Miraculously, the six of them make it to Ostagar without further surprises.
As they approach the gates of the ancient fortress, a blond man in heavy armor comes out to greet them.
"Ho there, Duncan!"
"King Cailan? I didn't expect--"
"A royal welcome? I was beginning to worry you'd miss all the fun!"
"Not if I could help it, your Majesty."
"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in battle after all! Glorious!" He looks at the other five travelers. "Did you really find this many recruits?"
"That's not nothing. I--have this one cousin. Her name is Shianni. She was--in danger--during the incident Elissa's blackmailing someone over. I did what I did, that joining the Grey Wardens was a better alternative than staying behind--not just for her. But she was entirely sufficient."
"She's pretty tough too. I know she'll take good care of everyone else back home, her and our other cousin Soris and my dad."
"It is."
And--aha--there's the flower. She cuts it, carefully, as she did in the Brecilian Forest. She looks around and finds a few more blossoms and harvests those as well, just in case.
"True."
They do, in fact, run into some darkspawn on the way back. Not too many to handle.
And Acara delivers the flowers to the kennel master, who is optimistic that in a day or two the dog will be much improved.
Acara is not Shiral-hypercompetent but she is competent at not reacting to being startled! That is a thing she can do. If Shiral notices that she startled her that's because she's Shiral, not because Acara gave signs that a reasonable person could interpret.
"Thank you."
"People sometimes die becoming Grey Wardens. I was going to die anyway so it's all the same to me."
"Oh. He didn't directly tell me either. Ambrose made a reference to it earlier; I think he told the mages and assumed that Duncan had told us."
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