CHAPTER 9

By the end of Fergus' first week visiting Vigil's Keep, his notice about more donations coming had already held true in greater amounts than anyone could have expected. Money kept coming in from all over Ferelden, and bringing those monies were soldiers and workers who were loaned from other banns and arlings, all of whom were sent with the mission to help rebuild the city of Amaranthine and the keep itself. By the end of Fergus' third week there, even Voldrik and Dworkin Glavonik had returned with a group of dwarves of various castes and some casteless, sent by King Bhelen himself as 'a gesture of goodwill between our nation and your order.' In short, the number of names and faces familiar to Elissa Cousland, combined with financial and physical aid, proved to give the arling enough funds and manpower to be able to pay for all rebuilding without having to bankrupt Amaranthine. It looked like the city would recover completely by the following summer, and Vigil's keep would be restored within, at most, a few years.

There was also good news from within the arling. Lord Eddelbreck reported to Elissa that while many farms were lost in the darkspawn attacks, the Vigil's soldiers defending the farms meant the crops that were left would be able to get the arling through the winter if carefully rationed. Elissa had time, and now the money, to negotiate purchasing food for spring until the following years' farmers could get started. In addition, Eddelbreck had already been able to encourage more farmers to come in and replace those lost during the darkspawn raids and battles, offering incentives to come and get settled before spring planting.

Even recruits and workers were not as hard to find as Elissa had feared. There were many people who jumped at the chance to serve 'the Hero of Ferelden', many of whom made their way to the arling on their own once news of the devastation of the Keep and the rescue of the city spread. There got to be enough soldiers and workers who wanted to stay on that Elissa decided that the first part of the Keep to be rebuilt should be the barracks and the outer houses, giving these people a place to stay. With winter coming in a short few months, it seemed to be the wisest priority.

As the days progressed, Elissa's mood continued to improve. She kept incredibly busy trying to manage everything, but with Nathaniel and Fergus helping her, as well as Garevel and the other Wardens, they started to form a system for managing arling business and training the new people they had coming to them to serve the Wardens.

For Nathaniel, this time was mixed. He helped where he could, and watched Elissa rise from her depression with the wonder of watching a rosebush bloom its first flowers of the season. Her smile and sparkling eyes were captivating, and she was showing both more and more as the days went on. Personally, things were harder for him because of the legacy his father had left the family – usually, he would meet new arrivals to the keep and face distrust and suspicion. Sometimes people would be open-minded, but more often than not he found himself subject to uncomfortable stares and whispers. Having Elissa openly support him, announcing him as her second-in-command, and maintaining their friendship publicly helped avoid the worst of potential trouble. Fergus also helped ease tensions by inviting him personally on patrols and by asking him to train the archers. This helped him earn a grudging respect amongst some, but Nathaniel knew it would take a while before he would feel welcome in his own home, if it ever happened.

Then, one day, the most amazing thing happened. A small detachment of soldiers arrived bearing royal heraldry, led by a woman who moved with grace and power beyond what Nathaniel had seen in recent times. Because of the potential importance of the new arrivals, Elissa quickly called Nathaniel, Anders and Oghren to the front gates so they could greet them personally. Fergus Cousland also joined them at the front gates.

The detachment approached the outer gate, where the Wardens and Fergus were waiting. Elissa's eyes grew wide with recognition. "Ser Cauthrien, this is a very pleasant surprise! What news do you bring from Denerim?"

The woman leading the detachment bowed to Elissa. "Warden Commander, I come with a message from King Alistair." She handed over a sealed scroll. "And, if I might be so bold … I would like to ask permission to join the Grey Wardens."

Elissa's eyes widened and Oghren whistled. "You would be welcome here, to be sure," Elissa began, "your fighting prowess is legendary and any unit would be extraordinarily lucky to have you. You do know that there are risks and that joining the Wardens changes your life forever, right?" Ser Cauthrien nodded. "Well, then, I guess it's about time that I start recruiting again. Are the soldiers with you supposed to go back to Denerim?"

Cauthrien nodded. "I believe all will be made clear once you read the note, Warden Commander. King Alistair instructed me to tell you that these men would wait for your response and would leave after you had decided about the note. He said it was private information, though, so I do not know its contents."

Elissa nodded. "Very well then." She quickly broke the seal on the note and read it. Nathaniel watched her carefully, and noted that her eyebrows raised very high once before schooling her features to hide any emotion. "I will come with some of my people. If you could send the bulk of your detachment back with a message I would appreciate this, to give the King advance notice. We will need to prepare to travel so it will take us a day or two to get on the road. I'll write up a proper response and send it after lunch; I'm sure your men would like a rest and some food before starting off again, so all of you are welcome to come in and get off your feet for a while. Will you be part of the group traveling with me, Cauthrien? I like to get to know my recruits better before they undertake the joining, when circumstances permit."

Nathaniel looked at Anders, who was grinning at him openly. If you base it on her past recruits, that should take about ten minutes, right? Nathaniel raised an amused eyebrow at Anders to respond to the unspoken statement. He then counted back the time. It has been five months now since I became a Warden, and I'm the newest member. Maker, has it really been that long? We do need to start recruiting again.

Cauthrien nodded. "Thank you, Warden Commander. That will be fine." She bowed again, turned and instructed the men to enter the keep and rest as per Elissa's invitation. She then took a seat herself at one of the dormant campfires and took her pack off.

Elissa turned to the Wardens and said, "We need to have a meeting. Warden tents, fifteen minutes from now. Thank you. I need to let Garevel know he is going to have to leave us uninterrupted. This is important enough that it cannot wait." She then strode off toward the temporary command station that had been set up near the main hall gates.

Nathaniel was the first to arrive at the Warden tents, set up apart from the rest of the groups there in case of the need to discuss Warden-only business. Elissa arrived just after him. "Good. I'm glad you're here first, Nathaniel. I wanted you to read this." She handed him the missive.

Elissa,

I need to talk to you. It's about some old business that has been left unfinished. As an important figure during the civil war and the blight, your insight would be really helpful for this matter. And, I had this crazy idea that I wanted to run by you so you could tell me I was daft. I'd say more, but I would rather discuss this in person with you. Please send word back if you can come. I know the timing is bad on this, sorry. But then again, when has the timing ever been good when it was something important?

Thanks,

Alistair.

Nathaniel handed the note back to Elissa. "He certainly doesn't seem to care for formality. Do you have any idea what it's about?"

Elissa thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know, but he wouldn't ask me to come and talk to him unless it was important, what with everything that's been going on. And I can't think of anything that would qualify as unfinished business between us." Nathaniel wondered why that last statement was reassuring to hear. "Well, here are the others, so we can start. Oghren, Anders, please have a seat."

The other two Wardens sat down so the four formed a small circle. "All right," Oghren said. "When do you want for us to leave, Commander?"

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about. I want you to be in charge while I'm gone, Oghren. And Anders, I need you to stay here in case the men get hurt on their patrols. You're the only mage here and if something goes wrong, I want these people to be protected as well as they can. Nathaniel, I want you to go with me, along with Alec and Cauthrien." She paused to let the information sink in.

"But what if YOU get hurt?"

"You want me to be WHAT?"

Anders and Oghren started talking at the same time. Elissa held up a hand to stop them from talking over each other. "Anders, thank you. I know you worry about our safety. But I'll make sure we take plenty of healing poultices with us. Many of these recruits are too untried so if something happens, they're far more likely to get hurt than we will.

"Oghren, I know you've led men into battle before, and you were good at it. Hopefully there won't be any problems while I'm gone. But if any problems break out, I would feel much better if you were the one calling the shots here. I have faith in you." She smiled at Oghren, who quieted down and actually looked thoughtful.

She addressed all three of them together, now. "If this goes the way I think it will, it will involve a lot of standing around and waiting for meetings to begin, followed by what the nobles like to call 'diplomacy,' and then there would be lots of chances to parade around and pretend that we care what other people think. You know, politics." Elissa actually wrinkled her nose in distaste. "In these matters, the only one of us who has had as much training as I have in dealing with nobles is Nathaniel, and so I need him to come with me. Cauthrien is respected amongst the nobles, and I do want to get to know her before we put her through the joining. Plus, she and Alec can give us perspective of how non-nobles would think about whatever it is we need to discuss. Oh, and one last thing: Anders, King Alistair was trained as a templar. So besides having to worry about diplomacy, I'd imagine he would make you a bit uncomfortable."

Anders shuddered. "Sounds like a plan to me then. I do worry about your safety though, Commander. That whole planned revolt thing a while back makes me nervous."

Elissa nodded. "Yes, but I think we'll be fine. I plan to keep as low a profile as I possibly can while we travel. I promise we will be careful." She smiled at Anders. "Oghren, you can do this. If I didn't know you could I would never ask this of you."

Oghren nodded at her. "All right. But I'm not doing any paperwork. That stuff gives me a headache!"

Elissa smiled. "Not to worry. I've been able to stay caught up for the most part and Fergus has agreed to stay on until we return in case something comes up. I don't want to burden him, but you can certainly ask him for help if you need it." She stood up. "If there are no other questions?" She looked around to silence. "Right then. I need to talk to Alec and Cauthrien, and I'm sure all of you have your own matters to attend to. Thank you." She walked off briskly.