Birds of a Feather

Chapter Two: The Grey Warden

The camp was almost silent, definitely more so than earlier when the darkspawn shrieks had attacked. The youngest Grey Warden, Lenora, sat just outside her tent, working with a knife to make more arrows. In the neighboring tent she could hear snores. It seems that the silent qunari warrior Sten was not so quiet in his sleep. She smiled to herself, pausing in her work to look into the fire.

She raised her eyebrows when she noticed that she was being watched. She hadn't noticed while she was working. She felt ashamed; her people would have been disappointed in her carelessness. Through the flickering flames she could see the senior Grey Warden, Alistair, watching her.

"Is something the matter, Alistair?" she asked, pushing a lock of copper hair behind her ear.

Alistair started, looking around nervously now that he had been caught. "Oh, um, no…I was just…thinking, you know."

Lenora smirked a little at his discomfort. He was such an awkward man. She patted the log next to her, beckoning him to come sit beside her. After a moment's hesitation, he did.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked, going back to making arrows. She was very short on arrows.

Alistair wrung his hands, not having anything to keep him busy. "I'm…unsettled."

"That is not a foreign concept to me," Lenora said with a small smile.

Alistair was intrigued. "Oh?"

Lenora shook her head. "No, I mean it in a different context from you. What is unsettling you, Alistair?"

"The shriek attack," Alistair said quietly, as if he didn't want the camp to hear in case it caused alarm. However, most of the camp, except for the apostate Morrigan and the stone golem Shale, were asleep. "Even our camp is no longer safe now."

Lenora sighed, once again pausing in her work. She looked over at Alistair, her eyes worried. "We have really drawn the attention of the darkspawn." She looked to the fire, enjoying its beauty. "It is troubling, but we still have time."

Before Alistair could comment further, Lenora's large Mabari warhound bounded up to them, a stick in his mouth. No, not a stick, Alistair thought, but a whole damn tree limb. The dog wagged his short tail in excitement, dropping it at Lenora's feet.

She smiled fondly at her companion and scratched him behind the ears. "Next time, bring me the head of a Hurlock, Feyr." The dog barked in response and then curled up at her feet, chewing noisily on his prize.

"Your hound is…very fond of you," Alistair observed, a bit nervous around the dog. After all, he had seen this dog tear the heads off darkspawn and then go for more. He was as much a Grey Warden as his master.

"The tribe leader gave him to me when I was first beginning my training," Lenora said as she watched the dog fondly. "He was trained to fight along with me, so when Duncan recruited me, he recruited Feyr as well."

Alistair chewed on his lower lip, uncertain if he should ask the question that was at the forefront of his mind.

He should have known that the hunter next to him would pick up on his gesture and guess what was wrong.

"What do you want to ask me, Alistair?"

"I was just wondering how Duncan recruited you. I mean…he saved me from the Templars," Alistair swallowed. "If it's something you don't want to talk about…" He knew all too well that many Grey Wardens were recruited instead of being arrested or executed, and he wasn't sure if that was the case with her or not.

Lenora smiled ruefully at the memory. "He…spared me from death." She picked up her work again, more vigorously making the arrow now. She finished it and began another before continuing. "I crossed a Lord in Denerim. I should never have come down from the Frostbacks, I knew that I wouldn't be able to integrate into this culture. But I was too curious, and too tired of the unsettled and dirty life of an Avvar."

"You did smell rather bad when Duncan introduced us…" Alistair trailed off.

Lenora spun on him, giving him an angry glare. Alistair held his hands up in defense, smiling nervously. "Much improved now, though!" he amended.

Lenora continued to glare, and then suddenly laughed. "It's all right, Alistair. I know that I did not smell half as bad you do."

"Oh, well—," Alistair stopped and narrowed his eyes as realization dawned on him. "Hey."

Lenora laughed again, this time much harder. His face was too comical.

"Must you lovebirds gab on so? 'Tis most rude to us who are trying to recuperate."

Lenora stopped laughing and joined Alistair as they looked up. Before them stood Morrigan, her arms crossed over her nearly bare chest. She looked angry, but she always seemed to look angry.

"You need to recuperate? I thought you just snuck off to find children to eat."

"Alistair," Lenora hissed under her breath, giving her friend a warning glance. She knew that the two did not care too much for each other, but they were still on the same team.

"What is it you need, Morrigan?" Lenora asked before she could respond to Alistair.

The apostate forgot him and turned to the female Grey Warden. Apparently her quarry was too important to spare a quip for Alistair at the moment. "I need to speak with you." She then added, with a quick glance at Alistair, "Alone."

Lenora nodded, a foreboding feeling beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. She set aside her arrows, realizing that at this rate she would never get many arrows finished, and stood to follow Morrigan.

They walked over to where she preferred to set up camp. She had her own small fire and a tent off to the side away from the others, to preserve her privacy. Lenora had tried on several occasions to have her join the others at the camp, but she had only done so occasionally to eat meals and then returned to her own.

She stood in front of her tent and turned around to face the pale Grey Warden. How much they differed, she thought. She was so dark compared to the Avvar, who was pale and covered in freckles. Her copper colored hair fell to her waist, usually with her bangs bound back away from her face, the rest flowing freely. Her eyes were a pale blue, almost translucent. She also wasn't near as thin as the Avvar, who was lanky and tall. It made it easier for her to be stealthy, she guessed.

"Do you remember the Grimoire that you gave to me?" Morrigan asked.

Lenora nodded her head, the ominous feeling growing. "Yes…Did you find out your mother's secrets?"

"Well, I…" Morrigan shifted, looking uncomfortable. "'Tis…most discomforting."

Lenora tilted her head to the side, her brow knit in confusion. "What is?"

"You know the stories, yes? That she is immortal? It seems that that is not so." Morrigan sighed, looking away. "She has been raising girls like me for years. When their powers are close enough to hers, she takes over their body so that she may be young again."

Lenora stepped back in alarm, her mouth gaping. "What? Th-that's sick!"

Morrigan didn't comment. She sighed, and continued, "I find myself in the most uncomfortable position of needing to ask you for a favor, Warden."

Lenora nodded, though she was unsure what she was resigning herself too. "Of course, Morrigan. I'll do what I can."

Morrigan was touched by the sentiment, but unsure how to deal with such an emotion, so she simply ignored it. She pushed it down deep and straightened her back, looking proud. "I need you to obtain Flemeth's Grimoire for me. The knowledge I would gain from it would be substantial." She paused, and then added, "You would also be stopping her from continuing this…tradition."

Lenora smiled ruefully. She knew Morrigan was trying to appeal to her sense of justice as a Grey Warden, a sense she had only recently began to develop. "Say no more, except what I need to do."

"To get her Grimoire, you will have to kill her."

"Kill her?" Lenora swallowed, unsure. "But, she is the woman that raised you. Are you sure—?"

"The woman raised me to use me," Morrigan said through her teeth, and then swallowed hard. "I will understand if you don't wish to do this for me, Lenora…"

That was the first time Morrigan had ever called her by her name. Lenora shook her head, clenching a fist as if that would steel her against what she must do. "I will do this."

The tension drained from Morrigan, her shoulders slumping forward in relief. "Thank you." She immediately replaced her relief with strength, letting the moment of vulnerability pass. "I cannot come with you. Surely if I do she will know my intent and disappear, possibly with the Grimoire."

Lenora reached out and placed a hand on Morrigan's shoulder, feeling the woman tense at her touch. She ignored it, however, and looked her straight in the eyes. "I will get the Grimoire for you."

Morrigan nodded, humbled. "You can return to your cheese-smelling prince now."

Lenora felt the heat rush to her face and jerked her hand away, clasping it behind her back. "Alistair is merely a friend, nothing more!"

Morrigan chuckled. "I was only teasing. 'Tis what friends do, no?"

Lenora looked at Morrigan in surprise, and then her face softened into a smile. "Yes, it is."

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