A/N: What's this? Yes! A part only a smidgen under 7000 words long. Wordy Girl is trying not to be so wordy. Our heroes are finally at Ostagar, too. Apologies to any Glory seekers. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Also, I appreciate the patience. I know I'm not as fast as a lot of others around here so I want to thank everyone who has me on alert. Thanks! Also, I kinda feel this chapter is admittedly not one of my best. Comments always welcome.
A/N: (5/9/2010) Punctuation and some sentence phrasing changed for smoother reading.
A/N: (6/18/2010) Added a single line of dialogue to fill it out better.
A/N: (7/22/2011) Changed a particular part regarding Aedan's thoughts on Cailen to match chapter 13.
Part 9: Eagle Sighting
"Did them Tevinter blokes always build things so soddin' tall?"
Kallian asked the question as they were almost at Ostagar. Aedan glanced back at her and saw she had her head craned upwards to look at something. He did the same and could then spy the high tower that thrust up into the sky beyond the wall they walked next to.
Duncan gave a slight chuckle, "I suppose they did."
"Sort of like Fort Drakon back in Denerim," she added. "They built that one too, right?"
"That would be correct," Duncan nodded. "They built the Circle of Magi's tower on Lake Calenhad, as well. Very similar in design to the one here and taller."
"Foof," she huffed then muttered. "Ain't compensating for anything there."
Duncan chuckled again and while Aedan appreciated the joke, he remained silent. He would have laughed, but they were now almost upon Ostagar and his mind was too heavy with the thought of informing the King, Fergus, and everyone of what happened in Highever.
Kallian had heard word in Lothering that Highever's forces had passed through just two days before, so he knew his brother had made it. Considering the winding path they had taken across the Bannorn, Aedan was mildly surprised they were not too far behind them.
They approached a massive stone archway, the soldiers posted there were not surprised to see them. Having come across scouts earlier on the road, they had identified themselves, and the scouts in turn ran ahead to let the camp know. Not more then a few seconds after passing the arch did a man in finely made golden armor, with two heavily armed knights, came forward with a hand extended towards Duncan.
"Ho there, Duncan!"
Duncan in turn extended his own hand and clasped the man's forearm, "King Cailan, I wasn't expecting-"
"A royal welcome?" He replied and quirked a smile. "The scouts had reported you were arriving with recruits in tow. I thought it best to just greet you myself. Was beginning to worry that you were going to miss all the fun."
"Not if I could help it, your Majesty."
"Good," he smiled more and looked as if he was going to say more, but then his eyes shifted over to Aedan. "Eh, do pardon if I happen to be jumping the hedge a bit too early here, Duncan, but . . . Aedan Cousland, that is you isn't it?"
"It is, your Majesty," he held his hand forward just as Cailan did the same and clasped his forearm.
"I'd say it's good to see you again, and it is, but I do confess I'm a little confused," releasing Aedan's forearm he looked between he and Duncan. "According to your brother you would be remaining at Cousland Castle and your father would be along with Arl Howe and the forces from Amaranthine any day now. Has this changed?"
"In a manner of speaking, it has," Aedan said. His voice felt horribly tight and there must have been some look he had in his eyes as King Cailan quickly sobered. It was then that Aedan looked at Duncan, unable to bring himself to say anything.
"We bring some dire news," Duncan said. "Would it be too much to ask for a moment for us to speak in private?"
The Warden's eyes shifted to King Cailan's knights and over to the other nearby guards. Cailan nodded, understanding the gesture.
"Let us walk for a bit, then," he said and walked back further into the massive ruins.
He lead them to an area not far away. It looked like it might have been an open air courtyard at one time. Cailan ordered his knights to make certain they were not disturbed and they stood guard out of earshot.
"I'm not going to like this, am I," Cailan's words were more a statement than a question.
"I am afraid not, your Majesty," Duncan clasped his hands behind his back. "But first, you already know Aedan Cousland. The one next to him is Kallian Tabris. They are both my newest Grey Warden recruits."
"Both?" Cailan mostly looked at Aedan, but inclined his head to Kallian when she gave a partial bow. "Then . . . am I to assume that Teyrn Cousland won't be coming here to lead his men?"
Duncan took in a deep breath as if to gird himself of the words he had to speak, "Teyrn Cousland and his wife are dead, your Majesty. Arl Howe has shown himself a traitor and overrun Cousland Castle."
"What?" King Cailan's outburst caused the knights on guard to glance back at them. He immediately lowered his voice again, but the shock was still there. "How did this happen?"
Aedan had his arms crossed and he felt his shoulders tense as Duncan told the King everything. The lies that Rendon Howe had told and the slaughter that his men brought. By the time he was done, Cailan had gotten to pacing back and forth, a gauntlet covered fist hiding the deep frown he wore.
"It was by fortitude and luck that we three escaped," Duncan motioned to he and Kallian. "If we hadn't, Arl Howe would have killed us and could have made up any story he wished. It would have left you and the rest of the nobility none the wiser."
The King stopped his pacing and lowered his fist from his mouth. His eyes searched the ground as he spoke, "I can scarcely believe this. Taking advantage of the situation while we fight for Ferelden itself. How cold and cruel does a man have to be to- . . . How did he think he could get away such treachery?"
"By killing any and all witnesses," Kallian replied.
They all looked over at her. Aedan was surprised that she had spoken up and mildly surprised that there was nothing of her accent present.
"At least, no witnesses who were not in the arms and armor of Amaranthine. Even when a person surrendered they ran them through," she spoke clearly with her hands clasped behind her back. "They were not planning on leaving anyone alive."
Aedan looked at Cailan, "She has the right of it, your Majesty. They were not taking any hostages." He felt his own jaw set a little. "Not even Oren."
The King shook his head slightly, "Oren? Isn't Oren . . ." Suddenly his eyes widened, "Fergus' son? But he- . . ."
"Lord Fergus and Aedan are the last of the Cousland household, your Majesty," Duncan said. "And, obviously, the forces from Amaranthine will not be showing. We will have to deal with the repercussions of it in the upcoming battles. I recommend we immediately set a new strategy as soon as possible."
King Cailan stood there a moment, clenching his fists slightly, and then nodded his head slowly at Duncan.
"I understand," he looked at Aedan then and came over to him, putting his hands on his shoulders. "You have my word that as soon as we are done here I will turn my armies north and we will bring Rendon Howe to justice. I swear it."
Aedan let out some breath that he was unaware he'd been holding. The King's reassurance made him feel as if a weight had been lifted.
"Thank you, your Majesty," Aedan nodded solidly once. "But, tell me, do you happen to know where my brother is?"
Cailan seemed to wince, "You wish to inform him of things yourself?"
"I would," Aedan frowned. "Not . . . that I'm looking forward to giving him the news."
"I don't blame you," Cailan squeezed his shoulders once before letting go. "Unfortunately, he's not at camp. We were going by the assumption that your father was going to be along shortly, so we had Fergus sent out to an area in the Wilds where we needed scouts. I can have a messenger sent out, but it may be a couple of days before he gets back."
Aedan was about to agree to it, but then a thought occurred to him.
"That won't be necessary," he said a little hesitantly. "I'd much rather have Fergus concentrating on the enemy in front of him, rather than the one in Highever. If the area needs scouting, then let him scout. I can give news to him when I hear he's returned."
King Cailan's eyebrows furrowed a bit, "Are you certain about this, Aedan?"
He nodded, but it was Duncan that spoke, "As a matter of fact, your Majesty, it may be a blow to the men's morale if we inform them all that Teyrn Cousland is dead. You know that he was well liked among the Banns and freeholders. We may have to keep this silent until the battle is decided here against the darkspawn."
Cailan gave a short sigh, "I am not fond of the thought of keeping such a thing secret, but I suppose you are correct. At the very least we can inform Teyrn Loghain of the situation. He should know and he'll certainly want an explanation as to why Amaranthine isn't coming."
"Teyrn Loghain is here?" Aedan asked and almost on reflex he stood up straighter.
"Of course," the King nodded, then got to looking a little prideful. "Though we've not had to use much in the way of his strategies so far. We've won three battles here easily enough."
"Three?" Duncan said. "So another occurred while I was away?"
"Yes, and I have to say, Duncan, your men are stalwart fighters all. They held the line without losing a single man."
"They have to be stalwart, your Majesty," Duncan replied. "Against the darkspawn there is no other way to be. How long ago was this?"
"Five days ago, and they did the same as before," Cailan explained. "Attacking in numbers and then retreating when they lost too many. With no sign of an Archdemon at all. I'm beginning to wonder if this is really a true Blight."
Duncan's eyebrows furrowed in worry, "As I had said before, your Majesty, not encountering an Archdemon right away does not mean this isn't a Blight. And it's a bit concerning that they are retreating. Darkspawn are not exactly known for running away just for losing too many of their number."
Cailan was about to respond when the voices of his knights and some other armored men speaking with them began to rise a bit. From what Aedan could tell, they wore the heraldry of a yellow wyvern rampant, the heraldry of the Teyrnir of Gwaren, Loghain Mac Tir. The King gave a bit of a sigh.
"It looks like Loghain sent out a search party for me," Cailan said and then looked at them all. "We'll speak more later about all this. I should get back and inform him of the news. Aedan?" Cailan held his hand out again to him which he accepted, clasping his forearm once more. The King put a hand upon his shoulder as well. "You have my condolences and I truly wish we were meeting again under better circumstances. Perhaps we can get together later and catch up on old times."
"Thank you, your Majesty, perhaps we will."
The King looked over at Kallian as he released Aedan, "I do apologize that we didn't get to speak, Kallian . . . Tabris, was it?"
Her hands were still clasped behind her back and again she lacked any of that accent, "No need to apologize, your Majesty. The news you needed to hear was a little bit more important then that."
Aedan was finding her words and actions to be very odd, but then realized something. He glanced over at Duncan and, sure enough, he also had his hands clasped behind him in the same manner. With some amusement he saw that she was imitating Duncan's behavior and speech.
"Regardless," Cailan gave a light smile. "I hope to converse with you in the future."
"I look forward to it, your Majesty," she inclined her head in a polite manner to him.
"Duncan, I shall see you later," he nodded his head at them all. "Farewell, Grey Wardens."
Aedan bowed and saluted appropriately as he left, Kallian copying the motion.
"I am going to have to leave the two of you now," Duncan started and they gathered about in a small circle. "I need to check in with the other Wardens and gather some information before speaking with King Cailan again about strategies."
"The way the King be talking it seems the fight be in the bag already," Kallian crossed her arms, her accent magically reappearing.
"True," Duncan said, apparently unfazed by her linguistic flip flop. "But he is assuming much. He thinks the Grey Warden legend alone makes the armies invulnerable. This definitely isn't the case."
"Is it true what you said, Duncan," Aedan asked. "That darkspawn don't normally retreat?"
"Not normally, no," he added a bit hesitantly. "Unless there is a darkspawn present with significant intelligence."
"Significant?" Kallian repeated. "Always heard darkspawn were just brutal and savage sorts. Not intelligent at all, just evil."
"The various darkspawn carry various levels of intelligence," he gave a mild frown as he explained. "Some are even capable of using magic. Those more intelligent are able to . . . order the others to fight tactically rather than simply in hoards."
Aedan frowned a bit himself. He had also been under the impression that darkspawn were just mindless creatures that attacked indiscriminately. "I take it an Archdemon possesses that sort of intelligence?"
"I can not speak from experience," Duncan said, then motioned with a hand for them to begin walking, which they did. "All the old records in the Grey Warden archives would suggest that they are. But . . . I know that they are, just as how I know it in my very soul that this is a Blight."
Aedan and Kallian glanced at one another, neither were used to hearing the worried tone in his voice or seeing that sort of consternation on his face before. The moment passed and Duncan continued.
"Which is why we need to settle our strategies as soon as possible. We also need to see to the Joining ritual without delay."
"A hot meal might be nice, first," Kallian said, interlacing her fingers and putting her hands behind her head. "But you mentioned this Joining thing before, Duncan. Now can you tell us what it be about?"
"As I said before, Kallian, you will know more in due time."
He heard Kallian grumble. Being curious himself he inwardly grumbled as well. Duncan had held up to his part of the bargain, it was now Aedan's turn to see to his. Duty would dictate that he would become a Grey Warden and he could now put his efforts into that. So, he very much wanted to know more about the Joining ritual. Kallian had been prodding Duncan about it since he mentioned it several days ago, getting the same result every time. The Warden-Commander of Ferelden could be a dodgy fellow when he wanted to be.
"You are welcome to explore the camp," Duncan continued. "Just do not leave as I will be setting the two of you and the other recruits to task very soon. You should find the other recruits at a site set up for us near the noble's tents. It is easy enough to spot. There should also be a Grey Warden around by the name of Alistair. He was in charge of minding the recruits while I was gone. If you happen to see him before I do, tell him to get all of you prepared to head out."
Kallian gave a long suffering sigh, "So no hot meal, then?"
Duncan chuckled, "Not till later, I'm afraid. Though I have to agree, food does sound good."
Coming to a stop at a set of stairs that lead down to a stone bridge, Duncan turned to face them, "Mind that the both of you need to remain silent on what happened in Highever. You may inform Alistair if you wish as well as any other Grey Wardens you may meet. Just let them also know of the reason for the secrecy. I know it may seem distasteful, but- . . ."
"The army's moral takes priority," Aedan interjected. "I understand. King Cailan knows, as will Teyrn Loghain. I'm certain my father would be satisfied with that for now."
Duncan gazed at him a moment, then nodded, "Good." He then looked at Kallian, "And remember that you are still on parole. You need to be on your utmost behavior here."
She lowered her arms and crossed them, "Whot? I been on the up and up. I'm clean. Even refrained from picking up a trinket or two in Lothering. You should be proud."
Duncan's eyebrow twitched up, "But you still thought about it."
Kallian held up a finger as she made her point, "Thinking about it and doing it are completely different things. They can't put you in jail for just thinking it."
Her words made Duncan sigh and he actually muttered, "So this is what Genevieve went through."
"Pardon?" Aedan asked.
"Never mind," he replied. "Just behave yourself, dear girl. I will see you both later."
With that Duncan turned and left. They followed suit after watching him go for a while, walking at a much slower pace. Aedan felt the tension in his shoulders ease. There must have been some subconscious thought in his mind he was unaware of that had him worried King Cailan would do nothing. Even worse, the thought Cailan might of even ordered the massacre himself had occurred to him. It was illogical and only born from reading of such betrayals in old history tomes and had nothing to do with Cailan himself. They were paranoid thoughts that he could now let go of. All that was left was to inform Fergus of things.
He had spoken the truth when he said he didn't look forward to passing on the news. It wasn't as if he didn't have the time to ponder how to phrase it all to Fergus. There were a couple of sleepless nights that were caused by such thoughts. The weight of the information is what he hesitated to hand over. It was the sort that could crush and change a man completely. There was no choice in the matter, he had to tell him, but he wanted to hold off the eventual anguish for as long as reasonably possible.
"Your father might be satisfied, but what about you?" Kallian asked after a while, breaking the silence.
Aedan thought about it before answering, "I don't think I'll really be satisfied until Rendon Howe is dead. Guess in the meantime I'll have to vent my grief on the darkspawn. I just hope Duncan allows me to go with King Cailan's armies when he goes north."
"If he does let you go, I'd like to go along with."
He quirked an eyebrow and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "Why?"
"Cause I want to see him get his comeuppance. Why else?"
"Didn't think it mattered to you what happens to a noble," he spoke in a slightly jesting tone.
"Only the ones I ain't met yet," she mumbled, then suddenly crossed in front of him. "Andraste's Tits, would you look at that?"
Aedan flinched a bit at Kallian's rather lewd use of Andraste's name, then looked at what she was gawking at. He only glanced at it for a second, then quickly fixed his gaze on the stairs at the other end of the bridge. Aedan didn't notice just how tall the bridge actually was until she pointed it out. Quickening his pace he could hear her behind him, giving a long low whistle.
"That be a loooooong way down," she laughed a bit. "I'd spit, but there be people down there with armor and blades."
"That's nice," he uttered and kept walking.
"Oy," Kallian caught up with him. "You really should take a gander. Not a view you get to see every day."
"That's quite fine," he said quickly. "Let's just get to camp."
He sensed that Kallian came right up to his elbow and stared up at him from a low angle.
"Ya bloody kiddin' me," she muttered, then added in an incredulous tone. "You're scared of heights?"
"I am not scared," he replied, cursing the tightness in his voice. "I would simply like the ground closer to my relative position."
She laughed and went around to the other side of him, "So, if I put you up in a tree, would you break out in a sweat and cling to a branch till someone comes and gets you down like some poor mewlin' kitten?"
"Point one," he gritted out, irritation heavily setting in. "If you ever bested me enough to get me up into a tree then I will eat my own armor. Point two, I have no problem climbing trees or even walking castle battlements. Point three, if you think this is some way to hold something over me then you are sadly mistaken. As you can see I'm not freezing up or acting a gibbering idiot and am moving properly forward, so you can put that thought out of your mind."
"Ah, this be one o' them long-as-I-don't-look-down things, eh?" she rushed forward a bit, turned around, and started walking backwards in front of him, sporting a smirk.
Her smirk very much reminded him of when he was a child and the family went to visit Redcliffe Castle. He remembered being excited going there as he heard the tales and legends about the place. When they got to the high bridge leading to the castle an inexplicable fear took him over and he cried, clinging to his mother. Aedan was mortified by it, especially when Fergus teased him mercilessly for days after that. His brother wore that same exact sort of smirk that Kallian had now.
He girded himself to combat any teasing words she thought to toss at him. It was irritating to know that she had no issues with the height. She was even confident enough to walk backwards on an ancient stone bridge that could possibly collapse any day now. Aedan supposed he wound himself up so much that her next words caught him flat footed.
"So, the King knows you by sight. Even be on a first name basis with him. You know each other well?"
"I . . . " he had to pause and think. "Well, we're certainly acquainted. Seen him at Landsmeets and other functions, but it's been a while since I've seen him last. Can't say I know him as well as some, but I know him better than most can say."
"Oooooh," she nodded, still carrying that annoying smirk.
For some reason Aedan got the sense that she was only stringing him along.
"Did he go with that armor cause it matched the color of his hair or do all kings go about in gleaming gold like that to look impressive to the commoners?"
"What sort of a question is that?" Aedan practically sputtered.
Kallian only laughed in response.
Aedan shook his head, realizing she only asked it to get a reaction, "Honestly, woman, words like that have been known to start wars."
"Well, good thing I ain't the queen o' anything, then. I'd have a new war starting every week, otherwise," Kallian stated.
Aedan gave a mild frown, then a thought occurred, "So, what was all that back there about?"
"Huh? What all back where?"
"You know," he clasped his hands behind him. "Of course, your Majesty. I look forward to it, your Majesty." He quirked his own smirk, "Was half expecting you to start curtsying. Minding your P's and Q's like that."
"Well, he's the King, innit he?" crossing her arms, she glanced behind her once to see where she was going. "Got to be nice to the King otherwise he'll order me head to come off me shoulders. Right at the neck, even."
Aedan snorted, "He's not the sort to just order a beheading on a whim. King Cailan is a good man. I don't think he would have taken any offense if you just spoke as you normally would."
Kallian frowned suddenly, "Speak as me normally would, huh?"
Not understanding what the problem was, he wondered why she was frowning. Turning around to walk forward again, she mumbled something incoherent. He thought he caught the words "cousin" and "Arl", but the rest he couldn't make out.
"What did you s-"
"Here we are! Safe and sound on the other side o' the bridge," she announced loud enough that a passing soldier glanced in their direction. "So, you can stop quaking in your boots over how high we were."
They indeed had reached the other side of the bridge, almost without him noticing. The corner of his lip turned down as she was obviously trying to cause him embarrassment.
"I wasn't quaking in my boots," he said as calmly as he could.
"So you say, so you say," Kallian waved a hand dismissively while not looking at him. "Well, time to explore!"
Suddenly she took off, taking the steps upward two at a time, then going at a jog when she reached the top.
"Kallian- . . . Hey!" the seconds he spent just staring cost him and by the time he reached the top of the stairs he lost sight of her. Entering deeper into the camp he looked around. She had disappeared completely. He wondered how she managed to move so fast and fade into the encampment like that.
"What was that about?" he muttered to himself.
Aedan was certain he'd see her again where ever the Warden recruits were staying, but he had to think on what exactly set her off this time. All he had suggested was for her to speak normally.
But what is normal for her? he thought.
He recalled when she had said that the man that scarred her face was dead. Aedan hadn't fully noticed it at the time, but she spoke back then with no accent and no coloring of words. Realizing again that he didn't really know much about Kallian, he filed all the thoughts away for later. For now he had exploring of his own to do.
Being that Duncan was the only Grey Warden he had ever met, he was eager to find this Alistair fellow. Maybe he could tell him more about the Grey Wardens and what it took to be a successful one. With that in mind, Aedan set about wandering the camp.
Kallian had already decided she was going to ditch Aedan the moment Duncan had said he was leaving them. Not that she was trying to be mean, but she doubted the upstanding lordling would let her get away with snooping into corners. She tended to work better on her own, anyway, and could get more done without a watchdog at her back.
Not that she was intending to be bad. There was nothing wrong with her poking her nose into spaces and seeing what was there. Open her ears a bit and maybe overhear a conversation or two. No crime in finding things, either. Long as she wasn't taking anything, then she was doing nothing wrong.
At least, that was what she convinced herself of. The wiser side of her knew a person could get an ear cut off for hearing something they shouldn't. It was just that everything was so new and she needed something to distract herself. Anything was better than suddenly remembering the past or pondering being on the edge of a large battle.
Meeting the King of Ferelden wasn't exactly something she thought was going to happen anytime soon, if ever. The general thought was that they would get to Ostagar, Aedan and Duncan would head off to give the bad news to the appropriate people, and then they would go do whatever it was that Grey Wardens did. Instead, he came to them in all his golden glory and now even knew her name. Panic initially set in as she was worried about what she'd suddenly blurt out to the noble of nobles in Ferelden. Luckily, she had a little time to collect herself with the King recognizing Aedan.
Her way out of the situation was to act like one of the few people she knew who was both respected while being able to give respect - Duncan.
Kallian did her best to act and speak as he might in the situation and it seemed to work. She wasn't the fool, didn't say anything stupid or disrespectful, and kept the somewhat sober situation somber. No trouble caused for she, Duncan, or Aedan. Which, in Kallian's mind, was a good thing.
Aedan's saying that she should have spoke "normally" irritated her. There were words she might have said that would have caused quite a bit of trouble with the King. She was certain some of that pent up frustration might have come out in stinging retorts had he asked her anything of where she was from. Getting to concentrate on filling the King in on Howe's betrayal distracted everything away from her, thank the Maker. So, all that was behind her and she could now press on, readying herself for any future talks.
Some time later she found the Quartermaster and traded in enough bobs and trinkets to get herself a set of armor that actually fit. Of course, that was after she had fun with the poor bloke as he mistook her for an elven worker. His unending row of apologizes was so satisfying, that she decided this Grey Warden business wasn't going to be so bad after all. She even managed to get him to do a little custom work on her new armor to suit her tastes better.
A while later she spoke to enough people and did enough things to get her fill. The last place she had to poke around at was what one of the soldiers called "Noble's Row", a section of the camp where the tents of the King, the Teyrns, and other such nobles resided. It worked out as the site for the Grey Warden recruits was supposedly nearby it. She found Noble's Row easy enough and all she had to do was make a convenient little turn towards it.
There were about seven tents, each of them colored quite distinctly, all of them large and spacious. Set up in a rectangle, the tents did form a row between them. It was rather quiet and she was surprised she saw no one about. Surmising that they had all gone to form strategies with Duncan and the King, she took her time examining the area.
One of the tents she came across had a banner in front of it with the very familiar Cousland heraldry on it. She sighed seeing it. It really was too bad that Aedan's brother wasn't around as he could stand to see at least one living relative. Instead, he'd have to wait because of troop morale.
Troop morale, my arse, she thought. Family first. That's what the hahren always said. Even if what Aedan has to tell him is not pretty, it has to be done and he's the only one that should do it.
She walked on, but then froze on the spot as she saw the standard in front of the next tent over. Kallian knew the heraldry all too well and the last time she saw it there was fresh blood upon it. Blood that she herself caused to spill. Clenching her fists, she fought the anger that boiled up in her. She wanted to storm right into the tent, kill anyone in it, steal anything that wasn't nailed down, and burn the tent to ashes. She knew she couldn't, but, oh, how she wanted to. If the Arl of Denerim was in there she would be more than happy to make sure he never sired another disgusting creature like his son ever again.
Grinding her teeth together, she knew she had to get away from there. She willed herself to wrench forcefully away. Kallian succeeded, but upon turning she unexpectedly rammed into what felt like an iron wall. Ears catching a bit of a grunt, she knew she had just hit something living. Off guard and off balance she fell right over onto her side.
Her temper on high, she blurted out the words without thinking or even looking up first, "Oy! Watch where ya goin'!"
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" the man said with something of a drawl.
Looking up she saw that the man was, indeed, girded in full metal armor. It didn't gleam gold like King Cailan's had and it looked like it had seen some use, but it was a fine set none the less. She noted that the man was certainly much older than she and carried the baring of an experienced warrior. There were light streaks of white in his hair, but it was still predominantly a dark black. What got Kallian's nerves up on end was his gaze. He had rather intense eyes that were currently narrowed as they looked down at her.
Tearing her own eyes away, she muttered as she went about getting to her feet, "Aye, well, I was distracted and didn't notice the walking wall o' metal coming at me."
"What was that, elf?" the older man was so intimidating that she hadn't even noticed the other armed man with him standing at his elbow. "Apologize right away! Don't you know this is Teyrn Loghain you are speaking to?"
Somewhere inside her mind, a panicked version of herself began running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
Teyrn Loghain! Teyrn Loghain! She was shouting. The Hero of River Dane! The one who put King Maric on the throne! The one you're not supposed to shite around with! You're dead! You're dead! So dead!
Outside of her mind, she calmly dusted herself off. Quickly, she recalled something another soldier had said and decided to use it.
"No, I didn't," she replied to the guard's question. "With so many officious sorts around, a person can't even swing a dead cat without hitting someone important. What's an elf to do, eh?"
She could have sworn she heard the Teyrn snort in amusement, but since his expression didn't change much she wasn't so sure. The guard started to bristle and was about to retort, but Teyrn Loghain raised a hand to still his tongue. Looking her over from head to toe, Kallian put up with the scrutiny while she straightened herself out.
"You must be the other new Grey Warden recruit King Cailan mentioned," he said after a while. "You might want to mind yourself as I believe you're the only elf in the King's camp armed and armored as you are."
She brushed the last bits of dirt out of her hair, "Well, I'm not about to face the darkspawn wearing an apron and carrying a broom, you know. Unless Duncan's neglected to inform me I'm only to be on as Warden's Cook and they just haven't issued me a soup ladle yet."
Kallian wasn't sure what in the world was giving her this gumption. Maybe she was still riding on the anger she had towards the Arl of Denerim and his kin, or maybe her conversation with the Quartermaster was giving her an attitude. In either case, that small bit inside of her was still gibbering and saying her last prayers to the Maker. Outwardly, the persona she wore was barbed and ready for a war of words.
To her relief, he gave another one of those grunting snorts, "So, you don't even know if you'll be fighting alongside your fellows now, do you?"
It was a genuine question and some of her inner gibbering died away with it.
"Not a clue," she answered honestly. "I'm fresh on, so I don't know how they manage these things."
"If King Cailan has his way, you will be," Loghain said with a bit of an ominous tone. "Regardless of how inexperienced you are."
It made Kallian's eyebrow twitch up slightly.
"As I said, you should mind yourself," he continued, speaking pointedly. "There are other important sorts about who'd take a great deal of offence to having a dead cat swung at them."
Through the intonation of his voice she got the message loud and clear. He was letting her go with no repercussions and only a slight warning. There would be others around who would be quick to grab a switch to beat her with, regardless of her being recruited by the Grey Wardens. Next time she might not be so lucky.
She nodded her head slowly, "I'll be taking your advice heavily into consideration, your Grace."
He gave yet another snort and started to turn away, but then he paused as a thought apparently hit him.
"You're pretty for a Warden," the words shocked her, but the way he said it carried no flirtatious undertones. He was only making an observation. The Teyrn's next words solidified that he meant no advances by it. "One of the first Grey Wardens Maric allowed back into Ferelden was a woman. One of the best fighters I'd ever seen. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong."
With that he nodded his head while looking away, as if satisfied with what he just said and how he said it. No other words were spoken and he headed for his tent. Loghain's guard eyed Kallian with nothing but glares the whole way. Kallian didn't avert her gaze, but she did bow and salute appropriately with her arms crossed over her heart.
Standing there for a good minute blinking, she wasn't sure exactly how she was supposed to take his words. Thankful for surviving the encounter, the inner Kallian finally passed out in relief, but now she found herself standing a little bit taller for some reason. The man was intimidating as all get out and she didn't doubt that even if he wasn't a Teyrn he'd still have people step aside for him. So, it seemed surreal that he'd advise her, an elf and a woman to boot, to keep her head up.
Maybe Loghain was sort of like Bryce Cousland. She had only stared into the Teyrn of Highever's eyes for a brief moment, but in that moment she had the sense that he was looking at her as a person. Not as "an elf", but someone with thoughts, feelings, and emotions of their own. Not that Loghain came across as compassionate as Teyrn Cousland did, but perhaps a common view existed.
Or maybe she was just reading too much into it, should just take the bits he tossed at her, and duck into a hole while she had the chance. Making a point to not turn around and see the Arl of Denerim's tent again, she left with the intent to find their own little encampment and flee Noble's Row while she could.