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

In This Crowd

29 Bloomingtide, 9:42

Roya was waiting in Antonia's quarters when Cullen brought her up, and between them they got Antonia's armor off and got her into bed without waking her. Spying the ring on Antonia's finger, the dwarf looked up at Cullen with the first glimmer of approval he'd seen from her.

"It's about time."

"I should say so," he agreed fervently.

With a last fond look at Antonia, Roya left the room, leaving Cullen alone with the sleeping Inquisitor. He wanted to just lie there and look at her, soaking in the knowledge that she had survived another encounter with Corypheus, but there were things to do—he would rather do them now and have the leisure to lie there with her when she woke up. So he took off his armor, cleaned both his armor and hers along with their weapons, wiped down the dogs with a big, damp towel, took a bath, went downstairs and made sure the wounded were being well taken care of ... and at the end of it all, she was still sleeping, a deep, exhausted sleep.

Now he did lie down with her, on his side, watching her face. He lifted his hand, skimming the backs of his fingers lightly over her hair, needing to touch her but anxious to avoid waking her. Cullen didn't know how close he had come to losing her today, but he could easily imagine how she had felt through it all thinking she had lost him. Would he have borne up as well, performed his tasks as ably, in the same circumstance? His pride in and admiration of her swelled in him.

Hours later, deep in a dreamless sleep, he heard her voice. "No. No! Oh, no. Please, no." Struggling awake with some difficulty, Cullen saw her, still fast asleep, with tears leaking out the corners of her closed eyes, her head rolling back and forth on the pillow, and he reached for her.

"Antonia. Wake up, love. Wake up," he whispered, gathering her into his arms the way she had done so often before for him.

She came awake with a start, her eyes searching the dim room before settling on his face. "Cullen?" She lifted her hand, fingertips stroking his cheek. "Oh, thank the Maker."

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"That was ... I never want to live through another day like that again. I just ... I couldn't even think, because if I did ... It's a wonder I didn't cede all of Thedas to the ancient elves of the Temple."

Cullen wondered briefly what she meant by that, not having heard any of what had happened in the Temple other than the defeat of Samson and the disappearance of Corypheus, but any thoughts he had of asking were driven from his head as Antonia's fingers started on the buttons of his shirt, kissing the warm skin that lay beneath. He shifted to let her slide the shirt off his shoulders.

He could sense her need to touch and taste and reassure herself, so he allowed her to push him backward—not that he had any particular objection. By this point, he could generally feel her touch without remembering his experiences in the tower, depending on his state of mind.

She climbed on top of him, her brow furrowing as she looked him over, her hands lightly running over his chest and stomach, leaning down to kiss first the teeth marks she had left in his shoulder before the battle and then the spreading bruise where the arrow had impacted. Cullen winced, and Antonia pulled back.

"I'm sorry."

He sat up. "It's all right. I'm all right. Really."

Antonia took his face in her hands. "Please don't leave me."

"I'm not going to, love. I promised, didn't I?" He reached up to hold on to her left hand, his thumb rubbing over the edge of the ring there.

"Technically, I think I promised."