Chapter Fifty-Three: Here Come the Brides

Mariette led the way with Julie and Velarana to the port, as we mere mortals followed behind in. The wind more or less stopped any chance of speaking, as it gusted about and crept under our furs,

Word was spreading through the streets, and there was a sense of anticipation in the air as people gathered in doorways and beside street-level. Anticipation of what exactly, was the question on everyone's mind. Tevinter was very far from Ferelden, and the only interaction with the Tevene people that Fereldans had was in the warnings and denunciations of the White Chantry against the Black.

We made straight for the eastern harbour tower; the northernmost point of the city that doubled as a lighthouse at night. It was a shorter tower than the others, and climbing it was no great difficulty. We crowded at the top as confused lookouts dodged us with fuelpots in their arms, and we looked out at the sea. It was remarkably flat considering the winds, and between the the patchy cloud cover shone great yellow beams down into the dark blue-green water.

Sure enough, I could see two or three dozen groups of sails in the distance, in between the dark form of Alamar and the brighter Brandel's Reach island chain. The ships were closer than the horizon and were moving quickly in from the north east, the first of them making full use of the powerful winds to speed forwards. I cursed loudly, trying to squint to see them better and regretting verbally that I hadn't brought any binoculars.

Which of course sent Mariette into a haughty chuckle, as she pulled a pair from under her own fur cloak. As the group looked on at us with suspect interest, I took the things and brought them up to my eyes. I inspected each of the sails in turn, and the sight that greeted me was not one I had expected.

"Thirty or so rowed galleys," I thought aloud, seeing the water churn to either side of those ships, "And three frigates?"

"Not the full fleet," Velarana concluded, "I thought as much, they are half a month early."

"It will probably take the next two weeks for the rest of the ships to arrive," Julie agreed, "It's not like anyone has a transport fleet to spare, that we know of."

"There isn't a single transport ship in that entire flotilla, or I'll eat my hat," I said, "Those frigates in front looks to be fleeing from the Tevinter group."

"What would you do if you saw magisters coming at you unexpectedly, ships or no ships," Armen said, "Not like you can turn and run any way you like when you're sailing. The winds more or less force you one way or the other, if my reading about it is correct."

"They'll be expecting to get shelter here," I said, "Unless those are Orlesian ships, or Qunari ones, we'll be happy to oblige."

"Those are definitely not Qunari," said Armen, "Wrong configuration and no Qunari banners. There are great books on both topics in the library at Anora's Watch, incidentally. Ships of the Waking Sea and Heraldry of the Thedosian Realms."

I narrowed my eyes at him, not believing he could tell at the distance in question, his night time reading topics notwithstanding. Which probably made it look like I was simply closing them given I had to keep them mostly shut already, to avoid watering them in the razor sharp gusts.

"Elf eyes," Ciara said from beside the mage, catching my disbelief, "We can see a little further." Elves are more likely to be far-sighted with good visual acuity, but not as much as popular mythology would have you believe.

"Ah, that," I said, not thinking that further comment was necessary or wise, "Well, they'll be in harbour in less than half an hour if I'm any judge."

"We must give them a warm reception," Velarana said. Julie hummed her accord with that, not turning away from the sea below.

"Do not say such a thing," Tam smirked, "You'll give him the wrong idea." The idiom having a somewhat ironic meaning where I am from, more so than on Thedas. Firearms being the standard idea.

"I don't care just as long as I get out of this fucking Stone-cursed wind!" Leha declared, speeding past us to be the first down the stairs. We all followed her, ourselves hoping the quays would be a little more sheltered.

"I wonder what she'll look like," Mariette said, rubbing her hands together beside me as we filed back through the doorway.

"Who?" I asked.

"Your bride?" she said, bringing her fur-lined cloaked up over her mouth and nose. Tam and Julie both turned their heads in front of us, the spiral staircase of the tower allowing them to do that without stopping. I had to choose my next words carefully, I knew. Men, take notes. I passed the buck with expert skill.

"I'm not even sure I'll get to see her before the ceremony," I said, with a shrug, "I forget that only Ciara and I saw her portrait."

Mariette looked at me blankly with her lupine blue eyes, not believing my charade for a second. Tam probably would have been able to see through it too, if she hadn't been half-distracted by the effort it took to not fall down the stairs. Everyone else seemed to believe me too, but that wasn't the point. The person I was counting on to cut in did so as expected.

"She's pretty," Ciara confirmed, "Wavy black hair and bright brown eyes."

There was an awkward moment as the people present considered that. I realised they were all actually worried about what might happen if I actually liked my betrothed. Even Velarana seemed to pause, as such a scenario would likely screw with her political ambitions. In her mind anyway, how exactly it would wasn't something I could figure out.

"Wavy black hair and brown eyes," Mariette said flatly, "Sounds like a bear."

Julie erupted with a laugh from below, the noise echoing in the tower. It was palpable relief to her that the opposite problem might occur, that Aurelia might in fact be terribly ugly due to the passage of time or the burdens of war. I grit my teeth, praying to the Maker that it wasn't so. Otherwise, I'd be relegated to the role of stud animal for the next decade at least, with as much agency in my procreation as a particularly fast stallion.

Not quite the definition of stud I was hoping to see applied to me.


The harbour was less windy, by just enough to make a difference.

The Libertarian and Aequitarian delegations joined the High Command and a great number of ordinary citizens on the quayside, all of us looking like fully bipedal bears ourselves in our furs, all come to see the action. Velarana's group went off to watch from elsewhere. The debate had just ended and there wasn't going to be much time for strategising the final push. Fisher and his captains were too busy organising the defence of the harbour. The Navy had insisted on that responsibility, so Julie gave them it.

This left me in the company of my companions and the generals. Mike even had my light blue UN banner, which flapped loudly from its staff in her arms.

Ships slid into the harbour proper under the watchful gaze of Fisher's batteries of cannon, the gleaming silverite glinting in the winter sun. The clouds parted like le Créateur himself had commanded them to. A suitable thing for the circumstances. We watched as the ships slid into the shelter of the bay.

"General," Soprano said in greeting as we came up alongside the waiting officers, "The Major found you, I see."

"She did," I said, "Cut the debate short too."

"Fisher and I thought this was more important," she replied, "Can't have the magisters running around unchecked looking for you, can we?"

"Certainly not," Julie smiled, "The Fereldans might lose their nerve." Or, to be more accurate, lose their shit entirely. A reaction ranging from cowering in their homes to rioting in the streets, neither of which was conducive to the peace I wanted to keep. "Peacekeeper" and all that.

"Those aren't Tevinters," Armen insisted, pointing at the three nearest ships, "Care to place a wager?"

"I'll take that action," Miked boomed, her stature failing to measure up to her volume as usual.

"That's a really bad bet," McNulty said, shaking his head.

"Agreed," Louise de Villars added, "I suspect that the more interesting object of a wager would be if they are not Tevinter, then who are they? Those vessels do not look like they possess enough space for very many people, after all."

"Pilots?" Mike ventured, "The Tevinters haven't been down this far by sea in a very long time, they'd need guides."

The elder of the de Villars cousins shook her helmeted head, the skull shaped faceguard no doubt covering a frown. "They're pirates," she said, "Or smugglers."

"Or both," Mariette agreed.

As expected, the first to arrive were the unidentified frigates. Well, they were 'two-masted brigantines' to be precise, which apparently isn't the same thing as a frigate, according to Fisher and other nautical types. They're lighter and faster by a knot or two, letting them get up rivers and through shallows that other ships can't, as well as simply outpacing. All of which is a clue about just what sort of job they usually did, as opposed to escorting refugees across the sea.

They rolled up their sails upon coming close to the shore and sent out lines to the waiting harbourmen, who reeled the ships in with capstans posted directly into the stone quay. Around they turned the giant pivot, the thick ropes wrapping around the iron capstan. I saw that those on the ships were doing the same thing with a capstan on their own decks.

All three ships were parked behind our own galleons in no time, dwarfed in size. I saw that they all had ballistas on their decks, two at the bow and two on the stern, although these seemed to be loaded with hooks rather than Antivan fire.

The middle ship, the one directly in front of us, was the Sirens' Revenge. The name was written in a flowing script I couldn't read easily, requiring me to look at it for a moment. I was caught entirely off guard when a gangplank smacked down onto the quay further down.

Off of it stepped two women.

The first was a stereotypical pirate. She wore a red bandana over flowing, straight black hair, framing electric blue eyes. Well, one of the eyes was blue, the other was covered by an black eye patch embroidered with silver. She wore knee high boots in rich red leather, fennec fur around her shoulders, dark green breeches and a white blouse that looked like it would melt in the rain. The only unpirate-like things I noticed about her were the thin rapier by her side, a precise weapon not typically associated with pirates, and the way she held herself disciplined and bolt straight, which was something you'd associate with people capable of using rapiers effectively.

The second was the most ridiculous caricature of a naval officer or admiral I'd ever seen in my life. She had a heavy blue coat with gold braid on the shoulders, giant silver buttons that were undone to reveal a generously proportioned mocha bosom, knee-high boots just like the other one's set, breeches slit up the thighs to reveal yet more mocha skin, and a black tricorne hat over flowing dark brown with a black feather sticking out of the back of it. She had multiple piercings on her ears and one on her lower lip. She was armed with not one, but two short cutlasses. The curved blades certainly suited her own curves, or so said the other organ with which we men think. The woman's eyes were a bright brown... and they reminded me of Aurelia.

For a brief momentary second of panic, I thought she was Aurelia, but it passed as I saw no sign of a staff or Tevinter coats of arms. Plus there was no way that bust could have been left out of the portrait. Given Julie's own features, I became absolutely sure that this person was a Rivaini.

Firelances were cocked and aimed at the pair, as recognition of their career choice spread through the ranks. Didn't see too many of the men doing the aiming though. Again, different organs doing the thinking there.

"I thought Fisher said that women were bad luck on ships," Soprano said out of the side of her mouth, "I'll have his hide for the insult, while they stand witness."

"Pirates are a law unto themselves," I offered back with a whisper, "Please don't skin him, it would look bad."

The General offered me a smile that made no promises. Julie nudged me with her elbow gently. She wanted me to take the lead, probably because the newcomers were beginning to put their fingers around the hilts of their weapons. Some of their crew, an interesting mix of men and women from seemingly everywhere and every race, were too. The attention they were getting wasn't being appreciated.

"Ladies, welcome to Amaranthine," I said, gesturing for the soldiers nearby to lower their weapons, "I can honestly say that you weren't who we were expecting."

The unusual pair relaxed as soon as the weapons were shouldered, and finally looked directly at me. With appraising looks, no less. I probably blushed, but I choose not to remember such things.

"I can honestly say I didn't think we'd be here either," said the 'admiral' with a sigh, "But when someone waves gold in your face for an easy job, it's just rude to turn it down." Her accent was a curious one, with hints of influence from everything but reminding me most of a High Fereldan accent.

"Though as jobs go, this is unusual," the pirate added, "Even for us." That was most definitely a Fereldan accent, I thought.

The 'admiral' nodded.

"I don't suppose that has anything to do with the fleet that is right behind you?" Tam asked.

The eyes of the 'admiral' discovered Tam, and seemed to drink in the sight of her for a while as they scanned every inch of her body. Far more appraisingly than when she had looked at me. Tam, being the stoic she was, had chosen to wear far less than the rest of us. The woman continued looking until the pirate gave her a slap on the arm, grinning ear to ear as she did so. Something familiar about her struck me then.

The 'admiral' cleared her throat, and looked Tam in the eyes again.

"I'm sorry, what was the question?" she said, "You were distracting me."

Tam's silver-gold eyebrow cocked so high so quickly, it was in danger of flying off her head.

"The Tevinters, behind you?" she asked, gesturing vaguely off towards the ocean, "You were fleeing from them?"

The 'admiral' and the pirate exchanged glances of confusion.

"Eh, no, not exactly," the pirate said, "We were hired by them. To help you, in fact. We just figured that with so many ships sailing to do the same thing, we'd get here first and lay claim to the best food at the Crown and Lion before there is none left." The tavern was one of the few places we hadn't quartered troops in, because doing so would have disrupted commerce, so they were in luck there.

"Not to mention the best whiskey," the 'admiral' interrupted, "So many ships are coming, the place is going to be drunk dry. And I don't do dry."

The pirate snorted, again playfully hitting the 'admiral' on the shoulder, getting a smile over the shoulder in return. I would have said that they needed to get a room, but evidently that was their plan.

"Ah, so Tiberius hired you," I said, "And the fleet is on the way."

"Practically every merchant vessel from Antiva to Nevarra," the 'admiral' confirmed, "And a good part of the Armada too, of which we are the first to arrive. You have friends in high places."

"Or low, depending on your opinion of Tevinter mages," the pirate added.

The news that the pirates had been conscripted to aid us was a surprising one, but I wasn't the man to underestimate Tiberius' reach. Besides, some of the pirates sold people into slavery, and there was only one place you could do that in the open: Tevinter.

"It seems we've been very rude," said Julie in accented Common, "We should introduce ourselves. I am Julie Hunt, High Chancellor of the Free Army. This is Sam Hunt, Commanding General. Tam Hunt, Warden-Commander. Armen Cartier, First Enchanter of the Hearth Circle. Ciara of the Virnehn. Malika Cadash. And most of the Army High Command, Soprano, McNulty, Louise and Mariette de Villars, Mike, Barris, and Isewen." Each person gave a word or gesture of greeting in turn. That she had used their nicknames rather than their actual names seemed to increase the friendliness of the conversation.

"Warden-Commander?" the 'admiral' purred, "Now, that is interesting. Wardens have great stamina. I know from experience, experience I'd like to repeat." Tam actually blushed, God help her.

The other one had a more banal complaint.

"Sam and Tam Hunt?" asked Eye-Patch, "How do you keep that straight?"

"We manage," Tam replied flatly. We did. Badly. Sometimes Julie would call for one of us, and both of us would come running. Luckily, such moments tickled Julie and it usually ended with a suitably lustful conclusion. We were generally happy to be called away by mistake in such a way.

"I would have thought the surname would have been the interesting part," I said. The rumours had done the explaining for me, and had actually gone further than the reality. Pretty much any female in my company, except Leha, was rumoured to be sharing my bed. That's the sort of flattery I can live with, frankly.

"We know who you are," said the 'admiral', "Word gets around when a man claiming to be from another world conquers a chunk of Orlais and takes enough lovers to start a brothel. Between the conquering and the … conquering, I wonder where you find the time to sleep."

"It is hard," I said, playing along and falling straight into her trap.

"I bet it is," the 'admiral' snickered. That set off the entire lot of our officers and my companions. Even Louise allowed herself an amused breath, despite herself.

The newcomers proceeded to give their idea of a formal introduction.

"Admiral Isabela of the Felicisima Armada," said the Rivaini, with a sarcastic bow, "And this is my saucy first mate Marian."

The eye-patched Marian made a similarly theatrical bow, complete with a hand flourish to the side.

"Marian Hawke?" asked Barris, piping up at last, "The Champion of Kirkwall?"

The resemblance hit me at once. This was definitely a relative of Bethany. The eyepatch and bandana had thrown me off before, but once I had caught on, it was strangely obvious. I wonder if Warden Hawke approved of Pirate Hawke's choice of career. I doubted it, given how straight-laced the former was.

Heads turned swiftly to Marian, as she planted her face firmly in her hands. "No?" she offered weakly, "Okay, yes, but I'm not the Champion of anything any more. Please don't act like I'm royalty or a criminal, people tend to do one or the other and it is very tedious."

"I told you that you should have chosen another first name," said Isabela, "They might not recognise it in Antiva, but you're actually from Ferelden. They tend to remember the names of famous Fereldans."

"You introduced me, remember?" the Champion replied, eyes narrowed.

Isabela blinked. "Oh, right," she said, "I did, didn't I? Well then, I guess I owe you a drink."

"More than that," said Marian, before turning back to us, "Anyway, unless you want to try and arrest or execute me, we'll be off. Meals to eat, whiskey to drink, spankings to administer to certain someones who speak before they think." If only.

She took up a stance, ready to draw her rapier in a single motion if required and leap forwards while doing it. Isabela didn't shift her weight, but still laid her palms on top of the hilts of her cutlasses. Firelances were lowered to fire once more in response, before I could give the order.

I looked to Julie. It was her call as our leader. She stared at the pair for a moment. By all accounts, the Champion of Kirkwall was a formidable warrior. With so many civilians mobbing about, I was hesitant to do anything to stop her, although perhaps Hawke would have thought twice for the same reason.

"You're free to go," Julie said, "We're not exactly on the party list of the Chantry either."

"But... Marquis," Barris started.

"No, Knight-Commander," Julie said, turning her green eyes on the man, "We're not going to arrest someone who has been hired to help us. We have no mandate to arrest people of interest to the Chantry to begin with. And as long as your Templars remain under the command of the Free Army, you will not touch a single hair on their heads. They are free to go." A jab at Velarana's proposal for Templar independence, which was known to be favourable to Barris, and a slip at how much it bothered her.

The Knight-Commander, lacking the ability to enforce his will, backed down with due grace. Once again, everyone relaxed and put away their weapons. And the reality of who had the power drew the attention of our guests.

The Rivaini sauntered up to Julie, and opened her closed furs with a tug. "You're not bad either," Isabela said with a wink, "Maybe we'll see you later."

My lover smiled, politely rather than lustfully. "I don't think so," Julie replied, "Although flattery is always appreciated."

"It ought to be rewarded," Isabela said, "Alas, sometimes it isn't."

"More the pity for us," Hawke said, "Come now darling, before the magisters arrive."

They made to go, having seemingly satisfied their wish to flirt and provoke. Not about to let them go and discover the fate of the other Hawke in Amaranthine outside of the proper context, I grabbed the Champion's arm, putting the absolute minimum of force into it. Both of them stopped again, although their hands stayed away from their weapons this time.

"Hawke," I said, before blades could be drawn, "Your sister is at Anora's Watch, if you want to visit her."

A single blue eye stared at me from under her black fringe, giving me the same sort of feeling I got from Nightingale at once. This was an exceedingly dangerous woman. Good thing I had gotten straight to the point.

"She isn't at the Vigil?" she asked, in an almost accusatory tone.

"She was part of an army that tried to stop us reaching the city," I said, "She was captured. She's technically our prisoner... but she's more or less free to go. She helped us with a few things, so I owe her."

Hawke looked up at the sky, processing what I had just informed her of. She seemed to waver between emotions, before settling on gratitude. "Thank you, Marquis," she said, using my title. A notable detail, as Julie had not in fact told her it. Infamy goes far.

The pair disappeared into the crowd with a few of their crewmates, easily melting into it with a compliment here and a shove of the shoulder there. I wondered if it was wise to simply let them go without an escort, but they didn't seem to be hostile. If anything, Admiral Isabela seemed a little too friendly.

They were interesting people, but not who the majority wanted to see. No, the throng's eyes and ears were drawn to the sight of the other ships.


With the pirate brigantines in the way, the crowd moved eastward along the quay to a place that wasn't occupied, nearby where our longships were docked and where a Tranquil shore battery was tracking the targets approaching us.

The shouts in Tevene carried during gaps in the wind's gusts, as the galleys slid smoothly towards the quay. They were bigger than the pirate ships, but not by much, also built for speed and the ability to sail in shallow waters. They had banks of oars sticking out of them, sweeping the near-black water of the harbour back. Thirty of them, coming in five at a time, black sails hoisting. They docked side by side, five deep, using ropes to draw themselves together as if to create a giant raft or quinmaran, oars withdrawn inside.

The soldiers on board began to make me nervous, stalking up and down their decks, helmets disguising their gazes into the crowd.

"I want a perimeter set up," I ordered, "No persons on the quays, keep them on the roads behind." That was still within the range of the magic that the Tevinter mages no doubt possessed, but at least gave our troops room to fight too.

"Yes, my lord!" Mike replied, and rushed off, her voice booming commands as she went and my UN banner drawing the eye. As usual, her volume did its work and the civilians began backing off, while soldiers in the midst began assembling in formation, before being ordered off to surround the part of the docks that the Tevinters were moving in. The troops were a mishmash from various units. Dismounted chevaliers with their longswords drawn alongside elven firelancers of the Rangers, women of the crossbow regiments and the Templar half-pikes.

I was entirely satisfied with the arrangement, and by the time Mike returned, I was sure we presented a suitably martial image to the Tevinters.

One of the galleys wasn't a galley at all, but was a larger vessel by a considerable degree than the others. I had mistaken it as two ships from a distance. It was a catamaran with six masts, all of them with black sails on them, and no oars. The ship had a large central 'building' on top of it, draped with the dragon banners of Tevinter, not dissimilar to a It clearly wasn't a military vessel. At least not in the traditional sense, it was still bristling with ballista, but it was more akin to a luxury oceanliner like those that now bring tourists from Antiva, Orlais and Nevarra to Troy. Where we can fleece them for all they're worth. I digress.

It was being tugged in to dock in the same way the brigantines had been, although this was taking a considerably longer amount of time due to the size of the thing. Our galleons were larger still, at least in terms of decks, but they didn't have the profile in the water that this monstrosity did. I shook my head as the sheer overengineering became apparent to me.

"If Tiberius isn't on board that thing, I'll eat my hat," I thought aloud, "Look at it. How did that thing ever cross an ocean in winter?" In truth, the winter storms only occur in late January-mid Feburary, as the warm currents begin to return to the south.

"Magic," came the reply. Velarana rejoined us, stepping up beside Julie, leaning on her staff in the way mages seemed want to do. Fisher was with her, his mouth closed shut and not looking liable to flap open any time soon. Hiding something, I thought, probably a huge distaste for Tevene folks.

"Barrier spells," Armen confirmed, "I'd imagine the Tevinters are quite handy with them, given that the Qunari have cannon."

"Does that mean they could deflect our own?" Mariette asked, "That might be a problem." She clearly didn't like the idea of the mages being immune to our weapons. I'm sure the Tevinters would have thought much the same of my own immunity to magic.

"Qunari cannons shoot explosive and incendiary shots at low velocity," Julie said, matter-of-factly, "Our canon de 75 shoot at high velocities with both explosive and solid shot. I very much doubt that their magical barriers would withstand even a single hit. And those are our lightest field pieces." No shortage of Earth-borrowed words there, and all deployed to show up the harlequin's fears as unfounded. I winced. More evidence of a growing rift.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a know-it-all?" Mariette asked cheekily.

"Mari..." Louise warned, disapproving of the insubordination and informality of her younger cousin. Mariette didn't respond.

Julie wasn't phased at all, however. "Many times," she smirked, "And it never stops me from being correct, even when they do." Mariette fumed slightly in return, but kept quiet.

"Aside from that, don't you think this is inappropriate?" Velarana asked Julie, waving her hand at the group, "Shouldn't we have an honour guard at the ready? We're entering into an alliance with these magisters, after all."

Julie frowned, not generally one to put pomp and ceremony at the fore but still recognising its value. "You may be right," she said, "Sam?"

I pursed my lips and thought about what would be appropriate. "Armen, Soprano, assemble your regiments in formation. Rangers with bayonets fixed. Mages with swords. Go."

"Right away," Armen said, hurrying off with Soprano to do that.

"Elves and mages?" Ciara asked, stepping into the space that Armen had created by his departure, "You'll just confuse the Tevinter shems."

"They need to know exactly what sort of people we are, right away," I said, before turning to Julie and Velarana, "Unless either of you object?"

"No, it's a good idea," Julie said.

"Maybe we'll get to kill a few of the more zealous saarebas," Tam added cheerily, "They are certain to deserve it."

"Not likely," said Leha, "I doubt they'll bring anyone who'd react like that."

We'd just have to see. As the catamaran docked, the quay opposite was cleared of obstacles by Armen's people, while Soprano got the Rangers presentable. Both regiments lined up parallel to the road behind facing the ships, Old Glory and their dark blue regimental banners at the centre of each of their companies, the mages to the left of us and the firelancers to the right. Soprano and Armen rejoined us just as the gangplanks slapped the stone.

The first Tevinter mage-soldiers began filing out of the Tevinter catamaran ship cautiously, and I was struck by the obvious Earth influences immediately. Gladius-style swords on their hips, and staffs with katana blades on the top of them. I couldn't tell if they were all mages or if they deliberately carried the same weapons in order to disguise who among them did possess that gift. Their helmets had face-plates in the shape of some sort of humanoid monster, and the centurions' own had crests running side to side in the Roman style. Their armour was pure samurai with hints of Roman. Segmented, of either metal or hardened leather from the shoulders to the thighs, coloured in streaks of dark green and light shades of brown; jungle camouflage.

They had come straight from Seheron, I concluded.

The sight of them set a lot of teeth on our side on edge, including my own. I took hold of the pistol grip of the firelance hanging off the front of me almost without thinking, and I saw that both Tam and Julie had done the same with firelance and shotgun respectively.

The Tevinter soldiers fanned out, standing in a sort of staggered pattern that would allow them to use magic freely. One made a signal towards the ship once the deployment was complete, and the doors to the 'building' on top of the catamaran opened once more.

Tiberius stepped out of them first, wearing black furs over his blue jester-like magister robes. In his hand was a staff with a dragon's head on the top in volcanic aurum. What he had used to incinerate the Templars on our first meeting, almost exactly a year before. His eyes searched the dock until they found me, and a smile beamed from his face. I groaned to myself at the return of his excessive familiarity.

Next came Gaius, similarly dressed to his grandfather, albeit in red. He gave me a look like he had just caught me in bed with his wife and his daughter at the same time, and probably wanted to be anywhere else in the world but there at that moment. Which was plain funny to my mind, and went a long way towards cheering me up from the effects Tiberius' own attitude.

Behind the familiar pair came a positive queue of other people, all very well dressed and with black seeming to be the colour of choice for most. The family resemblance in most of them was hard to dismiss; they had all come to see the wedding. At least half had the same honey coloured eyes as the prospective bride to be, whom seemed to be noteworthy in her absence.

"Where is she?" Julie asked quietly, as my soon-to-be in-laws descended the gangplanks.

"No clue," I replied, taking off my helmet and putting on my beret, despite the cold nipping at the tops of my ears.

The familiar magister broke ahead of the pack, Gaius following quickly.

"Sam!" Tiberius said in greeting as he approached, arms outstretched, "How wonderful to see that you arrived in one piece!"

"More or less," I said, offering my hand for him to shake, "You're early."

"So are you," Tiberius replied, taking the offered hand, "And there are the most fantastical tales circulating about how you achieved that. The Deep Roads?"

I grimaced, not particularly wanting to dwell on that experience. "Yeah, we went through them," I said, "Lost good people too. I almost lost more to Blight sickness, Tam included."

Tiberius turned to my Qunari lover. "I'm glad to hear you aren't among those who perished, my lady," he said, "After all, it was you who made our agreement possible by coming up with the idea of founding a new city."

"I'm glad to be alive too," Tam said nonchalantly.

"And she got a promotion," said Julie with a small shrug, "She's Warden-Commander now, a rank worthy of her station."

Tam cleared her throat and blushed, seeing the 'promotion' as more of a duty than a deserved elevation. Which simply endeared her to both Julie and I even more.

"Is she indeed?" Tiberius said, "Is it also true that you sent the Fereldans to rout at the Hafter?"

"It must be, grandfather," Gaius said coolly, "They would not be here if it wasn't."

"That was a nasty fight," I said, the memory of the bodies and Howe's kick rattling in my head, "But we broke the Royal Army with it and captured Alistair."

"And released him, if the rumours are correct," Tiberius said, "Let me tell you, that did wonders for your reputation. No sooner than word came that he had been captured did many of the nobles fear for his life, yet word of his release came a few days later, and it was universally regarded as praiseworthy. Worthy of a true noble in fact."

Tiberius turned his gaze to Julie on that last remark. She didn't raise any objection to her being called noble, to my great surprise.

"He was no longer a threat," Julie said, "And it's not like we would have gained anything from keeping him hostage. Better to create goodwill by releasing him."

"And yet the Fereldans might rally around him to attack once more," Gaius said, "Maybe you weren't as smart as you thought you were."

As usual, Gaius stepped all over my nerves with his contrarian nature.

"Well, if the ghost of Bitch Pudding hasn't made a triumphant return," I said, before pointing at him, "Mariette, if he speaks like that again, stick him with your daggers." Mariette also being someone I had dubbed with that moniker.

The harlequin and the young magister looked utterly bewildered, eyebrows raised. Gaius for reasons I couldn't discern, because he kept a constant scowl that Markham would have been impressed by, Mariette because I had just bragged that she could kill a very powerful mage. Exactly the type of reactions I was looking for though, and I was cheered up immensely, my having to deal with Tiberius completely worth the trouble now.

"Yes, Marquis," Mariette replied at last, eliminating any sign of hesitation from her voice with admirable efficacy. Trying to keep on my good side, I thought.

Julie's lips thinned at the remark, clearly disapproving and returning us on course. "If the Fereldans return, we'll defeat them again," she said to the senior magister, "With or without your help."

"With our help, certainly," Tiberius said, shooting a cold glare at his grandson. Bewilderment withered into obedience, as the younger man stood up straighter and coughed.

"I'm glad to hear it," Velarana said.

The magister blinked, and cocked his head slightly at the Aequitarian, like she was entirely out of place. He seemed to look around, wondering what she was doing standing there. The rest of the Tevinters had caught up now, and were politely listening in too. The well dressed section as well as what appeared to be two or three of the samurai-like soldiers, presumably all members of the family. Dynasty. Whatever the hell you call it.

"Have you been promoted, Madame Velarana?" Tiberius said. He was familiar with the mage from the Lydes-Vindargent campaign, and evidently felt she was talking out of place.

"Actually, that's the thing," I said, "You've arrived at an awkward time. We're electing our new Assembly in two days time. Velarana is the leader of the Aequitarian fraternity contesting it, and is a candidate for High Chancellor."

"Not the only one, of course," Julie added.

"Of course," Tiberius smiled, "I would expect nothing else, Marquise."

The mages began chatting in hushed tones to one another, like that piece of information was significant. They made quite a racket, and soon, the crowd behind us was making an even bigger one. They didn't know what was going on. I crossed my hands over the butt of my firelance, wondering if the issue was going to be a problem. I had expected tolerance from the Vints for mages, even elven ones.

"A mage leader?" Gaius said, glancing at Tiberius, "Your prediction about their future is happening faster than you thought it would."

"There will be plenty of time for that later," Tiberius said irritably, "In the mean time, do you have quarters for our family? We would like to freshen up after the long journey, before you are formally introduced to them... and to Aurelia."

Nicely skipping over what the trouble was. I breathed outward with relief, glad that Tiberius didn't want to make an issue of it, whatever it was.

"We've prepared an entire wing of the castle for you," I said, "Though Fereldan furnishings aren't the most luxurious."

"I'm sure we'll survive," Tiberius said with a wave of his hand, "Or we can bring some of our necessities up from the ships."

"And the crews?" Julie asked, "Do they require accommodations? Or are they not at liberty to leave the ships?"

I had almost forgotten that … problem. I was amazed that Julie had brought it up so politely.

The magister feigned outrage, putting his hand in front of his mouth and audibly sucking in air.

"Your implication that they are slaves does injustice both to my reputation and to your own intelligence," Tiberius replied, without malice, "Do you think slave owners, even if they were mages, would get into a floating box with ten, maybe twenty times the number of slaves? So far from Tevinter? Or that slaves would even make good rowers?"

The man was a real peach.

"I'm sure it depends on how hard you'd whip them," I replied flatly, "Do you have slaves with you at all?"

The magister's smile widened. He knew the question had been coming.

"A few," Tiberius conceded, "But they'll remain aboard our ship, if you wish?"

"No need. We are duty bound to offer them freedom, on or off the ship," Julie said, "Our laws specifically criminalise involuntary servitude."

"Indeed they do, magister," Velarana weighed in, "It is non-negotiable."

Tiberius looked to Gaius, and then to the rest of the family. The entire lot of them positively erupted with laughter from the bottom of their hearts, like the whole thing was a joke. They spoke in Tevene to each other as they did so, which seemed like a strange mix of Latin, Elvish and Common. I already knew that Ancient Tevene was straight-up Latin, but even in laughter, the modern type seemed utterly alien. It made them seem even more titillated to my ear.

"Oh, dear Marquise, you will be free to do so," Tiberius said, wiping his eyes, "I can tell already that this whole trip is going to be very entertaining. But we can get to the fun later, can we get out of this terrible wind now?"

Julie scowled at the magister, joined by Velarana's icy glare.

"Knight-Commander Barris," I called. The Templar stepped forwards immediately.

"My lord?" he said.

"Your Templars will escort the Tevinter delegation," I said, "To the north wing. After that, you're to do as we discussed." Which was to patrol the docks and keep guards on the Tevinters at all times.

"Templars, really Sam?" Tiberius said, "You could destroy us with your bare hands."

"I can't be everywhere at once though, can I?" I said, "And it's as much for your protection as ours. Your people have been the Southern Chantry's boogeyman for centuries, remember? And even you can take a kitchen knife to the back easily enough."

"Not that easily," Tiberius replied grimly, "As much as I am disappointed at the lack of trust, I understand your point of view. Very well. Lead on, Ser Barris."

The Templar did as instructed, waving his fellows in the perimeter to his side. They formed a protective bubble around the group. The Tevinters largely allowed themselves to be corralled, with some mild encouragement from Tiberius himself, who fell in beside Barris and began idly inquiring about Templar capabilities. Barris, very wisely, politely declined to answer. Tiberius knew all about Templar abilities already, no doubt, and he was just trying to get a rise out of the man.

One of the camo-armoured soldiers hung back for a bit. She stood out for that reason, despite being among the smaller members of the delegation. It had to be a she for that reason alone. She was barely taller than five feet, and her sword-staff was taller than she was by a foot. Her helmet turned towards me, revealing the snarling mouth-mask of a samurai.

And bright, honey coloured eyes.

My heart froze. It was her, it had to be. I kicked myself for comparing those eyes to the pirate admiral's even for a second. They were almost luminously golden, and were wide, like a cat's. Or perhaps a tigress'.

But my view of them lasted only for a split second, before their owner broke into a sprint to catch up with Tiberius. The crowds were roaring, with jubilation in fact, as the Tevinters passed by, the magister lazily waving his hand in salute to them. The promised fleet at arrived. The samurai-mage went to the very front.

"Sam?" Julie asked, "What's wrong?"

"That was Aurelia," I said, "That last soldier."

Julie double-taked between me and the Tevinter delegation. "Which soldier?" she asked.

I squinted, trying to see if I could point out the woman in question, but she was lost behind the rear section. Julie understood that I couldn't see the soldier from my face, and let it be.

"Honey-coloured eyes..." Tam added in agreement, "She was in Seheron, correct?"

"Yeah," I said, "All the soldiers were."

"I wonder what sort of action she's seen," McNulty mused aloud, "How the Qunari fight there... in the jungle."

"Seheron is chaos," Tam replied, "The only place there is order is in the coastal cities, and that is fleeting."

"And that's the environment your bride has been living in?" Velarana asked, grasping her staff in front of her, "This will be interesting."

"That it will," I said.

Fisher choose to speak at last, now that the mages were gone. I had entirely misplaced him due to his silence, and jumped a little when he finally did open his mouth. "Too interesting," he said, before shutting up again.

Velarana shot him another icy look, before leading the way back to Anora's Watch ahead of us. No love lost, obviously.


It took several hours for the Tevinters to settle in, and they made quite a commotion doing it. The quarters we had assigned them, the north wing, were simultaneously too drafty and too small for the entire group. Worse, they sent a centurion to address these concerns directly to me, the man himself being suitably apologetic at having been sent on such an errand.

I killed two birds with one stone. I moved the Army High Command out of the west wing, which freed up more space and wasn't directly in the winds coming off the sea. Our generals and other officers weren't delicate people, they could rough it in far worse conditions than sharing the rooms we had in the east wing. Not even Mariette de Villars complained, and she was the most aristocratic of us. Julie, Tam and I still remained in the royal suite, but Leha, Armen and Ciara were now going to sleep in our room.

After that came the slave issue. Each of the delegation brought their own personal servant. Soprano's people took each aside separately before they entered the keep, ordering the Tevinter soldiers away at bayonet point. Better to keep the political leadership out of the job directly, we thought. The slaves were alone, and could have never looked upon their masters again in their lives.

Not a single one wanted to leave their masters.

Julie was shocked by the news, completely unable to comprehend the decision. Velarana was disappointed, merely saying that chains can begin to feel like protection after a while, a sentiment both Tam and Armen agreed with heartily.

I was probably the only one who wasn't surprised. Tiberius and his family didn't strike me as the vicious slaveowners that the Tevinter reputation told of. He valued loyalty from those that served him and claimed to know how to inspire it. Fear alone doesn't create loyalty, merely obedience. I'm absolutely sure his slaves still feared him, but they respected him more. They wouldn't have run from a chance to escape otherwise. I'm sure of all the people that could have protected them, they were aware that I had the best shot.

The experience nonetheless put me on the back foot. I had expected to go in, head held high, with some evidence of the superiority of our system and my values. Or at least, evidence that it was better than the Tevinter system, even for people with benevolent masters. Especially with the election and all. I felt like Julie's chances would be lowered because of it, like Velarana's arguments about what you might call a hybrid system were validated in some way. If word got out, at any rate, but word always gets out.

The introduction was set for the Chantry chapel of the keep, where presumably Bann Howe and her husband could receive ministration without rubbing elbows with the plebs when they were angry with her. It was a small enough room, no bigger than a large classroom really, you could probably get forty or so people in it comfortably. It had stained glass looking west, and the candles burning around the space provided light during the evening hours, which we certainly needed at that hour. The statue of Andraste at the back of the room had shadows thrown against it. It was definitely a place to feel closer to God, I felt.

I had changed into my most clean, most intact uniform and got there first. The one I only ever wore for occasions like this. Armen came with me. Everyone else being completely absent. The Tevinters were late, Julie and Tam were late, and I wasn't sure if either Ciara or Leha were bothered to come. Armen was only there for moral support.

I would have asked McNulty too, but he had duties to attend to that I didn't want to interrupt; namely policing the taverns as the crew of the Sirens' Revenge made the rounds. Bethany Hawke had been released to Marian Hawke's custody as promised, and along with Admiral Isabela, the three were tearing up the town with Oghren and Sigrun. The report I got just before I left the library was astonishing. Half the Red Light District's workers were in the Crown and Lion. That says it all, I think.

"Where are they?" I asked, to no one in particular.

"The Tevinters?" Armen asked in return, playing with his staff, "Getting dressed, I would imagine. It's an immortal moment for them, remember?"

"Jesus, you're right," I said, the historical significance occurring to me all of a sudden, "Do I look decent?" I pulled my collar up and down again, to make sure.

Armen's lips curled into an even wider smirk. "Sam, you are not nervous, are you?"

"Of course I am!" I burst out, "Every single person out there is counting on me not to fuck this up."

Armen's smirk turned into a frown. "You've never been nervous when we went to battle," he said, "Why is this any different?"

"This is... marriage," I observed astutely, "I've been trained for battle. I know sweet fuck all about marriage."

"What do you call the past year and a half with Julie and Tam?" Armen asked, "Is 'fornication' all you've been up to?" He smirked again.

"Then again, maybe it is," he added with amusement.

"The last year and a half is love," I said, without hesitation, "But as my baby sister likes to say, that's a different thing to marriage. Besides, neither Christian nor Andrastian beliefs allow for polygamy."

"An inconvenient but avoidable problem," said Armen with a dismissive wave of the hand, "Tiberius has already given you the answer, and despite your objections, I think you'd marry twelve women if you think you could get away with it. You're making excuses now. You're marrying someone you have never met, who could turn out to be a complete bitch or someone who hates everything you stand for, and you're scared. Does that about sum it up?"

I began to get angry with the mage, the blood rushing to my face. I was quite indignant about his impression of me. But both the anger and hot blood drained out of me seconds later. "Fuck," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose, "You're right, aren't you, you little shit."

The mage bowed at the waist to me. "Always glad to be of service," Armen said graciously, "And I'm sure you will remember this day if I ever decide to get married to Ciara."

"You can bet your bottom dollar on that," I sighed, "Though I suspect it'll be Ciara doing the deciding on that."

"True," Armen conceded, idly scratching at the wood of his staff with his fingernails, "But only because that's how it should be. I wouldn't want to put chains around her neck."

"She's Dalish," I said, "Probably the smart move. But don't get too smart. She might take it as a sign that you don't want to be together."

"Duly noted," Armen smirked, before adding, "Sometimes I don't understand women."

"You and me both," I replied, "Truth be told, I'm not sure anyone does. Even other women."

We had a good, manly chuckle at that, perfectly content not to have any female company around that could have heard the remark. That is, until Grand Cleric Brandon positively burst through one of the double doors to the chapel, red-faced and panting, her hat in her hands rather than on her head.

"Oh shit" was my first thought. I'm still not sure if it was expressed verbally too, but it could have been.

The short red-blonde haired cleric looked at me like she was an immortal that stood twenty feet tall, despite being almost exactly the same age that I was. A goddess with plans for my life that I couldn't avoid. She pointed at me.

"I've been waiting for this day for a year or more, Marquis," she said, pleased with herself about something.

Armen and I exchanged looks, wondering what could have provoked this behaviour.

"The day I meet my Maker?" I joked back, half in confusion, "Or the day I get formally betrothed to pay for a boat trip?"

Brandon tutted, moving into the chapel, my attention firmly stuck to her. She came right up to me, and poked the finger into my chest. "The day you do what you should have done long ago," she said, "I lied for you, Marquis, to prevent the worst of this Tevinter travesty. Or at least, went along with your lies. We're going to correct that today."

The remaining double door squealed as it opened.

Behind was Julie and Tam, side by side, hand in hand. Julie was dressed in a brilliant white dress with a plunging neckline that revealed a thin gold necklace. I recognised it as something Claire had been working on, but I had no idea it had been for Julie. Tam in full Grey Warden regalia, minus any armour and most of the cloth that would have covered her torso. They both stepped into the candlelight, like nymphs from a Greek myth.

I'm sure Ciara and Leha were there too, somewhere, but my memory doesn't include them at that moment. I zoned Armen completely out too.

Because I knew now what Brandon was talking about.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, unable to think of anything else. I still wasn't sure that it was the best idea, that I was the right person to be permanently tied to the genius of these two.

"I am," said Julie, nervously, "And as for Tam..."

The Qunari looked at the ceiling for a bit.

"I do not believe in these ceremonies," Tam said, drawing closer, "But I demand your oath, here and now... that you will at least try to give me what I was denied by the Qun, that you will give me children. A family."

A lump rose in my throat. Talk about a responsibility. I fought it down with great effort. "You'll have it," I replied, "I swear it."

Tam turned to Julie. "And you," she said, "Promise me that this will never come between us."

Julie's eyes watered up, and she drew forwards, grabbing Tam into a tight hug. "You belong to both of us," she said, "And always will. I will love your children like they were my own."

"And I will love yours," Tam replied, closing her own arms around Julie.

"Wow, hold on," Julie laughed through her tears, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Marriage first, children later, maybe." She wasn't all that keen to spawn an entire brood, after all.

Tam let out an amused breath. "It's inevitable though," she said, before turning to Brandon, "Priest, marry these two already."

Ciara squealed with delight, finally making herself known to my memories and equally teary eyed as Julie. Leha tried her best to look annoyed, but was failing. My heart was thumping at my chest like it wanted to get out.

Brandon cleared her throat. "I disapprove of this arrangement," she said, eyeing Tam, "But I know better than to try and convince you to forego it. Further, Warden-Commander, I believe you will help restrain the influence of this Tevinter witch, therefore I give you my blessing. Protect these souls from their black agenda, I implore you."

"I will," Tam said, "You need not worry about that."

"Good," Brandon continued, "Then we shall begin. Let's make this quick, we do not know when that idiot magister will arrive. Marquis, repeat the vows after me."

"I swear unto the maker and the Holy Andraste to love this woman the rest of my days."


And so on December 13th, 9:39 Dragon, I was married to Julie and Tam, at long last. Tam in spirit if not on paper, Julie finally becoming Marquise de la Fayette and Baronetess of Ancienmaison. I like to remind myself that the Andrastian marriage vows don't actually state anything about exclusivity. I guess they leave that up to the couples. Besides, the Chantry is Orlesian, and expecting absolute fidelity from Orlesian nobles in particular might present a problem.

The Tevinters never did show that night. To this day, I wonder if they got word of Julie running from the royal chambers in white and decided it would be imprudent. They did send a Templar to the chapel to inform us that they wouldn't be coming however, so we weren't standing around all night.

So we went and consummated instead. Which was 'dangerous' for both of my wives. Three cheers for biology. Now not only did we not care about the consequences of that, but we desired those consequences. What happened, happened.

Christ, even today, writing down 'my wives' feels wrong.


The next day, the day just before the election, I finally met Aurelia.

Julie was out trying to win the election with Leha, Tam was continuing to learn her new role from Andras. Ciara and Armen accompanied me around the keep that day, and no formal introduction had been scheduled. I figured we'd just end up doing it that night, and went about my regular business accordingly. I thought I'd be free to start organising the order in which we'd load the ships that were coming, and more sails were spotted on the horizon that morning.

People kept remarking that I was going around with a stupid look on my face, like I was dazed or drunk. The euphoria hadn't worn off.

I had guessed wrong.

I was in the ballroom of the keep, visiting our wounded. It was the newest part of the keep, added as an afterthought to my eye, only completed the year before. Markham and McNulty were present, as were some of the Hospitallers.

I was talking to one of the Grenadiers' casualties, Sergeant Julien Beauvilliers, who had lost his left hand at the Hafter. To Alistair himself, no less. The wound had been infected, and Markham had to keep him dosed up to the eyeballs with magic for nearly three weeks before the infection was broken. Beauvilliers was afraid that he'd be discharged and be made destitute, and I was assuring him that it was an unnecessary concern, that his job was more about command and that we'd soon have handcannons that would allow him to shoot and load one-handed.

My reassurances were interrupted by the sound of dozens of footsteps began rumbling beyond the doorway to the entrance hall.

A cluster of Templars appeared in the doorway, facing not into the ballroom but outwards. Barris was commanding them from behind. They drew their swords and formed a line across the doorway, preventing the entrance of whoever else was there.

"What the hell?" I said.

"Stand aside, southerners!" came an accented voice, thoroughly aristocratic and thoroughly female, "I do not need my magic to send you to the Void, I warn you!"

Speaking common, too.

"Is that..." Armen began.

"It's her!" Ciara squeaked, "It has to be." She half ran to the door to get a look.

I sighed, and looked at the sergeant. "Looks like duty calls," I said, "Like I said, don't worry, we'll take care of you. You will not be forced out of the Army."

"Thank you, Marquis," replied Beauvilliers, "I'll go out the back door."

"No, stay," I said, "I want witnesses, all of a sudden."

The sergeant chuckled at that. The commotion at the doorway seemed to increase. There was an increasing need to hurry. Ciara was mouthing 'It's her' back at us, standing on her toes to get a look over Barris' shoulder. It was annoying: I was in my armour and was armed, not dressed up like I was the night before. The Tevinters would have to get over it, I decided.

"Knight-Commander, let them in," I commanded loudly, "It's okay."

Barris jumped, having not noticed I was in here, and apparently not having been informed by the mages trying to gain access. But he did as he was ordered, shouting for his Templars to withdraw. Markham gave a quiet word to one of his own lieutenants, and his Hospitallers drew around the wounded soldiers and handed swords to those that could use them. A bit melodramatic, I thought, but such was the atmosphere.

The Tevinters poured into the room at a brisk walking pace.

Tiberius first. Then Gaius and collection of what I can assume were his cousins and brothers, all of them in the soldierly garb that made them all look like jesters and carrying mage-staves. All of them dark-haired, well built and looking at me like I was robbing the pantry.

After that, the female relatives great and small, from older aunts to child cousins. Wearing dresses in various colours, but consistently dark and mixed with black, and many of them wore heavy black eyeshadow and black lipstick that was the style in Tevinter. I hadn't even realised that there were children in the delegation, they must have been kept on board ship until the crowds had dispersed the day before. Later, I'd be told that the kids and their guardians had gone through the Free Marches to take ship in Ostwick. Quite a journey.

No Aurelia yet though. She stayed beyond the threshold. Ciara was rapidly pointing that way from a place she could see through the doorway. To the bemusement of nearby Templars and Tevinters.

"Tiberius," I said, "What's the hurry?"

"Aurelia grew impatient with the formality," the magister replied, "So we decided to simply find you."

"If that makes you happy, sure," I said, "How do we do this?"

"Sacrifice a few slaves?" Armen joked, "Then eat their livers?"

The magister gave a single laugh, like that might actually be preferable to the reality.

"You must meet the family," Tiberius said, "And then, you meet the bride."

I eyed the doorway. I saw that Ciara had moved to it, and was talking with someone happily. How unusual, I thought.

"I already know Gaius here," I said, with a wave at the man himself, "Who's first?"

Tiberius stepped aside. Two people approached.

A man that could have been a younger clone of Tiberius himself, his hair jet black rather than greying and his face not possessing the wrinkles of someone who fought. In truth, he was a little better looking than the senior Tiberius. He had to be only a few years over forty, although who knew how old he actually was, and he didn't seem to have a martial air about him despite his Tevene military clothing. He had near-golden eyes too.

A short and slender woman, as short as the soldier on the docks had been, came up too. She looked even younger, and I was absolute sure that this was the result of magic. She couldn't have been more than a few years older than Tam was, at least in terms of what I could read from her face and energy. She had the aforementioned black eyeshadow and black lipstick, which emphasized the shape of her eyes; wide like a cat's.

Apples don't fall far from the tree, as the old saying goes.

"Valentinius Tiberius Titum, praefectus castrorum of the Western legions," the man said, "And my wife, Portia Tiberia Fabiana."

"Call them Valentine and Portia, if you'd like," said Tiberius.

The mother of Aurelia curtsied with her wide skirt, the Orlesian style dominant even in Tevinter despite the assertions of superiority of the latter.

"Samuel Hunt," I replied, "Marquis de la Fayette, Commanding General of the Free Army."

"And Baronet of Ancienmaison," Armen added cheerily, "For what that's worth."

"Not much now," I agreed, not appreciating the addition, "I'm sorry that your daughter has to marry me, I'm sure you would have preferred a mage from Tevinter, and I get the impression that I'm robbing you of a political opportunity too."

The mother of the bride took my hand. "Oh no, Marquis," said Portia, with great warmth, "You are doing us a favour. My daughter has repeatedly refused to marry, and followed her brothers onto the battlefield. That she agreed to marry you is nothing short of a miracle! I was afraid she never would get married!"

"It probably has something to do with the fact you're an Outlander," said Valentinius, "Don't get your expectations too high."

Fathers and their daughters, I thought.

"She reacted well to the sketches we sent, Valentine," Tiberius said, almost scoldingly, "You said so yourself."

"She has had offers from handsome men before," Valentine replied, equally defiant, "That one from House Pavus comes to mind."

"Dorian Pavus isn't interested and never will be," Tiberius smirked, "And House Pavus are a little too close to being traitors, as you well know."

"I'm glad to know you think I'm handsome," I cut in.

"I don't know of such things," Valentine objected, "My wife thinks so, therefore I must assume she is right."

"He is handsome," said Portia, "I'd marry him, if I were twenty years younger." I might have agreed, if she had been. Or not.

"I better watch out then," Valentine replied flatly, "In the mean time... Marcus! Quintus!"

Two men stepped forwards, both carrying the katana-staves of the troops we had seen on the docks, both as tall as their father and grandfather, both wide-eyed like their mother but lacking the golden irises, having the hazel of the father. Not unlike my own eye colour, actually, come to think of it. The inevitable thin Vinter nose and Tiberian jet black hair adorned the pair of them.

"My sons," Valentine said, "Marcus Tiberius and Quintus Tiberius. Both centurions in the Western legions." Marcus was the elder, thinner one, while Quintus was the younger, stockier one. Both looked like their could give me a run for my money, sans firelance.

Both were in their mid-twenties, of an age with Gaius, meaning they were the elder brothers of Aurelia. Uh oh. I needed common ground established with them ASAP.

"Your mother said you were in the Army," I said, "Seheron, I presume?"

"And Rivain, once," replied Quintus.

"Hard fighting, I hear," I said.

"The Qunari are a race of giants," Marcus said with amusement, "They don't fall easily."

"They fomented a riot in Hearth and tried to drag me off to Par Vollen in the chaos," I replied, "They're definitely not small or easy to kill." I decided against mentioning the existence of Tam or Asala in this setting. Especially Tam.

"This is the part where we warn you to not abuse our sister," Marcus continued, his mirth maintained, "But I guess you know that."

"And you're annoyingly immune to magic," Quintus added, "Just like Keijiro." I had forgotten that almost all of them had actually met a person from Earth before, and it was a pleasant thing not to be looked at with awe in that regard.

"That would make threats more difficult to make," I replied, "But they're not necessary. I won't hurt your sister, and I'll do my best to make her happy even though this is a political marriage."

"Your other lovers may object to that," Valentine put in.

"They are mature enough to understand the necessity," I replied, "And in fairness, one of them is my legal wife."

"Under Southern law, maybe," Tiberius cut in, "But the only true law is Tevinter law. You would do well to keep that in mind, Sam." Not damned likely, I thought.

"I'll keep an open mind," I replied, "Who's next?"

The next few minutes were spent speaking briefly with the other relatives.

The eldest of Tiberius' children was Tullia, and her children, Paulus, Lucius and Gaello, all older than I was by five years or more. The first two were senior officers in the Western legions, the last was a judge. Emulating Tiberius' own career path closely, in other words.

Then Flavius, the middle child, and his children; Atia, Cassius, Maria, and Clodia. All younger than me and younger than Aurelia. Atia was the eldest at eighteen, or thereabouts, and I got the distinct feeling that she was the spare in case Aurelia hadn't agreed to marry me. All the other female cousins were either married or too young. She kept looking at me in a weirdly possessive way, and it was awkward as hell. She had probably seen the sketches. Atia was also the only redhead in the family, as far as I can tell, all the others having black hair.

Valentine was the youngest.

Aside from the direct aunts, uncles and cousins, there were assorted others, like Tiberius' niece Cornelia, whom Keijiro had raised. She actually greeted me in Japanese of all things. I gave her a quick sumimasen, one of the few Japanese phrases I knew, and explained that I was from an entirely different country on Earth. She was well aware, and just wanted to surprise me with her proficiency. Which she had. She even bowed to me at the waist on approach and upon letting the next person greet me.

The notable absence was Tiberius' own wife. I didn't ask, because I had a deep suspicion that she was dead, and not of natural causes. Opening up old wounds wasn't the idea.

Every single one of them spoke the Common tongue with an accent I would describe as something you'd hear from the old English upper class. It wasn't their first language, I thought, but I was wrong. Only Tiberius and Gaius spoke Orlesian, incidentally.

The whole business put Armen's patience to the test, and when everyone was finally meet-and-greeted, he raised his voice. "Hello, Armen Cartier, First Enchanter of the Circle of Hearth here," he announced, "Is the bride going to stand outside forever? I thought you said she couldn't wait."

He had been extremely reluctant to join Ciara in the doorway, simply out of not wanting to miss a word, but that had proved more or less fruitless for his own entertainment once the brothers had stepped away. His verbal impatience drew annoyed glances, but he didn't care. Irony is that conversing with Ciara was probably the reason the bride had remained outside.

Tiberius gave the nod, not addressing Armen but going along with his idea. And in walked Aurelia.

She was wearing the underclothing for the segmented armour, rather than a dress. It was form-fitting, revealing that she was as slender as her mother by nature, but with obvious strength in her build created by the forces of military training. Her golden eyes looked out from under a curly black fringe, the rest of her hair falling to her neckline.

This isn't a bear, I thought, as I remembered Mariette's joke.

This is a panther.

With her came a she-elf, dressed in a dull green hood that hid her head save for her face and hunters' leathers, with a thick glove held outwards. Clutching the glove was a large, black eagle with a bright yellow beak. It stood proudly as it was brought alongside Aurelia. Ciara appeared on the other side, admiring it and tilting her head to catch my attention to look at it.

I was struck dumb, both by Aurelia and the presence of yet another eagle in my life.

On the former, because I felt a huge surge of guilt at finding the woman very attractive, after having done what I had done the night before. Behind me, Sergeant Beauvilliers whistled low and long in appreciation. I knew it was him, because Markham immediately rebuked him by name. I clearly wasn't the only one who found her beautiful.

On the latter, as I was now absolutely sure that something unnatural was up with the eagles, something related to the Fade and the mysterious spirit. Luckily, the man with the answers was standing directly to my left.

"An eagle?" Armen asked the magister in Orlesian.

"It's followed her for the past few years now," Tiberius replied, also in Orlesian, "Can't seem to get rid of it, so we trained someone to care for it. I understand you've had a similar problem." Trained a slave, in fact, but we'll get to that. And we sure as hell did have a similar problem. The two eagles that seemed to follow the army were then nesting on the masts of our galleon Elodie and were stripping the seagull population down with considerable zeal.

Tiberius' spy network had obviously done its work there, but the piece of self promotion did no favours for the magister. Aurelia narrowed her wide eyes at him. She was waiting to be introduced formally, and brooked no delays.

"Sam, let me introduce my granddaughter," Tiberius said quickly, "Aurelia Tiberia Valentina, Lady of Treverorum, centurion of the Western legions."

I repeated my name and titles, and bowed to my fiancée. It seemed proper.

Aurelia reacted by approaching me, standing right in front of me. She reached up, touching my cheek, golden irises aimed right at me.

"So here we are," she said, drawing even closer.

"Here we are," I agreed.

"The sketch did you justice," she said quietly, quietly enough that no one else could hear.

"I'm glad to hear it," I replied, just as softly.

Aurelia lightly touched my arm, my chest, my hand, examining me. As I had examined her on her approach, and continued to. This is the first hurdle in any relationship, I think. It wasn't at all like I thought it was going to be, it wasn't an assessment for health and good traits like a stallion might receive from a buyer. That was a good sign.

I ventured to touch her face, and she allowed me to push her fringe back a little. Another pang of guilt checked me, and I withdrew my hand. But the damage was done. Aurelia knew I liked the way she looked now, if she didn't already.

"How many campaigns have you fought in?" she asked suddenly at normal volume, looking up at me. I was very pleased with the question. More seeking of common ground.

"Four on Earth," I replied, "Three to five on Thedas, depending on how you figure it."

Afghanistan three times, Iraq/Syria once. And on Thedas, the Wolf's Lair, the Emprise du Lion, Halamshiral, Lydes/Vindargent, and finally, the Ferelden Campaign.

"Earth..." she repeated, "Keijiro told terrible stories about war on Earth. The power of the weapons, and the lack of honour in its fighting."

"Then he was telling the truth," I said, "Though our weapons have become so powerful that we're afraid to go to war, for the most part."

"And you're bringing them into this world," Aurelia said, "Keijiro claimed he didn't know how to create black powder."

"Repeatedly," Tiberius added.

"Then he was lying," I said, "There's no way a Japanese officer would be ignorant about that sort of thing. It's just something you'd pick up in the course of learning about military history, and Japanese officers learned whole libraries' worth on that subject."

"I thought so," Aurelia said, "He always loved our family, but he was always more ambivalent about the Imperium itself."

"He did give us new tactics and strategems," Tiberius said, "The Western Legions are now the best regarded Qunari fighters in the world, because of him."

"And what will they be after us?" Aurelia asked, "You are aware of the Qun and its insanity, are you not?"

"Very aware," I said. Again, not mentioning the source of my information there; Tam.

"So you understand that this is not just a marriage," Aurelia continued, "This is an alliance. An alliance against the Qun and an alliance against whatever minnow Marchers decide to oppose us."

"I do," I replied.

Aurelia gave a single nod to herself. "I have demands," she said, "If we are to be married."

Tiberius opened his mouth to protest, but Aurelia again turned her golden eyes on her grandfather. He shut up. I was beginning to get the feeling that this whole affair represented a passing of a torch, to some degree. She was the heir, and only by virtue of her future with me.

"All our children will bear my surname," Aurelia stated, "I intend to have many. They will be a part of the Tiberian dynasty and will be known as such."

"As long as I get some say in their first names, I have no problem with that," I replied, "I have other lovers... ones with my surname." As in, I'm already married, I don't need you if I want children with my surname running around.

"Agreed," Aurelia continued, "Speaking of your lovers, any children by them will be raised separately to my children."

Every alarm in my head flashed at once. Agreeing to this could very well have been the moment that guaranteed the outcome predicted by the Fade Spirit; my descendants going to war could very well have been the result of this division among my children along the lines of mothers. All the more so as I still believed all of them would be mages, courtesy of my stewing in Fade juice during my journey to Thedas. Naturally, the mage mother would produce more powerful mage children, or at least that's how I thought it would play out.

"No, definitely not," I said, thinking of the best reason other than the above one, "My children are my children. I will not have them separated and I will not favour any of them over the others." That was a good enough reason as it was.

Aurelia frowned, her nose tweaking slightly with the gesture in a manner that was extremely attractive. "That's what you're worried about?" she asked, "I thought you would agree to avoid conflict with your lovers."

"Let me make something clear," I said, "My children, when I have them, will always be the most important thing to me. All of them."

Aurelia looked at me with more admiration than before, like I had said something good. It just seemed like common sense to me, or as much of it as could be applied to a man having kids with more than one woman. Which admittedly isn't much.

"I told you," Tiberius said from the side, "We are very fortunate."

"We are," Aurelia agreed, "To think, a man as honourable as Keijiro was chosen and brought to us. We are blessed."

"Are you testing me?" I asked with a grin, "Trying to gauge my reactions to your demands?"

"Maybe," Aurelia smiled back, "We don't have a lot of time. I need to know as much as possible."

I couldn't deny that, and invited her to continue.

"I want to command a unit in your Free Army," she continued, "I am a soldier, just like you are. I am driven insane with boredom doing almost anything else. But I cannot bear your children if I stay with our army. I must join yours, even though I am foreign."

That might have been a problem. Non-citizens commanding military units. Her last word presented the answer.

"Well, I am not sure how our citizenship laws are going to be set up just yet," I said, "But on Earth, there was something called the Foreign Legion. Non-citizens fighting for a country in order to gain citizenship. I could probably set up such a legion in our own army on my own authority. So yes, you can have your own unit. I can't make any promises about size though, and overall command will still be mine."

"Acceptable," Aurelia said.

"How much fighting do you intend to do exactly?" Armen said, "Aren't you going to be pregnant most of the time?"

"You're a mage," Aurelia said, addressing Armen for the first time, "I'm a mage. We both know I can mitigate the effects until very late in the process. Nor is it absolutely necessary for us to be in peak physical condition to fight, and certainly not to command. But the concern is still valid. I am merely securing myself the position for when I am not with child."

"You seem enthusiastic about the childmaking," Armen said, "I thought you kept refusing to get married."

"I am securing my family's legacy and the security of my country," Aurelia replied, "Not to mention gaining great power for myself, both in magical and political terms. Why would I not be enthusiastic? The method of doing all of this is even greatly enjoyable, and motherhood is a great joy, supposedly."

"It is," her mother said wistfully.

I half-choked on that. It was a perspective so detached from the modernity of Earth that I had forgotten it was the norm. Tam had just struck me as being an outlier. Nope, it's pretty much what the Chantry teaches young girls. Especially in Tevinter, and especially to the nobility. I'm sure there's a complaint to be had about that, but I'm not the right person to make it. Lana Duquesne would be.

"It's only been a question of finding the right person," Aurelia said, "For both myself, my family and my nation. All the other suitors were incompatible with at least two out of the three. This way, I can serve all three in a way I couldn't before."

Aurelia was a dyed-in-the-wool patriot, probably the result of sitting at her grandfather's knee and hearing the stories of Keijiro. Not in the same way as Julie, the radical. She was more like Tam actually, having the same fanatical loyalty to family, albeit for very different reasons. "My country, right or wrong" defines her politics more than not. That was my read on her, at that moment. Time to get the big thing over with.

"So... I'll ask then," I said, "Aurelia Tiberia Valentina, for the sake of our two peoples, will you marry me?"

Aurelia gazed at me once more. "I shall," she said, "I do not know if we shall ever love each other, but you please me. Let's do great things together." So began yet another journey, I guess it is accurate to say.

"Let's," I said.

"Excellent!" declared Tiberius, "And you even asked yourself, Sam. I am pleased. We shall await the arrival of the entire fleet, and the end of your election, and then, you two shall be married by Father Edra just before we all depart for the Free Marches."

"Make way!" came a shout. The command had originated with the Templars.

Julie and Tam were making their way through the Tevinters. Like I had, they too were dressed for their practical duties. Julie in her British Army uniform, Tam in her usual black Qunari garb with her griffon badge of office. Worse, I saw Mariette poke her head around the doorway to watch, and knew at once that she had been the instigator of their arrival.

The room was deathly quiet as the two came into the centre of the ballroom. No one knew what their purpose in being there was, and I think some of those present suspect the Tevinters had deliberately chosen to find me at a time that Julie and Tam were not in my presence. They said as much to each other.

I watched as Tam stood next Aurelia, towering over her. Something I'm sure that Aurelia was not entirely comfortable with, having fought Qunari for years by this point. Albeit not too many of those she faced would have been female. To my great relief, Tam offered a hand, which broke the ice very cleanly.

"Tam Hunt," she said, completely without malice, "Warden-Commander in the Free Army."

Aurelia glanced at Tiberius, as if asking if this was okay. The magister shrugged, and smiling, gave a nod of encouragement.

"Aurelia Tiberia Valentina," she said at last, "How do you do?"

"Well," Tam replied, "Thank you." How civilised.

Julie stepped up now, fixing the firelance over her shoulder as she did so. "And I presume you know who I am?" she said as she offered her hand, in Common. Like that was even a question.

"Yes, I believe I do," Aurelia said, shaking the hand.

"Good," Julie replied, "You know that you're a very lucky woman, I pray?" A challenge of sorts. Very Orlesian.

Aurelia wasn't one to fail to rise to the challenge though. She was very Tevinter, after all.

"Luck?" she asked, "No, Marquise, this is fate. You know the story of my family. It is destiny that we are joined, nothing less." Unknowingly turning Julie's own belief against her. Ouch.

That blow appeared to soften things though. Again, common ground. "Perhaps it is," said Julie, "It seems you're stuck with us, for better or worse. I hope you intend to join with our people as best you can."

"You can count upon it, Marquise," Aurelia replied, "But for now, my business here is concluded. You have politics to attend to, do you not? I shall take my leave."

"There's no need for that," Julie said, "In fact, I would like you to join us for lunch, if that's possible?" What game she was attempting to play with this, I don't know. Maybe she was giving Aurelia a chance? Out of respect for the player.

"I have already eaten," Aurelia replied, "But thank you. I will sit and speak to … Sam in the coming days and weeks, to get to know him better. I would be happy for both of you to join us."

"We have a lot to discuss," Julie agreed, "Slavery for example."

"I'd be happy to," said Aurelia, not phased in the slightest.

She turned to leave, but paused, and turned to me one last time. "I can see you have a type," she joked, pointing between Julie and Tam. Both of whom are tall, well endowed women. A stark contrast to Aurelia's short and slender person.

"Not really," I replied, with perhaps too much haste. I did find Aurelia attractive, and I didn't want to give her any evidence to the contrary. The male's secondary brain working on my resolve, there.

"I'm not sure if I should be encouraged," Aurelia said as she parted, "Or if you're lying. Until next time."

She padded away, as panther-like as she had been when she arrived, the eagle brought along by her falconer behind her. When Mariette appeared in the doorway, Aurelia swept past her like she was a servant, not granting her a single glance despite the obvious interest the harlequin was showing the other way. Cool as Fonzie. Mariette promptly disappeared afterwards.

The rest of the family saw the departure of Aurelia as the cue to go too, and filed out of the room, after giving their goodbyes to me. That was a great relief. To both myself and to Barris, who looked about ready to explode at having the Tevinters in the presence of the the patients. They soon exited the ballroom.

Tiberius and Gaius remained behind. "You like her," the magister said, switching the conversation back to Orlesian once more.

"I like a lot of people," I dissembled.

"It's already happened," said Gaius, bemoaning the departure of his cousin, "She likes you. You like her It's only a matter of time now."

"Gaius, buddy, you need to get out more," I replied in Common, "The cousin thing, it's doomed." He at last seemed resigned to that, but was still depressed, hanging his head slightly. Poor bastard. You don't necessarily choose who you love, I know that better than anyone.

Julie sighed loudly. "Even I like her," she admitted.

"Really?" I asked.

"I don't," Tam said, throwing her two cents in.

"Really?" I repeated.

Julie had been the one to lay down the gauntlet, while Tam simply politely introduced herself.

"You both have funny ways of showing it," I said, rubbing my neck, "Another day, another wife."

"You do seem to be collecting them," McNulty said flatly, "Are her brothers single? I'm certain I want to find out."

I groaned, not wanting to think about McNulty flirting with Marcus and Quintus. That was radioactive, politically and socially. Tiberius didn't seem particularly pleased with the idea either, giving the General a rather displeased look over his nose.

"I'm not finding out for you," I said, "In the mean time, I'm going to go sleep for a thousand years. I feel like I've just run a marathon." Which I fully intended to do.

Julie and Tam followed me to bed, and that notion went away quickly as a result. The fatigue I had felt was false. We were newlyweds, when all was said and done.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was also supposed to contain the election, but that's just too big a plot point to not have its own chapter and I think the points in this one probably are too.

So, we finally meet Aurelia, and her family, after dozens of chapters of foreshadowing. Far more of her to come, this was merely the taster.

This chapter had a lot of skirmishes between the female characters, and I hope that didn't come off badly...

Internet cookie for all those who guessed that Isabela was on the way into this story. Two more for anyone who guessed that Hawke was, but I don't think anyone did.

Sorta disappointed we don't have any budding artists out there reading this. On that point, it seems some people took my 'modest contribution' suggestion to mean money. I meant sketches or prototype stuff, or even something entirely different to encourage me to commission, that sort of thing. I didn't exactly put up a crowdfunding link, so I'm still not sure exactly how people made that mistake, but I guess I can see how the wording made it seem that way. No, I don't want money. Not even sure that's legal. Thanks anyway.

Still looking for suggestions on fan artists I could commission from, incidentally.

In other news, Battlefield 2185 finally has its first chapter out, for those who are a fan of Mass Effect.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Transcendant: I was pretty careful to make sure the politics of both Libertarians and Aequitarians didn't reflect any significant contemporary political movements. Hence why the Libertarians are hugely socially progressive but fiscally conservative and arguably militarist, while the Aequitarians are socially conservative (at least, from the perspective of the electorate) and are fiscally liberal statists.

Is Julie a neocon? I'm not sure. That term has been the subject of Terminology Tennis now since 2000, and I'm not entirely sure that it fits her beliefs.

Thepkrmgc: Velarana isn't advocating for an official state religion, merely the granting of privileges to the Chantry that they typically enjoy. She isn't the one to cede governmental authority, she'll need every drop of it to get what she wants done.

But you're right, this is more or less an election to form what the Americans would call a Constitutional Convention and what the French would call a Constituent Assembly. The exact details about that are in the next chapter.

Katkiller-V: The revelation was originally supposed to be much later, in fact. In the middle of the next volume. I felt that that piece of Julie's personality puzzle would feel less weighty at that point, rather than being dropped before the election.

Demobilisation isn't on Julie's ideal cards at all; most of the work that will need doing in the mean time is physical labour, which is what armies traditionally do quite well. She knows it's probably inevitable money-wise, though. She wants to maintain maximum readiness for an offensive war, is all. She better understands the strategic possibilities for victory on the offensive than Velarana does, who believes in defence in depth as a concept.

As for Julie being taken seriously as a head of state, she's married to a Marquis and now has brought Ferelden to its knees. And didn't execute the King, I might add. She is plenty diplomatic when she wants to be too; she negotiated the creation and politics of Free Orlais, after all. It's just that the times that Sam has directly been present, she's mostly been treating with nobles in the field who have absolute contempt for her and the movement. She responds accordingly.

Pretty much all of the DA2 character set will be involved at some point. More of Hawke and Isabela to come in the next chapter, by the way.

5 Coloured Walker: It's not socialism if the person is a monarchist haha

tmroc725: Politicians promise things all the time. Reality usually ensues afterwards.

I'm still torn on Soprano. Maybe I should do a poll. I have an idea about how she could get her day, so to speak, but I'm still not sure it's a good idea.

As for support weapons like mortars, the answer is yes.

Twinbuster: Merci.

Kefalion: I'm a European too, so, I'm right there with you.

I'm glad you enjoyed it so far. I checked out your profile because your profile pic is sorta unusual for this site, and discovered you're an English major, so I feel like your praise is even more worthy of my thanks.

As for the Fade plot arc, it's actually quite important to tie everything together. It fits in with the political/military arc and the relationship arc in ways that... I can't reveal, because spoilers. And it also links everything to Inquisition's storyline too. I thought I'd get to that part far more quickly than I actually have. I've written something like 250k words more than I thought it would take, and we're still not there.

Hope this wasn't too long a wait, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Viper0300: Hopefully you get this update right away!

Fallnya: All the foreshadowing that needed doing is pretty much done, so I'm not sure I can claim all that much credit for stopping with that.

Velarana having access to the Earth Library isn't exactly that big a disaster, I would think. After all, it also holds the keys to the destruction of the ideas that Velarana herself is defending. The most successful countries on Earth are generally not aristocratic oligarchies or absolute monarchies.

No need to worry about plot tangles, all plot elements are part of one of three threads and I generally remember them thanks to that fact. Usually only because of that, in truth.

Halo is bad ass: The knowledge to make vehicles is in the Earth Library. Hell, the knowledge to crack crude oil into petroleum etc is in there. But those are industrial processes that aren't as easy to make as a cannon or a rocket. There's complexity that a community like Hearth couldn't possibly have made. This isn't the 1632 series, Sam came through alone with the knowledge and zero tools beyond some military equipment.

I'll say this though: expect to see radio soon.

: Looks like your review got cut off, which is a pity, because it looks like it was going to be an indepth one, and I love reading those. Please repost the full one if you can, I'm very interested.

Titus Pullover: First of all, awesome FF nickname. Top shelf.

Three cheers for Drgyen and his TV Tropes editing haha

The electoral system is a simplified list system. You vote for the party, not the candidate, in each regiment. Split votes are then rounded up or down according to party support across the board as well as in-regiment proportions. The idea about it is that as they're voting for a Constituent Assembly and not merely a legislative parliament, they should vote for ideas not individuals. I think it fits the attitude of Orlesians generally too. Not sure yet if the Assembly will vote to keep that system in future.

Most of the Anglicisms in this are deliberate. For one, Sam is an anglophone by birth, and two, Orlesian French has always been very... franglais. I speak French as a second language myself, and I was keen to have Orlesians in the story for that reason among others.

It's important to remember that most of the time that you read dialogue in this, they're actually speaking in French despite it being written in English here. Or at least, speaking franglais. So when they talk about the names of the ships, the translation is held to be in English. Ship names don't have definitive terms in front of them. It isn't required to have 'the' in front of ship names in English, so I didn't include them for the most part. If I referred to a ship without 'la' when the dialogue is actually in French, do point me to it, because that is a mistake.

Likewise, Hearth is Atre in Orlesian. I originally chose that name because it works in both translations of the word, Atre sounding a lot like Acre (i.e. the Phoenician city). But in the end, I didn't end up using Atre to avoid confusion. I'm still a bit worried about Valhalla vs Troy, though the former refers to the valley that Troy will be in, rather than the city itself. Troy is another example of English translation; when they say Troy, they are saying Troie. And I'm well aware of the multiple possible versions in French, if only because I was annoyed to find out there wasn't one solid name for the city. I was tempted to call the city Ilium for that reason, but it's too Latin/Tevinter and it's shared by a planet in Mass Effect.

As for seasons; Thedas is in the southern hemisphere yes, but their calendar seems to be exactly the same as ours. August is still in summer, 'Wintersend' and the Thedas equivalent of Christmas are in the equivalent of February and November. For whatever reason, Bioware's writers made it this way, I just rolled with it. As for the calendar system, I've more or less assumed that the world uses an equivalent of the Gregorian calendar.

For future reference, I like answering these sorts of questions.

As for Troy itself, I have only have vague notions of what it'll look like. Mostly that there will be a government quarter, quays, and things of that nature. I have much more clear ideas on the physical geography, thankfully, as I tend to start with that when thinking about new settlements. Help bouncing off ideas would be great, but I won't have you spend time on actually mapping it out if you don't have that time to burn, though I appreciate the offer. Always good to have a professional to take advice from in such things.

Really glad you enjoyed it!