#i'll opt to retool and reuse them sometimes

[daughterofhighever-blog]

Vigil’s Keep, Arling of Amaranthine - 9:31

[ @chaotiicgoods - "Nathaniel Howe" ]

The fire in the room’s hearth had burned low in the last few hours, and the thudding sound of the rain outside had all but died away at last. Elissa Cousland sat in her chair, a few feet from where her newest Warden still lay unconscious in his bed. Leaning forward, her elbows dug into her knees, her chin rested on her clasped hands, and she watched Nathaniel’s chest rise and fall. 

She was the Commander of the Grey, and thus far, had kept vigil by every Warden she had condemned brought into the Order. As far as she knew, it wasn’t exactly a Warden tradition or anything of that sort, but she remembered her own Joining and it’s aftermath. She had not been left to wake from those nightmares alone, and she wouldn’t leave him to do so either - even if the Seneschal and her recent companions thought her mad for it. Exhaling softly, she unlaced her fingers enough to rub at a sore spot between the bridge of her nose and her brow. 

‘I’m not Rendon Howe, Seneschal. And I am not going to punish a son for mourning his father. Give him his family’s things and let him go.’

She hadn’t expected him to return, but at the same time, hadn’t exactly been surprised. It turned her lips up in a soft, ghosting smile when the echo of Alistair’s voice came to mind… ‘You’re taking the assassin with us now?!’

It appeared she was developing a habit. Time would eventually show whether or not that was a good thing. It had been the first two times - perhaps a third wasn’t so much to ask for…