Alex sat down her throne, her serious, Inquisitor look on her face as the nobles and her people in Skyhold gathered in front of her, ready for her judgment. Josephine was kind enough to put a goblet of wine on the small table beside her, and she reached out to take a drink. But as Cullen approached her throne looking just as serious as her, she finished her sip and put her hands on her lap to watch him as he bowed.

"Forgive me, Inquisitor." Her lover said as he straightened and approached her throne, "For personal interest, I have relieved Josephine. As you might expect."

Of course, you did. She thought as her soldiers dragged in the prisoner, Samson, his hands clasped in irons as Cullen spoke again. "Knight-templar Samson, general to Corypheus, tritor to the Order. The blood on his hands cannot be measured. His head is too valuable to take. Kirkwall, Orlais… many would see him suffer. I can't say I'm not one of them." He admitted.

Alex gave him a reproachful look, and he matched it with a look of anger against his former brother. "Judging him will affect as many as his crimes. I won't take it lightly."

But Samson looked up at her, his eyes blazing red with withdrawal from red lyrium against his pallor, "The red lyrium will steal your vengeance. You know what it does. Corypheus only delayed my corruption."

Cullen blinked in shock as he looked down at the man, "Are you still loyal to that thing? He poisoned the Order, used them to kill thousands!"

"Templars have always been used!" Samson retorted back angrily, "How many were left to rot, like I was, after the Chantry burned away their minds?! Piss on it! I followed him so templars could at least die at their best! Same lie as the Chantry. The prophet just isn't as pretty."

Alex leaned forward from her throne as she looked Samson squarely in the eye to watch his reaction, "I found your people. They believed in you. Believed your cause was righteous."

Samson scowled back at her, "Not your business, Inquisitor."

"Your friend Maddox was so loyal, he killed himself. For you." Cullen added, and Alex watched as a trace of sadness entered the man's eyes, even though he still looked furious.

"They were always going to die." Samson told them, "I saw what Corypheus was doing, so yes, I fed them hope instead of despair. I made them believe their pain had purpose. Just like the Chantry does, right, Commander?" He sighed as he looked down, and his voice softened a little in regret, "It ended as well as anything else I've done. Corypheus would kill me on sight. I'll tell your people what they want. Everything I cared about is destroyed."

Alex silenced as she looked at him, and for a moment, she pitied him. The fact that he regretted Maddox's death meant that he still had some of his humanity left. She looked over at Cullen, who was still looking angrily at the man, and she pondered what would have happened to him if she had advised him to keep taking his lyrium. Though normal lyrium was different from the red one Samson was taking before, she understood what he meant when he said that the Chantry would've burned away his mind, and she was thankful that she saved him from such a fate.

"Very well, Samson." Alex finally said, pointing down at him, "You will spend your remaining years serving the Inquisition. Cullen will be your handler. Perhaps he can get something useful out of you."

Both Cullen and Samson looked at her in shock at her sentence. "I doubt the Commander believes there's anything worthy left in me."

"You're not wrong." Cullen told him, still looking a little angry, but his look softened, "But you served something greater than yourself once. Perhaps you can be made to remember that."

Alex watched as Samson gave her a strange look, before one of the soldiers pulled at his arm to take him back to the dungeons. Cullen didn't speak to her, and she watched him as he stomped off as the people in the Throne Room dispersed, and he headed towards Solas' rotunda to head back to his office.

"Is there anything else, Inquisitor?" One of the soldiers asked her and she turned to him as she stood up from her seat.

"Do not give him any lyrium, no matter how hard he protests, curse or hurt himself." She told him as they walked, "Not even the blue ones. Cullen weaned himself from that stuff. It's only fitting that he does the same."

The soldier nodded and put his right fist over his chest in a salute, "Of course, Your Worship." And he headed off towards the dungeons to relay his instructions.

Alex headed into the rotunda only to see Solas standing by his table, writing something, and at her entrance, he looked up and smiled at the sight of her. "Andaran atish'an, ma falon." He said, and she smiled at him. He had started calling her his friend in elvish, and as she had been learning from him, she had even started talking to him a bit in the language.

"Hahren." She said, as she started calling him 'her Elder', as the elf was wise and had guided her through her journey as Inquisitor. "Did Cullen pass through here?"

"He did, looking like a storm cloud." He said as he stood beside her, "Is something the matter?"

"I just finished judging Samson." Alex said as she leaned against his table, "I asked Cullen to be his handler while he worked for us here in the Inquisition. Any information he knows might be useful for our cause. But it seems like Cullen didn't like my decision."

The elf nodded, "Your decision has merit, although I do understand the Commander's frustration on the decision, ma falon. I sense that he would rather see the man dead, after everything he had done. Ir abelas… I know that making such a decision is hard."

"It was." Alex said as she ran a hand through her forehead, "Hawke gave him a chance once. She asked Cullen to take him back in to the templars after he helped her discover a plot against Meredith. I sense that there is still good in him, even though Cullen could not see it."

Solas smiled at her, "I think he would consider such an opinion as nothing more than naïve, but I quite understand." He sighed as he stared at his walls, his paintings, wistfully, "Though his methods were wrong and led to so much death and destruction, I believe he did what he could to save his people… or at least give them hope. Desperation drives men to extreme measures for the sake of his people."

Alex smiled up at him kindly, "Is that speaking from experience, hahren?"

The elf chuckled, "Perhaps. A regret that a younger elf made… a long time ago."

Solas silenced, and Alex surmised that he was reminiscing his past. She wrapped her arm around his and leaned on his shoulder, startling the elf a little, but soon he leaned his head against hers. "Whatever you did in your past, Solas, I believe it has made you a wiser man."

The elf chuckled, closing his eyes as he leaned over and breathed, smelling the lavender scent of her hair, "Perhaps. But sometimes I still wonder. Do not worry, ma falon. Perhaps I'm just pondering the future upon Corypheus' defeat."

Alex shrugged, "You know you're welcome to stay here, Solas. I like having you here. You don't have to go anywhere. You've been alone for far too long."

Solas silenced, and for a moment, Alex felt like the elf stopped breathing for a second, before he sighed. "You are too kind, ma falon. I shall consider it. For now, perhaps you should speak to Cullen."

Alex nodded against his shoulder and she straightened a bit, before looking up at Solas. Her green eyes clashed with his blue ones, and she smiled up at him before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek, making the elf blink in surprise and blush red.

"Ma melana halani." Alex told him when she separated, "It's only fitting that I return the favor. So please, don't leave me, hahren."

Solas smiled tenderly at him, "I won't, ma falon."

Alex smiled at him again as she let go of his arm, "Ma serranas, hahren. I'll be heading to Cullen now. We'll speak again later."

Solas bowed down a little at her as she started walking towards the doors of the battlements that led to Cullen's office, "Dareth shiral…" He said, and she gave him one more bright and warm smile, closing the door behind her just as he whispered…

"Ma vhenan."

She found Cullen in his office after speaking to Solas, looking a little angry as he threw daggers at a dummy he had mounted on his wall to the left of his desk. She watched him as he moved in precise movements, angling his body and his hand so that the point of the dagger was firmly embedded into the straw dummy. As he threw his last dagger directly into the dummy's head, he sighed heavily before turning to look at her.

"Samson took everything from those templars." Cullen told her as he looked down at his desk, at the pile of papers he was supposed to sign. "He corrupted their souls, twisted them into everything they stood against. Everything they would have hated."

Alex crossed her arms as she looked at him, "I know the red templars fight for Corypheus, but I feel sorry for them."

The man shook his head sadly, "They're barely human now." And his brows furrowed angrily again, "The red lyrium left Samson's mind unaltered. He knew what he was doing. He dares speak as though it were a mercy? The man's a monster. I pray his information is useful. His life is good for little else."

She shrugged, "You knew Samson. You don't feel even a little sympathy for him?"

"I may have once. But after what he's done…" He said, "My sympathy lie with those he betrayed. They will extend no further. The red templars need to be torn down. We've broken Corypheus' army." He sighed heavily as he raised his hand up and run it through the back of his neck, looking a little sad, "I might have known some of them. If my life had gone differently… I might have been one of them." He looked up at her, "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had not been at the Conclave? If you'd never become the Inquisitor?"

Alex sighed and lowered her arms, walking around his table until she stood directly in front of him. She raised her arms to wrap them around his neck, and she felt his own arms wrap around her waist as stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his lips, making him growl a little. She smiled as she separated from him, "A life without you? Never."

The corner of Cullen's lip lifted into a smirk, and she couldn't help but feel enamoured at the action, considering how much it made her toes curl when he smirked. "So… you're not upset with my decision?"

He blinked in surprise, "Upset? What made you think that I was upset?"

She shrugged, "You stomped back here after I did the judgment."

Cullen sighed as he tightened his hold on her, nuzzling her neck, "I was… a bit. But I know that you did that because his knowledge was invaluable… as much as I wanted him dead. And besides…" He smirked against her skin again as he dragged her towards the ladder that led up to his bedroom, "What kind of a lover would I be if I did not support the decisions of ma vhenan?"

Ale blinked as she separated from him a little, surprised that he had just spoken elvish, "You…"

He smiled at her, "I've been reading up on your tome when I have the chance. What do you think?" He bent over her and kissed her lips, her mouth opening to taste him as he murmured, "Ma emma lath… ma vhenan'ara…"

Alex growled out a little as she pushed him against the wall of his office, kissing him hotly, and he replied her passion with his own. "Damn you, Cullen…" Alex breathed out as she pulled at him, dragging him by the fur of his collar as she made her way up the ladder. Cullen chuckled as he followed her, and when they reached his bedroom, Alex pulled at his cloak and armor. "Seeing you smirk turns me on… watching you charge into battle turns me on… and now hearing you speak elven turns me on. Is there anything you do that doesn't turn me on?!"

Cullen laughed out loud as he kissed her, unbuttoning her blouse as she pulled him towards the bed, and he laid her down, settling between her clothed legs, and she writhed under him, "So everything I do turns you on? That's rather flattering. Perhaps you should see me when I'm sparring then. Sword in hand, huffing and sweating shirtless…"

"Maker's breath…" Alex growled again as she pushed him so that he lay on his back, making him laugh again, "I'll have you huffing and sweating with your sword in my hand, just you wait."

Cullen laughed again as she pulled her shirt and her bindings off in one movement, and she clawed at his chest to remove his shirt. When he was shirtless, he hugged her to his chest, growling as they kissed ardently and passionately, feeling proud at the fact that the Inquisitor was addicted to him as he was to her.