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"Warden."
Sigrun turned swiftly, and almost let out out an audible groan as she saw the woman making her way down the corridor. The former legionnaire was feeling particularly strained today, and there was nothing she wanted to do less than deal with the oncoming human. "Mistress DeWitt," she answered anyway, bowing her head politely.
The severe woman finally reached her, and her steely gaze grew fiercer, if possible. "Might I have a word with you?"
"Of course," Sigrun replied, pasting a serene smile on her face. The Commander had taught her many things, but the thing Sigrun valued most was the ability to hide her emotions. She'd come to the Wardens with every feelings scrawled across her face as if in writing. Now, she had a cool countenance to rival the Commander's...when necessary.
"I don't suppose you could do something about your fellow dwarf?" Mistress DeWitt asked coldly.
"What has he done now?" Sigrun demanded, feeling her blood pressure spike. Like things weren't difficult enough right now. If that bronto-loving, spider-stroker could be more useless, she would be impressed. He had known the King before joining the Wardens, and yet he seemed completely unable, and unwilling, to exact any control over the man. Instead, Oghren ran rough-shod through the palace, drinking the wine cellars dry and getting slapped by the maids.
"Well, currently, he's drunkenly barricaded himself in one of the pantries." Mistress DeWitt's lip curled up in a sneer. "He claims he's protecting himself from a siege of winged rats."
"Winged rats," Sigrun repeated, blinking.
"Indeed."
Sighing deeply, the dwarf rubbed her face. "I'll go take care of it. My apologies, for his behavior." Sigrun turned to leave.
"Warden."
She turned back, wary now. What else could the woman want? "Yes?"
The human's eyes narrowed. "Any chance you might tell me what's going on?"
Sigrun froze, and met the woman glare for glare. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Mistress DeWitt."
"You know exactly what I mean," she snapped sternly. "You, that drunken barbarian, and that mage appear out of nowhere, along with those Silver Order girls. No explanation, no reason, just 'Warden business'." Her air quotations were biting, mocking. "You never come here without Queen Lorelai, but all you say is that she's on 'Warden business', too! And the King-" She stopped then, clenching her hands into swift fists. "What is going on here?"
"It is Warden business, ma'am," Sigrun answered tonelessly, refusing to rise to the bait of all her thinly-veiled insults. "I'm not at liberty to discuss it with anyone outside of the Grey."
"Andraste take your secrecy!" she hissed. "I'll know what wrong in my household, and something is very wrong!"
"If you feel you must know whatever it is you think is going on, I suggest you ask the King. Perhaps he can enlighten you."
"I cannot bear to look in his eyes! He's...gone completely hollow, like there's no one inside him!"
Sigrun winced. She knew the truth of the older woman's words all too well. Ever since he'd sent the vultures, the King had...gone away. Oh, he was around, and day-to-day palace business continued as normal. He talked with the nobles, heard the concerns of the people, signed important documents. But his eyes were like the stone of the Deep Roads, and sometimes his movements seemed jerky, like he was a puppet on strings. The dwarf was fairly sure he wasn't sleeping all that much, and she was definitely sure he was eating even less than he was sleeping.
"He is my King!" Mistress DeWitt shrieked into the quiet. "I want to know what's wrong!"
"Funny. From what I'd heard, you weren't exactly thrilled at his coronation!" Sigrun snapped, and immediately realized that perhaps she could still use some more lessons in diplomacy.
Mistress DeWitt's face had gone white, save for two patches of bright red high on her cheeks.
"I...apologize," Sigrun said into the awkward silence. "I have overstepped my bounds. I should go...take care of Oghren, before he ruins your pantry." The Warden started walking away quickly. By the stone, if the Commander found out she'd said something like that-
Sigrun almost stumbled over nothing. She would tell the Commander what she'd done herself, and take any punishment her superior officer chose to dish out, if it meant that she were home and safe.
"Warden!"
Now Sigrun did stumble. Slowly, bracing for the storm, she turned to face Mistress DeWitt. The woman hadn't moved, making her almost out of hearing distance, but the dwarf heard her nonetheless.
"I may have made some...rash judgments in the past. It is my fierce sense of loyalty, which the King and Queen so prize, that caused me to make those judgments. I listened, however, and changed my mind. Now, they are more precious to me than-" She wrung her hands, twisting her fingers into so many knots. "Please, whatever is going on...take care of them."
Sigrun felt tears sting her eyes. If Nathaniel were here, he would know what to say, how to fix this. If Nathaniel were here, no one would be looking at her to be in charge. She wasn't sure when that had happened, either. The Commander was taken, Nathaniel had been leader for about five minutes, then he'd left...and suddenly everyone had started looking at her.
She'd understood when it had been just her, Oghren, and the King. Oghren was obviously not someone anybody should be looking at to lead, and the King was distraught. Sigrun had assumed that she would just have to keep Oghren on a short leash and guide the King whenever he asked for her help until Anders got here with the Twins, and then he would take over.
When the mage had arrived with the members of the Silver Order, however, he'd deferred to her, too. The Twins had followed suit, showing her as much obedience as they showed their superiors. She wasn't sure what Anders had told them, but the women seemed to know the gravity of the situation. Their...antics were being kept to a minimum. For that, Sigrun was thankful. At their worst, the Twins were as bad as Oghren.
If only Nathaniel were here...
"I promise you, Mistress DeWitt," she finally answered, "I will do everything in my power to keep them from harm."
Apparently, Sigrun had managed to find the right thing to say, for Mistress DeWitt's shoulders sagged, and she nodded gratefully.
Nodding back, Sigrun headed in the direction of the kitchens. As she turned a corner, she almost collided with Aideen.
"Ah, Maker's blood!" exclaimed the elf. "Sorry, Sigrun."
"My fault," the dwarf said, shaking her head. "I'm on my way to the kitchens, Oghren's making an ass of himself. Care to join me?"
Aideen grinned fiercely. "I wouldn't miss it. What's he done now?"
"Apparently there's a siege of winged rats, and he's safest in one of the pantries."
She tapped her chin. "Yes, well. Can't be too careful with those...winged rats."
"Right." Sigrun rolled her eyes, and gestured. Aideen obediently followed as they made their way to the kitchens. The dwarf snuck a glance up at the other woman. She and her "twin" were as different as night and day. Aideen's tanned skin and midnight, corkscrew curls were a strange foil to Aednat's milky, freckled complexion and bone-straight blonde hair. As if to draw even more attention to the differences, Aideen always left her short curls bouncing free, whereas Aednat tied her long tresses up in an intricate series of braids.
The only thing similar about them was their background. City elves from Amaranthine, they'd left the alienage to pledge themselves to the Silver Order at Vigil's Keep. The Commander's defense of the city, instead of Vigil's Keep, had inspired in them such admiration that they'd follow her to the Anderfels and back.
It was part of the reason Sigrun had suggested them, aside from their battle prowess. Aednat and Aideen would die for the Commander...and those were the kind of people they needed right now.
"Where is Aednat?" Sigrun asked as they walked. She was shocked it had taken her so long to noticed that the other "twin" was missing.
"She's up on the roof, watching. She feels bad for the serving boy who's stuck up there, with not a clue what he's waiting for."
"Ah, then...you do know what we're waiting for?"
Aideen gave her a sad look. "The King told Aednat one night, after he and Ogrhen had been busy emptying a barrel of ale."
Sigrun swore colorfully. Now Oghren was getting the King drunk, too? Well, she was definitely impressed. Oghren had found a way to be even more useless than she'd thought possible. "I swear by the stone that spat him out, I'm going to lock that piece of nug droppings in the dungeon!"
"Oh, can I watch?" Aideen blinked innocently. "That would be marvelous."
"You're going to see it, trust me," Sigrun growled, throwing open the kitchen door. A knot of kitchen girls were gathered in front of the pantry door. At first, the dwarf was baffled; no one was that interested in Oghren's well-being.
"Come on, old boy, this is getting ridiculous."
Ah, that's why the girls were clustered around.
"Ladies," Sigrun said sternly. A dozen faces turned sharply, cheeks glowing scarlet. "If you wouldn't mind..."
"Out!" Aideen barked, short curls springing as she pointed vehemently out the door. The girls scurried away hastily, giving the dwarf and the elf a wide berth. Their departure revealed Anders crouched by the door.
"Well, it's about time you showed up," he teased Sigrun as he stood up.
"Perhaps you would've had it handled already if you weren't so bogged down by your admirers," she shot back, although she smiled when she said it. Who could be mad at Anders? If there were people who could be, Sigrun was not among them.
"Well, now that I have the assistance of such beautiful ladies," he said, bowing gracefully, "it should be very easy."
"Shameless," Aideen said, winking. "Don't think you'll get into my bed chamber that easily, mage."
"Who said I wanted in your bed chamber?" Anders said, aghast. "I'd like to keep all my...equipment intact, if you please."
"Aw, is the witch-boy afraid of a little rough play?"
"That'll be all, thank you," Sigrun said, shaking her head and pushing passed Anders to reach the pantry door. "Oghren, it's time for you to stop being an idiot!" she called through the thick wood. "I know it will be a challenge, but-"
"Not comin' out!" he slurred. "Them rats are," a loud hiccup, "bidin' their time!"
"Of course they are," Aideen chimed. "Tricksy things. You'd better stay put."
"Aideen!" Sigrun scolded. "Not helping!"
"I could set fire to the door, that might work," Anders suggested, wiggling his fingers.
"Also not helping!" Sigrun said, trying to keep the smile from her face, and failing. "And I don't think the King would appreciate having to replace the door." Turning back to face the door, she called, "Oghren, how am I supposed to beat you within an inch of your life if you don't come out?"
"Huh? W'did I do?"
"We'll talk about that when you come out."
"What did he do?" Anders whispered to Aideen.
"Sigrun's mad he was getting the King drunk," the elf explained.
"As much as I hate to agree with Oghren, it might not be the worst thing the King could be doing right now."
"Anders," Sigrun growled. "That's not the point."
"The point is..." her fellow Warden waved at her to finish the sentence.
"The point is Oghren should be helping! He knew the King during the Blight, he should be helping him! He should know what to say!" Sigrun shouted.
"Don't know what to say," the red-haired dwarf mumbled morosely from the other side of the door.
"None of us know what to say, darling," Anders said quietly.
"But he should!" she countered, pointing emphatically at the door as her voice increased in volume even more. She'd never felt so stone-damned helpless in her whole life. Not even when she'd been forced to run from the massacre of her Legion. "The King is making himself sick! If someone doesn't do something about it soon, he's not going to be able to help us save the Commander! He's going to be too weak and half-mad from lack of sleep to be any help, at all!
"And Oghren knows him the best, but he's too sodding self-indulgent to try to do anything!"
Sigrun's breath heaved in huge, heavy gasps. She saw the looks Aideen and Anders were giving her, and she felt shame burning in her chest. She shouldn't have lost it like that. Not when everyone was, inexplicably, looking at her to lead.
If Nathaniel were here, he'd know what to say.
"Aideen!" All three turned to see Aednat burst into the kitchen. "Oh, you're all here," the blonde elf said. "Good."
"What is it?" Aideen asked. "I know that look."
"Two of the vultures came back. Just arrived a few minutes ago."
"And?" Sigrun got hurriedly to her feet. "Did they have replies? Is anyone coming?"
"Leliana and Zevran," Aednat answered, holding out the paper. When Aideen raised an eyebrow, Aednat snorted. "Oh, like you wouldn't have read it."
Sigrun took the paper and held it tightly, as if it meant to slip away. She didn't feel the need to read it; she trusted Aednat.
Leliana and Zevran. The bard and the assassin. The Orlesian and the Antivan. Companions of the only two Fereldan Grey Wardens during the Fifth Blight.
Finally. Perhaps one of them would know what to do with the King.
The pantry door creaked open, and Oghren stuck his face out. He hiccuped, and tried to focus his eyes. "Take that to 'im. It'll make 'im feel better."
Anders grabbed the dwarf by the nape of his neck. "Let's go have a cold bath, old boy."
"Not if you're watchin' me, you pervert."
Aideen and Aednat burst into laughter. "We'll take you, Oghren. Come on," Aideen said. She and her "twin" led the dwarf away. Just before they left the kitchen, he pinched Aednat on her rear. She clouted him across the back of the head, nearly knocking him down. The elves laughed uproariously again as they disappeared around the corner.
"They're...odd ladies," Anders mused.
"I like them more every day," Sigrun said, relaxing her grip on the paper a bit. "Come with me?" she asked.
"Of course, dear lady." Anders reached down and gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze, and he tried for a comforting smile.
Sigrun tried to smile back, but it was a weak attempt.
If only Nathaniel were here...