A Change of the Script

Chapter 2

As the night passed into day and the sun rose Lyna stood next to the campfire in the Dalish camp. Although she had enjoyed her time with the People she had felt slightly separated from them. The past year away from her clan had changed her. She was no longer naive to the world as her position as a Grey Warden, one Dalish very seldom took, had forced her to see things on a much different scale. The prejudices of the races now seemed foolish to her. Looking around the camps in the area she let out a deep sigh. All races had camped separate. Dalish Elves had camped near the trees, Humans close tothe town, Dwarves near the rocky outcroppings and even the City Elveshad pitched their own camp, though it was near to the Humans. The Mages had camped in the more open space of the field with theTemplar's camped in an almost barrier around them.

If we can't camp together how do we fight together? She thought. Another problem that she knew they would face was the animosity between the Mages, including Mages from the Dalish, and the Templar's as well as the other Humans. Shaking her head sadly she mulled over the problem. There must be a way... As she surveyed the gathered forces she saw her friends Zevran, Leliana and Sten walking towards the town. Leliana was laughing at something Zevran had said whilst Sten looked on impassive as ever apart from the slight shake of his head every so often. As she watched she saw Wynne join them from the Mage camp. They were heading to the tavern for breakfast. An idea started to form in Lynas mind as she watched her friends. She would need to speak to Arl Eamon and Alistair before they started their March to Denerim. Glancing back at her friends, who were now entering the tavern, Lyna wished she could join them but she knew that if they didn't sort this out soon then the war may already be lost. Turning, the Warden headed back to the castle with determination in her step.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The army was making good progress to Denerim. Lyna couldn't help but feel proud of her idea as it seemed to be working. The scouting groups that they had formed were made up of someone from each with a Mage and Templar joining each. For the first couple of hours things had been difficult with the old prejudices on all sides but things had settled down fairly quickly and now they were working well together. Things were far from perfect and there were still some disagreements but they were definitely better. In order to try and help the scout teams work together, Lyna had been joining them for the first couple of hours.

When she had first suggested the mixed teams Arl Eamon had said, in rather polite terms, that it wouldn't work whilst Alistair had agreed that it was worth a try. She was glad that it was working and felt proud that they could work together, even if not fully trusting each other. The rogue had another reason for joining the scout teams. Since the meeting to plan the march Alistair had seemed to be wanting to talk with her. He hadn't said anything outright but she could tell. Still feeling embarrassed and ashamed of the way that she had reacted, even slightly angry at the situation, Lyna had been avoiding him as much as possible. It hadn't been difficult as there was still quite a lot to do, especially before they set off. Now she and Zevran were doing a little scouting of their own whilst the army rested.

Their numbers were still increasing as they traveled due to people joining them. Humans and Dwarves from some villages and towns and even more Dalish from the forests were seeking them out. Lyna and Zevran were currently scouting the forests that the army were camped beside. It wasn't an official scouting mission as Lyna had convinced the Antivan Crow to join her so that she could avoid Alistair yet again.

"You know my dear Warden, you cannot avoid him forever." Zevrans silky voice said into the comfortable silence, unknowingly voicing her own thoughts.

Sighing heavily, Lyna tossed a tired look at the Crow. She had grown close with the assassin during their journey and though he had started out flirtatious she had come to see him as more of a brother and confidant. The flirting had morphed into teasing and Zevran was protective of Lyna as a brother would be. Because of this change Lyna knew that she wouldn't be able to lie to him.