My Warden (COMPLETED)

Plans

"And you're certain Lady Beverly will not be attending the fete?" Josephine leaned into Leliana's shoulder, prodding her with both a quill and arched eyebrow.

Leliana sighed, "Yes, the arrangements have been made."

"Good, because we do not want a repeat of last time. We're still finding pieces of him across Skyhold," Josephine cut back writing a line across her clipboard and then shoving one of the picks across the big map.

Lana had been hmming and nodding through most of the meeting while she lost herself out the window, but Josephine's cryptic words snagged her attention, "Pieces? Was his body exploded? Do you have access to gatlock?"

"Oh stars, no," Josephine shuddered at the very idea.

"She meant his clothing," Leliana chuckled. "The man drank from the wrong goblet, foolishly dosed himself with a wyvern poison meant for another, and spent the rest of the night convinced he was a dragon."

"Three soldiers had to coax his bare ass off the flag pole," Cullen grumbled. "Because he was 'too important' for us to shoot him down."

"Sounds like my kind of Satinalia," Hawke quipped. She sat beside Lana along the wall of the important room, her legs thrust so far off the shared bench the advisers had to stumble around her to get at their map. They were supposed to be formulating a plan to deal with the wardens, but they'd spent most of the morning talking about the nit and gritty of life at Skyhold while waiting for the Inquisitor.

"The man also kicked over three feeding troughs, rolled around in pitch for the roof, and attempted to...become amorous with a statue," Cullen said while his fingers batted against his sword.

"Please tell me it wasn't one of the horse ones," Lana sighed and caught the commander's gaze. He rolled his eyes and shook his head drawing a smile to her lips. Out of the corner of her periphery, Lana caught Leliana watching her with a quirk across her face.

The door blew open and the Inquisitor finally graced them all with his presence. An instant solemnity swept over the advisers from his presence. He bowed his patrician head, "Forgive me for my tardiness, there was an incident that required my attention."

"I hope it didn't involve pitch and a horse statue," Hawke said in a booming aside to Lana. Of course the rest of the advisers heard and couldn't stifle the giggle.

"I'm afraid I do not understand the reference," the Inquisitor said, his piercing grey eyes darting through the three professionals fighting to get back to neutral. He turned on his heel and eyed up the two women crashed together on the bench, "Please, fill in for us what you know of the wardens."

"Ah," Lana rose to her feet to approach the map while Hawke leaned back and placed her hands behind her head.

"What?" Hawke shrugged from four sets of eyes glaring at her relaxed posture, "All I know about wardens involves darkspawn, blight, and their thoughts on riding reverse--"

"All right," Lana interrupted, "please, do not elaborate on...I have this." She approached the great map and stepped beside Leliana. They'd had an honest discussion away from prying eyes where Lana told her everything, nearly everything. Leliana had a great chuckle over the image of Lana's body smothered by the oversized clothing courtesy of the commander, then offered her own as recompense. She'd intended to take the nightingale up on her offer but their catching up took so long after a time, Lana's were returned. She was surprised how white the Skyhold launders spruced up the vest; that was unlikely to last past the day.

"To understand what's happening, what must have them concerned, I have to tell you about what makes a grey warden. This is..." Lana sighed. She'd been prepping herself for this. After Clarel called for her head she thought it'd be easy to distance herself. Still, the rules of the order clung to her like twisted bedsheets. They may be threadbare and moldy, but they were all she had left in the world. "In order to sense darkspawn, to become a warden, we drink their blood. We take in the taint."