Chapter 7-Revelations

Aubrie was still confused as she headed to the main hall of the Arl's Estate. She wanted to talk to Alistair, find out why he left the room so suddenly. However, now was not the time. Eamon was waiting for them.

When she reached the main hall she noticed Alistair was glaring at Zevran. He looked as if he wanted to murder the elf. Not that she blamed him. She herself wanted to know why he felt the need to bop her on the head, though she didn't feel the need to kill him.

Zevran himself looked...wait a minute. Was Zevran nervous, she thought to herself. She studied his face a little longer. He was! The always calm cool and collected former assassin, was actually sweating. She almost laughed at the sight. What could be causing this ever so smooth elf such dilemma? He wasn't afraid of Alistair, was he?

She was just about to walk over to Zevran, to find out what was wrong, when Eamon arrived. Instead she decided to stand near Alistair in hopes of keeping him from actually murdering Zevran.

"You're all here, good." Eamon stated. "Alistair and Aubrie, I would like to start off by telling you that we all love you both very much, and everything we've done is out of the goodness of hearts."

"Why am I beginning to feel like a small child who's just been punished for doing something very bad?" he quietly asked so only Aubrie would hear.

She smirked. "I know exactly what you mean."

Eamon continued. "The idea began after the Archdemon was defeated. Aubrie as much as you tried to hide it, everyone knew you were miserable. We had hoped, though, that returning home with your brother would help. However, when I would write to Fergus to ask about your well being, he would tell me how you would put on a smile in front of others, but when you were alone he could hear the crying."

Alistair could feel his heart sink into his stomach. Had he really caused her that much pain. He turned his head to watch Aubrie as she spoke.

"I had hoped no one heard." She felt embarrassed. "I was so weak."

"My dear, crying over a lost love does not make you weak." Eamon assured her. "Though it didn't make any of us happy that you were unhappy. So we devised a plan. First we needed to find Alistair. That's where Zevran comes in. Due to his former career, he knew the best way to find a person."

"It didn't make it any easier though." Zevran chimed in. "It still took me almost a year to find him."

"The next step was deciding how to bring you both together." Eamon carried on. "We knew the chances of Alistair going back to Aubrie on his own were...well let's face it Alistair, you wouldn't have would you?"

Alistair tried to argue, but Eamon knew him too well. "No, Eamon, I wouldn't have." he admitted. He looked at Aubrie. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes. He wanted to beat himself for what he did to her.

Eamon looked at Aubrie. "And Aubrie, you wouldn't have left your..."

Aubrie glared at him. She still hadn't told Alistair and she didn't want him finding out this way.

"Duties," Eamon continued. "Not unless there was a possible life or death situation."

She nodded. "You're right."

"So we decided to tell you Connor was in trouble," Eamon told her. "You've always had a soft spot for the boy and we knew it was the only way you'd even think about leaving your duties behind."

"But actually getting me to leave them behind, was a different story." she said. "So I'm guessing this is where Leliana comes in. You knew I would feel better about leaving them if she were taking care of them."

"Right," Eamon agreed.

"So where does Wynne fit into all this?" Alistair asked.

Finally Wynne spoke. "For safety, of course. You should never go on a dangerous mission without a healer."

Aubrie smiled. "Plus, she's the only person you listen to Alistair. You have a lot of respect for her. If I still couldn't get you to listen to me, they knew Wynne could."

"You all know me too well." Alistair replied. "So how did everything else come into play, such as the circle and Ser Gordon?"

"Ser Gordon used to be a Templar before he was recently hired as a guard in Highever." Eamon stated. "With his permission, we asked the apprentices to describe him as Connor's kidnapper. Irving and Gregoir were both aware of the plan. Actually Connor was only here to visit the new baby."

"What about me getting knocked out." Aubrie directed her question at Zevran.

"Tesero, I am very sorry about that." Zevran looked at her sadly. "I never meant to hurt you, only to distract you long enough for Connor to get away. I guess I didn't know my own strength. We just wanted to get you two reacquainted.

Alistair was annoyed by this point. "Well we did get reacquainted, and it only caused more heartbreak." He paused for a moment to cool down. "Look, I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say we appreciate what you tried to do. And in a way you helped us, truly.''

Alistair looked at Aubrie, then continued. "But you wasted your time. Aubrie and I are no longer lovers, and we never will be again." He then walked out of the room.

Zevran walked over to Aubrie and held her in his arms as her tears began to fall. "I'm so sorry, Tesero. For everything."

"Aubrie, you have to tell him. Even if it does not bring you together, he should know the truth." Wynne explained.

Aubrie nodded her head as she wiped her tears away. "You're right Wynne. I'll go now. Thank you all for what you tried to do. I know you did it out of love."

Aubrie followed after Alistair, hoping what she was about to tell him wouldn't make him hate her.