"You want me to… do…what?" Her voice was so calm, so quiet, so icy, that Alistair was sure the air had grown cold around her. He could not blame her, his response would have been the same if he had been stuck in the same situation. As it was his fellow warden stared up at his uncle with a steady and rather stoic gaze. Alistair was surprised when Eamon did not even flinch, though there was a certain nervous note to his voice as he spoke again.

"WE, " Eamon reiterated, his glance taking a moment to turn toward his nephew and king, upon Ferelden's throne, obviously attempting to make it seem as if it had not been his idea. In truth, it hadn't been, it was Anora's the queen who sat beside Alistair and the only one in the room who was not intimated by the cold gaze of the elf standing before the throne. ", would like to propose a betrothal between the Teyrn of Gwaren and yourself."

For a moment the flame-haired elven woman was silent and then she turned her gaze from Eamon to Anora, and Alistair did not miss the light of understanding that shone in the warden's blue eyes. "Loghain …you mean?" there was a slight pause in the elf's question and the king could see a vindictive sort of turn come to the tips of her pink lips. "You wish for me to marry one of my subordinates?"

Alistair had to fight hard to keep from laughing, he barely managed to hide the amused smile that wormed it's way onto his face. Tearanae Surana had not changed a single bit in the year since he'd last seen her. Of course she was not completely wrong. Although he was still the Teyrn of Gwaren, she was now the Arl of Amaranthine and the Commander of the Grey in Ferelden. In a way she was more powerful than them all. This, however, did not seem to be the Queen's way of thinking.

Anora frowned and raised her chin in a show of superiority and pride. "I should think my father is much more than that …Warden Commander."

Tearanae lowered her head slightly in a sign of respect for the queen, but everyone could feel the tension that existed between the two women. In truth this was a battle between them and the others were merely spectators. The thought irked Alistair slightly, he was, after all, the King. But when he considered the circumstances that gave him the throne he sat upon, he squashed the feelings that emerged and instead simply sat back to watch the exchange.

No doubt his wife would assume she had the upper hand. She was a human, Queen, intelligent, and vastly competent. Had she been facing down any other elf; any other woman, her will would have won out instantly. But Tearanae was no ordinary woman, let alone an ordinary elf. Even when they had first met the elf had been a step ahead of Anora. His Queen had, after a particularly enjoyable night of revelry, admitted that if Tearanae had not circumvented her she would have betrayed them to her father's knights. The elven mage was ingeniously cunning and even Alistair had to admit that her tactics, though unorthodox, were highly effective. The petite woman was like the eye of the storm that often raged around her, or else the deep abyss that waited at the bottom of a whirlpool. Quiet, nearly unseen, and deceptively dangerous.

Those few assembled of the Banorn watched as their King did, entranced by the clash of two such extraordinary women. Then, at last, the warden spoke and broke through the tense silence that had gathered. "May I ask your majesties why this has been asked of me? Am I, after all, not ill-suited to be wife to such a …fine man of the realm?" Her tone was light, casual, respectful, and nearly…amused. Those who looked on exchanged a nervous spurt of whispers as they attempted to interpret the mage's true-meaning behind the statement.

Alistair did not bother listening, he could see through his old friend in this exchange as if she were glass. She wanted to know if this were a reward from Anora, or a punishment. She was truly asking why Anora was proposing such a union…not why she had been chosen. Anora kept her expression neutral and the King strained to understand what his fair-haired wife was thinking as she replied.

"We find you more than aptly suited to marry my father, Warden Commander. To combine the houses of two of Ferelden's most honorable heroes will show a sign of unity to the common folk and a sign of strength to other lands." The Queen's tone was more neutral than the Warden Commander's had been, more…stately. Alistair shifted uncomfortably upon his throne, he did not like the turn in which this particular conversation was taking.

Tearanae did not alter her expression however, her slight smile and respectfully inclined head remained as they ever were. Only the fellow warden upon the throne could see the cogs turning in her head. Only he could see the way the elf's grip tightened, ever-so-slightly, upon the hilt of the blade upon her hip. "What's more," Anora went on, and now Alistair did turn to his wife, anxious of the painful words lurking behind her slight smile…a bit more cruel than the elf's before them. "We believe, based upon recent events, that the ruling of the arling of Amaranthine, needs a more experienced hand to help the area recover from recent hardships."

The words seemed to rush through the hall like the sharp talons of a hawk to strike the woman standing before the throne like a blade through the heart. Alistair was not the only one this time to catch the emotion swirling behind her mask of aloof amusement, for she gave something of a step backward that trembled. What's more the elf's lips twitched at the edges of her smile, she fought so valiantly to withhold her mask of indifference that Alistair nearly stood from his throne in order to rush to her side.

Anora felt him move and hastily grabbed his hand and shot him a glare. The blond man shifted in his seat and coughed uncomfortably to hide the awkward moment and then looked on with sympathy as his elven friend recovered herself and smiled.

"Is this a decision of the crown?" she asked, innocently enough, but Alistair could hear the meaning behind the words, and it made his heart ache with old feelings. She was asking if he'd agreed to this, if he'd also decided to take away her influence and settle her into a marriage with a man she did not love.

He hadn't. He could never have agreed. After all, he had once been in love with the woman standing there before him. Once. But she had refuted his advances, had fallen into the arms of another man who was all too happy to give as much love and…physical…affection as she wanted. But all of that was in the past. All of it. And even now, though he sat upon a throne, she was his dearest friend and he would have prevented this foul turn of events…if he could have. Sadly his wife, still scarred by her marriage to his half-brother, did not trust him not to act on old, long-dead feelings. So she had found a way to fix the problem…permanently.

A tight squeeze of his hand brought him back from his thoughts and Alistair turned to his queen and mournfully studied her suspicious glare. He sighed and turned to his friend with regret and nodded. "Yes…it is."

The tension in the room broke, the queen had won. The Warden Commander bowed and softly uttered her response, respectful, understanding…covered behind a mask of neutrality. In a way their positions had switched, the Queen's and the Commander's. Anora now sat with a mask of bemused aloofness, and Tearanae stood before her with a mask of neutrality that thinly veiled her devastated emotions.

"I understand." the red-haired elf muttered, sweeping into a bow, as she stood once more she tried her best to smile politely. " If that is the will of the crown then I shall yield to such a fine match. Gladly will I marry the Teyrn of Gwaren."