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

This Is Real

2 Firstfall, 9:41

After a good night's sleep, Antonia woke late, the sun already moving up the sky. She stretched, going over what she remembered of the day's schedule. Later in the afternoon, she would meet with her advisors in the War Room; she had correspondence piled on the desk to look through; and she needed to sort through the items they had collected in the Western Approach. Tomorrow she'd gather her companions and go over the new armor and weapons to see if anyone wanted any of the new things, but she needed to know what there was first, and to talk with Dagna and Harritt in the Undercroft about potential upgrades to the new equipment.

Most of that could be done this afternoon, leaving her with what remained of the morning to do what she really wanted—which was to go see Cullen. She had dreamed of those kisses on the battlements the whole time she had been gone.

Getting out of bed, she dressed hastily, studying herself in the mirror with some dissatisfaction. She looked as she usually did on the return from an expedition—scratches and healing cuts on her face, dark hollows below her eyes, her skin reddened from the relentless sun reflecting off the sand. Cullen had never seemed to notice a difference before, but then, there had never been kisses before. Still, there was nothing to do about it—she could hide from him until her skin healed and decent rest took away the dark shadows, but that seemed faintly ridiculous.

Turning resolutely from the mirror, she left her quarters. In the Main Hall, she was stopped a number of times by people welcoming her home. From her incognito trips amongst the people with the Iron Bull, which she tried to do fairly regularly, she knew that most of the residents of Skyhold viewed her arrival home from each trip as a new victory in the ongoing war. Seeing her come back safe and sound made them feel that progress was being made. Antonia wasn't sure she felt that way—to her, it seemed more as though every expedition added new questions and more things to do—but she was glad her people had such confidence in her.

She smiled her way through the hall as efficiently as she could without appearing rude. She caught Varric's eye as he looked up from the page he was working on, and he tipped his head in the direction of Cullen's office and grinned at her. Antonia gave him her best cat-with-the-cream smile, and he laughed.

"Tell him I said hello," Varric said as she went by.

"If we have time." Antonia winked at him before ducking through the door into the library wing. She stopped for a moment to say hello to Solas before making her way out the side door that led directly up to Cullen's office. She and the elf were on cordial terms, but there was something about him ... somehow she never felt quite comfortable around him.

She paused outside the door, wondering why she felt so nervous. Cullen's solicitude on her arrival last night, his words and his tone, all said he was probably waiting for her on the other side. But it was, after all, practically the middle of the day, and no doubt he had work to do. Maybe she should wait until later.

Then she remembered his kisses, and the feel of his body against hers, and her hand was on the doorknob before she could give it another thought.

Any qualms she had were put to rest by the smile on his face as she came in. Unfortunately, there were three soldiers clustered around his desk. She sighed. Never a quiet moment.

"Inquisitor. Welcome back."

"Thank you, Commander."

The soldiers were exchanging glances, and two of them nudged each other.

"I don't suppose you have some time available. I'd ... like to go over my report from the expedition before this afternoon's meeting in the War Room."