And we're getting into some things that will bring about the climax of this odd little story. :) Hope everyone enjoys! Thanks for reading!


Jowan,

You're right. I absolutely did not want to hear from you. But being king has taught me a couple things – sometimes you have to listen to people who you want to punch in the jaw, and sometimes those people actually have important things to say. Both of these things apply to you.

But as little as I wanted to hear what you said, I actually do appreciate the fact that you took some time to write me with your concerns. I don't know whether those concerns are legitimate, or if something is actually wrong. I haven't the slightest idea what's going on at Amaranthine, and if I had a few days to spare, I would come up and figure it out myself. Unfortunately, I have far too much to do here to even consider leaving, which means I have to do what Irien told me to do months ago and trust you.

An ally of mine – the bard Leliana, you met her at Redcliffe, I believe – will be arriving at Amaranthine soon, and may have gotten there already by the time you get this letter. She recently wrote and told me about some kind of plot against the Grey Wardens that she discovered, though what it is, exactly, we have no idea. Now that you've told me how odd Anallorin is acting, I wonder if they did something to her. Poison perhaps? Is there a poison out there that would change the way she behaves and make her act as paranoid as you described? You're the expert with poisons, mister blood-mage-and-did-I-mention-I-enjoy-poisoning-people's-foster-fathers, so you tell me.

And no, I haven't forgiven you for what you did to Arl Eamon yet. Just in case you didn't get the hint. Wanted to clear that up now.

Do you have others in Amaranthine that you know you can trust? This is you we're talking about, so I'm doubtful, but if so, talk to them and see if they can help. See if Anallorin has any regular habits or eats or drinks something specific that would allow her to be poisoned or attacked in some way without anyone else knowing.

Of course, it may have nothing to do with her. Look around all of Amaranthine and see if you find anything odd about the place that wasn't there before. I'm sure you can manage that, since you're a sneaky little bastard – no offense to bastards. Or some of the other Wardens there could be spies, or planning something sinister. Or maybe a new recruit is actually an assassin!

I'm relying on you to figure this out, Jowan. I trust Leliana and her skills in this department, but she doesn't have the experience with everyone at Amaranthine that you do, so I'll be telling her to work with you and see what you can learn.

Be careful about everything; we have no idea what Leliana's source was planning or when whatever it is will happen, so this threat could come from anywhere. Write me back as soon as you know anything.

King Alistair Theirin


Leliana,

I'm glad to hear the real story, and I completely understand now why you didn't send me anything about what happened exactly with Marjolaine earlier. We might not know any specifics, but at least we know there's some kind of threat out there! That's more than we knew before, anyway, and now we can look out for it. Hopefully.

Good to know you're safe in Ferelden at last, and I hope you've had a little time to settle in at Amaranthine, because I have some things for you to do that you might not like. And by "might not," I mean "absolutely will not like at all." I don't know if you've encountered him yet, but our old "friend" Jowan, the blood mage from Redcliffe, is now a Grey Warden and should be lurking around the keep somewhere. He wrote me a few weeks ago about the leader of the Wardens there, Anallorin, acting strangely, and that he suspects something is wrong.

I told him that you'd discovered some kind of plot against the Wardens, but we don't have any idea what kind of threat it is. Which is the truth, but he doesn't know that. He's been ordered to work with you and give you any information he has, and hopefully you two can find out exactly what's going on – whether something has been done to Anallorin, poison or otherwise, or if there's something else we don't know that could happen in the future.

I wrote that I was trying to trust him, but that was a lie, of course. I don't trust him at all. I trust you, Leliana, not some blood mage who tried to kill Eamon. The whole letter about Anallorin acting strangely, and how he supposedly wants to help us and make up for his past mistakes or whatever it is he says, is probably just a plot to get us off his trail. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was the one working with Marjolaine – he betrayed everyone else he knew, after all, and I expect that we'll be next, despite the fact that he's a Warden now.

I've never met Anallorin, so I can't tell you if however she's acting now is how she normally acts, but I trust your judgment and know that you can figure out what's really going on there, with her and Jowan and the rest of them.

And yes, I have heard from Irien. Well, not directly. But she made it to Antiva City and apparently marched right up to the palace, told them she's the Queen of Ferelden, and demanded an audience with the king. Which she got, of course. Doesn't that just sound like her? King Casimiro is extremely amused and a little baffled by her, and I would've laughed at the whole letter if I hadn't been so relieved to hear she's alive and safe.

Though "safe" is a relative term – apparently she's already been attacked by the Crows. She fended them off, fortunately, but this wasn't enough to deter her, and she's probably working to get an audience with the Crows leadership even as I write you. She and Casimiro think that this is the only way to stop their attacks on her and free Zevran, if he's even still alive, but I haven't the foggiest idea how she'll manage to do it. But I'm trying to keep my spirits up by remembering all the insane things she managed to accomplish while we were all together. If anyone can do this, I know it's her. I just wish I was there with her, making sure she was safe.

I'm sorry I got frustrated with you earlier, and I'm glad you understand why I did. I hate the fact that I'm a king but can't actually do anything to help the person I care about most. Cruel irony.

I hope to hear back from you soon with information about Amaranthine, and I'll write to you if I hear from Irien again.

Alistair


Grey Warden Anallorin,

You haven't written me back yet, and I'll just assume this is because you've been far too busy to reply to, you know, the king of Ferelden. Totally understandable, not like it's important or anything, just the queen running off to a country where a group of assassins wants to kill her and you could have information that might protect her. Not a problem at all. Nope.

You're probably aware that the bard Leliana has arrived at Amaranthine. She is a close friend of mine and I expect you to treat her as an honored guest, despite the fact that she is not a Warden. She's to be given permission to go anywhere in the keep and allowed to talk to anyone, and isn't to be harassed or questioned.

I take it from your lack of response to my last letter, that one that ordered you to tell me everything you know about where Irien is, that the Wardens you sent after her never did manage to find her. Let me give you a hint. She's in Antiva City, staying as the guest of King Casimiro Vasco. You are to order the Wardens to head to the palace and report to Irien. They are to protect her and follow any orders she gives them. Except she might order them to leave her alone, and they aren't to follow that one. But that's the only exception! They need to keep her safe, go with her wherever she goes, and bring her home to Ferelden in one piece.

I expect a response this time.

King Alistair Theirin of the Grey Wardens