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Cullen supposed the Midsummer festival was alright.
Somehow it was never quite as hot as the rest of the summer. Lanterns glowed around the entire town square, flowers decorated the odd statue in the center Mother and Father always warned them to avoid, and a small band played at its feet.
It was loud and a flurry of people. But at least his siblings were too distracted by the games to bother him.
“Why don’t you join them, Cullen?” Mother asked as they sat at the periphery .
He frowned. “They’ll be loud again if I do.”
She laughed—not cruelly—and brushed some of his hair out of his forehead. “My quiet boy. Surely you won’t want to hide in the corner forever, my love. One day you might find someone worth dancing with, and then where will you be?”
“Templars are supposed to watch quietly, not dance!”
Father came over, Cullen’s siblings in tow. “You’re not a templar yet, pup. Enjoy the world while it lasts.”
“I still want to be a cat,” Rosalie muttered as she sat beside him.
Father leaned down and offered his hand to Mother. “While this lot is distracted, may I have the next dance?”
Mother beamed. “Always.”
He led her towards the center of the square, where many of the adults were happily dancing along with the music. Cullen watched as Father took Mother in his arms and they followed suit, spinning and timing their steps to the beat.
“So romantic,” Rosalie sighed.
Branson made a gagging sound and Cullen tried to cover his laugh with a cough.
Mia smacked Branson’s shoulder. “Don’t be rude!”
Cullen watched silently. It wasn’t hard to miss how Mother smiled as she danced with Father. How, when he lifted her by her waist and spun them in a slow circle, they both laughed.
They looked happy.
He wondered if maybe there was truth in Mother’s words.
“Forgive my tardiness,” Cullen said as he walked through the doors. “I wasn’t aware I was needed for this…”
He trailed off and glanced around the room. Josephine, Leliana, and Madame Vivienne stood at the center of the room—all looking decidedly pleased with themselves. On one side of the room stood Sera, Cole, Cassandra, Solas, Varric, and Iron Bull. On the other was Dorian, Blackwall, and Zara—the last very clearly paying no mind to what was going on and buried in paperwork.
At the sound of his voice, she looked up and threw him a small smile. He was helpless but to respond in kind.
Several of those assembled snickered.
“Now that we’re all present,” Josephine tutted, “we can begin!”
“Begin… what?”
“Dancing instruction, Commander,” Vivienne said.
“We cannot have our own members be seen as lacking the proper education,” Leliana added. “The Game is more than just the right words.”
Sera very clearly tried to make a break for a window as they spoke. Iron Bull grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and held fast. “If I have to be stuck here, so do you,” he deadpanned.
Cullen, however, felt frozen.
Of course, of course , the ridiculous Orlesians expected such a thing. He should have assumed nothing less from them. Still, he couldn’t help but get the sinking feeling he was about to be the ridiculous one with his total lack of ability.
“If you’d stand over there,” Josephine said as she gestured toward the majority.
He seriously debated turning around and walking right out the doors he came from. But Leliana’s stare was very clear that he risked her wrath if he did so. And he wasn’t that foolish.
Defeated, Cullen walked over and stood beside Varric.
“How come Beardy gets to be on that side?” Sera asked as she tried to wrestle out of Bull’s grip. “No fair!”
Blackwall clearly flushed. “I’ve had some instruction in the past,” he said evasively. “I’m surprised you’ve had none, Varric.”
“I’ve got the left feet of a drunk bronto,” Varric joked. “Mother never could get me to learn the right steps.”
“Any chance we might be able to find an opportunity to retreat?” Cullen muttered.
Cassandra, on his other side, scowled. “Do not think I haven’t already tried. When she wishes, Josephine can match Leliana in intimidation . I do not think I have seen her make that face before and I do not wish to ever see it again.”
He winced in sympathy.
“Now that we are all here,” Josephine chirped, “I think a demonstration would do wonders.”
“I agree, Ambassador,” Vivienne said. “Inquisitor, darling, would you mind?”
Zara looked up from her paperwork. “Hm? I’d love to, Vivienne, but Josephine wants me to memorize the guest list.”
“It will be there when you are done, surely,” she responded easily. “Dorian, you shall be her partner.”
Dorian held out his hand to Zara with all the flourish Cullen had come to expect from him. “Shall we dazzle this bunch, cousin?”
Zara rolled her eyes, setting down the parchment she’d been studying. But she took his hand all the same and allowed him to lead her toward the center. The three ringleaders moved back to give the two room to move.
Cullen felt like the whole world stood still.
“Something simple, if you please,” Josephine instructed. “A waltz will do.”
Dorian took Zara into his arms, holding one hand in his own while the other rested at the small of her back. Zara placed her free hand on his shoulder. The other appeared to whisper something conspiratorially to her and she appeared to flush at his words before murmuring something back.
“One, two, three…”
Dorian seamlessly led her through the first steps, sweeping them in a circle across the open floor. Zara followed the movements easily and without missing a beat. Both moved with practiced ease, the steps clearly as ingrained as movement in battle .
Zara, at least to his untrained eye, moved with a barely contained passion that made his chest ache. As they moved through the next steps, whirling in a wide arch around the floor, it wasn’t hard to miss the smile on her face.
It was mesmerizing.
Cullen knew of her education. She’d mentioned it in passing and it wasn’t too difficult to discern her early life had been a noblewoman’s upbringing before her magic had manifested. From what he knew of her parents, they seemed to value her learning sciences or literature just as much as the fashionable dances.
But watching her move through the dance…
Suddenly his mother’s words rang in his ears.
He wasn’t content to sit in the corner.
Cullen wanted to dance with Zara.
Dorian led them past where Cullen stood, spinning her with one hand. Her raven hair, loose and free from its usual braid, brushed by him and filled his lungs with the scent of her wisteria perfume.
He could drown in her scent and die a happy man.
Sera giggled again and it snapped Cullen from his reverie.
Both she and Bull were staring at him rather pointedly. He glared at them in turn.
But it wasn’t hard to discern his emotions had shown. Not for the first time, he missed when his Templar helm had hidden his expressions from the world. At least then Zara’s companions wouldn’t ceaselessly tease him when she wasn’t looking.
Dorian and Zara slowly came to the end of their dance. The Tevinter mage swept into a low bow with his usual flare, while Zara curtsied opposite of him.
As they parted, Dorian subtly winked at Cullen. He rolled his eyes in turn. Inside, though, he knew what it meant. Your move, Commander.
From somewhere beyond the mortal world, he knew his mother and father were getting one final laugh over it.
Cullen really needed to pay attention to Josephine’s lessons.
Despite having no ceremony, the celebrations were nice.
Cullen supposed it was what he and Zara deserved, having eloped themselves. When Amelia had come clean—a full two weeks after—he hadn’t even had it in him to be angry about it. Zara, meanwhile, had laughed until she ran out of breath at the irony. She hadn’t even tried to hide her laughter like she had when Lyam had told them of his intentions to marry Sophie.
Both of their families, the many friends from their adventures, and friends Amelia and Devira had come to know had all come together to celebrate them as they started their life.
It was hard for Cullen to wrap his mind around.
As though reading his mind, Zara took his hand in her own. “What is it?”
“With Amelia gone, it’s just the two of us again.”
Zara was quiet for a long moment as they watched Amelia and Devira dance in time with the music— a fast-paced reel, from what he could tell . Their youngest’s laughter rang like the peal of a bell through the room and her wife smiled in return. Her expression reminded Cullen of his own whenever he looked at Zara.
They would be good for each other.
“I don’t think I’ll mind an empty nest as much,” Zara murmured. “They’re all happy.”
On the far side of the room, Lyam and Sophie spoke with Dorian and Bull’s daughter, Nerith. The latter was chattering on over Sophie’s impending due date. In another corner, Avannah was deep in conversation with Vivienne—despite clearly being over all the fuss. Devira spun Amelia in her arms and she beamed, not noticing as a few flowers fell out of her hair at the movement .
Cullen considered for a moment. “Well, maybe it won’t be quiet for long.”
Zara nodded, smiling. “Lyam has already arranged for us to be in Denerim in two months. After that it’ll be a matter of weeks until the birth.”
“Any idea how long we’ll be staying this time?”
She tilted her head as she considered, a motion he’d seen her do countless times. “Oh, I don’t know. But I should think we’d like to to take our time with our first grandchild.”
He laughed. “Are you planning an army as your parents had?”
“Nowhere close,” she joked. “But it’s nice to think about, isn’t it?”
Cullen squeezed her hand as they watched Nico pull Avannah toward the dance floor. Neri gave Sophie a hug before Lyam led his wife toward the center . Amelia’s smile somehow grew wider as her twin and older brother joined them.
More couples followed. His mother’s words echoing in his head as they always did, Cullen pulled Zara’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “May I have this dance, my lady?”
Her smile was infectious, pulling at the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes. In the words she’d spoken the first time, so long ago now, “ Of course .”
Cullen led her toward the dance floor, unwilling to hide the smile he returned. Twenty-five years married and he would never take it for granted—no matter how often Bull and Sera would make lewd comments from the sidelines.
He took her into his arms as the music started. She placed her hand in his, the weight of it familiar and warm.
As they moved in time with the music—Cullen thanked any higher power listening that it wasn’t a terribly complicated dance—Zara gave him a wistful look.
“What is it?”
“I think we did alright,” she whispered, just for him to hear, as her hair came loose from its braid. There was more silver showing through the raven. “Don’t you agree, Commander?”
Not caring that anyone was watching, he pressed a kiss to her lips. No matter the years, there was always that same urgency. Like if he wasn’t then she’d disappear as though from a dream . “I’m inclined to agree, Inquisitor.”