Chapter Fifty-Six: Yerushalayim Shel Zahav
This volume of my story, which shall cover the events of the year 9:40 Dragon, is entitled the Conquest of Paradise.
There were alternatives. "The First Coalition War", "Troia Victor", "Republic to Empire"... Among others. But they don't really convey the full reality of what happened, and they're melodramatic too. That last one especially.
For one, it has to be said right away that what we won was paradise, as you shall see. It might not have seemed like it to anyone before we showed up. Quite the contrary, in fact, Valhalla was considered one of the more wild places in Thedas, ranked alongside the Korcari Wilds or the interior jungles of Seheron. Coasts that were the haunt of pirates, forests that the Dalish favoured, hills with entrances to the Deep Roads and the darkspawn lurking within, and no civilisation beyond the hunting lodges of nobles and trappers dotting the west of the region.
All hemmed in by the sovereignty of three major Marcher cities: Ostwick, the warlike double-walled city with Fereldan and Ander roots; Markham, a centre of culture and possessor of arguably the most famous university in the world; Hercinia, the palatial city of the pirate kings and queens, full of artisans and servants, winter home of no small part of the Armada. Estwatch itself was off the coast too.
As you can imagine, the conquest part of the title was a mere necessity of survival in such an environment. Of course, it didn't start off that way. Our people had voted for peace, and peace they would have for as long as it was practically possible.
That our new home was an unspoiled paradise by its nature is perhaps why they didn't notice that peace was not going to be practically possible for very long.
Our voyage was relatively straight forward.
Mustering out of Amaranthine's harbour took up most of the first day's sailing time, so we anchored at the northern edge of the bay between the Brandel islands for the night. With a quite spectacular sunset off of a clear sky that had shown up out of nowhere. Which is always an omen for a nasty storm. That one raged for most of the night and into the morning the next day. The straits experience at least one of these short storms a month, even in summer, due to the confluence of the oceans and prevailing winds. All I can say about my own experience of it is that Tiberius' anti-seasickness herbs and spices worked wonders.
Aurelia is fond of saying the Maker celebrated the conception of our first by making the heavens roar.
The delay caused by the storm meant we couldn't move much beyond the Fereldan Straits during what daylight hours remained, and given the size of our fleet, we could only move safely during the day. We anchored a little more than an Imperial mile off Ostwick, beyond the technical limits of their jurisdiction under the accepted common traditions of the period. We'd have to wait a little longer for 'official' contact with them, but our sudden appearance off their coast was a great cause for alarm as we discovered not very much later.
Can't blame them for that, I'd be afraid of us too.
In the morning, I got my first look at the large double walls of the city, along with the large dark cone of Last Mount, standing on the edge of the sea, capped with snow. The final true mountain of the Vimmark chain that extended all the way westward through Kirkwall to Cumberland. Beyond that peak was our new homeland. And I was to be the first of our people to see it.
Beyond the straits was pirate territory, so the Tevinter squadron was tasked to go ahead, cruising along the coast to scout the way while our own battleships remained behind to protect our people. And me along with it.
So, on the third of January, I found myself looking over the railing of the Tiberii catamaran, at the shoreline, as we made our way along. It wasn't the fastest going, the wind was to our side not our backs, but we were still making decent time. What I saw was beaches, pristine and yellow, leading to dunes topped with scrub, and behind that, forest as far as the eye could see. Old, large trees too, not the sort of managed forest that dominated the Orlesian settled parts of the Dales. Beyond lay low mountains, very familiar to me.
It took me an hour or so to figure out where I had seen them before, passively thinking about it as I did nothing more than look up at the patchy clouds. When I did, it sent me clutching the wood of the railing hard.
"Son of a bitch," I declared loudly, to no one in particular. No one had approached me all day; the Tevinters were sleeping in, having taken only a brief look at the wilderness beyond before returning to their staterooms. I was up near one of the bows, so none of the working crew should have been near either.
"Why are you saying that?" came a question from behind. I hung my head.
I turned around to find Aurelia, looking at me with tilted head, her black curls blowing around around her head in the gusts. Appropriately dressed in furs.
"Sorry," I said, "Didn't know you were there."
"What has you so upset that you're insulting the wind?" Aurelia asked, approaching the edge of the ship. She gave a quick look down into the churning water below, and looked off to the mountains. Hair going like streamers. Which was quite distracting, especially after what we had been doing the past few days. Took me a little while to regain my composure.
"Those hills," I said, pointing, "I know them. The Lady showed me a battle that is supposed to occur, and they were in the distance. A little closer than they are now. But I'd recognise their shape anywhere." The western hills of the Pays Avarie, as they are called now, look a lot like a paper fan when viewed from the south, with multiple ridges leading to their heights and round crests overlapping each other.
My companion was nonplussed, her lips pursing in thought.
"A battle?" Aurelia asked, "Of what sort?"
It didn't seem unnatural to tell her... Though a slight tingle of guilt came over me, as I still had not told Julie or Tam. "A part of the war between my descendants," I replied, "A succession war."
Aurelia was silent, biting her lip as she leaned forwards on her elbows. "And now it's too late to follow the Lady's advice," she said, "You are married to Julie."
"And to Tam as well, if we're being fully honest," I agreed, "Even if I thought the advice was wise, which I don't, I can't abandon them. I refuse."
Aurelia glanced at me, like I was forgetting something. Oops.
"The same applies to you," I added quickly, "By the way."
"I should think so," Aurelia said, with a faux huff, "I expect to feel the results of our nightly... exertions within a week or two."
That got my attention very nicely, as you can imagine.
"Wait..." I said, turning to her, "You can feel if you're pregnant? Is that a mage thing?"
Aurelia shook her head slightly. "According to the records, Lutetia Tiberia knew she was pregnant with the child of Marcus Tiberius when the flow of mana she received from the Fade suddenly increased one morning," she said, "She could call on energies that were impossible before, for any mortal mage. She had herself examined by healers, unable to explain why it had happened, and the discovery was made. The process continued until she gave birth, and by the end, she was the most powerful human mage to have ever lived."
"So if you feel like you could blow up a city by yourself, you'll know we've been successful," I joked with a wave of the hand, "Isn't that just dandy? What about the others? Will Tam suddenly break out in lightning bolts from her hands?"
Aurelia laughed, hands on her hips. "That would be amusing, given how she looks at mages," she said, "But no, non-mages won't become mages through the process. It's not even certain that your other children will become mages either, that is merely assumed, not demonstrated in what evidence we have. Almost every person in Thedas has a mage somewhere in their background, so it is likely the connection to the Fade will be ripped wide open in any child of yours. But it's not impossible that they could be Soporati."
"Soporati?" I inquired.
"Non-mages," Aurelia replied, "It's a roll of the dice, really. The nature of your relationship with the Fade and this world is so arcane, so untested, that we have no idea what will happen. Except in our case. We know what happens when an Outlander has children with a mage."
"I would imagine those mage children would be a threat to yours... ours... whatever," I said flatly, "Maybe that's what the Lady warned of? Competing dynasties of mages?"
Which would be unbelievably disastrous. Foreign intervention by absolutely every other power was guaranteed in that scenario.
"Possibly, assuming her role as guardian of my bloodline is correct," Aurelia said, "But Sam... You should not worry about it. We will find a way to assure peace, I swear it. I have no desire to see my descendants fight those of your lovers."
"Wives," I insisted, only half jokingly.
"Wives," Aurelia repeated, with a roll of her golden eyes, "Look over there. I think it is big enough for all of us, don't you?"
I couldn't deny that the huge expanse of leafless trees beyond the golden sand and churning dark blue water seemed suddenly inviting. Not because it was ready for us, but because we'd have a lot more to do than fight with each other over the coming months and years. But the problem apparently would only arise decades after I had died.
"Here's to hoping," I said, giving Valhalla a mock salute.
The squadron entered the Bay of Dolphins the next day, the fleet catching up behind us due to a change in the winds, passing by the high western rock of the Isle of Dogs. The rock that would eventually become our statue of Liberty Freeing the Enslaved. Which despite the name and inspiration from the Statue of Liberty in New York, actually looks a whole lot more like The Motherland Calls, a Russian statue commemorating their victory in a terrible battle. Albeit our version holds a firelance. And she's an elf. A suitable cultural mix of influences, I think.
The sandy beaches of the mainland faced off against steeper banks of shingle rock that made up the edge of the island itself, and the waters around it were very noticeably calmer. The churning water simply gave way entirely to what amounted to a quiet pool some fifteen kilometres long. In fact, later we'd find that it was hard to leave the bay westwards in light wind conditions, because the outflow of the Waking Sea into the Amaranthine Ocean channels eastward, another reason for our good speed, before being redirected by a sea trench that skirts the outer edge of the island.
The Bay of Dolphins is well named. As we entered it, whole pods of the animals began breaking the water ahead of us, spinning on their axis playfully while they did so. I had never seen dolphins before in my life, and nearly jumped in surprise myself, straight overboard, when they started their jumping right in front of me. Aurelia laughing all the while.
Apparently there are river dolphins in Seheron, that the natives regard as shapeshifting demons that take the appearance of one's lovers in order to breed. The joke being that the dolphins would be too confused to be able to take me, because they wouldn't be able to decide which of my lovers to impersonate.
The intelligence we had on the region was not incorrect.
While there were no ships in the water, we found three ships laid up on the sands towards the eastern end of the beach, just before the coast became rocky and jagged. The vessels were being careened; beached in high tide, and turned on their sides, so that repairs and cleaning could be done to the underside of their hulls at low tide.
They were fairly large ships for what I could only presume were pirate ships. I had a look through my binoculars. They looked like military vessels to me, not just captured cargo vessels with catapults slapped on them. One had its deck facing our way, and I could make out the metal rings bolted to the wood for the ballistas, which had been removed for the careening job. They were a good deal smaller than our own battleships though, of course.
But there was no doubt they were pirate ships of the Armada. For one thing, the other naval powers of the Amaranthine, Antiva and the Qunari, both have dry docks. That was something mentioned to me in the reasoning for why pirates found the Bay so useful; close to both Hercinia and Estwatch with large sandy beaches for careening their ships. Another clue was that there were camps around that were unfortified and chaotic, a collection of tents, large bonfires and people huddled in circles.
This naturally provoked a debate among the Tiberiuses and Tiberias on the deck.
Gaius, Marcus and Quintus naturally wanted to attack the pirates.
The Tevinter contingent would both outnumber the pirates on land, both in absolute terms and in the number of mages that were available; although hedge mages in the Marches usually fled to or were sold to the pirates early in life. A magical battle could ensue. The glory in securing the beachhead would put the alliance in a good stead for the future, they argued.
Tiberius Senior and Valentine both replied that it would be a stupid move.
The pirates were enemies of the Qunari, business partners of Tevinter, and while these ones had refused to help in the transportation of our people, they had no quarrel with our republic just yet. No need to pre-empt the matter and cause trouble.
The intergenerational squabble of sorts rambled on. Not one of them had the thought that maybe I would want a say in all this, but then, I was more or less a guest, not a commander. I thought better of even trying. Clearly this was part of a larger argument. Probably over how aggressive Tevinter itself should be against the Qunari. I had no skin in that game, and stepped back to let them have at it.
Aurelia and Portia stood to the side, whispering to one another in the way mothers and daughters often do (as I have discovered). Conspiring.
The argument was broken up by Portia clapping her hands twice rapidly, gaining the attention of the arguers but not their silence. But that didn't last long.
"Silence! I am the head of this family now, am I not?" Aurelia declared loudly over them, "I married an Outlander. It is all but certain I am carrying his child, our magic does not fail us in this. You will all acknowledge this by shutting up!"
They did as they were commanded, albeit in order of how legitimate they thought the command was. Gaius shut his jaw at once, smitten as he was and not liking what he was hearing. Tiberius came next, albeit with his usual proud grin. Valentine hung his head and massaged the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb, like he was used to his daughter's apparent imperiousness. Finally, the child bit got them to stop talking.
"Good," Aurelia said, pleased to have been obeyed, "This is not our decision to make."
Tiberius took that to mean something that Aurelia didn't. That she was supporting me.
"Well then Sam," he said, "What do you think?"
I had my own opinion on the matter, but things had changed. "Truth be told," I began, "If Julie had remained High Chancellor, I would have gladly..."
"It is not his choice either," Aurelia interrupted, shooting Tiberius with a glare, "We are here as allies of the Trojan Republic. We cannot make their policy for them. Sam is not their leader, he is a general. He must obey their Chancellor, and their Chancellor has not yet had her say. We will follow the plan. We will anchor along the eastern side of the planned landing ground, and we will leave the decision on whether or not to attack to those with the authority to make that decision."
Marcus frowned, scratching his short black hair. "Can we at least go ashore?" he said, "In case they decide to oppose the landing?"
"That would be wise," I said, coming to his support, "Putting on a show of force should stop anyone from getting ideas."
"We are Tevinter," Aurelia said, as if that explained anything, "Our reputation precedes us. But yes, we should go ashore. I wish to see this land for myself. And I have had enough of the sea."
The Tevinter triremes lined up, lashed together, and laid all anchors down, the smaller ones closer to the shores, the larger ones including the catamaran in middle. It completely closed off the eastern end of the bay in a wall of wooden hulls and ship rams, not to mention coming close to creating a bridge right across the narrowest part of the eastern bay to the Isle of Dogs.
This was very much part of the original plan, to completely cut off one direction we could be attacked from by sea. Not that there was much danger of that, the size of our fleet alone should have dissuaded that. As it began to arrive in earnest, each congo-line of ships came up in order of how they would copy our makeshift harbour arrangement, something that would take the next two days to fully accomplish, because of the tides.
Luckily, we had given each ship a letter and number, and distributed the lists to the captains so there could be no confusion as to what place their vessels were to take. The shallow draft ships, mostly longship configurations, would be the 'dock ships', through which all the rest were tied to and over which all our people, mounts and possessions would pass through.
Once her own ships were secure, Aurelia led myself and her contingent of the Tiberian legions off of the ships, crossing from one deck to the next, the sea sighing below the boards dropped to allow us to move from one ship to the next. It was really strange to have samurai-legionaries following me, and I had an itch on my back the whole way. Not least because Gaius was the one directly behind for the whole walk. Tiberius and the older relatives watched us go with smiles on their faces. "Let the young folks do their thing" being the thought written all over their faces.
We stepped down off the final gangplank and onto the beaches of Valhalla.
The sands were a little darker here, probably the result of being mixed with the dark grey-pink granite stone the Isle of Dogs is made of, as opposed to the softer yellow-white limestone of Valhalla. My boots sank a little into the wet ground as I walked, sticking my feet, but I continued despite the difficulty, drawn further forwards by an invisible force.
I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders by some divine hand.
We had made it. We had fucking made it. Whatever else happened, no one could take this achievement away from us. The stain of defeat at the hands of Gaspard de Chalons had been scrubbed away by a feat the likes of which Thedas had never seen.
Not even our neighbours could ruin my mood.
The pirates and whoever else were a kilometre or so east of us. They had completely abandoned whatever they were doing, whether that was working on the ships or sitting on ass, and an increasing number were staring at us with complete abandon. Like we were ghosts. It got worse and worse as the minutes passed. If it wasn't for the more or less complete lack of armaments in their hands, I would have been worried about a charge to stop us offloading Aurelia's soldiers. But it did not come.
Our curiosity getting the better of us, we started climbing up the high dunes. It was hard going, and I envied the mages their staves because they used them as walking sticks to get them up the steep sandbanks. But we got over them, and the sight we saw beyond was something else.
The vast expanse of forest seemed to go on forever, the deep-brown trunks and branches stretching all the way to the sky. It wasn't long before we saw the namesake of the valley; halla, dozens of them. Silverbacked, golden-horned miniature deer. They peeked out curiously at us, fleeing only when a platoon of the legionaries joined us at the top, bounding off westwards parallel to the dunes, away from we interlopers.
"Wrong way guys!" I shouted after them in jest, "There's another thirty thousand that way!" Or soon would be. They didn't heed the warning, not wasting any time in getting away from us.
"Halla are damn tasty," I commented to Aurelia, "Have you tried it before?"
"Once or twice. There are very few in our part of Tevinter, although they are a great delicacy," Aurelia replied, "And none at all in Seheron. There are no Dalish in Seheron, after all. Or in Tevinter." The reason for the lack of both Dalish and halla being that they were hunted down mercilessly, albeit for different purposes.
This reminder of the state of her homeland wasn't something I wanted, but before I could reply with a question about when exactly she was going to get around to freeing her slaves, something more pressing came up.
"Aurelia, look!" Gaius declared, pointing off to the east. Assuming it was a threatening move from the pirates, I cocked my firelance as I turned and levelled it.
I was wrong. In the place of an advancing mob of pirates was a settlement, a village of sorts, ringed with a large wooden palisade. We hadn't seen it before because it was tucked away at the edge of the trees, and the high dunes shielded it from view. There were guard towers, very simple ones standing on four stout logs, with figures inside of them. I could see the tops of what I assumed to be houses over the palisade, but I had no clue how many people were actually inside it.
"Interesting," I said, grabbing my binoculars once again, "I guess Paulie didn't land anyone this far up." The village isn't visible from the sea, and if you went a few clicks west, you wouldn't see the bailey from the dunes either.
"A pirate encampment, you think?" Marcus asked, "Are they wintering here?"
"Could be," Quintus replied, narrowing his eyes, "There's a path around that dune from the village to the beach where the ships are, though the ships are closer."
The speculation was pointless. I brought up the binos up to my eyes, and started scanning the place with every intention of getting to the bottom of it. Valhalla, la Valhalle, was not supposed to have any sort of permanent habitation before our arrival. It was not supposed to have anyone who could contest our rule that might find support elsewhere.
I looked over the defences first, naturally. All-wooden construction. A single man with a decent flaming torch could end that problem. Probably just put up to keep the wildlife out, and dissuade the less determined from attacking.
"Nothing we can't overcome there," I thought aloud, "Even if they're all mages."
I heard a breath of amusement escape Aurelia beside me, like that last comment might actually be desirable. Worthier opponents were always good in her eyes, but numerous ones could do whenever boredom struck. Ironically, the whole thing would have bored me. The village, mages or not, would have put up so little of a fight to my mind that it would register as a massacre to attack it unprovoked.
I began to notice strange details once I examined the watchtowers a little more closely. Incomprehensible banners were one of them, a red ram on a black background. Not the icon of any nation I knew, nor that of any noble. The size of the lookouts, all of them now staring at us as the pirates were, seemed exaggerated. Both in height and musculature.
But it was only until I saw one of them lean out from under the roof of his tower that I realised what I was seeing. He had horns.
"Qunari," I said, "Now that is interesting." I turned to the Tevinters, hoping they might have some insight into this development.
"Not true Qunari, surely?" Gaius said, "Tal-Vashoth, deserters or those born to them. The true followers of the Qun don't travel this far south."
"Careful, cousin," Aurelia warned, "Don't forget that the previous Arishok died in Kirkwall. A great deal further from Par Vollen than here."
"Not to mention they sent the Viddasala and a small strike team as far south as Hearth," I added, "Though we turned her and killed the soldiers."
Both Marcus and Quintus went completely pale in an instant, their hands tightening around their staves. This was not welcome news.
"You turned the Viddasala?!" Quintus asked, absolutely incredulous.
This was a golden opportunity for some fun, and I was in exactly the right mood for it.
"You've met her," I replied, "She's the qunari in command of one of the Avvar battalions. The one painted blue and white? Doesn't like to wear anything too constricting?" To put it mildly.
Poor Quintus looked like he might turn green. No woman-loving male could have failed to appreciate Asala's physical attributes, and I had absolutely no doubt that Quintus was among that category. Which meant he had oogled and probably talked about her beauty with the guys at some point.
She had been the leader of Qunari special forces or secret police, if not the leader, a killer and torturer not so long ago. It placed his admiration for her attributes in an entirely different perspective. Quintus looked like he might have a small heart attack within seconds.
"And you trust her?" Marcus asked, far less shocked about it, "How did this happen?"
"We defeated and captured her," I replied, "Even if she had returned to the Qunari lands, she would have had her mind wiped with qamek, which I'm sure you know all about. Tam herself was a tamassran who abandoned the Qun because she was disgusted with that process, although she also wanted a family that they denied her. We offered the Viddasala a choice between getting lobotomised and a new purpose within a good cause. She chose well, and I gave her the name Asala since she didn't have one."
Aurelia nodded to herself. She knew all about the situation, after all. Tiberius' spies would have informed her of the details. Her brothers were not in the need-to-know group where that incident had been concerned, not even close.
"Asala is a very complimentary name," she said approvingly, "An excellent choice, to cement her loyalty like that." Aurelia in fact spoke more qunlat than she did Orlesian at this point, and knew well the connotations of the word.
"Actually, I just chose the best sounding syllables from her title," I replied with a smile, "The same way Julie did when we met Tam. I had no idea what Asala meant until I was told after. But you're right about its effect, Asala is dedicated to me personally now, which is why she fit in with the Avvars so well."
Aurelia frowned, her brow raised. "Another lover?" she asked, "Really Sam, you are insatiable."
Marcus laughed to himself for a moment. "You really don't know enough about men, little sister," he chuckled, "Women generally don't."
"And you know nothing of women, brother," Aurelia replied flatly, "Even if you are willing to take them to bed to do your duty, they're not your true interest. And you think of us as weak, do you not?"
Marcus waved his hand dismissively. "Not weak," he said, "Overly compassionate."
Not words I'd associate with Aurelia, then or now. My wife herself looked like she'd bit into a particularly bitter lemon in reply to this, which sent her brother laughing again. I needed to steer the conversation away from that topic. Badly.
"Asala probably wouldn't mind if she was my lover," I said, downplaying as far as I could without lying, "But I'm not interested. She'll find some big strapping Avvar to love soon enough, I'm sure. The tribe doesn't share the Andrastian sense of propriety about these things, nor does she."
"Do you share it?" Aurelia smirked, "After all, you have two false-wives."
"Or just one," I smirked back, "Depending on your perspective."
Aurelia fluttered her eyelashes at me, thinned her lips, and gave me a light slap on the face. More or less telling me what she thought about that perspective problem: She was my true wife by law. I sighed and looked back at the village again, wondering what its lookouts thought about the whole conversation from afar. We must have looked slightly mad to them.
"What do we do about the Qunari?" Gaius asked, not liking the subject of conversation being Aurelia's lack of availability.
"Not our decision to make," Aurelia replied, "We would jeopardise the alliance if we did anything, even with Sam here, as I said before."
I couldn't help but think that Aurelia had gotten a very good read on Velarana's attitude from the very start.
"So we sit and do nothing?" Marcus asked.
"No," I said, "We sit and watch them like hawks." I fell back onto the sand, and sighted both the pirates on the beach below and the Qunari guardtowers with my firelance. Both were well out of effective range, of course, being more than a thousand metres out.
Aurelia sat down beside me, albeit with a great deal more grace, laying her naginata across her lap. Marcus and Quintus wandered off towards the forest, with a squad of mages a piece. I would have thought about telling them that was the job of the reconnaissance group I had got together before we left Ferelden, but they were all mage-soldiers, experienced in jungle fighting. They could handle themselves.
Which would have left me in the very pleasant company of Aurelia alone, if it hadn't been for Gaius. Who wasn't letting us out of his sight so easily.
"Tribune, a question," I said, unable to contain my mischief, "What do you think of the place?" Maybe he'd get the message and get lost.
Gaius did no such thing. Instead, he looked around for a bit, and actually answered me. "Cold weather, no sign of civilisation, probably full of darkspawn and Dalish," he said at last, "And terrible neighbours."
He tilted his head at the pirates, but he meant the Marchers generally.
"You're going to be fighting for your lives here," he concluded. Succinct, I'll give him that.
"Probably," I agreed, "But that appeals to me. My own country's national myth is one of determined men and women carving civilisation out of the wilderness." Which had plenty of truth in it, but wasn't the whole story. The example that comes to mind is the native Americans. They got their asses kicked, and they just ended up being considered another part of the wilderness.
Gaius shook his head, smiling all the while. "Why bother," he said, "You should just come to Tevinter. That way, your people won't be in the middle of a war."
Crappy advice, Gaius. Tevinter was eternally at war, for a start. Not even necessarily out of its own choice. The Qun saw to that. He meant that we could avoid being involved in war more easily in Tevinter, but that was even more dubious to me, as the Tiberii could not possibly shield us from the Archon wanting access to our weapons and training.
"Sure," I said to him, "You guys just free all your slaves, and we'll get back to you on that."
Aurelia smiled widely and looked at her cousin with an expression that said 'you've been defeated'. Gaius looked suitably beaten in reply.
A cry from above announced the presence of the three eagles coming in from the ships.
A great number of them had already lined up. The shallow-draft vessels closest to shore had already dropped anchor, including our own longships. The first to 'dock' with them were slowly cranking themselves closer with long ropes attached to capstans, ready to drop anchor as soon as they were close enough to lay the gangplanks over.
The eagles perched themselves nearby us, Aurelia's black one closest, while the other two cleaned their feathers in a branch higher up. A reminder that larger forces were watching over us. I gestured to the birds.
"See Gaius?" I said, "We even have an air force. We can't lose."
The tribune snorted, and walked away to join his male cousins in the forest. At last, I thought.
My last companion took off her snarling helmet, revealing her black curls and pushing them out of her face. "He wasn't getting the message, was he?" Aurelia smiled.
"No, he wasn't," I agreed.
We sat in comfortable silence for some time afterwards, looking over our new world. Our new Promised Land. Our new Israel.
The relative quiet lasted for a good few hours, until the end of the daylight hours.
The pirates made no moves, nor did the Tal Vashoth 'villagers', as the offloading of our people began in earnest. Beginning with sufficient troops to secure the beachhead permanently and one other group that absolutely had to get off the ships as soon as possible.. We'll get to that. The former came first, began setting camp and preparing defences of our own.
The entire beach was soon filled with the orange glow of torches and the bright white of magelight, allowing everything to keep going throughout the night. The soldiers hacked down trees, dug earth defences, set up tents, laid out markers for the full encampment to come. I didn't see Mike, who had been given the command of carrying out the whole business, but I sure heard her. Her usual volume and no-nonsense attitude worked its usual magic, and things moved along nicely.
The pirates withdrew to their camp, the evening cold dropping quickly and the sea-breeze throwing fairly nasty windchill at us. Luckily, our people were used to colder conditions in winter than this, and everyone had clothing warm enough for the occasion. I half expected snow to start when clouds began rolling in at about sunset, but it didn't.
Meanwhile, my job of keeping an eye on the neighbours continued. The Tevinters went back to their ships for the night, although Aurelia took some encouragement to go as she had wanted to stay with me. I joined her back on the catamaran for a while, again for the purposes of making an heirs to the dynasty, and returned to the beach before dark. I guess the excitable atmosphere got to us.
In place of the mages, our Highlander regiments had landed and once they had set up their own tents, took up positions around the whole beachhead to defend it against whatever might be lurking. Thankfully, Asala's position was the one furthest from me, Aoife the one being in command of the eastern section.
I kept up the watch in the dark with my various night and heat vision scopes, my back to the lights our own people were working under, the Avvars sitting in lines in the sand, so they all they had to do to go from rest to battle was stand up and raise their shields. They were very happy to be off the ships, not one of them having been on a ship before.
At about eight in the evening, well after sunset, I began to see strange movement in the pirate camp. Nothing dramatic, just a couple of heat signatures moving around quickly. Runners, I thought. I must have thought something about it aloud, because the inevitable voice answered.
"See something interesting?" came a voice from behind me. It wasn't entirely unexpected; I had been alone for some time, even the nearby troops and their officer ignoring me. I guess I must have looked too busy to interrupt to them, but that state of affairs never lasts. I flipped the IR scope attached to my helmet up and turned my head.
The owner of the voice, naturally, was Mariette de Villars. Maskless and dressed in brown bearskin from head to toe. She had crept up to stand beside where I was sitting, and she was looking in the same direction I was observing.
"When did you disembark?" I asked, flipping the scope back down so I could continue my watch. The pirate camps fires and the heat of moving bodies returned to my sight as white silhouettes in the distance, as did the lookouts at the Qunari village.
"Ten minutes ago," Mariette replied, "Your dear wives still on their ships?" She was referring to Julie and Tam, not Aurelia.
"The battleships are going to be the last to dock," I said with a sigh, "To stop anyone inside or outside the fleet getting ideas." Even without cannons, they were vessels to be feared. At the time, they had anchored off the western side of the fleet, to stop would-be pirates from escaping.
There was a shuffling of sand, as Mariette planted herself on top of a raised piece of the dune I was leaning against. She patted my helmet, and I could hear the laughter on her lips as she spoke.
"There there," she said, "No matter. I'm here, in case you get bored."
"Very funny," I growled, "Do you have any idea what I've been doing the past few days?"
Mariette giggled. "Oh, I'm sure I can guess," she said, "Marriage has its duties, after all."
"Then you should understand," I continued, "A day of rest is on the cards now. Not fooling around with you."
The harlequin hummed a funereal tune from her throat, and gave a laugh again. That more or less confirmed in my mind that she was as excited and pleased to have finally arrived as I was. It was a strange euphoria, the like of which we hadn't seen since Sahrnia, and we were all drunk with it.
"Another day, you will say yes," she said, "Truthfully, that wasn't why I came. I wanted to talk about our new Chancellor, now that we're here."
I had been expecting this and nodded to myself. Mariette always had been interested in power, seeing my bed as a certain path towards it.
Her cousin enjoyed much of it herself. Louise de Villars was the highest ranked Libertarian after Julie herself, and perhaps Armen; a member of the Assembly, a colonel in the Army, and the most highborn noble we had. That sort of power wasn't what I thought Mariette wanted. She was a bard. But it concerned both De Villars, as it turned out.
"I come on behalf of my cousin as well as myself," Mariette continued, "She trusts you.. we both do. You let me live, and have made me as welcome as possible, save for the one thing I keep asking for. We want to know if Lady Velarana would agree to certain changes, and if you would support us if she was reluctant."
That she didn't get straight to the point told me that she was nervous, although that was the only evidence of it. She had been well trained. She was young, but I reminded myself that I had to stop thinking of her like that. Aurelia was younger.
"What changes do you have in mind?" I asked, "As much as I appreciate your trust, I can't exactly support something blindly, even if it is coming from Louise. Why is she not asking me herself?"
That provoked a great big roll of the eyes from the harlequin.
"She views it as inappropriate," Mariette said, "She's put you up on this pedestal, and won't take you down off of it. She admires you for turning the peasants into soldiers that could easily become chevaliers if they had noble blood in their veins. She can't ask for advancement from you without feeling dirty."
Louise wasn't the only one putting me on a pedestal. Mariette herself seemed to be. It's not like she couldn't have slept with another of the political figures to gain power, although the male numbers at the top of the table were very thin. McNulty was unavailable due to preference. Fisher and Valle were the only others of anything like comparable rank, and they both had two decades on me at least. If it was just about power, she had other options, but nothing ever was just about power. No one who has ever lived has been motivated by that alone.
"So what's the deal?" I pressed.
"Louise wishes to become a general," Mariette said, "She feels she has earned it and she wants access to your Earth books, but the new government is a problem. Lady Velarana is well disposed towards the nobility, but she has talked about reducing the size of our Army. We already have enough generals, and would even if half of them retired."
I smirked. None of the generals would even dream of retiring. Soprano and Mike were elves lacking valuable non-military skills, civilian life would be a massive step down for them. The same was true of McNulty, unless he found a commission in a foreign army, something that wasn't possible for the other two. The only one of us that could have retired and not be ruined was me. And I wouldn't even know where to begin if I didn't have the Army.
Of course, I knew things about the limits of our Chancellor's power that Mariette didn't, not yet at least.
"Velarana won't be able to reduce the size of the Army as much as she would like," I said, "Besides, even if she does, we will be starting a General Staff, to create plans of attack against everyone within reach to harm us. Louise could be a general without needing a brigade of her own to command." The rank she wanted was générale de brigade, which was lower than my own rank of général de l'Armée.
Mariette bit the side of her cheek, thinking about something.
Possibly whether or not Louise would accept a promotion without commanding more troops in absolute terms. Louise was my most aggressive subordinate. 'A true cavalry man' I would say, because 'cavalry woman' just has too many syllables. Needless to say, keeping her on side and in command of our most mobile troops was very much in our interest.
Hell, if she had demanded that I marry her, I would have had to say yes; she was that valuable to our cause on a purely military basis alone.
"You said you wanted something too?" I continued, "Something you wanted to change."
"Yes, I have an idea," Mariette said, gaining confidence suddenly, "Free Orlais had the greatest legions that the world has ever seen, even without firelances. You had the most advanced sciences. Manufactories that could make marvels. Principles that united commoner and noble alike. Even in finance, you were the most advanced."
All true. And yet it wasn't enough to win.
"Free Orlais had two deficiencies," she went on, "Diplomacy and intrigue. You didn't have ambassadors to spread your influence. If it wasn't for the Marquise's pamphlets, you would have had no influence at all. You relied on Lady Leha's dwarva contacts for intelligence, rather than having a network of spies, assassins and saboteurs of your own."
"Velarana already has plans for ambassadors," I said, "I guess it's the spies, assassins and saboteurs that you're interested in leading."
"It's the thing I can contribute to most," Mariette agreed enthusiastically, "My skills are too valuable to waste in a war council, and while I can fight in the front ranks, participating in pitched battles is not what I was trained for. "
I didn't want to pour cold water over her little plan, but I had to in some way. She was far too inexperienced to be running all of that. Knowing how to gather information effectively as an individual, or indeed how to assassinate someone or commit an act of sabotage, is very different to knowing how to coordinate these things at the strategic level. I was grossly underestimating her ability to adapt, of course. No one survives even to her young age in the bard business without such an ability.
But inexperience is inexperience, and it's best tempered rather than being indulged.
"Velarana likely wants to control the spies herself, Mariette," I said, "And she could say you're too inexperienced to lead in that area." Dumping the blame onto Velarana was the smart move.
Mariette blew her cheeks up in outrage.
"Then she knows nothing!" she declared, "I have run spy networks before! I was the leader of the troupe that was sent to assassinate you! I am an Orlesian bard, a harlequin, the match of any would-be player of the Game in this rustic backwater! And if she thinks my youth leads me to lack caution, she is greatly mistaken. I even have many contacts in the Marches, it is where we bards operate most due to Orlais' trade interests!"
When this speech was complete, Mariette crossed her arms and turned her head away, not willing to hear any objection to its content. An act, of course, but one designed to show her full contempt for the idea that she was incapable. She wasn't actually that childish. This is what happens when you raise a child from their very earliest years to be capable of pretending to be someone they are not; they'll use it to full advantage whenever they can.
But I wasn't done yet.
"You're not loyal to her," I said, "That is the problem. Velarana will want someone she trusts to follow her orders and keep her secrets for the job. She doesn't know you, and you're associated with your cousin. Louise is not in her camp. She might trust Louise as a general, but she wouldn't trust Louise as a spymaster."
Mariette turned her head back, and the mask of childish objection fell off replaced with a 'Gotcha' smile.
"Ah, but I am not loyal to the Libertarians," she said, "I am loyal to you. Velarana can rely on you, because you believe in obeying your political masters. Everyone knows that. If she thought you were a threat, she would have removed you, because she can't avoid sharing information about spies with you. But you are no spymaster, Sam. You need me, and you should bring our Chancellor's attention to this fact."
That wasn't entirely wrong. In fact, it was entirely right except for the idea that Velarana could remove me without consequences, although without my knowledge, she did have the means to reduce those consequences. I must have given away some hint that I believed that on my face, or just taken too long to respond to it, because Mariette pressed the advantage.
"I want to help, Sam," she said, "This is the best way I can. I am the best we have."
"That's probably true," I said, "It might not matter. Velarana will see things the way I already explained."
"But you can convince her," Mariette continued, "If you tell her that I have the skills to play the Game here in the Marches, she will believe you."
"Which doesn't mean she will want you to run the show," I replied, "Just because she trusts that you are loyal to me, and I to her, doesn't mean she even wants to place all of that responsibility in one place, or in any hands but her own."
I paused, reckoning that I had just run myself into a trap. Something Mariette would notice and seize on. Which she did, but remained politely quiet for me to finish. She knew that I knew.
"But I have no doubt she'll want to exploit your talents to the fullest," I concluded, "If only to get a De Villars on her side of the political fight."
"The only side I'm on is yours," Mariette replied, "But if I get my own organisation, it doesn't matter if that doesn't encompass all of the Game. Everyone has spies, after all."
Everyone except me, apparently. Although everyone lets me borrow theirs and people offer me information directly, so it's never an issue. Privileges of rank.
"Having only one network for the … republic is not wise." Now that was correct to my ear, and I relented at last.
"Then I'll speak to the High Chancellor," I said, "No promises." I resumed placing my full attention on my watch of the pirates, or at least tried to.
"No promises," Mariette repeated with a grin, shifting closer on the sand.
A great wail carried on the wind from behind, interrupting any attempt I might have made to move Mariette away from me. Instead, I jumped to my feet, followed quickly by the harlequin, and turned to see what was going on. I couldn't, even with my night vision equipment. All that was there by the 'docks' was unloaded barrels we were using as a windscreen, and a crowd of people within. Yet the wailing continued.
Which had the Avvars glancing at each other in confusion, at best, looking around nervously at worst. They were big believers in omens.
"What the hell," I complained, before waving the nearest two Avvars over. The two gentlemen, as equally covered in furs as we were, made their way to us. I took off my helmet, scopes and all, and handed it to one of them.
"You watch the pirates," I said, pointing to the beached frigates, "Don't press any buttons, just put the helmet on your head and swivel the goggles down at the hinge. I'll be right back. Got it?"
The Avvar Highlanders nodded, the man with the helmet holding it gingerly, like it was a holy relic. Which it became. Alas, the symbols chosen for a nation are often arbitrary.
"Come on," I said to Mariette, "Let's see what the fuss is."
Not waiting for her reply, I moved to the slope of the dune and made my way down it, half stepping and half sliding to accomplish it. Mariette did the same. When I got to the flat of the tide plain, I waved the other Avvars stationed there to remain seated and calm, before breaking off into a run back to where the nearest disembarkation point was.
It just so happened that it was Paulie Walnuts' ship, the Justice, it being a longship with a very shallow draft even if it was a full sized oceangoer. It was parked lengthwise, with its nose on the sand rising above our heads, a gangplank dropping off the side of the bow to allow people to get out and another connected to a small merchant vessel off its stern, the first link in the chain of ships.
The crowd began to part when those at the back realised I was coming, and I soon saw who was crying and wailing.
The other group we absolutely had to get off the ships as soon as possible; those women, mostly soldiers, that were in the late stages of their pregnancies. By now, almost all of them were about ready to pop. Some of them had already given birth in Amarantine. One baby had even been delivered on the voyage, off the coast of Ostwick. A boy, I was told.
There were a group of about fifty women, kneeling in the wet, crying loudly. Some of them had clumps of sand held in their fists. More women were standing around, either quietly weeping or looking completely shocked. Mages, the tips of their staves glowing, stood back rather than helping.
It provoked my protective instincts immediately, and my eyes sought out Paulie without delay. I found him quickly, surrounded by some of his fellow Jaderites. He seemed remarkably calm, even amused. I made a beeline straight for him.
"Captain!" I said loudly, "What the hell did you do!" The louder sections of crying women stopped as I marched across the open space their wails had made. I pressed onwards, needing an explanation.
The man held up his hands, not pleased to find me there. "Nothing!" Paulie said, "I swear."
"Someone did something," I said, pointing back at the women, "And you're the officer commanding. The buck stops with you. What is going on that provokes this?!"
"I just don't know!" Paulie replied, his voice rising, "Go ask them! We were offloading the pregnant ladies, as ordered, and some of them just dropped to the ground crying, clawing at the sand like lunatics. Then they all start going. We didn't touch them or even look at them funny, I swear! Ask them!"
The man didn't have answers or wasn't willing to give them up. I turned on my heel, intending to do just as he had suggested. When I did however, I found myself surrounded. By the same women, puffy eyed and sniffling.
My hand was taken by a petite she-elf, dressed in the Free Army's green under her furs and wool. She pressed my palm against her swollen belly, and held it there gently. There was movement I could feel.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm so so sorry."
Now I was genuinely confused, and absolutely mortified. This was not a position I wanted to be in at all. I quickly put my free hand over hers, as they pressed my other to her.
"You have absolutely no reason to be sorry," I said as soothingly as possible, "None at all."
"I didn't believe you," she continued, "I knew I couldn't go back, not like this... so I had to follow..."
"Shush, it's alright," I cut in, "You did nothing wrong."
"No," she said, shaking her head, "I cursed you, I cursed the Army and the Marquise. I didn't think we would get through, even as we set sail."
"You doubted," I said, "It was only natural. No one has ever done this before."
"But I shouldn't have!" she cried, "You kept your promise. You have kept all your promises."
This one wasn't even my promise, I wanted to say. It was Tam's idea, Julie's promise, and now, Velarana's responsibility. The soldier-turned-mother released my hand. I snatched it back to my side, like it had been sitting in the unclosed jaws of an alligator. But there was no escape now, the crowd had closed the gap as much as possible without blocking their view of what was going on.
What the elf woman did next was something truly terrifying.
She took a step back, and with great difficulty, got on her knee and lowered her head.
"Forgive me!" she half-whispered, "Please."
It was an act of prostration usually reserved for a priestess of the Chantry, which I definitely wasn't, or worse; a monarch.
The situation descended into mass hysteria, at least in my opinion, as all the other pregnant women kneeled too. Which drove a sword through my heart, as I watched them struggle with their condition to accomplish the gesture.
"No, please..." I said, holding my hands out to try and stop them, "That's not necessary..."
Of course, who better to make things worse than Mariette de Villars. As soon as all of those we were meant to be protecting were in position, she moved to my front, saluted and then kneeled too, her head bowed especially low.
That set off the entirety of the crowd. Soldiers first, sailors second. The Jaderites hesitated only as long as their Captain did, and Paulie got the idea pretty quick that this was going to be expected of him. Not least because of a sidelong glance from Mariette and a quick nudge of her head towards the ground to communicate the expectation.
"VIVE LA FAYETTE!" Mariette shouted at the top of her voice, once she was sure everyone was kneeling, "VIVE LE PEUPLE TROYEN!"
"VIVE LA FAYETTE!" the crowd roared, "VIVE LE PEUPLE TROYEN!"
I put my hand over my face in embarrassment, letting it slide down to my mouth. It wasn't embarrassment I was feeling any more, but joy. The taste of the loyalty of so many is... intoxicating. And always unexpected, for any sane person. This was another moment immortalised in painting, albeit not in the frescoes that Julie created.
Reason did eventually reassert itself, when the woman who had started it all looked up at me again.
"Forgive me," she said again.
"I forgive you," I replied quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. This had to stop. If only for the sake of the soon-to-be mothers. I thanked the Maker that Julie and Tam were not around to see the event, and acted to end the whole thing.
"Rise!" I commanded, projecting my voice, "Rise! Get on your feet! Go get some rest or do your duties! Help them up and over!"
The crowd did as they were ordered, the women with some difficulty before the soldiers and sailors offered their arms in aid. They began to disperse at last. I helped the first woman personally, taking both her hands and pulling her up. She thanked me, sniffling and smiling through her tears.
"What is your name?" I asked her.
"Charlotte Pontier, my lord," she replied. Her name telling that she was the descendant of Orlesified elves, like all the 'city' elves were.
"Well then Charlotte," I said, "There is food and a cot waiting for you up over the dunes. Wait over there for a few seconds and I'll take you up myself. I just need to speak with the Major here." I gestured to Mariette.
Charlotte nodded, and shuffled over to where I had indicated before, a few other women coming to her and rubbing her on the back. I faced towards Mariette the second I thought she was out of earshot.
"What did you do that for?" I asked calmly, "I didn't ask for that."
"You are a ruler, you require such marks of respect even if you don't want them," Mariette said, pulling her fur hat down over her blonde hair some more as the wind picked up, "But all must embrace it. They already fear you, now they will love you too. That is the best protection a ruler can have, and all I did was my best to give you that gift."
"And demonstrating your ability to work a situation to advantage into the bargain," I said with a frown, "I am not a ruler."
"Of course you are," Mariette said, "Not that you're the only one."
She strode off and took the arm of another woman in need of aid, ending the conversation entirely before I could mount a defence. Which also made it look like I had ordered her to do just that. Always a game at work with this one. The Game, in fact. Climbing that ladder, one step at a time.
All I could do was shake my head and join Charlotte for the walk up to the camp, and then return to my watch. By then, I could already tell I would be too mentally exhausted to continue the latter duty with any due regard.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well then, we've arrived in Valhalla, and we've got a lot of things to deal with next chapter.
Aurelia's growing role in the whole story is obviously highlighted here, as is Mariette's continuing one. Needless to say, Julie and Tam will be getting a whole lot more screentime next chapter.
Special thanks to Katkiller-V for updating the Outlander TV Tropes page, despite it sharing a name with the TV show and the movie, meaning it's in with them under "FanFic".
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Katkiller-V: Well, that Julie and Leha didn't actually set up the system as it originally stood is some defence on her part, as is the fact that laws and ideas about conflicts of interest don't really exist. That's actually a very modern concept. As far as anyone is concerned, she did provide huge value to the state, why wouldn't she be entitled to its return?
Sam approved because of more practical matters; keeping the state going and keeping the weapons flowing. Turning the point into a huge political issue when they were going to be fighting for survival is hardly the wisest course, and Julie does point this out in a roundabout manner. That doesn't mean Sam has had the last word on this, the deal just fits the circumstances of that moment in time.
Velarana is interested in keeping as much power to herself as possible, or rather to her office. Whether or not that means an entirely ceremonial Emperor, an exclusively military role, or one with genuine political powers, will depend on what happens later. Which obviously, I won't be divulging here.
As I've said before, no one is supposed to be some sort of shiny hero in this story. Not even Sam. Aurelia's criticisms of Julie might be on the mark from the cynical perspective, yes, but she is also living in a space where tyranny is immutable, whereas Sam's arrival and Julie's calls for liberty have opened cracks in that status quo.
Comparing Julie to the Gracchi is very apt, because they're one of the inspirations for her personality.
Meatzman2: Yes, but you haven't lived in a system where nobles have found every way possible to exploit you, even murder you for sport. Julie is very much a product of that environment. Velarana's path may be moderate and compromising, but it also leaves a path back to hereditary government. Julie feels that the nobles have forfeited the right to that forever through their numerous and continuous crimes, and so do many others.
Also, I'll be stealing your description of Velarana as "Supremo" for future chapters haha
5 Coloured Walker: After fifty plus chapters, I can imagine remembering that Sam is clueless to the canon is probably not easy.
As for Napoleon as an example, she was only using it as a technical case. That a republic can have an Emperor, not that Napoleon was the style of Emperor she intended to institute. The UK doesn't work as an example because it is not a republic in any sense. Nobles still very much exist in the UK, and arguably retain much disproportionate influence.
H596: Except this time, they're also the foremost leader in military technology, professional use of arms, etc etc... And they share the religion of everyone else. For the moment.
Thepkrmgc: A mild spoiler: Hawke's going to be a part of Tam's fresco-moment, in fact. Just as Julie had Sahrnia and Sam had his marriage to Aurelia, Hawke (and Isabela) are going to be featured in Tam's painting.
Guest: She already has gone the Octavian route, to some extent. But that said, the constitution of the country isn't even written yet. Hence Velarana being able to offer Sam a crown, because they'll be deciding on their form of government over the course of the next year or so.
LoveForeverNow: The idea from the very start has been to portray precisely that; even successful revolutions have their winners and losers.
FloridaMagpie: Thank you very much!
MumblesSKS: I would imagine that having multiple perspectives on America would inevitably arise if more than one American came through, even more so if they were of different backgrounds. Sam sits more or less astride two American identities: New England liberal and Virginia conservative. He'd be a Republican in Massachusetts and a Democrat in Virginia. In short, he's a microcosm of the 'original' American colonists.
I did consider adding representatives of other parts of America originally, at least the ones I know. California, New York, Chicago, and the South. But the autobiography idea came along and shot that notion down.
AJP25: Thanks for the detailed reviews, I always like addressing these.
You're welcome, I suppose is the first thing to say.
Velarana's objective is to create a cohesive society from what many consider the dregs of another. She has decided to seize upon elements that the refugees all have in common. Orlesian culture and Andrastian religion, being the two big ones. She can't call on the republican ideal as an alternative, that is Julie's thing and she considers it to be something that could destroy the newborn state due to it provoking external threats. She's also an elf and a mage, and knows full well what repressive forces could be unleashed against her kind if anyone were allowed to join the society without some form of standards.
Yes, Julie is not a libertarian in the American/Earth sense of that word. She doesn't favour the total welfare system that Velarana does, but she isn't for letting people starve while she lives in luxury. It is indeed early days.
Sam and most of the Free Army staff couldn't really be relied upon to deliver objective advice, at least from Velarana's perspective. Besides, thirty odd thousand of the around thirty six thousand people in their movement are soldiers in the Free Army or Navy. They have a generally good idea about their capabilities. The reality of the situation is too unknown to comment beyond what they know about themselves.
Velarana's position on the Mage-Templar War is one of strict neutrality; giving concessions to the Chantry to avoid them siccing the Templars on Troy, while maintaining a maximum level of liberty for mages within Valhalla's borders. Of course, this presupposes that the Templars will remain under the control of the Chantry. Velarana can't know that this did not remain the case in the canon, no more than Sam can. The full outbreak of that war, as opposed to the shadow war that Armen was a participant in, plays a key role in moving matters along in this story.
I've clarified Julie's position as you said, but let me address your specific inquiry. She remains extremely popular. She very much does remain in a position of being able to crown herself if she wished. But that's not what the election was about, at least not after Velarana turned it into a question of politics over personality by demanding the debates. The question being asked of the public was what sort of country did they want to live in, not simply who did they want to rule it. If it had been a Presidential election, Julie would have likely won handily.
Sam's demeanour has changed since he arrived. At first, he was far more willing to stick to what you might call UN ideals, barring a few exceptions for personal reasons. But as the tides of what he considers savagery attempt to destroy anything like progress, his attitude has hardened considerably. Not to the point where he'd commit mass atrocities like a chevalier, but certainly to the point where total war is something he can countenance. Peacekeepers from non-neutral nations are just soldiers, the peacekeeping 'ideal' tends to come from the non-aligned troops that are favoured for the role. Ireland is fairly famous for it after Netflix did their telling of the Siege of Jadotville.
He's not going to have 'raisins' for much longer... The consequences of all this will be calling shortly.
Some of the Tevinters will be staying, not just Aurelia, so I hope to dive into that canon and hopefully extend it logically. Although the Tiberian family are considerably more Romanesque than the rest of the country.
Velarana is very aware that she has very limited options for choosing a monarch. It could only be Sam, Julie, or someone who already has a throne. Sebastian or Alistair are probably the only ones of sufficient rank internationally.
Obviously, the borderline messiah status of Sam is well demonstrated in this chapter...