Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a longer story with a few chapters. Please bear with me through this initial set-up, the rest won't be so dry! =D
"Huuunnngh" she groaned as her stomach continued to convulse. She had just barely made it out of sight before her traitorous body started pumping out the small bit of contents from her stomach. Leaning heavily on the stone wall, her fingers gripped onto the bricks as she waited for the nausea to pass. This was becoming a habit and it would not take long to be found out; one of these times she wouldn't be able to duck around the corner quickly enough. She was growing concerned at this new development and again ran over the possibilities in her head. Illness? No, it's lasted too long. Food supply problem? No one else seems affected. Poisoned? Crows were no longer an issue, and who else would do that? Another effect of the taint she wasn't told of? Possibly. Unfortunately, with Alistair away on yet another goodwill tour, she wasn't able to ask.
The nausea was soon replaced by an overwhelming weakness that left her trembling. Running a hand through her hair, she tried to smooth out her appearance before walking back into the main courtyard. The recruits had faithfully kept training and if they even noticed her disappearance, they did not show it. It was the familiar sound of clanging metal and swishing arrows that gave her comfort while she carefully lowered herself onto one of the stone benches. They had made many changes to Arl Howe's former estate, including replacing the decorative courtyard with training grounds, but they did keep some things such as the garden. It was practical – they were always in need of food, and gave many of them something calming to do. Considering how many of the recruits grew up on farms, it was hardly surprising that so many of them took comfort in the garden.
In the few years following the ending of the Blight, there was little need for Kila and Zevran to travel and find recruits. Many people began approaching the estate, volunteering to join the ranks of the Grey Wardens. Their order had quickly become legendary, the esteem of it being greatly boosted by a Warden King. The only problem was far too many people were coming forward and most of them were not Grey Warden material. Alistair and Kila had discussed at great length what Duncan would look for in new recruits, and how often his recruiting journeys would leave him empty handed. It was a matter of quality over quantity. But neither of them wanted to turn away all the volunteers as many had already closed the door to their former lives. So instead they began accepting people as Warden Allies whose duty would be serving alongside the Wardens in battle and it was not long before this became a prestigious rank as well. The long-term plan was to create a military structure – training the new Wardens on how to lead men, and having a group of Allies assigned to each Warden. It was a tactic that was completely unheard of by any Grey Warden, but visiting Wardens from Orlais approved of this approach especially considering it was similar to what Kila herself had done.
Currently, the reality of this situation was far less glorious. They were training inexperienced young people who had backgrounds in farming or something equally as relevant. The training grounds were always busy with one group or another, and classes were held for various warfare-related skills from treating wounds to setting traps. At times it felt like an uphill battle, but they employed a few veterans as instructors, which helped lighten the burden. Alistair served as advisor, but the bulk of the never-ending work fell on Kila and Zevran.
Zevran. From her place on the bench, she could see him working with a small group of recruits on the basics of finding a critical soft spot. He adamantly insisted on training willing recruits in his ways, reasoning that flanking was important as history would not remember a gloriously failed frontal assault. In his element, he made grand flourishes with the training dummy to get his point across. He always attempted to make it fun as it was easier to retain that way according to him. His tanned skin glisten in the morning sun, and his hair had an almost benevolent glow to it. She couldn't help but smile, even after all they had been through, secretly watching him still brought her so much joy.
Finally, she realized she would have to tear herself away from watching her dear sun god. Her trembling had stopped, but her stomach was still angrily churning. Carefully, she made her way to the kitchen in hopes of finding bread to settle it. Of course she planned to scrutinize the bread first, looking for any traces of poison or mold…
On her way into the estate, she heard a familiar whine at her back. Without turning around she chuckled, "Oh you can come too," and held the door open a touch longer for Tolan, her beloved Mabari, to sneak in with her. She could be sure he noticed her quick disappearance. Happily, he plodded along beside her as she made her way down to the kitchen.
Dilwyn greeted Kila warmly when she saw her peeking in the doorway, "Come in my dear! You don't need to be shy." She was a friend of Kila's mother and after discovering she didn't perish in Ostagar, returned Denerim to be with her. It was considered unusual to have an elf as the head of a kitchen, but times were changing with Kila's cousin, Shianni, serving as an advisor to the king regarding better conditions for the elves in the Alienages of Ferelden. Besides, there was very little in the Grey Warden estate that was considered usual. Not only did Dilwyn head the kitchen, but also her and her husband worked as instructors with the recruits. Kila had been so relieved when they agreed to stay on and help.
As Kila entered, Dilwyn gave a quick glance to Tolan, but kept her mouth closed. Kila politely motioned for him to sit by the door out of respect to the order in Dilwyn's kitchen. With a whimpering sigh, he obliged, and one of the kitchen staff rewarded him with a left over bone.
"So my dear, might I ask what brings you here at this time of day? If I'm not mistaken the newest recruits are in the training field." Dilwyn continued to work, but gave Kila her attention.
Absently, she shook her head, "No, not the newest. They know their drills well enough, and besides, Zevran is still up there with them."
"You know, you could talk to my husband about watching the field in your place more often. We understand how time-consuming the paperwork side of things are. And besides, the more free time you keep giving him, the more of a nuisance in the kitchen he is," Dilwyn smiled kindly as she spoke, each word was warm with love even as she insulted her husband. "Oh," she remembered, "But…why are you down here again?"
"I was just hoping you might have some bread for me…"
Dilwyn gave her a measuring sidelong glance, "And why?" she prodded.
Kila leaned against the counter and sighed, "Because my stomach has been on edge all day and I'm hoping some dry bread might settle it." No need to explain it's been a couple of weeks like this. With Dilwyn filling motherly shoes for her, she would make an issue of it and Kila wanted to figure out what was happening before announcing the problem to anyone.
A knowing smile slowly across Dilywn's face, "Of course dear." Quickly she produced a chunk of bread as she guided Kila to a nearby stool, "But please sit and relax for a bit while you're eating at least." Smoothly, she continued back to work on lunch. Her back was turned to Kila, but she knew the woman was sitting as told. She was so much like her mother.
Over her shoulder Dilwyn casually scolded the Warden, "All you do is rush around all day. Busy, busy I understand…But you really shouldn't push yourself so hard when you're with child. It's not good for the baby you know."
Kila was picking at the bread, setting onto the stool. With another sigh she replied, "I know Dil it's just…" her words stopped short as her attention snapped from the bread to Dilwyn. Wait…when who is with the what now?
Springing back up, the bread dropped to the ground and the stool clattered out from behind her, inciting an excited bark from Tolan. "Not…not good for the what?!"