Chapter 71) Miracle of the Ashes
Nuada POV
"What's wrong, Fergus?" I asked. It was a 'safe' question to ask. I knew it had to be, because Fergus had dropped his mask to laugh bitterly over some letter he had gotten from Fereldan. This was Orlais. You never dropped the mask.
"Oh, Nuada, is it time for the dinner… thing?" Fergus asked in return. I gave him a look and he sighed. "Okay, even if it is, I clearly need a minute to remember what to think and look like."
"Elspeth is staying in on account of a 'headache'." His eyes narrowed, and I shook my head. "As far as I can tell, she's just tired. People stopped trying to get into her skirts when she broke that guy's foot with her heel."
"I still wish she'd let me take him to task with a duel." It wouldn't have been very entertaining. Fergus would've won in two seconds. "Ah, now I definitely need to rest."
"You could tell me what's wrong."
"You're a terror, Nuada." Fergus smiled kindly, and I grinned. It was nice, to just be ourselves. "I'm reading a letter I got from Cailan." Cailan was… oh, right, he was the prince of Fereldan. I'd never met him. "They're calling Father a miracle-worker in Fereldan."
"Is that bad? It is what is expected of Couslands."
"Perfection and miracles, with no one ever looking into how much damn work and stress we go through." He sighed heavily. "Worst part is that I didn't even think about it until I saw what it did to you and Elspeth."
"I'm fine."
"Of course you are. So am I. Couslands aren't allowed to not be 'fine'." He had a point there. "How important is this dinner thing?"
"It isn't very important."
"You and I are going to relax with Elspeth."
"Okay." I smiled. Honestly, that sounded amazing. "I'll go tell Mother."
When we arrived in Redcliffe, Elspeth stayed back to tend to the horses, and to arrange for Brother Genetivi to be escorted to Denerim, letting Alistair, Layla, and I head on inside. One quick talk to Teagan and Isolde, and we were racing for Eamon's room.
Layla crashed down to her knees next to Eamon and brought out the pouch with the Ashes inside. She called her magic to it, and went to work on trying to heal Eamon. I hung back in the doorway with Alistair and Teagan. Isolde wasn't with us. She was so confident that this would work that she was actually getting things ready. It was… some strange mix of heartwarming and pathetic.
"Will this work?" Teagan, meanwhile, was much more pragmatic about this. "I mean…" he mumbled when Alistair and I looked at him. "Nothing else has."
"If anyone can do it, it's Layla," I told him. This might have worked better if both her and Wynne were here, but that would've left the Orzammar group without a trained healer, and that just seemed all sorts of bad. "Alistair, how is this different from normal healing?"
"She's basically just using the Ashes as a catalyst to boost her magic far beyond what she can normally safely handle," Alistair answered. His eyes were narrowed. "The amplification here, though…" I gave him a curious look. "Honestly, I think that tiny pinch is producing the equivalent power of a mountain of lyrium." Huh. "Ah, look!"
Layla's magic washed over Eamon and, to my surprise, I saw something leave Eamon, leaving him coughing roughly. Was he really…? Wait, Layla!
"Layla!" I yelped, noticing her falling. I caught her before she hit the ground, and saw she was unconscious. "Flames, you're always giving me a heart attack." I checked her pulse and found it steady. She probably just fainted from exhaustion. We hadn't let up our pace at all on our way from the Frostbacks to Redcliffe, and then she performed a lot of magic.
"Here, I'll take her," Alistair offered, crouching next to me. He looked nervous, and I wondered if it was because he was seeing Eamon again for the first time in ten years. "Looks like she needs the rest." He wanted to avoid it.
"Are you running?"
"I'm buying time to get my thoughts in order." I would accept that. "So."
"Here." I carefully passed Layla over to him. "Just promise to talk to him later." Alistair nodded. "See you soon." Alistair smiled and then left. With a little sigh, I returned my attention to Eamon. Teagan was hovering over him worriedly, and I couldn't blame him. All we had was a coughing Eamon who didn't seem to even be conscious.
But, finally, Eamon groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. "Where… am I?" I breathed a sigh of relief. Eamon… was awake at last. "What happened…?" he rasped, struggling to sit up. He promptly slipped and crashed back down on the pillows. "Ugh…"
"Be calm, brother," Teagan murmured. He knelt by the bed, smiling wide. I saw him holding back tears. "You have been deathly ill for a long while."
"Teagan?" Eamon reached up and patted him on the head, like he was a child. Teagan made a face. "Sorry, habit. You were always a crybaby."
"I was not." Ha! "You must be feeling better if you're already teasing me."
"I suppose." Eamon's face grew worried. "Isolde? Connor?"
"Isolde had such faith that this would work that she went to make you your favorite soup," I answered. I knelt on the other side of the bed, and Eamon blinked slowly at me. "Connor is helping." He smiled slightly. "A lot has happened, Eamon. Some of it will not be easy for you to hear."
"The last thing I remember hearing before becoming ill was Bryce, Eleanor, and Cailan had all died," Eamon replied. His smile turned bitter. "I doubt whatever you can tell me will be worse than that." Well… "Then again, Nuada, you always had a habit of proving me wrong." He lifted a shaking hand and hovered it by my eyes. "What in the Maker's grace have you done to yourself?"
"That's a tale."
"Well, tell me it. All of it, both of you." Teagan and I exchanged a look. "I must know what all has happened."
"Well, Eamon, if the last thing you heard was the fall of Ostagar and Highever, I have quite some news for you…" This was going to be fun. "So, Loghain is now Regent, and…"
"This is all so troubling," Eamon sighed. It had taken two or three tellings of the story for Eamon to fully process everything that had happened. We took a break so he could eat, and dote on Isolde and Connor, and now, Elspeth and I were sitting with him in his study. "Ah, thank you, Elspeth." He accepted a mug of tea with a smile. "It always amazes me how you keep poised."
"I have had much practice," she replied, smiling slightly in return as she sat down next to me. "There is much to be done now, though."
"Yes, but I need to also be thankful to those who have done so much." His smile warmed. "How is Miss Layla?"
"Layla's resting in one of your finest guests rooms, from what I can tell," I informed him. Isolde had insisted on it, and from what I saw, she also was making sure all the rest of the very good guest rooms were being prepared. Let it never be said Isolde didn't know how to be grateful eventually. "I imagine she'll sleep until dinner, and one of us will prod her awake." I leaned forward in my chair, though, focused on him. "But, we do need to finalize the plans. There is no telling what Loghain will do once he learns you've recovered."
"I still cannot believe all this madness," Eamon sighed. He took a sip of his tea, and smiled a bit. "Elspeth, you did not need to go through the trouble of making my favorite blend." Elspeth simply smiled. "Regardless, though, I have known Loghain for a very long time. He has always been a sensible man, perhaps too much so, and never had much desire for power. It took forever to get him to accept the Gwaren Teynir." Yeah, I knew all of that. That's why this was all such a mess, and I no longer trusted my nostalgic tinted memories on anyone. "But Teagan has also never been one to lie."
"The description of that announcement just… makes me ill," Elspeth murmured. Her eyes were sad, and she drooped a bit in her chair. "He sounded mad with power, and Anora is simply letting him." Honestly, the idea of Anora letting anyone do anything without her permission was… laughable. So, either she was complicit or things had spiraled far out of control and she… no, that would be too harsh, even in my own head.
"Mad indeed. Mad enough to kill me, slaughter my family, destroy my lands and the people within." Eamon's eyes hardened. Yeah, Loghain was going to regret that. Eamon was many things, and protective was among them. "Whatever happened, Loghain must be stopped."
"Elspeth and I had a plan that the rest of our group agreed to," I began. Elspeth brought out the book of Highever treaties and opened it to the treaty we needed. "See, Father set a trap for Howe as everything fell apart."
"Of course he did," Eamon sighed. He shook his head. "That man never stopped working or doing his duty."
"Does any Cousland?" Eamon nodded, conceding the point. "Regardless, while the trap was set for Howe, Loghain walked right into it too." I took the book from Elspeth to make it easier for me to show Eamon what I was talking about. "Calenhad's oath to Elethea was one he took up upon declaring himself Regent and he violated it."
"You intend on calling Oathbreaker." Eamon frowned. "He can declare that since he has not been officially crowned, he is free of the oath." Ah, yes, that was a point.
However… "It is still enough to give people pause, even if it cannot be officially." Eamon nodded. "Besides, the fact does remain that Howe dove into the trap Father set, and that is going to have consequences for Loghain."
"We have Howe's sworn oath to Father," Elspeth added, taking over. I passed the book to her and she opened it to that treaty. "Howe is an Oathbraeker, and Loghain put him in a position of power."
"Which will make Loghain seem defensive and put more weight in the accusation of Loghain himself being an Oathbreaker." Eamon murmured. He laughed a little. "Less battles, less soldiers, less powerful allies for Loghain…"
"Fergus has already been helping call a Landsmeet, but if you add your voice to his, no one will be able to cry off."
"A full Landsmeet. We've not had one in five years." The last time every noble attended the same Landsmeet was when Cailan was chosen to be King. "But it is fitting and necessary." Yeah, it was. "If Fergus and I call, though…"
"I will serve as the debater. Nuada will be the dueler." There was no way this wouldn't end in a duel. Either we would have to call it or Loghain will. "The others in the group shall remain neutral, as Wardens ought, in case we need to bring a neutral voice to the matter." …Have I warned Aiden that might be the case? I should double check.
"How rare to see you two willing to step up. Elspeth, you hate speaking in public, and Nuada, you hate showing your true skill." Yeah… well… a lot has happened. "Still, some things never change. You two are a perfect balance, as always." His smile was kind. "It is truly miraculous you two survived." I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from retorting.
So, it surprised me when someone did. "Arl Eamon, I think calling it a miracle degrades how much they went through to survive?" I turned to confirm it was Alistair coming to our defense, and I was just stunned. "From what I've heard from Layla, it wasn't pretty," he continued, smiling a little. Eamon nodded, accepting the rebuke in good grace. "Arl Eamon, for the Landsmeet… you're planning on using me, right?"
"You are a Theirin, Alistair," Eamon replied. His smile was gentle. "You're the only one worthy of it, and you are the only one with a claim stronger than Anora's."
"I can think of a bunch of others who would be worthier, but that's… not the point." I could see him tense, and I saw him take a breath to steel his nerves. His hands were shaking. "Just… wanted to tell you that I'm okay with it." Huh? "I'm fine with being a candidate. I'm not going to run away." Alistair… "Though, ah… if there's some books you'd recommend? I'd like to study a bit?"
"I think Elspeth knows the library better than I do." Eamon's eyes were soft and warm, and he looked nostalgic and proud. "She certainly has spent much longer there than I."
"If that is the case, I do have a few recommendations," Elspeth murmured. She stood up and curtseyed to Eamon in farewell, mostly to be polite, and took Alistair's arm. "This way?"
"Hmm… you know, that would be a powerful pairing," Eamon whispered. I gave him a look and he chuckled. "Speaking politically, which I know you hate."
"Well, if I have to 'lose' my twin to someone, Alistair isn't so bad," I replied loftily. He laughed. "But, well, we have his permission. I'm sure you would have gone along even if he was kicking and screaming, but it's still nice."
"Yes, it is." He looked so happy. "Ah, I'm glad. Despite the mess I made of his life, he is happy."
"…Why did you take him in?" I might as well take the opportunity to ask this. I probably would never get such a perfect chance.
"Maric asked me to, as a promise to Alistair's mother." I frowned a little at that. "He also worried about Rowan's reputation."
"Queen Rowan was dead."
"That doesn't matter to people." No, I suppose not. Maker forbid that a widower (or widow for that matter) find love another time. "So, for those reasons, I took Alistair in. I could not show favoritism because it would defeat the purpose of keeping him safe, but perhaps… no, I definitely overcompensated." I wasn't saying a word~ "And, in the end, I sent him away. Maric never quite forgave me for that, but perhaps he would, if he could see Alistair now."
"I suppose." Honestly, I think Uncle Maric would've been proud of Alistair even if he was some drunkard in a tavern. "So, Alistair's mother…"
"I will not say." Damn. "Forgive me, Nuada, but… it is a promise. A promise to a dear friend, and dearer king." Uncle Maric… had really wanted to try and spare Alistair whatever grief would come from being his parents' child. But, it seemed all for nothing, that sacrifice. "It doesn't matter. Alistair is Alistair."
"That is true." I nodded. "So, I know Elspeth isn't here to discuss, but I did have a couple of ideas for winning support…"
"I am all ears." He smiled slowly, and I was reminded just why Father liked Eamon so much. Eamon knew how to play. "This will be interesting."
"It will be interestingly entertaining." I smiled back. "So, clearly, the weakest link is Howe, so…"
Author's Note: So, here we go. It's a bit of a filler chapter, based a bit on some in-game cutscenes, and reiterating the plan of the Landsmeet. About Alistair's mother… see, what Alistair is told (and what the Origins codex states) is actually a bit of a lie. Alistair's birth mother is, in truth, alive and well… and leads the mage rebellion in Inquisition. Yes, Fiona and her people take refuge in the kingdom of Maric, who she was at least friends with and attracted to, the kingdom that (potentially) is ruled by her son, Alistair. For more hilarity, Fiona is an Orlesian mage former-Warden who holds a position of significant leadership; Alistair is a Fereldan Templar Warden, who may hold a position of significant leadership depending on the choices of the player.
Next Chapter – Interlude, Shale
