Again, Bloody Denerim

The rest of the trip was quiet. Cailan was increasingly anxious. Elle had to admit to a bit of anxiety, as well. Actually, most of the group was also on edge after Arl Eamon's suspect hasty departure and the assassin attack. It made Elle wonder if Eamon knew about Rendon Howe's plans for Highever. And, if he knew, who else did?

She did find a copy of a letter from Eamon to Cailan in Rendon's papers. Did Eamon give Rendon a copy ... or did Rendon have it forged from someone else less vain than to leave his or her mark?

And, Eamon's change of heart to finger Isolde for dealings with Orlais seemed … questionable, at best. He knew everyone in that tent distrusted Isolde. As her father had said, Eamon had the power in Ferelden. Orlais would try to keep him in power, even at the cost of an agent such as Isolde.

Elle screamed in her head. They crested the hill and saw Denerim in the distance. That city always muddled her thinking. Even this far out!

Everyone on a horse spurred ahead. It only took a short time with the clear weather and the well-maintained road to the main gate of the city. Denerim knew they were coming. Elle could feel the tension in the air. The streets were cleared and they rode all the way to the Palace without interruption. However, Elle saw many worried faces in windows and doorways. As usual, however, the children smiled and pointed at Midnight running beside Rebel.

Anora awaited them on the stairs. She looked regal and didn't have a hair out of place, of course!

It was all quite touching, actually. Cailan jumped off his horse, threw the reins to a waiting squire and ran up the stairs to crush Anora in his arms. Most people in the courtyard averted their eyes to give them some privacy.

Oh, Elle did no such thing, of course! She tarried her dismount and gave the couple some time, but watched every moment of the reunion. She smiled to see the heartfelt appreciation in Anora's eyes and the conflicting emotions of concern and pride on Cailan's face. Ferelden's royal couple had so few moments of peace.

When Anora eased out of Cailan's embrace, she noticed Elle slowly ascending the stairs. "Lady Cousland …" Anora began. "Thank you for your message, but I have other news. Please come inside."

Elle turned to see Wynne's horse enter the courtyard. "We should wait for one more, Your Majesty." Wynne gratefully accepted a young man's assistance to dismount and pull off her saddlebags.

"Yes, Senior Enchanter Wynne came with us to make certain you were all right." Cailan gave Anora a look that he would brook no arguments. Truth be told, Cailan ... or anyone, really ... rarely won any arguments with the Queen, but the King was refusing to budge a bit on this one.

"I'm fine." Anora said, but waited. Cailan's look told her that it was an argument better left un-argued. "Elle, your father is in town. He had to report the situation in Highever … and beg the Crown's forgiveness in his rush to judgement concerning Howe." Anora rushed through that last part, full well knowing that Elle wouldn't appreciate the protocol required in such a situation.

Anora was also very perceptive. That's why she and Elle were friends.

Cailan dismissed the statement with a wave his hand. "So forgiven. We have a Blight, Anora. There is no time to call a Landsmeet over this."

Anora's regal facade quickly changed to one of alarm. "You're that sure? Father was so certain it was only a large incursion."

Cailan motioned for Elle to answer. "I'm afraid it is true, Your Majesty. I traveled with Duncan and his two new mage recruits from the Circle Tower to Ostagar. Once night, Duncan awoke from a nightmare — apparently, wardens suffer ongoing nightmares about the darkspawn. He shared with us that the Archdemon had entered his dreams. He knew what it was, then, as Archdemons only intrude on warden dreams during a Blight."

"She got a lot of those Warden Secrets out of him, too," the king said quietly to Anora. "Made Duncan tell me and Loghain."

Elle began, "One of their secrets …"

Wynne and her Templar escort stepped up and Anora interrupted. "Let's take this inside."

"Right!" Cailan said. "First the Queen needs to be looked at and any health measures taken care of." Even Cailan caught the flash of anger in Anora's eyes.

Elle had an idea to avoid a tense argument on the front steps of the Palace. "Is my father at the Highever estate, Your Majesty? Perhaps I should go there and then report back?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe he is," Anora answered with a frown — a frown that Elle knew was really directed at Cailan dictating her schedule. "That's a good idea, Lady Cousland. I shall allow the Senior Enchanter to confirm to my stubborn husband the same thing I just told him and then we shall meet back here in two hours in my sitting room in the family quarters."

Elle bowed and smiled. "As you command, Your Majesties."

As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she thought she heard Anora say, "I meant to tell her about ..."

"Whatever it is , you can tell her later," Cailan answered and ushered his Queen inside.

Elle really wanted to run back to ask Anora what it was, but knew that Cailan would exile her from Ferelden. He'd just won an argument with Anora and was feeling quite heady about it all.

Unlike other visits to Denerim, Elle ignored touching base with her network and rode as hard as she could inside the city for Highever House, one of the nicer noble estates in Denerim, perched on the same high hill as the Palace. Midnight kept up stride for stride even though Elle knew he was exhausted. Familiar guards motioned her in without question. When she entered the front door, her father was already coming down the staircase. "Pup! We just got word that you had returned to Denerim with King Cailan!" He rushed up and hugged her, after which he motioned to his study to the right of the staircase.

Once inside the room, Elle hissed, "Throw yourself on the Crown's mercy?!"

"It is the way things are done, dear girl." He walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a dusty half-full bottle of Tevinter brandy … contraband, as far as the Chantry was concerned. Appropriate for this conversation. He handed Elle a full glass of the heady liquor and took a swig from his own full glass. "I doubt anything of great tragedy will come from it. Howe's lackeys are already throwing themselves at my feet."

Elle frowned. "So, Esmerelle is angling for Arlessa of Amaranthine?"

Bryce Cousland smiled. "My clever girl. But, she is one of many. The only one not demanding the Vigil is Eddlebrek." He grumbled. "But, he's too rough for it."

"Don't throw that glass at me, Father … but what about Thomas or Delilah. Actually, Delilah is older than Thomas. Has Nathaniel sent comment?" Elle almost coughed when she took a sip of the liquor. It was very strong.

"Do you think Nathaniel could be trusted?" he asked. He had an odd, sad look in his eye.

She sighed and sat down in one of her father's very comfortable leather chairs. From a young age, Elle made fun of her father for keeping them. It simply made it impossible to get the difficult visitor to leave! "Trusted? Maybe. He's so bloody boring, though. He will cause no end of grief because of his father's righteous execution. You're right. If you hadn't gone to the Crown, he would have marched into the Landsmeet waving all sorts of documents about our Rule of Law." She laughed. "Can you imagine the tirade Esmerelle would level about Nathaniel becoming the Arl? And, then the following tirade that she would scream about Nathaniel holding her to the rules?"

"Nice to know I'm so highly thought of." Nathaniel walked into the room. "Bloody boring? Really?"

Elle sent a glare her father's way … which intensified when her father smiled. This was the absolute last time she would rush home without contacting her network! She got up from the chair and stalked toward Nathaniel. "You aren't angry? Outraged?"

He smiled ... and her logical brain shut down. It was the one thing that kept him from looking too much like his father. Rendon had never smiled. He just smirked. "I would have been if your father hadn't held court at Highever with at least a few of the Banns present. I would have been if my father had been executed without process or if it had been … painful." He raised his hand to stop any interruption. "Elle, I know the details. I know what he did. I know he deserved what he received." He took a deep breath and stood tall. "If the Crown decides to banish me and my siblings, we will go … however much we would hate to leave. At least I now know we won't be executed because of the actions of our father."

So, that was what Anora had wanted to tell her.

Elle spent a few tense minutes just looking at Nathaniel. Something nagged at her about how he just conveniently showed up at this particular time. But, she had a difficult time reading him. Always had ... because her heart out-shouted her brain. He was the only man on her "list" who wasn't a decade or more older than she was. If things ever progressed with Alistair, he might gain a spot on her list … and he was younger than she was, if guesses were correct.

However, at one time, Nathaniel was the only man on her list and she had told him that she loved him. Even agreed to marry him. However, when he looked back into her eyes, she spent a few moments more looking into his blue-grey eyes. "Anora agreed to exile?"

"She agreed to, at the most dire, exile instead of execution." Her father was looking to her, she realized. She knew he valued her information, but this was the first time he was actually listening to her opinion, her advice. He gave a quick nod that he understood she had some doubts.

She granted her once fiancé a small smile. "Thank the Maker you're all right, Nathaniel. I worried so when your father sent you away."

He laughed. "I guess you missed my bloody boringness, eh?"

"Yes! That was it! My life is just so exciting and thrilling that I must have periods of the dreadfully dull," she laughed and then pursed her lips. "I have a summons with the Queen in a little over an hour. But, now, I need a bath!"

With a bow and flourish, she left the study to run up to her room, requesting a bath be sent up. Her room in Denerim was much smaller than the one in Highever, but it was well-appointed with many hidden compartments for some reason. Likely one of her ancestors liked secrets as much as she did. Elle never told anyone about them … not even her parents. They wouldn't be my secret places then, would they? she rationalized to herself.

Poor Midnight crashed on his bed by the fireplace and Elle told him to stay there to rest. She would be fine going to the Palace. He was asleep in moments. The bath arrived and Camelia, a lovely elven lady who had worked there for years, helped her disentangle from her armor and weeks of road stuff.

"Taeodor was stationed at the Palace gate to warn you, m'lady, but he said you rode past too quickly," Camelia whispered as Elle slipped into the warm, lightly scented bathwater.

Elle closed her eyes and forced her body to release the tightened muscles that had built up over the past few minutes. "Ah, it was totally my fault, Camelia. I was in a rush to get to the Palace and then, in a rush to get home to this bath." She winked at the elf. "Something I shall never do again, I assure you!"

"Are you all right?" Camelia asked while trying to comb out weeks of disregard from her hair ... but it gave Elle time to think about her question.

"I ... I don't know if I'm all right, to be honest," Elle said. "So many things about Nathaniel just showing up bother me."

Camelia nodded with a sad smile. She finished combing and washing Elle's hair without further talking ... which is just what Elle needed. She left warmed towels on the table next to the tub. After she left, Elle noticed that she'd also left a warm mug of sweet redberry juice next to the towels. It was one of Elle's favorites. It made Elle realize how blessed she was, so she said a small prayer to the Maker to watch over Camelia and her family and friends.

However, her thoughts soon darkened with worries about Nathaniel's appearance back here after being gone so long. In Elle's deepest heart, that place she hesitated to visit very often, she knew she had really loved Nathaniel. When Rendon sent him away, Elle closed off that part of her heart and sealed it shut.

It had seemed to appear that Nathaniel had done something to anger Rendon. No one knew what it was. One day, Nathaniel was being paraded around as Rendon's heir. The next day, Nathaniel was sent to Ostwick to squire for some unknown 'friend' of Rendon's.

Delilah told her that Rendon made Nathaniel swear he would never contact anyone in Ferelden. Nathaniel gave his word … and, so, Elle never heard from him again until just a few minutes ago. He always kept his word to his father … bloody boring. However, the fact that he did always keep his word to Rendon made Elle very nervous at his sudden smiles and smooth talk. After doing a bit of thinking on timeframes, she became a little alarmed. Nathaniel had to have left the Free Marches shortly afterRendon had hired the Flint Company. Did Rendon hire them or did Nathaniel hire them for his father?

Her doubts made Elle decide it would be better to put Delilah up as Interim Arlessa until a Landsmeet could argue it.

As much as everyone groaned and said they hated the Landsmeets, Elle loved the Ferelden system of government. Teyrns and Arls might be able to sway votes … that was politics, after all … but when it came down to it, each Bann had the same vote as either her father or Loghain.

With only a brief time to spare, Elle was dressed in a gown with her hair managed and coifed into something quite attractive. She rushed toward the stairs to see Nathaniel standing at the bottom.

"I've always wanted to see you come down those stairs all dressed up, my lady," he said with a smile.

She came down the stairs and put her hand on the side of his face. A gesture she had done hundreds of times. He pulled back ever so slightly, so she dropped her hand. It could have been nervousness on his part … or something else. "Well, then, I am pleased you were here just now, because it does not happen very often. Not even for an audience with the King and Queen."

"That's the Maker's Truth!" Bryce stepped into the entry and laughed. "You know, Eleanor's first comment when she saw those stairs was how she would like to see a daughter come down them to the waiting arms of a suitor."

Both Elle and Nathaniel blushed. Even her father blushed, evidently realizing that he put to voice something that may have been better left unsaid — unusual for him — but they were in Denerim. Elle cleared her throat. "Well, I must be on my way. Midnight is resting in my room. He had a long, hard run to get here. The Queen awaits."

Nathaniel took her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. "I know I have a lot to explain, Elle. Perhaps, when you are finished with the Queen, you will grant me the time."

As a servant came inside to announce her waiting carriage … something she just found out that Nathaniel had arranged … she replied, "Of course." She paused and then lifted her skirts. "Until later, then."

She fled the house and stepped into the carriage. It was a lovely day for an open carriage ride, but she hated the pretense. She knew how to ride side-saddle very well … and very much preferred it. Maker's Breath, she could walk to the palace from Highever House!

After all, she had deadly sharp hairpins and several strategically-placed daggers for protection. Not to mention … yes, there he was. Zev was leaning against a wall of one of the buildings they passed by. It would be easy enough for him to unobtrusively keep up with a carriage on busy city streets. No doubt, her father had gotten word already about the attempted assassination. Oddly, that thought made her smile. She irrationally relished being an enemy of The Game.

In minutes, she arrived at the palace and was escorted to Anora's study. She entered the room to a very pensive King and Queen, but Elle looked closely. Anora's lips gave a slight twitch and Elle narrowed her eyes.

"Maker's Breath! I've never been able to fool her!" Anora threw up her hands and sat back in her very comfortable sofa seat. "You may as well sit, Elle."

Cailan turned from the window with a huge grin. "Anora's with child!"

"How?" Elle asked as she sat next to Anora on the couch — a place she would ordinarily sit in the family quarters. However, she knew that question was an inappropriate comment as soon as she dropped it out of her mouth. "I mean …"

Anora smiled. "We now know how Erlina was using the poison. Several months ago, I got tired of having elfroot tea with my afternoon repast. It would deaden my tastes, so I couldn't enjoy my cakes. I thought the recent nausea must have been only a residual effect of the poisoning."

Cailan sat next to Anora and put his arms around her. "My wonderful Queen's renowned stubbornness saved her." He lovingly touched her middle. "Saved our child." He laughed. "She would pour the tea into that plant next to her chair …"

"The flowering Peace Lily," she interrupted. "It clears the air."

"Right, anyway this lily loved the tea! Right in front of Erlina, Anora was thwarting the wench's orders from Orlais and fertilizing her plant at the same time!" Cailan laughed.

Trying to inject some civility into the conversation, Anora continued with the tale. "When Ser Bryant arrived, Erlina was in her room, getting my 'special' tea blend. I read the note and had the guards arrest her." She looked sad. "It was the most difficult thing I have ever done, Elle.

"They found the contents of the tea in Erlina's room. An herb specialist at the Chantry discovered it was a dangerous root that the …" She lowered her voice for the next few words so Elle could hardly hear. "… the prostitutes at the Pearl sometimes use to stop unwanted pregnancies. Before I could even hold court to adjudicate her crime, Erlina was found dead in her cell. Whether she had secreted some other poison on her person or someone got it for her, we do not know. They also found an incomplete letter — addressed to 'The Swan' at Redcliffe Castle — in her room, requesting a more efficacious poison."

Elle couldn't help it. She smirked. "So, Cailan should go off to war more often then. Well done, Your Majesties!"

"You know I should have you taken to Fort Drakon for your insolence!" Anora was almost not lying there.

"I apologize, Anora. That was insensitive." Elle smiled and took Anora's hand. "But, it is wonderful news for all Ferelden. When will you announce it?"

"The Senior Enchanter says that I am three months along, and feels strongly that it is a viable pregnancy. So, we are going to begin immediately," Anora said. "Sadly, calling a Landsmeet now would be counter to the safety of Ferelden with the Blight coming."

Cailan beamed at his queen. "I've already directed messages to be written which Anora and I will sign shortly. The messengers should be on the roads in a few hours."

"Well, I should leave you to it then, Your Majesties." Elle rose in preamble to leaving.

Anora patted the seat, indicating that Elle should sit back down. "I have two more things to discuss, Elle. First, I wanted to tell you that your father shared the two letters you found at the Vigil that were addressed to Cailan about getting rid of me." Anora's angry lips could not have gotten thinner. "Cailan shared the one from Eamon with me before he left for Ostagar. It was quite real. I have no idea how Rendon Howe got a copy ... unless Eamon was in league with Howe. Since you and your father handled things in Highever, Cailan and I plan to deal with Eamon after the Blight is over."

"Anora just showed me the forged one signed by your father, Elle," Cailan said and then laughed. "I found it very entertaining, you might have guessed. Bryce showed us the forger's mark."

Elle just shook her head. "It was so obvious when it was pointed out to me, but I would have never seen it otherwise."

"The second thing … is how do you feel about Nathaniel's return?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I don't know, yet, Anora." Elle sat and took a deep breath. "I'm having quite a few misgivings. The timing of it all is disturbing. To already be here, he had to have left Ostwick before his father attacked Highever. Did he know about it? The mercenaries came from Ostwick. Did Nathaniel arrange for them? No proof, of course. Rendon's name is on all the receipts. Just my overly active, often paranoid feelings. He and I are going to have a long conversation about his departure and his absence. We do need to get someone up in Amaranthine as soon as possible, but, unless you have someone else in mind, perhaps Delilah would be a good candidate for the interim."

Cailan leaned toward Anora. "She does so hate not knowing all the details, doesn't she?"

Anora only smiled. "Go meet with him and get back to us as soon as you can, Elle. And, be careful. Cailan told me the assassin who attacked en route didn't talk, but she could have been after you. We just don't know the target for certain." She turned toward Cailan. "That is why I trust Elle. I hate not knowing all the details, as well."

...

AN: Ah, Denerim. Such a lovely city. Lies, plots, secrets ... and, oh, a Blight on the doorstep! ;) I did mention it was the Blight from the sidelines. hehe

The Invisible Pretender: Ah, yes ... poor Eamon. He wants so to be a player, but he's just mostly played, I think. Thank you again for your reviews! :)