Any Warden. (This is not necessarily how Armour will go, if you're reading, don't worry!) A short fic about the new Warden recruits in the aftermath of the Blight, if the Warden was sacrificed while keeping Alistair off the roof.

Aftermath

Three months after the Blight's end

"So, that's him?" I whisper to Seri, sneaking a glance at the Warden Commander.

"Yep," she nods, her eyes following him around the camp, still nursing her wound from her first ever genlock. Her pendant, like mine and Mattheu's, dangles from her neck as she bends over her knee, the red liquid inside sloshing from side to side. With her tight-fitting armour, I notice that that's not what Matt is staring at; he shrugs apologetically at my glare, chipping in, "Y'know, I heard... things about the other Warden. More specifically, their... travels together."

"Huh?" I feel like I'm missing something; his tone indicates quite clearly that I am.

"Well, other than the whole 'prince' thing - "

" - Which all the nobles that were at the Landsmeet keep denying, yes - "

He glares at me. "Officially. Other than that, there's a rumour that they were... more than friends." He looks away from me. "Long hot nights, having to spend a lot of time with each other, those tents that were awfully close together..."

There's apparently going to be a lot of hiking and camping while we make our way to Weisshaupt in the summer, and he's thinking about Seri, I know it. "I'd shut up now, if I were you," I chide him. He blushes.

"Well..." His tone is quieter now, more sombre. "...There's also the rumour that it got quite serious. That dwarf that traded with 'em, said she meant more than life itself to him." His eyes drift once more to the man with so many rumours circling him. "They say he broke down on the roof... that it wasn't pretty." He winces, and I look at the tall man, in simple, plain armour, imposing even now, and find it hard to imagine. "They say he kept going on about how it should've been him, how could she do this to 'im..."

I look at Matt, and he swallows, adding, "I guess falling in love isn't good for Wardens." He shakes his head, and is quiet for a couple of minutes until the Commander reaches us.

He introduces himself, smiling. "I make a point of getting to know the new recruits. They can be... surprising, sometimes." There is something sad and far away behind his eyes for a moment, but then they are warm again. "I know it's been a long haul to get here, but it's not that far to Weisshaupt." He shakes my hand, and on his glove, I notice something that, small and simply engraved into the leather as it is, can't help but draw the eye.

It is the image of a rose.