The human noble obviously knew Nathaniel before Awakening, right? This is my version of them re-kindling an old romance after the war, and even after everything that happened. My human noble hasn't had great experiences with men previously: cue angst, romance. Starts with Nate's conscription.
Bioware owns everything, including my soul and spare time.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Warden-Commander Aeryn Cousland stepped out into the courtyard of Vigil's Keep. A fine drizzle had started falling on the early spring morning, but it did nothing to improve her mood or soothe the tension that suffused her lithe frame; unusual for her, as Aeryn usually adored the rain and had done ever since she was a child. It had been one of her and Rory's favourite pastimes, to sit on the battlements of Castle Cousland sharing a bottle of wine they'd sneaked out of the larder from under Nan's nose while a summer storm raged around them. Laughing like fools, they'd come inside hours later, soaked to the bone and her mother would good-naturedly scold them for being childish, then send them both off for hot baths...
With a tired sigh, she pushed all such thoughts out of her mind. Thoughts of Ser Gilmore, her family and home invariably brought her pain, and she had no time to wallow in it today. Massaging her temples, Aeryn swept her gaze over the wreck of the fortress that was, for now, her new home.
'By Andraste' she thought to herself 'The Darkspawn really did a number on this place...'
It was true enough. The Spawn had devastated the Keep. The Vigil's walls were in ruins, and though the proud gate towers still stood, the hastily erected wooden gates that stretched between them didn't look sturdy enough to withstand a hearty kick from her, let alone anything more powerful. Aeryn remembered when those gates had been made of wood older than she was, and so thick and tough that Delilah had once declared that it would take the strength of an ogre to break down the Vigil's gates. A ghost of a smile graced Aeryn's face as she thought of the irony of her friend's prediction. She had spoken truly, for that is exactly what it had taken, if not quite in the way Delilah had anticipated.
She resumed her damage assessment, and everywhere she looked bodies littered the courtyard. Aeryn tried very hard not to look at any of them too closely, turning her attention to a small rust spot on her amour instead. She had spent many summers in Amaranthine as a child, and she was desperately afraid that one of the lifeless faces she saw would belong to somebody she had known. Despite Howe's treachery, she knew that many of his people would have been innocent of what their Arl was planning, and she bore them no ill will over the fate of her family.
Howe, on the other hand, she hated with a passion that even his demise had not been able to resolve. His was the one death that she felt no remorse over, and never would.
Shaking her head in a sudden movement that sent her mahogany curls flying, Aeryn once again tried unsuccessfully to drag her attention back to the task at hand. She couldn't concentrate, her mind numb from lack of sleep. Arriving late at Vigil's Keep the previous night, she had expected to be greeted, shown to her quarters and left to sleep until her meeting with the Seneschal the next morning. As it was, she had arrived to find the Keep in chaos, the Wardens dead or missing and Varel at the mercy of the strange talking Darkspawn.
From the moment she had arrived, she had been forced into mortal combat, and when it was over, she had been expected to accept a royal visit, and then be present for a debriefing with the Seneschal. While it was lovely to see Alistair again, as she had come to think of him as a true friend and one of the few people she could rely on, everyone seemed to overlook the fact that she'd had no sleep and precious little to eat in over thirty six hours. She was dead on her feet, and she still had other duties to attend to.
Maker, but she was too tired for this shit.
It was getting towards early afternoon before Aeryn's tasks were completed. She had spoken to Voldrik about the state of the fortress' defences, and to Herren and Wade about armour for her soldiers. She had then been informed by Sergeant Maverlies that it was possible there were Darkspawn survivors trapped in the depths of the Keep, and despite the fact that she could barely swing her sword arm, she decided that this was too important to wait till the next day. Anders was still recovering from his Joining, and she had refused to pit the Vigil's men against the horror of the Spawn so soon after their ordeal. And so she and Oghren had cleared the cellars alone. There had been several ghouls lurking in the deep, and Aeryn had been horrified to discover that among their number was Adria, a women she had known since childhood and who had always treated her kindly during her visits to the Howe estate. Almost crying with revulsion, she gave Adria the cleanest death she could, praying that the Maker would take her to His side.
Thoroughly disheartened, she and Oghren trudged back to the surface. Aeryn was by now so exhausted that she could barely put one foot in front of the other. Emerging at last from the musty cellars, she took a lungful of fresh, clean air, smiling as Oghren cursed about "damn Darkspawn sobering yer up" and he stomped into the Keep. She turned, intending to follow him inside, find the nearest room with a bed and pass out.
"Commander! Commander, ser!"
With a long-suffering sigh, Aeryn turned to meet the young private who had just called out to her.
"Yes?" replied Aeryn through gritted teeth, barely able to hide her irritation. "What is it?"
The other woman faltered under Aeryn's annoyed glare. "Um... I was told to inform you that there is a man in the Keep's dungeons that requires your attention."
"A prisoner?" Aeryn asked in confusion.
"Yes ser" replied the private "We caught him poking around the estate in the middle of the night, not long before you arrived. I'd have said he was just a thief, but it took four Grey Wardens to capture him."
Aeryn felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Four Grey Wardens! Some of the most skilled warriors on the face of Thedas, and it had taken four of them to capture this man? She shook her head in astonishment.
"I know Commander; it's hard to believe, isn't it? Some of the Wardens were half-joking that he'd make a good recruit."
Aeryn thought she half-agreed with them. Four Wardens!
"Thank you, Private, that will be all. Please tell the Seneschal that I will deal with it in due course, but I'm just too tired for anything more today."
"As you say, Commander" the private crossed her arms over her chest in a gesture of respect. Aeryn turned to head into the Keep. "Oh, and ser?" the private questioned.
Aeryn looked back over her shoulder at her. "Mm?" she replied.
"I don't know if it makes a difference, but the prisoner said that he knew you. Called you by name and everything."
The private saw her stiffen in shock, and there was a strange look on the pale woman's face as she turned around.
"Did this man tell you his name?" Aeryn asked cautiously.
"No Commander" the private replied "Other than to say that he knew you, he's barely spoken since we captured him."
The Commander still had that strange look on her face when she replied. "Thank you, private. I think... perhaps I will deal with this today, after all."
"As you say, Commander" the private repeated, bowing slightly before taking her leave.
Aeryn moved slowly across the courtyard. So the prisoner knew her, did he? She could only think of three men she knew that could've possibly taken down four Wardens, and two of them she could probably rule out, as the private had made no mention of the prisoner being either Qunari or king. That left only one, and she could rule him out too.
'Zevran...' The thought of him sent a lance of pain through her. She had loved him, and he had used her and betrayed her.
She pushed the memories away, and didn't realise at first that she'd made an actual physical movement to ward them off.
Her cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment, she disguised the movement by folding her arms. Descending into the dungeons of the Keep, she reflected that her long day was just getting longer.
She stepped into the poorly lit room, squinting a little in an attempt to see through the strange half-light thrown by the shuttered lanterns.
"Ah, Commander!" the guard's voice floated to her out of the gloom. "Good thing you're here. This one's been locked up three nights now."
She crossed the room in two strides as the guards face twisted dangerously, and he gestured savagely over his shoulder to the man in the shadowy cell. "Good men... my friends… died while he was protected in his cell!"
"At ease, guardsman" Aeryn said to him soothingly, laying a hand on his arm. She would've said more, but at that exact moment the man in the cell stepped out from shadows.
She went rigid with shock. 'No... no it can't be!'
"Commander?" the guard questioned. Her comforting grip on his arm had become painfully tight. "Commander?" he questioned again.
Her throat had closed up and the only sound she could make was a sort of strangled sob.
"Commander!" the guard was by now truly alarmed. "Are you hurt? Do you know this man?"
"Yes. No." she replied, barely noticing that she had answered the questions in the wrong order. "I... Leave me to talk with him." She forced the words past frozen lips.
"As you wish, Commander." The worried guard gently shrugged out of her grip before bowing.
The man in the cell slipped back into the shadows.
"I'll tell the Seneschal you came" the guard continued. He'll want to know what you decide to do with this man."
Bowing again, the guard left, first walking calmly, then faster and faster until he was taking the stairs at a full on sprint. He couldn't rationalise it to himself, he just knew that he had to get away from that horrific look of pain in his Commander's eyes. She may not have been that much older than him in years, but the guard knew he would have to see a lot more of the world and and experience a lot more heartbreak to even begin to comprehend the depth of pain he had just seen.
Shaking his head, the guard decided that after he had fetched Seneschal Varel, he would go and give thanks to the Maker for what he now considered a sheltered life.
Down in the dungeons, Aeryn searched through the prisoner's effects as she took a few minutes to compose herself. By the time she had found what she was looking for she had almost convinced herself that it must've been a trick of the light. The man in the cell couldn't be him after all. It was impossible. He was supposed to be in the Free Marches for Maker's sake! Then her fingers brushed against familiar oiled leather, and her half-formed hopes were shattered. Her heart plummeted as she pulled out the old leather quiver. It was his for sure, complete with the faded green ribbon that she had tied to it three years previously.
It was him all right.
'Fuck.'
Aeryn leaned against the cold stone wall breathing heavily. 'I can't face him. I can't! Not after what his father did. For all I know, he could've known about the attack. He could've been helping his father plan it for years before he went to the Marches…' She started then, for until now she had never really considered that possibility. Her mind was suddenly swimming with doubts. 'Oh Maker, what if he did know? Was everything between us a lie? I can't do this, I can't, I can't...!'
'You can.' A new voice rang out in her mind. It was her father's, and she suddenly remembered the words he had said to her so often as a child.
"We are Couslands" she whispered under her breath "and we do what must be done."
She smiled shakily. She knew her that the voice she had heard, her father's voice, was just a memory. But it had helped. 'I can do this... I have to do this. I am a Cousland and Commander of the Grey, and I will do what must be done.'
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Aeryn moved towards the cell, and with shaking fingers unlocked the door. Stepping inside, she turned to face her childhood friend.
"Hello Nathaniel."