14. Pay Up
Fortunately for me, a more immediate-not to mention immeasurably more light-hearted-matter presents itself as soon as Jowan and I walk inside. Namely, all the sleepyhead returnees are awake. Nathaniel, Sigrun, and Declan sit gathered around a table, half eaten late breakfast scattered before them.
Sigrun catches sight of us and waves. "Hey, boss, c'mere!"
It takes everything in me not to grin knowingly as we join them. "What's up, Sig?"
"Nate says he has news that he only wants to share once. Meaning, tell all of us at the same time, I guess. So he refused to breathe a word 'til we had you guys. I was just gettin' ready to go look for ya, cuz the suspense is killin' me."
"Well, that would be bad," I tease, sliding into a seat.
"That's what I said," Declan laughs. "Though no' gettin' pranked anymore would be a nice change a' pace."
Sigrun elbows him in the ribs. "I'd miss you, too, Pretty Boy. Now, Nate, Commander an' Jowan are here, so spill. What's your news?"
Nathaniel blows out a breath and sets the ring box in the middle of the table. It's fairly obvious what it is, so every pair of eyes locks on the archer. Except mine. I already know what he's going to say, so my gaze is on Sigrun.
"Finally gonna pop the question?" the dwarf teases, reaching out and snatching the ornate box off the table. "So how fancy did you-" She stops abruptly upon swinging the lid open. "Y'know, Nathaniel, I may be a tad rusty on human customs, but I could swear when you propose you're supposed to have an... actual... ring..." She looks up at the smirking archer and slides the box across the table at him. "You nug-humping ass, you asked her already, didn't you?"
Nathaniel chuckles as he reclaims the box. "I did."
"And since there's not a ring in there, I'm assumin' she said yes?"
"She did."
Sigrun snorts in disbelief, eyes round as saucers. "Then what in the Stone are you doin' back here? Why aren't you with Vi?"
He grins, spinning the box in slow, lazy circles on the table. "I did have some time with her. But I am a Warden, and I belong here." His grin widens. "Also, how was I supposed to pass up seeing the look on your face?"
She sputters indignantly for a moment as the others congratulate Nathaniel, then catches sight of the smirk I'm trying to rein in. "You knew?!"
"Only since this morning," I shrug. "You know I'm an early riser. I caught his as he came back and asked how things went in the city. It's been almost a form of torture, not letting it slip, but it was Nate's news, and I'm incredibly stubborn, so I just willed myself to keep my mouth shut."
"Bet that was hard," Jowan whispers teasingly in my ear, and I fake-glower and smack the back of his head. "Ow!"
I smile sweetly at him and turn back to Sigrun. I finally, finally get to be the one to say it. "Hey, Sig? Pay up."
Her expression warns that I will likely face prank-style consequences for my glee, but I don't even care. It's worth it.
oOo
The rest of my day is actually rather profoundly boring. Paperwork, paperwork, narrowly avoiding the first of many revenge-pranks, paperwork. However, boring as it may be, it is mentally exhausting, so by the time I go to bed, I'm too tired to do more than curl up next to Jowan and fall asleep.
The next day is... routine. However, it's not boring, because my Wardens all decide today's a good day to practice against each other. So I get to watch Jerin attempt to best Nate at archery, fail again, and salve his wounded pride by beating Oghren and Arrik in two on one combat. Then, as if that wasn't present enough, Sigrun and Declan go next, which basically means a match full of near misses and snarky insults bandied back and forth as they fight to a draw. The amount of trash talk between the two of them is glorious, and by the time they exit the training yard, my sides ache from laughing.
Oghren pops back in, his expression stormy.
"You ready for another fight already?" I ask, surprised.
"Commander, I'm always ready for a fight," he growls. "'Sides, I'm not stoppin' when some floofy woodland princess beat me."
"Need a win t' be able to sleep tonight?" I grin, watching Jerin smirk and bow.
"Exactly."
The fire in his eyes makes me feel sorry for the unlucky bastard-Vhiané, in other words-who has to fight him like this. Sure enough, the fight's not a long one, and ends with Vhiané on his back, an axe haft resting along his collarbone. The former chevalier is good-natured about his loss, laughing as he climbs back to his feet. Some of the guardsmen are eagerly awaiting their turns, and a pair of them are climbing in through the fence even as Oghren and Vhiané leave.
"So, what's next for you today, Commander?" Vhiané asked, breathing hard. "Now that you've watched us knock the stuffings out of each other for an hour or so?"
"Oh, there's probably more paperwork magically appeared on my desk," I laugh ruefully. "And I have a few... hard calls to ponder."
"Meaning you'll be vanishing to somewhere only Jowan can find for a couple hours?" the blond chuckles, rolling his shoulders.
"Something like that, yes," I reply with a nod. "But first, the paperwork."
Vhiané gives me a sympathetic smile. "Best of luck with that."
"Thanks, I'll need it," I joke as we head our separate ways.
oOo
Sure enough, there's more paperwork on the desk when I walk into my office. Part of me wonders where all it comes from, but this is the only Warden garrison for the entirety of Ferelden. People as far flung as Honnleath or Gwaren are still going to be sending news of potential darkspawn sightings or related troubles here.
With no real reason or excuse to put this off, I settle in slouching down in my chair to get comfortable, and reach for the first letter in the pile.
It, like most of the ones that follow, is simply a farmer who spotted a patch of forest land that looked Blighted. Or found a carcass of some animal with traces of the Blight. The biggest problem with these sorts of letters is knowing which ones are a present enough threat they require a Warden to investigate further and which are simple cases I can just write back for local militia to burn it out.
There's one or two letters from Weisshaupt, which I'm fairly sure are either requests for updates or notifying me of some change the First Warden wants to make to my garrison. Honestly, we're humming along like a well-greased cart wheel, I may wring his neck myself if he's 'rearranging' and tries to shift any of my Wardens away from the Vigil. Of course, I'm more personally attached to some than others, but we have our teams worked out, and everyone gets along for the most part. It's a good set up, and a good crew, and I'm not letting it break up. Not for anything.
Fortunately for me and my stubborn streak, my first guess is right; the first letter is simply a request for a report on the state of Ferelden now that we're roughly two years past the Blight. The second is a clarification of the territory I'm responsible for-all of Ferelden, including Orzammar, should the dwarves ever feel the need or desire to bring something to our attention. I'm okay with this.
To my surprise, one of the letters on the bottom is actually addressed to Jowan. Whoever sorted this batch of letters probably saw the griffon seal and didn't even bother to check who it was addressed to. I smile to myself, because I recognize the slender, careful script handwriting and know getting this letter will make his day. Needing a break from paperwork anyway, I push away and up from my desk, tucking the letter in my pocket as I head off in search of my mage.
oOo
I finally find him in the infirmary, staring at the wall like he's bored out of his mind. He brightens noticeably when I walk through the door.
"Hey, Rahna. Come to make my day more exciting? 'Cause so far, the most interesting thing that's happened is Declan coming by for help getting his shoulder back in the socket," he chuckles ruefully.
Knew I heard something pop. I keep the thought to myself. "Yeah, but probably not the way you're expecting." I hand over the letter, and amend, "unless you were expecting a letter from Miri."
Jowan's eyebrows rise as he accepts the tri-folded parchment. "No. She doesn't write that often. Kind of like you with your family," he teases as he breaks the seal.
I stick my tongue out at him. "Between what counts as 'Grey Warden secrets' and how busy all of them are, there isn't much point."
"Sure, sure, make your excuses."
I roll my eyes but smile at his teasing. "If you need me, I'll be in one of my spots, deliberating some of the harder choices on my plate."
Jowan nods, knowing exactly which one I mean, and turns his attention to Miri's letter.
When he tracks me down several hours later, I have at least managed to make a decision. "Tarin can help Sable."
A/N: Sorry about the break; I had a very busy week with no time to write a couple weeks ago, which is why there was no chapter last Tuesday. I gotta say, I'm both looking forward to playing with Tarin's Dreamer abilities and mildly terrified, because I don't want to screw up, lore-wise. But we'll see what happens with that next week. OR maybe the following week... depending on what the characters give me for the upcoming chapters.