Chapter 43 Expectations
Eamon walked into the audience chamber; Siobhan, Gareth, and Teagan all stood in their armor. Seasoned politician that he was, Eamon's face did not show the worry that he felt like a knot in his stomach. "Greetings. Commander, Your Grace, congratulations on the birth of your son; Your Grace, thank the Maker that you are hale and whole. I'm sure the story of your survival is remarkable, but clearly that is not why you are here."
Siobhan stepped forward. "My Lord Arl,as the Warden Commander of Ferelden,I am the one who needed an audience with you. Bann Teagan and Teyrn Mac Tir are here at their own request. What I have to discuss with you is a matter of grave importance and one that I'm sure you'll want to have in private, not is an open audience chamber."
"Of course. First, if you can allay my fears, Alistair is well?"
Siobhan nodded. "Yes, he's fine My Lord. Currently he's leading a detachment to OstagaR. We have reason to believe that Maric's sword and several documents are hidden there."
Arl Eamon could not hide his genuine relief. "Thank the Maker. Please, please follow me to my study. I will make sure we are not disturbed."
Once settled in the study, Eamon acted as the Elder Statesmen. "Commander, what counsel can I provide?"
Siobhan looked him in the eye. "My Lord, it is not your counsel I seek."
"Then let me assure you, my army will stand with the Wardens."
"My Lord, I do not doubt that your army will join our flight."
What is she up to? "Then I admit to being at a loss. What prompted your…visit?"
Siobhan pulled out the note and the original list from Samuel, opened them then placed them on the desk, in front of Eamon. "Drop the statesman act."
Eamon looked at the notes in silence, both papers were clearly in his own hand. Samuel double-crossed me. He looked up at Siobhan, she could see the anger in his eyes, but his voice was calm and firm. "The issue of succession is a political one, and not part of the purview of the Wardens. Your Order is supposed to remain neutral. Need I remind you of what happened to Sophia Dryden, and her wardens?"
Gareth gestured to the note, contempt clear in her voice. "As Teyrn of Gwaren, it is my purview. Eamon; I would expect such filthy deceit from Howe or Ceorlic, but not from the head of the Guerrin family, not from the uncle of our fallen king. This is beneath you, Eamon."
"We are the brothers of Queen Rowan; Eamon what were you thinking?"
Eamon's anger was clear on his face. "Our country needs to keep the throne in the Calenhad line! I work for the sake of Ferelden, and Rowan would have agreed with me."
Siobhan lost her temper. "For the sake of Ferelden, or for sake of your own power? This isn't about the Theirin bloodline. If you had been so concerned about the stability of Ferelden's throne, you would have trained Alistair at an early age, and brought him up to be a king. Cailan was the heir; you could have raised the spare. But you didn't, and now you sit there and spew rubbish about your doing this for the sake of Ferelden! Face it, Eamon, you would put Alistair on throne, but you would be the one pulling the strings."
Eamon sneered. "The way you stick up for Alistair…is it just sisterly affection that drives you?"
Gareth stood up and in one quick motion put himself between Eamon and Siobhan. Looking down on the Arl, his voice, calm, controlled, and deadly. "Eamon Guerrin, need I remind you that you are speaking to my wife?"
Teagan tried to calm the situation. "Please, everyone, let us sit down and discuss this like rational people."
Siobhan took a deep breath. "Arl, Bann Teagan, I apologize for my fit of temper."
Eamon slowly sat back down, stiffly. "I accept your apology."
At that point, Gareth could have cheerfully killed the Arl. Breathing deeply he kept his demeanor calm and reasonable.
"Eamon." Gareth began. "Did you ever wonder why Maric charged you with raising Alistair?"
"Maric needed to hide his little…indiscretion, of course."
Siobhan knew where Gareth was going with this, and added, "So you treated him like the indiscretion he was, instead of the heir you now so desperately want?"
Eamon looked Siobhan. "You don't understand; Maric was the one worried about Alistair being a threat to Cailan. I needed to remove that threat."
Gareth looked at Eamon. "Did Maric actually tell you that?"
"Well, not in so many words, but his intent was clear."
Siobhan smiled at Eamon. "Well, then you should know that it was not Maric's idea to keep Alistair away from court."
"And what would you know about it? You were barely out of diapers when this happened."
Gareth leaned forward in his chair. "Eamon, you forget that I was Maric's squire. I learned from Maric that it was Alistair's mother that wanted him to be raised away from court. Maric was abiding by her wishes. A decision, he said was was one of his biggest regrets."
Eamon could not keep from showing the shock at Gareth's words. There is no guile in those eyes. Merciful Maker, what is going on?
Siobhan gently placed her hand on Eamon's forearm. "Arl Eamon, you know Gareth speaks the truth."
Eamon removed his arm from under Siobhan's. "If Maric regretted keeping Alistair away from court, then clearly he also wished Alistair to be the line of succession. Do you really want to go against Maric's wishes?"
Siobhan shook her head and was about to speak, when Gareth placed his hand on her shoulder. "Eamon. I knew Maric as my liege lord, my father's best friend, and as the father of a man who was as dear to me as a brother. Maric may have wished for Alistair to be in the succession, but he would never have forced it on him."
Tears welled in Siobhan's eyes, as she felt Gareth's pain at loosing the three most important men in his life. She looked at the, now pale, Arl. "Eamon, please, you of all people know how important it is to Alistair to choose his own path. I ask you, I beg you, if you care about him, as much as you claim, let him go."
"Brother, Siobhan and Gareth speak sense and the truth. Please."
Eamon was silent, his face unreadable. Then, slowly, the creases in his forehead softened, his shoulders slumped. He looked up at Gareth and Siobhan. "It speaks highly of Alistair that he has gained your loyalty. Please, I need time to think about all you have said"
Siobhan's temper flared again. "No Arl Eamon, I want your assurance, now, that these shameful attempts to discredit my Wardens, my husband, and me will end, and that you will support Alistair's wishes. Lastly, I expect you to be the statesman that you are and work with us to dethrone the architects of this civil war."
Eamon stood up looked at Siobhan, his eyes reflected great regret and great respect. "Warden Commander, you have my assurance, as the Arl of Redcliffe, that things will be as you have asked."
Siobhan nodded. "I regret having had to take this tone with you, but you gave me little choice. Nonetheless, thank you, Arl Eamon, for your assurances and I'm glad to have you on our side."
Gareth turned to the Arl. "Eamon, it would work to our mutual advantage if we kept my existence hidden."
"I understand. Is it true that Chasind Army is heading to Rainesfere?"
Gareth nodded.
"Wise choice. Teagan, I would like have companies of my army spend time at Rainesfere, we need to make sure this large unit can work together."
Gareth smiled. "My thoughts, exactly."
Eamon sat down and looked at his brother. "Teagan, could you stay here? There are many things I would like to discuss with you."
"Of course, Brother."
With that, Gareth and Siobhan took their leave. Once in the entryway, Siobhan let out a deep breath, and reached into her belt pack for a healing potion. Gareth stopped and put his arms around her. "You, Madame, were magnificent."
Siobhan smiled weakly. "It was not I who carried the day, my love. I'm only sorry that you had to suffer. I know you miss Maric and Calian."
Gareth let out a deep breath and kissed his wife on the top of her head. "Come on; let's get you home. I have a feeling we'll both be facing the Wrath of Wynne."
When they were in the Castle courtyard, Samuel and Zevran appeared, seemingly from nowhere. Both were smiling. Zevran looked at the couple. "Il miei Leone e Lioness, such a formidable pair. If you ever decide to enlarge your pride, you only have but to ask."
Gareth chuckled. "Zevran, you know that a pride has only one male."
"Ah, my handsome Teyrn, I would never consider being the dominant male."
Gareth just laughed. "Samuel, your services have been invaluable. Let us all go back to Rainesfere, have a pint, and relax."
Teagan poured a brandy for Eamon, and for himself.
"Eamon, please, tell me what's going on, what drove you to that course of action?"
Eamon slowly sipped his drink. Teagan noticed how old his brother looked, as if recent events had aged him ten years.
Eamon looked up, as if he hadn't heard Teagan's question. "Was I really that terrible a foster father?"
Teagan put down his drink. "You were raising Alistair under…difficult circumstances."
"Please, Teagan, let there be no artifice between us."
Teagan sighed. "Brother, you let Isolde influence you more than you should have, and Alistair paid the price for it. Siobhan is right; given all that's happened to Alistair, it would be cruel to force him onto the throne, Theirin blood or not. Perhaps if Alistair was raised as the traditional spare, Ferelden may not be in the political turmoil it is now. But we will never know."
Eamon slowly nodded his head. "I suppose we should let the past bury it's dead. Thank you, Teagan, for everything you have done for Redcliffe and for Ferelden. When this is all over, whomever sits on that throne will be made aware of your contributions to ending this Blight."
The group arrived back at Rainesfere; Gareth had to carry Siobhan into the house. Wynne looked daggers at him. Thank the Maker she cannot cast a fireball with her eyes!
He put Siobhan down. She put her hands up and looked at Wynne, her voice weak. "It wasn't Gareth's fault. This was my idea. And while I don't regret what I did, I'm quite sure you will have your revenge; my body is going to punish me ten-fold. Right now though, I really need to feed Bryce." She whispered in Gareth's ear, "Can you find someone to discreetly clean the inside of my breast plate, I've been leaking all the way here."
Gareth threw back his head and laughed. "Your wish is my command."
Once Siobhan was ensconced in the bedroom with Bryce. Gareth gathered the men for a trip to the pub, The Balmed Spirits.
Alistair could see Rainesfere in the distance and turned to Fergus. "I'm going to ride ahead and them know we will be arriving soon. I imagine it will be a bit chaotic getting everyone settled. Bring the men, in formation, to the courtyard in front."
Fergus nodded. "It will be done."
Alistair spurred his horse ahead.
Siobhan was in the family room again. She had been trying to convince Wynne to let her out of bed and after three days, she finally relented.
After the night at the pub, Kasch, Kess, Zevran and Samuel, were more comfortable together. Zevran, his usual lascivious self, spared no one, save Samuel. Gareth and Kasch good-naturedly put down Zevran's continued advances. Surprisingly, Kess did not, he laughed like everyone else, but he seemed intrigued by Zevran. Gareth caught this and mentally shook his head. Zevran is a law unto himself.
Teagan, Kasch and Gareth spent a lot of time discussing Ferelden's political history. Kasch like Gareth, missed very little. Looking at both men with a thoughtful expression. "So, Orlesians thinks Fereldans are backwards and barbarous, but isn't that how Ferelden sees the Chasind?
Gareth sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. Ignorance breeds ignorance."
Kasch sat tall in his chair. "Then we will show Ferelden who the Chasind really are."
Gareth was about to respond when a servant looked into the room. "My Lords, the male Grey Warden has arrived."
When Gareth, Teagan and Kasch arrived, Alistair was standing in the main entryway, his cheeks red from the wind. When Gareth saw him, he grabbed him a bear hug. "It is good to see you, Alistair. How far behind you is the rest of the group?"
Gareth's warm welcome brought a smile to Alistair's face. "They stopped for rest break, so I would say a half hour."
Gareth and Teagan had already determined that there was room in the barracks and tents could be easily pitched around it. Rooms had been set up for the three healers, Udell, and Fergus.
When the army arrived, Teagan, Gareth, Kasch, and Kess, were in the courtyard, in their armor.
Gareth formally introduced Bann Teagan Guerrin as their host. Then looking out over the assembled, his voice loud and clear. "Today is an historic day; the first day of a new era. An era ushered in by your courage and by your dedication. I am proud to welcome you, my sword-brothers, to Ferelden! Im Krieg…Sieg! In war, victory!"
The troops cheered.
"Seig"
"Seig"
"Seig"
Teagan could not help but be caught up in the moment and cheered with the troops
Alistair was also caught up in Gareth's address and the men's response. He admired Gareth's presence and command and was more determined that ever to stick to his plans.
The troops were dismissed, Kasch and Kess leading the way. Teagan and Fergus were having an emotional reunion. In the meantime, Gareth escorted Udell and Aya into the estate. Siobhan was standing in the main hall with Bryce in her arms. When she saw Udell, she knew the woman next to him was Aya.
Aya saw the woman holding a baby, with eyes like Fergus. Siobhan.
Siobhan, tears in her eyes, closed the distance between them. "Aya, there are no words for the joy it is to finally meet you. Welcome."
Aya was grateful for the warm welcome. "I too feel joy in meeting the sister of one I hold so dear." Then looking at the baby. "He's beautiful, Siobhan. Aren't you, Lethallin?" She cooed. "May I hold him?"
Siobhan smiled. "Of course." Just then she heard a loud voice from the doorway. "I hear there is a crazy woman around here that claims to be my sister." Siobhan turned to see Fergus. She ran to him, they threw their arms around each other. Tears of joy and of sorrow mingled on their faces. Holding onto each other, tightly, Fergus whispered. "Pup, it's not your fault."
At that moment, the last vestiges of Siobhan's guilt and doubts about whether or not Fergus was going to blame her for leaving her parents, fell away and Siobhan held on to Fergus and sobbed, tears of joy, tears of grief, and tears of relief.
AN Thanks to all who are following this story. Special thank you to Shakespira for her continued reviews and support, and to Nithu for her wonderful Beta-skills.
