Sereda's brother Bhelen might be King of Orzammar, but he didn't control everyone. Many of the nobles who remained in the city weren't happy with the financial success of the other castes. In particular, the Merchant caste and, through them, the Smith caste were making a fortune. Even the Artisan caste was making coin with stylized art items now adorning the walls, tables, front doors and gates of human nobles' homes.

Even with all that, Bhelen managed to push through aid to the wardens. Faren guessed it was because many in the Assembly still favored Sereda, which she had to admit probably helped. The Assembly was a constant thorn in Bhelen's side. During the most recent private dinner Sereda and Faren had attended with her brother and Rica, Bhelen joked about disbanding the Assembly entirely. On the way back to the warden compound, Sereda shared that she didn't think he was really joking. Faren agreed that Bhelen wasn't joking; however, Faren thought it was a great idea.

Sereda had been cautiously optimistic about returning to Orzammar until the stream of deshyrs started knocking at the warden compound's door, trying to get her to influence her brother to back one scheme after another. Lord Denek Helmi just left her office. He and his house had a complex plan to reclaim Kal'Hirol and wanted the wardens to help them clear the Deep Roads between Orzammar and there.

On first thought, that sounded like a very noble idea; however, what House Helmi truly wanted was a lock on some of that Smith class wealth by making themselves beneficent patrons. Without even asking Helmi, Sereda knew he had already negotiated contracts with the largest houses of the Smith caste. The noble was allied with enough of the Warrior caste to clear the Deep Roads himself, but the wardens' "alert system" would be able to save lives if they went along. And, it made sense to clear another of the Deep Roads below the northlands. She told Helmi to start organizing it, but that Kal'Hirol was off-limits until after the Blight had been ended.

She sent Parsons to the Shaperate to research old maps to see where they might find the correct passage to begin such an expedition. It felt good to have plans in the works for after the Blight. It gave her hope that there would be an after.

To her distaste, Faren had negotiated a deal with the Carta through his pal Leske, now the number two man in the organization. Basically, the wardens would leave them alone and they would leave the wardens alone. All dwarves respected the wardens, even the criminals. She just kept repeating to herself that the lawlessness of the Carta was no longer her concern.

Bhelen's acceptance of the casteless hurt Carta recruitment, so they didn't have the large pool of desperate dwarves anymore. Many brands joined the army heading for Ostagar, balancing the horror of facing the sky with a good set of armor, a sharp weapon and the promise of respect.

When the thoughts about recent events stopped swirling in her mind, she looked up from her desk and saw Faren leaning in her doorway. "He's here again." The black eye Gorim had given Faren was now more of a faded blue-yellow. "He ain't gonna give up, boss." Faren got that annoying smirk on his face. "Maybe you don't want him to?"

"Shut up, Faren." Maybe she didn't want Gorim to give up. It was both difficult and … nice … to see Gorim again. "Send him in."

She smiled as Gorim entered. Of course, he gave the obligatory glare to Faren as he walked in. Faren only returned the glare with another smirk. When Gorim looked toward Sereda, the glare turned to an unreadable mask. "Warden Lieutenant, thank you for seeing me … finally."

"Sit down, Gorim." She motioned to two chairs in front of a small fireplace. She went to sit in one of the chairs and he sat in the chair she indicated for him. That was a good indication that he really wanted to talk about something and not just growl and snarl. She smiled again. "How have you been?"

That took him off guard. "I've … well …" He sighed and sat back. "It hasn't been easy, Sereda."

"You could have come with me, honored your promise to Duncan." She leaned forward. "Why didn't you? I've always known there must have been a good reason. I'd like to know what it was."

"You know, Princess, I thought I'd come here to start new with you, but it seems all you want is to pick another fight." He started to get up to leave but stopped when she put her hand over his.

"That's not what I want at all, Gorim," she said quietly. She took a deep breath. "I just want to know why. I know you loved me. I know it. Why did you stay behind?"

She could see a variety of snide answers dance through his head, but, ultimately, he took her at her word. He sat back again. "Because your father asked me to stay." He turned to the fireplace and looked sad. "And, I wasn't even able to keep him alive for a week." He looked Sereda in the eye. "He did not die of a heart attack."

She agreed with that. Her father was old, but not that old and he could still swing a sword with the best of his guards. "I believe you. I've had a chance to talk to Bhelen, Gorim. I know he's a good liar, but I really don't think he killed our father. For one thing, he hadn't gotten Trian out of the way yet."

"Yeah, I know. And, I don't think Trian did either. He found your father that morning and he was really upset." Gorim smiled nicely. Ancestors save her, she missed that smile so much. "And, Trian's a terrible liar."

"If you saw the poison missing the morning of the day I left and then it was returned after father died … and made to look untouched … then it was an assassination." The words caused a chill to run down her back.

"I checked around. Everyone in Orzammar with the stones to pull it off were busy elsewhere. Besides, the royal guards are rock solid and nothing gets by them. And don't say Carta. Sorry, Sereda, but they had your father all figured out and killing a king who looked the other way so often would have been stupid." Gorim paused and tapped the arm of his chair. "That leaves the outside."

"Kal Sharok," Sereda whispered.

"Yeah." Gorim smiled, seemingly pleased she'd come to the same conclusion as he had. "Kal Sharok even has an Aeducan noble house. Bhelen and Trian got a letter of condolence from the Kal Sharok cousins. It arrived almost too quickly. Trian's convinced they sent a human or elf assassin here to kill Endrin. It took topsider magic to get around undetected like that."

"So, Trian believes you, too?"

Gorim nodded. "Yes, they both do. Bhelen didn't at first. It would have been convenient for Trian to be fingered, but too many were against giving the crown to the youngest. So, Bhelen did the smart thing before things got too far out of hand. A few days after Endrin died, he dragged Oghren out of Tapster's, sobered him up and sent him with a squad of the royal guard to find Branka. Any turmoil the Kal Sharok bastards may have been counting on was quieted while Orzammar awaited the return of Paragon Branka."

"Yeah, my brother never wants to go into the details when I ask him. I overhead someone saying that Branka picked Bhelen to be king, but she hated Bhelen." Sereda shrugged. "She hated all of us. I guess she hated Bhelen less."

"Not exactly." He chuckled. "Things settled down a bit for a while. That's when I went to tell you about your father and all. But Oghren was gone for over a month. A lot of us thought he'd died, too. Then, Oghren comes back with Branka in tow, only now she's even crazier than before. Called an immediate emergency Assembly. Some of the deshyrs were dragged into the Assembly hall in their nightclothes." He laughed.

"You know, I am sorry I missed that." Sereda could just imagine her brothers' faces when a Paragon started ordering them around.

Gorim didn't miss a beat. "Yeah, maybe not. You'd have been put on show, too. Branka put Trian on one side of the floor of the Assembly and Bhelen on the other. Told 'em if one moved, he was out." His chuckle turned to a laugh again. "Then, she pulls out a crossbow and fires a bolt straight up in the air. Well, you know about the air currents in the top of the assembly chamber. That bolt stopped, got buffeted around and then came down, point first, at Bhelen's feet."

"And, he didn't move?!" She laughed.

"He wanted the throne, Sereda, and this was the fastest way for him to get it. Branka walked up to Bhelen but said to Trian, 'Too bad, Trian, it didn't land in your bastard brother's empty head.'" Gorim put up his arms. "She put up her arms and walked around the ring. 'The Ancestors have spoken through your Paragon! Bhelen will be king of Orzammar!'" He put his arms down and leaned forward. "Then, she looked at Trian through narrowed eyes and said, 'Trian will be the Lord Administrator of the Aeducan Thaig.' She walked slowly around and looked at every dwarf there. 'And, any one of you who disagrees with King Bhelen's edicts had better move with Trian.'"

"Ancestors." Sereda was dumbfounded. "Bhelen only said that Branka picked him because he would order the Legion to go after the Anvil of the Void, which she believes is out beyond the Dead Trenches and Bownammar."

"Yeah, well, that part of the deal wasn't mentioned in the assembly. He'd sent that offer through Oghren, who said it was the only thing that convinced her to come back. She needed more dwarves since she'd managed to kill off most of her house in clearing the way to Ortan Thaig. So, Branka headed back to the Deep Roads with the Legion after the assembly was over … and left Oghren behind again." Gorim shrugged. "She wants to discover how Caridin made golems with the Anvil. And, that appeals to Bhelen, too … well, that and getting a crazy Paragon out of his hair."

"A few golems would make all the difference down in Ostagar. I wouldn't dare ask the Shaperate to release any of their golems, but if some new ones could be built …" Sereda took a few moments to gaze into the fire. "I thought cleaning out the way to Kal'Hirol was going to be bad. I'm glad Bhelen didn't demand that the wardens go to Bownammar."

"Ancestors only know what they're going to be up against down there. Kardol says the darkspawn are still plenty busy in the Deep Roads, but hopes that the way to Ortan Thaig is still clear." Gorim looked into Sereda's eyes and then got up. "Well, I guess I need to be going, Warden-Lieutenant."

Sereda also stood and took his hand. "Thank you for telling me what's been going on." She paused, but then smiled at him. "I hope you'll come back again sometime."

It looked like Gorim had a lot more to say, but all he did was squeeze her hand and smile before he left. Stone save her, she still loved him. She had been told that the taint in her blood would keep her from having children. It was that revelation that eased her heartbreak and made her glad Gorim had stayed behind. Orzammar didn't need Sereda taking one of the best males out of circulation.


Nathaniel had been learning about the way to handle treasonous nobles. Bryce was an excellent teacher in ferreting out the truth … well, perhaps that was because he was paying more attention now that he'd been fooled by Nathaniel's father. However, learning about the right way to go about being an arl did not make what Nathaniel had to do any easier … or any faster. It was taking months.

The first person they had approached was Bann Esmerelle. She was never one of Nathaniel's favorites, but Thomas used to call her "Auntie" Esmerelle. As was typical among the siblings, Delilah was ambivalent about the woman. Nathaniel, Bryce and a squad of the Vigil's best soldiers marched to Amaranthine to approach Esmerelle about the documents they'd found, clearly outlining her illegal arrangement with Rendon. They almost missed her. The estate of the bann of Amaranthine was in a shambles as if someone had to pack quickly. Nathaniel and Bryce sent the guards to the docks to delay any ships from leaving the harbor.

Acting Arl Nathaniel was surprised that Bryce calmly walked to the docks and encouraged Nathaniel to do the same. The curiosity of the people was almost palpable, but Nathaniel then realized why it was important to be seen in control. He started to hear whispers as they passed groups of two or three citizens: "That's the Howe boy with Teryn Cousland." "Got sent away by his crooked father, he did. Now he's back to take charge of the mess his daddy left." "Right so! I'm tired of having to pay that witch more'n the taxes levied by our good teryn." Bryce broke a small smile at that one.

By the time they reached the docks, they had amassed a rather large crowd. The dock master was standing in front of one of the ships and the Vigil's soldiers were looking through it.

Bryce walked up next to the dock master and nodded. "Good work, Milus."

The man grinned broadly. "Thank you, Your Grace. When I saw the bann's henchmen lugging heavy trunks to the ship and saw the way she looked when she limped onto the docks, I knew something was not right. I delayed their departure as long as I could after I got your message you were on the way." Nathaniel recalled Bryce sending a messenger ahead when they were a few hours away from the city's gates. Now, he knew why.

Lesson One: Never assume a criminal will go peacefully, and that goes double if that criminal is a corrupt noble.

"Unhand me! I'll have you flogged!" One of the soldiers was actually carrying a squirming Esmerelle down the gangplank. The woman was still wearing her robe and nightgown and her face was still creased from sleep. Her daughter, Lysia, was trailing behind willingly, head bowed, tears flowing down her pretty face. Lysia's embarrassment was evident. None of this was Lysia's doing. Nathaniel was sure of that. To see her like this would break Thomas' heart, for he'd had a crush on the girl for years.

One of the dockworkers shook his head. "Maker, that's a sight I won't soon forget."

Once Esmerelle saw Bryce and Nathaniel standing there, she went from surprised to scared to snarling. "Hateful boy! Your father's ashes are barely cold and there you stand next to the traitor teryn."

Bryce laughed as he walked up to the line of chests along the deck. He opened them, one after the other. "Let's see, Esmerelle. Looks like it's filled with sovereigns to the top." He shrugged toward the crowd. "Could be her personal treasury that she's taking for a sail." All seven of the chests were the same.

Nathaniel turned to the crowd himself. "Or, it could be that these sovereigns belong to the arling and the citizens of Amaranthine." The crowd agreed.

One of the soldiers walked down the gangplank carrying a ledger. "This was wedged under her bunk mattress, my lord."

Nathaniel didn't miss Bryce's slight nod toward Nathaniel. The soldier handed the new arl the ledger. He opened it. The first bunch of pages was a typical tax ledger. He glanced at Esmerelle. She had a smirk on her face … until Nathaniel noticed the false back cover. Then, the smirk turned to fear. Nathaniel didn't know the woman could get any whiter. Inside the secret niche were the corroborating documents to the ones they had found at the Vigil, along with a listing of who had paid and who still owed "Bann's Duty". One of the names he knew. Merchant Edgar Corth, father of Albert, the man who still held his sister's heart. Esmerelle had been bleeding the poor merchant for years, it seemed.

"Is Merchant Corth in attendance?" Nathaniel scanned the crowd.

"Nay, my lord, but give me a minute and I'll run get him!" The speaker was Albert. Tall, handsome, charismatic, very much an upcoming merchant in his own right.

"What do you need to talk to him for? If you have questions about that ledger, you can ask me." Esmerelle wasn't going to go down easily. She made a grab for the ledger, but the soldier grabbed her arms and held her back. "It's my ledger. It doesn't have any meaning to some broken-down merchant who's son is despoiling Delilah Howe every chance he gets." She added in a hissing, old-lady growl. "Why do you think he paid me so much? I kept my silence and he paid me for it."

Bryce stepped up to Esmerelle. He was at least a head taller than her and, this morning, he was very intimidating. He spoke calmly and quietly, but Nathaniel had no doubt that everyone heard him. "I would continue to remain silent, were I you. Your liege is attempting to get to the bottom of why you are trying to leave Ferelden with all this gold. We already have documents from Vigil's Keep that outline your guilt to the terynir and now we have documents that verify your guilt to the arling and the city of Amaranthine."

Lesson Two: Never lose your temper. Even when you want to strangle an old woman and throw her off the docks.

Within minutes, Edgar Corth walked through the crowd and approached Nathaniel, who showed the merchant the entries in the ledger. Edgar looked them over and then frowned at Esmerelle. "Yes, my lord, that accurately shows my Bann tax for this past year."

"He lies! I've never seen these documents! Howe planted them. He's trying to divert attention from his dalliance with a soldier from Highever … a man!" Spittle was showing in the deep creases of her down-turned mouth. Lesson Two was proving to be a difficult one to master, but Bryce helped. The teryn laughed in her face.

"Esmerelle, your first mistake was always listening to Rendon. Your second mistake was believing what Rendon said." Bryce nodded to the soldier holding her. "Please take the woman … gently … to the dungeon of the bann's estate."

Lesson Three: Learn to avoid an issue without actually lying.

Her threats and yells continued on into the city amid the citizens shaking their heads in pity. Nathaniel turned to Corth. "Do you know a trustworthy accounts man here who can reconcile these records with the contents of these chests?"

"I do, my lord. Shall I send him to the estate?"

"Yes, please." Nathaniel motioned to the soldiers standing by the chests. "Men, please take these to the vault at the estate. Teryn Cousland, I assure you we will straighten out the records, make certain the terynir receives its due tribute and return ill-gotten funds to the people they were stolen from." He bowed to Bryce. "My sincere apologies for all the chaos."

Bryce actually looked … proud? "No apologies are needed, Arl Howe. I am certain Merchant Corth's man will have things straightened out in short order."

That debacle on the docks was over two months ago. All the money was returned to almost everyone's satisfaction. Some groused about the income they lost by not having the funds sooner. It was a valid complaint, but not one Nathaniel could help. Instead, he took funds from the Vigil to rebuild the park in the center of Amaranthine. It had become overgrown and disordered due to Esmerelle's negligence and Delilah rejoiced in being put in charge of the project. He also donated a sizable tithe to the Chantry to fix up their meditation gardens. Both places were sites of fond memories for all three of the Howe siblings.

All of that was easy. Deciding Esmerelle's fate was the most difficult thing Nathaniel had ever done. Delilah helped him make the decision to exile Esmerelle by reminding him that execution was what Father would have done. Bryce concurred. So, Esmerelle was put on a ship with only enough to pay for the voyage and lodging in Ostwick until her relatives in Markham could come and get her.

Surprisingly, Lysia petitioned Nathaniel to be considered estranged from her mother and stay in Ferelden. Bryce sent a request to the queen to consider Lysia as a lady-in-waiting and the queen accepted it. Anora had once wanted Delilah in Denerim. When Nathaniel asked for an extension on that decision, Anora rescinded her request about Delilah, stating that she only offered to afford a safe place for Delilah to get away from her father.

Lesson Four was actually interesting. Nathaniel enjoyed chess a great deal. When it came to managing the pieces on the chessboard … or rather, vassals with their holdings … Bryce was a grandmaster. To put it simply, Lesson Four was to know what people really want and make them think that's what they're getting.

For the past month and a half, Nathaniel and Bryce had traveled the Feravel Plains, meeting all the landholders and really getting to know them. Nathaniel was surprised to find that his father had not visited his landholders in years. They would meet a landholder, usually get invited to dinner and to stay the night, and then leave the next morning. En route to the next holding, Bryce would go over what the landholder said … and what he meant.

For example …

Lady Liza Packton was a supporter of Rendon, but only because it benefitted her to be such at the time. In return for unspecified future support, Rendon wrote a legal deed to lands that had belonged to Ser Derren, an honorable and charismatic knight who would not agree to support Rendon without details in advance. Lord Eddelbrek, master of the Feravel Plains and the largest landholder, was a long-time friend of Bryce's. He was also at his wit's end dealing with Packton and Derren.

What each really wanted was: Packton wanted Derren's lands because they were once part of her family's estate (She hated the city.), Derren had once been a leader of soldiers and wanted to once again be given responsibilities equal to his expertise (He hated farming.), Eddelbrek wanted the constant bickering between Packton and Derren to stop.

The solution? It was so simple. Derren was made acting bann of Amaranthine, pending training and oversight, until a new bann could be appointed. Bryce was hoping that Derren would so endear himself to the citizens and nobles in the city that he would remain. Valued knights were often given holdings, though not usually as important as Amaranthine. However, if Derren proved competent, Bryce had no problem fielding any complaints with making his appointment permanent in the future. The city needed a good administrator. Derren was deeply honored to be asked to serve and would be a loyal vassal for the arling.

Derren's lands were given back to Packton who was already making plans on reworking the poor organization of Derren and, thereby, increasing the land's productivity. She was most pleased with the arrangement.

Eddelbrek had one less argument to listen to, so he sent Nathaniel a case of prized ale made from his holdings' abundant wheat crop for the respite in all the noise.

Of course, here they were in Harvestmere now and not everything was sunshine and roses, but that play on the chessboard of Amaranthine settled a lot of the disquiet that was interfering with a timely harvest.

Bryce walked into Nathaniel's study and dropped a packed case by the door. "Well, my boy, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be returning to Highever tomorrow. I think you have things well in hand."

Delilah was also in the room, curled up in an oversized chair, reading through some tomes on flowering plants and trees. Nathaniel was catching up on the small mountain of paperwork that had piled up while he and Bryce had traveled the Feravel. Delilah gave Nathaniel a wide "I told you so!" grin.

Nathaniel stood and smiled. "Thanks to your help, Bryce, I think I do." He motioned to another comfy chair by the fireplace and Bryce sat down. "I know you're anxious to get home, but know that you're always welcome here … as a friend."

"That's very kind of you, Nate." Bryce nodded toward the case. "Those are some of my notes from Amaranthine and the Plains. Look through them and use as you see fit." He sat back and smiled. "You've done a good job over the past few months, Nathaniel. I'm certain the Landsmeet will vote to approve you as Arl. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect, but I have never once been disappointed. You asked for advice when you needed to and stepped up to your own decisions when you didn't need advice. You'll need to spend more time than normal in Amaranthine for a while, but I suspect Derren will learn quickly what needs to be done there. The arling is on its way to manageable chaos, I think. But, never forget that we are all part of Ferelden and, with that, I need to return to Highever to see about our responsibility to Ostagar."

That was really Lesson Zero: Put Ferelden above all else. Nathaniel sighed. "I know we don't have the men to send to Ostagar right now, but I'll send word to Soldier's Peak that the Vigil stands ready to support the wardens in the north."

Fear and sadness had been replaced at the Vigil … by hope and guarded happiness. Reconstruction of that crazy dwarf's damage was coming along well now that a granite quarry had been located in the Wending Wood. The Vigil would be stronger than ever. Its walls and its people. There were still a lot of moves left on the chessboard, but Nathaniel had gotten out of immediate jeopardy and looked forward to strategies that could keep him out of check in the future.


Urthemiel was surprised once she flew over the mountains. It was bright green! Fields of colors! The colors were tended by the uglies, as it should be. Urthemiel let them live. She flew over small groupings of uglies in caches of grey stone and brown wood. She felt renewed by the colors. She turned north. The blue of the water pleased her, but then the treasure she found! A large ground of grey stone, but in the center were spires of gold! Shining and beautiful! She dared to fly lower. The uglies pointed and ran below her. The shouts of "Dragon!" sullied her joy. They fired pointed sticks at her and they bounced off. A quick run of purple flame quieted that. The shouts turned to, "Archdemon!" After several attempts to get closer to the gold, she abandoned the glittering city.

She sent a new goal to her older children in these lands. Find the beauty. Come from below in the dark of night. Take the golden beauty. Bring it to her lair in the south! Her lair must sparkle with the gold.

But, then that voice from the north distracted her again. She could not understand it, but she felt its terror. Its deep despair.


AN: Thank you for all reviews, favorites and follows!

anesor, yes, they do seem to double and triple down sometimes, don't they? Alas, with the "Risen Andraste" and her worshippers killed by Urthemiel, there will be no reavers … as least, not in Ferelden. ;) Thanks for your review!

Lady Cougar-Trombone, broodmothers creeped me out … a lot … especially with Hespith's foreshadowing poem. *shudder* Thanks so much for your continued support! :)

Judy, as always, thanks for the boost! :)

Baleful Eyes, welcome and thank you for your comments and observations! This alternate universe is an exploration of how things might have gone differently if Soldier's Peak had been found and established prior to the Blight. In WHWH, Alistair has been a warden for awhile. A wide divergence from canon, but it's been a fun exercise so far. :)