That night was a long one. Siara's ankle ached all night, keeping her awake. The only thing that wasn't awful about that was how used to not sleeping she was, her mind being kept busy with thoughts of what she and Cullen would be doing over the next few days. They needed to make plans, needed to make their way back to Skyhold. Or at least, Cullen needed to. Siara still wasn't entirely certain where she stood with Jacquelyn.

Mia got out of bed a bit before dawn, her blankets rustling quietly as she sat up. Siara hardly even glanced over, her arm behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Sorry," Mia whispered, somehow noticing Siara in the dark. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," she replied, keeping her voice down. She and the eldest Rutherford sibling were sharing a room with Rosalie, who was still snoring quietly in her bed. Cullen had been sent to share a room with his nephew, who was at this time the youngest of the Rutherford clan.

Not for much longer, it seemed, as it was revealed over their meal last night that Nina was once more with child. Not too far along as yet, her bump only noticeable once it was mentioned. Cullen had, of course, been over the moon to hear that his younger brother and sister-in-law were expecting another child.

"Is your ankle giving you pain?"

"It hasn't stopped since it got crushed," Siara winced at the resentment in her voice.

"The healer will be here this morning to look at it," Mia assured her.

Whoever this healer was, they couldn't come soon enough. But Siara didn't say anything, just stared up at the ceiling. The Rutherfords had insisted that she rest as much as she could and that there wasn't anything for her to help with. Even if there had been, her ankle needed rest, especially after all the travelling she had been doing.

Mia slipped from the room without another word, the sound of her bare feet hitting the wooden floor echoing through the empty hall. Rosalie didn't stir once, her breath slow and even with the occasional quiet snort. The same sounds that Siara had been listening to all night. She let a sigh escape her, sitting up as quietly as she could and placing her good foot on the floor. If she stayed in that room much longer, she was certain that she would go insane. It wasn't easy to leave quietly, but somehow she managed to hobble to the door without disturbing Rosalie. Maybe she was just a heavy sleeper, but Siara didn't ponder it too much.

Mia was already at work in the kitchen, setting about lighting a fire in the kitchen to begin breakfast preparations. The rain had stopped falling, but through the now opened shutters Siara could see the dark grey clouds that still loomed in the sky.

"You shouldn't be moving around without help!" Mia scolded when she saw Siara, hurrying over and offering her support. Siara accepted it silently, allowing her host to lead her over to one of the dining chairs. It seemed like it was only the two of them in the room.

"Tell me a bit about this healer," Siara said, watching as Mia hurried back to tending to the fire in the kitchen.

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Well, I can't say I've had a fabulous experience with apostate healers in the past. He's not thinking of blowing up any chantry buildings, is he?"

"Ah, so you knew Anders."

"Everyone knew Anders," Siara muttered. "That doesn't really answer my question."

"Larrison is nice enough," Mia told her, not looking over her shoulder. "He's not the type to blow up any buildings."

"That's good to know."

"He came here not long after the rebellion started. He didn't want anything to do with it, and he wanted to help. Since then he's become a big part of our community here."

"Sounds nice."

"He is. I think you'll like him."

Siara stayed silent, idly looking around the room. It wasn't any different from the first time she'd seen it, really. Mia had opened the shutters, letting in the first rays of light, though clouds still covered most of the sky. Patches of pink sky peered through, hinting that there might be sunshine later in the day. Siara hoped that the clouds would go away. Even if she was finding she couldn't experience temperatures the way she used to, she still enjoyed the feel of sun on her face, and hated rain trickling into her boots.

She was torn from her musings as Branson walked into the room, a rather sluggish looking Cullen trudging in behind him. Siara smirked at him in amusement.

"See, I always suspected you style your hair," she said, resting an elbow on the table as she regarded the commander. His hair was, quite frankly, a mess, and his shirt wasn't tucked in properly. He barely registered her words, instead shooting a glare at her.

"Cullen isn't as used to early mornings as he once was," Branson grinned. "I thought some farm work could do him some good, but getting him out of bed was almost more difficult than getting Evan to go to bed!"

Cullen shot a tired glare at his brother as he took a seat opposite Siara, leaning an elbow on the table and running a tired hand down his face as Mia set a bowl of porridge in front of him. Branson took a seat beside him, smiling up at his sister as she set another bowl before him. Siara raised an eyebrow quizzically, taking a moment to mutter some thanks to Mia before turning back to Branson and Cullen.

"Who's Evan?" she asked.

"My son," Branson replied, darting a look at Cullen. "Somehow, I managed not to wake him up."

"Stop making it seem worse than it was," Cullen grumbled. "It wasn't that hard."

"How would you know? You were asleep."

"The man has a point, Commander," Siara chuckled, taking a spoonful of her porridge and blowing on it. "You can be incredibly difficult to wake up."

"Oh, you're one to talk, Blade. What happened to there being a reason they're called 'mornings'?"

Siara grinned, then cringed as her ankle twinged in pain. She hissed in pain, glancing at her swollen ankle. She turned back to her porridge as the pain subsided, shoving the spoon in her mouth. It was the best porridge she had ever tasted, though she couldn't for the life of her work out why.

"When is the healer supposed to get here?" Cullen asked.

"It shouldn't be too long," Mia replied, taking a seat herself. "Did you get an exact time from him, Bran?"

"Close to dawn," Branson shrugged, his porridge already half demolished. The younger Rutherford brother glanced at Cullen's bowl, raising an eyebrow at it. "Hurry up, Cullen. We have work to get done."

Cullen looked like he wanted to snap back a reply, but he bit it back, settling instead for spooning the porridge into his mouth. He glanced worriedly at Siara, but she didn't acknowledge it. There was nothing that he could do to help her, and so long as she didn't move her ankle too much she was fine. Her ankle almost always had a dull throbbing pain radiating from it, but for the most part she could ignore it. And she definitely didn't want Cullen to be around when the healer came, concerned that he might see any of the markings that were covering most of her body by this point.

"So what are you going out to do?" she asked instead, doing her best to shift attention off her.

"Check on druffalo," Branson shrugged. "Clean horse stalls. Miscellaneous other jobs that I've been behind on. Having another set of hands to help me mend fences will be fantastic."

"You know how to mend fences?" Siara looked at Cullen, not trying to hide the surprise on her face.

"I did a long time ago. I'm probably a bit rusty, now. It's been a while since I've had to do farmwork."

"I find it hard to imagine you ever doing farmwork."

"It wasn't unusual for him to skive off and train in the hopes of becoming a templar," Mia smiled. "We were all very proud of him when he was taken to train officially."

"I'm sure you would have been."

Cullen was once again watching Siara closely, a mix of emotions on his face. Siara glanced up, doing her best to smile reassuringly at him, when a knock on the door interrupted them. Mia immediately got up to answer it, a middle-aged man standing there.

"Branson said it was somewhat urgent?" he said, his voice low and husky.

"Yes, come on in."

Siara half turned in her seat so she could get a better look at the mage that walked in the room, his green robes only an inch or two above the ground. His blond beard was long and neatly braided, streaks of white running through it, and his hair was cropped short. What caught her attention most, however, was the gentle, almost tired kindness in his eyes.

"Larrison, I'd like to introduce you to Siara Adahlen, your patient, and my brother, Cullen."

Larrison regarded Siara for a moment longer before turning his attention to Cullen briefly, smiling at him.

"I've heard much about you," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Cullen replied, standing from his chair as he finished eating.

"We should head off to work," Branson said, sighing. "Come on, brother. Let's get out there."

"I - "

"Don't even think about hanging around, Cullen. You get out there and get some fresh air. Siara is in good hands," Mia interrupted, bustling over and shepherding her brothers out of the house. Cullen looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. Instead, he locked eyes with Siara as he was pushed from the house.

"If you need anything, send someone to find me."

"I'm pretty sure that Mia has everything covered, but thank you. Have fun," Siara waved cheerfully as the door shut behind the commander. A sigh escaped her once she was certain the door was closed, and she turned her attention back to Larrison. "So, how long is this going to take?" she asked, motioning to her ankle. The man was beside her in a couple of strides, kneeling carefully by her side and inspecting the ankle closely.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I likely won't be posting an update next week as I'll be travelling, but hopefully usual updates will resume in a couple of weeks.