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

The Most Intriguing Rumor

12 Harvestmere, 9:41

Cullen was having a hard time concentrating on his work. It was a lovely day, and he could feel the breeze blowing through the holes in the roof, far above his head. It was the kind of day that made him think of his childhood, really, and of running in the fields with his brother and sisters. It should have been one of the last good days of fall before winter set in, but there was no indication in Skyhold of winter's onset—the weather seemed to hover constantly in temperatures reminiscent of early spring, moderate but with a faint chill.

His half-finished note to his sister Mia was buried in a pile of papers somewhere on his desk. He should unearth it and just send it, unfinished as it was; it wasn't as though he was going to have time to write a longer letter anytime soon. He was riffling through the papers looking for it when his door opened, and Dorian came in.

"Commander?"

"What can I do for you, Dorian?"

"I heard the most intriguing rumor, and I came to see if it was true."

"I believe you're in the wrong place. If you're looking for gossip, you should go to the main hall and find Varric."

"You misunderstand me. I was speaking of the rumor that you are in possession of a decent chess game, something I've found dreadfully hard to come by."

Cullen put the papers down. "Chess? It's been some time since I've played—I'm not certain 'decent' would describe it any longer."

"I'm sure you're just being modest. What about it, Commander? Will you come and take pity on a very bored and frustrated man?"

"All right." The chess boards were in the gardens, which were flourishing. It sounded like just what Cullen had been looking for as a diversion, although it made him feel even more guilty about the letter to Mia. He remembered her insufferable looks when she used to win all the time, and the thought made him smile.

"You seem light-hearted today," Dorian remarked.

"It's a very nice day, isn't it? And the Inq—" He caught himself. There was a danger in revealing to Dorian, of all people, how having Antonia in residence at the keep altered his mood. The mage was her best friend, and if he suspected how Cullen felt, which he was quite perceptive enough to pick up on, he would certainly tell her. Which would be embarrassing, to put it mildly.

Not that Cullen hadn't given serious thought—more hours of it than he cared to admit, even to himself—to what he might say if she confronted him about it. There were even moments when he allowed himself to hope that she might entertain some feelings for him in return. Sometimes, the look in her eyes ... He closed his own eyes for a moment, entirely missing Dorian's amused glance in his direction.

"Yes, the scenery in Skyhold is quite beautiful," the mage said, grinning to himself.

Cullen cleared his throat, certain there was more to the comment than there seemed; with Dorian there usually was. He went back to their earlier subject. "So you've had trouble finding fellow chess players?"

"Oh, no trouble finding people to play, but there's no challenge. And there's no fun in winning if it's too easy." Dorian smiled. "Well, that's not entirely true—sometimes it's great fun, but not generally with games of skill."

"No, I see what you mean." He wasn't sure he did, entirely, but he'd found it was best to ignore Dorian's innuendoes.

They took their seat, setting up the board. Cullen had selected these sets himself, and they were good quality craftsmanship. He knew Josephine, and especially Leliana, found his enthusiasm for the details of life in Skyhold rather hard to understand, but he'd never had a chance to surround himself with things of any kind, much less the quality of items necessary to uphold the Inquisition's reputation. For that matter, he'd never been able to choose before—you wore the standard Templar-issue armor and the standard Templar-issue civilian clothes in your off hours, used the standard Templar-issue weaponry, slept in the standard Templar-issue beds. And so on. It had never occurred to him to be unhappy about it; the Templars were all he'd known since he was thirteen. But now that there were options, he'd found that making a choice between the griffon chess set and the rampant mabari had been surprisingly enjoyable.

And it didn't just make him happy. The deliberateness of his choices was reflected in how other people enjoyed the things he bought for Skyhold. While Cullen had always felt an urge to protect others, he hadn't realized until he joined the Inquisition how much he wanted to take care of others, as well. When his people were happy, he had done his job.

Dorian set up the board and made the first move. Cullen leaned forward, trying to remember the combinations of moves he had learned so painstakingly over the years and get back into the mindset of anticipating his opponent's upcoming plays. He looked up at Dorian, but the mage wore the same faintly amused expression he always did. No clues there.

"Stop stalling, Commander. Or are you experiencing performance anxiety?"

"May I remind you that you asked me," Cullen said. He picked up a piece and made his move.

Dorian nodded. "Creditable."

"I'm so glad you approve."

They played for a while in silence, both concentrating on the board. As his feel for the game came back, Cullen relaxed a bit, enjoying the challenge. Dorian was an extremely skilled opponent, but Cullen was very good as well, and Dorian clearly hadn't expected him to be quite as good as he was. Eventually, Cullen was certain he was going to take the game—but equally certain that the next time he played with the mage, the game would be much more difficult because Dorian would take him more seriously from the start. He looked forward to it already.

They were moving into the endgame when out of the corner of his eye he saw Antonia coming toward them. Automatically, he began to rise, the way his mother had taught him to do when a lady entered the room. He wondered if she'd be pleased to know her training had stuck with him this long.

He was very glad that he had almost won the game by the time Antonia arrived, because otherwise her presence might have been a distraction. Then again, the last thing he wanted to do was look foolish in front of her at a game of strategy—he commanded her forces, after all. He was supposed to be good at strategy.

And then he won, and Dorian left, and she stayed, and Cullen was very, very glad he'd left his office today.