Jinx1983 and Harmarkhis, your reviews are wonderful and inspiring! Thanks SO much for them! A few people have put this fic on their alerts as well! I'm really grateful to all of you! :D

Ok, Zev is still on, doing his thing...all hail Zev! LOL

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Chapter 29 - The Coup

The nobles in the throne room were murmuring and whispering to each other, and their voices sounded like the humming of angry bees. Teagan braced himself for what was to come as he nodded curtly to one of the guards at the door.

Bann Cerolic surveyed the scene coldly. He was the only one that was keeping a distance from the rest, and was standing in the front, where Teagan could see him clearly. Teagan turned to look at the rest of the people and his eyes spotted someone who made him start with surprise. He could not understand why she, of all people, would be here today. Unless- His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and Anora walked into the room, flanked by the guards.

"Anora Mac Tir," Teagan began. "You have been called into the room to review your sentence today."

"Where is the king?" One of the nobles called out from the end of the room. "Why is he not back from his journey? Does he not care about the future of his throne?"

The room fell silent, and everyone gazed at Teagan.

"The king is away at the moment, securing treaties for the safety of Ferelden," he lied, repeating what Alistair had told him to say. "I am the regent and acting in his favor as everyone knows by now. We should proceed with the king's wishes."

"We do not know if this is what the king truly wants," another voice said. "We only know that he is not here, and his absence does not work in his favor."

There were murmurs around the room and Teagan raised a hand for silence.

"We will proceed with the hearing, lords and ladies," he said in a firm tone.

"We will not do this," a noble shouted angrily. "Our former queen stands before us. And why? Because she did not swear fealty to the present king, who is now absent from court!"

Angry cries were heard throughout the room, as the nobles now started to bicker against each other.

"Lords and ladies!" Teagan shouted, but the nobles paid no attention to Teagan.

Bann Cerolic went up the steps and stood beside Teagan.

"Lords and Ladies, we must remember that our former queen is here. She was King Cailan's wife! And it was she who ruled Ferelden with grace! I say we put her on the throne!"

Some of the nobles in the room cheered at Cerolic's suggestion.

"Let us vote on it!" Another voice was heard.

"This is not a Landsmeet!" Teagan replied but his voice was soon drowned out by the others.

As he looked down at Anora, he could see her triumphant smile and even though he knew this was going to happen, he took a step back.

The nobles continued their angry diatribe directed at the king, fueled on by Bann Cerolic. Very few of the nobles there still supported Alistair.

The shouts now heard were "We must let the Queen rule!" "We cannot afford to stand as a nation without a ruler!" "The Blight took our lands from us, we need a ruler to solve our problems!"

Bann Cerolic raised his voice.

"All hail Queen Anora!" He screamed.

"Queen Anora!" The nobles shouted in response.

And Anora, in all her icy coldness, smiled that smile of hers and stepped up to stand next to Teagan. Facing Teagan she said, "Bann Teagan, you are under arrest for treason. Guards! Take him away!"

The guards did not look confused at all. They seemed to have been expecting this.

And as Teagan was dragged away, he could not help but admire how neatly her little plan had worked.

...

Zevran watched the scene with interest, and actually felt sorry for Teagan when he was dragged away by the guards. He knew, however, that the only way of helping Teagan was to do everything he planned to do. He only needed to secure the papers that would directly incriminate Anora and her partner, and while he knew where to look, he needed to do this under the cover of night in order to be successful.

He sneaked away and decided to take a walk around the city as he waited for night to fall.

The city was in a bustle, word had already begun to spread and there was a crowd gathered around the palace, outside the gates. The people were murmuring darkly against Anora, and supported Alistair. As Zevran walked around listening to them he soon discovered that not one of them there was against Alistair.

Zevran smiled. Alistair had certainly done himself a favor by working with the people while he cleared out the debris from the Blight and helped them rebuild the city.

The doors of the palace balcony that faced the city opened and Anora stood there as she waited for the crowd to be silent.

"People of Ferelden! I have taken the throne to assure that all of you are not left without a monarch and to work endlessly towards providing all the citizens with a better life."

Contrary to what she may have thought, the people started to shout angrily at her, and Zevran grinned at the shocked look on her face. Soon, the people were throwing things angrily at the balcony and Anora was taken inside hurriedly.

"To arms! We must fight for King Alistair!" A shout was heard over the din.

"We can't fight! We need the nobles' protection and coin for weapons!" Another voice replied.

The crowd was soon dispersed by a small group of guards, but the people were still muttering angrily against Anora which was enough for him.

He walked away towards the Gnawed Noble Tavern, his eyes darting around the area, ever vigilant.

Zevran knew that he would discover which nobles supported Alistair soon enough.

...

Meanwhile, the absent king did not know what was happening in Denerim, and had he been told, he would have replied that he did not care.

They had been travelling for five days now, and each day Alistair retreated more and more from the others, till he barely spoke to them at all. They watched him silently and left him alone, mostly because he would not answer them, lost in his thoughts, his amber eyes constantly scanning the horizon.

It was Fergus who actually managed to have a conversation with him on the morning of the seventh day. Alistair was on deck as usual, his hands gripping the railing. He had been told that they would be arriving at Val Royeaux very soon, and he wanted to catch a glimpse of the docks himself.

"Alistair," Fergus said behind him.

This time Alistair turned his face slightly and smiled at him. "We are nearly there, Fergus! The ship that took her was only two hours ahead of us. We'll find her soon!" He looked like an eager puppy and Fergus smiled back at him.

"We may have trouble finding where they have taken her. Val Royeaux is not a small city," he replied.

"We have an excellent bard in our group, who knows her way around Val Royeaux very well. This works to our advantage." Alistair's smile deepened. He turned his face back to the horizon, and Fergus stood quietly beside him looking in that direction as well.

"Azure told me that your parents took her to Val Royeaux once," he said quietly, a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered the conversation. "She said that she hated the city, the people seemed too false to her and the smell of perfume made her choke." He finished with a laugh.

Fergus smiled. " Yes. They travelled together a lot. Aedan went with them sometimes. I was always training and was married by then, so I chose to remain at Highever."

"What was she like back then? Was she always so fiery and, and loveable?" Alistair blushed slightly.

Fergus laughed. "Yes. She was always a little devil. Always playing pranks on others, and had quite the temper! But she is easy to love and has always had a kind heart. Extremely clever as well."

Alistair laughed back at this. "Yes, well, she is the brains as far as I'm concerned. I'm usually just the stupid oaf that does whatever she says and throws witty one-liners at her to make her smile."

"You do whatever she says?" Fergus asked quietly.

"Of course I do! I trust her judgment and I trust and love her. Why wouldn't I?"

Fergus suddenly realized just how much Alistair loved his sister.

"Why wouldn't you indeed," he agreed softly with a smile.

The docks came into view and Alistair gave a shout. The rest rushed towards the railing where they stood and Alistair laughed out loud at the sight of the docks in the distance.

He looked younger at that moment and his eyes sparkled with hope. The rest soon were feeling pretty much the same way he was and went down to the cabins below to gather their things.

Only Alistair remained on deck, still looking at the approaching docks.

"Soon, my love," he whispered.

...

As it turned out, Azure and her captors were still on the ship, in spite of having docked earlier that morning. She knew that they had docked and had overheard where. She thought that they were probably waiting to successfully take her away under the cover of night so as not to raise any suspicions against them.

"Fools," she said under her breath. They obviously did not know that the city came alive at night, and the nobles and people enjoyed parties and drinking.

Fortunately for her, they hadn't tied her wrists and feet and she knew that she could pick that lock. She listened for any sounds, but the only sounds that could be heard were the water gently rocking the ship and the people on deck working to disembark crates. She wondered what they were bringing into Val Royeaux but then gave herself a mental shake and started working on the lock.

She heard footsteps approaching the door and ran to her corner. Sitting down, she quickly set her face into an inscrutable mask.

"Ah, are you bored, my pet?" This person had not come in before and she regarded him curiously for a moment.

"I am the one in charge of this mission. You must accept my apology. We cannot take you where we are supposed to until it is dark. But of course, I would think you would have guessed this by now," he sneered.

She still said nothing, and the door opened behind him. The man who always brought her food and drink appeared, carrying a tray of food and a pitcher of water.

"You must eat and rest while you can," the leader said and waited for the man to leave. He then turned to leave, but Azure's voice stopped him.

"How much were you paid to do this?"

He turned to face her, his head tilted to one side while he regarded her with an amused expression.

"I was promised a great deal of sovereigns," he said after a while.

"Well, however much you were promised, I can assure you that it could be doubled, if you let me go," Azure said quietly.

He burst out laughing. "Are you trying to make a deal with me, my pet?" His voice shook with amusement.

"I am. As you know, my betrothed is the King of Ferelden."

"Ah! I see you do not know about the recent turn of events," he chuckled. "Most unfortunate..." he added feigning sadness.

"Turn of events?" She repeated her throat suddenly very dry.

"Yes, we do have a couple of contacts in Val Royeaux. They have just informed us of something that has happened in Denerim, not two days ago. Your 'king' is no longer the ruling monarch. Queen Anora has taken the throne."

Azure's eyes widened at this as she stared up at the man. She did not speak, speech was beyond her at this moment. There would never be words to describe what his information had done to her.

However, he saw it in her eyes. He saw the hope extinguished and saw her face fall. He saw the despair now filling her eyes.

"I am not such a bad man," he laughed softy, "and will leave you alone with your thoughts now." He left the room, still laughing, locking the door behind him.

...

Zevran sneaked into the queen's chambers, his shadows blending perfectly with the shadows of the room, his feet making no noise whatsoever on the carpeted floor.

He had very little time, because the queen was now meeting with some of the nobles. From there he knew that they would go to dinner.

He started his search, knowing well enough that the desks all nobles used often had hidden drawers. He found one soon enough and started to look through the papers, his eyes quickly scanning them one by one. His thorough search revealed nothing.

He frowned and his eyes swept around the room, taking in every small detail he might have overlooked. Suddenly his sharp eyes caught something in the dim light of the room. There was a stone in the wall that looked slightly raised. He walked to it quickly and his slender fingers went over it. An audible click was heard and the stone moved forward slightly. He took it out gently.

There were several papers inside. Zevran wasted no time, and took them all. He then replaced the stone and hoisted himself out the window, disappearing into the night.

...

The group stood around the docks, their eyes on the ship that presumably held Azure captive. They were hidden behind some crates and Alistair tried for the fourth time to convince everyone to rush in and fight their way to release her. He was as successful as he had been the other times.

"We mustn't do rash things now, Alistair. You know this. This could be a part of their plans, they could be waiting for you to rush in to capture all of us," Aedan again warned him. "We should wait for Leliana to return with news. There is no other option!"

Alistair shut his mouth and looked miserable. His heart longed for her desperately. He needed to hold her in his arms. It pained him that she was so near yet still so far away.

The group huddled there for what seemed like an eternity to them, until they could make out Leliana's form beckoning at them from another area that was farther away from the docks. They quickly ran to where she was, and hid behind a wall.

"I have a lot to say," she whispered. "We cannot do much here. There is an inn not far from here, let us be off and see what steps we can take to remedy this situation."

They followed her and Alistair's heart sank further with each step they took. The rest were silent as well. Soon they found themselves inside the inn and ordered food and drink.

"They are expecting us. And they have plans to capture you, Alistair. Denerim is a mess. Anora has taken the throne," she said still whispering.

"We knew that would happen," Alistair said. "And the possibility of them deciding to capture me was always there. I'm the one they want, which is why they are using her as bait."

"Yes, but there is also the fact that they don't know who they captured," Aedan said smiling. "She is a force to be reckoned with."

"I truly hope she doesn't do anything reckless that would put her life in danger," Alistair fretted, fidgeting in his seat. "Our child's life is also at stake. Andraste's flaming sword! I'm going to kill Anora after this!" He said angrily, pounding his fist on the table.

"We have to keep watch on the docks. They are planning to take her away somewhere tonight. I'm going to continue to listen in to people's conversations and see what I can find out about Denerim."

"Zevran has probably already secured the evidence he needs," Aedan said quietly.

"I hope so, my brother. A civil war so soon after the Blight is the last thing Ferelden needs," Alistair retorted quickly.

"We will wait to see what you can find out, Leliana," Wynne said. "Is that the plan?"

"I do have another plan," Leliana announced as she smiled back at the mage. "I can try it out later this afternoon. It may be the only way to see if Azure is unharmed. If I use my charms, I can probably get closer to where they are keeping her prisoner."

"Your charms?" Aedan asked interestedly. Then he realized what she was saying. "I'm not going to like it, am I?" He frowned.

"My love, do not worry. I will not be unfaithful to you, I promise," she smiled at him taking his face in her hands and kissing him.

The rest looked away discreetly and it was Alistair who finally interrupted.

"All right, all right. There will be time for that later, I'm sure! Let's get to business."

"Spoilsport." Aedan sighed.

...

Denerim was in chaos. Fighting had broken out all over the city. While there was not a civil war going on yet, it certainly looked like it would break out soon.

Anora was at her wits' end. She quickly went towards her chambers, and locked the door once she was inside. She wanted to check the papers she had and take out one parchment to send to another noble who was not currently supporting her. Her offer to him was explained on the parchment and she didn't doubt that he could be persuaded to support her. If she was to successfully remain on the throne, she needed to sway all the nobles in her favor and soon.

She hurriedly pulled the stone out and gasped.

All her papers were gone.

...

Zevran stood in the shadows. This time he was following Barlein. And this time, it was not information he was after.

It was now time to start the second part of his plan. It was time for him to do what he was used to doing. What he had failed to do only once in his life.

He waited for Barlein to take another swig of ale from his leather pouch. Then, silently, he stepped behind him and sank his dagger into his back, his other dagger coming from behind, slicing the man's throat.

Barlein slumped to the ground dead and Zevran jumped silently back into the shadows.

"One down, two to go," he whispered into the night air.