A.N.: I've known since I was writing Chapter Three and came up with the whole concept that Elandria was still alive for Chapter Four that the events in this chapter were going to happen. I've been dreading writing it, and yes, it was as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I've included an explanation at the end of this chapter of my view of the taint and how it works for those who wonder about the way I've written this part of the story.
Thanks to melismo, who made major contributions to this portion of the story.
WARNING: This chapter deals with the loss of a child. Contents may be upsetting to some readers.
When Wynne left her room, she immediately went looking for Alistair, carrying Moira cradled against her shoulder. As she rushed through the halls to Alistair's quarters, she repeatedly patted the baby's back and crooned, "Hush, now," although the child wasn't making a sound. When Wynne finally arrived outside Alistair's door, it was only to be told by the single guard on duty there that the king had already left his rooms that morning. The guard thought that the king was down on the lower floor in an "unofficial" meeting in one of the informal reception areas. Wynne didn't waste any time in hurrying down to find Alistair.
When she finally found him, she was so agitated that she burst right in the doors without even knocking. The guards stationed outside all knew she was a close friend of the king's, and none of them were willing to bar her from the room when she had saved the queen's life the day before. "Alistair," she barked (another measure of her agitation as she always called him your Majesty in front of others), "I need to talk to you right now."
"What's the matter, Wynne?" Alistair asked, catching her anxiety and rising from his chair. He didn't even bother excusing himself to the four men in the room. "Is it Moira?" He grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her into the next room, which was a private office off the reception area, and shut the door behind them.
"Here," said Wynne. "You take her." She proceeded to lay the child in his arms. "Sense her," she commanded.
"What do you mean 'sense her'?" asked Alistair, with an expression of horror on his face as he realized where Wynne was going with this.
"Like for darkspawn," she confirmed.
Alistair just looked at Wynne, as he really didn't want to do what she was asking him. "No, Wynne," he begged. "Please, don't make me do this."
"Alistair, you are the only other person in the palace who might be able to sense what I thought I did. Maybe I'm wrong. You must do this." Wynne replied as kindly as she could. "We have to know for sure."
Alistair sat in one of the chairs in the room. He then closed his eyes and bowed his head over his infant daughter. For a moment, he just enjoyed the fresh baby scent of her along with her weight in his arms. Finally, extremely reluctantly, he extended his Grey Warden senses out to encompass Moira. When the slightest tingle fired his blood along with the sour taste that started in his throat, it broke his heart. He let out an anguished cry of denial, "NO, Maker NO, not my little girl," he screamed as huge sobs tore out of him, and the tears ran down his face.
Wynne came over to him with tears starting in her own eyes and pulled his head against her. She just held him for a few minutes, stroking his hair, until the worst of the wracking sobs passed. Finally, she said, "Here Alistair, let me have her."
"No," he snarled, pulling away. "She stays with me."
"Let me at least see if I can ease her breathing," she said calmly. "You may hold her, but let me try to help her."
Alistair agreed to that so Wynne slid one hand under the baby's undergarment right over Moira's bare chest and lightly placed the fingertips of her other hand on the baby's head as Alistair continued to hold her. She cast her monitoring spell, concentrating on what was happening with Moira's lungs. She was able to ease the baby's breathing a bit, but Wynne knew it was only temporary. The taint would have its way in the end, and she, one of the most talented healers the Circle of Magi had ever produced, was helpless to prevent it.
Once she had stabilized the baby's breathing, Wynne left Alistair with his child to go clear the outer room of the men Alistair had been meeting with. Once she shepherded them all out making some trite excuse, she told the guards that they would be going to the queen's chambers shortly and to be ready to fall in around them when she and Alistair left the room.
While Wynne was gone, Alistair sat heartbroken, soundlessly rocking his daughter and holding her close, unable to believe he was going to lose her so soon after her birth. He stared down at her trying to memorize everything about her, from the perfection of her little fingers to the tiny rosebud mouth. Alistair was concentrating so hard on Moira he barely registered when Wynne came back into the room. She tugged him up out of the chair and led him through the halls back to Briana's quarters. She had one of the guards go first, clearing the passageways so no one would bother the grieving king.
Once they neared Briana's rooms, Wynne asked Alistair if he wanted her with him when the queen was told the news. Alistair said he did, that he wasn't sure he could do it. Wynne looked at him, sorrow in her eyes, and told him she would tell Briana if he wanted her to. Alistair just nodded, the misery plain to see in his eyes and face.
When Wynne and Alistair entered the room, Briana was still in bed as ordered, but turned to them with a smile. "How's our girl this morning?" she asked before noticing the shared countenance of Wynne and Alistair. When she did, her smile faltered. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Wynne went over to the bed and said down on the edge beside Briana. She took Briana's hand in hers. "Briana, I have some terrible news," she said softly.
Briana's eyes flicked from Wynne, to Alistair, and back to Wynne's face. "What is it?" she asked fearfully.
"It's Moira," Wynne replied. "She has the taint."
"What-but you said she didn't. No-NO, that can't be right," Briana's voice rising with each syllable as she tried to get out of bed.
Wynne firmly pushed her back and said, "Alistair, bring Moira here and let your wife hold her."
Alistair looked like he wanted to refuse, but he reluctantly came to the bedside. Briana reached up and took Moira from him. "See, she's fine. She's just sleeping," Briana said.
"Alistair, tell her," commanded Wynne.
"It's true, Briana," he said dully, "I've sensed it myself."
"This is your fault, Alistair," she cried at him. "Get away from us!" She took the baby and rolled as far away from the side of the bed where he was standing that she could.
Wynne cast a quick look at Alistair and saw him, standing hunched at the bedside with his head bowed, ready to take whatever abuse Briana threw at him. "Hush, Briana," she demanded. "This is not Alistair's fault. It's nobody's fault. It's just what happened. Don't take your anger and hurt out on him. I assure you he feels bad enough on his own. The next few days are going to be difficult. You two cannot be at each other's throats. Do you both understand me?" she finished.
Wynne looked at Alistair, and he just nodded without looking at her. Wynne sighed as she knew he would carry enough guilt all by himself without Briana having to say one word. "Briana, what about you?" she asked.
"Fine," she snapped. "Although I don't believe you. I'm sure you are both wrong, and she is fine. You'll see." She turned her attention to Moira and started humming to her.
Alistair continued to just stare at the baby. Wynne had never seen such a look on his face in all the years she had known him. It was like there was no life in him at all. Wynne realized that she was going to have a tough couple of days on her hands as she didn't trust these two alone together. She also had to watch Briana closely to make sure she recovered from the bleeding and trauma that had occurred with Moira's birth. On top of that would come the care the baby would require as her condition deteriorated. Wynne went to the door to start sending pages scurrying through the palace with messages and directives.
The next two days passed with an agonizing slowness as all normal activity in the palace ground to a halt. Everyone was in shock over the news about the little princess. The king, queen, and princess never left the queen's chamber, and Wynne spent most of her time there as well. Alistair and Briana seemed to want her present, and there was no one else she trusted to keep the peace between them.
Eventually by the end of the first day, even Briana had admitted that something was wrong with Moira. Although they had the wet nurse in numerous times, Moira refused to take any milk. Alistair and Briana continued to take turns holding her. Eamon and Teagan both came by a few times to visit, but neither man knew what to say or how to offer comfort. Dalla was present much of the time as well to help assist Wynne. The two had bonded during Briana's delivery and worked well together. Glenda remained nearby, ready to offer her aid for anything that was needed. The other servants were in and out bringing meals and such, but even Wynne couldn't talk Alistair into eating anything. He either sat in a chair by Briana's bed holding his daughter and gazing down at her, or he watched Briana hold her.
As Moira's breathing continued to worsen, her heart beat also became rapid and thready. Each time Wynne cast her spells on the baby to try and ease her, they were lasting a shorter and shorter period of time. As time drew on and Moira's condition declined, Alistair became quieter and was barely speaking to anyone, and Briana became more upset and vocal. She started begging Wynne to do something, anything to help her child. Wynne felt awful as she tried to explain to Briana that she couldn't heal the taint.
Finally, shortly before dawn on what would have been Moira's third day of life, it was all over. Briana had been holding her and was dozing when Wynne detected that Moira was dead. Wynne tried to take Moira from Briana before she woke, but Briana immediately roused when Wynne touched her. When Briana looked down and saw that Moira wasn't breathing, she let out a scream of anguish that seemed come from her very soul. She rolled away from Wynne as far as the bed would allow her to go, hugging the baby to her and screaming "NO" over and over. When Wynne followed after her on the bed, Briana started struggling against her.
"Dalla, get the sedative potion, now!" commanded Wynne. She raised her voice and yelled, "Guards!" as loud as she could. The door to Briana's room opened as three of Briana's guardsmen came into the room. "Help me with her," demanded Wynne.
Between the three guards and Wynne, they managed to curb Briana's grief-induced struggles. Wynne took Moira from her and handed her off to Glenda, as Briana's guards restrained her as gently as they could. Dalla and Wynne coaxed Briana into taking some of the sedative draught they had prepared ahead of time for this moment.
When Wynne spared a moment's thought for Alistair, she turned around to find his chair empty. He had disappeared without a trace.
A.N.: My idea of how the taint works and how it affected baby Moira: First of all, I'm a lay person, not a scientist, so if my supposition goes against scientific reasoning, please forgive me. When I read a story, I always want to know why something is happening and how. I HATE stories where everything happens by "magic," and there is no logical explanation. As I was developing this portion of the story and I knew that Alistair's and Briana's child wasn't going to survive, I had to devise a reasonable explanation for how it all unfolded. (After all, if I don't know how it works, how can it be believable to you, the reader?) Plus, one of my big questions with Dragon Age has always been if the taint is carried in the body's systems, why isn't it contagious with sexual contact? So, I've come up with an explanation that satisfies all my questions about the taint. I hope it works for you as well.
When ingested, Darkspawn blood converts portions of the host's DNA, changing it to that of a darkspawn, causing blight disease, and in most cases continues to replicate and spread through the host's body until overload. The person either dies or heads underground to join the darkspawn (becoming a ghoul).
As far as the Joining of the Grey Wardens, the vial of darkspawn blood is the first required element. The addition of the drop of Archdemon's blood (the second secret element we discover from Riordan) used at the Joining changes the effect of the normal darkspawn conversion of DNA to what I'm calling the Grey Warden variety (allowing the sensing of darkspawn and the various other abilities that seem to develop, such as from Avernus' research). From Duncan's dialogue at Ostagar, we know that mage spells are the third requirement in the Joining. I'm supposing that these spells cause the "freezing" of the DNA conversion so that the cells that are created from the Grey Warden's converted DNA are inert. Thus, there is no overload of taint present in the Warden's body until the spells "wear off" and the Calling begins, approximately thirty years later, when the cells the converted DNA are producing become active again. This explains why some die at the Joining. Their bodies couldn't handle the DNA conversion.
This would also explain why you can't become a Grey Warden from having sex with one. The DNA conversion has already happened and is stable until such a time as the Calling begins. Thus any tainted cells passed in the sex act are inert and not replicating. In the case here of Alistair's baby, she has had the bad luck to inherit some of his genes that were converted at his Joining. The converted DNA was inherited, but not the stability from the mage spells. As such, she basically has blight disease as these cells continue to reproduce unchecked.
The reason Wynne couldn't sense it until about a day after Moira's birth is because Briana's body was clearing the taint from her system through the placenta as it was released into the baby's body from the converted DNA. Since Briana's body mass was much larger than the baby's and there was no initial buildup to begin with, the tainted cells that Moira was producing were just cleared by Briana's body without affecting her. Once the baby was born and her systems were on their own, they couldn't handle the overload of the converted cells, and so the taint started building up, thus giving Moira blight disease and allowing Wynne and then Alistair to start sensing it as more and more of it built up in the child's body.
There you have it. My simple version of the why of what happened to Moira.