Her first opportunity to talk to Duncan is just after they leave town.

"You know," she says, "something tells me Ser Jory isn't going to make a very good Grey Warden."

"...I won't pretend I haven't had misgivings," Duncan admits. "But 'not a very good Grey Warden' is better than no Grey Warden at all."

"I'm not entirely sure that's true. I don't get the impression that even good Grey Wardens live very long. So he can be a bad Grey Warden and die young, or he can be a very good knight and live a long happy life and raise lots of children who will themselves probably also be very good knights. And who knows, some of them might even be Warden material."

"When I say 'no Grey Warden at all,' I don't mean 'not having him as a Grey Warden,'" Duncan says wearily, "I mean none at all. He's my only recruit thus far."

"I assume there is more than one Grey Warden in Ferelden even without Ser Jory's contribution. Am I wrong?"

"Correct. There are two," he says. "Being a good knight won't do anyone any good if the Blight overwhelms Ferelden. Perhaps, if I am more successful in Denerim than I expect to be, it will be worth it to send him home."

"Ah. And now it all makes sense. Well, best of luck to you in Denerim, then. I'll keep an eye out for possibilities."

"Thank you. You were certainly right about Ser Gilmore."

"It's one of my most useful skills."

"Indeed," he says with a small smile. More soberly: "Although in times like these, the ability to kill armed men barehanded is not to be discounted."

She laughs softly. "Yes, there is that."

Seb wags his tail.

"Having a loyal mabari does help."

"It would at that."

Seb woofs happily.

And onward to Denerim they go.

It's a big day in Denerim. Well, part of Denerim. No one else in the city gives a shit about the alienage, which is a mixed blessing at the best of times.

It wasn't even supposed to be today. They were supposed to take longer to get here. Acara wishes they could have just held the wedding on the original date, given her a little time to get to know her fiance before literally marrying a stranger, ugh. Still, everyone's so excited--Shianni's so excited--so she won't complain too much. Not to anyone but her father.

She wishes her mother could have been here for this.

Brave face, Acara. Your people need you. Need you to not spoil their excuse to make merry.

Shianni bashing that arrogant lordling over the head helped. Nice mood pick-me-up, even if it added an undercurrent of worry for her. But there's no way the arl's son will admit an elven woman beat him up, so it'll probably be fine. And back to parading around, greeting everyone on her "special day"...

"Hi, Tev."

"Hey, Acara. Congratulations," he says, a little wryly.

"Thanks." And, because it's Tev: "I do kind of wish that they could have held the wedding itself on the day they were supposed to get here, so that I could have gotten to know more things about him than 'his name is Nelaros' and 'he thinks I'm pretty, or at least I hope that's why he had trouble talking to me'."

"Yeah. Good luck."

"Thanks. If he's terrible and I have to run off to join the Dalish I'll let you know so you don't think I was murdered."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Sigh. "I should go back to smiling at people so they can vicariously enjoy my matrimony, I'll see you later."

"See you."

It's nice that everyone's having fun, but Tev isn't much for parties. Too much commotion. He finds somewhere out of the way to sit and watch the festivities.

He'll probably regret this when some blood mages kidnap him to perform horrific experiments on.

...yes. Yes he will.

Meanwhile Acara, in complete ignorance of Tev's plight, manages to locate her cousin who is also getting married, and then--more shemlen. Great.

"Excuse me," she says. "If you're here with good intentions, I think it's probably best that you leave. You're making people nervous. And if you're not here with good intentions, why, it's probably even wiser to get out of here as quick as can be."

"I apologize," says Elissa. "Warden Duncan is looking for recruits, and I'm helping."

She's already helped once today!