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Melolwyn Lavellen twirled a flower between her fingers, an almost perfect replica of one plucked from the gardens of Skyhold. She didn't have much time to study magic on her own, and with keeper magic being a closely held secret of the dalish people it was the most overlooked of all her practices. But now, here she stood, the dark sky a blanket to hide her from the other inhabitants of Skyhold. Most everyone had already gone to sleep save the soldiers patrolling the battlements. Melolwyn opened her hand and let the rapidly decaying flower fall to the ground. It had been so long since she had practiced her studies, the flowers used to be preserved for days, some were able to be planted into fresh soil and would require no more magic to sustain them. But here she was trying to create flowers, trying and failing. She sighed, and sat down heavy on one of the cold stone benches.
"Rough night, Inquisitor?" Melolwyn leaped out off of the bench and spun around. Quick as an arrow, electricity sparking across her fingertips. Instinctivly, Cullen disapated her magic from the area. The two stood staring at each other both in shock and ready to fight. Melolwyn spoke first, anxiety laced her voice.
"By the Dread Wolf, Cullen, did no one ever tell you not to sneak up on a mage? Especially not in the dead of night!" She ran her hands over her face, pushing back the hair that had fallen out of her neat bun.
"Actually, that was one of the first things they taught us in the circle." Cullen spoke softly, walking around the bench to stand in front of her. He grabber her hands and held them between his own. "Maker, you look freezing. How long have you been out here." He brought her hands up to his mouth to breath warm air onto her fingertips.
"Mmm, I'm not sure, when did Morrigan retire to her quarters?"
"So Lady Morrigan is your time keeper now. Hm? What're you doing out here on such a cold night?"
"It's." Melolwyn paused. Her hands now warm fell between them, their fingers intertwined "Silly."
"Indulge me." Cullen pressed their foreheads together. His voice was barely above a whisper. She stood for a moment in Cullen's warmth. The cold wind at her back made her lean even further into him. She lowered her head to his shoulder and kissed the knuckles on his hand before releasing it and stepping away, walking the paths. Her fingers trailed leaves and stems like they held the secrets of Thedas.
"The Keepers, the Firsts, and the Seconds of a clan. We have a special discipline of magic. One we don't share with outsiders. It can help do many things. Some Elven secrets can only be read with the magic, similar to veilfire. It can be used to," She paused thinking over the best words to not reveal too much about the magic. Especially to a templar, ex-templar, but templar nonetheless. "Cultivate the forest. But most importantly, it helps protect the clan. I- there hasn't been much time for me to practice the discipline and there aren't areas of Skyhold without people in every corner. And, the only place that I can effectively practice is the gardens. And they only clear out late at night." Cullen unclasped his cloak as he followed her, and when she stopped he draped it around her shoulders. He left his arm around Melolwyn, a gesture of support and concern. She leaned into him and away from the leaves beside her. Suddenly she whirled around to face him. "I want to show you something, but I must have you swear to me that you won't say a word." Mischief glittered in her eyes as she stared down Cullen.
"Maker, why are you looking at me like that." She reached out and grabbed the tip of his ear.
"I need you to swear to me, that nothing I say to you or show to you will be revealed to another person. And if you break this swear, then may Dirthamen hide your pieces from Falon'Din, so you may never reach the beyond." Cullen just stared at her, shocked and confused. "Old Dalish vow. Here, how about this. If you don't say a word about this, I won't tell your soldiers that you cried over a baby bird. And I won't steal your ears." She gave a slight squeeze to the ear she was holding and let go.
"I've never cried over a baby bird."
"And that is what they will continue to believe. Now, do you promise or not?" Cullen gestured to the garden letting her lead the way.
"See! It happened again! This is one of the first spells I ever learned and I cant even keep the flower alive for more than a few minutes!" Melolwyn sat beside Cullen, her head between her hands.
"If I may, are you using creation magic or spirt magic?"
"Neither, I'm using keeper magic. It's not a subset of one of those styles. It's its own style of magic." She turned towards Cullen frustration laced her voice as she tried to remain calm.
"I understand. When I was in the circle, the mages would connect styles of magic. It would be say primal magic, but they would cast it like it was spirt magic. You're using keeper magic but the way you cast is reminiscent of spirt or creation. The way, you're casting it looks like that at least."
"So, you're saying that I'm mixing up my casting styles? How do you know that this isn't how keeper magic is cast?"
"I-" Cullen paused, aware of her frustration and not wanting to unintentionally insult her or her magic. "When you cast, you don't normally focus on your technique. Whether because you've used that spell so many times that you don't need to, or you're in the middle of a battle and can't afford the luxury. You never grew up in the circles. There technique is everything, if you don't cast the spell perfectly the first time then... But that's not what it was like with your clan. You were well trained, but you weren't taught the differences in the schools of magic. So, maybe there's a connection between these magics that you weren't aware of, because you just knew how to do it?"
"So, I need to not think about it? Just do it." She stood brushing her hands off on her pants as she stood. She clapped her hands together as she walked further ahead and closed her eyes. "Don't think, just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Just do-" A hand on her elbow swung her around and Cullen pressed a kiss to her lips interrupting her thoughts. She sank into the kiss and their arms wrapped around each other. They held each other for not nearly long enough before a Skyhold soldier interrupted them.
"Ahem. Um Commander? Inquisitor?" The soldiers voice shook, as his eyes flicked between Cullen and Melolwyn. Cullen stepped away from her turning towards the soldier
"Yes? What is it?" He snapped out.
"The guards are waiting for the mornings orders, um, sir. Inquisitor." The Soldier finally decided the ground was the best place too look as his eyes found a particularly fascinating rock to focus on.
"Is it that early already?" Cullen looked up at the sky. It was a deep blue but not as dark as the dead of night. Morning birds were starting their call, and voices were starting to call out over the ramparts. Cullen looked back at the solder who still stood. "What are you still doing here? Your message has been delivered. Back to your post." The solder saluted and hurried away, clearly grateful to have an out of the situation.
"How many times has that soldier interrupted us?" Melolwyn still had Cullen's cloak over her shoulders and made a move to take it off. Cullen stopped her and readjusted it.
"Too many. Skyhold is cold, my Lady Inquisitor. I'll get this back during our meeting this afternoon. Get some rest, you've more than earned it." Cullen stepped away not waiting a response a crown. And as he left Melolwyn saw that her spell worked and a crown of flowers was left upon his head.