When they arrived in Denerim they found themselves staying at Howe's old estate, which was still being refurbished. Varel had apparently put in orders to remove any overt trace of Howe's influence, though not of his family's occupance. As such, no evidence of his late love of torture lingered, as it likely did in the Arl of Denerim's estate. They only had a night before the Landsmeet, and Nathaniel spent it wondering the halls of a place full of distant memories. "I've only been here a handful of times," the youngest Howe confessed, "and only as a child."
Teagan arrived obscenely late, but Cadryn was still awake, hardly able to sleep in advance of the Landsmeet. He'd been in worse shape for the first one and done more, so he worried little over it. But Teagan appeared grim when they settled down in the kitchen over a heavily mulled wine, an informal setting to make their grim meeting more comfortable.
"We can't stand with you at the Landsmeet," were the first words out of Teagan's mouth after stilted pleasantries. "What happened in Amaranthine is too terrible. And I regret it—we both regret it. Surely you did what you did for a reason, but it still rings as a reprehensible act to the rest of the nobility. Amaranthine was one of our jewels, a prized port—the whole region could collapse if it doesn't get back on its feet quickly."
"What have you heard from the others?" Cadryn managed around the sudden dryness in his mouth, something no amount of wine could combat. "I want to know what I'm walking into."
"You'll have no allies," Teagan said. "They'll run you out of the Arldom for certain, and if a few of Howe's friends have their way, they'll see you executed in disgrace. They're not likely to get their way though—you're still a hero, and I'll stand against that with the force of Redcliffe's men if I must. Eamon's given me permission to decide for him in such an event."
"No sympathy at all?"
"There's sympathy aplenty." Teagan leaned back in his chair, throwing an arm over the back, relaxing slightly as if the worst was over. "The more reasonable Banns and Arls would respond well if you begged assistance, made a case for their help in restoring Amaranthine. They want to see some regret, but not melodrama. The more vicious will seize on any sign of weakness, even this. I don't know what direction to advise you to take."
With a slow nod, Cadryn said, "I understand. Thank you, though. I think I know what I should do."
They spoke a little further, about news around the kingdom, about how people back in Redcliffe were doing, about just what had happened in Amaranthine, about the new recruits, and eventually Cadryn started to relax, physically falling out of his forward-sitting, attentive posture into a more comfortable slouch, tension leaving him like a spring slowly unwinding. By the end of the visit it was clear Teagan bore him no real resentment for what had happened in Amaranthine, and that was reassuring. If anything the Bann pitied him, though he didn't go quite so far as admitting it.
And it was probably thanks to Teagan calming him down that Cadryn managed to sleep at all that night, even if only in snatches of no more than an hour. Too wound up to relax any further, he woke early. He didn't want to care about what the nobles thought, but someone else running Vigil's Keep meant the Wardens would have to find a new home.
ooooooo
Cadryn strode confidently into the Landsmeet chamber, full of enough bluster to hide his fear. He figured nothing else could be done at this point, so why worry overmuch? But it was one thing to have the thought and another to live it, so he remained nervous, but more in control. Nathaniel walked to one side and just a pace or two behind, eying the nobles coolly.
When Anora beckoned Cadryn to her side Nathaniel stayed behind, well out of earshot of their hushed conversation. Cadryn was ready to slip some vitriol in her ear for calling the Landsmeet, for a perceived betrayal, but she murmured softly to him, "They forced my hand. I am sorry for this." All his anger deflated, left him hollow, because there was truth in her eyes, no lie. After all, they were tenuous allies, and good for each other as such—what Arl wouldn't want the Queen on his side, and as Warden-Commander it gave him a strong position to stand in for their actions in Ferelden; and what Queen wouldn't want a renowned hero for a friend, one she could claim to have supported all along in the face of detractors and doubt? They didn't have to like each other, but she clearly liked what Cadryn's presence did for her in a political sense, and that was more than he expected from her.
In twenty more minutes everyone necessary had arrived, and Anora began. "We have all heard distressing rumors out of Amaranthine of late, not only of Darkspawn activity but of the destruction of her largest city, a shining jewel in Ferelden's crown. It is with a heavy heart that I must confirm these rumors, and call this Landsmeet to determine if the Warden-Commander is fit to rule his arling in light of these developments."
He couldn't remember the Bann's name, someone he'd been introduced to very briefly at the first meeting of court in Amaranthine, but a man stepped forward on the floor below, "I have several letters from freeholders of Amaranthine that I would like to read to the Landsmeet." Anora gave him permission for what was likely to be a protracted delivery, and the man began, "This is from a woman who's husband was in the city on business when the city was burned." And he read the letter, a heartfelt account of the anguish resulting from her husband's death. He went on with other letters in the same vein, highly emotional and clearly taken almost immediately after the city's fall. Cadryn wanted to be angry with him for manipulating the emotions of men and women to his own ends, but instead each word was a tiny chip at the armor he surrounded himself with, another finger pointing and a voice crying You have failed us. By the time the man stopped, shuffling the papers to his off hand and looking up at Anora, said, "I could go on for another hour, but I think that's plenty," Cadryn felt fully demoralized, utterly dejected. He suspected that was the true point.
Others spoke up against him, all Banns—Teagan, here in Eamon's stead, remained silent, as did Teyrn Cousland and Arls Wulff and Bryland. Eventually Anora held up a hand and said, "Enough. Warden-Commander? The Landsmeet demands some explanation for your actions. Do you have anything to say in your own defense?"
Cadryn took a deep breath, stepping up to the railing to face the gathered nobles below. "The Darkspawn will not be a serious threat in Ferelden again—their organization is broken utterly. What happened in Amaranthine was necessary to keep them from spreading, though I desperately wish it hadn't been so, and I would do it again with less hesitation. I stand by my decision, and if the Landsmeet finds that conviction damning, then clearly Amaranthine should be in more suitable hands."
"You see? There! An admission of his unsuitability for the Arldom from his own lips! Do you need anything further?"
Teyrn Cousland leaned over the railing on the opposite side, a tense, serious look hardening his face, lips thinned into a pale line. His eyes caught Cadryn's, briefly, and for a moment Cadryn felt that Fergus Cousland looked through him, assessing all that he was in a moment's glance. "Need I remind you that Arl Cadryn ended the Blight and is the Warden-Commander for Ferelden? I should think if anyone is fit to make so terrible a decision, it would be him. Look at him," Fergus gestured with an open hand across the room, and everyone looked up at his command, pinning Cadryn with their gazes as if he were some particularly interesting specimen under a Circle Enchanter's scrutiny. "Does he look to you as if he enjoyed doing this to the people who are ultimately his responsibility?"
"This is precisely my point!" the same Bann shouted from the floor, and Cadryn wracked his brain for a name but still couldn't summon it forth, wanting to pin this man down for who and what he was. "He is a Grey Warden, not even from Freeholder stock, and hardly more than a child! Tell them how old you are, Arl!"
Cadryn hesitated, and in that moment Teagan finally spoke up. "What does it matter?"
"Just tell them, Arl!" The Bann sneered his title again, and Cadryn wanted to spit at him, swear vehemently, or just choke the life out of him bare-handed, but knew such rage was impotent in the face of the Landsmeet.
"I'm twenty," he lied—he wouldn't be so for another month. A murmur passed through the nobles on the floor, and Fergus rubbed a hand across his face, clearly annoyed with the display.
"Which means the fate of Ferelden—nay, of all Thedas, rested on the shoulders of a child, a man so barely into his majority that he can hardly be considered such!" With a sharp, vehement gesture up toward Cadryn, he continued. "And a mage, at that! He could hardly be called human in the first place! How could he ever understand the implications of such a decision, the bonds of kinship among lesser mortals that he destroyed when he condemned Amaranthine City?"
"When did this turn into a Satinalia farce?" Teyrn Cousland leaned out again, practically roaring at the Banns on the floor who were muttering and nodding along with their fellow. "I have seen first hand the Darkspawn and the effect their taint has on men and women—and I know for a fact many of you have as well, or have you so suddenly forgotten the Blight and the toll it took on our families? Each of us was touched by it personally. This mage," Fergus pointed across the room, and caught Cadryn's gaze again for a moment, a brilliant fire burning in his eyes, "is our only real defense against such a threat. If he hadn't taken those measures, we'd all be up to our eyes in Darkspawn again and begging Orlais for help!"
"If I may." Everyone turned to look, the motion almost audible, at Nathaniel, who stepped forward in the crowd on the floor to stand next to the vociferous Bann, Constable Aidan in tow. "This is Constable Aidan, the head of Amaranthine City's guard. We were both present."
"And who are you?" another Bann asked, but the vociferous one stepped back, confusion and recognition plain on his face.
With a little smirk he said, "Nathaniel Howe," and seemed to take a perverse pleasure in the murmur that passed through the gathering. "Constable, if you would."
"I personally advised the Warden-Commander to abandon Amaranthine in favor of Vigil's Keep, which was under siege at the time," Aidan said, addressing the Landsmeet 'at ease', hands clasped behind his back. "We were taken down to a handful of men, not by Darkspawn but by disease. They did something, set a spreading sickness on the city, something we could combat no other way. I have absolutely no doubt the Warden-Commander and his men could have routed the Darkspawn alone, but those we saved would die either from the sickness or under our blades before they could spread it. What we did was gruesome, yes, but utterly necessary."
"I was there as well," Nathaniel said, refusing to give anyone a chance to speak up. "And I support what he did wholeheartedly. The city itself sustained little damage, but we prevented the Darkspawn and their disease from spreading. Vigil's Keep would likely have fallen without our return, and then the task of settling affairs in Amaranthine would have fallen to Highever and Denerim, neither of which would have been able to provide troops in sufficient numbers so soon after the Blight. Amaranthine as a whole would have been lost. We owe our lives and our good health to this man."
Raising a hand, Anora said, "I think we've heard enough. Removing the Arl is ultimately a decision of the crown, since I appointed him, but I will take the Landsmeet's decision into advisement."
That they fell equally divided was somehow a relief, as this surely excluded execution altogether as a possibility. Standing so close to her Cadryn heard Anora give a soft sigh, her proud posture failing for just an instant before she announced, "The crown feels it is better to leave the standing Arl of Amaranthine in place rather than risk another appointment. He is, after all, familiar with the situation-" The floor erupted into chaos, and only ended when Fergus Cousland and Bann Teagan shouted the gathering down. "We would, however, like to see an observer placed, one recommended by the Chantry, in light of the fact that Arl Cadryn is a Circle mage-"
"What?" Cadryn couldn't help himself, starting forward, gaping at Anora dumbly in disbelief. "You can't-"
"I can and I have," Anora whispered to him. "I am doing my best to save you as much face as possible while still pleasing them—we do not need the Bannorn in an uproar and a second rebellion on our hands!" Turning back to the gathering, she continued. "Further, I request that, effective immediately, Arl Cadryn take on Nathaniel Howe as his Seneschal, should Ser Howe be willing."
Sketching a little bow Nathaniel said, "I would be honored, your Majesty."
"If you wish it," Cadryn said, but he could hardly believe the statement, and he wondered if perhaps Nathaniel and Anora had discussed it at some point beforehand, though when Cadryn couldn't say.
"Does this please the Landsmeet? A Howe back in Amaranthine and a Templar to keep an eye on the mage?" Fergus asked, almost as if practiced, though the mocking tone in his voice was sincere.
A murmur passed across the floor, and the vociferous Bann spoke for them: "For now."