Chapter 14! If you can't tell, I HATE Anora, lol. Enjoy.

His head rested in his hands as he tried to think about anything but strangling the woman in the other room. He could hear her speaking with Varel about the Keep and Amaranthine with that high, fake voice. He wanted to strike out and break something, but showing that much emotion around Anora could prove most dangerous. So instead he groaned and pressed his fingers to his temples, wishing he could just block her out.

I have no time for this! Alistair thought suddenly as he moved around the papers on his desk, fingers only hesitating on the rose-bound book for a moment before he shoved it into his desk. I have things to plan! Most of my Wardens leave to protect her Bannorn in only a few hours and I haven't even gotten their orders done. Not to mention this ... Dragon hunt I need to plan! He rubbed his eyes until it hurt, then dropped his head heavily against the desk.

"Sleepin' on the job, eh?" Grunted a voice at the door. Alistair's head shot up quickly at Oghren's voice and inwardly rose his defences in case the dwarf decided to attack again. "Get yer' knickers out of that knot, I'm not going to rid yer' head off. Even though you deserve nothing less." Oghren was not yet in his armour, but instead wearing beige leather breeches and a white tunic that fell past his knees.

"Well that's a relief," Alistair admitted as he tried to relax. It was difficult though, he knew that Oghren could kill a man without a weapon, he had heard the stories in Orzammar. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me why you're sending me away."

"Ah. That. Well you see, the men respect you. Or at least fear you." Oghren sent him a glare and he rose his hands defensively. "No offence, sorry. I just mean that they've already fought with you and, well, they're more likely to actually follow your orders. Not to mention the scare you might give the Lords of the Bannorn."

The dwarf rose a bushy brow, "You want me to rough up some lords? All right!" The smile under his beard grew wide as Alistair rose his hands quickly, and shook his head.

"No! No, that would be bad. I just want you to... yell a lot, scare them badly enough not to think about wasting our time again-"

"What'chu mean?"

It seemed to Alistair that this might be what brought them peace, and on the inside he was glad for it. Sure, what he remembered of the dwarf from camp was that he was a load drunk who more than once asked Emily to 'ride him like a bronto'. But on the battlefield he was a monster, his battle-cry even made Alistair's knees feel a little weak at times. It made him glad he was on their side.

"These lords and ladies have been sending letters claiming that hundreds of thousands of darkspawn are on their fields, but that is just unrealistic. We would have another Blight on our hands, and I haven't felt anything like an Archdemon." Of course Oghren looked confused, but stood there silently, waiting for him to continue. "No ones told you? During a Blight, we can feel the Archdemon, sometimes even hear him in our dreams. That is how we know if it is truly a Blight, and not just a raiding party, if you will."

This made Oghren stop and stroke one of his beard braids. "So you had some nightmares and knew it was a Blight? Huh. Explains a lot." If Oghren was going to explain himself, he would have, but he did not. Alistair didn't press him to. "We leaving today?"

"In a few hours, seeing that the Queen is here now, well. That throws a stick in the plans, but it won't stop us. Have you decided who you want to take with you?"

"Aye. I'll be taking that Sigrun and Brosca for sure," he gave Alistair a leering grin, which made him wonder what Felsi thought of that. "Nate said he wanted to come, which made sense. I also convinced some junior Wardens too: Garren, Mathis, Harlan, Stevan and Lami." Oghren laughed suddenly, shaking his big head. "You don't even know who those are, do you?"

Alistair smiled and shook his own head. "Not in the least."

"Ha! Alright. Garren is that big dark-skinned human, Mathis is another elf, Harlan is another human from the Circle of Magi. Steven and Lami are elves from Denerim, brother and sister I hear. The creepy ones with the white hair."

"Oh yes, I've seen them," Alistair bluffed. He had no idea who any of these people were. He turned to his notes for a moment to quickly jot down the names. "Is that it?"

Oghren hummed for a moment, "Nah. I'll take along a dozen of the regular garrison. You know, show them how it's done. Heh." He grinned widely.

"Good, good," he announced into his papers, setting down his quill. "That should more than suffice. Nine Wardens and a dozen regular soldiers. That should be enough to take down these darkspawn straglers. When do you think you can be ready for?"

"You want us out of here in a few hours? Consider it done," The dwarf was almost beaming now. "Should we wait for a royal goodbye?"

"I wouldn't hold my breath."

He laughed lowly. "Thought so."

"I've already told the kitchens to prepare your rations and the servants to saddle horses, though I may have told them too many.. Take the extra horses any ways. Less you each have to carry."

Oghren nodded and slapped his across his chest and bowed slightly. Alistair returned the salute after a moment of hesitation, then the dwarf was gone to prepare.

He figured now he would have timeto get some work done on his dragon hunt, but Varel popped his head into the office a short while later. Alistair had begun to write out the names of the equipment he would need, and the amount of people, but had not gotten very far by then.

"M'Lord, the Queen would like an audience with you."

"Can she not see I'm a little busy?" He asked, irritation in his tone as he set his quill down roughly. "It's not like I'm running a Arling and the Ferelden Grey Wardens or anything."

Varel shot him a half smile, "I cannot speak for the Queen. Shall I send her in?"

Alistair nodded sadly and began to tidy up the papers on his desk. By tidying he threw all the papers into a pile and stuffed them into the corner. Just in time, too. For Anora let herself into the room moments later. Remembering his role, Alistair got to his feet and offered her the same salute that Oghren had. She waved him down instead of returning the gesture.

"I see you have been busy," she said before he could speak. She did not take a seat, but instead walked around the office and looked at the paintings. Most were men that Alistair did not know, the only female face in the room was the one of Sophia Dryden, which was set up directly across from his desk. Her face in particular gave him the creeps, but he did not dare move it. "Sending your Wardens out to fight in the Bannorn and planning some sort of secret mission. Your Seneshal has refused to give me any information on that, but you will."

"Will I?" He asked before he could stop himself.

Anora spun on him, her green eyes flashing with anger. She smoothed the front of her dress quickly though, and forced the anger down. "Yes. You will," her tone was threatening and Alistair began to wonder why exactly she wanted him in this position. "You will tell me, and you will do it quickly." She left no room for argument and stared him directly in the eyes.

It made him uneasy, and he shifted in his chair a few times. "Well, you see. The Keep requires more money for it's repairs," he began, thinking desperately of ways to avoid telling her. He did not trust her. "I am looking for ways to make some. It's really quite boring.." her eyes bore right into his face and did not let up. He swallowed roughly. "Okay. Well, we have heard rumours of..." he did not want to say dragons. Anything but dragons. "Broodmothers!" He nearly shouted as the idea and words came to him at the same time. "Yes, broodmothers. Ugly things, lots of nipples. Any ways, I and some of the other Wardens will go to dispatch them."

"How do you expect this to get you money?"

Damn, a problem with his plan. "Well you see, they are under some farm lands up North, and the farmers there would likely pay dearly for the removal of these horrors. They can't be good for the livestock." He almost wanted to tell her what they really were, Hespith's voice crawling into his ears and making him shiver. "But if the people knew about them it would cause panic, lots of it, so I thought to keep it quiet."

Tension in the Queen's shoulders seemed to loosen and she smiled at him. "I see. That is acceptable then. You said that you will be going?" There was an odd excitement in her voice when she asked, but Alistair chocked it up to her just being evil.

"I plan to, yes."

"Then I will remain here in your absence."

He nearly choked on his next breath. "What? No! I mean, you have a whole kingdom to rule-"

"Which I can do from here. Court will wait for my return." She smirked at him, victoriously.

Alistair was still shaking his head though. "I have already put a Warden in charge of Amaranthine and the Keep for my absence, it would be unnecessary." He could hear just the slightest bit of desperation in his own voice. "Not to mention the repercussions back in Denerim. And the strain on the Wardens.. No. I apologize Anora-"

"Queen Anora."

"Queen Anora," he repeated tightly. "But it would be unfair to my Wardens and put unneeded financial strain on my Keep."

Her face began to go red. "Are you refusing me?" She asked angrily. "Do not forget who put you in this position-"

He was on his feet before he knew why, his hands slamming down against his desk. "I will not forget that, but the Grey Wardens owe no fealty to any kingdom. This is not up for discussion. You have been allowed to stay at my command for niceties, no more." He slammed his hands down a second time. "You are not welcome to stay in my absence. Now please, I have work to do. Varel will attend to anything else you need."

The Queen's face was twisted in rage. She leaned across his desk to jab a finger to his chest. "You will regret those words, bastard." She spun on her heels and stomped out of the word.

He thought he would feel good for such a victory over the Queen. But he had a feeling she would keep to her promise and that made his gut clench uncomfortably.

"My, my," sang Zevran from the darkness, making Alistair reach for a sword he no longer carried. "I did not expect that."

"Maker you frightened me," Alistair admitted as he slumped into his chair.

Zevran dropped from one of the rafters onto the stone floor silently, his boots not making even a whisper. "Tsk, tsk Alistair. I'd say you are becoming docile if I frighten you."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, yes I do. Now I must ask, why did you lie to your Queen?" He slinked up into the chair across from Alistair, plucking the first piece of paper from the desk to scan. "That seems a very.. unpatriotic thing to do."

He snatched the paper back quickly and placed it back on top of the pile. "I don't trust her. And why would I? She has brought me nothing but trouble."

Zevran nodded and leaned back, crossing his legs. "Understandable. But do you not fear one of your men will speak about the dragons?"

"I.. hadn't thought about that."

He chuckled, "do not worry. I have already given orders to your Wardens forbidding them to speak about it until the Queen leaves. Of course I told them you gave the order, but you cannot blame me."

Alistair actually chuckled. "Thank you Zev. That was very good thinking."

"Oh I try. I do not wish for your beheading so soon after I have retrieved you, all that work would have been for nought. But who, may I ask, are you leaving in charge?"

"Risel Tucker, if he will take it."

"You do not wish to bring him with you?" Zevran seemed honestly surprised.

"No. I was actually going to ask you to join me. I even sent a letter to Wynne asking her to come as well, and to bring Shale if she is still with her. As much faith as Emily has put in these Wardens I still do not know if I can trust them, or if they trust me." He admitted with a soft sigh, before shifting through the stack of papers to produce one with a mess of writing along it. "These are the names of the people who had been whispering of Dragons in the North. I need you to track them down and get all the information you can from them. Follow any lead they give you, and return to me. Uh, if you're willing of course."

Zevran smiled and got to his feet. He offered Alistair and long bow and a grin, "I would be honoured." He took the offered list from Alistair and tucked it away into one of his many hidden pockets. "Wynne is in Amaranthine now, I saw her there only a few weeks ago and she did not look to have elsewhere to go. I will bring her back with me, if you like."

"Perfect-"

"But we will not be enough to take down a nest of broodmothers," he slyly winked at Alistair. "I suggest taking a few more Wardens with us, or even just some of the regular soldiers. Oghren is taking nine Wardens and a dozen armed soldiers, leaving you with twenty-six Wardens; three of which would be considered officers, ten junior members, and another thirteen fresh recruits and another six dozen soldiers."

Alistair was taken back by the count, but he should not have been surprised. Zevran tended to be observant like that. "I will think on it."

"Good enough for me," Zev smirked. "It shall be like old times then, yes? I look forward to it. I will take a horse and leave for Amaranthine within the hour."

"Zevran," he called as the assasin went to leave. "Thank you. I meant it, truly."

"You are most welcome, my friend." He bowed to Alistair with a smirk and left.

For once in a very long time Alistair felt good about his plans, and his future. So long as he did not think about the woman laying near-comatose a floor above. He shut his eyes and allowed the good feeling to take over and put a smile on his face. Doing something more than just drinking away his pain felt good, more than good, great.

"Commander?" Called Tucker from the door. "The Wardens are ready to leave, with your word."

"That was quick. I'll be out in a moment."

Yes, things were going to be great.