Chapter 24
"So, do we invite Anora?"
Lya looked up from tickling Duncan's tummy at her husband. He was sitting across from her on the bed playing peek-a-boo with Elwyn. "What?" she asked him blankly.
"Do we invite Anora?"
"To what?"
"To the…unveiling," he said, gesturing at their children. Understanding dawned in Lya's eyes as she realized what he was talking about. Much like there had been a celebration to announce her pregnancy, there was one being planned to officially present to children to the assembled nobility. Unbelievably, there were still nobles not content with knowing the children had been born and were making demands that others outside of Alistair's and Lya's inner circle be allowed to see them. They had put off the demands for several months until the twins were old enough to handle an event like this without too much of a fuss.
Lya thought carefully. "She is the teyrna of Gwaren, Alistair. We can't not invite her. To do that would be a grievous insult, and we don't need her as an enemy."
Alistair grimaced. "I see your point, really I do, but I wish we didn't have to. It's not like she likes either of us." He sighed. "I wish you had let me execute her. It would make this easier."
She frowned at him. "That's unworthy of you, Alistair, and you know it. After the Archdemon, she wasn't really a threat to us, and I think we had slaughtered enough nobles at that point. Executing her wouldn't have done any good. And, honestly, could you have killed her in cold blood simply for being who she is?"
He sighed. "No, I couldn't have. Doesn't stop me from daydreaming, though. I just don't want her causing any trouble. This is going to seem like we're rubbing her nose in her failures."
Lya pursed her lips and nodded. "Maybe," she said slowly, "we should write a personal letter. We could let her know that we understand her reluctance if she doesn't want to come, but that we would appreciate it if she did. If we emphasized that it's only out of concern for the painful memories she must have, it would give her an out of she really doesn't wish to come."
"Hm, that could work. I guess the question now is who gets to write the letter? I'm not exactly her favorite person, you know."
"Like I am? You only killed her father, Alistair. I took her throne from her, and between the two of us, I know that wound cuts deeper. She loathes me, Alistair, and everyone knows it. It's apparent to anyone who's ever attended a Landsmeet." Her lips twisted. "I doesn't help that I lied to her about supporting her, but I trusted her about-"
"About as far as you could throw a chevalier and his horse." Alistair finished for her. He grinned at her and dodged the small pillow she tossed at his head, while she mock glowered at him from under lowered eyebrows.
The amusement vanished from her face and she sighed wearily. "Let's just have Eamon write the damn thing. She probably wouldn't believe anything from us was sincere anyway. At least from Eamon, she'll accept that it's not pity, and just his way of trying to be tactful."
"Then it's settled. We can mention it to him later today." Alistair took a deep breath in relief and then frowned. Picking up Elwyn, he held her out at arms' length suspiciously. He threw a hopeful look in Lya's direction.
She shook her in amusement. "Not a chance. It's your turn." She bit her lip to keep from laughing as he eased himself off the bed and towards the changing table against a wall. Faint grumbles of "Not very princess-like" and "How can something so small make such a mess?" drifted back to her as she turned attention back to Duncan's tummy.
* * *
The debut, as everyone had taken to calling it, was going smoothly. The atmosphere was more subdued than it had been when they announced Lya's pregnancy. The Landsmeet had provided the perfect opportunity since all the nobles were already gathered, and the decision to hold the gathering after the politics had been an easy one. Everyone was taking the opportunity to wind down from the sometimes contentious proceedings, and there was a definite sense that everyone would go home from this Landsmeet more relaxed than they normally did.
Alistair was circulating through the crowd at the moment while Lya escorted nobles who wanted to see the children into a small receiving room one and two at a time. He checked on her periodically to see if she wanted a break, but she had declined. She was very protective of the twins and Alistair didn't think she wanted anyone in with their children without her presence.
Nobles who had already been in to see the children offered compliments on the children. Alistair wasn't sure how he was supposed to take that. Obviously, he could claim some of the credit for how they looked, but it wasn't like he had any control over it. He accepted the well wishes graciously though. His children did seem well-behaved and attractive, not that he had any great experience with babies, and he thought people seemed genuine in their praise and not simply trying to flatter him.
One thing did bother him, though, and it had been something he had overhead coming from Eamon and a few of the older nobles. "The boy looks just like Cailan did as a baby," Eamon had said to a small group. "Except the eyes, of course. Has his mother's eyes. That seems to always be the case, though. Theirin blood breeds true, but they always have their mothers' eyes." The nobles with Eamon had chuckled and agreed.
Alistair had slipped away from the group; fairly certain none of them had realized that he overheard them. He was uncomfortable having his son compared to Cailan. His half-brother had seemed like a good man, even with all his faults, but if Duncan turned out like Cailan did, Alistair was not going to be very happy.
The other thing that bothered Alistair, the real issue if he were honest with himself, was that they were comparing Duncan to Cailan and not to him. Eamon surely had seen him as a baby, but none of the other nobles had, and Alistair couldn't repress the stab of bitterness at the reason why. The others had seen Cailan because Maric had been an actual father to his brother; he had raised and acknowledged him. Meanwhile, Alistair had been pushed off to the side, an embarrassing reminder of an indiscretion best left forgotten.
It bothered him more now than it used to. Having held his own children in his arms, he couldn't imagine ever willingly sending them away to never see them again; to have them grow up alone and unwanted. But then Maric had never done that, had he? Cailan had been his real son, the product of a marriage to a beautiful queen. Alistair doubted Maric had even been aware of his existence until Eamon had told him. Was it easier to ignore a child you had never seen?
With a rush of guilt, Alistair thought about his other child, the one he would never know. He regretted that he would never hold that child or know what it looked like or learn its name. And he had his answer. While he would tear the world apart if anyone tried to take Elwyn or Duncan from him, he would let his firstborn remain unknown to him and that idea didn't bother him as much as it used to. Maric had probably felt the same way and Alistair laughed softly at the bitter irony of it. Wherever she was, Alistair hoped Morrigan would tell her child, and it was easier to think of it as hers, he hadn't just abandoned them.
"Am I not to see your children?" A cool voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to see the former queen of Ferelden and the current teyrna of Gwaren looking at him.
Anora was as impeccable of ever. Her pale blue gown was stunning; a perfect match to her ice blue eyes, and her long blonde hair was arranged in a slightly more elaborate braided style than she normally wore. She was looking at him now with one delicately arched eyebrow slightly raised.
"Teyrna Anora," he said, trying to put as much friendliness into as he could. Lya had told him to play nice, and as much as he disliked Anora, he was always very careful to be scrupulously polite to her in public. "How are you this evening?"
"I am well, your majesty," she replied, adding the slight emphasis that she always did when speaking to either Lya or him. He tried not to sigh. Maker, but she made this far more difficult than it had to be. "So is the teyrna of Gwaren not worthy to see the heirs to Ferelden? Or does his majesty simply wish to avoid embarrassing me by not pointing out all of my many flaws and failures as queen?"
The tightly controlled voice and expression told him she was furious more clearly than a raging fit ever would. Alistair frowned and quickly thought back over the last week or so. As far as he could tell, they hadn't done anything to offend her this much, and she had seemed completely fine before the festivities tonight. Something had happened, and recently, and he wanted to find out. He did not need her seething over something and causing trouble. Besides, all personal feelings aside, she really was a valuable asset.
Gently taking her arm, he drew her off to the side to afford them some more privacy. She stiffened at his touch, and while he kept the contact as brief as possible, she still sighed in relief as his hand fell away. "Did something happen that I'm not aware of?" he asked quietly.
Both of her eyebrows rose at his question. "Did something happen? Of course not, your majesty. Nothing except being told that everything Cailan and I did meant nothing because we had no children."
Alistair took a deep breath and bit his tongue to keep from saying something he would regret. A quick mental templar exercise calmed him some more and he looked at her steadily. "Who said that, Anora?" When she said nothing, he shook his head faintly. "Whoever said that was out of line, Anora. You can tell me now or I can have my people find out later. I will make sure that whatever loudmouthed noble said that will know that he is out of line. Regardless of any personal feelings, you are a teyrna and you will be respected, especially here."
Anora pursed her lips slightly. "You'll forgive me if I don't quite believe you."
Alistair gritted his teeth and firmly grabbed Anora's arm to guide her from the room. As they walked to the room where the twins were, he leaned down to speak quietly. "Damn it, Anora, enough. I know you don't like us, and believe me the feeling is mutual, but we do respect you. If we didn't, you never would have left that tower, and most importantly, wouldn't have gotten Gwaren." She scoffed, and he continued without giving her a chance to interrupt. They were approaching the door to the room, and he halted and turned her to face him so he could look her in the eye.
"I can't afford to waste talent. And as much as I disagree with some of the things you did, and as much as I think you're a cold-hearted b-" He shut his mouth before he inserted his foot completely. "As much as I think you can be cold and heartless, I need you. I need someone capable to keep Gwaren running and I need someone I can trust. Lya and I both believe you will always put Ferelden first, even if we feel your ideas are not what's best for Ferelden. And that's the only reason you still have your head and some measure of power. If we doubted that for even a second, you would lose one right after the other.
"Now, you can tell me who's being an ass or you can not. The choice is yours. But I'm tired of all the little jibes and snippy comments and they stop tonight. I'm not suggesting we're ever going to like each other, but can we please call a truce?" He offered a hand to her.
She looked at it for a long moment before finally giving a sharp nod and clasping it briefly in hers. Alistair let out a sigh of relief, ignoring the faintly condescending expression that crossed her face. He opened the door quietly and ushered her into the small room. Lya was sitting in a comfortable chair holding Elwyn, but when she saw who entered, she rose to her feet, nodded to Anora and placed Elwyn back next to Duncan.
Anora hesitated before going slowly over to the crib to peer in. She looked in for several long moments, her fingers curling over the edge of the crib as she looked in.
"Would you like to hold either of them?" Lya asked gently.
Shaking her head, Anora said quietly, "No, that's…quite all right." Lya merely nodded once and stepped back to wait. Anora looked for another minute or so before finally stepping away from the crib. She looked at Alistair and Lya steadily, though her blue eyes seemed darker and there was something grave in her face. "They are truly beautiful children. Congratulations to you both. Now, if you'll excuse me…?" With that, she eased past them and slipped out the door, shutting it firmly behind her.
Crossing over to him to give him a quick kiss, Lya murmured, "What was that all about?" Alistair sighed and shook his head. "Anora being Anora and the nobility acting like asses. Same old, same old." He looked around the small room. "Let's have Liadan take the twins back upstairs and go back and mingle with our guests. I, at least, need a drink."
* * *
The hallways of the royal palace were mostly deserted, which made the lone figure slipping quietly through them stand out all the more. Zevran followed at a cautious distance, taking great care to stick to the shadows. The man ahead of him had wandered away from the party and was slowly working his way deeper into the palace. Zevran was content to follow, unsure of what exactly the man was doing or where he was going, and wanted to see what his goal was before confronting him.
When the man turned towards the area where the royal apartments and guest rooms were, however, Zevran moved quickly to put an end to the stranger's curiosity. His hands settled around the hilts of the twin daggers he wore, and cursed silently that he had agreed to wear finery instead of leather for the event. He came up behind the man silently, and cleared his throat.
The stranger turned quickly, startled by the sound. Zevran smiled an easy, reassuring smile that did not touch his eyes. "Can I help you?" he asked smoothly. "You appear to be…lost."
"Ah, yes, thank you," the man replied, also smiling. His eyes flickered down the Zevran's hands which rested on the pommels of his daggers. "This place is so big, I got turned around when I went looking for some fresh air."
"I see. Quite understandable. Here, let me guide you back." Zevran extended a hand back down the hall in the direction they had come from. The man eye's flicked around in one last look before starting back towards the hall. When they arrived, Zevran watched as the man went over to join Anora. He frowned. A stranger wandering the palace was bad. A stranger wandering around private areas of the palace was worse. A stranger under the employ of a deposed monarch doing such things was more than troubling.
They would have to set a closer watch on Anora. Zevran pondered for a moment and decided not to tell Lya and Alistair, at least not yet. Once he had more information, then he would see.