Fic: Split (3 / 4)

Another chapter of my latest Cullen/Helaine fic!! Full series here.

Cullen

The rest of the day passes in a blur of activity. So many preparations to make, but the Inquisition – his people – are more than up to the task. This is what they have been waiting for, working for…

A little after sundown, when everything that can be packed or prepared has been, runners scatter across the top of the mountain with messages that extra kegs of ale and sweet treats have been distributed around the barracks along with their dinner.

“The Inquisitor’s ‘morale boost’, I presume,” Briony says, when she tells him the news, neatly explaining the rather prompt mass exodus of his troops.

He can’t help rubbing the back of his neck. It’s a nice idea in theory, but… “Not sure how much of a morale boost it’s going to be if they’re all hungover in the morning. We’ll be marching at first light either way.”

Briony laughs. “I’ll go spread the word among the lieutenants. Merry is permitted, pickled is not advised. You coming, ser?”

In a previous life, he would have. Would have enjoyed a moment of indulgence before what’s to come. But he’s the commander now. His presence would spoil Trevelyan’s intentions.

And he has more important plans for this evening…

He shakes his head. “They’ll be spending enough time with me in the next few weeks, let them have a night off.”

“See you tomorrow, ser. An hour before sunrise.”

Then, with an only slightly hasty salute, she leaves.

He takes a breath, and then heads toward the Mage Tower. With any luck, Helaine will have returned there, and he can simply collect her for dinner. Perhaps even sneak them both down to the library rather than having to sit in the hall with the others and waste more of their precious remaining time together socialising.

But when he reaches the tower, her chair is empty.

Damn.

He glances around the room, as if she’ll suddenly appear if he just keeps looking long enough.

“Commander!”

A familiar voice. Not the one he was hoping for, but a welcome one, nonetheless.

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Fic: Split (2 / 4)

Another chapter of my latest Cullen/Helaine fic!! Full series here.

Helaine

Her mind rings with all the things that must be done before the army marches out. The preparations that must be made. She has tried to keep on top of her subordinates in recent months – with ever increasing readiness reports – but there are a great many things that cannot be done or known with certainty until the word is given.

Which now it has.

She cannot deny the new energy in her muscles at the sound of it. Battle. Whether here at Skyhold, or down in the Arbor Wilds. This is what she was trained for, made for. Her… holding pattern at Skyhold – training the Inquisitor, building and reinforcing his army – has all been leading to this.

And yet, she is split, not knowing whether to pray that this is Corypheus’ last stand…

… or not.

When Corypheus is gone, his army defeated, there is no telling how long the Inquisition will last. There are still reports of Fade Rifts, but Trevelyan will not need his current resources to close them. Indeed, once Corypheus is defeated, the rips in the Fade may mend themselves. They still do not know how the things are made in the first place, save the fact that it seems the green mark on Trevelyan’s hand is capable of both closing and opening them at his will.

When Corypheus is gone, the Inquisition will likely be disbanded.

When the Inquisition is disbanded, the new Divine will likely finally be chosen.

When the new Divine is chosen, she will likely be forced to return to the Chantry.

To her usual duties.

She had foolishly let herself forget that her time here is strictly limited. Running lower every day. That what she has built here for… herself, cannot last. Will not last.

But there is no point in dwelling on such things now. Preparations must be made. The army must march. Corypheus must be defeated. And despite her misgivings, she will do everything in her power to make certain that all of these things come to pass.

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WIP Whenever

I was tagged by @vorchagirl and @wickedwitchofthewilds for this one! Thanks darlings!

I wanna see what everyone is working on! I will tag you both back as well as @sinsbymanka @pikapeppa @charlatron @amarmeme @slothssassin @foofyschmoofer @hunnybadgerv @pookydraws @starsandskies @liaorban-art @randomlygeneratedstring @ooachilliaoo @illusivesoul @badwolf626 @kittynomsdeplume @redreart @keriweird @commander-krios @hazelestelle @minilev @ashalle-art @cr-noble-writes !

Fic: Split (1 / 4)

A new Cullen/Helaine fic!! Uh... apologies in advance. Full series here.

Cullen

As has happened far too many times now, it starts with a war table meeting.

“I have had word from those I sent to infiltrate the Red Templars,” Leliana tells them, her voice grave, when they are all collected around the table, early one morning.

(All being Trevelyan, Leliana, Josephine, Lady Morrigan, Helaine, and himself.)

“And?” Lady Morrigan prompts, when Leliana pauses to draw breath.

It has been months since the mage came to Skyhold, and he still hasn’t managed to get used to her presence. She gets under his skin, and not at all in the same way that Helaine does. (Thank the Maker.) It’s more like the feeling you get when there’s a spider nearby, just out of reach. A crawling sort of feeling. The fact Leliana has told him that Morrigan can – and frequently used to – shapeshift into a spider, only makes the comparison stronger.

Leliana smiles that honey-sweet, sarcasm-dripping smile that she only seems to use around Morrigan. “Patience still isn’t one of your stronger suits, is it?”

Morrigan smiles snidely back, and despite his discomfort, he’s been in enough of these sniping matches to know that, if no one steps in, they could be here all day without learning anything of any actual importance. He glances at Trevelyan, but he’s just regarding the pair of them with distinct curiosity. Unlikely to be helpful. Up to him, then.

“What word, Leliana?” he interrupts, wincing slightly as both their attention turns to him.

Thank the Maker that Helaine is here; strong and silent beside him. He has no doubt that she’s ready to throw a barrier over him if things turn nasty, one of the few reasons that he’s willing to step into such a mess.

“Thank you, Cullen,” Leliana says – a distinct aura of superiority to her tone – before she returns to the notes in her hand. “As we suspected, Corypheus’ army is on the move. They have been given orders to disengage with their current targets and move south to the Arbor Wilds.”

“Seeking more Elven ruins?” Josephine asks.

“One in particular. The Temple of Mythal. Though what he hopes to find there eludes us.”

Trevelyan frowns. “Then should we have invited Solas to this discussion?”

“He does a quite singular knowledge of such things,” Josephine adds.

But Leliana shakes her head. “It is not so much the significance of the temple that matters, but that it would appear they want it. And that they are already heading in its direction.”

“That’s not far from the Emerald Graves,” Trevelyan points out, spanning the space between with his hand. “Pity. If you’d received the information a few days ago, we could have diverted, swung by on our way back.”

“Bad timing,” Leliana agrees, one of those enigmatic smiles twisting her lips. “But it would appear that this is an invasion, not an infiltration. I would not have risked sending you and your party to intercept.”

“You think they’re preparing to make a stand there?” Cullen asks, picking up and toying with one of the Forces markers.

“It seems the most logical explanation, no?”

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Fic: Vyrnnus (1 / 1)

A Shenko fic for Shepard's -130th birthday! Part of my soulmate AU series here.

Her nightly round has become almost indispensable. She can’t sleep without talking to at least most of her crew. She appreciates hearing their opinions on the missions and the other crewmates, likes listening to their stories, needs to know how they’re coping with the shit that happens day after day on this crazy expedition.

And if anyone wonders why she has a habit of finishing with Kaidan, it’s only because his console is so conveniently beside her bedroom door, okay?

She’s always been good at reading people. Growing up with a revolving door of friends and acquaintances tends to be advantageous for that. She’s good at body language, seeing things that people miss.

Usually Kaidan is tricky to read, even for her. He’s got such self-control, it amazes her. But tonight he is practically screaming.

He’s standing at the console as normal, but there’s a certain set to his shoulders, a certain tension in his jaw, a certain glazed look to his usually expressive eyes that might not be apparent to anyone else, but she can’t deny that it makes her nervous.

“Talk to me, Kaidan.”

He looks over at her, eyes widening in a touch of surprise, like he hasn’t heard her approach. Unusual. He’s normally so hyperaware of his surroundings. Especially when it comes to her.

“You’ve got a little black raincloud sitting over your head.”

He smiles, but it looks a touch forced. “I’ll try to keep the deck dry.”

“What’s wrong?”

His hand finds his hip before she’s even finished. She must have given him a weird look because he drops it almost as quickly.

“I’m sorry. The tension’s bringing some things to the surface I usually prefer to bury.”

She knows that feeling.

“Such as?”

“Seems like every other race in the galaxy is wrapped up in their own problems. They don’t want to see what’s happening. What’s coming.”

“Wanting to believe everything will be fine?” She leans against the side of the console, trying to project an air of casual nonchalance, as if that would help matters. “Sounds like human nature to me.”

He still seems tense. “Yeah. I guess some things carry across species well enough. I should remember that after what happened with Vyrnnus.”

Who?

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Fic: Diversion (4 / 4)

The last chapter of my 4-way crossover fic! My Brennan/Cassandra series is here and my Cullen/Helaine series is here.

Helaine

She lies awake for hours.

Not an entirely unusual state of affairs, but a distinctly inconvenient one, given that Cullen is lying, peacefully asleep, beside her. But no matter how long she waits, patiently, willing her mind to still and her body to rest, she remains stubbornly awake. Thoughts swirling.

At least her view is interesting.

The stars are shining down through the puit de lumière, a sliver of moonlight visible too if she tilts her head in just the right way. She draws imaginary lines between the dots of light. No specific constellation is in view, but that has never stopped her before. Something to try and occupy her brain.

Though she would not have considered this as a solution to his preference for an open ceiling, she cannot help but be glad that Vivienne had thought of it. Had arranged the installation of it. Even if she had been unbearable about the matter afterward, naturally. Comments about seeing stars in other ways…

Beside her, Cullen lets out a soft snore, and she tears her eyes away from the stars, looking toward him.

Another interesting view.

He is soft in sleep, the lines so often deep on his forehead now smoothed out. His curls escape from the last, worn-away traces of his pomade. She longs to reach out and tangle her fingers in them, but she restrains herself. He deserves his hard-won sleep.

Sleep that continues to elude her entirely.

After a little while longer, she admits a rare defeat.

With utmost stealth, she slips from the bed, dressing in careful silence. This is usually the point at which he realises that she is gone. Waking abruptly and catching her. Tonight, however, he remains sleeping. Even as she takes her coat from the armour stand. Even as she retrieves her weapons. Even as she opens the trapdoor…

She leaves him there.

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Fic: Diversion (3 / 4)

Another chapter of my 4-way crossover fic! My Brennan/Cassandra series is here and my Cullen/Helaine series is here.

Brennan

He regrets not working harder to avoid their Orlesian liaison the moment that Cassandra’s face hardens at Morrigan’s victorious expression. But it’s far too late by then.

She leads him out to the garden, which would be fine, except that she then carries on into the little chamber that she had commandeered for her magic mirror. No, she called it… her Eluvian. He hasn’t forgotten. That day – when she had led him through it into the Crossroads, that strange place between worlds that had felt far too much like the Fade – has already appeared in his nightmares far too many times.

“Er… I would prefer not to-“ he starts, when she closes the door behind them, but she interrupts him with a wave of her hand.

“That is not why I wished to speak to you.”

He can’t help his breath of relief. “Oh, all right then. Because I would have… Anyway. Is there a problem? Something you need? Is Kieran well? Or is it one of the others? Has something happened while we were away? I know we need to arrange some training sessions. Perhaps at the end of the week? I need to talk to Commander Helaine first. But I was working on the mental shielding you showed me while we were in the Emerald Graves, and…”

She frowns at him, and he forces himself to fall silent.

“I hear that you have been soliciting stories of the Fifth Blight.”

Another breath of relief, though her statement does fill him with a certain amount of confusion even so. He’d assumed, by the earliness of her first message, and the haste of her second, that her enquiry was something… time-sensitive. Something that simply couldn’t wait until the following day, when he would be back to his usual timetable of training sessions and war council meetings and audiences with their ever-increasing number of guests.

But he had thought about asking her for those stories, hadn’t he? The morning of the judgement on Blackwall. No, Rainier. Or, no… he seems to want to be called Blackwall, still, Brennan remembers. Some kind of honouring thing? Well, whatever he wants to be called. But then there had been the judgement, and the little holiday that he’d declared after it, and then they’d been preparing for the Emerald Graves, and actually going to the Emerald Graves, and he’d… forgotten.

“I… Well, yes. I’d love to… Sorry – who told you? Not… not that I wouldn’t value hearing your recollections, obviously, it’s just… Leliana mostly told me her stories months and months ago, and I… I never got the chance to ask King Alistair, and-“

Another glare.

“Sorry.”

“It matters little where I learned such information.”

“I suppose not. Is… is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

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Fic: Diversion (2 / 4)

Another chapter of my 4-way crossover fic! My Brennan/Cassandra series is here and my Cullen/Helaine series is here.

Cullen

His day starts off badly.

Not as bad as it could have started, admittedly. He wakes up, which is usually a positive thing – he has had far more than his own share of totally sleepless nights, and he’s not dead, which is always a possibility – but he also wakes up alone.

Again, not an unusual occurrence, but given that he had gone to sleep with Helaine beside him, this means that he can’t call it a good morning.

He looks around the room for a little while, searching for a note, but finds nothing. Nothing on his desk, either, when he finally descends the ladder to check. It’s not the first time she’s slipped out of bed long before dawn, but it’s the first time that he hasn’t managed to wake up at the movement. Either he was particularly tired last night, or she’s somehow become even sneakier.

(Which is hardly fair, given how stealthy she was to begin with.)

Add to that then that it’s a split training day, and Knight-Lieutenant Lysette catches him on his way to the lower field – so he doesn’t get a chance to even try and check in with her before training – and it’s only natural that he conducts a rather… harder drill session than usual.

On his way out of the training field, some hours later, he is again diverted from his mission, this time by Knight-Captain Briony.

“Yes?” he asks, trying his best not to sound as frustrated as he feels. It isn’t her fault that he’s in a bad mood. And nor can he really explain why he is, given that he still hasn’t managed to have that conversation with her about them telling their subordinates. “Is something wrong?”

She holds herself up a little straighter, and his heart sinks. It generally means a difficult conversation is in store for him.

“Apologies, ser,” she starts, confirming his suspicions. “Bad news from Emprise. Baron Desjardins is requesting that we reassign Knight-Lieutenant Mattrin. Not a good… fit, apparently.”

“Andraste preserve me!” The exclamation slips out before he can stop it, and Briony winces sympathetically. “He’s only been there, what… a week? Two? What can he possibly have done to antagonise Desjardins already?”

Briony shrugs. “Note didn’t say. Just requested we move him.”

He mentally runs through his list of possible postings, coming up mostly empty. If only there hadn’t been that whole debacle with Agata and Lysette… He’s loath to exile the man for a clearly broken heart, no matter how stupid the cause, but they are in the middle of a war, and he had been given ample warning before being deployed to Emprise.

“Harding’s in Skyhold at the moment, isn’t she?” he asks.

Briony nods. “Saw her yesterday, ser.”

“Go and ask her if she has any scouts deploying to the Hissing Wastes any time soon. And if so, if she minds having a soldier tag along.”

Briony’s eyebrows quirk, a clear but silent question, and he sighs.

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I just found this and as someone whose main is a queen Cousland, let me tell you I am sobbing

Fic: Diversion (1 / 4)

Something a little different this week! My first four-POV fic - 1 chapter each from Cassandra, Cullen, Brennan and Helaine!! I hope you enjoy it. My Brennan/Cassandra series is here and my Cullen/Helaine series is here.

Chapter One – Cassandra

The day after the Inquisitor’s party returns from a journey is supposed to be one of rest. An unofficial rule, perhaps, but one that she had always tried to enforce, even in the early days back at Haven. No matter how pressing their situation had been, Brennan needed a little time to recover from the travelling and fighting he had endured on the road. A little time to relax and talk with his colleagues outside of meetings and training sessions.

(And, recently, a little time to spend alone with her…)

But that’s only part of the reason that she’s put out when the runner comes – far too early – the morning after they return from the Emerald Graves.

She’s drifting, barely conscious, when she hears the footsteps on the stairs and a knock at the door, and she foolishly thinks that Brennan has arranged breakfast for them. Or Leliana, perhaps? She had seemed more than usually happy to see them all back the previous afternoon.

“Come in!” she calls, forcing herself to sit up. She looks for her shirt, and then sees it tossed over the sofa on the other side of the room. Rather than give another maid an eyeful, she just pulls the sheets up.

Beside her, Brennan makes a sleepy complaining noise, wrapping his arm around her waist, and trying to pull her back under the covers.

“No, no, no, no,” he mutters. “No training today.”

“I’m not going to training,” she assures him comfortingly, as the footsteps ascend the steps up from his door and a head appears above the balustrade.

Not a maid. And no breakfast.  Just a runner. With a message.

He holds it uncertainly for a few moments, and then gestures with it toward Brennan. Who has gone back to sleep, because of course he has.

“Is it urgent?” she asks, hoping that the answer is no, but given the time of day, expecting the answer is yes.

“I… I don’t know, my lady,” the boy says.

“If they did not tell you as much, that means it is not,” she tells him, trying to sound gentle and – by the increasingly nervous expression on his face – not entirely succeeding. “Leave it on the table and I’ll see the Inquisitor gets it when he’s more… conscious.”

Without another word, the boy drops the note on the small table beside the sofa and scarpers.

When the door shuts again, she considers ignoring the note. Just sinking back into Brennan’s sleep-warm arms and trying to drift off again. But she knows the mystery of what the note contains – and, more to the point, who sent it this early – will only eat at her until she reads it. Carefully, she gets up, crossing the room and picking up the slip of paper.

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Fic: Tower (1 / 1)

A new Cullen/Helaine oneshot! Full series here.

Cullen

He is so deep in conversation with Helaine as they walk across the bridge and through the inner portcullis, that he doesn’t even see the man leaning against the wall. Nor does he hear the man trying to get his attention.

(Though, to be fair, neither does Helaine.)

“Do you think it would help to split them up?” he continues, oblivious, crossing the lower courtyard toward the main steps.

“Doubtful,” Helaine replies, similarly ignorant. “But if they work so well together, they may be able to be transferred to one of Leliana’s special teams.”

“Make them her problem,” he agrees, unable to keep from smiling. “I’ll talk it over with Briony at our meeting. But I think it’s a good- ouch!”

He is stopped in his tracks by something rebounding off the back of his head. Whirling around, he tries to catch the culprit, a rebuke on the tip of his tongue. Sera, he assumes, or one of the younger inhabitants of the fortress. Some silly game.

But all he sees is Berinole, his hand up in unflinching acknowledgement.

“You-“ Cullen starts, rubbing the back of his head, but the builder interrupts.

“Wasn’t gonna chase you all over Skyhold.”

“So, you thought the answer was to throw… What did you throw at me?” He checks his fingers for mud or something worse, but nothing is there. Just… ah. A pinecone at his feet. “Lovely. Did you need me?”

“No, I was just throwing things at you for fun,” he says, deadpan.

Helaine lets out the tiniest huff of a laugh, and he can’t help rolling his eyes.

“Let me rephrase. Good day, Berinole. What do you need?”

The builder shrugs. “Just thought you might want to know your tower was done. If you want to inspect it, sign it off, then you can move back in.”

He suddenly has a pang of guilt for being so short with the man. “Ah. My apologies. I… I wasn’t expecting it to be done so soon. You said three weeks, at least.”

“The incident was three weeks and two days ago,” Helaine notes quietly.

It was? Maker, he’s losing track.

“I meant, three to four weeks, you said,” he covers. Badly. Helaine gives him a sidelong frown. “Well, shall we go and take a look? I shouldn’t waste any more of your time.”

Berinole heaves a weary sigh and then turns toward the staircase up to the battlements. He begins to follow, but Helaine clears her throat.

“I will return to the Mage Tower.”

He stops, turning toward her. “Oh… I assumed… You don’t want to see?”

“I would be intruding.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“It is your office, I-”

“It would be good to have a second opinion-”

“Still, I-“

“If you have more important things to attend to, of course, I-“

“I don’t care who’s coming,” Berinole interrupts, already partway up the stairs, his voice cutting through their debate. “So long as someone comes and signs off the work order so I can get back to actually doing my job!”

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