Chapter 3

The ball was in full swing, and the room was filled with women in fancy dresses and men in their finest. Kianni was chatting with Alistair and Anders off to the side of the dancing, laughing as Anders recounted a tale about the time Oghren had passed out drunk and woke up with Ser Pounce-a-lot attempting to bury him.

"So, I told the dwarf that if he didn't stink like a turd, he wouldn't get buried like one, but you know what he said?" Anders laughed, waving his glass of wine towards them to punctuate his statement. "He told me-"

Just then, a group approached them. Bann Teagan and Arl Eamon were amongst them. Teagan smiled at Kianni, and bowed to Alistair. "Your Majesty, Commander, please excuse the interruption. I thought perhaps I could ask the Commander for the honor of a dance?" He offered an arm to Kianni.

She and Alistair exchanged a quick glance, and she replied politely, "Of course, my lord." Taking his arm, she headed to the dance floor.

Eamon, on the other hand, was focused on Alistair. To Anders, he said "Please excuse us, ser mage, but I need to speak with His Majesty." Anders shrugged and walked off to find a servant to refill his glass, and maybe find a snack.

Turning to Alistair, Eamon said formally, "Your Majesty, there are some people who have been wishing to meet you. If you'll follow me…?" He turned and began to walk without waiting a response. Alistair's brows furrowed momentarily, but he followed nonetheless. Eamon stopped in front of a swarthy-skinned older man with white hair and a neatly trimmed white beard, standing at the side of a woman who was most likely his daughter. She had her father's skin tone and facial features, and blond hair pulled up into an elaborate hairstyle. Eamon smiled in greeting, and announced, "Your Majesty, this is Lord Eddelbrek, and his daughter, Lady Maureen. They have been loyal supporters since Amaranthine was granted to the Wardens." Unspoken was the unlike some, for he had heard of the attempts to assassinate Kianni.

Lord Eddelbrek bowed respectfully as his daughter curtsied. "Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet you," he said politely. Lady Maureen added her respects to her father's.

Eamon broke in, saying, "Eddelbrek and I have some matters to discuss. Excuse us, please." The two men left, leaving Alistair alone with Lady Maureen.

Dammit Eamon! Won't he ever quit? Alistair thought to himself, trying to come up with a way of ducking out quickly and politely, or at least a nice neutral conversation topic. "So, my lady, how are you enjoying the ball?"

Lady Maureen smiled, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Why, Your Majesty, it's delightful! It's such a relief, after all the upheavals recently, to just relax and enjoy ourselves."

Alistair nodded distractedly, barely remembering to smile back at her. He was looking around the room for an out, but trying to be polite. "Yes, after the Blight and now these recent darkspawn incursions, it must be a relief to you to not have to worry about the darkspawn for a while."

"Absolutely, but it must be a relief to Your Majesty as well to not have to worry about darkspawn anymore! Now you can turn your attention to the important matters." She tilted her head and smiled coquettishly and subtly pushed her breasts forward and together, drawing attention to her cleavage.

Alistair's eyes widened at this, suddenly realizing how close she was standing to him. He could feel his cheeks burning as he blinked a couple times and backed away from her a step. "Uh…well actually, I'm still a Warden, so it's my duty to remain vigilant against the darkspawn. So yes, I am glad the Blight is over, but in my mind the darkspawn will always be a threat." He furtively glanced around him, and spied Teyrn Fergus Cousland strolling nearby with a glass in his hand. "Teyrn Cousland! It's a pleasure to see you. Please, come chat with us. Have you met Lady Maureen Eddelbrek?"

When Teagan asked her for a dance, Kianni saw Eamon head for Alistair. She knew exactly what was happening, but had few options to do something about it. She didn't want to be rude to Teagan, who was actually quite decent for a nobleman. Besides, she trusted Alistair and knew that while he might play along with Eamon for a while, he wasn't as easily controlled as the arl would like to believe. And so she played along with the ruse.

"My lady? Kianni? Are you okay?" Teagan's voice brought her back out of her thoughts.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked at Teagan. "Oh. Sorry, Bann Teagan, my thoughts were running away from me. Could you repeat that, please?" She flushed slightly, embarrassed to have been so unaware of her surroundings.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice. "No, I know what's on your mind. Stupid of me to ask."

She looked at him with a slight frown on her face. For an instant, he could have sworn she was about to burst into tears, but the look passed so quickly that he thought he might have imagined it. Then she nodded, face blank again.

"I'm sorry, about my brother that is. He believes he is doing what is right, for Ferelden, for Alistair, even for you," Teagan began, then lowered his voice more. "He asked me to…entertain you, so that he could have some time with Alistair."

Kianni stopped dancing, crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Not that I wouldn't want to dance with a beautiful and amazing woman such as yourself anyway!" he added in a hurry, motioning for her to keep dancing with him. "Come now, there's more I need to tell you." She began dancing with him again, curious about what he had to say.

"I just wanted to let you know that I want to help you and Alistair if I can. You have both done so very much for our family and for Ferelden, and you deserve some happiness. Eamon is stuck in the past in many ways, and just doesn't see that his way is not the only way. He is still my brother, and I love him as such, but I don't always agree with him. This is one of those times."

Kianni thought for a minute, brows furrowed and mouth in a bit of a frowning pout. "Are you offering to…spy? Like a double agent?"

"Well…I wouldn't put it exactly that way, but I suppose so. In this matter, yes, I will let you know what he intends," Teagan said with a nod.

Kianni looked up, into his eyes, and smiled brightly. She pulled him closer into a hug. "Thank you, Teagan!" she exclaimed. In a lower voice, she added, "Truly, this means a lot to me-to us. Thank you."

"There is something more you need to know. Eamon intends to try to make a match for him with one of the ladies of the Orlesian court, presumably to strengthen positive relations between the two countries. To that end, he is arranging a trip to Val Royeaux for Alistair. To discuss trade relations, officially, but he is hoping Alistair will return with an engagement, if not a wife."

Kianni went stiff and pale at this news, jaw dropping and eyes wide. Val Royeaux! I was going there anyway, but now…Eamon will try to stop me. I'll have to find a way around that, maybe Warden business? Well, we'll have time to figure that out later. She recovered her composure quickly and continued dancing with Teagan, plans forming in her head.