It would've been easier to just kill them and be done with it," Cullen said, emphasizing his point with a wide sweep of his arm.

Rebekah couldn't keep it in anymore.

"I'm sorry!" She stated rather loudly, she kept her hands clasped tightly behind her back, knowing that if she didn't that they would all see her shaking. "I'm sorry that I made the decision to give these people a second chance. Maybe some of them are determined to slaughter as many people as they can, but maybe some of them had no choice. If they surrendered to me, to the Inquisition, I promised I would give them an opportunity to make things right. I'm sorry if you see that as a mistake, or reckless, or if it makes your job harder, but I won't kill someone who can possibly be saved."

As she finished, the room hung in silence for a moment. Rebekah had never spoken out so emphatically before any of them. The only person who had spent a great deal of time with her was Cassandra, and even in their interactions Rebekah had always been rather quiet and reserved, a little unsure of herself. In the one brief council meeting that they'd had prior to her departure to the Hinterlands, Rebekah had remained fairly silently, only speaking when necessary.

Rebekah immediately felt a blush rise up her cheeks as well as a tight gripping in her belly as she looked between her companions.

The silence continued for a few more moments, the others seemingly unsure about whether to continue with this line of conversation or move on to more pressing matters.

"I'm sure that when the time comes for these recruits to fight for our cause, we'll be thankful that you did," Leliana supplied, meeting Rebekah's gaze. She gave her an encouraging smile, but Rebekah didn't return it, she was too busy mentally berating herself for speaking up at all.

"Where are we at with the Mothers?" Cassandra asked, breaking the awkward silence that had begun to build. Rebekah fought the urge to take a step backward, wishing terribly that she could just disappear into the shadows.

"We received your list and drafted letters to the sources that Mother Giselle provided. We are still waiting on their response," Leliana replied with a curt nod.

"I sent you that list weeks ago," Cassandra said, turning to look incredulously at Leliana.

"We sent the letters as soon as we could. I fear that the clerics are unwilling to provide support," Josephine piped up, punctuating her opinion with the jab of her pen on parchment.

"We don't need the support of the Chantry. I say we choose whether we want to approach the Mages or Templars and just do it," Cullen supplied, looking directly at Cassandra.

"They both still refuse to meet us. I've sent several missives," Josephine countered, glaring at Cullen as if she needed to remind him of this often.

"We can either wait a little longer for responses or you can go to Val Royeaux without them," Leliana said, this time looking around Cassandra to address Rebekah directly.

Rebekah, still keeping her gaze locked on the map spread out before them, didn't meet her gaze and didn't speak. She was still too embarrassed from her outburst.

"And then what? We just send the Herald in to meet with them? That's too dangerous," Cullen explained to them all. "We still get letters from Val Royeaux calling us heretics, saying that we've been harboring a dangerous criminal."

"We'll wait," Cassandra decided without further discussion. "It would be beneficial to have allies in the city when we arrive. We can discuss strategy and prepare more properly later."

-0-

The Council meeting continued for some time after that, discussing matters both important and trivial. Throughout it all, Rebekah remained completely silent. It wasn't until the end of the meeting, when Josephine and Leliana were leaving, that Cassandra requested Rebekah and Cullen to remain behind.

"I'm certain you remember the other part of the report I sent?" Cassandra asked Cullen.

He nodded, looking at Rebekah who still refused to meet his gaze. "If you want the Herald to receive martial training then I can assign one of the men to work with her until she leaves for Val Royeaux."

"I thought it might be beneficial for her if you trained her directly," Cassandra replied, shifting her weight and crossing her arms.

"Train her directly? I have many more soldiers to train. I can't be devoting more time to training the Herald than my own men," Cullen said brusquely.

"Cassandra, I can keep training with you," Rebekah added quietly, the first words she had spoken in over an hour.

"You should train with a Templar," Cassandra replied, meeting her gaze.

"Why?" Rebekah asked softly, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Many of the enemies we've been facing are mages and Templars. It would be best if you were training with someone of a similar background," Cassandra told her. She reached out and placed a hand on Rebekah's shoulder. It was only then that Rebekah realized she had been rolling her shoulders forward, her back hunched dejectedly. Rebekah straightened slightly and Cassandra withdrew her hand.

"I'll discuss it with some of my men. Perhaps we can establish a rotation schedule?" Cullen supplied.

"Make sure they are men you trust, Commander. We don't need someone hurting the Herald," Cassandra replied, nodding her head in approval to his request.

He nodded in response. "I'll go speak with them now. Herald?" He didn't continue until Rebekah finally turned, blue eyes meeting hazel. "I'll come by with a temporary schedule sometime this afternoon. We can start tomorrow."

"Yes, alright," Rebekah replied, distractedly. "I wish they would just call me Rebekah," she thought upon realizing that throughout the entire meeting they had only referred to her by her title, the Herald.

Without another word, Cullen exited the meeting room, leaving Cassandra and Rebekah alone.

"I am sorry that we were so hard on you," Cassandra said as she turned to Rebekah after a moment of silence. Rebekah slowly lifted her head to look at Cassandra. "I understand why you wanted to recruit them, and while I did disagree with the decision originally, it could prove useful."

Rebekah felt the heaviness in her chest lessen slightly. "Thank you."

"However, you must understand that we can't save everyone. At some point it will not be an option," Cassandra finished, her gaze hard.

Rebekah swallowed thickly, cast her eyes down, and nodded.

Cassandra turned on her heel and exited the room, leaving Rebekah in the lingering silence.