Chapter 9 - The Longest Night, Part 2
They emerged from the servant entrance slowly, Duncan leading them along the castle wall towards the training courtyard. The night air felt cool against Serena's exposed skin, making her wish she'd had the sense to grab a cloak for surely it would be even colder in the south.
"If we take a right up past that shed, the stables are on the west side of the castle grounds," Serena whispered. "There might still be some horses left there, and the woods are close enough that we could escape that way without being seen." She gulped. "Maybe."
"We will need to be very careful. There are at least two men watching the grounds from the parapet." Duncan pointed ahead at the roof, and Serena saw two dark shadows. "I will draw them away and you and the mabari should head to the stables. With any luck, I will meet you there."
He watched the pattern of the men for a minute, his eyes weary. "Alright, here we go. You go that way, stay to the shadows." Duncan ducked his head and pushed forward, disappearing around the corner.
Serena waited for a minute, and then crept along the wall, silently slipping from shadow to shadow as Duncan had instructed her. She could see the two men on the roof clearly now in the moonlight; they appeared to be facing in towards the castle, watching something happening below. Was that Duncan's distraction?
"All the better for me," Serena muttered. She beckoned to her hound and pointed down the hill to the stables. "Ready?" Peanuts tongue lolled out and he panted happily. Quick as a whip, Serena sprinted down the path to the stables, running for all she was worth, Peanut bounding along easily beside her. The stables were just ahead and she raced inside, slamming the door shut behind her hound.
She was immediately thrown by how immensely dark it was inside the building. The two tiny windows barely allowed in any light at all, and Serena found herself blinking rapidly to try and adjust her eyes to the dark. The smell of oiled leather and manure assaulted her nose as she headed down the rows of stalls, searching for two horses that they could ride out of here. Assuming Duncan makes it, she thought.
There appeared to only be six or seven horses left in the stables. Three smaller warhorses, stocky and thickly muscled, were just to the right of her, snorting and shuffling in their stalls. Two enormous geldings shared a double stall at the end of the way, with two ponies rounding out the group.
Serena pulled two saddles off the wall and headed to the back, glad to have a few moments to herself where she wasn't running, crying, or killing.
"Take it all in, girl," she whispered to herself. "We won't be coming back here for awhile." Beside her, Peanut let out a low whine.
"I know, boy." Serena scratched the hound behind the ears. "Howe won't get away with this, though. I'll have his head on a pike before I let him get away with this-"
"Lady Serena?"
"Duncan!" Serena called. "We're down here. I think I found two horses that will work."
Duncan met her down at the end of the stalls, his expression unreadable. Serena hoped he hadn't had a lot of trouble losing those guards.
"This is Pepper," Serena said, gesturing to a stocky gray pony. "I've ridden him plenty of times." She dropped one of the saddles at the front of his stall and turned to a large black gelding. "This is Kyber, he's... he was... my father's horse. I think you're around the same build, so he should respond well to you."
Duncan moved forward and reached a hand out to stroke the giant horses forehead. Serena watched as the horse closed the distance between them, pushing his face into Duncan's hand. "This is a fine horse," Duncan said. "I should be able to manage him alright."
Serena handed him the other saddle and they both got to work strapping them to their horses. She attached a pair of saddlebags to the cantle and grabbed some of the horse treats her brother hid in the cabinet. Fergus had always kept an extra pouch of carrots and sugar cubes for his horse when they returned from a ride. She turned away from the cabinet quickly. She would not think about her brother right now.
"If you're ready," Serena said, surprised at how level her voice sounded. "We can head out the back and down the path there. It heads right to the western woods." She guided Pepper out the back door, the Grey Warden right behind her.
"Do you hear anyone?"
"Markus! Over here! I just heard something!" A loud male voice shouted. The sound came from the front of the stables, and Serena heard at least two men trying to work the door open.
Serena cursed under her breath as she swung a leg up over her pony and mounted. Beside her, Duncan pulled himself up onto her father's horse, looking slightly uncomfortable, as if he didn't ride too often. Peanut growled, running off around the side of the stables. "Peanut, no!" she whispered fiercely.
"It's just a damn dog, Henry," another man complained. His voice sounded nasally and rough to Serena. "Let's get back up to the castle before..."
"I didn't hear no damn dog. I heard someone talking!" Henry hollered back. "Come on and help me open this door. I bet some of them servants are hiding in here."
"I believe that is our cue," Duncan said, kicking his horse into a trot. Serena did likewise and soon they were racing down the path, as two men burst from the back of the stables.
"Hey! You lot! Arrrghhh-"
Serena turned in her saddle to see Peanut barrel into the two men at a full run, knocking them to the ground. She watched as one managed to scramble away as her mabari pounced on the other, ripping his throat out.
The man gathered his feet under him and ran up the hill to the stables. "That dog is feral, Henry!" he shouted, not realizing his fellow was beyond caring whether Peanut was frothing at the mouth or not.
Serena put two fingers to her lips and let out a low whistle, and a minute later Peanut came running, his powerful legs bounded across the forest floor in great leaping strides.
"I don't know if that dog is utterly brilliant or absolutely terrifying," Duncan remarked, his dark eyes on the hound trotting happily at their side.
"Half the time I don't even know what he's planning to do," Serena replied. "He's almost too smart." Beside her, Peanut barked merrily.
After that, a quiet exhaustion came over them, and neither spoke again for what seemed like hours to Serena, and by the time Duncan finally lead them to a small clearing, dawn was beginning to break.
"There's a creek that runs past here just ahead," Duncan said, dismounting from Kyber carefully. "I think we should rest here for awhile." He stared at Serena warily. "If you don't mind me saying so, you look like you could use some sleep."
"I..." Serena yawned. "Y-yes, I suppose I do." She glanced around the clearing. How far had they traveled? Surely no further than twenty or thirty miles? "Will Howe's men..." She stifled another big yawn. "Will they be able to track us, do you think?"
Duncan seemed to consider this for a moment, and then shook his head. "I don't believe so, my lady. They will... have enough to deal with at the castle, I'm afraid. And I doubt we were the only ones to escape them."
"Yes, I suppose they will have to finish slaughtering the rest of my family and guardsmen," Serena said bitterly. "Perhaps they'll even burn the whole place to the ground." Serena felt hot tears burn her eyes, and before she could stop them, fat teardrops slid down her face.
Duncan reached out, putting a kind hand on her shoulder. "I want you to know that Howe's treachery will not go unpunished. As long as you and your brother still live, that castle will never truly be his."
"I know," Serena said, her voice thick with emotion. "It's just... that was my home. All I've ever truly known was there. It feels as if he has taken more than just my family's lives, but... it feels like my soul has been ripped in two." Two more tears slipped down her cheeks and she wiped them away angrily. "I will be fine, I just... he... I... I apologize for being so melodramatic."
"This is likely to be the last thing you want to hear right now, but I do understand what you are going through," Duncan said softly. "Know that the anger fades, it becomes... less intense as you fill with... a different purpose."
"Purpose?" Serena asked skeptically. She pulled a handkerchief from her knapsack and rubbed at her face. "What purpose could I possibly have now? I'm... I'm no one."
"You are a Grey Warden," Duncan replied. "With that comes a great responsibility to protect this world from the darkspawn threat." He pulled out his own bag and moved about, setting up their makeshift camp.
Serena didn't say anything for a while, content to watch him build the small fire as she sat on her bedroll, exhausted. As tired as she was, she couldn't bring herself to lie down, fearful of the dreams that would come.
"Is that why you joined them?" she asked finally. "Is that why you became a Grey Warden? To protect people?"
"I wish I could claim so noble a reason, my lady," Duncan said with a heavy sigh. He sounded self-depreciating, as if he didn't tell this story often out of embarrassment.
"I was... very young, a few years younger than you even. My parents had died, and I was living as a thief on the streets of Val Royeaux. I... attempted to steal a ring from a man and he returned before I could slip out. I ended up fighting with him and he was killed." Duncan looked down at his hands and Serena was taken by the remorse that radiated off him still, after all these years. "I was arrested soon after, and sentenced to hang."
Serena gasped. She had trouble picturing the man sitting in front of their small fire as a young man, much less as a murdering thief sentenced to die. "W-what happened?"
"The day before the sentence was to be carried out, the Warden-Commander of Orlais came to my cell... and conscripted me into the Grey Wardens."
"So... he saved your life?"
"She," Duncan corrected. "And no, as it turned out... the man I killed was a Grey Warden, and she was betrothed to him." Duncan shrugged. "I believe, seeing me as I was then, she felt my conscription would be... a form of punishment. For a while I certainly saw it as such... but you are different, my lady. You shoulder a great burden now, and you do it with a grace much beyond your years."
Serena ducked her head, feeling her face blush. "I... thank you," she said softly. She didn't think she had been handling the situation very well at all, and perhaps Duncan was simply being nice, trying to make her feel better. Either way, she appreciated the effort.
"You should get some sleep. It will be a few days ride before we reach Ostagar." He sighed, looking out over the fire. "You'll need all your energy."
Serena nodded, leaning back into her bedroll. She felt Peanut crawl over and lay his head at her hand before she closed her eyes and sleep took her.