[ A small relief, then. She must have fought him off- somehow, impossible to say now which parts of the fight were real, and which imagined. Cullen hastily shakes his head. ]

No! No, I... recall the struggle, but.

[ He inhales, but someone must have neglected to air these chambers for a long time. Stiffly he faces her, forcing composure. He would prefer the woods now, he thinks, icy rain and Orlesian finery and all. Where to even begin? ]

I was at the Winter Palace in Orlais, that is the last thing I remember clearly. I stood on a balcony, and suddenly... suddenly I thought myself surrounded by a forest. A w-- Someone approached me, I spoke to them for but a moment when-- [ His words, already laboured, come to a halt. He makes himself breathe. ] Her face- her body, it appeared blue and monstrous to me, and I... I attacked the creature I thought I saw.

[ He can only bring himself to meet her eyes for a moment, then his head sinks. ]

I knew that some of what I was seeing couldn't possibly have been real, but I- I thought her the culprit, not part of the deception I'd fallen prey to.

[ Cullen looks up. ]

If she will see me, then I would apologise for my weakness.