Work Text:
The bleeding had stopped now, but the glaring red of the fresh scars were still there.
Cullen sucked in a breath and clenched his fists.
“I will go fetch Enrique,” Josephine insisted, wringing the wet towel over the basin. There’d been so much blood - more than there should’ve been for two swipes of a rapier.
“No,” Cullen said, “I shouldn’t bother him during his studies.”
Josephine sighed, watching the blood and water trickle down the sides of the basin.
“I-it wouldn’t stop bleeding,” she said, shakiness apparent in her voice, “Enrique could heal the scars and they’d be gone in-”
She felt Cullen’s hand over her’s.
“Josie,” he assured, “It’d stopped bleeding.”
She scanned over the scars, one cutting horizontally through his temple and one down to his cheek. They’d indeed stopped bleeding, but the cuts were so deep it made her cringe.
Nobody has died over a marriage duel in centuries - most of it only for show. Why had Otranto slashed so hard?
Why did Cullen, an excellent swordsman, falter?
Why did Cullen agree to duel Otranto?
Josephine rose to dump the basin in the washroom and couldn’t help but feel Cullen’s gaze resting softly on her. She caught his face in the washroom mirror, dashed in pink, his eyes filled with something she couldn’t describe. All the harshness that’s ever been in his face seemed to have drained away in that moment.
She rinsed the towel and put it aside, she would bring it in to wash later.
She turned to Cullen, who now busied himself with fiddling with his fingertips.
“Why did you do it?”
Cullen looked up slowly, raking a hand through his curls. He took a deep sigh before rising.
“You didn’t want to marry him,” he replied plainly, “I didn’t want you to marry someone you didn’t want to.”
Cullen stayed plastered in place, as if he were afraid to step closer to her.
“Cullen, I told you, there was a different way,” Josephine began, “I w-would’ve-”
“You said it might not have worked,” Cullen responded.
Josephine pinched the bridge of her nose.
“You said you were going to speak to him,” she said, nothing the splotches of dried blood that had sprayed onto his tunic, “That is a far cry from a duel that nearly sliced your face in two!”
Cullen let out a shaky breath.
“Let me explain, please.”
“Go ahead, Cullen, please explain!” she cried, stepping closer to him, “Explain why you decided to put your life for no reason!”
Cullen took another deep breath.
“Josephine, it wasn’t for no reason, it was for you!”
There was quiet for a moment, as something glossed over Cullen’s eyes.
He took a careful step towards her.
“You always tell me that I show very little regard for myself, and that perhaps I should,” he began, “It is true. But you show very little regard for yourself too, in a different way.”
Josephine watched as Cullen’s eyes soften, a rim of red forming around them.
“You do everything for anyone and never expect anything in return. You take responsibility for things you needn’t take it for. You work yourself silly and lose sleep while everyone around you only give you half of what you give,” he continued, “And even when you’re stuck in a situation where you’d be trapped for life with someone you don’t even know, you think of your family’s reputation first. Josie…sometimes…sometimes, it’s all right to ask for help. Isn’t that what you told me?”
Cullen wiped away the tears that had began falling and gulped.
“I only intended to speak to him at first,” Cullen continued, voice lower, “Then he asked why I was out there fighting your battles for you, that I had no right to do that as I am not your betrothed. And if you don’t fight for you the correct way - a duel - he would tell everyone that you were having relations with a lowly, back country Fereldan soldier.”
Josephine reached for words she couldn’t find, nothing but air managing to escape from her throat. The look in Cullen’s eyes had returned, and this time he was looking directly at her, rendering a warmth to fill her chest.
He stepped closer once more, almost in defeat.
“Y-you don’t deserve that Josie,” he said, breath hitching, “You d-deserve everything for all that you do. You do so much for everyone without thanks and so selflessly. You are a wonderful, brave, intelligent and beautiful woman. And to have all of that crumble because I was being stubborn and had not listened to you - it isn’t fair. Otranto doesn’t deserve you. And you don’t deserve to have your reputation ruined by a useless Fereldan soldier.”
Tears now fell rapidly down his face, as he attempted to even his breath. Josephine felt her hands tremble as she approached him and reached to wipe the tears off his face.
His muscles slacked at the touch of her hand.
“J-josie,” he said.
“You are not a useless Fereldan soldier,” she replied in a whisper.
Their faces were so close that the tips of their noses touched.
Before either could say anything, their lips met each other’s. It was hesitant at first, until Josephine felt Cullen’s hand snake around her waist and melted into him. The kiss opened into something warmer and deeper until Josephine felt her head spin, and their closeness threatened to lose herself in him. Cullen’s kisses were full, with a hint of desperation and tenderness that made her knees falter.
It wasn’t until they broke apart, foreheads pressed together, that the question arose in her head.
What now?