Author's Note:

When I first played Awakenings, Velanna annoyed me. I think a lot of people had that reaction. She comes off as racist and profoundly arrogant. As I played Awakenings, however, and I got know her circumstances, I just found I couldn't detest her anymore. Her situation is extraordinarily tragic. I wanted to explore that situation, and give her a way out of the nightmare that her life had become.

Chapter 1

"I think that's one of the Wardens' new recruits," Farron said. "She looks angry."

Davyd MacDougal, head cook at Vigil's Keep, nodded to his elven assistant. "Might be another hard case. The Wardens will recruit anyone, regardless of their past, that can help the cause."

"I heard she's a Dalish mage," Farron said. "Better not burn the roast."

Davyd rolled his eyes. "I doubt she's going to hurl fireballs at me for that."

It was dinner time at Vigil's Keep, and the dining hall was busy. Given the size of the force that was housed at the keep in addition to the Warden contingent, Davyd had a lot of mouths to feed. Davyd took cooking seriously. He had served four years as a soldier under Arl Rendon Howe before the blight. Military life hadn't suited him that well, but he had come to appreciate and respect the soldiers who did it their entire lives. He knew very well how important morale was to a fighting force, and a critical component of that was a good, hot meal on a regular basis.

Davyd looked at the buffet and sniffed with derision. He hated buffets. He preferred for the staff to wait on the soldiers in the dining hall, delivering their meals and refilling tankards as would be done in a proper tavern. There were simply too many people to feed these days at the Vigil, however, and he had had no choice but to set up a buffet line and have the soldiers serve themselves.

They didn't seem to mind it much. It was generally the norm for your average military dining hall in Ferelden anyway, but Davyd didn't like being 'average'.

A young, blazing redhead entered the dining hall and approached Davyd. "Smells excellent, as always," she said.

"My Lady," Davyd said formally.

Lady Elissa Cousland, Hero of Ferelden, Commander of the Grey, Arlessa of Amaranthine and, by the Maker's grace, Queen of Ferelden, waved shortly. "Enough of the 'My Lady' crap. It's just Elissa."

"As you say," Davyd replied. "I see we have a new face."

Elissa glanced back towards the newcomer, and narrowed her eyes. "Yes. That one's likely to be trouble. I recruited her two days ago in the Wending Wood. I'm still not sure I made the right choice." Davyd was pretty sure Lady Cousland would've never made such an admission of doubt in any decision in front of her men, and it honored him that she trusted him that much. I guess we all need someone to vent to at times, even the invincible Hero of Ferelden, he mused.

"I take it she's a hard case?" Davyd asked.

"You have no idea," Elissa said.

"Maybe she just needs some time," Davyd said. "You know, to get settled in and give people time to get to know her, let her know she's welcome."

Elissa grimaced. "I don't see that happening." Elissa sighed heavily. "Look, I trust you Davyd, but promise me you'll behave if I tell you the details."

"Of course," Davyd said, looking concerned.

Elissa nodded. "We found her butchering caravans. She's lost her sister, apparently kidnapped by darkspawn, which is damned odd in and of itself. She was convinced the humans did it and set out to take revenge."

Davyd's expression went blank. It was the best he could manage. It didn't escape Elissa.

"I know about what happened to your first wife, Davyd. It was tragic and wrong that Dalish hunters murdered her. I know wounds like that don't heal easily. I guess sometimes they never do. But Velanna isn't responsible for what happened to your wife. I don't want you getting any ideas like poisoning her dinner," Elissa said.

"Don't worry," Davyd grated. "If I wanted to do something to her, I'd do it with a blade, not poison." He waved shortly at Elissa's alarmed expression. "I'm fine, there will be no problem. I do have to ask, however, what inspired you to let her live in the first place?"

"We need Wardens and she's got the skill for it," Elissa shrugged. "That, and the situation is a bit more complex than it sounds on the surface. The darkspawn planted evidence to make it look like humans had taken her sister. Her conclusion that humans had taken her sister, while incorrect, wasn't based entirely on racism. I'm willing to see how things play out for now."

Davyd released a pent up breath. "I'm sorry for getting angry. I'd thought that I'd let all that go, but I guess those wounds can still bleed even after all these years. There will be no problems, I promise you."

"Good," Elissa smiled. "You truly have no idea how important you are to making this Maker-damned operation run." Elissa stifled a yawn. "I think I'm going to turn in for the evening. The paperwork can wait until tomorrow."

"But you haven't even had dinner yet," Davyd chided.

"You're such a damned mother hen," she teased. "I'm sure my mother is quite happy, looking down from the Maker's side, to see that He's appointed someone to properly scold me in her absence."

"Armies run on their stomachs, ma'am," Davyd said. "I've been in an army before, I would know."

"Stop making sense," she laughed. "I'll be fine, Davyd. I haven't been sleeping much the past week, and I'm about to hit rock bottom. I've got to rest, or I'm going to get myself or someone else killed next time we clash with the darkspawn."

"As you say, My Lady. I'll make sure the garrison is well fed this evening," Davyd said.

As Lady Cousland left the dining hall, he glanced towards Velanna, the new recruit. She was eating alone. That hard, angry look still dominated her countenance, but he thought he could see a bit of the pain and fear in her eyes.

Normally, he'd just keep his distance from someone like that and just not worry about it. Somehow, he anticipated that's not how this was going to play out. He didn't know if his anticipation was born of dread, curiosity, or anger.

This ought to be interesting, he thought to himself. Of course, darkspawn beheading people and eating them is interesting too when you think about it, so maybe that's not such a good thing, he fretted.

"Farron," Davyd said. "I think things are about to get a lot more exciting around here."