Chapter 28

"Darling...there you are!" My father struggled to speak. He had a bad wound in his abdomen.

My mother ran to his side, "Maker's blood what's happening? You're bleeding!"

He was trying not to choke on blood. "Howe's men… found me first. Almost… did me in right there."

"I'll kill Howe for what he's done!" I was ready to slaughter everyone of Howe's men in this castle.

"He can't… get away with this! The king will…" My father groaned as he struggled to speak.

"Bryce! We must get you out of here!" My mother got ready to pick up my father.

He stopped her, "I… I won't survive the standing, I think."

"Then we will stay and defend you." I won't lose any more members of my family. Not to Howe.

My mother grabbed my arm to help bring me back to reason. "Once Howe's men break through the gate they will find us! We must go!"

My father insisted, "Someone… must reach Fergus… tell him what has happened." He pointed towards the servants exit.

I understood what he was trying to say. "Howe must have something planned for him, too."

"Bryce, no! The servants' passage is right here! We can flee together, find you healing magic!"

"The castle is surrounded… I cannot make it." He knows he is going to die, yet his priority is still us. I felt my eyes start to burn, but I willed them not to fall.

Duncan walked into the room. "I'm afraid the teryn is correct. Howe's men have not yet discovered this exit, but they surround the castle. Getting past will be difficult."

My mother briefly looks up at Duncan. "You are...Duncan, then? The Grey Warden?"

Duncan gives my mother a nod. "Yes, your Ladyship. The Teyrn and I tried to reach you sooner."

Some tension came out of my mother's voice. "My daughter helped me get here, Maker be praised."

Duncan's face didn't change at this statement. "I am not surprised."

I really didn't want to leave, "Can you do something about Howe?"

Duncan looks at me with an apologetic look, "Not here. There are too many men, and they seem as willing to kill me, as they are all of you. Flight is the only option."

"Whatever is to be done now, it must be quick. They are coming." Nienna called from the door, the sounds of fighting getting closer to them.

"Duncan… I beg you… take my wife and daughter to safety!" My father forced the words out, struggling to speak through the pain he was in.

"I will, your Lordship. But… I fear I must ask for something in return."

"Anything!" My father was a way I had never seen him before… desperate.

"What is happening here pales in comparison to the evil now loose in this world. I came to your castle seeking a recruit. The darkspawn threat demands that I leave with one."

"I…I understand."

"Are you talking about me?" I mean I don't think we really have the time to go get Ser Gilmore.

"You fought your way to me through Howe's men." He says as if it was supposed to be difficult. "I think the Maker's intention is clear." Duncan looks to my father. "I will take the Teryna and your daughter to Ostagar, to tell Fergus what happened. Then, your daughter joins the Grey Wardens."

I knelt next to my father as he spoke, "So long as justice comes to Howe… I agree."

"Then I offer you a place within the Grey Wardens. Fight with us."

"But what if Fergus is dead?" Though if he is, I won't kill Howe… I'll just make him wish he was dead.

"We will inform the king, and he will punish Howe. I am sorry, but a Grey Warden's duties take precedence even over vengeance."

My father grabs my arm and squeezes it with what little strength he has left. "Howe thinks he'll use the chaos to… advance himself. Make him wrong, pup. See that justice is done! Our family… always does our duty first. The darkspawn must be defeated. You must go. For your own sake, and for Fereldan's."

"I will Father, for you." What else am I supposed to say Father?

"We must leave quickly, then." Duncan urges us to move for the exit.

My mother didn't want to leave him. "Bryce, are you… sure?"

"Our daughter will not die of Howe's treachery. She will live, and make her mark on the world."

My mother grabbed my arm over my father's hand "Darling, go with Duncan. You have a better chance to escape without me."

"Eleanor…"

My mother was now crying, as she touched my father's face. "Hush, Bryce. I'll kill every bastard that comes through that door to buy them time. But I won't abandon you."

I grabbed both of their hands, "I won't let you sacrifice yourself."

"My place is with your father. At his side, to death and beyond."

"They've gotten through!" Nienna called from the door as banging echoed from the kitchen into the larder. She slammed the larder door shut, before locking the door and snapping the handle off.

"It is time to leave now!" Duncan grabbed my shoulders and started to pull me away.

"Good luck pup." My father squeezed my arm.

"Goodbye, darling." My mother put her hand to my face.

Duncan pulled me away, as their hands slid off my arm, out of my grasp. This was the last time I would see them… and I wasn't ready for that. They were supposed to grow old and die peacefully. Oriana was supposed to have many years with Fergus, most likely being annoyed by him. Oren was supposed to learn how to fight with a sword. This is not how anything was supposed to happen. I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that we needed to be quiet, so I couldn't be crying. Duncan led me to the servants' exit and we went through, with Nienna following close behind us.

I opened my eyes as we exited the castle. I saw Howe's men move around the castle. We slipped through a break between patrols, and escaped the castle grounds. We kept moving, all of us tired, until we reached the crest of the hill behind the castle. We stopped for just a moment and I turned around… and saw my home up in flames. I fell to my knees and cried, for the first time in this whole evening. I then felt a hand squeeze my shoulder, I looked at the hand and realized that it was Nienna's. I compose myself and stand as we go on a march to Ostagar.