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Cullen was taking a well-deserved break after filling out requisition forms for much of the morning. Where Hawke had found the time to fill out a half-dozen of them for wheels of cheese and fine Orlesian silks - and then shuffle them into his other paperwork sporadically…. well, he had no idea. Hawke had only just arrived a week or so ago.
Cullen closed his eyes, sighing deeply as a breeze licked his face. He’d found he very much enjoyed the effect that the cool mountain air had on the headache that lingered on the fringes of his mind, threatening to rush throbbing into his temples at any moment.
Shouting brought him out of his peaceful reverie, and he looked down into Skyhold’s courtyards to find the source of the clamor.
Leliana had burst from a side-door of her tower, and raced hood-less toward the gates. She nearly fell down the stairs, she was moving so quickly, but in classic Leliana fashion, she caught herself gracefully without losing a moment’s time. Her arms pin-wheeled, waving as she ran shouting at the gate keepers. There was an uncharacteristic, almost excited bounce to her run, and the white of an actual smile glittered across her face. Cullen tried to remember the last time he had seen the Spymaster grin like that. The gate guards stared at her in frozen surprise, dumbstruck by her sudden appearance and bubbly excitement. They didn’t hear a word she was saying.
“Open the gates! Open them! Let her through! Andraste’s sake, OPEN THE GATES!”
Realization dawned on the guards as Leliana closed the distance towards them, moving rapidly as her red hair caught the waning afternoon sunlight and lit up like fire. The great Skyhold gates swung wide open as a chilly wing roared through carrying a handful of scattered snowflakes.
Anticipation mounted among the watching crowd, as Cullen was not the only one who’s attention had been caught by Leliana’s uncharacteristic outburst. Leliana had reached the gate and she was nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other, smoothing her hair and fiddling with the great round Inquisition seal she sported proudly on her chest. Cullen scanned the assembling crowd for Josephine. If it was a dignitary arriving, surely the ambassador would be present, and the welcome would be…. well, it would be a bit more official and organized.
All the same, as one of the Advisors in charge during the Inquisitor’s absence, and Commander of the Inquisition’s armies, he should be there to be sure things ran smoothly. Without taking his gaze from the open gate, Cullen started down the stairs to join the massing throng of onlookers.
Cullen’s boot had just connected with the ground at the bottom of the stairs when a giant, gorgeous horse came pounding through the gate. It let out a shrieking whinny punctuated by sputtering snorts that hung steamy in the chill air around it’s muzzle. It was a dark bay, muscled and strong, the sunlight gleaming a rich red-brown off of it’s coat. The blanket beneath it’s weather-beaten saddle was a simple blue that bore no excessive decoration or indicators of status, rank, or nationality.
The rider of this magnificent creature was an equally striking woman. She leaned forward, patting the horse’s neck and murmuring encouragements to it. Her skin was kissed by the sun, her cheeks chapped and pinky from the cold and the wind. Intelligent, dark blue eyes darted about, taking it all in. Wildly unruly brown hair was tied back in a pony-tail that bobbed as she dismounted, swinging a long leg gracefully over the saddle. She moved fluidly, as if she never stopped moving, her movements flowing together. Cullen had seen her somewhere before…
The new-comer flung her dark wrap back over one shoulder, steel of silver armor glinting with it’s reveal. A blue and grey striped uniform. A Warden.
Realization dawned on Cullen as he remembered where he had seen her before. He had done his best to shut it all out and forget those days in Kinloch Hold during the Blight - of course he had not recognized her right away. But, it was her. Sure, she seemed smaller now… and though she smiled as her blue eyes fell on the bard, she seemed almost sad. Once proud shoulders sagged with the weight they carried, and her smile pulled tight at the corners, like a thread about to snap. Leliana surged forward to embrace the woman with a smile. Not just any Warden. This was The Warden. The Hero of Fereldan had arrived in Skyhold.