Teryn Fergus Cousland arrived in Denerim in the middle of a dark and stormy night. As he stabled his horse he ignored the servants who scurried about with hushed whispers at the arrival of such an important and unexpected guest. He paused only long enough to ensure the stable hand would properly see to the job before entering the palace. He threw aside the massive doors, not caring about the rainwater that was dripping from his cloak all over the royal fur rugs. His reason for coming was too important to worry about little things like that.

The king was waiting for him in the main dining hall. A fire roared in the massive hearth. No food sat upon the heavy and scarred table that took up much of the room. Tonight, only alcohol, and strong stuff at that, would do.

"Are you here why I think you are, Fergus?"

Fergus scowled at the king. "You know damn well I am, Alistair." They shook hands. The two men were friends. Aedan had seen to that. He and the king had spent many nerve-wracking nights in the palace discussing the actions of the younger Cousland noble.

The two men sat, and King Alistair poured the second most powerful noble in Ferelden a drink. "It's started," he said simply. Fergus just nodded and took the bottle from the king, forgoing a glass entirely.

"I know." He took a long swig from the bottle and handed it back to the king. Alistair frowned slightly, swirled the bottle, and took a swig of his own. Fergus coughed slightly, either from the drink or the cold rain he's ridden through, and continued: "I know he warned us, but Andraste's Ashes, I had no idea he'd take things this far."

"I did," replied Alistair. "I never doubted for a second that he'd go all the way with this. He loves her. The Chantry deliberately set a splinter sect loose to kill her. Aedan doesn't mess around when problems threaten his family. He solves them. By any means necessary." Alistair was looking pointedly at Fergus. Both men knew what Aedan had done when he had finally caught up with Arl Rendon Howe during the Blight, but only Alistair had personally witnessed the aftermath of Aedan's revenge for the murder of the entire Cousland family.

"I know that, Alistair, but my god, the Grand Cleric of Ferelden?"

"Yeah…" Alistair trailed off. Neither man said anything for several minutes. The only sounds were the quiet crackling of the fire and the cacophony of their silent thoughts.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Fergus raised an eyebrow at the king. Both of them knew what the answer was. Aedan had made that easy for them too.

"Did you bring it?"

"Of course. Do you have yours?"

Alistair pulled a small wooden box from his pocket, just long enough to contain a scroll. Fergus pulled out an identical box.

"He told me that these were so carefully prepared that they would be accepted even if presented by the Emperor of Orlais in the middle of a war."

"You have to hand it to your brother, Fergus, he really doesn't do anything halfway. Leliana doesn't talk much about what she and Aedan did for the year or so before he left to go find Morrigan again, but she did tell me that he essentially shook down every assassins guild in Antiva before they left. Told them how the Crows and he had a good relationship built on understanding, and that he intended to clear up any similar misunderstandings with the other guilds beforehand. You know. So there wouldn't be trouble."

"Only my brother could say that to a band of Antivan assassins and have the assassins be the ones to walk away from the meeting scared."

"Yeah, but she said it was even crazier than that. To prove his point, he put a bounty on his own head and dared them to come after him. Some did. He gave their heads back a month later when he collected his money, unclaimed. Worked brilliantly, that did, no assassin's guild this side of Anderfels will even let a man walk out of their territory after suggesting that they want to put a price on his or Morrigan's head."

Fergus just shook his head. His brother was braver than him. Or crazier. Probably both.

"If we're going to do this, let's do this." He opened his box and withdrew the scroll. It was very short:

"To Whom it May Conern: I hereby relinquish all titles and privileges due to me as a noble of Ferelden. I am a free man with no further claim on any property or holdings belonging to my family. I declare myself a renegade, not subject to any laws, jurisdictions, or judgments made against me by the lawful authority of the Crown. I do this irrevocably and of my own free will. Maker save the King." It was signed "Aedan Cousland, Heir to the Teyrn of Highever."

Also in the box was a smaller note: "Please, Fergus. Just do it. I know how much trouble this will cause you. I'm not going to stop."

Alistair had an identical scroll, with a similar note: "Alistair, my old friend, you told me you were going to back me all the way. Make it easy on yourself. You don't have to go through all of this for me. I'll be fine. ~A"

The two men compared their scrolls, and made sure they were identical. "Are you absolutely sure about this Alistair? There's no going back. This is my brother, and your best friend we're talking about."

"I've thought this through, Fergus. Go get the Chantry witness." Alistair waited, pursing his lips in nervous habit. He had done a lot of that over the past few years since he succeeded the throne. Fergus returned momentarily with a duly appointed representative of the Chantry. She was a snide woman, very smug, and was lording her impending victory over the two men. She was already gloating double that they happened to be the two most powerful nobles in Ferelden.

"Gentlemen, I assume you have summoned me here because you have seen reason, and to atone for the dreadful and unacceptable acts of the younger Lord Cousland?"

"Read the damn scrolls yourself, you witch," muttered Fergus, as he shoved both scrolls at her, and put his hands back on his sword belt. The woman's eyes twitched in amusement, and she could not hide her smile as she read the words.

"Well, this is an interesting development, isn't it?"

"I wanted you to witness this." Alistair held out his hand, and the woman placed them into his waiting palm.

"I brought a pen," she said helpfully.

"I don't need it," replied the king, and he threw the scrolls into the fire. The woman's face went white. Fergus only smiled.

Alistair did not wait for the woman to recover. He put his fists on the table and leaned towards the woman over the table. "Tell the new Grand Cleric that she should think twice about sending another secret brigade of soldiers to apprehend my friends. If you try anything like that ever again, I will expel the entire Chantry from all of Ferelden. Do you hear me!" He yelled.

The woman tried to protest, "But, that's unacceptable! We—"

Alistair cut her off. "That's, 'Yes, Sire, whatever you say, Sire,'" he said very softly, "Do you understand me? Do not make me tell you this again. If a single hair on that child's head is hurt, Aedan will skin you alive and dangle it from my battlements. And I'll let him." The king let that sink in for a moment. Fergus was impressed. Alistair had learned a lot about how to intimidate beuracrats since assuming the throne. "Aedan, Morrigan, and their child are off limits."

The Chantry woman did not know what to say, so she bowed and left, before her ears heard more blasphemy.

"There will be hell to pay for this, you know," said Fergus, who was sitting half on the table.

"I don't care!" Alistair threw up his hands. "I never had a brother. Well, not really, anyway. Aedan's friendship has meant more to me than any I've ever known. He had my back, always. And I'm sure as hell not turning mine on him now. End of story."

"You're the king," Fergus said. He took one last sip before getting up and extending his hand. "Thank you, Alistair," he said softly. Alistair didn't comment on the wetness of Fergus's eyes. Neither man had to explain anything to the other; they understood perfectly: Aedan and Morrigan would be safe.