시작의 새벽/Dawn of Beginning

Chapter Ten

With amusement, Sirena watched Varric win most of the hands while Evelyn won a few. As she watched, she felt her head buzzing from all the alcohol she drank, not at all paying attention to the disgusting taste or the amount. Watching the Herald put away the cards with blurry vision; she then closed her eyes and felt the room spin.

"It looks like we got a light weight." The dwarf commented while chuckling since he hasn't seen a person get drunk so quick before. Out of nowhere, a laugh was heard and it didn't stop. Varric looked around to finally see the source of where the laughter was coming from. "Poor kid, she can't hold her alcohol." Cullen shook his head in agreement with the rogue dwarf.

"I can still hear you." Sirena said in a childlike voice while still giggling. "I can handle my alcohol just fine. See?" She stood up from the table while stumbling a little. When she got her footing finally, she tried poking her nose with her index finger and instead poked herself in the eye. "Oww." Varric then lost his control and began laughing. Cassandra and Evelyn looked at the woman who was acting like a child currently and both smiled in amusement. The show was better than Varric's bad jokes.

"Maybe I should go help her." Cullen said walking over towards the giggling girl. As soon as she turned around, the young adult's eyes sparkled with happiness as she saw the Commander in front of her and smiled softly up at him. "I will take her to your shared cabin." He said before picking up the drunken girl in his arms in bridal style. Sirena ended up snuggling herself against him as she looked up at him.

"You're handsome." She stated then Varric laughed even harder due to Cullen's reddening face while Evelyn smirked knowing the truth had just come out from her drunken state.

"The truth finally comes out." Cassandra muttered to the Herald while shaking her head. "For her sake though, I hope she doesn't remember. He needs to be focused on the Inquisition and not a pretty face." She said loud enough so the dwarf could part take in the conversation as well but not loud enough for Cullen to hear.

"Don't be so hard on him. Though, it will be interesting to see how this plays out."

"We will find out tomorrow." Evelyn said while now laughing herself. "Thank you Commander." Cullen bowed his head before leaving the tavern and his friends behind.

The Commander was thankful when he got out into the cold winter air. His cheeks soon went back to their normal color as he walked in the snowy frosty cold. He made sure to walk quickly to the cabin though, since he didn't want the woman in his arms to freeze. When he made it to the cabin, he readjusted Sirena in his arms so he was able to open the door. As soon as the door was open, he walked in and gently kicked it closed. After making his way towards her bed, he looked down and realized she had fallen asleep in his arms. Cullen set her down on the bed and placed a couple of blankets over her. As he continued to look at her sleeping figure, he laid a hand on her cheek and stroked it softly with his thumb while thinking of her words over and over in his head even if she was drunk. Did she really mean what she said to him? Did she really think he was handsome? As he pondered them over in his thoughts, he heard the door open and close and quickly jumped away from Sirena. He then saw Evelyn walk into the room. Taking one last look at the sleeping figure on the bed, he began to walk out of the room.

"Thank you again Cullen, for bringing her in." He stopped walking and turned around to face Trevelyan then bowed his head while remaining silent before he walked back out of the cabin. He made his way to his tent in a rush to continue to think.

That next morning, the Amerincan woke up remembering everything including what she said to Cullen. With a groan, she hid her face under her pillow not wanting to face what the day had in store for her. She was bound to be embarrassed for her behavior from the night before. Hearing some laughter, Sirena peeked from under the pillow and saw Evelyn laughing.