"I am sorry for what we are about to ask of you, Cullen."

That was not the most comforting greeting to be given as soon as he stepped into the war room. Cullen hesitated for just a moment before pulling the door closed behind him. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

Leliana had none of Cassandra's uncertainty. "Commander Cullen pledged his support to the Inquisition long ago, Cassandra. He knew our work wouldn't be easy when he agreed to join us. Didn't you?" Her blue-grey eyes were piercing as they flicked to him, and he immediately found himself standing up a little straighter.

"That does not make this right," Cassandra countered hotly. "Only necessary."

"I knew when I joined the Inquisition that sacrifices would be required of me," Cullen interrupted. "I am prepared to do what I must."

Josephine shot him a sympathetic glance from across the room, her mouth twisting up in half of a smile. She seemed to be the only one who understood what he was doing.

The days since the explosion at the Conclave had been trying for everyone, but none more so than the Left and Right Hands of the Divine. Cullen could see the way that the events had worn them down until they were raw and bitter. In Cassandra, it was subtle - if he hadn't spent most of the past year at her side, he might not have even noticed the changes. She had thrown herself into her work, training the recruits that were flooding into Haven and searching the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes for any clues as to who had caused the explosion. It was only in the way her face would tense up sometimes, as she tried to gather all the shattered pieces of herself close and hide them behind a mask of fierce strength, that he could see her distress and grief.

Leliana's stress was more obvious. The Left Hand of the Divine ha never had a reputation as a merciful, kind person simply by nature of her job, but since the death of Divine Justinia, Leliana had become even colder, prying information out of anyone she even suspected of having anything to with the tragedy at the Conclave with ruthless efficiency. Even her little birds had noticed the terse change in her demeanor and had begun to avoid her unless they had to - and even then, he could hear them arguing amongst each other about who would be the bearer of bad news.

He and Josephine were the only ones that were still steady on their feet. Everyone grieved the loss of Most Holy, but neither of them had known her personally, while both Leliana and Cassandra had spent most of the past few years at her side. The agreement between the two of them had been a silent one, acknowledged in little more than silent glances and the occasional respectful nod, but a powerful one none the less. The explosion at the Conclave and the death of the Divine, combined with the search for the perpetrator and the preparation for the founding of the Inquisition, meant that none of them had much time to rest and grieve, and none of them could give less than all of themselves to their work. However, both he and Josephine would do whatever they could to ease the burdens of the Seeker and Sister Nightingale - even if it meant taking those burdens upon themselves.

The smile Leliana gave in response to his words was sharp and lupine. "Excellent. Cassandra had her doubts, but I knew you would agree to help."

The look on Cassandra's face, however, made him nervous. He had never seen the Seeker look so uncertain. "What," he said slowly, "Would you ask of me?"

"We'd like you to...get to know Lady Trevelyan as soon as she awakens again."

Cullen furrowed his brows. A strange request, but nothing to worry himself about - and certainly not warranting the strange look Cassandra was wearing. "I am happy to help in whatever why I can. But, can I ask - why?"

"We only think that - "

"Don't dance around the question, Leliana," Cassandra scoffed. "If he's going to do this, you can't dance around the topic. Cullen, we need you to court her."

Cullen nearly choked on the air he was breathing. "I beg your pardon?"

"Tact, Cassandra," Leliana admonished.

"Tact has no place here," she snapped in return. "Only honesty."

"Tact and honesty are not mutually exclusive," Josephine pointed out.

"Exactly," Leliana agreed. "We don't need to drop the news on him and - "

"Would someone," Cullen finally interrupted, "please explain what is going on?" That silenced the three bickering women for a moment.

Josephine was the first to speak. "Lady Trevelyan is a wild card," she explained. "No one could have expected the dea- " she cut herself off with a glance toward Cassandra and Leliana before rephrasing herself. " - could have expected what happened at the Conclave. Even fewer would have thought that Evelyn Trevelyan, who everyone believed was behind the explosion, would emerge as our unlikely savior. No one else could have stabilized the Breach like she did. The mark on her hand is suspicious, to say the least, but no one seems to care. She has already been dubbed 'The Herald of Andraste' by many. The faithful have already begun to flock here, just for the chance to see the one who they believe to be Andraste's chosen in person."

"Yes, yes, I've heard the rumors. That doesn't explain why you want me to court her."

"Lady Trevelyan is a wild card in this situation," Leliana repeated, "but one that we can play to our advantage. As you are aware, in a few days, we will be declaring ourselves the Inquisition, as was Most Holy's dying wish. We have the connections, we have the spies, and soon, we will have the army. However, we are still missing the most important piece - a leader. Without an Inquisitor, we are like a dragon with its head cut off."

It only took him a moment to realize what she was suggesting. "What happened to Hawke? What happened to the Warden? I thought you wanted one of them to lead us."

"The Warden is nowhere to be found," Leliana replied. "Not even her king knows where she has gone. She has simply disappeared - not in Denerim, not in Vigil's Keep, not anywhere I have spies."

"And Hawke?" When he had first heard that Cassandra was searching for Hawke to lead the Inquisition, some part of him had secretly prayed she would not be found. His relationship with the Champion had been tense to say the least, and he hadn't been looking forward to taking orders from her, but suddenly, he was hoping against hope she would come crawling out of the woodwork, impossibly alive, just as she used to in Kirkwall.

"Also gone," was Cassandra's response. "The dwarf had no information. He says she intentionally kept her location from him to keep him safe."

"But one of them might show up. If they hear what's happened, they may be willing to help us."

Leliana was already shaking her head. "We are out of time. We cannot delay any longer. Thedas needs the Inquisition now, which means we need a leader as soon as possible."

"So you install a figurehead into the role of Inquisitor." The words left a sour taste in his mouth.

Leliana nodded. "There is no one else that could be suited to the position. Having a true leader would be ideal, but nothing about this situation is ideal. We need someone the people can look to as the face of the Inquisition, who will represent everything it stands for. Trevelyan will be that puppet, drawing the eye and putting on a show, but it is the puppeteers that truly run the show. We will run the Inquisition."

"We won't spring this on her right away," Josephine said quickly. "It would look strange if we suddenly declared her the Inquisitor, since we were accusing her of creating the Breach only three days ago. We will have a trial period, where we'll groom her for the position - in secret, of course. Eventually, after she's 'proven' herself, we'll make her the Inquisitor - and by the time we do that, she'll be perfect for the role."

"We'll start slow," Leliana continued. "Give her small decisions; let her think she has some power among us, while we make the choices that will actually drive the Inquisition forward. We can relegate them to her once she is the Inquisitor, but it will be a farce. We will still hold all the power. However, we need a point of control - some way to manipulate her into making our decisions."

"Me," Cullen said softly, bitterly.

"Yes," Leliana said. "You."

"But...why me?" he stammered. "If you asked me to join the Inquisition for my ability to manipulate people, then you've definitely picked the wrong person. Isn't that why you're here, Leliana? Why not you, or Josephine?"

Leliana pulled a note from the small pile of papers she had hefted in one arm and handed it to him. "I've been collecting any information I could find about Lady Trevelyan since she arrived. I started hunting for this when she stabilized the Breach. Do you know what it is?"

Cullen furrowed his brows at the paper clutched in his hand. "A list of names?" he guessed.

"Not just any names. That is a list of her known previous lovers." Cullen's eyes jerked away from the paper and upwards toward the ceiling, his face flushing red. He wasn't going to invade her privacy like this, and if Leliana would -

"Read it," Leliana insisted, and reluctantly his gaze drifted back to the four or five names scrawled onto the parchment. He thanked the Maker that none of the names immediately looked familiar to him - not that they should have. According to Leliana, Trevelyan had spent most of her life in Ostwick. "What do all of those names have in common?"

Cullen furrowed his brows down at the paper. What could they all have in common? They were just names…

It only took him a moment to piece it together. "They're all men," he said weakly, but he recovered himself quickly. "That doesn't mean anything," he said, his voice firmer now. "You said they were known lovers. There could have been others - maybe she kept them secret."

"It's possible, Leliana admitted, "But there's no way to know. There are too many factors to account for, and we don't have enough time to track them all. Right now, you have the best chance."

"But - I - she - " Finally, he found his conviction. "No. I will not. I didn't join the Inquisition to deceive and lie, to - to manipulate some girl's feelings for our own benefit-"

"But you would for Kirkwall?" Leliana interrupted sharply, and Cullen's mouth snapped shut. A vein jumped beneath his jawline, and his hands clenched into fists. "Your time with the Order is over, Commander - you told us that yourself. You'd give less to the Inquisition than you would to the templars, even after everything they've done?"

"Leliana," Josephine hissed, and Leliana quieted, though her glare was still intense. "We know what we are asking of you is not easy, Commander," she continued, her voice softer. "I like the idea as much as you do, but we have no other choice. We are out of time and out of options. If it helps, know that you are doing it for the right reasons. Right now, Thedas needs the Inquisition - and we need an Inquisitor."

Cullen shot Cassandra a pleading look. He had seen the books she had tried to keep hidden throughout their trip across the Waking Sea - surely she could see why he took issue with this.

For once, she would not meet his gaze. "I am sorry, Cullen. These are desperate times which call for drastic measures. If I could see another way…" she shook her head. "But I cannot."

"Oh, come now, Commander," Leliana said cheerily. "It won't be so terrible. Evelyn Trevelyan isn't an unattractive woman, you can't think - "

"I don't care," he snapped. "I won't manipulate someone's feelings like that. I'm here to train soldiers and lead armies. Find someone else to do it."

"I was worried you might say that," Leliana sighed. She pulled the sheaf of papers from under her arm and waved them in Cullen's direction. He hesitated before taking it, considering the last time he had taken a paper from her it had contained a list of a woman's former trysts.

As soon as he saw what was on the first sheet, he wished he hadn't. Josephine and Cassandra exchanged curious glances when the blood rushed from Cullen's face. Josephine leaned over to peek at what was on the page, but Cullen reeled back away from her.

"It would be a shame if the contents of that file were to finds its way into the public eye. Wouldn't you agree, Commander?" she said almost casually, prompting more confused looks between Cassandra and Josephine. He thought he saw Josephine mouth a question, and Cassandra just shrugged in response to whatever she had asked. "Ah, and I wouldn't try destroying that if I were you. It's only a copy."

Cullen tore through the papers, skimming as quickly as he could. The file had everything to embarrassing stories from his childhood (Was Leliana in contact with Mia? He resolved to write her as soon as possible to request that she not tell tall tales to stranger) to an account of the events at Kinloch Hold. Worst of all were the reports and interviews which started near the middle of the file, detailing the full extent of the events in Kirkwall - not just the Kirkwall rebellion, but also of everything (everything) that had happened within the Kirkwall Circle of Magi during his tenure as Knight-Captain.

"You can't - you can't prove any of this," he managed to get out.

"Does it matter?" Leliana replied. "Rumor cares little for truth - only for a good story. I think there are several of those to be found there."

"Blackmail, Leliana?" Cassandra asked, aghast. "We were going to ask him."

"This Inquisition will require many sacrifices of us all before its end, Cassandra. For me, it is to do whatever I must to achieve our goals - even if it means blackmail. Commander Cullen, at least, has been given a choice in this - he can romance a beautiful woman, and in doing so, help end a war and restore peace to Thedas, or he can see every mistake he's ever made and every crime he's ever committed made common knowledge. Now, the only question is - what will he do with this choice?"

Cassandra's fists were flexing rhythmically, and Cullen could see her open her mouth to defend him once more. He shook his head slightly, and Cassandra hesitated. He shouldn't have been surprised that Leliana would resort to blackmail to get what she wanted - she had been Left Hand of the Divine, after all. It had been all she had done for years.

And he did have a choice, as she had stated, though he didn't have much time to make it - he wouldn't put it past Sister Nightingale to start spreading some of the more innocuous stories about the barracks as he deliberated.

Looking down at the papers still clutched in his fist, it really didn't feel like much of a choice.

"Very well. How do we start?"

A/N: Well, here we go with a new story! This was originally a kmeme fill - if you want to read ahead, you can find it on there. This story is also available on AO3, if you prefer to read there. I hope you all enjoy!

If you like this story and are interested in my other writing, you can check out my tumblr. My username is wordsinthenight.