Chapter 4: The Royal Encampment
In the early morning of the eighth day from the night attack on Highever, the handful of survivors finally reached the army camp in Ostagar. Alvar walked with Duncan on one side and Sancia on his other side, behind them Nelson and the four warden soldiers followed on. The slight dark circles under Alvar's and Sancia's eyes showed the fatigue from their long weary journey. The Fereldan army had made camp in the ruined ancient fortress at Ostagar; a massive host numbering almost twenty-five thousand strong along with several hundreds of camp followers had set up camp. This was only a portion of the large Fereldan army as many nobles were yet to join them with their own respective fyrds. Several thousands of tents were pitched up inside the high stone walls and the newly-built fortifications, pennons with different designs signifying the coat of arms of the noble houses, whose lords and fighting men had made camp, flew proudly in the air.
Sancia silently gazed at the massive fortress in wonder and admiration. Ever since she married Alvar and started living in Ferelden almost two years ago, she had travelled to some of the places in Ferelden, but never had she been this far south. The ancient fortress of Ostagar was also built by the Tevinter Imperium many ages ago, as a bastion against the Chasind and Alamarri barbarians who frequently raided the fertile lands to the north. The ground they were walking on now had no doubt been a site for several battles in the ages. The fortress was built into two blocks each sitting above a hill overlooking a wide valley. A high stone bridge ran over the valley, connected the two blocks. A naturally defensible position, the fortress of Ostagar had made it very difficult to attack the lands which it protected. With the Tevinter Imperium collapsing after the First Blight, the fortress was abandoned for many ages. Although some parts of the fortress were in ruins, it was still a sturdy fortification which along with the addition of some newly-built defenses, the men inside could put up a formidable defense.
"Ho there! Duncan!" a voice bellowed ahead snapping Sancia from her reverie and she looked ahead to see a man in gilded armour approaching them.
"Here he comes" Alvar whispered to her in Nevarran
Sancia nodded promptly
Alvar and Sancia knew King Cailan and they both despised him greatly for political and personal reasons. Alvar and Cailan had known each other since childhood and Alvar disliked Cailan from a long time. Even the fact of Cailan being a distant cousin of Alvar did not improve his sentiments.
Cailan was older than Alvar by five years and only a year younger than his brother Fergus. Cailan had great love for fairy tales of valiant and chivalrous princes and knights who fought 'bad guys', rescued damsels in distress and saved the day. Alvar had no problem with this as he himself also had spent a lot of time in his childhood reading such tales; however, Cailan did not just read them but he even believed the actual world to be the same as the tales. His naïve and immature mind always saw the world as filled with rainbows and butterflies. Whether he did not understand the realities of the grey and ruthless world they lived in or he chose not to, Alvar never knew. Cailan was also a passionate and idealistic man who would also not keep any of his thoughts in his mind, which fortunately for him did not cause the trouble it would have, as he wore a crown.
Alvar was not bothered much by this, what bothered him the most was that this man was his king, his superior. Alvar had no doubts that he was more mature than this king and he always believed that he outmatched Cailan in every aspect, so the fact that he had to bow down and revere this man of much lesser caliber only because this man had blood which is bluer than his own, grated Alvar's nerves to no extent. This had also occasionally caused some arguments between Alvar and his own father in the recent few years; Bryce often admonished him for not respecting Cailan. Bryce believed it to be an honour to serve and revere their king while Alvar thought otherwise. His ego and pride made it tormenting to shower respect and admiration on Cailan who in his eyes did not deserve any.
Plus, Cailan's carnal trysts with various women around the kingdom disgusted Alvar. Alvar was no fan of Cailan's wife Anora, for he just like majority of the nobles of the kingdom loathed her and her father Teyrn Loghain for their humble origins and lack of blue blood. But still Cailan's infidelity and his blatant disregard of his sacred marriage vows disgusted Alvar who strongly believed and adhered to them. Alvar could not understand why Cailan had to look for carnal pleasures elsewhere when he had a wife of his own; Maybe because Alvar loved his own wife deeply and could not imagine being unfaithful to her, so probably he would never understand this brainless fool's desires.
As for Sancia, other than the political reasons for detesting Cailan, which she shared with her husband; she had her own personal reasons. Cailan's debauchery was the foremost. He and his younger uncle Teagan Guerrin, the Bann of Rainesfere had wenched throughout the kingdom. They often frequented brothels together. But Teagan at least had some decency, she thought because he would stay away from married women and most of his trysts were with harlots from brothels. Plus, Teagan was only a bann, so many high-born women were out of his reach.
But Cailan on the other hand was a complete degenerate, who took his royal privileges for granted. It did not matter to him whether the woman is a commoner or a noble; if she was a young girl who recently came of age or if she was a married woman with children; if he liked her, he would have her. With the royal crown on his head, he recognized no one equal or above him and for him all beautiful women were mere objects whose only purpose is to satisfy his carnal lusts. And to make it worse, Cailan would also brag about his 'conquests' in noble gatherings. 'Yes, it is great achievement to use your royal privileges to force others to warm your bed… Or maybe considering your capabilities that is the only achievement you can ever accomplish' she thought. Sancia was actually least bothered by this, until that evening during last year Satinalia.
Satinalia is a festival in the month of Firstfall, celebrated throughout Thedas. People gave each other gifts and reveled in parties. For the previous year Satinalia, King Cailan had thrown a grand banquet in his palace in Denerim, inviting all the noble families. During the evening, Sancia was standing alone in a balcony admiring the gardens when Cailan joined her. He made small talk with her often showering her with compliments, for which Sancia responded politely. Then he made his indecent proposal 'asking her' to spend the night in his bed. To say Sancia was shocked is an understatement, she could not believe that this man had the audacity to even make such a request. Cailan may be the king but Sancia wasn't just any woman, she was the daughter-in-law of the highest-ranking noble house in Ferelden and also the daughter of two of Nevarra's greatest noble families; she had known about his trysts but she had never thought that he would try to seduce his own cousin's wife.
Sancia had rejected his shameless proposition immediately. 'That priceless look on his face. Maybe he had never received no for an answer before' she thought. Sancia cringed as she remembered the justification he had given then, which went somewhat on the lines of 'what better gift than spending a night in bed with the King himself?' Sancia smiled faintly as she remembered her own response 'I spend all my nights with 'my king'' or something like that. She thought that her refusal would convince him to leave her alone, but she was wrong. Cailan was rather aroused and said 'he liked challenges' and tried harder to seduce her. Eventually she got tired of refusing as subtly as she could and after excusing herself, she walked inside, from where they stood, furtively wiping her tears.
Sancia was deeply hurt. She had not spoken to anyone about the events of that evening, not even to Alvar. She was sure that if she told Alvar about how Cailan attempted to seduce her, Alvar would go straight to Denerim and strangle Cailan while he still sat in his throne. Eventually it would have resulted in a civil war and resulting in the deaths of many good men and women, which Sancia did not wish for. So, she kept the matter to herself, but ever since that evening, Sancia had always been wary of Cailan and avoided him whenever possible. She also starting pitying the women of lesser standing who did not have the power to refuse this royal lecher.
"Lord Alvar!" Cailan's exclaimation snapped her from her thoughts and brought her back to present and she looked at the king standing in front of her, Cailan turned his head towards her "And Lady Sancia!" he exclaimed "In a night gown…" he added looking at her.
"Greetings, your majesty" she said politely
"I was expecting your father's arrival" Cailan said turning to Alvar "has something happened?"
"Teyrn Cousland and his…" before Duncan could finish, Alvar cut in "Yes, Cailan, a I bring terrible news from Highever" he said grimly "Please shall we talk privately in your tent" he requested
"I…yes" Cailan said, surprised "Come with me"
"Thank you, Cailan" Alvar replied "Please send for my brother Fergus as well" he requested as they walked towards the tents.
"Actually, your brother is not here"
"What!?"
"He was sent on a scouting mission to the wilds, two days ago and he has not returned yet" said Cailan "I fear he will not return till the end of the battle"
"Maker! Who sent him on a scouting mission? And how many men did he take?" Alvar asked in disbelief
"Loghain" answered Cailan "He said he wanted clear details on the darkspawn movements. I think he took around thousand men with him"
"Yes. But why did he ask my brother for that?" asked Alvar "He could have sent other scouts in the army"
Cailan pondered for a moment, "I guess… he wanted a more reliable person for the mission. Someone he could trust. He probably felt he could not trust any of the scouts. Maker, he is becoming quite paranoid nowadays."
"And what of the remaining men of the Highever fyrd?"
"The bulk of them are still here" answered Cailan "We have not found anyone to take command of them yet"
Alvar could not believe what he just heard, 'Why would a Teyrn's son be sent on a scouting mission?' he pondered 'Do they not have enough scouts in the army that they would have a noble lord himself do something menial like a scouting mission? Sure, Fergus had been stripped of his heirdom a few years ago but still he was a Teyrn's son and a high noble.'
"Have you sent men to locate him?" he asked Cailan
Cailan stopped in his tracks and turned to Alvar "Our patrols have not been able to locate him" he said gravely "I fear he has gone very deep into the woods. Like I have said before, he may not return until the battle is over"
'Isn't the point of a scouting mission being to bring information useful for the battle? What use is a scouting mission if the scouts do not return before the battle?' he pondered but then he stopped thinking about Cailan's decisions because he knew from experience that trying to understand Cailan's mind is impossible. Instead, his head was starting to fill up with worry for his brother as the group walked towards Cailan's tent.
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Shall we talk privately in your tent? he had asked and he had received agreement in return. Right now, Alvar stood in Cailan's big tent; in front of him was a large table on which lay sprawled a detailed map of Ostagar and the Korcari wilds. Cailan stood in front of him on the other side of the table, along with him stood Teyrn Loghain, Arl Wulffe of Western Hills, Arl Leonas Bryland of South Reach and Lord Braden who was the assistant of Arl Urien Kendells of Denerim, the Arl of Denerim was not present. Duncan also stood across the table. Alvar's wife Sancia stood beside him.
Alvar narrated the events of Highever to all the men present. King Cailan and the rest of the nobility except for Loghain were stunned on hearing the tale. Loghain however had an inscrutable expression on his face. They all offered their condolences for his family's murder.
"He mutinies when majority the Highever fyrd is away!" roared Arl Bryland
"I can scarcely believe this!" exclaimed a shocked Cailan "How does he think he can get away with this?!"
"He probably believes the chaos of the blight would mask his treason" stated Alvar
"Yes, if we had not escaped Highever he would have come here and told you any story he wished, your majesty" Duncan added
"But we did escape now, no thanks to you" said Alvar, facing Duncan
"Whatever it is, I cannot allow this to go unpunished!" declared Cailan and faced Alvar "I promise you, Alvar, as soon as we deal with the darkspawn here, I will march my army north and we shall bring Howe to justice!"
"Thank you, Cai…your majesty!" Alvar replied "And now since my brother is missing and the Highever fyrd is leaderless, I shall take command of them" he declared
"You will not be doing that, recruit" Duncan cut in sternly
"I did not ask for your approval!" Alvar snapped
"Hold on!" Cailan joined in "Is there something else I should know of?"
"Your majesty" Duncan turned to Cailan "I have invoked the right of conscription on Alvar Cousland and taken him into the ranks of the grey wardens. So, he must now come with me."
"And I have refused to join your order!" countered Alvar
"You refused to join the grey wardens? Why?!" asked a very surprised Cailan
Alvar stared at Cailan in disbelief and then he remembered how much Cailan and Maric revered the grey wardens, and thought of them as heroes. Alvar pondered his next words and he responded solemnly "My King, I have duties to my family and my people, the Highever soldiers need my leadership and I must also take my vengeance for what Howe did to my family. I cannot do any of that if I join the grey wardens"
"Alvar, it is a great honour to join their ranks" Cailan said with enthusiasm "You will get to slay monsters and be celebrated as a hero of the land. You will see way more action and glory than any of us here!"
At these words, Alvar was now sure that Cailan worshipped the Grey Wardens and he must be even more careful with his words if he must free himself from Duncan's leash.
"I am afraid I must refuse this honour, your majesty" he answered gently "I have my personal duties which I cannot perform if I join the order. So, I refuse to join the wardens"
"I have invoked the right of conscription on you" declared Duncan "your refusal does not matter"
Alvar glared at Duncan and then turned to Cailan, "Your majesty, I do not wish to join the order. I have a duty to take vengeance on Howe and to lead my men in my brother's absence. Please allow me my refusal" he requested.
"The grey wardens have the right of conscription, Alvar" Cailan spoke calmly "Even if you do not wish, you will have to join them because Duncan has invoked the right on you. And you must do your duty to your country."
"But why must I join the Grey Wardens?" he asked impatiently "I am the last surviving member of my family. I now also have a duty to preserve my house, I…"
"And what of your duty to Ferelden, boy?" Teyrn Loghain growled sternly "There are darkspawn massing on our borders and all you think of is your own personal loss? As a Fereldan you have a duty to defend your country as well and that must take precedence over your personal grievances.
Or are you refusing your duty to your country?"
"No, My lord!" Alvar answered promptly "If I am refusing to fight the blight, then why would I request to be allowed to take command of the Highever fyrd? I am only refusing to join the Grey Wardens" and facing Cailan he continued "My King, please allow me to take command of the Highever forces and I shall gladly lead them against the darkspawn in your name and honour."
"I have already told you that I cannot revoke your conscription" said Cailan "Besides as Loghain said, House Cousland must also do their duty to our nation by contributing to our fight against the blight just as like us present here."
"My family have done their duty to our land!" Alvar thundered, losing his patience "My family sent our entire fyrd to fight the blight, at the cost of our own safety and we even paid very dearly for that and yet it is not enough for your cause?!"
"Calm down, Alvar!" Cailan soothed futilely "Your family has done what was asked of them and they have served me loyally. I will always remember them and be grateful to them. But you must do your duty yet."
"Then let me do it by leading my men against the darkspawn!" he cried
"But Duncan believes that you can serve our cause better by joining the Grey Wardens" replied Cailan "Not all of our duties and purposes are similar, Alvar. But at the end, we must all perform our responsibilities. And isn't that what your family always believes in? A Cousland always does their duty"
Alvar was enraged at Cailan using his family's motto against him like this "Joining the Grey Wardens and spending the rest of my life fighting darkspawn is a duty forced upon me! It is not a duty I have chosen and I will not accept a duty forced upon me, where I have no choice!"
"None of us have any choices, Alvar" said Cailan solemnly
"Actually, your majesty" uttered Arl Bryland and everyone turned to him "How about we offer someone else in Lord Alvar's place?
I can offer one or more of my knights to take Lord Alvar's place in the Grey Wardens."
Alvar welcomed this suggestion and faced Duncan hopefully
"The Grey Wardens recruit only the best of the warriors, my lord" Duncan answered
"He is right" Cailan joined in "How many knights are there in your ranks who are of Alvar's prowess, Bryland?"
"I can offer multiple knights to compensate for his capability, your majesty" he answered "I can offer three or more as Duncan wishes, in place of Lord Alvar"
"No, my lord" refused Duncan "This lad is of exceptional skill and prowess. I cannot accept any replacement in his place"
"You heard him, Bryland. Duncan does not wish to replace Alvar" stated Cailan silencing the Arl and facing Alvar he said "I still do not understand why are you so adamant about joining the Grey Wardens. Not many get the honour to be accepted into their ranks"
"Then shall we trade places, your majesty?" he asked boldly
"Absolutely not!" thundered Loghain before Cailan could say anything "Do not try to manipulate our king, boy! It will not end well for you"
Alvar lowered his head and stood silently staring at the map on the table. His hand was clutching the hilt of his sword. He turned to face Sancia whose beautiful face mirrored his worry. He stared back at the map. Silence remained in the tent for some time. Alvar raised his head and looked at all the people present. Cailan and Duncan stared at him hopefully, Loghain, Arl Wulffe and Lord Braden stood with inscrutable faces, only Arl Leonas Bryland had pity in his eyes.
"You insolent, worthless cretins!" Alvar thundered suddenly, slamming both his fists on the table "Maker curse you all, you miserable wretches! May the void take you all!" he cursed loudly and turned his back "Come Sancia!" he bellowed as he stomped angrily out of the tent.
Without a nod or any acknowledgment at the nobles, Sancia followed quickly after her husband.
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Alvar stomped angrily, Sancia followed after her husband and walked steadily alongside him.
"Blasted, motherless curs!" he muttered angrily "Even Cailan is helpless against Duncan?"
"What is wrong with Cailan?" Sancia asked in disbelief "He was behaving as though Duncan was the king and had the final say, not himself"
"The fool worships the Grey Wardens" he uttered "He believes them as the legendary heroes and thinks it is an honour to join them."
"Perhaps, he would have agreed when you asked to trade place with him" stated Sancia
"Yes" Alvar laughed mirthlessly "That mindless fool only sees glory, maybe he would have given up his throne and joined the wardens, that imbecile moron!"
They stopped in their tracks and stood still.
"What shall we do now?" asked Sancia "Would they send men to capture us and force you to join the wardens?"
"I do not know" he answered "maybe they might, being the bunch of glorified thugs that they are. And they might even do so with Cailan's blessings.
Let's go to the Highever encampment. At least there among trustworthy men we can peacefully plan our next move" he declared
They looked around at their surroundings; they were in the eastern block of the Ostagar fortress. They could not see any tents with Highever pennons hoisted in the air. An elf dressed in simple clothing passed nearby carrying a sheathed sword.
"You, elf!" he stopped him "Where is the Highever encampment?" he demanded
"I…uh…its" the elf stammered
Alvar grabbed him by the collar "the Highever forces? You, knife ear?!" he growled "Will you tell me where they have camped or should I carve it out your filthy skull myself!"
"The Highever soldiers…!" he spluttered "They have camped in the western block, my lord. You must go this way to get to there," he said pointing his arm westwards.
Alvar pushed him aside and nodded to Sancia. The two of them strutted towards the western block of the fortress.
"High and mighty, shemlen!" the elf grumbled 'look at the way they walk, like as if they own the place. They seem like nobility…' he pondered
'But well, let's get back to what I was doing' he thought and looked at the sword in his hands 'oh right, I must give Ser Garlen, his sword' and so he walked in the direction of his destination.
Alvar and Sancia walked through the stone bridge and reached the western block of the fortress. On one side of the western block of the fortress, they saw many pennons with the design of the Highever spears and the Cousland laurels flying over the top of the tents.
Alvar and Sancia smiled in satisfaction and walked quickly towards the tents.
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The Highever camp was live with soldiers and servants moving around. Heavy armoured knights walked around carrying shields with painted with the Cousland laurels; men at arms carrying spears, swords, axes and shields. Their shields were painted with the green spears over a raindrop, which was the coat of arms of the teyrnir of Highever.
Highever was one of the few provinces of Ferelden where exists two coat-of-arms, the green laurels on a blue background which was the coat of arms of House Cousland and the two green spears crossed against a green raindrop in a black background which was the coat of arms of Highever. Shields carrying the Cousland designs were used only by the family members and knights. The foot soldiers used shields carrying the Highever coat designs.
Alvar and Sancia entered the Highever encampment startling the sentries in the entrance with their arrival. A few yards ahead from where they stood, a small group of soldiers, around eight to ten men sat in a circle around a dying fire. They were busy chatting amongst themselves.
"Ho! There!" bellowed Alvar and walked towards them.
The surprised soldiers stood up and straightened as Alvar and Sancia approached them.
"Lord Alvar! Lady Sancia!" one of them exclaimed and they all bowed.
Alvar instructed them to rise "My lord, we did not know that you would be arriving here" said one of the soldiers apologetically, "Please forgive us, my lord. If we had known then we would have arranged a welcome and we…"
The soldier stopped as Alvar raised his hand "Never mind that, tell me who is in command here" Alvar demanded
"Lord Fergus has gone on a scouting mission; he has put Ser Alan as commander for now"
"Hmm… and where is my brother's tent?"
"There, my lord" the soldier pointed to a large tent in the center of the camp.
"Then we shall wait there" Alvar said, turning to Sancia and then he turned back to the soldier "Inform Ser Alan of our arrival and tell him to see us in the main tent" he ordered
The soldier saluted in agreement and the group dispersed as Alvar and Sancia walked towards Fergus's tent.
Alvar and Sancia sat on the seats inside the tent, when a guard outside told them of Ser Alan's arrival.
"Send him in" Alvar ordered
A handsome young man dressed in plate mail entered. Ser Alan is a young knight in the service of House Cousland. He is a member of minor nobility; he was only a few years older than Alvar.
"Lord Alvar! Lady Sancia" he bowed before them.
"Come sit with us, Ser Alan" said Alvar indicating a seat nearby.
Alan did as he was told "tell me my lord, how come you both are here?" he asked politely "has something happened in Highever?"
"Yes" Alvar said "but first, have some food and drink brought here. We have had a rough journey and we are hungry"
"At once, my lord" and Ser Alan ordered the servants to bring what was asked by Alvar
The elven servants brought them food in two plates and poured two glasses of wine for the guests.
Alvar and Sancia had their breakfast slowly and with the trained grace of those born in nobility. After finishing their food and sipping their wine, they turned towards Ser Alan sitting on the seat beside them.
"A woe has fallen upon Highever" Alvar said gravely and he started narrating all the events that had happened.
Thank you, Octo and Cassie for your reviews :)