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Cauthrien made her way quietly down the weathered stairs of the barracks. It was two hours before dawn, and the men were still asleep. The night watch would be heading back soon, but reveille would not be until daybreak. Her official duties would not start until then, so these few hours were hers to do with as she wished. She closed the heavy door at the foot of the stairs and walked out into the practice yards. An errant breeze tugged at her hair and pulled loose strands from her tight ponytail. Pale winter sunlight streamed out over the flagstones. Winter in Denerim was warmer than what she was used to, though still as damp. Denerim, the jewel of Ferelden's crown. She looked around her at the palace grounds and silently thanked the Maker. Five years ago, she would not have guessed that a simple farmer's daughter would be serving the army, the crown, and her lord Loghain. Yet here she was. A tiny smile danced about the corners of her mouth as she remembered Teyrn Loghain's praise of her actions and her subsequent promotion to a sergeant in his personal command.
She paused as a soft cry of frustration caught her attention. A small girl held a broad sword in a clumsy two handed grip and was trying to hit the pell with it. Trying, since she was missing with every other swing. Cauthrien winced at the poor form and debated whether or not to interfere. She hoped it was a practice sword, and not something with an edge. The last thing she needed was some child getting seriously hurt because they didn't know any better than to play with weapons. The girl looked to be about ten years old and was dressed in well patched cast-offs that had seen better days. As she watched, the girl swung at the pell again, overcompensating for balance and nearly falling.
"Stop!" Cauthrien barked out without thinking. "What do you think you're doing?"
The girl yelped in surprise. The sword slipped out of her hands and clattered onto the flagstones, shattering the early morning calm. "I'm sorry, ser knight," she babbled, "I didn't mean any harm by it..."
Cauthrien drew a deep breath and looked down at the girl. She was a tiny little thing, with wide grey eyes and messy red hair and looked vaguely familiar. Yes, it was the same child that hung around the corners of the yard the last week or so watching the soldiers practice in the afternoons. The girl met her gaze though she looked terrified.
"Never drop your weapon," Cauthrien picked up the fallen sword and offered it hilt first to the girl. "Especially when you're surprised. That's when you'll need it most."
"Thank you, ser knight," the girl accepted the weapon cautiously.
"I'm no knight, girl," Cauthrien said, "just a soldier. I'm a sergeant in the guard."
"Then...thank you, sergeant..." the girl bobbed a curtsy as best she could with a sword in one hand.
"What are you doing here?" Cauthrien asked. "It's rather early, isn't it?"
"I...wanted to learn to fight," the girl said. "My brother said he'd teach me, but Mother didn't like it. She wants me to be a lady, but being a lady is boring."
"You want to be a soldier, then?" Cauthrien asked. "I've seen you watching the men practice in the afternoons. Are you new to Denerim?"
"Yes, we just came two weeks ago. Papa works in the palace, and my brother's a soldier," the girl nodded, "so I want to be one too. But Mother won't let me."
"Is that why you're here at this hour?" Cauthrien hid a small smile at the girl's eagerness. It reminded her much of her baby sister, who had the same starstruck look in her eyes when Cauthrien last saw her three years past.
"Mother won't look for me until later," the girl said, blushing, "so no one cares where I am right now."
"I see," Cauthrien gave the girl a rare smile. "What's your name?"
"Elissa, Sergeant," the girl said.
"Well, Elissa, would you like to learn how to use that sword properly?" Cauthrien asked. It would do no harm to teach the girl some basics this morning. Better she learn it now before she picked up bad habits elsewhere...or killed herself out of sheer clumsiness.
"Yes, ma'am," Elissa's eyes lit up with unbridled joy at the offer. "You...you'll teach me?"
Cauthrien nodded and gestured for Elissa to follow her to the armoury. "First, let's find you something more your size. That sword's almost bigger than you are. We'll fix that first before working on your stance so you don't fall over every time you swing." Elissa followed at her heels eagerly like a half grown puppy that was all paws, ears, and tail.
Elissa looked about at the racks upon racks of swords, daggers, and other weapons in the armoury with awe in her eyes. It was clearly the first time she had set foot in an armoury, Cauthrien thought. She directed the girl away from the polearms and staves to a weapon stand of short blades near the back.
"Here, try one of these," she took the broadsword away from Elissa and handed her one of the lighter swords, something barely a handspan longer than a dagger, instead. "This is closer to your size. When you're older, you can work up to something heavier."
"Yes, ma'am," Elissa beamed as she accepted the sword. She swung it in the air once or twice before Cauthrien pushed her back out into the yard.
"Now, let me show you how to use that," Cauthrien unsheathed her own sword and positioned herself at the pells. "Watch me. First position is like this." She cocked the sword over her right shoulder and snapped out the blade. It hit the pell with a satisfying thud. Elissa watched her with wide open eyes. "Your turn," she gestured to Elissa, and the girl approached the pell hesitantly.
Her form was just as atrocious as before, but at least this time the sword made contact with the pell, however lightly. Cauthrien motioned for her to stop before she could make a second attempt.
"Stand with your feet shoulder width apart," she told the girl, "and bend your knees so you don't lose your balance. The swing's not just with the arm, so throw your body behind it."
Elissa nodded and did as she was told. The second strike landed solidly, and Elissa turned and grinned wildly at Cauthrien.
"Good girl," Cauthrien said warmly. "Now do that ten more times." She made minor adjustments to Elissa's posture and stance before letting her loose at the pell.
By the time the bells rang for morning chapel, Elissa was leaning against the pell, panting slightly and watching Cauthrien demonstrate her favorite sword drill. Block, spin, parry, and with a final strike to an imaginary target, Cauthrien ended the drill. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and sheathed her sword before turning to the girl. Two hours of basic strikes, blocks, and lunges left Elissa a tired but deliriously happy child. True, Cauthrien had lost most of her own morning practice, but there would be other mornings. "I'll teach you that someday, but not today," she said. "I think we're done for now, no?"
"Thank you ever so much!" Elissa blurted out excitedly. "That was wonderful! It was so much fun! Would you really teach me what you were doing?"
"Someday. We'll work up to it."
"But...you'll teach me again?"
It would mean giving up her solitary early mornings practices, but those pleading wide grey eyes made her hesitant to say no. "Perhaps," Cauthrien said, as they walked towards the armoury. "You'll have to get up early, you know."
Two men, one she recognised and one she didn't, walked towards them. Cauthrien stopped and bowed, "Good morning, milord Loghain." Elissa, meanwhile, had a guilty look on her face. "Uh oh...good morning, Papa..."
"Good morning, Cauthrien," Teyrn Loghain greeted her with a chuckle, " and I see we found your wayward daughter, Bryce. I told you she'd be here. She's been lurking about in the afternoons watching my men practice for the last week." Cauthrien bit her lip nervously. There was only one man at court she knew of named Bryce who was on a first name basis with Teyrn Loghain.
"I see that indeed," Bryce Cousland, Teyrn of Highever, laughed. "Elissa, your mother had turned the palace upside down looking for you, young lady. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Elissa gave Cauthrien an abashed grin before running to her father. "I was learning how to use a sword. Mother said I wasn't to have lessons until after breakfast. She didn't say anything about what I could before then."
"Be that as it may, pup, you still need to apologize to your mother for making her worry," Teyrn Cousland rumpled his daughter's already mussed hair affectionately. He turned to Cauthrien and held out his hand. "You must be the young woman Loghain was telling me about. It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Thank you for looking after the pup here. I apologize for any trouble she might have caused."
"She was no trouble, milord," Cauthrien shook the teyrn's hand.
"You're too kind, sergeant," Teyrn Cousland said, smiling. "I know my girl too well. She was probably a hoyden, as usual."
"Papa!" a shriek of complain came for the formerly silent Elissa. "I'm not a hoyden!" Cauthrien caught Teyrn Loghain hiding his snickers behind his hand. Teyrn Cousland gave both his daughter and his friend a quelling look before turning back to Cauthrien.
"Now then, you were teaching my daughter how to fence?"
"Yes, milord," Cauthrien bowed her head. "I...I did not realize she was your daughter, milord. I did not mean any harm by it."
"No need to apologize, sergeant," Teyrn Cousland shook his head. "As it happens, and yes, Loghain, she has been pestering me about it since we arrived, I've just not found anyone suitable until now, I'm in need of a fencing instructor for the pup here."
"Poaching my soldiers now, Bryce?" Teyrn Loghain asked sardonically. "What has the world come to?"
"I need someone to help me reign the pup, and the good sergeant has clearly shown she can do that. I'll compensate her for her time, obviously."
"And what of your lady wife?" Teyrn Loghain smirked. "I was to understand that she did not approve of your daughter's behavior."
"Eleanor will understand as long as Elissa does not neglect the rest of her studies. Isn't that right, pup?"
"Yes, Papa..." Elissa grudgingly acceded.
"Sergeant?"
"I do not have much time, milord," Cauthrien glanced at Teyrn Loghain, who gave her a barely perceptible nod, "but I could teach her in the mornings for perhaps an hour before the first chapel bell." Elissa grinned, excited at the prospect of regular lessons, and Cauthrien gave a small smile back at the girl.
"Good. It would do her no harm to rise early. I'll have my son escort her here, starting tomorrow."
"Yes, milord," Cauthrien agreed as Teyrn Loghain muttered something that sounded like "I'm sure Fergus would be delighted," under his breath. Teyrn Cousland, obviously used to his friend's ways, conveniently ignored it.
"Loghain, my man will meet with you to discuss the matter of payment. I will add 10 silvers to the sergeant's stipend each week until we leave in the spring. Will that be acceptable?"
That was half again her normal pay. "Thank you for your generosity, milord."
"Nonsense, sergeant, the pleasure is all mine," Teyrn Cousland herded his daughter out of the yard. "I will see you in Maric's study after breakfast, Loghain."
"Goodbye!" Elissa waved as she followed her father. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Yes, see you tomorrow," Cauthrien waved back, and then turned to her liege lord. "I'm sorry, milord, I did not mean for this to happen. But I couldn't watch her whale about like that. She would have hurt herself."
"Don't trouble yourself about it, girl," Teyrn Loghain gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "It would be good for you to have patronage in the court, and Bryce is a good man. He'll treat you well, and if even half his tales of his daughter are true, you'll be earning those silvers, I promise you that."
As promised, Elissa Cousland showed up at the practice yards every morning for the rest of the winter and more often than not, still hung about the yards in the afternoon to watch the soldiers train. Or, perhaps more to the point, to watch Cauthrien train. Cauthrien found herself showing off more than she should have whenever she caught sight of a red-haired girl lurking about. That particular brand of bravado, or rather, stupidity, stopped after Teyrn Loghain took a hand in the matters and gave her sound thrashing her next bout against him. Elissa, at least, did not say anything about it, but she took her fair share of ragging from the other men. By the end of the winter, Cauthrien could not imagine mornings without the particular brand of frustration and excitement that teaching an overly curious and foolhardy girl required and had gained a new appreciation for what Teyrn Loghain did for her. Bryce Cousland came to watch their lessons some mornings, and though he never said more than a few words to her, he was clearly pleased with her performance. Elissa alternated between being a joy and a terror, or both at the same time, like when Cauthrien caught the girl tussling with two of the older pages. She gave Elissa harsh words about fighting but was inwardly pleased that the two boys had come off the worse for it. Though she never mentioned that incident, both Teyrn Loghain and Teyrn Cousland heard of it from various unnamed sources, and both made their pleasure clear.
Their last lesson in the spring was bittersweet. Elissa tried to hide the fact that she was crying, but the streaks of tears down her face showed just how successful she was at that. Cauthrien cut the lesson short.
"You'll be leaving this afternoon then?" she asked.
Elissa nodded, too torn up to speak.
"Here, take this," Cauthrien said, unbuckling a short blade from her belt. The Cousland armoury would not be lacking for blades, but she had the extra coin for something small from Master Herren's shop. The sword was a little long, but she was certain Elissa would grow into it. It would do the girl good to have her own weapon. "Don't forget to stay in practice."
"For me?" Elissa accepted the sword as she blinked back tears. "I...thank you...you shouldn't have..."
"Don't be silly," Cauthrien scoffed lightly. She hated prolonged goodbyes, always did and always will. "I'll be expecting you back this fall."
"You...you'll still teach me then?"
"If I'm still stationed in Denerim, yes," Cauthrien nodded. "Your father made the arrangements already."
"Really?"
"Yes, girl," Cauthrien grinned. "Really." She omphed as Elissa leapt up to hug her.
"Thank you, thank you so much, Cauthrien," Elissa clung to her like a limpet.
"I'll see you in the fall, girl," she ruffled Elissa's perpetually messy hair. "Stay out of trouble, you hear?"
Elissa nodded, grey eyes sparkling. "Until the fall, I promise."