Home Sweet Wardens' Home

((This is setting up Vigil's Keep. It would be after all of the other Vigil events and Recovery - By the Campfire will be happening at the same time as the camp is being cleaned out.))

"Papers, papers, papers ..." Nygozy sighed as she stared at the mess of parchment on her new heavy oak desk which she had obtained once the Seneschal of Vigil's Keep had found her what she seemed to think was the best -and least touched- rooms in the whole place. They were located over a patch of garden that Jezarine had taken over and had grand double doors leading to a large patio she could use to see far along the roads and the woods. There was the sitting business room with soft chairs for whoever came to see her, a bedroom and a bathing room. The hallway went to stairs, one on each side of the great hall which was being cleaned and fixed even as the dwarven woman grumbled.

Seneschal Varel knocked on the door then walked in and looked at the woman at the desk, "The cleaning goes well, Commander. We can have it ready for a meeting tonight with all the wardens. It seems as good a time as any to have one."

Dark eyes lifted and she studied the man before her. He seemed a good enough sort as his actions so far and the paperwork she'd read on him said, "You already read my mind, Seneschal Varel. It may be a fine thing if you can continue with realizing what I would like before I mention it. Then again my guard may become jealous if you read it too much. Has our guest, the mage Anders, been set up properly?"

"He has a cell but a nice one with a proper bed and he's been fed. Would you like him brought to you?"

"Once again you read me. Yes, that would be good." She sat back in her chair, "What of Fremelda?"

The man sighed, "She is doing better but is all jittery to do something."

Nygozy sniggered, "That's my thorn in my side. If there is nothing else at the moment then I would continue with my pages of eyestrain. Thank you ser."

Seneschal Varel bowed and left the room then Nygozy slumped in her chair, "There is so much to do and I can't get to any of it with all these papers! Who'd have thought that Weisshapt would need such paperwork done for fighting darkspawn and getting a keep in order. You'd think they'd run out of trees this way!"

((I am going to Sim the area so people can choose their rooms.))

Right.

So he'd escaped the Circle - again - to avoid precisely this exact fate. What was the point of running away from one jail cell only to end up in another? Sure, this was less a cell than it was a room with a bed and pillows and a dresser and everything, but there were no windows, and the constantly shuffling feet of what was obviously a guard just outside the door made it very clear that this was not a voluntary lodging. They'd even taken his staff from him. All the comfy beds and pillows in the world couldn't put him at ease when he didn't have his staff at his side. Even if the bed was pretty comfy.

He let his head collide with the pillow as he fell back, sighing as he looked up at the ceiling. There were seven wooden beams going across towards the door, and two that ran parallel to those two. On the seven beams, he counted one hundred and sixteen darkened spots where there had been knotholes in the tree. He'd even counted twice to make sure he had the right number. And yes, he'd done all of that counting in just the last hour alone. Before that, he'd taken a mental note of how many times his guard coughed per minute (and had quickly come to the conclusion that the man should probably see a healer, because if thirteen coughs per minute wasn't a sign of a cold or worse, then Anders was a mabari hound).

Anders had never taken very well to being cooped up.

He had only started on his pointless counting tasks after he'd made absolutely certain that there was no way he was getting out of this room. The door was bolted, heavily, and he had no magic at his disposal without his staff. Sure, he could probably conjure some rudimentary spell without it, but he risked blowing out half the wall if he tried that (or worse, himself), and so far, he wasn't entirely sure what he was being kept for. For all he knew, this was standard procedure for Wardens, and they'd let him out soon. After all, there were a lot of mages in the Warden ranks, so hopefully they weren't going to hold his birthright against him like the Templars would have. The second he thought that things weren't going well for him, though, he'd have to start looking into some "staff-less door demolishing" spells.

Vigil's Keep had once been an impressive building with a sprawling yard and towers so high they looked like they could touch the clouds overhead. She'd seen it once when her father had taken her and Fergus to visit Amaranthine, and her brother had bet her a silver that she couldn't beat him to the top of the stairs that led to the archers' parapet, and she'd nearly knocked him town twenty steps when she'd squirreled through his legs. She'd won the silver, though, even when Fergus had cried foul.

The Keep looked a lot sadder than it had back then. Not quite so large and imposing, and there were whole outer walls that had fallen into disrepair. Howe had seen to it that his precious Arling had been safe and sound behind the city walls during the Blight, and the Keep that had once been his family's most honored asset had suffered under his neglect and the assault of the darkspawn. It would take gold - a lot of gold - to repair it to its former glory. Macha probably knew the contents of the Crown's treasury even better than Alistair did, and she knew that raising the gold would be more difficult than anticipated. Logain had nearly bankrupted the monarchy in his fervor to keep his Orlesian ghosts at bay, and Alistair had no money to add to it once he'd been crowned king. Most of their finances came from the Cousland estate, managed by herself and Fergus, as well as from the purses of some other minor nobles, and while she wouldn't have minded offering the gold to help with the Keep's renovations, she knew the other nobles wouldn't be quite so eager to part with their coin. They would only see that the Blight was over, that there was no immediate need to fix up the massive fortress - they couldn't see that the Keep would be needed again in time, and that it needed the repairs as soon as possible, current peace or no.

She'd already lined up some potential stonemasons that would be willing to work on the outer walls for cheap, as thanks to the Hero of Ferelden, and she was on her way to Nygozy's office with those papers now. She would let the Commander pick from among the few people she'd selected, and then she'd see if there was anything else she could help with. More than that, she just wanted to make sure the dwarf was holding up alright. Nygozy was one of her very dearest friends, and after everything that had happened on the road, there had been little time to make sure she'd been keeping herself together.

Argos, ever present at her side, came to a stop at her side as she stopped at the door, shifted her papers to one hand, and knocked. A brass griffon had been hung on the door, a makeshift marker to show that this was the Commander's office, and she examined the metal working while she waited for Nygozy to answer and let her in.

One of the guards at the door opened it but before he could even ask a question Torture had rushed from his bed over to the door and crushed the man against the wall as he barked at Argos. He put his rump up with his itty bitty tail wagging wildly in order to play with the other horse of a dog.

"Get your rump back in here and you three play in the bedroom but NOT on my bed." Nygozy rolled her eyes as Calliara's pup, the mighty little Fenrir rushing up and around the other two mabari barking like only a pup could bark. Torture grabbed the pup by the scruff and tottered along into the bedroom to play in their play nook with their friend, "Hi Macha."

Nygozy looked up and smiled at the other woman. Every sound Torture made when greeting others were discernible as the dog used a different bark for each person or mabari he knew. She put an elbow on top of the table and leaned her chin on it, "Might this be business? I'm sure it is business as there is nothing else within the lives of the wardens." She chuckled, "What do we have now?"

Argos stepped away from Macha's side to greet the other mabari, his reaction far more subdued but no less affectionate. His nose bumped along Torture's as the excitable mabari bounded around him, and he carefully moved around the much smaller pup as it tried to insert itself between its more massive brethren. When Torture picked the squirming bundle up and started for the other room, Argos didn't even look back at Macha as he followed, and the noblewoman smiled as she saw him go. She'd never seen her careful mabari trust anyone more than he had trusted Nygozy, almost since the moment Duncan had led their confused and broken bodies into Ostagar the first time. Sometimes it amazed her how her most faithful companion's behavior so often mirrored her own exactly.

With a quick apology to the guard at the door for the dogs' behavior, she moved into the room, meeting Nygozy's eye with a smile of her own when the dwarf looked up from her desk. "Hi, Nygozy," she replied seamlessly, sitting heavily in the chair across from the slightly beaten wooden desk. At least this room hadn't been hit hard in the darkspawn attack - one less repair to worry about.

The papers in her hand shifted as she lifted them and shrugged, as if to say "what else" with a roll of her eyes. "It's always work with us, isn't it? I think I'd prefer getting lost in the Deep Roads again to signing one more petition or document. The only danger I ever face anymore is paper cuts and back aches." The grin never left her face though, even as she lamented her current state of being, and there was nothing but fondness in her voice as she spoke to her friend.

With a flick of her wrist, the papers were on Nygozy's desk, bills and orders fanned out for the Hero to see. "The outer wall and main gates were heavily damaged, and they'll need to be replaced if this Keep wants to keep its title as the most impenetrable fortress in Ferelden. Most of the former staff also refused to come back, so we'll either need to try to convince them otherwise, or spend some time in Amaranthine recruiting." She shifted in her seat, glancing aside, and for the first time since coming into the room, she seemed uncom[/color]fortable. It was gone almost as soon as it came, though, and she looked back at the papers. "I'd send Sinjan, or someone who won't scare them away as soon as look at them. This place is going to be next to useless until we get enough guards and cooks on duty. Cleaning people can come later, if we're spread thin. I know that Bowen is handling the darkspawn cleanup, but the few guards we do have left are busy with your mage prisoner and with monitoring the outer wall."

Nygozy chortled, "It is always business these days, yes." She looked at all the paperwork and groaned inwardly as she got up to scoop up the pile and walked over to the couch to sit down. The woman was starting to show but she normally kept a leather outfit on that didn't show or wore a cloak that covered it. Soon it would be easy for anyone to notice that she was carrying a child and she was not sure that was such a good thing. At this moment she did not do such a thing as Macha was a friend and she was not about to hide anything from her.

She leaned against the couch's arm to look towards a soft chair that she figured Macha would sit on before starting to look at the bills, "We are going to have to find some minerals and other resources to sell for all of this and you're right, we do need more people. The ones we brought from Denerim and our own wardens are a fair amount but it won't put all this to rights. Sinjan's a good idea for a recruiter. Maybe Bowen too."

For a moment the papers were viewed then Nygozy looked up, "Ah yes. Anders. The poor fellow is having such a hard life. I guess I should meet with him and deal with that essence right away. That way I can have guards dealing with other things instead of his continued care." Nygozy sat up and looked to her friend, "Would you mind getting him while I try not to eat the bills while I read them?"

Macha didn't need to be invited twice. Nygozy's nose was already buried in the stack of papers as she rose from her seat near the desk, moving across the room in a few long strides to the worn but no less comfortable armchair at the Hero's behest. Standing over her, Nygozy's attention elsewhere, the noblewoman stole a moment to look the woman over. There was weariness in her face, and more than a little weight visible in the slant of her shoulders, and Macha was willing to bet that the baby that was already starting to show wasn't helping on top of her seemingly endless additional worries. Regret flashed through her, and she suddenly felt very sorry that she'd even brought these papers to her friend in the first place. Yes, Nygozy was the Warden Commander, but she knew that the Hero trusted her enough with matters of finance to implement the necessary projects on her own. The only thing she really needed approval on was sending people into Amaranthine to hire workers, and that at least would have been kinder to a woman who had more than enough troubles on her plate as it was.

"Nygozy," she started weakly as she sat, intent on apologizing and leaving with her work, but then Nygozy started speaking, her eyes never leaving the page as she scanned it line by line, and all Macha could do was smile as she listened. If nothing else, no one could say that the Hero of Ferelden couldn't handle anything and everything thrown her way.

Once Nygozy's mouth had opened, Macha waited until she was through before speaking, considering the dwarf's words carefully. "If we're lucky, the money will be raised before we need to worry about getting the non-essential staff hired and set up. I was speaking to the Seneschal earlier, and he says that the repairs to the outer wall are absolutely the most pressing need at the moment."

She paused, humming in thought, and then reached forward to pluck one of the papers from the back of the pile in Nygozy's hands, settling it on top. "This is a list of names of potential stonemasons I'd been considering, and I noticed that one of them is a dwarf. His name's Voldrik Glavonak. Maybe he'd give us a discount, considering our Commander is a paragon of dwarven beauty." The conspiratorial smirk she offered Nygozy was practically prepubescent. "But let me take care of that, okay? You shouldn't have to worry about it on top of everything else."

When she settled back in her chair she nodded, mulling over the next order of business. The Wardens were no strangers to mages, and they weren't exactly afraid of the captive man either, not with sheer numbers on their side. The primary conflict, as she saw it, lay in the fact that he was (probably) a fugitive from the Circle, which left them few options in ways of dealing with him. Macha had seen the Circle once, with Nygozy and the others. She'd been assured that the state of chaos it had been in at the time was fairly abnormal, with the Fade torn and abominations running around, but the way some mages described it, she wasn't sure if it was an exaggeration or not.

"Yes, I can go get him. Is there anything I should tell him?" She stood, already making a movement for the door before she checked herself, smiling down at Nygozy. "Are you sure you want me to bring you the mage? Maybe I should be bringing you a loaf of bread instead. I'm fairly certain it would taste better than those papers, at least."

More and more coin was going to be needed for each repair then there would be coin to hire people to work there. Or they could try a different approach with some.

"If we're lucky, the money will be raised before we need to worry about getting the non-essential staff hired and set up. I was speaking to the Seneschal earlier, and he says that the repairs to the outer wall are absolutely the most pressing need at the moment."

Repairs on the wall first. That was definitely prudent, "Yes, I can see that as the first priority. We need those walls able to stand up to any further pounding and from the way things go for us it will be needed."

Macha turned the conversation over to more information regarding the wall recreation and she listened intently to her friend. Macha had been well versed in running her family home and had been running the country instead of Alistair so there was no reason to consider any other. She'd always known the human woman could go far and if it hadn't been her to become the Hero of Fereldan it would have been Macha.

"This is a list of names of potential stonemasons I'd been considering, and I noticed that one of them is a dwarf. His name's Voldrik Glavonak. Maybe he'd give us a discount, considering our Commander is a paragon of dwarven beauty."

A childish smirk followed those words and Nygozy followed suit as she sat at an angle to speak directly to the other woman.

"But let me take care of that, okay? You shouldn't have to worry about it on top of everything else."

A brow rose and she sighed, "Yes there is a lot. I am always glad for your help Macha. I hope I tell you how much I appreciate you often enough."

Nygozy looked at the page of workers they required, "I was thinking. Maybe we can get workers easier than normal by finding those who require work and will do so for three meals a day, a roof over their head and safety. There are many out there who are out of home and job. Maybe even people from the Alienage. I'm sure many of them have lost their lords." It was always a matter of importance for her to help those who were in sad situations, as long as they were not criminal minded. A touch of theft did not bother her but they had to behave to the laws the wardens put forth.

There was now the matter of Anders and Macha hit a few items on the head. What to tell him and if she needed bread instead of the paper that was threatened a moment before, "It has been a couple days so he must be fed up waiting so if you could tell him I am sorry for the wait but matters here have required my attention and that I hope his comfy cell was, well, comfy."

Nygozy laughed, turning it into a light chuckle and wide smile before answering further, "Anders and some bread and fruit, if you may. I think Jez has been able to produce some."

"You're the only one," she retorted with a dry snort. "Most of the time I think Alistair was so relieved that things were being handled at all that he completely overlooked gratitude." A short, fond laugh rose in her throat, and she shrugged, resting her hand on the ornate handle of the door. "I'm too hard on him. He's only ever done the best he can, and I know he appreciates what Eamon and I do."

But that wasn't the matter at hand. And as Nygozy launched into another idea on how to get work for the Keep, Macha couldn't help as another fond smile crept onto her face (not that she made any attempt to stop it, either). The Hero had always been so eager to provide aid for those who needed it, and she was, if possible, even more fond of helping people to help themselves. Looking for those who needed the work, rather than limiting themselves to the folk who continued to return to the Keep after their flight, was both practical and a potential boon to the likes of the unemployed in the city. "I'll make sure to let Sinjan or Bowen know, whichever I put to the task. Maybe even Jezarine or Calliara would be willing to help with looking in the Alienage." It was a thought, though Macha knew that both women had more than enough on their plates without being sent on recruiting missions. However it worked out, with any luck, the Keep would be re-staffed by the end of the week.

A heartier laugh greeted Nygozy's last comment, and Macha took the parting words as her cue to open the door. Before stepping out, she smiled at the dwarf, nodding down to her growing stomach. "Are you sure you won't be wanting some strange craving by the time I come back with your bread? I could always send away to Orzammar for some nug sandwiches to be delivered." With that, and a last look to make sure Nygozy was alright with the papers in her hands, she turned to leave the room. Just before she closed the door, she heard the thud of paws hitting the floor, and a moment later, Argos was slinking his way around the closing door to stand at her side.

"Not going to stay with Torture and the pup?" She was met with a look, and all she could offer in response was a roll of her eyes. They'd be back soon enough, before the other hounds missed him. She'd probably want a break from being walked all over by a pup herself, if she'd been in his shoes (paws).

The walk to the servant's quarters was long, but thankfully, much of the decaying corpses had been removed from the halls by this point. The Keep had a proper dungeon to house criminals and deserters, but they were so far deep in the bowels of the fortress that they'd received a lower priority for being cleared of the darkspawn carcases. However, it had seemed unnecessarily cruel to sequester the mage away down there when they didn't even know if he was a criminal or not (excluding what the Circle may have to say on the matter), so to the servant's quarters it had been, with a guard on his door at all times since their arrival at the Keep.

A dozing guard scrambled to attention when the echoing of her heels on the unadorned walls broke through his haze, and she offered him a knowing but understanding smile as she reached for the lock. It wasn't entertaining work, guarding a door, and he'd been given no reason to think that his charge would give him a hard time - he must have thought the work amounted to little more than glorified babysitting. She had to give him credit for being so sporting about the whole thing.

For courtesy's sake, she knocked on the door before inserting the key, and Argos stepped closer to her side in preparation for whatever greeting they might be met with.

On Anders' part, he'd just been wondering if it would be worth the attempt to strike up a conversation with his guard through the door when there was a knock. After a little under a week left to his own devices, the sudden sound sent him nearly out of his skin, and he could feel an uncomfortable and utterly unintentional surge of mana run down to his fingers. He shook it out before calling out, lest he give his gaolers reason to mistrust him.

"Come in!" he called, pulling himself up onto his elbows to look at the door. In the next moment, a woman he hadn't seen yet was stepping in, stopping just inside the doorway, and a massive hound took its place at her side, all muscle and black fur and hard eyes. He sat up fully, eying the dog with no small amount of wariness (he'd never been much of a dog person), and then turned his attention to the woman. Even having been stuck in the Circle for most of his life, he could tell she was noblewoman just from the way she stood. Common people didn't give you that kind of smile when the didn't even know you; you had to earn looks like that from the average person - only the high born had the courtesy of being nice right from the get-go.

But there was no reason to be antagonistic if she was making an effort at courtesy, though. He matched her smile and then some, flashing her a grin as if he hadn't been held in a cell for the last however many days. "Well, you're a bit of a different sight than Geoff. Is his name Geoff, the guard outside my door? He hasn't spoken to me, so I had to make up a name to call him."

She laughed, and Anders took it as a good sign. Captors didn't generally laugh at their prisoners - maybe he wasn't in as much trouble as he thought. "No," she answered, the smile still in her smooth voice. "His name is Hubert, I believe."

"I liked Geoff better." There was a snort from outside the room, and Anders couldn't help a grin. "Not that Hubert isn't a nice name!" he said louder, and there was another snort from his ever-vigilant guard.

"Should I ask you what you call yourself, or do I have to make up a name for you?" the woman went on, clearly willing to play the game, if a game it was going to be. The smirk that lifted at her mouth rivaled any that he'd seen in any tavern during his frequent escapes. "I think you might look like a Garfield."

"Anders, thanks," he said dryly, and the smile that he got in return suggested that she'd already known.

"Isn't 'Anders' just what they call someone from the Anderfels?" she asked, but she didn't seem to push it, for which he was grateful. "I'm Macha. The Warden Commander wanted to see you, so if you'd like to wish Hubert goodbye, I'll take you to her."

"You're good at this, for a noblewoman," he noted as he stood, working out a kink in his back as he walked over to her. He didn't miss how her mabari tensed with each step he took.

She shrugged, turning to move out of the room. "I had a lot of practice talking to Alistair."

Anders nodded to the guard, a (hopefully) final farewell to the until-now nameless man who had been his only (piss poor) companion for the last several days, and his eyebrows lifted in curiosity at her answer. That he hadn't had to specify what 'this' was meant that he'd been more right than he thought. Most nobles weren't so quick to spare their wit on the lesser mortals. "Isn't that the King?" The Circle wasn't totally cut off from the world - you'd have to be living under a rock not to hear about how Maric's bastard son had taken the throne.

"Yes, but he wasn't King then, obviously. Actually, nothing changed much after he became King, either. There was more me nagging him, I suppose, but there was enough of that on the road, too."

He wasn't an idiot. He could put two and two together. "You're a Warden too?" She nodded her answer. "So they weren't as wiped out as everyone was led to believe."

"You ask a lot of questions for a prisoner," she noted, but he wasn't fazed by the comment - she looked more amused than annoyed, and it has already been pretty safely established that he wasn't a prisoner so much as he was under suspicion. "But no, you're right. There are more of us than people thought. We've been busy rebuilding the order. The Archdemon is gone, but there are enough darkspawn still around to cause trouble without us."

"Ouch. And here I was worrying about Templars. It sounds like you lot have got enough on your plate." They were getting to the upper floors of the fortress now, and the atmosphere wasn't so austere and uncomfortable anymore.

"It's a burden that people like adding to, it seems." Her steps were slowing now, but it didn't look like they were getting closer to any offices or anything. In fact, by the time the noblewoman stopped to duck into a room, he could hear the distinct sounds of a kitchen nearby.

She disappeared for a few minutes, and he was left to look around at the tapestries and ancient portraits on the way, a few of them damaged from the battle nearly a week ago. From the bare spots he could see on the wall, he assumed that the ones that had been heavily damaged had been taken down, either for repair or to be thrown away.

His head swung around as he heard her return, the door closing behind her, and he rose an eyebrow at the platter of bread and cheese and grapes that she balanced in one hand, a decanter of cider in her other hand. "Sorry about that. We can go now." With a nod to her dog, they were off again.

Finally, after climbing another set of stairs to the main level, Macha stopped at a door, and her hound moved around to his other side without a word from its master. So it was true what they said about mabari, then, that they were really as smart as a person, or near so. He didn't know if he was comfortable with the idea of a big vicious dog being smarter than him or not.

"Nygozy?" Macha called loud enough to be heard through the heavy oak door, knocking on it for additional effect. "I've brought Anders with me. And your bread."

After Macha had left there was a caller at Nygozy's door. The woman sighed heavily and went to the desk, placing the papers down in a box where her paperwork went on top of the desk and there was a heavier knock at the doo rand someone yelled that she had to let whoever was out there in as they were on an important mission.

Nygozy looked to the door then to the dark spot in the room she knew her lover had ended up in and her brow rose just before she snorted. She slowly started to clean the clutter on the desk and made little piles as the knocking got louder . The two guards who had come inside were looking at her waiting for her to give them a nod so they could let whoever into the room.

Nygozy put on her cloak so it would fully cover her, fluffed the pillow on her chair then sat down and calmly arranged herself into a comfortable position. Her eyes went to the guards and she motioned for them to go to the doorknobs. She counted on her fingers as the knocking and yelling got worse then indicated for them to open the doors.

Three men tripped into the room, one falling over the couch and another bashing into it. They started to get themselves in order when Nygozy calmly addressed them, "Good sirs. Welcome. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I was indisposed." Her smile said opposite to the polite words, "How may I help you?"

"Warden Commander Nygozy ... there is no last name here ..." The leader moved around the couch to stand in front of the heavy desk and looked it over, "That is a short desk."

Nygozy fought the urge to roll her eyes, "There is no last name. I am Nygozy, Fereldan Warden Commander and Hero of Fereldan and I am a dwarf." That to her was enough to say that she had the desk chopped down to size and the look she gave the man indicated that if he didn't get to the point she'd do the same to him.

"Ah right." He bowed to her and placed a package on the desk, "We are Grey Wardens from Weisshapt and have an important message for you. When you have decided whom to send with us we will be leaving to go back."

"Open it."

"What ... ser?"

"Open the package."

"Open the package?"

Nygozy put her chin on a palm and gave him a bored grin, "You are a good parrot, ser. Now open the package and I will look at the contents if you hand it out to me." She smirked then, a smirk telling him not to try anything.

The man opened the package and handed her a letter. The dwarven lady noticed that the man had no issue with what he was doing so took the letter and read it. She gave no signs of what she thought of it or what her intentions were until she placed the letter, upside down, onto her table, "It is good to see you, ser Rubin. I will carry out this request as per the letter and have everything ready for an entourage within two days. Arvin. Please find these gentlemen guest rooms and tell Mya that there are more mouths to feed."

Rubin seemed confused for a moment, "But we must leave as soon as we may."

"And as soon as we may is in two days. I am sure that your group would like to rest before rushing off again." The other four men looked weary and happy for the prospect.

"You are right. Thank you for your hospitality. I have to say it has been an honour."

Nygozy smiled as the men were led out the door then returned to the couch where she laid back for a few moments until there was another knock.

"Nygozy? I've brought Anders with me. And your bread."

"Come on in. Tomas, please leave the room." She peeked up over the back of the couch just as Torture rushed over and jumped over her and the couch to land right in front of the door, panting happily and waiting for his friends. When the second of the double doors opened Tomas snuck out to his station.

Kai wasn't sure how the little woman kept going. After everything that had happened in the last week he was exhausted. But he refused to leave her side if he could help it. As she did her paperwork he leaned against the wall in his shadowy corner and dozed on and off.

Macha's knock had brought him wide awake for a moment, but the woman and dog were no threat and he had gone back to sleep. He came awake again with a snarl when the pounding on the door began. The elf was alert and watching intently, blades ready, when Nygozy finally admitted the unwelcome visitors. When the visitors left he let out a sigh and put his weapons away.

The assassin was just considering joining Nygozy on the couch when Macha returned with the captive mage. "After this one you need rest Hero," He whispered from the shadows just before Macha entered. He doubted much would happen with Macha and two full grown Mabari in the room, but the Mage was still a wild card, so Kai waited, alert and ready to see how things would unfold. Soon they would likely have either a new warden... or a serious problem.

With one last look at the mage behind her (and one last private smile as she watched him flick nervous eyes towards Argos), she shouldered the door open, swaying once to keep the platter balanced in her hand. "The kitchen's a bit poorly stocked at the moment," she started before shed even fully turned back around to let the door swing closed, forcing Anders to take a quick step forward or risk being hit. "But I managed to wrangle up something, at least. And some cider, too. You know what healers say - wine can be bad for the baby, so that's one risk I won't be taking."

Anders nodded absently, his own knowledge of healing offering similar advice, and came to a somewhat awkward stop in the middle of the room, not sure if he was invited to sit or not. It didn't help much that the massive dog was hanging around him like a grim-faced gargoyle, guarding his every step, and another soon joined it. This one, it seemed, was far freer with its greeting, and suddenly Anders wasn't sure if he preferred a stoic mabari or an overly excitable mabari hovering around him.

"You two have met," Macha went on, striding past Anders easily to place the wooden plate on the end table beside the couch, "so I suppose introductions aren't necessary. Anders, the Warden Commander. Nygozy, Anders."

He wondered, briefly, if maybe this level of familiarity was a good sign. His general experience with officials and knights was that they had a love-affair with formality and general standoffishness. He'd been expecting something along those lines here, even considering the noblewoman's earlier friendliness, but between the prancing mabari and the lounging commander, he felt more like he was being forced to meet a particularly distant aunt, the kind that glared at you when you dirtied the carpet and radiated a general sense of disapproval but who was nevertheless harmless.

"Yes," he started, shrugging to try and convince himself that he wasn't half as nervous as he really was. Suddenly he wished very much that he'd been allowed his staff back, if only for the comforting weight of it on his back. "We met. Between all the darkspawn gore and panicked civilians, though, I don't think we got each others names." Though apparently they knew his well enough. Sort of.

"After this one you need rest Hero,"

Kai was as correct as ever. It had been surprising that the assassin had not said anything before this point but Nygozy expected it to come soon. She had been over extending herself and it would have been fine but with the child becoming larger each passing day it was making work more difficult. Nygozy smiled at Kai and lay back calmly, "Very well, Bodyguard." She winked at him before turning to the door again as Macha started to talk.

"The kitchen's a bit poorly stocked at the moment, but I managed to wrangle up something, at least. And some cider, too. You know what healers say - wine can be bad for the baby, so that's one risk I won't be taking."

The dwarf sat up a bit and looked at the food, "I know. Sin reported to me about it earlier but at least we have some coming in soon by baggage train." They were not too many days behind us on the road." She had the bulk of the supply trains head out later than they had gone as she had wanted to clear the way to make sure they were not going to lose anything. They were being guarded by knights and other King's men.

Nygozy noticed that Anders looked quite unsure of being around the mabaris and she had to smirk about it. He had looked from Argos to Torture and back which indicated that he was not sure which one he was less sure of. It was so much fun watching people around the breed and Anders did not fail to meet her expectations.

"You two have met so I suppose introductions aren't necessary. Anders, the Warden Commander. Nygozy, Anders."

"Yes, we met. Between all the darkspawn gore and panicked civilians, though, I don't think we got each others names." Though apparently they knew his well enough. Sort of.

Nygozy nodded as she took some of the bread and a bunch of cheese and started to nibble at it. She chuckled while pointing a piece of cheese towards his sleeves, "No we never did get each other's names. We were just a tad too busy making sure Darkspawn didn't chew our fingers off. I have to tell you though, Anders: you should have gotten a new robe when you escaped the Tower. Your name is stitched into the design on the cuff of your right sleeve. Most people don't notice that. It certainly makes it much easier for the washing staff to know who owns what."

Torture bounded around Argo and completely ignored Anders. He walked over to Nygozy and put his snout under her hand for some pets, "Now, let's discuss you."

There was a brief flicker of shadow over the table holding the food. When the shadow passed anyone who had been looking would have noticed some of the food from the plate seemed to have dissapeared into thin air.

His head snapped up from watching the hounds circle around each other, half convinced (despite all evidence to the contrary) that they were preparing to liberate his hand from his arm at any moment. The Commander was speaking to him, he realized, and answering her would help him further along in the "try not to get arrested and/or sent back the the Circle" plan than ignoring her ever would. Now if only he could reach past the whole "dog" thing that had been occupying his mind to recall what she'd been saying . . .

"Well, you know, after a while, all the skirts start to look alike, and Templars aren't very keen on sharing. I have my name stitched into my socks, too." He lifted a foot for emphasis, and then promptly shoved it back to the ground. No need to go making a complete arse of himself right away, no was there.

Finally dog-free for the moment, the mage relaxed enough to pay more careful, less idiotic attention to the matter at hand. "Me?" he repeated, none the more intelligent, but honestly surprised. "There's nothing to tell?" he ventured finally, voice hedging just this side of uncertain. At least, there was nothing to tell beyond what they already knew - he was a mage, escaped from the Circle, obviously dodging Templars at every step, and he'd somehow found himself fighting for his life amidst a hoard of darkspawn in a Keep that belonged to the Wardens. All of that they could have gathered just from seeing him the first time, surrounded by the bodies of Templars and twisted monsters alike. "You saw how I fought the darkspawn. As I understand it, you have two options: send me back the Circle - my least favorite option - or let me go on my merry way, safe in the knowledge that I mean neither you nor your party any harm. On a side note, that one happens to be the option I'm rooting for."

A glance aside at Macha - blue eyes rolling but otherwise unperturbed - kindled the hope in him that he wasn't totally overstepping his boundaries. It was entirely possible that he'd gotten too comfortable in their presence. Sarcasm was, by nature, his default setting, and he was sorely constrained by the Templars' infamous lack of humor. Had they been in the Commander's place, he would have earned himself a boot in the gut by now for sheer insolence alone. The lack of gut-kicking so far was encouragement enough to let his mouth do what it did best .

((Edited to send out Torture))

The dogs continued to keep Anders mesmerized which truly amused the small commander. Even with Torture getting pettings Anders seemed unnerved. The only problem with this was that it would make talking a bit more difficult so she snapped her fingers and made a sound like a couple of tiny barks at the dog's cheek. Torture pounced back a moment then jumped back to his mistress and gave her a lick then ran off out a big dog door from one of the other walls, out on a personal mission.

"Well, you know, after a while, all the skirts start to look alike, and Templars aren't very keen on sharing. I have my name stitched into my socks, too."

"And what a lovely shade of brown they are too." Nygozy commented amusedly as the mage lifted his foot, "I'm so used to seeing dirty whites or black but brown, well those are good woolen socks. And some Templars really are not good at shaing even when they are not with the Tower." She smiled to let him know she was enjoying the joking around. She had to tease about Alistair not wanting to share as he tended to hide cheese, just like she did.

Speaking of cheese, some she was reaching for disappeared with other food. She noticed the blur and chuckled while it went back into the shadows.

"Me?"

She suddenly gave Anders a deadpan look as if she was not expecting anything from him but sometimes she liked to give a little silence and not much of an expression to see what a person would say without much signal to show what she thought of their words.

"There's nothing to tell? You saw how I fought the darkspawn. As I understand it, you have two options: send me back the Circle - my least favorite option - or let me go on my merry way, safe in the knowledge that I mean neither you nor your party any harm. On a side note, that one happens to be the option I'm rooting for."

Nygozy put an arm on he sofa arm and watched Anders' face as he spoke. He was an amusing bloke and that was one point definitely in his favour. There was too many sad things in the world not to have people around you who could help bring a bit of sunshine into the picture.

"Wow. Side notes and everything." She teased just before nibbling a piece of bread with some cheese. It remained quiet for a couple of minutes as she seemed to be thinking things over but she was really just nibbling for the sake of nibbling and letting the quiet lengthen so Anders would wonder about what she was thinking of. He was a person with many expressions and that made the waiting game all the more interesting.

"In fact, I do remember you fighting and that you did not attack us when you could have. Or try to get away but that would have been a very bad thing to try to do. Neither Griffinhart or Kai are known for their shrewd sense of humour. But I would like to know a few things before making any decissions."

Once again Nygozy left it quiet as she drank some cider and bit into an apple, "What I would like to know is how old you were when taken to the circle. How often you escaped. What was your best memory of the circle? What was the worst? Did you have friends there? Why were you here and how did you get involved with the many uglies we found you having tea with?"
Now was time to wait once again as Anders tried to figure out how to answer her questions. Would he not want to answer, lie or joke the truth? She bet on the last as she shifted position so she could take a look at Macha to see what she was thinking of this.

Okay . . . Anders officially didn't know why he was here anymore. Either the Warden Commander was intentionally leading him somewhere, or this was officially the strangest interrogation ever. The banter had been odd enough, but he was willing to believe that a particularly indulgent captor might exchange pleasantries with the likes of him. But asking about his whole life story? Well, he supposed it wasn't so strange - at least, asking about how many times he'd escaped the Circle was expected, but his happiest memory? He was almost too stunned to remember to lie.

"I was twelve," he started, almost dazed and then shaking himself out of it, frowning slightly as the memory became fresh in his mind. "My father called them on me. They took me to the Circle at Hossberg first, but I was transferred to the Ferelden Circle within the year." The Circle at Hossberg hadn't been half the fortress that Ferelden's Circle had been, and he'd escaped six times within the first five months. The first four times, he'd been caught in the city and taken back, but the sixth time he'd actually managed to make his way back home. He'd watched his father close the door in his face, his mother crying inside of their small house, and the Templars had caught up with him before he could get away. He hadn't tried to run back there again. "Since I was thirteen, I've lost count of how many times I've escaped." He was always captured again, obviously, usually because he was stupid and did things like spend the night in the Pearl or a tavern. "Dozens, I guess." He shrugged. Obviously he wasn't very good at it if he kept getting caught, but as far as actually escaping went, he was a pro.

He was comfortable telling her all of that. That was fine. Anyone who knew him, Templars included, knew that about him. It was the other stuff he wasn't so sure how to answer. Happiest memory? Worst? Friends? His mind instantly flicked to Karl, and he fought the urge to look away, biting his lip instead. No. He wasn't going to mention Karl. If anything happened to him at the Circle because he'd said something about him here, Anders would never forgive himself. "I found a cat, once," he said, and he smiled because that had been a good memory, too. Maybe not Karl-level good, but good. "She wasn't one of the Circle's mousers, who all scratched and didn't really like anyone. I still don't know how she got all the way to the island in the middle of Lake Calenhad. I named her Lady Scratch. I had her for three whole years before she died." He guessed that counted as one of his worst memories, now that he thought about it. Close enough to it, at least. Funny, how being caged like that could make even a cat's death seem like the end of the world.

His worst memory was probably . . . "I ran away. The time before this, actually. They found me, and I guess they'd had enough of me so they threw me in solitary for a year. I guess that's pretty bad." The mage made sure to keep his voice carefully neutral, even though thinking about it still made him feel sick. Templars had never been kind about their punishments every time he was brought back, but that time had been the worst, and then he'd been thrown into confinement right after. He could have handled the pain, he supposed - he always did - if it hadn't been for that thing that that one sneering Templar had said (the Templar had had his helmet on at the time, but the contempt had been clear in his voice). You have your little mage friend to thank for us finding you this time, Anders. He'd spent the entire year agonizing that Karl had given him up. He'd felt betrayed, hurt in a way that went deeper than any sword could have hurt, and that hurt and betrayal had festered in his mind for the whole year. And when he'd gotten out, and he'd found out that the Templar had been lying, found out that Karl hadn't given him up (had, in fact, been punished for keeping Anders's location a secret), he'd felt so . . . hollow. He'd hated himself for doubting Karl, had hated the Templars even more for saying something like that to him like it was little more than a taunt when it had tortured him for an entire year, and that was when he'd decided that he would escape the Circle, for good, or die trying.

And if the Wardens hadn't come across the Keep when they did, he very well might have. "I was running, and an abandoned stronghold didn't seem like too bad a place to hide. I hadn't expected the house guests, though. Darkspawn just don't know how to call ahead. The Templars had been collateral damage - we'd already been fighting when the darkspawn rushed in. Oh, and I didn't kill them - the darkspawn got to them before they headed for me." He'd never been more thankful for being around a Templar in his life. They were useful darkspawn-fodder.

"Er, I think I got all of your questions, right?" He scratched the back of his leg with his other foot, finally looking away and around the room for a moment before looking back at the dwarf. "Why do you want to know, I mean? It's not like any of that is going to help you decide what to do with me. Unless it does, in which case, I hope it helps."

Confusion was one of the things that Nygozy tended to cultivate with others in order to find the truth in what they said and her non-chalant mannerisms asking such irregular forms of questions tended to do the trick with quite a few people. The comedians such as herself and Anders tended to stumble when others asked direct questions they thought did not fit their expectations but it seemed to work with others as well.

He had such handsome green eyes that showed flickers of not understanding what was going on and why she was asking such questions about him. He had no clue why she would wish to know about his life. Most people did not know why Nygozy asked such questions but Macha knew. It told the dwarf what and who the person was.

As words came out the cheese and bread were slowly nibbled bare like berries from a bush. The fruits fared no better for being munched. An apple was tossed to Macha as another slice of cheese was taken from the minimal security of the plate. When Anders finished another apple came spinning towards him and the last chunk of cheese became another tasty appetizer.

"You know, Anders," Nygozy started with a berry in hand, leaning back against the couch and smirking, "There are many people around who would tie you up and send you packed up like luggage to be returned to the Tower. Now the funny thing here is that I am not like most people. Then again, you probably already guessed that."

Nygozy stretched her short legs then stood to stretch the rest of her body and indicated for both Macha and Anders to follow, "You see, I come from Orzammar and that expression on your face says something to the extent of, 'Like duh.'" With a swift turn she stuck her tongue out sideways and rolled her eyes before waggling her brows at the mage then turned back and opened the doors to her balcony to go out onto it and lean against the rails.

"I come from Dust Town and that's pretty much a tell all name for anyone to guess how it is there. Many don't learn much from living there but others learn to read people. One way or another." She turned and leaned her back against the railing with her elbows against it as well, "Now, I can't go sending you back to the merry ol circle to be treated like lint from under the bed."

Her eyes took note of birds above as well as Anders' expressions, "However, I also cannot just let you go. The Circle Templars who know you would only be too happy to make you into a form of example for other mages. The only true way to keep you from their tenderizing mercies would be to call right of conscription and take you with me on my next mission."

Kai nibbled his pilfered treats in the shadows while he listened to Nygozy interrogate the prisoner. She had a bizarre way of doing it, but he'd seen many times over that it did seem to get results. The assassin knew the mage was hiding a lot of things, but then again, who wasn't in this rag tag band.

Sticking to the shadows Kai followed the others as Nygozy moved out to the balcony. He swore under his breath wishing she'd stayed inside where she was easier to defend, but knowing it was impossible. The little dwarf refused to let her life be ruled by those who wished her harm.

And then he heard the words he was afraid of. Anyone with a really sharp ear would have heard the shadows muttering about strays. He didn't have anything against mages in general, he was an elf not a human after all, but they could prove dangerous enemies. And Nygozy seemed to be collecting them like they were harmless kittens. While legally there was nothing the Templars could do about it, that didn't mean they weren't going to get pissy and try something eventually. He made a mental note to talk to her about it when they were alone. If they were ever alone again, the little dwarf had been run off her feet with meetings since they'd taken the keep.

An apple was lobbed at him and he fell back a step to catch it on instinct, watching the dwarf dumbly for a long moment as she headed for the door. His eyes fell down to the apple sitting patiently in his hands, waiting for his brain to catch up with his body, and then jerked back up to look at the black-haired Warden-Knight as she patted him on the shoulder, offering him a comforting smirk before taking a bite out of her own apple and following the dwarf out to the balcony. To further set him on edge, a shadow seemed to dart out from the edges of the room, following after the Warden-Commander as silently as a Chantry mouse.

At least the dogs weren't jumping out after her to complete the procession. That was one less thing to tug at his already fraying nerves.

He wasn't sure, and anyone could correct him if he was wrong, but he thought that he'd just been offered an official Warden-ship. After confessing the whole (alright, some) of his life story, expecting to either be clapped in irons or turned loose onto the world, he was being given a third option. As far as third options went, he wasn't sure if he liked it or not, yet.

Belatedly, he followed out onto the balcony after her. Macha was standing next to the dwarf, leaning out forward with her elbows on the railing, and she was picking out the seeds of her apple with her nail, tossing them out to the birds that fluttered about the ramparts.

Looking at both of them as he stood in the doorway, he wouldn't have thought they were hardened warriors, the last line of defense against the whole world and the darkspawn that constantly threatened it. They looked . . . more like friends, smiling and talking and feeding birds.

Would this be the life that awaited him if he said yes? The Blight was supposedly over. He could do it, become a Warden and live on the road or in a Keep like this. It wasn't freedom, but it was the closest thing he'd get without having to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life. But he wasn't the hero sort, really - he was much too selfish for that. If he was ever needed, when the throwing-seeds-at-birds part of being a Warden ended and the time came to pick up a sword or staff to defend your country or die trying, could he do it? Would he do it? Would he live out the easy part of the life and then turn tail and run the second he was required to do his actual duty?

Maybe. He liked to think that maybe he was capable of valor, of standing next to a fellow brother or sister in arms, but that would probably be giving himself too much credit. If the Circle was already too much for him, how could the life of a Warden - without the literal walls but just as restrictive - be for him?

"What have you got to lose?" The voice cut through his thoughts and he looked up, realizing that he'd been in the doorway the whole time, eyes fixed on the still-uneaten apple in his hands.

Macha hadn't turned to look at him, but it was clear that he'd been the intended recipient of her question. His eyebrows drew together, not quite understanding, and she continued, watching the birds dive and circle around the seeds she was throwing down into the yard.

"All of us," she swept her hands out in an arc through the empty air, "I think we all had nothing left. It's not easy. When you Join," she put an odd emphasis on the word, but he didn't quite know what she meant - he supposed it was a Warden thing -, "you think of everything you could have ever done instead, if only you hadn't taken the Grey. The life you could have had, the loves, the loss. But that's the thing about us." She finally turned to look at him, a small, sad, and resigned smile on her face, and then she looked at Nygozy, that same smile mixed with something knowing. "I don't think any of us see the 'life we could have had,' because there's nothing there. What could be left for people like us, who are so desperate, who have had so much taken from us, that we turn to a place like this as our last resort? What would you be doing, Anders? Hiding forever, being ashamed of what you are, jumping into alley-ways every time you hear the clang of heavy boots at your back? Or being dragged back to the Circle, which I gather you don't like, to live or die there."

He looked away, frowning, because he knew she had a point. He had vowed then, leaving the Tower this last time, that he'd stay free or die trying. No more going back. Why not skip the 'die trying' part?

"I'm not going to talk you into it, or make you feel like its your only option," she continued, and there was a strain in her voice. Every day, she looked at Fremelda and saw a life that she'd ruined. Sure, the assassin had warmed up to the idea of being a Warden well enough in time, but the noble had never told her what she was getting into, had led her straight to what could have just as easily been her execution block as it had been her pardon. She would never lead someone to that cup of blood again if it wasn't their choice to be there. "But I'm just saying, think about it."

"I," he started, looking down, and then up at Nygozy, and then out towards the sky and the garden below the balcony, and then somewhere between the stone wall and the dwarf's head. "Can I . . . think about it? I know it won't be long before the Templars come knocking on the door, and I know I can't run after everything you've done for me, but please, just . . . give me some time to think about it. If I say no, then I promise I won't hold it against you if you don't lie to the Templars about where I run off to."

Seeds dropped from Macha and Nygozy smiled while her little bird friends fluttered about taking in the treats as they fell. The dwarf followed her friend's example but she tossed the seeds out the side of the railing while she watched Macha. Nygozy had promised the birds treats for their watching out for anyone or anything other than themselves in the area. The small birds were always most gracious about being fed in return for small deeds and watching out for anything out of the ordinary around Nygozy's area was not difficult for them. Not to mention that Nygozy got extra "guards" looking out for her.

This made it easy to speak outside as she always knew there was no one around to hear them or the birds would make a ruckus so loud that whoever it was invading the area would be startled out of their boots. So she plucked out the seeds then broke up the remainder of her apple for the birds to peck at. Later they would get seed as well but for now these treats were good enough.

She turned her attention back to Anders while Macha spoke of them not having anything and she added lightly, "Some of us never had anything to begin with but Macha is right."

Anders commented, asking for time, which was not a surprise at all. Nygozy smiled knowingly and nodded, "We have two days before the next joining. Look, Anders," She looked up at Macha then back again to Anders, "I will not tell you that this is not dangerous. It is and it will be. There are some times it will not be rough but other times it will be and there will be training to keep up skills. Take these couple of days and ask others what they feel about being a warden as you wish. If Templars show for you in that time they will have no ability to go after you as you are under my protection. You are a sarcastic delight I'd like to keep around but I won't force your hand."

She smiled at him and put out a hand with a key in it, "Here's the key to your bedroom. You'll be just downstairs but don't worry. I don't make a lot of noise so you can get your beauty rest." She winked at him teasingly. This wasn't a close to the meeting per se. He could stay or leave as he wished but she hoped he would talk a bit anyway. Fun was sorely needed around here and he seemed like bags of fun.

Kai had known from the beginning that Nygozy was likely to let the mage stay and be free to roam around. That didn't mean he had to like it though. Something about the man just rubbed Kai the wrong way.

"Play nice little mage or my daggers will come looking for you." The elf said, stepping out of the shadows with a nasty grin on his lips. "I've heard mages make excellent dog food." And with that he turned his bavj to Anders and looked at Nygozy. "You should rest Hero, you promised." While to most his tone was stern, Nygozy was likely to note the slightly pleading note in his voice. "Don't make me tell Jez on you," He whispered in her ear so the mage wouldn't hear, although Macha might.

The dwarf spoke, and he could feel some of the tension coiled in his stomach begin to lessen, and slowly, a smile managed to make its way to his face, feeling much more at home than the worried frown from only a moment before. Without hesitating again, he stepped forward and took the key, tossing them up once to catch them. "Thanks," he said, meaning it. Maybe this was what he needed. He'd run away from the Circle, and he'd already promised himself that he'd never be going back, one way or another, and who better to hole up with than a bunch of Wardens? He still wasn't so sure he wanted to join them or not, but at least he was being given a secure place to stay for the time being - if they hadn't found him here, he'd be stealing a few hours of sleep here and there in haystacks and barns for the next he didn't want to think how long. "I'll try to keep my ears covered the rest of the time."

He jumped when the other man finally came out of the shadows - honestly, he'd forgotten that the rogue was there. With a wary glance at the one-eyed elf, he nodded, gulping down a nervous laugh. "Yeah, er, of course. Wouldn't want to end up as dog food. Now, cat food," he started, and then stopped, because he didn't want to give the elf any ideas when he didn't doubt for a second that the assassin would make good on his promise.

Macha smile as Kai finally showed himself. She was a rogue herself, but she'd never managed to master that level of stealth, the kind that let you move through shadows like you were a part of them. Really, she'd always known that she fought more like a warrior, with the preference for speed and light weapons that most rogues had. Ah well - she could leave the sneaky stuff to Nygozy and Kai.

With a light step towards the group, she reached out and put a hand on Anders's shoulder. "Why don't I show you to your room, hm? We can get some things for you from the merchants camped out in the yard so that it's not so empty."

The mage frowned, and then looked back at her, arching an eyebrow with a playful smirk. "Do I get to say goodbye to Geoff?"

"You can say goodbye to Hubert," she stressed, matching his smirk with one of her own, and then she looked past him and nodded slightly towards Kai. She'd heard his words to Nygozy, and she figured that getting the mage out of there and into his rooms would give the two of them some time alone. Hopefully, Kai could convince her to get the rest that she sorely needed. "Come on, mage. Let's go."

Anders laughed, and turned to look back at Nygozy as he started to follow Macha out off of the balcony. "Thanks a lot, Commander. I really will think about it."

Nygozy smirked tiredly as Macha requested that Anders went with her and nodded congenially, "Whatever you choose, Anders, we will stand behind you."

She watched as they left then sagged against the railing with her back against it, watching the birds and listening to the sounds outside. Her eyes roamed just before she stood and stretched, "I need to go for a walk, Kai. I've been cooped up inside all day. Let's go for a walk in the gardens then relax on a bench."

The dwarven woman did not wait for a response before jumping into a tree, "We're going out guards." She called and laughed as she climbed down the tree then hopped onto the ground with ease. There were too many places to walk around here and she wanted to stretch her legs.

(over to here: Confused In the Wardens' Home entering on page 2.)