Post DA:O, but before Awakening takes place. The road of kingship is a hard one. Alistair never expected to be king, but now he is. From the reconstruction of Denerim to trying to move on from the woman he loved his trials and tribulations as king never cease or give him a moments peace. This fanfiction is the sequel to (the link for the story is below) but it can stand alone as well. This is Alistair's story. Every chapter will be mostly from his point of view, a few might be from Shirl Cousland's and some other characters, but mostly it's Alistair's story. So enjoy and thanks for reading! I rated this 'T' for now, but a few chapters might be updated to 'M'. Thanks for reading!

s/5882834/1/Warden-s-Burden

Sincerely,
PE

Prelude: Denerim

Arl Eamon stared at the small child crawling around on the rugged covered floor. The boy could be no more than a few months old. Cooing softly the babe gummed a wooden horse toy that his father had given him to keep him silent.

"Your Majesty, are you certain about this?" Eamon asked. Watching the babe throw his toy horse down and roll over onto his stomach.

"Eamon, I cannot allow the memory of my beloved wife to be tarnished with my…indiscretion." King Maric Theirin stated firmly though he faltered slightly over the last word. "Eamon, I have no other place to go with him. His mother left him on my doorstep. He is mine to raise as I see fit, but I do not want him. I do not want him to threaten Cailin's bid for the Ferdelen throne. I need the child hidden."

"Is the boy to know who you are? Who his mother is?" Eamon asked looking Maric over. The man had visibly aged. His once dark golden hair was streaked with gray and jagged worry lines crisscrossed around his eyes and mouth. Being the king of a struggling nation had taken its toll on Maric.

Maric shook his head and placed a hand over his eyes rubbing his brow. "His mother did not seem to mind the idea of him knowing, but I do not like the idea. Let him think of her as a besotted scullery maid. I do not relish the idea of him knowing the full truth and I do not know if his mother would either." Maric sighed and continued to rub his brow. "As for me, I can never fully acknowledge the boy for fear of what that would mean to Ferelden. But I will not deny the child some sense of his father."

Eamon nodded his understanding. "Why come to me, Maric? Certainly there is someone more qualified to take care of the child?"

"No one else is qualified to raise my child!" Maric dropped his hand away from his eyes. He looked tired and worn even more so than before. "Please, Eamon, I know that I'm asking a lot of you, but I have no where else to turn. Loghain has advised me that this is best and safest course of action for the boy. I trust you, Eamon."

Eamon sighed and turned away to watch the babe raise his head up to look around the room. The babe blinked his eyes and tried to scoot across the floor using his legs and arms to propel him. Eamon found himself smiling at the child. He chuckled and nodded to the nurse maid who was standing nearby. The woman had been wringing her hands wanting for all Eamon could see to pick the child up from the moment he had flipped himself on to his stomach. The nursemaid snatched the babe up from the ground. She clutched the baby to her breast and bowed to Eamon and Maric before turning to leave.

"Maric, I understand the situation you are in, but taking care of a child this young I have no idea where to even begin." Eamon admitted. He was not married. His time was constantly divided between Denerim and Redcliff. Even though Teagan stayed most of the time in the capitol to oversee the Landsmeet meetings, Eamon was called away frequently to address many problems concerning Redcliff.

"I'm just asking you to take him to Redcliff to be raised. I want him away from the royal palace and away from the critical eye of the Landsmeet." Now it was Maric's turn to sigh. "I would not normally ask this and you know it, Eamon. But as I stated earlier you are the only one I can turn to at the moment. I only want a few people to know he exists. The less people that know the less likely anyone can use him against me or his brother."

Eamon looked taken aback. Maric simply wanted his son to be safe. If he had understood what Maric was applying, then yes, he really did want what was best for the boy.

Having no children of his own would make raising the boy difficult. People would talk and gossip. They would assume it was his child that he had brought from Denerim. Some bastard that he had gotten upon some doe eyed maid. Sighing, he was doing that a lot more lately. Eamon nodded solemnly. It's not like Maric is really giving me a choice here.

"Thank you, Eamon." Maric said sounding a bit too relieved to Eamon's ears. Maric stood and Eamon with him. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I do have an early day tomorrow and I know you will want to make arrangements for taking care of the babe."

"I still don't know what I'm to tell people. About his parents?" Eamon stated. "What am I to tell the boy about his parents?"

Maric looked thoughtfully for a moment placing a finger to his chin and tapping it lightly. Then he stared straight at Eamon. "Just use your best judgment, Eamon. I trust you." The king's shoulders slumped slightly. "He's a bastard, Eamon. People are going to treat him differently no matter who his father is."

Eamon nodded and then a question he not thought to ask earlier popped into his mind. "Maric, does the boy have a name? Or, shall I name him?" Eamon asked placing his hands behind his back.

"Alistair." Maric said quietly and with that Maric turned and strode out the door leaving Eamon staring after him shocked silence.