Chapter 14: Family of a Sort
The sun came up and Delia realized that she was in the warden tent alone. Wynne had gone late in the evening after determining that Delia would be fine by herself. If she needed anything, Dusty would be able to find her in the mage encampment. Delia worried; the men should have returned during the night.
She carefully got up and stretched. Her body felt stiff, but nothing hurt. Her armor was at the quartermaster's shop being repaired, so she decided to perform her exercises wearing her cotton tunic and breeches. At least she could do her routine, even if she couldn't spar.
The men still hadn't returned when she finished her routine, so she called to Dusty and they went to the mess tent for breakfast. Delia filled two bowls with porridge and carried them to a table on the edge of the tent. After she sat, she placed one bowl on the ground for Dusty.
She ate her porridge silently, watching the other wardens as they spoke to each other. Laughter would occasionally burst out of nowhere, and it was obvious that the wardens enjoyed each other's company. Delia was really beginning to worry. Why weren't they back? Did something go wrong?
A man sat across the table from Delia. He was obviously a seasoned warrior, with scars on his face and arms. He looked at her with a warm smile.
"So, you're Delia I suppose? My name is Rydell. I've been a warden with Duncan for more years than I want to admit." He laughed, and his eyes sparkled. Delia felt comfortable with him, and Dusty didn't seem to be uneasy, so she relaxed.
"Yes, I'm Delia. I'm pleased to meet you. Have you seen Duncan this morning?"
"Not yet, but I'd expect he'd be back mid-morning. They had the Joining last night, right? Duncan told me about your injuries. Glad to see you're alright."
"Yes, the Joining was last night, but I thought they would return when they finished."
Rydell could see the worry in her eyes. "Ah, lass, we can't tell you all the secrets of the Joining, but I will tell you that part of the ritual has men passing out. They have to wait until they wake before they return. I'll warn you though, not everyone will necessarily make it. You need to prepare yourself, lass. Being a Grey Warden is tough business. We lose our friends all the time and we learn that you have to appreciate the time you have. We fight hard, but we try to live even harder."
"Rydell, how long have you been a warden?"
"I took my Joining twenty years ago. Duncan recruited me himself. I was one of his first recruits! I'll never forget the day he saved me from my former master."
Delia's eyes widened. "You were a slave?"
His eyes sparkled. "Yes, I had been sold as a slave to the Tevinter. I was working at a rock quarry. My master was horrid. He wouldn't give us water during our work hours, an' many good men died. I was just a boy of sixteen at the time. Got tired of always being hungry, thirsty, and whipped, so I started a rebellion of a sort." He chuckled and shook his head. "The fearlessness of youth, eh? Well, anyways, my master was more than angry. If he'd have got his hands on me, I would 'a been dead in a heartbeat, but Duncan was impressed with me and conscripted me on the spot. Said he had a soft spot in his heart for anyone who was treated bad. I'm proud to say he's had me at his side ever since. Never trusted anyone as much as I trust him."
Delia nodded at the man. "Duncan seems like he enjoys taking in those of us who are mankind's strays of a sort, doesn't he?" she said with a grin.
Her remark made Rydell laugh aloud. "That he does, missy, that he does! We're an odd lot we are, but we care about each other an' that's all that matters. You might not 'a had your Joining, but you are still one of us. You have a huge family of brothers here, an' we watch out for our own. You ever need a question answered or company, just look for any of us. Take this," he handed her a necklace with a silver gryphon charm. "Wear it to prove that you are a recruit. Duncan would have given one to you already, but he didn't have one for you earlier. No one can touch you as long as you are a warden. Be proud and stay strong. We're all behind you."
He winked at her and stood. "Maker watch over you, Delia."
She smiled gratefully at him. "Maker watch over us all, Rydell." She put the necklace around her neck as Rydell walked away. The chain was long enough that it fell well into her shirt. Picking up Dusty's bowl, she whistled for the mabari to follow and put the dirty dishes in the wash bin. The two walked back toward the warden tent. She looked up toward the old temple to see Duncan walking toward her with Alistair and Aeden. Daveth and Jory were nowhere to be seen.
Delia was overjoyed. She ran to Aeden and gave him a huge hug. He was taken aback by her show of affection and laughed at her.
"Easy there, my lady. I don't think I have the strength to survive your brute strength!" He couldn't help but smile at her.
"I have been so worried. I'm glad you're alright. If you would rather though, I can greet you this way instead…" With that, she punched him on the arm.
"Ow! What do I deserve that for?"
"For making me worry so much. I am glad you are fine, though." She smiled at him with pure joy.
Alistair was bothered by their easy affection for each other. Maybe he was missing something about their background, but he thought that they barely knew each other. Although, when he thought about it, they both were recruited in Highever… maybe there was something more to their relationship. Maybe he shouldn't think about it. After all, she was a pretty girl and he was just a bastard child and Aeden was a noble and worth more than ten of himself… and now his mind was babbling at himself. He shook his head to try to clear his mind and looked at his feet.
An elven messenger ran up to Duncan and bowed. "A message for you, Commander, from King Caillen." Duncan read the message and then looked at the elf. "Please tell the king that we will attend." The elf bowed again and ran off toward the king's tent.
"Aeden, you and I have been asked to attend a meeting with King Caillen and Teryn Logain. We need to go as soon as we've eaten breakfast. Shall we all go to the mess tent?"
Delia spoke up. "I've already eaten, as has Dusty, but I would like to join you. I want to hear all about the Joining."
Duncan looked at her sadly. "We will tell you what we can, but there are parts that we are not permitted to explain. You will need to have faith in the parts that we cannot tell."
Delia looked somber. "I assume that Jory and Daveth aren't here because… they didn't make it through the ritual?"
Duncan frowned. "Yes, unfortunately we lost both of them. A pyre is being prepared for them. I am sorry, Delia."
Slowly they walked to the mess tent. Once there, Delia fussed over Aeden, making him sit while she served his breakfast. Aeden was embarrassed by the attention, but when he complained she dismissed it telling him that he had to suffer her attention as penance for making her worry. Duncan joined the other wardens in the tent, talking to them about the upcoming battle. Alistair sat alone, watching Delia and Aeden. He was surprised at the way his stomach was knotting up. He sat there, glumly poking at his food. Normally he would wolf down every crumb on his plate, but this feeling he was having left him with little appetite.
Duncan finished his breakfast, said goodbye to the wardens he sat with, and collected Aeden for their meeting with the king. As they left the tent, Delia stood and walked to Alistair. She sat across from him, and as he stared morosely at his food she put her elbows on the table, propped her chin on her hands and looked at him.
"Copper for your thoughts, Alistair."
He didn't look up. "Why do you want to know?"
Delia scowled at him. "You aren't normally this quiet. Are you alright? I'm worried about you."
"There's no reason for you to worry about me. You have Aeden to fret about," he snapped at her.
"Well, sorry that I care then." She stood up and left in a huff. Alistair watched her leave and sighed. "There I go again, messing things up before I can even say something nice." He slowly stood up, cleared his dishes and walked toward the warden camp fire, kicking every small stone he saw on the way.
Delia was sitting at the fire on the log they used as a bench, scratching lines in the dirt with a stick. She heard Alistair walking toward her, and made a point of not looking at him.
"I'm sorry, Delia." He stood next to her. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. You didn't deserve that."
"I suppose apology accepted." She still wouldn't look at him. He sat next to her on the log and ran his hand through his hair. He didn't know what to say, and he found himself very nervous.
"So… I guess you and Aeden have known each other a long time. You seem to be very… taken… with him."
He said it so carefully and uncomfortably that Delia couldn't help but laugh. "Taken? With Aeden? No, I wouldn't go that far. I've known him since I was a young child. I would say he is more of a substitute brother."
Alistair breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, so you care about him, but you don't care… about him."
Delia looked at him with her eyes glittering in amusement. "Alistair, are you actually jealous?"
He looked at her with a pained look of shock. "Me? Jealous? No… I mean, you are very pretty and all, but if you and Aeden… I mean…" He looked so uncomfortable, and he wrung his hands together.
"Alistair, if Aeden and I were supposed to be together it would have happened a long time ago. I think of him as a brother. I worried about him because… I just couldn't lose someone else." She sighed. "Maybe I should explain better. My twin brother and I studied in Antiva, but when my grandfather died we no longer could pay the tuition and were forced to return to Ferelden. The day that my brother and I arrived in Amaranthine, my mother brought us to visit Aeden's family. Aeden's mother was my mother's best friend. My brother was supposed to fight here in Ostagar as Aeden's father's second and Mother and I were to stay in Highever for a few weeks before going home. My mother and Terynna Cousland wanted Aeden and me to fall in love and marry, but the terynna was a firm believer in marrying for love and was very opposed to arranged marriages. My father is a low level Bann, and if I were to marry Aeden it would have been a political coup for my family, although it would be thought poorly for him in the Landsmeet. As it was, Aeden, my brother and I were close friends, but nothing more."
"The night we arrived at Highever, the Couslands were betrayed by Arl Howe, who took the opportunity of the Teryn's troops having left the castle to attack. He killed Aeden's parents, his sister-in-law and nephew, my mother and brother," at this point she released a soft sob, "and all the servants and knights in the castle. No one was left alive. Aeden and I were saved by Duncan, who was there to recruit for the wardens. He took us only because the teryn promised Duncan that Aeden would be his recruit. We escaped through the servants' entrance, leaving Aeden's father bleeding to death with his mother, who promised to fight and buy us time for our escape. Aeden is… all that I have left."
They were both silent for a minute, then Alistair gently took her hand. "What of your father? Surely he must worry about you."
Her eyes filled with a combination of fear and anger. "My father is the last person I ever want to see. He is a tyrant, filled with rage and depravity. I begged Duncan to recruit me so that I would be free of him forever. My father is the reason why I have worked so hard to become a fighter."
Suddenly things made sense to Alistair. This was the reason why this beautiful noble woman worked so diligently to learn her skills with her blades. Duncan was always willing to help those in great need and the warden ranks were filled with people who were grateful to be given a second chance. Then there were the scars on her back. Oh, Maker! Her father must have done that to her!
Very softly, Alistair looked into Delia's eyes and spoke again. "Delia, when I cleaned your wounds I saw your scars. Were they… I mean, did he… did your father do that to you?"
Tears streamed from her eyes. She looked away from Alistair before answering. "I wish you hadn't seen that. Yes, my father did that to me. Thank the Maker for Wynne. When she healed me, she was able to heal many of the scars, so it isn't nearly as horrible looking as it was."
Alistair was incensed. "What kind of man would beat his own child? His daughter? What could you have possibly done that deserved that kind of treatment?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I was five years old and drinking water in the kitchen at the table. My father walked in and set a document down nearby. I knocked over my cup accidentally, and the water spilled onto the corner of the document. I tried to tell him I was sorry, but he grabbed me and dragged me to his footstool. He threw me on top of it, pulled off his belt and whipped me. My brother valiantly tried to pull him off of me, but the only thing he managed was to get the same treatment. That afternoon my mother began the arrangements for my brother and me to study in Antiva. My maternal grandfather paid for our studies. From that time on, we only would see our father for one week during our summer holiday. I never want to see my father again, especially now that Mother isn't there to intercede on my behalf."
Delia wiped her eyes. "So, you see, Alistair, Aeden is truly all I have left. That is why I care about him so much. He is the closest thing I have to family."
Alistair squeezed her hand gently. "You also have me and all the other wardens. I promise that I will always protect you. You will never fear your father again, I swear it."
She squeezed his hand back and looked into his eyes. He looked at her as though he truly meant what he said, and she was more than grateful.
"Thank you, Alistair. That means more to me than you could know." She smiled warmly at him, and then they settled into silence, still holding each other's hand.