Riordan had put off entering his parents' bedroom since before Kalya had lived with him. She was permitted to clean the other guest rooms in the wing, and when they had a big enough pile of unneeded trinkets from all the rooms, Riordan was able to sell them in the Highever Market with that day's garden yield for a fair amount of coin.

When the nightmares began, however, it seemed he had nothing left to hide from Kalya, or from in general, and they ventured in together, solemnly sorting out items that had once been clearly beloved. Kalya had a hunch where the reluctance must have originated, and he confirmed it one afternoon as they went through a pile of correspondence letters.

He told her how his parents had suddenly fallen ill while he was in Orlais and how he had returned to Ferelden to care for them, only the journey east through the Waking Sea had been fraught with pirate attacks. Although he traveled with Orlesian Chevaliers, who quickly took care of the pirate situation by his side, the setbacks proved too time-consuming to make it home on time. They had passed within days of his landing at Highever's port.

Upon hearing the news, Riordan's friend Duncan had contacted him seeking to distract him with Ferelden Grey Warden business, which was what had led him to attend Alistair's Joining in Denerim months earlier. Kalya listened with somber attentiveness, but she doubted her straightening up at the mention of Alistair's name went unnoticed.

Divulging the story to Kalya seemed to lift a weight off of Riordan's shoulders, but it also served as a grim reminder to her, as they sold off his family's belongings piece by piece, that there was truly nothing left in Highever for him, and he would soon be leaving Ferelden behind forever.

:::

Kalya supposed she shouldn't have been surprised when Riordan recommended she try out her newfound skills on the nighttime streets of Highever. She had always fancied Grey Wardens as a noble order above knights and therefore duty-bound not to mettle in the affairs of drunks in barfights and lone rapists in dark alleys.

Riordan assured her that while they officially held no political ties, Wardens were encouraged to exact justice when wrongdoings were occurring right in front of them, and he offered to help her while she practiced her skills to do just that throughout town. That is, as long as the ruling Cousland family's castle guards were never around when she did it.

One night over dwarven ale in the tavern where they'd met, Kalya finally admitted to Riordan in hushed voices her role in the murder of a Highever guard. Riordan chuckled softly, took a long drag of ale, and told her it was a good thing the honor guards hadn't caught up with her just yet.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, ale infusing her with even more cockiness than normal. "It was practically in the middle of the mountains. I'm not even sure that's Highever territory."

"He's still a knight of Highever. The teyrn would have its murderer hanged."

"He was the murderer! He killed an unarmed woman! An elf half his size!"

"I'm on your side, child," said Riordan, lowering his voice and leaning in to her, "but the Couslands have a very black-and-white view of the law. The soldier was following orders and would have been hanged himself if he had let their property go."

"Their property?!" She slammed a fist on the table. The barkeep eyed them, and Riordan genially waved him away. "I'm sorry, are we in Tevinter?! Have you been holding out teaching me to shoot lighting bolts all this time?!"

"A poor choice of words, Kalya, but the price of death is the same for elves in the castle or human soldiers defecting from their post. Imagine the knowledge they would be privy to that they could sell to enemies of the Couslands, of which there are many."

"Yeah, well, they just got another one."

Riordan tried grinning at his angry apprentice, but she refused to meet his gaze, and the two drank in silence for the better part of the evening. They had intended to spend the evening working on Kalya's pickpocketing, but every time a tipsy mark who didn't look like he'd miss a coin or two stumbled past, Kalya stuck out a lip and pretended not to notice Riordan's urging.

When a bar fight broke out in the early morning hours and the larger of the assailants gruffly grabbed a woman and headed out the door, Riordan finally locked eyes with Kalya and offered a nod and a bemused smile, looking like he did not envy the recipient of her pent-up anger.

:::

The days were growing shorter, and Kalya couldn't ignore the small stacks of belongings that began accumulating slowly in the living room. Riordan was packing to return to Orlais. He had sold off all the trinkets and heirlooms he couldn't take with him on his return travel north.

Neither of them mentioned the impending day she would be dismissed, and it would hurt her pride too much to ask him if she could continue living in the great big house that would surely bring in quite a bit of coin when he sold it, so she never did.

With the melancholy countdown hanging in the air, it was all the more curious when Riordan bounded in the door one afternoon after spending time in the market. Kalya looked up from the dishes, eyebrow raised, wondering distantly if he'd been day drinking.

"Duncan's coming here!" Riordan said, his tired eyes alight with excitement. "He will be in Highever within the next few days, and he's recruiting."

Kalya nearly dropped the plate she was drying. "Alistair's coming here?"

Riordan's smile softened. "No, child, but Duncan is recruiting for the Grey Wardens."

"I…I don't understand."

"A knight called Ser Gilmore has been making a name for himself in the Cousland royal guard. He's a spectacular candidate for the Grey Wardens, though I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to recruit the teyrn's daughter Elissa while he's here."

"How lovely. Do you suppose the Cousland girl will only murder darkspawn that help serving elves escape, or will she send them off to trial, since Couslands adhere so strictly to the law?"

"You're not hearing me. Grey Wardens need all the help they can get. Ser Gilmore and Elissa are both skilled warriors, but… you're a rogue, personally trained by the most skilled Senior Warden in Thedas."

Kalya's jaw slackened. "You'd… ask Duncan to recruit me?"

Riordan paused a moment, averting his eyes, then handed her a sealed parchment. "I've written a letter of recommendation. I'm afraid I won't get to advocate for you in person, but I'm assured he will hear me out."

"You're leaving?!" she choked. "I - I knew you were moving, but… I don't understand."

"Troops from Amaranthine were to arrive the same day as Duncan, but poor weather has blocked their advancement for at least a week, and it's said to be heading this way. Arl Howe arrived just last night with word, and travelers are being urged to make their sea travel before the storm comes through. That includes me, I'm afraid."

"So that's it? You're just leaving."

Riordan nodded. "Tonight."

Kalya ripped off her apron and stormed towards her room.

"Child, you knew this day was coming," he called after her.

She slid her twin blades into her boots and shoved the letter to Duncan in her satchel of leather armor. Turning gruffly on her heel, she bumped into Riordan unapologetically when he tried to block her doorway.

He caught her arm as she tried to continue down the hallway.

"I've made a deal with the new owner to let you stay here for a few more days. You don't have to do this."

"Do what? I'm just giving you the same few minutes of notice before I leave forever."

"Kalya." Riordan dropped his grip on her arm. "I want you to be a Grey Warden. It's what I envisioned for you from the moment I saw you attack that man in the alley. You have a good sense about you. I couldn't be more proud of how far you've come."

Kalya cursed under her breath as she turned her head away, blinking back tears.

"Tell me you'll go to the gates of Castle Cousland in two days time. The guards won't let you pass, but Duncan is sure to be done with his business around dusk. You can give him the letter after he's recruited Ser Gilmore and whoever else. You could be a Warden before the week is out."

She nodded.

"Is that a promise? You'll meet with Duncan?"

Kalya whipped her head around to glare at him, but Riordan's expression was so raw and hopeful, it caused her chest to tighten. She ran across the room and slapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close. He pressed her head against his chest, and they waited, neither wanting to be the first to break away.

:::

Salty wind from the Waking Sea whipped through Kalya's hair. She sat high atop a building with a great arching shingled roof that would allow her to flatten into hiding if any guards had the sense to be looking for her. Across the way was the Chantry, and below her were Castle Cousland's front gates, manned by two sturdy but largely inept guards.

It was early still. Unwilling to wait until dusk as she was told, she had watched Duncan arrive in the late afternoon, alone on his horse. She chided herself for the stupidity of expecting some grand procession of Grey Wardens as she watched him dismount the horse before the overzealous guards clearly excited to flex their positions of power.

Duncan bowed solemnly and extended a hand with his traveling papers, which the guard took with much relish.

She could just make out snippets of their conversation when the wind snaked through the gates and flowed up to her perch.

"So you've come from Denerim," the guard said, haughtily.

"I've come from Lothering," said Duncan.

The guard scanned the page. "Ah, yes. You're headed to Denerim. And then…the Brecilian Forest?"

"These are mutable intentions. Should I find what I need here, my destination may change. Ser." Kalya rolled her eyes, wondering, as she often did, how people found the restraint to keep from punching everyone in sight.

"Very good, and your estimated departure time?"

"Ser, with all respect, Teyrn Bryce is expecting me within the week. Shall I tell him I was held up at the gates for questioning?"

The guard's jaw dropped. "Um, no, ser. Everything looks to be in order. Ser Stefan, open the gates!"

Every inch of her body itched to drop from her perch and present the letter to Duncan, to get the formalities out of the way and start a new chapter of her life as a Grey Warden, fighting alongside the Warden Commander and, okay, yes, Alistair. He'd laugh with his crooked smile when he saw how much she'd learned, how much stronger she'd become, and he would comment that he'd known from the moment she caught that fallen glass that she was worthy of joining the order.

But she heeded Riordan's advice, begrudgingly, to wait for Duncan's exit, with Ser Gilmore and whoever else in tow. It wasn't too difficult a conclusion to accept, either, since she didn't fancy being surrounded on all sides by dirty Couslands.

Hours later, the gates rose again, but rather than Duncan emerging on his lone horse, rows and rows of Highever soldiers on their own brilliant-white steeds marched through the castle's opening. They looked like they knew what they were doing. She sunk into the dip between the eaves so they wouldn't notice her.

After the sun set, Kalya was getting positively antsy. Fidgeting in her uncomfortable crouch, something faint caught Kalya's ear. It was so quiet, she thought she'd imagined it at first, but when the ocean breeze died down for a moment, she heard it again, coming from far away. She scrambled up to the building's highest point, now veiled in darkness.

To the west, past the farmlands and emerging from the thick forests between Highever and Amaranthine, she saw them. At first, she assumed they were Cousland troops returning from whence they had gone, but something seemed… off. They carried no torches, and she could see enough of their movement in the darkening dusk that their horsed ranks didn't fall into disciplined steps as the ones who had just left.

She glanced down at the soldiers manning the gates. They were talking amongst themselves, in good spirits if not bored. Through the crisscrossed bars, she could see a fraction of the company of soldiers that had been there in late morning.

When she glanced back at the approaching troops, her stomach dropped like a stone. They were gaining ground fast. They could be at the gates within minutes.

Kalya felt equal parts terrified and foolish. They could just be Arl Howe's troops, having made it through the weather ahead of schedule. They could be anyone's troops advancing for any reason. Maybe they brought urgent news or hoped to catch up with the Cousland cavalcade headed in the other direction and would bypass Highever completely. Perhaps Duncan was awaiting their arrival before he set off. Her gut disagreed with these safer scenarios, but what choice of action did she have? Even though she didn't need to, hidden high in the shadows, she inched her way back into hiding, as the rumbling of hooves grew ever closer.

The flaming arrows hit the Chantry first. An instant later, arrows alighted the eaves of the building where she was hiding, meters away from her on each side.