Moments

Moment of Competition

Metal clanged against metal, echoing through the deserted yard beside the stables. A rare warm afternoon beat down upon Skyhold, scattering people throughout the grounds to lay back and enjoy the day. It was wise to take a break every now and then to enjoy that world you're supposed to be saving.

Another sound of sword smashing against shield piqued my curiosity. Trailing past the closed stalls, a Seeker jumped backwards into view. Cassandra wiped at her forehead with the back of her hand while still holding her sword. She nodded at her opponent. I stepped further into view to spot the commander inspecting his shield for damage. In the warmness of the sun, he'd forgone his armor for a tan shift and breeches. Surprising. I assumed he had no idea how to take all that armor off and slept in it.

"Nice try, Commander," Cassandra said, slicking her bangs out of her eyes.

"I nearly had you that time," Cullen said.

Cassandra snorted, "So you keep thinking."

He raised his sword up in preparation for another round then spotted my interloping. "Inquisitor!" Cullen called, giving away my position.

Cassandra turned and gave a curt nod. She spun back to resume battle when her stance slackened. "Do you have a moment?" she shouted to me.

"Assuming no dragons fall from the sky," I said, crossing towards them.

She looked up to make certain my flippant words didn't become truth, then shook her head, "There is a matter that you might be the only one to solve."

"Don't tell me, Chaisned threw a pig at the walls."

"That would be useful," Cullen said. "Fresh pork for dinner instead of the remaining tack?"

"Oh, a rasher of bacon in the morning," I said, my stomach grumbling at the optimism.

"That would be preferable to whatever eggs the cook's scrounged up," he said, glancing back to the kitchen door propped open. Servants wandered in and out, trying to scoot past the qunari filling the door. I'd ask what Bull was doing in the kitchen but I doubt I really wanted the answer. "What kind of bird do they come from?"

I flicked my eyes from the kitchen to the commander and half whispered, "I hear they're actually wyvern eggs." His head snapped back and with a straight face I nodded, "Oh yes, cook's an old master at arms. Took down two dragons with just her perry knife." Cullen chuckled at my absurdity but nodded his head as if he partially believed it.

Cassandra sighed at the two of us and continued her march to business. She sheathed her sword and waved me towards a mass of crates beside the wall. A few soldiers sat beside them, picking at the grass and bathing in the sun. Corypheus, godhood, and a giant rift in the sky seemed an entire world away today. But, at the Seekers approach, both jumped up and saluted. Cassandra ignored them as she spoke to me, "Courtesy of your inroads at the Exalted Plains."

"Oh?" I asked, leaning closer.

She cracked open the crate and reached inside, "A dozen or so Dalish bows." Cassandra passed to me the first bow she unearthed polished white with small halla antlers weaved onto the ends in the event prey drew too close. More than a few bandits who wandered foolishly into Dalish territory lost an eye or worse upon them.

My fingers traced the markings for Ghilan'nain etched along the wood. "They're well made, from ironbark no less. A good gift," I said. It was years before I got my first ironbark bow, the master craftsman tired of mending broken sights. I had to prove my worth and that I could maintain my weapons.

"Yes," Cassandra said, picking up another. "The problem is no one here knows how to string one." She gestured to the embarrassed soldier holding out a bow, a string of linen dangling limply from the antler and not the limb. I couldn't wipe a smile off my face as I picked both away from the poor man. Sliding the loop over the proper top limb, I bent the bow under my arm and pulled the string down to attach it at the bottom. Releasing the bend, the bow snapped back to normal, pulling the taut string with it.