The night is long. The dawn will come.
Just not how some had expected it.
King Alistair. The title could still take him by surprise or after he had spent some time daydreaming about the old days. Old days meaning when he had traveled and quested with the woman who had became the love of his life. Of course, being the huge dork he was, Cousland had liked him in a brotherly fashion. Her interests spanned to Leliana and not to himself. That had been his luck but she'd been a true friend and leader. She'd always caught his bluff and early on, she had established that she didn't want to lead him on but the teasing could continue. Like an idiot Alistair had agreed and had grown more infatuated with her wit and charm. He tried to remember the good parts where their jokes made each other laugh. So, when he was addressed by the courier by his full title, Alistair seemed to wake up as if from a dream. He was reminded of reality. Warden Cousland had disappeared. Rumor had it for the cure to the curse of the taint.
At his side, Queen Anora looked up from the squabbling child in her arms to look at her husband expectantly and cleared her throat, waiting for him to reply to the courier's invitation. They were married only in name. While Alistair had strived to connect with the regal woman, she kept him at arm's length. The only intimacy they shared had been the monthly visits to produce an heir which had been done successfully almost a year ago. Now Anora kept with her lover exclusively for such acts. Alistair hadn't thought of bringing in a lover to improve his poor life. His only joy currently was the little bundle in Anora's arm, babbling nonsense in baby talk. Hopefully about cheese. Alistair hoped his son would take more after himself rather than his mother for the sake of keeping someone with a quirky sense of humor like his. Like a fallen Warden's.
Alistair looked down to the courier dressed in the horrible green garbs of the Inquisition armor. The green reminded him of mold or the rifts which it was probably intended to represent. Probably not the best theme but it did its job reminding people what the Inquisition did. "Can you repeat that last bit?"
"Of course, Your Majesty. Lady Montilyet assures you will have the best quarters in Skyhold." The courier hastily replied.
Alistair frowned. That didn't help him understand what the gist was of what he had missed while daydreaming. "I mean the bit before that."
"Oh." The courier seemed to catch on that the king hadn't really been present in the moment when he had been speaking. He was probably used to it in his trade, bored lords waving him off and accepting the letter to read it in another week. "The Inquisitor hopes to ally with Ferelden and her King in a joint effort to rid Corypheus from Thedas. Orlais has already-"
"I'll go." Alistair said hastily, cutting the boy off. The key word had been Orlais, more so than Corypheus. He couldn't very well be outdone by some Orlesians...well by all of them if the Empire was allied with the Inquisition already. Word of Celene's ball had reached his court but by it'd been carried through so many people, the news was fuddled. He supposed the Inquisitor hadn't sent anything formal for an alliance until the Inquisition had taken more power after it took in the rebel mages and Alistair had been rather cranky about the whole ordeal months ago. The idea of mages running loose with the rifts had been even more unsettling after the recent birth of Duncan.
"I'll let the Lady Inquisitor know, Your Majesty." As the courier thanked him and bowed to leave, Alistair looked to his wife and then his son, placing a finger in the little one's tight grip. "The journey would be hard on him. You can stay here with Duncan and take care of things while I'm gone. "
Anora smirked. "That's wise. It won't be much different without you." Alistair smiled. No, it wouldn't. Anora handled most of the paperwork and smaller problems that didn't need his face of leadership anyway. The comment still had a sting to it, even if she hadn't meant to bite. They'd gotten over petty comments years ago. Bitterness would have crumbled their kingdom.
Alistair pressed a kiss to her brow and Duncan's little forehead before turning to go to his study and prepare for his journey. It would be interesting to see this Skyhold and how far the Inquisition had grown. Alistair tried to recall the Herald's face from the time they'd met but could barely put features together. He saw so many people daily. He did, however, remember there being a Grey Warden. Blackwall was his name. If he was still with the Inquisition, Alistair was eager on meeting him.
