Wow...it's been a while since i used this account. I was lazy and didn't wanna wait two days for me to upload my story.

Well for this story i played through it with a female human noble (shutup, i thought it would be fun, and it works for my story.) Though this story has her in it, it mainly centers around another character i made up, who was with Alistair during his joining. But you won't meet him until the next chapter or so =) Well please R&R! and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is much appreciated. I want to become a better writer, so I would like to know where I can improve. =) Don't out right flame it though. Thanks and enjoy my first DA:O fic!

Trials and Tribulations
Chapter One:
Meetings...Oh Joy!

Why do Kings have to be put through these tortures? Alistair sat on his throne in the chamber where all the nobles of Fereldan gathered together to discuss problems within the land. It has been five years since the last Blight, and apart from the occasional darkspawn raids, and bandits attacking travelers, Fereldan was at peace.

Still, why do these people insist on having these meetings every month? Wouldn't once ever half year seem better? The King let a sigh escape and turned slightly to look at the person sitting next to him. At least she feels the same way. A small smile formed as he thought of his loving wife, the Hero of Fereldan. He remembered when they first met, how she threatened to beat the mage that shoved past her and made him almost wet himself.

~*~

Alistair walked towards where he was instructed the mage would be. It was just his luck the Revered Mother sent him on this errand. He shook his head and headed up the ramp, to find the mage standing in the center. Right upon seeing him, Alistair knew this was not going to end well. The mage already looked mad enough, having to run around helping the Grey Wardens. Oh well, Alistair grinned to himself, might as well make the best of it.

"Excuse me, good mage! I was told I could find you here." The mage in question turned and glared at Alistair. Alistair chose to ignore it and walked up to him.

"What is it now? Haven't the Grey Wardens asked enough of me as it is?"

"I simply come to deliver a message from the Revered Mother, ser mage. She desires your presence." The mage scoffed and scowled, if possible, his angry expression getting angrier.

"What she desires is of no concern to me. I'm busy helping the Grey Wardens, by the King's orders I might add."

"Should I have asked her to write a note?" A smirk crossed the ex-Templars face as he watched the mages face.

"Tell her I will not be harassed in this manner!" Alistair rolled his eyes and shifted his weight to his right foot.

"Right…I was harassing you by delivering a message." His eyes flickered over as someone else walked up behind the mage, patiently waiting for the conversation to end. A girl garbed in splintmail armor and a sword and shield strapped to her back. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He shrugged and turned back to the mage.

"Your prudence does you no credit." He spat as he crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the Warden. He saw the girl lift an eyebrow as she smirked slightly.

"Aw, and here I thought we were getting along so well. I was going to name one of my children after you…the grumpy one." He heard the girl snort as she tried to hold her laughter in. The mage growled and threw up his hands in defeat.

"Fine! I will go to her if I must, but this better not be a waste of my time." He turned and shoved passed the newcomer, almost making her fall to the ground. "Out of my way fool." Alistair caught the look the girl had, a mixture of annoyance and mischief. Before the mage could walk down the ramp, and medium sized rock flew and smacked him in the back of the head. The mage stumbled forward and almost tripped over his own feet. Alistair turned and looked at the girl, who was bouncing a rock in her hand, her other hand on her hip as she growled at the mage.

"That's for almost knocking me over. Men, no respect for ladies." The mage rubbed the back of his head an turned sharply, glaring daggers at the girl.

"Why you…I don't need this!" He harrumphed and stalked away, leaving a smirking girl and Alistair doubled over laughing.

~*~

The action reminded Alistair of a fellow Grey Warden that went through the Joining with him. Her comical jibes at his jokes and insecurities, and her skill with a weapon were something to be afraid of. Later on, after the wedding was when Alistair finally realized that the Grey Warden he thought of that day, and Kailee were actually related.

Kailee seemed to sense him looking at her and turned slightly to smile at him, her eyes seeming to say "I'd rather be somewhere else." Alistair could think of a few other things he'd rather be doing than sitting in a throne room with a bunch of stuck up nobles. He quickly brought his thoughts away from that direction, for the time being at least. There was plenty of time for that later.

"So you see milord," a short fat man with a bald head that would blind even the darkspawn in the sunlight stated, seemingly bringing the King out of his musings, "my fair city and its people would be happy if you were able to send us some soldiers to stop these riots between our people." The man looked up expectantly at Alistair, waiting for him to agree. A few of the other nobles also turned from their talks and turned to look at the King.

"Why not just let them go deal with it themselves? They seem hell bent on doing that anyways." Alistair blinked and turned to look at his wife, her light tone of sarcasm going over the nobles heads, but it did not escape his notice. He chuckled lightly.

"Yeah just throw them out on a big field and let them go at it. That will surely put a stop to those riots." Alistair smiled and laughed slightly. A couple of the other nobles, including Arl Eamon, who was visiting and presiding at the meeting, laughed, catching onto the joke. The fat man standing in the middle of the room thought to himself for a moment.

"You know…that may actually work!"

All laughter stopped as everybody looked at the man like he had grown a second head. Alistair almost fell out of his seat.

"Uhm…excuse me?" Kailee glanced at him and shrugged, her eyes seemingly questioning the man's apparent lack of sarcasm.

"Yes! If we stick them all out on a big field to have them fight it out…we will finally get some peace in the city! Granted they will not be fighting with weapons of course. It will be just like a fight in a bar! Except there's no bar…and no ale…" Alistair groaned and laid his head on his hand, shaking it slowly.

Maker save me. I'm slowly losing my mind. He sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes and rubbing the sides of his temples, slowly lowering the oncoming headache he was feeling. Arl Eamon cleared his throat and stepped forward, walking in front of the long table that stretched the middle of the room to stand in front of the King.

"If I may add one more thing, my lord? There have been numerous darkspawn sightings to the south and east, in the Bannorn, and near the Dales. Though they do seem like raiding parties, I still worry if they may try to invade and conquer some of the smaller villages, and drive the people out. They have become more frequent lately, which is odd for them." Alistair and Kailee looked at each other, concerned looks flashing between them. Kailee looked at his eyes with her own, and right away he knew she wanted to help. He nodded slowly, warily. Kailee smiled in thanks and stood up, stepping forward to address Eamon.

"I will help lead an expedition if that is what you wish us to provide." The murmurs that proceeded sounded like light thunder throughout the room. Kailee looked from each noble to the other, her eyes sweeping the room, waiting for them to calm down before she spoke again. "We need some more Grey Wardens out near the Dales and Bannorn to help quell the darkspawn numbers, and I remember traveling there. There seemed to be a couple of abandoned castles that could be used as outposts." Alistair smiled as he watched his wife, marveling at how well she held the nobles' attention. She was something else, he was not afraid to admit that. The nobles started to murmur and whisper amongst themselves again, taking their sweet time in evaluated the situation at hand.

"If we let you go however, my Queen, who will be here to keep our King in check?" Arl Eamon asked while casting a glance at the man in question. Alistair mumbled something under his breath before looking back at his wife who turned to address the Arl.

"Well in order to do that he would have to come with me, would he not?" A smirked played with her lips, threatening to show. Everyone in the room fell silent as they stared at the Queen.

Again, he had to admit she was something else. Oh that sly fox. Alistair smiled and stood up, walking to stand next to his wife. "I think that it is a great idea. The Grey Wardens are needed now more than ever, and a little more into the ranks will inspire hope in some people, I would believe." He leaned forward slightly and whispered in Kailee's ear, "And a little vacation from these pricks would be nice too." Kailee had to stifle a giggle, her mouth pulled up into a grin.

Before anything else could be said, muffled shouts from outside the room floated in through the cracks in the door. Apparently something slipped past the guards and they were chasing it. The entire room fell silent, straining to hear what was being said. Suddenly, the heavy wooden doors flew open, a giant blur of brown rushing past them, straight towards Alistair and Kailee. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Maker why do you find it funny to torment me… Alistair's eyes widened as the mabari hound jumped onto his chest, knocking him down. Kailee gave a desperate glance to Arl Eamon, who nodded and stepped forward, telling the nobles that the meeting was over. The noble's snickered and smiled, amused at the situation the King was in. It did not happen regularly, but it was nice for them to see a lighter side of the royal family that was not all serious. The mabari barked and licked Alistair's face, much to his dismay, before jumping off and trotting over to his master. A little girl was seated on the hounds back, her brown curls bouncing as Bello moved to where Kailee was. The five year old grinned as she saw her mother, reaching up with her hands.

"Mommy! Did you see what Bello did to Daddy? He was funny!" Kailee smiled as she knelt down to scratch Bello's head. She looked at her daughter and tilted her head to the side.

"How in Andraste's name did you get so filthy, Lil?" Lilly grinned and rubbed her muddy hands down Kailee's cheeks, before looking at her and laughing. "Gee…thanks child." She shook her head and wiped her cheeks off, before scooping Lilly up in her arms and turned to look at Alistair, who was busy trying to fend the hound off while trying not to get dirty. "What am I going to do with you two?" She grinned and whistled, Bello whipping his head over to her, his tongue hanging from his mouth. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up. We have a dinner to attend tonight."