While the Herald and her companions were in the Hinterlands, Cullen preoccupied himself with training the pilgrims that came to Haven, and the survivors from the Conclave that decided to join their forces to help stop the Breach, including some mages and templars. And he was grateful for the distraction, as the presence of the Herald caused him some… unrest.

Ever since he found out that she was the sister of the Hero of Ferelden… of Solona… he couldn't help but feel like he had owed her an apology, which he kept thinking was foolish, as he had never done anything to her. But when she looked at him, he felt like he was looking at Solona herself, and he kept thinking about his time at the Kinoch Hold Circle.

He would smell the scent of blood and fire, hear the cries of his fellow templars as they were killed by the maleficarum that had ravaged them almost ten years ago. He was in horrible state then, almost losing his mind in rage and anger and devastation at the sight of his dead friends. He had argued… or rather shouted at Solona then, telling her to kill all her fellow mages should they be influenced by the other blood mages. Solona gave him a fierce look… similar to the Alex gave them when she told them of her background, and told him that she would not slay innocents without proof. He continued to berate her, shout at her, until finally the Warden left him so that she could deal with Uldred, the person behind the massacre and desecration of the Kinoch Circle.

Solona was able to save the Circle, of course, with her lover, the Grey Warden Alistair, Leliana and a Circle mage named Wynne. But he was still insisting that the mages of the tower should be guarded in a much stricter regime.

And that was when Knight-Commander Gregoir and First Enchanter Irving decided to send him to Kirkwall.

While he was in Kirkwall, he was finally able to calm down and think things through. He regretted the way he spoke to Solona, and he had hoped to be able to send a letter and apologize to her. But there was much unrest and fear in the city that he had his hands busy during his tenure there. The Kirkwall Circle's Knight-Commander, Meredith Stannard, was convinced that the tower was harboring blood mages and often resorted to extreme measures to discover the truth, even as he and Alex's cousin, Hawke tried to help. And when the apostate, Anders, cause the explosion of the Kirkwall Chantry, her paranoia burst, and she invoked the Rite of Annulment, ordering the death of all the mages in the Circle. He assisted Hawke in bringing her down, for the safety of the city, before he let the Champion of Kirkwall go. She faded off to Maker knows where, while he stabilized the city back into order, which was when Cassandra came to him and offered him his current position.

And now, yet again, he is in the service of another mage… another Amell.

Maker, how ironic… he couldn't help but think, watching the pilgrims train as he saw Leliana and Josephine speak to Mother Giselle as they headed inside the Chantry. I refused to help Solona back in Kinoch Hold, and here I am at the service of her younger sister.

His reverie was cut short when a series of shouting drew his attention to the doors of the Chantry, where he saw a group of templars and mages yelling at each other hoarse. He growled as he headed to them.

"Your kind killed the most Holy!" A templar had shouted at a mage, his hand at the hilt of his sword.

"And how do you know that the templars didn't do it either? You dare accuse us when you are the ones at fault. You and your twisted ways of protecting the Chantry!" A mage screamed back at him, and the templar drew his sword. He stood between them, pushing the two factions back before shouting, "Enough!"

"Knight Commander!" said the templar but he shook his head, "That is no longer my title. We swore ourselves to the Inquisition. Stay your blade and fight for the real enemy."

"And what does this Inquisition wishes us to do?" Another person said, and he scowled when another Chantry cleric came forth, his arm crossed in anger, "Who will be willing to lead us now? This rebel Inquisition and the heretic 'Herald of Andraste'?"

"Chancellor Roderick, why I am not surprised to know that you're behind this?" He said, "Haven't you done enough?"

"What is the meaning of this?!" a female voice said, and Cullen looked behind the mages to see the Herald, Alex, making their way to them, looking livid.

"This Inquisition is a farce." Roderick spoke again, and Cullen growled as Alex turned positively red with rage. "You stand here, a mage with that mark in your hand, claiming to fix this chaos. And what will come after? Will you uproot the very teachings of the Chantry to achieve power?"

"You get ahead of yourself, Chancelor." Alex said, "I did not create this Inquisition. One of your very own did. Have you already forgotten what Cassandra said? This Inquisition was proclaimed so by Divine Justinia herself. The fact that you question her very writ… her very order, tells me you have no regard for her wishes."

Roderick sputtered indignantly, "You dare…!"

"Yes, I dare." Alex said, cutting off the old man, "I dare to find a way to close the Breach, and I dare to fight my way into finding a method to do that. Blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter. And I will not, under any circumstance, falter to close that wicked thing in the sky. And now if you are quite done, I must consult my advisors into heading to Val Royeaux."

Roderick's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, before he stomped off angrily, leaving Alex, Cullen and the soldiers by the doors of the Chantry. Alex watched the man storm off, and Cullen sighed in exasperation as he addressed the men, "Back to your duties, all of you."

The soldiers dispersed off, going back to their stations and as soon as the two of them were alone, Alex sighed tiredly, her stance relaxing as she ran a hand down her face, "Maker, this 'Herald' business is turning me into a hot-headed idiot."

Cullen chuckled, causing her to look at him, "I don't know. You were cool enough to deal with Chancelor Roderick properly. If I had been in your place, well…"

Alex snorted, her lip rising to one corner as she smirked, "If Cassandra were in my place, that man would probably be full of swords right about now." She shook her head as she turned around, opening the doors of the Chantry, "Anything new I should hear about before I head to Val Royeaux, Commander?"

"There are some letter that have arrived, some requesting assistance from the Inquisition." He said, remembering the piles of papers that have accumulated at the War Table. "Josephine said that a letter arrived that concerns your relatives in Ostwick, and Varric seemed to have put in a request as well. And Arl Teagan Guerrin of Redcliffe is at Denerim and has sent a letter as well, accepting the formation of the Inquisition and promising aid. Perhaps we could send one of Ferelden soldiers as an honor guard for negotiations."

Alex nodded, "I accept that suggestion. Get it done. The four of us will head into Val Royeaux to speak to the Chantry."

Cullen bowed a little, "Understood, Herald."

They stopped in the middle of the hall in the Chantry, and Alex turned towards him, with a very visible… and strangely adorable smirk that made Cullen's face warm up a little. "Try not to destroy Haven while we're gone, Commander."

He blinked, realizing the Herald was joking with him, and surprisingly, the smile came easy on his face. "The walls will be standing when you return, Herald."

Alex's one eye closed and opened, and he realized that she winked at him, before heading into the War Room to speak with Leliana and Josephine. He coughed a little, running a hand on the back of his neck shyly, before heading out of the Chantry, completely oblivious as to how much his face flamed red.