A/N: BIG thank you to all the people who have already reviewed, favorited, and are now following my story. I feel like a kid at Christmas, not going to lie. Anyway so I decided that I'm going update my story at least once a week BUT, whenever I see people that have favorited or reviewed it makes me want to update TWICE a week. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours ;) Anyway in my story Daveth is much more eager to "get to know" the female Grey Warden than he really is in the game, so slight changes. And I'm kind of ignoring Ser Jory and that's because I honestly can't stand him. Also this was a very difficult chapter for me to write because I don't really like writing fight scenes, hopefully I won't be writing another one for quite some time. Again reviews are most welcome and happy reading. -STTH
A Test of Ability
"Alistair can show you where to pitch your tent. The rest of this evening is yours. Just know that we will begin preparations for the Joining tomorrow, so rest and make sure you are prepared for what is to come." Duncan said to Maeve as he turned and left the recruits with the Warden's junior member.
"Now that didn't sound strangely cryptic at all." Maeve responded, sounding rather annoyed.
"He can be like that, you get used to it after a while." Alistair said.
"Well" Maeve started before stretching out her arms, "I do not know about any of you but after all that traveling, I'm feeling rather stiff. Anyone like to go sparring?" She asked.
She was answered with silence. Instead of becoming even more annoyed she simply smiled.
"Come now, you boys must be thinking that Duncan must have recruited me for some reason. You men aren't curious at all as to why he would?" She asked very innocently with a smirk playing on her lips.
Daveth decided to take the bait, much to Maeve's annoyance.
"It's not like I have anywhere to be right now." He looked to Ser Jory and Alistair and grinned. "Feel free to tag along boys."
"You know where the sparring grounds are, yes?" Maeve asked.
She was met with silence again and she chuckled.
"Alistair, you have been here long enough, surely you must know where it is." Maeve said turning to face him.
"I do." He responded calmly.
"Would it be alright if you escorted us there?" Maeve replied as she walked over to him.
"Of course." Alistair extended his arm out to her like Duncan had and she slipped her arm through his. Alistair swore he could see Daveth glare at him but his eyes were more focused on the mage.
Alistair began to lead them to the sparring grounds with Ser Jory and a fuming Daveth following closely behind. Alistair was having a difficult time trying to word his question to Maeve about her sight. The last thing he would want to do was to upset her.
"Maeve, do you mind if I ask you something rather personal?"
"Not at all, ask away." She replied.
"It's about your sight…" Alistair started cautiously.
"I knew someone had to be brave enough to ask me about it, and you don't need to worry about upsetting me, I've…come to terms with it so to speak. So, what is it about my sight that you would like to know?" She asked softly.
He believed Maeve when she said she didn't mind people asking about her sight but with the way she spoke of how she came to terms with it, it seemed to Alistair that it was a touchy subject that she did not want to reveal.
"Thank you" he began, "all I wanted to ask was how you can cast spells and move about when a battle is taking place without… you know, seeing it?"
"Well that is a fair question. It took years to master but I'm able to see through what I feel under my feet. I don't think you noticed but I am walking with no shoes," she laughed before she continued, "strange I know, but it's necessary. I can feel the vibrations of people's movements when they walk and move about. That man over by, what I think is the cooking fire, just fell over drunk I would assume."
And sure enough, right where some soldiers were sitting down for a meal by the fire, a man had toppled over one of the sitting logs. Before he got up the man decided then would be a good time to regurgitate all of his mead onto the ground.
"Oh Maker," Maeve gagged, "that's disgusting."
Once the man dispensed everything he had in his stomach he passed out on top of the vomit covered ground.
"He just passed out. He is going to smell like vomit all day tomorrow." Alistair failed to suppress a laugh.
"That is foul." Maeve said before she let out a hearty laugh of her own.
"We are almost there." Alistair told her once they had both calmed down.
"It's empty. Is that normal for the sparring grounds to be empty before an upcoming battle?"
Alistair shrugged, "Normally it wouldn't be, but the King firmly believes that this battle will be an easy victory, so a lot of people are not very nervous."
"What are your thoughts on the battle?" Maeve asked as she turned her head up to him.
He looked down at her, "To be honest… I don't know, I think the King is just in it for the ballads and stories that may come from this battle. You know riding with the fabled Grey Wardens and eliminating the evil that threatens his country, that sort of thing. Teryn Loghain is the one who will win this for us, not King Cailan. But it looks like the darkspawn may outnumber us at this point. Duncan is concerned, but the King and Loghain refuse to wait for reinforcements since no one believes this is a true Blight."
"I see." Maeve replied.
They arrived at the sparring grounds and Daveth dropped his pack next to a tree stump and approached the blind mage.
"Are you ready, m'lady?" Daveth asked with a smile.
"I hope you don't expect an easy fight, Daveth." Maeve responded sourly.
"The same goes to you, Maeve." He countered quickly.
Alistair smiled at Maeve. She obviously saw that Daveth was a womanizer and thought her a bed-warmer with deadly abilities, which just made the idea of having her even more appealing to Daveth.
"Alright then, here are the rules. I will be standing in the middle of the grounds, you will be at the outer edge, and it doesn't matter where. I'll be trying to hit you with low powered spells and your objective is to either block or dodge my attacks and make your way to the center where I am. Once you reach me then the real fun begins, if you can get there of course." She finished with a smirk.
Maeve detached herself from Alistair and made her way to the center of the sparring grounds, while Daveth made his way to the edge of the grounds. Maeve swept one foot in front of her and after she made sure her front was clear she checked behind her with her other foot. Seeing that she was on level ground with no disturbances, she dug one of her heels into the ground to keep herself steady when the sparring began.
Daveth called out to her at the edge of the grounds as he drew his daggers, "I fight for your honor, my lady." He yelled.
Maeve rolled her eyes at the rogue, "Begin!"
Daveth sprinted towards her but was blown back by Maeve's spell. He picked himself back up and proceeded more cautiously. She shot off another spell and he dodged it easily, but Maeve was one step ahead of him and set off another spell which knocked him to the ground again. Though Daveth did stay light on his feet he got clumsier as his irritation increased, making his detection easier for Maeve. After a few more attempts, Daveth began losing patience and decided to mix up his tactics and use his bow with blunt arrows. Maeve's mind focused after hearing the twang of a bow as Daveth released the arrow's notch. She heard the disturbance in the air as the arrow approached her. Maeve moved her hand in front of her and created a wave of fire that disintegrated the arrow in a matter of seconds. After about ten minutes of constantly being thrown to the ground, Daveth finally conceded. Though he walked away uninjured, his pride was badly wounded. He then told the group he was going to go bathe in the stream nearby and go to bed early. Ser Jory decided to go along with Daveth, feeling far too intimidated by the mage to spare with her. Maeve approached Alistair with a confident smile.
"Wow… that was really impressive." Alistair praised. "Do you mind if we sparred if you're not too exhausted, of course?"
"Of course not and to be honest I need something more challenging, I barely broke a sweat." She replied as she propped her staff on top of her shoulder.
She repositioned herself and yelled out to Alistair who had already taken a position on the outer edge, "By the way, no smiting. That would be cheating."
Alistair smiled and he waited for her call.
"Begin!"
Alistair ran as fast as he could before he saw Maeve launch a spell at him. He brought up his shield and blocked the arcane bolt before he took off again. Instead of blocking the next bolt he sidestepped the spell and brought his shield up again as he continued to run, stopping her next attack.
Maeve admitted the templar was definitely strong and very quick on his feet. She felt him get closer and closer with each spell she threw his way. When he was finally close enough she brought her staff down on Alistair, which he blocked with his shield. She brought the opposite end of her staff up and deflected his sword's blow as he tried to strike her midsection. Maeve then tried to send him flying with a mind blast but he was too strong, but it did stagger him. She kicked Alistair's feet from under him and brought the tip of her staff to his chest. Seeing Maeve relax, Alistair quickly kicked the legs from under her and kicked the staff far from her reach. He picked himself up and brought his sparring blade to her throat. She felt the closeness of the wooden blade and she stopped.
"Do you concede?" Alistair panted.
She nodded at him and lifted herself up into a sitting position. She felt the warmth of his hand extend out to her and she grabbed it and he lifted Maeve to her feet.
"You didn't even try to smite me." She joked with a smile as she tried to catch her breath. "The Great Maeve has finally been beaten at her own game."
"I can see why you remained undefeated for so long."
Maeve was about to thank him but her stomach beat her to the punch.
Alistair laughed, "Let's go grab a bite to eat."
"That would be nice."
They walked back to the camp together and had dinner. Alistair helped set Maeve's tent right next to his and they both retired before exchanging "good nights". And for the first time in a long while Alistair prayed to the Maker, asking him to show mercy on the mage and help her survive the Joining.
