Chapter 4: The Third Month
It took the wardens almost another month to reach the warden base at Ansburg. It was during this time that Carver was expected to begin Lindariel's or Lin as she preferred to be called, training.
As junior member of the order that was his purpose. Of course he was still a fairly raw recruit himself so Arika aided him in this endeavor, with Nug helping them where they needed him to. The dwarf was a skilled rogue, and the talents that he possessed would be useful to their newest elven sister.
As had been done with him, Carver raised Lin every other morning for a run, Arika joined him, and they led her through the countryside around the warden camp.
Carver could not help be impressed, the elf was tough she kept up with them with no complaint, stopping to rest only briefly to catch her breath.
"Come along recruit," Arika said coolly, "If Charity and I can keep up this pace so can you."
The elf would only nod, rise, and continue on.
Later, when they returned to camp, Lin sought out Carver. She was curious about something.
"Tell me shem," she said softly, "why do the others call you Charity?"
Carver sighed, it seemed that he had picked up many nicknames in the past three months, Arika and the Twins still referred to him as Charity. Nug referred to him simply as the new boy. Stroud and Siobhan used their names; he apparently had no time for nicknames. Brother Nigel ignored Carver for the most part, Siobhan advised Carver to just give the brother time, and he would come around eventually.
Carver told Lin the circumstances of him joining the wardens. How he and his brother had gone on a deep roads expedition and how he had been infected by the darkspawn taint. How Anders had led them to the wardens, and how Carver had to join to save his life.
The elf listened thoughtfully; Carver feared that she would see him as a Charity case too. He had no desire to be looked down on by a new recruit.
"I saw you fight in my village shem," Lin shrugged, "Whatever the circumstances of your joining the order, it is clear why you are here. You are a skilled warrior and worthy of respect."
He was surprised to hear the elf speak that way. The praise was unexpected; normally it was Garrett Hawke who was received such praise. Carver was always overlooked. He realized in that moment that perhaps his joining the wardens was a good thing. That it would allow him to finally find his own path, a path that led out of his brother's shadow.
"Thank you," he told the elf.
"I'm merely stating a fact," the elf replied, "You're still just another shem though. So don't expect me to call you anything else."
In spite of himself Carver chuckled.
He thought he could live with that.
IOI
When they finally reached the warden base at Ansburg, Carver could not help but be impressed. The village itself did not hold a candle to the ancient fortress that gave it its name. For centuries the wardens had lived here, protecting the Free Marches from the threat of the Blights. Build by the dwarves long ago, the warden keep was said to be the most secure place in the Free Marches.
Carver was grateful to see the place. According to Stroud, it was here that they could not only get a hot meal but a soft bed and a warm bath.
After almost three months of sleeping in a bed roll it would be good to have a strong roof over their heads.
Of course before they could relax, one piece of business needed to be tended to, something that would not wait any longer.
The matter of Lindariel's joining.
That night after sunset, Stroud led Lindariel, Arika and Carver to the lowest point of the fortress. It was here that an old dwarven barrier door had been built…
…A door leading to the deep roads.
While the mages prepared for the joining itself, the three wardens and their recruit journey into that dark place. The elf needed to collect a vial of darkspawn blood for her joining.
That mission did not take very long.
A small raiding party of darkspawn sensed their approach and tried to attack. This was the first time since he had been tainted that Carver had to face the beasts.
Seeing them again, not to mention sensing their corruption in his blood enraged the young warrior.
Carver and Arika attacked the darkspawn viciously. Stroud covered Lin while she fired arrow after arrow into the attacking monsters.
By the time the battle was over they were all covered in the darkspawn blood and filth. Lin collected the blood from a hurlock she had slain.
The task completed the wardens returned to the fortress, sealing the barrier door behind them.
They were given time to clean themselves up, but were told to report to the chapel at midnight.
Lin's joining would take place then.
Carver felt a twinge of fear and excitement; he had no memory of his own joining. He had been so sick with the taint; those memories had been lost in fever dreams.
He knew that the wardens kept their joining ritual a secret out of necessity.
The fact that he was now worthy of that secret pleased him.
That pleasure ended during the joining itself. It was there that Carver fully realized what had been done to him, and the price he had paid for surviving the taint.
He stood in horror and watched as Lin drank the blood of the hurlock she had killed, blood that had been mixed with lyrium and a drop of blood from a slain Archdemon.
Lin survived the joining. Carver carried the dark-haired elf out of the chapel. He would stand watch over her tonight, to make sure that the nightmares were not too much for her.
If they were, he might have to slay her.
Stroud doubted that he would need to, but it was considered a mercy that all recruits received.
So Carver had watched her. Several times during the night Lin had woken up screaming her copper colored eyes had gone milky white, her skin as pale as any darkspawn's.
Arika kept him company for a while at least. Carver was grateful for her presence. Finally, about two in the morning the elf settled down, her breathing became regular and even, and a bit of color returned to her cheeks.
She had survived the joining, in the morning; she would be a full Grey Warden.
Carver tried to go to bed afterward, but his mind refused to rest. Too many wild thoughts about the joining and the taint that swarmed and multiplied in his veins, finally he could not stand it, he had to get up.
He…he needed a drink.
IOI
There was a small tavern just outside the fortress itself. It was known as The Warden's Rest and was open all day and all night. Wardens had unusual habits it seemed, between the nightmares and their voracious appetites, the owners of the Rest decided to cater to them at all hours of the day.
There were no less than five wardens there when he arrived. Most were eating, drinking or playing cards.
Carver was surprised to see Arika sitting by herself in a corner. A full bottle of liquor sat before her.
He decided to approach his fellow warden.
She gave him the same cold look she had given him that first day he had awoken. He was intimidated sure, but refused to back down.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked.
The reaver sighed, she was not really looking for company, but she had to give him credit. It took balls to walk up to her like this.
"You fight like a warden," she said quietly, "Perhaps we should see if you can drink like one."
Carver took that as a challenge.
"I'll drink anything you put in front of me Arika," he said bravely.
The girl chuckled.
"And that Charity," she laughed, "Are what they call famous last words."
She thumped down a second glass in front of him, pouring him a tumbler of amber colored liquid.
"It is called dragon's piss," she snorted, "Not the best stuff, but it will put you on your ass if you let it."
Carver took the drink and downed it with one gulp. The liquid burned like fire down his throat. He fought hard to breathe, trying even harder not to vomit.
The reaver laughed.
"As I said, it isn't the best stuff," she said refilling his glass, "but it does the trick."
He took it with a nod; he noticed something though as she handed it to him, on her left arm was a branded mark. He had never seen it before, and did not recognize the symbol. He knew it was not wise to pry, but the booze lowered his inhibitions and made him curious.
"What does that mark mean?" he said pointing to it.
Arika frowned; she looked at her forearm and pulled down her sleeve hiding it.
"I don't think you would understand Charity," she grumbled.
"Try me," he said pushing forward, after all he had come this far.
The reaver sighed. She knew that he was tough. They had fought enough times that she had come to have at least a small amount of respect for him. If Nug or the twins had asked she would have either ignored them, or given them a bloody nose.
But Carver she would speak to him, no matter how painful it was…
She was a reaver after all, they thrived on pain.
"That mark means that I'm a traitor Charity," she said gulping down her drink, "It means that if I ever try and rejoin another Nevarran Reaver clan, they will be expected to kill me on sight. It means that I am both an exile, and that I am dead."
Carver grimaced, "What did you do to deserve something like that?"
"Murder," she said matter of factly, "and I would do it again in a heartbeat."
The look he gave her was one of complete shock; once again, she realized that she needed to explain.
"I was born in the mountains of Nevarra," she began, "My village and clan was everything to me. It is a hard life up there, but we have our families and we stick together to survive."
Carver nodded, he followed so far.
"The Reaver clans and the dragon hunting clans do not get along very well. They see us as savages and we see them as cowards. We keep our distance from each other usually.
Arika sighed, her heart pounded painfully, she…she had never spoken the next part, not even to Stroud, but maybe the booze made her more chatty than usual.
"One day, a group of people came to my village. Blood mages from the lowlands, they were looking to capture a dragon for their rituals, but the dragon hunters had already said no. These mages…they decided to force the issue. They promised are high elder gold and power in exchange for my clan's help. Our elder promised to help them persuade one of the hunting clans to aid them."
Carver frowned; he saw where this was going.
"My people fell on the Pentaghast clan like a terror. We killed many. The blood mages wanted to make an example of them. I was not there of course, I was one of the youngest and it was my duty to protect our village."
She poured another drink, downed it quick before continuing on.
"I'm not sure how many of the Pentaghasts survived our attack, but enough of them did to rally the rest of the dragon hunters against us. They attacked us, burned our village to the ground. Many of our finest warriors died that day, two of my brothers among them. The dragon hunters wanted to make sure we would never challenge them again. They pursued us, even as we retreated; one of them….one of them killed my Mother as we fled."
Arika's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"The blood mages abandoned us to our fate. They did not even pay our elder what they promised. They just fled before they were slaughtered too."
The reaver spat at the memory, the spineless mages, if they were here now she would gut them for their cowardly act.
"We fled into the low lands. The elder was livid! He promised us that we would go to war. We would unify the Reaver clans and take revenge. Then we would all share in the blood mage's reward when they returned to pay him."
The reaver shook her head.
"I lost my temper," she confessed, "I had just lost my home, two brothers, and my mother had died in my arms less than an hour earlier, and here was our high elder, worried only about his reward! I pulled my sword and came up behind him; he was too bust ranting to even notice me!"
She smiled then; it was a cruel evil thing.
"I cut his fool head from his fool body. The rest of my clan was so shocked no one even tried to stop me, not even his bodyguards. I was seized; the remaining elders had me bound while they decided my fate. I should have been executed."
Carver did not blame her. If…if it had been Mother, Garrett, or Bethany he would have done the same. He would not have allowed someone who let someone he loved die go unpunished.
Perhaps they were not so different, perhaps…they had both been charity cases, he from the taint, she from her people?
"Did the wardens save you?" Carver asked, "Is that why you joined the order?"
"No," she said, "I found the wardens a few months later. The elders…I…I think some of them agreed with me. We had lost too much, but by our laws I had to be punished. They decided to banish me instead. I'm dead in the eyes of my people now. My Father and remaining brothers are forbidden to even speak my name."
Her eyes turned sad then, Carver was not sure, but he thought he saw a tear slide down her cheek.
"Before I was sent away, just after I was branded, my Father came to me, he…he was not a doting father, not at all, but I honored him. When they branded my arm I did not make a sound. Before I left…he, he took me in his arms and held me. He…he had not done that since I was a child. He said…he said that my Mother and brothers would watch over me. That we would all meet again in death. He would never speak of me again, but he…he would never forget about me."
Arika sniffled, she wiped angrily at her face.
"I don't know why I told you all that," she spat, "It doesn't change anything!"
"Maybe you told me because you needed to," he said, "maybe…maybe you just needed to tell a friend?"
She looked at him with those hard fox like features of hers. Her gaze seemed to dissect him, finally she sighed.
"Probably just too much Dragon's Piss," she snorted. She rose, staggering from her chair.
He got up and offered to steady he, but she pushed his hand away.
She did not need his help, she did not need anyone.
She left him alone, the bottle still sitting before him.
He did not go after her. He was still trying to digest what he had heard.
He shouldn't have pushed he realized. It was really none of his business what had happened to her.
He poured himself another drink. He would track her down when he got back to the base. He needed to apologize.
He would need a bit more courage for that, courage or booze.
Whatever came first?
IOI
He made his way to her quarters, still not sure what he was going to say, but he…he felt he needed to say something.
He stood before her door, his head still buzzing from the alcohol. He could hear her moving around inside her room.
He took a deep breath, gathered his courage. He probably should have knocked, but if he did he would likely lose his nerve.
He opened the door.
"Arika, I…"
He froze in mid-sentence his eyes widened, his heart pounded in his chest.
Oh…sweet Maker! Oh no!
Among the many things that set Ansburg apart from other fortresses in Thedas was the plumbing the dwarves had built into it. In many of the rooms, there were both hot and cold water not to mention private baths.
Arika's room just happened to be one of those rooms.
She rose from the water when she heard the door. She stood there, in all her glory. The towel she had just been about to wrap around herself fell from her hands.
They both stood there…staring at each other.
Carver froze, he…he…oh Maker.
Her pale skin glistened in the light of the fire, a vision of female perfection. Her body had some scars of course, but that did not take away from the woman. The water dripping off her gave her body an unearthly shine. She did not even bother to try and cover up, she stood straight and proud. From her shoulders to the small of her back ran an intricate tattoo of a dragon in flight, the tip of the tail stopped just at the curve of her hips.
Her blue eyes held his, they were locked together!
Carver blushed and stuttered, oh Maker, what had he done!
Say something idiot, he thought.
"Ugh…ummm,"
She stepped out of the tub, striding towards him. Her sword sat next to the door.
I'm dead, he thought, she is going to pick up her sword and cut my head off. They'll find what's left of me in the morning, and know that I died the death of a total jackass!
She stood in the doorway glaring at him, he knew he should look away, but he couldn't. He…he could not even speak, she was…she was mesmerizing.
She did not bother to pick up her sword; she just stood there, her eyes challenging him.
He stood his ground, unsure of what to do.
Arika closed the door, but not before she said one final thing to him.
"Good night…Carver."
The door closed.
He heard the lock click, and the sound of her feet moving away.
His heart pounded in his chest, he, oh Maker, what had he done?!
And more importantly, what would she do tomorrow?
He did not really want to find out.