Cauthrien

"Mhairi, my dear sister,

Forgive me for delaying this letter for so long, it's been, Maker's breath, a month at least maybe? I wish I have write to you earlier, the last thing I want is to make you and Sam worry about me. But with this war against the darkspawn raging on, I rarely have the luxury to even sit down.

I know you wish to come with me, and I have no doubt on your eagerness to fight for Ferelden, but trust me, it's for the best that you stay at Denerim. Ignoring the fact that Sam is only ten years old and still need people to take care of her, with the bulk of Ferelden's army gathering at Ostagar, Teyrn Loghain needs someone he can absolutely trust to ensure the safety of Denerim and more importantly, his daughter the queen. Why else were you of all chosen to be the acting commander of the garrison troops of Denerim and that of the members of Maric's Shield who remained behind? This is a great honour in itself and a great deal of responsibility to take, so instead of bitter about missing the battle, you should think of this as an opportunity, a chance to prove your ability to the rest of the court and show them that you are more than 'just the twin sister of Ser Cauthrien', as you yourself like to put it.

Besides, as soldiers, especially soldiers of Maric's Shield, we must always put our duties above our personal desires. If it is Teyrn Loghain's will for you to stay behind, then as a good soldier, you shouldn't question it. We of Maric's Shield are weapons that carried out Teyrn Loghain's will, we need not to do anything other than obey. If we as weapons start to think for ourselves, where will that leave our master then? So…"

Wait a minute, why does this sounds so familiar, as if it has happened so many times before?

'Damnation, I'm lecturing again!' Cauthrien curses with sudden realization.

What by the void is wrong with her, that she turned an attempt of comforting her sisters into giving them another earful? Has she been a commander for so long, that sheno longer know how to be an elder sister?

Sighed with resignation, she decides to write on.

"So do your duty well as I know you could, and who knows, we might soonbe reunion at the eve of the final battle and strike down the archdemon together with the king and Teyrn Loghain!"

Yet even as she writing down these words, Cauthrien can't help but drift her thoughts back to that lone scout who came back from the Wilds a few hours ago. His whole unit was wiped out, and he too succumb to his wounds not long afterwards.

Not to mention the casualties that the gathering troops of Ferelden has already suffered. Though they have killed thousands of darspawns throughout the month, thousands of good Fereldan was also killed, and not just those who fall on the battlefield. Somehow, many of the wounded, even some of those who suffered only minor wounds, ended up dead as well for unknown reasons. Though current casualty is still relatively only a small portion of the gathering thirty thousand, for how long will that remain to be so? How many more lives must they loss to finally defeat the darkspawn horde for good?

Besides, if the battle has really gone so well, that the darkspawns will be routed soon, then the current forces gathering at Ostagar will be more than enough, there would be no need to send for those who stay behind.

So all in all, what she just written down is nothing but a blatant lie.

'Maker, I'm such a terrible sister.' Cauthrien thought bitterly, 'Mother would be disappointed that I failed to…'

"Commander?"

Cauthrien looked up from the letter and saw sergeant Threnn stood beside the desk. She is a woman of her age, a dedicated soldier who tried very hard to be always at her best. An admirable trait indeed. In a way, she often reminded Cauthrien of herself during her early years inMaric's Shield.

"What's the matter, sergeant?" She asked.

"The time for the meeting is near, I believe you should get going."

"Already?" This truly caught Cauthrien off guard, "But…but how? I haven't finish the letter yet!"

"With all due respect, commander, you've been writing this letter ever since the day we arrived at Ostagar, surely you should've finished it by now?" Threnn ask while smile wryly, "And if you still haven't finish it by now, I doubt you could finish it within the next few minutes."

"Eh! Guess I'll just have to delay the letter once again then." Cauthrien sighed deeply while shake her head in frustration, "My sisters are going to kill me once I get back."

"I'm sure it'll not be a big deal. After all, the final battle is coming. Under Teyrn Loghain's command, we'll eliminate those wretched darkspawn once and for all, then we'll all back to home in no time."

Like many members of Maric's Shield, Threnn believed in her Teyrn to the ends of creations, to the point that if Teyrn Loghain was to ask her to cut off one of her own hands, instead of questioning such an order, she would only ask in return as to which one exactly would he like her to cut. Thus she didn't even see fit to doubt as to whether it's truly possible to end a Blight this early. To her, the strength of Teyrn Loghain alone is enough to guarantee the victory.

'Ignorance truly is bliss', Cauthrien can't help but sigh when she noticed the utter conviction in Threnn's words. She supposed it's better this way, the last thing they need was to have soldiers starting to doubt, for even the slightest doubt over the absolute certainty of victory could affect the morale of the troops horrifically.

Yet as the commander of Maric's Shield, someone who knew more of what was truly going on, Cauthrien has to admit that although she still believed in her Teyrn's strength and will not outright disobey or question his command, she can't help but starting to doubt.

No, she still has faith in her Teyrn's strength, as always.

She just has no faith in a certain young man who also happened to be the King of Ferelden.

Perhaps it is unworthy of her to say that she held their king in distain, but Maker above, that man truly was a hard person to like.

Ignoring the fact that he's constantly cheating on his queen, or his various other unkingly flaws, it is Cailan's enthusiastic attitude towards this war that truly sickened and worried her.

Every single time the word "glorious" came out of his mouth, Cauthrien has to grind her teeth to the point of broken to refrain herself from give him a hard slap across his face for such idiocy.

Glorious? Really?

What glory is there when a man lie bleeding and screaming in the mud, feel his life fleeing his earthly body? What glory is there to leave a family broken, forever without their loved one?

If war is such a cheerful notion to Cailan…She can only pray that he finds the idea of vanquishing the Blight enough of a challenge to satiate his ego. Otherwise he might start to think it's a brilliant idea to declare war upon all nations across Thedas for want to unite the continent under the banner of Ferelden!

Speaking of the Blight…

Why on earth was Cailan even here to begin with? Wasn't he the one who constantly whining of how boring his kingly duties are and would rather spend his time travel or daydreaming? If so, shouldn't he just stay behind in Denerim and leave the fighting to more capable hands such as Teyrn Loghain, much like how he has always leave governing to Queen Anora?

But no, he just has to come to Ostagar in person, he who have never ever killed anything throughout his life just have to strutting around the camp in his glamorous golden armor like he owns the place, questioning Teyrn Loghain's every decision while ignoring his loyal Fereldan soldiers in favour of those Grey Wardens.

'You fool, what do you expect?' A nagging little voice in the back of her mind whispered, 'That this heartless man who do not even care about his own wife would suddenly act against his nature and give a few damn about those lowly peasant soldiers?'

"Eh, commander, are you alright?" Threnn's voice echoes from her side, once again snapped her out of her thoughts, "You've been quiet."

"I'm fine, sergeant." Cauthrien said while carefully folded the unfinished letter up and put it in her pocket, "Now, back to the others and prepare for battle. If we are to end the Blight tonight, we can't have Maric's Shield stand by and watch the others die ahead of us, no?"

"Understand, commander!"

…...

"We've wasted enough time as it is, Cailan!" Teyrn Loghain loudly protested, "If this Duncan cannot even arrive in time, then he'll just have to be filled in later."

"And as I have said, Loghain, we wait." Cailan snapped back equally loud, "Commander Duncan could have some last minute business he needs to tend to. I'll not insult him or that of the Grey Wardens by start the meeting without him."

'But you apparently got no problem with insult both your father in law and a Revered Mother of the Chantry by having them stand by and wait for more than half an hour?!'Cauthrien groaned silently, once again grind her teeth tightly to suppress her urge to slap this man child.

'How in the name of the Maker and Andraste, did the line of Calenhad, Moira and Maric managed to produce a dullard such is Cailan?' For a thousand time had Cauthrien asked herself such as question, and as usual, she got no answer whatsoever.

Apparently the Maker has a strange sense of humor.

She just isn't sure if such humour is good or bad for Ferelden.

Perhaps Ferelden would be better off should someone other than Cailan take its throne after the death of King Maric.

Perhaps that someone should have been Teyrn Loghain. After all, who better to rule Ferelden and its people than its saviour and best general? Some might argue that the Teryn is only a commoner who has no noble blood thus have no right to the throne, but tens of thousands of years ago, all those "royal bloodlines" were also nothing but hunters and gatherers, like everyone else, and only came to power because they seize it. In this regard, what different does Teyrn Loghain has with Calenhad? He certainly couldn't do the job of a king any worse than Cailan who…

"Ah, the guests of honour have finally arrived! Welcome, Duncan! We've been wait you for some time!"

Cauthrien turn her head and saw three men walking close to them. The dark skin middle aged man walking ahead of the other two younger ones could only be Duncan whom Cailan simply couldn't shut up about. From the way he walks and the various scars that could be spotted on his face and neck, as well as the scratches on his armour, Cauthrien suspect that he must been a man who has lots of combat experiences. Certainly more than Cailan, that is.

'I suppose this Duncan does have the right to be here after all.' Cauthrien think to herself.

Still, to have Teyrn Loghain wait for him that long…What's so special about this Duncan and that of the Grey Wardens anyway? Sure, they may have more experiences on fight darkspawns, but there are only less than a hundred of them here in Ferelden, what good will those handful of men do when facing a massive darkspawn horde?

Perhaps the old saying that "only a Grey Warden can kill the archdemon" is true after all, otherwise…No, no that couldn't possibly be anything but bravado on the Grey Wardens' part, a lie that they keep repeating for thousands of years to convince the people of Thedas of the necessity of their existence, so much so that they might even managed to convince themselves to believe in it as well.

In that regard, perhaps she shouldn't be surprise about Cailan's favouritism toward the Grey Wardens after all, for they both enjoy their delusion instead of cold, hard truth.

Banish her thoughts aside, she turned her gaze upon the other two younger men following behind Duncan.

She instantly recognized the face of that young man with short blonde hair whom, despite his best effort, looks rather awkward, as if he'd rather not be here at all.

'Good, at least the Bastard knew his place, otherwise we might need to start considering him as a real threat to Queen Anora.' Cauthrien thought cynically, 'Now, who is this other one…'

Ah, now that is interesting, him.

Like many others, Cauthrien does not know Arthur Cousland beyond the fact that he openly rejected to imprint with a mabari, an outrageous act in the eyes of nobility and commoners alike. Still, his fighting skill is impressive to be certain. The fact that he'd been the first real challenge she faced in years had prompted her curiosity about him, so much so that after the tournament, she had go out of her way to try to find someone who actually know what kind of person Arthur Cousland is.

Her curiosity ended up bring her to Dairren, son of Ban Loren, and more importantly, a rumoured "once friend" of Arthur Cousland.

'You want to know about Arthur, 'Teyrn Cousland's silent pup'?' Dairren was surprised about her request, 'Well, you come at a bad time. Five years earlier I can indeed answer any questions you might have about him, but now? After the screwed up my mabari caused, let's just say Arthur hate me now no less than the Maker hate Mafareth the betrayer, thus I can no longer say if he's still the boy I once called friend. All I can offer is a piece of warning: DO NOT ever cross him in any way, especially if you managed to get close to him. Many might think his silent nature implies that he has a tall threshold of tolerance, and that is indeed true in some degree, but for the love of the Maker and Andraste, do not try to test how far this threshold extend. Arthur Cousland's rage is not something you'd like to witness.'

And now, "Teyrn Cousland's silent pup" once again come face to face with her after two years, and he seems…hmm…

Gazing upon him, Cauthrien saw that he's not wearing the blue-and-silver Grey Warden uniform like the other two does. Instead, he clads in a set of dragon bone heavy chain mail armour that looks not so different compare to that of her own, a sheathed longsword strapped to his waist. As for the man himself, she can't help but noticed that although still as handsome as he was two years ago, his face seems a bit grim, as if he just witnessed something absolutely horrible not long ago, and he definitely appears to be paler than the last time she saw him, and... wait a minute, his neck…is that a…

After turning her full attention upon Arthur's neck, she noticed that there is a long and ugly scar across the left part of his neck. What is curious, however, is not the scar itself, but the fact that it is fresh…no, very fresh indeed, like it was only added to his neck no more than an hour ago.

'A fresh scar no more than an hour ago, and Duncan's delay…Coincidence? Not bloody likely.' Cauthrien thought gravely.

What is Duncan and the Grey Wardens up to?

"I apologize for the delay, your Majesty, my lord." Duncan said while give the King and Teyrn Loghain an apologetic bow, "This is entirely my fault."

"No, no, it is of no trouble, Duncan." Cailan answered casually, then turn his gaze upon Arthur, "Ah, Arthur! I understand that congratulations are in order, you are a Grey Warden now, aren't you? You should be honoured to join their ranks!"

The word "honoured", however, seems to touched a nerve, for Cauthrien noticed Arthur's left hand has tightened its grip on the hilt of his longsword. "Whatever you say, your Majesty." He replied coldly, his face betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

Baffled by Arthur's lack of enthusiasm, Cailan was at a loss for words. For a moment, the atmosphere has become rather tense, to the point of making people feel like to choke on it.

"Your Majesty, my Teyrn, shall we move on to the meeting itself now? It is about time…" Cauthrien decides to cut in now, less they got a repeat of what was happened during the feast after the tourney two years ago. With Teyrn Loghain's presence here, that would be disastrous.

"Ye...Yes of course!" Realizing his gaffe, Cailan quickly regained his composure and turned to Duncan, "Are your men ready for battle, Duncan?"

"They are, your Majesty!" Duncan answered with a nod.

"Good, then the hour of glory is finally upon us!" Cailan exclaimed excitedly, much like a kid heard that he'll finally get his favourite toy, "Oh, I cannot wait for that glorious moment! The Grey Warden battle beside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!"

"Sooner or later, your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan! We must attend now to reality!" Before she finally loses her patience and punch this man child right on his face, Teyrn Loghain cut in, obviously also tired of his naivety.

"Fine, fine, speak your strategy if you must, I'm certain that commander Duncan won't be bored by it as I sure will." Cailan said while gestured to the map dismissively. "The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawns into charging our lines, then?"

"Once they are disoriented by the volleys and slowed by the infantry lines, you will alert the tower to light the beacon, signalling my men to…"

"To attack them from the flank with a decisive charge and run them all down under the hoof our cavalry…Hmm, a fine idea indeed, almost too tempting to resist, if I have not already decided to fight alongside commander Duncan, I might consider to trade places with you, Loghain."

"You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, Cailan. Is that truly wise?" Teyrn Loghain said, "Even assuming that they are indeed as good as they claim to be, there are simply too few of them. To face the darkspawn horde head on alongside them is too much of a risk for you as the king to partake, perhaps you should stay back at the camp? The battlefield is not a place for you to play hero, if anything should happen to you…"

"And here I thought you and Eamon don't get along, apparently I was mistaken, now you sound just like him!" Cailan scoffed loudly, "Let me repeat what I have told you a thousand times over: my decision is final, I shall stand by the Grey Wardens to face the darkspawns together, do you finally remember it by now."

Seeing that he was unable to convince Cailan to do otherwise, Teyrn Loghain slowly nodded his head, the looks on his face is rather grim, as if he has finally made up his mind on a hard decision.

"Good, we can finally move on then." Cailan turn his gaze back to the map, "Now, where were we befor…Ah yes, the beacon, hmm, who shall light it for us then?"

"I can send a squad of my men to station there, though it is an easy job, it's still vital nevertheless, so…"

"Well, if this task is so vital, we might as well send our best to handle it." Cailan interrupted once again, "Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden, Arthur here, to make sure it's done."

"WHAT?!" the Bastard shrieked, "I won't be in the battle?"

"If the beacon is not light on time, Teyrn Loghain's men won't know when to charge, then we risk losing the battle and maybe ultimately losing the entire of Ferelden, is that what you want, Alistair?" Duncan explained patiently.

"Yeah, I get it. But still, to have two Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch just in case, it's …I mean…surely our abilities would be better suited at the frontline, Right?" the Bastard said while turn to his fellow Grey Warden, "Don't you agree, Arthur?"

Everyone's gaze turned to Arthur once again, only to find that he was staring at the map while rubbing his chin silently, as if deep in thoughts.

"Hey Arthur, have you an opinion on the matter?" the Bastard asked again in a higher volume, his voice sounds almost desperate.

"Your Majestry, my Lord." finally raising his head up and turn his gaze to the King and Teyrn Loghain, Arthur replied calmly, "While I understand that I'm the one who have the least of combat experiences here and thus should simply follow Teyrn Loghain's strategy by the word, there is, however, a question I cannot help but wish to ask for some clarification, for now is the last chance to do so before the battle commence in full."

"Well whatever questions you may have, make them quick, we have not much more time to waste, thanks to your commander." Teyrn Loghain answered rather coldly.

"Actually, my question is exactly for commander Duncan, though it concerns us all." Arthur said while turn to Duncan, "Duncan, just how many darkspawns are we expecting to face in the coming battle? I asked such a question to Alistair, and all he said was something like 'thousands', 'tens of thousands'. As a senior warden, perhaps you could answer this little pondering of mine."

'This is indeed a valid question.' Cauthrien thought to herself. True be told she too has wondered about this many times, for the scouts got almost nothing other than that there are more and more of those monsters coming out of the wilds. Though it's ultimately not her place to question her Teyrn's choice of strategy, it would still be nice to know for certain of the odds of the coming battle.

"I'm afraid I cannot offer any more than what Alistair have already told you, due to the nature of our enemy." Duncan answered rather quickly, as if he's uneased by such a question, as if he's afraid to dwell on it.

"Understandable I guess. The darkspawns looks too different compare to us thus we cannot infiltrate their camp, we also cannot capture and interrogate one of them for information, since they cannot even speak." said Arthur thoughtfully, "And the archdemon itself, any sign of that beast yet?"

"It is unlikely for it to appear during such an early stage of the Blight, but…it is indeed possible that the archdemon is hiding not far from here." Duncan said reluctantly.

"Say what you have to say and be done with it quickly, we have no more time for you to waste." Teyrn Loghain said with obvious impatience.

"Very well." after a few seconds of silence, Arthur speaks up once again, "It is obvious that we do not know the full strength of the darkspawn horde we are facing, and likely will never be able to know for certain due to their nature. So for all we know, there could be over a hundred thousand of those monsters out in the wilds, with the archdemon at their head no less. Should that be the case, then take them head on like we just planned here is no less than suicide. Thus it is my belief that to try to end the Blight here and now through one 'glorious battle' is both unlikely and too much of a risk to take, not when we could be outnumbered ten to one, not when there's still trouble up in the north. So I believe the safest cause of action right now is to cease the battle plan at once and bunker down our troops at the ruins of Ostagar for a defensive battle instead while turn some of the troops here back north to deal with the situation there."

The great hall falls to silent after Arthur finish talking. Cauthrien for one could scarcely believe what she just heard, not only this man openly challenged the strategy of Teyrn Loghain, he also dares to propose the army of Ferelden to avoid fighting all together! The nerve! He must be either very bold or very stupid.

Still, there's something he just said…something about "trouble up in the north"…

Has something happened in Denerim?

"Are you kidding!" Cailan shouted out almost immediately after Arthur finish talking, "It's bad enough that Loghain asked me to stay in the camp and let the rest of you have all the fun, now you would ask all of us to avoid the battle all together? How am I supposed to be the King of Ferelden if the rest of Thedas see me as a coward?"

"For once, Cailan, we have reached an agreement." said Teyrn Loghain, surprised all with his support of Cailan on such a matter, "Even ignoring the necessity of not showing weakness to the rest of Thedas, the troops have already been mobilized for the coming battle, to call off the battle now would cause questions and doubts spreading throughout the camp like wildfire, questions we have no answer for, doubts we couldn't afford. So one way or another, this battle must be fight here and now, Ferelden will stand on itself."

"Stand for ourselves does not mean we have to stand alone, for we are hardly alone, my lord." said Arthur, "Considering the possible numbers of the darkspawns we are facing, surely it won't harm to ask the help of other nations of Thedas, if only so that one more Fereldan could be spared by the death of one foreigner?

"You think I haven't already tried that?" Cailan groaned, "The Orlesians have already proposed to come, but Loghain here got feisty as soon as he heard that!"

The flash of pure and utter hate in Teyrn Loghain's eyes answers Cailan. "I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we need Orlesians to defend ourselves!"

"It is not a fool notion. Our arguments with the Orlesians are a thing of the past…and you will remember who is the King!" Cailan argued back, "Seriously Loghain, what is your problem with Orlesians anyway? They've been kicked out for decades, and since you haven't exactly been asking to march west and kill each and every last one of them, and you obviously got no problem whatsoever with that Erlina of Anora, so what's the problem of a few Orlesians who, as Arthur here put it, would come to die for us so that our own people don't have to die?"

"How fortunate Maric didn't live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century!" Teyrn Loghain hissed, his face turning red with rage.

"Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they?!" Cailan hissed back, now equally angered.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, assuming something like that while not knowing the full strength of our enemy is dangerous." said Arthur, "True, it is indeed possible that our current forces will be more than enough to deal with the situation, but who is to say that we are not actually already outnumbered ten to one or more?"

"So what do you propose us to do then, Arthur?" Cailan asked angrily, "That we hide in these ancient ruins like cowards?"

"Considering of the current situation? Yes, that is indeed what I'm proposing." said Arthur, "Being called a coward could indeed be hard to bear, but should we allow our ego blind our judgement and ultimately failed the battle, then we'll be all dead. What then will good reputation do for us? Nothing. As a corpse, a king who died heroically for his people is no more alive than the lowest of frontline soldiers."

Arthur's retort has left Cailan speechless. Unable to think of a proper response, Cailan's face quickly turning red with outrage and awkwardness.

"That is quiet enough, Ser Arthur!" Cauthrien decides to cut in now, less Arthur say something more and further wounded the pride of the man child who is nevertheless still their king and bring trouble upon himself, "You are talking to the King of Ferelden, remember that and mind your choice of words!"

"My apologies, Ser Cauthrien." Turn his gaze upon her for the first time, and give her a slight bow, Arthur speaks up once again, "Any way, back to the topic of our next cause of action. While calling reinforcements is necessary, I can nevertheless see that asking the help of other nations, especially that of Orlais, is too much of a bitter pill to swallow, and for good reason. Thus, I offer an alternative: we should utilize the Grey Warden treaties we retrieve from the wilds not long ago."

"Your Majesty, my Lord, Arthur here have an excellent point!" said Duncan rather excitedly, "We Grey Wardens have treaties that can be used to demand aid, from the dwarves of Orzammar, the Dalish elves and the circle of magi across Thedas. They are obligated to help us during the Blight. Allow me to send out a few Grey Wardens under my command, then we'll have an army coming to our aid in no tim…"

"Absolutely no!" The Revered Mother who have remained silent like a statue throughout the course of the meeting thus far suddenly speaks up and retorted the words of Duncan rather heatedly, "It is bad enough that we allow you Grey Wardens to harbour apostates amongst your ranks, we'll not allow you to gather up an army of heathens and those accursed mages here at the door step of a Kingdom devoted to the light of the Maker!"

"Then I don't suppose that you can write to the Divine to ask her to spare some Templars here and there to come to our aid, your Reverence?" Before Duncan could say anything in return, Arthur cut in and asked the Revered Mother, though Cauthrien get the feeling that he was not actually asking.

"No, it is not the Templars' duty to fight your battle for you." The Revered Mother answered in a rather adamant manner.

"Then enlighten me, your Reverence, why are you here?" Arthur asked, the mockery in his tone is now far too obvious to be ignored, "Surely Ostagar is a very dreadful place compare to the grand Cathedral of Denerim or that of Val Royeaux? Surely chanting the light is a much easier job than trying to tell us what to do? Or have you come to try to use your legendary preaching prowess to convert the darkspawns so that we could all lay down our weapons and stop fighting?"

"Phff!" Before the Revered Mother could utter a word to retort the mockery of Arthur, the Bastard suddenly sneered out rather loudly, apparently Arthur's words make him unable to control himself.

"You…you will watch your tongue, insolent young man!" The Revered Mother shrieked loudly, her face twisted with rage, "The Chantry will no…"

"Enough! This is a meeting that will decide the fate of Ferelden, if any of you can't take it serious, then get out of here!" Teyrn Loghain shouted, stop the Revered Mother from complaining any further, then turn his gaze to Arthur, "As for your proposal, young Cousland, it does have merit, yet it is infeasible. Even were I to set aside my hatred of the Orlesians and welcome their chevaliers with open arms, or the armies of dwarves and Dalish elves obligated to your Grey Warden treaties, they would not come fast enough for the coming battle. And make no mistake, the battle is upon us. To call off the battle plan right now and return the troops back to the fortification and at the same time, send some troops back north, then even the dumbest fool would realize that something is wrong back home. What do you imagine would happen to the morale of the troops?"

"But my Lord, the situation in the north…"

"Is nothing comparing to the battle that will commence within the hour!" Teyrn Loghain suddenly shouted towards Arthur, as if angered by Arthur's unending questions, "Do please tell me this, young Cousland: do you keep on doubting my strategy because you are genuinely concerned about the fate of Ferelden and thus wish to do something about it, or is it simply an excuse you use to try to pull the army of Highever back north for your petty grievances? If it happens to be the latter, then I ask that as a loyal subject to the crown of Ferelden and its people…you serve Ferelden's best interest before your own…agenda."

The words of Teyrn Loghain hit Arthur hard like a charging stallion, so much so that he was dumbstruck for a few seconds. Yet when he recovered from the initial shock, the look in his haunting deep blue eyes is frightening.

"A petty grievance? Really?! Is that your choice of words for losing the majority of your family members to a man whom you welcomed to your hall as an honourable guest?! Would you also use such a word to describe what the Orlesians did to your moth…" Arthur retort angrily, only to stop at the very end, as if suddenly realize that he was about to say something he'll regret forever. Still, by now his body is quivering with rage, so much so that he has to grab the hilt of his longsword to prevent his hand from shaking, and...

"Eh, Ser Arthur? You neck…" She noticed that the scar across his neck has somehow reopened and is bleeding quickly.

"I'm fine." He gives her a hard look, then turn his gaze back to Teyrn Loghain and speaks up once again after a few more deep breathes, entirely unconcerned about the blood that is running all over the left part of his neck, "I'll admit, my lord, that perhaps I am indeed driven more by my personal agenda, but so what? Is my desire to avenge my family really that much conflicted with the best interest of Ferelden? In case you have forgotten, my lord, her Majesty the Queen, your daughter, is still in Denerim with only a handful of men! If we stay our hand and don't act now, what's to stop Rendon Howe from seize the city and hold her Majesty hostage, and…Maker forbid, force her Majesty to marry to him instead so that he could declare himself the King?!"

WHAT?!

"Wha…what do you mean?" She could no longer remain silent, no when the matter concerns Denerim and her Majesty, "What is this talk of Arl Howe seizing Denerim? Has something happened?"

"Be silent, Cauthrien! This is none of your concern, all you need to do is…"

"I beg to differ, my Lord." Arthur cut in once again, "If rookies such as Alistair and I get to come to this meeting and voice our opinions, then as the commander of Maric's Shield, Ser Cauthrien has every right to speak up when there are things she does not know of, especially if the matter concerned Denerim. Her two sisters, Mhairi and Samantha, are both there, after all."

"That is enough, Arthur! Haven't I told you? We Grey Wardens can't afford to antagoniz…" said Duncan in a hurry.

Yet Arthur ignored him and speaks up any way. "You should know that roughly two weeks ago, Rendon Howe came to Highever under the pretence of friendship and apologize for the delay of his troops. Fearing for the frontline, my father decided to let my brother and the troops of Highever march to Ostagar ahead of him and prepare to leave with Howe the next day. Yet at night, when Highever is empty, Howe showed his true color and start to attack the castle, butchered many of Highever's residents, my parents, my sister in law Oriana and my little nephew Oren included, I…"

By the end, he lowered his head and fall back to silence, as if trying to suppress the urge to cry.

"My…my Teyrn, is this true?" She asked, her voice trembling now, "It can't possibly be true, is it? Surely Rendon Howe aren't mad enough to start a civil war amidst a Blight, right? Surely…surely…"

"It is true." Her Teyrn answered passively, as if he was answering whether or not he finished his dinner.

'No…NO! My sisters…If Ser Arthur's assumption is right, then…'

"Then we must send our troops back to defend Denerim immediately!" She almost shouted out, finally losing her composure completely, "The garrison troops of Denerim have less than a thousand, even add up the twenty Maric's Shield we left behind, they are still no match to the full strength of Amaranthine! Not to mention that Mhairi was only freshly appointed as the acting commander, she wouldn't know what to do in such a situation! We must…we must…"

'Rendon Howe, that traitorous bastard! I swear if he dares to harm my sisters or her Majesty, I'll…'

"Calm yourself, Cauthrien!" Teyrn Loghain shouted once again, "As I have told young Cousland here, dire though the situation in the north maybe, the coming battle is far more important. As commander of Maric's Shield, surely you can see that? Surely you can imagine what will happen had any of the soldiers here knew of what's happening in the north?"

'They'll start panicking, just like I am now, and those of Highever will scream for blood and lose any will to fight the coming battle, just like Ser Arthur.' Cauthrien think to herself. As always, her Teyrn is right. She knew she should've just accept what her Teryn said and be done with it, but…but how could she stay calm any longer and focusing on the coming battle, when her sisters could already be…

"My Teyrn, please, we must do something!" She all but begged, tears welled in her eyes, "Her Majesty is still in Denerim, surely you wouldn't abandon her to her fate just like that? If turning the majority of the troops here back is not an option, then let me go back with Maric's Shield. We may have only no more than three hundred, but we are all your handpicked elites! I swear to you that Denerim will not fall so long as even one of us is still alive! We'll…"

"The answer is no!" Teyrn Loghain replied coldly, "And I'm tired of explaining to you as to why that is impossible."

"But her Majesty could be…"

"DO AS I COMMAND, Cauthrien Traynor!" Teyrn Loghain hissed, suddenly called her full name.

"I…I…"

Never had Cauthrien ever imagined that an order from her Teyrn would be so hard to follow. Despite her instinct screaming that she should simply stop thinking and do what she was told as she has always been doing, her heart, however, would not allow her to ignore the threat to her sisters for even a single second.

'We of Maric's Shield are weapons that carried out Teyrn Loghain's will, we need not to do anything other than obey. If we as weapons start to think for ourselves, where will that leave our master then?'

'If we stay our hand and don't act now, what's to stop Rendon Howe from seize the city and hold her Majesty hostage, and…Maker forbid, force her Majesty to marry to him instead so that he could declare himself the King?'

'…Her two sisters, Mhairi and Samantha, are both there…'

'My sisters…'

"Forgive me, my Teyrn, but I can't." After a few seconds of hesitation, she made up her mind.

Her answer caught everyone completely off guard, they all staring at her as if she just said the most ridiculous thing they had ever heard. Though she can hardly blame them, they just witnessed a weapon turned on its master.

"What did you just say, Cauthrien?" Teyrn Loghain speak in…rage, or is it shock, or sadness? She can never tell, "What do you mean you can't?!"

"My sisters are still in Denerim, my Teyrn, I cannot just abandon them, not after Ser Arthur told me of what is going on in the north." She gives Arthur a nod, then turn back to her Teyrn, "Thus I request to be relieved of my post and leave for Denerim."

"Do you even know what you are asking for, Cauthrien?" Her Teyrn asked once again, though by now she feels that he is not really asking for an answer, for he likely has realized her determination, "Do you not know of the consequences of…of such disobedient?"

"I know full well, my Teyrn."

"And you're still going to do it, regardless your order?"

"I am." She answered calmly yet nevertheless very adamant, "Of course, my Teyrn, you may execute me for it right now, and I shall not resist. Anything short of that, however, will not prevent me from leaving."

"…So be it." After a very long silent, her Teyrn replied coldly, "You are hereby relieved of your post of commander of Maric's Shield. Now get out of here, I have no use for anyone who cannot obey their order!"

Cauthrien feels like to say something, like swearing that she will rescue their Queen, or perhaps good luck on the coming battle. But ultimately, she couldn't utter a single word. So instead, she bowed her head to her Teyrn and her King, silently walks away from the great hall.

And here we have chapter 4. Sorry for the long wait, the past few months have been rather crazy.

Hope you guys enjoy the POV of Cauthrien, she's one of my favorite minor characters of the Dragon Age games, I really hope we could see more of her in later games, unlikely though that maybe.

And as promised, with the coming of Cauthrien's POV, change has come, now we'll just have to see how far her action will change things as a whole.

The next two chapters will be from the POVs of Morrigan and Leliana, then we shall move to Highever and Denerim to see the current situation in the north.

As usual, hope you guys enjoy the chapter and feel free to leave comments about your thoughts.

PS: I only just find out that I've been spelling "Teyrn" as "Teryn" all the time! An awkward mistake indeed, I'll try my best to avoid mistakes such as this in the future.