Chapter 18
Nate stood in the doorway of his sister's stable in shock. Anders and Beth were kissing passionately and Nate's anger began to boil over.
"Hey Nate! Look what Beth..." Anders never got to finish as Nate's fist broke his nose. "Owww!" Anders whined.
Beth got between them. "Nate! Don't." But she could see the anger in Nate's eyes and knew he didn't hear her. "Fine. Be little boys. I'm leaving," and she turned to leave.
"Take Ser bounce-a-lot wib you." Anders said, handing her the kitten with one hand, his other hand at his nose.
Beth took the little bundle of fur and left the stable, raised voices sounding behind her. Delilah, Albert and Travis were coming out of the house. "Trouble?" Albert asked, his brow furrowing as the sounds of fisticuffs came from the barn.
"No. Just two little boys having a quarrel. Thanks for all you did Delilah. I'll see you again," said Beth angrily and she began walking towards the road out of town.
...
Margaret looked at Ohgren and asked, "Any sign of Nate, Anders or the Commander this morning?"
"Nope," Ohgren said, finishing his ale.
"Do you think we should be worried? After all Nate left yesterday, you'd think they would be back by now," Margaret said, looking at Ohgren.
"Nah, the Warden will deal with those two," He got more ale and put his feet up on the table. "I'm going to wait here until we have something to do."
Margaret got up, "Well, I guess I'll go help with training until they get back."
Margaret was lost in her thoughts as she walked toward the training area. "And where are you this fine morning?" Garrett asked her.
She smiled broadly at him. "Nowhere in particular. Just thinking."
"What about?" he asked.
"How much my attitude towards the Commander has changed in these few months," she said. "I really didn't like her much when I first met her, but now, I really respect her for all she's done here."
Garrett nodded, "When I first met her, it was at one of the meetings with the nobles and she was all dressed up. All I could think was 'how could this small delicate woman be the Commander of the Wardens?' Now I want to work hard enough to give her a good battle in the sparring ring." He hesitated and looked around. "Where is she, by the way?"
"Right behind you," Beth answered.
Garrett jumped, "How long have you been following us?"
Beth laughed, "Don't worry, you didn't say anything I didn't already know."
"You have really got to teach me that stealth technique...I had no idea you were there," he said sheepishly.
Beth saw the look of love in Margaret's eyes as she looked at Garrett and smiled at them. "I need to round up my Wardens. We have to prepare for an expedition that could take several days. Would you two get a horse and cart prepared? I need it loaded with the camping gear and enough food stocks for three days."
Margaret and Garrett nodded and headed toward the stables. Beth watched as they walked close together, talking. She sighed and went into the kitchen.
"Get your feet off the table, Ohgren!" she ordered. "Mind your manners inside the Keep!"
"Sure, Warden. Welcome back...you were gone for long enough. Get done all ya needed ta?" He asked trying to defer her anger at his manners.
"Nothing is ever as easy as it seems," she said sighing. "We have a mission along the northern road looking for darkspawn. I need Dworkin to make us some explosives to seal off any entrances from the Deep Roads we might find, please take care of that for me."
"Sure, Warden," he looked at her, trying to gauge her mood. "You okay?" She smiled at him and he saw the girl who helped him in Orzammar and knew everything was fine. "All right then," he said as he stood, "bombs it is."
Beth watched him leave the kitchen, then she got a plate of food and sat down to eat. Varel entered the room and sat down with her. "I was starting to worry," he said.
"Complications came up, but it was nothing serious. The crime rate in the city is not as bad as the nobles would lead us to believe, so I'm satisfied with the city guard. I will be taking my Wardens on an expedition along the northern road toward Highever. There was a pair of merchants who were chased by darkspawn along it and most of the farmers' complaints are coming from the northern territory." She looked at Varel, "the Keep guards should be enough to maintain watch here."
"You do know that you have a mountain of paperwork to attend to," he said, watching her.
Beth sighed, "I know...I'll take care of it when we get back."
Varel nodded, "Paperwork is my least favorite chore too. The Keep is doing substantially better than I could have hoped and we have a dwarven architect working on repairing our defenses. How long do you expect this expedition to take?"
Beth hesitated, then said, "Well, I would say only about three or four days, but who knows?" She finished eating and cleared her dishes. "I'm going out to the training grounds. If you see Nate, Anders or Velanna, please tell them to come see me."
"Didn't Nate and Anders come back with you?" he asked, surprised.
She looked at him angrily and said, "No."
Varel saw a look that told him not to ask questions. "Alright, please let me know when you leave."
"Certainly," she said and bowing to him, she left the kitchen.
...
Delilah and Albert went into the barn and pulled the two men apart. Travis hung back unsure what to do. Delilah looked at the two men, they were dirty and bloody and stood glaring at each other. "Not in my barn!" Delilah shouted. "If you two want to fight so badly, do it outside. But be warned...the city guards do not like fighting in the streets and will lock you up." She paused and looked at Albert, who was trying very hard not to laugh. "Beth has already left for the Keep. If you want my advice, I would follow her and work out your differences on the way back...without fighting!"
Albert followed Delilah's lead and they pushed the two men out of the barn. "Goodbye. Nate. Anders. Hopefully when we see you again, you'll be in better moods."
Nate and Anders stood a moment glaring at each other, then they began to slowly walk towards the road out of town.
Albert looked at Delilah, who was shaking her head, "Poor Beth."
Albert said, "Not from what I've seen. I feel more sorry for Nate and Anders."
Delilah gave Albert a swat on the arm. "Come on Travis, let's go into the house."
Travis nodded and shrugged. Delilah and Albert didn't seem worried, so he wasn't going to worry.
Anders looked at Nate and began to giggle.
"What are you laughing at?" Nate growled.
"You...are going to have a black eye," Anders replied, stifling his laughter.
"Well, you have a broken nose," Nate said, starting to smile.
"Why did you hit me?" Anders asked.
"You were kissing Beth!" Nate exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, she kissed me back and I didn't see you hitting her!" Anders protested.
"I can't hit Beth!" Nate exclaimed, "I love her!" He stopped in his tracks and looked at Anders. Anders was looking at him in surprise. "I guess I didn't realize that until just now."
Anders cocked his head, "You need to tell her."
Nate looked at the ground, "But if she loves you..."
Anders laughed softly, "Now why in the world would she love me? I'm no one."
Nate looked up, "Don't say that! You are good man and a great mage. I think she cares for you very much." Nate hesitated, "Besides, why would she love me? My father took everything away from her..."
Anders put a hand on Nate's arm. "She doesn't blame you. You two have a history. I think she cares a great deal about you."
Nate looked at Anders face and winced at the sight of his broken nose. "Sorry about the nose."
Anders said, "Oh. It's okay." He raised a hand, it glowed blue and he held it over his face. "Not broken anymore. Your turn." He put his glowing hand on Nate's face and healed the small cut over his eye. "We'll both be sporting the black and blue look, but the injury is healed."
Nate laughed. "That's a handy talent."
"Yes, well it's gotten me into more trouble than out of it," he murmured. "Let's get moving. If we're lucky we'll get a couple hours sleep before we have to face the Commander."
...
Beth stretched and entered the sparring ring. Garrett donned his helm and raised his sword and shield. They circled each other, Beth easily blocked Garrett's attack and watched his movements as she twirled her blades.
Soldiers began to gather around the ring to watch the two sparring. Ohgren spotted Nate and Anders and, walking up to them, he raised his eyebrow at their matching black and blue faces. "You two have fun?" he asked, directing his gaze at the two combatants.
"Yep!" Anders said enthusiastically. "Look what Beth gave me." He held up the kitten that Beth had left in his room. Ohgren turned to see the little bundle of orange fur, purring loudly in Anders' hands.
"You aren't taking that cat on the mission?" Nate said, eyeing it.
"You want to go? Don't you? Ser Pounce-A-Lot?" Anders cooed to the kitten.
Ohgren rolled his eyes. "Great stone!"
Nate laughed as Anders continued to baby talk to the kitten. Margaret walked up, spotted the purring object of the discussion. "Oooo...what a cute kitten!" she exclaimed.
"His name is Ser Pounce-A-Lot." Anders said proudly, watching Margaret stroke the kitten.
A cheer went up from the group watching the match and they looked up. "Who won?" Margaret asked.
"Who do you think?" A soldier replied, "The Commander of course!"
Margaret shook her head, "Poor Garrett, he wants to beat her so badly."
"The Commander possesses excellent skill with her blades." Velanna said as she approached, "It would take a lot of practice to beat her."
Garrett and Beth approached the group. "You are getting much harder to beat," Beth was saying.
"Someday, I will get the upper hand," Garrett vowed.
"I'm sure you will." Beth agreed smiling and looked over her Wardens. "Good. You are all here. We are going on an expedition along the northern road to find the exit from the Deep Roads the darkspawn are using to attack the northern farmlands. Prepare your personal packs for at least three days of travel. Margaret and Garrett have already prepared a cart with camping equipment and food." Beth looked up at the sky. "We'll meet in the kitchen, eat a good meal and then leave."
The group scattered to obey her orders and Beth headed into the Keep. She went into her study and groaned when she saw the pile of papers on her desk. Sitting down she began sorting through them, trying to prioritize. She didn't get far, when a soft knock sounded at her door. "Come in," she said without looking up.
"Um...Beth?" Nate asked nervously.
"Yes?" She didn't look up at him, but continued sorting the papers.
"Um...are you mad at me?" He asked hesitantly.
She paused, then did look up at him. She wanted to be mad at him, but he looked so pitiful standing there, looking at the floor. He looked up and she burst out laughing when she saw the black and blue eye. "You are a sight," she said shaking her head.
He smirked and said, "Wait 'til you see Anders. He's just as pretty."
She rolled her eyes and looked back down at her paperwork, "Go get ready. I have a few more things in here I need to get done before we leave."
"Yes, serah," he bowed and left.
Beth sighed and began sorting again, her mind swirling with thoughts and emotions she didn't want to deal with.
...
Nate walked to his room thinking about Beth. "So did you tell her?" Anders asked, startling Nate.
"No. I couldn't." Nate shook his head. "She seemed so overwhelmed with everything and I couldn't."
Anders shook his head as he entered his room, "Coward," he said under his breath.