Chapter 15:
Sylina made her way to where Loghain had directed her and saw a man and mage talking. She approached hoping that if this man wasn't Alistair he would at least know where he was.
As she approached she heard the mage yell at the man, "What her Reverence desires is of no concern to me! I am already busy helping the Grey Wardens - by the king's orders, I might add! I do not have time for to run around on errands!" The mage's face was flushed red and Sylina wondered if she should leave and come back.
The younger man shrugged at the mage's anger. "Should I have asked her to write a note?" he asked innocently. Sylina looked from the younger man to the mage who was now turning an ugly shade of magenta.
"I will not be harassed in this manner!" he shouted, his hands coming up.
The younger man's eyebrows rose. "Yes, because I was harassing you by delivering a simple message."
The mage growled in frustration. "Your glibness does you no credit young man."
The younger man groaned. "And here I thought we were getting along so well. I planned on naming one of my children after you...the grumpy one."
The mage sputtered and threw up his hand. "Fine! I will go speak to the wretched woman!" He stormed by Sylina and the younger man saw her.
He smiled and walked toward her. "You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."
Sylina blinked at him. "Excuse me?" she said, her brows furrowing. From what she had just seen, the mage was not any closer to this young man, and it had nothing to do with the Blight.
He chuckled. "Oh, I am just trying to look on the bright side of things." Then he seemed to actually see her. "Have we met? You don't happen to be another mage do you?"
Sylina blushed. "I...I am actually a mage, yes." She bit her lip and looked at him.
His eyes widened slightly and he surprised her by smiling. "Really? You don't look much like a mage." He seemed to realize what he had said and sputtered out. "I...uh...I mean...um. How interesting," he finally said. Then his brow furrowed. "Wait. Wait. I do know you." He smiled again. "You are Duncan's new recruit...from the Circle of Magi. Ha. I'm sorry I should have recognized you right away."
Sylina looked at him curiously. "Why would you recognize me? We have never met."
The man – Alistair, she realized – blushed. "Well, um...Duncan sent word. He spoke highly of you."
Now it was Sylina's turn to blush. Duncan had spoken highly of her? She had tried to show him on the way to Ostagar that she would be capable. It was shocking to find out he had spoken of her in such a way.
"I am Alistair, by the way. I am the new Grey Warden." Sylina smiled at him as he continued. "…though somehow I think you knew that," he said, grinning back at her. "As the newest Grey Warden it is my duty to see you and the other recruits through the Joining."
"I am Sylina. It is nice to finally meet you after running around camp for hours searching."
"Ah...hours?" Alistair asked grinning. "You didn't think to ask for directions?"
Sylina laughed. "I did! Though I think I picked the wrong tent." She shook her head. The last thing she wanted to think about was Teyrn Loghain.
Alistair chuckled and looked at her. "You know, I don't think there are many woman in the Grey Wardens. I wonder why?"
Sylina blinked but couldn't help herself from grinning. "Well there will be one soon. Why? Do you want more women around?"
Alistair blushed. "Um, well I mean, it wouldn't be a terrible idea." Sylina raised her eyebrows still grinning. "Not that I am some, you know, drooling lecher or anything." She gave him a questioning look and he blushed deeper. "Oh, Maker, please stop looking at me like that," he said quickly looking down at his feet.
Sylina laughed and Alistair looked up, smiling. Then, as if to change the topic, he asked: "Have you ever seen a darkspawn?"
Sylina's smile disappeared and Alistair frowned as if this hadn't been his intent. "No," she said, glancing at her feet, her hand straying to the chain around her neck. She wondered if that was a prerequisite for becoming a Grey Warden that Duncan hadn't told her. "I have not."
Alistair's voice softened. "When I fought my first one, no one could have prepared me for how monstrous it was." He shook his head. "I can't say I'm looking forward to encountering more."
Sylina looked up and met his eyes. They were warm and comforting. As if telling her he would be there for her. He smiled and she couldn't help but return it. "I suppose I will face that when I meet one for the first time then?" she said, blushing just a little.
"I suppose you will," he said. Suddenly, he looked up at the sky. "Come. We should go find the other recruits and meet Duncan. I know he is eager to get things started."
"Lead the way," she said, smiling at him.
He chuckled. "I have never been fond of leading." But he walked on ahead.
As they were walking out of the ruin she turned to him. "You and that mage were arguing. What was it about?"
Alistair looked at her. "Well the Circle is here at the king's request, as you know." He chuckled, "The Chantry doesn't like that. They love letting the mages feel unwelcome." Sylina bit her lip. "Puts me in a bit of an awkward situation, since I was once a templar."
Sylina stopped and stared at him. Alistair walked a few paces before he realized she had stopped. He turned around. "You were a templar?" she asked incredulously. She felt her breath come a little fast and told herself to calm down, but her mind was reeling. What if he hated mages, what if he would use his abilities on her to spite her, what if the only reason Duncan had recruited her was because he had a templar to control her? She took a step back from him.
Alistair's brows furrowed and he seemed confused by her reaction. "Well, the Chantry raised me before Duncan came along and recruited me six months ago, so yes. The revered mother sent me to deliver her message no doubt as an insult to the mage. And he picked up on that, as you saw. I wouldn't have delivered it, but Duncan wants us all to cooperate and get along." He shrugged. "I suppose they didn't get the same lecture." He was still looking at her, thoroughly perplexed.
"You...you hunted mages?" she asked, biting her lip.
Alistair's eyes went wide as if he suddenly understood what she was saying. "No," he said putting up his hands and shaking his head, "no, I didn't hunt mages. I never actually took my vows to be a templar."
Sylina breathed a sigh of relief and walked forward again. "So you don't have a problem with mages then? Or do you?" She eyed him.
He smiled. "No, I don't have a problem with mages, unless they want to zap me into a toad. Then I might have a problem with them."
Sylina chuckled and felt relief go through her. "Well, I will try to keep the zapping to a minimum then."
Alistair laughed. "That would be much appreciated."
They walked out of the ruined temple and down the path. "Ah, that's Daveth up ahead. We should tell him it is time to meet with Duncan," Alistair said, heading toward a man with dark hair and a bow on his back. As he approached, a female soldier was walking away.
"I'll just take that as a no then," the man said after her and then turned and smiled at them as they approached. "Well," he said looking at Sylina, "you're not what I was expecting."
Sylina was taken aback. "You were expecting me to be something else?"
He almost purred. "Definitely not a beautiful woman." She heard Alistair groan behind her and suppressed a small smile. "It's about time you got here. I was beginning to think the ritual was all a hoax made to scare us."
Sylina glanced at Alistair who was looking over at the merchant's wares and lowered her voice. "What do you know about it?" she asked. Daveth grinned at her.
"I know a little. Last night..." Daveth began in a whisper and Alistair turned to them.
"Hey now, come on. Let's get over to Duncan. You shouldn't talk about the ritual," Alistair said, trying his very hardest to sound stern.
Daveth looked up at Alistair and whispered to her. "We will talk about it another time." Then, he headed toward the Grey Warden tents. Sylina smiled after him.
"Come on, I think I saw Ser Jory over by the Chantry sister," Alistair said, heading in that direction. Sylina followed him.
The man Alistair headed over to was obviously a soldier and had a receding hair line. Sylina walked beside Alistair as they approached.
"Ser Jory," Alistair said.
The man turned around and saw Sylina. "You must be the last recruit?" Sylina nodded. "We have been waiting for your arrival. I am Ser Jory from Redcliffe. I was a knight under the command of Arl Eamon." He looked at her. "I did not know the Grey Wardens allowed women into their ranks. I have not seen any so far."
Sylina stiffened and her eyes flashed. "Is there a problem with my being a woman, Ser Jory?" she asked, her voice cold. Alistair shifted beside her.
Ser Jory hesitated. "Well, you impressed Duncan. I know that is not easy. That is all I care about. Now if you will excuse me, I will go see Duncan and we can start this ritual." He walked past them and Sylina glowered after him.
Alistair chuckled. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
They walked down the path toward the Grey Warden tents when Sylina heard barking. She stopped and walked toward it.
"What are you doing?" Alistair asked, following her.
"I've never seen a dog before," she said as she came up to the fence of the kennel and looked in.
Alistair stared at her. "Y-You've never seen a dog before? Never?" She turned from the dog to see him staring open mouthed at her.
"They don't allow dogs in the tower, Alistair," she said simply. "There was once a cat. And a bird that somehow got in, but that's it." She turned back to the dog. It was whimpering and Sylina felt the sound rip through her. She frowned.
"Hmmm. He's not looking any better. I would hate to waste such a promising member of the breed." Sylina turned around to see a man walking up to the fence.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I am the Kennel-Master, you the new Warden? Maybe you could help me," he said leaning against the fence.
"I...I am afraid I don't know anything about dogs," she said, biting her lip and looking at the suffering animal although now she sorely wished she did.
The Kennel-Master smiled at her. "You don't need to know anything. And this isn't a dog. It's a Mabari. They are smart, strong and loyal." He sighed. "His owner died in battle and he drank some darkspawn blood. I have medicine that could help, but I need him muzzled first. Perhaps you could help?"
Sylina looked at the Mabari. "I...I don't know." She turned to Alistair. "Maybe Alistair can help you, he knows more about dogs…I mean Mabari."
Alistair took a step back. "Nope, no, that's not a good idea. Dogs and I disagree on certain things." He looked at her. Sylina was fiddling with the chain around her neck. "You do it. It'll be good for you, and like he said, Mabari are smart. I bet he'll love you." He smiled at her.
Sylina looked back at the Mabari in the pen. "Okay, I'll do it."
The Kennel-Master handed her a muzzle. "Just go in there and let him smell you. We will know right away if he will respond."
Sylina took the muzzle and opened the pen door. As soon as she entered, the Mabari stood up to look at her. She held her breath. She could feel the power of the animal. She met the dog's eyes and saw that he understood she wasn't going to harm him. Her heart broke for the animal. She took a step forward and slipped the muzzle on. He whimpered when she was done and she patted him on the head, "You stay strong, you hear?" she whispered and got up.
"Good, now I can begin treating him." The Kennel-Master walked into the pen.
"See that wasn't so hard, was it," Alistair said, smiling at her.
They started to walk away when the Kennel-Master called back: "Hey, are you headed into the Wilds anytime soon?"
Sylina shrugged. "I don't know."
"Well if you do there is a flower that will improve his chances. It grows by the swamps. It is all white with a blood red center. Very distinctive."
"I will keep my eye out," she said, and Alistair motioned for them to get going.