Chapter Thirty-Two

Dinner

I had to be carried to the dining hall for dinner. Anduin had insisted on the 'honor' of being the one to carry me. Roselle hesitantly asked, "H-How are you, Your Majesty?"

Isolde looked sour at the form of address. I gave a weak smile, "I will live – this time. I may not if I have to do that again."

"I did send a message to the Divine explaining exactly what happened yesterday; I sent it once you were deemed stable." She seemed subdued.

I glanced around, "Who bullied her?"

"No one – we figured hearing your screams and seeing you bleed from every available spot on your face while tearing out your own throat was punishment enough." Lyna said, reaching for a dish of peas.

Anduin hummed, "If I ever have to see that again… by the Light, Iris – I can't go through that again."

I leaned so that I was resting against him, "I'm surprised I can even speak at all – I did tear out my throat."

"Ah – we called in your brother; not Inas…" Anduin muttered.

I flinched, "You called a demi-god to heal me?"

Isolde cleared her throat, "The man with the… stag body…"

"My brother – he's the son of Elune; the goddess of the moon and night-elves. I have a complicated family tree."

Alistair spoke, "Well, he was very upset at what happened."

I shook my head, "He would be…"

Teagan cleared his throat, "Connor is back to his old self and does not seem to remember anything – a blessing to be sure. I suppose we should send him to the Circle of Magi for… training, once the war is over. It is quite odd to think of him as a Mage. Eamon has much to mourn and rebuild should he recover – but at least he can be thankful that his son, wife and most of his people are still alive. I owe you my deepest thanks, My Lady."

Isolde had actually left the room before learning I was married to Alistair yesterday, so… I had convinced Teagan not to tell her. As far as Isolde knew, I was only married to Anduin and Cullen while sleeping with Alistair.

Isolde spoke next, "Thank you, Queen Stormlight, I am grateful for your willingness to help my husband. There is an Andrastian scholar in Denerim – Brother Genitivi – he has been researching the Urns location for several years. The knights that have returned say they were unable to find him, but perhaps you…"

I nodded and looked at Teagan, "You will begin the rebuilding – as Eamons sole heir at the moment, it falls to you to run Redcliffe in his… absence. Begin building a good rapport with those in the Arling – if we are to put things right, we must begin at once. See to it the militia is ready for the battle – I will donate 300 Sovereigns to that effort." I passed money across the table.

The man nodded and said, "I will see to it first thing in the morning, my lady."

I sighed, "Please, call me Tara – I prefer combat titles."

Anduin cleared his throat, "Bann Teagan; would it be alright to set up a portal here? I am willing to have some warriors and others from the Army of Stormwind come to aid against the Blight."

"That shouldn't be a problem – I will look into a place for… how big would the portal be?"

I answered, "9 feet tall, 4 feet across, shaped like an oval. There is a natural Ley Line in the basement – and an area that would work perfectly."

"I will have some people get a portal set up and have… is 100 people acceptable?" Anduin asked.

"Mmmh – more than enough. Azeroth has superior fighting ability. 1 Azeroth warrior would equal about 25-30 Thedas fighters. I personally know only about 20 people in Thedas that might make the cut. The good news is that it means the Darkspawn are fairly weak too – considering Thedas has managed to beat them back for a thousand years and 4 other Blights."

"100 soldiers – no Warlocks, but anything else is fair game, right?" he was making notes.

I nodded, "That's right – I'm of a mind to bring a few Illidari along too. My people are very similar to Grey Wardens so… it might be a good idea to foster relations."

Finally, the child – Connor – spoke, "M-Miss? You're the one who saved me, right?"

I shook my head, "He did; Daylen Amell."

The boy turned to Daylen and bowed his head, "Thank you."

Daylen grinned, "My pleasure."

Cullen went to take a drink of his wine and my hand shot out on instinct to bat it away. At once, Anduin stood – I'd done this same move with him back when he was a kid.

Cullen blinked in confusion, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah – Iris must have had a last second vision; the wine in your cup was poisoned."

"Alistairs' too – but Alistair doesn't like white wine so he didn't drink it. Red goes better with the cheeses that he likes." I said.

"But not mine – so they aren't targeting all of Iris' lovers or her…"

"Oh – mine is poisoned too; but I think it just adds flavor." I took a drink from mine with a cheeky grin. Anduin shook his head, "How could I forget that your blood-curse makes you immune to all poisons? Alright…"

I looked around, "It seems someone doesn't like me. With our conversations around this place, they'd know I could save myself in half a second if I weren't immune – but you men? I might have noticed too late in their eyes. But the fact that mine was poisoned… it has to be someone we brought with us."

I motioned to the servant by the door; she rushed forward and I asked, "Who had access to the white wine that was served to me, Cullen and Alistair?"

"I… I don't know miss." She dipped. I nodded, "Then go find out; I believe you – it was likely someone brought with the Mage and Templar contingent. Take two guards with you – I want whoever did this brought to me at once."

She curtsied and rushed off with two guards at her heel. Greagoir spoke, "You have a guess, don't you?"

"Same as yours, I'm afraid. This wouldn't have happened otherwise."

Roselle looked horrified, "Who would do such a thing?"

Cullen, Irving, Greagoir and I all spoke at once, "Reed."

Alistair frowned, "Knew we should have bashed his skull in. first he calls you a whore and now he tries to kill you?"

Anduins' face darkened, "He was allowed to roam free after insulting a Queen?"

I shrugged, "I allowed it – I didn't think he would be so stupid after the lashing and career killing assignment he got. I can be wrong, Anduin – it's just not too often."

Sure enough – the one brought in by the guards (very roughly and rather bruised) was Reed and he was screaming that the guards would pay for dragging him.

I tsked from my seat, "Oh my – did you think we were stupid? Your group – the templars – were the only ones that didn't know that I am completely immune to poison. The only ones of that group that didn't know that I'm a seer would be the templars or mages that were still out-cold after we cleared the tower. And the only one with motive to poison 3 specific cups of wine… would be you. I didn't even need my abilities to know who did it – only to prevent the death of my mate. Greagoir – I demand rights to the criminal. My right hand will love to make sure that this was isolated and not part of a bigger plot. Of course, Kayn will not stop until he's sure that reed here is telling the truth. Allari might take it personally that he tried to kill me though – she might tear his soul from his body to make him talk. You see, she and I are as close as sisters, so… this is personal."

Roselle coughed gently, "The Divine will wish to have him, if you are agreeable. You are under chantry protection at the moment – and the Templars are a hand of the Chantry too; this makes it an internal matter."

I pouted, "Very well – Greagoir could you hold him the Circle dungeons until the Blight is over and he can be sent to the Grand Cathedral?"

He nodded. I smirked, "Well… I do have something that will keep him from getting… out of hand."

Irving looked alarmed, "What is it?"

"Just a pair of hand cuffs that are impossible to break by someone like him. Sten and I could probably do it – it has nothing to do with physical strength, you see."

Sten looked intrigued.

I locked them onto Reed and handed Greagoir the key. "This is one of my own inventions. I had Inas enchanting as I worked the metal. The metal doesn't matter, but the enchantment has to be done during the forging for it to work. Once they're broken, they can be put back together if you slip the key in the lock – but as I said, he won't break it."

"What's the function?" Irving asked, inspecting the cuffs on reed while the man glared at me.

"Just keeping him from escape – too far from the key and he gets knocked out. It's completely painless, of course. So whoever holds the key must be within 1000 paces. Meaning, you have to give the key to whoever is watching the man while he wears those cuffs."

Greagoir nodded and so I stretched, "Cullen – after we eat, can we spend another night cuddling before you have to go? I have always slept better when I was cuddling with someone or some-beast – and my time with you is over after this… technically…"

He flushed but agreed as he received a new goblet. I pulled out two communicators – phones – and passed one to him and one to Alistair, "This is a device that can enable us to talk to each other long distance. You press this button to pull up the contacts… there's me; see, it has my name? There's Anduin, Alistair, Inas and every leader of Azeroth. You're the Prince-Consort of Stormwind – they'll always answer if they can. My sister-in-law, Nessa, is also in here – her name is Vanessa VanCleef – if you go looking for her name. If you press this button, it will show the details – here, click on Anduin."

He did – it came up with a short description and a picture; Anduin Wrynn, High King of Stormwind. I smiled as he played around… until he clicked on my name. I hadn't set these two up; Inas did… I was going to kill him… just a little.

Iris – wife and lover. That was how I was in their phones? And that photo – where the fuck had he gotten it? Cullen smiled, "I like it."

"This green button – once you are in the details of a contact – will initiate a call. Go on…"

He clicked call on Inas' picture. The man answered, "Cullen – I see my little sister has given you her – ugh – phone. Sorry, I'm fighting masked Fae at the moment – hey; I don't shoot sparkly dangerous beams of light at you while you are talking on the comm links… fair is fair."

I sniggered, "Inas – where the fuck did you get a picture of me kissing Nessa and why did you use it as the pic for my husbands' phones?"

"Ah – I figured that most men liked seeing their woman with another woman; it's a nice picture, if I do say so myself. And I do – shit; you know what? Fine – have sparkly dangerous light!"

Anduin sniggered lightly, "But Inas – you do realize that using that picture means that they are also looking at your wife?"

"Uh-huh; she's sexy – it'd be a shame if she wasn't ogled. At least, that's what she keeps telling me, and I'm inclined to agree."

Aedan laughed, "Didn't you use a similar line to get Alistair to agree he was watching your bum?"

"I did – I have a fucking amazing ass; if he wasn't staring then at least half of you would be obliged to look. It'd be a shame not have an ass this nice be admired." I smirked.

Cullen coughed and turned red while Alistair stammered, "And that's why I don't hide my looking anymore."

Anduin nodded seriously, "I will just have to start looking if the alternative is other men staring at my wife's rear end."

Inas laughed, "You know, I think Nessa did something similar to me. I guess now I know where she got that line from."

I grinned evilly, "I taught her everything I know."

"That's not a scary thought at all – I think this is why most siblings don't share spouses anymore. The thought that what my wife likes in bed… nope – leaving that alone now."

I giggled, "Yeah – it's fucking creepy, isn't it? Though – as I keep saying – I would make an exception to have Ness back in my bed. That woman had a way with a length of rope."

And now everyone was red – other than Morrigan, Sten and me. Inas groaned, "You didn't teach her that one, right?"

"Oh no – I was just her practice doll; she came up with many new knots that way… hence the Nagrand incident. She always makes sure we can get out of it."

"Yeah – after Nagrand, she gave me one hell of a tongue lashing and a very… thorough lesson in knots. You told her that I couldn't slip that knot and all of a sudden I didn't know what sunlight looked like for a month."

I smirked, "You never got held down again, did you?"

"Elune, no – Nessa wouldn't let me leave the basement for 6-months if I did. I'm not crazy. She tells me that if I want food, I learn to escape the knot – so I learn. I get it – she's training me and dad was a lot crazier in his training, but I am not looking forward to that if I make a mistake. Shit – hey, I need to go… there are a lot of crazy, masked Fae here… and I think that one want's to eat me."

"Just wait until you get to Revendreth – speaking of; the Sire is batshit, side with the rebellion the moment Draven lifts your carriage from the ground. Tell him that you support Renathal; the Dark Prince – and then jump from the carriage while calling the Lord Chamberlain a traitor to the Shadowlands. Draven will catch you and take you to the Accuser; side with her to save Revendreth. It will expedite things and the Sire will show his true colors faster."

"What did the Sire do?"

"He caused the Anima Drought – he's the reason the people of the shadowlands are starving and dying. He's in league with the Jailor. Don't mention plans around Bolvar – it's nothing personal, but the Helm of Domination has linked him to the Jailor a bit; it's… not pretty. He's resisting, but he might slip by accident. Oh – on that note – tell Ve'nari… I'll text it to you. She has a list of rules. Have an escape plan, keep a low profile, trust is earned, make a list, be auspicious, concealment is everything, don't forget anything and betrayal is inevitable. If you tell her that last one, she is more likely to like you faster. She's cold – but she was made to be."

"… Yeah – text that to me. Got to go – love you." Click.

I snorted, "He's not taking me seriously. Ve'nari will gut him if she thinks he's a spy from Cartel Ve. Whatever – I'll know if he's in danger."

Anduin smiled softly and took my hand, "I love you."

I shook my head, "Love you too – you heading back tonight?"

"Yes – I need to coordinate with the High Exarch to get 100 troops here to help train your people and get ready to fight these… darkspawn."

"Be sure to warn them – the creatures have poisoned blood. Blood that could kill even me."

His eyes widened, "As you say, my love – I will make sure they are aware. Does the light do much to them?"

"Actually – they aren't a dark force; it appears they are a corruption of nature. Fire and Arcane are better. The only way to cleanse things that their blood corrupts is fire too – so when this Blight is over, we need to burn the land before having druids restore it. It'll be like when the Alliance and the Horde worked together since they healed Shen-zin Su after an Alliance air-ship crashed into him."

Anduin nodded, "I recall hearing that report – didn't my father battle one of the Pandarens that came with Aysa Cloudsinger?"

"And got lain on his ass for the effort – your father was a swordman, the Pandaren Monks are more fist fighters. Xinya Giftbelly may have been young and eager, but she was no less skilled in the way of the monk."

I leaned against Cullen. Alistair spoke, "Aysa… she was the er… bear woman with the green eyes at the wedding, right?"

"Yeah – she's a Pandaren; walking, talking panda bears. Do not get between a Pandaren and their brew; as Chromie says, the results would be… un-bear-ably painful if you do."

Anduin lost his drink as he choked. "By the Light – tell me that Chronormu didn't actually say that."

"Honey… she is a bronze dragon with the Keepers of Time… that likes to take the form of a gnome. She goes from a fucking huge dragon, to a teeny-tiny gnome that I can fit in my pocket… she has a wonderful sense of humor. I distinctly recall her saying 'There's no time like the present to start saving the future' almost a year ago."

"Ah… fair point." He chuckled.

Alistair sniggered; "I'd like to meet this 'Chromie' woman."

Oh – he'd summoned her. There – sitting on the table in front of him where his food used to be – was a gnome. She was 3'5 with white hair twisted in coin-braids on either side of her head, green eyes looking mischievous, pale skin garbed in white and gold robes, a small smile, "Hello, Alistair."

He jumped out of his seat as Anduin and I laughed. Anduin said, "Chromie – listening in on the timelines again?"

Greagoir was gaping at the tiny woman. Irving looked fascinated. Teagan swallowed his mouthful of food hard. And Leliana said, "Oh – she is so cute!"

"Why, thank you!" Chromie beamed.

I smiled, "Hi, Meme."

She hopped over and gave me a hug, "Iris!"

That made everyone at the table still. I grinned widely, "Cheeky monkey – is Noz mad at me?"

"Not really – Anduin is your mate; we're allowed to interfere for our mates." She was sitting in my lap. I had told Chromie I considered her a sister – so she started calling me Iris.

I tilted my head, "But… I interfered in the timelines before he was my mate."

"No you didn't – he was always your mate; it was just muted while he was too young. The Light unlocked it early for your after the maw."

Anduin looked like he'd been given a gift, "We were… already mates?"

"Yes – in fact, it was me that muted it. Nozdormu looked and confirmed that if it were left unmuted, you two would have been married when you were 16, Anduin. If that happened, Iris would never have been with her other mates; and it would also cause your bond to snap when she died to come here."

He jerked in horror, "I would have lost her… even with her still being alive?"

"Yes – if you didn't wait the two years, you would have only had her those two years… with no children. This way, you will have a kid with her and you will have her longer than just 2 years. After what happened with Halien… this was her reward, Anduin."

I flushed, "Mine? But…"

"Yes – and you've lost one son in the process. We didn't see that happening – it was supposed to be Turalyon – not Asthan."

"You're chatty for a woman that isn't supposed to interfere in the future?" Morrigan pointed out.

"I'm only speaking of things that already passed in this timeline, Morrigan," she smiled.

I chuckled, "Chromie is very good at only saying what needs to be said. Very good at it. If she says something, it's usually good to listen. Now, little sister, what do you mean it was supposed to be Turalyon?"

"I can't say – only that it should have been the Regent that was taken. Something happened last moment to change their target. Sorry, Iris," she pouted.

"Don't play cute with me – it isn't needed. I know the consequences of interreference all too well."

Lyna spoke, "So… you'll have a kid?"

"At least 12 in the next century," Chromie responded with a gleam in her eye. I smiled, "You mean more than 12 – I know you, Meme; if you say 'as least' that means it's a number low enough for you to fudge with. Looks like I'll get that brood I want after all."

"Mmmh – but I have to warn you; two won't be yours by blood of your mates." She gave me a blinding grin and vanished.

I sat there looking at my lap and muttered, "The way she phrases things."

"Wait – two of the kids… won't be ours?" Cullen asked.

"I think that I know what she means – one of you will get me pregnant but a god will do for them what Elune did for me. Those kids will be demi-gods. At least… I hope that's what this is. I won't be able to have anyone elses kids – it's not possible anymore. Dragons can only have kids with our claimed mates once claimed – that's why mates are so important to us."

Anduin was still completely relaxed – he'd known that much. He said, "She's right – Alexstrasza told me as much. Though there is one way that you're discounting."

I shook my head, "I can think of no reason that I would agree to surrogate a child – let alone two."

"I can think of one or two – if Liam asked…"

"You're right – I'd do it in a heartbeat for him. But he'd only ask once if at all." I muttered.

"Well – there's no point dwelling on it now. We know you can't get pregnant unless it's one of us or you surrogate; and if it's the former, then we know how it would happen that they wouldn't be ours by blood anymore. They'd still be ours – just… different." Anduin shrugged.

"This is the weirdest dinner that I've ever been to," Teagan sighed.

"Yeah – you're dining with a Goddess and just met a time-walker. You also know more about dragon-flight reproduction than most of Azeroth and gained another 100 troops against the Blight – each of which is worth more than 20-30 of your men."

Roselle spoke, "She was… really adorable."

"That was just her preferred guise for dealing with humanoids – she's actually a really big dragon; as stated. But that guise is what gnomes look like; Dwarves there are vastly different. They all stand between 5 feet to 5'5 in height. As you can see, humans are 6'5-7' tall. And the heights only get taller from there. I may be an elf, but my heigh makes me look like a dwarf."

Anduin smirked, "I rather like it – you're adorable."

I stuck my tongue out, "Don't tease me."

"I'm not – you really are adorable. Besides; it makes it easier to pull you behind me so I can pull those protective moves that you hate." He laughed.

"She dueled the Qunari for doing that. She won." Sereda mentioned.

Sten shrugged, "It means that she is worthy to follow."

Zev hummed, "This must have been before you got me."

"The day before," Carver commented. I rolled my eyes.

Alistair said, "Actually, Aedan had to hold me back… it stressed me so much to watch them spar."

"I can imagine. Though… I am glad to know that we've always been mates." Anduin muttered.

"Yeah – Tara suspected as much." Daylen said, "She mentioned it a while back."

Anduins' grin was blinding, "Well… that makes me feel really special. You suspected it?"

"I've always had feelings for you, Anduin. I admit – Chromie is right. With the bond in place, I would have married you back when you took the throne… and I would have mourned the loss of our bond. I'm glad we waited."

"As am I. Your stubborn nature gives us more time together." He leaned over and kissed my head.

Dinner ended not long later – with Turalyon sending Liam Greymane as the Azeroth Emissary for Redcliffe during the Blight. The soldiers that would arrive later would answer to Liam.