pShe was not much different in age than he, this Fereldan Queen, Sebastian found himself thinking as he bowed before her throne./p
p"Prince Vael," she said, then rose to her feet, walking the few steps down from her throne to offer him her hand. "A pleasure to meet you. I have heard much about you," she added./p
pHis eyebrows rose, just slightly. "From Hawke?" he asked, as he lifted her hand, before bowing a second time to press a kiss to the back of it. She was smiling slightly when he rose, amusement visible in her eyes./p
p"Among others, yes," she agreed. "Join me," she said, and turned her back, walking away./p
pHe barely hesitated before following her; he doubted he need fear assassination in her court. She led the way around the throne, to a door hidden in back of it, and into a small sitting room. She tugged once on a bell-pull, then sank into a comfortable armchair beside a small table, and gestured for him to take the other seat. "They have already left Ferelden," she told him, quite composedly. "Do not bother asking for where; they did not tell me their travel plans, nor the Warden-Commander. They merely visited long enough to see Bethany Hawke delivered to Vigil's Keep, saw another companion of theirs to the safety of the Brecilian Forest, and then set sail from Gwaren, destination unknown."/p
pSebastian looked at her curiously. "Word of this could have easily been sent to me when my ship docked. Why then did you ask for me to attend on you at your court?"/p
pAnora smiled. "Because I wished to see you, and speak with you. I spent some time talking with Hawke and Anders before I let them depart," she added, then fell silent as a servant came in, carrying a large tray. She waited silently while the servant set the tray down on a small table handy to both their seats, and nodded graciously to her as the woman dipped a curtsey at them before leaving./p
pShe lifted the tea pot, and poured for both of them, passing Sebastian his cup first of all before pouring her own. She took a cookie from a plate of them, then settled back in her seat, cup in one hand, cookie in the other. Only after eating a neat bite of her cookie did she finally resume. "You are aware, I am sure, that following the Blight I granted a boon to the mages here in Ferelden, taking control of Kinloch Hold away from the chantry and instead giving it over to the control of the mages themselves."/p
p"Yes, I have heard of this," he agreed, frowning. "A dangerous precedent…"/p
p"Yes, yes, so the Grand Cleric tells me at least once a week. It has, however, worked out very well; the mages govern themselves, and as they are well aware that their continued control of their own lives depends on their proving themselves to be trustworthy, they police their own ranks quite efficiently. More, it has meant that Ferelden now enjoys the services of the mage-born to a degree not seen anywhere else outside of the Tevinter Empire itself. We are becoming accustomed to mage freedom here, with my nobles clamouring constantly for even greater access to healers, elemental mages, and the like. You understand, then, that it would not be politic for me to assist you in your pursuit of the apostate Anders?"/p
p"Not politic!" Sebastian all but exploded, putting his half-empty tea cup back down with unnecessary force, tea slopping over the side and pooling on the tray. "He is a murderer! And an abomination…"/p
p"And not here," Anora said, coldly, easily cutting through his rising tones. She set her own cup down, with rather more decorum than he had, and lightly dusted her fingers of crumbs before folding her hands together in her lap. "I do not doubt that the man has done terrible things. Terrible things were done to him, as well, by the chantry and by the templars. I do not say that excuses what he did!" she added, lifting one hand warningly when he started to speak. "But in any case, Anders is not what I wished to speak to you of, nor why I asked you here."/p
p"Then why…?" he asked her, puzzled./p
pShe glanced away, looking uncomfortable. "A small fact that Hawke brought to my attention, which I have since had confirmed by my own archivists. It is because of your great-grandmother that I wished to speak to you."/p
p"My great-grandmother?" he asked, and frowned, puzzled, mentally running through his family tree. Enlightenment struck. "The Fereldan bride!"/p
p"Yes. You may be the solution to a problem I face, Prince Vael. The blood of Calenhad flows in your veins, thanks to that marriage, as it does not in mine. And you are sufficiently high-born to please even the most stick-in-the-mud traditionalists of my nobles, even if you are emnot/em Fereldan-born. I would speak to you, Prince Vael, of the necessity of heirs."/p
pHe frowned, then slowly settled back in his chair. "Go on," he said, quietly. It would not hurt to at least listen to what proposal she had, he thought. And she was, after all, a very fine-looking woman./p