Ana looks around her at the ancient structures all around her. Everything looks so tall yet, compared to the Southron Hills in the background, they seem dwarfed. This is it. She thinks, slowly stepping forward. Walking forward, she can feel the blood rushing through her ears as her heart pounds nervously in her chest. She fingers the hemmed fabric of her tunic, carefully walking around the holes in the bridge, looking up occasionally at the huge warrior statues that stare down at her. She approaches the entrance flanked by the guards, their armor and shields emblazoned with the King's crest. She pauses at the entrance, her nerves getting the best of her. What's to stop me from just turning back and leaving? She thinks with a frown. I never signed up for this.
"Miss?"
She jumps slightly as she hears one of the men address her. Her eyes widen before she quickly tries to appear confident. Three fourths of the man's face is concealed by his helmet as he looks at her. "Are you alright, miss?"
She quickly nods. "I was just trying to remember where I needed to go." She says, lamely. Twisting her hands anxiously before her, she tilts her head slightly. "Has a man named Fergus arrived recently, leading a small army?"
"I don't know, Miss." The man shrugs. "You'll have to check with the people inside. General Loghain might know. He tends to keep track of the soldiers that arrive."
Ana nods. "And where will I find the General?"
The man turns to point through the entrance. "At the far south end of camp, the General's tent will be right beside the King's."
Following with her eyes to where he's pointing, she nods. "I'm assuming I'll find the King in his tent as well? I have an urgent matter to speak with him about."
The guard shrugs. "He might be but, if he is, he'll probably be with Loghain going over important matters. Either that or he'll be drinking with the Wardens; He fancies them."
Her brows furrow. The King drinks…with his soldiers?" She asks, receiving a brisk nod.
"He likes to spend time with them, sometimes without even his body guards! It drives his teyrn insane."
"I can imagine." She frowns. Raising her chin, she nods and thanks him before striding confidently through the archway. Once inside, she pauses as her eyes fall on the giant ancient Tevinter warrior statues that flank the tall building directly ahead of her. Her eyes wander over their shadowed faces and the weapons they hold, all of which is remarkably still in tact. As she examines them. She finds herself recalling bits and pieces of a lesson she had had with Aldous about the Tevinter Imperium. At the time, her relationship with Ser Gilmore was new and she spent most of her lessons thinking about their shared kiss from the night of the ball rather than paying attention to her old tutor drone on about Tevinter's mage-led society and their downfall following their war with the Qunari. In fact, she wasn't even sure what a Qunari looked like aside from the fact that they had horns. She frowns at the thought of Aldous' untimely death and feels the tears prickle her eyes before pushing the thought away.
Taking a deep breath, she breaks her gaze as she hears the sharp barking of a mabari in the distance. "Much?" She mutters, glancing down either way. The left path leads to a set of expensive looking tents, surrounded by a wooden palisade wall. That must be the king's tents that the guard was talking about. She thinks to herself as she glances down the other path. Her brows raise slightly as she sees the mage, standing in a small clearing surrounded by crumbling archways, with a light ball of energy levitating before them while a fully armed guard stands near the entrance. That must be a templar. Why else would they station a guard near a mage?
Taking the first path, she hears another bark and quickens her pace, scanning the area for the source of the barking. As she enters the large clearing with paths leading every which way, she passes two armored men standing in grey and blue tunics near a small fire. Seeing her pause to look around, the younger one grins and nudges his companion before motioning toward her. "Now that's what I'm talking about." He mutters, licking his lips as he eyes her. "What I wouldn't give to have that one warm my bed at night. Watch this." His companion snickers and he calls out to her. "Hey!"
Hearing a voice calling out nearby, she turns to look at the men. The younger one of the two smiles as he approaches her. "You look a bit lost. Need some help?"
She looks around her, unsure, as she finds nobody else within proximity. She glances back at him. "I hear mabaris barking." She says. "Are there dogs here?":
"Well, this is Fereleden, is it not?" He chuckles, coolly running a hand through his short, pale blonde hair. His amused grey gaze meets hers as she shoots him an annoyed look. Straightening, he nods. "Yes, there are mabari hounds here. The king has some pens set up on the western side of the camp where they're all being held." His smile returns as he chances a look at her while she looks in the direction he indicated. "I can show you, if you like?"
She looks back at him. "No, I'm good. Any idiot can figure out which way is west." She says bluntly. "Also, the sound of mabaris is a good indicator."
The man's smile falls as his companion stifles a laugh, earning a glare from his friend. The man clears his throat and puts on a smile once more. "Of course. In that case, how about after dinner tonight, you meet me near the Warden's tent for a drink?" He offers. "I mean, the battle will be coming up and we could all die. Why not enjoy our time now? If the night goes well, I may even let you join me on my bedroll tonight. I'm sure you've heard of the sexual prowess of the Wardens, yes?"
She looks him over critically. "You're a Grey Warden?" She snorts.
"We both are." He motions over to his friend who watches the spectacle with an amused expression. Folding his arms over his chest, he leans against the building behind him. The younger man continues. "What do you say?"
She pretends to think for a moment. "I bet it does get very lonely in your tent…" She says with a feigned frown. "It must also be very cold at night and you both look like you know how to warm a person at night, correct?"
The older man's brows rise in surprise but says nothing as his friend smirks. "That we do. Due to our profession, we also have quite the endurance. I can make you stay happy and warm all night."
She nods as though considering it before grinning. "In that case…"
"Daniel." He says, quickly. "My name is Daniel and behind me is Roy."
Ana nods in acknowledgment to Roy before turning back to Daniel. "In that case, Daniel, you and Roy here can fuck each other's brains out and keep each other warm all night long." She shoots them both a glare. "I don't sleep with people who are beneath me." She sneers, turning to walk away.
Daniel' smirk flickers for a moment but remains as he steps in front of her. "That wouldn't be a problem then since you would actually be beneath me." He smirks. "What do you say?"
"I say, if I wanted to fuck a Grey Warden so badly, it sure as hell wouldn't be you." She tries to step away again only to have him block her stride once more. Her eyes flash at him. "Get out of my way, peasant." She growls.
"Peasant?" Daniel chuckles. "You think you're a princess or something?"
"No. My father is a teyrn." She says, raising her chin. "My father is good friends with the King. If you don't let me pass…"
"What? The King will do something?" Daniel asks with a scornful laugh. He lowers his face close to hers as his icy grey eyes level with her own. "The King is a fool. He's fond of the Grey Wardens and I doubt he would do anything to me lest it turn our order against him. Can't have a glorious battle without the famous Grey Wardens now can he?"
Ana's heart pounded nervously in her chest but her eyes stay narrowed with a steely glare. She has no idea what this man is capable of and didn't feel like letting up to find out. Touching her mother's dagger on her belt, she opens her mouth to demand he step aside once again when she notices Roy straighten behind his friend. "Daniel." He hisses.
"What do we have here?" A man cheerfully asks from behind her. Daniel's steely gaze flicks to the man approaching.
"This is none of your business, Alistair." He sneers. "As Duncan's favorite lapdog, I'm sure you have some other things to attend to. Perhaps Duncan needs his chamber pot emptied or needs you to wipe his arse?"
Ana keeps her eyes trained on Daniel as Alistair frowns, ignoring his fellow warden's previous comment. "Come on now guys, it looks like the lady doesn't want to be disturbed."
"Fuck off, stable boy." Daniel spits. "Like I said before, this doesn't concern you."
Alistair stays where he is, crossing his arms over his chest. It may not concern me but I'm sure the King wouldn't want you harassing his personal guests."
The men shoot Ana a wary glance before Roy nudges Daniel's shoulder. "Come on Danny. We should probably head to the mess tent anyways."
Daniel shrugs his hand off and sneers at Alistair. "Whatever." He mutters, glancing at Ana. He smirks at her once more. "Just remember my preposition. If you change your mind, you know where to find me." Shooting Alistair one last glare, Daniel strides away with his companion in tow.
Sighing, Ana turns to thank her savior. Facing him, her eyes rise slightly in surprise as she looks over the younger warden standing before her. Not bad looking, at least. She muses, taking in the short dirty blonde hair and kind hazel eyes. He was a few inches taller than her and seemed to be close in age. "Thank you for that." She says politely, casting a glance in the direction they went as though they would rush back at any moment. Remembering how terrible she must look, she feels a twinge of embarrassment fall over her and quickly smooths down her disheveled hair before looking back at him.
Alistair offers a shy smile, his stomach knotting up nervously. Aside from being around women in the Royal army or the mages, he wasn't very good at talking with them one on one. "It's no problem." He says with more confidence than he feels. "You seemed like you needed some help."
She nods. "So, are all Grey Wardens as lecherous as that one?" She asks, motioning off toward where they left. "It'd be nice to have a bit of a heads up this time."
"Not that I'm aware." He chuckles with a shrug. "That's one good thing about the blight at least; it brings people together."
Ana's brows knit together. So you're Alistair? You're a bit… stranger than I was expecting."
A blush creeps across his cheeks. "You're not the first woman to tell me that, honestly." He says with a self-conscious chuckle.
"Oh?" She pauses, her brows furrowing. "Did Duncan send you to find me?"
"Duncan?" He asks, raising a brow. "I was unaware that he returned." He pauses for a moment. "How do you know him? Are you another mage?"
She crosses her arms over her chest. "If I was a mage, wouldn't I have a templar hovering nearby? I doubt they'd allow a mage to just wander aimlessly around camp"
He glances around them as though checking before grinning. "You have a point there. Yes, I'm Alistair. And you are?"
For a brief moment, Ana thought about if it would be wise to reveal her family name before thinking against it. "Ana. I'm Duncan's newest recruit."
"Oh!" He breathes, his brows shooting up in surprise. Clearing his throat, he straightens to try to seem more authoritative. "As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Joining."
"Ah yes… the Joining." Ana snorts, putting joining in air quotes. "Duncan mentioned that. Didn't go into much detail about it though."
"You'll learn more about it when the time draws closer." He smiles. She eyes him for a moment, noting the distant look in his eyes like she seen in Duncan's when he spoke of the secretive ritual. She wanted to probe him for more details about it but decided that perhaps it would be best to wait a little before picking his brain. For now, she was curious as to his surprise.
"You seemed surprised about me being a recruit." She says. "Why is that? Is it unheard of for a young woman to join the order or something?"
He shrugs. "Kind of. There's never been many women in the Grey Wardens." He frowns. "I wonder why that is…"
Ana's lips curve up into an amused smirk. "That is strange. I bet many men, yourself included, wished there were more women in your order."
He shrugs again. "Would that be so terrible?" He sees her amused expression. "Not that I'm some drooling lecher or anything…" He watches her lips curl upwards into a smirk and quickly averts his gaze as the heat rises to his cheeks. "Maker… please stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" She chuckles. "I simply asked a question and got the answer I was expecting." She shrugs. "Besides, I bet the reason is fairly simple. We're far too smart to join."
"True…" He drawls, meeting her gaze with a teasing grin. "But if you're here, what does that make you?"
Her smug grin instantly evaporates and is replaced with a hostile sneer. "What would you know, fool?" She spits. "Thank you again for helping me, now piss off. I'll find Duncan later when it's time for the damn ritual." Pushing past him, she stomps away as Alistair mentally scorns himself.
"Ana, wait!" He frowns. "I didn't—"
"That's Lady Ana to you." She snaps, not stopping. "Leave me alone."
"Maker…" He mutters to himself as he watches her leave. "Handled that with your typical deft brilliance, Alistair."