Fear of Ruling

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.

Prince Bhelen Aeducan waited until Trian was safely out of the room before he made his move. He shook his head and allowed a trace of weariness and annoyance to seep into his voice. "I honestly don't know how you put up with him."

Reidin shrugged slightly. "Easy. He's the only thing standing between me and the throne."

Most people wouldn't list that as their reason to put up with an abrasive older brother and, in fact, might well have that as their motivation to get rid of a more tolerable brother. Not that Bhelen would know anything about that, of course.

Reidin had always been a little odd, though, which was why Bhelen was approaching this far more delicately than he had when he had fed Trian the same story. A basic 'Oh, dear. Reidin may try to kill you' on his part had been enough to elicit a predictable reaction of 'Oops. Can't let that happen. Have to get him first' from his paranoid eldest brother. He had known Trian would accept any confirmation of his fears about Reidin no matter how unsubstantiated but Reidin never seemed concerned with sibling rivalry and so it was smarter to be able to actually be telling him the truth about Trian.

"He and everyone else in Orzammar are well aware of that fact," Bhelen said at length. "And that's part of the problem."

"It is, isn't it?" Reidin agreed with a sigh. "Why couldn't I be the youngest? Then there would be not one but two people in line for the throne before me and I could stop worrying that Trian is going to do something stupid and get himself killed."

"That's a very interesting attitude, big brother, though of course I appreciate the vote of confidence," Bhelen said dryly. "The problem is that Trian either isn't aware of your disinclination to take the throne or doesn't believe it." Or felt it was still too great a risk given Reidin's overwhelming if inexplicable popularity ad the fluid nature of alliances in the Assembly.

"I suppose that would certainly explain his ever-increasing hostility," Reidin mused. "Is this really something that I need to concern myself with, do you think?"

"Unless you want to end up dead, it is," Bhelen responded flatly. If things went as planned then Reidin would end up dead anyway but he could hardly tell him that, now could he? Reidin really wasn't at all like Trian and had always made it a point to be there for both of his brothers over the years, not that Trian had been all that receptive. Bhelen knew why it was necessary to have Reidin killed but he wasn't entirely sure why he wanted it to happen. Trian wanted Reidin dead because and insecurity but Bhelen was better than that. It was probably just his inability to separate Reidin the brother from Reidin the rival that was making him actually look forward to this. Reidin's status as favorite might be annoying, after all, but it really did him no favors as their father's insistence on coddling him was damaging his ability to keep his ear to the Stone and to get involved with the deshyrs. It was far more obvious why he wanted Trian dead; the man had treated him the exact same way their entire lives and he was beyond sick of it.

"Ending up dead certainly sounds unpleasant," Reidin agreed. "Alright, Bhelen, tell me."

"Trian has begun to move against you," Bhelen confided, lowering his voice as if worried that someone might overhear this confession. That wasn't sodding likely with all his carefully placed bribes, but he had to keep up appearances. "I never thought his much-proclaimed honor would allow him to actually act on his jealousy."

All that really mattered in Orzammar, of course, was the appearance of honor but Trian had some ridiculous notions about actually being honorable, probably because he was counting on that to keep him alive as plotting against the named prince was outright treason…if you were caught, which Bhelen wouldn't be. Still, the thought of Reidin committing such treason was enough to propel Trian forward to confronting him on the matter. His desire to have the nobles turn their back on their brother by having him answer for his crimes before the Assembly would appease his sense of honor and if Reidin wouldn't surrender then he could at least say that he tried to settle things peacefully. That might be a problem but if Reidin would commit to planning fratricide then that and the bribed scouts from tomorrow's expedition should be enough to ensure that it ended in a bloodbath.

"Trian's jealous of me?" Reidin asked, surprised. "He acts like he thinks I'm the most incompetent person he's ever had the misfortune to be forced to acknowledge."

"Well, he's not going to admit to it," Bhelen pointed out. "But I assure you that he is and everyone knows it."

"Gorim, is this true?" Reidin demanded, turning to Gorim.

"It is, my Lord," Gorim confirmed, doing a good job of keeping most of the 'you should know this already' out of his voice.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Reidin asked, puzzled. "That seems rather remiss of you."

"My apologies, my Lord," Gorim told him.

Reidin turned back to his brother. "Anyway, how do you think he intends to act on this mysterious jealousy you claim that he has? More lecturing? I don't want to be rude or anything but it drives me crazy when he does that."

Bhelen shook his head sadly. "If only. Big brother, Trian is going to try and kill you," he declared dramatically, enjoying the grandstanding despite himself but hoping that he wasn't overdoing it and making Reidin – or, more likely, Gorim – suspicious.

"Why would he want to go and do a silly thing like that?" Reidin wondered. "I mean, I know we don't really get along but fratricide is kind of extreme."

"I wouldn't have thought he would either if I hadn't overheard him giving orders to his men," Bhelen lied.

"If you go agree with me that this is so unbelievable then why would Trian even do it?" Reidin asked again.

"He's decided that you're a threat to taking the throne," Bhelen explained slowly. He paused before going on. "Maybe he's right."

Reidin snorted. "Pull the other one, little brother."

Well that was unexpected, to say the least. He hadn't thought that Reidin would doubt him while he was still detailing the common knowledge about Trian's reasons to dislike him. "Pardon?" he asked uncertainly.

"I am desperately afraid that the Assembly would pick me to succeed Father as I would then feel morally obligated to abide by their wishes," Reidin reminded him. "Trian being King is in my best interests." He paused. "Well, unless he goes mad with power and decides that he'd like nothing better then to spend the rest of our lives bossing me around because that would be really annoying and I'd be better off with you on the throne."

He really wouldn't. In fact, given that in Trian's plan Reidin's death was only a possibility while in his own it was a certainty it was really quite the opposite. "Why are you so against ruling, anyway?" Bhelen wondered aloud. "I mean, maybe if it were just not wanting to have to do what it takes to become Orzammar's next King but you make it sound like more than that."

Reidin shrugged. "There's no profound reason, really. It just sounds like a pain."

Bhelen stared at him. "You think being the King would be a pain?"

Reidin nodded. "Of course. You'd have to attend Assembly meetings all the time, listening to deshyrs complaining all the time, couldn't wander off into the Deep Roads to have impromptu darkspawn-killing parties whenever you want to, wouldn't be able to travel, definitely couldn't plot to run off and join the Grey Wardens...not to mention that would probably really kill my social life and romantic prospects."

Bhelen didn't even know how to respond to any of that and so he elected to just ignore it. "Just because you might not be actively courting the Assembly doesn't mean that they still wouldn't choose you and – as you just admitted – if they did you would accept the appointment. Besides, it's rather difficult to believe that you aren't courting them."

Reidin tilted his head to the side. "Really? What have I ever done that could possibly be misconstrued as me 'courting the Assembly'?" he challenged.

Bhelen couldn't resist rolling his eyes at the question but that was okay as that was perfectly fitting for his persona as harmless if sarcastic. He wasn't sure how he'd be expected to spend years pretending to be the anti-him if he hadn't decided to keep the sarcasm. "Oh, I don't know. There was that one time you entered and won your own Proving just to win glory and to please the crowds-"

"AND to score a date with Adal Helmi," Reidin interrupted. "There is nothing sexier than a woman who could probably kick your ass…"

Bhelen really didn't see the appeal of such a dangerous relationship but given his tastes tended to run towards casteless girls – or rather one in particular – he supposed he wasn't really one to talk. "And then there was that time that you slaughtered the heir to House Dace just because his father dared to insult our House-"

"And because he insulted Gorim and I hate House Dace anyway," Reidin cut in again.

Would he let him finish a sentence? Honestly! "And then there was that time that you managed to find the Ortan Thaig-"

"Which was a complete and total accident as I was actually just trying to make my way back to Orzammar," Reidin reminded him.

"Be that as it may, we may be able to locate Caridin's Cross and who knows what else from that information," Bhelen pointed out. "And these sorts of things happen all the time. It's really a wonder you're not the heir already. If you win glory against the darkspawn tomorrow – which you will if Father has anything to say about it – then good luck avoiding becoming Father's successor."

Reidin looked horrified. "There must be something, anything I can do!"

"You've got a little more important things to worry about than that," Bhelen said grimly. "Trian's out to kill you, remember? Maybe you should deal with him first and then hope that you not being heir will work itself out."

" 'Deal with him'?" Reidin repeated dubiously. "Like…kill him? Why would I do that?"

"Because he's trying to kill you and so clearly self-defense?" Bhelen offered.

"Yeah, but that seems really counterproductive towards my ultimate goal of staying off of the throne," Reidin remarked.

That was probably true but it worked great in Bhelen's own plan to keep Reidin off of the throne. "You can't just ignore this, big brother."

"Sure I can," Reidin said cheerfully. "It will be easy. I'll try and talk to him after the expedition tomorrow when all the excitement dies down and if he tries anything before then then I can just run away!"

Gorim looked like he was getting a migraine. Bhelen felt a sudden pang of sympathy for him: it really couldn't be easy to be the second to someone who was so reckless and seemed to lack even basic self-preservation instincts. He didn't think he'd fight whatever token punishment the Assembly would give to the warrior before him.

"You are my elder and so I shall respect your decision," Bhelen said, making sure to sound concerned. "Be careful, Reidin, I would hate to lose the brother I actually like."

That was a waste of time. Still, never let it be said that he didn't have a backup plan. Now, to find Vartag and instruct him to contact those mercenaries again with their new orders to make sure to save Reidin from becoming King. Really, if Bhelen weren't planning on killing his brother then Reidin really should thank him for working so hard to respect his wishes on the matter.

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