It has been a long, long time since I managed to add to the chronicles of my life, but with five children, a new threat looming on the horizon and winter covering the land I rarely had the time.
But the Order mustn’t fear, for I haven’t wavered in my conviction and dedication to the task given to me.
My kids are growing so fast and I know that they will make wonderful wardens in time.
Athenril and Arianni have outgrown their toddler days and are now wreaking havoc in our home. Well, at least Athenril does. She is the bolder of my twin girls and can sometimes even be mean towards her sister.
If our purpose in life was a lighter one I might be worried about that, but she will make an excellent warrior or rogue one day.
Even if she takes her namesake’s history a little too serious sometimes. I try to keep her from playing blackmailing and smuggling with her dolls, but it has been to no avail.
Arianni on the other hand acts like Andre a lot, even if he isn’t really her father, not that the girls are aware of that fact. She likes to clean and play house with her dolls. I know that she will make a fine mother one day.
And my third little girl? I would hate to forget to tell of Aveline, who adores her father. Her hair has taken on a little reddish hue. Unusual since neither Andre’s or my hair look that way. But the Maker works in mysterious ways and he probably tried to make her look more like her namesake.
It might be no more than my interpretation, but believing that the Maker guides and protects my task help me keep my path.
Especially when I get notifications by the order that call me away from my family. As far as I understood the cryptic and short message a new entrance to the Dark Roads has been found in Orlais and now it is my turn to investigate.
I feel a little guilty for leaving Andre alone with the kids, but there is little choice. And I know that he can handle it. He has been my savior when the twins were born after all.
When I arrived in Orlais I was glad to find out that even though the entrance had been found it was still sealed. So at least there was no Darkspawn roaming the countryside.
It didn’t mean that I didn’t have to explore though. I am not really afraid of the Deep Roads, especially since I couldn’t feel any Darkspawn nearby, but there are still many traps down there, that can be just as dangerous as a Hurlock.
But there is also treasure and useful magical artifacts to be found that might help the Wardens in the future, so I had to put my worries aside.
Not for long though. Like I feared it wasn’t long till I failed to disable a trap. It almost killed me, but I managed to drink a healing potion just in time. I abandoned the Deep Roads then, not only because I do not want my children to grow up without a mother, but also because there would be anyone to make them Grey Wardens if I perished.
I really hope the Order is smart enough to send a rogue next time.
I returned home just in time for my birthday celebration. Andre was so happy to have me back in one piece that he even baked me a cake.
It is good to be back with my family and tell them about my adventures, even though I spared them the grisly details of my almost death. No use scaring them in advance. They will get to know the downsides of being a Grey Warden soon enough.
We were all happy that day…except maybe my son Alistair. But his unhappiness simply couldn’t be helped. He was simply too small to partake in the cake we all shared.
Our happiness didn’t last long though before the next threat arose. I had already heard about the Rifts popping up all over Thedas, but I never expected one to turn up in our backyard.
It tried to drag me into the Fade and spit out a few demons, but i managed to resist and defeat them. I had heard that closing the Rifts seemed impossible, but fortunately in our case it vanished after a while.
But it is a phenomenon I will have to keep under close surveillance.
I had managed to keep the Rift from my husband and fought the demons alone, but Andre still got a shock not quite long after, when our sink broke again. Fortunately the wicked thing seems to have lost it’s abilities of foretelling, since I am sure that I am not pregnant again.
It wasn’t long after that, that Alistair finally got his greatest wish and was allowed to eat cake on his birthday.
Not only did he get his cake, but I also couldn’t resist him when he told me that his biggest wish was to have a dog. His older sisters have each other to play with, while his siblings are still too young, so he got a Mabari to play with.
Barkspawn, as he has been named by my son, is the most loyal companion you could think of, even if it would make me happy if he wouldn’t try to dig as many holes in our yard.
You might have wondered why I haven’t mentioned our son Anders so far. He has grown into a fine toddler, that much can be said, but I also worry about him.
He is smart, maybe even smarter than all my other children. He learned to speak so early, but that is not something that put my mind at ease. What disturbed me is the things he is saying, talking about death and revenge and justice. A child his age shouldn’t even know these things and I fear that the name we gave him is a dark omen.
He is also talking to himself and never plays with his siblings. And whenever I ask him about that, he looks at me strangely and tells me that he has Justice to play with.
I will have to watch him closely, but as long as long as my other children are good Warden material I am not that worried.
tbc…
The Grey Warden Legacy 