A Candle in the Darkness (A Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction)

Sweet Dreams

1 Firstfall, 9:41

It had been a long trek back, with rainstorms in Orlais and snowstorms in the mountains as they approached Skyhold, and it was full dark when they rode through the gates. Soldiers swirled around their horses, helping them unload. Antonia usually tried to do her full share of the work, but she was absolutely exhausted tonight. She swung herself down from her horse, with hasty instructions to the stable lad who was holding his head, and, shouldering the small pack of her essentials, hurried through the snowy courtyard toward the keep.

"Inquisitor!" The voice she most wanted to hear stopped her in her tracks, and she turned to see Cullen striding hastily across the courtyard. She mustered a tired smile for him. "You must have had a long trip back. We weren't expecting you for another couple of days."

"We came home early," she said.

"Any particular reason?" He reached for her pack, lifting it off her shoulder as he walked beside her through the main hall. It was late enough that few people were about, for which Antonia was glad. She barely had enough energy for Cullen right now, much less for anyone else.

"Possibly." She smiled up at him as he held the door of her quarters open for her. "And we weren't doing much good, anyway. I'll have to go back at some point."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but ... very glad you're home," he added more softly.

"Me, too." She yawned. "It was touch and go tonight—we thought about waiting at the last checkpoint and coming in in the morning, but the idea of being able to sleep in our own beds was too tempting."

"I'm sorry you missed the Satinalia feast. It was—generous. But overall a subdued holiday." Cullen looked thoughtful. "Perhaps we'll have to give some further thought to our official approach to holidays here." And then he glanced at her, nervously. "I ... ah ... wasn't entirely certain where we stood on the subject of Satinalia and ... um ..."

"Gifts?" Antonia smiled, despite her weariness. "I believe I got the only thing I was wishing for before I left." She could feel her cheeks heating as she looked up at him.

"Did you?" Cullen smiled, too, his eyes lighting with happiness. "I would say the same, if I had thought such a thing was possible to wish for." At the top of the stairs, he put her little pack down. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Oh—" Antonia looked around the room. "No, Roya will take care of me. She always does. You watch, in another five minutes there'll be a tea tray on the table and buckets of water being hauled up. I feel badly about that, but not badly enough to say no to the hot bath."

"Yes—" Cullen's voice squeaked a bit, and he cleared his throat. Antonia wondered if he was imagining her naked in the bath. Tomorrow she'd regret that she didn't have the energy to imagine him naked in the bath, but tonight it just wasn't in her. "I'm working with the dwarves to install a system of runes and pipes that should make it easier to pipe hot water through the keep."

"That would be true luxury." She took pity on him, clearly standing there wanting to do something, anything to mark her homecoming, and walked across the room toward him. "I know what you're thinking."

"Do you?"

Antonia nodded. "And tomorrow I look forward to being welcomed home properly. Enthusiastically, even." She yawned again. "Sorry."

Cullen relaxed a bit, and she realized that perhaps he wasn't sure what kind of a reception to give her. "Good to know. When you're rested, you know where to find me." He hesitated for a moment, then put his hands gently on her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"You, too."

True to Antonia's prediction, Roya appeared on the stairs with a tea tray just then. She raised an eyebrow at them, and Cullen hastily moved away. "Good-night, Commander."

"Roya."

They both watched him go, skirting the servants hauling up pails of water as he went. "You hurried home," Roya said.

"Wouldn't you?"

"Hmph." Putting the tea tray down, Roya pulled out a chair and motioned to Antonia to sit. In many ways, the dwarf was more motherly than Antonia's mother had ever been, and harder to say no to. "If you don't mind my saying so, more than one person will be relieved to have you back this time. Someone's been rather grumpy since you've been gone."

"Has he?" Antonia couldn't help smiling. "I'll have to see what I can do to improve his mood." She poured a cup of the steaming tea, feeling better already.