[ she feels relief, for a moment. before she thinks about it too much, and about how inappropriate relief is when the brink of war is here and she's somehow managed to find the middle of it again ]
Of course they'll listen. [ she runs a hand through her hair, and suddenly it is very hard to look Cullen in the eyes for reasons she can't explain to herself ] There's never been anything like this before. No one- [ she shouldn't say it, least of all to him, but it's comes out anyways] -no one wants every waking moment of theirs watched, to only leave when it's been decreed by the Chantry. This is a choice they can make. [ and a small, self-mocking smile escapes to her mouth. because she had been young, once. had wanted nothing more than to go outside of the Tower and see the world and be a Warden and have Adventures, to speak her mind to Greagoir and Irving both. And it makes her stomach twist, because so many of them had held such anger within them. anger that could easily fuel the fires that were sparking on the Gallows
Solona takes a deep breath. A to B, she reminds herself. Draw the straight line from A to B, and the rest will fill in after ]
The Free Marches will be the most vulnerable. [ and that's all she can say on the matter for now. because, no matter how earnest Cullen seems- and he has always been so earnest, hadn't he? - Solona knows how to take blame where it falls and some part of Anders' misdoings rest on her shoulders.
It takes a few moments to fully process what Cullen is saying, and one thing sticks out: ]
no subject
Of course they'll listen. [ she runs a hand through her hair, and suddenly it is very hard to look Cullen in the eyes for reasons she can't explain to herself ] There's never been anything like this before. No one- [ she shouldn't say it, least of all to him, but it's comes out anyways] -no one wants every waking moment of theirs watched, to only leave when it's been decreed by the Chantry. This is a choice they can make. [ and a small, self-mocking smile escapes to her mouth. because she had been young, once. had wanted nothing more than to go outside of the Tower and see the world and be a Warden and have Adventures, to speak her mind to Greagoir and Irving both. And it makes her stomach twist, because so many of them had held such anger within them. anger that could easily fuel the fires that were sparking on the Gallows
Solona takes a deep breath. A to B, she reminds herself. Draw the straight line from A to B, and the rest will fill in after ]
The Free Marches will be the most vulnerable. [ and that's all she can say on the matter for now. because, no matter how earnest Cullen seems- and he has always been so earnest, hadn't he? - Solona knows how to take blame where it falls and some part of Anders' misdoings rest on her shoulders.
It takes a few moments to fully process what Cullen is saying, and one thing sticks out: ]
Who is Hawke?