Siara looked around the small home she had been led to. It was nice, perhaps a bit quaint. There was nothing in particular that stood out to her about it. They entered into the main area, a small living room off to one side, a dining area with a decently sized table and six chairs seated around it. In the centre of the table was a vase with some wildflowers in it, their sweet aroma filling the air. The kitchen was simple and off to the side of the dining area, once again being fairly nondescript. It was a kitchen. It had a bench, it had cupboards, and it had a little wood stove, and basically anything else that a small kitchen needed. Siara didn't really pay that much attention to kitchens.
"So what has my dear brother been up to?" Mia asked, setting about the task of putting away the small amount of shopping she had gotten done before Siara approached her. Siara stopped looking around the house and turned her attention back to the woman before her. She really did look a lot like Cullen, despite the freckles, and perhaps her face was a bit more round.
"Where do you want me to start?" Siara asked, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting down. "He's commander of the Inquisitions army. He's been up to a lot."
"Clearly. He hasn't written to me in a while."
Siara raised an eyebrow slightly, hearing a bit of an edge to Mia's voice. Clearly she wasn't too impressed with her brother's communication skills, or lack thereof. The lack of communication didn't surprise Siara particularly much. Cullen had never said anything about his family to her before, not that she expected him to, and he always seemed busy with other matters, such as sending orders to his people in the field. Or he was helping to train new recruits. Or something else like that. Siara wasn't entirely certain what his various duties included, but she was pretty sure that they didn't include writing to his family. It made her wonder how much his family knew about what was going on in his personal life.
"You know he stopped taking lyrium, right?"
"I was aware something was going on when he said he left the templars. He didn't outright say it, but I thought there had to be something more."
"So did you know he started taking it again?"
Now Mia froze, her back to Siara so her face wasn't visible. Despite that, Siara was pretty sure that Mia was trying to figure out what to feel at that moment.
"Did he choose to?"
"I don't know. I don't even know when he started taking it again. I only found out during the last battle we were in," Siara shrugged, trying to seem like she couldn't care less. "Honestly, I just figured that he needs someone to kick some sense into him. I don't know what's going on with him, I don't know why he's taking lyrium again, I don't know if he wants to be taking it again or if someone persuaded him to. We've been on the outs for a bit and I haven't talked to him much in a while."
"Cullen Stanton Rutherford, you're an absolute idiot," Mia muttered, resuming putting away the last few bits of her shopping. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked after a moment of silence.
Siara shrugged, looking away, running her finger around a knot in the table in front of her, a small frown on her face.
"I'm not on good terms with Cullen at the moment, sure," she said, "but that doesn't mean I think he should… I mean…" the frown deepened as she tried to find the words she wanted for her explanation. Mia moved over to a seat opposite her and sat down, folding her fingers in front of her as she watched Siara closely, her interest piqued.
"You mean… what?" she prompted after a moment. Siara shook her head, now meeting Mia's warm brown eyes.
"Just because we're not on the best of terms at the moment doesn't mean I think he should be taking a substance that ties him to the biggest trauma of his life," she stated.
Mia leaned her head to the side slightly, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"I see," she said.
"He's an idiot," Siara continued, more than happy to tell Mia exactly what she thought about her brother, "and he can be a prick at times, but he got off lyrium for a reason and I don't see how him being back on it is going to help anyone. And as I stated earlier, I think he needs someone to kick him around a bit and knock some sense into him."
"I may be his sister, but Cullen hasn't been writing back to me for a long time," Mia shrugged. "Short of going to Skyhold myself, I don't see how I can do much. And I can't leave our brother, his family, and our sister. However, he did mention you once or twice in the letters he did write."
"Oh, Maker. I hate to think what he said," Siara scoffed, rolling her eyes slightly.
"You'd be surprised. I think that you might be exactly the person to knock him into shape."
"I told you, we're not on good terms right now."
"Why not?"
"Doesn't matter," Siara shook her head. "Besides, I can't head back to Skyhold until Gregory Dedrick is found."
It was obvious that Mia noticed the change of topic, and that she wasn't entirely happy about it. But she seemed smart enough to realise that the only way to get back to the topic she wanted to be talking about, which was trying to get Siara to get Cullen back on track, was to help the Blade with her problem first.
"What is he wanted for?" she asked.
"Short version is that he practically murdered a lot of refugees during the most recent Blight."
That seemed to stun Mia for a moment.
"He what?"
"He flooded Old Crestwood while there were refugees - men, women, children - in the caves. They all drowned. He confessed in a letter to Jacq- the Inquisitor."
"I see," a frown formed on Mia's face. "If I help you, ask around town, see what I can find out, will you then go back and talk to Cullen on my behalf?"
"You write a letter and I can hand deliver it."
"No. That won't work. Not with Cullen. As you said, someone actually needs to smack him around a bit. If I help you, you need to help him."
Siara's jaw clenched and she struggled not to pull a face, not impressed with where this conversation was headed. She'd approached Mia so that his family could deal with Cullen, not so that she would have to. She was still reluctant to have much to do with him. But she knew Mia had a point. Cullen was stubborn, and he wasn't going to pay attention to a letter. If he wasn't writing back to his family, then there was no guarantee that he was even reading the letters they sent him. Maker, there was no guarantee that he would listen to Siara, either.
"Who says that the Inquisition won't find Dedrick on its own?" she asked, still trying to find a way to not have to talk to Cullen.
"From what I've seen, the Inquisition has covered almost all of the town by now. Naturally, people respect the Inquisition. But that doesn't always translate to being willing to sell out their friends, if Dedrick has friends here. I live here. People know me. People would be more willing to talk to me."
Siara hated how logical Mia was being, hated that she was probably right. If Dedrick had fled to this town, then either no one had known him to start with, or he had friends here who still didn't know, or didn't believe, what he had done at Old Crestwood. Either implication meant that it would be a lot easier to find him if they had the help of the townspeople, and that would be a lot easier to gain if they had Mia's help.
"Fine," Siara reluctantly agreed. "You help find Dedrick, I'll knock some sense into Cullen."
Mia smiled at her and extended her hand across the table, implying for Siara to shake it.
"Deal," she said.
Siara regarded the hand for a moment, sighed, and then shook it, still not entirely happy about the situation she found herself in.
