All Hail Cousland || Dragon Age Origins

The Warden and the Elf

Jenna and her companions spent one last night with the Dalish who were now much more accepting of their presence. They were even thankful to have their hunters alive and kicking again, even though they still mourned their lost ones, and Zathrian's death of course. But thankfully, no one blamed them for it, and that was a relief.

"So what will you do now?" Jenna asked Ellana as they ate some breakfast the elves generously offered that morning.
"I was planning to return to the Lavellan camp of course, but.. Now that I've thought about it.. I want to come with you." the petite redhead told.

"No way." Jenna shook her head.
"Why not? You need all the help you can get to win this war, Jenna. And I owe you that much." Ellana insisted.
"Absolutely not. I have enough people to help me, Ellana. I have Alistair, Gilmore, Sten, Morrigan, Leliana, Zevran, Wynne.. even Rollo!" she chuckled, "I know how much you miss your family and home. Trust me.. I'd give anything to see mine again, if only for a moment." she continued, lowering her eyes and trying to gather her strength again.

"But I am a Grey Warden now. It is my duty to rally the land, not yours. Go to your father. Be with him." Jenna tried to convince relentlessly, finally making her friend give up.
"Fine. I'll do as my lady commands." Ellana said with a sarcastic tone.
"Good. Then we better take you to Denerim so you can sail to Kirkwall, ey?" Jenna said, finishing her last gulp of halla milk which she surprisingly found to her taste.

"Take me?" Ellana exclaimed, "I can go on my own!"
"I won't take no. Have you been out there lately? The land is crawling with darkspawn, my dear. You'll need a good Warden bodyguard, believe me." Jenna said, not much as a proposition.

Jenna was getting better and better at convincing people. Even Ellana who lived long enough with her to resist her charm failed this time and accepted the escort.

As Jenna sat on a log to sharpen her beloved blade, Alistair found a seat to her side.
When she looked at him, she knew he wanted to tell her something, and not some crappy joke, which she loved, by the way.

He looked worried, perhaps stressed, so she stopped polishing the sword and turned to face him.
"Something on your mind?" she asked.
"You know.. maybe this isn't the best time to be thinking about this, but I've something to ask you." he started.

"I'm all ears." she said, wearing a warm smile on her face to try and make whatever he wanted to say easier.
"Chances are we'll be heading to Denerim soon, and when we're there, I wonder if we might be able to.. look someone up." he struggled to say.

Jenna hummed, not sure of what he meant exactly by that someone.
"You.. have a friend outside the Grey Wardens?" she said, trying very hard not to sound like a jealous wife.
"I'm not talking about a friend, exactly. And no, it's not that sort of friend, either." he reassured when he saw the expression on her face that she was desperately hiding.

"The thing is, I have a sister. A half-sister. I told you about my mother, right? She was a servant in Redcliffe Castle, and she had a daughter.. only I never knew about her." he told, "I don't think she knew about me, either. They kept my birth a secret, after all. But after I became a Grey Warden I did some checking and.. well, I found out that she's still alive. In Denerim."

"That's.. amazing, Alistair! Have you contacted her?" she asked, genuinely happy for him since she knew that his craziest desire was to find the family he never got the chance to grow up with.
"No. I thought about writing her, but I never did. And then we were called down to Ostagar and I never got the chance.." he said, lowering his head for a moment at the memory of the tragedy that is Ostagar.