8. The First Arrival at Ostagar
"I do not understand." Meila said flatly.
"I have received word of something that must be investigated in Orzammar." The shemlen actually acted sincere… the nerve of him. "I apologize, but I'm afraid your Joining must wait."
The only outward sign of her outrage was her jaw tightening. "You pull me from my people, take me overland to this ruin for some human ruler's stand against the darkspawn, and then tell me you are leaving me here alone? Is this a customary way for you humans to treat your warriors?"
The trio of Grey Wardens who had greeted Duncan and Meila as they'd come into Ostagar exchanged glances behind their commander's back. They'd borne an urgent message from the durgen'len, apparently… something that drew the Warden-Commander back out of Ostagar barely five minutes after they'd stepped foot in it.
"You will not be alone, Meila. There are many here who will help you get settled in. The king's men, the other Wardens, mages, and the like."
"All shemlen."
Duncan forged on. "There is one other recruit present, as well. A knight by the name of Ser Jory. Perhaps the two of you might meet."
"I have nothing to say to his kind."
Duncan's expression darkened. "'His kind' are going to be your comrades-in-arms. You will be, at the least, civil to them."
Meila looked hard at the human man, taking in the stern expression on his face, and the commanding tone of his voice. Perhaps if she had been a human, she might have balked. But she was not. She was Dalish. And the Dalish took orders from no human.
"Make me," she said defiantly. Then, she spun and stalked off, past the protesting guard out of camp and straight into the woods. If she had to wait in Ostagar for the shemlen Warden's convenience, she would at least be productive and independent.
She'd compromised once just by being here. Vir Bor'assan: bend but never break. She wasn't going to submit to his commands any more than necessary.