Grey gaurdian. Part 1. Chapter 5

"Duncan doesn't care too much about formalities. Our order in Ferelden is still very young, and Duncan is doing everything to strengthen it, and the uniform is the tenth thing for him. The brothers wear it because they wanted to. Duncan had ordered the armor for me, too, and it seemed they were even ready, but we were called to Ostagar earlier."

"It's a shame," Davet said with a smile.

"It's not the uniform that unites the Grey Guards."

"But it's still nice to feel like a part of something in common. Soldiers, as I've heard, all get tattoos in the form of mabari as a sign of strength and belonging to the warriors."

Chase barked fervently, everyone was distracted and noticed Elissa. Alistair raised his eyebrows, but blinked quickly, Jory came to his senses and tactfully averted his eyes, and Davet smiled and openly stared at her face and shirt, which stuck to her wet body, emphasizing his curves. The girl cringed from that look, she wanted to hide at that very moment and hide in some far corner.

"Do you want to eat?" Alistair suddenly asked. "Let's go show you where."

He stood up and waved his hand in an inviting gesture. Jory leaned into Davet's ear and whispered loudly:

"Maybe that's why women aren't often accepted into the Grey Guards, so as not to distract from the case?"

"What are you looking at? You have a young wife, and the baby is coming soon." Davet smiled slyly.

"Yes, I am!.."

Elissa didn't hear any more, she didn't go back to the tent and just drank half a pot of thick soup on the move. I didn't want to anymore. She fed the enclosed bread to Chase, who, judging by his small appetite, had already had breakfast somewhere. When the girl was thinking where to put the rest of the food, she noticed that a pair of hungry human eyes were looking at her from the cage.

"I heard he was imprisoned for desertion and is about to be hanged," Alistair commented.

Elissa looked at the prisoner, then at the bowl in her hands, walked over to the cage and handed the food. The prisoner abruptly grabbed the plate along with the girl's palm, Elissa shuddered and pulled her hand away. The prisoner barked happily as if nothing had happened and, as a sign of appreciation for the food, handed Elissa the key, which, as he said, he stole from the magicians before the arrest. The girl sighed, accepted the useless gift and took it to the magicians. Alistair did not go, as he had "already seen enough of the magicians," and Duncan scolded him for that quarrel before the fight.

"We all have to work together," the Guard Commander told him.

Elissa noticed that some of the wizards were lying to the side on the grass, as if they were sleeping, but with very focused expressions. They were closely watched by templars in full combat gear.

"What are they doing?" Elissa asked, looking at nothing.

"Their souls are in the Shadows."

Elissa turned around and saw an elderly, slender enchantress with incredibly kind eyes, in which almost youthful energy shone. She looked at the girl carefully and spoke again.

"Greetings, young lady. Did Duncan bring you here? It's not easy to impress him, you can be proud. Let me introduce myself: my name is Wynn, and I am one of the Circle mages that the King has summoned."

"Nice to meet you, Wynn. My name is Elissa." The girl nodded politely.

Wynn's thin lips stretched into a smile, she appreciated the manners.

"You will soon become a Grey Warden, but do you know about the connection of the creatures of darkness with the Shadow?"

"Is the shadow the realm of dreams?"

"Not quite. The shadow is the place where the spirits live — the first children of the Creator, and their distorted entities are demons. She is separated from our world by a veil. Whenever your soul separates from your body, whether in a dream or after death, it goes into the Shadows. Most people don't even remember it when they wake up, but magicians can enter the Shadows consciously and sometimes look for answers there," Wynn pointed to the "sleepers."

"I've heard that magicians have entered the Shadows and desecrated the Creator's house."

"You're talking about the Tevinter magisters who, at the cost of sacrifice, tore the Veil and entered the Fade in the flesh. There they met the true Creator God, and with their sins they desecrated the Golden City, turning it into a Black One. For this, the Creator brought them down to earth, turning them into the first creatures of darkness. At least that's what the Song of Light says."

"And is it true?"

"Who knows... maybe it's just an allegory that teaches that a person is ruined by his own pride, or maybe it's true. At least this explanation is no worse than the others."

"But Andraste existed. She said that she heard the voice of the Creator and led an army against the ancient Tevinter and his false gods. This is how the current Church was born."

"Yes, but such ancient legends are often overgrown with speculation in many interpretations," Wynn said.

"At least there's something to think about," Elissa replied.

"Yes, it's wise to think about your actions from time to time."

Elissa looked at Wynn carefully, who reminded her a little of her babysitter Nan, who loved to tell Elissa moral stories. Nan and Wynn were completely different, but the girl felt something familiar and familiar in the wise tone of the enchantress.

"Can you give me some advice?" Elissa asked suddenly.

"Advice?" Wynn was surprised and laughed fervently. "No way! You young people already know everything in the world. Why do you need the advice of your elders?"

Definitely not similar.

Elissa sat on her bed and listened with half an ear as Davet told the story of his acquaintance with Duncan. It turned out that this weasel grew up in a village near the Wild Lands, and then ran away from his father to the capital, where he was engaged in theft. I cut off Duncan's purse in the crowd, but he noticed it. Davet was supposed to be hanged for his past tricks, but the Guardian intervened and declared the Right of Conscription.

"When I left, I stuck my tongue out at the guards," Davet laughed. "Now I'm done. Who would have thought that I would become a Grey Warden!"

"And I won the tournament that Earl Eamon arranged for Duncan", Jory said with pride.

"Alistair?"

"what? Before that, I was a templar. More precisely, he studied at the church for him. After taking the oath, he had to serve in the Circle of Magicians, supervise them and chase after the apostates. Fortunately, Duncan took me away before I took my vows. That was... six months ago."

"Didn't you like it?"

"My heart wasn't in it."

"But you're good at angering magicians," Davet grinned.

"I'm okay with magicians. It's just that I absolutely don't like magicians who don't like me. I really don't want to live out my life as a frog. I'm fine as it is."

"Elissa?" Jory asked, hinting at keeping up the conversation.

Everyone looked at her. The girl shook her head and turned away. Today, she had approached the soldier guarding the passage to the Korkari Wilderness several times this morning, but he had said that there were no Highever soldiers among the troops returning from the reconnaissance. And those warriors who returned were all wounded and scared. Elissa was worried about her brother and couldn't find a place for herself.

"Come on," Davet insisted. "We're going to be Grey Wardens together soon. Tell me, how did you impress Duncan?"

Elissa frowned, abruptly stood up and strode away, motioning for her mabari not to follow her.

I survived.

"That was a very tactless question, Davet", Duncan answered in a hollow voice as he approached.

The command headquarters was located behind the dilapidated walls of a building that hundreds of years ago could have been a temple or a meeting place. Loghain was standing over the table, bent over the cards... and arguing with the king again. He was informed that Kaylan had almost died last night.

"Your recklessness on the battlefield will get us into trouble! How long do you have to be on the verge of death for you to give up your naive dreams of heroism?"

"Nothing happened to me, Loghain. I was saved by the Grey Guardian Alistair."

"Which speaks to his virtues, not your discretion. I asked you to leave the battles to our soldiers, and not only are you getting into trouble, you're also inviting enemies to our lands."

"The Guards of Orlais are also at war with Pestilence, as are the Fereldenians."

Thairn slammed his palm down on the table.

"There is no Pestilence. You're too caught up in the legends to trust these Guardians in everything. Should I remind you how your father almost died because of them once?"

"And upon his return, he issued a decree to return the Order of the Grey Guards to Ferelden," Kaylan retorted.

"I was against it then, and now my opinion has not changed. The Grey Guards serve no king or country. They always pursue only their own goals, and they will sacrifice anything and anyone for them."

"That's enough, Loghain. Let's leave it at that" The king replied dispassionately and left.

Orley...

Loghain knew that Kaylan was trying his best to make peace with his recent enemy. Born in liberated Ferelden, the young king did not know what it was like for the people to live in slavery for almost seventy years, how Orlesian soldiers took mothers, wives, and daughters from their beds and raped them in front of their families, how they took the last piece of bread and killed everyone who just "looked at them the wrong way." Loghain swore that he would deal with all the creatures of darkness himself and would not allow that nightmare to happen again.

Teyrn ran a hand through his hair in exasperation and rested his palms on the table again. The servants did not dare to approach him. Everyone thought he and the king were fighting again over the queen, Loghain's daughter. However, they had been arguing about this quite often lately, as if they had never been friendly as a family.

Kaylan sighed with annoyance. When the war was over, he would have to have a serious conversation with Loghain about Orlais. Enough of this feud. Ferelden deserves peace, and Kaylan, as king, must ensure it.

Kaylan was walking towards Duncan's tent when he saw Elissa walking towards him. When she noticed the king, she stepped aside and bowed, but Kaylan also stopped and spoke to her.

Duncan could see them talking from afar. Elissa answered in monosyllables, alternately shaking her head and nodding. After that, sadness flashed across the king's face. He said goodbye to the girl and approached the Guard.

"I'm so sorry that I can't help her right now," Kaylan said sadly.

"Elissa understands everything, Your Majesty. I hope she wasn't rude to you." Duncan asked politely.

"No, on the contrary. She was very polite, and that only makes me sadder when I see her so sad. Keep an eye on her, Duncan."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"However, that's not why I was looking for you," the king became animated. "Yesterday, Alistair the Guardian saved my life on the battlefield. I would like to thank him."

"Him," Davet looked around, but there was no one behind him, "...I was just here. Let's go find it."

Davet got up from his seat and pulled over to help with the search for Jory.

"Alistair was just doing his duty. I think he would have told you the same thing if he were here." Duncan answered the king without turning around. "But I'll give him your thanks."

"Well, good, and..." Kaylan noticed the shoulder plate armor protruding from behind the tall fire and smiled to himself. "...tell him that I'll figure out how to reward him later."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I'll pass it on."

Kaylan left.

"Duncan, what was the king talking about?" Alistair asked quietly. "About Elissa. Who is she?"

The Grey Guardian sighed.

"She is the daughter of Thairne Cousland."

"What? Is she from the Thairn family?"

Alistair was surprised. Usually, nobles of this status do not release heirs to the order, joining which means the end of a past life and an eternal struggle with death. Besides, the authority of the Grey Guards is far from what it used to be. However, Duncan's account of what happened in Highever explained everything.

"If I hadn't taken her away from the castle by the Right of Summoning, she would have stayed to protect her parents and, of course, would have died with them. She hoped to find her brother in Ostagar, but the king sent him to explore the Wild Lands. He still hasn't returned."

"Wow," Alistair said.

"I don't think she needs anyone's pity. Just don't ask her about Highever. She'll come to terms with her grief over time."

"And what about the Dedication? Can she do it?"

Duncan was afraid himself.

"We can only hope that she finds the strength", The guardian looked up at the sky, checking the time against the sun and shadows. There is no more time to wait. Alistair, gather the recruits. It's time for you to leave.

*See the book "The Calling" by David Heyder

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