To Her Worship, Inquisitor Trevelyan,

Hello, sister.

Forgive me for not being able to contact you since you left the Ostwick Circle. Since we've battled the Blight, I had sincerely wished to write to you. But I had other matters to attend, which included the frequent visits to the Deep Roads to monitor darkspawn activity, and the rebuilding of the Ferelden Wardens, as we were decimated with very few numbers after our misadventures. Believe me when I say, that I am thrilled and ecstatic to receive your letter, and nothing comforts me more than knowing that you are safe as I travel this path alone to search for a cure for the Calling.

I have also received word that aside from Leliana, you currently have our twin brothers and Cullen with you, and it comforts me greatly. With this knowledge, I now know that you are all safe and protected by the Commander. He is a good man, even if his past wounded him greatly. Show him this letter, if you must, so that he may see that I still hold him in my heart as a friend and former-protector, and that whatever he thinks he has to apologize for, I have already forgiven him before I even left the Ferelden Circle that night of Uldred's uprising.

I appreciate your warning regarding Corypheus, sister. Fortunately, my own search has taken me out of the area where the supposed magister is operating, and while I have encountered challenges of my own, they have not involved any weakness related to my Grey Warden abilities.

I have also included a note of a personal nature for Warden Alistair.

Sister, I beg you, please take care of him. Like me, he is instrumental in ending the last Blight. I trust his compassion and strength above any others, and I would not go through such effort to overcome our Callings only to lose him to your Inquisition.

As I have little useful information to offer, please accept the accompanying gifts for you and the twins instead. If, in my quest, I find anything useful that may be of use to you in your fight against Corypheus, I will send it to you immediately.

In closing, I wish you luck. Leading so many of the faithful and the brave to save the world is not a small task, nor is it an easy one. Hold your friends and family to your heart, be brave and remember that whatever happens, your sister and your family loves you and is proud of you.

Yours,

Warden Commander Solona Amell-Theirin of Ferelden

Alex lowered the letter as she stroked Daylen's hair on her lap, while Maxwell had his arm around her, looking wistfully out the balcony of her room. In front of her, Alistair and Cullen sat on two chairs, watching the siblings as she read the letter aloud. She sighed heavily as Daylen reached up and took the letter from her hands, reading it silently, "It's good to hear from her."

"Very good." Maxwell assented.

"But she didn't say where she is."

"No."

"Will she be okay?"

Alex shook her head, "I don't know. The scout said she looked fine, if not a tad tired." She looked up at Alistair, "What did she say in your letter, brother-in-law?"

Alistair sighed a little, "That she is tired, but she's not going to stop… not until she's cured the Calling. She might be on to something. There's danger, of course, but there's always danger." He smiled down at her, "Thank you for getting word. It's easier to put it out of our mind, to focus at the task at hand… but hearing from her… Maker's breath, but I do miss that woman." He sighed heavily then.

Alex smiled up at him, "Then I'm happy to have helped you, Alistair." And the Warden smiled widely at her, visibly relieved and happier that his wife was alive out there.

Daylen pushed himself up from Alex's lap to sit beside her, so that the twins now sandwiched her between them, "What of these gifts Solona told about, sister?"

"Oh, right." Alex said, and she reached at the top of her bed to pull out the parcels that had accompanied the letter. The long parcel, which was obviously a staff, was addressed to Maxwell, a smaller box was for Alex, and another was addressed to Daylen. Alex opened up the longer package, which contained an ornate staff, made of Silverite, molded and curved to look like two entwined snakes. " 'To Maxwell, I leave my most powerful staff, Final Reason.' " Alex read from the letter that accompanied the package as Maxwell took the staff and gazed at it in wonder, " 'May he protect his loved ones with this staff, as it had for me.'"

Alistair looked at the staff and smiled fondly, "I should hope so. That's the wand she used to fight the Archdemon."

Maxwell blinked hard at the Warden, before looking at the staff again, "Then I will cherish it."

Alex gave the other parcel to Daylen, who began tearing it open, " 'To Daylen, I leave a rare book, found a dark corner in the Wonders of Thedas. May it cause him much love and life, and a happier future.'"

"Maker's breath!" Daylen exclaimed as he finally revealed the contents, which turned out to be a small, bound book. "It's… it's the Carmenum Di Amatus!"

Alex took one look at the book, and burst out laughing, with Maxwell laughing along while Alistair and Cullen looked at them in confusion. "Sorry, but I told her you were looking for it." Alex admitted, patting her brother's hand as he blushed furiously, "I told her I couldn't find it in any book supplier that had this since it was banned. She must've tried to look for it in Denerim."

Daylen huffed out a breath, but soon enough he was smiling, "I guess she still is looking out for us. What did you get, sister?"

She opened up the smallest parcel of the bunch, giving the letter for Maxwell to read, only to reveal a velvet box. Inside it was a thin, gold ring, with a white stone melded into a side of it that had the Amell family crest on it. " 'To Alexandra, I give the only thing left of… my previous life before I became a Warden. May it remind her to always be proud of her family and where she came from.'"

Maxwell and Daylen looked down at her as she gazed at the ring in wonder. She did not know where Solona had acquired the stone that had their family crest, but the thin band was recognizable. It was a Ring of Study, one she still wore, and it symbolized that a Solona was strong enough to pass her Harrowing smoothly. She felt her eyes water as she gazed at the ring, before putting it on her ring finger, just above her own Ring of Study that she had gotten from the Ostwick Circle.

The twins hugged her tight from either side of her, and she smiled at them, bonding with them at the knowledge that their older sister was still looking out for them. But soon enough, Alistair coughed, "Well, Solona is out there, fighting. I say we do the same thing, and end Corypheus and his demon army."

He stood up from his chair and held out both of his hands, and the twins took them to pull themselves up, leaving Alex at the floor. He looked down at her, "Do you need a moment, Alex?"

She smiled up at him and nodded, "If you don't mind, I need to speak with Cullen alone."

Alistair smiled in understanding, "Of course, Inquisitor."

He and the twins headed down the stairs out of Alex's room, closing the door behind them as Cullen stood up from his seat and sank down beside Alex with a sigh. He looked down at her before putting his left arm around her shoulders and taking Solona's letter with his right hand. " 'I have already forgiven him before I even left the Ferelden Circle that night of Uldred's uprising.'" He read aloud, before sighing again, "Maker, I didn't think she would."

Alex wrapped her arms around his torso, laying her head on his chest, "She is right, you know. You are a good man."

"All these years, I've wondered what she thought of me." Cullen admitted, "I thought that… after everything I said to her… that she would think that I'm…"

"Well, she didn't." Alex said before he could finish his statement, stopping him from degrading himself. He sighed again before leaning his face against her head, kissing her temple as he breathed in her lavender scent. "You're right. She didn't. She really is a remarkable woman."

Alex bit her lip a little, before she pulled away a little from him, gazing at his amber eyes, "Cullen… if I may ask… do you… still love my sister?"

Cullen blinked in surprise at her, before an adorable smirk lifted his lips, "By the Maker… are you jealous?"

"What?! No! Of course not!" Alex denied, a little too quickly, causing the Commander to burst out laughing. Alex pouted and smacked him on the chest, and he continued to laugh as he lowered the letter to the floor and wrapped both of his arms around her.

"Alexandra, honestly, you don't have to be jealous." Cullen said, still smiling at her, "In my youth, I had an infatuation with her. But that was all." He tightened his hold on her as he kissed her lips, "You are… the only Amell I ever want in my life."

Alex's pouting face brightened into a smile, and soon enough she chuckled as she put her arms around his neck, "Sweet talker." She whispered, raising herself up to kiss him fully on his lips. He sighed against her, his mouth opening to kiss her deeper, his tongue tasting the spiced wine she drank in her mouth. His embrace tightened, and he shifted her so that she straddled him on his lap, her hips practically grinding against him. The feel of her and his need to feel more of her tortured him, and with a painful but wanting groan he separated from her, "Alexandra…" He said in a most seducing whisper, "As… as much as I really want to continue this… we really… have to head to Adamant Fortress… before I lose whatever control I have left."

She sighed heavily at the loss of his mouth on hers, but she began to rain gentle kisses down his neck, "Does this mean… that whatever this is going… we would have to wait?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Cullen said, his hands going up her sides and under her shirt, touching the bare skin on her hips just over the belt of her trousers, causing her to inhale. "Believe me, I want to finish so badly… but if we do, more Wardens will die, and Corypheus' demon army will increase in number."

Alex sighed again, before stopping her assault on his senses, her eyes heavy with lust, but she kissed him lightly on the lips, "You're a tease, do you know that?" She said, as she pushed herself up to stand. He groaned in disappointment at their separation, but he pushed himself up and righted himself, just as she did.

"I will… ready our armies to head to Adamant Fortress, Alexandra." He said, as Alex looked at him, "Please… for my sake, be careful."

Her eyes softened as she stood in front of him again, and she kissed him, "I will, Cullen. And… for my sake, take care of yourself, too." And she gave him a seducing look as she ran her hands down his chest, lingering dangerously close to the belt of his pants, "Because if something happens to you and we can't finish this, I will be most upset."

He laughed a little, taking her hand off the dangerous and torturous path it was going, and kissing her palm, "Now who's the tease, Inquisitor?"

She laughed a little, kissing him on his cheek, before winking and heading down the stairs, giving him one more look of seduction, her hips swaying as she walked away and closed the door. He watched her go longingly, before sighing and pulling his feathered cloak closer to his body to cover his… rather visible proof that he wanted the Inquisitor.