Our Chosen Hearts
Chapter 1
Unremarkable. That was the way she would describe the afternoon. Of course, not ugly, or dull, or indeed boring, but for her, unremarkable. The slim girl dressed in light, standard iron armour, leant on the edge of the hole in the castle's wall, somewhere near the ground level of the establishment. Her shoulder length dusty blonde hair was gently flowing over her hand and between her fingers as she gazed out over her favourite view.
The Cousland estate was a grand one, but for all its beauty, she found herself always coming here every day, even if it was for a few mere minutes. As far back as she could remember, probably back to when she was 3 or 4 years old, she had come to this hole for its view. Her mother had shown her the hole at first, holding her young body at her chest height so she could see out clearly to the picture of beauty. It was the sunset, red and yellow splashed with pink, kissing the edges of the fields with tongues of colour, shinning all over the lands of Ferelden, glorifying the country of which she was native, and lucky enough to be born into as a noble.
The picture stuck in the young girl's mind, imprinting a need to see it again. Although she was too young to be able to see over the edge without a stand, she hadn't let it deter her. Dragging one of her toy wagons to the hole all the way from her bedroom across the other side of the castle; she had placed it carefully on its side as to not roll away, and had used it as her vantage point to see the sunset once more, as stunning and glorious as ever before.
Her father had seen the incident, and knew that his pup would grow to be resourceful and smart, but he wasn't to predict the sharp and witty tongue to go with it. Knowing this, he had made it plain that she would train as a knight alongside the male warriors, as she was just as good as them, what she lacked in strength so far she could make up with in skill. One sacrifice to this training for the girl was to have her long silken hair cut right off, so it only just came past the tops of her ears. She had hated that, but said nothing, baring the sneers and remarks about her and the training from male knights with either sharp rams to the crotch with her shield, or a witty remark that would send them reeling until she had worked her way to becoming a respected and skilled warrior.
And now, after 2 years of training, here she was. Aged now 21, her face made matured to a pretty oval, with dark-brown, almost black eyes set the right amount apart. Her nose stayed rather cutesy and small, but her mouth was one of a woman, and a woman she was. Her name was Cavanna Cousland.
Cavanna loved coming here after training; it was just so relaxing to stand still. Still, and allow herself to take in the rich view while it lasted, and her weary body could rest after a full day of training; slamming barrels to the floor with her shield, stabbing flour sacks with her longsword and firing arrows at straw targets. She found the strain of archery often too much to enjoy it, and would never attempt a battlefield with a bow and arrow in hand. She would feel exposed and un-guarded, nothing without her shield.
She cupped her chin in one hand, her elbow against the cold stone, and allowed the other to lean out the hole, feeling strangely naked after spending the day in nasty leather gloves. The training gloves were often rejects or thrown down ones from knights passed on, so they were either faulty or horribly uncomfortable, but good enough for training. Her father had promised her a pair of her own when she completed her training soon; a pair of beautiful studded leather gloves, inscribed with her name on the inside part of the sleeve.
She sighed wistfully, imagining wearing gloves that fitted. She wanted those gloves more than the armour, despite it being as uncomfortable and ill-fitting as her current gloves. Studded leather sounded like a luxury to her, even though it was basic armour to most. Boots she cared not about, what didn't fit could be fixed with socks, and anyway, no sane enemy would ever go for a target's feet; unless they were an enraged rat.
Cavanna had been thankful at least for her hair growing back to some length over the last 2 years, despite regular trimmings. She hoped her father wouldn't insist on hacking it all off again before she finished training. She was just pondering this thought while lazily watching a pigeon preening on a tree, when an elven servant approached her from behind.
"Lady Cavanna?" The ginger haired elf said carefully, not wishing of her higher person to become startled at her words, "There are visitors to the castle. Your father sends for you," she said, her voice thick with an Orlisian accent carried by most of the elven servants at the castle.
"Visitors?" Cavanna said, mildly confused. She turned to look at the elf properly. She believed in treating these elves like the people they were, not just creatures to have as slaves. "Mother didn't say anything of visitors to me. It wouldn't happen to be shifty looking lords or slimy nobles again would it? I'm sick of father trying to pair me off with noble snobs just because Fergus is settled now."
"No my lady" the ginger elf said, clasping her hands tight enough to cause her knuckles to go white "It is Arl Howe, and one of those, Grey Wardens I believe," The poor servant seemed terrified, more so than normal, and Cavanna suspected it was down to the fierce looking armour and sword that she was not normally seen wearing by workers.
"Arl Howe?" Cavanna said more to herself than the servant "What does he want here? And a Grey Warden? It can't be an actual Grey Warden; it'd be too much of an honour!"
"Your father wishes you to come straight away" the elf carried on, fidgeting on her toes "He says you need not change, but be at the hall as soon as you can," And with that, the servant scuttled away without waiting.
"Thank you!" Cavanna called back to her, but she was probably too far to hear by now. Strange, Cavanna thought, how terrified these people seem to be at the sight of armour. I wonder if any have ever even held a weapon before? She didn't allow herself any more time to think, as she knew she had a place to be.
She walked briskly, yet gracefully down the stone corridors and passages of the castle until the grand hall was in sight. It was a truly awesome room to behold, with a fireplace large enough for a horse to stand it, and furnishings so ornate that they looked strangely ancient next to the grey stone walls. Paintings hung from the walls bordered by golden frames and murals hung from poles portraying wondrous scenes of banquets and gardens, but her favourite, the knight on the hill, holding the sword of triumph over the victorious field.
"Ah, pup! I was hoping you'd arrive soon, I have some guests for you to meet," her father said in his gentle but strong voice, a smile on his lips "I'm sure you'll take great pleasure in their company."
Teryn Brice Cousland was a fine and honourable man, with good intentions and a firm yet tender grasp on his power. He had been a good father to his pup, as he always called the young woman, and had watched her grow up, proudly seeing her progress throughout her life in all aspects she tried. Standing next the greying man were two others.
The first was simple, and rather boring looking man with greying hair cut short and simply on his lined head. Dressed in overly fancily decorated robes, he had to be the Arl Howe. Snob, Cavanna though, total snob. If father wishes wedding bells over him he's going to be majorly disappointed.
But the second man looked entirely different. For starters, he was wearing thick and strong looking armour, the type often preferred by Templars as Cavanna could recall, and he was carrying a large kite shaped shield with a blue Griffin imprinted on the back. It had only a few small scratches, but she could tell it was an old shield. The man himself had a wise face, with dark eyes, a black beard and long black hair tied back into a ponytail that came down the back of his neck.
"Pup, I want you to meet Arl Howe and Duncan, one of the Grey Wardens," her father said gesturing to the individuals in turn. Arl Howe nodded to her with a trace of a smile playing on his thin lips, his grey eyes about as full of life as the straw dummy she had shot at during the day. Duncan gave her a small bow, as much as he could manage in the restrictive armour and stood up straight.
"A pleasure to meet you," The dark haired Warden said to the young woman "Your father tells me great things of your time as a warrior," His eyes were flashing, and as she looked deeper, Cavanna could see a hint of respect flash across the pupils. I hope father hasn't been exaggerating, she thought hoping Duncan didn't think her a pre-Madonna.
"It's an honour to meet you sir," she said, bowing lower in her less clunky armour, and gave him an almost shy smile, her eyes glittering as she remembered the tales of the Wardens her nana had told her many a time. Bedtime stories that did the opposite, kept her awake for longer, rather than send her to sleep as she lay in bed, imagining she was riding on one of the huge white Griffins, gliding over the battlefield and saving the kingdoms one by one.
Cavanna realised a little too late she had forgotten to address the Arl Howe, and he was raising an eyebrow in mild distaste.
"Good to meet you too sir," She said hurriedly to the Arl, bowing a little more rapidly, and almost hitting her father in the stomach with her shield "It is an honour to have two such distinguished guests here," She hoped she sounded sure of herself and not inwardly shaking in the presence of the Warden.
"The honour is ours my dear," Duncan said, his tone true and real, like he had nothing to hide from her "I have been hearing things about you for longer than just now. I have heard you have trained as well as any male knight, and have performed well in all areas, and I have to say, I am very impressed."
Cavanna had to stop herself doing backflips, so her stomach did that for her. It growled a little with anxiety, but she pretended to shift her weight to her other leg, making the armour rattle enough to cover the noise.
"I have been thinking," the black haired Warden continued "The Grey Wardens have been in need of new recruits as of late, what with these threats of possible Darkspawn over Ferelden, and it would be my honour to invite you to become a Grey Warden yourself."
Cavanna didn't know what to say or where to begin, so she just let her mouth hang open a little in shock, her dark eyes widening.
"Me? A Grey Warden?" she said in a half whisper, half gasp of delight and shock "It would be a dream come true to become a Grey Warden, to fight beside you in the battlefield and defend Ferelden!"
"My daughter? A Grey Warden?" Bryce Cousland questioned Duncan, looking half curious, half petrified at the thought "Surely she is too young to undertake such a responsibility."
"Not at all," Duncan said in an assuring tone, and not sounding pushy in the least "If a person can prove themselves to be a noble and worthy defender of this land, he or she can go through the joining, and become a Grey Warden." He turned to the dusty blonde woman, who was still looking stunned "If that is what you would want Cavanna."
Cavanna swallowed, and opened her mouth ready to say something, when an ear-splitting scream echoed through the castle and into the hall. Moments later a brown haired male elf came running in looking flustered, his hair tangled and his face red.
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt my lords and lady" the young servant said, his voice too thick with an Orlisian accent, but sounding much more flustered "But your highness' dog has escaped his kennel again. He is running amuck in the kitchens and terrifying the cook! Lady Cousland wishes to see Miss Cavanna about it, and to hurry!"
"Wuffy?" Cavanna said, her voice confused and her eyebrow raised "I locked his kennel after lunch, he can't have gotten out!"
This was, of course, a huge lie. Wuffy was Cavanna's faithful Mabari warhound and her partner in crime for the last 4 years. The two of them very close, perhaps in some ways they were like an extraordinarily strange brother and sister double act. When she first began training the hound, he had managed to frequently get out of the kennels and cause utter chaos, looking for food, titbits and other edibles along the way. To Cavanna she found it hilarious, and when she felt like it, she would sometimes carelessly leave the padlock off, just to see what kind of trouble her hound could cause. Today was one of those days.
"I'd better go and find mother then," she said to her father, and then looked to the two visitors, "I'm sorry gentlemen, but I must be on my way. It was a pleasure to meet you." She had in fact directed this last sentence at Duncan only, but fortunately the Arl Howe took it as an address to them both.
"I suspect we shall meet again soon," the Arl said, his voice thick and highly strung, "Perhaps later on this evening if you are finished soon?"
"Thank you sir," Cavanna said, giving a short and curt bow, then turned to Duncan, her eyes meeting his, dark on dark, smiled into his wise face and said "I will give you my answer before the day is out, and thank you, so much."
With that, she turned and ran out of the hall, following the sounds of screaming coming from the kitchen, knowing her mother wouldn't be far away.
