It was frantic. Qunari battle cries competed with the frightened whimpers of Kaitlyn. I couldn't see Fergus, but Nathaniel was loosing off arrows from a position on the ground. Four Qunari. That's it. They are fierce fighters. Mortal, though. They were soon dispatched.
Breathing hard, I surveyed the scene. Fergus was stunned, but appeared unharmed. The four knights we had traveled with had formed a wall between the Qunari and the unarmed. Kaitlyn was scared out of her mind. Bevin looked both shocked and excited.
Fergus was laying in a heap. And Nathaniel... Maker's breath, Nathaniel. He was half prone, in the same position he was firing from. His left leg looked odd.
Standing, Fergus sent two of the knights off on a trot to have someone from the castle to come clean this mess up. I was absorbed in pondering the attack, Qunari of all people, when Fergus' urgent voice broke into my thoughts.
"Eth. Eth! Nathaniel... sweet Andraste, Eth, he's hurt."
I rushed to Nathaniel's side. His left leg did indeed look broken at the thigh. Curse me for a fool, why didn't I bring a healer? I knelt down beside him. "Hey. Hang on. I'm so sorry." Nathaniel just grimaced as I helped him drink one of the few health potions I had.
"He saved my life, Eth. Shoved me out of the way, took the hit, and kept on firing. Maker's breath! He saved me!" Fergus ran his fingers through his hair, shaking.
"Nathaniel, thank you." He waved Fergus off, shaking his head.
"Eth," he said through gritted teeth, "before you straighten this leg out, check the Qunari. They don't seem like normal bandits."
"No. Your leg, Nathaniel. They are dead, they aren't going anywhere." With the help of the remaining two knights, we fashioned a makeshift splint from sticks and my cloak, torn into strips. The knights, I never knew their names, held him tight around his chest. With a muttered apology I yanked his leg straight. He was strong, both mentally and physically, I'll give him that. He grunted, guttural and deep, but didn't cry out. Stronger than me, I'd rather lose a finger than break a bone.
"It's done." He was panting and had lost all color in his face. "Check them."
"Damn it, Nathaniel! You're too stoic for your own damn good. Let me at least see you on the way back to the castle before I go looting dead bodies." He grimaced as the knights helped him to stand. Then they linked hands and lifted him. "Just go," I said to them. "We'll be ok until reinforcements get here."
He started to open his mouth but I put my hand up. "Please don't argue with me. I can handle it and you're injured."
I turned my attention to the bodies. They were all wearing heavy armor. I went to the bushes and found their gear. The usual stuff, poultices, looted jewelry, and, oh, good, a packet of papers. Fergus found me squatting in the dirt, frowning over the contents.
"Good to see that being Warden Commander hasn't divested you of all your charming manners." I looked up into the wry grin of Fergus. I tried to resist the urge to make a face at him but reconsidered and stuck my tongue out. "Dear little sister." He shook his head. "So what have you found that is so interesting you're still in the dirt?"
"If you must know, brother dear, it's an treatise on the various torture methods employed by annoyed younger sisters." He tried to snatch the papers, but I rolled away. He gave chase and I ran around the bush and onto the road. I was whooping and laughing as he tried to catch me, earning us some strange looks. "You're not going to catch me, Fergus! Do you yield?"
He was panting and I wasn't even winded. "Fine, fine. I yield to my baby sister, fierce slayer of darkspawn and other evil thingies. Good? Yes? So what did you find?"
"It's bad, Fergus," I said, sobering. "Most of it I can't read, but here." I showed him a much folded letter. "See that mark at the bottom? That's the Crow symbol."
He blew his breath out. "You traveled with a qunari, right? You never learned their language?"
"No, I didn't. The qunari are..." I groped for the words. "They are not like us. They don't really believe in cultural exchange. At any rate, these mercenaries were hired by Crows."
I shivered, belatedly realizing that my cloak was in strips. I could see the knights returning, dragging a cart for the bodies. I rubbed my hands on my arms, trying to warm up. Nothing more for me to do here. Suddenly I desperately wanted to be indoors.
"Let's go. Kaitlyn looks like she's about to fall over." I stomped down the road, hoping they would follow.
All that stomping and kicking stones didn't ease the blood rage in my head. To think that my family was in danger made me see red. Who in their right mind attacked Grey Wardens? Ok, Zevran, but that man had never been in his right mind. It was suicide. Either someone was very stupid or hated me very much.
I entered the hall and grabbed a passing servant. "Where did they take Nathaniel?"
"I'm sorry, my lady, who?"
"The man with the broken leg."
"Oh, him. He's in your old room, resting." Of course he was in my old room. I hurried out.
I reached the door and knocked softly. There was no answer, so I assumed he was asleep. I entered the room and closed the door gently behind me. In the half light I could see him, flat on his back.
"Commander." I jumped at his voice.
"Nathaniel. How do you feel?"
"Tired. Sore." He tried to shift. "Also a little uncomfortable."
I helped him sit up a bit and put pillows behind his head. He sighed as I brushed his hair back from his forehead. I put another pillow under his left ankle to prop up his leg.
"I'm sorry, Nathaniel. So sorry. Some commander I am."
He patted the bed and I sat down on his right side. "Don't think that. I can't have been the first person to have been injured under your command."
"Well, no. But this feels different. There's no war. Or at least, not one declared openly," I said, mentally shaking my fist at the Crows. "There isn't a healer between here and Amaranthine and the only cart is hand pulled."
"Mmhmm." His eyes were closed. He gave my hand a little squeeze as he dozed off. I kissed his forehead and left.
I found Fergus in the main hall. We made arrangements for Nathaniel's care. Fergus looked thoughtful and rubbed his chin.
"Eth, he saved my life. There's nothing I can do to repay it."
"I know, Fergus. He's a good man. I'm glad that his father didn't ruin him."
He hugged me tight. "It'll be alright, Eth. You'll force it at sword point to be alright if you have to."
Wrapped tight in my brother's love, I thought, maybe it will be.
