Signy’s gaze dropped; it had already descended and faltered as Imenry had reported what had happened in the Orchard, as she struggled to find something to add and came up lacking. Darkspawn. Ghouls. We burned it all. There was nothing else, nothing she could bring herself to say. This reunion, because it was surprising and because it was a happy occasion even though it was Imenry’s, had replaced the memories of the ghouls and the burning smell of the orchard and tainted flesh at the front of her thoughts.
But this was even worse; a short battle, few lost, but a Warden dead? Vienne? Exhaustion returned to her again, and she thought for a moment of shutting her eyes and just sitting down. Grey Wardens were supposed to be strong against the Blight, immune to the Taint, heroic, not--certainly not dying in what, from Hilda’s description, was a minor skirmish. Signy had grown up surrounded by deaths at Darkspawn hands, but even in Orzammar, Grey Wardens were regarded as steps, leaps and bounds above most warriors. They were able to face the Deep Roads alone and survive; that alone made them incredible. Even though she did not think of herself as such, there remained an air of invincibility around the order as a whole. There had been, at least.
Signy swallowed. “... They knew when to come,” came out first, though it was neither what she had thought first nor what she wanted to say. It felt insensitive once it came out, and as if it were nowhere near the most important thing to be thinking of. Someone she knew was dead, had been killed by Darkspawn, and more people were missing; if it were anyone they knew, Hilda would have said, would she not? She raised her eyes, slowly, finally coming to watch the skald again. “I should have more questions, but.. Maybe tomorrow.” That Hilda was smiling again did not strike Signy all that oddly; for a moment she was unnerved, given all that had happened, but from all she had seen of Hilda, it made some sense. “It’s been a long day. I’m glad--I’m just glad it was a small attack,” she faltered.