Jadell wouldn't tell anyone what she did up so late, not even Vincent. Yet the Mage understood what was going on well enough. He'd seen her doing something similar before the fall of Starkhaven's Templars and had an inkling that she was covering for someone.

And it sure wasn't the Inquisitor. Vincent had now met and worked with the former Ostwick mage with incredible success. She was quite calm actually, and kept her head. Though she did have questions. About him. About Jade. About Starkhaven. About the Red Lyrium, or what he could explain of it; he wound up directing her elsewhere for that information. But always she seemed concerned yet intrigued by the fact that Vincent and Jadell worked together for so long, so well. Her interest was transparent.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -

Jadell was finishing up a page that she should likely not have seen in the first place, but if she didn't handle it nobody would. Commander Cullen was at the hardest point of leaving the lyrium behind- she had even heard him argue with Trevelyan! It wasn't normal, but normalcy was not to be expected.

Instead Jadell simply intercepted his communication. Unless he specifically requested a particular report it went through her hands first. She had taken to writing out responses and summaries before Cullen could as well- always using as close to his verbiage as possible.

She had done it in Starkhaven for Knight-Commander Ainslyn when it got unmanageable. She imagined he had done the same for Meredith as she withdrew into madness as well. It was a simple thing.

A simple thing that kept her up most of the night.

She was sneaking in this afternoon. She heard him playing a game of chess with Trevelyan and smiled. It must be a good day, then. Maker be praised. Jadell slid into his office, leaving the reports with her notes on his desk where she had been for the last few months and setting the cup of tea on his desk beside them. He's suspect a scout, certainly, not her.

"Captain! A word!?"

Jadell pivoted quickly to meet the soldier. "How can I assist you?"

"Umm... I have the plans. For Adamant?"

Jadell reached out. "I will draw his attention to them. I believe they mean to head to the the Winter Palace first, so we have time to prepare." She glanced at the page and frowned. "Have anyone with Templar abilities meet me tomorrow at dawn. This is going to take a lot of work."

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"Umm- Jade?"

"Mm-hmm."

"There's a man here staring at us."

"Hmm?"

"He's one of yours."

Jadell huffed a little as she forced her eyes open. "Marc," she addressed the man, pulling herself upright from where she had been laying down on the roof of one of the towers nestled in Vincent's arms half-asleep after an all-nighter. "I take it you have a report."

"Yes ma'am. Err, Captain. Or... that is..."

"Maker boy! Out with it."

"I just had this page for Commander Cullen," he explained. "I was... that is, I was handing it over, or was going to, but the Commander was..."

Vincent was the one to huff now. "What was Commander Cullen doing?"

"He and the Inquisitor were on the wall. K-k-kissing."

Jadell snapped a hand over her mouth. "Maker's breath! It's about time." She sighed, seeing the man looking back in horror. "Oh come now. Don't they deserve a bit of happiness? Both of them?"

Marc shrugged. "Lady... Captain... I suppose so, but..."

"But nothing. It's only natural." She grinned, a little evilly. "You would do well to remind the rest of the men that he's only human. If it should become a source of talk, that is."

The soldier nodded. "You had said not to leave things on his desk. So I came looking for you."

Jadell sighed and held her hand out. He placed the report there, and she leaned back into Vin's arms. He quite possessively grabbed around her waist as he added, "Next time we are indisposed and the Commander is busy making out with Mage Trevelyan, I do believe you can hand this sort of thing off to Serrah Patrick."

At Jadell's lazy, closed-eyed nod, Marc blushed. "Of course. My apologies."

As he rushed off, Jade sighed. "He's probably having a fairly bad day. Remind me to take him off message rotation the next few days."

Vin kissed the top of her forehead and chuckled. "Good idea."

0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Jadell knew it was an inevitability sometime, and soon. Yet finding Cullen passed out at his desk was a common occurrence now, and all she could do in response now was sigh. Quiet as she could, she grabbed the stack of papers under his hand and pulled it slowly from his reach. The report was simple enough- she took the page and rolled it in her hand, switching it with a few summaries she had finished throughout the day. They just awaited signature from Cullen to be passed to the Inquisitor for approval.

At least it was only one page today she had to cover for. As she slipped from his office, turning out his reading candle as she went, Jadell turned to be face-to-face with Cassandra.

"Mi'lady Seeker."

"Captain."

Jadell gave a quick salute and headed off in the direction of the room she shared with Vin. Cassandra's eyes followed, and Jade had to wonder how much the woman saw in the short encounter...