A Candle in the Darkness (A Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction)

A Fortunate Day for the Inquisition

8 Kingsway, 9:41

Antonia knocked at the door of Cullen's office.

"Yes, what is it?" came the impatient response from inside.

She poked her head in the door. "Rough day?"

"Oh, Inquisitor, it's you. I'm sorry." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It seems as though everyone and their brother has been through here today."

"And now I'm bothering you. I could go away, if you're too busy."

"No! I mean, no, it's fine. What can I do for you?"

"Well, in truth, nothing," Antonia said, rather guiltily. "I was really just looking for a quiet place to get away from it all."

"And you came here, of all places?" He raised an eyebrow. "Are your quarters not to your liking?"

From the look on his face, Antonia suspected he'd had a hand in the design of her living space, which had been largely finished in her absence at Emprise-du-Lion. She hastened to reassure him. "No, no, they're lovely. But—" But you're not in them, was what she wanted to say. She wasn't ready to take things there, though, not yet. Cullen was so focused on following the tracks of Samson, Corypheus's general—she could tell he felt responsible for the man's crimes, since Samson, however briefly, had once been Cullen's fellow Templar; they had shared quarters together in Kirkwall. She wanted to get that situation resolved, at least somewhat, before she made any overtures of a personal nature. Instead, she settled for, "But they're on the other side of Skyhold; do you have any idea how many people there are between here and my quarters?"

Cullen laughed. "As many as have been in and out of this office this morning, no doubt." He gestured to the chair across from his desk. "Have a seat. I could bar the doors, if you like, to ensure no one else comes in."

"Please." It came out far more flirtatiously than she had intended, and Cullen's ears turned red.

"Um. Right. Well ..." He cleared his throat. "It has occurred to me more than once today that having three doors into my office is possibly three too many."

"Then there would be no doors at all. How would I be able to come in and bother you?"

"That's a ... good point." His voice had taken on that soft, wondering tone that made Antonia's heart pound in her chest. Their eyes met and held. But Cullen blinked and looked away, and the moment passed. In a different voice, he asked, "So how was your trip to Emprise-du-Lion?"

"Cold." She shivered.

"Really."

"Yes, apparently they were hit with a very rapid deep freeze—something the Red Templars did, most believe."

"And you found more red lyrium?"

"Quite a bit. We destroyed as much of it as we could. Varric took a lot of pleasure in that."

"He would. Do you know about his brother?"

Antonia nodded. "The story was in his book about the Champion. Is it true?"

"Yes. They found a red lyrium idol in the Deep Roads, and it drove Varric's brother mad. And Knight-Commander Meredith." Cullen's eyes were on the wall behind her, but she could tell that he was seeing horrors. "She's now a red lyrium statue."

"Terrible." She waited until Cullen had come back from wherever the story had taken him—Kirkwall, she imagined—to ask, "Did you ever meet Varric's brother?"

"No. I knew Hawke and the rest of her people, but I was an active Templar at the time, with limited freedom." He looked around his office in evident satisfaction at the change in his fortunes. "By the time I was promoted to Knight-Captain and thus able to get out and about the city a bit more, Bartrand had left Kirkwall." In a different tone, signaling a change in topic, he said, "So, tell me, did anything interesting happen while you were in Emprise?"

Antonia laughed a little. "There was the bear."

"What about it? Bears aren't usually so amusing."

"It kept following us. Even as we were heading down into the quarry, it was following us, climbing on the equipment and running into people. I told everyone that as long as it wasn't attacking us, to leave it alone—I thought if it was coming to the quarry with us, perhaps I could get it to fight the Red Templars and save us some work."

Cullen raised an eyebrow, smiling a little. "I take it that hope failed to come to fruition?"

"Yes. Just as we reached the Red Templars, Vivienne apparently thought it would be a good idea to shoot the bear with lightning, in order to make it angry, so it would attack the Red Templars. Instead ..."

"It attacked you, and you were fighting a battle on two fronts." The smile had faded from Cullen's face, and he was looking at her with concern.

"Something like that." Antonia nodded. "It was close there for a bit ... but I can't help thinking of that great bear stumbling around the quarry. Quite entertaining, really."

"Entertaining." Cullen shook his head. "We tend to forget, I think, sitting here at our comfortable desks, what you're facing out in the field. I'm sorry that the brunt of all this falls on your shoulders."

"Really, Cullen, it's all right. My companions are very reliable—most of the time—and I think it's important that the people see that the Inquisitor herself is out there working toward a better future for all of us. I think I closed most of the rifts in the area." She looked down at her left hand, the mark pulsing faintly.

"Does that hurt?" Cullen asked.

"Only sometimes. It feels better after I close a rift, but burns before." Antonia closed her fist. She wanted to tell him how much she hated having it there, how it disturbed her to see a part of her body glowing such an unnatural color, how she worried about whether it would ever come off ... but probably those were unworthy emotions for an Inquisitor, and she very much didn't want Cullen to think she was trying to shirk her responsibilities, or worse, whine about them.

He was watching her sympathetically, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Antonia mustered a smile. "Still, all things considered, we got some things done in Emprise and the Inquisition is in better standing there. Except with people who like bears."

Cullen didn't return the smile, but at least his frown went away. "All I can say is, it was a fortunate day for the Inquisition when you fell out of the sky."

Antonia stood up. "You know, it's taken a while, but there are days when I almost believe that. Thank you for letting me distract you for a while, Commander."

"Anytime, Inquisitor."