Author's Note: Thank you to The Original Frizz for you review! And to those few who added this story to your favorites. This is a whole new world for me and I really appreciate the support! While I may have some text from the game, I'm really trying to go away from canon as, well, she's just NOT hero material. =) Disclaimer: Bioware owns everything.

The Great Hall door closed softly behind her; a gentle swoosh of air against her back. Rubbing her forehead lightly to try to ease the pain, she looked up with the intention of heading towards her brother's room. And there was Ser Gilmore. Why does he always have to be there just after one of her accidents? And he was looking right at her. He couldn't have been just strolling by, oh no. He was waiting for her it seemed. "Ser Gilmore... how, um… lovely... to see you again." He moved closer to her, his face concerned as his eyes drifted to her forehead. "I'm fine," she said quickly and shied away from him.

"My lady." Maker...was it going to be like this all day? "Are you sure you are all right?" She nodded again, blood flooding her cheeks due to actually hitting her head and having a witness to it. She replied, "Yes... really, I'm just fine. Um, what are you doing here?"

He took a step back from her, keeping a respectable distance as was appropriate for a knight of her father's castle in relation to the teyrn's daughter. Smiling at her in a friendly sort of way, he said, "I am here at the teyrna's request. It seems your hound has the kitchen in an uproar again and Nan is threatening to leave. I'm to accompany you until the matter is resolved."

Elissa groaned and closed her eyes. Her mabari, Brogan, was both a blessing and a curse she thought ruefully. "Brooooogaaaaaannnnnn…" she whined. "What did he do?" as she headed to the kitchen, passing the armor suit that was still in a pile on the floor.

"Apparently he's in the larder. He won't let anyone in and you know Nan needs to get in there to finish putting together supplies for the men." Ser Gilmore looked a bit stern with his brows drawn down in disapproval of her hound's behavior. It's not as if she encouraged her hound, but really, how was she supposed to head this off?

"I'm sure he's just… being stupid or something."

"Yes, well… you know these mabari hounds. He'll listen to his mistress, but anyone else risks having an arm bitten off." He smiled and her mood lifted a little. Her hound was the only thing that seemed to go well in her life. Well, most of the time… kitchen incidents aside. That one of the mabari breed would choose her… she had never been so happy. Now if only she could be even half as nimble as her mabari, her life might really start shaping up. As the thought finished, she tripped over her own feet. She would have done a lovely face plant into the stone floor if Ser Gilmore hadn't caught her in time. Luckily, she didn't weigh enough to drag him down and he was strong enough to set her upright again. Mumbling sincere thanks, she resolved to try to watch her feet more often. Hopefully without smacking any other parts of her body into anything.

"Err…my lady, might I beg a question?"

She looked at him in surprise. Surely he never took this tone with her before. He was almost… hesitant. She nodded for him to continue.

"I've heard from several people that a Grey Warden is here," he said in a rush. "Is that true?"

"Um, yes. It's true. Actually, he intends to test you for recruitment." She smiled at him shyly; pleased with herself.

"Maker's breath! It would be everything I've dreamed of!" he stared off, lost in his thoughts, then shook himself as if bringing his mind out of the dream he was having. "Pardon my outburst, my lady. I shouldn't get ahead of myself."

Elissa couldn't help but notice he seemed to have a new spring in his step. His sure-footed, easy grace of a step. He probably had never fallen or tripped in his life. Envy made her watch his feet over her own for a time. And it really wasn't the best time to lose sight of where they were going as she watched his feet turn towards the door of the kitchen, her own tried to do a mad lurch to keep up and she banged into him from behind. "Oh Maker. I'm so, so sorry…" Why did he have to be wearing full plate? She was starting to feel a headache forming from banging her head so many times in one day.

Ser Gilmore just laughed it off and guided her inside the kitchen to avoid further mishaps. Usually, Elissa wasn't allowed in the kitchen. It was one of Nan's rules. Not that she thought she would be a bad cook, but there were just too many sharp objects and bowls of food that could be knocked over and wasted. Elissa was sure that Nan just felt it was best for all involved. As Ser Gilmore was opening the door, a loud bark permeated into the kitchen from the direction of the larder. It was actually barely heard over Nan yelling. She was throwing a fit and the elven servants were cowering in fright.

"GET HIM OUT! Get him out! I want that bloody mutt out now! I have work to do!" Nan's vocal cords were getting a full workout as she shrieked.

Cath, one of the servants, tried to placate her, "But, mistress! It won't let us near!" That's odd behavior even for Brogan. He may be a warhound, but he was gentle as a newborn puppy and loved the kitchen staff.

A guttural scream erupted from Nan's lips. Elissa remembered that scream as it was directed at her while growing up. But really, it wasn't her fault that churning butter could be such a dangerous task. Nan screeched, "If I can't get into that larder…"

Ser Gilmore apparently decided that the elves needed rescuing and interrupted, "Err… please calm down, Nan. I've brought Elissa." He gestured to her.

This was apparently not the right thing to say though. Nan whirled around, her face red with rage as she stalked towards them. Elissa tried to shrink behind Ser Gilmore, which was actually quite easy to do. Big guy in plate was good for something it seemed. "You!" Nan punched her finger into Ser Gilmore's chestplate. Her eyes still found Elissa hiding behind him though. "And you!" Elissa was spared a jab to the chest at least, but she winced as Nan raged at her. "Your bloody mongrel keeps getting into my larder! I have soldiers to feed! That…that… beast should be put down!" Spittle flew from Nan's mouth as she punched her finger into Ser Gilmore's chestplate again, even though her eyes were locked on Elissa.

Ser Gilmore came to her rescue again, "Nan, please! We'll get the dog. Please calm down." Elissa nodded her head frantically, wanting to ensure Nan that she would get him out.

"Just get him gone! And you!" She pointed that crazy finger at Elissa, freezing her in place as if it was magic. "You best not make a mess in here!" She turned away and started to mutter to herself, "Oh, how am I supposed to work like this? ..." Thankfully her muttering seemed to calm her a little bit and Ser Gilmore and Elissa made their way over to the larder. Elissa was standing very close to Ser Gilmore's back, and well away from anything else around her. It would just be her luck that she'd ruin the meal for the soldiers trying to get her hound and then Nan would want her hide.

Ser Gilmore opened the door to the larder and tried to look back at Elissa, who he saw was almost plastered to his backside. "Um, my lady? Perhaps you should go in first. It is your hound after all."

"Oh… uh, right. Good idea. I'll just go in first and…" She trailed off as she moved around Ser Gilmore, probably a little too close for his comfort, but there was a large stack of cheese on the table nearby and she really didn't want to knock it over. Ser Gilmore just gave her an amused look. No doubt he knew exactly why she was almost crawling over him to get into the larder.

Her mabari warhound had definitely made a mess in here. It almost rivaled that one time when she was asked to assist in taking the larder's inventory. After that incident, she was asked never to return to the kitchen. Who knew the bags of flour were actually open? And really, was it such a good idea to have barrels on the floor, just waiting to trip someone when they were trying to reach for the honey jars? Yeah, she didn't think so. Brogan had managed to knock a few flour bags over, but it hadn't spread all over the larder floor. Definitely less sticky than her incident. He was facing the corner, growling at the flour bags of all things. What had gotten into him? "Brogaannn, what did you do?" Hearing his mistress' whining, he turned his head and whined right back at her. Then, he turned back and growled at the corner again. Elissa sighed heavily, and keeping to the center of the room as much as possible, she made her way over to her faithful dog.

Ser Gilmore entered behind her, figuring it was safe to enter completely now. Her warhound really did have quite large teeth after all. "Is he, err…is he trying to tell you something?"

Elissa looked back at him perplexedly, and then returned her gaze to her hound. "What is it, boy?"

Suddenly, Ser Gilmore was unsheathing his sword. Really, this wasn't the best place to spar! What is he thinking? Not even a moment later, she found out exactly what he was thinking as he lunged forward and skewered a very large rat that would give even her warhound pause. "Yeaarrggghhhh!" she shrieked as she tried to get away from the nasty thing. She backed right into a shelf holding some serious hardware in the form of very large and heavy, iron pots and pans. The shelf started to tip, and as her eyes got huge, she was pulled to safety by Ser Gilmore as the shelf just decided to go with it and fall down. Her hound danced nimbly away. More rats had followed the first, but, as luck would have it, they were now just a bunch of flattened rats as it appears they were not so nimble. Unfortunately though, the cacophony of the iron pots and pans falling onto the stone floor, followed by the dying screeches of the rats, definitely made itself known to those in the kitchen.

Elissa could hear Nan's shrill voice as the door was yanked open, but she cut off mid-shriek. Nan's eyes popped as she saw her beloved, orderly larder once again become a catastrophe. Her mouth fell open and a tirade was about to break forth, but Brogan chose that moment to bring one of the dead rats over to her. If it was possible, Nan's eyes seemed to pop even more.

Ser Gilmore took Elissa by the arm and steered her out. Brogan laid the dead rat down in front of Nan and went to follow them. "Well, looks like he wasn't raiding the larder after all, Nan. We'll just, uh, be going." He practically dragged Elissa out before Nan could overcome her shock.