How's that bricklayin' coming
How's your engine running
Is that bridge getting built
Are your hands getting filled
Won't you tell me my brother
Cause there are stars up above
We can start moving forward
Lost in My Mind – The Head and The Heart
"Oh, come on." Thalia Surana groaned and flipped on her side, shielding her eyes from the intruding sunlight seeping through her thin curtains. As soon as she had burrowed under the covers, however, another intrusion to her sleep presented itself.
The sound of guards announcing the king's unscheduled arrival sounded outside the keep, and she rolled her eyes. Alistair was lucky he was a friend. The unhappy mage took a deep breath before poking a foot out from under the sheets to test the morning air. She hissed at the cold breeze that came to meet her and huddled back under her mass of blankets.
Ferelden's weather was one of the many things she hated about the country. Not only was it cold, but it was damp. And brown. And it absolutely reeked of dog. The people were even worse. They were needy and unforgiving and petty. You would think since they live in a land literally build on dark spawn they would learn to band together and fight for themselves.
It was unfortunate, but Thalia was not very attached to the land she was the hero of.
She soon decided someone else could handle Alistair, and let sleep drift back over her. Until the awful poundingon her door woke her again. She opened her eyes and counted to ten before she decided it would be appropriate to answer.
"Yes?" she had tried to sound pleasant, but the word came out like a snarl.
"Rise an' shine, ya bellyacher. The royal bastard's here!" 'Oghren. Of course.'
His statement was followed by a hearty laugh, suggesting her Dwarven lieutenant was already drunk. His laughter was cut off by a happy mabari bark. "Aw look, the dog wants ta see ya too." He let out another bellow of uncalled-for laughter that mixed with the mabari's yapping.
"Oh come now! What's wrong with him?" Thalia was giggling, clenching her stomach at the Antivan's twisted expression. The mabari growled when the elf put his foot in her tent and she went into a fit again.
"Oh, mi amor, I don't see why you find this so humorous." He glared down at the war dog, who glared at him in turn.
Thalia wiped the tears streaming down her face. "You're just so serious about this! Look, if you would ask him politely to move I can assure you he would. You have to talk to him all sweet and fluffy." She grinned widely at him. "It's not like he's a rival or anything."
Zevran's attempted at sweet talking the mabari failed miserably and Thalia was forced to compose herself.
"All right Atlas, it's time to go back outside. You're going to get hair all over the blankets." The hound whined, but complied with her command and left the tent, stopping only to glare at Zevran, before moving to his blanket Thalia laid out for him.
Zevran swiftly crawled into the tent and pinned her underneath him. "Honestly, you should teach that dog some manners." He stated. She quickly composed herself, meeting his warm brown eyes and biting her lip.
"Which one are you referring to?"
Thalia sighed and closed her eyes, willing the memory away before it got worse. How long ago had that been that she had giggled? "Alright, alright. Give me a minute." she rolled herself out of bed and sulked over to her closet to dig out her Warden armor, slicking back her short, dark chestnut hair with magic as she walked by her mirror.
"Don't take too long prettin' yourself up, Commander!" Oghren shouted, and she heard him tromp back down the stone hallway.
She sighed and stuck out a lip. She seriously had no idea how that dwarf kept himself alive with how often he was completely smashed. She shook her head and put on her Warden armor, deciding she would actually get stuff done today. The armor had become a part of her daily life, anyway. Last time she left it behind… well, things hadn't gone over so well.
Finished dressing, she gave herself a onceover in the mirror. "As good as I'm gunna get, I guess." she mumbled, stowing her small, rune encrusted knives in her belt.
She trotted down the stairs, preparing herself for the onslaught of stupid questions Alistair would throw at her today. He always had new ones when he visited the Keep, always refusing her offer to stick around and help train the recruits because of "royal business". Could he honestly not come up with a better excuse?
"Alistair. I assume this is important?" She said, reaching the bottom of the stairs. Alistair smirked down at her, before absently kicking the ground and avoiding her eyes like a school boy.
"Y'know, we may be friends but I am still the king…" He trailed off, his eyes flicking from the ceiling back to her. Thalia just stared at him, cocking her head to one side like she had heard him wrong. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Alistair was more silly than he was funny.
"Yes, I suppose you are. And who assigned you king, I wonder?" she mused, bringing a finger up to her chin in mock concentration. Alistair opened his mouth for whatever witty retort he had lined up, but Thalia brought up a hand to silence him. She rolled her eyes and laughed, motioning him to her office. "So get on with it, your majesty. What brings you to our pleasant little Keep?" She sat behind her desk and motioned to a chair for the king, but Alistair remained standing, explaining that he didn't want to sit after the hours of riding horseback.
"I assume you've heard of the Champion of Kirkwall? He seems to be making quite a name for himself in the Free Marches, and I've heard he's been digging around the Deep Roads even after his expedition 5 years ago." He began. "I was planning a trip to go see him; he was a Ferelden after all. I thought you might be interested in coming along."
"Ah yes. Hawke is the name, right?" Thalia said, snatching up a small stack of new letters at the corner of her desk and skimmed over them. "I should like to meet him; his brother never tells me anything of import about him other than he's "an annoying prick". And I'd like to see about the state of those Deep Road connections, maybe find points to block them off." She absently opened her letters, not really interested in their contents.
"His brother?" Alistair raised his brows, finally settling into the chair offered to him. Thalia nodded, looking up from the unfolded message she wasn't reading.
"Yeah, Carver Hawke. He was inducted to the Wardens in the Deep Roads by a former member of ours. Nathaniel found him when he was scouting and brought him here." She sifted through her mail absently, picking out a couple of letters and setting them aside.
"He's a good enough kid, I suppose. He was cocky and absolutely bursting with angst when he first got here, though." She chuckled softly. "Lucky for us, he assures me he is nothing like his brother."
Alistair's eyes lit up. "So you'll go then?"
"Yes, I'll accompany you on your little trip." She smiled, tossing the rest of her letters in one of her desk drawers. "Goodness knows I could use a few days away from Vigil's Keep, and I need to check in on Nathaniel." She stood and walked with her old friend back to the Keep's entrance, watching him and his guards ride out the main gate. Thalia was glad they had remained friends, even through all the hardships she'd put them through.
"THALIA SURANA, stop right now!" The tall man's voice boomed behind her. She growled and whipped around to face the Warden king.
"Oh please. Would you just stop this, Alistair? If you get to take a holiday from killing dark spawn then why the hell can't I?" she snapped, shoving a finger at his chest. "What more could you possibly want from me!? I've cleaned up this Mother business, it's over and done. I've replenished the Grey Wardens, I've even left you a new leader for Andraste's sake! Please, just… let me go." She let her eyes fall to the muddy ground, sucking in a breath, before whispering "I just want to see him again."
Alistair's expression went soft. He stepped closer to her, worry etched on his face. "Thalia… is he truly worth it? He's an assassin, is he really worth leaving all this behind? Leaving the Grey behind?"
She chuckled and shrugged. "Maybe not. But I need to see him, Alistair. And I'm a big girl; I can look out for myself." She smiled weakly at him.
Alistair nodded knowingly. "Just don't live to regret it, okay?"
Thalia sighed and leaned heavily against the stone entryway, Alistair and his men disappearing steadily into the horizon. How had things gone so wrong?