"So, he sent you back to Highever without even saying goodbye?"

Nadia nodded. "Yes. I wanted to stay, though. He knew I could help rebuild Kirkwall, but he sent me home anyway. I later found out that the templars who came as reinforcements were the same templars who followed the Lord Seeker and agreed to use red lyrium, so it was a good thing he sent me home. They sided with Corypheus and I can't even imagine what that did to Cullen."

"What about when you met at the Temple of Sacred Ashes?" Rosalie asked. "What happened there?"

"Matthew! Where are you?!"

Nadia ran through the rubble of the ruined Temple of Sacred Ashes.

"Matthew!"

A Fade rift opened behind her and she drew her staff. Someone fell out of the rift and landed unconscious on the ground.

"Matthew!"

Nadia ran forward to her friend, but she stopped when she saw a figure glowing white in the rift. It looked like a woman. The rift closed and Nadia hurried to Matthew's side. "Matthew, can you hear me?"

Men began to advance on Nadia and her unconscious friend. Nadia stood, her staff in a defensive position.

"Stay back!" she warned.

"Stand down, mage. That man is to be taken in for questioning." one of the soldiers said.

"No, you will not have him!"

One of the men, previously a templar, stepped forward and glared at her. "Stand down, mage girl, else I bind you!"

Nadia had never been bound before and never wanted to be, but if it meant protecting Matthew Trevelyan, the only person since Kirkwall who looked after her and the other mages who survived, she was willing to risk it. "No."

The ex-templar growled and cast a binding at her, forcing her to her knees.

Nadia gasped and felt her arms slam into her sides, and her knees buckled under her causing her to fall to her knees. She tried to fight it, but this binding was too strong.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Nadia looked up at the voice. "Make him stop... Cullen, please..."

Cullen stared in shock at the bound mage and began enraged, barely containing his anger.."Release her immediately."

"But, Commander, she is interfering with the capture of our target." the ex-templar said.

"That is Nadia Cousland of Highever, cousin to the Teyrn of Highever and the Queen of Ferelden. She is no more a threat than you are. Release her at once or you will be severely punished."

The man looked at his commander and reluctantly released her. Nadia gasped for breath and the Commander glared down his men.

"We are Templars no longer. You cannot just simply bind a mage like that! What reason did she give you that you thought binding her would be an acceptable course of action?"

"She would not let us near the suspect," the man who bound her said. "I told her to stand aside or I would bind her."

"Did she actually attack you?"

The men shook their heads. "No, ser, she did not."

"Then why in the Maker's name did you bind her? Binding a mage is a last resort if they cannot be reasoned with and their magik must be put under control. It is never used to torture them or get them to simply obey. You are men of the Inquisition now and you best act like it or Maker so help me I will send your asses packing into the next Fade rift that opens and let it swallow you!"

The men looked at each other, then at the Commander. "Understood, ser!"

Cullen went over to Nadia and rubbed her back as she doubled over, retching from the binding. "Being bound- for the first type especially- is never fun on the body. Even for templars learning the technique. Are you alright?"

Nadia nodded, trying to stop her body from shaking. "Why do you need Matthew..?"

"You know that man?"

"His name is Matthew Trevelyan. He and I were at the Conclave, trying to make peace with the templars for the mages' sake. Matthew had asked me to go with him as a mage supporter and voice my opinions and suggestions, but when the explosion happened, I got separated from him and barely made it out alive. Someone named Roderick, a chancellor of the Chantry, helped me to escape."

"Do you know what caused the explosion?"

Nadia shook her head. "No, but I suspect you believe Matthew does and that's why you need to take him in."

"He is the only other one who survived the explosion and since he stepped out of the Fade, he may have seen the cause of it. We need to take him in for questioning, as do we for you."

Nadia looked from Cullen to Matthew. "He needs healing first. Please, Cullen, if you must question him just see to it that he has a healer watching over him."

"Of course," Cullen said, then ordered his men to take Matthew back to Haven. He turned back to Nadia and helped her to her feet. "Nadia, why did you come?"

Nadia wouldn't look at him and went to retrieve her staff. "I already told you why I came. What, are you going to send me away again and not offer an explanation yourself? Or are you going to find someone big and important to send me back to Mummy and Daddy?"

Cullen winced at her tone, realizing that she was upset about him sending her home. "Nadia..."

She glared at him. "Why did you send me home, Cullen? You knew I could help rebuild the city, rebuild what was lost that day. You knew what it meant for me to be able to protect the mages and keep them from you templars. Why send me home, why make me flee the city?"

"I did it to save you!" Cullen retorted, his anger beginning to rise again. "I did it because I couldn't bear the thought of losing you again!"

Nadia was taken aback, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. "Then why not explain that yourself? Why send the Champion instead?"

Cullen looked down for a moment. "Because I could not bear to say goodbye to you, Nadia. Not after what happened at the Circle when you were transferred to Starkhaven."

"What, you mean when you kissed me, then informed the First Enchanter and the Knight-Commander as if it meant nothing to you?" Nadia retorted, throwing that back in his face. "How could you do that? How could you tell me you cared about me, kiss me, then ruin everything? Do you know what that did to me?"

Cullen could see the tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she stared him down, searching for answers. "Nadia, I-"

"You know what, forget it. Years of not knowing why has hurt me enough now, I don't need an answer anymore." She said, turning away. Suddenly, a rift opened up just behind them and Nadia drew her staff as demons began to appear. "I suggest you draw your sword and shield, Commander. We have demons to worry about."

"Maker..." Mia said. "Our Cullen is an idiot."

Nadia sighed. "After the day of the Conclave's destruction, we pretty much avoided each other like the plague. I stayed with Matthew most of the time, helping him adjust to Haven- especially since he didn't have any memory of what happened at the Conclave when it exploded. When I wasn't with Matthew, I was healing civilians and soldiers in Haven. Since that day, I've kind of been the resident healer and it only became official when we reached Skyhold and defeated Corypheus. I would train with the soldiers, using my magik to help them learn to better deflect spells or energy-type attacks like those a wraith or despair demon would use, and as I trained and healed the soldiers, Cullen and I began to mend things. We started to grow closer and closer as the days went by, but we never told each other anything about how we felt until just last week, while we were stranded in Rainesfere."

"So you two know how the other feels and you haven't acted on it because?"

"I am still upset about everything he has done and I don't know if I can't look past it. I don't want to be toyed with, not by him," Nadia said. "I care for him very deeply, but I can't make a move and risk getting hurt all over again."

Mia couldn't help but hug the mage. "Oh, you poor thing. I'm going to have to kick that idiot's ass now. He finally finds a great girl, perfect for him, and he makes a mess out of it."

Rosalie took her turn and hugged Nadia. "Well, I don't think you should give up, Nadia. When things are taken care of in Highever, I think you guys should really talk about where you go from here. You confessed feelings for each other, but now you need to figure out what you want to do."

Nadia nodded and Rosalie clapped her hands as Branson and Cullen came into the room. "Now then, everyone is here and dinner is ready!"

"Let's eat then!" Branson said enthusiastically.

Dinner with Cullen and his family was fun and Nadia really enjoyed herself. She talked with his siblings and told them stories about things he did as a templar, things he did as the Commander of the Inquisition's forces- all embarrassing. Cullen retaliated with stories similar and even told of how she got him away from the Orlesian noblewomen at the Winter Palace. His brother and sisters laughed, then shared their own stories from their childhoods.

After dinner was over and the children had been put to bed, Rosalie and Mia got a room ready for Cullen and Nadia. Rosalie and her husband shared a room, the children shared a room, Mia and her husband shared a room, Branson and his wife shared a room, and that left only one room for Cullen and Nadia to share. After Rainesfere, they didn't mind- especially since they shared a bed together. When everyone went to bed and fell asleep, Nadia waited and when she was certain everyone- Cullen included- was passed out, she stood and got her things together. She wrote a note to Cullen and his family, then went to ready her horse. She packed her bags onto the saddle and mounted up before she turned and urged the horse silently towards Highever.

"Forgive me, Cullen..." Nadia said, looking back at the home.