Chapter Nineteen- Cullen.
Of course, I had to add our Templar that has been in all three games! Bravo to you Cullen, you sexy Templar, you!
Huge HUUUUGE thanks to my beta, Enchantm3nt, for helping me with this! I'm sorry I overwork you!
I hope that everyone is really enjoying their shiny new games! I nearly forgot to post due to it!
And a huge thanks to those who have read this, reviewed this, and followed/favourite this! You guys are amazing! Much love!
It would not have been his first port of call, but it was a necessary one. His recruits were going missing and he needed to know why, he needed to know where they had gone, what had happened to them, and he needed to know sooner rather than later. It was not uncommon for recruits to leave the Order suddenly and without much word, sometimes it simply wasn't for them, the Order was, after all, quite an undertaking. However, far too many recruits had gone missing in far too short a time for it to be a simple case of cold feet. And they were good recruits with a great deal of potential, for them to up and disappear with no notice, no word, it was so very unlike them, which, of course, was why he had come in search of them.
It was typical for recruits to need time to adjust to their new lives within the Order, and it was not unusual for them to spend many a night at some of the brothels in Kirkwall. Cullen knew better than most how hard it could sometimes be to be surrounded by beautiful mage woman that you could not touch or really interact with. He could still see her face in his mind, still remember her smile. Amber Amell had become a Grey Warden and had stopped the Blight. The Tower had been… different after she had left, Cullen himself had been a little sadder too; he had missed her smiles and her laugh the most, he could almost have considered her a friend. Then, of course, things had become a living nightmare when Uldred led the revolt…
He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts that always resurfaced whenever he thought about Ferelden. Those memories would never leave him; they would always haunt him, and so would she. But thankfully he had a job to do, something he could focus on. Kirkwall had been a breath of fresh air for him, had helped clear his mind after the events of Kinloch Hold. And despite the occasional nightmare or flashback he was doing much better and was glad to have come to the city.
That being said, he was not looking forward to having to speak to the mistress in charge of the Brothel known as the Blooming Rose. With a heavy sigh, he straightened his back and walked forward, in through the red door and up to the woman in charge. The girls at the front scattered as soon as they saw him, all fleeing to the back of the brothel in fear. The woman in charge was also startled to see him; most people feared the Templars, especially one of his station, but she covered it up well, pursing her lips, and letting a hand rest on her hip. He could already tell she wasn't going to be very forthcoming with answers. Cullen dipped his head at her. "Madam Lusine," he said courteously. "I have questions regarding some of my men and need to speak to some of your girls."
She made a tutting noise. "I don't think so, Ser." She almost spat that last part and Cullen stopped himself from wincing. "My girls want nothing to do with you lot, but should your men want something to do with my girls… well, that's up to them, isn't it? I won't be giving you names and nor will my girls if that's what you're after."
He sighed slightly. "I am investigating the disappearance of my men, if I could just speak to-"
"That would involve telling you who comes here and who they see, your Order gives us a lot of business, we are known for our discreetness, Ser. I'll not be tarnishing the Rose's name because you've lost track of a few of your own." She folded her arms. "If that's all?"
Reluctantly he nodded and left the premises. He had known this investigation would not be easy… but he had hoped it would prove a little more forthcoming than that. It was easy with mages, he was in charge of them, and they had little choice but to obey his orders, but out here, especially up in Hightown things were much, much different. He had little say here, and thus, there was little he could do. He stared up at the sky outside, its dark foreboding clouds growing darker every minute and with a weary sigh he headed down the steps toward the Docks and back to the Gallows. With any luck his recruits will have returned and he could finally find out where they had been.
He briefly considered turning back around in order to go to the Keep in order to ask for the guard's help with his investigation. He liked Captain Vellen; she was a hard woman but a just one. There was another advantage of including the captain in his search for his missing recruits: Hawke. They were good friends and often worked together. Perhaps Hawke could accomplish what he could not. She had, after all, already done work with the Templars before, helping Ser Thrask with an investigation not long ago. Her brother had even inquired into joining the Templars and Cullen was seriously considering taking him in; the Templars were in desperate need of new recruits, especially with so many going missing recently. He had no doubt that Aria Hawke could get the answers he sought, but he was… reluctant to speak with her. He had only really seen her briefly up close, but even that was enough to freeze him where he stood; her resemblance to Amber Amell was quite striking. They had their differences, of course, but their eyes were the same and that had been enough to turn his mouth dry. He had to constantly remind himself that Aria Hawke was not Amber Amell, that she wasn't even a mage despite her family being known for magic in their veins. But her resemblance was enough to make him continue his walk to the Docks rather than turning around for help. He would check the Gallows first before considering involving others in his investigation.
Part of his reluctance to involve others in his investigation came from his trust issues, ever since Uldred he had stopped trusting mages, had stopped seeing them as innocent people, sure, some of them had good intentions, but they were still dangerous, each had the potential to kill dozens of people. And he did not trust others as easily now either, the Templars in Ferelden were too soft on the mages; Greagoir allowed the mages to live even after Uldred's revolt could have left them possessed or corrupted. It had been a turning point for Cullen, all that he endured, all that he saw and heard… he knew his duty now better than ever, he would be vigilant and he would do his duty and find his recruits, preferably without outside help, especially if something sinister was occurring.
The thought made him grit his teeth as he reached the Docks. He was about to get into the boat that would ferry him across to the Gallows when one of his Templar recruits stepped in front of him. It was rare to have women in the Order, just as it was to have women in the City Guard, and he was glad she wasn't one of the missing, she looked worried, however.
"Knight Captain," she said with a dip of her head which he returned. "I have news of one of the missing recruits. Wilmod was here not long ago. I spoke with him but he did not seem himself; he was acting… odd. He informed me that he was going to the Wounded Coast, and that should you ask after him to tell you that you could find him there," she said as quickly as she could.
He frowned at that. Wilmod had been missing for some time, a few weeks at least. Now he had returned only to leave again with a destination. It smelt like a trap but Cullen had no way of knowing just what sort of trap it was. His desire for answers outweighed the risk, however.
"I will go and investigate. Have Ser Thrask ready a regiment of Templars should I fail to return by nightfall," he said briskly, and the recruit nodded and hopped in the boat back to the Gallows.
He stormed back up the steps to Lowtown, not liking this at all. He did not want to rouse the Templars only for this to be an elaborate attempt to free mages from the Gallows, hence why he was going alone instead of brining a large force of men with him. If he got into difficulty though… He shook his head. He knew his duty. Wilmod was his recruit. His responsibility. He would do this himself.
…
He found Wilmod's camp far too easily. He wasn't sure what he had expected. A fight, perhaps. Instead, what he found was Wilmod staring up at him blankly. Cullen was immediately on edge, looking around for danger, but at the same time he was thoroughly confused.
"Wilmod," he said evenly. "What are you doing out here? Where have you been?" he said as he narrowed his eyes and let his hand rest on the pommel of his sword.
Wilmod cocked his head to the side, those dark eyes of his almost looking past him, as if not seeing him, not caring to, and still he remained silent; it was unnerving.
"You have been gone for weeks. Where did you go? Why come back now?" he asked, getting more agitated by the second.
Nothing.
"Wilmod, explain yourself," he commanded, looking at the boy who just stared blankly up at him.
Cullen was on edge, his nerves frayed, his patience at an end. He needed answers. He would have them. He closed the space between him and his recruit, his tempter getting the better of him. He needed to snap him out of that blank stare of his, needed some kind of response. He grabbed the boy by the collar and hauled him to his feet and pushed him back toward the rock.
"Andraste be my witness, Wilmod! I will have the truth from you! NOW!" Cullen spat at him, finally getting a reaction out of the boy; his face paled, his eyes widening in fear, as he staggered back against the rock.
Finally an emotion!
"Mercy ser! Mercy!" Wilmod almost cried, his eyes growing wider at Cullen's outburst, "Don't hit me."
The words seemed rehearsed, they seemed wrong. Cullen could sense it now he was closer to Wilmod; he could feel the blood magic hug his body tightly like a mother with a new born babe. He thought it had been different in Kirkwall, he thought that the mages were under control. It seemed not. He launched his foot into Wilmod, knowing fully well that whatever had happened to him would strike back in fear or anger. Blood mages were created by fear and anger. Anger of oppression, of death, of having to go back, Cullen knew their excuses and pitied none of them.
Wilmod fell to the ground at the impact of Cullen's foot; he stared widely up at the knight captain as if in confusion, but Cullen knew. Cullen knew something was amiss, Cullen practically lived his Templar years in blood magic, he had become familiar with its stains.
"I will know where you're going, and I will know now," Cullen growled, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at the young recruit with the readiness to strike him down if the need arose.
Before he could act, he heard her voice calling behind him. He had only heard it a week or so ago, and yet he knew her voice.
"So, not happy with just giving the tough love to the mages, branching out with recruits now are we, Knight Captain," Hawke's voiced chimed, making him turn for a moment to regard her. She stared at him coolly, accompanied by an elf, a dwarf and her brother Carver Hawke. Judging by the boy's disapproving glare he would no longer be considering joining the Order. The others in the party didn't look particularly impressed either, the elf had a scowl to rival the younger Hawke's and the dwarf had an eyebrow raised inquisitively, obviously curious as to what was about to transpire. It was Aria Hawke that held his attention the longest, however, those eyes of hers boring into him, icy and cold, even though her eyebrow was also cocked, a mocking smirk on her lips. He knew how quickly this could go from a confrontation to a fight with the Hawke woman. She had quite the reputation for helping innocents.
Hawke's green eyes narrowed slightly as she waited for his response, that eyebrow still raised in defiance. Her fingers twitched ever so slightly but to him it was a clear warning of a fight about to break out.
"That's the blasted Knight Captain, don't, Az," her brother muttered. Hawke looked over her shoulder at the younger Hawke, acknowledging his comment, but her stance remained hostile. One thing he knew for certain about Amell women was their damned stubbornness.
"This is Templar business, Serah Hawke," Cullen stated in a cold manner, wishing the woman would not get involved where it was not wanted. Admittedly she had helped Thrask with his duties the other week but he did not need Hawke to meddle in which he knew best; he had seen blood magic at its very worst, and he would let it poison his new home as it had done in Ferelden.
Before he could turn back and deal with Wilmod, a manic laugh escaped the young recruit behind him. Cullen swirled round quickly, trying to gather his thoughts from the madness that was occurring, but Wilmod started speaking, his voice no longer his own.
"You have struck me for the last time, pathetic human. To me!" Wilmod called out into the sky as he backed away from the Knight Captain, a sadistic looking smile plastered upon his youthful face.
A blood red light blinded his sight and before Cullen even regained it he knew what would be stood waiting for him. Sure enough, n abominationstood in Wilmod's place, its arms outstretched and ready to attempt to take Cullen to the Maker's side. He turned to look at Hawke, and was shocked to see her face was not shocked nor disgusted but instead she got out her daggers in a calm manner, as if was about to have a sparring match rather than face a demonic monster of the Fade.
Before the battle could even begin, the abomination summoned reinforcements. Cullen readied his sword for the fight, the Chant of Light playing in the back of his head as it had done for almost eight years of his life. He charged with sword ready, brandishing it more like it was a part of his own self than a heavy metal weapon. He swung it towards the demon that was once Wilmod, but before he could put the abomination to its knees he heard the slash of daggers and the abomination was already on the floor.
Maker, had she become invisible?
If it were not for the sounds of daggers slashing he would not even be able to tell that Hawke was fighting amongst her companions. She darted around her brother as their bodies were tied, stabbing any part of the abomination with a quick fury. The elf was fighting amongst them too; Cullen could almost taste the lyrium that the elf emitted as he flashed about the abomination that was attempting to make its way to Hawke. It seemed he was not the only man who was curious about the woman. The dwarf, the elf and her brother seemed to sense her more than see her, but still protected her as if she was precious. Oh yes, he remembered the effect the last Amell had given him.
He wondered for a moment if there was a man that was more than a brother in arms to Hawke but shook the thought off quickly as he smashed his sword into a demon's throat. No, women like Hawke seemed to be all business and no pleasure so to speak. Yet, he found these kind of qualities to be somewhat admirable.
The battle ended with a storm of arrows that the dwarf had released, and Cullen walked up to Hawke who very much like himself was covered in demon ichor and blood. She did not look too bothered by the grime that covered her and Cullen wondered how many times she had experienced such things.
"I knew, I knew he was involved in something sinister," Cullen said to her, before she could comment anything more on his actions. It made him shudder to think that he wanted to justify his actions to her and yet he did it willingly. He hoped she would not think ill of him, he hoped a lot of things but none of them rarely happened. Did he have a small crush on Hawke? Was it because she reminded him slightly of her cousin? He started to doubt himself but snapped himself back to his duties.
A Templar had been possessed. He had never heard of such a thing, he had never dreamed of such a thing even his worst nightmares. A thing like this could label Templars just as weak as mages in the terms of demons; it could spurn morale for mages and diminish the Order. Cullen would not have that, he would not allow it to happen. And yet it unnerved him how easily they had obtained his Templars, how easily they too had succumbed to demons. Cullen had started doubting everything lately, when it was too late to doubt most things.
"How is this even possible?" he asked Hawke, but was really questioning thin air. He knew that Hawke would certainly not know of such things, especially if he didn't.
She looked at him softly for a moment, then glared at him with a scowl he remembered the Chantry mother from his childhood used to wear on her face.
"You shouldn't have been alone here Knight Captain," she said, scolding him.
Cullen blinked once. Twice. She wasn't concerned about the possessed Templar recruit, but that he was out here alone? Cullen wondered if this woman was mad, and even if she was he knew it was most likely the good kind.
"Luckily I had you. I thank you for your assistance, Serah Hawke," he said, bowing to the woman before him.
"Please, it's Aria to my friends," she chimed, her scowl completely ironed over with an easy smile.
Friends? It was an odd thought to Cullen. In one hand Aria Hawke held a cold bitterness but in the other she held friendship? This woman was a contradiction to all those who walked among her, her very spirit screamed that she was chaos and yet many followed her. Cullen eyed the dwarf and the elf, two spectrums of the races amongst Thedas and yet they stood together united under Hawke.
"Aria it is then. I have been following leads for two days now; I checked the brothel, hoping to speak to some of the, ahem, ladies, that worked there but they seemed uncomfortable by my presence," Cullen said, not wanting to explain to Aria Hawke that his mere being had scared away all of the girls and got him kicked out by the Madam in charge like he was some kind of villain. "Yes, I can see why the Knight Captain walking into a brothel that is so commonly used by his recruits would unnerve the women there," Hawke agreed, a smile playing on her lips as she replied. Cullen was unnerved by this woman, there was something underneath the surface, deeper than he could see and he knew for his own sake he wouldn't want to find out. The elf smirked for a moment at her remark, but the expression changed in a flash, resuming its normal indifferent glare.
"This needs to be ended, and fast," Cullen stated, the truth resounding from his like a never ending echo from an endless tunnel. He knew what Meredith would do if she even caught wind of the extremity of the acts that were being committed. She would destroy everything and anything associated with the crime, she would call upon the Divine and the march on Kirkwall would begin with an hour's notice. As much as Cullen admired Meredith and her ruling over the Circle, she was nothing but extreme when it came to matters such as this. If someone were to help him resolve the matter before it became out of hand, if maybe he could have someone from the outside to help play the problem down a little… He looked at Hawke and before he even asked what he knew he would end up asking she interrupted, a knowing smirk on her face.
"I shall look into it for you, Knight Captain, the girls will be a lot more talkative to little old me," she said dramatically, a sarcastic grin glinting on her lips.
Aria Hawke was a rare creature indeed, it seemed most of the Amell women were. Cullen could feel it in his aging bones that the name Aria Hawke would become famous across the Free Marches for years to come.