A young woman, lightly armoured and wearing a sword and dagger at her belt. Bryce Cousland turns to her with a warm smile.

"Pup, Brother Aldous taught you who the Grey Wardens are, I hope."

"He might have mentioned something," she says dryly.

"This is Warden Duncan. Warden, this is my daughter, Elissa."

"Pleased to meet you," she says to the Warden. "Might I ask your business in Highever? Is it about the troops Father is sending south to Ostagar, or something else?"

"Actually, I'm recruiting for the Grey Wardens," Duncan says. "I don't know if you've heard, but it's shaping up to be a Blight down south." He looks at her consideringly.

"Don't give me that look," she says with a pleasant smile, "I'm going to be Teyrna of Highever and I hear Grey Wardens can't hold title. I think I have an idea of who you should talk to, though. I'll send him your way next time I see him."

He holds up his hands in good-natured mock-defensiveness. "I didn't say a word. And that would be immensely useful."

"Happy to help. You do good work."

"Too many fail to realize that, even in these troubled times," he sighs.

"Yes, it's a problem. You'd think they'd read a little history. Without the Grey Wardens, the whole world would look like the Anderfels by now. I'm not eager to see Ferelden go that way."

"Pup," says Bryce in a mildly reproving tone.

"Saying 'I sure wish wild animals would stop eating the chickens' is not, by itself, an insult to foxes," says Elissa. "On a completely unrelated note, how long is Arl Howe planning to stay?"

"A few more days, he said."

"It would certainly make my job easier. So far I've only one recruit, besides your man if he works out."

"I'm pretty sure he will. No guarantees, of course."

"Pup, can you find Fergus and tell him to take the troops south immediately? I'll follow later."

"Of course," says Elissa. "Once again, it was a pleasure to meet you, Warden Duncan."

She nods amicably to both of them and leaves the room.

Bryce Cousland is willing to discuss the Blight with Duncan for a few more minutes, but then he has other business to attend to. A few minutes after that, a young man with red hair and a pleasant face finds Duncan, introduces himself as Ser Gilmore, and admits to being sent by Elissa. He's nearly perfect recruit material. Elissa has a good head for this sort of thing.

Excellent. Duncan makes his pitch with earnest seriousness.

Ser Gilmore receives it with just as much earnest seriousness, and promises to think carefully about it; he doesn't want to make such a weighty decision without at least sleeping on it a night. He wishes Duncan the best of luck in his search.

Apart from him, there aren't many good prospects around. And Arl Howe, the Couslands' guest, is downright rude to Duncan when they pass each other in a corridor; trying to recruit from among his retinue would probably not be fruitful.

Night falls. The household quiets.

And then, in the middle of the night—

Duncan awakes instantly, his well-honed survival instincts reacting before his conscious mind realizes there's anything to react to.

For a few seconds there's no immediate sign of what woke him.

Then someone screams, long and loud, from the direction of the Couslands' rooms. And there are sounds of battle from a few other places. Thumps, clangs, yells, some of which cut off abruptly.

Duncan leaps out of bed, not bothering with anything save his armor and weapons, before heading to the Couslands' chambers as quickly as possible. 

In the little courtyard that joins all the family's rooms, he will find Elissa Cousland, three corpses, and a mabari hound with blood on his mouth. One of the dead men is wearing Cousland colours and lying in Elissa's doorway with an arrow in his back, as though he got there only just in time to warn her of the trouble; of the other two, both anonymously armoured, one has his head smashed in and both arms wrenched out of their sockets, and the other has one arm badly mauled and a dagger in his throat.

"Warden," greets Elissa, standing over the bodies in her underwear. "Arl Howe seems to think it's a nice night for a coup. Excuse me while I get my kit on. Seb, stand watch."

She disappears back into her room, closing the door as best she can around the Cousland guard's body. Her mabari stands in front of the door and eyes Duncan suspiciously.

She killed those men barehanded in her underwear. 

Not the moment. Yet. "Do you know what's happened to the other Couslands?"

"Not yet," she says. "I heard a scream but I don't know whose, I was a bit busy."

Now armed and armoured, she opens her door again and steps out, just in time to meet a very angry Eleanor Cousland coming out of the teyrn's rooms.

"Mother! Where's Father?"

"I don't know, he never came to bed - I heard a scream, was it - "

"Oriana, I think," says Elissa.

Eleanor steps into the room across from Elissa's. She pauses a moment. She withdraws, closes the door gently, and shakes her head.

"Rendon fucking Howe," says Elissa.

"Why would he do this?" says Eleanor.

"Power grab. Fergus just left with the army; what better time to murder us all in our beds? If I know Father, we'll find him in the front hall helping barricade the door if that's not a lost cause already, and waiting for us by the servants' entrance if it is." She glances at Duncan. "Care to help? We can get you safely out of the castle, if all goes well. I certainly wouldn't take my chances claiming Warden's neutrality with Howe if I were you."

"Indeed not," he agrees with a grimace. "I would be glad to help in exchange for assistance out of the castle."

"Thank you," says Eleanor. "Lead the way, Elissa."

"Seb, to me," she says. The mabari trots alertly at her side as she leads them through the castle.

Killing those men barehanded in her underwear was not a fluke. Elissa is a skilled fighter, and her dog is well-trained and smart even for a mabari. Eleanor's not bad either, but it's her daughter who's really impressive.

Bryce Cousland is not in the front hall. Ser Gilmore is. Elissa argues with him, but he insists on staying to hold off Arl Howe's men. They continue on to the kitchen without him.

Bryce Cousland is in the kitchen. Specifically, lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"Fuck," says Elissa.

"Mind - your manners, pup."

"Fuck my manners. Can you walk?"

He shakes his head.

"Maker's blood," murmurs Eleanor.

Duncan bends down to inspect the wound more closely, but all it does is confirm his first impression. He's seen enough battlefield deaths to recognize a wound that kills slowly but inevitably.  

"At least one of us has to get to Ostagar to warn Fergus," says Elissa. "Mother?"

Eleanor shakes her head.

"Right then. Warden Duncan, mind if I travel with you?"

He looks like he's about to say something, thinks better of it, and nods. "I would be honored."

She nods back, hugs her mother, kisses her father's forehead, and leads Duncan down the tunnel and out of the castle. Not one for long emotional goodbyes, this girl.

Probably for the best.

"I do have one recruit," Duncan sighs. "He lives in a town about a day's hike away. We can get horses there, too."

"Ser Gilmore would've been a good one."