Ser Nerys Ronain, Knight of Redcliffe (ronain) wrote in thedas,
One of Nerys' least favorite activities was to stand idle, but there was hardly anything left to do once the squires had been dispatched. Meanwhile, she didn't need to exhaust the young ser any further by forcing him to march another flight of stairs up to the keep proper. Given the summer's heat sinking into his tin suit and the way he was already heaving like an old dog, she wasn't entirely certain he would have even made it as far as the grand oak doors. The knight led the youth toward an empty bench, besides which was a filled pitcher of water for the trainees. She handed him the ceramic jug and allowed him to rest until the party he'd been ahead of would catch up.
There wasn't much to be said in the interim between forcing the Templar to take a break and the arrival of their anticipated company. All that Nerys could do was contemplate what little she knew -- there were more darkspawn on the way, a force so estimably large that it might require a militia's response. Now, whether the lumberjack was exaggerating on numbers or not remained to be seen, but it was still something to be concerned with. They were spread thin as it was, with no signs of further reinforcement beyond the Grey Wardens incoming. Understandably, their neighbors had their own territories to guard, and at such a short moment's notice, it had been hard to even get word out to the capital. To expect an immediate march from the crown in their defense was foolish and unrealistic. There just simply wasn't enough time.
The kennel mistress had remained utterly silent until she saw her lord at the landing of the staircase, and rose immediately to her feet. Crossing her arms, she saluted and lightly (or at least, she thought she was being gentle, though she'd been known to use more force than she realized) nudged Loïc to attention, as well. As she began to stride forward to meet both nobles, she heard the sound of urgent footfall behind her and came to a stop. The short, sturdy blur of blonde hair and mountain dirt rushing past her and toward the Arl was, presumably, The Johann. Nerys slowed her own pace to follow behind, not intending to get bowled over by a dwarf in a hurry, and stopped a few steps below.
Well, the dwarven woman was direct. She had to give her credit for that. The initial expression that played on the Arl's face was surprise -- not many people were so bold with him, and it was hard not to be taken aback by the bedraggled mountaineer -- but it quickly gave way to concern, not a trace of offense in his brow. At least one of his admirable traits was a lack of conceit about his title. He bowed his head slightly at her, speaking nearly as plainly as she had, "You may wish to speak with me, then. I am Arl Teagan."
Even though he was the ranking authority, he didn't stop his introduction there. The man turned slightly to gesture to the other lord beside him. "But the matter of the darkspawn in this region concerns more than myself and my command. This is Coan Bryland, a Grey Warden. I see you've already acquainted yourself with one of his compatriots," he nodded in respect to Signy. "Please, come inside, all of you. We can configure a plan once we're in private quarters." Given the recent infiltration into the town, any measure of security was worth taking.