Ana and Duncan quickly make their way through the camp as Duncan leads his recruit back toward his tent. Once they reach it, he motions her inside. Hanging her head, she obediently ducks through the flap with Much at her heels while Duncan hangs back to speak with his guards.

"Send for Alistair." The elder Warden commands.

"He was already here, Ser." One guard says as Duncan turns to head inside. He stops, his eyes narrowing.

"Is he inside?"

The guard shakes his head and Duncan gives an exasperated sigh. "Then do as I say and fetch him. I want him here immediately. Understand?"

Receiving confirmation, Duncan slips inside to find Ana perched on his stool beside his desk with Much casually lying at her feet. Coming to stand before her, he crosses his arms. "This can't keep happening, Ana." He says, his tone surprisingly soft. "You can't just keep running off whenever you don't get your way. It's not safe for a woman like you to run about on your own. You were lucky it was only the king you ran into." He frowns. "While Cailan has his… proclivities, he's not exactly one to take things further than his partner is comfortable with." He pauses, frowning. "Then again, the power imbalance rules in his favor."

Ana nods but keeps her head down. Before long, the tent flap opens and Alistair walks in. His eyes instantly move toward Ana before flicking back to his mentor. "You wished to see me?" He asks.

Duncan nods and motions for him to take a seat. "I did. There's a matter that we need to settle."

Alistair carefully takes a seat near Ana, who inches away from him. Seeing this, Duncan sighs. He turns his attention to Alistair. "What happened between you two on the training field? I've heard your sister-warden's side. It's your turn."

Alistair glances at Ana who shoots him a glare. "I saw Lady Ana on the training by herself. Seeing as I've never seen her fight, I was curious. I noticed she was having some difficulty handling her sword so I offered to help her. For a little while, it was going well. I showed her how to block, parry and strike. We were practicing and a sound in the distance drew her attention." He pauses, a blush rising from his collar. "Unfortunately, she looked away at the moment I was swinging at her to give her a chance to parry. She lowered her sword and I accidentally cut her cheek. I felt terrible and tried to apologize but she got mad and stormed off."

"We all know you did it on purpose." Ana mutters. "When I looked away, you could have stopped."

The lad's brows furrow at her. "How was I supposed to know you'd lower your sword? It's not like I can read your mind."

"Enough!" Duncan growls, looking between the two of them. "This little feud between you two ends now. I'm done with the two of you constantly bickering like children. From this moment, things will be different. As the darkspawn grow their numbers-"

"The king says there's no real blight. Is this true?" Ana asks.

"The King…" Duncan begins, choosing his words carefully. He sighs. "Despite the warning from General Loghain and I, King Cailan believes that the random skirmishes we're encountered were not much of a threat. Your senses are not developed well enough just yet but as Wardens, we have the ability to sense darkspawn, even when gathered below the surface. I've sensed the darkspawn hordes gathering for some weeks now and it's far worse than Cailan can imagine." He turns to address them both. "Which is why I need you two to put aside your differences. The battle against the darkspawn is closing in and I need all of us to be on the same page. With that said… Alistair, I am putting you in charge of Ana."

"What?!" Both exclaim, their eyes widening. Duncan raises his hand to quiet them.

"You heard me. I can't have Ana running off without protection and having you with one another at all times will help you two bond."

"Are you serious?" Ana exclaims. "After everything that has happened, you're putting this… moron in charge of me? Have you lost your mind?!"

"Enough!" Duncan's eyes flash at her and she flinches. He doesn't back down. "You and Alistair may have had some bad encounters with one another but despite that, he deserves at least some respect and recognition. From my understanding, he stopped those who attacked you from going any further. If anything, you should be thanking him." Ana turns from him as angry tears threaten to fall. Duncan knew he hit home but stands his ground. "As I said, this feud you have is done."

"It wasn't just Alistair." Ana mutters.

Alistair, who had reddened as the argument had taken place before him, clears his throat, attracting Duncan's attention.

"Perhaps Nathan Hawke should be in charge of keeping her safe." He suggests. "They seem to hit it off and he was also one who showed up when even I was getting beat up."

At the mention of her friend, she perks up. Duncan shakes his head. "As grateful as we all are for Hawke, this is a Grey Warden matter. I want to keep this internally, at the very least until justice has been served."

Composing herself, Ana turns to address her commander once more, "I don't see how this will work. Since the attack, I reside within the chantry for my safety. Alistair sleeps in the Warden Dormitory tent."

"That is why, from this moment on, you will return to the dormitory tent with your fellow wardens. I expect you both to sleep beside each other, train and eat together." Duncan replies. "It is past time you've begun your life as a Warden."

"But—" Ana

Once dismissed, the two young wardens solemnly walk together toward the chantry tent to retrieve Ana's things. Unlike the pair, Much trots alongside his mistress happily.

Returning to the Warden's tent, Alistair leads her down the rows of pallets, cots and bedrolls to the far corner. He stops and motions to the pair of bedrolls. "Your humble abode, My Lady." He says in attempt to lighten the mood, only to receive a glare in return. He sighs. "I know you're not happy about this arrangement; I'm not either-"

"What could you have issue with?" Ana sneers. "You get to spend your days with a beautiful woman of noble birth."

"I see modesty wasn't taught in one of your many lessons."

Dropping her belongings on her bedroll, she turns on him. "You make it seem like I'm the most vile woman in all of Thedas."

Alistair shrugs. "I can't say that. I've never met all the women of Thedas." He shoots her a cocky grin which makes her roll her eyes.

Ana kneels to the ground, trying hard to keep the angry tears at bay as she smoothes the worn blanket with little improvement. She leans back on her heels. "I don't suppose I could possibly ask you for a new blanket, could I?" She motions toward it. "With nights growing colder, I doubt these would do much to combat the chill. The chantry tent at least was warm."

"Here." Alistair stoops down and grabs his blanket and holds it out to her. "It's not much but for now you can double up to stay warm." He motions for her to take it. "It's not ideal but this is our life now. I can't pretend to be your best friend but we can at least try and be kind to one another."

Hesitantly, she takes the blanket from him. "Thank you… I guess."

Alistair smiles. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

She rolls her eyes. "Don't push your luck."